- Blue -
All Blue's life, wherever she went, violence and blood seemed to follow her. It wasn't as if it was some supernatural act. Much like everything else that happened to her. Most of the violence, she caused herself.
This fight in the back alley was no expectation to that.
She'd walked into their territory, drawn to much attention to herself. Maybe it was for the best, the more people over here, the less their were to threaten the others.
Thugs surrounded Blue. Her back pressed up against the cold cobblestone wall. She growled, her shoulders raised and her fangs bared. The thug she'd stabbed bleeding on the floor.
" Don't come any closer," she growled. " I will kill you." Blue wasn't one to go back on her word.
They laughed, called her names. She didn't care about any of that. She wasn't about to waste her time on these thugs but she wasn't about to be killed either.
" We should be able to take down one bitch," one of the thugs said stepping forward.
His knife glinted in the lamp light. They still viewed her as human. It was times like these when she wondered what was real. Her vision was sharper then before, her hearing and sense of smell. Great. She could see and hear the filth of the city better than before. Bloodlust and malice hit her like a truck.
The thug charged forward. With a tired sigh, Blue parred. Blood splattered on the ground, not hers. She shifted away.
It wasn't much of a fight. She stabbed, kicked and bit her way through a group of people.
Her heart into her throat. Someone had stabbed her, she thinks. These thugs were faster than the clunky slow witted people who became nobles. Perhaps it was their ability to fight unfairly that kept them alive for so long.
Not that she was going to give up and die no matter who she was facing.
She was surrounded now. Thoughts of running flickered in the back of her mind. There was nothing wrong with running but there wasn't anything right about a knife to the back.
No time to hesitate.
Blue threw some of her knives towards the masses and ran.
Once again, she weaved through streets. Trying her best not to freak out. Though now her subtlety in the situation seemed to dissipate. Not that anyone seemed to care. The people she ran past looked distant, disinterested. How could they afford not to be? This city was terrible before and was terrible now.
These people might not care. They might not make an effort. At one point, Blue had been ready to die. Miserable and furious in her life. Things were different now. She wouldn't allow herself to die in this town or anywhere else. Her friends were depending on her and there wouldn't be anything if she's dead.
Blue glances behind herself. Six men follow her. She can take them, she knows she can. At least that's what she tells herself. She runs into the nearest alleyway, steels herself. Whatever happens it won't be pretty, not that it ever was before. Then there was Hige who insisted that Blue was for some reason.
No time for that.
Its a sudden flurry of blood, knives , yelps and grunts. Better to be fighting close range, with less risk of getting shot.
A gunshot pierces through the carnage. Blue panics. It doesn't sound like any of their weapons.
The familiar blast of a shotgun.
One of the thugs drops to the ground, blood pouring from side. Friendly fire wouldn't be so precise. The next gunshot knocks on of their weapons out of their hands. They cry out in pain.
Blue wonders, briefly, who did that. She scans straight ahead. Her protector staring back at her, shotgun raised. She's grateful, happy, despite the situation.
Until she really looks at who it is. Its Pops. Standing before her, yelling something to the people he's about to kill. Blue can hear the reluctance in his voice.
" Cornering a woman running away. You should leave while you can." Blue isn't sure who he's yelling at at first. Her or the thugs.
They yell and run away in frustration.
The mixture of blood, whiskey and cigarettes nearly brings Blue to tears. Its just them now. She wants to run over to him, tackle and hug him. She wants to say thank you. She wants to cry and scream out because of what she's become. Of course, Blue dosen't have time for it. There's no place for emotions in a fight. This isn't a fight she wants to participate in. Death is always a distraction of life and she'd rather not live hers wallowing in emotion.
Pops takes a step forward. He blinks as if he finally sees her for the first time. His eyes widen. Rage lights up his face. Blue thinks he must be aiming for the thugs who attacked her. In the back of her mind, she knows something far worse is about to happen.
Pops aims his rifle at her, shotgun bullets come flying straight for her chest. She isn't about to get killed by anyone, even Pops.
Especially Pops, Blue thinks as she scrambles up the side of an old metal stairwell. Past the gunshots and the screaming. It wasn't her intention to run. Still, in the back of Blue's mind she knew she couldn't fight him. Even though he'd tried to shoot her, she still worried if he was alright. She'd worried about him before. He could take care of himself just fine and she knew that. He had come to her rescue after all.
Now she stands on the rooftop, desperately trying to catch her breath. Her eyes water, clouded with more tears then she'd ever cried in her life. Her legs shake.
No, Blue had cried like this once before. At the fire. When her family had been killed. The hatred that lodged itself in her heart had stayed there for years. Even now, it hadn't melted away. Her anger, her sadness. The raw instinct to scream, kill, or run overtook her once again.
Only this time, there were no flames. Only the numbness of her own legs. The cold chill in the air. This time Pops wasn't there to ground her to anything. He'd never been much of the comforting type. Still their hatred of wolves had always kept them going.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she went to leap across to the next building.
Snow crunched under her paws as she really started to run.
Another gun shot grazed her in the shoulder. Narrowly, she moved out of the way. Or they weren't really aiming for her. She wasn't sure but she didn't have time to think about it. She didn't want to.
She grit her teeth and turned around. A mistake.
Pops stood on the opposite side of the roof. His clothing haggard. More haggard then usually. the smell of blood, water and whiskey.
Blue tried to blink away her tears. They wouldn't stop.
She tried to speak. All that came out was a whimper.
Pops realizes his shotgun again. Blue squares her shoulders. " Why…. Pops?" She doesn't know what she's even asking at first. There are so many questions.
"Don't," he growls back at her.
" How did you even get up here?" My chest pounds. " What does it even matter how?
Pops doesn't answer her question. " Whatever it is that you truly are… why you look like her… regardless of who you sound like. I will kill you. I will kill all wolves, for as long as I'm able."
Blue can hear the Pops from all those years ago saying almost those exact words. Just as fragmented, crazed.
She used to be the same.
" Pops, please. Please understand," She whimShes. " No… I don't understand either. But I'm still me. I'm… even if I'm a monster now, I can't."
He grips the handle of his shotgun. Maybe blood lost had addled my brain. Maybe its the adrenaline from the fight. Either way, in an act of pure stupidly, she runs towards Pops. She throws one of my knives high up in the air. She moves out of the way, sort of wobbles. Nearly slams into him. They both nearly skid off the roof. He winces and she screams scream. I'm on top of him. His warmth, on the one hand. She's scared of it almost. Scared how easily she want to fall in it. To cry and be comforted. Why are things like this, she wonders.
Pops digs his hand into the top of the roof, a trail of blood leaks through his nails.
" I won't let you kill me, Pops. And I won't kill you, either," Blue yells. "You… you may hate me for what you think I've become and truly… I...I wish it didn't have to be like this. But if this is what's left of my life then I want it to have some meaning. P-please-" She coughs, afraid that she'll pass out. Tears cover his chest. In his free hand she sees Pops flex his fingers around his gun. She nearly winces at the phantom pain of him slamming it over her skull.
" Please…please, Pops-" It isn't like her to wine and cry and beg. Her voice almost sounds foreign to myself. "Give me, at least the chance. to explain myself."
Hello and thank you for reading my Wolf's Rain fanfiction! I thought I was done torturing everyone but here we go again.
Comments, likes and shares are highly appreciated!