Post by luca on Nov 27, 2009 20:32:56 GMT -5
"And look! This one is yellow! See, Luca? Which is better? The yellow one or the green one? I'm not sure. Which do you think?" The young boy continued to ramble on as he sat on the back of the make-shift wagon that was bringing the small convoy towards The Haven. " That's enough Max! Leave the man alone." The biting voice of Susan, as Luca had learned was her name, silenced the young lad as he continued to rifle through his collection of marbles. However, the Dragon only smiled at the young boy. "Yellow, Max. You know why? It matches my eyes." Max looked up, a look of shock on his faces as he noticed for the first time the eyes of Luca where in fact a matching shade as that of his precious marble. "You're right, Luca! Well then here! I want you to have it!" Max had practically forced the marble onto the Dragon, but he couldn't break the boys heart by turning it down for no good reason so he had taken it with a smile and a thank-you.
"I'm sorry about him, Luca. It's just ever since we've been on the road everyone has had such a close eye on him, with him being the only child and all. They don't let him stray, they barely let him play. Gets all that energy stored up in him." At the conclusion of her words, she had then smiled at her son, ruffling his hair playfully before planting a big kiss on his cheek. Of course Max, being at that age where fighting against parental affection was natural, had fussed against her display of affection towards him. He had even gone as far to fake gag at the kiss, though he had a smile on his face the whole time.
Watching the two of them, Luca couldn't help but feel a sense of protection over them. The Dragon had met up with them a few days ago. They where sticking to the outskirts of the city with there little train of two wagons, hoping it would attract less attention from unwanted guests. At first the rag-tag group of Humans had been against letting the WereBeast join there ranks, but between the assurances of Luca himself that he had no desire to harm any of them, and the general good-will of their Leader, a man named Brian, they had decided to let him come along. Quickly these Humans had learned that Luca had been just as he had promised; helpful, non-threatening, and wanting to get them to the Haven alive.
" I'm sick of riding in this wagon! Can I get out yet!? Please? I promise I won't go far! I promise I'll stay close!" The way Max was pleading with his mother was making a simple bit of playtime sound like a matter of life and death, and although she hated making her child happy, Susan had refused with concrete resolve. Like all children Max had fought and argued, he'd bickered and squabbled; but Susan had stayed firm. "Max, if you promise to stay close, when we stop tonight to make camp I'll let you come with me to gather firewood, alright?" Before he had even finished his sentence Max had jumped up in the wagon shouting in joy, screaming how he was going to find the most firewood, how he was going to be the best. Susan, and in fact all of the adults watched the child and couldn't help but laugh and enjoy themselves. Luca included.
A few hours later Luca was walking along, a bundle of wood secured in his arms and Max bouncing along grabbing every stick he could find, and half the time throwing it at Luca as opposed to just handing it to him. However, the Dragon didn't mind it one bit. Watching the child go about his way, talking to himself at random times about the most interesting topics; it just felt like something he understood. He had been a Father, he had gone through this with his own daughter, and although it killed him every night and day to think about where she had gone, where she had ended up; the fact that in the here and now he was with Max helped ease that ache.
Noticing how far ahead of him Max had gotten, Luca stopped and shouted at the child. "Max come on! It's time to get back to camp!" For a few seconds he got no response, and then a few more passed. A knot began to tighten in the pit of Luca's stomach, paranoia entering his thoughts. "Max!" Dropping the bundle of sticks the Dragon sprinted forwards, and then stopped dead in his tracks. Before him what he saw took his breath away; Max had found a god damn puppy. "I named him Steven! Can I keep him? Please, Luca? Please...." Sighing a heave of relief, the Dragon walked toward the pair of them, and lifting Max in one arm and Steven in the other he only laughed. "I don't give a fuck if you keep ten."
After a nice hot meal, some talking around a couple fires everyone had begun to retire to their own bedding that they had laid down upon the rough ground. Luca had tried to argue his way into staying up as the Night Watch, but the Humans wouldn't hear any of it. Jokingly they had dismissed him, saying he had spent the afternoon babysitting Max, saying he would need the night to recover before he had to go through another round of it tomorrow. Giving up, Luca had fallen back to his own private bedding as well, though oddly enough he had fallen asleep almost as soon as he had settled in. Perhaps there had been something to their jests of Max. Maybe he really had exhausted the Dragon more than he had known.
No one was really sure how long they had been following the convoy or when they had taken Derrick, the Night Watch. However, in one horrifying scream, Luca had burst out of sleep and to his feet only to see a scene of pandemonium before his eyes. A few Humans lay on the ground dead, others still stood fiercely fighting against the Outsider scum that had descended upon them in a moment. Snarling darkly, Luca had burst forward towards the nearest one. Even in his untransformed state the Dragon still possessed strength enough to throw the deformed beast to the ground. In a flash talons had grown along the end of his fingers, and shoving his hand deep into the flesh of the beasts throat, Luca tore away a meaty amount of the Outsiders wind-pipe and throat leaving the thing to bleed to death.
