A new arrival.. (Open to all)

[Deleted]

Urgh...
Larina could truly say she had never woken up in a more strange or unfamiliar state in her entire two decades of existence.
The first thing that she noticed when she felt her consciousness being dragged into a state of awareness, was that her vision was seriously messed up. Her normally excellent Shifter eyesight was now blurred, hazy and grey in the outer areas of her scope of sight. This resulted in an onset of forced blinking, as well as squeezing and un-squeezing her eyelids, coming after this recognition of hazy vision. After roughly twenty seconds or so of trying to sharpen her vision, her conscious thoughts really began to kick in, and thus, she began to realise where she actually was. It was dark, cold and hauntingly empty, and it was then that Lee realised she was lying, sprawled out on her side with her head resting on her arm. She also quickly noticed that what she was lying on was cold, hard stone, and that three sides of her surroundings were composed of thick, metal bars, while the other side being made of solid stone.
With a soft moan, she hauled herself up into a sitting position; her arm muscles protesting with an ache as she did so, and she then pulled her knees up against her chest, grateful to see her clothing looked very familiar.
Her vision had now returned to normal, so with her stormy, Irish blue eyes widened, she really took in her new surroundings, just as the memories of how she had ended up being dragged into the holding cells came slamming into her mind.

People in uniforms, shouting, screaming, gun shots.. Mum...
She remembered it all; how the scientists and military-type officials smashed their way into her lifelong home, how her Father was cuffed and dragged outside to an unknown fate, and how her Mother had been murdered with three, deafening gunshots. Larina pulled a hand up to her mouth, even though it was unneeded, for no sound accompanied the warm, salty tears that dripped down her cheeks.
She remained like this for a few minutes; silently crying out her shattering grief, completely lost in her own despair.
Although, it wasn't long after this that another of her emotions kicked in; fear. With this new thought, Lee quickly began to shove herself backwards until she felt her back touch the cold, rough stone wall of her cell. Her heart rate had increased quite a bit and her chest heaved when she breathed. It was a common experience for the Shifter; she had experienced issues with worry and anxiety from the age of around 14, and so she knew that keeping calm was a top priority. For if she was unable to contain her anxiety, anything from excruciating chest pain to panic attacks would overcome her body, making her even more vulnerable than she already was.
So, Lee closed her eyes, put her head between her legs and put her hands in her long, wavy brown hair, all the while concentrating on keeping her breathing normal. She stayed in this position, and it was in that position that her keen ears picked up the sounds of others, somewhere a little distance away from her, and it made her nervous that some of the sounds were very animal in their nature, with a tone of pain and anger mixed in. She also heard a set of passing footsteps, so she raised her head and tried to peer into the dimly lit area surrounding her, continuing to do so even after the footsteps went silent.

With an expression of tense worry on her face, and damp, sparkling eyes, Larina watched for any hint of movement in the dim expanse of the cells.
What the hell happens now?

[Keagan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 497px; height: 700px; background-image:url(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q243/cdvs/keagantable.png)] Time had long since slipped from him as he silently sat in the cell that he had been in for Herne knows how long. The mutation splice that the Keepers had performed on him was complete, but they held him there still for a time to do some extra studies. It was something that Keagan despised, but he didn't try to fight them. He knew his efforts would be useless as he would have no where to go even if he did manage to escape from the hands of these Men. But, the chance of even that occurring were close to impossible. He knew of the tools and devices they carried and the metal walls were built to keep things such as himself from escaping. Snorting as he laid there on the cold floor, the retro had remained silent for the time being after watching the Keepers drag a new form into the cells. Granted he could not see too clearly in the dark, his eyesight having always been poor in his natural form, but he knew from the scents the female carried that she was a new addition to these Keeper's 'collection'. While his curiosity had a firm grasp over him, Keagan kept himself from prodding into her mind, knowing well that her thoughts and memories were none of his concern if she did not willingly give them to him. He had watched her carefully, though, her scent not like the other creatures that resided in his herd. She was no doubt one who could change forms, but the fact that she rested in her human form and failed to hold the basic scent of a retromorph suggested that she was something different. Keagan had not had the pleasure of stumbling upon the path of a Shifter, only knowing that some creature similar to himself also lived in the lands the Keepers had created. Ears twitching as he heard her stir at last, the red deer gave another faint snort before carefully climbing onto his legs, his hooves clicking heavily against the stone flooring. The sharp spines that he had developed from the Keeper's experiment fanned out for a moment as the muscles along his spine tensed to help gain his balance before the spines relaxed and rested back against his back. He may not have been able to see her clearly but Keagan could sense the wave of thoughts and memories that raged through her mind, bringing on one emotion after the other. He did not know how young or old this female was, but he was not too concerned by that for the time. As he listened to her quiet cries, Keagan took a step towards the side of his cell that met with the female's, lowering his head a bit as he spoke softly to her. "Hush, child," he soothed. "You do not need to be afraid."

