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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 17:12:57 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 29, 2007 17:12:57 GMT -5
DRESDEN Heavy rain pattered on the streets of Cheshire City. It fell from the dense clouds that covered the entire sky, angry and purple, heavy with water. They blocked out the stars, but couldn’t cover up the glow of the waxing moon, which permeated the grim strata and cast a hazy light on the city below. At this time of night the pavements and alleyways were mostly deserted. The only people left outside hurried along quickly, bent over with umbrellas or just their arms shielding them from the weather. One person out tonight, however, had no qualms with the state of the weather, however unforgiving it became. Atop a tall, gothic looking church, the bounty hunter Dresden crouched on one knee. He wore a long leather coat that appeared black but on closer inspection could be seen to be a deep green colour, made slick and shiny by the rain. Underneath this he wore a black sleeveless t-shirt, loose enough to ensure maximum freedom of movement, but not baggy enough to hide his well toned muscles, or to give any adversaries anything to grab onto. He wore his hair long – halfway down his back – tied into a ponytail to keep it out of the way and his face was deeply lined and tanned a dark shade that revealed a life lived outdoors and made him look older than his 30 years. His green eyes were set deep, but they shone like an animal’s; alive and acutely aware. With his tough combat boots making him appear even taller than his actual two meters, he was an imposing sight to behold. The fact that he was a half-breed werewolf only added to his intimidating presence. Water pooled around his boots as he sat motionless, his hands down at his sides, fingers outstretched and just touching the stonework beneath them for balance. The three storey drop before him didn’t faze him in the least, despite the rain making his perch a precariously slippery location. He was barely aware that one slip could result in a bone-crunching fall, and was instead focused intently on the streets below. The barest hint of movement, only a shifting of a shadow in an alleyway’s mouth, caught his attention. His eyes narrowed and he tensed slightly, readying himself for action at a moment’s notice. But the shadows expelled only a cat, which darted across the empty street to shelter from the rain under a parked car. Dresden breathed out slowly, relaxing slightly. The quarry he was stalking tonight had yet to show itself. * * * The quarry in question was a were-rat by the name of Vincent Squeers, also known as Squeaks; a conniving little piece of trash who’d made the mistake of trying to embezzle from his employers, namely the Northern were-pack in Cheshire. They’d posted the bounty on Squeaks as soon as they’d found out about his little scheme and he knew it, which was why he was hoping to close the deal tonight, so he could start setting about going into hiding with what the rest of the money. Squeaks hurried along the sodden streets, his usual skittish gait made even twitchier with guilty panic. He was expecting at any moment to be jumped by any number of people wishing to make him extremely sorry for his misdemeanours. The contact place for the deal was just up ahead,
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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 17:13:42 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 29, 2007 17:13:42 GMT -5
though, and the cold washes of fear that had been plaguing him were beginning to be warmed by the sense of relief that the whole business was coming to an end. Stealing the money hadn’t been an easy job, and the person he was meeting tonight had helped him in exchange for 50% of the takings. Squeaks shook his head, rain flicking off of his lank hair. The sooner he’d closed the deal and was sitting somewhere very far from here, preferably with a cool drink in the sun, the better. * * * Dresden was scanning the streets once more when something else caught his eye. A small humanoid figure was hurrying through the rain, only a cheap-looking windbreaker serving as protection from the elements. As the figure hurried along it passed underneath the yellow glow of a streetlamp, and Dresden immediately recognised the narrow features of his mark, Squeaks. Squeaks was clutching a large rucksack to his weedy chest, so that explained why he hadn’t reverted into his rat-form for camouflage. Whatever he’d gleaned from his former employers was probably in the bag, Dresden thought. He let Squeaks pass by his position and begin to round a corner, and then he rose from his crouch, water cascading off his coat. In the same fluid movement he leant forwards and half leapt, half fell off of the ledge, coattails fluttering as he dropped. After a second of rushing wind and water, he hit the pavement, knees bent to absorb the impact that would’ve left a normal human with a pair of broken ankles at