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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.
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.
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 1,824
Total word count: 25,393
Status: Work in Progress
That wasn't completely true, or else how would Poss know when Shodin needed to be protected?
Shodin shook his head, sighing. "There's nothing I can do about it, I suppose."
Marland stared, vaguely surprised that Shodin would let it drop so easily. But then, the only person who could answer his questions, he couldn't talk with right now, and even if he could, Shodin probably wouldn't get an answer that made sense, if he even got an answer. It was kind of nice to know that Shodin could hold back on his curiosity though.
Marland mentally reviewed what was left of the bandages and tape: not much, and pretty much finished respectively. In the fridge, it was nearing empty as well, barring the drinks.
He sighed, ears moving half-way down before going up again. More shopping. Hmm. He still had the money Laris had paid him so he'd be all right for a while, and he still had a stash exactly for when he got injured. He looked at Shodin, considering. Shodin didn't say anything, waiting.
"I'm going shopping," he announced, then waited to see what Shodin would do or say.
"Ah, all right." Marland was starting to recognise the intense curious look on Shodin's face: his eyes opened a little bit more, his smile widened, his lips parting slightly, so that some of his teeth showed, and he tilted his head to the side slightly.
He sighed again, ears flicking and wings drooping. He couldn't be bothered dealing with what he knew was going to happen. "Yes, you can come," he said with a small roll of his head. "You're going to badger me to come along anyway."
Shodin blinked, his mouth falling open and his eyebrows rose. Then his mouth curved back in to a smile. "Actually... I wasn't."
Marland snapped back to him, ears pricked towards him. What? He wasn't?
"But thank you for letting me come out with you."
Marland's ears flattened. And he'd assumed that he'd know what Shodin would do again. He really had to stop doing that. "...Just stay in my sight, okay?" He wasn't sure if the warning would do anything; he had a feeling that Shodin would wander off anyway. Or maybe he wouldn't, considering he'd defied all of his other expectations.
"But..." Shodin started, then hesitated, looking away. "Are you sure that I should go out with you?"
And what did THAT mean? Marland didn't say anything though, and waited to see what else Shodin would say. He'd jumped to enough conclusions for tonight.
"I thought you didn't trust me," Shodin continued, "and you DEFINITELY didn't trust Poss."
... He HAD said that. Marland stared at Shodin, ears flicking, as he wondered what had changed. He didn't TRUST Shodin, no, not completely, but he didn't expect him to break in to his room and try to kill him either. And Poss, he didn't think he'd decide to go off and kill people, not without Shodin being threatened first.
"I didn't," Marland said slowly. "But I know you won't try to kill me the first chance you get." That was his biggest concern, and Shodin had had more than enough opportunities to do that and never did it. "Poss..." He shrugged. "He's loud - I'd be able to find him if he took off." In some ways, he didn't consider Poss to be a danger either, so long as it didn't involve Shodin. ... Since when had he been so flippant about something like this?
The hesitation in Shodin's eyes faded, and he smiled, it mostly being in the eyes this time. "If you are very sure."
Was he? Maybe he was. Shodin... was going to en up out of the flat at one point anyway, so it would be better if they got most of the questions out of the way as soon as possible.
"Yeah."
Shodin then glanced down at his feet, wiggling his toes. Right. Shodin needed shoes. The pair he'd been wearing when he first fell from the portal were still around, weren't they?
"I'll be back in a minute," Shodin said as he stood up and went to his room.
Was there anything else they needed? Marland thought about it as he went to his own room to pick up some money. Food, bandages, tape... More clothes for Shodin. What else? Marland couldn't think of anything.
Shodin came out at the same time Marland did. Marland switched off the TV while Shodin went to turn off the lamp. Marland then waited by the door as Shodin shook his head in the sudden darkness, stood there for a few seconds, then made his way over to the door.
A quick check to make sure he had everything he needed and then they headed out the door.
* * *
Shodin wasn't as bad as Marland thought he would be. He did stare at everything, his head twisting and turning every second, but he didn't wander off on his own either. Not completely, anyway. He'd LOOK at Marland in a certain way, eyes shining and a shade off begging, and then Marland would sigh, ears down, and follow him to whatever had caught Shodin's interest at that point.
