Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sitting up she looked around and suddenly felt very alone. Swallowing she huddled on Vincent's cot and rushed over once he was smashed against the concrete. Terror showed on her face but she moved him onto his cot with difficulty, covering him with the blanket he had let her use her first night there and set aside some food and water for him when he woke up.

Randy was drinking beer after beer at a place in Durem named Zany's Pub. He was banned from the guild, and some weird guy came out of nowhere and lifted him up by the throat. He was no longer a puppet of the guild, but of some guy he'd better not try to ******** with. Besides the most recent event, he began to tell the bartender of his failure to save the girl.

"What was his name? I think it was that Hunter guy."

One of the people in the bar looked at him in surprise.

Person: Oh, you mean Hunter Roge?

"Who in the hell is that? I think this guy is referred to as The Hunter, or something like that. Has a bunch of high-tech s**t like me."

He cursed a bit and drank some more beer. He kept his helmet on as he drank. He never took his helmet off. He didn't have a secret identity or anything, the way he was right at that moment was his only identity.

"That's all it is anymore. It's a competition between sets of gear. If someone's upgraded more than you, if someone has a better manufacturer, then you're screwed."

The bartender then spoke up.

Zany: What the hell happened to you?

Randy looked at the guy, a bit shocked.

Zany: You've been coming here for at least thirty years, and from all I can see, you haven't aged much. You didn't always use the technology though. You used to just use the gifts that God gave you.

There was silence. Randy shook his head.

"I don't think my natural abilities are enough. You can't dodge every bullet."

Zany: So what? Keep the armor, and tone the rest of it down a bit! You're losing what made the guild accept you in the first place. If you don't want to compete with who has the best gear, or who has the biggest c**k, then why don't you pay your old self a visit?

This guy sure knew how to talk to drunks who didn't know what to do with themselves.

Randy just kind of nodded. There wasn't much said for the rest of that night.

Vincent shook his head as he drew the plater of food she had set aside to himself slowly. “No, my entire transformation was a result of them lizard DNA they injected into me. They did that by putting a sizable needle into my spine. Most agonizing thing I've ever experienced.” he comments casually as he lifts a morsel of unidentifiable food to his mouth. Food which Mena had found repulsive in taste and smell. He puts it in his mouth and closes his eyes as he chews actually savoring it. He chews and swallows giving a faint content sigh. “They suit you.” he comments looking at her eyes again now.

Vincent gave a slight shrug. “I'm color blind, Everything is in a shade of red now.” he explains briefly. He reached under his cot and pulled out a broken metal plate that had been polished to the point of one's reflection being almost perfect. He handed it to Mena with a apologetic frown. “I can only comment on the new shape.” he explains.

Vincent put his plate down gently and got up walking over to her calmly. He took the mirror away stashing it in his hiding place. He got on the floor with her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He didnt speak for he knew there was nothing he could say, nothing he could do to make the situation good. All he could do was pull her into a hug and hold her into his chest again.

Vincent sighed sadly giving her another squeeze. “Never let that coldness sink all the way through.” he whispered to her his voice giving only a hint a pleading. “You'll get tougher, harder and more distant but always keep a hold over on who you really are even if it's buried deep.” he continuous to whisper stroking her hair gently now. “They change you. They will change you from you're skin and hair all they way down to you're bones. But they can even alter you're soul. But you're heart. That's always yours.” he told her with a deep sigh and placing a claw on her chest to demonstrate. “That's always yours.”

Vincent shook his head softly. “They can only alter it, never take it away.” he explains but when she asked how he kept it together he blinked in surprise looking down at his claw. “Why wouldn't I?” he asked curiously tilting his head at her. “I'm not exactly as handsome or attractive as I used to be but I'm still me. My heart still beats for love my soul still yearns for my homeland. I'm lonely I'm in pain and I'm starving for good food but they can never take away that I'm Vincent.” he explains with a grin.