Guest cheshireArtist Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 DISTORTION Plot The Hunters Association is not as moral and lawful as the public would like to believe. Through mysterious circumstances a group of long time friends are split apart after two of them join the Hunters after receiving the option in their assignment. Something had gone all too wrong and it would be years before that is realized by either party. Meanwhile, a rebellion is blooming under the collective noses of the Council. The system is hacked and Hunters are mysterious collapsing on the job. On the hunt for the culprit, they run across one suspect, Clemens Briar; a hacker with illegal body modifications. After accidentally dragging his best friend and roommate, Antal, down with him they are both now on a the run...though they have some help from an unlikely source. Setting The lights dim and the holoscreen in the front of the classroom flickers on. It shows the image of a mousy human man; balding with watery blue eyes and a doughy face. He off to the side of a large screen, shuffling his papers on a plain white desk. He smiles, showing off white teeth, but through the grain of the hologram his eyes look nearly lifeless. The screen comes on behind him showing the image of a planet, blue with water and green with land surrounded by swirling clouds. Two moons orbit the planet and in return the planet orbits around a red-ish sun. The man cleared his throat and then spoke, “Behind me you see an image of the Empyreans’ home planet, Caelum,” The image flickered and shifted through a series of photographs, some of rolling fields, and dense forests, and other of cities with tall and seemingly golden buildings with glowing orbs for lights; sparkling, glorious and dreamlike, “Before their sun started to die.” The same rolling fields and dense forests seemed to shrivel, and the sun in the sky looked brighter, redder and closer. The once dream-like cities looked dead and abandoned. “The Empyreans needed to find a new home if their species were to survive,” The image flickered again to ethereal-looking bird-like people, some adults, others children and the old, boarding graceful looking ships, the same gold as the once bustling cities. “So, in the year 21XX they found their new home, a planet with the same oxygen levels, water, and a stable sun,” The image flickered to a familiar blue spear…the Earth, “But the species already inhabiting Earth was out of control.” Images of wars, famine, bodies, starving children with wide pleading eyes, oil spills, smog filled cities of monochrome flickered past. “They were destroying themselves and their planet.” “The Empyreans stepped in, offering cleaner energies, new technology and created a world-wide union that Earth, in all its destruction and wars, had never seen,” It now showed an image of an Empyrean with deep silver feathers, and light eyes dressed professionally shaking the hands of older human man with graying hair and a weary, but sincere smile. Various documents were shown in various languages; English, Russian, Chinese, French, German, the list goes on. They were shown being sighed by various world leaders at the time. “Under the guidance and leadership of the Empyreans the United Union of Earth was created. Peace was finally achieved, and the Assignment System of Education was put into place to assure that every Human, Empyrean or Half Empyrean had a secure place in society.” A photo of was shown of a family with an Empyrean man with his arm wrapped around an human woman’s waist, a small half breed child held in the woman’s arms. “The Everyday Variation,” Text started to appear on the screen. The Worker- The working class, the backbone to society as whole. The Stepford- Those who are adept at child rearing and taking care of the home. The Breeder- People specially chosen to breed in order to pass on righteous genes to the next generation. The White Collar-Corporate and business leaders. “The Special Variation” The previous text disappeared and a new set reappeared. Medical Variation- Those chosen to work in the medical field. The Educator- Those chosen to teach the next generation. The Scientist - Those chosen to herald in new discoveries and improve the old. Government Variation- Those chosen to run the government. The Councilman/woman- The ones that vote on and help create the law. “These were the original set of assignment. In fifty years later that had changed,” The screen shifted to an image of a different planet, this one a bit smaller and wilder than either planet shown before. It had high mountains, rolling plains, burning desserts, and fewer forests and oceans than Earth or Caelum, “Infernum was a dying world that had caught the attention of scouting Union ships. Its inhabitants were savage…but much like humans, were salvageable. They were an uncivilized people, ruled by instincts and