NOBODY'S GONNA RESCUE (open)

[Adriana Reyes]

a d e v i l l i k e m e .

The scorching heat of the desert was practically boiling the sand into glass, making mirages in the distance if you managed to glance at the horizon. It was hell for anyone unaccustomed to such temperatures – even in the spring, with the snow thawing in the distance, it was still blazing. Whichever of the keepers had been the one to think of putting a large, glass dome over the entire city was a fool – did they ever see children chasing ants with magnifying glasses? Glass and heat absolutely did not mix, even with all the intricate weather technology they’d invented. Perhaps it wasn’t their fault, though: the desert knew no winter – it was an amateur to the idea of ‘seasons’. Then again, with a lack in foliage, it had no need for resting periods. It was all sand – all dead, except for the various creatures that took residence underground.
And yet, with all the death around it, from the middle of the desert could spark a jewel – a small circle of life, with lush green plants and enough water to revive a thirsty, dried up corpse.

Adriana’s fervent green eyes set their gaze on the small, lively oasis. It was a significant distance away, and thus she had a lot of ground to cover – but she advanced nevertheless, slowly at first. Perhaps she was raised in Brazil, and thus never got used to the dry, sizzling heat of the desert – but her shift's genetics were unchanged, whether or not she was born in Antarctica or Puerto Rico. The rattlesnake’s body slithered through the sand like a knife through butter, swerving and leaving small ‘S’ patterns behind her temporarily until small, gentle breezes could come and wash away the evidence that she’d ever set foot in a stranger’s territory.
After being dumped in the middle of the large, strange exhibit, she’d sought out shelter with those who accepted those as messed up as herself – the Carna. But true to form, Adriana – as manipulating and deceptive as she was – had quite the problem staying in one place longer than a few nights. And so, while her alliance stayed with the savage group, she couldn't help but wander off to explore the rest of the city – and she was free to stir up trouble wherever the wind blew her, as long as she paid close attention to who they were allied with.
Finally reaching the oasis, her muscles seemed to relax as she slid in, working her way from the hotter sand onto the colder ground. The moist grass felt like heaven against her scales, and she slithered along the denser underbrush for a few moments until the small pond – or lake, whatever it was – made its way into her line of vision. She slipped her tongue out quietly, flicking it a few times and raising her head so that she could try to register individual scents that may be lingering. As far as she could tell, no other creature was lurking in the area – but she could have been wrong.
Eagerly regaining her momentum, she slithered forth from the bushes, her rattle shaking as a warning to whatever daring animal might be around. She approached the shore nonchalantly after that, dipping the front of her mouth into the pond to sip up a decent amount of water. Usually, she just resorted to getting enough water from her prey – but seeing that she wasn’t exactly going to hunt down a mouse or a bird at the moment, she was perfectly content in taking a sip like any other animal.

Feeling refreshed after the exploratory – and rather long – trek through the desert, she shifted into her human form, sitting calmly by the side of the water. Her gaze gradually rose to look up at the noon sun, though she quickly looked away from it, noting that it’d been a horrible idea to start with.
“Estupida ciudad..” she hissed, her accent thick in her words as she rubbed her eyes, some of her bangs falling back over her face.

OoC :: 'Estupida ciudad' means 'stupid city' in spanish. o-o

["Quick" Taylor]

Quick had been lounging around in the tall grass of the oasis in his usual leopard form when he caught sight of the snake. He could tell from the way it moved with a purpose that it wasnt' a normal rattlesnake, but a shifter. He sat there, watching whoever it was move closer to the oasis. If it had been any other anima, he would have immediately leapt up and pinned them to the ground. A rattlesnake, however, was a different story. He wouldn't be able to pin it down before it could strike, and here in the menagerie without antivenom, he would surely die from just a single snake-bite. If he was to confront this possible trespasser, he had to do so extremely carefully.

So, he remained hidden from the trespasser as he, or she, made their way up to the oasis and dipped their head down to drink. That was definitely not normal snake behavior. They didn't normally get their fluids like that. Quick continued watching, however, until finally the shifter changed to her human form. A single leopard eyebrow went up as he took in her appearance. He could not lie to himself, this woman was actually rather attractive, even through all the dirt, which spoke volumes. However, he knew enough not to let his guard down around a good looking woman in the Menagerie. They were quite often the most deadly ones under the dome....

