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Post by Icestar on Jun 19, 2017 11:05:50 GMT -5
Kurt would have gone pale, if he'd had enough blood left to lose that it would make a noticeable difference. He broke the hug, and didn't meet her eyes for the first part of his reply. "In the unlikely event that they take me to a room like that, nothing I do is doing to stop what they'll have decided to do to me." And here he raised his eyes to meet hers. "So... so don't worry about me. I'll just be here, and... and once I can think straight, we'll have ourselves a long talk."
Anja breathed out slowly. Dad had given her a story to use in case this happened. Of course he had. Hopefully she could tell it convincingly. She picked ip thr remote control, turned off the telly, and said, reverting to her original accent, "Okay, I'm from Germany. My dad and I moved here almost three years ago. I was really scared that the kids at school would make fun of me for it, so... I got rid of it. I'm really good at voices so teaching myself the Irish accent wasn't hard." Total lie. A WK speech coach had taught her and her dad this accent, and it had taken four months of classes and constant practice for them to master it.
Nate nodded, silent for a moment. Then, "Would you stay in Hull?"
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Post by Icestar on Jun 19, 2017 15:29:21 GMT -5
Kurt hesitated, entirely unsure of what to say that would be true but also wouldn't destroy what hope she had left. "It might be a while, Destee," he finally whispered.
Anja shrugged, casting her gaze to the floor, but she couldn't suppress a small smile at the compliment. All at once she looked up again, eyes shining. "So! Can you really turn into any animal? Can you talk to animals? Does Dinsmore talk to you? How'd you become a shapeshifter? Did you get bit? When'd it happen? What's with all this RedKingdom and WhiteKingdom stuff?"
"Fair," Nate found himself saying again, wishing he had options. "Y'know, I'm kind of new in town. Just rolled in about a month ago. Maybe you could show me some of these things to do when you're bored."
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jun 19, 2017 16:26:24 GMT -5
"But we will go home, right?" Destiny asked. "You'll get better soon, and if I can do what you said to do, then they won't have any reason to keep us here. We can go home then."
Nichole had to laugh at the sudden change in her attitude. From scared to curious in a matter of moments. "Woah, slow down there. I can only answer one question at a time. I can't turn into every animal, just the medium sized ones. So no bugs or elephants. I can't really talk with animals, but I do understand their own way of communication. Not perfectly, but enough to pass as one of them. Yes, I got bit when I was nine. As for the RedKingdom and WhiteKingdom, I don't think even I know the whole story. All I know if the WK is more preferable than the RK." It wasn't a lie. She didn't fully understand the whole reason for the trouble between the two groups. Other than their views on shifters, she the two groups might have been similar. Yet she knew it was those views that meant the world of difference for people like her. She had heard stories of about the shifters caught by the RK. None of them had happy endings.
Faith smiled as she studied him. "Did you have a date in mind when you would like to go explore the town?" she asked. "I'm free this weekend if you are."
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Post by Icestar on Jun 20, 2017 5:19:55 GMT -5
Kurt thought about it. In fact, it was more likely that Destiny would make it out of here, simply because she had a better chance of outliving this war. But the thought of her spending years inside these walls sickened him. Especially after he was dead. "I'll do everything I can to get us home," he finally said.
Anja was silent for a moment. So Nichole didn't know any more than she did, really. She doubted she knew as much as Dad, though. He had to have some reason for hating the RedKingdom so much. He never said it outright, but every tine they were watching telly over breakfast and the RK were mentioned in a news story, his fists would clench.
She shook these thoughts away, and asked, "What does it feel like to change?"
"This weekend works," Nate confirmed, grinning. He took a longer drink of his coffee, going over his schedule in his mind. Once swallowing, he proposed, "How's Friday at 6?"
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jun 20, 2017 8:15:13 GMT -5
That was all she needed to hear. Destiny smiled, having complete faith that Kurt meant what he said. She laid her head back on his shoulder and stayed there. If there was a time limit for visitations, she didn't know about it. Maybe the guard outside would forget that they were in here.
"It hurts sometimes," Nichole answered. "It isn't as easy as you might think. Our bones and muscles have to grow or shrink, and until you shift enough, it can be extremely painful. The more I shift, the more I understand the limits of what I can change into, which keeps the discomfort to a minimum."
"That sounds great," Faith replied. "I can meet you here. No sense on sending you blind around the town to locate where I live. I'll try to snag us some coffee too."
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Post by Icestar on Jun 20, 2017 9:28:03 GMT -5
Kurt held Destiny against his chest, stroking her hair. After a few moments he began to softly hum a lullaby, one his mother used to sing to him. Sometimes he used it on the nursery school-aged kids at the base to help them fall asleep. In this case, though, it seemed appropriate. His gaze fell on the little girl Destiny had introduced but not given a name to. She was still waiting, staring at the floor.
