Won't Take This World's Abuse (Fang)

[Tsukiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: DED9D2; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] TSUKIKO when life pushes me, i push harder what doesn't kill me makes me stronger Half dead, she'd been dumped by her Keepers in the middle of a territory that didn't belong to her kind. They'd either wanted her to die, or had wanted to test her to see if she could survive long enough, in the state they'd left her in, to make it to the territory of those like her. Well she'd survived this long, but it hadn't been easy. She'd gone northwest from where her Keepers had left her in Analoya territory, across the meadowland of the Bellator, and finally arrived at the edge of the Nilda pack lands, right in the middle of (to Tsuki's great displeasure) a swamp. Not that she hated swamps, it just wasn't the most pleasant environment for the half-starved and weakened canine. Swimming wasn't really what she wanted to do in her condition, but she'd keep going or she'd die. So she wasn't really left with many options. As she pulled herself out of the water and onto one of the islands that offered respite from the murky waters of the bog, the dog's waterlogged coat only served to further demonstrate how thin she still was, pulling her skin taught against her skeletal frame. She'd been eating enough to keep herself alive and keep up enough strength to travel, but she'd been limited to mostly insects. It wasn't a bad diet for someone who was starving, the meals were small enough that she wouldn't make herself sick and the protein was good for her. Those moments where she found herself lucky, she'd managed to catch a small reptile or amphibian to provide her with a little more substance. Small mammals and larger game were out of her league for the moment. But, as the feline had said in their meeting, bones are enough for the starving, so she had gladly eaten insects and all other forms of creepy crawlies to keep herself alive. Tsukiko slowly made her way to the other side of the small island, and as she stepped out from the brush to look at what lay ahead of her, she huffed, her head dropping for a moment. She raised her head to look back up at the wide river that lay before her. The waters of the bog were easy enough to traverse, still waters with hardly any current. This however, was a river, with a current, and what was more, a current that was not going in the direction she wanted to go. She wanted to get to the lake she'd heard about, the heart of the Nilda pack's territory. This river's current was not going in that direction and that meant one of two things for the canine. She would either have to swim against the current to continue in the direction she wanted to go, or swim at an angle with the current and end up slightly further away from her goal. That was if she was lucky, if she was unlucky, the current would be too strong for her anyway, and she'd end up it's victim, pulled wherever it deigned to pull her. She huffed again before easing into the water once more, angling herself for the shore just downstream and across from her. No sense in fighting the current. Tsukiko swam along just fine... until she got to about the midway point. It wasn't like there were any rapids or anything, but the most dangerous thing about water was the current below the surface. And that current, calm though it may have appeared from the shore, was still too strong for a half-dead dog. She felt herself slide under the surface and rise again with a sputtering. She started to kick harder towards the opposite shore, but it was too late, she was in it now. She was nothing more than a soggy paper boat and the river was going to do as it willed with her. As she went under again, kicking and sputtering, a scene flashed into her head. A memory. She was back in her master's truck, riding along as he went on a fishing trip. The radio was on and she was listening to some man as he sang in the most chill manner possible. She couldn't help but think to herself, "This can not possibly be how it ends, not now..." Kicking with everything she had left, she went along like a bobber, rising and falling, staying under longer each time. And all the while, that song was playing in her head... "Don't worry. Be happy..." no, not gonna die tonight, we're gonna stand and fight forever

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[Deleted]

Fang moved across the semi-solid ground at a relaxed lope, keeping a keen eye out for any game that might have wandered in from the meadowlands. If he didn't spot anything in the Nilda territory he would have to cross the border into the Bellator lands. He was more than willing to hunt there, but if he could avoid stirring up tensions along the border he would. As the Commander, he didn't really have any set hunting shifts, but he didn't feel comfortable ordering anyone to do anything unless he was willing to do it himself. Some of the predators disliked hunting in the bogs; it was a decent place to find game but the terrain was difficult to run through, and they ended up splattered in mud and soaked to the bone. What better way to encourage them to do the sometimes unpleasant task than by doing it himself? He almost enjoyed running through the bog, if he'd still been a tame dog only worried about begging extra food off his humans he would have done it for fun.

His tongue lolled out in a doggy grin and he splashed through the shallow water, spraying it everywhere. As his eyes scanned the waters around him, he saw movement in the river. Slowing to a trot he moved through the water as quietly as he could, hoping to get close enough to see what it was without risking it running away, especially if it was prey.

As he hauled himself out of the water and back onto somewhat dry ground, he saw it was another dog, paddling through the river. He sniffed the air, the scent was faint, but it wasn't one he recognized, the dog was not part of his pack. That did not make her an enemy though, and he stood up, preparing to call out a greeting, when he saw her get pulled under the current. She didn't seem to be having much luck keeping her head above water, and, without even thinking about it, Fang shot forwards, running as fast as his legs could take him.

His body stretched out as he ran, his heart pounding as he reached the bank and leaped into the river, quickly paddling over to the struggling dog. Carefully keeping his tail behind him so he didn't accidentally sting her, he came up beside her, placing himself between her and where the current was trying to pull her, so she bumped up against him.

