Fantasy [OPEN] The Price of a Life

[ProjectMischa]

Alva watched the scene unfold with wide eyes. It all happened so fast, almost too fast for him to process. One moment, he was held at knife point, then the next, their attacker was getting a glass flown at him and the girl - now fox - Aeola was leaping through one of their pane-less windows. The other girl was knocked to her feet, who then turned into an otter and crouched in a corner. Alva groaned softly. Francesca was not going to live long if she didn't understand the concept of running away to safety or retreating. Well, shit. Guess it was time to make a run for it, eh? At least before the old man recovered. Alva frantically motioned for Francesca to jump through the window, trying not to speak in case the old man glanced over to him, and then, with a small grimace, Alva quickly glanced outside and shifted. What he shifted into was . . . not very impressive, to be honest. He shifted into a colorful blue-green butterfly, only slightly smaller than a common bird.


Alva fluttered as fast as he could through the opposite window and outside. At least in this form he would be harder to hit, and, like most Birdwings, he could fly longer and higher than the usual species of butterfly. For once he was grateful he could shift into something so inconspicuous. And, if worse came to worse and he had to shift back into human form, he could run fast. He always prided himself in his speed, it came in handy when his brothers tried to fight him or pick on him or throw him into the river when he couldn't swim. Yeah . . . Good times.


The young butterfly did feel bad about leaving his father back at home with a psychotic killer, but his father was strong. His dad wouldn't want him to stay behind and get himself killed, and Alva was pretty sure his dad was busy focusing on protecting Alva's sleeping mother upstairs. His father would at least try to make sure nothing would happen to her. They'll be okay, won't they?


@Dominaiscna


@Yaoke Saint


@PowderSnow


@StoneWolf18

 

[Yaoke Saint]

Thomas Terrance Tilderson


The entire time the Fourie had been responding, his breathing had been becoming heavier, and his glove cracking and straining from his tight grip on the pistol. The instant she moved, he squeezed the millimeter left that was needed to fire off the shot, but she was too quick. The bullet instead tore a large hole in the weak walls if the house, but Thomas didn't notice in the slightest. The alcohol glass shattered easily on his metal plating, and fell to the floor. Thomas processed none of this, the only thought in his mind was of pure rage, the only image one of blood red with the Fourie in the middle.


As she jumped out of the window, he had settled into a state of fake calm, like the eye of a storm, and he fired off another shot, narrowly missing both his target and the girl who was dropped to the floor. Eyes nearly glowing with the fury of the Nine Hells, he screamed into the night, primal and terrifying.


"DAMN YOU BITCH, GET BACK HERE, GET BACK! YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO LEAVE!"


He stalked forward, not even glancing at the father or the children, and kicked the table from the bottom, splitting it in half and sending the mouse to tumble onto the ground. He took a particularly quick step, morphing into a magpie to slip out the window, then turning directly into a cassowary and glancing around with sharp eyes, crest on his head turning like the fin of a shark in water, smelling blood. A low grumbling sound issued from his now long throat, signifying his extreme displeasure.

@Dominaiscna@ProjectMischa @PowderSnow


@StoneWolf18


(I don't know where she would have went, so I'll stop there. ^w^)

 

[Missykay]

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Cassie awoke rested and ready for the day. The storm had awakened her several times during the night but, this OK. She cheerfully whistled a tune while putting on bright yellow rain boots, jeans, a red T-shirt, followed by a denim jacket and sunhat. She was off to look for work and she wouldn't return till she found one!

"Determination is key to the Destination!" yours truly, Cassie

So, she adjusted her hat and strode onto the water logged streets of the hive.

WANTED:For hire

This would be the best place to start, she thought. Off to the market! "Tally-Ho!"

 

[Dominaiscna]

As Aeola landed on the stone outside, she started sprinting along the wet cobblestone. Blood dripped from her back leg where a bullet had grazed it just as she had jumped out the window. Now it dotted the floor as she ran. She supposed it was in her favor, as that way, even though the rain washed the blood away, the smell would remain, leaving a track that the man would follow and continue following... he would follow... right?


Just before she turned the street corner, she glanced over her shoulder just in time to see a magpie flap out the window and land onto the ground, turning into a monstrosity of a bird. Good.


And idea was already formulating in her head as to how she would lose him... or kill the both of them... depends how things went.


