@Puffhead

"Why should I trust someone just because they are a hybrid?" Shadow tilted his head. He seemed to have thought it over through the long silence that followed. "No answer? Okay then. Prove to me that I can trust you. Then, just maybe I will stop the commotion I am causing without purpose."

Armaldo listened somewhat bored, bah they were just talking about boring stuff anyway and he thought that a truck had just rolled up anyway. Uncurling and looking around he saw that a truck had indeed arrived. "Ah another leopard thing." he said excitedly walking up to the new arrival who appeared to be a "girl" because she had the "breasts". "That one is Axolotl, and I am Armaldo. What are you?" Armaldo inquired nudging up his glasses and consuming another berry, this one was one more creature to add to the list. Although the last "girl" leopard thing he talked to had been very mean and had warned him that "girls" were usually dangerous, hopefully it would not be the same case. After all Armis and Kara had both been "girls" but very nice.

@WhenBooksFly101@TheBrightestEyes

@Eklispe

Alex looked down at...what did he say his name was? Armaldo?
She cracked a small smile, nodding to him. She was kind of amused by his looks.....he almost seemed to be an Armadillo.....
"I'm Alex......and as far as 'what' I am, yes I'm a leopard. A breed from Arabia from what I've come to understand."

She had heard his small comment about "Another Leopard thing". There was someone else like her there?

Alex smiled at that....relieved and given a little hope for her circumstances. This place seemed different then the last facility.
Hybrids walked around freely....and they didn't seem distressed.

Tail flicking back and forth Alex tilted her head to one side, "How many of us are here?" she referred to them as a whole; the hybrids.

Armaldo went through the list of those he knew, "Veggy bird, Sloth, Snow Leopard, Axolotl, Armis, Kara, Fox, Shadow, Snake lady, me, and you." He scrunched his eyes up trying to remember. "Hmm, Armaldo no remember English counting. You know English counting?" Armaldo inquired of the the one known as Alex. He really had to learn much more before he would be content, so much more.

@WhenBooksFly101

Wow....that many?
She was amazed that there would be so many Hybrids already.....but at Armaldo's questions Alex's eyes went downcast. She remembered her mother......

As a child her mother was gone often to try and find work.....so homeschooling, much less public schooling wasn't an option. Then when Alex was taken, her chances at being educated were shot.

Shaking off the sad memories she forced a smile and shook her head, "Not much....."
Looking at Armaldo before her it was easy to ignore the pain.....with his broken English speech and appearance he was innocently cute; similar to a child.

@Eklispe

@GodOfChaos

"Let me prove it by explaining myself then." Jerric murmured softly. "I want to keep us all together and peaceful... If I can do that, the hybrids can stay together." Shrugging his giant shoulders, he leaned against the wall of the trailer. "The only way we escape this place and go back to our lives is if we all come together. But your commotion is causing them to realize that something is wrong. It's causing them to realize that maybe they don't want to be there, and the moment they realize that is the moment that the humans become even more suspicious of those of us who actually can make a plan to escape."

@Araby264
Kara listened to the story with rapt attention. Though the exact nature of events was unfamiliar to her, she recognised something of herself in the tone Armis used to talk about her friend. She tilted her head as the other girl paused near the end of her story, feeling she was missing some unspoken part of it. Or perhaps that was just her thinking about her own life and her own people?

“She sounds… nice,” she said after a short silence, even as she realised how little those words would mean in a situation like this. Of course Kara had no idea whether the hiking girl was nice or not- Lora hadn’t been a nice person at all and Kara had still cared for her. More than Lora seemed to ha- it didn’t matter.

She dug her hands into the pouch of her hoodie, feeling pretty out of her depth. She wasn’t generally good at talking to people- not in a real way anyway. Sure, she’d learned how to play along with conversations and lead people to think about her in a way that she preferred, but it felt different when she started talking about true things. Less like a fight and more like something that was actually scary.

“Sooo,” she drawled eventually, “You wanted to come here?” It felt strangely like losing to change the topic now, but she figured they would have plenty of time to talk as roommates.

@Raafling
Armis nodded and swept her arm up in abig dramatic gesture, trying to swiftly change the subject.
"Yes, I wanted to come here for one simple reason."
She paused for effect.
"I wanted to see whether or not we could play basket-ball. I've always wanted to play, I've read several books in it but I've never gotten a chance to actually do it... Also I've, uh..."
She rubs the back of her neck and mumbles out the rest,
"I read it was popular in the city and I thought you might play with me."

@Araby264
Kara blinked in surprise several times before she remembered that she was supposed to reply. She always associated gyms with training strength or speed or fighting techniques, not with games.

“Er… ok I guess?” she mumbled, looking up as she realised how unenthusiastic that sounded.

“I mean, it’d be fun! I’ve seen people play basketball plenty of times,” never joined them, though, was the unspoken addition. They said she was ‘too short’, but she knew that wasn’t the reason she wasn’t invited to play with people. When she was younger she’d gotten into fights over things like this, but that had only made people more afraid of her. Eventually she’d learned not to care about it too much, as that very fear was what earned her a measure of respect.

