Is there anything here? Of course not.

[Deleted]

There are no winners

Cordelia shuffled through the wide hall of the Mana Springs mall, half looking for anything that could prove useful, half looking for a place to rest, away from people. Whenever she tried to take a nap in a tree, or sit in a nice, quiet church, someone always showed up. Some rather odd people, too. It seemed that everyone here had some odd quirks. Especially the guy she had seen in the church, the owl shifter. He wasn't unpleasant, though. Cordelia still wondered why he had just flown out on her like he had. The guy she had met in the graveyard, Dalton, he was pretty cool. Most normal person she had met in this place. They got along.

Her roaming eyes saw nothing but empty stores, devoid of objects save for bare clothing racks. She didn't even see more than a few small spiderwebs. Ew, spiders. Not her favorite thing in the world. But why would there be anything left in the stores by now? This place had been around for a little while, of course the Fulsi had raided this place of every single item in sight. She walked over to an upright chair and table, and sat down, sighing. Nothing she could use to be found in this godforsaken establishement. Stupid keepers, she'd like to see how they fared if they were imprisoned, without plentiful food or supplies. They would die without the support of their huge government salaries. She glared at the air in hatred.

Cordelia stood and shifted. Much more convienent. By now, she was actually more comfortable in her snow leopard shift, she more often in it than in human form since she came here. She made her way carefully up the broken, falling apart escalator to the second floor. She figured she might as well get a nap in while she was alone, but of course someone new would probably show up. She settled herself comfortably near the edge of the balcony, looking down lazily on the main entryway. At least if anyone came in the door, she would see them before they saw her.

Only survivors

[Royce Raider]

Just beyond the reach

Royce was pleased as he swiftly flew through the cold air. This bitter air tried to nip at his small, owl body, but the many feathers and much plumage did not allow the cold to bite through. He had finally gotten to fly again. Thanks to no other than the first anthro creature that he had come in contact with. The girl still puzzled him, even when he thought about her broken words and bold actions. But with her help, the wounds on his back were cleansed. And even though there were still some scabs and much scarring there, it didn't hurt him nearly as much as it did. He was pain free enough to fly at the speed he loved. The speed that the Keepers had given him more of. His agile moves through the thin winter air were graceful and precise, as if he were showing off. But he was showing off to no one but himself.

It had been a while since he had been in the territory of his own ring, but eventually, he ventured back here. After many adventures outside of the territory, he was probably going to remain somewhere where it was safe for quite some time. He didn't know. There was really nothing else to do. Below the little barn owl, once he leveled out, came into his vision the Mana Springs Mall, where he had encountered his first friend made in the Menagerie. Though he didn't know where she had disappeared to. Maybe he was bad luck to other people. Royce descended enough so that he could inspect the different entrances that he could take. Of course, there was the main doors. But there were a few broken windows, even a small hole in the base of one of the outside walls.

After circling the structure once, Royce dived down to slide easily through a broken window that would lead him into the wide hallway on the second floor. But it wasn't as easily as Royce may have hoped. At the speed he was going, he expected to glide right through. However, a jagged piece of glass that happened to be sticking out into the small space that the owl flew through caught the sinewy base of his right wing. Not only did it set him off balance a great deal, but it sliced a small line on the top of the feather-covered skin, where Royce had been injured once before. The barn owl tore down the wide mall hallway in midair, turning and tumbling all the while. He knew he was going to hit the ground soon. He caught sight of a large cat that he flew by before he hit the tiles.

While sliding quite a ways, Royce lost his shift and transformed into the gangly boy that was Royce's human form. When finally he stopped, he was on his stomach with his light brown jacket half falling off, and his black scarf nearly choking him. Blood dripped from the sliced wound on his upper right arm, where his jacket was not covering because it had fallen a ways down his arm to his elbows. He looked at the leopard who was about fifteen feet away. "Hi." he said. His tone suggested that all the wonderment and sorrow that was Royce could be shoved into that one word.

Of people seeking.

[Deleted]

There are no winners

Cordelia was beginning to drift off. The old abandoned mall was so quiet and still, it was difficult not to. Even if she wasn't extremely tired. Which she was. So after a few minutes she was fighting to keep her eyes open. Because she really did not want to be woken up again, it made her very irritable. Out of the corner of her eye, she was vaguely aware of some type of bird come in near her, but really couldn't care less. She also heard it land, rather clumsily it sounded like. This got her a little more awake. "Hi." At the sound of a voice, she sighed inwardly. And so the pattern continues. Cordelia expected nothing less than the inability to get a proper nap. At least she wasn't asleep this time.

