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Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » The Invasion [1X1] - Private

Ryus (played anonymously)

This is a private roleplay between me and Nav_Kat. For future reference, see this link for details about the world and lore, as well as finding out how this whole situation started.



Day One of Infestation

The Beserker was hunting.

His immediate thoughts upon being "born" were to ask the Leader for guidance. When he couldn't sense one, he probed for the presence of any fellow Berserkers or Raiders. To ask where the Leader was, if any. His siblings filled him in. The Leader was off-planet, guarded and safe, while they were to clear the ground in preparation of the arrival.

This alien would infest hosts in secrecy for eggs. Find hosts. Capture hosts. Help Leader. Conquer planet. Infest. Spread. Build. Infest. Infest. Infest... Some innate instinct informed him that his prey would mobilise and retaliate, funding the notion of stealth and subtlety.

After a full day, and after the fifteenth host had been found, subdued, and infested, he’d gotten the hang of the pattern. At this point, a very noticeable decrease in the number of hosts in the area had been apparent to him. It was as if all of the prey, everywhere, inexplicably knew of his presence. Which was impossible.

By the time the fourth day had come around, he had estimated that he would need one more host in order to get this city subdued, effectively. He had found that knocking the prey unconscious made it so much more easier to infest without the threat of discovery.

Yes, this one will do, he now thought. Not in English, though. No words or phrasing. Just... pure thought. Pure instinct. Impulse.

His original intention had been to ambush the future host before her group had the chance to see him. But that plan was thrown out of the window when, after running ahead, the group caught up with her. The Beserker did what it's instincts had been screaming at it to do - attack the entire group and capture the host. The next few minutes were a pulsing, red, rage-induced haze of fog of screams and hisses. His head cleared when the enemy was annihilated and he found his claws inches away from the child's tear-streaked face. It had been a simple matter to impregnate the host.

As the Beserker extracted it's tongue from the child's mouth, he stepped back from the unconscious prey to observe the soon-to-be newborn. Each birth was a stepping stone to the success of the invasion. He didn't think he would need much more to get this city to fall. His brood were spreading and harvesting, creating more of their kind and eliminating opposition. His brood... It left a warm sensation in his mind at the thought of his kind growing, spreading, and prospering.

Never once did he ask himself, "do I want this invasion to succeed?" No, that decision was made for him. The moment he realised that he was part of the war effort. No alternative. No other conceivable option. No other way. No other choice.

The most recent host stirred. It jabbered away in some incomprehensible language. It's voice was heavy and its' body buckled. It said nothing for a few minutes, and its' body began to convulse and the area around it's chest bulged. The host's bones cracked and splintered like ice, its' flesh tore like fabric, and then it let out a haunting scream.

With one final, sickening snap, the cocoon burst and blood misted the air. The Beserker watched on, patiently, as four slick pink tentacles slipped out from the hole. The new sister hissed and peered around with four eyes. The Raider squeaked and climbed out of the host's chest cavity. She tumbled to the floor, peered around again, and crawled away.

Had he been a human, the Beserker would have smiled.
Bonnie Marie (played by nav_kat)

With every huff, my lungs grow weaker. With every step I feel my knees growing weaker. With every roar from the otherworldly, my heart pounds a little harder against my rib cage. Every day that passes, I'm reminded by my parents.

I hate this world.

She was on the run, and it wasn't from hunters this time. Now she was being chased by the otherworldly. Why the hell did they choose earth? As if life wasn't difficult enough for the poor little witch! She was already being threatened to be burned at the steak, as if the 1600's deaths just weren't good enough! They might as well bring back the electric chair, I mean, hell, anything would be better than being burned alive.

With a skid, kicking up dust and debris, Bonnie found herself at a dead end... and the god awful sounds of those creatures was quickly approaching. They were just around the corner... great. She was trapped. She should use her magic... but then she'd be weak and in a horrible position. Besides, who knew what it took to kill the damned things! If she used too much, she was as good as dead, anyway.

But I can't let mom and dad down. They died for me... They're counting on me.

With her parents in mind, she reached into her pocket, pulling out a little wooden horse, her eyes focusing on it for a moment as it sat in her palm. Something so small... it could do no wrong. That's what she wished she could be. So small that she could do no wrong. Her hand folded tightly around the small object before she finally saw the eyes of the otherworldly. Her brows furrowed into a glare before she began reciting a fire spell, using her hands to form balls of flames.
With a shout and a push forward, flames had swarmed Bonnie before shooting themselves forward, engulfing her newly found enemy. Shrieks and screamed bellowed out as the creatures burned from the intensity of the heat.

However, few remained. Pinkish, squid-like creatures were squirming straight for her. Hideous... She thought to herself as she looked around, quickly spotting shards of glass and metal. Maybe this would work?
That set in mind, a gravity spell was uttered quickly, and, just as the creatures tentacles were about to strike her down, shards of glass and sharp edges of metal from buildings directed themselves at the creatures, sticking to them, only to shoot right through their being.

Only a scratch was given to Bonnie's smooth, pale skin... Right on her cheek, along with splatters of purple blood. It would only be a scratch that would go along with the many other scars she received from humans. Not even the otherworldly could accept her... it was true. Her destiny was to be hunted by anything and everything, with only her magic, that could be both a gift and a curse, to protect her.

Oh what a fate she had... what a beautiful, beautiful fate.

Opening her palm, Bonnie looked down at the little wooden horse, a small smile coming to her face. She would've let herself die by now... if she wasn't thinking of her parents. To her, dying would be as if she were being selfish and letting them down. She didn't want that to happen... not after they gave their lives to save her from a few hunters.

