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 Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:25 am
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Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:01 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:44 pm
AIM RP Sabin Duvert It's difficult to really pinpoint what the last thing that either Gaius or Zachary remember. But regardless, the next thing that both experience is remarkably similar. Namely, darkness, restraint, and sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair with the distinct presence of another in the room. While both of you are restrained, the restraints aren't TOO tight, but secure enough to keep you in the chair. Neither of you are gagged, but the room is pitch black, and there is a subtle smell of anaseptics in the background. You are both in the same room, and for the moment, you are alone. Gaius Harper Gaius cracked first one eye, then the other, but there was little difference between open and closed as everything remained dark. Trying to lift a hand to rub at his eyes, Gaius found his arm restrained, and the hazyness of unconsciousness began to clear. "Hey... what?" He pulled harder, but with no luck, and looked around in confusion. "What's going on?" Zachary Bloodstone Zach didn’t think anything strange was afoot until he noticed there was no differentiation between what could be seen with open or closed eyes. The other details of the situation struck him one by one as he tried to get up and discovered that he couldn’t. And that familiar smell… He was still too confused to bother with anything as useful as talking, so the other voice came as a surprise to him. Gaius? Now it was critical to know where they were. He didn’t bother struggling with the restraints – he’d already learned the labs could tie a good knot when they wanted to. Gaius Harper The fact that he was bound and in the dark did little to calm Gaius' clouded senses. Especially when he was fairly sure he could sense someone else in the room. His hackles rose as he craned his neck around, trying to see any source of light. His ears likewise strained. Was that an intake of breath? "Is someone there?" Zachary Bloodstone “Yes, Gaius, that’s my name.” He wasn’t about to let slip that he was equally surprised that Gaius was here, not when he was already getting more nervous by the minute. The less emotion he put into his words, the more he bottled up. “I was wondering the same thing.” Gaius Harper "See you brought your shining personality too," Gaius muttered. The enclosing darkness, and the fact that Zach was speaking in a hushed voice made Gaius lower his own. "This... The labs are behind this?" Zachary Bloodstone This time he chose not to answer. Instead he let out an audible sigh through his nose, which sounded shaky despite his efforts. Gaius Harper "...I swear, if you whined to Sabin..." Gaius growled, though his voice carried a clear undertone of apprehension. As far as he knew, he was the one bound. Zach could possibly be free, and this was all a ploy to get even. Bound and blind, Gaius was at the mercies of whatever happened. It was out of his control. And he didn't like that. Zachary Bloodstone Gaius’s guess was a nice thought, but if it was the case then there’d be no need to be bound to a chair. Zach flexed his fingers a little in frustration. First of all, ‘whine’ was the wrong term for it entirely. He wasn’t in any mood to defend himself from Gaius when the last time he’d lost his temper so easily. “Shut up. I don’t even want to hear this.” Gaius Harper Gaius grumbled, but didn't make any retort. His mind was occupied enough with his immediate situation. The medical smell stung faintly in his nostrils. Were they actually inside the labs? He clenched his hands, trying the binds again, a grunt escaping with the effort. No good. Zachary Bloodstone It was uncomfortable having his wings right behind him, but they had been crushed up against the back of the chair long enough that the pain existed more in the background than the forefront of his mind. Struggling was pointless. Talking was pointless. Wondering where he was and why was even more pointless yet. He swore under his breath at his own recklessness. He could care less what Gaius was doing there and what would happen to the horse-man. It was his own well-being he was worrying about. Gaius Harper A hushed curse came from Gaius' direction. He grit his teeth, frustration adding to his already tensed nerves. Besides his current state, Gaius was frustrated with himself. Part of him jabbed at his conscience, telling him he should have listened to Sabin's warning seriously and just avoided the stupid dragon. But how could he avoid him on Thanksgiving when the guy snuck up on him? Or in the entertainment room? Still the small sharp voice said he should've just left the place and avoided the whole thing, but he balked at the thought. Turn tail and run? He'd already done that too much lately for his own liking. "How long are they planning to keep us here..." he muttered, glaring in no particular direction. Zachary Bloodstone “As long as they feel like it. Get used to it.” Zach opened one eye and closed it when the space they were in remained as dark as ever. With his eyes closed he didn’t feel blind. With only a few subjects to think about, his mind wandered back once again to the circumstances of being in the room. Now that he really thought about it, was rather straightforward. May as well open the subject to discussion, however one-sided. There was nothing else to do. “This is all your fault.” Gaius Harper Gaius' glare turned in the general direction of wherever Zach's voice was coming from. "Is not. You're the one who threw the punch... and the plate of food first." Sabin Duvert It was about that time, however, that there was a clicking noise, a brief shaft of light, and then darkness again... with footsteps approaching - mens' shoes on hard floor that strode with purpose. It stopped about ten feet from the chairs. A disapproving demeanor could almost be felt eminating from the individual despite the darkness. Finally, a small light illuminated the figure and the figure alone from above - a rather unmistakable figure clad in dark, out of date clothes and tophat. His arms were crossed, and a stern expression on his face. "I thought I told the two of you to play nice." Zachary Bloodstone The brief flicker of light stopped him from continuing his verbal vendetta. His eyes followed where the footsteps sounded like they were coming from. The worry that had been quite nerve-wracking before