Frightened, Chimera? [Remake] (O / A)

[AninOnin]

A blip in his ear made him look, first at the mini-TAIS he held, and then to the skies. There it was... The chimera named John, the one they'd put the tracker into. The chimera was flying low, seemingly about to land, though he couldn't see Jared through the thick cover of trees. Desperate for more leads than the hint he'd been given recently, Jared decided he'd pay the chimera a visit...

John landed in a tree with a significant amount of momentum, most of which traveled through the punch he aimed at the bark in front of him. His thoughts were mostly incoherent, but a rage blazed through him.

"You know, I don't think it's working," Jared taunted, having watching the chimera for some time now. John, for his part, ignored him. Even if Jared reached him, John was ready to kill something.

Seeing he wouldn't get much of a response, Jared called back up. "Where are you guys staying, I wonder? Does it get a bit lonely without your girlfriend?"

At the mention of both Panther's death and his new girl-problem, John really wanted to kill something. Without a thought, he dive-bombed out of the tree and aimed straight for Jared. Catching him in surprise, the chimera tackled him to the ground, and they grappled for a moment until Jared's superior strength and greater weight won out. He pulled free of the flailing limbs and drew his gun, pointing it at John's head.

"Where are the rest of you?" he panted, not entirely unscathed from the skirmish. "Where is Smoke?"

John was just about to tell Jared to , consequences be damned. But the way he asked about Smoke in particular, made his thoughts race.

Smoke had said earlier about not needing to be as cautious if only he and Hound left, rather than everyone. If Jared would on his trail, that would certainly put a damper on the hunting trip.

Making his best guess as to where they went, John replied, with as much venom as he could, "He went deer hunting." It was in the opposite direction of the beach house, and Smoke had Hound with him. They could take care of themselves with just Jared up against him.

Immediately, Jared left. Withdrew the gun, put it back into its holster, hiked through the brush towards the road, and left in his car. Just like that. Though John had expected the words to satisfy Jared, he was surprised Yani's son had let him go without further clues. "Deer-hunting" wasn't much to go on.

In either case, John was free, without the threat of a bullet in his brain hanging over him. He narrowed his eyes, suddenly angry at being dismissed, and took to the skies. With Smoke delayed for a few more days than he'd anticipated, John had plenty of time to talk with Apsalar.

--

Jared couldn't have been more smug, and more glad that he'd studied the region. There was only one place to hunt deer, only one place Hound and Smoke would be undetected, and this was his destination.  

[SpokenSoftly]

((Sorry for going AWOL, I got dragged over to a relative's house w/o Internet for the past few days while my parents went gadding off to Texas to meet Mom's half-brother for the first time. Their flight was delayed two days because they got standby tickets, so I just now got back to a place with tech from after 1989. Also, lul'd at the Aquatic Chimera Waterfun brochure >.<))

Smith sat back and watched the remote video feed. He'd used his connections the past few weeks to prevent 'Smoke' from leaving the country, though he'd had to come dangerously close to exposing his face several times and a few long-time associates were likewise unhealthily close to being in an even-favor relationship with him. But, thanks to a few risks that he wasn't quite sure he should be taking, his acquisition of the man 'Smoke' would be complete within a week at most. Deal-breakers and traitors were the only type of people that Smith truly hated, and he would often compromise his identity, however temporarily, to deal with them on a personal basis. It usually involved thumbscrews or some similarly-creative method of termination. He had devoted fully thirty percent of his Smiths - the legion of anonymous men that Smith paid to be a living information net - to tracking the group of Chimerae, a testament to how well they'd managed to hide. Even finding Yani's base of operations and unearthing everything about it had taken only eight percent and six months.

At the moment there was a directional microphone very well-hidden among some decorative foliage in the room, and a hidden camera observed the group from three blocks down. Smith smiled as he heard Smoke's announcement that they'd be moving again. A flat tire and a roadside assault would do nicely for the Chimerae, and then a kidnapping for Mr. Galaway.

Shifting his attention, Smith looked over a stack of paperwork on his desk and bit back the urge to smile again. Once per week was enough, twice in a day was far too much. Still, the fact that Yani Vent was once again a father was worth a bit of a quirk in Smith's lip. Though Vent had no way of knowing - and, more, no way of suspecting, since it was part of their normal routine since long before TAIS was built - Smith kept several of Yani's top biochemists and one of the more skilled biologists on payroll as informants. They rarely fed him anything, so he rarely sent them anything (not like the Smiths, who received ten dollars per month as a retainer fee, plus double for information), but apparently one of them had been present at the birth. He would have to call in a few days and congratulate him, or perhaps just tell Adam to do so. The fungus-Chimera was already a regular fixture in the new lab, and... no. Calling in person would do this time.

