Apocalyptic earth: gaming thread

[wolfward]

"Yes." Wolfward replied. "'And I'd put that gun down if I were you, I get angry around cowardly weapons such as guns."

[blackwolfhell]

Blade heard conversation from somewhere below. "Surge, You hear that?" Blade headed toward the noise. He found an open sewer cover and jumped in. In front of him was Wolfward and some humans, with one of them holding a pistol. Blade pulled out a long sword and held it pointing towards the humans.
"What are you doing here?"

[wolfward]

When they turn to Blade, Wolfward grabs Zan, disarming him and holding him to the wall, pinned."Now what do you want?"

[Cyberwatt]

The sound of raised voices. The click of disengaged safeties and the sharp clatch of a weapon's breach. Familiar sounds: a failed key to remembrance. Torturous glimpses of half-recalled horror.

The man shook and rocked himself. "G...g...g..."

He was going to die. He could smell it. Lurking at the edge of consciousness, wafting above the sewer stench. The smell of his own approaching date with the abyss.

The man shed filthy tears. "N...N..."

Can't run. Can't die. Can't live.

He heard the voices, questioning and brazen, suspicious and challenging.

They meant nothing.

The man bit his lip. The blood mingled with the optic brine and ran to the grate. The rats were grateful for the delicacy.

[blackwolfhell]

"One more time," Blade said as he lightly pushed the tip of his blade into Zan's stomach, "What do you want?"

[Thunderclaw]

Surge grabs Blade and Wolfward and throws them back away from the man."No Wolfward, Blade. This is no way to make allies or to restore the peace that has been lost here." Surge turned to the man and pulls hi up by his hand."Are you okay? Sorry about the bad introduction; that's how werewolves react at gunpoint. Time to introduce myself. The name I use is Surge Aquos. No need to tell me yours, Zan Carson." He turns to Wolfward "You should know better than that."

[wolfward]

"I wasn't going to hurt him....much. I don't think that humans have a right to come and go through are lands as they please. As you well know, I'm not exactly a big of them and I think that we could always use a few more recruits."

[blackwolfhell]

"Sure" Blade rolled his shoulder as he cracked some joints, "But I'm not saying sorry to any human!" Blade didn't sheath his sword, but stood up, wiping the grime off his fur.

[wolfward]

"Surge, why are you interfering? You know that they are in the wrong!"Draws sword.

[Miguel]

Zan spat some blood from his mouth, watching as the group of werewolves gathered around him and his guards. His entire lower back throbbed from where he was slammed against the wall. One of the werewolves seemed to want peace, while the other two seemed only to want to kill him. Any moment now, he could fire his gun, sending a bullet through one of the creatures, but something was keeping him from doing that, a weak form of control. He stood back up, nodding.

"I didn't think your kind lived in the sewers," he spoke, rudely. "I guess it makes sense, though, since everyone and everything wants you dead. Ten years later and your species still acts like savages, trying to kill every human you see." Zan turned to face his guards, and signaled for them to arm their weapons. "You just expect me and my comrades to forgive you and your...pack...for nearly killing me?" He looked towards the werewolf known as Wolfward. "And tell him to stand down or he'll be the first one shot."

[Thunderclaw]

Surge turned back to Zan.
"There are three races in this tunnel. Human, Elementian-me in other words, and werewolf. two years ago was when I left this planet, and it was in good condition-peace between humans and werewolves, while the demons and vampires were kept at bay. I want to restore that peace and prosperity." Surge turned quickly and punched Wolfward. "AND THAT IS WHY I INTERFERE!!"

[blackwolfhell]

Blade pulls out a small knife. "You know, fighting amongst your own will get you nowhere, surge."

[Cyberwatt]

Discord. He inhaled the invisible waft of potential violence.

The smell of the first one, the alpha. Not man, not wolf, both and neither. Assertion and domination, albeit tinged with regret and frustration. An intelligent desperation.

The man's eyes focused, a child comprehending.

The scent of the second, perhaps beta, perhaps subordinate. Indignation and challenge, spiced with self-confidence and altruism. A heady mix of ideals and instincts. He had been kind.

