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Post by Orbak the Monster on Jun 22, 2013 13:37:24 GMT -5
The slow, rhythmic jostling of a vehicle causes small stirs to those within it. With a bump, the hiss of a snake is very audible from a completely sealed case, and the fluttering of wings. Faintly, a song can be heard playing on the radio - 'Slim Shady', in fact. The driver can be heard signing along to it, mangling the lyrics by an acceptable amount, considering his inability to sing. It's dark - very rarely, light passes through the van, allowing those within to see it's contents.
Cages. Within many are animals, some of which seemed a bit more alert than others. Many were awake, and calling their displeasure at the situation by making noise. A ragdoll cat sullenly accepts its fate, while the whining of a stray pit bull could be mistaken for a crying child. Once again, the annoyed hiss of a snake rings out as the box it is in is jostled. The hum of an engine is unmistakable.
Yet, within this van are several animals that weren't always animals. Groggily awoken by their environment, ignorant to what they've become or why. The previous month flickers in their minds for just a moment, before vanishing. All they know is... they're here. They're not what they used to be.
Get out.
The cages they're in are locked, but seem to have been worn away by previous occupants. All of them have been placed at the top of various stacks - each cage securely fastened to the wall of the van. Comfort and food don't seem to have been made available. It doesn't take long for them to realize they're in the back of an animal control van, being taken to a shelter - or other, less desirable fate.
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Post by Lorelei on Jun 24, 2013 2:59:17 GMT -5
This sucks. This sucks hard. This SUCKS. SO HARD. How did this happen? Last thing I remember, I was grabbing a step stool and climbing around the kitchen to grab a cast iron pot on the top shelf, next thing I know I'm in a cage. And hairy. And about a foot long... with a tail... and claws? What in the effing hell happened?!
It's so cold in here. And will that blasted snake shut up already? I hate snakes. Oh. It's not cold at all. That's just the chills I'm getting from that stupid snake.
"SHUT UP!" I clap my hand over my mouth. Was that a squeak?!
"Hello?" I try again. Sounds a bit more like English.
"Anybody else in here?" Actual English! Go me! "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
Ooh, my ear itches. Instinct drives me to flip onto my side and reach up with my left foot to scratch it. Oh god yeah, that's the stuff. Oh god, what am I doing?!
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Post by Orbak the Monster on Jun 24, 2013 23:23:48 GMT -5
I emit a groan. Things are way too loud for me right now. Reaching hands up to cover my ears from the noise... only to brush fur. Keeping my eyes closed, my hands explore my face and head - starting from my ears. Other senses return to me, realizing I now lay upon cold plastic. I open my eyes, looking down upon myself... I look in awe, and a little fear. My heartbeat begins to pound in my... considerably smaller than usual chest, and at the voice, I snap up.
My first response to the voice is a nervous 'chee'... a few moments later, my eyes adjust to the dim lighting - other animals in cages. "H-hello?" I respond in English, looking around, "Is everyone else here..." He pauses, unsure - after all, he'd seen cartoons and read books. Animals don't always like people. He stops, considering his words: finally settling on "Who are you?"
I walk over to the bars, wrapping what are almost hands around the bars, peeking my head out to look for the other speaker.
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Post by Lorelei on Jun 27, 2013 3:14:01 GMT -5
"It's Jen. Who are you? Are you in one of these weird jail cells too? And what's with all the fur? I'm all furry. And I squeaked. God, I wish I had a mirror. And I just scratched my ear with my foot. I have no idea what's going on here."
On all fours, I shimmy my elongated body over to a giant plastic wall and start clawing. I'm scratching furiously at the junction where plastic wall meets plastic floor, scratching and clawing and scratching... No luck. So I gnaw. I gnaw like instinct's driving me to do in a panic situation. The floor's not giving way to my freedom, the wall's not getting any thinner, I'm not getting any more Jen-like or human or taller or fleshier, and now I'm effing winded.
"So, uh, is anyone else in here besides us?" I grab hold of the bars with my thankfully still reasonably opposable thumbs and stick my nose through the bars. Sniffing the air, I could swear I smell a rat. And that damn snake STILL hasn't shut up!
"You know what? I'm just gonna have a little nap before I get *really* panicky."
