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This is going to be possibly my last RP attempt, seeing as they usually dont go well.
The Clad in Embers universe, is not in our world, or our reality, its in an entirely different existence, where architecture, aesthetics and Clothing follow Victorian, Industrial Revolution, and Post - WW1 Styles while Technology and the like are at and slightly beyond that of our own.
Vigilant Halls Medical Treatment Facility was constructed near the capital city of Adiel, where the Royal Family resides and maintains it's rule over the country of Hellios, and was primarily a propaganda tool for the masses during The War, showing that the Monarchy cared for it's soldiers. After The War The facility continued caring for Wounded, but soon took in psychologically sick patients. Now the Facility cares primarily for the Mentally Incompetent, Psychotic, Disabled and Psychologically unstable patients, while still maintaining facilities for Veterans and any commoners who seek medical treatment.
A recent Patient, who only goes by, 'Howard'. has contracted the extremely rare disease of the Embers of Carthage, a horrific disease that slowly tears it's victim's sanity away, allowing it to wreak havoc on the body, so far, he has resisted fairly well.
Lets make a what if situation, lets say, that more people came down with this disease, and lets say they were kept here as well.
Lets say......Your one of them.
Leave your Description here, and set the tone for the severity of your condition.
Also, you can be an administrator in the facility.
Name:
Disease:
Occupation, past or present:
Personal Description:
Physical Description:
Make it as if your going through each day, living with the disease which takes your most horrific nightmares and magnifies them till you can no longer bare it, every time your character goes to sleep, list a nightmare you've had, but make it longer and more storylike.
I, Will be Howard.
"Futility is the only quality of my Reality."
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((I wish you the best of luck with
Name: Shaun 'Shadow' Hart
Disease: The Bane of Peiffer
Occupation: Former police officer, he is occasionally used to maintain order in Vigilant Halls.
Personal Description: Due to his illness Shadow is narcissistic, has no sense of restraint, and is an utter sociopath at worst. At best he is incredibly melancholic and suffers from moderate depression, but he is essentially safe.
Physical Description: A black feline with a small white patch just under his neck. His right eye looks like a ball of cloudy green glass and is entirely blind, and his right fang is broken in half. His attire consists of a pair of worn denim trousers and a plain white shirt, thoroughly worn in and stained in places, mostly shades of crimson.
"Are you ready for your medication now, Shaun?" The nurse again. How he hated her. He kept his back to her, and the needle in her paws. "My name is Shadow..." "Oh come now, your parents wanted you to be Shaun." "Leave me alone, you dirty harlot." No change in his voice, the words spoken entirely in monotone. "Everyone here who can still manage some level of intellectual competence knows about you and Dr. Schecter. And Dr. Jones, and Smith, and Newman, and the list goes on. Now get that accursed needle out of here and go find something to mount, why don't you?" The nurse, once she ceased her tirade against this 'Shaun' character that must bear some resemblance to Shadow, strode off while trying to keep whatever bit of dignity she retained. The feline had struck a low blow, but he was just having 'one of his days'...
As the rabbit nurse hopped away, Shadows claws sunk once more into his flesh.
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Name: Kiolosk Mhuntiago
Disease: Embers of Carthage
Occupation, past or present: Wealthy, but his passtime is usually lengthy hunting trips.
Personal Description: Extremely independant and anti social. Known to be violent and short tempered. This temperament made worse by the disease warping his mind.
Physical Description: A very powerful Anthro Black Dragon. Black primary color with blood red underside. Long claws on the hands and long talons on the feet. Eyes similar to flames (Picture The great eye of sauron from lord of the rings)
The nurses and orderlies rished into the room, trying to restrain the struggling dragon in chained restraints. he violently clawed and bite at them, and occasionally spat fire in fustration. A nurse lay on the ground to the side, her throat completely torn out. Kiolosk was suffering a heavy attack from the disease which was eating away at his mind. His angry disposition fueled by the disease known as Embers of Carthage. After several injured workers and hours of violent fits, he finally calmed down enough to be left alone. "What has happened to me?" he wondered "How did I get so sick?" A dozen questions plagued his mind.
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Name: "Flames", but his birth name was Raitto Zeinzu
Disease(s): Embers of Carthage and Storm of Sorrow
Occupation: Zeinzu was a respected martial artist with many different jobs who earned a fair amount and donated to charity frequently.
