winter's chill :: NOISETTE

[Ker Rosenthal]

A still body lay sprawled on the ground, suspiciously still and quiet until she gave a long groan. Slowly the girl sat up, placing a hand on each temple and closing her eyes. A lingering headache pounded in her skull and as she further regained consciousness awareness of her situation came to her at once. On top of the headache - and general all around soreness - she was now acutely aware of how hungry and cold she was. Carefully she got to her feet, tugging the sleeves of her shirt down past her wrists and upper portions of her hands when she stood.


Memory of the last few weeks was spotty at best and trying to think about everything that had happened since her capture only further provoked the pounding in her head. She knew, loosely, that she was within the dome now but it seemed much larger than she'd expected. Sitting in the open she felt put her at a distinct disadvantage when she knew nothing about the world she was now in - she needed to find cover, shelter. Each breath she took already fogged in the chilly air and a shiver rolled down her spine. Blatantly detaching herself from any worries others might have had in the situation she carried on as if nothing happened, as she always did.


She spared a quick glance, spotted a building just visible in the distance and set off. With quick, long strides she walked toward the unknown building. It might have been a stupid idea, she had no idea if that was someone's residence or anything else. Still, decidedly a better idea than continuing to sit out in the cold. When she did reach the building it didn't look especially promising. It looked like it might have been a church at one point and was decidedly vacant looking. Still, she opted to try and pry the door open anyway - to no avail.

Frustrated, cold, and overall miserable she kicked the door before turning and leaning her back against it. There was nowhere else in the immediate vicinity she could see to go and Ker was nothing if not determined. There had to be some way in and out of the wind. Slinking around the edge of the building there was an increasing feeling of hopelessness building in her, any windows she could see were too high for her to possibly reach and there didn't seem to be another door. Coming around another corner she came to a sudden stop, gaze settling on a cellar door. 

She paused a moment longer, one eyebrow arched slightly as she peered at it quizzically. Venturing closer it didn't have any outward locks. Slowly she grabbed the handle, gripping the cold metal firmly and pulling the door. It opened with a creak and she quickly slipped through, letting it thud closed she ducked her head out of the way. She'd made it down a few steps before she actually considered this whole thing - going into some creepy cellar of an abandoned church. That was the sort of thing that set up horror movies all the time. 'Oh well.' She gave a dismissive sigh at her own thoughts and began creeping carefully down the stairs.

Inside she was mildly surprised to find the tables and chairs around. Maybe it wasn't quite as forsaken as she'd thought it was, though that could be a bad thing for a would-be trespasser. Ker was never one to be cautious or fearful, though. She continued on, running her fingers along the cold stone wall as she wandered toward the bar. A moments pause was given before she hoisted herself onto it and then clambered gracelessly over, landing on the other side with a thud. Further causing a ruckus she began to rummage through crates; maybe there was something to eat here.

[Noisette Todd]

It was an old drill by now. When Noisette’s eyes flickered open, her confusion was short lived. She wasn’t where she remembered falling asleep. Her head hurt, her stomach was tumultuous, and there wasn’t a muscle in her body that wasn’t sore. She thought she might remember some of what happened; but at this point, the keepers and their antics had featured enough in her dreams that she wasn’t sure what was real and what she’d just made up.

And of course, it was too easy to drop her on the doorstep when they were done. After years of scouting, she could orient herself easily enough. The problem was the distance; the objection to moving was like a physical object hanging in her gut. A very heavy physical object. The whole misery package amplified her curiosity as to what had been done to her this time. She could only hope it would actually be something useful.

She found out much sooner than expected, though in exactly the way she would have expected. Someone came around a corner only a couple meters in front of her. Before she could even berate herself for not hearing them, they’d run back. She took two steps to stop them tattling or whatever, but quickly got distracted. She’d shifted, and the result was anything but a mustelid.

The thing was a mess, really. The mismatched front and back legs were confusing enough, and that was before she noticed the pair of wings rustling across her back. Her neck moved oddly, and if she wasn’t careful her eyes started pointing in different directions somehow. The tail was very long, as were her jaws, as she discovered when she worked them experimentally. She seemed to be a decent size altogether, maybe a little taller than a deer or something. She didn’t feel like figuring an exact comparison.

The most important thing quickly became that it was warm, and its legs were longer than a marten’s. Noisette tried using it to make her travels more comfortable. Unfortunately, holding the unfamiliar form wore her out faster. It got to the point that, when the speakeasy came into view, she couldn’t resist her body’s whining.

