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Post by {Mactíre} on Oct 20, 2012 23:26:01 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/kf5pph.jpg,true] OOC;; This is backdated to a day after Adrian & Valk's capture. It's terrible, but I'm busy, and I wanted/ needed to get this up. Sorry for the wait, Zen!
Rikki hadn't slept in what felt like an eternity. Ever since Adrian had returned, shaken and badly injured, with a tale of how he and Valkyrie had wandered onto Iris territory. They'd been captured, taken back to the new holding place for prisoners, and tortured, but somehow Ralph had managed to get her youngest son out before being killed. So Ralph was dead - Ralph, her dear, brave friend who'd been something of an uncle to her and a gradfather to her cubs. Ralph, who would have done anything to save them - and had. And then there was Valkyrie. She'd always been a fiesty little thing, even as the runt of the litter - reckless and brave. And now she was somewhere in the depths of Iris territory, probably terrified and exhausted. The Arctic wolf had feared this, ever since they'd been born - that one or more of her cubs would experience what she had, and done everything she could to make sure it didn't happen.
But it hadn't been enough.
The old she-wolf paced back and fourth near the border, her skinny frame quivering with tension. She knew that going to rescue her daughter alone was hopeless - she was old and weak, nothing like the warrior she once had been. She needed help. Lifting her muzzle to the sky, Rikki gave vent to a deafening howl filled with desperation and grief. "VALKYRIEEE!" Resuming her pacing, she glanced around, waiting. She knew that her daughter must have at least one friend within the pack, someone who'd be willing to risk a lot to free her.
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Post by Zen on Oct 21, 2012 4:36:12 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png]How many days had it been since she had gotten the news? Time seemed to be passing by without much of Kai’s notice. She could barely think, or eat, or do anything like she used to since that day she had gotten that news. When word got out that her friend Valkyrie had disappeared one day while out playing in the countryside, she had been frightened, sure...but nothing could compare to the blinding rage she felt when Valk’s brother had come back and told them all what happened.
Adrian had managed to escape, but he had left his sister back in Iris and it wasn’t known whether she was even still alive. Kai had practically been shaking with anger when she found out – anger at Adrian for being the cowardly scum he was, at the Iris Pride, at Tempest for not doing more to protect its cubs, at everyone and everything. She stalked over the hillside beyond the cemetery, pacing back and forth restlessly as she pondered what her course of action would be. Should she just wait it out, hope that someone else would take up arms and mount a rescue attempt? Should she try and form one herself? She was still a young, inexperienced soldier, hardy even a name within the pack yet. No one would follow her orders. Worst of all, Valkyrie wasn’t even an official member of Tempest, which would make convincing others that she was worthy of being rescued even more difficult.
Her common sense was telling her there was only one person to go to. Kai broke out into a run, her toned muscles working into overdrive as she sped her way towards where she knew Rikki’s family was currently taking up residence. The mournful crying of the old wolf made her shiver. The sound of a mother’s grief...Kai knew nothing about parenthood or those kinds of relationships, but Rikki’s howling sent a stab of pain through her heart, and she vowed she’d do anything she could to help her. “Rikki,” she panted, slowing down as she neared her, “um, hey. You don’t know me, but I’m a friend of your daughter’s. My name’s Kai. I heard what happened and I...I want you to know that I'm ready to help you in any way I can. I’ll fight Iris, I’ll go into the slaughterhouse alone if I have to. To be honest, I’m not much of a solider yet...God, I’m not much of anything yet. I don’t know a lot about the Iris Pride and I have no idea how we're going to get her out of there, but I do know this: Valkyrie's my best friend, and I'm not just going to stand by while she's being held prisoner.” She sat back on her haunches, straight and alert in her soldier stance, waiting for some kind of order or directions.
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Post by {Mactíre} on Oct 21, 2012 19:48:56 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/kf5pph.jpg,true]The Arctic wolf stood, ears pricked, nose to the air as she waited, hoping that someone would have heard her call and would respond. She didn't have long to wait. Within moments, a large, multi-coloured lump could be seen making its way towards her at a run. The lump was a large, young bitch: Rikki had seen her, once or twice, but could only hope that she wasn't here merely because she was curious. Well, if she was, the elderly wolf could only try to enlist her help, and otherwise, she might end up going alone. But within moments, it seemed that the young female did know Valkyrie. Her slightly-drooping ears pricked up even more as she listened to the youngster's panted words.
A friend of Valkyrie's? This was almost more than she'd dared to hope for. As she went on, Rikki's heart squeezed - her daughter seemed to have a good friend in Kai. There was no time for tears or anything that emotional, though, so she let her relief show on her face. "Thank you so much, Kai. I really can't thank you enough for this. You're obviously a good friend to my daughter if you're willing to risk your life, or your sanity for her. I need you to agree to something here and now, though, before we do any other planning. If we fail and one of us dies or is captured by Iris while we're in there, it'll be me. I'm old and will die soon anyway. If the situation seems hopeless, you must get yourself away from Iris, understood? You'll be no help to Valkyrie or yourself if you're dead or in the same position as her."
