The Phoenix Colony

Smith wanted so much to punch Fox, even if it went against his morals of not striking a woman, it was a challenging proposition. "Are you really trying to mentor me?" He asked in an amused tone. "I seem to remember you praising me for the order when i had given it!" He said, his eyes locking with hers, tears streaming down his face,his eyes narrowed in rage. "You really are just plain foolish arn't you?" He asked and stood up, his hands clenching. He turned and slammed a fist against the stone of the cave opening, even had to wince a bit, but his new found natural armor had protected him from any damage be sides a little pain. "You don't make desisions for others, you make them for yourself! I could lead this tribe, really could, but only Reva can lead it right." He said and turned to look at her again. "When will you learn that your leadership skills only fit in with military groups. Why don't you go join that new guy? I'm sure he'd make you a SGT and you could go around bossing and talking down to everyone around!"

 

Chrys hearing the comments being exchanged, turned around, "Okay, looks like we need a third guard." She commented, sitting between Fox and Chad. "Why can't ya'll coexist. THere are mice and cats that get along better than the two of you."

 

Fox looks back at the sky, towards its crimson hole. "Looks like someone is getting defensive. Relax, I'm not trying to pick a fight. Sending Ben away in his state of mind was a mistake, but it was a mistake that I would have made also. As for joining that other group, I will only follow a leader I respect, and I don't respect crooked cops." says Fox.

 

...Okay then, let them ignore me, as long as they can talk civil like, I don't care...

Chrys curled herself into a ball, flicking one of her ears about, .....something else i couldn't do back home....

 

"shut up Kat." He said but not with vary much force and noted that she had become vary much a cat resently. He reached a hand down and started to massage one of her ears like he had done to a cat he had when he was a lttle boy. It would put it right to sleep. Tears still streamming down his face. "You think i don't know I killed him?" He said half angerly half helplessly. "You think i don't know i've killed others, that moobster, the ones who wanted the guns?" He said still rubbing Chrys's ear. "Of course I know." He said wishing Chrys would go away. He stopped, turned away from both of them and sat down, quietly crying.

 

Reva was staring into the fire, lost in flames and a heart that seemed to knife sideways in her chest on every third beat. She was roused out of her reverie by Derek's voice.

"So I've been replaced? I still don't know if I'm ready to sleep yet." He smiled.

Reva summoned a wan smile back, "Good thing, I can't guarantee you'll get a chance to."

Without thinking she reached up a hand and touched his fingers. At the same moment she heard some kind of argument from outside and a voice nearer by.

"Reva," Raylene tossed as though feverish, rising up on her elbow. "Reva, where are you? There were voices. New voices I couldn't recognize."

Reva smiled apologetically at Derek.

"Could you please check that the two on watch aren't killing each other? I'd better get Cull and see to Raylene."

"Cull!" Reva called, "Your patient is awake."

Reva crawled to Raylene as she was not far from the fire and said, "I'm here, hon. It was just some strangers. We fed them and sent them away."

She didn't feel up to explaining once again about Ben. Not yet. The tears ached against her eyes and she knew she'd better be able to hide away soon.

 

Chrys allowed the ear thing, it seemed to be the present fad, part of her sensed the tension building up, relaizing that a wee wittle kat girl might want to move; but alas, she is stubborn and stayed right where she was.

When Chad turned around after commenting on the mobster, CHrys had to speak up, "Oh, Mobby, feel no pity for him, he was a self-ish SOB that my mother was stupid enough to love. And I was dumb enough to idolize. Forget it. We're all thinking about survival now, not others' feelings." She flicked her tail, and without thinking, added, "Somebody scratch my ear."

 

Pasha had to think quickly as the beast came towards Cevin. His skull lantern fell into the snow with a sizzle, his weapons falling into the snow as he ran. He took a quick lunge, grabbing Cevin at his chest. They both fell to the side, into a pile of snow.

 

"My leader back on Earth once told me, "When your mistake causes death, mourning for the fallen is not enough. To truely honor them, we must learn from our mistakes, so no one else ends up like them." Also, the pain that you are feeling never goes away. You'll just slowly become numb to it." says Fox.

