ooc: yes, again, feel free to delete once you've reached a decision.

I completley agree. Then everyone can post a little summary of what has been happening and that way when Rupert etc. come to break in a little more has happened.

Seven weeks later

Pain
Agony
Sadness,
Depression

All of these things and more were what the mutants of the camps had experienced in that amount of time. Day in and Day out it was the same, roll call, breakfast, jobs, lunch, jobs, small break, dinner, barracks and finally bed. By the time they went to the bed it was usually past 10 and they got up at two to go to work. This made the mutants tired and easier to handle, the drugs that were being put in their food helped as well.

The drugs were almost like a discouraging mechanism because if the mutants tried to use their powers while the collars were on or if they somehow came off, they would go through brief excruciating moments of head pain, nearly rendering them paralyzed. These drugs were laced in each part of the meal except for the bread and water. The meals had gotten better since the mutants had first gotten there, and sometimes they would even be meat in the soup they were given. Though, they never knew what or whom it was from.

The mutants of the X men had tried their best to stay positive in their horrible situation but it was indeed very hard. Between fights with the other members of the team as well as other inmates there was a little bit of a dog eat dog feel to the camps. However, it would seem that the Sanctuary members and the X men had formed an alliance while inside of the camp, becoming almost allies in this situation. Of course there were some that did not want to associate with the opposite faction but the rest of the mutants had managed to make amends and one time enemies started to become close friends.

A certain unity had untied all of the prisoners though, especially ones who fight for what they believed was right. As of late their had been more deaths by beatings by the guards than poor conditions in the camps and despite what the warden of the camp did he could not stop the random abuse and violence against mutants, especially against the female mutants. There had been several incidents on the women’s side of the camp in which different women, often after seeing someone killed or die in their sleep, acted out against guards in every violent way possible. These attack ranged from minor cuttings and bruises to near amputations of a horribly mutilated limb.

The camp was now filled with overzealous guards oftentimes from the church of humanity who enjoyed their tortures of each individual mutant. Many times when a mutant did not come back from their work detail it was safe to assume that they would end up as a bloodied mass upon the barracks doorstep that not even the she thing guard could clean up.

All the inmates could ask at that moment in time was, when they where going to get out of this hell. It was no doubt the only thing on their minds as the lay in their wooden barracks with floodlight pouring into the windows as well the vacant sounds of screams from the unfortunate out in the distance. This was the only time the mutants were truly free of the guards was when they were in the barracks for lights out, it was a time to plan a time to speak with one another and a time to dream about a better tomorrow.

Nika's wound has healed enough that it no longer bothers her unless too much force is put on her side. At the moment that and being with Tricity and the others were the only two good things going for Nika. Life was miserable working in the camp. She had had numerous jobs and nearly all of them ended up with her being beaten, abused verbally and even sexually. Many times the cat girl had thoughts of wishing she didn't look the way she does. What was it about cat girls that human males got so worked up about? Whatever it was Nika wished it would stop. Either that or she would snap and start ripping people apart.

OOC: If I'm taking it too far with Gwen, someone let me know and I'll fix it.

Life in the camps had not been good to Natalie. She seemed to always have bandages wrapping up parts of her. The guards were slow learners, and it took them a while to learn that she broke easy. They all seemed to find this amusing, which was probably what caused her to survive this long. But she didn't think was going to survive much longer. Shew as in constant pain, and did hardly any work in the infirmary, because almost every time she went there she was a patient. But something extraordinary had happened.

Gwen had told Natalie that she could heal, and was letting her practise on occasion. Gwen oculdn't help it, she was too enthralled by a healer mutant to let this oppurtunity slip. It occured to Natalie at one time to try it on herself, which was what she spent most Lights Out time doing. Every now and then she'd mend a cut or fix a rib, but then she would get hit by a shock from her bracelet, and so loose her concentration. But she was getting confident that if they all got out, she would be a great help to those that got injjured on the way. If they could ever remove the damn bracelets.

This thought had kept Natalie going throughout all her time in the camp, and gave her new strength. When she wasn' unconscious, she was working on her healing, and found that she could heal very small cuts and only get a threatening noise from the bracelet. But because it had gone off so many times, if she tried to heal more it would give bigger shocks from before. But she was persevering, and was detirmined to escape.

