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

[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.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine keeps an eye on him as she wheels through the corridors, letting him close the gap a bit. You'll have to catch me, first, she says. She can tell he's pushing himself, and part of her is glad - maybe it won't be so difficult to wear him out - but she's worried, too, that he might decide to try for easier prey than her. She slows, allowing him to draw even closer, but still keeping herself out of range of his paws.

[stronglikebear]

She'd better mind how close she lets him get, though. As he gets close, he shows absolutely no hesitation -- seeing the bird nearly within reach, he bunches protesting muscles and leaps forward, trying to bat her out of the air.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine puts on a burst of speed and veers out of paw's reach. Goddess, that was closer than she meant it to be. Missed me! she sing-songs at him, hoping the goading will make up for the fact that she's pulling further ahead of him.

[stronglikebear]

Yuri stumbles, nearly tripping over his own paws as he lands awkwardly. He bellows at her, angered (but a little encouraged) by the near miss. Get back here!

[wildmage_daine]

As if she'd make it that easy for him. If she had more head room, she might risk circling back, but all she can do while they're in the base is stay ahead of him. You're going to have to work for it, she informs him.

They're getting into the more populated parts of the base, now. Perhaps it's due to the late hour, but no one seems to be out in the halls, to her great relief. She checks Yuri's position again, wondering how they're going to get through the door. Is it even manned at this hour?

[stronglikebear]

Yuri could tell her -- assuming he were coherent, of course -- that the door is always manned. He huffs and lets out a groan, wanting to stop, but wanting more badly to get her. Slowing to a trot, he tries to just maintain a pace where he can keep track of her, only speeding up to a gambol if he absolutely must.

[wildmage_daine]

Need a breather? she teases, suspecting that he really does and wanting to make sure he doesn't. If he wants to have a collapse, he can wait until he's somewhere a two-legger can't stumble over him as easily as it could happen here. She pulls farther ahead, less because she means to and more because she can't stay in the air if she slows any more than she has already. She stays in his sight line, though, ready to double back if she has to.

Her relief at finally seeing the door is short-lived. It is manned, by a rebel she hasn't met, yet. Putting on a burst of speed, she lets out a warning screech. She doesn't much care if the two-legger opens the door or not, but they'd best get themselves away before Yuri spies them.

[stronglikebear]

How did a bird get in the base? wonders the rebel unlucky enough to have pulled door duty tonight. She gives a start at the screech and turns to look at the little brown bird zipping through the hall toward her. Her indecision lasts for only a moment before she reaches to open the door, reasoning that the bird might fly out of it given the opportunity and make itself no longer their problem.

All thought of the bird being a problem vanishes when the sounds of thudding she's been hearing and worrying a bit over for the past few minutes resolve themselves into the sounds of footsteps, accompanied by huffs and growls, and a shaggy brown bulk rounds the corner. Letting out a cry of fear, the rebel instinctively bolts down another branch of the corridor.

It would be difficult for a bear to miss that scream and the sudden movement. Yuri lifts his head and lets out a roar, speeding up and veering after the woman as she runs for the nearest internal door.

[wildmage_daine]

The pleasure Daine feels at having the door opened is quickly supplanted by fear when she hears Yuri's roar of excitement and feels his focus shifting to the two-legger. Curse it! She wheels around and heads right toward the oncoming bear, keeping silent and close to the wall as she speeds down the corridor. If he was wholly focused on her, she wouldn't even attempt this, but now that his attention's drifted...

Daine waits until the last moment to veer up and over. Hey! she cries, accompanying the mental shout with a piercing scream as she passes over his head, almost close enough to clip his ear with one of her wings.

[stronglikebear]

Much as he hates the bird, Yuri's not able to divide his focus very well. A human is an appealing target: slow, loud, and largely edible.

He doesn't see the feathered menace until she's literally on top of him. Grunting in surprise, he first ducks his head to protect his eyes from attack, then thinks better of it and tries to turn, leap, and swipe the air at the same time. He's much too late to hit her, reflexes not so spectacular as to allow his attempt to actually work, and he overbalances and tumbles to the floor. Rolling, he's quickly back on his feet, but by now the human is disappearing through a doorway. As Yuri dithers over which to attack, the rebel slams shut the door of the room into which she fled.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's traveling at a high enough speed when she overshoots Yuri that she has little choice but to continue down the corridor for a good ten yards or so before she can turn herself back around. Fortunately, her diversion seems to have worked even better than she'd hoped: Yuri actually takes a tumble in a belated attempt to swipe at her, and by the time he rights himself, the rebel's put a door between herself and the bear.

Letting out another sharp cry, Daine zips back up the corridor, giving Yuri as wide a berth she can as she passes him. Hurry up! she says, making a beeline for the door.

This next part is going to be tricky. She can't count on the subway station being as deserted as the base, which means she's going to have to let Yuri get very close to her; otherwise, he's sure to go for easier prey. She glances back to make sure she's not in immediate danger of being overtaken, then shifts into the shape of a barn owl. She's harder to miss, now, and nowhere near as fast as she was before, but she should still be able to stay ahead of him, and her night vision is vastly improved.

Come get me, slowpoke!

[stronglikebear]

Yuri more or less sees the pointlessness of pursuing the human any further, though were she the only target present, he might still try to claw his way through that door. He turns even before the bird wings her way back up the hallway, though, anticipating her, though he keeps expecting her to go away from him, not buzz back past him.

This time, he's a little more prepared, and his swipe comes dangerously close to hitting her. Again, though, she's too fast, too unpredictable, and he's left slamming his paw down on the empty floor.

Just try that again! he snarls, bounding after her. His ears perk forward in surprise as she suddenly gets bigger -- and, to his delight, slower.

[wildmage_daine]

Letting out a scream, Daine flies out the door as Yuri closes the distance between them. There are a few two-leggers on the stairs, all of them staring at her in varying levels of shock, and she screams again, the only real warning she can provide.

Two of the humans are near the top of the staircase, and they hurry out the exit, not particularly wanting to deal with a frantic barn owl. The third heads down to the station, throwing bewildered glances over his shoulder.

[stronglikebear]

Yuri hits the door with his shoulder as he charges through it, slowing for a moment when he clears it to look around in surprise at his changed surroundings. What is -- where? Memories from his human life click into place and he feels a surge of joy as he realizes how close to the surface he suddenly is.

He also feels a surge of excitement as he realizes there are several humans running about. He's distracted for a moment by the one heading deeper into the station, particularly because he starts moving a good deal faster when he sees that the crazed owl isn't alone. The pull of the outdoors is too strong, though -- much as Yuri would delight in chasing the man down and giving him something to scream about, he turns his head instead toward the stairs, claws scraping on the hard floor as he climbs awkwardly upward, feet too big to fit comfortably on each step.