black hole in a broken heart ; OPEN!

[FABLE BRADSHAW]

FABLE BRADSHAW
"you will be sane, you will be free,"
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                        [ONE]   Fable walked alone down a narrow street littered with vibrant leaves.  Her footsteps kicked up clouds of grey dust and she choked on the grit that swirled around her.  Her boots crunched loudly as they met the brittle leaves, and a hollow longing filled within her, for days spent in Seattle, walking through the parks with her hands warm in his.  'Oh, Noah.'  She thought to herself, her stomach wringing itself into a familiar knot-- it settled deep inside of her; speeding her pulse and her breathing as the sting of tears tore at her icy blue eyes.  At nineteen, he had been her first (and only) love.  He had saved her time and time again, and she had made herself a home inside of his arms.  Her whole being had been consumed with him, his smile was enough to unhinge her every thought.  And he was gone.  And she was locked up here, alone and scared, without him.  A lump formed in her throat, and her stomach twisted inside of her.  She moaned, throwing herself to the hard ground.  Bent over, she heaved uselessly.  With no food in her stomach, she had nothing to expel.  Even so, she spat, and ran her hand across her mouth.  With a quick glance around her she stood again, brushing her sleeve over her eyes.  'Get it together.  You're not safe here.  Find shelter.'  She told herself quickly.


                            [TWO]  With a small shiver, she stepped forward once again.  Hunched against the wind, she made her way hastily to a building that seemed uninhabited.  It was leaning precariously, with windows broken, and the doorways slanting.  But at least it was shelter from the bitter cold of the late-season fall.  The icy wind played with tendrils of her auburn hair as she walked part way around the old building.  Her hair flew behind her, tangling as it whipped around.  A shock of wind cut through her sweater, and she zipped her thin leather jacket around her.  She peered cautiously into the building, and made her way slowly inside.  A long hallway stretched out before her, the smell of dust thick in the air.  She could tell that the dampness trapped within the building was causing it to mold, and she sighed inwardly.  "Welcome to hell, Fay." She expressed outwardly, her alto-midtones a rough whisper.  She cringed-- not only did she hate the gruff tones of her voice, but she knew it was a stupid mistake to speak out loud when she had no idea where she was, or who could be around.  She got the feeling that this glass prison could be a hostile place, and her intuition was usually correct about such things.  She tiptoed quietly through the place- 'a hotel of some sort, maybe?'  she thought, as she noted closed doors on either side of her- squinting to see in the dim light.  She ran her hand along the left wall to keep her balance on the warped floorboards, and a quiet shhh echoed in the stillness of the hallway as she did so.  


                              [THREE]  The unfamiliar territory had Fable's heart pounding wildly in her chest.  A cold sweat beaded on the back of her neck, even in the chill of the early evening.  She rounded a corner, choosing to go left instead of right on a whim.  The wind howled eerily, but she had made her way far enough into the hotel that it's sharpness had died down.  It was a mere gust within the building;  the sound more upsetting than the cold which accompanied it.  As she made her way through the old inn, she grew more confident in her surroundings, curiosity battling her fear.   She felt quite sure that she was alone in this broken down shell of a place-- she had not heard any unusual activity, nor had she witnessed anything out of place.  She walked with more purpose, not bothering to quiet her steps.  Her pace quickened, stride growing longer.  Questions filled her head, as was her nature.  'I wonder how old this place is.  How many rooms does it have?  Is there a ballroom, or a great hall?  Did it ever have plush furnishings, and warm rooms? '  She mused, noting torn and tattered artwork.  She saw patches of a stained rug, still clinging to the floors in places where the elements hadn't taken their toll.  A kind of sorrow overcame her-- what kind of place might she be living in now, that it would be so desolate, and who could be in control that they would let such a place of grandeur befall  wreckage such as this?  She choked on the dust, sneezing gracelessly in the quiet.  She sniffed loudly, carrying on in her venture.  Before long, she had made her way to what had once clearly been the lobby.  A large desk was broken at the far end, and great windows let in chilly fall air.  Leaves had collected in all of the corners; they smelled rotten and damp.  Grey light filtered in, and Fable squinted against it's sudden harshness.  She had grown used to her shadows.  


