Post by ~:.-{Ice}-.:~:.-{Fire}-.:~ on Sept 15, 2008 16:08:45 GMT -8
This is a little story I am working on. R&R
Endangered
Prologue
They are all dead now. Every last one. My mother. My father. My sister. Everyone. I am the last of my family. The last of my kind. I am more of an endangered species now then I ever was. If the Hunters have their way, I will be extinct by moonrise. But they won’t get their way.
I never was one for obeying
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I felt the wind rush through my tawny hair, carrying the sweet smell of the forest. The Hunters were running, but I was faster.
I am always faster.
I felt the fierce ache of my power leak into my lithe body, speeding me up better then adrenaline. No, the Hunters won’t catch me tonight, but they won’t give up either. I dashed through the dark, weaving my way around the moss-covered trees.
My sharp, feline eyes caught the brightening up ahead, and I raced towards it, my bare feet skimming over the bracken. My sensitive, canine ears caught the sounds of the Hunters behind me, running with their white hounds.
They were special dogs, hate, imbued into their system. Hate for me and my unique scent. The Hunters forced them to, or else they would either fear me or love me. I had a way with animals.
The thick foliage obscured my vision of the moon, but I could see clearly with the silvery light it lent me. It would be too dark for the Hunter’s to see me clearly, they were only human. They were very dependent on the sensitive noses of their white beast-dogs.
But if any human wandered aimlessly in the forest this night and saw me run by, even they would see I wasn’t right. That I wasn’t normal.
They might see that my gait was too fast, too graceful, to be human. They might see that my body is too angular, too perfect, to be of this realm.
I’m almost definitely sure the tail would throw them off.
Or-if I stopped to chat- that ‘fang’ and ‘claw’ quite accurately described my teeth and nails. I was using too much power to appear ‘normal’ right now, but that suited me just fine.
I saw the moon through the thinning trees, round and swollen in the sky. I finally burst into the open and silent night. The large, jagged rocks hampered my speed; I had to watch where I placed my feet. Despite my caution, I winced when an especially sharp rock kissed the bottom on my foot, scraping my heel. I would have to check that out, but I had not time to stop now. I could hear the foot-falls, and paw steps behind me, rapidly approaching the forest’s edge.
I nearly sighed as I reached the wet, white sand. The coolness of the sand soothed my foot, even if some grain stung my raw heal. I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw them scrambling over the sharp splinters of rock.
The dogs were pure white, even their eyes leeched of colour, leaving them a smooth, milky cream. From ground to shoulder, they were always measured around three feet, a monstrosity. Their necks and shoulders were thick with slab-like muscle. Their heads were wider then dinner plates and their jaws strong enough to crush bone. With canines long enough that they were always showing, the look was purely demonic. We call them Phantoms.
Well, Icall them Phantoms.
I keep forgetting there is no more ‘we’.
What I learned over the years is that wherever there is a Phantom, there is a Hunter close by. Hunters themselves were human, so they came in all shapes, sizes and colours. I can’t truthfully say all Hunters are males, but I have never seen a female Hunter.
Hunters were the only humans that knew everything of my existence. They were chosen for their talent. Either their physical prowess, their keen eyesight or their ability to identify the abnormal. Anything that is essential for capturing and destroying their target.
Me.
A few years ago, the feeble human group and their mutts were no more a threat then a fly. Even the idea they were ’after us’ was laughable.
That is, until a few months later when they killed my best friend, Lily.
The ice-cold water swirled around my ankles, bringing me back to the present. I mentally scolded myself for letting my mind drift. If I was going to lose these guys I was going to have to be attentive.
The water drastically reduced my speed as my calves swished through the choppy surface. I’m glad I left my clothes behind-they would have slowed me down considerably. When you’re someone like me, clothes are a luxury, not a necessity.
My yellow and black tail swished against my water-flecked thighs. Back you go. The next time it brushed my leg, it stuck, and then melted into my skin. It disappeared along with my claws and fangs.
