(Untitled)

[seeingbloodred]

Who; Namae [c_racked] and Red [seeingbloodred]
What; Red doesn't like wolves. Namae doesn't like Red. ALL OUR PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED WITH VIOLENCE, APPARENTLY.
Where; One of the more isolated/abandoned areas of the city
When; FOREVER. I lie, just after Red's arrival.
Warnings; Lots.....of violence? And psycho people? |D

Comments

[c_racked]

She probably never heard him approaching - wolves have the ability to pad down concrete roads almost silently - but he heard her every movement from a block away, ears keened forward, catching the faint traces of rustling. It had been all too easy to trace the signal from the sidekick here to one of the more abandoned areas of the city. And that was all too well, he'd been itching for a fight. They called this city in a state of war, ha, yeah right. Give me a fucking break. This wasn't a war without the proper bloodshed and chaos.

The shifting of rubble and rock behind her - if Red turned around quickly enough, she would have seen the form of a three-legged wolf for a split moment, standing just a short distance away - before there was a blur of movement, fur blending to skin, and Namae stood there, looking almost amused as he leered down at her.

"Little Red's lost in the city?" Words spoken in mocking tones as he stepped down to the pavement, a length of lead pipe held loosely in his one good arm, the bandages wrapped haphazardly around his remaining arm painfully white against the backdrop of the ash-gray city. And the smile on his lips, manic and feral, almost animalistic, was all too telling of his hunger for a fight, as was the way he eyed the axe. "Brats shouldn't be playing with such dangerous toys."

Maybe this would finally be a relief from the overwhelming boredom.

[seeingbloodred]

Maybe Red's senses weren't as acute as Namae's, but she had hunted wolves ever since....that day. When he approached, she knew he was there, and she just waited for him to come to her.

She wasn't even startled when he spoke. She just turned around, smiling, the old madness showing in her eyes. "Is that so? Good thing I stopped being a 'brat' long ago."

Pipe, claws, whatever he carried wouldn't be good enough. Maybe it would be good, but not good enough. She never held back with a wolf. They didn't deserve the courtesy.

Not that she really held back a lot anyway.

She dropped her basket - wouldn't be needing it for now - and hefted the axe easily, ready the instant he attacked. "So, why don't we see if the pup has fangs to match his talk? Or is this 'brat' not good enough a challenge for you?"

[c_racked]

Eyes narrowed as the axe was hefted, and Namae smiled - yes, he'd guessed right - this girl wasn't just a joke. Little Red of the fairy tales, good by, this girl was used to killing. How he'd missed the adrenaline rush of a blood-laden fight - and if he died? Poetic justice dealt to the big bad wolf at the hands of an insane little girl. Not a bad way to go, and a blessed relief from the boredom of this fucking city.

A howling laugh with just the right touch of mania - he'd long since lost touch with his sanity - and Namae never dropped that feral smile. "Ladies first, don't they say?" stance lowered, and calloused fingers warped into claws, lean and sinewy, bristling with gray-black fur. Teeth? Elongated into fangs, and a trace of gold leaked into his eyes. "I'm still a gentleman, and it would be all too rude to attack first."

[seeingbloodred]

Underestimating her, offering the chance like this. They always did. No matter.

Red didn't answer the wolf-boy. She wasn't fond of talking anyway, and there was no need to say anything more. Action would do.

She burst into movement, bringing up the axe as she came up on a level with him. She snapped it out towards his unprotected right side as she dropped into a crouch, careful not to extend her arm completely; he was probably stronger than her, could snap her elbow like a twig if she was foolish enough to let the joint lock into place. It had happened before.

Just concentrate on this, on the moment, on blade sinking into flesh. That was everything in this instant. Stay alive.

[c_racked]

And what do you know, she just had to go for the side where he'd been blinded - even acting on instinct, he just wasn't fast enough to dodge. The blade sliced upwards, just narrowly missing his ear, and taking off a sizable amount of skin off his shoulder. Only a slip second before blood started pouring, the smell was overpowering, everywhere at once, as was the pain. But Mem's gift to him had been heightened endurance - a wound like this? Absolutely nothing.

And it was with absolutely not hesitation that he brought up a knee aimed at her chest - drive the breath out of her first, then swung the lead pipe in a smooth arc aimed at her neck - a bullet-fire one-two blow. Aim to cripple her first, before anything else.

Yes, yes, this was it, that burst of blood-driven madness. This was what it meant to be alive.

[seeingbloodred]

And this was when the fact that she'd crouched to keep her balance came in handy. Use the momentum from the first blow, one-two-step-back and the pipe glanced off her cheek.

His arm kept going - too much force, that had failed to meet with the intended target - and Red ignored the throbbing pain in her skull, grabbing the arm as it went past, sinking her axe into it quickly. Damn, the blow hadn't had enough force to cripple the muscle; but it wouldn't be as effective now, anyway, and she ripped the blade out of his flesh, a hopskip or three back, taking her far away enough to regroup.

Blood pounding, singing through her veins, and she grinned. He knew how to play.

[c_racked]

The tear of axe blade through skin and muscle was almost enough to make him buckle for a moment. But 'almost' never quite hit the target, did it? He aimed for her loosely on the backswing as she fell back - and all for the better, it gave him time to examine his arm. For a moment, it flickered back into bare flesh, the torn-up limb of a human - before gray fur matted with red returned, and he smiled at Red. "Not bad."

Heightened endurance be damned, this one had stung, and he wasn't stupid - he knew this would dampen his attacks considerably. Pity, that. The pipe had always been his favorite weapon, and here it just wasn't much use. It gave a hollow clang as he cast it aside and instead allowed elongated his claws to elongate. More like knives now, a handful of them - easier to swing, with almost as much range, and just as lethal. Not bad.

