Hello again! No, I haven't died, but I'm pretty sure that it would be a heck of a lot easier and more pleasant than school this semester. I'm sorry it's been so long, and it will probably be a while again till my next chapter post, but I just couldn't bear the thought of you guys, my poor, patient readers of waiting any longer, so TADA! Here, have a chapter! )
Sabretooth plucked me right out of the air and slammed me to the floor like I was nothing more than a tossed pillow. A toothy grin on his face, he slammed me into the floor again and again, repeating the motion several times. I yelped in pain as I felt my skull crack against the tile and spots cloud my yellow-blue vision. Picking me up by the scruff, he threw me across the room where I slammed into the opposite wall, slumping to the floor in a heap next to Dr. Rice. I felt the familiar burning sensation as my skull melded itself together again, clearing my vision. I got to all fours and stood my ground, recalculating.
He's even stronger than I thought…that's bad. This is bad.
Kill. Was the only response the Coywolf had.
Sabretooth straitened himself till he was at his full height and began to stalk towards me. I continued to growl at him as I tensed, getting ready to strike. He stopped short, crouching just before me. One of his large canines peeking out as he smirked at me.
"Now you're really my type, frail. Now, you're actually an honest-to-goodness-" I sprang forward and snapped at his face.
"BITCH!" he roared angrily, just as my fangs sank into the side of his neck as he turned his head to the side to dodge. His dirty-blonde hair getting mixed up in the bloody mess of mouth and teeth and flesh. He tasted like forest floor: dirt, leaves, and moss—Not the best flavor in the world. I grimaced, but the Coywolf didn't seem to mind one bit, clamping down harder till I could feel the edge of his shoulder blade scrape on my teeth. My front legs scrabbled against his chest, tearing through the shirt fabric and muscle beneath.
There was searing pain as I felt his fully extended claws rake along my shoulders and back, right through my thick fur and into my skin. I released my jaws and allowed him to toss me away from him once again, this time however, landing on my paws and skidding to a halt facing him. My stinging wounds sealing up just as the ones on his neck and chest did. We were both panting and covered in blood that no longer mattered.
"You think you're special now, being able to heal 'n all, but just you wait. I'm gonna show you just what it means to be feral…to be like Jimmy 'n me."
Who the heck is Jimmy?
KILL!
Sabretooth began to make his way towards me again, this time more careful and aware, but still just as menacing. My hackles rose in fear and anger. He took a deep inhale of my scent and half chuckled, half snarled.
"All the different hells I'm gonna put you through…"
That's when I saw my opening. There was a clear shot to the door…right between his legs.
Still not in full control of my own body, I tried to get the Coywolf within me to choose flight over fight. After a split second of indecision and Sabretooth's continued advancement, the Coywolf agreed and surged into action. Sabretooth crossed his arms in front of his face, thinking I was going to attack again, but I shot between his spread, thickly muscled legs. I was too big to fit, but had enough momentum to push past, causing Sabretooth's heavier upper body to topple forward and crash to the floor with a heavy thud. And just like that, I was out the door.
I skidded on paws not meant for smooth tile as I made a sharp turn and bounded down the dark hallway we had come from. Trusting the Coywolf's more keen sense of smell and direction to find Logan and the way out. I could hear Sabretooth giving chase, but with each step the space between us grew until I had turned down another corridor and could no longer see him. Somewhere, a good distance behind me, I heard him let loose a terrible roar, knowing that he had given up the chase—for now.
He's gonna be raving mad when he catches up to us.
Bigcat man catches us, he'll be dead. Because we'll kill him.
Yeah, cause that obviously worked just now.
Did not get chance to kill.
You had plenty of chances back there! You can't kill him!
Yes. Can kill him.
No, you can't! That's why we ran!
You told us to run. Should have fought. Could have killed him.
YOU CAN'T JUST KILL EVERYTHING, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!
I felt the Coywolf's grip on my inner self tighten almost to the snapping point, but then ease till it was almost nothing; merely a feathery touch in my mind. I heard a soft whine, and realized that the sound was coming from my own mouth. The Coywolf's retreating presence was causing my body to begin to revert back to my human form; and it HURT. In the distance I could still hear Sabretooth.
