I think this might be a bit too dark. Help?
Okay ... Nott looks like this, Mani looks like this, there’s no picture of Pandeia, bit she’s an artic fox so I’m sure you can guess what she looks like. Fenris is the werewolf wannabe in the rather bloody icon. And Ken is a blond Chris Redfield.
Now having said that, I’m not sure weather these characters just shot the dog or out right raped it. (Although after reading that last link I think I might be in the clear.)
Chapter ????:MONSTERS
It’s what they were made for…
Fenris was brooding again.
Mani had phoned Nott asking him to go and tell him off for miserable, again. As if he could. The only one’s that Fenris listened to was Pandeia and Tony Yestin Rhys. And with Tony Fenris took everything the old man said as ‘good advice’ or ‘suggestions’.
Nott guessed that when you’re the biggest meanest and only big bad wolf in Wales then you didn’t have to take what anyone said as anything other that good advice and suggestions.
Still Nott already knew he had an even smaller chance of getting Mani to back off than he did of getting Fenris to smile so he agreed to talk to the big lug anyway.
He would have left a note for Ken telling him what wild goose chase he had been set on, but the man had been gone all day.
It was windy, but dry, so Nott again dressed in his green fleece and jeans. And since he could pass for human with the hood up he borrowed some of Ken’s loose change to catch the bus.
An hour later and Nott was walking up towards the farm when he saw Ken’s car driving down.
Nott waved at them to stop, not that they had much choice, the road wasn’t very wide and he stepped into the middle of it when the car made no sign of stopping.
“We’ve got to go Nott.” Ken shouted.
“Where are you guys ….” Nott’s voice trailed off when he saw Pandiea, sitting in the passenger seat casually pulling her jumper down.
As if to hide something on her lap.
The look Nott shot the three of them said it all.
“We can handle it.” Fenris said gravely.
“Then I can kelp you.”
“Nott …”
“No.” Nott complained putting his hands on the bonnet of the car making sure no one was going anywhere. “I’m not one of the run away and I’m not Mani, I don’t need you protecting me.”
“It’s a wolf Nott.”
The wolf slammed itself against the wall, crushing Nott against it. He heard a rib snap and he lost his grip and fell to the floor.
“Get away from him!” Jessica screamed shooting at the wolf.
But the rabid feral wolf drooling tainted blood moved in unpredictable motions and she couldn’t get the head shot.
But Jessica wasn’t going to move until she did. This thing had killed enough people.
Nott forced himself to his feet and ran at Jessica, knocking her over just as the wolf tried to attack.
It missed Jessica Law, but bit into Nott’s tail. The wolf not only driven insane by Ragrnarok but made stronger by it too pulled Nott was pulled into the air and thrown around like a rag doll. He hit the wall again, and the last thing he saw before he blacked out was the wolf, still holding his tail and ripping it apart.
“And you’re point would be?” Nott asked. “If we’re threatened then I need to help.”
“But Nott …” Pandeia started still trying to reason with the younger fox.
She was interrupted when Fenris opened the back door.
The pair in the back seat turned and glared at the wolf.
“If you’re sure you can handle it.” Fenris said.
Nott hesitated for a second. “It’s not another clone of you is it?”
“It’s a She-Wolf Nott.”
“Oh, Hey Fenris why don’t you try -”
“Already did. She refused. And she was surprised to see me.” Fenris asked.
“You mean she wasn’t looking for you?” Nott asked.
“They would have sent a pack after Fenris Nott.” Ken Forseti said.
“Huh?”
“Wolves don’t do as well alone as Foxes do Nott.” Fenris explained. “They would expect me to be lonely. By sending a pack after me, the pack could offer me a spot as one of its members.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“No.” Fenris growled. “A wolf that escaped the military for a long time must be resourceful and smart which would be an advantage to a pack.”
“But if they’ve run once, they’ll run again right?”
“Not usually, once in a pack it’s rare for a Wolf to want to leave that pack behind.” Ken answered.
Nott swallowed. Fenris had lost his pack, had had to kill one of the members himself. Nott hadn’t known how painful that must have been at the time.
“I heard of a wolf that ran twice.” Fenris answered.
“What happened the second time?” Ken asked.
“They shot him.” Fenris answered.
“So … if wolves love packs so much why did this girl refuse to start one with you?” Nott asked.
“She’s trying to prove herself capable of being an alpha female.” Fenris sighed. “She would be a good one too.”
In the front of the car Pandeia pulled the gun back out from under her jumper and started to load bullets into the clips for it.
The she – wolf may not have been looking for them, but she had found them, and she was going to give them away to the military who thought they were dead. Who didn’t even know that Pandeia’s cubs existed.
They couldn’t go back.