The stench was gone. Healing of the flesh. The power returned.

The third scent: men, several in number, led by one who exuded caution. Not the bitter stink of resentment, but the sour taste of harrassment and apprehension. A pack leader establishing territory or the borders thereof.

Discord, disunity, disharmony. Chaos.

Loneliness. It was not to be. It had been too long. Though he had not the words, he had the power. He would use it.

The man had changed again. In a flash, the upright wolf, now rid of its smooth skin, was in the midst of all four of the potential combatants. Eight feet tall, gray and black, a wall of muscle, claws and teeth, the creature snarled fiercely at Blade, Surge, Wolfward and Zan in turn.

The multiple swipes of claws were not meant to rend but to repulse, to drive away.

Then as quickly as it had come, the wrath, the frustrated anger, was gone. The creature whined, tucked its tails between its legs and crouched wretchedly. "N....N...Nnnnooooooo," it said, a howling wail, half human and half monstrous. "Nnnooo h...hurrrrttt."

[blackwolfhell]

...

[Thunderclaw]

"...I will try not to resort to violrnce if I can help it." surge sighed. "It's just so much affliction from this war I have tried to prevent...Is too much for me to bear with my other pains."

[blackwolfhell]

"I won't disarm myselftill he puts away the gun." Blade said through bared teeth.

[Thunderclaw]

"That sounds fair. Zan, you put away your gun, and Blade, you put away your weapon."

[Miguel]

Zan complied, smirking, and then signaled for his guards to lower their own weapons. They too complied. He could hear the explosions on the earth above, now closer than before. A sudden panic overtook him. He was running out of time.

"I don't care about you and your pathetic followers, Surge," he spoke, angrily. "Did peace happen seven years ago?! Did your so-called peace keep my wife alive? No. As long as I'm alive, there won't be any peace. As long as the Human Regime is around, there won't be any peace. Either you and your pathetic little pack will move out of my way, or I will force you to move. I have less than an hour to save seven-hundred people's lives, and unless you and your followers are going to help me, I have no further business here!"

The guards began moving, apparently full of hesitation, for they were beginning to back away.

[Thunderclaw]

At the mention of saving 700 lives in less than an hour Surge turned quickly to Zan. "I am sorry for your loss, and while you hear me say two years, my time is different it would be 6 years at the least and 8 years at the most, and when I left, it was in peace. If the human regime is what you want to fall, it probably will, because I think the ones I left in charge were overthrown. My primary objective is to clear up that mess and hopefully get it back into the hands of the previous leaders, causing peace once more between humans and werewolves. My immediate objective is to save lives. So, let me aid you in your struggle to save those lives. Oh, and they aren't my pack of followers, they're the brotherhood of wolves, and oe is related to me. That is the only link."

[wolfward]

Wolfward stands up saying,"I'm not finished here yet..."Slams into Surge knocking him to the ground. Lying on top of him he roars at him.

[Thunderclaw]

"Wolfward...I may be weak from age, my restraint, my injuries from the last seven human years, but that is still foolish." He kicked Wolfward off him, knocking him to the other side of the sewer. "This isn't the time. Lives are at risk. We need to save them."

[wolfward]

"Who the heck cares about a few lives! Now you go save the kitty from the top of tree but I have better things to attend to...brother." He leaves the scene.

[blackwolfhell]

Blade sheathed his sword, then watched as his companion left.
"Now what? We follow these scum bags?" Blade motioned toward the humans.

[Cyberwatt]

Lines unbidden came to him:

Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making...

Discord. Too much discord.

But one had shown him kindness.

And if he was not allowed to be a man, he would be something else.

The insane creature formerly known as Hal Applegate crawled to Blade's side and squatted there on its haunches, panting, tongue lolling, a great cyclopean dog before his master.

[blackwolfhell]

Blade looked down at Hal, thinking of why someone like him would revere someon like himself. Blade didn't know how to act. He was surprised at Hal's reaction.
"What is it?" Blade asked.