Lonely Road

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The rhythmic tapping of dress shoes could be heard throughout the desolate place. It was quite odd, hearing that sound once again. Tap, tap, tapping of shoes that practically radiate wealth. After all, what kind of a man would have something as elegant as dress shoes in times such as these? A dead man, Sven found. The notion of raiding a body was quite gruesome, to say the very least. That was the way that the world used to think. But, it was his last resort; this was only way to feel like he was worth something. Although, who would really consider stealing a dead man’s shoes as someone worthy? He didn’t care though; the shoes were his treasure of the month, the only thing significant.

It was his refuge, that city was. Sven knew certainly that other survivors did scrounge in this place again and again, but when he was in solitude, that time was truly precious. The reek of pure death, that was the only thing that took some time to get used to, but he made do, as everyone else did. It was always difficult, finding places where he could actually feel alone. Most would consider the city as one of the most desolate of spaces; however he thought quite the opposite. The broken buildings towered over everything else and reminded you of what used to be. Closed off from the rest of the dilapidating world, that’s what he considered truly alone. And that place on Earth was difficult to find.

Sven smiled to himself, and walked out into the street, looking out at the ruin and admiring the nostalgic sound of the pattering. It was truly depressing, how the survivors didn’t bother with the rest of the world’s bodies, he thought to himself. At least people had passed during a time where it seemed appropriate to be buried, once. He did suppose that there were too many dead now, though. If everyone spent all their time burying people, then they would all just waste away themselves. Sven started to hum. An echo returned to his ears, and the lonely melody made him all the merrier.

[Zachey]

The sky was somber to say the least. The buildings worn down and fragile. The streets filled with rubbish and there was no one in sight. No one alive, that is.

Isis felt her chest rise and fall as she continued to walk over a piles of numerous items. Even though she should have been used to it by now, the wasteland of what used to be was disturbing for her to see. She could feel her stomach wanting to twist and churn inside her, causing her to retch, however, fortunately for her, she could ease her body down this time.

She had began her work as a scout for Labonita two years ago, and yet, she could still remember the first encounter she had with the desolate place. In her eyes, the sight of what it is now, is paradise of what she had experienced her first time. It could be that she's grown mildly used to it, or that she does not pay much attention knowing that she may have an anxiety attack of some sort; not entirely sure, but she's not willing to question her adaptability it.

When she stepped outside of the haven, into the unknown world she had once known, her legs almost gave out from beneath her immediately. The gray and dreary wave that swept over her senses was almost too much to bear. Sure, she's heard the stories that the older scouts had told, but she simply thought that they had been exaggerating the entire thing, but when she caught the sight of the wasteland herself, she realized that they had been undermining it for the sake of the other people, and possibly even themselves.

How could something that seemed to have been so invincible, so structured, crumble down to this? Down to this tangible nightmare of horror? A horror that she had to experience on a day to day basis.

Either way, this was her life as a scout now, and her job was to find something worth something. There was no room left to squirm around and let the rest of Lebonita down.

[Melinda]

From above a pair of eyes could see quite far, and witness what is happening around them. The person can stay out of sight, somewhat safe in this ruined world they live in. Above a predator watched for signs of amusement and prey, though she had to be careful these days. Kill the wrong person, or drink from the wrong person and you could start another war. That was something Kaage would not allow, not while she was alive anyway. True she enjoyed chasing her prey down and drinking there blood, she just made sure they forgot about it afterward. She was able to cover her tracks, not like some vampires out there. Leaving bodies for anyone to find, not a good idea if people want peace to happen. Snapping out of her thoughts Kaage glanced down into the street, just in time to watch a man step out of a store. There was something different about this one, though Kaage couldn't quite place it. Glancing down at his feet she noticed his shoes, which made her slightly amused but not enough to care. Though he could make a good meal, she was hungry and couldn't put it off for to long. Sniffing the air for a moment, Kaage picked up on another scent. Hopefully it would be another easy snack, that way if she was still hungry she wouldn't have to go to far.

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Sven stopped humming for a moment and stood motionless. Had he heard something? Perhaps somebody was following him. He tried shrugging it off, and began to walk again, a slightly more manifest skip was added to his step as the humming increased in volume. It was probably another scout nearby. Sven didn't particularly enjoy talking to the other scouts unless it was necessary, especially if they were not a part of Labonita. An eerie paranoia trickled into his mind and he quieted again. Curiosity and anxiety mixed together and knotted up in the pit of his stomach.