“Get the ball in the hoop, right? I can do that,” she finished with a grin, jogging over to the wall to get a ball from a shelf. She bounced it on the floor a couple of times, getting a feel for the weight of it as she balanced lightly on the balls of her feet for greater mobility. She had no idea whether she would be a god shot, but she was fast and strong and had great control over her movements. It should be enough, right?

@Raafling
Armis grinned like an idiot. She was about to do one of the things she'd been wanting to since she was little, and it she felt so excited. In all actuality, she was unsure if Kara would even want to play. They had literally just arrived at a secret military base, who would want to play games? But still, it had been well worth the shot of asking.
"Yes, Basketball is a sport played usually by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high mounted to a backboard at each end..."
She walked next to Kara, then when she got the ball Armis walked under the goal to be in a position to catch the 'rebound' if Kara missed.
"It can't be that hard, right? Regular humans play all the time, and we're genetically engineered hybrids... Piece of cake."

@Puffhead
"Do you understand what I have heard the driver and my captors talking about? Those tranquilizers aren't that strong sloth. Sure they take me down, but I don't sleep deeply." Shadow straightened his head. "We aren't supposed to get along. That would make it more suspicious wouldn't it sloth man?" He walked towards the back of the trailer. He could only think of the other hybrids that were out there. He saw only five out of possibly ten or even twenty. He wasn't sure what was here, and the reason he didn't want to find out was obvious. If there were other predatory animals, they would probably argue and even fight to the death over territory in this odd complex.

@Araby264
Now that she was up on her feet, Kara started to realise how good it would be to just run around a little. She’d been understandably tense ever since the guards had kicked in the door of where she thought she’d be safe, and she had always been at her best in the physical. If she sat still too long, she just ended up wearing her thoughts into knots leaving her irritable and unfocused. There was a simplicity to just moving her body that had always served her well.

Her lips quirked up at Armis’ description of the game. The way she put it, it sounded like some kind of intellectual exercise at best, and a giant pile of snore at worst. She was obviously exited though, and it was infectious even considering where they were and with who.

“Piece of cake,” she echoed with a grin. She bounced the ball a few more times, before hurling it in the direction of the hoop. It struck the board above it and ricochet back with enough force to sail over her head on the way back.

“Hehe, oops,” Kara chuckled. She went back to retrieve the ball and passed it to Armis. Next time she would reign it in a little.

@Raafling
Armis couldn't help but accidentally let out a little snort of laughter. Kara had put a little to much... 'Umph' into the throw.
She caught the ball when Kara threw it at her, careful to make sure that her slightly sharpened claws didn't pop the ball.
"Thanks, and uh... Maybe don't try to hurtle the ball into space next time."
She spoke with a joking grin so Kara would know she was just kidding.
"Alright, my turn."
She tested the weight of the ball, put it in her hands the way she had seen in the books she'd read, Then pulled the ball back and let it fly... Right through the air next to the Hoop. Nonetheless she giggled and turned to walk backwards while going to retrieve the ball.
"I guess we both need some practice."
When Armis got the ball, she carefully picked it up and passed it to Kara, making sure the ball actually made it to the target this time.
"Your turn."

@GodOfChaos

"Of course it would be suspicious if we all got along, but what you're doing is making them question things." Jerric answered calmly. "I need the humans to believe that we've accepted this place as inescapable and our new home. And for that to happen, no one needs to hold hands and sing kum-bi-ya. I just need us all to play along, and that includes you."

@Puffhead
"And what do I get aside from freedom?" Shadow loved having freedom, but with the bad reputation that was building on and the small bounties being placed on his head by hunters and game wardens he wanted some sort of a deal. Shadow wasn't out to get all humans, just the ones that ruined his young, innocent life. The scientists and the guards. Whether he wanted to live peacefully with other hybrids in the wilderness was still in question for him

@GodOfChaos

"The ability to get back at those who brought us here." Jerric answered simply. "But only when the time is right. The last thing I want is to jump the gun on this and end up putting everyone in danger all at once."

@Puffhead
Knowing that he had no choice Shadow let out a quick snarl. "Fine." He began to walk towards the sloth man again. "However..." A quick low growl erupted from his throat. "This does not mean we will be comrades after it is over."

@GodOfChaos

"I like to think of it as not-necessarily-enemies." Jerric answered simply as he took a slight step back, looking up at the larger creature. "So do we have a deal?"

"Jacky!" the axolotl hybrid responded almost instantly, holding out one pink-skinned hand for a handshake. "There was also another kid living with me, but I didn't really see em much, so I don't know their face. But they're probably here!" he chatted, smiling infectiously at Alex.
@WhenBooksFly101
(Sorry for late reply)

@TheBrightestEyes (That's alright.)

Alex smiles, chuckling lightly at the two with her.
Glancing up at the trailer not far away she sighed, then turned back to the boys, "Mind showing me the way inside? I haven't been in a building for quite some time...."

She could wait to see 'Jerric' later......right now....she admitted she was starting to get a little hungry.