devil's gonna follow me wherever I go, (open)

[Deleted]

Days in Sewertown, over in Carna territory, were starting to bore her. Kitty needed to look around, to explore her surroundings a little bit before she went crazy. She felt that the more she knew about the dome, the climate, the type of terrain, the more prepared she'd be. Prepared for what? Well, prepared for anything that might happen to her or her ring. Or prepared for things she might have to inflict on other people. Any of those answers were good, logical. She did need to find out about the dome. Carefully, she stormed her way across the unclaimed territories, pulling down her oversized sweatshirt over her palms. THe shirt still smelled like her mother, if you could look underneath the sterilized smell of doctors and labs. Which still drifted on the sweatshirt, too. She'd scrubbed it a little, trying to get rid of the smell in a small river she'd found. No such luck. Now little traces of smells were mixed all through her sweatshirt and she didn't like it. She wanted the smell of her family back.

Frowning at the thoughts, she jumped on a branch. It made an angry snap beneath her weight, which satisfied her and the anger went down. She jumped again before stomping forward, stopping only when she tripped over the remnant of an old brick. A frustrated yell escaped her lips as she stood and kicked the brick as hard as she could. She was still staring at the ground, waiting for the thud of the brick hitting the ground. Instead, there was a clack of it hitting something solid and hard. Anger was replaced by curiosity as she looked up to find nothing other but a... church? Her eyebrows raised at the sight. A church in the dome? Were their like pious shifters that were in here, or was this some sort of taunting from the Keepers? Ha ha, God can't help you now, you're in our hands. That would make sense, evil as they were.

She stalked forward, testing the steps up to the doors or the chapel, half expecting it to crumble under her weight at any second. It looked really, very old. When it didn't give out under her, she threw the doors open and went inside to explore. Naturally, as soon as she was in the middle of the aisle, the floor gave out beneath her. Kitty roared, sort of an angry habit. Coughing, she cleared the dust from her face and tried not to inhale it. That wasn't easy, and she swallowed a lot of it, which reduced her to coughing fits. Once she could breathe normally once more, she looked around. This was not a normal church basement. Frowning, she got up and looked around. She was surrounded by several bottles of... something. But what? Mouth set into a thin line, she picked up a thin, stout bottle and brushed the dust off. It was brown. Unscrewing the cap, she smelled it. Smelled... strong. Now what she did next wasn't smart, or witty, or healthy. Curiosity killed the cat, and one day, it probably would kill her.

Just not today.

She took a drink. An average sized one, too, not a small little sip. Gasping, she sputtered a little bit, dropping the bottle. Then she started coughing... again. Deep, belly coughs, more like retching or dry-heaving. She spat, trying to get the awful taste out of her mouth. Gripping a shelf, she leaned over and heaved some more, willing herself not to throw up. Her throat burned and her eyes watered. Alcohol. In the bottom of a church? Wiping her eyes, she shook her head. She wouldn't be drinking any more of that stuff, ever. Maybe she could use it to poison someone, though. She'd only had alcohol once, at a party in her high school years. It had hurt her same as this time, just without the disgusting side-effects. It was still just as pleasant, and she decided she didn't like it.

Stepping back, she regained control of her breath and looked around, picking at the bottles as she picked at her freshly scabbed over Mark beneath her sweatshirt. "Ouch," she muttered, retrieving her hand from the sleeve and sucking the blood off her finger tips. It would probably trickle a little bit, maybe stain her gray sweatshirt. Gross. Other people's blood on it was fine, but her own blood was gross. She didn't like that at all, really. Kitty sighed and looked around at the room she was in, hoping there was a staircase or something so she wouldn't have to try and climb out of this poison room.

[Natalie Sierra]

