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[captainryan]

((From here))


Scotland. That's what the landscape looks like. If you could smell it, though, you'd know it isn't. There's a petrol-prey smell that sticks to it, just like the woods outside of Milliway's. It's the only territory the werewolf knows. The waning moon in the sky casts the foliage in an almost silver light. An overgrown path nearby practically glows, disappearing deeper into the woods. The black werewolf, Ryan, shakes himself off and  sticks his head into the wind, feeling it through his fur.

Rachel's nearby. He gives her a cautious sniff, rumbling a bit at the back of his throat. He stands up to his full height and the sound goes from a rumble to a full blown growl. It's a warning. This place is mine, he tells her, showing his teeth.

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[captainryan.livejournal.com]

The darts are perfectly aligned in his chest, one for each of the dark slashes there, one centred in the knife scar. The pinpricks heal instantaneously as she removes the metal; there is no silver here.

But the drugs are still rushing through his system, spreading far faster than they would in an animal of similar size. The metabolism that allows him to heal so quickly also spreads the toxins, immobilizing him.

And in the mean time, the prey is escaping.

[futures_of_ash]

The darts were shattered once removed, soon followed by the gun...as for the prey? He's leaving a trail her feral chuckle assured as she helped him a little further into the woods. Best not to rest in so open an area.

I'll guard

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

There's a weak disgruntled chuff as he settles against a tree. Stupid! He knew this prey better than any. He shakes his head repeatedly, trying to clear it, growling a bit when the world keeps moving even though his head isn't.

It takes time, but eventually his vision steadies and he risks standing. Claws digging into the tree, he pulls himself to his feet, swaying a bit until he's sure of his feet. A few cautious steps forward, and he knows everything's working as it should.

The path is still glowing and the scent is fresh. It's time to finish this. This time, though, he does wait for Rachel.

[futures_of_ash]

Rachel hadn't been idle. She'd ghosted the edges of Ryan's recovery spot, and a few, incredibly foolish squirrels had gone his way...but yes, time to finish it. She fell in at his side once more, never questioning his readiness. He'd manage.

It appeared the prey had noticed the glowing paths he spawned though, and cannily, had crossed and recrossed them until there was a Gordian knots worth of trails weaving through the trees and each other.

Rachel gave an annoyed sneeze and set her back to Ryan as she scanned behind them...

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

The werewolf gives an amused rumble. He knows these tactics. They're designed to slow tracker dogs down and make their handlers doubt that they have the right trail.

But they are not dogs with handlers.

He ignores most of the knots, using both scent and sight to find where the man re-emerged and following it to the next knot. The stream is trickier. The water washes away the glow, leaving only patches and short tracks where the man exited to lay false starts. The 'wolf bounds up one bank and down the other until he finds the true exit, a good ways upstream and made more obvious by the glittering path that leads away.

They've lost time, but not nearly as much as the man did laying the trail.

[futures_of_ash]

She'd trusted him to unravel the confusion and sort through the tactics used...Rachel had taken it upon herself to run trap interference and do scouting along the flanks so Ryan could concentrate on the task.

Yes, the prey had lost time...

And they were simply faster than any human, no matter how well trained. It wasn't long before that poisoned taint was in the air once more...

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Prey smell, human smell, blood smell...but also gun oil. The human's been moving straight, trying to put distance between himself and his pursuers, but he'd expected more time. They're here, now, and he has nowhere to run except a house that is familiar to both he and the wolf, if he can get there in time...

The 'wolf is done being cautious. He's hungry and puts on a burst of speed charging straight for his prey. The human whirls, the MP5 coming up with a sharp banging rattle as the slugs tear through the 'wolf. There's a yelp of pain even as the 'wolf slams into the human, knocking him down. The holes have closed, but there's still blood smell, his own blood smell, and it drives him mad with hunger.

The werewolf attacks again and the human, Ryan, can't hold him off. The teeth find his throat and there's a sharp tearing wet sound as the 'wolf bites. The blood is warm and black, hot, too hot, burning, tastes all wrong. The werewolf rears back, trying to spit it out, but it's pouring from the wound down his throat, till there's none of the black left in the human.