Backstory: Shortly after changing his name to Flames, a great personal loss drove him to near madness. He vanished from the city and re-appeared several months later with grave injuries and strange scars. Hospital staff discovered that he had also been affected by both the Embers of Carthage and the Storm of Sorrow.
Personal Description: Flames suffers from very sudden and explosive mood swings, most often a variation of sorrow. When his emotions aren't burning his insides or unleashing chaos around him, he maintains an eerie and very icy calm that very much contradicts both his name and his condition...
Physical Description: Appears to be a fox or fox-like anthro with fiery orange fur and blazing crimson eyes that draw in a person's gaze. His body is covered in scars that never heal fully, most of which are hidden underneath his fur.
"We are just trying to help you Zeinzu...Why don't you-" The doctor's soft voice was interrupted as Flames stared at him coldly, reining in his anger.
"I'm not Zeinzu anymore doctor and you know it. I legally changed my name and with good reason...Don't give me another reason to escape this place..."
The doctor sighed and removed his glasses, cleaning them hastily before placing them back on and addressing his patient: "We've been over this already: The ideas you have about your identity and being able to 'escape' your treatment are just delusions brought on by the Embers of Carthage." He paused and, upon seeing no change in his patient's behaviour or attitude, slowly left the room, shaking his head sadly.
Flames was alone once more, free to drown in the ocean of yesterday, to choke on the waters of regret and sink deeper into sorrow...
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Name: Ember Xenosa (irony, I know).
Disease: Embers of Carthage that has built up on top of Lurking Calm Storm (bipolar disorder and mild paranoia: two things she already had before acquiring the disease).
Occupation, past or present: Used to work in a crime lab (forensics).
Personal Description: She is easily angered but can become extremely energetic and cheery in a matter of mere seconds. This can be elevated even more by the disease at times. She can be very antisocial and just want to sit alone in the dark and shun the nurses when they come in, but at other times she can be very talkative and buzz the nurses just for someone to talk to. She has a boyfriend but hasn't seen him since being admitted to the Facility, mainly because she doesn't want him to see her in such a state.
Physical Description: Just like this -----> http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/VeeSmith_2008/Ember.jpg
Ember sat in a chair in a pitch black corner of her room and watched a nurse walk in to give her her medicine and look around for her with a puzzled look on her face. "Ember?" The nurse called while continuing to look around the room for her. "What?" Ember snapped back at her from the corner, in one of her angry/depressed moods. The nurse jumped and turned around to face the corner, peering into it and smiling a little. "It's time for your medi-" "Leave it on the table." Ember interrupted the nurse angrily. "But I'm supposed to give it to you. I'm supposed to make sure you actually take it." The nurse said softly. "I'm eighteen freakin' years old, I think I know how to take my medicine." Ember snapped viciously. "Please Ember, just let me-" "I can take it myself! Leave it on the table and get out of my room!" Ember growled, sitting up quickly so her face came out of the darkness and showed that she was baring her fangs and her fire eyes were practically glowing, more red than orange & yellow at the moment. The nurse sighed and walked over to the table, setting the medicine on it. She was used to this attitude by now, having worked with this patient for a while (around two months). She walked to the door and turned her body towards the room slightly, looking back at Ember. "Please...just take your medicine dear." She said softly, then walked off. Ember's face slowly returned to normal along with her eyes and she got up from her chair in the corner. She slumped over and sat on her bed, looking at the meds on the bedside table. She reached over with a shaky paw and grabbed the meds, looking at them in her paw for a second before taking them. She stared at the doorway, wondering what to do now. "Why did this have to happen to me?" She asked herself quietly. "I had a good life..." Her eyes sort of got a tint of black in her sadness, like a dying fire.
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"Shaun? Nurse Rogers tells me you've said some very mean things to her. I thought we were making progress." "I'm making progress. I managed to get her out of my hair in forty seconds flat. You on the other hand, Dr. Schecter, still insist on calling me Shaun despite me telling you countless times that-" Shadow jumps to his feet, a paw closing on the Doctors neck as his claws extend, just piercing his flesh, "-my name is SHADOW!" He spat these last words, throwing the Doctor to the floor. The doctor rises and steps out of the room as two larger forms with a strait jacket enter the room. "I was hoping you wouldn't need this today, Shaun."