It was only the first day, and so many people have already died from these creatures. What would it be like in weeks to come? The city was already in ruins... the buildings were trashed and practically crumbling down. They probably would with the tap of a finger, actually. It used to be so beautiful... now the ground was coated in debris and glass, cars were on fire and toppled over, buildings were broken down... the sky was clouded with smoke and dust.

It was a horrible time to be alive. And, as Bonnie sit there, she looked up at the cloudy sky, wishing she had died right there with her parents. That way, she wouldn't have to witness humanities downfall.
Ryus (played anonymously) Topic Starter

An hour-and-a-half later

Ryus searched through a specific area for a human in her trademark quadrupedal posture. She'd have to find out where said human went and neutralise them. That was what constituted about half of the average Beserker's life. Although, Ryus was nowhere near "average". She took up reconnaissance, and ran "search-and-destroy" tasks for the Leader. If she could impregnate hosts without risk to herself she would do so. The average Beserker would either eat or sleep during their "downtime", even if they weren't really tired or hungry. But Ryus was different. Very different.

Her talent was seen as an advantage and thus she was a useful asset. And if her "hobby" helped the invasion, then all the better. And now, Ryus was trotting through a dark backstreet. The lack of light and electricity told her that this entire floor had a power-cut. Apparently, a human female was pursued from a “factory” onto this section of the concrete jungle, and the group had lost contact after chasing the human girl through this council housing estate. The Beserkers wanted confirmation that the human was dead. What was interesting about this was that the human in question had been quite a troublesome factor for the invasion's existence.

When asked how exactly this human was "troublesome", her siblings told her that this human had avoided detection and capture ever since the infection had started. It could also perform feats that no other human thus encountered was capable of. How exactly this was "troublesome", Ryus didn't know. If the human was simply staying hidden, avoiding the Aliens, what trouble could she be? But Ryus knew better than to raise this point. To them the notion of an "un-captured host not being a grievance" was incomprehensible. To them, the safety and progression of the invasion was both paramount and mandatory. It was all they could ever want to think about.

But, as mentioned before, Ryus was different. More on that later.

She tilted her head to the left and right, neck twisting along its length, scanning the structure around her. Still nothing. No scent or flashes of electricity. She had been trotting through this ally for about 20 minutes, and she still had half of the place to go.

Because of the chronic and lengthy necessity prices required by many of the bills garnered by heating, gas and electricity combined with the mostly ghost-town (pre-invasion at least), the humans had dropped the temperature down to freezing, and shut off the power to the entire housing estate; in an effort to reduce the cost and scrape out living here for longer. Evidently, no one saw fit to undo this when the invasion sprang up. If the human female did die, then her corpse would be ice cold by the time Ryus found it. Thus, she'd go without a meal. Of all the places, the human had to get lost here, she thought. Just great. She'd usually rather not eat humans - more on that later - but, because of her current assignment, she was forced to skip eating at the time she usually would. Though she'd probably get hungry in a day or two.

Ryus sniffed, seeking out the distinctive reek of humanity. As the ice-cold air flowed into her lungs, she stopped moving, catching the scent of something... out of place. The sharp tang of salty sweat was slathered all over the walls and stairs, mingling with petrol, soot and ash. Female. To Ryus the path that the human female had taken was illuminated by landing lights. The creature had left the building and sprinted down the adjoining maze-esque alleys. So the Beserker would still be able to eat the corpse. She trotted in the direction of the scent, stealthily positioning herself to create minimal noise.

The dark corridors would have been impossible for a human to traverse in, but when you've got a highly advanced form of echolocation, it all just looks black, with a white outline for every object. Well... at least, she thought the colour was white. Having no "eyes", her kind could not discern colour.

She broke into a sprint, taking a left turn at an intersection - constantly swivelling her head on its axis, probing for the human. If she was alive, she'd see the electric energy of her heart, diaphragm, and lungs pulsing. If the human was dead, she would have to find the body through smell.

She swung her skull to the left for the last time, catching a few flashing lines of blue (she thought it was "blue") "light", making her skid to a halt. An immense distance away, she detected minute blobs of pulsing azure energy. The human was alive. Heart rate almost painfully fast, diaphragm pounding in panicked breaths. The sound of harsh, exhausted breathing passed through Ryus' head.

When I kill her, I have to remember every second, she reminded herself, admonishing the part of her that wanted to tear the hominid apart, limb from limb.

The average Beserker or Raider would have let instinct and impulse take over at this point and mindlessly slaughter the victim. One of the things about "giving in" to the urge, is that it negatively effects your memory of the time period you spend in the trance. She prided herself on her self-control. And thus, kept her cool every time she had to fight or kill... forcing herself to remember those moments in excruciating detail.

A constant reminder. A deliberately-made ghost to haunt her. The perfect monument to what she hated the most about her existence. To what she couldn't control...

But, again, more on that later.

She sucked in a quick breath, torso only barely seeming to move, and calmed down. The human was in the fifteenth branching path down the alley, on the left. 60 feet away. The female must have been recuperating from a great deal of physical exertion. The sound of slowing breaths that passed through her skull, the faintest of sounds she could perceive, being an indicator.

Ryus trotted forward, nearly silently, and toward the high wall that stood in the way of those bright blue lines that represented the electricity produced by the human's body. Stopping in front of the entryway, she turned and leapt onto the wall like a spider, climbing the rough brick to manoeuvre around to the human girl’s back, beyond peripheral vision. Any of her kin would have charged round the corner to attack head-on, by now, but Ryus had taken to attacking humans slowly and quietly. Despite the constant, nagging urge to run in "guns-blazing".