She is still staring at the crimson hole, and she reaches over and starts to scratch Kat behind her ear.

 

Name: Cevin Hevet

Type of character: Criminal

Gender: Male

Age: 30

Appearance: Cevin is a powerfully built man covered with tattoos. Some are very colorful, obviously professional. Othyers are simply black and white jail house tats. He has thin, close cropped hair.

Vocation/Skills: Harold is an amateur hunter.

Results of Genetic Alteration: Advantage: He can alter and shape the chemical structure of anything. Disadvantage: This ability can no create more than one substance at a time. (Ex. If he was trying to create a lollipop, he couls create the candy or the stick but not both.) This ability can also not be used during combat as his body's inate fight or flight reaction will short circuit it temporarily.

Personality: Cevin is willing to accept friends but will rarely go out of his way to make them unless he really believes they need him.

 

The snow continued to part as the beast slithered toward the pair. Suddenly the shaoes of the trees, caves, and rocks began to ripple slightly. Pasha and Cevin felt the heat of the beast's body as it lept over them and knocked a pair of huge horned apes off of their feet. The two convicts watched as the horned apes were pulled closer and closer together. The muffled snapping of their bones broke carried gently across the snow. A oval of saliva, teeth, and angry red gums appeared above the apes' heads and slowly made them vanish.

Cevin got to his feet and looked at his two companions. Quickly they gathered the weapons and ran. After about fifteen minutes, Cevin heard the mewing sound again and smiled.

 

Viva had been into a mental dilemma since Pasha had told more about the bombing. It was becoming a regular thing now - getting shocked and going into silence. Something wasn't viva about Viva anymore.
"He killed Fernandez."
"The girl was persuasive, The girl I could not trust, The girl was bad, The girl was dangerous..."
You got a point there. Vice versa.
Viva kept recalling.
Maybe it wasn't the Fuchs Mall? Perhaps is was pronounced something else, or written differently. Or maybe Fernandez died die in that bomb blast...then again how many bomb blasts happened in that mall.
The thoughts made her blood churn.
I should hate Pasha. I must hate Pasha.
But she couldn't.

In midst of this dramatic scene in her head, she managed to move out of the scene with Pasha and Cevin. They went to pay regards to Owen, or something of the like - she wasn't sure. Her head hurt, she couldn't smile nor could she act.
Tip number one for Viva's radio - never fall in love.
"This is for you Owen."
Viva blinked, realizing something was going wrong.
"What are you doing?"
She whispered, but she wasn't sure who she was talking to. Suddenly, the two men fell into the snow. Viva winked, feeling worried. Cevin got up and then she started running with Pasha.
"Wake up."
How?

 

The feeling of Reva's fingers on his sent a wave of nervous energy through Derek's body, speeding up his heart. He was so lost in the emotion that he nearly missed her statement.

"Y-yeah sure," he stammered, watching her walk away. He pulled himself away and walked out the front of the cave to see Chad crying, Fox looking rather smug, and Kat curled up in a ball.

I knew the damn guard would be weak, he thought. He's probably not worth the trouble but...hey I'm trapped here with him what the hell.

Derek sat down next to Chad and turned to face him. "What's wrong man?" He wasn't mocking, he was trying to be comforting.

 

Reva moved closer to Raylene. "I'm here, hon. It was just some strangers. We fed them and sent them away." Raylene grabbed her hand.

"You're trembling as much as I am." She said through chattering teeth. "You might be our leader, but you still need to sleep." She pulled the top blanket off her pile and handed it to Reva. "I don't like the way those guys sounded...even if it was just in my head." She stopped speaking abruptly and sneezed. "If they come back, please don't let them know I can hear them." She sneezed again. "Can we keep that just between the people that already know?" She looked up at Reva's face. Tears were eminantly on the surface about to spill out of her eyes. Raylene could tell that Reva didn't want anyone to see her cry. "There's a really dark corner in the back Reva, go rest back there. No one will see."

