Midsummer Shadows

[lilyice]

As the white-eyed girl, Varianne, started to walk away after her explosion of words, Kathy couldn’t help but sympathize with her. If she was humiliated like that, she’d not just retort back, but get physical as well. And then things would get ugly. But then again, she wasn’t the one who spewed out random accusations just based on the spur of the moment. Watching Varianne leave, Kathy didn’t feel much remorse. They hadn’t particularly gotten to a well start, and she probably would never see the other girl again.

 

Suddenly, a whip flashed past her, towards the back of Varianne. It didn’t reach the other girl, but it came pretty damn close. The loud crack of the whip was enough to raise goose bumps on Kathy’s skin, and to make her jump a little. She reminded herself to never anger these strangers to a point where they have to take out their weapons; after all, those weren’t there just for show, Kathy was pretty sure. The owner of the weapon in question, the woman with the curly black hair, currently looked as dangerous as the whip she held in her hands. Her face showed irritation, impatience, and a hint of anger; her eyes stared pointedly at Varianne. Her words, just as sharp and harsh, were entirely aimed toward the other teen. However, the older man of the remaining two turned to address her.

 

"Yes, you're right, we do need you," the man started slowly, as if lost in thought, "but we're not entirely selfish. We wouldn't drag you into this if it only affected us." Here, he paused and chuckled, though his tone was bitter and humorless. He took a breath and continued, in a very monotonous tone, revealing naught of his emotions. "Along those terms, I suppose you could call us a cult, sacrificing the normal lives of a couple prophesized teens in an attempt to stop the destruction of the world. But we’ve risked our own lives long enough to protect your kind, so I suppose it’s only right if we have to fall to our knees and beg for help from the most oblivious of the races.”

 

This was, as of yet, the most complete answer Kathy had of her current situation, what with these people beating around the bush earlier on. The scarred man also spoke up, saying, “And don’t go thinking we’re one of those old geezers who come along, bring news of crazy prophecies that are complete nonsense, because we’re not.”

 

With a wearied sigh, the older man took up his words again. “You’re thinking, ‘that’s what they all say. Prophecies are just rumors people spread in hopes of getting people to repent for their sins and whatnot. After all, prophecies go against what science says.‘ But then again, you’ve seen a lot of things just now that go against science. Winged horses go against mundane science. The changes you both underwent go against mundane science. That boy with those wings goes against mundane science. The fact that if a normal pedestrian were to stumble upon this place, they would only see two girls talking to thin air goes against mundane science, too. A lot of things do. I suppose that makes us more qualified than those crazy ‘old geezers’ that you probably tying us with. I know what I’m talking about; I just don’t know how this will all end. But what is certain is that we’re not going to leave you two alone unless you come with us, so you might as well make it easy for us. I don’t want to be here either, there are people back home that I need to check on.”

 

The overwhelming amount of information flooded Kathy’s brain, which was working hard to try and keep up with all this. She needed time to think things out, and so she sat herself down on the grass, cross-legged, without a word to anyone else.

 

Backing up to the first bit, Kathy mulled over the part where the man had called them ‘prophesized teens’ that can apparently ‘stop the destruction of the world.’ If that was the only information provided to her, Kathy would have laughed in his face. However, she couldn’t ignore the fact that she had indeed undergone strange changes, as well as the others she’d seen today: the white-eyed girl, Varianne, and the boy with… wings, for God’s sake! Her thoughts proceeded further to when the man had said that they’d risked their lives to protect her kind, and that they now needed help from the most oblivious of the races. My kind? There are other ‘kinds’? Aren't they also human? And from what, exactly? I don’t see the amount of terrorists decreasing, or anything like that. ‘Most oblivious of the races’? There are other intelligent races? Have I teleported to fantasy land? Question after question popped up in Kathy’s head – whether serious or sarcastic, – fueling her curious nature.

 

It was true what the man said afterwards, that many things she’s experienced today totally went against science. Since she dismissed the possibility of hypnosis awhile back, Kathy could only accept this as the truth. She’d also tried pinching herself, but quickly realized that it wasn’t a dream after all. The part about where regular pedestrians would just see two teenagers talking to thin air, however, alarmed her greatly. But that would explain why nobody in New York seemed to be yelling and screaming at the sight of winged horses in the air, and why this wasn’t all over the news. As the man had stated, they needed her to go with them, and she was quite sure that they’d use force to ensure that she did.

 

During the time Kathy sat thinking, another group of teens had arrived – with the black stallion that Kathy saw trotting off earlier with the mare – and spoke with the black-haired man. Kathy ignored the lot of them, although noticing that one girl seemed to be unconscious, trying to find a solution to the circumstances at hand. Finally coming up with a conclusion, she slapped her knees and hopped back up. She figured she’d voice her decisions, despite vaguely knowing that the man had asked the other group a question, and was probably waiting for an answer.

 

”I’ll come with you. On the conditions that, one, I get to phone home first,” here, she took out her cell phone from her pocket to indicate her intentions, ”two, you answer some straightforward yes-or-no questions that I have, and three, you let me out of this crazy plot and bring me back home immediately in the face of extreme danger that could very potentially result in my death.” Kathy’s voice was steady and calm as she said those last words, meaning every single one of them. If those people had weapons that they weren’t afraid to use, and some dozen or so teens were supposed to save the world, Kathy had no doubt she was getting herself in an immense amount of trouble. Although she could hardly care about her life, pointless as it was, she had to think about Jonathan and Jason. They were capable, yes, but they were only 13. Despite the fact that sometimes it was them that took care of her, they needed her. More than the world needed her, was Kathy’s set opinion. That wouldn’t change, no matter what. Even if the world was going to collapse on them.

 

Kathy’s steely amber eyes swept over the newest group of teens before finally setting on the adults, waiting to see how they would respond. If they didn’t agree to her conditions, she was out of here, no matter how hard she would have to fight.

Edited March 8, 2010 by lilyice

[jaina]

Shira listened to the girl's questions. The first two were good, but she had doubts about the third one. Deciding to voice them she climbed out of the carriage and set a hand on Kathy's shoulder and said, "Given the way we were rounded up, and the way they're armed I don't think your third request is going to work." She turned to look at the people that had called themselves 'Umbralatrons' or whatever and continued saying, "but given the fact that I don't think they want more trouble from us, especially since we're supposed to be important somehow, I don't think they'd mind the first two. Even if the call is to just let our parents know we won't be home tonight, right?" Shira was playing with fire a bit here, she was validating both sides of the current argument and worst case it could get both the girl and the Umbra people beating the c*** out of her. However, she felt that doing something like this was probably the only way to defuse a situation like this without violence. She briefly raised up her hand and looked at it. Something had distracted her and it was obvious what, numerous arcs of electricity were curling about her hand, almost as if in response to her emotions.

[Sasstrek]

Varianne hadn’t taken more than five steps when something snapped past her elbow with a deafening crack. It was only when the whip retracted that she comprehended what it was. The only thing she couldn’t believe was that the woman actually dared to use it on her, even if it were just to faze her. For a moment, she was surprised but then she recovered, her expression changing to one of utmost hatred as she turned to face the woman.

 

“Miranda,” the scarred man cautioned.

 

"That's quite hypocritical of you, isn't it?" the woman whose name was apparently Miranda said. Varianne noted how she didn’t seem to pay any attention to her companion. "Who was the one who came and insulted this girl--" she cocked her head in the direction of Alley-Cat-Girl-- "in the first place? Who came and started throwing crazy accusations at us, and then expect us to take it respectfully?" She seemed to draw more attention on this particular word, exclusively for Varianne. "Maybe if you had bothered to wipe that lousy smirk off your face before you went about voicing your own thoughts, you might have received a more respectful audience."

 

Varianne begun to stutter indiscernibly, her fist opening and closing as though she wanted to punch something. She thought of what a pity it was that Miranda happened to be out of range. When she had finally regained her ability to speak, the unscarred man had focused his attention on Alley-Cat-Girl. Adding to the fact that he was already speaking, Varianne made the place that much noisier with her words.

 

“For your feeble amount of information,” she started, walking up to Miranda. “I was simply asking that girl what happened to her out of curiosity, even if it may not appear that way. And what do you expect people to think when they see a bunch of weirdoes and mutated horses?” Unnoticed by her, Varianne had started moving very close to Miranda, staring her right in the eye. “Of course they speculate since I’m quite sure it isn’t every day just anyone would see things like that. It just so happens that I enjoy rubbing it in your faces even if it were wrong.” Near the end of her confession, she started to talk faster as her voice faltered. She leaned back on her hunches to consider her situation.

 

As she thought about it, she paid no attention of the two men speaking to the piky-haired teenager. She only caught snippets of it, like ‘destruction of the world’, ‘old geezers’ and ‘prophecies’. She dismissed it all without much of a thought though; after all, these people were mad.

 

Now that she did think of it, it was quite hypocritical of her to throw her manners away only to expect respect in return. However, she was never going to apologize to this snob of an adult. Besides, this particular one used a whip on her. Even if Miranda had not meant harm, it was still highly offensive. “At least I have some sort of restraint when it comes to physical harm.” Varianne tried to jab her finger at Miranda once. “What if that whip had caught me? I wonder what a wonderful story that would have made for the cops. In fact, I’m going to go to them right now, and there is no way you can stop me.”

 

However, before Miranda could reply, there was a voice that spoke up above all else.

 

“Okay, what is seriously going on here?”

 

Varianne turned her head to see yet another male teenager. Well, nothing much. she felt like telling the boy with peculiar marks on his face. A bunch of psychotic maniacs leading pegasi-drawn carriages are just here to find weird teenagers.

 

She decided that she should access the other teens first though. The boy that had spoken had a very odd glow to him, as though his body had been infused with sunlight. The other couple few less remarkable teens were standing close to a pure black pegasus, which had probably accompanied them. One of them—the silver-haired boy—had an unmoving body in his arms. Varianne recognized her as the girl she saw before, when she had been hiding behind one of the carriages. It was always good to take stock of everyone else, especially if they were involved in this as well. Apparently, she was correct as one of the adults questioned the boy.

 

“I’m assuming you came with Emillia?” the unscarred man asked, judging from the sound of the voice. “Did that girl get in a fight with Kiril?”

 

Varianne just realized that this was not a very good position to be in. While Miranda was beside her only, she had her back against the other adults and the other teenager. If they were to attack or gag her or whatever, she would be easily taken by surprise.

 

“I’ll come with you,” Alley-Cat-Girl said from behind Varianne. She turned some, so that she could keep both groups in her peripheral vision. “On the conditions that, one, I get to phone home first--”she took a cell phone out from her pocket--“two, you answer some straightforward yes-or-no questions that I have, and three, you let me out of this crazy plot and bring me back home immediately in the face of extreme danger that could very potentially result in my death.”

 

“Wait, what?” Varianne was looking at the girl with an odd look on her face. “Going with them? Why would they even want us?”

 

Suddenly, that seemed like a very dumb question. They were people who looked absolutely nothing like human—peculiar skin, strange hair, wings… the list could keep going on. They could be used as exhibits in some weird circus, conduct experiments and all that. But Alley-Cat-Girl would willingly go with them? Even if they agreed to her conditions, it was madness.

 

The door of the nearest carriage swung open and out came a girl, also with some peculiarities in her appearance. She walked up to Alley-Cat-Girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

"Given the way we were rounded up, and the way they're armed I don't think your third request is going to work." She gave a look to the adults, as though they were the problem; something which Varianne didn’t find hard to believe. "But given the fact that I don't think they want more trouble from us, especially since we're supposed to be important somehow, I don't think they'd mind the first two. Even if the call is to just let our parents know we won't be home tonight, right?"

 

Now Varianne felt like she should have listened to what the two men had to say to the other teenager. She felt like she was left out in something. It was obvious that everyone already had settled and understood what was going on. Perhaps they did not understand the full extent but at least they were aware of things, unlike her.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Rosella Surmane

[MURDERcomplexx]

Breckin twitched, irritated that again his question had been sidestepped. Why could they simply not take the time to explain why they needed them? These....beings looked more than capable of fighting on their own. Yet here they were, rounding up a group of human teenagers? They had flying horses!

But at the same time--and Breckin paused mid thought to turn to the unconcious annoying girl--they didn't seem to care much about what condition they were in, so long as they were still breathing.

Which raised his question once again--What were they doing there?

He examined the rest of the group that had originally been near the carriages, taking his sweet time to answer the man's question.

