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 Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:23 am
Jordan fidgeted to keep his secondary paws under his shirt. It was painful and inconvenient, even if the shirt didn't cover his entire torso, leaving his mid-drift exposed. That was peculiar and it hadn't occurred to him that his body had lengthened some during his last change (not enough visibly, but it had). He kept tugging on the shirt with difficulty to keep them under wraps, though the wriggling bulges moved like chest-bursters under the fabric. That wasn't all that had been on his mind, though. Five months had passed. It was late August.. he'd been unconscious for five months! He'd missed his birthday earlier in the summer month and it did feel warm out. And in that time, he'd been shaven completely of his fur and it was only now growing back.. it was crew-cut length and it left his sensitive skin exposed to the light it hadn't felt in three months. Another reason to wear more clothing. At least before his fur had given him some dignity in public. It felt so weird- and itchy- to have so little fur on him. It was not a complaint to be rid of it. Good riddance to that double-thick winter coat.
He'd gone into the village for food, but tried to keep himself elusive, as not to be seen by anyone. In daylight, that had been a difficult task. After a filling meal of whatever appealed most to him, a plate of hamburgers and hotdogs, Jordan found himself needing to work off that energy. If he was out for so long, that meant his body hadn't been worked in months and that made him feel even more self-conscious about himself. He'd begun a jog away from the village that took him towards the lake. He hadn't been to the lake in some time.. was it the last time that he, Awen, and Joliette had congregated? When he mistook her for an alligator and stupidly shouted such in warning to his friend? Maybe she was around. She was fairly upset with him following the laptop fiasco between himself and Thom, not to mention there had been a human in their midst..
Jordan picked up a pawful of pebbles and sat down, skipping rocks across the lake. This place.. it was terrible what was happening. And there was nothign they could do to stop it. At that thought, he chucked the fistful of pebbles angrilly into the lake.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:40 am
What a shock, to wake up in an unfamiliar and empty room. Alec had to force his heart back into his chest when he'd woken up lying on the edge of a generous pool -much nicer than the tub he always had to huddle in- in an entirely different duplex. Right, the duplex. This must be the one he'd requested to be changed to... but where was Amaya?
And the time. Months. It had been months?! The sharkboy was never one to keep tabs on the exact date. Days were merely numbers, the seasons changed and time went on. That's what really mattered. But this, this was too much! He knew it hadn't been late summer last time he could recall and worst yet, the lack of Amaya's presence in the duplex they were intending to stay together in only sent to boy into a renewed fit of panic.
Immediately and with little regard to his wheelchair that was parked conveniently nearby, the aquatic youngster slid off the edge of the landing and into the small pool that led into the lake. The wheelchair was cumbersome, slowing him down as he'd struggle against the jungle for mobility. The lake and its adjoining rivers were the quickest route, he realized. Fortunately it didn't take long for contact to be apparently made with a possible source of information. Although the rippling of the water itself as the small pebbles struck the surface were significantly far away from the passageway of his duplex, the sensation oddly caught his attention and urged him to go investigate. Circling and submerged, he slowly rose up with his attention focused on the surface until a rain of pebbles caught him off-guard. Coming out, the youngster's characteristic dorsal fin broke the water's surface first and lingered there like a flagpole of what lay hidden below.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:47 am
The rock arsenal broke the lake’s surface tension, rippling into outward-moving rings. Out of ammunition, Jordan stared at the widening rings. He hadn’t stopped to consider how it was equivalent to throwing rocks at someone’s backyard window or how rude it was to throw the rocks into the lake when people were living in modified duplexes connected to the water source. Actually, it hadn’t occurred that it was bothering anyone. If someone had surfaced, that may have livened the interim period of idleness. There were worse things than idleness and he’d hoped that enough time had passed that the other subjects could have forgotten him and some of the deeds he’d done under the sway of the labs. He’d acted like a such a fool to the point he’d been relieved of his duties, tossed aside and given the brush-off.
“People pay to vacation in places like this…” he scoffed, remembering all the northern tourists- snowbirds they were called- the Floridian commerce depended on. “Except when you come here as a snowbird, you stay here as a snowbird…” he sneered at his commentary.