Raina's hair has grown in the past seven weeks and she has lost the buzzed butch look she started with. Instead of the dyed red hair she once had, her hair was jet black- it's normal colour. She was looking better than before but it was clear that not recieving enough medical attention after her 'accident' had caused some permanent damage. She was silent all the time now and was very thin, though she wasn't bruised as much as the others a dark scar circled her throat giving her the look of someone who had had their neck stitched back on. Dark circles were under her gray eyes giving them a despondent look.

The days had all melted together to Raina, she was sure it must be December by now, it had to be close to Christmas. Before she has been looking forward to celebrating Christmas since she hadn't done it before. Now it seemed like a distant dream.

She went from day to day like the others did never breathing a word. She seemed to get better at cooking since the woman in charge of the kitchen was still a chef at heart. She had never seen the nice guard again but had seen mutant after mutant dragged into the camp. She didn't communicate with the others- not that they would know who she was anymore.

The weeks hadn’t been kind to Sara. Her healing abilities hadn’t been able to keep up with the shocks from her cuff, and as a result, she had a ring of fur, that had began falling out around the band. Not to mention, her metabolism sped up when her healing kicked in. Sara had come to the camps already looking thin. Now was just pathetic. Ok. So everyone had gotten thinner then they had been before, but she’d gotten a head start on them. She tried to hide her bony shoulders, but the shape of her face had changed as well. Making her cheek bones more pronounced.

After the first night in the laundry pool, she’d tried to take the advise of one guards. To keep her head down and save her energy, because she would only get hurt worse. He hadn’t lied to her, she had been hurt worse then she could cause each time she had stood up. In the last few weeks she’d gotten much the same treatment as Nika. Enduring comments and guards that thought they were all that. Including James, whom had used her to up his own confidence. One day walking into the woman’s barracks, after enduring such a time, where her fur had gone from it’s light sandy, golden, blonde color to taking on a deep crusty rusty color.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Right? Sara wanted to believe that. She turned over in her bunk, looking where she knew Shya lay across the room. Then letting her gaze slide across the rest of the room. Doing a mental head count.

Shya had been exhausted. Being blind wasn’t something that got her any breaks here from the guards. She had come to the camps, arriving shortly after most of every one else.

Her weeks spend feeling around the dirt in the quarry had seemed to permanently stain, and chipped, her finger nails. There were calluses on her finger tips from the continually sliding her fingers across what was the equivalent of sand paper all day. The quarry work had only been interrupted for her by meals, sleep, and grave digging. Maybe the guards found it an asset having a blind girl digging their graves. Someone who couldn’t recognize a face again if they were shone a picture.

During the past weeks, life in the Camps had done its best to prove that Neena was not as unfazeable as she appeared to be. As of yet, it had failed.

At least as far as appearances were concerned.

It hadn't taken very long for a routine to develop in Neena's day. Wake up, laundry delivery to various buildings and individuals, morning feeding, cleaning of the Guards barracks, noon feeding, washing, drying and more laundry delivery, evening feeding, more barracks cleaning. Throw in a beating or two, a guard commandeering her for some demeaning task or another, weekly visits to Isolation, and the occasional attempted rape, and call it a day. As of yet, despite numerous tries none of the guards had been able to take advantage of her sexually, except for one, and that had been Neena's choice. In order to spare one of the younger inmates from such humiliation, she had taken the girl's place. The thirteen-year-old had been added to the casualty list a week later, and spent another week under Gwen's care. Neena was still plotting.... erm.... 'planning' to revisit the scumbag responsible at a later date.

Also she'd been able to keep tabs on the boys, with help from Shrapnel. The firey-tempered asian boy had proven quite helpful, in both passing information and a few other items liberated from the Infirmiry stores. The two of them were still trying to figure out what was in those canisters, locked behind that door. Shrap had mentioned seeing She-Thing (Besty Blagg, head cook) go in and out, but the canister contents remained a secret for now. In the meantime, she contented herself with finding ways to make the guards lives difficult, without actually being disruptive.

Like a dark-skinned Pollyanna, Neena could almost always be found with a smile on her tired face. She was definitely weary; the cause of her tiredness she attributed to a combination of her age and the awful conditions. For some of her fellow inmates, her nearly constant positive attitude gave them strength. For others, it only proved to be an irritant. Therefore she often found herself at the end of a verbal assault from fellow mutants. And still she continued to smile, denying the Camps the broken spirit it seemed to crave.

However, she was not completely unscathed.

