Welcome to Gaia! ::

Voices filled the stadium, as more and more nightmares and daydreams filed inside. The makeshift bunker housed all sorts, some indignant, demanding loudly to be released, and others anxious, muttering under their breath as they paced. Many more however were nonchalant, wearing their bravado like masks, as though the current emergency were nothing more than a temporary inconvenience. An optimistic few even laughed, despite the low hum of tension pervading the crowd. That all changed.

The television screens came to life all on their own and a metallic scream emitted from the overhead speakers that burst the eardrums of anyone standing too close. More of the crowd turned to panic. Several people raised their voices in annoyance. The low bump of static reverberated through the floor as an image fizzled on the screens. A minute passed. Then the monitors flickered and a nondescript figure waved down at the audience. A hush fell over the crowd.

Quiet was deadly.

“A long time ago, your scientists took innocent stones from the cache.”

A soft buzz that was not a part of the static began. Down on the field, near one of the nets, a freshling crouched in the turft, their hands over their head. The transmission continued.

“S̸h̴o͋cker righ̴t? ̡The̛s̈́e stoņes ̞we̵re k͗e͘p̘t ͙hid̸den aw̲ay ins͂i̽de a ̮secrėt ̪ḷa̞bor̚a̾tory.̞”

The noise continued to build. All around, people stood transfixed by the video. The scene on the monitor continued with ominous intent. A few members of the crowd began to edge towards the exits. One brushed past the freshling.

“T̶h̶e̶y̷ ̷d̷e̷c̷i̵d̸e̵d̷ ̷t̸o̸ ̶t̶a̸m̷p̷e̵r̸ ̵w̷i̵t̸h̶ ̴d̵a̷r̶k̵ ̸m̸a̸g̷i̸c̴,̷ ̶b̷u̶t̸ ̸i̶t̸ ̷k̵e̸p̷t̶ ̷f̵a̶i̸l̶i̸n̸g̶.̷ B̷͙̈ų̴̑m̸̦̔m̴̰͝e̷̬̾r̵̦̃.̴̪̊”

Shadows started to writhe, crawling the walls and escaping from their masters. They loomed dark overhead, blocking out the lights. The freshling grit their teeth. They pulled their legs in closer. There was a slurping sound, as their hooves stuck fast. The ground had turned to a thick, pale mush, blended with gristle. It bubbled as it took them below. All around them, the crowd had begun to melt. The freshling squeezed their eyes tighter.

