Post by SASCHA DESRAKAHL on Jul 1, 2013 11:33:21 GMT -5
Sascha had stumbled across the Titicus Reservoir soon after he found himself settled at the institute. Lancaster had quite a few trees interspersed between farmland, but nothing compared to the condensed volume found on the reservoir. A soft breeze would thread through the trees, bringing the faint scent of water from underneath the pine and spruce. The sun’s rays would dapple the ground, giving fickle warmth to the earth. He still could not yet pick out all the scents that made up the forest, the diversity of wildlife and plant growth by far more brilliant than anything else in his reach. It reminded him of home, sometimes, when a songbird would sing a tune he heard often growing up.
That particular day found him away from the institute, resting against an old red maple. An eastward bound breeze was blowing off the lake in the reservoir, rustling the leaves around him and cooling the forest off. Even in the shade it was refreshing, although it brought hints of chilly days ahead.
A tawny bird of some sort – perhaps a thrush or a sparrow had landed on a lower branch, twittering and eyeing him curiously. The scent drifted towards him, and while it did not smell like chicken – despite what some people would say, it carried the characteristic taint of poultry. The wind picked up again, and on it, the heralding of another human in the vicinity. A light, soft giggle came from the girl, who judging by the scent and sound, was coming closer. Footsteps rustled the genesis of foliage cloaking the earth. Turning away from the bird, he scanned the area, finding her quickly.
Visitors in that particular stretch of forest were less common. The path was slightly overgrown and while it took time and patience for him to reach it, the effort was generally rewarded with peace from the influence of others. It appeared today was not one where he would be rewarded peace, however. The girl was obviously heading towards him, and as she approached he took the time to analyze what he was dealing with, regardless of the fact that he was probably staring rather rudely.
She was alone, approaching him as one solitary figure to another. It put him to ease ever so slightly; one is less threatening than a gaggle of teens. Her scent came untainted, completely human and it said more than anything ‘trust me.’ It was relaxing, like coming home after a long day, familiar yet foreign. As the distance gave way to clarity, he could make out her features more clearly. Everything, from her hair to her skin to her clothes spoke of sensible care, however there was something about her that felt off, and no matter how hard he tried to place it, it eluded him. Her gait was leisurely, but covered ground with her long legs. She flashed a smile and waved at him, lighting up her face. Sascha briefly wondered if she was doing it on purpose, and dismissed the abnormality from his mind.
Despite his less than positive reaction to her approach, she flopped onto the ground next to him, making it look much more graceful than it really should have. She was close, closer than most strangers stayed, but he found he didn’t mind. Her scent prevailed in their surroundings, gently invading his mind. He thought he caught the undertone aroma of pawpaw, a wild fruit tree that would grow near his house in Lancaster.
“Heya! I’m Emily.”
She didn’t extend a hand to shake when she introduced herself, but her voice was warm enough for her casual introduction. Her light, almost bouncy, carefree attitude was surprisingly infectious, and the albino found himself smiling back.
“Sascha.”
While still not prone to long introductions, his voice was more relaxed than usual. She beamed, made no comment about his less common name, and proceeded to chatter away. She would often ask questions, varied in their subject but nothing too personal. Sascha found himself participating in the conversation, befuddled by the attention but relaxed none the less. She was charming, to his surprise, enough for him to allow her to pull him off the ground to walk through the forest. He didn’t have the faintest clue why she had decided to approach him, but she kept surprisingly good company and he followed her willingly and without thought.
They ambled under the cover of the trees for some time, talking about this and that for some time. It had been awhile since Sascha had enjoyed conversing that much, and when they came to the edge of the trees, he was hesitant to stop. However, it was more than a small glade, and it appeared as though the girl, Emily, planned on wandering further into the open sun. Her next words confirmed his suspicions.
“Hey, this looks like a nice place to rest!”
She said it with enthusiasm, and only memories of painful, burned skin stopped him from following her.
“I’d rather stay out of the sun…”
He trailed off, not wishing to offend, but at the same time unwilling to voluntarily become sunburned. She smiled brightly again, as if to convince him that it was alright.
“But you’ll need to get used to it.”
The odd statement confused the albino, not adding up to what she had portrayed so far. It seemed like a naïve and simple idea, yet it also sounded slightly assuming, as if she thought he planned to suddenly spend extended periods of time out in the sun. His silence and quizzical stare were apparently enough for her to grasp that he was confused, so she continued.
“You know, once you and your kind are burning in the fires of Hell.”