After all, it wasn't every day that he found out that he was the exception to fertility in his 'race,' rather than the rule. His wife would be happy to hear that.

He was smiling, thinking about the news for his wife and son - that they might have company in a few years - when something else caught his attention on the monitors. One of the ones he'd hidden in a tree caught an altercation between the chimera that called himself John and a tall man in a black trenchcoat. Obviously Jared. He spoke then to the empty room. "TAIS. There is a 97% probability that you are observing this room in some fashion at the moment, or will be able to access these records when you hear your name being spoken. If not, I am speaking to an empty room and need not be embarrassed. While I claim no favors from you, I would appreciate it if you could tell the young Mister Vent this: 'I understand the scope of your situation, but I would ask that you leave the human with a minimum of breaks and bruises. I need him as healthy as possible for my purposes. In addition, I will be contacting you personally soon with a business proposal. I am given to understand that you enjoy a challenging hunt, and my proposal rather plays to that preference. With best wishes, Smith.' That is the end of the message, and I would be most grateful if you would deliver it."

He then got up and went to get something to eat, fixing himself a lettuce-and-garlic sandwich before taking a mint and sitting down again to pay the bills. All else was out of his conceivable control now, unless he told the Smith on observation duty to kill the Chimera with a rifle of some sort (hich he wasn't about to do), so paying the electrick was the next most important thing.  

[Wire_Colossus]

Little Neo was already developed enough to be able to hold his head up on his own and look around. He was already very curious about his surroundings, as indicated by his constant looking around. But then he started crying. He'd actually been looking around his Mom and his dad. He was crying because he didn't know where they were.


Regenna Eterna was in the courtyard of the new facility; eating bark off the trees and drinking the sap. Even eating the leaves. This was not normal for her, not normal at all. something was wrong, severely wrong. In truth, She was nearing the end of her natural life span, and she was preparing for it. She had a secret inside her. Her creators though she was sterile, but oh no...No...she wasn't. She had inside her a single spore that would germinate the instant that she were to die. None knew of this, since she had never died before.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Apsalar took a moment to help Lonomia move his piece to its new place on the board, smiling herself. She enjoyed seeing the others relaxing, happy with their life.

She glanced up when Tobart came in and laughed at his question. "I am," she said. "I think." It didn't really matter, though if Lonomia got too upset over not winning now that it was just them, she thought she could figure out how to throw the game.

Her amber eyes focused in on Tobart's face for a moment. He looked...edgy, she thought was the word. Like something was wrong. She would have offered him a hug, too, but some instinct warned her that any physical contact right now would be taken the wrong way.

What that 'wrong way' might be, well, who knew? But she wasn't about to risk it.

Still, there had to be some way to comfort her packmate. She looked down at the board and was struck with an idea.

John had left the game, too, at least for now, so they were short two players instead of one. Unless...

She looked up. "Want to play? You can take Hound's piece," she offered. "I think I can explain the game."  

[SpokenSoftly]

((Shameless OOC otherthread promotion: I have started up a metahuman RP very, very loosely based off the X-Men comic series. It can be found here, with positions of trust for the three most active posters in this thread, since I've known two of you for quite a while (Anin and L2CM), and Wire seems like a very good roleplayer, notwithstanding our initial little scuffle. I'll probably start once I get three or four people. Also, note how I left off "Bio" in the profile skeleton. Develop backstory through roleplaying. I want to be as in the dark about characterization as everyone else who never bothers reading the profile posts (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE >.>).

Anyway...

come on by and give it a look, yah?))  

[LovetoCauseMayhem]

Hiccadu, from the kitchen, tilted her head a little, looking out the window to watch John and Smoke. She hadn't been around enough to notice John's little crush on Apsalar, but from the lip-reading, she could tell Smoke had a problem with something concerning the two Chimerae.

She wondered if she should interfere. Then after a moment of thought, she decided not to. There was no reason for her to stick her nose in it. Even after an entire month, the other Chimerae still treated her with a certain amount of caution and grudging awe. They not dare lay a finger on her in fear of what would happen.

TAIS had informed her of Smith's dealings with sabotaging Smoke's attempts. It filled in a lot of gaps and answered a lot of questions, but it did nothing to ease Hiccadu's constant annoyance.

She was annoyed. She was bored.

Scowling, she leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. She didn't like board games, she didn't like interaction. She knew nothing about the Chimerae except what she observed and what TAIS told her.

She felt like a fifth wheel. The spare. The back-up plan. What the ******** was TAIS doing, just letting her sit here and get fat? TAIS knew where the Chimerae were - knew ever since Hiccadu found them. Have known, will know, will forever have known.