Her dreams at night were filled with images from her past. Death was no stranger. In her first eight years, she'd seen nearly half of her peer group in their tribe lost to the viciousness of both animal and humankind. She'd watched her mother killed by crocodiles, her youngest brother carried off by a rouge lion. A tribal war had cost nearly every woman in her village at least one family member, if not more. As she grew, she watched 'modern' society had slowly chip away at her culture. When she left home as an up-and-coming thief, she became quickly acquainted with the violence of the city's underground lifestyle. The longer she stayed in the Camps, the more vivid and varied Neena's dreams became. Often she would awake in the middle of the night, not from fear, but from a sudden shock from her bracelet as her various visions attempted to block out, or at least blur the memories. Once awake, she would lay there for a while, staring into the darkness, listening to the echoing throb of a constant headache. Sometimes, she could here her Grandfather chanting, and his deep voice would lull her back to sleep.

Her eyes also were not untouched. Gwen made sure she had plenty of the little plastic sunglasses, since Neena was constantly losing them. But it wasn't enough. Her original glasses had been specially tinted for her sensitive eyes, a treatment the temporary specs could not provide. Her head was constantly throbbing, and her normal vision was slowing blurring. If things didn't change soon, Neena gave herself another month, maybe ten weeks, before she went completely blind.

At night, she allowed herself to think, to ponder the grimness of the future in the quite solitude the darkness provided. Once the sun rose, she put on her smile, like donning a mask, and resumed her routine, daring the Camps to try, yet again, to break her spirit.

THUNK!

“Owwie.”

Ruby Lupin rubbed her head, tail curling around her small body as she lowered her head down back on the pillow slowly. She had banged her head from jerking up suddenly in the barrack The Fox girl had gotten thinner in the seven weeks she had been here with the rest of the mutants. Her small face was often weary with fatigue and her fur was matted up, making her look like a defenseless fox kit.

The fox girl had been trying her best to avoid the eyes of the guards but with her fox like features it proved to be nearly impossible. The guards had often pulled at her tail and pulled at her ears while she was in the guard barracks. When she was in the customs house things weren’t as bad but none the less the got the taunts and grabs from the horrid guards. Despite the grabs and the pulling of her animal features one would think Ruby didn’t have it that bad. However tail pulling wasn’t the only thing one of the guards did .

In Legends, Foxes most prized possession was there long and beautiful tails and some legends of nine tailed foxes stated that if any man harmed a fox’s tail they would be cursed for one thousand years.

All Ruby hoped was that the man who butchered her tail would be cursed for a thousand years. Her red fluffy tail had cuts all over it and pieces of fur missing from it from where he had ripped the fur out. The man had kept calling her ‘little furball’ while he tortured the squirming, tied up foxling. No one in the bunks had seen it yet because it had happened after dinner, when she had gone missing for about 30 minutes. The only person that had seen it was Emerald who was very angry about it, cursing about it as she left for the bathroom.

“Big sister…” The tiny fox girl whimpered, looking out at the window.

Emerald still hadn’t come back yet from the bathroom and that was over 2 hours ago. Ruby climbed down from her bunk with her pillow, thin blanket and her stuffed rabbit buster whom she managed to get back, in hand. She walked over to the window which was a bit father away from the beds and sat next to it, looking out, searching for Emerald. Her tail curled around her body and she smoothed it down self concinciessly with a tiny whimper when she ran her hand over one of the cuts, the one where the guard had carved his initials in her tail. She was trying to keep herself awake to see if she could spot her sister outside the window.

All Ruby had wanted to do right at that moment was to find her sister so they could go home. Ruby could just imagine Emerald comming in triumphantly with all the guards heads in her hands. She then thought of going back to the mansion and seeing everyone again. She wanted to feel the warmth of her own bed again and to cuddle up with Helix, reading a robotics instruction manual before bedtime. Ruby felt that if she stayed awake that all those thing could possibly happen.

It was easy to see the fox girl was tired however, dark rings circling underneath her eyes and a tired yawn that escaped her every few moments. However, Ruby was convinced that if she stayed up and was hopeful it was more likely that her big sister would come back unharmed.

Well at least she hoped.

Amp, on the other hand, had become little more than an animal. Trapped in a world of silence, she sought the only comfort she could find; chaos. Shouting, yelling, fighting; they were the only things that could make vibrations strong enough for her to sense. She did all she could to cause them, and whenever she could. Mutant and human alike avoided her whenever possible.