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Her head snapped over to the direction of the yelling, of course, all she could see was one of the walls in her room when she did that. "Shadow? Sounds familiar..." She tapped her finger on her chin, trying to think. "Wonder what the problem was..." A doctor peeked around the side of the door then stepped in fully when he saw that Ember didn't look angry. "I take it you took your medicine like you were told." She looked over at the doctor in the doorway and gave him a look. "I told the nurse I'd take it, didn't I?" The doctor paid no mind to the look he was given. "Yes, you did. But with the way she said you were acting I thought I should visit to be sure." "I don't need to be checked on like some baby." She said as she narrowed her eyes some, her anger starting to flow back into her mind. "Ember, you're a patient. You need to be checked on." The doctor said in that tone that doctor's use trying to convince you about something or want to make you understand something better. "I don't need your help! I don't need to be checked on! I was doing just fine before you doctors and nurses butted in and I'd still be doing fine without you!" She snarled at him. "Now, Ember, without us your disease wouldn't be as stable. Your sanity would be close to gone. You need us or you'll go completely insane." The doctor said in the same old doctors' tone. She looked down at the floor between them. "Get out of my room." She said as calmly as she could. "Ember..." The doctor started to speak. Her head snapped up as she rose to her feet quickly and pointed aggressively towards the door. "GET OUT!" She yelled at him and it could be heard echoing down the hall. The doctor turned away and shook his head. "Sedate her." He said to the nurse softly as he approached her. "Her temper's starting to rise to its extreme level again. She might hurt someone, or worse, herself, if we don't." Her chest was heaving in her anger and she almost had no control. When she heard what he said, she snarled. "Not happening." She growled and bolted out of her room & down the hall. The nurse chased after her with some stronger male security personnel, the needle with the sedative in her hand.
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Kiolosk sat there in his room for an hour calmly, sedated by the massive amount of tranquilizer he was shot with before the orderlies came and escorted him to the courtyard for some fresh air. It was cool but sunny outside, the sun helped calm his anxiety as he sat on a concrete bench in the middle. He looked around, there was a few foxes across the yard mingling mindlessly amongst themselves. Apparently he wasn't the only to suffer this disease that was supposed to be rare. He sneered as he watched them chatter and giggle, he had no love for foxes in fact he didn't even like the way they tasted. "I wonder why there is such a outbreak of Carthage recently" he said softly to himself, his voice a deep ominous tone that seemed to be riddled with mallice and discontent. He was a evil one no one ever disputed that, he loved to do bad things even before the disease hit him. He just blamed it all on his virtuous brother, who was the light of the family. How he wanted to show them all what he was capable of
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Howard sat in the courtyard unescorted and quietly read to himself, his wireframe reading glasses continually slipping off the ridge of his nose. An Orderly entered and swiftly checked all the patients, stopping at Howard, "Mr. Howard, Have your thought patterns gone for the better?" "Go away....Im reading." "Response, acceptable, thank you." The orderly turned back and exited through the Iron fence and continued in it's daily patterns. Howard glanced up and looked before him, as if staring at someone, and began to whisper, trying to be subtle, "Hilarity, go away." He continued the conversation with seemingly no one, believing that he was the only person with the horrific disease in the courtyard.
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Ember ran down a couple halls before bursting through the door to the courtyard. "Leave me alone!" She growled back at her followers. The nurse and her helpers continued to chase Ember. "Ember, you need this sedative. You could hurt yourself or the others around you." The nurse replied as she ran. "Stop telling me what I need! I know what I need and I don't need you or that sedative or this stupid place!" Ember growled as she continued running through the courtyard past other patients. "You don't know what you need. The disease affects how you think. You probably don't really know what you're doing or you at least can't control it." The nurse said as she and her helpers got closer to Ember. "I am in complete control and I know exactly what I'm doing! I'm running from you because you want to sedate me when I don't need it!" Ember said as she tried to keep up the distance between herself and them. "You do need it." The nurse replied as her and her helpers gained even more ground. "No, I don't! I'm not going to hu-" Ember growled but was cut off when the helpers took her down and held her down on the ground by her wrists and ankles. The nurse kneeled next to Ember and looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry Ember, but it's for your own good..." She said as she lowered the needle. "No." Ember growled as she struggled and fought, making it difficult for the nurse to get the needle in the right area. Her eyes glowed (more red than orange and yellow again) and she bared her fangs all the while, determined not to be sedated.
