Everyday, every second of my life Is a fight to survive

[connatural]

WHO: Ashley Magnus
WHERE: Fountain, Various location
WHEN: Oct 3rd, and then the weeks after
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: PG13? Will edit if needed

---

October 3rd, Fountain Arrival

There’s little that brings out the worst in Ashley than being trapped. Finding herself surrounded, having led Henry in there with her, ready to do whatever she had to for their freedom. And then there is pain. Sharp pain shooting through her body, firing through her nerve endings until every inch of her feels burned, on fire, electrified. And as she realizes what is happening, everything goes blank.

Gasping for air as consciousness comes back to her but finding nothing but water. Rushing into her mouth as she is propelled upwards, choking on it as instincts kick in. Kicking as hard as she can for the surface, with all the strength she has. Breaking the surface with a wet, choking sound as she paddles, trying to clear her mouth and lungs. Casting about, seeing nothing but the edge of the fountain and certainly no one else.

“Henry!”

Ignoring how much her lungs hurt, diving back under the water, desperate to find him, painfully aware with each dive that there isn’t anyone else to find.

Later in the week, around the village

Wherever she was, Henry has not followed. There seems to be no way to contact her mother or the Sanctuary, and Ashley has no idea what the Hell kind of game the Cabal is playing but none of it is comforting. The only thing she is certain of - and it leaves her with a bad taste in her mouth to think about - is that they held her longer than the moments when she blacked out after they hit her, and it came with someone undressing her in a medical setting. That just is never a good thing.

Sure there’s the obvious buildings, the abandoned homes that make her think of a nuclear test facility and only confirms for her this is some kind of Cabal facility, and the people, but there aren’t enough answers. Not that she expects to find them easily.

So she might be found rummaging in the storerooms as she scans through anything she can find, often sitting on the floor to make notes in a book she found and is using the print as lines for notes. Other times she might be seen oddly checking all surfaces of the appliances, the items in the forge and mill, anywhere that might have production numbers, delivery information, or manufacturer information.

In the evenings she tends to stay around the dining room, listening in on others and trying to figure out if they’re foot soldiers playing a part or others that the Cabal has kidnapped as well. Listening for any information about abnormals here, more experimentation, or even if any have managed to escape. None to subtle about it either, occasionally making notes in the book as she goes.

Comments

Inn

[majorlyugh]

Since Major's returned to the village about two months prior, he's noticed that there are a lot of new faces he doesn't recognize. He tries his hardest to remember names, too, but he's always been better at knowing he's seen someone before instead of what their name might be. And, thanks to the gap that he had being sent back home for a couple of months, he isn't always sure whether someone arrived during his absence or if they've arrived more recently. The only give away is whether or not they've got on soaked scrubs, but that's not as reliable a method as one might think.

He's gotten back into a routine here in the village: going out to check traps; getting better at dressing the things he manages to capture; packing away the creatures' brains for he, Ravi, and Liv; and then finally bringing the rest of the meat to the Inn to be used in stews and soups. He also tries his hand at fishing some of the time with moderate success. He doesn't take their brains, though; too small and inconsequential.

Sometimes, he'll linger at the Inn, especially if he sees someone he already knows. Sometimes he'll plop himself down in front of the fire and bask in its warmth, other times he'll keep himself busy by helping out here and there. It's during his prolonged stay in the dining room that he notices a woman he doesn't recognize, furtively stealing glances and scribbling in her notebook. She's got the wild-eyed suspicion of a new arrival, and her behavior reminds him of a more subdued Rose when she'd first gotten there.

Grabbing a bowl of the prepared stew, he brings it over to her and places it down on the table nearer to her than to him. A peace offering, of sorts. You'd figure he'd have learned his lesson about giving unfamiliar, panicked women piping hot stew after how he'd almost been wearing it last time, but he can't help it. He remembers how it felt to come through the water for the first time. It was only that his BFF Ravi had already been here that he'd managed to assimilate at all.

Almost like an afterthought, he also places a spoon down beside the stew, gently scootching it closer to the woman, then pausing and scootching it over again with his finger.

[connatural]

Some people arrive in this place with good friends. Other arrive to find out their estranged, not entirely stable, father is there. For Ashley that is something that she has to deal with, while wondering where her mother is, and how long before the Cabal reveals what it is they want from her.

Which is why all of the listening and watching. She needs to know if they're prisoners, if they're plants to try and watch over them, and if it's a mixture, then who is who?

So when a bowl is set down near to her, she raises her gaze, watching him curiously. He doesn't look familiar, though that doesn't say much. The soldiers had been disguised, and it isn't as if they know the faces of the Cabal. Of course, she might be familiar to him if he's an abnormal that knew of her mother and the Sanctuary. Which would definitely explain the gesture.

Slowly she moves to close her her book, laying her pen on top of it.

"You know, I mean, if you have poisoned this, that really isn't something that's going to end well for you," she says, even as she reaches for the bowl, pulling it closer. "You're lucky that I'm hungry," she notes, having been cautious about helping herself to meals. She doesn't want them thinking she feels indebted to them.

Picking up the spoon, she stirs it slowly, watching him curiously. "You got a name?"