Human Territory Chpt. 3

*****

The rain was falling harder and harder on the forest floor outside where Kasshoku and Sudo were trudging along. The mud had become thicker and sloppier, causing the walk for both animals to be rather messy, and quite difficult. They had had no signs of the Hybrids being close to them, however they did hear the pack of dogs running wildly and barking noisily through the forest, in search of the killer who had murdered their second in command. But they weren't too bright, and hadn't steered towards the cabin at all whatsoever.

"DAMNED RAIN!" Kasshoku roared up at the sky, his armour now crying with raindrops as they fell rapidly on top of it, making a metallic sound as they landed. "I ain't dryin' 'em off afta we catch 'em, either, Sudo." The grizzly growled, stopping for a minute as he shook his fur of the rain. He walked on. "Can go 't hell fer all I care.." He muttered moodily.

Sudo growled under her breath and looked at Kasshoku. "Will you shut up?! The entire idea of this trip was stealth. We want to find the hybrids, not have them hear us first." she snapped, baring her teeth a little as she skulked. "Those dogs are loud enough and should provide a good cover nontheless.. But we need to be quiet as well."

The bear just growled at her. "We bin' walkin' fer ages, Sudo. N' I can' smell 'em anywhere aroun' here. Now, can you? Bein' a cat 'n all..- GODDAMN!" Kasshoku glared down at the mud as he almost lost his footing in the brown sludge. He grumbled madly as he carried on walking. Sooner we find tha' snake bitch, th' better.. Kasshoku thought to himself angrily, his eyes darting around the trees.

Sudo rolled her eyes. "No, I can't smell anything, Kasshoku, and chances are, any chance of footsteps are washed away by the rain as well. If we want to find them, we just have to look the old fashioned way." she explained, looking around with her great eyesight. It wasn't like the rain clouds had made the day that dark. "If I had known you'd complain this much, I'd have brought someone else along."

"Was Leader's orders fer me 't come with yeh, weren' it?" Kasshoku growled back in reply to the panther. Although he sounded gruff, there was stil a hint of pride in his voice. He loved it when the Leader gave him commands, it felt as if he was one of her strongest soldiers. Well.. strongest physically-wise, but not in the mind.

Sudo looked at him as she walked and nodded. "Yes, it was. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have gotten someone else just as easily." she grinned, narrowing her eyes at him. "Someone smart enough to know to be quiet."

The bear growled. "So yeh'd rather have tha' damned snake with yeh, eh?" Kasshoku questioned the panther before moving away from her slightly and stomping through the mud the best he possibly could. "He couldn' even catch tha' Dokuja or whatever th' hell her name was.." He grumbled.

Sudo tilted her head a little. "I never said I'd get Kinage. I hate him. That damned snake is a part of this somehow... and he's up to something. I know it." she growled, looking at the ground angrily.

"Aye, yeh." Kasshoku nodded. "Had a feelin' 'e's up 't summat myself too. 'Specially after he came slitherin' inter' my dorm with a load of bandages wrapped round those damn coils 'o his.." The bear paused. "'Ere, yeh don' reckon he helped tha' snake bitch get out, do ya?" He asked curiously.

"I wouldn't put it past him. He's a sneaky son-of-a-bitch with a hidden agenda." Sudo snarled, looking around again. Her hair stood on end for a moment and she shook the rain from her black coat, sending splashes everywhere. It wasn't long before her coat was bogged down with more water, though.

Kasshoku just nodded as he carried on walking. However, after a while, the bear paused. "'Ere.. yeh smell tha'?" He grunted, lowering his head to sniff at the ground closely. "'S tha' zebra kid.. Can smell 'im.."

Sudo looked at Kasshoku and sniffed at the air herself. After a moment, she nodded. "That means they aren't very far away at all." she said softly. "Stay quiet." She hunched down a little and sniffed at the air some more, seeming to follow a trail.

The bear growled in his throat at the panther. "Don' tell me wha' 't do, yeh hear?" Kasshoku whispered in a hiss as he lowered himself down, closer to the muddy blanket which covered the forest floor.

A voice crying out was faint in the distance, a ways from the two animals. "I said get off! I'm fine! FINE! See? Look! It's healing already, dammit!" Shimauma yelled at Dokuja who had apparently grabbed him by the armpit earlier when he had been stabbed by the blonde stranger. He was being dragged along the muddy floor, causing his poor legs to get absolutely covered in brown slime. His wound in his chest was healing as a matter of fact. There was still a path of hardened blood which was trailing down his chest however, towards his lower stomach.

"Stop shouting, dammit!" Dokuja hissed back at him. "Or I'll poison you and shut you up for good!" She didn't look back down at him, the very ends of her skirt covered in mud as well, but she never once had lost her footing, even though her legs were covered in mud up to her ankles. Snakes rarely ever did. Her nails slightly dug into his skin under his arm in warning.

Sudo's ears perked at the two familiar voices, and she looked around. Not very far at all.. she thought, narrowing her eyes as she slunk along the forest floor, keeping her ears and eyes alert.

"Tha's 'im!" Kasshoku whispered loudly. "Re'onise those screams 'o his." The bear's snout moved into an evil smirk as he followed after Sudo, not seeming to care as much about the rain, the mud, not anything. He had heard the voices of who they were looking for, and he intended on impressing his leader very much.

"Fuck you." Shimauma growled back in reply, forcing back a whimper as he felt her nails dig into his armpit. He really didn't need a girl clawing him to death right now. "I just don't see why you won't let me walk myself. Then we'd get further away a hell of a lot quicker! And we left that fox girl behind, too." Shimauma frowned.

Dokuja scoffed. "The weak don't set the pace." she grumbled and stopped, easily helping him to his feet. She was a lot stronger than any usual girl. She looked at him angrily for a moment. "Fine. Walk on your own. But if you start complaining about being tired, I'll kill you."

"Quit your whining for christ's sake and give the whole world a goddamn rest." Shimauma growled as he pushed past her and walked on ahead himself quite quickly. The bloodloss from the wound certainly hadn't affected his legs in any way.

Dokuja certainly didn't appreciate being spoken to like that. She glared at his back and quickly reached out a hand, gripping his shoulder. She let loose a little of her poisons, but not enough to kill him. Grimacing at the feel of his skin. Her skin was almost scaley in a way, and he would be able to feel the poisons heavily sink into and burn his skin. First he would feel light-headed, then he would slowly start to lose feeling in his limbs, blurred vision would follow, and then he'd be knocked out. Usually, after that point, her prey would die, but she hadn't given him enough poison to kill him.. Yet.

Shimauma did feel all of the symptoms which came after he had been poisoned by Dokuja. His knees began to shake and he keeled over, falling square on his face in the mud. His hands clawed at the ground with the last bit of strength they had in them, but they soon numbed too, and they fell limp, along with his whole body.

Dokuja had simply watched him fall into the mud with a grin, watching him claw at the ground before going numb completely. He had only a few minutes before he would be unconscious for at least a day. She walked around to his front and kneeled in front of him in the mud, gently wrapping a clean hand under his chin and delicately making him look up at her. "Don't mess with me, Shimauma. Hell hath no fury like a snake hybrid pissed off." she growled, her smile fading as she spoke. "I'll make you an antidote, mostly because you're the only other hybrid around. And I like you. I really do. But you really need to know when to hold your tongue." she said softly, moving her face closer to his so he could clearly see her green snake eyes, her hair falling in front of her face a little. She grinned playfully.

"B-bi-bi.. uh.." Shimauma couldn't get that one insult out. His eyes were all over the place as they rolled to the back of his head and forwards again as he stared lazily into thos evil, green snake eyes. He coughed and spluttered slightly, but he hardly moved when he did so. His whole body was limp by now, and he couldn't feel a thing. Bitch.. He finally said, but in his mind.

Dokuja chuckled evily to herself as she let his head drop back into the mud. "Sleep sweet." she teased and grabbed him again, slinging him over her shoulders and began to walk again.

Shimauma was extremely close to falling unconcious on her shoulder. But he couldn't even feel is own feelings now that the poison had taken it's toll all over his body. His legs, his backside, his back, arms and hands; he couldn't feel either of them. He could just about move his lips, but he couldn't use then with his tongue to speak. Shimauma was too dazed. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and they stared lifelessly at the sky for a moment, before his eyelids drooped, and the male Hybrid's head finally fell onto her shoulder. Unconcious.

"Don't worry, love." Dokuja whispered, patting his head and ruffling his muddy hair. "I'll find us someplace safe to camp. Just promise me you won't wake up screaming." She laughed to herself, knowing he was completely unconscious by now and trudged on, humming a small tune. She walked until she saw a small underbrush, the kind of hiding place a deer would take, and smiled. "Small.. a little cramped.. but it could work." she nodded and moved the brush aside. She stopped and her smile disappeared. It wasn't a brush at all, but a small door. She reached out and opened it, keeping Shimauma perfectly balanced on her shoulder. It was either stuck, or locked, but she couldn't get it open. It was suspiciously close to the water's edge of a small lake-like pond, but she thought the inside couldn't be too bad. She kicked the door inward and sighed in annoyance when it buckled and fell through on its rusted hinges. She smiled and raised an eyebrow as she crawled into the small space, dragging Shimauma behind her. "Sorry!" she called sarcastically when his head hit the miniature doorframe. She laughed again as she dragged him inside, the brush falling to hide the doorway yet again.

---

Reid smiled down at Aver, still laying over her gently and watching her face, her eyes, every feature. He reached up a hand and carefully pushed some hair back from her eyes, smiling at her softly. He liked how quiet it was, how he could just look at her for so long at a time, how he wanted to kiss her so badly every chance he got.. how he never wanted to let her go. He admired her eyes more deeply once her hair was pushed back and gently leaned down, kissing her lips softly. 

When she broke the short kiss, Aver giggled lightly. "Hey.. how come you are on top all of a sudden?" She tilted her head and watched him, a little grin appearing on her face as she did. "Feeling like the dominant one, hm?" Aver poked him in the shoulder gently.

Reid blinked and suddenly blushed. "I... I honestly don't know..." he muttered, looking at her and himself. "I... Sorry? Did you want to be on top?" he asked, blushing all the more at how sexual it sounded in his head. He shrugged. "You can if you want to be.."

