Maximum Ride |★|

[Water~Wing]

【~ℝＥＧＩ~】

Regulus had been working on his project for the past two hours or so, though most of the time had been spent staring at a blank Microsoft Word screen, wondering. Where would he even begin? What information should he include? What should he leave out? He had decided to leave out any other names for confidentiality’s sake, but was that the best approach? He feared backlash against any of the other experiments – Storm, Damon, Ren, Jinx, even Hiro – but even so, he had no idea where any of them were or where they had gone. He could have just left them out of the story entirely, but then he would intentionally be hiding information from a national government agency. Plus, wouldn’t they ask if there were others involved, anyway?

Once satisfied with his work, the half-lion hybrid first had his document sent to a gmail.com address that he’d created for himself once arriving – it would be ideal to have a digital copy that he could access, just in case. It was interesting – though Regi had no recollection of ever using a computer since being brought to The School over two years ago, the knowledge was still there, from typing to using the Web to sending e-mails and so on. This had always fascinated him; the School had managed to erase only those memories of his personal life from before beginning his experimentation - while keeping everything else intact. Even though this was, in essence, Regi’s first recountable experience using a PC, there was almost no trouble whatsoever. The only challenge he did have was working with an operating system known as Windows 8, something unfamiliar that must have been released some time after his arrival at The School.

After verifying that his file had been received in his email’s inbox – Regi determined that it would be useful to keep an email address for secure document storage – he then had the file sent to one of the public library’s printers so that he could obtain a physical copy. There was a small fee associated with using the library’s printers to print personal documents, though a kind middle-aged gentleman on his way out had been generous enough to donate Regi the required fifty cents. Regi then erased the document itself from the PC and stood up, grateful to be out of his seat.

The chair Regi had been sitting in wasn’t uncomfortable by any means. It was cushioned, lumbar-supported and overall ergonomically effective, though the brightly colored upholstery wasn’t entirely appealing. However, sitting on a concealed tail caused quite a bit of discomfort in Regi’s spine, added to the aches that came with sitting in a confined renovated van for several hours that day. That wasn’t anyone’s fault, however; Regi had no doubt been grateful for the kindness and generosity of the complete strangers that had transported him. In fact, it was possible that otherwise, he could still be lost in Death Valley’s Badwater Basin, or even have been recaptured by The School’s faculty. Still, he mentally griped of the soreness and exhaustion that plagued him; he’d been awake all night and all day up until this point. His tail ached, his ears were cramped, and his face still burned from violently plucking his whiskers that morning. He’d been wearing the same jacket, jeans, and shoes for over twelve hours now, and his hair was in filthy, sweaty knots. The only item that did remain pristine was a midnight-black and white speckled feather, which he had braided into his champagne-colored hair.

The San Francisco Public Library was large on the inside, complete with an ornate glass skylight on the ceiling that lit the central space of the building. Regi quickly paced to the printing area where his document had been sent, ideally before any snoopy eyes had the chance to look over his work. This involved climbing a flight of stairs to reach an upper level, and he had to keep constant surveillance on the hood of his athletic green jacket, being used to conceal his ears. Luckily, the library was relatively empty, and eye contact was made with neither of the two people that passed Regi by on his way to the printing area. The area itself was also empty, and Regulus retrieved his document without further difficulty.

Regi returned to the main floor of the library, manifesto in hand. His intention was to provide it as a statement to the United States FBI, which he was fairly certain maintained a district office in the city of San Francisco. To be sure, however – not to mention the lion hybrid did not have an exact address and did not think to search for that information via the computer – Regi approached a reception desk near the library’s entrance.

Behind the desk sat a young, dark-skinned woman wearing glasses, who appeared to be lost in whatever task she was currently performing. A laminate tag on her blouse indicated that she was an associate named Janice. Regulus hesitated for a moment, hoping that she would notice his presence. When she did not, the lion hybrid calmly interrupted.

“Umm, excuse me? I’m sorry to bother you,” he muttered politely. He kept his head down under his hood, a stance he worried the employee would find rude, though he had no other choice.

Janice, the library associate, snapped out of her concentration and looked up from her computer screen and at Regi through narrow glasses. “Oh! I’m sorry. What can I help you with?” She offered a friendly smile, and her voice and prose were quiet, polite and professional, to be expected of someone in her position.

“Do you know where the FBI Division Office is located?” Regulus replied, trying to sound casual despite a growing anxiety in his chest.

