Chosen- Started.

Arcadia

Par and I continue to run towards the forest, far from the house. As we near the edge, I can't help but look back. We will come back for you guys, I promise, I think to myself.

Par turns to follow my gaze. "We can't do anything yet," he thinks to me. "The best thing we can do is avoid getting caught. We can help them later."

I slowly turn back around and nod. He's right. We run into the forest, staying low to the ground and out of the sunlight in case someone comes along.

"Par, how deep do you think we should go?" I ask.

He sniffs the air, then the ground, before answering. "Pretty deep. We should also find shelter that's close to the water."

"Do you think it's safe to shift?"

"Not until nightfall. We should find shelter by then, and I doubt anyone will be wandering the forest at night."

Suddenly, I hear loud footsteps and voices ahead of us, walking our way.

"...can't find that wolf. He's too fast," a man grumbles.

My ears flatten and I quickly duck under a a large bush.

"Quickly, Par! In here!"

He hurriedly darts under the bush with me, wrapping his tail around himself. I watch as three pairs of boots, two mens' and one woman's, walk towards our bush.

"I don't know how he slipped away!" the other man says. "Anyways, he's long gone now. There's no way we can search the whole forest. He's probably not even in here."

The boots pass one by one in front of our bush, leaving me with baited breath, but neither of them notice us.

I look over at Par, who looks as shaken as I do. "That was too close."

Par


I nod in agreement. "At least Leo is safe..." Too bad none of the defenders are. We're going to need to do something eventually, but right now, I'm fresh out of brilliant ideas. Here we are, two little animals stuck in a bush and completely separated from everyone they can trust.

We wait there, huddled under our shelter, for hours (well, fox time anyways. I don't have a watch on me.) Eventually, there are pawsteps and Leo pokes his big grey head in.

"How is everyone?" His yellow eyes are full of concern.

Arcadia blinks. "All the defenders got captured."

"We're at a loss for what to do," I add miserably.

"Why don't we go back by the house together," Leo suggests.
"Maybe they-"

"Get out of here, Leo!" Arcadia hisses suddenly, a yowl at the back of her throat. How does she even do that?

The wolf looks confused for a minute; his head shoots up when he hears the foot steps. With a small yelp, the wolf pulls his head out of the bush and slinks away. A heartbeat later Arcadia and I watch the parade of footsteps. I send up a small prayer that he'll escape. We can't do this without Leo...

"Come on, I whisper, even though it's only in our thoughts. I look at Arcadia. Even as a cat, she is so beautiful, so precious. I have the selfish want to protect her and only her, and just leave the others so that she and I can be safe. I don't mention that, of course, because I would never really do it. But if Arcadia gets hurt again... Pushing my mind to the back of my, uh, mind, I dart out of the bush and head the opposite direction, Arcadia trailing behind me. A tumult of things run through my head, none of them helpful. I have literally no idea what we're going to do...

Suddenly, my nose recognizes something all on my own. It's a footprint, and yet it's different. It smells old, familiar. Like home.

"Arcadia, whoever made this footprint is from Earth!"

Please post!!!

Ava

“No!” I scream, but it was too late.

“Relax. He is not dead. He will be awake soon enough.” The woman says. She bends down and injects another serum into him.

I try to make her stop, but the mans grip on me gets tighter. I look again to Ree on the ground. His body lies helplessly on the ground as she injects it into his body. All of a sudden, his eyes jerk open. The man behind me laughs and pushes me on the ground. The women holds him back. Ree's eyes are full rage and hatred. “What did you do to him?” I demand.

“I injected him with a fluid that controls him. He is under my complete control now. He will do what ever I say.” She say

My face goes blank, not even able to process what is going on. “What did you tell him to do?” I ask. I slowly rise to my feet.

She releases him from her grip and smiles. “Kill you.” She say.

Ree darts at me and punches me in the chest, knocking all the air out of my lungs. I let out a noise unable to describe. Something between a scream and a cough. I plummet back and hit the wall, my back smacking into it. He wraps his hand around my throat and squeezes hard. I see Damon in the back ground knocking people out. Ree squeezes harder and harder. I never pictured me dying like this. Getting killed my my own boyfriend.

