Distant Entrapment (nikuvillain)

The gentle breeze rustled through the trees, while Mahalia sat under a strong oak tree, watching the clouds flit past the forest in her Dome room. She occasionally looked over at the white mass that was Worm as it clung to her arm, having come out of one of her wrists. Do you even know how nervous you make me… Worm?

The puffy creature turned it’s black oval eyes towards her, and grinned, seemingly unable to hear her thought. It’s attention was quickly shifted as it watched a small jay fly by, before turning it’s head fully around, it’s eyes were where it’s mouth used to be. “D-do you want me to pet you…?” Worm gurgled and smiled back at her, as she slowly reached out and rubbed under it’s chin.

“You like that…?” It only opened one eye in response, before it seemed to croak, and vanished back into her arm. The shapeshifter blinked for a moment, before she slowly stood up, and noticed the sky beginning to turn orange and pink as evening came. Her red cloth pants, despite being pinned by the gray leather, began to catch the breeze as she started to run back to her cabin and the trees began to turn dull in the dying light however, even faster than she thought was possible. I must have wandered farther than I thought…

Her footsteps started to echo, and Mahalia looked down, only to see a blank stone slab around her. “This doesn’t feel right…” After taking another step, the slab quickly vanished, and the female dropped into the darkness.

Landing with a light thud, and having landed in a bush, the teen slowly crawled out and looked around the area. Everything seemed just as dark as the forest she was in before she had met Hunter, her Dome teacher; just a mass of dark blues and blacks. Wh-where am I? Leaning against what seemed to be a pine tree, Mahalia checked herself over for any wounds, and thankfully found none.

The night sky held no moon, and the wind only brought the sounds of wolves howling. A chill ran up her spine before the shapeshifter became limp and blind. After the sheet of red fell, a low growl came from where the girl had stood, and an undead wolf darted away from the small clearing, heading towards the distant howling.

The young boy walked to the dark old forest lost. He hadn’t seen one sign of live for many hours now. The old rotten trees and the decaying ground creped him. His hand brushed against the sickly trees as he fought with his little body to climb over the few rocks. A deep feeling of sadness over whelmed him seeing this dieing forest. His staff helped him climb up the larger hills as he make his way somewhere.

He stopped staring at the first fallen tree in his path since enter the forest. Even though the tree it self was dead he could see the life that grew. One life end another starts. That the way it works. He closed his eyes prying that the tree finds pace in its new life. His long hair hung down the side of his shoulder as if it was pay respect too.

The light breeze passed by him lifting the young boy’s hair against his chin. The soft touch of his hair made him look down wondering how it got out of his hood. I should cut this hair, but no every time I try, people make fun of it. He tucked it back into hood before continuing on his way.

The sharp howling startled him as he fell to the ground. Wolves? He heard it again almost as they were crying. Life? Maybe they know the way out. He stood back up patting the dead leaves of his clothes. “I just I better hurry before the sound goes away. “

He spun his staff in his hand before holding it in front of him. A dark mist like shadow formed around him slowly forming into a small broad hovering in the air. It lowered to the ground and Marmion stepped on his creation as it hovered back into the air.

The undead beast continued on it’s path towards the sounds, jumping over rocks, cliffs and logs to reach them. Why are they crying like that? I don’t think it’s a mourning cry… Mahalia was taught how to understand animals from her clan, since she would take a shape of one of them eventually. She especially paid attention to the various wolf howls and cries at night, and learned how to understand them on her own, since no wolves cried during her daily teachings.

The wounded wolf skidded on a small cliff above the howling wolves, and glimpsed some dancing torches and shadows of men. They’re being hunted… Poor things. Her form responded to her emotion, her slight anger at the scene, and bounded down towards them, Worm gurgling with a growl of sorts.

“We must hurry shadow board!” His eyes fixed on the distant darkness as darkness under him hovered through the woods. His heart raced, trying to pound a hole through his skin. He feared the worst as he quickly made his way pass the trees and dead breaches that laid in his path. The board drifted through the sky soaring, dodging and flipping through the tangling and twisted path. He could hear the criers of the pack grow louder and louder as he grew closer and closer to them.

I hope I make it.

A few more minutes passed and he could finally see parts of the battle zone through the trees. He slowed watching the evil spreading through the forest. The young and old all being shot down or caught in nets. He hear the sound of cage doors opening and closing off in the distant

“Round them up boys! Tonight we drink and become rich!”

“Boss, look off on the cliff. It looks pissed and rare. Maybe we that the mother load we’ve been looking for?”

“Ah. Yes, I see it. It does like a fine wolf and I do believe someone will give us a hug amount of money for it.”

What? You’ve got to be kidding? They are hunting them for money? They are hunting them! Don’t they see that? NO! It got to stop! He thought, gripping the handle of his staff. Shadow from his magic seeped out of his staff as it feed off his anger.

