[center] [img]http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c260/Genkai001/gio_zpsje2upxef.png[/img] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7_IZPHHb0[/center] [indent][indent][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7_IZPHHb0][center][i][b]Inch by Inch...[/b][/i][/center][/url] Sweat soaked hands struggled to claw through loose dirt, cutting themselves on sharp tiny stones all just to reach firm peat beneath before he mustered all of his strength to pull himself just another inch forward. But. Behind the figure, in the bushes somewhere, still came the rasping snarls of some ...thing. Nightmarish silhouette in the pale dim light, thrashing through the foliage, searching with it's one remaining, unblinded eye. But the man paid no heed ... ...for before him shone a light. So pure, born of neither fire nor will. Serene. Quiet. Beckoning. ...Even the full moon in all it's false glory looked utterly hideous compared to this alien glow. Of course, the full moon is the reason he is in this mess. So he felt like he had the right to remain biased. [center][color=004b80][i]You're always doing this to yourself.[/i][/color][/center] As he dragged himself across the earth, nothing else he could do to help himself, he could not help but wonder with regret. [i]Why in the world did he step in? Why did he help that camper? ....They always run away, he should have ---no, HE KNEW they always ran away! It's a law of nature, people are simply just like that. ...Nothing could change that. Everyone is that way. ....Even if he hoped they would one day stay, maybe fight alongside him - you know, for THEIR OWN SURVIVAL. They never did. Not once. not ever...And he was always ended up being the scapegoat.[/i] These thoughts welled up into churning anger and with hands aching further, his attention came to the plight he was in and his eyes began to sting at the notion. This was a farmiliar sensation that he detested, it came whenever he was sad too. He felt ...[color=9e0b0f]betrayed[/color]. Yes, that was it. For his faith in humanity. [i]This isn't fair. THEY SHOULD BE IN [b]MY[/b] SHOES, not me. Now it's all going to go to ...to, my future, my house ...and just as I finally got my permit to the city, now this life, Amy --- just so some filthy! cowering! piece of crap! I don't even know ...can live? [b]WHY!?[/b] He doesn't deserve to live! Not after what I've done for him. Not after how he just ran away ...I. saved. his. life! [/i] As the man dragged himself into the light, trying once to stand on his twisted legs to no avail, he simply fell only to feel the roughness like that of fish scales scrape against his raw flesh, leaving a pinkish skidmark on the floor. His mind reeled from the injustice of it all. And then the stars suddenly went dark ... [center]... ... ...[/center] [i]I [b]hate[/b] them. I [b]HATE[/b] THEM. I [b]HATE[/b] THEM ALL. [b]COWARDS. FOOLS. TRAITORS.[/b] Every. Single. One. of them is a joke.[/i] Now he knew that to be true. Too bad this was his last lesson, one he had to pay tuition for with his life. It was said that the last words spoken in life are the most powerful. Curses. The first spells ever were chanted with the dying breath afterall. He inhaled deeply, even if it meant gurgling on the warm liquid that welled up from his chest. [b][i][center]"I-I... ....wish... everyone.. .......w---- ....DIES..."[/center][/i][/b] ...and as if the world had heard his words, it began to fill with a blue luminesence. A strange dark orb hovering over, watching. His favourite colour, at least. It tried to drown him but too bad, he smirked, his own blood had already done the job. No longer did he feel pain. He wouldn't even give it the satisfaction of hearing him gasp for air. No. [b]Not anymore.[/b] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/EgWYCKg.jpg[/img] SUBJECT CONDITION: CRITICAL. [/center][/indent][/indent] [center][h2][color=skyblue]- - - -[/color][/h2][/center] [center][h2][color=skyblue][ 15 years later ][/color][/h2][/center] [center][h2][color=skyblue]- - - -[/color][/h2][/center] [indent][indent]Sharp, thick fingernails gouged a farmiliar, cursive 'G' into a small section of the wall. "Gee-o--Gio. ...No, Geo--van--nee." Like a child trying to pronounce their first words. "Giovanni!" He exclaimed momentarily then bushy brows furrowed once more. "No, Gio. Just Gio." Then he proceeded to etch the next of his initials into the surface, marring it forevermore, ...except he did not know what it was. ...But the ones outside, they had names. -Whole names.- He would rue the day he went out and made a fool of himself in front of total strangers, just because he forgot his name. ...as he stood there, waiting, for the right time to make first contact. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It had been a awhile since Gio violently woke, gasping deep gulps of air as his lungs stretched for the first time. Thrashing around on the floor as his hands dug many deep lines across it. The feeling of his nasal passages peeling open, half suffocating and excruciating, allowed him to understand why babes cry when they are born to this world. It took him a few minutes to just begin to comprehend breathing, even now hours later, it still stung whenever he took a breath. He just sat there in silence, cross-legged for what must have been hours. Trying to remember anything. Trying to make his clothes more comfortable. Trying to figure out where he was and how he got here. Groping around in the dark. It was only when there came a girl's voice, 'Natazume' she called herself, that he began doubting any of this was a bad dream. Then came someone called 'Eli', a young man's tone. Shimmer Shores? Acrine? Why did the names of these places invoke precise images of a rural seaside village and an island town? Did he ...? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With one good push, he flipped the hatch on it's side! Stepping onto one of the leathery platforms to reach out of the ceiling, he pulled himself up and out of the vessel. Looking around. It seemed safe enough, because for the short time he hadeavesdropped on them, none of them had mentioned anything like 'kill any survivors!' or 'loot their bodies!'. To his relief. All they engaged in was some random chitchat about where they were from. Very mundane. Then as he sat by the open hatch quietly, watching the both of them interact, a third ovoid cracked and out came a ... [b]"...Grrr-oss."[/b] He mumbled to himself in a low growl, unintentionally of course, but the sight of a fish morphing into a short, stubby human. Organs expanding, shape disfiguring. The few brief moments of distorting visceria. ...It was enough to trigger a mental gag reflex. [hider=What others would see/hear] No sooner had the trio begin welcoming their third. -Comprised of a rural looking young girl, red flowing hair like strands of algae in bloom. A lithe young man, carefree in the way he talks. A dwarf in chainmail and some very unusual abilities.- Did they feel like they were being watched. Movement stirred in the darkness behind the windows of one of those pods, causing a slight ruckus until the top of the craft flung open. Out emerged a hairy humanoid, it's orange yellow bestial eyes narrowed down on the shortest of the trio and it's thin lips bent in an irked frown, revealing once hidden sharp teeth at the corner of his mouth. Hesistantly, he put one foot on the side of the pod, managing a half-stand before awkwardlysliding down. Not the most graceful way to do things but efficient and safe, most importantly. Now in full flourescent light, one can see the being more clearly. A head or so taller than Eli while standing upright, his broad shoulders held up a ripped up white linen shirt - the collar haphazardly torn off, revealing a thick coat of fur underneath. An embroided jacket hung on his waist, with it's sleeves tied together at the front like a belt. Like most of his attire, it was torn in places where they were too tight. The only untouched clothing were his thick canvas trousers that led down to shoes that now resemble sandals since their toes have been mangled. Hazarding a guess, he appeared to be, or might have been, a man. Human, that is. After all despite the savage features of this individual, he still had a sense of modesty in his attire, accented further a silvery sigiled ring that wrapped tightly around his right pointer. The girl, Natazume, wore similar rings on her little fingers, though hers seemed to be made of coral while his was some metallic material. But what was most human of him was the way he spoke, raising his right hand in a half wave as animatedly as he could muster, he said [b]"Hi."[/b] Even if he keenly kept his distance. [b]"Giovan---I mean ...Gio. I am."[/b] That didn't come out right. Talking to people must not have been his forte. So he chose to quickly suggest an answer to their questions instead. Perhaps that will yield better results. [b]"Maybe investigate otherr eggs. May find answerr. Dissect. Examine. Like wherrre it's frrom."[/b] His voice came up low and veberating, pausing every so often to adjust it - almost as if he wasn't used to it. Then the sheen of metal caught his eye, this place was built entirely of iron ...steel, no, something more. [b]"...alloy?"[/b] He muttered absent mindedly while his glance darted along the structure's seams, trying to find any clue on what it is. Or at least, how to dismantle it. But instead he found himself staring back at the peculiar creature, Andrik, it was named. [b]"What [u]arre[/u] you?"[/b] He asked, raising one bushy eyebrow at the dwarf. [/hider] [/indent][/indent]