Umm, so this is sort of a fill? In that it's a fic, about Joshua. I'm not sure how well it fits your prompt, but it was inspired by it, so I hope you enjoy it :)
When Joshua thinks back on his time in Manticore, his first and most complete memory is always the noise. When he was young, it was the noises of his brother and his father, Isaac's giggling turning to distraught wails over the years, before stopping completely one violent day. As he grew, more voices joined, new inflections and tones, new footsteps to learn and recognise. The soldiers are loud, for despite the fact that they are trained to operate in silent, ruthless efficiency they are but children, and it takes time for even the bleakness of Manticore to subdue their instinctive noise-making
Joshua listens through walls and grates, deciphering conversations that echo and fade into nothingness. The noise often seems to blend into one continuous beat of stepstepstepstep, bootprints marking time in the dust, and Joshua feels as though the beat will never stop, grinding into his skull until he scratches at his scalp, curled up into a ball in the damp underbelly of the Manticore beast.
It is the anomalies that save him. They scream and shout and moan with unrelenting passion - angry, afraid, and so alive, so real that they break through his whimpers, through the hands pressed to his ears, through the never ending beat of the soldiers, and they make him stand. The anomalies call to him, beg for his help, and in doing so, they give him a reason to survive, to remain strong and sane and caring, until the time comes when he can leave.
And so he saves them in return. He sneaks through passages unused and forgotten, listens again to the rise and fall of voices, and learns how to use his canine DNA to his advantage - sniffing out unattended food, water, even medical supplies on occasion, and he passes it through the bars to desperate, greedy hands. He finds that his strength is greater than a human, possibly even more than the new breed of soldiers Manticore is so proud of - the pretty, tiny X-5's, who embody all that the scientists hope for and yet are still so flawed. He fights, when he has to, when the guards and soldiers alike forget who he is - that he was first, that he is special, and that father cares for him, even from afar.
And then he meets his little fellow, and for a while the world is more than just noise, for a while it is colour and movement and he is a part of it, not merely in the shadows. But the world isn't like that, not for Joshua, and he is again relegated to the darkness, to an old and abandoned home, to living life through holes in a wall, and infrequent visits. And now the world is quieter than it has ever been, and Joshua feels the beat of the footsteps returning. But this time, it is not noise that saves him, it is colour. Yellows and blues and the feeling of being alive as he transforms blank white into explosions of joyous colour. Joshua's life is separated into two parts - sound and sight, and one day, he knows he will find a balance.
Fill: Sight and Sound
When Joshua thinks back on his time in Manticore, his first and most complete memory is always the noise. When he was young, it was the noises of his brother and his father, Isaac's giggling turning to distraught wails over the years, before stopping completely one violent day. As he grew, more voices joined, new inflections and tones, new footsteps to learn and recognise. The soldiers are loud, for despite the fact that they are trained to operate in silent, ruthless efficiency they are but children, and it takes time for even the bleakness of Manticore to subdue their instinctive noise-making
Joshua listens through walls and grates, deciphering conversations that echo and fade into nothingness. The noise often seems to blend into one continuous beat of stepstepstepstep, bootprints marking time in the dust, and Joshua feels as though the beat will never stop, grinding into his skull until he scratches at his scalp, curled up into a ball in the damp underbelly of the Manticore beast.
It is the anomalies that save him. They scream and shout and moan with unrelenting passion - angry, afraid, and so alive, so real that they break through his whimpers, through the hands pressed to his ears, through the never ending beat of the soldiers, and they make him stand. The anomalies call to him, beg for his help, and in doing so, they give him a reason to survive, to remain strong and sane and caring, until the time comes when he can leave.
And so he saves them in return. He sneaks through passages unused and forgotten, listens again to the rise and fall of voices, and learns how to use his canine DNA to his advantage - sniffing out unattended food, water, even medical supplies on occasion, and he passes it through the bars to desperate, greedy hands. He finds that his strength is greater than a human, possibly even more than the new breed of soldiers Manticore is so proud of - the pretty, tiny X-5's, who embody all that the scientists hope for and yet are still so flawed. He fights, when he has to, when the guards and soldiers alike forget who he is - that he was first, that he is special, and that father cares for him, even from afar.
And then he meets his little fellow, and for a while the world is more than just noise, for a while it is colour and movement and he is a part of it, not merely in the shadows. But the world isn't like that, not for Joshua, and he is again relegated to the darkness, to an old and abandoned home, to living life through holes in a wall, and infrequent visits. And now the world is quieter than it has ever been, and Joshua feels the beat of the footsteps returning. But this time, it is not noise that saves him, it is colour. Yellows and blues and the feeling of being alive as he transforms blank white into explosions of joyous colour. Joshua's life is separated into two parts - sound and sight, and one day, he knows he will find a balance.
*hides*