As Marmion looked on he saw what he could only guess was the rare wolf they were talking about earlier speed pass his sight. He caught enough to notice that it appeared to him it was already hunt from fighting. As the wolf stopped to dodge one of the darts he notice that skin seemed to be missing in many spots and its tail was mostly bone.

What? What going on?

“What that?”

“Watch out!” He heard one of the trees scream as he fell to the ground. He heard the sound of a drat land in one of the trees behind him.

He growled deep in his throat as the darkness that swirled around lifted him up off the ground. “Enough!” He yelled as a small bullet size shadow shot at the man. The shadow hit and blew him off his feet and onto the ground. Marmion shadow board shot out from the woods and his glanced down at the sight of the baby wolves being tossed into shacks and tied shut.

“What that boss!” The man he just shot asked holding his mid section as he made his way up.

“I don’t know, but it would be worth something. Catch it us the rest of them men!”

(OoC: I know there's not much in here, but it's all I could come up with. ^.^' )

Darts were getting stuck in her fur, but whatever was on or in them didn't affect her in the slightest. Of course, most of everything was a blur, except the random stop as Mahalia attempted to bite another of the hunters.

The brute of a man staggered, before he whipped her against a tree, causing a slight crack to ring out. Her 'growl' got louder as Worm lunged at the man, sinking it's teeth into his arm. “**** monster!” Wrenching her off of him, the hunter threw her to to the ground. Then pinned Worm's neck to a tree, going flat as paper, causing it's eyes to bulge as it let go of his arm.

The hunter jumped back as a weighted net was flung over her, and tugged back, entangling her inside as she was dragged towards a cage inside of the vehicle, and flung into it. Worm retreated back inside, as Mahalia chewed away at the bars.

“Shoot it down boys! We don’t have much left!” one of the men said as the young boy hovered over his head. Marmion shoot balls of shadow pass and around the man trying to get them to back off. He dodged pass the nets that flew up in his way. Everything became a blur to him as his rage grew. One after another he heard more wolves being caught. He’d lost control of his senses as his raged blindly at the leader of the band.

“Come on. Got you!” The man said as he gripped his gun and shot him three times. One in his right arm; his hand and the finally at the staff that flew out of his hand. His hover board begun to disappear as his magical powers grew weak do to the lost of his staff.

“I got his boss!” Another one said as his shot Marmion one last time with a tranquilizer.

“Good. Throw him in a cage next to that odd wolf we caught. We been getting some good money for those two.” The man said laughing as he got in the truck with his two prizes in the back.

***

Marmion heard the sounds of wolves howling in his ear. His eyes open to a dimly lit room and found himself chained up like a dog. His neck unable to move from the thick metal collar around his neck. He glade around seeing the bars of his cell and a odd wolf laying only a few feet away. It wasn’t chained like him though it seem to still be asleep.

“Poor things. I wish I was better help back there.” He said to all the wolves as a tears follow down his face.

(OoC: The words inside of the brackets is my translation for Worm's speech.)

The undead wolf just lied there, as Mahalia kept her eyes shut, trying to drown out the cries. Why do they do this...? Worm twitched inside her hollow ribcage as it sensed that everything became still. It peered through a hole and watched the wolves for a bit, before it shifted to see the boy.

The maggot-thing slithered out of a different hole, near the shapeshifter's spine, and gurgled at the boy. [It's not your fault...]

Hmm… Who was that? Marmion thought to himself as he glade around his cell. Nothing had changed, but he looked puzzled as he tired to drown out the wolves cries. “Quiet please? I sorry for not being able to fight them off.” He said them all as he shook his head fling the tears out his tears. “I should have tried to kill them and not just scare them. I know!”

His pleads didn’t nothing to dull the sounds of the wolves. He rested his head again viewing the one he cell as more tears came from his eyes. “Look at this one. Hurt the most because I would kill them when I have my chance. I sorry to you the most-”

Worm extended closer to the boy, and gurgled again, before it looked around at the other wolves for a moment. [She's not hurt. That's how she is.]

This time, Worm's face was right in front of Marmion's, but not too close. [You did you're best.]

Hmm… I heard it again. Who is that? He thought to himself again glancing around the room more closely. As he looked he saw what could be talking to him only about a foot away. “Is that little one talking to me? If it is than you should know I haven’t tried my best. I failed to save any of them.”

He thought back on it words wondering what it could have meant, by “that how she is” “What do you mean that how she is? Wait it a she! It going to eat me when it awaken for sure now. The females are the worst to calm down when they feel they are endanger. You should run before it wake up.”

(OoC: Short, again. In it's Land form of course.)

[You are odd for a person, aren't you?] Worm looked back at the undead wolf for a moment. [Eat you?] It made an odd sound, similar to laughing, [She's not going to eat you, and she's not sleeping. The girl is just trying to drown out the wolves' cries.] Touching the ground with one of it's formed hands, the creature vanished into a red glow. When the glow faded, the maggot-thing had grown 3 more legs, and 2 spikes along it's tail, but it was separate from Mahalia.