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Post by Orbak the Monster on Jun 28, 2013 22:00:56 GMT -5
"Jen? Like, the married-to-Danny sort of Jen?" There's a pause. "It's Ollie." I look about through the bars, almost getting my head stuck in the cage as I pull it back in. "Yeah, I'm in a cage, too. I assume we're in... some sort of animal control van. The prick driving it has his music on too loud." Unbeknownst to me, it's actually at a rather sensible volume.
I grip the cage's door, shaking it for a moment. "Hrm. You're furred, too?" I extend a wing, looking at it. "I appear to have become a bat. No complaints about that, I guess - still... Always imagined weird things happening. Never expected them to come true." I exclaim, "Don't fall asleep! We don't know where, when, or... dare I say, if you'll wake up..." The cold chill of paranoia creeps up my spine, and I shiver involuntarily.
I tilt my head, listening in... finally, I poke my head out towards the dog and cat, "Hey! Hey, you two... who are you? What's going on?"
Rather astoundingly, the dog replies, "I'm a good dog." It's sort of a sad, mopey voice. Male. It seems to whisper, "I'm scared." The pit bull whines, and the cat looks at him, replying. "If you're a good dog, you'll be fine. Home. Love." This seems to reassure the dog a bit, causing the cat to curl up and tilt it's head downward. From the feline's tone, she probably didn't believe what she just said.
I blink. "Oh, wow. I actually understood you." The cat snorts, eying me. "No. Now, you listen."
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Post by Talathel Norovir on Jun 30, 2013 20:57:06 GMT -5
Gods above, that's loud!
I reach up, reflexively, to cover my ears against the cacophony, and find them to be entirely the wrong shape. What the hell!? What's wrong with my ears? And that Sound! I've never dreamed a sound that loud before...
As this thought occurs to me, the riotous din resolves a bit, and I begin to piece together what I'm actually hearing; the low, soft whine of a dog, that makes me think of Duncan when he's feeling extra pathetic; an uncomfortably loud hiss that makes me think of a snake or reptile, but unaccountably fills me with dread; voices that I know, and yet sound strange; and, overpowering it all, something vaguely resembling music, "...the real Slim Shady, all you other Slim...".
...and I like to think even my unconscious has better taste then that. I sit up then, and my balance is all off as I feel for Marla. She isn't there next to me. I open my eyes to cast about for where she might be, and I see that I'm not in our bed, or even our bedroom. The walls are bare, textured plastic, as is the floor and ceiling. All save the front one, which is a grid a thick metal. I move to it, to look through and find myself walking on all fours. ...the hell? I look down, and am confronted with confusing sight; a pair of mouse's paws, where my hands should be, responding as though they are, in fact, my hands. Huh. That's... curious. I know I'm not dreaming; I've never managed a lucid dream this long... So it would seem my life-long desire to be something else has finally caught up with me... Or, I've finally actually gone mad.
Someone is talking, I suddenly remember. A couple someones, in fact. I focus, then, atempting to actually listen to what they are saying. I'm able to catch just the tail end of the exchange.
“...say, if you’ll wake up.”
Not a voice I know. And yet... I do. Oliver, perhaps? It sounds like him, but... wrong, somehow. Well, as I appear to be a mouse, why shouldn’t Oliver be here, and sounding weird?
Another voice, completely unfamiliar chimes in now. It's not speaking English, and yet I understand it. ...and now I'm a polyglot, as well. Fancy that. I make a mental note of this new language, and decide that, as I seem to be an animal, it's probably best to sound like one. Or at least, to not sound like a human. I resolve to try to keep to this other language, whatever is it, at least until I have some more information.
During the small exchange, I’m convinced the first voice is Oliver. I draw breath to chime in, to let him know I’m here too and to see if he has the slightest clue what’s going on...
It's only as I do that I notice the smells, though now that I’m paying attention, I realize they’ve been there since I woke up. Stale french fries. Diet cola. Artificial pine. Head and Shoulders shampoo, though that only faintly. And a thousand others I have no name for, smells I’ve never smelled, smells I’ve never imagined. And between them all, almost hidden in the confusion, is one I know, with absolute clarity, though it’s not as it should be...
