welcome to your new hell, Welcome to the Menagerie. Or as we like to call it, Dome Sweet Dome! We are an eight-year strong futuristic shapeshifter and sci-fi creature roleplay, dedicated to bringing you a world unlike any other; a world in which your character has become an experiment and must fight for survival in a domed city, cut off from the rest of the world. Choose to be any animal in your fight for survival in an artificial world built by the Keepers as they subject you to experiments beyond your control. Choose to wander the world inside the walls alone, as a Rogue, or find safety in numbers in one of the groups known as Rings. How will you survive?
60 - 65 ºF
blustery with scattered showers spotty sunshine
YEAR 2309
shift bans.
» Cougars (aka Puma, Mountain Lion, Panther)
» All Tiger Species
» All Lion Species
» All Wolf Species
» African Leopards
group bans.
none.
encouraged !
FEMALE CHARACTERS! create a RETRO or ANTHRO and get 250 CP + a free skill! read me for more info!
last updated: april 19th, 2016
Click on each Ring or Retro group image to view their ranks!
GROUP UPDATES
CARNARING
Jocelyn Edelwolfe is the new Alpha! Seija Mulviene is the new Beta, and Grey is the new Delta. Lead Hunter is now Boone Haywood, Head of Border Patrol is now Noelle Ndango!
FALLENRING
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FULSIRING
Fulsi has a standing treaty with the Nakoma, granting limited access to their fresh water.
NAKOMA TRIBE
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ANALOYA PRIDE
a while back, the Analoya suffered a suspicious poisoning of their river, luckily with few casualties; the Bellator are suspected of having taken part in it, and there are whispers that Pride leader Wanderer is talking alliance with the Nilda for access to their clean water.
BELLATOR HERD
As new leader of the Bellator, Loril has instituted some rank changes. See this thread for more information!
LAWAII FLOCK
no updates!
NILDA PACK
no updates!
CARNARING QUICK STATS
ALPHA -- Jocelyn Edelwolfe, Clouded Leopard, played by IronChild
BETA -- Seija Mulviene, Spotted Hyena, played by Seija-chan
DELTA --Grey, Mackenzie Valley Wolf, played by Kriss
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When the sun finally managed to break through the heavy clouds, her spirits lifted measurably. The overcast skies had made for a dull, dreary day, but the sunshine brought new life and color to everything. By mid afternoon, it felt like a proper early-autumn day, bright and clear and pleasantly crisp, though the sun was warm. Charm tossed her head as the heat soaked into her dark coat, and leapt forward into a canter. The plains stretched before her, the fringes of the forest a hundred yards to her right. The rolling grasslands posed no hazards, and the footing was dry and firm, so she delighted in the freedom to run.
She slowed only when her sides heaved for breath, letting her form slide back to human as she dropped to a walk. Winded but pleased, she wandered on, two panting forms falling in beside her. With a grin, she rubbed Bandit’s ears, prompting him to look up at her, tongue lolling and tail wagging furiously. Both dogs were in good shape from keeping up with her, so she didn’t worry about losing them. Even if they fell behind a bit, they always caught up soon after.
They continued in such a lazy manner for a few minutes, following the tree line as their breathing slowly faded back to silence, until Balios abruptly lifted his head, spine stiffening. Charm paused, and the dogs stopped as well. Bandit had joined his brother in the alert stance, gazes fixed in the same direction, noses quivering. A strand of small trees swept out onto the plains a short distance - they had been making to circle around it, but it would appear someone was on the other side. Instead, Charm pulled the bow from her shoulder and set an arrow to the string, and cut in toward the trees. She stepped carefully on silent feet, and flashed the hand signals for “quiet” and “heel” at the dogs.
In such a manner, she padded to the strand, sliding carefully between the slender trunks. Balios was alert but calm; Bandit was simply alert, but too well trained to leave her side. She eyed his tail, wagging in excitement, but decided it was a matter to address at another time. It was cool and damp in the shade of the trees, but she ignored the chill, and crept cautiously to the far edge of the little copse, to peer out from behind tangle of branches.
A couple dozen yards ahead, a flattened area of grass indicated a recent struggle. And indeed, a doe lay dead in the grass, its throat crushed. Poised over it, fangs bared and hackles raised, was a large leopard. It was attempting to fend off a bull caribou, who was advancing with its massive antlers lowered, head swinging back and forth, trying to knock the cat away. Apparently a shifter trying to steal the kill, because as far as she knew, actual caribou were herbivores. The leopard kept ducking and swerving, slashing at the creature’s sensitive nose, but was being pressed back, step by reluctant step, ears flattened against his head.
Charm might have waited to observe the outcome, had she not recognized the cat. She’d never spoken to him, but she recalled a clear image of the spotted predator lounging on a table at some point. He was from her ring.
Straightening, she slung the bow back over her shoulder and returned the arrow to its quiver. It might have been smarter to act from a distance, but she didn’t feel that the caribou was a major threat, and she was in the mood to throw her weight around. Gathering herself, she sprang forward, shifting as she did so and landing in a gallop. The pair, so focused on each other, didn’t seem to notice her until she was basically upon them. The caribou was just lifting his head when she slammed into him with the force of a small wrecking ball. He staggered back, and would have fallen had she not pulled her charge somewhat. She didn’t really want to knock him over, just wanted him to run away.
To that effect, she reared back with a furious neigh, boxing with her hooves. He swept his antlers at her and she dodged back, just as Balios and Bandit swept past her. Their ears were pricked with excitement, and they darted in to nip at the bull’s flanks and legs, barking delightedly. Charm lunged at the stranger with a squeal, ears flat and teeth bared, and he decided he’d had enough. Wheeling, he bounded away. She straightened with a satisfied snort, ears swiveling forward, only to have her expression change to alarm as the dogs took off after the fleeing caribou. She forced herself through the shift in a rapid instant, ignoring the flash of pain that accompanied the abrupt change, staggering slightly as she found her balance.
