Experiments Unleashed

A

AlythePear

Guest
Original poster
Francesca sat in her small home in which she and her mother only inhabited. With a great sigh, she stared down at the dull hunting knife in her hands. "Miss, you, dad." she spoke to the blade as though her father possessed it. She then stood and placed her deceased father's old weapon onto the flimsy display that held it up on the wall. It was nearing dawn which meant it was time to go out and hunt or be hunted.

Francesca entered her room and began to remove her pajamas to replace them with her hunting clothes. This consisted of dark brown pants that hugged her legs but not so tightly that she couldn't move, they were stretchy enough for her needed flexibility. These bottoms were paired with an equally as tight shirt the color of the dark tree leaves. Unlike the others, Francesca had light hair,which is no good for hiding from creatures; she was forced to put it into a messy, unkempt braid of sorts that was intertwined with green and brown ribbons that masked the bright color of her blonde locks.

With one last glance at the mirror, Francesca headed into the damp morning air. On her way to the village barriers, she was distracted by something. She had the odd and unnerving feeling that somebody was watching her...
 
Galen snuffed out his candle with a quick pinch of his fingers, then leaned back and rubbed his forehead, exhausted. He'd been unable to sleep well last night, and had eventually gotten up to examine his medicine stores and take inventory. It seemed as though he never had enough of anything these days, but the amount of time he could spend in the forest was severely limited, and his garden of basic plants was small and required more time than he could usually give it.

He shook his head slightly. No need to cry over that. He had about an hour before anyone could reasonably be expected to get hurt, enough time to find a little arnica or horsetail. He reached down, pulling on a pair of boots and flattening down his rumpled shirt, and then made his way out the door, checking to make sure his knife was on his belt. Though he wouldn't be straying far from the village, one could never be too safe.

He had barely stepped outside of his hut when he saw one of the hunters moving out as well. He hesitated for a moment- he'd been scolded before for leaving without an escort- before stepping into plain sight, shrugging mentally. He had a weapon with him, and he would barely go on the edge of the forest, not nearly far enough to run into trouble.
 
Finally waking up, Kolyat felt a headache falling over him like an anvil over one of those funny cartoons of the early 60's. Feeling the air around him lighter than usual, he got to wonder where was the thick atmosphere he was usually surrounded by. No swearing, no radio noises, no other soldiers playing poker out loud neither those annoying blips of the scientist labs... Maybe he died?

Not a chance, there is no headaches in heaven, that's for sure, and for his sins, that was too good for being hell. Opening his eyes and sitting over the bed, he realized he was still alive. Oh, yeah, so lucky I'm not dead yet.... Thought him for himself. Now was time to figure out where he was and where his things were, and then get out of there as fast as possible. Anyone with the slightest conspiracy theories in his head would realize Kolyat was way too suspicious to be just someone who stumbled in the wrong area of the woods.

Making his way put of the room, he managed to get out of that building without being noticed, but what was his surprise when he realized he was in a village, and by the looks of it, a pretty populated one. "Well, too much for that...."
 
Ted woke in his room. The house he had started to occupy in the village was newly constructed and he had it all to himself, so far. He stretched and remembered he had a job to do now... Helping others by going out into the wilderness and finding the plants and such that could help them continue to survive. With a sigh that most give when they first wake up and wish they could keep sleeping, he gets out of bed and gets dressed. He puts on his one pair of jeans he's had since all this started and his hiking boots. He pulled on one of his shirts and zipped up the hoodie over it. He choose his Luna shirt for today, as it was his favorite that had survived. He grabbed his butterfly knife off the stand next to him and spun it around a few times, getting some practice in before heading out.

As Ted left his home, he grabbed his old, beaten-up backpack and threw it over his shoulder. It had everything he'd need to hold what he found without it getting all over the place. He saw a few people up and out already, including one of the hunters, he could tell by her outfit. She was a pretty one, but he had just got there and knew his chances would be slim, especially since he was sure she was already taken. Oh well, plenty of fish in the pond... Although they seemed to be disappearing fast. He made his way to the village barriers as well, ready to start his new life.
 
Francesca realized that it was just other people awaking and getting ready for work. She was always jumpy at this time of day, maybe from lack of sleep due to night terrors about her father, but it was also the fact that there was a strange man in the village who could make for a very large threat. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she continued walking, rolling her sleeves up. She stopped next to Cedric's enclosure near the edge of the village, petting his thick black fur carefully.

