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 Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 5:44 pm
 xxxxxA g h a v e a g h McMURPHY
Everybody's story was as short as Vee's. Either there wasn't much to tell, or they all just didn't want to say all that much. Probably the latter. Vee couldn't blame them. What were they supposed to say. 'Yeah, I lived a happy life, then some government jerks came and shot my parents down. Oh yeah, and I was five when that happened.' Great story to tell. Really helped the mood.
Vee felt a flare of anger when Dex shared his story - if it could be called that. For a scary moment, she hated him for not having much to say. For having a good life, no tragedy, no trauma. He was the least affected by the whole situation. Vee was jealous.
Richard spoke next. Like the rest of them, after his parents died, he laid low and tried to be invisible. It also angered Vee that none of them had done anything besides hide. What did they feel when their parents, or their friends died? Obviously not the same way Vee felt.
Vee made a face when Richard directed a question at her. "That, and the fact that my parents were pretty influential 'round these parts, and they were also filthy rich." She stood up and brushed her hands against her thighs. "I've done pretty okay so far. I'm still alive, aren't I?" She looked at the assembled group, almost defiantly. "Those guys killed people. People that we cared about, people we were close to, they killed them in cold blood. If we all did something about it, there would be one less, two less, three less agents that would kill some kid's family. Haven't any of you ever felt like doing something, other than run and hide?"
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 5:48 pm
 Announcement!
I'd like just a few more posts from everybody, and then we'll time-skip to the next morning. Whether your character wants to stay for the night (aside from Bithiah) or head off somewhere else is up to you, but I've planned a bit of action when Vee wakes up the next morning, so please come back while that happens.
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Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 7:54 pm
 Kiacy Khalid Kiacy listened to everyone's story, regardless of how detailed it was or not. When Dex shared his story, Kiacy didn't feel angry, or jealous even. He was lucky, and Kiacy considered herself lucky. She didn't have to go through much emotional pain with never knowing her parents. Yes, when the other kids at the orphange were killed, it affected her, but not some much that she wanted to get revenge, or that she would become depressed. When Vee spoke, Kiacy looked up at her, deep in thought. After a few moments of thinking, she finally responded, "Yes, I agree it was wrong for them to unfairly shoot down children and their families. But I think it's a bit unrational to go out seeking vengance right away. They have more people, guns, and other weapons that could kill you in a heartbeat. Yes I think they deserve to die, but in order to kill them, you have to live long enough to do it. If you still want to charge after them, I wouldn't recomend doing it with no plan, weapons, or backup," Kiacy said, her voice quiet for once. She hated thinking of the people who wanted her dead, but she had to face it eventually, so she better start now.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 6:12 pm
 Bithiah Iseret Bubastis The young woman didn't know how long she'd been traveling through the fields when the sun began to set. Realizing she should probably rest a while, she stopped in the middle of a field and curled up where the corn stalks would hide her if someone came by.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 10:31 am
 Dex could very well say that everyone's story was indeed sad, and the fact that the wolf girl had gone into the state of vengeance was surprising. There was no need for violence, if they killed, they would just as horrible as the government. It was true that sometimes Dex felt a little remorse for the fact that he had no real parents, except for his foster ones of course, but the fact that they were dead did not faze him into thinking he needed revenge. Revenge was stupid, it made people do things they would never normally do and they turn into monsters. Not as if Dex himself was not a monster, what else would someone call people who change into animals?
Life was too short to dwell on other people's deaths, if they did it for everyone, there would not be enough time to live. Dex didn't think the other three would be able to understand that entire thing though, so all he said was,"Life is too short to dwell on the deaths of others.", and it was true, life was too short. People die every day, and just because a few of them are shapeshifters does not mean someone has to go rushing to try and kill government lackies.
The uneaten meat of the rabbit still stood off to the side of Dex's leg; the tubers the horse had brought him the exact same. The talking of death and government made him lose his appetite; so he would probably eat in the morning. Shifting also took a bit of Dex's energy, energy better spared for something else rather than actually eating something he might not even use for the night of resting.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 12:39 pm
 ♞xxxxxxxxxxxRichard Leonard Bayard
History is written on the backs of horses He glared at Vee, angry at her implication that they were all cowards, and also a little ashamed to admit that his parents' deaths hadn't inspired him to the same fiery passion for vengeance that she had. They hadn't been paragons of advice and support, and he hadn't felt much of anything when he discovered that they died other than vague regret. To hide it, he growled back, "It's people like you that get us into even deeper s**t with them. Shifters only prove they're a threat when they go and hunt down agents and make it impossible for the rest of us to live peacefully."