genetics, sadly, flawed. They were deemed Hellions, as they did not seem to have a name for themselves as a collective whole. After a vote it was deemed an act of humility to allow the Hellions to join humans and Empyreans on Earth. Thus the Infernum integration/immigration act was formed.” A picture showed various horned and scaled creatures boarding ships, some carrying children other not. It was a quick image before it changed again. “Though, due to the Hellions’ introduction to Earth crime rates soared, thus resulting in the Hunters Initiate Act; the formation of a special police force created to deal with the rising crime rates and violent tendencies of Hellions. This resulted in new jobs.” Text appeared on screen. “The Hunter Variation.” The User - Users take down hostile personal through the use of a drug and body modifications to help in a hunt. The Pilot- They pilot any equipment used in missions or hunts. The Tracker- Tracks down law breakers and attempts to bring them in peacefully before a unit is deployed. The General- In charge of the units. Can be sub-generals for each individual unit. “As well as new Special variation jobs.” The Modders - Those chosen to become biotectitions, who design and install body modifications whether it be implants, mechanical body parts, or the performance enhancing drugs given to Hunters. The Programmer- Working hand and hand with modders, programmers code and create the coding that goes into any neurological implants. They also work with the files and networks belonging to the government. “Today, due to the protection of the Hunters, the citizens of Earth live in relative peace and prosperity.” And the holoscreen flickered off and the light filled the classroom once more. Species Empyreans Empyreans are a hermaphroditic species of avian-like humanoids with large ribcages and no breasts (The only difference between genders would be hip size). They have large lungs along with several air sacs, and lanky limbs. They have rather large wings which are akin to a second pair of arms, along with two sets of pectoral muscles, and slightly longer than the (human) average necks. They have bird like feet (Anisodactyl) and talon-like nails. They are also covered in feathers all except for their faces, the front portion of their necks, and a little below their knees (Where their skin is scale-like and tough in a sense). They have a large range of eye colors, ranging from the (human) normal of browns, blues, greys, and greens, to the odder colors such as silver, gold, purples, pinks, oranges, etc etc, along with their scarla being a lighter shade of their eye color. Angels have hair that ranges from white to various shades of grey and occasionally can have streaks of their feathers color in their hair. Those usually make themselves apparent as they age. They are also separated by their body types/builds, which are Speed (lean body, strong legs, usually quite tall), Songbird (smaller than average, delicate build, and smaller wingspans), and Hunter (Stronger stockier build, longer talons, and very large wings). These usually help determine an angel’s role in society. Hellions Hellions come in seven variations of the species. Though there are seven variations they all have these traits In common; Hard, nearly bone-like ridges down their spines, scales plating their noses, pointed ears, scales on the top and behind their ears, scaling around their spine ridge, horns in some way, shape or form and claw-like nails. They all also have tails of some sort. Most Hellions have black sclera, and cat slitted pupils. The only exception would the Laisik Variation and the Luxuria Variation which have solid colored eyes. They are also hermaphroditic like the Empyreans. Fierté Variation- This variation has four horns located on their foreheads (they are small and extend slightly from the forehead before curving upwards, resembling a crown.). They have feathers along their cheeks and jawline, and scales around their eyes, and over the tops of their ears. They have feathers along the topside of their arms, and back of their legs. They have bird-like feet and sharp talons, and their fingernails are especially sharp, with them having the some of the longest claws in the variations. Their ears are fairly long. They have large feathered wings and a long feathered tail with a fanned tip. Their feathers are usually rather dark in color, usually bordering on near black for any color, so they often only give off the sheen. Hair color varies, but is usually a less dark version of the color of their feathers. Their scale are often black, and their skin often ranges from a light grey to black. They can have any eye color. They are native the once abundant forests on their planet, and lived in treetop villages. They are one of the only three variations with wings, and are extremely rare. Lakmi Variation- This variation usually