Breaking Mobius [Closed]

Running; that's what she did best. Without much need for rest, it was easy to just do it indefinitely. She never considered running from her problems, as she never really had any problems to run from. What she seemed to do, what was now just occurring to her, was that she was running in circles. After all those plans to really do something, all she'd really done is the same thing, over and over, in a loop. Ashleigh only wished that she'd realized it earlier.

She stopped running, her heart rate still calm as she looked over the track, over the field that housed it, before the sinking sun that still brought an only slightly uncomfortable heat to her skin. Had she really been here for over a year? It seemed as if time really flew by, or that she had run right past it without even noticing. While she knew for a fact that she had friends, bringing them to mind gave her trouble, and eventually a slight, prickling headache. What had she really done besides stay in motion, never going anywhere? She'd had no problems to run from; rather, she ran herself into one: stagnation. Her life was stagnant, never moving. For once in her life, she didn't feel like moving. At least, not without a purpose. There had to be something to change things up, to turn things around.

Emery was not a runner. It was always too slow for her, primitive and boring. She had the heart for it, in both spirit and endurance, but needed a vehicle. That's why, when the track was empty and the sun turned it bright scarlet, she took to it with her bike. The girl whirred around corners at ridiculous speeds, all the while having a big smile on her face. Sure, it was probably not permitted, and sure, she faced being kicked off the track, but they had to catch her first. The Headmaster was going to talk to her parents! She was going to stay around for sure.

The whirring of wheels was the first indication that something was afoot. The second was a small gust of wind blowing across her body as someone raced past her on a bike. Caught by surprise, Ashleigh jumped backwards in a delayed reaction, landing on the grass as her eyes cast around for who or what had just gone by her. A biker, huh? Well, that was new. With a small smile on her face, she cupped her hands on the sides of her mouth and yelled out, "Hey, slow down, will ya?" Well, that was probably the first time she'd ever said that. Still, it felt like it'd been months since she'd spoken to someone, and now there was someone being delivered right into her space. Perfect.

The bike stopped with a skid, smoke practically exploding from the tires as the bike halted. Emery looked back; Who was this girl? She didn't even remember there being another person on the track; perhaps she was going too fast. The red-haired girl smiled and took a hand from her handlebars, to her mouth. She covered her grin, and Ashleigh began speaking. "I'm sorry for being so rude, pretty lady!" Emery nodded and giggled soundlessly to herself, before riding off once more around the track.

Ashleigh's eyes widened in surprise as words she didn't say came out of her mouth. At least, she was positive she was silent, yet there were words, in her voice, saying things. What in the world? "Wait, I'm not sorry for being rude…" Why the hell did she say that? She wasn't being rude… was she? Okay, this was weird. And then she noticed that the girl had started riding away.

"Hey, where ya going?" This was an interesting development, and she suddenly had this feeling, this pang of loneliness, where she didn't want this girl to leave. There was something to do, and she wasn't about to let that get away. "I won't bite!" Wait, did I call her pretty?

Emery stopped again with a sharp skid. So this chick was still on her ass. She stood on her toes, balancing the bike between her legs, and her hands became a flurry of signs, American sign language that she did not expect Ashleigh to know. She'd act death; that'd get her to let Emery ride in peace. 'What are you doing, you asshole, my whale is in the lake, you have to get him out, dogs bark, trees are tall, my father is a lumberjack, you're an ugly squirrel'; pure gibberish came out of her hands as she tried to find words to sign to her, to make herself look to be a crazy ranting deaf.

Ashleigh stared blankly at the very weird biker chick who was waving her hands like a mad woman. It took a moment or three, but the purple-haired girl finally gathered that this person might just be deaf. That would mean all that hand waving was supposed to be sign language. Well, that wasn't good: she didn't do sign language. That wasn't going to deter her, though!

She effortlessly jogged over towards the other girl, unable to understand her sign language, nor the intent behind them. It was time to see if she could communicate, though she only knew how to say she didn't speak Spanish. Trying to think on how to speak without actually speaking, she pointed at her ear, giving the other girl a confused expression. That was her best efforts at asking if the other girl was deaf. If only either of them had something to write with.

