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Post by forgottenxthreat on Nov 13, 2008 20:11:41 GMT -5
River hadn’t even realized Gerand had gone from their sides until he came to a halt behind him sending a dry wave of dust hissing up into his eyes. Alarmed and slightly taken aback at his words, River ripped his gaze from Raine, whom he’d been boring into heatedly. “What?” He said momentarily dumbfounded. He looked up the massive slab of rock and spotted the four black figures walking idly towards the first level of the mountain trail at the very top of the face they had descended. Blood, cold as ice, drenched his veins as a feeling of shock and panic began brewing inside him. Looking around, adrenaline seemed to emit through every inch of him, where are we to go? Gerand turned and sprinted back up the path they had came, amra out at his side. “Gerand!“ River whispered urgently but not fast enough, “ Wait-“ “URH-YAAAHHHHHHHHHHG!” Looking up they saw the man in front yell and stumble backwards from the soundless sonic explosion. The man disappeared from view, his howl still echoing over the canyon, as he fell against the inside cliff wall; Gerand shot and wounded- not killed. Their cover was blown. River’s eyes widened and the hair on the back of his neck stood up as his brain worked furiously thinking HOW (IN THE WORLD) could they POSSIBLY get out of this? Loud calls and gunshots rang out through the thick air above sounding like they had 40 machine guns aiming down at them. The remaining three assassin spies tore at a rocket pace down the pathways zigzagged through the rocky hillside. Wildly, he looked out in front of him, seeing Raine still dangling from his grip and the gigantic tree branches behind her. Tree branches. He stared at the broad rafters and then at Raine’s tiny figure, arms still crossed stubbornly. River’s eyes narrowed as he gave her an extrasensory stare. “Can you make that?” He asked quietly. She scoffed and rolled her eyes giving him a disgustingly hopeless look as a shot missed his foot by inches, sending thousands of serrated stone shards cascading into the air. The corner of his mouth twitched into a grin as the muscles in his arms livened at the opportunity to be used.
River threw her into oblivion. His strength and her lightness sent her catapulting into the air. He staggered, his body in turning motion from the throw, almost losing his footing as he looked up to see Raine land. Her hair flew behind her, spread out like water that had not yet turned into vapor as the thick branches of the tree consumed her. River’s ears then became his eyes as he heard the armed men jump and arrive at the bottom of the last landing. Metal clicks and sounds of steel against rock clanged behind him as one of the pursuers reloaded his gun, throwing the empty cartridge to the ground. Without thinking much in the seconds that followed, he hoisted himself over the edge. He fell a ways down the cliff unsteadily, unable at first to get a foot-hold. The sharp out-hangings in the cliff wall were like severing knives against his skin. Gerand was only a few feet below him when he had finally gripped an edge in the jagged wall. His fingers were bloody from his climb and they weakened dangerously under strain of his weight with every passing second. He yelled to Gerand to move down as he caught sight of a black figure leaning over the rocky edge of the cliff mere feet above him.
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Post by kangaroo cry on Dec 29, 2008 23:09:30 GMT -5
Antagonism was still in the air as a tangible spark-- though the shouting portion was over, a situation much more critical had now presented itself. Raine’s eyes met with River’s in a link only enemies could share. If he so much as twitched his fingers, the spark would ignite again, and she could fall. He understood that, and so did she, but neither of them were doing anything about the situation.
Abruptly, the focus shifted, and Raine’s head registered that another event was going on before she herself did. Her head turned away from River and she managed to hear the last of what Gerand had said, “I don't think they saw me, but there was no way that they could have missed your shouting.”
And then everything was happening fast, but the world was coming back to Raine slowly. It was as if she was coming up from under water and had been holding her breath for eternity without even realizing it. Her mind was collecting the facts and organizing them for her: They were going to be attacked, and her very own shouting had led the enemy right to the target. She watched mindlessly as Gerand took a shot at the people, setting off the one domino that toppled the rest and started the unstoppable chain of events.
River was looking back at her now, and Raine was sure she knew what he was going to do before he did. Something wordless passed between them as their eyes met, an understanding too complicated for words and entirely unaffected by the parade of bullets being showered down on them. Raine smirked in satisfaction, a warm feeling tingling in her fingers.
It was as if his whisper was inside her very mind: “Can you make that?” Her response was instantaneous, and the grin forming on his lips was the last thing she saw before she felt joy elate in her, and found herself soaring, streaking through the air like a comet. She knew she would easily make the gap between the cliff edge and the tree.
The feeling was unbelievable and suffocating, and then it was over. The tree branches reached out to her with their sharp and unwelcoming embrace, tracing their fingers across her arms and leaving faint lines of blood. Raine barely noticed as she caught herself neatly on a branch and pulled herself to stand on it. The bushy leaves covered her in a protective disguise, and allowed her to watch the situation as it continued to unfold dangerously. She adjusted the straps of her heavy backpack, her fingers twitching. The ambushers, it appeared, had not noticed her silent flight. Good. They didn’t know she existed yet.
An idea was ready in her mind, but Raine waited. She surveyed the scene carefully. The shooters were firing their guns and running to the end of the cliff. The boys were making a mad dash down the rocky side and trying to avoid the gunshots. She saw them slipping in their haste and clinging to the jagged rocks to keep from falling. Turning her back on the picture, she jumped to a higher branch. It reminded her of her building hopping days, which had apparently been traded in for tree climbing.
The circumstances were chaotic and urgent, but Raine took her time. The pursuers had made it to the edge, parallel to her and within shouting distance. Her eyes accused them as they halted in a moment of uncertainty: did they continue following down the cliff or remain on top?