She glanced over lazily to see who or what had talked to her. It was a boy. So another shifter. Well, nothing unusual for this place at least. As she was about to just ignore him and his greeting, and continue resting, she did a double take. The voice was familiar, somewhere in the back of her mind. She looked back at the figure, astonished. It was none other than the owl shifter whom she had previously met, the one she had been thinking about a few minutes previously. What was his name again?. . .Oh yeah. Royce. Cordelia was a little surprised that she had remembered. Well, she was awake now. She had not expected to see him again, and wondered what his reaction would be upon realizing it was her. If he remembered who she was, that is.

She got up quickly, and trotted over to where he lay. Cocking her head to the side in a bit of amusement, she noticed that he had a painful looking scrape on his arm. Fresh, too. Now how had he managed that? "Well, well, well, who have we here? Royce, perhaps?" Her voice was a little playful. He was an interesting character, she couldn't help being curious. And he had entered in such an odd fashion. Obviously not through the door, like most people would have. But hey, he had been hanging around in the rafters of a church the first time she had seen him. What could she expect?

Only survivors

[Royce Raider]

But bygones are bygones

Laying on the dirty tiles of the hallway flat on his stomach, Royce saw the leopard take a double take after looking at him once. But he didn't continue to look at the cat. He pulled himself up into a sitting position, with his straightened legs stuck out in front of him. He shimmied off his jacket and placed it on the floor next to him, raising his arm and inspecting his wound. A thin, red line was dripping the thick, crimson liquid just above the other similar shaped scar. It looked odd to him. Royce pulled on his scarf so that he didn't feel like it was strangling him as he watched the large cat trot toward him. And he, himself, took a double take. He knew those eyes, recognized them. Searching his mind for a face to match the eyes to, he couldn't really figure it out. That is, until the thing spoke.

Well, well, well, who have we here? Royce, perhaps? Yep, he definitely knew that voice. It was the girl he met in the old church, the one who asked all the questions. The one who he had deserted. His icy grey eyes went wide. "Cordelia." The remembered name slid from his lips as quickly as it had come to his mind, in nothing more than a whisper. Royce scrambled back, away from the large cat, and as he attempted to stumble to his feet, he shifted once again. The white barn owl at first was airborn, but he quickly fell onto the ground, flapping violently the entire time. If he could just fly away now, it would be easier. But his injured wing held him down. He couldn't get off of the ground no matter how hard he flapped his wings. After scrambling around crazily on the floor for a few seconds, Royce gave up and shifted back. This time, he ended up flat on his back, looking up at the face of the cat.

He smiled in a guilty way up at the snow leopard from the floor, and a section of his bottom lip split. A bead of blood formed on his lip, but he quickly wiped it away, still laying on his back. "Um, hello. . .?" he said in more of a question than a statement. There was no doubt about it; he was afraid of her. He flipped over and pulled himself to a sitting position yet again. This time, he sat in a criss-cross fashion. Directing his attention from his acquaintance to his wound for a moment, Royce placed his hand over the bleeding cut on his arm and pressed down as hard as he could. He needed some sort of bandage. He didn't want to bleed out. That would be horrible. Royce looked back to Cordelia with his hand still putting pressure on his arm. "Fancy seeing you here." he said in that dreamy tone of his. He was sure he looked different to her. New clothes (sort of) and he was even more thin than he was the last time she saw him.

And I'm gone, so goodbye.

[Deleted]

There are no winners

Cordelia waited patiently as Royce inspected his wound. First priority, of course. When it was uncovered, it looked even less appealing to her. Ick, she was not a big fan of bloody wounds. He seemed to recognize something about her though, because he too got a surprised look on his face. Or maybe that was just because she was a large cat and he was wounded. He didn't seem like the fighting type either, especially when he was so thin. Come to think of it, he didn't seem that unhealthy last time. Oh well, made sense. It's not like you got healthier in this place. She was surprised she had survived this long herself. At the sound of her voice though, his eyes went wide. Ok, so he did know her.

"Cordelia." He whispered, astonishedly. His reaction was not what she had thought. She had not been expecting him to scramble away, then try to fly away after shifting. What was the deal with that? But apparently the injury prevented him from doing so, and he gave up. Smartly, he shifted back to human form. He landed looking up at her. It was almost comical. "Um, hello. . .?" It sounded questioning, not much like the greeting the words made it to be. Sitting upright once again, Royce directed his attention back to the injury. Logical. She probably wouldn't even be talking to someone if she was hurt like that. She shifted to her original form, the better for communication. Crouching down in front of him, she looked at him partly in sympathy for his arm, and partly in question, because of his actions when realizing who she was.

"What's with the flapping and scrambling about? I'm not gonna hurt you or anything. Then glancing at his arm, it really looked irritating. "Um, may I?" She reached toward his appendage slowly, waiting for permission, but still going on to touch him gently. One hand went under his arm, like a support, the other tried to gently wipe away the dripping blood. Clean wounds were always easier to examine. It's a shame this place was all cleaned out, it would be a very good idea to wrap it up. Maybe a spare piece of cloth could be found, and that would substitute well enough. . . "How did you manage this?"