“Absolutely,” Janice spoke immediately, before opening a drawer on the far side of the receptionist’s desk. Regi watched as the woman retrieved a folded, brochure-like paper and then lied it on the desk in front of him. Unfolding the item, which turned out to be a map of the city of San Francisco, she said, “As a matter of fact, it’s only a couple of blocks from here. I think they close around five o’clock?” She used a ballpoint pen to circle the location of the library, before circling the location of Regi’s destination. The FBI division office, labelled on the map as well, was in fact, less than two blocks north of the San Francisco Public Library.

Regi eyed the map for a moment, memorizing the route, before folding the paper to its original stature. “Thank you very much. May I keep this?” Janice nodded with a smile, and Regi turned toward the library’s exit. “Thank you so much for your help!” he repeated, and finally exited the library. He’d glanced at a clock as he walked out – it was about four fifteen. Plenty of time.

[.:Kira:.]

((More to come. I just broke it up to post for Tesla already.))

Ｔｅｓｌａ

Tesla was sick and tired of sitting in her confined room for hours on end. Bored half to death with nothing to do. Luckily her containment area had lots of bars, poles, and pipes running across the walls and ceiling so she taught herself parkour to keep busy.

There was a loud booming sound and the walls shook. She made her landing with a clean stick when the shaking stopped. She stayed crouched on the ground, waiting. Soon there was another boom, this time much louder, breaking several of the pipes and sending a few flying across her containment area. She ducked and jumped, staying clear of the flying shrapnel. The walls creaked and began to give way around her. The wall with the door soon twisted and sent the door flying open. She made a mad dash out the door and into the hall. Alarms were blaring, people were screaming, shouting, and crying, personnel and experiments were equally fleeing about in chaos, and the school was on fire.

Tesla remained calm and darted through the chaotic mass of people, running on the walls and ceiling when needed with the help of her ‘sticky’ fingers and toes. Her tail swished behind her, helping to keep her balance when pushed or shoved by someone. She eventually found an exit and fled from the school not wanting to look back. She ran across the hot desert sand when she heard the final ‘BOOM!’ She stopped briefly and glanced back to see the school in flames, with every wall plummeting to the ground. Smoke stained the sky and flames colored the once pure white clouds to bright orange. She spotted several other people fleeing from the building. Some stood and watched from a distance, the personnel, while other fled to never return, the experiments.

Not wanting to be captured and brought back, Tesla spun on her heels and took off in her own direction, making sure she followed no one, and no one followed her. She didn’t know or care know the school was destroyed, she just whispered a quick “Thank you.” under her breath and kept running.

She had been running for several hours on end, with a few breaks in between, and had finally decided on walking, panting, and wishing for water. She rested in the thin shadows of plant life and the short shadows of rocks. She was almost ready to give up when something glittered on the ground not the far off from her. She thought maybe the heat was finally getting to her. But she decided that she would seek out something and it turn out to be nothing rather than not seek out anything and it actually be something that she missed out on. So she put one tired foot in front of the other and drug her tail in the sand towards the glimmer in the distance.

She couldn’t believe her own two eyes when she arrived at the location. It was a street! No. Better. A highway! A place with traffic, and people, and help! No one seemed to be on the highway and it stretched for several miles in both directions. So she voted for the left, and headed towards the sunset.

[bee]

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Ｃａｓｐｉａｎ
leopard ♛ eighteen ♛ 6'0 ♛ tagged; Dirk
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Off in the distance, there is resistance
Bubbling up and festering
Hey Mr Motion, make me a potion
Shake it all up with your mystery

How come I've never seen your face 'round here
I know every single face 'round here
A man on a mission, changing the vision
I was never welcome here

We don't have a choice to stay
We'd rather die than do it your way

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Caspian's escape from the labs he'd called home was both heart wrenching and physically painful. the explosion that rattled the entire building, setting off alarms and crumbling labs, had more than surprised him. this was a professional, highly-safe place that he'd been told was danger-proof. that was obviously either a lie or a guess. his own room had been blasted through, and he himself had been strutting down a hallway as it happened. the roaring sound was enough to make him cry out and cover his sensitive ears, limbs locking stiff as he crouched down. Caspian's brain didn't find out it was an actual explosion, like, in the movies, until he was racing down the hallway with fire licking at his heels. in those few moments of catfooted running, he resembled more of a panicked cheetah than a leopard. reaching his room, you could probably imagine what happened. something along the lines of 'oh my god there's a hole in my wall' and 'oh my god there's fire in the hallway I better go'. the boy with the feline appendages crawled down the side of the cracking and smoking building, shuffling down the ivy with shaking fingers, his claws clinging to the plant being that it was the only thing between him and the who-knows-how-far drop to the ground. after being aloud his nearly weekly visits outside, Caspian knew his way from here to the next city. but it was very different, in some way, when you were leaving your destroyed home and knowing you wouldn't be able to come back. finding some of the scientists wasn't in mind, they were all focused on getting out of there, too. saving other experiments? unlikely.

