[Journal]~Awen Zyn~Special Aquatic Duplex #1~

[Awen Zyn]

Speculations and a place to stay

After Sabin's impromptu lunch with Antony, he strode out of the cafeteria with a sigh, running his hands through his matted, muddy hair.

Time was already flying by since the announcement, and there were things he had to see to now that he had finally gotten food in his stomach. After chewing on his decision for a moment, he strode towards the duplex of the only Islander he felt he could really trust.

There was a confident knocking on Awen's door.

The duplex was silent for a short while. The normally cheery 'come in' was not shouted out from behind the door as Awen was busy playing a game or reading, but the place was definitely not vacant. A shadow moved from behind the window of the duplex for a quick second. Only a moment later the door flew open.

"Sabin!" The manta was standing there in one of the green bathing suits that Sabin had approved the order for. She had, apparently, been soaking in her tank for the time being. She stepped aside and gestured him in. "You're a mess! What happened?"

Sabin eased into a more genuine smile as the manta girl flung open the door. "Awen. It is good to see you well." He said. "And I'm sorry about my rather disheveled appearance. I'm not exactly as presentable as when you last saw me, but not really by any choice of my own." He said with a sigh.

"I'm not sure if you heard the booming announcement.... but I was apparently out at the wrong time." He frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And so now I'm rather... stuck."

Awen shook her head and closed the door. "Yeah I heard. I've been...sort of keeping to myself for the last little bit. So... you're locked out?"

The blue haired girl tsked rather loudly. "Well that Moreau is getting worse and worse every day it seems. So I guess you don't know about Aubrey either hm? Probably happened when the cameras were off or Moreau would know about it...cameras and everything."

She was talking rather quickly compared to her usual casual place. Since she changed last she had gained a lot of confidence, but a lot of it was shattered since the arcade incident. She really didn't want to find out which islanders had heard the rumors that started floating around, as Awen was sure they had started floating.

"Well.... as long as you're stuck out here... you're welcome here. I would give you a comfy place to sleep but..." She glanced quickly back to her aquatic bed. "I don't have much besides a spare pillow and some blankets hiding somewhere."


Sabin walked only into the front part of the room, trying to not touch anything out of politeness to keep the mud damage to a minimum. He glanced around, taking a look at the aquatic bed with a curious expression. He had yet to see it up close and personal, and it was pretty interesting.

"I'm sorry about the other day, by the way. You were right. That wasn't the venue for an argument." He smiled warmly at her offer. "I do appreciate it. And i've slept on harder floors, I can assure you. IF you don't mind me hanging around. I'd prefer it over a public area like the cafeteria or one of the other rooms in the town hall. With a ... well.... dangerous individual on the loose who's already attacked one lab tech sleeping out in the open doesn't seem like the wisest of ideas."

Her face turned slowly to a worried frown. "No that wouldn't be very smart at all..."

She scratched her arm softly as she gave the silver haired man another look. "You're welcome to whatever in the duplex..if you'd, um, like to clean up or something. I might be able to find you some clothes...borrow them off..well..someone." Probably Avery... he's the only one that had been fine with the idea of Awen dating a staff member anyway. She wondered slowly if they would even fit. But...desperate times.

He chuckled. "I can rinse what I've got off at the very least. It won't be great, but it can do me until I can find a replacement. Though if you wanted to borrow something from someone, that would be nice."

He gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you. You don't have to do this. Honestly, Antony offered similarly.... but I admit that I wans't too keen to accept her offer. I saw her carrying around Aubrey's shirt without so much of an explanation. I know very little of what was going on, but I prefer to stay with someone I trust more implicitely. Besides...." He scratched the back of his neck, remembering some of the incidents he had seen on camera, and a lot of the coffee-talk and gossip milling of some of the other techs who also got camera duty from time to time. "It just didn't feel... appropriate." He winced. The last thing he needed was for some lab tech back at the labs to spot HIM in Antony's duplex. Even IF he didn't do anything, he'd never live it down, and sure as hell have a hard time gleaning respect back.

Awen gave him a sideways glance and half a grin. This felt like a great turn around for the small girl. Antony had ruined a lot of what she had going on the island before, shattered her confidence, took Jamal away from her; it felt nice to be able to finally have one up on the tattooed woman. Though what did perplex her is the fact that she had been carrying around Aubrey's shirt... Aubrey and Antony didn't really seem the type or know eachother well enough to share clothes. So how did she get it?

It was also very good to hear, and see, that Sabin did really trust her. "Well I might not have to, but I'd be a right jerk if I just let you sleep out there, in danger and possibly a storm." She shook her head slowly. "What a beast the last one was, hm? I was out in the jungle for a bit, but all I could think about was that it seemed a lot like Jurassic Park, when the storm came and all the dinosaurs got loose."

"yes... no kidding. I had the misfortune of being outside during most of it as well." Sabin winced. "Hence my rather bedraggled appearance." He raised a hand to the right side of his face - where the blue-black shiner had spread to a good portion of the side of his face. It was one of those that was goign to get worse before it was better.

"I'm glad I didn't get struck by lightning or something of the sort. It would just be my luck. But no, now I'm just shut out with everyone else. Apparently Moreau is being paranoid as well as a b*****d. He's keeping everyone who wasn't in the labs at the time of the ... incident out. Treating me like a suspect." He grumbled, and dropped his voice, turning his back in a calculating fashion. "Though I wouldn't put it past the Redheaded egomaniac to have a hand in all of this himself."

She tilted her head slightly. "You think Moreau might have had a hand in it? But then why would he have told us to look for...." She trailed off for a moment and frowned.

"You don't think he's trying to make it seem like you did it? After that huge fight in the arcade..." After the words left her mouth she automatically shook her head. "No, that wouldn't make sense. That might get some islanders on your side... and I guess that just doesn't make sense..." She sighed slowly and moved to sit down at the small table. "Sorry... I've just been... well, I'm sure a lot of people aren't very happy with me and I guess I'm getting a little paranoid myself."

She certainly looked like she hadn't seen sun, or at least a dry place, for a while. Since the incedent she had been keeping mostly to her tank or the lake, with the occasional trip to the cafe for provisions.

Sabin frowned, leaning against the wall near the door. "It's rather convenient to make you guys go looking for clues. I mean... honestly. Are the staff that paranoid to leave the facility? They should be the ones pieceing this together, not asking you."

He rubbed his hands together. "The way I see it... he has you guys come up with a culprit. In your eyes and to the rest of everyone else.... And God only knows. It woudln't surprise me if he was tring to pin this on ME." Sabin glared. "He's been kicking me around enough as it is the last few weeks."

He crossed his arms, looking pensive. "I know Moreau hasn't always been straight with Aubrey. Like the lockout. He knew she wouldn't take it well, so he made me take the fall for it. I don't think he likes the fact that she's as sympathetic to the islanders. You should have seen at the Halloween party... when she stood up for one of the Islanders when he smacked Moreau." He shook his head. "I watched the tape later."

"I did see the Halloween party. I was there." She laughed a little bitterly. "Tried to prevent it all by dragging Moreau away with a question, he just snapped at me and said he was on a date and this was not the time for business. Shortly after the the Dude punched him..." She shook her head slowly and looked up at Sabin. "For a scientific genious, of sorts, he sure is stupid, hm?"

"I really hope he isn't trying to pin this on you. That is... I just... I don't know what I would do. I don't think I could do anything about it." She looked away again at the floor. "I don't know. I'm sure a lot of people are thinking it's a scam. I mean... after the lock out, how can we be sure anything is real right? Maybe... Aubrey isn't even hurt?"