All of a sudden Ree's grip on my is released and he falls onto the ground. Dharius stands angry with hovered over Ree's body. I gasp for air and side down on the wall. My lungs take in the air. My stomach chest burns every time I inhale and exhale. My neck aches from the horrible pain. Tears are streaming down my face, but I cannot make a sound.

“We need to get back to the other house before more come.” Damon says. He comes over and picks me up.

Dharius and Damon begin to walk out the door. I manage to beat on Damon's back and point at Ree. “You cannot seriously want him around you after he tried to kill you.” Dharius demands.

“Get him.” I whisper, but even that causes an unbarable amount of pain. He rolls his eyes and nods, picking Ree up and we walk out the door.

Leo

Fighting is the first thing that enters my consciousnesses. I uncurled my body, and see I am inside a cage. I remember running through the woods, and being knocked unconscious.

“You cannot seriously want him around you after he tried to kill you.” someone demands nearby. Wait...I knew that voice. Dharius! What was he doing here.

"Dharius!" I said, but all that came out was a growl. It went quiet and someone came over and knelt in front of my cage.

"Leo?" the person said. I tried to shift back, but was unable to. So I simply nodded. "Change back and lets get out of here," Dharius said. I shook my head, hoping he understood I couldn't.

Wait...Telepathy. Behind Dharius was Ava. Perfect.

Ava, can you hear me? I thought.

LEO! Why won't you turn normal, and how did you end up here. Are the others safe? Ava responded.

I somehow cannot change back, I was captured, and I do not know about the other spies, I thought. A pain ripped through my body and my vision went black.

Leo! Leo! Ava screamed in my head.

Wolfy sleepy. Nighty-night... I giggled in my head before going unconscious again.

Arcadia

My stomach does little flips. The real people from Earth? Could it be them?

"Do you think it's them?" I ask Par timidly.

"Only one way to find out!" he says, sniffing fervently and leading the way.

We run through the woods, following the scent, which just gets stronger as we go along. At the sound of hushed voices, I instinctively duck and try to hide, but Par stops me.

"Shhh! Listen!" he demands.

I do, and while I can't quite make out what they're saying, it is, without a doubt, the other members of the Chosen! I can distinctly pick out Ava's voice, plus a voice I've never heard before. I'm weary at first, but I realize that he must not be a threat, judging by the way they were speaking softly.

"Ava?!" I think to her. "Is that you?"

I hear her light gasp before she responds. "Arcadia, where are you and Par?"

"Right here!" Par thinks, running towards them with me following closely behind.

They're not far from the house, and both Ree and Leo lay unconscious on the ground. There's a guy I've never seen before with Ava. Stanley shifts back into his human self.

"What happened to them?" he asks, nudging Ree's hand with his foot.

"It's a long story," Ava says with a sigh. "I'll explain it later."

I shift into a human as well, unable to take my eyes off the new guy. "Who are you?" I squeak at last.

"I'm Damon," he says, smiling and extending his hand. "I was sent here to help you."

I gently shake it, but I still feel a little uneasy.

Dharius

I wake up chained to a pole. That's the first thing I realize because of the pain on my wrists and that awkwardness on my back. Ava. That's my first thought. Where could she be? I star to worry, remembering how I left her and his stupid boyfriend to die.

I try to release my hands from the chains, but I can't. I just sit back, feeling extremely tired. Waiting for someone... Someone that arrives.

"Stay calm and don't say a thing," a man says in front of me. I kind of recognize him... Isn't he the one who helped us some hours -or days, I'm not really sure- ago? The man takes out a weird instrument from his pocket, that cuts the chains in a few seconds. What the...?.

"Listen," the guy continues. "Ava and Ree are caught, and I can't fight them alone. " Ava!... Damn, stop it, Dharius. "I need you to save them... It's the only way."

Without even hesitating I stand up and ask him: "Where are them?"

"Come with me." Both of us juggle through a maze of corridors, and find a weird room surrounded by glass windows. In it, there's a group of people. Of Arkylians. "Don't make a sound," the man tells me. That doesn't works, though.

The Arkylians turn around and see us, preparing to attack. Suddenly there's a rain of fists, kicks and some other strange things. But I only focus on something. Ree is killing Ava.

"Oh no, you don't!" I scream and tackle him, beginning to punch him multiple times. Behind me, it seems our ally has defeated the Arkylians. Something quite impressive.

