yurib: Thank you so much for your kind words, I know my update times are terrible but I'm so happy some people still come back to read my work T~T You are too kind!
. . .
Sven
. . .
I made it home in less than half the time it usually took, but by the time I arrived I was panting for breath. Having been in a constant sprint, fear and anxiety driving my movements. It was a feeling I was unfamiliar with, in this context at least.
There was a monster out hunting for me, intent on getting the fight they were denied. A pit dog, like what I used to be. And that idea terrified me. It wasn't just the concept of fighting, it was because... I knew I was going to lose. I'd done nothing to maintain my body in the past months, my muscles had become weaker and my once keenly trained reactions and instincts were dulled.
But... Why did I care?
When I faced my handler, I knew I was outmatched quickly. But, I was never scared of dying... If anything, I welcomed it.
"What changed?" I wondered, as I packed what few things I owned into a backpack. Just an extra pair of clothes, nothing else here held any real value. But even so, as I stood to leave I couldn't help but feel sad about leaving it behind.
But that sadness was forgotten in an instant, as I laid eyes upon the animal now standing in my doorway. "Heheheh- Leaving so soon?" He chuckled out through a toothy grin.
I could recognize the body structure, even through his hoodie, I was staring down a Hyena. Face constantly snickering, laughing to himself almost uncontrollably. I was taller than him, but if anything... He almost seemed smaller than the average Hyena. Yafya had said he was a hybrid, was this someone else? Had he been misinformed?
"Guess I did make a lot of noise..." He said, scratching the side of his face with one claw, "Should have known you might get tipped off... But no matter." Before baring those claws, crouching low as if he were ready to pounce.
"Wait!" I barked out, holding up my hands. "I don't want to fight! I'm not a pit dog anymore!" I tried to explain, desperately. "I... I haven't trained in months! I probably wouldn't even put up a good fight!"
"Oh, let me be the judge of that~" Without any hesitation, he lunged at me. Crossing the distance between us and slashing at me with one arm.
I narrowly evaded the blow, his claws catching and ripping the front of my shirt open. "He's not messing around at all, if I make one wrong move-" I stopped thinking, letting my fighting instincts take over as I tried to counter attack while his momentum carried him forward. I grabbed the Hyena by his neck, using my superior size and strength to lift him up before slamming him hard into the floor with all my weight behind the impact.
"Gah!" The wind knocked clear out of his lungs, even so he released twisted choking laughter. "N-Not bad~!" Before he swung up hard with a kick, my eyes widening as I realized too late he hadn't been wearing shoes.
"Gnngh!" Cringing in agony as the claws on his feet stabbed into my ribs. I grit my teeth, not realizing my grip on his throat had loosened. "Aaagh!" I screamed, as his fangs sank into my hand. I tried to pull away, but he dug the claws of his hands into my forearm, tearing into the fur and drawing more blood from my body. "L-Let me GO!" I lifted him up, before slamming him down against the floor, then the wall, back and forth as we ruined the walls with splatters of my blood.
Finally, mercifully, he let go and slipped out of my grasp. I could tell he was trying to get behind me, go for my legs or maybe climb my back. So I spun around, lashing out with my powerful tail using all the force I could put behind it. The choked "Oof!" I heard along with the feel of impact told me I'd hit the mark, slamming him into the wall once more.
I tried to press the advantage, lunging at him and slashing with one of my talon tipped hands intent to carve a hole into his chest. But my swing was slow and unbalanced, while the hyena used the wall as leverage and jumped at me. I brought up my arms to protect myself from incoming bites or claws, but instead the hyena tucked and rolled mid flight.
On impact, I felt piercing agony throughout my arms and torso, anywhere he'd struck me felt like it had been stabbed. "Hnngh~! That's right, how do you like my quills!?"
As he pulled away, I looked down in horror to see my forearms and abdomen riddled with needles buried in my fur and flesh. The puncture wounds were small, but they each drew blood and made even the slightest movement complete misery. "Wh-What are you?" I asked, cringing in pain, trying to control my erratic breathing.
