Forum Thread

Phoenix looked sadly at her. "Hey... its ok..." He siad, wincing himself. Once she was done, he led her back to the bed. "Can you tell me what happened?" He asked. He then looked at the robotic rat. "Great... again..." He said, moving and setting up electric mesh over the holes. He then looked back at the girl. "You are safe now. No one will hurt you."

Phoenix spun and looked at the odd girl. He grabbed the metal rat and stalked to the window, opening it and tossing her the rat. "Heep out of my room, else i WILL kill it next time." He said.

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(Aurora's POV)
Aurora took in the girl with her mechanical rat. She looked tough and very brave. Pushing past Phoenix, she offered her hand to the girl. "Why don't you come in and we'll all introduce ourselves?" she asked, "I'm Aurora. Aurora Nightshade."

(Clockwork girls POV)
The girl looked at the girl holding the mechanical rat. She was in awe! Someone not hurting mechanical creatures?
"I'm Victoria," she murmured, her voice soft and high, like a flute. "I...I can't remember everything but...but he...he went mad. He's insane! He did this to me," she told them, holding up her golden arm and touching the glass above her heart with her flesh and blood right hand. "I was human...a...just a few months ago," she paused, thinking very hard, "....I was a ballerina..." Breaking down, she covered her face with her hands, crying.

Jason peeked throught the opened door. He coudn't see much. A balck haired girl and...Was that a robot? He heared a squeeky voice talking. He was curious so he tried to get closer but tripped over and fell on the ground with a trmendous sound. "Owwwww!!!" Now all of them were looking at him. "Awkward" he said.

Selinia walk up to the crying girl. As tough as she tried to be, she wasn't made of stone. Crying was one thing she hated most of all. Placing her hand gently on the girls, she rubbed her thumb across her soft skin. She spoke soothingly, "Hey now, there's no need for all that. You're safe here." She was then interrupted by a loud crash from behind. A man lay in the doorway, having obviously been spying on them. Selinia stomped over to him, one of wrist blades shooting out. She pointed it at the man. "Talk fast or I stab you."

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"Woooooow there" he said backing off a little "No need for that" Jason transformed his pen into his giant scythe. "I heard noise so i came to check what's up" He then stands up and checks out the room from the doorway. He checks out the people in it. All staring at him with weapons ready. "Wow are you on a war or something?" He throws a small paper with his number rto the girl. "If you need help call me. I can do this or that" He swang the scythe playfuly then trransofrmed it into pen again and walk the hallway to his room.

"There... there are too many people here..." Vivian thought to herself, as she wasn't used to all of this. "But I mustn't leave! I-I have to stay!" Vivian had a flustered look on her face, as she feuded with herself. "I should be getting back to the orphanage soon..." She then shook her head rapidly and closed her eyes. "NO. I am staying! Why am I even having this doubt! I want to be useful this time... I need to be..." She looked back up, and as soon as she did, well... another strange man came crashing into the room! "What the..." She backed away slowly towards the wall; firmly gripping her guitar.

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Autumn snatched Hazel, who then scurried up her arm and disappeared into her hair. She stared darkly at Phoenix. "Do not threaten me," she growled. She looked at Aurora and her eyes brightened, all traces of darkness vanishing. She folded her wings back up and took her hand, bouncing. "I'm Autumn Finncantation!" she chirped. Hazel peeked out from under her hair, and she added, "This is Hazel." She took Aurora's hand and followed her. "Coal's outside..." she said, glancing nervously at the window. She smiled sheepishly. "He probably shouldn't be out there a one too long... He's uh... Well, you'll see." She noticed a girl holding a guitar, and she waved eagerly.

---

Jason quickly got into his room and locked it. He was trired. Tired but curious. Those people were verry intresting. He didn't knew what they were doing but it seemed important. Maybe they were part of the guards? He closed his eyes when he heared footsteps towards his door and someone knocking on it.

(Victoria's POV)
She had been surprised by their gentle words. She had liked the girl with the blindfold. And the tall blonde haired man was a very kind as well. Lifting her head up, Victoria looked at the group. The black haired girl, Aurora, looked familiar but she couldn't place her. Catching Autumn's gaze, she didn't feel like squirming like she normally did when people stared at her. She felt strangely natural. Like the performer she'd been. When she'd heard the man crashed through the door, she jumped, curling back up. Victoria noticed that the girl with the guitar had jumped too. A guitar! Oh! She wondered if the girl played. Music always calmed her...at least she thought so.

(Aurora's POV)
Aurora smiled, "Welcome, Autumn, welcome Hazel." Then she turned to the girl, Victoria and sat down next to her. Pulling off her cloak, Aurora placed it on the girls shoulders. "It's okay. We'll protect you now. Or, at least, I know I will. I think everyone else would like to help as well?" she left the question up for the others.

(Victoria's POV again)
"You will? I...I'm safe? Oh! Thank you!" she threw her arms around Aurora's neck and hugged her. Aurora hugged her back and Victoria was grateful to have people who were so nice helping her. Her wings fluttered slightly beneath the cloak.

He went to get the extra blankets and pillows so Victoria could have the bed. He went to the guitarist and handed her half of the gold he got. "Here." He said, giving it to her. "As promised." He said with a small smile. He looked at everyone. "Oh, And i am Phoenix."