"You wouldn't want him to be around you after he tried to kill you," I tell Ava, full of bravery.

"Get him," she whispers. I have no other choice than picking up Ree, running with Ava and the man the fastest my hurt legs let me.

We get out and find Stanley and Arcadia. They both chat with the man, whose name seems to be Damon, and Ava. But there's someone else. I know who he is almost instantly.

"Well, you won't stop impressing me, are you?". There's him again. The man who defeated me in the mansion. Before saying anything, he waves his hand, and the same pain in my eyes comes back. This time, however, there's screaming all around me.

Spoiler

I think this must be harder... I'm planning something.

Spoiler

Ahh, marching band is trying to eat my life! I promise I've been trying to post, but I have no time whatsoever for anything.

Ree

His eyes opened. Hate. Rage. Killing. The three primal thoughts occupied his existence, filling him with fire. There - the girl, the target of the hate. Their grip released him and he lunged forward, feeling the fire burn, striking. To kill - that was his purpose, his existence. He grabbed her, squeezing the life out of her. He relished the feeling of her throat collapsing under his grip, the sense of her life draining out at his grip...

There was a sharp pain, and he fell, blackness surrounding him and drowning out the fire.



Slowly, I became aware that I was lying on something soft. My head felt strange - it throbbed, inside and out. My arm was sore as well. Vaguely, I wondered why, but the thought only drifted through as my brain tried to begin functioning. Finally it did, but my eyes didn't want to come open, so I lay there a while, trying to sort out the fragments of thought and memory swirling in my mind.

What happened? I started with my first clear, sure memory. Finding Ava trying to defend against three Arkylians was the most solid thing I had. I'd helped her knock them out... then more people had come. Dharius had tried to fight them, but they'd done... something... to him. Then they'd taken me and Ava away. I hadn't protested. I mentally cringed that I'd let them handle Ava like that.

They'd taken us outside, and then... then that woman had pulled out the needle. I remembered being jabbed, and falling, and then...

My eyes flew open as I remembered the next part, going wide in horror. I'd tried to kill Ava. I tried to kill Ava... I hurt her... I hurt her! My eyes squeezed shut again as horror and rage tried to suffocate me. I shivered, remembering the feeling; I'd been something less than an identity, some soul-deprived creature. And I'd taken pleasure in hurting her. Ava. With her golden hair and her wise, knowing heart, and that laugh... I'd hurt her. I'd enjoyed it.

I felt sick; I wondered if that was whatever serum they'd put into me or just my own memories. Opening my eyes, I looked around me, desperate to see if Ava was there, if she was alright.

It didn't even occur to me to be surprised that there weren't any Arkylians around; someone had rescued us. Someone had rescued Ava from me. I saw Dharius standing over me, a hard look on his face. I hoped he'd punch me. I hoped he'd grind me to a pulp like on Earth. Maybe then I'd be closer to what I'd done to Ava.

There - I saw her, talking to the human and to Stanley and Arcadia. I could see that she hurt; she kept clutching at her chest as if it burned. Bruises were forming around her neck. I closed my eyes again, unable to stand the sight.

Suddenly I heard the murmurs of the others stop; a male voice I chillingly recognized spoke. "Well, you won't stop impressing me, will you?"

I jerked up, trying to rise and flee, but suddenly a blinding light flashed in my eyes and I collapsed, screaming as agony overwhelmed me. I clutched at my face, writhing uselessly. I'd never felt anything like this - I couldn't take it. I felt consciousness desperately retreat, falling away, and I gratefully embraced the blackness that followed.



This time I came awake on a hard surface. I slowly blinked my eyes open, trying to get myself to move. I was in a plain, empty room, with a smooth floor and a dim light bulb flickering from the roof. There were no windows, not even on the dully painted door that looked like the only entrance or exit. All at once, I realized what this room was - it was a prison cell.

Looking around, I saw Dharius still unconscious next to me. That was odd; I'd have expected him to heal faster and wake up first. Maybe it was a good thing he hadn't, though. He was probably just sleeping - I saw our friend who had rescued us sleeping nearby. No longer concerned, I moved past them, looking around for anything that could give me a clue as to what was going to happen to us. Where was Ava? Perhaps they'd put her in her own cell. The three spies, assuming they'd been captured as well, had probably been put into their own enclosures as well.