though, he didn't have to save one of them. flying away from The School on the wings of a woodpecker of sorts was a red-haired boy, his uneven wing strokes hinting at possible injuries. Caspian's ears pinned to his head as he snuck one last glance at the now aflame structure, then went tearing across the ground, following this bird boy.

in all honesty, it had been one of the most exhausting things Caspian had ever experienced. keeping up with a flying figure, running for hours upon hours while trying not to lose sight of him. he couldn't smell the avian clearly, he was too high up, but the coppery scent of blood trickled its way down to earth and to his superhuman nose. the kid was flying north, straight up to Washington. on foot, from Death Valley to Seattle, the leopard boy thought his feet would fall off. soon enough, though, the redhead dove down into a patch of trees, easily recognized as a cemetery.

Caspian was limping along the line of trees, inching ever closer to where the birdy had landed. if you could call that landing, it looked a little more like the boy had given up life than a touchdown. his dirty blond hair was speckled with grass and in tangles, face smudged with dirt and grime from sleeping on the ground. his white tee shirt was looking quite grey, and the black jacket he adorned was ripped on the sleeves, used as a bandage when he sliced himself on something unmemorable a while back. dark skinny jeans had holes torn into it's knees, and his shoes looked like they'd been beaten with a bat. tired golden eyes slid over the ground, glazed over and almost dead looking. Casp hadn't eaten in a day, but his stomach seemed to have learned that growling got it nothing. it stopped making noise after the leopard boy had seen a mutilated rabbit on the side of the road. how appetizing.

not soon enough, Caspian heard the sounds of faint weeping in the distance. his spotted ears pricked, rosy-cheeked face lifting as he searched the bushes for a body. the tail hidden in his pant leg twitched with sudden excitement. quiet on his feet, he started towards the sound of sobbing. a minute or two later, he finally got a good look at the boy he'd been tracking for miles.

he looked short, shorter than himself certainly. pale skin, thin, and very pitiful as he watched him cry. the avian hybrid had bright red hair, it might have been natural due to his genetics, and adorned a red and white shirt, along with black jeans and combat boots. the kid had this broken look to him, frail and very lonely. and injured, of course. blood painted his figure, along with painfully angled wings and his left arm hanging limply at his side. oh, that was right, he was one of those flock members, wasn't he? the bird-humans that had come in a week or two before the explosion. in fact, this one hadn't been locked up, as the erasers said, he was allowed to walk around freely. a rumor had gone around that he was disloyal to his flock, and was helping to test on them and keep them locked up. his ears flicked as he reminded himself not to completely trust this guy later on. traitor or not, pity for this lonely bird came in gentle waves to the leopard.

Caspian bit his lip, sticking his thumbs in his pockets as he tried to look as mellow and chill as possible. he didn't want to frighten the kid. he looked scared enough as it was. Casp had lowered his hood to reveal his ears, hoping that showing he was a mutant, too, would calm the other boy down. "hey, kid." the words were loud enough to reach the redhead, and etched with concern. 'please, please don't fly away.' he thought, though he doubted this kid would be flying anytime soon. this was like trying to approach a wild bird, making Casp very anxious.

[tavros.]

ᴅɪʀᴋ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴀ
ᴀɢᴇ - 16
ʜᴇɪɢʜᴛ - 5' 9"
#ᴛᴡ: #Cᴀsᴘɪᴀɴ, #ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ, #ᴄʀʏɪɴɢ
#ɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄ ᴅᴇsᴄʀɪᴘᴛɪᴏɴs ᴏғ ᴘᴀɪɴ
#sʟɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴏᴅʏ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ
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His breath caught in his throat as the soft utterance to his right reached his ears and all his muscles locked up. His fingers dug into his already wounded side and tears streamed silently in calm-looking rivulets down his cheeks. His one mobile shoulder tensed and raised slightly as if preparing for an attack, and for all he knew, he was. He couldn't possibly know just how pitiful he looked, but by the way his face was contorting he could take a wild guess. Another loud sob wracked his body as he slowly turned his head to meet the intruder's gaze.

The first thing Dirk noticed about this stranger was that he looked some strange combination of exhausted and concerned. His right arm, still wrapped tightly around his stomach, relaxed just the tiniest bit as, with another moment's scrutiny, he vaguely recognized the face before him. He'd seen this person around the School on occasion, and judging by the smallish rounded ears atop his head, he was a mutant too. But how...?