She ate very little, only enough to keep herself from passing out. Several trips to the Infirmary, and a verbal lashing from Gwen, had earned her another bracelet, a red medical bracelet that proclaimed her Diabetes to the world. As such, she was kept out of any jobs that required heavy labor, stuck instead in constant cleaning of all buildings and the privies.

That was when she actually worked. The majority of her days were spent in Isolation. She was dubbed a menace, and avoided by nearly everyone, even the guards. When a fight in the Mess Hall or Discipline Circle broke out, chances were that Amp was involved, if not the direct cause. Resulting trips to solitary were made hazardous by clawing and biting, until only the most brutal guards accepted the task unless Amp was shocked unconscious.

Her collar never activated on its own; her mutation was useless without her sister. In fact, she rarely spoke anymore, except for an occasional growl or snarl, or screaming fits when isolated. After two weeks the screaming stopped altogether after an initial case of laryngitis. The few nights a week she spent in the Mutant barracks, she would curl her tiny frame into a ball and weep silently beneath the covers.

Her red hair was dull, her green eyes sunken, her cheeks red and puffy. She simply blended into the scenery, except for the occasions when she sought relief in mayhem.

Neena's hissed slightly as another shock woke her from sleep. She inhaled then exhaled deeply, and rubbed her eyes. The first thing she wanted when they got out of this place was a hot shower. Then she planned on hibernating for a week.....

She turned over, trying to find a comfortable position again. In the dark she noticed someone moving, near the window. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she recognized Ruby. Neena craned her neck to see if the fox-girl's sister was sleeping. There was no sign of her.

<"Now where did she find the energy to disappear to at this time of night?"> Neena knew the wolf-girl worked in the quarry; her disappearance didn't bode well.

Even though there were no guards inside, Neena moved quietly to avoid waking anyone. She climbed down from her bunk, and made her way to the window. She wasn't worried about sneaking up on Ruby, since the girl had excellent hearing. In the moonlight, she could see the worry written on her face.

"Hey there kiddo." She whispered, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder and squeezing gently. "Don't you think you should try and rest up a bit? Got full day tomorrow." That was an understatement, to say the least.

Ruby's ears twitched when Neena got near her. She had a feeling that someone would try to discourage her from trying to find Emerald from the window. But Ruby wanted to find her big sister, the fox girl was worried and she wanted her sister back she wasn't planning on leaving her post.

She wrapped her tail around herself gently and kept buster securely under one arm.

"I can't go back to sleep miss Neena! What if Emmy comes back and she is hurt? If I *yawn* go back to sleep then any wound she has may get worst." Ruby replied, ears flat against her head.

Ruby looked out at the window again, seeing it was a full moon. She shook her head, "Emmy has been getting in alot of trouble with the guards because she won't listen and she is acting more like a wolf now more than she ever was before this. What if she did something stupid like attack the man that hurt my tail, they might kill her!"

Ruby then realized that she had blurted out about her tail and she scolded herself inwardly. All of the women had been protective of her and the reason why she hadnt show anyone what had happened because she was afraid they would do something drastic. All the females knew how Ruby was about her tail, espicially Emerald and this was why she was worried about her elder sister.

(OOC: Let me know if I'm gmoding too much.

"I can't go back to sleep miss Neena! What if Emmy comes back and she is hurt? If I *yawn* go back to sleep then any wound she has may get worst."

Neena stopped herself from reflexively correcting the girl; she disliked anyone calling her 'Miss', since it made her feel like a school marm. But Ruby had enough worries right now. She didn't need a scolding.

"Emmy has been getting in alot of trouble with the guards because she won't listen and she is acting more like a wolf now more than she ever was before this. What if she did something stupid like attack the man that hurt my tail, they might kill her!"

"What happened to your tail?" Neena asked sharply, before she could stop herself. She paused a moment, then held out her hand for Ruby to show her, keeping her expression blank, even in the darkness. Her vision was sharper in the darkness, and she could easily see the mess someone had made of it. Anger flowed through her momentarily, but she was careful to keep it off of her face. "Hang on, kiddo."

