Stand my ground [Zen!]

[Zen]

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[atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png] Kai didn’t wait. As soon as Rikki had made the distraction and the guards chased after to investigate the crashing noises and the ear splitting howling, she bolted across the parking lot and then slowed down to quietly poke her head through the open front doors of the prison. It was a vast place, with rows upon rows of steel enclosures, cages designed to hold farm animals and keep them as packed together as possible in preparation for slaughter. Bones were scattered along the floors of many cages, but she couldn’t tell if they were canine or if they had once belonged to a pig or chicken. She didn’t want to know. Her eyes didn’t linger on the details of the room for long, and instead they quickly began scanning the place for the person she wanted to see. But it was no good, the room was too big and there were too many prisoners for her to have any hope of finding Valkyrie amongst them. So she ran in. Immediately the attention of every single guard in the room was on her. But she ran on anyway, down the narrow aisles that cut through the rows of cages, glancing into each one in hopes of seeing her friend. Guilt gripped her heart as she looked at the faces of the canines she was abandoning for the sake of Valkyrie. She wished so badly she could free them all, especially knowing many of them were probably Tempest prisoners, but she didn’t stop to do so. She had only once chance to free Valk and she couldn’t screw it up. Then eventually she did stop as her heart quickened at the sight of a furry brown body in one of the cages up ahead. The guards were right behind her and she had to act fast. How exactly was she going to get Valk out of there, though? She had no way of unlocking the enclosure, so her only option would be to leap over the bars, shove Valk on to her back, and try to somehow make it back over the bars and out of the slaughterhouse without being caught. It was the stupidest, craziest idea ever. But it was all she had. Once she was able to get closer, Kai blinked back tears of joy, even in spite of the cats closing in across every direction. It was her! “Valkyrie!” she barked loudly, a noise so loud it echoed off the walls. “It’s me, Kai! I’ve come to rescue you! Your mother’s here too, we’re gonna bust you out, we’re gonna-” The words died in her throat as a guard suddenly flung himself at her, forcing her to the ground for several seconds before Kai regained the upper hand and tossed him off. Idiot. He was lynx, a cat barely half her height and strength, and he thought he could overpower her? She scoffed and was about to charge right into Valk’s cage when three more cats caught up and surrounded her. Now she was trapped. They all attacked at once, piling on top of her until she was buried beneath a suffocating heap of fur, claws and teeth. She felt them open wounds all along her body, biting and tearing, and it was only by some miracle that she managed to wrench herself free from the assault. Kai ran forward again towards Valkyrie's cage, but stumbled and fell on to her side as the pain of her injuries prevented her from trying to jump over the bars. I failed, she thought miserably, the joyful tears she’d felt in her eyes just moments ago now turned to ones of fear and hopelessness. The cats detangled themselves from the pile they had created and were readying to attack her again. She shook her head, met her friend’s gaze and suddenly sobbed out, “I’m sorry, Valk! But I’ll come back for you, I swear!” before dashing down a different aisle, fighting through the intense pain and just barely managing to elude the claws of a few more guards. She made it back out the door and sprinted back across the parking lot, blood soaking her fur, while looking everywhere for Rikki. About five or six small and medium-sized cats were right behind her and she had no time to stop and search for the wolf, so she could only pray that Rikki was close by and that they would both still have enough energy to make it back to Tempest with these guards tailing them entire way. OOC: Idk if you want to rp Valkyrie’s reaction at seeing Kai, but I left it open in case you did :3

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[{Mactíre}]