Aver just burst into a huge fit of laughter as she rolled out from under Reid, almost falling off the bed as she tried to control her giggles. "You really are silly, Reid!" She giggled. Her laughter before was something that she had never truly done for virtually two years. She had gotten quite upset everyday when she would come home from school. Her mum would ask her "How was school today, Ave?" when she would walk through the door after a school day and Aver would just shrug her shoulders and hurry upstairs to her room, forcing back tears as she ran. But now here she was, laughing the most she had ever done in years. It was the familiar sound of bells again, but it all ceased when Aver frowned and winced slightly. "Ow.." She prodded at her ribs. "I laughed myself sore I suppose." Aver shrugged. She was sitting on her knees now at the end of the bed, watching Reid. "I embarrassed you, didn't I? I'm sorry." She said kindly with a warm smile.

In fact, she had embarrassed him pretty badly. He was sitting up also, his eyes on the bed and his face a bright red, his hands in loose fists on his knees. He had no idea what to say.. What was he supposed to say to that? She had just laughed at him. He looked away with a straight face, as red as a cherry. Well... this sucks... I haven't been this embarrassed since Drake and I went to the same school.. he thought, remembering the memory of when Drake would always run up to him at school and embarrass him in front of his friends.

"Hmmm.." Aver thought as she eyed him closely for a moment. He's blushing? Aver you silly thing, he's more embarrassed than you think he is. She bit her lip as he smile rubbed itself off her face. Aver scooted over to him, still on her knees however, and took his good hand in hers and placed it on her upper thigh where she held it there, remembering how embarrassed he had become before. Aver used the index finger of her free hand and poked it under Reid's chin, making him face her. "Don't feel embarrassed around me, Reid.. I would never dream of making you feel that way out of pleasure." She whispered and kissed him gently. Pleasure, Aver? What made you say that? N-no idea.. why? Should I know?

Reid's blush only deepened as he kissed her back, feeling his hand on her thigh. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, giving her thigh a gentle squeeze, just to let her know it was okay, and broke the kiss, smiling at her weakly, as best he could. He still couldn't help but look down, however, and his eyes fell on his hand on her thigh. It looked and felt almost... natural. He studied it a moment in silence, then looked at her again. "Don't worry about it." he finally whispered. He shivered a little, getting goosebumps all up his arms and on his shirtless back, but tried to hide it. She looked too good in his shirt for him to ask her to take it off.

Aver actually felt him shiver, no matter how much he had tried to hide it. Her hand had moved down to his shoulders automatically and out of habit from when she had touched his chin. "Reid, you're freezing." She whispered, running her hand up and down his arm, feeling the bumps. "W-wait there, let me.. hold on." Aver patted his hand on her thigh and moved it off gently as she twisted her body around and moved up slightly before she began to unbotton Reid's shirt. I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea.. I don't want him to have a broken finger AND a cold.. Aver though, biting her lip as she reached the last button and began to pull the shirt off. She shivered too, from the cold as it touched her bare skin.

Reid watched her back with wide eyes and a bright red blush. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't, his voice and his breath utterly caught in his throat. The instant his shirt was around her shoulders and he could just barely see her bra straps, he reached forward, putting his hands on her shoulders to hold the shirt there. "N-no... It's okay. I'm fine.. Really.." he said softly, grabbing the shirt and pulling it back up on her shoulders.

"Don't be silly, Reid." Aver frowned at him and pushed his hands away gently. "I don't want to see you getting ill. You are having your shirt back whether you like it or not." With that, she took the white shirt off quickly and handed it to him, actually facing him full on when she had turned to look at him. "Now where's mine..? Hnh.." Aver mumbled as she looked around the room for her own jumper with a slight grimace on her face. She wasn't freezing, she was frozen now. Aver felt the cold far too easily.

Reid looked down at his shirt, feeling the warmth her body had given it in his hands. He didn't look up at her, instead turning away. "I.. I think it's over there.." he muttered, pointing at the other end of the bed. He shuddered and closed his eyes, sighing a little. He forced himself to turn back around. "Here.. Where it and I'll find your shirt." he said, handing her his shirt again and got up off the bed.

"Is this pass the shirt or something?" Aver blinked at him and pulled at his trouser pocket gently to get his attention. "I'm not doing this on purpose, Reid. I want you to be okay." She smiled up at him. "I'm not embarrassed anymore.. You saw me once and you didn't laugh at me. You gave me a compliment. A compliment I truly didn't expect. I just want you to be okay." She whispered again. "I didn't say 'I love you' for nothing." Aver tugged his hand. "Come here. Sit with me." She fell silent for a moment. "I-I want you to.. well.. hold me. Like this.. I mean, I know I've had my hands all over your naked chest already and well.. well.. uhm, it's practically the same isn't it?" Aver blushed madly now as her words came out completely wrong, in the opposite way she had wanted them to.

Butterflies rose in Reid's stomach and a lump grew in his throat as he slowly looked at her, forcing himself to keep his eyes above her neck. "N-no.. I don't think it's the same... but.." he muttered, gently squeezing her hand. He moved back to the bed and slowly sat down next to her, keeping his eyes on hers. "Aver... I just... Don't want to make you uncomfortable.." he said softly, holding both her hands in his now. "You are beautiful... and I want to hold you so badly... but just like you just told me: I want to take care of you. I don't want you getting sick either, so I want you to keep warm. Keep wearing my shirt.. I can get it back later when I find yours." He tried to smile softly.

Aver's heart sank, but only slightly. She blinked at him and nodded, looking down at her hands which he had taken. Her eyes darted to look at his finger and she bit her lip. He hadn't mentioned it for quite a while, and Aver hoped that it wasn't paining him in any way. "Okay.." She said quietly as she brought up Reid's hand to her mouth and kissed his broken finger. Gently of course, and very lightly. "Just.. don't find my jumper too quickly, Reid.. It will mean we'll have to go back in there.." Aver whispered, looking to the bedroom door, implying the living area of course where Chris and Kitsune were talking. "And I really don't want to..Not yet.." She added, now turning her head to look back at Reid as she smiled weakly and finally pulled his white shirt back over her top half.

Reid had blushed when she'd kissed his finger, biting his lip softly. She was amazing. He watched her a moment with a deep blush. She seemed.. downtrodden. Before she could button up his shirt, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her middle, slipping his hands inside the shirt so he could feel her skin. He pulled her to him and felt the warmth from both the shirt and her delicate body, making him shiver a little. He hugged her tightly and leaned his head down, lightly kissing her bare shoulder.

Sure, Aver had given her brother Tommy the shivers hundreds and hundreds of times. Countless times, even. But all of those shivers seemed to squeeze into one, huge shiver, and it targeted Aver like an arrow to a dartboard. Her eyes widened as she felt Reid's lips touch her bare skin. She truly hadn't expected it. He had seemed so.. embarrassed and silent. Aver's head tilted back slightly as she tried to regain her vision of reality. She was too dazed to notice anything. Aver's hand reached up to Reid's head and she rested it on the back of his neck and moved her other to his waist, holding him close as her eyes closed. I-I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now.. I'm doing this, and I haven't even graduated yet.. It's insane.

Reid held her tightly to him, but carefully, gently kissing and suckling on her neck and shoulders. Once he'd started, he couldn't stop. He loved the way her skin felt against his fingertips and the way she smelled and tasted. He blushed to himself, nuzzling her neck. God.. she's perfect.. Amazing.. he thought softly. Why can't I stop..? I'm probably making her nervous.. Damn it, Reid, STOP YOURSELF! He finally pulled his lips from her skin and looked at her softly, smiling.

Aver was dizzy. Extremely dizzy. The feel of Reid's lips on her bare skin had caused her to grow hotter and hotter with both embarrassment and pleasure. She didn't look him directly in the eyes for a moment as she licked her lips a little, trying to wet them since they had gone dry from her little daze and had paid no attention to anywhere else on her body other than the areas where Reid had touched. Aver didn't know what to say exactly when she finally moved her eyes to look at him. She blinked up at him, speechless.

Reid watched her for a moment and furrowed his brow in confusion, but still smiled a little. Is she okay..? She looks a little red... she's not saying anything.. Did I do something wrong..? he wondered. "Aver..?" he asked softly, moving closer, but more out of worry, rubbing her back under the shirt. His fingers brushed the back of her bra and it was his turn to blush, but only lightly. He was more concerned about her.

"I thought you didn't want to..?" Aver whispered, her eyes looking up at him softly, not blinking. "I hope I didn't force you into doing it.. I didn't want you to feel like you had to make me happy.." She moved some of Reid's hair out of his eyes, still looking into them. Aver hadn't actually noticed that Reid had touched the back strap of her bra, and if she did, she would have been scarlet all over..

Reid smiled at her softly and kissed her softly, quickly, keeping his face close to hers after it'd broken. "No.. I wanted to." he whispered and kissed her again, holding her to him again, his fingers playing circles on her back. He smiled to himself, getting more and more butterflies.

Aver kissed him back gently, getting more shivers as Reid's fingers danced on her back. "I wanted to." His voice said in her head over and over. Reid had wanted to do it, and Aver felt much more relaxed now that she knew he was comfortable doing such a thing with her. She had been so afraid of hurting him again.. Aver's hand moved down from Reid's waist, and onto his upper thigh where she let her hands move up and down it, slowly and gently almost in time with the way their lips moved.

Reid swallowed hard between kisses, and he didn't know why, but his breath had gotten a little faster. He tried not to make it obvious though, holding his breath until they broke a kiss, then letting it out. He didn't want her to think he was getting excited... which he was. He just kissed her back as best he could and ran his hands up and down her back, one of them occasionally sitting on her hip. After a while, he broke the train of kisses and moved his lips back to her neck and shoulder, slowly pushing the sleeve of his shirt down a little so he could reach it better.

Aver didn't know why she had her hand on Reid's thigh. It just felt as if.. it had to be there. That was it's place at that very moment, like where a striker was to stand in a soccer match, the hand on his thigh was it's position. However, it moved as Aver let it trace upwards, moving rather slowly over his whole chest, eventually stopping when it reached his shoulder. She didn't know why, but she began to push him backwards gently, as if to make him lie back. Why? Aver didn't know herself. It just felt right. Even with the war going on, nothing mattered to her right now. She had forgotten all about it. About everything. Her mind was just focusing on Reid's lips on her bare skin. She had only wanted him to hold her, and now he was giving Aver more. A lot more.

Reid had allowed her to push him back, pulling his lips from her skin as she did, worried she was pushing him away. He had forgotten to keep his breath under control as he lied back and blushed at how deep and thick his breath was. He watched her with somewhat dazed and drooped eyes, blushing and licking his lips. He ran a hand down her arm slowly, not wanting to let go of her completely. He felt so dizzy... and his skin felt like it was on fire with how much he was blushing. He watched her, looking at her body and slowly tracing his eyes back to her face, blushing all the more. "S-sorry.." he whispered, afraid he had done something wrong.

