Alright, I beg your forbearance. I know it's been an unforgivably long time since I updated this story.
But something reminded me of it and I checked the reviews that continued on even after I stopped writing.
Flattered, I feel obligated to at least give it another go at finishing this thing. Dunno how far I'll be able to
get with it. Just a warning, my friends: I don't know if I'm the writer you all think I used to be, heh.
All the characters belong to Hudson, as always in the past. Thank them for their awesome character
concepts! All language mistakes are correctable if you just tell me about them.
Shina tossed and turned in her narrow bed, barely bigger than a soldier's
cot in the barracks. The only difference being that hers had extra padding
and fluffier pillows with hotel quality sheets. In her restless sleep, she flung
one arm out to the side and hit the lamp on her nightstand. The lamp did not
survive the impact, shattering loudly.
Awakened by the noise, Shina smoothly rolled off the bed across from the
nightstand and yanked a long knife from its hiding place between her mattress
and boxspring, her pale blue eyes darting around the room to take in any threat.
Her gaze fell on the broken lamp, then to the shallow cuts on her left hand from
the shattered glass. With a soft snort of disgust she shoved the knife back
home and set about cleaning up the mess. She hadn't really liked that lamp
anyway and it's not like she needed it. If she really wanted it, she could see
in the dark any time she wished.
Knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, the young woman just
left her room and headed for the kitchen. Shina made no effort to move silently.
The soldiers living in and around the property were mostly combat veterans
and anything that smelled of stealth to them was greeted with blades and guns
first, with "I'm sorry"s and questions asked later. In the kitchen, she hesitated
between beverages and settled on dipping into her father's Grey Goose vodka
a little. The dream that had caused her to react so violently had not been a
pleasant one.
The window in the kitchen revealed a storm breaking over the mansion and it
was seconds after the first few lightning flashes that the rain began to pound
against the glass. A real storm, not some irritating drizzle that just made it humid
for a few days after. Shina paused to stare through the window broodingly
while the vodka burned a path down her middle. After returning the Grey
Goose to its place, she headed towards the front door.
If the two men guarding the main entrance to the mansion saw anything unusual
about her mode of dress- an old wifebeater shirt that might once have been Gado's
and a pair of leopard print boxers -they didn't remark upon it. Nor did they say
anything about the harsh weather.
"I'm going for a run," she announced to them. When one lived in a virtually locked
down compound, one had to notify people of these things so as not to get shot.
She'd been shot plenty of times before and didn't want to add in experiences with
friendly fire. The two guards once more did not comment, not even on the lack of
shoes on her feet, just passing on the warning through their headsets. She waited
for confirmation that the notice had been received then took off like a shot into
the rain-soaked darkness.
Not everyone liked running. Most people viewed it as a chore they'd never perform
again outside of grade school gym classes. But then again, most people didn't
have an inner beast like Shina's, aching for action with every breath. Sometimes she
just felt the need to race. Not against anything in particular. Or maybe against herself.
Her father was not the running type, taking after the personality of his own lion
alter ego, powerful but slow. Shina ran for the sheer joy of it, moving in a blur
past sentries and cameras and out-buildings until she reached the perimeter fence,
a massive concrete structure rimmed with curls of razor wire.
Nearing the wall, she gave a fluid spring and tucked herself into a forward roll, just
barely clearing the wicked razors. On the other side she landed in a crouch in the
mud, although she took no notice of it. By now her clothing was plastered close
to her skin and her normally spiked blonde hair was slicked backwards against
her skull. A little mud wasn't going to hurt her.
The area surrounding the wall was cleared of trees and other visual obstructions
for a hundred yards in every direction, so the cameras set along the fence
clearly recorded her mad dash into the forest beyond but lost sight of her soon
after. The leopard-spirited woman ran a circle through the trees around the
property, dodging through the woods with feral ease. There was no room for
thought when she ran through in the forest, another thing she liked about it. One
saw and reacted instantly, with no time to deliberate, or one ran straight into
a tree. There were few things in life as clear and simple as running.
