Welcome to Gaia! ::

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=1&t=4781261#75125029

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=5217665&page=1

Alec headed briskly towards the cafeteria, hands stuffed in his pockets as he barrelled blindly through the jungle towards his destination. Mind lost in thoughts he really wanted gone, he suddenly wished he really had a cig right now. This crap was getting too heavy for him.

Alas, without a lighter he had no salvation, so the sharkboy merely flung open the doors to the caf with the intention of stuffing his face to satiate his dark mood. A tray was quickly filled with various food items in odd combinations before he picked out a lone seat and slumped down to mopingly eat.

Angelina was in the cafeteria, sitting behind a magazine and nibbling on her plate of various snack foods. She looked up as someone came barreling in, obviously with something on her mind. It took her a minute, since she hadn't seen him more than in passing in a while, but she recognized him as the one of the guys she noted as being the cute punky type. Boredom and curiosity peaked, she closed her zine and stood up.

She refilled her drink, trying to look nonchalant, then wandered closer to his table. "Hey," she said casually, thrusting out a hand towards him. "Alex, was it?"

It took most of his willpower to stop himself from flinching in surprise as Angelina's hand came into his view, realizing he'd been so preoccupied with various things that he didnt even notice she was in the same room. "Uh?" He responded without thinking, almost dropping his fork into his plate at the same time. Who the hell was that? He had to think... hard. The hair, the eyes... spots? All unrecognizable. He'd have to let her introduce herself.

"Uh... neh, Alec." He blinked his grey eyes in curiousity of her identity but managed to break his gaze before he'd make the situation even more awkward. "Ay. Sit?" Motioning to a chaiy near him, he quickly grabbed a napkin to clean off his face. Why did people have to talk to him when he was eating? The process was so clumsy and messy for him.

"I'm sorry, Alec," she corrected herself with a smile. "I don't know if we've ever been formally introduced. My name is Angelina. I've been here a while, but I guess I'm kind of shy sometimes. Trying to fix that." She took the seat and crossed her legs, taking a sip from her straw. "I'm Ambrose's fiancé," she added as an afterthought, holding up her left hand which sported a silver toned diamond ring. Ambrose seemed to know everyone... it was a good ice breaker. "Hope I'm not ... interrupting? Everything okay? You look a bit upset.."

Alec waved off her folly with a smirk, taking it in stride and using the opportunity to mask his previously muddled disposition. "Ah, d'n worreh abou' i'." When she paused to drink, he quickly stuffed a forkful of meatloaf into his mouth to give his jaws something to gnaw on. "Uh, Ambrose! Ahhh no' a' neh 'ou ye are!" The teen looked genuinely pleased to recognize the girl, even going as far as to lean over and take a good look at her ring with as much cooth as an untrained puppy. "'ave'nt seen 'im fo' awhile. e's ekay, righ'?" An absence usually meant something unhappy in this place.

The teen tries not to grimace when she brought up the inevitable question, tentatively mulling over an answer in his mind for once without blurting out anything. "Ye... joost a' lil' thinkin, yanno?" With a quick gesture to himself he added, "Go' a lo' t'think 'bout. Heh."

"He's doing as good as to be expected a suppose," she said, gladly showing off her ring when he showed interest. "He just changed... for the last time." She gave a small shrug. "You know its not too bad I guess. He doesn't look too different than he did before...and its almost a relief to know its over." She ran her fingers over her slightly tipped ears. "I've been here over eight months, now. For some reason my body just doesn't react to the serums most of the time...its unnerving."

She listened to him talk and rested her head on her elbow. "Yeah, it looks like things have been rough for you," she said, looking over his skin and wondering what the deal was with the leaves coming out of his arms.

Alec listened intently, interested in the news update of Ambrose. In some ways he looked up to the guy, perhaps he was genuinely concerned like with other people close to him? And why shouldn't he? Every time he met Ambrose it was always a positive epxerience. Thinking back on the last time he'd seen him, he couldn't fathom a more canine-looking man. "Thas... too bad." He murmured finally, remembering the turmoil that happened when Amaya had changed for the final time.

"Eigh' months?" He whistled, shaking his head and stopping once he realized he couldn't remember how long he'd actually been there. Had he ever even bothered to keep count? "Gimme some o' tha'." He chuckled lightly, his comment referring more to her supposed immunity to the serums. Shrugging again, he flicked at a small leaf on his arm as if he could tell she was mentally taking note of them at the time. "It's been... wehd. Defin'tleh!"