“A̷̘̟̪̓̂̓s̵̗̙̯͂̋̚ ̶̪̩́́̈́ͅţ̷̢̙͂͂́h̷̘͔̝̃͒̅ê̸̞̯͓̆̂ ̴̭̺̈́̄̾ͅc̷͇̦̲̆̿̃h̸̞̳̬͒́̚î̴̢͈͂̓͜ľ̷͍̘̠̉͐d̸̼͈̮̈́͛͐r̸͔͚͛̂̽ͅę̸̪́́̐͜n̵̢̹̄̑̕ͅ ̸̯̼͓̔̓̋b̶͍̗̼̈́͋̀e̴͔̜̝̊̿̀g̶̻̦̰̒̌͘a̸͎̹̘̓̎̈́n̴͇̩̦̂͑̚ ̶̛̳͇̦̅̈t̸̢̼̘͐̈́̒o̷̧̭͈̿̊͝ ̶͕̳͕̈̾͐a̵͚͈͓͗̓̂g̴̞̖̜̈́̌̈́ë̶̗̬̟́́͋ ̵͓̯̀̎̽ͅẗ̷̻̮͎̃͝h̴͖͕̙͆͛̃e̷͔͚̮͂͌̾y̶͍̳̯̑͌̔ ̷̛̤͙̮͒͊s̸͍͍͖̀̄͝ḩ̶̺̰͛̆̽ǒ̶̥̯̪̈̏w̴̢̹̰̾̀̈ḛ̸̬͔̉̂͑ḏ̵̘̝̈́̇͂ ̷̞̦̫̈́̃̅a̵̛̲̩̥͗̓n̵̦̠̽̉̋ͅ.̶̞͎̖̽͌͌.̴̥͕͔̆͆͒.̸̝͚̟͋̑͊ ̶̢̭̪̈͆̚'̸̤̼̯̀́̈ȋ̴̺͚̃̆͜n̶͚̝̲͊̄͆ṭ̷͉̈́̋͛͜è̵̻̳̻̋̎ŗ̵̛̟̓̉͜e̴̳̪̯͊̅͠s̷͇͍͕̉̿̑t̷̨̝̗̉̐̀'̷̹̼̠̈́̀̈́ ̶͈͕̯̋̄͂i̵̺̝̽́̕ͅn̶̟̙͓̈́͗̕ ̷̟͙̀̾͗͜a̷͔̗̮͒͑̇ ̷̨̡̝͒̇̚d̸̡̛̯̤̿̆i̵̯̣͔̐͑̂f̸͚̟͈̑̍͠f̵̩͎͒́͛ͅe̶̥̘̩͌̚̚r̴͈̫̟̔͋͐e̸̢̦͍͌̂̉ṇ̶̛͖͉̍̀t̷̥͉̓̓͒ͅ ̸̛͚̻͈͊͘d̴͎̝̥͐̍̋i̸̡͇̳̾̈́̇é̶͈̤̱͑͠t̶͈͇̣̾̉̌.̷̲̖̇̓̊͜ ̵̺̞͇̊͋̑T̸̻̼̜͗͘͠h̴̼̖̳̅̓͠ẻ̵̫͍̮̈́͂y̸̧̳̪͋̀̕ ̴̣̯̳͐͊͌c̸̝̣̥͆̆͝o̸͇̞͑͗͝ͅú̸̫͈͍͐̈l̷͕̮̬̒̒͋d̷̛͖̤̱̊̄ń̸̖̞̐͜͝'̴̯̯̖̉̑̏ṫ̷̩̦̦̔̈ ̵̧̭̯̑̇̃e̴̢͓̙̅̏͑a̷̠͚̮̐͊͋ṯ̴̡̭̎̓̔ ̶͔̘̠͆̿͠a̴͙̜̟͂̀̚n̶̢͉̞̍̚̕y̷͓͚̲͒̔̏ṭ̵͖͖̿̂̂ḧ̸̗̠̩́̓͛i̷̛̭̯͙͂͝n̷͔͎͌̎͌ͅģ̸̤̈͛̅͜ ̴͙̙͉̃̔̽b̷͖̥̮̍̎̒ů̷̠̰̺̏͂t̷̨̫̠͂͐́ ̵̝͙̄̌͑͜ả̷͚͇̫̅͘ ̶̩͔̲̆́̕ļ̶̭̈́̈͋͜ȉ̵̬͎̘̔̃v̷̛̭̱͕̽̕ĭ̴̫̭̞̓̑ń̸͕̭̓͒͜g̷̢͚̣͐̊̑ ̶̩͓͕͑̀͝p̴̧̻̠͋̃̃é̷͕̯͍̈́̚r̷̙͓̱̎̑̈s̸̤̤̫̓̍̌ỏ̴̺̺̣͋̑n̵̡̹̭̄̈͝.̷̨̅̾̉.̴͓͂.̴̲̓.̸̮͝”

A living person.

The noise stopped. The shadows froze. He had stopped sinking. Vadim paused, tears clinging to the corners of his eyelashes. The world had gone quiet—quiet except for a single distant voice. Even though the noise was gone, he could no longer follow what it was saying. Cautious, he eased up. His tail unfurled, and he stretched out his legs. He withdrew his nails from his scalp and lowered his arms to his sides. Then he opened his eyes.

The stadium looked as it did before: brightly lit under emergency power, nightmares and daydreams milling about in a panic, the screens showing static as they awaited a signal. No ominous droning, monstrous shadows, no devouring floor. Just... the stadium. It had all been in his head. Vadim breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he remembered that the figure on the screen said that they ate people.

Sticking his hand in his mouth, he bit down on his nails.


Quote:
Long intro with no interaction... Shame on me. It'll happen next post. Always free for poking though! Please quote me if you do!