This wretched place - what was it? If you ran to one end of it, there was glass - if you ran to the next, there was more glass. Who knew if there was even glass over it, like some sort of huge bubble.. It that was the case, she feared what would happen if the synthetic weather were to malfunction - they'd fry like ants under a magnifying glass.
The thoughts seemed to swirl around in one big, endless blob in the girl's head - it just wouldn't stop. She lay curled up on a shelf - in her mouse form - motionless, her eyes watching the rotting wood underneath her and a few of the bottles. There was nothing to do here. She dared not turn back into a human and wander the streets - in a sense, she felt safer as she was, hiding out among the city mice and rats like they were family. Still, they often ignored her - she didn't smell like them. She wasn't dirty - he fur wasn't stained with dirt and muck, nor did she smell like a wet dog or trash.
But still – luckily – her mere presence was enough to throw off even the most skilled hunters and scouts and get them to overlook her as they would a piece of paper on the street. She was present, and then she wasn’t – it was a blessing, in her eyes.
After a while of roaming the city without any real affiliation, she’d come across a strange church – it was almost sadistic that they’d put one in the middle of the damned exhibit, but there it was, like a tower of false hope among the rest of the city. She’d never bothered with religious beliefs – hell, there was only one real thing she’d ever grown attached to from the story: St. Jude. She didn’t bother to go as far as hailing and praying and what not, but she still carried a small pendant around her neck. It was a reminder that maybe there was some hope for lost souls like she and the rest in the enclosure – and there was, in a way, somewhere shoveled under miles of dirt.
She dismissed the previous thoughts as a sudden sound came to her attention – cracking wood. No sooner had the sound reached her than somewhere in the distance of the room, the ceiling gave in. She watched the spectacle through mildly-amused eyes, her whispers twitching as she tried to get a good scent of the visitor.
Shifter. Female.
As for the rest, she didn’t much care nor bother trying to figure out. She inched towards the edge of the shelf, watching as her curiosity led her to take a drink from one of the many bottles, and just as easily spew it all back out like poison. She couldn’t help but snicker, though the sounds came as nothing more than quiet squeaks.
Then came the scent of blood, and her curiosity bloomed again – was she okay?
She leapt off of the shelf, landing on the ground with a quiet thud and scurrying about one of the chairs before shifting back to normal, her blue-green eyes landing on the girl.
“Hey, you alright there?” she asked meekly, sweeping a few locks of hair out of her face. She had not the slightest idea what the stranger would do – but in a way she didn’t care. She may have not been the best for social situations, but she was sick and tired of keeping to herself in the basement of that forsaken place.

[Deleted]

After she was done sputtering out the gross liquid, she heard something. Movement. Her brows knit together confusedly. There was no one in here. She hadn't sensed anyone, and she always sensed people, usually. She was perfect. She could do these kinds of things. Kitty didn't mess up. Ever. She was a machine and she was like a war... goddess, and then there was a girl standing in the room. A girl? No. Not cool. No no no. Kitty immediately shifted into her black panther form, ears flat back, tail twitching from side to side in an agitated manner. Mostly agitated at herself. She opened her mouth to hiss at the girl, the intruder (even though this was a very public place), opened her mouth and spoke. Just a question, innocent enough. No double meanings or bad intentions.

Just as soon as she'd shifted into an angry melanistic leopard, she shifted back, her face the epitome of cool and collected, as if she'd never almost attacked this girl right off the spot. If she had been a man, or a Fulsi, she'd probably be dead already. Head raised high, she raised her eyebrows. "Just fine. Picked a scab too hard is all." She rolled up the sleeve to show the new girl her Mark, the sign of the Carna. Whether or not it would actually mean anything to the girl, Kitty didn't know. She seemed pretty clueless, especially if she was running around jumping out at people and not expecting to get murdered or bludgeoned or anything. She smelled like the Keepers, too. She was obviously new. Kitty herself had just been here long enough to not smell like the Keepers anymore.

"Maybe, a better question would be, are you alright? Most people have more common sense than to scare the crap out of strangers. Especially when there's basically a 77% chance they'd scratch your eyeballs out of your head, or worse. Did all those chemicals get to your brain, in the labs?" She spoke with an eyebrow raised, rolling her sleeve back down. It was true. No sense not telling the girl, it'd help her survive a few days longer in this hell hole. Until, of course, she was stupid enough to wander onto either Fulsi or Carna territory and not think about the consequences. Poor thing. She was like a child, in a way. Had Kitty been more... human, she probably would have felt the need to take care of the girl. Unfortunately, she both didn't care, and had shut off the emotion switch long enough ago that she didn't give it a second thought.

"I'm feeling sort of nice, so I'll go ahead and tell you; cross the wrong people, which is most of them, and you're a goner. They'll kill you on the spot. Fortunately, you didn't look like an assassin, a Fulsi, or a man, so you're still standing here with me." Her voice was condescending as she spoke, as if explaining something to a very slow child. "Do you understand?" She said it slowly. It was almost as if she was trying to talk to someone who used a different language, but that was the least of her thoughts right now.

ooc; sorry it's shorter than I would have liked.