doubled with every one of the steps. He had a pretty damn good idea who had just come in. He had to look away when the light first turned on, but when his eyes adjusted the worry seemed to solidify. Quickly he turned his gaze toward the floor, mumbling something that may or may not have been an apology. Gaius Harper Gaius' ears strained at the sound of approach, and he winced as the light came on, painful to his darknss-adjusted eyes. However, he continued to look at Sabin, fighting the urge to look away. That would only admit his guilt. "It's not my fault if Zach can't control himself..." Gaius had been planning to speek in a calm, firm voice, but the moment it left his lips, he cringed at how childish he sounded. "I tried..." Sabin Duvert Sabin actually laughed at Gaius's protests. "Gaius... had you said the things to ME that you said to Zachary... I would have punched you, too. Most people display more concern for their fellows who merely wish to be able to find a book without being deafened." Sabin glanced to Zachary. "In this case, you are mostly innocent, but you two have been tormenting and antagonizing eachother for weeks, since my warnings. And it only winds up with the two of your bruised and battered." Zachary Bloodstone Zach looked up just a little bit, though he was far from trying to make any sort of eye contact still. He wasn’t going to talk unless he absolutely needed to. Sabin would defend him from anything Gaius had to say. It was comforting to know he hadn’t made a wrong decision when he’d lashed out with the punch. But if that wasn’t what he was here for, then what was it? His eyes were back to the darkness that he assumed was the floor soon enough. Yes, he’d been warned, he supposed, but with everyone degrading him to the status of a pet, his meager dignity was at stake. Without Sabin seeming able to exact revenges, he had to carry out what little he could with what he had. It was true, this was something he was getting hurt over. When it was put that way, the skirmishes didn’t seem worth it. His jaw fought him every step of the way. "Wasn't thinking..." Gaius Harper Gaius hunkered down in his chair, at least as much as he could with bindings and wings impeding him, feeling rather like he was sitting in a Principle's office. He was ashamed to admit it, but there was truth in Sabin's words. "I… was wrong the other day," he forced out, avoiding looking at either Sabin or Zach. "I was acting on a grudge… But it's a grudge he earned in the first place. Yeah, I goaded him… but it was with the truth!" "I… was wrong the other day," he forced out, avoiding looking at either Sabin or Zach. "I was acting on a grudge… But it's a grudge he earned in the first place. Yeah, I goaded him… but it was with the truth! Maybe I wouldn't be so hard on him if he hadn't given me reason to be. Like when I first arrived, the lies… playing with me…" He looked back up at Sabin, meeting him eye for eye. "And what about after my change? Ganging up on me with Freddie… yeah, real fair." Sabin Duvert "There, was that so hard to admit, Gaius?" Sabin said with a scolding cluck of his tongue. "You two have been off to the wrong foot since day one. But were you two to actually attempt to know eachother instead of fighting like schoolyard children then perhaps things wouldn't be so unbearable for the two of you here." Sabin put his hands on his hips and shook his head, walking in a small circle. "After all, you seem to be the primary cause of each others' misery." He looked to Zachary in regards to the Freddie incident. "Freddie is nothing more than a Bully and a pigheaded chauvenist. That's why he's out there. I didn't expect you to drop to his level, Zachary. Neither of you are innocent in this matter. I can see when people are vicitizing you needlessly, and I can take action to that. But the simplest measure here... is for a mutual understanding.." Sabin's face took on a devious smile. THere was a calculating tone in his eyes. Zachary Bloodstone “Freddie?” he asked quietly. He and the guard had never been formally introduced, but the ‘bullying’ comment made it clear. Sabin was one of very few people on the island he thought understood him. The last thing he wanted was to hold the man’s ire, for what had accumulated into a variety of reasons. By the time he’d already spoken his question he’d pieced it together, and after a short pause he added a noise of very unpleasant realization that ended up louder than he was even daring to speak. “Oh.” Finally he worked up enough of some sort of emotion to peel his eyes away from the floor. The expression was enough to tip him off. Not good. Not good. Gaius Harper Gaius hung his head, biting back any retort. He knew enough about self-preservation to not speak up, at least this time. Regardless, his pride was taking some serious blows during all this. At least Sabin agreed with his view of the Freddie incident. Unlike Zach, Gaius was not familiar with Sabin's varying, and sometime quite wicked, moods, and so he stared at him with a wary eye. "…What do you mean?" Sabin Duvert Sabin positively grinned at the question. "You two need to learn to work together. And perhaps, in that learning environment, get to know eachother better." Sabin laced his fingers, looking quite pleased with himself. He walked over to Zachary's chair, and undid some of the ties to his chair - enough to allow him to wriggle free, but it would take him a minute or so to do so. Then, he walked back to the door. "Work together, and you should be able to get yourselves out of here. I'll be watching, though." And there was a heavy thumping sound as Sabin opened and shut the door.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:32 pm
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Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:31 pm
Zach wasn't aware of exactly when the all-encompassing darkness of the room gave way to the less oppressive cool blue of his duplex as dusk approached. But there was light, and heat, and the air wasn't stale or laden with chemical, and when he moved in his half-conscious state to roll onto his side he discovered that he was no longer bound. His eyes opened slowly, surveying the gloriously visible scenery, before shutting again. There were still aches and pains from assorted parts of him, things that he was inwardly squirming away from thinking about due to their causes. His arms ached from helping build that ladder, his wings had been crushed while sitting in the chair, and skin was rubbed red around his right wrist where his still-human skin had been tied by the cords.