Her clawed hand closed around the rim of the wall. Ryus could feel her heart-rate speed up. As usual. She ever so gently slithered up to perch on the top... and watched the human female for a moment. It was holding some sort of object and fiddling with it, a small smile gracing it’s face. It would be a pity to end this peaceful tableau. She registered the carnage: a modest number of Raiders impaled by a miss-matched assortment of mental and glass, the AWOL gang of Beserker corpses strewn about in lifeless charred husks.

Huh... tough girl, Ryus thought. She had just survived a near-death experience, yet she managed to take out every single one of her pursuers without suffering a scratch, and she managed to compose herself. Whether from a need to remain dignified, or because of adrenaline, it was still impressive. Even if it couldn't really be considered "bravery".

She wondered what would happen if she just abandoned her attack here, on this dark and damp and empty alleyway, and walked away...

Something dreadful, that's what. It would be a mark of incompetence and at the very least make her untrustworthy. Not an option.

Ryus leaped off the brick wall and onto the human female with lightning-fast speed and 375 pounds of compact muscle. She then pounced on her, pinning her to the floor on her back: one foot holding her's, her other foot holding her other foot, her claws digging into her wrists. The Beserker lowered her tooth-filled maw down to hover over the human’s throat, inches away from the pulsing jugular.

She barked a short hiss at her, hoping the implied message got through.

"Sayonara”.
Bonnie Marie (played by nav_kat)

Bonnie wasn't originally born in this era. Far from that, actually. Being supernatural gave her perks, though. In reality, Bonnie was a 402-year-old woman... The reason being wasn't because she could live forever, the reason being was simply because Bonnie was different than your average witch. A typical witch's life-span would be around 200 years old. Bonnie, not being your average witch, was still going and planned to for another hundred years or so. She was born on November 5, 1616... and her parents died in 1623m when she was seven.

Ever since then, the poor witch has been on her own. Not completely, really. After all, a mere child, even that from a witch and warlock, cannot live on their own for a period of time. Her parents had sent her to friends of theirs, and she was raised up until her 17th birthday, where she then ran away from her newly found home. She hated bothering the poor family... so she ran. She ran so that they wouldn't get hurt because they were housing a special witch. Her green hair and emerald green eyes were a dead give-a-way, too.

She's been running ever since then... and now she didn't just have to worry about those hunters catching her, now she had to worry about otherworldly beings catching her, too.

Coming back to reality, Bonnie felt uneasy again. She felt as if she hadn't taken care of all of those beasts. She couldn't have missed any of them, though... It was impossible. And then she felt a small crumb from the bricks tap her shoulder. As she turned around, she was too late. She had screamed from the pain of being pinned with such force, and the feeling of claws digging into her skin... She hated it.

With the bellowed hiss, Bonnie knew she had to do something... she could feel the beast's breath against her neck. This wasn't good, this wasn't how she died! She wouldn't die at the hands of any man or beast! Her eyes had spotted the bricks of the walls that enclosed the alley, and, with a little concentration, the bricks had started to move out of place. She had held tightly onto the little wooden horse, though it strained her wrist, making the sensation of claws digging into her skin even worse.
The little wooden horse was a sense of power. She drew strength from it to keep herself alive during battle. Such a weak little witch... but she wasn't limited to the number of spells she could use. Any ordinary witch would die from trying to use another spell outside of their element.

With just a little more concentration, Bonnie had sent an astounding number of bricks flying for the creature that pinned her, hitting it with such force no human thing could create. One by one they flew out and impacted the beast, and hopefully, Bonnie would be able to get up and run... hopefully. If not, she couldn't do anything to stop her fate.

Her parents were counting on her to one day, get vengeance for what humanity had done to them. Though they weren't nicest people, or parents... they were still loving to poor little Bonnie and did their best to protect her from harm's way... or rather, the hands of humanity.

Bonnie was just as much as a gift as she was a curse. Her green hair scared people... it was unnatural. She'd heard so many things, seen so many things... People wanted to see her green hair burned and charred to nothing but black ash. They wanted to take her eyes and put them on display after they burned her body... As if they would be proud of what they had done.

While Bonnie had done virtually nothing, she was threatened so many times. She was to be burned at the stake, or hung with a bag over her head... while their murders lived, given the luxury of rotting in a cell. Now, they wouldn't murder anyone. It didn't make sense... why did they get to live, but she didn't? It wasn't fair... what had she done to them? She was born...

And they took her beloved parents away. She couldn't forgive any man or woman for doing that, albeit now they truly had nothing to do with this mess. They don't even know the truth of the trails... They think people killed their own kind... when really they were killing countless men and women who had a gift, but a curse at the same time.

But now look at this little witch. Pinned to the ground by the otherworldly.

What else could Bonnie do to save her life, though? Some bricks wouldn't do much against this beast. As much as she hated to admit it... she might have to tap into the dark arts to save her life... her mother had told her about the dark arts, what it could do to a person. She didn't want to become this thing's next meal, though.

So, with a huff, Bonnie had begun mumbling words that no human nor beast could depict, or understand. It was a complete and totally different language. Barely any witches could understand it, either. She was putting all of her focus on this spell, and she was hoping that the results would work quickly.

The spell would have sent a high pitched noise to the beast so that only it could hear. In a part of its brain, cells would explode, creating immense pain that no beast could endure for long. She was putting all of her cards on the table for this spell, it couldn't not work...
Ryus (played anonymously) Topic Starter

Ryus was about to kill the human. A simple task. Just drive her fangs downwards and bite, barely requiring a twitch of effort from her, and watch the life and blood ebb away. As usual. Listen to the tear of the human’s flesh as her teeth punctured through her jugular vein. Right as rain. Her life probably would have been so much simpler had this gone to plan. But, she would also come to realise that her life would have also been a lot more… shallow, had she killed the human female that was saying her prayers beneath her mouth. But… fate decided, she didn't know when, to make this time… a little bit different. Something that Ryus would both scorn, and inwardly smile at later on.

