Talon eventually awoke from his hazy, drug-induced sleep.
There was a different sort of smell in the air, not at all like in the lab. His eyes still
closed, he breathed in the scent deeply. As he did so, his awareness slowly returned...
at least until he realized he was in another cage. That brought him awake almost
immediately.
He leapt to his feet, eyes darting wildly. There were bars on all sides but one, and
solid metal on the top and bottom. This was a small cage, much smaller than the one
he was in before -- there was barely enough room for him to turn around. It was so
small that the doors took up the whole side.
He inhaled again, trying to concentrate on the scent. It was a good smell,
comforting almost, like something he'd been missing for a long time.
Outside. He was Outside. But still in a cage.
The scents of the humans were gone, except for the places on his skin where he'd
been touched by them -- while he was unconscious, of course. He usually woke up
smelling like them. But this time, none of them were around. And he was Outside.
Calmer now, he inspected his small prison more closely. He knew how to work the
handles of doors -- the humans at the lab knew that too, which is why they were
very careful not to use anything like that in his cages. But for some reason, there
were handles just like the ones in the lab inside this cage, one on the inner door
and one on the outer.
Very carefully, he opened the first one.
And when nothing unpleasant happened, he opened the door to the Outside.
There was a different sort of smell in the air, not at all like in the lab. His eyes still
closed, he breathed in the scent deeply. As he did so, his awareness slowly returned...
at least until he realized he was in another cage. That brought him awake almost
immediately.
He leapt to his feet, eyes darting wildly. There were bars on all sides but one, and
solid metal on the top and bottom. This was a small cage, much smaller than the one
he was in before -- there was barely enough room for him to turn around. It was so
small that the doors took up the whole side.
He inhaled again, trying to concentrate on the scent. It was a good smell,
comforting almost, like something he'd been missing for a long time.
Outside. He was Outside. But still in a cage.
The scents of the humans were gone, except for the places on his skin where he'd
been touched by them -- while he was unconscious, of course. He usually woke up
smelling like them. But this time, none of them were around. And he was Outside.
Calmer now, he inspected his small prison more closely. He knew how to work the
handles of doors -- the humans at the lab knew that too, which is why they were
very careful not to use anything like that in his cages. But for some reason, there
were handles just like the ones in the lab inside this cage, one on the inner door
and one on the outer.
Very carefully, he opened the first one.
And when nothing unpleasant happened, he opened the door to the Outside.