"For what, Reid?" Aver whispered back, staring down at him, confused as she fingered his chest lightly. "What did you do..?" She sounded a little worried, but if it was something serious, Reid probably would have pushed her off him or something.. But Aver still wanted to sound concerned, simply because she was. Aver lowered her head and leaned in close towards the deep of Reid's neck where she kissed it lightly, and moved up again to kiss him a second time just under the main part of his jaw bone.

"If.." Reid started, but stopped, gasping in slightly and tilting his head back at her kisses, closing his eyes lightly. "I-if.. I was.." he couldn't seem to find his words when she kissed him there. "I was.. making you uncomfortable..." he finally mumbled it out, little more a blurb of words on his lips. He wasn't even sure he could understand himself. He breathed shakily and couldn't help but whisper, "Good god, Aver.."

Aver grinned lightly as she kissed him again in the same spot under his jaw bone. "You would never make me feel uncomfortable, Reid.. Not anymore." She whispered, raising her head up from his neck and locking her lips with his for a few moments before she moved yet again, this time to his own shoulder. Reid has given her a display of his affection for her before, and now it was Aver's turn. She started from the top, closest to his neck and worked her way down, extremely slowly, exaggerating each light kiss she gave to Reid's shoulder. By this time, Aver was lying on her stomach on top of Reid rather comfortably. It was surprising that the bed still hadn't smashed to a million pieces.

Reid gasped again, keeping his eyes closed, then turning his head to watch her out of the corners of his eyes, quietly, still breathing a little heavy. He licked his lips and ran a hand up her hip to her lower back, then traced a line up her spine slowly to the back of her bra. He stopped there, hovered at it and fingered the latch a little, then let his hand move back down. What am I thinking..? If this goes on... No. She wouldn't do that.. we're both too young. But it feels too good... "A-Aver.." he whispered softly, his other hand in her hair.

She stopped and moved up again to look at him, her mouth slightly open as a look of concern swept across her face. "What is it, Reid..? Is it me..?" Aver asked quietly. She didn't sound upset, she was just worried that she had done something wrong. "I guess you just get carried away with this kind of thing.. It's okay, I'll stop if you want me to." Aver smiled at him, moving hair out of his face again.

Reid blushed up at her and reached his hand to her face, gently moving hair back from her eyes too and shivered. "No... Aver.. It's not you.. you did nothing wrong. But you're right.. you do get carried away with this sort of thing.." he whispered, stroking her cheek. "I love you... but we need to be careful.. Okay?" he asked, hoping she'd understand. And half of him hoped she didn't. He didn't want to embarrass her, or himself, if that's not what she had been thinking. We're in a war for christ's sake... this isn't the time or place for that anyway..

Aver just smiled at him kindly and leaned down again, hugging him tightly to herself even though they were both lying down. "I love you more than anything else on this world, Reid. Simply because everything I onced loved has been taken away from me." She spoke gently into his shoulder as she buried her face a little, hugging him tighter still to show that what she said was true. "To be honest.. I'm quite frightened of uhm.. doing.. well.. you know what." Her voice was slightly shaky from embarrassment, but still laughed lightly.

Reid chuckled softly and wrapped both arms around her, tightening his grip on her, and nuzzling her cheek. "Honestly... I am too.." he whispered. "But that's why we shouldn't yet." He kissed her cheek softly, closing his eyes, and smiled at her. "For all you know... I'm probably not even the guy your supposed to... ya know... give yourself to." he muttered, blushing deeply. He bit his lip, wondering if he was going to offend her, or take it too far. I want to... but I can't. She's... too perfect to... God, she's amazing.

"You are the one, Reid.." Aver said gently yet honestly. "You don't just meet someone in the war, play around with them a little and then just dump them like trash. That would just be.. wrong.. and cruel." She said quietly. "I have no one else left. I don't know who else is on the earth right now other than the animals and.. that blonde guy." Aver shivered a little. "I would never give myself to him. Only to you." She nuzzled into his shoulder, but before she did, she kissed him affectionately on his jawbone again.

Reid shivered, closing his eyes again with a gasp. "T-then.. If I am the one.. now isn't the time." he whispered shakily, holding her tighter. "Aver.. I just don't want you to get hurt." He gently gripped her hair and pulled her head back enough for him to lean up and kiss her lips fully, deeply.

Aver broke it the instant their lips touched and brought a finger to his lips quickly. A sharp frown was on her face, and it seemed a lot like the kind of expression Reva would use. But Reva had gone for a few days and wouldn't return for a while. "I wasn't intending on doing anything of the kind, Reid." She said firmly and seriously. "Like I said, I'm frightened. And I'm scared enough of being killed and not seeing you ever again."

Reid watched her eyes for a moment and smiled under her finger. He gently reached up, grabbing her wrist and pulling her finger from his lips, holding her hands gently. "I understand, Aver." he said softly, smiling. "And it's okay." He kissed the back of her hand, then every knuckle on her fingers, then looked at her again. "I'll get your shirt. You need to wash your skirt anyway." he said and got up.

"Hm-? Oh.. my skirt.." Aver rolled her eyes and raised her top half and looked down at her skirt, studying it closely. She didn't realise how awfully wrong the way she was sitting on Reid looked. Aver was totally oblivious to it as she shrugged. "Well, there isn't any point is there? It will just get dirty again. And the mud has gone hard so it will just drop off in a flash anyway. I guess it gives us more time together. And you can keep your trousers on." She smiled and winked at him as she placed both of her hands deep inside Reid's trouser pockets playfully since they were both either side of her.

Reid smiled up at her, blushing at how she sat and how she so easily and uneffectedly put her hands in his pants pockets. He ran his hands up and down her legs softly and slowly, then ran them up her arms, back down to her wrists, and gently held her wrists there. "I love you." he said softly, then blushed to himself at how easily it had slipped out.

Aver blushed a slight pinky colour herself, quite overwhelmed how he had just said it there and then. But she regained herself and smiled at him again. "I love you, too." Aver said lovingly, taking her hands out of Reid's pockets and taking his hands in hers, being gentle with the broken finger of course. "When this war is over.. I want to say that to you everyday, Reid. Especially to you, because we'll have survived the war together, and whenever we say it, it will remind us of today. This moment right now." Aver honestly wouldn't be able to say anything like this to anyone else. She was truly honest and happy, admitting how she felt was a breath of fresh air to her.

"You got it, Ave." Reid said, smiling at the little nickname he'd thought up just off the top of his head. He sat up and kissed her again, softly, but deeply. He smiled when it broke and put his forehead against hers. "I won't let you go." he whispered, repeating his promise from the night before.

A memory flooded into Aver's mind suddenly when Reid had named her that little nickname of his.. "Come on, Ave. It's time for your karate class. I'll run you down to the gym on my way to the station. Don't want you to be late, do we?" Dad grinned lightly as he stroked the top of his daughter's head softly. "My little Ave, a blue belt! A perfect belt to match that eye of yours." He gave her a wink. His keys jingled in his other hand as he opened the front door, Aver's gym bag hooked over his shoulder as he stepped outside. Back in reality, Aver smiled. "Dad called me Ave.." She whispered happily.

Reid blinked and looked at her worriedly, thinking it would upset her. "I'm sorry... I won't if it reminds you too much of him.." he said softly and looked away, knowing he'd be a little uncomfortable about it also.

Aver tilted her head and looked at him. "It does remind me of him, but in a good way. I feel as if I have some sort of family still here with me." She put a gentle hand on the back of Reid's neck, moving his head so he would be facing her. "You apologise too much, Reid.." Aver whispered. "It doesn't matter what you do or say, I'll always forgive you. I need you here with me.. If we both keep apologising to each other.. well.. we won't get very far. Will we?" Aver whispered even quieter still, her eyes looking deeply into Reid's, tracing every different shade of colour in them.

Reid watched Aver back in her own eyes with his blue ones and smiled softly. "Yeah.. you're right.." he whispered. He sat up, still holding her in his lap, and hugged her. "C'mon.. let me up so I can find your shirt." He kissed her neck again lightly and smiled at her.

She giggled softly at the touch of his kiss on her neck and nodded. "Okay." Aver said kindly as she pulled herself up from him and stood up straight on the floor of the bedroom, straightening out the creases in her skirt. Her hair was almost fully over her eyes now, and had become quite loose. She sighed lightly and took out the butterfly pin from her hair and moved over to the rather handsome oak, dressing table where there was a mirror. It wasn't exactly clean, but Aver could see her reflection well enough to clip the pin back in again, humming softly as she did.

Reid watched her with a warm smile, leaning back on his palms on the bed. Surprisingly, his finger didn't hurt anymore. At all. He looked at it, held it up for closer inspection, then shrugged and got off the bed, checking the floor and around the bed for her shirt. He found it slightly under the bed, covered in dust from the floor, and picked it up with an, "Ah, there it is.." He held it up, frowned and dusted it off as best he could, shaking it out until every speck of dust was gone from it. He smiled in satisfaction and went to Aver, offering it to her. "Here ya go!"

"Oh, Reid, you are amazing." Aver beamed at him happily and took her jumper gratefully. Although, she did frown a little at the small skull ornament which was stuck to the collar of it. It seemed to grin up at her darkly. "Reva would choose something depressing for me to wear.. It's like she knew what was going to happen to me." Aver shrugged and turned away from Reid for a moment while she unbuttoned his white shirt and pulled it off, handing it to him from behind. She smiled at him almost cheekily, having a feeling that he may just blush at any moment. But she turned her head around and pulled on her own, black jumper. She shivered lightly. Whenever a new piece of clothing was put on the body, it almost always felt cold for the first couple of seconds. That was Aver's theory at least.

Reid waited for her to put on her shirt, holding his in his hand still to just enjoy the warmth her body had given it, then stepped forward when she'd finished and hugged her from behind, his arms around her middle and his lips at her neck. "Don't worry about it... We'll try to find a mall or something and find you something new to wear, okay?"

"Nevermind me, put your shirt on, silly." Aver rolled her eyes and twisted on the spot so she was facing him. She took his shirt from his hand and unfolded it from it's scrunched up ball and flattened out all the creases before pulling it around Reid's shoulders. Aver smiled up at him softly. She really was shorter than him now that they were both standing next to each other. Aver only reached just over his shoulders.

Reid smiled at her lovingly and slipped his arms through the sleeves as she pulled it over his shoulders. He left it unbuttoned though, his cold, silver dogtags shining against his skin and giving him shivers. He hugged her again and kissed her lips gently. "You're so good to me." he whispered softly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Aver replied, even softer than he had spoken. "You practically saved me, Reid." She did the same thing that he had done to her, and wrapped her arms around his waist under his shirt so she was touching his bare skin. Aver let her hands trail up and down his sides softly and gently, watching him.