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Kiolosk looked lazily about, there were so many in the courtyard. It was rather peaceful in the courtyard with the birds chirping and the wind flowing through the trees causing them to dance to a soft rythem. He felt content for once, not his usually hate filled violent self. Suddenly another fur burst into the courtyard with orderlies in tow, she tried to get away but they pounced her, taking her to the ground. He got up and made his way over but got intercepted by a orderly who tried to push him away, this only served to spark his anger. He growled and tossed the orderly aside and spat fire at the one with the needle. He knew all too well the effects of sedatives and he knew it was not what somebody suffering a disease wanted, to have their senses dulled and to feel like they had no control at all. He grabbed another and threw them aside. "You sshould probably try to get away while you can" he said not really trying to fit into the heroic role he was playing.
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The nurse who had been burned ran off to be cared for, crying the whole way. She wasn't very strong-willed after all so it was to be expected. Ember watched the nurse run off then looked up at the one who had helped her, her eyes still glowing but the rest of her expression going back to it's normal state. "Thanks..." She kind of muttered, not really accepting the fact that someone actually had to help her out of that situation. She rose to her feet and brushed herself off, then looked back at him before turning and going over to a tree, climbing up into it to try to rest and calm herself down.
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Kiolosk knew they would probably come to find her so he felt like distracting them a bit longer. He threw a fit, a anger induced rage and spat fire and the surrounding courtyard and generally causing a lot of havoc. It was all just a show of course but they wouldn't know. He actually enjoyed it, after all the needles they have stuck him with he would have some fun this day. Several orderlies rushed in and dodged his fire trying to get close to him but with no luck. He roared, enjoying the thrill, and the rush of adrenaline that came with it. But his fun was about to be cut short. He could feel it stirring up in him again, he began to loose focus. His vision blurred in and out, each grasp of sight revealing another image of carnage created by his now deranged mind.
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Ember watched him cause all the havoc. "Clever, that one..." She said as she watched. Then somehow she could tell something was going wrong and she continued to watch him. Suddenly, she started to feel light-headed and she wobbled on the branch she sat on. She clumsily climbed down the tree and then leaned her back against it weakly. Her vision started to go black as her body sunk down to the ground. "What's happening?" She asked herself. "Sleepy time, Ember..." A voice said from what seemed like far away but they were right next to her. They had done it. They had sedated her. Not just that, they had given her something to knock her out for a while. This had sparked her anger again, but she couldn't do anything about it right now. All she could do was let the darkness take over her and wait for the horrible nightmare she knew would come. The helper picked Ember up when he was sure that she was fully out of it and carried her back across the courtyard, limping the whole way from when he was thrown before.
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Howard leaned against the gnarled Goblin's Wood Tree that dominated the southern corner of the courtyard, watching the drama unfolding before him. "So Undisciplined.....shame." A voice giggled in his mind, and sounded as if he were next to him. It was The Hilarity. "you know, its impolite to stare." "Shut up." The hilarity tilted his head and drifted in front of Howard, grinning again, "you should get some sleep....you look like crap." "Be gone...this is my reality, like it or not." The Hilarity pouted and curled up into a large billowing ball of smoke which slowly decreased in size till it was a small whisp of smoke that was carried away by the wind. Howard clenched his fists and grumbled, "Damnit."
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Flames was interrupted from his meditation by the commotion in the distance. How could anyone expect him to improve his condition if they kept on breaking his state of being just as he was about to accomplish zen?
Barring his teeth, he shut his eyes once more, furthering his futile attempts to keep insanity at bay and conquer sorrow...
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Shadow strode with a fair degree of confidence down the hall. And why not, he was wearing a doctors lab coat. And back in his cell two orderlies were in quite a fair deal of pain, bound by the restraints meant for him. He had given himself a thorough cleaning, although the scent of blood was painfully obvious to him. And since the full-blown fiasco in the courtyard had the attention of most of the staff he was almost guaranteed his passage out, even in spite of his eye. Now he just needed to reach the exit.
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Howard watched the fur cross his path and strolled behind him, clasping his hands behind his back. "I really dont think you're going to make it far in that get up."
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Name: Rigor Mortis
Disease: Psychosis
Occupation, past or present: Test Subject / None.
