Thundercrash — Roleplayer Guild

Stasya Volkov and Lyra Mistly

Location: Lyra’s room

Collab between @Thundercrash and @Airalin

Frowning as Lyra tugged at her restraints and pantomimed something, Stasya leaned over to examine the straps. They seemed to be simple nylon, tough but not unbreakable, secured by buckles. She didn’t see why they had been necessary, or why Lyra didn’t simply remove them herself; it was obvious that she wanted them gone. The buckles seemed simple enough, if a bit stiff. In seconds, her new friend was once again free. “Там мы идем. Лучше? (There we go. Better?)” she said soothingly, giving Lyra a thumbs up.

Lyra bit her lip, eyeing the door nervously as Stasya took off her restraints. It took the girl only a matter of seconds to release her. Once they were off, she sighed with relief, nudging them away with her foot. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe they would stay off for long, not if they stayed. 

“We have to get out of here,” she said, looking Stasya in the eyes and pointing toward the door. “If Nathan comes back, he’ll just put them back on, and maybe he’ll lock them properly.” A feeling of dread descended upon her; she had no idea how they were going to escape, especially give her disability. But she would not let them lock her up again. 

Stasya followed the girl’s gaze to the door, then back to her, repeating a couple times. Does she… want to go somewhere? A strange feeling entered her chest. Or… does she want to leave? Thinking to herself for a moment, she came to a decision and pressed a finger to her lips. “Shhh.” She pointed up at the ceiling, then towards her own eyes and ear. They’re watching and listening.

She didn’t know for a fact that the scientists were, but she didn’t trust them not to be. 

Slipping off of the bed, she walked to the stack of drawers across the room and began pulling them open.

Lyra’s blood froze in her veins as Stasya pointed upward, and her eyes darted to every corner of the room, searching for cameras. She couldn’t find any, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. She shifted uncomfortably on her bed. If they were being watched, she didn’t have a chance. They would be captured again for sure. 

“What are you doing?” she hissed, watching her friend search her drawers. “I don’t need to change clothing, it’s not like I can do anything on my own.” Saying that out loud made her cringe with shame, even though she knew her companion wouldn’t understand. “We need to go, now, or we’re both going to be in a lot of trouble.” Were those footsteps coming from the hallway? Or was she just hearing things? 

A few of the drawers were filled with clothes, but most seemed to be empty. Gathering up a few, Staysa returned to the bed, gently directing the other girl towards the headboard. When she had room, she pulled back the sheets and threw them over the pair, leaving just enough of an opening that they could see each other. 

Holding up a pair of socks, she pressed them into Lyra’s chest. “Lyra,’ she said firmly. She set them down and picked up a second pair, pressing them to her own chest. “Stasya.” Moving to a folded shirt, she pointed upwards and made a circular motion, patting the shirt and hoping that Lyra would understand what she was trying to convey. “Вот. (Here.)” Placing the two pairs of socks on top of the shirt, she braced herself on her elbow and made a thumbs up with one hand and a thumbs down with the other. “Да? Нет? (Yes? No?)”

For a moment, Lyra stared at the clothing in confusion, wondering whether Stasya wanted her to put on the socks. But then she recalled the circular motion Stasya had made with her finger. “Is that shirt, supposed to be… this place?” she asked. She shook her head vigorously and yanked the socks off of the shirt. “No, no, no!” she said, more loudly than she intended. “I want to leave! We don’t have much time…” She laid the two pairs of socks next to each other and moved them farther away from the shirt in a series of small steps. Then, she dropped them and held her hands together as if in prayer. “Please?” 

Noting the movement, Stasya screamed internally. Yes! She wants to leave! Instead, she pressed her finger to her lips again. “Shhh.” Again, she mimed that the scientists were listening. Thinking how best to convey the next part, she bit her lip and placed the socks back into the shirt, then moved them again to where Lyra had placed them. “Оставлять. Lyra, Stasya, oставлять, (Leave. Lyra, Stasya, leave,)” she said firmly. Looking about again, she began tapping her wrist, where one might wear a watch. “Время. (Time.)” Again and again, she repeated the word, hoping that Lyra understood the meaning. 

Lyra smiled when Stasya repeated her gesture of moving the socks off of the shirt together. She ignored the twinge of guilt that pricked at the back of her mind; if she was honest with herself, she knew she would be a burden. Stasya would be more likely to get caught if she was lugging a cripple around. But Lyra had no choice; she couldn’t save herself, so someone else had to do it for her. 

Her smile melted into a frown when Stasya indicated toward where one would wear a watch. “Are you telling me that we have to wait?” she asked. In a panicked attempt to convey the question, she frantically pointed at the shirt, then tapped her own wrist a few times before pointing away. Once she was done, her arms fell heavily into her lap. She wasn’t built to hurry. Maybe Stasya was right… she couldn’t go anywhere on such short notice. But then she would have to endure captivity for a while longer, and if the scientists had been watching them, they would know Stasya had removed the cuffs and would replace them were something more secure. “Please?” she repeated, tears flowing anew. 