Reid shrugged a little and smiled. "I guess.. I just didn't expect it after being such an ass to you two days ago.." he whispered, nuzzling her nose with his in an eskimo kiss. Actually... now that I think about it... I'm a completely different person when I'm with her.. And it feels great.

"..Don't." Aver said quietly, putting her hand flat against his chest, pushing him only slightly so his head moved away from hers. However, she closed her eyes and kissed him gently. "We hardly knew each other." Aver whispered after breaking it. "And you had every reason to have acted like that." She smiled up at him, her eyes full of light.

Reid looked at her and smiled too, his blue eyes gleaming, though he still looked tired. "Okay.. C'mon.. Let's go back out there.." he whispered, buttoning up his shirt. "Don't want them thinking we died or something." Or were busy doing something inappropriate.. he blushed a little at the thought, but hid it well.

Aver nodded. "Sure, let's go." The black haired girl giggled lightly as she looked him up and down for a few moments. She then moved around him, checking him out in his shirt from every angle, admiring how much older he looked and how lucky she was. "Mhm." Aver nodded curtly and took his hand in hers. "Lead the way, handsome." She winked, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

Reid blushed a little and chuckled, holding her hand and kissing the back of it as he led her towards the door. When he opened it and peered out, he frowned a little. The blonde kid--Chris--and the fox girl were gone. "Well... Wonder where they went..?" he asked gently, stepping out with Aver intow.

"Maybe they went out on a little adventure of their own?" Aver suggested lightly, looking around the deserted living area and blinking at the spot where Chris had slept earlier. "She couldn't have taken him.. we would have heard shouts or something.. Wouldn't we?" Aver looked at Reid now, gripping his hand gently.

Reid shrugged slightly and looked around again. "I.. don't know... It doesn't look like there was a struggle either.." he muttered. Apart from the struggle this cabin has had with Father Time.. She gave her hand a squeeze and bit his lip in thought. "I'm sure they'll be back. Let's not worry about it." Why would I? I don't even like that Chris kid. But the fox girl...

"Well.. okay.. if you're sure." Aver shrugged and let go of his hand as she treaded lightly on the living room carpet and over to her shoes which were resting next to the couch in the same place she had left them. She picked them up and looked at Reid. "What should we do..?" Aver asked softly, her eyes dimming slightly when she heard the rain. She hated it.

---

Chris had a half eaten Granola bar in his left hand as he used his other as a headrest against the back of the couch. He took a bite into the bar as he stared out of the window. When he swallowed, he looked to Kitsune curiously. I wonder.. "Hey, chicko." Chris said softly, throwing his empty wrapper into the pile of charred wood in the fireplace. He scooted closer to her. "You think you could show me the labs? I mean, you don't have to. I can imagine how it would feel for you to go back there, but.. I haven't seen them. I honestly have no idea if they exist." Chris shrugged his shoulders as he put a hand through his blonde hair lightly. "Why don't you prove to me they're real, huh?"

Kitsune looked frightened when she heard his request. She stood up from where she sat and began pacing up and down as she thought, scratching one of her pointed ears unconciously as she did. What happens if you get caught? she thought nervously. She knew what would happen, it would be back in a cage for her with no questions asked, and probably with one heck of a punishment. But she didn't would to let down her newly made friend. Kitsune stopped pacing the floor and as she bit her lip turned to look at Chris. "I've thought about it...and...well, ok. We can go so you can see they really exist...but we'll have to be really careful. It's pretty well guarded, so you must always be on the lookout for the animals...if you get caught you might end up like me." She said turning round and waving her tail at him. "And i'm sure thats the last thing you want..."

When Kitsune had raised and began to move around the living room, Chris had watched her closely, almost admiring her foxy features. Her ears, her eyes, her tail, everything. But Chris wasn't one for words, so he decided to keep quiet about his personal matter. Nah, leave it Christopher, m'boy. Humans and Hybrids just don't go together. They were made to kill us, remember? Chris shook his head finally -and also used it to shake off the little voice in head-and answered her. "Nah, don't you worry about me, chicko. I can take care of myself." He then pulled himself up from the floor d stretched out his arms. "Fancy leaving now? Or do you want to stay here for a 'lil longer?"

Kitsune who was standing with her back to him turned slowly, a smile growing on her face as she did. "Well theres no point hanging round here is there..." For some strange reason she was excited about going, a feeling she thought she would never experience when thinking about going back to the labs. "Now we'll need some way of defending ourselves...so have you got any weapons?"

"Oh- sure. No need to worry about that." Chris winked at her as he pulled back his coat to reveal four silver knives stuck into his belt, two either side on his hips. He slid one out and threw it up. The knife did it's own somersault in the air and landed back in Chris' hand by the handle. "Here you go. Look after her for me. She's a favourite of mine." Chris winked at Kitsune again and handed her the knife. It was a beautiful blade. It had carved in flowers running up the silver handle, and there was one purple gemstone in the middle which shone lightly when the knife moved.

Kitsune took the knife gratefully. As she held it she marvelled at its beauty as her fingers traced over the flowers and Gemstone. "Thank you..." she said with a smile as she tied it to her ragged skirt. "Now if anything should happen, just run ok...I would rather I was caught than you. I would not want you going through the torment. now I think thats everything...lets go!"

"Don't speak so negatively, chicko. This is just for a bit of fun." Chris rolled his eyes at her as he pulled his coat back over his belt. The blonde haired teen gave her a charming smile of his and he took Kitsune's hand in his and led her towards the front door. "I just want to see them. I'm not going inside- and don't worry, you won't get captured again. I won't let you. So stay close, hm?" He gave her hand a gentle squeeze as he moved the rotten door aside. But when they stepped outside, Chris frowned. "Oh, man.." He muttered in a sigh. It was still raining extremely heavily, and it was freezing cold. There was no wind however, thankfully for them.

When Kitsune stepped outside a look of wonder spread across her face. "Rain! It is wonderful..." she said letting go of his hand and twirling round, face cast up towards the clouds. "I have never experienced this before, isn't it wonderful!" She stopped twirling and shivered suddenly as she was only wearing a tattered skirt and vest. "This rain is cold..." she suddenly grumbled, the fun of it wearing of very quickly. She walked back to Chris and wrapped her arm round his hoping for warmth.

A huge look of puzzlement swept across Chris' face when Kitsune had danced and commented on the rain. When she had returned to him however and looped her arm in his, he looked down and blinked at her. "You've.. never seen the rain before?" He asked, quite confused.

"I've been in the labs my whole life..." Kitsune said peering up at him with her bright yellow eyes. "I was taken from my family when I was only a baby...so the only memories I have are ones of pain and suffering. The only time I left my cage was to have more tests and experiments done on me." She sniffed lightly as she thought of the family she had never known. "I've never been outside til now."

Chris honestly had no idea what to say. How could he comfort a Hybrid? How did a Hybrid cry? The same way humans did? Maybe.. But.. she sounds so serious. It's almost saddening, even though she isn't.. well.. the same as me. But she looks pretty similar.. Chris thought, looking down at Kitsune with his soft blue eyes. "Hey," He said gently, using his thumb from his free hand to stroke her cheek softly, in a comforting sort of way. "You're out of there now, right? Now's the time to enjoy your freedom and to live a real life." Chris smiled. "How does that sound?"

Kitsune smiled again. "That sounds really good. Now we should really start walking...if an animals about it would surely have picked up our scent by now." she said quietly. She glanced round the trees expecting to see something running towards them but all was clear.

"Good point." Chris nodded and unhooked his arm from hers for a moment while he replaced the cabin door in front of the frame. "We should try and pay a little respect to those two lovebirds in there." He said quietly, using a thumb to point inside the cabin. "They didn't kick us out after all, and they had food." I bet the guy was dying to though.. What was his name? R.. Reid.. Reid? Reid was it? Yeah. And the 'lil filly in there with him.. Heh, Aver. Don't think she liked me all so much. Chris shrugged. "Thanks Reid and Aver I suppose."

"The girl doesn't like me very much..." Kitsune said as she started to walk. "I guess she is just disgusted with the way I look...don't blame her really, i'm not normal." She turned and looked at Chris smiling. "Come on slow coach..." she said then laughed.

Chris chuckled lightly and he sped up his pace a little, eventually reaching her so the were walking side by side. "I wouldn't worry about Aver. I think she was more frightened about the fact that someone might have been eyeing her while she was taking off her clothes." He shrugged. "It's possible for her to think that it might have been an ugly animal taking the role of peeping Tom, looking her up and down to see if she's a good victim for one of the experiments.."

"I didn't see her...I swear. I was huddled up in the corner in a little ball hoping no one would find me. I was as scared of her as she was of me." Kitsune replied turning to look at him. "I wouldn't hurt anyone I promise...I don't want to be a killer, just because i'm part animal doesn't mean I have to be." She tucked a strand of auborn hair behind her ear then smiled. "Lets forget all that stuff...tell me about yourself and how humans live."

"Hmm, about me, huh?" Chris asked, putting a finger to his chin thoughtfully as he looked deep into the trees, keeping an eye out secretly for any animals. "There isn't much to tell, really. I'm pretty much the outcast of my family since I moved away from them a year ago to do things I wanted to do." He shrugged. "As for us humans.. Most of us are gone. We don't live anymore. Those of us who are left are afraid of living." Chris sighed as he seemed to remember something which wasn't very pleasant. "The city I was in a few days ago.. well.. I was with this one guy who I found huddled up against the wall in a back alley. I pitied him since he was in his mid thirties and had lost his life and three kids to that dammed grizzly.. Slaughtered right in front of his eyes. He managed to escape.. but.. When I found him, I stayed with him for a few hours. But then he couldn't take the life of living in fear anymore. He ended his life by shooting himself with the last bullet he had in his pistol. Now here I am. Alone and still surviving."

"Well your not alone anymore...i'll always be here for you Chris as your guard fox!" Kitsune said with a smile. "...but also as a friend. We can be outcasts together. A hybrid and a human, who would have thought..." She walked on staring up at the grey clouds, looking thoughtful. "We're getting close..." Kitsune suddenly said her voice dropping to a whisper.

Chris chuckled softly. "Thanks, chicko." He whispered too as he watched her for a moment. "We are?" He asked, now turning to look back through the trees again, looking out for any kind of building which would be the labs. "You sure? I would have expected to hear noises of some sort."

"They want to keep it hidden so they try and keep the outside as quiet as possible...but there may still be animals around, be extra cautious." Kitsune said as she took a few steps ahead of him.