She hoped not. Despite the game Moreau was playing with them all, and how much of a witch Aubrey had been...she still had a heart and Awen would be sore to loose that bit of sanity from the island. After even what Sabin had said, Awen could figure out clearly that the woman was very much sympathetic to the islanders. "Or maybe... he did it to frame an islander to make Aubrey... less...caring towards us?"

Sabin snapped his fingers. "That's right! My apologies. I wasn't there myself for that point, just saw it on the tapes later." Sabin barked a laugh at the outright insult. "His intellect is very... specialized." He said wryly. "And doesn't know how to treat a woman. Just how to OWN something." He rolled his eyes.

He shook his head at that mention. "I don't know. I can assure you I have no hand in this... mess if it is a lockout-like situation." He paused at her last suggestion.

"Honestly... I was thinking something similar. Maybe it went farther than Moreau had planned for it to get. I have no doubt that the man is upset.... but ... I think Moreau.... I think he's done something similar in the past. I don't know if you heard... about Billy and Colche?"

Awen had to think for a minute. "Only that Antony said Billy almost raped Colche....but I figured she may have..exadurated. You're kidding though! He did really?" She let out a deep breath. "What a skeeze! I didn't think even he could get that low!"

"I saw it on the tapes. Billy went directly for her, tried to rape her. Only got stopped - and nearly too late, by the buzzer. It was some lower ranked staffmember on camera duty at the time..." He trailed off, and held up a finger.

"But here's the thing. Aubrey brought him into the labs to... er.... penalize him" He gave a small shudder. "And before surgery did a tox screen on him... found remnants of LSD and Viagra in his system. I had taken his hard drugs away from over a week beforehand, and it should have been out of his system. So Aubrey confronts me on the matter. I had some of those.. substances in a cabinet... " Sabin quickly pressed on not wanting to get into WHY he had those. "And she blamed me. But I didn't do anything, and the only people with access to where they were locked up was people of my rank and higher. She sure as hell woudln't have done that, I know I didn't.... in fact she came to ME to confront me, not just directly to Moreau, which tells me something's fishy anyway. And... of course... Moreau himself. Now Colche is Aubrey's... well... she's all but her daughter. She already hated Billy. Methinks it's possible Moreau set it up, to try to make Aubrey less trusting of the Islanders. Except that it didn't work. Aubrey I think is suspicious about the drugs in his system, and she's been around the islanders not much less recently..."

Awen had wondered *why* Sabin would have the drugs and opened her mouth a moment, but he passed it too quickly and she forgot about it as he continued his retelling. "Seriously... this island is all well and good if Moreau wasn't in charge. Like if someone else would have thought up the idea and gone through with it. I understand testing hte psychological effects like the lockout... not that I want that kind of thing to happen mind you." She was sure to add quickly. "But you know to do that kind of thing... to a girl like Colche, just to try to prove a point to Aubrey- an invalid point no less- is just...wrong. On way too many levels."

Sabin nodded. To be honest, even HE wouldn't have done something like that to Colche. He respected the bond of a parent and daughter, even if it wasn't a biological connection. And Colche was barely more than a child mentally. Something still squirmed inside of him, flickers of guilt perhaps, at doing things like that to a child - even when he was at his worst. Scare them, sure. But something like rape?

"This island wouldn't be here if it weren't for Moreau. I don't think anyone else would have the ability to come up with this research... although sometimes I wish he wan't the one in control of things as well as the lead scientist." That was mentioned very quietly. "But Moreau is powerhungry and a control freak. I don't see it happening any other way."

"But... still... I think that Moreau was trying to turn Aubrey against the islanders now. Maybe he staged an attack with the power out. I've never seen the power go out before. Not really. Maybe it got out of hand than what he expected and that's why he's upset. I don't know, I'm just speculating."

The manta crossed her arms, elbows resting on the table, and rubbed her right shoulder softly. "I don't like it... at all. The more I learn about Moreau... the more I grow afraid of what will happen to the island once he's had enough of the bullshit islanders go through. Once Aubrey finally turns on us."

She remembered the caging incedent with Jamal. How easy would it be just to make all of the islanders sleep and have them dragged to cages, or sealed tanks?

"What was the shock about though?" She rubbed the back of her neck. "A blip in the system? I mean it hurt a lot before blacking me out. I didn't think that it hurt that much, from what I've seen and heard." She was just glad that she hadn't been in her tank when the shock happened. She wasn't sure what would happen if she was in the water when that happened.

Sabin nodded. "He likes things to go HIS way. He gets .... upset if anything deviates. As I learned the hard way. He and Aubrey were fighting that night, too.... I caught a piece of it. I think Aubrey was trying to get him to pay attention to her, he was busy.... I only caught a glimpse but it was messy." He frowned.

"The shock? I... well, I read once that if there is ever a power out for more than thirty minutes or so that it's automatic. Everyone is KO'd when the power comes back on. Just in case - it's a fail safe. That's odd, though... the device shouldn't be painful."

She gave a sparse laugh. "Well then I guess the manuals don't tell you everything. You're just lucky you don't have one, the spots kinda been itching ever since... but I think that's just..in my head. Not a fan of shocks and things these days." She wondered slowly if she ever was a fan of shocks and things.

Shrugging she gave it up. "I guess what comes...comes. I don't want to get involved much with this. Too much attention really... I don't want to be the one to name someone to Moreau... Could hurt what few people I may not have offended already. I mean... friendly with a lab tech *and* the one to rat whoever it was to Moreau? No... no no no. Definately not a good plan." She slumped forward onto the table resting her chin of her arms. This was not a good situation if she ever got involved, but as long as she stayed back... then the attention will be drawn away from her.

Sabin nodded. "Probably a good plan. If I were you, I'd want to keep my nose out of it too if I didn't know anything. Unfortunately, I don't know if I will have that liberty." He scratched at his arm.

"I hate to be an a**... but DO you think I might be able to steal into your bathroom and use your shower?" He gave a small grin.

Awen lifted herself from the table and nodded. "Of course, go ahead." She motioned towards the bathroom. "Like I sad what's mine is yours."

She glanced out the window a moment. "Do you want me to try to rustle up some fresh clothes for you in the meantime? We can always wash yours too, but you'd probably want something more than a towel to go around in, and I don't think you could fit any of my stuff." Thought she did snicker at the prospect.

He smiled warmly. "That would be excellent. Merci Beaucoup, Mademoiselle Zyn." He gave a flashy bow and a wry grin.

He tapped his forehead with the back of his index finger, pantomiming the tip of a hat, and stole off into the bathroom to take a shower.

Awen was left in a rather good mood as the frenchman went to use her shower. She giggled as she turned the handle of her duplex. As shut the door she tested the words "Mademoiselle Zyn." under her breath. Her accent wasn't really bad, but it was distinctively a more Quebecois version of an accent, the true sign of a Canadian girl.

She wondered for a moment who she would be able to go to for clothes. As much as she would think to go to someone else for style and fit... Avery was honestly the only person she could count on at the moment in her mind. She turned and headed down the line, hoping he was in his duplex.  

[Awen Zyn]

Rainbow...pants XD

Avery slept in late that day, taking his time to stay in his duplex with no hurry to leave. He had no desire to get involved with the whole attacker business, and it seemed to be stressing a lot of people out. He took a long shower, enjoying the warm water, then stepped out to dry himself off. He changed into some clean clothes and sat down on his bed to begin the long process of brushing his hair, being careful not to drag the brush bristles over his sensitive dog ears.