[Deleted]

Pain. That was the first thing that she registered as her mind came from hazy to clear. Her large eyes only half opened to stare at nothing, but white. White walls, white floor, and the white men which were dragging her chained down the hallway. She was unsure how she had even gotten there or why she was there, but she assumed for testing of some sort, but one thing was clear. They never seemed to give her enough tranquilizer. The chains jingled slightly as she was dragged on her front with her cheek pressed to the floor, and arms dangling behind her in a limp fashion.

As the men stopped to open one of the many doors she took her chance to position herself. Her eyes automatically closed as her fingers gently splayed underneath her. She steadied her breathing as the grogginess seemed to all, but leave her taught, and defined musculature. Adrenaline quickly spread throughout her body. Her heart beat slowly raised itself, and her toes itched as she gently braced them against the ice-cold floor. She heard a sucking sound, and a clanging, and she shot forward like a rocket.

This action caught the men off guard as she pushed herself through the door running on all fours in her human form. Her fingers splayed, and tried to grab on the slippery material, but the weight of the chains, and men scrabbling, and being pulled behind her caused her to go into the slide. The yells of the men just fueled the rage that was slowly curling in her belly. Percylla looked behind her as the men staggered forward as she attempted to take off again which ended in the same result. Her large eyes narrowed to slits as they stumbled down the hallway in a large mass of flesh.

This scene was loud, and violent as the muscled female attempted to wrap her sharp teeth around the arm of one man. Which was almost successful, but she was popped in the face by his 'friend' causing her to back up with a pain yelp. She stumbled again, and her heavy limps caused her to fall straight over once again. She was still not going without a fight, even though she was half drugged still, and she splayed her clawed toes, and fingers, and planted her rump to the floor as they dragged her down the hall.

The wild teen attempted to claw at them , but they kept their distance with the use of long shock sticks which made her howl, and his in pain. It was not long before she was shoved into one of the many cells that littered the hall with a good shock to her rump before she turned, and lunged at the door which made a deep groaned come from the metal, and a broken roar came from her throat, and echoed through the halls. Her arms flailed through the bars, but the men seemed to laugh at her, and gave her another shock. A deep growl escaped her as she recoiled to slowly unwrap the chains from her form.

Her basically naked form slowly pushed itself back into a corner away from the other residents in the cell next to her. Her large eyes glazed over slightly as lethargy slowly wrapped into her pained limbs. The shocks had messed with her head slightly giving her a dazed look along with the burn marks from the sticks.

[Deleted]

Keep it together Lee, you'll get out of here, get back to Dad, everything will.. be ok..

Larina had been so caught up in her mental babble, along with trying to relax herself and sobbing, that she had failed to notice that the noises she had heard from further down from her cell, would result to be coming from closer to her than she had originally thought.
With her back still pressed firmly up against the cold, rough stone wall of what she now knew was a cell, she watched, with wide, glistening stormy blue eyes, in the direction that she had been facing when she had come around from unconsciousness.

Why was no one coming down to assess her or whatever they did to Shifters they caught them and brought them to what was known as the 'Menagerie'.
She felt a sickening chill seep down her spine at the name of the place her Mother had spoken of and warned Lee of for years. All of the Shifter and human world knew of the place; the barbaric, cruel zoo-like place that scientists studied Shifters. Larina had even heard rumours that some Shifters were experimented on - which only made her chest heave once more. Larina took her hands from her head and wrapped her arms protectively around herself, grateful for the rich-smelling leather jacket that cloaked her torso over her rather thin, dull dark green tank top.

