i can smell your FEAR [OPEN]

[( whisper )]

The haze gave way to intolerable pain. Lari's eyes shot open, and she barely restrained a howl. Once she caught her breath, she became aware of the world around her, weak anesthetic faded. At least she got anesthetic. Antiseptic, chemical odor burned her nostrils, and the cold metal cage added up to one thing.

She was in the labs. NO, it was impossible. She tried to recall her thoughts, but the constant throbbing of her head and the gripping feel on her stomach kept her from thinking. A single thought repeatedly raced through her mind again and again, like a broken record: I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble...

What had the humans done to her? Lari, who was afraid of daemons was now one herself. Impossible. Too much to grip in as much pain as she was in. There were others near her, she could smell them, and could smell their fear. It was particularly strong now, in the labs, much stronger than she thought was possible. Help me, she thought. But to who?

She couldn't move, it made her hurt worse. Still, she took a mental inventory: No wounds. No broken bones. But the pounding in her head continued, and the invisible hand that held her stomach tight never let go. What was happening? She clenched her mouth shut. If she opened it, she wouldn't be able to contain the pain she was in and would probably peirce the ears of the dogs around her.

Lari tried to think through evrything in her mind, the memories, the stories she'd heard about daemons. Wings? No. Did she have telekinesis? Apparently no. What about pyrokenisis? Again, no. What was it then? She tried to think logically, but it failed.

So her thoughts turned to her family instead: The Celes. Did they know she was gone? Probably not. She was too quiet. Finally, the pain subsided enough, for her to whimper, "Help me." Was it loud enough to be heard? The pain gripped her again, and she clamped her mouth shut.

Tight.

[Evkav]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

** and maybe someday ,
WE'LL FIGURE ALL THIS OUT

The farm was roughly south-west of the church. It took only a few hours to fly there. And the brute had been so close. Wings beating against the air, propelling his figure forward, aiming for one destination. There was someone he needed, or something, he needed help and now. If he didn’t find help soon it would be too late. Heck, it might already be too late. But that didn’t matter, he still pressed on. Landing, running, paws pounding against the cement. And then pain, coursing through his bones, through his entire body. The pain he knew so well was coming back, it stung every limb, and even his wings throbbed with the pain. And then everything went black...

As he came back to his senses he felt a cold surface beneath himself. He could smell his own blood and the rank metallic scent of steel bars. Of course, he had known he would end up here all along. It was like he couldn’t escape that place. This was his fourth time here. However for some reason it felt different. Maybe this time he wasn’t going to get out again. The other three times he had simply been lucky, found his way out by chance. But now he was certain the white coats knew him, they would keep him under special surveillance.

His whole body ached, from nose to tail. They hadn’t given him any anaesthetic. Figured, they hated the second-timers, which meant they hated third-timers more. His last time at the labs didn’t include him as a fourth-timer because he hadn’t been tested on then. Now however he could tell something was different. His ears were pounding, as though every sound in the room had been magnified. And every scent seemed a thousand times stronger too. It was weird to feel that way. Also his vision seemed clearer than it usually was. Shaking his head the shepherd racked his brains for a word for this new power. He had heard of it before but, for some reason he couldn’t remember what it was called. Then, it struck him, enhanced senses. He had never actually met any dog with this power but he had heard someone speaking of it.

Growling he let his head rest on his paws and ignored the throbbing pain that echoed in his mind. He wondered if they had taken anything away from him. Was that even possible? He could still feel his wings hanging by his sides but, maybe, just maybe. Looking around he focused on the table surely enough it swivelled around as he played with it. At least it was something to do while he waited for death to come. He knew exactly which cage he was in. It was the same one he had been held in last time. He liked to call it ‘The Death Cage’ because every dog that ended up in this cage ended up dead. Last time however he had escaped before that had happened. This time though, he probably wouldn’t be so lucky. The cage was firmly locked; at least, it looked that way to him. It was another one of those cages with the swipe card locks. And he had no card around to use. That evidently meant he wasn’t getting out any time soon.