“Marla?” I call out, starting at the sound of my own voice. It’s quite, much higher than usual. It's strange, as well, how easily the new speech comes to me. “Love? Are you there?”
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Post by Ayumu Maoumi on Jun 30, 2013 23:09:16 GMT -5
I am awake again. This is not home. Nothing smells right. Nothing sounds right. Nothing feels right. I open my eyes and nothing looks right either. Am I sitting up? Am I in a cage?! Kidnapped?! Don't let them know you're awake. Close your eyes! relax, think Marla! Damn, your an idiot sometimes. Seriously. What were you doing last? Where were you that you could've been a target? Were you in a foreign country? Where's- Stop that Marla, useless chattering, too many blank spaces. What information can you garner HERE, NOW.
Feel; you're moving, a road is clearly below you, in fact you just turned 37 degrees (strangely specific information Brain - must explore later) you aren't chilly but you sense of feeling is totally off, you must've been drugged, try again later. Listen; definitely road noises, I'm in a larger vehicle like a truck but the interior bounces the noise so more likely a van. There's a noisy song on a radio, but this music -who translated eminem? That's definitely not a language you recognize. Also there's only one person in here, if there was a second they would stop his caterwauling, you think. Speculation, useless, move on. Animal sounds, a variety, clearest identifiers are the scared dog (empathy go away), angry snake (apathy you're just as annoying), chitters that can only be a flipped out ferret (just gonna hurt it's self). Scent; dog, cat, rodent, ferret, snake, gas, oil, metal, human, these have always been recognizable, nothing odd in noticing them but... they are so distinct... come to think of it the sounds are strangely crisp too... Move on, idiot! Is there any thing else you can sense with out moving Marla? Anything? I am alone in this space. Eyes open, fast, angry- Eric!
I'm up and to moving to the bars when I realize this is not my body, the world I see is not at all within the framework of what I expected from the previous analysis and I am flat on my front! Way too much space out there, way too short of legs for movement! how could i have expected to stand i a van?! Where the hell is my center of gravity! And -holy shit- are those wings?! Okay Brain, finding the missing better half of us is not as essential as regaining movement, though I think we've started to figure out our warped sense of perspective. You're a bird. Nice feet, er, talons idiot, let's see if we can stay on them this time. I rise, the antithesis of graceful. Not so unusual, you klutz. Shut up, self! Peering out of the cage I start over, running through what has been gained with Visual input. There is far too much detail on anything I look at for very long. Too much focus can be the opposite of helpful. You do not need to count rivets along the bottom edge of the far cage. Close your eyes and review what you've learned. Analysis reassessed. You have not been kidnapped you have been picked up by animal services. You are some from of raptor based on the shape of your talons and wing feathers.
This changes your strategies entirely. New f'ing drawing board. You are an animal in total now... Okay... Process that for a minute... Is this internal laughter a sign we're gonna snap? Wait, are the other animals talking to each other? that pattern of speech is strangely familiar. No it really IS the same language as that foreign version of eminem. And are they addressing everyone? Did I just easily include myself in the group of animals? that was a rapid adjustment, Marla... Open eyes slowly and look at the others.
"I'm a good dog" Now that I understood!
"I'm scared." huh, THAT is not English. Nor is the cat's reply, but I understand them and not the radio... oh, damn, i think there's no more English for Marla-as-a-raptor, but that makes sense, I think... Move on.
"If you're a good dog, you'll be fine. Home. Love." yeah, that cat is full of shit, but maybe that's what animals take for kindness. Just like shallow humans, lovely. No, not everyone. Eric... maybe he's here too, so that means you have to speak, stupid!
"No. Now, you listen" the cat again.
"Marla" what the- is that...
"Love? are you there?" Yes. It is.
And that tiny voice slows everything to a completely manageable pace, calms everything. We can focus on step two now.
"I might be. Are you Eric?" If he's safe I can think about getting free.
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Post by Talathel Norovir on Jul 1, 2013 15:17:18 GMT -5
"I might be. Are you Eric?"
The voice is hers. Wrong, like her scent is wrong. But it's hers.