After waiting a few moments so that the mutt could respond, the white wolf went on, "I don't have much of a plan, except that I'll need to roll in something so that I don't stick out like a sore paw. You might want to, as well; your fur is pretty light in colour, from what I can see. I also think we need to find the scent of something non-threatening - we can't go in there smelling anything like Tempest. Can you think of anything that would be ideal?" Her muzzle wrinkled as tried to think of something suitable. They could find some excrement - that usually worked, but it wasn't that subtle, plus some cats actually expected canines to smell like that.
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Post by Zen on Oct 22, 2012 17:28:07 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png]Kai shook her head, smiling. “You don’t have to thank me, Rikki. I don’t have a lot of real friends around here, so to me, your daughter is worth any price.” Her eyes darted around the clearing, looking for signs of any other approaching dogs who might have heard Rikki’s howling. None. Why didn’t they care? Was it because she was so closely tied to Gravity, who a lot of people seemed to despise? Or did they just not want to bother helping someone who wasn’t a true part of Tempest?
“My sanity,” she mumbled, smirking to herself. She wasn’t sure how much of that she had, anyway. Ever since she was born she’d been a daredevil and a risk-taker, not afraid to put herself on the line for a bit of fun and excitement. It wasn’t that she lacked any fear; she lacked the ability to turn away from danger, even if she was afraid. Danger was a thrill for her. Whether this was bravery or stupidity, she still hadn’t figured out, but at least now she had the chance to use it for something good, to help someone other than herself.
Her mouth opened to protest against Rikki’s words, but she promptly shut it. She’d gotten into trouble in the past for speaking up against her superiors’ words, and even though this wasn’t technically an official mission, Rikki was still older and in charge. But still, how could she just agree to running away if the old wolf was injured? Kai was the type who would rather die proudly right then and there than abandon a mission. Yet Rikki had a point, one she couldn’t ignore: Valkyrie needed one of them to make it out of this alive. Kai’s life wasn’t worth much on its own - Tempest could easily replace her if need be - but if they both died, Valk would have no one else to rely on. If one of her brothers was willing to dive into the slaughterhouse and rescue her, they hadn’t spoken up about it. It was just Kai and Rikki right now.
“It’s a promise,” she said finally. “If one of us can’t go on, the other runs back to Tempest.” She stood up suddenly, ready for action, but Rikki’s next suggestion caused her to plump her rear right back to the ground. It was a good thing at least one of them was smart here. Kai never would have thought about the need for camouflage. “Well, it’s autumn right now, so there should be plenty of rotting leaves and mud around the cemetery. We could try that?" She didn’t cringe at the idea. Maybe when she was young the thought of getting her pretty fur sticky with moldy leaves and sludge would have seemed repulsive, but she’d lost so much of her feminine nature since becoming a soldier that such things hardly fazed her now.
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Post by {Mactíre} on Oct 25, 2012 11:59:15 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/kf5pph.jpg,true]The old she-wolf studied Kai's face for a moment as she responded to her fervent words of gratitude. A knowing half-smile spread across her face. "I know what it's like to not have many friends, Kai. But if you have one you care for deeply, and they love you like a sibling, then that one friend is better than a score of others less loyal. I'll wager my daughter stuck herself to you like a burr - she doesn't have many friends either - none of my children do, to my knowledge - but when she likes someone, she doesn't do it halfheartedly. But you'd probably know that." Her smile melted into a sadder expression, her soft brown eyes matching it. "Sorry, I'm rambling." Shaking her head as if to clear it, she attempted to direct her anxiety-numbed mind back to the problem of how they would successfully rescue Valkyrie.
Rikki twitched an ear as the young female muttered to herself, catching the echoed phrase. "Aye. You youngsters are often classed as strange or mad by your elders, I know, but being driven insane by torture, pain and utter helplessness is completely different. There's nothing glorifying about it, and some of the bravest creatures can be reduced nothing more than whimpering cubs in month, weeks even." Her gaze and tone grew almost challenging as she faced the multicoloured mongrel. "I'm only warning you; I don't want to sugercoat anything that could happen out there." She remembered thinking, as a young soldier, that she could, if cornered by Iris felines, somehow escape on her own; that she could face ten enemies and take them down, with only a few scars as trophies. Her capture had been something of a slap in the face for her; after a few attempts at escape, she had realized there was no way she could get out of her prison on her own. It had dawned on her that she was not invincible, that she could be overpowered, that many felines were both strong and intelligent.
The white wolf watched for protest from the young bitch to her challenging words. There was none: Kai seemed to be, although most likely a reckless daredevil, a fairly sensible girl as well. There was no point in her throwing her young life away when Rikki's was already close to ending. For, really, what did she have left beside her children? Nothing. Gravity was almost certainly dead, she knew that now; if her cubs had not existed, she would have already joined him. If she could die knowing she had fixed one of her latest mistakes, she would die as happy as. . . Well, as happy as she could die.