She continued running, weaving through alley ways so that Thomas never had full vision of her for more than a few seconds. She had to lead him far enough... and then lose him. Pity she was no crosscountry runner...but she had the speed.


Hopefully... Fran, Alva and his family had enough time to run...


@StoneWolf18


@ProjectMischa


@PowderSnow


@Yaoke Saint

 

[PowderSnow]

@StoneWolf18 @ProjectMischa @Yaoke Saint

Francesca barely even saw Alva's signal as shots were fired and the table was broken in half. Oh no, the mouse!


As soon as the scary man turned into a magpie and left, she made her way over to what used to be the table to check on the mouse.


It didn't appear to be hurt much more than it already was, thankfully. Perhaps she could leave it?


But Fran, the man. He wanted the girl, but what if he comes back? You can't leave the mouse, Fran.


Alva's father could take care of it, maybe, but he needed to clean up. You'll both get in the way of him cleaning up, Fran. Run.

Francesca shot the old man an apologetic look, before picking up the dormouse and running towards the door. She peeked out of it, seeing the cassowary. Was that the scary man? Wasn't he a magpie, though?


She flinched as the cassowary made a displeased noise. Yeah, that was probably him. Don't let him see you, Fran.

Francesca took a few slow steps out of the door, trying to be as quiet as possible, before making a run for it, away from the bird.

Not sure where to go.

 

[ProjectMischa]

Alva stuck around the house a little bit in his butterfly form. He rested on top of the roof, lightly flicking his wings up and down as resting butterflies tended to do. From this vantage point, he could see much more than ground-bound humans could. From here, he could see the faint outline of an otter running out of the door and away from the psycho-turned-cassowary. Alva could only assume that Fran-the-otter had brought the injured dormouse with her, considering how keen she was to save the little thing. As for Aeola, who was now a fox, Alva could not see where she had gone, though he caught a faint image of a tail-tip disappearing around the corner to an alley. He could only assume that was Aeola. Was she really royalty, like the creepy old man was going on about? Weird. Definitely doesn't look like it, from Alva's standpoint.


Shortly after the otter ran out of his house, he saw his father exiting with his mother. He could only assume they were going to Alva's eldest brother's house. Yeah, screw that. Malik was the worst out of all of Alva's brothers, and Alva was certainly not ever going to see him again, not after their last family reunion. He supposed his best course of action was to just wait this all out until everything calmed down. Alva decided to carefully flutter down to where Francesca was running off to, goodness knows she wasn't going to get very far with her current self-preservation skills, that was for sure. He planned on doing a quick check, maybe a point in the right direction, and then going to see if he could figure out a way to get creepy-psycho-man out of the picture.


He would not be able to sleep until he knew that man was gone.


@StoneWolf18


@PowderSnow


@Dominaiscna


@Yaoke Saint

 

[Missykay]

The sun shone brightest after a storm, she thought. Cassie strolled Merrily to the market area. Her shadow played in the pools of water that dotted the streets. "Here we go" she stated to herself as she straightened her hat and pushed opened the door to a produce store. The smell of fresh produce wafted through the air. Her heart beat faster, she was nervous and excited. She found the store owner and in a cheerful voice asked, "Do you still have an open position ma'am?"

 

[Missykay]

Asher woke up early as usual to avoid his parents. What a nightmare, he thought to himself as he remembered the girl that followed him home. He had a quick shower and let the warm water run down his tense shoulders. He threw on a shirt and jeans and wrote a quick note for the girl whose name he had already forgotten.

Miss, I trust you slept well. Feel free to avail yourself of the kitchen. I hope our paths meet again. -Asher Mendril

He stuck it to her door and left on his motorcycle.

 

[Missykay]

The woman looked up from filing her nails and said in a smacky, gum chewing voice,"One sec. Hun, I'll get big Bob. He's the head honcho round here." "Bob!" She heard the middle aged woman hollar as she walked toward the back of the small shop. Soon after a man 6' tall, with the build of a lumberjack came toward here. He had his sleeves rolled up mid-bicep and a white apron tied around his waist. He shot Cassie a gold toothed grin. "Hi, I'm Bob, or big Bob around these parts. I hear you be looking for a job love? We do have need of a stocker if you be interested love" he said in a salty seaman's swagger. He had several tattoos and a gold earing in his right ear. He bore a scar on top of his bald head. Not the type you'd imagine runs a produce store. Cassie shifted a bit nervously. "Yes, s-s-sir, I would like the job." "Don't worry yourself hun" the lady said with a chomp and smack of gum. "He's a big teddy bear sweetie, really." Big Bob swept her off her feet in a bear hug. "Welcome to the family sweetheart! See you first thing tomorrow then love." Once Bob set her back down Cassie burst out in a laugh. Working here was going to be fun, she thought. "Yes, I will see you then" she said with a smile and a wave. She practically skipped out the door. And ran smack dab into a.....(@PowderSnow @Dominaiscna ??)

