Run Away Sheep (OPEN)

Rachel ran through the field after her mutt of dog and a sheep who had been running for miles. She refused to stop running, her father trusted her not to lose a single sheep so she refused to do so. She hoped that someone older would help her; she couldn’t keep this pace up for much longer. She was a Shepard’s daughter not a runner’s daughter. She wasn’t built for such long distanced running.

“Trigger! Trigger!” she called trying to keep up with the dog’s barking. Her foot slipped and she fell facedown. She rolled over and stood back up brushing off the dirt. “Come back here you stupid dog! You aren’t going to catch the stupid sheep, one sheep down isn’t going to kill us!” she called knowing it very well could.

She had no choice but to keep on running. She managed to get within five feet of the dog and sheep before she found herself falling. She landed on butt starring up at the sky. She had found a rather large hole that was much too tall for her to climb up out of on her own. She tried repeatedly to climb up but couldn’t do so. “HELP!” she yelled “I’M TRAPPED!” No one seemed to be answering. Then a large sized spider started to climb up her leg. She didn’t know if it was deadly or not but it was still a spider and she hated all spiders. “SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!” she yelled half sobbing.

[OOC--hope you don't mind me hopping in!]
Finally... one of her few and rather cherished days off. without having to hack up animals for the line of butcher work, Lyndis was, for once, not covered in blood and smelling like meat. hygiene was not one of her strong suits given that she was from a poor district that didn't really care about that sort of thing.

being the deep thinker that she was, she enjoyed heading out to some distant part of the fields where she would not be bothered, and it was times like this that she was glad her hearing was limited. noises off in the distance often fell on ears with stinted hearing.

she sat in the grass, curling her toes against the ground, enjoying its feel against her bare feet. she leaned back against a tree until she thought she heard a cry for help. it was faint, and her hearing sucked. that probably meant it was closer than she thought. she lifted her head back up, shaking some messy, curly hair out of her face. she slowly got up, moving around slightly, and on all fours. she paused, and sniffed. something smelled different.

then she heard the cry for help again, this time slightly louder. she followed the source of the noise, using her keen eyes to see the hole from the wall grass she was plodding through. when she peered down into it, she noticed the smaller girl.
"Whatcha doin' out here?" She raised an eyebrow, extending her hand down the hole in attempt to pull her out. While Lyndis' hearing was bad, she was not deaf, and physically, she was rather tough and strong. "can't have kids fallin' into holes for no reason now, can we?"

"I swear that they get more careless each year." she thought to herself, "no matter... helping her will make her stop screaming and I can go back to my brooding once this is all out of the way. nothing lost, all is well."
She had an expression that made her look like she was about to kill someone, but that was just her normal expression. she wasn't that violent; except when she was butchering. otherwise though, she had no intention of randomly hurting someone.

Rachel starred up the hole to see a woman hold a hand out to her. “My job,” she sighed. That’s all she did, heard sheep unless she was at school. She took the hand knowing she couldn’t get out on her own. “I can help it if the stupid dog won’t give up chasing that stupid sheep,” she said.

She didn’t really know what to think of the women. She didn’t spend too much more time before she started to search for the dog and sheep. There both stood just staring at her. It was taking all her might not to yell at the dog knowing it would scare off the sheep. She pulled out a rope that had been tucked inside her overalls; she had nothing to wrap the rope around anything back down in the hole. She approached the sheep with light feet. She made a noose and tossed it around the neck of the sheep without anything a single word. She lent down and stoked the sheep. “You’ve been nothing but trouble,” she cooed to the sheep.

“That’s why I was doing. I couldn’t afford to lose a sheep,” she said addressing the women. She glared quickly at Trigger; the dog would chase a sheep but hadn’t even barked to call for help. The dog seemed to cower a bit since Rachel was his one only true owner since the animal could remember.

After helping the other girl out of her predicament Lyndis also watched her, as well as the dog and the sheep, which were obviously hers. her question had been one of curiosity rather than judgment.

