esp_dragon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
esp_dragon) wrote2011-05-08 08:10 am
esp_dragon) wrote2011-05-08 08:10 am
Searching
Fandom: Original
Summary: The world of Torpin is open, dragging in xeni from other worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the xeni that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human xeno drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: MA (I think it's been this rating for a while, actually…)
Notes: Swearing. Dead bodies. Discussion about murder. Bloody murder. Uh. Yeah.
Drivers sit on the right in this country. :3
I hate it when characters aren't visible and they're talking. D: Not that I've been good with the description lately anyway.
Quick reminder: Marland's toes/feet are like a gecko's. Except he can sheath his claws like a cat. :3 Also, Culsay is the name of the city.
Oh jeez, I think I watched a bit too much Persona 4 while writing this. I think the style kinda starts going into that 'You decide to____' 'You think about____' wooden format in the middle. XD;;;;
I'm not sure if Marland should be using some phrases here because he'd have to know certain things about human technology and culture to use them. D: Wow, I really never realised just how language uses ties to other stuff before writing Searching.
Dammit, I have more thinky thoughts than normal, but I don't want to put them in italics, because that kind of narrative? comes out of nowhere after never doing that before here. =/ Gah.
I ended this part where it is because things are coming to a head (wow, this phrase looks weird) and I didn't want to end it (even worse) in the middle of things.
I have a massive amount of notes at the end of this part. XD;;
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 4,481
Total word count: 89,897
Status: Work in Progress
Why was – did Laris collect xeni for Kendal's team too? If he did, that would explain how she knew Laris wouldn't hurt him, but how did she know Laris collected xeni for him as well?
"We're handing them in," Kendal said dryly.
There was a pause. "What are you up to?" Laris sighed.
"They want to go back there; we're helping them do that." Marland heard her shrug.
When Laris fell silent again, Marland stepped out of the alley. Laris poked his head out the window when he neared them. "What're you two planning?"
Marland didn't answer, his ears flicking down before going up again. The plan was simple, but explaining why would take some time – it also wasn't his story to tell, really.
Laris eyed the three of them before he shook his head. "If you're sure that's what you want to do."
"It is," Ronthar said quietly.
"All right." Laris pulled his head back into the van and said, "Go give 'em the cuffs."
"Huh?" came Nav's voice. "Why do you need them?"
"Because no-one'll believe they're 'safe' to be around if they're not bound." There was a rummaging sound before the other door clicked open. When Laris turned to them again, there was a small electronic pad in his hands.
"Usual account?" he asked, tapping on the pad.
"Yeah," Kendal answered. "Not that we really need it, but I guess it'll be useful for 'just in case'."
Marland looked between them, confused. Laris didn't give Kendal an envelope of money?
Laris saw his look and waved the miniature pen at Kendal. "Normally money transfers are done electronically, just in case collectors try to steal money while on the job. Since you can't get a bank account…" He shrugged. "You're one of the exceptions."
Nav came up to them then, a pair of metal shackles in his hand, the cuffs wide and thick. "So, uh, do you want to get them on now or later?"
"Later," Marland said, his nose wrinkling a little. The less he wore the restraints, the better he'd feel; he'd rather not wear any of them at all, but if it helped their situation and gave them a slight advantage, he'd do it.
"All right," Nav said uncertainly, fiddling with the shackles. "Do you wanna go into the back?"
Marland and Ronthar nodded, and Marland's ears flattened at the thought of finally leaving.
"Try not to get killed or caught properly," Kendal said behind them when they started going towards the back of the van.
Marland snorted. "Yeah." Like he hadn't been thinking about that already.
The back of the van stank of…Marland couldn't place what the smell was. He assumed it was a mostly a mix of xeni blood and disinfectant.
Unsurprisingly, there wasn't a place to sit, for either of them. The walls were lined with tools, some of which Marland could recognise, but others he couldn’t. There was also a couple of plastic boxes stacked on top of each other close to the door. On the ceiling was a thick hook and Marland eyed it. What did they hang from there?
Nav was called to the front of the van for a few seconds while Ronthar clambered in and Marland tried to see if there was a spot he could lie in which had the least chance of him knocking something over. There wasn't one, not unless he lay right in the centre, and even then, if he extended his wings a little bit, he'd still hit something.
"Maybe if you lay a little bit on your side?" Ronthar suggested after he'd sat down near the front of the van. "The floor would stop that wing from extending too far."
It was the best idea – Marland just hoped they wouldn't have to go around too many corners – and that none of the tools fell on top of them while they were riding inside it. The hooks that they were on looked like they wouldn't let anything slip off them unless the tool was lifted off it, and the floor didn't have any dents under where the tools were, so it seemed safe. As he was lying down, trying to keep his head as far from the floor as he could, Nav came back into sight.
"Hey, Laris says that he'll knock on the divider when we get close so that'll be the signal to put the shackles on," Nav told them while he put the restraints on the floor. He then climbed in and held onto the edge of the roof as he fiddled about with a small light that Marland hadn't noticed. It flicked on, brightening the van a little.
"There. That should stay on when the doors shut so you can still see each other," Nav said, sounding satisfied. "Do you…need anything?" he asked awkwardly, glancing at them as he scratched the back of his head. "We can stop for food and drink on the way back…"
"That's all right," Ronthar said, holding his hands up to placate him. "We already ate before we left."
