Battle of Beings
Arc One: Intros
Chapter Two: Oh Shit
"Talking"
'Thinking'
/Talking in a way different than normal (i.e. telepathisis, etc.)/
-x-x-x-x- Beginning/End
0x0x0x0 Scene change
Warnings:
-Massive amounts of Ocs
-Some blood/gore/fighting
-Cursing. Lotsa, lotsa cursing
-There are a lot of long paragraphs, mostly in chapter one
OC #1: Zuki
15, Shifter, first of the Beings in the "experiment" (sounds worse than it is, I promise)
OC #2: Hotaru
15, Healer, one of the first eight in the "experiment"
-x-x-x-x-
"Damn." I hissed quietly as my nose gave a particularly nasty throb. I jumped and winced as my door was opened by a Healer, who covered their mouth to stifle a scream. "I'm fine...I just broke my nose." She walked over, closing the door behind her.
"This may hurt a bit." She murmured quietly before setting my nose; I bit my lip until it bled to keep from bothering anyone in the next room with a scream as the cartilage grated. "Heal." She commanded it and the blood I felt sliding down vanished as I felt tears in my nose slowly close themselves.
"Thank you." I mumbled, making to stand, only to find her hoisting me to my feet. That's when I remembered that she was one of the original eight of us who pretty much started this "operation". "Hey Hotaru."
"Finally recognized me, huh?" She replied, grinning kiddingly as we entered my bathroom and turned on the sink to wash off the blood. I nodded.
"On a more serious note, how's that werewolf?"
"I just woke up, so I haven't gotten in to check on him yet." I mumbled as she grabbed my arm and pulled up my sleeve to reveal one of the cuts from four days ago. It was now infected; I gave a sheepish laugh as she healed all the infected cuts on my body. "Thank you."
"Not a problem." She replied, giving me a flat look.
"I know, I know." I grumbled as I finished cleaning off my coating of blood. We returned to my room as I changed into jeans and a tank top, stretching and yawning afterwards. "Hey, will you come in with me? I know what Beings all but one of them is...the one I can't figure out's signature is familiar, but I can't place it."
"Sure." Hotaru replied, shrugging. "Not like anything else is going on."
"When you're right, you're right." I agreed as I led the way. I knocked softly and the door was opened by Ian.
"Who's she?" He asked, eyes mistrustful.
"Ian, this is Hotaru. She's a Healer." I explained.
"Nice to meet you." She nodded. "I'm generally delegated to heal whatever wounds are in my jurisdiction, and this hall happens to be one."
"It only counts because I have a tendency to be injured easily." I grumbled as Ian moved aside to let us in.
"What do you mean?" He wondered aloud as Bryan, Kai and Spencer looked up at us.
"Well, as a Shifter, my skeletal structure under goes a lot of changes and it makes my bones a bit less dense than the average human's when I'm in human form. I just broke my nose this morning because I fell off my bed and rolled into the side of it." I explained as Hotaru nodded.
"That's why I'm here." She verified. "That, and I figured I should introduce myself if any of you are planning in residing here, let alone in this wing." The three conscious boys yet to be introduced stayed silent. "My name is Hotaru and I'm the senior Healer here."
"Senior anything means they're one of the original eight." I added.
"Well, in that case, you're Senior Senior, since you were the first one here." Hotaru grinned.
"Quit picking on me and see if anyone's injured." I grumbled, crossing my arms in annoyance.
"How long have you guys been here?" It seemed Ian was the most vocal of the group.
"Since I was about eight." I muttered, uncrossing my arms.
"I've been here since I was about ten." Hotaru acknowledged as she approached Ian. "Are you hurt anywhere?" He shook his head, so she turned to the three who were watching her with barely contained malice in their eyes.
"Guys, she's NOT a doctor." Ian stated.
"Don't most Beings who live as humans LIKE doctors?" Hotaru questioned, probably a bit confused; I sighed.
