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esp_dragonFandom: Original
Summary:
The world of Torpin is open, dragging in Others from different worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the Others that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human Other drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: M
Notes: Contains swearing. And violence.
Any questions or clarifications, just ask. (Unless it’s, you know, plot-related. XD)
As for the italics thing, I'm going for if the word's in caps, then chances are, it's supposed to be in italics. Similarly, if there's words encompassed by -' '- , then whatever's in between them should be italicised.
I've got to find a better word that 'flame'. =___=
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 3,179
Total word count: 7,841
Status: Work in Progress
"You can control fire."
Marland kept the flames in his hand, just in case. He could feel their heat through his scales, especially when they brushed by his fingertips. "Yeah."
The possessor continued to watch the crackling fire, expression softening, before looking back at him. "Then you are very trustworthy in my eyes."
Marland's ears went back and he bared his teeth. "And you're even LESS trustworthy ta me now, 'cause of that light show!"
"Why is that?"
"HELL no - I am NOT answering any more fucking questions, from either of you."
The possessor's body language changed, stiffening up again, backing up a little on the bed. "You can tell when I am in control."
Marland snorted. It really wasn't that hard to do.
With a muted sigh, the possessor sat down, knees up, hands in the space between his legs. He cocked his head to the side. "You are different from... from..." He frowned, staring at bed. Then he shook his head, his hair waving back and forth. So, what, BOTH of them had memory problems? "You have reason to protect him."
He was not PROTECTING him. ...Ugh. Dealing with these two was starting to give him a headache.
"Why do you not trust him?"
And back to that again. "I don't know him."
"I can-"
"I trust YOU even less than I trust him!"
The possessor froze, mouth still open. "He would not hurt you."
Marland snarled at him. "Would you just STOP trying to push your fucking - argh, you telling me doesn't mean I'll just let him move about!"
"What would?"
If Marland hadn't been wary about being attacked, he would have scrubbed at his face with a hand. Yelling at him wasn't getting him anywhere.
"If I," the possessor said slowly, "did not take control any more, then would you let him out?"
Marland's ears flattened to his skull. He should just leave the room. Leave the room, lock the door, and just hope the next time he went in, Shodin was back in control. But if he did that, the possessor would probably attempt jumping out the window. He'd survive the three story drop, but... "That doesn't stop you from doing it again if you wanted to." He wasn't sure the last time he'd talked this much. Maybe with Wendil?
The possessor growled at him, eyes flashing. "What COULD I say that would satisfy you?"
"Nothing."
A scowl as the possessor lowered his head. "Then why did you help him? To keep him here? You trust me less than you do him, so maybe he can show you that he is indeed someone that you can trust."
Shodin's body relaxed, like that sigh had been his last breath, his eyes blanking for a second. There was a brief pause and then a sucking gasp. Shodin looked around the room, eyes wide, flicking left to right, his back straightening.
"Nice friend you have."
Shodin looked at him, eyebrows crunched up. "Friend? I don't understand."
It was the voice that Shodin used, not the one that Marland had been hearing for the last few minutes.
"How did I get here?"
Marland stared. He'd lost his memory again? "I brought you here."
That earned him a quick smile. "That, I know. I meant, I was sitting over there," -Shodin waved at the head of the bed- "and now I'm here, with my body in a strange position, and my throat feeling... itchy."
Huh. "So, you don't remember."
The line of Shodin's mouth twitched. "I said that, yes."
Marland crossed him arms. "You know what possession is?"
"Possession? Hmm. Vaguely, yes. A laknur takes control of a body, using it as their... oh."
Sounded about right. Whatever the hell a 'laknur' was.
"So, I wasn't in control then."
"No." More questions to come?
“You weren’t hurt?” Shodin leaned forward, eyes running over him.
THAT was his first thought? "Didn't come near me. But," he added, "he did start using magic."
Shodin had moved his legs back in to the position that they'd been in before, crossed in front of him, and he was tugging the blanket over his lap. "Magic?"
How the hell did you explain that? "It's... fuck. It's something else you can do that - " Like hell that made any sort of sense. "Magic is normally another kind of weapon here. Humans don't have it, but some Others do, and it... bends the usual rules of hwo things are supposed to work." Not that he KNEW what the usual rules were, seeing as he'd been born with his, and had been in contact with beings with magic one way or another for all his life, so he didn't know what 'normal' was supposed to be.
