Fasting in the Wastelands [Ali]

[PS113C "ABEL"]

Abel stripped off the stolen Infantry uniform as he walked down the cracked and broken remains of the ancient highway. Underneath, he had his usual clothes, a white dress shirt and black slacks. He had to abandon his fancy dress shoes in favor for some black combat boots, but he liked these anyway.

He was able to get the drop on the soldier he attacked, and had made sure that he was mostly unharmed, but he still felt guilty. He didn't want to attack a fellow New Child, but he had little choice.

He would not have been able to escape through the city by force. He had to use stealth and cunning. The many defenses of Arcis city were designed to keep things out, not in. Still, it was quite an ordeal for him to get through them, but that is a story for another day. The point is, the underground city was a haven for humans, but a prison for New Children, and he desperately had to escape.

However, now that he had what? He was no safer out here than he was down there. The food he had brought with him had quickly run out. He was once told a story about a man who fasted for forty days in the desert.

It wasn't quite the same for Abel. He lacked the skills to find food out in the wilderness (if there even was any to be found out here) but even if he wasn't out here in the wastelands, he could not afford to buy food in Arcis. So rather than fasting, he was just starving. He doubted he would last anywhere near forty days.

If he were to be tempted like the man in the story was, he probably would have given in right away.

He let the pieces of armor and uniform fall away from him, one by one. Leaving them behind in a trail along the road. He was at his wits end, and not making rational decisions. The blazing sun was beating down on him in his many layers and he couldn't stand it a second longer. It also might have had something to do with that the uniform reminded him of the New Child he had attacked and stolen it from, and the dastardly deed as a whole. He let out a sigh, and brought his hands up to his face. He fell to his knees and shook his head.

Was this why he had left his comfortable home? Was there really no place out there where he wouldn't have to suffer? He had escaped one hell, only to find another. He fell forward onto his hands and then rolled over to lie on his back. He had to immediately bring up his hand to shield his eyes from that accursed sun.

Suddenly, he began to smile. Slowly he started chuckling.

"Finally free," he murmured to himself.

[ALI]

I'LL KEEP YOU MY DIRTY LITTLE SECERT

"Nyan...!" Ali yawned as she seemed to appear out of no where, though very slowly, transforming from see-through to soild as the soft sound of animal like remmants made soft noises. Though it took a while to be fully soild, she didn't mind. After just escaping the clutches of a few New Children under ground in Acrism she was glad to be back up here with the remmants. Even if they did have a thing for killing their own kind.

She streched. The new children had found her sleeping in a rotted house after a homless man turned her in. Damn humans, she thought to herself. At least they could make good food, she admitted. Without the clean-tasting water and sweet foods down there, she had little reason to retuen down there. Well, that...and the fact she lost her partner, Sky. They agreed to meet up in the city above Acris in one of the corparate towers. It didn't have a name, but it seemed that it used to be for music production and so the noise there let them travel quickly. However, it wasn't making its usual noise today so she had to walk a distance instead. Not too bad, right? Just risk being attacked, that's all.

She's had worse.

Then, walking along one of the many roads this place had, she noticed a trail of odd and out of place items. She bent down and picked it up. New children amour? Impossible. But as she looked forward, she noticed someone laying down. That and he was wearing way too much clothing! It was hot out here, but, then again, if you wanted to survive outside of acris, then keep everything. Winter was coming soon. But, anyways, she walked up to the boy, kneeled down and shook his shoulder.

"Hey...you, get up," she said, not bothering to hide her neon hair or eyes. It wouldn't make much of a difference what you looked like up here since just about everything was a remmant, but, still, how was there a New Child here in the first place? She wanted to find out so she shook him again.

[PS113C "ABEL"]

He had dozed off, the moment he had smiled he had thrown off the burdens from his weary shoulders. Sleep found him easily once he was relaxed, but if he continued to sleep like that he probably would have died of heat stroke, but it was probably still a bit too early for starvation. he could have been wrong though. Maybe, instead of not eating anything, something else was eating him.

Whatever it was, he only knew that he was being woken up while feeling like he was dying. His throat and mouth were so dry, but despite it all he just kept smiling.

He moved his hand from where it rested, over his eyes and looked up to the voice that was calling down to him.

It was a young girl... with some unnatural features... He was too unfamiliar with remnants to realize that she was one of them, despite all the evidence around him.

Maybe if he had a drink he could put it together, but it made little difference. He knew what he must do.

"Good morning," he managed to find his weary voice. Of course when someone wakes you, you must say good morning. He forced his aching muscles into action, and the to his surprise, they actually answered his call.

His toned abs, began to slowly pull up his upper body into a sitting position. He shook his head lightly smacked his lips lazily. He was trying to get rid of that awful dry morning mouth, but apparently he lacked the saliva to do so.