“NO!” The firm shout stopped the dogs in their tracks. “Éla! Éla edó!” Balios raced back towards her, head lowered. The gray hesitated, looking after his fleeing prey. “Bandit! Now.” He bolted back to her. She sighed with relief and knelt to greet them with praise and affection. “Yes, you’re good dogs! Kaló skylí! Goo- Bandit, no!” She lunged to grab the young dog by his collar before he could frolic over to say hello to the leopard. She knew who the cat was, but she didn’t know him, or trust him not to claw the pup’s nose.
ooc; THERE WILL BE MORE ACTION, I PROMISE. D8 MR. ROGUEPANTS WILL GET HIS FRANDS AND RETURN. u.u
God-freaking-damnit, he thought as he stared into the furious eyes of the gigantic male caribou bearing down on him. As he tried to defend the kill he'd made without getting his skull crushed or eyes gouged out by those vicious looking antlers. He knew he shouldn't have come hunting alone--but leave it to him to completely not listen to himself. He'd had a long discussion with himself on the way here how it clearly wasn't a good idea to be out hunting alone, even if his shift was designed for it. He knew he was trespassing, certainly, and that could come with some heavy repercussions for him. But his stomach had been growling all day, and his meet up with Lily had been weighing heavily on him. He needed some time to deal with the fact that he'd finally found her, and that...that she'd changed so much. Become someone completely different.
So he'd headed off to the Retro territory, knowing that he was risking a lot in crossing the various borders to get to the Bellator Meadows. But he knew that herds of non-retro deer flocked to the meadow and made a home in the woodlands surrounding; he'd try his luck and hope that he didn't meet any ne'er do wells along the way. It had taken him the better part of the day tracking down the herd and after hours of stalking and scenting, ensuring that he wasn't accidentally killing a Retro, he'd finally taken down a doe; a rather small one, he knew it would be hard for him to get the prey back by himself, and he didn't want to let it waste.
But now it looked as if he might not make it home, with the doe or not--the caribou seemed hellbent on getting him. It stank to high heaven and Ethan couldn't decipher if it was Shifter or Retro, and for a moment Ethan wondered if he'd killed a friend of the caribou; oh, what if he had? It would be unbearable if he was mistaken, if he'd accidentally killed a Retro...he'd just recently been able to start making live-prey kills, and to think that he'd accidentally committed a murder? It was a shock to his system, even just the possibility, and he tried desperately to shake it off before it got him killed. He was positive that the do he'd killed was an animal, not a Retro.
The caribou kept charging, but Ethan wasn't willing to lose his prey so easily. He was quicker than the caribou, and though the beast kept bearing down on him Ethan was quick to dodge away, then back in to claw at its legs. He drew blood quite a few times but the wounds were shallow and they didn't seem to lessen the vicious onslaught. Ethan was getting desperate as the hooves kept falling, and his eyes were wide with a mix of fear, desperation and utter frustration when the caribou made a sudden rush and Ethan wasn't able to dodge fast enough--his side was clipped by one of the tines, just enough to knock him off balance. He yowled when he saw the beast moving in for the kill, but it was cut off by the ear-splitting whinny of a horse. Ethan stared in disbelief as a horse appeared from no-where and slammed into the caribou's side, quickly flanked by two hounds barking like mad.
It was over so quickly, the caribou charging off with a bellow, the horse shifting into...he recognized her; seen her around the Ring. He searched in his muddled thoughts for a name as he shifted back and stood, shakily, to meet her. "Thanks," he said with a sheepish grin, walking up and extending a hand; he knew it was probably an awkward and outdated gesture in the dome, but he was always one for formalities. "For saving my butt, I mean. You're Charm, right? Only fitting my heroine in shining armor should have such a fitting name," he said with a bright smile. "Princess Charming, it would seem." He gave it a second before shaking his head. "That was terribly cheesy," he apologized. "...I'm Ethan."
ooc;
Last Edit: Jun 23, 2012 21:50:40 GMT -5 by Ethan Graff
“It was no trouble.” She looked up from trying to restrain the pup to see him walking toward her, where she still knelt on the ground. She smiled, secured her grip on Bandit’s collar, and rose to reply, only to choke on a sudden laugh. “Well, that’s a new one,” she commented, amusement dancing in her eyes. His friendliness pleased her. “But I’m not so much the heroine as the valiant steed.” She clasped his proffered hand, grinning. “It’s nice to meet you, cheesiness or no.” The dog in her grip whined and squirmed, straining against her hold, so she glanced down at him with a frown. “Manners, pup.”
Taking the hand she held, she rotated his palm toward her and switched her grasp to his wrist with easy familiarity. With her opposite hand, she let Bandit ease forward to snuffle the man’s fingers. “Éfkola, Bandit. Éfkola.” Only then did she release him and Ethan, as his short fluff of a tail began to wag furiously. Thankfully, although he pranced in place, he contained himself somewhat.
“Don’t mind him,” she apologized to Ethan. “He hasn’t quite grown out of his excitable stage yet. The black and white one” - she jerked her thumb toward the other dog, who was flat on his belly several feet away in the classic herding pose of anticipation - “is Balios. He thinks he’s supposed to chase you off next, but he’ll figure it out in a moment.” Charm wasn’t worried; even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t make a move until she did.
Sliding her fingers through her hair to pull it back from her face, she looked her fellow Fulsi over. “Did the caribou get you?” It obviously hadn’t caved in his skull or rib cage, but puncture wounds could be nasty business. She frowned in the direction the creature had run. “Awful fuss over a deer. He’s either a bloody awful hunter, or just a nasty piece of thieving work.”
