Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 18, 2010 15:05:32 GMT -5
Raisa's cat ears could hear the electrical sparks, her hollow bones could feel the current in the air. Could he not? Sometimes she wondered exactly how hyperactive her senses were. Regardless, she still felt as if she too had been electrocuted when she heard Hallow scream. She shuddered and shook herself, fur flattening and feathers ruffling. "Did you really not know what was going to happen when you did that?" She hissed.
"And don't patronize me about primitive. I'm half cat, half bird - I'm one hundred percent animal and a living oxymoron. Actions have nothing to do with primitivity, it's all about the strength of the person. If you choose to let yourself slip, you will. It's simple as that." She hooked the claws of her toes into the lengths of cloth Hallow had draped over her chair earlier and drew them to her, poking holes into them with her fingernails and threading them together. "Don't deny it, you know it's true. No matter who you are or what your powers, you control you. The only time you don't is when you've allowed yourself to fall victim to your own weakness."
There was truth in her words, though he was reluctant to admit it. Sometimes he did allow himself to fall prey to his primitive desires, and he was fully aware of this. He had never been taught control though, and had never bothered trying to learn. He actually kind of enjoyed being able to embrace that side of him that made him feel in-human. "I was aware of what would happened. I wanted to test how strong it was....and it was much stronger than I anticipated..." he commented, ignoring her other statements. He watched as Raisa began poking holes in the extra cloth he had left behind, then glanced at his own cloth "gloves", noticing how dirty they had already become. "You are part human aren't you?". The question was out of nowhere, but it was something he had noticed in talking with her. She did have some human qualities about her, and it would make sense in some things. He could vaguely recall her yelling not to harm the guards.
Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 18, 2010 15:28:19 GMT -5
At the mention of the word "human," Raisa bristled. Her claws inadvertently extrended simultaneously, mauling the fabric. Her ears flatted and her tail slashed like a snake, her feathers puffed. Her pupils became deadly slits and her eyes flicked to Hallow. "That, darling, is not any of your concern." She glared at him for a long moment, unblinking, unmoving in the way that cats do, before her birdishness overtook her and she twitched back to life. "But... yes. I am, if you must know." She said snippily as she rethreaded the cloth, masking the punctures. "My mother. She was part human." Raisa let her answer trail off, reluctant to give any more information.
Hallow smiled just slightly at his correct guess, though was also curious as it seemed he found a very touchy subject. For one so quick to see humans be protected, she sure didn't seem to like being part human. Nor did her reaction show the "control" she had spoken of earlier. This was a very interesting situation. He leaned back on his bed and shut eyes, still awake, but mind half-asleep. A way to calm himself and think clearer. "I'll make sure not to bring that subject up, then" he commented plainly. With finally some peace in his mind since he was first captured, he was able to regain some emotional control, allowing his wings to fade away, and his skin to lighten up a bit, to appear atleast a little closer to being human.
"You sure have quite the interesting personality, you do. So quick to ensure that harm does not fall on anyone. Yet you are one of the more restrained people here. How exactly did you end up with those wings tied up like that? Did you slap the wrong guard?" he asked, trying to be atleast mildly friendly. And it was true that there was the occasional winged beast that could roam free. They had ceilings for that, so they couldn't fly away. His own wings were useless for flying, though, something he greatly despised.
Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 18, 2010 16:25:30 GMT -5
Raisa tied off the ends of her creation in sharp movements, brows knitted together in frustration. She didn't like discussing her past. She didn't like thinking about it. And now, here was this newcomer acting like they were old friends and testing the limits of her temper. "Haven't I already told you not to be so rude about the accommodations here? It's not as if they were my choice!"
She spent the next few minutes in silence, taking different plush pillows from the next of them she'd created on her top bunk and sliding them into the pillowcase she'd made, trying to find one that fit. Satisfied, she tossed the pillow in the air, kicked it with a snap of her foot, and beat one wing. The pillow sailed on the current between the cells, over the electric floor, and onto his bed. A small comfort in his prison - her gesture of friendship. "I've never harmed anyone, I never will." She began, as if the conversation hadn't dropped off for several minutes. She folded her legs under her, resting her chin on her knees. "No one will believe that no matter how long I tell them or how perfectly I behave. But I was brought here..." she shook her head, her gaze faltering. "Never mind, it's messed up. Really messed up." She smiled wryly. "Not all of the hunters are the same. Some of them... it depends on who brings you in here. Some will let you work your way up the kiss-up chain. Others will have you treated like a mass murderer just for existing. I was one of the unfortunate ones, I guess." Her wings rattled against the chains. "I don't deserve these, in my opinion. But humans are strange like that. I'm part human; I have no powers. If they physically restrain me, I'm not going anywhere. My wings are the most sensitive part of my body. I can't try to break free without breaking them permanently. I'm trapped her, like my hunter wanted."