Emery nodded with a few seconds of hesitation. Jeez, this girl seemed intent. She then touched her lips; mute too, she was definitely that. That was the only part that wasn't a lie. She could have left out the deaf part, but she wanted to create as many obstacles between them communicating so that this girl would leave. She liked people, but she just liked biking more, and this girl was cutting into that.

Ah, so she was mute too. Unfortunately for this girl, understanding the cue to leave was not one of Ashleigh's strong suits. She did nod in understanding, but she didn't make any movements to leave. Instead, she planned on trying to think up something else to sign, something that would be obvious enough to not be misinterpreted, but something else came to mind... "Huh... So you're deaf, but you heard me call out to you on your bike." With a slight grin on her face, Ashleigh stepped forward again, until she could almost hit the bike with her knee, staring right into the other girl's eyes. "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?" Of course, if the girl was actually deaf, then her words wouldn't matter, but if not... well then.

Emery blinked. Shit, that was right. With a sigh, she tapped her ear and shook her head; she was not deaf. She was still mute, though, and that meant no conversation, right?

So she wasn't deaf after all. The smile on Ashleigh's face was replaced with a small frown at the revelation that she'd been lied to. The possibility hadn't seemed to phase her a few seconds ago, but actually hearing it - well, seeing it - as truth felt weird. "Oh. Well, I guess you don't want to talk, then." So maybe that had been obvious from the start, but it had sort of knocked the wind out of her sails, in a matter of speaking. Without another word, she turned around and began to walk off, not exactly sure where she was going to go, but she felt somewhat unwanted. It wasn't a great feeling.

Emery felt kind of bad. Damn that chick for making her choose between her and her bike. She just wanted some time for freedom; she wasn't as sociable as her sister. With a silent and irritated huff, Emery kicked her bike back in motion, and began riding. Soon, all her worries about the girl were replaced with the swift wonder of biking. It wasn't long, however, until a squirrel had the idea of crossing the track. At full speed, as she felt the wind ruffle her hair, she collided with the crossing squirrel. The girl went flying off her bike, too the ground with half-a-dozen tumbles. Her bike immediately collapsed beside the dead squirrel.

Well, Ashleigh certainly wasn't deaf. She stopped in her tracks upon hearing the sounds distinct to crashing, and whipped around in surprise to find that untalkative girl sprawled on the ground, having been wasted by what looked like some kind of animal. Alarm surged through her as she rushed back over to the girl, momentarily surveying the damage before dropping to her knees and gently trying to move the fallen female. "Holy shit, what happened? Can you stand up?" Either way, she'd have to get this girl to the nurse.

"My knee..." Ashleigh spoke for her once more as Emery tried slowly to get to her feet, but failed. Her knee seemed cracked, a gash splitting it across the middle with blood seeping down her pale leg. Her face was pale too. Damn, this was serious. It hurt really bad. "Help me to the infirmary, please." She managed to hobble to one foot, and spat at the squirrel by her bike. It missed. She groaned and peered over to the bicycle. "W-wait, and this too, fuuuck...."

Ashleigh's eyes widened as once again she spoke without warning, with words that would have been more appropriate for the other girl... wait. Realization suddenly struck her, making her feel somewhat dumb: it must have been due to her powers. This girl was like a ventriloquist or something. Well, something like that. There would be time to ask - and then tell herself the answer - later; right now, the main objective was to get this girl to the infirmary. She was able to get up onto one foot, but that would slow them down incredibly, and that wouldn't do at all.

"Hey, don't do that. Here, let me help you." Without really thinking of the other female's comfort zone, Ashleigh gently scooped the girl up and held her as comfortably as she could manage in her arms. This would be a lot easier than the two of them hobbling all the way to the infirmary. "Ah, right, your bike!" Turning around to look at the discarded instrument of squirrel demise, she moved over and bent down. "You can still use your arms, right? If you want to take this with us, it'll be easier if you pull it along while I carry you."