xiaomiau

The Two Sides

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Ptelea looks at Admi and sniffles. She manages a small smile. "I know..Rosey tells me that a lot too.." She kicks her legs, confused. "Rosey hurt me though, this is his fault.." She mutters.

@Fionraella

Admi bent down to meet Ptelea's eyes. "Sometimes people make bad choices. It doesn't make your brother a bad person, sweetie." She shook her head. "Sometimes it's hard to make good choices." She glanced up at Ambrose.

The Two Sides

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"A...dozen?" Mona nods slowly. "I know...you're right." She sighs heavily, a bit frustrated that they were in this mess. She starts the car, listening to the low hum of the engine for a moment. "Okay...where should we go to warn them? Misha didn't tell us anything about where they are." She huffs, irritated at that girl now too.

Fabine laughs, shaking his head. "Misha, come on, you're what 13? You shouldn't even know what a bartender is!" He says, before walking alongside her. "But sure, you can be the bartender, so long as I can rent out the building for myself every Thursday for a reasonable price."

@Fionraella

Liwei glanced off into the woods. The dark outlines, disappearing into brush and shadows, held no answers to any of their questions, least of all how to track the mysterious vagrant children. He bit his lower lip in contemplation. "They have fires, right? We could track their smoke."

Misha raised her eyebrows. "What's the for? Is it even legal for a tiny baby minor like yourself?" She shrugged. "Guess it doesn't matter, as long as you clean up after yourself."

The Two Sides

Admi moved closer to the little girl, eyebrows creased in a look of sympathy. She laid a soft hand on the child's trembling shoulder, making sure to keep her grip firm but not overbearing. "It's okay, sweetie," she said gently. "It has to hurt so it can heal."

The Two Sides

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Mona glances at him. She frowns a bit. "How big of a capture run? And are you sure its of this forest? We didn't see much in way of kids here? What makes you think they'll come back?" She was irritated about their inability to go home. She just wanted a nice shower and to sleep in a nice bed instead of in musty hotels and in the back of the van. She sighs heavily, shaking her head.

@Fionraella

Liwei squinted at the webpage. "Uh.. a dozen? More?" His shoulders raised slightly in a shrug. "They're not being careful, anymore. They must be planning something." He gripped the screen of the laptop between his finger and thumb, sliding it closed with a click. He let out a long sigh, entire body slouching into the sticky upholstery. His face turned to Mona's. "You know we have to do something."

Misha broke into ugly laughter. She punched his arm. "Can I be the town bartender in your fantasy? That's like a therapist, 'cept I get to ruin folks' lives and make money all at once." She turned towards the direction of the camp and started towards it as she talked.

The Two Sides

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Fabine flies down and lands on her shoulder. "Now I'm curious. Who was this puppy?" He fluffs out his feathers. "Sorry to hear about your mom."

@Fionraella

[i BELIEVE this is the right post. if not i'll course correct asap]

Misha passed him a sardonic smirk. "Oh, you know - me and my siblings. Eaten alive, like I said." She shrugged, palms outstretched dismissively. Her eyes were closed in the motion, but she opened them to look directly at him. "We.. really outta get back. Crisis mode, remember? Not a therapy session?"

The Two Sides

Liwei's tan, taut back musculature flexed subtly as he hunched over the fluorescent screen of a secondhand laptop. He leaned over the console from the uncomfortable perch of the passenger's seat. He and Mona had traded off between tours in and out of their parking places near the forest, searching for strong cell signals and scrounging for snacks at the local gas station. He had turned to using the internet on his phone to power the laptop he had snagged - now used as a surveillance unit for the Servals' network. Evidently, several days had passed in his version of canon, despite only a few hours transpiring in the forest. He ignored this paradox, instead focusing on a line of text, half buried in broken CSS. He jabbed the screen and nudged Mona. "Hey, M. Do you think we should warn those kids about..." He stared closer at the sentence. "Looks like they're planning to do another capture run."

Admi the compound nurse slid gently into the room beside the doctor, her sterile white plimsolls scuffing on the tiles as she came to a stop. She regarded the two children with a warm expression in the honey brown of her round eyes, just beneath a mask of concern. She spoke lightly. "Oh, you poor dears." She glanced over at the doctor. "I was sent. I'm assisting you."

The Two Sides

"Well!" she huffed, rolling her eyes. "If it'll get you off my back.." She paused, looking around as though searching for something, though the forest was as cold and empty as ever. "Uhh... I'm a military brat, so that's fun, but my parents split when I was little. Then mom kicked the bucket, dad kicked a puppy..." She made a face. "It's all pretty standard, y'know? Poor lil' Misha got treated like shit, poor Misha ran away and didn't look back." She shrugged. "I mean, there's the shifter thing, too, and some other things, but I got all sortsa reasons."

The Two Sides

She gave a long look up at the branches, studying his speckled brown form against the fading leaf canopy above them. She sighed. "It's not a very interesting story. Sure you wanna hear it? It's not exciting at all."

The Two Sides

Misha shrugged and crosseed her arms, half in contempt and half to fight off the cold that seeped further and further into her bones with each passing meter they walked. "Faaaaaaabine," she called, glancing upwards. "The kids back at camp are gonna freeze to death, just like my family did back in the Donner party."

The Two Sides

Misha broke into nervous laughter. "Uh-" She glanced around awkwardly. "I don't know. Why would anyone end up like this?" She gestured to herself. "Angry, alone, one foot away from homeless. My family got - uh.. they got attacked by wolves. Or feds or somethin'."