Collab with Chaser, Papi, and Lava
πππ‘π₯πππππ£ ππ£π, ππππ / / πππΈβππβ πΌππ€π₯ / / ππ¦ππ₯π πππ. πΉπ¦ππππππ πΈ. / / ππππ₯ππ§ππ£ π₯πππ πππππ π¨π ππ π¦π‘
"
Hmm...that's not quite right..."
Siena was up bright and early, her attention focused on the exams that had been graciously left for their perusal. Had it been a normal school, Siena was certain that she would have procrastinated until after she'd explored a bit, but after the events of the previous night, being along was the least comforting idea. If she disregarded the fact that Callan and Marcus were both still sleeping, it was almost like she was home. Well...no, not really. The room wasn't as luxurious as her house, and though Callan and Marcus were friendly, they were certainly not Maya and Gerwulf, two people employed by the Santana family shortly after Siena's birth. Though her parents never openly admit it, Siena was aware that they had hired them for her. Another pang of longing for the soft, rich tones of Maya's lullabies and the calloused-but-gentle feel of Gerwulf's hands over hers as she handled a knife to cut vegetables into even slices--they were almost as strong as the ones Siena had felt for her parents. For an instant, the child's vision misted over, blurring her view of the questions she'd been answering. Before the tears could form, Siena shook her head to clear the thoughts. She'd picked this herself. This was her decision.
She wouldn't let herself regret it.
Scribbling her work onto a small section of blank paper, Siena was eager to finish off the last of the mathematics. The questions were, for the most part, easy enough to comprehend with her educational background. Then again, Siena had once gone through her father's old college textbooks once simply to see what she could expect in her future education. That might have had something to do with it. After filling in the last of her answers for the mathematics exam, Siena pushed the papers to the side. With her least favorite subject out of the way, the girl figured that she was allowed a break from the tedium of schoolwork. With that, she reached for the laptop that she had painstakingly removed from her duffel bag after completing her morning rituals. It had been difficult to stay quiet with it--well, it had felt difficult. The zipper had seemed so much louder when stealth was a necessity rather than a bonus.
Flicking the screen back to life, the girl flipped straight to her browser and, with a sense of hope, loaded up the page to
Cursory Examination. It had started as a way to pass the time, but the blog, primarily a place to hold her fanfiction, had become popular after a few chapters. Evidently there were a number of people in the world that liked to read about the Precursors and, on occasion, members of Cat's Cradle. Her last post had been to inform the 7,468 followers (7,523 now) that she'd be "moving" and incapable of updating anything for a time, and she wouldn't until settling into routine at USARILN, but there was something else she was hoping for.
2 New Messages!That was it. Clicking the icon to bring up her DMs, Siena felt a spark of recognition as a faint smile crossed her lips. SongofFlight101 was, without a doubt, Siena's biggest fan. Though Siena had turned off direct messaging from the masses, SongofFlight101 had been the exception. DMs soon became a fast friendship, even if it was only online.
SongofFlight101
I'm so sorry I didn't read your update until now!
I was super busy!
They sent me out in the middle of the night! Can you believe that?
A girl needs her beauty sleep, but my bosses have no mercy!
InkyHeartbeats
That sucks! But you're not on a timer to check for updates. xD
But I know what you mean! I didn't get into my new place until 4 in the morning.
I was so tired, I couldn't even check the blog for anything. OTL
At least there was
something familiar to fall back on in her new situation.
An malcontented groan from Marcus's bed heralded his awakening, and it was not long after that he sat up and blinked groggily. There was an inward moment of surprise as he looked around, clearly perplexed by his surroundings, before his lucid mind caught up to the rest of him. Unfortunately, he was still in the lovely room that had been supplied to them, which meant that everything up until now had not been a fever dream. It was a shame, really.
After a few stretches, a yawn, and some more rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he had graduated from sitting up to sitting on the edge of his bed. He wasn't sure what time he had finally managed to pass out last night, but he was certainly feeling it today. His head swirled uneasily, and he sat for a few more moments staring at the wall before he managed to stand up.
The first order of business this morning would be the duffel bag. Having been freshly recruited from the refugee camp, he honestly hadn't expected to have anything. The actual contents of the bag were pretty close to that; three small bottles, a towel, and a book. The bottles were travel sized: one of shampoo, one of some sort of scented shower-gel thing, and one of mouthwash. They were the types of things that one would steal from an apartment complex, and they, along with the plain white towel, indicated that someone had done just that. This had to be the work of his nurse; a motherly lady who had looked after him when he was in the makeshift medical tent. It was nice of her to throw some freshly scavenged supplies his way, but she was probably the reason he was in this mess. They cancelled each other out, he concluded. The book was more interesting:
Of Mice and Men. It was a book he'd read in his school, but this copy did not appear to be his. Wherever this came from, someone had the best wishes for him, or they were trying to make sure he wouldn't be bored after they called the government to imprison him.