Personal Description: Tends to be out of touch with reality. She suffers from hallucinations and delusions... Often sometimes being depressed or homicidal. She has trouble connecting with people socially and with thinking clearly. Her thoughts are often jumbled and disorganized. Though she looks like she can't do much, she can really do some damage due to being an early experiment.
Physical Description: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1353537/ , except with different attire, an oversized white quarter sleeve length shirt and pants stained with random spots of crimson (Unless the orderlies cleaned it or got her to change into a new set).
Fun facts:She was found wandering with blood stains all over her, mainly around her throat and on her torso.. When they cleaned her up, she had stitches that were never removed embedded in horrible scars from where she had 'died', her throat slit and a Y-incision. The doctors could never tell if the blood was hers or not.
x x x x x x x x x x
Rigor Mortis lay on her stomach in her room. It was white, clean like her clothes, except for one drop of Crimson in which she smeared and used as finger paint to illustrate a picture on the floor. It was deadly quiet with the exception of the clatter of her chains as she hummed, using the white floor as a canvas in which to paint. She painted a monster, with its lips pulled back in a distorted grin, some of its fangs broken and chipped.. Others stained with an unknown substance.. It's eyes were empty sockets, surrounded by what looked like a draconic mask resting on its maw... Its horns striped, and it wore a noose around its slitted throat. Adding the finishing touches to it, she finished her song and tilted her head to the side smiling contently with her work, sucking the blood off of her finger.
"Viola!" She announced to the empty room.. The floor covered with many pictures of similar creatures twisting around each other, mutilating others. She was unsure of where all the blood had come from.. It certainly wasn't hers. "A beautiful piece, wouldn't you say?" she said standing to her feet which smeared her pictures with every step she took until she reached the wall in which the chains that had been bound around her wrists and ankles attached. She wasn't even sure of how she got all the way around the room, if it was her who had painted the entire piece...
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A stretcher was wheeled over to the knocked out Ember and lowered to the ground. Two orderlies lifted her limp body the little ways they had to and placed it on the stretcher, then they stood it back up. They strapped her down with the special straps on the stretcher, just in case...
Ember's world had gone from just plain black and was thrown into a wild spin, and then, she was thrown into one of her nightmares.
She was just going on with her normal life when all of a sudden a mysterious van pulled up and she was taken away. Away from everything that she knew and everyone that she loved, especially her boyfriend...but that was just normal part of the nightmare...
Her nightmare tossed her into a hell-ish looking place. All of the surroundings were deformed in one way or another and there was fire blazing up practically everywhere. Then there were these deformed creatures that started coming at her from practically everywhere. She rose to her feet to try to run and she did, for a bit, but all of a sudden, she felt a lot of pain and she couldn't move. She was stuck to the ground; her feet melted into it. The creatures surrounded her and she had no way out. She struggled to try to free her feet but they wouldn't budge and when she looked back up at the creatures, they had all sorts of different weird and cruel-looking instruments. She started panicking and struggling more, losing her balance but stopping herself by placing her paws on the ground. Another wave of pain shot through her and she saw that her paws were now melted into the ground as well. She tried to fight against it but nothing would happen and the creatures had closed in. She feared for her life. Then, there was an opening in the mob and she saw two creatures...with her boyfriend in tow. They dragged him by chains until he was right in front of her. He tried to reach out to her but they swiftly moved behind him and held his arms back as the lower part of his legs melted into the ground. She could see the pain in his eyes as she looked at him. And then the torture began...on him. She was made to watch as he was tortured with all the deformed creatures' odd instruments and cried the whole time. Having to see the pain in his eyes was how she was tortured. And finally, he spoke and she could tell he was weak. "I love you, Ember. I'll wait for you..." She spoke shakily as her crying became worse. "I love you too. Please don't leave me..." She begged him. "I'll always be with you, baby. Always..." He said, his voice fading and then his eyes closing as his neck went limp so his head was hanging. He was dead. As soon as she saw his eyes close and his head drop, she knew he was dead and started bawling her eyes out. "No..." She sobbed as all the deformed creatures left her to be tortured by the sight of her boyfriend's dead body.
And this was one of her lighter nightmares.
In the meantime, the two orderlies had taken her back to her room and strapped her down with the straps on her bed since she struggled and thrashed in her sleep. Then they left her there to sleep, knowing full well how bad it could be for her.
