Pierce - I can't keep the grin off of my face as I wander around with Maki. I can't help it--the joy is just infectious.
"I'm James! Not Commodore Fuzzy Paws!!" I heard a voice call out frustratedly.
My grin suddenly transformed into a devious smirk, Oh, how I adored watching people get taunted. I backtracked and located the voice, wanting to observe.
Looks like halfers I haven't met. A fox...a cheetah...and a tiger...Oh, my. Sounds like they'll be fun.
"Pierce? What're you doing?" Maki asked, tilting her head to the side.
I put a finger to my lips, "Shh, I'm watching."
"Why?"
"Oh, you'll see." I smirked wider and sneaked over, continuing to eavesdrop.
They were now hanging around Hana and Fai, who had previously been attacked by rabid fan girls. Poor souls.
They seemed a bit traumatized, "And--And--And then, the fangirls!! They..." blah blah blah blah, I didn't care.
I stalked over, motioning for Maki to stay there. I took a position behind the guy named James, who was quite distracted, "Hey...Commodore Fuzzy Paws..." I whispered and smirked, jumping out of his line of sight, looking like an innocent bystander as he whirled around to tell me off.
"Hey!! I--" he stopped short as he saw that no one was behind him, and the others began snickering, obviously looking at me. He didn't notice.
I walked back over to Maki, and grinned, "I'm awesome, huh?" I snickered, stealing another glance at the irritated guy.
She tried to look disapproving, but I saw amusement in her eyes, "That was mean, Pierce! You'd get upset if someone started making cracks about you being a cow! That's awkward beyond repair, and you know it." Maki laughed at the last part, knowing that hit close to home.
I furrowed my eyebrows, Maki could play dirty, "That's just mean, Maki! I'm your best friend!" I feigned hurt, posing dramatically.
"I'm only sorry if you go and apologize." She quipped, crossing her arms and pouting.
I pretended to think it over, "...I'll just live with the pain of being scorned by my most loyal, trustworthy, wonderful best friend!" I kept my melodramatic pose. I doubted I'd try to go apologize to a tiger. Y'know...Carnivore/Vegetarian...predator/prey...tiger/cow...very awkward.
Maki shook her head, "Come on! You have to!" she insisted stubbornly.
"But, Makiiiiii~!" I whined, suppressing a grin, "This could danger my lifeeee~~! Would you really want me to dieeeee~?"
She shook her head, smiling, "You big baby. C'mon, let's at least go hang out with them." she smiled warmly, shaking my arm.
I sighed, knowing I couldn't refuse, "Okay, okay." I raised my hands in surrender, "But, if someone rats me out and I get eaten, I'm blaming you."
She smiled again, nodding, "Deal!"
--------------------------
^^;; I feel really bad about picking on James DX That was just too...Easy for Pierce to mess with! He can't resist taunting people!
Maki wasn't very happy about it, though. :| Amused? Heck yeah! XD Approving? No. >:|
Sorry for being lame! XD
Maki - We had inally arrived at the Con that Shy had talked about, and I was really confused. 'To just relax', she had said...I looked around nervously; there were so many people! I winced slightly as I half-walked, half-limped around. I was wrapped in bandages still, since I was still sort of hurt.
I tried to shrink into the background. I felt like people were staring at me...They were so odd! They were dressed in such weird costumes, too...
I couldn't help but smile to myself, though. Everyone looked to happy! All of the halfers looked so calm and relieved, and it made me glad. There was just one person I couldn't see...
"Lookin' for someone, Maki?" a calm, amused voice asked from behind me.
I jumped about a foot in the air as I whirled around to see Pierce about three inches away from my face, bending down a little to match my height. I yelped, almost falling over.
He caught my arm and steadied me, "Yo." he grinned, flashing me a peace sign.
I gave him a half-hearted withering look, then giggled, "Hi, Pierce!" I chirped, his carefree grin was infectious.
He stepped into pace with me, "How's it going?" he asked, his hands interlaced behind his head as he walked.
I shrugged, smiling, "Everything's fine. This is pretty fun!" I gestured around.
He nodded, "Yeah. A definate improvement from how things were going before, huh?" he beamed at me, "No psycho wolves attacking everything with a pulse, no random, sort of, half, almost betrayals...I'm okay with this."
I nodded enthusiastically, "Mhmm!!" I looked over Pierce, he looked so much calmer than he had before. That was really refreshing--I loved it when Pierce smiled happily!
Pierce hummed thoughtfully, smiling to himself. I grinned, I hoped this peace lasted.
Pierce - Don't get me wrong, I had come to trust the pack a little after having that odd heart-to-heart with Ice...
But the very thought of any of those grimey mutts touching Maki sent chills down my spine. (Sorry, pack, I hold grudges)
That's how I ended up transporting my little wolf friend to the village destination. I carried her on my back, careful not to jostle her as I walked.
At first, I walked alone, in the back of our little derranged group of halfers, lost in thought again.
You see, Maki had been waking up, on and off for the past hour or so.], so my mood had lightened considerably.
That female wolf (her name was Nanuke, I think) actually did a good job tending to Maki's wounds. Her tactics to get me to carry Maki could've been more subtle, but, whatever. She just didn't get the fact that I'd always be willing to help out Maki. No matter what.
"Hey." a voice came from behind me, maing me jump.
I whirled around to see Ice, looking at me curiously. I sighed, this was the second time he's shocked me from behind...!
I nodded at him, "Hello." I smiled slightly.
"How is she?" he asked, nodding towards Maki.
