escape from the city

The forest was dense with large oaks, their robust trunks laying the foundation for the way in which each branch allowed its canopy to reach out and loom overhead with a sense of everlasting protection and strength. The earth beneath his paws felt damp to the touch, rich in dark brown hues as it was disturbed by the footprints of critters and bigger mammals who roamed the Glisan forest. the ferns interspersed over the forest floor amongst a variety of other plants bearing often bright colourful flowers or moss meant that it had barely seen the touch from a human and the subtle breeze danced through the air bringing fresh scents of delight that the forest features had produced. It was a far cry from the cold slap of ocean air from the docks, smoke from a fast food restaurant or the stale pub smell the Rusty inn had to offer. but again, Glisan forest brought something else. It brought a sense of relaxation Tate found he couldn't freely enjoy around Muchani city for the inconvenience of shifting in the presence of someone who couldn't handle or had never handled the experience before, or in front of some trigger happy, shifter killing idiot.

It was rare to see Tate out of Muchani given lately that he had appeared to make his home there but there was another side, a primal instinctual side which he could barely contain at times. although it was day the Glisan forest provided enough darkness to allow travel through the shadows and in swift movement and the subtle shudder of the leaves which concealed such a mysterious realm the streams of black mist sleekly slid out from the shadows, entwining as though in a courtship dance. As the breeze had picked up with urgency the mist thickened as it flooded the forest floor into a puddle, its consistency and colour like black oil. The puddle bubbled and grew with rapid force as the leaves protecting the Shadow slowly eased from the disturbance before the mass formed the resemblance of a wolf. Its eyes were steely grey, the mist dripping and dissipating to reveal thick black fur and a face marked with scars.

the wolf padded forward from where he had appeared, stretching himself out and taking a moment to yawn and observe the immediate surroundings. His tongue idly licked the edges of his muzzle before he lifted his head to the wind, taking in the scents upon the air whilst his ears twitched, tuning into the sounds around him. It always took a minute to adjust to the canine sensitivities with Tate having learnt long ago to be careful about where he shifted. with his tail high he trotted, his gait short and guarded given the unknown territory

(all good )

Four legs and being closer to the ground was a hell of a lot different to his human form though it took a mere moment for Tate to find a comfortable pace, eventually lengthening into a paced run. His tail was still high, his expression simply content as the wind hit his maw with fresh welcoming abandon. He could hear distant disturbances of leaves and saplings though it did not warrant his attention, the forest was no doubt home to a myriad of animals. His fur was slick against his body and was surprisingly short considering during the spring many would still be losing their winter coats. It displayed the degree of which Tate had stayed in human form though he was hardly effected by the cold temperatures given his elemental genes saw his core temperature quite high. His paws pushed into the earth, using the energy transfer in his muscles to recoil and propel through his bounds, increasing his speed of travel with minimal exertion. This all came to an abrupt end however when the clarity of a voice occupied the space before him, feminine in sound and matching the emergence of a single wolf, pelt as black as midnight and eyes which matched, save for the white ring which would no doubt be the only giveaway in the darkness of night. She stood with the same air of dominance, though as Tate’s front paws slammed into the dirt and his hind quarters bunched as his form halted mid run he did not lose anything from his own presence.

He wondered if this being had more beneath the surface, if she were alike to his kin and could shift to another form. The thought was fleeting since he took a calculation of her size and actions whilst he stepped forward, flexing his hind legs back up straight, tail swaying like a metronome and his back rippling as his pelt bristled with hackles raising along his back to the tip of his tail. Lips curled as he let out a confronting growl, rumbling through his chest as his eyes looked upon her wildly. Given Tate knew nothing of this wolf, nor if she were alone he would never approach like a dumfounded pup. She had stood with a dominant grace and as such he knew she was not a subordinate. A lone wolf like himself perhaps?

“just when I find peace and quiet” he returned sarcastically, walking towards her with a much slower and calculated pace. He considered the position and why she had announced herself rather then play to the element of being hidden.

“got a pack?” he asked bluntly, there was no hiding his own agenda in the meeting. If he ever wanted to know something he was going to damn well ask. As he reached the female he lifted his head a little higher to catch her scent, though his lips did not lower, bearing gums and teeth while he sussed her out.

With a predictable response the female bore her teeth, exposing reddened gums in a threatening manner which reflected his own posturing. At least this wolf wasn’t stupid he thought as she stepped cautiously to the side and in turn seemed to take delight in observing his characteristics.

