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 Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:48 pm
Complications _________________________________________________//
The pain wouldn't stop until the buzz knocked Annie unconscious. The guards would have gathered her quickly, taking her up into the labs for evaluation.
She would wake up some indeterminate time later in a hospital bed... in a large grey room that you guessed was a large lab, or hosital. If you listened carefully, the beeps of other hospital equiptment could be heard over the rythmic sounds of your own. Privacey curtains, however, blocked your in in your little space.
IVs would be strapped to your arms, and the pain would be considerably less than it was. Most likely drug induced, however, for the queasiness is still there and your head feels muzzy.
A man with short black hair, glasses, and an Asian complextion sits next to your bed, pouring over some notes, scribbing notes and corrections with a blue pencil over charts, graphs, and readouts.
Upon noticing your consciousness, the man calmly gathers his materials into a folder and files it away in a bag. He stands up, grabs your chart from the end of the bed, and walks by you. "Miss Anderson, can you hear me?"
Angharad just stared at him for a while, before remembering to nod dazedly. Her body ached interminably, but it was a far-away throb, not the screaming of before. Where was she? Up in the lab? A test subject ? A whimper escaped her throat, and her ears flattened slightly. Wait....
The whimper cut off abruptly, and she stared straight up at the ceiling, not wanting to look at him, or the tubes, or the hospital equipment. She didn't want to think about it, not just yet....
The technition tapped his pencil against her chart with an air of annoyance. But patience was needed and he simply forced a smile. "Miss Anderson, I need you to answer a few questions for me if you can. We're trying to make you better."
She turned her head slightly to look at him, her eyes unhappy and her voice a little rasping having not been used for a while.
"Wait, I thought you made me this way in the first place? How are you making me better?"
But for all her halfhearted sarcasm, the fact that the pain was reduced had not gone unnoticed. The real, tearing problem was the fact that she hadn't eaten. For what seemed like days. She closed her aching mouth in another obstinate attempt at protest, though fuzzily she wondered why.
"We're concerned about your body's reaction to serum. You're using an experimental version, and your levels have us concerned. But we're trying to fix it, so stay calm. What's the last thing you remember?"
The urge was to pout, and say 'not telling', like a whining child. This was her dream, shouldn't she be able to run it at least a little? But the technician's question made her wonder herself. How had she woken up here? She remembered stumbling between the empty buildings, trying to walk on her changed limbs, hating the feeling of closeness that the walls gave...... it had been oppressive, and she wanted to scream, but she had done too much of that already. The pain hadn't felt like it was going to stop any time soon...
"Village." Came the word at last from her mouth, though she refused to look at him, wondering if she had the strength to get up, to flee somehow.... she wasn't a helpless rabbit in a cage. But she felt so... distant, from everything.... it must be the drugs, she felt, even the touch of bitterness in her mind dulled.
The labtech's mouth pulled down into a disappointed frown at the vague answer. "Miss Anderson, we are attempting to help you here, and any information that you can provide to us will assist that. If you wish to be difficult, than it will only hamper our ability to fix your pain."
He took a breath, readying the notepad as there was movement at the corners of her eyes as others checked on her vitals and do other things that were difficult for her to grasp at the moment. "Where does it hurt? How does it feel?"
Her mood suddenly swung again, and she wondered if she could stomach playing the good little test subject, though her eyes flickered to try and assess everything that was around her, a strange sort of panic at not being in control of the situation creeping in. But she would answer. Just like that announcement had said..... maybe it was all a way of bringing the story to a close?
"I feel sick..... and my legs... they hurt the worst." She wouldn't look at him, her voice still a little raspy.
The technician nodded quickly, ensuing a furious scribbling in his notebook as his eyes traveled over her legs analytically.
There was some murmuring that managed to stay at the far edge of the cusp of Angharad's awareness, even with her new sense of hearing, the woozy feeling left her disoriented - and it was far too easy to concentrate on the blips of the moniters that conveyed no complex meaning to her other than the rhythmic sound itself.
Eventually he turned his attention back to her, his face creased with perplexity and frustration. "We are going to need to moniter you for a time, Miss Anderson. Watch your vitals and try to ease you into this transformation. There apparently have been some complications."
"Com... pl'cations? You mean not everyone else hurt like this?" Her stomach twisted again, and she firmly pushed thoughts of food away. No food. Not what she was thinking.
"Wait... does Fiona... know 'm here?"
"Everyone experiences the pain of the change, however not necessarily so.... acutely." His voice dropped off to one of concentration as he pored over her charts again.
"We have you on a heavy morphine drip at the moment, but I am afraid that more tests are in order."
"Miss Brooks is not yet aware, but I can have a notice sent."
"Send the notice." Her voice was a bit more forceful, though it petered away, her thoughts and emotions still dulled.
"Hang on.... tests?" Annie didn't like the sound of that. One bit. And she didn't really like this self-effacing little technician either.
The technician nodded curtly, and adjusted some of the tubes feeding into her, and Angharad began to feel her consciousness drift - the pain becoming more of an afterthought.