I wondered what the King of Arkyle wanted with us. We'd come here to try to make peace with him - hadn't we? I didn't remember anymore. But I knew we hadn't come to do anyone harm. I'd assumed he would know we were coming - but now he'd had us kidnapped. Alive. What did he want us for? Captives? I felt like there had to be something more important than that - the governments back home wouldn't sacrifice much for a bunch of kids who'd gotten themselves into trouble.

Dharius began to stir, shortly followed by the man whose name I still didn't know. I realized that I probably wasn't in the best immediate situation - Dharius probably wanted to kill me. I wanted to kill me; our imprisonment had distracted me, but now I remembered Ava again and self-hatred invaded my mind again.

I swallowed the lump of fear and anger that kept coming back. Now what?

Spoiler

So... to echo my character's question, what exactly does the King of Arkyle want? Chosen, what's your plan (since you seem to be the mastermind behind a lot of this)?

Oh, and it's midnight and I got up at four... so if this isn't very lucid, I apologize. I'll fix it tomorrow. XD

Dharius

The extremely cold flood causes me to wake up. I begin to look around and notice we're in a prison cell. What...? Then I remember. We escaped to be caught again. At my side, there's Ree, looking at me in fear. Suddenly I have the urge to kill him. I close my fists and face him, my face full with anger.

But I see something in his eyes. He's not the Ree that hurt Ava. This one seems to be almost crying in desperation. I don't paying attention, though. I rise my leg to strike a kick in his face... But he doesn't do anything. Like if he really wanted me to do it. I kick his face anyway.

Ree winces and looks at me. "Keep it going, I deserve it," he says. That would be great. I kick him again, my shoe thudding in his nose. And when I'm about to land the third hit, I hear a voice.

"Dharius... don't...". The voice is very soft, the words coming out of someone hurt. I turn around and see Ava, her glance full of sadness and pain. "They were controlling him," Ava continues, "he... he couldn't stop it."

I look at Ree one more time. His nose is bleeding and a bruise is starting to form in his cheek. Oddly, I'm looking for an answer... I don't get any, though.

"Dharius... please... don't..." Ava begs. I look at her eyes. Her face covered with wounds... I really want to kill Ree. But suddenly I calm down. She really loves him... I hate him, but I couldn't do that to her.

"I'm sorry," I tell her. Ava just nods and closes her eyes. She tries to stand up, failing in her efforts. "I have to heal you," I say. I begin searching around for anything that could let me transfer my blood into her body. But I find nothing.

"No, no... I'll be okay. We should find a way to escape... Not only that, we must leave this planet. It seems that's the only way, or we'll be killed." Escape, I repeat to myself... Then I realize something. Dharius, you damn idiot! I totally forgot about my mission. About my reason to be here. I'm supposed to hate humans, and I ended up falling in love with some girl. I'm so stupid. Ava is like every other human: a piece of garbage. A corrupt and selfish being... But she loves Ree. She begged me to not kill him. That's not selfish.

However, that doesn't mean the rest of mankind isn't corrupt. I remember the horrible place Earth is. Yes, I'm a human, but at least I want to be different. I must talk with the Arkylian Lord. I must start a war. There's no other way to help Earth. To save my self from that s***. But first, I must get out of here, and it seems there's only a way...

"We have to negotiate with our captors," I tell Ava and Ree. I observe Damon, who's lying on the ground, maybe asleep, maybe faint. "We can't escape by force, nor speed, nor anything else, they're far superior from us." Ree is looking at me, skeptic. "It's the only way," I conclude.

Before my two listeners answer, I hear something groan over me. I look up and see a wolf, who's watching me with anger through a cage. At its sides, there's a fox and a cat.

"Leo?" Ava says. The wolf doesn't answer and keeps observing me, like if he's mad with me. Leo rises his eyes towards Ava. I look at her too. "Huh?... I see...," she murmurs. "Leo says that's a coward idea, and that we should fight instead."

Damn. "Do you want to get caught again? Or even killed! Don't be stupid, we aren't going anywhere if we fight." Leo groans again, looking at me even more mad, trying to tell me something... Which is stupid.

