[Journal] Rachel Collison ~ Duplex 76 | Page 2 | The Duplexes | Guild Forums

Rachel Collison

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Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 7:48 pm

It begins...

Rachel walked out onto the tarmac with her large rollerbag dragging behind her and her purse strung over her shoulder. She followed reluctantly after the airport employee who was taking her to the helicopter that would take her to her perceived imprisonment. It stood a ways out on the tarmac, and she only gave a brief glance at the surly pilot, before dragging herself and her luggage inside. Plopping down in a seat, Rachel crossed her arms and frowned at the injustice that was being done to her.

Her parents had sent her here after being told that she was once again exhibiting anorexic behavior. Their doctor had informed them of a medical study being conducted on an island outside the country, where Rachel would recieve medication and counciling that would hopefully reduce or eliminate her anorexic behaviors. Rachel had of course immediately objected, believing that she wasn't as bad off as they were making her out to be, but her parents ignored her pleas to remain where she was. They signed all the consent forms and waivers that had been thrown at them, and now a week later, here she was.

It had taken her a full day to fly across the country to Florida, and now there was another leg to complete, and Rachel was anxious to get to a point where she could at least settle down and sulk in peace, if she wasn't going to be going home. She glanced at the pilot a few minutes later, and spoke impatiently.

"Are we going anytime soon, or are we going to sit here forever?"

The rather large, intimidating helicopter pilot who up to this point had been silent turned and gave Rachel an annoyed look. She'd disturbed the silence between him and the passengers he was so fond of. "We are waiting for one other person Ma'am."

Victor shielded his eyes against the sun as he walked out onto the Tarmac and looked towards the helicopter that he had been directed to by an airport employee. He reshouldered his backpack of things, carrying his dufflebag in one hand as he headed towards the helicopter that he had been told would take him away to an island to finish out his internship, with higher pay, which was something Victor couldn't turn down due to certain financial circimstances caused by some identity thief out in cyberspace.

Victor smiled as he pushed his bags into the helicopter, and took his seat.
"Hello" Victor said to both Rachel and James. Victor was slightly surprised at how thin Rachel was, he had been told by someone at Feral Labs that he'd be traveling with a psychology patient, who was going to the island to be treated for anorexia.

The helicopter door shut and started to take off.

Rachel raised a surprised eyebrow at the pilot when he told her that someone else was coming, but didn't comment. Another girl like herself, committed to a life of imprisonment and doctors because their parents thought they had a problem? She didn't have to wait long to find out, as a few minutes later Victor climbed into the helicopter.

The darkhaired girl simply nodded in response to his greeting, and ignored his surprised look, having been used to such looks for a while. Once he was seated, she moved to buckle herself in, having to tighten the straps considerably from the seat's previous occupant before they fit her correctly.

As the helicopter took off, she rubbed her hands together nervously, having never flown in one before. To take her mind off of the motion, she turned her head slightly to look at the other passenger out of the corner of her eye. Well he certainly didn't look like someone whos parents would send away. In fact, he looked several years older than herself and probably didn't deal with the whims of his parents anymore. Curiosity poked at her to ask him what "he was in for," but her anti-social side won out and she looked away again.

As the uncomfortable silence continued the helicopter headed towards the island. It took a few hours to make the trip, during which James was as silent as ever.

The island came into view, the tall mansion that was visible in the mountain peeks and the buildings poking out below it. The helicopter approached the jungle and landed in the helipad at a bit of distance.

As it set down, a red headed man was waiting out there. He had two other men next to him and they were all waiting near a jeep.

Victor unblucked his seatbelt once the helicopter had touched down and the door had been opened up. Personally he was glad the flight was over, deciding to silently look out the window rather engage in conversation.

He got out of the helicopter and grabbed his bags, admiring the view of the island and the tall mansion on the mountain, and couldn't imagine a better place to spend his internship

Rachel had ended up taking a nap for the majority of the flight, having decided that since the other passenger wasn't going to make conversation and she certainly wasn't going to, that she might as well rest. When she woke up, the island was just coming into view, and she watched intently as it got closer, wanting to know the nature of the place she would be staying. Well...at least it didn't look too bad, with beaches and all. She saw the mansion and her eyes opened wide. Was that where she was going to be staying?!?

As they landed she saw the three men on the platform, one standing out with his bright red hair. She watched them curiously, dropping her bag on the ground, before hopping out herself. Giving one last glance at the pilot, Rachel picked up her bag and slowly made her way over to the trio after the man who had traveled with her, not sure what to expect.

Moreau looked around anxiously. He had been... more cautious since the incident with Dr. Frost. He nodded his head and attempted to put on a smile for the two. Still, his intimdating guards were supposed to be watching for any signs of Annie.

"Welcome to my Island. I am Dr. Moreau, CEO of Feral Labs, if you'll please get in my jeep, I'll take you to the laboratories to get things such as immunizations out of the way." Moreau nodded his head and beconned to the jeep.

Victor put his things in the jeep, and looked between the guards and then to Dr.Moreau, it seemed to him that they were looking out for something or someone, but Victor smiled anyway and offered Dr. Moreau his hand
"Pleasure to meet you Dr.Moreau" Victor wondered to himself what the immunizations were for but didn't ask, he imagined they were for a good reason.

Rachel was rather surprised that the man greeting them was the CEO. She figured that he would have better things to do than to greet a patient and...well whoever the other guy was. It didn't seem like he was here for the same reasons....

Her attention going back to the CEO, she registered that he had introduced himself as Doctor Moreau, which made him the enemy. He was the person heading the operation that had dragged her here. Getting back into her silently rebellious mood, Rachel gave him an appropriately glowering look, before climbing into the jeep and crossing her arms again to show that she wasn't happy about this whole situation.

The talk of immunizations didn't bother her. She figured she needed some kind of booster shot anyways, as she hadn't had one in several years, that she could recall.

Moreau pretended not to notice the hand, as he walked around to the driver's seat. He waited for the intern to get in the jeep with a bit of a smirk on his face. The jeep signicantly more crowded than normal with the two guards and two subjects.

Victor took his hand back and quietly got into the crowed jeep beside Rachel, wondering if Moreau hadn't seen his hand or ignored it, Either way, Victor wouldn't have been surprised, he was just an intern, and Dr.Moreau was the CEO of Feral labs, and some people liked to mess with interns.

Rachel scooted over as far as she could, to allow Victor a place to sit. She didn't like being crowded in cars, but there wasn't much choice and it would only be a little while. Finally feeling brave enough to address Moreau once they were all piled into the vehicle, she spoke to him from behind the driver's seat, where she was sitting.

"So what exactly are you guys going to do to me here, Doctor?" she asked irritibly,

"We offer various benificial... projects." Moreau smiled in an attempt to be warm. "After all, if my company can't help people that need it, what good is it?"

Moreau turned on the jeep and began driving towards the labs. Even as the jeep darted down the windy roads that made the path between the helipad, and the laboratories.

Victor looked from the passing jungle up to the driver's seat and their red-haired host. "So where will be be staying? I saw some smaller buildings below your mansion there, looks like you practicly have a small village built"

"Hmph..." was all Rachel had to say in response to Moreau's comment as they drove off. Even if he was going to be friendly, she was not going to allow herself to warm up to him. She didn't want to be here and damnit, she was going to let them know that with every chance she got.

The breeze from the open-topped jeep blew a few loose strands of hair around her face, making her grateful that the rest of her hair was secured in a braid. Her eyes watched the scenery as it passed, thinking how different it was from the Pacific Northwest, where she had been raised. There were just as many trees, and from the look of it, just as much rain. The warm, heavy air was strange to her though, used to only a little bit of weather like that in the summers, being the exception rather than the rule. Rachel hoped she wouldn't have to stay here that long, knowing she would miss the cooler climate she had lived in her entire life, esprecially the snow.

Hearing Victor ask his own question, Rachel snapped out of the thoughts of home, turning her head slightly to look at him. Smaller buildings? She hadn't seen them when they flew in, probably because she was too busy staring at the mansion. So they wouldn't be staying there then? That was one of the few things she had thought might actually be nice about coming here.

"As an intern, and as a patient, yes you'll be staying there. It's a lot less stuffy than the lab dormatories and I find the sea breeze air is very invigorating." Moreau said as the jeep pulled up to the door.

He lead the two young people to the door, which opened as he approached and into the sterile, almost hospitalish lobby. Towards the elevator to the upper floors.

Victor liked the idea of living in a house structure by the ocean buch better than being in a dormatory, he knew how stuffy dorm rooms in college were, and he was glad he wouldn't be spending his internship on such a nice island in one.
He quietly followed Moreau to the elevator, figuring the doctor or someone else would go over the details of his internship once this immunization was over with

Ah, so that was her traveling companion's purpose here. He was to be an intern to the doctor. Not even someone who could sympathize with her then. With a sigh, Rachel climbed out of the jeep after the others. She glanced at her bag, wondering if she should take it, but seeing Victor walk off without his, she figured she didn't need it for the time being.

She adjusted her shirt, which had slipped, exposing her bony shoulder, as she walked into the building. Rachel wrinkled her nose as the hospitalish feel and smell reached her. She hated hospitals. After having spent a while in one during the first attempt at treatment, she was quite sick of them. Following the other two to the elevator, she was now glad that she wouldn't be spending much time in this building, or at least she hoped.

Moreau lead the two into the elevator. Once they were both inside, he spoke loudly "Floor 8" and the elevator began to rise on it's own. Most people found it interesting that it had no buttons like a typical elevator. What they weren't aware of is that it only responded to staff voices. This kept things more secure as it were.

Moreau waited as the elevator rose, smiling once it opened up into the short hallway that lead into the main lab area where he took care of serums. These two would make excellent test subjects for the new serums that had been developed.

Victor did notice that there were no buttons on the elevator door, and found it rather odd, but was amazed at the level of technology that was being used at this facility, Feral labs had spared no expense with this place.

"So how many people live on the island full time?"

Rachel leaned up against one of the elevator walls as it traveled upward, about to ask about the buttons, when Victor spoke. Shrugging inwardly, she figured the doctor wouldn't have answered her question anyways. She knew just as well as anyone that people liked having secrets. Shortly after Victor finished speaking they reached their destination and she stepped out of the elevator into the hallway, waiting for the doctor's response and for him to lead them where he wanted.

"Exact personel details are confidential. But we have a decent amount of capacities as our facilities grow." Moreau patted Victor lightly on the shoulder.

"Even so, welcome aboard. I'm sure you'll both enjoy your time here." Moreau motioned them to a set of lab tables. "If you don't mind sitting over there and pulling up your sleeve, I'll take care of this."

"Thanks Dr. Moreau" Victor moved over and sat on the lab table, rolling up his sleeve as asked. "how often does the Helicopter come back around incase we want to go to the mainland?"

"Right.....I'm positively ecstatic to be here," Rachel muttered under her breath sarcasticly, in response to Moreau's comment. She took her own sweet time to wander over to the other table, before rolling up her sleeve. This once again revealed her bony shoulder and showed what a truly dangerous state she was in, despite the way she saw herself.

"Mainland visits are... rare. There is a bit of a backlog as well, so it could be some time." Moreau's injection of Victor was done and over in no time. With Rachel he had to be more careful. But after only a moment they both had their immunizations.

"I'll have your stuff sent down to your duplexes, I hope you'll enjoy your stay here. If you just head down that elevator you'll be escorted out." Moreau gave a small sly smile.

Victor winced as the needle was injected into him, but was glad it was over and done with as he rubbed his arm and got off the table, looking to the elevator and then back to Moreau.
"Well was nice meeting you then Dr.Moreau, hope to meet you again sometime." He knew he had to get his things unpacked, and was eager to explore the rest of the island as he waited a moment before heading to the elevator

Rachel chewed on her upper lip as she felt the pinch of the needle and it's contents starting to flow through her body. She breathed a small sigh of relief when it was over, hoping that was to be the extent of her medical dealings for the day. She was about to head to the elevator, before a question came to her and she turned to Moreau.

"So when can I expect you guys to start my 'treatment'?" she asked, with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow. She wasn't looking forward to it, but damnit, they weren't going to surprise her with things; not if she could help it.

"We'll give you a bit of time to adjust, a couple of weeks. Then we should begin treatment." Moreau smiled as he began to throw the needles into the proper biohazard bags.

"I'm sure you'll find your time here very plesent, at least I hope you will." Moreau nodded. Eager to be done with the two, but doing his best to conceal that.

Victor looked between Rachel and Dr.Moreau, and nodded to what the doctor said, guessing that he'd have a few days before his internship started but it seemed to him that the doctor had other things he had to do. Victor got into the elevator and rubbed his arm again as he felt the 'immunization' spread though him from the injection point, making him feel...warm.

A couple of weeks? Rachel's hopes for an early return home were dashed with this statement. Nodding in acknowledgement, she sighed and followed Victor into the elevator, eager for the day to just be over. At least now she could be alone for a little while. Once the elevator reached the bottom, she walked with Victor from the building, to the jeep that would take them to their new homes.

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:23 pm

Duplex 76

Rachel stood at the door of the duplex 76, out of breath from dragging her suitcase up the stairs. This was apparently where she was going to be living for the duration of her treatment...however long that was going to be. It could have been better, if she hadn't been assigned to live right above one of the enemy. The intern that had flown over with her was residing in the room directly below, and she wouldn't have put it past them to have placed him there as a spy, unaware that such as spy wasn't necessary, with the kind of survailence already all over the island.

She looked out from the top of the stairs at the other duplexes. There seemed to be an awful lot of them out there. How many of them were patients like her? She hadn't seen anyone on the drive over to "the village," as the guard driving the jeep called it. Maybe the rooms were mostly unoccupied at the moment? She had been told that the larger building in the center had a cafeteria, but despite the fact that she had been traveling all day and hadn't eaten anything since her parents made her eat breakfast that morning, she wasn't interested in eating anything at the moment.

It was starting to get dark, and Rachel turned to try the doorknob, finding it unlocked. She felt for the lightswitch next to the door and turned it on to reveal a simple but nice room, with a double bed, closet, bookshelf and it's own bathroom. It was certainly a step up from where she had stayed last time she had been forced to undergo treatment. She stepped into the room, dragging her oversized suitcase behind her and hauling it onto the bed. She had stuffed as much as she could into it, her parents' largest suitcase, not sure how long she would be gone or what she would be doing while she was here.

With a sigh, Rachel began the task of unpacking her suitcase, happy to find the keys to the duplex sitting on top of the dresser. After about half an hour, the majority of things were put away to her satisfaction, including having her dress and favorite tops hanging in the closet on the few hangers that were already in there.

Done with that, Rachel grabbed her bathtowel and headed into the bathroom. She undressed, took out her braid, and started the water, before looking around around the small room. Frowning when she didn't see a scale, she instead turned to the mirror and backed up as far as she could, so that she could see more of her frame in the reflection. Anyone else would have seen a girl that was only skin and bones, that looked as if she would have leapt at the opportunity to eat a large meal, and that appreared physically to be about 13. All Rachel saw was a girl that had too much body fat and that could only do what she wanted in life if she kept loosing weight. She pulled at the minimal bits of fat and muscle tissue that still managed to cling to her thighs and vowed that if she could manage to find the gym on this rock, she would try and get in a workout, as she hadn't exercized at all today.

If they'll let me, she thought grimly, before taking one last look at herself and stepping under the warm water. She stayed in the shower for a good half an hour, before shutting off the water, soaking up the heat it had given off. Stepping back into the main room, wrapped in her towel, she shivered at the feel of the AC on her bare skin and turned the thermostat to a higher temperature, before digging her hairbrush out of her toiletry bag. She sat down on the bed and flipped open one of the magazines she had brought with her, starting to read it as she brushed her hair, almost completely unaware of the unusually large amount of pieces that were breaking off and getting stuck in the brush....

Rachel Collison

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Rachel Collison

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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:37 pm

Early Morning Encounter

Rachel opened the door partway and peeked her head outside, checking to make sure no one was around, before stepping out and closing the door quietly behind her. The predawn air was cool, and Rachel wrapped her arms around herself, chilled despite the oversized sweatshirt and running pants she wore. She had woken up early hoping to ensure that her workout wouldn't be disturbed by any of the medical staff who might get it in their head to stop her.

Silently, she crept down the stairs, having decided that this morning she would go jogging. She didn't know where the gym was yet (assuming they had one) and then this way she could do a little exploring at the same time. Rachel stood at the base of the stairs for a moment, while she stretched and warmed herself up.

Tommy was on his way back to his duplex. The sun is going to be up in about an hour or so and that means it's time for Tommy to get some sleep. Staying up all night to watch old 50's sci-fi movies had drained him somewhat. The bat-man takes the long way back, still trying to get used to walking on his strange feet, when he spots Rachel off in the distance near her duplex. He frowns somewhat, not sure what to think. He just shakes his head and keeps on walking to his duplex which would include walking past her.

Running ahead, Reuben sniffed another bush, then another, then located the right spot and left his mark. Walking slowly behind him was a still rather tired Lucas. The dog had been so demanding, all Lucas had time to throw on were a pair of pants and slipped into his shoes before running outside. It was suppose to be a quick walk around the village, have Reuben do his thing, then head back to bed. However, the more he walked around the more the feeling of the morning air and smells started to wake him.

Ears perking, Reuben caught sight of the female and darted toward her. Lucas, of course, without his glasses couldn't make heads or tails at first of what Reuben was running towards. However, when he caught sight of movement he realized it was another person. Great.

"Reuben, no!" he gave chase.

Ignoring Lucas, Reuben ran up to Rachel, jumping up on her, hoping for some attention.

Rachel didn't notice either Tommy or Lucas, until the little dog came running up to her and she looked up. Surprised to see a dog wandering around, she immediately searched the vicinity for it's owner, her eyes falling on two figures.

Great...I'm already caught, she thought to herself, while reaching down to pet the dog. Maybe she could just pretend that she couldn't sleep? That was unlikely, considering her attire if that was indeed what they were doing there. In the dim early morning light, Rachel didn't immediately notice anything different about the two figures, and she called out to the one who was in the direction the dog appeared to have come from.

"He yours?" she asked, trying not to look suspicious or guilty, in case he was there to stop her early morning jog.

Tommy just continues to walk toward Rachel but pauses as he sees the dog...and recognizes him. "...hey..." he mutters out and looks around quickly for the hedgehog lady. All he sees though is a rather skinny girl and another changed islander he hasn't met before.

The completely human girl didn't seem to be freaking out...so...huh...he just nods to them in as friendly way he can manage, "Mornin'" he says to the two of them.

