Experiments Reborn

Status
Not open for further replies.
He blinked. He was surprised. Impressed, maybe. There was no way to tell. She'd clearly spoken in the dragon language, but she'd displayed no understanding when he'd done it before. There had to be some latent ability somewhere in her that allowed her to understand. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Instead, he hovered over Jami, jaws parted in a low growl. English suited him just fine for certain purposes, but though he was loathe to admit things that he enjoyed, he found her grasp of the dragon language interesting. He forced himself to close his mouth and formulate a response. She had called everything dead, even though there was nothing even alive to begin with. It was all fake, even the dirt. He knew what she desired, but there was no guarantee that any scientist would grant her that permission.

Kain pulled back and looked up into the black corners of the room. "She wants... Outside." There was radio silence for a few minutes before someone answered. "...Outside?" It was Dr. Naris, of course. Kain narrowed his eyes, knowing they could see him.

"I didn't stutter. She's sick because she's not outside."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would she--"

Kain shot up, ripping the speaker and the camera out from the wall with his teeth. He spat the cables out just as the door unlocked and opened and two interns burst in along with Dr. Naris. The room they were being monitored from wasn't that far apparently. However, the interns fled for safety as Kain snapped and roared at them. It was cut short as Dr. Naris spiked the collar with electricity, enough to make Kain quiet with a choked cry. A frightened scientist scurried in and poked his arm with a needle, pumping him full of sedatives. He dropped to the floor after only a few seconds, but he was aware enough to hear Dr. Naris bark orders at people he couldn't see.

"Take Experiment 16 outside. Make sure she's cuffed and mostly sedated, but she needs to be awake. Twenty minutes outside. If her condition improves, put her back in with Experiment 2. He's having withdrawals." Kain lazily snapped at the woman before he slipped into unconsciousness again. His last thought was of Jami, of all things. Maybe... just maybe, she would be okay. And then he could escape.
 
Jami felt helpless anger as she watched what happened, unable to do anything. She was too weak and not thinking clearly as it was. They really didn't need to drug her, but the elf-hybrid didn't protest when they did, daring to hope that maybe this wasn't a hallucination, that she'd get to feel the air again, feel the grass and dirt, hear the trees..wait. Had she been able to hear the trees before? Did it matter?

The blond was barely aware of being moved, of being transferred and she only started to really wake when cool wind brushed her face. They'd set her on the ground - at least in that they weren't idiots for the moment - and Jami breathed in deeply the smell of the earth, her fingers starting to move along the grass that tickled her palms. The trees in the distance whispered to her, words of ancient songs and lore and the sun soaked into her skin, welcome. The wind brushed at her hair, an old friend and Jami just let herself BE with all of it. If she hadn't been drugged, five minutes into this her eyes would have been focusing better. Ten minutes in and her color was coming back. Fifteen minutes and Jami would have been sitting up, breathing easier, her fever going down and by twenty minutes, she'd look at least 70% better than she had before.

Many of those things did happen, but none of the movement. Jami didn't want to be taken back inside any sooner than she had to be, so she stayed still, stayed compliant. Besides, she couldn't leave Kain even if she could have gotten away. She couldn't leave him and that was her only weakness in all of this. Lack of nature would be her death, the scientists couldn't use that against her efficiently unless they truly wanted to risk killing her and she was still valuable to them. No, her weakness was Kain, but no one seemed to know that and she wanted it to stay that way.

It was too soon when they took her back inside, but Jami let them and when they put her back in with Kain, she let herself relax. No, there was nothing living in here, but there was Kain and he needed her just as much as she needed the outside world. He needed the outside world, too, but first...he needed her to teach him about it.

Besides, her nature problem was nothing a few bloody plants inside this place wouldn't fix. At least it would keep her functioning.

Idiots.
 