Shodin didn't say anything to that, which was surprising. Marland looked at him warily. Was he going to ask an even harder question?
"Do yout hink that I'd be able to do the same?"
Marland shrugged. "Dunno. I don't know how things work wit that."
A sidelong look. "So, this means that I could possibly defend myself then."
He could see where this was going and Marland narrowed his eyes. "You don't know how to do it though."
A nod. "But given the chance to learn, I may be able to do it." He waited, hands playing with the blanket.
"And then what? I let you out-" because there was no way he was going to let them practice magic INSIDE "-and that whatever-it-was takes over and does whatever it wants."
Shodin opened his mouth, and then closed it, looking away. "You do have a point. I... have no control over what it does, or even have a warning before it does." He sighed, leaning back on the wall, his head raised his eyes to the ceiling.
Wonderful. Marland waited to see if Shodin would do anything else, but he didn't. He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. He didn't know why he didn't lock it, but Shodin didn't... Marland continued to see him as 'harmless', far too overly curious for his liking, but - not dangerous. The possessor on the other hand...
But Marland could already see a small pattern emerging. It only surfaced when Shodin was in danger, and the possessor only thought of protecting Shodin and nothing else. So, what did that mean? It had already shown that it was perfectly willing to go through him if it thought it was needed. Why it thought HE would protect him, just because he also had magic Marland didn't understand. Whatever. He shook his head, poking through the fridge. He had enough for one meal for the two of them before it was completely out.
He brought the plate through and gave it to Shodin, who thanked him, a little distratedly. Not wanting to have another barrage of questions, Marland left the room again and locked the door. He finished off his own meal, checked the window (the sky was finally dark enough that he'd be all right with walking down the streets) then headed out.
* * *
Marland absolutely hated shopping. The lights in the shop were too bright for his eyes, and he continually had to squint to make sure that he didn't walk right in to a person as the world narrowed in to a blur of colour. It didn't help that he was always consiously aware of his wings, making sure that they didn't stick out, in case he toppled something from the shelves or display.
One good thing was, the shop at least had regular Other customers, so he didn't stand out SO completely. The cashiers were sometimes friendly, sometimes absolutely terrified that they essentially hid in the back room for the whole night.
Thank fuck they had the self-service installed.
He left quickly, the bags making an annoying sound no matter how he held them and then stood in one of the shadows away from the shop for a few minutes to let his eyes adjust back to the darkness.
One of his ears twitched to the right. What had that been? He stilled, waiting. The stupid bags rustled in the wind, but it wasn't enough to cover the faint sound of running footsteps, the gasping breaths, followed by a scrabbling of claws on the pavement, something larger than a big dog.
Shit.
Quickly, Marland stashed away the shopping in a dry-looking corner of the alley and followed the sounds. He tracked them, having to pause at junctions, straining his ears, and hoping like fuck he wouldn't bump in to any humans. It wasn't THAT late enough that the streets should be empty. And just as he thought that, a car came around the corner, its headlights searing and driving right in to his brain. He could hear the screams coming from inside, and the car swerved, heading towards him. Crap, crap, crap.
Marland cleared the bonnet, and was then nearly thrown off as the car sharply changed direction again, his claws the only thing keeping him on it.
Dammit, at this rate, he'd lose them. One more bound, miraculously landing on the top of the car and not skiding off, and just one more to land on all fours beind it. The last he'd heard had come from the direction that he was facing and he started sprinting, hoping that the humans wouldn't attempt to reverse in to him.
They didn't, getting the car back on the road and roaring away, the occupants still yelling inside. The silence they'd left rang from the emptiness of sound but Marland kept his ears pricked, hoping that the human was still alive, his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for his eyes to start functioning again.
There. It sounded like something toppling, and THAT was a triumpant howl. Shitshitshit he was going to be later.
Marland skidded around the corner, flames in his hand, eyes frantically scanning for something out of place. The street looked empty, the streetlamps making it glow yellow but there wasn't - movement to his left.