As she pulled her dark jean-clad legs up even tighter against her chest, she closed her eyes, and so the soft caress of the voice almost seemed like a mental thought; perhaps even a dream.
"Hush, child,

[/b]" the deep voice soothed. "You do not need to be afraid.[/b]"
The comforting, but strange, foreign voice startled Larina quite a bit, causing her to gasp and scramble away from the voice that had most definitely come from her left. Palms placed behind her with her fingers spread out, she searched with fearful, frantic eyes as to see where, or who, the voice had come from. Yes her senses were quite a bit above the average human's, but the darkness in the cells draped over everything, resulting in the Bay Cat Shifter to only make out a large outline of some sort.
Growing defensive out of not knowing who had spoken, Lee called out in a fearful voice, "Who a-are you?"

Then, as if to add to her highly strung anxiety, the presumably main door to the cells was thrust open, causing Larina to scream for a second as she scrambled back towards the strange but soothing voice from before. She was able to watch in fearful horror, due to the light from outside the door, as the same type of men who had captured her, dragged a feral sounding shape into an empty cell beside her own.
She continued to watch as the person lunged at the door, which made a deep groan errupt from the metal, and a wild roar came from the throat of the newcomer. She couldn't see perfectly, but she could make out that a chained, feminine shape had been shocked, before the men left and once again, plunged her world into darkness.
With small, quiet gasps, Larina looked left and right, before looking to right again, and with a shaking voice, called to her other 'neighbour' as she heard them dragging their body across the stone floor.
"A-are you ok? Hello?[/color]"


ooc: apologies for the lateness of this reply! I promise to get the next one up much, much faster!
[/center]

[Keagan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 497px; height: 700px; background-image:url(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q243/cdvs/keagantable.png)] Despite his efforts to calm the girl and to prevent frightening her even more, it seemed as though he still ended up doing such a thing. Ears pressing back for a moment, Keagan lowered his head faintly, his deep brown eyes soft and gentle as he watched the female crawl to the opposite side of the cell. A burst of warm air came from his nostrils as he raised his head up a bit, causing his antlers to slide over the metal bars creating a 'Clu-Clank' sound that echoed through the air. "Forgive me, I had not meant to startle you," he responded in the same gentle tone he had previously. While it was dimly lit in the hall of cages what little light did come from the flickering bulbs that were stretched far from one another helped. His hooves scraped against the stone flooring, the feel of such a hard material beneath him making him uncomfortable. He had never enjoyed standing in this cage as it was painful to walk on and he was constantly slipping, but he needed to keep his legs functioning. During times when he really could bare the thought of standing on the flooring with his hooves would he change his forms. It was not something he was fond of, but it kept him occupied. Prepared to speak to this young female once more to introduce himself, his head quickly jerked up as the door to the holding cells swung open. The light that came from the doorway was practically blinding to the retro who had been kept in the dark for so long. Bellowing, he tightly shut his eyes as he stumbled back a few steps, the light burning his eyes. It took time for him to even bare to squint and he was more than thankful when they were placed back into darkness. Snorting sharply, the spines along his back bristling, it took some time before he managed to regain his sight and composure. With a shake of his head, he stepped a bit closer to the bars where the female was once more. But, his gaze was no on her for the time being. Instead it was on the other shifter that had been so cruelly tossed in one of the other cells. "Though I admire your bravery and strength to fight, I would not advise such a thing," he said calmly to the newcomer. "The men here are not afraid to harm you if you disobey or bring them trouble."

[Deleted]

She did not respond to them in anyway as she stared at them through the darkness. The female could make out basic forms, and moving figures in other cells, and smelt one female, and one male. Her nostrils flared slowly as she took in their tangy scents before her eyes scanned over the area she was forced to inhabit. Her mismatched eyes seemed to focus on various points in the dark with a scary scrutiny. She was getting a lay out of the place through the darkness. It may have been dark, but she would at least sense where the bars where. She could understand where the door was, and she also knew how big the place was. In her struggle she was smart enough to see her surroundings before she was shoved into the terror of the dark. Well, to her it was not a terror, more of a nuisance.