Raisa sighed and looked back at Hallow, all of the innocence and enthusiasm of a starling radiating under the mischevious glint of her cat eyes. "You know, no one comes down here at night. As you saw... I can't allow any harm to come to the human guards. They don't bother monitoring this hallway because I can't get out or let anyone in. That cell... it doesn't exactly look comfortable. I could get you out of there for a bit if you'd like. Can you jump about... say, eight feet?"
Hallow caught the pillow instinctively, almost unsure if he was truly looking at a pillow or not. But, it was quite real, and fluffy too. He couldn't help but smile at this small olive branch offering, as he carefully placed it at the head of his bed, positioning it just how he remembered his bed at home to be. It was a bit of happiness in this desolate, hopeless place. And it the gift had come from the strange girl, who motivations he still could not detect. As messed up as he was, he was always good at reading people, though he was unable to read her yet. He choose to allow the subject of restraints to drop, and instead branched off onto a different subject.
"Humans are funny that way. Each one is so very different from the other. Yet with almost ever other race I've met, they are all very similar in quality within the race. I imagine you have come from peaceful races, and perhaps that is why you wish not to harm anyone. I came from races where fighting was in their blood (or lack thereof). " He said, smiling as he remembered each and every member of his family that he was able to meet. He was very proud of his past and heritage. Raisa seemed to not be very proud of her own past, and perhaps this was why she wished to have as good of a life here as she could muster? But who was he to say, his life-style had always been different than others he had met. He was the odd one out, not her.
"You don't seem to lack powers, from my view. Those wings provide power, do they not? They seem capable of flight, which is as beautiful a power as any. Sure I could jump eight feet, rather easily, but I could never fly. My wings don't allow it" he said in a friendly tone, trying to cheer up Raisa as it seemed her mood was dipping. If she was going to be sad, he knew it would not be long till his emotions ran unchecked. But her offer to be free of the cell, if only for a little bit, was surprising. "Leaving the cell would be nice..." he admitted, a bit quietly.
Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 18, 2010 19:53:46 GMT -5
Raisa opened her mouth to protest that flying was not a power, but a skill; she had no supernatural powers like he did with his shadows. No telekinesis, no clairvoyance, no elemental control, nothing. But she figured that a conversation of that sort would only run them round in circles for the rest of the night. And though the night was young still, it could soon be over if they spent it bickering. Hallow could be free for the night, even if she could not. One of them deserved that liberty, at least.
"Alright, hold on..." She said, hoping off the bed post and hovering gently to the ground. "I can get you out of there, but you'll have to trust me and do what I say, no questions asked. Can you do that?" Rather than wait for an answer, she went to work. On the back wall of her cell was a very large metal plate to which the chains of her shackles were attached. She extended one claw to its fullest length and began to pick the locks next to each. With one cat ear pressed to the metal, both locks swung open in seconds and revealed cabinets behind them. She pulled the chains, and gold links from inside the walls began to pour out from within like a circus clown's trick, extending the length of her chains by about ten feet. "There's an Alchemist locked in here," she explained, "And he created some extra length of chain so that I could get out of my cell a bit; I was too scared to let him make it very long, though, in case the guards noticed. Still, it works perfectly for this exact purpose..."
Chain spread out, she walked to the very edge of Hallow's cell, feeling strange about being outside her own, even it if was only by a few feet. "Okay, now I can hover over your floor for a few moments. These shackles are incredibly painful, I can only get a few seconds of flight before I'll be forced to land." Raisa tugged on the chains to make sure they were fully extended, her hollowed bones giving her less physical strength than even a human would be capable of. When she was sure she could gain no more length, she turned back to Hallow. "When I'm above your floor, jump to me. It shouldn't be more than seven or eight feet. I can fly us both out of there. I've done it before with others. If you're touching someone who isn't harmed by electricity as severely as you are, you can pass through. It may still sting you a bit, but you'll be relatively unharmed."
Stretching her wings and wincing as the shackles clamped more tightly around her bones, she prepared for the painful flight. Taking a deep breath, she beat her wings once and was in the air. Instantly, she felt the chains' short length and fought to stay in the air. She just barely passed into Hallow's cell before she was certain she could go no further. The buzz of the electricity inches below rang in her ears and she felt her power of flight decreasing rapidly. "Now, Hallow!" She yelled, stretching her arms out to him.