"We'll see that she is informed." Was the last thing that she heard before drifting to dreamland.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:22 am
Freedom, of a kind? _________________________________________________//
Nicholas Moreau walked towards the holding room that they had kept Angrahad in since her instability had began. Testing the faster serums was, to say the least taxing. She had been one of the hardest to stabalize, but one which Moreau had made sure was at the top of priority for success. The faster serums gave Moreau promise of more applications for his serums.
He'd made sure to make this one of his personal projects, and had been sure to take care of her needs himself. He didn't want anyone else botching it up. He was also curious about the loyalty effects of canines lately. It seemed like a decent way to test it.
Now if only it was airborn...
Moreau stopped in front of the holding room, and touched a pad on it. He spoke clearly as a panel on the door lit up. "Unlock, Nicholas Moreau, access code 954612." the door opened and waiting inside was the girl.
"Ms. Anderson, the serum has been stabalized, your free to go." Moreau nodded to the two guards that had walked behind him. Making sure she wasn't prone to doing anything stupid. "These men will show you out."
Angharad had been sitting on the edge of her bed, resisting the urge to pace around the walls of the room as had been her habit recently. Running nervous, oddly changed hands over and over each other in her lap, she wasn't quite sure what she was waiting for; she knew without glancing at the clock that it was nearly 11 in the morning. When he normally came to visit.
So she sat, and waited, and hated that she was waiting. Why? He was the Doctor. The one who ran all those labs, who had come up with this insane idea of testing, who had put her and Fee on this damn island. His very existance was damning. But her ears pricked slightly, as much as they could, when she heard footsteps in the corridor outside, and she stared at the door almost eagerly without realising it, the thoughts in her head pushed aside for a moment.
She dipped her head swiftly to look at the floor, and not his face, as the Doctor came in, but as his words sank in she slowly raised her head, green-yellow eyes wide.
"I... I can go? Go back to the village?"
Ever since she had been well enough to walk on her terribly painful legs she had somehow hated the confinement of the room. A cage, for her lab rat self... with no-one to break -her- free. But... he had looked after her. And was letting her go, and mixed emotions flickered across her face for a moment, hope-fear-trust-hate-elation-depression, before she realised she was looking directly at him again, and it made her uncomfortable. She twisted her head to the side with an odd smile, but her whole frame was tense with the prospect of freedom.
"Yes," Moreau said nicely noticing the smile. "Your free to return to the village. Your serum is stabalized, your going to be fine now." He grinned, it was obvious she was having a duality of feelings for him. This had Moreau's interest even further peaked.
"I'll walk you out... come on." Moreau said as he turned around and started walking away. He spoke to her almost like a pet.
She was on her feet almost before she knew it, her balance unconcscious now she had finally got used to the oddly bent legs, the stub of a tail involuntarily twitching to thump once against her side; but she stopped still, almost unwillingly, not wanting to seem to eager to jump to his every command. She'd been told it was wolf that her serum consisted of, but dammit, she was not his pet dog! She stiffened, and looked at the floor again, her voice controlled and almost toneless in its effort to not sound either grateful or bitter.
"Tha... thankyou." She held her body stiff, her pace controlled, as she walked over to the door, hanging back a little from him, her eyes when he could see them guarded.
She went through this almost every day for the past few weeks... it was easy to pour her hate, though she wasn't a person prone to agression, at the Doctor, but only when he wasn't there. But more recently, even when he was absent, her usual bitter mental rants where sounding more and more formulaic. Something she was chanting in her head to keep herself on the right track, and she didn't want to think too hard about that, because it led to thoughts and examination of her own personality that she recoiled from, and so pushed away. It was getting easier to live without pouring the deep thoughts and retrospection into everything that she had before, and if she didn't think about it, somehow it might go away.
But if she was returning, she'd see Fee again... what would she - no. Fiona would understand her. Just like always, and she'd help sort her head out. She clung to this thought stubbornly, unaware that as she stopped thinking about it her stance became more relaxed, more complacent, as she stood next to the Doctor. More... submissive.
"On second thought, I'll walk you out and take you back to the village personally." Moreau was now more interested. Enjoying the feeling of dominance but also curious in a scientific sense by her responses to him.
He would have to keep a watchful eye on her in the comming weeks.
Moreau walked Angharad to the elevator, and then from the lobby out to the jeep. "I've kept your duplex in order... and if there is anything you need you can always just buzz me and ask."
He opened the door to let her into the jeep, the guards moving into the back seats.
"I will, thankyou." Her voice was quiet and controlled, and while she was thinking about it, and in the elevator, her whole body language still screamed 'guarded'. She didn't like this man. He'd brought her food every day, enquired after her wellbeing... but no. She hated him. Even being in the small space of the elevator unnerved her, and it took all her willpower to stop herself backing into the corner, keeping the space between them respectful.
