Connor's Story

Connor

<Code 4. Code 4. Code 4. Subject Ursine has escaped prison Block 4, and is heading towards other cell blocks. Non-lethal rounds onl—> The announcement was cut off by howls of pain and terror, metal screeching, and things otherwise just breaking. Things were getting fun again, she believed. The enraged roar that followed the evident destruction told her so. She hadn't had much fun since she was put on hold.

Unlike the others, however, Connor was much more casual about her own escape. Ears perked, tail straight, she simply kicked down the inches-thick steel door that imprisoned her and walked down the hallway with an uncaring gait. She didn't give a rat's ass that she'd knocked someone out cold with the door, or that she tread over them as she left her cell. Maybe he was dead. They were human, and unconscious — and they were boring her. This was just the thing she needed, unless there was a permanent marker nearby; nothing like drawing on the face of someone passed out.

No one seemed to bother her as she strode down the corridors, following a trail of destruction that some kind of mindless monster decided to leave. Hearing the sound of gunfire, Connor's quest ended down the sixth hallway, where the monster in question was falling over on a pile of men he'd just felled. There were two more Expri nearby, too, but it seems The Beast did all the dirty work.

"Hey... bear...?" the panther nearby asked. "Are ya, ya know... living?"

Connor didn't mention anything to the still-conscious Expris. A pissed off bear just saved them, and it looked like he was starting to bleed out. The half-wolf matted Koda's bloodied fur down to keep it from spilling, and lifted him over her shoulder like a ragdoll before walking off. To her, a few hundred pounds was nothin', but she would've made most wounds worse if they couldn't be solved by cleaning and licking, and maybe some bandaging. She needed to find a medic.

The massive bear found his feet being dragged on the ground as he woke from his unconsciousness. As he opened his eyes it was clear to any who looked his eyes were now sky blue, not pitch black like before: He had regained himself. Slowly he was able to bring his feet up and walk next to the girl, only to be brought to reality with a shooting (literally!) pain through his body from the bullets.

Letting out a deep growl of pain, Koda pressed only some of his body weight onto the girl, managing to carry himself for the most part.

(PS, Koda is 1.5 tons :3)

When she awoke, she was laying in a pile of corpses. Dead bodies dribbled from above and under her, and the smell was enough to knock her back out once more. Gagging, she dragged herself from the pile of Expris rejects, gasping for air. She had no idea how long it had been since the experiments had taken place. It could have been hours, or days. She struggled to stand, staggering over the slippery mess beneath her. She wore a once-white-now-red pair of scrubs that were her size; a common uniform for the experiments. She was dazed and confused, and her long golden hair was matted with blood and smelled strongly of death. They had thrown her out like garbage... "Code 4, Code 4, Code 4. Subject Ursine has escaped prison block-4, and is heading towards other cell blocks. Non lethal rounds onl-"

The sudden sound caused Amara to yelp and duck back into the bodies, terrified that she was found out. A Ursine has escaped!? They're after her! Panic struck her for a moment, but then she replayed the message in her head again. prison block 4 . That was not her block... she was...seven? Maybe eight? She pulled herself from the bodies once again, and looked up from the dirt pit she was in. She was standing in a massive grave. Luckily, the grave was poorly dug, and roots from the nearby trees were sticking out in places from the ground. Throwing herself at the wall of dirt, the 13-year-old grabbed the nearest root and with the agility of a cat swiftly made her way to the top.

When she reached the level ground, she looked around and did not see anyone. Whatever was making all the racket inside was doing a great job of distracting the scientists. She stood, fixed between running into the woods and running back into the building for her friend in the cell block next to hers. Amara didn't know, but her friend was already dead. She had failed her experiment the day before. Not knowing this, and unwilling to leave her friend behind, Amara scaled the outside of the building and snuck her way back into hell.

She quickly found her old cell, and found the corpse of her friend in a bloody corridor. She would have cried, if she was not terrified of getting caught. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots rebounded off he metal walls around her. To her newly sensitive ears, the sound was almost deafening. Jarred by the sudden pounding in her head, she stumbled backwards into the main corridor just as the biggest bear she's ever seen in her life, and his friend came around another corner. Amara stood, transfixed at the sight of them both. She had not seen another before... not this close... not when they were not raving mad and destroying everything.

Something in her bones made her ache in pain at the sight of the bear. "He's bleeding! A-are you--" realizing that asking if he was alright would be idiotic, she took a step or two towards them. "Please, let me help you, " she whimpered, cowering under the bear's massive presence. She glanced uneasily to the wolf, as if she were afraid that she-wolf would eat her, and then back to the bear. "Please don't eat me." She reached up a shaking hand, and dug her fingers through the thick of his fur until she could feel the warmth of his skin. She stood like that for what seemed like forever, but in reality was only a minute or so. Closing her eyes, she focused hard on his life force, and hers. Within seconds the bear, if he were open to it, could feel his body rejecting the metal inside him, forcing the bullets out. His massive muscles healing, and becoming stronger even than they were before. Within moments, his wounds were gone, and only the blood remained as evidence that he had been hurt. As this was so, to the outside he would look as if he were still badly hurt; but he was fixed completely from within. As soon as she felt his life force stabilize, Amara pulled back and flattened herself against the wall to let them pass. She needed to get out, too, but if he had just taken bullets for who Amara assumed was his lover, then they were probably in much more of a hurry. I guess you're what has everyone panicking... Amara thought to herself as she watched both of the older Expri.