"Me? I'm like you! HAHAHA!" His laughter was manic, twisted. "My father was a hyena that knocked up a porcupine, must have been some kind of a masochist!" His hoodie was shredded by his own quills, he tore what was left of it away exposing his body. Sure enough, his back, shoulders and forearms were a mane of thicker fur like most hyenas, but hidden within it were those barbed spines. What drew my eyes were was the ring on his chest, burned into his skin, a brand no doubt. "So, you were Number Seven right? What a coincidence!" He added, head tilting adding more menace to his crooked smile as he licked my blood from his jowls. "They called me Zero!" He was crouching low again, ready for another attack, and I could barely move to protect myself! "It wasn't a product number, they gave me that nickname because when I'm your opponent-" He lunged, eyes wild with blood lust, "It means you're out of time- Hngh!" His charge was completely halted, as something grabbed him from behind.
"That's a little over dramatic, don't you think?" Before he had a chance to react, Zero was pulled back by the tail and thrown against the railing outside with incredible force. In his place, keeping himself between myself and the pit dog, was a familiar set of broad shoulders. "I'm not sure exactly what's going on here..."
I felt a wave of relief wash over me, "L-Legosi..."
"But it ends now."
Zero was holding his side after slamming into the railing, grumbling in annoyance. "No fair no FAIR! I signed up for a one on one match... You weren't supposed to have a tag partner." He seemed angry, but even as he cursed to himself did those manic laughs escape. "Fine fine fine, not now, later, we finish this later!" He assured, "And you'd better be ready!" Before he jumped right over the edge, likely climbing his way down the building.
I tried to move, but even the slightest twitch of my muscles made the quills induce more pain through my body. "Hngh! Dammit..." I hissed, but my savior was by my side in a second. "Legosi... Where-"
"I was just coming home from work." He explained, removing his coat and starting to tear it. "Here, we have to stop the bleeding on your hand." I cringed as he pressed the cloth against the worst of the wounds, wrapping one around my hand. "These quills aren't too deep, you got lucky but we need to get you to a doctor."
But I was bleeding too much, I knew that. "The nearest hospital is... Too far, at least 30 minutes by car..." And on foot, twice as long. "I'll bleed out before make it..."
"That's true, but the Black Market is only a few minutes on foot."
"The- Wait what?" Did he really just suggest- "Absolutely... Not."
"It's okay, I know someone there that can help." He assured, tugging me along. And I didn't have the strength to resist. "Oh, right your bag." He quickly snatched it up with his spare hand before we began shuffling out of the building. "I'll keep my nose and ears out in case he comes back but... Who was that guy?"
"A maniac, never seen him before in my life." Technically I wasn't lying.
If he knew I wasn't telling the truth, he didn't press me. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, he'd always been one of the more reserved and quiet individuals around here. Prying didn't seem like something he'd do, which I was thankful for. He silently guided me down the stairs to the ground floor and the back streets outside. I felt my body getting heavier with every step, the pain turning to a cold numbness, the quills starting to bother me less. Even my vision was getting blurry, at this rate I'd pass out long before we reached the Black Market.
"Oh my god," My ears twitched, the fog clouding my mind swept away in an instant. "Sven!?"
I lifted my head enough to meet her eyes, I didn't have to lift very high after all. "Oh, hello Moxie." But evidently, lifting my head was enough of a rush to send me over the edge. The world started spinning, Legosi's grip slipping just enough that I began to fall.
His words following me to the ground, "Oh crap!"
Along with Moxie's own- "AAGH!"
This has been... An interesting day.
. . .
Moxie
. . .
"She's going to be fine, Gohin is a great doctor."
"Yeah, you keep saying that." But I wasn't exactly convinced.
The last thing I expected to find when I chased after Sven was her hanging off of a Grey Wolf, covered in blood and riddled with quills. But he seemed to remain calm, and wanted to help her. I wasn't exactly happy about having to go into the Black Market, disguised under my own jacket to hide the fact that I'm a rabbit. And now I'm sitting in a lounge, while some back alley doctor Panda tries to fix her.
"Ugh..." I leaned forward, putting my face in his hands. "This is so stupid, why did I chase after her?"
"I mean... I assume its because you care about her?" The wolf was blunt enough to point out. "I'm Legosi by the way."
