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They darted across the moonlit camp to the special barracks, only having to stop once to avoid being spotted by a sentry. Vin went over and checked the door. "Locked still. I hope you remembered to bring your heavy-duty picks for the cage doors."
"You bet I did." Ellen quickly unlocked the door and opened it.
Vin didn't turn on the light this time, instead waiting until the door was closed and flicking on his penlight. The creatures nearest them stirred and opened their eyes, blinking warily at them.
"Okay, so they're not asleep," Vin whispered. "Maybe Davy was wrong. Maybe we can reason with them."
"Yeah, that sounds good." Ellen whispered.
"Uhhh…." Vin turned to the white-haired snake woman they'd talked to before. "Hey, so…it's us. We're back. If we were to let you out of there and set you free, would you promise not to attack us? Or anyone else?"
She yawned lazily, thinking it over. "Mmmm…maybe. I'm pretty angry, so I might have to kill at least one person. But probably not either of you two." She considered them out of the corner of her eye. "Help me figure out how to change form again, and I can guarantee I'll leave you alone. That's a promise."
"Okay, I think we can find the right chemical for that without too much trouble," Vin said, "One down. About….fifteen more to go."
(I gotta go to bed now :( Seeya tomorrow hopefully!)
(See ya!)
Ellen nodded.
(Argh I'm sooo late sorry about that, had to clean the car T.T)
(That's okay!)
The snake woman sighed. "Want me to talk to the others? They might listen to me better than they would two humans."
Ellen nodded. "Yes please."
Scream took a deep breath, then spoke ust loud enough to make Vin flinch and glance at the door. "Hey, you deadbeats. Listen up."
The other creatures shifted and craned their necks to stare at her with their predatory eyes. She put her hands on her hips. "These two humans are not bad. They're gonna open the doors and let us out. We are not gonna eat them. Got it?"
There was a chorus of grumbles from the darkness. One rangy man with grey hair and huge grey wings spoke up. "But I'm hungry. Who cares if they die?"
Scream hissed at him. "If you eat them, you'll have me to deal with. Want that?" She bared her fangs threateningly.
The man looked away grudgingly. "No."
"Good." Scream turned and grinned confidently at Vin and Ellen. "Okay, you're good to go."
(brb, eating supper right quick)
(Okay!)
Ellen turned to Vin. "I'll get started on the locks, you go try and figure out an antidote to the stuff that's stopping them from switching forms."
Vin nodded, still looking a bit dubious, and went over to the closet with the chemicals in it. "Let's see….here's the one that keeps them from switching….they're labelled, but everything's abbreviated…hang on…." He angled his light and squinted at the small print. "What do you suppose "NML FrM 1" means?"
"I don't know. I'm a technician, not a chemist." Ellen muttered, searching through her back for her tools.
Vin muttered the letters to himself. "NML…..NML….en-em-ell……Wait, could it mean 'animal'? Animal FrM…..'Animal Form One?'" He glanced at Destroy, who was watching with a frown. The huge man shrugged. "I dunno, maybe. I have an animal form, the lion. This is my human form."
"Okay." Vin returned to decoding the labels. "Animal form one…..animal form two….animal form three….jeez, there's a bunch. What about this one? 'HMN FrM NTdt'?" He checked the first vial. "That says HMN FrM, I bet that means Human Form. So that means this green vial is the antidote!" He looked up and grinned triumphantly. "I'm a genius!"
Ellen smiled slightly. 'So which one goes to which?" She asked, locking Scream's cage and starting on another one.
His smile wilted slightly. "Uhhh….I think it would work for all of them…..Destroy, are you willing to be my guinea pig in a second?"
Destroy looked confused. "What's a guinea pig?"
"Er…never mind. Is it okay if I try this antidote on you to see if it works?"
"Oh." Destroy looked like he loathed the idea, but nodded. "I guess you can."
"Thanks. Hey Ellen, can you unlock Destroy's cage right quick, please? I can't reach him."
"Yep." Ellen dashed over and quickly unlocked the cage.
Vin thanked her and stepped inside to examine the manacles around Destroy's wrists. "Hmm…these are actually really simple to unlatch. They must rely on you not being able to reach them."
"Or on your stupidity," Scream called from across the room.
Destroy glowered at her, rubbing his forearms where the metal had chafed them. "Just sting me with the dumb needle already."
"Okay, here goes." Vin filled the syringe with green liquid and very carefully injected it into Destroy's arm. Destroy flinched a tiny bit, but didn't turn on Vin. Vin hastily removed the needle and stepped back. "Feel anything?"
"Uhh…." Destroy paused. Then, his eyes brightened and he shook himself, standing up straighter. "Yeah. Better. I'm not tired anymore." In one smooth motion he turned into a giant lion and swished his tail confidently.
Vin looked relieved. "Oh, good. It worked. Ellen, who's next in line to get cured?"
Ellen shrugged. "Anyone who wants to be next." She said, turning to continue unlocking cages.
The others crowded forward, but Scream pushed her way to the front. "Me first. I did the most helping."
"Okay, okay," Vin said, cleaning and refilling the syringe. "Everybody form a line, we have to get this done quick."
It was a good forty-five minutes before they'd all been unlocked and treated, by which time some of them were getting antsy and irritable. They snarled at each other and scratched at the door, eager to leave the cramped barracks.
Vin made his way over to Ellen, looking slightly out of breath. "As soon as we let them out, we need to book it for that secret exit Davy showed us and not slow down until we're a mile or so from camp. This is gonna wake up the whole army, guaranteed."
Ellen nodded, glancing around at the antsy people. "Absolutely."
Vin turned to the crowd. "Hey guys? One more thing before we let you out."
They turned to stare at him. "What?"
"Um, what are you people? Do you have a name? Are you all even the same species?"
There was a slight pause. Then Destroy shifted back into human form. "We're called Deorns," he said. "Yeah we're all the same. We're the strongest kind of people in the whole world." At this, there was a general cry of agreement which had Vin frantically shushing them.
"And we girls are called Deorna, if anyone's curious," Scream added from the back.
Ellen nodded. She hoped no one had overheard the Deorns. "I'm glad we could set you guys free." She said. "No one should be caged."
One of the slightly younger Deorns nodded. "Yeah. You guys aren't so bad….for humans, I mean."
Vin smiled. "Thanks. You guys aren't so bad yourself." Turning, he carefully unlocked the main door and got ready to open it. "All set?" he asked Ellen.