Fantasy The Experiment

[CrystalTears]

Lucas heard the knock of the door and was quickly distracted by it, and walked over to the door. He opened the door and smiled to Alex and Ari as he welcomed them both inside, introducing himself to Alex as they had not met yet. "Hi, my name's Lucas. It's nice to meet you," Lucas said and smiled to him. He had overheard what Ari said about the house cat part and smiled to her. "You're special in your own way. Exotic or not. We all have our pros and cons," Lucas reassured Ari, hoping to cheer her up, as it was nothing special being combined with a tiger, he would rather be combined with a house cat himself, but Ari could not know what his genes were combined with, and if necessary, he wanted to keep it to himself.

 

[RandomBomb]

Alex said hello. "Hey, do you know if there are any other flyers here? Or is it just me?" He thought it was just him. "I'll stay outside. Always liked being in a bird more. Less worries." Alex thought he was being a little talkative. "Where are the other inmates- I mean residents!" Right. As if the fence and guards made us a free person. He didn't know what he was really supposed to do here. "You the leader?"

 

[The Velveteen Rabbit]

The girl with the sunset orange eyes glanced up at another knock at the door. Curiosity brimmed in the brights hues of her eyes, and she found herself swiveling her head to take a look. It was another man, and Nina could smell the scent of a hawk wafting off from him. Once again, she found herself surprised with the diversity here.


Taking another bite, Nina stepped out into the open just as Alex asked where the others were. She flashed him a mischievous smile, raising her hand and waving slightly.


"I'm Nina. It's nice to meet you." The girl said with a light sounding voice. The last of the orange disappeared in her mouth, and she threw the peeled skin into the trash bin.

 

[CrystalTears]

Lucas frowned a bit as Alex didn't introduce himself, but he wasn't going to press the issue. They all had their reasons for keeping something to themselves, and if he didn't want to tell him his name, then so be it. It was even weirder to hear Alex thinking he was the "leader" if anything that would be a terrible idea. He didn't like responsibility, and even less wanted to be the leader. "No, I'm not the leader. I don't even think we got one," Lucas answered honestly, the thought of a leader had never struck him either. Not before now, but he didn't feel the need for one anyway. "You can stay outside that's fine for me, but I've claimed the big tree as mine," Lucas informed as he stretched his arms a bit, feeling a bit tired and dizzy from the earlier tranquilizer shots in his next. "I'm actually not sure who's what and what's who. You can go and ask them yourself though. I can't fly though, so that's one less you got to worry about," Lucas said with a smile, as he was a bit happy he couldn't fly, it felt better to run for him after all.

 

[RandomBomb]

Alex smiled, looking over at Nina. "Hello, Nina. I'm Alex." She looked nice. Hopefully Alex wouldn't get on her bad side, like he always managed to do with girls. "When did you get here?" So Lucas wasn't the leader, and he lived outside. Please let there be someone who flied; he really didn't want to be alone, but he would if he had to. "How many others have you seen around here? All I know is you, Lucas, and Ari." How did all the girls have those eyes? Must've been the experiments.

 

[IceQueen]

Ari smiled at Lucas. She saw his point with the pros and cons. She swayed back and forth, not sure what to do. Everyone else seemed to talk to one another, but she was just a natural draw for loneliness. She tried to keep up with the conversation, but felt helplessly out of place. She tried to input conversation at times, but she could never find the right words.

 

[The Velveteen Rabbit]

"I got here just about ten minutes ago actually. I was one of the last ones to be let out of their cage." Nina responded with a small smile, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms over her chest. Alex seemed to be the only one she really felt comfortable with. Don't get her wrong, she trusted the others too. But he seemed to ease her tenseness more than anyone else in the house.


"I've seen quite a few. But I know there's some of them I haven't properly introduced myself to yet," The girl with the orange eyes responded, stepping out of the kitchen and outside. The freshness of air immediately calmed her down, as if the house she was just in was a cage itself. She never liked enclosed spaces anyways.


"So, I heard your animal can fly? Can I ask what you are exactly?" Nina asked, cocking her head to the side curiously and blinking her eyes.

 

[CrystalTears]

Why of course he will introduce himself to the girl... good thing something never changes... Lucas thought to himself, chuckling at the thought as he saw Ari's struggle to keep up with their conversation. It wasn't as if Lucas was in this conversation to begin with, he simply wished to know who he was going to share this enclosed limited space with. "I'm going out on a small walk," Lucas said as he began walking out, looking at the tree he had claimed as his own, but walked straight past it. He needed to go into his animal form at least three times a day, for the animal to not suddenly appear. The genes that had been combined with his own were stubborn, and he didn't like anyone seeing him as a tiger, as it was never a form he wanted from the beginning. I'll just be a tiger a little while, to prevent anything crazy for happening. Then I'll return, as a human. Damn these scientists, making me into this beast. Why couldn't I just avoid it completely, and be a human at all times? The other's seem to be on better term with their inner animal than I am. That's a good thing at the very least.