Their hesitation was Raine’s cue, and she knew her lines well. She gripped a strap of her heavy pack and ripped it off her shoulders. One hand held it as her body swung fluidly like a hinge, twisting her back and then forward, lifting the pack into the air effortlessly. Once her arm was up and frontward, she let go and watched the large bag soar, end over end. At the same second, one motion rolling smoothly into the next, her non-throwing hand pulled out one of her amras and lifted it to the sky. She traced the pack’s path across the atmosphere persistently with her gaze, adjusting her amra to tail it.
The attackers had no idea what was coming for them.
In the next second, at the opportune moment, she fired a single shot and watched its entire sluggish-seeming path as it chased the bag down. Upon collision, a mixture of flame and smoke and gunpowder erupted into the air, feeding upon itself and growing upwards and outwards, consuming the very air. All sound ceased to exist and for that one moment, everything was nothing. The sky flashed threateningly and the explosion seemed to suck life from every direction. The whole process had happened in the span of a few seconds.
The explosion was all that filled the sky for a long moment. The bag Raine had acutely thrown had exploded directly adjacent to the pursuers. She watched in silent glee as their hair was whipped back away from their faces too harshly and the dust fully covered their surprised and withering expressions. This was the same second belonging to their hesitation, and now was also possessed by their ends.
Well, most of their ends. Raine eyed the lone man left standing as he stumbled, falling forward on bloody hands and knees, searching for whoever had killed his mates. He shakily shot his gun into the tree she was in, but was wildly off his mark. “What amateurs.” Raine remarked snidely, recalling their obsessive use of the guns and pathetic aim.
Raine laughed out loud and carelessly shot him multiple times. She was disappointed that he hadn’t died in the explosion. It would have been cooler that way.
Laughter out of her system, she turned her attention to her companions still making their trek down the stony cliffside…
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Post by forgottenxthreat on Jan 6, 2009 21:28:36 GMT -5
The ground was no more than a few meters below when a sound like a nuclear blast seemed to implode in the men's eardrums.
The entire cliff began to shake beneath River's fingers. His and Gerand's hands slid over the jagged wall as they lost hold, as an echoing jolt that felt like thunder ran through the cliff, throwing the two to the ground. River landed harshly on his backside. Dust like powdered glass stinging in his eyes, he looked up to see shreds of black clothing and sparks of flame floating down towards them; the blast was still ringing in his ears. River grumbled and rubbed his searing backside as he clambered to his feet- Gerand doing the same beside him. From the thick tree trunk in front of him, Raine flipped down from the branches, landing arrogantly inches front of him. His mouth twisted to a growl behind her. The back of her head barely came to up his chin.
"Well that was a nice stunt," He mocked menacingly, making a show of wiping his bloody palms loudly on his pant legs. She ignored him and continued to look ahead of her at the vast forest of gigantic tree trunks. The forest in front of them took in no light through the endless branches above.
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Post by kangaroo cry on Mar 31, 2009 21:22:26 GMT -5
The smoke of the explosion still hung heavily in the air. Raine breathed it in deeply: now that was more like the air she was used to in the polluted city- tainted and murky. She felt the heat emanating from the blast, unwelcome in the already sticky and hot air.
She saw her companions were on the ground; alive, all thanks to her. She liked the idea of having saved their lives.
Now Raine’s task was to get down from this tree. Climbing down was certainly an option, but no fun. She vetoed it. The only other way she could think of (or was willing to think of) was jumping down. The smirk she so devotedly wore returned to her features when she accepted the plan.
As she stepped to the end of the branch, she felt it wobble. She pushed down on it, and maneuvered the branch to shake more as it began to bob up and down (ooc; think like a diving board), encouraged by her measured pressure. Soon, Raine stepped off, and fell through the layers of smoke in the air. She let her agile body just fall, making no effort to stop herself; she twisted and turned and flipped, influenced by the wind this way and that.
It was surprising how much grace and flexibility she really had, shining through her acrobatic exploits here. Because she was so often too rigid and too stiff, it was impossible to tell she was really this lithe.
When she neared the ground she righted her self and landed upright, softly, perfectly, and directly in front of River (as she planned). Her back was to him and Gerand.
“Well that was a nice stunt.” He said bitterly, and Raine smiled with satisfaction. Things were back to their acidic ways.
Without turning around Raine said, almost happily: “You’re bleeding.” And then she walked away.
--
And more days struggled by. At least Raine had something each day to focus on. Her mind was accustomed to never having a free moment, and now more than ever her mind welcomed the challenge it was to survive here in this maddening wilderness. For a lack of better explanation, it gave Raine something to do.
Besides the basic tasks of survival, Raine found herself examining her companions more closely. More like for the first time at all. She was surprised at herself; since this journey had begun she had simply broken away from them, and spent all of her energy trying to keep them out of her mind. It hadn’t even occurred to her to try and crack them, find out information about them. Who knows when it could be useful? Who knew if they had ulterior motives?
Gerand had an exterior, and a flimsy one at that. He was getting through each task, each day, getting along just fine. But when she watched him more closely, she saw he was hanging on by mere threads, struggling. He was addicted to his Chamomile in the morning, and he relied on it to get by. He snapped at her and River about as often as he kept the peace between them. There was habitually silence between the three; neither she nor River was a conservationist, and she thought a little conversation might do Gerand some good. Too bad she wasn’t willing to sacrifice her silence and peace of mind for that. There was something about him that made Raine think he was a bit clumsy. Maybe it was the way he had missed the ambusher back at the cliff. She could also tell that he was loyal; maybe not to her exactly, but he had the capacity to be a very loyal assistant. A sidekick, of sorts. She just couldn’t see him taking the lead when someone like Raine told him to back down. Which, since he was with the Rebellion now, would happen wherever he went. Raine actually found it in herself to ignore him rather than insult him; maybe it was because he had actually been pretty tolerant of her this whole time, no matter what she did to him. She wondered where he found the strength to do that. The most surprising thing Raine discovered about Gerand was that he wasn’t entirely useless, but almost. It was news to her.
