Impact: Chapter 1

[Shin]

"It's just me here! I'm not seriously injured..."

He soon got to where the voice was coming from. It was a young man. He looked a little shady with all the tattoos on his arms, but that was the last thing to worry about. It was good to find somebody else alive, with a bit of luck, he'd want to help out too.

"Hello there, I'm Alan Gallagher. It's good to see someone else pulled through this mess. It looks like the entire fortress came crashing down, a lot of people have been killed. How are you fairing? I guess I got lucky, I've got nothing more than a sore back."

He extended his hand, the man in front of him may have looked a little rough, but that was no excuse to be rude.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Folgore Red

[Caliban of Sycorax]

"Hello there, I'm Alan Gallagher. It's good to see someone else pulled through this mess. It looks like the entire fortress came crashing down, a lot of people have been killed. How are you fairing? I guess I got lucky, I've got nothing more than a sore back."

Caliban was weary of the stranger at first--he looked older, and definitely was shocked at Caliban's appearance. After all, he was heavily tattooed and mohawked. Nonetheless, Caliban reciprocated the man's handshake. It seemed they would be helping each other survive, and so he figured it would work best if he stayed around.

"Caliban Quinn," he replied, "It's a pleasure. Unfortunately our circumstances seem to be working against us."

He looked the man over--he definitely was older, but he seemed to be faring well. Caliban gave the man credit. He was sure the old man was one of the few survivors his age, if any. "I've just got a cut on my head but that's being handled," he pointed to the cloth which had a blood spot on it, "otherwise I'm also a little sore but nothing that can't be walked off."

[ReformBlade]

An entirely valid question hit Janson's ears, but he was more shocked by the loud sound and the explosion of bodily fluid and brains. Was that a gun?! But... It didn't shoot energy, what the hell? The body twitched and Janson immediately panicked, bringing his rock right down on the humanoid thing multiple times as he yelled in a rather surprised manner. Panting, Janson looked at the mess thatw as the creature, noting that it was indeed wearing clothes, like a person would. "Was that... someone from the fortress? Yes, it had to be..." More to himself than anything.

"Hey, are you ok?" The pain in Janson's arm didn't bother him, though when he tried to move it the pain shot through him. He looked it over and made note of the teeth marks, cringing at the size of them. But at the same time it seemed to calm him down, his grimace turning to a mere look of concern now. "I'm Janson... I don't know who you are but thanks for saving me there I guess... though it seemed to want you more. Either way, where did you get that? It's like no gun I've seen these days. Is it an antique or something?"

[Shin]

"Caliban Quinn... It's a pleasure. Unfortunately our circumstances seem to be working against us."

He seemed pleasant enough, his work had taught him not to judge one's character by their appearance.

"Good to see that you're not too roughed up. I'm guessing you haven't run into anyone else then? Caliban, how'd you feel about teaming up with this old timer? I'd like to think there are people still out there, and I'm guessing they could do with a hand... I'm also worried about my family."

It was quite a request. There was also the matter of surviving, Alan would have understood if he wanted to go off on his own.

"Nobody seems to alive around here, part of me's thinking that they've all head into the foliage... there's something else that's been bothering me. I saw a strange girl covered in flowers, unfortunately she was dead when I found her. I used to be a surgeon, but I've never seen anything like it before... could it be because of the crash... but it doesn't make any sense."

It was strange, but he'd have to put it to the back of his mind for now.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Folgore Red

[roymbrog]

Chanji woke to the sound of a gunshot. She tumbled out of Cyrus's arms as she realized someone was carrying her. “Who are you?” Wait, he was the doctor Dustin was talking about, wasn't he... “Nevermind. What was that noise?” She turned her head to try and pinpoint the location, but her view was blocked by an outcropping of rocks. Were there more strange people over there? The voices drifting over made that a likely yes. She sure as hell wasn't going over there to find out for sure, though.

[Nanami Touko]

*BANG*

A bang blasted through the air, causing Dustin to cringe for a second. If anyone didn't know there were people here, they do now. "Selena, let's go." He pushed his way past a bit more growth, his leg still hurting, but not enough to stop him. He had to find out what had happened. There was only one scream, and now that bang? What the hell had happened? He, of course, had only ever heard energy weapons. He thought about whether or not this could've been one of the old guns that an ancient history class had covered, but he didn't get much time to think on it. He emerged into a clearing, a man holding what looked to be a gun laying on the ground, and another man near him... and the bloody mess of some sort of creature. "This... this seems oddly familiar." He spoke aloud again, a bit less worried than his previous encounter. He called over, "you two alright?"

