[Open] Trying to make sense

[undomesticated]

WHO: Riley and whomever (Open)
WHAT: Assessing her new situation
WHERE: Around the town
WHEN: Evening of Day 49
WARNINGS: None. I'll be certain to update if any are required.

Waking up away from home when she knew for damn sure she'd been at home was strange enough. Waking up somewhere she also knew she'd never been before with some strange looking not-watch on her wrist was pushing it. The final straw had been when she'd gone looking for someone, hoping she could figure out where she was and what the hell had happened only to find cameras everywhere. She felt like she'd been tossed into some weird reality show, but a sliver of fear worked its way into her stomach when she thought of why she might have been chosen.

She'd always been careful on her runs, making sure if she went for one shifted in the woods that there were no humans nearby. She was open with other shifters about herself, but she knew better around humans. You never knew who was a hunter or who would be the wrong person to tell. The thought that she'd been found out somehow and had been captured, dumped here for some weird experiment or something was something she'd secretly feared. Being found out and contained, poked and prodded at and experimented on so that they could figure out the whats and whys...

No. That hadn't happened here, had it? She'd been told not to leave, that this was her 'home'. Bullshit. Her home was with her family, and she couldn't pick up any of their scents. She could pick up the scents of others, light little wisps on the wind. Determined to figure out what exactly was going on, she set off to see if she could find the source of one of those scents.

{ooc: Riley will be poking around most of the town, so you're more than welcome to come across her wherever is most comfortable for your character.}

Comments

Near the edge of the woods?

[bostonhowler]

Brigid had needed a run. The long run through the woods had done her good. Something, however, teased at the edge of her senses, making her hackles rise. She didn't like the feeling of wanting to curl her lip and let her fangs out.

Stepping out of the woods, the scent was stronger. It brushed over her nose. Feline in nature, it raised her hackles further. She swallowed down the growl that threatened.

Her fingers dragged along the trunk of a tree as she paused to get her bearings. She wasn't expecting to see the young woman walking along the path. Brigid remained where she was, not saying anything.

Seems like as good a place as any

[undomesticated]

Riley had been drawn towards the woods, more out of a sense of comfort and familiarity than anything else. The few buildings she'd seen had seemed deserted and run down. As she'd strolled closer, she'd picked up one of the tantalizingly fleeting scents of someone -- or something. It was familiar; canine but mingled with human. Someone with a dog, maybe?

She didn't think so, but the alternative was that it was another shifter, and that only made the fear that she'd been brought here intentionally because of her own shifting spike slightly. Someone with a dog, then. She looked around as she stepped into the woods, looking for any signs of someone, or their dog. Please let it be a dog, she thought to herself.

[bostonhowler]

The feline smell was stronger. Her ears picked up the soft step of someone close. Brigid wondered if there was someone here that had big cats around. A growl almost curled her lip. She wondered what was going on. Seeing the girl step into the woods, Brigid frowned.

She stepped out from around a tree and saw the girl.

Kanima? They are the werejaguars. Even if they look like lizards.

"Hi." Better to start with something innocent. There was a hunter in town.

[undomesticated]

She was almost relieved when she saw the girl appear from behind a tree until she caught the stronger scent of canine. With no dog in sight, that left only one option to her and it made that sliver of fear jab in a little further. "Hi."

She offered the redheaded girl a small smile, unsure of her welcome here. Maybe this was her territory and she might take offense to an unwelcome shifter traipsing around in it. "I'm Riley. I, um... I just woke up here and, well, I'm not quite sure where here is."

[bostonhowler]

She cocked her head to the side, offering a smile in return. Brigid wondered at the smell of feline. There were, of course, legends about shifters that were cats, but she'd never seen one. "I'm Brigid." She offered, without extending her hand. Something wasn't right.

"This is Cape Kore... which explains nothing, but I don't really know much more than that." Brigid doesn't mind admitting that. "I've only been here a few days." Her fingers fidget at the tree bark for a moment.

[undomesticated]

"Cape Kore? I don't think I've heard of that place before. Are we even still in the U.S.?" It smelled like it. The trees weren't anything she'd seen in some of the other continents, leading her to believe they were at least still in North America.

She started to chew on her lower lip, her own form of fidgeting as she looked over at Brigid. "So, you don't know why we were taken? This isn't some sort of... study?"

[bostonhowler]

"I don't know. I was walking down the street in Boston and then, suddenly, at the fountain." She flicked her eyes away, looking deeper into the woods. "There are others here, and I don't think they're from my world." Brigid scratched her back against the bark.

"No one knows why were taken. St. Raphael said even he is trapped here, and anything that can trap him is... beyond anything I've ever read about." She shrugged.

[undomesticated]

Her mouth opened to respond, but she couldn't think of anything to say in response to that that didn't sound rude. Other worlds? What was that supposed to mean. The last thing she wanted to do was offend the first person she'd run into here, but none of what Brigid was saying made too much sense to her. "What exactly does that mean? Who's St. Raphael and why are we trapped here?"

[bostonhowler]

"I don't know. It's a giant fishbowl, more than anything from what I can tell." Her fingers fidgeted with the end of her hoodie sleeves. She wondered at the smell of feline, but didn't ask.

"St. Raphael. The archangel? He and his brother St. Lucifer are here." She wondered at people who didn't know who the archangels were. "And I don't know why."

