03-06-2010, 01:10 AM
The first thought was that the beds in the hostel were so uncomfortable. Second and third kind of smushed together, but there was something about her not technically living there or anywhere else. Then there was the sharp pain in her forehead as she tried to turn over.
A pair of bleary eyes snapped open, and Sage recoiled from the ground she was lying on, to see... asphalt beneath her. Shifting her weight, the azure haired addict sat up and rubbed the grit from her face. Had she really just passed out face-first onto tarmac?
She found herself having difficulty moving. Everything felt detached and heavy. The girl recalled being injected by an absolutely ridiculous robot, but she was still having trouble accepting that as reality. If it had happened, whatever was in that needle might explain her numbness, but it was just so... unlikely.
The war in her head was still raging, and a searing migraine relentlessly burned through her brain. Ironically, she had slept through the rest of her hangover, but it was replaced before she woke with the early symptoms of Valium withdrawal. At the moment, though, Sage, shaking and nauseous and holding her head in her hands, didn’t care.
Finally, the incessant theme park noise broke her concentra- theme park noise?
The girl looked up, wincing at the bright lights all around her. Everything was so goddamn lit up, and so goddamn loud! And up in front of her, in what to her seemed like thousand foot tall letters, a huge, glowing red sign spelled out ‘Kill Town’ in all capital letters.
Kill Town.
Sage flipped over onto her hands and knees, and she threw up. She had to admit, it made her feel a lot better, but at the same time, she was still in a place called Kill Town. With a groan of great exertion, she picked herself up off the blacktop and staggered backward for a moment before steadying herself. At least she didn’t fall into her own puke.
The girl emitted a strange combination of growl, moan, and whine, haphazardly running a hand through her sweat-thick hair as she trudged toward the exit. A pair of big, barred gates that blurred in and out of focus ahead of her. She’d just cut through them and leave. Sage was just in no condition for anymore adventures.
Getting from... wherever she was, to the gates, however, turned out to be quite the adventure itself. The girl’s staggering, meandering path moved forward in an agonizing slow motion as she wavered this way and that, all the while, her swimming head pulsed with pure agony. Finally, she overcorrected and tripped, falling face-first on the pavement, where she remained for a moment, too tired and too scared to get up, for fear that she’d just attack the ground with her face a second time.
I am not staying in a place called ‘Kill Town’ if I can’t even fucking walk, Sage urged to herself, and finally she pushed herself back up to her feet, and continued her arduous trek to the gates.
The watery haired girl finally arrived, and reached out to try the bars that blocked her path, only to find that the gate was locked, as she suspected. With a shrug, she encased one of her hands with her chillrend technique, and took a wide swipe at the bars.
The girl gasped in shock and pain as her incredibly strong, sharp claws shattered like glass against the bars, with a reverberating clang! The noise and sudden, shooting pain in her arm was enough to topple the girl over backwards, and she clasped her hands over her ears and clenched her eyes shut to make the ringing go away.
Finally, she climbed to her feet - again - and staggered back toward the carnival. It looked like she wasn’t going anywhere. Cradling the arm that had struck the bars, the incredibly uncomfortable addict shuffled onward, despite her entire body and mind telling her to just find a quiet corner to hide in.
Lights and bells and whistles assaulted her on all sides, and shouts and hoots and hollers persisted, all causing a cascade of wincing and shivers to beset poor Sage, who found herself wandering into the section reserved for carnival games. As if she was trying to get closer to the noise and flashing lights that kept threatening to set her brain on fire.
“Come on! Toss three rings onto the post and win the grand prize!” one shouted.
“All you gotta do is fill the balloon till it bursts! First one wins!” bellowed another.
“Hey you!”
“Step right up!”
“Come on down, miss!”
“Hey, you with the blue hair!”
“What?!” Sage whirled on one of the carnival workers. A burly man who was waving frantically for her attention. He grinned, gesturing to his game. Skee-ball. She narrowed her eyes and made to keep going, when the man shouted again, and again Sage cringed at the noise.