He cleared his throat and tried futilely to clear his face of tears before he spoke. "H-hello?" Oh god, his voice was so scratchy and unrecognizable; how long had he gone without talking again? A week? More? He couldn't remember, but hearing his voice sound so bad just made him feel increasingly vulnerable. He tried to wrap his wings around himself in some semblance of protection and managed for the most part, but with them right under his nose he could now see how dirty they were, not to mention the substantial injuries attained from his crash landing. God, he hurt everywhere. The wound on his back opened even further as he brought his knees to his chest, and more and more of his shirt—what was left of it—was dyed red. He had burns all over his back, stomach and chest; he felt like he was boiling in his skin, like the skin itself would fall off and turn to ash right there on the ground, but that didn't happen and he just kept on hurting.

He couldn't meet the other's eyes, choosing instead to stare at his feet. His vision was blurry with tears and Dirk tried once again to rub the tears off his face to no avail, his actions only serving to make his face even more red. "What do y-you w-want?" he choked out, blinking hard.

[.:Kira:.]

((To all kids reading this; Don't hitch-hike. It's not a good or safe idea!))

Ｔｅｓｌａ

The sky was beginning to turn bright shades or pinks, purples, oranges, and reds. Even the clouds were tinted with the beautiful colors. But it only made her think of the tainted clouds above the school. She didn't even want to look back to see if she could spot the smoke from the explosion. She kept trekking on, praying that a car would come by. As the colors became more and more vibrant in the sky, Tesla could only imagine a beautiful sunset on a beach. She pictured herself lying on the cool sand, salty water washing up on her feet, and the fur on her tail and ears getting blown around in a nice light breeze. She had never actually been to a beach before, but she could pretend for the moment.

That was when it hit her. If someone was to come to her aid, they would see her tail and ears. She had no way to conceal her animalistic features! She looked around seeing noting to help her but a few pebbles, sand, highway, and more sand. What was she going to do! All she could think was that if someone were to finally show up on the dreaded road, she would have to hid and hope they don’t stop!

Luckily, on her part though, she loved loose-fitting pants, a perfect place to tuck her tail in a pant leg and call it good. Her ears on the other hand… That one would take more creativity. She ripped off a bottom portion of her shirt, making it look more like a stylish crop-top, and used the spare fabric to make a bandanna to conceal her ears. And it somehow all managed to look okay and somewhat stylish.

She continued to walk along the highway towards her disappearing sunset, watching a few stars peak out here and there. It was getting ark and she wondered where she would sleep for the night and what she would eat. She started nodding off every now and again only to wake herself up when she stumbled. It was pitch black out with stars scattering the whole sky. Even the ever famous Milky Way had shown brightly in much detail.

When she was just about ready to call it a night and sleep off to the side of the road, she saw something dark move off in the distance. And it was getting closer. Then she realized the dark figure had light around it. It was a silhouette. Her silhouette. There was a car coming up behind her. She quickly whipped around, wide awake now, and started jumping and waving her arms in the air. Thankfully the car came to a slow and the driver rolled his window down.

He asked if she needed a ride some place. “Any place far from this desert. The beach maybe?” The man gave her a confused look, probably wondering why anyone would want to go to a beach in the middle of the night. “Well, I’m on my way up to the Bay Area. There are some beaches up there.” “Perfect!” She said with no hesitation before a huge yawn escaped her mouth. “Alright. Hold on a sec.” The man started shuffling through his car, making room for her to sit. “Alright. Hop on in. Sorry my car is a mess.”

Tesla walked around to the other side of the car and opened the passenger door. She had never been in a car before, and it was much more comfortable then she imagined. “I’m Lewis by the way. Lewis Keller. What’s your name anyway?” Tesla shifted in her seat, secretly moving her tail to a more comfortable position. “Nice to meet you Lewis. I’m Tesla, But you can call me Tessa if that's easier.” She passed out in the car after that, hopping her driver wasn't a mass murderer or something.

