Ark 16 Episode 31: From the waist down

Discordia: Giselle’s lean form laid snuggled into a pile of pillows and blankets on the small twin bed of the room she was borrowing from her host family. An afternoon nap was just what she needed after the frustrating day at class. Her body had yet to adjust to the time zone in Kasaihana and afternoon naps had taken a role in her daily activities. Plus, what else was she going to do in a city where she did not know anyone and hardly spoke the language. As she slumbered, her foot twitched on the bed, the result of a dream settling on her subconscious. Giselle was completely unaware that her privacy had been invaded and her sleeping form was being watched over. The little boy who was the only child of her host parents had snuck into her room yet again. Currently, he was sifting through the drawer which housed her panties. Several pairs of satin and lace laid scattered around the floor while a pair of sheer black panties had been pulled onto his head like a hat. He stood at the foot of her bed with an evil glint in his eyes and a mischievous smile on his lips, a bright plastic gun in both hands. Without warning, he pulled both triggers aiming at Giselle. Two streams of icy cold water blasted her back to reality and she let out a scream worthy of a horror movie vixen. She jumped out of the bed with a snarl on her face as she chased him from the room, slamming the door behind him as he ran for his life. Her eyes scanned over the room and the ransacked drawers and she slammed her fist into the door frame. French curse words tumbled out of her mouth as she grabbed some running pants and a tank top. The only thought in her head was one of escaping, too bad she could not run back to France. With an aggressive tug of her shoe laces, tying them in tight knots she made her way out of the small house in District 2. Giselle did not bother to even tell her host parents she was going as the door slammed behind her. They did not bother to parent their own child, why would it matter to them what she did. Giselle paused on the front stoop for a moment as she bent and twisted in a few quick stretches. Her feet hit the pavement in a light jog and she made her way through the streets. If she was at home, the streets would have been completely void of life at this time. However, in the city, people milled around on the sidewalks and leaned against the buildings as Giselle jogged past. Blood began to flow more freely as she loosened up and picked up the pace. switching from jogging to running. It felt good to feel the burn in her muscles as she ran. It was one thing that did not change no matter where you were.

Thunrian: Kin shook his head, grimacing as he tossed and turned in his bed. He felt hot, as if his skin were about to explode ripping out of his flesh. He got cold sweats like this quite often. As if something were smothering him. It was unbearable! The heat continued to fire off in waves through the boys flesh, shooting his head left to right as he began to pant at an increasingly rate. Kins eyes exploded open. When he awoke he had been in another world it seemed like. Above his head had been a massive moon. Shining down over his head and he had been running with a pack of wolves. His body was different in this dream. His muscles larger, his hair wild and his eyes a bright gold. The wolves all shifted into human form. Each of them looking about the same age as Kin. There bodies moved in unison and with grace as they flipped and tossed themselves into the air. The dream would come to a stop when he fell through a world of glass. It shattering all around him ! Drifting in a sea of darkness until he landed in an area similar to where he had been prior. He slipped into the trancendant world untill he had caught his footing. His body hitting the ground on his feet. But he was changed. Transformed into a powerful majestic beast. And infront of him had been shadows, vicious shadows that all lashed out towards The transformed Kin. He fought through the leagues of shadows untill he had been swallowed up by those same shadows. Engulfing him in a sea of black, drowning him. But... This too had only been a dream. Kin awoke finally in the real world. On a Saturday mourning... Ontop of a Goat.. His clothes a bloody mess and beside him had been a dead cat... Like it's carcass had been broken and ate into. Kin rubbed his head, wobbling to his feet. He looked around.. He knew where he had been. But why was he here... He had just been in bed. He looked down at his pajama pants only to open them after feeling something... Off. " Hair! " kin said as he found an abrupt patch of pubic hair. His first patch... Had grown over night. Confused he made his way home sneaking In through the window so he wouldn't show any suspicion towards michiko. That woman had been a hawk. If she noticed anything out with kin, Keyomi or sora then she would have went out of her way to make sure that they had been ok. Like any good mother. Kin had made his way into his room... These nights where he ended up outside had been occurring alot lately. He figured it may have revolved around puberty. But he knew something else had been going on. That dream, and waking up in odd places... It happened frequently. He made his way outside. His head was blaring, he didn't even bringing his body Gaurd with him.