have large curved horns that extend from the forehead (resembling an Ibex or even more rarely an Addax). Their horns are very thick, and it is seen as a tradition and rite of passage for one of their young to get carvings on their horns. Horn carvings are passed down in families and tell the family history. They have sharp claw-like feet, and long tails that are scaled and the spine ridges on the top. It is said to have very strong muscles, and to be used in combat to knock opponents off their feet. They have very huge dragon-like wings that they often wrap around themselves when not in the air, resembling glistening capes. Their scales are often shades of yellows and greens or browns. In their thicker areas of scaling sometimes those with duller scales get gold or silver plating put in to make themselves stand out more. Their skin ranges from dark greens, to dark yellows and browns. They can have any eye color, though golden eyes is seen as a very desirable trait. Their hair is most often black, but it is common to apply eye catching dyes, ribbons or feathers to it. Their ears are rather long. They are native to mountainous regions and often occupy cities built into the faces of mountains. Envexa Variation- This variation are serpent-like desert dwellers. They have small horns that when they do grow long grow back against the skull and can be quite annoying so are often filed down to a smaller more manageable size. They often have scaling around their eyes and a stripe of bright colored scaling going down from their mouths and neck and down to their groin area. They have thicker scaled tails which are long, but not at long as the Lakmi Variety's. Their spine ridges end near the middle of the tail. Their scales tend to be dual colored with one color being black and the other being blue, green, a dark yellow or more rarely purple. Sometimes they can just end up with all black scales (Which is also a signal of them not being poisonous). Their skin color is usually dark grey or black, but sometimes can be a dark green, dark blue, dark yellow or dark purple (though purple, again, is rarer.) They tend to have long canines, and shorter ears. Their hair is usually a darker, near black, version of their secondary scale color. Their feet are claw-like, but are duller than the Greed’s. They have claws that secrete a poison that ups in potency depending on color (Blue leaving an itchy rash and mild amount of pain; green leaving mild swelling and numbness in the area for up to 48 hours; yellow leaving a rather large amount of pain and in high enough doses results in temporary paralysis; purple is highly toxic and can easily result in seizures, incredible pain in the inflicted area, or coma and eventually death). These claws are very tough. They live in either cities with large walls, or caravans following the water. Zorn Variation- These Hellions usually have very sharp and ram-like horns, and grow from the sides of the head. They are plated and often have spines. They are extremely tough due to the mating ritual of more dominate wrath demons fighting over a potential mate via lots of head-butting. They also tend to run tall, and have short ears. They often have black scales that give off sheen reflecting their skin color, which ranges from various shades of reds, browns, and darker oranges. Their tails are thin, though they have sharp spines and are very versatile. They also occasionally have additional spines growing from the top of their shoulders, though it’s a dying trait. They tend to have quite bright colored eyes, sometimes bordering on neon shades. They have very sharp cloven feet, and occasionally something like a spur sticking out from the sides of their ankles (Though it’s a fairly rare trait in Earthborn Zorn Hellions). Their hair’s usually pitch black, though it does occasionally get grey or white streaks further down the line in terms of age. Their scaling is thickest on their stomach and chest, as well as their spine and it has been reported to have bent a knife. These Hellions are built for fighting to put it bluntly. Another fun fact is that because of their head-butting Wrath demons have evolved to have quite thick skulls. Their claws are very long and sharp and require a lot of filing down to be manageable. These Hellions hail from grasslands and live in either traveling ‘packs’ or sturdy stone villages and cities. Luxuria Variation- These Hellion are the final winged variation of Hellions. They have large, webbed wings resembling a bat’s. Their horns, or lack of thereof, are small, and usually only appear as three somewhat sharp and hard diamond-shaped protrusions on the forehead (one in the center and two smaller to the side). They have large solid colored eyes which mostly tend to be black but occasionally appear in other colors, though always dark, and the black always seems to have a tint of their scale