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 Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:43 am
Crow gave Liam an unreadable look, face still drawn with restrained sickness. She turned her attention to Björn gratefully, trying not to think of the wet warm spot of blood that now decorated her arm.
"Die?" Len said to Ethan in an undertone. "Does everything here want to kill us?"
Ethan shrugged.
"Most likely," he whispered back, giving Julian a sidelong look that was to his brief horror returned.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:46 am
"Well, no," Björn said, "but these people hate women. And non-Rebels. Think of it this way. If Vavvians like it, Ferals don't." He purposefully neglected to mention that he was, in fact, a Feral himself.
The man held out his uniform for Julian, knowing quite well it would be too big.
"Put it on and hope they don't notice."
Liam followed suit and held out his uniform to help Crow get into it. Well, this was certainly unnerving.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:49 am
Julian took the uniform and slipped it on, wondering if it would be conspicuous if he rolled up the sleeves a few times so he could at least see his fingertips. Crow donned Liam's uniform, smoothing it down.
"How do I look?" she asked, smiling weakly.
Len, who'd balked a bit at the mention of potentially deadly misogyny, looked down at herself. The skirt was the only telling part of her gender - never before had she been more grateful she was as flat-chested as a boy.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:52 am
"Like a girl in a uniform," Liam said anxiously, a twinge of concern in his voice.
"It's good enough. They're pretty blind," Björn nodded to Liam, and then turned to Ethan and Lenore.
"Len, you're gonna be fine. To them, you're a freak of nature. They like that. Ethan? If you value your life, don't talk. Not for a while, at least. Your accent is vaguely Vavvian."
He paused and heaved a sigh.
"Everyone ready?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:55 am
Ethan nodded, biting his tongue hard to remove any temptation to speak. Julian, drowning in the enormous uniform, sighed and hoped he wouldn't trip and fall face first in front of them.
Len nodded slowly, picking at her bracelet in anxiety.
"Ready," she said, speaking for all of them.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:58 am
"Of course, love."
Without another word, Björn led the group into the woods. He continued walking until he saw a rather familiar setting; a smattering of burned tree trunks in a mostly-cleared patch of dirt, and the remnants of various camp fires.
The only signs of life were ten or so women shoved in individual cages and chained to the bars with piercings lining their limbs and faces and necks.
"Don't let them scare you."
He was not, of course, referring to the women.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:01 am
Crow had to try very hard not to make a sound, to divert her eyes, as she saw the cages. Ethan bit harder on his tongue and tasted blood. Julian...Julian was busy trying to roll up his sleeves, stepping on the hem of the uniform once in a while and stumbling.
"Okay," Len said quietly, very badly not wanting anyone outside the group to hear her.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:10 am
There was a sudden crescendo of noise. It began as a shriek, and grew into a trembling trill. Huge forms lunged from the trees, grabbing onto whatever limb they could find of these trespassers. All had black hair and brown Vavvian eyes, and all were no more than four inches shorter than Björn.
"Don-aia Pae'an."
"How sweet. You never told me you were descended from freaks of nature!"
Björn was speaking Feral, something very, very few Vavvians were able to learn...and even then, they'd all gone to college.
The Feral clinging to Liam's shoulder shook it strongly, and the man shut up.
"Kai-an," a shorter of the clan stepped forward, clearly displayed as the chief by the human-sized skull strung around his neck.
Björn held up a hand, folding his ring and index fingers down beneath his thumb.
"Non-anai." A yellow streak suddenly appeared, beginning at his hair line and traveling down his ponytail. He bent so the chief could see it.
The Ferals, who all had stripes to match, gave a sudden cheer, releasing the group.
Björn stood, cleared his throat, and allowed the streak to disappear.
"Anai don!" the chief said exuberantly, motioning to a slew of stumps surrounding a well-placed fire pit, "Anai, anai!"
"He wants us to join him," Björn nodded and headed toward one of the stumps, sitting with his elbows resting on his knees. The chief followed and sat across from him.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:13 am
Taking seats on the stumps, half-expecting the chief to change his mind and slash them apart, Crow, Julian and Ethan sat and waited warily.
Lenore gulped, settling onto a stump and trying hard to keep her wings out of the way, bending her arms so the feathers angled up and away from any danger of gutting anyone by accident.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:19 am
Björn and the chief suddenly began rambling back and forth in a language certainly nobody but the other Ferals could understand. In truth, the men were only conversing about where the Elves capable of resurrection lived. The chief was still hesitant, not sure if he could trust the group.
And then, a significantly smaller Feral peered cautiously from between the trees. It waited there and then scampered forward, eyes trained on Liam's rifle, which lay in the centre of the camp unattended.
Its hair was messy and lighter, and its eyes certainly didn't look brown. Maybe it wasn't a Feral at all...
Regardless, it was there, and nobody was attacking it. They watched with mild curiosity as the little thing reached out to touch the gun.
"Hey!" Liam yelped, suddenly turning and seeing the figure.
The thing looked up, eyes widening, and bolted for the woods.
Liam, immediately assuming that it had taken something, ran after it.
For a moment, the chief looked to Björn, and Björn to Liam. If anything seemed kind of shady, that was it. The bigger man sighed and continued talking, apologizing on Liam's behalf.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:38 am
More intent on watching the negotiations between the chief and Björn, the others all save Ethan ignored Liam's sudden disappearance. He watched in curiosity, wondering what had happened.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:42 am
"Hey! HEY!" Liam shouted, following the Feral through the woods. It was damn fast, and leaving a trail of blood on the ground.
It wasn't wearing shoes.
"Just STOP, okay?!" He wasn't even sure why he was following the poor thing any more. Oh well. Once your started it was hard to stop. He followed the figure around a sharp turn...and then stopped.
It had gone.
"Where'd you go?"
And then something wet hit his forehead. He reached up and wiped it off reflexively. Blood?! He peered up slowly.
AHA! It had climbed a tree.
Liam started up after it, feeling only slight remorse as the thing skittered further up in terror.
Back at camp, the chief was giving Björn the third degree. He rambled off a rather complex question, and Björn turned to Julian.
"He wants to know why you're bloodied."
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:52 am
Julian looked down at his hands and bloody shoe.
"I ripped a man's neck open by the gills and stepped on the other until I flattened his chest," he said calmly, looking from Björn to the chief.
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:02 am
Björn translated briefly.
"Vav'yon?"
"A-ni," Björn nodded.
The chief grinned and grabbed Julain's hand with both of his, shaking it wildly and nearly shouting words of praise.
---
Liam had chased the poor thing to the top of the tree and now had it by one bloodied ankle. It kicked and whimpered and tried to grab Liam's head...and only then did the man catch a glimpse of the thing's face. It looked older by a few years human-time...but...
"Oh my God..."
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:05 am
Julian smiled, pleased he'd made a good impression. Beside him, it took every bit of willpower she had for Crow not to make a sound and repress a shudder.
Ethan, still looking in the direction Liam had gone, frowned slightly. Where had he gotten to?
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