[Natalie Sierra]

As the girl before her seemed to melt into a snarling mass of large, melanistic leopard, her adrenaline seemed to hit the ceiling. Her eyes widened and she took a step back, losing her color briefly like a deer in headlights. She wasn't exactly too fond of cats - much less when they were snarling at her. However, just as easy as the feline had materialized, she shifted back into her human form, causing Natalie to give a nervous laugh. She raised one arm across her stomach, grabbing on to her other arm loosely - protectively - as the other girl spoke, showing her the scab.
"Holy crap," she whispered, looking at the mark a few times over. "Well, that looks like it hurt. What does it .. stand for?" Curiosity trickled into her eyes like water in a stream, filling them with life and reviving them - a much needed task after the scare she'd been given just a few seconds prior. Leopards, gangs, viruses, and psychopaths - this place was turning more interesting than she'd originally believed it to be, and she wasn't sure what to think of it. At least there'd never be a boring day.
"I'm fine.." she answered, arching an eyebrow slightly as the girl started warning her about sneaking up on people. She bit her lip like a scolded child, letting the new information sink in. So, obviously, she should be weary about sneaking up on people - but how exactly could she do that? Being that her shift was a mouse, she was stealthy by nature - and to walk around stomping her feet and telling people she was arriving was a sure-fire way to run into a tougher crowd. Perhaps she'd just continue lurking in the shadows as she had been - but, rather than creeping out to meet people, perhaps it'd be smarter to stay in them. Obviously, her presence had been well-hidden up until she'd gone off and shifted back to human form.

"I understand." Her words were sharp and clear, almost as if she wanted to prove herself to the stranger. All those years of running away from getting sent to boot camp by her parents and there she was, taking a crash course in 'shut up and listen'. She almost grinned at the thought, but she kept her emotions well hidden. "Yeah, I'm .. none of those things really, unless mouse-shifters are secret assassins," she gave another nervous laugh, though it was more relaxed than her previous one.
"..What the heck is a Fulsi? she finally questioned, her thoughts running over the girl's rant. Apparently she was saved by being shy, female, and not a whatever-she-said - but that's where the curiosity kicked in. The mark, the name - she'd heard them before and seen them before, but she'd disregarded it, shrugging it off and sending it to a dark little corner of her mind. She hadn't bothered trying to understand, but maybe the time had come to figure out just what she'd gotten herself dropped into.

[/size]

["Quick" Taylor]

Quick slunk between the buildings in his leopard form, as he usually did, moving swiftly and quietly among the ancient buildings. He had been exploring this area for the past several hours, something he'd been doing more of lately. He had been here in the Menagerie for somewhere in the area of six years, by his reckoning, although it was difficult to tell exactly how long he'd been in this godforsaken hell-hole. It had been tough going at first, dealing with the Menagerie. He had been experimented on and all kinds of things, and he'd just raged at the Keepers, even going so far as to spit in their faces whenever they got close enough for him to do so. It had gotten to the point where they had sedated him any time they had brought him into their labs.

The last time that had happened, though, was quite a while ago. Probably over a year, though he'd lost track of the days rather easily. It happened when he didn't have a calendar to keep track of the dates. He looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was at about it's midpoint, even though there were clouds covering the sky overhead. It was somewhere near noon-time, right at mid-day. At least he could still somewhat track time, despite the nasty looking clouds overhead.

As he thought about the clouds, he felt a single raindrop fall right on the tip of his snout, just above his nose. He looked up at the sky again and saw more rain beginning to fall. He silently cursed to himself and started bounding off towards the nearest building, which happened to be a church. As he came up to the doors, which were already open, he slowly and quietly slinked inside just as the rain began to come down in a heavy downpour. Damn the Keepers, throwing out a random rainshower like that with their weather control systems.

As he slowly moved further inside the old, decrepit church, he noticed a pair of low voices, apparently female, coming from what appeared to be a hole in the floor. His leopard's brow drew down in caution as he slowly and even more quietly slunk forward, attempting to keep hsi presence hidden for the moment. He moved only close enough so he could make out exactly what it was the girls were saying in the hole.

