Call of the Hunt
I don't own Naruto, Werewolf: The Forsaken or anything connected with World of Darkness.
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"English"
'Thoughts'
(Spirit's Talking)
"Japanese"
o!o Scene change
/?/ Different point of view
/VV Flash back
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Chapter 11
Those corpses seem to be a kind of signal for other odd occurrences to start showing their ugly heads. About two weeks after they got rid of the bodies and burnt their cloths, a group of three vampires entered into the territory. It had taken the summer to get rid of them; it didn't help matters when the vampires took Kurt hostage. The vampires had attempted to gain the upper hand by trying to bargain for Kurt's safe return.
While they had agreed that no Uratha would go near the vampire's lair to rescue Kurt, that didn't mean that they couldn't enter into the lair to get Kim though, seeing that Kim's still technically human until her first change. They got the vampires by surprise and when the leader tried to say they broke their word, he pointed out that Kim, who's a human, came to free Kurt while they came to escort Kim out of the lair. He was highly smug that the plan had worked, though none of them could touch Kurt until he was out of the vampire's lair since that would mean that they had broken their agreement.
Kyuubi enjoyed eating parts of the three vampires before they were set free, slightly weaker then when they arrived but not missing any motor important parts, like a leg, hand, or eye. Kurt fulfilled his tribe's ban about two days after the vampires were released. Though Kurt was edgy and jumpy until October came around, by then, Kurt had relaxed slightly, it helped that they dealt with an infestation of Rat Hosts before they became a large swarm, though the fox spirits wanted the pleasure of eating the corpses once they pointed out which rat had the shard in it.
Once more it's Halloween and he's dressed up in a costume that Kim talked him into wearing. The others were amused by the fact that the wolf blood related to the Ivory Claw tribe could get him to dress up for Halloween. Most of the others were just going to hang out and do things together while he's with Kim. Kyuubi's one son called Koic, a navy blue fox with three tails, was the only high ranking fox around since Kyuubi's gone off to chat with those Spirit Lords that weren't banished for two weeks with the rest of Kyuubi's imitate children, not including Koic, making up the escort. He figures the fox wants to find out what those Spirit Lords know about those six bodies that lacked organs.
"You look great dressed up like that!" Kim says she finishes applying her make up. He cocks his head to the side, not sure why Kim decided he would make a great Viking. He didn't much like the horned hat on his head, let alone the fact that his chest was exposed since the vest what Kim got him wasn't covering much and he couldn't do it up. He also had a plastic axe hanging on his belt. Furred boots covered his leg up to mid way up to his knee.
This year, Kim choice to dress up as a Native American shaman complete with some face paint. On Kim's shoulders was a puma skin, the head was covering Kim's hair. Faded brown leather leggings and a decorative loin cloth covered Kim's lower body with a pair of beaded moccasins on her feet. Kim's wearing a decorative Pow Wow dance shirt that's a dull yellow which made the beads seem brighter. A single red hand print on Kim's right side of her face with three dots of red under Kim's left eye.
"So, how do I look?" Kim asks him, she twirled around for him, if the puma skin wasn't held down with the belt; the bottom part would be flying out when Kim spun around. "You look good." He says and Kim nods.
They head down stairs, Kim hands her aunt the camera and Nancy takes a few pictures before they head out. He just hopes that Kim doesn't expect him to stick around after an hour has passed; he just doesn't see himself tolerating being around such a large crowd of humans for so long. He once more endured walking on the sidewalk as crowds of people go Trick-or-Treating, once more, he notices that the parents were on guard, as if they expect something big to happen this year. It was another thing he decided to blame on the pack of Pure that held this territory before he and his pack did.
They were heading towards the still ruined warehouse district to some kind of party called a 'Rave,' he doesn't get how it differs from a party but it seems that it does in some way. He cocks his head as they reach the fringe of the district, he could feel a beat from his feet as he pause. He focuses on listening and he could hear a dim of a loud crowd coming from deep within the ruined district. The closer they get to the source, the more the air and the ground vibrate with the loud music.
He pauses at the edge, just staring at the shear force of the crowd that's gathered at this Rave. He feels unnerved as he eyes the great herd that gathered here, at this site this evening. For the first time, he could just imagine what could happen if the humans knew about the world that exists under the trappings of their cities. He could just imagine vast armies about this number attacking the total population of Uratha, Pure tribes and the Moon tribes combined and winning.
He snaps out of it when Kim touches his right arm, he jerks slightly back, embarrassed of letting down his guard like he had. "Sorry, it's just that there are… And they're all here to…" He stutters out, waving his left hand at the herd before him, he can't help but think it was a herd since predators just don't live, let alone exist in these kinds of numbers around each. "Yea, it is kind of intimidating; people from all over the city are here. You'll most likely find loads of beer, drugs, even sex going on in this part of the city tonight." Kim tells him.