He turned to the young girl crouching over him and wonder who she was and what she was doing here, but decided it would be terribly rude to ask with out doing one thing first.

First, he smiled at her. It was a casual smile, perhaps a bit weak due to his condition.

"My name is Abel," After the smile, came the introduction. It was not a fancy, or memorable introduction, but considering the situation he doubted she needed any more reason to remember him.

"Can I... help you with something?" He decided this was the politest thing he could say, that would get him the answer to the real questions he was wondering.

[ALI]

I'LL KEEP YOU MY DIRTY LITTLE SECERT

Ali stared at him, puzzled. This was nonsense that came from his mouth. She scowled and shook him a bit more, thinking he might still be half asleep. Pfft, morning time? It was well past noon time AND snack time. She watched him smack him mouth. Was...he thirsty? Hm, she always thought new children were immune to that kind of thing. Hey, if they could shift from a human appearance to an animal appearance, then why not have the abbility to go without food and water?

She listened to only a few of his words, reply with a simple, "No." before running off to get him some water. Near by was a small pond, so I was a bit dirty, but not too much. She scooped up a handful of the water and kept her hands tight, detirminded to not loose any of it. She kneeled back down and held the water to his mouth.

"Here you go," she said in a sweet voice. Even if she was a Remmant, she had no desire to let anyone die. Espically if they made it all the way up here. When he was done drinking it -or if she had simple just poured it on his face since she felt hurried- she ran off to get more. The process repeated a couple times and if he died from some illness in the water, it was better than dying of deydration, right? Besides, weren't New Children more...erm...what's the word...? Chemically inhanced so they could fight off illness and keep working?

"I'm ali," she said, introducing herself with a sing song-y voice.

[PS113C "ABEL"]

He was surprised to watch her run off, but it wasn't like he was going anywhere. She returned just as abruptly as she had scurried off, and presented him with water. He was about to thank her, but she began pouring it down his throat. Most of it got onto his face, but this was welcome too. She repeated this process, and the second time he seemed to have caught on. He drank it all down thankfully, though he couldn't help but wonder where she was getting the water from. After only a few gulps he felt worlds better, but he drank down all that she brought him, trusting that she knew what she was doing.

"Ali, its a pleasure to meet you," He responded after she introduced himself.

"Thank you for the water... you probably saved my life..." He said sincerely, after he wiped some of the stray water off his face with his sleeve.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but... what's a cute girl like you doing out here?" Now that his thirst had been quenched, his mind was beginning to become clearer. Now that he looked at his savior, he realized there was something odd about her. Her hair and eyes, he had never seen anything like it. Even with dyes and such, it almost looked like she was glowing, or even shinning. It was clear to him what she was now. She must have been an angel.

[ALI]

I'LL KEEP YOU MY DIRTY LITTLE SECERT

"no problem!" She saved his life? Hm, that was the last thing anyone would thing anyone would eexpect from a remmant. Oh well, she wasn't like some remmants. If anything, she was probably more human thananything else. But still, if felt good to help him even if he might try and kill her later this feeling was definatly worth it.

"Oh...um...I'm a remmant?" Ali said, confused. He seriously hadn't figured it out yet? He seriously was tired so did the water help him out? Well, it seemed like it did since he was asking her some...fairly logical questions, but maybe he was hungry too! Oh! She could find some food. There must be some canned foods around somewhere in the city, the only thing eatable that the humans left up here...unless it was broken already, then its possiblity for contamination was high. But it wasn't like she cared about that, she just didn't like the taste.

"But do I really look like I'm going to hurt you?" she asked hurrily in case he was going to attack. Besides, she was defenceless out here. It was silent and silence was her enemy since without it she couldn't disapper or attack. She had such a useless power. So she just sat there smiling, hoping this New Child had some morals and wouldn't hurt anything that looked like a human child, minus the hair and eye color. Oh, wait! She remembered her fangs, the retractable ones. She could use her fangs if worst came to worst.

"Oh, um,....you're a new child, right?" she asked, her features peppy and full of wonder. "What animal are you?"

[PS113C "ABEL"]

Abel was surprised to hear her answer. A Remnant? He had heard that they were all terrible monsters. He had partly been brainwashed by the propaganda of parliament. He had thought he would have to fight for his very life against all the Remnants he met up here. Which was why he was staying away from the inner parts of the city, where there were a lot of windows and corners to hide and wait for prey.

The last thing he expected was in fact to owe his life to one of them.

The thoughts that were racing through his mind were interrupted by what she quickly added after admitting she was a Remnant.


"N-no you don't... It wouldn't make sense to attack me after saving me..." unless she just didn't want a dry meal. Was she giving him water or marinading him? He shook his head at the thought, and was snapped back into reality again after she began to make small talk.

"Oh, um..." He looked away for a bit, after hearing her question. His animal half, and the reasons for it, reminded him of his servitude. He was bread to be a beast of burden.