Thunrian: Kin made his way outside. Sweat pants and a t-shirt with the words " Galaxy Rush" He got it from a video game tournament he had won a week ago. He pulled on his sneakers, making his way outside as he shuffled his way out. An aggravated expression on his face as he made his way down the street. " Hey! Watch it!" A citizen said to Kin as the young man had knocked into them on accident as he made his stroll the street. " Ah.. Yeah sorry... I'm just. My head is killing me..." " Look kid! I don't give a damn about your hang over! You better watch yourself before I kick your ass!" Kin nodded his head waving the adult off as he pressed on down the street only to be snatched by the adults right hand as he pulled his hands back, getting ready to fire out a devastating punch into Kins. Jaw. And had this been any other day. He would have been decked, and laid out on the street. But today... Well today was different. The aggravated kin anticipated the hit. And because of this, he would have ducked his head down to dodge the strike. And using the mans weight against him he would have tripped him with his right hand as he ducked down. Scooping the grown man off his feet and onto the ground where kin would have placed the bottom of his shoe over adults face. " .... Look man..." Kin said glaring down at him. " I had a rough night... I just want an aspirin... Now I'm gonna let you go. And your gonna leave me alone. Understand ?" Kin said in a cold tone. His glasses giving off a glue due to his eyes underneath them had been glowing a bright gold. The young man pulled his foot back and the adult male scurried to his feet, hauling ass from the young man. Kin shook his head. 'Whats going on with me...' Kin said recalling what he had just did. It wasn't in his nature to retaliate. Not he should have been fast enough to counter that punch. Even he knew this. He sluggishly made his way down the district 2 streets. As he turned the corner he'd walk right into Giselle while she had been doing her jog. A hard collision was made between the two that if connected weather it put her on her butt or not would have surely put Kin on his back. Sprawled out. He blinked a few times. " So it's gonna be one of those huh..." He said staring up at the sky.

Discordia: Giselle had been so lost in thought as she ran that she had not realized what had happened until her ass already had hit the concrete and she was wincing in pain. She stayed on the ground for several moments as she gathered her bearings. She was going to be sore in the morning that was for sure. God, she really hated this town and all these damn buildings. In the countryside she could run for miles on end without encountering another soul. She would just have to pay better attention from now on. Her honey eyes gazed over at the boy who had collided into her. Based on the expression on his face, it seemed he was having a night that was as equally frustrating to hers. Her face softened and released some tension as she looked over at him. She could be assertive if the situation called for it, however she saw no point given they were both having bad nights. Instead, she pulled herself up from the ground, wiping herself off as she walked over to him and leaned over him so that her face was a foot and half from his, her hair tumbling over her shoulder and her hands resting on her knees. “Are you okay?” She asked as the words slowly rolled off her tongue. “Would you like some ‘elp?” As she asked the questions her voice rose slightly on the last words, making her sound more cheerful than she actually was. She jutted out her hand and offered it to him. The boy looked vaguely familiar to her and she assumed she must have seen him at school. “Do you school at Kasaihana ‘igh?” Her lips formed a polite smile that did not quite reach to her eyes which still seemed cast over with annoyance at her current situation in life. “I is a sophomore there, Giselle Mercier.” Giselle had no idea why she was bothering to make small talk with him as he lay on the ground. Perhaps, she felt an awkward sort of kinship with the boy given they were both out at night escaping something. Her mind wandered slightly wondering what the boy was escaping.

Thunrian: Kin took her hand, pulling himself up. He brushed himself off, shaking his head a bit. " Yeah I'm uh. A freshmen at Kasaihana high. The names, Kin. Kin Tasanagi. " he said dusting himself off. He took note to the girls attire. Noticing curves, and her scent. All of these qualities Kin didn't care for untill he started to experience all of these changes. He shook his head, tossing the questionably disturbing thoughts out of his head before he ended up saying something he'd regret. They were getting harder to ignore. " Your English is broken.. " kin said squinting his eyes due to him forgetting his glasses at home. He crossed his arms, tilting his head to the right. " Are you not from America?" He spoke to her with a level of confidence. Despite him just meeting her. Another oddity that Kin had been showing as of recently.

Discordia: Giselle helped him up and nodded her head in reply to his question. “Oui, I come from France. Ma maman et papa, they sent me ‘ere to learn. They always find reasons to send me away. Make me better they say.” Bitterness riveted through the last sentence and it left a bad taste in her mouth. She shook her head as if to rid her of such thoughts before the polite smile returned to her lips. As she stared at him, taking in his ruffled and disoriented appearance, she asked “Are you all right?” A crease of concern formed on her forehead as she continued to gaze at him, her eyes level with his as they stood almost the same height.