Pandeia slid a full clip into her gun.
*****
When the car returned to the farm, Ken had a broken arm, Fenris was scratched up like a old upholstery couch in a crazy cat ladies house, Nott had a nice slash across his face, a shoulder that was telling him that it was not forgiving him anytime soon and bruising around his throat in the shape of fingers.
Pandeia was the only one who didn’t have any wounds. The gun she had used had had to be taken out of her hands and Nott was pretty sure she would have been trembling if she wasn’t so tense and tightly wound.
The farm was a welcome sight.
At least it was until they saw Mani pacing by the front door. One of Pandiea’s cubs in her arms. The other three were sleeping on Tony’s smoking chair.
“She looks like she’s been waiting for us.” Nott said worried.
Ken frowned, he pulled the phone that never rings out of his pocket. It had twenty missed calls. Since there were no numbers programmed into the phone that never rings no name showed up. Just the telephone number itself.
The farms telephone number.
Pandeia, not noticing the males apprehension, was immediately next to that chair.
Nott, Ken, and Fenris stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Mani’s head snap towards her so fast it’s amazing her neck didn’t pop.
On top of that Mani’s ears were flat to her head and it looked like she was fighting not to bare her teeth.
They had seen Mani fight before. She was a morph bread and trained for killing like they were, even more so despite the fact that she was never going to be deployed in the field. She was the prototype of the Shadowstalker project. She had three abilities that they didn’t.
The most remarkable was the ability to ‘project’ darkness. None of them had been able to figure out how it worked, weather she actually projected it, or if she somehow distorted the light around here, all they knew was that it wasn’t in the victims head because the darkness would show up on camera, and Mani started to suffer from over heating if she tried to use it to long.
The other two skills she had was much more subtitle, a sense of smell and hearing that was even better than Fenris’.
The problem with Prototypes was that they had to be treated carefully, some were highly strung, and others were just out right insane.
Mani still had her ears back; but her tail was held low and she avoided eye contact as she passed Pandeia the fourth cub. Pandeia no noticing Mani’s behaviour took the cub back and glanced at Fenris and Ken. Whatever was going on it seemed like Mani didn’t actually want a fight.
Ken motioned for her to take the cubs inside.
Mani glared at the three of them and starting walking towards them. Ears still held back, teeth bared and tail in the air like flag.
Then again, maybe she just didn’t want to fight with Pandeia.
Nott grabbed Mani’s arm before she could attack Ken.
“We’re not meant to do this anymore.” She all but hissed. “We’re meant to have choices now, we came here so we could chose not to kill anymore.”
“Mani.” Ken said holding his hands up trying to calm down the young fox.
“I could smell the gun powder, and the fear.” Mani shouted. “What did you threaten her with!”
Nott grunted in pain as his shoulder complained about his holding back another who was almost as big as him.
“I didn’t threaten her with anyt -”
Mani broke free of Nott’s grip, she was just about to rake her claws across Ken’s face when Fenris grabbed her hand and twisted her around forcing her to look at him.
“We had choices.” Fenris growled at Mani’s shocked face. “We faced a wolf morph hunting a runway other than us. We offered to leave her alone in exchange for her silence, she refused. We offered to take her in as pack. She refused. We offered her life in return for her silence. Her reply was to attempt to strangle Nott.”
“We could have ran!” Mani cried.
“And go where? You have paperwork to protect you, but only as long as you live here.” Fenris answered. “What about Pandiea’s cubs? What about the runways that you and Nott have sent to my home? We’ve too many roots here to cut them easily, and we’ve do many depending on us for our protection.”
“Mani.” Nott said holding his hand against his shoulder. “The only choice we had was killing to keep our freedom, or give up our freedom to kill for others.”
Mani glared at Nott who’s ears drooped.
“Yes, well.” Mani tore her hand out of Fenris’ grip. “While you were out there killing Tony had a heart attack. Thomas is with him at the hospital.”
Mani turned and ran away.
Fenris would have wined but he couldn’t afford to.
“Nott, you up for trailing Mani? Fenris asked. “Last time I saw her this wound up she was holding a gun to someone’s head.”
“Will’s forgave her.” Ken said.
Fenris shot Ken a look. “Considering the situation yes. But this is not the same. Nott?”
Nott nodded, he had hoped to wash some of the blood off his face first, but Fenris was right, they couldn’t have Mani blow her top.
“Ken.” Fenris turned his attention to the human. “Go to the hospital, get her arm treated, find out how Tony is and let us know if he’s going to be okay.”
“What about you?”
“I could smell the fear on Pandeia too. I want to talk to her, then I’m going to look for the military morph who’s run while he was absent without leave lead that she-wolf right to us."