[bee]

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Ｃａｓｐｉａｎ
leopard ♛ eighteen ♛ 6'0 ♛ tagged; Dirk
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Off in the distance, there is resistance
Bubbling up and festering
Hey Mr Motion, make me a potion
Shake it all up with your mystery

How come I've never seen your face 'round here
I know every single face 'round here
A man on a mission, changing the vision
I was never welcome here

We don't have a choice to stay
We'd rather die than do it your way

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Caspian watched as the boy heaved another sob before turning around to face him. now he could see that the other owned a pair of icy blue eyes. raising his hands in the universal sign for no harm, he tried for another step towards the injured avian. the redhead had relaxed a little, his tense correctly functioning shoulder easing down. the other kid swiped at his tears, maybe trying for a not so depressing look. though he didn't mean to, Casp flinched when he heard the other's cracked and scratchy voice. just the sound of it hurt his own throat. it clearly made the terrified mutant boy even more insecure, because his grimy and unclean woodpecker wings wrapped around himself, maybe an instinctive defensive move for the flock. a few of his feathers had been bent or just snapped in half. what, had he landed incorrectly? judging by his scary dive, that might have been the case. legs being brought up to his chest, Caspian spotted the redness of his shirt spreading over the side near his rib cage, and he realized quickly that he must have some pretty serious wounds. the piece of fabric was also scorched and completely eaten through in some areas, red spots on the boy's skin showing off burns. those fluffy rounded ears flattened against his mop of blonde hair, brows furrowing in increasing concern.

Caspian nibbled on his tongue as he thought of what to say, taking two more steps forward, now about two yards away. "I'm Caspian, an escaped experiment from the lab. you look like you're in pretty bad shape, bud. must hurt a lot, those burns? and you're hungry? i've been following you since the explosion, seems like you haven't eaten in a few days. bird hybrids are supposed to have twice the amount of food normal humans eat each day. no wonder you free fell from the sky, huh? you've gotta be exhausted." he offered a gentle smile, a corner of his mouth perking up. "I just want to help you." the poor kid's cheeks were rosy from his crying, his stuttering words causing Caspian to be softer than usual. his natural "snarkiness" didn't reveal itself today.

[tavros.]

ᴅɪʀᴋ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴀ
ᴀɢᴇ - 16
ʜᴇɪɢʜᴛ - 5' 9"
#ᴛᴡ: #Cᴀsᴘɪᴀɴ, #ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ, #ᴄʀʏɪɴɢ
#ɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄ ᴅᴇsᴄʀɪᴘᴛɪᴏɴs ᴏғ ᴘᴀɪɴ
#sʟɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴏᴅʏ ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ
#ᴄᴏᴜɢʜɪɴɢ, #ғᴀɪɴᴛɪɴɢ
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Dirk looked at this 'Caspian' in confusion. This was a lot of information to take in at once. How had he not noticed he was being followed? Sure he'd been concentrating heavily on not dying, still was, but he was looking at the ground for much of that time, and he'd flown over plenty of open spaces and fields. Was he really just that disoriented? How did this guy know so much about his specific brand of mutant? Why would Caspian want to help him in the first place? He had so many questions to ask, so much he was wondering about, but all he could manage to say was, "It wasn't a free fall." Of course, after he said it he realized how idiotic he sounded, but that turned out not to matter too much, as that small sentence was apparently enough to trigger a violent bout of coughing.

His wings twitched away from his body and he fell forward onto his knees, digging his hands into the dry dirt as he hacked and coughed loudly. He could hardly take in a breath between coughs so hard he was practically dry-heaving. Tears streamed down his face all the more vigorously and drool started dripping slowly out of his mouth. He thought for a moment, Wow, I must look all kinds of stupid right now, before heaving another dry, painful, gagging cough. His vision started to go black and his head felt fuzzy, like someone had replaced his eyes with balls of pipe cleaners. His head felt heavy, everything felt heavy, and he didn't even want to try anymore. By this time he'd completely forgotten that Caspian was even there, much less what exactly it was he was staring at as blackness overtook his vision. He fainted with tears still streaming down his cheeks and he fell sideways, thankfully landing on his uninjured arm.

Outwardly, Dirk looked pitiful. His back was still bleeding and his shirt had ridden up due to all the movement of his chest, revealing a cracked burn the width of his own palm and the length of about three of them, starting on his left side and moving to mid-back. His face almost matched the hue of his hair, which had fallen over and covered his now-closed eyes and half of his face. He was curled up in what could almost be called the fetal position, his legs bent and stacked on top of one another and his arms "reaching", in a sense, out in front of him. His holey, charred shirt was slowly being drenched in blood from burn wounds that had reopened on his chest; soon enough it would be fully red, not just the arms.