Her other traveling companion was a bigger mystery than Gerand, so she found herself thinking about him more often than the other. She was trying to figure out why River had saved her when the bridge had broken. He spoke to her ever since then with a new maliciousness- as if he was trying to take back saving her life by killing her with his words. She also noticed that he was as closed off as she was, but was more willing to help Gerand with things around the campsite than she was. Maybe, then, it was only she that repulsed him? Raine found this interesting. She also found herself testing him, to see how he’d react. She put him through a series of well thought-out tests, the highlights of which being:
Test number one: Raine decided one night to graze her hand against River’s as they sat by the fire. She went about her test as she would any other mission: seriously and determinedly, the only satisfactory outcomes being success or death. River was positioned perfectly for her mission, his elbows resting on his knees, his hand within reasonable distance from her. She was holding a stick to poke the fire with, because she found that amusing, and when she was pulling her arm back to her side, she carefully and briefly brushed the back of her hand with River’s. The interaction was no more than half a second, but it was the only not-hate-filled contact the two had experienced, ever (that’s including when he saved her life, because afterwards he threw her on the ground). For a second she was unsure if he would react; she was sure he had noticed. And then slowly, slowly, he turned his head and looked at her, in his eyes a fierce warning: Don’t Touch Me. A few seconds later, he got up and walked away, not before jerking his hand from Raine's sight.
Test number two: Everyone knew Raine never let anyone look at the map. She was the only one who ever saw it, and ergo the only one who decided the paths they would take. But for test number two, she decided to ask River which way he thought they should go.
She came to this idea as she was brooding over the map off to the side, looking over the top of it at her companions as they stood aimlessly waiting. It was a simple decision that had to be made, right or left, both keeping them on route to the mysterious ‘X’ on her map marked as their destination.
"Having trouble deciding which peril to lead us to next?” River asked icily.
Raine covered her smirk with the map. “Still deciding...” She paused and pretended she was thinking deeply about something. “…Which peril do you want to visit next?” She asked, in a manner where it was an open question. But she was staring at River, indicating that she wanted him to be the one to answer.
He looked surprised, and he glanced over his shoulder as if he thought Raine could be talking to someone else. And in his moment’s hesitation Gerand just mumbled a direction and walked off that way, leaving no choice but to follow. ((OOC; GODMODDING I KNOWWWW! Tell me if you want me to take it out or change it, Josh.))
In the end, Raine hadn’t learned much about River from all her tests. She knew now that River expected nothing but cruelness and coldness from her, which was only what he’d get. But the main thing she had unraveled about River was that he was hiding something. More than that, for sure. He was hiding himself from them. Raine was fine with that. He could hide all he wanted; she would eventually get to the truth.
--
Late one night, Raine was sitting in the tent. Gerand was on watch, and she was pretty sure River was asleep. She had her back against the tent wall and was staring absentmindedly in River’s direction. She still hadn’t completely gotten the hang of sleeping out here…so she was just waiting around for her shift to start.
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jckwik
Moderator
Number 2
Yep...that's me.
Posts: 37
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Post by jckwik on May 5, 2009 12:50:03 GMT -5
{I totally and officially hate my HONKing life}
“Gerand! Wait-”
Any hesitation was gone now. Gerand almost threw himself down the cliff. Unspoken intent was to get away as fast as possible. His head was clear, but his mind was working furiously. It had been bad, far worse than any other mistake he'd made, to miss the man. A wound was not enough in this situation. Blame could come upon him later, but keeping himself and the others alive was what was important.
Gerand looked up, checking on his companions. And then he almost fell off the wall in shock as Raine flew through the air above him. It was an amazing sight. Raine was flying above him, and she looked happy.
River was coming down after him, but Gerand still had an advantage on him. Gerand missed what happened next, though. He was only about twenty feet from the ground, but he still could feel ground shake. An explosion rocked the cliff above them. Heat poured out, fire and flames danced and then evaporated just as quickly. The cliff rumbled, and Gerand's worst idea suddenly came true.
The vibrations quickly ran through the cliff body, and bumped him and River off. They fell.
Air rushed through his face, and then it was over. The ground hit him, and then a voice. “Soon will come the time where you will have to choose between you and those around you. Soon will be the culmination of all your being. Your choice will forever affect your life, or those around you.”
Feeling came back. He groaned, and slowly got to his feet, still unsure whether or not the voice he had just heard was his imagination or not. It didn't matter, he didn't pay it much attention. His screaming body demanded much more from him.
Beside him, River was already back to sharpening his verbal tongue. “Well that was a nice stunt.”
Raine just walked away. “You're bleeding.”
Gerand did all he could to not laugh, but it was a hard time for him. And so time passed. Gerand fell into a sad ritual, but he was unable to stop. The wilderness was beginning to take him and chew him up, but there was little he could do to stop himself. Within a few days his body was back to normal, and his strange “vision” was all but pushed from his mind.
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Post by forgottenxthreat on Jun 29, 2009 22:40:55 GMT -5
Was he even on this planet anymore? This place must be miles long… The scenery since they’d entered the giant forest at the base of the cliff was so exotic that after trekking through it for so long, he began to question if he had ventured onto an alien planet. He thought constantly of the previous months of this journey outside this forest, trying to recall details of their surroundings to prove that there was still an outside world out there- somewhere out from under this isolating, wall-less, tunnel of elephant-size trees.