color in them. They have small, but sharp claws and bird-like feet with extremely sharp talons. Their tails are thin and whip-like, and very versatile and long. Though thin they have been proven to be quite strong, and Lust demons have a tendency to carry things with them. Their eyes are sensitive to the light so on earth a lot of lust demons tend to wear sunglasses around during the day. On their home world they are completely nocturnal. They also tend to have very sharp teeth, and long tongues. Their scales tend to be very colorful, and have ranged from yellows and oranges to blues, and purples. Their scales are a sight to behold; in the regular light they appear to be a duller color than the intended color but in the dark they give off a faint glow, and tend to be found on the body in swirling patterns. Their skin tends to range from a dark grey to black. Their hair is usually black, but they like to put bright colored dyes and ribbons in their hair to brighten it up. They also have a tradition of keeping their hair long no matter the sex or gender (Though on earth short hair styles have caught on as more of a trend, but usually the more traditional Luxuria keeps it at least past their shoulders.) These Hellions live in underground cave systems, and often ally with those of the Lakmi variation. Gula Variation- The Gula variation is one of only two variations that had evolved to have fur. Their horns are dull and short, protruding from their forehead and curving back only slightly against the skull. Their fur has a tendency to be short, leaving them with an only slightly fuzzy appearance. The colors of the fur tend to range from various shades of browns and grey, though in the winter it lightens to an almost white color in the case of those with grey fur. Occasionally you’ll find one with cream colored fur all year around, but that is very rare. Their tails have thick fur and their spine ridges poke out until the middle of the tail. Their claws are dull and their feet are claw-like. What little scales they do have are surprisingly vibrant in color, ranging in shades of green and blue. Their hair tends to be a darker version of their scale color. Their eyes tend to be brightly colored, though softer than that of the wrath variation. They also tend to have long canines. In their society a heftier weight is often valued as a sign your family is doing well, and that you can make it through the harsh winter months of near fasting and sleeping. Their ears tend to be large a little floppy. They hail from the north where the winter his harsh, and tend to live in villages with those of the sloth variation. Laisik Variation- The Laisik variation are very similar to those of the Gula variation, though they tend to have shaggy, thicker fur, three sharper horns that curl back slightly against the head and solid colored eyes that tend to be vibrant in color. Like Gula Hellions, their fur color tends to range from shades of brown, though they always seem to be darker than gluttony demons, as well as instead of shades of grey their fur also ranges from dark grey to black. They also have fairly sharp teeth. Their scale colors tend to range from more of a red to purple. Their claws are also a bit sharper, have a tail similar to the gluttony demon only with a sharp barb at the end. The barb is filled with a poison that acts as a numbing agent, causing temporary paralysis in the victim. They also tend to be a bit on the heavier side only because they go into hibernation for a part of the winter (On earth they don’t out of necessity, but they seem to be always tired and little lethargic during that part of the year). They hail from the north and live in villages with the Gula variation. Mixing between the two is very common. Half Breeds There are two variations of Half Breeds in the world, Half Hellions and Half Empyreans. Both Half Hellions and Half Empyreans can have any mix of features from their non-human parent. A Hellion-Empyrean crossbreed is nearly unheard of. Characters Lux Laraine Half Breed (Empyrean) Body Type: Speed Gender: Male Sex: Intersex Age: 24 (Present) cheshireArtist Clemens Briar Half Breed (Hellion) Variation: Laisik Gender: Male Sex: Intersex Age: 22 cheshireArtist Antal Rotavele Hellion Variation: Envexa Gender: Male Sex: Intersex Age: 22 Cyncii Maxwell Valeriev Half Breed (Empyrean) Body Type: Hunter Gender: Male Sex: Male Age: 23 Cyncii xxXXxxXXxxXXxx (Five Years Ago) Beginning of the End Today was the day, all of his and Max’s training and grueling hours spent in the Hunters academy would finally pay off. The young man grinned and looked over himself in the mirror. He already had his mother fuss over his hair, insisting on braiding the silver locks back into a thick plait. Lux had always had long hair, it was something he honestly had some pride over and would always fuss and fight his mother even when she only