Caged

Status
Not open for further replies.
Icystorm

Icystorm

Love yourself to death
Original poster
DONATING MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. One post per week
  3. Slow As Molasses
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
A little bit of everything so long as I can fit one of my existing characters into the RP
You stand staring at a metal door. The pale gray is littered with stains of rust gives a feeling of depression. Now that you think about it the whole place has a depressing feel to it. A blindfold had been secured tightly over your eyes so nothing could be seen as you were led down a labyrinth of hallways, but now that it has been taken off you can see the walls out of the corner of your eyes. They are not much better off than the door. The walls, made out of gray and brown stone, are also stained. The stains are a rust color, but you have a feeling it is not rust that has stained the walls. You quickly note this in your mind and a firm had shoves you through the now open door. The sound of the door closing rings through your ears but you are too shocked to turn and look. What lays in front of you is not something that you would have considered being behind the discolored door and blood smeared walls.

An open clearing surrounded by forest lay in front of you. Trees, bushes, and other foliage are growing in a room surrounding by stone. Parts of the ceiling are letting in bits of sunshine. The clearing and some of the forest are lit up, while other spots are shrouded in darkness. You see a girl staring at you from the root of a tree. She is a little ways into the forest and much of her body is blocked by green. Looking a little to the right a boy, farther into the forest than the girl and almost in the shadows, is sitting with his head down. The girl moves and blocks your view of the boy. To the left, in the middle of clearing sits another boy. He gives you an awkward smile and waves. Another boy is laying on his back in the dirt, next to the awkward boy.
It is time for you to introduce yourself and find out what is going on. You have seen four people, and it is your choice who to introduce yourself to.
 
Harley, taking stilted steps forward, is at a loss. The setup seemed surreal, liquid and less than reliable. A mirage, if anything. The grass and sun are a harsh contrast to fluorescent bulbs and hard flooring. Not an unwelcome change, but drastic nonetheless. It's off-putting. Unexpected.

In a slight haze of confusion and anxiety, he approaches the two in the field in an attempt at returning social niceties and making some form of introduction. He hesitates, for a moment.

"... Hi. I would be Harley."
 
Zoey began to walk toward the awkward boy. As she did she took in all the sights she could of the forest. Finally without realizing it she stopped in front of the boy. She hesitated for a moment but decided she might as well introduce herself. "...Hi... I'm Zoey."
 
The awkward boy stood up, the smile still plastered on his face. It had been awhile since there had been newcomers. He had to admit to himself that things had been getting pretty boring. New faces and new stories might be a welcoming change, although by how recent conversations had been going he may not get the chance to hear their stories. "Hello Harley. Hello Zoey. You can call me Spencer. That is Middle English for 'dispenser of provisions'." Realizing that they might not care what his name means he lifted his arm and rubbed the back of his head. The lifting of his arm revealed feathers sprouting in random areas down his arm. "This here-" He tapped his foot against the boy on the ground. "-is Tafari. His name means 'he who inspires awe'." As Tafari stood up it was easy to see that he lived up to his name. He was of African decent and wore now shirt. As he brushed the dirt away it was easy to see the strength of him. He could intimidate the largest opponent, even though he was not overly large himself. Scale covered scutes lined his knuckles and eyebrows. They also trailed down his back. "He can't speak English that well." Spencer explained.
 
Harley fumbled for what to say temporarily, before mirroring with a "From the hare's fie-" that stopped, mid-sentence, as his gaze moved back and forth between Spencer and Tafari, quickly enough to make his braid shift from side to side. "I. Wait no, hang on. Christ, the scales. What the hell is going on here?" he managed to force out. Although his voice had raised a fair amount and was obviously shaky, he would never own up to the fright out loud. The adrenaline that ran through him down the blindfolded hallway trip had swung back full force and then some, and he wound up scratching at his arm instinctively.
 
Zoey looked at the others. She noticed the feathers and blinked. 'Maybe I imagined it?' She looked at the other boy and then when she heard Harley ask about what was going on. She decided to speak. "Yeah I was wondering the same thing. Oh and nice to meet you two."
 
