Silent Hunter and Spotted Beast

Surprised that Raye seemed to agree with her 'old lady' remark, she grinned in satisfaction. However, her smiled twitched at her comment about ages. "A thousand would be so borink," she flatly stated. She raised her eyebrow incredulously. "Did you know, dat if you live past fourteh in my race, you're seen as a big coward? Yo' meant to die in battle long before den. Luckily, I still have aroun'... twenty years to go."

"Trus' me, you can use almost any'ting as an excuse. He shouldn't have grabbed yo' wrist den, or whatever." She resumed sitting on the edge of the stage, uninterested in standing tall anymore.

"Oh, yah, wolf. It's so convenient, ai?" she snorted, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Come to think of it, I 'aven't eaten wolf in a looong time." She cracked a grin. "Always wondered if dey had any here..."

"Forty, eh? Ha, I've lived four of those. Man, I must be the biggest coward of all time, ne? Though I have nearly died in battle quite a few times. Very nearly died when Ix bit me. King Cobra venom is quite nasty stuff."

Raye waved her hand dismissively. "Can't throw the blame at him. I was the one that touched his tail. He didn't like that." The Jinn grinned a little. "Real stupid reason, though. I gotta get over my fear of sudden movements. Man, I gotta get over a lot of things. I'm so freaking screwed up," she laughed, running her hands through her hair, pushing her fringe back out of her face.

"Keep dreaming, Sol," the canine snorted. "You can eat me when you find my dead carcass somewhere in America, ne?" She was definitely going back to her first pack when she knew The Wolf was coming. "Until then, you'll have to forgo eating wolf."

"You are. Yo' either very lucky," she purred, a blatant sneer on her face. "...Or very horrible at dyink. Or both." She rolled her shoulders in an indifferent shrug, before giving Raye a sidelong glance.

"Oh, I can help you wi' dat," she offhandedly mentioned as if it were no big deal. Her tail, which had been idly swinging behind her, suddenly became rather stiff and controlled, despite the fact Solasta's general demeanour seemed to be a rather casual one.

"Eh, I don't care," she huffed, smirking. "Wolf meat is a little too... stringeh for my tastes anyway." Without warning, her long tail would suddenly lash out, aiming to whip at Raye's raised hand. Half of her wanted to help conquer this fear of 'sudden movements', while another half just wanted to provoke her into that fight she had turned down earlier during their meeting.

Raye grinned sardonically. "Well, I wouldn't call myself too lucky, so I'm gonna go with being horrible at dying."

Her crimson eyes shifted to the Junkai's tail for a split second before returning to her face. If there was one thing she'd learnt in all her years of hunting it was that tails could tell you almost anything about an animal's mood. Her own tail was just now starting to stiffen, showing her unease at the change in the other girls tail.

The Jinn's eyes slowly began to drain of emotion and harden into the keen eyes of a hunter. What was the Junkai planning? Her upper lip twitched, pulling into a snarl baring sharp fangs before relaxing.

"Stringy, eh? Sorry that our meat isn't quite to your taste," she apologised monotonously, sharp eyes flicking over her purple face looking for any indication as to why her tail had changed so suddenly.

The canines hand snapped back and she fell into a defensive crouch, growing between clenched teeth. Luckily, the tail had warned her beforehand and she had slipped into her hunter persona. If she hadn't, there was a high chance she would have let The Wolf take over. It was very rare that she would lose control to The Wolf when she had her hunter mindset.

She shook her sore hand slightly and rubbed the stinging skin with her other hand. She wasn't quite fast enough. The Junkai's tail had caught her. "Jesus H. Christ, Solasta, you planning on helping me or sending me to an early grave?" she chuckled weakly with a half smile. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. Her eyes flickered over Solasta's form again and lingered warily on her tail. Would she attack again?

Solasta noticed the Jinn's unease before she'd even initiated the attack. Had she noticed? The junkai was mildly impressed.