Anja made a face at this thought. It sounded more complicated that she'd assumed. They hadn't yet gotten to the shapeshifter unit in her science class. "Do you change a lot?"
Nate nodded. "All right, sounds like a plan!" He stood up then, raising his coffee in a sort of toasting gesture. "I gotta head out, but I'll see you then. Well, I'll probably see you here again first."
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Post by Icestar on Jun 20, 2017 14:42:44 GMT -5
The girl looked up at the sound of what Kurt assumed was her name, and he wondered how Destiny had come by that knowledge. Had Sabel told her? The girl hadn't said a single word the entire time she'd been here.
Sabel looked at Destiny expectantly.
Anja was quiet for a moment, wondering how far her dad would actually go if he found out. Whether he'd report her to the RK [seemed unlikely, but Anja wasn't sure which he hated more: the RedKingdom or shapeshifters] or just find a new babysitter. Either way, the thought made her sad, and for the millionth time she wished her dad would just talk to her.
With a flourish, Nate bowed in farewell, and was grinning as he came back up. "And you, Faith." With this, he headed out the door, glancing down at his watch as he went. He'd have to drink this before he shifted, of course. In his experience, shifting while holding a container of any kind of liquid resulted in wet clothes and a sore neck.
((Time skip?))
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Post by Icestar on Jun 21, 2017 7:21:15 GMT -5
After a long moment of hesitation, Sabel slowly approached the bed. She stopped at its side, waiting to see what Destiny wanted. Kurt watched silently.
Anja shrugged. "Dad just doesn't want me anywhere near them. He says I could get hurt just by association." She looked up at Nichole, hoping she'd disagree, say it wasn't true. As a shapeshifter, she ought to know better than Dad.
Nate arrived at the café at 5:50, wearing his favorite button-down with blue jeans, after flying there and shifting back in a nearby alley. Faith didn't seem to he around yet, so he took a seat at an empty table.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jun 21, 2017 7:42:02 GMT -5
Destiny patted the space of bed beside her where Kurt wasn't lying. Sabel, if she chose to sit, wouldn't be adding more weight onto Kurt, so surely he wouldn't mind. Would he? She looked up at him and asked, "Can she sit with us? You could tell us a small story."
Nichole had to nod in agreement. How could she argue. Shifters were hunted down relentlessly. If news ever got around to the RK of were a shifter was, they wouldn't hesitate to capture and question anyone that person knew or related to in the chances that they would be a shifter as well. At least, that's what she had heard. "It we're not careful, then we do bring trouble. We don't want to, or at least not all of us. The majority of us just want to live normal lives like nothing had ever happened."
Faith arrived just a few minutes later. The woman was dressed in a light pink blouse and jeans, her blonde hair hanging around her shoulders. She had even put on a little more effort into her make-up than she normally did. Spotting Nate at an empty table, she smiled and walked over to him. "Hey, I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," she greeted, stopping beside him.
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Post by Icestar on Jun 21, 2017 12:12:47 GMT -5
Kurt nodded. "Would you like to hear a story, love?" he asked the girl softly in German.
Something in Sabel began to ache terribly at these words, and after a long moment she slowly came forward and started pulling herself onto the bed. Kurt reached out to offer her a hand, and she saw in his eyes that he half-expected her to refuse it, but she took it and he pulled her the rest of the way up. She hugged her legs to her chest and dared to make eye contact with him for a moment before casting her gaze down to the bed sheets.
"Once upon a time," began Kurt, "there were two princesses."
Anja sagged on hearing this, but at "most of us" she cocked her head. "Do you know other shapeshifters?"
((She might, but it's not terribly common; they can't tell just by looking at each other. Especially if she was bitten, there'd be some kind of story to how she knows other shifters.))
Crap, she looked amazing. Was this a date? "Not at all," Nate said, smiling broadly. "Normally I arrive everywhere at the last minute, so lately I've been trying to compensate by coming to things unnecessarily early." Lie. He just didn't want to have to answer any questions about his method of transport. Oh sure, he could have caved and just taken a cab, but flying was so much faster and easier... and cheaper.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jun 21, 2017 13:44:05 GMT -5
Destiny smiled as Sabel climbed onto the bed. She was still acting shy, but Kurt had a way to get even the shiest kids to open up and take part of the activities planned back at the base. Plus, he always told the bet stories. She leaned against him and focused on the words spoken.
"I know a few other shifters that I've made friends with over the years," Nichole answered. They had all kind of found out they were shifters by accident, but they became friends pretty quickly. The others didn't live here in Ireland, but she still kept in touch with them. "If you're asking if I can tell if someone's a shifter, no. Not unless they just make it blatantly obvious."
"Good," Faith said. "I tend to be an early bird, so the thought of me being late was about to make me panic." She gave a small laugh. Her friends always teased her about her early arrivals. It wasn't her fault she never liked waiting around. When she was ready to go, she left, regardless of how early it might be when she got to her destination. "Anyway, should I grab us a few drinks before we head out? Or do you want to be on our way?"