After all, if they wouldn't give him the answers he'd so patiently waited for, what was the harm in denying them theirs for a few moments?

 

The most aggressive of the group, a dark haired female with rather sharp features, was the one who caught Breckin's attention the most. She appeared unsettled, almost to the point of offense. Her haughty air set him off however, almost giving him the incentive to stay away from her. She had started off on a disgruntled speech, inches away from a female stranger's face. The one she'd been arguing with, a shorter, petite girl had demands of her own. Breckin listened in, one eyebrow raised.

Was she serious? Making demands to these strange people. He wondered if she too would end up like the girl behind him.

 

He let his eyes wander, and caught sight of his hand. Curious, he raised it to his face, staring almost gapingly so at what he saw.

The pallor of his skin had all but disappeared. Standing amongst the sunlight, he appeared to glow with it, his skin radiating ochre luminescence. All at once, the strange events flashed before his mind. The electric sparks, that boy's odd wings, and his transformation. Everything was slowly drifting toward each other. They were all given a strange ability. Breckin clenched his fist and sighed.

It'd only be a matter of time before something strange set him apart even more.

"Maybe it won't be so bad being a flashlight..."

 

"Yes, we came with Emilia. Kiril and that girl argued about her coming here, and she let out a burst of electricity. Which leads me to assume all of us here are going to eventually discover a power like hers. So I'll ask again, what is going on? Why do you need us and why have we all woken up...like this?"

He pulled back the sleeve of his dark hoodie for emphasis, watching as sunlight illuminated more of his exposed skin. The glow was faint, merely giving him a tanned appearance, with an orange halo of color that surrounded his body.

Edited March 10, 2010 by MurderMayhemxx

[Skarx]

Sophia had used most of her time ignoring the others and trying to forget about Sen’s complain about the voice since there was nothing she could do for him. When the cart moved she was truly surprised and had a quick look around. She notice that Greg had stood and declared he was going outside and sure enough before she could tell him how stupid that idea was since they had an unlocked door she hoped their captive were not aware of. She was angry, but refrained form saying anything since he was already stepping outside. Well if he was going out so was she! She was tired of sitting in that dry and bothersome cart like a luggage! She stood and let the blood flow again then walked outside too. She regretted immediately when she heard the ripping sound and saw Greg’s new traits…

 

“You are SO disgusting… can’t you stop letting a part of you everywhere you go?”

 

She was plain mad now. It was clear that guy’s fearie blood was from a quite resistant one, weird too and now he had wings, small, but who knew what it may become with him changing so much. She looked at her own skin which was now even bluer than before. So much for hoping it would remain unnoticeable. Maybe her fearie kind was a walking blueberry or something. When Greg went back inside she remained outside. She looked, glared, at the other people outside. A bunch of new teens and those thugs. One of them, a girl was ranting about something, but Sophia was not listening. She just went to the side of the cart and sat in the grass plucking some off to cool herself down. After killing some of them she lay on her back and looked at the sky, bored.

 

More discussion was going on back there, but she didn’t care. She closed her eyes and focused on nothing. Soon the voices faded away from her mind and she felt at peace. There was no problem, she was not stuck with a bunch of thugs and strangers, and she didn’t have a blue skin… and green hair. She was just a person lying in the grass. At some point she fell asleep.

 

She was back at school putting her bathing suit on for some swimming practice. The competition was coming soon and she wanted to be ready for it. Most of the students were going back home now so she probably had to pool all to herself. She went to take a quick cold shower then walked to the pool leaving her towel on the bench. She slowly walked to the ledge and let herself sink into the water until she could touch the ground. Sophia had always loved water ever since she was young. There was such freedom in it.

 

She pushed on the ground to jump her way back to the surface to breathe then did a couple of laps. When she looked at the time she sigh. Why did she need to go home so early anyway? As she dived once again she tried to touch the bottom of the pool, but something changed. Why were there algae in the pool? She touched the ground and quickly took her hand away from the mud. What was happening?! She looked up and found the surface water strange, like it was much brighter outside of it than it was supposed to be. She quickly swam back up, but it was taking an awful lot of time. The pool was not that deep! When she did finally reach the surface she was completely lost. She was not in the pool. She was lost somewhere in an endless body of water. She tasted the water and found out it was salty. Why was she here? Lost somewhere in the ocean in her bathing suit?! She put her head in the water again hoping it would wash away that ridiculous vision, but as soon as she put her head in it she felt at peace. It may not be so bad after all, she strangely thought.

 

She was still sleeping next to the cart.

[Mangaholic]

After Brunor’s long and rather complicated explanation, the golden-haired girl promptly sat down on the grass, her brow furrowed in concentration as she was probably going over the information that had just been provided to her. In that time, Brunor had proceeded to ask several questions of the Summer boy, who, Brunor noted, twitched with exasperation. The boy took his time to answer the questions, though Brunor hardly noticed, due to the fact that shortly after he had spoken to the radiantly glowing boy, the girl Varianne had begun to speak again, rage and hatred tightly entwined within her seething words.

 

“For your feeble amount of information,” she began, her pale eyes narrowed to mere slits. “I was simply asking that girl what happened to her out of curiosity, even if it may not appear that way. And what do you expect people to think when they see a bunch of weirdoes and mutated horses? Of course they speculate since I’m quite sure it isn’t every day just anyone would see things like that. It just so happens that I enjoy rubbing it in your faces even if it were wrong. “At least I have some sort of restraint when it comes to physical harm. What if that whip had caught me? I wonder what a wonderful story that would have made for the cops. In fact, I’m going to go to them right now, and there is no way you can stop me.”

 

At the comment about the mutated horses, the three remaining pegasi snorted, narrowing their eyes in annoyance at the girl. The horned horses harnessed to the front of the two carriages paid the dark-haired no mind, as they were busily grazing at the lush, tender grass available to them. However, there was really no time for the pegasi to trample down Varianne, like they wanted to, nor was there any time for Miranda to throw in yet another contemptuous retort, as it was then that the Summer hybrid spoke up, answering with Brunor’s question with a hint of impatience: "Yes, we came with Emilia. Kiril and that girl argued about her coming her, and she let out a burst of electricity. Which leads me to assume all of us here are going to eventually discover a power like hers. So I'll ask again, what is going on? Why do you need us and why have we all woken up...like this?"

 

The frown upon Brunor’s lined and wearied face only deepened at the boy’s words. So Kiril had been electrocuted, and in the end, both had been knocked unconscious. He gazed at the unconscious blonde lying limp in the arms of another boy, mentally noting her condition as well. For a moment, he wondered why Belinos and Emilia had left this girl here instead of taking her along. Her condition seemed critical as well, considering the amount of blood she was covered in. It wouldn’t do them any good to have her die here, and besides, Brunor truly did not like the idea of a the girl dying because she had been neglected, even if she had been the cause of Kiril’s mortal injury.

 

His mind flying back to the memory of the two winged horses taking off and disappearing beyond the horizon, he concluded that Belinos, in his urgency, had not fully noticed the unconscious girl, and Emilia, in her desperation and anger, had abstained from revealing the girl’s presence. He opened his mouth to speak yet again, but the interruptions just didn’t stop coming.

 

At that point in time, the young blonde girl gained their attention by slapping her knees and leaping to her feet. Her voice was clear and calm as she stated her decision, showing just how determined she was to get her way. ”I’ll come with you. On the conditions that, one, I get to phone home first,” here, she took out her cell phone from her pocket to indicate her intentions, ”two, you answer some straightforward yes-or-no questions that I have, and three, you let me out of this crazy plot and bring me back home immediately in the face of extreme danger that could very potentially result in my death.”

 

“Wait, what?” Varianne exclaimed, utter confusion carved into the features of her face. “Going with them? Why would they even want us?”

 

The taunting smirk upon Miranda’s face only widened at Varianne’s obvious bewilderment. In her anger, the pale-eyed girl had probably completely missed Brunor’s explanation, and therefore was utterly lost. Brunor sighed, his head starting to hurt from listening to the different indignant exclamations of the multiple teens. If the prophecy really was true in its words, he would’ve liked to spend his last day on a peaceful Earth listening to the airy songs of the larks and the sparrows, instead of the endless chatter of the equally irritated teenagers. He allowed Miranda to resume railing at Varianne as he mused over his next response.

 

However, before the insulting began again, a girl, the one that he had seen awhile ago with Rhiannon, left the confines of the carriage. She was even so bold as to place a hand on the blonde’s shoulder, before voicing an opinion of her own: “Given the way we were rounded up, and the way they're armed I don't think your third request is going to work." She turned to look at the people that had called themselves 'Umbralatrons' or whatever and continued saying, "but given the fact that I don't think they want more trouble from us, especially since we're supposed to be important somehow, I don't think they'd mind the first two. Even if the call is to just let our parents know we won't be home tonight, right?"

 

Brunor raised an eyebrow, wondering if the blonde and the silver-haired female even knew each other, if the latter would be so daring as to invade in on the former’s personal space. Considering from what he had seen of the blonde’s temper, he was pretty sure that if the silver-haired girl was indeed a total stranger, the blonde would not react well at all. However, after the silver-haired girl voiced her opinion, Miranda lost interest in her, and returned her attention to Varianne.

 

“Oh what now?” she sneered as she glared at Varianne unflinchingly. “Were you so caught up with your farfetched theories and lame comebacks that you couldn’t be bothered to pay any heed to the information that concerns you so? I guess I see what they mean when they say ‘madmen have no ears,’ or I suppose in this case, madwomen. Well, we couldn’t be bothered to add to the feeble amount of information that your brain can barely hold. Your loss.”

 

Somewhere in the middle of Miranda’s disdainful words, two of the pegasi, the silver stallion and the jet-black mare, had silently trotted up behind Varianne. Kiril’s steed still remained behind the newly-arrived group, though he continued to glower at the dark-haired girl. Obviously, they were still ticked off by her insult, though really, there wasn’t much they could do without hurting her. So instead, the two winged horses parked themselves behind Varianne, towering above her threateningly as they snorted into her hair.

 

The corner of Brunor’s mouth twitched slightly with amusement at how personally the winged steeds were taking the girl’s words, while the horned equines were still calmly chewing, without a care in the world. As soon as Miranda’s words ended, he took a small step backwards, glancing at each teen calmly, before inhaling deeply. He kept his eyes in Breckin’s direction as the words began tumbling from his mouth with the smoothness and clarity of a brook unmarred by large stones and branches:

 

“A lot of things are going on. They’re complicated and difficult to understand for kids who have no idea of what happens alongside their mundane world, which is why we’d rather get you all back to our place before we actually start explaining. Otherwise, I’d have to be repeating myself far too many times. Like if you had been listening to what I told this young lady” –here, he inclined his head toward the golden-haired girl – “I wouldn’t have to be saying this again. Why did you all wake up like this? Because you’re not entirely human. You’re mainly human, but not entirely. But for now, I’m not going to go too in-depth into this. This young lady and I have to make a compromise with the world’s needs and her conditions.”

 

He paused, taking another breath of air as he turned to face the spiky-haired blonde and the silver-haired female. “As for your conditions, yes, maybe, and no. I personally don’t mind you calling your family. It’s best to let them know that you won’t be home for awhile, so as not to make them worry.” The words were not mocking or scornful in any way, as he had meant them earnestly. The memory of some tragic incident that had occurred not too long ago flashed through his mind, sending him into a deeper sorrow that may have affected the rest of his speech. “I can’t guarantee that I can answer all of your questions, and I would rather that you be quick and concise with them, as, like I said earlier, I’m quite anxious to be headed home. As for your third, that is pretty much impossible. I should hope that we will never be faced with extreme danger of any sort, but if you expect us to send you home when your lives are threatened, then it’s simply something that we can’t do.” He paused yet again, his eyes clouding. “I’m sorry, but if things weren’t this bad, or weren’t going to be this bad, then we wouldn’t have resorted to ruining your happy lives. After all, that’s only a burden for my kind to take, while the mundane world gets to thrive in peace without realizing just how much more destruction would wreak havoc upon their world and take their kin’s lives without us”

 

The words end abruptly, as if there were more, and yet no more would come. Brunor simply ceased and sighed, his sad eyes now fixed entirely upon the blonde-haired girl. How would they all react to the fact that their lives were in danger the moment they stepped into the carriage? Probably not happy at all. The dark-haired female, Varianne, had already threatened to call the cops, not that Brunor had any fear of a couple of mundanes who would hardly stand a chance against them, but it made her displeasure apparent. The Summer hybrid seemed constantly to be fidgeting with impatience, as if he were itching to get on his way. It certainly explained why he had been so anxious to get immediate answers. He just wanted to learn what was wrong with him and then return to his family. Brunor highly doubted that any of them wanted to be involved in a prophecy that had randomly been brought to them by a group of seemingly savage people.