“get a good look then” Tate quipped as he tilted his head slightly, pacing towards her before she pointed out the obvious. Of course she wouldn’t give him the truth of the answer and it bore the question of whether she was truly alone. He had experienced such before, a deliberately shrouded pack scent before being ambushed by a pack of wolves though that had been long before these lands and it was more common of hunters to do such a thing with their manufactured baits and whistles and hunting equipment. The response he gathered was one of two things, she had a pack or she was making a bluff statement which in the scheme of things coupled with the fact that her scent was fresh and singular he doubled on the latter. He didn’t dwell on the fact of being answered with another question, instead taking the opportunity when she had put space between them to circle her. His tail lowered, his body and tail now streamline as he circled her, his head tilted in as his eyes stalked down upon her like prey. His ears however did not flatten, instead they sat high, twitching as he listened to both her and the surroundings.

‘your better of dying as they may be the only time you get any rest’
Oh how right she was as Tate let out a well rounded laugh at her comment. In truth his occasional escapes from the city were only to be able to shift and stretch his animal instincts out, since moving from Rockford he had not had a decent time to spend roaming and living in any other form then human. It wasn’t that he hated his abilities, it was more so the everlasting issue of bounty hunters and fearful mortals who couldn’t accept beings other than their own type. As he rounded to the front of her he stopped, lowering his lips from the threatening posture but remaining as bold as he was, tail lightly flicking left to right and his head high. The wolf was quick to take his sarcasm as truth as to why he was there and for the most part, she was correct. He listened to her question and promptly answered

“Tate and you are?” he returned. He figured she would return a smartass comment from the way she had already spoken though he wouldn’t care too much for her name, there were plenty he could make up for himself. In the time he had circled her he determined they were well and truly alone and his thoughts were on her actions and tone. Defiant females were not to be taken for fools, and even if she seemed to be quickly on the defiant and defensive threatening side there were obvious parts he could exploit. The course ahead purely lay in what interested him and how it would give some benefit to the occasion if any at all.

Tate’s body had been positioned standing opposite the female wolf, tail extending along from the body in streamline and his head high though it was not out of range from the next oncoming collision course. It was not unusual for Tate to offend a female of any shape or form, and then again he had offended just about anyone he had encountered over the years. With fluid movement the wolf had sprung from her position, the recoil of her legs showing there was decent muscle under her grown pelt. Her ears had flattened with reds and teeth exposed. Instinctively Tate’s ears flicked straight forward as his forehead furrowed, the flesh of his snout wrinkling as his lips curled in response to the oncoming snap. He was given a name in response to his question and then some. It was centimeters from the tip of his snout, close enough that the audible pop and snap sound of the females jaw bone and teeth radiated as she snapped them together in warning.

An exhaustive rush of air from the motion bristled through his whiskers and hit his tongue as he pulled it in sharply to avoid damage. It may have been a warning but Tate did not take kindly to the display, his growl savage as the hot air from his lungs snuffled in a short burst from his nose. Hind legs were steady and charged while Tate slid his front paws up and to the side. He lunged to the left of the female twisting his body in such a way that his hind legs lifted as his front paws landed in line with the females shoulder, his back half flinging off to realign with the remainder of his body. It was a defensive act to avoid connection with the hind quarters or rump. Tate’s head turned inwards as his tongue sat retracted against the back of his mouth and jaws opened with fierce abandon for the female’s neck. As his hind legs landed and kicked up a plume of dust the downward motion allowed his hind quarters to bunch and his body sink momentarily low to the ground. Tate propelled upwards to the jugular with attack in mind.

His teeth grazed passed the indented point of impact, and by the time his lower and upper jaws connected tightly he had only managed to seize a small clump of skin and fur close to her neck. Tate was not in the mood for walking away or playing nicely and evidently Eclipse was not either. why she so desperately needed to assert her place he did not know nor did he care, but it was very much unlike Tate to simply let someone get snappy without answering the call. Funnily enough it had been more so in human form then in wolven. His body thwacked hard against the female as his four paws dug into the earth, latching on to the scruff of her neck until the female sank her teeth into his throat. It was a hard bite and not in a place Tate would have preferred should it have come to it, though as she dragged him backwards with the force applied to his throat his growl curled through stages of a painful howl and rumbling challenge. His tail wagged stiffly as the dust rose around the two of them and Tate used his body against Eclipse’s to push against her while he pulled his head upwards. Warm wetness dribbled from his throat where Eclipse’s jaws gnashed into his fur, teeth having pieced through his skin. The crimson blood dampened against his fur, though amongst the black tufts of his pelt it was hard to distinguish the colour.