And then there was the unpleasant roiling emotions that came with the return of such recent memory. He didn't move. He couldn't. It was a waste of effort. Even though his throat begged for water, he couldn't have tried to get up and walk to the sink to quench what had been a thirst for hours upon hours. Getting up meant moving on, and like hell was he going to try running from this convenient bubble of stopped time. As long as he lay on the bed in this mockery of a peaceful sleep, he was outside of the cruel grasp of passing time. Thoughts raced quickly and worriedly from one fragment to the next, working to restore a semblance of structure to his frazzled thinking. He felt caught between two narrow paths, but his desire to pursue either was very slim at the moment.
To make a stand and turn things around was a valid option, one he'd given up on early on at the first sign of hopelessness. There was the noble idea to throw his cautiousness aside and join the rest of the islanders in their perpetual depression over their situation. This was assuming they would be forgiving and inclusive, traits he didn't want to be that hopeful for. Or, perhaps, to openly (though not violently) oppose the doctor who'd fashioned his complicated serum, regardless of the consequences. What spine it would show! What disregard for the institution! But to take the little freedom of choice there was and to choose "the right thing", it seemed a waste of effort. And to make an enemy of another islander was one thing, but to make an enemy of Sabin had a much higher price. That had been exemplified earlier. The fight was pointless if Sabin grew annoyed enough at any point to take action of his own.
So that left the polar opposite of opposition, which he knew he was unlikely to recover, but it seemed far more appealing. It would be a measure of safety to be back into Sabin's good graces, though after his zealous outburst there would forever be suspicions. He could try... but it would never be as simple an existence as it had been. He'd taken that ignorance for granted, and now he was miserably nursing a lacerated pride and having the threats of a madman hanging over him. And how many days were left in this 'transient' form? He didn't think he'd have the courage to ask anything of Sabin ever again.
Although... if nothing else, Zach had noticed that Sabin never did get around to whatever "punishment" he'd claimed he would carry out. It hadn't been obvious from the beginning. Zach had thought the bout of arguing had just been something to draw out the time before Sabin made a move, when no move had been made. It was... odd. Not good, not bad, just odd. It couldn't have been a mistake - there had to be a motive to holding it off, though what, he couldn't fathom. Sabin was too quirky to be predictable. It was the only hint he'd seen at all that gave the dragon any hope of redemption. He didn't want to be stuck living in fear of the eccentric doctor. By fearing the one person who'd helped him on the island, he was left utterly on his own. With the amount of suspicion that had cut through their brief conversation, it became clear the friendship had been too tenuous beforehand to be recovered.
Excuses, excuses, what had driven him so insane up in that room with Gaius? Fear and worry had distorted his thinking, made him desperate for a chance to show Gaius the depths of what he'd been temporarily convinced was suffering. So he wasn't proud of strangling Gaius, but he had gotten what he wanted out of that, which was dragging the pegasus into his little hell. Well, it wasn't exactly a hell, but it was a place where truth didn't exist, could not survive for long. For someone so rigidly good as Gaius, such insanity could be nothing else but a hell. It was its own brand of madness, something that for a while the dragon had started to get used to. It had grown to be his coping mechanism. And without it he found himself reduced to desperate acts of violence and angry words devoid of substance. It was undeniable that something had happened to Gaius in that pitch-black room. He'd never know for sure, probably, but it had sounded an awful lot like Sabin had crushed his hopes. Zach didn't want to see Gaius ever again if he could help it, anyhow. Too much of his past and weaknesses had been exposed then.
It seemed he hadn't ate or drank anything for an entire day, but it still wasn't motivation enough to get him off of the bed.
