Instinct

Spot

I watched listlessly as the lynx, then the wolf, then the owl, then the dogs take off down the row. "And they're off," I said in a bored voice. My boisterous energy from earlier had vanished faster than mist on a sunny day. "Play nice now, kiddies." How stupid were they? Bolting from their cages like that... that's why I had a lock on mine now. I eyed the smug little block of metal with distaste. Stupid padlocks. Who invented those things anyways? They deserved to be bit in the face.

I liked being a pain, but if I were to be perfectly honest I didn't really like the thought of my roommates getting whacked by Arun. It would get lonely without the other people here, and the dogs at least were good company. Sometimes when I was feeling less manic than usual, they'd talk with me like I was a normal person instead of the giggling idiot I'd become.

Why did I act like that anyhow? I'm not crazy, regardless of what everyone else in the world might think. Crazy people can't think right, and I can. Well... okay, I guess I might be a little... quirky. It's just sometimes it felt like I'd explode unless I made someone else as miserable as I was. Yeah, it wasn't healthy, but I couldn't help myself. I just exploded in giggles and singing and raucous snarls that echoed off the walls and made everything numb for a little bit.

Jaidev-

Jay paused as he reached the woods, a low growl had echoed from the forest. The chain fence rose above him. Beyond the woods were just feet away, freedom. Crouching, Jay lashed his tail.

Behind him he heard shouts and the alarm blaring, the logical part of him knew Jay should probably find another route. But he couldn't, being outside was intoxicating and both tiger and boy were to excited to think.

Jay sprang from his crouch, halfway up the fence he hooked claws through the chainlink and scrambled the rest of the way up. Not very elegant but it got the job done. He was just about to jump into the woods when the door banged open behind him.

Balanced on the fence Jay watched the lab like he had all the time in the world. First a lynx came charging out the door, followed by a wolf and a pair of dogs. Behind them came an owl and a huge snake. Sora and Arun, Dev had told him about the others too. The lynx and wolf must be Lupa and Masumi. He wasn't sure who the dogs were, maybe Keiran and Dylan?

On the heels of the animals came the horror himself. Whiteside. Jay snarled as the bastard came charging out of the building. Still, the prankster inside him couldn't ignore such an oppurtunity. Jay through back his head and roared. Everyone froze, and stared at him.

While the doc was gaping Jay stuck out his tounge, waved his tail in goodbye and jumped over the fence. Plunging into the woods and freedom. The doctor's scream of frustration was music to his ears. Tail waving in smug sasistfaction, Jay picked up his feet trotting into the forest. He froze as he entered a trail to find a bear 'laughing'?

Derrick~

Derrick laughed at the show the tiger gave, shaking his large furry head. "Quite a show, I'll say that much." He smirked, the tiger's eyes suddenly growing hard. He probably thought Derrick was another one of Whiteside's. The tiger growled and Derrick sighed, shaking his head as he shifted.

"Who're you?" The tiger growled.

"That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that I'm not on Doctor Freak's side." Derrick shook his head and crossed his arms. "You know, you made it over here sooner than I bet you would. I'd even thought you were going to get caught. Man, how bad would that have sucked." The tiger soon shifted into a young man, causing Derrick to smirk and shake his head.

"What?" The guy asked, confused.

"Nothing, just kind of tired of guys. Nothing against you, of course, but us rebels already have a three to one male to female ratio. Really annoying. I'm Derrick by the way."

"Jay," the guy, Jay smirked.

"Good to have you aboard, Jay." Derrick stuck his hand out for a handshake, Jay returning it with a hard grip. "Now, we can head to the camp, or see if your buddies make it too."

Dalton Bennett, Scorpion

Sounds were dim to the scorpion, despite his loyalty, Whiteside seemed to be half-obsessed with treating him like a real pet deathstalker - and that meant keeping him in an extra secure box. Hence, he only dimly heard the sounds of escape down the corridor from his place on the good doctor's desk, and sighed a little to himself. That would make Whiteside angry, and when he was angry, he tended to switch on the lamp above Dalton, just for the kick of watching him hide under one of the rocks and hiss in fury.

He probably wouldn't even get a live cricket let into his tank, and that was hardly any fun. They were the only real entertainment Dalton could get.