Edited March 13, 2010 by Mangaholic

[lilyice]

As she was waiting for a reply, Kathy quickly skimmed her eyes once again over the group of teens that came with the horse. She’d heard bits and pieces of the conversation between a teenaged male voice and the older man while she was thinking, but she didn’t hear enough to piece together any coherent sentences. Now that her attention was turned to the group, Kathy assumed that it was the boy in the lead who spoke. The boy in question, who was standing directly under the rays of the sun, seemed to… glow. Given all that she’s seen and heard today, Kathy’s eyes didn’t even blink at this strange sight. Sweeping her gaze over to the rest of the group, the blonde saw an array of teens of both genders. There was a white-haired boy who held the unconscious blonde that Kathy saw earlier in her peripheral vision, a tall willowy girl with bright orange hair, and a creamy short-haired girl in the back. Since her back was faced to the carriages, another girl who was coming out went unnoticed by Kathy.

 

Suddenly, the blonde felt a cold touch on her shoulder. Instinctively, she spun around and slapped away the hand that was resting there. Her eyes focused on a much taller girl, with silvery-white hair. Being naturally suspicious of people whom she didn’t know, Kathy tensed herself and silently fumed at the other girl while giving her mutinous glares. She would have liked to punched her in the face, but a fight breaking out now would just be time-consuming. But honestly… The nerve she had! Kathy certainly did not appreciate anyone touching her, much less a complete stranger. She now wished she’d slapped that hand harder – much, much harder.

 

Before she could do anything, however, the girl spoke up, her tone solemn and her gray eyes staring at the adults. “Given the way we were rounded up, and the way they're armed, I don't think your third request is going to work. But given the fact that I don't think they want more trouble from us, especially since we're supposed to be important somehow, I don't think they'd mind the first two. Even if the call is to just let our parents know we won't be home tonight, right?"

 

”Wait, what?” As the silver-haired girl’s voice ended, Varianne suddenly commented, as if just noticing the topic of the current conversation. “Going with them? Why would they even want us?”

 

At this, Kathy rolled her eyes and let out a quiet but exasperated sigh. The dark-haired teen must have been too caught up with the woman to have heard anything the man had said. Well she certainly isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, now, is she?

 

The black-haired woman with the whip – Miranda, as Kathy recalled the man calling her, – seemed to be enjoying the moment and Varianne’s confusion. Kathy, however, disregarded her taunting words as she observed two of the winged horses trotting up behind Varianne. With a much amused grin, the blonde watched as they stamped their hooves with either anger or impatience, and snorted into the girl’s hair. She could barely contain her laughter as she imagined the dark-haired girl’s reaction to this, though she didn’t know what could have caused the pegasi to act so.

 

The older man also seemed slightly amused at the sight, though he composed himself quickly. With a glance to each teen, his gaze lingering on Glow-Boy as Kathy named him, he began to speak. “A lot of things are going on. They’re complicated and difficult to understand for kids who have no idea of what happens alongside their mundane world, which is why we’d rather get you all back to our place before we actually start explaining. Otherwise, I’d have to be repeating myself far too many times. Like if you had been listening to what I told this young lady” –here, he inclined his head toward Kathy – “I wouldn’t have to be saying this again. Why do you all wake up like this? Because you’re not entirely human. You’re mainly human, but not entirely. But for now, I’m not going to go too in-depth in this. This young lady and I have to make a compromise with the world’s needs and her conditions.”

 

The man continued, without giving Kathy the time needed to process the abundant information just shared, this time facing her. “As for your conditions, yes, maybe, and no. I personally don’t mind you calling your family. It’s best to let them know that you won’t be home for awhile, so as not to make them worry.” The man paused here, and sorrow seemed to linger on his face. ”I can’t guarantee that I can answer all of your questions, and I would rather that you be quick and concise with them, as, like I said earlier, I’m quite anxious to be headed home. As for your third, that is pretty much impossible. I should hope that we will never be faced with extreme danger of any sort, but if you expect us to send you home when your lives are threatened, then it’s simply something that we can’t do.” He paused for the second time in his speech, his eyes clouding. “I’m sorry, but if things weren’t this bad, or weren’t going to be this bad, then we wouldn’t have resorted to ruining your happy lives. After all, that’s only a burden for my kind to take, while the mundane world gets to thrive in peace without realizing just how much more destruction would wreak havoc upon their world and take their kin’s lives without us.”

 

A flame of anger ignited itself within the girl as Kathy listened. She had made it clear that she wanted all her conditions met, or it was a no deal. The questions she had before had all but dissipated in her mind, so that wasn’t of much importance. However, she was not going to leave her twin brothers alone in this world. Her opinion that her brothers needed her more than the world could ever need her wasn’t going to be changed just by some weirdo’s words and some stupid prophecy. The man had indeed seemed sincere, and Kathy could tell – whether by physical wounds or emotions – that the group of adults had all suffered through many plights, but just this once, she was going to be selfish. ”To hell with the world,” the blonde muttered as she glared at the man.

 

Without another word, she too began to walk away. They could use their weapons all they liked, but Kathy’s business here was done. Glancing back once more, Kathy opened her mouth to speak. ”No amount of force or words is going to stop me, unless you promise me my safe return.” Her amber eyes flashed dangerously. ”I have my reasons, and it’s not to save my own damn skin. I couldn’t care less if I died. So, knock me unconscious if you’d like,” she nodded her head toward the other blonde, currently unconscious herself in the arms of the white-haired boy, ”and take me wherever you plan to take me. But don’t expect me to cooperate in this. I’ll try my damn hardest to make your lives hell. Heck, maybe I’ll even go apply to join whoever it is that’s destroying the world.” Kathy’s words dropped off on a threatening tone, as her feet advanced to take her away from the park.

[Odio]

Gordon's arms were getting tired. He'd followed Breckin and the winged horse to the carriages, and he'd been listening with awe and more than a little bit of confusion, but he'd held his tongue - for once. He kneeled down in the grass, scuffing green stains into the knees of his blue jeans. He lowered the girl and leaned her against a rough tree trunk, and her head lolled to the side. It wasn't the most comfortable looking position, but Gordon had carried all the way over here and he was too tired to give a damn at this point. He was kneeling now with one knee on the ground, hearing what the spiky blonde had to say.

 

Without another word, she too began to walk away. They could use their weapons all they liked, but Kathy’s business here was done. Glancing back once more, Kathy opened her mouth to speak. ”No amount of force or words is going to stop me, unless you promise me my safe return.” Her amber eyes flashed dangerously. ”I have my reasons, and it’s not to save my own damn skin. I couldn’t care less if I died. So, knock me unconscious if you’d like,” she nodded her head toward the other blonde, currently unconscious herself in the arms of the white-haired boy, ”and take me wherever you plan to take me. But don’t expect me to cooperate in this. I’ll try my damn hardest to make your lives hell. Heck, maybe I’ll even go apply to join whoever it is that’s destroying the world.”

 

"What's with all this talk about death and danger and destroying the world?" Gordon piped up, addressing the group at large. He looked at the girl who'd started to leave, but his eyes and head turned to include the other sixteen-year-olds too. "Obviously, we're all in the same situation together, whatever it is." Here, he glanced at the Umbra leader, the older one who'd spoken the most, but then Gordon looked back to the spikey blonde. "Maybe we should just cooperate with these... people. Look at this guy!" - here he gestured to Breckin, and his translucent appearance - "I bet we've all got something strange going on. Maybe these people can help us understand what's happening." Gordon looked directly at the leader of the Umbralotronis. "Can you?" he asked. His white eyebrows were quirked in a way that made the question almost a challenge. Gordon didn't know what he expected the man to say, and he doubted if he would even believe him.

 

 

Greg rolled his eyes at the pale boy's question. Greg was sitting in the carriage, but in the doorway with his lanky legs hanging out. They didn't fit comfortably in the cage, but they did fit perfectly hanging out like this. He was keeping quiet, trying not to draw attention to himself after his accidental display. He idley pulled off a few stray pieces of dried skin that remained on his arms. He smirked, noticing the rude girl Sophia dozing off a few feet away. She looked about as bored as he felt. A prophecy? World destruction? Even with all the strange things today, Gregor doubted anything like that was happening.

 

Then Greg noticed the quiet girl who'd brushed past him on her way out of the carriage. She'd stopped talking abruptly, and nobody seemed to notice, but she was staring at her hands in awe. It felt like his jaw was going to be hanging open for the rest of his life - she has sparks dancing around her fingers! They didn't seem to hurt her though, she looked as shocked herself that it was happening. Greg shook his head and covered his face with his hands. He didn't know if he wanted to see what would come next.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Odio

[myahoo]

Mark closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to drift, barely registering the voices of the others as they carried on what little conversation there was. He didn’t think about anything in particular and ended up falling asleep. He was a light sleeper though, so when Greg stood up, Mark jerked awake and blinked blearily at the standing boy.

 

”I'm stepping outside, I don't think they'll mind. We've been sitting here forever. I just need to stretch.”

 

Shaking the sleep from his mind, Mark refocused his attention on Greg just in time to see two wings burst out as Greg lifted his shirt. Mark blinked, blankly, not quite knowing how to react. The wings were bony and the membrane was tattered. They moved weakly and Mark could tell from the expression on Greg’s face that this was obviously a new development. Wings, huh? Never thought people could grow those. Wonder if those could actually let him fly. They melted back into Greg’s skin and the boy mumbled something before sitting down again, leaving the door open.

 

Mark could feel himself growing more alert as fresh air started replacing the air in the cart, but he merely watched as first Shira, then Sophia left the carriage. Ignoring Sen’s rocking, he moved towards the door and looked outside, avoiding the sitting Greg. He noted that the person who brought him to the clearing in the first place was still there and more teens had arrived. There was a golden-haired boy, an unconscious blonde girl, a conscious blonde girl, and a dark-haired girl, in addition to himself, Sen, Sophia, Shira, Greg, and the other two in the other cart.

 

Seeing Sophia asleep on the ground right next to the carriage, Mark rolled his eyes and listened to what ‘his kind’ had to say. Hmm…So those were actual winged horses and normal people can’t see these guys. He said something about people that he wants to check on, so that means that there are others like him. And apparently, we are the teens that fit a prophecy that says that we’re supposed to stop the destruction of the world. Right...

 

Mark shook his head at the thought that a couple of teens could stop the destruction of the world. It was such a clichéd thought that he almost couldn't help laughing. Hearing the person start to speak again, he returned his focus on the speaker.

 

After the man fell silent, Mark looked down and worked on getting the main points of the speech. Okay. That was a lot of info. Well, he basically told us that there is another world that exists right next to ours, but we don't notice it. We had these physical changes when we woke up today because we aren't entirely human. He has some kind of family, since he seems kinda sad when he said we could tell our families that we weren't gonna be home. And this other place we'll be going to will have some danger, possibly life threatening. And this problem they have is so great they have to get us involved when they normally wouldn't. That does not sound good at all.

 

Finished with that, he looked back up and saw that the conscious blonde had decided that she was not going to go with 'his kind.' She started walking away and when he heard her reasoning, he wanted to groan. Didn't she realize that if she didn't go with them, she wouldn't be able to worry about whoever or whatever it was that she was worrying about?

 

But even as he thought that, a small voice in the back of his head asked him wouldn't he do the same if Jason still needed him? Throw away the world and protect his little brother? That thought quelled whatever annoyance had been roused by the blonde's disregard of the world.

 

Glancing around for something interesting and keeping an ear on the conversation, he noticed that Shira had arcs of electricity coming from her hands. He sighed. Mark still didn't know what he could do and he was getting restless wanting to know. However, he merely took a deep breath and leaned on the wall of the cart, partly in the doorway, partly in the shadow, watching what would happen next.