Ryan's on his feet in a moment, hand at his throat. He can still feel the teeth closing around his neck though there's no mark there now. He backs towards the house eyes flicking between convulsing werewolf and the woman. Was she human? She didn't move like one.

[futures_of_ash]

Rachel watched. Analyzed.

These were two mind fragments of the person she had promised to help. One destroying the other wouldn't do the job she'd promised...but the attack had needed to occur. The poison had to be drained.

The human shard was alive, healed in his purging...so Rachel nodded quickly to the house and turned her back on him. The poison had infected another shard...a shard that could do infinitely more harm.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan doesn't know what's happening. Hadn't the woman attacked him before? And now it seemed she was going to attack the werewolf. He can puzzle it out later. Right now, the house was looking like a very good idea. If she wants to commit suicide by werewolf, by all means, go ahead. It gave him time to prepare.

He has to kick down the door. It had been locked and nailed shut against the pack. He remembers listening to the hammering. The toolbox is there, hammer laying on nails, and he repeats the action that happened months ago. It won't keep the werewolf out, but it'll give him advance warning when it breaks in.

Outside, the 'wolf is just getting to his feet, still coughing and hacking, black spittle foaming at his mouth. He snarls at Rachel. MOVE! he roars, moving after the human prey, HIS prey.

[futures_of_ash]

One day Rachel would have to ask Suzi just what kind of person the woman had taken into her house...not today though. Today there were greater worries...like the poisoning, even as the frantic sounds of hammering began to ring out.

She knew what the poison was...but it wasn't her poison to drain. That had to happen between the shards...when they weren't going to die within heartbeats of meeting at any rate.

That left...blunting some of the poison, the Anger. She could do that. Poisoned she snarled, holding her ground. Worry about that first

He wouldn't, she knew that.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He doesn't bother answering, instead sweeping out with one powerful arm to knock her aside.

Inside the house, Ryan drops the hammer back into the toolbox and looks around to see if there's anything else he can use. The house is exactly as he remembers it before he changed: the windows are boarded up, the back door locked, the side door blocked off with a kitchen cabinet.

He died here.

And for what? It should have been a simple mission. Lure the target out, take it down. There was only supposed to be one. But there had been five and he and his team had failed in the worst way possible. It's one thing to have an unsuccessful mission. It's quite another to find out that Special Weapons did indeed get their werewolf and to discover that the mission wasn't a complete loss. It had been a bit of good news to know his death was useful after all. For Ingram to decide that his death meant nothing, that Witherspoon could go free and not use what they'd found, that his death was devoid of purpose...

He slams his fist down on the kitchen table hard enough to knock over the glow sticks and rattle the sword against the wood.

He was dead because of that thing out there, and it was for nothing. And here it was, back again for another worthless, pointless death. He knows he'll lose. The bullets only slow it down, they don't kill the damn things. It'll break through the door or a window and he'll empty his clip into it and sure, it'll slow down for a moment or two, but in the end it'll catch him. It'll catch him and drag him down and claw him open and start eating him while he's still-

No. No, he'll shoot himself before he'll let that happen again.

[futures_of_ash]

Rachel? Didn't sweep aside so easily. She curled around the arm, absorbing the blow, she rolled to her feet and she dove for his. Years of training, centuries of pain...it made her good.

Very good.

She never attacked never dealt a blow, just was there, time and time again when the werewolf was going to advance. Blocking, impeding, another stone to wash that anger against.

But she could feel the rising despair in the house behind her, and it made her snarl. Obviously the shard wasn't going to help himself...so...with an inward wince, she took another crashing blow that sent her spinning through a boarded window, wood thick and harsh against her back...yet somehow she landed on her feet and skidded backwards. Her eyes never left the window, knowing that she'd be followed.

But she had moments, a few precious heartbeats, in which to talk this shard around. Unfortunately? She was never the best with words "Ryan!" she called, knowing she'd skidded far enough into the room that he was near.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan rushes to the other room in time to see the werewolf start to push its way through the remaining boards. His face sets in a grim mask as he steps forward and empties the MP5 clip into the beast, driving it back, keeping it out for a little longer.

He replaces the empty clip with his last full one, and when he looks up again, the smoke has cleared. The wolf is nowhere to be seen. They're smart bastards, though. He wonders what it's up to.