Frit
Freshling
Frit was watching the man on the screen speak. She glared at him. He had started it off with talking about science and research, and things Frit was an avid fan of. Then he went rather dark, talking about misused magic, nightmares who killed, and did she really hear something about others being eaten? The little girl's tail curled under her, as if moving it under her would keep it from being bitten off by whatever monsters were said to be walking around.

Frit switched from foot to foot. There were a lot of people whispering and worrying, and Frit even saw one such kid shed a tear. The child pulled out a rather well used handkerchief and offered it to the teary eyed child. "Need something?" Frit asked, handing out the piece of cloth. She fidgeted with the slug container in her pocket for a moment, uncertain how to start a conversation. "I think its rather silly really. I mean, when there is candy, cakes, and those frozen treats, why would anyone eat other people instead? Maybe we should just serve them some deserts, then they will see reason, and change their diets." Frit said, patting the other freshling on the shoulder.

Honey smirked at Frankie, making eye contact for a moment. "Not the sort of 'trick' I was referring to," they said playfully, "but ya, I doubt the authorities would bother with this. Really it'd just be a pain in their a**, right?" Hearing others join into their conversation, Honey grinned at the opportunity to talk to more people. "Could be a new gang? Trying to scare people with all this zombie crap," they suggested, folding their arms across their chest once more, "or they could be telling the truth. Can't say I appreciate them killing the buzz like this, but honestly if there's a bunch of kids running around that got messed up by scientists, I probably wouldn't be that eager to fight 'em. Seems like they'd be in the right in that case, no?" Listening to a rather depressing girl nearby, Honey laughed and shook their head. "You're a fun one," they said simply, "and you're right, they must be pretty small in number. Doesn't mean they can't do what they want though, does it? Guerrilla warfare, pickin' people off one at a time, can't say it wouldn't be effective. Especially when people are scared," they added, a hint of concern in their voice. There were children around, and someone had already mentioned broken families. Fear was certainly a potent weapon.

Vadim flinched away from girl. Removing his hand from his mouth, he wiped his face on his sleeve. When he pulled his arm away, his gaze was cold. “No,” he said. His left foot slid behind him, and he edged away from the kerchief that the girl offered. His fingers curled around the bottom hem of his sweater. Eyes narrowed, he stared the girl down as she tried to make small talk.

“Maybe they only eat people who deserve it,” he said. “People who don't know how to mind their own business.” And in case his meaning was not clear, he gave the girl a pointed look.


Micillia

Helja had to smile, just slightly, when the other litch spoke up. "I'm an alchemist." She said. "If I had access to a lab I could probably mix up something, but unfortunately that simply isn't an option here."
She looked at the geist second, responding to them in her own chosen order. "Indeed, and that's my point. They want us to panic so as to make it easier to pick us off, their prey. Horror films cover these scenarios, though I never thought of them as survival lessons before. I'm certain that at least those of us with some years behind us understand what not to do, and can protect the children."

Tomorrow noticed the two freshlings a few meters away from the currently chatting group, and felt like she might as well check up on the children and make sure they were fine. It seemed their guardians were not present, so the situation was likely stressful for them. The darker colored child had seemed quite distressed during the broadcast, too. Maybe they were more sensitive to noise or other outside stimuli.

Reaching into her bag as she stepped closer, she handed the boy a music player and ear buds. "If the noise around seems too much, you can use this", she said quietly, squatting down by the kids, but at the same time maintaining a clear personal space between them and herself.

"Should you two not be at the Academy, or at least with a chaperone?" she asked. Her voice remained soft, but the tone was very flat and devoid of emotion - much like her face.

Frankie resisted the impulse to groan at Honey's what's the worst that could happen remark because life seemed to want to answer that question the most.

However, someone thought it would be a good idea to start passing drinks out. Frankie would have preferred warm water because she didn't trust anyone here not to spike the drinks with something suspicious, but she took a mug anyway. It would work as a makeshift weapon should the situation call for it.

"Looks like you got your wish for a drink," she smiled at Honey. "Maybe they'll start playing some catchy stadium jingles next."