 

[Dominaiscna]

The longer Aeola ran, the more tired (excuse the english) she became. A problem presented itself to her, she was no long distance runner so she had to loose him very very soon before she started slowing down by a lot. She had already been running for about fifteen minutes, leading him south south west through the river bank district towards where she remembered there to be an acre of land untouched by civilization. That was her best chance at evading the man.


Taking across the cobblestone and out of the settlement area, she was met by a overgrown landscape. She ran up a steep incline of a hill only to stop, heaving and out of breathe with her legs burning from the graze of the bullet, as she found that before her, there was a dead end. The steep hill that she had climbed ended in a ledge of rock, earth and vines. Looking over the edge, she only saw the white splashes of water as the Eastbound river descended into a waterfall.


She couldnt turn back... It had been her plan to lose him here... But now that she was standing at the edge looking down at the steep drop and the thin vines and entangled the rock, she was regretting her choice of destination.


Upon hearing footsteps, the fox jumped. Before her mind could scream at her that she was mad, she was already shifting. As soon as she had fallen past the edge of the ledge, she shifted into a human, reaching out just in time to grab a mass of creeping vines that entangled the ledge and dangled down like the branches of a weeping willow. Hauling herself up, positioned herself as best as she could amongst the vines. Her breathing hitched when one of the vines under her seemed to snap under her and her knuckles were white from the tightness of her grip on the plants.


Focusing not on the sheer drop beneath her and the thinness of the plants keeping her from falling, she put her attention on steadying her breathe, listening out for the footsteps of the man. He could most likely smell her blood... And she had remembered his magpie form. If he flew down to check under the ledge... Her heart seemed to quicken slightly...


If he did check, then she would pounce.


@StoneWolf18


@ProjectMischa


@PowderSnow


@Yaoke Saint

 

[PowderSnow]

@StoneWolf18 @ProjectMischa

Francesca kept on running for a while. Perhaps she didn't need to run as far as she did, as she probably wasn't being followed, but being murdered wasn't high on the priority list. You could never be too safe.


Okay, maybe you could, and simply running doesn't necessarily make you safer, but in Francesca's mind this wasn't the case.

Eventually, she slower her pace. And a short while after, she came to a house.


It was a small house, poorly built and drafty. It wasn't absolutely filthy, but most of Francesca's things were simply thrown around the place, leaving it cluttered.


Francesca sat the mouse on a table and took a moment to catch her breath, before clearing up some of the clutter. She could at least make her home presentable for the mouse.


Really dunno what to do

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[ProjectMischa]

( xD I'll have Alva keep ya company no worries :3)


Alva fluttered behind the fleeing otter for a while, feeling slightly relieved that they weren't going in the direction of the killer. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing that old man again for a bit yet. The cold feel of the machete against his skin still sent chills down his spine, and he couldn't help but internally shudder at the image it brought into his little butterfly head. When Francesca ran into what he could only assume was her house, Alva knew she would probably be safe for the time being. This also gave him an idea, maybe it could be a potential place to crash, a base of operations until everything calmed down. Because, as Alva was adamant about, he was never ever going to stay at any of his siblings' houses. Nope. He was not emotionally ready for that amount of torment.


The colorful blue-green butterfly rested on the window sill for a bit, his wings twitching up and down, feeling a little tired from the amount he flew. His soul form was out of shape since he almost never used it anymore. He had a feeling that he would be using it a lot in the coming days, as much as he hated to silently admit that. Taking this small break, he ran his forelimbs over his antennas, resting his little body before deciding to take any further action. He wasn't sure if he was ready to shift back and make himself known yet. A ridiculous sentiment, yes, but one that bothered him nonetheless.


@PowderSnow


@StoneWolf18