[Sasstrek]

Varianne had been focusing her attention on Alley-Cat-Girl, mildly curious about her response towards the comment of the girl that stepped out from the carriage. From the corner of her eye, she saw something sparking. When she turned, she noticed a teenager lying on the grassy ground near one of the carriages, as though she were asleep. However, that was not really what caught her attention. She was shocked to see that the thin girl’s hands were covered in electricity, the vibrant light hopping around her fingers and palms. Judging from the way she held up her hands and stared at them, she was probably not very used to it. For a few moments, Varianne held still, looking at it. She was sure it was no trick of light.

 

“Yes, we came with Emilia,” the sparkling boy replied the adult from somewhere behind her.

 

He continued talking but since it didn’t particularly concern Varianne, she didn’t bother to listen attentively. However, the boy proceeded to reveal the skin under the sleeve of his hoody. With him having more shining skin now that the cloth was out of the way, she couldn’t help but turn and notice how it really contrasted with his dark clothing. She had thought it may be that he had very reflective hair or the sunlight was just really bright, but she was sure that was not the true reason.

 

“Oh what now?” Miranda sneered before she could give more thought to the weird blonde boy. The glare she received from the adult was unwavering. She was so hoping Miranda might have shutted up. “Were you so caught up with your farfetched theories and lame comebacks that you couldn’t be bothered to pay any heed to the information that concerns you so? I guess I see what they mean when they say ‘madmen have no ears,’ or I suppose in this case, madwomen. Well, we couldn’t be bothered to add to the feeble amount of information that your brain can barely hold. Your loss.”

 

“You’re one to talk about lame comebacks when you’re still clinging onto one of my little past flaws,” Varianne said, ignoring the part where Miranda mentioned her part of not noticing what concerned her. “And bring it on. A little information can’t hurt this mind. Just so you kno—”

 

At that moment, hot air touched the crest of her head, making her whirl around and take several steps back, bumping into Miranda if she were still there. She had been so caught up in Miranda’s words and her own retort that she hadn’t noticed the pegasi had moved from their places to stand behind her. The two steeds were so close to her, their nostrils were just above her head. Although she had no idea what were they were trying to do, she felt somewhat disconcerted being so near such immense creatures that could trample her underfoot.

 

Then the seemingly friendlier man spoke in a clear voice. At first, she was rather disturbed at how he described them as “kids who have no idea of what happens alongside their mundane world”. But the way he said the last two words made her squash thoughts of interrupting him. It seemed as though he were hinting at something else… not mundane. He said something more about not wanting to give the same explanation over and over before talking about how they—she and the other teenagers—were not completely human.

 

After inhaling some air, he continued, telling Alley-Cat-Girl she may phone her family. He mentioned something about question-answering and not returning them home were they to be in danger, but Varianne was paying only enough attention to process the important details, barely noting Alley-Cat-Girl’s angry mutter.

 

The thing is: she was utterly, absolutely sure he was lying to get them onboard the coaches. After all, who the hell goes on saying they wouldn’t give explanations until they reached “their place?” It was clear they had no explanation and were just trapping them. Then he goes on telling them they were mostly human only? Like they were part mutants or something. But she knew that some part of her believed this to be the truth. The guy seemed very sincere when he said those words, like he truly believe it were nothing but the truth. At such a close proximity to the horses, she could tell the texture of the wings and feathers were too detailed to be an illusion or prop. Some of the teenagers here could be excused with weird facials and costumes or whatever but most of them were just inhumanly awkward. Like her too. She also woke up from sleep with her appearance drastically changed. And that dream just yesterday night was vivid and seemingly related to this lot of people. Then she remembered she wanted to ask these adults something as well…

 

“No amount of force or words is going to stop me, unless you promise me my safe return.” Alley-Cat-Girl had to decide to talk just loud enough to disrupt Varianne’s thoughts. She had been very close to pinpointing the subject she wanted to discuss with the adults. As Varianne silently cursed her, she continued to talk. “I have my reasons, and it’s not to save my own damn skin. I couldn’t care less if I died. So, knock me unconscious if you’d like,” her head bobbed in the direction of the pale-haired boy, who held the unconscious blonde “and take me wherever you plan to take me. But don’t expect me to cooperate in this. I’ll try my damn hardest to make your lives hell. Heck, maybe I’ll even go apply to join whoever it is that’s destroying the world.”

 

Varianne was just about to insult Alley-Cat-Girl, even if it were just to satisfy her annoyance for her bad timing of speech. She was walking away already anyways and may not come back just to yell at her. But another boy spoke up, addressing everyone and anyone. She could tell since he looked at everyone in turn.

 

"What's with all this talk about death and danger and destroying the world? Obviously, we're all in the same situation together, whatever it is." From the way he glanced at the adult whom had been the one to speak most recently, she guessed the boy knew the man had authority. "Maybe we should just cooperate with these... people. Look at this guy!" He indicated a boy, just about as peculiar as any of them there. "I bet we've all got something strange going on. Maybe these people can help us understand what's happening." He returned his gaze to the man once more. "Can you?"

 

Her mind had been so full of clashing thoughts and theories attempting to override each other, she didn’t realize that her mind was clearer when it was occupied with Alley-Cat-Girl’s leaving and the boy’s comments. It was only then that she remembered what she wanted to question the adults about.

 

With a snap of her fingers, Varianne said, “Jonathan! Jonathan Addelane.” She stared straight at the same person the other boy had looked at for an answer, seemingly regardless of the fact that he may be busy answering the question. She decided that if any of the trio were going to answer her coming question, it would be him. “Have you heard that name before? Not necessarily from the… mundane world though.”

 

She wasn’t particularly sure what else to call it and she couldn’t care less as she waited for an answer. It did make sense, now that she remembered it. In her dream, the weirdoes that came for her father had mentioned something about his heritage. And if she weren’t one-hundred percent human, wouldn’t it have something to do with her lineage? Perhaps the answer may clear off some things.

 

Her pale-blue eyes were alight with a yearning to know, a miniature blizzard seemingly raging in her pupils.

Edited March 13, 2010 by Rosella Surmane

[Mangaholic]

At the sound of Varianne's reply to another one of Miranda's scornful insults, Brunor's head snapped in their direction, something close to irritation flickering in his dark brown eyes. It didn't take a genius to realize that the old man was beginning to lose his patience with the pair. If they were going to waste their breath on something, couldn’t it have been for something more productive, instead of the senseless exchanges of invectives?

 

“You’re one to talk about lame comebacks when you’re still clinging onto one of my little past flaws. And bring it on. A little information can’t hurt this mind. Just so you kno—” Varianne broke off as she realized that behind her stood two angry pegasi. She whirled around and took several steps backward, only to bump into Miranda. The black-haired woman scowled and retreated backward as well, giving herself and Varianne their personal space. The two winged steeds only tossed their heads in amusement, stamping their hooves to the ground and snorting.

 

“Just stop,” Brunor demanded in exasperation, sensing another string of harsh words making their way to the tip of Miranda’s tongue. This time, she actually obeyed him, or maybe that was because the conscious blonde girl had spoken up once again, anger raging in her words.

 

”No amount of force or words is going to stop me, unless you promise me my safe return.” Her amber eyes flashed dangerously. ”I have my reasons, and it’s not to save my own damn skin. I couldn’t care less if I died. So, knock me unconscious if you’d like,” she inclined her head toward the unconscious girl who had apparently fought with Kiril, ”and take me wherever you plan to take me. But don’t expect me to cooperate in this. I’ll try my damn hardest to make your lives hell. Heck, maybe I’ll even go apply to join whoever it is that’s destroying the world.”

 

Brunor felt a wave of something close to fear wash over him at the blonde’s final vicious words, but he was careful to keep the emotion off of his face. The doubt of the Prophecy’s words came back to him. It wasn’t very reliable in terms of whom these hybrids would actually aid in the end, and that final threat suddenly reminded the old man of how vague the Prophecy actually was. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw the girl making her way back to the gate of Forest Park, and out of the corner of his other eye, he noticed Malduk, who had been silent nearly the entire time, shifting toward the girl, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword. Brunor shook his head ever so slightly, warning Malduk not to do anything yet. He really did not want to have yet another unconscious girl on his hands. Two were enough.

 

“So you’re going to help your –“ he broke off as the snowy-white boy piped up, completely interrupting him.

 

"What's with all this talk about death and danger and destroying the world?" the boy queried, addressing the entire group altogether. Much of his attention was focused "Obviously, we're all in the same situation together, whatever it is." Here, he glanced at the Umbra leader, the older one who'd spoken the most, but then Gordon looked back to the spikey blonde. "Maybe we should just cooperate with these... people. Look at this guy!" - here he gestured to Breckin, and his translucent appearance – "I bet we've all got something strange going on. Maybe these people can help us understand what's happening." Gordon looked directly at the leader of the Umbralotronis. "Can you?"

 

Brunor’s eyes narrowed until they were mere slits. He had always been a patient, calm person, but with the constant inattentiveness of all the teens, his patience was beginning to wear thin. He didn’t hear that the boy was suggesting that the hybrids should just come along with the Umbralatronis, only that he had pretty much repeated that same question that Brunor had heard so many times today. The challenging gaze that the white-haired boy gave Brunor did naught to quench the old man’s irritation; in fact, it only added to the fuel. Brunor made to ignore the boy, though even if he hadn’t planned to, there was no time to speak. Varianne suddenly seemed to recollect her thoughts, and with a snap of her fingers, she began blurting out a stream of words again, though this time, they were neither crazy theories nor senseless insults.

 

“Jonathan! Jonathan Addelane.” She stared straight at Brunor, seemingly unaware that she had interrupted the white-skinned boy. “Have you heard that name before? Not necessarily from the… mundane world though.”

 

Brunor detected a hint of desperation tainting the young woman’s voice, though he might have just been imagining it. However, the name did ring a bell, but he couldn’t figure out from where he had heard such a name. His brow furrowed in thought as he dug through his brain in search of the memory that held the name Jonathan Addelane. Miranda, on the other hand, seemed to remember that name immediately, and recognition spread across her face. Her expression softened, almost to the extent of pity and sorrow, so that she looked upon Varianne with different eyes.

 

“Ah, that name,” she murmured, her tone sympathetic. “Yes, I remember that name, though it was a while back.” Absentmindedly, she began to curl her long whip around her wrist again, studying Varianne as if she had just met the girl at that exact moment. She had stopped talking, as if to remember everything before she began speaking again.

 

Brunor glanced at Miranda, confused for a moment, before the realization settled in the mind as well. He remembered now! He had the name quite awhile ago, some many years. It hadn’t struck him, or the other two Umbralatronis, that this Varianne could have been related to that man, at least not until now. Pain and pity washed away the irritation that had been roaring in his mind; they weren’t so much for the girl as they were for himself, but either way, the emotions showed clearly on his face. He almost completely forgot about the spiky-haired blonde. He wasn’t even sure if she was still walking away or not.

 

Miranda’s voice disturbed the whirlpool of thoughts in Brunor’s mind. “I, along with some others, was sent to get him. We gave him a day, and he ran. Who knows where he’s gone now? We gave up looking for him some time ago. You cannot find someone who doesn’t wish to be found, and besides, it wasn’t stated whether he had a part in this war or not, so there was no point in wasting our time. We let him go eventually.” She paused, and Brunor looked at Varianne now, expecting to see rage spreading across the young girl’s face. “So you’re his daughter, eh?” Her attention was then switched to the blonde female. “There isn’t much you can do, girl, to make our lives hell. The worst hell there is to have everyone you love slowly torn from you, and you don’t seem like the type to like getting blood on your hands, no matter how fiery-tempered you are.” Her sudden mood swing was quite strange. Where had all that previous disdain gone? “Besides, we all already know that hell all too well. What more can you do to make it worse for us?”

 

Here, Malduk broke in, sweeping his gaze carefully over each and all of the teenagers present outside, with the exception of a green-haired girl lying fast asleep beside the carriage, for she, he did not perceive: “You can go back to your families now, on the pretense of caring more for them than you do for the actual world, but then, all you get to do afterwards is watch as the world slowly crumble to ashes and dust around you and as you and everyone else you know is buried beneath the rubble of your own selfishness.”