(( TBC ))
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:32 am
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:33 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 7:37 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:08 pm
Sabin Duvert There was no warning, no polite conversation or note. Just a deeper sleep than normal greeted Zachary that night. He never noticed the change in location, the trip up to the labs, or the placement in a holding room, carefully devoid of any instrument that might cause harm. The sterile white walls were slightly padded. All that adorned the room was a tray of rare meats and bowl of water. The scene, as a whole as Zachary slowly regained consciousness, was strikingly reminiscient of a time several months back... Right down to the itchy pain in his upper left arm. Sabin stood behind the mirrored glass, fingers poised on the control dash with a wicked smile. He couldn't believe that the day had arrived. It seemed only last week that Zachary had gone through his last transformation, the beautiful metamorphosis that broght him one step closer to "dragonhood". The arguments, the tiffs, Zachary's tantrums aside... today was to be a glorious day... and a day that would put all of Sabin's research and hard work to the test. Regardless of whatever happened afterwards... today would be a grandoise success and a proof to himself..... or.... well, Sabin wouldn't think of the alternative. Delicious, delicious anticipation. Sabin quivered as the moments passed ever so slowly since his injection, waiting to see the first indication of the change. Zachary Bloodstone Zach could tell just as soon as his eyes opened that he was no longer in his duplex. His face was resting on a cold floor, though he didn’t bother to lift it up quite yet. His mind briefly rifled through several alternative explanations before the plain white room registered and made it indisputable where he was. The labs. Where else? His insides were in knots at the thought of it. Still sluggishly coming to his senses, he reached to scratch at the annoying itch that seemed to have buried itself between several scales of his left arm. After dragging his claws lightly over the spot a couple of times, the ‘why’ of his placement in the room became all too painfully clear. He stopped scratching and sat bolt upright, ignoring the slight dizziness of the movement. He saw the food, the water… and the mirror. He would have pleaded with Sabin against getting this final injection, of course, if there had been time to do so. It was a fear of the unknown more than anything else. He didn’t know what was going to happen. He never did. The last change had been agonizing, and he had the sneaking suspicion this one would be no different. It was going to run its course though, whether he wanted it to or not. All he could do was stare at the mirrored glass, unable to see anything but his own twisted reflection staring back at him with fear. Sabin Duvert "Why good morning, Sleeping Beauty" An all-too familiar french accent called through some indeterminate speakers in the room. "I am sure that I do not need to tell you why you are here. I cannot express to you how thrilled I am to be sharing this moment with you.... the moment of your culmination. After this... you, my friend.. will be complete... as true of a dragon as anyone... well, almost anyone, could ever hope to witness." Any of the sneering, scathing or disappointed tone from their last confrontation was gone, replaced with an awe and the crazy, star-dazzled tone of his last transformation. Zachary Bloodstone He couldn’t stare for long without coming back around to the thought that the face he’d see in the mirror soon would once again be different. He looked instead at the floor and his long-toed feet, his tail curling around him as he tried and continued to fail to ease his jangled nerves. Zach continued to scratch at the itchy spot, despite how he knew it would do nothing. The voice that broke the silence of the room set him on edge, his frill fanned in momentary surprise. He felt trapped, cornered, utterly alone even with the onlooker behind the glass. “I… I guessed…” he said, though his words came out far more hushed than he wanted them to. His voice had fled him already. Why was the doctor even talking to him? His yellow eyes settled on the mirror, searching uselessly for some sign of where the doctor was on the other side of it. Anything to distance himself from his dire situation even for a couple of minutes. Their last… encounter had taught him fear. He was so weary of the abuse, physical and verbal. He would never try to bring it on himself again if he could help it, and one of those ways was to never give Sabin so much as an odd glance ever again. He’d be lucky to force the lies into truths again. He was surprised by the change in tone of Sabin’s voice, how quick to some form of forgiveness he sounded to be. The price was heavy… a change. “It’s… over after this?” Sabin Duvert There was a sigh, a pause, and then finally the voice again. "IF you wish to see it like that, then yes. After this... you will be complete. No more changes, and what you will look like will be you for... well, the rest of your life." Sabin frowned, pushing the consequences to the back of his mind again. "Your metamorphosis will be complete - a rebirth to something greater... something... truly awesome." As if Sabin's words alone were some sort of tigger, Zachary felt a quiver pass over his body as his already quickening heartrate started to go into overdrive. Any exposed parts of his skin began to tingle and loosen as scales built up from underneath. Sabin was on edge, giddy, and perhaps the merlot was a part of it, but only a part. He wanted to savor this moment. Once again, he checked to make sure that the video camera had a full, glorious view of the room so that he could rewatch this at a later date if he so wished. Zachary Bloodstone His tailtip twitched at the sigh and first statement. He didn’t have the courage to raise his eyes from the floor any more. He repeated the one word that got through to him as though it were in some foreign language. “Complete.” “Oh, I know,” he said with a hollow sound to his voice, one of defeat. He couldn’t say he was thrilled, but he’d known since his first day on the island that eventually his time would come, and with every change those same predictions were repeated. At the moment it hardly mattered whether they were true; this was going to hurt. The moments leading up to that time were passing far more quickly than he would have liked. A shiver ran down his spine, though the source seemed to lie within his body rather than out. His wings flapped once before he tucked them against his back again, hunching forward and hunkering down as he waited. There would be no dramatic (and fruitless) attempt to escape, no shout of protest, nothing from him. No amount of curling into a ball of sorts was going to make the feeling of an adrenaline rush go away. His heart was pounding like he’d just been given a scare. A funny feeling crossed his skin – his human skin – everywhere that it still survived. It didn’t feel right. The skin seemed to be threatening to peel away at a rough