His mood-shift was interrupted by the surfacing of a fin. Apparently, he had disturbed someone and they couldn’t be too thrilled about it. No way that was Awen, but he hadn’t been aware of the inhabitants of the lake- unless that was a real shark and not a subject. He’d assumed it wasn’t a dolphin or porpoise since they wouldn’t have stopped like that. Either of the latter would have made more of a clatter in the water, made their presence known in a flamboyant display of attention, and would have investigated more hands-on. But, he could always be wrong. Jordan had heard that swimming with sharks wasn’t as dangerous as the hype made it to be, but he wasn’t going to test that theory today, in case that was a subject –or the real thing- in a foul mood. Instead, Jordan found one more rock. It wasn’t thrown as far as the others had been, nor was it given enough power to approach the shark’s location. It was skipped near the edge of the lake. He wanted to know who or what exactly had surfaced and luring them closer to land would achieve that end.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:38 pm
He could hear the deep and clearly male voice permeate through the water despite the insulative muffling of the sound but he didn't recognize it. The figure was a rippling blob of blotchy white; not many islanders looked like that, at least among the ones he'd met. Then again there was one character it could've been and Alec hoped to God it wasn't true, seeing as white was the colour of trouble in his mind. Trouble with a capital 'J'.
Another stone was lobbed into the murky depths. Surely he could see him, why did he continue to play games with pebbles? Nevertheless the fact remained that Alec was neither a dolphin or an angry sea monster but he sure let his curiousity control his actions often enough. He tentatively approached the impact of the last projectile, gliding over until he hovered under the entry point. If there really was an ambush to be had on the unsuspecting shark, he really was making it easy for them. Then again, maybe they were just afraid to venture into shark waters. Finally the boy raised his head above the surface to stare with deep black eyes at the stranger. Shutting his gaping jaw, he forcibly expelled the water from his gills so that he could speak better. "A' neveh w's aneh good a' skippin' rocks." He commented with a small, toothy smile, relieved that he hadn't seen a giant tigerman waiting on the shoreline.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:43 pm
The reaction he’d sought was playing out with the successful bait and switch. The fin maneuvered closer to him and he wasn’t sure what to expect. Jordan remained where he was, cautious to get too close. Curiosity killed the cat after all. Jordan wondered if he’d see more than just a fin slicing through the water, mentally preparing himself in the event that it was one of the subjects. First impressions were everything in these potentially-volatile meetings, moreso when there were uncertainties like now.
As the distance closed in, Jordan was getting a better view and indeed it was a shark, but why had it stopped short? Was it waiting for him to set foot in the water or was the shark more interested in the rock that he’d thrown? When a head lifted above the water, he was still surprised this was one of the subjects. He hadn’t known there was a sharkboy on the island or in it’s waters anyway. Sometimes, no matter how much one prepares, it always manages to take them guard sometimes. He made the attempt to be casual as Alec was seemingly doing with him, but bhat a set of teeth on him! He’d never seen a shark up this close- or a human infused with shark DNA! The expelling of water from his gills took Jordan off-guard momentarily recomposing himself, watching carefully as a grin crossed the boy’s mouth. Jordan must have looked just as surprising and freakish to him. There was a sense of relief that the sharkboy was friendly with the conversation attempt. “I hope that I didn’t hit you by accident.” Jordan kept his listless expression “I didn’t know anyone but Awen lived here.”
He wanted to stay where he was for the moment. There was no need to rush in and give a false impression or worse yet startle him away. This was the first new islander that he’d seen in a very long time and an opportunity to continue just being himself. He had to do something to break his own silence as he picked up a few rocks and against his better judgment, he moved closer to the sharkboy, holding out a few of them. “Wanna toss?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:05 pm
"Neh!" The youngster cheerfully exclaimed in response with a slight jerk of his wedge-shaped head. "Theh's a few o' us n' this 'ere lake." This one seemed a little edgy, he thought. Definetly caught up amidst a very awkward change as well. He seemed to be developing a white coat of sorts to match the awkward paws that now replaced all four limbs. The fur itself was very short which allowed the pale human-coloured skin show through. It gave the overall image of some halloween costume gone wrong though he could tell by his face that he'd be a canine of sorts seeing as he reminded him almost of Ambrose. Ne'er mind the lumps on his chest, the boy thought quietly too himself in respect to the malformities clearly visible underneath his shirt. No need to ask about that, they all had their awkward looks.