Stepping over to the doe, she toed it lightly. Small, but healthy and plump. It would be a good addition to their food supplies. “Do you want help getting it home?” she offered. Her shift could carry both the deer and Ethan with ease, if he was so inclined, but at the very least she could take the burden of the kill.
ooc; no worries. xD this one's kinda short, but I figured we should give them a few moments to talk. feel free to bring their new friends in whenever. 83
“But I’m not so much the heroine as the valiant steed.”
Ethan couldn't help but laugh at that--the whole image was just so amusing. He couldn't help but picture himself locked away in some tower like a fairy-tale princess like he was on some comedy sketch. Shaking his head, he grinned when she took his proffered hand, and shook it. His brows arched a bit in surprise when she grasped his wrist, but the warm smile on his face only brightened when she leaned down to introduce him to the dog wriggling at her feet. He'd always loved dogs, and being a feline shifter hadn't changed the fact a bit.
At her apologies he leaned down, letting the dog get used to his scent before ruffling the pup's ears affectionately and scratching ruffling up its fluff. "No worries! I've got a soft spot for pups like him," he said, looking up at her with yet another smile. People always told him he smiled too much, and he always seemed to get asked if his cheeks ever got tired. To which he just gave them another grin; it wasn't his fault he was fairly well-adjusted. He cast his eyes over to the other dog, Balios she'd said, and gave a few little clucks of his tongue in greeting. "Nice dogs you got. I'm glad all three of you were here to help," he said. An eagle screeched somewhere off in the distance, and he looked to the skies to try and spot it. “Did the caribou get you? Awful fuss over a deer. He’s either a bloody awful hunter, or just a nasty piece of thieving work.”
"Nah, not really. Just nicked my side a bit, but it's just a scratch," he said, pulling to the side to see the tiny spots of blood staining his shirt. Nothing to be alarmed about. "And I'd say the latter. This place is crawling with thieves. Shame we all can't just work together. But then I suppose the Keeper's wouldn't have much entertainment, er, excuse me research and they'd just gas the lot of us." He shrugged, brows furrowing as his thoughts darkened momentarily, wondering at the futility of practically every action, every movement, every breath they took. It was all for nothing, in the end.
But he didn't let the thoughts distract him for longer than a few seconds, before he turned back to Charm with a bright smile. "I think I can manage for a bit! The last thing I would want to do is ask my rescuer to carry a load back for me. Manners, Ethan, as my mother would say." He chuckled and stooped down to scoop up the deer and sling it over his shoulder. It was heavy, but he had always been a strong boy, worked out in the gym and all that, and the Menagerie had only made him stronger. "Shall we?" he asked, but as he turned to leave he heard the long screech of the eagle again, but this time it was much closer.
He craned his neck to try and spot it, only to be greeted with a ball of feathers slamming into him, talons raking down his face. He let out a surprised yell and tried to swat the thing off his face, but it was persistent and pecked at him with it's sharp beak and even sharper talons. Blood dripped from a few shallow gashes on his cheek, blood spilling into his eyes from a cut on his forehead. In a matter of moments the assault was over when Ethan managed to grab a wing and yank. He could hear something pop, and the eagle screeched in pain as he threw it to the ground.
"The hell is going on today?!" He shouted, wiping at his eyes to try to clear the blood from away. He'd managed to keep a hold of the deer, but he was seriously considering dropping the kill and just high-tailing it out of there. The forest seemed intent on killing him, and he wasn't about to stick around to oblige. The eagle let out some sort of weird choking laugh and shifted, a fierce looking woman standing in its place. Her arm dangled at her side, and a rush of guilt immediately washed over Ethan. He took a step back when he saw the rage glittering in her eyes, but pulled up short when he heard crashing in the undergrowth behind him. He placed the deer at his feet, slowly, and half-turned in time to see the caribou crash through a line of trees, followed by a wolf and some other breed of dog. "...looks like we have uninvited guests on our picnic, dear." Ethan said as he looked to Charm, his voice filled with increasing dread.
ooc| --
Last Edit: Jun 23, 2012 21:50:11 GMT -5 by Ethan Graff
When he commented on the dogs, Charm grinned at him. “You won’t believe how I ended up with them.” It involved a long story of coyote-fish, pouring rain, a man on a horse, and a roasted turkey. She glanced at his scratch, satisfied with his assessment, and shrugged her indifference to the what the Keepers would do. She tried not to dwell on their actions, because it was absolutely nothing she could control. Ethan seemed to think along the same lines, because he quickly brightened.
She wondered briefly if he’d purposefully mimicked her “manners” comment to Bandit, but she didn’t have time to ask. As he turned to her, an eagle plummeted from the sky to slam into his upturned face. Startled and acting on instinct, she whipped out her bow and had an arrow to the string an instant later, Bandit barking furiously at struggling pair. Only then did she look down at the wooden weapon and realize that it wouldn’t be useful when the bird was so close to Ethan. An arrow would punch right through it, and injure him.
Before she could revise her plan of action, Ethan managed to throw off his attacker. The bird shifted, prompting Charm to swing her arrow up and draw it back, leveled at the woman’s chest. She didn’t take her gaze off the stranger except to glance quickly around when noise announced the arrival of other shifters. "...looks like we have uninvited guests on our picnic, dear." She shrugged a little sadly.
“Well, honey, we’ll just have to give them a proper greeting.” Abruptly, she dropped her aim and released the arrow with a resounding twang. It hummed furiously for a split instant before taking the woman in the calf with a dull thud, causing her to cry out and fall. Even before she hit the ground, Charm was turning to face the others. She gave a sharp whistle, and pointed to the deer. “Frourá!” Balios and Bandit stood over it a heartbeat, hackles raised, their attention fixed on the other canines. That was all the time she had before the caribou was upon her. She flung herself to the side just in time, rolling to her feet as it wheeled and came back for a second pass.