Last edited:
They had removed the cuffs and the drugs weren't strong enough to keep her down much longer. However, Kain was none too happy about her return. He was crouched in his tree, watching the interns bring back Jami into his cell with his hawkish gaze. They spotted him and rushed Jami into the center of the room near the river before they snapped off, slamming the door behind them. He didn't move to help her. In fact, he didn't do anything. His ebony tail twitched with anger, but his wings hung down around his body and fell still in the stale air along the branch.

She'd gotten to go outside, and he'd been stuck. Again. He hadn't stepped foot out in real air, on real grass near real trees in thirteen years. Jami had hardly been there for two weeks and she'd been rushed to the outdoors.

He wasn't pleased with that.

Kain let his anger get in the way of his other feelings, if he thought he had any others. His claws threatened to snap the branch beneath him, and the low rumble of a growl in his throat signaled his unhappiness. He was perfectly fine with displaying his emotion, but only when he was angry. Gray smoke puffed from his nose as he scratched a talon into the bark with a shrill sound. He wanted freedom, but they gave it to her. It didn't matter that she needed it. It was that she'd gotten it. He had wanted it for a long time, but he never got anything he wanted. All he got were fights, needles, and more fights.

Maybe it wasn't right to be angry at her, but he was anyway. There was no other outlet for his fury.
 
Jami could almost feel his rage like a palpable thing and right now she really didn't feel like being strangled, roared at or clawed. She just wanted to sleep again, but the elven-hybrid wasn't sure that was wise yet, so she forced herself to sit up, blinking sluggishly at the water before she drank from it, feeling a bit better after that but no where near herself. And Kain was angry at her. Perhaps he had a right to be, though. The scientists had dragged him to her, she'd pretty much growled at him the entire time and then he'd been shocked and drugged, placed back in this hell and all the while he'd known she was outside.

Where Jami was sure he wanted to be.

She'd be angry, too.

The blond sighed, unsure how to make it right as she drew her knees up and rested the side of her head on them, looking toward the place she knew the dragon-hybrid would be. Jami wanted to reach out to him, to sooth him, tell him she was sorry, grateful for what he'd done, that she'd help him get out of here, but the words froze on her tongue, none of them seeming right. She didn't even want to dare a 'thank you' at this point because she KNEW it would piss him off and he'd shut her out.

So instead Jami asked the most blunt question that came to mind, her tone not challenging, just factual, neutral. "You gonna be mad at me about something I couldn't control forever?"
 
Maybe it was unfair. She hadn't known about the condition, and it had slipped past the scientists as well. He couldn't really stop himself though. She'd gotten what he wanted, but it wasn't something he could take from her. Resisting the urge to continue and growl at her, Kain slid down the trunk of the fake tree and forced himself to walk to her. "...Yes." Well, maybe he wasn't. He hadn't decided. After all, not getting what he wanted was still grating on him.

"...You don't smell so sick anymore," he added, finding the room smelled more like medicine than anything now. She seemed better. Maybe being outside was all she needed. It was still hard to keep the growl out of his voice. He started to glare at her, but he looked down and was quiet for a moment. It could have been better if he wasn't angry at her.

"...You spoke in my language. I don't know how. You didn't before." He chose not to lift his gaze to hers. If he looked at her again, he felt like he would just get upset about not going outside again. Instead, he chose to speak again, something he did little of to begin with.

"Wux geou letoclo ve jutosh nomeno goawy. wux re shalada shafaer wer ifnitot, vur yth geou gethrisj mobi ir kear leirith nomeno tairais." He didn't know if she would display any understanding like before, but the only way to know was to test. He hated sounding like the scientists, but he had to know. If she could converse with him in a language that no one understood, it was the only advantage they had on the inside in order to get on the outside.
 
When he immediately replied with a yes while coming toward her - something she'd not expected but wasn't alarmed about - Jami smiled faintly, amused. She knew better than to pop off right now, though. He was still testy, which wasn't new, but more so than usual and Jami really, really didn't feel like having to force him away from her again. Better that they simply keep it civil....as Kain could. It wasn't really his strongest point. She'd have to work on that with him.