He sprinted forward, flames leaping to his hands and threw it at the hulking form above the human. It was bulky, its form more round than humanoid, though the way that it was holding itself suggested that it could possibly look human if you stripped the extra fat away. Three fingers at the end of each limb, one finger to the back, while the other two were paired off together. At the end of each finger, there was a pale hooked claw the length of his thumb. Pale yellow, its head was bird-like, with a protuding beak and exentions coming out of its neck that looked like they could be ruffled feathers. It had two beady eyes on the side facing him and it shrieked at him, turning to face him, his magic not strong enough to throw it off its base.
Which was when he slammed in to it, claws first. He knocked it off its feet and they skidded along the ground for a few seconds. Before they'd stopped completely, Marland had raked five green blood streaks in the Other's torso and then threw himself off as the Other opened its mouth and hissed, the extentions shivering in warning. Just in time as it spat something where his head had been.
Wings flared for balance, Marland aimed for its head with his magic. It missed, surprisingly quick for its size.
There was a crash to his left. Marland turned his head slightly, keeping the Other in his line of sight as he looked at what it could be. The Other wasn't so cautious, taking its entire attention off him and towards whatever had made the noise.
It was the human, trying to shrink further in to the shadows. Satisfied it wasn't another Other or an attacking human, he charged at the Other, wings poised above his head. The Other's head snapped back to him too fast, and Marland had to twist out of the way of whatever it was spitting at him. Another flame, smaller this time, aimed for the eyes. It ducked, going on all fours, a shriek piercing his ears a second later. Then it lowered its head and ran at him.
Marland scored it right along where its spine should be with his fire. It howled, but kept going stubbornly forward. It cleared the last part between them in one powerful leap and caught Marland straight in the chest. He snarled as he landed on his back, and felt his wings getting crushed under the weight of both of them. The Other was hissing. Shit shitshit. He drove his claws in to its side and then dragged down. The spit landed beside his head as the Other jerked back.
In retaliation, the Other tore at his shoulder, ripping his scales off as it backed away from him, the 'feathers' shaking incessantly. Marland could see its blood dripping steadily on to the ground as it crouched. He quickly got to his feet, feeling the soreness around his chest and all over his wings. He was probably going to be picking dirt and grit off them for a week. Before he'd gotten up completely, it was bearing down on him again.
His wings flicked out and covered him like a shield before flaring out again, towards the Other. It was enough. It startled it enough to make it hesitate. His hand full of flames, he lashed out. It was still fast enough to dodge and he glanced off its cheek.
That brought him close enough for it last out at him too. Arm raised, it punched right through his vulnerable skin in his shoulder. The wold sharpened around the pain and the fire in his hand flickered. Fuck. Fucking HELL. Clenching his teeth, he hissed right back at it, turned his hand around and slashed right across its face, taking the eyes on its left side out.
Marland wildly struck out with his left hand while it was still screeching, the flames there only half its strength they should have been – he caught the Other on its beak, but it was only a glancing blow. Snapping his wing in to its side affected it much more. It stumbled a step to the side and Marland used that brief breathing space to call the flames back to hand, resolutely ignoring the stabbing pain in his shoulder and how sluggish his magic seemed to be responding to him. He was fine. Just his perception of time was affected.
The Other charged again, on four legs now. Marland threw the fireball at its face - this time, it smashed in to its face, leaving green streaks in its wake. The right side of its face was a wet mess of green blood and flesh, bone visible between it all. It skittered back, shrieking with every step.
Every nerve in Marland's body was stretched, expecting to hear the sirens in seconds. This fight was far too loud. There had to be at least one person who'd called for the police, for the hunters.
Just a few more minutes more. Then the fight would be over. The Other seemed to think so too, the extentions shaking for all their worth. Some of the blood had started to trail down on the left side of its head. Maybe...
The Other wavered back and forth, retreating and coming back again every few steps. The movement caused the trickle to fall faster, and it weaved its way straight in to the Other's eyes. It blinked, shaking its head and pawing at its face.
Small fireball, at the mouth. It was a direct hit and the Other reared back, exposing its neck. One lunge, one thrust and the Marland had most of its throat in his hand. The Other wavered on its feet for a few seconds, and he could hear and see the Other trying to breathe. It collapsed in a heap, twitching, but it eventually stilled. Marland waited a few more seconds, ears straining to hear anything else but the Other didn't move again.