The only thing he could make out once he did get close enough to hear was one of them asking what a Fulsi was. He quietly snorted to himself. That one obviously had to be new to the Menagerie, freshly caught from the outside world, to not know what a Fulsi was. He just slowly shook his leopard's head and began to transform back to his human form. Once he was standing on two legs again, he closed the rest of the distance to the edge of the hole and looked down at the to girls in there. They were both about the same age as him, and both were covered in the grime that managed to find its way onto all the denizens of the menagerie.

"A Fulsi is what members of the Fulsiring are called," he said,"They're one of the three main groups of shifters here in the Menagerie, the Fulsiring, the Carnaring, and, my ring, the Fallenring. Each of them has their own philosophies on how to live lie in here, and they all band together to help survive. You could almost call them small nations within this old city, since there was a war fought in here years ago. The Fulsi, bastards that they are, aren't all bad, just imperialistic.

"Hopefully that answers your question good enough."

[Deleted]

Kitty couldn't help it- she went ahead and smiled as the girl standing in front of her commented on the scab, soon to be scar. "It didn't hurt that much, but it stands for Carna. You come across a person with this, on this arm, they're either a Carna... or a poser of some sort, I guess. I haven't heard of that being done, though." She smiled sweetly and cocked her head at the girl, as if telling a new person that her whole Ring inflicted wounds on themselves to set themselves apart. In her eyes, it was like a tattoo, or the closest that she could get to one in this dome. She had wanted a tattoo as a teenager, in her rebel years, or whatever you wanted to call them. But her mom wouldn't sign the forms, and by the time she was old enough to get her own tattoo, she had other, bigger things to worry about. Like, her life. And her family's lives.

The smile faltered, but then was revived as the other answered her rhetorical question of "are you alright" with an 'I'm fine'. She had always thought that was funny, when people answered a rhetorical question. As if they couldn't tell when there was an answer required or when the answer wasn't needed. Kitty watched as the girl slowly grew more curious; she could see it in her eyes. The way they lit up. She'd seen it countless times before, in the eyes of her sister, her mother, her friends. It was a common trait, really. In everyone. She knew that there would be questions, and again, she was in a good mood, relatively, so she'd stay here with this stranger and answer all her silly little inquiries about the place she'd be staying for a long time, as things were looking.

She smiled again, a big, genuine smile, as the girl made a joke about mouse assassins or whatever. She was feeling so uncharacteristically happy today. "I think," she began slowly, not used to doing this sort of thing with someone not Carna- "I think that if mice were really assassins, we'd all be goners. That, and mouse trap sales would go through the roof." She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Still, throughout the exchange, she was careful never to let her guard down. Never, ever let your guard down. That was one of her main rules, if it made any sense- letting your guard down led to trouble, to misfortune, to heartbreak, to pain. All things that humans and shifters alike typically tried to avoid, if they could. No one liked to be hurt, no matter if it was emotionally, mentally, or physically. Suddenly, she stiffened, sensing... someone. No way of telling exactly who just yet, she made a silencing motion to the girl in front of her, then tapped her ear and pointed above them, trying to tell the girl to listen. For footsteps, for breathing, for anything. Someone was definitely here, but they were stealthy. And that was dangerous. Anyone was potentially dangerous, in here, to be honest. And no one could ever be too careful. Ever.

She cocked her head to the side, still listening, when she heard a soft noise. A cough? A laugh? It wasn't pronounced enough to be sure, but there was definitely a noise there. Which meant there was a person there. But she still didn't know what kind of person, and that frustrated her. A fellow Carna? A Fallen or Fulsi? A... a virus? That wouldn't be good. She looked around the room, her eyes scanning for an exit. None were exactly apparent to her, at the moment, but if all else failed, she could get up these shelves quickly enough to escape the hole she'd created, right? Her eyes darted to the other girl, who would most likely be left behind in her hasty escape. And then, she thought, her eyes going to the hole in the ceiling, there was always the unknown variable. There was no telling who she or he would be, what they wanted, or how they would react to the two of them down in the hole.

Suddenly, a man (young adult?) fell down through the hole. She jumped back, shifting automatically, without much thought. Her tail twitched angrily from side to side once more, and she prowled back and forth as a black panther, her eyes never leaving the stranger. Fallen, yes, and they did have an alliance with them, but as far as she could tell, it was sort of on it's last leg. And he was a... well, he was a he, and persons of the male variant were far more likely to do something stupid, in her opinion. Her yellow/green eyes bored holes into the man as he answered the other girl's question, the one about the Fulsi. After a moment, she shifted back, taking her eyes off of him for only a moment. That was exactly how long it had taken her to locate a shard of broken glass on the floor, from the bottle she'd dropped; it would serve as a handy weapon if she ended up needing one.