"Hi, sweetness." Cedric almost purred as she spoke, his cat-like features present. With a giggle at his reaction, she continued to speak as though he would respond. "Ready to go hunting, love?" She unlocked his cage and walked in, mounting his back. He was a dangerous beast to ride, others thought, but to her he was just a big baby. He had a certain softness towards her and was very nice protection against other creatures, especially because he was adolescent, strong.

Francesca lead him with her verbal commands out of his stall. She picked her bow and arrows from a stand just outside of his enclosure and lead him verbally out of the village. With a deep breath of fresh air, Francesca moved forth into the endless foliage. She noticed a gatherer headed out just a few feet away from her as well as a man who she recognized as a healer. "He's probably just collecting herbs and roots to restock his medicine cabinets." she thought to herself. Either way, she was leaving to hunt for the good of the community and had no time to spare. The good game would be gone if she wasted her time worrying about completely capable people's actions.
 
Ted turned to see what the heavy footfalls he heard behind him was, and blanched at the Creature. He had been told they had a young tamed one in the camp, but seeing up close still shot a bit of terror down his spine. He relived his town's destruction all over again in the few seconds he stood there stunned, but shook it off. This was tame... Right? So, no need to worry. He turned back the way he was heading and walked up to the edge of the forest.

As he entered, he breathed in deeply, letting the smells of the earth waft into his nostrils. It always smelled so wonderful out here, away from civilization. He had always enjoyed the times he went out camping with his father, looking over the books and learning what plants were good to each and which would kill him in seconds. It really paid off, and the books he had managed to escape home with helped as well. He moved a bit further in before he began to forage, knowing most of the stuff would be stripped clean this close to the village. He played with his knife while moving, and would stop every-so-often to make a little mark and maybe set up a snare trap. He may be a forager, but it never hurt to catch some animals before heading in, as well. He kept moving deeper into the forest.
 
Robin woke up with his hand asleep, having slept on it. As he tried to get the feeling to come back his checked around the little home he lived in, to find his mother was already long gone to work. A healer, she often just slept over night with the injured and sickly, which worried him. He knew years and years of the work had made her pretty resilient, but she was the only family he had so he couldn't help but get nervous.
He slipped on a shirt as he walked outside, seeing who was out and about in the early morning. Mainly hunters, slipping into the woods. Robin figured later when the families were up, he'd watch the kids as he usually did. As much as he enjoyed them, and the thanks of their parents, thinking about it made him sigh. Babysitting wasn't the most manly or honorable thing a boy could be doing. It wasn't even the teasing he got that bugged him so much as it was the fact he was hardly living up to his father's legacy.
With time to spare, Robin decided to job around the village. After a while, he stopped at a tree with low branches. Low enough for him to do pull-ups. He wasn't very good at them, he could only do a few before having to stop and rest. It frustrated him to no end how scrawny he was.
 
The village barrier was coming into view and Cailyn felt a surge of hope and relief. It was early morning, many hunters have already passed by, ready to start their hunt of the day but not without noticing Cailyn, one of the most revered captains approaching toward the village from the forest. She wasn't alone this time. One of the warriors that accompanied her on a scouting mission had been brutally injured. The creature had slashed the side of Cailyn's comrade, luckily, the only wound he received. She had his arm wrapped around her neck, supporting most of his weight and the other arm tight around the side of his stomach, trying to stop the gash from bleeding any further. Despite her small figure and height, her strength was incredible to behold. She was carrying a wounded man, twice her size and with that, carrying him from such a long distance in a very quick pace.
"Please, move aside!" Cailyn shouted with a stern voice. The hunters did as she requested, not before long when another obstacle was coming into view. She looked ahead to see who was approaching and saw that it was Francesca, riding quickly on her creature. "Francesca, we have a man wounded!" Just as Cailyn had informed her, her comrade slumped even more on her shoulder, groaning in pain. Grabbing tighter on his side she lifted him up so he could stand on his feet again, while making sure they were both balanced. She glanced at him and realized he was getting weaker and weaker. Getting to one of the healers on foot wasn't fast enough and she needed something quick to carry him to the closest one in the village. "Hang on tight," Cailyn calmly said as he looked up at her, seeing the hope in his eyes burning out, "I will have Francesca carry you to a healer." Looking up again, Cailyn spoke out in a commanding voice, "Francesca, please carry this man to the closest healer as quickly as possible."
 