Awen still fumed slightly as she knocked on Avery's door so perhaps it was just a little too agressive of a knock. She tried being nice but that Antony just had to say things didn't she? She sighed softly and just tried to let it go.

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. At the very least she couldn't take this negativity to the dog-boy. Especially not since she had to ask a favour of him.

Avery was startled by the forceful sounding knock, glancing at the door, a little worried who it might be. He stood up and walked over to the door, opening it just a crack so he could peek outside.

He relaxed when he saw it was Awen, and he smiled, opening the door wider and giving her room to come inside. "Hey girl! It's been a while! How have you been?" he asked.

Awen moved quickly inside and smiled brightly. "Hiya Avery!" She beamed slightly, though she had been in a bad mood...who ever could stay that way around Avery?

"Ah well.. you know pretty okay... What about you then?"

"I've been so-so," Avery said, closing the door after she stepped inside. "A bit worked up about this whole thing with Aubrey, though," he sighed. "But, anyway - let's not talk about that. I've worried enough about it. So what brings you to my neck of the woods?" He moved back over to the bed, sitting down and resuming brushing his hair.

Awen scratched her arm as she gave a tiny awkward chuckle. "Yeah what's going on is kind of ...well woah. I've been ducking down myself too."

Pausing she stepped forward and pulled a chair from the table area so she could sit. "But actually... that's kind of why I'm here. Well...hm yeah. Avery, normally you know I wouldn't ask or anything but... could I borrow some clothes?"

Avery blinked. "Borrow some clothes? Well sure, that's no problem. But... don't you have some? I mean, you've been around here longer than I have... what happened to yours?" he asked, raising a curious eyebrow at her.

"Ah well!" She barked another nervous laugh out. "It's not for me. Um.... well ... Sabin... got stuck outside the labs, where all his room and clothes and things are. So he doesn't really have anything to wear, except these dirty muddy clothes that he wore during the storm. He's a little bigger than you, I think, but I can't exactly ask someone else, can I?"

She shook her head slowly. "A lot of the other people I know well enough to ask, would probably tear open my duplex just to get at him." She gave a small smile. "And you aready..well..hinted anyway.. that you were cool with ya know... so... yeah!"

Avery's eyes widened in surprise. "Sabin, the scientist guy you like? He's staying with you in your duplex!?" He grinned at her then. "Hey, way to go!" he chuckled, winking. "I'm not so sure he'll like my clothes, but you can still borrow them if you want..." He stood up and walked over to his dresser, pulling open the drawer... only to see there wasn't many clothes at all left to pick from. In fact, he only had one set of clean clothing left. "Um," he laughed. "I'm really sorry about this. I guess I fell behind on doing my laundry..." Avery picked up a pink t-shirt with 'real men wear pink' written on the front in black text, and white pants with rainbow colored stars going down the front of each leg. He held them up to show Awen, "because these are the only clean ones I have left right now."



Awen blushed slightly as he winked at her. She was fumbling through her thoughts. Well it really wasn't like.... it was just a safety thing. He trusted her. She couldn't just leave him out in the cafe or entertainment room with the possible labtech-killer on the loose anyway... There wasn't anything that was way to go or to wink about. Awen was going to say all this but was cut off as Avery turned around and showed her what was left of his waredrobe.

She was silent for a moment, her eyes slightly wide. It wasn't funny. Avery wore these clothes.... it wasn't nice to laugh at them. But... but... The dark gothy man like Sabin in... pink and rainbow stars!?

The manta just couldn't help it as she burst out laughing, almost falling right out of the chair. She held up a hand and waves desperately for Avery not to take offense. She tried to stop herself but for some time she couldn't. "I'm sorry!" She finally choked out and repeated a few times as she regained her breath.

"It's just that...those....so aren't Sabin-type clothes!" She grinned broadly still as she stood up. "But they'll do. Thanks Avery!"

Avery grinned, not taking offence at all. He assumed none of the scientists here would wear the type of clothes he does - and he thought it was an amusing image as well, even though he doesn't know what any of them look like. "It's okay!" he laughed. "I pretty much guessed they weren't, but they're the only ones I have left... man, if you can, you should get a picture and show me later... I'd love to see what he looks like - and in these clothes, too!" he said, laughing again. He folded up the clothes (as best he could) and he gave them to Awen. "There's no rush getting these back to me, luckily I was given a decent amount of clothes to last me around here."

Awen nodded a bit and took the clothes. "At least they're pretty decent about getting clothes to us." Waggling a finger at him she added, "You just have to go do the laundry more often you silly pup!"

A wolfish grin crossed the fish's face. "And don't worry I am so going to get a picture of this if I can. Thank you so much for the loan Avery. They'll probably get back to you... once this Aubrey business is resolved."

"Silly pup!?" Avery chuckled, but he didn't seem to mind the nickname as his tail wagged. "I usually do! I just got kinda... lazy," he laughed. "And hey, anything for a friend! I can't wait to see - and you should come visit more often - if you're not preoccupied with other things, I mean," Avery winked at her. "Tell Sabin I said hi."

A crimson colour once more wafted up to Awen's cheeks. "Of course not too busy Avery! Never for you!" She gave him a playful nudge. "But I don't know,m I've been hanging out in my room or the lake an aweful lot. I don't seem to actively seek too many people these days... Be it the ray or just situations... I don't know I suppose I don't get out too too often. I'll try to visit though..."

Avery just couldn't help himself - some people were just fun to make blush, especially when it was so easy to do. "No problem! I'll just try to visit you more often too, then - I'll drag you outside with me, we can hang out by the lake or wherever you like!" he put an arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair playfully.

"Hey hey hey!" Awen said holding an arm up to 'block' the ruffling though it was obviously too late. "This mop has enough knots in it already ya know." Which was true, all of her time in the water Awen hardly bothered brushing it much at all anymore.

She wrapped the other arm around his waist and gave the man a soft squeeze. "Well you know, I'd love to hang out more too."

"Then it will be done! Life's more fun when you spend it with more people, after all! Besides," he smirked, "I think I still need to beat you in a game of Soul Calibur, yeah? We should hit up all the new games they got in sometime."

"You could always get pwned on my new xbox 360 you know." She grinned softly and started out. "But Sabin's probably long since cleaned up, so I should.. try to get back to him." She nodded to the clothes in her hand and snickered. "And give Sabin his temporary new clothes."

Avery laughed. "We'll see about that! But alright then, I wouldn't want you to keep Sabin waiting," he said with a slightly suggestive tone to his voice. "I'll see you later, Awen. I hope he likes the clothes," he said with a chuckle. "Bye!"

Awen just rolled her eyes this time. "Yeah, sure thing Avery." She shook her head slowly as she walked out. "See you later pup!" She was grinning when she walked out the door.

Attempted murder? What attempted murder? Sabin was staying in her duplex!  

[Awen Zyn]

Alec isn't envious but soon enough... twisted

After his chat with Ambrose, Alec figured the wolf-man would have everything under control having to do with gathering together some sports enthusiasts on the island. The teen didn't think to offer any more help, assuming he'd be of any use at all in the first place. Instead, the punk teen decided he'd take it easy for awhile and maybe go for a swim at the lake to cool off from the muggy heat of the jungle.

As he approached the edge of the body of water, he slipped off his shirt and tossed it aside while taking a good look around. Last time he'd been there he'd met a very skittish Emelyn, hopefully this time he wouldn't run into anyone at all. He just didn't feel up to it.

The teen sat down and slid his legs into the water as he'd done before, getting accustomed to the temperature before taking the plunge.