Spencer moved his arm to his side and gave a nervous laugh. "I am wondering the same thing. My confusion is different from the two or your's though. This is the first time the scientists have put two people in this room on the same day, yet alone the same time. It is a big change from the usual routine. Not to mention it has been awhile since a new face has shown up." Spencer looked both of them up and down. The new guy seemed awfully twitchy. Could hardly blame him though. As for the girl..well there was only one other girl here and by how she acted he had no chance of gaining her interest. Seems like he would get a second chance, he only had to figure out what type of guys she was interested in. He pushed the glances back up his nose as they had a tendency to fall down and prepared to give strange, and in the long run, unhelpful news. "Every one here has been in the same position as you. Tafari was the first to be put in this room, although he won't talk about it. All I know is a couple years later I came, a few months ago Sean, then Amoret a couple weeks after, and now the two of you. All we know is we have had something done to us that has changed us. The scales and feathers are a good example. I can't tell you why or how, only that it is what it is."
 
Harley, still clawing at his arm, spoke hesitantly and more to himself than anything. "One could take it that the additions are... speeding up, then. A deadline to be met, possibly. Fuck, this is a mess." He looked around the room again, at who was presumably Amoret, who in turn was presumably hiding Sean, and generally zoned out for a few moments to process what was happening. He started to speak again abruptly, as though the question ran through automatically "For communication purposes, 'not speaking English that well' is pretty vague. I don't want to talk through you, or ignore him. Can you offer anything more precise?".
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Zoey listened to Spencer carefully. She then began to scratch her head. 'Hmm...' She looked at Harley and thought about what he said. She then spoke up. "Maybe Harley is right a dead line perhaps is why they have speed things up and sent the two of us in here at once. But I am at a loss of what else it could be that is going on or happened to us." She then took her hand off her head and looked at them curious.
 
A deadline? That was a good thought. If what Tafari told his was true then this has been going on for at least three years. The scientists had to be getting close to their goal. "I can't say I want to know what happens once that dead lines comes around. I am not fully happy being here but I have gotten used to having a daily routine." Spencer looked around at the trees. They had been the same since he got here. None of them had died, got cut down, no new ones have started growing. The same with the water. There was a small stream farther back and it was always clear. Out of boredom one day he had threw a bunch of dirt into it and before he knew it the dirt was gone, almost like it was filtered. Maybe it was time to listen to Tafari. If change was going to happen it best be on their terms. Looking back at Harley and answering his question he spoke. "Tafari can understand everything we say. It is mainly speaking he can't do, like putting words into sentences. He may know what they mean, just not where to put them in a sentence." Spencer turned to Tafari. "Why don't you tell them what we were talking about a few minutes ago. It is sounding like a good idea and with more heads we are bound to think of something."

Tafari smiled at Spencer's words. He had been trying to convince his friend for awhile now and it was good he was finally seeing reason. "Need escape. Bad place. Plan?" There was not much that had not already been tried but maybe one of these newcomers could shed some light and keep the light shining. Light had been shown once before but it did not take long to be shrouded back into darkness, a hell of sorts. His eyes darkened at the thought. Spencer had tried to figure out what had happened before but he did not need to know the past. Tafari would make sure it would not happen again. The only thing that mattered now was that everyone escaped from this place.
 
Harley, appearing to relax slightly, started to think. An escape, a plan, well... there weren't any other options, and this place is nothing but dangerous; his worsening vision the clearest indicator thereof that he knew. And it seems Tafari had been thinking a fair bit about it before, which was reassuring. "Good to know, and we definitely need some form of organization to pull something like that off. But the two of us are a little behind with the state of things - do either of you know of anything that may serve as a chink in the armour of this facility, so to speak? For that matter, would Amoret or Sean be aware of something that might work as a base for a plan? Grief, Zoey and I haven't even met them, but it'd be good to get everyone on the same page about this."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Icystorm
Zoey thought about it relaxing a bit. 'A plan to escape hu...' She looked at where she had entered then back at the others. "I have an idea but I don't know how good it would work. Um... And Amoret or Sean might have a better plan but... Maybe if we had a map? A map of this place would be a good start I think. But I'm not sure how or if we could get one. Have any of you seen the outside of this room?" Zoey shrugged with a small smile and then she looked at the floor not sure if her idea was any good. "And it would be good to discuss this with everyone. Just so were on the same page and no what may be good ideas and bad ideas so we can devise a plan."
 