He seemed to be absolutely fascinated by the cars, though not the ones that made a lot of noise, the ones that went tearing down the road. It was the larger ones that he liked looking at, going around them to look at them from every angle. At least it didn't happen to EVERY car they passed, or else it probably would have taken them about three hours to just get to the first set of traffic lights. He also seemed to be fairly easily distracted by flashing lights, which, okay, made sense, because that was entirely the point of them.
Shodin also didn't have as many questions as Marland thought he would have. At one point, Shodin caught him watching him, as he waited for the next question to come.
"I'd've thought you would've been asking more."
At that, Shodin quirked a smile at him, tilting his head, before shaking his head. "Watching the TV's helped; I know a few things more about Torpin than I did before, and Paizinel also answered a lot of my questions."
Marland snorted, before he caught on to the first part of that sentence. "You're learning from the TV." Not a question; a disbelieving statement.
A nod.
Oh hell. "You're LEARNING from the crappest films that aren't anything like real life?"
Another, patient, nod. And Shodin was just smiling at him, like there wasn't anything wrong with that. Which he wouldn't know if it WAS wrong.
Marland stared back, refusing to let his ears go down. "Then how the hell do you know if what you're watching is what actually happens?"
The look on Shodin's face was too… happy. "I ask you."
Oh HELL no. He was supposed to explain how -
Wait. One of Marland's ears twitched to the side. Had he heard…? Marland stilled, ears constantly on the move as they tried to find out the source of the noise. They were in an alley, light spilling in from both sides. It was a fairly long one though, but it would still take time to reach one side if they ran. Dammit, they were directly in the middle, and Marland couldn't tell where the noise had come from. Shodin thankfully kept quiet, alert to the fact that Marland was on edge, but not asking about it.
And... there. There were people in front of them, humans, around the corner. One of them had moved, their shadow briefly falling on to the wall before they pulled back again. He could hear a lot of shifting, and the moving of shoes on the pavement. And then Marland could hear some people catch up behind them as well, not actually entering the alley, but around the corner, just like the ones in front.
Shit. Lying in wait. Trapped. How the fuck were they supposed to get out of here? There weren't any other exits apart from those two areas that had just been blocked off, and the walls were too high to jump over easily, nor did they have good hand- or foot-holds. Not that he'd be able to do that well with climbing right now, with his shoulder. He hadn't exactly tested it to see if it could hold his weight decently enough.
And then there was the problem with Shodin. Marland gritted his teeth, a small growl escaping his throat, and his ears falling flat. He wasn't exactly going to leave him behind, though, Shodin could possibly have a better better chance of getting away because he was human. Saying that, Shodin had been caught in his company, so maybe he'd be killed because he'd... Marland couldn't think of anything at that particular moment, mind too busy with figuring out how to escape, how much time they had left, and what exactly he could do.
The best thing he COULD do was startle them with his fire and then get the hell out of there. If he attacked them and hurt them, he'd be put on the noticeboard of all the really dangerous Others where Hunters could see. THEN he'd had more Hunters after him, and it wouldn't matter if he was a Hunter as well - he was an Other that had 'finally' shown his true colours, so they could chase him down without thought.
He heard the cocking of a gun. Person in front of them, on the right. Shit. Not that he should be surprised. If it was specifically him that they were targeting (could be true, but it might have also been likely that they just happened to see him as he and Shodin walked down the road. Fucking hell, he hadn't been anywhere NEAR as vigilant as he normally was) then of course they would have guns. It wasn't like people used swords to go after Others around here. If they did, they didn't last very long.
"Huh." That came from behind them. Male, maybe older than he was. Pivoting so that his back was to a wall, Marland bared his teeth in that direction. No-one was standing there, so they were still hiding around the corner.
They were too fucking exposed like this. The alley was empty, apart from Marland and Shodin. He'd chosen to go down it because there wasn't anything to hide behind, so they couldn't be ambushed. Except he hadn't taken in to account the entrance and exit of the alley. So now THEY didn't have anything to hide behind.
"'Extremely tall, green and gold scales, huge-ass wings,'" the same man continued. "I think we've found the Other that killed the Aliste Mailon and kidnapped another human on the twelfth, along with attacking the couple in a car on the thirteenth."
Marland's anger flared up. Fucking HELL.
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.
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.
Genre: Urban fantasy
Word count: 1,824
Total word count: 25,393
Status: Work in Progress
That wasn't completely true, or else how would Poss know when Shodin needed to be protected?