[Eail]

The girl had woken up and fallen out of his arms, stopping and making sure she was okay Cyrus answered her questions "Name is Cyrus. I'm pretty sure that was a gunshot, we heard yelling a little bit ago and the other's left to check it out. I didn't want us to split up but I wasn't going to leave you either."

Putting out his hand to help her up he asked "Can you walk or do you need help? We need to keep moving so I'll give you a piggy back ride if need be."

Edited July 11, 2012 by Eail

[roymbrog]

“Gunshot..?” Chanji repeated, questioningly. Those things still existed? “Um, I'm fine,” she said, taking his hand to stand. “I'll... I'll just follow you, then.”

[Eail]

"Right then, let's go." And thus the twosome continued on their way to the series of loud noises.

Coming upon the scene Cyrus saw two men one with a handgun lying on the ground and another nearby. And what seemed to be another one of those animal people. Going into work mode yet again Cyrus asked "Either of you two hurt? I can probably treat any wounds you have."

[roymbrog]

Chanji hung back a few feet in the bush, not at all eager to approach those ahead. There was the bloody corpse of some animal hybrid like she'd been a while ago, and they'd killed it... No, she wasn't eager to approach them at all.

[Ether]

It seems the conflict was already over when she and Dustin arrived. A dead beastman, an injured man, and another man... holding a primitive gun, the barrel still smoking. Dustin took a step towards them and called out.

"Rookie mistake." She said to him in a quiet tone, as she reached out to her companion and pulled him behind her, erecting a shield of her hand.

"What's going on here?" Selena began, before Cyrus appeared from another opening and approached them.

'So much for keeping on the defensive... he's dead if that guy shoots that gun...'

[ReformBlade]

Suddenly there were others. Survivors? I hope they're not as dangerous as this... thing. "Yes, I'm very injured. My arm isn't a natural red shade like that..." He inhaled as he jostled his arm about, pain coursing through him again. Of course, it didn't seem to hurt nearly as much as it did a moment ago. And again, the cuts and bruises were gone from earlier. And then some pretty redhead got really defensive with her... hands? "Um... I literally heard someone crying out and then I found him, and then th-this THING just... assaulted me, and then it tried to get him and he shot it..." Gulping, Janson left out the part where the thing seemed to talk to him rather coherently. "And... I hate to say it, but that monster there might have been a survivor... But God dammit, he attacked first!" Getting defensive really quickly, Janson merely held his arm and scowled at the woman.

Edited July 12, 2012 by RainbowKitty

[Nanami Touko]

"Rookie mistake." "A rookie wh-- ahh!" She grabbed him behind her, putting up her shield hands again. I'll never get used to seeing that... "Hey, come on, they look hurt. I doubt they're going to attack us." He didn't get time to argue with Selena, as the man explained himself. He was pretty shaken up. And it showed. Dustin began to wonder if he really would've tried to attack them. Maybe to save himself? He would've been able to see that we're... not like that monster. No way. "And... I hate to say it, but that monster there might have been a survivor... But God dammit, he attacked first!" "Hey, hey..." he walked out from behind Selena's shield, not wanting to make it seem like they were afraid of him, "we're just as worried as you are about all this, alright? We know you wouldn't have attacked that if they didn't attack you first. Let's just talk about this, okay? You look pretty banged up. Cyrus can take a look at you, he's a doctor. Sound good?" He gave the man a smile, hoping this situation would go smoothly. Dustin didn't want any of the survivors fighting amongst themselves.

Edited July 12, 2012 by seph1212

[Sakusa]

Kayla woke up to a loud "BANG!" The last things she remembered were the chaos that came with the falling fortress and the lifeless, crumpled bodies of her parents impaled upon shrapnel. Her eyes fluttered open and slowly adjusted to her immediate surroundings. She had never seen so much green or so many bodies in her life; the sight of it was dizzying. The girl heaved a sigh as she hoisted herself to a sitting position with difficulty. Her entire body was awash with a tingling sensation and general aching from her fall. She held her breath as she picked a sizable shard of glass from her knee gingerly and winced. "I wish Grandpa were here right now... he'd know just what to do," she thought to herself ruefully, "I hope he's okay..." With even more difficulty, Kayla forced herself to stand and attempted to take off her beaten-up trenchcoat to search her body for more wounds that needed immediate attention. Unfortunately, her left arm didn't feel like cooperating and a jolt of pain shot through her body, forcing her to instinctively grab her left arm with her right and taking a knee... onto a sharp piece of metal and jamming it into the already wounded flesh. Somehow, she found her voice and screamed. "Oh my gosh this hurts so much I can't believe how stupid I am I wanna go home now now now now nooooooooooow!"