                                  [FOUR]  She crossed the lobby into a secondary hallway.  She had travelled a long distance today, and she had grown weary.  She decided now to search for a place to rest.  The new hallway she had chosen grew shadowed, and dark in to time at all.  It seemed to her that this one was more central in the hotel's body.  It was not as broken, and therefore less light was able to filter in.  In near complete darkness, she reached out for the solidarity of the wall once again.  She slowed down so as not to trip-- because of course, she couldn't have inherited any grace-- and she probed further into darkness.  She heard rustling ahead, and knew the sound to be small animals.  When she had been living with Noah, they had often shared dwelling spaces with other small creatures, and she had adjusted to their presence.  Here in the inn, it was almost comforting to have them scurrying about in the shadows.  Though with their quiet footsteps, she could almost smell Noah again, if she closed her eyes she could imagine being pressed close to him, as he curled around her in sleep.  She stopped walking, and leaned heavily against the wall, falling deeper into her memories.  She remembered the feel of his hands in her hair, as he would tilt her head up to kiss him.  She remembered how he would whisper to her in the darkness; he would tell her of his love, and that he hoped one day to find a place safe enough for them to build a real life together, a place where they could be married, and have kids.  Hot tears spilled over her cheeks as she recalled his smile, his embrace.  She tasted her own tears, and remembered with frightful clarity the first time she had cried in front of Noah.  Only a week after meeting him, she told him of her family, in Africa.  She told him of her childhood, and how desperately she missed her parents.  He had lifted his hands to her face to wipe her tears dry.  And he had promised to take care of her.  As she tasted the salt water now, she understood the reality of her situation.  She would never see him again, he could never comfort her as he once had.  A mangled sob tore from her throat, and she turned to run.



                                    [FIVE]   She kept her hand on the wall as she ran in the blackness around her, though only because she felt dizzy and tortured, and she didn't want to fall to the ground.  Her hand passed over doorways, and bumped into old picture frames, but she didn't stop.  She needed to escape her own thoughts-- but how could you do that?  Her heart slammed hard in her chest, and a coldness spread throughout her as she ran.  She couldn't afford to be distracted by her feelings, and she tried to steel herself, lock them away within herself.  As she began to run out of breath, she could feel her head begin to clear.  Her distraction over Noah was losing it's grip, as she had to focus on getting enough air into her lungs.  As she wasn't paying attention, when her hand met an empty doorway, she lost her balance and toppled into the room clumsily.  She hit the ground below her hard;  her vision clouded over briefly, and her head pounded with violent force.  "Ugh."  She moaned, sitting up slowly.  She pressed her hand to her temple, where her head had connected with the floor.  "See this, this is why you don't run, Fable.  Never, ever do that again."  She scolded herself, out loud.  She looked around in a daze, still seeing stars.  She had fallen into a hotel room-- or rather-- what was left of it.  There was no mattress, but an empty frame, and bed sheets were crumpled in a corner-- stained and tattered, and coated in dust.  She groaned internally.  She had  wanted a place to rest, and she figured it probably wouldn't get any better than this.  Not bothering with standing, she crawled over to the dingy pile of sheets, and wrapped herself hastily with the cloth.  She took her jacket off, and bunched it up to form a pillow.  There, curled in the corner, she closed her eyes and willed her weary body to sleep.

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"this won't decide who you're gonna be."

OOC//

words: 1581 
music: for king and country - crave ♥
notes: (i suck at coding) 
uhm, so if anyone wants to reply i'd be super grateful.  
i'm kind of rusty, so i apologize in advance for that.

FABLE - 19 - 5'3" - BLUE EYES - AUBURN HAIR 

TEXT / THOUGHTS / SPEECH

["Quick" Taylor]

Quick let his arm hang loose as he gently wrapped his fingers around the bowstring that stretched across his chest as he looked out at the Breathelight Inn. He took in a long, slow, deep breath and then let it back out slowly. He hadn't been here since his days as a Scout, and even then it was only on occasion. However, he'd always felt a strange fondness for the place, despite his infrequent visits.

The sun was hanging low, the sky already beginning to turn pink. He'd intended to stay the nifht here, and was accordingly prepared. He had a small ration of food, some dried meats and fruits mostly, and he also had brought along some of his weaponry. The bow and arrows slung across his back and the tomahawks hanging from his belt were the more obvious ones. However, he also had multiple throwing knives hidden all across his body.

He was there to just relax. He hadn't had enough time away fron his duties as Beta for him to relax, due to rising tensions with the Carnaring. He would be returning to the switchstone later in the day tomorrow, so until then, he planned to just relax here. Sure, it might be an old, decrepit building on the verge of collapse. That was precisely why he liked it, though. People kept away because it was dangerous which meant he would have it all to himself.