"And who says that? The kid who has fought all his way through this? Who fought for a girl, even though he is antisocial and he doesn't likes people?" I turn around... Stood up, there's Damon, talking with all authority. "Don't be a fool Dharius. You're much more than that," he tells me. I suddenly feel very awkward... he's right. But that won't help my plan.

I open my mouth to reply, but then there's a voice coming out from nowhere, filling the cell. "It seems you're awake," says a man voice. I think that's the Arkylian who blinded me twice already. "Well, we have a proposal for you." I start to look around me, searching for his voice. But there's only walls, the light bulb, and the spies' cages. "I will open a door that will lead to a room where we'll talk. I trust that you won't do anything stupid; you already saw what happens if you resist. I'll wait here."

In a few seconds, silence is filling the room. Nobody talks. That is until a loud noise comes from a wall. All of us turn around and see a big gap. Again, silence reigns the cell. "That must be the door," Damon points out.

You don't say! There couldn't be a better opportunity than this. Ava and Ree look for an answer in both, Damon's and my face. I decide to make the best use of this chance. I must convince them.

"Really. It's the only way, how else do you want to escape? That man would defeat us in no time. Maybe, he'll let us out of Arkyle..." Wrong words. Of course he wouldn't. However, I must continue. "Come on, we can do it," I tell them, trying to fill me voice with authority, and start walking towards the door. "Lower Leo's, Stanely's and Arcadia's cages and let's go."

Spoiler

That's pretty good for me, Ranger

Ava

My body aches tremendously. Just breathing in and out takes effort. My eyes slowly peak open and I see I am laying on the floor in a prison cell. I force myself to sit up and let my back rest on the wall in the corner. My hands slowly rise to my neck. I gently touching it. There is pain at the slightest touch. I underestimated these people. They have the ability to turn ones own against us. I raise my head straight up and see Leo and the other spies in cages again. Leo makes eye contact with me. “What happened to you?” he asks.

“It's a long story. These people drugged Ree and he tried to kill me.” I say. Before he can say anything the sound of someone wincing makes me through my head to the right. I grit my teeth at the pain. Dharius is hurting Ree. He kicked him in the face. “Keep going. I deserve it.” he says.

“Dharius don't.” I say. His eyes glue to mine as if searching for a good reason not to. “The were controlling him. He..he couldn't stop.” I say. “Dharius please don't.” I beg.

He steps away for him and walks towards the "I'm sorry," I tell her. I nod and close my eyes I try to stand up, but fail and fall back against the wall "I have to heal you," He say. He begins to search for something, but finds nothing.

“"No, no... I'll be okay. We should find a way to escape... Not only that, we must leave this planet. It seems that's the only way, or we'll be killed." I say. Dharius goes deep into his thoughts and I fight the urge to read him mind. I look to Ree trying to fight the urge. The look of sorrow on his face kill me. He had no control over what happened and I know what. It hurts that he can't look at me. Voices talk around me, but I hear nothing. I am too focused on Ree to listen to anything.

My attention turn to Leo, once I hear him calling my name and he begins to give me a message for Dharius. "Huh?” I ask, but then he explains all I missed. “I see...," I murmur. "Leo says that's a coward idea, and that we should fight instead."

"It seems you're awake. Well, we have a proposal for you. I will open a door that will lead to a room where we'll talk. I trust that you won't do anything stupid; you already saw what happens if you resist. I'll wait here." A man says on the speakers.

The Prison cells open and Dharius and Damon are arguing once again. Dharius says something about getting home and that is all I can think about. Being safe. I look to Ree once again whose eye are locked on my bruised neck. I put my hand over it to hide them, worrying the sight out them would make him feel worse. I was right.

All of a sudden Dharius and Damon's arms slowly pull me off the ground. I snap out of my trance as we slowly walk to the room. A mix of pain and fear are in me. I do not know what the out come is going to become of this proposal. We walk into the room and see a familiar face and the end of a table. They take me to a chair and sit me down. I see Ree sit as far away from me as possible. Becoming a little irritated I send a message to him. “Ree do not avoid me. I am not mad at you. It is not your fault what happened. Please do not avoid me. I..” I begin. “ I am falling in love with you.” I say. A little embarrassed, I tilt my head down..