Kai

Kai had followed the strong wolf and bear silently, to make sure that they didn't get attacked. She smelled a young Polar bear Expri at the cages and smiled as the girl healed the bear. What an interesting ability to have. It would certainly make her desirable for to the scientists. She could hear more guards running down a few corridors away and felt a sense of urgency. Kai hoped the little wolf from before was following them and walked up to the young polar bear.

"Hey that's a nifty little gift. I know a large village about a days walk away from here that would love to have you around. If you want, I can lead you there after I break any surviving Expri out of this lab." She nodded to the bear and wolf in front of them. "The guard would like having those two as well but I think we need to get out of here as soon as possible.... Whats your name?"

Koda turned and looked at the even SMALLER girl as he felt his body fill with a warmth, as if his body had up-and-decided to feel better. Slowly he leaned more of his weight off of Connor, now walking on his own 2 legs. Looking down at the small girl, Koda tilted his head, slightly confused on what she had done to him. Slowly he reached down and, without warning, lifted the girl up onto his back, giving her a piggy back ride. From atop the bear Amara could see how strange it felt to be 7 feet tall.

He turned to face the girl that helped carry him, slightly confused on why all of these people had decided to help him. Even though they had helped him, the only people he had any trust in were the polar bear, and the wolf. Being locked in a cage for 4 years with no one to communicate with will without a doubt cause some trust issues. But with the small girl on his back he strangely felt... Comfortable. Like he had known this girl all his life.

Lead by Koda the party soon found their way to the other cells where all the other Expri's sat. Looking to Kai for his next step, Koda slowly took the girl off of his back and lowered her onto the ground.

Redge's eyes came into focus, he looked at himself through a mirror which was drilled into his cell, (not made of glass but instead stainless steel) Redge looked slightly disturbed and a little distort, his left hand touched the mirror and he shook his head strangely before taking a step back. Whatever Tacrus was doing to him he was sure it wasn't for the better, granted he didn't have to worry about surviving in the wilds anymore but he felt claustrophobic, trapped, smothered in this tiny cell. For the first few weeks in here he howled and cried, cried for somewhere bigger to be free, eventually he adapted it was that or go insane, he still felt smothered but he neither had the energy nor spirit to continue crying out.

Later Redge thought he'd go insane from boredom, he was seldom collected from his cell for training or experiments which led to life being quite dull after he adjusted. He sat on his bed hours at a time just thinking, that was before he found his gift: he could move objects purely through the power of thought, it was hard at first and in truth it still is hard, but it got easier when Redge began training it. Using all of his spare time to move a single object, it was exhausting but worth it. Redge looked at the plate on the floor, he spun his hand in a anticlockwise motion it took a minute but slowly and surely the plate began to spin.

The plate stopped almost instantaneously when Redge broke his gaze, he felt sad but his thoughts lingered on escaping this place, it would be easy that he knew; looking at a lock while using telekinesis to lift the tumblers wasn't hard in truth he was afraid of the consequences of his actions, he had no chance alone unless he could do it stealthily and even though his new found agility helped he was still no ninja. If only he had a distraction, someone to take the heat off him while he escaped. It was that moment when his prayers were answered.

"Code 4, Code 4, Code 4. Subject Ursine has escaped prison block-4, and is heading towards other cell blocks. Non lethal rounds onl-" what followed on the intercom chilled Redge's blood, the screams and then a bloodcurdling roar filled Redge with a mixture of fear and pity and a sense of dread. The fear told Redge to stay put but the sense of dread screamed at him to get out of here, the two conflicting sides were put at rest when the facility came alive with the sound of bullets; then both the fear and dread told Redge to get out of here, it was imperative.

Redge quickly jogged over to the door and peered out the crack of light beneath the door. The sounds throughout the facility hurt his ears never had he heard anything so loud, it caused him to wince and made it hard to concentrate. As he looked beneath the door he saw nothing, Redge gulped then pushed himself up; here goes nothing Redge thought. The lock was big, Redge keeled down peering into it, he saw five tumblers all of which were down. Focusing on the tumblers proved hard, the noise kept distracting him and fear made his mind rampant, he took a deep breath and tried to exert his will onto the lock. The first tumbler rose reluctantly, Redge's confidence bolstered and two more of the tumblers rose dramatically, two more, c'mon! his mind cheered him on, he felt great strain but the last two finally rose and a clicking mechanism was heard as the tumblers were locked into place. With that Redge pushed will all his might, the door creaked and swung open, Redge fell out into the cold cell block.

Panic overwhelmed him, he thought guards would swarm him and litter him with bullets but all he was greeted with was silence. Redge lay there for a minute breathing deeply and letting the anxiety inside him fade back to a whisper, he pushed himself up and off the ground. Redge hadn't noticed it before but something loomed it the air, it was like a warning if it could be translated it would say danger, danger, death dead ahead it was only then that Redge realized that it was death, he shuddered and fear combined with dread rose up again.

