[opposite event] This is a story all about how Taxon got flipped, turned upside down.

[eventextras]

The idea, as it had been initially presented, was for citizens to experience what it was like to walk in someone else's shoes. In practice it became discovering what it was like to walk in their own shoes, if their taste in shoes were suddenly quite different from normal. The footwear still fit and was comfy, but the style was quite different

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[Location: Taxon Forest]

[freaks_myword]

Gwen was busy clenching and unclenching her fist, studying her surroundings and contemplating what kind of pain she could dish out to the killers, thieves, drunkards, and liars of the world when she heard an alarming ruckus on her tablet. The tablet! The perfect accessory for a superhero. As soon as she caught a glimpse of the forest and of the familiar poor girl's frightened face, she was off like the wind, rushing into danger as she was wont to do. It was a good thing she was so determined, because it was a little ways away.

"Don't worry!" she bellowed, her voice helpfully not echoing in the dense forest. She sprinted deeper into the woods, and cried out as a bit of her cape caught on a jagged branch. But such things did not stop a hero, and they did not stop Gwen Raiden. "I'm com--"

Whoosh. A girl ran right by her. What the hell? Couldn't she see she was doing some serious saving-- OH!

Gwen turned on her heels and followed DG, hearing the faint howling of wolves behind her as they ran. "Find a tree, a rock, and climb!" She stopped in her tracks, turned around, and felt electricity flow through her bare arms. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes were all brave determination. This is what she was born to do, why she was so different. "I got this."

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[tothelightshown]

She was too frightened - both by the snapping and snarling of the wolves and by the sudden arrival of the woman in the colourful costume - to argue. DG managed an undignified scramble up the nearest tree, grazing her palms and tearing her beautiful pink dress on the grasping branches.

"Be careful!" she called down with a wail, wrapping her arms around the trunk fo the tree. The wolves looked terribly fierce and terribly angry, a world away from her other animal friends. They were very close now.

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[freaks_myword]

Gwen cringed as the woman scrambled up the tree, wincing with each step, hoping the girl wasn't too harmed. Her dress had been torn, and that was a shame. The girl was courageous as a damsel could be, which was one or two notches above 'trembling in fear.' She liked her. Maybe they could be...girlfriends, or something.

"Just stay back, Miss. This is what I do." It was her job to protect her, and Gwen stood steadfast against the oncoming wolves. The first one came at her almost out of nowhere, way ahead of the pack, and lunged with bared teeth at Gwen's stomach.

But she was ready. Arms held up and apart, electricity gathered between her hands and blue lighting shot in jagged flares at her enemy. With a whimper, the wolf fell back, fur smoking and flesh burning, the smells of victory. Gwen was busy smiling triumphantly, and she wasn't ready for the next one.

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[tothelightshown]

If things had been different, DG would have been fighting the wolves alongside Gwen, at the very least. She'd have snatched up a branch from the ground and wielded it like a baseball bat or fired at them with magic she couldn't fully controlled.

At the moment, however, all she could do was gasp in awe as Gwen sent one wolf tumbling backwards, then cry out in alarm when a second animal advanced.

"Behind you!" she exclaimed, almost slipping from her tree in her haste to warn her saviour.

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[freaks_myword]

If things had been different, Gwen would have been sitting on her ass at home, watching the action on her tablet with a serious 'you got yourself into this, stupid' attitude. But such as it was, it wasn't.

She felt claws rip at her arm, and three big strips of fabric now clung at her upper sleeve. The girl's warning saved her a gut or two, but she didn't have time to express gratitude. She and the wolf fell down to the ground, together, and the zap she gave him couldn't have been mustered a second too soon. With a heaving sigh, she lifted the creature off her and rolled over, hands pushing herself up. Boy, they were feisty.

"Don't..." (Heaving breath) "Worry. I'm..." (Another heaving breath, followed by a wolf's cry in the distance) "...Totally good." She stopped, looked at the poor woman with pity, and said, earnestly and wooden: "I hope you're alright. Do you need me to rescue you down from that tree?"

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[tothelightshown]

"How can I ever thank you? You saved me!"

The coast wasn't clear yet - the distant howls were growing closer by the moment - but DG scrambled down from the tree anyway. There were twigs in her hair and her dress was torn, but she was unharmed. Which was more than could be said for Gwen.

"You're hurt!" DG gasped in horror, covering her mouth with her hands for a moment before darting over. She tore a strip of material from the hem of her dress to serve as a bandage. "Here, let me help you!"

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[freaks_myword]

"No thanks needed. It's what I live for." Gwen dusted herself off. Her cape was torn, the letter G on her chest was barely visible, and her shoulder was bleeding, but she felt good, better than she had in a long time. She never felt more fulfilled than she did, saving another person.

"Oh, I'll be fine," she said, wincing slightly and taking just the slightest step back. It was instinct. What good was she if she were electrifying the people she was saving? For fear of offending DG, she explained, honestly: "Careful, my powers make me untouchable."

It was said with pride, with just the hint of a smile, and she reached out a bare hand. "Just drop it there. We better hurry." She shifted her attention to the howls. "We're not--"

(Some lost part of Gwen cringed)

"--out of the woods, yet."

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[tothelightshown]

"I'm still grateful," gushed the princess, smiling shyly and sweetly as she looked up at Gwen through her lashes. She'd never seen such strength and bravery before.

Her eyes widened at Gwen's admission, though she didn't have time to ask questions. Before she'd opened her mouth, another howl - louder than the rest, which meant that it was closer - split the night.

Obediently, she dropped the scrap of cloth.

"What should we do?" she asked, anxious but putting her faith in her new hero without a second thought.

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[freaks_myword]

Gwen tied the piece of cloth around and around her shoulder. It stung, but she was no stranger to pain. She accepted it, relished it; it only made her stronger.

They wouldn't both be able to outrun the wolves. And Gwen wouldn't be able to protect DG if she had to fight off the beasts on her own. No, there had to be another way.

She turned to the girl, then, resolution written on her face. There was another way. She could protect DG, but only at the risk of herself. Blue sparks flew from her hands as she summoned her strength, her power. When she spoke, her voice was firm, and some might say dramatically low. "You run. Find a safe house. Go inside. These things are mine."

[Location: Taxon Forest]

[tothelightshown]

"I can't just leave you," said the anxious princess, though even her mind - which was currently as fluffy as her pretty pink gown - could understand that she wasn't capable of helping and would only get in the way.

"Be careful," she implored, her eyes wide.