As Lucas draws closer he begins to make the girl out better. Another human, at least it looked that way. "Sorry about that. Um, no, he's not mine." He stepped forward and placed a hand on Reuben. "I wish you wouldn't jump on people. Or run away." He let out an exasperated sigh, then looked down at Rachel and smiled pleasantly. However, for someone not familiar with the Island, the smile might seem somewhat unsettling since he was showing off some of his pointed teeth and fangs.

Looking over his shoulder Lucas spotted another Islander approaching and waved. Not exactly what he'd been expecting on his short walk. He wished he'd worn a shirt. "Good morning."

As the two people came near, Rachel noticed that there was something....off....about the two of them. One of them seemed to have extrodinarily long fingers, and a rather strange looking face. Maybe he was here for medical treatment of some rare birth defect? She didn't know the labs dealt with other types of medical cases.

She turned to look at the second person, as he reached her and the dog, and her eyes opened wider, even as he smiled at her. Was that....fur all over his face and chest? Ok something definitelty wasn't right here. Maybe she was still asleep and this was a freaky sort of dream?

"Morning..." she managed, blinking and shaking her head, trying to make the strange things she was seeing go away. Of course, it didn't work, and she instinctively stood up and took a step back, not quite sure what she was dealing with here.

"Who...who are you?" Rachel asked, grabbing onto the stair railing, prepared to run up the stairs and lock herself in her room if needed.

Tommy looks between the two of them for a moment before he notices something strange about Rachel...Oh s**t...not again... He looks panicked for a brief moment before taking a deep to cool his nerves.

"Hey um...guy...I don't think she knows...wanna bolt?" he asks as slyly as he can toward Lucas.

Oblivious to Rachel's rising panic, Lucas introduced himself. "My name is Lucas Wickham. And this," he gestured toward the dog, "is Reuben." Almost in rhythm with Reuben's wagging, Lucas' tail was also swaying back and forth without him realizing it.

"Bolt?" It takes the more experienced and observant Tommy to point things out for him and his tail comes to a stop. Eyeing the bat-man for a moment, he looked back at Rachel. "You...really don't know?"

Well...they didn't seem like they would hurt her, for the moment at least. She kept a hand on the railing though, just in case. The furry man(?) who had called himself Lucas had spoken to her as if there was nothing unusual about the situation at hand, and appeared to be wagging a tail? That was at least until the long-fingered guy spoke up. He apparently had no problem with the appearance of Lucas, which she found a little unnerving. Then the very furry Lucas addressed her again, with a question.

"Know what?" she asked cautiously, her body posture tense. She was beginning to wish she hadn't left her room that morning.

"Ah...s**t...um...you wanna take this one...Luke...I mean, Lucas. Last time I did...well it didn't end too well," he says as he gives a nervous grin.

"Oh...name's Tommy by the way," he says to both of them, "Tommy Christian...and...Vampire bat in case you're wondering...but I'm sure Lucas'll explain it better than I can."

Now he was reading her body language. The tenseness in her shoudlers and the This was the first time Lucas had encountered an Islander who did not know the truth. And...was she scared of him?

"Take this one?" Lucas turned to Tommy, giving him an alarmed look. What was he to say? What made Tommy think Lucas could handle this better than he could? 'Oh hey, um, geez... yeah, you're going to turn into an animal. So say goodbye to humanity!'

He thought better of getting into an arguement with the Vampire bat about who was better suited to give this girl the bad news. The last thing she needed to see was the Wolfman and Dracula fighting.

"Um... I know I look weird. Him, too," he jerked a thumb at Tommy. "We're harmless, though. I mean... I know we look weird, but we're really human." He sighed, raking fingers through his brown hair. "We didn't use to look like this. Moreau, the guy who owns this place? He did this to us. He is turning us into animals. Vampire bats and...I guess a dog. We're experiments." He gestured toward himself and Tommy. This wasn't going well. Would she even believe anything he's saying? He looked to other man, clearly searching for some help.

"Tommy Christian...and...Vampire bat..." she had heard the long-fingered man say. Vampire Bat? What on earth does he mean by that? she thought, but didn't have to wait long before Lucas began attempting to explain.

Rachel listened silently as Lucas laid things out before her, the only indication she was listening were her eyes that were growing slowly wider. Moreau? The damn CEO doctor that had dragged her here? He was doing experiments on people, turning them into animals? No...there was no way...

"I must still be asleep," Rachel said to herself, when Lucas paused, pinching the bridge of her nose where it met her forehead, and closing her eyes as if she had a headache.

"This all has to be some crazy dream..."

"Well...I can see how you'd think that...I mean, I've got gigantic ears and hands...and fido over there's got tail to match his furry little friend...hell, I know what you mean. When I first got here I thought I was dead...but...uh...yeah, that's a long story. Anyway... Yeah... the short of it is that you're not dreaming and everything Lucas said right there is more or less completely true." He grins big, a nervous habit. How's she going to take this? Oh God...dont' scream...or run...Jesus, I don't think my ego can another hit like that.

First Luke, now Fido. He gave Tommy an unamused look before returning his attention to Rachel.

"It's not a dream. As much as I would love to tell you to wake up.... As much as I would love to wake up back in my home with no fur, no tail..." he held out his arm to her, "I can't. This is real. See for yourself."

There was a small assemblage of people there, standing in a not-so-tight clump in the village proper... but Emelyn, though she saw them, did not register their identities- or even give them a great deal of thought... not until after a certain canine caught her eye- and vice versa.

The brown and white spaniel mix, though he had not been with Emelyn since before her last change- recognized her as surely as the smell permeated his canid nostrils. He went into a spasm of joy, running with abandon towards the woman.

"Reuben!" Em called out, taking a few striding steps forward then kneeling down on the earth to welcome the beast with a great hug, which also had the purpose of slightly holding his insistant wiggles and tongue at bay. The dog was so excited he looked as if he might shake himself to pieces.

Rachel opened her eyes again and dropped her hand, staring at the two. Are they really serious? she asked herself, trying to absorb the information. Lucas offered his arm to her to confirm the truth of their statements, and Rachel found herself struggling with whether or not to touch it, when the puppy went bounding away.

In the time they had been talking, dawn was coming ever nearer, and the village was slowly becoming more lit. Rachel's gaze followed the small dog to...

What on earth? Is...was....that a person? Rachel's grip on the bannister grew tighter, her knuckles turning white as she took in the sight of Emelyn.

Tommy frowns as he sees the dog bound off. Is that...? Damn, it's been a while...she looks different. He just smiles softly in Em's direction and nods. "Heya..." he says quietly before looking down at the ground in embarrassment. For what, he couldn't say...he just felt it. It was then he noticed Rachel's expression, "Oh...s**t, hey...um...lady...you alright? I uh...I think you should sit down. I know how much of a shock this is. Hell, we all do."

His arm remained outstretched for her to inspect in anyway she wanted. But as he waited there for any kind of reaction, any movement, he wondered if he should say more. "I know it's a lot to take in-"

When Reuben took off again, he was cut short. Pulling back his arm, he was about to call the dog back when he caught sight of a familiar figure. There was no mistaking the spines.

"Emelyn!" He hurried over to her, stopping a step away from her. It had been a while since she disappeared. He had recently heard she was back in the village. He felt bad for not going to see her. However, he hadn't been sure if he should. She must have known Reuben was still with him, and yet she hadn't come by to retrieve him. "I'm glad you are out and okay."

"Lucas!" She looked up at the sound of his voice, only to be met with a face that was both familiar and completely different, all at once. The exclamation was half surprise at his new form- and at seeing him at all- and half joy at seeing her friend. She would have said more- but Tommy's voice drew her to what was happening, and the sight of a girl who looked likely to drop to the ground at any moment.

"Are you...alright?" Em said, not thinking for even a moment through all the excitement that the girl might not be familiarized with the island yet. It was then that she noticed that the figure that the banister supported was a veritable waif of a person- a sickly sprite that might blow away at any moment.

Rachel barely heard Tommy and Emelyn through the fog of her brain that was quickly turning to blackness. Her brain and body couldn't take all of this. She felt her knees start to buckle and her grip loosened on the rail as the darkness consumed her and body crumpled beneath her.

Tommy being the noble soul (at least in his own mind) that he is, quickly attempts to catch the falling woman. "******** hell!" he yelps out as he lunges for her.

He noted her surprised and scratched beind his ear, feeling a little uncomfortable. Emelyn's own change did not come as a surprise to him. The labtech he spoke to had already informed him. To him, not much had changed about the woman. More spines, longer muzzle, she looked like a half-woman, half-hedgehog before and still did. He had never seen or known her as anything else.

Ear flickering, Lucas turned in time to see Rachel start to collapse. "Oh man..." he started to run, but knew he would never get there in time to stop her fall. Fortunately Tommy lunged forward at the same time to catch her. "Is she okay?"

Emelyn stood, her eyes wide as time slowed down for a moment... as it always seemed to do in such situations- but before she could move forward to try and attend to the girl, Reuben... somewhat less than gallantly... beat her to it.

The dog bounded over to where the frighteningly thin woman lay crumpled in Tommy's arms. He sniffed at her and barked, wagging his tail with the excitement that was caused by all the fuss. The quick motion had drawn his attention, and now he tried to jump up to put his paws on her, or Tommy.

Rachel would have fallen to the ground, but was rescued by Tommy's quick reaction. As he felt her weight fall into his arms, he would probably notice how very light she was for her height and should have no trouble supporting her. Reuben's barking was not enough for the time being to bring her back, although her breathing and heartrate were steady.

Tommy breathes a sigh of relief as he catches and supports Rachel. For the slightest of moments there is an intense hunger in his eyes but it is blinked away as soon as it came into being. "Christ...that's the second goddamn time that's happened..." he mutters out. It's at this point the cute bundle of fur (no, not Lucas) came bounding toward them and pawed for attention on Tommy's jeans. "Calm down boy, I got her alright..." he says softly as he looks over the unconscious woman. "Goddamn...she's light as a feather...hey...miss, you alright?" he says to Rachel even though he was positive she wouldn't hear him. At least he knew she was still breathing and had a heart rate. Even without the clear sign of her chest slowly inhaling and exhaling, his ears pick up the steady rhythm of her heart at this close.

Joining Tommy, Lucas knelt down beside him and pulled Reuben away. "Calm down, boy." While scratching behind the dog's ear, he looked over Rachel, then up at Tommy. "Well... it didn't go that bad. She didn't get out the torch and pitchfork or run away screaming." He gave the bat a weak smile.

That could have gone better.

"What should we do with her?"

"Ohh..." Emelyn breathed a sound of realization that was born from Lucas' statement. The girl was new to the island, and likely her fall was due to the shock. She stepped forward and clapped once, then issued a sharp whistle. It was the 'get behind me' signal, created mostly for the possibility of danger arising in the jungle and Emelyn hoped that the dog would recognize it. It had been a long time since she'd used it with the animal, or even spent much time with him, so she didn't know how well he'd respond. Her doubts were unfounded, however- the canine returned to the earth on all four feet and scurried around behind the hedgehog woman, his tail wagging. With Reuben thusly occupied, if only for a moment, she was free to see the situation.

"Erm... I'd say just take her back to her duplex- I think it's just shock that she fainted from..." she sighed, "but with someone as slight as her, I don't think we should take any chances. ...Who wants to take her to the labs?" It was a rueful word, and she didn't like saying it.

Tommy looks over to Em and then back to Rachel, "The...the labs? I uh...s**t...I mean, I'm sure they would've sent someone if she was in real danger...right?" he trails off as he looks over the skinny girl, "I...*sigh* yeah...you're right...I've never been there before though..."

The dog-man lifted his head at Emelyn's whistle and watched as Reuben walked around and waited behind the hedgehog. He laughed, shaking his head. "How I wish I had known about that little trick." And here he had been under the impression that the dog had no training whatsover.

He stood up, brushing off the dirt from his pants. "Question is, which is her duplex?" He hadn't seen her leave any of them. It was possible the one in front of them was her's, but it wasn't certain. The idea of going around the Village trying doors and potentially scaring other Islanders from their sleep didn't really appeal to him. There was a little surprise when Emelyn suggested the labs, but he understood her thinking.

"I know the way to the labs. I can take her."

Her smile was apologetic as she realized how much work Reuben must have been for Lucas. Now was not the forum for her thank you's- but she seized on his latest statement as an opportunity to do so.

"I'll come with you."

Rachel heard voices through the fog in her mind, she even thought she heard one of them asking her if she was alright. The voices continued talking and started to mention laps....labs? Her brain struggled to make a connection she knew was there, as she started to work her way towards semi-conciousness. Rachel's eyelids fluttered, and she turned her head slightly as she started to come around.

Tommy felt movement in his arms and looks down to see Rachel start to stir. He lets out a sigh of relief and grins at her. "Hey there...how're you feeling?" he asks newly conscious woman, not thinking about how the look of his half-bat face so close to her own would affect her. He's just thankful that maybe he won't have to go near the labs...ever.

Before Lucas could respond to Emelyn, Rachel began to stir. "Hey, welcome back. You okay?" he spoke softly, but did not bend down again. He didn't want to crowd her and left her with plenty of space to stand, or even flee if she wanted. Though, he hoped she didn't. Just having a girl looking at him fearfully had already taken his self-esteem down a notch. And it was already pretty low since his change.

At least he wouldn't have to carry her all the way to the labs.

Emelyn stood back out of respect for the girl's nerves. She was glad to see her waking up, but still looked down on the thin form with concern; it was hard not too, with such a visage. Reuben came alongside Emelyn with a happy sniff, but didn't venture past the hedgehog woman's legs.

Rachel blinked several times more, trying to get her eyes into focus, to see who was talking to her, only to have them focus on Tommy's face. She took in a startled breath, but immediately regained control, groaning slightly as she put a hand to her head.

"I'll...be fine," she replied to the queries after a moment, shifting her weight from Tommy to her own feet, still using his support to help herself balance.

"So...I didn't dream it all then?" she asked, letting herself look at the three people next to her, the reality of it all begining to set in. She allowed herself to wonder a moment what these people must have looked like before, but pushed it from her mind, knowing better than to dwell on things like that.

Tommy just smiles sadly as he lets her get back to her feet, "Oh God I wish I could say you were, ma'am...but sadly, it's just not in the cards." He looks back over to Em and then Lucas, "I...*sigh* I'll catch you guys later...it's getting light out soon and I need to get some sleep."

He looks back to Rachel once more, "It can be scary out here sometimes...if you need anything, just remember...the name's Tommy. Duplex 54." He then turns to head back to what he sadly calls his home.

He echoed Tommy. "I'm sorry, but it's not a dream." He slipped his hands into his pockets. Had she put two and two together? Should he tell her that she, too, was now a subject and would change just like them? He really didn't want to be the one to do it. What if she fainted again?

"Good-er... See you later, Tommy." He nodded to the bat, as he turned to leave.

"I'm afraid not, sweetheart," Emelyn said, surprised to hear an almost motherly tone come out of her muzzle at the girl's words. She still hadn't stepped forward, but rather, dropped down and wrapped her arms around the dog, partially because she'd missed the furry beast, and partially because a part of her realized it might make her look a little less like an animal herself.

"I'm Emelyn," she said. She looked up at Lucas. "I'm sure the... red man has introduced himself." A slight smile crossed her muzzle's 'lips' for Lucas' sake. "What's your name?"

"Thank you Tommy," Rachel said quietly, offering a smile for the first time since she woke up this morning. The incident had taken her usual anti-social hostility out of her for the moment. She watched as he wandered off to his own room, before turning back to the other two. She seated herself on the nearby stairs, not quite trusting her legs to hold her for long periods yet, nodding at their answer to her question. The dark haired girl wasn't quite sure whether the confirmation made her feel better or worse.

"Hi Emelyn. I'm Rachel" she said, cracking another small smile, before nodding to Lucas. "Yes, Lucas introduced himself."

Her expression turned sour after a moment as the realization hit her. "So...I'm going to be like you guys, aren't I?"

The corner of his mouth curled into a smile. Red man, huh? At least she didn't call him 'Fido'.

After Rachel spoke and asked her question, Lucas glanced toward Emelyn, then crouched down. He decided to come right out and say it. "Yes." He sighed. "Everyone who comes to the Island is the next test subject for Moreau's experiments. They adminster a shot to you, which is the first injection in the process, then leave you here in the Village." He sent another look toward Emelyn. This young girl had to have family waiting for her on the mainland. How could he tell her she'd never see them again?

One thing at a time.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. None of us are here by our own will, no." She couldn't think to say much else.

"I guess this is the 'treatment' I came here for," she said grimly, leaning forward and resting her head and arms on her knees. She didn't need Lucas to tell her she'd never see her family again. It was written all over their faces and it didn't make sense that the doctor would let people free, showing exactly what he'd been doing.

Rachel glanced over at Emelyn for a moment, a thought crossing her mind. That was the second time she had been called "sweetheart" by the woman who had turned into a....hedgehog? porcupine? How old did they think she was? Rachel didn't exactly mind, she was just wondering why Emelyn seemed to like the term when speaking to her. After a short period of silence, Rachel spoke again.

"So....how do we know.....? What we're turning into I mean," she amended quickly.

"And how soon?" her brow creased in thought. She wanted to know how much time she had, before...

"I've been told you have the option of asking what you are turning into. Just call the labs on the intercom in your duplex." He fidgeted, his arms first being crossed over his chest, then he would let them rest limply at his sides, eventually his hands found their way into his pockets. Then it would start all over again, all the while his tail would occasionally flick behind him.

Her second question he wasn't sure on. "I don't know. It took three weeks for me." He looked to Emelyn.

"I don't remember," she said lamely when Lucas looked at her to answer. "It's been a while. But it's not...especially long, if I can recall." She nodded at Lucas again. "A few weeks sounds about right."

It was hard to look at Rachel. She was so small, so frail- at any moment, Emelyn half expected the gumball bones that were her wrists, and the knobs of her knuckes to pop free from her dark skin and roll across the packed dirt ground of the village proper. It brought out the mothering instinct in Emelyn- or at least, some other such instinct that could be housed under the heading of 'Want to tie her down and feed her'.

"Hmm....maybe I'll have to ask them..." she said quietly, mainly to herself. She didn't really like surprises, let alone unpleasant ones. At least the two people sitting in front of her didn't seem to be turning anything too bad...

If you have to turn into anything at all, she thought darkly. Whatever she had expected for her 'treatment,' it certainly hadn't been this. And a few weeks was so little time...That's all she had left to be herself? Would she be able to gymnastics anymore? All the information was finally starting to get to her, and it was almost too much to take in.

"It seems so impossible...." she finally said, rubbing her temples lightly. "It's going to take me a while to get used to the idea..."