As she got into the jeep, sitting awkwardly on the car seat, she stared at his back with almost raw hatred for a moment. But as the man turned an aimiable face back towards her she immediately looked down, her heart jumping up a few levels of speed. She was almost beyong analysing her own reactions to him now. Something strange had happened in her mind, and she couldn't look at it now. So for the moment, she sat obediently in the jeep as it rumbled down the track towards the village, her heightened senses taken up again with the wind on her face and the scent of the damp trees and dirt road and faint salt tang of the sea. A tremble passed over her frame as she realised how much she missed the freedom of the duplexes, even if it was just going from one cage to a bigger one. She looked back excitely at Moreau for a moment before she realised what she was doing, and bitterly looked straight ahead again.
Moreau took the jeep out of the lab gates and towards the village. After only a few minutes they were already pulling into the village.Moreau checked his mobile tracker of the inhabitants of the island. The ones that he was most worried showing up as red dots. After assuring his own safety discreatly he stepped out of the jeep.
He walked around to Angharad's side of the vehicle and opened the door again for her. "Out of the car." It was spoken as more a command than a question, a further test for Moreau. "I will probably be checking in with you from time to time, to make sure that nothing has destabalized."
Angharad's face tightened. Had the man not heard of politeness? She looked slightly askance at him, eyes hard, before looking down again, her betraying legs obediently getting out of the car. Because it was easier to obey than raise a fuss, she told herself guiltily.
She looked around the village, trying to take in hte things she remembered; she'd probably spent about a third or more of her time on the island in that lab (was it really July already?) and so in a way her small room at the labs was as familiar as that duplex she had above Fee's. Fiona... She looked back at the Doctor, focussing her attention on his shoulder as she spoke.
"I'm.. I'm sure I will be fine now, thankyou," and her voice was small and hard still, the hate winning out for the time being. And a small part of her mind perking up at the fact that he would be checking on her..... what? What twisted part of her thought that? She trembled slightly again as she stood, slightly uncertainly, in the centre of the village, gaze still fixed on the pristine white lab coat.
"Good girl... I'm glad to hear that." Moreau smiled and nodded and walked back to the jeep. He then got in and with a last wave to Angharad he drove off. Even as he turned around the smile on his face went from the good intentioned one he'd used around Angharad to a malicious smile.
Things were getting... interesting.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 6:42 am
Rehabilitation _________________________________________________//
Awen/Angharad
Awen finally had gotten used to her new feet and was able to walk forwards,in stead of backwards all the time. She had just gotten back from a nice long swim through the lake and felt like grabbing a bite to eat.
It was slow going as she was passed the various buldings that made up the town on her way to the cafeteria.
Angharad was standing in the doorway to the cafeteria, almost frozen. She'd been standing there for a while, indecision written on her odd face; her clothes were washed out, new clothes from the lab, and her slightly messy hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, as if she hadn't been that bothered with her appearance that morning. She had stayed away from the cafeteria, since she had been dumped almost unceremoniously in the middle of the village, but now her stomach was complaining loudly.
And she knew what she had to eat, had been eating already, but now... she had to make her own decision to do it. Not let the food be brought by him....
As she heard movement a little way off she turned suddenly to fix the approaching creature - person, she corrected herself. People still, remember?
The girl walked forward slowly. It took awhile for Awen to notice that there was somebody standing in the doorway of the cafe. She smiled, though she didn't think she knew the girl. Whoever it was had been there for awhile, at least that much was obvious, so Awen didn't have to worry about her own appearence.
"Hello!" She said with a chiper wave. "Good day, isn't it?"
Angharad continued staring at the girl, ears a little flat to her head. It was... it was Awen? But there was no mistaking the blue mop of hair, despite the changes... Her stance changed from frozen to wary, and she looked at Awen almost challengingly, though her voice was equally as cheerful in reply.
"It's not raining, at least," she conceded. "Long time no see, Awen..."
The purple eyes blinked slowly as the voice caught her ears. Pausing midstep to took several moments for her foot to fall. When it did a rush of realization caught her and the manta hurried the rest of the way towards the other islander.
"Annie?" A bright smile grew across her lips. "You're okay! I knew you would be.... Fee is worried sick! You really should see her, when did ya get bacK? Did they treat you well? Why were you in there anyway? I hope nothing Fee had theorized was true, where you sick? Did you get hurt? A bad reaction to the change?" The blue haired girl simply assulted her aquaintence with questions.
Angharad flinched a little at the onslaught of questions, and took an onvoluntary step backwards without realising it, though a hesitant smile appeared on her oddly shaped mouth.
"It was... a bad reaction to my change, apparently.... I felt bad. Really bad. But wait, Fiona? I haven't found her yet.... but I told them to notify her about what had happened to me!" Her voice climbed half an octave, in half annoyed, hald upset surprise. "Has she really been that worried??"
Awen noticed the step backward and decided she had to tone it down a notch. She just got out of the labs, this probably wasn't going to help her. She took a slow breath and nodded.