A whistling sigh emitted from her throat as she slowly unfurled herself, and seemed to be checking if everything was alright. Besides the minor burn marks from the electrical charge those men 'graciously' set upon her, she seemed fine. Ever so slowly she pushed herself up into a standing position, and slowly started to pace back , and forth in her cell. Her movements were basically silent as she did a perfect circle in her cell without running into any of the walls. This environment was not new to her to say the least.

These reminded her of the holding cells at the fighting rings, the place that they were kept before they were shoved into a the ring. Those cells were just as dark, but slightly smaller than the one she was residing in now. Slowly, her tongue flicked out to lick her dry lips before she took in a breathe, and slowly released it which made a strange sound come from her gullet. It was strangely hollow sounding, and seemed to have a strange whisper to it. The Lioness seemed more intent on pacing than attempting answer anyone of them in the dark. It was a lost cause at this point.

[Deleted]

Huff... huff... huff...
This whole ordeal was getting too much for Larina.
She slid quietly towards the bars that barred her off from the voice of comfort she had heard before. She received no response from the poor person who was cruelly dragged into the cell to her right, getting shocked by something in the process, so Lee let her be, pressing her back against the stone wall and placing her shoulder and the side of her against the cold metal bars. She felt awful for the person, who she presumed was female, as her body shape was indeed quite feminine, from what she saw of it when she was dragged into the cell next to Larina's.
Lee had always easily sympathised with others; feeling their pain as her own quite often.

Now that the immediate action and excitement had subsided for the moment, Larina took the time to turn her attention to the person in the cell next her head. Her senses now had the time to explore her 'neighbour', smelling, looking, listening. Her keen sense of smell picked up an incredibly strong scent of animal, but it wasn't just your average animal; something was different.
Her nose continued to tease in the scent of the being a short distance next to her, and the smell of a hoofed animal was eminent, that she was sure of. A hoofed Shifter? she thought, but her thoughts were coated in thick doubt. The being did not smell like any Shifter scent she had ever come across in her two decades.

Now, Larina had never actually met a Retromorph, nor had she in any way a wide knowledge on the creatures, simply being told that such beings existed in the wild, and that they were indeed, wild. So, the thought barely passed Lee's curious mind as she reluctantly drew her eyes upwards in the direction the voice had come from, her ears perking up at the small sounds of the woman in the cell to her right as she paced and made soft, animal-like noises. She made a mental note to try to talk to her later.
She made out the outline of a nose, two dark eyes, and an overall outline of a deer of some sort. It wasn't much to go on, but her blue eyes were still finding it difficult to adjust to the dark.

I suppose I should reply to him, she thought, taking that the deep, masculine voice for the being to be male.
"No, sorry, no need to apologise, I'm quite nervous is all.

[/b]"
Lee looked down as she knotted her fingers and placed them in her lap, as she didn't really know what to say. She decided to see if she could clear a few things up first.
"So, um, am.. am I really in the Menagerie?[/color]"
[/center]