At this, any relaxation drained from Sascha’s body. While the girl in front of him had never shown any signs of aggression previously, the statement projected serious malicious intent. The wind blew at that moment, but what should have been a tonic, if not intoxicating scent was no longer noticeable among the scents of sun baked earth and forest life. Her presence brought a sense of hostility, and the nagging thought of something wrong was present at the fore of his mind before he realized what it was. No aura. She looked the equivalent of an emotional ice block, despite the convincing smile still stretched on her face.
Even though Sascha was still relatively new to his mutation, he found himself berating himself for not noticing something like that. Movement from ‘Emily’ brought his attention back to her, and he involuntarily took a step back as she shivered. Skin broke and folded in, revealing shining metal as she grew in size and mass. Whirring fans hummed inside gleaming metal, scarcely making a noise over the beating of his own heart. It’s yellowed, glowing eyes stared impassively down at him and the mutant had no room in his head for the thought of the girl he spent part of his morning with. The only thought that made it through told him to run.
Nothing had prepared him for this, and he was not fool enough to try and fight the thing. While spikier than some other mutants, they were stuck firmly to his physique and he had no intention of trying to use them to engage the sentinel. The robot lifted its arm to reveal a glowing center on its palm, and he jumped away just in time to see a beam shoot down to where he was previously standing. His feet hit the floor and he ran, smacking into low hanging branches and dodging tree trunks. A crash told him the thing was following him, shaking the earth and pushing aside trees to pursue its quarry.
Sascha veered off to the left, hoping to lose it in the cover of the trees, but he found himself without luck. Another beam blasted not two yards from where he was heading. Scrambling to a stop, he stared for a second before changing directions. He could hear the giant thundering after him through the forest, bringing terror to him and the wild life. Within minutes he was panting, mind working overdrive as he sought to avoid treacherous roots, branches, rocks, and forays while escaping the sentinel. It seemed to be herding him somewhere, and while he had no intention of following along, he found himself too busy avoiding the robot’s attacks as well as the obstacles made up by the forest to try and veer off its course.
In a very cliché moment, Sascha found himself tripping, finally, on a rock that jutted out seemingly from nowhere. Half of him was cursing the ill timing of his fall, the other marveling at how far he had gotten without falling. He picked himself up without mind to the new scratches he received from falling, and continued running. However, the few seconds it took was enough for the sentinel to catch up, its footsteps booming behind him.
It became obvious where he was being herded within a couple more of the thundering steps as a boulder loomed up in front of him. He stopped just in front of it, turning around to press his back against the rock and peer up at the sentinel. Passed it, he saw the path of destruction it wrought, but it mattered little in the face of the threat in front of him. His blood sang in his veins, propelled by exertion and fear. He was trapped.
That particular day found him away from the institute, resting against an old red maple. An eastward bound breeze was blowing off the lake in the reservoir, rustling the leaves around him and cooling the forest off. Even in the shade it was refreshing, although it brought hints of chilly days ahead.
A tawny bird of some sort – perhaps a thrush or a sparrow had landed on a lower branch, twittering and eyeing him curiously. The scent drifted towards him, and while it did not smell like chicken – despite what some people would say, it carried the characteristic taint of poultry. The wind picked up again, and on it, the heralding of another human in the vicinity. A light, soft giggle came from the girl, who judging by the scent and sound, was coming closer. Footsteps rustled the genesis of foliage cloaking the earth. Turning away from the bird, he scanned the area, finding her quickly.
Visitors in that particular stretch of forest were less common. The path was slightly overgrown and while it took time and patience for him to reach it, the effort was generally rewarded with peace from the influence of others. It appeared today was not one where he would be rewarded peace, however. The girl was obviously heading towards him, and as she approached he took the time to analyze what he was dealing with, regardless of the fact that he was probably staring rather rudely.
She was alone, approaching him as one solitary figure to another. It put him to ease ever so slightly; one is less threatening than a gaggle of teens. Her scent came untainted, completely human and it said more than anything ‘trust me.’ It was relaxing, like coming home after a long day, familiar yet foreign. As the distance gave way to clarity, he could make out her features more clearly. Everything, from her hair to her skin to her clothes spoke of sensible care, however there was something about her that felt off, and no matter how hard he tried to place it, it eluded him. Her gait was leisurely, but covered ground with her long legs. She flashed a smile and waved at him, lighting up her face. Sascha briefly wondered if she was doing it on purpose, and dismissed the abnormality from his mind.
Despite his less than positive reaction to her approach, she flopped onto the ground next to him, making it look much more graceful than it really should have. She was close, closer than most strangers stayed, but he found he didn’t mind. Her scent prevailed in their surroundings, gently invading his mind. He thought he caught the undertone aroma of pawpaw, a wild fruit tree that would grow near his house in Lancaster.