A slight breeze stirred the Arctic wolf's white fur as she waited in silence for her daughter's friend to speak. When she did, the older canine nodded twice, slowly, in wordless agreement. She eyed Kai hopefully for suggestions regarding camoflague; her young pack-mate did not disappoint her. The elderly she-wolf's eyes lit up at the mention of leaves and mud. "That would be perfect, I think," she said, a satisfied smile reaching her snout. She was long past minding such things; living for a several years in a single room with her own bodily waste and rotting bodies was far worse than a little bit of mud and foliage. With a grunt, the small female lifted her rump from the grass. "Right, let's go. We need to think up a plan that will work, but we can do that as we go, hopefully." Motioning with her snout for Kai to follow, she turned towards the cemetery.
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Post by Zen on Oct 29, 2012 1:50:53 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png]The frankness of Rikki’s warning made her throat tighten a little. Driven insane by torture and helplessness...losing her mind completely until she barely knew who she was anymore. Rikki was right, she couldn’t take this lightly. Knowing she could still back out of this if she wanted to, Kai went silent for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not she truly did want to commit to it.
“It’s not like I have much of a life here,” she eventually said, her eyes growing soft and a bit sad. “I mean, who knows, I might never get to do anything with myself that I can actually be proud of. I was trained to be a soldier for Tempest, but what if I never get to see a real battle? Then what good am I for? I have no other talents besides fighting, barely any friends, no family that cares about whether I live or die. Even if this goes badly, even if I end up a prisoner like Valk, at least I can say I tried. I know the risks, Rikki, but I’m ready for this.” Nodding with determination, she turned towards the beaten trail from which she’d come, keeping a relatively slow pace so her companion could easily follow.
As they made their way across the winding footpath that led up to the cemetery, she found exactly what she’d been hoping for. Beneath an oak tree was a mound of rotting leaves as well as some wet mud left by the recent rainfalls. Kai motioned towards her find and smiled; luck was already on their side. “This should be good.” Without hesitating, she flopped on to her back and rolled herself around in the pile until she felt certain that not an inch of her still smelled of her natural scent. When she was done, her pale coat was smeared with streaks of black mud and the fur was unruly and puffed up from the static electricity, twigs and leaves clinging to it everywhere. She felt like a hairball that a cat had just hacked up.
While waiting for Rikki to take her turn, she began trying to map out a mental plan for how exactly they were going to pull off this mission. She’d never had to make any kind of strategies before, and just thinking about all the variables, all the things that could possibly go wrong and that they had to take into account, made her head hurt. She was a dog of action, not planning. But the most obvious trouble was going to be getting into the Pride itself, so she started there. Her eyes turned to Rikki. “So, uh, the Iris Pride,” she began awkwardly, trying to approach the subject as delicately as she could. “I guess you’re more familiar with the layout of that place than I am. Do you know of any, like, secret entrances? One that could get us close to where Valk is being held? We need to avoid being spotted by the guards at all costs. If even one of those cats sees us, we’re doomed.”
Still looking at the old wolf, she padded closer and cocked her head worriedly. “By the way, Rikki, you going to be okay heading back there? I mean, given everything you went through...returning to that place won’t trigger anything, will it?” She’d heard of ex-soldiers who, due to the traumatic events they faced on the battlefield, would be stricken with flashbacks and panic attacks if they saw something that reminded them of their experiences. Kai had a feeling Rikki was stronger than that, but still, she had to ask to be sure.
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Post by {Mactíre} on Nov 5, 2012 19:43:39 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/kf5pph.jpg,true]Rikki put her head to one side, listening as Kai's expression changed: the normally boisterous young bitch melted into a sadder, more forlorn creature. The old female sighed as she mentioned only being good at fighting. "There are always other things, Kai, always. When I was young," her nose twitched in amusement as the typical, annoying words of an old creature slipped from her mouth, "I was much the same as you. My family had left the pack, I had few friends - fighting felines was my life. All I can say to you is that when you get Valkyrie out of there - whether it's with me, now, or after I die - she will need you. If we get her out now, she may be okay - but much longer and she may turn into something you barely recognise. I was lucky - I had feline friends who stopped me from going completely insane in there, and kept me from hating the whole feline race. I doubt she will have anyone, unless it's another canine. And you will have the toughest job of all, Kai. Showing her you still want to be her friend no matter what she does - I know she felt that about you."
Nodding also to show her approval at her young packmate's readiness, she spoke only two words. "Let's go."
The younger female led the way, with the Artic wolf wishing wistfully for the body of a young creature. Such selfish thoughts - you're supposed to be thinking up a plan to get your daughter out of Iris! The biggest problem was that she hadn't been there since they'd adopted the slaughterhouse as their new place to store scum and for the higher-ranking felines to live. She knew roughly where the place was, though. Perhaps she could act as a decoy, and Kai could somehow slip into the place where prisoners were kept and free Valkyrie? Of course, there were so many things that could go wrong with such a plan, but unless Valkyrie's young friend had a better idea, it was all they had.
