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The rain pattered lightly against the coat of a roughed furred wolf. Her small pack followed her silently through the woods, being careful not to arouse any unwanted attention. The tips of her fur tingled and her stomach were in knots in uneasiness. For what reason, she didn't know. Camouflaged almost perfectly in the woods, she eventually halted with a small growl. Not enough of her dogs were around here to do a full attack, but the feeling of being surrounded would make anyone nervous. “Surround anyone who’s coming,” she ordered in a low whistle, not even glancing at the canines. The pack knew she felt uneasy, but they knew better than to disobey. Splitting up strategically, it wasn't long before the abandoned land nestled into it's usual piercing silence. She could feel the pack's questioning glances being shot at her, but didn't they know? He was coming.
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FUTARI YUR0 WO | private
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[align=center][size=22pt][glow=black,2,300]NEZUMI[/glow][/size]
[glow=black,2,300]SHADOWCLAN WARRIOR - VERY DIFFICULT - HYBRID [/glow][justify][sup][color=grey][font=papyrus][glow=black,2,300]
He often wondered how he ended up like this. Life had never been easy, but at least survival had been simple. Looking after only yourself, having to worry only about your own self preservation, it was a lifestyle Nezumi had never intended to leave behind. He insisted still that he lived by it. All of this.. whatever you wanted to call it, it wouldn't last forever. He had his reasons to justify the momentary lapse; a lifedebt to Shion he needed to repay and a need for Inukashi's information, and it was enough to calm the uneasiness that rose in him whenever he thought he might be straying to far from his path of solitude.
Accepting it was just the first step, though. Getting the others to follow along with it, that would be the real challenge. Not so much for Shion, of course. Not now, at least. He expected the other was still upset with him. Shion had known he had intended to let the wasps destroy No 6. and now just that was happening. The wasps had invaded, killing hundreds and laying more eggs. Out here in the rogue lands they were safe, but for how long? It had been a harsh conversation between Shion and himself, and many things had been said. Once again Nezumi had been the voice of reason, his logic cold and inarguable. The wasps were too many. The people Shion wanted to save were dead. Going back was a complete waste of time. Going back was suicide, and Nezumi wasn't that weak. He had lived this long through crap conditions and he wasn't going to die for a bunch of corpses who cared nothing for him. Nor would he let Shion go back to them. He could hate him for it, could take off and abandon him as soon as they were out of there, but the fact remained that they were still going. Shion could run off and die someone else like an idiot if he wanted to, but he wasn't going to throw his life away for No 6.
Shion was easy to deal with, though. He could physically move him if he needed to. He didn't expect this to be easy.
Inukashi wasn't a soft or naive person, hadn't been born into an illusion that had left them easy to manipulate. They were capable of being as stubborn as himself at times, and more then once they'd butt heads with each other in the past. If there was something he could always rely on it was that stubborn defiance, but he also knew there was one other thing he could trust in when it came to Inukashi, and that was their word. It was unspoken, but he was fairly sure the feeling was mutual among them. No, it wouldn't be easy, but it would get done. Staying here any longer just wasn't an option, and where he was going he would need the skills the dog-keeper had in order to stay ahead of the others. All he had to do was convince them.
Inukashi's chunk of land wasn't anything big or special, but nothing out here was. Nezumi was used to it though, familiarized through a number of 'meetings' there. Often he had visited the odd canine looking for news, tips, or inside information, and so his paws were familiar with the paths that ran through the place. This of course meant he was also familiar with the stench of dog that radiated off the place. There were always mutts here, not the sentient kind like him, but the mindless sort that one could use as followers if you could dominate them. Inukashi had managed to do just that somehow, and so as Nezumi continued onward he made sure to let his supersenses sweep outward to encompass him in a wide circle, just in case the *sshole had put them on the attack.
He didn't think it would come to that right off the bat though. Shion was with him, for one, and Inukashi was fond of him even if they didn't like to admit it. The second reasoning came from the others fondness toward the dogs themselves. Inukashi used the other canines not just as weapons and tools for making money, but as family as well. More then once Nezumi had been asked to sing for dogs that were on their way out, and he doubted Inukashi wanted to lose any today; int he end they might bring Nezumi down, but not before he took down a handful with them.
Besides, if he was gone, who would save Inukashi from their agony? Who would sing for them when they lay suffering on their deathbed, if not Nezumi?
"Stay close." he would order as he spotted Inukashi just ahead, not interested in having to save Shion from being used a leverage against him if he fell too far behind. He had enough on his mind right then and there. "Inukashi." he would call, coming to a halt a few feet away. The other wasn't surrounded by their mutts so it was fairly obvious they were probably watching them with their 'master' from a distance. "We have to talk." -
[fancypost borderwidth=0px; text-align: justify; width: 400px; line-height: 100%; font-size: 8pt]He was not ready to give up his life when it was ripped away from him: perhaps one could say that his reaction was normal, for him to get unnecessarily angry at the one person who had saved him. Albeit it had been to pay off the debt of such a long time ago, Shion felt almost as if he was being forced away from his family. . . and yet, as Nezumi had pointed out, they were dead now. The only family he had were dead - his mother, all of them. He can't help but feel this indescribable anger, but as time passes and silence follows the heated conversation it slowly fades into sheer exhaustion, a need to just sleep and wake up in a world without these terrible casualties. There is a logical part of his brain that tells him he's just being stupid: sleeping or awake, things will be the same. He can tell by the pain in his heart that this is no dream, that it's very real, and sleeping would only temporarily erase the pain.