Her brain was on auto-pilot and that was really her only excuse for failing
to notice that she had company for a few seconds. Someone was running
along side her, a black shape seen only from the corner of her eye. With a
snarl she threw herself sideways into a crouch among the leaves, fingers
digging deep into the mud for purchase to keep from sliding with her momentum.
The figure also stopped running, and although he was clad in black from head
to toe, nothing could disguise the red of his eyes from her searching gaze.
He held perfectly still, his breathing sending out small clouds of steam in
the cold rain.
For a moment they remained like that, as each made up their minds about what
to do or say. ShenLong broke the silence first, pulling down the mask over the
lower part of his face to reveal a slight smile.
"Kitten, I know you favor leopard print but surely you could have found
something sexier to greet me in." The words were mocking but his tone was
almost hesitant, questioning. He was offering humor.
Shina's mouth opened in a leopard's challenging roar and answered him with
violence. She launched herself at him and sent them on a roll across the
leaf-strewn ground, each grappling for control. For a second it appeared
that ShenLong's superior strength had her pinned, sitting across her stomach
with her hands held to the ground under his knees. Before he had time to
do more than give her a leer, their positions changed.
With a grunt of effort and bunching of her abs under him, Shina rocked
her legs up behind him and locked her ankles around his throat. A flex
of her powerful legs sent him flying through the air, fetching up against a
tree in a shower of shaken leaves.
He didn't even have time to get to his feet before the leopard in human
form was on him. Her fingers were like a vise around his throat and her
face was an inch from his, lips twisted in an enraged snarl. She looked
seconds from tearing out his windpipe. He could almost see it in her
pale blue eyes. When she spoke, her voice had lowered an octave.
Gutteral and raw.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here!" Her voice rose to another leopard's
scream with the last word and she shoved him harder against the tree,
her grip just this side of crushing his windpipe. He could honestly say
to himself that she'd never looked more beautiful and wild.
Her hand made it hard for him to speak so he just smiled again and slowly
raised his hands in a helpless shrug, as if to show he meant no harm. Just
that fast she was then the one flying through the air to land a few feet away.
He'd socked her one in the solar plexus, hard enough that she could
almost feel a crack in her sternum.
Gasping for breath, she curled in on herself for a moment, trying to recover
enough to get up. ShenLong used the time to haul himself to his feet, a
black-gloved hand rubbing at his abused throat. With a cough, he stood
over her and looked down, but kept far enough back to seem out of reach.
"Little Marvel, we've got to stop meeting like this. I was just out for a
stroll through the woods. It's such a nice night." His voice held no humor
this time, only sheer mockery.
Shina didn't answer, her leg flying out to attempt to sweep him but he was
prepared for the move and simply stepped out of range. Recovered
enough to stand, she leaned against a tree at her side, with shoulders
still hunched a little.
"Better places to stroll.. than here," she panted, glaring at him through
soaked blonde bangs. "I suggest you go find one."
ShenLong didn't say anything else for a few seconds, just looked at her.
It was then that she became more aware of what she must look like. As
soaked and irritable as a drenched kitten, with mud covering her back and
lower legs. But worse, much worse, that old wifebeater she slept in wasn't
hiding anything.
Her face burned as she folded her arms across her practically exposed
breasts, shivering with barely checked rage that was only fueled further
by her embarrassment. It was easy to ignore that kind of thing in a fight
but he was just standing there! Looking at her!
"Well?" she snapped. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?
Or you just going to stand there looking at me?"
With a quiet laugh and a shake of his head he pulled his black long-sleeved
shirt over his head, tossing it to her. She caught it in one hand and
debated between modesty and killing him. But to tell the truth, she
wanted a few answers out of him before she silenced him forever and
she would be more comfortable. And if he wanted to shiver in the cold
rain so much the better.