Shortly after Alec's dip into the pool Awen came down the path. Everything hurt. She had rested in her duplex for the majority of the day, sitting in her tank trying to ease her pain. The incesent filter and the ceiling was begining to annoy her though. She'd been seeing the same thing for the passed week and especially after the change she felt restless.

When she first had tried to put her foot on solid ground it was a definate mistake. Her fin-feet were still too fragile to walk on. She finally figured that she could walk on the heel of her foot without too much pain and left her duplex soon after.

Seeing the lake she smiled. The manta was definately looking forward to not just sitting in the water but being able to move around and glide gracefully around. If her new webbing-wings would allow it anyway. They may end up jsut floating near the bottom and watching the fish....

Just as she got close ehough to the lake her foot got entangled on something unexpected on the ground. She shrieked as even the soft material of Alec's shirt stung her thin toes and fin. Everything jsut got worse as Awen tumbled to the ground, and landed only inches from the waters edge. The air was forced from her lungs at once and she coughed. She gasped for air and by all means she looked like a beached sea creature...

Alec had just finished dunking his head underwater to wet his skin when he heard a loud shriek. As high pitched as it was, the sound echoed feircely around the quiet lake to startle him and cause him to snap his head around to look. What he saw confused him at first, his eyesight seemed to fail him at pinpointing just what that sprawled out, bluish mass was near the shore even though he wasn't that far out.

It was impossible it was an animal, it had to have been an islander. "Ah... 'ey y'ekay there?" He called out hesitantly but with concern, wading over until he was within feet.

Awen looked up quickly when she was spoken to. She coughed and tried to push herself up, but her lungs didn't quite want to kick in properly. She had always hated the feeling of not being able to breathe. Even though it usually happened in summer when they were playing baseball or something or playing out in the yard and falling or a game of tag gone wrong, it always reminded her of the suffocating feeling that water brings.

She shook her head a little but and grabbed the dirt of the lake bank and dragged herself foreward. It was almost ironic now that she was afraid of not breathing because of water, and now she clawed her way towards it to help her breathe again.

It took a moment for two but she pushed herself into the water, just enough to get her head under water. It helped her a little to get breathing again and only a second later she pushed herself forward again, harder, to push herself into the deeper water.

She plunged down, the water feeling good, but also her body aching. She spun around and pushed her way back to the surface with incredible ease. She coughed a little as she floated a little ways away from Alec. "Sorry.... got the wind knocked out of me..is all..."

She pushed some of her knotted blue hair behind her ear as she gave him an awkward smile. This boy was hard to forget. The one who almost wrecked the cords in the entertainment room. Alex...no no... Alec. He seemed a little different, but generally he was still recognisable.

It was hard to mask the relief on his face as he watched her make her way into the water. Alec wasn't always concerned about himself or others, but his carefree attitude always became displaced with worry whenever good people got hurt. Although he wouldn't guess that was a likely solution to her problem, he figured it somehow made her feel better so it was good. "Heh, thas good. A' was g'neh try n' lift ye n' that woul've probehleh turned ou' realleh bad." He laughed lightly and treaded water.

He still couldn't put a finger on who she was, the fact that he was usually good with names infuriated him. Her eyes seemed very familiar. "Ye ekay now?"

"Lots better." She nodded. "Didn't mean to give you a scare...." She shied away a little bit. "I must look pretty hideous...."

In fact Awen hadn't even gone to look at herself in the mirror before she left. She hadn't wanted to see herself, convinced she must look freakish, even by island standards.

Alec chuckled, lifting his hand above water for a moment to wave it off. "Nah, we're all peacheh."

He stopped short when he noticed she was shying away, her statement about her looks only reinforcing what her body language had been saying. "Wha? Neh, ye fine." The teen furriowed his studded brow, looking as nonchallant as was possible. Her... fingers were odd, her face was quickly losing it's human-like characteristics but she wasn't disgusting. he'd been spending too much time with people like Amaya to consider the blue-haired girl to be hard on the eyes.

"Did ye... change soon?" By the way she was acting as well as the little mishap by the lakeshore, he could only figure that she'd received her injection rather recently. Usually people became numb to their looks after awhile.

Awen nodded slowly. "Just this morning...." She gave him another small glance. "And I see you've done a bit of changing yourself, since last we met."

She moved slowly back and forth in the water, easing some of the tension in her muscles. It was surprisingly easy to keep afloat, and hardly required many kicks from her legs. The feet were an added bonus in the water, though they still hurt, but the wings helped relieve the pressure.

Alec sunk down into the water until the surfance was just under his chin, watching her slow movements like she was some fascinating marine creature from a documentary on tv. "Ye." He nodded somberly, twitching a lip at the mention of his 'changes'. A drip of water ran down his face and lingered on the edge of his flattened nose until he sniffed and rubbed it away. "A' won' eatcha, a promise." He laughed, entirely kidding, as a light jab at Emelyn's unwarranted caution. He couldn't even imagine attacking someone anyways.

Figuring she wasn't about to mention her own name offhandedly, he decided to brave the embarassment and ask. "Sorreh I, uh... fohgot ye name?"

Eat? She tiled her head and as Alec moved closer Awen moved back. It wasn't that she was afraid, she just...liked her space. And the way he was watching her kind of freaked her out. Why was he watching her like that anyway?

She turned away from him and started swimming in slow lazy circles. "Awen, it's not really a common name, I don't blame you for not remembering it." She gave him a bright smile. "But hey...eat me? You are a predator then?" She didn't seem very concerned with the whole predator thing. After all, Chubbs, Ambrose and Pyroth were all perfectly good guys, and they were predators.

"Fook if a' know." He mumbled, his reponse possibly lost and inaudible. Remembering his purpose for being there in the first place, the teen went about fooling around in the water by himself, doing a lazy backstroke towards his own end of the lake to give them all some more room.

"Awen, kay won' fohget next time." He smiled up at the sky, answering loud enough for her to hear. "An' a' d'neh, a' figeh'd a'd let ye know in case ma teeth freak ye ou'." Chuckling, he lolled in the water and squinted up at the overcast sky.

"Teeth?" She asked and swam a little closer. She hadn't noticed the teeth at all, being more concerned with herself and looking foolish and horrid at the time. "I've been around Ambrose and Jamal and Joli and everyone long enough, teeth don't really scare me." She giggled a little bit.

She shrugged and flipped to her back, with a small grin she kicked a foot and splashed at the teen before her.

Alec wiggled his shoulder as he thought about the people she mentioned. Ambrose? Jamal? and Joli, the girl from teh caf. Yea, big teeth alright. "Ye, dees fings." He mumbled disjointedly as he shifted his floating mass to the side to point at the jagged protrusions. Maybe he was wrong, maybe they weren't that disturbing to some people.

Before he could realize that he'd opened himself up for attack, a splash of water hit him straight in the face. "Aye!" He laughed and sputtered, sinking down to upright himself quickly to retaliate with a splash of his own back at her.

"Gotcha!" Her eyes widened and she turned her face away as the splash came back to her. She splashed at Alec again, forgetting whatever they were talking about. She pushed herself a little away from Alec, maybe a little further than she meant to. The new fins making movement incredibly easy.

"Ah haha! Can't splash this fish!" She laughed.

Alec successfully evaded the counter-attack by dunking his head underwater, coming to the surface only to see Awen much farther away than he had anticipated. "Eeey... cheateh." He laughed despite his disadvantage, figuring she'd be able to swim faster than him an account of her 'features'. Although he knew it was futile, he continued the game and swam after her until he was just close enough to attempt another splash.

"Ey... where d'ye sleep?" He asked when the question came to mind, leaning back as he waded and waited for a retort.