I shrugged. "I never did...Then again, that's probably because I was nearly always there, needing a cast or stitches of some sort."
"Fine." Kai growled and allowed Hotaru to come closer; she inquired about wounds and he shook his head. The other two watched her with evident distrust but allowed her to question them.
"What on earth happened to him?" She squeaked when she saw Tala.
"He was originally unwell and then partially transformed in the moonlight." I supplied as I cautiously drew closer. A soft groan of pain met our ears as he stirred, slowly drifting towards consciousness.
"You do have a pain-numbing potion, right?" Hotaru questioned; I gestured at the purple-ish potion on the bedside table. "Alright. I'm going to go get the Healer who specializes with werewolves...it looks like this guy's gonna need it." She swept from the room, probably feeling ill.
"That was an abrupt exit." Ian muttered.
"Well, most Healers can feel the physical pain of someone near them. Tala's probably very sore and it might be making her queasy." I explained as I joined him near the door.
"What's with you?" Kai demanded to know.
"I dunno about you, but I doubt any guy likes to be stared at when all they have covering them is a sheet tangled around their private area, particularly when the one staring is of the opposite sex." I rattled out boredly and they spun to find that the quilt had been knocked off sometime during the night. I left the room and stood outside the door as the four carefully clothed him. Ian opened the door and motioned me in when they were still in progress. I blinked, wondering why, when he pushed me over to the bed and my eyes widened when I saw the bruises all over his chest and back. "What the hell happened?!" I barely remembered to lower my voice so as not to wake him.
"It looks like someone beat him..." Ian mumbled mournfully as they slipped a shirt on him.
"A human did that." I murmured after scrutinizing the wounds. "Sick bastards." I muttered in an undertone, my eyes going slit-pupiled as I turned and walked to the door. "The next person to probably come here will most likely be Carina, as she is the more experienced of the two Healers who specialize in werewolves." I swept from the room, bypassing the cafeteria to head outside.
0x0x0x0
It was time to find the neko-jin from four days ago and see if they would be willing to aid my cause. I slipped into an alleyway, shifting quickly into my cat form and dashing off, looking for their scent trails. I knew a dog would have been much easier to track with but people tended to bother dogs more than they did cats and I wanted this done as quickly as possible. My search eventually led me to a dojo in the suburbs; it was quite a run, let alone a walk, from my home. I slunk in through the front gate to find the one called Kon and a boy who was at least part dragon battling one another in the bey stadium.
/Neko-jin!/ Everyone who was watching froze in shock, gaping at me. /I do not have time for theatrics here, people. Someone beat Tala and I intend to find out who it was./
"And you want me to help?" He inquired, the beybattle all but forgotten.
/If at all possible, yes. The bruises whoever they were inflicted are rather large for a human assailant and I fear they might have struck him with something made of silver...or at least coated in it./ I explained, unwilling to alarm his friends with this little detail.
"You make it sound like Tala's a werewolf." The part-dragon growled, anger filling his signature rapidly.
/That's because he is. Almost all beybladers who are in the top leagues aren't human./ I shot him a rather annoyed look. /You yourself are part dragon, boy, so don't take that arch tone with me./ I growled, and sprang aside to dodge a kendo stick.
"How do you know of this?" Came an old dragon's growl.
/I am a Shifter./ I stated, closing my eyes and turning to my human form. "Is that proof enough?" I inquired, ignoring the wide-eyed stares.
"More than." The old dragon stated, ignoring the stares of everyone on him now. "Who could actually manage to beat up a werewolf if they were human?"
"Add in the words "already weakened" and "on the day of the full moon" and you've got about what happened." I replied. "I'm hoping to at least find out who did this and why."
"Where are they now?" The part-dragon asked.
"They're in a very safe place. Almost one hundred other Beings are occupying the same building as them and all know how to defend themselves and others, so they'll be fine."
"They?" A girl with brunette colored hair and red eyes questioned.