My legs were numb from the ocean, and the wind was glacial. It whipped my hair around my face and stung my eyes. I shuddered, feeling goose-flesh being raised on my skin.
I half-turned, my steel-grey eyes searching for the rapidly approaching threat.
The Hunters had released the three Phantoms, and they were already half-way across the beach, their white eyes flaming with rage as they followed my scent.
I turned hurriedly, not wanting to face them. Phantoms were dealt with a lot easier when they were by themselves, like Hunters. But Hunters and Phantoms in packs were deadly. I’ve seen too many of my kind ripped to shreds by Phantom pack for them to be considered anything less then lethal. But I can’t think of that now.
I let my inner power caress my body from the inside out. I let instinct kick in, and felt my skin turn rubbery and smooth. I crouched, then vaulted myself out of the water, diving forward. My arms in front of my face, I saw my skin grey and begin to shine. I felt my body shift, bones turning into softer cartilage, rearranging, resizing. A dorsal fin sprouted from my back and my legs melded together, muscle thickening, until my tail was strong and rigid. My head was tapered into a narrow snout, my mouth filled with meddle-sharp teeth. I felt the change, felt every single altercation. It seemed like forever although it probably looked instantaneous to anyone watching.
I entered the ocean head first, my new dolphin body cutting smoothing into the water. My power grey tail moved almost mechanically, up and down, pushing me through the water, my streamline body destroying any resistance I might have encountered.
The night was young and I intended to make the most of it. I powered through the black mass before me, taking endurance over speed.
I would need to go a long time into the night.
I couldn’t let the caress of the liquid salt lull me into a false sense of security. I could hear the muffled howls of the Phantoms filter through the dense blackness around me. It was a haunting sound that made a shudder run down my sleek body.
Lessening the solemnise was the gruff, muted voices of the Hunters, muttering curses that were directed at me.
I went up for air, spraying water up in the air, waving my flukes tauntingly towards my pursuers before disappearing from sight. I heard the Phantom’s pitch increase and the Hunters swearing.
I smirked a dolphin smirk and dove deeper into the black abyss that yawned below me.
[/left]Endangered
Prologue
They are all dead now. Every last one. My mother. My father. My sister. Everyone. I am the last of my family. The last of my kind. I am more of an endangered species now then I ever was. If the Hunters have their way, I will be extinct by moonrise. But they won’t get their way.
I never was one for obeying
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I felt the wind rush through my tawny hair, carrying the sweet smell of the forest. The Hunters were running, but I was faster.
I am always faster.
I felt the fierce ache of my power leak into my lithe body, speeding me up better then adrenaline. No, the Hunters won’t catch me tonight, but they won’t give up either. I dashed through the dark, weaving my way around the moss-covered trees.
My sharp, feline eyes caught the brightening up ahead, and I raced towards it, my bare feet skimming over the bracken. My sensitive, canine ears caught the sounds of the Hunters behind me, running with their white hounds.
They were special dogs, hate, imbued into their system. Hate for me and my unique scent. The Hunters forced them to, or else they would either fear me or love me. I had a way with animals.
The thick foliage obscured my vision of the moon, but I could see clearly with the silvery light it lent me. It would be too dark for the Hunter’s to see me clearly, they were only human. They were very dependent on the sensitive noses of their white beast-dogs.
But if any human wandered aimlessly in the forest this night and saw me run by, even they would see I wasn’t right. That I wasn’t normal.
They might see that my gait was too fast, too graceful, to be human. They might see that my body is too angular, too perfect, to be of this realm.
I’m almost definitely sure the tail would throw them off.
Or-if I stopped to chat- that ‘fang’ and ‘claw’ quite accurately described my teeth and nails. I was using too much power to appear ‘normal’ right now, but that suited me just fine.
I saw the moon through the thinning trees, round and swollen in the sky. I finally burst into the open and silent night. The large, jagged rocks hampered my speed; I had to watch where I placed my feet. Despite my caution, I winced when an especially sharp rock kissed the bottom on my foot, scraping my heel. I would have to check that out, but I had not time to stop now. I could hear the foot-falls, and paw steps behind me, rapidly approaching the forest’s edge.