Still keeping an eye out, Marland allowed himself to relax a little, his wings drooping slightly, already starting to feel the burn from his shoulder, incessant and demanding attention. He groped around his collarbone with his left hand, fingers eventually finding the thick chain, following it around until they bumped in to the circular disk. He fumbled with it for a few seconds, arm feeling like it was losing its strength just by hholding itself up before he pressed the small button embedded in it.
That done, he went to the closest darkest alley he could find and waited, trying not to notice just how much of a blood trail he was leaving. Shit. He pressed his hand to his shoulder - and then the world span, tipping on its side as the colours flashed and brightened. Wha-? What'd...? Ears flat to his skull, Marland peered at his hand. Or attempted to; his hand wasn't staying still in his vision, sliding left and right, before going back again.
Green hand, normal. Green blood, darker than his scales, yeah, wasn't his. 'Cause he didn't have green blood. The thin white liquid that was spread across his palm... Not sure. Marland blinked, and then looked away. It didn't help with the swaying he could feel in his head, his body following suit. The entire street was a haze of colours, and he was having a hard time telling the difference between the road and the buildings. Or maybe he was looking down the road. Hard to tell.
Marland wanted to be sick, his stomach a whirlpool inside him.
He stayed leaning on the wall, his wing sitting at an uncomfortable angle between the wall and the floor, but he didn't mind that much. Other things more important.
There was a rumble of tires coming steadily closer. That was what was more important. Awkwardly, Marland got back on his feet, using his claws on the wall as holds, and peered around the corner. Black something coming up. Fuck his head hurt. No, he had to concent... His head wouldn't stop pounding. Distracting him.
The... big... van? stopped beside the Other, the engine still running. The click of the door opening and - and fucking hell. He could barely see but that was NOT Laris - too thin, too short, blond instead of black-haired. Shit shit shit - what the hell -
"Dammit, Nav," a familiar voice hissed from inside the van, "I told ya ta wait 'till I told ya you could come out." Laris. Marland could feel his breathing come back to semi-normality. Good.
"Oh, come ON, Laris - the Other's dead so it's not like I'm in any kinda danger or anything." The voice was younger, male.
“Were you LISTENING to me when I told you about Marland?” Laris growled. There was something about that. Taking a deep breath, he pricked his ears towards them, listening to what they would say.
Summary:
The world of Torpin is open, dragging in Others from different worlds. The majority of them are monsters, prone to violence. There are some, however, that are not, and are able to live amongst the human population, if allowed to. Marland should know; he's one of them. His job is to hunt and stop the Others that seek only to destroy what's around them. On one job, a human Other drops through a portal, an event which Marland has never heard of happening before. And that's not the only thing different about the human...
Rating: M
Notes: Contains swearing. And violence.
Any questions or clarifications, just ask. (Unless it’s, you know, plot-related. XD)
As for the italics thing, I'm going for if the word's in caps, then chances are, it's supposed to be in italics. Similarly, if there's words encompassed by -' '- , then whatever's in between them should be italicised.
I've got to find a better word that 'flame'. =___=
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 3,179
Total word count: 7,841
Status: Work in Progress
"You can control fire."
Marland kept the flames in his hand, just in case. He could feel their heat through his scales, especially when they brushed by his fingertips. "Yeah."
The possessor continued to watch the crackling fire, expression softening, before looking back at him. "Then you are very trustworthy in my eyes."
Marland's ears went back and he bared his teeth. "And you're even LESS trustworthy ta me now, 'cause of that light show!"
"Why is that?"
"HELL no - I am NOT answering any more fucking questions, from either of you."
The possessor's body language changed, stiffening up again, backing up a little on the bed. "You can tell when I am in control."
Marland snorted. It really wasn't that hard to do.
With a muted sigh, the possessor sat down, knees up, hands in the space between his legs. He cocked his head to the side. "You are different from... from..." He frowned, staring at bed. Then he shook his head, his hair waving back and forth. So, what, BOTH of them had memory problems? "You have reason to protect him."
He was not PROTECTING him. ...Ugh. Dealing with these two was starting to give him a headache.
"Why do you not trust him?"
And back to that again. "I don't know him."
"I can-"
"I trust YOU even less than I trust him!"
The possessor froze, mouth still open. "He would not hurt you."