"I ain't judging you," she shrugged, "though keeping your dog in better control might be a good idea. just sayin'."
unlike her hostile-looking face which often intimidated people, her voice was rather gentle. she did speak firmly because she needed to be loud enough that she could hear herself to ensure that she spoke clearly, but her voice was for the most part, rather tame.

"Fair enough," she nodded in reply to her second remark, "losing things sucks. you need any help with anything?"
"sooner that happens, the sooner I can enjoy my solitude." she mused, "helping can't be that hard, or that bad."

“You’d have a better time taming a wolf then keeping that dog in control. We think its half wolf or some sort of wild dog,” Rachel said as her face grew stern “Get home Trigger!” Trigger ran off tail tucked down, not like Rachel would hurt him, it was like when a small child got in trouble by their mother.

“I don’t need help. We Shepherds don’t need anyone’s help,” Rachel said, though she was sure her eyes told something different. She was just repeating her father. That’s all she had known though she knew it wasn’t truly right but she didn’t know any better. She couldn’t help her father’s pride and his shame over his nearly helpless wife. “Nothing you can do can help, even if you could my father wouldn’t hear of it,” she said in a much softer weaker tone, the voice of a scared little girl.

“I’m Rachel Shepard by the way,” she said. She hoped the women didn’t know her to be honest. She hadn’t the sad eyes people gave her when they thought of all the kids the family had lost and how dead to the world her mother was. It was better for someone not to know so they treated her like everyone else. She didn’t like being different; it was the people who were different who get killed.

this made Lyndis crack a smile... and the change it brought about on her demeanor was surprising. her hostile-looking face seemed much gentler... like it matched her voice or something. however, Lyndis' looks didn't really say much about her anyways.

when she started going on about help, Lyndis stared on skeptically.
"those are words of pride... which, while good, doesn't help much when you get harassed by peacekeepers or something for not working hard enough. but if that's what she wants... more power to her. I ain't gonna press it."

Racheal Shepard did not ring a bell in Lyndis' mind.
"Lyndis," she motioned towards herself, "Lyndis Jay Montoya II, though most people just call my either Lyndis or Lyn."
Lyndis was generally not one to feel sympathy for people, but little children were different.

"everyone's different in some ways..." she muttered, stepping up next to her, "we've all got our strengths, our secrets, our pride... things we want others to know about us, and things we'd rather keep secret. Anyone who judges you for having any of the above needs to be on the receiving end of a butcher knife to the face. I ain't judgin' ya, kid."
"I don't exactly think that it's high time for me to be telling her that I'm half-deaf, but there's no reason for kids that age to be all doom and gloom... I don't come off as the very comforting type, but any fool who says that hasn't seen me around Lil. eh... I'll see what I can do here... I can't just leave on a note like that..."

Lyndis' musings were silent; apart from what she had told Rachel directly , her mouth had not moved.

“I never said you were judging me,” Rachel whispered. She understood why the women kept saying that she wasn’t judging her when that was never an issue to Rachel. She didn’t really care what other’s think of her. Long as people were reasonable she didn’t think too much about what they think of her or what they say about her.

Rachel still kept her distance. She still was very suspicious of Lyndis. Even the worst of people can do a good deed. She wasn’t really that negative of a girl, it was sort of defense magnesium. She knew she must sound depressed or something, so it was time to change how she says things.

“People are so confusing. You can give them all the respect you want and get nothing in return. But if you respect an animal they respect you back,” she said petting the sheep. The sheep licked her hand then started to graze. She swore the sheep her family raised were more like dogs and sheep. “I think this sheep is confused about its species. Sheep aren’t supposed to lick your hand,” she stated.

Lyndis' keen eyes noticed Rachel's mouth move, but a whisper was not enough for her bad ears to pick up. as she habitually did, she popped the question. "what was that?"
it was curious, though maybe only slightly suspicious, but not enough of that was in her tone for this to be visible. when someone whispered around her, it gave her the impression they were trying to say something to her she didn't want to hear--even if they didn't know about her hearing problem.