She didn't bother dodging the second splash, figuring she'd let him get the shot in. She would, after all, win this game if ever they really compeated. She was about to splash again when he asked the sort of odd question.

She chuckled softly. "In my duplex, like everyone else."

"Oh." He answered naively, the question having been of honest curiousity. Indicative of somesort of immaturity, random questions weren't uncommon from him and he didn't understand why people made such a fuss most of the time about being nosey. Content with the answer, he smirked and swam past Awen towards shore.

Reaching a downed tree that was now split and laying half-submerged, the teen lifted himself out of the water and took a seat quietly.

"I might end up changing duplexes soon though..." She followed Alec towards the shore, but stayed in the deeper water. She honestly didn't mind him asking the question, it seemed silly but in a way it made sense. If Awen saw someone who looked like her she would probably ask where the person slept too.

"Sabin says there are duplexes that are mostly underwater... I might be more comfortable in one of those. Instead of just having a large tank where the bed is...."

Alec shuddered but tried his best to keep his reaction from being visible. Her idea of a half-submerged duplex brought out memories of the horrible nightmare he had, though the experience was fuzzy, the details lost to him now.

"Sabin?" He chirped back, raising a brow before moving on. Probably just someone else he hadn't met yet. "Well... if ye need i'..." The teen trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. He almost felt bad for asking in the first place, but his insatiable curiousity caused him to often wind up in awkward situations like that. "C'nt be tha' bad?"

"Oh um... Sabin's just one of the lab techs..." She glanced away. She hadn't really seen his shudder, not being the observant person today.

"Ah well, it's really not a bad thing. I don't mind moving, not much to pack up and everything!" She shook her head. "But before I had the tank, I got really hot and itchy and uncomfortable in a real bed. I ended up sleeping in the tub after the power came back. They installed a big tank-like bed when I almost drowned in the ocean... I am starting not to like the air as much. The lake feels the best, and the tank feels a little..too small. But I like staying in the duplexes still, and i don't want to have to deal with Billy out in the lake, you know? So.. moving to one of those rooms would be a good thing, right?"

He twitched his head to look around the lake, frowning inwardly as she spoke. Billy? Lake? Oh great, not another weird islander to drive him away from a spot he was actually starting to like. "Soun's ekay." Alec turned his attention back to Awen and nodded politely. "Am no' envious o' ye, thas f' sho. No offense."

He rose from his spot and stood awkwardly on the fallen log though since his balance wasn't exactly the best. In fact, he had to skip across the small surface towards the muddy bank before his foot could land in the water. Of course, he tried to mask his clumsilness in the process. "Goo' luck wi' tha' though, d'ye need 'elp gettin back to ye... ye duplex there?"

"Ah well... if I was in your position I wouldn't be envious of me either. Didn't like the idea much myself before but...you get used to things here." She replied.

The manta started laughing when he skipped across to the shore. She shook her head a little. The poor boy, clumsy with wires, clumsy with water.

She stopped when he asked about getting help back to her duplex. She looked back in the direction of her home and frowned. "Hm... maybe..." The purple eyes turned back to Alec as a small smile came to her features. "Actually, I think I'm going to stay here awhile. Rest my sores from the change in the water. To be honest I'd probably need help back, but no sense waiting around for me!" She laughed and shook her head. "I'll manage, I got myself here after all, right?"

Alec smirked as he remembered her grand entrance but chose not to bring it up. No use reminding her of her bad situation any more than what was already on her mind. "Alrigh' suit yeself." He chuckled, giving a short wave before stooping down to gather his shirt again. "See ye! Tay' care."

Glancing back over his shoulder once more, he continued on back to his duplex by following the river.

Awen waved from the water when he glanced back over his shoulder that last time. "You too Alec, take care of yourself!"

She smiled and dove under the water to swim to the depts of the lake. She chuckled silently to herself. That Alec seemed like a nice kid anyway, always trying to be nice and such. It really was refreshing to see that sometimes...

But she wondered what he was turning into. He had really strange skin colourations. Grey and brown? And his nose... and those teeth. What a strange combination...  

[Awen Zyn]

Secrets, tinfoil hats and more research

Amaya didn't normally go to the beach unless it was to bask. Or to the river or lake since she didn't normally see a point. Afterall, just taking a shower reminded her of how she looked.

But somehow, the urge to take a swim in such weather had built up enough that she actually decided to go ahead and do it. Wasn't like anyone would have to see her. So after putting on her black swimsuit and then a shirt and a skirt over that, she headed towards the lake.

Once she was there she looked down at the water and frowned at what stared up at her from the surface. But... oh well. She was here.

After looking around quiet a few times she finally quickly stripped down to her swimsuit and plunged in. It amazed her how easy swimming was now... Her form moved from side to side, much like an aligator would. Her tail did most of the thrusting while her limbs stayed at her sides. It felt like she could hold her breath a little longer too.

After a nice dunk she slowly popped her head back above the surface and let out a sigh. The water felt pretty good, her strong tail allowing her to tred water rather easily along with her large feet.

Awen had been peacefully enjoying her time in the lake. Her transformations had left her still sore, but in the water without the pressures and tense feeling to attempting to stay upright all the time, she was able to drift and let the water guide her. She was slowly recovering from the sores, but, she suspected, it was quicker than most got over it.

Her eyes had been closed as she rested in some niche under the water, below a sunken log, when she felt it. A strange movement in the water, it was something large and awkward, nothing that was normally apart of her domain. She looked up as the shadow passed over her and blocked out part of the sun. it took a moment to realise who it was above all that splashing and swishing.

Awen grinned and pushed off from her resting place. She swam a slow circle upwards before breaking the surface a ways infront of her reptilian friend.

"Hey Amaya." She said with a smile. Blinking to get here eyes adjusted to above the water.

"JESUS!" The green iguana's tail lashed behind her, sending her propelling back a few feet from Awen. Though when she realized who it was, she let out a sigh of relife and put a large hand over her heart.

"God... you scared the crap out of me." Why had she been so jumpy lately?

Oh. Well. There was the whole "almost getting eaten" thing. And the whole deal involving Aubrey. Yeah. She had a reason.

The last thing on her mind was the slight change in Awen's facial structure. Everything that had changed mostly was still hidden under the water. "Sorry Awen, been jumpy." Amaya sunk down in the water a little, propelling closer again. "How've you been?"

"No, no, no!" Awen waved one of her hands above the water in protest. "Don't be sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't been to startle you. Just saw you swimming and thought I hadn't seen you," or anyone... "in awhile and thought it would be nice to say hi."

She gave an apologetic grin and then shook her head slowly. "I've been... well. Alright I guess. As much as this place will allow. I mean... changing, being bored out of my mind, scared to death of recent events...the usual?" She managed a light chuckle.

The girl managed a laugh. "Yeah, same here actually." She ducked down, blowing bubbled with her nose for a moment in silence until she looked up at her friend's face again.

"Did you... change again?"

Awne blinked in surprise at the question. Did she really have to ask? Awen wondered briefly if iguanas had good eyesight and if Amaya just couldn't tell.

"Just today...actually..." She nodded and then titled her head slightly. Isn't it obvious? I mean... I nearly gave Alec a heart attack when he first saw me!"

"Oh... sorry. But, not really. Unless you actually really look. Your face is a little rounder and stuff, but I can't see underwater or anything." Amaya's eyesight haden't changed from when she first came on the island, so she didn't have the best eyesight around.