But didn't the government start it? said a little, nagging voice inside his head. Richard didn't know much about the history of shifters in this country. It didn't help that there was a lot of censorship going on and everything was edited to make the government look good. He hadn't ever met any other shifters besides his parents until now, either. To be honest, he hadn't ever given a thought to others like him.
Have I just been like my horse and focusing only on surviving to tomorrow?
He looked at Vee again and mumbled, "Sorry, that was out of line."
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 8:24 pm
xxxxxA g h a v e a g h McMURPHY
Vee waited, almost triumphantly, as the others processed her words. She knew, because they didn't try to blurt out something stupid to preserve their dignity after her accusation that they only thought about themselves, that none of them were a bit dim-witted. It was no wonder that they had all managed to stay alive. They thought well, Vee deduced, and thought quickly. She always enjoyed people who could analyze and think past their first conclusion. If they were to band together, they would be a force to be reckoned with.
Kiacy was first to speak after Vee. Her tone was soft, thoughtful, a tone that seemed irregular for Kiacy. It didn't seem like the girl agreed or disagreed with Vee, the way she phrased it. What she said almost drew a contemptuous scoff from Vee, but she held it back. Quickly after Kiacy spoke, Dex voiced his own opinion, again in that same roundabout tone that Kiacy used. His words seemed almost prophetical. Vee whirled on Dex, narrowing her eyes. "Unless those had who died were worth dwelling on. To just accept the fact that they were killed unjustly, and that we ourselves will soon be killed, is no life at all. What's the point of life if we don't fight for it?" she said. She owed her parents everything, protected her until their very last breath, and he was telling her to get over it?
Richard snapped at her next, making Vee flinch at his words. What he said made her think, though, instead of blurting out something stupid. Did her actions really put the other Shifters in greater danger? Most likely, if she thought about it. But there was nothing else to be done. The thought of just... just sitting there and waiting for the government to come to her was revolting.
She looked back to Richard, prepared with a comeback, and he looked back at her, only differently. He paused for a moment, then mumbled an apology. Vee sagged, biting her lip. It wasn't their fault that they didn't think the way she did. "I as well," she said simply.
Vee sighed and paced back and forth for just a few minutes. She had nothing she wanted to ask them - at least, not for the moment. She looked to the sky. The sun had nearly disappeared below the horizon, and the moon was rising high into the sky. Usually, by this time, Vee had found a place to hide for the night, or set up a little camouflaged shelter, if she was in rural countryside. She turned to the other Shifters, gazing at them each. They were all so different, only tied together by one enemy. Even though she barely knew them, she would be sad if they were killed.
"Sun's nearly gone," Vee said. "I don't know if this is the time where you usually move to a new place, but if it isn't, you're welcome to stay the night here. I haven't seen any agents around here yet, so it should be pretty safe. But if you're going..." Vee paused, flicking her tongue over her lips. "Then... good luck."
Vee turned to her pack, taking out a light blanket. She quickly scaled the tree behind her, up to a spot where the branches almost made a nest from where it broke away from the tree. She'd always been a light sleeper, but nowadays, she slept lighter than ever. Using the light blanket, she bunched it up and put it under her, to soften up the rough, scratchy bark of the tree.
As she was about to drift off, Kiacy's words echoed in her mind: "... in order to kill them, you have to live long enough to do it. If you still want to charge after them, I wouldn't recommend doing it with no plan, weapons, or backup,"
That got her thinking. Thinking up something good, very good. Yes, she still wanted to charge after them. She definitely wanted to charged after them. And who said she had no plan, no weapons, no backup?
It was a while before she finally went to sleep.
[[ooc: Time-skip on my next post. [: ]]
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 4:38 pm
Kiacy Khalid Kiacy sat there, quietly listening to the other's views on what Vee had to say. Kiacy for once in her life didn't give a smart retort to everything people where saying, the talking about other peoples deaths were starting to bring downn Kiacy's mood. She sighed, she had known it wouldn't last long until they started arguing. Kiacy heard Richard mumble an apology, and from what she had gathered from the small amount of time with him, it seemed slightly out of his personality. Then again, hadn't Kiacy been acting different when she spoke about death? Kiacy guessed that it was a sensitive topic for some people, so they were getting a bit snippy with each other.
