THE HANGED MEN ( noxx )

[Tain Rosdahl]

His blood was black in the fall of night, and the bite of his knife vengefully cold. He turned it over again with a grimace, wiping it clean on his pants as the wound clotted and closed, then slid the fingers of his right hand through the grip. The damned thing still managed to cut him more often than it didn't when he tried to flip it out the way others did, and it was honed to a ridiculous edge. When he got closer he'd have to carry it open, he decided, he was in no mood to fumble with it in the dark. One slip and he might end up with it sunk to the hilt in someone. And with the quarry he hunted, the odds were in favor of it being someone he knew.

Tain had been on the move since dawn, exhaustion crushed beneath the ocean of fear, doubt, and poisonous rage that was brewing in him. Hours and miles later he knew where he was, recognized the areas he'd once scouted as a tenderfoot. And soon after that the buildings loomed, scarcely visible in the overcast dark. In the dim, he knew, he was not alone. They were of yet unawares, and he planned to keep it that way as long as he could.

He'd been in place now for only a short time, but it seemed to stretch painfully long as he leaned against a bent and crooked tree, swallowed by its shadow. Already impatience was wearing on him, and he scratched the dried blood from his skin with a nail as he waited. Every sound seemed deafening, though a wind was stirring pleasantly, and the night was alive with insects. But every so often he heard a rustle, a scratch, a snap, and adrenaline would scream through his veins, only to go to waste. It couldn't take too long, he told himself, the Fulsi often followed the path that went past the tree, it was just anxiety making it seem like forever.

And it didn't. The soft scuffing of shoes on the ground struck Tain like a tangible thing, and he nearly jerked forward. He barely caught himself, teeth biting into his cheek in self-restraint and reprimand, and forced himself to wait. They come to you, Py always said, and so he held himself, though he pushed the thought of the pink-haired hunter from his mind. Focus, Tain, and let them come. The tree was an old cedar, scorched from recent lightning, and the rank smell of it protected him as much as his downwind position. Five steps. Three steps. Two. Now. He let them almost pass, then grabbed them by their hair and pulled viciously, throwing his weight to wrench them off balance and slam them into the tree, the knife in his right hand pressing up high and tight to the soft spot under the jaw as his fingers cranked their head back. And all the while was his voice, more a snarl than human words should be, demanding and accusatory. It had been weeks, where confusion turned to fear as his brother failed to show, again and again. And now he needed to know. If he could crawl, he would have come, Tain knew with a certainty that choked him with grief, anger, and guilt. "Where is he? Where is Tarrik?!"

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ooc; FINALLY POSTED IT >D I'm like 90% sure you approved the manhandling, if I am remembering wrong, throw me a howler and I fix it up nice. u.u <3

[Casey DeLaney]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 499px; height: 616px; background-image:url(http://i43.tinypic.com/dewh9t.jpg)] Casey hurried down the street, the Fulsi city quickly disappearing behind him. It was all he could do not to break into a run, but he kept himself calm and under control. So Sascha hadn’t come to see him this week like he said he would… That didn’t necessarily mean he was dead, right? Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check up on him. Besides, Casey missed him, and going for days on end without seeing him was becoming unbearable. He made a mental note to talk to Royce about switching his patrols, perhaps to a permanent assignment out on the border, staying at the Inn perhaps. Just the idea gave him a rush of sudden anticipation. He wanted it more than anything, to be able to live out there with Sascha! But he had to fulfill his duties to the Fulsi first, namely getting Jonny trained. That man would be a helpful Fulsi if it was the last thing Casey made sure of. Unfortunately, that meant more time living away from Sascha, but they had managed just fine until now. “He’s fine,” Casey quietly reassured himself, but he still found himself getting distracted thinking about all the horrible things that could have gone wrong. A fire, viruses, rogues, or even Carna! Eerily enough, as he thought it, a faint Carna scent caught his attention, but it was a moment too late. Caught up in his worrying, Casey hadn’t detected the other man’s presence until his hair was being ripped from his scalp, and he found himself shoved up against a tree, a knife pressed to his throat. He let out a pained screech, and then simply took a moment to try and take in what was going on. He squinted through the darkness and made out a familiar face, though it wasn’t the one he’d thought it was at first. When he noticed the blue hair, the Carna scent suddenly made sense. “…Tain?” He gasped, gingerly trying to push the ex-Fulsi away from him, just enough to give him a little breathing room. “Tain it’s me, Casey!” He pleaded, hoping his former friend would recognize him. True, they hadn’t been very close, but Casey thought they’d gotten along just fine. It definitely wasn’t a ‘I’ll shank you next time I see you’ sort of relationship. “What’s wrong with you man?!” His mind was racing now, wondering how far gone the Tain he’d known was. What did the Carna train them for over there? Was he a cold-blooded killer now? Whether he was now or not, Casey still admired him for having the courage to leave, something he himself had thought of doing for so long. But now the Fulsi was in a better place, and Casey was happy here. Even if Tain hadn’t been, even if he was a Carna now, that didn’t mean Casey was going to treat him like an enemy. They had been friends once, and as far as Casey was concerned, they still were. “I… I don’t know,” He choked out, the blade still uncomfortably snug against his throat.“I haven’t seen Tarrik for days!” Ooc; TAIN PLAY NICE D8

