Systems: Re-booting...

No damage aquired...

Uploading memory files.....

Utilizing optical sensors.....

Scanning environment.............

It, or rather he, began to scan his surroundings. He noticed that he was in the dark, which was quiet unusual, unless his master had put him in storage. And he knew she would never do such a thing. She had been too fond of him. With a few blips, the creature switched to his night-vision and turned his head from side to side hoping to find a way out. During that time-span, his AI worked to answer the question of why he wasn't in the lab, basking in the bright lights. Why wasn't his master in here with him, ready to check him over and do some more tests?

The last thing his memory bank had recorded was her sad, worried face and five simple words....

"Be a good boy, Kaine."

(OOC: I hope this will be alright...for starters. I'll describe him more as I go.)

OOC: sounds good. i might think about joining but i have to come up with a character first, plus im having trouble getting motivated to write in Rise and Fall so i dunno how ill be ^^;;

On the Wastelands, strange sights were commonplace. But on this day, there was a very unusual sight indeed. A human marched across the sandy, rocky terrain. He was a large man, some might even say obese, but he was in remarkably good health. His skin was tanned - a lot - and he had green hair and beard, the obvious result of artificial dyes. He wore an undersized camo vest, outfitted with many pockets, and baggy blue-black pants, kept up by a utility cord that was a substitute belt. Attached to the makeshift belt was a most unusual thing: a set of very fine silverware!

This man was singing a jolly song as he marched. He was in a good mood. The reason? He was dragging a giant rope behind him. The rope was attached to a makeshift cart/cage, with a tarp on top and three people inside. All of them were unconscious, and all very different from the others. He had tied them all down with various items as substitute rope. Clean, well-kept handkerchiefs were used as gags, so they couldn't speak. For some reason, his good mood was based on the people in the cage.

The one in the far back of the cage was a humanoid Machine. It had some minor damage, but it was well-placed, so as to render it inoperative. It couldbe repaired with no great difficulty, but someone would need the parts.

The one in the middle was an unusual being, a Mutant. He was larger even than the fat, jolly man, and his skin was a pale purple color. He had four huge, muscular arms, bat wings on his back, and long, curved horns on his head, poking out above his one huge eye in the center of his forehead. Everything beneath his human-shaped torso was a snake, ending in a rattler. He awoke, and found himself in his predicament of being tied up and in a cage. He thrashed about, his great strength becoming evident, but the bindings were too powerful, even for him. So, he stopped, and waited in silent complacency for an opportunity at freedom.

The Mutant's thrashing woke up the final figure, the one at the front of the cage. She was a Mobian, a vixen. Her bright blue eyes popped open, and with terror in them, she looked at her surroundings. She was wearing a well-kept and beautiful yellow dress.

The human kept on his march, but looked back at them. "Ah, waking up? Then let me introduce myself. My name is NC, and I'm an experienced hunter. I've trapped and captured all of you. Ah, don't give me that look. No worries, I don't bite."

The jolly man laughed as the vixen tested the strength of the cords. "They all do that! Can't you see that you won't escape? I'm good at what I do, that's how I'm still alive. You wanna know what I'm gonna do with you? Aww, that would ruin the fun we'll have tonight! Heh, but since you insist, here's a clue: tonight, we'll be having a grand ol' feast!" He stopped long enough to gesture at the vixen. "Them's good eatin's!"

He laughed his jolly laugh, and patted his silverware set! The vixen let out as loud of an "umph!!" as she could, not being able to scream due to the gag. Seeing her desperate situation brought tears to her eyes, as she looked on helplessly. He winked back at them. "No worries, mates, we're almost out of the Wastelands. Soon, you'll join me for an evening meal beneath the cover of trees, in the glorious moonlight! Yes sir, nothing's better than dinner with NC, the Nomad Cannibal!"

If his mistress hadn't given him the ability to feel extremely curious about various new situations, objects, and places, he would have rushed to the door and begged to be let out, whining and scratching. But somehow, his intelligent mind had a feeling that it would do little good. Very little good. An odd sense of calm had instilled itself within his hard-drive.

With a sniff, the he pawed at the dusty, gritty ground beneath him. Everything about this odd compartment puzzled him. From the few crates and objects stacked around him to the crudeness of the compartment and the sudden blank in his memory files, it was all very confusing. Try as he might, he could not figure out a reason for the many questions his mind produced. And he was beginning to feel hints of the emotion his mistress had called desperation...it was a strange feeling. A strong need to satisfy his curiosity arose, and the creature came to wanting to get out of this small and cramped storage area. To find out what was going on.