"I don't doubt that one," she remarked in response to her other statement, "people are weird like that. just when you think you understand them, or know who they are, they turn over another card that you haven't seen before and throw your whole elaborately-constructed vision of them off balance. it seems to just be how the world works."

“It was nothing important I was thinking out loud. I do that a lot,” Rachel said which wasn’t lie really. She was sure if Lyndis would feel insulted if she hadn’t censored the truth a bit. She wasn’t that rude or immature. It really wasn’t really worth talking about.

She didn’t really know to talk about. She didn’t really know how to talk to adults, the only adults she had talked to her parents. Talking to her mother wasn’t really like talking to an adult since her mother wasn’t all there. You had to speak slowly and gently when you speak to her so not to send her into crying fit or fits of shaking. She tried to avoid talking to adults unless it was to trade produce.

“I’m sorry. I’m not much good at talking with people. It isn’t my strong suit,” she stated honestly. She wasn’t much for lying unless it was to protect a person, sometimes the truth is deadly. Like how her father says her little brothers are playing with friends or sleeping in the barn when she asks for them. It’s more painful and difficult for the liar as time goes on it sometimes it is for the best.

Lyndis nodded and shrugged. "alright. 'sjust that hearing isn't one of my strong suits, so I miss a lot."
"not sure why I decided to tell her, but eh. she doesn't seem like the type to make fun of me for it. if she does... well, I could probably toss her back into the hole or something."

she shrugged and nodded, curling her toes on the ground. "neither am I. when you can't hear half the stuff they say, conversation kinda gets awkward."
she scratched her head. "but, uh... glad you're alright, I guess." she put on a small, slightly awkward smile. This girl reminded her of her own sister, who luckily was also still alive. it was more just one of those things that made Lyndis think.

Rachel nodded; she didn’t really care if the woman had any problems. She had learned that sometimes the people with the worst problems make the best friend. Like Silvia, Rachel’s ten year old neighbor who lived down the road can’t say a word but yet can she can deck a person twice her size and win the fight. People with disadvantages compromise their weakness to have an extremely impressive strength. That is if they have the mental capacity to do so, unlike her mother but maybe her mother does and she doesn’t know.

Then she saw the approaching figure of her mother. She let out a sigh; her mother would surely scare of Lyndis. Even worst, her mother had gotten hold of a bread knife. She was screaming something on the top of her lungs. Rachel had a bad feeling about this; her mother screaming with a knife in hand wasn’t a good thing. If a peacekeeper saw her they’d kill her or take her into custody saying she was a menace to District, which is probably true.

“Mom! What are you doing out?” asked Rachel when her frazzled mother finally reached them. Rachel’s mother was a tall thin lady with frizzy matted light brown hair and distant blue eyes. You could tell her mother had once been a pretty lady with eyes full of joy, love, happiness and life itself but that wasn’t the women who stood before them now. “It’s coming! It’s coming! Wait and see! It’s coming! It will kill us all!” said Rachel’s mother. Rachel tried to calm her mother down with little success. She couldn’t get close enough to even get the knife. Soon as Rachel got within five feet her mother would swing the knife. “Stay away from me you creature!” yelled Rachel’s mother. “Mom, it’s me Rachel. I’m not trying to hurt you. Remember I’m your daughter. I fed you ever morning and evening,” Rachel cooed softly. But it was no use her mother had gone way off the deep end.

Rachel wondered if it would be best if her mother was dead, it was quite obvious the woman before her was so lost that there was no way she’d ever come back. She wondered what had lead her mother to this point but what did it matter, her mother was long gone. She hoped Lyndis didn’t tell Peacekeepers about the fact Rachel’s mother was insane. She knew that Peacekeepers would either kill her or lock her away in a white room until she died. She honestly hoped they would just kill her to put her out the personal hell she lived in.