Alec glanced unsurely between the strange man and the offered rock for a moment longer and back again. Skips rocks? At a time like this? Surely there was something more constructive they could be doing... besides, how was he to skips rocks on water while IN the water?
"Neh thanks, ay." He raised a webbed hand to gesture briefly before quickly turning his body toward land. With a flicker of his two leg-fins he glided effortlessly until his belly ran ashore. "Am Alec. A' d'n think a' met yes befo'?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:35 pm
It’d be a fairly lame attempt of breaking the ice on Jordan’s part but it did it’s trick as he simply let the rocks slip from his paw, not caring about throwing any more either. He didn’t want to appear stand-offish and offend him with anti-social behavior (but if he had, it may have appeared more appropriate to what most of the others were like). Speaking of behavior, Alec’s cheerful attitude was more of a surprise than his presence. What did he have that made him so happy? Was he one of Lauren’s friends? Jordan wondered. Her infectious attitude even had Jordan acting like this was paradise early on, but she was wrong. So wrong. The possible connection to Doctor Moreau made him edgy as he backstepped in time to hear Alec announce there were others taking up residence in the water.
He was impressed by the amount of control the shark displayed running himself ashore, but still, why was he so happy? Was he so far along that he liked what he was becoming? Jordan shook his head a bit as Alec announced disclosed his name. It would be in poor taste for him to not respond, at least offer a hand shake? “I’m Jordan.” he hesitantly moved his paw back and forth slowly, wondering if he should shake hands, paws, flippers, whatever with Alec or just let it be with the named introductions. Jordan stepped closer, mustering the nerve to extend his arm in friendly greeting, quietly wondering if that was painful to maneuver himself that way.
This guy was friendly enough, he guessed, if not brimming with cheer to spare. He didn’t want to ask the wrong thing or say something idiotic, but he did closer to the water, taking his chances by sitting near Alec. “I have to know.. and I’m really sorry if this in bad taste, Alec.. but you actually seem happy.. The only other person I know around here who regularly and genuinely is happy about this is Lauren and well…” he cut himself off to avoid saying more on THAT matter “I hope I haven't already offended you, but what’s got you in such a good mood?” he peered over at him with a nonchalant blasé with the inquery, an attempted tactic employed to try and mask his troubled thoughts.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:07 pm
Alec waited patiently, watching Jordan struggle with some thought or idea that translated into nervous fidgetting and unsure movements. He didn't envy him but he didn't pity him either. As a hand-paw was finally offered in an official greeting, the teen made his best effort to climb to his knees and accept the handshake with a little dignity. He also took a moment to glance at Jordan's features a bit better as now being balanced on his woody joints upright gave him a better perspective than a bugs-eye view.
Naive smile plastered on his face, the teen watched as the dog-man took a seat close by. At least now he'd be a little more settled?
"Uh?" The sharkboy blinked. Happy? He didn't think he acted overly cheerful or inappropriately optimistic. Perhaps he just didn't see the use in meeting a new islander only to sit and sulk together like a pair of rain-soaked tomcats. Was that wrong? The concept confused him a bit. "Laaauren?" The boy would've wrinkled his nose if he could at the mention of being compared to such a moody thing as the Lauren he recalled from the long-ago meeting they once had. Though even with that thought aside, the idea that Jordan's question was unexpected was an understatement. "Uh... A' d'neh?" He mumbled, feeling as if he'd been put on the spot in a spelling bee. "Am no' realleh.... a' guess a' joost don' see th'point n'..." Words failed him and all he could offer was a nervous smile and a light shrug.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:29 pm
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He waved his paws infront of him to show he didn’t mean to attack him verbally “I’ve been a bit jumpy lately, is all. I didn’t mean any offense by it. You just seemed happier than the others is all.” He explained nervously. “Most of the people I’ve met here wouldn’t have even given a grin or a friendly greeting.” He put on a weak smile that said ‘Sorry for being an idiot, but don’t hold that against me.. please?’ He’d tried not to put his foot in his mouth, but when one is compared to a psychotic mongoose girl, there’s little room to do else.