[bee]

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Ｃａｓｐｉａｎ
leopard ♛ eighteen ♛ 6'0 ♛ tagged; Dirk
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Off in the distance, there is resistance
Bubbling up and festering
Hey Mr Motion, make me a potion
Shake it all up with your mystery

How come I've never seen your face 'round here
I know every single face 'round here
A man on a mission, changing the vision
I was never welcome here

We don't have a choice to stay
We'd rather die than do it your way

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it wasnt a free fall. out of all the things to say, "it wasn't a free fall" was one of them. jeez, what was it then? a plummet? a wish for death? had he passed out mid flight? Caspian bit the inside of his cheek roughly, a soft puff of air through his nose signaling his minor frustration. the irritation was soon to be ripped away when the kid suddenly doubled over and started to cough horribly. the sound was cringe-worthy, and hurt Caspian's sensitive ears, which flicked two or three times in surprise. his tail spiked, the fur prickling his leg. the heart-wrenching scene threw the leopard boy into action, dropping to his knees and reaching forwards to try and steady the mutant he'd been running after for two weeks.

the airless hacking soon resulted in the redhead falling over onto his side, making Caspian yell out in panic. the birdy was...what, dying? what should he do! jesus he wasn't trained for this! he chomped on his tongue hard enough to draw blood, sucking in a sharp gasp with wide eyes as blood started to paint the other boy's shirt. making a quick decision, Caspian wrapped his arm around the splayed-out boy's shoulders, the other hooking under his legs. this would undoubtably irritate his wounds even more, but he couldn't just leave the younger boy here to bleed out.

Caspian's heart hammered in his chest, skin pale as his insides felt like they were being squeezed. dang this redhead. he shouldn't be getting into this mess. he stood slowly, holding the smaller and shockingly very light boy to his chest. traveling with this scrap would be easy. Casp made sure to not touch the injuries, though the blood was already slicking his hands. then, with a string of curses, started off on a half-jog towards a more secure and covered area,

again, imagining this isn't hard. trees, bushes, darkness, more trees, oh look another tree. his eyes had shifted to their more feline form, slitted pupils that mirrored the dim light and allowed him to see a lot better than the average human. the small form bundled up in his arms, breathing faintly (Caspian stopped every once in a while to check his pulse, yes), was more than pitiful now. a resting spot needed to come up soon. praise the lord, he finally stumbled upon a clump of bushes that formed a little cave-like area, a low hanging tree's branches forming the roof and the overgrown shrubs acting as leafy walls. Caspian laid the boy down gently on his back, checking his pulse once again, then gently tapped his face as if expecting him to wake up.

after his defeat of bringing the kid to consciousness, he went to work. Caspian decided to leave the redhead's shirt on, it provided warmth from the cold night, but took off his own jacket and shirt. he, as a test subject, had been altered like the erasers to produce unnatural amounts of body heat. he didn't need those. after casing his jacket off to the side and using his claws to tear apart his shirt into strips, he propped the kid up and started to wind them around his injured abdomen. this wasn't proper treatment, but he couldn't take him to a hospital, could he? "hello yes my bird friend got blown up, heal him please i'll pay you with my nonexistent money." of course, why didn't he think of this before.

after wrapping his makeshift bandages around the chest wound, he realized he should probably soak them with water. Casp left a few strips of shirt cloth outside the sheltered area, judging by the clouds above that it was going to rain soon. (when does it not rain in washington tbh) the shirtless boy heaved a sigh and looked down at the pale figure, who'd been set back carefully against the soft grass. his skin was the color of milk, but he was breathing. that was good. very good, actually. running a bloody hand through his hair, Caspian stood up and paced back and forth, his heart still refusing to slow down.

it was probably near 2:00 in the morning. it was still dark as hell in this forest area. it was freezing cold. even better, rain started to pitter patter down, splashing on his ears and making them twitch in disapproval. Caspian yelled something foul and kicked a tree, making the branches rattle. this was unfair. why was he stuck with the hurt one. why couldn't he get a healed one that would help him pay for food.

glancing back over at the avian boy, hands on his hips, it came to mind that they didn't generate heat. he may or may not be freezing his birdy toosh off. Casp rubbed his temples, contemplating his choices. the best one included snuggling. either snuggling or a dead bird.

Laying down beside the unconscious boy, the shirtless leopard snatched up his jacket, using it as a blanket for the unnamed redhead. then with a stubborn sigh, he wrapped an arm around the small boys waist and rested his head on the soft grass. time for some decent shut eye. and maybe a dead avian hybrid in the morning. he fell asleep listening to the rain coming down gently, ears still swiveling and flicking as he slept.

[grim.]

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▬▬▬ ♏ ▬▬▬

【ΛＤＡＭ】
【ÐＡＲＫＯ】

tags: ren, athena, hiro.
mentioned: the flock.
crush: none.
species: black mamba.
power: see, feel, read, sense souls.
ooc: ipod post.