Then the tears started flow. There was no stopped them. Rachel knew she couldn’t help her mother anymore and everything she had done for her mother was for nothing. Her mother didn’t even know who she was. She didn’t want her mother to die but hated to see her suffer. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right but yet no one put her mother’s misery out

Lyndis stared bug-eyed at the screaming woman with the knife. she really didn't know how to react, and so she remained rooted on the spot for a moment.
then she remembered that she usually had some sort of weapon with her. granted, it was little more than a stick, but she knew how to swing and how to make it hurt, and where to hit... well, she did on livestock at least.
hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

Lyndis was definitely surprised, to say the least, but it wasn't enough to make the hearing-impaired girl make a break for it. she stood her ground, casting Rachel a look that almost seemed to say "anything ya want me to do?"

"I gotta admit... that was about the last thing I expected... well, 'cept maybe an announcement that the next Hunger Games arena was going to be in District 10 or somethin'... still. this ain't right; someone's gotta either put that poor bastard out of her misery, or get her someplace where she won't be killing people. sign her up for the games maybe?"
an introverted mind was the mind of a thinker and perhaps even a fantasizer. half the stuff she thought about wasn't stuff she'd actually do. the other stuff was stuff that she wasn't able to do, but would if she could. still... this was a child in need, not blessed with two sane parents the way Lyndis was. she almost wanted to do something, but didn't know what, which was part of why she lingered; hoping for some sort of clue.

Rachel had no idea what to do. The sheep pulling on her arm because it’s frightened of Rachel’s mother wasn’t helping. She wondered if the sheep knew how insane her mother was. She couldn’t just drop the rope tied to the sheep or else it will run off. She found a smaller rock and put it on part of the rope so the sheep couldn’t run off.

“Lyndis do you know if we have any doctor’s around? If so can you go get them before my mother decides to use us target practice,” she asked as calmly and gently as possible. But when there is a crazed woman swigging a knife around it’s hard to keep very calm. She wondered if she could try to talk to her one last time.

“Mom, do you want some help?” she asked. “GET AWAY!” screamed her mother. Rachel frowned knowing that she couldn’t help her mother. It was best to let an adult handle her now. There is nothing more she could do but hope that a doctor can put her out of her misery before the peacekeepers can lock her away.

Lyndis glanced back, still a bit edgy because of the situation as a whole.
"I can't say I do," She confessed, "well, not off the top of me head anyways. what'd they do anyways?"

it was mostly a bout of curiosity that had Lyndis asking this, as this condition didn't look medical to her, and she didn't quite realize just yet how Rachel wished to deal with her mother.

"this seems more like a psychologist issue, or there's something here I'm not seeing," she mused, staying very alert so she didn't become the newest person to be on the receiving end of a knife, "I wish I knew someone to help her with... whatever it is she's hoping to do... this is only slightly awkward to say the least."

[OOC--I suppose the main reason Lyndis does not know anyone is because I'm not sure if you're looking for a PC or NPC, and because Lyndis' questions are genuine... if that makes sense.]

“Sedatives are something before she takes someone’s live, “Rachel said her voice straining. She was desperate to find help. “Before peacekeepers arrive and decide to public execute her or put her in some white-room in the basement of a building!” she said as her voice rising. She had to calm herself down before her mother’s violence rose.

“She can’t help it. She’s not there anymore, she hasn’t been for years. She’s not in control of herself. There isn’t anything we can do besides find a doctor before peacekeepers come,” Rachel stated. Maybe a doctor can help her mother so it isn’t a question of life or death anymore. She knew that was wishful thinking but she had nothing else to hold onto. “You have to know someone. Or at least some with access to sedatives,” she pleaded.

[OOC—I don’t care either way. I’m not even sure what I’ll do with Rachel’s mother after that]

"ah. now that rings a bell."
Lyndis thought for a moment before realizing what the girl was after. luckily she was speaking loudly so Lyndis could hear it clearly.