He eventually looked around, searching for that satisfaction in being alone. He squinted as he saw a human figure, and sighed in disappointment. Never alone. He wasn't the expert on differentiating creatures from one another at a distance, and that irritated him as well. It came more easily if he could see their face. But, a skill like this was expected for someone of his stature. He had a mission, and would refuse to let anyone jeopardize it.

"Hello, hello, anybody out there?" he called in a singsong voice towards the figure, gleaming with bravery. Nobody could touch him, he assumed. His abilities had the ultimate reliability.

[Zachey]

Looking down to make sure she was not miss-stepping her way through the rubble or missing any potentially valuable item, she heard a distant voice. Having brought up memories from her first experience in the city, Isis had lost herself within the thoughts. She had completely forgotten that there was still a world on the outside, and felt a sudden chill crawl up and down her spine realizing that something morbidly horrible could have happened to her and she had been so oblivious of the fact.

Usually, she was very aware of her surroundings; always a step ahead of most. So why did she feel so inattentive, so distracted right now?

Whoever that voice had belonged to, they were able to snap her out of her daydream, if one could call it that, and get her at attention in a blink of an eye, along with the dagger that she now held in a delicate hand. She gripped the handle as if dear life had depended on it.

She lived in Labonita. The place was filled with humans, gifted, werewolves and vampires alike, however, those that lived outside of that community were anything but friendly to humans.

She eased as she saw that it was a familiar figure. Someone that she had seen once or twice before there in Labonita. She could not remember the boy's name at the moment, but was sure that it would come to her soon enough, if at all.

"Oh my goodness...," she felt herself relax some, letting the dagger to rest on her hip for a moment, before she made the effort to put it back in it's small leather holster that was fastened on her matching leather belt. Her chest rose and fell as she took in deep breaths to calm her racing mind and heart. Looking towards the boys direction once more, she noticed that he went back to minding her own business, which Isis decided she might as well do too.

Even though it had been the boy who made the sound, she could not help but feel that she was being watched and analyzed by someone else, but maybe that was just her over-active imagination running along.

[Melinda]

Knowing all to well that the man below could most likely see her, Kaage decided not to move or hide. She could defend herself if needed, though she hoped this one wouldn't put up to much of a fight. So when the man started calling out she threw him a glance of boredom, he seemed like a good target, but there was still something about him. Glancing away Kaage didn't sense the girl approaching at first, until her smell drifted under the predators nose. Spotting the girl not to far away, Kaage smirked and knew she would go for the woman instead of the man. Slipping into the darkness, Kaage jumped off the building and landed lightly on the ground. She made sure to stay out of sight, she didn't want both of them on her hands at once. Listening to the woman's breath as she inhales then exhales, Kaage noticed the woman's heart was beating a little faster then normal. Her prey must sense something, or maybe she was scene by her earlier?

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An empty silence followed the call, as expected. Of course, nobody was going to answer a lonely scout looking for some cure to boredom. He listened for several moments, before deciding to break the quiet. Humming gently to himself, Sven looked about the ground. Debris filled the forsaken streets, and not much was there to scavenge in. Apart from looting bodies here and there, there weren’t many places where things could be found. After ten years, the old civilization had barely anything left behind, unless you were willing to travel far beyond the city, that is. And most weren’t particularly fond of walking into the heart of the world’s shell. It only brought back memories and sadness; that was something that the survivors could do without.

It wasn’t as if he was particularly focused on scavenging, anyways. Today he had already claimed his prize. Only out of pure luck could he discover something even remotely valuable twice in a row. But some of the things valued did seem to surprise him. Tap shoes definitely qualified, though, that much was certain. After around five minutes of empty searching, he looked up again, studying the spot where the figure had been. It was gone, figures. Sven gently cursed under his breath and took a look around, paranoid once again.

