a_time_slip | just prompts - Defiant (Reply)

One of the big rules was never have children. If any of them passed the genes on Travel would spread outside of the world of the compound and existence would become chaos. Some of the Iyanifa compound's rules were centered around that concept; no children and no heterosexual relationships were two of them, and no leaving the compound was a third.

Before Robert and Ella, most of the sixteen thought it impossible for them to leave. They'd all been told that this was the only place they fit in, and that it was the only way to stop the world from ending, so when they didn't come back right away rumors started. Their leader, who Janie would know as Ori, went on a long search for them; and eventually the two were returned, disciplined and separated.

The rules meant more than anything else, and luckily they were returned before the outside world could be damaged too much. That's why it was such a shock when Ori came from a travel towing a little girl with scuffed shoes and torn stockings. She was the daughter of two travelers, a product of two defiant parents. No one knew what to expect from someone so young.

After Janie's arrival, Ella's actions were drugged and she was executed for breaking the rules; though her child was told that she died on a mission. That brought the numbers to sixteen and everything seemed like it would be right again to most of the members. When the sacred numbers were intact and everyone followed the rules, how could things go wrong?

For a long time nothing extraordinary happened with Janie. She broke nearly every rule at least once as she matured, but always learned from her lessons and did proper penance. Some of the members started to wonder if the rules were all for nothing, then she entered her rebellious stage. Suddenly, they couldn't keep track of her. She left when she wanted, she traveled all around time and space, told outsiders about the compound. Everything that was forbidden was something she tried.

This last time she'd been gone for weeks and weeks before Ori was able to get ropes on her, and drag her before the other fifteen.

"Why always sixteen?" asked Janie "You must have a list somewhere to replace the people that don't -" she was unable to finish because she saw the gun and willed herself to travel to somewhere else.

Muse: Janie 'Ja'Nee' Taylor
Fandom: Original Character
Word Count: 419