I nearly sighed as I reached the wet, white sand. The coolness of the sand soothed my foot, even if some grain stung my raw heal. I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw them scrambling over the sharp splinters of rock.
The dogs were pure white, even their eyes leeched of colour, leaving them a smooth, milky cream. From ground to shoulder, they were always measured around three feet, a monstrosity. Their necks and shoulders were thick with slab-like muscle. Their heads were wider then dinner plates and their jaws strong enough to crush bone. With canines long enough that they were always showing, the look was purely demonic. We call them Phantoms.
Well, Icall them Phantoms.
I keep forgetting there is no more ‘we’.
What I learned over the years is that wherever there is a Phantom, there is a Hunter close by. Hunters themselves were human, so they came in all shapes, sizes and colours. I can’t truthfully say all Hunters are males, but I have never seen a female Hunter.
Hunters were the only humans that knew everything of my existence. They were chosen for their talent. Either their physical prowess, their keen eyesight or their ability to identify the abnormal. Anything that is essential for capturing and destroying their target.
Me.
A few years ago, the feeble human group and their mutts were no more a threat then a fly. Even the idea they were ’after us’ was laughable.
That is, until a few months later when they killed my best friend, Lily.
The ice-cold water swirled around my ankles, bringing me back to the present. I mentally scolded myself for letting my mind drift. If I was going to lose these guys I was going to have to be attentive.
The water drastically reduced my speed as my calves swished through the choppy surface. I’m glad I left my clothes behind-they would have slowed me down considerably. When you’re someone like me, clothes are a luxury, not a necessity.
My yellow and black tail swished against my water-flecked thighs. Back you go. The next time it brushed my leg, it stuck, and then melted into my skin. It disappeared along with my claws and fangs.
My legs were numb from the ocean, and the wind was glacial. It whipped my hair around my face and stung my eyes. I shuddered, feeling goose-flesh being raised on my skin.
I half-turned, my steel-grey eyes searching for the rapidly approaching threat.
The Hunters had released the three Phantoms, and they were already half-way across the beach, their white eyes flaming with rage as they followed my scent.
I turned hurriedly, not wanting to face them. Phantoms were dealt with a lot easier when they were by themselves, like Hunters. But Hunters and Phantoms in packs were deadly. I’ve seen too many of my kind ripped to shreds by Phantom pack for them to be considered anything less then lethal. But I can’t think of that now.
I let my inner power caress my body from the inside out. I let instinct kick in, and felt my skin turn rubbery and smooth. I crouched, then vaulted myself out of the water, diving forward. My arms in front of my face, I saw my skin grey and begin to shine. I felt my body shift, bones turning into softer cartilage, rearranging, resizing. A dorsal fin sprouted from my back and my legs melded together, muscle thickening, until my tail was strong and rigid. My head was tapered into a narrow snout, my mouth filled with meddle-sharp teeth. I felt the change, felt every single altercation. It seemed like forever although it probably looked instantaneous to anyone watching.
I entered the ocean head first, my new dolphin body cutting smoothing into the water. My power grey tail moved almost mechanically, up and down, pushing me through the water, my streamline body destroying any resistance I might have encountered.
The night was young and I intended to make the most of it. I powered through the black mass before me, taking endurance over speed.
I would need to go a long time into the night.
I couldn’t let the caress of the liquid salt lull me into a false sense of security. I could hear the muffled howls of the Phantoms filter through the dense blackness around me. It was a haunting sound that made a shudder run down my sleek body.
Lessening the solemnise was the gruff, muted voices of the Hunters, muttering curses that were directed at me.
I went up for air, spraying water up in the air, waving my flukes tauntingly towards my pursuers before disappearing from sight. I heard the Phantom’s pitch increase and the Hunters swearing.
I smirked a dolphin smirk and dove deeper into the black abyss that yawned below me.