Neena stood up, and removed her dress. Her ribs were wrapped completely in bandages, so that she looked like she was wearing a white girdle. While she had been sent to the Infirmary at one point for bruised ribs, there was much more bandaging around her than was necessary. Shrapnel had kept her supplied with the extra bandages, among other things, which she passed out when needed. Every few days she would remove the extra bandaging and secret them in other places she had access to, such as the laundry room. The baggy-shaplessness of the dresses had proved to be a hidden blessing.

Once she had the length she needed, she started to wrap Ruby's tail, covering over the vandalism. "Has anyone else seen it?" From the girl's expression, she guessed not. "If anyone asks, tell them a guard caught it in a closing door." The explanation was plausible enough to keep anyone else from becoming overly angry.

Once the covering was secure, Neena put her dress back on, shivering slightly in the night chill. She was glad she'd requested pants initially as well, since the nights seemed to be getting colder lately. She wondered if they'd be issued socks once it started to snow, and sleeved-dresses. Doubtful....

"Well, how 'bout we have a mini slumber party then?" Keeping her voice at a low whisper, she grabbed her own pillow and blanket, and settled onto the ground next to Ruby. It was obvious the fox-kit wasn't moving, but a little company rarely hurt. Rather than lie, and tell her that her sister was just fine, and must just have gotten lost, or some other false hope, Neena decided on a different tactic.

"You know, I've read that wolves get a bad rep, from horror movies and cattle ranchers. But every documentary I seen or read says that their packs are like families, very close and loving. I'll bet, that if Emmy is becoming more wolf-like, then her love for her sister is probably growing too. I'll bet you mean more to her than ever before now." She smiled comfortingly. What was she like when you were little?"

Neena knew the girls had had rough lives, but maybe some positive memories would give Ruby comfort enough to fall asleep.

Ruby noticed the sharpness of Neena's voice when she asked her what happened and her ears flattened again. Ruby was about to protest when Neena took off her dress, thinking it was to wrap her tail up in it but when she saw the bandages she had pulled out she stifled them.Every fiber in her being had hope for the future a hope that she hoped wouldn't soon be doused.

She listened to Neena's advice about telling people a guard closed a door on her tail, figuring it would be best in order for no one else to get hurt. At the suggestion of a slumber party, Ruby brightened up and smiled.

"You know, I've read that wolves get a bad rep, from horror movies and cattle ranchers. But every documentary I seen or read says that their packs are like families, very close and loving. I'll bet, that if Emmy is becoming more wolf-like, then her love for her sister is probably growing too. I'll bet you mean more to her than ever before now." She smiled comfortingly. What was she like when you were little?"

Ruby smiled even wider, pulling her blanket over her as she let out another yawn. She held Buster close to her chest, playing with the toy rabbits ears lightly.

"When we were little Emmy always used to protect me, she didn't let anything bad happen to me. I always came to her when I was scared of someone or something and she always made the bad things go away." Ruby paused, ears flattening a bit as she let out another yawn. "When Master Fusionist- I mean Fusionist seperated us Emmy still took care of me by sending me food and nice warm blankets to sleep on. She sent me an apple for Christmas once and it tasted really good. While we were at the mansion I always tried to ask her how she still managed to take care of me but she always got tense and said it would be best if I didn't know. Even now she makes sure I''ll be okay and she gets mad when I try to take care of her. *yawn* saying that it was her job to take care of me."

The fox girl let out another yawn, peering out the window again when she didn't see anything she sank back down into her spot forlornly.

Raina entered her room once more and wondered where Natalie was. She knew the young little mutant had been practicing her powers whenever she could stand the pain and get away from the watchful eye of the guards. She wondered if the poor woman would ever have her wings back.

She sat on her bunk with her legs hanging over and examined them. Looking out the tiny window she saw snow. It must be past her birthday now. She must be 22, it seemed like November would have passed. Christmas would be soon. She looked down at her legs again. She'd been avoiding the showers except for late at night when she could be there by herself. Working in the ktichen often had her out later than the others. Her collar was programed to only work against her voice as when she started at the camps it was her only ability. Things had changed since then. Everytime she got wet her legs ached with an incredible pain and her skin would change colour and peel. So far it was the only thing that happened.

The talk of a slumber party caught Nika's ears. Although, it wasn't hard for her to hear anyways. The thought of a slumber party sounded like fun. She had never had a slumber party. Hell, she had never really had a family, but these people were starting to feel like how a family should be.

Nika moved closer to Ruby and Neena.

"I've never had a slumber party but it sounds like fun. Can I join too?"