When Kiacy heard Vee talk about leaving, Kiacy frowned, thinking hard. Should she leave and continue with running and hiding, or should she try for once to work with someone else. Kiacy sighed silently as she stood up. "Well, I don't think I'll be hanging around too close, but I'm not completely leaving. Yet," Kiacy said, turning away. She still had to think abou if she was going to hang around them. When Kiacy started walking, she called over her shoulder, "Good luck on surviving the night," She didn't say it near as caring as Vee had, she said it much more sarcastically, like she said most things. When Kiacy was farther away, she couldn't help but think, "I don't want them to die tonight. Maybe not anytime soon," Kiacy frowned, she wasn't used to actually not wanting someone to die. This was more than likely her first time actually somewhat caring about those people. Kiacy stopped in her tacks and sighed. She couldn't leave just yet, she at least wanted to make sure that they didn't get killed tonight. Kiacy quickly climbed up a nearby tree until she was far enough up in the branches so she could see them. She shifted into an ocelot, lied down on the branch, and closed her eyes.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 9:54 am
♞xxxxxxxxxxxRichard Leonard Bayard
History is written on the backs of horses Richard stayed awake as the girls went to sleep. Once they were in their trees, he stood and shifted into his horse form. He would stand and doze, but stay alert for any hint of danger. He heaved a sigh and let his head droop, locking his legs into position.
He considered things from Vee's position as he dozed, and tried to understand her reasons for being so reckless. The easiest to understand was the desire for revenge. While he didn't feel much of anything about his parents being dead, he'd read enough stories about people who loved and were loved by their parents to know that his case wasn't the norm. He supposed that if his parents had been less cowardly and more supportive back when he was still figuring all this shifter stuff out, he would have been more affected by their deaths.
The next was hatred for the government and its arrogance. Vee had mentioned that her parents had been powerful in this area and yet had been killed by the government because they'd been shifters. Having been given that interesting little tidbit, he wanted to go to the nearest library and see just how much of that incident had been censored in newspapers. The more visible people were, the harder it was to silently do away with them.
Had things always been this way? Had the government always been so controlling? Whenever Richard went to libraries, he generally stuck to reading about plants and survival skills and the proper care of horses, with some fiction thrown in for fun. He'd never considered studying more history or anything like that. Maybe that was a mistake.
He turned his mind to imagining what his future would be like if things stayed the way they were now. In his head, he saw himself moving from town to town, haunting libraries and working temporary jobs until one day, he simply dropped dead on the road. That, or somehow, agents found him and killed him. There were no friends to mourn his death or remember him, no family to carry on his legacy, not even a grave marker to show that he'd once existed.
Is it really worth living if I'm just going to be a waste of space my whole life?
This question bothered him deeply. Back when he'd been with his parents, their constant admonishments to stay average had chafed something fierce. He'd wanted to be better at doing things than his peers, no matter if it was sports or academics. Now that he'd been alone, that desire had simply disappeared. He'd focused on simply surviving from one day to the next and had stopped thinking about leaving something behind when he was gone.
Something clicked into place just then. The only reason I am forced to act this way is because the government suppresses the shifters so much. What would I do if I knew that I was safe from them?
Throughout the whole night, he pondered this, unable to find an answer.
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Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 1:54 pm
As the other three shifters turned in for the night, Dex himself simply stayed in the same position, although him being crouched again could prevent blood circulation, so he sat down in the grass. It was a comfy spot among any in the wild, never having to do this until now and the few months that Dex had been away from home. If he shifted into a fox, he would be able to hear anything in the night, and he would probably never sleep, but if he stayed in this form, he wouldn't be able to tell if noise were to occur.
Dex rarely slept as it was; sleep deprivation had no effect on him whatsoever. He knew this, and yet he felt himself dozing after a few hours of complete silence.
Dex seldom ever thought about death. Why waste time on the dead when they could spend more time worrying for the living. The people who are dead are dead, you cannot change that factor about them. They will never get them back, and certaining not by thinking about them and pondering over what could have been done differently. This was why Dex did not like wasting his time dwelling on the deaths of others.
