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 Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:30 pm
It wasn't as if Aiyana had been expecting a warm welcome or anything, but she had definitely been hoping for more than this. The one who escorted her here (she refused to refer to them as people -- only monsters would experiment on innocent civilians like this) had ignored any and all of her questions or concerns, walking through the halls at a pace that forced her to jog to keep up. When he finally stopped walking, Aiyana focused her attention on her surroundings -- she had been led to a narrow hallway with doors, probably leading to bedrooms, on both sides. Before she could come to any more conclusions, she was assaulted by her escort's loud voice as he abruptly fired off various guidelines for the asylum (most of which began with "don't", and ended with "severe consequences"). When he was finally out of ammo, having reached the end of his reel of rules, he curtly informed her that she could find a room in this hall and strode away briskly.
What he failed to mention to her, however, was which rooms were occupied and which were free. The last thing Aiyana wanted was to share her room with anyone with violent tendencies or, god forbid, an axe murderer. The very thought caused the usually courageous girl to shiver and wrap her hands around her upper arms to ward off the oncoming chills.
As she peered down the hall with her pale pink eyes, she decided that the only (relatively) safe way to find an free room was to knock first and, if no one answered, peek inside to ensure that no one was already residing in that room. Setting her mouth into a determined line, she strode up to the first door and rose her fist to knock.
This tedious job went on for a while. She found that, fortunately for her, most of the occupants weren't in their rooms and a quick look inside usually revealed clothing or personal items strewn across the beds or the floor, clearly indicating that someone was staying there. However, by the sixteenth door, the poor girl was beginning to get tired. All she wanted right now was to find a bed and take a nap. She had only been here for half an hour, and already she wanted to escape this place through her sleep, even if only for a few hours. Then, finally -- finally -- she found a room that seemed to be empty. Or at least, no one was in and she didn't see any personal possessions in sight (she probably should have checked under the bed or in the dingy shelf in the corner of the room, but by this point, she was far too tired).
Sighing with relief, Aiyana slipped inside, closing the door behind her as quietly as she could manage. She promptly moved towards the closest bed, sitting herself down as she did a quick glance-over at the room. It, like the rest of the asylum, seemed cold and unfriendly, and it also reeked slightly of molds and rusted metal. Wrinkling her nose, the girl rose a hand to brush her fingers against the blossoms growing from her protruding branches, I guess there are worse things than a cherry tree. At least the flowers smell nice! Maybe she could toss some blossoms around and hope that they would eventually overpower the smell?
But first, some rest. She lay down on her side, careful to angle herself as to not disturb the slender branch that sprouted from her right shoulder blade. Shutting her eyes tightly, she pulled in her limbs, curling up on the lumpy metal-spring bed and resting her head on the equally as uncomfortable pillow. All in all, it wasn't the softest thing around, but she supposed it would be better than sleeping on the ground.
Just before she dozed off, she caught a mixture of scents on the pillow she rested on -- definitely more pleasant scents than the rest of this asylum had to offer. It smelled vaguely earthy, somewhat like the bark of the branches that grew from her own body, but there was a hint of something else too. Apples?
Why would there be apples here? She thought to herself sleepily, I'm...probably just imagining things... Yawning quietly, she pulled herself in tighter, her brows knitting together as she allowed herself to fall into a light and uneasy sleep.
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Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 5:02 pm
Holy s**t, his luck was lookin' up! Rory was having a difficult time suppressing the goofy grin, resulting in a rather crazed expression of a frown and wild, cheering eyes. Both his hands were shoved into his pockets, both fisted. He tried to carry himself as if he was pissed off, to go along with the expression of general anger he was trying to force onto his face. His right hand was curled carefully around two small pieces of metal, his rather interesting finds of the day. One was clearly a part of some support rod of some sort, corroded and snapped off from within one of the walls during a small fight that had broken out near the cafeteria. It was hollow, with one end a smooth clean cut while the other formed a lop-sided ‘v’ with one half being larger than the other. The second piece of scrap metal, well, to him, it looked like a freakin’ razorblade. It was slim, it was sharp – he had the slice on his finger to prove this – and it was more than capable of being put into the ‘v’ end of the pipe he’d swiped up once the other inmates quit their brawl and dissipated.
Once he found a suitable way to bind them together, that is.
Back home, he would have just grabbed some duct tape or something for a quick fix, but then, back home, he’d just need to go down to local Wal-Mart to pick up a Swiss Army Knife or something if he didn’t care to use his mom’s scissors or kitchen knives to cut something. Or carve. Or... well, whatever I’ll be able to use his new-found best friend for.