Frowning, she scuffed the tile a little bit with her toe. There was only so long she could keep herself entertained by swimming, jogging, and ******** men she met on the beach. And the occasional woman, but she didn't get nearly as much pleasure out of that. When men were around, she felt threatened by other women with hair as long as hers, or skin as tan as hers. She constantly had to fight the urge to eat the other females, and had to focus on other methods to get what she wanted. It was annoying, but at the same time it was intriguing. Kinda like a game.

The game of cat and mouse was definitely one she could enjoy.

This is stupid. She thought as she stood there, frowning. I hate stagnation. What is that stupid hunter Jared doing?!

-----

No message was sent to Jared. It wasn't Yani's orders for TAIS to relay messages between the person she was spying on and Yani's family. Smith was listened to, but ultimately ignored.  

[The Amazing Flying Circus]

Apsalar laughed; a sound never heard back inside of the slaughterhouse. "I am, I think." she said. Ever since her lessons with Smoke she'd been able to voice her thoughts infinitely better than before and Lonomia wasn't far behind. The boy had finally grasped the meaning of the word "where" and it had been no simple task. His strawberry blonde hair had been cut severely shorter than it had been during their escape to avoid any terrible accidents with the others. It had grown quickly; from the inch they'd cut it down he now sported almost five spiky inches. His antifreeze eyes were visible, giving him a much more human, intelligent look than before. He beamed when Apsalar moved his piece across the board. He still didn't understand the game, but that wasn't important.

Apsalar invited Tobart to play, to explain the rules to her. "Yes," he said, his vocabulary still limited to very formal words, "how do we play?" he settled unnecessarily close next to her, a smile at the corner of his mouth.  

[AninOnin]

John landed outside the beach house, in the sand, and swiped at the grains on his leg before walking into Smoke's dwelling. Tobart sat, touching Apsalar lightly, but far closer than John felt was necessary. Enough to make his jealousy flare up.

He stalked into the house and, rather more tightly than he intended, said "Apsalar. Could I speak with you." The rigidity in his voice was meant for Tobart, not Apsalar, but his emotions spilled into his words regardless for who they were intended.

--

Jared leaned against a tree, watching Smoke and Hound from camouflaged thermal cover. The foil was efficient in reducing his body heat, well-enough camouflaged to undergo a passing glance, and was thin enough to fold up and move with relative ease. Perfect for stalking and spying chimerae. At the moment, he had a gun trained on Smoke, waiting for Hound to leave. He knew he couldn't take on both the chimera and Smoke at once, especially without his usual array of weapons. And so, he would wait.

((Sorry for dragging along your character Wire. If you'd like me to edit anywhere, feel free to ask what the hell I'm doing and I'll edit.))  

[Wire_Colossus]

((It's perfectly fine. You've put me in the perfect position to do this...))

Hounds stalked along beside smoke before stopping. "Smoke...We have trouble. I smell a vent near bye. Jared is following us, And....and gun oil...He's here amongst us somewhere, likely with a gun in hand. Can't see him, but he can't hide from my nose." And then hound let out a deep gutteral bellow and looked right in Jareds direct before looking around some more. "You'll need to do better than that! I can smell you and your fancy suit a mile away Jared! Best leave while you can, because if I get ahold of you, you can bet that I'll put you in the ground before you die!"


Back at the beach house, Pup was playing in the sea. Playing wasn't the right word. He was hunting.

In the new facility, Little neo was crying and screaming since he couldn't see his daddy or his mommy anywhere. In the time that Yani had been gone, the boy had developed to the point of being a 2 year old. He couldn't talk yet, but he was very upset.

((You did forget to react as yani, I think....))  

[AninOnin]

Jared smiled tightly. It wasn't that he'd forgotten to cover his scent--it was that he didn't have the proper equipment. He hadn't predicted he would need to cover his scent in a forest, though the equipment he would have used would've resulted in blatant irony. Covering yourself in a chemical that smelled of deer urine would probably send Hound running for him in either case.

So, rather than letting the chimera sniff him out, Jared fired two shots from the 7-round magazine, leaving him with two. The first was aimed at Smoke's knee, the other at Hound's chest. He didn't particularly care about preserving the chimera.

The bullet aimed for Smoke lodged straight in its mark. The man cried out, a harsh sound from the back of his throat, and lowered himself onto the ground. He looked around, remembering Hound's words. This was Jared. It was unlikely he would kill Smoke right away, but Hound was in trouble.

"Get out of here!" he yelled at Hound, gesturing with one arm and wincing at the pain the movement had caused. He tried to put as much force into the words as he could, knowing Hound probably wouldn't listen.

--

Two very excited doctors greeted Yani at the door, congratulating him on such a fine specimen, the first of its kind, a monumental discovery to science. Oh, and congrats on the baby as well. He was informed at his son's extremely rapid growth and, looking at the Gymboree bag full of clothing, immediately pulled out an outfit more suited to a three-year-old.