They soon reached a suitable patch to roll in; Rikki waited until the youngster was done before following suit, rolling on her back and sides, until she smelled of earth and leaves, her white fur stained a muddy brown and sticking up every which way, with dirt and leaves hanging off it. Inspecting Kai quickly with her eyes, the old wolf nodded again, silently. When she was finished, she pricked her ears, ready to listen to her companion. Thinking for a moment, she replied, "Yes, I suppose I am fairly familiar with it. The last time I was there was a while ago, of course, and the slaughterhouse held no significance then. But I think there is a place where a part of it is fairly close to the borders, with some other buildings and some alleyways to go past. It is going to be very difficult not to be seen, though." She sighed. Possibly they would need the decoy plan after all.
“If we don’t come up with a better idea, I could act as some kind of decoy. They might believe that I’ve come to rescue her on my own – at least for a while.” She broke off to gaze at the afternoon sky – it would be dusk in a few hours. “And I didn’t think about this before, but maybe it would be safer to go at night? What do you think?”
The aged canine flicked an ear as Kai ventured closer to her, her expression worried. When she spoke, a small, grim smile appeared on her face. "It may, I don't know. But I should be fine. . . Things are so different now, if you know what I mean." Florence was dead, along with many of her followers; Panja was almost Rikki's friend. As for those who'd helped her - Jinxer, Athena, Devil - she didn't know what had become of them.
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Post by Zen on Nov 9, 2012 6:05:09 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png]“That decoy plan might just work,” she said with an approving nod. If Rikki could distract the guards for even just a few minutes, it might buy enough time for Kai to somehow sneak in past them, or at least try to locate another entrance. "But Rikki, you know those cats aren’t going to let you go once they see you. I know what we both agreed to, but there's got to be another way...” She set her jaw and looked up into Rikki’s kind, weary face. She didn’t want this mission to automatically mean suicide for the wolf; she wanted to walk into the Iris Pride with at least a small glimmer of hope that they’d both make it out of this safely.
“You think so? But wouldn’t they have more guards posted at night?” she asked, tilting her head to the side curiously. “I’m not sure how much better off we’d be in the darkness, to be honest. It might be more of an advantage to the cats than for us. Our eyes aren’t like theirs...they have sharper night vision, or so I’ve been told, and we’ll need all our senses with us if we’re going to have even the slightest chance of this plan succeeding. But then again, maybe it’s different for a wolf. I dunno...I’ve never been good at seeing in the dark, or blending in, or...really anything sneaky at all.” She shifted her weight, suddenly feeling a bit useless for her incompetence at being stealthy in what was basically a stealth mission. It would be much easier if she wasn’t so big and bulky. She couldn’t even walk a few steps without drawing attention to herself, her paws were so heavy and loud. “In any case, I think we should leave now to have a quick look around their borders before we go in, see if they’ve got any holes in their security. There’s gotta be a place left unguarded that we could use to sneak through.” That was their first problem: getting in. Once that issue was resolved, she could only pray that all the other pieces would fall into place, and the night would end with Valkyrie reunited with them. If she kept her mind focused on the ultimate goal, things didn’t seem as frightening or impossible.
As they began walking, Kai reflected on what Rikki had said before. Her voice dropped a pitch, the cool confidence she'd managed to feign just moments ago now replaced with a tremor of insecurity. “I guess I understand what you mean, but I just don't get how you managed to survive all that and still have your head screwed on tight. It’s hard for me to picture myself getting all buddy-buddy with a cat. I can’t explain why, since I don't even really hate them; I guess being raised in the Tempest Pack just messes with your brain in that way. This is going to sound a little weird, but sometimes I feel like my life was decided before I was born, like I’m stuck living by a script that I have no control over. I sometimes wonder what I would be like if I wasn’t a Tempest dog, if I never became a soldier and all that stuff, if I'd had a choice – whether I’d be a better person, or if I’d just be weak and cowardly like most of the Lexis Tribe.” She glanced at her companion and shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry for the rambling, it’s just...you’re the only one I’ve ever been able to talk to like this. Pretty sure most of the pack doesn’t even realize I exist, and even if they did, well, I'm not sure they'd care enough to listen to me.” Compared to the other adults in the pack, Rikki was very easy to converse with. It was rare to find someone older who didn't immediately dismiss her words as childish blabber, and Kai found herself wondering if, after they rescued Valkyrie, the two of them would ever chat like this again, just as friends. She really did hope so.
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Post by {Mactíre} on Nov 10, 2012 22:49:55 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/kf5pph.jpg,true]Kai seemed to approve of the decoy idea - for a short while. Of course, she would object. Blinking slowly, the old she-wolf looked up into the youngster's face; she knew exactly what was going on here. No flies on her, that was for sure. She sighed. "That's just it, Kai - I don't know that there is. I'm old and tired and weak, and I think I could barely hold my own against an ordinary cat, let alone a leopard or a lion. But still, you're probably right." The female pawed the ground with a front paw in frustration. She could no longer be called a warrior; her recovery from her time as a prisoner had been quickly followed by the disappearance of her beloved mate and the birth of their cubs. She had known, then, that she couldn't call herself a warrior anymore. She wasn't fit enough or strong enough.