Stasya heart cracked when she saw the tears beginning to fall again. No, no, no! Please, don’t cry! Reaching out, she gently brushed them away with her thumb and pressed her lips to the girl’s head. “Не плакать, не плачь, пожалуйста. (No cry, no cry, please)” She grasped the girl’s hands in her own and brought them up to her face, pressing her fingertips against the scales there. “Более того, мне нужно знать больше. (More, I need to know more).” Pushing herself up, Stasya raised her arms and bent her fingers, as if she was a monster rearing up. “Raawr,” she mock growled. Then she tapped her wrist once, moved the socks back and forth again, and brought her fist down hard on the shirt. “Затем, Lyra, Stasya, уйти. (Then, Lyra, Stasya, leave).” 

Lyra blinked as Stasya approximated kissing her forehead. She didn’t understand. What had she done to earn that kind of reaction? She’d never helped Stasya in any way. She was nothing but a burden. 

With one last, defeated sob, she suppressed her tears for the time being. She would have hours and hours to cry alone later; if Stasya was really going to try to help her escape, she could do that one favor for her new friend. Quivering, she moved her ankle toward the cuffs still lying on the bed. “Put them back,” she said, voice dead, “Maybe, if they weren’t watching, they won’t replace them with something harder to remove.”She met Stasya’s eyes for only a moment. She understood what the other girl must be going through. Those scales… she viewed herself as a monster, didn’t she? Maybe she wanted to find a cure before escaping. If there even was one. Lyra had stopped hoping to be healed of her weakness long before her parents had given up on her.

“I’ll wait until you’re ready,” Lyra said sadly, “But I hope it doesn’t take very long. I don’t think I can take this much longer…” She glanced at the sheet in her hands and twisted it until it resembled a rope. If nothing else worked, she could always try… that…

Following Lyra’s foot, Stasya’s eyes widened, and she violently shook her head. “Нет, (No,)” she said firmly. Clasping the girl’s hands in her own, Stasya pointed towards her. “Lyra.” She bit her lip, then mimed a talking motion with her hand. “Расскажи. (Tell.)” She pointed up towards the ceiling. “Их. (Them.)” She spat the word out, putting as much venom into it as she could to convey her disgust of the people keeping them captive. “Lyra, нет, оставьте. (Lyra, no, leave)” She put her hands together over her chest, making a pleading motion as the other girl had once done, and pointed upwards again. “Lyra, обещание, их. (Lyra, promise, them.)” Then, she crossed her index and middle finger, visibly placing it behind her back and winking. “Lyra, ложь. (Lyra, lie.)”

Lyra hesitated at Stasya’s refusal to replace the restraints. Her best guess was that her new friend wanted her to ask not to be locked up, to promise her captors that she wouldn’t try to run. “Do you really think that will work?” she asked. She would have dismissed the possibility offhand, except… well, Stasya wasn’t being locked up. Was she the only one? If the others couldn’t escape even with the freedom to move around, she didn’t have a chance. “Fine, I’ll try,” she said, slowly wiping her cheeks with her palm. “But if they refuse, I hope your claws are sharp enough to break through whatever they put on me instead.” She repeated her earlier claw motion with her hand. 

“I’ll see what I can learn… if I really do have any special powers.” Her mouth twisted into a scowl at that word. “Maybe there’s a way I can actually be helpful.” She slightly bowed her head and wrapped the two socks around each other. “Thank you,” she said, “And, please, remember… we’re in this together.”

Smiling proudly, Stasya cupped the girl’s face in her hands and kissed her forehead again, hugging her tightly against her before clasping the socks in Lyra’s hands. “Lyra, Stasya, уйти. Вместе. (Lya, Stasya, leave. Together.) She pressed her hands together again in the same pleading motion as before. “Oбещают. (Promise.)”

A thought occurred to her, and she nervously bit her lip again. Did she dare tell Lyra? To ask? She seemed to have gone along with everything that Stasya had asked so far. She looked away for a moment, wondering. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Lyra, watching her friend’s face. Stasya looked thoughtful, as if she were debating something. “Did you think of something? A problem with our plan? Or… something else? I can keep a secret, I promise!” She pointed to herself then ran two fingers across her lips, as if zipping them shut.

For a moment, Stasya hesitated. Then, she pulled out a third sock from where it had laid beside her. “Natali,” she said, her voice full of worry and fear. She pressed the sock to her lips, then to her chest, trying to impart the importance of that name.

Lyra’s eyes widened when Stasya introduced a third sock. She wanted to bring someone else when they escaped - someone she cared deeply about. Someone Lyra couldn’t trust.

Yet she was in no position to be making demands. If they wanted, Stasya and her friend could try to leave without her. They’d have a better chance of succeeding. So she nodded and smiled. Perhaps the two of them would find it easier to carry her around if they were taking turns.