“Come on, play a while. First round’s on me.”
“I don’t want to play your game.”
“Oh, come on. It’s a free ball, just try your luck.”
“I told you I don’t want to play! Are you-” the girl cut herself off. She wanted to insult him, but no matter how shitty she felt, she was still Sage.
“I am sorry, please repeat the question.”
“What?”
“I am sorry, please repeat the question.”
“What question?” Sage growled. “What’s wrong with you?!”
“Self-diagnosis reveals no critical issues. I am currently operating on 92.3 per cent efficiency and will not require scheduled maintenance for approximately three weeks.”
“...What?!” the girl looked at the man like he was a crazy person. “Are... you a machine?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he - it - replied. “So, how’s about it? Throw the ball, win a prize!”
“I told you, no, please just leave-”
“Oh, come on. Just try it one time. Nobody’s keeping you!”
Sage closed her eyes and trembled with something wholly unlike fear. “You... you are a robot, right?”
“Yes, ma’a-”
The girl threw out a palm toward the machine, and the ground in front of her erupted as spears of ice burst from the ground as a miniature glacier, lancing forward one after the other and jutting out into the sky. The spears kept erupting closer and closer, until they tore through the skee-ball tent - and the carnival worker - with a thunderous crash. Wood and fabric and steel was rent and broken, and the burly man-robot disappeared amidst the shimmering spikes. All that remained was a about twenty feet of spiny glacier, like a giant hedgehog made of ice half-buried in the ground.
The other games fell silent, too, and the girl continued ahead, enjoying the reprieve she had given herself. So much, in fact, that she walked right past someone who had been standing there, staring at her, frozen in step, with a softball in hand, cocked over his head, as if he had been making to throw it.
Instead, he dropped the ball, and broke into a run after her.
“Sage!!” he shouted. The girl rigidly ignored him, and kept walking, but the man was persistent. He came after her and clapped his hand on her shoulder.
“What?!” she roared, whirling around, a freshly-formed claw raised to plunge through the face of- “A-Ander??”
The two of them merely stared at each other for a moment, as the dark haired one tried to put more than the couple of inches between his eyes and the spikes aimed for them. The claw retreated, evaporating into nothing, and Sage reeled forward, right into the arms of the quick-thinking athlete.
“I’m sorry!” the girl suddenly exclaimed, bursting into tears and burying her face in his chest. Ander found himself unsure of what to do, and so, he awkwardly held the girl until she stopped crying. Finally, Sage revealed a pair of wild, fiery rose eyes - an impossibly sharp contrast to the gentle, sad eyes Ander was used to seeing. “I... I don’t know what’s going on. My... head hurts so much, and I can’t see properly, and I’m shaking, and-”
“Relax, Sage,” the nomad interrupted. “Were you injected with something?”
“Y-Yeah, I-” the girl squinted, and suddenly glared up at him. After a moment, perhaps in reaction to his confused expression, her eyes softened. “I think so. I’m not... really sure. I woke up in the car, and... I thought you might be dead.”
“Heh, well, uh...” Ander replied. “I’m... not,” smooth. “Anyway, I was injected, too. It’s... some kind of drug. Knocked me out. Maybe it’s just... messing with you more than it did to me. Some drugs don’t mix with alcohol-”
Like Valium, Sage thought.
“What?”
Oh, fuck, Sage unwittingly projected a second time. “Uh... nothing. I don’t know what it is. It could be whatever was in that syringe, or it could...” Sage furrowed her eyebrows and rubbed her forehead. “...Be something else. I feel worse than I did when I woke up in the car.”
“Something else? Like what?” the nomad persisted. He always persisted.
When was the last time I even had a hit? she wondered, mercifully keeping her thoughts in her head. She groaned. Sage would have given anything for just one bloody pill. “...Nevermind.”
“Something else, like Valium?” Ander persisted.
“Yes, something like Valium. It k-keeps me normal.”
“Normal? How’s that? Neurotic and depressed?”