She took a deep breath and resisted the urge to wantonly mutilate the human, as her instincts kept begging her to do, refusing to lose control to her own instincts. The human closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Causing Ryus to respect this human even more.

Then a brick hit her ribcage.

What the...?

In the next instant she found herself pelted by several bricks in varying states of disrepair and sizes. The only way to shelter her body was to retreat and get off the human, which would undoubtedly spur the girl to run, and what she most likely was aiming for. Chasing the human would be so tedious, especially if the scenario was preventable. The other option was to endure the pain and kill the human quickly, she thought, purple blood dripping down her bruised and gashed hide.

She stared at the human girl who had not shown fear, who had kept her cool in the face of her mortality. Furthermore she was fighting back, refusing to accept her fate. The Beserker’s respect for the human increased even as she became rather irritated at the projectiles slamming into her unprotected body.

In another world they would never have met... though... if she was honest with herself, she wouldn't have minded making a real friend. But... the fact that those naive thoughts existed deeply enraged her. Because she knew it wouldn't happen! It had been the object of her desire for five months, now, and she knew full-well that it was an impossible dream! That a part of her mind so childishly pined for it, in spite of everything that stood in the way of that rapturous aspiration... it made her genuinely angry. As though she were being teased by a child!

Ryus looked back at the human, her heartbeat was flashing almost teasingly as a new wave of terror seemed to pass over her. Her fists actually clenched, she was really tempted to just hand over her self-control to the Ancestral. This human was troublesome! She didn't think she needed to be remembered as vividly as usual!

Not with the trouble her execution was turning out to be.

Calm down... control must be maintained... Ryus repeated the mantra, feeling the burn in her skull gradually subside. The human did not deserve the wrath of her ancestors.

She brought her head down with all her strength and speed of an ornery god, intending to slit through the human’s jugular vein...

Hold on...

She was about to do so, but any thought of "trying" anything was immediately dropped when she entered a world of undiscovered agony.

A thorn-covered bolt of the most intense, suffocating pain shot through her spine with such speed it was all she could do not to stumble back as an agonisingly painful sound invaded her ears. An asphyxiating, horrible agony strained against the confines of her skull, as the lance of fire in her spine seemed to double in its efforts to torture her. She let out a strangled-sounding howl, writhing on the floor clawing at her head.

WHAT THE HELL!? She struggled to remain standing, still dealing with what felt like hot knives being plunged into her skull. She hadn't the slightest idea which way was "up".

Okay - scratch "worried", she was actually downright terrified, now! Living things don't just "experience pain" for no reason! Especially not at this caliber!

As soon as she staggered and climbed back onto alarmingly shaky legs, she collapsed onto all fours as a new wave of agony smashed into her. Violently.

STOP DAMMIT… ARGH! Her hands started madly scratching at her head, trying to get the pain to leave, while only creating more. She was hissing and growling in staccato bursts - shrieking in tortured agony. Sounds that she had never made before in her life - guttural hisses and pitiful keens that could only come from sheer, unadulterated, raw anguish.

Unbeknownst to her, she had staggered off the human and started erratically convulsing on the floor - clawing at what she thought was her head. The pain never stopped, never let her breathe, and only seemed to get worse with each moment.

She felt herself beginning to… lose… consciousness…

Am I going to die? her mind briefly wondered, somewhere amongst the myriad of pained and primal thoughts. She’d never felt like throwing up before, but she was beginning to get a grasp of the notion. She was nearing oblivion - closer to death than she'd ever been in her life.

And then… she collapsed into the blissful world of unconsciousness. Just like that, the pain fell away in quick, relieving sheets.

Nothing. Darkness. Oblivion. Peace.
Bonnie Marie (played by nav_kat)

Bonnie, as soon as the creature had gotten off of her, she stumbled to her feet, taking a glance at her bleeding wrists. She'd have to cover that up soon... or it'd get infected. Though, with a small glance back at the beast, she took a step back, feeling pity for it. It was most likely only doing what it was told, or programmed to do... But if she were going to choose its life over her own, and though it might be selfish, she'd choose herself. It was just a creature taking over her planet, after all. Despite that, the adrenaline that her body had built up was starting to leave and she was really starting to feel the pain and exhaustion of everything, now. Just a little longer... She thought to herself, looking the creature down. She could tell it was confused and in horrible pain as it lay there, clawing at its own head...

However, once it had fallen asleep, she huffed, quickly looking around. What was she supposed to do? There had to be some way to communicate with these things... if she could figure it out, then maybe, just maybe, she might be able to get some answers. She'd be able to figure out why these things chose earth... why they were doing this to humans. Maybe these things had more emotion than some might think?

With a glance back at the other creatures, she took note at their state. One kind died from fire.... the other from impalement of glass and metal. With a glance back at the creature that had now lost all consciousness, she noted that it looked similar to the charred beasts. Perhaps she could use fire as a threat... to make it stay? It seemed like the creatures all had different weaknesses. With another glance down at her wrists and her shaky knees, she groaned, the pain officially beginning to hit her. If she had her bag, she'd be able to take care of this right then and there. She couldn't keep the spell going any longer... but the beast should be out for a while, right? It was a hefty spell she used...

Her hands were shaking now, and her heart was beating quicker. Tears had pricked at her eyes... She needed to do something about this, she couldn't just stand around any longer. Sniffling, she gave the beast another glance before turning and running off, maneuvering her way through the alleyways, and into the rest of the world. She needed to get a few things... A bag, at best.
With a glance to the left, she saw a hoard of creatures feasting on bodies. To the right, she saw a clear path... But to the left, there were stores. Taking the right would delay her journey even longer. God, she couldn't believe she was putting herself in more danger.