Redge looks around the cell block he was in, it was really a narrow hallway with metal doors sealing the other expris inside. A thought hit Redge, were there other expris inside? Redge couldn't tell although a part of him told him yes and that he should help, he would be no better than Tacrus if he didn't at least try. Just as Redge was approaching the first cell he heard movement... like multiple people moving and whatever was moving smelled dangerous. Redge froze in place for a moment his breathing ragged, it was too late to run; the hallway too long. Hiding... Redge looked back there must be someplace to hide and the realization left him with a sort of unburdened irony: his cell, having just gotten out Redge found it funny but what better hiding place than a cage?

Redge returned with slight reluctance, his fear of what was coming outweighed his fear of his cell, he shut it thankfully knowing the tumblers had been locked in place and that the door wouldn't slam shut and lock him in. It was coming closer and Redge leaned against the door trying to control his breathing, he peered through the lock and through the limited view got a bare sight of the outside. The danger approached.

Or had it? Through the lock Redge saw a group of expris gather, his eyes widened a whole group had managed to escape and band together. The group looked very peculiar to say the least: a bear expri seemed to be leading them he towered over the rest of them and resembled a bear more than a human, stranger still he seemed to be carrying a girl on his broad shoulders, the rest were harder to make out, a faint outline and blurry due to the small vision of the keyhole. Redge wasn't sure what to do, although in most situations he would probably would've sauntered out and said something along the lines of hey can I join your band of merry misfits? I swear I'll fit in! anxiety and fear prevented him from doing so. Redge felt frozen than anything else, he wanted to move but he couldn't, he bit his lip and fell quiet his eyes slammed shut.

Kai gazed in silent wonder as the bear picked up the small girl and placed her on his shoulders. Well the beast had a soft spot. She chuckled and smiled while following the three of them. Maybe she could find more Expri to take to the village. They would be safe there, but they needed to hurry or else the place would be over run with Tacrus soldiers. She frowned as she wondered, not for the first time, who the guys in charge of Tacrus was. Was his name really Tacrus? Did he name his organization after himself? Or was it code for something? With a sigh she realized she would probably never have the answers for these questions.

When the bear stopped and looked to her for instructions she nearly ran into him. Why was something so large waiting on her word? Ah well. She supposed it had been her idea to come and break any surviving Expri out of their cells. She smelled the air and smiled as she noticed there were still survivors. Good.

She walked slowly and carefully over to the first few cells and found the inhabitants dead. One looked liked he was dragged partially out of the cell and shot in the head. The scientists probably didn't want another episode of the lab that held her and Hail. She smiled and she remembered the chaos that it had been. So much shock on the unprepared scientists faces. Sure, Expri have been known to try and break free... but never on a scale as large as that one had been. Unfortunately they seemed to have learned from their mistakes, somewhat. As the majority of the Expris here were dead. With Hail and her, the only deaths had been scientists. Oh well.

She came to a cell that was still closed and locked. In it was a small boy, maybe 15 or 16 if the scent was correct. He smelled afraid, anxious..... panther. Kai blinked and stepped back a bit. She had never met another Panther. Determination filled her, she would definitely get him to safety.

"Hello in there," she called out softly, lowering to appear nonthreatening. "Are you alright? We're here to break you out of there." She turned to the bear and smiled. "Just in case there are any more survivors can you please go along and break all the doors open? I'm not strong enough I'm afraid," she gave a chuckle and rubbed the back of her head before turning back to the boy in the cell. She needed the door open so she could see him. "Hey whats your name? I won't hurt you ya know."

"Hey that's a nifty little gift. Amara looked to the one speaking to her, a panther Expri. She had not seen this one due to the bear's massive size until now. Feeling slightly outnumbered by older and stronger Expri, she began to feel unnerved and in awe at the same time. Especially to be seeing a panther. They were so rare! "Hey that's a nifty little gift. I know a large village about a days walk away from here that would love to have you around. If you want, I can lead you there after I break any surviving Expri out of this lab." Amara almost instantly felt better around the feline. She was good. She wanted to help people. "The guard would like having those two as well but I think we need to get out of here as soon as possible.... Whats your name?"

Amara didn't get an immediate chance to answer, for her small form was grabbed and placed onto the back of the massive bear. Strangely, though, she didn't feel the need to scream. Instead, she dug her fingers into this thick back fur to hold on tightly, so as to not fall off. When the bear started to move, she gripped tighter into his fur to keep herself in place, marveling at how different everything looked from seven feet higher in the air. No wonder they're afraid of you.. she thought to herself as the bear vaulted down the hallway with his two companions. When the group finally came to a stop, Amara remembered the female's question....Her name.... what was her name? The question caught her off guard, and she had to think about it for a moment. "A-Amara.. Amara Stark." she was finally able to say. "My name is Amara Stark."

They were going to free everyone? Blinking, Amara rested her head into the back of the bear's neck. The animal inside her felt like a cub being carried around by it's parent, and it made her feel comfortable-- safe. I mean, really...who could get her at the top of a seven foot bear that, while she's touching him, could be healed almost instantly from any sustained injuries? The idea of it gave her pause. She had never thought her gift could be so useful outside of a hospital, but now paired with this giant, it's uses were limitless. It was just then that she was broken from her thoughts by Kai peeking through a door, and speaking to it. Having never shifted past phase one, Amara had virtually no enhancement to her smell. The panther looked determined and concerned. Wishing she wasn't the size of one of the bear's arms, Amara simply remained quiet, so as to not scare whoever... or whatever... was in the cell block the female panther was talking to.