Straightening her spine, she sniffed, disdainfully. "I was getting around to answering that question before you so rudely interrupted," she said, narrowing her eyes to glare at him. Every muscle in her body was visibly tense, ready to spring at any moment should anything happen. Trust was not something that was easily gained for outsiders.

[Deleted]

FINALLY FINISHED SORRY YOU GUYS I WILL DO BETTER D:

[Natalie Sierra]

She ran her eyes over the mark with curiosity beaming in her body language, but she said nothing further, since her questions were answered promptly by the girl before her. Apparently, she belonged to some group called the Carna. For the moment, that meant nothing to her – it just stayed lingering around in her mind like a forgotten note. She’d have to find out about these Carna later on.

Luckily, it seemed that the giant feline-shifter in front of her wasn’t as aggressive as she’d originally believed her to be. That was good.. she didn’t often meet eye to eye with the more guarded shifters – the ones that’d gladly rip someone’s throat out if they had something they needed. The thought was enough to chill her to the bone and question when and where the humanity had seeped right out of their bodies and left them bare, like walking skeletons.
The stranger before her was none of those things – she even laughed, joking along with her about mouse trap sales. A warm smile slowly spread on Natalie’s lips, her expressions warming up as the feelings reached her eyes. A day when she didn’t have to scurry around and hide from people was good – days like that got even better when she could hold a normal conversation with one of them.
Then something came and stopped it all, shocking the train to a screeching halt as a new scent entered the meeting. What was it? Whatever it was, it smelled like a cat – another big cat. She gulped quietly, trying to tune into the sounds to figure out if ‘it’ was just passing by, or if it’d decided to stick around for a while. No matter what she tried to read and decipher, no more data came to her ears or nose, and she was stuck standing there like a sitting duck. Being in her human form seemed so stupid in times like this..
Natalie mirrored Kitty’s movements as her guard rose, her eyes shifting to the hole and to the hallways just beyond the wine-filled shelf. It got quiet – almost too quiet, and then someone else entered, and the girl transformed back into her feline shift.
She almost yelled out at the sight, but even with her stomach churning, she simply braced herself, her hand gripping the side of the bar table and tightening as if she was trying to mold it like putty However, the wooden structure stayed surprisingly firm, even if it’d been around for several decades – maybe even a century.
Whatever the case, soon a man entered the equation, the girl returned to her human form, and all was well with the world. It was like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders once more, even if only momentarily.
“You know, everyone should just wear big, bright beacons that say who they are and what they want. It’d make the world a lot easier,” she remarked, releasing the death grip she had on the table and crossing her arms loosely – defensively.
Now that the initial shock was over, however, she shifted her gaze across the room to the guy, sizing him up subconsciously as he spoke, meanwhile taking note of the strange, new knowledge.
Fulsi, Carna, Fallen – three rings, three nations, three lifestyles, some were at war.
She tilted her head slightly as he explained, turning slightly so that she could face both of them.
“So basically instead of living like normal people, everyone split up into three gangs and now they’re either at war or allied….well, isn’t that fun..” she said, her voice growing into a whisper towards the end of the sentence.
“Just turn on each other since you can’t exactly have a go at the keepers.. After all, nobody makes a better punching bag than another shifter,” she chimed, letting her smile widen. Obviously, she was being sarcastic and slightly in denial of how such a thing could happen.. but sooner or later, it’d all sink in. As crazy as it all sounded, she simply had to fight the logical voice inside and override it. They probably weren’t as human as they once were, anymore.. If treated like animals, the shift’s mentality would always come out to play sooner or later.

“So, I’ll play devil’s advocate and ask..” she started, brushing some of the bangs out of her face, “which ring is the best?”

[Deleted]

(( Hope you don't mind me joining in. Need to stretch the big guy's legs. ))

The downpour remained steady and was showing no signs of letting up anytime soon, this fact did not bother the giant anthro of a man at all. In fact Bhavya was rather enjoying he walk in the rain, as sudden as it was, the heat of the desert didn't always agree with him. If he wasn't already set on going to the Speakeasy he might have considered just sitting out in the rain for the duration of the storm and enjoying this gift from Indra, regardless of the fact that this was a creation of the Keepers. But alas, his mind had been made up which meant his meditations would have to wait for another time and a different manufactured storm. Bhavya lumbered forth, toward the looming church ahead, his thoughts already on what sort of alcohol he would be drinking tonight.