Yes, he was
slightly bitter towards whoever the tattle-tale was.
Having emptied the bag, Marcus stuffed it underneath his bed. At some point, he'd probably store it somewhere else, but that would suffice for now. The book he threw on the desk, but something caught his eye as he did so. The requisition form sat there, and he looked it over for a brief moment; this would probably be a form he filled out and submitted today. His mind raced with the outlandish possibilities of things he would request, along with the actual things that he needed. Clothes were a big one, right next to toiletries, and some sort of communication device. The quiet sense of utter nothingness tickled the back of his mind; he hadn't really thought about how much he had lost up to this point, but the mental grocery list he was compiling helped to hammer that point home. Hell, this 'school' was probably a blessing in disguise; were he left to his own devices, Marcus would probably have ended up a street vagrant.
These were the thoughts that crossed his mind as the warm water poured over him. It had been far too long since he'd had an actual, relaxing shower. It was the first time that he'd actually stopped and appreciated the luxuries that they were being provided at the complex. His muscles lacked the stiffness he'd grown accustomed to waking up with, and despite the sleepiness that still lingered, he felt pretty good. Perhaps he'd thank the Director, after the next round of scathing commentary.
He stepped out of the bathroom, already dressed, drying his hair into the morning mess he was used to, and smelling slightly fruitier than he had when he entered. The shower had done an excellent job of rousing him from his groggy state, and he felt a little more energetic and slightly more willing to face the day.
The large mass of blankets on Cal's bed rustled and an arm slid out of the top. The hand tensed as the rest of the mass arched in a long stretch.
"Hrmmmgghhhh," Cal's voice, muffled by the blankets, sounded like she was gargling gravel. She started to turn over a little-- then a little more-- before BANG! She flopped onto the floor, evidently hitting her head-- hard. The noise was concerning and the fact that the mass of blankets had yet to so much as twitch wasn't much of a comfort. Before anyone could check to ensure she was still alive, Cal began to turn again-- just enough so that her face was visible in the heap of blanket. Blurrily, her eyes focused on the open door to the bathroom. Like a creature emerging from the deep, she crawled out of her cocoon and gradually managed to stand, leaving the blanket in a trail behind her. The bathroom door creaked, long and slow, before finally closing. The sound of the sink immediately followed.
"Erm, good morning...?" Marcus said, watching incredulously as the Cal-Beast stumbled out of its blanket imprisonment, past him and towards the bathroom.
"Not much of a morning person, I take it?" he shouted after her, not really expecting an answer. He shook his head and grinned slightly to himself; he'd have to greet her as enthusiastically and as annoyingly as possible when she stepped out.
"Morning, Siena." he continued, throwing his wet towel beside his bed and stretching.
"You're the early bird of the group, huh?"No sooner had Siena sent out her DMs than did the sounds of rustling and a yawn alert her to a roommates' awakening. Feeling her heart leap into her chest, the girl snapped her laptop shut, hiding her blog from the common eye before catching sight of Marcus (hopefully too groggy to have noticed her laptop) tossing a book onto his desk before he moved over to the bathroom. Taking advantage of the inevitable grogginess of her male roommate, Siena swapped her laptop with the last of the exams. English--enjoyable and relaxing as a subject, even if it was a test. She'd hoped that there'd be more time to see if SongofFlight101 was awake for a longer conversation, but she supposed she did have to get her tests done. A few questions into the test, the bathroom door opened, followed by a groan and--
'Oh my god! I-Is...is she okay?' The thought cut through the usual mess in Siena's head as she got halfway to her feet. Movement ensured that Cal was alive, apparently deciding to shed her blanket skin (mostly) before going to the bathroom. The brunette blinked a few times and slowly settled herself back in her chair while Marcus was calling after their third roommate. O...kay...
"
Good...um...Good morning." Confusion still trailed at the end of the greeting, though it soon faded away. "
I guess I am. Hehe...I've never been the first to get up before." With a small grin, the girl turned in her chair to face the blonde. "
Which book did you bring with you, by the way?"
"Of Mice and Men, apparently!" Marcus said, looking over to his desk and grabbing the novel. It was well worn, but not heavily damaged; it would probably suffice at keeping him entertained until requisitions were delivered.