She took a few steps back to put a little more distance between them before
she pulled on the shirt. Just in case he decided to jump her in her second
of blindness. The fabric smelled of cinnamon, she noticed distractedly.
While she was donning the shirt, ShenLong started speaking. It was a
return to his hesitant voice. "I'm... sorry about Paris." He leaned his
naked back up against the rough bark of a tree and shoved his big
hands into his pants pockets.
Shina eyed him suspiciously, obviously expecting treachery. "You're
what?? Sorry? You.. you.. you kissed me," she sputtered. She
was having trouble knowing what to say. Her eyes followed the progress
of a bead of water down the front of his chest, over the ridges of the
well-defined muscles on his abdomen, down down down to the top
of his pants.
He didn't even try to deny it. He just shrugged those broad shoulders
and watched her watch him.
She waited for a moment, waited for him to answer. "No explanations?
Not going to say anything?" She stalked towards him angrily and got
up in his face, poking a finger sharply to the middle of his so-attractive chest.
"Say something, bastard!"
When he kissed her, she wasn't taken entirely by surprised. She'd been
hoping for it in a small, nay miniscule, corner of her heart. That tiny portion
briefly overwhelmed the rest of her good sense temporarily and she did
not pull back immediately from the kiss.
The tiger-man's mouth was soft as silk on hers but his body was wonderfully
hard when he snaked one arm around her waist and drew her close. She
meant to push him away again but her palm met his bare skin and her
intentions melted away.
It was over far too quickly (for him) or not soon enough (for her). But it
was definitely over when her fist connected with his face in a savage right
hook. Shina jerked herself backwards out of his arms even as he stumbled
away, caught completely by surprise.
"Stop doing that!" she practically spat out the words.
To drive home her point, she once more closed the distance between them
and let fly with a flurry of blows to his midsection. She had the satisfaction
of hearing a couple of ribs crack and then he fell to the ground and curled
in on himself with a groan. A last kick rolled him over on his back and she
leaned over to look him in the face, blue eyes to red.
"And stay the fuck away from our property." The young woman left him
there without a backwards glance and headed back to her home.
But something reminded me of it and I checked the reviews that continued on even after I stopped writing.
Flattered, I feel obligated to at least give it another go at finishing this thing. Dunno how far I'll be able to
get with it. Just a warning, my friends: I don't know if I'm the writer you all think I used to be, heh.
All the characters belong to Hudson, as always in the past. Thank them for their awesome character
concepts! All language mistakes are correctable if you just tell me about them.
Shina tossed and turned in her narrow bed, barely bigger than a soldier's
cot in the barracks. The only difference being that hers had extra padding
and fluffier pillows with hotel quality sheets. In her restless sleep, she flung
one arm out to the side and hit the lamp on her nightstand. The lamp did not
survive the impact, shattering loudly.
Awakened by the noise, Shina smoothly rolled off the bed across from the
nightstand and yanked a long knife from its hiding place between her mattress
and boxspring, her pale blue eyes darting around the room to take in any threat.
Her gaze fell on the broken lamp, then to the shallow cuts on her left hand from
the shattered glass. With a soft snort of disgust she shoved the knife back
home and set about cleaning up the mess. She hadn't really liked that lamp
anyway and it's not like she needed it. If she really wanted it, she could see
in the dark any time she wished.
Knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, the young woman just
left her room and headed for the kitchen. Shina made no effort to move silently.
The soldiers living in and around the property were mostly combat veterans
and anything that smelled of stealth to them was greeted with blades and guns
first, with "I'm sorry"s and questions asked later. In the kitchen, she hesitated
between beverages and settled on dipping into her father's Grey Goose vodka
a little. The dream that had caused her to react so violently had not been a
pleasant one.
The window in the kitchen revealed a storm breaking over the mansion and it
was seconds after the first few lightning flashes that the rain began to pound
against the glass. A real storm, not some irritating drizzle that just made it humid
for a few days after. Shina paused to stare through the window broodingly
while the vodka burned a path down her middle. After returning the Grey
Goose to its place, she headed towards the front door.