After the attack, she pulled her tail back, stroking the tip of it soothingly like it were an animal. The Jinn was quick to react, but not quick enough, and she grinned defiantly as if this gave her a reason to feel superior.

She smirked with mock sympathy. "I'm sorry, I didn't plan on killink you too soon," she sighed. "At least yo' didn't try to rip my throat out." She leaned forward, grinning. "An improvement, ai."

She did almost want her to strike back, but she couldn't have it all. Raye still seemed to be on-edge, so she lay with her back on the stage, gazing up at the ceiling, making it clear she didn't plan another attack. "It's been sah borink," she moaned under her breath. "No one to fight... everyone's such a peacekeeper," she grinned bitterly.

"Yes, I guess it is an improvement," the wary Jinn replied. But will it last? Would she react the same way again? What if she didn't notice a reaction before like she had just done? She'd probably react much worse.

When the Junkai lay down on the stage, Raye relaxed a little, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Her Hunter mindset slipped and when she opened her eyes again they had emotion shining in them. Relief mainly. She was relieved that she hadn't attacked the girl. She liked her.

Raye grinned a little, letting out a small noise that could have passed as a chuckle. She shifted slightly and lied down, her head resting on Solassta's stomach. She was almost certain the Junkai would push her off.

"Not everyone wants to fight. I admit I try to keep the peace when I'm not in the mood to fight." She yawned quietly, mouth opening wide and tongue curling like a dogs. "And at the moment, I'm not really in the mood to fight. Sorry, Sol. I'll be sure to find you when I'm in the mood to scrap, ne?"

Solasta nodded in satisfaction as the Jinn agreed with her. She had helped out! It was an usual feeling, at least, not one that she encountered often. If only everyone was so willing to receive her therapies. The world would be a better place.

The slight chuckle was returned in good nature. Her eyes continued to gaze at the ceiling. She’d never noticed it had so much detail before... She didn’t expect Raye to lie down on her, and she almost flinched, looking down at her. Would she..?

Nah. A merciful smile passed her lips. She was feeling too lazy at the moment.

“Ai, whatever. I’m ready anytime.” She allowed her tail to flop over Raye, not aiming fir anything in particular. “Is such a shame. Humons really don’t understand.” She grinned. “I got in sah many fights wi’ my roommate. Heck, before she’d even stepped in de room we were arguing. She don’t fight, just yell... a lot.” It may have been slightly hypocritical, but she didn’t seem to notice. “She just some stupid human. Wi’ a bad fashion sense.”

Raye was pleasantly surprised when she didnt end up a lump of tangled limbs and hair ten feet away. She smiled and shifted slightly, making herself more comfortable.

"I'll catch ya when I'm in the mood, then." The Jinn's hand moved to idly stroke the tail that flopped across her stomach rhythmically. "It's not just humans," she disagreed lightly. "There are just some people - no matter what species - that hate fighting in any form."

Raye's head tipped upwards so she could get a look at the Junkai's face albeit being a strange angle. "Headbutting with people, ne? Urgh, yelling. I don't do it often if I can help it. I find lowering the voice intimidates people more than raising it." A short laugh bubbled up. "Bad fashion sense, ne? I'm sure she things that about you, too. Fashion is temperamental at best. There are so many different types of fashion that I'm just too lazy to keep up. I'm sure I fit into some form of fashion..." Her toes wriggled within the blood-spattered green converse. "Either way, as long as people dont come at me with dresses and make-up I'll be fine."

Her hand kept up the stroking idly as she fell quiet, basking in the comfortable silence.

“Ai,” she agreed hurriedly. “I know it’s not just humans, but dey are de ones dat clog up most of de world. Dey multiply like insects. Weak, teeny, flimseh insects. No, not even good enough fo’ dat!” Her grudge against them became apparently clear. However, despite the insults, her tone carried a rather conversational, cheery one – at least, for the junkai’s standards.