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Shadow turns and places a paw on Howards shoulder, immediately extending his claws. "Ahh, but you forget. These people are imbeciles, bustling about their lives in this place, keeping us pent up because they are scared of us. And they should be. Without their delusions of superiority they would see themselves for what they really are; vermin. Each and every last one of them nothing more than a pest waiting to be exterminated. But we, my friend, can see through their petty charade. See the weakness underneath... the fear... the things they hide from even themselves. But somehow they find the gell to lock us in here, seclude us from their world because they know we will end them in the only manner they deserve. But that is all beside the point at hand, which is that you keep your mouth shut, or this place will be the last of your worries." He removes his paw, the claws tearing Howards flesh as he continues on his way to the exit.
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Rigor's eyes changed as she carefully inspected the piece, from a dull white to now self illuminating orbs of light. Her scales shifted in a wave, changing from lime with light teal stripes to various shades of blue with yellow and orange swirls similar to the pattern found on the background of Picasso's Starry Night. She looked as if she herself was a piece of art of all its own.. Stroke like patterns running along her body as if she had been painted. "I believe it is indeed a beautiful piece." The Abstractionist agreed affectionately admiring the illustrations on the floor that hadn't been damaged by Rigor's own footsteps. "I am, however, ashamed that I cannot use a beautiful hue of colors..That you can only supply me with the color red. After a while it can become a bit redundant, I suppose." The abstractionist complained tilting her head.. Her scales quickly shifting to an expressionist red explosion piece as a doctor entered the room, irritating her further than she was already: The mind of him interrupting a critique on top of Rigor's inability to supply her with sufficient materials to work with. His mouth hung wide open in awe at the creation that laid before him.
"Rigor..?" The gray wolf managed to utter, somewhat concerned at the sight before him. There was a vixen orderly dead in the corner.. A syringe protruding from her neck. The blood on the floor was from her... It was obvious that his patient was not stupid; for the medicine that was supposed to be administered to her was emptied on the floor.. Indicating that Rigor had inserted an air bubble into the vixen's blood stream via syringe.
The chameleon hybrid's lips pulled back in a toothy smile as one of her eyes became visible from the blackcherry hair that shaded her face. "I am The Abstractionist. Not this Rigor you speak of.. She can only supply me with the materials in which I paint with.. While I supply her with nightmares to fuel her imagination..." she laughed.
[Color Symbolism would REALLY come in handy for understanding this character, as would some artistic experience.]
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[Handle this in PM. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING. Posts removed.]
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In, out, in, out. Flames breathed slowly, clearing his mind of empathy. His breathing could be compared to life, but then again, many things could be compared to life if you thought about it long enough. What was so frustrating to him at the moment, besides the people trying to 'help' him, was that the Storm of Sorrow prevented his mind from reaching a state of clarity, of Zen.
He hadn't realised it, but by trying to force himself into such a state, he was making things so much worse as a great sadness engulfed his conciousness, clouding the once clear waters of his mind, forcing his being into a state of grave unrest.
He needed a release, something, anything that could release the many diamonds of memory stabbing his insides, the poison in his veins, the ice gripping his heart. He looked for a release...and he found one...
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"Rigor, I ask you nicely. Snap out of this... Your alter cannot be strong enough to snuff out yourself.. Fight it off; remember who you are." Dr. Clawtooth pleaded with the Abstractionist.
"I admire your ability to try and rid the body of its soul.." the Abstractionist smirked, creeping closer towards the black wolf. "You cannot untwist something that has been warped beyond repair; no matter how much medication you supply.. You see, without me, Poor Rigor would not be able to rid herself of the nightmares that afflict her mind. I control them. I decide what monsters should prowl in her mind.. Essentially, she would fall apart mentally if I were not here to control them. Nightmares would run wild. I refuse to rid her completely of this sickness. Without it, there would not be beautiful ideas to base my art upon.. "
"You are the sickness." He growled, "Which is why we're trying to help her. You're the one that draws the worst out of her." He with drew a needle and a vial from his pocket, puncturing a hole in the lid of the vial and drawing the clear liquid into the syringe. "Now, Rigor, I want to help you. Don't listen to your alter.." He assured her.
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Shadow had been captured, and as heavily sedated as usual, long before he reached the door...