To her great relief, the basement was empty. Must have been too cold for anyone to venture out. With nobody to worry about, Noise gave the place a decent once-over, to choose the best place to settle in. Finally, she settled on a space beneath the counter. It made for a cozy setup. Between the long neck and the long snout, her nose was comfortably tucked under a back leg. The large, bushy tail curled across her face, behind her head and back again. Then all she had to do was unfurl the upper wing a little over her body. The nausea and headache kept her from falling completely asleep. Instead she drifted in and out, thoughts in a haze, content just to be warm and not walking.

She was contemplating just staying there all night when footsteps thudded on the floor above. The perpetrator ignored her silent pleas to go away, and the noise continued down the steps and around the room. Noisette made no move. If possible, she wasn’t going to bother coming out.

No such luck. Her eyes flickered open at another thud, further down the counter. Feet hit the floor, and whoever it was started rooting around. She stifled a sigh. There was no point hiding, now. They weren’t going to miss a large…whatever-creature while hunting for supplies. Pretending to be asleep would mean keeping her face all tucked away, and that was just stupid. If they knew she was here, she was going to keep an eye on them. Silent watching would probably spook them, too.

When she uncurled, Noise made little effort to stay quiet. Nothing loud or sudden, of course, but enough that maybe the stranger would notice the sounds without startling. She tried her best to make her voice gentle. “Looking for something in particular?”

[Ker Rosenthal]

Pulling a crate slightly off the edge of a shelf she tilted it to peer inside, careful to not let it fall. Dismayed to find it contained only bottles of what she assumed was alcohol - but did not further investigate - she shoved it back into place. Another box held more of the same and she was gradually concluding her hopes of finding something she could eat being snuffed out. Before she could make her way to another a noise caught her attention. Rustling, jostling - some sort of movement. Somewhere behind her, beneath the bar counter. 

Ker turned around, grey eyes fixating on the open cupboard she was fairly sure the sounds had come from. She didn't get closer just yet, unsure if there was some sort of aggressive predator or what in there - she wasn't scared, she just didn't particularly want to have her face bitten off today. After a moment longer curiosity outweighed the potential risks and she took a step closer, leaning slightly to see into it. She caught a glimpse of fur and...a bird leg? Someone spoke then, or, it spoke. A feminine voice with no detectable malice in the tone. Another step and the wooden floor creaked quietly beneath her boots. 

She crouched, perhaps stupid to get in close quarters with someone she didn't know, that could be a threat, but she didn't care. On even ground she was even more confused by the creature, a quirked brow and an overall quizzical expression clear on her face. "No." responded the girl simply, eyes wandering over the other woman's shift. Even with a second look she had no idea what it could possibly be - certainly not any animal she'd ever heard of. "I was looking for something to eat but there doesn't seem to be anything edible here..." she trailed off, a faint german accent detectable when she spoke. Her demeanor had not changed, though it rarely did. She didn't present as shocked, startled or scared of the mysterious stranger that was curled up under the bar.

Painfully curious though, she couldn't ignore the questions that lingered in her thoughts any longer. "What are you?" a question that could perhaps be considered rude by some but that was not intended as such.

[Noisette Todd]

She relaxed as the stranger came over, cautiously but not aggressively. The answer was equally level-headed. Everything about this girl screamed ‘sensible,’ Sure, she didn’t look very intimidating anyway, but Noisette was so glad she didn’t have to deal with some jumpy, stab-happy lunatic. Slowly, she further detangled herself and slid out into the open. As long as she’d been lying there, her muscles complained with renewed fervor. Very carefully, Noisette tried some stretching. “Haven’t been here before, huh? It’s mostly for the booze.”

The question about her form further suggested the girl wasn’t very familiar with the dome. Then again, the really wild forms the keepers gave people were rare. It could even be a really polite way of trying to find out if she was a virus; after all, they were more common than the experimental jumbles. “Right now, you probably could answer that better than I can. I can’t even see the damn thing.” It felt more polite to slip into her human form, though she regretted it once the air hit her bare hands and face. She stayed seated and leaned back against a cabinet door, twitching her head to the side to offer the girl a seat. “Keeps felt like sandboxing again, and apparently that’s what they came up with.” Noise had mixed feelings about the thing right now. It was currently serving her well, and if those wings actually worked, that would be amazing. But she was also worried her original form had been replaced. Being a marten was so useful for not being seen, and besides, it was just…her.