Only survivors

[Royce Raider]

I'll blend up that rainbow above you

Royce watched closely as the girl in front of him shifted into the form that he recognized more. He didn't really feel that safe with her looming over him and him knowing that he wouldn't be able to get away. Not unless he ran. Which he really wasn't fond of doing after all this time. What's with the flapping and scrambling about? I'm not gonna hurt you or anything. Royce averted his eyes from Cordelia's. "I don't know that." he said in a matter-of-factly tone, showing his suspicion of her. He kind of shied away when she reached out for him, very uncomfortable with the idea of someone else touching him when he was injured. But it wasn't like he had a choice anyways. Royce jumped slightly when the contact was actually made, for Cordelia's warmth was a startling contrast to his own body temperature.

As he watched very closely, zeroed in with his vision on what she was doing, he felt something odd. Something that seemed familiar to him, yet unfamiliar at the same time. If that was possible. It felt like his mind was expanding. Royce pondered the feeling for a few seconds before he finally realized what was happening. His eyes widened just a little, and he quickly pulled away, scrambling to his feet. "Oh," he mumbled. "I forgot about that." Royce knew that it was the weird effect of the Keepers' latest experiment on him. The ability to invade others' minds with mixed emotions that confused them. Royce looked at Cordelia closely to see if the effect had wore off quickly enough since he was not touching her any longer. He was slightly afraid that she would be angered by it. But he really couldn't help it. He didn't know how to control it yet. "C-Cordelia?" he stuttered in a questioning manner.

And shoot it through your veins.

[Deleted]

There are no winners

Royce really seemed to be afraid of her. Cordelia was puzzled as to why this was. And he didn't seem to believe her that she wasn't going to hurt him. But she wasn't. She had no reason to. Besides, she kinda liked him. But she supposed it was normal for people here to be suspicious. She herself was usually kind of wary of people, even if she didn't act like it. And of course this also made him that much more reluctant for her to touch him, especially near an already existing wound. She expected him to pull away pretty quickly, but she still went to try and make the wound cleaner and easier to see. But she was not expecting new emotions to flood in to her upon contact. Completely new.

Cordelia suddenly felt multiple emotions at once, and it was all very confusing. She was overjoyed, but upset, angered, and quite confused, all at the same time. "What in the world just happened to me? Did he do this? How could that even be possible?" After a few seconds though, the extra stuff in her head faded out, and she was left with purely confusion. And now suspicion. Cordelia also noticed that she was no longer touching his arm. Did it happen on contact, then? Made sense. . . But why? She stood, and looked down at Royce. "C-Cordelia?" "What in the world was that about? What did you do, and why did you do it?" Her voice wasn't quite angry, she just really liked to know what was going on.

Only survivors

[Royce Raider]

Bad at the hand of circumstance

Royce watched closely the look of absolute confusion that came across Cordelia's face for a moment. He knew that he had done it, he had given her false emotions. When she stood, obviously not bombarded with the feelings any longer, Royce tried to take a step back, but tripped and fell down again. He looked up at her with wide, grey eyes. What in the world was that about? Royce flinched almost painfully as soon as the words came out of the girl's mouth, as if he was bracing himself for a blow to the head or shoulders. He was slightly surprised when she did not hit him; she seemed the kind of person that would, after all that he had done. She obviously didn't understand. So he would have to give the best attempt he had in him to explain it.

Still wary that the cat shifter would try to attack him in some way, the lanky boy scooted back as he spoke quickly. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. I- I can't control it!" Royce looked around the second floor of the mall nervously, still holding his wound. "Y-you remember. The last time." he started, his voice cracking several times when he spoke. "When I told you about the Keepers, and their tampering with us, with me." He hadn't spoken this much in one sitting in a very long time, and his voice was hoarse from lack of use. Royce sighed, removed his hand from his bleeding arm, and ran the un-bloody hand through his hair. He was still quite afraid. He looked back up and met Cordelia's green eyes with his over-dialated pupils. "It's all their fault." he said quietly. "I swear."

What I had in mind exactly doesn't happen.

[Deleted]

There are no winners

It looked like Royce was expecting some type of attack from Cordelia. So either he knew what had just happened, or he was just being really jumpy. He fell again, and scooted away from her. She didn't move any closer this time, though. He went to explain that it wasn't his fault, it was the keepers, they had experiemented on him again. Well, she didn't doubt that. But that still didn't explain what it was. It was bizarre. But at least he hadn't done it on purpose. She wouldn't be inclined to hurt him then. But the downside was that that also meant she couldn't touch him without fear of experiencing unreasonable emotions again. Normally, she wouldn't much care. But she did want to try to help his wound.

