Hi, guys.
It's been... a while. I've just started posting again, but I haven't really interacted with anyone outside the occasional short reply since my last journal, which was over a year ago. So, I thought I'd give a little bit of an update to those of you who've been around for quite some time, who might be interested in how things have been going for me.
So, let's get personal.
First things first, I am no longer attending university. Being a student and studying for a degree that I didn't want felt like it was literally killing me, and I knew that for once in my life I had to put myself above my education, and after two years of study,
Radioactive - Chapter Fourteen by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Fourteen
Stan and Craggles found a shallow reserve of water after digging at the roots of one of the less sickly-looking trees. After Craggles had drank his fill, Stan filled his hide water-gourd, trying not to get too much sand, and then he trudged back to where Rose was resting.
She looked a little better now, but she was still pale and obviously weary. Sweat plastered her hair to her face. She would not be able to move just yet. Stan stifled a sigh – no doubt Rose would demand that they travel at night in order to make up for the delay.
Even though she was the one to cause it.
Stan allowed himself a brief moment of guilt for feeling resent
Radioactive - Chapter Nine by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Nine
Stan secured one of the bulging back-packs to Craggles' thick neck with his rope. He had found that this was the easiest most comfortable way for him to carry things. He swung the other back-pack onto his own back and paused, glancing around at the empty camp-site. He didn't usually feel remorse or regret he he moved onto a new place, but this time he did.
With a sigh he vaulted himself up onto Craggles' back and settled himself just in front of his shoulders. When he just sat there, Craggles glanced up at Stan questioningly. Stan smiled and leant down to pat his scaly neck reassuringly.
“It's okay, pal,” he murmured. “I'm
Radioactive - Chapter Eleven by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Eleven
Stan turned back to Rose and stuck his hand out, offering to help her stand. Rose glared at the outstretched hand for a moment, both sullen and suspicious. But she reluctantly accepted, and when Stan helped her to her feet she quickly stepped away from him, standing awkwardly with her weight off the wounded ankle. Stan noted that it was the same leg that Craggles had bitten. Damn, that must have sucked.
“Don’t suppose you have another bandage?” Rose asked, suddenly quiet, almost subdued. Stan glanced at her in surprise. Rose looked oddly vulnerable, standing there and avoiding meeting his eyes. Telling him about her weaknes
Radioactive - Chapter Ten by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Ten
Stan sat bolt upright. A split second later the familiarity of the voice registered with Stan, and he swore out loud. It was Rose!
He only hesitated for a second (she was annoying and unpleasant, but she didn't deserve to die) and then Stan turned Craggles towards the direction of the scream. He urged the Mutoid faster, crouching low over his scales as he narrowed his eyes, trying to locate the source of the scream. He saw her then – Rose seemed to be stuck on the ground somehow, and she was flailing her arms wildly at the pack of Mutoids that were closing in.
They were ugly little things, lithe and lean, with dark and leathery skin,
Radioactive - Chapter Eight by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Eight
Stan was silent for a short while as Rose continued to wrap her wounded leg. As the female Radioactive tied the strip of cloth off and leant back to admire her work, he spoke up again.
“Do you... I mean, are you... do you have a family?”
Rose glanced up at him sharply, eyes flaring briefly in the early morning light. After a moment she seemed to calm, and she lazily pushed a strand of hair – dark blonde, Stan decided finally – behind her ear. She propped herself on her elbows, reclining into a comfortable position before she bothered to answer him.
“Nope,” she said.
“Friends?” Stan asked.
Radioactive - Chapter Five by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Five
Stan's muscles quickly tired. He cast one last, admiring look at the sunset, and leant down further to slap Craggles' side.
“Alright, Craggles,” he called over the wind that whistled past. “I think we're safe now.” Craggles glanced at him, confusion in his big, kind eyes. Stan chuckled. After the stunt Craggles had pulled, Stan had all but forgotten that he was still, essentially, an animal.
He squeezed Craggles' massive shoulders with his knees and pointed downwards. The Mutoid let out an eager bellow and, without warning, clapped his wings to his side and plummeted towards the ground.
Stan gave an exhilarated scre
Radioactive - Chapter Four by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Four
Craggles proved to be a very useful creature.
He helped to catch prey for both himself and Stan, and carried all of Stan's things. So far, none of the Mutoids wheeling in the distance had dared approach, now that Craggles was there. Though his growth appeared to have been stunted some time in his early life, he was still a fearsome brute. For this, Stan was grateful.
But Stan didn't discover the most useful thing until nearly a month later.
He was sitting in the shade of a gnarled tree, resting against it for a little while. Craggles lay next to him, panting quietly. Despite his best efforts, his eyelids were just starting to drift inexora
Radioactive - Chapter Three by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Three
Stan hadn't meant to fall asleep, but must have, because when he opened his eyes he was curled on his side and it was dark. And the Mutoid was sitting right there.
Stan exclaimed in alarm and sat up abruptly. The Mutoid flinched but didn't back away. It had something in it's mouth, and as Stan watched it dropped the thing and nudged it towards him. The bundle, soggy with saliva and blood, was a small, furry rabbit, one of the few creatures to have not mutated in the past.
Stan's eyes widened. He got up slowly, not raising further than a crouch, and he approached the Mutoid and it's prey cautiously. When he was a couple of feet away from it,
Radioactive - Chapter Two by AnimaRaven, literature
Literature
Radioactive - Chapter Two
Stan rolled up his blankets, stuffed them into his back-pack and headed outside. He looked around, picked a direction that looked enticing, and set off on foot. He had smeared black paint around his eyes and pulled up the hood of his sleeveless jacket, not to protect him from the sun, but to avoid unwanted attention. He didn't feel like scaring folk off today, and not every person he came across wanted to take his possessions. Just most of them.
Pretty soon an enticing scent floated to his nostrils. He paused, lifted his face to the wind, and grinned. Water!
He turned and headed determinedly in the direction of the scent of the water. He he