"If you can shift, do it!"

[/color] he cried out in shiftertongue, guessing she was a shifter or a retro and not just a normal dog that somehow got locked up in here, "Try to get your arms around my neck and I'll pull you out."[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Tsukiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: DED9D2; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] TSUKIKO when life pushes me, i push harder what doesn't kill me makes me stronger Her body hit something in the water, and at first, she thought it was a log, since it was moving with her. She started to try and claw her way onto it, to use it to float, until she realized it was talking to her. What... or whoever it was, wanted her to shift to her human form to grab hold of their body. She hated her human form, it felt unnatural her, even if she had started to grow used to using it. However, the voice's suggestion was a logical one, she'd be able to grab hold of their body much easier in human form. And she didn't particularly want to drown just because she didn't like being a human. Tsukiko's body shifted, sinking back into the water in the process as she found herself unable to swim very well for the moment it took her to change. As she surfaced, she found herself on the other side of the creature attempting to save her, a dog by the looks of it. That wasn't at all where she wanted to be, and she reached out with her hands as she kicked wildly back towards her would-be rescuer. Human fingers curled into fur at the side of the shepherd's neck and she pulled, trying to close the distance between the two so that she could wrap her other arm around him. In her head, she apologized for having to yank his hair, but she had purchase on only one thing at that point and needed to get her other arm around him. And it worked, as she slid her free arm across his chest, only to grab more of his fur. It was a tentative hold that she had, weak as she was, she couldn't risk letting go to get a better purchase. "Go..." she sputtered, "swim..." no, not gonna die tonight, we're gonna stand and fight forever

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[Deleted]

Fang winced a little as the woman's hands tugged on his fur, but he was more focused on keeping her afloat than on any discomfit it caused. Her grip was to weak, if he swam towards shore now she would slip off. She didn't seem to have the strength to hold on any tighter though, so, as gently as he could he grabbed the scruff of her clothes with his teeth. He knew that despite his caution he might have grabbed some hair and skin along with the clothes, but he could apologize later, right now he had to make sure she didn't drown.

Swimming diagonally across the river, he stretched his arachnoid tail out behind him, using it like a rudder to help him steer through the strong current. It was difficult going, it would have been a challenging swim even without a human hanging off his shoulders, but he kept paddling. At last he reached a shallower part of the river, and dug his paws into the mud, struggling for purchase. Panting and straining, he dragged himself and his burden out onto the muddy bank. Once his paws were firmly on dry land, he lay down, letting go of the hold he'd had on the other retromorph's clothes.

"Sorry if I bit you,"

[/color] he panted with a rueful smile, "I didn't want you to slip off, I might not have been able to get to you again. This river is fierce at the best of times."[/color]

For the first time, he got a good look at her. She was far to skinny, and he doubted she would have been able to make it out of the river on her own. She certainly wasn't one of the Nilda. If one of his pack had been that malnourished he would have died from shame. It was his job to look after them after all, especially the predators responsible for feeding them. Sure, game was scarce sometimes, but he always did his best to make sure they brought in enough to keep the pack from starving. Clearly no one had been doing that for this dog.

"My name is Fang, I belong to the Nilda pack, canine retromorphs,"[/color] he looked at her calculatingly, ""Now I don't know if you're here to join us, if you're a rogue passing through or if you're just lost, either way, you should come with me. If you stay out here alone I don't think you'll survive very long, frankly. At the very least I can offer you something to eat and somewhere to rest for a while."[/color]