Shodin shook his head, sighing. "There's nothing I can do about it, I suppose."
Marland stared, vaguely surprised that Shodin would let it drop so easily. But then, the only person who could answer his questions, he couldn't talk with right now, and even if he could, Shodin probably wouldn't get an answer that made sense, if he even got an answer. It was kind of nice to know that Shodin could hold back on his curiosity though.
Marland mentally reviewed what was left of the bandages and tape: not much, and pretty much finished respectively. In the fridge, it was nearing empty as well, barring the drinks.
He sighed, ears moving half-way down before going up again. More shopping. Hmm. He still had the money Laris had paid him so he'd be all right for a while, and he still had a stash exactly for when he got injured. He looked at Shodin, considering. Shodin didn't say anything, waiting.
"I'm going shopping," he announced, then waited to see what Shodin would do or say.
"Ah, all right." Marland was starting to recognise the intense curious look on Shodin's face: his eyes opened a little bit more, his smile widened, his lips parting slightly, so that some of his teeth showed, and he tilted his head to the side slightly.
He sighed again, ears flicking and wings drooping. He couldn't be bothered dealing with what he knew was going to happen. "Yes, you can come," he said with a small roll of his head. "You're going to badger me to come along anyway."
Shodin blinked, his mouth falling open and his eyebrows rose. Then his mouth curved back in to a smile. "Actually... I wasn't."
Marland snapped back to him, ears pricked towards him. What? He wasn't?
"But thank you for letting me come out with you."
Marland's ears flattened. And he'd assumed that he'd know what Shodin would do again. He really had to stop doing that. "...Just stay in my sight, okay?" He wasn't sure if the warning would do anything; he had a feeling that Shodin would wander off anyway. Or maybe he wouldn't, considering he'd defied all of his other expectations.
"But..." Shodin started, then hesitated, looking away. "Are you sure that I should go out with you?"
And what did THAT mean? Marland didn't say anything though, and waited to see what else Shodin would say. He'd jumped to enough conclusions for tonight.
"I thought you didn't trust me," Shodin continued, "and you DEFINITELY didn't trust Poss."
... He HAD said that. Marland stared at Shodin, ears flicking, as he wondered what had changed. He didn't TRUST Shodin, no, not completely, but he didn't expect him to break in to his room and try to kill him either. And Poss, he didn't think he'd decide to go off and kill people, not without Shodin being threatened first.
"I didn't," Marland said slowly. "But I know you won't try to kill me the first chance you get." That was his biggest concern, and Shodin had had more than enough opportunities to do that and never did it. "Poss..." He shrugged. "He's loud - I'd be able to find him if he took off." In some ways, he didn't consider Poss to be a danger either, so long as it didn't involve Shodin. ... Since when had he been so flippant about something like this?
The hesitation in Shodin's eyes faded, and he smiled, it mostly being in the eyes this time. "If you are very sure."
Was he? Maybe he was. Shodin... was going to en up out of the flat at one point anyway, so it would be better if they got most of the questions out of the way as soon as possible.
"Yeah."
Shodin then glanced down at his feet, wiggling his toes. Right. Shodin needed shoes. The pair he'd been wearing when he first fell from the portal were still around, weren't they?
"I'll be back in a minute," Shodin said as he stood up and went to his room.
Was there anything else they needed? Marland thought about it as he went to his own room to pick up some money. Food, bandages, tape... More clothes for Shodin. What else? Marland couldn't think of anything.
Shodin came out at the same time Marland did. Marland switched off the TV while Shodin went to turn off the lamp. Marland then waited by the door as Shodin shook his head in the sudden darkness, stood there for a few seconds, then made his way over to the door.
A quick check to make sure he had everything he needed and then they headed out the door.
* * *
Shodin wasn't as bad as Marland thought he would be. He did stare at everything, his head twisting and turning every second, but he didn't wander off on his own either. Not completely, anyway. He'd LOOK at Marland in a certain way, eyes shining and a shade off begging, and then Marland would sigh, ears down, and follow him to whatever had caught Shodin's interest at that point.
He seemed to be absolutely fascinated by the cars, though not the ones that made a lot of noise, the ones that went tearing down the road. It was the larger ones that he liked looking at, going around them to look at them from every angle. At least it didn't happen to EVERY car they passed, or else it probably would have taken them about three hours to just get to the first set of traffic lights. He also seemed to be fairly easily distracted by flashing lights, which, okay, made sense, because that was entirely the point of them.
