Forum Thread

Marusaki sighed. “Now we have to move. The gaurds definitely heard that scream.” She said picking up her supplies. “Let’s brainstorm while we walk.” Marusaki suggested.

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5 laughed. "Geez, you have the worst self defense techniques I've seen." She nodded. "I can indeed shapehift. I became a large dog to hold the guards off, and," She became a bird for a few seconds and then transformed back, "a bird to lose them." She glanced back. "The kid's got a point. While that was the worst slap I've seen, you scream like a girl. They're going to go after us. Our best options are to either try and go deeper into the woods, or go to the Outsider civilization."

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Kaida had jumped down from a tree she was in. No clue how she even got in the tree, she probably just climbed up there to hide from those who were looking for her and the others.

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Once again, Twelve jumped at the sound of yet another voice behind him. His reaction was less flamboyant this time, though; he turned, whilst jumping back and letting out a slight squeak. His eyes searched the face he saw - another practical prank. Of course. Jake would how be a target for those, especially from these two. He couldn't help but laugh at his own fear, though, which simply made him look more idiotic than he already appeared. He then turned to the next girl.
"My bad. Sorry about that." He grinned, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "And, erm, 'brainstorming' isn't exactly.. Within my strengths," he admitted, hanging his head a little.
He then again turned to the final girl, a frown crossing his face. Why weren't there more boys here?
He took no offense from the comment about his self-defense, because he knew it was true. The line about screaming like a girl hit him hard, though.
"I do not scream like a girl," he objected. "I just have a large range of vocal cords." The latter was rather more of a joke than his opinion, so he followed with a slight smile, in case these people hadn't learnt to read his expressions yet.

“How about we try going to the outside community?” Marusaki asked, still stroking Mausu. “We’ll need to buy food soon anyways.” She added.

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5 rolled her eyes. "Riiight. And honestly, the way I see it, we don't have to do much brainstorming. We just have to get as far away from the Community as possible." She glanced behind her. "Honestly, I don't know how I managed to lose those two guards." She turned back. "You do have a point. But the main priority is getting out of here." She looked up. "I'm going to take a look." Transforming once into a bird, she flew up into the sky. Now 5's power only enabled her to transform into small animals, so she didn't exactly have eagle eye vision. But something out of the corner of her tiny bird eye caught 5's attention. There was two dark grey blurs that definitely looked like Soldiers. They weren't moving very fast, but if they didn't move quickly, they would be discovered. But there was a problem. 5 couldn't just dive down, the flash of purple movement would give her away. The silent debate would have overwhelmed any tiny bird brain, but human intelligence just barely managed to function in the capacity of a sparrow's brain. So it was a minute before 5 came up with the best plan she could think of on the fly.


Slowly drifting down, 5 tried to quickly disappear among the tree branches. Unbeknownst to her, the Soldiers had glanced up in time to see the purple flash of movement. The taller of the two glanced at his partner and nodded. They started moving forward quickly. 5 landed on a tree branch and waited until she saw the group before transforming and hopping down. "We have a problem. There are two more guards after us. We need to move, and FAST."

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Marusaki saw some dog spirits floating close by, and she shoved them back into their bodies. She had them attack the gaurds trying to buy more time for everyone to get moving.

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Natasha slipped into the shadows, using them to move quickly into the Guards shadows, and blinding them temporarily to allow the others more time to escape

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Back in The Community, the soldiers appeared to be either rounding everyone up or shooing everyone away; 19 couldn't quite tell which, as they had not yet reached the table where he sat alone. This last bit was due to his own actions. He'd never grown close to any of the other citizens, as his typically aloof, dismissive nature drove them away. He never felt lonely or saddened by this; it was his choice, after all. It was better that way.

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Marusaki ran while she continued to control the dogs. “Let’s go!” She whispered to everyone, as she hurried to the stream.

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7 woke up with a startle. Although her nap had been cut short to maybe 15 minutes, she at least felt better. She could also feel the urgency in the air and wasted no time running after everyone else. 7 awkwardly found her footing on the decaying floorboards and kicked herself out of the shack, nearly falling over in the process. She quickly caught up to them. "Do you know where we're going?" 7 asked no one in particular.

“To the outside community. We are holding off the gaurds right now.” Marusaki said, continuing to run while controlling the dogs.

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The guards stopped when they heard the barking. Ignoring the sound and rushing forward, they hurried to block the attacks of the dogs. Natasha's attack caused the first one to stumble back, allowing for the dogs to attack him, but his partner was not a team member of friendship. While the dogs were distracted, he powered up his weapon. All Soldiers carried a standard-issue Stun Gun. The Stun Gun crackled with energy, as its purpose was to send off a current of power that would paralyze anyone who made contact with it. Running forward, the Soldier was now more determined than ever to find them. And determination can be dangerous if the one who has it is working towards a goal.


5 pumped her arms and legs, starting to pull ahead of the group. 5 wasn't exactly the type to just lay down and behave when she was punished for her many, many attempted escapes, so she had taken up running. Oftentimes, that would be all that she did. But it wasn't just the stanima from years of running to let out all the anger that built up each time she could not leave the confines of the Community that kept her going, with the Soldier on their tail, it was also the adrenialine that came from fear. "If that's where we can hide from them, that's where we'll have to go. But we'd better hurry, or it's back behind bars. And this time, I don't think The Masked Man will be as lenient with me as before, or the rest of you."