He slowly made his way up to the f ront doors and gently tugged one of them open, listening cautiously to the creek of the building's frame. As he entered, he looked around and at the same time relaxed his mental hold on his telepathy, so he coild fully take in his surroundings to see if there was someone else there.

To his surprise, there was.

His mind immediately brushed against another's. Quick got a momentary glimpse of what seemed to be very painful memories for this person before he focused to shut off the connection. This person seemed like they were trying to shut out these memories, as if they wanted nothing more than to forget.

Quick decided to look for this person, and shifted to his leopard form, allowing him to move more quickly and quietly then his himan form allowed. He stalked quietly through the hallways of the old hotel, taking care to keep his footfalls silent. He didn't know just how dangerous this person was yet. He didn't want to compromise his position before he knew what he was dealing with.

It took a little while, and some sniffing around for the scent, before he finally tracked down where the person was. She, as the scent seemed to indicate it was a woman, was off in one of the wings of the hotel, huddled up in one of the rooms. The surrounding corridors were fairly dark, especially considering the failing lifht outside, and he used it to keep himself hidden as he looked at this woman, considering her.

She was young, maybe twenty years old at yhe most, with what seemed to be auburn hair. It wasn'y easy to tell much else about her, as she was wrapped up in a pile of old dirty sheets that had been resting in the corner of the room. She didn't seem to have much, though, and stopping to think about it gave him a good idea why.

She didn't smell like thebrest of the dome's inhabitants. She didn't smell dirty, bloody, or even remotely like one of the Shifters Rings or Retro groups. She smelled too clean to have been in here long. The only other explanation was that she was new, freshly dumped into yhe Menagerie by the Keepers.

He sat back on his haunches as he thought about the damned humans and how they had wronged himself and the other shifters here. It made him want to get out and rip the Keepers to pieces for what they had done. Every last bit of blood he'd seen spilled over the last eight years was all purely their fault. His parents', that of the shifters who died fighting the Carna, and the Anthros of the Bestia. It made him incredibly angry.

So there he sat , staring off into space in the direction of the newcomer woman, the little bit of light making it in through a window overhead briefly reflecting off of his eyes. When he blinked, however, it disappeared, leaving anyone who may have seen it to wonder if it was just their imagination.....

[FABLE BRADSHAW]

FABLE BRADSHAW
"you will be sane, you will be free,"
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                        [ONE]   Though she was tired, Fable found sleep hard to come by. The unfamiliar place, with it's grey light filtering in with the chill autumn wind, the smelly old cloth she was wrapped in, and the weather-warped, hard wooden floor that she rested upon all added up to a less than pleasant resting place. Eyes closed, she tried to block out the sounds and the scents around her. A small gust of wind sent shivers running down her spine as she fought against her senses, and she tried to ignore the slow chill settling in her bones. She pulled the cloth closer around her, and curled her legs in closer to her body. It was then that she heard the faintest of noises-- almost like something heavy was being moved in a not-so-distant place. Eyes still shut tight, she strained to hear any more; unease coursed through her veins at the thought of danger, what could she possibly do in an unfamiliar place, while she was so very tired? She hadn't thought about it before, but since UNIT had come for her, she hadn't slept a wink-- nor had she eaten anything in that time either. She was in no condition for a fight. And she doubted she could run very far-- even if she shifted to her other form.


                        [TWO]  As the seconds wore on, she began to question herself. 'It was probably the wind. 'It could have knocked something over, or blown a door in.' She reasoned with herself. Even so, she felt herself listening harder as she tried once more to rest. Only a few minutes passed before she gave a huffy sigh, and sat up, blinking in the dim light. She looked towards the doorway, and thought she caught a glance of something, reflecting back at her from the darkness of the hallway. She rubbed her tired eyes, though, and sure enough, nothing remained to be seen. She let out a shaky chuckle, and ran her narrow fingers through her long auburn hair. "Must have hit your head harder than you thought, huh? " She muttered under her breath, trying to dispel the knot of nerves that had bunched in her stomach. She fluffed up her jacket, still on the ground, and reached with her left hand to feel where she had hit her head. She winced slightly as her hand passed over the small lump that had already formed, right near her temple. Careful not the lay her head down on the aching welt, she lowered herself once again to the floor. She tried willing each of her limbs to un-tense, and as she did so, she kept a careful watch over the hotel room door.