Shodin also didn't have as many questions as Marland thought he would have. At one point, Shodin caught him watching him, as he waited for the next question to come.
"I'd've thought you would've been asking more."
At that, Shodin quirked a smile at him, tilting his head, before shaking his head. "Watching the TV's helped; I know a few things more about Torpin than I did before, and Paizinel also answered a lot of my questions."
Marland snorted, before he caught on to the first part of that sentence. "You're learning from the TV." Not a question; a disbelieving statement.
A nod.
Oh hell. "You're LEARNING from the crappest films that aren't anything like real life?"
Another, patient, nod. And Shodin was just smiling at him, like there wasn't anything wrong with that. Which he wouldn't know if it WAS wrong.
Marland stared back, refusing to let his ears go down. "Then how the hell do you know if what you're watching is what actually happens?"
The look on Shodin's face was too… happy. "I ask you."
Oh HELL no. He was supposed to explain how -
Wait. One of Marland's ears twitched to the side. Had he heard…? Marland stilled, ears constantly on the move as they tried to find out the source of the noise. They were in an alley, light spilling in from both sides. It was a fairly long one though, but it would still take time to reach one side if they ran. Dammit, they were directly in the middle, and Marland couldn't tell where the noise had come from. Shodin thankfully kept quiet, alert to the fact that Marland was on edge, but not asking about it.
And... there. There were people in front of them, humans, around the corner. One of them had moved, their shadow briefly falling on to the wall before they pulled back again. He could hear a lot of shifting, and the moving of shoes on the pavement. And then Marland could hear some people catch up behind them as well, not actually entering the alley, but around the corner, just like the ones in front.
Shit. Lying in wait. Trapped. How the fuck were they supposed to get out of here? There weren't any other exits apart from those two areas that had just been blocked off, and the walls were too high to jump over easily, nor did they have good hand- or foot-holds. Not that he'd be able to do that well with climbing right now, with his shoulder. He hadn't exactly tested it to see if it could hold his weight decently enough.
And then there was the problem with Shodin. Marland gritted his teeth, a small growl escaping his throat, and his ears falling flat. He wasn't exactly going to leave him behind, though, Shodin could possibly have a better better chance of getting away because he was human. Saying that, Shodin had been caught in his company, so maybe he'd be killed because he'd... Marland couldn't think of anything at that particular moment, mind too busy with figuring out how to escape, how much time they had left, and what exactly he could do.
The best thing he COULD do was startle them with his fire and then get the hell out of there. If he attacked them and hurt them, he'd be put on the noticeboard of all the really dangerous Others where Hunters could see. THEN he'd had more Hunters after him, and it wouldn't matter if he was a Hunter as well - he was an Other that had 'finally' shown his true colours, so they could chase him down without thought.
He heard the cocking of a gun. Person in front of them, on the right. Shit. Not that he should be surprised. If it was specifically him that they were targeting (could be true, but it might have also been likely that they just happened to see him as he and Shodin walked down the road. Fucking hell, he hadn't been anywhere NEAR as vigilant as he normally was) then of course they would have guns. It wasn't like people used swords to go after Others around here. If they did, they didn't last very long.
"Huh." That came from behind them. Male, maybe older than he was. Pivoting so that his back was to a wall, Marland bared his teeth in that direction. No-one was standing there, so they were still hiding around the corner.
They were too fucking exposed like this. The alley was empty, apart from Marland and Shodin. He'd chosen to go down it because there wasn't anything to hide behind, so they couldn't be ambushed. Except he hadn't taken in to account the entrance and exit of the alley. So now THEY didn't have anything to hide behind.
"'Extremely tall, green and gold scales, huge-ass wings,'" the same man continued. "I think we've found the Other that killed the Aliste Mailon and kidnapped another human on the twelfth, along with attacking the couple in a car on the thirteenth."
Marland's anger flared up. Fucking HELL.
no subject
Date: Nov. 13th, 2010 09:51 am (UTC)"You're learning from the TV." Not a question; a disbelieving statement.
Hehehehe. You have your work cut out for you, Marland. I'm still very much enjoying the image of Shodin and Pai talking with each other. <3
Cliffhanger!!!!
no subject
Date: Nov. 15th, 2010 12:06 pm (UTC)He dooooes. *grins*
No longer a cliffhanger! XD