The ground was grey- the dirt, foreign and prehistoric-looking. Like no sun nor human life had even glanced at it in over a hundred years. Giant, mud-grey trees were scattered everywhere. The trunks of the beasts were as big as the width of a car, at the smallest. Some were as wide around as a small house. The towering trunks rose high into the air, reaching several stories. The trees were so large that their branches did not begin until hundreds of feet up, higher than any man could reach. From the ground it looked like there were no leaves- just thick, black, muscled arms entwined and wrestling with each other in a canopy of grey. The massive tree branches wove together so efficiently that they blocked all sunlight from sinking down below to where they walked. Perhaps that is why the forest was so eerie: It was dark all the time. Day, it was dark. Night, it was dark. All elements of time were suffocated by still shadow. Grey darkness surrounded them and yet there was still some low untraceable hum of dull light coming from somewhere. River could sense it because he could see small particles of dust floating in the air, even in the gloom. Was the light coming from the trees? Could he even call it light? Everything was grey! River stepped over a large tree root that was twice as thick as his own body and looked up at the companion many steps ahead of him. She had been acting strange, lately. One week she seemed to be hanging around him more. He could feel her eyes boring into the back of him as she studied him, like some insect pinned to a board. Once she brushed against his hand by the campfire- as if to see if he was really human. He didn’t like that. Didn’t like her gaze, didn’t like being studied. Or being watched. Or tested on. Or imprisoned. He’d had enough of that kind of treatment.
His other companion, Gerand, made his way over the same root behind him. The smooth, jagged bark of the tree let out a silent hushing breath as his jacket grazed by it. Gerand, too, seemed different. Quieter. Less… alive. Like he was contemplating something, jailed in his own mind and slowly losing consciousness of himself. River wondered if it was this place, this weird forest, that brought about these changes in them, or if it was just simply the slow progress of time, reforming their observations and judgment of the world. Of them, as a whole. Or Perhaps, just them. Raine- Gerand- That’s it, that’s all that exists in their world. …Maybe that’s how it was inside their heads: Keeping their heads down, their eyes forward, just plowing through this assignment on sheer will force. With absolutely no desire to move forward and yet dying to push on- on and out. Ahead, farther, alone, looking away from the world and choosing to refuse it as reality.
…Like him.
“We should make camp here…” Gerand spoke quietly to no one in particular, setting down his bag. (GODDMODING, I know josh, I’m sorry! I can change it and stuff if you want when you get back! It’s just that you said not to hold anything back and although your gone for the moment, Gerand is still very much present and I just picture him doing things… keeping him in it from other POV, you know? Sorry again, I can change it at your command!)
River’s own thoughts abruptly hit a brick wall as he was brought out of his silent reverie. He looked around. They were in a small clearing encircled by the massive roots of trees, meters away. Yet the branches above still ensnared the sky’s light; it was dark even in the clearing. And it would only get darker.
After what they could only assume was nightfall, the shifts were divided and Gerand settled himself outside to take the first watch. River opened the door of the tent- the only tent left- and entered. Raine sat in one corner on a blanket, cross-legged with her arms folded. Her pose reminded him of someone tied up in a straight jacked. River laughed shortly as he made his way to the other blankets on the floor. Resigned to the rationality that he should try to sleep while he can, River lay down, shifted onto his side, and attempted to shut down his body.
His mind took over before sleep did. Without being able to fall asleep right away, he let his thoughts drift. How far had they been out here, anyway? How long ago was it that this great ‘mission’ began? River tried to recall his life before this journey. With a dull flare of vengeance flickering through him he remembered sprinting down that hallway… escaping that prison, that place of hell… And then entering the streets of the city. River remembered the first time he met Raine, encountering her in a pizza parlor, stealing food. He remembered not liking her, but having to put up with her after being herded through the sea of Rebellion members and into their building. And meeting Belinda… That felt like years ago. And maybe it was.
He faintly recalled that night, when he slept there, there- in the headquarters of the Rebellion. He never would have imagined himself sleeping in such a place. The honeycomb like beds seemed strange to him, even now, and he remembered the conversation he had with Raine. She said she never chose to be a leader in the Rebellion. He didn’t believe her then. After these last few months with her, seeing that she never does get any happier, River contemplated now that maybe she wasn’t lying, and that she was stuck in this.
River shifted his arm as it began to fall asleep. Pins and needles met the action. His memory led him to the room in the Rebellion building where gallons and gallons of Pluethsom were being kept. This memory made him shiver. River had had that… ‘stuff’ used on him before. As a weapon. A torture weapon. It was not a settling thought to know that the only organization that stands in opposition to the Government- the bastards that use that stuff against innocent people- has it in their possession, too. What were they using it for? River did not trust the Rebellion. He was not on their side. All he knew was that he was against them. Against the Government. The ones who killed his family…
And Raine and Gerand followed him to that room. And then he ended up outside, and… and… he had that… vision. It was his first. He had never had one before. In fact he was convinced he would never have one. But he did. And it was scary. It was the only reason he came on this god-forsaken quest.