Closing his eyes he tried to block out the annoying growls and scratches that came from the cages around him. Instead he focused on other things like Iris and Benji and Delph. Not that he would ever see them again. Jasper would probably be left for good as the Paladin’s Elite Guard, and he was barely a year old. That’s when he heard the barks. “What are you doing there mate?” A voice growled at him from nearby. Looking up he saw someone he would never have expected to see, ever. “Bren?” he asked, his voice hoarse from lack of water. “No, I just look exactly like your brother.” Theo shook his head, this couldn’t be happening. “But, I thought you were dead.” He still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “I am. But you my dear brother can see me. And we have some work to do.” He hadn’t changed at all really. I mean, he was older now, which meant he had lived to be around the same age as himself. However Theo had never really gotten on well with his brother, something he had always wanted to change after he first ran away.

Giving out a short laugh, he wondered why in the world he was going to do this. “So? What do you want me to do?” Bren grinned too and shook himself out. Meanwhile Theo was trying to think of the name of this certain power. It was one of the stages of Phantism but, that was all he could remember. “There’s a swipe card over there,” his brother said, signalling the countertop near the door. “Use it to get out. Then I’m gonna take you somewhere.” He sat down and waited for his brother to take action. Standing up Theo folded his wings beside his body and focused at the counter. He could barely see about it. Flapping his wings slightly he let himself rise up until he could see the card. Then it started to float towards the pair. In a matter of minutes it was swiped and the cage door swung open. The shepherd flashed a proud smile at his brother.

Walking out he took a few seconds to get his proper balance back. Bren started at a run and Theo willingly followed his ghost-brother through the many tunnels of the labs. After only one short minute he knew exactly where they were going. It didn’t take long for the shakes of being in the labs wore off; he was so used to being there now. It only took about five minutes for the brothers to finally reach their destination. It was the place where all new daemons were created. He had been taken there once and gone there willingly once, on a rescue mission of course. And only because Benji had asked him to.

When they reached the room they slunk into it quietly. Theo didn’t make a noise. However Bren could be as loud as he really wanted because none of the white coats could see him anyway. “The poor femme is here for the first time,” Bren whispered into his brother’s ear as they entered the room. There were no white coats in the room which meant the coast was clear. Walking along the rows Theo stopped in front of the cage his brother had signalled to. A young femme laid there, a golden retriever roughly four years old as far as he could tell. She seemed distraught and slightly confused at what was going on around her. Sitting down in front of her cage the brothers sat side by side, however to the femme only one brute would be there. Theo decided to wait for the femme to acknowledge him, that way it would be easier to talk to her. That, and he still wasn’t in the mood for any serious talking.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Theo - #3366ff
Bren - #ffffff
OOC//In case you couldn't tell, Bren is a ghost so Lari won't be able to see or hear him.

[( whisper )]

She could see through the dim haze of dieing anesthetic that a brute had stopped in front of her cage. He seemed a bit familiar... The winged dog was something from her memory, but was it real? Or could the humans add things to your memory too? Everything was so confusing, and she was so scared. It was funny, she was afraid, mentally, but it was like fear itself was physically tackling her.

Then she knew. Empathy. Well, at least it wasn't something scary like seeing ghosts. The brute didn't say anything, but he caught her attention, moving her mind away from everthing, from the fear and confusion. Theo! He was Theo, the Paladin she'd met in the graveyard when some other daemon had burst in.

"Remember me?" she asked weakly, her voice barely more than a breath. It would be a miracle if he could hear her at all. "Theo..." Her voice faltered again before she could continue. "We met in the cemetary, remember?" The pain was subsiding. Rather, she was getting used to it, and the sharp spike in her head rounded to a dull throbbing. But wait... What was Theo doing in the labs again? He had wings when she first met him, so why was he in the labs? It didn't make sense, and Lari had no wish to think it through further. The last bit of anesthetic faded with a tingle, and she was on her own. God, she was so scared, so confused, and yet she knew what was happening. Empathy sucked, for her. It may not have been the most annoying power, surely Phantism was, but Lari became selfish in her misery, as if her cage forced her to focus only on herself.

"Help me, Theo," she pleaded.

OOC - I forgot that Theo and Lari had already met when we planned this! Lol.