While the party walked through the seemingly endless corridors to get into the facility's holding cells, the conversation between the party members were some of the first words Koda had heard in years. But despite knowing that they were speaking English, it was as if Koda couldn't understand. As if, unless he focused hard enough, he couldn't understand them. It was only the little girl that he could really hear. Ever since she healed his wounds Koda could feel a connection to her. Perhaps it was because she, like him, was an Ursine Expri.

"...Amara..." He heard the girl state shyly. While she rode in his back he turned his lead lightly to look up at her. As if he had sent a message to her, Amara instantly knew the bears name... Koda.

While Kai spoke to the Expri inside the door, Koda stood as a watchful guardian with his powerful nose, ears, and eyes. But despite his powerful senses, he couldn't smell anything over the overpowering scent of rotting flesh, couldn't hear anything but the words of Kai, and couldn't see anything outside the corridor.

After hearing Kai's words to the other Expri on the other side of the door, Koda knew what was needed of him. Slowly dismounting the girl from his back, and placing her away from him, Koda slowly walked backwards until his foot hit the back of the wall behind him. To get kai's attention, he let out a low deep growl as he got onto one knee and his hands: Looking like a runners starting position. With his eyes fixated at the door, and his whole body ready, Koda was intending to bring the door down.

Time began to pass incredibly slowly for Redge, panic seemed to have that effect as he was clinging to every second madly even though he himself was unaware of it. It felt like hours had passed while in reality it had only been a couple of minutes, it was like hide and seek except if you lost you lose more than a friendly game, that was Redge's approximate feeling of his current situation. Throughout this Redge managed to stay in control, he never made so much as a sound and regulated his breathing despite panic coursing through him.

They were getting closer, he heard each step and with that he felt his heartbeat increase. Then all fell silent, he froze almost paralyzed. "Hello in there," a soft voice called, it was feminine and had a friendly tone, Redge jumped in response not expecting a voice "Are you alright? We're here to break you out of there." the voice announced. And that was that, it made sense now Redge supposed, they were coming here to free the rest of the expris and he realized that his fears earlier were probably irrational, nevertheless he still felt grateful that the weight of fear had been lifted off his chest. Redge pushed himself up off the ground, focusing on the door, it had locked again, unlocking the door with telekinesis would take long and truthfully Redge didn't know if he had enough strength left.

Redge felt a bit inept at this point that as well as a bit helpless, not only had he retrapped himself in his cell but he couldn't form a response, as the saying goes a cat had his tongue. Months of social isolation will do that to you he supposed. Redge heard brief movement followed by the woman saying something about breaking the doors open, it was hard to hear but Redge got the gist of it: look for other expris in the cells. How they were going to break the doors down was beyond Redge. "Hey whats your name? I won't hurt you ya know." the voice spoke seemingly noticing Redge's silence.

Redge took a moment to answer but managed a response, "Uh... I- I'm Redge." he paused which seemed to last a few seconds, although he didn't feel any fear he still felt anxious. "Uh, what about your name?" Redge asked sounding a little more casual but it still had a nervous tone. Redge then heard a growl, it sounded low and deep, it was then Redge realized how they planned on opening his cell.

Kai

Kai chuckled. "Hello Redge." When the large Bear backed up and growled it took her only a second to understand. She smiled and nodded to him before turning to the boy in the cell. "Redge, I need you to back off to the side of your cell door ok? My friend is going to break it down." Hopefully the boy wasn't going to be difficult and would move, because Kai didn't want the poor creature to be hurt. She didn't know how much Amara could heal, then again remembering how injured the bear had been the little girl could probably heal quite a bit. Still, Kai moved off away from the door with a quick jump and waited for the cell to be opened.

Connor

"Please don't eat me." Connor scared her? She looked young; maybe she was scared of everything, but it still stung. Regardless, she seemed to have a special ability to heal people, so Connor let the little girl do her magic on the bear. It didn't take long for her to work, so Connor got a little impressed. Things were getting more interesting by the minute.

Waking up, the bear seemed happy, as well. He lifted Amara overhead and gave her a ride on his back — it must be fun, being tall.

---

As the growing posse walked along, Connor tuned in to everything but said posse. There was plenty of chaos going around, both conductor and Expri. Expri were begging and howling to be broken out; some were afraid that they'd be killed; the remaining conductors were trying to mobilize their security teams. Overall, though, nothing was actually getting done. None of the experiments escaped the facility, but none have been killed, either. Koda almost died, but he's completely fine now.

"Hello in there," Kai began. She found someone. "Are you alright? We're here to break you out of there." Though he growled when he was signaled, Koda's stance made him look more human than bear. He didn't act like other stage threes.

Kai was kind of pissing Connor off, too. Clearly the panther watched her lift over a ton of dead weight, but she still wanted the bear to break down the door. Well, to Hell with that! Connor needed to set an example for the other wolf already in the group, and no bear was going to stop her. At least she made sure Redge knew to move.

Without giving Koda any warning, Connor stepped between him and the door, pulling one of her legs up just a moment before kicking it in much harder than she needed to. Spirit aside, she sure wasn't going to hold back in front of something three times her size and over ten times her weight.