There was a figure that caught his sight once again, and ran a hand through his hair in anxiety. Was it the same person, or was it a second one? Sven closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, before walking towards it. He didn’t enact his ability, however; that was on a last-resort basis. As he drew nearer, he recognized that this individual was familiar. Perhaps he’d seen her scouting before, or she was a member of Labonita? He smiled and waved, now at a reasonably closer distance. Was she the one that he’d seen atop that building?

[Zachey]

Almost having achieved in convincing herself that the only people wandering around in a hundred yard radius were the boy and herself, Isis could not make that tiny voice inside telling her otherwise to go away. It kept picking at her every thought. So as an alternative solution, she forced her mind to clear itself of any and every thought that did not have anything to do with her hunt.

Taking in her last deep breath, feeling the heave and the collapse oh her chest, she knew she was now able to continue with her foraging. She still had at least an hour or two left before she and the other scouts had to go back within Labonita grounds. Safe grounds. An hour or two before the sky darkened to a visible blind, that was more or less a death wish for whoever decided to lurk within it.

Shaking her head to clear out the disturbing thoughts before they plagued her yet again, she looked around to see where she could rummage though next. There were a couple of small shops that looked somewhat promising. Clearly, not promising for medicines or food or anything of that category, but smaller somethings that could and would entertain her younger twin siblings, Aenath and Darius.

It was ever so faintly, the humming, but she could still hear it due to the silence the rundown city held. The light melodic tune stilled the eeriness that radiated from every fracture. She pulled her dark burgundy colored hair up into a ponytail and tied an elastic around it to hold it up. Isis felt much more comfortable this way. Her ears were not covered by her hair, therefore she was much more aware of the smallest of sounds that could hint off any incoming predator, or in this case, the boys soft song. As if he had somehow known that she had done this to relish his humming, he stopped.

"Great timing. Should have pulled it up earlier so I could have at least thought it wasn't for nothing, but no. Too slow, Isis. And now, you're going to rummage in the damned quiet, aaand... I'm talking to myself," she finished in a whisper to herself, "Splendid."

Isis turned to see if the boy had heard her have that peculiar episode, and to her surprise, he most likely had. In fact, he was closer than he was before and had a hand in the air insinuating a 'Hello'.

With that, she returned the wave and accompanied it with a friendly smile feeling utterly foolish.

[Melinda]

Standing in the shadows Kaage glanced between the two in front of her, she could normally take down two foes. But she needed to know more about them first, if they were human or maybe a gifted human. Moving a hand through her hair she watched the girl, older then herself but still human. If she didn't dispose of them she could at least have some fun, maybe scare them a bit. Turning away Kaage leaped and landed on top of the roof, this one a little lower then the other building. Glancing down at the ground she had a great view, satisfied Kaage sat down and let her legs dangle over the edge. Still in the shadows, she hoped to stay hidden until she made her move. But these days you never know what could happen, they could still have some type of light. Slowly a thought came to her mind, but at first Kaage pushed it away. They didn't even look like government people, most likely Labonita or Bairn

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Now that Sven had caught a better look at the girl, he recognized her. She was most certainly from Labonita, but her name had slipped from his mind. Wasn’t it Irene? No, that couldn’t be. He pondered about it for several moments before he opened his mouth to speak. “Ah, I’m sorry for bothering you.” He said with a nervous chuckle. She was probably busy, he should’ve thought about approaching her before his feet decided themselves. “I just got paranoid. By any chance, have you seen any other scouts in the past hour?” Sven inquired, feeling slightly pathetic.

He probably hadn’t seen anyone in the first place. After all, having a large mistrust for others probably did something to your head every now and again. Although, on the other hand, it was better to be safe than sorry. He ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably. Talking to people wasn’t exactly his favorite thing to do, considering that nobody ever saw the real him. It was quite depressing sometimes, that he couldn’t ever speak his mind, not really, anyways. When Sven actually conversed with others, it just reminded him that he was more alone than ever. Talking to people only gave him a false illusion that they cared. They only cared about the mask that he constantly was wearing.

[Zachey]

Her hair began swaying along with the wind that always picked up as it neared the scouts time to head back home, when she noticed that the boy had begun walking closer towards her. Which was somewhat surprising to say the least. Usually, scouts liked being by themselves, who know why. The thought about it gave her the chills. Isis looked at her feet as she stood in place letting him choose how close he wanted to get.