[Evkav]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

** and maybe someday ,
WE'LL FIGURE ALL THIS OUT

Tilting his head to the side as the femme spoke a wave of realisation washed over him. “Lari,” he whispered, almost to himself. He remembered meeting her in Harthorn Cemetery only a month ago. However they had been interrupted by another daemon and all three had fled not long after that. He had never seen Lari after that but, now he would help her escape. When he had seen her before she had been so terrified of him, so terrified of daemons. And now to be one herself would be so difficult. She probably didn’t even believe it to be possible anyway. But he would help with that. He wasn’t exactly a touchy-feely sought of person but perhaps he could try just this once.

“I know, I know,” he whispered, bending down to take in her scent. It was definitely her but now it had been mixed with the familiar scent of daemon too. He had to try and figure out what her power was. She seemed to look uncomfortable and there weren’t any signs of any physical changes. She had no wings and her eyes were still the same. It must be something else. What other powers did he know of? There was telekinesis, pyrokinesis, enhanced senses, toxic fangs and claws, the stages of phantism and so many others. But still he couldn’t figure out what she had. This was going to be a difficult task, especially if she didn’t know much about daemons too.

As she spoke again Theo could sense the urgency in her voice. She really wanted to get out of there quickly. “What do you think?” he asked, turning to his brother and knowing it would look strange to the femme in the cage. “I reckon we bust her out first. Take her somewhere and help her figure things out. We can’t let a newbie run around town scaring everyone.” Nodding the shepherd turned back to the cage. “I’m gonna get you out. But you can’t go home until you know how to control your powers. You could have anything.” He tried to make his tone as reassuring as possible but it was hard. He had only ever broken one femme out and she had been given the same powers as him so she was easy enough to control.

Looking at the cage he noted that the lock was a simply key one. If he could get close enough he would be able to move all the bolts around and open it up. Signalling his brother to move out of the way he walked over to the lock. Bren meanwhile, waited patiently and watched his brother ‘do his thing’. Theo concentrated on the lock and watched as everything moved around, with his new power he could see a lot more clearly and he could also hear each of the little clicks the lock gave before it finally swung open. Using his telekinesis to open the cage door both himself and his ghost-brother stood back to let the femme out. Grinning all the while the brute felt a strange sense of accomplishment. It was good to know he could be helpful sometimes.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

[( whisper )]

He remembered! He knew, she wasn't crazy! The moment of rejoicing ended briefly, and the fear settled back in. He murmurmed a few other things out of Lari's range of hearing. It was comforting to see him again, in an odd sort of way. But it wasn't the time to ponder on it, surely the humans would find him missing from his cage and come after him. Theo turned and talked, but to who? Lari couldn't see anyone beside him, and he was too far form the other row of cages to be talking to them.

Suddenly the bolts from the lock on her cage clattered to the ground, making her jump. Telekinesis. As if the wings weren't frightening enough. But all she had to do now was push open the door and follow her rescuer. She nudged the door open with her nose, still laying down. It took all of her strength to stand, which was strange because she had nothing to weaken her, pardoning the aches of the smallish cage. She walked slowly, but with a spirit fueled by her longing to leave.

Lari touched her forehead to Theo's chest, mumbling a quiet thank you. To an onlooker, the gesture could have been confused with one of love, but there was really nothing in it except gratitude. "What now, Theo? Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Her promise was followed by several nods. They cleared the throbbing and buzzing in her head, and that made her nod far too many times. She stretched quickly, shaking off the dull pains of sleep and discomfort of the cage. She was ready now.

[Evkav]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

** and maybe someday ,
WE'LL FIGURE ALL THIS OUT

As the femme stood up Theo noticed her shakiness. Of course that would happen; she was simply scared, as all new daemons would be. It was perfectly fine to feel that way and he had no clue how long she had been in that cage for. It could have been days for all he knew. He surely had been in his cage over a day. At least, he thought he had. He did vaguely remember waking up before they started doing tests on him and then waking up many hours later, all the white coats gone and no clue as to what had really happened.

Lari walked out and gave the shepherd a gesture of thanks. “Looks like someone’s in love.” Bren mocked beside him. Growling Theo simply turned an evil glare upon his brother which made him frown in slight anger. As the femme continued to speak he wondered how he would handle this situation. He had to help her but, how? “What now brother?” he whispered into the darkness. “We have to take her somewhere else. Get her powers under control. Then you can take her home.” Nodding the younger dog shook himself out. This would be a hard task, even though it was late in the evening the white coats would still have people on guard.