She raised a brow. Lowering the voice was more imtimidating? She’d never thought about it, and wasn’t inclined to believe it. “De loudest voice is de one heard de most,” she shrugged. “An’ I don’t have bad fashion! Jus’, jus’ different, a-ai!” That was an accusation she could never escape – not even from her own species. Style had never caught on with her. “Yo’d suit a dress though...” She tilted her head curiously. “Ai. I can totally see you in a dress.”

Her tail flicked slightly as it was stroked, but soon rested against the jinn’s form. She took a long breath – the closest she’d felt to relaxation in a while.

"Ha, insects. Insects have more use than most humans." Okay, so Raye herself had a slight grudge against humans. "I can see insects to squash them if they annoy me. Human I'm not so lucky with." There were humans that she would be all too willing to kill.

"Whereas that is true, rage is not the strongest form of anger. Putting on a false sense of calm scares them. They don't know what you're planning." When fighting, she always maintained her calm. She never screamed her rage at the opponent. "The low intimidating voice frustrates your opponent. They'll try harder to get you to scream and yell and that's their downfall. They dont put as much effort into defending themselves then. That's when you can go in for the kill."

Raye grinned at the girls denial. "Aye - just different." A loud groan escaped her lips. "Why does everyone think that? I dont look good in a dress. They're uncomfortable and hard to move in. Dresses do not suit me." She pouted childishly after her little rant, continuing to stroke the Junkai's tail.

"Humans in general are very good at annoyink ya," she nodded affirmably. All the ones she'd encountered thus far had been nothing but a nuisance - indulging in business that wasn't theirs. "They'll pollute yo' house, den when you finally get dem back, all dey can do is whinge about it!" She huffed, blowing the hair from her face briefly.

"Hmm.." She listened to Raye's explanation of her tactics. She didn't want to admit that in a fighting situation, it was often her that was the one yelling. But she did it for a reason. "But when you scream, you can scare your enemy," she insisted. "And it builds yo' adrenaline too! Makes you stronger!" She'd never encountered this apparently 'deadly quiet voice' before, her species were all about yelling. The expression on her face was clearly skeptic.

Her tail brushed idly by the Jinn's chin. "Maybe a short one den. So dey don't get in de way of the legs," she suggested, before grinning. "Can't deny dey're uncomfortable though! But eh, since when is fashion meant to be?"

"At least you can see them to get rid of the problem." She waved a hand in front of her own eyes. "I can't see humans at all without my glasses or contacts. I thought I might have been able to go without them here but there are humans here too."

"Weak minded and skittish opponents, maybe. But if you're going against a skilled opponent that tactic won't work too well. Can't scare an experienced foe with something as simple as screaming." She brushed her fringe out of her face, fingers trailing over the scar for a mere second before dropping her hands back to the Junkai's tail. "I won't deny that adrenaline can help in a fight. It was probably the only thing keeping me up after Ix bit me. She had some quite nasty poison back then."

Though she had survived it without medical treatment it was still an extremely painful bite.

Her chest started tingling where Ix had bit her and she hissed ferally through her fangs, lips drawing back over her teeth. Phantom pain. She rubbed at the area on her left breast roughly as the tingling grew into something more, hiss merging into a deep growl. "Bloody phantom pain." The sharp tinges of pain weren't so unbearable that she wouldn't be able to do anything. She was just rather annoyed at the appearance of it.

It was a reminder of the fact that she would never change who she used to be.

"I don't even wear short dressed when I go clubbing." And she had worn a lot of different things to clubs. "Only the useless fashion is uncomfortable. I followed Visual Kei style while I was in Japan. That wasn't uncomfortable. Well, sometimes the corsets could be but otherwise it was quite a comfortable style."

"Heh." She inclined her head with a smirk as Raye confessed her weakness. "Yo' wouldn't want to see dem anywehs. Dey're not dat pretty."