“I- you don’t under- how could you even- s-screw you, Ander!” Sage growled, pushing away from him, and then started bawling again. “I-I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”
A pair of bleary eyes snapped open, and Sage recoiled from the ground she was lying on, to see... asphalt beneath her. Shifting her weight, the azure haired addict sat up and rubbed the grit from her face. Had she really just passed out face-first onto tarmac?
She found herself having difficulty moving. Everything felt detached and heavy. The girl recalled being injected by an absolutely ridiculous robot, but she was still having trouble accepting that as reality. If it had happened, whatever was in that needle might explain her numbness, but it was just so... unlikely.
The war in her head was still raging, and a searing migraine relentlessly burned through her brain. Ironically, she had slept through the rest of her hangover, but it was replaced before she woke with the early symptoms of Valium withdrawal. At the moment, though, Sage, shaking and nauseous and holding her head in her hands, didn’t care.
Finally, the incessant theme park noise broke her concentra- theme park noise?
The girl looked up, wincing at the bright lights all around her. Everything was so goddamn lit up, and so goddamn loud! And up in front of her, in what to her seemed like thousand foot tall letters, a huge, glowing red sign spelled out ‘Kill Town’ in all capital letters.
Kill Town.
Sage flipped over onto her hands and knees, and she threw up. She had to admit, it made her feel a lot better, but at the same time, she was still in a place called Kill Town. With a groan of great exertion, she picked herself up off the blacktop and staggered backward for a moment before steadying herself. At least she didn’t fall into her own puke.
The girl emitted a strange combination of growl, moan, and whine, haphazardly running a hand through her sweat-thick hair as she trudged toward the exit. A pair of big, barred gates that blurred in and out of focus ahead of her. She’d just cut through them and leave. Sage was just in no condition for anymore adventures.
Getting from... wherever she was, to the gates, however, turned out to be quite the adventure itself. The girl’s staggering, meandering path moved forward in an agonizing slow motion as she wavered this way and that, all the while, her swimming head pulsed with pure agony. Finally, she overcorrected and tripped, falling face-first on the pavement, where she remained for a moment, too tired and too scared to get up, for fear that she’d just attack the ground with her face a second time.
I am not staying in a place called ‘Kill Town’ if I can’t even fucking walk, Sage urged to herself, and finally she pushed herself back up to her feet, and continued her arduous trek to the gates.
The watery haired girl finally arrived, and reached out to try the bars that blocked her path, only to find that the gate was locked, as she suspected. With a shrug, she encased one of her hands with her chillrend technique, and took a wide swipe at the bars.
The girl gasped in shock and pain as her incredibly strong, sharp claws shattered like glass against the bars, with a reverberating clang! The noise and sudden, shooting pain in her arm was enough to topple the girl over backwards, and she clasped her hands over her ears and clenched her eyes shut to make the ringing go away.
Finally, she climbed to her feet - again - and staggered back toward the carnival. It looked like she wasn’t going anywhere. Cradling the arm that had struck the bars, the incredibly uncomfortable addict shuffled onward, despite her entire body and mind telling her to just find a quiet corner to hide in.
Lights and bells and whistles assaulted her on all sides, and shouts and hoots and hollers persisted, all causing a cascade of wincing and shivers to beset poor Sage, who found herself wandering into the section reserved for carnival games. As if she was trying to get closer to the noise and flashing lights that kept threatening to set her brain on fire.
“Come on! Toss three rings onto the post and win the grand prize!” one shouted.
“All you gotta do is fill the balloon till it bursts! First one wins!” bellowed another.
“Hey you!”
“Step right up!”
“Come on down, miss!”
“Hey, you with the blue hair!”
“What?!” Sage whirled on one of the carnival workers. A burly man who was waving frantically for her attention. He grinned, gesturing to his game. Skee-ball. She narrowed her eyes and made to keep going, when the man shouted again, and again Sage cringed at the noise.
“Come on, play a while. First round’s on me.”
“I don’t want to play your game.”
“Oh, come on. It’s a free ball, just try your luck.”