Taking a few stiff steps forward, he came up against a wall, one which he deduced had most likely been the entranceway to this strange compartment. Right now, however, it looked like nothing. Once again, he began to feel a little desperate, wanting so much to still his curiosity.

"This does not make sense." His voice, young and childish-sounding, reflected his true character. With an sigh, he swished his bushy tail and began to brain-storm ways to get out....

The vixen awoke. Somehow, she had fallen asleep, and now it was night. They had reached the cover of the trees, now in the forest. She saw a tranquilizer dart next to her neck, and as she looked around, she saw her yellow dress hanging up like a trophy, on a pole near NC! Glancing down, she saw she was still wearing her white tank top and purple shorts.

NC noticed her movements, and looked up at the dress. He winked at her. "Can't be having blood get on such a beautiful dress, right? This fire's just about ready, and then it's dinner time!"

NC was sitting next to a fire, which he was working with. Soon, he finished that, and stood up. He pulled out a giant two-handed serrated-edge saw! Stepping to the cage, his smile simply grew larger. The vixen yelped in fear, and she suddenly realized that the gag on her mouth had been removed! NC opened the cage door, and stepped inside. "Now, don't go speaking or nothing, no one's gonna hear you. It's okay to scream, though; in fact, I prefer it that way!"

The fat man laughed again, and then used one hand to steady her left leg, while the other aimed the saw at her upper thigh. She gulped, in anticipation, wanting to close her eyes, but unable to take them off of the blade, as it reflected in the firelight! The saw pressed down onto her skin, and she bit her lip as the sharpness pierced her skin! And then he began to saw.

Her teeth clenched, at first, tears welling up in her eyes. The saw shredded a vein. She began screaming, tears falling freely now. She began to writhe and struggle against the ropes, but couldn't move. Blood began to shoot out of the wound, the bleeding extremely severe now. The screaming continued, choked with sobs.

The Mutant had been idly sitting by to this point. But something inside of him stirred as he watched the vixen's expression, her pain. For the many people he had killed, he had loved to hear their pain. But this...was different. He had convinced himself he had no heart, but now...he had to admit he did. His heart felt her pain, and wanted to make it stop. He wanted to protect her, and the thought was absurd to his mind, but the emotions flowed and the strength came! With a sudden burst of strength and a yell of "stoooooooppp!!!", he broke his bindings!

The Mutant slammed into the fat man, knocking the saw away and throwing him out of the cage! In the same movement, the Mutant grabbed the clean handkerchief that was nearby, and used it as a bandage, pressing it down upon the wound. He located the pressure point, and pressed with two fingers down on it, cutting off the flow of blood to the leg, with two of his arms kept pressure on the wound.

NC had gone rolling right through the fire, and he was occupied with putting himself out for a time. When he had extinguished his fire, he stood up and approached the cage again. "I will have my dinner, and no freak of unnature is gonna stop me!"

The bleeding had successfully been stopped, and now the Mutant could safely leave the wound. He exited the cage, and faced NC. "You, little human, will not make a meal out of her!"

They charged each other, and the Mutant found himself surprised at the fat man's speed and strength. The man was able to match him, move for move! "Mutie, it's time to SING!" The fat man began a chain of attacks, saying a word with each blow. "Solar Plexus!" He slammed an elbow between the Mutant's ribs. "Instep!" Stomping down with a heavy boot, he crushed the Mutant's tail. "Nose!" An open palm aimed upwards at the nose, making a loud cracking sound. "Groin!" He slammed a knee below the Mutant's torso. With a smirk and wink, he said, "SING. Heh, if you were human, that would have completely disabled you. Also, I probably should have done the neck instead of the nose, but I always forget which one it is."

Not wasting any motions, NC immediately flowed into a roundhouse punch, and the Mutant went flying through the air! Righting himself with his wings, the Mutant managed a soft landing. NC charged forward again, and they clashed! NC blocked all four of the Mutant's arms, but didn't move fast enough to block his tail! The Mutant hit NC hard with the tail, and he went flying into the air! Jumping back, the Mutant ripped a couple of bars from the cage, and threw them like spears! The bars plunged into NC's chest, spearing him to a tree! He gasped and gurgled, blood soon seeping from his mouth.

The Mutant turned back to the cage. The vixen had stopped screaming. He could still barely believe what he had done, but he ran his mind through the next logical course of action. Making a makeshift backpack, the Mutant carried the robot and the banner with the yellow dress on his back. He wrapped the vixen in a blanket to keep her warm (for with heavy blood loss, a loss in body temperature is to be expected), and carried her in his arms. He slid off into the night...