"Yeah, worried enough to set aside differences with me for a nice long chat." She gave a slightly embarassed sort of smile. "The labs did tell her what had happened. But you know Fee... she wouldn't believe a word they said. When I found her she was going on about making a bomb and getting you out, something about torture and abduction...." The manta's head swayed slowly back and forth with a slightly sad look then smiled as she looked back up to the islander before her. "Fee really cares about you."
Angharad looked down for a moment, stub of a tail curling round her leg nervously as she took a deep breath, also realising her reaction was far too gabbled. And blinked, a small bitter bark of a laugh suddenly appearing. Fee had taken it over the top, hadn't she. Silly coot. But the thought was affectionate, and she looked back up at Awen.
"We've... known each other a long time," was her only weak reply. Differences? Wait, Fee had never liked Awen, had she? Because she was so averse to escaping...and yet... Angharad closed her eyes with a brief mental tone of unhappiness. She really had been away from all the villagers too long. She felt like she was going to have to build relations all over again...
What was left of the manta's brow furrowed in concern. She reached a hand out and placed it gently on Annie's shoulder. "Are you okay? Still not feeling well?" The tone was very much sincere.
Awen peeked her head over the wolf's shoulder into the cafeteria. "Maybe we should get you a seat. You can take a rest, tell me what you'd like and I can grab it for you. Sound good?" Awen put on her best smile for the poor islander.
Angharad almost flinched away from the touch, distracted enough not to notice that she would never have done it before, but smiled a little ruefully.
"I'm... okay... he said I was fine to go now. I just...I don't know." She snorted a little, before moving into the cafeteria properly. "There's a difference between what I'd like, and what I'm going to have..."
Awen shook her head slightly as she followed Annie into the cafeteria. "Well my diet is pretty much fish actually. But... there's always room for a teeny bit of diviation. Seriously, I couldn't bare the thought about no dessert, or maple syrup! Just have to think like Colche, there's always room for chocolate cake, right?"
Angharad looked askance at Awen, before offering the hesitant smile again. She was being nothing but kind again, she thought, studying the manta girl's cheerful face. Was she really... Annie shook her head sharply. No. When did she start distrusting people on hearsay? And even Fee had had a talk with her? Maybe her viewpoints had changed, or something.
"Colche, Colche... the little cheetah girl, right?" She didn't want to think about the thought of choclate cake, but it made her wonder whether it might be possible for her to a least -try- fruit again... he had never brought any...
Awen nodded as she took a tray and started piling a plate with a few various fish from the kitchen. She made a point to take a few extras; veggies and definately some dessert. She grabbed herself a nice big plate of apple die.
"That's the one. Sometimes you don't know about her, but other times she just comes off as so profound. You know what I mean?" Awen was stilled talking as she went to grab a bottle of water.
"I don't know... I haven't spoken to her very much, to be honest. I just sat and made sandcastles one afternoon with her." Annie smiled, but in reality she struggled to remember it properly. How long had she been in the labs, again? She stared at the plate, and her stomach growled loudly again. She got to her feet unwillingly, and wandered towards the canteen, still easily within hearing of Awen.
"Ah I see... I suppose that happens. Some of the islanders I only met once and never saw again... you for example." She gave a small chuckle as she sat down at a close table. "I'm sure there are islanders I haven't even met. Too many duplexes for me to have met everyone..."
She started chowing down on her meal. "It's like a small town." She mused. "You think you should know everyone... but you never get to meet them all because of this or that, eh?"
Angharad nodded silently, staring at the canteen. It was one thing to eat the only thing that was on offer... but there was salad there, and her ears tilted forward, her mind's memory of the sweet taste overriding the sour taste that appeared in her mouth. She stood silent, mentally struggling; and then took a plate, and took some salad. And some sausages.
It died already, you couldn't save it, the litany started up in her head as always. She'd cried, and refused, and eventually eaten to survive, because he sat by her bed and smiled that odd, cold yet friendly smile until she did eat. The sentiment was something she just had to keep cycling in the back of her mind now. There was nothing else to do...
She brought the plate back, and sat a little awkwardly. "You were here a long time before me, right? You must know many more people than I do...."
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 6:42 am
Instincts _________________________________________________//
Pyroth/Angharad
Angharad picked her way between the tree roots, sweltering in the heat, but nevertheless her face alert. The changed yellow-green eyes darted here and there as she looked around; she hadn't been out exploring much before, but since the confinement of the labs she hated staying in her room. The freedom to prowl was hers now, and she hadn't stayed in the village much at all, except to eat and sleep.
Something strange tickled against her nose, and she stiffened. She still wasn't used to the heightened sense, and she'd smelt nothing but human, human, human... but this had another tang to it, and she couldn't work it out. Curious at the fact that it seemed almost to hang in the air, she stood by a thin tree, hand on the smooth bark, trying to work out from whence it came. Brushing stray, damp hair from her forehead, her eyes narrowed. Something... almost familiar?