Slowly, his decision finally made, he rose up out of the grass to make himself seen, making sure to rustle enough of the grass to get her attention. Once he had it, he slowly padded his way closer to her and, eyes locked on hers, shifted back to his human form. As he did, straightening to his full height, he looked at her, hands on his hips.

"Well.....it's not every day you see a desert rose such as yourself out here...," he said, standing there as he spoke,"However....us Fallen don't have much water to share out here with those not of our ring. Not without prior permission, at least."

[Adriana Reyes]

The rustling in the grass – oh, it always started like that. Then there were soft, padded, quiet footsteps, and sooner or later, someone would come. Someone would always come.. even when she was on her home territory, the scouts and hunters were always scurrying about like little foot soldiers, doing the job that their supervisors were too busy to do. Then there were the masses – though they didn’t exactly have laid out ‘jobs’, they still kept a keen eye to strangers..
Whether or not a cease-fire existed between the Carna and the Fallen, eyes would always seek out those that didn’t belong and unconsciously shoo them off to their own territory. Not only that, but that existent truce was starting to crumble even faster than the cliffs by the bay.
And so, it was no surprise to Adriana when the subtle, rustling sounds grew louder and a previous flash of animal print turned into the silhouette of a man. She looked up at him from where she sat, narrowing her eyes as if to try to make out his face, which was shrouded due to the sun’s beaming, mid-day light. Soon, he was back in some of the shadows as he approached her, and her pupils quickly dilated, capturing every detail in the depths of her mind. Calculating and careful, her shift’s qualities seeped through to her human tendencies quite well.
She listened attentively as he spoke, waiting a few seconds before taking the time to say anything. Obviously, he belonged to the Fallenring – their scent was embedded in his clothes, the same way that Carna’s seeped out from the fibers of her own. It was a strange thing what the Menagerie had done.. nobody smelled like themselves anymore, really.. they all carried the scent of their alliance. The only ones that were truly themselves were the rogues.

“Well, I apologize for stealing your water,” she answered, giving a somewhat careless shrug of her shoulders before quickly lifting herself off the ground. The sand shifted underneath her boots, but she held her balance like it’d hardly moved at all.
“I take it that you’re being a good little boy and taking care of your chores,” she started, giving an almost condescending smile, “but I should warn you that I don’t ask for permission.”
A mischievous smile spread on her lips, even though she had no malicious intent. She liked messing with people, sometimes making them think that she was more menacing than she really was. It was quite an easy thing to do – a rattle of her tail, a few words, and the way her eyes narrowed sometimes was enough to rile someone’s nerves up quite easily.
She wanted to see his reaction – would he squirm? Would he feel challenged? Her heart pounded with ambition as she took a few steps towards him, finding her way around him in a circle and sizing him up with her eyes.
“So tell me, kitty,” she said, reaching up gently to pull a strand of hair behind her ear. “What are you doing out in the middle of the desert, all on your own?”
Her head tilted at the end of the sentence as she watched him, her eyes never leaving his for a second.
Oh, Adriana was out for fun – maybe a little blood, as well.

["Quick" Taylor]

“Well, I apologize for stealing your water. I take it that you’re being a good little boy and taking care of your chores, but I should warn you that I don’t ask for permission.” The girl said as she came to her feet, an obviously mischievous smile on her face. His eyebrow raised slightly as he kept his eyes on her, turning with her she she circled him. He could tell she was sizing him up, which was fine. So long as she didn't attack him in her animal form, he was fine. He just didn't want to have to deal with her in her snake form. Snake bites without antivenom in The Menagerie would be a death sentence.

“So tell me, kitty,” she said, putting embphasis on the kitty part as she came to stand in front of him, her head tilted to one side, “What are you doing out in the middle of the desert, all on your own?”

"Well.....if you must know, I came out here to be alone and relax. I find it relaxing to get away from large groups of people on occasion, and just spend time all by my lonesome.

"But," he said, continuing as he crossed his arms over his chest in front of her,"I could ask you the same question. What's a carna rattlesnake doing this far into Fallen territory? I know you're helping us patrol our borders, and we..apreciate the effort, but it's not normal for you all to come this far in."

He supposed it was possible that she was lost, but he thought it was unlikely. Few people int he Menagerie got lost, due to the small area they were cramped into and their heightened animal senses, which included sense of direction. He thought she was probably just exploring, like that black juguar girl he'd run into the other day.