My ears twitched, and I slowly lifted my head to glare at him for his comment. "Well its nice to meet you," My words dripping with sarcasm, "Yeah, I wanted to know that she was doing well on her own out here but the last thing I wanted to was go on a bloody run around to the Black Market!"
He blinked, expression remaining calm as he continued washing blood from his fur. "Then... Why did you follow me? You could have stayed behind or just left."
"Because..." Dammit, "Because I do care, and I wanted to make sure you weren't carting her off to be eaten or something..."
"Oh, I wouldn't do that," He assured, "I don't eat meat."
"Yeah sure, whatever you say." As if I'd believe a wolf that frequents the Black Market saying he doesn't eat meat, what a joke.
I perked up though, as the door across the room opened. And out stepped the illustrious Panda doctor of the Black Market. His hands covered in blood, Sven's blood no doubt. "What a mess." He grunted, idly wiping them on a rag. "So Legosi, you gonna introduce me to your rabbit friend?" He questioned, "I assume this is the one you've been telling me about?"
"What?" I blinked.
He stiffened up, waving his hands defensively, "N-No no, this isn't Haru, she's uh..." Looking to me, "What is your name exactly?"
"Moxie," I replied dryly, looking back to Gohin, "What about Sven? Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine," He shrugged, "Wounds weren't that deep, hardest part was removing the quills, its good she was already unconscious because its a painful process." Pausing for a moment, "No easy way to do it, and she lost a lot of blood, it'll be some time before she's fully recovered enough to move around without getting light headed."
"Can't you do like... A transfusion?" Legosi asked, "I mean, she's a wolf and I'm a wolf so-"
"She's also part bird and part reptile," Gohin cut him off sharply, shaking his head. "Use your head dumbass, she's not even the same kind of wolf that you are." Before he took a seat as well, "I doubt we'd find anyone out there that's a safe match, best thing she can do is take it easy for awhile." Before he pulled out a cigarette, my nose twitching in discomfort as he began to light it. "How'd this happen to her exactly? Looks like she was mauled by a knife wielding porcupine."
"It was a hybrid, face like a spotted hyena but his back and arms were covered in quills." Legosi answered, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm not quite sure where he came from, or what he wanted but... He ran away fast when he realized it was two on one."
But after taking a long drag from his freshly lit cigarette, the panda scoffed. "It wasn't two on one, not in her condition, he would have realized that."
"Maybe..." The Wolf shrugged, "He said something about how it was supposed to be singles match or... Something like that."
My body stiffened a bit, as I recalled what I knew about her time in the fighting pits. I remembered Orgo, mentioning a bounty on her head, something about a gang too? Could they be connected to this? "She was attacked by a bear a while back, he was... I guess hunting a bounty put on her head by a gang, the uh... Madaragumi? I think?"
"Interesting..." Gohin replied, blowing a thick plume of smoke from his nose. "Madaragumi are gone, they were wiped out not long ago, some new cats are trying to take their place but they wouldn't be picking up old grudges." Before he looked to Legosi, "Get to work cleaning the blood trail you lead in here, and don't be afraid to discourage anyone that might be sniffing around for it."
"Oh, right yeah I'll do that." He nodded, heading for a nearby closet where he pulled out a mop and bucket. Had he done this stuff before?
As he left, Gohin finished his cigarette, adding it to the already at capacity ashtray on the lounge table. "She can't stay here," He said bluntly, "Once she's fit to move you need to get her out of here."
"What? Why can't she stay here until she recovers!?" I demanded, "You're a doctor right?" I knew Sven didn't have anyone else, and her home clearly wasn't safe.
"Because she stands out, and I don't want any more psycho hybrids showing up in my clinic," He scoffed at me harshly, "She isn't safe here, not if she really has a bounty on her head, best thing she could do is get far away from the Black Market and lay low."
I clenched my small hand into a fist, angry but not sure I could argue with him. Even if I was mad he wouldn't help, I did agree that getting her far away from here was the best choice. "Fine... But I'm not leaving, I'll stay until she is able to move."
"Enjoy sleeping on the couch," He shrugged casually, pushing himself up from his seat. "Don't blame me if you get eaten though."
Oh trust me, the depth of the hole I've started digging myself has not eluded me.