However, her following comment did cause a brief flash of indignation to cross her expression. "It's more dan just screamink!" she snapped defensively. "It's a practised ritual to show off yo' strength and intimidate dem." She snorted as if the fact should have remained obvious, before folding her arms behind her head.

An eyebrow cocked curiously at her sudden pain. "Dat must be bothersome..." she mused, not sounding very sympathetic at the least.

She rolled her eyes at Raye's blabbing about who-knows-what. "All fashion is useless," she corrected. "Some more useless dan others. Wouldn't bother wearink my skirt if others weren't sah nitpicky about it." She tilted her head. "Well, yo's ain't so useless. Could blind people wi' de awfulness, aai!"

The Jinn snorted. "Nice to know you think I'm pretty, Sol," she intoned sarcastically, obviously referring to the human form she was currently in.

"And I'm sure that works against some opponents. But I've only really fought Jinn, shifters and dragons before. With those opponents you have to use speed and agility - try to off your opponent before they off you in the quickest time possible. And usually that means you've gotta be as quiet as possible, too." Jinn were difficult opponents and with Raye being so clumsy, sometimes she had a hard time with being quiet. That's why she had so many scars. They weren't failed attempts at hunts. They were wounds she received because of her clumsiness.

Absently she pushed her shirt up and began tracing one of the most prominent scars on her stomach - four deep claw marks on her ribs. Her eyes slid closed as she traced the damaged skin with the tips of her fingers.

She hummed in the back of her throat. "It can get annoying at times. Most of my phantom pain comes from other wounds and they cause more than just discomfort. I was lucky it was only Ix's bite this time."

She chuckled. "Like to go au natural, ne, Sol? I agree that clothes can be restricting at times. I prefer being a wolf for that reason alone." Her eyes slid open. "Awfulness, aye?"

A smirk twitched at Solasta's lips, and she reached an arm to lightly pat Raye's hair. "Dere are exceptions you know. But I wasn't refferink to you anyweh." Smiling amiably, she drew back her hand.

"Oh! Like silent hunters, ai?" Solasta raised her head slightly, beginning to understand. Of course, she knew junkai didn't scream at their prey - they didn't want to scare their dinner away, because that would ruin the point of hunting in the first place. "Must be a shame to do it all quickly," she sighed pitifully. "I like my fights to last."

"I can imagine," she commented at the scar. "Phantom pain... is sah messed up. I could tear de limbs off people and dey still feel pain in limbs dey don't even have any more. De mind can be so cruel..."

She looked to Raye's unique clothing choice. "Ai. Awfulness. Not'ink goes together, especially dem boots. But," she continued. "Y'know, colours like dem are meant to be intimidatin'. Bright and fierce. Yo' take two steps in the human world, and bright colours are only seen on children's toys." She snorted in slight contempt.

((The italics at the bottom are Raye's dream))

Raye batted away the hand half heartedly, yawning loudly. The nap Solasta had interrupted was catching up with her.

"Mmmmm, like the silent hunter," she agreed, eyes sliding closed. She forced them open again but they slid half-way closed almost instantly. "Nah, sometimes trying to end it quickly is a fun challenge. You find different ways to kill someone you hadn't thought possible before."

"The mind is the cruellest thing in the world," she mumbled around another yawn - this one louder than before.

Already spiralling into the depths of sleep, Raye didn't react quite as she normally would when her rather expensive - though now bloodstained - shoes were insulted. "...whaas wrong with kids tooooooooooooys?" The last word was dragged out with one final yawn before she finally succumbed to sleep.

Paws thudded against the dry ground, dust flying up around the form of a small grey wolf. A few hundred yard in front of her a king cobra sat waiting.

The wolfs turquoise eyes were dead - no emotion shining at all as she forced herself forwards towards the snake, fanged teeth bared and snarls tearing from her throat. "Quetzalcoatl!"