Lucas walked for a while, taking in the somewhat fresh air, and enjoying the trees and the grass underneath his feet. It felt as if he truly was in the forest, being free once again. Carefully looking around himself, he transformed into the form of the white and black tiger, going down on all four and showing off it's majestic beauty. There you go, happy now? His inner tiger seemed to calm down, as he decided to run a bit around, being like a free animal, but kept to the bushes and trees, as he still wished to keep his form to himself. He could come of as threatening, or dangerous, and he didn't want anyone to believe he was dangerous, as he never would have hurt any of them.

 

[IceQueen]

Ari got tired of the guy next to her and walked behind the tree. She shuffled a bit and changed into her cat form. She walked to the woods and climbed a tree, looking around form her tall perch. She sighed and lied down, looking around still. She hated feeling useless. She wasn't much of a converser, she preferred isolation. She sighed again, growing tired of all the people.

 

[RandomBomb]

Alex didn't mind she asked his animal. "A hawk. What's yours?" He looked over at Ari. She seemed lonely. "Ari!" He called. "What's your animal?" He didn't want to pressure her. Probably lonely after all this time. He thought to himself. Well, I had been in hawk form most of the time. Maybe there were others who hated their animal forms. But hey, I can fly. Without equipment. Maybe there wasn't much to do around here. And of course, there was a whole lot for him to explore. Way better than the cages.

 

[The Velveteen Rabbit]

"A hawk. What's yours?"


The girl with the sunset orange eyes looked a bit uneasy at his question. She never liked explaining her animal form to anyone. People tended to be... A bit fearful of her once she told them what she truly was. She was a monstrous wild cat after all. Who wouldn't be afraid?


Shifting from foot to foot, she cleared her throat nervously and forced a smile.


"A lion." She murmured her answer, refusing to let the others hear. The last thing she wanted was for others to be afraid of her. It hurt her to see others act that way towards her.


Nina watched as he called out to the other girl. Someone she had not yet met. Glancing upwards, she saw the loneliness in Ari's gaze, and a pang of guilt hit Nina like an arrow. She had not seen her earlier, and she regretted it. Trying her best to include the girl, she stepped towards her spot in the tree, and flashed Ari a warm smile.

 

[RandomBomb]

So she was a lion. Cool. Alex had always liked big cats. Especially when he went to the zoo as a kid. Those lions were his favorite exhibit. "Look, I get that you don't like your animal, but holy shit, that's cool." He looked over at Ari. "Hey Ari! Want to talk a bit? You seem lonely up there." Alex didn't want to leave her out. He knew how it felt. Before he could fly, he always moved around. He never really had any place he could call home, and that hurt, being the new kid. They had to work together.

 

[MittyMittens]

Lily eyes Lucas for a moment before deciding it was safe."I'm Lily" she says a smile appearing on her face, it felt good to speak when it wasn't a complaint to someone. "Is there anything good to eat here?"


Tobias just grunts a "Tobias" still trying to figure out the experiment before getting close to anyone.

 

[The Velveteen Rabbit]

"Look, I get that you don't like your animal, but holy shit, that's cool."


Nina laughed at his response, looking away as a faint blush tainted her cheeks. She was just relieved he didn't freak out. Most people had a hard time trusting her, mostly because they thought she was dangerous. But of course, they didn't stay long enough to know that Nina wouldn't hurt a fly. She only allowed herself to be aggressive at the right times.


"Well... Thank you. I'm glad you don't think differently of me now. Most people do..." Nina forced a smile, and chuckled slightly. But you could see the sorrow that lingered in her orange gaze.


Trying to distract herself, Nina turned towards Ari as well and waved to her.


"Yeah! Come join us!" She called to her, flashing her yet another warm smile.

 

[CrystalTears]

Lucas stopped running, and came back to the clearing where he had transformed earlier. He was disappointed that he hadn't found anything water related, but that had to do for now. Letting his paw run free for a while felt great in itself, so it was satisfying nonetheless. Transforming back into his human form, he felt a giant headache on the way, as he was getting dizzy too. The tranquilizer the scientists used earlier... I must have done something to his head, or maybe they wanted to keep him weak? I swear if I get my hands on those scientists I'll make sure they know how this feeling is... not knowing the difference between up and down, left and right.... Damn my head hurts! Lucas made his way back to where he could see the tree, leaning onto a nearby thick trunk, he was close to the house now... But his body couldn't push itself longer, and his vision was getting blurry. I'll just take a quick nap here then... Hopefully it's a nap... Lucas thought as his body slid down the trunk, as his body hit the ground with a loud "thud" noise.