Lucas debated for a moment stepping over to her and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but decided against it. It was difficult to say how she'd react to it. He didn't want to frighten her or cause her to faint for a second time. Rachel was so far the youngest person on the Island he had come across. And she also looked like she was possibly ill. What were the labs thinking? This bothered him.

"If you ever need anything you can contact me. I'm in duplex 57."

"And I'm in Duplex 8. And really... take all the time you need to 'get used to the idea'." She would be on the island all her life, Emelyn knew- and the longer period of denial she allowed herself, the longer she might grasp onto her previous life. Though, how wonderful was her life, that she martyred herself to live in this shruken skeleton of a body? Em only bit the lip on her muzzle, not knowing either way- how wrong Moreau was to bring her here.

"Thank you, both of you. I'm at the one at the top of the stairs...I think it's 76." Rachel sighed resignedly, not really wanting to think about it anymore. Normally, she would have gone ahead on the jog she had been planning on, to clear her head, but she knew better than that after having fainted.

Maybe later today, her obsessive mind told her as she pushed on the railing and stood herself up, planning on heading back up the stairs to her room, when she noticed Emelyn's expression.

"Is something wrong? I mean...besides what we've been talking about?" Rachel asked her.

The dhole watched her stand, ready to give his goodbyes so she could return to her room when Rachel stopped and asked her question. He turned to Emelyn.

"Nothing's wrong. I just don't like to see newcomers here. Under the circumstances, I wish we'd never met... Rachel." she chewed the word sweetheart, and its close companion, darling, in her mouth before she allowed them escape into the sentence.

"No kidding," Rachel said sourly, in response to Emelyn's comment, before sighing again. She thought she sensed that there was more that Emelyn wasn't telling her, or maybe she was just being paranoid. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"Well...thank you for filling me in on my future, guys. I'm gonna go try and straighten my brain out, and think about asking what animal they've chosen for me...Maybe I'll run into you guys around here some time?" She tried to make herself mean it, but Rachel knew that there was a good chance there would be a while before they saw each other again. This chat was an exception for her, prefering more often to keep to herself.

"Take care of yourself." He raised his hand a little in a small goodbye.

He also hoped that whatever animal she got was one she could live with.

Emelyn nodded, mirroring Lucas' statement, "Yes, take care of yourself. I'm sure I'll see you about. And really- we meant it when we said you can come to us any time."

Rachel smiled slightly at their well-wishes, giving a small wave in return. Maybe she would make herself go see them. She decided to extend an invitation to them as well, so they could come see her, just in case.

"Thanks, and you guys can drop by whenever, as well. I can't imagine I'll be a great many other places. Not until I know my way around a little better at least."

With a final wave, she headed the rest of the way up the stairs and opened the door to let herself in, calling back to the pair.

"Have a good day," she gave them a small smile before stepping inside and closing the door.

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:50 pm

Reflections

After Rachel closed the door behind her, sat down on the bed, the shock of what she had learned still consuming her. Although she understood what they had said, and had seen the truth of their words by their own appearances, her brain still failed to make sense of it all. It seemed so impossible and yet here she was, and there they were.

She glanced around the room, her eyes falling on the intercom box that Lucas had mentioned. For a moment she wondered how it worked and whether anyone would be up this early to take her call and answer her questions, but that thought was quickly pushed aside. Rachel didin't want to call the labs if she could help it. A small part of her was hoping that they would forget about her and leave her be. if she didn't give them any reason to notice her. Plus, the more Rachel thought about it, the more she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Knowing would mean making all of those more real, and she wasn't sure she was ready for that. With a sigh, Rachel laid back on the bed and tried to fall back to sleep and let her body recooperate, with plans to exercise later if she felt up to it.

Rachel Collison

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Rachel Collison

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Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:46 pm

Meeting of the Blueberries, Plus One

Rachel found herself jogging outside of the village a couple days after her first encounter with some of the island's other residents. She had holed up in her room for a little while after that, trying to get her bearings after being told her true fate and recovering from her fainting episode. Only coming out for two tiny meals, Rachel started to get cooped up and her obsessed mind continued to poke at her, reminding her that she hadn't exercized since she'd been here.

She had intended on resting a day longer, but couldn't take it anymore, and Rachel now came upon the edge of a decent sized lake. Already having jogged for quite a while, exploring the island, she decided to take a break, sitting down on one of the larger rocks at the water's edge.

The girl wasn't the only one near the lake, though the other presence was of a mind to go swimming.

Shenzi had her mismatched swimsuit on again, with a pair of white, green, and blue plaid booty shorts on top, multiple necklaces of varying colors of mardi gra beads around her neck. She was floating on the surface, moving her hands in slow angel motions to keep herself floating, the drawstrings from her shirts bobbing on the surface even as her necklaces sunk or floated, held on by her neck. Her blue hair wasn't as vivid in the crystal blue of the lake water, but the blueberry didn't notice.

Awen sighed as she traced back to the lake. It had been a long day so far and she still hadn't got reaquainted with everything. Her flippers hurt some and her legs seemed a bit wobbley, she was definately not in shape as she used to be. Though she was relatively certain she'd lost some weight.

The question of how long it had been since she'd passed out in the lake still nagged her. She scoffed and shook her head grumbling about it. "It's like Moreau doesn't believe in calenders or something."

She brow knit as she approched the woman sitting on the rock from behind. Glancing over to the lake when she saw movement Awen also noticed another in the water. She half smirked when she saw the blue hair but then noted both islanders were unchanged. Awen only hoped that she wouldn't be the first changed one they would have seen.

"Good afternoon." She said trying to sound cheery.

At first, Rachel had thought herself to be alone, and just took in the scenery. In it's own way, the thick foliage surrounding the lake reminded her of the forests around Prince Rupert, where she had spent most her life before the island. Her brow creased slightly as she thought of home, starting to feel a wave of sadness approaching as she thought of home.

She was distracted from her thoughts, however, when she heard a small splash come from the lake. Turning her gaze towards the direction of the sound, Rachel noticed another person floating on the water. They didn't seem to look unusual, aside from the fact that her hair appeared blue. Was she a new person like herself?

Rachel barely had time to think about it before a voice came from behind her, startling her slightly. She turned to look at the person who had spoken and her eyes opened a little bit wider as she took in the sight of Awen. It was going to be a while before she got used to the people here not looking well...normal. Clearing her throat slightly before speaking, Rachel offered a small smile to the woman.

"Hi..." she said quietly from where she sat. "I'm Rachel."

Shenzi looked up towards the overhang as she heard voices, two women apparently. She could see black hair bobbing with movement, and a long braid, before her low angle cut off anything else.

Flipping onto her back, she started paddling towards the shore, and her waiting towel. Wrapping it around her shoulders, her shorts damp and dripping, bits of purple from her bikini bottom showing through, she slid on her flip flops before walking up towards the other two. Shenzi stopped halfway up though when she got a good look at the two.

One was human enough, brown skin, black hair, but she had a gaunt looking face, and looked older then Shenzi. The other woman... Blue hair. That was the first thing she noticed. Then her eyes went to the rest of her, taking in the animalistic appearance. Frowning to herself, she steeled herself, continuing her forward pace and letting a friendly smile show on her face, just as something Newt had mentioned before clicked in, about blue hair. "Are you Awen?"

An apologetic look came to the manta's face seeing the reaction. "Didn't mean to startle you. I'm-" She was cut off by the other blue haired woman approching.

The question caught her offgaurd and she shifted on her feet. A brow rose quizzically as she spoke tentatively. "Um... yes I am." Awen wondered who had told the other girl about her. Who would care enough to talk about her... aside from the gossip of a few certain islanders.

She left a smile ease to her face as Awen realised it could have just been someone saying there is another one with blue hair on the island. Or so she would assume and hope for now. "Awen Zyn, pleased to meet you both."

Rachel turned her head as the Awen look up, and saw the woman who had been swimming approaching. Well it turned out she was right about the blue hair. Odd that she should meet two people with hair that color, but she had certainly seen more unusual things than that in the past few days. The skinny girl nodded her head in recognition as Awen introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you as well," she commented, before turning to the other woman, with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"And you are?"

Shenzi grinned, dipping down in a mock-courtly bow, one foot poised on the toe. "I'm Kamila Thomson, though I prefer Shenzi. Newt mentioned you briefly." She said, having noticed the quick expression of confusion. "That you were another blue hair. Which already gives you points in my book." Shenzi laughed softly; her accent bled through lightly, not immediatly noticeable.

Sitting down on a rock, she started towelling her hair vigorously, while looking up at the two with wet straggles of it falling in her eyes. Her shorts were already starting to dry from the tropical humidity. "So how long have you two been here?" She asked, even as she thought about the fact that she asked the same of everyone.

A broad grin stole onto Awens lips as she confirmed that the mention of her wasn't a bad thing at all. Last she saw Newt she was teaching him how to swim. Awen wondered if she managed any better these days. He said he would practice more.

"I've been here...." Awen paused at the question and frowned. "Last I checked it was close to a year.... but that was in August..." Biting her lip Awen wondered again how long she'd been in the labs. She's known islanders to go in for a few hours, a few days or even months. "But I'm...er not really sure at the moment." She tried to brush it off with a chuckle.

Rachel shifted uneasily. Already the conversation had turned to the nature of the island, although she knew she should have expected that. She had been trying not to think about it too much the past couple of days, having succeeded in not running into other people after that early morning encounter, until now.

She blinked in surprise when Awen told them that she'd been there around a year. Rachel knew that she would be here at least that long as well, but at the moment, being stuck here that length of time seemed unfathomable. She winced inwardly, thinking about Emelyn, knowing the woman must have been here at least that long.

"I've only been here a couple of days," Rachel responded, as she looked at Shenzi. "You can't have been here very long either by the look of you," she continued.

Shenzi thought of Chana, who had said she'd been here at least that long. "Do you know Chana, then?" She asked, rubbing the towel up and down her arms before putting it back around her shoulders.

"Mm, a little over three weeks, I think..." Shenzi said, adding the dates up in her head. "Yeah, three weeks, give or take." She shoved away the thought that it wouldn't be long now, before her first change. Richard was fine, and he had already changed once. Hell, Awen was fine, and she'd been here longer then anyone she'd met, besides Chana.

Awen was fine indeed, after spending a few months in the labs for observation and recovery. From what she didn't know and unlike she'd hoped neither woman said what day it was now. She had hoped they'd clear it up but appearently not.

She nodded slow hearing both of their responses. "Well, it's good to see you both adjusting well enough." She nodded and smiled. "I thought I was halusinating for awhile, other people get angry and start yelling.... heh Avery almost had a mental breakdown about it. My only advice is try to enjoy yourselves." She gave an encouraging look to Rachel mostly. "Honestly, the changes aren't all that bad. A lot of people end up gaining useful skills and abilities. I tell you... there is nothing in the world like gliding through these rivers and lakes, faster than I'd ever thought possible." She started to smile in a dreamy sort of way just thinking about it. Awen bobbed her head a bit and snapped back to reality. "It's not all bad, honest."

"Oh, and yeah I know Chana. Haven't seen her in ages.... not since...." Awen squinted trying to recall when it was. Chairs outside the duplex, and someone else...who had just changed. Avery maybe? It had been awhile ago but.... "Ah, not since just after my last change. When I had the IV?" The last part was added mostly to try to confirm the memory to herself and then she nodded. "Yeah, awhile ago anyway."

Rachel flushed slightly and looked down at the ground as Awen described her first reaction to finding out the truth about the island. "At least you didn't faint..." she said very quietly, and mostly to herself.

As Awen continued speaking, she wondered what kinds of abilities she would gain, if what the woman said was true. Maybe she could do a different kind of gymnastics. The water sounded like a wonderful environment for that, but Rachel didn't even know what she was turning into yet. She hadn't gotten the guts to call the labs. She tried to smile a little, hoping that there would be at least a few nice things devloping from this twist of fate.

"So neither of you were at the halloween dance, then." She stated; it was half question, half plain fact. "Generally, you're gonna adjust once you see a frog man, a beaver woman, and get knocked half off your feet by a tantacle." The teenager said, with a sarcastic raise to her eyebrow and a small, crooked grin.

"Dunno who Avery is. I've only met a small handfull of people here." Shenzi said with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"Halloween dance?" Awen said her expression saddened. She had been looking forward to the labs hosting another party like last year. And she missed it? But, halloween was her favourite time of year. Her brow furrowed as she mumbled "At least a month..." to herself.

She sighed a bit and scratched the back of her neck. "Ah..." She chuckled a bit despite her growing urge not to. "So you've met Billy?" She hoped the man wasn't as erratic as the last time Awen had seen him. If she recalled correctly he tried to kill her then.

She smiled over to Rachel. "If I hadn't been laughing at myself for being dellusional I may have done just that."

She waved her hand to clear the air. "But enough of this depressing talk, ya? It's a beautiful day, the air is clean just relax and enjoy the paradise. and if either of you like video games I've got myself a Play Station 2, a Game Cube and an Xbox 360 in my duplex. There's plenty of books to read, movies to watch and even an arcade. Just.... think of it as a vacation."

Rachel brightened a bit at the change of topic. She didn't have much experience with video games, never really having time for them, but any subject was better than the one they had just been discussing. Awen had also mentioned books. Rachel wondered if there were any on folklore. She loved reading about things like that.

"A vacation? Hmmm....I suppose I could try to do that. I just wish I had somewhere to practice my gymnastics. I know I won't be able to go back to my team, but it's just something I love to do."

"Not quite a month. I got here a few days before halloween, and it's been maybe two and a half weeks since the dance." Shenzi supplied helpfully, though she grew a look of puzzlement at the name mentioned. "Who's Billy? I havn't met a Billy. The tentacle guy's name is Richard." She frowned uncertainly as she said this.

"Well, they might have a gym or something..." Shenzi said uncertainly, looking to Awen. She'd seen the arcade and cafeteria, as well as the duplexes, but not much else of the village.

"But a game sounds fun. Which ones do you have?" Though she wasn't a hardcore gamer, Ed and Banzai sometimes played the xbox when they spent the night at each other's houses, so she knew some of what it was and how to play.

Awens eyes widened a bit. It's halfway through November! She'd been out since.... lets see midway August, September, October, November. Three months? She shook her head slowly. Must have been something really wrong. Especially since she had momentarily forgotten that September came after August and not October. She'd always gotten her months mixed up though anyway.

"Richard? So there's another octopus on the island? I hope he's a nice guy at least. And uh, I think theres a gym." She half grinned and looked at Rachel. "But it's more like a workout room I think.... I never really go because...well... swimming is best for me." She nodded a bit and turnedher attentio back to Shenzi. "Lots, too many to name at the moment" Her grin grew some more.

"Hmm....I'll have to look for it, thought I doubt it'll have the type of space or equipment I need." Not to mention I doubt they'd let me do my gynmastics, she added to herself. She knew better than to assume that simply because her reasons for coming here were false, that the medical staff here wouldn't be keeping an eye on her. Rachel had experienced high levels of monitoring the last time she had been treated, and she didn't expect anything different from these people, even if their methods were different. That included the way they viewed her health, even though Rachel persisted in beliving that she was just fine.

The other girls continued to talk, as Rachel thought. She didn't know any of the people they were talking about, and didn't have a great deal of interest in the video games, but she tried to keep a polite level of attention to the conversation.

"Erm, well, I don't know if he's an octopus or not... The tentacles made me think squid, but he had these two things coming from his sides at the halloween party, I'm not sure what they were." She explained, nodding at her statement about the gym. "Wish I knew what I'll be, but at the same time I don't..." Shenzi said, laughing nervously.

"Would make sense for them to have a balance bar, at least. I mean, they're turning us into animals, the least they can do is provide equipment, right?"

Awen shurgged her shoulders. "Not sure." She said simply before glancing at the lake. It had been three months since she'd been able to jet through the waters... the manta thought that was much too long, and Awen couldn't agree more.

"But if you ladies will excuse me. I'm going to go for a swim." She smiled and waved. "I'll see you around okay? Come see me anytime in duplex twen... er.... oh right. I just recently changed duplexes so I don't remember the number.... but it's one of the ones that connects with the waters." She smiled and waved before making her way to the waters edge.

As the cool water slowly envelopped her body her heart jumped. It had been much too long.

"I suppose..." Rachel said uncertainly, in response to Shenzi's comment about Moreau and company providing equipment. She hadn't spoken to any of the doctors since she arrived and didn't feel comfortable enough with her surroundings to approach them with anything. There was also the fact that Rachel feared what their answers would be.

The dark-haired girl gave Awen a small wave as she headed towards the water. It did look a bit inviting. Rachel couldn't remember the last time she had been swimming, partly because she didn't like having that much skin exposed in front of other people. Maybe she would come back later, when no one else was around.

Shenzi nodded to both of them, giving Awen a quick wave before the woman dove into the water, quickly disappearing under the surface. Letting off a sigh, she slid down the incline, back to the water's edge. Dropping her towel on the sand, she made a running dive into the water. She needed to keep up her excercises, be it a tropical island or not. No one wanted to see a fat, a**-shaking singer on stage in the usual stuff Shenzi wore.

Rachel watched for a moment as Shenzi too disappeared under the water's surface. Maybe she'd find the girl later and try to talk again. At least she was still human, and Rachel found a bit of comfort in the fact that she was not alone in that....besides the intern she had traveled with at any rate. She wondered for a moment whether he had found out what was going on here, before shrugging it off and heading back towards the village, jogging.

Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:47 pm

Things Revealed

Nita went through the cafeteria's buffet line, collecting her usual plate full of bamboo, assorted fruit, and some nuts. Along with her own food, she grabbed a styrofoam container and filled it with some lunchmeat to take back to her duplex for Lauren. Glancing around the large room, Nita chose a spot near the door. She sat, turning the chair backwards in the process, to keep her tail out of the way. They really did need more chairs like the one Gaius had made for her, Nita grumbled. Sitting backwards was not practical

Rachel stepped into the cafeteria, and was disappointed to find someone already in there. She wasn't particularly fond of eating around other people, but...she would put up with it. Not having eaten since yesterday morning, she knew she had to eat something.

She glanced at the red-haired girl as she walked over to the spread of food, noticing that she was covered in fur and had a fairly substantial tail. Someone else who had been here a while. So far, Shenzi was the only person she'd met that was still human, like her.

She turned back to the food and passed most it, finally getting a small plate of plain, brown rice and a bottle of water. After grabbing a fork, she sat down at a table facing Nita.

Nita's triangular ears twitched as someone entered the room. Human, dark-haired, very thin. Much more slender than she had been before her latest change. She chewed her food quickly as the other girl sat down across from her. "Hey," Nita said cheerily, her mouth finally clear. "I'm Nita."