At the distance it could be seen some commotion caused by some injured guy who wasn't in his lucky day out of the safety of the village. Taking advantage of all the awe could be useful to sneak out of that place before anyone began to question him, but going out there without any weapons didn't sounded like a nice idea. Besides, he really needed those codes he was traveling with back before he was attacked.

Wandering around, trying to stay as unnoticed as possible, he realized whoever was in charge of this whole place should know where his belongings where, and with enough luck, maybe no one knew enough Russian to know where those files came from. In fact, he was surprised he didn't woke up in a cell. Trying to get his thoughts together, Kolyat noticed a slack boy by a tree, desperately trying to get over his pull-ups record, which was really few. "Hey, you there. 'дитя'. Where can I find the..." He hesitated trying to find the word in English. "Whoever is in charge." Said him finally, unable to find the word.
 
Trying one last time, Robin gave up with a loud sigh, and let go of the tree with his blistered hands. With his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath his looked up a the guy who had just approached him. It was no one he knew, so immediately he realized he wasn't part of the village. And when you live in a tiny village with no close neighboring villages, you know everyone. He straightened his posture, apprehensive to talk to the stranger.
"We don't really have just one person in charge," Robin shrugged, "I mean the older people of the village sometimes get together and vote on things but..." His words stopped and he just sort of stared with his lip hanging. "Are you alright? People don't really wander in here- are you hurt? Who are you?" Questions flooded Robin's mind and poured out his mouth.
 
Mmmm... Guess choosing someone so young wasn't a great idea... Thought Kolyat. "Черт возьми..." Mumbled him as he turned around and kept walking, completely ignoring Robin. So, a village without a leader? Kolyat couldn't really imagine something like that actually working but, of course, he came from the military branch so anything outside ranks, it didn't worked for him.

Resenting from a wound, he flinched lightly and walked a few more meters before having to seat in one random bench that happened to be there. Taking a deep breath, Kolyat realized his wounds were as serious as the situation that caused them, but the reminder of it only made him chuckle. What a crazy night... Thought him leaning back.
 
Francesca's eyes widened at the sight of the injured man. Quickly, she jumped off of Cedric who sat loyally next to her upon her dismounting him. "What happened?" Francesca nearly shouted. Her brow was furrowed as she worked to help the man with no name up onto Cedric's back. Things like this hadn't happened too often in this village, maybe once or twice every 6 months. Francesca fumed. They could not stand to thin their population any further; people were already dropping from wild diseases and with a shortage on medicine and first aid, this was not something Francesca was happy to see. A lot of people respected her because she was so very wise at such a young age and her father was a VERY respected man in their society. Quite a bit of village responsibilities fell to her, and people tended to come to her when things like this occurred, whether it was for her ginormous transportation device known as Cedric or for her advice. This is why she was so intensely angered; a lot of the blame would fall to her. The man was pale and nearing unconsciousness. "Well?" she snapped. She knew she could be nicer to Cailyn, but it was early and she NEEDED to go hunting before the Creatures were out and about.
 
Ted had been out for a while now. He'd managed to collect quite a few handy plants, including a bunch for medicinal purposes... Although it was nothing like if he entered one of the old major cities and scavenged there.... Maybe he could get a group together and do that sometime. Otherwise, he'd go on his own. Ted had done it all the time when he was off on his own.

Ted picked up his backpack, depositing the container of mushrooms he had just picked into it. He looked around, deciding he should keep looking before heading back to the village. Plus, he would need to check on his snares, see if he caught anything. Ted moved on, watching for anything he could grab as he wandered the forest. Although, it felt like he was being watched... Hunted... He just shrugged off the feeling though, chalking it down to being in an unknown part of the forest.
 
Galen began to scour the ground and low-lying branches almost as soon as he entered the forest. Common dandelion was the most forthcoming, and he'd picked a few and dropped them in the bottom part of a satchel when he caught sight of a rarer arnica patch. Smiling slightly- something was finally going his way- he had picked almost ten medium-size leaves when a soft prickling uneasiness began to worm about in his mind. Slowly, glancing side to side warily, he stood, instinctively softening and slowing his breath. Something didn't seem quite right here, and with only two small knives for protection, he wasn't sure that he wanted to find out what it was.