As he made it up to the entryway of the church he paused under the sheltered entrance and rolled his head side to side, flapping his small ears, to rid himself of the loose droplets of water that had collected on his skin. Satisfied that he was as dry as he was going to be Bhavya proceeded to push the already open door wide open and ducked down as he stepped inside. Once properly inside it became apparent that he would not be drinking alone tonight, the scent of others wafted in the air, one in particular he was somewhat familiar with but nothing that put him on edge. There was very little cause for concern regardless who was down in the bar below because if there was one thing the Indian had learned in his time here was that very few people wanted to start a quarrel with him. He walked through the church as carefully as possible, he could never be sure how solid and sturdy any structure was and he wasn’t going to take any chances. Falling through floors was not his idea of a fun time, no matter the circumstance.

Walking down the stairs that led to the hidden bar below Bhavya was able to pick up the voices of those within. He wasn’t familiar with either of the women’s voices but recognized Quick’s immediately. The leopard had a very particular way of speaking and being in the same ring he was also somewhat familiar with him. It seemed that they were having a conversation about the various Rings that were established within the Menagerie which was interesting in itself. It meant that one of women hadn't been her long and was in store for some very hard lessons that came along with life inside the M.

As Bhavya reached the bottom landing the giant anthro tucked up his trunk and ducked down as he stepped inside the dank bar room and surveyed the scene around him quietly. He saw the two women conversing on the other side of the room but failed to spot Quick, though he knew he was nearby, the leopard had added his two cents into the conversation and it was doubtful he would stop there.

“So, I’ll play devil’s advocate and ask..” she started, brushing some of the bangs out of her face, “which ring is the best?”

'So she must be the newcomer. They always seem to be so young.' Bhavya thought to himself as the blonde woman asked the question to others in the room. He took a few steps toward the pair and cleared his throat as to announce his presence, "It is not a matter of what ring is better Yuvati," his voice was a low rumbling baritone with a somewhat heavy Hindi accent, "They are all equally matched for the most part. The only main variable is yourself. So the question shouldn't be which ring is the best, but more along the lines of what ring is the best for me? Because with your original question you will get nothing but opinions that vary from person to person. Nothing factual." Bhavya paused and gave a elephantine half smile, "But that of course, is only my opinion on the matter."

["Quick" Taylor]

OOC: apologies for my slowness in posting. computer issues. >.<

As Quick slowly slipped down through the hole in the floor and landed lithely on his feet, the girl who he could tell had been there a while leapt back, changing to her animal form and circled him menacingly. He grimaced and watched her, knowing that if he even made so much as a wrong twitch that seemed menacing, she would pounce. Even if he started shifting in that very moment, he wouldn't be able to finish before she was on him. If that happened, he'd be dead. No, he had to play this carefully if he wanted to make it out of this alive.

"Settle down," He said, turning to keep his eyes on her as she continued circling. Letting her out of his sight would allow her a free chance to attack, and he'd learned long ago that doing so in the M would get you killed,"I'm not here to hurt anyone. You hear that pattering on the roof? I'm here to shelter from the rain so I don't get sick."

As he spoke, he was careful to keep his hands away from his body, a gesture that showed he was neither armed, nor made any attempt at arming himself with any hidden weapons he might have. He didn't have any weapons to speak of, that was for sure, but she didn't know that. Finally, though, she shifted back and mentioned how rude he was to interrupt. The only thought going through his head was if she'd have preferred him to sit in a corner and pop out to spooke them at some point during the night, which it seemed the storm was likely to last through.

Before he could come back with his own little quip at her, though, the other girl, who smelled of mice oddly enough, interrupted with what was obviously a joke, attempting to diffuse the situation. He decided he would relax, just a little, and hope that the other girl there would do the same. He really didn't want a fight in here. He just wanted somewhere to stay dry.