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“Ꮤｏｕｌｄｎ’ｔ ｉｔ ｂｅ ｎｉｃｅ ｔｏ ｈａｖｅ ａ ｓｔｒｏｎｇ ｍｉｎｄ,
ｏｎｅ ｔｈａｔ ｃａｎ ｇｅｔ ｒｉｄ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｆｅａｒ ｙｏｕ ｆｅｅｌ?”

haloIt was only natural the other boy would reach for a light switch, it seemed to be instinct though I didn't expect the light to actually work considering the conditions of the cabin. Against the odds though the light flickered to life filling the room with dim, dusty light. Huh. I screwed my eyes against the light, that despite being so dingy stilly managed to sting my eyes- and instead turned them to focus on a shadow between my feet. The cigarette raised to my lips and I inhaled, releasing another wispy white cloud to curl through my shaggy black bangs. The souls were all closer now, everything in them becoming clearer to me as well. Vladimir's soul making a beeline for the tree line, the relief flooding through it brought a smirk to my lips. His sister's grew extremely close to his, probably embracing him in a hug, though a comment from Ren seemed to have soured it and a rush of anger flooded through her and her voice faintly hit my eardrums as she retaliated with something I didn't catch but was probably violent. Definitely violent from the way Ren began to answer her. For a few minutes pain had been running hot through his soul, a bad memory triggered by something about the Russian girl but it was quickly washed away in his own anger. His voice colder than splintering ice as he commented about having lost enough already and losing his wings wouldn't matter. I almost scoffed at that, surely if the Russian girl were to tear those wings from his body they would be surely missed and the agony would be nigh unbearable. But his voice had broken off at my greeting and he greeted me much in the same manner I would have greeted a stranger before I had gained my power, and with it knowledge it wouldn't otherwise have. My gray-black orbs shifted from the shadow to the hybrid, taking in tensed muscles and wide green eyes. Clearly he had not been expecting me and my presence had come as a surprise to him, anger spikes within him and had he been any closer he would no doubt have been throwing a punch towards me, though his fingers twitched towards his belt and I realized he was reaching for a weapon he clearly didn't have.

haloAdrenaline was surfing through the other boy, coursing through his soul at a rapid pace, though even without my ability I would have been able to pick out his accelerated heartbeat. Ever since having my DNA fused with a snake my senses had becomes heightened, though it wasn't my hearing per se. It was more like I could feel the vibrations in the ground, like a snake would. "Who the hell am I?" I mused, taking another casual drag of my smoke, flicking my thumb to dispel the ashes building up on the end. Questions were running through the soul now, suspicion, distrust, but also things that he was trying to bury and not admit to himself. Two other souls were drawing closer now, the little boy Hiro and the falcon Athena. The young boy had a chill hanging about his soul and a curiosity about him as he brought himself close to the cabin doorway to catch a glimpse of the stranger who had so easily managed to startle his leader. He was shifting closer, peering over the shoulder of the older Ren. His first glance of me sent two conflict ions running through him, distrust and something that bordered on liking me. A cold smirk tugged at my lips but it fell away just as quickly. It was unfortunate such a young boy had become tangled in a mess like this, he was no older than seven but I could still feel the bird as well as the powers that lurked within his soul. Weather changing. Interesting. I noted it quietly before my attention was shifting to the girl Athena. Fear had been running in her as she realized that her friend had stumbled across something he hasn't intended to, a stranger he didn't know but who knew every one of them by name. A tiny soul was tucked away against the girl's chest, a kitten. I hadn't noticed it before, too small to be recognized but the protectiveness of the girl suddenly made sense to me as I discovered it. I gazed at her steadily as she peered at me, though her attention quickly shifted to their younger companion. Fear? She feared talking to such a young boy. How funny. I had spent enough time observing though, now was time for conversation.

halo"Surprised?" I chuckled, a faint hiss clinging to my s's as I spoke. "I know everything about you. Renni, raven hybrid with the power of fire resistance(?)." My gaze shifted. "Athena, peregrine falcon with the power of invisibility. That kitten is your only reminder of your friend Jinx. Hiro, scarlet macaw with the ability to changed the weather however you please within a certain radius of yourself." Another drag, the glowing ember of the smoke lighting my pale face briefly. "Vlad and Rayvn, blue jay and black swam with the abilities of hydrokinesis and cryokinesis. Storm, wolf, with no power. Damon, gray wolf(?). Carisa, a combination wolf and harpy eagle. They're both erasers. All of you are coming from Death Valley, escaping the experimental facility with the assistance of an explosion. Most of you were friends with Jinx, a cat girl who was killed. Vlad and Rayvn are strangers to you and you don't trust them, even though they have intention to harm you and are just like the rest of you." Taking a final drag I dropped the finished cigarette, crushing it under my heavy boot, jerking my thumb towards myself. "Adam Darko, black mamba with the ability to see and read souls. They give me all the information I could possibly need about anybody." Now I was pushing myself off the ground to my feet, not wanting to be sitting in case Ren started throwing punches, offering him my same cold smirk and crossing my arms over my chest.