"Wouldn't have been what I picked out for myself, but beggers can't be choosers! It'll tide me over until I can milk one of those fancy e-books from the higher-ups. What's the damage on this stack of papers?" he said, leaning his hand on the pile of quizzes.
"I wasn't exactly a straight-A student before this whole shebang, so they're gonna be super disappointed if they're expecting me to do better now.""
Oh, that's a great book! Though...I always feel bad for Lennie." A sense of nostalgic guilt and remorse punched Siena in the gut, her smile faltering by a faint amount. "
Then again, Steinback didn't make it such a happy book. Maybe I feel bad for everyone." Everyone was lonely, the world at large was predatory, and nobody ever made it to paradise. If she were a cynical type, Siena would have said it was a good match for reality.
"
They're assessment worksheets, mostly. They're not very hard though. I don't think they care much about how well we do," Siena claimed while glancing at the half finished sheet in front of her. "
I think they aren't due for a few days, so you can take your time with them too. I didn't know if I wanted to go out yet though, so..." Shrugging her shoulders and gesturing at the stack of completed subjects on the side of her desk, Siena let Marcus finish the rest of the thought however he would.
"Yeah, those older authors never were the most upbeat of fellows, were they?" Marcus said.
"Always with the death and depression and overthought metaphors. Bleck!" He sighed, and sat down at the desk, looking over the few things that were not assessment forms.
"I'll probably be heading out to explore at some point; I need to grab some things, and it looks like they've got enough shops for me to get what I need. Plus, I want to get that Requisition Form turned in as soon as I can, and that'll probably be an hour of wandering around trying to figure out where it goes.""But hey!" he said, voice shifting from business back to enthusiasm.
"You're welcome to join if you get sick of homework. Hell, I'll even turn in your req sheet if you've got it done, but only because I'm such a nice guy!" he said, smirking. His eyes shifted to the bathroom, where their missing roommate loomed in the doorway.
"You hear that, sleepyhead?"Cal leaned over the sink, splashing cold water over her face until the world suddenly seemed a little more worth facing. She issued one final yawn as she ran her fingertip under her lower lashes, catching all the excess mascara she hadn't washed off from the day before. After one more palm-full of water, she reached out to her left to grab the hand towel, but there was only the smooth, plain bathroom wallpaper. She opened her gray-amethyst eyes and looked around the bathroom. This wasn't her house. Of course this wasn't her house. She locked eyes with herself in the mirror and sighed. Was it just a few hours ago that she'd witnessed someone dying for the first time? It felt like a dream. Or a memory of some movie she once saw. It didn't seem real. It didn't
feel real. If it did, she wouldn't have slept as well as she did... right?
As she went to work letting her hair out and lightly brushing and fluffing with her fingers, Cal overheard the muted voices of her roommates. She rinsed the morning "blugh" from her mouth and wiped her face on the inside of her sweatshirt. She'd have to remember to get a towel later.
The bathroom door creaked once again as Cal appeared.
"Uh... yeah," Cal answered, pausing in the doorway. Her voice was mostly normal now that she was nearly awake. She glanced over at the stack of papers on her desk.
"Gimme a sec to fill it out," she shrugged,
"I'd go with you, but there's some stuff I want to take care of first...."Next to her desk, she took note of Siena sitting at hers and couldn't help but release a quick, but hearty guffaw.
"I haven't even thought about any of that stuff and you're already halfway through it!" She didn't mean it as a jeer, but rather an awed observation.
As a girl that had never especially revered Steinbeck's word, Siena couldn't help but give a soft chuckle at Marcus's response to her claim of the morbidity of the novel. Glancing over towards the bathroom door as Marcus directed a question to Cal, Siena soon found herself giving a sheepish smile at the girl's observation. "
I um...I like doing busy work sometimes." Which was true enough. Tests were simply another way to feed into the bottomless gullet for knowledge that Siena housed--when she didn't know the answer to something, it meant there was more reading to be done. Curling a lock of hair around her finger, she glanced at the request forms on another empty corner of her desk. She had filled a few out--simple requests, really. A Squishable Nessie, a few stamps and extra pens for writing home, and a dog. Nothing
too unreasonable, she hoped.
"
If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to take your offer too. If we have combat assessment soon, I might need to organize some things from my luggage..." Primarily the failsafe books that she
knew she could take names from. "
If you need anything quick, I can order it off Amazon for us. I don't know how long these requests will take to fill." That said, she realized that she had an account with money in it. Not much money, but it was still currency.