A slow step forward - the blood loss was nothing, the pain was all too easy to ignore - and he smiled. "Keep going."

[seeingbloodred]

Her ears were ringing, the adrenaline of the moment flooding through her. Pure concentration, focus, absorbed in the thrill of the moment now.

It looked like the wolf-boy was going to up the stakes now. Fine by her. A moment to catch her breath and she was off again, bringing around the axe, concentrate, focus, kill-

And then she noticed the trail of fire following the blade's path.

Instantly she brought herself to a halt, leaping back so he couldn't startle her with an attack in the vulnerable moment. What in the.... But the flames continued their arc straight towards him.

[c_racked]

Flames? So this was her gain. For a moment he was almost surprised, but if there was one thing that had been drilled into him during his hired-to-kill days, it was to never hesitate. That split second would make all the different. Black-ivory claws charred and blackened with ash as he tore through the stream of flames, but the damage to his vitals were minimal - head and throat shielded by his arm - and while the flames blossomed wildly, he took the initiative. These flames, sure, they might have been for attack purposes, but guess what girly, they're blocking you're view.

In a burst of animalistic speed, he lunged forward, body ducked low while the flames obscured her sight of him, and closed the distance between the two of them almost instantly. No breath wasted for words, he merely gave her a manic smile, clawed hand shooting out to bat aside the axe, tearing at her hand.

Then, the taste of blood was thick in his mouth, almost sickening, almost sweet - in a single, wild movement, he'd torn a sizable chunk of skin from that narrow junction where neck met shoulder. Pity, that, just a few inches off the mark where he'd aimed to rip her throat apart - but still, he couldn't help but feel a rush of manic pleasure at the sight of blood beginning to flow from the jagged teeth marks.

[seeingbloodred]

blood-

Red was conscious, in some part of her awareness, that there was pain. In the cuts on her hand, the wound on her shoulder.

teeth-

Trying to eat. Eat her. Like....

Again.

That time.

Red looked up, and she wasn't smiling anymore.

She gripped the axe, ignoring the pain, not even feeling it. She had to live. She died once, had lived through it once-

Never again

And she was in motion, lightning fast, striking out and out and out again, thin ropes of flame swirling around her, focused on him but still singeing her regardless on their course. She ignored it, the old madness dancing in her eyes as she kept swinging.

[c_racked]

Well, guess what, the little girl really knew how to play.

The first swing of the axe, he managed to deflect, parrying the blade with knife-like claws, ignoring the way that lacerations materialized and blood began dripping from his claws - then the next, again, again, again -- so this is what insanity was. It was easy to forget what psychotic wrath was when you lived by it every day, it was like a breath of fresh air, and when a rope of fire caught him across the face, blinding him, he merely laughed - even as he felt the blade of the axe sink into his side.

Almost immediately, he could taste blood at the back of his throat, but that was nothing, it didn't mean he'd lost - only death meant the end of a fight. But he needed to regroup, he needed time - as the axe was ripped out in a splash of opera scarlet and swung once more, he caught the blade, refusing to let go, leaning in close for the split second of time he had. Fangs closed in around mangled flesh, then he dealt her a vicious kick to the stomach, sending her crashing backwards - leaving a mouthful of bloodied skin and muscle in his mouth.

It was with staggering steps that he fell back a few paces, spitting out a mouthful of blood - both hers and his own. Withdraw from the fight? No, not yet. It wasn't over yet. One more rip at her, and he'd be satisfied, but before that, he wasn't leaving - after all, third time's the charm.

[seeingbloodred]

Red wasn't done. Not by far. She'd gone past the point where anything but his death would mean anything to her now. Her hair had escaped its tie by now, but that didn't make any difference.

If you ignored the bite and claw marks, she looked almost normal. Only in the places where she wasn't covered by red or black cloth could you see the blood spattered on her, blood from both of them.

She wasn't done yet. She wouldn't give up. So after the scant few moments it took to get back on her feet she was back on the attack again. Strike. Strike. Strike. It was all she had to do. If she just swung the axe enough, just hit him enough, enough for him to go down and stay there, she would survive and it would be all right again. She hardly noticed the fire-ropes, but they were there too, striking at him with the same madness as the rest of her will.

And if he tried any more of those tricks, well, she could counter those, couldn't she? She'd survived worse. She would survive this would survive would survive

[c_racked]

Yes, yes, yes yes yes this was the delicious reprieve from boredom he'd been searching looking dying for, and the manic glint in his eyes never wavered when Red dashed up, attacking in a frenzy. Pity that violence fueled by mindless rage was often so much less effective - but still, he couldn't help but admire the way she moved with flawless insanity, even as the blade of axe dig deep into his arm, and sliced clean out.

Though at this rate, the fight was getting nowhere - he could see her movements growing ever so slightly slower. She was, after all, just a skinny little girl. The blood loss would be getting to her. The axe sliced upward, streaking a jagged cut across his blind eye, and he gave a barking laugh before grabbing her by the wrist, bending her arm back and stalling her movements. The blood leaking from the cut in his side was starting to stain the ground a murky red, and the tendrils of fire tore at his back, leaving blood scores, but he really didn't care when he smiled at her.

"Let's call this round one, brat. Control your anger, it's more deadly that way. I'd like to see you really try and kill me." Something this good had to be savored - killing her now, or, god forbid, getting killed this quickly would be a waste. A toy like this had to be left alone to improve, then teased again.

In one last burst of energy, he lifted her clear off her feet and flung her against the wall of a building just a short distance away, slamming her into the concrete hard enough to stun - but not enough to kill. Then he was gone, replaced by a wolf - one that leered at her for a split second, something akin to a smile playing on fanged lips - before vanishing into the forest that surrounded the city.