"I'm part horse," He said with a forced smile. He then looked to her, widening his grin.

"But... don't ask for a pony ride, ok?" He said jokingly. He had to push the thoughts of his servitude out of his mind, and he did so with a joke. With that he was able to truly smile. But as soon as he thought about it, it might have been a way he could repay her. If she asked, he'd probably cave in easily.

[ALI]

I'LL KEEP YOU MY DIRTY LITTLE SECERT

Ali nodded as he talked to himself about her that she wouldn't attack him if she had helped him. Seriously, what else would she do? Go out of her way to save him then -what?- nom on his leg a little. People seriously had the wrong idea of remmants; only the animal-transformed ones really went for the kill. The human ones (when she says said, she means herself and Sky since she doesn't know any others) just liked to explore their powers a bit.

She stood up as he told her he was part horse. Horse? They still had those down in Acris? "Aw, fine," she wined when he told her that she couldn't ask for rides. She was actually thinking about that and had her hopes up. Oh well, she might ask him later and still see if he said no.

She took a few steps then stopped. "Where are you going? Anywhere in particular? Why would you leave Acris? It seems nice enough...well, not for me, but for you?" she asked, the questions pouring out of her mouth before she could stop them. Would she have stopped them if she had the chance? Probably not. He was intresting and she was bored so what better to do? Beg for a ride? Not likely.

[PS113C "ABEL"]

He heard the whining in her voice, and to be honest it made him smile a bit more. There was something about teasing girls, that was just appealing sometimes. It had been awhile since he had enjoyed the company of anyone.

"Well... you did save my life... If you're a good girl, I might reconsider," He said in a bit of a teasing tone. It might have sounded a bit condescending, but he couldn't help it she looked like a little kid and he didn't know any better but to expect that she was in fact a little kid. He didn't mean to be mean, he was just enjoying himself a bit too much.

He never had the opportunity to play with other children, or even be a child himself. He was only 3 years old but was expected to be an adult, right from the start. He didn't realize this side of himself until he met her.

"You know... I have no idea where I am anymore, or where I'm going... but I do know why," he said initially, to answer her string of questions.

"I can no longer live my life as a property to be used, and in that place, that is all I can ever be," He began to speak of sad things again, but managed to force himself to keep smiling through it. It was true he had suffered, but he struggled to get away from all of that and now he was free, but deep down he knew that it was not enough.

[ALI]

I'LL KEEP YOU MY DIRTY LITTLE SECERT

yes! Victory for me, she thought to herself happily. She now has a chance to ride instead of walk, which seems like a good idea. She didn't like walking, it was too tiresom and she already was stressed enough, you know, with surviving and running from the cops or other remmants. So score one for Ali, score zero for Abel!

"That sucks," she said when he described why he was here. She wouldn't like that, but she didn't like THIS either, running away from just about everything. But it didn't matter now! She found a new friend, she just hoped Sky would like him seeing as Sky was...well, Sky. There wasn't really much to him, but he was totally different than herself despite their looks.

She resumed her walking on the old road, deciding to act more child like and spinning every time she took a step. "I'm trying to meet up with my friend Sky. We were seperated in a pursuit of New Children and a few humans, but due to our powers we can just pop up here on the surface as long as something, somewhere, makes somekind of noise," she said, resuming regular walking after almost tripping over a deep crack in the ground.

"Would you like to come with me since you don't know where you're going? I promise we don't bite," she said with a giggle.

[PS113C "ABEL"]

Abel knew things were not much better up here, and if he didn't almost dying of thirst probably taught him that. He had come here to learn more about the world that he lived in, and what he could do to change the things that he already understood.

Making contact with a remnant and not dying, and not having to kill her, was a major step forward for him.

"That's an interesting power... teleportation of sorts?" He had known that some New Children and Remnants wielded amazing powers like that. He himself was mainly just greatly enhanced physically and he doubted he would sprout any crazy new powers.

"Hmm... this friend of yours... Sky? Sky... is a Remnant too?" Abel asked as he forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain. He wandered towards the uniform he had dropped in a line, and began to pick them up one by one as she spun. He would probably need it to sneak back into the city.

Even though he had asked, he knew that the chances were that Sky was a Remnant. From what she said, he also had the same power. They probably were infected with a similar strain or something like that. He wasn't too sure on what exactly it was or if there were strains, but it seemed like a logical conclusion.

"Alright, I'll go with you," He said to her with a big smile, after picking up the last piece of the uniform.

"But I can't give you a ride there... even though you've been good." He said with a bit of a chuckle.

"You see, I've already been wandering these wastelands for a few weeks. My supplies ran out a few days ago, and if it weren't for my genetically enhanced stamina, I probably wouldn't have lasted this long," He tried to explain his situation, not knowing if she would understand... or care.