The man slams his hand down on the table, making me jump. “Now that I have everyone’s attention, time for the proposal.” He says.

Spoiler

Wow am I behind

Par

I wake up somewhere that smells sharp like metal and blood. Before opening my eyes, I know that all my teammates are close by. I also know that I am in fox form, and I can't change back. What happened? I try to shift back to Stanley, but it doesn't work. For a brief moment, the fear that I'll be stuck as a tiny dog forever crosses my mind; I push it away, mostly because there's no point in worrying right now.

Jacking myself to aching paws, I take a quick look around. Leo and Arcadia are huddled in the back of our - what is this, a prison cell? The defenders have their own cell/room/whatever. Ree has a bloody nose, Dharius is talking to a voice that echoes around the room yet comes from nowhere. Ava is talking to Dharius. Then there's Damon. I hate Damon. I hate the way he looked at Arcadia, the eagerness with which he took her hand.

It's not like she's my property or anything. But still.

Suddenly I notice there's something wrong besides the fact that I can't shift to Stanley - I can't understand what the defenders are saying! This causes my ears to twitch madly, as if twitching will help me understand the gibberish they're speaking.

"Arcadia? Leo?"

"Yeah?" Only Arcadia replies, Leo is busy thinking to Ava.

Does it sound like the others are speaking gibberish?"

The cat's face twists into a focused scowl for a moment, then her expression switches to one of surprise. "No, I can't! I don't know what they're saying!"

I yawn anxiously. What did the Arkylians do to us? Before I have time to freak out, however, the prison cells open and us animals follow the humans to a room. A man sits at a table, which is the only piece of furniture in here. He drums his fingers, his eyes narrowed. He's concerned they'll try to attack him.

I sit near Damon's feet (so Arcadia can't) and try to listen to the conversation, though I can't make anything out. I look to Leo, wondering if he's lost the ability to hear English too.

Arcadia

I feel cold and lonely, despite being in a room full people, having no way to communicate them.

"Stanley, I'm scared," I say, feeling myself shaking involuntarily.

"It'll be okay," he says, but his ears are laid back nervously.

"I just want to be human again. I want to know what they're saying and I want you to hold me so I feel better," I say, my tail twitching anxiously.

I walk over to him and lay next to him, resting my head on his shoulder. I feel his tail drape over me.

"I'm sure they're working something out and finding some kind of answers," he says reassuringly. "This is probably only temporary."

I lay my head down, closing my eyes and listening to the murmurs and occasional shouts of nonsense. For all I know, they could be speaking Japanese.

"I wish I was back in Earth," I say.

"Me too," Stanley says softly.

Everyone seems to be shouting now, which doesn't seem to be a good thing, judging by the anger behind it. Damon stands up and nearly kicks Stanley and I, causing Stanley to let out a low snarl. Suddenly we're snatched up and thrown back into the cage, along with Leo. The person carrying us is not gentle, and we crash into the walls of the cage as they jostle us. I can hear the others' panicked screams from behind us.

"Where are they taking us now?!"

Par

"Stanley, I'm scared," I hear Arcadia's thought beside me and I look in her direction, ears plastered against my head.

It'll be okay," I lie.

her tail twitches anxiously. "I just want to be human again. I want to know what they're saying and I want you to hold me so I feel better."

Frankly, I'd like that too, but I'm too dorky to say so so I change the subject. "I'm sure they're working something out and finding some kind of answers, this is probably only temporary."

How not comforting; that didn't even make sense! But Miss Arcadia seems to buy it, because she creeps closer and curls up next to me.

After a few minutes Damon angrily stands up, nearly kicking me in the face. Stupid idiot! I snarl at him, but he doesn't notice.

Suddenly, a hand grabs my scruff and lifts me painfully in the air, stretching my skin. Ouch. We are thrown into plastic crates by arms stiff with anger, then carried somewhere.

"Where are they taking us now?!" Arcadia yowls.

Through one of the air-holes, I see Leo muzzled in a much larger crate, and snarling. I can't see or smell any defenders.

"Leo?" I think. "What happened?"

The wolf doesn't respond save for an angry grunt as he attempts to pry off his muzzle.

The crate abruptly shifts, throwing me against the back. Yelping, I scramble back up right and try to keep my balance while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on both the other spies.