the very least, and immediately took off after the disappearing were-rat. He reached the corner within seconds, and flattened himself against the wall stealthily. He craned his neck to peer around the corner, only to see Squeak’s retreating form turn off into an alleyway. Dresden rounded the corner and walked slowly towards where his prey had gone. * * * Squeaks entered the alleyway with only a hint of trepidation. Although he was 99% sure that the person he was meeting wasn’t going to turn him in, the suspicion was always there. Of course, should the worst come to the worst, Squeaks was sure he’d be able to transform into a rat and high-tail it away as fast as possible, but that would mean leaving all the cash behind. Still, being free and broke was better, infinitely so, than the things the pack would do to him if they caught him. If they caught him, that is. The .38 that was nestled on top of the money in his pack would also be an advantage, even though the Saturday night special was nothing more than a pea-shooter. He moved further into the alley, clutching the bag to his chest even more tightly than before, eyes moving constantly, searching the shadows for his contact. The end of the alley loomed. A dead-end, he realised with dread; now that would make any escape even trickier. He stopped about twenty feet in and waited, trying to control his breathing. Sure enough, after a few moments of agonizing silence save for the drumming of the rain, his keen ears picked up the sounds of movement at the closed end of the alley.
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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 17:14:21 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 29, 2007 17:14:21 GMT -5
An indistinct figure appeared out of the shadows, stepping smoothly into the light. Squeaks let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Rafael the were-tiger, replete in his tailored charcoal suit. He was Squeak’s contact in the pack. Rafael was pretty high in the chain of command in the pack, but had grown tired of his superiors’ oppression and wanted to split. So when he’d found evidence of tampering with the pack’s funds and found out about Squeaks little money scheme, instead of dismembering the little creep he’d offered to help. The money he’d get would enable him to split off and go into hiding and, eventually, put together his own pack. His position had meant he was able to hide the plot from his superiors far more successfully than Squeak’s meagre attempts, but the snivelling little were made a good scapegoat. If the plan went to hell, at least Rafael would be able to act as though he’d caught Squeaks in the act. And if the rat lived up to his name and squeaked about the were-tiger’s involvement? So what, who would believe an underling over him? No-one, that’s who. Rafael grinned when he saw Squeaks carrying the bag. “I see you made it, then.” He observed. Squeaks gave him a weak grin in return, although it had a slight fixed look to it, as though his mouth had made the movement of a smile as a displacement method to avoid freaking out because of stress. “Y-Yeah, sure. I made it, I made it. I got the money right here, R-Rafael.” The rat stammered. Rafael growled, scowling. He bared his teeth, which appeared pointier than most because, of course, they were. For obvious reasons. “Don’t say my name you idiot. I don’t want to be implicated.” He said, angrily. Squeaks quavered. “I’d say it’s a bit late for that, wouldn’t you?” Said a deep voice from the alley’s entrance. * * * Dresden had arrived to see seen Squeaks waiting in the alley, and had held back, awaiting developments. He was surprised to see that the were-rat’s contact was none other than Rafael. He arched an eyebrow at this interesting turn of events. When he heard the were-tiger’s angry rebuke, he decided it was a good time to make his entrance, and turned into the alleyway fully, striding towards the treacherous pair out of the gloom. “I’d say it’s a bit late for that, wouldn’t you?” He said, stopping about ten feet away from Squeaks. The were-rat whirled round at the sound of Dresden’s voice, a look of abject terror on his thin, rodentine face. Rafael however snarled viciously, his hands clenching into fists at his sides, claws sprouting involuntarily from the ends of his fingers in his anger. “Dresden, you half-breed fuck, I might’ve known it’d be you who’d show up.” He spat.
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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 17:14:42 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 29, 2007 17:14:42 GMT -5
Dresden was unfazed by the other’s insults. As far as he was concerned, his half-bloodedness wasn’t a problem. He got most of the benefits of being a were without the nastiness of being forced into an animalistic state every full moon. Sure, he couldn’t transform fully at all, but that was a small price to pay and besides, it was much easier to drag in a bounty when you still had the human-standard number of opposable digits.