All the other times he had escaped it had been through windows when he had used his wings. When he had helped Manarie she too had acquired wings so that was helpful. But now he had to find another way out. There had to be some way to get out without flying over the humans’ heads. Perhaps the tunnels would lead them to another exit. Or perhaps his brother knew about somewhere they could go. “Listen Lari, we need to get out of here fast. Usually I would fly out but that’s not an option. I need to get you out safely too.” Looking toward his brother he mouthed a few words. Bren nodded in response, it was a lucky thing he could lip read too. “I don’t have time to explain but it seems I have been given one of the stages of Phantism, second I think. My brother Bren is gonna lead us out through the tunnels. I need you to stay close. Are you okay with that?”

Theo had to make sure she was okay with the plan. His ears could pick up the scraping of boots on the concrete just outside the window in this room. Another few sounds echoed through the tunnels, but no other human sounds were around them. Looking up and out of the window he could see the man, a few metres away, pacing along outside. He seemed bored but, this wasn’t the time to think about what the white coats were feeling. His brother was starting to get restless beside him, not that he had anything to worry about. Ghosts couldn’t be captured by the labs and tested on. Theo and Lari, however, could. That meant they had to get out of there fast. The brothers turned their gaze on Lari, waiting for the answer that would decide each of their fates.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

[( whisper )]

Lari dipped her head as Theo growled. Oops. Maybe the embrace hadn't been such a good idea. He turned and asked his invisible brother somehting, but Lari was so confused she couldn't ask who he was speaking to. He quickly gave directions, but the strange part was that he needed to know if it was okay. Any escape route would have been okay at this point, and Lari was surprised he had to ask.

"Of course, whatever you say, Theo. You're the leader here, not me." She wanted to get out so badly it was emotionally painful just to stand there. She wanted to get moving. Once she answered him, she had a split second to ponder his words. Phantism? So that's who he was talking to. Bren. She almost gave a nod in the direction Theo was speaking to, but of course that would have been utterly stupid. Better just to ignore the ghost.

She knew that, after this, she'd never be able to think of Theo without feeling obliged to do something for him, but they'd have to safely get out before there could be any repayment. And she also knew that, if the Celes got into a battle with the Paladins, she'd have to make sure Theo didn't get hurt. The brute was her savior, after all.

[Evkav]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

** and maybe someday ,
WE'LL FIGURE ALL THIS OUT

Nodding once at the femme’s reply, Theo turned to his brother. “Lead the way,” he barked, now almost certain that they would get out safely. However he knew better than anyone that anything could happen in the labs. He still had a nasty scar down his hind leg from his last trip there. And now hopefully nothing that bad would happen again. Hopefully, both he and Lari would get out. Bren would certainly get out, he was just a ghost. And when they were pups Theo had hated his brother. But now, after all those years when one of them was dead, they were actually getting along. Maybe Bren had tried back then, tried to make the others include Theo but, it hadn’t worked. It was Gray, and Sharnie and Marth that had led him to running away, and it was Bren now who would help him escape.

The shepherd took off after his brother, hoping the femme was in pursuit. They had to get out of there safely. He could sense Lari’s paws falling and rising off the ground; could feel the vibrations and hear the dull thud of each step. She was behind them, good. After all this ended he would make sure Lari was alright. Shortly after he would make sure if Iris and the pack were alright, then finally he would go back out for Benji, with reinforcements hopefully. But he still couldn’t be one hundred per cent sure they would actually get out.

The corridors seemed to be in a maze-like formation. Every turn they took seemed to only confuse the brute more. Hopefully his brother knew what he was doing. “Nearly there,” he heard Bren mutter as they took another left hand turn. Theo cheated a bit and started a half flying – half running gait that seemed to enable him to take over his brother. However he did the smart thing and slowed himself down, letting his brother maintain the careful and precise lead he had over the other two. They were nearly there, that was good. But where exactly was there?