"Ah. Alright." Chris nodded, still keeping an eye out beyond the trees. He pulled his coat back slightly, revealing the knives again. He held his coat so he wasn't too far away from grabbing the knives if they were attacked. Not that he wanted to be ambushed that is. Safety first.. Christopher, m'boy. Chris couldn't help but grin a little out of excitement. He had heard talks of the labs, but he had never believed for the existence of the buildings to be true. Perhaps Kitsune really would prove him wrong.

Kitsune crept on further, her breathing shallow, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Fear began flooding through her once again at the thought of being so close to the one place she hated the most. Suddenly she stopped and beckoned for Chris to look at something trough the trees. "There...you see those buildings...its the lab."

Chris squinted a little as he moved some branches away and peered through the tree trunks. "Jesus.. they're huge." He was right. The labs consisted of four huge, grey buildings. They looked a lot like a power plant where electricity was stored all squeezed together like that, but the labs were twice the size of any such thing. There was no sounds emitting from the labs at all. Chris had expected to hear animal cries of somesort. Or even the shouts of humans begging for their lives to be spared.. Why think of something so horrific, Christopher, m'boy?

Kitsune was holding onto Chris's arm tightly, completely afraid at what she was seeing. "You wanna go closer?" she whispered. "Doesn't look like theres any animals around...they must be out searching for me and the others."

"Do you want to move closer?" Chris whispered back in reply, blinking at the buildings, his hand still entwined in branches as he held them back a little further so he could look more at the labs. He could see what seemed to be a field, a field with.. floodlights? Floodlights in a lab? What was this place? Labs with a built in football ground so the scientists could have a game of soccer in their lunchbreaks? Maybe. The field was empty however. "We could I guess, no one is around, no." Chris whispered again.

"Yes...we'll move on. We will show them we are fearless, that we are not afraid of animals." Kitsune said trying to fool herself that she was brave. She shakingly moved forward, glancing round every few seconds for any signs of movement.

Chris blinked at her. "Who's to say that the animals will come out? I'm not going in there, chicko." He muttered, letting the branches go as he slowly treaded after her, his hand now wrapped around the handle of one of the knives.

Kitsune crept towards the field, slightly curious as to what it was used for. She had never been in it so this was the first time she had seen it. "I just want to know what that is then we'll leave...we can't hang around for too long, its just asking for trouble." she whispered as she turned her head around to glance at him.

"You don't say.." Chris raised an eyebrow at her, smiling a little with his arms folded over his chest. "Well, then, let me go on ahead first. I don't want you getting hurt or captured. I've only just met you after all, and I'd like to get to know you a little more." He moved his arms apart and put a gentle hand on Kitsune's shoulder as he moved past her calmly.

Kitsune bit her lip as she nodded and stopped slowly. "Just be careful, I don't want to lose my only friend..." she whispered as she watched him walked past. She glanced at the labs, checking that no one had crept out while they talked.

Chris was just about to answer her as he turned to look at her softly when someone's violent shout interrupted him. One of the lab doors at the back of the main building was practically blown open as two figures suddenly sped out of it, one seeming to be desperately trying to catch the other in front of it.

"GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS BACK HERE! Leader isn't finished with you, yet! You will stay if you like it or not!" The brown, female kangaroo's eyes flashed angrily as she hopped in great leaps behind the young man in front of her with her paws outstretched.

"I'm sick of it!" Renzo's developed legs gave him a slight speed advantage over the kangaroo, but she was still hopping after him, quickly regaining anything lost. He quickly decided that just running wasn't going to stop the chase, so he turned around and faced the kangaroo, allowing her to jump into him and tackle him to the ground.

Kitsune ran to Chris, but instead of fear on her face, there was determination. "We must help him!" she said quickly as she ripped the dagger from her skirt. "If we act as a team we can take her down...!" She smiled then turned towards the kangaroo walking towards her slowly, dagger in hand. "Hey! look behind you animal..." she called.

Renzo noticed the fox with a wild eye "Calm it! I'm in control!" He said, the kangaroo still on him. He bit deep into the place where the kangaroo's neck met with her shoulder and whipped his head away from it viciously, tearing a large chunk out of it.

The kangaroo screamed in pain as she used one of her paws to smack Renzo hard across the flesh of his cheeks in defence. She did notice Kitsune however, but she just glared at her and turned back to look at Renzo. "You will pay for that! Leader will punish you!" She barked at the male Hybrid, now beginning to use her huge feet to stand directly on his ankles as she raised up from him. She was a lot heavier than him after all, and she would use her weight to an advantage. Although, she was bleeding extremely heavily from her neck. But this kangaroo wasn't in the Leader's army for nothing.

Chris just watched in awe, his eyes wide. "KITSUNE! Get the hell back here! I swear to God if you help that guy I am NOT going to have you here with me!" He yelled at her, his voice serious. This was a fight between a Hybrid and it's creator, and Kitsune simply shouldn't get involved. Chris had seen Renzo's teeth, and had winced when he saw how much damage they had done to the kangaroo. He didn't want to see those fangs touch Kitsune at all.

Kitsune gasped when the other hybrid bit the kangaroo and quickly scurried back to Chris. "I'm sorry...I don't know what I was thinking." she said looking frightened now.

Renzo tossed his hip to the right quickly, tossing the kangaroo off of his ankles and quieting the pain which had grown there. He got up "'Leader' won't punish me, because there will be no-one to inform on this little outburst" He growled "Come on, I've waited a long time to tear off something valuable to you" he flashed his teeth menacingly at her.

"You aren't complete." The kangaroo said coldly, her eyes flashing again. "Your appearance will just cause people to steer clear from you. Not that there is anyone around however. The humans are dead, and the animals belong to Leader." She glared him down before darting towards him and using her powerful legs to smack him clean in the stomach. "Leader would thank me for that." The kangaroo hissed as she brought a paw to her bleeding neck. She winced slightly before looking at Renzo again. "Well, we will see how you survive out here. I doubt you will. Your abilities are far weaker than any of the others here." With that she smirked lightly, and the kangaroo hopped away, only slower this time since the amount of blood she had lost was causing her to become rather dizzy. She slammed the door behind her, and the sound of her muffled voice emitted from it, gradually fading as she walked down the corridor.

Renzo recovered from the kick to the stomach, still slightly hunched over but doing okay "Damn kangaroo bitch" He said breathlessly "I'll get you yet" He then suddenly remembered the fox-woman who had come bursting out before he had torn out that piece of the kangaroo's neck. He looked around but she was gone "Hey! Fox lady! You here?" He asked, peering into the trees.

Chris had one of his arms wrapped around Kitsune's middle, tightly but gently, halting her from any movements if she tried to reach the stranger. His other hand was cupped over her mouth, stopping Kitsune from calling out. "Don't move.. you saw what he did. I don't want him doing that to you." Chris whispered very lightly so only she could hear. His coat was still over his belt, showing his knives, still gleaming silver. Just incase, Christopher, m'boy..

"Look, if you are there, I'm not going to hurt you" Renzo explained "I was only defending myself against that kangaroo bitch, and I was less than happy with her..." He trailed off, sinking into memory "Experiments" He finally added "Please, I just want to discuss this" He indicated himself "With you, and I need some help getting reaccquainted with this new world" He waited patiently for a reply, if any should come.

Kitsune glanced at Chris, trying to let him know that she would be alright, that the new hybrid would not harm her. This human is so protective...why? she thought curiously to herself.

Chris just shook his head at her in a silent reply. He watched through the trees, spotting a figure not too far away from them. With a gentle pull, he pushed her back towards him, leading her backwards out of the stranger's view.

Renzo could feel their electrical fields moving away, but he still hadn't figured out how to use his new ability fully. Instead, he looked from side to side in a slow motion, hoping to pinpoint where he could sense it the strongest. To Chris and Kitsune, it looked like he might be looking for them. He eventually found it, but it was moving away, he took a step forward "Where are you going?" He asked.

Why is he doing this? Kitsune thought. She continued glancing at him hoping he would get the message and let her go.

Renzo took more steps towards Chris and Kitsune. He needed to get some use out of the Kitsune at any rate. Despite his loner nature, the strong will to survive far surpassed any unconscious desire to go it alone. Perhaps he would once he got all the help he needed to get started.

Chris swallowed thickly, trying to get rid of that huge lump in his throat which appeared while he began backing away as Renzo stepped closer still. "Don't say a word." He whispered, lighter still so Kitsune could only hear. Chris took his hand away from her mouth and reached down to his belt, taking out his largest knife. "We are moving away from you, of course." Chris stared into the trees at the figure. "Can't be too careful, nowadays. Not with the war going on. Even the trees have their little pact with the animals." Chris said clearly, no fear in his voice whatsoever as he kept his knife low, down by his side, the end of the blade pointing to the floor.

Renzo heard the voice, but couldn't see it's source "What reason do you have not to trust me?" He wondered aloud "You saw yourself how I got on this side of the world" He stated, pausing to allow this to sink in "If you do not trust me, fine, suit yourself, but at least tell me where the nearest water source is" He stopped, then added "Salt water, if you wouldn't mind"

Chris' hand gripped tighter to the handle of the knife. "This is a forest." He said firmly, and almost in a matter-of-fact tone. "If you want the ocean, you will have a long way to go. Which means that you had better leave quickly before the water begins it's attack on the earth. Nature is working as one. I doubt she would want to help you. You are an experiment gone wrong. And a violent one at that." Chris paused for a moment, licking his lips a little after his small speech. He hadn't spoken so much for weeks since he had left the city. "Who's to say that you won't turn?"

"Turn to what?" Renzo said, shocked that he was suspected so quickly "The humans wouldn't accept me, and I'm certainly not going back to guinea pig central" He jerked his head behind him, indicating the labs "And I'm not violent, self defence is not entirely unheard of, you know, yeesh" He rolled his eyes, which only resulted in him looking even more monstrous as the whites of his eyes were more pronounced than ever.

Kitsune suddenly turned her head towards Chris, anger in her eyes. "Experiment gone wrong? Is that what you see me as? How could you say something like that..." she said as she tried to push him off her.

"You haven't attacked me, Kitsune. He attacked the kangaroo." Chris said, letting her go rather roughly, his personality seeming to change. He had studied the military at university after all, and he had a tough, fighting side to him, no matter how charming or calm he seemed at first glance or at first meeting. "Go with him. Humans and Hybrids just don't belong." He looked back in the direction of Renzo. "As for turning, I mean turning on me. The humans. You ask us for help, yet when we do aid you, you will ambush us and kill our kind. Not that there are many of us left, that is." Chris glared into the trees.