The longbow was useless at this range. She tossed it aside as she dodged the slashing tines, brow furrowing as she concentrated. Just enough attention was left on the caribou to avoid getting impaled. The rest went to imagining all the little bits of energy, locked in endless vibration in the air. She imagined that energy flowing to her hands, condensing at her palm, a vibration that grew in intensity, contained only by her force of will. When the level satisfied her, she darted to the side and lunged at the caribou, taking it by surprise. It obviously hadn’t thought her a threat, but when she managed to plant her hand on its hide, there was a sharp crack as the energy transferred. It bellowed and staggered, and Charm swore, her head spinning slightly from the effort of harnessing the power. She had underestimated the charge she’d need to knock the thing out.
Still, she’d made it wary of her. It backed away a few paces, eyeing her, shaking its head to dispel the lingering effects. Charm cocked an eyebrow, holding her hands casually in front of her, palms facing each other. She moved them closer together, then further apart, fingers flexing slightly, seemingly working the air between her hands. As she did so, static electricity crackled between them, the energy visible, unlike her previous charge. It was mostly harmless, only capable of producing a stinging shock. But it looked impressive. She couldn’t actually create lightning yet, but the caribou didn’t need to know that.
Under the crackling tendrils of light, she began to build another true charge, pressed tight against her palm. This time, he was going down for the count.
ooc; feel free to PP the dogs a bit, if don't want Ethan to be ganged up on by the other two rogues. xD
Ethan sucked in his breath when Charm's arrow landed square in the eagle shifters leg, his stomach twisting in knots. He couldn't stand to see anyone getting hurt, especially women, even if they'd just mauled his face. He had managed for a while to keep his hands clean of violence and bloodshed, if only by avoiding conflict and allowing his ring-mates to take the lead in battle.
But today he found himself surrounded, suddenly cornered by two large, ferocious looking canines. He gulped, eyes darting from side to side as he tried to think strategically, think smart, think well anything. He was intelligent, but damned if battle didn't send his thoughts running in a thousand different directions. Speaking of running, it sounded like a plausible option; but he would never think of leaving Charm here by herself, even if she'd likely be able to handle herself. She'd probably end up saving his ass at the last second anyway.
But the two Rogues were suddenly upon him, jaws gnashing inches from him as he stumbled backwards, tripping over the deer. He let out a slough of curses under his breath as he fell to the ground, and if it hadn't been for Charm's two dogs holding off the Rogues for a few much needed seconds, he would've been dead for sure. He took advantage of the moment to surge to his feet, shifting mid-motion and landing on all four paws. One of Charm's dogs yelped, and Ethan knew it was time for him to take charge. He couldn't let her beloved pets get injured because of his clumsiness. Ethan sucked in his breath and with a deafening roar leaped forward, thick body slamming into the Rogue wolf. He steeled his nerves as the two grappled ferociously, but he was much more agile than the wolf and had the advantage of size and weight on his side.
Caught in the moment of actually winning a fight, he felt his claws dig into the wolf's flesh. His hind claws raked downward, and hard, into the Rogue's underbelly, warm blood springing up around his paws, his jaw locking around the things throat. He slowly began to clench his jaw, blood spurting into his mouth. The taste disgusted him, the sounds of agony that split from the Rogue wrenched his heart. He looked down into the wolf's face as it struggled fruitlessly beneath him, fear blotting its eyes, tears pricking at the corners. Everything around him went quiet, a deafening silence settled over him as he realized what he was doing. He froze, grip slackening.
He looked up to see Charm facing off against the caribou. The eagle Shifter was still on the ground, clutching her leg with her one good arm. The other dog was snipping at the deer, trying to get around Balios and Bandit. The wolf beneath him panted and whined, its mouth and face contorted in pleas and agony, blood frothing at its throat. He could feel himself losing the battle fury he'd managed to latch onto for that fleeting moment. He gathered his wits in that momentary haze of shock, smooth his probably distraught expression into a snarling facade. He stared down into the rogue's face, claws latched into its furry chest and his body crushing it with his weight, let out another roar, formed into a demanding order. "Leave! Now!"
He rose onto his back haunches and swatted the wolf's head with sheathed claws, a glancing blow that promised consequences if his demand wasn't met. The wolf struggled to its paws and limped hurriedly away into the shadows of the forest.
Ethan tried to keep the snarl on his lips, fangs exposed as he roared at the other mutt. Charm's dogs sent up a bray of barks and kept nipping at its paws. With another growl, Ethan leaped forward and charged at the rogue. With a leopard coming at him and the dogs keeping him dancing on his paws, the Rogue let out a frustrated bark and ran, following in the bloody paw-prints of the wolf.
He turned his sights then to see the eagle woman crawling towards Charm, a knife glittering cold in her hand. "No!" He barreled toward the girl, shifting and sliding on his knees in time to grab the girl's wrist as the girl rose up and swung the knife at Charm's back. He glared into her eyes, this time perfectly content to use his strength against her. He squeezed with all his might and wrenched her arm backwards with ease. She dropped the knife with a gasp of pain, but he kept his grip on her still and dragged her to her feet. "Let me go!" she shrieked as he dragged her towards where the others had fled, and forcefully shoved her into the woods. "Get the hell out of here," he said, his voice low and gravelly. "Or I will finish what you started."
ooc; Ethan learns he can sort of fight! also sorry for typos, too lazy to edit right now >.>;
Last Edit: Jul 11, 2012 2:42:24 GMT -5 by mo money
When the caribou closed in again, he did so cautiously, with the none of the wild flailing of his first charge. Charm frowned to herself as she circled left, trying to outflank the beast while dodging controlled thrusts of the antlers. She had lost her element of surprise, and it displeased her. Still, her smaller size was an advantage, and she only needed one more touch. If she could just get inside the antler’s reach, it would be ridiculously easy to get the required contact. The bad part was, the caribou knew that, and had no intention of letting her past his guard. Faced with a thicket of tines, she abruptly lunged to the side, ready to fold into a roll and get underneath her opponent.