Tossing the grizzly chunk of gore aside Luca threw his coat from his shoulders as it began. Muscles began to bubble and reform at gut-wrenching speed as the sound of muscles, ligaments and sinew tearing and repairing themselves filled the air around Luca. Within a moment a powerfully built Hybrid stood amidst the chaos, the Dragon standing on two feet with a tail that reached out behind it nearly three feet. Razor sharp talons graced the end of each scaled finger and a mouth full of horrifically dangerous teeth along with a jaw that could snap bones like a twig. The Dragon whipped it's head to the side, seeing two more of the Outsiders rushing towards the camp. With a threatening hiss the Dragon took off, intercepting them both.
Drilling it's powerful shoulder into the side of the first Outsider, the thing fell to the ground in a confused and painful heap. The second whirled around to face the new menace that had attacked them both, but cried out in sudden pain as a scaled fist struck it's lower jaw with such force it not only broke it but tore the flesh enough that it hung loosely. Leaping onto the Outsider with the mangled jaw, the Dragon then drove a mouthful of teeth deep into the thing's throat, snarling as it did so. Ripping a hearty bite from the mutated abomination's throat, he didn't stick around to watch it die, but instead pounced on the first that had been knocked to the ground. As the thing rose to it's feet, the powerful tail of Luca struck it squarely in the knee, a sickening pop and crunch filling the air as it once again fell, only to have the Dragon jump onto it and scaled fists strike it in the face over and over until the life had literally been beaten out of the attacker.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That attack had happened three days ago now. Of the original seventeen Humans that had started the journey, eleven where now walking through the gates of The Haven and into the protection of the Last Bastion of the Humans. With them walked Luca, his eyes hard and his muscles tensed. For the last three days he had stalked the lands in his hybrid form, a ravenous blood-lust overtaking his senses as he had made sure the convoy rolled along in safety this time. Something he should have done before the attack.
As the Humans rolled into the Haven, he watched as they began unpacking and starting the process of trying to settle into their new homes, some of them shouting as they recognized other Humans. Luca was standing off to the side, clad in simple jeans, a hooded black sweatshirt and a jacket. The hood was up, shielding most from seeing his glowing amber eyes, and he merely watched the many Humans come together. It brought a soft smile to his face. Six of them had perished that night, but at least these eleven where here now, at least these eleven had made it to The Haven.
However, looking over at the empty wagon, Luca felt a bitter sense of loss wash over him. Of the six that had died, he shouldn't have been one of them, he never should have been one of them. Digging deeply into his pocket, Luca pulled out the yellow marble, rolling the small glass ball between his forefinger and thumb. It was funny how so quickly that marble had become something he would never let out of his sight for the rest of his life. It was funny how quickly someone could make an impact on you in a world like this.
Sliding his customary smoke between his lips, Luca lit the cancer stick, and turning on his heel, walked away from the eleven Humans he had helped get here and went off. He had his own business here.
He had his own reasons for seeking the Haven.
"I'm sorry about him, Luca. It's just ever since we've been on the road everyone has had such a close eye on him, with him being the only child and all. They don't let him stray, they barely let him play. Gets all that energy stored up in him." At the conclusion of her words, she had then smiled at her son, ruffling his hair playfully before planting a big kiss on his cheek. Of course Max, being at that age where fighting against parental affection was natural, had fussed against her display of affection towards him. He had even gone as far to fake gag at the kiss, though he had a smile on his face the whole time.
Watching the two of them, Luca couldn't help but feel a sense of protection over them. The Dragon had met up with them a few days ago. They where sticking to the outskirts of the city with there little train of two wagons, hoping it would attract less attention from unwanted guests. At first the rag-tag group of Humans had been against letting the WereBeast join there ranks, but between the assurances of Luca himself that he had no desire to harm any of them, and the general good-will of their Leader, a man named Brian, they had decided to let him come along. Quickly these Humans had learned that Luca had been just as he had promised; helpful, non-threatening, and wanting to get them to the Haven alive.
" I'm sick of riding in this wagon! Can I get out yet!? Please? I promise I won't go far! I promise I'll stay close!" The way Max was pleading with his mother was making a simple bit of playtime sound like a matter of life and death, and although she hated making her child happy, Susan had refused with concrete resolve. Like all children Max had fought and argued, he'd bickered and squabbled; but Susan had stayed firm. "Max, if you promise to stay close, when we stop tonight to make camp I'll let you come with me to gather firewood, alright?" Before he had even finished his sentence Max had jumped up in the wagon shouting in joy, screaming how he was going to find the most firewood, how he was going to be the best. Susan, and in fact all of the adults watched the child and couldn't help but laugh and enjoy themselves. Luca included.
A few hours later Luca was walking along, a bundle of wood secured in his arms and Max bouncing along grabbing every stick he could find, and half the time throwing it at Luca as opposed to just handing it to him. However, the Dragon didn't mind it one bit. Watching the child go about his way, talking to himself at random times about the most interesting topics; it just felt like something he understood. He had been a Father, he had gone through this with his own daughter, and although it killed him every night and day to think about where she had gone, where she had ended up; the fact that in the here and now he was with Max helped ease that ache.