[bee]

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Ｒｅｎｎｉ
raven ♛ eighteen ♛ 6'1♛ tagged; flock & Adam♛ intrigued
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I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us

And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it's hard to find
Oh well, whatever, never mind

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the clear complete relaxed stance of this boy both gave him a sense of unease, and interested him. he knew what he was doing, when he should be here, and how to present himself. away from the door, at least. and the kid stayed calm and collected, despite being outnumbered if this had come to bloodshed. yet...something told Renni that he wasn't at all outnumbered. the brilliance in those dark eyes would easily surpass those of the tired, completely worn teenagers. he was reading something off the bird kids, there was no doubt about it. his shadow gaze slid slowly over each and every person behind Ren, and the raven could practically see the gears turning and shifting and calculating things. he would take a casual drag from his recently noticed smoke, puffing it back out in a white cloud and filling the room with the musky and acrid smell, overpowering anything else that would have been picked up in the small cabin. not being around smokers very much, he'd never been stuck with someone who did breathe out smoke like an angry dragon, so Ren had never grown to hate it. and seeing the new boy doing it so tranquilly, it didn't really offset him.

Renni's heart slowed, fingers uncurling. regaining his composure as this stranger seemingly judged each and every member of the flock. finally, he spoke up. he chuckled, as if amused by Ren's anger. the slurring of his s's reminding the raven boy of some sort of snake. that was it, what his fangs resembled. a snake. but even odder, he started rattling off who everyone was.

himself being a raven hybrid, Athena a peregrine falcon with her disappearing act, the place of the fluffball in her shirt. hiro, a macaw that could tamper with the weather around him. another drag that lit up his dimly lit face, the ambers casting a gentle glowing orange that sparked in his eyes. then off to naming the others, Vlad and Ravyn and the other's distrust towards them. blue jay and black swan. Storm, Damon, and Carisa's descriptions. and then that they had all escaped the experimental facility in Death Valley after the explosion. mentioning Jinx, though, took it far. it was intrusive to, however he had learned this, to search through his friends, even those who were deceased. the overly sensitive topic made Ren's green eyes narrow, turning to gem-colored ice. he didn't have the right to note her. he didn't have the right to know about her. the dark haired boy dropped his cigarette, placing it under his boot, and finally introduced himself.

Adam Darko. the words rolled off his tongue with ease, no concern lacing his tone or an icy poison dripping from the sound. he was a black mamba, adorning those scarily nice pair of white fangs, and could read and see souls. so he supposedly could see their thoughts, previous actions, names, powers, species, and basically everything else within them. what an interesting boy. lies were fun to tell, but this was stretching it.

the anger had faded into an irritated yet intrigued state, he didn't like that this Adam kid knew everything about them. past actions, particularly. he had to have been working with the school. they gave him information on the group, maybe had him following and inspecting their every mood. how peculiar that he'd try to pull off reading their spirits like some sort of religious figure.

and then he stood, getting to his feet for possibly his own protection. Ren was a little unpredictable sometimes, but throwing punches at Darko wasn't on his to do list. the boy knew that he had access to a lot of information, and liked being a smarty about it. that made Ren want to punch him maybe in the future, when he taunted him with his knowledge. but not now. Finally, as a finale to his introduction that had been less then friendly, he offered one of the slyest, smuggest smirks that Ren had ever seen. and if it wasn't captivating, Ren didn't know what it was. another thought he didn't want to have coursing around his mind right now. a sly ass teenage boy should be getting on his nerves, he should be weary and rude to him. So Ren bit the inside of his cheek, letting his thumbs hook back into his belt loops. he quirked a dark brow, letting a brief silence pass between the two of them before talking again.

"well good, we don't have to go through the list of who's in our little group now. you've already intruded on our personal information." mock friendliness tied in with his voice. he shifted his weight, sticking his tongue in his cheek as he furrowed his brows. "honestly, kid, reading souls? you've gotta be kidding me." a snort followed the harsh words. "how much did the school tell you about us. how long have you been following."