|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 10, 2009 18:18:32 GMT -5
Alex sat on the piece of concrete, surveying the damage. No matter how many years had passed, he still couldn’t believe a whole section of city was just gone. And because of the Brotherhood too… He shook the thought out of his head. <Change always has opponents, and conflicts erupt. And in every conflict, innocent people die. It’s just how things work, get over it,> he told himself.
Alex stood up and kicked a piece of rock. His mind wandered to the constant nagging of the Almaut’s next move. <Tyrel is a smart one. He already knows he can’t get in through the main entrance. But what if he went through here?> he wondered. He set off towards the wall that circled the city to see if there were any gaps there.
As he walked, he found himself in what looked like a familiar alleyway. Alex was trying to remember why when he kicked what he thought was a rock and saw a glint against the object. Curious, he crouched down on his haunches and picked it up. It was a knife…
Alex noticed some writing on the handle and scratched the dirt off. It read, “Betty”. <Who the hell is Be-> He realized this was Hannah’s old knife. His thoughts now settled Hannah and Clay and it was a sore topic for him to think about. <Just don’t think about it,> he willed. <If you hadn’t, you’d be dead and Clay wouldn’t even have a father.>
He straightened up and pocketed the knife. “Hah, the only thing left I have from her is her knife now… How ironic,” he laughed bitterly.
|
|
|
Post by Hannah Wolfblood on Dec 10, 2009 18:36:21 GMT -5
Hannah kicked a bit a bit of pipe out of her way as she made her way down the Streets of Hell, as she liked to call them; the streets inside the Gate. Tyrelnn had noticed she had been acting... odd. It wasn't her fault, really. She couldn't help herself. Every time they carted in bodies or prisoners from the war, she always looked for a... certain familiar face. Tyrel, thinking she might need to get away for a while, had sent her on a simple scouting mission. Finding scrap metal shouldn't be too hard, should it? The woman sighed, feeling an ache in her chest. Unknown to herself, she was subconsciously traveling a path to an alley she knew all too well.
“Hah, the only thing left I have from her is her knife now… How ironic.”
She looked up at that, cocking a brow. That was... odd. She knew that voice. Hannah took a step back, frowning, and picturing a Hive in her mind just in case. Anyone she knew who was in this town was either Brotherhood, or wouldn't take too kindly to seeing her. "This can't be good."
|
|
|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 10, 2009 18:37:37 GMT -5
“This can’t be good.”
Alex whipped his head in the direction of the voice. It was familiar… Too familiar. He slipped the knife into his pocket and silently pulled his gun out of his holster. <Still prefer the old over the Dracon Beams,> he thought. Holding it ready, he began to approach the corner.
A million thoughts were running through his head. <I’m sure who it is… But what if it isn’t? And if it is, what am I gonna do? What can I do?> he thought worriedly. < I can’t just bring her in. I can’t… But I have too! But I can’t!>
Alex took a deep breath when he reached the corner. He suppressed all his feelings, all his emotions. He couldn’t let them get involved with what might be about to happen. <I truly hope it’s not her,> he silently hoped. He rounded the corner, keeping the gun level and said, “What are you doing here?”
|
|
|
Post by Hannah Wolfblood on Dec 10, 2009 23:50:17 GMT -5
Hannah was shocked, needless to say, when she saw who her "aquiantence" was.
"What are you doing here?"
He rounded the corner, and he was holding a gun pointed at her. Unsurprising. Still, her face darkened in her slight shock. If anything, she'd never been prepared to have Alex pointing a gun at her, and it felt so... wrong. She bit her lip, taking another step back. "I could ask you the same thing!" she said, finally, voice cracking with her supressed emotion.
"I thought you Brotherhood mooks hung around your little palace all day. Or policed the richer areas." The woman scowled at him, preparing herself to morph. She'd always been a fast morpher; not talented, just fast.
|
|
|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 11, 2009 6:45:22 GMT -5
Alex slowly lowered the gun as she spoke. He didn’t react to her voice cracking or her jibe at the Brotherhood. He wanted to react to her, to run up to her and hold her. He wanted to tell her he was sorry, to tell her he wanted to be there. He wanted to ask her what Clay looked like, to glow with pride for Clay. He wanted to laugh with her over an unspoken joke and be a family again.
But it would never happen. They were two different people: one hardened, the other angry. And Alex didn’t see how Hannah could ever forgive him, or he forgive himself for what he’d had to do.