                        [THREE]    With sleeping blurring her eyes, Fable opted for one more glance around, before she would settle to rest.  She rubbed at her winter-blue eyes, clearing them for a moment so she could clearly see the shadows of the doorway.  She found herself yawning, and she blinked heavily as she studied the shadows.  With the light outside dimming at the quick pace of the pre-winter season, she she could hardly make out anything beyond her makeshift bedroom.  But as she squinted she thought she saw, at the corner of the door, a little patch of gold, which she was certain she hadn't seen before.  Her mind buzzed-- she was too tired to form much of a rational thought-- but every sense she was was pulsing at the thought of danger.  "Noah...  I think we have compan--" She hissed.  But as she turned to face the boy from her past, cold reality washed over her, as she once again remembered she was alone.  She'd have to deal with this by herself. Her palms grew clammy, and she sat up again very slowly.  Her muscles protested, heavy with fatigue.  But she made herself sit up once more, and she measured her breathing very carefully.  Adjusting her glasses, she focused on the patch of gold, and tried to make the rest of the shape in the shadows appear.  But try as she might, she couldn't bring an image to mind.


                         [FOUR]  Swallowing hard, she brought in a sharp breath.  "H... Hello? Uhm, is-- is someone there?"  Her voice was rough and low, hardly more than a breath in the wind.  She glanced around the room, looking for some way out, or even a weapon.  But there was none.  Her only escape would be the door, and clearly that was not an option at this time.  Her only hope was to survive long enough to make a run for it once whatever it was outside had given her the opportunity.  'Okay, just relax.  Breathe.  Don't give it the chance to hurt you-- and don't give it any reason.'  She thought.  She shifted to take a more submissive stance-- her legs brought up to her chest in front of her, and her arms wrapped carefully around them.  She tried scooting away from the door, and though she kept her eyes on the doorway, she was careful not to look at the shadows where the intruder was.  She didn't want for it to be taken as an act of dominance. 


                         [FIVE]   So there she sat, curled in a small ball, with terror pounding through her small body.  She was certain the weight of her fatigue would not allow her to run very far, or fight very hard.  And she could feel in her bones she didn't have the strength to shift, to make a quicker get away.  Her stomach tightened into a knot, and so like that, she sat in wait; cursing herself for her weakness, her stupidity-- and of course, with a lump in her throat as the thought of Noah clung to her mind.

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"this won't decide who you're gonna be."

OOC//

words: 962
music: for king and country - crave ♥
notes: sorry this took like 18 years to
reply to.  lots going on.  

FABLE - 19 - 5'3" - BLUE EYES - AUBURN HAIR 

TEXT / THOUGHTS / SPEECH

["Quick" Taylor]

OOC: it's no worries. I've had a long week myself. ^^

Quick stretched himself out in the shadows, crossing his front paws in front of him and resting his head on them, as he brooded on the Keepers. The very name that the Shifters of the dome had given their captors was a cruel twist of irony: it suggested that they were there to peotect the shifters, to keep them safe. Instead, it was an entirely different matter. The bastards Keepers used the shifters for terribterrible experiments, maby of which included physical alteration, as evidenced by the many Anthros in the dome.

He was roused from his contemplations on the situation of those imprisoned inside the dome by movemebt in the room before her. It seemed the girl was awake now. She was likely scared and confused right now, a dangerous duo when combined with the raw instincts that shifters possessed. He chose to remain hidden as he saw her look around like a frightened deer.

Perhaps she had caught a whiff of his scent? It was possible, since most shifters had better senses than humans. He saw her wince as she rubbed a hand through her hair, taking note of it. Every advantage was needed in a confrontation within the dome. He flicked the tip of his tail and curled it around to his right.

He realized soon what he'd done, however, when the girl fixed her gaze right at him and muttered something. He quietly shifted to look, and noticed he'd unknowingly moved a patch of golden fur into a small shaft of revealing moonlight. He mentally cursed himself for the careless mistake.

"H...Hello? Uhm, is...is someone there?" She called out quietly as she brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Well, I suppose there's no reason to stay hidden now...., he thought to himself as he silently rose to his paws and took a few small steps forward into the light. He twitched his whiskers and gave a little snort as he looked at the girl, gauging what he should do. When she didn't speak first, he decided he would.

It's dangerous down here, you know, he said through telepathy, This area of the inn is more prone to cave-ins than the rest. All it takes is one section falling down to trap you down here until you starve to death.[I/]

He reached up with his right paw to scratch behind his ear before letting out a sigh and shiftinf back to his human form. As he straightened himself, he reached behind his back to grab the sack he'd stuffed his supplies into.

"My name's Quick," he told her without telepathy as he pulled out an apple and held it out in offering, "You seem new to the Dome."