"Marla! Gods above, wife, I'm glad to hear your voice! Yes, I'm Eric. Or at least, I think I am. I seem to be... some kind of small mammal, judging by my hands. Mouse, maybe? Or something like that, anyway. In a cage, no less. But mentally, I seem to still be me, despite some crazy sensory data coming in... Are you ok? Are you caged as well? I'm pretty sure I heard Oliver a bit ago, so I don't think we're alone here..." At that, I realize my relief at Marla's presence has distracted me from what I had been doing. No surprise there... But still, survival first, celebration second. "Is anyone else out there? We need to get out of these cages, I don't even want to think about where we might be headed..."
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Post by haunadtsedin on Jul 5, 2013 0:12:15 GMT -5
Sniff, Sniff "Ugh..." I groan, slowly gaining consciousness. What.... what's that smell?. My eyes slowly open, not quite understanding what the smells are from. A growing cacophony pierces my ears, a tune that strangely sounds familiar, but somehow foreign at the same time. "WHAT THE HELL!?!?!" I exclaim, opening my eyes fully, taking in for the first time my actual surroundings, "The hell is this? What is this cage? What are these animals?" I go to rub my eyes, hoping this is all just one big dream. Strange ones do happen, after all. Reaching up, I encounter something that should not be there. A snout, of sorts. Where there should not be one. And fur. There should not be this much fur. And not on top of my nose. This... is bizarre. I have a snout, and fur on it... I take a moment to actually look at my hands, and have a whole nother freak-out. "OH GOOD DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN!! WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE?"
I frantically feel around on my body, hoping to feel my normal body, but instead feeling only fur. I begin to take note, through all of this, that while it seems that it should be dark, I can still see fairly well from time to time. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the thing that seals the deal on my freak out. A tail. That creepy, almost reptilian tail, not much unlike that of a rat. Oh... Shit...
"HELP! HELP! I NEED OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!!!! THIS ISN'T WHERE I BELONG!!" ...I'm...squeaking... "Oh what the bloody hell... How do I deserve this...?" Whimpering now, I go to the bars of the cage, and begin to chew, feeling the unerring urge to gnaw on something. Looking about sullenly, chewing on the unforgiving metal bars, I see other animals. Animals... that seem to be... speaking to eachother... "Hey, you! Over there! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?"
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Post by Orbak the Monster on Jul 6, 2013 11:21:19 GMT -5
I cringe, raising my wings to wrap around my head in some effort to dull the noise. Volume is beginning to hurt... "Expletives! A whole line of them. Atrocious." I blink in my self-made darkness, removing wings from around my head. "Wait, I'd know that almost-artful string anywhere."
The somewhat amused, feminine voice of the feline nearby asks, "Sewer rat?"
"No, not a sewer rat..." I pause, thinking that might be right... at least now. "Danny, is that you? It's Oliver. Jenn's in here, too." I tilt my head, looking at a pair of cages - a hawk and a mouse. They seem vaguely familiar, but with the various other noises drowning them out, I'm not entirely sure.
I call to Jenn and Danny, "Listen, we've got to get out of here! Is there anything you see that could be of use? I have no intention to go to... wherever it is they're taking us. I have a hunch it's not the animal shelter - people don't adopt bats." I add, defensively, "Don't know why."
A cruel feminine voice emits from a box - a heart-stopping addition to the set. It's accompanied by a sinister rattle. "Oh, my little petsss. Disseassse, fear, hissssstory goesss into why you will all be killed. I will, asss well, but... I have done what I intended." A chilling laugh emits from the box mixed with a hiss.
It's enough for me. The voice, and the statement, cause a chill to run up my spine. Water forces itself up behind my eyes, and I will myself not to cry - an involuntary whimper escapes my lips. I inhale deeply, putting forth more confidence than I have: "We just have to get out, and we'll be fine." I look around in my cage for a bit, the movement causing my head to spin. I see something in the far corner, causing me to crawl over and roll it around a bit. I frown, "Great. There's a piece of stiff jewelry in here. Stick-shaped." I whack it once. "...Plastic."
In Eric's cage there is a paper clip.
In Marla's cage there is a five-inch copper wire.
In Jenn's cage there is a bobby pin.
In Danny's cage there is a old pat of butter from Cheesecake Factory.
It is an old truck. The cage's mesh netting are small-looped chicken wire.
