Bewere

[stronglikebear]

Yuri sighs as he trudges down the corridor. He's been feeling grouchy the last few days, his temper shortening and his hunger growing. In other words, he feels just like he does every month. Even though he's just had dinner, he finds himself thinking longingly of breakfast.

He also finds himself thinking of Daine as he checks each of the doors he passes, making sure for the fourth or fifth time that they've been put back together right. He made her promise not to come visit him -- or at least, he told her she had as good as promised and that he'd hold her to it, even if she said no such thing herself. She should never have come to see him the first time, and he won't have her on his conscience because she came again and got hurt or turned. Caught up in his thoughts, he isn't careful enough with the second door, and burns himself on a spoon. Without making a conscious decision to do it, he lashes out, hitting the door so it swings and rebounds off the wall, rattling the silverware. Sheepishly, he sticks his fingertip in his mouth and hurries on -- he has time yet before the transformation, but it's getting harder to keep his head.

He's several steps into the room with the cage before it registers that he's not alone. Freezing in the middle of the room, he lets out a huff that's halfway between annoyance and despair.

"Get out."

Comments

[edgar_sawtelle]

Edgar hesitates, but his resolve quickly reasserts itself and he steps forward slightly to wrap a hand around Daine's wrist.

What's going on? he asks. What are you doing in here with a bear? He pauses. What's a bear doing in here?

[stronglikebear]

Edgar -- he's still here. Yuri lifts his head, grunting as he sights the boy -- and then freezing when he sees the open door behind him. For a moment he stands transfixed, heart thudding as he envisions himself bounding down it to get out, out --

A haze settles over his mind. When Edgar steps forward, something in Yuri snaps -- out there is meat and bones to rend, air to breathe, freedom and space and destruction. He charges the bars again, snarling and frothing, slamming his shoulder hard into the bars of the door.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine grits her teeth at Edgar's questions - as if answers are more important than keeping Yuri calm! Can't it wait until tomorrow?

When Yuri hurls himself at the bars again, Daine lifts a hand. "No!" she cries aloud and with her magic, unsettled by how quickly the last blast has worn off. There's nothing else for it: Edgar has to leave, even if it means hauling him out.

"I'll be right back," she says before turning to Edgar and pushing him out the door. She gives the door a kick in passing, hoping that will shut it enough to deter Yuri a little, but not checking to make sure it shuts completely.

"I'll explain this tomorrow," she says tersely as she steers Edgar back up the corridor. "You're upsetting him, and the whole point is for him to stay calm."

[edgar_sawtelle]

The bear throws himself against the bars again, and Edgar jumps.

Edgar cringes inwardly at Daine's tone. Whatever he's stumbled upon, it clearly isn't as simple as a bear in a cage (as simple as that could be, anyway). Sorry, he thinks.

Almondine is like a shadow at his side as they make it through the second door. Behind them, the bear roars.

[stronglikebear]

Daine! True to the last time she was down here, Yuri somehow finds her absence even more upsetting than her presence. The fact that the door is still open a crack doesn't help his concentration in the slightest; while the silver makes him want to give it a wide berth, the gap showing the open corridor beyond fills him with desperation. He rears back on his hind legs and slams into the bars again.

A terrible crack fills the air as something breaks. Surprised and emboldened, he hits it again.

[wildmage_daine]

"It's all right," Daine says, though she's not sure if it's Edgar or Yuri (or herself) that she's trying to reassure.

Then she hears the crack, and her heart plummets. Oh, gods, no. Freezing just beyond the second door, she wavers, torn between wanting to soothe Yuri - and wondering if she even can at this point - and wanting to get Edgar and Almondine to safety. Then she feels a wave of excitement from Yuri, and realizes the cage isn't going to hold.

That settles it. "Come on. Hurry!" She pulls the second door shut, then races for the third. Once Edgar and Almondine are in the main corridor, she pulls the third door shut and latches it. It might hold him for a little while, but not for long.

"We need to hide," she says, looking around for someplace with a door. Once he's out, she's sure he'll be too excited to hunt them down if he can't easily find them.

[edgar_sawtelle]

Edgar feels his stomach drop even as he continues to battle surges of confusion and anger. He still has no idea why there is a bear in the base, or why Daine was locked in with it, but there are more pressing concerns now.