I smiled dryly, "She's doing a lot better." I sighed, "I was really worried for a while..."
Ice nodded, falling into step with me.
We walked in silence for a while. Honestly, I enjoyed not feeling obligated to say anything, but just bask in the silence.
Suddenly, a black blur flew past us, causing me to jump back in surprise, and earning a confused whimer from Maki.
Ice cocked his head, then his eyes widened and he was racing after the wolf.
I stared at where they had gone--my first reaction would've been to follow them, but I was carrying someone, and running wouldn't really help out.
I sighed, and kept walking. I was starting to learn how weird wolves were.
Maki - My eyes flickered open, and the first thing I noticed was that I was being carried.
I nearly jumped out of my skin, I yelped.
Pierce winced in surprise at my loud outburst, "Wha--Oh, Maki! You awake?"
I nodded slightly, "Y-Yeah..." my voice was raspy and quiet.
Pierce beamed at me, "That's great! You were out for a while." he grinned.
"What happened? Is Thunder...?"
"Dead!" Pierce chirped--a bit too gleefully to be healthy for him--"You got him distracted and hurt, and a few others took over from there. You actually missed this one...He ran off a few minutes ago. He was a really good guy; Ice was his name." Pierce went on.
I smiled a little dispite myself, "So you made a friend?" I smiled at him.
He considered the word, "...Yeah. I guess so. He's not bad, anyway." he shrugged.
I giggled, he hardly ever seemed to be in such high spirits! "That's great, Pierce!"
He nodded, "I'm glad you're awake, Maki." he sighed.
I smiled again weakly, "Me too."
Pierce - I stared at the wolf who was explaining his tradgety to me, someone who didn't trust his pack in the slightest.
But...I couldn't help but feel somewhat at ease with the wolf. He understood how I felt. He seemed...decent. The sorrow and guilt within his eyes matched mine.
I looked down, "'It's not your fault'..." I muttered.
"What?" he asked, confused my my tone.
"That's what they always tell you, right? That's what they say, over and over. 'No one blames you', 'it's not your fault'...I hate hearing them, and I have a feeling you do, too..." I sighed and looked down. "Because it never feels true. You never believe it...Because I blame me. I know it's my fault. We're never going to believe those words of comfort until they come from the mouths of those we have wronged...but usually, that will never happen. I got so lucky with Maki..." I whispered. Long-supressed memories flooding back to me. My parents...Maki's brother...I've lived throught this before.
Ice looked at me, understanding in his eyes, "This is not the first time for you, is it?"
I shook my head, but then said before he could ask the obvious, "And I don't want to talk about it."
He nodded, his eyes far away, "...I miss him...Shadow, I mean. Everyone thinks that you can just get over it, but when lives are torn away from you before your eyes..." he sighed, "It feels like your fault. No matter what anyone says." he agreed, then looked down, "It was my fault." he whispered brokenly.
I looked at Ice, searching his face for any sign of deciet, then sighed, nodding. "Mine too."
There was a companionable silence as we sat next to each other, not wallowing in sorrow, but accepting it for all it could ever be.
I heard Sky say quietly that we would be traveling to a village with the wolves, but all my anger was gone and I could merely sigh and wonder if Maki would be okay.
Maki - My eyes were fluttering rappidly. Getting random images of what was happening around me. There was another wolf above me, examining my wounds.
Speaking of wounds, I hurt. Everywhere felt like it was on fire. I whimpered, shifting painfully.
Looks like I had lived...
That was all I could process before passing out again.
--
Pierce has twisted opinions on things, huh?
Pierce: Hey!
Me: >->...Well, it's true.
Pierce - I really didn't know what to think anymore...what to feel...I felt bitter. I felt empty. I felt...angry. I felt very, very angry. Somehow, I kept all of this hidden behind my serene mask.
I looked down at the hurt wolf in front of me, and ripped my shirt into strips to bind her wounds. She looked like she was having a nightmare, she was whimpering and squirming; I understood her emotions, for I felt like I was living one. I had been right there, watching her be attacked. What had I done? Nothing. She could've died, and I had done nothing.
I hardly could feel anything going on, anymore. I heard the other wolves. Speaking to Sky. Coaxing our group into trusting them. Liars. my mind hissed spitefully. I didn't trust them, not when I couldn't even trust myself. They had done nothing. They wouldn't have cared if Thunder had killed her. They had trusted Thunder, they had been his pack.
I hated them for it. All of them. Just as I hated myself.
I only noticed that the tears had begun to fall when some landed on Maki, dampening her fur. I slammed my fist into the ground, convulsing.
After a few minutes, I had stopped. As I had expected, and somewhat hoped, no one noticed my outburst. They were distracted with one another, musing about how lucky they were. How no one had to really get involved. How no one had really gotten hurt.
This made anger flare up inside of me once more. 'No one'...I laughed without a trace of humor. That was right, huh? No one. That was how groups worked. The ones no one noticed--they didn't exist. If the number of wounded or casualties weren't over half of the group, it was nothing important.
I looked over Maki again, petting her head gently, resisting the urge to cry. Her breathing was steady, her wounds tended. I needed to go think.
I stood up silently, and looked around almost everyone was in their own crowds talking and musing except...
I walked over and stood in front of Hana, "Are you alright?" I asked quietly.
She nodded tightly, her expression unreadable. She was about to say something when Fai walked up, so I decided that she would be alright.
I turned on my heels and strode out of the crowd, away from the mass and to a quiet corner out of sight, where I promptly continued to lose myself in my thoughts.