[undomesticated]

"Whoa. Wait a second. You're trying to tell me there are archangels here? Like... really real ones?" The incredulity in her tone was more than apparent, her eyes wide as she looked at Brigid. Something was seriously off with this conversation. Maybe they put something in the water?

[bostonhowler]

Brigid smiled, something soft, and genuine and content, despite her circumstances. "Really real ones. St. Raphael and St. Lucifer are here."

Her hand rose to touch the crucifix that she hadn't worn the day she was grabbed to come here. "They've been in the church, every time I've seen them."

[undomesticated]

Taking a deep breath, she found her cheeks puffing out as she released it. Angels. Really? "Call me crazy, but isn't Lucifer supposed to be, like, the devil?" She wasn't Catholic, having been brought up in far too many cultures and religions to have subscribed to just one.

[bostonhowler]

Brigid snorted. The stupid ideals like that made her frustrated. "No." She had known that before taking Comparative Religion. "Lucifer was given a bad job. God knows all and sees all; therefor there isn't any possible way to rebel against God." She bit her lip. "Sorry. My priest back home had ideas about Lucifer."

[nevermindtherunning]

The Doctor was roaming around the island, looking for the best locations to set up his wind trackers, when he heard someone walking nearby. Typically he didn't think much of it, given it was a small town, but no one said hello yet. Now that was strange as he looked around, trying to locate whomever it was.

"Hello!" He greeted outloud first, standing his ground and waited for a reply.

[undomesticated]

Following one of the scent trails, she was busy trying to pick apart what it was about the scent that was strange. It had an aftertaste, like something cold, but not like anything she'd ever smelled before.

So intent on trying to decipher the scent, she hadn't realized she'd been coming closer to the source of it. The greeting surprised her, and she found she was glad no one could see the small flush of embarrassment as she realized she'd almost walked into an unfamiliar location with her head in the clouds. She could almost hear the exasperated sigh from her mother. Perfect.

The voice at least let her know she wasn't completely alone here, which was a little bit of a balm. "Hello?" She turned in the direction of the voice, looking around until she spotted the speaker, giving him a small wave.

[nevermindtherunning]

He looks at her, confused for a second, "You're new. At least I think you are." Rude and not ginger, that was him. "Are you?"

Not that it wasn't a bad thing, he just didn't quite recognize her, although she sort of looked like that one girl he briefly spoke to that was covered in dirt. Maybe it was her? "You looking for something?"

[undomesticated]

Was he British? He sounded British. She came a little closer, still offering a smile. "Yes, I'm new. I didn't know there were old ones around that'd make me a new one."

Giving him a sort of shrug, she gestured around her. "Other than a way out? Not really anything in particular. I'm trying to figure out where here is."

She held her hand out to him. "I'm Riley."

[nevermindtherunning]

"Ah, you'll be looking for a long time." He offers a smile and takes her hand, "Doctor."

He was definitely not British, or human for that matter, but he would confess to rather liking England. Perhaps it was the great tea and chips.

"The whole lot of us are trying to find a way out. I heard a group tried through the woods once, but a couple were killed." He says that almost so nonchalantly, it scared even himself. "Erm, right. You'll be stuck here a while, I'm afraid."

[undomesticated]

She idly wondered what sort of doctor he was and why he'd go by just 'Doctor', but hey, that was his thing.

The mention of people getting killed had her taken aback slightly. "Killed? For trying to leave? Great." This did not bode well for her. She could already hear her parents with their 'We're not going to say we told you so, but we're going to give you a look that implies exactly that' speech.

[nevermindtherunning]

The Doctor nods, "There's rumors that this place is being run by mad scientists." He shrugs, "I'm not sure who to believe. I don't trust everyone I've met, but what other choice do we have?"

He offers her a smile, "At least the scenery isn't so bad! And at night you're able to see a wide variety of stars!" See? Not a total loss.

[undomesticated]

"How many other people are there here?" She'd run into one shapeshifter who'd mentioned archangels and a hunter, and now this doctor. The possibility of it being an experiment flashed in her mind again, her eyes going to one of the ubiquitous cameras.

The smile had her giving him a small one back. "I do like a good night sky." Not that that made up for being kidnapped or anything, but she saw what he was getting at. Trying to find the silver lining to make it bearable wasn't a bad way to look at things.

[nevermindtherunning]

"Oh, twenty or so? There's quite an influx of people coming in and out of this place." Out meaning death or disappearing, which he imagined is what happened when he left the first time. "I really haven't kept count." He absent-mindedly tugs at an earlobe as he mulls over this.

"But don't go wandering about alone too often, especially around these woods. I've heard far too dangerous of stories around these parts." Not that he was calling her defenseless or weak, just showing genuine concern.

[undomesticated]

Twenty or so wasn't so bad. From the size of the town she'd been able to see, it seemed pretty sparse, but she'd rather it be that than overpopulated and crowded. Especially with strangers. She nodded at his warning. "I heard there's actual sabretooth tigers in the woods." A fact she wanted to see with her own eyes so badly.

[nevermindtherunning]

An eyebrow is raised, "Now I haven't heard that one yet!"

Wow, who knew? He was remotely curious to look himself for this large creatures. However, there were still people who went in the woods, right? Had they seen them?

A shrug, "I dunno, but just be careful. There are some strange things here."

[undomesticated]

"I can't really see anything about this that isn't strange." Which included her being brought here in the first place. Add in everything else and there was this hodgepodge of things that just didn't make sense.