She'd not expected him to say much so the dragon-hybrid surprised her by not only commenting on her sickness - even if he was commenting on her smell, either a good sign or a bad one depending on how she thought about it - but also brought up a point of conversation, a foundation for it.

The blond blinked, surprised. Would wonder's never cease...

Pulling herself back to the present, finding she still wanted to drift off here and there, Jami put her head back on her knees with a sigh. She would have answered, too, but Kain was speaking AGAIN - did the scientist give him something? - and Jami raised her head just as quickly as she'd lowered it, her hazel eyes narrowing slightly, head tilting as her mind tried to sort through the words. She felt like she knew some of them, but he spoke so fast it was hard for her to process everything and so Jami caught and kept what she could.

You...we...me.....escape?...out..side...time...

She worked those words silent around and around in her mind before looking at Kain, slowly attempting the language back at him, her tongue halting but smooth nonetheless. "Wux, ve...jutosh ifnitot? Svadrav?"

Even as Jami spoke the last word, she realized she'd not heard it from him. Did she know this tongue? The blond shook her head, her fingers coming up to rub at her temple and she spoke softly, hoping to not be picked up by the sensors. "I can understand bits and pieces of your language. If I spoke it before, I don't know how I did it. If you want to speak this way, you're gonna have to go a bit slower. I can translate most of it, but not fast yet."
 
Kain seemed irritated that she didn't immediately understand him, but he had to calm himself. She was already doing better than the scientists had. When he was younger, when he didn't understand, he spoke it all the time, but no one understood. They hadn't taken interest, thinking he was only speaking gibberish as children often did. Once they realized it was a real language and they could benefit from learning it, he'd already stopped bothering. Now... now someone else knew. He should have been excited, but he wasn't. He was thinking about the outside again, wondering what it looked like.

A heavy sigh escaped him before he responded to her earlier question spoken in the dragon language. "Yth zklaen itheik. Si tir ti tepoha froneel seilor. Shar... coi geou qe persvek wer papref. Leirith. Si... Inglata." He was careful to enunciate each word, but it was much easier to do when he could speak clearly and without a rumble in his voice. He'd also done something he'd never done before in all his life.

He promised her what he said. It was the hope that he could escape, and as much as he might not have liked it, she was one of the few ways he did have out. And he would take every chance he got. She would get stronger if they continued to take her outside every day. She would grow back to full strength in maybe a week's time, depending on what they did to her.

Maybe this was their idea of Jami fixing Kain. Getting him to speak in the language they wanted, but pulling her away, just to see what it would do. He was tired of it.

He looked her in the eye finally, and the golden irises were hard, but it wasn't with anger, at least not for her. "Wux geou letoclo ve, vur si geou letoclo wux."
 
She'd gotten all of that this time because she was given enough time to process it and she wanted so badly to understand that Jami's entire focus was on the words, learning them. She nodded slowly, knowing he'd see the movement in his peripheral vision and she watched Kain for a long moment, seeing a side of him she'd not thought to discover anytime soon. Underneath all that savageness and anger, raw instinct and hate was a man, not much older than her who was scared and determined and dreaming. It was a nice thing to see, no matter how hard she had to look and the blond smiled before hiding the expression against her knees. Last thing she wanted was to make him grumpy with her again.

One never really knew what could set Kain off, but Jami was learning faster than most.

When he looked at her and for once he wasn't seething with rage directed at her for whatever particular reason, Jami found herself relaxing. Anger she was fine with - anger directed at her she had to be wary of. At the moment she was immensely glad it wasn't toward her right now. Her hazel eyes held his gold and for the first time in days, the green glow swam back into them, the werewolf inside her finding a purpose again, a challenge and Jami suddenly felt a strength she'd not before.

Hmm, that was interesting.

She'd have to think on that later, but right now... The female hybrid held the dragon-hybrid's gaze steadily. She wasn't afraid and her stubborn determination really knew no bounds.