"I care not for petty emotional ties that should turn me against you" Renzo said, as if this settled the matter. He noticed the male voice's electrical signal change as his heart began to beat with anger, while the other one was also becoming angry, but of a different sort. More like indignation.

Kitsune stared at Chris face full of grief as her eyes filled up with tears. "He attacked the kangaroo in self defence...I wanted to help him because you have no idea what we went through in there..." she said pointing at the labs. "I wanted you to help me...work as a team, because I thought we were friends...and now you start all this talk about hybrids being experiments that went wrong...and that we'd attack you." She threw the dagger he had given to her on the ground as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "I really thought you liked me...but I guess it was all just an act so I wouldn't attack you..." She glanced over towards the other hybrid, unable to look at Chris anymore.

The other one was upset now, her brain waves had changed to a different electrical frequency to the previous anger "Are you guys okay?" Renzo asked.

Chris ignored the knife which Kitsune had dropped on the floor in front of him and just glared into the trees even harder. "Sure, and so will you now that you have a chick to get your teeth into. Literally." He said sarcastically as he twisted on his heel and began to make his way back through the trees and towards the cabin, in hope that Reid and Aver would still be there. Lovebirds or not, Chris had to tell them what he just saw.

Kitsune turned just in time to see him disappear into the woods. She slowly bent down and picked the dagger up then walked towards Renzo quietly. "I'm Kitsune..." she said finally introducing herself as she held back the urge to run after Chris. He probably hates you now..

Renzo could sense her urgency, but he didn't quite understand what it was and mistook it for the nervousness you get when you meet someone for the first time after seeing them from a distance "I'm Renzo" He said "Where's your companion?" He asked. He avoided using the word friend; the meaning of it seemed lost to him.

---

Dokuja sighed softly as she sat in the dark, small and close area of the hidden store closet she'd found in the brush of the woods, looking around. Her snake eyes could see perfectly in the dark, but she knew they'd need a fire anyway to keep Shimauma warm until he woke up. She had given him a hand-made antidote of her own poison and was now just waiting. She hoped he wouldn't freak out too much at the sight of her. She glanced at him, rolled her eyes and crawled further into the tunnel. About two meters later, she gasped at where the floor suddenly dropped under her, and she slid down a muddy stair-like bank into a larger chasm. An underground tunnel..? The humans must have made it.. she thought as she looked around. There was old wood, wet, but flammable. She could see a constant trickle of clear water in the far corner, hearing it too, and sighed, crossing her arms. "Well, whatdya know?" she said softly, her voice echoing slightly.

Shimauma was stll lying limp on the floor, his head facing down in the mud with one of his arms down by his side and the other up past his head where his hand lay flat against the floor. However, his eyes did shudder slightly, and his fingers twitched a little. He opened his eyes once. Then they closed. And opened again, staying that way. "Ugh.." Shimauma grunted as his hands clawed against the muddy floor as they had before when Dokuja had first poisoned him. "Where..? Ugh.." He mumbled again as he struggled to sit up and lean against the wall of the tunnel, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he blinked a few times to try and regain his real eyesight, and not the blurry vision he was experiencing now. "Dokuja?" Shimauma croaked, wincing a little at the pain in his chest where the stabwound still was. It was almost healed now, though.

Dokuja's ears twitched and she looked back up the steep muddy passage she'd slipped and tumbled down. She could feel the mud caking on her body and thought about it drying on her white prison outfit. She sighed in annoyance. "They always wake up at such inconvenient times.." she mumbled angrily as she climbed back up the muddy slope, not once losing her balance. The only reason she'd slipped and fell before was because she'd been caught off guard. She traveled back up, finding him easily with her snake eyes and grinned. "Good morning, sunssssssssshine." she hissed, grabbing his arm.

Shimauma winced again, mainly in fright incase she would inject him with her poisons again and she had shocked him out of his wits since he could only see her eyes. "M-morning.." He stammered, replying in the most sensible way possible, simply because he didn't want to lose all feeling in his body again. Shimauma's eyes were still groggy however, and they stared around into the darkness in a daze.

Dokuja chuckled a little, her laugh still evil-sounding. "Dazed? Well, don't expect to see anything too clearly for a while. You're in a dark tunnel. Small too." She tightened her grip on his arm and began to crawl backwards the way she came, pulling him along. "This way."

"Wh-what? Where are we going..?" Shimauma asked groggily, allowing himself to be pulled along by her helplessly. He could barely move himself, anyroad. The male Hybrid winced in pain at his wound and his eyes closed tightly shut.

"You'll see!" Dokuja chuckled darkly, dragging him the last two meters into the tunnel. Her foot found the first drop of the muddy steps and she backed up much slower when she reached it, looping both arms under Shimauma's shoulders and pulling him carefully. She proceeded to pull him down the steps, his back against her chest and his feet dragging in the mud, until they reached the bottom, then grinned. "Wanna try standing, or should I just drop you here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shimauma growled deep in his throat. "Just.. drop me here. I don't see why you care so much about me, anyway." He muttered, his cheeks flushing slightly pink since he could feel his shoulderblades resting against Dokuja's breasts. He wasn't as dazed anymore, and he had some feeling in his feet and legs now.

Dokuja shrugged her shoulders. "Okay." she said simply and pulled her arms out from under him, literally dropping him to the muddy, but solid, ground. She turned and walked a little ways away, wiping some mud off her arms and looked around the cavern again. She bent down, picking up some pieces of wood and set them in a pile.

"Ugh.." Shimauma muttered again as he fell to the ground in a heap. He fingered his wound on his chest, noticing that faded, black stripes had appeared around it, going through the wound horizontally as if slicing the wound again like it was cross hatching. "Thanks for not killing me." Shimauma said coldly, giving Dokuja a sharp glare once he looked back up again at her.

Dokuja kept her back to him, busying herself with building the fire. She upped her poisons and grabbed each stick from the pile, lathering them with her very flammable poisons, then piled them back up neatly. After turning her poisons down again and wiping her hands clean on her muddied skirt, she began to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. "No problem." she muttered boredly as a spark started. Her poisons quickly caught flame and the fire was going easily and brightly, instantly lighting up the cavern. It was smaller than Dokuja thought it was. There was still the trickling water in the back corner a few feet away, and she wondered just how deep the little pond went. She would definitely need to wash and clean out her pores of the poisons. Now, thanks to her using them to get the fire started, she wouldn't be able to use them all night.

Shimauma had watched Dokuja in awe, and admired the fire for quite a while the instant it had blasted into life. He stayed silent for a while, his hand resting against his chest lightly as he stared into the flames. "Uh.. your powers are pretty darn impressive." Shimauma suddenly found himself saying. Why do you give a flying fuck about a snake bitch? She poisoned you! Almost ended your life back there in the forest! And now you are complimenting her? Asshole!

"If you say so." Dokuja said lazily, not really caring. She looked around using the firelight this time and sighed. "Not as big as it seemed in the dark... but it's big enough." she muttered, as if she was bored of their escapade already. She turned and went back to him, bending down and grabbing his arms, pulling him closer to the fire and, this time, laying him down gently beside it. "Warm up. The antidote won't work if you're always cold and wet." she said and turned away. "I'm going to wash."

"Fine." Shimauma said coldly, turning over onto his other side, facing away from her. "Perhaps wash out that mouth of yours while you are at it." He mumbled, colder still as his head rested on the cold, damp floor. "The next time I think about giving you a compliment, I'll think twice and probably not give you it at all knowing that you won't say two words such as 'thank you'."

Dokuja shrugged again. "Whatever." she said simply, going to the water's edge of the small pond, full of ice-cold, clear water from the outside rain. The instant her skin touched it, she hissed in distaste. It was too cold for her. Like an actual snake, she was cold blooded and couldn't stand being in cold places. This cavern was doing it enough. Too much cold could cause her to get sick, but if she kept her pores full of her own poisons for too long without cleaning them out, she would end up being poisoned by her own arsonal. She glared at the water and shuddered, then turned back around and went back to the fire, sitting on the dirt with a grumble and crossing her arms under her breasts, letting the fire warm her significantly as she glared at it. "Damn water's too cold."

Shimauma didn't turn over, he just shifted so his elbow rested on the floor with his palm facing up. He rested his cheek in his hand. "Just like you." Shimauma muttered in reply, not seeming to care much for her little problem there and then. "It should suit you just fine, so jump straight back in." He added sarcastically.

Dokuja's eyes fixed on his back over the fire in a glare, but she otherwise didn't move. "For your information, I'm cold blooded. Jumping into water that cold will make me sick and maybe even kill me from hypothermia." she growled. She decided not to tell him about the problem with her poisons, knowing he wouldn't care about that either, and why should he? She sighed angrily and shifted, laying on her back, figuring she'd solve the problem later. She felt tired. She hadn't slept since before escaping the labs. She closed her snake eyes and sighed again, her hands folded neatly on her bare stomach and her back stiff on the ground. Soon, she fell asleep thanks to the warmth of the fire, making her overwhelmingly comfortable.

Shimauma just glared at the wall even though he couldn't see it at all. "I wouldn't care if you died. You tried to kill me before when I was half-dead already." He growled, not knowing at all that she was sleeping. "I don't need anyone. And I especially don't need you." The male Hybrid finally shifted, now pulling himself up from the ground. Not giving one look at Dokuja, he headed towards the pond himself, with the intention of splashing his face with the cold water, in hope of waking himself up a little.

Not long after Dokuja had fallen asleep, her temperature started to rise. The heat from the fire was allowing her poison-filled pores to sweat and cover her own skin in the highly toxic liquids. She whimpered softly as she shifted, but didn't wake up. Half of the poisons were leaking out of her in the form of sweat, but the other half was being soaked up again by her own body. She didn't wake herself, thinking she only went from being comfortably warm to being uncomforably hot. She merely rolled onto her side, curling up into a ball, leaving her cold back to the flames' heat.

Shimauma was already haunched over with his hands in the pond, cupping the water the best he could and splashing it onto his face. He shivered. It was absolutely freezing, and he could hear the rain up above, and it was falling through lightly, even though it was plummeting down outside. Shimauma brought more water in his hands and splashed it into his face again. It was like a breath of fresh air to him. However, he had splashed some of the water a little too hard, and some of it landed in the fire not far behind him, causing the flames to hiss and crackle in anger.

A spark landed on Dokuja's shoulder and she suddenly sat up with a scream, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she slapped her other hand on it to put the spark out before it could catch her skin on fire. She breathed heavily, hissing in pain at the deep burn the spark had left, that spot of her skin a dark black because of the mix of her poisons, sweat and the heat. She groaned and wobbled a little. "Shit.." she hissed, putting a hand to her head.