[lilyice]

As her feet took her ever closer to the gate of Forest Park, Kathy’s face was set with determination. She’d made her choice and she’d stick with it, though deep inside her, she knew she was making the wrong decision. Contradicting emotions clawed at her heart, making her more confused than ever – not that she’d ever show it. Kathy slowed her steps gradually, enough to leave her lingering in the park a while longer but not so much that the others would notice. Her thoughts started to wander. Not to mention her bizarre appearance at the moment, but what if she started growing wings as well? What then? Maybe these people were the only ones who can help…

 

As if voicing her thoughts, a male voice piped up from behind. Kathy turned her head to find herself looking at the white-haired boy, who was kneeling on the ground by now, setting the unconscious blonde against the trunk of a tree. “What's with all this talk about death and danger and destroying the world? Obviously, we're all in the same situation together, whatever it is. Maybe we should just cooperate with these... people. Look at this guy!” - here he gestured to Glow-Boy – “I bet we've all got something strange going on. Maybe these people can help us understand what's happening. Can you?”

 

Throughout the duration of the speech, the boy’s attention was mainly focused on Kathy, as were his words. However, he also seemed to address the group as a whole, and his last words were directed at the older man. Taking this as a convenient opportunity to stop her from her tracks – as she was already having doubts about leaving – Kathy turned and opened her mouth, as if to speak. However, Varianne interrupted her before she could saying anything, which sent a flicker of annoyance through the blonde. The dark-haired girl snapped her fingers and mentioned a name, asking the adults if they’ve heard of the person. To Kathy, the name meant nothing, but obviously it meant something to the group of adults. Though the older man looked deep in thought, as if trying to figure out where he’d heard the name before, the woman’s earlier irritation was instantly replaced with a look of recognition.

 

When she started to speak again, her tone was soft and almost… sympathetic? Kathy disbelievingly raised one eyebrow. She murmured something about ‘that name,’ and started studying Varianne, though one could tell that she was lost in her memories. At that moment, the other two adults also seemed to realize something, for the older man now looked pained and regarded the teen with pity.

 

The woman started to say something about being sent to find the man and ended up giving up the search, but it made little sense to Kathy as she obviously wasn’t acquainted with the man in question. “There isn’t much you can do, girl, to make our lives hell,” the woman suddenly spoke to Kathy, the former disdain gone from her tone. “The worst hell there is to have everyone you love slowly torn from you, and you don’t seem like the type to like getting blood on your hands, no matter how fiery-tempered you are. Besides, we all already know that hell all too well. What more can you do to make it worse for us?” To Kathy, she seemed like an entire different person, as if she had aged during the last four or five minutes.

 

“I-” she started to say, before she was interrupted yet again. This time, it was the younger black-haired male with the scarred face who spoke. “You can go back to your families now, on the pretense of caring more for them than you do for the actual world, but then, all you get to do afterwards is watch as the world slowly crumble to ashes and dust around you and as you and everyone else you know is buried beneath the rubble of your own selfishness.” Kathy couldn’t perceive his tone, for the man showed little emotions in his words.

 

“Well if you’d just let me actually finish my words…” the blonde glared at the man, then resumed again. “Before you started throwing unnecessary words around and accused me of being selfish, I’d already decided to stay.” Kathy’s face remained blank as she continued on. “Not that I care about the world and all,” – she made a point to emphasize the word ‘not,’ – “but because of what he said.” Kathy proceeded to gesture in the direction of the white-haired teen, shrugging her shoulders at the same time. “I figured, even if I were to go back home now, I’d still look like a total freak. There’s no way that I’m going to explain this to my friends and family, and it seems like the lot of you is my best chance at an answer and perhaps normalcy. But you know the saying, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going?’ Yeah. For your information, I’m not ready to die yet. If you won’t promise me my safety, I’m going to make sure that I stay safe myself, no matter what I have to do.” Kathy’s tone of voice was harsh, trying to get the message across. She hoped that they knew she meant it when she said that, for she was prepared to join the ‘winning side’ of this apparent war – which she still hold doubts about – if the need arise.

 

For some reason, Kathy's heart felt lighter as she got those words out of her mouth. She felt like she was doing the right thing, by going with these people. Was she really a prophesized teen? Diminishing these thoughts, Kathy flipped open the cell phone that she still held in her hands, and dialed her brothers' school number. They wouldn't worry too much if she said that she was spending the week at Emma's, then the next week at Lynn's. Kathy figured that if they were going to 'save the world,' it'd take a while. Rolling her eyes at the absurdity of it all, Kathy listened to the dial tone and waited for the school to pick up.

 

The conversation was a quick ordeal, as the school accepted Kathy as the 'guardian' for her twin brothers. The two boys were equally quick in agreeing to have Kathy 'stay over at her friends' house for the next two weeks,' wishing her well and to have a good time. A feeling of guilt arose in the blonde as she listened to their innocent and carefree voices, but she forced it down. Mustering her energy to utter a last, cheerful 'goodbye,' the teen ended the call and snapped her cell phone shut. Well at least that's over and done with, Kathy let out her breath, not realizing that she'd been holding it in. She then turned to the adults, her eyes signaling that she's done what she needed to do, and stood waiting for whatever would happen next.

Edited March 20, 2010 by lilyice

[Odio]

So are we all going now, or what? Gregor thought to himself. He sighed impatiently, and fiddled with his long fingernails. At the same exact moment, Gordon spoke the same words out loud.

 

"So are we going then, or what?" He asked, looking around at all the others. It seemed like they'd reached a stalemate. He stood up, and hooked a thumb toward the unconscious girl. "And what about her? I think she needs some medical attention." He looked at Brunor. Gordon had noticed Brunor's irritation, but he didn't understand why he was so annoyed. He'd only asked a simple question. If they were all going to be abducted was it so much to ask that they know a little something about what was going on? He'd also noticed with his own amount of irritation that his question had gone unanswered. He remembered a particular word that Brunor had used. "Or is medical science too mundane for us freak-humans?" He stared icy-eyes at Brunor, matching his look of impatience with his own. Gordon decided the older man must be leaving them in the dark because of their age. Leave it to the old folks to think teenagers stupid and immature. Gordon was probably smarter than this old fart.

 

Gregor, unnoticed, rolled his eyes at all the dramatics of the people around him. Man, he thought, I would kill for a cigg right now.

 

Without waiting for an answer, Gordon reached his hands under the girl's arms and started to drag her toward the caravan. He realized they wouldn't want to take her to a hospital. They didn't seem too concerned with the teens' well-being. They seemed pretty hostile, actually. It probably wasn't a good idea to antagonize them. Gordon mentally cursed himself for glaring at that man, but he didn't think it would matter too much. He'd only been reacting to being ignored, after all.

 

The poor girl was still unconscious, and at this point she had leaves tangled in her hair, and grass and mud were all over her legs and backside. She didn't seem to be bleeding as much, but there was a healthy amount stained on her. Gordon felt himself perspiring as he strained to lift her into the carriage, and he tried to do the breathing thing again from before, when he'd lowered his temperature. Nothing happened, but he did at least manage to dump her onto the floor of the cart.

 

Gregor didn't offer to help, he just hastily stood up and got out of the way, eager to avoid getting nature and blood on him or his clothes. His bum was already stained from his stumbling earlier. He watched the pale boy stuff the girl in the cart, unconsciously letting a grimace mar his face. He blinked and looked away, leaned against the side of the carriage and crossed his arms over his chest. He sighed heavily, and wondered about the other students back at the hotel, and what they were thinking about his disappearance.

 

Finally Gordon had her lying on the floor of the cart. He hopped in himself, and sat down near Mark. He had an unhappy sort of expression on his face. He wished they would all just make a run for it. He had a half a mind to just shout "Run!" really loudly and dash away, but it would only work if they all scattered, and some of them would probably get caught. Resigned, he leaned back against the carriage wall.

[Kira1]

There was a lot of talk about going with these strange people and more and more kids showed up, asking questions, making statements, and some being just plain difficult. Danni sure hoped they wouldn't be this annoying all the time. Especially if she was going to be around them for awhile.

 

What caught her interest was when one was saying that if they all came to his home, he would explain everything to everyone there. This made Danni wonder exactly how many people they were taking with them. Though, instead of asking more questions that would most likely go unanswered, she stepped closer to the carriages, ready to leave when they were.

 

A thought then hit her and she pulled out her cell phone, quickly going texting her parents. She lied to them and told them she was going to a friend's house and would most likely be out all weekend and not return home until tomorrow or maybe the next day. Like usual she had a pretty quick reply from her worried parents. They told her to have fun and to be safe, which Danni replied to with an "I will." She slipped her cell back into her pocket and looked to the one who had said everything would be explained back at his home.

 

"Well, if we're going to leave, let's go," Danni said, "and the lot of you should stop your pointless chatter. If you want answers then come. If you're too afraid, then leave."

 

She didn't care if the others became angry at her. What were they going to do? Yell at her? They were already doing enough talking to make enough noise, so yelling wouldn't make much of a difference. She just hoped that her statement would make the others stop questioning these people and just be quiet. Then they could get to the place that they were going to and get their answers. Since, for some reason, Danni had a feeling that these people weren't as bad as everyone was making them out to be. And if they were, well, then she was screwed. Right now, she would just give them the benefit of the doubt. Danni really wanted to know why they were spouting stuff about saving the world and such. Something like that seemed pretty important to her.

[Sasstrek]

Varianne turned her head in the direction of the voice. While the man seemed to be having difficulties recalling the name, the Miranda clearly didn’t.

 

“Ah, that name,” she said softly. Varianne wasn’t sure which she should be more surprised with: that out of all three of them, Miranda was the one who knew her father or that she actually had some form of sympathy in her tone. She started to say more and Varianne waited impatiently for her to continue. However, she simply stopped. She began curling her whip around her wrist, probably by habit. The small part of Varianne’s mind that wasn’t shouting at the woman to continue wondered how long she had been using that weapon.

 

The black haired teenager turned her head back to the other two adults, who might have provided an answer. The scarred man, who had looked irritable several moments before, now looked almost as though he were thinking about something tragic. It was a similar expression to the one Miranda wore and it was starting to bother Varianne how they seemed to regard this topic like it was something very touchy. Finally, the woman gave her the answer she wanted.

 

“I, along with some others, was sent to get him. We gave him a day, and he ran. Who knows where he’s gone now? We gave up looking for him some time ago. You cannot find someone who doesn’t wish to be found, and besides, it wasn’t stated whether he had a part in this war or not, so there was no point in wasting our time. We let him go eventually.” Miranda paused for a moment, but, as Varianne digested the information, she couldn’t care less for the reason. “So you’re his daughter, eh?”

 

Without waiting for an answer, Miranda’s regarded another one of the teens. Not that Varianne cared exactly where that diverted attention went. She had enough on her mind, what with the sudden bit of info about her father. She gave an absentminded reply of “yeah. Yeah. I am,” before returning to her thoughts.

 

As shadowed as these people’s activities were, they were clearly the darker side of things. After all, not only were they planning on adducting all teens present (including herself, disturbingly enough), they also went to capture her father. Did they do this with other teens as well? Get the dad then go after the kid? Even if they gave him some time and let him go after a while, it didn’t mean they were kind, since if they were, they would have never come for him. Those thoughts aside, why hadn’t her father returned? It was not like they moved. After he had left with half the family’s fortune, they couldn’t afford a new place. It was somewhat reassuring to know that he didn’t just leave with all that money for no particular reason though. Or maybe he did since he never came back. He could have just gone on with his separate life after all that. Perhaps he was the rotten hell of a man Varianne had thought he was. But one question nagged at her more than anything else.

 

Before she could question them further though, the scarred man, now apparently back with his regular scowl, said something about how they could return to their families and “watch as the world slowly crumble to ashes and dust around you and as you and everyone else you know is buried beneath the rubble of your own selfishness.” Real happy stuff.

 

“Sure,” Varianne mumbled, probably too soft for anyone without keen ears to notice. “Only if you would actually let us.”

 

Given the chance, Varianne would gladly return to her mother though the thought of meeting up with Carey was more joyful. Oh my god. She just realized that she had the barest idea what they would make of her disappearance. Maybe her mother would call the cops or something, but Carey would be worried sick. She would probably strangle Varianne when she returned some distant day. They were being held captive after all and probably weren’t returning soon. She only had about a couple of days before they figured she was gone. Her mother would assume she had a sleep-over at Carey’s while Carey would just think she was sick and couldn’t attend school.

 

Just then Alley-Cat-Girl came back. Apparently, the blonde was dumb and had second thoughts on staying. If Varianne were to dash away now, the trio would probably find her. Or let her go then hunt her down.