Green eyes then traveled to the water's surface, the blur of Awen's arm-fins and large feet was enough to tell her where most of the changes were. The lizard frowned and looked back up at her. "The third time seems to be one of the worst, I think..." Afterall, that was when she had lost her hair. "You're keeping your hair though, that's good."

Awen seemed slightly confused but also relieved when Amaya mentions her reasoning for not knowing the change. A hand raised from the water and felt her now rounded face. "Really? It's not that much different then...?" She muttered to herself.

She lowered her hand and shook her head a little. "But some good hair does me!" She laughed a little bit. "All it ever does is get more knots and tangles, sleeping in water every night isn't exactly good for your hair, I think." She demonstrated by trying to pull her fingers through her hair and not getting even a centimetre before it getting caught. "Honestly with this rat's nest I wouldn't mind giving it up at this point."

She paused a moment as a dumbfounded look crossed her face. The reason that Amaya would have even mentioned hair dawned on Awen as she quickly glanced up to the top of the scaley girl's head. Instantly she blushed and started to fumble for words. Awen, at least, didn't find the lack of hair to be a bad looking on the girl, and she had forgotten how self conscious Amaya had been about it.

"But, uh, well..er.. You know I'd trade you if we could Amaya?" She tried to give the girl a smile.

Amaya just gave her a sad smile. "Thanks, but I'll let you keep it. Blue clashes with green." Her face twitched a little and she blew more bubbled with her nose, her feet keeping her up out of the water and in one spot.

"But you don't look that bad. You still gave the same eyes." And you're still pretty. Though she refrained from saying such a thing. It was bad enough she probably made Awen feel bad after mentioning her hair. Guilt-tripping = rude and stupid.

It was obvious from her posture, her soft speaking tone, and her expressions no matter how much she tried to look happy; the teen was still having issues.

"I have the same eyes, really? They don't feel the same... or.. see the same as they used to. Everything's kind of blurrier above water now. Brighter too..."

The manta paused a moment and then seemed as if something just clicked into her head.

"Hey! I'm wearing green! It so does not clash! You brat, stabbing at my fashion sense!" She laughed a little bit and shook her head, meaning to lighten the mood a bit.

"They look a little more... Asian, I guess you could say? But they're the same colour." Amaya watched a stick float passed them, though was snapped back to reality at the exclaimation.

"I mean blue hair with scales, not clothing!" She smiled a little and stuck out her large pink tongue.

Awen laughed a little bit and nodded. "OOooh sure! Cover it up now!" She sniffed a few times dramatically. "You know Amaya I can take the hint." She grinned. "I'll just have to order a whole new wardrobe!" She paused and looked Amaya over before taking on a more serious, but still light hearted, tone. "Actually that honestly doesn't sound like a half bad idea anyway... Maybe we could get some catalogs and get some new stuff, jsut the two of us huh?"

Awen thought it might make her feel better at least.

"I mean it's no shopping trip to the mall or anything but.. it's something?"

The reptile blinked, her tail still swaying back and forth in the water to keep her upright. "I dunno... I'm too scared to ask the labs for anything." She bit her bottom lip. "The last thing they gave me was iguana skin shoes... for Christmas."

Amaya shuddered, wondering what it had been like for those poor iguanas that had been produced into footwear. "I've just tried to stay away from the staff. That way I kind of fall off their raidar and they leave me alone..." She fiddled with her claws underwater, watching them through the blur of the surface.

"Oh..." Awen frowned and looked away. She swayed back and forth in the water slowly. The last thing she had gotten from the labs, besides the brand spiffy new injection, was her xbox 360 and bathing suits. How could they give Amaya iguana skin boots for Christmas, yet give Awen a PSP that plays under water?

Why did the staff test some people and tempt others? They were not at all being fair to everyone. It's not like Amaya had tried to start a rally against them or anything! Awen sighed slowly and shook her head angrily.

Then she shook it again defeatedly. "I'm sorry Amaya..."

"It's okay. They haven't bothered me or talked to me since the lockout or anything..." The iguana sounded like she was talking about playground bullies at school or something.

"They don't... bother you, do they?" She asked, concerned.

Awen's eyes snapped back to the scaled girl immediately once she asked the question. "Oh! No, no... Not at all actually."

Maybe the whole Sabin-Aubrey fight from before the incedent wasn't spreading as much as Awen thought it would. Maybe it was simply that Aubrey's near death and the whole investigation thing had drawn people's attentions away? Awen was thankful for all of this...

"That's good. Nice to know they're actually leaving us alone now." Amaya pursed her almost non-existant lips.

"Oh, and I think Zach was the one who hurt Aubrey." She said plainly.

"Really?" Awen seemed genuienly shocked by this. She hadn't seen him...at all since his changes began, as far as she remembers, so she didn't ever catch wind of him being very violent. "I always thought he would end up just hiding in his duplex somewhere with a tin foil hat!"

At that, the girl actually laughed. "Me too, but I don't think he was in the right mind. Because I think right afterwards he attacked me... Chubbs stepped in though, so it's okay. And he appologized. Which is why I don't think he knew exactly what he was doing."

Awen nodded slowly. "I hope he's okay. I mean... they didn't, haven't....done anything to him have they?" The girl remembered what happened to Jamal when he attacked a staff member, or even to Billy who attacked Colche. Both rather...cruel punishments in any case.

"I... don't think so. He seemed pretty shooken up, but that's to be expected." She paused. "Which is surprising, actually. Since she's second in command and all. I would have expected Moreau to kill him..." Amaya frowned.

For a time Awen would have thought that would make sense too, but somethig else had occured to her that was a little more fitting. "Moreau wouldn't kill one of his experiments.... even if it attacked Aubrey. From what I gather he cares more for his work than anything." She shook her head slowly.

"Besides, serums are expensive, and Moreau doesn't like wasting." She mentioned remembering what Sabin had told her of his pets.

"Hm, guess your right... but what about if we're done changing? As far as I know, both of us have only one more to go..." The lizard's expression turned grave. "Will they just kill us then...?"

Awen's eyes widened a little. "There's more?? I thought for sure this was the last time... I mean.." She looked at herself briefly. "How much more manta-ing can they do?"

Then Amaya's question really hit her. A grave look passed her face, if but briefly. She thought it was possible. After all, at the rate new islanders were pouring in... there was not way they'd all fit onto the island if they kept this up. But, she wouldn't reveal those thoughts. She hmmed and hawed a few times then shook her head resolutely. "No way. I'm sure there would still be much data to gain from us after we're done changing. Or maybe they'll decide to see what happens when they make a serum from our DNA and administer it to someone, or something." She shrugged. "There are still possibilities for research once we're done changing...."

More research... Amaya's expression turned even sadder. She would rather be put down then have to go through more poking and proding to see how she ticked.

And if the case was just that, making them a permanent lab rat... maybe just giving it all up was better. Though it all depended on how animalistic she would get. Would she turn into a huge iguana or something? Like Pyroth seemed to be heading towards? If that was the case, then the next change would bound to be the worst.

The teen's expression turned even darker, but she didn't say anything for what seemed like forever.

"Yeah... more research. Well, I better go. I'll see you around, Awen." Forcing a small smile towards the manta girl, she started towards the bank.

Awen winced and watched the iguana start swimming back to shore. Why was it, around Amaya this stupid manta always said the exact wrong thing? She shook her head slowly and was about to turn away when something happened.

The blue haired girl's stomach growled quite loudly and Awen realised she hadn't even eaten yet today. She frowned and glanced back to the village thinking about just how difficult it would be to run to the cafe for a bite.