He remembered seeing his face on a wanted poster just before leaving the city: a sight that chilled his bones. He had been on the run for years now, with a hope that he’d never be found. Now all of that had changed. He didn’t feel comfortable here, out in the middle of nowhere, on a mission that was assigned by the Rebellion itself. Almost like putting an identity on himself and he CANNOT be identified. It made him nervous and on edge knowing that Rebellion members back in the city- the enemies of his enemy- have knowledge of him being here. That poster was up for anyone to see. It’s only a matter of time before someone from the Rebellion sees another one and realizes that the man plastered on it had walked right through their doors, mere months ago. Now, having shown his face, which he worked hard to hide for over three years, the Rebellion might even find itself in a position where it is beneficial to use him as an object to barter with. Is he seen as property to the Rebellion now? A prisoner, yes: He wasn’t exactly allowed to leave without a catch. He’s carrying out an objective now. For the Rebellion. One phone call from the wrong person and he’s back in a locked cell. He’s in too deep, he’s in WAY too deep…
The splinters from the wooden bridge caressed the sides of his thought and pulled him back into sifting through recollections. That unsteady bridge under his feet had felt wobbly and crooked, creaking with each step. As he looked behind him and saw Raine begin to fall, he saw his arm reach out and grab her like it was attached to another person. He didn’t tell his arm to do it, it just did. It wasn’t a decision, it simply happened that way. And that was it.
The blistering dirt trails down the cliff side that the bridge had led them to was not the group’s ideal plan either. And it was murderous. The group had traveled down the pathways carved in the side of the rock for many hours in the sweltering heat. Each time they stepped, they sent dust into their eyes and throats. River could remember the dryness so intensely he almost felt it. The cracked lips- waterless eye sockets… And the gunfire that pierced through it all. He had a vivid image of that instant, seeing the people dressed in black clothing, standing levels above them pointing down heavy guns at their heads. Gerand had seen an opportunity to shoot and he took it. By the time River, Gerand, and Raine had made it down the last ledge and come to face the sheer cliff, the men were just seconds behind them. He had thrown Raine into a nearby branch, and he and Gerand made a run for it, climbing down the side. Above them they heard an explosion- and felt it too. Landing harshly on the ground, River acknowledged to himself that Raine had probably saved both their lives just then. But that didn’t change anything. He had saved her once before, too. He owed her nothing.
River looked at his cut hands in the dark in front of him. He had cleaned the sHONKes before turning in with some stream water they had picked up earlier that day. They didn’t look that bad and none of them were deep. He closed his fists. The tent entrance hung open a crevice. River could not see Gerand’s tired figure. His lookout position was quite a few feet from the tent. If he or Raine said anything, Gerand might not be able to hear it. Raine was still sitting in that freaky sleep-pose of hers, he imagined. He wasn’t facing her; he was facing the tent wall. She hadn’t spoken to him since she had strangely asked him about the map a few days ago-
Blinding light and color took over him completely. A rush of images as powerful as a waterfall and as colorful as a kaleidoscope pounded through his head until he could hear no more. He started losing sense of where he was. The ground beneath him disappeared and the tent above him vanished from his line of vision in an instant. River clasped his head with both hands as he felt the pain come swarming over him, filling his head like a pressure that had no limit to its power. The last bit of solid reality was of him involuntarily letting out a single exclamation of pain, before he lost awareness completely. He heard his heartbeat, then that ceased too. His gasping breathing sounded like vicious coughs and he wondered if he was choking- then it all stopped. The pain and colors froze in his head. It was like witnessing planets revolve around a star at hyper speed- their colors all bleeding and going wild- and then everything stops in its tracks. And everything is clear, all the images: clear. The first thing River saw was grey walls. Like the walls of a cement, closet-like room…
The room grew bigger as River realized the walls were farther apart than he first thought they were. He saw a room, about the size of the first floor of a house. Men were sitting in metal swivel chairs behind a control counter that had various levers and dull, broken-down buttons on it. One man stood in the middle behind the control center. His head was raised to the sight in front of him:
Towering over the men was a huge glass tank that was nearly the height of the room. The glass looked thick and old, the water carelessly dirty. Hanging, suspended above the water, was a big piece of metal-wire fencing. Attached to it, and dripping wet, was Raine.
River felt a sickening feeling punch him in the stomach. She looked terrible. Her hands and feet were tied to the fence with what looked like piano wire; it was cutting into her skin. Her head was shaking like it was involuntary, and water was dripping down her hair and over her face, which looked even paler than usual. Her chest looked weak from coughing.
The man at the counter said something to her that River did not catch, and then he pulled a lever in front of him.
The fence wall plummeted into the water, submerging Raine completely, her purple hair swaying above her in the greenish water. River saw her eyes looking out wildly before her head suddenly thrashed back violently. A bolt of electricity surged through the metal fence and into her small body, underwater. Raine was being electrocuted, and no matter how strong she was, she couldn’t fight it. He saw her frail figure spasm, tied to the fence, and her chest convulse as the electricity compelled her to inhale. Realizing he was watching her forcibly choke, River felt his hands rush to grab his head as the vision fluttered from his eyelids. What felt like a brick wall hit him, and all of the previous pain that he had been experiencing was zapped back into his body; he felt his temple throbbing under his hands. For the slightest instant River was aware that his own body was seizing before he fully regained consciousness, and felt his body ache, lying motionless on the tent floor.
Tears nearly begging to seep out of his eyes made it difficult to open them. He gasped, trying to regain breath and weakly forced his eyelids open.
Raine was a foot away from his face.
She must’ve witnessed his scene and come over to his side of the tent. Having her crouching over him was not the ideal image he would have wanted to see upon returning to the conscious world. A growl forming on his mouth, he ripped the blanket off him and sat up. Wanting to get away from her presence as soon as possible, he edged around Raine and harshly tore back the flap of the tent, exiting. A few steps outside into the wide abyss of the campsite, River met Gerand, who was standing idly with his arms folded, and told him his watch was over. Gerand gave him a skeptical look, knowing it was not the end of the shift yet, but did not question it as he walked back to the tent. (GODMODDING, IK, TALK TO ME WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM VACA, JOSH)
At Gerand’s departure into the tent, River’s hands immediately flew to his head, clutching at the pain. He had just had another vision. This one of someone he specifically knew. Raine. It was a coincidence, because he was just thinking about her moments before it happened. Or was it a coincidence? Could it possibly be that he had a vision of her, because he was just thinking of her? This is impossible. River’s parents were the masters of having subjective visions of the future and they never could control when they got them. And what was that vision? That horrid, horrid vision… of Raine being tortured? Well that certainly can’t be in their future. …Can it? Oh my god… River put a hand through his hair as his mind raced crazily. Does that mean we all get captured, soon? By the government? Do we fail?