Scowling mildly, a soft curse slipping out, Galen beat a hasty retreat, glancing to every side. In any case, there was bound to be an old lady looking for help with her joints, or some kid who had slipped and cut themselves, and he could always prepare and bottle this arnica. Slightly irritated without knowing why, he moved back towards the center of the village.
 
While insuring the man was safely propped on Cedrics' back, Cailyn turned to Francesca, letting her express her frustrations before coolly replying to her, "Excuse me Francesca, but we need to take him to a healer at once. We have no time to discuss this." She looked over as he groaned again. She put her hand on his shoulder, slightly putting pressure on it to reassure him that things will be fine. "It is not his fault, I will take full responsibility for this. He only wanted to observe from afar what I did on my scouting missions." She looked at Francesca in the eye, and could feel her wrath just exhuming from her entire body. Cailyn understood her anger, she would be furious too if she found one of her own experienced warriors bringing in someone wounded when they could have very well prevented it.

Though, this time, Cailyn believed that she would be an exception. The creature that attacked wasn't an ordinary creature, it was fast, too fast where it seemed like it was almost invincible. Cailyn was barely able to save her comrades life, she came to his rescue just in time. He was so excited to tag along with Cailyn, the captain he heard was one of the exceptionally skilled and powerful warriors, that he wanted to show off his own strength, hoping to impress her. Without Cailyn's permission, he ran ahead foolishly, hoping to find a creature to kill, like a cat catching a mouse to bring back to his master as a present. In the instant he left Cailyn's sight, he was attacked. Cailyn was only a few seconds late from the first attack, she luckily had drawn her sword, hearing the commotion, and before the creature could finish off her wounded comrade, she leaped in front of him with her sword slicing down on the creatures' face. It screeched in pain, and it was almost ready to attack again. Cailyn grabbed her sword with both hands, ready to defend but all of a sudden, the creature stopped and looked back behind him. Without a second glance to Cailyn, it ran off into the woods. Cailyn was surprised for once, all creatures had a blood thirst, ready to kill on sight but this one, didn't even give her the time of day! Something had called it back to the woods, something was controlling it. Cailyn leaving her thoughts behind that, had sheathed her sword and taken the wounded man back to village to where she was standing at now.

After thinking about what had happened, Cailyn motioned Francesca to start moving as she started briskly walking, she said, "Anyway, we can't waste time. Let's get him to the building, have his wounds dressed and I will explain everything. The rest of the hunters if you can, tell them to be careful. There's something strange out there."
 
Francesca nodded at Cailyn's explanation. Her face softened and her mind became clear. This poor man needed medical attention and fast. "Alright, let's hurry." she replied, leading Cedric along.

Once they had all reached the healer's building, they helped the near death man into the building, laying him on a free cot near a few other patients who were mostly sleeping or just paralyzed out of the loss of will to live. Francesca shuddered; she had no idea how healers could make it through the day among these poor, damaged souls. Francesca yet again became slightly agitated when there were no healers present. She cursed quietly beneath her breath, turning towards Cailyn who seemed to be equally as upset at this absolutely unacceptable situation. "Where are all the damn healers!?" she hissed, her eyes searching the back rooms for sign of lights or movement. "Isn't that man, what's his name, Galen? Isn't he supposed to be here right now? And somebody else..." Francesca trailed off, her mind becoming once again cluttered. It seemed as though this morning couldn't be possibly any worse!
 
Ted had collected quite a bit this morning. In his books, he'd even call it a haul. Most of the medicinal plants he'd collected were new to him, but the books he had told him they would be helpful for a lot of different things. Lucky for him, he didn't have to worry about it all. That was the healers job. He was humming some random tune while wandering back through the forest. It was time to head back to camp, even though he hadn't been out as long as he thought. But first, he had to check on his snares.

Ted followed the marks he'd left in the trees up to the first snare. No luck, it was empty. So he took it apart and put the forest back to how it was before he had messed with it... Well, as much as he could. Ted moved on to the next snare. What he found there... Caused his heart to race. It had caught a rabbit, but it had been mutilated, more so than a normal wolf would do. He looked it over, and noticed that almost none of it was missing. Whatever had done this, had done it for pleasure rather than to eat.

Just then, a branch cracked behind him, and he froze. Ted slowly turned his head around, and found himself staring at a Creature. Oh... Shi... He thought to himself just as the thing launched itself at him. He dodged out of it's way, running in the direction toward the village. He knew he couldn't straight out outrun it, so he grabbed a low hanging branch and swung himself up into one of the trees, using the larger branches to move. After a bit of running through the trees, literally, he could see the village, but he still had the Creature hot in pursuit. One wrong step and he'd be Creature bait.