One thing he decided on moment he picked up the pieces? They weren’t ever gonna move further than from one side of his room to another once he got them in there. Last thing he needed was someone going after him for shaking their buddy or some prison s**t like that. Save his make-shift knife for repairs or mending or... or... well. Once he figures out what to do with it, he’ll sure be glad he had it!
With this thought he sped up his pace down the empty hall, ignoring the whispers and groans and rustling sounds that emanated from behind some of the doors on either side every now and then. Once or twice he passed another patient as they slipped into their claimed territory, now and again exchanging looks that sported silent conversations that consisted of:
”I dare you to challenge me to take my room, punk!”
"I don’t want your freaking room, dipshit!"
It made it all the more of a relief to finally reach his room, opening the door with a flick of his wrist – he really needed to figure out a locking system or something. The door swung open without much resistance, sighing as he stepped into the only thing he could even remotely call “home” now. Lids slipped closed over his gray eyes, the hand not holding the metal pieces lifting out of his rising up to run through his hair, mindlessly ruffling his brown and green dyed locks.
Slowly, relaxed, his eyes opened as he started to take a step towards his bed, intending to flop down on it before shoving his to-be-knife into the drawer by his bed. Only to stop. And stare. And stare. And - "Who the ******** are you and what are you doing in my room?!"
It was only afterwards did he realize the person sleeping on his bed was a girl. A girl with branches growing out of her. Like him.
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Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:34 pm
Though she was only in a state of light sleep, the approaching footsteps and the sound of the door opening and closing only made the young woman stir slightly, her brows creasing as she pulled herself in tighter. Of course, there was only so much noise that she could filter out -- the sound of footsteps moving towards the bed woke her up into a half-aware state of consciousness, but the sudden very loud and pissed off voice from beside the bed? Yeah, that definitely caught her attention.
Jerking upright, she sat there blearily for a moment as she tried to process what happened. Once it became clear to her that someone (the room's occupant, no doubt) had snapped at her, Aiyana immediately stood up and bowed, nearly stumbling over her shoes in the process. "I-I'm sorry! I...I'm new here, and they told me to find a room, s-so I..." Her eyes were clenched shut in terror. Why hadn't she been more careful in checking over this room? She had been tired, yes, but if she had been a little more cautious, then this never would have happened. It was like Goldilocks getting caught by the three bears -- just without the porridge, chair, and...well, the bears. Instead, she had this angry fellow-asylum prisoner, and for all she knew, he could be an axe-murderer.
"I-I'm really sorry, I'll leave you alone!" As she began to straighten up and open her eyes, she told herself to avoid all eye contact and to just get the heck out of there. However, the first thing that she glimpsed upon opening her eyes were...branches. Not her branches either -- these were growing from the young man standing right in front of her, curling around his arms and legs and from the base of his spine. She was taken back enough to ignore her previous advice, instead tilting her head back so that she could look at him face to face. Her facial features, previously tense with fear, relaxed a little when she realized that he was only a young man, probably around her age. He was definitely not the large and horrifying person she had initially thought he would be.
Her pale eyes traveled back to the branches that wound around his limbs, and the longer she looked at them, the more her brows and lips began to turn downwards. "...You too?" Aiyana asked finally, absentmindedly fingering the slim branch that sprouted from her own arm. It was hard to read the expression on her face, though it was probably something akin to sympathy or regret. While she had been being experimented on, she never saw any of the other patients. Sure, she heard the scientists talk about them, but she had never seen any of them for herself. For the longest time, she thought that she was the only tree hybrid in existence. The only one who knew what it was like to feel their limbs gradually become more difficult to use as some flesh was replaced by bark, and the only one who knew how much practice it took just to be able to move with the same mobility that she had when she was fully human
But now she was proved wrong. There was someone else that was just like her, and it feeling it gave her -- what almost felt like a sense of relief -- made her stomach clench with guilt. It seemed cruel to be relieved that someone else had gone through what she had, but she couldn't help but be a little glad that she wasn't so alone anymore. Perhaps...he wouldn't mind showing her around or something? She already knew that she would feel more comfortable asking her than anyone else in this place.
"...I'm Aiyana," She introduced herself abruptly and offered a hesitant smile, hoping that the boy wouldn't suddenly snap at her. "Could...could I get your name?"
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