[Tain Rosdahl]

Recognition came slow through the fury that pounded with his heartbeat; and he nearly opened Casey's throat by accident before he finally realize who was spewing lies at him. They'd been fairly good friends, and by his immovable sense of logic, that meant they still were. Which was why he swung at him with the hand not holding the deadly object, the blade ripped away from his throat. "DAYS?!" he roared, voice very nearly shaking, "He's been gone for WEEKS, Casey!"

The two of them had practiced healing together, and he and Tarrik had spent time drawing as the three of them talked, how could he just pretend ignorance?! Yelling was unwise, he knew, but he couldn't seem to control it. He was supposed to be the one in danger, in Carna, Tarrik was supposed to be safe, protected by Fulsi's high walls. He was grabbing at Casey's shirtfront again, eyes wide and wild and pale in the dark. Threats were all he had anymore, he'd betrayed them all, hadn't he? "Did they kill him?! Did you?! He never did anything wrong, dammitall! I'm the one who ran off, they can't punish him after all this time!" Or could they? Their alpha was a psychopath, he knew that. Tarrik had been vague, and uncomfortable, which told Tain more than words ever could, coming from his usually insatiably chatty brother. They could have demanded he bring Tain home, or Tarrik said something stupid.... he always said something stupid. Still. Still.

If he couldn't get the truth out of him easily, he'd rip it out the hard way, friend or not. There was nothing like burning a few bridges in the dead of night.

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ooc; short, cause you know, kindaneed a Casey reaction to fist to face. And stuff. XD <3

[Casey DeLaney]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 499px; height: 616px; background-image:url(http://i43.tinypic.com/dewh9t.jpg)] Tain’s fist met his face with a loud thud, sending Casey’s head turning to the side. His mouth fell open in shock, not having expected that from his old friend, even if he’d had a knife to his throat just a moment before. It seemed Tain was in a more desperate state than Casey had realized, and he didn’t hold the punch against him; he wasn’t about to start a fight when he was just trying to figure out what was going on. In Tain’s state, that was a fight that could easily turn deadly. “Tain, listen to me!” Casey hissed quietly, while reaching up to wipe the blood from his cheek. Tain’s punch had opened up a small gash that was now only trickling blood thanks to the scout’s healing. “Just lower your voice and we can talk about this, okay? I was on my way to the Inn—“

[/b]

Casey didn’t get a chance to finish inviting Tain over to Sascha’s before the Carna had him by the shirt again. His voice had definitely not gotten lower, and Casey began to worry about the patrol that he knew was on it’s way. “No, no! I would never hurt him! I don’t know anything about it, but I can ask around!”[/b] He offered, trying to calm Tain down a little bit. Surely someone else would know where Tarrik was. Casey hadn’t seen him in a while, it was true, but he’d been so busy trying to train Jonny that he’d hardly paid it any attention, thinking perhaps he was just as busy as Casey was.

Out of the corner of his vision, he could see them approaching. The patrol Casey had been worrying about. He could hear them talking as they walked the border, and he held his breath, hoping that they would walk by without paying them any attention. But it was his luck that they would hear Tain yelling, and Casey let out a sigh as he heard their conversation pause.