Pulling his head up whilst Eclipse had a firm hold on his throat, Tate lifted his front leg innermost to Eclipse and pressed it over her back between her shoulders. He reached out as he twisted his head, angling his jaws and sliding his bottom over the side of her head to catch the fleshy part of her ear and crown of her head while pushing his paw into her back to force her jaws away from his throat, his growls and whines shuddering through the wall of his chest. If the bitch wanted a fight he’d damn well give her one, with the reminder in the back of his mind that she could very well have company. his hind legs held the bottom portion of his body frame while his other front paw lifted, placing the force in his hind legs as they remained affix to push them sideways.

Amidst the pain of teeth gripped into his flesh and the consistent flow of adrenaline in his system Tate’s demeanor had focused down solely to animal instinct. The more they fought the further distant his humanity separated from his conscience, the stimulated flow of chemicals in his genes activating the fight and flight response of his brain. It was down to survival of the fittest in his world and ruthless abandonment had ensured his continued existence on plenty of occasions. His throat took damage as was expected from the grasp and in response to the pain he locked his jaws around eclipse’s ear and the fleshy portion connecting her ear to the remainder of her head. The tension rippled through his jaw as he increased the pressure, puncturing the hook of his premolar through the skin of Eclipse’s ear while his canines and incisors dug into the flesh surrounding her ear. It was offensive but also served as a defense against the locked hold that she had on his throat. Their bodies were locked into a tug of war with each other and whilst Tate had initially moved against Eclipse he soon found the pain response which recalculated his strategy. His body moved more willingly with Eclipse as she dragged as not to increase the rate of which her canines tore into the flesh. Her premolars would serve as back up to the crushing force of her jaw and in light of the position it was far smarter of him to realign himself, moving with her before moving into take a strike again and hopefully free himself from the grasp she had.

While his outside paw had lowered through the natural movement backwards of their bodies, his innermost leg to her still braced over her shoulders, the tips of his claws digging in as he raked his leg over her shoulder whilst pressing downwards to both pin and claw, the aim to find friction and stability through digging his claws into her pelt and upper layer of skin so that it would further assist on pinning her down and forcing her to release the grip of his throat. As they moved further across the terrain Eclipse shook her upper body and head as though he were a meal, a move which Tate immediately recognised as one which had the force and potential to do more damage. It would be interesting later to see whether he would be able to shift back to his human form given the location of the bite and how he would be able to explain away to the people he resided near in Muchani city. It was easy when a shifter lived as a wolf, wounds weren’t an issue but having to explain to someone who knew nothing about supernatural creatures was tedious and in Tate’s opinion much more of a hassle then it was worth of his time.

The last thing on Tate’s mind was his surroundings at that point, simply following the chaotic motion of Eclipse’s shake and using the same to tear at her ear and head with the intent on leaving her with a reminder of their encounter. It was not over territory, simply the introduction of each others presence and it begged to question what the interaction would have been if it were over a prize of some sort. This was purely down to stubbornness and pride. Amidst the shaking and jarring of their bodies Tate soon felt air where Eclipse’s rump had been and the sharp sensation of weight applied to her hold on his throat. Blood spilt from the wound as her canines found new flesh and he released a wounded snarl. It was only then that he had come to realise where their fighting dance had led them and the quandary of Eclipse slipping on the lip of the embankment leading into the ravine below. The pain had dramatically intensified and his spine arched as his tail curled in natural reaction. Paws dug deep into the ground like pillars of cement as the front of his body dragged towards the edge from the weight of Eclipse. It was the prime opportunity to win the fight that had developed.

There were complications of course, to edge closer to the threshold and allow Eclipse the mouthful of flesh she had from his throat but of course there was the consideration of devastating injury from said manoeuvre. It could tear at nerves and blood vessels; it could potentially burst an artery or his windpipe should she jag upwards in the attempt to hang desperately on. The terrain beneath his paws could give way sending them both hurtling into the ravine below to what would be considered detrimental physically or even fatal. It was not down to wanting to save a damsel in distress; it was purely what kept him alive and fit. For a moment his wild eyes held what he could see her in his gaze, his thoughts on what was the better decision when at last he lowered his head steeply down, keeping both her front and his against the ground to distribute the weight between them and use the ground as leverage. His eyes closed to bear through the pain of the hold of his throat while he tightened the lock on his own bite. She would not go unharmed if he was to drag her arse back from the ledge. Slowly and he stepped backwards inch by inch, the grunting of his breath rapid as his nose snaffled in the thick pelt and flesh of Eclipse. His tail lifted back in line with his body so that he could shuffle his body backwards without hindrance, his chest scraping against the earth.