Nav continued to look at them, his brows creased in worry. "Okay. We should get back in something like two hours." He stepped back down and placed a hand on one of the doors. "Uh, yeah, so I'll see you then." He turned his face away and closed the doors. The light stayed on and it was bright enough that Marland could see fine, but he wasn't sure if Ronthar would be able to see well.
He ran his claws along the floor as they listened to the noises outside. Marland was already feeling tense that his muscles felt stiff. It wasn't long before he heard the front door open and slam shut. A few seconds later the engine started and the van began moving.
Marland hadn't realised the tools would rattle when the van was in motion and he eyed some to see how far they jumped. They didn't move that much, just made a lot of noise. It seemed like it anyway. The shackles did move though and Marland hooked his toes around them and pulled them up so that he and Ronthar could hold one each away from the floor. They were lighter than he expected. The engine seemed to be louder than Kendal's van as well, but when Marland thought about it, it made sense – Laris' van was supposed to carry xeni which could be a lot heavier than a group of humans.
The trip wasn't bad as they travelled – the corners were taken slowly so they didn't have to adjust their weight that much when they happened, but he could hear and feel the engine rumbling under him. Marland and Ronthar didn't talk at all and Marland spent most of the time keeping his head away from the floor and staring at some of the tools. Most of them looked like they were used to cut a xeni into pieces, while the rest looked like they were for moving a xeni. It had been a stomach churning moment when he realised what they did. After that, he studied the shackles. The chain between the cuffs was long enough that he would still move his arms around quite freely and looked quite thin when it was compared to the cuffs – they didn't look like they were really for restraining, but Marland had an idea of humanoids in his mind. It was probably restraining for something with different proportions. But why did Laris and Nav have them if they only dealt with dead xeno?
Marland wasn't sure if it had been two hours before he heard three knocks on the divider, the sound hollow and loud. Without a word, Marland and Ronthar slipped the shackles on. He hoped his fire would be able to burn through them but maybe if he wasn't able to, it could help keep the charade about them being helpless for longer. Marland did a quick test of his magic and fire flickered from his palm before he cut it off. Good. He could still cast magic. It still felt a bit odd, and he had to push past the instinctive reflex to not cast magic after he'd begun to pair using magic with pain, but it still came mostly easily.
There was suddenly a breeze blowing around and Marland looked at Ronthar in surprise, who had his hands in a cupped position.
Ronthar blinked at him and then chuckled weakly before he ducked his head. "I never said what magic I could do, did I?"
Marland shook his head. He'd assumed that Ronthar had the same magic as Fion and hadn't thought about it any further.
"Fion's magic is based around lightning; my magic is based around wind – they complement each other," Ronthar explained, moving his hands as he spoke, making the chains clink together.
Marland stared at him as he thought it over. So, he wouldn't have to worry about his eyesight while Ronthar used his magic. That was unexpected, but it would definitely help, and he wouldn't have to worry about being randomly blinded every minute.
He could feel the van slowing down and he tensed and flicked his wings out when the van rolled over something that made everything lurch. Ronthar had sat down near the top corner so Marland's wing didn't come close to hitting him. It wasn't long before the van stopped completely and he heard the front doors open and close. Shit. Marland's heart picked up its pace as he waited for the back doors to open. They couldn't stop now, couldn't go back. All they could do now was keep going.
The back doors opened, filling the van with a harsh light, and sounds of voices and machinery washed in a flurry. The smell wasn't something Marland could describe either. Marland's ears clamped down on his skull as he realised just how many people there had to be to make that amount of noise.
"All right, you two, get out," Laris' told them gruffly.
Taking a steadying breath, Marland edged his way out, keeping his wings close to his body to make sure he didn't knock anything over. When he cleared the back and stepped away from the doors, Laris gripped his upper arm to make sure he didn't go any further. Right. He wasn't 'free' so he couldn't move wherever he wanted to.
It felt weird standing up again; it was like the world was swaying a little when he stood still.
Marland froze when he glanced over his shoulder. There was a long line of the backs of vans, collectors pulling dead bodies of xeni from them onto carts. He could recognise the cat-like xeni in some of the piles, but some of the corpses weren't recognisable as anything, just a mass of flesh and bones.
He heard footsteps approaching and he turned his head to the person walking up to them. It was a woman, her brown hair tied back. She looked up at him in disinterest before she looked down at the electronic pad in her hands. "Someone patched it up? Huh." She tapped a couple of times on her pad. "All right, we've got a big enough cage for the both of them – they should be getting picked up soon," the woman said as she turned around and started walking away.
Laris tugged at his arm and they followed after her. "That fast?" Laris asked, both his eyebrows raised.
The woman shrugged. "They wanted to be notified as soon as they came in. We haven't worked with them before so I don't know if that's how it is with them."
Marland hadn't thought about what he'd do if there had been humans that he had to pretend around, but he didn't have to act like he was cowed – he didn't want to be there, he didn't want to see all the dead xeni that surrounded him, and he didn't like being in the centre of attention either. He could see the humans focusing on him as their group passed and the sounds of conversation and machinery dropped off as the humans paused in what they were doing to stare at him.
He could see where they were heading for – there was a steel cage in the corner, the mesh thick and durable looking with fairly large spacing between the links. It was large enough that he could stand up semi-comfortably so long as he kept his head down – he didn't want to spend the whole night lying down. The woman tapped a code in the panel beside the door and it beeped and lit up green before she pulled on the door and it swung open.
"Well, throw 'em in." She wasn't even looking at them, her focus taken up by her pad.
Laris nodded and pulled Marland towards the entrance. He hesitated –he did not want to go in- but let himself to led, even if he started growling lowly.