Before she could fling herself into a tumble, a flash of movement in the corner of her eye and some sixth sense screamed a warning. She whipped around, turning her momentum into a twist as her hand flew back to knock aside the knife driving for her spine. Ethan got there first, sliding between her and the other woman, but the attack had provided a successful distraction. The caribou swung his head up and to the side, and the points of his right antler catching her on the back of the left shoulder. The blow staggered her, and she cursed, but thankfully she had managed to dodge somewhat, and stayed on her feet. Had it caught her between the shoulder blades, there was little doubt she would have fallen.
The blasted thing reversed his strike, trying to catch her off balance, left antler whistling toward her head. Charm snarled, realizing that at some point the energy she’d been gathering had dissipated, and abruptly changed tactics. She caught the descending antler in her left hand and, using the bull’s own momentum against him to keep him from shaking her grip, took two short, quick steps toward his left and vaulted onto his back. Unfortunately, her weight wasn’t enough to make him fall, but he did stagger drunkenly, bellowing indignantly. The sound morphed into panic as she grasped his other antler as well, leaning back and beginning to twist, putting pressure on his neck.
The muscles that carried the massive weight of the antlers were extraordinarily strong, but the ones that pulled them forward and down, or turned them side to side, not so much. There was very little to stop Charm from breaking his neck, especially when he was unbalanced with her perched on his shoulders. In his mindless panic, the rogue shifted, falling forward. She had her arm around his throat in an instant, bearing him into the ground with her weight and the strength of her legs as he thrashed uselessly against her hold.
Although she had fully intended to keep him there until he passed out, as his struggles began to weaken, she abruptly changed her mind. She could see that Ethan had run the others off, and the last thing she wanted for them to come back because they thought she had killed their buddy. In a smooth motion, she released him and rolled to her feet, as the man gratefully gasped in air. Before he could get too comfortable, she shifted, reared back with a furious whinny, and let her hooves crash to the earth inches from his unprotected chest. In the blink of an eye, he scrambled up and dashed for the forest. She reared once more, throwing her head back with a defiant scream, before settling to all fours and turning toward her fellow Fulsi, sliding into her human form.
“You okay?” she panted, gaze dragging over him from top to bottom. His face was a bloody mess where the eagle had scratched him, but other than he seemed to be okay. Awake, up, and moving, at least. She was distracted from her appraisal as the pups crowded her legs, whining in their excitement and anxiety. Crouching, she ran her hands over their coats, soothing them with a few murmured phrases. Bandit had a small tear in his throat, but the skin was looser there, and it was not life threatening by any means. She would wrap it with a bandana when they were in a more secure spot.
Straightening, she began hunting through the grass for her bow. “There’s a stream a couple miles west of here,” she told Ethan, gesturing back the way she’d come. “We should head there, I think. You’ll be able to rise your face, and we can clean and dress the deer.” Finding the discarded weapon, Charm slung it into its proper place and strode over to the carcass that had been the root of all the chaos. She shifted again, and gave Ethan a pointed look. “Load it up, please.” Although she knew he didn’t want her to carry it, she wasn’t prepared to indulge his chivalry if it would cost them time. “We’ll be able to move faster if I carry it, and I would really like to get out of here before our friends come back.” They had underestimated the rogues’ numbers once, they could have easily done it again. She didn’t want to wait around to find out.
Ethan ensured the Rogue woman was well on her way before turning to help Charm, but he saw that she'd already taken the caribou down and sent him packing in short order. He felt a momentary sense of relief, but with the rush of adrenaline quickly fading, pain soon settled in. The deep gouges on his brow were covered in a mix of blood, dirt and fur even as fresh blood continued to trickle from them. His ears started to ring as he looked down at his right fore-arm, where more blood oozed. He'd thought it had been the Rogue's blood, but upon closer inspection he saw it was his own. The wolf must've bitten him when he'd had it pinned. He'd been so caught up in the moment, he hadn't even felt the teeth tearing into his arm.
Shocked at how violent things had gotten so quickly, he simply stood and looked blankly around the clearing, barely recognizing that Charm had said something when she walked up to him. "Hm?" he said, grasping numbly at his injured wrist. "Yes, I'm fine. Are you hurt?" Ethan managed to rasp out. He could see that she was relatively unharmed with the sureness of her movements and followed her to the deer carcass. It struck him how that deer had caused so much havoc, and it left him feeling sick to his stomach. The metallic stench of blood was heavy in the air, cloying his senses. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach, bile stinging at the back of his throat. Had that really just happened? Did he really almost kill someone?
Charm snapped him out of his daze, and though he indeed wanted to protest her carrying the load, he knew he wouldn't be able to carry the deer very far at the moment. He tried another smile and hefted the deer onto her back. Confident that the deer was secure on her back, he nodded to her. "Lets get outta here," Ethan muttered, nodding for her to lead the way.
They reached the stream after a long walk in relative silence, but over all Ethan was too stunned to say much more than a few words. He unloaded the deer from Charm's back and placed it by the river bank. He poked warily at it with the tip of his shoe.
"So, you sure know how to kick ass," he said. "Any chance you know how to clean this thing? I let the other hunters do it usually. Not my thing, really."
As they made their way west, Charm watched her companion out of the corner of her eye. It was easy to see the distress in him, and he wore an expression of shock that she had seen far too often. It was common for those who were unaccustomed to battle, or who simply had no taste for it. Still, she kept these thoughts to herself, and let him brood in silence.
Eventually, the meadows to their right fell away as they ascended a gentle hill, hardly noticeable except for the way they could see further out into the plains. The stream was where she remembered, tumbling out of the forest to rush joyfully down the slope. She paused to let Ethan pull the deer off her back, as the dogs raced past them to splash happily in the water, then shifted into her two-legged form.