His anger is simply a stage of grief. Denial, anger, sadness, it's all just part of a complicated web of emotions he doesn't want to don anymore. He wishes he could just shut it down and act as calm as Nezumi in this situation, but he simply doesn't have the strength. He had always known in the back of his head that the perfect city had been corrupted at its very heart, he had known since the day Nezumi had arrived injured when they first met, but it wasn't until he watched the wasps kill the city from the inside out that he finally is forced to acknowledge it. So in a situation like this, he can only sit back and admire the blasé attitude Nezumi has adopted. Unlike him, Nezumi is strong and independent. While he is able to move on without looking back, Shion can't stop ducking his head to check over his shoulder as if expecting to see his mother climbing out of the rubble asking him where he's going, or to see the city in a healthy state as it always had been.
It's when he looks back for the fifth time that hour that he finally forces himself to admit it: they're gone.
Whatever conviction Shion has left seems to evaporate in the air as he skids to a rather ungraceful halt in Nezumi's tracks, finding he had been matching the other's paw prints in his own as a idle habit. He lifts his head and blinks inquiringly at the command uttered from the other canine's lips and frowns a little as he sees a figure at the top of the hill. He glances between Nezumi and Inukashi, wondering idly what kind of relationship harbors itself between these two. He decides not to speak up, instead shuffling a few paw steps closer to flank Nezumi to get a better view, scenting several dogs nearby. His breaths come in cold exhales as the rain patters down on his disheveled brown coat, his chocolate eyes shifting towards the sky uneasily. How had he not realized it was raining until now? He shakes the thought (and a few raindrops) away as he returns his attention to Nezumi and Inukashi, ears flicking nervously.
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[align=center][size=22pt][glow=black,2,300]NEZUMI[/glow][/size]
[glow=black,2,300]SHADOWCLAN WARRIOR - VERY DIFFICULT - HYBRID [/glow][justify][sup][color=grey][font=papyrus][glow=black,2,300]
A smirk would appear on the canines face, something cold and hollow that was reflected in his grey eyes.He hadn't expected less, to be honest. Inukashi was efficient, and even more so than that they knew how to use the information they gathered to their advantage. At another time he might have argued about it, but there wasn't any time for that. "Greedy mutt." he'd reply, but the words were accompanied by a silent signal. From his shoulder a small brown rat would appear, scurrying down his foreleg and producing a small golden coin from the band on his wrist. With a squeak the rat would rush the coin over and place it down before Inukashi before making his way back.
"Don't think I'm going to make a habit of paying extra for info I haven't heard yet. I just so happen to be in a rush today is all." he would explain, grey eyes narrowing slightly. "Let's get this over with. I've got something to tell you as well, something you might be able to make a quick buck off of if you use it right." His tail would give an almost feline-like flick of impatience behind him, but other than this the canine remained unhindered. It was time to get this show on the road, no more games, as much as he would have enjoyed messing with the dog-keeper. -
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[align=center][size=22pt][glow=black,2,300]NEZUMI[/glow][/size]
[glow=black,2,300]SHADOWCLAN WARRIOR - VERY DIFFICULT - HYBRID [/glow][justify][sup][color=grey][font=papyrus][glow=black,2,300]
The same brown rat that paid her the gold coin quickly scurried down to grab the paper before disapearing back into Nezumi's thick shoulder fur. This in itself was a bit of an alarm signal considering the wolf always read his information immediately. Instead he kept his focus on Inukashi, knowing what he was about to say wouldn't be taken well.
"We have to leave this place, all three of us." He would say, getting right to the point. "Number 6 has been infected with a parasitic type of wasp. They burrow into the skin and kill their host. Long story short, they've spread out here as well, and we're all going to die if we stay."
No, it wasn't the most believable thing, but what did he have to gain by lying? Out of the entire world Inukashi was maybe the one person he kind of sort of needed, and even that was pushing it. It was more along the lines of convenience then actual need. With his rats it was possible to learn things himself, Inukashi had just been in the game longer and was usually quicker and more efficient.
"The good news is that your useful to me, so my warning isn't going to cost you anything. Sell it to others if you want for a few quick bucks before we go. The bad news is, we leave tonight, so pack up."
He had no idea where they were going yet, but he'd been around a bit and was sure he could figure something out for them.
"If you don't believe me take a walk through West Block. You'll see what I'm talking about."
There were always bodies in West Block, and corpses were something anyone who lived there got use to after a time, but now.. the body count was triple what it normally was, all of them the same; grey haired, sucked dry of their youth and aged beyond recognition. Each and every one of them with a hole in their neck int he same place.