touch. He continued to give the floor a nearly unblinking stare, feeling worse and worse with every passing moment. The tingle was quickly becoming more of an itch, an itch that spanned from head to toe around a complicated maze of scales already present. Sabin Duvert Changes are certainly never pleasant. The emerging scales from under your remaining parts of skin - your body, your face... it's only the beginng. And yet, in that inescapable mirror that dominates nearly an entire wall of your small room, seeing the remaining human skin shed from your face seems to take away what little of the recognizable human characteristics you possessed. Your body aches and every bone in your body feels like it is grinding, swelling. Your muscles spasm as your neck lengthens even more, your jaws cracking and expanding longer.. and longer and longer. Your tail, likewise, lashes about as it lengthens, seemign to counterbalance the impossibly long neck. The frills down your back and tail lengthen as your wings begin to grow. They gain in strength and volume, beating against the walls as they pump the air, some strange instinct burried and confused with the myriad of other genetics that go into your milieu is telling you to fly, to try to escape this pain. But your heavy body gives no chance for your body to leave the ground. The entire process is madeningly painful. Your body lashes about uncontrollolaby - your claws tearing into the room's padding, your wings buffeting the room, your tail whipping about - it's a godsend that the room is padded or else you would likely be wreaking nasty brusing over your body in addition to the already existing pain. Finally... it abates... leaving you exhausted and drained, and only conscious for a moment. Your body is long, sinuous, and a solid crimson. Your scales are thick, almost leathery all over your body. Wider scutes line your underside with smaller scales intersperced with ridges over hte rest of your body. Your feet are mostly reptilian, with flexible big toes. Your arms are longer than normal and strong. With your wings held close to your body and your frill against your neck, your body is almost sleek looking, the horns curving back from your head giving you a majestic look. However, while your wings could not support your weight in flight ((and only if you did a LOT of strength training with the joints in your wings to keep them locked in an extended position could you hope to even try to glide)) your whole physique is built for intimidation. With your frill extended, your wings spread, and your alligator-like jaw unhinged as your serpent DNA allows you to do, you can appear to be several times your actual size, and a truly terrifying visage. Some strange combination of bat and feline DNA allows you to delivery an ear-splitting screaching roar to add to the effect and deter any who might have stood ground at your visual threat-display.  Zachary Bloodstone The shivering returned. It was his body’s last little protest before each and every cell was forever altered - a fever. It drew his attention away from serious thought, and more toward the issue at hand, the changes. The itching only grew worse, forcing him to scratch all over, and in doing so the skin peeled and flaked away easily. Underneath were scales, smooth and interlocking, and the same bright and vicious red as the rest. He couldn’t help himself – as much as he wanted to leave things alone he had to scratch, had to get rid of the itching. It was his face that he tore at last. For four months a crisscrossing of scars had been slashed on his snout, and in an instant the skin was shucked off like paper, revealing further his permanent shell of scales. He could see it all in that enormous mirror, how already with such a simple change his face was utterly unrecognizable. Not a person’s, not even an animal’s. He was a creature borne of another man’s imagination. He didn’t have long to ponder this, as immediately every bone in his body seemed to give matching signals of intense and impossible pain. It was blinding, mind-numbing. He was on his shifting and changing feet without realizing it, pressing up against a padded wall and digging his sharp claws into the material. The sound of cracking bones did nothing to lessen the experience. Just when it seemed to reach its worse his neck bones grated and forced their way forward. His tail did likewise, lashing out behind him and just barely keeping him from falling faraway face-first. Breathing became temporarily impossible, and every breath afterward burned all the way down to the lungs. The rest of it seemed a blur. He couldn’t grasp what was happening, merely suffered through it as he lashed out against the walls. Things grew, like frills and fins and his entire snout. His wings were steadily growing, flapping in confusion, several times smashing into the ripped padded walls as they did. That pain was nothing. The room seemed a blur, both because of his wild pain-driven movements and the abnormal temperature his body was at. And then all at once his energy was completely spent, and he crashed to the floor. There was a feverish heat of aches and swelling under his scales. He coughed, trying to draw in a breath that didn’t feel like fire. His tears had long since run dry, leaving his eyes as itchy as his skin had been earlier, skin which he possessed no longer. It hardly mattered whether Sabin had watched, because it was so far from his mind. It had to be over. He didn’t know if he could have put up with another second. He hadn’t even gotten a glimpse of himself in that mirror that he could remember, not since his face came peeling away. The shock was too much. Consciousness was hard enough to grasp already with all the aching, so he let go. Sabin Duvert Finally the unconsciousness brought with it a respite from the pain. THe cool, soothing sleep that came with oblivion cradled the newly born dragon. Sabin had long since risen from his chair in the observatory, poised at the edge of the glass and watching the serum wreak the changes on Zachary's body- forever changing him from a strange hodgepodge of man and beast to a being of fantasy. It was beautiful, magnificient.. a realization of Sabin's goals since he first realized the potential of Moreau's project. His dragon.... it lay there now, sleeping, the great beast in slumber - like some realization of a great wyrm. Like a great Smaug on his hoard, or perhaps the great Norse Nidhogg, neither paltry collection of words could describe this flesh and blood creature in the very next room. Sabin just stood, letting his eyes graze the perfection of the creature. Zachary was magnificient - his dragon. Every scale, every spine - perfectly wrought from the flesh that was once a mere mortal. Let Moreau scorn him now!? It was a success, a beautiful, perfect success. Sabin took a deep breath as the smile split his face. Without taking his eyes off of his creation, he radio'd the techs and had food delivered. Then, he just sat back to observe to, like before, make sure that the serum and Zachary were stable enough before delivering them back to the village a day or two later. He kept the intercom off, but sat to watch... who needed sleep in a time like this?