Thunrian: Kin took note of where she said she had been from. " France huh." He says crossing his arms. " And don't worry about me. I'll be fine. " kin said dismissing her worry about him. " What are you doing running around at this kind of night ? It's dangerous out here you know.. To travel alone?" And as kin Spoke to her of the dangers that were clearly evident amongst this god forsaken city. A stranger in a black jacket watched the both of them. His victims blood at the edge of his blade as it always had been. He targeted teenagers specifically this one did. He enjoyed taking the lives of the youth. He saw them weak and a nuisance. To him he had been doing a service to the community. His black jacket hugged his body. A middle aged Hispanic male. With a thick beard and a pair if dark blue jeans. His dark eyes focusing out on the two as he watched them from a distance. " Let's get out of here. " kin says after noticing the lack of people on the street. " There's no telling who may try to hurt us in this shit town. " Kin cursed. Which he took notice of as well as he pulled his hands up to his mouth as he began to walk forward a bit.

Discordia: There was a definite change in his voice as if there was more to the situation than met the eye. Giselle was not foolish even though she was a stranger. She followed after Kin, staying only a step behind him. Her body stiffened and her posture straightened. Thoughts about her sore hind end were forgotten. It was instead replaced by a fight or flight instinct that had been fine tuned by years of training. As she walked, she kept her steps light, full of grace. The very idea that she had to be on guard merely walking the streets irked her. It seemed like just another freedom that had been stripped from her by being in the city. She kicked at a loose stone and watched it bounce of the side of the building. “So where we go?” Giselle asked as they continued to walk. Thoughts of the hell child that was probably still running around with her panties on his head flashed in her mind. “I don’t want to go back to that ‘ouse.”

Thunrian: " I suppose I should walk you home. Rather you get home then me. " kin said stopping to look back at her. And the moment he did, he'd get stabbed in the right shoulder abc then in his lower back! The attacker had been skilled with that blade. The attacker hacked and slashed all throughtout Kin body untill he had finally stabbed the young man right in the stomach. Kin dropped to his knees. Blood rippling from his gushing open wounds before he finally collapsed on the cement his eyes whited out. The killer turned to Giselle. His face hidden from the darkness of his hoodie as he slowly began to approach her. Bloody knife in his right hand. Tilting his head to the left.

Discordia: Giselle froze for the briefest of moments, her visage painted with a look of sheer terror. A scream died in her throat never making it past her gaping lips. Time seemed to slow as she grasped at her senses and her eyes narrowed on the glint of the knife and the opponent concealed in the shadows and gloom of the dingy street. She sure as hell was not going to die here with her guts spilling onto the filthy pavement. Giselle was hoping that her lean slender frame and femininity made her look weak and helpless to the owner of the blood soaked blade. Her mind began to systematically evaluate the surroundings and her opponent as she looked at the distance between her and the walls as well as her foe. She was far too close to the brick building and Kin for the style of fighting savate required, with its intense kicks. Feigning terror her eyes went wide, exaggerating the emotion and letting it show on her face. She took several steps away from the man. Her steps were that of a frightened animal attenpting to back away. He tracked her movements with his eyes and his lips quirked into a lopsided grin that gave him an unsettling and unhinged sort of look. Still, he followed her away from the crumpled form of Kin and the walls and out onto the vacant street. Given that savate did not really require much combat with their hands, Giselle left them loose at her side, not taking a fighting stance. She knew long before the man lunged at her with the knife raised above his head what was coming based on the shift of his torso. As he moved, her left leg rose and she aimed a kick so that the side of her foot would smash into his cheek. Perhaps because of her nerves, the kick hit a little low and smashed into his shoulder. Like a raging animal, a primal growl erupted from him and echoed down the street and the knife slashed her right arm, forming a jagged line down her bare skin. Giselle jumped back instantly and as soon as she landed both feet on the ground she pushed off her left foot, bringing her knee up and straightening her leg so that the sole of her foot smashed into the man's sternum. It hit with a definite crack, not breaking any bones, instead loosening the cartilage that allowed the ribs to move. A blow like that was capable of knocking the wind out of a person and pausing them for a second. It stopped the man long enough for Giselle to pull her leg back and scoot her position so that she was the exact distance that she could take one step forward and her kicks would connect. It left the man at a slight disadvantage given his arms were not nearly as long as her legs. He would have to take a few steps to reach her with his blade, giving her precious moments to react by making him come to her. At this point he was highly frustrated that his prey was giving him such a challenge. One simple teen age girl should not be this hard to end. The anger and annoyance at the situation was showing in his expressions as well as his movements, which had become more desperate and illogical. He charged at her again and she delivered another kick, this one was delivered with the very point of her toes between the ribs that were centered above the liver. It was a position that anyone trained in savate had known by heart and had likely experienced several times. The sheer pain of being kicked in the liver dropped the most experienced fighters and left them gasping for air in a heap on the floor as the clutched their side in agony. While the man reacted much the same, Giselle did not give him a chance to recover as she delivered an onslaught of kicks with no regard for where they landed on the man who cowered in the fetal position on the pavement.