"Kai, Bryan, Spencer, Ian and Tala." I stated.
"Can all of us come with you?" A timid sounding boy with blonde hair and blue eyes asked.
"I guess." I muttered, shrugging. "No one save the Beings with him right now will be able to see him until he gets better, though. Even I know he ought to be resting and I get the impression that the Senior Healer is going to have to stick her oar in..."
"Who are you?" The old dragon's eyes narrowed.
"I am Zuki." I stated calmly. "I believe you know the Boss."
"So you're the Shifter he originally took under his wing..." He murmured. "In that case, good luck." He then turned and headed back inside the dojo.
"The Boss?" A boy with brown hair and glasses who had a computer on his lap was the one who asked that.
I shrugged. "It's a running joke that's been around for so long I think everyone's forgotten what prompted it...or what it meant."
"So how're we doing this?" Kon questioned.
"Going back to where I found him would be a start." I commented, sighing mentally as I realized I'd have to run all the way back to the park.
0x0x0x0
Forty-five minutes later two of the five neko-jin, the girl with red eyes, the part-dragon, the blonde boy and myself were standing in the clearing where he had been found. I noticed that the blonde boy was trembling like crazy and signaled to the part-dragon to find out what was wrong.
"It's so..." The blonde shivered, looking extremely upset.
"Max, are you okay?" The girl with red eyes asked, placing a hand on his shoulder even as the part-dragon approached. He shook his head no.
"You're probably an empath, then." I murmured. "It's probably best if--"
"We want to see Kai." The part-dragon stated as the others nodded.
"Very well." I acquiesced. "Follow me...and someone hug him or something." I ordered as we left the clearing; the red eyed girl gave him a quick hug. That, combined with the fact that we were leaving the clearing, soothed him.
"I'm Rei." The one I had known as Kon stated.
I nodded to him. "Nice to meet you."
"I'm Mariah." The pink haired neko-jin stated; I nodded again.
"I'm Tyson, this is Max and this is Hilary." The part-dragon stated. The blonde haired boy nodded to me.
"Hi." The girl with red eyes, who was now identified as Hilary, greeted.
"Pleasure." I bowed. "As previously stated, I am Zuki."
"Doesn't that mean moon?" Hilary blinked.
"It does. I suppose it's ironic, actually..." I smiled faintly, amused again.
"Ironic...?"
"Want me to explain?"
"That'd be nice." Hilary glared flatly as I blinked.
"Well, I'm a Shifter. Shifters can turn into any living being, except plant life. The first thing a Shifter becomes, other than their Shifter form and their human form, is a form they become tied to for life. For instance, in my case, my first other form was that of a wolf..."
"Ha, I get it!" Tyson shouted, laughing as the other four sweatdropped; I shook my head as we continued on our way.
"We're here." I acknowledged when we approached the entrance. I led them in, right past the Boss, who I nodded to, and took them to the wing I lived in. "Okay. You guys want Kai, right?" They nodded; I entered and tapped Kai on the shoulder. He spun and I blocked his punch before pointing my thumb over my shoulder at the door. Wordlessly, he left and I winced when I heard someone connect with the floor.
"What's that all about?" Ian asked quietly.
"That Tyson guy and friends wanted to see him." I muttered. "How's he doing?"
"He woke up once." Spencer murmured. "But he tried to move and passed out."
"Most likely from pain...did the Healer ever show up?"
"She did." Ian mumbled. "But she didn't manage to heal too much..."
"The other werewolves here probably caused a mess last night..." I sighed and jumped when he began to stir a bit. "I'm kinda jumpy, so if you guys decide to stick around and you come up behind me for whatever reason, I'll probably jump out of my skin..." Ian smirked and had a look on his face that just screamed evil. Bryan and Spencer said nothing but I could tell they were probably thinking I was an idiot.