"Oh, its not as nice as it might seem," Angelina said about the serums not taking effects. "I have to go into the labs a lot.. they poke around and try to see what's wrong. I got really sick for a while.. and the waiting, my god, its maddening. Worse before when they didn't even know if I was going to change at all."

She shrugged. "Definitely weird. Do you have plant and animal? That's strange... I've never seen that." She ran a hand over a bit of the peach fuzz on her arm. "Being in the labs so much has at least gotten me a few quirks. Dr. Lockheart's not so bad, you know. She helped Ambrose with the ring, and she's supposedly going to help up with our wedding." A frown tugged at her mouth at that. "Well, at least she was. She refuses to help Ambrose and I with our marriage until Moreau takes her back. IF, that is. She's been stuck out here for a weeks now."

Alec muttered somewhat of a quiet agreement to what she was saying, seeing the bad aspects of her situation. At least they left him alone for the most part, and he knew the changes would eventually come. "Heh... Yanno..." He started on a tangent he wasn't sure he wanted to venture down, seeing as it might sound foolish. "Sometimes... a' thnk, mehbeh they'll le' me be? Cuz is been so long since a' go' worse an' all. Bu' so faw i' always comes." The teen tried to laugh off his naive hope, doing a good job of looking amused of himself. "An' a' d'neh 'bout... yeh." He smirked again, plucking off the leaf he'd been fiddling with, only to be met with a sharp stinging pain that he had to rub his arm to eleviate.

"Lockhar'?" The irish boy tilted his broad head to the side, placing another large piece of meatloaf into his jaws. The name sounded familiar but not familiar enough. And what had she said about Moreau?

"Yeah... I wish they would let us know a head of time. Though Ambrose did ask...and they told him when he could be expecting it. They just don't like to volunteer it I guess."

Angelina kept sipping on her drink. "Dr. Lockheart... Aubrey. She's really sweet, it's almost a wonder why she's here. She's Moreau's fiancé. Or.. .ex fiancé or something. They're having a tiff, it seems, but he's rather... protective of her."

A chill ran down Alec's spine that was hard to mask, Angelina's words striking him like a lightning bolt to his chest that made his heart race in a subdued panic. Aubrey. No, he didn't want to hear that name right now. No, NEVER AGAIN! The syllables themselves made him nervous and aggitated, like "Moreau" did on occasion. She really was the closest thing to a viable hostage but damned if he'd be the be the one to do anything about it.

"Stuck out here." was what struck him the hardest. He'd been hopelessly producing scenarios in his mind of having to break into the laboratories, somehow find her and...

But she was HERE now. This could change everything.

Snapping back to reality, Alec shook his head and nodded to indicate he'd been listening. "Ahh. A' neveh met 'er. Thas good she's on good terms wi' ye though. Good on 'er."

"Yeah... she's really nice. She came to stay with us while she's being 'punished.'" Angelina giggled a bit. "Which is pretty awkward, giving the circumstances. But she's been good to us, so..." she shrugged.

Alec smirked, finding it more than a little weird that the Doctor would actually have the nerve to send off someone he supposedly cared about into the territory of a bunch of fairly disgruntled animal-people. Then again, he abducted children, disabled people and many other persons from their families, so the heartlessness he exhibited was barely a shock anymore. Wasn't she the one who was attacked that one time? How horrible would it be to abduct an already wounded woman and hold her at ransom? No better way to kick a person while they were down.

The teen glanced up from his meal to Angelina, figuring he better change the subject and fast. He couldn't deal with suspicion now, he couldn't deal with much else already. "So." He began slowly, picking at the food with his fork. "Ye know wha' ye turnin' in'teh?" A neutral and safe subject.

Angelina nodded, not understanding the internal turmoil she had sent Alec into. "It's called a genet. Its like.. well, it looks like a cat and ferret lovechild if you ask me. They're African..." she shrugged. "All things considered, I don't guess I have much room to complain."

The teen laughed at her methods of describing the animal she apparently somewhat resembled, tucking the name into the back of his mind in hopes of some day getting the willpower to look it up in a picture book in the library. In a superficial glance, Alec could see the leopard-like spots and other small features attibuting to an overall cat-like appearance and he honestly didn't find unappealing in the least. It was better than an elephant or something, anyways. "Ye, s'kindeh cute on ye." The teen off-handedly and naively admitted without understanding the possible connotations behind it. To him, he was jsut making a broad observation.