[Keagan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 497px; height: 700px; background-image:url(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q243/cdvs/keagantable.png)] There had been many times in his life where he went to help and assist those in need. Keagan had always found it difficult to ever turn away a person in trouble whether it was physically or mentally. In his mind it did not matter who or what they were. He would help anyone whether whey be retro or shifter, carnivore or herbivore, prey or predator. It was something that he was somewhat forced into, though. His herd, while somewhat accepting of carnivores, were greatly against the presence of shifters, though why was beyond him. They were different species so to speak, but they were similar enough, right? One may have been born to Man while the other was born to beast, but they had the same abilities and he knew that emotionally they were very closed linked as well. But, it was not something for him to truly question of go against. He was to follow the rule and law of his leader and he would never break the laws placed. As the newly arrived female remained silent, the red deer simply believed it to be because she was in no mood to speak. He was sure that if he had been treated in such a manner that he wouldn't be too keen on speaking much either. But, he was always worried for her well-being. No, he did not know her in the slightest, but the rough handling of the Keepers had been, in his mind, rather uncalled for and he had no doubt in his mind that they had left some sort of mark or injury on the poor thing. As his spines bristled faintly before resting back against his backside, Keagan gradually turned his attention back to the young woman who he had spoken to earlier. He had to admire her for her general bravery. It may not have been greatly seen and hardly there at all, but she had not fallen into a desperate state of panic as he had seen so many others do. Giving a soft grunt as she spoke, his head lightly swung from one side to the other. "Yes, but I should've been more cautious knowing that," he said, his wide eyes watching her form as she sat relatively close to the barrier between them. At her next question Keagan could hear the nervousness in her voice, filling the retro with a sense of sympathy. Being place in a new, foreign environment so drastically could do a number of things to a person. Lowering his head in a way as to gently nuzzle the shoulder of the young woman to comfort her, Keagan found that he couldn't actually perform such an action. As his head was lowered the large antlers that sat on top his head caught on the metal bars, preventing him from moving any closer to her. He gave something of an irritated snort, quickly jerking his head up, the tines catching a few times with a harsh scraping sound. So, instead he tried a different tactic. Though it was not his favorite thing in the world to do the retro was determined to help this frightened shifter. As his fur receded and his limbs morphed to their new shape, the retro sat quietly onto the stone flooring. He had a a old, faded, stained and torn shirt he had had for years. It's once bright blue coloring had faded into a filthy sky blue color. Their were many cuts and tears in the shirt, but it was not something he seemed to care much about. His jeans were in a similar state of torn and dirtied, but it was enough to cover him and that was that mattered to him. Carefully reaching between the bars of his cell, Keagan gently rested a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "As much as it would please me to say otherwise, you unfortunately are," he said softly, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before withdrawing his hand. "The land is not as bad as in here, I can promise you that, though."

[Deleted]

Although it may have seemed rather odd, the low, soft grunts coming from her neighbour were strangely comforting, most likely due to the fact that just having someone there, in the same situation as herself, was rather comforting.
She raised her drying eyes up to where the deer-like animal had been before, catching the slight sense of movement from his direction, seeing his hair-covered head shake lightly as she did so before he spoke.
His words almost made the Shifter smile, being as kind, and quite gentleman-like as they were. "Well, no harm done, eh..

[/color]" she replied rather quietly as she looked again to her knotted fingers, almost to herself more so than her new acquaintance.

After Larina's next question, she felt something move closer to her before she was startled a little once more, as she heard a rather loud clanging of something hard connecting with metal, right beside her head. Her head whipped up at the sound, causing her mass of thick, wavy brown hair to move with her, and she flinched a little, but she did not move away from the corner of her cell.
She quickly registered that if her speculations were correct, and that her neighbour was a male deer-like animal, then it would be only natural that he would possibly have some form of horns, which, of course, would explain the clattering against the metal. Lee was just about to ask him if he was ok, but the somewhat irritated snort that escaped him reassured her that he was ok, just annoyed. Being in his animal form, Lee felt a little sorry for him, being cooped up in a cell obviously not adequate to his roughly speculated size.

After the noises had ceased from inside her neighbour's cell for a few seconds, something in the air shifted. It was subtle, yes, but it was noticeable to Larina. It sounded like, what she could only describe it to be, like a change of pressure or a change in the air, and it wasn't long that she heard, and felt, someone join her in sitting on the floor next to the bars. Someone had shifted..
Then, just as she turned her head to look to her right, Lee felt a warm, firm but reassuring hand being placed gently on her left shoulder. Her muscles involuntarily tensed slightly at the contact from another person, but she quickly relaxed them again after having the new comfort on her shoulder for a second.
She looked up into the now very human looking man that sat next to her as he spoke in the same comforting, deep voice that had reassured her not long before. With her eyes now almost adjusted to the blackness, she saw that he had bright eyes, semi-dark hair, with a strong but kind look to his physique.