From the bell jar beside him, he could hear the sounds of the black widow dismantling another of her messy webs. "So, how goes life?" She asked from her jar.

The scorpion lay still under the largest rock, glowering at the remains of his lunch and musing on whether or not a web would have been any fun. I don't think so...it'd make things too easy.

"Dalton?" The spider asked, "You in there?"

He crept half out, making sure he stayed in the shadow and away from the light cast from the ceiling. She crept to the side of her jar, "So? Life?"

Dalton shrugged as best as he could in his current state, thin chitin plates scraping together, "I've been in a box for three days, people are making too much noise in the hall, I'm hungry, and it's still daytime. Yours?"

It was more than he'd usually say in a single conversation, but Rebekah was more like him than the other experiments - an arachnid, same sort of patience, solitary. And, despite how close Whiteside had decided to set her jar and his tank, she didn't bother him too much.

**Nothing for Conrad at the moment, but he's wandering around on the outside, so maybe the escapees or rebels could run into him?**

Sophia ~ Panther

Annoyed did not cover it. Snarling and growling, it was all she could do to hold herself back. If she attacked the cage she'd only hurt herself. Like she did last time.

But staring at the empty cages was so painful.

Freedom was so close! She could almost taste it, but not quite. Goddamn padlocks. She tried to push her snout through the cage to get to it, but the bars were too close together. She changed back, although she hated her weak, human form, and tried to slip the padlock through the bars and into the cage. She could crush it that way. The padlock was too big.

With an angry scream, she struck at the cage. Again and again and again, until her fists bled and throbbed. She morphed back into a panther and went wild inside, crashing around and around.

The cage wobbled.

She froze, then threw her weight against one of he sides of the cage. It wobbled again. Desperate, she put everything she had into one last shove and...

Crash!

The cage toppled over, into the isle.

But she was still stuck.

Rebekah Stonewall, black widow

If Rebekah were human at the moment, she would have smiled. Poor Dalton. She was lucky to have such simple needs. One of the taut sticky strands went limp as she plucked its end away from the wall, then began to consume it.

"I'm fine. Just decided to rebuild my web again."

"Oh."

It was quiet for a moment as she began spinning the new trap.

CRASH! The sudden vibrations made her jerk, and the new strand's end fell before it could be affixed to the glass.

Rebekah scurried to the top of her jar, frightened and angry. "What are those idiots doing now?! Can't they let us have five seconds of peace?" Grumbling, she stuck the end of the thread back where it was supposed to go.

Masumi

I saw the fence just a little bit more, I pushed my legs, aching from lack of use and took a quick look behind me, Arun was still following. I couldn't afford to fight him, I would lose. Suddenly a roar from ahead and Arun was distracted for just a moment I used that time to cut round and head for a different section of fence. I was loosing him. Knowing I couldn't ever manage to climb the fence I crashed into the fence and began digging. I saw the bear and tiger boy run up to me on the other side of the fence. "Why don't you climb?" the he asked.
"You try climbing this fence when you've not been able to exercise for God knows how long and have had no food since before the assistant was murdered!" I snarled while forcing my aching paws to continue digging.
Suddenly The bear stood up and the boy bared his teeth. Instantly I knew the reason why. I turned around and Arun was staring at me intently. I sighed and said in a tone that could be mistaken for sarcasm, "Listen go help Lupa, I'm a goner now anyway."
I bolted knowing I had no hope left. Barely listening as the bear pulled away the boy into the forest ignoring his yells.
**Moo and I have something planned out so I would appreciate it if you left this part of the story hanging until moo comments.**

Arun, King Cobra

In a spitting, hissing fit of rage, he left his sister to deal with the wolf as he gave chase to Masumi, snickering as he tried to escape under the chain link fence. He shifted fluidly, once snake and now man, bringing his hand down upon the lynx's hind leg and dragging him back, cackling as the fence scraped against the top of his skull.

Masumi backed away, baring his fangs and hissing, sizing up Arun before shifting into human form. Slowly Arun hunted him, step by step until Masmi was cornered between two hard walls of brick.

"Going to kill me, Arun?"

Arun smirked lip sidedly, coming to a stop and folding his arms. Masumi swallowed visibly and pressed his palms flat against the wall.