“Rafael, I’m as surprised to see you here as you are to see me. Wait until I bring your corpse back as well as this pathetic little specimen. They’ll pay me double, for sure.” He gestured towards Squeaks, who flinched as if the bounty hunter’s hand was a loaded weapon. Dresden kept his eyes levelled on Rafael, waiting for the other to make a move.
“Your threats mean nothing to me, half-breed.” Rafael shot back, resentment dripping from every syllable. “I could tear your abomination of a hide to pieces in a heartbeat.” He fell into a fighting stance, arms akimbo, claws snikking out of fingers that now resembled the heavy paws of his animal form more than human hands. When he snarled, Dresden saw that his incisors had lengthened into sharp fangs, top and bottom. He amber eyes glowed in the dim light of the alley.
Dresden glared back at the semi-transformed were-tiger. There was no doubt that the full blood was going to fight to the death. Dresden was fully intending it to be Rafael’s.
Squeaks looked from bounty hunter to were-tiger in terror. The situation was quickly getting out of hand. Luckily his partner would easily make mincemeat out of Dresden. A half-breed could never stand a chance against a full-blooded were. He’d only need stay out of the way and let Rafael get on with it. He retreated into the shadows; his grip on the bag full of money was now vice-like, his bony knuckles white with tension.
Rafael meanwhile was now almost fully transformed into his half-tiger, half-human form. Striped fur sprouted from smoothly tanned skin as muscles and bones reshaped themselves, the flesh that covered them bulging obscenely. Raphael as a human appeared to be of Mediterranean origins, his features handsome and defined. But his beastlike half-animal form was a hulking mix of tiger and bipedal human. His face distorted sickeningly as his skull reshaped itself to resemble the features of a tiger, ears becoming more round, only to flatten in rage, nose flattening and widening. Whiskers sprouted from white-furred cheeks that were pulled back from black gums sprouting vicious fangs.
Dresden stared as the figure in front of him morphed, growing several inches taller on thick, muscled legs. A striped tail whipped out from the base of Raphael’s spine where it swept from side to side in fury. The expensive suit was now mere ragged tatters of fabric hanging off of Raphael’s considerably more bulky animalistic frame.
He snarled again, a guttural, animal sound. He crouched into a low stance, orange and black striped torso bowed, head jutted forwards towards Dresden. He took a step forward and roared, then charged all out towards the bounty hunter before him.
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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 17:15:17 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 29, 2007 17:15:17 GMT -5
Dresden reached inside his coat, arms crossing his chest inside his coat to pull out two Beretta 9mm handguns. He quickly levelled the dual weapons at Raphael and squeezed off three rounds apiece in a tight spread, directly at the were-tiger’s chest. The shots went wide, however, when Raphael closed the gap between the two adversaries and swung one heavy clawed paw on the end of an arm which bulged with rope-like muscles.
The blow connected with Dresden’s body and lifted him off his feet, throwing him off to one side. One of the hunter’s shots glanced across the were’s head, the round leaving a bright red trail of blood over one eye before whining off into the shadows. The hit caused the tiger to falter, although it was nowhere near enough to give him pause for more than a few seconds. Dresden crashed into the floor, the force of the impact causing the weapon in his left hand to jar free. It clattered off into the shadows of the alleyway. Dresden rolled with the landing, his paranormal blood giving him a super-human edge. He sprang back onto his feet, only to dodge to the side as Raphael recovered from his moment of distraction and lunged at him again.
Dresden skidded as his boots hit the floor, but he steadied himself with his free hand. He quickly brought his weapon arm up and sighted at Raphael, letting off the rest of the clip in a rapid burst. The bullets thudded into the were-tiger with heavy smacks, leaving a cluster of ugly black entrance wounds. Blood started to flow from the holes, matting the white fur on Raphael’s abdomen. The same amount of rounds, if they’d connected with Raphael’s head, might’ve been enough to stop him, but the were was running on pure rage-filled adrenalin and the chest shots only staggered him slightly before he charged Dresden again, roaring in pain and fury.