Marland snarled at him. "Would you just STOP trying to push your fucking - argh, you telling me doesn't mean I'll just let him move about!"
"What would?"
If Marland hadn't been wary about being attacked, he would have scrubbed at his face with a hand. Yelling at him wasn't getting him anywhere.
"If I," the possessor said slowly, "did not take control any more, then would you let him out?"
Marland's ears flattened to his skull. He should just leave the room. Leave the room, lock the door, and just hope the next time he went in, Shodin was back in control. But if he did that, the possessor would probably attempt jumping out the window. He'd survive the three story drop, but... "That doesn't stop you from doing it again if you wanted to." He wasn't sure the last time he'd talked this much. Maybe with Wendil?
The possessor growled at him, eyes flashing. "What COULD I say that would satisfy you?"
"Nothing."
A scowl as the possessor lowered his head. "Then why did you help him? To keep him here? You trust me less than you do him, so maybe he can show you that he is indeed someone that you can trust."
Shodin's body relaxed, like that sigh had been his last breath, his eyes blanking for a second. There was a brief pause and then a sucking gasp. Shodin looked around the room, eyes wide, flicking left to right, his back straightening.
"Nice friend you have."
Shodin looked at him, eyebrows crunched up. "Friend? I don't understand."
It was the voice that Shodin used, not the one that Marland had been hearing for the last few minutes.
"How did I get here?"
Marland stared. He'd lost his memory again? "I brought you here."
That earned him a quick smile. "That, I know. I meant, I was sitting over there," -Shodin waved at the head of the bed- "and now I'm here, with my body in a strange position, and my throat feeling... itchy."
Huh. "So, you don't remember."
The line of Shodin's mouth twitched. "I said that, yes."
Marland crossed him arms. "You know what possession is?"
"Possession? Hmm. Vaguely, yes. A laknur takes control of a body, using it as their... oh."
Sounded about right. Whatever the hell a 'laknur' was.
"So, I wasn't in control then."
"No." More questions to come?
“You weren’t hurt?” Shodin leaned forward, eyes running over him.
THAT was his first thought? "Didn't come near me. But," he added, "he did start using magic."
Shodin had moved his legs back in to the position that they'd been in before, crossed in front of him, and he was tugging the blanket over his lap. "Magic?"
How the hell did you explain that? "It's... fuck. It's something else you can do that - " Like hell that made any sort of sense. "Magic is normally another kind of weapon here. Humans don't have it, but some Others do, and it... bends the usual rules of hwo things are supposed to work." Not that he KNEW what the usual rules were, seeing as he'd been born with his, and had been in contact with beings with magic one way or another for all his life, so he didn't know what 'normal' was supposed to be.
Shodin didn't say anything to that, which was surprising. Marland looked at him warily. Was he going to ask an even harder question?
"Do yout hink that I'd be able to do the same?"
Marland shrugged. "Dunno. I don't know how things work wit that."
A sidelong look. "So, this means that I could possibly defend myself then."
He could see where this was going and Marland narrowed his eyes. "You don't know how to do it though."
A nod. "But given the chance to learn, I may be able to do it." He waited, hands playing with the blanket.
"And then what? I let you out-" because there was no way he was going to let them practice magic INSIDE "-and that whatever-it-was takes over and does whatever it wants."
Shodin opened his mouth, and then closed it, looking away. "You do have a point. I... have no control over what it does, or even have a warning before it does." He sighed, leaning back on the wall, his head raised his eyes to the ceiling.
Wonderful. Marland waited to see if Shodin would do anything else, but he didn't. He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. He didn't know why he didn't lock it, but Shodin didn't... Marland continued to see him as 'harmless', far too overly curious for his liking, but - not dangerous. The possessor on the other hand...
But Marland could already see a small pattern emerging. It only surfaced when Shodin was in danger, and the possessor only thought of protecting Shodin and nothing else. So, what did that mean? It had already shown that it was perfectly willing to go through him if it thought it was needed. Why it thought HE would protect him, just because he also had magic Marland didn't understand. Whatever. He shook his head, poking through the fridge. He had enough for one meal for the two of them before it was completely out.
He brought the plate through and gave it to Shodin, who thanked him, a little distratedly. Not wanting to have another barrage of questions, Marland left the room again and locked the door. He finished off his own meal, checked the window (the sky was finally dark enough that he'd be all right with walking down the streets) then headed out.