 

“Well if you’d just let me actually finish my words…” the spiky-haired girl grumbled, giving the scarred man a hard look. She proceeded to explain how she did not care about the world and how she decided to stay with them for answers yadi yada and all that has been flying around here for about as long as Varianne was present. The girl had a point. With a sigh, Varianne realized that people outside this circle would regard her with extreme distaste because of her harsh appearance, unlike Carey and her mother (she would get a heart attack first though) who knew her well enough. Yet, going with these adults meant almost certain death and then there was the whole thing about a war. She also wasn’t keen to find out what sort of a world these people lived in.

 

Alley-Cat-Girl had dialed a number on her cell phone and was waiting for the receiver to answer just about the same time the tall boy asked if they could leave and how the unconscious girl (which Varianne had forgotten about) required medical attention. Just as he finished, the shaggy-haired boy hooked his arms around the bloody girl’s arms and dragged her over to one of the carriages. Although he had trouble getting her onboard, he eventually achieved so without help. Leaning against the vehicle with his arms crossed, he rested. As weak a show of his strength as that was, Varianne did admire the fact that he tried. Then she remembered the question she wanted to ask earlier on. How was it that she was now so easily sidetracked?

 

“What did the lot of you want with my father?” Varianne demanded from the three adults, at which point Alley-Cat-Girl had finished her phone call. Although she did not particularly mean it, the question came out with a slightly accusing tone. But it seemed that her question had been half overridden by another one of the teens.

 

"Well, if we're going to leave, let's go," the silver-haired girl said, "and the lot of you should stop your pointless chatter. If you want answers then come. If you're too afraid, then leave."

 

Somehow, her last few words managed to pique Varianne’s anger. Was this random weirdo calling her chicken? And for what? Having half a brain and deciding not to go along with the plan of lunatics?

 

“Are you calling me scared?” Varianne shouted, taking a few steps towards the girl. “Just so you know, anyone with half their wits would at least contemplate the odds of getting out of this. I’m assuming you have neither brain nor sanity with you.”

 

Varianne had already been veering towards boarding the coach, but she decided against it after what the rude girl said. Just to spite her. As per usual, she failed to notice how she tossed her manners to the wind.

[Kira1]

“Are you calling me scared?” Varianne shouted, taking a few steps towards the girl. “Just so you know, anyone with half their wits would at least contemplate the odds of getting out of this. I’m assuming you have neither brain nor sanity with you.”

 

Varianne had already been veering towards boarding the coach, but she decided against it after what the rude girl said. Just to spite her. As per usual, she failed to notice how she tossed her manners to the wind.

 

At first Danni was about to let her anger get the best of her when the girl said that she must not have a brain. And the sanity of the situation had pretty much already left since they saw the winged horses. Getting all defensive over something so trivial and had to resort to belittling her just to make a point. The girl had started to walk away, but then changed her mind. Though as Danni fumed silently, she realized that this girl had reacted exactly how Danni expected some too. It also seemed as if this particular girl would also becoming along. It made Danni's angry expression turn into a smirk and she chuckled.

 

"Of course, call the one who has made her decision and is not afraid anymore idiotic and insane. That's always the best thing to do," Danni taunted, "and it seems that you've decided to come along as well. Does that mean you are also idiotic and insane?"

 

Now to just see how the other would react. Angrily? Haughtily? Would she smirk back or be too pissed off to think rationally? Well, at least it seemed like there were interesting people here. It would have been no fun if the majority were boring.

 

Though, Danni was still worried about going with these people. Who knows where they were being taken of if they would ever return home again. They might even end up dead. But for now, she would follow this gut feeling she had that it would be alright. She might regret not going with them later, so it was best to just go along. That way, she wouldn't regret anything later. She still stood there smirking, glad to see that her few words could be quite powerful.

[lilyice]

Seeing as how none of the adults addressed her, or told her what to do next, Kathy decided that she’d just seat herself in one of the two carts. After all, she had been walking all morning, from hair salon to hair salon, and the recent conversation she had with these strangers was all done standing. Well, I did sit for a while, but seriously, this is getting tiring, the blonde thought as her legs took her closer to the horned horses, the ones that were slightly smaller in stature than the pegasi and harnessed to the carriages. They were grazing peacefully, ignoring the hot-headed words being thrown around in the clearing. And it was true; it seems as if the girl Varianne had gotten herself into another argument, this time with a silver-haired female that came with Glow-Boy's group. Even though Silvery-Hair, Kathy's nickname for the girl, had just basically called them scaredy-cats, Kathy figured that her words were more directed toward Varianne, thus she ignored them altogether and gave no reaction. Man, I really need to learn their names. Glow-Boy, Silvery-Hair, what next? an amused expression crossed her face as she thought about this.

 

Brushing past the girl who had put her hand on Kathy's shoulder ealier, for she was slightly blocking the carriage door, the blonde teenager made her way in. Looking in the carriage, it would appear that were about four or five other teens already seated in there. It looked like it might get a little crowded, but Kathy thought that it surely would be a hell of a lot better than the other cart. She had taken a look at the other vehicle with immediate distaste on her face. With a curl of her lips, Kathy scrunched up her eyes and pretended to gag. It was tiny; do they seriously expect people to sit in here? No way was she, Kathy Olivia Carnday, going to squish in that little thing. It mocked her dignity. And so, stepping into the bigger carriage, Kathy sat herself down beside the boy who had dragged the unconscious blonde into the cart. She nodded her head towards him in a form of greeting, and turned back to look at the outside scene. Kathy wasn’t too interested in getting acquainted with the rest of the teens. After all, there would be tons of time to do that once the carriages started moving.

Edited March 26, 2010 by lilyice

[jaina]

Shira's hand had been abruptly knocked away by the blonde haired girl, but she hadn't minded it. She had known that with the girl's current disposition, something along those lines had been possible. Shrugging, she moved back a bit and took a breath running through everything in her mind. She probably should call her parents, like that other girl had. She moved away from the group and slipped her phone from her pocket, past the knife she kept clipped on the edge, glad they hadn't demanded her weapons from her. She sent a quick series of texts to her parents, letting them know she'd be at a friends house for the night, maybe a little longer since she would help with some stuff, but she promised to let them know if anything came up. It took convincing, but eventually they consented and let her go without further argument. With a sigh, she moved back into the carriage, past the blonde girl. Sitting opposite her, a different seat then previously, she spoke to the blonde saying, "Sorry for getting into your personal space before, I felt it was better to distract you before you got into a full on fight with them. Nothing good would have come from it, they all look too experienced. I said it to the others in here, but my name is Shirayuki, call me Shira." She didn't know how the blonde would take it and tried to add a bit of a smile at the end, but it was better to apologize now rather then to let things sit

[MURDERcomplexx]

Breckin raised an eyebrow, watching yet another argument spring up from the quiet girl who'd followed Emilia with them, and the sharp black haired one. He bit his tongue silently, curbing a pointless, biting remark. There was no time, and since he was sure he'd be spending more time than he was comfortable with all these people, Breckin figured it'd be best to stay in everyone's good graces.

So long as they stayed in his that was.

 

Paying little more attention to the strangers and the arguing girls, the blond turned toward the larger of the carriages that he was close to, and heaved himself in after the other sharp tongued--were all the girls this defiant?--girl who had been shoveling demands. Rather petty.

"Not a single one of these fools would survive half a week living on the streets. They really have no idea how to work in a team."

As he heaved himself into the cart, the flap of his hoodie caught on part of the splintered wood, pulling it clear off his head. He reached behind him to pull the fabric up and stopped, gently feeling the tips of his ears.

A slight point at the end had formed, giving him an elven appearance from the side. Dumbfounded, Breckin turned slightly from the group in the carriage, biting his tounge. Up until then, he'd been lucky in retaining a mostly human appearance. Others had changed their skin to unnatural tones, he'd been lucky. Of course, the unnatural shimmer his skin gave off was still odd. Breckin let his hand drop and catch on the rays of the sunlight, noticing the faint iridescence that it gave off. Parts of his hand gave off a spectral color display, stretching across the contours of his palm.

 

He realized though, that his actions must have come across as strange to the passengers in the carriage. Taking a whiff of the surroundings, he caught the scent of old straw and musty wood, and what would typically be smelled if one placed several humans in a small cart in the middle of a hot summer day.

Needless to say, it wasn't pleasant.

Still Breckin was driven numb to unpleasant smells, enough so that he seated himself on one of the empty seats, patiently waiting for the rest of the teens to ready themselves.

[Odio]

Greg was still leaning against the carriage while the others were starting to file in. He was thankful his skin wasn't peeling anymore, he felt much more at ease now. He was planning on getting back in, but it was uncomfortable being squished in there, especially with his long legs and his big feet, so he was waiting until the last possible moment to get in. He thought of his mother and sibling back home in Pennsylvania, and he thought of the other kids in the hotel. They were probably wondering about him. Would he make it out of this mess alive? Would he ever be the same again? He sighed, a little despondently. It looked like they were going to leave soon. He would probably get to listen to their petty quabbling all the way to wherever they were going. He shuffled over to the girl who'd fallen asleep, and nudged her with his foot, gently.

 

~*~

 

Gordon smiled at the two girls as they came in, and the boy with the glowing skin. He noticed the boy's ears, and wondered if he just imagined it, or if it was another one of the new changes. He decided not to worry about it - doubtless there would be many more strange things to come. He was sitting with his elbows on his knees, and his chin on his fists, watching the catfight outside the caravan, but he'd had to move to allow room for the others to enter. When they settled, he settled back down too. He was leaning over, to see around mark outside the door. He shook his head, and turned to look at the others.

 

"Rawr!" he said, jokingly, and with a white toothy grin. He mimicked a cat's claws for added effect. He was actually excited to get a move on, to see what waited at the end of the rabbit-hole. He looked down at the girl lying on the floor. Was she ever going to wake up? She seemed okay - just sleeping now. Hopefully. He looked at the girl with the short spiky hair, who was sitting near him. "Name's Gordon," he said casually.

[lilyice]

While staring blankly at the clearing outside, Kathy saw the other girl and Glow-Boy follow her into the carriage. While stepping in, Glow-Boy’s hoodie had caught on something, revealing a pair surprisingly pointy ears. He started to feel them, as if in disbelief. When his hand dropped, it fell under the rays of the sun and started emanating that sparkling glow once more. It was rather pretty, Kathy thought absentmindedly, starting at Glow-Boy’s hand. She was getting a little sleepy, due to the night’s unrest, and the light was mesmerizing.

 

The other girl who just entered started addressing Kathy, snapping her out of her trance. “Sorry for getting into your personal space before, I felt it was better to distract you before you got into a full on fight with them. Nothing good would have come from it, they all look too experienced. I said it to the others in here, but my name is Shirayuki, call me Shira.” Kathy smiled a little at the introduction. The girl had meant well, after all, and they were in this together now, it would seem. “No need to be sorry. I was just surprised, that’s all. Besides, I wasn’t in the best of moods when you did that.” Kathy gave a lopsided grin, feeling better now that she’s finally made a decision and no longer have to argue with or shout at anybody. “I’m Kathy,” she said, shifting a little in her seat.

 

Before she could try to make any conversation with Shira, the white-haired boy next to her suddenly gave out a “Rawr.” With the added hand motions and his grin, he looked quite comical. Kathy couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. He then turned to look at her, and said, “Name’s Gordon,” appearing carefree and casual. Kathy rolled her eyes. “Hilarious. As I said before, I’m Kathy. Nice to meet you.”

 

Kathy’s eyes then unconsciously turned toward the blonde lying on the carriage floor. “So, what happened to her?” she nodded her head towards the girl, with an inquisitive look in her eye. “You think she’ll be fine like that? The red stuff smeared on her clothes looks an awful lot like blood, and by the looks of things, I’d say she lost a lot.” Kathy’s tone of voice turned worried as she asked.

[myahoo]

Mark covered his face with his hand and shook his head as he heard the beginnings of another catfight. Dropping his hand and pushing off the wall, he noticed that some of the other teens were finally getting into the cart. He leaned back so his back was to the wall again and watched as the teens entered the carriage.

 

The spiky-haired blonde came in first, nodding to the boy who had carried the unconscious blonde into the cart before sitting down. She said nothing, though, and turned to look out at the brewing catfight. Wonder if they know each other. Mark idly wondered, seeing the brief interaction.

 

Shira came back on next, taking a seat opposite the blonde, and introduced herself. They had a brief conversation, but Mark really only cared that the blonde's name was Kathy.