His comment won a grin out of her. “I can show you. And you did just fine with your own ass-kicking. They’re the ones who ran away, remember?” Seeing that he did indeed remember, if his slightly sickened expression was anything to go by, her gaze softened slightly. “First things first.” Pulling a clean, folded bandana out of a pocket, she soaked it in the stream and then turned to Ethan.
She stood on tiptoe - he was nearly a foot taller than she was, though she wasn’t short - and peered at his scratches. Then she grasped his chin lightly in her fingers, and turned his head toward the scene before them, as if she wanted him to look at something. And she did, though it wasn’t anything specific. The sunlight was bright, sparkling off the water and gleaming on the dogs’ wet coats. Except for the delighted paddling of the dogs and the chatter of the birds in the trees, it was silent. Peaceful. “There is always more to life than violence. Remember that.”
Turning his face back to her, she carefully began to wipe away the blood, cleaning the scratches as she went. Doing so caused them to open up again, so she rinsed the cloth and pressed it gently to the wounds until they clotted. Satisfied, she stepped back. “There.” Flicking her gaze toward his bloody arm, she added, “We should do the deer first, since we’re going to get filthy anyway.”
Drawing her knife, she knelt beside the deer and set about gutting it. In that respect, she agreed with Ethan - it was an unpleasant task, one that she explained as she went. Though she was capable of enjoying the clash of battle, she took no such pleasure in gore, death, and killing. She liked to fight for the sake of it, for the thrill of testing her skills against another’s. Though she didn’t hesitate to kill when necessary, she certainly didn’t go looking for it, nor did she particularly like being up to her elbows in a deer’s belly.
She buried the viscera under several large rocks, saving only the liver, which she sliced in half and tossed to the hounds. Sitting back on her heels, she surveyed the empty carcass. “That should do it. Some of the organs are edible - like the liver - but they tend to spoil too quickly to carry over any great distance.” Though her hands and forearms were a mess, she had managed to preserve her clothes. Ethan bore remnants of the process as well, from when she had asked him to lend a hand.
Getting up and moving to the stream, she crouched on a patch of rocky shore and plunged her hands into the cool water. She rinsed her knife, then set it aside and began scrubbing dried blood from her between her fingers, red swirling away with the current.
The scenes of the battle still vividly fresh in his mind, he didn't need reminding of how he'd reacted. But he supposed she was right. They'd run away, and he hadn't killed anyone; whether or not they later died some terrible death from infection he could only wonder, and hope to God he hadn't been made a murderer. He was lost in his thoughts, but Charm was quick to snap him out of it when she grabbed his chin. He bent down a bit to acquiesce and even their height a bit, but his muscles were still tensed from the fight.
But as he watched the scene before them and she spoke her words in seemingly infinite wisdom, he felt a sense of serenity wash over him. She was right; there was always more to life than violence and bloodshed. This was the way of the world here, where you had to fight to survive, but even in the darkest shadow, there must be light, however faint. And it was that light that he would cling to. His eyes flickered to hers with a nod and a smile as he squeezed her wrist lightly, in thanks.
She was such a comforting presence, strong, serene, and unafraid of the world. He felt safe with her, and god knows he hadn't felt safe in months. Her touch was a great deal more comforting as she went about cleaning the blood from his face, and one by one he felt his muscles ease, and a soft sigh escaped him. When she'd finish, his eyes flickered open with a sheepish grin. He hadn't even realized he closed them. "Princess Charming, indeed," he said with a grin, turning to follow her to the deer carcass. It wasn’t the first cleaning he’d seen, but it never failed to turn his stomach as she proceeded to gut and bleed the poor creature. He’d killed it, but it had been quick and relatively quiet (he’d gotten quite adept at quick, easy kills) and there hadn’t been nearly so much blood.
But Ethan was determined to learn how to do this himself, and he’d always been a dedicated student even when the going got tough. There weren’t usually guts involved, of course, but he could grin and bear it. He nodded as Charm explained the process and what to cut, what not to cut, the whole kit and caboodle. When the task was done, he helped her bury the entrails and clean some of the mess, laughing when she tossed the dogs the liver. “Nice snack,” he said. “They deserve it though. You got yourself some good dogs.”
He mused quietly that the only pet he’d ever had was this strange looking cat that’d wandered up to him in a back alley in the Fulsi. Isis was as lazy a cat as you’d ever seen, but he loved the thing dearly despite a considerate lack of affection for all the treats he fed it. Shaking his head, he turned back to the river and watched Charm as she rinsed off the blade. “I dunno about you, but I haven’t had a bath in…well too long.” He muttered. “I’m going for a dip!” With a decisive nod he stripped off his shirt and pants, clad only in his boxers and with a loud “Whoop!” barreled into the river. He surged under the rush of water, bursting to the surface and waving Charm in. "Care to join me, Princess?" he asked with a wink.
ooc;
Last Edit: Sept 8, 2012 16:02:17 GMT -5 by mo money
She indulged in an eye-roll at the ‘Princess Charming,’ but couldn’t summon any real exasperation. His affection was obvious, and it wasn’t the worst nickname she’d ever had. The man from whom she had learned French called her poney précieux - precious pony - a title she had despised, mostly due to the condescending nature in which it was given. It had been years since she’d suffered those sneering remarks. To this day, she hated speaking French. Ethan, thankfully, showed no inclination to do so.
She watched his hands as they gutted the deer: he had tattoos circling his wrists. But they were obscured by the gore and the blood from his own scratches, and thus illegible. Charm pushed it to the back of her mind, and focused at the task at hand until it was time to rise, only to crouch beside the stream. She looked up to watch the pups paddle in the water, and grinned. “Diamonds in the rough, as it were. An eccentric German man dumped them in my lap when they were barely weaned.”