[Eail]

'This guy is acting pretty hostile, he thinks of us as a threat. I wonder if Chanji would be up to this.......'

Turning his head Cyrus began to whisper to the girl behind him "Chanji, I'm gonna distract these guys. If you think you can do it, I want you to grab the gun that's on the ground there. I don't think these guys can be trusted just yet."

Walking forward Cyrus pulled out his dwindling supplies of gauze and disinfectant he began to try to fix the blue haired guy's arm. He was tempted to try whatever he did on Selena, but thought better of it considering how much energy that took out of him. Trying to make conversation as a distraction he asked "So what's your story? Fell out of the fortress like the rest of us?"

[roymbrog]

“What?! But I can't...” she trailed off as the man walked further away. No use alerting the others to her presence. What was she supposed to do? She didn't even know that much about guns. Was it dangerous to pick up? She took a few cautious steps forward, then when she was sure no one was paying attention, started towards the fallen weapon.

[CT075]

If it weren't for the movement out of the corner of his eye, Marcus would never have noticed the newcomers. It seemed that his newfound extreme hearing had blown itself out, aside from a bit of a throbbing in both ears.

Marcus figured it was a better idea to drop the gun, as there was this one girl getting very skittish with what seemed to be metal grafted onto her wrists. He did so immediately, but not before realizing that the piece of metal was a different kind than the energy weapons used on the fortress.

It must be one of those old projectile weapons that history class talked about...

Before anyone could try talking to him, the boy gestured towards his ears before backing off a ways and sitting down. Upon closer examination, Marcus became aware of several nasty bruises and several cuts, but nothing life-threatening.

Interesting.

Just as he made this observation, though, he felt what seemed to be a loud pop and suddenly his hearing was back.

Which, of course, meant that everything was once again painfully loud. Clapping his hands over his ears again and wincing, Marcus retreated a bit further.

"Would any of you happen to have earplugs? Something happened on that ship and now everything seems about fifty times louder to me..."

Edited July 12, 2012 by Camtech

[ReformBlade]

"Hey hey HEY, Step off!" Janson pushed the man away, quite a bit pissed at the moment. "Don't touch me, ok?! I've just been assaulted by some bastardized human being who called me skin and bones, I'm freaking the fuck out here!" Feeling in his arm seemed to come back as he raised his previously limp arm. "I don't know who you are so don't start touching me! Did you see even half the shit that went down up there? God has forsaken us! For lack of a better term, I'd call this hell on earth, in every sense of the word! I don't know you, you don't know me. And maybe I'm overreacting but goddammit I can't tell up from DOWN right now! How the fuck are you so CALM?!" Red in the face, Janson didn't remember Marcus until he spoke up. "Oh... shit, I'm sorry... Look, everyone. I don't know what happened to him but keep your voice down. For him and for your own lives. That thing... I don't know if it heard us... or smelled us... or... I don't know. But what I do know is that I have no clue if there's more of them or worse, something even more dangerous than that thing... If you think it's crazy looking right now, that thing was unnatural in motion. Just give us some space here."

[roymbrog]

Scary guy was yelling, other guy had hearing problems... Yeah, best to get out of there. Close enough to the weapon to pick it up, Chanji grabbed it and attempted to back discreetly towards the bushes. She didn't know what was going on with herself, much less the others, and the man yelling wasn't helping matters. It was all she could do to not run screaming.

[Eail]

"You wanna know the reason I'm so calm? Really!? Because if I lose my shit in a bad time even more people are going to die! I have to stay calm and concentrate on trying to help those I can before they wind up dead like so many others. I'd like to be freaking out right now, but I can't!" Cyrus fumed at the guy before him before fishing out some bandages from his kit at tossing them to him "You can help yourself now for all I care." He said as he made his way back to where Chanji was standing.

Noticing she had the gun in her hands he gave a nod "Nice job getting that thing, no telling what these guys might try to do. Want me to take it or would you rather hold onto it?"