[Adriana Reyes]

She listened to his response attentively, her forest green eyes brimming with two distinctly different motives. Adriana was out for blood – she always was. Not a day passed when she didn’t purposely slither around, finding her way into confrontations and all sorts of situations. Perhaps that’s what had attracted her to Carna in the first place – she fit in with their ‘type’ quite well.
But still, not everything that lurked under her cold exterior was venomous.
As much as she wanted to tease and rile him up a bit, she also wanted to explore. Her different interests were often set up against each other, leaving her lost and indecisive at the fork in the road.
Wishing to stall any possible quarrels until later, she took the submissive route. Like the flick of a light switch, her demeanor seemed to change – the eyes grew less aggressive, and her stance relaxed quickly. Sadly, the state was doomed to falter quickly.

“Well, being on your own isn’t exactly safe,” she commented, giving a brief shrug of her shoulders and letting her eyes wander back to the small pool of water. As ‘nice’ as she wanted to be, her thirst for thrill often got the best of her, dusting her words with mischief.
He started talking again soon after her initial comment, going on about something and asking her why she’d gone so far into the ring’s territory. She knew anyone would be curious as to why – of all places – someone would travel into the desert just to explore, so she made a mental note to answer his inquiries later. Before she could, however, there came something that caught her attention, causing her eyes to shift back to him like he’d insulted her, or something similar.

”Now you're helping us patrol our borders, and we.. appreciate the effort, but it's not normal for you all to come this far in.”

“Well, are you going to stop me or something?” she questioned, the corner of her lips curling into a smirk for the flicker of a second. It wasn’t hard to see that being around her was like walking on eggshells – but she didn’t mind it. Sometimes, it was entertaining to see just how far people would twist their words so that they wouldn’t get themselves in a bad situation.
After watching his expressions for a brief second, she turned her attention back to his previous question, answering it quickly in hopes of dousing any tension she had eagerly tried to rouse.

“I’m just exploring – sand feels a lot better than concrete, at least for someone like me.”

["Quick" Taylor]

“Well, being on your own isn’t exactly safe,” she said as she shrugged and looked back at the water. Quick let out a mental sigh. Sometimes he thought he was too nice, letting all these carnas drink their most precious water. But, what could he do? They were allied Rings, and if he denied them the water and they died, that could break the already tenuous alliance. He wanted to be the last person to be the cause of that.

"I'm not too worried about being off by myself," he said, shrugging back at her,"I can take care of myself. Afterall, I've been in here for several years."

Not like I'm proud of that fact. I'd rather be out, and free, he thought to himself, thinking about how he'd come to be here and what had happened since he'd been stuck in this small hell-hole of the Earth. He didnt' like it at all here. He wanted out, to be free, even if it meant dying. He would prefer not to die in a cage like some common animal, but standing on his feet and fighting for what was important to him, like a man.

He pushed the thoughts out of his mind though, as she continued talking. He let out a small mental sigh. When she mentioned how sand felt better for "someone like her", he thought about what her shift was again: a snake. Just the thought about it sent a small, involuntary, barely noticeable shudder up his spine. Snakes freaked him out, ever since he had fallen in that water moccasin nest as a young child.

"I understand," He said, repressing another shudder that threatened to shake him even more noticeable,"I'm sure having your belly scraping on the cement isn't all that pleasant. Go ahead and drink. I'm sure you could use it, being out here for so long."

He motioned for her to go back over to the oasis and take a drink, moving over himself and bending down to get a small handful of water for himself. As he did, he sat down on the soft vegetation growing on the banks of the oasis and looked over at the girl behind him.

"So, how long's it been since they stuck you in here?" he asked her simply.

[Adriana Reyes]

Several years – he’d roamed the Menagerie, stuck under the Keepers’ watchful eyes, for years! She couldn’t imagine herself sticking around for so long. She’d barely been there a matter of months, and already it was getting to her. Her life before this place had been an utter nightmare, but at least it was one she belonged in – she didn’t belong here. No, Adriana was built to either run with her previous gang or be doomed to be an outcast. Luckily, the Carna had quite a resemblance to her former family, so she found refuge in it quite easily.
But rather than lingering on that thought, she was dragged down to earth by something that caught her eye – it wasn’t something obvious in his body language, but it was enough to intrigue her. It was a shiver, a shudder – an involuntary move that somehow, her snake-like, calculating mind had latched onto and, like a predator, moved in on it like it was a sign of weakness. But why would he shudder? She thought about it for a few seconds before the answer seemed to reveal itself, handing itself over on a silver platter and making him look much more promising than before.
If she was right and he had some sort of phobia of snakes as she’d figured, she’d be set for the night – torturing and playing with his mind would be enough to amuse her for quite a while.

