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 Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:29 pm
Riley let out a soft chuckle when it took her hand back, as though it couldn't handle letting her go for a moment. She considered what it said, and thought about just what she would do if they were both in a sterile operating theater.
Alone.
Malodore. Riley's voice hushed, and lowered. Her fingers intertwined with its own, pulling it closer. Maybe being alone is not so bad. We should take advantage of this moment.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:31 pm
"Hm?" Malodore turned, tilting its head to one side. "What do you mean? What is there here that we could possibly use to our advantage?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:32 pm
If Riley had a mouth, it would have cracked open like a cheshire cat. As it were, her face took on a devilish expression.
You're here. And I'm here. And nobody else is here. We could use that to our advantage.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:35 pm
Malodore blinked behind its lenses.
Several times.
"We could use... but... I..."
"..."
Once again, Malodore was speechless. It was only after a long moment that it managed to summon up words again. "Would not such activities be better suited to a more, ah... that is to say, a different environment?" it stammered. "We have no specimens!"
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:39 pm
Riley paused, staring at her plague doctor for a moment, until a single brow rose. She contemplated just playing along, as though that was what she had in mind all along. It would have been a stimulating activity, as well..
In the end, she decided to be honest. Sort of.
That's true. She murmured. So maybe we should just find another activity that involves our minds, and no specimens.
She gave a lingering nudge to its limbic system. And made herself a promise - if it was still clueless after that, she was just going to forget the entire thing.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:41 pm
Amrita went to rub her eyes, but stopped short when she realized what she was doing. More than that, the fingers in her line of vision were actually fingers! No claws! Real, honest hands! No claws, no twisted razor edges just soft, stitchy hands. Everything else followed suit; noticing the colours and shapes on the body she was well accustomed to, the way her head was clear (as clear as she was used to, anyway), and hearing nothing but her own thoughts in her head...
Oh, it was bliss.
The good feelings didn't last too long after that though, as the memory of what happened prior to this came flooding back. The clean up, the voices, the fog and then she...she attacked...
Oh no. Jack no, please no--- She didn't want it to be true, but it was. She had attacked her friends, and seen those who meant the most to her as nothing more than threats, intruders. She damaged them, ignored them, killed them... Thick, coagulated tears stung her eyes as the guilt sunk in her like a stone, crushing and levelling any happy revelations she had just experienced. More than that, she was alone. Painfully alone. Tro and Demi were gone; a look around her immediate area proved that much. If there was nobody around, there was nobody to apologize to.
Just crushing guilt given time to fester.
"...H-Hello?" She called out shakily, drawing her arms tightly against her to keep herself from trembling. "...C-can anyone hear me?" Try as she might to speak loudly, her voice sounded flat and muted; there was nothing around her but fog. Yet she couldn't stay still, not like this.
"Hello?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:44 pm
...
Malodore's wings rustled and rattled as it tensed all over. "Wh... you can't - what if it really is Insanity and everyone is watching?!" it spluttered, red as a beet under the blessedly concealing bandages.
... Not that it wasn't tempting, but... it was a private creature and-
The voice - a real voice, not a fake wisp-voice or an echo, cut its panic short, and it immediately turned, gaze narrowing behind its lenses. "That voice..." It took a step away from Riley, though it kept hold of her hand. "Hello?! Can you hear me?" it shouted into the fog, straining for an answer.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:54 pm
It got it.
She hated what a good point Malodore had just made. This was very possibly all just a ruse, and hunters could have been watching their every move. That wasn't something she wanted them to see. Fortunately, it was no longer an issue - there were others in the fog now. She tasted them, but she couldn't tell exactly where they were just yet.
And she heard one of them. The voice was all she needed to touch the mind.
That's Amrita. The real Amrita. The revelation made her heart swell with content. I'd take that as a very good sign.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 11:30 pm
"Huhh?" Christof had not hesitated to run into the fog. He knew what it signified. He knew what dangers it more than likely held. But Amrita was still in there, somewhere. He wiped the torn stitches of his empty mouth, staggering through the mists. As far as he could tell, he was alone, which worried him further. Perhaps he should have waited,s tayed with the others.
An anxious noise escaped his throat.
If Amrita was still a mindless beast of the fog and he ran into her now...
Maybe he could still reason with her. Somehow. "Haaaooo??" Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He tried to keep the tremble out of his voice as he called out to whatever fate held for him.