"Wha..." Came the weak whisper from the bed; his eyes were slowly opening and closing. Judging from the expressions on the other three's faces, I guessed they were alarmed by how weak he was. They left the room quickly, most likely shaken. "You." He moved and I was slightly alarmed myself by how much pain it caused him. I picked the potion up and looped my arm around his shoulders, easing him into a sitting position as I had him drink the potion. "What was that?! Are you trying to--" Tala broke off abruptly when the potion began working, as I had predicted.
"Feel better?" I questioned as he cautiously tested his muscles by moving his arms. "I wouldn't really recommend attempting to move around until a Healer can actually tend to most of your wounds." I then realized my arm was still around his shoulders and hastily tried to move it when he exhaustedly rested his head on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Whenever someone saves the life of a werewolf, they basically belong to that person." Tala ground out as he fought to move his head.
"The only person you belong to is yourself." I returned, annoyed; he stared at me. "At the risk of sounding cliché, you are your own person." His head nodded but he appeared to be feeling conflicting emotions. "Damn!" I burst out when realization hit me.
"What?" He murmured, still trying to move.
"I have a curse on me and it passes over to you in this situation..." I frowned when Tala went completely slack.
"...what curse?" His voice was so quiet I barely heard him.
"It affects my emotions. I always feel two or more at once." I admitted quietly as I took the black beaded bracelet I wore off my wrist. "This should help ward off the curses effects." I slipped it around his wrist.
"What about you?" Tala seemed surprised that I would do this for someone I barely knew.
"Recently I've learned to almost shrug it off unless it gets pretty bad." I shrugged as he eyed the floor. "Look, I don't know if you've--"
"I have been tied to someone before." Tala's face was now closed off, although I could see the pain in his eyes.
"Judging from your eyes, it wasn't a pleasant experience." I added quietly and felt him stiffen.
"How could you--" The redhead broke off, looking down.
"I'm not going to do what whoever you were tied to before did." I informed him. "I have no intention of making you do things you don't want to, although visits to the Healer if you're sick or injured will be an issue if you don't want to go."
"That's it?" His now-icy eyes mocked me.
"If I do make you do something, it'll be something I'd get anyone to do: go to the Healer's if they're sick, eat a bit healthier, get more sleep or something along those lines." I shrugged. "That's about it."
"So good to know I've been tied to a mother hen." He snarled; I placed him back down and walked out before I did something I would regret.
"You deal with sour puss." I growled as I stormed to my room, past the group in the hall; entering my room, I found Hotaru waiting for me. "Yes?" I growled, in no mood to be polite.
"You're in a good mood." She commented idly. "I think the last boy is an empath."
"Jeez. We've got two empaths out in the hall, then." I sighed, defused for a moment. Hotaru has a knack for that, which is good considering how easily I can be set off.
"Two?" She looked up from the article I had begun to write out of sheer boredom a few days before this all began.
"The blonde and the boy from before." I supplied before rescuing my incomplete article. "And no one gets to read that before it's done, thank you."
"Fair enough." Remarked the never-ruffled Hotaru. "I'll go see about...sour puss, was it?"
"Get out." I pointed at the door but she could tell I was kidding.
"I'll be baaaack." She threatened/promised as she left. I stared at the door for a few moments before pulling out my book on werewolves from my personal library. I dug through the "Weapons to Injure" section and looked for marks that matched the ones I had seen on said sour puss's chest. I was about to give up when one caught my eye: it said "silverwhipping". I frowned and read the caption.
"Of all the methods used to torture werewolves, the most painful and easiest is silverwhipping. All one needs is a silver chain or something that can be flailed at a werewolf with silver on it. This method, more so than all others, is usually fatal. If not treated within a week, it normally is. This type of beating can be administered by any Being, although the most common perpetrators are humans, as other Beings have far more creative ways of doing such things."
-x-x-x-x-
...poor, poor Tala. How I torture him so.
Ah well...
I will post whenever I manage to type the rest of this thing up...which could take a bit.
Emma