As he got closer, he began to call out. "Hellllppp!!!!!!" He shouted over and over, jumping from tree to tree.
 
Feeling more relieved after that quick stop, Kolyat got up and looked around again. No use standing still, is not like the solution to his issues would come walking to him anyway. So, walking around the village for a while, he stretched his legs, getting used to the place and receiving a few suspicious looks in the process. Not to blame this people for that neither, sure they all knew each other, and seeing someone new around would raise some eyebrows and pop some questions.

Passing by the fence, Kolyat was able to see the outside of the village, as calm and natural as usually. Well, except for a monkey asking for help, jumping from tree to tree. Mmmm... I don't think monkeys speak... Thought Kolyat as he paid some more attention to the situation. Getting over the fence, he managed to grab a strong rope made of flax that he came across laying in there and quietly ran towards the guy in need of help.

Taking advantage of the lust of the creature, Kolyat went rather unnoticed, and as soon as that thing was running near him, he rammed it with all his weight and made it bump into a tree. Before it could react properly, Kolyat tied the best he could its legs and having the creature struggling at his feet, he kicked its head, or at least what it looked like its head, and left it unconscious. "You made me run... глупый." Muttered Kolyat looking at the creature.
 
Cailyn picked up one of the white towels that were laying about and wiped off the blood from her leather jacket and hands. She too was getting angry now, healers were suppose to be at their post at all times and she disliked insubordination. She heard a cry of help in the distance and sighed exasperatedly. There was just too much going on this morning. "Francesca, it seems someone needs help." Cailyn quickly unsheathed her sword and was starting to run out and head towards the shout but not before telling Francesca, "I'm sorry to leave you in this position but I must go. Find Galen as quick as possible, I'll return when I finish." Without a second word she fled out of the building and headed toward the woods once again.

Cailyn noticed there was a man also running toward the forest. The man was unfamiliar, his clothing strange, she knew he wasn't from around here. Surprised, he had captured the creature saving the gatherer she recognized as Ted who was swinging on the trees, trying to get away from the creature that was chasing him. She cursed under her breath, her patience growing thin, she was the only one on duty for the morning shift and the creatures were more riled up than usual. She caught up to the both of them, the beast snarling at her trying to bite all of them in it's close knit confine. She blankly stared at it, grasped her sword with both hands and thrust it up in the neck of the beast. It let out a gurgled screeched, kicking it's feet in a relentless effort to save itself. Cailyn turned the sword, another crushing sound from the neck and it finally stopped moving. She yanked her sword out and waved out the excess blood before sheathing it.

She looked at Ted with a stern expression. In an even voice she said to him, "You should have known better Ted. Be more careful next time." She paused and glanced at the stranger who seemed to be nonchalantly watching the both of them. "Are you the man we found last night?" She asked slightly guarded, "You were near the village barrier, and I believe I was the one who found you." She paused eying him a bit before starting again to say, "My apologies, I haven't introduced myself, my name is Cailyn Torque. I am one of the captains here at this village." She gave him a nod with her hand slightly on the head of the sword, she remembered now. This man was suspiciously hanging about the barrier in an almost ghost-like trance last night. Taking all precautions she had knocked him out slightly, just to make sure he wasn't going to steal anything and was going to question him this morning after her scouting mission was over. Of course, things didn't go as planned. "I also apologize for last night, I had to make sure you weren't a thief of some sort trying to steal our supplies. Our village has been on edge lately, and we needed to take as much preventative measures as we can." She paused again and waited for a comment or a reply, scrutinizing his every word and move he made.
 
Kolyat stared at the whole chit chat session and replied with a simple shrug. The adrenaline of the moment was fading away, and the wounds in his body were returning to torment him for at least a while longer. "Yeah... точно." Said him leaning against a tree, flinching again because of his wounds and scratching his head. "I guess wounded thieves are more usual than I thought." Said him abrasively. "Anyway, I could really use some place to sit, now." Whoever treated his wounds did it pretty neatly, but after being shot, scratched, stabbed, burnt and beaten, getting into a fight with those ugly monster and unknown villagers wasn't that much of a good idea.

"By the way... If I'm not mistaken, I came here with a couple of items I would like to retrieve."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back