"I'm Rachel," she said in response, giving Nita a slight nod. Rachel studied Nita's face a little longer than was probably polite, trying to figure out what animal had been selected for the girl. Something seemed familar about the markings, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Realizing that she might appear like she was staring, Rachel ducked her head and pushed the rice around her plate a bit. Even if she wasn't the most social creature, she didn't mean to be rude...unless she was mad, but that's a different matter.

Not wanting the other girl to think she was being blown off, Rachel took a stab at starting conversation with well...the obvious. Being here even a few more days had helped her become more comfortable with talking about it.

"So...you've been here a while then?" she asked, glancing at Nita's fur again, before taking her first bite of food.

"Rachel," she repeated, committing the name and face to memory. Not that the girl would look the same for very long... but it was the thought that counted. Nita let her stare, figuring it was sheer curiosity instead of anything malevolent.

"Yeah. Since early April, so..." Nita took a few more bites, mentally counting out the months. "Almost 8 months, I guess. And... I'm really really hoping you already know what's going on around here." Her voice rose slightly on the last word. Nita had informed far too many new islanders of their fate over similar meals.

Rachel nodded sadly in response to Nita's psudo-question, letting out a sigh and taking another small bite before speaking.

"Yeah...I think it was Emelyn, Tommy and Lucas, who told me..." she said, hoping she had recalled their names corretly.

"Even though I didn't want to come here in the first place, I think I much prefer the other reason to this...at least with that, I would have gotten to go home someday..."

"Good," Nita sighed, visibly relieved. "Yeah, I know all three of them, although I haven't seen them for a while..." Tommy, of course, was one of the islanders she'd had the privilege to disillusion, and it was a relief to hear the Emelyn was out and about.

Nita raised a brow at Rachel. "What did they tell you to get you here?"

"They were all pretty nice..." she said, covienently forgetting to mention how she reacted when she first saw Emelyn.

"Oh...uh...more like what they told my parents. They're under the disillusion that I'm too skinny and that the doctor's here would make me fatter." She frowned and shrugged off that notion with a wave of her fork, continuing on as if her parents were crazy.

"I told them they I shouldn't go, that the doctors didn't know what they were talking about, but did they listen?" She sighed shaking her head, and took a swig from her bottle of water.

Nita's other brow rose to join the first. "Ahh," she said noncommittally. "Hm." She glanced at Rachel's frail frame, thinking that her parents were probably right.

"Well," she ventured, brushing a strand of hair out of her face in an habitual gesture, "What would happen if they 'made you fatter'?" Nita made air-quotes around the words. There were certainly lots of animals that could provide just that... Even something as innocuous as a red panda was rather fluffy and chubby, as Nita could attest.

"You mean what would I do?" Rachel tilted her head to the side slightly at the question. She hadn't really bothered to think a great deal about it, as they had left her alone thusfar, figuring she'd cross that bridge if she came to it.

"I suppose that would depend on what method they used..." she said, not really thinking that the animal they had chosen for her would do that, and concentrating instead on the more conventional tactics. Besides, this topic of conversation never led her to think clearly, though she would say otherwise. All the talk about making her fatter was making Rachel self concious, and she set down her fork, pushing her plate away, even though she had only eaten about half of the small portion of rice.

"Hm," Nita said again. Someone definitely had something less than pleasant in store for this girl, who definitely had an eating disorder. Anorexia, probably, she figured, thinking back to health class years ago.

"But what if there was nothing you could do?" she pressed, not entirely sure why she was even bothering. It certainly wasn't her business... Nita eyed the unfinished rice, taking the last couple of bites of fruit from her own plate

"I...don't know...I'm sure I could come up with something..." she said, a bit uncertain. Rachel didn't like where this conversation was going. She didn't like being told that she might not be able to control what was done with her body. It was hers after all, why should anyone else have a say?

Nita certainly understood the desire to control her body and her surroundings. Her medication helped, but she had been forced to give up much of that control in the last few months: the changes were unavoidable and there were cameras everywhere. Nita had to deal, or lose her mind completely. And, as she had asserted to several people (trying to convince herself) she was still Nita. Fur and over-large tail and all. But how could she explain that to someone so consumed by their own body-image? To someone who hurt herself (as Nita used to) in order to exact that control? She sighed softly.

"Just... stay yourself. Inside. No matter what they do to us on the surface, you're still 'you' on the inside. Different, but... eh," Nita finished lamely. "I know it sounds dumb, but it helps. Sort of." She offered the younger girl a tentative grin.

Except for Annie. Was there anything left of her sweet, shy neighbor in that wolf's body? Nita pushed the thought away, wiping her mouth with a napkin

Rachel fidgeted in her seat, only halfway listening to what Nita had to say, her mind occupied with thoughts of trying to maintain her appearance. She was unaware of how much Nita had in common with her, otherwise she might have paid the advice more heed.

"Yeah...well I'll still fight them..." she said defiantly, and looked at the red panda girl, to make Nita think she was listening, while her mind continued down it's twisted path. Rachel half wondered whether she could hide somewhere on the island, so they couldn't do anything to her, as she was unaware of the cameras everywhere and the chip implanted in her neck. She also hadn't heard of the problems that came with not having the changes, but probably wouldn't have cared anyways. Rachel was starting to go into a form of self-preservation mode.

Nita quirked a smile, working hard not to seem condescending. "You do that," she said. "But..." Nita hesitated. Would this be crushing her hopes? Or just giving her useful information?

"We're all chipped. The doctors can buzz us out, and track us, too, I think. And there's constant surveillance." She reached up to touch the nape of her neck and glanced at the corner, near the ceiling, where a small camera was barely visible. Constant surveillance except for when we need it the most, she thought bitterly

"Buzz us out? You mean like make us go unconsious or something? And they watch us all the time?" Rachel's eyes opened in horror and surprise. In it's own way, this news was worse for her than finding out about the nature of the island. It meant she was left with almost no control. She couldn't even try to hide and be on her own, without someone knowing where she was, which defeated the purpose. There was no way to protect herself from the enemy.

Nita winced. She probably should have kept her mouth shut. Too late for that, though. "Pretty much," she said softly. "I've been buzzed a couple of times... It's a weird feeling."

The red panda girl leaned towards Rachel, her voice low. "I hate the cameras. It's creepy, but.. after a while? Sometimes I forget they're there. It's part of taking back your own life." She bit her lip, wondering if she was having any sort of positive effect on this girl or just freaking her out more. Nita rubbed her forehead, her elbow banging the styrofoam box on the table.

"s**t," she muttered. "Um, I should get this stuff in the fridge..."

Rachel wondered how one could forget about cameras that were watching you all the time. I mean, she knew that there would be some kind of survailance, but she didn't expect it everywhere. And god knows she hadn't expected to be tracked. She was at a loss as far as what to do. This place was more of a hell than she had imagined.

"Hmm?" she muttered, when she heard Nita speak, the words registering a moment later when she saw the box.

"Oh...yeah...I have some things I should probably do as well," Rachel said, not knowing if she would actually do anything, or if she would simply retreat to the semi-privacy of her duplex. All of this talk made her want to work even harder at getting her body to where she thought it should be, but it also made her feel depressed and helpless.

Nita stood, turning the chair back around. She gathered up her dirty dishes, stacking them neatly on the tray and tucked the styrofoam box under one arm.

"Hey, I'm sorry I had to tell you that, but.. it's important to know what you're dealing with, right?" The girl smiled, standing a bit awkwardly between the table and the nearest trashcan. She noticed Rachel hadn't ever finished that small portion of rice. Ah well... There were real doctors on the island, and they could get the nutrients Rachel needed into, even if she wouldn't eat.

"I'll see you around, I'm sure." With a quick wave, Nita deposited her tray in the appropriate spot and exited the cafeteria. It was time to check on Lauren.

"I guess..." Rachel said as Nita got up and deposited her dishes, and then headed for the door. "I'm in number 76 if you want to know..." she called after her, giving a halfhearted wave.

Once Nita had left, Rachel slumped down on the table, burying her face in her bony arms and cried for a few moments. How was she going to survive in a place like this? It had been bad enough dreading coming here for a few months. Now she was here...forever, and worse than she had ever imagined.

Afraid that someone would see her, Rachel got herself under control after a few minutes and wiped her eyes, before running back to her duplex, the water and rice on the table completely forgotton

Rachel Collison

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Rachel Collison

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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 7:06 pm

Sticks and Stones

Rachel had emerged from her room, after spending the past day in there in a semi-depressed state. The news that Nita had given her yesterday had been a hard blow to her ability to cope. Before, she had always had the ability to retreat into her own little hole, where no one could bug her, but now she found that hiding was a luxury she was no longer afforded.

After a while, however, Rachel started to find herself getting a little bored. She wasn't in the mood to write anything, and she had long ago read both of the magazines she had brought with her. Someone had mentioned a rec room, and she thought maybe she could go find a book on world cultures or something to give her mind some peace. It took her a little while, but she eventually found it and was started browsing through the book titles.

Freddie had settled back into his default foul mood after the bewildering encounter with the chick in the cafeteria. He'd spent the days after laying low and trying to make sense of things, only to conclude that there probably was no making sense of it. Everything felt off, and since it wasn't all physical he was at a complete loss. It never crossed his mind it was all the work of overloaded hormones.

He'd managed to clean his clothes- what few he had- by visiting the laundromat in the dead of night. He was dead set on holding out for as long as possible before stooping to asking for more. Feeling moderately better to have all the mud and funk off, he decided to go scope out the Entertainment room in hopes of finding a movie with Steven Segal and/or lots of explosions.

Just his luck, someone else had to be there. He groaned at the sight of Rachel before he even got a good look at her.

Rachel frowned at the sound of someone behind her. So much for being alone with a book. Turning from the shevles, she gave the person who entered a quick once over and looking at the face, she thought it was a man...but then she saw the person's chest, and there was no way those belonged to anyone but a woman. This person appeared to have started their changes, though Rachel had no idea what this person could be turning in to...all the other changed people she had met were much further along.

"Something wrong?" Rachel finally asked, sarcasticly, with a raised eyebrow. She was not in a good mood right now, so being around other people was not her favorite thing at the moment.

"Not a thing, Bones," Freddie drawled, his mood darkening even more with that look again, that appraising look that always passed over his chest at some point. "I was just gonna watch a movie, you got a problem with that?"

"Bones?" she looked at him, her expression darkening. Rachel frowned looking down at her figure, seeing herself as she usually did: needing to lose more weight.

"Hardly...I wish...." she scoffed, before glaring back up at him, only now registering the fact that the voice that had come from him was distinctly male. Something definitely wasn't right here.

"And I guess not. I'm just trying to find a book, so keep the volume down, will you?" Rachel sighed. She really couldn't stop him (her?) as this was a public space, even though she would have liked to have it to herself.

"You got it, Twiggy." Freddie took a few steps toward the TV when he stopped, like a thought had just struck him, and looked back over to the girl. This was potentially better than a movie. "You ever try eatin' a sandwich? I'm just wonderin'."

Rachel had just turned back to the shelves when he spoke again. Twiggy? Ok now this guy was starting to get on her nerves. Couldn't he see that she wasn't skinny? That that was what she was trying to attain?

Maybe somehow he knows and is trying to torment me with what I haven't been able to achieve, her twisted mind told her. She turned to face him once again, placing her hands on her bony hips, her expression irritated.

"Excuse me?" she said, testily

"Y'know, a sandwich, two pieces of bread, few peices of meat, sometimes there's lettuce." Freddie used his hands to mime an impressively sized one.

"I'm askin', cause it looks like yer body's caving in on itself. Thought you oughtta know."

It didn't take much to set Rachel off on this subject and she took a deep breath, trying not to let herself fly off the handle at someone whose name she didn't even know yet. But seriously, what was he thinking? Did he have a twisted view of reality or something? Just like my parents and those damn doctors..., she thought bitterly.

"That's a terrible thing to say," she responded angrily, her voice quivering slightly as she fought to control herself. "Can't you see I'm just the opposite?"

"Ohhh, so yer one of them bullemic chicks," Freddie said. He was in general the ballpack of eating disorders, sure, but still wrong. "Won't be happy til there's no meat on you at all, right?" He rubbed his chin as he gave her an appraising look, and snickered. "You ain't got far to go."

"I am NOT bullimic," Rachel spat, her voice rising in volume in pitch. "And what do you know?" she returned in response to his second comment, her mind coming up with any defense it could to maintain it's beliefs. The corners of her eyes started to sting with the beginnings of tears. Why was he picking on her?

Freddie smirked and folded his arms. He'd worked out that if he held them slightly away from his chest he kept from mashing his boobs together.

"What I know is nobody wants to rub up on somebody when they'd just get friction burns from it. And it helps to have enough weight to keep from blowin' away in a strong, breeze, y'know?"

He clicked his tongue, throwing in what he considered a remotely nice comment. "You'd be cute if you didn't look like Skeletor."

Rachel's eyes narrowed and she started to shake a little both in anger and hurt, blinking back the tears that were now threatening to spill down her cheeks. She stood there silently glaring at him for a long moment, before responding, partially because she didn't know what to say, and partially because she wasn't sure she could control her voice.

In an implusive action, Rachel turned and grabbed one of the books off of the shelves and threw it at him, but not aiming very well. She yelled at him, figuring to say something that would do the most damage, as angry as she was. "And 'nobody wants to rub up' on someone who you can't tell if they're a man or a woman!"

Freddie tensed- and relaxed once the book hit the wall beside him. The comment, now that hurt. Freddie's lips curled back into a snarl as his mood catapaulted straight to rage. "Least I ain't built like a damn twig!" he snapped.

He had curves in all the wrong places, yes, but... No, there really was no winning with that arguement

"I'm NOT! I'M NOT....I'm not...." Rachel said repeatedly, stomping her foot, as her protests gradually turned into unintelligible sobs. The floodgates holding back her tears had opened and they now flowed freely down her cheeks.

"I'm just a fat cow..." she muttered more to herself than Freddie, not realizing the effect that particular choice of words might have on him. The effort from being so upset exhausted her, since she hadn't eaten anything but that small plate of rice in the past two days and she lowered herself to a sitting position on the floor, burying her face in her hands.

Freddie had succeded in making the girl cry, which made him feel a little better, but the fat cow comment threw him for a loop. He stared at Rachel, trying to work out how somebody with that much bone showing could make that connection. The other way to take the cow comment didn't quite register, because even with the... nubs all his anger and woe had been focused on the problem of his chest size.

"Are ya out of yer mind?" He held both arms out. "Yer a ********' skeleton with a li'l skin stretched over. How can you not see that?"

He'd obviously taken the wrong route in teasing

Rachel shook her head in response to Freddie's words, not bothering to look up as she continued crying. It was he who couldn't see what she really was. And her was torturing her with the thin comments, because she felt that although she kept trying, she would never achieve the body she desired. Her mind would allow her to think no differently.

"Why are you tormenting me?" she said accusingly, finally glaring up at him, her face wet with tears and her eyes red. She hadn't asked for this when she came in there. All she had wanted was to find a book and some mental peace. Instead she had found him.

"You call this tormentin'?" Freddie said, raising an eyebrow. "Well, damn, I guess it is when yer skin's stretched that thin."

Rachel let out another sob at his comment. Was he getting some sick pleasure from seeing her like this? She fought to control herself enough again, and lightly chewed on her upper lip. After a moment, she turned herself around, so she was facing away from him, seating herself so that she was holding her legs and she could rest her head on her knees.

"Just...stop...leave me alone. Please" Rachel begged, whispering.

"Alright, alright, geez..." Freddie threw his hands up and started walking towards the door. "I was only sayin'."

He'd wrung all the enjoyment he could out of the exchange. Worse, he was sliding dangerously close to feeling sorry for the girl. How could anybody get that screwed up in the head?

Rachel heard him moving towards the door and turned her head slightly, so she could just see him in her peripheral vision. Well at least he had stopped for the moment like she had asked. She hadn't quite expected him to listen to her.

"Thank you..." she said evenly, from her seat on the floor

"Yeah, yeah..." Freddie continued on out the door and back out into the village in something else to do.

She sat there a couple of moments longer, trying to compose herself. As she got to her feet, she wondered whether anyone had heard them, and hoped that they hadn't. Shaking her head and wiping her eyes one last time, Rachel headed back to her duplex for solitude, her search for a book to read forgotten.

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:38 pm

You're Never Alone

Rachel ran up the stairs to her duplex and flung the door open, before slamming it behind her. She rushed to the bed and flung herself down on it, before sobbing into the pillow. The skinny girl had managed to gain control of her tears until she got back to her room, but no longer.

Why did that man...woman...thing have to harass her so badly? It's not like she had ever met them before or done them any harm. Not that Rachel wasn't used to people going out of their way to torment her about her weight (or so she thought). It was never a pleasant experience, however.

She remembered Nita telling her about the cameras only the day before, and she couldn't help but wonder if there was someone up there right now, just watching her. Maybe they felt sorry for her...or maybe they were laughing at her plight? The thought of the latter was enough to have Rachel pull the blankets up over her head, so no one could see her cry.

Rachel Collison

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Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 7:21 pm

Another Lazy Day

Life on the island, dare he suggest it, was dull. Days were quickly becoming routine and monotonous. Wake up, coax Natsumi out of the duplex, wander the riverbank for breakfast, and retreat to the beach for the rest of the day. Occasionally, if he was in an exceptionally good mood, he might amuse himself with scaling trees in the jungle or even venturing out towards the mountain to attempt a climb, but those days were few and far between.

Today was not one of them. Today was a lazy, sit around and do nothing day. Today he had had an exceptionally large breakfast, and was presently stretched out between two sand dunes well away from the water to relax and digest. Eventually he would have to wake up and cool off in the water, but for now... For now, the sun was good, naps were good, and, despite this day seeming no different from the one before, he was happy

After her run-in with Freddie the day before, Rachel wasn't eager to run into anyone else. It was hard enough to deal with this situation without having people messing with your head. When she woke up late that morning, she ran over to the cafeteria, and pleased to see no one there, quickly grabbed an apple and left, before anyone could wander in on her.

Rachel slowly wandered around the outskirts of the village, taking small bites of her apple, before deciding to head towards the beach. She'd been here a while and still hadn't explored it and she thought that perhaps the soothing sound of the waves would ease her raw nerves. However, she still hoped that she wouldn't run in to anyone...particularly if they were going to treat her like Freddie had.

When she reached the beach, she took off her sandals and held them in one hand, before walking into the surf, letting the water roll over her feet. She walked slowly towards a set of dunes a ways off, looking for any interesting shells or sea creatures.

There was one negative side to scales that Thom had noticed thus far, and that was that they overheated like no tomorrow, especially as they were black. And while normally it was a tolerable thing, and even a nice thing when the cobra piped in, it also had a tendancy to bring back memories of when he was trapped in the labs and could no cool down. As his body temperature rose, dreams turned to nightmares, and it wasn't long before Thom jumped awake.

