Ok, first chapter, so let me know what you think! I feel like I kinda just spewed words onto a page hoping it turned out ok.
It was way too hot for this shit, she mused, panting through the stifling tunnels. That bastard has some explaining to do, summoning me all the way from The Rock. Twelve days it had taken her. Twelve goddamn days. "Maybe I can retire early, set up a nice hole in The Rock, not return anyone's calls. . ." Yeah, that would be nice. Just a hole to herself, no one to serve.
That was almost too perfect.
Nothing could be heard or seen, but then her hand was on the hilt of her knife, the blade halfway out of the sheath. A hand landed on her elbow, stalling her. She spun around, quick as silver, and the knife was in the air, just barely missing the man's masked face. She came out of her stance smiling.
"You could've killed me, Ammy."
"Yeah, but I didn't, did I?" She noticed the blood covering the man's left arm. "Yours?"
"Is it ever?" He returned. She could almost see the smile beneath the mask covering his mouth. She shrugged in response, walking towards her knife. The man watched her with curiosity, wondering if that had been mere happenstance or if she really had thought that he was an enemy, and had simply missed at the last second.
Shadows enveloped her as she pulled her knife out of the wall. Chips of stone bounced away from her boots as she walked back to the man, holding her knife triumphantly. Something large and furry was attached to the blade, still squirming in its death throes.
"Do you think Aylia likes rat?"
"So, why did he summon us this time?"
"Who knows? Maybe he needs more test subjects." A smile that seemed more like a grimace crossed the shorter man's face.
"I hope not. It's always so unpleasant when I have to kill humans that don't fight back." This voice came from directly behind the two men, female and out of place with the body that followed. Graceful, burnt gold paws streaked with black padded along the tunnel floor. A large, dull pink nose sniffed the air, giving off the impression of distaste.
The blonde man gave the feline a pat on the head and adjusted his goggles, seeming out of place with the dark underground. "Let's get this over with as quickly as possible. And hopefully we don't have to kill anything this time," muttered Fluke. Evanz nodded in agreement, stuffing his hands deeper into the pockets of his light blue jacket.
The three continued walking in silence, casting wary glances all around them, still unfamiliar with the morbid atmosphere. Their shuffled footsteps echoed and bounced off of the walls, making it seem as though there were ten others behind them. Fluke cast a worried glance at the lantern he held. It was their only source of light, and the oil was running out, slowly but surely.
The tunnel branched off into two others, seemingly without warning. The other two looked identical to the one they were in, but would lead to very different places. Fluke turned to make a comment, but stopped when he noticed that the giant feline was several paces behind. The fur on the back of her neck stood up, somehow making her look both ferocious and unwilling to take another step.
"Something wrong?" Fluke asked.
"Hold this," said Ammy, holding out her knife and giving no explanation. Hollow took it, complete with still-twitching rat, and didn't ask why. Knowing her, she wouldn't give an answer until she had completed whatever she was about to do. A mischievous grin became her smile as she took off running down the tunnel, changing as she went. Clothes disappeared and were replaced by white fur. Normal, human features became a long muzzle, tongue hanging out on one side. Wings sprouted out of her shoulder blades and were quickly pinned against her lupine body as she ran.
Hollow continued to walk slowly down the tunnel, making no sound. He had an idea of what was about to happen, but he couldn't be sure that he had walked far enough yet. Was the intersection this close already?
A large white shape came skidding out of the darkness of the rightmost tunnel, causing Fluke's feline companion to jerk back with a yowl. Fluke and Evanz winced simultaneously as the sound echoed throughout all three tunnels, alerting anything nearby of their presence. The wolf in front of them gave a friendly yap, getting an angry hiss from the large feline and a warm smile from Fluke. Evanz nervously pushed some hair back away from his eyes, still anxious about the potential enemies they might have notified with all the sound they were making.
Hollow soon appeared right behind the she-wolf, who was just now changing back into human form, chuckling. Ammy took something from Hollow, taking care to hide it from the rest of the group. Evanz raised an eyebrow at the secrecy, but didn't comment. (No one commented on the eyebrow-raise because it was completely hidden by hair.)
"Yes Fluke, there is something wrong. This mangy ruffian is here." Fluke's feline companion sat back and gave a calming lick to her shoulder, flattening the spiked up fur. Fluke gave a hearty laugh, completely at home with his friends despite the chilly underground that was very much alien to Fluke's natural home.
A shadow stepped out of the darkness of the left tunnel. Clean-cut black shapes lined with red gave a general impression of his figure, but nothing else was revealed just yet.
"Was anyone followed?" The shadow asked. Everyone shook their heads no, Hollow offering up his blood drenched arm as proof that he hadn't been followed. "Good," said the shadow, finally stepping into the dim light. Black, tousled hair framed a pale face, and ember red eyes peered out from behind slightly tinted shades. His garb looked formal to the rest, but this outfit was his everyday wear, excluding the black hiking boots that he wore only on visits to the tunnels. "Let's get down to business then."
"This better not be another bullshit murder you bastard," said Hollow.
"Or another collection of test subjects," piped up Fluke, referring to his earlier conversation.
"No, it's not," said yet another voice from the shadows behind Rage. A rather tall woman dressed in leathers stepped up to the group. Her skin was an odd mix of human and reptilian, a smooth tan here, a patch of rough, golden brown skin there, with splotches of black in a pattern down her entire body.
"Hello, Aylia!" said Ammy cheerfully, holding out her knife at long last. "Care for some rat?" Aylia's dark brown eyes flicked to the small mammal, then back to Ammy.
"No, thank you Ammy," said Aylia, her calm expression never changing to one of disgust or other emotions. Ammy shrugged, then flicked the rat over to Fluke's side of the room, where it was swallowed in one large gulp by his feline friend, followed shortly by a satisfied lick of the lips.
"We have more important matters to discuss than a mere snack," continued Aylia, reaching into a back pocket and throwing something onto the ground in the middle of the room. The object was met by silence, broken by Rage once he was sure everyone had gotten a good look.
"They're back."
Also, I should probably mention that I still don't know what to call Fluke's feline friend (she's an ocelot by the way) Any ideas anyone?