The younger female pointed out the flaws in her suggestions that they should possibly go at night. Rikki nodded slowly. Thinking quickly, she put in, “But we’d probably have the element of surprise in the dark – for that reason, they would be expecting us. Then again, you’re probably right. I can still see, but my eyes certainly are not what they once were. I was never the best at being stealthy, either, but it is something you must learn as a warrior.” The Arctic wolf felt as useless as her young companion at that moment, but for a different reason. Her brain was like her eyes, and, indeed, the rest of her body - it was nowhere as nimble as it had been. But then again, attempting to rescue someone from the clutches of the Iris pride with just two creatures was no simple task, either. But somehow they had to do it, otherwise her daughter was doomed to a worse fate than her. She had been changed from a feline–hater to an equalist, but her daughter was already an equalist. Hate and madness were the only things that would come from her being a prisoner to the Pride.
The elder seized on Kai’s idea to scout out Iris’s borders – hopefully actually doing something would give them ideas. “I agree; let’s go.” She followed the large mutt as they crossed the border, doing her best to match her stride for stride. The ivory canine felt a little better now – surely ideas would come once they had an idea of exactly what they were up against.
Rikki listened in silence as Kai spoke, her cool exterior melting away. “You’re right, and it’s good that you don’t hate them, Kai. Hate only breeds more hate, and death. I hated felines before I was captured, and after, instead of letting it grown stronger, somehow I managed to focus it on one or two felines – Florence for one – instead of continuing to generalise.” She paused as the other continued, nodding her head in sympathy. “That’s not strange at all – many canines are the same, they just don’t realise it – they accept the way they’ve been brought up, and don’t question it. If you want to join Lexis, don’t let anyone stop you; they have no right to.” She watched Kai shrug awkwardly, then apologise. Giving her a comforting nudge, she told the young female, “Don’t apologise. Kai, you need to decide what you want from life, where you want to go, what you want to be, and go for it. If you want to be a Tempest soldier, find someone to train you, or to train with. In my experience, the reason creatures take no notice of you is because they think you won’t amount to anything. I left Tempest, long ago, to find my dying mother, and many of my packmates disapproved. You have potential, Kai, and you need to realise that.”
Chuckling quietly, she confessed, “I have no idea where that all came from – you’ll have to excuse a doddering old fool for rambling.” She found she quite liked Valkyrie’s young friend, and she wondered why others treated her the way she’d described. She wondered, too, where her parents were. If they returned with Valkyrie, she decided, she would go to Brooke with the two in tow and ask for them to be trained, if that was what they wanted.
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Post by Zen on Nov 16, 2012 2:43:53 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png]Kai pondered what Rikki had told her, mulling over the advice in her head a few times before replying. “I get it. That’s a really good way of looking at it: hate the cats who deserve to be hated and tolerate the rest. Those cats that captured and tortured you, they definitely deserve to die, but not all of them are like that. And you know what, I bet there are some in the Iris Pride who feel the same way about us.” She smiled crookedly to herself, pleased at her revelation. If she hadn’t started talking to Rikki, she may never have put this much thought into her own life and the lives of felines. At least something good had come from the terrible situation regarding Valkyrie. “Nah, I don’t want to join the Lexis,” she laughed good-naturedly. “I do love Tempest, really I do. It’s my home and I can’t see myself living anywhere else. I just...I dunno, I guess I just need to keep living and hope someday I’ll find my place in the world, do something that gives my life meaning. That sounds incredibly cliche, I know, but yeah.” Kai kept her eyes glued to the road in front of them the entire time that they walked. Parts of the city she had never seen before passed by without much of her notice, and she hoped she would be able to find her way back home if her worst fears came true and Rikki didn’t survive the mission. She was just too nervous and fidgety to pay attention to anything other than her easy conversation with the wolf. Talking was the only thing helping her to keep calm.
“I’ve been training a bit off and on over the years, actually. My mentors say I’m a decent fighter, but sometimes I feel more like a number than a name, you know? Like, if I were to die in battle or something, no one would even notice or care. Maybe you’re right, though, maybe I should train with someone one-on-one. Try to make some kind of new friend that way. It’s worth a shot.” She was starting to ramble on again and she knew it, so she stopped herself and threw Rikki an amused look. “Maybe we’re both just lonely. Not having anyone to talk to must give you some kind of sickness that causes you to vomit words. It must be pretty hard without Gravity around, huh?” Inwardly she cringed at her tactlessness; first she had brought up the whole thing about Rikki’s torture, and now she’d just blurted out the name of her dead mate. Kai wished she could better control her own speech. She’d often been told by older dogs that she had no filter, and she could see now that they were right. Thankfully, she caught a whiff of a scent that immediately took her mind off of how stupid she was, and Kai glanced at Rikki anxiously. “I think I smell cat. We must be close, right?”