"Inglata ti letoclo ouith wux. Letoclo jutosh. Letoclo..." She paused, searching for the words, frustrated by her own lacking ability to just speak the language with ease, having to think about each word, translate it, enunciate it properly. "Letoclo yor ifnitot. Inglata ti jaseve wux."
 
Last edited:
Well, her grasp of the language was shaky, but he understood her. She would help him. His promise would stand. He would escape.

The swinging of the metal door broke the almost magical moment between Jami and Kain as Dr. Naris and Dr. Thornsin interrupted them. "Experiment 2!" she snapped and he flinched. He hated being called that. However, he stood up to turn and glare at them. "You speak to her in the draconic language, yet you refuse to do so with us. We can help you get others to understand and speak with you." She stopped as Kain began to growl. The menacing sound was enough to make them step back, but Kain didn't relent. The growl turned into a roar, and it didn't stop even when Dr. Naris turned on his collar. The electricity sparked around his limbs and made his fists close, but he forced himself through the increasing pain, just enough to take another step.

"Experiment 2, you're beginning to display signs of prolonged insanity and overly aggressive behaviors. You have a few options, since we are allowing this for you. You can stop this right now and comply with every future order we give you and not destroy our equipment. Refusal of this option will result in your removal into the silent room... or her removal." Dr. Thornsin spoke over Kain's rumbling, and it suddenly grew quiet. Kain despised the silent room with every fiber in his mutated body, but he could handle it. But if Jami was taken out, he wouldn't have any help to escape.

"...Do you accept these terms?" Dr. Thornsin repeated, flicking the switch to stop Kain's collar from producing more shocks.

"...Get out."

"Do you accept the terms?"

"I said get out."

"Do you?"

"Yes! Get out!" The single word was roared, but Dr. Thornsin was no longer concerned. Kain was willing to subject himself to everything so he and Jami wouldn't be taken out. With a curt nod, the two scientists left, and then Kain and Jami were alone again. He growled to himself before he turned and stalked off. Was he showing a weakness? Maybe. He just wanted to go outside. Maybe there was a home for him, somewhere that wasn't the facility.
 
Jami hadn't moved. She hadn't spoken. She'd only watched the events unfold, the fury seething inside her, but logically knowing there was nothing she could do. Not yet. She understood what Kain was doing, too. If they were to help each other they needed to be together. If they were to escape, they needed to do this carefully. Showing too much compliance would be just as fatal as not showing any at all. They had to make the scientists work for that compliance, but they also had to give in at appropriate times to keep from being pulled apart.

It was a delicate balance, a tightrope walk and Jami hated it already as she watched the scientists leave and Kain stalk away, once more angry and hateful. She thought about approaching him, even started to rise, but then thought better of it for the moment and instead laid down, curling inward. No, she would sleep. She would regain some strength and then she'd start on Kain.

She was sure he was going to just thrilled about it, too.

-----------

Jami was sure she'd discovered something about herself while in thought all morning, but at the moment she was unsure how it was going to help to have such knowledge. Her revelation was that while werewolves and elves were a compatible species in the technical sense, in general they were a disastrous mix. Werewolves were creatures of instinct and desire, meat, blood, destruction, subject to the whims of the moon and elves were beings of intellect and learning, vegetation and nature, healing and always in control of themselves. They were opposite ends of the spectrum and she was starting to feel that in earnest. She craved meat and then abhorred it. She was fine without nature and then suddenly felt ill with the need for it. The more she thought, the more her elven side came out and the more she gave into to instinct, the more the werewolf emerged. They were fighting a war inside her that was only balanced out by her human side, which felt both instinct and intellect fairly evenly.

The fact that she was human was probably the only thing keeping her alive and from tearing herself in two.

But how she was actually going to find that bloody balance, a REAL medium between the two warring species inside her....Jami didn't know.