Gasping down a lungful of air, he quickly sat up, staring around to reestablish his settings. Once he had reassured himself that he wasn't in the labs, he let himself relax, lifting a hand to cover his eyes. It was only a dream. Only a dream. He needed to cool off. He snatched his cane up from the sand and, with some effort, climbed to his feet, staring for the sand and pausing almost immediately when he noticed the girl approaching from straight ahead. "Ah.. 'Ello, then."

Rachel hadn't seen Thom get up, as she had been looking at the ground for anything interesting. She jumped slightly at the voice and took a step backwards when she saw who it had come from. He was obviously another one of the people turning into an animal...but was that a snake he was turning into?

"Um...hi," Rachel replied, nervously studying him.

"How're you?" she asked tenatively, hoping this guy was infinately nicer than the one she had met yesterday.

"Coping," he replied shortly, eyeing the girl curiously for any changes. She was perhaps a bit thinner than was necessary, but he doubted that was the labs doing. A normie, then. How lovely. But she hadn't run screaming at the sight of him, nor did she seem particularly startled by his appearance, if a bit wary, so it was safe to assume she already knew what was going on.

The knowledge that he wouldn't have to convince her that she was turning into an animal was enough to let Thom relax. He offered a smile, nodding past her towards the waves. "Bit over'eated, t' be 'onest. Just 'eadin' down to th' water. Care t' join me?"

"Coping..." Rachel repeated, a bit bitterly. She tried to smile back at him, shuffling her feet a bit. "That sounds about right...though I don't know how well I'm doing with that...It's hard to come to terms with all of this..."

Rachel hesitated a second at the invitation to join him by the water. She had come down here hoping to avoid people, but he seemed nice enough. Shrugging her shoulders after a moment, she nodded and took a step towards the water.

"Sure...ok. The water is nice right now," she said, giving him a more genuine smile this time.

"Lovely." And after stepping to her side, he walked with her down to the waves, remaining silent for the time being. Upon reaching the surf, he discarded his cane out of reach of the water and, between his tail and right leg, somewhat awkwardly waded into the waves. However, once they had reached about mid thigh, he simply dove in, swimming a short distance away before resurfacing and lazily making his way back towards her.

"Much better," he greeted with a more enthusiastic grin, already feeling better for the cool water on his scales. "Now, where were we...? Don't try t' force yourself to accept it. You'll only confuse yourself. Give it time, it'll come. There's really no other option..." He shrugged, pausing briefly, then caught himself. "'Pologies, I'm Thom. Thom Brinley."

Rachel couldn't help but laugh as he dove into the water and came back grinning...maybe she should have brought her suit from her duplex and could have gone swimming too. She pushed that thought aside after a moment though, inwardly cringing at how bad she thought she looked in a swimsuit. And besides, she hadn't know she'd run into anyone out here.

"Thanks Thom, I'll try," she said when he was finished speaking. "I'm Rachel Collison." She gave him an apprasing look, before deciding to comment on his accent that had become readily apparent in the past few minutes.

"So where are you from? England?" she asked curiously, wondering if he might have some interesting folk tales to share with her or something.

"A pleasure to meet you, Rachel," he replied with a polite nod, swimming in closer to the beach so they could talk properly once her realized she wasn't going to swim. She was so young... A lot of the newer islanders he had seen were, he realized. Or was he getting older? How long had he really been on this island? Day after day after day... He shook his head clear of these thoughts, sitting on the sand where the water to about to his shoulders to chat.

"Mmhmm. 'Ad a flat outside of London, though I wasn't often 'ome. I'm afraid I can't place your accent?" Keep the conversation going. It left fewer holes to dwell about the past in.

"Oh, traveled a lot, did you?" she asked in response to his comment about not being home much.

"And I was born and raised most of my life in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. But my parents and I moved to the states a couple years ago. The only time I ever really got to travel was when my team would go to competitions in other cities...." she shrugged, her expression wistful as she thought about home and her gymnastics.

Thom nodded, smile fading slightly as his focus was pulled back to the past. Fond memories, certainly, but there was no going back anymore. It wasn't something he liked to think about. "I played football for England. Th' team would travel often f' matches and such. An' in off time, Aar... I would travel with a friend of mine for various other activies. Mountain climbin' an' such. Just hobbies."

"Ahh, that's why." He nodded once more, then quirked a brow, interest piqued by her words. "Team?"

Football and mountain climbing, huh? She knew she meant what she called soccer, and was impressed that he played for the country's team, knowing how big the sport was over there. One of her older brothers had played soccer and followed the professional teams rather faithfully, so some of the knowledge had rubbed off on Rachel before he went away to collage.

"My brother played football - soccer - in high school. He stopped playing on a team when he went off to university, however." She had been sure to add the soccer bit so that he knew she wasn't confusing American football with European football.

Rachel gave him a wry smile when he asked about her team. "Yeah...I did gymnastics competatively before I came here; mainly floor routine and beam. I wasn't that great...but I really loved it. I was always afraid I was going to get kicked off the team after we moved to the states though.

Aha, she knew what he was talking about and had a relative who played. Points to the girl! "S'a pity 'e quit. It's much more excitin' once you reach university level." And it had been! More teams, more competition, and more chances to be recognized for play later on--which was exactly what had happened to him.

"Gymnastics? Really?" He was genuinely impressed. It was a challenging sport, he knew. She had the size going for her, too... Though she seemed a bit frail to have any real success with it, based on her appearance. "It doesn't matter 'ow good you were if you enjoyed what you were doin'," he replied with a smile, knowing all too well how she had felt. "We've another gymnist on the island. A very good friend of mine, her name's Natsumi. I'm not sure if you've met 'er?"

"Yeah...I think he knew he wouldn't play professionally though, and so wanted to concentrate more on his studies." She shrugged. "I didn't talk to him much after he left for school."

"Another gymnast?" Rachel rasied a surprised eyebrow. "No, I haven't met her. Natsumi you say? I'll have to keep an eye out for her. What's she look like?"

That made sense, Thom agreed with a nod. He regretted at times that he hadn't put more effort into his studies, but he really hadn't needed to. He knew enough, and that was plenty, and even if life had continued as normal, he would have had plenty of money to support him for the rest of his life after retiring from the team. Studies hadn't exactly been an issue.

"Natsumi's..." Oh, was he blushing? If he was, it wouldn't be noticable between the distance and his scales, he assured himself. How did one describe Natsumi? "She's...asian?" he attempted rather lamely, then shrugged. "A bit shorter than you, but a few years older, I'd say. Black hair, brown eyes, thin... An' if all else fails, watch for th' pink-ish scales." He chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "She's shy, but very nice. Can't 'elp but like 'er."

Pinkish scales? Rachel found herself thinking, wondering what the girl was turning into. She couldn't think of anything off the top of her head that had pink scales, however, she nodded, letting Thom know she understood.

"Ok...thanks, I'll try to remember that. Any idea whether she's found or acquired any equipment to practice on?"

He shook his head and took a moment to duck beneath the water before surfacing and replying. "As far as I know, she 'asn't, but it 'asn't exactly been her top priority. If you did manage to acquire some, I'm sure she'd be interested in joinin' you for practice and suchlike."

Thom paused, thinking over possible locations of gymnastic equipment. "I know there's en exercise room in th' villiage you could check... If all else fails, just ask th' labs. They're usually good about giving us anythin' we want," he finished dryly.

"Hmmm..." Rachel frowned slightly. If the other girl hadn't found any, then there probably wasn't any to be found. "I've been meaning to check the exercise room, but something tells me it won't be more than the standard fare. And...I really don't want to ask the labs..." she finished hesitantly, dragging her toes through the sand.

"You could improvise?" he suggested, climbing to his feet and wading through the surf towards the shore. "Floor and beam, you said? Should be easy enough t' rig somethin' up to practice. Wouldn't be perfect, but it's better than nothing. It needn't be the ideal situation t' practice, right?"

Rachel brightened a bit at Thom's suggestion. She hadn't thought of trying to make the equipment out of something else that might just be laying about the island.

"That's a great idea Thom!" she said, genuinely getting excited, the more she thought about it. "I'll just have to look around for things I can use to make them."

"There you are, then." He grinned, pausing as he reached the beach to retrieve his cane. "You could probably find some islanders to help, as well. I'll do what I can, but I doubt I'm good f' much with this leg." He grimaced, tapping his left, short leg with his cane before returning his attention to the girl. "But it would be a good way to pass th' time. Natsumi would help as well, I'm sure."

"Well I'm in duplex 76, if you want to let her know where she can find me. And I bet you're perfectly capable of helping us," she said firmly, not wanting him to feel left out.

"Did...the changes do that?" she asked hesitantly, not wanting to offend him, after he had been so nice, and given her some good ideas.

"76," he echoed, clearly surprised. Were there that many of them now? It was hard to believe... But it had been over six months since his own arrival, and his duplex was 45. "I'll let her know," he assured Rachel, shoving the thought from his mind for the present. "Or, if all else fails, she's in duplex 46. As am I," he added as an afterthought, grinning faintly.

At her question, he hesitated briefly, stealing a glance down towards the clawed leg. However, he simply forced a smile, nodding and chuckling bitterly. No use crying over spilled milk. "Mmhmm. That was when I realize I wasn't goin' back.... I dare say I won't be playin' football again."

Rachel rasied an eyebrow slightly when he mentioned he was sharing a duplex with Natsumi, but didn't comment. She figured it made sense that people were starting relationships here, just like anywhere else. The surrealness of the situation just made the normal parts of life seem a little strange in the midst of it all. She wondered if that meant that eventually she could find someone here, even if she had never had the time for it before.

When he confirmed her question about his leg, Rachel gave him a sympathetic glance. "I'm sorry Thom, no one should have to give up something they love because of someone else's selfishness. Damn doctors...I hate them all. I hated them before I even came here...." She frowned and folded her arms.

Her words actually provoked a laugh from him, but it was one of good-natured amusement, nothing targeted for her expense. "I'm sure you did, sweet'eart. I'm sure we all did. An' thank you," he offered with a nod, shifting his weight to the cane. "This island changes people in more ways than one... Let's 'ope you don't suffer the same fate, eh?"

She was a bit surprised when he laughed and wasn't entirely sure how to react. Rachel hadn't meant it to be funny...but she didn't think that Thom was the type to mean, so she laughed hesitantly along with him after a moment.

"You don't have to tell me that twice. I suppose I'll be fortunate if I can still do gymnastics when this whole thing is over. I don't even know what I'm turning into, as I haven't gotten the guts to call the labs and ask. I think I'm afraid of what they'll tell me..."

"There're benefits either way, knowin' or not knowin'." After a glance towards the water, he stepped out of reach of the waves and dropped to sit on the sand. "I never asked. Worked out that it was a snake when my toes vanished, an' was told cobra in passin'. Surprised that I didn't figure out out myself, lookin' back, what with thing on my neck. But I've never cared much for snakes."

"It seems needlessly evil for them to let us figure it out, or throw ourselves on their good humor for us to know what we're to become, when they're responsible for this whole freaking situation. And then on top of that, they choose things that can destroy part of who we are. They had to have known that you played soccer before they made you a snake..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "It's so damn unfair!"

"Couldn't agree with you more." The girl was absolutely right. Thom was willing to bet, knowing how bizarre some people were, that there were people out there who would volunteer for this sort of experimentation. He was sure that half the fun for the doctors was knowing the people had no say in the matter. His own case was an example of that.

"I wish there were more I could tell you than th' same old 'There's no way off, you're stuck 'ere', but..." He shrugged. "We don't 'ave much say in things. Best you can do is not think about th' changes and 'ope somethin' 'appens to th' labs before your next one gets 'ere."

"Like what? A fire or something? Because the way the doctor who sent me here for 'treatment' explained it, they aren't controlled by anyone. It's because they're out of the United States that they can use 'experimental drugs.'" She made the air quotes with her fingers.

"I don't think they can get in trouble with anyone...but I don't know that much about how things like this are dealt with legally" For the first time in her life, Rachel wished she knew more about how government and international politics worked. Before, she hadn't really cared. She had other things to worry about, and besides, she wasn't even old enough to vote.

"Any number of things," Thom replied with a grin, falling back to lay on the sand. "A fire, per'aps. Or Moreau comes down with some rare illness. Per'aps we could muster a rebellion in time, as well. Or th' government of somewhere or other could find out what's goin' on an' call a stop. We're on the island, but we're not citizens of it, an' th' labs would 'ave a damn 'ard time or justifyin' their actions."

"Government aside," he continued after a beat, grinning smugly, "I dare say I've enough fans to attract some major media attention to what's 'appened. There're a few other ex-celebrities, if you will, 'ere as well, from what I've 'eard."

"Hmm...I'd say the rebellion thing would be the most likely, but someone, Nita I think her name was, told me that they can knock us unconcious at will? So unless we found a way to get around that, I don't see that working very well...."

She smirked at the mention of his fan club. "I bet my brother would be one of the people scrambling to see your safe return. He made enough of a fuss when a good player got injured, I can't imagine what he'd do if he knew about this.

"Who are the others you've heard are here?" Rachel asked curiously, wondering how the labs could get away with bringing highly public figures here.

"There are chips...in th' backs of our necks," he explained patiently, sitting up enough to tap the back of his neck with two fingers. "Implanted when we arrive, or very shortly thereafter. The serve numerous purposes, I'd wager, but th' one you'll see most often is more of a botched safety attempt. If someone gets 'violent', then just knock 'em out." He snapped two fingers, shaking his head.

"Rather irritatin', that. But th' chips can be removed, I'm told. Just need t' find someone I trust enough t' do it, and a reason to 'ave it done in th' first place." He didn't have much reason for it just yet, after all. It would only put him on the run like Jamal was. And while Jamal could run, Thom...couldn't. He would be easy to catch up with, and he really had nothing to accomplish in going chipless. So for the time, it would remain in place.

He flashed a toothy grin, moving both hands to pillow his head. "Remind me to send 'im an autograph is we ever get off 'ere, eh? Let's see..." He took a moment to dredge up the names, frowning faintly when they evaded his thoughts. "There's a list of everyone 'oo's in th' duplexes in th' cafeteria, there were a few names I recognized on there... Some movie star, I want to say. An' a big name in business. I can't recall. One of those names on television all of th' time." Thom had never had much use for television.

"Hmm..." her expression turned thoughtful at the additional information about the chips. So some people had managed to take them out? Rachel didn't like the idea of being tracked...but she couldn't imagine the people in charge being happy about it being removed. She didn't want to resign herself to the imprisonment of the labs or something similar if they caught her trying something like that.

"I'll try to remember that," she said, chuckling at the offer of the autograph. She was surprised to find herself acutally having a good time talking with Thom. When was the last time that had happened? The other conversations she'd had on the island weren't bad or anything (with the exception of Freddie), but she hadn't really allowed herself to open up, or get to know the people she was talking to.

"I'm not good at remembering the big names in pop culture either," Rachel said shrugging. "I might recognize something if I look at the list, but I never paid much attention to those kinds of things...I had more important things to worry about. I'm just surprised that they can get people that are so well known here, without rasing some questions. If they can cover up the disappearance of people like you, it must have been a breeze to get someone like me here..."

"I can't say I've ever 'ad much interest in it." Thom grimaced at the very thought. He had met a fair share of celebrities before the island, and movie stars, singers, and the like just...rubbed him the wrong way. Toss the old money crowd into the mix, and you had a bunch of snobs best left tied out for the media to devour. Admittedly, he had been a bit haughty at times before the island, and still was off and on, but he didn't consider himself better than anyone else. He was just perhaps a bit more boastful than necessary when it came to his football skills, not that it mattered anymore.

His expression hardened into a frown with her final words, and he sat up, glaring darkly out across the waves. "...I was in a bus wreck," he offered sharply, ducking his head. "Big ordeal. Presumed dead. They just snatched me from the scene. It could 'ave 'appened to anyone." He heaved a sigh, shaking his head and glancing back up towards her. "Why're you 'ere, then?"

A bus wreck? From the way he said it, it sounded like he was lucky to be alive...or not so lucky depending. Rachel knew that if she had been in an accident, this would have been the last situation she would have wanted to wake up to.

Rachel sighed when he asked why she was here. She never quite knew how people would react, and she didn't want a repeat of yesterday, although Thom didn't seem the type to do something like that.

"My parents sent me here. They thought I was too skinny and they were told I'd get 'help' here. I fought them tooth and nail, telling them I shouldn't go...that I was fine... and now here I am, never to return, because they wouldn't listen to me." Rachel frowned, her tone bitter.

The worst part of the accident wasn't so much that it had left him on the island, but that he couldn't remember ever leaving it. Vaguely, vaguely he could remember the lurch of the bus veering off of the road, but thinking too hard on the subject usually provoked a fierce headache and gave him no further insight to what had actually happened. The bus had veered, he had woken up days later on the island.. And somewhere between the two, five of his teammates had died. And for a while, Thom had thought he had as well. He couldn't remember, there was no reason not to.

He did sympathize with her story, however, and allowed his glare to soften to a light frown. "Now, that's a pity.... An' that's parents for you. Can't say I was on good terms with my own." He paused briefly, then decided honesty was the best policy in situations such as this. "Though, to be 'onest, you are...far thinner than's probably 'ealthy. Are you takin' any vitamins to 'elp out?" He avoided the topic of food for the time. He felt a bit hypocritical telling her to eat properly if she wasn't when he certainly hadn't been since his last change, even if his body was adapted for such habits.

Not him too?! Why can't he see it? Rachel thought, frustrated. He's been so nice! Her expression darkened a bit and fought to bite back her protest, for the moment at least. She didn't want to fight with him, she just hoped he wouldn't press the matter, or else she wouldn't be able to hold back.

"No. I haven't been taking any," she said in response to his question, a bit more curt than she'd intended.

"No offense intended," he quickly assured her, noting the tone and expression. It was a good thing he hadn't gone straight to food accusations, he thought, fighting a grimace. And if she really did have an eating disorder, which it certainly sounded like based on her story, the worst thing to do would point blank call her out on it and tell her to stop. She would probably just get offended, walk away, and there would be one less person able to help her towards overcoming the disorder. "If you like 'ow you look, far be it from me to stop you, but vitamins are a good practice. I used to take 'em daily. It can only 'elp."

Rachel glanced over at him, her expression softening slightly at his words. She took a deep breath, to try and calm the anger that too often appeared suddenly like that. Honestly, she wished she didn't get angry so easily sometimes, but she didn't know that there was anything she could do about it.