I’ve got to tell someone, River reasoned to himself. He had a fleeting thought to tell Gerand that passed instantaneously through his better judgment and out his lips, “Gera-“ He caught himself, holding his head tighter as the pain throbbed in his head again. He shut himself up and quickly strode over to where a bucket of water stood beside the dead coals. He grabbed a cup nearby and brought the water into his body, draining the feverish feeling.
He couldn’t get those images out of his mind. Raine’s sickly expression. Her fragile figure shaking on the wet metal fence. Electrocution. Although he knew it was just a fading picture in his head, and that the real Raine was feet away, perfectly fine, River, himself, shivered.
In that moment he realized something. River remembered the instant before he lost awareness when he heard his very heart stop beating. He didn’t like the future- like seeing it or knowing it. And from what he saw- burning cities, elaborate torture- their future is unlikely to be a pleasant one.
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Post by kangaroo cry on Jul 23, 2009 20:43:21 GMT -5
It started with just a twitch. Tiny: ignorable, surely, and exactly what Raine intended to do. Then came a flop of his arm. A twist of his head. A thrash in his bones.
Raine eyed River with unperturbed, unmasked curiosity. She always found R.E.M. sleep particularly amusing, but she was beginning to think this was more than that. When the thrashing became painful and uninterrupted, Raine was sure of it. As she came to that realization, Raine found herself across the tent and within a foot of River, her hand stretched out to touch his shaking shoulder without conscious direction from her brain. Catching herself, she retracted her hand and leaned back on her haunches, still watching.
And then Raine was thinking, remembering. She’d seen this very person doing this same kind of thrashing before. This meant something; Raine was sure of it. She was just very unsure of what, exactly, it meant. The last time this had happened, River had agreed to go on this whole excursion. Which was definitely a stretch for him. What had happened that had pushed him to stretch himself that way? What stretch would he make after it happened again tonight? Raine’s forehead furrowed and her eyebrows dipped in thought. She knew something deeper was buried here. And she wanted to find it.
That was the moment River ceased thrashing and looked up. His eyes met hers, and Raine searched for something hiding there. He growled in response and fled the tent, carefully avoiding her. That was all the confirmation Raine needed to know that he was consciously covering something up. And all she needed to know that she was going to uncover it. She edged back into her spot, a smile creeping onto her lips.
A couple of days later, the trio came to a creek. It was hemmed in by thick curtains of trees, making it quiet and secluded. It was shallow, about a foot at its deepest, with mud and rocks adorning the bottom. The water wasn’t moving very fast, but it was still moving. Which made it perfect for bathing.
Bathing. The group sorely needed to bathe. Being in close-quarters was unbearable lately, and the grime was becoming stifling even for Raine. So, they all decided they’d make camp near the creek for the day and clean themselves up. They did it in shifts. Two people watch the camp while one bathes. Raine got to go first.
So she set off, wading through the trees towards the creek. Her fingers absentmindedly combed and tangled through her carelessly messy hair as she walked. It was almost at her waist now. Raine was thinking about shearing it off, just to get it out of the way. But for now it would do simply to get the dirt out of it.
When she saw the creek, she slowed her steps until she was paused right in front of it. Her muscles iced over, glaciers moving through her veins. But she didn’t let herself hesitate. Shoes off, right and left. Socks too. She didn’t let herself think about it, about all the similarities between this body of water and—
Feet in the water. Mud between her toes. The shock of cold was now on her mind. Good. She took off the rest of her clothes and dropped them by her shoes, leaving herself in underwear and a bra.
She took another step into the water and fell to her knees, cupping water in her hands. She doused her face. Cold. She doused her face again. And again. Her hair was dripping, purple streamers down her back. She threw another handful of cold, mind-splintering distraction into her face, letting it wash away all traces of dirt that it could.
And that was when she heard the gun.
In those first few seconds, Raine was sure of two things:
One, it was not the sound of a gun being fired—which meant her life was not ending in that second—but instead the sound of a bullet entering the chamber, in preparation to be fired. Which showed that this was a gun as opposed to an amra, which meant that this was not friendly fire. Two, her amra was out of arms reach, buried under her pile of clothes. But she could easily dive towards it and have shots off in seconds, but not without being noticed and shot first.
Raine straightened up on her knees and pivoted around to face the threat, her lower legs still submerged in the creek-water, her toes still buried in mud. Her face was stone and she made sure not to show any emotion as she lifted her eyes to the gun, and the man beyond.
I shouldn’t even be in this situation, Raine grumbled, angry with herself. If I had been paying better attention…I mean, it’s only water, why does it bother me so much…?
The man looked scruffy overall, unshaven and unclean. He didn’t appear to be with the government from what Raine could tell, and she’d had practice telling. “Nice underwear, babe.” He said as his eyes wandered over her, and then closed in a wink.
If he was distracted, that would definitely play in her favor. Raine began calculating, starting with the angle of the gun. It appeared he was miscalculating slightly, or his grip was unstable. Maybe…
Raine said nothing. If he wanted to speak, he would. He obviously wanted something, or he wouldn’t be pulling a gun. She met his eyes, her expression strong. She wasn’t backing down.