“No, it’s fine.. I drank enough before you prowled up from behind the bushes,” she insisted, eyeing him as he sat down on the banks of the pool.

“I’ve only been here a few months.” She pulled her gaze away from him, letting it linger on the faraway skyline of the city before letting it fall back to him.
“Is.. not exactly a five star hotel, but neither is my city.”
My city. It’d been a small comment that slipped her mind altogether, but it was still enough to show a sliver of who she’d been, at least to the trained ears. Even though she knew there was absolutely no way out or back home, her mind had stayed in Rio De Janeiro – running alongside her brother and their boss.

“..I have a question,” she started, grabbing the reigns on her runaway thoughts and steering them back in the direction that would be the most enjoyable for the night. She headed towards him, slinking down to the ground and kneeling down quietly by him.

“Are you.. afraid of snakes?” she asked, whispering the last words into his ears almost lustily before shifting back into her rattlesnake form, winding her way around him and over his legs.

[/justify]

["Quick" Taylor]

“I’ve only been here a few months," The girl said as she declined his offer of more water, “Is.. not exactly a five star hotel, but neither is my city.”

"Only a few months, huh?" Quick said, looking over at her where she still stood when he'd sat down. He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders and looked back at the water,"That's not very long...how'd you get caught?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, though, he realized she'd moved to kind of squat down next to him and whisper in his hear....

"...I have a question," she said quietly and seductively into his ear, bringing his attention around to her,"Are you...afraid of snakes?"

As she finished speaking, she shifted back to her rattlesnake form and began to slither over his legs. With a loud cry of alarm, and obvious fear, he reached out to grab her behind her head and scramble backwards away from her all at the same time. His entire body shook from the very suden rush of adrenaline that his fear brought him. He managed to scramble to his feet and back away from where he'd been sitting, looking down at the snake-shifter he had gripped in his hand. His grip on her neck was tight, though not so tight it would suffocate her.

"Dammit, don't do that!" he yelled at her, almost tempted to throw her into the water, his hands now visibly shaking badly,"I....I had a bad experience as a kid......okay?"

He bent down and released her onto the ground, his fear level rising as she left his hand due to his loss of control. It didn't matter though. He couldn't just hold onto her like that and take her to carna territory like that. No, he neeed to let go of her, no matter how much he hated it.

[Adriana Reyes]

That was absolutely hilarious. His sudden reaction had been much more dramatic than she’d anticipated, causing her to start laughing, as much as she tried to seem polite and hold it down. Somehow, things were always funnier when laughter wasn’t exactly a good or appropriate reaction.
But of course, nothing good or remotely amusing ever came without its share of backlash – like when he gabbed her behind the head, going into a flurry of motion that bid her most primal instincts to attack. She was about a second away from actually trying to strike him, however, when he finally managed to scramble away, letting her go after some yelling. His hands were shaking, fear practically saturating his aura as she slithered towards him yet again. As bad as the consequences to her actions had the potential to be, it was much too entertaining to stop it there.
She shot forward, slithering around his legs but quickly separating herself a few feet before shifting back.

“You are very amusing,” she spoke, the corners of her lips curling up into a devilish smirk. She crossed her arms over her ribs, watching him – sizing him up again. She didn’t exactly know what she’d do next, nor if she’d pursue the thrill of frightening and messing around with him.
One thing was sure though – she’d definitely be back some day to fool around some more. Hopefully the alliance between the Carna and the Fallen would last long enough that she’d get to do that a few times before the inevitable happened and it crumbled.. but even then, Adriana had never been one to follow rules. Hell, she often purposely went against them.

“I offer my deepest apology,” she said, an almost mocking tone in her words as the smirk faded off into a smile. It was then, after having her fair share of toying around, that his previous question came to mind – how she’d been caught. A blank stare crossed her eyes for the flicker of a second, almost as if she didn’t know what to say and had to search the depths of her suppressed memories in order to find it.
“I was looking for trouble in the wrong side of town – not my side. There was this man – he was their ‘boss’, and he ended up selling me to some animal trafficking ring. Like with humans, but they sell exotic animals to collectors – usually a bunch of hunters who like animals. UNIT shut it down, though, and here I am.”
She rolled her eyes at the end of her explanation, wondering if he’d get the hang of what she was trying to explain, or if it’d just slip his mind and just be added to a collection of everyone else’s ‘war stories’. Here, it seemed that everyone had a story – it was like prison: almost everyone wanted to tell the tale of why or how they’d gotten caught.