"Thank you, I'll think about it," she said, her tone gentler now. She bit her upper lip and looked down at her hands, at a loss as to where to take the conversation now. Certainly, her reaction to his statement had made things akward, at least for her, but she imagined it was akward for him as well. After a moment of searching her head for topic ideas, inspiration struck her, and she turned back to Thom, smiling a little.

"So...random question. I'm interested in folk tales and legends of different cultures and countries. I kind of collect them, when I remember enough of them to write them down...I'm curious whether you know any interesting ones from England?" Well, that wasn't the smoothest topic transition ever, but at least it got them off the subject of her body.

He gave a short nod in acceptance of her words. He didn't know if she was just saying them to placate him, or if she was genuinely going to consider his suggestion, but it was a start. He could always have Natsumi ask if they hooked up for the gymnastics practices, and if Rachel hadn't started using them, he could have the labs send her some. That would work.

At her request, Thom quirked a brow, taking a moment to think on the subject before chuckling and shaking his head. "I'm afraid I've never been too big on that sort of thing. I could probably dredge up a few, but not off th' top of my 'ead. I'll think on it for next time we meet, 'ow's that?"

"That works. Thanks," Rachel smiled, relaxing again. She was grateful that he was at least going to think about it. Not everyone was willing or interested enough to help her with her little hobby. She hoped that there might be other people on the island that could help her add to her "collection." Finding that out would require meeting more people, but if she got more tales/legends, it was worth it.

"Wait to thank me if I manage t' think up anythin'," he corrected her, flashing a grin. After a beat, he gathered up his cane and climbed to his feet, speaking while doing so. "Well, I'll be 'eadin' back to th' village, I think. 'Ave to make sure Natsumi 'asn't barricaded 'erself in th' duplex again." He rolled his eyes, but smiled at the thought, offering a hand. "It was nice meetin' you, Rachel."

She got to her feet as well, shaking his hand. "Mind if I walk back with you? I should probably be heading back as well. I was going to look for a book in the entertainment room yesterday, but I was...inturrupted." She frowned, thinking of her encounter with Freddie.

"And why would Natsumi barricade herself in the duplex?" she asked quizzicly. Rachel wasn't a very socible person, herself, but she'd never barricaded herself in her room.

"Not at all," he replied brightly, sweeping a hand towards the path through the jungle and starting back over the dunes at her side. The shifting sand made walking with the cane difficult, and so he walked a bit slower than normally, but he would keep up more easily once they reached the more solid ground of the jungle.

Her question brought a smile to his face, but he ducked his head slightly while he explained, watching his step while on the sand. "The island is... completely unpredictable, even th' changin' thing aside. I won't go into details unless you're up to 'earin' a good bit of ramblin', but, in short, certain things that 'ave 'appened 'ave 'ad different effects on different people. Natsumi's scared t' be outside, and I...am not fond of indoors."

"It's one of th' reasons we're stayin' together," he added, grinning. "I keep 'er from hidin' away all day, an' in return she keeps me from worryin' all night. She's made a lot of progress, but she still 'as a tendancy to lock 'erself in if anythin' spooks 'er."

Rachel matched her pace to his, realizing that the sand was probably difficult for him to traverse, and didn't want to make him feel like he had to keep up with her. His brief explaination intrigued her and she was curious to know more.

"I don't know if I'm up for 'a good bit of ramblin,' but I am curious as to what kinds of things you are referring to. Any examples you can give me? 'Cause I'd really rather not be surprised by things if I can help it. I hate surprises..."

"Fair enough," he agreed, nodding. "An example, then. An' don't quote me on this, 'cause it's composed more of what I've personally witnessed than anythin'. But most of Natsumi's fear is because...well, I think the islander must 'ave changed too quickly, but she killed another islander an's now livin' loose in th' jungle. Sort of went feral, I suppose. She must not 'ave 'er chip anymore, either, or th' labs would 'ave more control over 'er."

He paused to gather his thoughts, then continued, "Anyway, not long back we 'ad this bonfire on th' beach, right? Big group of islanders. This wolf girl shows up, tears th' livin 'ell out of th' two islanders that jumped in to fight 'er, then Antony an' I set 'er on fire an' she ran off again. Natsumi's convinced that anyone 'oo's outside is goin' to get attacked by 'er, if not killed." His tone made it all too clear that he thought this completely irrational.

"Damn...." Rachel said, momentarily at a loss for words, her eyes opening a bit wider at Thom's example. This was the first she had heard anything about a crazy, uncontrolled islander. Sure, Nita had mentioned the chips, and that some people had managed to remove them, but she had completely glanced over this. She briefly wondered who Antony was, before deciding they must just be another islander, and moved on.

"Well...I know seeing something like that would scare the hell out of me too...but I don't think I would lock myself inside...I would probably just start carrying a knife..." she paused a moment, as a thought struck her mid-sentence. "They probably don't let us have things like that do they?"

"Well put," he chuckled with her outburst. "Mm, I couldn't see Natsumi carryin' a knife around. She 'as 'er brave moments, but I don't think she realizes she can be brave until she 'as to be. She's terribly shy.... An' I don't think th' labs would stop you," he replied in reference to the knife question. "Provided you don't 'ave any malicious intentions. Self defense is perfectly understandable, though, after seein' Ambrose an' Jamal fight 'er, I doubt it would do you much good."

"Mace?" Rachel said tenatively, reaching for anything that she thought might help. She didn't like the thought of not being able to defend herself, if this wolf-girl did decide to attack her, even with weapons. She'd have to ask about both the knife and the mace, if she ever did manage to get up the guts to call the labs.

"That'd do," Thom replied, laughing aloud at the suggestion. At the very least, it would blind Annie long enough for one to climb a tree or something. Wolves couldn't climb trees, right? "Get me some while you're at it. An' see if th' labs'll give you a flamethrower. Natsumi might just feel safe with one."

"I get the feeling they wouldn't consider a flamethrower a reasonable request. Especially if they don't want that revolt we were talking about earlier," Rachel said, laughing a little. "But yeah...if I ask them about the mace, I'll be sure to get some for you and Natsumi too."

"Pity, that. Sounds like settin' fire to th' jungle is out of th' question." Grinning, he shook his head as if discarding the idea, but the mention of the revolt spurred a new one. Continuing along the path at her side, he lowered his voice slightly, raising a brow. "Now, another bonfire is perfectly plausible... But it'd be difficult t' fine enough dry wood t' make anythin' sizable... Anythin' large enough t' be seen from out at sea, anyway."

Rachel was a bit surprised at his implication. An attempt to be rescued? The idea intrigued her, but she didn't hold out much hope for it. After all, if the people in charge here had the resources to make people disappear and/or appear to have died, then who knew what else they were capable of. No doubt they had ways to keep anything that could potentially rescue them away.

"It's...a good thought Thom," she started, lowering her voice to match his volume, "but I would imagine that they would find a way to stop us before it came to that. I mean...if their cameras are all people have made them out to be, I'm sure they can spot a boat before it gets here, even at night because they'd have lights. And there's no place for an airplane to land, unless it was a seaplane, but no seaplane could hold all of us..." She didn't want to be a stick-in-the-mud, but she also wanted to be practical.

"Oh, I don't doubt it," he assured her, voice back to its normal volume. "But it'd give 'em a nice scare, wouldn't you think?" He chuckled bitterly, glancing around the surrouding trees for any signs of cameras. "But they're 'ave a 'ard time explainin' a cloud of black smoke in th' middle of th' ocean. Someone would 'ave to come investigate. It can't just go unnoticed by th' world."

"Hmm...maybe," Rachel pursed her lips in thought. She figured that there were pleanty of ways for them to keep people from finding them and then telling the world, but she wouldn't rain on his parade any further.

In trying to search for another topic of conversation, Rachel let her gaze wander and it fell on Thom's tail and the scales covering his body. "Does it hurt to change?" she asked suddenly.

It was just a thought that occurred, and, even if they had seen the pontential and talked about making it happen, probably would have never gotten off the ground. Thom had said it more for her benefit than anything. She was new, she hadn't changed yet. She could still go home. He...wouldn't be going back. No one would believe him if he said who he was, and he would likely be locked up for experimentation by the government or some such. Not to mention, even if they did believe him, his leg would prevent him from going back to his old life.

Following her question, he spared her a glance, but was silent for a long while, debating over an answer. Finally, he shrugged, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "That it does. No point lyin' to you. It'll depend on 'ow big of a change it is, but it'll still 'urt. My second change was much worse than my first. But then, I lost 'alf a leg to it. With all luck, you won't 'ave to endure that."

Rachel nodded solomly in recognition of his respose. "I...figured it might. I suppose if I asked what I was going to be, it would give me an idea of what to expect...but knowing makes it too real."

She was silent for a moment as they continued on, thinking about everything."Do they give you any warning?"

"Knowin' what to expect makes it a bit worse, I'd think. I 'ave to lose another leg an' a 'alf before I'm done, not to mention 'oo knows what else. Can't say I'm lookin' forward to it." He grimaced at the thought, but avoided looking at what remained of his legs and plodded on down the path.

"Not really, no," he continued after a beat, shaking his head. "They give you an' injection to spur th' changes, but both times I've received it while I was sleepin'. It's 'ard to say 'ow long it takes to work, too. Th' first time, I woke up already changin'. The second, I went nearly a full day before anythin' 'appened."

"I'm....sorry," Rachel said quietly in respose to Thom's description of what awaited him. She didn't know what else to say. Part of her pitied him, but the other part of her knew that she could have something equally disquieting to look forward to, or worse. "I...didn't mean for my question to make you think about that...." she said a moment later.

Rachel frowed when Thom told her that there was no warning when they forced the transformations. The thought of waking up to something so horrible as the kind of pain she was imagining made her shudder slightly. "I wish there was a way to know... As I think I mentioned before...I hate surprises."

He waved away her apology, summoning a smile from somewhere for the girl's benefit. "Pardon me for sulkin'." Unless somethign miraculous happened, his future was set. He didn't need to go unloading his worries on the little normie, especially when she could very well end up in the same situation he now found himself in.

"It's surprisingly easy t' forget what's coming," he admitted thoughtfully. Yes, his leg was a constant reminder that he had changed, but it wasn't often that it really sunk into his mind that he would be changing further. It was one thing to say it in passing, another entirely to acknwledge and accept what those words meant. Now that he thought about it, it had been...a good few months since his last transformation. How far away was the next?

Choosing to deter from the topic, he pushed the thoughts of his next change from his mind and glanced towards her once more. "So, obviously you've met a person or two before talkin' with me, eh? Mind if I ask who?"

Rachel tried to smile back at him, shrugging. "It's ok. You have every right to. I would expect that I'll be doing that at least once in a while after..." she trailed off, knowing she didn't need to finish the sentence.

"I suppose I might forget..." Rachel said thoughtfully, but didn't really sound sure of herself. It seemed impossible to forget something like that. Maybe she would? But it still would be a painful and unwelcome surprise when it did occur. It sounded to her like she needed to call the labs more than ever, just to find out some things and maybe give herself some peace of mind.

When Thom asked Rachel who she'd met thusfar, she tilted her head to the side, thinking. She'd met quite a few people in the past few days, not all of them pleasant. She racked her brain to remember their names before responding, wishing her memory was better than it had seemed to be of late.

"Um...I think the names of the people I've met so far are Lucas, Tommy, Emelyn?, Camile or Kamilla or something, and Awen....oh...and yesterday I met this horrible man-woman...thing. I didn't learn his name. But I hope I never run into him again."

The list of names surprising him, partially because she had met so many, and partially because most of them he hadn't. He knew there were a good seventy-something people on the island by now, but really... How did so many go unnoticed? He could probably list about twenty or so, and most of them only by name. "I'm afraid of those, I've only met Emelyn. But I 'aven't been terribly social since I've arrived, 'ad a bit of a run in with a big group shortly after I got 'ere, so per'aps you'll 'ave better luck gettin' to know everyone."

"Maybe....But you're the only one I've talked to for any length of time...I'm surprised that I was able to remember their names as well as I did.. And honestly...I'm not terribly social myself. I'm surprised we've talked as long as we have." She looked at him a slight smile on her face. "But I'm glad to have found someone here that I can actually call a friend."

He raised a brow, watching her for a moment longer before replying with a shrug and returning his eyes forward. "We 'ave been talkin' for a while, 'aven't we? Odd, that. People tend t' be sick of me by now." Thom flashed a grin to show he was joking, even as the first buildings of the village came into sight through the trees ahead. "Somethin' about tropical islands an' far-too-young women, I expect. If you need anythin', give me a shout. Duplex 46," he reminded her, nodding.

Rachel nodded and smiled back. "Yeah, ok. And thanks Thom for talking with me and letting me in on some of the stuff I didnt' know. I had fun. We'll have to hang out again sometime? Maybe you can bring Natsumi with you?"

"Happy to," he replied brightly, waving aside her thanks. "We shall indeed! I'll try an' drag Natsumi along, if it 'appens t' work out that way. Per'aps we can get together soon to work on th' gymnastics set up an' such? I'll bring up th' idea with Natsumi later today. I'm sure she'll be interested in helpin'."

"Sounds good," Rachel said, smiling, and started walking away, towards her duplex. She turned her head back to look at him and gave a wave.

"See ya later Thom!"

He sent her a wave in goodbye, then continued towards his own duplex--with the intention of waiting safetly out of sight of the doorway until Natsumi could join him to go inside.

Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:00 pm

reserved

Rachel Collison

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Rachel Collison

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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:03 pm

Food Fight! (beginning)

Food Fight! (Rachel enters)

Rachel was heading towards the cafeteria, it completely having slipped her mind that it was Thanksgiving. She was used to celebrating Thanksgiving earlier, having lived in Canada most of her life, so she was surprised to hear a lot of activity coming from the dining hall. She was just going to get a handful of carrots or something and wasn't too interested in meeting up with a large group, probably the majority made up of people she didn't know, but she walked in anyways, because she was already there.

The sight that met her eyes when she entered the room, was one of mass chaos. There was food everywhere, random live turkeys wandering the room, and half a dozen people all throwing said food at one another and the turkeys. She stopped in her tracks in the doorway, in complete disbelief.

"The hell?"

Really, it had just been another day for Natsumi, the idea of Thanksgiving had been lost on her, as were the turkeys that she was now just trying to avoid. On the plus side, maybe those things would keep a certain hungry wolf away from her? Now she was on her wa

But that normal day was about to take a quick turn, as she pushed through the cafeteria doors, only to be met with the sight of food flying every which direction. She gave a light "eep!" trying to duck to the side to avoid stray bits of this and that. There were a few people she recognized, and a few other people coming and going, but that wasn't the main concern here.

What was the concern was what was going on, and that was't hard to figure out... Though she hadn't seen one of these since like.. middleschool.

Miller turned about among all the chaos to pick out his next target noticeing two new comers. Rachel and Nat, he grabbed three trays and ran over to them handing a tray too each, "Don't mind the mess, all hell has broken loose but it's quite fun still!" After handing over the 'sheilds' he pointed to a now near empty table after foods had been thrown from it.

"Ever built a fort as a little kid?"

Rachel saw a girl enter shortly after she did, and glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. However, she was in too much shock to really pay much attention, else she might have recognized that she was the fellow gymnast that Thom had told her about a couple of days ago, Natsumi.

Not to mention that seconds later, a tray was thrust into her hands, presumably as a shield and she was asked about building forts as a child. "What now?" Rachel asked the boy, utterly confused

With Richard making a hasty retreat, Zach scooped out more ice cream. He'd been hoping to hit Richard, but instead, his shaky aim delivered the flying dessert right into the back of the brown-haired human's neck.

Heh, seemed his aim was getting better. Gaius' second handfull pinged all along Zach's back. Stupid dragon, he deserved something better.

Looking around, Gaius dropped the bowl on a table and ducked under another one nearby, crawling his way to better artilery.

Almost as soon as she was in she was suddenlly being recruited into the foodwar, blinking as a sheild was thrust into her hands. "Ah-I..." she stumbled, staring at the guy she knew as 'that weird man that stripped at the beach thing.' What a lovely title.

"No?" She offered, not too sure what he meant by a fort, ducking behind the tray-sheild as more food went flying all around.

This was too much fun. Looking around for another target, he saw that Miller was wide open. Deciding to get the brown-haired boy for the Nita comment, he grabbed an entire sweet potato pie and sent it flying toward him. "Catch!"

Miller yelped as the icecream hit his neck, "OH hell! Your dead for that one... thing!" he wasn't sure WHAT Zach was but he was going to be receiveing a surprise for that.

He turned back to Nat and Rachell again, "You want to end up covered in food or not? If not then help me tip that table over there and hide behind it!" He moved to start tipping the table. "Come on already!" Of course his point was made more clear as Lucaus nailed him with the pie.

"And I'll get you back for that too!"

Richard took cover behind a table. Not that it really mattered at this point. He looked as if he had been constructed for a multitude of different desserts. He grabbed a bowl of Mac and cheese from the table and flung a few spoonfuls into the crowd but not hitting anyone. He stopped to catch his breath.

He exploded with laughter at Miller shouting at him. "Come and hit me!"

Hurrying back to the table he grabbed a few dinner rolls and sent them flying in that direction. Only one managed to hit anyone, and that was Natsumi.

Rachel yelped and took a step backwards, instinctively raising her "shield" as ice cream came flying in their direction and hit Miller in the back of the neck. This...was a bit much for her. Especially with all of that food everywhere. But she was reminded of the times she had had food fights with her brothers when she was much younger. They had had so much fun....

"Ok...sure" Rachel found herself saying, before she could change her mind. She started running towards the table, picking up a stray roll that was on the floor, as she went and tossed it into the fray...

...unfortunately, her aim was poor, and she ended up getting the guy that had given her the tray. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

Blindly Miller took a shot while tring to move the stuborn table, his shot went high and wide on Lucas and hitting the table behind him. "Damn all! Wait till my fort is ready!"

He gave a moaned as the roll hit him, "Oie work on your aiiiiiim please!"

Natsumi peered out from the tray just in time to duck back behind it to avoid the splatter of icecream.

And again she peered out, shaking her head no to the question, fighting back a smile as more food smacked into poor Miller. Nodding and hurrying forward to help push the table over, tray in one hand, the other gripping the table.

Smack! She got caught in the fray of the attack on miller. She gave a soft squeak, glancing towards the person that had hit her. Alright, fine, they wanted a war, they would get one. She dropped the tray, getting her other hand under the tables edge to continue trying to flip it.

Miller nodded to Nat and Rachell takeing the table one more time, "On three! One! Two! THREE!" he lifted then and slowly the three got the table on its side efficently blocking a few more hits that may come there way.

He turned to Rachell and scooped up some spilled potatoes smearing her face a bit, "Thats for the roll, and belive me thats nothing to the gravy bath I gave horse man earlier." He turned to Nat now waveing her over to talk to them both.