And right now she really didn't want to think about it anymore. She climbed down the tree she'd perched in, not trusting herself to leap at this time. She was still weak, still too thin, a bit too pale and Jami didn't want to do anything that might result in a bad consequence at this point. She landed on the ground with nary a sound and took a deep breath before approaching Kain, knowing this might end really badly, but also knowing it needed to be done.

"Kain, si rigluin ekess ukris ekess wux."

It was probably the most complete sentence Jami had said - not counting her barely lucid words when she was sick - and the female hybrid stopped a good distance away, but not so far that he could pretend he'd not heard her and if he chose to ignore her, she had not problem getting closer.
 
Kain was tired. He was tired of everything. He knew that with the agreed compliance, the fights would begin again. He would be shoved in a small cage against a failed experiment. He would kill and eat them, and it would happen every day unless they escaped. He had curled up in the trees, away from everything. He didn't want to look at anything. However, Jami spoke. Her voice didn't seem to waver when she used the dragon language, so she was making progress. He'd learned it all in one month, but he was also injected directly with the dragon's abilities, even if his body hadn't taken to everything.

He pulled his head up from where it lay on his knees before he growled, "Speak." The scientists hadn't told him to use the language, and so he wouldn't. It was only to use as a method of communication when referring to their escape. As of right now, it looked bleak. If the scientists were monitoring his every move, he would never get the chance, even if Jami was around.

Still, the irritation of his agreement was weighing on him. Kain was never tired, but sitting there near a tree, his wings hanging and hitting the ground while his tail twitched with barely any life, he just looked miserable. There was no way to hide it. He hated that.
 
Since he'd answered in English, Jami took up that language instead as she approached closer, worry developing in her eyes for the state the dragon-hybrid was in. She'd never seen him like this and the female didn't hesitate this time to come directly before Kain and simply sit there. If she'd wanted to, she could have reached out and touched his head, but that also meant he could do the same. One tail snap or claw swipe and he could hurt her easily. So while she was showing him she wasn't afraid of him, wasn't bothered by being in close proximity to him despite the way he saw himself, she was also extending trust.

"Well, we don't seem to have much to talk about personally and the silence is going to drive me mad at this rate, so I was wondering, just to pass the time, if you might want to hear about the world I came from."

She'd worded her phrases VERY carefully, but she hoped the message was clear; she knew about the outside world and whether he liked it or not, she could teach him what he'd need to know to survive out there, at least for a little while.

Jami raised a brow and she spoke quietly then. "Svadrav jutosh, wux rigluin vucot svabol youwei qe."

She frowned. Wait. That last word was not right. Jami thought about it and nodded slowly, changing the word. "Re. Svabol youwei re. Shilta anku."
 
Kain worked up a snarl in his throat as she spoke. He didn't want to know about her. He needed her help, but he didn't know if he wanted it or not. The relationship they were carrying out was necessary, but he couldn't form any attachment to her. Once he was out, he wanted to be alone again. At the very least, he would be outside.

However, she kept talking even over him, and his throat scratched from making any noise, so he stopped. She wanted him to learn. She made things sound... different. Not that he remembered what the outside looked like. The dragon hybrid had spent so long looking at the fake walls and scenery that he'd grown used to it. Maybe... maybe he did need her more than he thought.

"I...," he started to speak but it only came off as a growl. He closed his mouth and clenched his claws around his knees before he tried again. "...Fine. Speak about what it is you know." Part of him might have been a little too curious, but if he had more knowledge going out, it wouldn't be so bad.
 
------------

The next four days passed in a routine kind of way, but were by no means pleasant for either Jami or Kain. While the male was taken off to fight - and man did he come back angry and snappy, something that had gotten them both in yelling, roaring matches at each other - Jami was taken off for further testing now that they knew there was a lot more to learn about her. She still refused to tell them how she'd forced Kain away from her and they were growing impatient, more aggressive in their means of extracting said information. They were starting to look more closely into elven research, too and Jami had come back to the cage one day with swirling marks, tattoos all over her body, a dark green color that didn't fade.

