Northstar Vale to kick around as a toy

dated to july 6th/7th (she do be trespassing) 

it had become apparent, finally, that the curse had set in. days had gone by without sleep; only the darkness behind her eyelids when she tried. her throat became dry, the pain inside her head a constant companion. drool slipped from gaping jaws, and her aching limbs would not still. the cliffs had been her plan, but somehow the thought of the ocean, all that water stretching and dying within it, had become unbearable. 

and so she made for the mountains. she would not allow herself to become what the white demon had been. 

but somewhere along the way, something had shifted. as she went, soft growls and snarls had begun to leak from her muzzle, something slipped away from her gaze. and then he came, walking alongside, that demon. she ignored him, at first. but then she stole glances, drifted nearer only to retreat. bared fang, and yet he would not look at her. until he did, and his eyes were not the deep brown she so clearly remembered, but golden yellow, and she blinked and he was gone.

moonshine descended into the vale.

The smell of illness was a difficult thing to describe, but it was real, and when the scent hit her nose Hime was immediately put-off from her path. She thought of her sister and the fresh wounds upon her, and as she was not a properly trained healer she immediately thought, are your wounds infected already? It was disgusting. The smell was only in one direction at first, but then the wind shifted and it warped, trailing like a vine through the trees closer to the mountains, and Hime grew more concerned as it grew stronger.

She could find no trace of Reiko's clear scent among it, which gave her some doubts. Perhaps it was an ailing creature trying to find a safe place to pass on? She could alert the guardians - have them hunt it down for their caches - but before she had a chance to form a concrete plan, the ambling thing came in to view. Small sounds merged with the breezy forest; a rumble here, a snarl there, squeaks of immaturity.

Hey - what you doing here? She shouted through the trees, the timbre of her voice hiding her apprehension.

Hime was no warrior - she did not need to be, not when she could manipulate others to her whims. It was in this moment that she froze and thought, I am not equipped for this. She gave a cursory glance at her surroundings but saw no immediate support, no guards lingering among the trees, and no bodies prowling on their own hunts; she felt immediately alone and the threat of the prowling youth made her uncomfortable.

What was wrong with them...?

she was going to tear out his windpipe, she was going to pluck out his eyes. " She is sick, very sick. " tear the lies from his maw, take his lips, his tongue. a voice, and the once-wolf pauses. thoughts form, but they are fractured, rising to her consciousness as if through mud. 

golden eyes, brown eyes. saliva drips from her jaws as her muzzle swings to locate something. a voice. through the trees, someone calls. course is adjusted, eyes rolling from left to right as she searches. a figure, through the trees, she approaches more quickly, now. she swallows, fails too. "I'm moony," she announces, head beginning it's pendulum-like swinging once more. the words were a question, hers not the right answer. "coyotes got my brother." wrong mountain, wrong direction, wrong time.

He was on his way out of the vale once more. He had constantly been leaving and was astute about doing so after things had been checked on. His ears fell back against his head as an unfamiliar scent wafted his direction. He slightly altered his course and found Hime standing and a creature that did not belong here prowled. Something was amiss. His eyes narrowed and he broke into a run towards Hime. 

 There was a wild look about this stranger and it looked oddly familiar. She was sick. She was not right, and she was going to slip further and further into oblivion. The worse part was he remembered Xylinthian and he recalled the same look. Lucifer had fought against him and then days later had begun to act the same until he had been put, more carefully, out of his own misery. Collision's body stood in front of Hime's and his head lowered into a deepening growl, "you need to leave," His words were cut and dry. 

 His body morphed into a defensive state and he knew fighting would not be preferred, but he had to protect. He had sworn to them that he would, and upon his previous encounter with Hime it had been made clear that he was still a guard here and he needed to do his job, "You need to turn around and you need to get out of this empire," He wasn't sure how to handle the situation, but scenarios began to play in his head.

The thing cantilevers off a mound of dirt as it twists, launching itself towards her through the trees. As it gets nearer she makes out its gawky proportions, the way its face is low, and the haggard, ugly mud-brown of a pelt she finds repulsive. Hime does not hide her disgust and her snout contorts in a scowl. She is already limited in her capacity for empathy and this thing, obviously low-born if not some kind of disgusting hybrid. Hime can't tell what gender they are; the sickness is too strong, obfuscating any other markers they may carry.

Something is spoken - phlegmy sounds, perhaps a name, she doesn't listen too intently. Something about coyotes. A brother? Her scowl deepens and Hime flashes her teeth, backing off a step. This disgusting thing should not be here. It should certainly not be in the vale, nor breathing her air, and if she had the compulsion to chase it off herself it is curtailed by a sense of self-preservation. She could call for help.

She should call for help.

Where the hell are all the guards -- she hisses under her breath, looking hastily around again, not wanting to lose sight of this stranger in case they make any sudden movements. A blur of something large and cumbersome piques her interest, and soon enough Collision is striding beyond her, positioning himself as her shield; she feels her confidence return to her.

The stranger's head moves with an unnatural sway. You thing! Leave now! Get your filthy self out of my sight! But, surprise surprise, shouting at a problem doesn't exactly amount to much. The guardian before her does the same, bellowing in the face of the mongrel, and Hime steps back to let her protector do his duty.

leave, they want her to leave. again, they want her gone. something fractures further; she will not speak her name again. her jaw unhinges, widens, cords of saliva strung from fang to fang. somewhere, a piece of the once wolf yearns to speak, to speak out against being labeled a thing, something devoid of all the things that make her individual. but she is slipping away far too fast for that. 

she charges, acting mostly on instinct and a surging, never-ending well of strength, hate. it is the bigger one she seeks to wrap her jaws around, though the smaller female has managed to draw the most of her ire. but the male remains in the way, and so her fangs hunt for him.