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 15:51:33 GMT -5
((Sorry, Amberwing, I forgot to reply to you earlier! You can go ahead and start. Where is your character at this time?))
Jennette glared at the man. "I don't need special treatment because of my gender. Why are you even here? I assume it's not to make small talk."
--
Lillian looked around, not really sure how to secure the house. She started when Schwartz appeared again at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh! Um, you dropped a key card earlier, so I wanted to call and tell you, but I didn't hear anything when you picked up so I thought something might be wrong."
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 16:09:45 GMT -5
A slightly sick feeling arose in Jennette's stomach, one that she may not have been able to hide if she hadn't been preparing herself for this since her capture. "You may as well not waste your time," she said, pushing away her tray of food. "I'm not giving you anything."
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Post by Icestar on Jun 21, 2017 16:28:05 GMT -5
"They were the most beautiful girls in the whole kingdom," Kurt went on, "not because of their talent, which they had aplenty, nor their beauty, which did not run short, but for the kindness that many years of hardship had afforded them." He always tried to make himself sound like an old book of fairytales. The kids always seemed to get a kick out of it. Some other supervisors questioned it, but he'd always been a big believer in the idea that kids understood a lot more than they were given credit for.
((You dumped "make up a story for kids" on me and I'ma do my best, but dang.))
Anja herself had never spoken to a shapeshifter, so the questions were just flowing from her mouth in the order they occurred to her. "How many shapeshifters are there?"
Nate shrugged, but his smile did not falter. "Sure, I could go for a drink. I'll try whatever you're wanting."
The idea that she'd already screwed up today even before she'd been whacked over the head did not help her mood, and it manifested as added aggression. "How the h--- did you know where I live?" she snapped, in a voice that demanded nothing more or less than a straightforward and truthful response.
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 16:35:15 GMT -5
"I traced the call," said Lillian, still rambling a bit because of her nerves. "I'm sorry to be invading your privacy like this, but it seemed like an emergency."
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Post by Icestar on Jun 21, 2017 16:46:55 GMT -5
She immediately snapped back to her senses, realizing there was no time to decide how she felt about this. "How long ago was that?" she asked, back to her urgent but authoritative tone, as she strode to the front door and began to put all the locks and safeguards in place.
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 16:49:30 GMT -5
Lillian shuffled away from the door, making room for Schwartz. "When I called you? Just under an hour ago, I think."
((Not really sure of that timeline or how far Schwartz lives from the base. Let me know if that's wrong.))
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Post by Icestar on Jun 21, 2017 17:15:29 GMT -5
((Mm, that's a while. It would maybe be a ten-minute flight. So only like fifteen minutes have passed, probably.))
"Then never mind." Schwarz immediately retracted all her progress, opened the door, and stepped away. "Shift into a bloodhound. Find Christoph's trail." She pointed through the door as she spoke and then dashed back downstairs, digging the key to the door at the bottom out of her pocket.
((You can pretty much describe whatever direction they went. Doesn't make much difference to me. Also I'm going to bed, goodnight.))
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 18:12:05 GMT -5
((Okay, then we'll just pretend she said 15 minutes.))
Lillian shifted for the first time in a while. The strong sense of smell was overwhelming at first, but she quickly got used to it. She immediately picked up the scent of two other humans: Christoph and his kidnapper. She followed the scent out to the street before dashing inside and shifting back. "They went south," she called down the stairs to Schwartz.
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 18:17:24 GMT -5
((Amberwing! Yay, you're here!
I actually meant where in reference to what country?))
Louis soared over the shops below. His hawk form allowed him to see each of the storefronts clearly. He didn't much like going into towns, but he was forced to orbit around them whenever he wanted human food. He plunged into an alley where he had stored his backpack, hoping it was still secluded so he could shift back to human.
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 19:07:59 GMT -5
((Sure. Or maybe she comes into the alley to shift too? She could even just see the hawk acting strangely and figure it out. Any way is fine.))
Louis landed and scuttled over to the dumpster. He peered behind it. Yes, his backpack was still there, good. He grabbed one of the straps with his beak and began to drag it out; as a human, he'd never be able to reach it.
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Post by Dawnmist on Jun 21, 2017 19:35:52 GMT -5
Louis froze. He thought he'd been so careful! Now he was almost certain this girl would report him to the RK. He briefly considered attempting to fly away, but then he'd be forced to leave his backpack, and he'd probably be caught anyway. He'd have to try something riskier.
He launched himself into the air, flying over the girl and landing between her and the alley entrance. There he quickly shifted into a jaguar, blocking her escape. He snarled threateningly.
((Icestar: I forgot, can shifters go directly from one animal to another, or do they have to become human in between?))
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