She swam after Amaya. "Hey one sec..." She tried a really apologetic smile as she watched the iguana. "Um... do you think... you could, um, help me over to the cafeteria? I mean... if you don't want to, or just have someplace else to be I understand. I just... can't really walk very well at all, and my feet..er..fin..things... hurt a lot when I step on them with my weight... I know this isn't a time for asking favours...as I've clearly upset you..but...sorry..."

Amaya blinked at the request, her skirt on. She turned and looked at the manta ray, smiling as well. "It's not your fault, I just seem to get down easily. And sure, I can help you there." She pulled her shirt on, careful of her large hands and claws.

The reptile helped Awen to the cafeteria, but wasn't able to stay with her long. Cold water on scales + AC = frozen iguana. So after helping her out as much as she could, she headed back to her own duplex.  

[Awen Zyn]

Brief meeting with Colche

Awen had been helped into the cafeteria earlier by Amaya. It was hard for her to walk, or at least Awen hadn't quite figured out a good way to do it. They had paused to look at the note on the door on their way in, but this only made the manta more depressed. She always liked good rec games of soccer, but how would be ever participate now? She thanked Amaya at the door and said she could handle it from here. She waved as the iguana went away about her own business.

Now Awen looked at the distance between the food line and the door. How was she ever going to...

Something her parents did a long time ago came back to her minds. She always thought it was funny. When they had gone scubba diving they always put these funny flippers on, then to Awen's amusement, they had to walk backwards until they got to the water. They said it made walking easier.

The manta looked down at her feet and though slightly more fragile they looked like the flippers her parents used. She looked around, and with no one around she supposed it wouldn't be so unreasonable.

Slowly Awen turned herself around and started shuffling backwards towards the food line.

The gentle sound of humming echoed through the door just before Colche opened it with a flick of ehr wrist. She hardly went any where without a song or a tunre on her lips. She did enjoy singing ever so much. Of course the letter ont he door only confused her so she shrugged it off and entered the cafeteria without a moments hesitation.

Awens scent hit her nose then and her face broke in to one of those ever so sweet and cheery grins "Awen!" She puurred though the puurr was swiftly followed by a giggle. Awen looked so funny walking backwards. Padding up to the manta girl Colche walked with a swiftness and grace she had never posessed before she had become this much cheetah, of course, ehr grace was interupted on a sparocdic basis by the cheetah girls natural hyper bounce.

"Not see forever!" She states holding open her furry arms for a hug. Her jet black hair falling over her shoulders and chest, which was eprhaps a good thing as, which was the norm for her, she was waliking around naked. Smiling widely she tilted her head in a cat like fashion, she was rooting through her mind for a nickname for Awen though she couldn't quite think of one. later, she would think up one later.

Awen blinked slowly as the girl had thrown open the doors. She could see it all from her backwards vantage point. She grinned as Colche came forward and shouted her name.

The poor girl looked positively cute standing there with her arms out wide. Though Awen noted the furry girl was naked, as usual, she had stopped finding this a problem. Especially with how much fur had grown, it's not like there was very much not already covered by fur anyway.

The manta very carefully stepped forward so she could give the girl a hug, which was now quite envelopping thanks to the wing-fins of her arms. "Colche! It's good to see you!"

The puurr which eminated from her chest never stopped as Awen hugged her back and those perfectly sweet baby blue eyes grinned happily. She paused only for a moment before speaking again "missed Awen" the girl smiled softly. She missed alot of people these days. There were so many new comers that her family seemed to be dissapearing in the croud and the bustle. Awen was one of those people whom had seemingly vanished from ehr life though perhaps it was because of her changes. She knew someof the islanders didn't like to be seen. it made ehr sad. Still there was never any time to dwell in Colche's oppinion.

With a little giggle she flashed that huge sweet grin once again rows of shiney white fangs glimmered in the sunlight though they had never been used to harm anyone they could perhaps be frighteneing if you didn't know Colche was harmless.

The young girl lifted a hand and proded Awens arms carefully with a sweet little laugh afterwards "Awen bloo" she grins, it didn't seem like she was very phased by this fact just a ltitle facinated "is purty, I likes" she grins it had been quite a while since she had been with Awen her vocabualry had improoved a great deal since then though pretty was still one of ehr favourite and most used words.

The manta girl chuckled softly at the very blunt statement that 'Awen blue'. She smiled dearly down to the cheeta and ruffled her hair. "Thanks Colche. You're nice and warm and fuzzy, which is always good in my books."

She couldn't help but give the girl another tight hug. It had been much too long since she had seen the cheeta. It wasn't that she hadn't liekd the way she looked she'd just been.... secluded. If she wasn't in the lake she was in her room with video games, or at the new arcade, mainly locations she didn't figure Colche would go, now that she thought of it. "Awen missed Colche too." She said before letting go.

"Colche's been good, right?"

Colche grins. She had been very good "uh huh! I gots a learny man!" She giggles, by learny man she meant Josh. He had become her teacher and she was a very willing student. "I learns to reads big books now and writins and speakins" She grins, she had started the journey on her own but with Josh's help she just knew she could speak and read and write just like everyone else could.

She grins broadly her long tail twitching just at the very tip. She wondered did Awen kno about Aubrey? Or Moreau and Aubrey, she couldn't rememebr if she had told Awen so manyt hings so she should probably start at the very top.

"Mommy getting married" she grins slipping past awen to pop a peice of popcorn chicken in ehr mouth which she chewed and swallowed before turning back to awen with a smile "An.." oh wait that one was a secret she wasn't allwoed to tell anyone that Ambrose was proposing to angelina. She coughed and looked around looking for soemthing else to say. Well her otehr peice of important information! She giggles her long black hair falling over her eyes and she whispered in a conspirital fashion "I knows where babies coems from!" She grins her widest grin yet nibbling naother peice of chicken and nodding a very affirmative nod. She knew so many important things in the world, people just had to be informed of them.

Awen saw Colche slip past her to grab the chicken and with Awen's stomach growling she figured it wasn't a half bad idea. She eased her way backwards to the food line and started piling a plate with fish sticks.

Mommy getting married? She was mulling over this statement before her eyes widened. Aubrey!? So the devil had proposed to the woman, had he? Awen held mixed feelings for this news but she smiled at Colche anyway.

Hearing the cheeta fumble with her sentence Awen raised an eyebrow. She knew there was something else Colche was going to say, but didn't. At that pint though it didn't matter, Awen had burst out with a laugh at her final statement. It was said in such a cute and innocent way, and it was so unexpected she couldn't help but laugh.

"You do now do you?" She said still with a grin before her mood suddenly changed. She went cold remembering hearing the news of what Billy had almost done to her. She gave Colche a sideways glanced before grabbing a bottle of water and starting towards a table. "And who...may have told you that Colche?"

Colche giggled piling a cereal bowl full of popcorn chicken and grabbing a slice of chocolate cake she sat at the table accross from awen and giggled "Mommy told" she puurrd smiling in a serene manner. Sheknew wher babies came from, it was just a little confusing, at least some of it. "Ambrose an angelina gunna haves babies then i can see" She grins, it wasn't entirely the truth but they had said maybe and one day which wasn't really soon enough for Colche still she could wait and see what happened when they did.

A part of the, where babies came from, frightened her of course. It didn't need to though, it didnt need to at all she could say no now. she had claws and teeth and she could say no now.

Taking her mind off that part of it she gave awen a gentle smiled ehr tail swaying along the ground the white creamy tip becoming quite dusty.

"Oh! Aubrey told you!" She sagged slightly in relief of that statement. She know it probably wasnt anything like the Billy incedent or she wouldn't have said it so giddily...but Awen stilled worried for the girl.