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:08 am
The vicious pain that had assaulted him earlier, at least as far as his memory was concerned, seemed to be nothing but a dull uniform ache that went right through to the bone. He could taste blood in his mouth, particularly fresh blood. Hardly anything since his changes began seemed to come to mind when he tried to delve into memory. He opened his eyes only because he couldn't keep them closed forever. A long sigh was exhaled from nostrils that had rearranged themselves since he last recalled using them. Not again, never again. He was... complete, in some sense of the word. Sprawled across his duplex bed carelessly, and partly on his side. His eyes had shifted during the changes and left him with a slightly wider range of vision, which made things a bit more disorienting than they ought to have.
But being finished with his changes, permanently, he couldn't avoid his own reflection forever. Fear would give way to curiosity even if he had any reason to fear his change. He reached up with his right hand to feel along his snout, feel for that scarred but human skin that was normally stretched taut over a half-formed skull. As he ran his finger across it he felt the strange touch of scale to scale, something that simply didn't make sense. The changes had happened, but his mind couldn't place what they were, just that they'd hurt. A lot. He pulled away his hand and stared in shock at it. His right hand was as glossed over with scales as his left. They were indistinguishable, and both larger than normal hands. His arms seemed to hold them farther away than he intended. It was bizarre. It also hurt a lot more than he'd expected it to. He tried to fold and unfold his wings, an unconscious gesture, but what unfurled from those spindly hands was far from pitiful. A wingspan that easily spread whole feet to each direction accompanied much stronger wing muscles as he stretched them. A mental itch came with it, one of flight, but it was drowned out by other thoughts.
He couldn't run from this reality, though. This draconic shape was his now, his for good. For ten months it had proven an inescapable destiny. Though he had yet to see the new face in a mirror, he knew that he would have to accept it or he'd be as miserable as those islanders he'd once despised. This was himself. Or rather, a new self, for how could he ever have been that same meek man who'd set foot on the island nearly a year ago? The twist and twine of so many animals had warped him in the process. He didn't have the confidence to call himself Zachary Bloodstone. The name wasn't his to go by. It was a different life from which he felt oddly disconnected. His interest in it had vanished, focused solely on the future. What had been repeated to him so many times by Sabin, even up till the last moments of his previous existence, finally had meaning. This was his rebirth, and it left him far greater than he could ever have been. His past, his old faults and mistakes, his wasted human life... all fuel for the fire from which he sprung like a scaly phoenix. He refused to look back into his past and see that the human imperfection ever belonged to him.
There was a rift now, one that had ever so slowly split through his mind during the past many months, eliminating the shades of gray and leaving only a black-and-white world. It altered reality in favor of something more ideal, more simple, the only coping process that worked. He wanted it that way. Things would only be simple if he forced them to be. He had had no fight in him for a long time. Thanks to the shock and trauma of the final change, he could finally free himself from his limitations by being free of all those weak human characteristics he had been a slave to. They were not gone, but relegated to another self, a shadowy thing that could no longer claw at his emotions with terrible memories and fears. This... was what he wanted? A permanent escape from his past mistakes? Well. It was now. His expression remained unreadable, his mouth still shut and eyes wide and looking off far away.
Ignoring the piercing pain that assaulted him with every movement, he struggled to get out of bed. Many things had not been taken into account, such as his longer neck and hand-like feet. He set each of those feet onto the floor of the duplex and pushed off the bed and onto what he thought was a balanced position. It wasn't. His tail simply couldn't balance out his neck without getting an idea of what sort of weight his head was, and by the time he did that he was already pitching forward and landing on his hands and knees on the floor. He was back on his feet again as quickly as he could manage, this time pressing those large hands against the wall to steady himself. Scales, scales everywhere, no sign whatsoever that he was once human but the vaguest bipedal appearance. But... but he had surpassed humanity. He was greater than a human could ever hope to be. Proud as he was attempting to be, the great majority of him wasn't keen on staying on two feet for any lengthy period of time. His claws were starting to scrabble, his balance tilted slightly, and he fell again, onto legs that weren't yet ready to hold him up his eight-foot-tall body. Getting from the bed to the bathroom was certainly going to take longer than he'd been expecting.
Given that he wasn't about to go anywhere just yet, he moved around into a more comfortable sitting position to ease the struggle of holding up his seven appendages and frightfully long neck, and took a good look at his unhelpful feet. In his mind he'd been expecting the same long-toed but humanoid feet that he'd had for nearly a year. Clawed, sure, he could handle that just fine. But in some dim corner of his mind the complete lack of skin where skin ought to have been was distressing. Coupled with the almost unnatural ruby red of what had taken its place, he felt exposed. He curled the fingerlike toes curiously, and to his further surprise the big toe moved like a thumb. He stared, moved it again, watched his foot behave as a hand. It was not a foot any longer. Just as he wasn't a person any longer.