Almondine is sticking close to him, against his leg no matter which way he turns. He lays a hand on her head as Daine looks around the hallway they're in.

[stronglikebear]

One of the posts holding the cage door has come loose from its mooring. With each blow, Yuri bends it further, drags more of it free of the concrete. The cage was built well, but it wasn't built by people who really knew the toll repeated attacks by a full grown grizzly would take on it after months of use. Soon, there's a gap into which he can squeeze his head and a paw, and soon he's pried it far open enough to squeeze through, a piece of the jagged metal scraping through his fur and drawing blood. Snarling, he bounds for the partly door, ramming it open with his shoulder. He cries out in pain as silverware goes flying, and stumbles to a painful halt in the corridor.

[wildmage_daine]

He's out - and he's hurt. Yuri, please stop! Daine calls as she spies another room with what looks to be a solid enough door. Grabbing Edgar's hand, she pulls him over to the door. To her relief, it's unlocked. She jerks it open, ushering Edgar and Almondine inside.

For a moment, she considers shutting them in and staying in the hall to confront Yuri alone. But her magic only holds him at bay for so long, and she can't expect any back-up. The alternative - letting him run wild through the base without giving folk any warning - isn't any better. There shouldn't be many people around at this hour, but any injuries (or deaths) will be too many. Still, what else can she do? She can't stop him, she can't stand by and let him run rampant...

Maybe she can distract him.

"Look," she says to Edgar, "I'm going to try and keep him busy. If he's chasing me, he won't be chasing anyone else, and I'm the only person here who has much hope of outpacing him. As soon as we're far enough off that you can't hear us anymore, go find Kuiv and tell her what's happened." Assuming the alien doesn't figure it out before Edgar finds her.

[edgar_sawtelle]

What, no--! Edgar's struggling to keep up with what's going on and even though he sees the logic in what Daine is saying, it still terrifies him to think of her a bait for a bear. Particularly the pissed off bear he just saw.

[stronglikebear]

Yuri trundles more slowly toward the next door, making low, dangerous noises. He eyes the silver on it with abject hatred, stopping several paces short of it. There's a voice inside him saying he doesn't want to go through it -- that all that's out there is pain, and pain in getting through the door. It would be easier, so much easier, to go back the way he came and --

And spend the night in that dismal hole. Yuri snarls and froths, pacing back and forth in front of the door as much as he can in this little hallway. Stop? He's waited months for this. A swipe of his paw jars the door, leaving it crooked and scattering silverware. The pain as it bounces off his hide ignites his rage, and he lashes out again and again, until the door is in shatters, its remains hanging off the hinges.

[wildmage_daine]

"I'll be fine," Daine says, giving Edgar's hand a reassuring squeeze. She can't say she likes the idea of being bear bait, but at least she's reasonably confident she can avoid being hurt by him. "I can stay ahead of him easily enough. Just keep quiet, and he won't even know you're here."

The sound of Yuri destroying the second door carries into the corridor, and Daine starts to close the door, already thinking about which shape to take. Nothing with hooves - the floors are too pitted and uneven. A rabbit would be faster, but not well suited to long sprints. Wings are the most sensible option. He'd have a hard time catching her in bird shape. Might also be less inclined to chase her, but if she goaded him on...

She feels a bit sick at the thought of encouraging him to give in to his bear-self. How is he going to feel in the morning, when he realizes he spent the evening trying to kill her, and that she all but dared him to? Well. If they can make it to morning without him hurting or killing anyone, it'll be worth it, even if he doesn't see it that way.

[edgar_sawtelle]

Edgar watches the door close, blocking Daine from view. Almondine leans against his leg and he bends to pet her, burying one hand in the fluff of her chest and trying to remember how to breathe.

Even this far away, shut doors between them, he can hear the bear. His stomach flips with anxiety. Then it drops as the realization comes over him: This is my fault.

Feeling slightly sick, and with nothing else he can do, Edgar waits.