[ALI]

I'LL KEEP YOU MY DIRTY LITTLE SECERT

"yeah," Ali said simple to answer his "Teleporting" question. "Though it isn't all magical as everyone thinks," she said, remembering some humans words when they watched her disapper. "I'm basically traveling through the sound waves, so I couldn't really escape if I was trapped in a lead room. A small gap is all I need, well...and sound. I need a cetian amount of sound in one place to disapper and a certain amount of sound to reapper," she explained, a little more than she liked.

"And yeah, Skys a Remmant too," she said with a shrug. "Wev stuck together since we woke up. It was a few weeks ago, but we woke up in a crumbled area and neither of us knew how we got there or anything." She took out her locket. "We both had these lockets, but, still, we both don't know how we got them, but since we didn't know our names, we took the ones on these lockets." She put the locket back under her shirt and took a few more steps.

She then decided to shut up and listen to Abel instead of talking too much, though she's already said everything she knows. Well, besides that meeting with Shakaya. Strange stuff and she still can't understand it all. She shoved those thoughts away and concentrated on Abel, nodding when it was needed. Something came across as weird, him having been here for weeks. He managed to survive that long? Impressive. Has he met any other remmants and were they the animal kind, the ones that atttacked just about anything? Most likely not seeing as he was still alive with all his limbs.

"That's pretty cool~" she said happily with another twirl. She sighed. "If only there was sound I could get us to my destination faster...." she looked at Abel. "You been to the City yet?"

[PS113C "ABEL"]

"I've... been thinking about that for awhile. On here in the open, on this highway and in the wilderness... its easier to hear or see... well... Remnants..." He explained as he walked with, carrying his extra clothes.

"Not all of them are as well behaved as you are, and in the city it'd be easier for them to pop out and surprise me," He said with a chuckle.

"I've mainly just run away from them. I know that horses are considered as 'prey animals'... meaning that they were usually eaten by other animals. So... a lot my senses that I inherited from them are perfect for detecting and escaping predators," He explained a bit as well. It seemed they had to do something while they walked and talking about their abilities seemed to be the in thing for now.

But after he had said what he did, he didn't really have much else to add. There was a slight pause of silence from him, but then he decided to talk about why he was mainly out here.

"Say... I haven't, gotten out much. For my servitude, I was taught things. Their names, basic info... but I have never seen some of these things, never experienced them," He began speaking again.

"I don't suppose you've seen... the ocean?" He paused for a moment, trying to be sure he had used the right word.

"I heard its like a giant bath tub," A bath tub being the largest body of water he had become familiar with.

"Is there anything like that around?" He asked wondering if he would ever seen it.

[ALI]

I'LL KEEP YOU MY DIRTY LITTLE SECERT

Ali nodded, that made sense. Animals of prey evolved to survive, she guessed seeing as she didn't really know much about animals and a tiny bit on evolution instead. And, still, she wasn't suprised that some of the Remnant were like her since she's been attacked several times herself, but they never learn. This all the racket they produce trying to intimidate her, she easily slips away or uses that noise against themm.

When he mention the ocean, Ali began to search her memory for the ocean. Ocean...um, that was the really, really big thing of water with the sand, right? If that's what it was, then she had in fact seen it. It was so big! And pretty too, unlike the dark of Acris and the ruins of the world above. You'd think it would be affected by the pollution and wild Remnants, but it was the exact oposite! Actually, barely any Remnants were there, so you could live there if you wanted to!

"Yeah! Definatly like a big bath tub, but...without the tub," she said. "But first we have to find Sky," she sang, "because near by where we meet up is an old record player. I could play some music and get us to the beach!" she exclaimed happily. The beach was so much fun! Plus the water was nice and cool, but not very tasty- it tasted like salt and sometimes you got sand with it. She shook her head at the memory; not very plleasent.

She sighed. "Hey, if you're hungry, I know where we could find some food. Its not far from here," she told him. Green beans, canned corn and fruits were in the metal cans, hidden in a building where she and Sky had stored them. They were super tasty but they rarely ate them. Only for emergencies, they had agreed. And...this guy was an emergency, right?

[PS113C "ABEL"]

Abel nodded at her response about the ocean. He was happy to hear about it and wanted to talk more, but he listened to her as she continued to talk.

"Oh... you can carry other people with your power too?" He said pointing to himself.

But then she mentioned food, and suddenly little else mattered.

"Oh food? Yeah... I'm really hungry..." He had been that way for a few days, barely eating anything at all.

"If you could spare some, I'd be greatful enough to give you a ride to your friend Sky or even the sky itself," He said with a big smile. It always helped to smile when you begged. There was so much he wanted to talk to her about, and also this Sky person, but just meeting her was a big step forward.

Getting food and water, wasn't bad either. If he could understand the life of a remnant he could really say he had taken a huge step towards understanding this world. And understanding this world was the first step towards changing it.