But it was Shaun who awoke in the padded cell with Dr. Schecter looking down at him with that everything-is-fine smile. Shaun, however, was terrified. He knew every time 'Shadow' reared his ugly head he came closer and closer to killing someone. "How bad was it this time, Doc?" "Just a handfull of bumps and bruises, and nothing that won't heal. But don't worry about it, this is the first time that's happened in almost a month. I think we're making real progress here Shaun." It was fascinating to the Doctor, really. Shaun had developed minor schizophrenia just as his major illness had set in. In thruth, Shaun was perfectly safe, and sane. It was Shadow who needed to be bealt with. Shadow exibeted all the signs of The Bane, and at his stage he would have killed himself or someone else if he were in full control. But Shaun was the dominant personality, and Schecter was certain that if he used Shauns schizophrenia to his advantage, he could cure The Bane.
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Ember's eyes shot open rather quickly for being so heavily sedated before. Her fur on her cheeks was a little matted from the large amount of tears that had escaped her eyes during her nightmare. She tried to sit up but couldn't due to the straps that held her down and the fact that the sedatives made her too weak to do much, which was the point of course. She growled and struggled the little bit that she could, trying to get out of the straps that restrained her. The nurse strode into the room to find Ember struggling and growling. "Ember, what's wrong? What are you doing? You know the straps are just for your own safety while you sleep..." "I need to see him." She growled. "I need to make sure he's okay." She continued trying to get out of the straps. The nurse kind of tilted her head to one side. "See who, dear? Make sure whose okay?" She asked, not understanding. "They took him away! They tortured him! I'm afraid he's dead! They killed him!" She yelled, tears starting to escape her eyes again as she struggled more. The nurse finally released that it had been something from one of Ember's nightmares and spoke in a comforting and reassuring tone. "Ember, no one has been taken away and tortured. No one's dead." "What are you talking about?" She snapped. "I saw it happen! He was tortured and killed right in front of me!" "No, it was another one of your nightmares, dear. It wasn't real. It was the disease." "This doesn't haven't anything to do with my disease, you old bat! He was tortured and killed! Right in front of my eyes! I saw it happen!" She yelled at the nurse, her struggling ceased because she was busy trying to make the nurse understand what she thought was real. The nurse came over and slowly unstrapped her, knowing that she'd be fine in a few minutes and this wasn't a case where the nightmare would cause her to lash out and hurt anyone. "Dear, it's alright." The nurse said calmly as she finished. "The disease affects your mind through nightmares. I know you remember. The nightmares seem so real so they slowly tear away your sanity bit by bit until there's nothing left of it. You can't let the disease control you, you have to fight it." "But-" Ember started to argue but stopped when she saw a figure in the doorway. "Hey baby..." He said, standing there with a half-smile on his face and holding a vase of flowers, her favorites, White Lilies. Ember couldn't talk or think. She was in total shock that he was standing right in her doorway after what she had seen in her nightmare. Her body moved all on its own and in one quick, smooth movement, she was across the room and hugging him tightly. "I love you...don't ever leave me..." He looked a little confused, but smiled more. "I love you too...I never will..."
-
Howard thumbed through the small diary he found tucked into one of the crowded shelves of the facilities library. It was yellowed with age and the writing was barely legible, but still, Howard felt there was something within it that could help him, for the first entry read, "And so I Tread upon the Embers.....and looked upon a horror to which I shall never awaken." He continued reading and found several passages that he felt he should keep in mind. One passage told of how the disease was repelled by childhood memories, or mental tokens of them, for in one nightmare the unknown author had clutched a small wilted flower that reminded him of his grandmother, his only caregiver when he was a child, and the Sickness had howled in pain and began to melt away as it tried to creep closer. Howard thought of his own nightmares, he had always been in isolated cities, devoid of life, or vast countrysides that were swarming with the hidden multitudes of the diminuative Yorks. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, tucking the book into his jacket and walking swiftly out. As he made his way back to his room, he heard a doctor and a patient arguing, the word, "Abstractionist" emerging several times. He slid in close to the wall and peered inside and saw the pair squaring off, more a battle of stares than fists.
-
The nurse exited the room, leaving the couple alone.