So instead he said, “I was here, lost in my own thoughts. I needed to think…” He let the thought trail off. He pictured his wolf morph in his head and silently prepared for confrontation, should it come to that.
|
|
|
Post by Hannah Wolfblood on Dec 11, 2009 8:31:25 GMT -5
Hannah's emotion was beginning to build itself into a rage. But for some reason, something she couldn't explain to herself, she switched the Hive image to Hyena, something that wouldn't hurt him nearly as much. She tried to imagine ripping him apart, tearing him to shreds for what he did to her...
And she blanched.
A look of self-loathing crossed her face, and she hugged herself, but she still began to morph, fur spreading along her body. Her bones and organs rearranged, and she was a Hyena in record time.
<I don't want to hurt you...> she said out loud, trying to explain to herself in her mind why exactly she had morphed. <But I'm not letting you take me in.>
|
|
|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 11, 2009 17:21:15 GMT -5
Alex reacted quickly when Hannah began to morph. He dropped the gun and knife and began to morph too. He was shocked at how fast she managed to morph, but what shocked him even more was the fact that she morphed hyena. <Sentimental a bit much?> he silently asked himself.
Once in full wolf morph, he took a step forward and snarled, <You always knew how to overreact, didn’t you? I never planned to take you in, and I want to hurt you as little as you want to hurt me. It’s not like I’m a completely different person from what I was…>
He stared her down. <Demorph Hannah. You’re not helping the situation. I know you don’t want to see me or hear my excuses as you call them, so let’s just settle this like civilized people, okay?>
|
|
|
Post by Hannah Wolfblood on Dec 11, 2009 17:58:58 GMT -5
<You always knew how to overreact, didn’t you? I never planned to take you in, and I want to hurt you as little as you want to hurt me. It’s not like I’m a completely different person from what I was…>
Hannah snarled, taking a step forwards. Her white and black mane fluffed up with her anger, giving her a somewhat Troll doll appearance, but making her look much bigger then she really was none the less. <You've been a different person for years, Alex,> she said, snorting. <And if I remember correctly, you didn't used to care about my overreactions.>
<Demorph Hannah. You’re not helping the situation. I know you don’t want to see me or hear my excuses as you call them, so let’s just settle this like civilized people, okay?>
The first part pissed her off, yes. It felt... controlling, and she didn't like to be controlled. But it wasn't the second part that really got to her. <CIVILIZATION IS DEAD!> the woman screamed, launching herself at him with her maw full of sharp, serated teeth wide open.
|
|
|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 12, 2009 0:11:17 GMT -5
<CIVILIZATION IS DEAD!>
Alex was surprised by her violent reaction to what he’d said about civilization, so he was caught a little off guard by her jumping at him. He was however able to duck under her jump and kick at her exposed underside as she flew over him. <Overreactions, something I guess I should be used to by now, hm?> he sarcastically chuckled at her, turning to face her.
But Alex wasn’t all cool and calm like he was trying to be. Inside his emotions were on fire, and he was mad at the unfairness. <I tried to do the right thing! She never understood David! She never understood what I stood for! She sees me for the first time in forever and she’s trying to kill me! What the fuck?> he seethed inside.
He turned around and said, <If you’re gonna be so immature about all of this, fine. I guess I’ll just have to fight fire with fire.> He snarled and charged towards her.
|
|
|
Post by Hannah Wolfblood on Dec 12, 2009 1:25:40 GMT -5
<If you’re gonna be so immature about all of this, fine. I guess I’ll just have to fight fire with fire.>
Hannah laughed, dancing out of the way. <And whose fault might my immaturity be, huh? You're out of practice, baby.> She grinned as best a hyena could, which looked more like a twisted snarl but without the growling or the outright anger.
Instead of attacking Alex, which seemed logical, she merely circled around him. The woman couldn't bring herself to really attack him, and that didn't make sense at all to her. She should have hated him. She should have wanted him dead. But the very thought of any harm coming to him made a large part of her cringe.
|
|
|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 12, 2009 1:55:26 GMT -5
Alex kept pace with her circling, always facing her directly. He watched her speak but didn’t hear; he saw her pacing and ignored all sounds. It was almost as if his hearing wasn’t working. All he could concentrate on was the fact that she hadn’t attacked yet besides her initial outburst. <Why?> he wondered. <This makes no sense.>
Alex decided he would make the first move then. He was still quite angry over her initial fury and he wanted to still get her back. But when he tried to move in something other than defence, he found he couldn’t bear to attack her now that he was thinking rationally. <Come on, what’s wrong with you? You should have already brought her in, but you’re too nice. Then she attacks you both verbally and physically. Why aren’t you doing something?> he tried to ask himself.