 

Pasha took lead, afraid Cevin might do something dangerous again, though he didn’t say that. They stood close together, until the reached the mouth of a cave. The mewing was at it’s loudest as they stopped. Inside contained what appeared to be furry snakes. Pasha looked at Cevin, unsure of what their plan was. Was this the beasts children? They had to be… she wouldn’t be happy they were there.

“What now?” he asked.

 

Cevin pulled off his belt. "We don't have long." He quickly wrapped the belt around the young creature's body and moved the loop until it caught underneath its jaw. WIth a jerk, he yanked the baby into the air and wrapped it in a thick hide. The hunter looked at Pasha. "Now we run like hell before Mama realizes we borrowed one of its young. We've been fighting this thing on its own terms for long enough."

 

Derek had came out at a bad time, he just realized he had killed Chrys's father, and then Fox had to open her mouth again. He felt bad for the words even as they came out, but his anger, and regret was over powering his better judgement. "Shut up Derek." He said coldly standing again, stepping around Derek and Chrys, he stood in front of Fox. "Slowly becoming numb is part of the problem." He said slamming another solid punch into the stone wall, this time on Fox's side of the door, the fist some what close to Fox herself. This time he didn't flinch, the pain was welcome, feeling anything was welcome. "Just because you've been a monster long before you got here dosn't mean you should mock me for becoming one! I don't want to be a leader like that. I don't want to become a person like that!" He said tears still flowing down his cheeks. "Damn you Fox, I know I'm becomeing a monster, I'm a freaking rock man for crying out loud." He drew back the fist he had just punched with and slammed the same one again, then again, his nails digging into the soft flesh of his palm, blood running between his fingers. "Damn you." He said again weakly, standing their, blood dripping from his hand next to Fox, his head bent to the earth, tears dripping off his face.

 

"You're trembling as much as I am." Raylene said through chattering teeth. "You might be our leader, but you still need to sleep."

Reva took the offered blanket slowly. Raylene was shaking so hard she could barely speak. "I don't like the way those guys sounded...even if it was just in my head." She stopped speaking abruptly and sneezed. "If they come back, please don't let them know I can hear them." She sneezed again. "Can we keep that just between the people that already know?"

Reva nodded. It would be safer if only the tribe knew about Raylene's gift. Also more useful. Reva mildly hated herself for that thought, it seemed unfair, but Raylene was a resource that shouldn't be wasted.

"We won't tell." Reva promised.

"There's a really dark corner in the back Reva, go rest back there. No one will see."

Reva blushed. So her distress had been evident. She thanked Raylene softly, left her to Cull's more knowledgeable care, and went to the dark corner. It was not far from where she had slept before, just beyond where Derek usually slept.

Reva went as far as she could and took off the jacket. It was comfortable in the daytime but not the best thing to sleep in. She wished she had soft pajamas...she dismissed the thought.

Reva curled up on her side with the blanket over her, her hand against the rock and earth that Chad wanted to dig through and then pulled the note from Ben out of the jacket pocket. She didn't need to see the words, she knew them.

"I couldn't sell any bridges in New York Reva, forgive me, I threw my chance away, -Ben Freeman."

Her hands curled into fists that felt tight enough to imprint the words on her palms as she let the tears come. They wrenched up from the pit of her being for a man who had boldly used up his second chance.

 

Fox hugs Chad tightly. "I know you think I'm a monster, but I do feel pain also. I feel it every time I kill someone. I feel it when those that trusted me die. Hell, if I didn't believe I was doing what I had to, I would have killed myself a long time ago." says Fox as tears begin to stream down her face.

 

Derek stood while Fox hugged Chad, trying to fight his temper. Eventually, however, it got the best of him. As soon as Fox loosened up slightly, Derek walked up to Chad, ripped him apart from Fox, and pushed him up against the rock wall. "Now you look here, I'm only gonna say this once."