The snake's head rose in recognition. Even in the throes of insanity, he could recognise his name. "R-Raye." The deep voice that sounded from the snake sounded strange - husky with deep sadness but underlined in a sick hatred and madness.

The wolf winced, though still plowed forwards. She had heard that tone so many times before it shouldn't have phased her but never had she thought she'd hear it from her best friend. The Hunters had been cruel when they sent her after the snake Jinn.

She stopped a few feet away from the snake, crouching into a defensive stance. She had been bitten by his sister before. She knew how painful their poison could be. "I don't want to do this, Zal," she muttered sadly, though she still steeled herself to lunge for the reptiles throat. She had to do it. She had been given this job and she'd be damned if she let the Hunters down.

An acute pain gripped at her chest and tears welled up in her turquoise eyes. "Damn it, Zal, why did you leave it until now?! You knew it was coming! You're two hundred and thirteen!" He had lasted much longer than most other Jinn would have. A whole decade longer.

She knew it would be difficult to kill her best friend alone. But she had to. She apologised mentally to her mate who she had knocked out and left a few miles back. She couldn't hide behind Chaye and watch as he killed her best friend. She owed it to the snake to kill him herself.

"Come on then. Aren't you supposed to kill me?" the snake opposite taunted her. The sadness had gone. All that was left of her best friend was an insane shell that was bent on killing all that got in his way.

Raye let out one long, pained howl and she lurched forwards, sinking her teeth into the snakes throat. I once promised you I'd knuckle down with my Kendo, Zal. I vow I'll get to eight-dan even if it kills me, she thought fiercely, teeth sinking further into the scaled flesh and ending the life of her best friend of a hundred years.

A loud piercing scream tore from the sleeping Jinn's lips.

Solasta noticed that Raye's replies were quickly becoming more unintelligible by the moment. She'd been more than ready to tell Raye that swift methods of killing were reserved for animals, while the real thrill came from those with more sentience. The way Raye operated kept reminding Solasta of animalistic virtues, and the junkai was reluctant to view her in that manner. She wanted a humanoid opponent, not a snarling fleabag better left cooking over a fire. However, she held her tongue, suspicious that the jinn probably wouldn't be concious enough to give an answer.

A yawn escaped from her jaw - damn contagiousness of it - and the rhythmic breathing from Raye told her she'd fallen asleep. Her tail twitched in annoyance. Falling asleep mid-conversation? So disrespectful! It was almost worse than being ignored - because not only that, but apparently her choice of conversation was so boring that it induced tiredness. She waited a moment before deciding that she wasn't going to wake up again. An impatient snort escaped her nostrils, and she was more than ready to slap the lazy being back into the waking world.

That is, until she screamed. It wasn't just unexpected, it was freaking loud, and Solasta found her ears stinging even after it ended. "Di heck yo' screamink about wo'mon?!" she yelled, annoyed, shoving the Jinn off her roughly. "Yo' makink me deaf!"

The Jinn sat up shaking, staring ahead of her with wide eyes. Her arms curled around herself and a string of curses that sounded suspiciously like ship left her mouth in a flurry.

Its not like she hadnt had these nightmares before - oh no, she had relived her best friends death a hundred times already - but it was still not something anyone would ever want to witness a second time.

Her mantra of curses morphed into another now. "Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalcoatl. QUETZALCOATL!" Her voice was rough; her previous screams having affected it. The desperate cries sounding much worse because of it.

Solasta didn't know what had suddenly gotten into the Jinn - one moment evething had been just dandy, and the next, she had completely snapped. The concern that Solasta felt for her companion was outweighed by the annoyance that she didn't know what was going on. The stream of profanities didn't fail to stir something indignant within the junkai, and she let out an peeved growl, before reaching to grab the disturbed maniac by both of her shoulders.

"SHUT. DI. 'ELL. AAP!" she screamed into her face, each syllable punctauted by her shaking the Jinn's shoulders. And, if all else failed, she'd send a swift hand to strike her across the cheek with a well delivered slap. Sympathy obviously wasn't in her best interest.