Jordan flicked at a rock on the ground, nudging it a few inches away, trying not to let an awkward silence drag on. He wasn’t sure what to say to recover from the folly of words, so he threw caution to the wind and he’d either make it better or there’d be an even more awkward pause that followed. “At the top of that list of things keeping me on edge, five months have passed without me even knowing it. Almost half a year of my life gone by in the blink of an eye. I’m pretty sure I was buzzed, but I didn’t do anything..” he looked at Alec, in case similar had happened. Would they just randomly buzz the subjects for fun? That’d be incredibly sick..
Jordan was trying to keep himself composed, keep himself from becoming overly anxious. His stress level was at a constant level of alarm without adding undue reason to ‘flip out’. To keep himself still, he placed his paws into his lap and tried not to fidget his smei-digitgraded legs.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:37 pm
Alec smirked a bit and waved off the nervous jitter than resulted from his inadequate response. To think that no one had greeted Jordan with a friendly smile was almost unbelievable. Even though most of the individuals on the island were upset, depressed or downright sour with what was being done to them, even he had managed to meet a few kind faces in the time he'd spent there so far. "Jus' try teh relax theh Jord'n." he boy began to say in attempt to calm the flustered canine but the words he spoke next only served to throw Alec himself into a frenzied fit.
"A' KNOW! Was goin' ON, man?" The sharkboy exclaimed in a thickly-accented tongue, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation. "Fay've m'nths.... FAY'VE! 'ow s'tha' possible..." His voice trailed off as his gaze followed a pebble that had been uprooted by Jordan's foot, tumbling until it rolled into the water by his knee. He seemed to be thinking hard about something, perhaps consciously trying to calm down. Whatever it was he was doing, when he did choose to continue his voice was much more collected than before. "Ye thin' theh did anehthin?" His thoughts ran along that tangent until he remembered a very important detail of this current ordeal. "Ay." He pointed, trying to focus Jordan on this thought especially. "'ave ye seen 'Maya 'round?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:06 pm
The response Alec gave was disconcerting at best. So it had happened to others beyond himself and for no further provocation than they could, it seemed. There was no way the labs ever did something without an ulterior motive to it. That just didn’t happen with these people in charge. He couldn’t fathom why Doctor Moreau would do that –assuming it was him who’d buzzed them all, with no prior introductions to the other labs staff. He just shook his head and had to steady his left paw with his right. It was shaking badly. This wasn’t good. This was so Not good! “Five whole months!” he reiterated fearfully, eyes wide with dread and terror. Who knew what could have been done in that time?! “I don’t know… I honestly don’t know..” he didn’t mention that his fur had been shaved off, so much that his flesh was visible again, that would be creepy and embarrassing. “I’m sorry I don’t know who that is.” Jordan responded to his inquery of Amaya, then glanced at Alec with that look of fear “Do you think this happened to everyone..? Maybe she woke up in her own duplex like I did.” And if it had, what of the people he considered friends? This opened so many confusing questions of the labs intentions with the stunt. “I’ll help you find your friend, if you want the help. This is just sick and wrong what they’re doing with this blackout..”
This was unfathomable! Why were they doing this to everyone? Was it a part of more sinister genetic research that required them to be unconscious and prone for half a year? It was insanity to think they were conducting even worse experimentations than turning lives topsy-turvy by forcing them to become human-animal hybrid abominations. Jordan shifted his terrified gaze back to the lake and had to physically hold his right arm down against his leg to keep himself from shivering. "I hope everyone is alright.." he closed his eyes momentarilly with an exasperated huffing breath.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:32 pm
Alec's jaw gaped again to produce an expression comparable to a shark's version of shock-horror. What kind of sick joke was this? Then again, the labs were famous for their sick jokes now, weren't they? "Ye.... ye ye'righ'. A' bet she's n' 'er duplex." He didn't mention that Amaya was supposed to be in their duplex but when he thought about it he realized that she hadn't really officially moved her things in yet or anything else to indicate her staying. Although Jordan didn't know who the iguana girl was, he believed his theory that she was safe and sound in her duplex.