So he couldn't stand at the moment. That was fine. Nothing that he couldn't get over. Just fine. Panicking wasn't going to do anything but prolong things. There were other means of getting around until he found a way to hold himself up. He was determined to get to the bathroom mirror and see what had become of himself, to see once and for all what he was. One long arm in front of the other, dragging himself across the floor with his long snout almost brushing the floor. This amount of weakness was... pitiful. He wasn't supposed to have to crawl. He fanned his wings out again, as far as they could reach. Their clawed fingertips brushed against the walls, further disorienting him. They were refolded soon enough, a heavy weight on his somewhat arched back as he made his desperate way, dragging long arms and feet equipped with thumbs. What would he see that he already knew was so different?
Once he'd slunk into the bathroom, he paused to hook his large hands over the rim of the counter. Slowly, painfully, he pulled himself up, awkward feet scrabbling to keep his weight. His tail swished back and forth in a useless attempt to balance him out. He craned his neck up, slowly, very slowly, the new muscles and elongated neck bones in obvious pain. When he was finally half-hoisted up, he finally saw the reptilian face that had never been his before, but was without a doubt. His yellow eyes roved the long-necked reflection, absolutely sure that this strange and unreal creature was an entirely new being. His frill fanned in surprise while his wings opened as well out of the same panic, and felt stifled by how small the room was in comparison to them.
He couldn't put into words how he felt at that moment, seeing his reflection and knowing with absolute certainty that he was there behind the eyes. Joy was too accepting for such a moment, sorrow far too useless and weak. Confusion was impossible given what he knew and fear a thing of the past. He couldn't fear what he had grown to accept as himself. He was supposed to embrace this new life, this new self, everything... or suffer by his own hand and unruly emotions. So it was relief that had him sink back down to the tiled floor, laughing with a poisoned mirth. Now he was complete, now he was a dragon. He had fulfilled what purpose he'd had, and he couldn't help but feel proud that he had come so far. What had he been thinking for so many months? Humanity was worthless when he had such a... gift bestowed on him. Why could no one else see the value of their changes?
Back into the main part of his duplex he shuffled, dragging himself on all fours toward the intercom and gritting his teeth against the sharp pains. Crutches, he needed crutches, at least until the horrible weakness of a recent change abated and he could walk easily again. And some new clothes - over the course of time he'd grown easily three feet taller, through much of it was neck height, and he wanted something to wear that wasn't worn through or too small. Plus, his old clothes were not... befitting of his new self. He'd get rid of them somehow, as he would all his other reminders of life before the island. No sense in dwelling on such a despicable human past. Forgetting it, purging it from his mind, would make it easier to live in the present. He knew where his loyalties were, he knew what he was, he knew what happened when one went against the system and was more intent on saving his own scaly hide than attempting to prove any sort of whimsical point.
It was all over. It was all, finally, over.
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:46 pm
On Christmas, outside Zach’s duplex is left not a wrapped gift, but an odd pile of… rope. It’s just the simple yellow kind one can find anywhere. A red ribbon has been tied in a bow around one end, and when examined, he can find the rope has been tied into a very recognizable shape… There’s a piece of paper, but all there’s only one short phrase written on it:
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Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:08 am
Also left Christmas Day outside on Zachary's porch is are two fancy, wrapped giftboxs. Unlike many of the gifts from the islanders, this one is wrapped in fancy commercial wrapping paper, and tied in a red and golden bow. Inside, the smaller one, burried in a slew of packing peanuts, is an elegant sculpture: Attached in a loop around the neck is a small card Quote: To Zachary, In celebration of your rebirth, here is a sculpture from my personal collection. Hopefully you can see the beauty in your new form as much as I can. ~ Sabin And in a second, MUCH larger box: is a massive Geode - at least three feet on its largest end. Inside it is lined with Amethyst crystals. and on the bottom of the box is a smaller box, inside is five solid gold coins with another small note: "For the start of your hoarde ^~"
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Sabin Duvert Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:34 am
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Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:35 am
Zach stopped at the foot of the stairs in front of his duplex. With both crutches under one hand and the other tightly gripping the handrail, he made his wobbly way up. Worrying about Sid was pointless, though he couldn't help but feel partly at fault for startling the guy somehow. He was in good hands now. Zach just needed to take his mind off of things. It was Christmas, wasn't it? Or so the decorations in the cafeteria had declared. Only this morning he'd gone around distributing halves of some old geodes he'd found to the few people he didn't find unbearable, a meager but personal gift. Even one he'd left out on his porch with a quickly scrawled note, addressed to a particular doctor...
When he reached the top of the stairs, he found that his one shipping-required gift was gone. Near his door were several other things. It looked like a pile of rope tied with a bow, and two presents wrapped in standard holiday wrapping paper. He fumbled for his key and opened the door to his duplex before slowly pushing each of the boxes inside. The rope he went back to retrieve, confused. As he picked it up a note slipped out. He read it aloud quietly, ending on a questioning note. "'So you remember'?"