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Post by {Mactíre} on Nov 25, 2012 11:20:59 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] | [atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/11tyfkw.jpg]Rikki nodded slowly as Kai nutted out what she'd just been told in regards to felines, a soft smile spreading across her face. Her eyes lit up slightly, pleased that the young Tempest female hadn't been brainwashed into an unconditional feline-hater. She'd done her best to make sure - with her own children - that they knew that there were two sides to the story. She could not stop them if their views changed for the worse, but she could rest a little easier knowing that, no matter what, her children had been told by what they hopefully saw as a reliable, experienced source that not all felines were deserving of their hatred. Once her own eyes had been opened, it had been sobering to think that most of the Tempest pack were of the belief that felines should be eradicated - and that she had been one of them, once. It felt like an age ago now that she had been a young, strong Tempest soldier, wanting to rise to the top and rid Hexasol of what she had seen as an inferior species. So much had changed - with her, and the city around her.
The elderly she-wolf chuckled at the younger canine's response regarding Lexis. "That's understandable - I never would, either."
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[/b] She paused, cocking her head slightly as her companion continued to speak, a smile spreading across her face. "That's not cliche at all, Kai - you basically described me at a slightly younger age than you are now. It's natural, and sometimes you have to go and find it - sometimes it's there around the corner, waiting. You just have to decide whether you're going to go a little way or a long way to find it." She glanced around as she spoke, bushy tail waving slightly, ears pricked to detect the smallest noise. It was undeniable, though, that she was at least partially dependent on her young friend - she was approaching a decade of being around - give or take a pawful of seasons - and her senses weren't improving. Yet, they were better than that of many others her age, possibly due to their constant use during her earlier days as a mother. If only she'd been able to sense the danger in her daughter and youngest son's future - but no, no-one could do that. The Arctic wolf kept an ear on Kai and one on their surroundings as they continued to talk and venture towards Iris territory. "Maybe if we get Valkyrie out of here, she can train with you - I know she'd love to - and I can get someone to help me mentor you as a pair for a while. I was a fighting-fit warrior, once. But yes, the feeling of just being a number is not at all heartening. Friends hel p you to feel included, to make the pack feel more like one big family, as soppy as that sounds." She smiled ironically. There were always going to be divisions in large packs like Tempest, unfortunately, mostly for political reasons. Catching the large mutt's gaze, she sighed and nodded in agreement, something twitching inside at the insolence of the young female, but in amusement rather than disapproval. "I did have a close friend after. . . " After Gravity left. It hurt, now, to even think his name, let alone say it. "I had Ralph, who was something of a mentor to me in the old days, and became a second guardian to my cubs. He was killed, though, Adrian told me, whe he tried to stop to felines from attacking him and Valkyrie." She swallowed thickly, thinking bitterly that she must be some kind of bad-luck talisman - Gravity had left, probably to die, everyone whispered, after she'd become pregnant - and now Valkyrie had been captured and Ralph brutally murdered. The word cat brought her back to her senses, and instantly Rikki cursed herself for getting distracted so easily. Inhaling sharply, she found that Kai was right - the distinct odour of feline hung in the air, some fairly fresh, some stale. Narrowing her eyes, she looked around. "Aye, you're right - only a few minutes now and we'll be over their border." Glancing forward at the buildings, she found one she recognised instantly: a skyscraper, far taller than any other building in its surroundings. The slaughterhouse was to the far left of it and into Iris territory slightly, she knew. Indicating the direction with her snout, she licked her lips nervously and in a lowered voice said, "The slaughterhouse is that way, roughly. Are you ready? From here on, I think we should talk as little as possible, unless there's something urgent you need to say now, before we go?" Turning slightly, she glanced from the direction she had indicated to her daughter's friend's face. [/justify][/size][/blockquote][/color][/td][/tr][tr][td] [/td][/tr][/table][/center]
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Post by Zen on Dec 4, 2012 4:47:53 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png]Kai dropped her eyes and went silent, unsure of what to say in regards to Ralph's death. "I'm really sorry," she finally managed, but it came out sounding rather stilted and awkward. She was sincere, though. "At least he died like a hero. A true Tempest dog. And maybe...maybe I could be to Valk what Ralph was to you, once we get her out of this place. I know I'm not that much older than her myself, but I feel like there's some things I could teach her. I bet there's some things she could teach me too." She smiled, but bit the side of her mouth anxiously when the smell of cat started to grow more potent. Her head turned to look in the direction Rikki had pointed, and somehow she managed to keep her feet moving despite her instincts screaming at her to turn back.