"I can't believe it's not called a festival, but then, I don't see a great number of booths selling food around, nor do I see fireworks." He admits, trying really hard to gather up enough courage to venture into the herd of humans but he just feels the need for his pack to be here with him to accompany him. There's safety in numbers, even if you're the minority.
Kim doesn't say anything as he tries to reason with himself. 'It's Halloween; it's a party night, kind of like a festival only with costumes. People are getting 'high' off drugs and are most likely drinking heavily, they're most likely going to be unable to recall what happens this night. Nobody believes Uratha exist, there's likely people in the crowd dress up like werewolves. It's just a large crowd of people, as long as you don't transform or use a gift, I'll be fine.' He tells himself sternly.
He straightens up and takes a few steps towards the main crowd. He pauses and turns his head. He gives Kim a questioning look and she just smiles at him before nodding at him. Kim grabs his left, an action which startles him, and Kim pulls him towards one of the food booths, he sighs as Kim lefts go of his hand. Kim looks slightly red in the face before she looks away from him. He smiles softly, warmth spread throughout his body. He knows he'll have to enjoy Kim as a human since once she transforms…
He shoves those kinds of thoughts from his mind, wanting to try and enjoy the night and to worry about everything else later. He could tell that there were a few Ridden in the crowd, but since he doesn't feel creep out, he figures that they're the spirits that made a bargain with one of his pack mates, seeing how Kyuubi's the only one allowed out of the fox spirits to make such deals. He pauses in thought for a moment, wondering what the rest of the pack is up to, since he's not around nor was he told what they're plans are about. 'Most likely doing things like hunting, patrolling, or doing things that their tribes are known for doing. I got a lot to learn about everything, not just about spirits but about this world period. I'm kind of at a disadvantage since everything is so new to me…' He thinks to himself, not that he has any real regrets about growing up in Hidden Leaf, it's just that he's not use to such large populations or the shear variety of cultures that could make up a city.
He once more gives himself a shake, keeping his thoughts on the here and now. He has plenty of time to wallow in such thoughts at a later date. He's determined to enjoy Kim's company and by Red Wolf, he shall.
/?/Lance
Jeremy, Jenny, and Rachel were busy training in the art of knife throwing, mostly because it's something to do with the vast array of knifes, daggers, and other kinds of sharp pointed object Naruto's collected off of street gangs and just plain raiding those same gang's weapon stashes through the stretch of their territory. Truthfully, it kind of unnerves him about the amount of weapons Naruto's been able to find and he's not even going to mention the types of guns, bullet cartages, and bombs Naruto's brought home out of curiosity and just for display. He got a hunch that Naruto's never used a gun or a bomb before, seeing as Naruto seems to prefer sharp, pointy objects that were often knife shaped.
Anyway, Kurt's currently off chatting with an unidentified spirit, this spirit just showed up about three days ago, living at the southern edge of the territory. Kurt's hoping that the spirit might know something concerning a Fetish the Bone Shadow is interested in creating. Kurt's been looking to practice Fetish making about the time he was rescued from those vampires. He figured that Kurt had made an imperfect Fetish and had used it on those vampires in order to even the score between them. He still not sure what happened to the threesome, but if Kurt's satisfied about what he did to them, then he's not going to push it since he's a firm believer that if someone wants you to know about something, they'll tell you.
He glances to where Juliana was meditating, his fellow tribesmen was trying to think up ways to improve the park closest to their head quarters. Personally, he figures that unless they're going to start driving humans out of the park, they're going to have to come to terms with the fact that there isn't much they can do to improve it; they're most likely better off thinking of trying to clean out the types of humans that attract negative spirits, since that'll improve the territory more then them strengthening the park. Sure, he knows that the Hunters in Darkness prefer to stalk places where humans don't normally go, but there are other places in the territory that need their attention. Like for example, the historical manor that's usually home to a branches of metal and glass Artificial spirits since they're 'bodies' are often on display since it's kind of a museum and it's not a place where anything too violent took place, not like that old courthouse that's located two blocks from the warehouse district.
He shakes his head and stretches his arms before glancing away, towards the fountain that's a few feet away from where they're hanging out. There had been a gang of punks hanging around but on seeing them those kids kind of took off without too much haste since they were friends of Naruto and none of them want to know what they're capable of, though he had been in his Urhan. He gets up off the grass and begins to walk towards the fountain. He pauses as he notices a Claimed pigeon resting of the statue's feet.
He takes a sniff and notices the scent of rain; he guesses that the pigeon has merged with either a water elemental spirit or an air spirit. "So, you're spying on us, huh?" He muses softly and the scent changes to one of an impending storm. (You think you're safe just because a Beast Lord aids you? I'd watch my back if I were you, half breed for the Pure are beginning to wonder what the previous pack is doing and why they haven't journeyed to a Gathering in a little over a year.) The Claimed bird taunts, he glares at the Claimed but doesn't answer the bird.