The wolf girl had had a good point in saying that sometimes there are people who are close to them that die, but they are still dead. She should get over it, there is nothing she could ever do to change the past. Whoever was close to her had died, and they are never coming back. She can probably kill some government officials, and then what? It's just more death; life is too short.
His adoptive parents said that Dex had nearly no emotions, it was a simple task of just not caring. If he worried about things too much, it would just make him a sitting duck, and he definetely did not want that.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 8:25 pm
xxxxxA g h a v e a g h McMURPHY
It was barely morning when Vee woke up, starting a little from her perch in the tree. She didn't know what woke her; perhaps some feeling, some survival instinct that was trying to warn her. Either way, she'd learned long ago that it was always wise to trust her instinct, so now she listened intently, barely moving, barely breathing.
Snap. She didn't have to listen hard. Whoever was creeping around nearby obviously wasn't trained in the art of stealth. Vee looked beside and below her for the three Shifters she'd met yesterday. Yes, they were there, snoozing in their spots. They hadn't heard the noise. She didn't know why, but the sight of them, and the fact that they decided not to leave on her, brought a smile to her face.
Vee heard some soft murmurs. They would've been too low for average humans to hear, but Vee shared the sharp hearing of a wolf. She heard them clearly, and when she recognized who they were, her smile disappeared and her face paled.
"You sure you saw a Shapeshifter come by this way?"
"Unless wolves with white fur normally go 'round these woods. Dumb-*ss."
"I just wanted to confirm. No need to get catty."
"You try being out on the f**king road, and not be able to sleep in a real bed for days because your f**king orders say you can't."
"I have. The rewards are substantial, I promise you."
"I wouldn't give a s**t about these b*****ds if they weren't, dumb-*ss." The sound of somebody hacking and spitting, then, "Split up, and search the area."
Vee was sure she'd killed the agents who murdered her parents long ago. But for some odd reason, one of the voices, not the ragged one that was constantly cursing, sounded oddly similar to one of the many agents who had been there that awful day. It pained her to hear how... nonchalant those men sounded. Like killing Shifters was the most normal thing to do. Like killing an ant, or a spider, or a fly. Were the agents who'd killed her parents as unfeeling as them?
Probably, Vee thought, answering her own question. And with that answer, rage boiled up inside her. She threw her blanket to the side and began to shift, right there on the branch. A pure white glow surrounded her form, brightening the soft glow that came with the rising dawn. Of course her transformation drew the attention of the two agents on the ground below. It was like a neon sign from Las Vegas appeared above their heads. However, instead of raising their guns to shoot, they simply stood there, watching Vee transform.
The glow disappeared, and in its place, Vee, in the form of a large Arctic wolf, stood. Vee let a large, rage-filled roar erupt from her throat and leaped down towards one of the agents. She touched the ground at the same time the blanket she'd cast away did. She knocked the agent onto his back, his head snapping back from the force, exposing his neck as it did so. Vee took the opportunity and, with a snarl, tore the man's throat open. Blood spurted, dirtying Vee's white coat, as if roses had bloomed on clouds.
"Oh God!" someone cried.
Vee looked up and stared levelly at the other agent nearby. His limbs were shaking, she could see. Slowly, she raised a paw and licked off the blood of the other agent. Finally, the man seemed to regain his mind and he raised his gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet landed an inch from her foot, and she recoiled from it, baring her teeth. She snarled once more, and then started to charge towards the remaining agent.
As she did, though, she got that strange feeling again, some instinct that was telling her to stop and duck. She did, and the moment she did so, a bullet whizzed over her head, grazing her back. She snarled in the direction the bullet came from, and when she looked, she saw two agents with automatic guns advancing towards her. Behind them, a bit further away, she saw one more. Four against one. The odds weren't all that great, but she wasn't daunted. She'd survived a battle like this before. But then again, she had been running from them then, not attacking them head-on.
The wolf's instinct told her that it was a hopeless fight, that the best thing, the only thing to do was run. The instinct was strong, and for a second, Vee considered running right then and there. Just for a second. No, she wasn't going to back down. If she was going to die, then she'd rather die fighting. And she would die helping the other Shifters escape. She knew they probably wouldn't do so good in a battle, especially one so heated as this. She knew that even if their animal side knew how to fight, their human side probably protested against it. They wouldn't partake in the fighting. Only Richard seemed likely to try and help, but she wouldn't bet on it.