He saw little Neo, hair, limbs, and teeth growing. And the baby was screaming bloody murder. Yani actually smiled and approached the kid's bed, picking him up. Neo was very thin for his apparent age, leading him to suspect the doctors had underestimated the child's growth. He uttered a few words and the doctors that had accompanied him to the makeshift nursery, in Aiyana's bedroom, went to find appropriate nourishment.

"Neo, what am I going to do with you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hush now." He set the child down and began putting the clothes on him, noting with satisfaction that they were quite loose. Better it be a little drafty than for it to squeeze him blue.  

[Wire_Colossus]

Hound felt a searing pain in his left shoulder and let out his guttural bellow before he leaped straight up and hid in the canopy of branches. He was slowly starting to revert. "Blood....." and then branches in the tree in front of jared moved as if a heavy being were moving in them. Hound hadn't really moved to those branches though, he'd actually moved to a different location. "blood......" the word echoed to Jared's ears from all directions at once, and branches in various trees around him were shaking as if hound was climbing through them. In truth he was. He was moving very fast, using his full potential. But there was no discernable pattern or trail for jared to follow, it almost seemed random.


Little neo looked up at Yani and stopped crying and stopped screaming. Once he was dressed he hugged his father as best he could and actually spoke, although it was only one word. "Daddy..." The little guy was really cute at his current stage of development, but it might have been shocking that neo could speak.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Apsalar was in the midst of explaining the game to Tobart when John arrived back. "And once you've seen the number on the square, you move your piece..." She looked up when he spoke to her, confusion flitting across her face for a minute.

"Um," she said, glancing at Tobart and Lonomia before getting up with an apologetic shrug. Probably it wouldn't take all that long. She couldn't imagine what John had to say that needed to be private, but from the strain she could practically smell on him, she figured it had to be so.

Reacting to the tension in his voice, her gait was coltish and stiff as she walked towards him.

"Be back in a minute," she reassured the other players, then she stepped out onto the beach. Walking down to the water's edge, she waited for John to join her and tell her what the problem was.

Was there a threat? Would they have to leave? But then, why wouldn't he have told everyone?

Questions whirling in her head, she turned and waited.  

[AninOnin]

Yani was about to begin spoon-feeding his child a mashed mix of potatoes and beans, when Neo spoke. Yani smiled. "I wonder who taught you that word, little one," he spoke back, without any of the cooing or "baby-talking" one usually employed when speaking to children.

--

Smoke glanced behind him, wondering if he could make it into the jeep. It would provide relative security but, on further thought, it was too high up for him to manage with the leg injury.

Jared pointed his gun at the trees directly in front of them, hesitating on squeezing the trigger. He had five shots left, and he would probably need them all to take out Hound. It would be better if he could do it somewhere clear, though, and so he moved, abandoning the thermal gear, towards the clearing surrounding the jeep. He whipped Smoke with the handle of his AutoMag and searched under the man's leather jacket for any weapons, finding a Glock. Reliable weapon, and now, Jared had an extra fifteen shots. Twenty altogether.

He kept his eyes open and his ears alert, listening for Hound, both guns drawn. The Glock's smaller rounds would be used first. The heavier slugs capable of taking down an elephant would be left in reserve. If he had enough time to reload, Jared had another full magazine in his jacket.

--

John walked along with Apsalar, growing less and less tense the further away from Tobart, and the beach house, he got. With him and Apsalar alone, it was easier to think of what to say. Eventually he made himself begin because he could wait for an eternity and still not find the right words.

"Apsalar, I think you should stay away from Tobart." He amended himself. "I want you to stay away from Tobart. I want you to stay with me."

He walked a few more paces down the beach, frowning at the sand. "Now that we're no longer at the slaughterhouse" John no longer flinched at the words "we're free to be able to lead the pack the way we should. With or without Smoke. But you and I can do it right," he said, picking up speed. All he needed to do was think of Tobart. "Tobart wouldn't be able to do that. He doesn't know the pack as well as you and I do. Wouldn't know how to help." It was obvious John felt rushed, as if he had to get the words out before anyone else could.  

[Wire_Colossus]

Little Neo giggled as he looked up at his daddy. "Daddy..."


Hound followed jared, staying in the trees for a short while. but then he took a different route. He went down to the ground and then under it. the ground around jared began to shake a little and then the back end of the jeep began to sink into the ground, the alarm started going off, and soon the jeep would be buried. Within less than a minute the Jeep was beyond saving.  

[AninOnin]

Jared moved away from the jeep and Smoke (who had slid down into the pit like an ant into an antlion's trap), looking for the source of the random pit, but didn't see Hound anywhere. Either the chimera had fled to the trees again or was going to try the same tactic. The same thing wouldn't work twice.

Jared grinned ironically. Here he was, hunting a chimera born to be a hunter.