Once they were in, the woman shut the door and the panel beeped again. "Okay," she said as she turned away. "See ya."
Laris and Nav nodded to her and then started walking back to their van again, talking about getting cups of coffee before leaving.
Marland and Ronthar shared a look before Ronthar settled down and sat with his back to a wall. Marland didn't want to talk where he could be heard –he'd seen what happened to xeni that talked (in films, yeah, but after seeing what Balt did, he didn't think that was so 'fantasy' anymore)- and it looked like Ronthar didn't want to talk either.
"Yo, hey, what's up?"
Marland looked up to see two humans walking towards them. One was wearing a thick red jacket while the other was wearing a bright t-shirt.
"Someone called in a human corpse." Both the humans grimaced. "Someone thought it was a shapeshifter, and you know how hard those are to tell if someone's lying."
The one wearing the bright t-shirt sighed, looking up. "It seems like the bodies are really piling up now..." The two disappeared through a door that Marland hadn't realised was right next to them, too focused on the cage.
Was that why it didn't seem too weird that a human showed up on a notice? Because Balt had put down that Ronthar was a shapeshifter?
Marland didn't want to, but he kept an eye on the people milling about them, just in case they got too close. None of them did, and while there seemed to be a lot of curious looks, most seemed to just get on with their work. The unidentified smell didn't fade and seemed to get stronger the longer they stayed there. The bright lights didn't help either, and he could feel a headache building up behind his eyes.
He had just started seeing a small pattern of some xeni being carted off in one direction while others were sent off in another direction before the woman came back, a man and a woman tailing behind her. They were in matching grey suits and they moved stiffly, their strides in sync with each other. There was a suspicious bulge in their pockets that looked similar to the controllers for the collars.
The woman tapped in the code again and held the door open. Marland didn't want to be dragged around so he made his way over slowly, just in case they thought he was going to attack him. The people in the suits had to know he understood human language though. But they had to also know that he'd killed some of 'their people' so he and Ronthar could escape. Marland heard Ronthar follow him, the floor announcing their steps clearly.
It didn't look like the people in the suits wanted to treat him like a 'stupid xeno' but it didn't seem like they wanted to be near him either, drawing back as he approached them. Keeping him out of arm's reach. Well, they weren't stupid. Which he shouldn't be grudgingly respectful of, since he was going to have to probably kill them soon – if he just ran, they would far too easily warn everyone that he and Ronthar had escaped, and then they'd know that the collars didn't work either.
The pair flanked them as they led the way, keeping Marland and Ronthar in their periphery, the first woman following behind them. It was a non-descript van they were led to and Marland and Ronthar climbed in the back. It was larger than Laris' van with nothing inside it, and it smelled of chemicals. That close to the interior, Marland could see scratches and dents on the walls and floor, as well as other marks that he couldn't tell what exactly what they were. Maybe it'd been done with magic? If it had been though, then wouldn't the xeno been able to get out? There was also discoloured…something inside some of the scratches that Marland didn't want to think about too closely.
As soon as they were inside, the doors were slammed behind them, throwing them into darkness. The only light was a small sliver from the gap between the doors. Marland sighed in relief, feeling his eyes strain less and his headache faded slightly.
The van started up after being quiet for a few minutes and Marland turned his head towards the front of the van. He hadn't heard the doors opening or closing, and the engine was only a thrum under him. The van eased forward, going over the bump slowly, but it began to speed up after it had been going straight for a while. Whoever was driving wasn't as careful around corners (they seemed to be going around more of them too) and they seemed to have a habit of stopping more often.
He had no idea where they were going; he hadn't explored Culsay that much - he could find his way home from certain places, but he only knew the area close to his street well. He hadn't thought it was important to see where places in the city were and he knew if he strayed too far away, he wouldn't have a safe place to hide when he was seen by a human.
Marland had to keep his mind away from the thoughts that the driver would just stop the van and kill them there. The only way he could stop thinking that was by trying to convince himself that they wouldn't kill them so long as he had magic and Ronthar could be used as a hostage against him. It didn't really make him feel that much better.
He could hear Ronthar breathing in and out deeply, and he could see that he had his hand wrapped around his upper arm, a finger quickly tapping there. Marland still wasn't sure about what to say to him – whatever he could think of sounded fake and empty. And it wasn't as if Ronthar would really want to hear it from him – getting Fion back was what mattered to him.
It wasn't too long before they went over large bump and Ronthar smacked the back of his head on the front of the van.
"You all right?" Marland asked him, shuffling closer to him.
Ronthar grunted, his head lowered and he gingerly rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not bleeding and I didn't hit it that hard." One of Marland's ears twitched to the side. It sounded like he had.
While they were talking, the engine was switched off and Marland faced away from the back doors, preparing for them to open.
He didn't expect that there would be more doors on the side – he flinched and snarled as he was blinded for a few seconds.
"Hmm, good," a deep voice said. Marland squinted as the light source was partially blocked off. "The collars are still working then."
Marland froze, his eyes going wide. They had used the controllers? If Ronthar hadn't hit his head and he wasn't affected by light…
"Move," the man ordered, stepping away from the door.
While Ronthar got out, Marland eyed the exit. It was going to be awkward with his height and wings, but he was not going to get out on his hands and knees. He moved over to the exit and stood up as much as the van allowed him. He grasped the edge of the roof and hopped off, somehow managing to not clip the bottom of his wings or flap them to correct his balance, just in case they thought he was trying to attack them.