Hallow had expected some intricately woven plan, of master intelligence and using hidden secrets, not a test of endurance and a risk of ones personal health. If he had known that Raisa was going to risk injury he would have objected to the plan rather than see freedom at her expense, but it was too late now, as the plan was already in action. She had given him no time to think, only to act. Oh man this is just too risky he thought as he eyed the electric floor and Raisa. He saw her enter the air, and was given no choice but to leap forward. He only wished it could have been done differently, but the electricity made that....difficult.
In an instant he felt his body softly collide with Raisa's, wrapping his arms around her without thinking as he felt them pass through the electric doorway. He felt the sting, and the energy passing through them, but not the immense pain he had felt earlier. He did not observe when they hit they ground, or when they actually exited the doorway and left the electric room, just that the only thing keeping him from the immense pain was by holding on to Raisa. At the moment he did not think much of it, just hoping her risky plan would not fail. Guards, he could handle, security systems were no problem, but this was just crazy. And yet he was still going along with it.
(didn't want to control your character, so i left it open)
Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 18, 2010 20:27:23 GMT -5
Had he waited a half second longer, Raisa would not have been able to withstand the crushing force of the shackles as her wings tore in opposition of them. But just as she felt her wings giving out, Hallow collided with her. She held on to him as tightly as she could, and the force of his impact was enough to send her incredibly light weight body shooting backwards. She felt herself hit the marble floors and skid to a halt, the bones of her wings feeling scratched and bruised. Raisa lay panting for a long moment, more from pain than breathlessness, trying to stop the throbbing from stinging tears into her eyes.
After a long moment, she realized she was still clutching Hallow, who was still flat against her, on top of her, and they were both sprawled in the middle of the hallway. She was again infinitely glad that guards never patrolled her corridor, thought slightly embarrassed that it had taken her so long to realize their position, tangled in a mess of feathers and chains. More than slightly embarrassed, actually. She began to gently remove her hold from Hallow, eyes wide, holding her breath. He was close enough that she couldn't tell whose entangled limb was whose, where one chain knotted and the over wove through, or even, from how tightly he held her down, which hammering heart beat belonged to her.
Hallow did not feel much pain from hitting the floor, after all a lack of blood prevented bruising (a quality he enjoyed greatly), but the sound of panting and a rapid heart-beat told him that someone was feeling pain. His mind slowly returned to reality as he realized that Raisa must be feeling great pain after that collision, and the struggle on her wings. Though, it still took him a moment to catch his own breath. Hitting the marble floor seemed to knock the wind out of his chest. But it wasn't until she began releasing her grip on him that Hallow realized that he was currently lay flat ontop of her.
Another quality he loved about having no blood? He was incapable of showing embarrassment. For, if he could show it, his cheeks would be bright red. He laughed nervously, and rather than speak he simply slowly released his grip and attempted to push himself up. But, he found himself halted by Raisa's tangled mess of chains. He definantly did not want to tug on the chains, would could give her further pain after her hitting the floor, and with how he was already positioned, it was very difficult to simply maneuver his way out. "Um, I believe we have a slight problem" he said a bit quietly, unable to find the words to speak further.
Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 18, 2010 20:52:21 GMT -5
((Your last post is infinitely more amusing when it goes along with the texts we're sending right now... ;D))
Raisa felt him try to move, but the pain was too great for her to even scream. She had to force her claws to retract to keep from sinking them into his flesh and felt her fangs bite down hard in agony. As soon as he stopped moving, though, the pain dramatically reduced and she felt significantly better. Raisa rested her head on the cold marble, recovering from even the small movements he had made. How they'd even gotten this tangled was beyond her; he must have hit her with much more force than anyone else had.
His comment could have made her laugh, if she hadn't had her ribs compressed by him. "You think?" she said with mild sarcasm, more so to cover her own embarrassment than anything else. "I said jump, Hal, now tackle." She tried to lift her head to assess how detangling might to accomplished. The sight made her eyes widen and forced her head back down again to stare at the ceiling. She became suddenly aware that while he didn't seem flustered, his body was rigid - was he uncomfortable too? She thought for a moment, then realized he must be, if he hadn't already come to the conclusion she had. "Can't you just... that shadow thing?"
Hallow positioned himself in such a way that he was not pressing against Raisa and her chains were not being tugged to their full extent, though it was rather difficult considered it twisted his muscles in strange ways. But he did not want to cause her further harm, and he did not wish to cause himself any...mental discomfort. "I wish I could, but the electricity leaves me unable to become a shadow for a bit of time. Those guards Know their stuff, they picked just the right voltage to piss me off..." he said, adding the last part as a bit of light humor in the midst of their situation. He tried his best not to move, though it was becoming increasingly difficult.
