(Untitled)

[stayastranger]

Sarah always did her best to anticipate what lay ahead, to make educated guesses without becoming entrenched in expectations, ready to roll with what came ahead but knowing she had to have some idea of the many things that could be. With Bryce's arrival, however, everything had become a little more complicated, a little less clear

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[a_royal_bastard]

It was a habit that was impossible to break, apparently. He was used to getting up at the break of dawn, and it seemed his body was insistent on keeping it that way. He'd been sitting on the beach with his breakfast he'd snatched from the Compound. Duncan was attempting to get any scraps he could get - which a lot, actually, considering he wasn't one to say no to an animal as big as him.

Duncan had been the first to notice her, barking and then heading off toward her. Alistair only stood up to see where Duncan was going. It was pretty obvious when he turned around.

"Sarah!" he greeted. jogging over both to pursuit his dog as well as go say hello. He paused mid-step when he was close enough to see what she was carrying. "Sarah with...swords. Are those swords? Where did you get swords?"

In retrospect, why she had swords was probably a better question.

[stayastranger]

Sarah laughed, shrugging as she glanced down at the swords in her hands. Shifting them, she moved both swords so they rested in the crook of her arm, flat against her body, so she could lean forward to pet Duncan. "Hey, boy," she said, then looked up at Alistair. After a while, it was easy to note the differences between him and Devon, but having the dog around for immediate clarification didn't hurt.

"They were in my hut," she said, grinning, "with a note with my name on them, so I guess they're for me." She wasn't wholly comfortable with leaving it at that, truthfully, but on the other hand, this was far more promising than last year's gift. She might not have trusted in the benevolence of their captors, but it was difficult to imagine why someone who truly meant her harm would arm her first. Then again, swords were unlikely to do much against what this place had to offer. "I'm not sure why, though. I've never used one in my life."

[a_royal_bastard]

"Maybe it thinks you're a natural at it," he mused, trying not to think of the implications of the island giving random people weapons. That couldn't be safe. "Could I see one?"

He couldn't help but be curious of its make. It'd been weeks since he touched a blade, and while he didn't miss the fighting, the training had always been how he found focus.

[stayastranger]

Sarah hesitated a moment (just long enough to consider the safety of that offer, then that she was sure Alistair wouldn't try to hurt her, and furthermore, that she was pretty solidly sure that, soldier or not, she could make a damn good go of kicking his ass anyway), then nodded, holding one out to him with a smile.

"I don't know the first thing about them," she said, and it was strange to realize how true that was. She was so used to being good with whatever weapon she had to hand, though she knew she'd grown out of practice in the last year. No matter how much she tried to keep in shape in the wee small hours of the morning when no one else was around, there was no amount of mere practice that could make up for a lack of practical use. "But I guess there's got to be some reason. You've used this kind before?"

[blondrussianspy]

Natalya slowed in her jog down the beach as she spied Sarah. She dragged the back of her wrist across her forehead and pushed whatever stray hair had come out from her ponytail back over the crown of her head.

"...I am not even knowing how to begin," she said, approaching the other woman with a wave.

[stayastranger]

Sarah laughed, glancing down at the swords bundled up in her arms and back up again. "They were on my floor when I woke up," she explained, shaking her head. "Apparently something wants me to learn how to fight." She gave a shrug, self-deprecating, as if to say this was absurd and that the absurdity of it was inherently her fault. It was a difficult one to explain away, but for once, Sarah was glad of the island's unpredictability and strange humor.

[blondrussianspy]

Natalya took in the shrug and Sarah's expression with the sort of flat scrutiny she had, in a former life, reserved for her cat when it had done things it had then pretended not to have any hand it whatsoever, although to be fair, she had no proof it was deserved and Sarah was much better at it than her cat had been. It only lasted a second.

"With great medieval sword. Perhaps you no would be shocked to learn of how much Spetsnaz no did use great medieval sword in combat. Only once."

[stayastranger]

With a slight widening of her eyes, Sarah smiled. "Once?" she asked. "That sounds like an interesting story. What did you use in combat then?" She had a pretty fair idea already, but it would be interesting to hear what Natalya listed off and just how anyone in Spetsnaz had ever made use of a medieval sword. Really, really well, probably.

[the_nsa_agent]

Casey always checked in with Agent Walker in the morning, just to make sure Chuck hadn't done anything too stupid overnight, and was still alive. Not that he cared all that much, but it was his job.

The swords were new.

"Looking for trouble without me?" he asked, falling into step beside her.

[stayastranger]

"Well, I'm sure if I find any, you'll be the first person I tell," Sarah said lightly, not slowing her step. She had no particular sense of where she was headed beyond toward the Compound, where she could brush up on her knowledge of who here knew how to use these things, but that didn't mean she had to dawdle getting there. "They're a gift apparently."

[the_nsa_agent]

"Good," Casey grunted. There were a lot of reasons he didn't want her going into trouble on her own, but the biggest was that he didn't want her having all the fun without him. "What, like from Santa Claus?"

[stayastranger]

"No, Santa Claus didn't give me anything." It struck Sarah as too absurd, that it had been possible, not to say so. "Or maybe. Either it's just one of those things that people get here," she said, "like the bumper cars, or someone snuck into my hut without my noticing and left me a pair of swords."