Arun took another step forward, grasping Masumi by the throat and looking at him with cold reptilian eyes.

"You're no different from any of the others. I'll kill you like I killed the rest." His lip lifted clear of his teeth to reveal his fangs. "No exceptions."

Masumi's face began to fill with colour, and Arun felt the rage shudder out of his body.

"We used to be friends," he spat, and suddenly Arun felt his mind slip. That truly was a long time ago. Masumi was still working within the factory, and when he and Sora had wondered from the facility, they had come across him and become close friends. It seemed miles away now...

Then Arun was snapped back to reality. An infuriated snarl tore from his throat as his hand gripped Masumi and threw him to the floor, following the attack by a vicious kick to the abdomen. But Masumi was up again within seconds, throwing them both to the gravel in a fierce body tackle.

Arun spat blood from his mouth after he bit his own tongue as his jaw smashed into the ground, throwing a fist towards Masumi's face with all the force he could muster.

Sora, Barn Owl

She caught up with the injured wolf quickly, flinching as her father's screams tore through her sensitive ears.

"Kill it! Kill it Sora!" he was screaming, the horrible sound causing Sora's wings to shudder and fall from the air. She clashed with Lupa's head, knocking them both over into the gravel. She flapped madly as Lupa's jaws snapped at her tail, catching some feathers and ripping them out.

Sora's talon's sought Lupa's eyes, snatching and scratching and dodging until her whole body throbbed and her father's screams intensified.

Lupa looked up at her snowy white face which was now spattered with blood, her eyes pleading. "Sora please! Please let me go! Don't let them put me back in that cage!" she cried, blood trickling from her face and dripping onto the gravel.



And then everything was silent. Sora's black eyes seemed to flash with horror at herself, as she swooped out of the air and far away from the facility, higher and higher until she had to gasp through her beak for air. Smaller and smaller the facility got, slowly developing into a grey blur below.

What have I done?

And then the sobs came. A little, tearless cough sounded from her beak as her wings locked and she began to plummet towards the earth, shifting into a human again because owls couldn't cry.

The rushing air embraced her limp body as the earth rushed towards her.

Spot, hyena

I jerked with a yelp at the sudden crash. What the crap?

The panther'd knocked her cage over into the aisle. Ooh, she was gonna be in trouble...

"Go Sophie go, go Sophie go!" I cheered flippantly, shoving my light brown snout through the bars. "Keep it up kitty! Nevermind that the bars are reinforced steel, I'm sure you can do it! Mind over matter!"

Sophie gave me a look that said quite clearly I will rip your throat out if I ever get the chance, but I just giggled. Silly Sophie, we were both stuck in cages.

Still... maybe I could stop being a jerk for a moment. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

"Hey, maybe if you do it just right, you can pick the lock with one of your claws. Seriously."

I watched amazed as Sora flew away. I was free! I could go somewhere, anywhere! But then I heard Whiteside's manic screams "SORA, SORA! GET THE WOLF! COME BACK AND GET THE DAMN WOLF!"
I had no time. Groaning, I forced my broken, aching body round again, limping as fast as I could to the fence. Two slats were broken so I began to force my way through, ignoring the pain this ignited in my side. Just as my back legs were through, a bear and a tiger ran up.
"Are you Lupa?" One asked.
I nodded weakly and began to limp again.
They walked by my side. "We'll take you to camp, you can rest there. We have to go quickly though."
I nodded at the bear, forcing myself to keep pace with them, and trying to ignore the screams behind me.

Masumi

As Arun's fist connected with my mouth, i racked my brains for something to say, 'help me out for old times sakes' seemed to be the way to go. After seeing Aruns reaction to my earlier comment. "Remember," I gasped as he got his hands around my throat, "remember how we used to talk about everything, how you used to help me clean, remember when i smuggled in stuff for you to give to Sora..."
His hands loosened a bit, I was the only one to know his soft spot. "Don't talk about Sora," he hissed, "It's because of you that Sora almost died, its because of you I'm stuck here!"
I remembered how our plan to get Sora out had went terribly wrong, how Arun had payed for it and, how Arun carried out his revenge, by giving White side the idea of 'taking me in'.
"You got your revenge for that!" I yelped as he kneed me in the stomach, Arun was gaining the upper hand and fast. I needed to do something, say something, anything!
"We... we made a promise!" I yelled in his face.
Arun recoiled in shock his eyes wide, while I was panting for my breath he stood up and picked me up, carrying me in a direction that did not got back into the building, we ended up in a secluded corner. I sat still, waiting to hear what he was going to say.