 

The glowing boy climbed in next and his hoodie caught on the wood. Seeing the pointed ears that the boy was feeling, Mark raised his eyebrows before shrugging. Definintly not that strange, actually. Though, the glowing is pretty cool. When the sun hit the glowing boy's hand, his skin shone faintly. After the guy was finished looking at his own skin, he sat down in one of the empty spots in the carriage.

 

The white-haired boy that carried the unconscious blonde shook his head and said, "Rawr," adding cat claws and a toothy grin. Mark rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged at this lips. Marck noticed how the boy glanced quickly at the blonde on the floor before introducing himself as Gordon. So, now I know Sen's the green-haired guy, Shira's the silver-haired girl, Sophia's the girl sleeping next to the carriage, Greg's the winged guy who just nudged Sophia, Kathy's the spiky-haired blonde with other obligations, and Gordon's this white-haired guy right beside me. I wonder, does he like her? Mark glanced at the girl himself, noticing the blood that covered her.

 

“So, what happened to her? You think she’ll be fine like that? The red stuff smeared on her clothes looks an awful lot like blood, and by the looks of things, I’d say she lost a lot.”

 

"You know, I was just wondering that, too. Name's Mark, by the way," Mark commented, looking at the newcomers. "So, Gordon, I'm assuming you know what happened to her, could you please tell us what happened? It's got to be better than sitting in this cart, waiting for the people outside to get going." Mark looked at Gordon, waiting for a response.

[Walker]

Carlie did just as he planned. He took a detour route and followed the group, until they reached their destination. Using the trees as covers, he watched the group silently for several moments, only long enough to insure that the annoying man was taken care of. He was too far away to hear conversation, but he watched the proceedings from his safe little nook, perfectly content to just watch and not interact. The last thing he wanted was to join the strange group he was watching. For a moment, he was genuinely convinced he’d rather have a relapse then go out and show himself to them, but that thought was quashed as the memories of his former illness filled his mind. At that particular moment, his injured leg let out a sharp burst of pain, as if to remind him just how much life could hurt. He grimaced and decided there were worse things then what was happening right now, but very few.

 

He was too preoccupied to notice the winged horses at first, but when he did, he was stunned. ’Winged horses? What’ll be next? Fairy princesses and Barbie dolls?’ He couldn’t reconcile himself to what he was seeing, so instead he chose to think the winged horses were merely tricks of some sort. This belief was severely shaken when one of the carriages flew away. When it did, he immediately turned tail and returned back into the depths of Forest Park. He couldn’t accept the fact that horses had wings and carriages flew. That was too freaky. Maybe he had hit his head when the fire escape crashed underneath him. That would explain a whole lot of the hell that was going on. He had no reason to stick around anyway. The group of freaks with flying horses would take care of him it seemed. If they had flying horses they probably had magical fairy dust that could make him all better anyway. How hard had he hit his head? His leg let out another fierce complaint as he stalked off. He found himself wishing for magical fairy dust to heal his own injuries.

 

Carlie had only been walking for a minute when his brooding was suddenly interrupted. He blinked in surprise and paused. Had he just heard someone crying? He looked to the side, in the direction the sound was coming from. His eyes met a wall, of all things. He frowned to himself. The crying was distant, probably on the other side. He was sure it was there now, a plaintive cry for assistance. He should turn his back now, but his better nature was winning out. He had to make sure whoever was crying wasn’t in urgent need and then he could go. As long as they weren’t on death’s doorstep, then he could care less, but he had to be sure. To be sure though, he had to get on the other side of the wall, but how? The only way out was through the gates as far as he knew, and they were locked. He grimaced and turned around, deciding to follow the wall to the gates. They may be locked but they were his only option at the moment.

 

He followed the wall for what seemed only the blink of an eye then paused in surprise. There were the gates again. He knew they would be locked, yet despite this, he reached out and tested them, hoping they would open. He nearly screamed for joy when they swung open at his touch. He was free from this hellhole. A smile coalesced his face. He didn’t waste a moment bounding out the open gate. He was about to make a mad dash for freedom when he was on the sidewalk, but then he was reminded of his original purpose when the crying echoed from behind him, louder then before. He sighed wearily and turned around, wondering what would meet his eyes.

 

Curiosity ate at him as he noted a girl, sitting on the sidewalk and bawling her eyes out for no apparent reason. “What? Did your boyfriend break up with you or something?” he asked her bitterly. He found it annoying how someone could cry for no reason when he just went through hell and didn’t shed a single dumb tear.

 

……………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Lakshmi was suddenly ripped away from the tearing loneliness by a voice. She blinked and looked up, tears still streaming down her face. Her eyes widened in surprise by the sight that met her eyes. This boy looked like he had just swum in an ocean of mud, not to mention the terrible gash on his leg. Despite his fierce appearance though, she found herself giggling nervously and reaching to wipe the tears from her eyes with her arm. A flood of relief at not being alone anymore flooded through her. Her relief was momentarily stalled when she caught sight of her own arm. Her stomach quailed and she looked away from the deep bite wound, blood still streaming out in plenty. Her heart skipped a beat as she became more aware of the throbbing pain in her arm, but overall, this was a little thing compared to the relief she felt at seeing another human.

 

Forgetting her pain, Lakshmi leaped to her feet and scurried to the feet of the boy. As she got closer, she noted that he seemed to be about the same age as her, although quite a bit taller. He had a gaunt, thin appearance and a rather menacing scowl on his face, but she could have cared less. He was a living, breathing human and she was no longer alone. What he looked like or the fact he might have a vile temper didn’t bother her in the least. Instead, she flew to his side and gave him a dazzling smile. She waved her uninjured hand shyly and then, of all things to do to a total stranger, wrapped him in a huge hug.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Carlie’s face twisted into disbelief. Had a random chick just hugged him out of nowhere? He couldn’t say that had ever happened before. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t good-looking, actually, he was having a hard time not staring at her, but it was just… awkward. It was like finding a hair in his lunch, revolting and unexpected. He froze like a statue when her arms wrapped around him. He was too stunned at first to say or do anything. The two of them just stood there, an odd couple intertwined in the middle of the sidewalk, but eventually his consternation turned to rage.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked and then disentangled himself from her choking embrace. The girl gave him a long, pleading look but she didn’t answer, instead smiling and looking down at the ground nervously. This only made him more enraged. His thoughts became a swirl of angry retorts, but one thought was more prominent then them all. ’Winged horses. Check. Now Barbie doll. Check. For a pretty girl, she seems to be as brainless as a Barbie. All I need now is the fairy princess.’ He paused for a moment, his anger suddenly changing to overwhelming amusement at his own witty thought. ’I forgot about Breckin. I have the fairy princess now. Barbie dolls, winged horses, and a fairy princesses. The world really is going to hell.’

 

His anger at Barbie had diminished because she had afforded him some amusement, albeit unintentionally. He looked back at her and smiled reluctantly, but his smile was soon replaced by a frown. He hadn’t noticed her bleeding arm until that moment. ”What happened Barbie?” he asked, genuine curiosity coloring his tone.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Lakshmi squirmed with delight and giggled once again. Despite the scowl he had had worn earlier, this boy seemed decent enough. She had no qualms in trusting him or speaking to him. She wasn’t a wary kind of person. Instead of getting to know people slowly, she just jumped head in and treated them all like old friends.

 

“Lakshmi, not Barbie. I got bitten by my dog,” she muttered.

 

Lakshmi’s thoughts once again turned to Beatrix. Where had she run off to? She didn’t mind the dog had bitten her. She had probably just been frightened by something. She wanted her back. She wanted to be able to pet her cute, furry head and to be able to hug her and bring her back home to her father. Once she got home, her father would tell her that everything he had said was simply a joke. Everything would be fine then. Of course she’d bring this boy along to meet her father too. He seemed nice enough and she was always open to new friends. He would have to take a bath first though and get that leg cleaned up. He was absolutely filthy, but she figured he probably cleaned up well. She tried to imagine what he would look like in a crisp new shirt with the mud washed from his skin and hair. The image that presented itself wasn’t all that unappealing…

 

Lakshmi’s mind continued to drift until she was pulled back to reality by a bit of movement behind the boy. She blinked and squinted, trying to make out the shape of whatever was approaching. It took her a moment to make out what it was, but when she did, she grinned with absolute delight. It was Beatrix! She giggled with enthusiasm and prepared to sidestep the boy so she could greet her old friend properly.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Carlie listened to her explanation. His eyebrow lifted and he looked back down at her arm. It would certainly explain the wound, but it seemed a petty concern to what had just happened to him in the park. She wasn’t in a life or death situation either, so he was losing all interest and concern for the little giggling freak in front of him. His interest was slightly perked by the fact that she had a British accent, of all things. He’d done a double take and noted she was most definitely not of a British descent, but other than that, she seemed like any other brainless idiot to him.

 

He was just about to walk around her and away to freedom when he noted a sudden change in her demeanor. She peaked around him and giggled like a little schoolgirl. She took a step, as if to step around him. Carlie felt his exasperation and anger return full force at her idiotic laughing. This girl giggled too much for her own good. He was curious as to what had attracted her attention though. Cautiously, he looked over his own shoulder and paused, eyes squinted to get a better look. There was something barreling down at them, but what? He couldn’t put a name to it until it came a bit closer, a dog.

 

Carlie’s senses immediately went to high alert. What Barbie, or Lakshmi as she called herself, had said earlier immediately filtered into his mind, all his instincts screaming this was very bad. ”Is that you’re dog Barbie?” he asked urgently, turning his back for one moment to look at her. He didn’t need an answer though; the excitement in her face answered the question for him. She had already taken another step, almost around him now into the direct path of the running dog, who as Carlie noted as he looked back over his shoulder again, was getting uncomfortably close, a streak of white fur dashing across the sidewalk.

 

He was close enough to see the dog’s face now, twisted into a snarl that sent shivers down his spine. This fur ball was anything but friendly. He should try to dive out of the way right now before it got a good chunk of him in its teeth like it had with Barbie, but he perceived an unspoken challenge in the smoldering fire in its eyes. Carlie smiled in anticipation despite himself. If this creature wanted a fight, it’d get more then it bargained for. Reacting purely on instinct, he elbowed Barbie in stomach, who had been standing next to him, preparing to step into the path of the rabid canine. The unexpected impact sent the girl sprawling, back behind him where it was ‘safe’, or ‘safer’ at least. ”Something tells me you don’t want to dance with this particular puppy Barbie,” he said, a wicked gleam of expectation in his eyes. She may not want to dance, but he did. ’It the dog wants to dance, then I’ll call myself a freaking ballerina and give it a show.’

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

One moment she had been about to reunite with Beatrix, and the next found her sprawled out on the sidewalk, lungs heaving to get even one measly gulp of air. It had all happened so quickly she wasn’t even sure what had knocked her down. She did note the boy’s voice speaking to her somewhere in the back of her mind, but she was too busy trying to breathe after getting the wind knocked out of her to decipher the words. It took a few failed attempts at a breath until a refreshing lungful of air finally reached her lungs. With relief, she took in a few more dizzying gulps of air before sitting up shakily and turning her attention in the direction of the boy. She blinked in surprise and shook her head, trying to make sense of what she saw.

 

In the few seconds she had been sprawled out helplessly on the ground, Beatrix had somehow managed to knock the boy to the ground, and was now standing square on his chest. Not even she could deny the fierce look in the dog’s eyes. Beatrix had the intent of hurting him. Lakshmi’s heart fluttered in panic at the fierce scowl on the dog’s face. It was both concern for the boy’s well being and what had caused her dog to turn animalistic. Something must have scared Beatrix to death to turn into this sort of raging monster. Beatrix wasn’t a mean or aggressive dog. Lakshmi knew that fact with all her heart and more. All Beatrix needed was to be calmed down. She could do that, no problem.

 

”Beatrix,” she called confidently to the dog, hoping to distract it and call it to her side.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Carlie felt the anger swell in his chest along with the pain. The dog had come from nowhere like a bolt of lightening, leaping him and smacking him into the ground. The moment he had made impact and the dog’s weight crashed on his chest, he had heard a distinctive snapping sound that still seemed to resonate hollowly in his ear. He knew the sound by instinct. He had broken his rib once before when he’d gotten in a fight. He recognized both the sound and the pain, and yet, this time around it seemed ten times more painful then it had the first time. He closed his eyes tight and tried to ignore both the pain and the dog, but that was impossible. Both threats twisted around in his muddled mind and made him more disoriented. He had to do something, but what? He no longer had the energy to fling the dog across the sidewalk and bash its skull in. He was pinned and helpless. He just had to hope the dog wasn’t in the mood to rip out jugular.