They'd tested a substances said to have been used for tribal markings on dark elves, something that wouldn't show up on humans and Jami's body had reacted favorably, pleasing them. It left her looking like a native of some kind, swirls and strokes across her body, down her arms and legs and a line of dots along her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. Lines in three strokes trailed down her chin and neck and the left side of her face sported a crescent moon. She'd been royally pissed about it the rest of the day.

Her lessons with Kain were actually going well and seemed to be the only time they didn't really snap at each other.

Tension seemed to be building on all fronts and it was inevitable that something would break soon. So Jami thought as she sat on the grass, her ankle chained to the building behind her and the collar on her neck primed and ready to take her down should she try to escape.

The female hybrid did no such thing, though, as she listened to the trees, gathering what information she could about their surroundings so that when they did escape, she'd know which way to go.
 
Last edited:
When he'd first seen her sporting the new look, he didn't know how to feel. She'd been upset, but he had no reason to go along with her about her revised appearance. He'd already been roaring at her enough. Fighting with her and eating other experiments was weighing on him. On one hand, he was falling back into the old aggressive and unkind routine he'd been used to. However, Jami was with him now. She was helping him learn about the outside and it kept him... sane.

At least until he was forced to fight a failed werewolf experiment. This one was pure fight. There was no elvish side to him like Jami. He'd managed to maul Kain on his chest and arms, even though the dragon hybrid healed from it. It left bloody streaks and fresh scars. Kain overpowered him, ripping his unfamiliar body to shreds and feasting upon the ribbons of flesh. The scientists watched it all with cold hearts and calculating gazes, but something changed. Kain's bloodied claws slid under his collar... and he snapped it free from his neck. Unbeknownst to any scientist, Kain had been working his claws along the collar for a few days, worrying the metal and nicking it. He'd weakened it and finally, he was free.

"Code black! Code bla--!" The speaker fried and the intern huffing into the microphone was slammed against the wall as Kain burst through the fighting cage. He wasted no time in fleeing toward the only side of the building with windows. A siren blared above him, making him wince with the awful sound. He leaped over people and flew above them. He saw someone burst through a glass door, and that's when it appeared: perfect sunlight.

Kain smashed through the door, ignoring the glass fragments showering over him. Looking up, there were trees - real trees - towering above him and sunlight streaming through white clouds. He was outside for the first time in over ten years, and he couldn't even enjoy his freedom. He circled around the building until he found Jami, who was chained to the side of the building. He could still hear the alarm buzzing, and shouts were flooding from the broken doorway. Kain leaped over to Jami and took the chain in his hands. It looked more like a metal-laced cable, but it wouldn't stand up to Kain. With a sharp jerk, Kain freed the elven-wolf girl before he spilled flames along the cable. It smoked and burned underneath his fire, but it frayed and came loose. There was still the issue of the band around her ankle, but now she wouldn't have a piece dragging behind her.

The shouts got closer and Kain spotted white coats running toward them. "Which way?" he growled before he threw the piece of cable at them. It smacked one in the leg, tripping him and taking two more out with him. He inhaled deeply and spewed fire at them again, trying to fight the burning in his stomach. The flames deterred more from running, but they had guns and tranquilizers, and if they got lucky, Jami or Kain would go down and their chance of escape would vanish.
 
To say Jami had been startled by Kain's appearance would be an understatement, but she'd reacted quickly, letting him detach her from the chain. She didn't answer right away to his question, instead reaching up and closing her eyes for a moment. An energy surged around her fingers in a small burst and the locking mechanism on Jami's collar exploded outward, dropping the metal from her skin and leaving blood in it's wake, but she was free.

"This way!" It was a snarl as she started to run, trusting that the towering dragon-hybrid would be close behind her as they raced across the grounds. Jami hadn't been outside in weeks, but she remembered what the place looked like - vaguely - and she led them in the direction she knew a fence resided. Get over the fence, get into the trees and they'd have a chance! The female yelped as she ducked a bullet and then anger began to rise in her and she glanced back at the people following them, with a dark flicker in her eyes.