Keiran

Keiran stared at Dylan, wondering. Had she not seen the obvious challenge? Why was she not squaring up? Then he realized that she must think him as loyal to Whiteside as she still was.

Keiran thought, not wanting to spoil his one chance at escape, yet trying to avoid a fight if possible.

"Stay here!, he spat, trying his best to be cruel. "You'll just let her get away again. Let those of us who are really loyal deal with this."

There. That seemed to have worked. Dylan's ears pressed flat against her head. If she had been in human form, he thought she would have paled. Not in fear, but in shock at the accusation. Luckily, she was shocked enough to stay put for the few precious seconds it took for him to barrel after the others.

Keiran's thoughts were centered on Dylan: would she come after him? Or would she stay where she was? He spared a look over his shoulder, and was relieved to see she was in the same place he left h-

Keiran turned back ahead to see Whiteside standing with his back to him, not forty paces ahead. White-hot rage misted Keiran's vision, making his lips pull back in a snarl. He slowly walked towards Whiteside, stalling for time as he thought of the best way to be about his task of killing him. It seemed that task had come a lot sooner than anticipated.

He was closer now; a good leap would land him flat on Whiteside's back. He settled down on his haunches, preparing for the lunge.

Suddenly, he realized the stupidity of his action: Arun and Sora were around here somewhere, and who knew when Dylan would decide to "help out" anyways? Frustration built up inside of Keiran, making him feel sick. Damn you, Whiteside! Damn you! It seemed that his revenge would have to wait. But oh, it was hard to stalk around him, ignoring the urge to go for his throat.

"Get them, Keiran! Get them!", the doctor was yelling as he spotted the Labrador running in the direction that the others had disappeared from. But Keiran paid no heed. He loped along, waiting for a scent to reach his lowered nose.

Grass, grass, dirt, worm, rock, grass, ant, and- What was that? He doubled back and found the somewhat familiar scent of Lupa, and maybe that was Sora? There were feathers scattered about. On closer inspection he found a small, almost invisible scent-trail: the trail of blood. He was on the hunt.

Once he had the scent locked in his mind, following it was no problem. It stayed on a semi-straight path, leading always towards the forest beyond the fence. It brought him right up to the edge, where blood was splattered on the fence itself; it seemed Lupa at least had escaped. But what of the others?

He followed the trail anyway, past the fence and into the forest, where it seemed she had met some others. Keiran caught the unmistakable scent of a cat- a scent that made his hackles rise- and a strange scent that he couldn't quite put a name to; it was musky and wild, standing his hackles up even more, almost to his tail. Whatever it was, he didn't think he wanted to meet it.

Keiran quickly mastered the fear- after all, between the option of going to these escapees and their strange companion and going back to the facility, the answer was obvious- and set off in pursuit. He would find his fellow rebels and they would all figure out a way to get back at Whiteside. He hoped.

*maybe they could find him wandering in the forest*

Arun

Silently he dragged Masumi by the scruff of his shirt towards a secluded area, reaching down to grab the front of his shirt and slamming him forcefully against the wall, hearing the air whoosh from his lungs.

"You know what Masumi? That's pretty low, trying to save your own ass by bringing some petty promise up that happened years ago."

Masumi gasped for breath, his fists wrapped weakly around Arun's wrists as he gulped in enough air to talk.

"I'll look after her..." he paused, looking up into Arun's cold eyes and gasping for air, "If you let me go. Remember the promise."

Arun's anger flared and suddenly the snake within him rose up, desperate for release. He bared his fangs but slowly his grip was loosening. He had saw Sora flee just moments ago, heard her quiet sobs as she took to the air. And surely the rebels would kill her, knowing that he was her brother. Arun's face neared Masumi's and he spoke with such ferocity that his words were barely distinguishable between the hisses.

"You're lucky."