* * *
Marland absolutely hated shopping. The lights in the shop were too bright for his eyes, and he continually had to squint to make sure that he didn't walk right in to a person as the world narrowed in to a blur of colour. It didn't help that he was always consiously aware of his wings, making sure that they didn't stick out, in case he toppled something from the shelves or display.
One good thing was, the shop at least had regular Other customers, so he didn't stand out SO completely. The cashiers were sometimes friendly, sometimes absolutely terrified that they essentially hid in the back room for the whole night.
Thank fuck they had the self-service installed.
He left quickly, the bags making an annoying sound no matter how he held them and then stood in one of the shadows away from the shop for a few minutes to let his eyes adjust back to the darkness.
One of his ears twitched to the right. What had that been? He stilled, waiting. The stupid bags rustled in the wind, but it wasn't enough to cover the faint sound of running footsteps, the gasping breaths, followed by a scrabbling of claws on the pavement, something larger than a big dog.
Shit.
Quickly, Marland stashed away the shopping in a dry-looking corner of the alley and followed the sounds. He tracked them, having to pause at junctions, straining his ears, and hoping like fuck he wouldn't bump in to any humans. It wasn't THAT late enough that the streets should be empty. And just as he thought that, a car came around the corner, its headlights searing and driving right in to his brain. He could hear the screams coming from inside, and the car swerved, heading towards him. Crap, crap, crap.
Marland cleared the bonnet, and was then nearly thrown off as the car sharply changed direction again, his claws the only thing keeping him on it.
Dammit, at this rate, he'd lose them. One more bound, miraculously landing on the top of the car and not skiding off, and just one more to land on all fours beind it. The last he'd heard had come from the direction that he was facing and he started sprinting, hoping that the humans wouldn't attempt to reverse in to him.
They didn't, getting the car back on the road and roaring away, the occupants still yelling inside. The silence they'd left rang from the emptiness of sound but Marland kept his ears pricked, hoping that the human was still alive, his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for his eyes to start functioning again.
There. It sounded like something toppling, and THAT was a triumpant howl. Shitshitshit he was going to be later.
Marland skidded around the corner, flames in his hand, eyes frantically scanning for something out of place. The street looked empty, the streetlamps making it glow yellow but there wasn't - movement to his left.
He sprinted forward, flames leaping to his hands and threw it at the hulking form above the human. It was bulky, its form more round than humanoid, though the way that it was holding itself suggested that it could possibly look human if you stripped the extra fat away. Three fingers at the end of each limb, one finger to the back, while the other two were paired off together. At the end of each finger, there was a pale hooked claw the length of his thumb. Pale yellow, its head was bird-like, with a protuding beak and exentions coming out of its neck that looked like they could be ruffled feathers. It had two beady eyes on the side facing him and it shrieked at him, turning to face him, his magic not strong enough to throw it off its base.
Which was when he slammed in to it, claws first. He knocked it off its feet and they skidded along the ground for a few seconds. Before they'd stopped completely, Marland had raked five green blood streaks in the Other's torso and then threw himself off as the Other opened its mouth and hissed, the extentions shivering in warning. Just in time as it spat something where his head had been.
Wings flared for balance, Marland aimed for its head with his magic. It missed, surprisingly quick for its size.
There was a crash to his left. Marland turned his head slightly, keeping the Other in his line of sight as he looked at what it could be. The Other wasn't so cautious, taking its entire attention off him and towards whatever had made the noise.
It was the human, trying to shrink further in to the shadows. Satisfied it wasn't another Other or an attacking human, he charged at the Other, wings poised above his head. The Other's head snapped back to him too fast, and Marland had to twist out of the way of whatever it was spitting at him. Another flame, smaller this time, aimed for the eyes. It ducked, going on all fours, a shriek piercing his ears a second later. Then it lowered its head and ran at him.
Marland scored it right along where its spine should be with his fire. It howled, but kept going stubbornly forward. It cleared the last part between them in one powerful leap and caught Marland straight in the chest. He snarled as he landed on his back, and felt his wings getting crushed under the weight of both of them. The Other was hissing. Shit shitshit. He drove his claws in to its side and then dragged down. The spit landed beside his head as the Other jerked back.