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Post by Lorelei on Jul 22, 2013 4:53:52 GMT -5
A stream of expletives snaps me back to reality. "Danny? Danny! Chill out! Cussing and screaming isn't going to get us out of this!" I'd recognize that rage-ranting anywhere, but this time it's filled with panic. "You've got to think clearly for just a sec, babe! Look around, what do we have to work with here?"
I set about sniffing the perimeter of my enclosure. In the darkness, I catch sight of a shiny thing. I do like shiny things. It's a long, bent wire, half of which is all rippled, and it's capped with little rubber feet. This is the biggest damn bobby pin I've ever seen! Oh, wait, no, it's probably normal sized, but I'm smaller. Shit. I pick it up in my mouth and nibble around on the bent up end, sticking my tongue between the wires. Hm. I could gnaw the rubber ends off. Those bits hurt like a mother when they scrape your scalp. Nah, best hold off on that. Can't be undone. I flip the bobby pin around and absentmindedly nibble on the rubbery bits anyway. Then I catch myself doing it and spit the bobby pin out. Ah well, at least I still do a few things the same as I did when I was a person.
"So, I've got a bobby pin. Ollie's got stick-shaped plastic jewelry? What the fuck do we do with stick-shaped plastic jewelry? I mean, I could at least scratch that CD and put an end to Slim Shady, but I've gotta be out first. Anyone else have any clever ideas? I'm starting to get claustrophobic. And who else is in here? What's this crap about doing what you intended? Nobody's getting killed today. Somebody better have some better ideas, pronto!"
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Post by Talathel Norovir on Aug 3, 2013 22:34:36 GMT -5
A rush of conversation washes over me, still in that odd new tongue. The voices are familiar, like so much has been familiar. One is Oliver, I no longer doubt. The others are just out of reach... And then there are names, and the familiarity snaps into focus. Jen. Daniel. So, they're here as well. And none of us as we should be. Delightful...
I hear Oliver, and then Jen, trying to calm Daniel, and then take stock of things. A good idea... In response, I cast my eyes about my cage, and find it largely empty. A small, dull glint in the corner draws my attention. I move to investigate it, catching as I do yet another tangle of smells; cheap metal all around me, urine, bleach, rust, and underneath that, a faint smell of... toner...?
Looking down, I find a long piece of metal, curved around and back in itself, like a trumpet made of rebar. There's a breath and a half of confusion, before the difference in scale clicks and the truth of the object dawns on me. A paperclip. I shake my head slightly, dismayed at the time that took. Amazing what a little change in perspective will do...
"It's Eric! Looks like the gang's all here. It seems I have a paperclip..." Picking it up, I find the weight to be oddly satisfying. I look around, trying to think, trying to push aside the oddly present smells, to come up with some kind of plan. The cage looks like scaled-up chicken wire ( No, Eric, that's normal chicken wire. *You* have been scaled *down*) and this gives me an idea. If I can get the end of this thing between the strands, and stretch one of these holes to the size of two or three of them... "...and a bit of a plan."
Without really thinking about it, I stick the paperclip in my moth, and fall back to all fours to run to the side of my cage. Once I get there, I stand back up, and reach for the paperclip, only then realizing what I was doing. "Really, Eric?" I say aloud but softly, hardly above a whisper. "This is going to take some serious getting used to..."
Pushing the thought away, I grab the shorter of the two ends of the paperclip, and - with some difficulty - unfold it so it sticks out at a right angle. Gods above, bending a paperclip ninety degrees should *not* feel like an accomplishment. I work the bent end of the clip in between the strands of the chicken wire, and begin to twist and bend, stretching the border of nearest cell in the pattern into the space of the others next to it. After a minuet or so or work, I have a hole I feel I can squeeze through.
Once again sticking my tool in my mouth, I push myself head first thought my enlarged hole, barley making it through to the other side, and hanging from the outside of the cage. A near thing, that. I should have made it a bit bigger... I take one of my hands (forepaws?) from the cage, and use it to remove the paperclip from my mouth.
"I'm free!" I shout (or rather, I squeak) as loudly as my tiny voice and new language will allow. Then I look around - above, below, and across from myself - to see how everyone else is fairing.
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