A cough interrupted her thoughts. She’d repeatedly felt like she was on the edge of throwing up, and hoped she wasn’t about to do it just as someone showed up. Then again, maybe she would feel better if she just did it. “Now, what are you? Newbie, hungry rogue, lost from your ring…?”

[Ker Rosenthal]

Slowly the other shifter slid out of the cabinet, odd limbs stretching out. It was only now that she took note of the wings, as if it didn't have enough miss-matched appendages. Ker leaned back just slightly to give her more room when she stretched, listening quietly to what she had to say. The confirmation that her hunt for anything to eat was futile didn't come as much of a surprise. Maybe it was naive hope that had made her want to rummage further through the various containers after her first few finds. And then came an answer to her question, though it wasn't especially informative. An assumption was made that she must not have been born with her shift like that. 

The stranger shifted then, leaning her back against the cabinets. Ker obliged to the unspoken gesture to join her, moving over to that opposite wall and pressing her back to it. Sliding down as her legs folded beneath her, she sat next to the other woman. She turned her head to look at her new companion, listening as she gave some sort of explanation to the odd shift. Ker wasn't quite sure what exactly she meant but she had heard that the keepers did experiments on shifters. That must be what it was, some sort of strange experimentation that the other shifter was forced to undergo - she didn't imagine anyone wanting to be mutated like that. Not to mention the logistics of it, what was the fail rate on something like that? Was it often fatal?


Her mind had wandered to a place not many in her situation would have gone, not when the thinker themselves could be at risk for the same happenings. A cough from beside her snapped her out of her thoughts, a question following. "The first two, I guess. I got dumped in here today, over there - " she made a loose gesture with her hand toward the general vicinity she'd come from before dropping it back to her lap. "I guess technically the third too, kind of. Lost, anyway."  She looked forward, staring at the wall opposite them and letting her head thud back against the cabinet behind her. A low, tired, sigh was given then. "What about you? Were you hiding from something under there?"

[Noisette Todd]

“Nah, don’t worry. I was just taking a rest cause I feel like shit, is all.” She rubbed her face. “So, welcome to the fishbowl. I guess. I dunno. Some people hate it, some don’t. Maybe you won’t think it’s so bad.” That tended to be Noisette’s view, though she’d always felt that was selfish, rather than optimistic. She had hardly anything left on the other side of the glass. Still, the place itself had taken a little getting used to; the chaos of feelings that the girl described fit with Noisette’s own memories of her first days here. Most likely she would try to bring the fresh fish home, but sympathy had nothing to do with that. Fulsi could always do with a boost in numbers. It was just a matter of finding out if the boost would be a functional member, or dead weight.

What Noise wanted right now was to find out about the girl without having to explain a bunch of things she’d already explained a million times before. Most had only heard rumors, or the PR shit. Some had enough morbid curiosity to check out the feeds available to the public. Even then, apparently the feeds were strategic. The moments showed were violence and selfishness. No one who had seen them were expecting the camaraderie of the rings, or even the kindness between strangers that really wasn’t so rare here.

The existence of basic human decency was just one of many things to explain about the dome. It had its intricacies, and unfortunately there was no beginner’s guide to just hand out. Noisette’s tactic was to steer towards unsavory topics in order to gauge the person. Describing the lifestyle helped show signs that someone was a slacker. If they were panicky, they’d usually show it after being told about the daily perils (not that Noisette would necessarily reject such a person; she’d just try to avoid being on any scouting trips with them in the future.) Getting the person to talk helped to see if they had any useful knowledge or skills, or at least a decent amount of common sense.

The biggest problem was what to do if she decided someone wasn’t worth bringing home. Most newbies would cling to whatever source of help they found, no matter how grouchy. Perhaps that was why she was even going to bother assessing this girl, instead of just trying to lose her. Noisette hated to have to chase people off with a knife for no real offense.

There was a perfect opportunity to drop unsettling news here. “I should’ve guessed you were a newbie, really. We’ve got these virus things running around, they usually look all mixed up like I just did. Most people would have assumed that’s what I was…that sounds really sketchy, doesn’t it? I promise I’m not one…” she exhaled in frustration. She didn’t think to explain that her ‘human’ form would have been a hodge-podge as well, if she were a virus. “Okay, let me try again. Hello, my name is Noisette. I am not a lab monster, I’m just trying to get back to my ring…group.” She proffered a hand for shaking. “And you are?”