Kai

When the woman kicked the door down Kai raised an eyebrow and turned to peer in while the dust settled. The woman was strong that was for sure. Kai wondered briefly if she could stand against the first Expri made. Probably not, no one could especially now that he was completely under Tacrus' control. She shook her head in sadness at the "loss" of her friend and walked past the woman, nodding a thank you, and over the rubble into the cell. In there she found the boy, he looked young but not as weak as he tried to make his voice sound. His eye were young and scared but also relieved. And hiding something. Kael smelled the air, he didn't smell like en Expri that had been enlisted, he was probably just hiding an ability. Most Expris did that, even around others of their own kind.

"Hey there Redge, you ok? We need to get out of here." She crouched down to where the boy was sitting and held out a hand, hoping her smile looked friendly. She was looking forward to getting home and going to sleep.

Amara

The girl blinked as the bear told her his name somehow. His voice was deep, and gruff in her mind. She allowed him to set her back down on the floor, and she stood against the far wall, awkwardly holding herself. They were going to break someone out. Koda let out a deep, rumbling grunt and Amara slid to the side of Kai to give him space. "Uh... I- I'm Redge." It was just then that Connor, the wolf, stepped up and with one swift kick sent the massive door slamming into the opposite end of the cell. Amara couldn't help but jump a bit, startled by the sudden sound of exploding metal and the rebounding echos of the chaos. Wincing at the sound, and waving away the cloud of dust that was now settling on the scene, Amara peeked around Kai to see if the prisoner had survived the violent removal of it's door.

Amara glanced uneasily to Koda, taking a step closer to him. What if the Expri wasn't friendly? These older, stronger, Expri might not be afraid of anything but Amara was weary. She had seen an Expri tear her mother apart. Not all of them were so nice. Uneasily, she stood close to Koda and watched the scene unfold. Her blue hues were searching over the mess when she noticed Connor's leg was splintered on the inside. The bone looked like it was broken, threatening to pierce her skin and jut out. Amara's stomach twisted. "You're hurt." Her voice was very quiet, and the massiveness of the room almost swallowed up her syllables. "Please.." She slowly, and extremely cautiously, walked over to Connor once the wolf had stepped aside for Kai to enter the cell. Focusing on her life source, and the wolf's, Amara placed a small and gentle hand onto Connor's leg. She winced at the sound of the bone cracking back into place, but within moments the skin had stitched itself back together and healed. As with Koda, only the blood that was drying on the girl's skin remained.

"Redge, I need you to back off to the side of your cell door ok? My friend is going to break it down." Redge's eyes widened and he automatically moved to the door's side well out of the door's way. Getting crushed from what he gathered was a particularly nasty way to go, especially if it was by a door. He made sure to stand on the left side, away from the door's hinges; three possible outcomes could happen in Redge's view, numero uno: nothing, numero two-o: the door slams off its hinges and lastly: the door coming off completely, he doubted it but stranger things had happened, a primary example his ability to lift objects, Redge himself had no idea how it worked... it just did, perhaps it was better not to question these things.

Time slowed once again and an anxious anticipation took over, his eyes were locked on the door waiting for the moment. It happened so fast that it almost seemed surreal, the door burst off its hinges which undoubtedly caused Redge to flinch and jump back into the corner to try and evade danger. It was unnecessary however as it flew cleanly past him and onto the floor. Staring at the broken door in a sort of vague wonder, what could have the strength to preform such a feat? he found himself in wonder, sure he could react to situations in 0.100 milliseconds and do a triple-somersault with relative ease but that was no substitute for actual strength and his was quite limiting.

Redge was shook out of his daze by someone entering his cell, she looked young in her early twenties. That wasn't all, it took awhile for Redge to realize but now that the panic and confusion had waned his sense of smell had kicked back, she like him was panther. Redge didn't know how to handle his nose's feedback, his first reaction was something along the lines of I'm not the only one! He knew the other expri and him had something in common: being experimented on by Tacrus as well as being spliced with animals, sure that was enough to link them together in someway, but they had no other common characteristics, here was someone like him who had panther genes. Redge didn't know why perhaps it was animal instinct but he felt a sort of connection towards her, he justified it due to them being similar.

"Hey there Redge, you ok? We need to get out of here." she spoke in a crouched position, Redge sat there dazed for another second before nodding, "...Yeah, okay." he then noticed that she had held out her hand, Redge took it pulling himself up from the floor. Finally, after a long while he was leaving this place, he couldn't help but feel excited and glad.

Redge looked around before approaching his cell door, he tilted his head out first getting a good look out. Looking out he instantly picked up the smell of blood, he then realized much to his surprise that a female who had wolf inside her was the one that had bashed his cell door down he suspected that the bear had, he was the biggest there after all and Redge assumed the strongest. She seemed to have sustained a wound, a sickening crack was heard, Redge then noticed the girl whom he saw riding the bear's shoulders had one arm wrapped round her leg, the wound was coming from there and then... it wasn't. The girl had somehow managed to heal the wound, Redge felt curiosity bubble up but he answered it with his saying from earlier stranger things had happened.