Royce met her eyes, and he really looked like he feared she was going to hurt him. Paranoid boy, he was. She'd have to get that idea out of his head somehow, it was kind of irritating to have him so jumpy. "Ok. I'll believe that. And I'm not going to hurt you. Calm down, huh?" She kinda felt sorry for him. It really had to suck to be experimented on, let alone more than once. And it looked like some of the experiments could drive you insane. She sighed and lost her defensive stance, and walked toward him. "You should probably get that bandaged up. It's too bad there's no medical items, or anything else, to be found in this place."

Only survivors

[Royce Raider]

'Cause I feel so mad

Royce was absolutely desperate for Cordelia to believe him. Because he was telling the truth. Most of the time he told nothing but the truth. Ok. I'll believe that. And I'm not going to hurt you. Calm down, huh? Royce sighed and looked around in an exasperated fashion. What else was he supposed to be? Ecstatic? She was obviously stronger than he was, despite their differences in age. But he knew that she could probably break him in half like a tooth pick. And giving someone like that false emotions wasn't exactly the nicest way to say hello. Royce had been in a sort of withdrawn and cringing position, until Cordelia lost the edge to her own stance. The lanky boy shuffled around a little on the ground and sat up straight as the other walked toward him, still clutching his wound.

You should probably get that bandaged up. Royce looked around through the dirty windows of the many vacant shops to confirm that Cordelia's statement was true. There really was nothing here. "Umm-" Royce paused, pursing his lips. He thought for a moment, then felt stupid that he hadn't figured it out instantly. There was a scarf around his neck. He reached up and slipped the black scarf off of his neck. But when he tried to wrap it around his wounded arm with only one hand, he failed miserably. He slumped down, still sitting, and looked up at the other shifter with a notion of patheticness in his eyes. He needed help. Once again. It kind of frustrated him that he couldn't do things on his own lately. He held the scarf up in the air. "Help?" he asked simply, with the tone of an innocent little child.

I feel so angry.

[Deleted]

There are no winners

Cordelia waited as Royce looked around to learn for himself just how empty and devoid of use this building was. After thinking for a minute, he pulled the scarf off his neck. Well, using that as a bandage would be a smart idea. It's probably a little cleaner than anything you would find on the dust covered floors here anyway. But it was a shame to ruin such an item with a bloody wound. Cordelia wasn't all that in to fashion, she just wanted comfortable clothes that didn't make her look ridiculous, but she could still appreciate a nice accessory. And acquiring something like that here, she assumed it would be no easy task. But he couldn't get it to tie around his arm. She chuckled loudly at this, it was a pretty funny sight.

"Help?" Cordelia smiled and gently took the scarf from his hand, absentmindedly running it through her fingers as she stepped over and crouched down again to be in a better position to tie. Being extremely careful not to make contact with his skin again, - she really didn't like the confusing, false emotions from nowhere - she wrapped it tightly around the upper part of his arm, the ends coming a couple inches out from the edge of the wound. She tied the ends of the garment, before stepping away and standing with her hands on her hips, surveying her handiwork. Pretty good job, in her opinion, considering she usually wasn't very good at wrapping stuff. "I think that should do it. . .It's a shame you had to use your scarf though."

Only survivors

[Royce Raider]

We all are birds

Royce frowned a little when Cordelia laughed at his failed attempts to tie the makeshift bandage around his own arm. He didn't really like to be laughed at. Laughed with was fine. But he wasn't laughing. He knew that the other shifter was not intent on harming him, but still his vision was zeroed in on her movements and smallest actions. All the while that Cordelia was tying the black scarf onto his upper arms, his eyes were on her face and not what she was doing. It did not come into Royce's mind that she might find this a little odd. After all, he didn't know what was right from wrong when it came to interacting with people. He was only a little withdrawn because he was afraid. When she stepped back to observe what she had done, Royce looked down at the well tied wound. Tight enough, but not too loose.

I think that should do it. . .It's a shame you had to use your scarf though. Royce shrugged indifferently to the snow leopard shifter's words and looked back up to her. His icy grey eyes bore into her, almost attempting to penetrate her mind. To her, it might look as if the lanky boy were looking through her to something else, as if he wasn't really focused on her outside appearance, or her at all. "It's getting pretty warm anyway. I won't need it for much longer." he said, his voice mysterious and unreadable. "And I can always wash it somewhere." A simple little smile came over his face. He didn't know what to do now. He guessed he should try and talk. "So, what have you. . ." he averted his eyes to a different place, thinking of what to say and how to say it, ". . . been up to. . ?" He failed miserably at making small talk. He'd never done it before in his life.

Stuck inside our cage.

[mo money]

MOVED TO ARCHIVES!
- ADMINBEAST HAS SPOKEN!

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