Jami snarled, spinning - and making sure she wasn't in Kain's way - and throwing her hand out. A concussive blast of energy hit the guards and they went flying back with cries. The female hybrid smirked, turning to run again, catching up with the male ahead of her and then pointing out their exit point. "There. Get to the trees. They'll help us." She didn't explain how or even if she really mean the trees themselves or just their coverage. The blond winced as deafening alarms started to blare and she cursed to see vehicles starting to give chase.

They were almost there! Just a little bit further....
 
Kain sped off when she did, following her and nearly clawing her with his feet as he did. He followed her until she suddenly whirled around. He had enough time to jump over her head as she blasted the rest of their pursuers. She was quick to catch up to him, but then they reached the fence. He heard the vehicles as well, and he had to make a choice. He could have easily leaped over the wall and left her there, but then he would have been... alone. He didn't want that. He didn't know.

He grabbed the back of the shirt she'd been given and picked her up. He skidded to a halt in front of the wall before snaking his arms around her waist and digging his feet into the ground. He then flapped his wings, tensed his muscles and flew up. He went as high as he could, which was only over the trees. He could see the winding road and all the leaves. It was spring, as far as he could tell. The branches were full and lively, and everything seemed to shine. He had helped Jami over the fence, and now they were free. They were able to go... home.

However, more shots rang out and everything changed. The vehicle was able to keep up with Kain's speed. He only ever carried himself when he flew. Having another person was something entirely new to him. He was slower, despite the warm wind he was catching underneath his wings.

The rattling sound of metal on metal signaled to him that the scientists had fast-firing on machine guns, and one of them got a lucky shot. The bullet whistled through the air and crashed into the forearm of his wing. There was a sick crack and Kain roared like he never had before. His wing had never been broken before so it was a new experience. He slipped from the altitude he was flying at, falling through the trees and smacking the ground with a hefty thump. He only managed to turn so Jami wouldn't be crushed underneath his chest. He shoved her away and pulled his wing down, cradling the broken end. He could feel the bones repairing themselves inside his skin, and he snarled in pain. Nothing felt like a broken bone fixing itself without a cast and time.

They just couldn't wait any longer for him to heal. He pushed himself to his feet, listening for the motor vehicles. He couldn't hear them, but there were footsteps and shouts. People were still looking for them. Growling with the smarting pain in his wing, he started forward again. Jami would direct him. He just wanted to get away.
 
Jami had given a yelp when he'd grabbed her shirt, hauling her off the ground and any scathing response she might have formulated at that kind of treatment - dammit, she wasn't a freaking dog! - was halted when he stopped and picked her up around the waist. His grip was strong, but Jami held onto his clothing nonetheless and she was incredibly surprised that he HADN'T left her. The female hybrid caught her breath as Kain started to fly and she didn't dare close her eyes even though she wanted to.

The sound of gunfire scared her, but Kain's sudden roar of pain, ringing in her ears and his sudden plummet made terror bloom in her chest and Jami gave a sharp, but short scream as they landed, finding herself rolling away from the dragon-hybrid as he shoved her off. Now, if he'd done that while NOT injured, she might have attacked him just on principle, but seeing as he was in some agony, she let it slide and got to her feet, feeling bruised and battered, but able to move.

She looked over Kain quickly, wishing they could stop for him, but knowing better as she started through the trees. She honestly didn't go in any particular direction except north right now. They'd have to leave the forest to really get their bearings and decide where they were headed.

It was slower going because of the nature of the forest, but after a short time and a few touches from Jami to the trunks they passed and the trees' canopies started to move. It was slow, creaking movement all around them as the leaves drew closer together, the branches shielding them, creating cover from the helicopter above. Roots protruded up out of the ground after their departure, making it far more difficult for those pursuing them to give chase.