The confirmation that she was, indeed, in the UNIT run building known as the Menagerie was a little saddening, but it wasn't a shock, as Lee had already known in her heart that she was in the godforsaken place she had been warned of from childhood. Then, with a squeeze, the comforting hand was withdrawn, but he had assured her of better surroundings outside the building.
"I thought as much," she said softly, "But that's good to hear. I haven't been here very long and I'm already desperate to get out,[/color]" she said rather solomly.
Lee looked out towards the door before looking back to her neighbour, "So,[/color]" she said curiously, "how long have you been here? If you, uh, don't mind me asking?[/color]"
[/center]

[Keagan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 497px; height: 700px; background-image:url(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q243/cdvs/keagantable.png)] Even though it was something he was sure he couldn't actually prevent from doing at least a few times, Keagan still felt a bit bad for once again startling the young woman. Being locked up in such a place in such a manner could be nerve racking, he was perfectly aware of that. His own capture and treatment had been far from gentle. As he was a rather large creature with heavy hooves and sharp antlers he had been handled quite roughly and restrained in, really, the cruelest of manners. He had not struggled much even during his first arrival to this place, but he had fought some what until the men brought out the metal prods that seared his flesh and sent jolt through his being. It had been during those first few days that he had learned not to mess with the Keepers. That and from the things he had seen in his time as well. During his first week of being observed and tested he had seen many shifters and retro alike who were tested along side him. There were many who made it through to live another day as he did, but there were many others that perished from the pain and cruel treatment of the Keepers. These men had no care or value for the precious life of these beings. Keagan was a kind soul and a one who took to heart the morals and lessons that he had been taught through Herne. Now there were many of his kind that did not hold such powerful thoughts or morals as he did. He could name a few simply in his herd off the top of his head that wouldn't hesitate to kill another creature whether it was another herla or lera. The retromorph had never been fond of killing, but he would do such a thing if it was absolutely necessary. Every creature deserved the chance to live and to bring an end to anyone's life was simply cruel in his mind. As his thoughts were brought back into the world of reality by the female's voice. Turning his head back to the woman, he could make out a few of her features, taking note of some of them. It took him a moment for him to register her words before he chuckled faintly, offering a small, warm smile. "Well, my lady, if you are referring to the Menagerie itself then I would gather its been about...nine seasons if my memory serves me," he said, using the terminology he knew. His kind had always been unaware of years and months. No, they were seasons and moons to him. All in all he had been there a little over two years. "As far how long I've been in here...Well, time escapes from one in here." A faint sigh passed his lips as he turned his head up to stare up at the cold ceiling above him. He was silent for a moment before he looked back to the woman once more. "Oh, and pardon my manners. I haven't had the pleasure of hearing your name," he said, outstretching his hand once more from between the bars. "I'm Keagan"

[Deleted]

She listened to the woman, and man get to know one another, and figured that the man must have been here for a long time. Most of his life maybe. He smelt like a Retromorph meaning that he aged a lot faster than a normal human. The girl was a Shifter, and she seemed to be fairly young as it was. Her large eyes narrowed as she took in the conversation, and the mundane sensation that it pushed through her system. This was somewhat of a bore so she ignored them, and reached out with her senses. With all the darkness it made her hearing all that more acute, and certain signs came up that something was going to happen very soon. There seemed to be an electricity in the air that was literal. It seemed that the 'Keepers' or whoever was running this place wanted to shed some light on their dull, and dank situation.

She closed her eyes quickly before numerous bright lights assaulted her vision. Her nose crinkled slightly before she let them adjust through her lids. Slowly, she blinked them quickly to look around. Yep. Cells.. cells.., and oh look more cells. A deep snort came from her nostrils as she moved to the front of her cell to look up, and down the hallway. The place seemed endless, and only this section had any light at the moment. She gently set her fingers against the bars as she leaned her face further in to look to the left, and then to the right at a very strained angle. Another snort was emitted from her nostrils before she slowly backed away from the cold, white fence that kept her in such a contained space. What a bother. She did not understand they even kept her here. From her understanding, or at least from some of the conversations she heard before passing out, she only needed a couple tests before being tossed back out there.

Though, she was drawn out of her thoughts by the two other prisoners in the room with her. Another female, and a male, as she had thought. Her eyes traveled over the large male with a strange scrutiny before she saw the small girl, and pushed her nose to the side. The male was suitable, the girl was soft. Her muscular from slowly lumbered over to a bench situated near the wall, and sat down. She knew she was basically naked still, but clothes did not seem to be on her agenda. She was a Lioness most of the time anyway, and the animal kingdom had no time for modesty. Her mismatched eyes, and young face faced them for a second before she moved her mangled form to the side to lay down in a lazy fashion.