Then, he grabbed him again, dragging him through the dirt and back into full view of the doctor again. On the way past, he found a dog attempting to escape. He reached down and plucked it up by the scruff, as it yelped in shock of being caught. The doctor squealed delightedly as they came into view, Arun kicking the dog in the stomach and watching it hit the floor snarling.

"This is what happens to those who try to get away," he spoke coldly, pushing Masumi back against a wall. The dog looked at him fiercely, his anger being extinguished as Arun shifted into a terrible cobra and turned to face Masumi.

Slowly he slithered fowards, all 22ft of him coiling up to stare Masumi straight in the eyes. "Don't let Sora down," he hissed, quiet enough for only Masumi to hear. The cobra spread his hood and hissed, revealing long venom filled fangs.

Then, Arun brought his fangs down upon Masumi's throat in one terrifyingly fast strike.

Masumi yelled in pain, shifting and taking off. He scrabbled below the chain link fence, leaving a blood trail behind him. The cobra turned his head and looked coldly after him. He had given Masumi mercy this time; the bite was dry and held no venom whatsoever. But everyone who had watched didn't know any better. Everyone who had watched thought that Masumi had barely minutes left to live.

"My son," cried Whiteside, kicking the dog aside and coming to clap Arun on the shoulder once he had shifted back. "My own son."

Arun ignored him, shoving past to face the dog again. "If you want to die too," he said coldly, giving it his signature smirk. "Then go ahead, I dare you. You'll end up being eaten by the crows, like Masumi." He laughed loudly, throwing back his head and returning his gaze upon the dog.


*Maybe one of the rebels could come across Sora? She's deeper in the forest and pretty injured right now, and could use a little help Though they probably wouldn't react kindly. Lol. And the dog didn't have to be anyone in particular, just a NPC or whatever.*

Sophia ~ Panther

"Shut up," she snarled at the Hyena. "And stop being so stupid! Can you see me fussing with that?" She morphed back and reached through the bars for the padlock. Her lips curled into a triumphant smile as it slipped through the dented bars. Once she changed back, she took all he frustration out on the padlock. She thought she heard a tooth crack, and there was a sudden, roaring pain in her lower jaw. She bit down harder, throwing her head back and forth. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...

Crack!

Holy-

"Yay! You did it! Go, go, go Sooophie!"

"It's Sophia! you stupid, freakin'-"

"And she's outta there. Er, uh oh."

Sophia stalked towards Spot's cage. Her stealthy walk full of menace. Suddenly, she stopped.

"No, I don't need to bother with a creature like you."

Sophia turned to walk away ignoring Spot's voice from behind her.

"Hey! Wait! What about me? Sophie! I don't mean it! Can't you take a joke?" Spot paused, then Sophia winced as an ear-splitting shriek filled her sensitive ears. "All by myself! Don't wanna be all by myself, anymore! All by myself, don't wanna live all by myself, anymore."

"Okay, okay!" Sophia whirled around. "If I get you out will you promise to stop singing?"

"I'll think about it. Wait! Wait! Okay - I promise! I promise! Thanks Sophie."

"Sophia."

"Thanks Sophia."

Sophia's jaws descended upon Spot's padlock.

**If you don't mind Moo, the dog can be Dylan **

Dylan~

Dylan lowered her head, ears back as a soft growl ripped through her throat. Arun smirked as he slithered back to the laboratory, head held high. Loyalty meant nothing to Father, that much was obvious, all he cared about was how strong you were, and whether or not you could hold your own against one of the stronger experiments. "Come on, you good for nothing mutt." Father snapped, Dylan letting out a whine and trotting behind him. It was funny. He'd called her one of his greatest experiments after being able to mix the genes of a loyal Labrador and a merciless pit bull into her blood stream. Wait... where was Keiran? Shifting painfully into her human form, shoulder bloody from her fight with Lupa, she hurried to Father's side.

"Father, forgive me for letting Lupa pass." She whispered softly, looking up at the doctor, whose mouth was in a thin, angry line.

"It's fine, she was a failed experiment any way." That was a lie, and even Dylan knew it. More so that the doctor himself.

"I suppose so, but still, where did Keiran go? After her?" Father sighed then.

"I'm not completely sure. I need to gather some more test subjects though." Dylan nodded understandingly, sighing at the thought of more people being tested on.

*UGH*