[/justify]

["Quick" Taylor]

"You are very amusing," she said, laughing as she changed back to her human form. As she did, he really wanted nothing more than to smack that grin off of her face, but he kept his temper in check.

Before he could say anything back to her, however, she began talking about how she got caught and put in the menagerie. The way she spokes, talking about this city like she owned it and especially the part where she mentioned getting caught kn the wrong part of it, tipped him off to her past, at least somewhat. From the way it sounded, she had been in a gang, and gotten caught and sold by a rival gang. He had heard a lot about the gang life, but never met anyone who'd lived it before.

"Sounds rough. I've always heard that the gang lifestyle was pretty harsh," he said, finally managing to quell his shaking in the more serious atmosphere that had suddenly descended upon their conversation,"even worse as a shifter i'd imagine.

"I can't really make any judgments, though," he said with a small chuckle,"i never came close to loving that kind of life."

[Adriana Reyes]

“It’s harsh at first..” she commented, her words trailing off into a whisper for a few seconds. A smile tugged at her lips once more as she saw him slowly getting over the scare she’d given him, the shaking soon becoming a thing of the past. Somehow, she wanted to scare him again. The mischief filled her eyes like venom, though it was easy to tell that she was ignoring it, hoping to have an actual conversation instead of scaring the soul right out of him.
She’d just have to save the trouble for later. The chances of her trespassing into Fallen territory were high, as were her chances of trespassing anywhere, really.

“It’s actually more fun if you’re a shifter in a gang of humans. It grows on you, and you get to leave them wondering why you get away with the things you do.”
Oh, the memories – she may have been several thousand miles from home, but the memories would never fade: the gunshots, the knives, and watching the moon rising slowly over the sea, lighting up everything that went down in the deserted alleys of the shantytowns and ghettoes. The images of their startled faces – some happy, some angry – would never leave her side, much less the praise that came from people who had no idea what she was. To excel in something populated by humans was fun.

She watched him curiously after that, her thoughts suppressing her past once more. To think about things like that often stirred up a strange, homesick and lost feeling that certainly did not fit into Adriana’s usual demeanor. What’s more, it often made her more bloodthirsty when that old adrenaline started gushing through her blood. It was only useful for one thing, and right now she couldn’t exactly use it for anything.

“So what’s your story – how’d you get caught?” she asked, turning her attention to the banks around the pool of water. She inched towards it, sitting down with her knees bent loosely in front of her before she looked back at him.

[/justify][/blockquote]

["Quick" Taylor]

"How'd i get put in here?" He repeated her question with a chuckle, "I ended up shifting accidentally one day at school when I was fifteen. I was trying to stop some of the other kids from beating this one guy. When I interfered, they started beating me. Out of instinct, I fought back and ended up shifting."

Quick's mind shifted back to that day, seeing the terrified looks on mot just the attackers' faces, but also on the face of the boy he'd been trying to help. He remembered thinking right then that he'd screwed up and ran off.

"I ran off by myself and evaded the keepers for a few months. I guess they eventually ended up getting tired of chasing me and abducted my parents, and used them as leverage to get me to give myself up. When I said I didn't believe them, they shot my mom right there in front of me to prove a point."

He was visibly shaking again just thinking about it. His mind's eye was taking him back to that night, watching the UNIT officer shoot his defenseless mother in the head right in front of him. What had happened after he'd given himself up had pissed him off even more....

"When I gave myself up tp save my father, the UNIT officer ordered him killed too;" quick said quietly now,"the bastards were so arrogant they hadn't even restrained me before they did it. That was the first night I took a life. They had to tranquilize me in order to put me in the cage to bring me here."

He looked over at the carna girl as he finished speaking, putting on a small smile to hide his overwhelming urge to rip someone's throat out,"almost as bad as being sold as a slave, huh?"