Hands clean, she picked up the hunting knife and considered the edge, testing it with her thumb. Deciding it needed sharpening, she made a mental note to do so that night, sheathed it, and stood. Nearly before she was fully upright, Ethan shot past her and bounded into the water. She blinked in mild surprise, then cracked a grin as Bandit helpfully splashed over to bring him a stick. “Alright,” she relented, kicking off her shoes. “But careful where you call me ‘Princess.’ Tarrik and Dalton get ahold of that and I’ll never live it down.” Shirt had followed the shoes - pants were next, leaving bra and underwear. She waded into the water, then dove where it deepened to form a swimming hole. Surfacing, she shook wet hair out of her eyes. “Gah! It’s cold.”
She struck out anyway, rolling around to scrub and rinse her skin with the clear water. Balios and Bandit both circled around her until, laughing, she threw a stick for them to chase and wrestle over. After a few minutes, the chill wasn’t as noticeable, and Charm twisted over to float on her back, watching the play of birds against the hard blue sky above. “My dad used to say terræ erit,” she murmured, more to the world in general than Ethan specifically. “The earth will be, will continue, no matter what happens.” Memories pulled at her as clearly as the water’s current, so she shook them off with a flick of her fingers, turning to paddle over to Ethan.
It was still deep, but shallow enough to stand, so she was able to pluck his wrist up in both her hands to peer at the script circling it. It looked like Polish. Her brows knit. “Where there is... agreement? Unity. There is power, strength?” She looked up at him for conformation. There was still his other wrist to investigate, and the symbols above his heart.
"Eccentric German man...?" he asked, glancing at her with curiosity. "I think I'd like to hear that story, sometime. German's make for some rather dramatic plot lines," he said with a dry smile. He thought for a moment on the rather dramatic history that spanned between the German's and his people, and though he wasn't a native Pole he was Polish at heart. He paddled around in the water a bit more, enjoying the crisp chill against his skin. He could feel the blood and grime washing away, and slowly his muscles eased and his mind relaxed. "We can't have that, can we? It'll be our secret then. It'll save me the trouble of explaining how you were the knight in shining armor while I tried to figure out how to use my claws," he said with a laugh, bending his fingers like claws and slashing ridiculously at the air. He didn't really have a problem with not knowing how to fight, except maybe when it put his ring-mates in danger. He could hold his own against those who were equally as unskilled as he was, but if he'd been up against a skilled fighter he'd probably be lying dead in a ditch somewhere, the Lawaii cleaning the meat off his bones.
He mimicked Charm and floated on his back, staring up at the world far above. It was so hard to believe that this world wasn't real, that it was a construction of reality. That they were trapped in a dome, a synthetic world that yielded no mercy. It looked so real, at times, that he forgot where they were. That they were sectioned off from the rest of the world, the world he'd called home, as troubled as it was. Maybe it was better in here, maybe it was safer that they were hidden away from the world. They were killing each other in here over a few scraps of meat, over a line drawn in the sand that declared this is mine, not yours. History was wont to repeat itself, and the blood that the river had washed away had been proof of that. She drew him from his reverie, and he found himself watching her, trying to get a read on her. "Your father is a wise man," he said, tone earnest. He had once thought the same of his own father, but that view had been ripped from him, shattered when the truth of what a monster he'd been came to light. It never ceased to disturb him how easily he'd been deceived, how easily a young boy had thought his father a hero.
He mused quietly to himself about all the wrongs in the world, and how small his troubles seemed in comparison. When she paddled over to him and grasped at his wrist, he straightened himself and stood next to her, the current swirling around them. "In unity, there is strength," he said with a nod. "A Polish proverb my Bubby taught me," he said with a fondness, warm memories spreading through him. "I got it after my mother died, and my father was arrested. All that was left was my brother and I," he said, not afraid to share his story with her. It was a sad one, sure, but he'd survived it. he still struggled with finding a reason for all the madness surrounding him, for all the sorrow...but he supposed in time, understanding would come to him. "It reminds me that there's still family out there to find, still a strength in the love between them. The Fulsi is my family now," he mused, glancing at the script around his wrist. "They give me my strength, even when everything around us falls apart," he said, grasping her wrist and giving it an affectionate squeeze, eyes flicking to the tattoos along the underside of her wrists. "And these?" he said, grazing his thumb along the ink.
ooc; ETHAN YOU CHEESER <3 ;3;
Last Edit: Jan 16, 2013 21:13:15 GMT -5 by mo money
He was a wise man. And hopefully still is. She didn't fool herself, though. If they'd known how to find her, they would have known about her family. Most likely they were dead, as she hadn't seen any of them in the dome, nor had she been questioned about their whereabouts and hiding places. But they were resilient. Her father was unceasingly watchful, and certainly not sloppy. Especially with the all the chaos going on, they would have been prepared for an attack. There was a chance some of them had escaped and gone to ground.
With ease of long practice, Charm packed these thoughts neatly away into the recesses of her mind, and refocused on what was in front of her. Or rather, who was in front of her, in this case. She flashed a smile up at Ethan. "A good proverb to live by." She could certainly relate. Her strength had always lain with her family. For them she lived, fought, loved. For them she would probably die - natural deaths were a rarity in the lives of shifters and soldiers for hire. Doubly rare if you happened to be both.
"Polish, you said? Z jednością... tam jest moc." She repeated the phrase a couple times, working the unfamiliar sounds until they rolled off her tongue naturally. Satisfied, she filed it away in her mental compendium of phrases and sayings. Returning to the line of conversation, she was about to ask him about his brother when he ran his thumb over the inside of her wrist. Her fingers twitched reflectively - the skin there was sensitive, which made getting the tattoos a literal pain, but it also meant light touches were ticklish. "That one means courage, especially in combat. This one -" she twisted her left wrist to bare the underside "- stands for stamina."