Going about scraping the last bits from the plate into his mouth, he continued speaking despite the obstruction. "Shawks are Afr'can, righ'? Theh grow n' Afr'ca?"

Angelina smiled at the compliment and scratched her neck. "Thanks. I kind of like it - ya know. Like if I could just stop here I think I'd be okay.." she gave a small, almost bitter laugh.

"And.. I think it depends on the shark, I'm not really sure." She looked him over again. "Do you know what kind you...?"

Alec looked at his chest before realizing it wasn't exactly the best example of his chosen "species" before craning his neck to look at his back. He remembered seeing small stripes on his sides when he twisted a bit, maybe those were significant somehow? After all, Jaws didn't have stripes.

"Uh... a' d'neh?" He blinked, reaching back to barely grip a fin that was sharply protruding at an angle from his back. "A go' line things... stripes." Turning back to sit straight in his chair again, he simply shrugged with mild care for the idea. "A' d'neh. Bu' a' neh one thin'. These are staw'in t'piss me off!" Snickering at the silly green vegetation growing off of him, he rose from his seat and went to deposite his dishes back where they'd come from before sitting back down.

"Tiger shark?" she guessed. She honestly wasn't well versed.. but she knew there was such a thing as a tiger shark and she knew that they had stripes. She shrugged. "I can ask Dr. Lockheart if you want me to." She looked at his leaves again. "That's certain weird. I know that's not natural to say the least.. obviously."

She glaced at the clock on the wall and frowned. "I should probably go. Ambrose is probably back now and I promised myself I'd have some food waiting for him."

If Alec had any food left, he might've spit it out at that moment. "Ye, a' don' think me mates back 'ome grow veggies when they ge' theh fuzzies." He mused over the idea for a moment, smiling but falling silent. He wondered for a moment what exactly those guys were up to these days...

"Ye.... oh! Ay.... say hi f'me?" He remembered to add before she could make her exit, rising from his seat in preparation to leave as well.

"Will do," she said, reaching out to shake his hand again. "Nice talking with you!" She smiled pleasantly and seemed genuine enough. Angelina really needed to get out more. See, it was fun.

Alec smiled as non-threateningly as possible, accepting the handshake this time with much less awkwardness. "Ay, ye too. Take care." He considered the meeting to have been quite pleasant, setting aside all awkwardness on the topics on conversation. It was nice to see a nice guy with a nice girl sometimes, especially in a place like this.

Alec dashed off in the direction of Tommy's duplex, the 'note' he'd left him still crumpled in his tight fist. Unfortunately, his fast pace had brought him face-to-face with the door to Tommy's living area a little sooner than he could manage.

He stood outside for more than 10 minutes, jitterly shifting his weight from foot to foot. Suddenly he beginning to feel more than a little hesitant to 'stand up' to Tommy, even possibly afraid. Finally he knocked and waited, cold with anxiety.

For those ten minutes Alec stood in front of Tommy's door, he could hear the entire piece known famously as "The Moonlight Sonata" wafting from within. It's been all Tommy has been doing for the past few days. He plays his piano day in and day out, perfecting his form with the handicap of his hands. The knock on the door throws off his tempo for a moment, but he just finishes that last line before standing and walking toward the door. Tommy opens the door a crack, sees who it is, and opens it fully. "Hey Alec, what's up?" he asks amiably. It is hard to tell that he has murder on the mind.

Alec nodded a greeting, too uneasy to offer a smile at the man. "Ah... ey." He muttered, shifting from side to side again. "A'.. go' ye shee' music, wanna go oveh i' t'getheh?" He motioned to the wrinkled paper in his hand, seemingly on a nonchallant visit to review some music with a friend. His gaze was the only thing that could possibly be different, not the relaxed and easy-going Alec but a certain subtle urgency.

Tommy saw the look in Alec's eyes. He saw it well and knew everything it meant. Fear, anxiety, doubt, and betrayal to name a few. And with these comes self doubt in himself. Thoughts of what he really was going to do. .oO(It's for the good of all...that's it...stop second guessing yourself, Tommy. That way leads to weakness and weakness will lead to losing the last bit of yourself that they cannot control.) Tommy looked over the shark man for a moment before nodding and opening the door wider for Alec. "Of course, man, come on in."