[Adriana Reyes]

She had no more words to say, really – she just listened, and that was the best that she could do. Instincts had guided him to protect himself and UNIT had taken advantage of it like it was some sort of weakness; stupid humans. Someday, somehow, they would be the hunted. But for now, it was the other way around.
She watched him as he explained what happened afterwards, internally wishing that it’d have some sort of silver lining. Surely, everything had at least one bright side..right? Wrong. As much the little girl inside her soul wished that all stories came with a sliver of happiness in the ending, that was not so. The only vengeance he’d had was slaughtering the man who’d called the shots – but he’d still ended up in the Menagerie, and his parents were long gone. She didn’t know if they were shifters or not, but she couldn’t help but wonder if death was better than being trapped under a spotlight. It was a different way to look at things, at least.

She narrowed her eyes briefly as he finished up the story, uttering a different remark at the end. She glanced up at him, her eyes narrowing briefly as she tried to search her mind for words, or some sort of phrase that she could say. In all honestly, Adriana wasn’t a very talkative person – she was born a solitary hunter, and being part of a gang and a ring never really developed her social skills much..it just made her loyalty run deeper.
She was a bit out of line to have gone so far into the Fallen territory anyways – what had she been looking for? Escape? Who knew.
She shook her head briefly, shaking free a momentary flurry of thoughts so that she could let the message sink across, if not by words then at least by body language. Keeping Adri in one place for more than a few minutes was a troublesome task, specially if there were others in the area.

“At least you proved a point,” she whispered, barely giving him any eye contact before giving a long, distant look at the city skyline – the area that belonged to the Carna. The words were unspoken, but the message was clear – she harbored no sympathy for those who threatened family.

["Quick" Taylor]

Quick listened as the girl whispered quietly. He wasn't sure if she'd meant him to hear it or not, but he had. He let out a silent snort at her small comment. He'd done more than proven a point. He'd given them as much trouble as he possibly could since they had captured him. Literally every time he'd seen a Keeper, in their white lab coats, he'd tried his damndest to break free of his restraints to get at their throats. None of his attempts had been successful in taking any of their lives, but he had managed to instill some caution and trepidation in dealing with him, if not fear.

He brought his thoughts back to this snake-shifter girl. She really wasn't so bad for a Carna, in his opinion. She may be kind of mischievous, picking on his fear of snakes like she had done, but it wasn't really so bad.

"My name's Quick by the way. At least, that's what I go by now,"he said quietly.

[Adriana Reyes]

She watched the distant buildings for a few seconds, curiosity seeping into her eyes much like it had several times before. It'd been curiosity's doing that she'd wandered so far out to the desert wasteland, somehow getting lucky enough to find an oasis amidst the sand. She'd been about to turn back and return to the Carna when the distant trees had come into view, and she knew it wasn't a mirage at all - snakes like her weren't so easily fooled by the desert's playful tricks.
Perhaps after this, she'd go off to explore what the Fulsi had to offer. surely, there was something interesting hiding within the deserted halls of their building. After all, they did have fifty flights to get to the top floor..There must be something there, even if it was as small as a coin.

She turned her attention back to the man as he spoke, finally giving her a name to call him by. The corner of her lip curled slightly into a smirk, mischievous thoughts shrouding her judgement for a few moments as she figured out her course of action. However, it didn't take very long for a comment to come rolling forth.

"Nice to meet you, Quick," she started, briefly wondering exactly what'd been the source of that nickname. She didn't know him much, but the way he'd reacted to her snake prank earlier seemed to fit quite well. She'd have to investigate later.

"My name is Imma Biteyer Headoff."

The comment hung in the air for a few seconds, a completely serious expression planed on her face for just as long, until a soft laugh came out to lighten the mood.
"Okay, seriously, my name's Adriana."
She shook her head, almost as if shaking free the previous thoughts and pranks, before turning her attention to one of her former questions - one she hadn't bothered to ask.
"What's your real first name?"

ooc; this library is f-----g hot.
ooc2; -ten mins later- this library is f------g cold.

[/justify]

["Quick" Taylor]

"Nice to meet you Quick," she said, looking at him with a serious look on her face,"my name's Imma Biteyer Headoff."

Quick gave her a puzzled look, one eyebrow raised, before she started laughing. He joined her, letting out a few small chuckles as she gave him her real name and asked another question.

"So, what's your real first name?" She asked him.

"It's nice to meet you Adriana," he said,"and I don't really have another name. I gave up my old name the day I got thrown in here, and I won't take it back up until I see the Keepers swimming in their own blood. Don't take it personal. It's nothing against you."