"So, unless you can see a way out from your angle, we will have to remain like this until my powers return....atleast we can talk face to face, eh?" he joked with a nervous laugh. He couldn't think of what else to say. The situation they were in was simply to strange and...awkward. He kept his mind from wandering by simply tapping his fingers on the ground, the most he could do at this moment. "And sorry for tackling you, but at that moment I was a bit fearful of the electricity and the moment passed quickly..." He added finally. He was sorry, but there was no way they would have made it out if he had simply jumped. It would have been too slow, he could have missed, anything. Or, atleast thats what he told himself
Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 18, 2010 21:28:29 GMT -5
The metal was scraping against her bones now where the feathers had pulled away. Her bones were hollow to allow her to fly; much more of this and the metal would shatter them. Or Hallow would crack her ribs. Whichever came first. Or she could come up with another option... though thinking in their current state was becoming increasingly difficult. She could think very clearly about his weight pressed against her, or every inch of them that touched, or the rhythm of his heart, or the strangely calming coolness of his skin, but nothing to save her from breaking herself piece by piece.
"Okay... okay." She said, trying to thin aloud and hoping that would prove more effective. "The shackles can't come off; they were welded around my bones. My very fragile bones, which you and the chains are crushing. Please stop moving so much, you'll crack them faster. So, we either wait until your powers return and then find a way to mend all of the parts of me which by that point will undoubtedly be damaged in some way, or we figure out some way to get out of this..." Raisa tested flexing her wings to see if the chains would budge. Not only did she accomplish nothing, but also shot a new wave of pain through her body. She bit her lip in agony and frustration.
Wasn't there some way he could shift to hold himself off of her? Was there enough slack in the chains for that? "What do we do now?" She asked mainly to herself, now starting to panic slightly. She felt idiotically like the heroine of a chick flick rerun played in the common room, held down by Mr. Handsome at the climax of the movie - only her situation was despairingly different. There was no happily ever after awaiting her, and Hallow was certainly not the man of her dreams. What had begun as a good-hearted attempt to help her sort-of cellmate had ended in disaster. "What do we do? What if your powers don't return in time? What if the guards find us? What if we're caught?" She was rambling now, more out of fear than anything else. "Oh, what if you get in trouble? And it would all by my fault - I'm so sorry Hallow, I was only trying to help. I can't believe what a mess this has become, I just thought I could get you out the same way I'd done for others. This has never happened before. I'm so sorry..."
Hallow knew one way to get out of this, though he was hesitant to try it again. But, he definitely did not want to see Raisa in pain like this, or blaming herself for "getting him in trouble", like it mattered anyway. So what was a little pain if it meant being free of these tangled chains? He didn't mind the occasional amount of pain. And he could mend whatever went to far during the plan. He sighed and smiled slightly to himself, shaking his head. "Stop worrying, Raisa, its not like they can do anything more to me than they already have. Besides, I have a plan....just sit still" he said with a mild wink. He didn't bother explaining the plan, he was aware that she would probably protest.
Taking a deep a breath, he clenched all his muscles tightly and thought through which ones he would have to push past their limits. He eyed where the holes in the chains were, and then finally decided on a way out. With a grunt, Hallow contracted his shoulder muscles tightly, and with the help of his arm he quickly dislocated his shoulder. Then, maneuvering a little now towards the thin hole, he did the same with his opposite leg and dislocated it, now balanced on only one arm and one leg. Then, in one fluid movement he pressed off the ground with his leg, snapped his other shoulder and folded it in slightly, and fell through the opening in the chains without touching a single one, each limb barely making it through.
He lay there sprawled on the ground, but free of the entrapment. He could feel the pain, but he was infact used to it, and none of the damage was permanent. The last part required only a little help from Raisa. "There, that wasn't so hard. I just need to borrow a tiny amount of blood now so I can heal myself..." he admitted, wondering if she'd actually allow him anywhere near her neck.
Post by Raisa ana'Marianna on Oct 19, 2010 14:43:56 GMT -5
Raisa heard the cracks and the snaps, and her ears dropped, plastering themselves against her head to block out the sickening noise. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep her body rigid, or relaxed, or somehow out of pain. She wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but whatever it was, it was working. In under a minute, he was out of the way and she was that much closer to being out of the mess they'd created. Chains sagged where moment ago they'd been constricting. The shackles loosened. Her bones stopped buckling. She could breathe.
For a long moment, she lay on the cold marble floor, just relishing in the feeling of nothing. Raisa vaguely heard what Hallow said, something about needing her help in healing himself, and was too dazed from the sudden release of pain to care. "Sure, Hal, whatever you need." she said softly. Then, it clicked. Her eyes shot open and flicked to him. "Hold on, you need me to what?"