She hissed at the pain once more, aiming to stay in the darker parts of the city. Maybe if she were quiet enough, she'd be able to slip past the creatures. Holding her breath, with tears in her eyes, she tiptoed past the beings, going to the back entrance of her destined shop, and, once she were in there, took a quick look around. It seemed like it was clear... bloodied from bodies and windows covered, but it was clear of those monsters. Maybe God was on her side today.

Bonnie was quick to grab necessities at the shop. It was a hardware shop, so it would hopefully have all of the things that she needed. After grabbing a big enough backpack, she had went and stuffed ropes, metal chains, matches, and a knife. Then, she had hopped to another store, this one being your usual necessity store. There, she had found disinfectant, a medical kit, bandages, and a whole hell of a ton of raw meat. She could use that as some sort of a bribe, right? She'd try, anyway...

Her bag was heavy and she was bleeding out as it is, but Bonnie pushed through her pain, heading back to where she had left the beast, in hopes that it was there... To be safe, she had climbed up the walls of the alleyways, and used them instead of walking in the middle of the maze. She had stopped a few feet from the area where she had left the beast, glad to see that the spell she had used was strong enough to hold it down for a while... good.

She made her way down, as quietly as she could, before using the metal chains and rope to bind the beasts hands and feet together, to hopefully, prevent it from moving. If that was successful... then she might be safe for a while. Might. After all, she didn't know how strong these things were... but she wanted to find out. And, to help her with this, Bonnie had made a line of all the flammable pieces of debris between the two of them, her matches out and ready to ignite it at any given time.

She was betting her life for this, as she sat there, stitching her wounds together as best she could.
Ryus (played anonymously) Topic Starter

When Ryus awakened this time, her surroundings were far less pleasant.

Her head was throbbing, for one thing - but at least it wasn’t the overwhelming, fiery agony that had sent her into unconsciousness. Just the dull after-effects, she reckoned, thudding in the back of her skull.

She was lying on cold, rough cobblestone, and any attempts to move were futile. After releasing multiple infrasonic chirps (seeing how her senses had stopped upon losing consciousness) she knew why. Metal chains were locked around her arms and legs, circling her neck, heavy links and course ropes running from one limb to the next. Her forearms from the wrists up to the elbows were covered by steel manacles, cramming her hands into a jumble of fingers and claws. Her feet were subjected to the same humiliating treatment.

She managed to pull herself to her feet into a quadruple posture but was prevented from rising to her full height. At least she had some way to manoeuvre.

Their mistake...

The area was empty of any other furnishings, save only... Ryus felt her heartbeat increase. Only a bundle of charred, extremely flammable objects surrounding her. Lighting them would be the work of seconds. Walls surrounded her and she wasn’t caged in, but the chains barely gave Ryus room to stand - let alone move more than a foot in any direction.

Then she noticed the human female. Her captor’s thoughts indicated a good deal of pain, along with curiosity and the desire to learn more Ryus’ species.

She had been vaguely aware of a small ringing in her head for the past 45 seconds, but just now, it had disappeared. Her mind had synced up to the human’s brainwave patterns. It had only been through an absurd amount of patience, in an absurdly small amount of time that Ryus had come to be able to hear the thoughts of humans… and an even more absurd amount of effort on her part to be able to communicate with them. Because she was the only one of her kind to even try, she was the only one to achieve this. Something that had benefitted her, greatly. Or vexed her, greatly. She couldn't decide which, and to this very day, it's a matter for debate.

Needless to say, it had, and probably will, create some very odd situations. In reality, the human was "broadcasting" about 20 different thoughts every second, it's just that Ryus could pick out the most prominent one(s).

Ryus remembered smelling her captor’s fear a few hours ago, and hearing the terror-induced thoughts from her mind. She tilted her head to the left. She had just realized something that made her feel like a complete dunce for not doing. Something that seemed so obvious, now.

Why don’t I try talking to her? She asked herself, in confusion at her actions, or… lack of action. She bared her teeth to exhale and inhale, then held her breath, again.

It was... actually quite a "dumbass" thing to do, on her part. The moment she had begun to hear her thoughts, when her mind synced up to her brainwave patterns, she could have gone right ahead and talked to her. Quite easily, in fact. In the telepathic terms of her kind's "language", it would have been as simple as plugging a microphone into a machine, and talking… well, thinking, actually. Yet, for some stupid reason, the thought to go ahead and do so never occurred to her! Which is a pretty dumb thing to do, considering that communication would save both of them some grief.

Ryus threw the topic out of her mind, and oriented her head at the woman's form, getting back to the task at hand. Escape. She tilted her head at her, thinking. She could… she just tell her to let her go. Otherwise this situation could deteriorate and progress to torture and bribery sooner rather than later.

But then she would have to deal with her immediate disbelief and shock. She would start yammering about how amazing the fact that she could talk was, and asking how she had been able to do so. A situation that Ryus was not in the mood, nor position for. That would take ages to get through, and to be honest, Ryus kind of despised how that always went. It was extremely annoying. And plus, she would yell, incredulously.

Ryus stiffened, and hissed quietly in alarm at the notion of how literally getting into her head might affect her. Trying to kill her had ended up giving her an extremely painful seizure.

Who knew what could happen if something went awry in telepathic communication?! For all Ryus knew, their heads could explode, or something! Or they could both end up having seizures, this time! Or the human could kill her while she was writhing on the ground in agony! Or both of them could possibly go crazy!