The forest was helping them and Jami couldn't help but grin in triumph at the fact.
 
The trees groaned and lifted, flinging leaves in all directions. The roots snapped from the ground and settled on top of the dirt, threatening to trip anyone who tried to follow. He didn't know how she was doing it, but he felt claustrophobic. It felt like the trees wanted to collapse upon them, just as he'd felt the same about the walls in the facility when he'd first arrived. He hated it. Snapping at the air, Kain picked up his step, flattening his ears against the creaking trees. It drowned out the aircraft above, but he knew they were still chasing them. Something rose up in him, a familiar feeling. It was blood lust.

He was the predator, not the prey.

He unfurled his injured wing, giving it a test flap before he found it suitable for flying. He shot upward, ignoring the tree branches as he flew into the air. There were two helicopters and three armored vehicles on the ground. If he could pull them away from Jami, she could cover her tracks and he could meet her. Of course, he hadn't told her that, because he was concerned with something else. Something much more... bloody.

Kain flew straight at the first helicopter, snapping his way through the air and getting underneath it. He latched his claws into the metal and tore the bottom out from the flying vehicle. There were shouts inside as Kain snarled and bit the first man on the arm, dragging him down and shoving him through the hole he'd created. He wasted no time in grabbing the pilot by the back of his shirt, snapping the seat belt strapping him in. The man shriveled in fear as Kain roared in his face before the dragon hybrid forced him through the thick glass of the helicopter's wind shield. With no pilot, the vehicle spiraled out of control, exploding into shrapnel as it hit the ground. One vehicle swerved to avoid the blast but drove over a piece of the rotor and flipped.

Kain hovered in the air with the pilot as the other helicopter came up on him. A malignant grin crossed his face, the man turning white in his claws and screaming in pain as Kain crunched the man on the neck with his powerful jaws. The dragon hybrid licked up the blood from the almost-dead man's throat before he chucked him into the bladed rotor keeping the helicopter aloft. The blades were clogged with the shredded man's flesh and clothes, causing it to choke up and stop. The men inside tried to jump to safety, but the flying vehicle crashed into the road and burst into flame. Kain flew away back down into the trees, but he could hear the aftermath of his destruction. He managed to find Jami again, smelling her strange scent even over the smoke and blood coating his body and clothes. He landed beside her without a word, inspecting the man's dark blood on his claws before licking it up. Somehow, the death of those who'd tried to kill him tasted even better than it had before.

He could get used to being outside more often.
 
The branches had moved for the dragon-hybrid, not wanting to harm him and Jami had watched in bafflement and worry, some fear that maybe he was leaving her curling in her gut, but she sped on. She couldn't afford to stop, not now and the werewolf-hybrid continued to run, the trees shielding her from sight, but unable to block out the sounds of death above her. And then they couldn't shield her from their own agony as the metal from the sky crashed into them, setting them ablaze, cracking their bark. She screamed as the pain rippled through her and nearly dropped to her knees before forcefully shutting off her connection to the forest around her.

Tears streaked down her face as she stumbled to her feet to run again and she continued running, breathing ragged and her body burning until Kain landed beside her. She gasped, leaping back and looked at him, watching as he licked the blood clean. That wasn't what bothered her, though. No, she'd seen him do such an action many times over and the fact that he'd killed the people chasing them didn't concern her either.

No, the anger that sparked in her eyes was for a different reason entirely - for the destruction of the trees who had been helping them and his complete disregard for communication between them - and Jami balled her fists, teeth gritted, and something nearly tumbling from her lips before she stopped herself. No. This wasn't the time, nor the place and even if she said something...he wouldn't care.

And it was THAT which angered the female the most as she turned away. "Let's go." She started to run again, knowing he'd either follow he wouldn't. She had no control over Kain and she was starting to wonder if he held any loyalty to her at all. After all, he'd gotten what he wanted. He hardly needed her anymore.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.