There was a rumbling sound as the woman closed the door behind him.
"This way," the man told them before he started walking away, the controller in clear sight, his fingers resting over the buttons.
They were in an empty underground parking lot, if the paint lines on the ground were anything to go by. It wasn't large, only big enough to fit a couple of cars. To their right was the wide exit that they had just come from; Marland clenched his jaw and turned away from it, making sure to not even look at it, so he didn't give them an excuse to try the controllers again.
The door that the man stood next to beeped and clicked open when Ronthar and Marland neared it. As he walked in at the man's gesture, Marland saw that there was a number pad that the man had used his body to hide. Shit, how much security did they have here? Would the cardkeys still work?
The doors led to a staircase; they were directed to go up them and Marland's stomach squirmed as they ascended. When the door closed, it created a hollow echo that seemed final. He and Ronthar hadn't used stairs when they were escaping. On the next floor up, they were told to go through the doors. There wasn't a pad to fiddle about with at least, and Marland didn't think he saw a pad near the door they had just gone through.
Marland winced when Ronthar opened the door and light seared his eyes. He did not want to be surrounded by such bright lights. He kept his head lowered and his eyes slitted, vainly hoping that that would be enough to reduce the amount of light stabbing his eyes. It didn't do much, but it eased the pain a little bit.
They were told exactly where to go and with each order, the dread in Marland's stomach grew. He had no idea where they were, or recognised what they were passing. It all looked the same: the same doors on either side of them, the same green rectangular plaque next to them. The adrenaline stampeded around in his bloodstream, and he tried to stop his body from trembling. Were they in the same building that they had been kept in before? Was Fion even here?
Had they let themselves be brought in for nothing?
Marland's thoughts continued on their downward spiral, becoming faster and faster when his ears pricked up at the sound of someone approaching, the squeak of wheels accompanying them.
A trolley was pushed into their view at the end of the corridor soon after he heard it and Marland stared at the white sheet covering what was unmistakably a human body. The man pushing the trolley didn't look like he was paying attention to his surroundings, his posture hunched over the handles.
Marland watched as the body was pushed past their line of vision, a cold horror spreading through him. What exactly were they doing here? Did they just not care what they were working on, just so long as no-one cared about them?
The woman snorted behind them. "Your magic really isn't friendly."
Marland nearly tripped over his toes and had to stop himself from whipping his heard around to stare at her. She had to be talking about Fion.
But what did she mean by that? Fion wasn't predictable, but he couldn't do anything, not without a body.
"And I told you," Ronthar said tightly, "my 'magic' doesn't allow anyone to use him unless he lets them."
What? How – how was Fion doing that?
Ronthar sighed, bowing his head, before he straightened up again, staring forward. Marland's ears flicked to his direction when he could hear a light clinking sound from Ronthar's shackles. He was tapping them with his nails, but Marland didn't get why. Marland hadn't seen Ronthar tapping his fingers while he was moving, but he had to keep walking right then so maybe that was it. But…when Ronthar usually tapped, it was a steady beat that didn't change suddenly – it definitely wasn't normally two quick taps and then two slow ones, looping over after it had finished.
"Go left," the man said, and Marland's ears flicked down. They wanted to go right at the end of the corridor, where they'd seen the body being pushed from.
The tapping didn't change, didn't pause at his words, and Marland felt like he was missing something very important.
When they reached the end of the corridor, Ronthar turned his head to the right – there wasn't anyone there, and there wasn't any on their left either. Marland could still hear the person behind the trolley trudging along, but the man was getting steadily further and further away.
Ronthar suddenly gripped the chains, making them grind against each other and Marland had the realisation that that was a signal, and he was only just able to understand what for when Ronthar spun around and slammed the woman into the wall.
Fuck. Don't be distracted with what was happening with them and take out the other one! one part of his mind screamed. Marland snapped his wings back, hoping to catch the man off guard, but he had been standing far enough back that the blow didn't connect.
He could see the man's wide eyes as he pressed the buttons on the controller and Marland used his stunned belief to tackle him to the ground. The man struggled, trying to twist out of his grasp and then tried to elbow Marland in the face when he couldn't escape his claws. The man sucked in a breath and Marland grabbed his jaw, using his claws to force the man's mouth shut.
Marland knew this was going to be messy and there wasn't anything he could do about it – with his ears flat, Marland tore the man's throat out, just like he had done with the first guard. Blood sprayed out and a dark pool quickly formed around the human's head as he gargled and twitched. He turned his head away, and saw that the woman was similarly dead, her eyes unseeing as she slumped against the wall.
Shit, now what they were going to do?
____________________________________________________________________
I'd wanted Marland to quip back at Kendal when they were leaving, but that seemed out of character for that moment. XD Boo.
XDD;; I think Kendal wanted to say goodbye, but Nav closed the doors before she could get around the corner. She was a little busy having a chat with Laris.
The cuffs are originally for, as Marland thought, a xeno with different proportions (to make sure poisonous/sharp appendages doesn't accidentally swing around and stab someone), and/or hanging slightly from the hook on the ceiling (so the xeno can fit in the back. Or possibly if the xeno was alive… D:)
*cough* The driver of the van was getting hit by a lot of red lights. XDD;
*blink* Huh. A gurney is called a trolley in Britain. (Yeah, I keep thinking of a shopping trolley too, but Marland shouldn't know the name gurney either. Just think – I'm going to have all this fun in my next NaNo too! *facepalm*)
I realised partway through writing this that Searching could have been so much longer if I turned this into a quest to get Fion back. XDD;;
Previous Part
Summary: The world of Torpin is open, dragging in xeni from other worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the xeni that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human xeno drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: MA (I think it's been this rating for a while, actually…)
Notes: Swearing. Dead bodies. Discussion about murder. Bloody murder. Uh. Yeah.