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[atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/11tyfkw.jpg] OOC: Worst. Post. Ever. x.x Sorry this took so long, I may add in a bit with Valk later. Rikki's heart hammered against her ribs as she ran, twisting through streets and alleyways that she was pretty sure led back to the slaughterhouse. She had a huge head-start over the two large felines who pursued her - she intended to use it well. She could hear their pawsteps and voices as they tried to track her - the leaves and mud she and Kai had rolled in earlier was obviously confusing them, if only slightly. She wondered how the young mongrel was doing with her side of the plan, and silently prayed to whatever higher powers could hear her that she was still alive. The worst that could happen here was that Kai or both of them could be killed or captured; she couldn't let either happen to Kai. A youngster like her didn't deserve to die so soon, even in this war. She had potential; she was Valkyrie's only real friend apart from her family members, and over the last few hours, the elderly wolf had come to admire her courage and quick thinking, and her dedication to Valkyrie. So much so that Rikki herself considered Kai a friend. Soon enough, she burst out into the open - the carpark when she and Kai had hidden minutes ago. As soon as she approached the slaughterhouse, the old Arctic wolf could hear an uproar from inside - Kai must have been seen and set upon by the guards within. Damn. They had known from the start that the room was probably full of guards, but she had hoped against hope that for whatever reason there would only be a few there. All the ivory canine could hope to do now was make sure Kai got out safely. At that moment, her young friend emerged from the slaughterhouse, battered but alive, six medium sized felines on her tail. Rushing to catch up with them, Rikki slammed into two of the cats, causing one to trip and fall to the ground, the other throwing itself at her. Continuing to run after Kai, she turned her head to snap at paws digging into her flank, whereupon the cat yowled in outrage and released its grip, instead going for her throat. She managed to sink her teeth into its scruff as small drops of crimson stained her fur where the cat's claws had found their mark. This prevented the cat from sinking its teeth into her throat, and it flailed in her grip, hissing and spitting. With an almighty heave and jerk of her head, she managed to throw the feline a metre or so away, its skull connecting with the concrete; it was knocked out instantly. While all this was going on, another of the felines, a stocky bobcat, had attacked her flank, the initial impact breaking several ribs as it began sinking both and teeth into the already injured area and tearing fur and flesh impartially. She had fallen behind Kai, and guessed that most of the other cats had decided to pursue her, being younger and far more fleet of paw as she attempted to detach her current assailant, whose bloodlust was quite obvious: most other felines would not have put themselves in such danger. Rikki snarled in pain as the cat ripped out a hunk of flesh, spinning around in an attempt to throw her attacker off and make contact with his body. She managed to tear off the top of the feline's pointed ear, spitting it out of her mouth, but, like a parasite, he clung to her abused body despite his own pain. In a last ditch effort, she slammed her body to the ground, the flank with the bobcat attached face down. There was a crack as bones splintered, breaking on impact with the concrete paving the ground, blood spurting. Rikki swallowed a choking sensation of guilt and revulsion as she disentangled herself from the bobcat’s limp body – but it had either been her life or that of this insane feline. Shaking herself slowly, she continued after Kai, feeling slightly faint: the wound the bobcat had left was quite deep, with a frightening amount of blood flowing freely from it, so that she left a crimson trail as she ran. It hurt to move, and if she’d cared to look at her right flank, she would have seen that most of the ivory fur covering it was ripped away, the rest bloodstained, with a huge amount of the flesh beneath torn and gone. Finally she drew level with Kai, having somehow managed to avoid the four remaining felines who pursued her young friend. She had decided that Tempest territory was too far from her for her to make it – even at the speed they were going, it would take at least fifteen minutes to get there. The only nearby hiding place that came to mind was the marshes – only about five minutes from where they were now – (outside of Iris territory, but still within the main part of the city), if she could manage to run the whole way. “Kai, thank you for trying,” she panted painfully. “I can’t go much further like this, so I'll try to find a place to rest. If I don't see you again, I just want you to know that I'm eternallly grateful for this, even though we didn't succeed. Next time, don't be a fool like me - get help; tell Brooke!” There were so many other things she wanted to say, but the pain was too much, and she felt sick. So instead she ran on, changing her direction so that she was heading towards the marshes, knowing that if the felines decided to track her instead of Kai, she would be an easy target. Even a human could see and smell the trail of blood she left as she stumbled onward.

[Zen]

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[atrb=background,http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa446/jadedog08/kaitable22-1.png] “Rikki!” she howled in alarm, skidding to a halt and turning around to see the old wolf struggling to fight off a particularly savage group of cats. As soon as she stopped running, the felines behind her drew their claws and leaped at her all at once. Letting out a noise that was both a battle cry and an enraged scream, she met their attack by swatting her paws and biting into whatever pieces of flesh she could get her teeth on. She felt her skin tear and her fur rip, but she fought through the pain and somehow came out victorious. When it was over for the time being and the area around them was awash with blood, she limped over and looked up at her comrade. Next time? She blinked and swallowed the thick lump in her throat, at a loss for words. Rikki expected her to do this again. She expected Kai to come back here and finish what they had started. A flurry of doubts came rushing through her mind all at once. She had told Valkyrie she would come back to save her, but looking at the dozens of wounds that had just been inflicted on her, she wasn't so sure she could keep that promise after all. I can’t do this again, Rikki. I’m not strong enough. No one in the Tempest Pack cares about me or Valkyrie, and the soldiers are all too self-absorbed to want to help me anyway. There’s no way I can go back into that prison alone. But she didn’t voice the thoughts. She couldn't. All she did was breathe out a heavy sigh of disappointment and sorrow. “Find a secluded place to nurse your wounds,” she suggested. “In the morning, once I’ve regained my strength, I’ll come looking for you. I’ll help you back to Tempest.” A twinge of hesitation was just barely detectable in her voice when she added, “You're not gonna die, Rikki. You’ve been through way worse than this. Just stay strong.” She rested the side of her head against the wolf’s shoulder for a moment, closed her eyes and backed away. Then she and Rikki parted ways and ran down two separate roads, with Kai heading left towards the area they had entered Iris from. After they broke apart, she looked back and met her new friend’s eyes one more time. It was the last time she ever would. After what felt like a lifetime of running and struggling, Kai collapsed on the outskirts of the pack’s territory and blacked out from exhaustion and pain. She had managed to outrun the remaining Iris cats that were persuing her and avoided being detected by any stray felines drawn to the scent of blood. Really, she had no idea how she was still alive. She was delirious as she made it back home and could barely stay standing, but one solid thing echoed through her mind before she lost consciousness. I will come back for you Valk. Someday, somehow, I’ll get you out of there. I'm not giving up.

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