Derek put enough pressure on Chad to nearly lift him off the ground. "Moping does nothing. It f**ks you over, it f**ks the tribe over. I won't have it. Yeah, you screwed up. Now get over it and move on. If you don't you could end up like he did." Derek pointed out towards the woods. "And if you do, I'm not sure the rest of the tribe can hold up." Derek swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I know you don't like me and I sure as hell don't like you. But if we're gonna live in the same tribe we gotta learn to live together, and I sure ain't gonna babysit no f**kin' p**sy." Derek loosened his grip and stepped back. "Do we understand each other?"

 

Chrys leaped to her feet as best she could, watching Chad get whirled around, and agreeing with everything Fox and Derek had been saying to him.

She leaned against the rock he had been punching, "You see this?" She said, pointing at the marvelous work that had been Chad's punching, "This rock is as thick as your skull, no pun intended. Now, you are not leaving this tribe. Not. Understood, no leavie will you do. Otherwise, I will hunt you down and rip you into confetti. You act like Mr Bullocks, but times get ruff, and you're like a teenager. Grow the heck up, be the man you keep bragging about."

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to Chad and hugged him, "You're one of my first freinds on this island, and dammit, you will not leave me." Se says, loud enough only for him to hear.

...Let's see if Skully hear will hear that...

 

(Between Shadow, and Tsu's posts) Fox's hug was unexspected, he found himself leaning into it. Seeking comfort, his head burried into her shoulder. "Hugging me at a time like this, you're such a bi$!%." He said with vary little conviction, almost fondly.

(Now for my actual post)

Smith was spun around and pushed against the stone wall, his rifle digging into his back, he knew it should have hurt but didn't. Then he listened to Derek's speech, the man who had done nothing but complain about the tribe, about him, about having rules. He was worse than Fox n some ways for this tribe. Fox at least seemed to be making an effort to get along with everyone, even if she was really bad at it. Derek on the other hand, had never even bothered to thank Smith for killing that man, Chrys's father. Then the straw that broke the horses back, "Do we understand each other?"

Even then he didn't have time to react. Chrys was their, threatening, and ranting the way she always does. Then to his surprise another hug. "You're one of my first freinds on this island, and dammit, you will not leave me." she whispered to him. He pulled her closer for just a moment.

"Who said I was going any where?" He whispered back. "I'm sorry Chrys. I'm sorry Reva." He said meaning for what he was about to do and pushed Chrys to the side, took a big step towards Derek and swung a heavy fist for his stomach.

 

Since Fox was so close to she could sense the movement of his arm the second his muscles started tensing up. With lightning reflexes she jumps infront of Chad and takes the punch to the gut.

Fox falls to her knees in tears. Thinking of Britney, she says "There has been so much death and hatred tonight. Can't we just get along for a little while." with tears streaming down her eyes.

 

Derek saw the punch coming and had no time to react. He flinched, but never felt contact. He looked to see Fox doubled over from taking the punch to the gut. "Thank's Fox," he said, then looked at Chad. "You are a f**king problem child." He spat. "You're gonna have to grow up eventually."

Derek walked into cave just long enough to retrieve his javelin, which he had left inside when he went to talk to Reva, and stormed back out of the cave. Without even looking at or acknowledging the presence of the guards on duty, he started to walk towards the river.

 

Smith was shocked and feirous at the same time, on top of feeling horible for striking Fox. He had heard Derek's comments and had let him go, stalking off into the woods, hideing from Smith. He looked at Fox angerly. "Why'd you do that?" He asked not really needing to know an awnser. "I wasn't going to hurt him!" He said trying to clarify things. He bent down hoping he hadn't broken anything. He had exspected a man closer to his side on the connecting end of the punch not Fox. "Just one punch would have been enough to set him off, then he could just have at me," He exsplained as he made her move her arms by force and checked for broken bones. He'd learned basics of medical care at training. The tears where gone, just like Ben was, Derek might be problematic but if he could have let him pound on him for a while then maybe Derek would get over his problem, he just needed to go ahead and release his anger. Smith was becoming a monster than he had might as well be a useful one, and punching bag seemed to fit the situation at the time.