Raye was shaking. No, shaking was too mild. She was practically vibrating.

She stared at Solasta without actually seeing her. Her red eyes were blank. There was no spark of life. No recognition. Do I know her...? she wondered dully, eyes flicking over the purple face, trying to look for any familiar features. Anything she found familiar about the girl.

A dark seductive force pulled at the edges of her mind and she went rigid. She knew that pull. She knew it too well.

She began thrashing against the Junkai's hold on her. "I gotta go," she said desperately. She needed to go before she did something stupid like let that pull - The Wolf - take over.

When the girl stared at her, Solasta saw something strange with it. It was as if she were looking right through her, and the junkai didn't like this. Had her yelling, shaking and slapping not been effective? She deemed the thought impossible, and fired a frustrated glare back at her, uncaring whether she saw it or not.

And, when the girl started thrashing in her grip, it tightened, determined not to let go. A hiss escaped her throat. She didn't know why the jinn suddenly wanted to flee, but she wasn't about to let her, at least, not until she heard reasons. "No you don't," she firmly snapped, allowing no room for argument.

"Tell me what is goink on now." Her scowl was fierce.

She struggled in the tight grip, baring fanged teeth at the girl keeping her captive. She felt like a trapped animal. She was lost and confused. She didnt know where she was or whom she was with.

Her pupils dilated in fear as she started struggling much more violently - her situation settling upon her like a weight. She didn't know who she was with. This girl could very well kill her. A low warning growl rumbled in her chest at the thought. The intents were clear. If this girl made a move to attack her, she'd have a go back. She'd fight till she was bloody and broken.

"I have to go," she insisted. She had to go cool off. Hunt or practise Kendo. Do something to relieve herself of the violent urges. She didn't have a hunt. She wouldn't kill. She wouldnt!

Solasta studied the girl's expression carefully. there was something unfamiliar about it, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was animalistic, and the junkai wondered if she even knew what she was doing. After treating Raye nicer than how she probably treated the majority of the castle, she didn't take her sudden desire to escape too kindly. Solasta, as she fully believed, had done nothing wrong. It only made her more persistent.

Distracted momentarily, she lost her grip on the jinn, but she would try to amend it by attempting to latch onto her wrist instead. "Yo' tell me what's up with yo', den you can go," she hissed. Her promise was fair. She didn't deserve to be left in the dark after tolerating this ungrateful girl for so long. Her teeth were bared, and her tail thrashed angrily from side to side.

The warning growl in her throat cut off as her eyes faded back to blue, her body hunching over and bones readjusting themselves: skin moved, fur grew, claws appeared.

"Let. Me. GO!"

She lost it.

Her dull claws lashed out at the Junkai with her much sharper teeth following behind.

There was nothing human about her now. There was nothing Raye about her now. She was a wild beast - savage and scared and ready to kill if this girl wouldn't let her go. This creature wasn't the Raye that the rest of the castle knew. It was dark, evil, blood-thirsty.

It was The Wolf.

Raye's transformation didn't go unnoticed by the the junkai. She looked alarmed, but she wasn't prepared to let go just yet. She could try whatever trick she wanted, but she wasn't going to get away quite so easily.

The yell, however, was nothing like her. She wasn't prepared when she suddenly lashed out, and her claws would rake her opposite shoulder. She hissed, barely noticing the pain, but she would jerk her shoulder backwards just in time for the jaws of the wolf to snap next to them - narrowly missing. Solasta gave a short breath, before smirking. "Oh, now yo' want to play!" she scathingly whispered.

Why was Raye attacking her? Her mind was too focused on this fight to dwell on the thought for long. Adrenaline pulsated through her, and a snarl tore from her throat.

Her hand - which was previously latched onto the jinn - would ball into a fist and swing in an attempt to smack her jaw.