In retaliation, the Other tore at his shoulder, ripping his scales off as it backed away from him, the 'feathers' shaking incessantly. Marland could see its blood dripping steadily on to the ground as it crouched. He quickly got to his feet, feeling the soreness around his chest and all over his wings. He was probably going to be picking dirt and grit off them for a week. Before he'd gotten up completely, it was bearing down on him again.
His wings flicked out and covered him like a shield before flaring out again, towards the Other. It was enough. It startled it enough to make it hesitate. His hand full of flames, he lashed out. It was still fast enough to dodge and he glanced off its cheek.
That brought him close enough for it last out at him too. Arm raised, it punched right through his vulnerable skin in his shoulder. The wold sharpened around the pain and the fire in his hand flickered. Fuck. Fucking HELL. Clenching his teeth, he hissed right back at it, turned his hand around and slashed right across its face, taking the eyes on its left side out.
Marland wildly struck out with his left hand while it was still screeching, the flames there only half its strength they should have been – he caught the Other on its beak, but it was only a glancing blow. Snapping his wing in to its side affected it much more. It stumbled a step to the side and Marland used that brief breathing space to call the flames back to hand, resolutely ignoring the stabbing pain in his shoulder and how sluggish his magic seemed to be responding to him. He was fine. Just his perception of time was affected.
The Other charged again, on four legs now. Marland threw the fireball at its face - this time, it smashed in to its face, leaving green streaks in its wake. The right side of its face was a wet mess of green blood and flesh, bone visible between it all. It skittered back, shrieking with every step.
Every nerve in Marland's body was stretched, expecting to hear the sirens in seconds. This fight was far too loud. There had to be at least one person who'd called for the police, for the hunters.
Just a few more minutes more. Then the fight would be over. The Other seemed to think so too, the extentions shaking for all their worth. Some of the blood had started to trail down on the left side of its head. Maybe...
The Other wavered back and forth, retreating and coming back again every few steps. The movement caused the trickle to fall faster, and it weaved its way straight in to the Other's eyes. It blinked, shaking its head and pawing at its face.
Small fireball, at the mouth. It was a direct hit and the Other reared back, exposing its neck. One lunge, one thrust and the Marland had most of its throat in his hand. The Other wavered on its feet for a few seconds, and he could hear and see the Other trying to breathe. It collapsed in a heap, twitching, but it eventually stilled. Marland waited a few more seconds, ears straining to hear anything else but the Other didn't move again.
Still keeping an eye out, Marland allowed himself to relax a little, his wings drooping slightly, already starting to feel the burn from his shoulder, incessant and demanding attention. He groped around his collarbone with his left hand, fingers eventually finding the thick chain, following it around until they bumped in to the circular disk. He fumbled with it for a few seconds, arm feeling like it was losing its strength just by hholding itself up before he pressed the small button embedded in it.
That done, he went to the closest darkest alley he could find and waited, trying not to notice just how much of a blood trail he was leaving. Shit. He pressed his hand to his shoulder - and then the world span, tipping on its side as the colours flashed and brightened. Wha-? What'd...? Ears flat to his skull, Marland peered at his hand. Or attempted to; his hand wasn't staying still in his vision, sliding left and right, before going back again.
Green hand, normal. Green blood, darker than his scales, yeah, wasn't his. 'Cause he didn't have green blood. The thin white liquid that was spread across his palm... Not sure. Marland blinked, and then looked away. It didn't help with the swaying he could feel in his head, his body following suit. The entire street was a haze of colours, and he was having a hard time telling the difference between the road and the buildings. Or maybe he was looking down the road. Hard to tell.
Marland wanted to be sick, his stomach a whirlpool inside him.
He stayed leaning on the wall, his wing sitting at an uncomfortable angle between the wall and the floor, but he didn't mind that much. Other things more important.
There was a rumble of tires coming steadily closer. That was what was more important. Awkwardly, Marland got back on his feet, using his claws on the wall as holds, and peered around the corner. Black something coming up. Fuck his head hurt. No, he had to concent... His head wouldn't stop pounding. Distracting him.