"What the hell?!" Shimauma turned suddenly, almost losing his footing and falling into the water as he stared at Dokuja. "What happened to you?" He questioned, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched her closely. "Don't go all weak on me, babe. I'm not that thick." Shimauma gave her a glare as he stood up and walked over to her firmly. He folded his arms across his chest and stared down at her. But then he noticed something was truly wrong. "What happened there? Your shoulder?" Shimauma raised an eyebrow at her.

"F-fire... poisons.. Ugh.." Dokuja said shakily, her eyes still closed as she wobbled. "Oh no..." she whimpered. She was feeling light headed... she couldn't feel some parts of her body, and she didn't even have to open her eyes to know she had blurred vision. "Shim--ugh--I.. I need you to do something f-for me.." she whispered shakily.

Shimauma frowned at her, his arms still folded. He wasn't truly convinced by her just yet. "Yeah? Depends on what it is." Shimauma said coldly, watching her from his spot. "But whatever, shoot. I'm listening."

Dokuja swallowed thickly, feeling her mouth get dry from how heavy her breathing had gotten. "A-antidote.." she whispered, finally looking up at him weakly. Her green eyes weren't so vibrant anymore, and looked almost... human. Her breathing seemed to go from just heavy to almost gasping and her eyes finally rolled into the back of her head as she fell backwards, limp, but awake. She no longer had any feeling in her body. Because she had dealt herself a larger dose than what she had given Shimauma, it was acting faster, flowing through her veins like a river after the winter snow had melted.

"Come again?" Shimauma said as he bent down quickly and knelt next to her watching her closely. He honestly didn't know if he could touch her. When she had injected him earlier, Dokuja had merely touched him, so who was to say that she wasn't bluffing now and would turn and kill him right there on the spot? "I can't help you if I don't know what the hell you're blabbering on about.." He said gruffly, frowning.

Dokuja groaned and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to talk, but when she did, it came out slurred. Almost as if she was drunk, her tongue numb. "Anthidothe... Make ith.. with wather.. my poishon.. and green rooth." she coughed, struggling to speak clearly. "Cover your handsth with mud before you toush me.."

Shimauma glared at her. "Oh, come ON!" He barked. "Stop pissing around! You know I can't do something like that! I wouldn't know where to start! And where the fuck are the roots?! And the poison? I can hardly SEE in this goddamn place the fire has gone down so much!" Shimauma growled angrily, his fists clenched together as his eyes flashed. "Just. Get. The. Hell. Up." He muttered. "Now."

Dokuja gasped for breath, her skin twitching a little. She winced and weakly opened her eyes, looking at him. "P-please.." she begged softly, a tear running down her cheek. It was a simple reflex triggered by the poisons. At least, that's what she told herself. In truth, she was crying because she hadn't felt this much pain since the animals' first experiments had taken their toll on her body. She was weakening, she was dying, and she sure as hell didn't want to die like this.

"Ugh." Shimauma glared at her and rose from the ground slowly. "Fuck.. she knows I'm an asshole. I can't do it." He muttered, moving over to the pond, half hoping he would see something green sticking out of the bank. He could hardly see, but his equine senses could of course, smell green vegetation a fair distance away. Shimauma glared again, this time at the root as he pulled it out from the muddy bank lazily, tearing the mud away into a hole as the root emerged finally. "Don't get how this is going to help her.. it's a plant." He growled, rubbing the root in his hands roughly, feeling them dampen as their juices began to flow lightly onto his skin. "Now what? Water? I've got nothing to hold it with!" Shimauma barked angrily at himself, stomping over to the pond and dipping one of his hands into it, shivering a little at the cold. He cupped some of the water as best he could and brought his hand back up again, letting the water drop into his other which held the roots. Shimauma glared yet again as the water began to fall out of his hand. He cupped his other hand over it and sprinted back over to her. "Now what?" Shimauma asked angrily, staring down at her, not feeling any pity for her at all. She had caused him to run around, doing the practically impossible. This male Hybrid wasn't in a very caring mood right now.

"C-crush it.. add my poison.. squeeze the--ugh--end of my finger.." Dokuja mumbled, her words becoming more and more like just whisps of breath. Her lungs felt like they were struggling and crushing.. they heaved with the struggle of trying to get more air, because every breath (or gasp) she took was never enough. "Then I n-need to... drink it.." she muttered, swallowing thickly between words. Her mouth felt so dry..

Shimauma's hands were still holding the water. Both of them. "I can't! I'm trying to keep as much of the water in here as possible! You really think I have three hands?!" He glared. Why was she expecting so much from him? She had tried to kill him earlier! Now she wanted him to save her life?!

Dokuja coughed horribly and heaved for more air, wincing at the pain in her chest. Almost every muscle in her body had lost feeling.. Soon she would be unconscious and in the next ten minutes after that, she would be dead. She opened her mouth to say something, but was too busy trying to breathe. It exhausted her and her eyes fell closed, a slow breath escaping her lips.

"Jesus fucking christ.." Shimauma growled, looking down at his hands for a moment before biting his lip. Hard. I'm practically a zebra.. why would some mingy roots affect me, now? He wondered before bringing both hands up to his mouth. Before he drank the solution himself, however, he stared at Dokuja. "You owe me for this." He said quietly before finally pouring the remains of the crushed root and water into his mouth. Shimauma didn't swallow, and tried his hardest not to let his tastebuds feel the liquid in his mouth. He moved down quickly to the muddy floor beside Dokuja, slapped his hands down in the mud, covering them in a layer of brown sludge and grabbed her hand. Shimauma gave a disgusted look at her as he squeezed the top of her index finger, watching the poison trickle out of her pores. He grimaced as he wiped the poison off with his thumb and kept it there for a moment, just staring at it. But he shook his head as if waking up from a trance and bent over Dokuja, lifting her up slowly with a hand on her back so she was sitting upright. His face moved close to hers, but not as close as he wanted, and he tilted her head back as he opened his mouth slowly, and transferred the contents into Dokuja's. He took his poison covered thumb up to her mouth and wiped it across her bottom lip. "Lick your lips if you can." Shimauma mumbled, holding her still. "There's no way I'd have your poison in my mouth."

Dokuja heard his words and tried to do so, but couldn't. She couldn't even open her eyes again. Oh no.. I'm already slipping into unconsciousness! Shit! I can't move my tongue! I can't move anything! Another tear slid from her eyes as this horrible realization swept over her. She was helpless. And she hated the feeling. It reminded her of the labs, of the experiments, of the pain she endured. NO! I will not give up so damn easily! She concentrated hard on the muscles in her tongue and her brow furrowed slightly. She made a small sound, almost like a whimper and forced her tongue to move. She weakly licked her lips, swallowed the entire helping of the mixture with the last of her energy, and went completely limp in his arms, finally lost in darkness.

"Err, yeah. Thanks, Shimauma." Shimauma growled in his throat as his tail moved along the muddy floor in a rather irritated manner. He stared down at her. I went through all of that trouble, and now she's pretending to be fucking dead. She has a pretty sad life.. He thought to himself sarcastically. Shimauma grimaced as he tasted the remains of the solution he had made either either side of his mouth. "I swear to God, I am not doing anything like that ever again." Shimauma grumbled as he moved to replace her back on the floor.

As soon as Dokuja's back was straight on the floor, she gasped in a large, clear breath of fresh air and breathed heavily, but her eyes remained closed. All it was was her body finally taking in the amount of air it had been deprived of. Her entire body shook from the cold of being numb for so long, her muscles twitching involuntarily as the antidote started to work. Her mind was still asleep, however, and her eyes remained stubbornly closed.

Shimauma didn't seem to care much for her as Dokuja had finally breathed out deeply. He grumbled something unclear and pulled himself up from the floor, making his way back to the pond again. The male Hybrid sat himself down cross legged on the bank and dipped both of his hands in the water, scrubbing off the mud gently as a frown appeared on his face when he tasted the horrible remains in his mouth again.

In Dokuja's weakened mind-state, her nightmares resurfaced, her subconscious unable to keep them at bay. She started to toss and turn, moaning and grumbling in her sleep. "N-no.. Mom.. Dad..." she groaned. An image of Kinage entered her dreams and she let out a small scream. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Shimauma spat out the water which he had been rinsing his mouth out with in shock. He turned to face her. "Wha-? I'm nowhere near you, you crazy bitch!" He barked angrily, turning again and waving his arm lazily behind him as he brought more water to his mouth for the second time, just incase there was still some of the mixture left hanging around. He hadn't really heard her mention her mom or dad at all.

Dokuja turned her head, whimpering. "N-no.. stop..." she pleaded against the animal doctors in her dreams as they put her under the anesthetic. "No... I don't want to be like you!" she screamed. These repressed memories had somehow all been pulled forward thanks to her poisons knocking her into complete unconsciousness. Her hands involuntarily dug and clutched at the ground. "STOP!"

"Stop what?!" Shimauma barked again, standing up and facing her, his body shaking all over with both tension anger. But his angry expression on his face soon changed to that of confusion. "Wha?" He muttered, staring at her hands. "Dokuja?" Shimauma asked, hesitantly stepping forwards towards the female Hybrid. "Are you-?" He couldn't touch her. She would just poison him again wouldn't she?

Dokuja shook violently from the cold, but also shivered from her nightmares. The animals' cold stares as they numbed her body and injected her with all kinds of things.. Somehow, she could still feel the cold metal under her back and the needles stinging her skin as they pierced both her flesh and her veins. "Stop.. p-please.." she cried, tears freely moving down her cheeks. "No.."

Shimauma just stared at her helplessly. She's dreaming.. about the experiments.. He thought gently, as he brought himself to kneel down next to her side, but not too close. Oh, come on! Why should you goddamn care?! She. Tried. To. Kill. You. Get it into your head! Shimauma frowned to himself. He had no idea what to do. Nudging her gently would only result in him being poisoned and falling unconcious again. Shimauma definitely didn't want that. Not again. So he stayed where he was, just watching. Perhaps Dokuja's nightmare would pass..?

Dokuja winced with a clearly audible whimper and shifted again, shaking her head. "N-no more needles.. please... Where's my... my family?" she asked, almost too clearly. It didn't have to be said that her dreams were very particular. They weren't just dreams, they were memories being audited.