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"Yeah," Selinia muttered as the eavesdropper ran off. "Because normal people find it strange to hear people inside of a hotel room." Retracting her blade, she turned back to the group. The girl with the guitar seemed highly uncomfortable. Her heart was beating quickly, and she kept shuffling. The others had let the girl with the rat in, despite the fact that she had tried to steal the room key. "I wonder what she wants?" Selinia moved to the corner of the room, not quite sure what else to do. She hadn't exactly been invited, she'd just tagged along. Heck, she'd been planning to kill the guy. And now everyone seemed to be introducing themselves. Eventually they'd notice her again, but she wanted to put that off as long as possible.

---

(Aurora's POV)
She looked up and smiled at Phoenix. She was glad he'd done that. Aurora made a mental note to reimburse him for the coins he'd given the girl. Looking to Selinia, she asked, "Mind if I ask you're name? Besides the blind bandit? You'll have to forgive me, your reputation proceeds you. But you have nothing to fear. I don't think anyone here means you any harm. And I would like it if no harm came to us as well."

(Victoria's POV)
Victoria smiled shyly at the group, especially Phoenix. He was nice and she liked him. She also liked the girl with the blind fold too. She was certainly brave! Maybe Victoria would be safe!

Selinia cocked her head, listening closely to the girl. Nothing in her voice told of any ill intent. That could be from practice, but her heartbeat was slow and calm. You couldn't just control that. She would trust this girl. Hopefully she wouldn't regret it. "My name is Selinia. You need not worry about me hurting any of you, at least for the time being. Any other information about me is irrelevant."

---

The knocking on the door became rude and agressive. Jason kept quiet when suddenly trhe door break down. But there was nothing there. He quickly transformed his pen int a scythe and peeked through the door when suddenly he was hit really hard and he blanked out. His Scythe fell on the floor with a very loud noise.

bump

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(alright, seeing as it's died down....)

(Unknown POV)

He had watched them as they brought his girl into the room. He had waited as they slowly began to let their guards down. Now, he took action. The man in the mask smiled, pulling the lever. Gears whirled and twisted, cogs spun and slowly the sleeping gas was filtered in through the vents. With the door and window closed, they slowly fell asleep. Once the group in the room fell asleep, he had his men pick them up and carry them away. Each of them was placed on a small hospital bed in a large room of his manor. Leather straps on their arms, legs, waist and over their foreheads would keep them from escaping. They would wake in a few hours. He would return then to begin his work. As for his little ballerina...well, she was certainly in trouble. The dim lights of the room flickered slightly and he looked up at them with a scowl. Returning his attention to his new specimens, the man thought. You'll be a tin soldier, he thought, looking at the boy he'd taken. You'll be a princess, my blinded girl. Another ballerina with the girl in blue. The tinker will be a lady in waiting. And you, little guitar girl, will be my little musician, the man smiled, thinking about it. Turning on his heels, he set off, leaving them in the dimly lit room.

Selinia jerked awake, gasping for air. She couldn't breathe! Gas! After a few seconds, she realized that the gas was gone. Whatever it was must have knocked her out. She tried to get her bearings, but wherever she was, nothing was moving. Without any vibrations, she was useless. Her body was strapped to a table of some sort. Tugging at the restraints proved useless. She could hear faint breathing coming from either side of her, probably the others. As she lay in the silence, she couldn't help but wish she had never taken that job. None of this would ever have happened, if not for that bouncer!

---

Outside the hotel, a giant lie sleeping. His eyes flicked open, whirring as they focused. He could feel something was wrong. Hazel was at his feet, dancing about in panic, hopping from one spot to another, hardly landing before she bounced away again. Something was definitely not right. She squeaked at him. He nodded, swiftly rising and taking off. She leapt onto his shoulder. A large steamwork dragon and a small steamwork rat, set off together to find their girl.

Though the humans could not understand them, they understood each other.

"They just fell over! Some of them more slowly, but they did! I don't know what happened!" Hazel gasped.

"And a man took all of them away?" the dragon rumbled.

"Yes! Autumn is gone, she's gone! I want Autumn back!" the rat wailed.

"Well, you did the right thing," the dragon replied calmly. He was impressed by the rat- she wasn't normally the smartest creature. She was clever, yes, but not smart. She'd followed the humans as they were carried away, programming the directions into her central mind. After they stopped, she ran back as fast as her little metal feet could carry her to get him.

"Coal?" the rat asked, her voice no louder than a gentle breeze.

"Yes?"

"Do you think they'll be," she paused for a long moment, afraid to ask for fear of the answer. "Do you think they'll be okay?" she finally asked.

"I don't know, but for Autumn's captor's sake," he said, and his eyes flashed red, his voice becoming a growl, "they had better be."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn slowly opened her eyes. She felt sick. She shot up from her table, but found she was bound. She leaned her head back down, trying to get the world to stop spinning.

"Ah," she moaned, "where am I?" Looking around the room, she noticed the others, similarly tied down. Her mind began racing. "Hazel? Hazel?! Where are we? Aurora! Aurora, wake up! Everyone, wake up!" she yelled as she tugged on her straps. Frustrated, she bent over and began gnawing on her binds.

---

As the gas swept in, Vivian began to feel more and more dizzy. She fell over, and the next thing she knew; she was in a strange place. She struggled a bit; until realizing it was no use. She glanced over as she was still strapped down and noticed that her guitar was still there. "Oh... that's good I guess, but my tips are gone." She scoffed. "Figures..." She looked over to find the others to the right of her, since she was on the end; her guitar lying against the bed. She tried to speak, but nothing came out due to fear. She sighed and stayed quiet.

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Phoenix woke with a groan and a headache. He glanced around as he tried to find everyone. He remained calm as he found he couldnt move. He looked at his restraints and got to work trying to free himself.

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