A small exhale and he made his way inside, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room before jetting towards a spare chair and taking a seat. "S'no good." The teen abruptly started before Tommy could say a word. He pointed to the sheet music though he locked his sight on him for the time being. "Th'armoneh's all wrong... All... messed. A' do'n think a' c'n play this Tommeh."

He used odd terms to seem natural to the situation. They were always watching, always listening.

Tommy watches Alec as he sits in one of the few pieces of furniture he owns. The entire room is dominated by the large piano that Sabin dropped off where his bed should be. Tommy nods a few times as he listens to what Alec has to say. Taking a seat on his piano bench, Tommy turns to face the teen. "Harmony...yeah, that's what I thought you'd say, Alec," he says as he leans foreward, resting his elbows on his knees, "But that's just it. You're looking at each individual note and not at the entire composition. The opening act is discord incarnate, Alec. I know it....you know it. And I realize, that it seems harsh at first. I really do. But look at the composition as a whole. Look at the finale and see that the discord is necessary to show the true beautiful harmony of the entire peace. Alec. Take another look. You may find that it's not that you can't play it...it's that you don't want to try."

There was another tremor in Alec's chest, just like when Angelina mentioned Aubrey's name. He listened intently, watching the nocturnal man's movements at the same time. Discord was an understatement but what if he was right? Big changes never happened with pacifistic attempts over a tea party. He didn't have to be the one to do it anyways, right? From the sounds of it Aubrey was his responsibility, he could deal with that.

He didn't respond at first, dropping his head to stay away from Tommy's eyes. Black voids that could convince him to kill his own mother, he swore. "A' guess theh's no 'ope fo' a bridge" He smirked a little despite his sore mood, finding the agruements he'd had in his mind a few minutes ago failing to justify his point. "A' foun'wheh th'key note lies." He murmured low, head still down as if in acceptance of a defeat. He might as well let him know what he'd found.

.oO(Jesus...I can't trust this poor kid...he just doesn't realize that this is more than getting rid of a tormentor. This is justice. Moreau has ruined so many lives without a bat of an eye but this kid...this young man...still he has trouble even contemplating what I must do. Most would call him naive, some would call him stupid...but me? Goddamn, I think he may be one of the few people here who still has his soul...and I'm about to take that away)

"Alec...I'm not forcing you to play and I'd appreciate it if you stopped acting like I was. You agreed to help me with this because you were interested in the finale. Well the song has a beginning too which must be played out before you there's even any hope of making the finale sound as great as I told you it would. But if you want to go back to beating your drums...well, who would I be then if I were to stop you?"

Alec's head slowly rose, what he was about to say was hard to tell from his expression until a fierce frown began to crawl over his features. "Ye thin' a' d'n know tha'?" He retorted slowly, tentatively. "Ye thin' a' don' take me music seriousleh, ye thin' am some brat wi' no 'ope." As his aggitation rose, his ability to pronunciate decreased. A long time ago he would've accepted a personal stab like that without a blink of an eye but he was slowly losing that part of him, ironically much to Tommy's credit.

"A' know 'ow impo't'nt this piece is!" The teen rose, grey eyes with pupils growing large as his temper began to flare. He took a large step towards the seated Tommy. "LOOKI' ME!!!"

.oO(Warmer...warmer...ah...disco. Give 'em a hand, we have a winner. There may be some hope yet) Tommy knew he was on the brink of something. What, he wasn't sure, but he was definately on the brink of it. This could go his way...or it could end rather messily. He was relatively sure he couldn't stand much of a chance against Alec in his current condition. At least in a confined area like this. He had to word this just right. Tommy doesn't move, but just keeps on staring at Alec. "I am, Alec. My eyes are open But are yours? When was the last time you looked at your own section of the music and really saw how it changed...and understood who really influenced it?"

Alec held his gaze, the fact that Tommy hadn't faultered at all at his outburst only made him stop and think about what he was doing. Slowly, the teen's eyes fell passively again, a hand raising to rub at his face, almost distressed. What the hell was that? had he ever even raised his voice that loudly? A second ago he was ready to rip Tommy apart.... when... had it gotten so BAD?

The young shark returned to his seat and stared at the floor. Why did he have to be right. All this time he'd missed his friends, his home, his town and he knew who was responsible for taking him away from all that. It was like staring at a convicted criminal through a two-way mirror.