wanted to give it a trim. He was dressed simply, as the letter had told him to be since he would be getting knocked out for surgery anyways; a t-shit and pair of jeans. He also wore sneakers, which he used to pick on his younger sister who inherited the bird feet of the Empyreans. He got a straightener thrown at him, though, thankfully, it missed his head. He met his own eyes in the mirror, bright aqua, standing out against his pale skin, like his feathers along his cheeks, neck and under his arms that were equally as aqua. Another feature of himself that he was admittedly prideful over. He tucked a stubborn stay strand of hair behind his ear and waved off his mother, who had ended up pulling him into a tight hug, wishing him luck. “I’ll be fine, mom.” “I know, I know, but you can’t blame a mother for worrying over her only son, can you?” She looked up at him with her own aqua blue eyes, her feather covered arms brushing against his, white and teal wings flexing behind her. “No mom,” He chuckled, his usually good natured smile on his face as he hugged his mother again. “You are going to meet just Maxwell, right?” She asked, her voice suddenly stern, and Lux internally winced. She didn’t exactly approve of his relationship with Antal, or his friendship with Clem. “Yeah…just Max, mom,” He lied easily, smile a little strained, and he looked at her forehead rather than her eyes. “Good…You don’t need to be mixing with those kinds of people,” She huffed, finally letting him go. Lux fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Bye mom,” He pressed a kiss to her cheek before rushing out the door, a bit thankful to be out of that house. It wasn’t that long of a walk to the Hunters’ Association building in their city from his house, and it was right across from a park, in which he would be meeting his boyfriend and friends before his modifications. He looked up at the building, tall and looming, made of marble with golden letters spelling out “The Hunters Association, New York Sect” over the large, arched doorway. It was always both awe inspiring and intimidating. He looked away and crossed the street to the park. Lux found his way to their usually meeting place, by an old set of swings on the playground. The chains were rusty and some asshole (read him in second grade) decide to swing an empty swing so hard that it wrapped around the top bar several time, so no kids really played there. He wasn’t the first one there. Clem seemed to be the first one to arrive. Lux grinned and plopped down on the swing next to the smaller half Hellion, startling him slightly. Honestly, he didn’t know why his mother at least didn’t take to Clem as his friend. The kid was small, with shaggy dark brown fur, curtesy of his Laisik heritage, and fluffy black hair. He didn’t have horns and only a tail (which did have a barb, but Clem was fairly careful with that), and big maroon eyes what weren’t solid colored due to his human mother. By all means, that with the floppy ears, made Clem about as scary or intimidating as a kitten. Didn’t help that he had the domineer of a particularly timid feline as well. “Sorry ‘bout that, Clem,” He chuckled, reaching out to ruffled the much shorter teen’s hair. Clem let out a whine and attempted to remove the other’s hand from his head, attempting to scowl slightly. Lux only snickered a bit at that. “Rude!” Clem shouted, though he was smiling slightly even as he shoved Lux slightly. After they both settled down Lux asked, “So…Max and Antal should be here soon I’m guessing.” “…Yeah,” Clem whispered, looking down at his feet, his stomach in knots. He…really had a bad feeling about this whole Modifications thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyncii Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Why..? Why did it have to be today? No, why did it have to happen at all? Antal thought this while remaining in bed, his striking yellow eyes glued to the ceiling. He should've been out the door by now, but he was still there.. thinking. The full-blooded Hellion brought a hand up to the curly locks of dark hair on his head, fingers coming across the yellow horns which were becoming a nuisance again, so soon. Now wasn't the time to file them, of course. He had to see his boyfriend off, no matter how much bitterness spread across his face. However tired and upset he was, he had to do it. It wouldn't do their relationship any good if he decided to pull off a no-show. Groaning, Antal rolled over to his side and threw his legs over the side of the bed. He sat up, wearily staring at the door to his room. The Hellion shook his head slightly and moved off the bed, standing up and stepping towards his closet. Antal proceeded to pull out an oversized grey hoodie and form-fitting blue jeans and went on to change out of his plaid pajamas. "Shit," he hissed as his horns caught onto the fabric of his shirt as he