Pyroth was back in the jungle again, despite having told himself that he was going to stay in the villiage and be "normal" again. Sleeping in a familiar bed had been nice but after a while something in him felt trapped, rebelled against the acrid scents of cleaning chemicals and cooking food. So after only one full day spent in the village he returned to the jungle, dropping into his familiar half-bipedal half-quadrupedal trot. The smells here were familiar, comforting, even to the coyote who was used to more arid climes.
But there was another scent today, a scent that seemed human but with a hint of something that made his hackles raise and his ears flick back in a worried fashion. Similar to Ambrose's scent in some ways it stood out in his mind in familiar colours.
He wouldn't flee an islander, not ever. Not just because they made the coyote edgy. Moving closer he straightened up slightly, looking even more awkward than usual and called out "Is someone there?"
The last thing he wanted to do was scare the bejeesus out of an innocent sightseer.
Angharad flinched at the noise, eyes darting in the direction from which it came. The.. source of this odd scent? She stood warily, stub of a tail wanting to wrap round one of her legs under the knee length beige skirt, and swallowed.
"Uh... I'm here. Angharad," And she realised even as she said this, peering into the shadows, that whoever it was probably didn't know her name. But it was only polite.... her stance was still guarded, and then suddenly she saw the odd, slightly hunched over person, creature? that stood a little way off. And she stared, because she couldn't help it.
As soon as Pyroth was in veiw of Angharad, Pyroth relaxed somewhat, crossing his arms or at least doing so to the best of his ability. He nodded once before simply stating. "Nice to meet you Angharad, I'm Pyroth." His own tail was not as emotive as that of the more lupine islanders but it set up an appleasing wag anyway. He ignored her stare, not insulted in the least by what was natural on encountering something like him.
Ang herself seemed to be quite a way along in the change, capable of giving body language signals, ones he was rather pleased to be able to read.
"Sorry for giving you a fright there, I just came out here to wander for a bit, didn't want to mortify anyone by charging out of the jungle at them."
"No, it's fine... pleased to meet you, Pyroth," and she straightened up a little, still unsure of him. A canine? But as far on at least as the Ambrose man she and Fee had met, that first week... if not more. It looked as though he was finding it almost difficult to stand straight.... she squeaked slightly as she realised she was still staring, and silently looked slightly to the side, not making eye contact, but smiling a little.
"I haven't been out in the jungle very much... I don't know why, but for some reason I didn't really expect to see anyone..." She confessed, feeling slightly thwarted of her urge to explore by herself, but at the same time glad to meet someone else when she'd not met anyone for a long time.
Pyroth chuckled as she seemed to chide herself for staring. "Look all you want, it still freaks the hell out of me and I've been like this for months. I wouldn't worry too much about ending up like this yourself though, I think there is something far wrong with the injections I've been getting or my reaction to them." he shrugged his shoulders, heading to sit on one of the plethora of broken branches scattered around.
"I come out into the jungle all the time, mainly to hunt but sometimes it's just nice to be able to run and run and actually pretend you are getting somewhere." he smirked "And always expect to see someone out here, there are a few islanders I hear who have started living out here exclusively. I only head out oh.... 5 out of every seven days."
He waved a paw "Sometimes you just get so bored and have to come back to the villiage for entertainment or a proper meal that isn't meat."
Angharad followed him almost cautiously, using an oddly shaped hand to brush her hair from her eyes again, and sat neatly on a stump a little way off. At the mention of meat though she flinched, and took a deep breath, before smiling weakly.
"I ..haven't actually been back at the village that long," and the words came out in a rush. "I should have remembered there'd be people out here." Pyroth, had it been? An odd name... she found herself wondering what he could possibly have looked like before.
Pyroth's grin softened slightly at Ang's almost timid manner, he always forgot how much the island hit you when you arrived, how long it took to stop being as fragile as a china cup. He nodded sympathetically. "Ah, I see. It takes one hell of a lot of getting used to, doesn't it? I've been here almost a year now so it's sunk in more." He eyed her changes for a moment and looked ever so slightly puzzled. "You seem pretty far along transformation-wise, has it been pretty sudden?" If they had been improving the serums then maybe he had some degree of hope, perhaps they could fix the changes he was at, make him more human again.
It was a feeble hope. "But yes, people live out here. Not all of them negative, mind you, just needing their own space for whatever reason."
Angharad twisted her pawhands slightly around in her lap, but laughed a little bitterly. "Sudden? Well... to be honest, I just got out from the labs. They were keeping me there, after I... changed." Her eyes went hard for a moment, but her body language warred between anger and shyness still. "They said they'd given me a fast serum... I've only gone through that transofrmation process once." She spread her hands a little helplessly, and shuddered slightly. "I really don't fancy it again....
/Once/?!
He tried not to look too surprised at this news but as usual his ears gave away what he didn't really want them to, perking almost immediately. It took him a second to actually comment.
"That /is/ fast. Most islanders have changed at least twice over a long period of time before getting to where you are right now. I've changed 4 times so far and have one left to go." he didn't comment on how terrified he was at how extreme this last change could be."