If the two men guarding the main entrance to the mansion saw anything unusual
about her mode of dress- an old wifebeater shirt that might once have been Gado's
and a pair of leopard print boxers -they didn't remark upon it. Nor did they say
anything about the harsh weather.
"I'm going for a run," she announced to them. When one lived in a virtually locked
down compound, one had to notify people of these things so as not to get shot.
She'd been shot plenty of times before and didn't want to add in experiences with
friendly fire. The two guards once more did not comment, not even on the lack of
shoes on her feet, just passing on the warning through their headsets. She waited
for confirmation that the notice had been received then took off like a shot into
the rain-soaked darkness.
Not everyone liked running. Most people viewed it as a chore they'd never perform
again outside of grade school gym classes. But then again, most people didn't
have an inner beast like Shina's, aching for action with every breath. Sometimes she
just felt the need to race. Not against anything in particular. Or maybe against herself.
Her father was not the running type, taking after the personality of his own lion
alter ego, powerful but slow. Shina ran for the sheer joy of it, moving in a blur
past sentries and cameras and out-buildings until she reached the perimeter fence,
a massive concrete structure rimmed with curls of razor wire.
Nearing the wall, she gave a fluid spring and tucked herself into a forward roll, just
barely clearing the wicked razors. On the other side she landed in a crouch in the
mud, although she took no notice of it. By now her clothing was plastered close
to her skin and her normally spiked blonde hair was slicked backwards against
her skull. A little mud wasn't going to hurt her.
The area surrounding the wall was cleared of trees and other visual obstructions
for a hundred yards in every direction, so the cameras set along the fence
clearly recorded her mad dash into the forest beyond but lost sight of her soon
after. The leopard-spirited woman ran a circle through the trees around the
property, dodging through the woods with feral ease. There was no room for
thought when she ran through in the forest, another thing she liked about it. One
saw and reacted instantly, with no time to deliberate, or one ran straight into
a tree. There were few things in life as clear and simple as running.
Her brain was on auto-pilot and that was really her only excuse for failing
to notice that she had company for a few seconds. Someone was running
along side her, a black shape seen only from the corner of her eye. With a
snarl she threw herself sideways into a crouch among the leaves, fingers
digging deep into the mud for purchase to keep from sliding with her momentum.
The figure also stopped running, and although he was clad in black from head
to toe, nothing could disguise the red of his eyes from her searching gaze.
He held perfectly still, his breathing sending out small clouds of steam in
the cold rain.
For a moment they remained like that, as each made up their minds about what
to do or say. ShenLong broke the silence first, pulling down the mask over the
lower part of his face to reveal a slight smile.
"Kitten, I know you favor leopard print but surely you could have found
something sexier to greet me in." The words were mocking but his tone was
almost hesitant, questioning. He was offering humor.
Shina's mouth opened in a leopard's challenging roar and answered him with
violence. She launched herself at him and sent them on a roll across the
leaf-strewn ground, each grappling for control. For a second it appeared
that ShenLong's superior strength had her pinned, sitting across her stomach
with her hands held to the ground under his knees. Before he had time to
do more than give her a leer, their positions changed.
With a grunt of effort and bunching of her abs under him, Shina rocked
her legs up behind him and locked her ankles around his throat. A flex
of her powerful legs sent him flying through the air, fetching up against a
tree in a shower of shaken leaves.
He didn't even have time to get to his feet before the leopard in human
form was on him. Her fingers were like a vise around his throat and her
face was an inch from his, lips twisted in an enraged snarl. She looked
seconds from tearing out his windpipe. He could almost see it in her
pale blue eyes. When she spoke, her voice had lowered an octave.
Gutteral and raw.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here!" Her voice rose to another leopard's
scream with the last word and she shoved him harder against the tree,
her grip just this side of crushing his windpipe. He could honestly say
to himself that she'd never looked more beautiful and wild.
