A Caged Lion Will Never Roar (OPEN)

[Shifter]

For the second time that week, Shifter was among the lions.

Her golden fur shimmered in the sunlight as she stalked the edge of the enclosement. The beast inside hated to be caged up, though Aislynn knew her entrapment inside the zoo was by her own will, and her human mind was starting to agree. Ever since she had been forced inside Adanac, her human and beast minds had begun to interweave together, joined by the sheer hatred of being in some place that she just couldn't escape.

She paced for another few minutes, using the physical activity to get her mind(s) off of what all she was going through. What she had been through. Walking was such a monotonous task that her mind could wander, which was something she didn't want. So, instead, she made it not so monotonous; she actually said each step inside her mind. Left. Right. Left. Right.

Finally, when she grew weary of the enclosure, Aislynn stumbled over to the door that led inside, where the lions rested if they got too hot. She glanced over at the nearest lion, the genericly named Simba, and gave him a sad look. His golden eyes stared back, conveying his own feeling of sorrow. She nuzzled him once, then morphed human.

"Sorry, my friend," she murmured as she stroked his mane, "I cannot take you out of here with me. I truly wish I could... Then, perhaps, we both could escape."

He seemed to realize what she was saying, for he reached up and licked her hand. Then, with a quiet huff of breath, he closed his eyes. Aislynn took that as her dismissal. She stood, shoving her hands in her pockets, and exitted through the employee entrance. Then she began to walk through the zoo, only really stopping to admire the feline exhibits.

[Shooter]

Alex whipped around, gun in hand.

There stood the officer, gun also pointed at him. So far, there was only that one. <But not for long,> he sighed.

They’d found him.

“Look,” the officer said. “I don’t want to do this either. Frankly, this is something I’m starting to despise. But I have a job to do, and you know that if it isn’t me, it’ll be one of the other three officers outside.”

Alex sighed. “I know…” he trailed off. “I just wanted more time. It’s been little more than a week…” Alex stared into the officer’s eyes, and he could tell that this one would make it quick. “I guess I’m lucky it’s someone like you,” he chuckled dryly.

Alex slowly lowered the gun and let it slip out of his fingers. The officer looked sadly into his eyes and fired the N-67 Tranquilizer into his leg. Alex swayed and stumbled, falling over in front of the officer.

He looked up through blurred vision and saw the officer’s badge. <Jet… Jet!> he thought pointedly. It was the brother he had never met. He reached a hand up and whispered, “Jet…”

The world went black.

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Alex woke up with a start, sitting up quickly and banging his head on a branch overhead. “Owwww,” he moaned, rubbing his head. Moving out from underneath the branch, he got his bearings and sat up, looking around.

It looked like an enclosure… A zoo enclosure. He spotted a lynx nearby, and his stomach dropped. <The bastards left me in an enclosure,> he thought angrily. He stood up and walked to the edge, where he could see people walking around, obviously other Lessers. <Welcome to Adanac, hell for its residents,> he sighed sadly. He put his hands up to the glass and looked around, hoping someone would see him and help.

[Shifter]

Aislynn was just admiring the Lynx exhibit when she noticed a sudden jerking in the tips of the trees. Curious, and perhaps a bit worried about her beloved felines, the silver-haired Synthetic abandoned her walk around the entire zoo for the second time that day to explore another exhibit from the inside. This time, though, she was making sure her felines were okay and not just visiting.

Without being seen, Aislynn managed to sneak inside the employee entrance and changed. She became a silver-furred Lynx. Then she snuck inside the enclosure.

She didn't even really have to look for the source of the disturbance; he was already out and waiting for her. Another Lesser, this one apparently about as much Cat as she was, was staring through the glass at the visitors that passed by. None of them either noticed or cared that one of them was trapped inside this blasted cage. Fortunately for him, Aislynn did.