"Ugh, I don't want to listen to you struggling to recite the biography of your life." Shimauma growled as he moved over to the fire which was almost dying now. He threw a few pieces of wood onto the pile, and poked at it with one of his spears which he had probably still been holding when unconcious, holding it in his reflex. Soon, a roaring fire was going, warming up the whole cave. Shimauma just sat cross legged, letting his eyes watch the flames dreamily while his tail moved slowly along the muddy floor, showing that he was rather relaxed just sitting there with great warmth all over his body.

Suddenly, Dokuja sat up quickly, her eyes wide and gasping for breath. The antidote had worked. She looked around, remembered where she was, then relaxed a little, her nails still dug deep into the muddy earth. She looked down at herself, at how dirty she was, and how badly she had clawed at the earth. She also felt the wetness on her face and slowly lifted a hand to her cheek, wiping away the tears with a subtle sniffle. She looked at Shimauma with an expressionless face from across the fire.

When he no longer heard any shouts for a while, or the sound of her nails digging into the earth, Shimauma turned and glanced at Dokuja with no fixed expression on his face, either. She was awake, sure. But Shimauma just shrugged at her as she looked at him and turned back to gaze into the fire again. He had nothing to say to her.

Dokuja watched him, then after a very long silence, spoke quietly. "Thank you." she said softly, looking at the ground. "And.... sorry.." It had played at her conscience ever since she had poisoned herself by accident. She knew she should have said it all sooner, but couldn't bring herself too. She bit her lip and looked at the water in the back of the cavern and got up, not expecting him to say anything in return.

Dokuja's expectations were correct. Shimauma still didn't speak. He didn't need her soft words of 'thank you' or 'sorry' to make he, himself turn all soft and act friendly towards her. That simply wasn't the Shimauma way. He shrugged again and moved his knee up so one leg was bending as he rested his arm along it horizontally like he had sat before when they first entered the cave. When Shimauma was unconcious.. He growled lightly in his throat, but he let it pass. Sitting like this seemed to clear Shimauma's mind a little. Plus it was pretty comfortable.

Dokuja didn't mind that he hadn't said anything back, moving to the water. This time, she wouldn't care if it was cold because her fever had made her burning hot. She slowly pulled off her belt of silver throwing needles, tossing them aside with a loud clang, then pulled off her tube shirt, followed by her skirt, and put them aside for washing. She then stepped into the water, thinking now was the time to see how deep it went. She walked until she was waist-deep and couldn't go any further, facing the rocky face of the wall. She sighed and pushed herself against it, welcoming the cool rock against her chest and stomach, while her entire lower half was suspended under the water.

"Eh." Shimauma grimaced at Dokuja in the water and turned away from her, not really wanting to see her. He hadn't seen anything, and he didn't really want to, either. There was no way he would give in to a girl who was simply obsessed with killing people by injecting them with her poison for fun, grinning cruelly as she did.

Dokuja sighed softly, in relief really, as she stood under the miniature waterfall, letting it wash her hair and face and upper half. She then lowered herself, dunked under, scrubbed her scaley skin furiously, then resurfaced with a gasp. Now that all her poisons were gone, she turned and left the water, keeping her eyes down. She never blushed. It just wasn't her style anymore. If Shimauma had wanted to look, that would have been his business. Quite frankly, she didn't care. She grabbed her clothes, turned around and started washing the mud off into the water.

Shimauma yawned rather widely, a lot like a zebra would and pulled his fingers through his shaggy, blonde hair rather roughly. He narrowed his eyes slightly and slowly turned his head, stealing a quick glance at Dokuja. She was.. very different. Different from the many girls Shimauma had dated when he was living a normal, human life. But he couldn't remember any of that right now. His past wasn't even his past anymore. It simply didn't exist in his mind. Shimauma's past was back in the lab when he had been dragged into the cell by that huge grizzly. He brought his emerald green eyes away from her, and they found only darkness of the cave wall. Perfect. Suits my mood.. Shimauma thought gruffly.

Dokuja hadn't noticed. She scrubbed her skirt and shirt spotless, washed her needles just because they needed it, then got dressed again. She sighed, feeling much better now that her pores were clean and her skin looked all the more paler. She walked back to the fire, feeling cold again and sat by it, warming herself up again. She hadn't looked at or said anything to Shimauma. Why should she? He hated her. I guess I deserve it... I am a bitch.

"I thought you didn't like cold water?" Shimauma asked gruffly, glancing over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at her. Why the hell are you trying to make a conversation with her?! She'll just act sarcastic with you! Is it really worth the trouble? Another shrug escaped from his shoulders as he turned around fully so he could watch the fire again, in hope of it helping him relax a little. Shimauma was actually feeling quite tense.

"My fever made me too hot..." Dokuja explained softly, watching the flames dance and lick at the air. "The cold water cooled me down and washed my pores easier and faster than warm water would have.." For once, she wasn't being sarcastic with him. She just seemed... calm.

Shimauma shook his hair out of his eyes. "Fair enough." He said shortly before he decided to lie back while leaning on his elbows with his knees pointing up to the tunnel roof. "Out of interest." He started, looking around at the walls, pretending he was interested. "Why is it just me and you here, all of a sudden? Where did that fox kid go?" His eyebrow raised again as he was now looking directly at Dokuja.

Dokuja shrugged. "Things got out of hand back at the cabin... I'm guessing she got scared and ran off on her own to hide." It wasn't mean when she said it, but sounded more like a matter of fact. "That blonde kid would have kill both you and me, had I not taken you and left."

"Thanks, I suppose." Shimauma muttered quietly, now looking down at the floor so she wouldn't see his eyes after he had just thanked her. He never thought he would use those words with anyone ever again. So she saved your life and then threatened to take it away. Is she deranged or what?! Shut up.. you know nothing. Shimauma growled a little at the voice inside his head who seemed to be opping up a lot recently.. He shrugged yet again. "Just hope that kid is doing alright. She was nice. A bit annoying, but nice." Shimauma said, almost sounding a bit sarcastic and hinting only slightly that Kitsune was much more pleasant to be around than Dokuja.

Dokuja got the hint, and slowly turned around, laying down on the ground with her back to Shimauma. She had said sorry. She had said thank you. She had said everything she'd needed to say. And worst yet, he'd seen her in a moment of weakness, seen her cry, and still she'd been a bitch to him. I'm doomed to die.. she thought sadly. I should have just let him let me die... A tear rolled down her cheek and she supressed a shudder as she subtly wiped it away.

"What's up with you?" Shimauma questioned her, his voice sounding almost demanding as he glared at her back. "Don't think for one minute that I'm making anymore of that antidote shit. I stuffed it in my mouth because of you. And I had to.. well.. you know." He waved his arm lazily and turned back around again, staring into the fire. It was surprising, actually. The slightest hue of pink appeared across his cheeks and his ears went a slight pink colour, too, since one of them stuck out in between strands of his scruffy, dirty blonde hair.

Dokuja sniffled softly. "Just.... p-please.. don't look at me.." she whimpered. "I'm sorry I made you... I mean.. I know I asked a lot of you, especially after the way I've been a bitch to you.." she said softly, her voice almost shaking. "Just please..... leave me be now.."

"Eh. Get laid." Was all Shimauma could say in an instant reply, even though it sounded extremely rude. He was rather rude in general, anyway, so when he said it, it sounded quite amusing. "I'm not moving. I'm an asshole and you're a bitch like you just said so yourself. That makes us even, I think. So I'm not budging." He shrugged lightly, not looking at her even though she seemed upset. She could still be bluffing, and Shimauma wouldn't fall under a girls' trap.

Dokuja actually flinched at his mean words, curling herself into a small ball. She bit her lip as quiet tears rolled down her face and dotted the already wet and muddy ground she was laying on. "Okay..." she whispered shakily. Her body shuddered with the strain of keeping her tears in. She didn't have anything to say to him now.

Shimauma stared at her now, raising one of his eyebrows slowly. Don't even think about it, Shim-sham.. -Shut up. "Oi." He growled, taking his spear and prodding Dokuja in the back gently with the end of it where it was actually held. "You wouldn't threaten to poison or kill me if I offered to hug you would you? 'Cause you are really depressing me, you know, and you're making me feel bad." Shimauma asked gruffly. He didn't want to hug her because he actually wanted to, he just felt like having the old Dokuja back, even if she was nasty as hell to him, she was a lot more talkative than this certain side of her.

Dokuja flinched again and sniffled, muttering a, "No.." but didn't turn around. All she wanted was to sleep, to sleep peacefully for once without being woken up in the morning by barbaric animals wanting to inject her with medicines and test products, to put her under anesthetic and mistreat her like an emaciated pet. She sniffled again. She wanted to go home... wherever home was..

"Eh, that sounded eager." Shimauma said sarcastically with a frown as he rose up from the floor and trudged over to her. "C'mere." The male hybrid mumbled as he sat down on the floor next to her, so her face was facing in his directon. He was hesitant at first, but he grabbed her shoulders gently and moved Dokuja carefully so she had her head resting in Shimauma's lap eventually. Being lazy of course, Shimauma just let his head lean against the wall with one hand on Dokuja's head since he had nowhere else to put it. It wasn't slap bang on her head, though, it sort of.. moved more towards her ears where her hair was, the thickest and softest part of it, anyway. He was holding Dokuja's hair out of her eyes, completely oblivious to where his hand was and what it was doing, however.

His motions and his touch felt.... familiar... They reminded Dokuja of something. But of what? She couldn't tell and it tormented her more and more. She wanted to know who she was and where she belonged. She had never felt so alone, and before it wouldn't have bothered her, but now that Shimauma was showing some kind of compassion towards her, she wanted it more than ever. She bit her lip as a couple more tears escaped, then did something bold. She sat up and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly with her face buried in his shoulder.

Shimauma had honestly panicked a little when she had sat up. He had had a horrible feeling that she was going to turn on him and kill him there on the spot. But his eyes widened when Dokuja embraced him; he wasn't expecting it at all whatsoever, so he didn't hug her back at first. "Er." Shimauma mumbled, finally putting his own arms around her middle rather weakly. He was still quite intimidated. Dokuja could decide right now whether or not she wanted to kill him, so Shimauma was shivering all over. "Are you..? Alright?" He finished.

Dokuja shuddered too, but because of her tears racking her body. "T-thank you.." she whimpered, her words muffled by his shoulder. She tightened her grip on him and cried softly on his shoulder.

Shimauma bit his tongue inside his mouth to hold himself back from saying something along the lines of 'Why thank me when you are just going to turn all bitchy again?' But he didn't say it, he just shrugged lightly and still held her. "Don't mention it." He mumbled. "I guess I should say thanks, too. For drowning my shoulder, I mean." Shimauma's voice didn't sound sarcastic or cold, it just came out normally, almost chatty, even.

*****

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