"So I'll play devil's advocate and ask.....which ring is the best?" the mouse-girl said, looking at them both expectantly. Without missing a beat, however, a very familiar voice came from the area of the stairwell, and Quick turned to see a massive elephant-man standing there, speaking with a hindi-accent. A small grin came to his face as he saw Bhavya. He knew the big man, all right. He was a good man, very religious towards hinduism.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Bhavya," he said with a small chuckle as he looked back to mouse-girl,"The rings are each different and cater to different people. For instance, the Fallen, my ring, is more peaceful. We prefer to stick to ourselves and won't really mess with anyone unless they mess with us first. Then you have the Fulsi who are, like I said, imperialistic through and through. All they want is to control the entire menagerie, and don't care who they have to kill to accomplish that.

"And lastly," Quick said, a small hint of malice hitting his voice,"You have the Carna. They're different from the Fulsi and the Fallen. Where the Fulsi kill for territory, and the Fallen kill only to protect, the Carna kill for the sheer pleasure of it. I was one of the first shifters thrown into this place, and since the Carnaring was started, I've seen them wipe out another entire ring that was comprised completely of people such as Bhavya here..."

He motioned to the large, Ent-like man as he continued speaking,"He's been mutated by the Keepers to be forever part-man, and part-animal. There were once a lot of others like him, and a whole ring that they all were a part of, until the Carnaring decided to take matters into their own hands and...dispose of them. Now that ring isn't around anymore, because the Carnaring is so bloodthirsty."

[Deleted]

Kitty shot a sideways look at the girl, wondering why she was always so upset about the cat-form thing. It seemed she freaked out whenever she changed forms, into her big black panther form. Maybe it was because her shift was a mouse? She honestly had no idea, because it's not like she had the temptation to chase this girl around because she was a mouse, right? Maybe this new rogue girl was just weird. It wasn't like this place had a surprising lack of weird people, after all. Everyone was somehow equally freaky in their own way. Hello, they were shifters and all... wasn't that kind of weird? To humans, anyways. Did they count as humans? Kitty shook her head to herself. Now was not the time or place for this, seeing how there was a suspicious guy here who may or may not be prepared to jump on her back and gut her alive at any second, right? Focus, Kitty, focus.

She laughed when the girl said something about the beacons. It wasn't an, oh, you are a stand up comedian laugh, it was more of a that's the strangest thing I've ever heard anyone say, you silly little girl! laugh. Because that was weird. She was pleased to see the little mouse relax, it made it easier for her to seem like her guard was down, at least physically. Her mind was basically running on high alert, though, keeping an eye on the new male at all times. It wasn't that she hated everyone and everything male, but the way she saw it, she was likely to have a harder time fighting off a guy if he snuck up on her and attacked her while her guard was down. And she didn't want that to happen, she she had her flawless defenses (they're flawless in her mind, okay?) up all the way, just to be sure he wasn't going to totally flay her alive.

He had said he wasn't here to hurt anyone, but she'd heard that plenty of times before and it always led to needles or fighting or something. Besides. He was a stranger, and strangers were the absolute last people she'd ever trust.

The new girl had asked which ring was the best, and Kitty was taking a breath before she answered, when suddenly, she smelled another... person? Person-type-thing, anyways. Another one? she thought to herself, almost on the verge of kicking herself for not being able to sense anyone coming. It had to be the storm, it was somehow throwing off her defense mechanisms and making it harder for her to focus on her surroundings. Yes, that, paired with the girl's random new kid questions and the sudden threat of another male, had to be the reason she was failing so much today. It was the only possible explanation, she was a perfect machine, she didn't ever fail. She was built for this.

Right. Narcissism to a t.

And then there was some sort of elephant... freak in front of her. Her face contorted into a mix of shock and disgust; it was her Ring's prejudice of almost all Anthro that was to blame for this. As Quick would so helpfully point out later, they had destroyed a whole "ring", of sorts, made up of Anthros. And then he started talking, and her disposition switched to disappointment. She had wanted to answer a question. And her almost-answers had been interrupted both times. This was getting annoying. And then the leopard shifter started to talk about the rings, and her annoyance increased by... well, by a lot. First, the way he praised the Fallen for all the glorious good hearted people they were. She rolled her eyes. And then he made the Fulsi out to be not half bad, to which she crossed her arms. Still, it didn't affect her too much.

