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 Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:01 pm
(Anyone may reply to this...this is here to allow any villager to come across the body of a guard that Jamal mauled and purposefully brought to the village as a display of sorts. Jamal won't be there though.)
On the outskirts of the village, those with sensitive noses may detect a tang of blood in the air that grows stronger as you head towards the back of a few duplexes. There, in the tall grass, lies a body just out of immediate eyeshot of one of the tall, post cameras. The body is relatively fresh in that it's not decomposing. It's also mostly intact aside from a distinct lack of a throat and the entire left arm is ripped from the socket. Upon closer inspection, one can see that the deceased is wearing an official issue Feral Labs guard uniform. If anyone is curious and gets up close, they can see a sprinkling of white and black hairs across the front of it. The last, probably most disturbing feature of the corpse is that the man's forehead has what appears to be a number "1" carved messily across his brow.
Anyone with previous encounters of Jamal might possibly scent him as having been in the area and having touched the body.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:36 pm
The blasted dog wouldn't stop barking. Liamh scowled up from the steps of his duplex where he sat trying to work on the computer. "What? What? Go on! I already threw the stick!" The yellow beast kept dodging away from the duplexes, toward the edge of the jungle, and letting out demanding barks.
Liamh shook his head. "I swear, if this is another nifty example of jungle flora you want me to look at...." He winced as another sharp bark threatened to split his eardrums. "Okay, fine, I'm coming... just shaddap a minute, then we can play whatever goosechase you want..." He hefted the laptop back inside the door of his duplex and stomped down the wooden steps while the dog ran in ecstatic circles.
As he shuffled over, Prancer took off for the edge of the jungle, giving another bark and repeating the process until the plant-man had hurried up. The dog stopped at a patch of tall grass, his hackles raised with a low, rumbling growl.
"Hey, hold up! What the hell is wr- "
Liamh caught up to the shepherd, his eyes falling on the sprawled form in the grass. The uniform. The blood. The smell was strong, here. Liamh could feel shock creeping up his limbs as the blood - rather, the fluids that now served as blood - left his face.
The man's throat was completely gone, ripped out. And there on the forehead....
"NYAAAAAAAAGH!" His shrill shout echoed across the duplex green. "Holy FRIKKEN CRAP..." he backed away, stumbling over the dog behind his legs and falling in a panicked heap.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:40 pm
Well if nothing else lunch in the company of Richard had been tolerable. Sure the affair had been messy having to eat with his face and all but for now if he didn't want to starve he would just have to act "uncivilized". Now full and in a better move than he had been in a while Charlie slowly followed Richard about the duplexes.
"No, no, really. I did like the newsletter--" the going was hard with such an incredibly bulky body but it was for perhaps all of his huffing and puffing that Charlie caught the faintest hit of some offensible odor in the air. Strange there one moment...and gone the next.
"Erm, sorry--as I was saying--" ...There it was again, like a creeping chill of something vile which had been allowed to fester on its own too long. "Did you smell that?" Afraid he was out of his mind, Charlie decided to casually mention the issue to his friend.
Unbeknown to the councilor who had failed to do his re-search, Charlie was the delightful victim of his own heightened sense smell. Rather strange to think that a tortoise would have a keen sense of smell and yet...Charlie was experiencing first hand this phenomenon. If he had been farther away he would have been lucky enough to miss it entirely and yet, he was too close for his own good.
Of course if he was merely imagining things, the scream from heard from around the corner confirmed that something wasn't right.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:47 pm
Richard shook his head and rolled his eyes. Charlie was a difficult to deal with sometimes.
In response to Charlie's question Richard shot him a questioning look, then sniffed the air. His nose, while having a definite feline appearance to it was still as dull as ever, if slightly retuned. A less than mature response flitted over his brain but decided Charlie was too high strung to take a joke. He sniffed again.
"All I smell is that sweet humidity of the topics."
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:48 pm
Miller had been making his way back from his tree like always, lately he found he spent more time in his tree then his duplex or any were else on the island. Well except Awen's duplex were he would offten stop by to play video games with the manta ray girl.
He started to veer left down the dirt path that was becoming more worn each time he took it when a shout caught his attention. "What the feckz?" He turned right instead going after the voice his budgy legs carrying him along quickly with a bit of a bird like skip to each step. "Hey! Hey! Whoz screaming out herez!?" The voice sounded familiar, like he had heard it before. He came bursting out of the tree line looking about spotting Liamh, granted a very diffrent looking Liamh tangled up with a dog and a rather sickly oder in the air.
"Liamh? Wutz going on? Whyz you screaming?" He didn't even notice the body that was laying a few yards off to his side.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:00 pm
Liamh rolled over away from the dog, which bounded off to the side and crouched, still giving a low growl and then another bark. Liamh scuttled backward on his rear, still staring at the bloodied body as Miller came running up. He didn't look away as the guy started calling to him.
"It's-it's-it's-" he was starting to sound like Newt, "DEAD!" He pointed at the tall grass. The distinct metallic tang hung in a cloud almost tangibly around them.