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Post by Jckwik246369 on Jul 27, 2009 13:42:48 GMT -5
(Will repost as Jckwik later, figured I'll get it up first, no time otherwise)
The wilderness was not being kind to Gerand. His mindset kept slipping further and further until it seemed his mind was beginning to shirk its duty of keeping him, and his companions, alive. The nights seemed to grow shorter with each passing day: Gerand would take his watch and then fall into an unconscious stupor. But yet it didn't seem to be restful. Most nights he would wake multiple times, every time he was running from an inferno of some sorts. Occasionally others were involved. He lost count of the times that he saw Raine or River burned alive in front of his eyes, knowing that he was about to follow them.
And he still had no idea why! It was more than annoying to have no clue what was happening to him, even though he could venture guesses. It could have been the harsh pace, as they were traveling quite a few miles (heh, typed moles originally and then thought about what I had just said) per day, or it could be the places they were walking through, which currently was a harsh forest that seemed to have lots of grey all over, almost like some of it was petrified. Yet everyday he managed to survive and find a place to camp, and everyday he knew that he would be unable to sleep as well as the night before. It was inevitable: if he didn't find some way to sleep soon he would become a serious liability to the group, if he hadn't become one already.
Those thoughts were constantly racing through his mind, as well as the strange behaviors of his two companions, especially River. Finally one day, after a particularly bad day of walking, they reached a perfect stream for bathing: shallow, hemmed in, and slow moving. Gerand looked at his companions: Raine's hair had a few twigs in it and River looked like he hadn't bathed in months. It was a necessary stop, even if it would give anyone tailing them some time to sneak up and attack.
That was why they decided it would be best to bathe in order: one at a time. The other two could stay in their makeshift camp and keep an eye on the bather's safety. Raine got to go first, and as she went off Gerand had to fight off a wave of emotion rising in him. Dammit! he thought. A distraction like that was the last thing he wanted to deal with, even though it was not the first time that it had approached him.
He settled down with his back to a tree, duel amras ready in his pockets, one on either side, ready for anything that would come at him. Except for sleep. It stole over him faster than he could have realized, but he was fast asleep before he realized it.
And then he was awake, running from something but he wasn't sure what. For the first time in a while there were no flames, but it still wasn't a pretty dream. His heart pounded, his head wide awake and panicked. He did not know how, nor did he care. There was someone out there and Raine was in danger.
He stood up silently, creeping away from the camp toward the secluded bathing meadow. Here was another sign that his instinct was correct: there was a path here that hadn't been before. Someone had trampled leaves and broken a tree branch here, somehow without him noticing earlier. That wasn't surprising as he had been sound asleep, but a sound like that should have alerted someone.
The path was leading straight for the meadow. Gerand's heart nearly stopped, fear for another pulling way more on him than anything else. Quick pathfinding told him how to get to a quarter of the way around the meadow just as fast as silently following the path. He followed this makeshift path as quickly as he dared without making much noise, fighting the urge to break into a run at any time. His heart sped up, and he body was ready for action. Maybe that was the way to make him not act like a zombie: threaten the life of one of his companions.
Finally he made it into the meadow, silently stepping in from the side so that everyone who was in the meadow was in his vantage point. There was the man: scruffy, unshaven, and holding a gun directly at Raine, although it seemed to be wavering. And there was Raine, dressed in almost nothing. A faint thought wandered through his mind: This is going to be more of Raine then you'll ever see. He pushed it roughly from his mind and let his brain take over and give him options.
The situation seemed to be this: Man holding gun, Raine weaponless: advantage man. Raine smart, man not paying attention to anything around him: advantage Raine. Raine almost naked, man being...well, manlike. Advantage Raine. It seemed to Gerand as though Raine had control over this situation, but that could change very very quickly. In fact, it could change in less time then the time it took for a bullet to fire and hit a target.
He had to do something. Options flashed through his brain: shoot the man, but that would leave Raine open for a counterattack and she had no weapon, or protect Raine, but that would leave him wide open to a bullet.
And then his memory returned. Raine being burned alive, and that strange voice, “Soon will come the time where you will have to choose between you and those around you. Soon will be the culmination of all your being. Your choice will forever affect your life, or those around you.”
And his mind was made up. Maybe there had never been a choice there, but either way there was no chance that Gerand was going to stand by and almost guarantee that Raine would get hurt.
He took a step forward, cracking a twig on the ground. He saw the man's eyes flash around, noticing another human in the vicinity. He saw the eye's widen, saw the brain start to process this information.
Another step, and another, and then a third and fourth. The distance between him and Raine melted, halved, shrank even quicker. He splashed as his next step made him reach the water's edge, his eyes never leaving the man: watching for the next move.
The man then made up his mind. He looked away from Gerand toward Raine and started to steady his now shaking hands. Maybe he had never really attempted cold blooded murder before? Or maybe it was something else? Gerand didn't know, didn't care. All that mattered was that he wasn't going to make it in time, foiled by distance.
And then the man hesitated, just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.
Gerand reached out an arm, grabbed Raine, spun himself so his back was toward the man, and hugged Raine as close to himself as possible. Raine, being a full foot shorter than Gerand, was completely armored from harm.
If only the same was true for Gerand. His eyes had left the man, but the man's hesitation was enough for him to know that he'd have enough time to save Raine. Almost unconsciously his left hand tried to push an amra into Raine's hand, but he didn't then care whether she took it or not. The moment that Raine was safe from harm the man's resolve hardened, and he pulled the trigger. The hammer moved, igniting the ammunition inside the bullet. The bullet whipped out of the gun's barrel at about 1100 feet per second, and made contact with Gerand's right shoulder.