"Oh god, Siena; I was good with taking one extra form, but TWO? I don't know if I can handle that extensive of a task." Marcus said, rolling his eyes at her, a slight smile on his face.
"Yeah, I can take those for you guys." he said, scribbling some things down on his own form.
"Hopefully I won't drop these or something; that'd be REAL unfortunate!" His grin grew wider, before he stood up at his desk and straightened his shirt.
"I'll probably explore the town a little bit while I'm out, so don't worry about me too much. If I'm not back by midnight, assume they're doing weird experiments, and come save me." He meant it as a joke, but it didn't occur to him that such a situation was actually possible. Who knew what these people would do to find out more about their powers. He hoped that everything would follow the very business-like methodology that had been presented to them. It would be very nice to wander around without having to worry about getting jumped by scientists.
"If that is all for the two ladies, I shall take the packages, and deliver them post-haste!" he said, adopting a very formal tone of voice and holding out his hand equally formally.
Callan hastily jotted down a few things on the paper before handing it over to Marcus. "Uh, thanks. I owe you one," she chuckled timidly. She felt a little bad for not going with him, but she
did have some things she wanted to take care of before it got too late. If Marcus were to snoop a peek at her list, he'd find the following written in hand writing that was barely passable as 'good':
--a phone
--more pillows
She couldn't think of anything else she really needed on such short notice. After seeing the amount of money the government gave them each month in addition to meal cards, she felt she'd rather buy the majority of things she wanted on her own. She'd need a few new outfits, that was for sure. Her leggings were going on day three-- they didn't stink or anything, but she felt dirty and definitely overdue for a shower.
The world as she knew it might have been falling apart, but she couldn't help but give a restrained laugh, though it sounded more like a sneeze than anything else. "
Oh no, hopefully we won't get lost trying to find you if that happens." A sense of urgency rose in the back of Siena's head, as if chiding her for trying to make light of the situation. It took most of her self control to shove the feeling back down--it probably wasn't how she actually wanted to react either way, right? Handing her paper over, Siena did her best to give a smile. "
Thanks for braving the great outdoors for us."
Next up on her list, hopefully getting some of her books reorganized. Maybe charging her Kindles too.
πππ‘π₯. π, ππππ / / βπ£ππππ βπ¦ππ‘ππ π / / βπ π£π₯πππ£π ππ¦π₯π€πππ£π₯π€ / / ππππ
The soldiers didn't waste any time shoving the subnaturals into the regular trucks with heavy armoring and standard military tarp stretched across the back. The first one on was the messy black haired boy followed by the aquamarine haired girl. The small golden haired girl was lifted up and unceremoniously dumped beside the first two. The Indo-Persian girl was shoved in, then the boy with the scars on his face and finally a brown haired girl. A sour looking guard climbed in after all the blue team students were seated. His eyes darted back and forth between the young men and women as if expecting one of them to attack him. "Go," he called out and the truck began moving.
Given the situation at hand, there were plenty of reasons for Siena to be squeamish as her fingers traced the outline of her lifelines. Her secondary Kindle (one of the Fires--it was both easier to fix and easier to pull up additional sources onto) in one pocket and the third volume of Overlord neatly tucked away in the deepest inner pocket of her coat. Part of her felt temptation--she wanted to draw a character's name, mostly to calm herself down before this so-called combat assessment--
oh god, she wasn't ready for a real fight--for the sake of both her sanity and safety. The brunette took a deep breath, held it in for about three seconds, then softly let it out to quiet her nerves. It didn't work, but she certainly could pretend that it did. For all the ferocity of the storm that brewed in the back of her head, Siena forced her logical side to cut out priorities.
First off, introductions. That was important. Names to faces, faces to powers--they would
probably need that information if they wanted to pass (
'You mean survive, right?') their next USARILN East experience. Another breath, this time held in only to steel her voice, and Siena forced herself to break the silence, her eyes darting surreptitiously to the guards briefly before she spoke.
"We should probably figure out who's who and who can do what while we have the chance." Internally, Siena congratulated herself for a job well done. No stutters, no place holders, and no stupid wavering this time. That was better than most of her conversations with her roommates already.
"I'm Siena. I...hm..." Unable to formulate the words to explain her abilities properly, the girl had to give a thoughtful pause.
"I borrow names from characters in boo--well, no. That's not quite right. Printed media. I borrow names from printed media and I sort of borrow things from the character. Sometimes it's a power, but not...not always." Though Siena could predict what she would be taking from whichever character she adopted the name of, it was harder to explain that aspect of her abilities in terms that were satisfactory. Trying would have been a headache.