Okay… finding out how any of this was possible, and how it was caused because of this woman, would be way more complicated than she thought. It would be like trying to guess your way through a minefield. At least for now, until the human decided to “take the gloves off”, and in a place of little risk, she would have to go without talking to her. This situation was just too new to take chances. Especially when this kind of situation had literally never happened before.

No. No, none of those possible outcomes to attempting communication here would do. Not at all. For the moment, she would just have to find a way to escape from these bonds and try to be quick. She couldn't just make demands when in a position of vulnerability. Not that it had ever stopped her from running her mouth off at humans or her own kind (in the privacy of her innermost thoughts, of course), before. Still, there was logic in forcing the captor to make the first move, putting the prisoner in a position to withhold the answers that kept her alive.

The human female was bandaging her wounds, particularly the large gashes adorning her blood-slick wrists. Had she possessed the required facial muscles, Ryus would have smirked in vindictive satisfaction. As it was, she “grinned” at the human female, offering a cheeky “wink” (had she possessed eyes).

Come on, then, she pretended to say. Secrets don’t make friends.
Bonnie Marie (played by nav_kat)

Bonnie had just finished stitching and cleaning her wounds-- with very much struggle, mind you -- when she had heard the sound of the chains shift. She had immediately lifted her head from what she was doing, noticing that the beast was finally stirring awake. She had paused for quite some time to see if the beast would be able to break free from the chains, and, upon seeing that it had come to a struggle, she sighed a sigh of relief before picking up the bandages, going to wrap the cloth around her wrists and arms. To keep them in place, she used safety pins.

She knew that the beast was unable to move for the time being... which was good. Her fear of the beast was still there, but not to the extent that it would stop her curiosity. Maybe she was poking the bear with a stick, but she needed-- or, wanted answers. She had a feeling that this little(or... big)beast would be able to provide them for her. It was different from the rest, smarter than the rest. She admired that, in a way.

Looking up occasionally, she noticed that the beast had noticed the flammable debris in front of it... perfect. Maybe it'll keep it from trying to move for a little while... Maybe, anyway. For now, she wanted to get her wounds covered. The damned thing... it's animalistic instincts were really irritating her. It hurt, okay? Who wouldn't be upset and mad over something like that? It didn't hurt so bad at the time, but now she was really starting to feel the pain! She was a weak witch as it is, she couldn't handle pain very well... Jeez.

Though, as she was finishing her other arm, with a glance up at the beast, she could notice the change in expression it gave. Well, it wasn't really a big change, since it didn't really have the right facial muscles, but it looked like the best grin it could give. This made Bonnie furrow her brows in irritation with the creature, glaring up at it before finishing off her poorly done job at stitching herself up. She probably wouldn't be the best doctor out there, really...

She didn't know if the creature would be able to understand her... but she figured she could at least try, right? "Hungry?" Was basically all she said while reaching into her bag and pulling out packages of raw meat she had taken from a small grocery store. She would have taken a steak out of it's packaging before tossing it in front of the beast. It would be able to bend down, at least.... She didn't know a thing about it's appetite, so she wouldn't know if it would eat it or not... but she should at least try, right?

After all, she was aiming to get some answers. But how was she supposed to do that without a way to communicate. They couldn't talk verbally, that much was obvious. They couldn't sign, she didn't know their language... and from the looks of it, it didn't appear to be much of one at all. The creature was smarter than the rest of its kind... so what could she do to allow them to communicate in some way?

Well... everyone had thoughts, be it man or animal, right? Maybe she could... try to connect to the creatures brainwaves? Tap into its thoughts? It would be easier said that done, but she was sure that it was possible. Hell, if she could use magic, then she was sure she could tap into an alien's thought process and communicate with it. Now, she had some form of hope of communicating with the creature and getting her answers. Maybe she could keep it from harming her in some way? It was obvious that it was smarter than the rest, so... maybe if she gave it a reason to keep her alive, show her that she could be of some use to the creature, then maybe she could survive?

It was a long shot, but she'd try. She'd try... all she needed to do is focus. Clear her thoughts for the time being and allow herself to connect. It was as easy as connecting a phone to a car... like the tap of a button. So simple... Right?

Shaking her head, she sighed, staring at the beast, examining it for a moment before she decided that stalling wasn't going to do anything... and instead, closed her eyes and began to clear her head, making an attempt to focus on the creature in front of her. She could do this, she had to. Answers were needed.
Ryus (played anonymously) Topic Starter

Ryus might have been a bit more concerned about the human’s intention to interrogate her for information about her kind and the invasion - if she hadn’t been so laughably bad at it.

She wasn’t going to tell the human anything she didn’t want to, not ever. That was a certainty, no matter what she did to her.

But thus far, what she had done to her was pretty thoroughly unimpressive.

She hadn’t even lit a match.

Ryus felt her smirk widen as the girl’s brow crinkled in - and thoughts indicated - irritation upon noticing her grin and, even better yet, pain. Normally she took no pleasure in hurting others but for this human she made an exception. She loathed the chains and restraints and thus took whatever small, petty victory she could. Who wouldn’t hate the person who enslaved them? With that being said, the fact that her captor had quickly deduced that Ryus possessed above average intelligence was moderately impressive and caused the Beserker’s respect for her captor to increase slightly. Though... the average member of her kind didn’t smile, or indeed indicate any facial expressions, as a matter of fact. The thought never occurred to them.

Her regard for the human female went down like a lead balloon after hearing her repeatedly refer to her as “beast”. Even after learning about her intellect the human still insisted on calling her a thing.

Did you expect me to be a salivating beast? No wonder this planet is being invaded so quickly. The Alien thought with a private, dark chuckle.

“Hungry?”