She padded over and grabbed his sleeve in her mouth, giving it a fierce tug. She hoped he would understand that meant to look, and eventually follow, her.[/color]

[Shooter]

Alex continued to stare out at the people passing, getting a little angry no one seemed to notice or care. <So that's how most of these other Lessers feel,> he thought. <They just care about themselves, don't they?> He sighed. Alex had hoped that the Lessers would have been different. <Why can't we all come together? We're all in the same pile of shit,> he wondered. It was just then that he felt a strong tug on his shirt sleeve.

He turned around to see a silver furred lynx with his sleeve in its mouth. It seemed to have a look of urgency, and Alex hoped that it meant this was a Lesser, rather than a regular lynx. "Hey there, you here to bust me out?" he asked quietly. "Because I would sure love to get out of here."

[Shifter]

Much to her relief, the other Lesser seemed to realize that she wasn't just some frisky or pesky Lynx and was, in fact, a fellow Lesser. He questioned her quietly about her motives, and she nodded her head twice, cheek tuffs bouncing as she did so. At least some people in this God-forsaken land were smart enough to know when one of their own kind was talking to them, instead of just some random cat.

She gave his sleeve another tug, then released the cloth from her mouth. Aislynn turned, walking towards the animal entrance/exit, but stopped about halfway there. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was following her, she flicked her tail in an almost warning-like fashion.

Follow now or get left behind, her look almost seemed to say.

She exitted through the large doggy-door type opening, which was just big enough to allow a crouching human to pass. Once on the other side, Shifter morphed human, though she did sit beside one of the other Lynx, running her fingers over its fur as she waited.

[Shooter]

Alex saw the lynx nod quickly twice, and was now positive it was another Lesser. <Maybe there's hope for this group yet,> he thought. He felt the tug again and, seeing the lynx set off towards the back, followed suite. He walked across the enclosure to the back, where the lynx walked through a flap. Crouching down, he crawled through the flap, emerging on the other side.

Once there, he was greeted by a silver haired woman with a lynx beside her. Smiling, he sat down across from her. "Thanks for that, I really appreciate it. I honestly don't know what I would have done if no one came," he confessed. "And hey, it's nice to meet someone who's got a little feline in 'em"

Alex extended his hand and said, "The name's Alex Wilson, alias Shooter. It's a pleasure to meet ya."

[Shifter]

Aislynn listened as he thanked her, nodding once to show that he was welcome. She wasn't much of a talker when it came to those outside of the feline family, though this guy seemed to be as close to her cats as she was really going to get. Perhaps she could at least try to make friends with him. Maybe.

He introduced himself, and Shifter glanced at his hand. For a moment she debated on whether or not to shake it, but then decided it would be for the best. So she accepted it, squeezing his hand gently.

"Shifter." She murmured, not quite willing to give away her real name yet.[/color]

[Shooter]

"Shifter."

Alex nodded. "Nice to meet ya," he smiled, releasing her hand. He noticed that the woman wasn't much of a talker. <Not that I mind,> he thought. <Sometimes, the quieter, the better... Besides, she seems a little guarded. She did just meet me.>

He decided to try and continue the conversation anyways. "So... If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been stuck in here? I mean, it'd be nice to sorta get a sense of how long everybody's been hangin around..." he trailed off. <God that sounded stupid,> he mentally cursed. <What does it matter? We're all stuck in here forever anyways... Such a stupid question Alex.>

[Shifter]

The Lynx Aislynn was petting suddenly decided to stand up and, very lazily, crawl into the silver-haired woman's lap. A smile cracked the young woman's face; she began to scratch it behind the ears, though still listening as Alex seemed to babble. Well, it wasn't really babbling, but more like searching for conversation. Yeah, that was it.

She glanced up, tilting her head to the side, "I've been here about a year, maybe a year and a half." Aislynn relayed, and realized that was the longest sentence she had spoken since being trapped in Adanac. Huh, apparently she was starting to break down. Maybe being around people like her, as in Lessers and not humans, was easier for her.[/color]

[Shooter]

"I've been here about a year, maybe a year and a half."