No! I'm sorry! Come back! I need you! Argh! We'll discuss this later, but I NEED you…to…to help me find Lo-Alpha!
Alpha?
Yes! Alpha! Remember? We need to find Alpha and then escape!
There was silence. Then,
Help you find Alpha-
Yes! Thank you!
-but you listen to us this time. Let us do it.
It was a deal with the devil, so to speak. I knew what the Coywolf meant. It wanted control. Complete and utter dominance without my interference. If I agreed to this, more people might die and I might never get control over my body again, but if I didn't…Sabretooth would catch me. And Logan…if—no—when I was caught, he would come. Either as himself or the Wolverine, it wouldn't matter, we would both be done. Stryker would get whatever he wanted from us and more mutants would be hurt because of it. There was only one choice.
...Fine. Agreed.
And then the Coywolf was back at the forefront of my mind, while I was pushed further back. My body stopped shifting and settled into the Coywolf's form once more. The Coywolf resumed our previous pace in our hunt for Logan, sniffing the floor and air as it went.
It was weird and kind of disorienting to have absolutely no control over my own body. It was like I was watching a movie, only I could feel and smell everything. I didn't really have control of my body before either, but at least the Coywolf would listen to what I had to say then. Now, it was in full predatory mode: no interruptions, no distractions, no stopping till we finished the hunt. Anything that got in our way now would get out of our way by moving or dying. As we continued down dark corridors, my anxiety grew. So far, we had encountered no one else, but I could practically feel our luck changing as we grew closer to Logan's location. I knew we had found him when we saw the first body.
It had been stabbed through the chest and then torn to ribbons as his claws had slashed upwards. The back of a head, or what had once been one, was now neatly sliced into three vertical sections. I fought the urge to vomit, but the Coywolf simply whiffed at the corpse briefly and then continued to move forward. The further down the hall we went, the more bodies we found, some of them still steaming.
Fresh kills. Alpha is close.
Good. Let's find him and get out of here.
The Coywolf ignored me as it continued the search. Once again, my thoughts drifted back to whether or not I had made a mistake by allowing the animal to take complete control. A sound to our left drew me out of my dark thoughts though. The amplified senses of the Coywolf continued to amaze me. While I had enhanced senses before, I would not have been able to hear what my changed shape could now. More cautious in its approach, the Coywolf crouched lower to the ground and moved us closer to the source. Finally, it began to have meaning.
Snarling.
Gunfire.
Silence.
The Coywolf sniffed the air, and then howled in triumph. We blasted around a corner, any caution remaining thrown to the wind despite my warning, and emerged into a large cavernous room. There were levels upon levels of metal catwalks bolted to the round concrete walls. There were more openings to other endless halls and maze-like passages on each level. Heavy machinery, bullet casings, and bodies…so many bodies…were strewn about the floor. And in the middle of it all, stood the Wolverine garbed in the scarlet hue of blood. He turned to face us, answering the Coywolf's call with his own victorious growling roar. For a moment, I was almost terrified by the sight, but then it passed, replaced with a wave of relief. We dashed up to him, bumping into his legs, the Coywolf trying to rub our scent on him and his on us.
Kit. Both Logan and the Wolverine rumbled affectionately in unison.
Gradually, Logan started putting a leash on his inner animal, something I would have loved to have been able to do. Soon he was on his knees before us, stroking our fur and gazing into our golden eyes with his hazel ones.
"Kaya. Look at you. You're beautiful." He smiled at us and rubbed our ears affectionately. "Heh. Guess I got it wrong though, huh?"
We cocked our head to the side, not understanding his question.
"Not a coyote problem at all."
That put a doggie-grin on our face. A grin that morphed into a snarl as soon as we saw him. Logan frowned and turned around to see where we were looking. Standing up above us on one of the catwalks was Col. Stryker. He smiled cruelly down at us.
"Welcome back Weapon X."
Whew! Yeah! Good stuff! Hope y'all liked it, cause I probably won't be posting again till X-mas. :[ So sorry! You can yell and gripe at me by clicking that cute little speech bubble with the number next to it at the top of the page or typing in the empty box below (depending on if you're reading via phone or computer). Basically, I'm just tellying you to leave a review. :P Thanks again guys for being such AMAZING readers!