Yeah, I am. I was intending to eat you, but that meat will suffice for now... Ryus pretended to reply, smarmy.

Then the human threw a lump of raw meat within her reach. Bribery. Pathetic. Yet despite herself she felt her stomach rumble slightly. She had missed a meal and while she could go without food for a while, she was hungry. And there was no guarantee that the human female would feed her if the Alien became evasive and refused to answer the questions. So, with an air of reluctance and regality, she bent down as much as the chains would allow and ate the bribe. If the human thought that was all it took to get the Beserker to talk she had another thought coming.

Look, I know your kind is a bit limited in the torment department, she silently conceded, smirking at the human standing over her with a decidedly not-all-that-menacing glare. But this is just sad, isn’t it? You think a bit of one-sided bribery and threatening words is going to leave me weeping and pleading at your feet for a chance to confess my information and seal my fate? She scoffed, running her tongue across her teeth, smiling.

Then Ryus uttered a low growl. The human female was trying to establish contact with her. The nerve of that girl! She was a Beserker, born to invade and infest, and the fact that this creature had the arrogance to think that her kind could just connect to her brain waves with a snap of fingers...

Arrogant little morsel... the Alien chuffed.

Her echolocation had already ascertained the female’s exact position in the alley. Her thoughts were mired in paranoia and uncertainty. Though, upon seeing the creature chained, her mind quietened greatly.

Though, there was still an undercurrent of fear - worry over what she would do, over her current temperament. She had already caught on that this Beserker was smarter than average. But, as result, she was uncertain as to Ryus' mood. Uncertain about whether she should be afraid.

Perhaps the beast was still lusting for blood, after having experienced the indignity of restraints. The chances that this plan would work were all but abysmal.

It was this thought, above any other, that pissed Ryus off the most.

Ryus may not have had everything figured out, and she may have been uncertain about a great amount of things in her life, at the moment. But there was one thing that she was absolutely - beyond a shadow of a doubt - completely, and utterly adamant of. And that thing is: in regards to Bonnie...

She was officially 110% done with being treated like a monster!

Still, the Beserker had to be the one to initiate contact. Humans were not natural at telepathy. It was not a communication that they needed, after all. With that in mind, Ryus concentrated and “sent” her telepathic message to the “recipient”.

The act of “connecting” came, from a human perspective, out of nowhere and quite abruptly. It started with a... tingling sensation - right at the base of the skull, where the cranium met the top of the spinal cord. This sensation then quickly... "spread", and began to permeate throughout - it was as if warm liquid had suddenly filled the insides of her brain-case. It was comparable to a sense of... heightened spatial awareness... like someone had just given a shot of caffeine directly into the victim’s veins.

This was a brief period of time between "starting to hear their thoughts", and "being able to speak to them". It was like two long-distance telephones, filled with static and “lag”.

Then, as soon as it had started, it stopped.

The receiver did not just “hear”, though - they felt the voice. It was like a quick burst of spastic energy that briefly buzzed in Bonnie’s brain before she seemed to... "process" whatever obscure "signal" was sent.

The voice was clear, definitely female, somewhat high in a calm, rich tone, and had... an undoubtedly British accent.

"What you want depends on what I’m willing to give..."
Bonnie Marie (played by nav_kat)

Bonnie had to admit, she was getting pretty irritated with the creature. She didn't know what to call it. She didn't know what gender it could have been, if it had one, what it was, or even if it had a name. Hell, it looked like a beast, acted like a beast, she she called it a beast. What else could she have called it? It's not like the thing came from unicorns and rainbows... it came from somewhere far above, and somewhere far away. It wasn't her business, anyway! She'd call the damn thing whatever she wants for the time being! She just wanted to figure out some way to communicate with the thing. Telepathy was difficult and she wasn't sure if she had the energy to to do it. She's read research on it.. but she had no clue on how to even start, or even if she could. So... she'd have to find some other way, now wouldn't she? She was sure there was some sort of spell in her spell books somewhere that could help with this, but she couldn't exactly say... what it was. Spells like that were difficult, and took lots of energy. Energy that she didn't have.
Though, watching the creature bend down to the best of its abilities and eat the meat she had provided, she gave the slightest sigh. She might have to resort to using its weakness against it. She could use her magic, the very littlest fire spell, of course, to keep the fire from spreading. Maybe it'd scare it? Give her a little bit more of an upper hand? Oh, who was she kidding... she was the weakest witch there was.

"Damn humans..." She muttered, feeling a sense of jealousy wash over her. At least a human was a little bit stronger than her. They wouldn't be able to use an assortment of different magic types like her, but they'd be able to keep going, at least. That is, if they could figure out the language and mindset one had to put themselves into in order to perform magic. And under pressure was even worse, don't even get her started on that. However, looking at the beast a second time, she straightened her expression, not wanting to give it the luxury of seeing her irritation any longer. She went straight faced before she looked down at her hands, tempted to just form some sort of fire ball and throw it at the thing, wanting to see how it would react. It was cruel, sure... and it was the last thing she wanted to do, whether the creature had tried to kill her or not, it was still a living thing and she didn't like to use her magic to hurt... anything.

That was probably what would end up getting her killed one of these days, too. She was the weakest little witch there ever was. And it was so... so obvious.

She looked back up to the beast before going to stand to her feet instead of sitting on the ground in front of it. She had a thousand questions for it... but she couldn't ask them without some sort of way to communicate with it. What could she do? It was a puzzle she didn't have a good answer for, but one that she needed the answer for. These things had come down to her planet... in her world... and turned the already upside down world and threw it into the darkness, creating even bigger problem for the poor little witch.

If they wanted another planet, there were thousands of them. What was so good about earth, anyway? Was it just easy to invade? Were the humans easy targets?

