Iara watched the sun as it set for the fifth time since she'd begun this particular experiment, the sky awash is pinkish-orange tones she found particularly pleasing. She felt the slightest hint of a breeze brush against her skin - the oppressive heat of the day was giving way again to cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, the pounding ache in her skull showed to sign of lessening, and as she walked she felt the near-constant dizziness of the past two days turning to something altogether more like vertigo. With a small sigh, she decided it was time for another break. She sat down where she stood, long past caring to be particular about such things, and tucked her one knee under her chin. She licked her lips, dry and cracked, though the the gesture brought no relief - her tongue felt equally dry. She closed her eyes for a moment, listened to the too-rapid flutter of her heartbeat beneath her ribs.
In retrospect, it had probably been a rather unwise idea, but Iara had always been impulsive, prone to a certain kind of recklessness. It was not, she thought, self-destructiveness that drove her, however, not really. She did not have active abilities, ones that were immediately useful in and out of a fight like those of others like her she'd glimpsed - the man with laser fingers, the girl with the telekinesis, a man she who could shift into a wolf. No, her abilities were passive, of no direct use when faced with a threat but for the fact that she could throw herself at that threat recklessly. To do that, she needed to know just how much she could withstand, what she could survive; too much of what little the woman knew about her abilities had come to her by way of sudden, unpleasant surprises. It made sense, she thought, to learn what she could in a controlled way - thus, over time, a series of experiments.
Iara had noticed that there was something about eating and drinking, that she got hungry and thirsty but that there seemed to be something off about her need for these things - situations where she'd had to do without for a day or two here and there and seemed less affected than she'd once been. She'd already learned that she could do without oxygen, at least for a while (and god she hoped she'd never need to fill her lungs with water again because the body's reaction to drowning was so, so unpleasant), so it was not really out there to wonder about her limits, how long she could do without water, food. The desert surrounding Las Ballenas seemed a good a place as any to test this - if she stayed her for any length of time she'd no doubt have reason to venture into it, if only because she preferred confrontations (which she seemed to find herself in far too often these days, but so it goes) away from possible witnesses and bystanders, and this way she would know how long she could go, if necessary. Preparing for the worse and whatnot.
Iara had taken an early morning bus to the outskirts of town and then walked, wearing a bright turquoise dress and dark tights, her hair tied back loosely. She brought nothing with her - she had few enough possessions, these days, and deemed it safer to leave those in a rented locker at the bus station. After a time she'd left the roadside and walked deeper into the desert, where no one was likely to see her and ask if she needed assistance, or question what she was doing. At first it had been almost pleasant to just walk, letting her mind go where it might. The desert here was so much different than that in Australia - the ground paler, less red, and the brush and cacti here were distinct. Nonetheless it brought back memories, nostalgia. She'd been nineteen, a bit skinnier and far less cautious, determined to hitchhike from Sydney to Darwin. She remembered gazing out at the outback from the window of and talking to Al, who'd told her about his mob, the Arrernte people, and had given her a ride all the way to Alice Springs...
The following days were far less pleasant - she quickly forgot about hunger but the thirst, the bloody thirst was so intense, and more than once she found herself staring at a cactus, knowing there was likely some water inside but no, this was an experiment, she needed to see how long she could go with nothing, out here in the heat. The headache had started sometime during the second day and by the third it felt like a mallet constantly pounding into her skull somewhere behind her eyes. She gave up on keeping track of time, noting only sunrise and sunsets, napping when she could, forcing herself to walk despite the ache in her muscles because if this was a real situation, she'd need to know how long she could walk.
Now, the sun was setting for a fifth time, and she sat in the sand, listening to her heart beating wildly, far too fast. She'd done her research on dehydration beforehand - that she was still alive, still conscious and able to walk after five days in the intense heat proved that this, too, fell under the umbrella of ways her abilities made her very, very hard to kill. She'd tried to gauge how badly off she was - she felt like shit, but then, she had for days. It was getting hard to think, to focus on anything for long, but she hadn't yet hallucinated anything. Earlier that day, when the heat had still been intense and she sat in the hot sand, knowing she was no longer sweating as she had the days before, Iara had decided that perhaps this was enough. She knew she could go at least five days in fairly extreme conditions, which meant longer in better circumstances, and she no doubt already looked and smelled like shit five days in wandering in the same clothes outdoors; she'd need energy to get back to the city, get her stuff, find a cheap motel that would give a room to someone who hadn't bathed for five days. Some time later, after forcing herself up and walking again, she'd realized she no longer had any idea which direction the road had been in - at some point, she'd grown disoriented enough to lose all sense of direction.
The sky grew darker, and the dizziness did not seem to abate this time, even sitting down. Iara considered that she was an idiot, and really should have brought a phone if only for the gps. "Bloody hell," she whispered, throat hoarse. It looked like she might learn a bit more about how slow it took her to die of dehydration than she'd planned. Unless she didn't die and just...stayed in this half-dead shit state hardly able to walk but unable to die, and wasn't that a horrifying thought, but not altogether out of the question. "Fuck," the muttered again, and closed her eyes.
A few moments later, she opened them, the sound of movement nearby drawing her attention. She turned, and saw a coyote standing near some brush, a few meters away. She'd heard the howling of coyotes at night, but this was the first time she'd seen one, and so close by at that. "Hey," she said, mustering a small smile. The coyote stared at her, though it did not react to her greeting. She watched it watch her, several long moments before it turned back and scampered away. She sighed, and shifted so that she was laying down, back against the ground, and closed her eyes. Her head hurt too much to sleep, but perhaps she'd be able to...think of something, if she rested her eyes for a bit.