Then he started bad-mouthing the Carna, her Ring, and it was like the last straw. In a heartbeat, she had shifted and leapt, aiming to land on top of the other shifter. She snarled, snapping her teeth at him. It wasn't that he had said anything that wasn't particularly true, but it still ticked her off. And besides, it was incredibly biased. "What the way you speak, man," she roared, setting and excellent and classy example of just what the Carna were made of. "At least have the common sense to think that there is, in fact, a Carna in this room who might, just might, take some offense to what it is you are saying, and act on that." Then, she turned and bounded back to where she had previously been standing, shifting back to her human form. Even as a female, she looked fiercly angry, her chest heaving, her fists clenched, and her eyes narrowed in a glare. No one talked about her family that way and got away without at least a warning. Kitty was very protective of her family.

[jimmydalad]

Aria was lost. Very lost. Seriously lost. Walking around randomly in his human form, he was getting extremely bored, due to the seemingly utter lack of any living being in this building where he found himself in. He assumed that, wherever the Keepers took him, he would at least be in contact with some form of living being. A human, a Shifter, anyone! But no, he was stuck here, walking aimlessly around for what could be considered to be forever.

Aria heard the rain outside, smashing against the roof of the foreign building he found himself in and came to the reasonable conclusion that he wanted nothing to do with getting wet. He secretly hoped that he wasn't the only one to take shelter in this oddly clean building. He also came to the conclusion that he was not to reveal his shifter form unless in dire situations. He didn't want another incident, like the hiker incident that got him here in the first place, to happen again. Plus, he would be giving away his only "defense" here for lack of a better term.

As Aria continued to make his way with no purpose whatsoever, he heard voices. He stopped, trying hard to listen. Was it his mind playing tricks on him? He then heard the sounds again, causing Aria to break into a run, excitement shooting through his body like an electric jolt, spurring him on to find the origin of the foreign sounds. His attitude changed from utter boredom to pure happiness. He found joy in the fact that he wasn't alone. He found solace in finding other people and found relief in there being someone to talk to in this strange world.

He finally reached the source of the voices and found 4 people there. Well actually, 3 people and a weird thing that looked like a horrible experiment gone wrong. It looked as if someone mashed together a man and an elephant to create the towering figure standing before him. In all honesty, it freaked the hell out of him. Making sure to keep a bit of distance between him and the elephant thing, he looked at the others and flashed a wide smile.

"Finally! Other People!!" He exclaimed, the glee apparent in his voice and face. "You don't know how happy I am to see other living beings. For a moment there, I thought I was alone in this place. So can someone tell me where the hell I am? Last thing I remember is getting captured by the Keepers and then I found myself here. Oh yeah, are there others here? Cause it would really suck if if we are the only ones here. Oh, and what's with elephant freak over there? Was that by the keepers? Oh, and I have to assume you are all shifters or else you wouldn't be here." He said rapidly, quickly looking at everyone as he spoke. He had t assume that the shifters were friendly. Or at least, he hoped they were.

((OOC: Another joins the fray~. Sorry if it annoys anyone. Be sure to inform me via PM if I did something wrong so I can make the necessary edits.))

["Quick" Taylor]

OOC: talked to rayne and we decided to switch our turns, so I could have quick respond to kitty's attack. Lol her suggestion. Lol

Quick watched the Carna girl closely as he spoke about what her Ring had done. Anger was evidently clear on her face from the way he spoke about the Fulsi and his own Ring, but when he merely mentioned what the Carna had done to the Bestia, she obviously lost control of her temper, shifted, and tried to pounce on him...

Tried[/u].

As she started shifting and lunging at him, he dove down underneath her so she went over his head and landed on the floor behind him. As she passed overhead, he shifted to his leopard form and, with an earsplittingly loud and ferocious roar, he leapt to land on her back to wrap his front paws around to the front of her neck. His claws were out just enough that she could feel a slight prick of them on her throat.

"I didn't come here to harm anyone," he said quietly in her ear so nobody else could hear,"but you would do well to realize i'm not your typical shaking-scared Fallen. If you attack me like that again, for any reason, I will f*$#¥£ing kill you. Do we have an understanding?"

He slowly slid off of her, removing his claws from her throat and moved his back against a wall, and shifted back to his human form.

"And for the record, i'm not bad mouthing your damned Ring. I'm stating a fricken fact. One that can't be denied by anyone in Carna;" he said, folding his arms across his chest,"if you have an issue with it, take it up with your Alpha."

At that moment, Quick was too pissed off to even notice the newcomer in their midst....