"I do then..." she replied, "or at least--I can get you some sedatives. He ain't exactly a trained individual, so if you wanna hold tight I can probably convince 'im to slip me some."

"the one thing I love about the poorer places is the black markets. well.... or ion this case, knowing people with those kinds of connections. no point in bringing someone out here... if they recognize this kid's mother and she's this annoying on a regular basis, chances are they'll want her canned or killed anyways... don't wanna be that mean."

"so if ya don't mind giving me a couple minutes," she pulled herself back to her feet, "I'll be right back--no one else will need to know, and your dear mother will be safe."

Rachel just nodded. She didn’t care how many laws she had to break long as it kept her mother from hurting someone or something. She hoped Lyndis hurried. A peacekeeper could be just around the corner. She kept her distance from her mother hoping she could keep from agitating her mother. She petted the sheep for comfort.

A few minutes after Lyndis had left Rachel’s mother had curled up into a ball still clutching the knife. She rocked back and forth now and then. Rachel just kept her distance trying not to cry. This always seemed to happen at the worst possible times. It worried her that that if she wasn’t around what would happen to her mother. Nothing good for sure

Lyndis was known for being light on her feet; and as she tore through the grass, she was so light and so quiet that she couldn't even hear her own steps. she took off through the grass towards the Upper District.

ultimately, she was gone about 10-15 minutes. she knew who to go to, what to say, and how to get what she wanted from this particular individual. the transaction was done swiftly and efficiently, and Lyndis also grabbed one of her old cleavers just for the heck of it.

she returned the same way she came, approaching Rachel once again.
"this was the best I could get given the circumstances," she shrugged, "hope it works."
Lyndis also just wanted her area back. that was still the main goal, though a side goal or two wouldn't hurt... right?

Rachel got up to her feet once she saw Lyndis coming. She was careful not to startle her mother. She already had to inject a needle into her. That was going to be task itself but then again her mother was unpredictable.

She reached out and took the needle. “Thank you,” she said. “Medicine?” asked her mother. “Yes its medicine. You’ll feel much better if you take it,” Rachel said. Her mother directed her where to inject the needle since she was unable to hold the syringe without dropping it.

Right as the sedatives started to take over Trigger came back. He didn’t bark, Rachel believed he sensed her mother’s instability. The issue of trying to lead a sheep and carry her mother back was now her top priority. Then she took the rock off the rope and got Trigger to take the rope in his mouth and lead the sheep home, she was glad Trigger was intelligent at the moment. She pulled her mother up, her mother dropped the knife and Rachel picked it up since it was the only bread knife they owned. She made a mental note to hide the knives.

Her mother started mumbling about stars, horses and rainbows. She kept walking in irregular paths nearly tripping Rachel. “Thank you. If there anything I can do to repay you feel free to visit the farm or you might catch me in town. I live at the sheep farm with the yellow barn; it’s the only yellow barn in a few miles,” Rachel called back to Lyndis. Her father had to rebuild their barn after burned down and when he did he painted it yellow instead of red because the color red made her mother go crazy.

Lyndis sat down and watched Rachel do what she had to.
"poor bastard," she mused, "makes me wonder how often the kid has to do something like that... but what do you do? as little remorse as I'd have for killing some people, I don't think I'd be able to kill my own mother--my namesake. I'd have put this woman out of her misery easily enough, but what place do I have to do that? it ain't my mother, so I wouldn't understand..."

she glanced at Rachel one more time as she was leaving. "need any help?" she wondered aloud, "doesn't look like an easy setup that you're got yourself in."
she had mentally noted this girl's home when she gave her the information, and her curiosity wanted her checking back every now and again. maybe after she got this sorted out, she'd return to her usual musing in the normally quiet fields.