They were an intimidating group of Fulsi, and five or six of them at least. If they made it over here, he was worried Tain would end up badly wounded, or worse. Not everyone was as okay with his Ring switch as Casey was, and he’d heard some nasty talk while on patrol, from some of the people that were approaching them now. His mind raced with the options before him. He couldn’t ask Tain to calm down with a patrol coming right at them; that would most likely make the Carna never trust him again. And if he ran, surely the patrol would pursue. There was only one option.

Casey wrapped his arms around Tain and pulled him close, into the shadow of the tree. No doubt this would raise more of a racket from the ex-Fulsi, but Casey didn’t care, as long as Tain was too angry to realize that Casey had slowly begun to drain the energy from his body. If he could knock him out first, then at least Casey would know he was safe from harm until he could figure out a way to get him back to the Carna. And in the meantime, hopefully find something out about Tarrik so that Tain wouldn’t have to come back. Casey kept his grip as tight as he could, holding Tain in a crushing hug.


Ooc: LOL CASEY. Awwwkwarrddd. Hope this is okay, Etch! Lemme know if I gotta edit. o3o



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[Tain Rosdahl]

If Casey hoped his words would calm him down at all, he was sadly mistaken. Tain's brother was obnoxiously loud, obnoxiously in your face, and physically incapable of being a pain in the ass at less than three times per day. You'd think people might notice the lack thereof pretty quickly, and all Tain could think was that Tarrik was in jail, or worse, and Casey was trying to find a way to tell him that wouldn't result in more pummeling. Which Tain felt bad about. Slightly. A little bit. He would later, anyways, fear made him irrational and rash.

"You'll ask around?!" he seethed through his teeth as Casey yanked him back and in close, a better tatic than he knew, since Tain was unwilling to actually maim him, and in close it would go from PG to Silence of the Lambs pretty quickly for his former friends face. And Tarrik, if he ever found him, would probably be pretty freaking pissed about that. And the guilt thing. And the friend thing. Either way, he resisted the urge to rip himself free. "And what, Casey, you think I'm just gonna wait around for you to go get a patrol together to hang me? You can tell your bloody monster of an alpha he can kiss my ass! I know he threatened Tarrik before!" Word hadn't yet reached Carna, at least not it's lower ranks, of Fulsi's organizational upheaval. If it had, he probably would be a great deal more amicable to Casey's unheard of idea of talking.

And Tain had been doing a great deal of talking, snarling, and shouting, but why was he so tired? He'd been do angry at first he didn't notice, he was running on ninety percent adrenaline here anyways, but now.. "You... jerk." he choked out as he dropped clumsily to one knee, spots exploding in his vision. His realization was nearly tangible, though he'd been slow on the uptake. Of course he knew what it was, he had the same modification, though he'd never felt it before, always being on the delivering end. Stupid, stupid and dead meat, the voice in his head mocked. His hands were fisted in Casey's shirt, or had been, he couldn't feel anything past his elbows. Not that it was helping, he couldn't focus, and the buttons of Casey's pants swam dizzyingly in and out of focus. The only thing that didn't seem to be suffering was his hearing, though he desperately hoped it was. Footsteps and voices, and not happy ones, were approaching.