Kai

Kai smiled as the young panther took her hand and she walked out, noting as he watched in amazement when Amara healed the wolf. "Impressive isn't she?" Kai turned to look at the rest of them, the wolves and the bears, and nodded. She had gather five Expris from this place, she didn't think she would be able to get more - the place seemed pretty destroyed, or at least getting there. "Come on guys, I'll show you a short cut."

Before waiting for someone to follow her she walked down the hall, pulling Redge behind her by his hand. Panthers were rare and she didn't want anything happening to him. At the end of the hall she crouched down and pulled a panel of steel off of the wall, it had a little resistance but her excitement made her not notice it. Underneath the panel were some buttons and she lifted the black sleeve off her arm to look at the diagram on her left wrist. Red button, white switch then blue wire. She shifted into her second form, panther ears replacing hers, tail shooting out and hands changing into blue fur covered paws and claws. The transformation was quick and flawless and she shook her head as her senses were nearly overloaded from the increase in sight, smell and hearing. She could even taste the different scents on the air.

A beep was heard when she pushed the button, no sound for the switch and her claw sliced through the wire like it was hot butter. A sigh of relief was let out and then she stood to turn to the opposite wall. Where there had been white wall before was now a dark tunnel. She nodded to the others and walked down the hall, still pulling Redge along. They had to get out quickly. The transition from brightness to darkness was a little dizzying but her slitted gold green eyes adjusted quickly. This was the passage she had used to enter the lab before all hell broke loose and she smiled as it still smelled old and unused, cobwebs lining the walls and ceiling.

"Not too far now guys," she called out.

At the end of a twisty and dark hallway was a boulder. Kai wasn't strong but fortunately she had had to move this boulder to get IN the lab so she knew she could do it again. Letting go of Redge she shifted slightly, stopping the transformation between stage 2 and 3. The scientists had thought to teach her this trick, seeing how well her control over the blood infusion was. They were very proud over the fact that she could pause in between transformations and switch back and forth quickly and easily. Taking a deep breath Kai put her hands on the boulder and shoved, using almost all her strength. Compared to the bear and the wolf girl Kai was pretty weak but she could handle this boulder at least - she was responsible for getting them to safety, if they wished it.

Less than five seconds and the boulder toppled over, flooding the passage with light and hurting Kais eyes before they adjusted. Grinning she transformed back to look completely human and turned to grab Redges hand again. "Come on, the village is a bit of a walk but after we cross this field we can be there before dark." She walked quickly across the field, crouching behind the bushes and trees that popped up just in case there was reinforcements come to secure the lab. At the edge of the field she waited behind four very large trees that started the forest. She knew a small nearly invisible path through the forest to the village. But she had to see if they wanted to come with her. Gordon knew she would be here and had been prepared since she discovered the lab to have to accept more Expris into the village.

"Ok guys I need to know, do you want to come with me to the village? We can give you housing, food, training, everything. Alternatively you can leave now and go on your own but .... I wouldn't recommend it. What do you guys want to do?" She wore a smile on her face but she was nervous that they wouldn't want to join her.

((OOC: Somehow...I managed to double tag and I don't know how to undo it -.- IS there a way to undo it?))

Kai


Amara had decided to stay with Koda, which was a logical choice. The big bear was easy to feel safe around if you were a small bear. Amara had seemed relieved and somewhat excited as she listed what the village had to offer, until she mentioned training. She blinked and corrected herself, noting that the small girl wouldn't want to be trained for a battle or something.

"Oh I mean training as in control - so you don't transform on emotion and scare people. Or for instance, your healing ability, I bet if you had some training you could learn how to heal greater injuries or more people. Healing those two must have tired you out a bit huh?" She was just guessing but it made sense.

Before anyone else had any chance to respond to her Kai caught a new scent on the wind. She pointed to the spot Redge was standing at, "Stay here." She closed her eyes and shifted quickly into her stage 3 form. Another thing that the scientists found - much to their disappointment - Kai kept the majority of her human emotions and thought process when in stage 3. They had been working out a way to "fix" that when Hail had broken them out of the lab.....

She sniffed the air and ran swiftly back to the hallway they had just exited out of. So much time was being lost... but she couldn't just leave a surviving Expri behind. This scent, smothered in blood and feline, was definitely an Expri, and still alive. The scent took her past the area she had deemed "safe" from the reinforcements and she cautiously slipped through the door, staying low to the floor and ears pricked forward. In front of her were two guards with ..... Guns from the old world! How had Tacrus soldiers managed to make ancient technologies like that work again?? There had been no guns seen since the wars over the world, and none were found when people started rebuilding - the world had just healed over the rubble. She crouched as close to the wall as possible and listened carefully.

"Man this just like lab 3. All of them are either gone or dead...."

"Yeah the commander called and said a bear escaped. He was panicked, not as panicked as Jeff had been but eh. A loose animal is a loose animal."

"Hey what do you think they would give us if we were to recover the ones that escaped?"

One of them snorted. "A mind-wiping probably."

They grew silent and Kai got sick of listening. She crept around the corner and saw a way to get past them, following the scent, without being seen. Keeping one ear on them and one forward she walked silently with her nose to the ground. The scent was getting stronger and she blinked in surprise. How in seven hells did they manage to make TWO panther Expris?! What kind of lab was this? It was definitely better stocked than the one she had been turned at. But then that had been ten years ago.