Drivers sit on the right in this country. :3
I hate it when characters aren't visible and they're talking. D: Not that I've been good with the description lately anyway.
Quick reminder: Marland's toes/feet are like a gecko's. Except he can sheath his claws like a cat. :3 Also, Culsay is the name of the city.
Oh jeez, I think I watched a bit too much Persona 4 while writing this. I think the style kinda starts going into that 'You decide to____' 'You think about____' wooden format in the middle. XD;;;;
I'm not sure if Marland should be using some phrases here because he'd have to know certain things about human technology and culture to use them. D: Wow, I really never realised just how language uses ties to other stuff before writing Searching.
Dammit, I have more thinky thoughts than normal, but I don't want to put them in italics, because that kind of narrative? comes out of nowhere after never doing that before here. =/ Gah.
I ended this part where it is because things are coming to a head (wow, this phrase looks weird) and I didn't want to end it (even worse) in the middle of things.
I have a massive amount of notes at the end of this part. XD;;
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 4,481
Total word count: 89,897
Status: Work in Progress
Why was – did Laris collect xeni for Kendal's team too? If he did, that would explain how she knew Laris wouldn't hurt him, but how did she know Laris collected xeni for him as well?
"We're handing them in," Kendal said dryly.
There was a pause. "What are you up to?" Laris sighed.
"They want to go back there; we're helping them do that." Marland heard her shrug.
When Laris fell silent again, Marland stepped out of the alley. Laris poked his head out the window when he neared them. "What're you two planning?"
Marland didn't answer, his ears flicking down before going up again. The plan was simple, but explaining why would take some time – it also wasn't his story to tell, really.
Laris eyed the three of them before he shook his head. "If you're sure that's what you want to do."
"It is," Ronthar said quietly.
"All right." Laris pulled his head back into the van and said, "Go give 'em the cuffs."
"Huh?" came Nav's voice. "Why do you need them?"
"Because no-one'll believe they're 'safe' to be around if they're not bound." There was a rummaging sound before the other door clicked open. When Laris turned to them again, there was a small electronic pad in his hands.
"Usual account?" he asked, tapping on the pad.
"Yeah," Kendal answered. "Not that we really need it, but I guess it'll be useful for 'just in case'."
Marland looked between them, confused. Laris didn't give Kendal an envelope of money?
Laris saw his look and waved the miniature pen at Kendal. "Normally money transfers are done electronically, just in case collectors try to steal money while on the job. Since you can't get a bank account…" He shrugged. "You're one of the exceptions."
Nav came up to them then, a pair of metal shackles in his hand, the cuffs wide and thick. "So, uh, do you want to get them on now or later?"
"Later," Marland said, his nose wrinkling a little. The less he wore the restraints, the better he'd feel; he'd rather not wear any of them at all, but if it helped their situation and gave them a slight advantage, he'd do it.
"All right," Nav said uncertainly, fiddling with the shackles. "Do you wanna go into the back?"
Marland and Ronthar nodded, and Marland's ears flattened at the thought of finally leaving.
"Try not to get killed or caught properly," Kendal said behind them when they started going towards the back of the van.
Marland snorted. "Yeah." Like he hadn't been thinking about that already.
The back of the van stank of…Marland couldn't place what the smell was. He assumed it was a mostly a mix of xeni blood and disinfectant.
Unsurprisingly, there wasn't a place to sit, for either of them. The walls were lined with tools, some of which Marland could recognise, but others he couldn’t. There was also a couple of plastic boxes stacked on top of each other close to the door. On the ceiling was a thick hook and Marland eyed it. What did they hang from there?
Nav was called to the front of the van for a few seconds while Ronthar clambered in and Marland tried to see if there was a spot he could lie in which had the least chance of him knocking something over. There wasn't one, not unless he lay right in the centre, and even then, if he extended his wings a little bit, he'd still hit something.
"Maybe if you lay a little bit on your side?" Ronthar suggested after he'd sat down near the front of the van. "The floor would stop that wing from extending too far."
It was the best idea – Marland just hoped they wouldn't have to go around too many corners – and that none of the tools fell on top of them while they were riding inside it. The hooks that they were on looked like they wouldn't let anything slip off them unless the tool was lifted off it, and the floor didn't have any dents under where the tools were, so it seemed safe. As he was lying down, trying to keep his head as far from the floor as he could, Nav came back into sight.
"Hey, Laris says that he'll knock on the divider when we get close so that'll be the signal to put the shackles on," Nav told them while he put the restraints on the floor. He then climbed in and held onto the edge of the roof as he fiddled about with a small light that Marland hadn't noticed. It flicked on, brightening the van a little.
"There. That should stay on when the doors shut so you can still see each other," Nav said, sounding satisfied. "Do you…need anything?" he asked awkwardly, glancing at them as he scratched the back of his head. "We can stop for food and drink on the way back…"
"That's all right," Ronthar said, holding his hands up to placate him. "We already ate before we left."
Nav continued to look at them, his brows creased in worry. "Okay. We should get back in something like two hours." He stepped back down and placed a hand on one of the doors. "Uh, yeah, so I'll see you then." He turned his face away and closed the doors. The light stayed on and it was bright enough that Marland could see fine, but he wasn't sure if Ronthar would be able to see well.