[Casey DeLaney]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 499px; height: 616px; background-image:url(http://i43.tinypic.com/dewh9t.jpg)] To his relief, Casey’s plan seemed to be working. The moment he drew Tain in close, the other man stopped lashing out so badly. Physically at least. Casey tried his best to keep a straight face as Tain screamed, obviously all traces of their friendship disintegrated. “No-no we have a new al- -!” He tried to get the words out over Tain’s, but it was no use. It was best if he just stood there quietly and took the berating, while he slowly siphoned away Tain’s energy without him realizing. The voices grew closer and louder, as they spotted the pair. Casey knew from the look on Tain’s face that he’d figured out what he was doing, but Casey had kept it hidden from him just long enough that the Carna didn’t have the energy to fight back. As Tain fell to his knees, Casey dropped with him, catching him before he could fall over completely. “I know you don’t trust me, but I’m trying to save your life,” Casey whispered into Tain’s ear, as he dragged him to his feet again, or as close as he could get. His legs still hung limply and Casey had to motion for the other scouts to help him , nodding to Tain as he struggled to keep him up. “A little help here?” Greg, the largest of the scouts, and the one with the worst temper, grinned a gnarly-toothed smile as he spotted who Casey had captured. “Well, well, if it isn’t the dirty traitor!” He cracked his massive knuckles and his two goonies did the same. But luckily the other two scouts were more even-tempered and shot them a warning glance, as did Casey, “We don’t kick prisoners while they’re down, Gregory,” Casey reminded him, earning a growl from Greg as he used his full name. “Why don’t you help me out, Carl?” He asked one of the more neutral scouts, who came over and draped one of Tain’s arms over his neck, as Casey did the same. He’d finished draining Tain by that point, so that he would just be unconscious enough not to say anything that would get them both killed. Greg narrowed his eyes as Casey and Carl dragged Tain his way. “Move, Greg,” Casey snapped. He supposed he was in charge since the head of border patrol wasn’t around, and he was the most senior scout of the group, but he wasn’t going to press his luck with the towering hulk of a man with a temper that could explode any moment. So when Greg stepped out of the way, Casey headed straight for the jail, keeping the rest of the patrol a good distance away. They placed Tain in an empty cell and locked the door, leaving it at that. He supposed they’d be off to tell Charm. Casey just had to think of a way to get him out of here before anything happened to him. “I’ll get you out of this mess, I promise,” He whispered, turning away from the cell and leaving for the night. It would all have to be worked out in the morning. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Casey returned before dawn. He hadn’t been able to sleep very well anyways, so he’d left his room early, before the scouts would be gathering for the early patrol. He’d picked a nice cut of deer from his own food rations to bring to Tain, before he’d remembered that his friend wouldn’t even touch meat, and would probably quit talking to him forever if he’d brought it as a peace offering. So of course, the meat had gone to Jonny, and Casey went to go get more food. He’d found some fruit, an apple and a rare orange, as well as a can of beans that he’d heated up for Tain. It wasn’t much, but it was a good dinner in the Menagerie. Tain deserved it more than he did after Casey had gotten him captured, so his empty belly would ease his guilty conscience when he went without dinner tonight. “Tain? Morning, I brought you some food,” Casey spoke, earning groans and a couple of curses from the nearby prisoners. Maybe it was too early for them, or they were angry that they were never brought quality food. Casey ignored them and sat in front of Tain’s cell door, gingerly passing the food through the small hole in the bottom of the door, where the chain link that criss-crossed the bars could be lifted up from the outside. “I’m really sorry.”

[Tain Rosdahl]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width:500px;height:720px; background-image:url(http://i47.tinypic.com/xf2edx.png)] Trying to save his life!? Tain fought to bite out that gutting the energy out of him with death on the way was a hell of a way to do it. But his tongue was useless lead in his mouth, the enraged drum of his heartbeat slowing in his ears. Casey was picking him back up, but not having the easiest time of it. Tain wasn't surprised, he'd lost weight since he'd been in Fulsi but he was still heavier than his friend. Former friend? He was going to need a new category. Gregory though, that man had his own special place in Tain's memory, and his mostly numb right arm throbbed as he remembered the fracture the mountain of a man had given him the night he'd been ousted from Fulsi. This was going very, very badly. Tain got his eyes to track over to the approaching scouts, and bloody hell, it was practically his fan club. It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd run into Jace, Dalton, Charm, Getta, but no. Suddenly Casey seemed like the best option on the planet, not that Tain could hold onto him or anything. And prisoner, Casey had called him a prisoner hadn't he? It was a good thing Tain was already being carried, because his knees would have given out by the time that thought finally managed to hit home. He'd heard about Adam's treatment of prisoners, and Carna always got first class priority from Fulsi. And him? He was practically a VIP. Even through the haze of exhaustion he was realizing what a stupid plan he'd had. Over-protective, over-aggressive, and thicker than the glass of the bloody dome, that was him. To make it worse, he still didn't know a thing about what had happened to Tarrik. All in all, the journey to Fulsi seemed to go by in a moment. By the time he was dumped off in the cell, he'd regained most of his functions, though his shoulders were screaming from being carried. He pushed himself upright and leaned back on the wall, settling his best exhausted, cold, level look on Casey. Who probably didn't deserve it, but Tain hadn't deserved getting his arms ripped out of his sockets either. And he definitely didn't deserve whatever Adam would think up for him; the stories were such that he was to sick to even speculate. Casey whispered something, but hell if Tain could hear it over the pounding in his head. In short order, he was left alone. He'd been awake for nearly twenty-four hours, all of them working, and his body ached bone-deep. It didn't matter though, and he didn't sleep a wink. It seemed like years before footsteps caught his attention, and a growl was rolling in his chest when Casey came into sight. With food. Awkwardly, he tried to swallow the sound and not look too starving. If Carna was lacking anything, it was vegetarian food. Two vertebrae popped as he pushed himself off the wall and took the fruit and can, complete with a hammered out spoon. Redd's work, probably. He stirred it once, eyeing Casey with wild suspicion, then gave up and ate. The ability to eat in times of crisis and moral upset, it was an innate Graywall trait. "My last meal, and I get a freakin' orange." His humor came out a little dryer than he'd been aiming for, but hey. Oranges were like the bastard, uncool, inexcusably less tasty cousins of limes. Not that he was gonna give it back. And maybe he was trying to fox his way out of the Total Asshole Traitor side of the scale, now that Casey had removed himself from convenient intimidating distance. "Tarrik?" he prompted, dropping the spoon into the empty can, then tearing into the apple with the frustration he was trying to keep out of his voice. "You've had all night." ----- ooc; NO LIME, CASEY? D:

[Casey DeLaney]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 497px; height: 623px; background-image:url(http://i46.tinypic.com/2zimxpv.jpg)] Casey released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when Tain finally took the food and began to eat. That was a good sign, at least. He didn’t expect Tain to be particularly happy about him being there, so he wasn’t surprised when the man didn’t thank him. “Sorry I couldn’t find you a lime?” Casey offered with a shrug. “We don’t exactly stockpile them. Not everyone enjoys them like you do,” he added with a smile, remembering Tain’s days in the Fulsi, when he would eat them whenever he could get his hands on one. He and Tarrik would look on and laugh, while other Fulsi stared in surprise. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know why people thought it was so strange to eat lemons and limes like they did their other citrusy cousins. Was it how sour they were? Or were they just viewed as inferior fruits? No matter the case, it saddened him to realize how far away those days were now. Casey caught his mind wandering away and quickly shook his head, bringing him back to the situation at hand. “Last meal? Tain, don’t be so dramatic,” he laughed. “You’ll have plenty more crappy meals to eat when we get you back to the Carna,” Casey assured him, but much more quietly. If Tain thought Casey was going to let him rot in these cells, then he was seriously underestimating the lengths he was willing to go to to make sure Tain was free again. Carna or not, they were still friends, and Tain was only in here because Casey had put him here. “About Tarrik,” He began again, clearing his throat to shake the strain his guilty conscience had put on his voice. “I spoke to Alpha Charm. Yes, Alpha Charm. I tried to explain last night, but you didn’t give me a chance. Adam’s been gone for a while now… We all knew it was time for the Fulsi to move on. He would have been the deaths of us all,” Casey paused, his gaze dropping to the stained cement floor. The mad Alpha had gotten worse and worse in the months leading up to his overthrowing. Maybe they had been friends once, or maybe not truly at all, but he had been quick to join the uprising when he’d caught wind of it. He’d seen the horrors Adam had committed in both public and in private, and the Ring would have been doomed had Charm not taken over. He was grateful for her really, and he only hoped one day he’d be a trusted Fulsi again. Some scouts still gave him looks, especially Gregory and his band of idiots. Freeing a prisoner probably wouldn’t help his reputation, but he’d find a way to cover it up somehow. “Anyway, she told me that she saw him get taken. Him and Dalton too… They were snatched by the Keepers, and we haven’t heard from them since.”

[/color] Casey wondered what could be taking so long. Time in the labs did vary when people were taken in.. some were gone for hours, some months. “You know how it is though... You can never tell how long they’re gonna keep you in there for. I’m sure they’ll be released again soon,” he tried to assure Tain. It was unnerving to have someone you loved taken into the labs, but more often than not, they came back. Sometimes with new abilities that made them even stronger than before.

“Now we just have to worry about getting you out of here. I have my Tenderfoot Jonny working on the keys, and then I have a brilliant plan.” Casey pulled a length of rope from his pocket and dangled it in front of him. “I’m just gonna take my new dog for a walk to the Carna border!” That would be the easy part. A convincing tale about how Tain escaped him.. That was another story.