"We've got 3 pies, half a bowl of rather good tasteing jello might I add, the laddle in my pocket and what evers on the floor, choose your poision and let fly!"

Shenzi hadn't looked up as everyone entered, though when things started flying in the air, she had grabbed her plate, and slid underneath the table, finishing her food quickly, before stopping and watching everyone. What the ******** are they doing....? She thought to herself, spotting some people she recognized; Rachel, Miller, Richard, and she saw one flash of Aislinn at one point. Deciding to stay in the safety of her table, she was content with watching for the moment.

While action was happening elsewhere, Gaius had managed to make his way over to the dessert table. Pulling himself up, Gaius grabbed a hunk of cornbread, grinning from ear to ear as he took aim at the stupid dragon, or maybe that guy who'd first come in...

...And his throw went wide. The yellow spongey stuff bounced across the floor harmlessly, feet away from anyone, and came to rest by a couple of warbbling turkeys who promptly started working on the bread.

"Blast."

Richard scans the crowd for likely targets. A toothy grin plastered on his face.

He flings some more macroni but they fall short.

Natsumi dropped behind the table as it hit, already feeling her heart pounding in her chest, not that this was a big thing but.. What if they got in trouble? They certiantly had in those middleschool times it had happend but... Heck, why not. And she had to get that one guy back for hitting her with a roll.

Getting a handfull of pie, using those webbed hands like a giant spoon, she poped back over the table, catapulting the pie straight into lucus. Hah! revenge! She couldn't hold back a soft giggle before she ducked again.

"Who to hit now?" he asked himself in a low voice as his eyes scanned the room. At the same time he'd need some more ammunition. He took off for the table again, but didn't notice a large pool of semi-melted ice cream on the floor in his path. Slipping, his legs flew into the air and he landed on his back, right on the ice cream. "Gah! Coooold!" He flipped over.

He waited a couple minutes while he struggled to keep from falling on the floor out of sheer dizziness. Too much alcohol. Why couldn't he learn not to drink so much?

Wanting to make amends for having missed the first time, Zach scooped out yet more ice cream and flung, this time making a hit on Richard. Success! He grinned and started scooping again.

Rachel squeaked as potatoes were smeared on her face, her stomach churning slightly at having them there. She quickly wipped them off. "I said I was sorry..." she said quietly, sticking her tounge out at him.

She grabbed a chocolate cream pie and thowing it over the table. It came to land on the blue-haired girl she had met the other day. She really wasn't doing well about hitting people she didn't want to hit...

Shenzi scrambled out from under the table as a pie landed on her with a wet squelching sound, some of the cream spraying onto her hair. Sticking her tongue out, she wiped her face off, looking for where it came from. "********..." She couldn't tell, though there didn't seem to be too many people there anymore. Reaching up, her hand felt over the table blindly, before picking up a paper plate of corn and pudding, and throwing it in a random direction. Into the back of Richard's head. s**t.

Miller returned the face to Rachel, "Don't worry about it!" he said as he scooped up a mix of mashed potatoes and gravy from the floor before blindly tossing it up and over the table, and geting a bit of Nat's shoulder in the process. "Sorry about that!"

Another chunk of cornbread was dug out of the tray beside Gaius. Since no one was throwing at him, he took his time. Eyes narrowed on the fuzzy guy. He looked like an easy target for his sweet weapon.

"Bombs away!"

Before he could even stand he was struck with pie by the lizard-looking girl trying to hide behind the table, and then once again he was hit by the large-necked guy, this time with some cornbread.

He laughed, pulled himself to his feet and picked up the same piece of cornbread that was thrown at him. At once he sent it flying and it came down nicely on top of Richard.

Shenzi slid herself the rest of the way from under the table, and made a quick scramble on her knees to the food table. Grabbing whatever came to hand, a handful of torn up bread, she threw it, and again it hit Richard. Smacking her hand to her face, she shouted a brief apology to him. "Sorry!"

Natsumigave another startled squeak as potatoes hit her shoulder, glancing to miller almost betrayed before the word 'sorry' reached her ears. She shook her head to let him know it was fine, before scouping up a blob of mess where several foods had joined to one, chucking it blindly over the side only to hit that big red guy she's completely been avoiding even noticing. Not that she hadn'tnoticed him.. Just... She would have preffered not to let it be known she was there. And as such, as she watche dit smack into him, she eeped and shrunk back behind their fort.

Rachel reached backwards, and grabbed a handful of the jello, flinging it into the air...into the first person she'd spoken to on the island. She cringed. "Sorry Lucas!" she called, before ducking behind the table again.

Someone had appearently painted a huge target on Richard's head. The moment he popped his head up he was hit. "What is this? Age discrimination?"

Still he had gotten some good shots in at the only person who he person he was truly targeting. Declaring a moral victory, he beat a hastily retreat for the exit.

The jello from Rachel hit him right in the face. "Rachel? That you?" He laughed. As he wiped the dessert from his face, not watching where he was going, he once again slipped on the same pool of ice cream.

Miller turnned to both Nat and Rachell giveing a thumbs up before diveing around the table to grab a few pies and slide them back to the girls. He also managed to get his hands on a few bottles off long forgotten salad dressing and brought them over as well, "New toys?"

He took the ranch and poped the top squeezeing some out in to his laddle before test fireing it over the table. "It works!"

Getting his ego up, Gaius grinned broadly and hopped up on one of the chairs, wobbling a bit as his feet threatened to give out, but a bit of arm and wing waving regained his balance and he laughed loudly.

"HA! Let's see any of you try to take on Gaius, Lord and Master of the Cafeteria and all things food-like!" As he gloated, he raised a fist of cornbread high... and then yelped as the chair wobbled beneath him and he dropped the cornbread.

"Yeah, it's me," she called to Lucas, from behind the table, eyeing the dressing Miller had brought over. She grabbed a bottle, intending to squeeze it over the table, but ending up squeezing it early, and hitting him instead. She blushed and hid the bottle behind her back, hoping Miller hadn't seen it was her.

"Having fun?" He called back to Rachel, then laughed.

Grabbing an entire bowl of cranberry sauce, he pulled his arm back, then sent the sauce flying toward the people hiding behind the table. "Cranberry death from above!" He watched with a grin on his face as it rained down on top of Miller.

Zach stabbed the ice cream scoop into the still mostly-full vat of ice cream and stepped back. Thanks to the mess that had been made of the cafeteria, his foot landed in jello and slid. Without much of a sense of balance to begin with, he fell in a heap on the floor before he could get near anything to throw. He shielded himself with his pitifully small wings while he remained down there for a little while.

Making a quick duck, she grabbed one of the currently free ladels and a bowl of the corn pudding. Dipping the ladel in, she sent the pudding flying, and it smacked into the side of a furry man's face, no one she knew, so she didn't feel much remorse, more a satisfied grin.

Natsumi glanced down at the new supply of food, nodding and grabbing up one of the bottles as Rachel did, only to watch her hit miller with it. Oh my, Natsumi choked back a laugh, turning to try and squirt the bottle over the table. Which failed, as Rachels had, giving the poor girl a taste of her own medicine. Natsumis mouth dropped as the dressing hit, squeaking out a "Sorry!"

Miller looked at Rachel again blinking, "Medic? Or napkin perhapse?" he shrugged, not like he wasn't already a mess. Instead he grabbed two bottles one ranch one italian and stood up spoting Gaius on the chair. "HEY CHAIR BOY! RANCH OR ITALIAN?" And with that he fired both right at the foolish horse man.

Flinging another ladel full of pudding, it smacked into the wall with a wet sounding whumph sound, missing one of the others by a few inches.

Ducking behind a chair, the closest bit of cover nearby, he made sure to watch where he was going. He wasn't going to humiliate himself further by slipping on the same pool of ice cream for a third time. Thankfully he had on a shirt. He didn't enjoy the idea of having to clean the sticky dessert from the fur on his back. It was still cold and wet.

Spotting the girl with the blue hair out of the corner of his eye, Lucas shot a serving spoon full of green bean casserole at her. His tail wagged.

"Yeah...I guess.." Rachel responded to Lucas, her tone a bit wary, but amused. She was still working on letting herself cut loose and just enjoy this. She suddenly felt something wet and cold hit her though, and she turned to see Natsumi holding a similar dressing bottle and herself covered in the stuff.

"It's...ok," Rachel made herself say. She was throwing food at people after all. She should have expected to get something on her.

She brought out the ceasar dressing bottle from behind her back and was careful to aim it over the table this time, before squeezing it. It once again hit Shenzi, and Rachel couldn't help chuckling, before taking cover once more.

Direct hit! Gaius squawked as he was doused in salad dressings and lost his balance. Flailing his arms, Gaius tumbled back to land on his tail with a whumpf and a groan. Wincing, he rolled over back onto his knees. "Gah, ow... Stupid feet..."

He pulled himself up by one of the tables, noticing the canine boy nearby. And a bowl of sour cream just happened to be sitting near his hand. Well gee!

"Hey! Head's up!" he shouted as he flung a scoop of the stuff in his direction

Shenzi scrabbled agaisnt the table as she was pelted with green bean casserole and wet, cold salad dressing. She could feel the dressing running down the back of her shirt; her clothes were most definately ruined now. Digging her ladel into the pudding bowl, she pulled out a healthy portion, and flung it into the air; it knocked into the back of someone's head, another person she didn't know, someone that looked red and... Scaley? Wings? Frowning to herself, she ducked down, a grin quickly replacing the frown.

At the call of "head's up", Lucas turned and got a face full of sour cream. Licking some of it off with his tongue, he scraped the rest off, then wiped his hands off on his pants. They were already covered in food anyway.

This time he had every intention of smacking the horse man with some sweet potato with marshmallows, but instead he he Zach. He finally got the dragon. And he wasn't even trying to that time.

Miller realized two problems, one he had yet to get something to eat, and two he was truely a mess right now. He looked to both girls with a shrug, "I'm out for now, if you two ever want to team up again and have another food fight just gimi a call at room 77 I guess?"

He stood up waveing good bye, "FAREWELL!" and then gave a yelp running out before the cross fire made anything worse.

Rachel got an evil smirk on her face, finally starting to get into the game. She grabbed the dressing bottle once more, before standing up behind the table and calling "Hey Lucas!" before spraying it directly at him, grinning all the while.

Shenzi ladled another scoop of pudding into the air, grinning while she watched it sail over their heads, arching down, down, down... Plop. Into the back of one of the still present turkies, though she couldn't get a good look at the number tag around it's neck. But the bird set up a clatter, making a show of spreading it's tail feathers and pecking the nearby people.

Zach could hardly get up off the floor after that fall. Dizzy and now even a little sick from the smell of vegetarian food, he had to scoop some unidentifiable, colorful mass of food from the floor nearby him and toss it, striking Gaius in the face.

He didn't have time to relish his success. Something slimy got him on the back of his bare head and his tail lashed in surprise. When he'd pulled himself into a kneeling position it was followed by some orange glop on his arm, an unsightly addition to the soup and other things he'd been littered with.

Gaius snickered, lobbing a second glob of white after the first. "Have some second helpings!" Sure, wasn't exactly nice, but all was fair in war!

He didn't get to enjoy it long, though, as a mass of food, undinstinguishable as it'd all been mixed together on the floor by now, struck him straight in the face. Gaius stumbled back a couple steps, sputtering and trying to whipe the stuff off. "Augh! Peh!"

Natsumi gave a wave to Miller as he decided it was time to flee, leaving just her and some random girl she didn't know in the least. A skinny one at that. How observant.

She choked back another laugh as the frail looking girl jumped up to attack. Natsumi still was still hesitant to get into it, but in the urge to 'fit in' at the moment, she was lead to get another scoup of pie, giving another blind chuck over their fort. And ofcourse, planting Zach again. Crap! The one person she really didn't want to hit. Maybe she should start aiming, she thought, as she hid again.

Lucas saw the second helping coming from Gaius and raised an arm to block the sour cream from getting him in the face again. Some did, however, fly past his arm and land in his hair. "Bleh!"

Wiping off the sour cream, then collecting more that had fallen to the floor, he tried to lob it back at Gaius, but came up short and watched it plop onto the floor a foot away. "Nuts." He snapped his fingers.

Shenzi, ignoring the now flustered turkey in the corner, flung another thing of pudding over the table, peeking quickly to see where it landed. She grinned broadly as she saw it splatter over Gaius's back, laughing. "Too slow, wing-man!"

He was about to throw one more time toward Gaius, but the horse-man had disappeared behind a table. Since he couldn't get his main target he'd just have to find someone else.

That's when he got hit with some salad dressing. "Nice, Rachel. Take this!" Turning his attentions back on the people hiding behind the table, he grabbed some of the candied yams and started tossing them in that direction. His aim was off, however, and instead of hitting Rachel, it came down on Natsumi.

Gaius lifted his spoon to throw another glob of sourcream out into the fray, but before he could, a lump of cholote, gooey pudding struck Gaius right between the wings. He yelped at the sudden cold and slimey sensation, now mixing with all the other goo dripping from him. He was looking more and more like a swamp person, his hair sticking to his neck and face in thick clumps, bits of salad dressing running down his front, and his tail full of who knows what. He was a veritable Thanksgiving dinner himself!

"Gya-a-a-aah!" He shook himself and turned to glare at Shenzi, nostrils flaring as he snorted. "Traitor!"

Natsumi grabbed a last scoupful of pie, good thing about her hands is that she was able to throw more... The bad part, the food went alot faster.

As she went up with her next peice to chuck, she happend to jump up into the fire of lucus, getting smacked dead int he face with candied yams. Giving a yelp, she chucked the pie in a return fire, and falling back to try and whipe the yam from her eyes.

Rachel laughed and dived behind the table as Lucas threw the yams, only to watch Natsumi get hit with them. Giving the girl a sympathetic glance, she went in search of more ammunition, her dressing bottle being almost empty. She happened upon a bowl of sprinkles for the ice cream and picked them, intending on chucking them at the people on the other side of the table. In her haste, however, she slipped and sent the bowl's contents spilling over Natsumi.

"Pie!" he cried out right after that food item smacked against his chest. Chuckling, he picked up the pie, molded it into a ball, and sent it flying back toward Natsumi and Rachel. However, it splattered against their table-turned-shield.

Whoops. Natsumi had been mid reach for more food when sprinkles went showering over her, mixing in her hair and sticking to the yam-gel that remained on her face. She blinked, glancing up at Rachel, then giving a soft warm-hearted giggle. It hadn't been on purpous, judging by the other girl's expression, so what more could she do than laugh?

That and scoup up another blob of unreconizable slop(now complete with sprinkles) and chucking it towards lucus again. he seemed to be the target of the hour, afterall.

More food raining from above. He didn't know who threw it or what it was, but he was feeling a little too sick to throw anything at the moment.

Shenzi ducked a bit of flying something, she wasn't sure what. She managed to tug over her crutches from the table she had vacated previously, and getting them under her arms, pushed herself up to her feet. Hurriedly pushing herself towards the door, she gave the room another look, a crooked grin on her face as she wiped off more food from her face, before swinging out the door. "Buh-bye!"

"Sorry," Rachel said sheepishly to Natsumi, before grabbing some nearby applesause and launching a spoonful over the barrier, for it to only hit the floor, no where near anyone.

Gaius shook himself like a dog, spraying drops of food all over. "Augh, I'm a mess! Definitely gonna need a shower..."

Sour cream was abandoned for the slightly-wet ice cream sitting nearby. However, he didn't take just a scoop, oh no, he picked up the whole thing to take with him. But his first handful went wide, splattering before the table-fort several of the girls were hiding behind.

"You've got pretty good aim," he called toward the gecko-girl when she once again hit him with more food. Grabbing some more sweet potatoes, he sent them flying, but it fly over the table and the girls. "I don't." He laughed.

She did have good aim didn't she, which was odd, she never really had any practice whatsoever on throwing things. Beginners luck, as they say. "Thankyou?" She shrugged, chuckign another blob.

Naturally, since Lucus said that, she missed him, flinching and covering her mouth as it flew past him against some random wall to add onto the mess that was already there. Whoops.

Rachel missed again, the applesause landing on the tail feathers of an unfortunate turkey. "Hmm....I wonder if perhaps this applesauce is bad or something?" she said frowning in confusion, before laughing a little. Well, she'd gice it one more shot.

Recovering from all the hits he was taking, he took a quick break behind a table and tried to clean himself off a bit. There was food everywhere. His fur was matted with salad dressing and sour cream and the stuff was already drying. "I feel like a potato. Oh, here's some potato." He wiped off some of the potato on the back of his hand.

Popping his head up from behind the table, he looked around for a target and spotted the dragon. Grinning, he packed some sweet potatoes into a ball and lobbed it at Zach.

Ice cream in hand, and already losing some of the feeling in his fingers, Gaius grinned widely as he stalked across the cafeteria floor. The girls though they were safe behind the fort... Taking a wide route while they were distracted, Gaius snuck up behind them, coming across a very thin, still-human girl.

"Here you go!" he said cheerfully as he dumped the contents of the ice cream tub all over her in a white glob of coldness.

Ducking behind the table again, Natsumi finally noticed the clock on the wall. Oh right.. she'd only come here to pick up a few things of water and juice then head back. And she couldn't leave Thom alone for too long, lest he run off into the forest again.

"Aa, I have to leave." She announced to Rachel, grabbing a last handful of glop and chucking it blindly, only to hit a poor wandering turkey. "I am Natsumi." She introduced, quickly, "Good luck!" With that, she bolted for the door, slipping outside and to safety.

Rachel looked around for her next target, with the bowl of applesauce in hand, only to be snuck up on from behind by a winged man, with a tub of icecream. She screamed in a comination of surprise and shock from the cold, flailing about and in the process dumping her bowl of applesauce on him.

As distracted as she was by this, she barely heard the girl say her name before she disappeared. Natsumi?!? Rachel tried to wipe the ice cream out of her eyes to look at the girl, only to see her back disappear though the door. Oh well, maybe she'd come across her some other day.

Gaius laughed even as Rachel dumped a bowl of applesauce down the front of his chest. Wasn't like he didn't have everything else on him yet!

He scopped a bit off himself and licked it. "Mmm, applesauce... I like the kind with cinnamon myself."

He moved away, scooping up some junk from the floor and tossing it, but all it got was one of the nearby turkeys who hadn't vacated the space.

Freddie had vowed to stay away from the cafeteria for the holiday, determined not to run into any of the islanders who had seen him before... That vow was thrown out the window once the rumbling from his stomach was loud enough to be distracting.

