The transition from the dry, desert heat, to the frigid snowy expanse of his domain was a steep one. It made the air burn as it entered his lungs, his fur bristle, and his gaze blue as his body struggled to register his surroundings with an almost groggy delay. A clatter marked his boot clad feet hitting to the plates of the teleport pad, but a chorus, marked his stumble down them.
His legs gave out beneath him, blue fur and hair tossed as he rolled down the ramp and into the snow with a sudden stop and heavy crunch. The air, silent, otherwise as even the soft fall of snow collecting upon him drifted lazily down from the clouded sky. His tears, though hot at first grew cold by the time they met his chin, and as he shivered not from the chill but something.. far more primal. The thick talons of his claws sank into the drifts as if, should his grip loosen, heād fall as if from some sheer cliff.
I was only being honest, they deserved to know, they needed to know. I had to tell them, so they could help me- Help-
The words drifted through his mind like a childās whisper, as no words could leave his mouth as he buried his face into the snow as if it would, somehow, wrap arms around him. But nothing came but the cold, the wet, and the silence that seemed to be almost deafening within his pinned back ears.
Iām scared, scared of losing everyone, scared of this word, scared of me. Iām tryingā¦ Iām tryingā¦ Iām keeping my promise, I have to keep my promise. I have to-Ā
It was a slow.. gradual return to awareness, though the warmth surrounding him served to further pull against his senses. It made him just want to roll over, as If it was all a dream heād drifted into too deeply, but as the events of it began to drift back to him.
The flickering, cryptic readoutās that had flooded the static of his slowly disabling HUD system. The warning text in vibrant red that marked the loss of control within his limbs, and the entire full body shutdown that followed. The impassive, steel grey eyes that stared back at him until the background shifted all around him. The faint glow of espernetics gone violent, wild, and uncontrolled, the scent of copper as skin tore beneath the desperate assault.
With a jolt the stalkerās form sat upright, and his hands curled within the bedding with a white-knuckled grip. His lungs burning as the air he breathed was pulled into them far too quickly, though even as all around him seemed.. calm. That did little to stop the trembling shivers that rippled over his tightened muscles. Nausea churned within his stomach, a mixture of adrenaline, remembrance, and fear.. had he lost his brother to madness entirely?
With a toss of the sheets the aurin turned to set his feet upon the floor, but when he rose to stand.. the bed was farther up then heād anticipated. The distance sent him stumbling, his feet and hands failing to catch him, and resulted in his head smacking into the wooden floor with a solidĀ āthumpā. A grumble slipped from his throat, frustration as it seemed heād taken some of the sheets with him. Though the problem was fixed easily enough with a few kicks of his legs, allowing him to finally pull himself to his feet with a visible tremble of strain within his limbs.
Only then did he realize just how... large, everything was. Had he been found by a granok? Where had Aiox disappeared to? Where was he? ...Where -was- he?
The questions swam within his mind as he swiveled his head to take in his surroundings, a bedroom undeniably. Bed to his left, grey sheets with two toned comforter of black and smoke grey. Nightstand with a lamp beside him, currently off and with a black silk shade. A half-moon desk with nothing on it and a chair to his right. Bookshelf against the wall to the northwest, and a door across from the bed leading directly west. but what caught his attention most, were the windows facing north and east on either side of the desks edge.
With a brisk pace he aimed to close the distance between himself and the chair, and with just a small bit of effort, crawled up onto it in order to part the still blackout curtains that currently blocked the view. As the light from behind them brightened, only to fade back to the normal muted hue he had expected to find a sunrise, or the passing lights of a grinder turning down a street. But what met his eyes instead.. was something unlike anything the stalker had ever seen before.
A full city, bustling and full of life laid itself out beneath him, the streets full of people, cars, and cycles going about their lives beneath a black sky that shimmered occasionally with pulses and blips of light. The buildings and roads illuminated in strips of white and cyan that seemed to form their outline and finer details. Beyond it though, the cities outer limits were even visible from the height he was within the skyscraper. A mountainous landscape, and open rolling hills that seemed to stretch out in all directions around the metropolis and seamlessly met itās borders.
āNot on Nexus..ā he spoke, as if his mind needed the extra verification.Ā āBut then-ā his finger less gloved hand slipped from the curtain and just from the corner of his peripheral, he spied something peculiar. His own arm. What was it that looked so strange..? As he brought it closer into his field of vision, he reached for his forearm to squeeze it. Toned. Firm. Small. That didnāt make any sense.. he even studied the glove, how the black leather flowed over the skin.. rightly as always. But as he curled his fingers inward to study how big his hand actually was, he wound himself wondering. Were his fingers always so.. short?
With a shake of his head, he forced himself to focus on what the gravity of the situation really was, but the shake only brought more of the rooms interior into focus. Such as the illuminated picture frames that seemed to cover almost every available shelf within the room, yet seemed so.. orderly placed. he recognized the faces: Himself and Aiox in a majority of them, Dansethil and Aiox in others, Luach and Jack in a few more.