Alex was grateful she had said something. He nodded at her comment and said, "Wow, that's quite a while." He felt sorry that she'd already suffered so much, and he knew that it was most likely only going to get worse for everyone. If anyone was ever to escape, it would be by either sheer luck or by help from one of the police force.

"As you could tell, I just got here," he sighed. "They found me pretty quickly too, although I guess I'm kinda easy to pick out in a crowd now... Ah, I'll try to make the best of it, right? I mean, we're all trying to do that I guess... But honestly, I really wonder if they'll ever change their minds. The government, I mean. It's just so wrong. 'A danger to society' my ass, y'know? It's just kinda depressing, s'all..."

[Shifter]

"'A danger to society' my ass, y'know? It's just kinda depressing, s'all..."

Aislynn couldn't help but smile at that last comment, though she did glance down at the Lynx in an attempt to hide it. She wasn't one to constantly show her emotions, especially not to people she had just met. A smile wasn't much, granted, but it could lead to laughter, which could lead to a dropping of her guard.

"Some of us are a danger," she murmured, remembering back to when she had slain her boss. The memory was still fresh, even if had been years ago. "But those they could have locked up here. They didn't need to shove us all here... Not in this prison." Her eyes dulled slightly.

Felines couldn't be caged up. They were free-spirited beasts, and Aislynn was as well. She had used to be one, anyways. But at the moment, she wasn't sure if she even had a spirit to let free. Not after being trapped here for so long.

[Shooter]

"Some of us are a danger. But those they could have locked up here. They didn't need to shove us all here... Not in this prison."

To an extent, Alex had to agree with the first statement. But he wholeheartedly agreed with the latter parts. "It just seems so... wrong. It's almost like they overturned all that racism crap and judged us by what we were, not what we were like," he sighed. "And their excuse was that somehow we weren't human. Homo Inferior... It's all political bullshit..."

Alex looked at his hands for a moment, and clenched them, letting the claws dig into his pads. He sat for a moment and then said, "I am a Lesser. Hath not a Lesser eyes? Hath not a Lesser hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Human is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?"

[Shifter]

She listened to his little speech without interupting. It was slightly corny, but still he held a valid point. They were humans, just, perhaps, a sub-species of them. But that wasn't enough to give the humans cause to lock the Lessers away, like some sort of animal.

As the thoughts crossed her mind, the Lynx in her lap turned and looked Aislynn in the eye. Even if she wasn't completely telepathic in human form, some words still managed to get through. And the Lynx wasn't happy with her termonology.

"Sorry, girl," she murmured, scratching behind the Lynx's ear. She looked up at Alex and nodded, though she didn't really want to speak. She still wasn't too keen on speaking to anyone, even if she was surrounded by her lovely felines.

But, she knew she should say something to at least avoid sounding stupid, "You're right." She managed.

[Shooter]

"You're right."

Alex had to stop himself from chuckling at that. <She's not a woman of many words, is she?> he thought. He did manage to let through a smile though. "Yup. Although I must admit, the credit goes to Shakespeare," he said. "Damn that guy knew what he was talking about, and really well too..."

Alex twiddled with his tail a little, then asked, "Do you think they'll ever change their minds? I mean, the public and government and all? I mean, I just wonder if everyone really does hate us as much as the government does, and if the public demands it I'm sure we could get out. But I honestly wonder if they'll ever change, ever... What do you think?

[Shifter]

"What do you think?"

Aislynn nibbled on her lip as she contemplated the question. As per usual, the cat-woman didn't want to talk too much. She knew that by talking she could let somethnig slip, and if she let something slip, then Father would be angry... He was always angry when she questioned him, or when she spoke too much.

So she swallowed, shifted nervously. "I think," she murmured quietly, eyes on the ground, "that what is to be will be. We cannot change what is beyond our reach."

There, that was a safe thing to say, right? She hadn't mentioned anything Daddy wouldn't want her to mention, and she had still said more than even she was expecting. That would be enough for him, right?