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:16 pm
...Malodore's voice. At least, that's what she thought it was. It certainly sounded like Malodore...but could she call back? After what she had done to them? This group had been nothing but kind and supportive since she met them and she attacked them. Maybe she should just...disappear into the fog. Leave entirely. It would be better than turning into something horrible like that again.
Just as she made the decision to stay quiet and stay put she felt a familiar brush against her mind. Her consciousness seemed tested somehow, and she found herself sighing. Riley. That had to have been Riley. Who else could do that to her? What was worse, now they knew she was there, and not crazy; would they expect her to go say hi? She couldn't very well stay away now anyway.
"I...I can hear you." She called out, straining to make herself say the words. There went her chance to escape this embarrassing and painful encounter... The Vetala moved through the fog towards the voice until the shadows of figured turned into something more substantial. She still kept her distance from them, but at least she could see them clearly now; the reds, blacks and purples, the common, comforting colours of two of her friends. All she could do at first was stare at them with nothing but guilt reflected in her eyes, looking at each one in turn as if something hurt.
"I...I'm so...so sorry..." She murmured, before flinching at the sound of Christof's odd voice through the fog. The guilt crushed her heart even more now, and this time she dropped her head to stare at the ground, trying to blink away the tingle behind her eyes.
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:41 pm
Amrita's guilt couldn't have been understood more clearly by anyone in this world than Riley, right now. When she came to them, Riley released Malodore with one arm, and pulled the ghoul to them. She was relentless, pressing Amrita between her and Malodore in a fierce hug.
You have nothing to be sorry about. Unless you want me to apologize and look as sad as you, too. You did nothing. To any of us. The Insanity did it all. And yet, look.
She rose up Amrita's arm, placed her hand against the ghoul's palm, and turned the flattened hands. We are free. There is no room for guilt and sorry now. You must rejoice.
She couldn't see Christof, but if he found them, she would do the same for him.
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:08 pm
"Amrita-" Malodore began, and then Riley embraced her, and the plague doctor inexplicably developed a lump in its throat, its eyes stinging faintly. "It is all right," it managed. "Wherever we are, it seems that the Insanity has been purged..." A distant, awkward sound drew its attention, and it turned, wings mantling around Riley and Amrita both. "Who's there?" it called out, warily.
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:52 am
Christof picked up his pace, lurching closer to the sound of voices- Mal's voice carried out and he gave a tonguless, "Habba Haaaaawaaboo-" as soon as the fog thinned enough for the three figures to come into focus, though, he stopped in his tracks. He gaped, as though unusused to having the ability to open his mouth at all, hanging uslessly. It only took a moment for him to react, lunging forward to practically rip Amrita from Riley's arms. He slumped, all three wrapped around her tight enough to strain her stitches, his head slumped forward to tuck under her neck against the vertical scar. A tight, keening noise escaped his throat and his hunch and shoulders were trembling.
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 9:34 am
Calder was moving slowly through the fog, eyes dark and hands out, moving slowly with ears up and moving for any sound. "Barth?" He cried, searching about and smelling the air. He had him. He had Barth's claw in his hand, and then he heard everyone moving on ahead. Calder hadn't let go, had he? Where did everyone else go? He had meant for them to stay together.
He had to find him. Barth was his everything. His future. He didn't have anything else now.
"Barth?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 2:06 pm
Before she knew what was happening she was pulled into a hug between two of her friends. Riley spoke really lovely words, truly nice sentiments, but it only eased her worries a little bit. The fact remained that she did do something to them; it might have been the Insanity's influence, but it was her actions from her own body. It was something she couldn't seem to let go of, no matter how true and how nice Riley's words sounded.
Instead she stayed quiet, looking at their hands as Riley pressed them together. The grey was gone? Amrita had never gotten to the stage with the striped flesh but Riley had, and it was gone. She was about to comment on it, and even on the observation from the Doctor, but her words were torn from her throat as something grabbed her. Before she knew it she was torn from one hug and crushed into another with little else but a yelp of surprise.
Good thing she was undead; she didn't need those organs anyway.
"Christof...!" She gasped out, glad to see him and completely okay with the stitch-straining embrace. She wanted desperately to return it, but with his grip on her all she could manage was a meager and somewhat awkward pat. "I...I'm so sorry!" Amrita repeated again, once more trying to keep her voice from breaking. Christof was there now too; he had cut his mouth stitches for her. She knew what that meant, and once more she was torn between touched and guilty. "I d-didn't mean to..." She trailed off again, but this time she struggled against him, freeing her arms to return the crushing hug as best as she could.
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