Gerand gasped, his hold on Raine and the amra loosened. Red haze clouded his vision. Pain controlled him, used him, chewed him up. His shoulder had a hole in the back where, as he knew, his blood was dripping all over his back. He wanted to scream, but couldn't, no, wouldn't. The bastard that shot him would have the same kind coming his way and he wouldn't rest until that happened.
Or that is what Gerand meant to do, but his legs made the decision for him, neatly folding and collapsing. He lay there, limp, floating on the slow moving stream while the man and Raine just stood there...watching. His vision then darkened, and he drifted through the large space of his unconsciousness, well and truly oblivious to anything that was happening the now bloodstained bathing spot.
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Post by kangaroo cry on Aug 1, 2009 9:58:05 GMT -5
How did I get here? I was sent on a mission, but why did I listen? Why did I demand to bring Gerand?
Raine blinked, blood swirling about her bare feet. Her hands had somehow become covered in the substance as well. There was a body floating in the water, churning in red.
Who am I, anyway? Who am I really? Why do I isolate myself? How did I get like this? I don’t understand.
Everything tilted and Raine was on her knees again, her bloody fingers scuffing across the mud and coming up with something. The pull of the trigger came next, and she watched through empty eyes as the gunman fell over, lifeless now.
Another death by the water…Am I next? Is it my turn yet? I’ve fought so much, Mom. Can’t it be over now? Can all this death finally end? I’m tired of it, I’m so tired.
Her eyes closed, and she thought of sleeping. That final, eternal sleep. She’d seen it happen around her an innumerable number of times, but it had always eluded her. She was so tired, but she’d always fought against the sleep.
Why am I fighting for the Rebellion? What do I really believe in?
These questions were the ones that startled her the most, and her eyes fluttered open in response. Her breathing was loud, her chest heaving so much. She realized she was shaking.
Why did you die, Mom?
Raine jolted visibly, as if touched by a live wire, and almost tumbled face first into the bloody water. Those were her thoughts, her questions. But they’d surfaced from her mind without any direction from her. And they came without answers, and no signs of disappearing either. She hadn’t been there to control it; she’d been gone, completely lost. Where had she gone?
No matter. She was here now, and she was needed.
She jumped forward and latched onto Gerand’s arm, yanking him out of the shallow creek. “Gerand, you’re an idiot, you idiot.” She mumbled fervently, tucking a fistful of wet hair behind her ear. Once she had him far enough away from the water, she turned him onto his stomach and glanced at his wound.
It was bleeding more than any wound should bleed. Raine began to apply pressure to it and tried to ignore the blood spurting between her fingers. “Da mn it, Gerand.” She muttered. “Why did you try to save me?”
One second she was on her knees, staring down the barrel of a gun, and the next she was being yanked to her feet and…and protected by Gerand. And then he was in the water with a bullet burned into his back, and she was lost, utterly lost. What had happened to her?
Why…why did he do that? Why had Gerand taken a bullet for her? It didn’t… Nothing made sense. She thought she understood everything: her companions, her mission, her life. But now she was learning she didn’t know a thread of the truth. Her mission: what was it? She didn’t know. She’d been following this whole time, following an empty map. Belinda, that da mned woman. Why was Raine listening to her? She’d kept her companions in the same darkness she’d been stumbling around in, and all because Belinda told her to. When had Raine become a dog on a leash, chained into a yard, backed into a room? She’d broken away from the four walls that had surrounded her long ago, and now she was finding herself face to face with those four notorious walls again. She thought she knew Gerand, and River too. But they’d both jumped in, missed their cues. Changed their lines. Saved her life.
How had her world become so uprooted?
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Post by Jckwik246369 on Sept 8, 2009 15:04:23 GMT -5
If there was any justice in life that bullet would have missed him. If only he had frightened the gunman, made him jump. It's your own da mn fault that you're in this position. No, it was Raine's fault. If she hadn't forgotten to take a weapon while bathing they wouldn't have had that problem to begin with. What foolish idea did you have when you took those few steps? You wanted to do this, all because of some da mn hallucination. That hallucination was weeks ago, I didn't even remember it until now. Dam mit! You're just an idiot, just a fu cking idiot.
Gerand's brain has coated in blackness, but that didn't stop him from arguing with himself. Half of him wanted to kill himself because he had just acted so stupid, the other half wanted to justify taking that bullet. And then there was the other part of him that said that it didn't matter whether he could justify it or not, what he had just done would allow him to have a life debt owed to him by Raine.
At least there's no pain here. I'm just waiting to die, or maybe I'm dead already? No, he knew that he wasn't dead. Then what am I? Undead? There's no chance that I'd survive something like that, so why do I still think I'm living?
And the blackness was still there, but it was changing. Flashes of his memory started popping up. The time his cat died, shot by kids in a neighborhood gang. His first girlfriend dumping him. The last time he saw his parents while they were being forced from their house to join the army, all the time while he was watching, crying, praying. Snatches of his life flashed before his mind, some he recognized but others he couldn't. A scene of him sitting beneath a tree, looking calm and content. Some stranger in a Hawaiian shirt harassing someone. A boy who looked like his brother punching a wall while cursing at the top of his lungs.
Then it was over. He was brought back into the real world with a bout of pain resonating from his shoulder. He opened his eyes, for a moment met Raine's eyes looking at him worriedly. Then Gerand knew that he could relax. For most of the trip he felt he had been the one looking out for the other two whenever they decided to go verbally sparring (it had been him who spotted the ambush at the cliff, right?) but no longer. Now he was the one who needed protecting, but feeling Raine's presence, her touch applying pressure to the wound, he knew now that he could let down his guard for a little while.
Mind unsettled, he managed to get out a few words before his brain went wandering again. "I've...made a fool out of...myself, haven't I?"
That was all he could manage. The pain took back over, and he blacked out again.
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