Dresden saw the next attack coming, and dived out of the way, although he felt white hot streaks of pain across his ribs on the right side where Raphael’s razor-like claws raked across his body, ripping the material of his shirt. He landed awkwardly, taking ragged breaths that were stoppered by the pain in his torso. He shrugged out of his coat, the heavy material only served to slow him down in combat. He rotated his shoulders, freeing up the muscles. He threw his arms out in a wide attack pose. His half-were blood caused his fingernails extend into vicious claws, although they were much smaller than Raphael’s, which resembled daggers in appearance.
When Raphael went to slash at Dresden again, the bounty hunter moved forward to meet him, dodging to the side at the last minute and ducking under the tiger’s heavy swipe. Dresden jabbed upwards and across, gouging a trail into the flesh below Raphael’s right arm. The were roared in pain and came back with a forceful downwards blow to Dresden’s shoulder, paw clenched into a rock-like fist. Dresden was brought to his knees, black spots flashing in his vision.
He blinked and shook his head quickly, shaking off the daze of the blow and getting unsteadily to his feet. Raphael had backed off, and Dresden noticed that his opponent was holding the arm that had been wounded a little awkwardly. Spurred on by this moment of weakness on the part of his opponent, Dresden ran at Raphael, leaping into a drop-kick with both feet that connected with the were-tigers barrel-like chest. Dresden felt a rib or two crunch beneath his booted feet but Raphael managed to grab one of his legs and swing him around. The scenery streaked as Dresden was whirled around and then it went dark completely for a second as he smashed into a wall. He dropped to the floor, winded. Chunks of masonry fell around him and splashed into the rainwater puddled on the tarmac. If it weren’t for his half-blooded abilities, if he were just a
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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 17:15:38 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 29, 2007 17:15:38 GMT -5
regular human, his spine would most likely have been crushed by the sheer force behind the collision, but being a half-were meant he was just severely stunned. He barely had time to get his breath back before he was lifted back up by his neck.
He was brought face to face with Raphael. The other’s facial features began to morph back into a roughly human visage, and Dresden was close enough to hear the bones and tendons popping and squelching as they were forced into new positions and shapes.
“You should never have come, half-breed.” Raphael spat, blood dripping from his head wound. Then his head was that of a tiger, and Dresden was suddenly flying through the air as he was thrown once again.
He hit the ground on his front and he saw stars. He shook his head to clear his vision and then his eyes focused on the dull glint of metal. His remaining handgun; ignored since Raphael had knocked it out of his hand, lying a few feet away. He reached for it, but was yanked backwards; a sudden pain in his leg telling him that Raphael had it gripped in his paw, his claws digging deep into Dresden’s flesh.
Dresden gritted his teeth and with a grunt of exertion twisted around and, in the same motion, kicked out with his free leg. He aimed high, and was rewarded with a crunch of bone and cartilage as his foot connected with the side of Raphael’s knee. Dresden saw it bend inwards with a meaty snapping sound.
The were roared in pain again and let go of his grip on Dresden’s leg, and the bounty hunter took this advantage to lunge forwards and grab the handgun. He spun around onto his back and gripped the Beretta with both hands. As Raphael sprang forwards, off balance because of his near-crippled leg, Dresden squeezed the trigger of his weapon repeatedly, the rounds thudding into his opponent’s chest and neck.
The were lost momentum mid-lunge, instead collapsing onto Dresden’s body. One hand was wrenched free of the gun and pinned to his chest under the bulk of the were-tiger’s massive torso. Raphael’s head was level with Dresden’s, and the bounty hunter looked into the fierce yellow eyes, the slit pupils dilated with injury. The tiger growled, ready to bite and take most of the front of Dresden’s skull off, but was cut short when the pinned half-breed brought his free hand up, the one with the handgun in it, and sent a round clean through the were-tiger’s head, angled upwards from the jaw upwards. The massive feline head slumped forwards and almost immediately began to revert back into that of Raphael’s human form.