Collision wanted the attention on him and that was exactly what he got (granted, by proxy) but he would take it. He needed to get Hime out of the way. This had to be handed lightly, because not only could he not get bitten by this creature he needed to also make sure he didn't bite her. Lest he would succumb to the sickness that ravaged her own body. 

 He needed to knock her unconcious. He needed to guide her from this place. They would either have to drown her or knock the living body unconcious.  His eyes did not leave the creature as he stood before hime, "Hime, I need you to distract her. I'll do the dirty work, but I need you to keep beckoning her attention to you," With that he hoped hime would take off in a different direction as the wolf lept for him. 

 He turned his body with his back facing and attempted to kick her in the side of her face or chest all the while trying to remain unbitten. Perhaps if Hime could hold the attention Collision could deliver forceful blows until they could render the enemy unconcious or until they could get  her too weak to survive a body of water.

Confident that the warrior would take out this pathetic excuse for a living thing with one snap of teeth, Hime twitched and glared at Collision when he gave orders to the contrary. Not only was he not going to kill this coyote beast, but he wanted her to be the bait? The look on her face - directed at the back of his head - went from incredulous to furious in a flash.

You - what? Her voice rose a decibel or two, shrieking like a harpy. Me? How dare you! I am no sacrificial lamb! I am the blood sister of your empress, lest you forget! You dare to order me around when this wretched thing threatens me? What kind of guardian do you think you are?! A wave of anger rolled through her as she bellowed, her fur spiking all over, puffing like a bloated cloud. Her voice startled birds from the trees; starlings which shrieked in unison and took wing to safety.

Even if she hated the idea - even tempted to refuse outright and stay planted behind Collision - her outburst was powerful and all-consuming. She was staring so intently at Collision, letting her full righteous indignation pour out of her every cell, that she didn't take heed to the arc of his trajectory away from her or more importantly, the manner in which the sickly creature lurched towards her.

Whether she wanted it or not, Hime was the perfect target.

the rear of the larger male was all she needed to decide he was no longer a threat. she messily dogged the kicks, though a couple managed to connect dully with her shoulder, her neck. with voice like a banshee, did the woman begin to shriek, driving shards of ice into her already pounding head. shutupshutupshutup. gods, it hurt, so much, and she did not know where she was or who she was only that the silver bitch needed to be made quiet. 

and how easy did she make it. lips curled back as she charged, straight and true for the woman's side. fangs where set to tear and rend, she would not desist until her muzzle were to be smeared with crimson.

She could hear the yelling while taking a walk, just for some time to unwind and prepare for the inevitable. She was tired of it all, but most of all, she was looking forward to breathing a sigh of relief as soon as her own hackles were removed. But the yelling, she had to go and investigate. 

The sound of her sister's voice calling out, echoing all around drew her in, quickly as things didn't sound well. What she saw only quickened her pace, the determination to get in there and help was enough to keep her footing steady and as soon as she came in closer, she shoulders Hime out of the way of the snapping maws of the madwoman. Hoping that bumping with her sister would push them both out of the way into safety. Leaning back and stepping away from the jaws of death herself.

They were already losing so much, she was losing so much. Yuudai, Takeshi was on his way out, who knows who else would be following Collision - she would not lose her sister as well! They were getting close, finally, she was getting that sisterly love she had yearned for since puppyhood.

We are the distraction, right? She tried to confirm while keeping an eye on the foam-mouth lady.

Collision's ears pinned back as Hime began to offer an argument towards his instruction. If he got bitten because she couldn't come down off the high horse for a second he intended for her to be the first one he bit. It really wasn't much to ask. She was quite irksome. 

 "Fuckin' move!" He hollered at her as his legs connected with the contagion. His eyes were wild and Reiko introduced herself to the equation.


 Seriously. How did these women manage to stay alive? Oh, danger, let's walk right into it. 

He darted forward and moved away from the foaming girl. His eyes flashed to Reiko and Hime. At least the creature had a target and he knew she would violently seek it. He had to avoid getting bit himself, and while he knew he wasn't particularly fast--he was heavy. He was adjacent to the girl and then rushed his body forward aiming for her side. If he was able to hit her the attempt was to use his full force and ram into her side with his chest and left shoulder. He would likely go reeling himself--alas it was what had to be done.

If Hime was going to sacrifice herself, it better be for a damn good reason. This was not one of those reasons! But it didn't matter. She screeched her protests, and the guardian had the gall to shout a retort - a rude one, but more importantly, an order that wasn't his to give! She fluffed further, standing proudly for a second, which was a second too long.

The mongrel lunged for her next. Hime's eyes went wide and she tried to backpedal, swinging away from those snappy teeth, feeling something graze her ass, but it didn't hurt. It felt like something bounced off of her perky little rear as she wheeled about - and then there was Reiko! What?

Reiko --?! She gasped breathlessly.

We are the distraction, right? confirmed the Empress.

And then PHWOOOMP!

The wild child was swept aside by a collision as the appropriately named guardian slammed in to their side. Hime thought she heard something crunch, maybe a rib, but Hime wasn't about to stick around. She was herded alongside Reiko in the opposite direction while the peasant took out the trash.