If she didn't take him up on the offer he'd have to find another way to convince her. He didn't want to leave her out here by herself, even if she hadn't been another canine retro he would have offered her some food, even if it was against the rules. He was loyal to his pack, and he'd follow Gaunt into the keeper's cages if he asked, but he wouldn't let someone starve to death, not if he could help them.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Tsukiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: DED9D2; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] TSUKIKO when life pushes me, i push harder what doesn't kill me makes me stronger Tsukiko managed to hold on well enough, but it wasn't going to last long. She knew it, and so too did the shepherd that had decided to drag her out of the river. She felt him moving before she saw that his head was swiveling around in her direction. His canine's grazed her skin, breaking the flesh only just enough to draw blood, as he grabbed her by the scruff of her clothing. Once he had hold of her, Tsuki felt the muscles in his chest move as he began the swim back to shore. When he had finally drug her out of the water and onto dry land, the two were panting equally as hard and dripping an equal amount of water. She heard and felt him lay on the ground beside her as he let go of her collar. She lay face down in the dirt, her body heaving as she coughed and panted, trying to catch her breath. "I've... had worse," she offered him muffled assurance between breaths. Tsuki let the german shepherd retro continue to speak as she continued to try and regain her breath. "Nilda, I've been looking for you guys..." Tsuki's breathing started to normalize, she turned her head to look at her savior. Her eyes widened and her human jaw dropped. Where she had expected to see a completely normal german shepherd (well, as normal as a dog who turns into a human can be), she instead found a dog with some sort of monstrously mutated tail. She reacted immediately, more out of instinct than fear. Her body rolled away from his, putting some distance between the two of them. She half pushed herself up off the ground and felt her human arms wavering beneath her weight (what little weight she had on her), her body still too tired from the struggle to swim. This situation seemed oddly familiar. Oh yes, she'd not too long ago been staring at Kajetan whilst in a very similar state. "What," she started to question, "your tail..." She couldn't even find the words. Through her tangled mess of hair, one could see the confusion written across her face as she examined Fang from where she lay. She was trying to process what he had said with the sudden surprise of his appearance. Logic dictated that if he had saved her and had identified himself as being a part of the group of canine retromorphs she'd been looking for, she should treat him the way she would anyone else in the same circumstance. However, the surprise of not being met with the visual she was expecting was overriding logic, and even confusing her instincts. None of it really mattered in the end though, because regardless of which of the internal forces waging within her won, her body had entirely different plans. Tsukiko was starving. She was soaked to the bone. She'd already lost track of how long it had taken her to get from where she'd woken up in the cat's territory to where she was. And she'd nearly drowned. Her willpower was no longer enough to overcome her body's condition. Her human arms buckled and caved, sending her roughly into the dirt with a groan. Her body was spent. "I don't know if my luck is getting better or worse," she sighed. At that point, she felt herself shift back into her natural form, too weak to maintain the human shift any longer. Not that she minded. She looked up at the german shepherd, her jaw slack as she tried to figure out what to do or say next. ((OOC: I apologize if this post seems awkward. I had so much trouble with this one. I can not seem to adequately express her confusion and shock. If I need to change anything, just let me know.)) no, not gonna die tonight, we're gonna stand and fight forever

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[Deleted]

Fang couldn't help but let his tail droop a little, he was fairly used to the reaction by now but it still made him feel like a monster when people first saw his tail. He could certainly see the benefits of being part arachnid, but sometimes he wished that the keepers had just left him as a normal dog. He couldn't think about that now though, the other retro had backed away in fear and looked about ready to drop from exhaustion.

His prediction turned out to be correct, as she face planted the ground and lost control of her shift, changing back into a regular dog. He moved forwards instinctively before hesitating, he didn't want to frighten her. Stepping backwards, he shifted into his human form, squatting down on his haunches and watching her with a kind expression.

"Sometimes the keepers like to change us," he said, keeping his voice low and soothing, "They mixed me with a scorpion, they didn't bother asking if I wanted to be part bug, they just did it. It's not all that unusual to be part something else in here."

[/color]

"Would it help if I stayed human? I can if it makes you feel better. Sometimes I have too around the pups, some of them get scared, on the other hand some of them like playing with my tail a little too much,"[/b] he smiled, an almost dog like grin on his human face, "I usually like playing with the pups, but their teeth are sharp![/color]

He rocked back on his haunches, looking around and judging how far into the bogs they were. It was clear that the other retro didn't have the strength to keep fighting through the waters, so they'd have to get out of the bog and cut across the foothills. It would still be tough going for a starving dog, but it was easier than going through the bog.

He stood up, deciding to stay in human for, at least for the moment. He wouldn't be able to go as fast as he could as a dog, but he could certainly keep up with the other retro.

"Do you think you'd be able to walk for a while? If we can get out of the bogs it will be easier."[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Tsukiko]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: DED9D2; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] TSUKIKO when life pushes me, i push harder what doesn't kill me makes me stronger Tsukiko watched and listened as he explained things to her. It was a little much to take in. As if it wasn't enough that they tortured you to test your limits, apparently the humans also decided that the residents of the Menageries made excellent test subjects for gene splicing. Her head rose off the ground, as he finished his explanation. "I'm sorry," Tsuki apologized. "It's been a long couple of months and I just," she sighed, "I'm just still learning about this place." It was a lot to take in, everything she was learning about the Menagerie since she'd been dumped into it like a sack of moldy potatoes. "You're fine in whichever form you choose, I was just surprised." With the explanations out of the way, it appeared as if she'd calmed down a great deal, or maybe she was just too tired to worry over things anymore. A moment longer on the ground, and she slowly rose to her feet, testing the strength in her legs. She was beyond exhausted as he asked her about walking, but she smiled at him through the exhaustion, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep,” she wasn't sure if he'd recognize a quote from Robert Frost, or know any poetry at all. Most animals didn't. Her master had been particularly fond of poetry, and he'd read to her every night. She'd picked up quite a bit of it, and it was one of the things she hoped to hold onto. Maybe she'd go exploring in some of the human settlements and see if she could locate a book or two. That would be a long way off by the looks of things, though. She was in no condition to be out rummaging for poetry collections. "Sorry," she continued in case she'd confused him, "what I mean to say is, I think I still have a little bit of walking left in me." ((OOC: Quote from Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening)) no, not gonna die tonight, we're gonna stand and fight forever

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