"I, uh, I just wanna say thanks, Rikki. For being so nice to me, for not treating me like I'm some naive little puppy, for believing in me. For, well, for everything." Her voice trailed off as she was overcome by a sudden wave of emotion. No, she couldn't start crying. Not here, not now. They had a job to do. She ground her teeth and trudged on, walking silently beside Rikki as they slowly made their way around the perimeter of the Iris Pride, staying in the shadows and changing their position at the first sight of a guard. Luckily, there didn't seem to be too many on patrol at this time.
There were no other buildings surrounding the slaughterhouse. It was kept fairly well hidden by being located in a shadowy corner of the Pride's territory. However, there were quite a few trucks and other large vehicles near the place that would make great hiding spots. She slunk forward until she was safely hidden behind the back end of one truck. The smell of decayed meat was still strong in the air, even this long after the humans had died out.
Up ahead, she could make out the dark silhouette of a flat, windowless concrete building. That was their target. Her eyes moved across the length of the area before resting on the two cats stationed outside the main entrance. She couldn't tell what breed they were, but just judging by their size she could surmise they would pose a large threat to them if Kai and Rikki were to be captured. Leopards, maybe, or jaguars.
Her voice was barely at the level of a whisper when she leaned in and spoke into Rikki's ear. "We need to somehow distract those guards from their post. Maybe we could use noise to lure them away?" She didn't elaborate on this idea, instead hoping that Rikki would fill in the blanks and come up with a plan for just how they might go about doing that. Her own thoughts were all a jumbled mess. She knew she would probably need assistance in getting Valkyrie out of the building, and she couldn't quite think of a way for the two of them to both distract the guards and make their way into the slaughterhouse without being caught.
OOC: I had to write this really quickly, sorry if it sucks! q_q
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Post by {Mactíre} on Dec 7, 2012 5:41:34 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] | [atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/11tyfkw.jpg]Rikki shook her old head at the youngster's apology, her brown eyes bright with sadness and unshed tears. "It's alright, young one - he probably wouldn't have wanted it any other way, and he was older than me; you're right about him being a hero, certainly." She smiled wanly, knowing they didn't have time for this, not really; but emotions didn't understand that, and she couldn't control hers. "I hope you can be, Kai. I know there are many things she can learn from you - and yes, maybe she can teach you something. Friends are often good at that, all throughout their lives." Her smile became slightly bitter then; she hadn't had many friends of her own, but that was partially her own fault. She'd never been particularly easy to befriend, at least not before her capture.
The young mutt seemed to want to say something more as she glanced in the direction she had pointed, and so the elderly she-wolf listened as her companion spoke. Warmth filled her at Kai's words, combined with disapproval that her mentors had obviously been so discouraging. The female couldn't think of much to say, so she simply touched her nose to the larger canine's ear, murmuring softly as she did so, "There's no need to thank me; you need someone to believe in you. You deserve it, Kai. Thank you for being such a good friend to my Valkyrie, and please, please continue to be." Withdrawing slightly, she began to concentrate once again on the task at hand. Rescuing a daughter, her daughter, and a friend - Kai's.
The two of them moved warily, almost as a single unit, managing to remain just beyond the border, undetected by the felines they saw, which weren't many. Rikki followed her young friend as she pressed herself to a truck's rear end, clenching her teeth in frustration as she saw the slaughterhouse and its guards. Doubtless there would be more inside, but these posed enough of a challenge for a young, half-trained mongrel, even one as big as Kai, and an aged, small, weak wolf. She kept her eyes trained on the large felines as the younger canine spoke, nodding slightly in approval of her idea. Licking hr dry lips nervously, she though for a moment. There were plenty of things around here that could be used to make noise - plenty of small, metal bins, and few huge ones. If she knocked one of those over in a nearby alley and lured the guards away from their post - or at least one - Kai would have a better chance of getting into the slaughterhouse and finding Valkyrie.
Her brown eyes wandered; close to the border, one nearest the neutral lands but also only a street away from the slaughterhouse, was a metal dustbin, the moon's rays reflecting off its metal surface. If she waited to move it until the moon was behind a cloud, perhaps their plan would work. Leaning in to Kai as she had done before, the Arctic wolf once again used her snout to indicate - this time towards the alleyway - as she spoke in a soft whisper. "If I go over there, to where that bin is, and wait to run into it until the moon is behind a cloud, we should have our distraction. At least one of those guards will hopefully come to investigate, and you can go in. Unless you want to do it the other way around - you be the decoy, and me the rescuer? The one who makes the noise could circle around and join the other, maybe? What do you think? Also, if there are more than two felines inside, and you or I don't think we can fight them, I want you to run, have you got that? No heroics if we're seriously outnumbered. I'm near my time anyway." The words tumbled out of her as slowly as she could hold them back, her tired old mind working overtime as she tried to pull together a workable plan that would either see them succeed or at least allow Kai to escape with her life.
OOC; It's fine - I just hope this isn't too rushed and confusing! x.x
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Post by Zen on Dec 12, 2012 2:39:41 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] | [atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png]"Of course, Rikki. Always." She returned the wolf's nose touch and hoped Rikki would know she meant that. Kai wasn't one to abandon her friends, especially not when she had so few friends to begin with. In fact, she vowed she would tell Valk just how much she meant to her once they were back in eachother's company.