It must've been something.

However, at the feeling of a tingling sensation towards the base of her skull that had started to spread, and rather quickly, she seemed rather confused, but surprised. What was this? It felt similar to when she had started to use too much magic, as her brain would send signals to her that her body couldn't take too much any longer, but this was definitely different. It didn't hurt... it just felt odd. And even more so as it felt like a warm liquid had been poured into her brain, almost like her brain were liquefying. It was definitely odd... not something that you would ever feel on a regular basis.

However, as those things had started to fade, and things had seemed... "numb" for certain period of time, she glanced over towards the creature, watching its actions carefully... Just before a voice, that definitely wasn't her own, had vibrated through her.

Bonnie nearly gave a laugh at this, still rather confused. She definitely wouldn't have been able to do that... so the beast had struck up conversation with her first, huh? Made sense... since it was more powerful than her in certain aspects. That's simple. She had said, bending down to unwrap another slab of meat. I just want answers. Nothing physical. You can't blame my curiosity, now can you?

She was surprised, yes, but now was no time to gawk at the beast. Instead, she tossed the slab of meat in front of the beast, motioning towards it before going to bend down, balancing herself carefully as she watched the beast. First things first... What can I call you?
Ryus (played anonymously) Topic Starter

Ryus patiently waited for the human to process her communique. Honestly... even when she spoke, she was a bit terrified that something would go wrong. She was half-expecting to have a "stroke". Needless to say, she was feeling... well, nervous as to how Bonnie would react, but also strangely... at peace. Content that she could finally speak without that stupid self-imposed, verbal embargo. Looking back, her concern seemed silly, actually...

Whilst the human succeed in hiding physical indicators of irritation, to the Alien Bonnie’s thoughts were simple to discern. Throwing a ball of fire at her? Understandable, if sadistically cruel. If the flame was small enough the human could torture her for several days without killing her. As for those theories and thoughts buzzing around in her head regarding the invasion... Ryus could answer them if she wanted to.

But the thoughts and feelings that intrigued her the most was a significant portion dedicated to the “witch’s” supposed inadequacy. Anyone who could neutralise several Beserkers and Raiders without suffering any serious injuries and then go on to knock out and capture another Beserker deserved respect. The female’s feats so far had lived up to her reputation. Any claims of weakness was baffling to Ryus.

She paid careful attention to the human’s thoughts, as her brain continued to scramble in response to her statement. At the moment, she was only now connecting the dots and making the conclusion that a Alien had just spoken to her with perfect English. And now, she was staring at her with a mixture of revulsion and... well, confusion. Her thoughts seemed to... idle, for a few moments - her mind literally had no clue what to do about the current circumstance. Ryus waited in her sitting position, for what she estimated to be at least a minute and a half, in complete silence.

Then, Bonnie's brain seemed to immediately jump from "2" to "12" in terms of activity, as her stream of thoughts briefly went into overdrive. With it came a deluge of... surprisingly strong emotions. At least half of said feelings consisted of satisfaction. Having an outlandish theory and then being proved right caused the human’s pride to rise.

She was heavily anticipating a response... and so Ryus felt the abrupt need to have a bit of fun with it. Her skull tilted to one side at her, as though confused, and her claws lifted off of the ground to tap about to the opening notes of Under Pressure, idly. She would have been smirking, had she the required facial muscles. The look of expectation on Bonnie’s face was amusing to say the least.

She dropped the display and spoke. “No, no, I cannot blame you for curiosity. I just take offence to being chained up like a... “Christmas turkey”, as you humans call it, ready for the fire.” As an afterthought she added on, “if it makes it easier for you, speak out loud like your kind normally does. I can hear and understand you all the same.”

Then Bonnie asked for a name. Ryus' head tilted ever-so-slightly to the left, listing slightly over to "look" to her right. Odd first question. I was expecting something less... oblique, but, I can make this work...

As she thought of how to answer the girl’s question, Ryus absentmindedly straightened up on all fours, and slowly pivoted on the spot, and ate the meat offered. Good food but not great food. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. Her movements were of a slightly... regal persuasion. She knew from her echolocation that Bonnie’s eyes were rather contentedly locked onto her, and it seemed to be triggering her rarely-seen "swagger" side. She didn't often remain in the presence of any given human for very long, so it was a bit of a challenge, still, to control her... slight streak of... vanity. The way she walked might trigger a memory of a tiger.

Does she have a name? She and her leader called her "Ryus", yes, but it wasn't something she'd been given. She’d just sort of came up with it one day, fairly recently, and said: "yeah, alright, that sounds good". None of her Hive-mates had the patience or forethought to call her “Ryus". None ever tried.

Ryus’ lips parted, her head angling downward as she took in a long, loud breath through her teeth. It was the only answer she had, so she gave it.

She concentrated; a small pulsing sensation thumped in the front of her brain, right behind where her "eyes" would be, as she directed her telepathic reach toward Bonnie’s mind. Communicating with humans was a bit different than with others of her kind. When speaking to any of her Hive-mates, they would instantaneously receive her signal, as they were constantly, unconsciously on the look out for communique. With humans, though, it was always the case of having to mentally "push” the message into their heads. It was like the difference between sticking a dollar into a vending machine and putting an envelope into a mailbox. One is ready and receptive to what you're giving them, the other requires you to stick in a few fingers and apply some force.

Ryus could feel the "signal" twist and curl its way over to the human girl’s skull, through the air, and then disappear into her head. With a Hive-mate, the signal would have zipped on over with grace and swiftness. All of this passed by in mere microseconds, mind you. In any case, her message was sent and there was no taking it back.

"I suppose you can call me... Ryus.”

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