Finding a door leading what was probably an operating/experimentation room, she nudged it with her nose and was relieved and shocked to find it open. A careful examination of it showed her that the door was locked using the electricity and a computer system. When all hell broke loose and the generator overheated the system probably unlocked all the doors. So why hadn't this Expri break out of his cell? She silently crawled in, keeping close to the floor and looking around the dark room. Then she saw him and the reason he didn't beak out.

He was chained and strapped up to a tilted operating table, most likely just the frame, weakened most likely from the blood pouring out of his back. Cuts littered his body and she growled at the mistreatment. This wasn't just experimentation, this was plain cruelty! She shifted quickly to her stage 2 form, using her claws to cut at the straps and ropes binding him. Once those were gone she shifted again, between stage 2 and 3, to use her strength and break two parts of the chain. After those two were broken the rest just fell off. She couldn't support all his weight for long but she hoped he was conscious. She shifted into human form just as he slumped against her, blood covering her side as she grabbed the frame to stay standing.

"Hey, wake up! Please?!" Kai was frantic, if he didn't wake up she didn't know how she was going to get them out alive.

"Impressive isn't she?" Redge shrugged before nodding happily, having a healer on hand would be useful and it was an impressive sight to behold, the good that could be done with such an ability. It also had Redge wonder about the other Expri's gifts, he suspected that they were all different in their own way; Tacrus would probably want to encourage diversity to see the best possible combinations for a more effective soldier, thinking of it sent a cold shiver down his spine. He was no soldier, especially not to them, soldiers were killers and killing is something Redge thought he was incapable of doing.

"Come on guys, I'll show you a short cut." Finally they were leaving this place, Redge could not help but feel overjoyed, good riddance to this place, he had spent enough time in this hell. With that they were off, the older panther pulled him forward, gripping his hand, in a place as confusing and scary as this he was grateful for the guidance. Redge watched as they came to a stop at the end of the hallway, she crouched down and Redge followed in suit. Next she seemed to rip a steel panel off the wall revealing the contents behind. Redge knew this place was basically a technological haven; working lights, electricity compared to the rest of world which had devolved to a more primal state of living. Redge wasn't sure what she was doing then, she had shifted into her other form and was beginning pressing buttons in a specific order finalizing it by cutting a blue wire.

Nothing seemed to happen for a moment but then when he turned around a secret passage had been revealed, a long narrow tunnel which was hid by a white wall. Redge blinked owlishly, the tunnel smelled old and of decayed; how long had such a passage been here? They began moving forward, Redge's eyes adjusted quickly to the dark, they always had, he could see that cobwebs lined the walls and he shuddered at the thought of spiders. "Not too far now guys," she called out and Redge squinted through the darkness able to see a bolder blocking what appeared to be the only exit. Redge backed up a few steps, knowing that she going to attempt to move the boulder.

A couple of seconds later light flooded the tunnel, Redge hissed his hands automatically covering his eyes, still small particles of light managed to trickle trough and stab his eyes. Gradually removing his hands from his face his eyes readjusted to the sunlight, it didn't feel like the light in the Tarcus facility it felt alive and warm it pulsed with energy, it was a welcome sight to Redge's sore eyes. Redge felt his hand being grabbed again, "Come on, the village is a bit of a walk but after we cross this field we can be there before dark." Redge shrugged anywhere was better than here at the moment.

They walked through the field and crouched through bushes eventually arriving at the field's edge and into the edge of the woods. It was then that Redge realized how much he had missed nature, the wind on his face, the bird's chirping and now that his senses had been enhanced it seemed like a whole new world just waiting to be explored. Snapping back into reality, "Ok guys I need to know, do you want to come with me to the village? We can give you housing, food, training, everything." All that sounded very enticing and Redge didn't really need to think on the matter he had already decided upon his escape from Tarcus, "Alternatively you can leave now and go on your own but... I wouldn't recommend it. What do you guys want to do?"

The girl on the bear's back was first to answer "I want to stay with Koda." It took a moment to realize that was probably the bear's name, she added a moment later "Food and a bed doesn't sound too bad, either.." Redge couldn't disagree with that.

There must have been something Redge missed because the panther's next response was on the training she mentioned "Oh I mean training as in control - so you don't transform on emotion and scare people. Or for instance, your healing ability, I bet if you had some training you could learn how to heal greater injuries or more people. Healing those two must have tired you out a bit huh?" Although Redge was sure he'd go to the village, he didn't like the thought of training if he wanted to learn something he'd learn it himself, but then again it would be better to get a better grip on his new abilities although he wanted to keep his telekinetic nature a secret. He'd practice that in his own time, it was his little secret.

Redge stopped, she pointed to where he stood and said "Stay here." Redge tilted his head curiously as she quickly changed into her panther form, she sniffed the air and then began running back towards the cave they had emerged from only minutes ago. Redge stood there ultimately confused, he turned towards the others and shrugged timidly.

Kai

Kai breathed a sigh of relief as the panther woke and spoke some words. He wasn't terribly strong but when she moved towards the door she found he could walk. Well at least something was going right. She smelled the air and shifted to stage 2 of her transformation. So much shifting today....

