[Issue 11] Licking Your Wounds

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:08 am

Nailah heard the scream and she does want to track it down but her shoulder is bleeding and self-preservation is taking precedence over the hunt. So she puts some distance between herself and John and Steph before catching her breath in the branches of a tree. Using part of the fabric of her dress she fashions a make-shift bandage for her arm and shoulder. Then she takes to the air to get an idea of the lay of the land.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:21 am

Once the immediate bleeding was stopped, Nailah felt a bit better. Perhaps better than she should, though the scent of blood lingered. A bit of warmth was felt around her wounds, and the limbs that bore them felt... surer, somehow.

The forest around her was thick and old, but the curve of the land suggested they were in a bit of a natural gully, where the fog pooled readily. Indeed, the fog was still all around her. It was hard to avoid the thought that this was the ideal stalking ground for a sublime creature such as her.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:31 am

She quietly glides through the air, the thought of flying off not even really occurring to her. That'd be admitting defeat and relinquishing this are to somebody else. So she keeps her eyes open for signs of the others though she's in no hurry. Let them tire each other out if they want.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:42 am

As she flew, her eyes were drawn to... movement, in one of the tree-tops.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:45 am

What have we here...

She sinks a little lower, mindful of where the wind is coming from to stay downwind of the movement.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:48 am

It was the older man from the pens. What possessed him to climb a tree was anyone's guess, but he seemed a bit more spry than one might have expected. The plain jumpsuit he was dressed in was torn in a couple places, and some blood was evident.

He was perched on a fairly stout limb, hunched over something that looked to be a collection of branches he was lashing together. At one point in frustration, he enlisted his teeth to help pull one of the lashings tight.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:01 pm

What is he doing... Is that a trap he's making?

She passes by a bit more closely on her next pass.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:03 pm

He almost seemed alerted for a moment, casting nervous eyes about as he looked over his shoulder. He missed seeing her though.

The structure he was lashing together almost looked like it was intended to be a glider...

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Oh no you don't. I already let the crocodile John and the wolf Stephanie have the ground for now.

She gains some height before going into a dive, aiming to grab the construction before pulling up again.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:15 pm

He tensed in surprise at her rapid descent, instinctually flattening himself against the tree trunk before suddenly realizing what she was after.

Just moments too late, as she managed to grab what he was working on.

"N-no. No!" He exclaimed, scrambling to keep his balance in the tree as he futilely tried to grasp at it before she carried it off.

The exertion caused some of the tears in his jumpsuit to open wider, and matted at edges of his clotted wounds there was a curious thing.

It looked like the beginnings of feathers.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:41 pm

Nailah takes a turn and lands in a nearby tree. Something about those feathers are nagging at her mind, but she can't quite place it right now.

"What's this?" she asks the old man. "Going to break your bones."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:29 pm

"That's my work! You... you can't take my work!"

He scratched nervously at one of the tears in his jumpsuit.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:36 pm

"Just did. What were you gonna do with it."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:38 pm

"It's mine!" He hissed, before breaking into a coughing fit that sounded a bit off.

"You wouldn't understand!"

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:50 pm

"I do. But I don't care. What were you gonna do with it?" she repeats herself, holding the glider as if she's about to smash it into the tree.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:52 pm

"N-no! Don't!" He flailed his arms before realizing his balance was precarious and clinging to the tree again.

"I... I..."

"...I need to fly."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:05 pm

"Sky's mine now."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:10 pm

"You don't have to do this! I... I wouldn't have bothered you!"

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:26 pm

"You are pretty pathetic..." she concedes.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:32 pm

"I've nothing against you! It's him I'm after for depriving me of my suit!"

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:46 pm

"You know where he is?" she asks, her mind snapping to bigger, more interesting prey.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:47 pm

"He's out there. Of course he's out there. Why else do you think he did this?"

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:54 pm

"Of course..." she mumbles, admitting to herself that she hadn't really thought about why they were here since she came to. "He thinks he's the top of the food chain..."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:59 pm

"It's all a sick game to him. He's never been quite right."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:03 pm

"Well he's bit off more than he can chew..." she growls.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:07 pm

"Keep telling yourself that," he said before another coughing fit came on that ended in an odd noise.

"He's... he's been at this longer than anyone."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:13 pm

"And now he's hunting more than just a winged cat."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:14 pm

"If he thought you'd be easy, he wouldn't have thrown you in here. It's how he thinks."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:27 pm

"And he took your suit why then? Not that you aren't absolutely terrifying, old man."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:32 pm

"Said it was a toy... I'll show him a damned toy..."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:36 pm

"Keep your toys then. But I see you get in my way I'll snap your neck."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:37 pm

"What do you think you're going to do?"

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:46 pm

"Defend my rightful place at the top."

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:47 pm

The man snorted.

"...welcome to it," he muttered.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:51 pm

"Pathetic..." she mumbles and takes to the air again, leaving the glider behind.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:53 pm

And it felt... heavenly, as she flew away. Seeing him scurry to retrieve the glider. The forest spreading out below her. Even her wounds didn't seem to trouble her. If anything, the bandages felt constraining to her movement.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:59 pm

After flying far enough to be certain she's quite a bit away from the others (and the Vulture, though he doesn't rank very high in her list of concerns) she finds a nice rocky cliff to land on. Once she's convinced it's safe she peels away the bandaging.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:03 pm

It was a relief as she did so. The bandages almost felt too tight, and beneath she found the wounds had closed rather well...

...save for the new presence of tawny hairs sprouting around their edges.

Beneath the skin, the play of muscle and sinew was obvious in her arm. It felt stronger, it moved readily, quickly.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:13 pm

There was a time when this would have worried her, but that seems distant, not important. Now she just grins and drops onto all fours. Then she glances at the horizon. She needs to find a safe place for the night. The wolf and the lizard would probably go on the prowl then if they haven't taken care of each other.

by **Narrator** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:18 pm

Her wounded arm tensed pleasingly as she put weight on it, the clotted wounds knitting further as the hair surrounding them thickened and spread.

The gully below them was rife with hiding places. The fog obscured much, which was both a blessing and a danger. Many of the trees were large enough to bear a considerable amount of weight, and the cliffsides themselves were reasonably defensible at spots.

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