He smirked "It hurts like hell doesn't it?" he flicked his ears back "It would be good if you could see it coming and prepare with painkillers or something but they usually spring it on you when it'd be most inconvenient. Such lovely people." he frowned.
"What was it like at the labs?"
"...Really?"
Angharad looked down again, her voice quiet. "I mean, they told me it was special... it hurt though, a lot. That's why they took me up to the labs. For testing," and the word was spat out with her normal contempt that stemmed from years of campaigning, her frame straightening up again as she looked over at Pyroth.
"And the labs are.... full of doctors. White. Sterile. Perfectly comfortable, but the rooms are... so small..."
"I suppose the good thing about a fast acting serum would be that it'll all be over much quicker, you'll know what your final appearance will be like, no anxiety." he picked up on the agression in her tone in widened his grin ever so slightly "Everyone here hates them. Well..most people anyway, there are a few suck-ups, some lot of good that will do them."
He tilted his head slightly, listening, trying to ignore the horrble fear of being trapped that sprung up in him, apparently he was now somewhat claustraphobic, the feral fear of the trap now very much in evidence in him. "Damn. Bet you are glad you're out, if they shut me in there I'd go nuts. Especially this far in."
"My friend, that I came here with.... she hates them more." Angharad smiled weakly, realising with a pang that she still hadn't managed to find Fiona since she came back. "And I'm glad, oh, I'm glad, that I'm out." She hesitated for a moment. "Do you.... do you think it's part of the serum? I used to be fine, but I couldn't wait to be out of there... they barely let me walk around, once I could walk again." She looked back at him, and then suddenly registered that he had said he still had one more change to go. Still??? He looked so.... she shook her head a little to clear it, and flickered her eyes back again almost defiantly.
Pyroth noted that there was another islander out there he was yet to meet, making note that she might be interested aswell should they ever find a plan that worked to get out of there.
He nodded at her question. "You'd be surprised the things the serum can do to your head, stupid things. For example sleep patterns, mine are /all over/ the place now, sometimes I /really/ want to sleep at night but am not tired and vice versa, the hunting is another thing and just silly reactions like wanting to lick people's faces as a sort of greeting." he put a paw to his head and sighed "Not things to do in normal company. "
Looking back he added "Perfectly feasible that's why you wanted out so badly, even my duplex feels like a prison nowadays."
He shrugged "But I suppose you get used to it like everything else after a while, people learn to ignore it." He laughed and leaned back a bit "Oh yeah, they will be edgy, very edgy. Especially with so many islanders who wouldn't and haven't hesitated to attack them."
"Attack?" Angharad suddenly remembered that announcement that had rung over the island a few days before her transformation. Those days seemed so strange.. she could barely remember what she did, or thought, and she frowned. A little worrying... she'd ask Fee, for sure. "Yes.... I don't think I could, though. " She looked back up at the filtering of sky up above, still finding the heat a little difficult in her almost 'furred' body. The labs had always been air conditioned, and so were the duplexes...
"I'm... glad it's not just me feeling weird, though, and actually something to do with the serum... some off the things it's made me -feel- are worse than how ugly I look now." She made a face.
"Yep, Aubrey got herself almost killed." he looked a little too pleased over that fact, still treating the whole thing as a win for the islanders involved. "It was wild, literally. Not so good for me though, I ended up getting stabbed during it." he grinned apologetically "Don't ask."
Shrugging he added "I'm not a good person to ask about physical appearance, to me you look just fine, though maybe that's because I mainly "see" in scent now, vision is just like an aid to that." He flicked his ears back "You just roll with it if you can, fighting the instincts for me just made things worse"
"Hah.... it's not easy to 'roll with' instincts. Specially not when ...." Her eyes flattened a little, before taking a deep breath, "When you spend most of your school life telling people why they should be vegetarians, if not vegans, because it's so wrong to eat other animals...." She looked unhappy, though as if she firmly believed what she was saying, before going on, "...and these darned 'instincts' mean you.. have to eat meat. How much of a hypocrite I feel now." Angharad sighed, and looked across again. "It's difficult... everything's so different now."
That was a pretty big problem right there. He had been one of the lucky ones, the canine instincts hadn't really gone against any of his basic moral values, but to a vegetarian or worse yet, a vegan, canine instincts were probably very unwelcome indeed. "Ah. I can't see where that would be a huge problem. You can't generally tell animals it's not okay to eat other animals though, that's what it's like trying to tell those instincts what not to do. I deal with it as just thinking of their being another me, "the coyote" anything out of turn I do that I would never have done before I attribute to that." he shrugged
"Maybe if you ever do find yourself doing things like that just attribute it to the animal? Like a pet or something that lives in your head." He fell quiet for a bit before laughing at the absurdity of that comment. "Wow, this island makes you think like a crazy person if you let it."
He gave her a tailwag "Nah, you aren't a hypocrite, what you said then was appropriate for where you were at the time, there's no need to regret those words."