Vee charged for the nearest agent, and tackled him to the ground, slashing the gun from his hands. She leaped back, turning to face the oncoming agents, and with another growl, she charged again, tackling and biting and then leaping back nimbly and quickly, never staying in one place for too long, so they would have to keep adjusting their aim. The tactic wore her down, though. She wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 8:39 pm
Bithiah Iseret Bubastis The screaming yowl of an attacking leopard rang through the air as the giant, spotted cat leapt from the trees and joined the fight, tackling an agent and easily snapping his neck with her paw, then whirling and swiping another agent's gun from his hands. The leopard had been traveling all day, led by her instincts, and when she heard the gunshots, she'd known she needed to aid whoever was being shot at. Like the white wolf, she didn't stay in one place too long, and the shadows from the trees made it just that much harder for the government agents to get a clear shot at her.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 4:17 pm
Kiacy Khalid Kiacy awoke to the raucous sound of a gunshot that seemed to ring through the forest. Kiacy gripped the tree branch with her claws, terrified. When she heard a human scream, she knew that one of them had lived. Kiacy looked in the direction of where the others had slept, she saw a dead human on the ground, and a white wolf jumping around, dodging bullets. Soon, another animal lept into the fight, one that was not there before. Kiacy lept from tree to tree, still an ocelot, trying to reach the sight of the fight. "The second I decided to care about someone's life," Kiacy thought bitterly as she kept going from tree to tree, balancing on thin branches.
Soon, she was directly above where they were. Without giving much thought, Kiacy lept out of the tree and onto a man, who was currently freaking out. Kiacy dug her claws into the mans chest and fastened her teeth into his throat, killing him quickly. Only when she tasted the tangy taste of blood, did she fully realize what she had just done. "I'll take care of that later," Kiacy thought, shaking her head. She lept off of the man's now dead body and turned to face the men currently aiming their guns at her. She was well aware that an ocelot wasn't very big, but not extremely small. The moment she saw their hands tense on the trigger, she dashed forward out of the guns range, feeling the bullet nick the end of her tail. She bit into the persons leg, hard. She felt him crumple to the ground in pain, then Kiacy shot out her paw, drawing her claws against his throat. She whirled around, preparing herself for more bullets. She stayed to the same tactic, staying still and letting them aim, then jumping out at the last second so they couldn't aim again.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 4:43 pm
The ringing of a gun shot snapped Dex out of a deep sleep. If something as loud as that had not have sounded, he would not have been able to awake. That was solely the reason he did not sleep much, he would not wake up until his body was fully rested, or some loud obnoxious noise woke him; only a slight noise to be heard with his deaf ears.
Only to see a flash of white here and there, there was no indication there was anything going on, but since he could not hear anything besides gun shots, he knew there was a fight. Some of the other shifters would probably think he would not fight, that he did not know how. They were right; for the most part. He did not want to fight, but he could if he must. He was bullied sometimes when he was small, and had learned to fight them off so they would not harm him. Dex would need to be in fox form though, to be able to see and hear clearly.
A slight green glow animated from his center, and soon there was not a shivering man, but a fox, beaming and slightly shocked at hearing everything that was to be heard. Yelps of pain and snarling all around, and particularly from the leopard that had mysteriously showed to fight.
Dex could not begin to fathom how he was supposed to kill these people, he was following animal instincts, the things he desperately clung to in this last few months of no civilization. He was not as big as the other shifters, but he was fast. After years of reading movements, he could tell just when the men were about to fire their guns, with the slight gesture of their finger, and where exactly they were aiming at. When one was targeting a shifter with their backs turned, Dex struck at their blind spot, only snapping their achilles tendon to prevent them moving anymore. The other shifters could handle the killing.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 5:26 pm
Bithiah Iseret Bubastis The fox's act of snapping the man's achilles tendon made his leg collapse under his weight and his shot fire into the sky instead of the leopard's back where it had been aimed. The leopard whirled and swiped at the agent, raking her claws deep across his chest. The man wouldn't last very long without aid, but she didn't care. She was close to giving in to the red mist that clouded her vision. The bloodlust of a leopard fighting for its life.
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