He glanced at the rope again. The end with the bow seemed to have been tied. It took him a moment to place it, but the series of loops forming the knot proclaimed it to be no lasso, but a noose. He blinked down at it, There was a twinge of guilt shortly followed by a forced feeling of disconnect. Past mistakes, they weren't his. Couldn't be his. Everyone else, so stuck in the past, why they bothered made no sense. He gave the rope a disapproving look and bunched it up before taking it inside with him. He'd made sure to avoid Gaius this entire time, but now the pegasus would not leave him alone. He'd have a word with Sabin about this.
Multiple limbs had stopped being an issue for him a while ago. As he crutched his way into the duplex, he looped part of the end of his tail around the doorknob to pull it shut behind him. He slid the offending pile of rope into an empty drawer of his dresser, bow still intact, and the note along with it. Once he was finished with that, he turned his attention to the two presents that didn't look like concealed threats. He carefully put the crutches aside and sat down in front of the two boxes, neck curved above them in mild curiosity. He didn't think anyone had easy access to wrapping paper or he'd have done those geodes up in some. Someone went all-out, though.
After a bit of hesitation, he picked up the smaller box first. It almost seemed a shame to rip up all the wrapping paper, but despite the care he tried to take in unwrapping, his claws shredded the paper with ease. Whoops. He unraveled what was left of the wrapping paper and ribbon and placed them aside. The inside of the box was filled with... packing peanuts? A red glimmer from within the box prompted him to reach inside and pull out the actual gift, a small, shiny sculpture of a red dragon. It wasn't to his particular tastes, but it was the thought that counted. He already had a good idea of who it was from just seeing what the box had been filled with. He scanned the note quickly, relieved that at least one other person seemed to know how he felt about his final change. It was akin in its own way to an ego boost.
He wasn't really sure what to think at first - the friendliness of the gift and the card were unexpected. His tail lashed back and forth in his confusion. There was that time with the rope and Gaius and the bit of verbal backlash that had made him wary of ever crossing Sabin again. Those idiotic actions on his own part had been forgiven this quickly? It seemed too good to be true. He knew what he did was wrong, what he really owed Sabin was some form of apology for the stuff that had happened. He re-read the note and looked at the sculpture more carefully. In many respects it was identical in features to him, save for a lack of frill and red eyes. Eerily, it was entirely possible that this was some physical prototype of his grand design, or at least a strong influence. It wouldn't have been surprising. The fact that it was some silly dragon sculpture didn't seem to be the message, though - Sabin had given him a personal belonging. Odd. It did reinforce his hope that he wasn't about to be tossed aside for some other new project as the dhole had so bitterly predicted before. He was still valued, still worth something. An object of loathing or fear to most, but as long as a couple people didn't share that sentiment, he was content. He put the scultpure down by the giftwrap, intending to put it on his dresser later. Kaveri was probably going to ask questions, but he'd wait until she did. Good thing she was out, he had no idea how he could explain the note to her.
With the second, larger box he tried to spare the paper and ribbon the mangling the first had recieved. They came off intact, but barely. Inside was a very nice looking amethyst geode. When he'd originally asked for some back in April it had been with an intent to run up a fairly high bill to put his own tiny dent in Moreau's fortune. It seemed different to get one as a genuine gift. This was definitely not going to go unnoticed by Kaveri. However, it wasn't like he had to be worried about what she thought... right? If he explained the situation to her, she'd have to understand. And another box? He was starting to feel a little taken aback by how much stuff he was getting for Christmas despite some of the more idiotic things done before his.. rebirth. The word worked pretty well. He'd been a bit of a materialist sometimes, but he'd never had the money to spoil himself with things that weren't necessities.
He opened the tiny last box casually, and five impressive gold coins fell into his open other hand. These weren't spray painted or plastic, as they felt entirely solid. Solid gold. They made metallic clinks as he closed them in his sizable palm. After putting the box down, he picked up the note that had fallen out and read it with interest. A hoarde indeed. While there was no way for him to gather much of anything else valuable to humor the doctor, the coins were extremely nice and he'd take care not to lose them. On a belt loop was tied Kaveri's little leather medicine bag. He slipped it off and placed the five coins inside, closing it up again after and replacing the bag where it had been with an amused smirk on his face. Sabin's sense of humor was... strange... but Zach was getting used to it.
Now that he'd gone through the nice gifts, he felt obligated to spare Kaveri the mess. Firstly, moving the geode. If he had been human he'd have had a hell of a lot of trouble trying to move it, but he'd grown stronger with his last change and it didn't take unbearably long to get it over to a corner to save the room a bit of clutter. He didn't need his crutches for it, seeing as he had the large rock to cling to the entire time for balance. Once it was in place, however, it was back to the hands and knees to retrieve the boxes, giftwrap, and dragon miniature. The first two were trashed, but the little sculpture was set on the dresser as intended. He nearly forgot to take the note off its neck, but at the last second remembered to, slipping it into the same drawer that the noose from Gaius had been unceremoniously dumped.
Festive, very festive. With all that done, he climbed into his bed for a quick nap. Dealing with Sid's heart attack had worn him out a bit. This Christmas had gone a bit better than he'd expected, noose aside. All he was glad about was that he no longer held Sabin's ire. Quite the opposite, in fact. If that wasn't something to be relieved about, he didn't know what was.
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:54 pm
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