Stasya shook her head. She wanted, no, she needed Lyra to understand how important this was. She picked up the two intertwined socks and placed them on the shirt. “Lyra, Stasya, bот. (Lyra, Stasya, here.)” Picking up the third sock, she placed it away from them. “Natali, там. Natali… (Natali, there. Natali…)” A slight tremor entered her voice, and tears began pooling in Stasya’s own eyes. “Главная. (Home.)” 

She looked around again, her heart thumping. She picked up the third sock again. “Natali…” Screwing her eyes closed, Stasya dropped the sock and slapped the back of her own hand, hard, and the tears began to spill down her cheeks. “Причинить боль. (Hurt.)” She clasped her hands together, touching them to her forehead, pleading. “Пожалуйста. Пожалуйста, (Please. Please,)” she sobbed. 

“Your friend… is somewhere else?” asked Lyra, shaking by the fact that her friend was crying. She put a weak hand on Stasya’s arm, ignoring the odd feeling of the scales, in an attempt to comfort her. “Do you want to return to them… or rescue them?” she asked, unsure how to convey her meaning. Regardless, it was more than obvious that whoever Stasya was talking about was very, very important to her. Lyra nodded quickly. “We’ll find them,” she said, cheeks growing warm. She wouldn’t be any help. But she had to do what she could, didn’t she? 

Raising her head, Stasya nodded, her lip trembling. More than anything, she needed Lyra to understand who Natali was. She pressed a hand to her chest. “Stasya, девушка. (Stasya, girl.)” Reaching across, she gingerly placed her hand on Lyra’s chest, careful not to touch her… inappropriately. “Lyra, девушка. (Lyra, girl.)” Holding up the sock, brought the index finger and thumb of her other hand close together, but not touching. “Natali, малышка. (Natali, little girl.)” She clasped the sock to her chest again, struggling to hold back her sobs. “Natali, моя сестра. (Natali, my sister.)”

Lyra chewed at her lip, trying to figure out what Stasya was saying. The person she was talking about was like them, so probably a girl, but short… a child? Her eyes widened. “A younger sister?” she asked, slowly stroking her friend’s shoulder. She nodded. “Once we escape, we can find her. Everyone here is a teenager, so she wouldn’t have been taken.” Lyra paused worried. Had something bad happened to Stasya’s sister? She dared not ask out of fear of upsetting her even more…

The dam didn’t break, but it did start to let off some pressure. In an instant, Stasya had wrapped Lyra up in a tight hug, pressing her face into the girl’s neck as her shoulders shook. “Спасибо. Спасибо. (Thank you. Thank you.)” she wept, the fear and confusion of everything that had happened since she had first woken up in this strange place overtaking her. 

Lyra nearly panicked as Stasya wrapped her in her arms. She was so strong, so healthy; it had been years since Lyra had last been held like she was being now. She maneuvered her feeble arms around Stasya and offered a weak squeeze in return. It was an odd feeling - scary, yet strangely comforting. Stasya could crush her if she wanted, or reveal her plans to the scientists and see her locked up forever. The thought made Lyra’s heart race faster. She was a fool - already she was trusting again - but what choice did she have? On her own, she was too weak to do anything. Her only chance of escaping was to trust in another and risk the worst.

Withdrawing, Stasya wiped the tears out of her eyes. Having to deal with all of this, being kidnapped, getting a partner in her plan to escape, the relief of knowing that Lyra would help her get to her sister, it was exhausting. Smiling wearily, she laid down beneath the bed sheets. “Спасибо, это очень много значит для меня. В этот день было ... ужасно. Я рад, что встретил тебя здесь, хотя. (Thank you, this means a lot to me. This day has been… awful. I’m glad I met you here, though.)” She raised herself up on one arm, her expression questioning and uncertain. “Это ... хорошо, если я останусь здесь? На данный момент? (Is it… alright if I stay here? For now?)” Thinking for a moment, she patted herself on the chest, then the bed, making a thumbs up/thumbs down motion. “Stasya, здесь? Да? Нет? (Stasya, here? Yes? No?)”

Lyra blushed as Stasya made gestures unmistakably asking whether she could sleep in her bed. After a short hesitation, she gave a timid thumbs up and smiled uncertainly. Being an only child, she had never slept in the same room as someone of around her age before. She had always been far too weak to make friends, and have never partaken in the sleepovers that children often asked for. Lyra crawled to one side of the bed and laid on her side, then gently patted the other side. It would be better if she wasn’t alone when Nathan found her free from her restraints. Maybe, if she could show him that she had a friend, he would feel more confident that she was adjusting to her new situation.

Stasya smiled happily, moving so that she was still giving the other girl her space, but would still be within reach. Shly, she reached across and took hold of Lyra’s hand in a gentle grip, murmuring, “Спасибо, (Thank you,)” as she closed her eyes.
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