As curiosity pulled at his mind the stalker found himself slipping from the chair and wandering closer with enough speed to leave the chair spinning in his wake. Digital frames? It seemed so given how the images hovered between thin, almost glass like borders. His brows knitted, his expression conflicted as it seemed that picking them up would be.. awkward. So instead he studied them with a soft gaze, specially at one that seemed to show the pair when they were younger. Children, sliding down a snowy hillside on makeshift planks of wood they used as snowboards. But.. how could these have been taken? Who was the cameraman? Try as he might.. he couldnāt remember.
A wince briefly traveled over his face as he felt the sensation that something had pricked him, causing him to rub his hand against the back of his head with the unfortunate effect of having his mane ruffle in all directions. Once that matter had been met, he started to consider survival equipment.. defense most importantly as it seemed his claws, and other tools were absent from his frame. Anything, just in case..
Looking around the neatly kept room once more, the frowned with a backward pin of his ears tight against the sides of his head. Not much had been left out, but as his gaze took in the walk in closet, his shoulders gave a soft bob before he walked on over to check out the interior. But what he found, seemed to offer only more confusion.
As neat as the rest of the room, it was all divided into cubbies and drawers of various lengths and widths. Shirts, neatly pressed and hung. Pants folded and tucked away. Even accessories were locate din the thinner drawers that displayed anything from watches, to belts, to menās jewelry. The sizes were off though, almost akin to the proportions one would expect of a human. Even the styles were varied, ranging from business casual, to suits, to wasteland scavenger apparel and even aviation uniforms.
A stalker? Was Aiox put up to this by force? Is that why? His thoughts faded into silence even as he became unsettled by it all. He looked over the belts for anything that looked heavy and strong, and once one had been plucked up he fastened it around his .. tiny ass waist. Which only seemed to further perturb him. Whatever body this was, it was becoming more, and more apparent that it wasnāt his own and the panic that bubbled within the back of his mind over that fact began to eat away at his calm. Taking up another belt he folded it within his grasp in layers over itself before walking out of the closet entirely. The only place he had left was the door, a possible exit but he was reluctant and not only because of the fear that crawled over his mind and sunk itās claws into his reasoning.
If he left the room, heād waste a chance to catch the person all together. A shaking hand lifted, aiming to rub over his brows and push the wild strands of ebon away from his eyes. He couldnāt stay, he couldnāt stay and he knew it. Thus, with a deep breath to steady himself, an attempt to regain his focus and composure he tried the doorknob. Which... opened easily with a silent, inward pull, allowing him a chance to peer beyond the crack into the next room.
āIām powerless in this worldā¦ Of course you donāt understandā¦ā
That feelingā¦ When you do everything you can to make things better only for it to not matter anymoreā¦ That feeling of dread that churns your stomach and the drained feeling that boils over your instincts that thereās danger around the cornerā¦
That feeling when you realize itās too littleā¦ and too lateā¦
Sifting through information left loose across the holonet is something akin to digging through a garbage binā¦If said garbage bin was approximately the size of a planet, anyhow. The wealth of information both useful and useless is so staggering that perhaps only those with an intimate understanding of the holonetās workings are best fit to sort through it all. The purposes, of course, vary.
However, there is something for everyone, one might say. Even if you are specialized.
And once in awhile, a talented individual can get into places they arenāt supposed to be, and find things they arenāt supposed to see. Be it text, photo, programs, or otherwise.
When this information is painted either red or blue, it becomes infinitely more valuable. War has a way of placing sums of coin on anything, as big as a head or small as a coin.
āEventually you reach the point in exploration, of innovation, imagination. If itās possible, if the power lies within your capability to accomplish. Why not? What exists to stop you?ā - Aiox Whisperwind
Feron and Aiox, two kits along the mountains of the north, the forest braced up against its side. The boys climb up high along the edges away from the villages with tanned leather strapped to the edges of strong planks of wood. They reach the ledge where the snow is the most fresh, the soft powder near melting along their fingers.
The two looked at each other, playful, excited anticipation on their faces. They both grab for their boards, tails flicking anxiously. Aiox was the first to go, jumping out to the snow and sitting his board under his feet, Feron close behind. They trail down the mountain side like soaring birds in flight, the chilled bite of the cold afternoon air sending their fur and skin on end with the feeling of absolute freedom.
Theyāre giggling, happier than theyāve ever been. Feron however lets out a bark, one of the predators along the mountain makes Aiox bare his teeth, a hissing trill hits his throat and Feron ducks down, increasing his speed to get ahead of his brother. Feron jumped, taking his board at the sides and rammed himself like a wrecking ball into the side of the four legged creature, toppling it over.
Feron laughed as he twirled on his board, leaving the creature startled, writhing, and pissed off. Aiox jumped over next and landed not far off, giggling along to meet Feron as they raced down the powdery wonderland. They bumped elbows triumphantly, the snow falling from the sky lazily as they slowed to disappear into the line of trees at the base of the mountain.
(( Rek might not be in the Finders, but I feel ever so loved that he was included in the image. Amo/Ranirus/Embersign does great work and everyone should follow her if they havenāt already. ))
Finderās Inc. Was going to be a fresh start for us you know? Take what we did, what we loved to the next level though it turned out to be so much more then just... business. Our family has grown, even if we donāt all get along at times. I just hope we have a future, because Iām not entirely sure what I want it to be.. just for us to have one. More adventures, more fun. You know?