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[Tain Rosdahl]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width:500px;height:720px; background-image:url(http://i47.tinypic.com/xf2edx.png)] The apology about the lack of limes in the situation did do something to mollify Tain, at least Casey remembered what the lord of fruits and foods was. Even better was the mention that he'd be getting more meals, and in particular that they'd be in Carna. He couldn't hide the way his eyes and face lit up, just a little, at the prospect. Those thoughts got booted straight to the back-burner of his mind the second Casey picked up on about Tarrik, and Tain's attention became rapt, stopping mid-chew for a long beat before it occurred to him to swallow. And it was a good thing he did, or he would have choked on it a half-second later. "CHARM?!" he spluttered, then inhaled oddly, and broke off into a hacking fit. Of course he remembered his fellow tenderfoot, though she'd been closer to Tarrik and Dalton than him. She was Alpha?! It was the best freakin' news he'd had in months, and the look on his face was a mixture of shock and a deep, cold satisfaction that was intensely uncharacteristic on him. Hatred was far, far to gentle a term for how Tain felt toward the former Alpha. And then the news that had had Tain's insides in a knot for weeks; Tarrik was with the Keepers. The motherfreakin' bloody Keepers. "What?!" he cracked out, throat not quite yet forgiving him for his earlier abuse. Relief hit him like a freight train, and worry, and a dizzying feeling of weightlessness. Tarrik was in with the Keepers, something Tain knew his brother suffered about as gracefully as a rabid bear, but he would, should, survive it. And Adam was out of power. The axe blade that had been itching at the back of his neck for months, no, years now was gone. Tain scarcely trusted his voice, and his eyes felt suspiciously full. "Thanks, Casey," he got out, scrubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. He couldn't even bother to be embarrassed. Muscles stiff from the concrete, he moved closer, eyes tracking Casey's with a look that was about as close to an apology that could ever be gotten out of him. "Your new dog," he drawled, an impressive amount of skepticism in his tone despite how quiet he was trying to be. "Though.. I suppose I could have impersonated Tarrik, as a dog. Fooled you." His words were wary, he wanted out of the jail cell, but he didn't want it taken out of Casey's hide. At least there was a lot less to worry about with Charm in power, but she'd never been stupid. Casey would have to sell it hard later. "We used to switch out for each other all the time, I'm good at it. Don't want them to kick your ass for it, man. I already done that." At least he had the grace to look ashamed, clocking Casey one had not been one of his shining moments. With the adrenaline high of worrying about his brother cut out, he mostly felt like an idiot "Nice move with the energy pull, by the way. That sucked." ----- ooc; HUG IT OUTT.

[Casey DeLaney]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 497px; height: 623px; background-image:url(http://i46.tinypic.com/2zimxpv.jpg)] Casey smiled as Tain thanked him, taking it as his best apology at the same time. But this whole mess had been complicated and charged with emotion from the start, so he didn’t hold anything his former ringmate had said or done against him. Casey was just glad that it had been him Tain had jumped, and not Gregory or another scout that still hated Tain for going to the Carna. “Tarrik... that’s perfect! Why didn’t I think of that?” Casey exclaimed. Of course! He didn’t need to pretend to have a dog at all. He’d just be taking a walk with the Delta, is all. A couple of canines going for a run, or a hunt, or anything else.. it didn’t matter what exactly, just that it didn’t look suspicious. The best case scenario would be to not be seen at all, as he still needed to cover up his tracks and explain how Tain had gotten away from him, but the plan was inconspicuous enough that even if someone saw them, Casey hoped that they just wouldn’t remember such an everyday sight. “It’s alright,” Casey assured him. “It’s what friends do, right? I’ll take care of breaking the news of your escape later.” He laughed and shrugged as Tain mentioned him draining his energy back at the border. “What can I say? I had to shut you up somehow before Greg beat your face in. I imagine it doesn’t feel so great, though. Sorry bout that!” he apologized, as his Tenderfoot Jonny swaggered into the jail, a smug smile on his face. He dangled a set of keys in his hand, and then tossed them over to Casey. “Too easy, Casey, really. Jeffrey was guarding them. Challenge me next time, why don’t you?” Casey caught the keys, shaking his head incredulously. “I don’t know how you do it… I don’t think I want to know. Jeffrey’s girlfriend probably doesn’t want to know either,” he added with a laugh, before pulling himself to his feet and unlocking the cell. “Thanks, Jonny. I owe you one.” Casey rolled his eyes when he saw Jonny’s face light up with a mischievous smile. “Hey, wipe that grin off your face! Not gonna happen!” “Fiinnne,” Jonny sighed. “I’m going back to my nap now if you don’t mind.” And with that, he left, leaving Casey and Tain to their plan. Casey swung the cell door open and shifted into his wolf form, nodding at Tain to shift as well. “Let’s get out of here already,” he suggested, running to the door and catching it with his muzzle before it could close after Jonny. Casey poked his head out the rest of the way and looked around, scenting for other Fulsi at the same time. “Looks like the coast is clear.” ooc: permission from Mou to play Jonny real fast. c:

[Tain Rosdahl]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width:500px;height:720px; background-image:url(http://i47.tinypic.com/xf2edx.png)] Out of everyone possible that Tain expected to see some into sight with the key to release like a model on a catwalk, Jonny was not even on the list. Not even close. Not even.. "Ohmygo-" he stuttered out, eyes owlishly wide. A moment later his brain finally kicked in, and, well, there was one way his mind could always turn in a crisis. "...dude. Datass." So he was on the up and up with American slang. He was trendy. He was cool. He was so not blowing Jonny's cover, which was even more awesome. And now the cell door was open. And holy hell, Casey had wings?! He definitely tried not to gawk. At least he had the manners not to ask about it; if Casey was uncomfortable about the mutations, it really wasn't the time to bring it up. So he let is slide, even if it was really super weird and cute in a disturbing way. At least he wasn't half spider. Hnng. Right. .....spiderwolf. How's about n- FOCUS. Focus. An inhale later and Tain was after him, a long-legged dog with a short slate coat. The color around him muted with the change, and scent crashed over his senses. He sneezed twice as Casey nosed the door open and peeked outside, then stretched Spinx-style. His escape could turn into a headlong run for the border at any time, and he'd be damned if he was tripped up by something so stupid as a cramp. And then he got an idea. A bad idea. Namely to bowl Casey over and book ass for Carna. Maybe trample him a bit to make the bruises believable. That's fear talking, you tosser, he berated himself mentally. And it was. He even gave himself good odds of making it to Carna if he did, he hadn't forgotten his way around Fulsi. They used to play mad games of chase through the broken city to sharpen their reflexes and their nerves. He could duck and run through the old building on Fifth and Kingsway, unless it was flooded like it sometimes was, hiding the broken glass. What was he thinking? He'd spent too long living in constant fear, his reflexes had turned paranoid around his old friend. So he followed Casey out into the morning. It was all very.. anticlimactic. It managed to be somehow even weirder than whatever he'd been expecting, a shout of recognition, the hiss of a released arrow. There wasn't even anyone around. Which kind of made sense, the weather was fair, and it was late enough that the patrols were well out of their way, the hunters long gone to track and set up their hides. Omegas and Tenderfoots had better things to do than skulk around the jailhouse. Puddles turned the crumbling streets into a massive mirror, and the paws of the two canines sent ripples and waves bouncing against concrete. No one would be tracking them without a microchip or low flying aircraft. Even with the quiet, Tain was reluctant to strike up conversation. The coast appearing clear and actually being that was were hugely different things, and Tain fought the nearly overwhelming urge to peer around looking for Fulsi they'd missed. And still, they made it. Twice they saw others from afar, neither time did they merit more than a bored wave. The walk turned into a lope as they hit the city edge, and distance sprawled between them and the ruined city. It was only once they were swallowed by the cold shadows of dense pines that Tain slowed with a yip to catch Casey's attention, then stopped. He was in good shape, but his heart was pounding and his breath coming in quick pants, it had been a serious haul on no sleep and little food. "We're less than a mile from the old Inn, right? I could make it from here. The longer we're together, the more chance someone sees, you know?" His ears pressed back a little, tail dipping. He didn't want Casey to leave, but just as obviously feared being caught with him. It sucked. His gray head swung side to side, glancing into the undergrowth, then he stepped over and head-butted the wolf's shoulder gently. "I owe you one, Case." The words were a soft whine in shiftertongue. "More than one. ...I missed you, furball." ----- ooc; datbooty