He swallowed hard. "Guard. He's dead. I think... I think it was the tiger.. man." He forced himself to his knees and into a shaky crouch. "His throat, it's just... GONE... blood everywhere... Hogawd..." He clutched his stomach and looked actually LESS green than he ought to have.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:09 pm
If he could walked any faster, Charlie would have. A glance down at the thick legs which now carried him about only caused the wrinkles on Charlie's face to deepen. Never being particularly tall, the fact that he was becoming stumpier stung just a little bit.
"What do you think it could have been?" Charlie glanced at his side to Richard, whose emotions the counselor rather cared not read at the moment.
Upon reaching the site however, it was clear the cause of--Liamh? Yes, yes that was it, Charlie had gone to his birthday and everything. Either way it was clear to see Liamh's distress. Miller may have missed the body, but Charlie being his keen self trained to observe didn't miss the despicable sight before his eyes.
There was only one word to be said, "Ew..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:12 pm
Miller started over towards Liamh tilting his head, "Youz starting to sound like Newtz... just calm downz an-" he stoped when Liamh finally got out the word dead. "D-dead" he mumbled.
He turned to face the way Liamh was and his eyes went wide and soon he joined Liamh in stumbling back a bit, that certainly explained the smell. One how could he not have gussed it after having been almost literally given a blood bath after each transformation thanks to his feathers?
He looked to Liamh again trembleing, "Youz sure... it was tiger? Not..." he gulped, "Snow leopardz?" It couldn't of been Kikue but, she was a feral cat and if she was pushed, but he had to be sure of this.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:19 pm
While he didn't smell anything Richard certainly heard Laimh's shout. He felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle. What had happened. Richard rushed in the direction of the scream, passing Charlie as he did so.
As the grisely site came into view, Richard skidded to a stop, giving a small growl of surprise. He mouth gaped and his tail went straight as a pole. "Oh my god." He had seen bodies before, but never one so brutalized.
Still the reporter instinct was strong, a hand found its way to the pocket where he kept his camera.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:27 pm
Liamh glanced back, then, at Miller behind him - a small crowd was gathering, footsteps approaching. Miller was quite a bit more feathery since the food fight, but he'd seen him from a distance enough that it wasn't a shock.
And not nearly as much a shock as the corpse.
"Ugh... i, i dunno... I haven't seen the leopard lady do anything like... like THIS," he gestured in front of him. The dog nearby was creeping closer, more subdued now that there seemed to be a group. "and I don't think the wolf would have left...." he choked down some bile, "Left a NUMBER on the guy's head."
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:32 pm
Despite the--discomfort and distaste Charlie was currently feeling, there were a few things to do before he could completely give into the desire to run away as fast as he could, "You two ok?"
Remaining as calm as possible, Charlie waddled his way towards the decaying figure and two stricken young males. That was what was truely important as of now, making sure everyone was ok. Just in shock and not physically hurt.
Spying some movment Charlie waved a hand over at Richard slightly irritated, "Not now--" He managed to mumble before shoving a hand over mouth and nose. And to think before he thought the faint traces of the body smelled horrible...
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:35 pm
Miller shivered all his feathers prickling up causing him to puff a bit before they settled down again with the shiver having passed, leaving him with a cold empty feeling in his gut.
He turned following Liamh's gesture back to the corpse and found him self slowly walking over, he had to be sure it wasn't Kikue. "Kik-uze knocked meh cross her room and pinnedz me faster then I couldz blink... shez just as dangerouz as the Tiger man..." He stoped and looked back at Liamh eyes wide at the number comment.
Sure enough when he turned back and got a closer look at the forehead he noticed the number carved in to it, and the missing arm. He snapped his beak life mouth shut gagging slightly but he couldn't look away. Kikue surely wouldn't do this and the stories of Annie said she was completly beyond human thought. That left the tiger man... a man Miller had meet during a party at the beach, but he couldn't place a name to the face.
Miller turned to Charlie and gave a tiny little nod, "Yah... I'm okayz..." what little flesh showed under his feathers had taken on a white that not even his naturally paling skin could match but other wise he was doing okay... for now.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:49 pm
Richard briefly looked over the scene when Charlie gestured at him. He saw no wounds, other than the ones on the body. "Jamal did this?" A slight shiver passed through his body and all that meat he had just eaten was tap dancing on his ribs. This man had been a kill. He had been hunted.
Revolted as he was, there was a small part of him in the dark of his mind that whispered... "Good." The hand came up out of the pocket and there was a flash.
Then he turned the others. "Who's Kik-uze?" Another feral islander?
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:55 pm
"Yeah, i'm... ugh, i'm okay.."
Liamh jumped as he felt a cold wet nose on the back of his elbow, and Prancer shoved his head under his arm. He ruffled the dog, glad for a chance to hide the distinct shaking that was in his hands. "Ugh... why... do you think he left it HERE?"
He glanced at the body again, his stomach still rioting as he crouched there. "And... why the mark? Has to be some kind of message..." He shuddered, then looked back over his shoulder. "The lab creeps must not have heard about this yet."
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