Mentally, Tommy releases a huge sigh of relief. His shoulders relaxing minutely is the only outward sign of this. Tommy had mentally prepared himself for this. He knew it had to come sooner or later, but he's glad it was over now. The hurdle with helping Alec through this has been done and Tommy is infinately grateful for that. Because when the truth came down to it: Alec had too many teeth for Tommy not to be worried. "Alec..." and for once, he doesn't know what to say next. He just sighs and follows Alec's gaze to the floor.

"Neh, a' neh..." He babbled and shook his hand as if to tell Tommy that he didn't care to hear any more. He'd struck something in his speech and it made him realize that this plan was a reality and that it would have to come to pass, it just had to. This wasn't for him alone. This was for people like Cody, the orphaned child, Amaya and everyone else who'd made him realize throughout his stay on that prison that someone had to stand up and refuse.

Gathering his composure, he spoke again in a much more subdued tone. "Th'note theh, th'impo't'nt one. It's 'n secti'n numbeh one. I'll fix i'.... bu' thas when th' peh'fo'mance will 'afta stawt... a' think." He looked back at Tommy, trying to make sure they were clear on this. It was the only detail he was sure on, so he'd make sure it went smoothly.

Tommy keeps his head lowered for the extent of Alec's information. .oO(Number one...dear God...that's Ambrose's duplex. What would someone...an islander of all people...be doing living with someone who is in cahoots with Moreau? Gah...it doesn't matter. Not in the long run. We just need to do the job, that's all.) The cadet looks up at Alec when he finishes, "Section one you say? Yeah...alright. I understand. How's about you play that part for me tomorrow? Let me see how it sounds?"

Alec nodded grimly but sternly. No matter how harsh ithad sounded, Tommy was right. It was the way. At least having been put in charge of the "hostage", Alec could ensure that Aubrey could go free after it all was through. Getting up from his seat, the teen looked like he was ready to leave.

Showing tiredness beyond his years, Tommy stands soon after Alec and follows him toward the door. "Glad to hear it," is all he says in reply to Alec's nod. He opens the door for the shark-man.

The loudspeakers in the village and the speakers in everyone's duplexes crackled through at once. The voice of Moreau resounding through the entire area. "Greetings my oh so precious subjects. This is Dr. Moreau, if you weren't already aware, recently an attack was made on my fiance Dr. Aubrey Lockheart, and a threat to me."

"Now while the threat has been dealt with, there is the issue of punishment. Many of you have been here for some time and already have learned what it is like to live without my hospitality, but obviosly some of you recent subjects seem to have gotten the idea that you might have some... leverage here." Moreau half laughed over the intercom.

"That said, the perpetrators of this henious act are to be punished, their duplexes will be locked and they will be left to the wild. They will not be allowed within 100 ft of the village. If they violate this they will be knocked unconcious and kept that way until someone drags them outside of range. In addition they will not be allowed food, clothes, or supplies from the village. They will be watched and anyone who is caught giving them any of these materials will suffer a simlar fate. Perhaps this was they'll learn the error of crossing me. If..." a smug grin on Moreau's face showing through the intercom. "...they haven't already."

"Learn your place boys." is Moreau's final message as the intercom goes off.

Suddenly, you and anyone around you black out, when you wake up, your in the village exactly 100 ft from the village. Of course, anyone around you would black out where they were. You have only one set of clothing, most likely whatever you were wearing unless you were not wearing anything significant.

Alec followed along the river he'd only visited a few times before, looking for a clearing near the bank sufficient for him to stay in. He figured he'd better stick to the water, seeing how he frequently required baths to rehydrate, all he needed was to find himself lost in the jungle only to shrivel up like a prune and die alone. He found himself staring at the leaf-covered floor for quite some time, hearing the gentle gurgle of the moving water behind him but unable to think of what to do.

He didn't know how to hunt, or find shelter, or even build a fire. He couldn't live in a hole in the ground like Fiona and he hadn't even gotten to know Emelyn well enough to ask how exactly she was able to live in such isolation. The sun was fading fast, and he was still left with no progress to speak of. He did manage to drag some fallen palm leaves into a pile by the time the blanket of black consumed the jungle, the teen futily trying to use it as a makeshift bed.

But it was sticky, humid and much too dark. Everything made a noise that he couldn't recognize and therefore found absolutely terrifying. He could predict that the nights to come would definetly be filled with anything but calm sleep but the shark boy still tried as he lay shaking by the riverside.