She was more than a little relieved once Rikki came up with a workable scheme for how they were going to pull this off. Kai tried to visualize the new plan in her head several times and came to the conclusion that there was actually a pretty good chance of it succeeding, so long as they were cautious. The strategy didn't leave much room for error. One wrong move and they could both be dead, as those two cats out front could easily sound an alarm and attract the entire Pride to their location.
"I'll go in. If I see I'm too outnumbered to have a chance at getting to Valkyrie's cage before they catch me, I'll hightail it back out of there and we can make an escape back to Tempest together. Just please try not to be seen by those cats, okay? If you can, go hide somewhere else after they've been drawn to the noise. But if they do see you, and I have the opening, I'll come back and help you fight them off." She didn't want to add what she was also thinking: that if it came down to the choice between rescuing Rikki and releasing Valkyrie from her imprisonment, she would choose Valk. It was part of the promise they had made before they had left Tempest.
Her big brown eyes reflected the starlight of the night sky as she gazed upward, waiting for the moment Rikki had specified. The minutes crawled by and it seemed like ages before a few thick clouds finally drifted in front of the moon, diminishing the light that poured over the area. "Are you ready?" she asked, crouching down in preparation to bolt into the slaughterhouse once the cats were distracted. She drew in a breath and held it, looking to Rikki to begin stage one of their attack. Let's do this.
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Post by {Mactíre} on Dec 19, 2012 2:26:45 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] | [atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/11tyfkw.jpg]Kai seemed to instantly approve of her plan. Though she knew the younger canine would be fairly inexperienced at coming up with a plan for a situation like this, it was still reassuring to have her confidence. Besides, there wasn’t much time in which they could think up or discuss a better idea; if they did so, they risked (even more so than now) being caught. Rikki steeled herself for what would lie ahead, trying to stay calm. The fur on her hackles was raised slightly, her tail bristling somewhat. She knew that one small mistake in this could, and probably would, mean death. Plus Valkyrie would have an even slimmer chance of freedom.
The elderly wolf nodded fractionally at her young companion’s words. “I’ll do my best, Kai,” she promised quietly, her voice a murmur that only she and the young mutt would be able to hear. This was what they’d agreed to, hours ago, and she wouldn’t back down from it. One glance at her daughter’s friend told her that she wouldn’t, either. If my death means Valkyrie’s freedom, so be it. My children are practically grown up now anyway. Stretching her neck and gazing with Kai up at the sky, she watched and waited for a cloud to cover the moon. It seemed like hours had passed, and she was beginning to worry that they would be discovered before the moment they were waiting for came, but finally several clouds blew across the moon’s surface, blotting out much of the light it provided.
The old Arctic wolf nodded tensely at the young to-be Soldier’s words, breathing “Good luck,” before slinking as silently as she could towards the alley she had pinpointed before. She had to be careful to stop her claws from clicking on the concrete, but she succeed for the most part, holding her breath as she did her best not to lose her step or blunder into something before she reached the bin. She kept to the darkest parts of the streets, keeping her tail down, tucked close to her body. Soon enough, she was in position, behind the dull metal dustbin, her head peeking out from the side of it, eyes on Kai. There wasn’t much of a smell from the bin anymore; all of the rubbish that it had once contained had been eaten or rotted away. It was somehow the right way up – whether some large cat had righted it or it had somehow retained its balance, she couldn’t tell. What she could smell was the slightly stale, yet still almost overpowering odour of Iris feline.
Once she had decided how she could make the most noise – by knocking the bin over, into the wall, where it would hopefully roll onto the ground and make noise, she nodded to Kai again to indicate that she was about to do it, then exhaled and in haled sharply, and jumped at the bin from behind, letting out a screeching, piercing yelp-come-howl that was unmistakably canine. It could have come from an ordinary dog, or a coyote, serving its purpose: she wanted to make sure that Iris cats wouldn’t brush it off as some clumsy Iris cat. Her heart was hammering as the bin crashed into the wall and bounced off, with a resounding crash, making as big a noise as it fell to the ground and rolled. The guards from the prison let a commanding yowl; she couldn’t see or hear whether they were staying put or coming to investigate. Without wasting a second and not glancing back at Kai to see where she or the felines were, she dashed around the back of the alleyway, giving one last wordless, panicked-sounding howl before falling silent and concentrating on getting as far the from that spot as possible, while finding a route back to the entrance of the slaughterhouse. She could only hope that her young friend was successful and that either felines – or at least one - had been distracted by the diversion she had caused.
OOC: I'm really sorry that I took so long to post this, Zen. I had it written days ago, and I only just got access to a computer with internet today. Song: Stand My Ground – Within Temptation (duh!) Word Count: 672 Muse: Decent Summary: Rikki decided that the plan is the best they have, plus there’s no time. Creates the diversion and is in the process of circling back around to rejoin Kai.
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