Angharad blinked. That made a lot of sense... her brain almost seized on the fact, the way she could somehow prove to herself that it wasn't her wanting to do all those things, that it was the wolf that savoured the taste of the blood in her mouth, and not her...
She got to her feet suddenly, and smiled a little apologetically. "Mr. Pyroth.... thankyou for that. It doesn't sound crazy - " Yes it does, but you don't care, her mind supplied treacherously - " it really makes sense..."
She found herself backing awy a little, still smiling, but she now desperately wanted to go find Fiona. Now she could have an explanation, an excuse, a -scapegoat- for her actions, and she felt able to finally speak to her.
"I... hope you don't mind if I leave... I've just remembered something I forgot..." The smile was a little glazed, and one part of her brain hoped she didn't smell nervous, and the other half scoffed and wondered how can you -smell- nervous?. "I'm sure I'll see you around...?"
Pyroth shrugged with a grin "I have some jungle to wander anyway. Hope the advice helps a bit, it's what worked for me." he almost grinned at her anxiety, feeling sort of empowered that he'd come across a nervous wolf. It probably wasn't him thinking it though, probably.
"Take care Angharad, and if you ever have any problems or whatever and feel like chatting like another canine, I'll be around somewhere, just leave a note or something at duplex 5, I'll get it."
"Later."
And with that he gave her a farewell nod of his head and a wave before once again heading back out into the jungle and back to his run.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 3:44 pm
Exploration _________________________________________________//
Amaya/Angharad
Angharad didn't like the confines of the village, not any more. She'd been roaming farther and farther, hiding her face from the other villagers and trying not to think about what she ate every day. Trying not to think about him...
She pulled straggles of hair from her face, mouth open in unconscious panting in the jungle heat as she wandered the animal trails that wound through the undergrowth. The small rucksack she had requested from the stores was looking distinctly battered now, and she hefted it further over her shoulder as she peered about, sniffing the air cautiously. An odd scent.... the girl narrowed her eyes slightly, and tilted her head in that direction, letting her odd paw-feet take her in that direction.
Amaya was still on her quest for Alec, though now her mind was more focused on the red-scaled man she had encountered not hours ago. His fancy mating display was still very much on her mind, clouding her senses as she seemed to walk directly towards Annie.
She was on all fours and nude, her yellow-orange scales standing out from the underbrush as she made her way through at a reptilian gait. Her large body swayed from side to side, five foot long tail trailing behind her.
On first sight Angharad couldn't help but start backwards, ears twitching and body frame tense. What.... another islander, or a creature of the island itself? No, nothing natural was that big, surely....
"Hello?" Her voice came a little sharper than it could have been, and she immediately felt embarrassed about it, shifting her feet awkwardly.
The teen jumped with a start at the voice, her head snapping up to look away from the ground. She sat up, head popping over the dense foliage. Her head tilted to the side as she stared, tongue flickering. No. She had never met this islander... but she seemed pretty far along. That was always good, seeing as she wouldn't freak out.
"Oh... hello..." She said nervously, standing to her full height - basically just a standing, talking green iguana... not that she was really green anymore. "I... uh... don't think we've met. My names Amaya." She tried to smile.
Angharad tried to calm her racing heartbeat as she realised that it truly was another islander. Big lizards didn't talk....
She smiled, trying to keep her mouth closed over the ugly teeth, stubby tail wrapped tight around her leg under the dusty blue skirt.
"Hey... you're right, I don't think we did before. Nice to meet you, Amaya," and she took another cautious step forward, body language relaxing a bit. "I'm Angharad... not too new here." She tried to inject a rueful tone into her voice, and push the odd, dreamlike quality this scene was prtraying in her head.
"Angharad... that's a unique name." She smiled as much as her reptilian snout would allow. Amaya chose to let her approach on her own time, staying where she was. She knew how... intimidating a 100% islander was. Especially if they were a walking dinosaur.
"Yeah, me neither... obviously. I think I've been here for almost a year now." Her large hand rose and ran down her head, pushing the flexible spikes away like they were some strange form of a mohawk. The only indication that she was even a female was her voice, having no human quality to her whatsoever... save for perhaps the dirty, silver locket hanging around her thick neck.
Angharad tried not to blink, the cautious smile on her face as she shifted the backpack on her back again.
"It's... it's a Welsh name." Her voice still a little hesitant, she looked around, taking a few steps over to the nearest tree to lean against it. "But... a year?" She suddenly realised she hadn't the foggiest idea what the date was, or how much time had passed since she came to the island... the days at the lab had passed in a blur, and the weather was no help.
"Ah..." She nodded. Hm. Awkward.
"And... yeah. I remember it being around fall when I was brought here." Amaya was a lot more sensitive to the temperatures then most islanders, able to tell how hot or cold it was since she was cold-blooded. No fur to protect her from the elements. She knew it was starting to get a little colder - closer to September... the faithful day she was adopted by the mad doctor. Which meant she would be 17 soon.
Seventeen... still a teenager and looking the way she did. Never to return to being a human again.