He ran his claws along the floor as they listened to the noises outside. Marland was already feeling tense that his muscles felt stiff. It wasn't long before he heard the front door open and slam shut. A few seconds later the engine started and the van began moving.
Marland hadn't realised the tools would rattle when the van was in motion and he eyed some to see how far they jumped. They didn't move that much, just made a lot of noise. It seemed like it anyway. The shackles did move though and Marland hooked his toes around them and pulled them up so that he and Ronthar could hold one each away from the floor. They were lighter than he expected. The engine seemed to be louder than Kendal's van as well, but when Marland thought about it, it made sense – Laris' van was supposed to carry xeni which could be a lot heavier than a group of humans.
The trip wasn't bad as they travelled – the corners were taken slowly so they didn't have to adjust their weight that much when they happened, but he could hear and feel the engine rumbling under him. Marland and Ronthar didn't talk at all and Marland spent most of the time keeping his head away from the floor and staring at some of the tools. Most of them looked like they were used to cut a xeni into pieces, while the rest looked like they were for moving a xeni. It had been a stomach churning moment when he realised what they did. After that, he studied the shackles. The chain between the cuffs was long enough that he would still move his arms around quite freely and looked quite thin when it was compared to the cuffs – they didn't look like they were really for restraining, but Marland had an idea of humanoids in his mind. It was probably restraining for something with different proportions. But why did Laris and Nav have them if they only dealt with dead xeno?
Marland wasn't sure if it had been two hours before he heard three knocks on the divider, the sound hollow and loud. Without a word, Marland and Ronthar slipped the shackles on. He hoped his fire would be able to burn through them but maybe if he wasn't able to, it could help keep the charade about them being helpless for longer. Marland did a quick test of his magic and fire flickered from his palm before he cut it off. Good. He could still cast magic. It still felt a bit odd, and he had to push past the instinctive reflex to not cast magic after he'd begun to pair using magic with pain, but it still came mostly easily.
There was suddenly a breeze blowing around and Marland looked at Ronthar in surprise, who had his hands in a cupped position.
Ronthar blinked at him and then chuckled weakly before he ducked his head. "I never said what magic I could do, did I?"
Marland shook his head. He'd assumed that Ronthar had the same magic as Fion and hadn't thought about it any further.
"Fion's magic is based around lightning; my magic is based around wind – they complement each other," Ronthar explained, moving his hands as he spoke, making the chains clink together.
Marland stared at him as he thought it over. So, he wouldn't have to worry about his eyesight while Ronthar used his magic. That was unexpected, but it would definitely help, and he wouldn't have to worry about being randomly blinded every minute.
He could feel the van slowing down and he tensed and flicked his wings out when the van rolled over something that made everything lurch. Ronthar had sat down near the top corner so Marland's wing didn't come close to hitting him. It wasn't long before the van stopped completely and he heard the front doors open and close. Shit. Marland's heart picked up its pace as he waited for the back doors to open. They couldn't stop now, couldn't go back. All they could do now was keep going.
The back doors opened, filling the van with a harsh light, and sounds of voices and machinery washed in a flurry. The smell wasn't something Marland could describe either. Marland's ears clamped down on his skull as he realised just how many people there had to be to make that amount of noise.
"All right, you two, get out," Laris' told them gruffly.
Taking a steadying breath, Marland edged his way out, keeping his wings close to his body to make sure he didn't knock anything over. When he cleared the back and stepped away from the doors, Laris gripped his upper arm to make sure he didn't go any further. Right. He wasn't 'free' so he couldn't move wherever he wanted to.
It felt weird standing up again; it was like the world was swaying a little when he stood still.
Marland froze when he glanced over his shoulder. There was a long line of the backs of vans, collectors pulling dead bodies of xeni from them onto carts. He could recognise the cat-like xeni in some of the piles, but some of the corpses weren't recognisable as anything, just a mass of flesh and bones.
He heard footsteps approaching and he turned his head to the person walking up to them. It was a woman, her brown hair tied back. She looked up at him in disinterest before she looked down at the electronic pad in her hands. "Someone patched it up? Huh." She tapped a couple of times on her pad. "All right, we've got a big enough cage for the both of them – they should be getting picked up soon," the woman said as she turned around and started walking away.
Laris tugged at his arm and they followed after her. "That fast?" Laris asked, both his eyebrows raised.
The woman shrugged. "They wanted to be notified as soon as they came in. We haven't worked with them before so I don't know if that's how it is with them."
Marland hadn't thought about what he'd do if there had been humans that he had to pretend around, but he didn't have to act like he was cowed – he didn't want to be there, he didn't want to see all the dead xeni that surrounded him, and he didn't like being in the centre of attention either. He could see the humans focusing on him as their group passed and the sounds of conversation and machinery dropped off as the humans paused in what they were doing to stare at him.
He could see where they were heading for – there was a steel cage in the corner, the mesh thick and durable looking with fairly large spacing between the links. It was large enough that he could stand up semi-comfortably so long as he kept his head down – he didn't want to spend the whole night lying down. The woman tapped a code in the panel beside the door and it beeped and lit up green before she pulled on the door and it swung open.
"Well, throw 'em in." She wasn't even looking at them, her focus taken up by her pad.
Laris nodded and pulled Marland towards the entrance. He hesitated –he did not want to go in- but let himself to led, even if he started growling lowly.