With the shift she could smell even clearer and crinkled her nose as the mans blood filled her senses. He needed help badly. Maybe Amara could...... But enough with that. They needed to get out of there alive first. She walked him slowly out the hall and down a corridor. She knew the way back but it would be slow and she needed to get rid of any guards she found on the way. There was no sneaking past them this time. She closed her eyes and cringed at the thought of killing a human. It had to be done, or they would both die here and she had saved those kids for nothing.

They made through another two halls before she caught wind of a Tacrus soldier coming towards them. He was walking slowly, probably examining the scratch marks on the walls or the bodies and blood on the floors. She set the panther down and held a finger up to her lips, making sure his bleary eyes saw it before she shifted into full panther. There was only one so it was easy to rush at him quickly and tear his throat out. He never even had a chance to scream. When she had torn through his throat a few times to make sure he was really dead she shook as much blood off her face as possible and shifted back to Stage 2.

"Sorry, but it had to be done." She whispered before heading back to the panther. Kai pulled his arm over her shoulder and lifted most of his weight off the ground. Thankfully the rest of the way was clear and soon Kai found herself at the tunnel again. She turned to look at the half-conscious man. "Not too far, I know someone who can help with your wounds..." With that they set off through the tunnel, the light at the end gave her motivation to take each step. He was scrawny, probably from the experiments done on him and the torture, but he was still pretty heavy and Kai found herself tiring out quickly.

As soon as she reached the end of the tunnel Kai smiled and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She moved him as quickly as possible across the field and ignored any looks the group was giving her. Setting him down against the tree next to Redge, she turned to Amara. "Amara can you please heal him? He's not going to last much longer like this..." she was out of breath and just wanted to lie down.

Redge stood by the tree, for a second utterly clueless he had little idea of what was going on besides a small primal instinct in his gut, his senses weren't as finely attuned as he imagined. He had little experience with the outside world; everything felt new to him right now, more so that he was experiencing the outside world in a completely new perspective... not as human but as a panther. So many new smells in the air; so many new sounds even his vision was sharper than before at the cost of color which was not as keenly defined as it was before. All these new things left Redge a little overwhelmed, it was non-surprising that Redge found himself in complete confusion with his new environment but also fascinated with it, something so beautiful and new that to him was ripe to be explored.

Instead though Redge had to wait, the yearning feeling inside him to explore would have to wait a while. Something low sounded, at first Redge mistook it for a hostile growl and was alert, as he searched frantically he found the source and immediately felt embarrassment rising up furiously through his chest. The source was the girl who rode on the the newly dubbed Koda's shoulders, she immediately placed a hand on her chest and it responded with another low growl, her pale face blushed before sheepishly glancing towards the group. Redge himself grinned half-sheepishly still half-alert at getting worked up over nothing. "I hope the village isn't far..." she said her voice soft, Redge trying to ease the atmosphere and silence replied "I think it's through the forest" His voice sounded almost excited at the prospect, nature was something Redge absolutely loved.

Redge squinted making out two figures in the distance, one he automatically knew was Kai, he remembered her smell. The other figure smelled familiar, though the new sensations he was experiencing made it hard to determine how. As they both ran across the field towards them he noticed the one Kai had been carrying was badly injured, he had many cuts covering his body, he was also very tall about half a foot off Koda's height. As they got closer Redge froze, Kai settled him down next to the tree where Redge had been standing. He was seriously injured but not just that the closer proximity caused his to recognize the familiar smell, he was panther like both him and Kai, he stared widely "Amara can you please heal him? He's not going to last much longer like this..." Redge snapped out of his thoughts and the former panic washed out of him as fast as it had came, they had a healer in the group his panic unnecessary; this fellow was going to be okay.

The healer climbed down off of Koda and onto the ground and walked over towards the tree, she looked towards Redge and then the new panther before kneeling besides him, Redge looked over expectantly his curiosity more than piqued. One of her hands moved before settling on the chest of the new arrival. "It's okay.." she said to him, Redge wasn't sure he could hear her he seemed kinda out of it, still the display of kindness was noted. Her head fell, and her golden locks fell down and in a few seconds the man's injuries began sealing themselves: cuts automatically fading; burn marks melting away. The only indication that he had previously been injured had been the blood. Redge could not help himself from gawking, to go from a state so grave to suddenly fine amazed him.

As she stood up she faltered, her knees buckled beneath her and she fell. Redge still deep in thought had only noticed when she was nearly upon him, Redge yelped in surprise as she fell towards him. Redge right now almost felt thankful towards Tarcus for his reflexes and agility; perfect for saving any damsel in distress. Body moving forward, his arms slunk down grabbing her shoulders, he nearly fell back over his legs but they sprang back up nimbly. As she collided with his chest Redge crouched slightly pushing her up, as the momentum of her fall dimmed Redge slowly and carefully lay her down on the grass.

Turning towards the others he looked more so surprised. "I think shes filled her healing quota for today..." He noted looking anxiously at the blood that covered her nose, that definitely was not a good sign and they had no healer to heal this. She still seemed to be breathing, not erratically but rather finely. Redge turned towards the others again anxiously stating "She seems... okay." He then added "Someone just needs to carry her," He figured that wouldn't be a problem, Koda had been doing that the whole way here after all. Though he could be wrong, he wasn't exactly a medical expert. At this point his eyes seemed to be begging for some sort of help, he didn't like being responsible for anything or anyone but himself.