She went over that in her mind a little. Ambrose and Angelina were going to have kids? Awen wondered how well that would go over with the island, if they could even produce such a thing the way their bodies were mutating, at least on an internal level....

Awen simply let those thoughts slide before giving Colche a big smile. "Soooo who is this "learny man" you spoke of, hm?"

Colche giggles "proffessor" she grins "him Josh." She puurrs looking perhaps more giddy if that was possible though there was a slight look of shyness in those sweet baby blue eyes. "Him noce, learnings good" She whispers her fluffy ears flattening against her head as she played with a strand of her silky black hair.

"I reading charlottes web" she lifted her head from ehr moment of contemplation, thinking about Josh quite often raised questions she just couldn't answer. She giggles though "s'bout a piggy calls Wilbur" she grins she had been reading ever so hard to get through the book and Josh was helping her alot.

"Carlottes web, really?" Awen grinned a little thinking of the old movie she used to watch about the poor pig. "I remember thatr story. I'm really impressed you are rreading that Colche. Good job really!"

Colche smiled, though she obviously suddenly realised that she had only come in to grab a bite "eep!" she got to her feet "lesson awen!" she stated giving an appologetic look she grabbed her bowl of chicken, put it down, hugged awen and grabbed it again along with her chiocolate cake "come see awen" she smiles lightly zipping off out of the cafeteria her tail waving behind her and the odd chicken ball landing on the floor in ehr hurry.

Awen gave the cheeta a brief hug before waching her dash out of the cafeteria. She laughed a little bit and waved. "Have fun at your lesson Colche!"

She shook her head slowly still chuckling to herself. "That girl is just a ball of energy.... I really should see her more often..."

And then she ate alone.  

[Awen Zyn]

Old Friends...

Awen sat under one of the village's artificially planted trees. She had been cooped up in her duplex for the passed day. She had been brooding a lot about what happened with Sabin the other day. She attempted to get in contact with him twice that day but the frenchmen had been 'unavalible' both times.

She decided to go out for some fresh air, and actual air not water for once. She didn't really seem like she was looking at anbything in particular just sort of watching the commings and goings of the islanders.

Hargun found the previous day a bit enlightening, getting to meet someone who didnt seem overly dramatic about the island. Hoping shed be able to enjoy the same kind of meeting again, she set out into the village and looked around curiously, hoping to find someone to talk to. She had nothing better to do now that shed tried the only thing lingering on her mind.

She passed by a bit of shrubbery but something caught her eye not too far off, something blueish and.. almost human?

Awen tilted her head as she saw the orange hair and brown fur started down the path. Now this was a surprise. She gave a bright smile, though she was unsure if the poor bat could actually see it.

"Hello!" She grinned and waved. It had been a long time since she saw Hargun. She tried to remember.... it wasn't at the Halloween Party, was it? Wow... How time flies..

Harg made a jump at the thing talking to her then jogged fowards a bit, squinting her eyes then smiling faintly. "..A..Awen? That you?" she asked, then looked shocked as she noticed Awen's body had changed a whole lot.

"Goodness, its uh.. been quite a while hasnt it? And you look.. VERY different." she admitted, sheepish expression growing across her fuzzy face.

Awen chuckled a little bit. "Yeah been awhile Hargun hun!" She glanced back and put her hand on the tree she was leaning against. She supported herself on the tree as she stood up.

"You, don't seem to have changed a lick since I saw you last though." She shook her head slowly. "Beautiful as always!" For some reason seeing her old friend brought Awen back to a time before all of the drama started. She was very happy to see one of the people she hadn't seen in awhile. "So where the heck have you been hiding anyway?"

Hargun giggled slightly and snorted at the comment she recieved. "Heh.. not THAT beautiful.." she said and scratched at her cheek lightly. "Erm.. Ive been in totally different places. One minute Im in the wild in a cave, then back in my duplex, then in the facilities recovering from a broken arm."

She grumbled a bit when she reminded herself of all the crap she had to go through but didnt make it very obvious she was irked. To cover up any expression that escaped, she grinned at Awen and put her wing.. hands things to her hips. "So how have you been? other than these mondo changes.."

"Ah... you know... this and that. In and out of a relationship, changes, drama with someone on the island.... ooorr... rather... a few people." She shook her head as faces of Antony, Fee, Billy and Cert come instantly to mind at those words. She seemed a little annoyed at bringing up such things as well and just laughed a bit.

"Mostly it's been the changes though... A fish, wouldn't you have guessed! Well...a manta ray anyway...er..are they fish?" She shrugged briefly before continuing. "Anyway, I'm at least thankful that they didn't choose like.. a small weak fish or something... as far as I know mantas aren't really afraid of anything in the water. Not like a small fish, that wouldn't have gotten me anywhere, right?"

"Ah.. people and their relationships." she chuckled. "I preffer not to get in them.. always too emotional. My group of friends is just fine with me." she said and brushed through a strand of her hair, thumb-like claw embarassingly getting stuck for a moment in a knot.

"Yea.. it had to be something full of irony. But heh, manta rays are a lot better than any old fish. Unique too. I guess that would explain the uhm.. attenea things?" she added, blindly pointing to her own face as to where they were on Awen's. "And I guess not fearing anything would mean very very few predators eh?"

Awen blushed a bit at the mention of her attena, prong, horn...face things. She had been hoping they would keep growing from her forhead, but after this last change she knew that wasn't going to happen. And what did Amaya say? There was probably one more after this? Awen still held to the belief that there wasn't much left they could manta about her. Though she doubted that would be enough...

"Um yeah... I think only sharks or...er..something like that. Not many creatures bother taking down a manta, not sure why. Not many natural defences from what I know." She paused and then looked down at herself. "Well you know, no teeth, no claws, no tentacles, no bottle noses or sharp points." She shrugged. "Not that I'm complaining." She chuckled.

"But I wonder why you haven't changed more. I mean... I've changed three times since I saw you last, and you seemed to change much quicker than me at first." She gave a puzzling frown in Hargun's direction. "But I guess I shouldn't mention..might give the docs ideas hm?"

"Heh, least youre not dangerous. Graceful and cool-looking.. that works as the perfect defense." she said and glanced up at the horns sprouting from her head; those were her only defenses despite the very dull and short fangs in her mouth, and claws on her toes; and the horns werent even part of the bat.

"Yea, Im starting to wonder the same.. some islanders have gotten like this then saw a change ages later. But I wouldnt doubt they injected me or already planned my next change while I had that broken arm, so its alright to mention." she said shrugging.

Awen nodded and couldn't help a small smile. Cool and graceful looking? Neat!

"I hope it doesn't come for awhile in any case?" She shook her head and sighed.

She started scratching her arms and looked down noticing her skin was getting awefully cracked. "Damnit.... I really wish this wouldn't happen... Sorry Hargun hun, I don't want to do this but.. I have to run. After this starts itching it starts to burn kind of. So, I should go hydrate myself..." She blushed a little bit listening to herself. Cool looking, graceful and as pained as lips in winter, though Awen doubted that she could get enough lip chap to cover her entire body. Or could she....? Hmm...

Awen turned around and shook her head with a laugh as she started backwards towards the duplexes. "But really... we should see eachother more Hargun, okay?"

Hargun turned her head a little when she saw Awen scratching and frowned sympatheticly. "Argh.. I can imagine that would hurt. I mean youre almost literally a fish outta water. Exscuse the lame pun." she said with an embarassed wince.

"Alright, see you too! Nice getting to talk with you again." she replied, smiling back and wandered off as soon as Awen was out of sight.