Rachel turned back for a second. Her acute young sensation picked up on Lyndis saying something. “If you want I suppose you can take the sheep from Trigger. Trigger doesn’t bite humans, he might bark but his bark is worst then his bite,” she said loudly enough to be heard from the distance she was from Lyndis.

Leading practically carrying her mother didn’t mind Rachel. She didn’t want anything to happen to the sheep still. She wanted to make sure the sheep got back into the barn so she could lock away all the knives and do some more safety proofing since her mother had gotten out somehow and the doors were locked.

Rachel also knew her father wouldn’t come in until late tonight. He had to take some of the sheep to the high field. The route took at least three hours with only five sheep but with twenty sheep it could take a lot more that’s if you didn’t stop to rest. No one ever said a shepherd had an easy job or one that paid well but at least they could survive off it. Maybe it was best she was an only child.

Lyndis was able to hear most of what Rachel said, and so she took the sheep from the dog, gently, as not to startle either one.
she had to admire the patience of the people who tended the livestock. she probably wouldn't have had that kind of patience and would have butchered them right there or something. she wasn't exactly a girl with moral qualms about butchering animals--given that it was her profession... she really couldn't be.

she quietly followed Rachel, not breaking the silence only because she had nothing to say, and when she had nothing to say, she saw no reason to open her mouth. for some reason, she found herself wanting to help, and she wasn't sure why... so here she was.

Rachel was exhausted from the extra weight as she approached her home. The Shepherd’s barn looked much better than their house did. The yellow barn was standing straight and the paint wasn’t chipping off yet and the roof wasn’t caving in. While their house was more like a shack with the parts of the roof missing, the paint was almost completely chipped off except for a few yellowish spots that once had been part of a white coating of the house and the house was leaning severally and the attic had collapsed on itself but luckily not the whole house.

When people ask her where she lives she rarely tell people because it is so horrible she is worried someone will tell the Head Peacekeeper and they’d take her away from her parents. She pushes the door open with her foot but inside of opening it fell off the hinges. “Bye, bye door,” said Rachel’s mother dreamily. Rachel groaned and cursed under her breath. Her father wasn’t going to be happy about that one.

“Lyndis you can take the sheep into the barn then take the rope out. It will find its way around the barn,” Rachel said loudly as she sat her mother down on a dining room chair. She found all of the knives and hid them away in a drawer. She led her mother into the master bedroom and heading back outside. She wanted to make sure the sheep ended up in the barn.

when they reached Rachel's home, Lyndis was somewhat surprised at the state it was in, but she was never one to judge unless she had first been judged herself.
"I've seen worse." she mused, "I've lived in a box before, but this... something "permanent" looks like this? how is this thing even still standing?"

but this only made her secretly garner more sympathy for the girl. Lyndis' set of morals was a strange one indeed.

she understood how to follow instructions, and so when Rachel gave them, she nodded with a grunt of acknowledgement and did exactly as she was told. right as Rachel headed back outside, Lyndis had just stepped out of the barn, and so the two girls met then and there.
"e's all good." she pointed her thumb back at the barn, referencing the sheep, "she should stay safe in there by the looks of things."

though even then, she didn't want to leave just so soon. now her curiosity was piqued, and she wanted to know more about this family.

Rachel was glad to know the sheep was safely in the barn. She heard Lyndis but didn’t really respond as she starred at the two little crosses where her little brothers lay since they couldn’t afford a plot in the cemetery. The images of her little brother’s faces flash before her eyes. She missed them so much, ever since they had died her mother had been so detached from the world and her father was drinking heavy now. Andrew had only been five when he had died from the measles and Sonny got rammed by one of the neighbor’s bulls when he was eight. They had been twins, what were the chances of both dying so young.

She wondered what they would be like now. She let out sigh when she knew she’d never know. It always made her heart ache when she saw the crosses but yet she never stopped looking at them. She didn’t understand why that was.

"Did you know that my father built this barn from scratch?" she asked drawing herself away from the crosses.