Finally as they rounded another corner a set of stairs led up to an open door. But waiting for them were three white coats, each armed with shock sticks. “This is gonna be fun,” he whispered, letting a low whistle creep through his teeth. Giving a snarl he moved backwards towards Lari. “Just keep close, I’ll deal with them.” Less than a second after he said it the middle man was out the door and sprawled on the floor, the shock stick sizzling against his neck. “One down, three to go,” Bren and Theo both chuckled at the same time.

Running up closer towards the men the shepherd growled and flashed his ivories at them. The man on the left was brave enough to hold out his shock stick towards the brute. In one swift movement the man’s stick was against the other man’s neck. Shaking, the man on the right fell to the ground. And that was when he heard it, the terrible sound of many pairs of shoes falling against the tiles. Becoming louder and louder, they were only seconds away. And then came the sound of a few more shoes, running along the grass outside, moving towards the dogs at a fast pace. By the sound of it there were roughly ten altogether, ten more humans than he wanted to deal with. He might not make it out this time, unless a miracle were to occur.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

[( whisper )]

(Sorry it's taken so long)

It took her a second, through the mental and physical pain she was feeling, to decide that Theo was talking to his ghost brother Bren when he asked him to lead the way. He took off, and Lari ran behind him. Usually she wouldn't be able to run after such a long legged dog, but she needed to get out the the hellhole the Labs were. So she ran, the last bit of energy she had pouring into her movement, as well as a bit of adrenaline from her natural fight or flight response. Now was completely flight time.

No. No no no NO NO NO NO! The humans were there, three, each with strangle looking sticks in their hands. She tensed, but kept trunning after Theo. Surely he knew what he was doing. The brute told her to stay close, and she sure as hell would if it meant getting out, no matter what the consequences. She closed the short distance between them, as close as she could without tripping Theo, or tripping over him. She was so focused on styaing close to him that she barely realized it when he pushed the men to the ground, using their sticks to hurt them. She thumped over the fallen man's back. triumph.

But the celebration was short lasted, Lari could smell the disgustign human scent and could hear feint thumping of human feet. They were coming. What to do? Theo could fly out, but he couldn't leave her! Her mind raced, but ultimatley she drew a blank. Theo couldn't possibly carry her, she was too big. Wasn't there another exit? Someplace there had to be one!

"We're in trouble Theo. Big trouble."

[Evkav]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

** and maybe someday ,
WE'LL FIGURE ALL THIS OUT

Nodding at the femme’s words, the brute turned his attention to the soft footfalls of the humans. They were nearly there. Three. Two. One. Shouting tore through the air as they turned the corner. Only three or four of them were armed with shock sticks but, a few others had tranquiliser guns. At least, he hoped for their sakes that they were tranquiliser guns. But his eyesight was brilliant now, hopefully that would aid him in avoiding their shots. He had to take care of Lari too; he promised himself he would get her out safely. Even if it meant he would stay behind. If that was the case he would ask her to send word to Iris, tell her he never stopped loving her, ever.

A snarl echoed through the halls and even Bren took up a defensive stance, even if he couldn’t exactly fight. The humans didn’t look too happy about being summoned to fight though, they looked more afraid than anything. Of course, who wouldn’t be afraid of two loose daemons; especially one that was there for his third time. As he looked each one over he faintly recognised the one closest to him. The man had light brown hair and was shaking all over. Of course! He was the white coat who had pressed the button last time when he was rescuing Manarie. But that wouldn’t happen today. Today he would make it out safely, hopefully.

Then, the man stepped forward. Raising his tranquiliser gun to his eyes he murmured a faint, “not this time.” It was so quiet that Theo barely picked it up; lucky he had this new power of his. A soft click sounded as the safety was switched off. Then, another click, this one much louder, came and the shepherd watched as the dart hurtled towards him. He barely had enough time to focus on it and get it to change course. It was brilliant having good eyesight and reflexes. Barely a second later the man was lying on the floor. “Woops,” Theo laughed sarcastically, turning his gaze on the other humans. There were still nine left and they were losing time. He had been out for days, too long to be away from Benji. He needed to get back out to the farm.