Thunrian: The male with the knife had been beaten by the young teen rather effortlessly. As he lie there in his knocked out state, she'd more than likely recognize that he had been one of the janitors at her school. Kin however had still been lying there. But the color returned to his eyes as he coughed blood coming back to life. " This is what happens... When I try to help strangers... I shoulda... Heard him coming. " he said shaking his head. His whole body shivered. The blood loss was intense as he lie there. " Here I thought you'd need the help.. Gawk... cough you were better off... On your own haha... " kin said staring at the floor. " Hey before you go... You mind calling the cops for me?" He said laughing with a broken smile " I would but... I can't really move right now... " The wound in his lower back. Had servered the spine.. His nerves that connected to his legs had been Severely severed.

Discordia: The coughing and sputtering drew her back from the flurry of blows she was dealing to the now unconscious man. She delivered one last sharp kick to his ribs and rushed over to Kin. Blood had never been one of her strong points and her face went deathly pale as she examined the extent of his injuries. He was talking which was far better than the alternative. Giselle nodded as she pulled out her phone and dialed the number for emergency services. After one ring a lady's voice buzzed in her ear. "please state the nature of your emergency." Giselle's voice had lost any sort of calmness and her words came out in a mix of French and English. "Police" "l'hopital" and "'elp" were all that could be deciphered. The lady tried to get a location while calming Giselle to no avail. So instead they had to track her by her phones signal. As she waited for help to arrive, she slumped on the ground next to Kin. The bleeding was so bad and she had no idea how long it would take for help to arrive. She pulled off her shirt and began to tear the cotton fabric into strips. Without moving him or trying not to, she began to make makeshift bandages, in attempt to stop the blood flow. "I was not better by myself." She said as she worked. "If you were not 'ere I was running, not paying attention. You bumped me and it 'elped." As she finished the last tie Giselle added "but you owe me new shirt."

Thunrian: The emergency team would have pulled in with one of there hover cars, lifting kin into the stretcher before it began to take flight again. " I'll get you that new shirt... I promise." He said smiling. Despite the pain. He had made a new friend. " His spine! It's been severed bear his lower back! " said one of the doctors once they rushed him to the ER. A few moments later. Kin would have waken in a hospital bed. Looking around he'd move his hands up and down. But he couldn't feel his legs... He attempted to sit up, and did so with the assistance of bud hands. He grunted, shaking his head. " What's going on...? "

The doctors came into the room. Keyomi had been the first to show up. She looked at Kin and the doctor with a look of anger. , though kin knew she had been concerned. That's how she showed it. " Your sister?" " Twin, sister yes." Kin said responding to the doctor. " Ah yes. I know you twos step mo-" " I can't walk anymore... Can I. " kin said interrupting the doctor. He went silent and nodded his head after a sigh. " Your lucky to still have your life. Rather than just coming out without the function of your legs young man. " Kin looked up at the doctor and His tearing up sister as she slammed her fist into the wall punching a hole into it. "Im gonna find who did this..." She said storming out of the room. " We'd like to offer you the Automail leg spinal program. We'd have to replace a lot of you. Buts you'd walk again. Better. " Kin had his head down. He clenched around his knees. The anguish was evident. His teeth clenched and his anger began to flare as he shook his head before he finally spoke out. " No.., I'll keep my legs. " He said looking down at the sheets on his bed. " I'll keep the legs i was born with! "

Discordia: After Kin had left, the cops cornered Giselle, asking a barrage of questions that jumbled together. She had to provide identification as to who she was and explain what happened. Frustration and weariness washed over her again as she tried over and over to retell what happened. The man on the ground was hand cuffed and taken to the hospital. In brief moments of consiousness, his eyes bore into her as if they memorized her every feature. It unnerved Giselle to no end and the state alone, made her want to scrub herself clean, even more so than the cocktail of Kin's blood from trying to tend the wounds and her blood from the jagged cut down her arm. The night seemed to drag on as she stood shivering in her sports bra and running pants. The cops did not exactly seem like they believed her story that they were not up to any trouble and that the man was not someone who knew them, or that they had just met. The cops lackadaisical attitude only worsened when they heard Kin's last name and one ever got loud and began to scream in her face. What in the hell was wrong with this city Giselle wondered. Eventually, Giselle was taken to the hospital where a doctor looked over the slice on her bicep. He neatly stitched together a row of seventeen sutures before announcing that she would be fine besides achieving an impressive battle scary. The sun was peaking over the horizon when she finally was released from the hospital. She desperately wanted to find out how Kin was, however the nursing staff was tight lipped and not giving away any information to anyone but family.