"Oh, no! You're no bother at all," she admitted hoping that he would understand that he really wasn't. "Actually, it's pretty refreshing to see life around here," she finished with a faint laugh. She turned to take in the view of the dismantled ground that they were surrounded by, and reassured herself with a slight nod that his presence was refreshing to the very origin of the word.

Her attention went back to him when he had mentioned he felt paranoid. Then it wasn't only her? Since he had felt someone was watching him too, could that possibly mean that there was someone or something out there? Or did they both simply have overstimulated imaginations?

"Sadly, no. I haven't seen anyone else, besides you of course, around these parts"

Isis could not help the need to study him some. Even though she had felt much more relaxed knowing that he himself was from Labonita, and of no threat, she sensed that he felt even more anxious then before. He constantly ran his hand through his hair, a surefire sign that he was...uncomfortable? "Hey, um, are you...you know, okay? You seem a little jittery..."

[Melinda]

Watching the two below Kaage started to get bored, she was hungry and wanted to feed now. Pushing a small pebble over the edge of the building, Kaage watched it fall and hit the ground. Slowly standing Kaage made her way to the ground, but kept out of sight of the other two on the ground. She wasn't to far away from them at the moment, she could almost taste them already. They stood in front of her talking away, unaware of her presents and there fate with death. Slowly moving out of the shadow that hid her, Kaage smiled at the two in front of her. "Now we all know that it's dangerous to be out this late. Or did you two miss the memo about it?" With a slight smile on her face the vampire ran a hand through her dark hair.

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Sven observed the girl intently for a moment before looking away. “I’m fine.” He muttered with a slightly sarcastic tone that had not meant to be there. He twiddled with his thumbs out of anxiety for a moment, but then shoved his hands in his pockets in order to stop. That’s what he was always afraid of, people pointing out his awkward personality. People noticing his mask. “Sorry, I’m just… unreasonably paranoid.” He said, chuckling slightly, trying to ease any tension within the air. That’s all it really was, right? Just paranoia; that was pretty much it. His shoulders relaxed slightly. She hadn’t seen anything either, why was he being so tightly wound? “Thanks, though. It’s always nice to have company during these times.” Sven said, grateful that he had run into her and not a hostile creature.

As that thought crossed his mind, he heard a voice from behind him. His eyes widened, his head snapping backwards in order to look at the third person. So he had seen someone on the roof of that building. Sven exhaled, studying the newcomer for several moments. She was someone he didn’t recognize. Unfamiliarity was always something he didn’t enjoy. “Can I help you with something?” he asked, not quite sure that he could find any other words to say. Sven’s eyes were fixated on her, and they had a slight edge to them.

[Zachey]

Feeling as if she had said something wrong when he had answered her question in sarcasm, she was about to apologize, when he had beat her to it first. Hearing him out, she could not help but brilliantly smile to his reasoning. "No worries. I understand the feeling, I mean, who wouldn't be when you're out in a place like this?" she said as she waved her hand around carelessly, giving a short laugh before she cut it all-too short when she heard yet another voice come into the conversation.

She knew where the voice had come from, and apparently so had her companion, but why couldn't she see the person who owned it? Evidently, they were hiding, and that couldn't be good on her part. It sent chills tickling up and down her spine, but she made sure not give off the shudder. Isis really hoped it was just another scout, but that possibility was more than unlikely to happen.

As she heard the boy ask out who it was, she slowly moved her hand towards her knife. Hopefully, if she positively had to, her years of training with her father would pay off in this life-or-death situation.

[Melinda]

Moving a little closer so what little light there was would shine on her, she didn't think they would recognize her though. Kaage made sure she was only known to Nabila at the moment, no one outside the group knew she would soon lead Nabila to a better future. One where even the government would tremble at there feet. Ignoring the guy who spoke for a second, the vampire moved her gaze toward the girl. They both had a smell in common, so they were in the same group possibly. If she could only figure out which group they were from. Turning her gaze back toward the guy Kaage smiled, maybe if she played nice they would tell her. "Actually yes. You can help me with a few things, but first what group do you belong to? Your not Jabari, or you would smell like dog. You smell like humans though, but these days you can never tell." The smile disappeared as the girl moved a hand over something, so she had a weapon. "Girl if you want to live I suggest not doing something stupid."