 

[RandomBomb]

Alex decided enough was enough. He stepped behind a tree, shifted, and flew up to Ari. He stepped around the tree, and let out a "Caw!" Then, he flew up to another tree and shifted back. "Come down, come down. For we are all friends here. Also so we can talk to you. Trust me when I say this, it sucks to be the outcast every goddamn year."

 

[IceQueen]

Ari ran away, farther into the forest. She landed on a tree and looked down, spotting Lucas on the ground. She gracefully slipped down the tree and transformed back to a human. She poked his cheek, trying to wake him up. She looked at him with interest. "Are you going to sit there all day or get off your butt? Come on I can't drag you." She said.

 

[CrystalTears]

Lucas could hear the clouded words of Ari in the distance, it was good to hear someone familiar. Even in times like these... Did the scientists really fear him so much they needed to keep him this weak? Not wishing to worry Ari, he tried to act as if nothing was wrong, even if his head was pounding, as if it would explode any second.


"I- I'm just... just taking a quick nap..." Lucas managed to squeeze through his lips, holding most of his breath back as he kept panting, the drugs were getting to his head now too. It was getting worse. Hopefully Ari wouldn't worry, as he would probably be fine after a small while, otherwise the scientists would probably jump in, but hopefully not.

 

[RandomBomb]

Alex sighed. Where was Ari going? And for that matter, where was Lucas? He tried to switch partially into a bird. His wings appeared. He flapped his wings, and... He was off the ground. In fact, he was going up fast... Too fast. He flew back down, and began to fly in circles. He landed, quickly switching back. "I'm going to keep trying this. Maybe I can take you on a ride soon. Just gotta walk the thin line between both shapes. Anyway, what do we do around here?"

 

[IceQueen]

"Doesn't look like it. You look like you've been sedated." Ari said. She kneeled next to his head and slapped his cheeks gently. "I am not carrying you back. Then again, not much choice." She said, picking up his arms. She began to haul his body back to the house. "You're heavy." She complained, dragging him to the front lawn. She dragged him in the door, lifting him on to the couch. She huffed as she let him go, falling on to the floor.

 

[The Velveteen Rabbit]

The girl watched Ari's fragile silhouette disappear farther into the undergrowth, vanishing from sight. Seeing the girl run free, it made the inner lioness inside of Nina beg to be let out. She let out a shaky breath of air, trying to hide the monster she was about to become. Sweat bubbles formed in the palm of her hand, and her teeth gritted as pain shot through her like electricity. Unable to conceal it any longer, a growl slipped out from between her teeth as she fell to her knees. Her spine arched itself into a more feline-like shape, while pitch black claws shot out of her fingertips. A sleek coat of fur appeared, covering her entire body with the beautiful color. In seconds, Nina had shifted completely into a lion. Her orange gaze flicked up at Alex calmly, her long tail flicking side to side as if bored.


Backing up from Alex, the ears on Nina's head pressed against her head. She almost looked embarrassed. Who knew a lion could be embarrassed?


"S-sorry... I have to transform at least once a day or else.." Nina murmured, staring at the ground.

 

[CrystalTears]

"Y- You don't need to carry me! I- I'm fine! I-" Lucas was clearly embarrassed, as he kept trying to talk, but it tired him out more. Ari hauled his body back to the house, no strenght to struggle against her either, he found himself with no other option, but to let her carry him back to the house. Luckily they weren't too far away from the house. Amazingly enough, Ari managed to drag his body back, and placing him on the couch before she herself fell to the floor. Definitely exhausted.


"Thanks Ari, but I could have-" He was interrupted by a sudden cough, as it ended up in a serious of coughs, but quickly ended. He had been thoroughly sedated, this was how it was to be a strong beast. He had to be constantly weaken, so he wouldn't go nuts.

 

[RandomBomb]

Alex smiled. "It's fine with me. As long as you don't crush me." Alex morphed back and forth repeatedly. "You just have to get comfortable with it. Now, I can switch back and forth at a moment's notice. And I'm seeing that not many people like their form." Alex frowned. They didn't have to treat this like a curse. Besides, when he whipped through the air, it felt like drinking a bottle full of adrenaline.

 

[IceQueen]

Ari smiled and looked at him. "I did. You obviously couldn't walk. You look like you've been hit with a bat." She said. She breathed heavily for a few minutes. She was exhausted from carrying him back. She looked at him, concerned with his coughing. She looked at him "You ok? You don't seem ok?" Ari said.

 

[CrystalTears]

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Been through worse. Thanks a lot though, I owe you one Ari," Lucas said to Ari, smiling to her. It was great to have someone taking care of him when he felt like this, the scientists would usually only take advantage of him, but seeing Ari helping him. It made him gain some trust into people again, at least the subjects of this project. Another set of coughs followed again, typical as this was how he usually reacted to an overdose of sedatives, it was necessary to get him this weak though, so he'll give them that.