Dresden hauled Raphael’s corpse off of his body, and staggered to his feet. Breathing heavily, and standing awkwardly because of the claw-wounds in his leg, he looked down at the dead were. In death, Raphael looked much worse as a human than his bulked up animal form did. The blood was already beginning to pool under the body, which was barely covered by the ragged strips of suit that remained. The rain created little ruby crowns as the drops hit the puddle of blood.
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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 17:15:58 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 29, 2007 17:15:58 GMT -5
Dresden reached into a pocket of his combat trousers, wincing at the pain in his ribs as he bent sideways, and produced a spare clip. He ejected the empty one from the gun in his hand, and slid the fresh one into place with a click.
His mind back on Squeaks, who he hadn’t seen since the start of the encounter with Raphael, Dresden racked a round into the chamber.
Almost at once, a similar came from directly behind his back, almost masked by the sound of the rain: Squeaks. Armed. Dresden’s reactions, although dulled slightly by his injuries, were still superhumanly fast. He spun around, dropping into a crouched firing position and letting off a single round. A high pitched scream that was almost a squeal pierced the air, followed by the clatter of a weapon hitting the floor and then by Squeaks, half-falling into the light, clutching at the mess Dresden’s round had made of his kneecap.
Dresden rose and stalked over to the pitiful were-rat. He looked down at the figure huddled, whimpering in the rain, and, with the merest hint of pleasure, backhanded Squeaks with the butt of his gun. Not enough to knock the were-rat out, but enough to give him a serious headache and a distraction from turning into a rat in a bit to escape. Dresden tucked his handgun into the back of his waistband and then produced a pair of police-standard handcuffs from another pocket in his trousers. He quickly secured Squeak’s hands behind his back, ignoring the protests of pain.
Then he reached past Squeaks and grabbed the bag the rat had been clutching all this time. He unzipped the main compartment and cast his eye over the stacks of bills inside, then resealed the bag and slung it over his shoulder, grimacing again at the pain.
He hauled Squeaks to his feet and, stopping on the way to retrieve his other handgun and to re-don his sodden coat, dragged his charge to the entrance of the alleyway. The bounty-money beckoned, and still the rain fell.
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Dresden
Jul 29, 2007 19:13:27 GMT -5
Post by xxHuntressxx on Jul 29, 2007 19:13:27 GMT -5
Oooh awesome story!! o.o so much detail XP
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Dresden
Jul 30, 2007 7:47:06 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 30, 2007 7:47:06 GMT -5
Heh, thanks :) I am a fan of detail, oh yes. Particularly the gruesome transformation descriptions. Squelchy :P
It's too bad I suck at titles, though XD
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Dresden
Jul 30, 2007 23:02:40 GMT -5
Post by x_p a n d a on Jul 30, 2007 23:02:40 GMT -5
The ironic part is that I can read this as long as I don't picture it.
Being an algophobe (fear of pain) and a horror author (specifically people being torn apart) is not a good combo... -__-;;
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Dresden
Jul 31, 2007 17:25:12 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 31, 2007 17:25:12 GMT -5
Algophobia? That's one I haven't come across before...
Heh, it's not a combination you'd immediately expect, now that you mention it...
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Dresden
Jul 31, 2007 17:39:16 GMT -5
Post by x_p a n d a on Jul 31, 2007 17:39:16 GMT -5
Always expect new things, young master... xDDD
Algophobia's on Wikipedia if you want more info about my symptoms
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Dresden
Jul 31, 2007 17:40:32 GMT -5
Post by Milo on Jul 31, 2007 17:40:32 GMT -5
Hahahah XD
Thanks, I believe I shall read about it. (hah, everything is on wikipedia XD)
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Dresden
Jul 31, 2007 17:42:05 GMT -5
Post by x_p a n d a on Jul 31, 2007 17:42:05 GMT -5
If it's not on Wikipedia, it's not worth looking up
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