Her hand made it hard for him to speak so he just smiled again and slowly
raised his hands in a helpless shrug, as if to show he meant no harm. Just
that fast she was then the one flying through the air to land a few feet away.
He'd socked her one in the solar plexus, hard enough that she could
almost feel a crack in her sternum.
Gasping for breath, she curled in on herself for a moment, trying to recover
enough to get up. ShenLong used the time to haul himself to his feet, a
black-gloved hand rubbing at his abused throat. With a cough, he stood
over her and looked down, but kept far enough back to seem out of reach.
"Little Marvel, we've got to stop meeting like this. I was just out for a
stroll through the woods. It's such a nice night." His voice held no humor
this time, only sheer mockery.
Shina didn't answer, her leg flying out to attempt to sweep him but he was
prepared for the move and simply stepped out of range. Recovered
enough to stand, she leaned against a tree at her side, with shoulders
still hunched a little.
"Better places to stroll.. than here," she panted, glaring at him through
soaked blonde bangs. "I suggest you go find one."
ShenLong didn't say anything else for a few seconds, just looked at her.
It was then that she became more aware of what she must look like. As
soaked and irritable as a drenched kitten, with mud covering her back and
lower legs. But worse, much worse, that old wifebeater she slept in wasn't
hiding anything.
Her face burned as she folded her arms across her practically exposed
breasts, shivering with barely checked rage that was only fueled further
by her embarrassment. It was easy to ignore that kind of thing in a fight
but he was just standing there! Looking at her!
"Well?" she snapped. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?
Or you just going to stand there looking at me?"
With a quiet laugh and a shake of his head he pulled his black long-sleeved
shirt over his head, tossing it to her. She caught it in one hand and
debated between modesty and killing him. But to tell the truth, she
wanted a few answers out of him before she silenced him forever and
she would be more comfortable. And if he wanted to shiver in the cold
rain so much the better.
She took a few steps back to put a little more distance between them before
she pulled on the shirt. Just in case he decided to jump her in her second
of blindness. The fabric smelled of cinnamon, she noticed distractedly.
While she was donning the shirt, ShenLong started speaking. It was a
return to his hesitant voice. "I'm... sorry about Paris." He leaned his
naked back up against the rough bark of a tree and shoved his big
hands into his pants pockets.
Shina eyed him suspiciously, obviously expecting treachery. "You're
what?? Sorry? You.. you.. you kissed me," she sputtered. She
was having trouble knowing what to say. Her eyes followed the progress
of a bead of water down the front of his chest, over the ridges of the
well-defined muscles on his abdomen, down down down to the top
of his pants.
He didn't even try to deny it. He just shrugged those broad shoulders
and watched her watch him.
She waited for a moment, waited for him to answer. "No explanations?
Not going to say anything?" She stalked towards him angrily and got
up in his face, poking a finger sharply to the middle of his so-attractive chest.
"Say something, bastard!"
When he kissed her, she wasn't taken entirely by surprised. She'd been
hoping for it in a small, nay miniscule, corner of her heart. That tiny portion
briefly overwhelmed the rest of her good sense temporarily and she did
not pull back immediately from the kiss.
The tiger-man's mouth was soft as silk on hers but his body was wonderfully
hard when he snaked one arm around her waist and drew her close. She
meant to push him away again but her palm met his bare skin and her
intentions melted away.
It was over far too quickly (for him) or not soon enough (for her). But it
was definitely over when her fist connected with his face in a savage right
hook. Shina jerked herself backwards out of his arms even as he stumbled
away, caught completely by surprise.
"Stop doing that!" she practically spat out the words.
To drive home her point, she once more closed the distance between them
and let fly with a flurry of blows to his midsection. She had the satisfaction
of hearing a couple of ribs crack and then he fell to the ground and curled
in on himself with a groan. A last kick rolled him over on his back and she
leaned over to look him in the face, blue eyes to red.
"And stay the fuck away from our property." The young woman left him
there without a backwards glance and headed back to her home.