 

Barbie’s voice cut like a knife through his muddled, panicky thoughts. It snapped him back to reality like a rubber band and he opened his eyes as if a jolt of electricity had just went through his body. ”Are you a complete idiot Barbie?” he gasped, but the words were hardily audible because of the great weight on his chest.

 

‘I think you’re the idiot. After all, you’re the one who wanted to be a ballerina and dance for a dog. Winged horses, Barbies, fairy princesses, and now ballerinas. The world really is going to hell,’ a voice replied to his inaudible statement.

 

Carlie immediately tensed and felt himself stiffen with cold hatred. The disembodied voice was back, and he knew where it was coming from. He turned his eyes to meet the rabid dog still pinning him to the ground. It was still growling, but it had made no lunge yet for his throat, but that was because an intelligent entity was controlling it. The dog was possessed just as he had been. He didn’t bother to speak aloud because that would make him look idiotic. He knew the voice could hear his thoughts. ’A dog. I applaud you. You’ve finally managed to find a body that suits your personality, you dirty mongrel whatever-you-are. Were you listening to my thoughts anyway? Ever heard of privacy?'

 

The dog’s face turned fiercer, but he felt a great weight lifted off his chest as the possessed dog got off him. He took in a painful, gasping breath and shivered at the sudden release of tension. Without the giant dog standing on him, much of the pain was alleviated, but it was still so tremendous he could hardly move. The voice replied tartly to his thought, ‘Privacy is merely a mortal concept that has no real bearing in the fabric of reality.’

 

’Tell me, what does have bearing in the fabric of reality then?’ Carlie replied with mock interest.

 

‘How in the hell would I know?’ the voice replied with venom.

 

’Stop getting all philosophical and stuff then if you don’t even know what you’re talking about slobberbag. Now what do you want? Was the knocking me to the ground and breaking my ribs really necessary?’

 

The dog’s body suddenly relaxed and it let out a bark, completely free of tension. It’s tail wagged and its tongue lolled out to the side, a sparkle of amusement in its doggy eyes. ‘Not really, but it was fun if I must say so myself. Did I mention I find you utterly intolerable and you’re brainless halfwit friend there even worse? I would rip out your throats if I could, but unfortunately I’ve got a job to do. I want you to go back in the park like a good little boy and bring the little wretch along with you. The only reason I unlocked the gate in the first place was so you could drag her along too. I swear, she would stay out here crying all day long if another human or this dog didn’t wander by.’

 

’No freaking way. I’ll do what you want when you are a good little doggy and allow me to put you in a leotard and have you dance a little ballet for me,’ he replied acidly.

 

The dog snarled again and tensed. ‘Be that way. We’ll do this the hard way.’

 

Carlie bit his lip in frustration. He knew what that meant all too well. He shut his eyes and prepared for the strange sensation of another consciousness forcing itself into his body. It wasn’t long before he heard a yelp of surprise from the dog as the thing left its body. It was only a blink of an eye before the thing slid into his, with much more ease then the first time. Carlie couldn’t even lift a finger to fight its takeover. ‘It’s so much more easy to do this the second time then the first. Once I’ve been in a body once, if I ever do it again its as easy as putting on a leotard and pretending to be a ballerina,’ the disembodied voice told him, vindictive pleasure in its tone.

 

The thing completely ignored his injuries and pushed his body up and off the ground. This was the worst sensation in the world, watching something else control him. He watched through his own eyes as the formerly possessed dog whimpered once and then bounded away for freedom. He could hardly blame the mutt after the traumatizing experience of being possessed. The thing then turned his eyes on Barbie and said through his body, “Told you that you didn’t want to dance with that puppy, but anyways, now that that is resolved, I’ve got some friends in the park I’d like you to meet.”

 

Carlie felt anger build inside his chest like a steam engine. No one in that dumb park was his friend.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Lakshmi watched the whole strange episode with a mixture of disbelief and awe. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she watched in numb despondence at Beatrix finally whimpered and ran away as if she’d just seen the devil himself. She almost lurched to her feet to chase after the dog, but wariness about what happened before kept her rooted where she was. Beatrix might run away again and leave her alone, but as long as she stayed with the boy, he would offer her his company and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t run away. She watched silently as the boy pushed himself up off the ground. At his words she gave him a dazzling smile and stood up herself. She was always open to meeting new people, but she had to know something first.

 

”What’s you’re name?” she asked quietly.

 

The boy gave her an impatient, withering look, but she didn’t note it. She wanted to know his name because she had already told him hers, even if he was still calling her Barbie. She didn’t mind him calling her Barbie either for that matter, but she didn’t want to think of him in the context of ‘boy’ forever. “Carlie,” he replied curtly then lurched to his feet. “Are you coming?” he asked.

 

Lakshmi stood up and followed the boy as he trotted over to the gates of the park. He pushed them open and stepped inside without hesitation. Lakshmi smiled in anticipation, ready to meet these new people, and followed closely behind. The moment she was completely inside, the gates swung closed behind her as if of their own accord. She jumped in surprise, but shook her head. It must have been a sudden gust of wind. She turned her attention back to the Carlie, who’s back was turned towards her. He had stopped where he was, when suddenly he swayed and bit and collapsed to the ground.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

The moment the thing left his body, Carlie immediately collapsed. The pain in his ribs was too great to keep himself upright using his own strength. The impact with the ground was jarring and incredibly painful, sending a blinding inferno of pain through his chest. He let out a gasp of surprise, but soon stopped himself from screaming at the agony. He blinked and soon saw Barbie leaning over, question glinting in her eyes. Before she could speak, he rasped out, “I’m fine, but lets just get to those ‘friends’ of mine as quickly as possible.”

 

His face was turned down in disgust. The last thing he wanted to do was to seek help with those group of idiots, but as the pain in his side continued to flare, he knew he might need magical fairy dust to heal himself, and they were the only people in the immediate vicinity with it. If he had any option, he would get out of the park and stagger to the nearest hospital, but he knew the gate would be locked. There would be no second grand escape. Barbie didn’t reply, instead smiling again and lopping her arm around his body, grunting with effort as she pulled him to his feet. He blinked with surprise, but felt a surge of respect as she did.

 

She was both smaller then him and a girl, and yet she was able to lift him. She earned some points for that one. He stood on his feet for a moment, looping his own arm around her body and leaning on her for support. It was awkward to say the least. She was considerably smaller and he was hesitant to put too much of his own weight on her, but eventually they balanced it out. His face was red with embarrassment. This was the lowest of the low, accepting help from anyone, but he wasn’t stupid enough to lie around vulnerable either with this terrible ache in his side. He felt Barbie’s hand wrap around his waist, the sticky blood from her bite wound soaking in with his already dirty shirt. He was mildly surprised, and slightly annoyed by the fact, he didn’t mind her arm around his waist. She was hot after all he supposed.

 

He found that he needed her support way more then he would have liked. With an already injured leg and now the pain in his chest, the going was slow and shaky. Each step felt like climbing Mt. Olympus. Well, if he was going to climb Mt. Olympus, at least Aphrodite would be waiting at the top. He’d always wondered what the goddess of love would look like, most likely attractive. Eventually the carriages came into sight and he immediately felt defiance rise in his chest. He tried to disentangle himself from Barbie so the others wouldn’t see him leaning on her like a crutch, but he didn’t have the strength for it. His heart fell like a stone, but his face became rocky and hard. If he couldn’t stand on his own, at least he wouldn’t let the others see him looking as if he had given up. That in and of itself was a weakness he didn’t have. There was more then one way to prove his strength.

 

He did get some mild amusement from how Barbie’s eyes bulged when she saw the flying horses. Fairy princesses, flying horses, and Barbies. The world really was going to hell. He waited for the others to notice his and Barbie’s sudden appearance.

[Odio]

Greg didn't like to talk, especially with strangers, and even more especially with angry strangers - but enough was enough. The sleeping girl didn't seem to notice his nudge, but he wasn't really concerned. He hadn't wanted to disturb her, anyway. He'd thought they'd be leaving, but it seemed like the girl with the blue-black hair and the dazzling eyes had to have a stand-off with just about every one of them before she would give in. How he loathed people.

 

"Look," he said, his voice practically dripping with condescending patronizing, "would you just give it up already? We don't really have much of a choice here. Get in the cart and be done with it!" Gregor waved his hands around with expressive gestures as he spoke. He was talking to Varianne, of course, the one who seemed to be putting up the most fight. The others had all shuffled in by now, and there were only one or two teenagers left standing around like a couple of hesitant dummies. Just then another pair showed up: a tall boy covered in mud head-to-toe, leaning on a very pretty, very short girl.

 

Greg marveled at the height of the boy. It wasn't often that he met people his age that were as tall as him. It looked like they were of the same height. That was one of the first things he noticed (after all the mud, of course). Then Greg saw the vicious look on the boy's face. It seemed he was injured, since he was leaning on the smaller girl. But it looked like he really mad, too. About what, Greg had no idea. Perhaps the mud? Or maybe he was mad about the injury? Or maybe about this whole, rotten mess they'd all somehow landed in?

 

At the same time Greg was also taking in the shorter girl's appearance. She was very pretty. He really liked the pink and gold in her hair. Normally he would have assumed it was dye, but if she was here, he knew it had to be... the change, or whatever it was that had happened to them all. He noticed the pink sparkling in her eyes, too, and how it perfectly matched her hair.

 

He thought all this in a flash. It was his snap-judgement, his first impression of the two. What he said was simple, simply-put, and sarcastic. "Great." He shook his head, rolled his eyes to the sky, and chewed the inside of his cheek. "More of us." More idiots, he thought to himself, but he didn't say that part out loud.

 

*~*~~~

 

That all happened outside the carriages. Inside the carriages, the more civil introductions continued. Gordon nodded acknowledgement of the guy sitting next to him, as he introduced himself as Mark, but then he shook his head in answer to the questions asked. He knew what he saw, but he couldn't be sure.... He couldn't be sure of anything that had happened today. Was he still dreaming? Had he even woken up this morning? In his head, more flashes of the dream from last night came back to him - the wind stirring the leaves up around him, the eerie laughing from the trees, the snowflake, and the unknowable portents it held.... Then he remembered the weird scratching in the night, and he felt goosebumps on his arms again. He took a deep breath to shake off the weird feelings, and a faint coldness seeped out of him into the air around him. He didn't notice.

 

"You know," he said in reply to Mark and Kathy (or, the unnamed-spikey-haired-girl) "I'm not really sure what happened. I was walking through the park, minding my own business, when I heard some people talking, and it sounded like they might be arguing or something. I walk up, and I see this weird guy with a sword stab her (!), and then a bolt of lightning shoots out and they're both knocked out!" He looked at the two on either side of him, Kathy and Mark, and then gestured across to Breckin. "Light-bright over here saw it, he was there. I don't even know why they were fighting. I'm not even sure I believe what I saw."

[Skarx]

Sophia was awaken by someone pushing her with their feet. She tried to get her thought back together and had to remember she was not under the water nor in the ocean anymore. When her focus came back she say the shedding skin guy. Freaking guy was like a snake and now she was really annoyed and angry. She sat and glared at him.

 

"What... in all hell... are you doing you freaky snake!"

 

She stood glaring at him from below. He was too tall...

 

"Is that a way to wake up someone! With you feet! Where were you raised? A cave!? Are those hand to hard for you to use or is it you don't want to lower your tall self to wake the puny sleeping person!?"

 

She walked pass him, angry and walked into the cart where she saw some new faces. Three new freaks to had to the circus. She noticed that there was another tall guy with a way too pale skin and white hair. Looking a bit more he was wearing some quite colored clothes... it was probably even worst because of his really pale skin. A new girl, which was pretty small and looked like a kid. She wore way to much make up and she looked like her eyes were taking way more room on her face that it actually should. Sophia then turned her annoyed look on the last one... she could not think anything of that guy... was he... glowing?

 

"The heck are these guys now!? Were we not enough freaks that we need to add to this an albinos, a kid with huge eyes AND a walking glowstick!? Gosh! What was you ancestor man!? A light bulb fearie?!"

 

After that she quickly walked to her spot in the corner of the wagon and glared at everyone except for Sen. She was in a bad mood.

Edited March 31, 2010 by Skarx