Had he not had a mouthful of fur and flesh Tate would have told Eclipse to get stuffed in a plethora of unpleasant ways in reply to the instructions though his mind focused more on doing exactly what she had tried to instruct him on. He could see her hind legs scratching at the earth to gain a foothold and with their efforts combined it assisted to give them a solid bearing. She had proved to him through the fight and the current display that she had determination and focus, a fire in her that he hadn’t too often seen with some of the females who came and went in his life for whatever reasons. It reminded him of his niece Willow but he suppressed the thought to save the complication of emotions. Those just made shit far too complicated. The muffled instruction and the way she had interacted with him showed that same quality of leadership and from that he could gather she was definitely independent. Tate couldn’t lie that he was not a little curious as to what her story might have been but in the long run it made no difference to his life, just two ships passing in the night was an underlying rule which kept life simple and pleasant.

The fur on his chest beneath his neck was slick with blood, quickly becoming matted as the initial flow had begun to congeal under the fresh liquid which slid over the top. It would slowly seep each time he felt the tug and tear from applied weight and the pull of their actions. Using the way they had become entwined, Tate was able to drag Eclipse back from the ledge, stopping the motion when they were a good metre or two back from the ledge. Apart of him purely from the infliction of pain through her bite wanted to take an opportunity to push her off the ledge but he decided against it, there was no point after having spent the time pulling them back from it. When he stopped his back lowered and perhaps to his own surprise more so than anything else he chose to let go of her instead of waiting for her to detach first. They were both injured and they had fought for no particular reason but most of all, he had taken delight in it. Tate fought as a job but in human form and pounding the crap out of an opponent was very different to the way in which they had just torn the shit out of each other. Despite the feeling of pain from his wounds or the fact that Eclipse still had one hell of a grip on his neck he began to let out a husky chuckle, a lot lower given the fact that his throat had sustained damage. His ears had flattened showing he felt the pain of his wound but he continued to chuckle and puff out a sharp breath to huff the fur he had stuck in his mouth from her. He had a mixture of her blood on his tongue but not without the taste of his own, the taste of copper and salt strangely tasteful.
(Sorry its short i'm in the middle of work)

There was an inward groan when Tate’s mind flicked over the historical reel of hector and his reactions to when Tate had come to training looking like he had gone a few round with a train, imagining what his trainer would have said given the chance. The memory brought the same familiar scents of old stale cigar smoke and cheap coffee, mingled with sweat from an old overweight man who rarely seemed to shower. It sounded disgusting to say the least but it was oddly nostalgic when it came to reminiscing about fights at his original hometown and later in Rockford. Of course nowadays it was down to himself and whatever he thought about the situation, Hector long gone from a heart attack which had no doubt been due to the lifestyle factor and stress, from god knows what Tate would never be able to tell but the old man was always bitching about it. Though in the past Hector would have had the on- site medic tend to Tate this situation was completely different. It begged the question as to what Tate would need to do about the large gash on his neck, the air thick with the stench of blood and wet fur. While he could heal a little quicker as a shifter naturally in contrast to humans he was in no way equipped with any power to miraculously heal himself and it was a decent travel back to the city from whence he came. In light of the question Tate quickly decided it was more reasonable for him to take it easy heading back to Muchani city rather than continue what he had originally planned as his relaxing getaway. He would need to shift to get into the hospital otherwise he would have to front up as a wolf to a vet center or wildlife rescue facility and no matter how much Tate was used to being a shifter, the thought of some vet sticking a thermometer up his backside was not at all in his scope of acceptability.

With relief, Eclipse let go of his neck and gave him the space which was generally needed at that point. When he finally stopped laughing Tate felt the full burning sensation of his wounds; the air hitting exposed flesh and nerve endings sending messages to the brain. If he hadn’t have expected such he may have been in shock but he was well aware of what he was getting into at the time. He had spat the remainder of fur from his mouth and licked his maw clean. His eyes observed her as he thought, watching her for a few moments before he slowly stood, kicking his hind legs to rid his fur of the dirt which had stuck to his side. He limited the movement of his torso to what was essentially required to move to his next place, reducing the potential for increased injury. Eclipse had given him a great run and he had enjoyed the delight of a savage encounter but this was where things came to an end. He said nothing, no goodbyes or smarmy comments because it just wasn’t his style. Instead Tate flicked his tail upwards, the same authoritative flick which served as warning to stay clear as he walked off through the thick brush, pushing past the brush of foliage which sprung back gingerly coated with the scent and occasional droplet of his blood.


*end of*