Welcome to Gaia! ::

Quietly, a slim figure slipped out of the door into the exercise yard. For such a warm day, she seemed to be wearing an overabundance of clothing that included a low-slung hat and gloves. One would have thought she was preparing for a snowstorm, not a sunny day.

She cast a quick glance around the yard before moving. "Maybe, if no one is watching....damn..." She cursed upon sighting the other 'guest', realizing her plans for foiled, at least for today. He wouldn't show up with others around. Not likely anyway. She'd have to get her answers later...

Sighing, she headed towards the other, casting a quick, appraising eye over her. Was this someone she could trust? Samantha had learned to stop avoiding people because of her changes, even if she had no answers yet. She wasn't the only one going through this weirdness and only together would they find the truth about what was going on. IF she could find the ones she could trust, of course. The recent developments did little for her already raging paranoia towards the lab.

Something seemed familiar about this person though...then again, there weren't a lot of females running around this place with blue hair that Samantha had noticed.

"...Raena? Is that you?"

It had been so long, she wasn't even sure the girl was still here. After all that had happened, she almost forgotten her first 'friend' here, though she still had wondered from time to time what had become of her.

A quick glance over her scaly skin and the manacles answered a lot of questions.

Frowning, she dropped all hesitation and rushed over, crouching by her 'old friend', concern plain on her face. "Raena...what happened to you?"

She failed to specify that she was asking about the scratches and the manacles, not the scales...

Samantha took this explanation a bit oddly. To keep her from escaping? What? Like the fences and armed guards weren't enough?

"No offense, dearie," she chuckled humorlessly. "But you don't strike me as the 'dangerous' type. Makes me question the security around here, since it'd probably make more sense for me to be in those, given my history around here..." She smiled a bit, trying to get Raena to smile with her, all while thinking about certain violent incidents in the past...

It seemed so long ago now.

Without asking, she started looking over the shackles, wondering if she might be able to do something about the lock mechanism...if she could figure it out, of course. Her gloved hands moved quickly, but gently, taking Raena's hands in hers and turning them this way and that so she could study the metal braces. "Hmm...well, I'll give them some credit; these things are solid. Other than this, how have you been?"

Nothing like ignoring the Donphan in the room.

Alternative...?

What was that supposed to mean? Samantha frowned deeply, pretending she was still studying the shackles intently. She did not like the vibes she was getting from the other young woman right now, and she'd always trusted her instincts. They'd never failed her before.

She'd started to rely on them more and more in this place, to be honest.

"I see..." she muttered, shaking her head slightly. "Well, I'm doing little good down here." She stood, taking a seat beside Raena on the bench. "I'm not sure anyone has been doing particularly well, lately," she sighed, alluding for the first time to the odd changes making themselves apparent. "However, I get the feeling that's not exactly what you're referring to, is it, Raena?"

Still frowning, she left one hand resting over the other's, trying to get her to meet her eyes. She didn't like that haunting, empty look. It was...frightening.

"I try. I prefer to be a bit quicker on my feet than those around me...especially when those around me are holding me against my will," she quipped with a slightly bitter tone...and a bit of a sadistic smile...that she quickly squashed with a shake of her head.

"And, maybe I like it hot," she shot back automatically, far too eager to be on the defensive after time in here. She caught herself though and faux coughed into her free hand. "Err...sorry. Reflex."

She glanced back at Raena...at the scales dotting her skin...and wondered a bit why this didn't bother her nearly as much as it should have. That in itself was worrying. Either way, it wasn't fair for her to try and hold back her own changes like some sort of advantage.

With a sigh, she carefully removed the gloves so as not to tear them or snag them on her new 'claws,' reaching up and tossing off her hat as well. She reached up and carefully tucked her hair behind one pointed ear, giving Raena a fangy half-smirk.

"Afraid I haven't been exactly 'well' myself..."

"No, not just you...or me," Samantha admitted, smile fading. Even if she didn't understand this fully yet, she did know that she wasn't the only one this was happening to and that she planned to get some answers soon.

Even if she couldn't tell others yet about her possible source.

That implied that he'd cooperate and tell her anything anyway. He hadn't been all that helpful last time. More mocking and irritating, but he knew...she just had to get the information from him somehow.

The last revelation caused Samantha to whirl around from her thoughts, staring at Raena in shock. "Wait...you're not serious? You can't be..." Frowning, she wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders, careful of her new claws as she'd learned to be. "That's been...a long time. I wondered why I hadn't seen you again...I suppose that makes sense, but...that's horrible! I thought they'd at least be taking better care of you. Those horrid sons of Houndooms..." She was growling to herself now, free hand clenching the edge of the bench so hard that her claws sank into the wood. "I swear, if I find out who they are, Lugia help them all..."

Samantha halted in mid-rant, ears catching the small, raspy admission. She turned slowly, claws withdrawing from the poor defenseless bench.

"...I...I...oh..." She glanced down, sighing and letting off some of the swiftly-building rage before it got out of control. This information was pretty sobering in itself.

"...I'm sorry," she finally murmured, not sure if she was apologizing for not knowing, not helping, or just sorry in general for things that weren't her fault, but she felt bad for illogically nonetheless. Who knew?

Still staring at the grass, she gave Raena a one-armed hug, not sure what to say. "So...where do we go from here?"

Samantha looked up with a frown. "That...wasn't exactly what I meant. Or what I was thinking anyway."

Casually, without thinking, she leaned over, resting her head on Raena's shoulder for a moment, arm still around her shoulders. "Apparently, I'm more the violent type. Personally, I'm rather pissed about all this. I was thinking more of something constructive, like turning that anger towards our captors somehow. Nothing crazy, at least not yet. We need a plan. Otherwise, we'll likely end up throwing our lives away, if those guards are as serious about those weapons as they look."

Sitting up again, her expression hardened. "However, I know one thing for sure. I'm not about to spend the rest of my life in this place and I'll be damned if I let them try to keep me here."