It takes a few minutes before the Claimed realises that he's not going to take the bait and launches from its perch, flying off into the night sky. 'Hope an owl gets him.' He thinks darkly to himself before heading back to where the others were, he doesn't wonder if whether the Claimed bird was telling the truth or not since it's a given that it's long pass due for the surrounding Pure to come and check up on this piece of territory.
'I wonder if Naruto's having fun at that Rave Kim took him to.' He wonders suddenly and grins wickedly since it's unlikely that an Uratha would enjoy being close to that many human, let alone all of that music either. He knew that Naruto wasn't in touch with the world but to willingly go to a Rave makes him wonder where Naruto's been hiding out for the greater part of his life.
/?/Naruto
He swears that these people were insane! He can't understand why they would have the music blaring so loudly that they'd have to either scream to talk over the music or to remain close enough to whoever they're talking to. Even if he weren't an Uratha, he'd find this whole thing to be overwhelming with where he grew up.
In the last hour he's been cursing his lot in life on arriving to this realm from his birth village where everyone wanted him dead but there wasn't any of this self inflicting deafening to this realm where everyone seems to have some kind of death wish with their usage of drugs and alcohol! 'I can't believe the things they do to their bodies when they know what the results are! I know that ninjas don't live long and Uratha live even less that, but damn, these people are determined to live very short lives in their personal highs. Also, could they get any ruder?' He wonders as he allows himself to be pulled through the horde of humanity with loads of people invading his personal space and if it weren't for him being more dazed from the booming music he might have lashed out and created a scene from all of this contact with all of these humans.
"You ok?" Kim says as he finds them by the edge of crowd and in a shadowy area. "Not really, this is just so over whelming. Also, why is it that everyone wants to destroy their bodies by using known drugs that cause unmentionable harm?" He wonders as he tries to recover from his culture shock.
Kim gives him a questioning look before she shrugs her shoulders. "There are times when I think you're some kind of alien." Kim muses and he chuckles slightly on hearing that. "I'm still not use to this city." He admits with a sigh, looking off into the distance, far from the party going on behind them. "One would think that you've seen movies about the USA while living in Japan." Kim says lightly and he gives Kim a studying look, he get this feeling that she's fishing for information or really wanting to know about where he really came from, which he doubts isn't a good idea since it's highly doubtful that he'll ever return to that world.
"I lived in a very isolated life in the village that I was born to. I was an orphan, you know, and had other things to do then sit in front of the TV, you know. Besides, there was a whole lot more forests surrounding the village so I spent a lot of time wandering around the edge of the village unsupervised." He says and Kim blinks but that seems to satisfy her curiosity, for now anyway.
They kind of stood there for a few more minutes, not saying anything as they lose themselves in their own thoughts. He perks up as he hears something from the shadows ahead of them, to the left. He moves slightly to stand between Kim and who ever is watching them from the shadows. He glances at the shadow, using one of his gifts to change his eyes so he can see more clearly in the night.
There's a slight chuckle coming from the shadowy figure, a man steps out and though he can't catch the man's scent, he knows that this man wasn't human simply from the way he walk until he was eight feet from them. "Long time no see, cousin. So, who's your 'friend'?" The man asks and his hand automatically goes to his right hip, even though there isn't a weapon pouch resting there.
"Hey Nate, I'm surprised you didn't phone ahead." Kim says, but he moves to block Kim's view of her cousin. Nate narrows his eyes at his action and he says, "You'll not claim her, rat." He spat the word rat out and the way 'Nate' bristles at the word told him that his assumption was right, this was someone either Possessed or Claimed, he was thinking more along the lines of Possessed though as a shadowy figure of humanoid rat appears about half a foot above the man's head before it seeps back into the human body it's using.
"A filthy haft thing like you think you can keep me from my appointed task? You're barely hit puberty let alone have the experience to 'deal' with me." The spirit says, using Nate's voice without an underlining hint of the rat spirit that's residing within the human shell. "I might be out of my league but she's part of my pack, rodent. Besides, do you really want to deal with Kyuubi for killing me?" He asks and he notices smugly that the spirit flinched on hearing the fox lord's name.
"He won't know it was me." The Possessed man says after a few minutes of thinking about it and he snorts. "Then how about dealing with the son he left behind to watch over this area?" He asks and the rat possessed man stiffens and slowly turns around to confront Koic the three tailed fox spirit stands behind the man. Koic growls out in the First Tongue, (Hello vermin.) "Can't we talk this over?" The rat possessed man manages to squeaks out before Koic charges forth and the fox's jaws go right through the man's chest.
The three tailed fox pulls the squirming rat spirit from Nate's body, the mass of flesh and bone falls to the ground while the rat spirit finally manages to make Koic let him go and the rat tries to head into the Hisil but Koic manages to cripple the spirit before it could. It's not long before Koic has consumed the rat and he nods his thanks to Koic before the fox spirit vanishes back to where he came from, leaving Kim and him alone with the body of her cousin, who is most likely going to die by the time dawn arrives.