"I come from a family of mercenaries," she explained. "The glyphs are a tradition my great-uncle started when he first put together a unit. They're like... honorifics, I guess you could say. You might get them because of a specific act, or just because it's a trait you have." She tapped the mark just below her left collarbone, because it was the only other one clearly visible. "This one means fearless."
As she spoke, she picked up his other wrist and peered at it. The script was in English, and reiterated the Polish proverb. She would, of course, have picked the wrist with the language she didn't know first, Charm thought with wry humor.
A dog-propelled stick interrupted them by smacking Charm in the side, and she turned to Bandit with amused exasperation. "Give me that." Plucking the stick from his mouth, she chucked it upstream, and the pup immediately paddled enthusiastically after it. To Ethan, she continued her earlier thought; "I didn't know you had a brother. Do you know where he is?" It was a somewhat-more-tactful way of asking people, 'did they get captured, and if so, did they survive it? Did they survive the Keepers? Did they survive their first week in the dome?' She squinted at his sun tattoo as she asked, wondering if it also had familial connections.
Post by Ethan Graff on Aug 13, 2013 16:46:51 GMT -5
Ethan nodded as she explained her tattoos, his brows lifting in surprise when she said she came from a family of mercenaries--well, maybe not surprise. With how she knew how to fight and how many danged weapons she had, it now seemed ridiculous for her to have any other origin. "Family of mercenaries, hm? I didn't know they still existed; I kinda thought they were just in the movies." he said, cocking an eyebrow at her. "Remind me not to piss you off, though. 'Specially now that I know you've got the stamina to chase my ass down if I try to run." He squinted slightly and peered down at the mark on her collar bone as she tapped it, resisting the urge to reach out and trace his finger along the design. He figured it'd be a tad inappropriate, and things like that had gotten him into trouble before; he'd always had this problem with needing to touch, either skin or cloth. Mostly it was clothing, and usually it wasn't something he could control; when he saw a cloth he liked the look of, he just had to reach out and feel it. Got him into plenty of awkward situations, so he'd learned to wrangle it into submission...mostly.
Charm snapped him out of his thoughts when she grabbed his other wrist, about to launch into a small story about his Bubby when her pup interrupted them. He shook his head as the dog paddled gleefully after the stick. He kept his eyes fixed on the dog as she asked him about his brother. Turning back to Charm after a few moments contemplation, he met her eyes for a brief moment. "His name was Henry," he said quietly, eyes drifting down to the river. The water suddenly felt even colder, sending gooseflesh rippling along his skin. "It was just me and him, after everything." Ethan's eyes slowly trailed across the swirling waters, his chest tightening until he felt like it was impossible to breathe. He closed his eyes for a moment, drawing in a shaky breath to steady himself.
"He killed himself about year after we left home. I woke up one morning and he was gone." Ethan paused, clearing his throat. "I identified his body in the morgue the next week. He'd drowned himself. But I like to believe that wherever he is now, at least he isn't suffering anymore. Maybe...maybe he's even happier." He turned back to Charm with a soft, hopeful smile. "I have a sister in here, somewhere. I hope to find her one day." He said, though in truth he'd already found her---unfortunately, she'd wanted nothing to do with him. And he was unsure how much he should share with Charm about Lily (or Lovely, now). She was a Carna, and Ethan didn't want Charm to think his loyalties were split. "And you? Do you know where your family is?"
ooc; holyy. why did it take me this long to reply ;^; just take me out back and shoot me ok
Last Edit: Nov 20, 2013 11:51:49 GMT -5 by Ethan Graff
She offered him a half grin. “Yeah, well, it wouldn’t behoove UNIT to go around pointing out the availability of guns for hire. Technically, we contracted out as Antoni Asfáleia - Antoni Security.” A pause to shrug, and Charm continued, “We weren’t well known by the name, though. We tried not to bandy it about. Unless they were hiring us, people hardly ever used it.” She forwent mentioning that UNIT also had no interest in eliminating or sharing potential assets. Although they had frequently stood on the moral, rather than legal, side of the line, it was not always so.
Darius had been able, for the most part, to pick and choose their jobs. While he had no fondness for UNIT, however, they did work for them on occasion, lest they risk getting quietly and brutally shut down. Besides, it gave them a solid reputation for professionalism - if you could work both for and against the government without fuss, people tended to trust that you were impersonal when it came to their corporate, religious, and political agendas.
Bandit’s distraction pulled her from the train of thought in time for her to sober at Ethan’s admission. Was. She grimaced in sympathy, reaching a hand to his arm to give it a light, consoling squeeze. “I’m sorry,” she offered quietly. It seemed an insufficient response - death was bad enough, but she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have one of her family willingly abandoning them like that. Ethan turned a smile on her, though, and she mustered one in reply. “There’s always a good chance of that. It’s a small world in here, after all.” A gesture of her hand indicated the dome surrounding them.
Although she had half expected the question to be returned, it didn’t stop the familiar ache from blooming in her chest. Charm turned away to take the stick from Balios and throw it again as she answered. “Dead, probably. The shifters, anyway. Most of them were over thirty when I was captured, and it’s not like they’d have gone without a fight.” And as she’d said, it was a small world in the dome, and she’d seen hide nor hair of them. If any of her family were inside, they would have sought her out.
“There’s no way to know for sure, unfortunately.” Shaking off the doubts and uncertainty with a horse-like flick of a shoulder, she turned back to Ethan, arching a brow. “I don’t know about you, but my toes are going numb.” With a playful flick of her fingers to send a shower of water droplets at him, she dove back under the water, surfacing near the bank. There, she planted her palms and hoisted herself onto sun-warmed stone, gratefully withdrawing her feet from the cold water. Pressing the worst of the water out of her hair, she stretched her legs out comfortably, letting the heat settle into chilled flesh.