Log; Incomplete

[silkcutremix.livejournal.com]

When; Evening of 8th
Rating; PG-13? For violets?
Characters; John Constantine [silkcutremix ]. Shikamaru [lazy_kage_mane ]
Summary; Another day, another encounter. Does the wolf have a tag?
Log;

Constantine had been growing increasingly violent since meeting Zee; his wolf brain had correlated that the two-legged creatures and many of the City's other residents had made for easy prey, even easier than the swifter, wary feral cats that would leap out of his reach at his approach. He had seen less domestics, both cats and dogs, the word that a large wolf had been on the loose and attacking whatever it could now relatively widespread. If he could still understand and read the news and terminals, he would have realized it would have been a wiser idea to move to the harsher forest if he did not wish to be disturbed.

The ghost trotted along a street corner, appearing like any other stray animal: mouth open in a smiling pant, ears erect, tail held normal with a bounce. He had been bothered but he still had to hunt, had to eat.

Comments

[lazy-kage-mane.livejournal.com]

Perhaps if Shikamaru had spent more time perusing the network, he might have heard the rumors about the wolf. But unfortunately for him, the lanky Chuunin with the spiky ponytail had spent the last couple of weeks mostly out training and exploring the forests around the City.

That being the case, walking along the sidewalk with hands stuffed into pockets in their familiar stance, he saw the loping white canine as nothing more then what it looked like. A typical stray.

Raising an eyebrow slightly, he appraised the animal with a studious glance. Big dog, about the size of the ones the Inuzuka tended to raise, and solid white. Had to have been someone's pet, since a dog that handsome didn't usually just run around wild. Pausing in his steps, he raised two fingers to his lips and whistled, trying to get it's attention.

[silkcutremix.livejournal.com]

John would have been amused should he have ever caught wind of the suggestion that he was quite a fetching member of his specie and would have played it up for all it was worth, but that part of him still was well encased in the feral shell, tiny fingers of lucidity poking through every now and then. The beast paid no mind to this stranger on the street until it produced that peculiar shrill noise, murder on those sensitive ears.

It stopped and craned its shaggy, large head in his direction. Its fur was matted and parts of it marked with blood, shades of red and brown on the white. A particularly bad bloody region flowered on his right shoulder.

[lazy-kage-mane.livejournal.com]

Shikamaru frowned at the rust-hued stains on otherwise pristine white fur. Was the dog hurt? A certain portion of his mind remarked dryly that there was just as much chance the bloodstains that peppered the dog's snowy fur came from something or someone else, rather then the dog itself. Wouldn't that just be his luck? Trying to do something good, and get mauled by a quite-possibly diseased white canine with eerie blue eyes. Troublesome, to say the least.

But...he couldn't deny that it would be wrong to just leave the dog there. Especially if it actually was hurt. Shikamaru's mind momentarily filled with images of tearful children with quivering lower lips asking why he hadn't brought their dog home. With a shudder, he wiped the picture from his mind. No, it seemed that getting his arm chewed by a stray dog would be the lesser of the two evils.

Crouching down, he extended one arm out, snapping his fingers.

"Here boy. Com'ere."

[silkcutremix.livejournal.com]

This was a familiar cue to the white animal, only this arm was that of another (Zatanna). Distant. Far. Fog. He. It. He, it could not make deeper sense of this reaching arm, it bothered him. Him. (Him. Me.)

He shook his head and then the rest of himself before shuffling back towards the dirty brick wall, hard like the pavement below his padded feet. Those blue eyes were wide with a submissive fear, back slumping, ears drawn back with hints of fang exposed, before he turned around to get away in a wary, quick trot in the opposite direction. His uneven weight distribution along his legs was more apparent, the magus shuffling some of his weight off his left hindleg in a slight limp. He was ignoring the dull sting of the bullet lodged in the thick muscle of his right shoulder, pain shouldered off by the wolf's focus.

[lazy-kage-mane.livejournal.com]

He watched as the dog? wolf? stepped cautiously back and away from him, keen eyes taking in the roll of white sclera as the head raised, lips pulling back slightly from sharp teeth. A fairly typical fear posture, he'd seen it in dogs and wolves before.

