TAINTED // KAIJU PARADISE FANFIC

CHAPTER 4 - "WELCOMING"

Caspian looked up at the ceiling, processing what she had just heard. She looked back at Yule, who was floating down to the door and sitting patiently there. Chuki didn't respond, but stuck out their tongue and rolled their eyes, making a "blep" sound.
A crowd of people in similar outfits to her flooded into the room, she could've sworn she saw Jasper but he walked into the next hallway. Each scientist was standing in front of the door to a Slime Pup's enclosure, looking around or chatting to the nearest other person.
Casper shrugged and stood in front of Yule's door.
Someone rushed past, saying something like "Aw, damn! Guess I'll get Abble." Before continuing to the next door to Caspian's right.
This person had long, wavy pink hair that flowed down their back. Their coat had short sleeves and they were wearing shorts. A sticker on their coat read "Hello my name is REECE"
Reece turned to Caspian and smiled.
"Hello! You must be the new guy- or gal," Reece exclaimed, smile widening. Her smile was warmer than a cup of hot chocolate and her aura was welcoming, so Caspian felt okay with replying.
"Yea-"

"EVERYONE IN POSITION PLEASE SAFELY EXTRACT SLIME PUPS FROM CELL AND SAFELY LOCATE THE SLIME PUP PLAYPLACE IN THE GARDEN. I REPEAT EVERYONE IN POSITION PLEASE SAFELY EXTRACT SLIME PUPS FROM CELL AND SAFELY LOCATE THE SLIME PUP PLAYPLACE IN THE GARDEN."

All of the other workers opened the doors to the slime pup's cells and picked them up like they were normal cats and dogs and not weird goo monsters.
Caspian copied and opened Yule's door, reaching out for the little pup. Yule hesitated before floating into her arms, burying their face in her coat sleeves. She noted that Yule was shaking.
All of the employees began to walk in a crowd to the same location, so Caspian figured she should just follow.
With Yule in hand, she followed the crowd next to Reece, who was holding a fluffy red Slime Pup with green patterns.
"So, your name?"
"Caspian, you're Reece? Because your namet-"
"Mhm!"
Reece smiled and exclaimed something as the slime pup in her arms shifted.
"First day is always rough. But hey, I'll help you find your new room!"
Caspian felt so surprised, she was shocked she didn't freeze on the spot. "New room? What about my apartment..?"
"They've already gathered your stuff and are working on your room. I requested a room with the newbie soo... Here I am!"
"Oh.. Did you have a roommate before?"
"Nah, I wanted one. And you're the only new one.. Seems really odd, like one of those mini movies on YouTube, heh."
She nodded at this response despite not really understanding what Reece was talking about. She was mainly trying to solve one thought that bounced around in her empty mind:
How did they know where I lived..?
Reece continued rambling about different Gootraxians that caused trouble in the lab.
"Have you seen that Hebi, Kuzima? He's wild. Ooh, or that Protogen that keeps destroying the elevator shafts! I heard that it's going to put it down. Its cell-mate, Carnelian, a Carneline, won't let them touch that Protogen, though. Odd."
She continued to listen to Reece in silence, occasionally nodding or faking a shocked expression until they arrived at a little cavernous grove where everyone shut the doors and released the Slime Pups into the grotto. Yule curled up in the darkest corner of the room, cowering.
Abble approached Yule, extending a paw. Yule shook their head and frowned as Abble turned heel and walked away.

Caspian looked at Reece. She looked at her caramel colored eyes, her wavy pink hair that smelled of apples and strawberries. It was odd, she would have to LIVE with this person, in this lab that she just arrived to only earlier that day.
This doesn't seem like reality. Is this actually happening? Is this a dream? Or a nightmare?
She had to ask a few questions first.
"I have a few questions," Caspian began after inhaling, sitting beneath a tree and placing her hands on her knees. "Okay, shoot," Responded Reece, placing her hands behind her head and leaning on the tree. Reece looked down at Caspian as she spoke.
"Are we allowed to leave? Can I meet more Gootraxians? Do I have to live here? Can we tell our families about this place?"
"Let me think.."
The two sat in silence for what felt like forever. A nice jingle floated through the air after somebody touched the radio that sat beneath one tree.
"No, yes, yes, no."
She nodded and thought about these answers.
"Can I see our room after this?"
"Of COURSE!"

CARNELIAN'S POV
The angry, no, scrap that- the ENRAGED Carneline paced back and forth in her cell, thinking angrily.
"Yo, chill, Carnelian. I'll be fine," Said the Protogen in the next room, the relaxed look on his face made Carnelian want to CRUSH him with her claws.
...in an affectionate way.
"No, Disparu, you WON'T be fine. They're going to kill you," she paused for a moment to unsheathe her claws and slash at the wall, "Because of your dumb actions."
"Come on, why do you care?" He said, laying down and staring up at the ceiling in a defeated way that made Carnelian want to scream or cry or die or-
"Because I'm your mate, Disparu. I care about you."
"Well.. Can you stop caring? I don't want you to be sad when I'm gone."
Carnelian paused to walk over to the window and place her fists on it, she bared her teeth and flicked her tail.
"You won't have to be gone, and I won't have to be sad."
Before he could respond, Carnelian walked away and over to the door of her cell, leaving Disparu with a confused look and about a million unanswered questions.
As she touched the door with one paw, she closed her eyes and balled her other paw into a fist.
The door leading to freedom.
It was locked, only the scientists could open it.
But even knowing this..
Carnelian would find a way.