Despite his pseudo victory over Gaius, Freddie was still hurting. He'd tired lifting too much in too many sets, so his arms felt like rubber. Add to that the inexplicable pain in his lower back that had been bothering him off and on for weeks and he was left in a foul mood all over again.

He stepped aside as the lizard girl made her exit and was a little relieved he seemed to go unnoticed. Once he caught the door and stepped into the cafeteria, he stopped and stared at the mayhem before him. He should have just turned and walked right back out, but no, he had to keep staring.

Zach finally got up off the floor. He stumbled a little before he made it to the now somewhat depleted food table. Scooping up a bit of what appeared to be a casserole of some kind, he took aim. A rather colorful, wet looking Gaius was his target, but with all he'd been drinking his shot went afoul and hit an emaciated girl instead. He'd have to remember not to drink the next time he planned to throw things. His aim was terrible.

Popping back out from behind his hiding spot, he looked around for another target. He watched with amusement as Gaius and Rachel were dumping things on one another. Grabbing some jello, he threw a handful in their direction, but missed.

Rachel was still wiping the ice cream out of her eyes, when she let out another cry as a flying casserole landed in her lap. In frustration, she picked up a handful of it, lobbing it in no particular direction. Unfortunately for Gaius, the direction happend to be where he was and he got a taste of "used" caserole.

Gaius yelped, the casserole to the back surprising him. He hadn't been expecting Rachel to hit him so soon again!

But rather than retaliate, he ducked away back to the tables. She was a girl, after all, it wasn't proper to hit her. That furry guy, on the other hand... He snickered and threw a chunk of stuffing his way.

After he was finished gawking, Freddie decided to take the opportunity to stealthily creep in and catch someone off guard. He wasn't as good at stealth as he thought he was, but it was easy to fool himself when his target was an inebriated dragon.

He grabbed the nearest thing at hand without putting himself directly in the crossfire, a baked sweet potato on the floor that looked like it had already been smashed by something earlier in the fray, but instead of hitting Zach in the head like he hoped he caught him in the shoulder.

He was running out of ammunition and needed to restock. But the only way to get to more food was to leave the safety of his table fort and run to the buffet table.

Shrugging, he went running toward it, only to get hit in the tail with stuffing. Startled, Lucas let out a surprised noise, then ran behind the buffet table. Not sure who threw the stuffing, he shrugged and threw a whole cream pie towards Zach.

Sensing a break in the attacks on her, Rachel took a moment to collect herself and get as much of the food off of herself as possible, so that she could actually see what she was doing.

Gaius ran a hand back through his hair, pulling back the soaked stuff. Gravy was starting to congeal, hanging in clumps to him, not to mention all the other fun smells all over him.

Noticing Rachel working on restocking, he grinned and lobbed a bit of splattered sweet potatoes and marshmellow her way. Hey, wasn't bad if she was fighting back, right?

Still hiding behind the buffet table, Lucas let his hand sneak up and over and then grabbed a handful of something. Bringing it back down, he saw he had picked up some fruit salad. Instead of standing up and looking for a new target, he threw it randomly into the air and hoped it landed on someone. Of course, it didn't.

In the process of cleaning herself off, Rachel got a chuck of sweet potato and marshmellow lobbed at her. Not quite sure who it was, Rachel grabbed a handfull of the things congealing nearby and lobbed it at a red scaley person she hadn't hit yet. It was then that she noticed Freddie, and her eyes went wide, before she shrank behind the table, trying to stay out of his view

Freddie had to get closer if he wanted better ammo, stuff that hadn't already been thrown or trampled. He ducked down and crept closer, grabbing some pie he couldn't quite identify thanks to the whipped topping. Spotting Lucas in the fray, he hurled it in his direction... served the dog boy right for seeing him grow boobs.

After he was struck in the back of the head with the pie, he turned to throw his own handful of pecan pie at the person. It wasn't until after he let the food fly that he realized who it was. He immediately ducked back behind the buffet table

The pie struck Freddie square in the face and muffled the curse that followed. When the pan slid off, Freddie whiped his face only to find he couldn't tell who'd thrown it. He did spot Gaius, which was good enough for him. He threw a piece of chocolate cake in his direction, which wasn't helping his arm any. He couldn't help but rub his shoulder, unwittingly leaving himself open.

Running out of things to throw, Rachel grabbed the roll that she had bounced off of Miller's head earlier and threw it at Lucas. She ducked behind the table as quickly as possible, wondering if he would notice it was her, and also to keep from being seen by a certain someone.

After having gathered the remainder of the stuffing on the buffet table, Lucas was bonked in the head with a roll. He looked around, but it was impossibly to tell who had thrown it. So he lobbed the handful at the horse-man. He owed that guy after all the hits he was taking from him earlier.

Gaius looked back from the food table in time to notice Freddie, eyes widening before he took a hunk of cake to the nose. He snorted and shook it off, frosting still clinging to his face. Seemed Freddie wasn't the only one with a vendeta as the dog-guy pelted him with stuffing from the other side. Gaius yelped and ducked, trying to get away from the two. On the way he grabbed a roll from the ground, tossing it in Lucas' direction, but it went wide. Rather than risk getting in hitting range of Freddie, Gaius scrambled the other direction, towards the other tables.

Zach shrugged off the potato and other assorted things that rained down on him from two different directions, disoriented, but the pie was harder to ignore. A couple of offensive words were mumbled under his breath, not directed at anyone in particular (except perhaps Gaius, by default). It caught him in the right wing, making the limb snap to the side painfully before the entire thing slid off onto the floor with a clatter. Unlike the rest of him, his wings were extremely fragile and getting walloped a few more times like that was going to make them hurt like hell in the morning. This food fight stuff wasn't as fun when the room was spinning and the floor trying to sneak out from under his long-toed feet.

He was tired of throwing things. He hadn't even meant to start anything; he'd just wanted to get Gaius back for punching him in the jaw. Not to mention he was pretty hungry. Wasn't that what he'd come here for? Food, obviously. This was a cafeteria. The only thing available that he could digest without trouble were those fat stupid birds that were hobbling around. He used to be above that sort of thing, but living in the wild and having to survive on whatever living things he could catch and eat had erased that moral boundary.

The turkeys on the floor had all fled far away from him to other parts of the large room. The only one in sight was the one that was still standing atop the food table and making the occasional warbling noise. With the alcohol dampening his thinking considerably, he failed to take into account the handful of others who were in the room throwing things back and forth. His tail swished a little at the prospect of hunting, and he moved in for the kill.

The next thing he knew he had his jaws clamped around the base of the turkey's neck, and quite an ample amount of blood was pouring out. He'd dug his claws in too, into the bird's back. The creature was struggling, of course, but between his brute force and its inability to move well, it was obvious it wasn't going to survive. The struggling ceased after a short time, leaving him biting with an enormous dead bird sporting a wingtag with a 0 and gushing blood. Yum.

Rachel was about to throw something else, when she caught sight of the red-scaled person she had just thrown something at pounce on one of the turkeys and start tearing it apart. She paled and her eyes opened wide, not wanting to see what she was seeing, but unable to look away. In an instinctive reaction, she raised both her hands to her mouth, her expression horrified.

The pain running up and down Freddie's arm had almost subsided back to a tolerable level when he caught sight of the turkey reduced to bloody mess in the jaws of Duvert's pet. He forgot all about the pain.

"Holy s**t."

...Just in time to hear a strangled croaking gobble come from the panicked turkey. Gaius looked up, both ears craning towards the source of the sound. The turkey struggled in Zach's grip as the beast - no man could behave like that - tore into it.

"W-What the hell do you think you're doing, you sicko?" he shouted accusingly. He caught sight of Rachel, staring horrified, and stepped towards the dragon. "Stop that! What are you, a beast?!"

Lucas was just about to throw another ball of food at someone when he heard the odd crunch. His head spun slowly toward the dragon and he watched as the bird struggled for life for a brief time, then went still.

"Zach... oh..." He couldn't believe Zach had just done that. At least like that. Here and now. Just plucked the turkey off the table and bit into it? Maybe he shouldn't be so surprised, this was Zach, the guy turning into a dragon... but it was still shocking to witness. "God..." It made him ill to see the blood dripping from the bird and the dragon's mouth and splatter to the floor.

There was something curiously better about eating a live animal as opposed to a hunk of raw meat. After he'd torn several sizable chunks out of the carcass, he was suddenly aware of the silence. Nonchalantly licking his lips, he raised his head and looked up at the four horrified individuals. It hadn't occurred to him there was anything difficult for them to understand about the concept of killing and eating things. Not to mention the fact that the last time he tried fasting he ended up going somewhat crazy for a couple of days. He had no other choice, didn't they get that?

"'M having lunch," he grumbled with a bit of a slur. Gaius's step forward seemed a bit of a challenge to him, if only because he couldn't really go anywhere easily thanks to how dizzy he was. He smiled sinisterly, made even more disturbing by the blood. "What'm I supposed to eat?"

Gaius frowned darkly as Zach continued to devour the raw carcass, his own stomach churning as the smell mixed with all the other aromas of the thanksgiving mess.

"I don't know, stuff that wasn't living just a minute ago?! Geeze, the thing's still bleeding! That can't be good for you..."

Rachel gripped the side of the table to steady herself as it spoke. Somehow in the moment that it had attacked and eaten the animal, it had ceased to be a he, and become an it. And when it spoke, it totally threw off her perception of reality. She slowly lowered herself to a sitting position on the floor not trusting her legs to carry her outside at the moment, and thought that if she was going to faint, she best not do it from a standing position if it could be helped. Finally, she was able to tear her gaze away and hugged herself, shuddering as she thought about what she had just witnessed.

"Sick, Zach..."

Even though he told himself the smell of blood was terrible, that it disgusted him, his stomach growled audibly. He had come in hungry and had been so caught up in the fight he had yet to eat anything. When his stomach spoke up, he flinched and looked away from Zach and the bird.

It didn't smell good! It didn't... He was human. He didn't eat raw birds.

After the initial shock of the sight, Freddie had a powerful urge to show the opposite of everyone else's reaction... mostly just to be contrary, but because he could maybe, just maybe, make up for the fact he was covered in pie and... well, there was the other stuff.

"Whaat?" he said, looking around at the others. "Ain't you never seen a deer gutted before? Turkey's practically the same. Only with feathers..." He looked back to Zach. "Course, I never seen nobody do it with their teeth..."

Admittedly, that sight turned his stomach a little. You never saw stuff like that when you were trudging through the forest with nothing but a gun and a manly desire to shoot something down... regardless of whether or not you had a hunting license... or if it was hunting season... or if you were in a wildlife reserve... Oh, the memories. And the narrowly avoided prison sentences

"I don't see anythin' else..." He gazed at Gaius thoughtfully for a minute, then looked around the room as if to humor the horselike man. A bit of a laugh escaped him at Gaius's squeamishness over the blood. "Don' knock it till you've tried it."

He'd been about to go back to tearing apart the bird, but the movement of the girl to the floor, and the dhole's scoffing caught his wandering, drunken attention. He really couldn't blame the girl for being horified - as far as he could tell, she hadn't changed - but the dhole he would't mind knocking some sense into. No knife was necessary to cut the turkey. With a quick couple of cuts with his claws, he tore a sizable chunk of raw, bloody meat from the dead bird and moved toward the furry man with it dripping in his left hand. He'd heard the stomach growl and despite his drunkenness knew full well that canines were carnivores. When he finally was close enough that less than an arm's length seperated them, he started to hold up what he'd taken with him, disregarding the mess of blood it was making. "You'rrre a carnivore, aren' you? Right? Dhole?"

Him... He had to get in on it... to talk about it as if it were alright. He simply enjoyed torturing her didn't he? Rachel heard it speak again and she glanced over to see it offering a piece of its kill to Lucas. Shuddering again, she shut her eyes, knowing she couldn't stay in that room much longer. Still not trusting her legs, she started to crawl towards the door, not caring about the mess she was crawling through, just wanting to think of something, anything, else.

Gaius' nose wrinkled in distaste as he sneered at the dragon. "I don't have to try it to know it's nasty..."

However, he didn't move when Zach approached the furred guy, but watched instead, wondering what the man would do. Dhole? Was that an animal? And why did the guy seem familiar, anyways...

He was alarmed and confused when Zachary started for him. He was about to turn and walk away when the bird was pulled apart and the piece handed to him. Stunned, he stared at the offered meat. The surprised look turned into a grimace.

"No," he shook his head. There was no way he was touching that, much less eating it.

Freddie snickered as Lucas declined the offer. The whole situation was too damn surreal to resist.

"Then consider it an acquired taste," he shot back without even giving Gaius a look. "Might not be one you acquire, but some of us don' appreciate the disgust."

"Oh well. Jus' wait a while." The rejection of the proffered meat didn't come as a surprise to him. Not wanting to just stand there with it, he raised it to his mouth and tore off part of it instead. Waste not, want not. Or something like that. Either way he didn't feel as hungry. He chewed, studying Lucas's expression while his tail moved sluggishly on the dirty floor, then abruptly turned away. He hadn't yet figured out who the masculine woman was who laughed, but he didn't pay them much attention. Getting near Gaius, too, wasn't smart, even if it would prove entertaining. He stopped halfway between the four scattered people and the table with the dead turkey, his back to them, and said nothing.

"Okay then..." Freddie said. His appetite was dead, but he was still trying hard to look unfazed by the whole display, because if he managed that he'd be better than the other three for it... Somehow. He'd have to retreat before he let anything slip then. He turned and grabbed one of the few intact plates of food, something to hold on to in case he was able to get the image of blood flying out of his head. He waved languidly as he walked out, his feet slipping through the food. "Y'all have fun."

As he walked towards the door he looked at what he'd saved... More pecan pie. He hated pecan pie, but he didn't have much choice when there wasn't much left that was on the walls or the floor or people.

Rachel's head buzzed as she made her way to the door. She had come into the cafeteria earlier intending to get a small meal, only having had very little since she talked with Thom the other day, and it was taking it's toll on her. And now, she wasn't interested in even thinking about food. Fortunately, the buzzing in her head meant she basicly didn't hear anything about the raw meat being an acquired taste.

Finally she made it to the door, not even noticing that he had left before her. She pushed it open and moved outside, before sitting against the side of the building, trying to remove the horrible images from her head.

The horse-man shook his head, bangs slapping against his face wetly. "Ugh..."

Of course, he didn't want to admit that part of his disgust was in part thanks to how his stomach had begun to reject meats of any kind, though he'd continued to force it down.

When the other guy refused the meat, he shot him an approving look and a small nod, clearly saying 'Good choice.' Zach was just being his usual bullying crazy self anyways...

"My appetite's gone," he stated as Zach turned his back on him. "I'm not about to stand around watching this guy devour raw turkey..." He turned away, giving Lucas a small salute and a smile, thanking him for the fun of the battle, and headed out the door.

Lucas stood silently, letting the word "jus' wait a while" sink in. He didn't notice Gaius' nod, or Rachel and Freddie leaving. He just stared at the dragon. The words had shaken him, but he forced himself to recover his composure.

"It won't happen," he said, more to convince himself than Zach. "I'm leaving." Out the corner of his eye, he noticed a movement from the horse-man, but didn't register it as a salute, perhaps a wave. Giving Zach one last look out, he walked out the door toward his duplex.

And the day had started out so well...

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," he shrugged, looking at the wall decorations as if they were much more interesting than any of the people in the room. He ignored Gaius's comment completely, for fear that his anger would get the better of him.

Everyone was finally gone, though, leaving him in actual silence rather than one of held breaths and stifled gasps. It was much easier not to have a bunch of judegemental eyes on him. Wobbling, he found his way back to the table with the carcass and carefully went back to work eating his fill of the turkey. He was far too drunk to care about anything now.

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 7:43 am

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Rachel Collison

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Rachel Collison

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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:39 am

Experimentation

It seemed like it would be just another boring uneventful evening.

After trecking through dense-growth jungle for most of the afternoon and mid-evening, Seth had finally decided to wander into the area of Beach Bar with only one purpose in mind - to replenish his stocks of whiskey and other favoured spirits.

During the last week or so, he had mainly kept to his own devices, avoiding the other islanders as much as he could. He was still very concious about his recent changes and besides, he was still somewhat sore from them. It had been much easier to sleep it off, or numb it with alcohol. Which was where his current problem lied - he had completely run out of everything. Even the horrible tasting low-alcohol content beer he had stolen just out of curiousity. He decided that above all his other issues, he had needed more.

The thylacine-man creeped into the area behind the bar once he had made his way inside, his eyes wide and attentive, his tail stuck out straight behind him, stiff. The animal within was wary and nervous, the feeling heightened by Seth's own feelings of nervousness. He always got like this when he intended to steal things. Still, nobody was in the area, so he was safe. For now.

Rachel found herself wandering the village that day, in a kind of brain-dead state. The thing she had witnessed the afternoon before had put her off of food more than usual and left her wanting to rid her mind of the images. In her aimless exploration, she had come upon a notice board that contained a map of the village buildings and ammeneties. She glanced at it not really caring, until one spot on the map caught her attention. "Beach Bar." She glanced at it a moment, before deciding to head towards where the map indicated its location was.

Rachel had never had alcohol before. She had never really had reason to before, but she had heard from others that it was good for situations when you didn't want to care or think. This was a situation that was both, and Rachel couldn't think of a better time to see if the claims were true. Besides, its not like there was anyone here going to bust her for drinking underage. Not on the island where nothing made sense.

As she approached, she noticed a man going enter the building in an almost sneaky manner. He didn't seem to see her, so she approached carefully, not wanting to deal with surprising someone that thought they were travelling unnoticed.

Seth quickly crouched low to the ground behind the bar counter, his front 'paws' on the ground, adopting a pose that was very similar to a quadraped's. He grinned happily to himself as he opened the cupboards and discovered the large stock pile of mixers, spirits, beers and liquers inside.

It took him no time at all to secure two bottles of Johnny Walker black-label scotch whiskey, carefully placing them on the ground beside him. So involved with his search was he, that he did not hear or notice anybody come in. He just continued to greedily snatch at different spirits, wondering to himself just how much of it would fit in that small barfridge in his Duplex.

Well whoever it was, certainly wasn't kidding around when it came to drinking, Rachel thought as she noted the bottles next to him on the ground, with a raised eyebrow. She certainly wasn't planning on consuming that much. By the look of it, he might even be storing some away for later consumption. Maybe that means he'll leave in a little and I can be alone do drown out my thoughts, she thought grimly.

After a moment of watching him silently from the doorway, Rachel cleared her throat, to let the man know she was standing there, hoping not to startle him too badly.

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:40 am

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Rachel Collison

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Rachel Collison

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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:33 pm

Past the Teeth

Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gaia Guilds

The Island of Dr. Moreau

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