Safe and sound? Was everyone safe and sound? Jordan seemed to think the labs had taken the opportunity to do a mass examination or worse, experimentation on the population of the island. The idea seemed far-fetched and almost impossible but when he thought about it more, a length of 5 months would be ample time to intricately mess with every single one of them. Unconsciously the boy started rubbing at his grey belly as if he could feel now the affects of some fantom experimentation on himself. "A' c'nt go teh th'village like this." Alec mumbled to the dogman as he tore himself from the imaginary nightmare he was sewing in his mind. "A'd need t'get me wheelchai'. If ye still w'nneh go see pehple, a c'n go ge' i'....?" He gestured to the duplex he'd appeared from in the distance, indicating that the contraption was stowed away inside.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:55 pm
“I’m sure she’s safe.” He tried to reassure him with a confident smile to that fact. He’d woken up in his duplex and apparently so had Alec, so unless there was another cruel and senseless part to this twisted plot, so unless he’s wrong in his assumption, Amaya should be safe in her own home and hopefully none the worse for wear. Jordan figured she was either a really good friend or perhaps they were closer than that, but it wasn’t his place to vocalize such speculations. In any event, Alec was deeply concerned and that’s all that mattered. If the labs were pulling shenanigans then they had to look out for each other’s back.
It wasn’t his intent to spread hysteria, but the situation was so bizarre and reeked of foul play somewhere, somehow. He was becoming lost in his thoughts of labs foul play and unable to come to any conclusions. So disturbing and frustrating all at the same time! Jordan nodded to the sharkboy, being dragged away from the dangerous speculations of his fear. “Sounds like a plan. At least we’ll be doing something more than scaring ourselves I’m not going to be able to rest easily until I know more of what’s going on.” He rose and stood infront of Alec “Do you need any assistance into the water or do you have it under control?”
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:48 pm
Alec had hoped that Jordan would've known a bit more about the current situation than the case of mild hysteria the two seemed to have in common at the moment, seeing as it didn't seem very constructive. He had also hoped that he wouldn't have to venture out in a Village-wide manhunt for anyone with answers but it seemed that's exactly what had to be done, regardless of who he was with. Five missing months was too much to be ignored for the sake of being carelessly lazy. "Neh, a' go' i'." The boy responded finally with a slight wave of his hand and turned around to begin am awkward and slow shuffle towards the deeper water. He'd wait until his knees felt the muddy ground below make an expected drop-off before fallnig forwards in a loud belly-flop.
After disappearing into the dark waters again, a familiar fin broke the surface a few metres off-shore. Waving once more, Alec swam off towards his duplex only to appear shortly after in the form of a rolling grey mass travelling the parameter of the lake in order to meet up with Jordan. "Wheh to? Lead th'weh, a' guess?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:19 pm
Keeping cool considering where they were and what was happening to everyone made things more difficult. He only feared what could be going on as Jordan paced following Alec’s departure back into the water. There was no telling what was going on and/or if something had gone wrong in the first place for them to be needed to be buzzed five months ago. He stiffened up his posture as he turned towards the trail that he’d taken from the village, fretting the possibility of some hazard that had arisen within the labs, something that could have possibly run amok and left a trail of destruction. Was there some sort of possible experiment that had been taking place, something that even Doctor Moreau had been unable to control? Perhaps Jordan had seen one too many B horror movie, but the existence of a Frankenstein’s monster on the island of Doctor Moreau wasn’t as far-fetched as it sounded. Jordan had succeeded in scaring himself in the time it had taken Alec to return with his mode of conveyance.
He jumped –spooked- when Alec called out to him, turning around defensively. Relieved that it was only Alec and not some monster, relatively speaking, since they were all aberrations of nature now. Jordan waved nervously back at Alec and hastened his movement towards him halfway. “Sure sure.” He answered quickly. “We’ll backtrack on the trail that took me here from the village.” Safety in numbers was the key rule to surviving any horror-esque setting. Unless one of them was picked off! His eyes dilated as he stepped quicker.
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