Bren walked up to his brother. “Now Theo. They’re stunned, go.” There was a clear urgency in his brother’s tone and Theo knew what he had to do. Running wouldn’t be good enough. Looking at the femme he sized her up. A tiny bit smaller than Delph, good. He had managed to carry Delph out of the junkyard on their raid when she was hurt. Lari was smaller and therefore lighter. She would be an easier load. “I need you to do something Lari. Trust me. Get on my back; I’ll fly you out of here.” A genuine look of kindness crossed his features. The humans would recover soon and by then they needed to be as far away as possible. But he certainly wasn’t leaving Lari behind.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

[( whisper )]

There was no time for Lari to be shocked when Theo knocked out one of the humans, and no time for questions. But getting on his back? Would she fit? Would she be safe? But there was no time for doubt, so on she went. She tried not to hurt her friend, but it was probably impossible. She scrmbled on quickly, keeping her center of gravity low so she could stay on. Lari was shaky, and she tried to keep it under control, but fear was pulsing through her. When she was a settled as possible, she whispered, "Fly Theo..."

The humans around them seemed scared of him, but with Lari they looked like they could eat her and spit her out again. They didn't care if the two lived or died, but Lari certainly did. Her mind flashed back to the Celes, Mercy, the alpha who had accepted her and her shy nature. Majora, who had been so rude when they first met. Zeh, the brute she'd just met but felt like she'd known forver. She had to get back to them. Get on with her life. Forget about the Labs. Keep going.

(Sorry it's so short, I have to go)

[Evkav]

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

** and maybe someday ,
WE'LL FIGURE ALL THIS OUT

Theo winced as the femme’s claws clung hard to his back. He hadn’t exactly carried anyone when they were conscious so he wasn’t used to that feeling. His muscles were still a little sore from being cramped inside that tiny cage for so many days. Despite the claws against his skin the femme was awfully light. She was looking quite skinny after her experiments and was starting to look more like a daemon too. She had the scared, slightly hostile expression on her features, as did he and they both stank of daemon too. The scent was very distinct and anyone could pick it up, it wasn’t exactly dog, more like something foreign and new, something no one had encountered before. Nothing like Iris, no, her scent gave a whole new meaning to the word. It was beautiful but, she wasn’t a daemon so her scent wasn’t contaminated by that weird gas. It was hard to explain, and if you were so used to it, it was even harder.

Folding his wings out he grinned at Lari’s words. “Hold on tight,” he whispered and then he was running. The shepherd brute went straight out the door and as soon as he felt grass he pushed off, his blue wings fanning out and beating down hard. It felt so good to feel the wind brush against him, making his eyes watery and flattening his ears against his skull. He hadn’t been out in days, not since his journey from the farm back to the church when they had caught him. It was the most amazing feeling. He didn’t stop to look for his brother; he knew that the ghost wouldn’t be too far behind him.

As the pair came towards the forest line at the edge of the city, just beyond the church and to the north of the farm he slowed and began his descent. It was a good place to practise, there weren’t many strays around and once he was done he would be close to the farm, that way he could fly back there and pick up Benji before heading on to Delph. That was, if he could find Benji and Delph. Black paws came into contact with the soft grass, just beyond the south border of the city, technically they weren’t in Harthorn and the white coats wouldn’t come here. For some reason they didn’t like what lay beyond the city, they were only concerned with Harthorn itself. Settling himself down he lowered his body to the ground and waited for the femme to climb off. It was time to get their powers under control.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

[( whisper )]

A whimper sqeaked out of her as Theo took off, and she started, sinking lower onto his back. What if she fell? But suddenly, as the white coats became smaller and smaller, she wasn't so afraid. Sure, it still ran inside her, a trickle of the worst feeling ever, but she felt free, and more in control now. She concentrated on Theo's back, not going to let herself get sucked into fear again. She couldn't be afraid of heights now that they had escaped. Thankfully, the ride was short. The brute landed on the ground with a slight dip, and Lari hopped off quickly. She didn't want to hurt him more than she had wiht her claws, and didn't want to add any more strain on his muscles by staying on longer than necessary.

They were free. "Theo, you did it! Oh, thank you so much, thank you thank you thank-" her cries of gratitude were cut short when she realized where they were. Or rather, where they were'nt. It wasn't the city. It wasn't even close. And it certainly wasn't the Celes. "Theo? where are we? I wanna go home," she whimpered.