In the mean time...

"Who are you?" he asks coldly, turning the MP5 on Rachel.

[futures_of_ash]

Rachel stood up a little stiffly, stretching out her newly bruised back with her attention still on the window "Point that at me and you'll eat it" she said conversationally. No hint of anger, no growl, just a statement.

"Suzi sent me. She gives a damn about you, so here I am. Now, you can choose to die here, give up...but you damn well better tell me what to tell Suzi if you are that stupid"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

The sub-machine gun stays trained on her until she mentions Suzi. Only then is it pointed down as he gives her a hard look.

"Do you know what you've gotten involved in? That thing can't be killed," he informs her briskly. He doesn't know how he got here. He should be at Milliway's with Suzi and Deitmar. But here he is, and no way out that he can see. He suddenly found himself wishing he had asked how Wells had blown up the house.

"I'm not giving up. I'll fight until I go down, but I will go down. And then I'll end it." It's almost funny. He died of a bullet to the head last time, too.

[futures_of_ash]

As long as he didn't make a move to actually shoot her before he dropped the gun, then she had no reason to take it from him. "I've more an idea than you do. She wants you back to yourself" she sighed.

Outside? Outside the world was doing odd things. Scents were shifting about, and the windows and doors were hard to find, even the broken one...blurring...buying time...

"What do you remember of the last few days?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He's about to snap that there's no time for this when he realizes that he doesn't, and suddenly he understands that something more is happening than just him randomly appearing back at the Scottish house while chased by a single werewolf.

There's a frustrated howl from outside and his head snaps up to watch out through the windows. "The last thing I remember is starting to work on the pells. The moon was still waxing then." He drops his gaze back to her. "What's happening?"

[futures_of_ash]

Rachel? Still never looked at Ryan, but she drift between him and the window, a shield once the Wolf got in...because he would. "You lost it. Snapped. Became more an instinctual, passive creature than any human or wolf. Basically, from what I can tell, you splintered your psyche and personas."

"We're in your head by the way." There wasn't any time to break it to him easily.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan blinks at that. He remembered working on the pells, remembered the sword snapping against the wood. He'd been so furious and the sword had snapped under the strain and he just...went with it. He let go.

Ryan suddenly looks much paler. "Is Suzi alright?" Deitmar could take care of himself, but Suzi?

[futures_of_ash]

She glanced over her shoulder, emerald eyes literally glowing. "If she were hurt, I wouldn't be here" she admitted simply. Before now? She'd not known him. "But she's frightened, and she misses you."

And because of that? Rachel would happily take any damage necessary.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan nods, silent. He wants to ask more, but now is not the time, not when the werewolf is howling outside.

"I've splintered my psyche," he says instead, realizing that she must be psychic and that's how they're in his head. He's not happy about that, but he'll worry about it later.

"How do I repair it? Don't tell me I have to kill that thing because I've already told you it can't be done. Not without silver."

[futures_of_ash]

"Killing parts of yourself is never a good idea" she sighed "It drained you of the poison, but got infected, and is less able to deal with the twisting I believe." she'd answer any other questions much, much later.

"Question is, Ryan, are you willing to go back?" because...he knew how. The path was always there.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ah, so that's why it had been easier to think straight after the werewolf had ripped out his throat. He shudders at the sense memory, one hand flying to his neck, making sure the flesh is still whole.

"Of course," he asserts in answer to her question. He was, wasn't he? Why had he let go in the first place? Because he wasn't thinking straight. The anger had blinded him, skewed his thinking. What guarantee did he have that wouldn't happen again?

None. The anger was still there, just in the werewolf. What did that mean? Nothing good, surely.

"I need to lessen the rage. I need to control it," he tells Rachel. The problem there is he doesn't know how.

[futures_of_ash]

She listened, to him, to the wolf outside...and nodded "Yes, you do. It's too poisonous right now though" she admitted. She had...experience with such.

"With your permission, I'll drain some of it, the darkest parts. You should be able to handle the rest." it had all the finality of a one time offer.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan frowns, worry etching its way across his face. "Handle it how?" If he can't even kill it, how the hell is he supposed to do anything else with it?