But Alex was rooted to the spot. He was beginning to realize he still cared for her on some level, and he couldn’t hurt her without being instigated first. <It’s just because she’s Clay’s mother,> Alex tried to convince himself. But he knew that it wasn’t anything to do with that.
Alex said, <What are you gonna do now, circle and wait? Hannah, you know there’s only so much you can do in that morph to me. Give up. Give up like the Almaut should have done a long time ago. You can’t win this one.>
|
|
|
Post by Hannah Wolfblood on Dec 12, 2009 4:56:46 GMT -5
<What are you gonna do now, circle and wait? Hannah, you know there’s only so much you can do in that morph to me. Give up. Give up like the Almaut should have done a long time ago. You can’t win this one.>
Hannah stopped in her tracks, locking eyes with the wolf in front of her. <Who said anything about winning?> she asked, ears swiveling back to pin against her head. <You can't win a fight, Alex. And you can't win a war, either. Because no matter who beats the other up the most, they both suffer terrible damages. In wars and fights, you can only hope you come out with what you want.>
The woman sighed mentally, eying him over. There was just no way in hell she still cared for him, but... there was, apparently. Perhaps her lingering depression should have shown her this before, but she hadn't payed attention to that very well for the past couple of years. Yes, it still hurt her, like a red-hot brand at times and like frostbite at others, but she had things to do, and a child to take care of. She oftentimes didn't have time for emotion.
|
|
|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 12, 2009 5:18:05 GMT -5
Alex glared at her. She seemed to think she knew everything, and somehow she had managed to get around everything he’d said. <Y’know, maybe bringing her in isn’t such a bad idea…> he ventured. But then he remembered what happened to the last spy. <I can’t leave Clay without a mother,> he thought.
But still, Alex was mad that Hannah was acting with this sense of knowing right from wrong, knowing all the answers. It was something that Alex didn’t appreciate. <She just says all this because everything turned out all right in the end for her,> he grumbled to himself.
<I guess you could say the same thing about us, hm?> he commented dryly. <I don’t think we were ever the same after I had to… y’know. We both came out broken, but I’m sure that you got more out of it than I did though. Sure, I’m restoring order and helping David, but I’m all alone now. You got your cozy position with Tyrelinn and I’m sure you’ve got someone new too. And you have Clay. So it all worked out for you, didn’t it?>
|
|
|
Post by Hannah Wolfblood on Dec 12, 2009 5:31:37 GMT -5
Hannah took a step backwards, a pang of sadness hitting her when he said that. Where had he been living? Well... not anywhere near her, of course. She shuddered, taking in a shakey breath and willing the pain away.
<I haven't been able to so much as glance at another man, Alex,> she murmured, another shiver running through her bones. <And as for being so cozy and happy... Take a wild guess which one of us was this close to committing suicide... afterwords.> She laughed, shortly and hysterically. <I'm not even quite sure I'm the same person I was before.>
...why am I telling him this? she asked herself, feeling like an idiot. He doesn't care about any of it, anyway, and he doesn't deserve to know. Despite this, she wanted to tell him more, everything that had happened since he'd left. She could barely contain herself.
|
|
|
Post by Alex Proyhasko on Dec 13, 2009 14:48:04 GMT -5
Alex couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. <I drove her that far?> he thought, shocked. When he’d had to leave her, he had been inconsolable for a few months, but he had to keep pushing on, since David really put him to work. <I built a wall between emotions and life… But she… she almost killed herself. I did this to her…> Alex pushed these thoughts away. He felt like now wasn’t the time to be thinking about this. <But it is!> he argued. <I need to talk to her now. Who knows when I’ll see her again…>
Alex looked her in the eye, but the weakness showed behind his eyes. <I guess… I assumed wrong. I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…. Well, I…> he couldn’t finish the sentence. <How can you justify yourself? There is no justification to tell besides the truth. Just tell her,> he thought.
<I didn’t want to leave,> he choked out, staring at the ground. <David ordered me to. You were supposed to die the day we attacked the Animorphs. I made sure you weren’t there, and I didn’t tell David. He told me I would either die or leave you… I thought even though I’d never see you again, at least you wouldn’t have to go through my death… I was obviously wrong.>
|
|