Edited July 12, 2012 by Eail

[roymbrog]

Chanji froze. Here she was trying to be discreet, and he just brought attention to her. She instinctively hid the gun behind her back, before realizing that probably drew even more attention to it. She wanted to cry again. They were going to kill her too, weren't they? Any threatening moves and she was going to make a break for it. She was trembling terribly already.

[Ether]

This was going absolutely nowhere, with Cyrus having approached the man who had been attacked, and offering to heal him... it didn't go over well, to say the least, with the other man pushing the doctor away, and giving some speech about how Earth was Hell, and how everything was exploding into an insane mess.

Selena dropped down from where she was, moving towards the duo until she reached Cyrus, who began fuming back at the man, yelling about how he was staying calm... he was losing his calm now, though.

'... what to do in this sort of situation...?'

It was instinctual... ever since that shockwave, her instincts seemed sharper, Selena noted silently to herself, before she pulled her hand back, and smacked Cyrus hard across the face as the man began to turn. Looking at her hand, she realized with slight chagrin that it had hardened into a metallic state... she hadn't heard anything break, so he should be fine... but he would certainly be feeling it for a little while. Turining towards the man who's name she was not quite sure of, Selena began to speak.

"And what are we supposed to do with two mostly healthy survivors then, huh? Just leave them to die? Like hell I'm going to let that happen just because of some stupid man's foolish pride! We leave you on your own, and what if you get attacked again? What if he gets jumped, and you don't have the gun, what are you gonna do alone aside from watch him die?" Selena demanded from the man, her anger fuming. Her hand extended into a blade again, which she held at her side.

"If we want to survive, we need to stick together. Don't give me this give me some space bullshit, you think what you went through was worse than anyone else? I killed my best friend with my own hands because if I didn't, he would have torn me apart and devoured me on the spot! Those of us who can still think have to help eachother, or there won't be any of us left at all! Is that what you want?!" Selena continued, advancing closer towards the man.

"Do we understand eachother?"

Edited July 12, 2012 by Ether

[Nanami Touko]

Dustin started crying a bit, falling to the ground. The weight of what Selena had said finally struck something in his head. "Everyone's seriously dead, aren't they? They're all... dead." There was a tree behind him, so he leaned up against it and wiped whatever tears were left from his eyes. The gravity of the situation was a bit too much for him, and he couldn't think of anything else to say. She had said it all. We really are alone now. Jesus, how could I have been so calm all this time? Acting like a few words would make everyone feel so much better... "Does... does anyone have a pen? A pencil?" It was a weird request, but he wanted to write. It calmed him down.

Edited July 12, 2012 by seph1212

[Eail]

Just as he had finished talking to Chanji and noticed how distressed she was Cyrus was about to attempt to console her. When he suddenly felt something like a steel rod impacting his face and sending him to the ground. Clutching his head in pain Cyrus looked up to see that it was Selena that had hit him, not the other guys. "What the fuck was that for?!" He asked as she started her little speech

Still holding onto his head Cyrus got onto his feet "See this is exactly what I meant too! The second I start to loose it things went bad, I can't afford to freak out or else someone is gonna die!" Fishing out his pack of smokes once again Cyrus withdrew one of his death sticks and started his flame, not even feeling it due to his anger and frustration at the situation. "Are you two going to be able to calm the fuck down and work with us? Because if not then you might as well kiss your asses goodbye. I don't plan on dying anytime soon, and these three aren't going to either if I have any say in it."

[ReformBlade]

"I didn't say leave us to die, god dammit. But you're setting a terrible example if you're trying to spout 'Oh we should stick together' when you've apparently got some clearly scared child stealing the only weapon we've found!" Janson pointed at Chanji who was trembling. "If you really wanted to try and stick together you'd have TALKED first. You know, like a normal human being! But apparently you're NOT normal... Hell, I give up on that, maybe we're all already dead, and now we're in some retarded self examination test, to see who is fit for some stupid prize!" The man smiled a little, "And really, you think the whole goddamn world's order rests on your shoulders? Grow up. Smoke your stupid cigar and stay where you are. You come at me again I'm not afraid to deck you in the jaw..." All this excitement... Janson was feeling great, The adrenaline, the rush, it was making him feel really good... He hardly felt the pain on his arm now, and giving himself a look at the arm, he was thoroughly freaking out since the puncture wounds were so small now. "What...? I swear I was just bit... What the hell is this?! What did you DO to me?!" He pointed accusingly at Cyrus.