“I told you I don’t want to play! Are you-” the girl cut herself off. She wanted to insult him, but no matter how shitty she felt, she was still Sage.
“I am sorry, please repeat the question.”
“What?”
“I am sorry, please repeat the question.”
“What question?” Sage growled. “What’s wrong with you?!”
“Self-diagnosis reveals no critical issues. I am currently operating on 92.3 per cent efficiency and will not require scheduled maintenance for approximately three weeks.”
“...What?!” the girl looked at the man like he was a crazy person. “Are... you a machine?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he - it - replied. “So, how’s about it? Throw the ball, win a prize!”
“I told you, no, please just leave-”
“Oh, come on. Just try it one time. Nobody’s keeping you!”
Sage closed her eyes and trembled with something wholly unlike fear. “You... you are a robot, right?”
“Yes, ma’a-”
The girl threw out a palm toward the machine, and the ground in front of her erupted as spears of ice burst from the ground as a miniature glacier, lancing forward one after the other and jutting out into the sky. The spears kept erupting closer and closer, until they tore through the skee-ball tent - and the carnival worker - with a thunderous crash. Wood and fabric and steel was rent and broken, and the burly man-robot disappeared amidst the shimmering spikes. All that remained was a about twenty feet of spiny glacier, like a giant hedgehog made of ice half-buried in the ground.
The other games fell silent, too, and the girl continued ahead, enjoying the reprieve she had given herself. So much, in fact, that she walked right past someone who had been standing there, staring at her, frozen in step, with a softball in hand, cocked over his head, as if he had been making to throw it.
Instead, he dropped the ball, and broke into a run after her.
“Sage!!” he shouted. The girl rigidly ignored him, and kept walking, but the man was persistent. He came after her and clapped his hand on her shoulder.
“What?!” she roared, whirling around, a freshly-formed claw raised to plunge through the face of- “A-Ander??”
The two of them merely stared at each other for a moment, as the dark haired one tried to put more than the couple of inches between his eyes and the spikes aimed for them. The claw retreated, evaporating into nothing, and Sage reeled forward, right into the arms of the quick-thinking athlete.
“I’m sorry!” the girl suddenly exclaimed, bursting into tears and burying her face in his chest. Ander found himself unsure of what to do, and so, he awkwardly held the girl until she stopped crying. Finally, Sage revealed a pair of wild, fiery rose eyes - an impossibly sharp contrast to the gentle, sad eyes Ander was used to seeing. “I... I don’t know what’s going on. My... head hurts so much, and I can’t see properly, and I’m shaking, and-”
“Relax, Sage,” the nomad interrupted. “Were you injected with something?”
“Y-Yeah, I-” the girl squinted, and suddenly glared up at him. After a moment, perhaps in reaction to his confused expression, her eyes softened. “I think so. I’m not... really sure. I woke up in the car, and... I thought you might be dead.”
“Heh, well, uh...” Ander replied. “I’m... not,” smooth. “Anyway, I was injected, too. It’s... some kind of drug. Knocked me out. Maybe it’s just... messing with you more than it did to me. Some drugs don’t mix with alcohol-”
Like Valium, Sage thought.
“What?”
Oh, fuck, Sage unwittingly projected a second time. “Uh... nothing. I don’t know what it is. It could be whatever was in that syringe, or it could...” Sage furrowed her eyebrows and rubbed her forehead. “...Be something else. I feel worse than I did when I woke up in the car.”
“Something else? Like what?” the nomad persisted. He always persisted.
When was the last time I even had a hit? she wondered, mercifully keeping her thoughts in her head. She groaned. Sage would have given anything for just one bloody pill. “...Nevermind.”
“Something else, like Valium?” Ander persisted.
“Yes, something like Valium. It k-keeps me normal.”
“Normal? How’s that? Neurotic and depressed?”
“I- you don’t under- how could you even- s-screw you, Ander!” Sage growled, pushing away from him, and then started bawling again. “I-I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”
![[Image: Sage.jpg]](http://rebecca.florizone.com/sig/miscsig/Sage.jpg)