[There we go. She can't talk though, not even to me...]

“It can’t talk? What kind of wolf is she than? I’ve never met something that couldn’t talk back to me.” He thought about what he just heard. It was a shocker even to him to find something that couldn’t talk to him. “Could it be she doesn’t know how to talk?” He asked thinking that to be a possibility.

“Is she ok then? I haven’t see it move?” He asked moving closer feeling the chain around his neck tightening. “Stupid chain! Being chained like this. How weak am I? I can’t ever do anything right.”

[She's not truly a wolf, at least most of the time. Mahalia can't talk at all when she's like that, nothing in there...]

A door creaked open, and Worm scampered back into the undead wolf's ribcage, as one of the trapper's walked in. "Shut yer yaps, you mangy mutts," as he smashed a metal pipe on a metal plate, causing the impact to ring everything inside with a deafening echo.

Walking over to where Marmion and Mahalia were, he kept the pipe on his shoulder. "Don't know what you two are, but 'm sure you'll be money makers for us," the gruff man said as he smiled and left the room, turning the light off as he left.

Worm just poked it's head out of another hole in her chest, before it poked Mahalia on the head. She looked up, stopping to look at Marmion.

Marmion found the news hard to understand, but he didn’t question it. He watched the man careful behind his long hair that covered his face. Anger grew stronger, deep within him wondering how he could break out. He snapped and twisted his chained up body feeling helplessly. The wolves around his chain stirred more with the sound of the chains ring through the air.

“Damn it!” Marmion screamed yanking his neck forward feeling the iron around his throat choke him. He feel to the ground in pain from fighting to free himself. “Why? If I had a key I could free myself.”

“Umm… Creature what is the wolf when it not a wolf?”

Mahalia tilted her head, as she saw Marmion talk. Huh? She moved closer towards him, but doubled back when he thrashed.

[She's a shapeshifter, so her original form is a human. One thing though... she can't control when she shifts.] It chuckled again, [I forgot. Mahalia here,] pokes the wolf on her head again, [and I'm Worm, she gave me the name. What about you?]

“I’m Marmion though right now I wish I wasn’t.” He said feeling his pitiful self drowning in shame. “Anyway, I have a idea if you’re willing to help me, Us, out.” He said trying to focus on the goal of getting out. “I need the key to these chains around me. If I’m free I might be able to get us all out of here.” He pause for a second letting worm thing about what he said.

“If not I understand. You have a life you might not want to risk like that, but if you think you could it would be a great help in free us all!” He said smile for the first time since they met. “What will it be?”

(OoC: Short, again.)

Mahalia finally reacted, and moved towards the boy, while Worm looked around the room a bit more. She sat next to him now, putting her head on his shoulder. Don't look so upset.

Worm came back out, returning to all fours. [I can understand what you mean... Marmion...] It stalled with his name, as if to try and sound it out. [I'm the only one that can get out of here, at least for now.] The maggot-thing then slithered out of the cage and vanished from view for a moment, starting it's hunt for any key.

Don’t worry little wolf. I’ll get us out of here somehow. Marmion thought hoping the little creator could find the keys quickly. He want to show the wolf he understood her worries but he could with the chains that keep him tied up. He just stared at her hoping that she would understand his thoughts.

Hurry up Worm and don’t let them see you. I can’t have your death on me also. A tear dropped from his eyes worried if it could do what he asked of it.

(OoC: Sorry it took so long to post, kept getting distracted. @.@ )

Worm continued to move through the air ducts, and a shot blasted through the panel in front of it, from a drunken hunter's misfire. It sprinted down and glanced into another room, unable to find any keys from the eight rooms it looked in, until it came face to face with a shotgun. "What the heck are you?"

Mahalia felt her bit of control slip, and her vision clouded up even more. Her eyes changed to something that resembled annoyance. She bit one of the chains holding Marmion, and the chain actually began to dissolve.

What in the-? Did she- it- do to the chain? His eyes stared in confusion at the wolf that sat in the same cell as him. He could believe his arms where free with the need of a key. He feel his skin for damage as wolf seem to started working on the one that held his neck in place. He could be it had enough bit or whatever it was to break the metal.

“Thank you miss wolf.” He said knowing it would be able to understand him at all. He took his hand and hovered it over her head hoping it would allow his to pet her now that his arms where free. “Now your buddy needs to come back.” He said taking a good look around for thing that could stop him. He wasn’t to sure what he needed, but he had to himself focus on getting out.

“Do you think the little guy would know? I wish right now I had other human to help me right now. I’m not good with this stuff.” He said not really caring if all the wolves heard him. He know that the human that caught him wouldn’t know what he had said.