[stronglikebear]

Yuri claws his way through what's left of the door, shuddering and groaning as silver scrapes over his fur and burns his paw pads. He bounds as quickly as he can down the hall to get past it, but stumbles back to a walk before he reaches the final barrier. This one doesn't have as much silver on it -- the hope was that he'd never make it past the first, let alone the second -- but he stops for a few moments, gathering his strength. This time he doesn't approach it slowly, but abruptly charges the door and rams it, wood splintering and silver searing heat into his skin. He doesn't make it all the way through the door on that first attempt, but has to drag himself through to where he can stand, panting, on the other side.

[wildmage_daine]

Swift, Daine decides as she backs up the corridor until she's well away from the door Yuri's about to exit and the door Edgar and Almondine are hiding behind. She'll be fast and maneuverable, small enough to be a difficult target but large enough to hold his interest and keep him from losing her.

But she has to try and stop him once more, even if it's probably hopeless. She winces as he hauls himself into the corridor, clearly the worse for having encountered all that silver. On impulse, she tugs the badger claw free of her clothes, letting it rest where he can see it.

Yuri, you're not a wild animal. Think about what you're doing! How are you going to feel tomorrow if you hurt anyone tonight? She clenches her fists, waiting for his response, and ready to shift if he charges her.

[edgar_sawtelle]

Almondine can smell the bear - animal and not animal - outside the room. She can smell Edgar's fear and sense his confusion and self-blame.

She blames herself, too. She leans against him and waits to run.

[stronglikebear]

It's too late to talk him down. The bear has had a taste of freedom, however limited, and he's not ready to give it up when he knows the world is waiting for him to come break it. He scents a human -- Daine!, some desperate, buried part of him supplies -- and turns his beady eyes on her, teeth bared. He takes a few steps toward her, wary of the silver on her neck -- but what's one little necklace when he's gone through three barriers of silver? Abruptly, he charges.

[wildmage_daine]

Well, she tried. Daine shifts, her clothes collapsing to the ground as she frees herself with an explosion of wingbeats. Letting out a shrill scream that echoes off the walls, she cries, Come get me, then! and flies up the corridor, glancing back to make sure he's following her.

[edgar_sawtelle]

Edgar jumps when he hears the sharp cry of a bird. Daine, he thinks, and he leans closer to the door to better hear what's going on in the hallway.

He wants to be ready to go for Kuiv as soon as he can.

[stronglikebear]

Her dare seems as much a thing of physical noise and movement as that mental shout. Die! he replies, barreling after the feathered thing, wounds forgotten despite the way they still slow his body.

[wildmage_daine]

Make me! Oh, gods, she's playing with fire. If she can just get him to the park without him killing or turning anyone, her friends can help keep him occupied. Until then, she's going to have to watch herself.

After another check to see if he's closing on her, Daine adjusts her speed, not wanting to pull so far ahead of him that he loses focus. She hadn't realized how much the silver would slow him down, and begins to think a less speedy shape might have been a better idea. Well, she won't be able to get too far in this shape once they're outside; she'll have to switch to something with better night vision.

[edgar_sawtelle]

Edgar strains to hear through the door. He waits until he can't hear anything anymore, then counts to ten.

With shaking hands, he cracks open the door and swiftly glances around. The hall is clear and, after a brief shared glance with Almondine, they both take off down the hall as fast as they can go.

He has no idea where Kuiv might be, but his best option is to get to where people are, and fast. The sooner he finds people, the sooner he can start asking where Kuiv is.

[stronglikebear]

Yuri runs in fits and starts, angered whenever he finds himself lagging behind. He knows these corridors and knows they're going toward the outside, but even if she were to lead him elsewhere, he would follow. The thought of the little bird getting away with taunting him -- with even being alive in front of him, really -- is more than he can bear.

[wildmage_daine]

She can feel his rage and frustration so strongly it's almost a physical push against her back, and she wonders if Yuri will even remember this in the morning. It's like the rabid bear in Snowsdale all over again.

Keep up! she calls, praying that any folk who hear them coming will have the sense to hide.

[stronglikebear]

I'll smash you! Or he'll crunch her, or tear her apart like he tore the blanket -- chew her up and swallow her --

Yuri puts on a burst of speed, panting hard and ignoring the pain in a burned front paw. He can see himself starting to close the gap between them, but it's so hard to keep up this speed.