In retrospect, it had probably been a rather unwise idea, but Iara had always been impulsive, prone to a certain kind of recklessness. It was not, she thought, self-destructiveness that drove her, however, not really. She did not have active abilities, ones that were immediately useful in and out of a fight like those of others like her she'd glimpsed - the man with laser fingers, the girl with the telekinesis, a man she who could shift into a wolf. No, her abilities were passive, of no direct use when faced with a threat but for the fact that she could throw herself at that threat recklessly. To do that, she needed to know just how much she could withstand, what she could survive; too much of what little the woman knew about her abilities had come to her by way of sudden, unpleasant surprises. It made sense, she thought, to learn what she could in a controlled way - thus, over time, a series of experiments.
Iara had noticed that there was something about eating and drinking, that she got hungry and thirsty but that there seemed to be something off about her need for these things - situations where she'd had to do without for a day or two here and there and seemed less affected than she'd once been. She'd already learned that she could do without oxygen, at least for a while (and god she hoped she'd never need to fill her lungs with water again because the body's reaction to drowning was so, so unpleasant), so it was not really out there to wonder about her limits, how long she could do without water, food. The desert surrounding Las Ballenas seemed a good a place as any to test this - if she stayed her for any length of time she'd no doubt have reason to venture into it, if only because she preferred confrontations (which she seemed to find herself in far too often these days, but so it goes) away from possible witnesses and bystanders, and this way she would know how long she could go, if necessary. Preparing for the worse and whatnot.
Iara had taken an early morning bus to the outskirts of town and then walked, wearing a bright turquoise dress and dark tights, her hair tied back loosely. She brought nothing with her - she had few enough possessions, these days, and deemed it safer to leave those in a rented locker at the bus station. After a time she'd left the roadside and walked deeper into the desert, where no one was likely to see her and ask if she needed assistance, or question what she was doing. At first it had been almost pleasant to just walk, letting her mind go where it might. The desert here was so much different than that in Australia - the ground paler, less red, and the brush and cacti here were distinct. Nonetheless it brought back memories, nostalgia. She'd been nineteen, a bit skinnier and far less cautious, determined to hitchhike from Sydney to Darwin. She remembered gazing out at the outback from the window of and talking to Al, who'd told her about his mob, the Arrernte people, and had given her a ride all the way to Alice Springs...
The following days were far less pleasant - she quickly forgot about hunger but the thirst, the bloody thirst was so intense, and more than once she found herself staring at a cactus, knowing there was likely some water inside but no, this was an experiment, she needed to see how long she could go with nothing, out here in the heat. The headache had started sometime during the second day and by the third it felt like a mallet constantly pounding into her skull somewhere behind her eyes. She gave up on keeping track of time, noting only sunrise and sunsets, napping when she could, forcing herself to walk despite the ache in her muscles because if this was a real situation, she'd need to know how long she could walk.
Now, the sun was setting for a fifth time, and she sat in the sand, listening to her heart beating wildly, far too fast. She'd done her research on dehydration beforehand - that she was still alive, still conscious and able to walk after five days in the intense heat proved that this, too, fell under the umbrella of ways her abilities made her very, very hard to kill. She'd tried to gauge how badly off she was - she felt like shit, but then, she had for days. It was getting hard to think, to focus on anything for long, but she hadn't yet hallucinated anything. Earlier that day, when the heat had still been intense and she sat in the hot sand, knowing she was no longer sweating as she had the days before, Iara had decided that perhaps this was enough. She knew she could go at least five days in fairly extreme conditions, which meant longer in better circumstances, and she no doubt already looked and smelled like shit five days in wandering in the same clothes outdoors; she'd need energy to get back to the city, get her stuff, find a cheap motel that would give a room to someone who hadn't bathed for five days. Some time later, after forcing herself up and walking again, she'd realized she no longer had any idea which direction the road had been in - at some point, she'd grown disoriented enough to lose all sense of direction.
The sky grew darker, and the dizziness did not seem to abate this time, even sitting down. Iara considered that she was an idiot, and really should have brought a phone if only for the gps. "Bloody hell," she whispered, throat hoarse. It looked like she might learn a bit more about how slow it took her to die of dehydration than she'd planned. Unless she didn't die and just...stayed in this half-dead shit state hardly able to walk but unable to die, and wasn't that a horrifying thought, but not altogether out of the question. "Fuck," the muttered again, and closed her eyes.
A few moments later, she opened them, the sound of movement nearby drawing her attention. She turned, and saw a coyote standing near some brush, a few meters away. She'd heard the howling of coyotes at night, but this was the first time she'd seen one, and so close by at that. "Hey," she said, mustering a small smile. The coyote stared at her, though it did not react to her greeting. She watched it watch her, several long moments before it turned back and scampered away. She sighed, and shifted so that she was laying down, back against the ground, and closed her eyes. Her head hurt too much to sleep, but perhaps she'd be able to...think of something, if she rested her eyes for a bit.
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Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-09-2017, 05:19 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-09-2017, 05:52 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-09-2017, 06:36 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-09-2017, 06:51 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-09-2017, 07:23 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-09-2017, 07:34 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-09-2017, 08:19 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-09-2017, 08:30 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-09-2017, 08:57 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-09-2017, 09:39 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-09-2017, 10:25 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-09-2017, 10:39 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-09-2017, 11:14 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-09-2017, 11:35 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-10-2017, 01:43 AM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-10-2017, 12:01 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-10-2017, 02:37 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-10-2017, 03:21 PM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by AgentBonkers - 04-13-2017, 12:27 AM
RE: Testing Limits [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-13-2017, 01:12 PM