Instead of dwelling, Siena tried to gloss over the less-than-stellar explanation.
"I might be able to fill in spots we're missing, but I would probably need to know what we need then..." Eager to throw the spotlight off herself, Siena looked towards her roommates.
"Er...Callan? Marcus? Maybe you guys can go first?"Enamored by the idea of so many unique abilities-- especially the vast ocean of possibilty that was her roommate Siena's power, Callan almost didn't realize it was her turn to share.
"I'm strong?" Cal winced, instantly feeling stupid. Better elaborate.
"I'm really strong. Fast, too. And pretty durable. I haven't had a whole lot of time to figure out exactly how strong or fast or anything, but I was easily able pick up a pickup truck during testing. Bullets don't go through my skin very easily, either." She paused for a moment. She knew she should mention the shadow, but she didn't want to scare anyone. More accurately, she didn't want to acknowledge what might happen if it came out at all. Before she could make up her mind to tell everyone, the next person started. Crisis averted, she sighed,
...for now."Okay, so all of us hide behind you then." Marcus said, smirking her direction.
"Mine's not quite as impressive, and a bit hard to explain, honestly. I can jump back in time a little bit, effectively like a personal rewind. Not super helpful, unless I'm about to be run over by a truck or something; then it's good for getting me out of the way." he said, looking to everybody else in the truck.
"It's not very far, there's quite a delay, and I can't really help you guys if you're about to be destroyed but meh, beggers can't be choosers."When Marcus finished speaking, Lily decided that she would. She had the most useless power in battle anyway. At least that's what she thought. She can't even figure out why they sent her out in the first place. What was she to do? Heal people and then die? That was a depressing thought.
"I'm useless in battle combat-wise. I'd probably best serve as a bait or something. My power... well, I can heal any wounds... in a matter of speaking. I can take any damage any of you incur and well, transfer it to myself. But naturally, taking on damages from you guys would make me vulnerable and easy to kill off. If the pain is too much for me to handle or the injuries too many, I'd have to transfer them back," she shrugged.
"Yeah, like I said. Useless." Thoughts of why she had this power and who she really was began collecting in her head again. Faceless people. Fragmented memories. She shook her head to clear it.
Padma looked to the sullen girl, holding a tentative hand out as if to give her a supportive pat on the shoulder. In the end she decided against it. She wasn't sure what the rules for physical contact were for the more unstable Aberrations. So she retreated and straightened up further in her seat. With the girl, 'Lilianna' if process of elimination was anything to go by, having spoken her part, that meant only Padma and her roommate were left to introduce themselves. Seeing Grant make no move to start, Padma began.
"I'm Padma, as you may have guessed. My powers allow me to move about in 'shadow space'. That's the simplest way to put it, though I suppose that's not very descriptive. I can turn into a shadow and move around in shadow space. It's... more complicated than that and I'm not sure how to understand it myself either. I guess the most important thing to keep in mind is that I have great mobility with this power."Satisfied with her explanation, she turned expectantly to Grant.
Grant sat with his back slouched, with his chin laying on the palm of his hand. He stared with lidded eyes before he realized no one else was talking. Must be his turn.
"Hmm... I'm Grant." He sat up against the truck's wall, letting his arm fall flat against his lap.
"My power is... how should I put it... matter manipulation. Or something like that. They gave it some name, like... 'Feigned Dominance.'" He went silent for a moment. That moment seemed to drag on before seemingly out of nowhere, a chain extended out, swaying around just above him. The chain seemed to lead from behind him, but with his back to the wall, it was hard to make out.
"Anything this thing," He pointed just in case anyone wasn't following along,
"Touches, I'll be able to manipulate it, throw it, and all that stuff, as long as it's in my range. Anything physical and nonliving. Anything else is a no go. So... I guess, leave it to me to throw chunks of the ground at the enemies?" He shrugged before slouching again, planting his chin right back down where it laid before, on his palm. The chain that just swayed above him lowered back down behind his back before it vanished from sight.
Lily looked at each person, trying to remember their names and what they said their powers were. And it was that exact time that she remembered that she had once again forgotten to introduce herself.
"I'm Lily, by the way. I always seem to forget to introduce myself," she said and then promptly fell silent, her mind once again plagued by thoughts that made no real sense.
It didn't take long before they arrived at their destination. The soldier in the truck barked his orders and ushered the students out with a threatening wave of his rifle. The battlefield was an open expanse of grass and dirt conveniently situated far outside town.
Snagglepuss89
Dezuel
Izurich
AlteredTundra
stone
Little Bill