Once they were in, the woman shut the door and the panel beeped again. "Okay," she said as she turned away. "See ya."
Laris and Nav nodded to her and then started walking back to their van again, talking about getting cups of coffee before leaving.
Marland and Ronthar shared a look before Ronthar settled down and sat with his back to a wall. Marland didn't want to talk where he could be heard –he'd seen what happened to xeni that talked (in films, yeah, but after seeing what Balt did, he didn't think that was so 'fantasy' anymore)- and it looked like Ronthar didn't want to talk either.
"Yo, hey, what's up?"
Marland looked up to see two humans walking towards them. One was wearing a thick red jacket while the other was wearing a bright t-shirt.
"Someone called in a human corpse." Both the humans grimaced. "Someone thought it was a shapeshifter, and you know how hard those are to tell if someone's lying."
The one wearing the bright t-shirt sighed, looking up. "It seems like the bodies are really piling up now..." The two disappeared through a door that Marland hadn't realised was right next to them, too focused on the cage.
Was that why it didn't seem too weird that a human showed up on a notice? Because Balt had put down that Ronthar was a shapeshifter?
Marland didn't want to, but he kept an eye on the people milling about them, just in case they got too close. None of them did, and while there seemed to be a lot of curious looks, most seemed to just get on with their work. The unidentified smell didn't fade and seemed to get stronger the longer they stayed there. The bright lights didn't help either, and he could feel a headache building up behind his eyes.
He had just started seeing a small pattern of some xeni being carted off in one direction while others were sent off in another direction before the woman came back, a man and a woman tailing behind her. They were in matching grey suits and they moved stiffly, their strides in sync with each other. There was a suspicious bulge in their pockets that looked similar to the controllers for the collars.
The woman tapped in the code again and held the door open. Marland didn't want to be dragged around so he made his way over slowly, just in case they thought he was going to attack him. The people in the suits had to know he understood human language though. But they had to also know that he'd killed some of 'their people' so he and Ronthar could escape. Marland heard Ronthar follow him, the floor announcing their steps clearly.
It didn't look like the people in the suits wanted to treat him like a 'stupid xeno' but it didn't seem like they wanted to be near him either, drawing back as he approached them. Keeping him out of arm's reach. Well, they weren't stupid. Which he shouldn't be grudgingly respectful of, since he was going to have to probably kill them soon – if he just ran, they would far too easily warn everyone that he and Ronthar had escaped, and then they'd know that the collars didn't work either.
The pair flanked them as they led the way, keeping Marland and Ronthar in their periphery, the first woman following behind them. It was a non-descript van they were led to and Marland and Ronthar climbed in the back. It was larger than Laris' van with nothing inside it, and it smelled of chemicals. That close to the interior, Marland could see scratches and dents on the walls and floor, as well as other marks that he couldn't tell what exactly what they were. Maybe it'd been done with magic? If it had been though, then wouldn't the xeno been able to get out? There was also discoloured…something inside some of the scratches that Marland didn't want to think about too closely.
As soon as they were inside, the doors were slammed behind them, throwing them into darkness. The only light was a small sliver from the gap between the doors. Marland sighed in relief, feeling his eyes strain less and his headache faded slightly.
The van started up after being quiet for a few minutes and Marland turned his head towards the front of the van. He hadn't heard the doors opening or closing, and the engine was only a thrum under him. The van eased forward, going over the bump slowly, but it began to speed up after it had been going straight for a while. Whoever was driving wasn't as careful around corners (they seemed to be going around more of them too) and they seemed to have a habit of stopping more often.
He had no idea where they were going; he hadn't explored Culsay that much - he could find his way home from certain places, but he only knew the area close to his street well. He hadn't thought it was important to see where places in the city were and he knew if he strayed too far away, he wouldn't have a safe place to hide when he was seen by a human.
Marland had to keep his mind away from the thoughts that the driver would just stop the van and kill them there. The only way he could stop thinking that was by trying to convince himself that they wouldn't kill them so long as he had magic and Ronthar could be used as a hostage against him. It didn't really make him feel that much better.
He could hear Ronthar breathing in and out deeply, and he could see that he had his hand wrapped around his upper arm, a finger quickly tapping there. Marland still wasn't sure about what to say to him – whatever he could think of sounded fake and empty. And it wasn't as if Ronthar would really want to hear it from him – getting Fion back was what mattered to him.
It wasn't too long before they went over large bump and Ronthar smacked the back of his head on the front of the van.
"You all right?" Marland asked him, shuffling closer to him.
Ronthar grunted, his head lowered and he gingerly rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not bleeding and I didn't hit it that hard." One of Marland's ears twitched to the side. It sounded like he had.
While they were talking, the engine was switched off and Marland faced away from the back doors, preparing for them to open.
He didn't expect that there would be more doors on the side – he flinched and snarled as he was blinded for a few seconds.
"Hmm, good," a deep voice said. Marland squinted as the light source was partially blocked off. "The collars are still working then."
Marland froze, his eyes going wide. They had used the controllers? If Ronthar hadn't hit his head and he wasn't affected by light…
"Move," the man ordered, stepping away from the door.
While Ronthar got out, Marland eyed the exit. It was going to be awkward with his height and wings, but he was not going to get out on his hands and knees. He moved over to the exit and stood up as much as the van allowed him. He grasped the edge of the roof and hopped off, somehow managing to not clip the bottom of his wings or flap them to correct his balance, just in case they thought he was trying to attack them.
There was a rumbling sound as the woman closed the door behind him.