Ok..maybe I should just let it go...

Watching as the animal turned to flee, the shadow-walker studied it's gait, noting the way one hind limb tapped the ground with a more staccato note, pain apparent in the tense draw of the muscles in the right forelimb as well. It was obviously hurt, and hurt fairly badly by the looks of things.

Sighing and running a hand through spiky black hair, Shikamaru shook his head.

"Man, why me?"

Advancing after the white creature, he yawned and began interlacing his fingers together into seals. The Kage Mane would be simple and effective, keeping the animal still until he could subdue it and treat it's wounds.

[silkcutremix.livejournal.com]

Like the ghost he resembled, the wolf turned a corner into an alleyway, that tainted white disappearing into the black. When he was not roaming, he slept in the many crevices and niches the City had, the holes and places that no one paid mind to except the most resourceful and low. It worked for the wolf despite his size and there, safe, he would still dream the dreams of a man, that human life so far away, so distant, behind a haze. He once understood it all. Maybe in the moral subconscious, he still had.

Right now, he had to get away.

[lazy-kage-mane.livejournal.com]

The shadows slid along the ground, following the animal until they reached the blackness. Shikamaru swore softly, lowering his hands. Shadow-based techniques only worked if there was enough light to cast a shadow. In a dark alleyway like this...there just wasn't enough light.

Mentally he toyed with the idea of just tossing up a flash-bang and flooding the entire area with light, but that would startle or frighten the wolf, which was contrary to his interests.

With another sigh and a mutter of "troublesome", the tall shinobi rummaged in his pocket for a simple flashlight, directing the torch through the darkness of the alleyway. If he was going to catch this thing, he needed to at least be able to find it.

[silkcutremix.livejournal.com]

Fortunately there were not many places in short order for a 180 pound wolf to immediately hide, the creature's presence indicated by the burning glow in its eyes as it looked over its shoulder, the light reflected from its backs. It cocked and swiveled an ear before turning back around, continuing into the trashy web of passageways only the buildings provided, quickening its pace. It did not have stamina, a pathetic amount by lupine standards from a lifetime of chain-smoking, but it was better built for running in short bursts than its (his) previous human form was.

[lazy-kage-mane.livejournal.com]

He could see the reflection of the flashlight's beam as it reflected off of the white furry shape that darted between buildings and debris. The wolf wasn't moving very fast, but it was still speedy enough that the Chuunin needed to scramble over himself to keep up.

God, why am I doing this again? Oh right. Crying kids are worse then this. Right?

At the moment, he was almost regretting choosing the wolf over the possibility of crying children. Crouching down on his knees, he peered into the narrow tunnel-like passageway among the buildings. Groaning in aggravation, he shook his head and followed after the dog.

[silkcutremix.livejournal.com]

Through darkness, over fences that the wolf easily jumped, the pursuit had led the both of them to a dead end. He reared up, paws against the hard brick, those eyes searching for another way but there was none. Falling back to all fours, he assumed that submissive, threatened posture, squeezing himself as small as possible into a corner, ears back and eyes aware.

[lazy-kage-mane.livejournal.com]

Huffing slightly from the run after the wolf, Shikamaru slowed his pace as he saw the animal run up against the wall. Advancing slowly, he moved with careful precision. A cornered animal was dangerous, and it was only smart to be cautious and move deliberately. Rummaging in his pocket, he pulled out a piece of jerky from a packet of survival rations. Holding it out, he inched closer.

"Come on, I'm not gonna hurt you."

[silkcutremix.livejournal.com]

They all offered food, the wolf was finding. His life was run by his belly, but he was starting to know better than to be seduced by his base desire like this; he was learning to correlate this act with danger. If only he understood speech. They all were just sounds now, just like his name. No sense, meaningless. His name was a weak association with himself, whatever his sense of self might be to him now.

He pulled his muzzle into a grotesque toothy grin. The meat smelled so good and he was salivating, but his survival mattered the most. He was not stupid; he learned.