Noticing how far ahead of him Max had gotten, Luca stopped and shouted at the child. "Max come on! It's time to get back to camp!" For a few seconds he got no response, and then a few more passed. A knot began to tighten in the pit of Luca's stomach, paranoia entering his thoughts. "Max!" Dropping the bundle of sticks the Dragon sprinted forwards, and then stopped dead in his tracks. Before him what he saw took his breath away; Max had found a god damn puppy. "I named him Steven! Can I keep him? Please, Luca? Please...." Sighing a heave of relief, the Dragon walked toward the pair of them, and lifting Max in one arm and Steven in the other he only laughed. "I don't give a fuck if you keep ten."
After a nice hot meal, some talking around a couple fires everyone had begun to retire to their own bedding that they had laid down upon the rough ground. Luca had tried to argue his way into staying up as the Night Watch, but the Humans wouldn't hear any of it. Jokingly they had dismissed him, saying he had spent the afternoon babysitting Max, saying he would need the night to recover before he had to go through another round of it tomorrow. Giving up, Luca had fallen back to his own private bedding as well, though oddly enough he had fallen asleep almost as soon as he had settled in. Perhaps there had been something to their jests of Max. Maybe he really had exhausted the Dragon more than he had known.
No one was really sure how long they had been following the convoy or when they had taken Derrick, the Night Watch. However, in one horrifying scream, Luca had burst out of sleep and to his feet only to see a scene of pandemonium before his eyes. A few Humans lay on the ground dead, others still stood fiercely fighting against the Outsider scum that had descended upon them in a moment. Snarling darkly, Luca had burst forward towards the nearest one. Even in his untransformed state the Dragon still possessed strength enough to throw the deformed beast to the ground. In a flash talons had grown along the end of his fingers, and shoving his hand deep into the flesh of the beasts throat, Luca tore away a meaty amount of the Outsiders wind-pipe and throat leaving the thing to bleed to death.
Tossing the grizzly chunk of gore aside Luca threw his coat from his shoulders as it began. Muscles began to bubble and reform at gut-wrenching speed as the sound of muscles, ligaments and sinew tearing and repairing themselves filled the air around Luca. Within a moment a powerfully built Hybrid stood amidst the chaos, the Dragon standing on two feet with a tail that reached out behind it nearly three feet. Razor sharp talons graced the end of each scaled finger and a mouth full of horrifically dangerous teeth along with a jaw that could snap bones like a twig. The Dragon whipped it's head to the side, seeing two more of the Outsiders rushing towards the camp. With a threatening hiss the Dragon took off, intercepting them both.
Drilling it's powerful shoulder into the side of the first Outsider, the thing fell to the ground in a confused and painful heap. The second whirled around to face the new menace that had attacked them both, but cried out in sudden pain as a scaled fist struck it's lower jaw with such force it not only broke it but tore the flesh enough that it hung loosely. Leaping onto the Outsider with the mangled jaw, the Dragon then drove a mouthful of teeth deep into the thing's throat, snarling as it did so. Ripping a hearty bite from the mutated abomination's throat, he didn't stick around to watch it die, but instead pounced on the first that had been knocked to the ground. As the thing rose to it's feet, the powerful tail of Luca struck it squarely in the knee, a sickening pop and crunch filling the air as it once again fell, only to have the Dragon jump onto it and scaled fists strike it in the face over and over until the life had literally been beaten out of the attacker.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That attack had happened three days ago now. Of the original seventeen Humans that had started the journey, eleven where now walking through the gates of The Haven and into the protection of the Last Bastion of the Humans. With them walked Luca, his eyes hard and his muscles tensed. For the last three days he had stalked the lands in his hybrid form, a ravenous blood-lust overtaking his senses as he had made sure the convoy rolled along in safety this time. Something he should have done before the attack.
As the Humans rolled into the Haven, he watched as they began unpacking and starting the process of trying to settle into their new homes, some of them shouting as they recognized other Humans. Luca was standing off to the side, clad in simple jeans, a hooded black sweatshirt and a jacket. The hood was up, shielding most from seeing his glowing amber eyes, and he merely watched the many Humans come together. It brought a soft smile to his face. Six of them had perished that night, but at least these eleven where here now, at least these eleven had made it to The Haven.
However, looking over at the empty wagon, Luca felt a bitter sense of loss wash over him. Of the six that had died, he shouldn't have been one of them, he never should have been one of them. Digging deeply into his pocket, Luca pulled out the yellow marble, rolling the small glass ball between his forefinger and thumb. It was funny how so quickly that marble had become something he would never let out of his sight for the rest of his life. It was funny how quickly someone could make an impact on you in a world like this.
Sliding his customary smoke between his lips, Luca lit the cancer stick, and turning on his heel, walked away from the eleven Humans he had helped get here and went off. He had his own business here.
He had his own reasons for seeking the Haven.