Spencer bit his lip as he thought. A chink in this place was hard to come by. The room had no way of escape except for the door, the guards were armed, and someone only came in if violence broke out or someone was very sick. He had also noticed the guards never opened the door if Tafari was near. That never stopped his friend from always being ready to attack though. "Bloodshed and sickness is the only way to bring someone in. Other than that I can't think of a way to escape. The door is the only option we seem to have. If we ever get out of this room Amoret can help us stay clear of the guards. The experiments have made it so she can sense when other people are near." Yeah, all they had to do was get out. Once they did that they could avoid the guards, but for how long? He liked Zoey's map idea. That would be one thing to look out for. As for Sean and Amoret.. "I doubt those two forest dwellers have a plan. Sean has not said a kind word to anyone since he got here and Amoret rarely leaves his side. Not sure why she hangs around him." he grumbled. "I think you should tell us your plan first and then we can go talk to them, well talk to Amoret at least.

A man in his early to mid twenties narrowed his eyes as he left a room that was full of guards. He had been performing magic for the excited group as he was the only excitement they got around this place. Not that he minded. He never liked to miss out on a chance to wow an audience, even if they had seen most of the tricks more than once, it was just that the routine was getting boring. The magic was also a way to keep him on the good side of the guards. Hell, he could get away with almost anything and it would be swept under the rug. Maybe it was time to perform a little mischief and create a new show. His golden eyes swept over the maze of passageways. He had a feeling that his boredom would be gone before long, but first he needed a quick nap.
 
Harley took to kneading his temples, and spoke more steadily than before. "Well...faking a fight and injury convincingly could get us out the door then, and Amoret would be invaluable in evading guards if she's willing...but there might not be enough time or luck to reach the exit. Zoey's right - a map would be fucking beautiful right now, what with the blindfolds they pinned on us. The only real sense of navigation we already have boils down to any heightened senses: memory, hearing, smell, something. Unless Zoe ha- sorry, Zoey has something solid it might be good to consult with Amoret about things right about now. Even if Amoret doesn't have a plan, she could have information we don't."
 
Zoey gave the two boys a small smile hearing that her idea might help. She put her right hand to her chin and thought. "Well a distraction like the injury would be good to get us out the door or at least one of us... Do they ever take anyone who is sick or injured out of this room? If so then maybe one of us could fake being sick or injured and if we see a map or have time that the guard is distracted we should make that the chance to get our hands on one. And if one of the others do know something we don't that would help. And maybe together with what we do know and think we need we could devise a plan of escape." She then put her hand back by her side. "And if anyone else has an idea your more than welcome to share."
 
Amoret, who had moved to the edge of the forest closest to the group had been listening to the conversation. She was normally not one to intrude on other's business but it felt important so decided it would be ok to listen in just once. They were planning an escape and she would help them out the best she could. It was not as helpful as she would like but she did have some information. With her eyes cast to the ground she approached the group and cleared her throat. "I don't want to interrupt but I think I can help a little bit. Sean has been sick but is getting better now. No one ever came to check on him so maybe they did not care or he was not sick enough. I know it does not help much but-" She stopped mid-sentence not sure if there was anything else to say so cast a few quick glances up from her lowered eyes.
 
Zoey looked at the girl and smiled. She listened closely and saw that there was indeed a chance for her idea to work. Then soon the girl seemed to stop. "Go on. I think your idea may help." She smiled hooping to encourage the other girl.
 
"If they did not check on him-" Amoret continued, still a bit uncertain of herself. "-then maybe they stopped caring. We are experiments so anything that happens now could be a test. That means they would not come if one of us got sick or if a fight broke out. We would be just failed experiments." She shuffled her feet and looked around at the ground nervously. Her foot did not press hard enough to tear the grass when she had moved her feet. "I hope that is not the case." She murmured before falling silent.
 
Zoey thought on this. 'Umm...' She then looked at the door and thought back to earlier. "Well even if we are experiments they don't have many of us." She said finally then looked back at everyone before continuing. "So it's possible that they still care they were just unsure that he was sick enough for a need to come an check on him. Maybe they thought what he got was a normal sickness as a side effect?" She then gave Amoret a smile. "Thanks for telling me all of your thoughts that tells me this might not be as simple as I first thought. And I hope your right that it's not the case." She paused thinking if another idea would come to mind but she had none. Zoey then sighed but looked at the other two. "Well it sounds like my idea might or might not work so we might want a plan B just in case. Any ideas?"
 
  • Like
Reactions: Icystorm
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back