But before she could sink into her own self-pity too much, the iguana tried to think of something else to talk about. "How did you get dragged here?" Still a depressing subject. Darnit.
"How?" Angharad made a face, before realsiing it probably made her look even worse than before, and sighing. "I... me and my friend Fiona were kidnapped here. We broke into Feral Labs, and woke up...." She flung her arm out in an expressive gesture at the jungle around, and then looked down. "Fee's being trying to work out how to escape ever since....."
"I see..." The reptile frowned. "Not to... uh... sound negative or anything, but escape is pretty much impossible. There have been two murder attempts already and it hasn't even done a thing." She frowned, her tongue flickering.
"Two?" Angharad stared at the lizard... girl, the stub of tail curling defensively around her leg again. "I heard the one that was broadcast over the village..."
"Well, awhile ago there was a blackout and one of the staff was attacked... Dunno if you were here for that, though." Come to think of it... that had been Zach's doing. And now Alec had tried to murder the same woman. That was... amusing, actually. Did she have a thing for the bad guys?
"And actually, I-..." Amaya paused, not sure if boasting that her mate friend had been one of the people who had tried to murder Aubrey days ago. "... -I'm looking for someone, actually. His name is Alec, he's turning into a shark. Has a grey face? Have you seen him?"
"That's the one I remember.... " Angharad shook her head slightly, and then applied herself to the second question. "Alec... the music, Irish boy? He's turning into a shark??" Her tone of voice was equally clueless, and she looked down slightly frustrated. "He moved in a little after me... last time I met him though, he hadn't started changing... " Her voice dropped slightly. "I must have missed a lot up in the lab."
"Oh..." So she had missed the latest announcment, along with... a lot of other things, apparently. Amaya frowned, her tail twitching nervously at the mention of the labs. "The labs...?" She swallowed. "Why... were you up there...?"
Angharad looked up suddenly, feeling terrible that she hadn't managed to help out. "I... I'm sorry... I wish I could help out more...." She almost stuttered, ears flickering backwards nervously. "And I was kept up at the lab.... well, I've only changed once." She held out a furry hand, turning it palm, or pad, upwards. "Apparently there's something wrong, or different, with my serum." She laughed slightly, still nervous. "So I was kept up there.... since I came back I've hardly been in the village..."
"It's okay, don't worry about it." The lizard smiled slightly. "I'll find him eventually."
She tilted her head, looking at her palm. She did seem rather far along for that to be her first change. "Oh... I'm sorry." Her tongue flickered. "I've only been in the labs twice, but I know how scary it is..." Honestly, the labs terrified her and she was always quick to admit that.
"Yeah... 'scary' is a good phrase for it." Angharad looked a little lost for a moment. "But I was only there the once.... "She shuddered slightly, before looking up again. "Would you believe, I was trying to free lab animals when my friend and I were caught?" She smiled a little helplessly. "And now we're the ones who are the lab animals...."
Amaya frowned, watching her. She rubbed one of her arms with her large, clawed hands. "That's sad..." She admitted, looking down. "I had thought this was a refuge for orphans so... basically Moreau adopted me. So even if this place somehow gets shut down, I still legally belong to him..." There were few people she told that, feeling that she betrayed them all somehow by being "owned" by the man who destroyed their lives.
The look on Angharad's face froze, and then creased unhappily, before settling into something halfway between disgust and fear. "That's.... that's pretty low. How could he do something like that? At least I was never offered a false hope." Her hands clenched slightly by her sides, the hatred winning over for a moment and her eyes going flat, even as she looked at the islander opposite her. She found it difficult to even imagine what she must have looked like before changing so much.... to do that to an orphan, hoping for a new family, was terrible. Just another thing on the list, she thought grimly. She hated that man.
"He's done a lot worse, trust me." Amaya said quietly, still looking at the ground. The thoughts of what he did to her during the lockout still haunted her, being stuck next to two fake corpses and then almost dieing the night the rain started.
"Did you know theres a little boy here? He can't be any older then 10 or 11. And Moreau brought him here, took him away from his family." Poor Cody... she should go see how he was doing sometime.
A growl started to rise unbidden in the back of Angharad's throat before she realised it, and she stopped it with a small cough, looking down, greeny-yellow eyes narrowing further. "It doesn't surprise me now. It really doesn't surprise me." She wondered briefly about whether she should go back to the village properly, try and meet some of these other villagers; perhaps help them out or something or at least be an ear to talk to.
Amaya nodded, looking back up at her. "The man is capable of many inhuman things. I often wonder if he's more animalistic then we are." She sighed, her tail twitching.
"I'd better go though, still have to find Alec." She smiled slightly, giving a headbob to her. "It was nice meeting you, Angharad."
Angharad dipped her head almost still nervously in return. "Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you..."
Amaya laughed slightly. "You didn't keep me at all. It's nice to see a face among the foliage, actually." After another headbob she turned around to leave. "Bye, take care." She dropped on all fours, slowly walking away through the brush.
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 1:19 am
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