“Heya! I’m Emily.”
She didn’t extend a hand to shake when she introduced herself, but her voice was warm enough for her casual introduction. Her light, almost bouncy, carefree attitude was surprisingly infectious, and the albino found himself smiling back.
“Sascha.”
While still not prone to long introductions, his voice was more relaxed than usual. She beamed, made no comment about his less common name, and proceeded to chatter away. She would often ask questions, varied in their subject but nothing too personal. Sascha found himself participating in the conversation, befuddled by the attention but relaxed none the less. She was charming, to his surprise, enough for him to allow her to pull him off the ground to walk through the forest. He didn’t have the faintest clue why she had decided to approach him, but she kept surprisingly good company and he followed her willingly and without thought.
They ambled under the cover of the trees for some time, talking about this and that for some time. It had been awhile since Sascha had enjoyed conversing that much, and when they came to the edge of the trees, he was hesitant to stop. However, it was more than a small glade, and it appeared as though the girl, Emily, planned on wandering further into the open sun. Her next words confirmed his suspicions.
“Hey, this looks like a nice place to rest!”
She said it with enthusiasm, and only memories of painful, burned skin stopped him from following her.
“I’d rather stay out of the sun…”
He trailed off, not wishing to offend, but at the same time unwilling to voluntarily become sunburned. She smiled brightly again, as if to convince him that it was alright.
“But you’ll need to get used to it.”
The odd statement confused the albino, not adding up to what she had portrayed so far. It seemed like a naïve and simple idea, yet it also sounded slightly assuming, as if she thought he planned to suddenly spend extended periods of time out in the sun. His silence and quizzical stare were apparently enough for her to grasp that he was confused, so she continued.
“You know, once you and your kind are burning in the fires of Hell.”
At this, any relaxation drained from Sascha’s body. While the girl in front of him had never shown any signs of aggression previously, the statement projected serious malicious intent. The wind blew at that moment, but what should have been a tonic, if not intoxicating scent was no longer noticeable among the scents of sun baked earth and forest life. Her presence brought a sense of hostility, and the nagging thought of something wrong was present at the fore of his mind before he realized what it was. No aura. She looked the equivalent of an emotional ice block, despite the convincing smile still stretched on her face.
Even though Sascha was still relatively new to his mutation, he found himself berating himself for not noticing something like that. Movement from ‘Emily’ brought his attention back to her, and he involuntarily took a step back as she shivered. Skin broke and folded in, revealing shining metal as she grew in size and mass. Whirring fans hummed inside gleaming metal, scarcely making a noise over the beating of his own heart. It’s yellowed, glowing eyes stared impassively down at him and the mutant had no room in his head for the thought of the girl he spent part of his morning with. The only thought that made it through told him to run.
Nothing had prepared him for this, and he was not fool enough to try and fight the thing. While spikier than some other mutants, they were stuck firmly to his physique and he had no intention of trying to use them to engage the sentinel. The robot lifted its arm to reveal a glowing center on its palm, and he jumped away just in time to see a beam shoot down to where he was previously standing. His feet hit the floor and he ran, smacking into low hanging branches and dodging tree trunks. A crash told him the thing was following him, shaking the earth and pushing aside trees to pursue its quarry.
Sascha veered off to the left, hoping to lose it in the cover of the trees, but he found himself without luck. Another beam blasted not two yards from where he was heading. Scrambling to a stop, he stared for a second before changing directions. He could hear the giant thundering after him through the forest, bringing terror to him and the wild life. Within minutes he was panting, mind working overdrive as he sought to avoid treacherous roots, branches, rocks, and forays while escaping the sentinel. It seemed to be herding him somewhere, and while he had no intention of following along, he found himself too busy avoiding the robot’s attacks as well as the obstacles made up by the forest to try and veer off its course.
In a very cliché moment, Sascha found himself tripping, finally, on a rock that jutted out seemingly from nowhere. Half of him was cursing the ill timing of his fall, the other marveling at how far he had gotten without falling. He picked himself up without mind to the new scratches he received from falling, and continued running. However, the few seconds it took was enough for the sentinel to catch up, its footsteps booming behind him.
It became obvious where he was being herded within a couple more of the thundering steps as a boulder loomed up in front of him. He stopped just in front of it, turning around to press his back against the rock and peer up at the sentinel. Passed it, he saw the path of destruction it wrought, but it mattered little in the face of the threat in front of him. His blood sang in his veins, propelled by exertion and fear. He was trapped.