tried to pull it over his head. Only a couple minutes of struggling with his clothes passed before Antal was in his outfit for the day. The Hellion glanced back at his bed and then at the nightstand, narrowing his eyes as he walked towards it. He noted the small box on top of his nightstand, which he snatched and gently stuffed into one of the pockets of his hoodie. With that, he was all set. His hair looked fine, he thought, looking into the mirror next to his closet. Sure, he had to mess with a few curls sticking out in random places, but other than that he was alright. If anyone were to ask why he was going barefoot, it was because his claws would poke holes into whatever they stepped into and whatever they didn't, they wouldn't fit into anyways. He walked out the door to his room and moved on to leave the house, taking note that his mother and father were not there. They were out working, he supposed. The walk to the playground was a long one, but that he didn't mind as it meant a little more exercise to.. burn off calories, or.. whatever. "Hey, wait up!" a familiar voice called out, growing closer to Antal by the second. The dark-haired male turned his head to find Maxwell, or Max, catching up to him. "You must be running late too, huh? My father was holding me up for a little bit," Max explained, walking by Antal's side and a little behind him. "Mm," was all Antal 'said' as a response, really only focused on getting to his boyfriend rather than chatting with Max. He had no problems with the half-Empyrean, really, but he didn't want to talk to him at the moment. In time, the two reached the playground and soon spotted the others sitting in the empty swings with their backs facing them. Antal smiled, seeing Lux, and picked up his pace and pulled his boyfriend into a hug from behind as soon as he was close enough. "H-Hey.. I'm sorry I'm late," he murmured in a muffled tone, face buried into the other's neck. Max, on the other hand, simply sat in another empty swing next to Clem and gave the much smaller male a gentle, playful push to the shoulder. He frowned slightly when he took note of the other's body language. "Don't worry so much, Clem. Lux and I are going to be alright," he spoke softly, his lips now curled into a genuine smile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheshireArtist Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Lux couldn’t help but chuckle, turning his head slightly to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s temple. He cupped a hand against Antal’s cheek, running his thumb along the smooth yellow and black scales located there. “Nah, it’s all good, I was almost late too, but my mom practically threw me out of bed this morning,” He said, grinning slightly, “Now come around and face me so I can hug my cute boyfriend properly~.” Clem’s expression brightened slightly at the arrival of Antal and Max, though his gut was still twisting. He was happy he didn’t eat breakfast this morning, or he was pretty sure it would end up all over his shoes. He smiled a little at the playful shove, and gave what probably felt like a light tap back. Clem was small and not very strong, though he often made up for that in the smarts department. "Don't worry so much, Clem. Lux and I are going to be alright," Clem felt his cheeks heat up slightly under his fur, which he was thankful for. No one could really tell when he was flustered under the fur, though other actions of his kind of made what he was feeling quite obvious. “I…I know, but I still worry you know,” He replied softly, almost like a whisper. He reached out a small, somewhat clawed, hand and clasped Max’s hand with his own, attempting to lace their fingers together. He glanced up at him through black curls, and squeezed the other’s hand. His father, a gruff human man who had been working in the factories his whole life, had always taught the Briar children to trust their guy above all else. Gut feelings were one’s instincts trying to tell them something; most of the time that pertained to danger. His father learned this from his father and his father before him. His great grandfather, a man he never had met but had heard many stories about, was a pilot, no, not a Hunters kind of pilot, but a pilot in the British Air Force when the United Kingdom was still a thing. He had sworn up and down that listening to his gut had gotten him through the War that was going on before the Empyreans arrived. Clem’s gut, honestly, was telling him something about this entire situation, and that something said this wasn’t going to end well. He attempted to chalk it up to nerves but it was a bit deeper than that. The Half Hellion was a bit conflicted to share his concerns with Max…he didn’t want to ruins what was supposed to be a special day for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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