And as quickly as Ember had been happily welcoming her boyfriend and telling him not to ever leave her, she released him from her hug and turned her back to him, moving away from him some. "You need to leave..." She said, not sounding like her normal self. "But...you just said..." He said, confused. "She, I mean, I don't know what I'm saying sometimes. You need to go." She said, still sounding different. Ember referring to herself as 'she' made something click in his head. "I'm not talking to Ember right now. You're the disease. She would want me here." "No, you're talking to me. I mean, how can you talk to a disease anyway? That's ridiculous. Plus, I've told you to leave before and I've told you not to come at all." She said pretty convincingly. "I know it's the disease. You slipped up and now I know. This is a special kind of disease, I know that and Ember knows that, not that she likes to accept it. Now...I want to talk to Ember." He said. She turned around and glared at him, her eyes totally black which wasn't normal, even with her mood swings. "Ember isn't here right now...would you like me to take a message?" She asked, smirking slightly. He glared back, noticing the difference in her eyes after already hearing the difference in her voice before. "Let Ember go." He growled, setting the vase of flowers on a table. She grinned evilly. "No. I'm having fun here. I need her." He kept glaring at her. "Well, she doesn't need you. Let her go now." He growled. "No." She snapped. "You don't seem to understand...she does need me...I could cause total havoc on her mind, but I lighten it up cuz she protects me sometimes." "She's not protecting you, she's protecting herself. She doesn't want to be given drugs that make her not understand what's going on and dull her senses. You have nothing to do with it. Now, let her go." He growled protectively. "No. You don't understand us. We need each other." "She doesn't need you, you just need her. She needs me. Release her." "Never." She growled. He snarled and called the nurse back into the room. "The disease is controlling her, she needs her medicine." The nurse nodded, left, then came back with her medicine. "I won't take it. Not willingly. You know that." She growled. "I know..." He said softly, then quickly moved to her and held her against her will, or, the disease's will. The nurse came over and forced her to take the medicine while she struggled. Once she ingests the medicine, her body relaxes in her boyfriend's arms. He lays her down on the bed gently and pushes some hair from her face, smiling down at her. She rubbed her head a little, looking confused. "What's happened?" "The disease took you for a bit, but you're back now." He smiled. She sighed and made unsure face. 'Yeah, I'm back...' She thought. 'For now...'
-
"Nonsense. She cannot hear you." She smiled, her scales rippling into a black canvas with various streaks of lime that almost seemed to glow in tribal patterns. She stepped closer to the doctor, her chains dragging the ground until the tension allowed her to go no further. Her eyes dulled to a white, and her face seemed to change to its regular colors, lime with teal stripes.
"That's it.." The doctor whispered, "Fight it."
"You traitor!" The Abstractionist growled in frustration as her body no longer obeyed the signals in which the brain was sending. "If he suppresses me, it will be HELL, Rigor, HELL."
Rigor treaded towards the doctor helplessly. She could not speak, for her lips had been sewn shut by her alter. She felt dead, but she could see what was going on. Shadows swooped around her pushing her back, screaming shrilly and clawing at her arms. Her body, confused began to claw at itself as a war waged within it.
"Stop it!" Rigor screamed, "STOOOP!" Her scales pulsed with different spots of her normal colored skin and black as she ripped at herself, trying to get the shadows off of her; she drew blood, and swung at things that weren't there.. The chains restraining her from hurting the doctor himself. While she was distracted, Clawtooth lunged forward, injecting the medicine.
-
It was shortly after Flames' discovery of a release that the Nurse decided to come in. "Are you feeling any...Oh my God!"
She found him slumped against the wall, blood trickling down his arms, an almost sadistic smile etched onto his muzzle. "Why hello there, Nurse. I decided to look for a way to ease the pain and I found one..." He closed his eyes and prepared himself once more, utterly content as he stained himself an eerie crimson.
-
Shaun Wandered the halls freely, or as freely as one can in a mental hospital. Shadow, it seemed, could not assert himself while Shaun was conscious. The doctors knew it, so they let him out when he was safe. Shaun knew it, so he fought sleep whenever he felt Shadow gaining strength. Shadow knew it, and it only fueled his rage. "This is my body!" Shadow screamed, deep within the catacombs he had constructed within Shauns Sub-conscious. It was dark there. And cold. "I took those scars, felt the pain, suffered for that form! And yet I am the one locked away in here! I'll kill him! I'll kill them all! The ones who hurt me, who trap me in here, who embrace him! He is the illness! The plague! Not me!"