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"Right then." 7 replied. Although she didn't show it, the idea of going to the outsider's community worried her deeply. So many problems could arise from going. One issue was that there would be eye witnesses who could tell the guards where they went. None of them barely knew anything about the outsiders either. What if the outsiders turned them in to the masked man?
No. It's best not to think about it. It's not like there was anywhere else to go.. except deeper into the woods. But there was nothing there for them except forest, and more likely than not, no clean water or proper shelter either. Besides, safety in numbers right? They could blend in and hide with the local population. This got 7 thinking of all the stories the wind had brought for her. She had always longed to see the outside world for herself, and now she was here! It was... exhilarating. Still though, she couldn't shake the feeling of dread for what the consequences could be if they were to be caught. She ran faster.

Marusaki saw that Mausu was telling her something. “What!? Ok got it.” She said spotting some more dog spirits, shoving them back into their bodies, and having them attack the next gaurd. “Hurry! We’re almost there!” She said, the dogs running off toward the gaurd.

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11 followed hurriedly on their tail, now was a matter of life and death, like 5 said. It was every man for themselves

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The soldier was not going to let the same trick stop him twice. Dodging the dog's attacks, he continued forward. It was around the middle of the day, and the sun was high in the sky. Though the treetops shielded him from most of the harsh rays, the heavy armor that all Soldiers wore to protect themselves from abilities and the exertion of chasing after the group was wearing down on the man. But his mind flashed back to the day he was drafted. The head of the Soldiers stood before the line of new recruits. "The Masked Man has picked you to watch over The Community, and it is your duty to perform as if you've been asked to guard the President. You must not let them escape before it is time. The Masked Man knows the proper time. The Masked Man knows all." He gritted his teeth. The soldier would not let those kids get away. He had to find them. It was his duty.


Stumbling over a root, 5 moved the tree branches that were slapping her in the face as she ran. The trees themselves were getting fewer and fewer, and the world was starting to become more and more strange. It appeared as if the city was getting closer. But that meant that there were more people. This posed a problem. They couldn't just run into the city, with their bedraggled apearence, they would cause a scene. But they couldn't even slow down, or The Soldier would catch up to them. "Quick, how do we blend in with The Outsiders?" 5 said harshly. "We don't have much time."

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Twelve was now sprinting along with the group, keeping up with ease. What he significantly lacked on the brains side, he made up with physical attributes, such as speed. He leapt over a rotting log, his legs clearing it effortlessly, then continued to weave through the trees. He cast a glance to the rest of the group, to ensure that none had fallen behind. Unlike the others, Jonathan's thoughts were not preoccupied with where they were to head next - his plan was to simply keep running until they had lost the guard. It would collapse eventually.
His head snapped around to Five as she said her line. The most bizarre ideas immediately formed in Jake's head, most of which he tossed aside. Blending in would be difficult.. an easier option would be to not need to blend in. He cast his chocolate eyes backwards for just a moment - the guard was within view, and appeared to be falling behind, until it put on a sudden burst of speed. Biting his lip, Jonathan again looked in front of him, hopping over a root. If he couldn't aid the thinking process of the group, he'd need to participate in the acting instead.
Doing it slowly, to draw as little attention as possible to himself, Jonathan separated from the pack and purposely fell behind - behind the guard. Being this close, now, Twelve had to put on a certain level of stealth - something he rarely practiced. Managing to keep his footsteps almost mute, he moved towards the guard, approaching from behind. He also attempted to match his pace to said guard, which, after several lousy attempts, he managed to do, plus the dogs' paw-steps behind him drowned out the plodding a little. As long as the guard was focused on the group ahead of him, this plan should work. Besides, he didn't need to take the guard on in combat; it would surely win, due to its advantages. He simply needed to slow it down.

7 hissed back at 5 "you have had over 400 escape attempts and you're asking me now how to blend in??.. Just try to act like you're not being chased?? I don't know, I'd imagine the outsiders wouldn't be too different from us."
7 frantically scanned her memories for anything that could help them. That was when she recalled a story from the clouds. "In the outsider communities there are often these big buildings called.. walmart I think? Loads of people go in there all the time, it's super strange! But uh.. if we find one we can hide in there, I think it's pretty normal for someone to rush into a walmart?"

5 was not exactly in a mood to be patient or kind. She snapped back, "attempts. Attempts for goodness sake. You're forgetting I actually got us out of here, I don't have to carry all the weight. Alright, we'll find one of these, Walmarts." She started walking forward and paused. "You'd better lead the way, I have no idea what I'm looking for."

While the guard did indeed have no idea that Jonathon was there, he was still tense and ready, the Stun Gun that was normally at his belt in hand, powered on. "The minute I see one of those Community brats," he growled, "I'm going to teach em what happens to those who disobey the Masked Man. Especially that 5 kid. She has no idea what's going to happen to her when the Masked Man gets a hold of her. Or, what he should do. He's been too lenient with her." The Soldier stopped, realizing like a normal human being that he was talking to himself. That was weird. No more talking to himself.

While the group ran quickly away from the Community, everything else inside it seemed to be normal. However, there was a loud screech coming from the two coms that the Masked Man used to speak with the Community. The Masked Man spoke. "Would number 19 and number 9 please report to the Soldier's barracks on the right-hand side of the main building?"

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