"This way," the man told them before he started walking away, the controller in clear sight, his fingers resting over the buttons.
They were in an empty underground parking lot, if the paint lines on the ground were anything to go by. It wasn't large, only big enough to fit a couple of cars. To their right was the wide exit that they had just come from; Marland clenched his jaw and turned away from it, making sure to not even look at it, so he didn't give them an excuse to try the controllers again.
The door that the man stood next to beeped and clicked open when Ronthar and Marland neared it. As he walked in at the man's gesture, Marland saw that there was a number pad that the man had used his body to hide. Shit, how much security did they have here? Would the cardkeys still work?
The doors led to a staircase; they were directed to go up them and Marland's stomach squirmed as they ascended. When the door closed, it created a hollow echo that seemed final. He and Ronthar hadn't used stairs when they were escaping. On the next floor up, they were told to go through the doors. There wasn't a pad to fiddle about with at least, and Marland didn't think he saw a pad near the door they had just gone through.
Marland winced when Ronthar opened the door and light seared his eyes. He did not want to be surrounded by such bright lights. He kept his head lowered and his eyes slitted, vainly hoping that that would be enough to reduce the amount of light stabbing his eyes. It didn't do much, but it eased the pain a little bit.
They were told exactly where to go and with each order, the dread in Marland's stomach grew. He had no idea where they were, or recognised what they were passing. It all looked the same: the same doors on either side of them, the same green rectangular plaque next to them. The adrenaline stampeded around in his bloodstream, and he tried to stop his body from trembling. Were they in the same building that they had been kept in before? Was Fion even here?
Had they let themselves be brought in for nothing?
Marland's thoughts continued on their downward spiral, becoming faster and faster when his ears pricked up at the sound of someone approaching, the squeak of wheels accompanying them.
A trolley was pushed into their view at the end of the corridor soon after he heard it and Marland stared at the white sheet covering what was unmistakably a human body. The man pushing the trolley didn't look like he was paying attention to his surroundings, his posture hunched over the handles.
Marland watched as the body was pushed past their line of vision, a cold horror spreading through him. What exactly were they doing here? Did they just not care what they were working on, just so long as no-one cared about them?
The woman snorted behind them. "Your magic really isn't friendly."
Marland nearly tripped over his toes and had to stop himself from whipping his heard around to stare at her. She had to be talking about Fion.
But what did she mean by that? Fion wasn't predictable, but he couldn't do anything, not without a body.
"And I told you," Ronthar said tightly, "my 'magic' doesn't allow anyone to use him unless he lets them."
What? How – how was Fion doing that?
Ronthar sighed, bowing his head, before he straightened up again, staring forward. Marland's ears flicked to his direction when he could hear a light clinking sound from Ronthar's shackles. He was tapping them with his nails, but Marland didn't get why. Marland hadn't seen Ronthar tapping his fingers while he was moving, but he had to keep walking right then so maybe that was it. But…when Ronthar usually tapped, it was a steady beat that didn't change suddenly – it definitely wasn't normally two quick taps and then two slow ones, looping over after it had finished.
"Go left," the man said, and Marland's ears flicked down. They wanted to go right at the end of the corridor, where they'd seen the body being pushed from.
The tapping didn't change, didn't pause at his words, and Marland felt like he was missing something very important.
When they reached the end of the corridor, Ronthar turned his head to the right – there wasn't anyone there, and there wasn't any on their left either. Marland could still hear the person behind the trolley trudging along, but the man was getting steadily further and further away.
Ronthar suddenly gripped the chains, making them grind against each other and Marland had the realisation that that was a signal, and he was only just able to understand what for when Ronthar spun around and slammed the woman into the wall.
Fuck. Don't be distracted with what was happening with them and take out the other one! one part of his mind screamed. Marland snapped his wings back, hoping to catch the man off guard, but he had been standing far enough back that the blow didn't connect.
He could see the man's wide eyes as he pressed the buttons on the controller and Marland used his stunned belief to tackle him to the ground. The man struggled, trying to twist out of his grasp and then tried to elbow Marland in the face when he couldn't escape his claws. The man sucked in a breath and Marland grabbed his jaw, using his claws to force the man's mouth shut.
Marland knew this was going to be messy and there wasn't anything he could do about it – with his ears flat, Marland tore the man's throat out, just like he had done with the first guard. Blood sprayed out and a dark pool quickly formed around the human's head as he gargled and twitched. He turned his head away, and saw that the woman was similarly dead, her eyes unseeing as she slumped against the wall.
Shit, now what they were going to do?
I'd wanted Marland to quip back at Kendal when they were leaving, but that seemed out of character for that moment. XD Boo.
XDD;; I think Kendal wanted to say goodbye, but Nav closed the doors before she could get around the corner. She was a little busy having a chat with Laris.
The cuffs are originally for, as Marland thought, a xeno with different proportions (to make sure poisonous/sharp appendages doesn't accidentally swing around and stab someone), and/or hanging slightly from the hook on the ceiling (so the xeno can fit in the back. Or possibly if the xeno was alive… D:)
*cough* The driver of the van was getting hit by a lot of red lights. XDD;
*blink* Huh. A gurney is called a trolley in Britain. (Yeah, I keep thinking of a shopping trolley too, but Marland shouldn't know the name gurney either. Just think – I'm going to have all this fun in my next NaNo too! *facepalm*)
I realised partway through writing this that Searching could have been so much longer if I turned this into a quest to get Fion back. XDD;;