The... big... van? stopped beside the Other, the engine still running. The click of the door opening and - and fucking hell. He could barely see but that was NOT Laris - too thin, too short, blond instead of black-haired. Shit shit shit - what the hell -
"Dammit, Nav," a familiar voice hissed from inside the van, "I told ya ta wait 'till I told ya you could come out." Laris. Marland could feel his breathing come back to semi-normality. Good.
"Oh, come ON, Laris - the Other's dead so it's not like I'm in any kinda danger or anything." The voice was younger, male.
“Were you LISTENING to me when I told you about Marland?” Laris growled. There was something about that. Taking a deep breath, he pricked his ears towards them, listening to what they would say.
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Date: Nov. 10th, 2010 06:26 am (UTC)I'm really excited to see new characters. ^___^ And it looks like Marland might be working with someone? At least there's someone he contacts. Hm~
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Date: Nov. 10th, 2010 09:15 am (UTC)It's sort of governmental. Hunters are given the disk-thing so that they can get rid of the Others (it would be bad if people got poisoned, infected or whatever by the body lying around, and they wouldn't exactly want people to trip over them in the streets, especially when they'd started decomposing). And I know Marland's tells the people on the other side to send Laris but now I'm wondering if the ones that other hunters have is the same (like a tracker or ID), and if there's, like, a leaderboard or something. XDD
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Date: Nov. 10th, 2010 10:09 am (UTC)Hm, is Laris much older? Nav sounds fairly young. :3 I'm really curious how Laris and Marland met in the first place! And is he one of the few handful of people who didn't react violently to Marland when he first saw him? :3 Maybe that's plot related. XD
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Date: Nov. 10th, 2010 11:37 pm (UTC)So. Two main groups: 'government' and 'everyone else'. *snerk*
Government gets training, more payment(?), good guns, uniforms, stuff like that.
Everyone else are the people who don't want to be drilled, don't like being ordered about, don't know there is governmental training, because they'd been hunting by themselves/in a small isolated group for years, stuff like that.
XDD; Fairly stereotypical, I think?
There are kind of points of contact where people can get information, can partner/group up with other people, and there's a board of some sort with problematic Others that keep cropping up or are really destructive that really needs to be taken care of sharpish (i.e. the tavern. XD;). So this place gets information from locals, as well as the government, because spreading the word is good and things tend to get done faster if more people know about it. Tend. XD;
Er, my point of this was...?
They can work together, but usually only in the information way.
As for the disk-things, most Hunters have them because of the danger if the Other is left on its own (some don't because they don't know about them; others just don't care about that, only focusing on the killing).
*hums* I'm trying to think how they're issued. Marland didn't really think about how he got his - his adoptive mum (also an Other) gave it to him, but she was more social than him, so made more friends. Which is how Marland knows Laris, because Laris was the guy who was called to take care of the bodies for his mum. Marland's known him at least... ten years.
Maybe there's a grabbag, and you register the disk-thing (these need a name :P), so then the people on the other side know who they should send if some things are going to be a problem. As for the 'if that's been registered to an Other, why don't they just track them down too?' I think some people just go 'meh, they're helping, some have magic so that's really helpful, it's not really like they can get another job - and they'll die on the job anyway.' So...
Yeah, Laris was one of the people who didn't react violently to Marland when he first saw him - because Laris was already used to Wendil (Marland's adoptive mum), who was basically a giant bipedal cat. XD I think the number Marland says of how many people haven't ran screaming or whatever should be upped, because of his mum introducing people to him (or he's talking about the people who he's met since Wendil died).
... I think in some cases, I've been thinking about this too much. XDD;
Haaaa~. Plot, what plot? XDD
@___@ I hope I answered something!
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Date: Nov. 11th, 2010 05:49 am (UTC)Those disk-things do need a name. Or you could just call them Disks. =P
A giant bipedal cat? How does that look? XD; Ah, well, Marland's probably referring to people he met outside his mom's acquaintances then. People his mom knew shouldn't really count since they already know about Others!
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Date: Nov. 13th, 2010 08:42 am (UTC)DT? XD
Kinda like this but with a different colour scheme (which I haven't really thought of. I just know her stripes are white), clothing and better hands so that she has fingers rather than paws.
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Date: Nov. 13th, 2010 09:21 am (UTC)AHAHAHAHA, CUTE KITTY. Okay, bipedal cats immediately remind me of Neko-sensei from Princess Tutu.