World of Terra

Alex glared and realized that he had no choice now. If he tried to fight the wolves, he would be torn to shreds and then would have no chance of saving Kyra. He sighed and looked down, feeling defeated. "Fine." he said and he went along with the wolves. He was expecting this to be a trick, the wolves probably going to just eat him in a moment, but he would have to think of something then. Alex didn't want to give up now, not after all that had happened, and he still had his promise to fufill.

Kyra walked up a odd wood ramp that went upwards, toward the surface. The sun blazing down on her back fur, lightened her confused self for awhile, but the situation burned back through her head. They were inside her cage, or small round cage thing, where she had taken Rory by suprise, by looking like she was going to kill him. There were ten guys on the outside of the metal fence, spread out to make it look like they were there to guard. She growled at them, but knew better then to try and attack them.

Apollo came out after Kyra, grunting when Bordled kicked his legs out from beneath him once they got far from the opening in the ground. Sweat dribbled down his jaw as he forced himself to stay focused and hold back his temper. If it weren't for the knife, and the fact that they had Kyra in killing distance, he would have killed the bastard within a five second time lapse.

Kyra watched the opening in the ground for Alex. Someone she recognised.

[are they leading Alex along with apollo and Kyra, or in another direction?]

((They're leading Alex along with Apollo and Kyra))

[oh okay, I thought they were taking him somewhere different for some reason...idk why lol]

Alex followed them, not knowing how he was going to get them out of this. The only way had been to give them Rory and the woman, but he couldn't do that. Now even if he wanted to, he couldn't since that deal probably was off. "Forgive me Felicity...I tried..." He said quietly to himself, not caring that the animals would pick up on it anyways. He just wanted to help animals, and now he was trapped like one and he might never escape. He had to wonder if Rory was even trying to save them now, and if he was then it was probably just for Kyra since she was a fellow animal. Alex felt like a human could never fit into the world of an animal, even if they were trying to help them.

((Rory is still waiting by the notice. However, Melisa gets a little curious...))

Melisa was trying to find a good place to post up and wait when she heard some kind of commotion on a different part of the camp. It was about time somebody showed up, however... it didn't sound like anybody was coming this way. "Really?" Melisa muttered to herself. "Am I just going to have to yell it to you or something?" Against her better judgement, Melisa got her bow ready and moved carefully towards the sound.

Melisa's bow was something she was really proud of: it was a bow she made herself that made as little noise as possible. Even the arrows were made especially for this bow. The bow and the arrows were smaller, so it had below average range and poor stopping power at the end of its range, but at short distances like this Melisa was very accurate with it. When Melisa finally was able to see what was going on she rolled her eyes, exasperated. There was Kyra again, out in the open, and now with... 10 people guarding her? Melisa couldn't understand the logic behind all this. So much for that little game in the arena, but now they put Kyra in the same cage that she was him and act as if manpower would be an effective deterrent? Who did they think she was? Didn't they hear any of the stories? She had killed princes in their royal homes in the dead of night! Melisa stared at the situation, frustrated that this was a stupid rescue mission and not a kill and go mission. For now, she resisted the temptation to shook and kill Kyra's handler and watched, still keeping an ear on the area around her notice. She briefly wondered where Kyra had came from to get from the Arena to here, but considered it unimportant. She still had her bow at the ready, just in case somebody made a move to kill or harm Kyra. She was now dedicated to protecting her, but only out of spite so that the stupid humans couldn't gain any profit out of her. They disgusted Melisa.

Kyra paced the length of the round cage, occasionally stopping to look and stare at Alex or Apollo for a few seconds. She was confused, tired, and hungry. Apollo watched her, and couldn't help the laugh that forced itself out his throat. "Come on, Bordled. You... You really think a bird, and a stupid cat would really risk their hides to save her?" Bordled looked at the blonde man near Alex. The blonde man grinned and looked at Alex. "I don't know about the tiger, but I think they'll try and save him..."

Apollo tried to struggle and then Kyra roared at Bordled after the man kicked him, while throwing him aside. One of the guys outside the arena threw something at Bordled. A crossbow. And it was aiming at Apollo. Bordled turned and looked out toward the forest. "I know your out there! Come out and we might be able to negotiate!"

Alex watched this all go down and he froze. If he attacked the man when he wasn't looking, then he would get the advantage and might be able to get the crossbow out of his hands, but at the same time, if he failed then it would put them all at risk. If Rory or the woman came to help, then they could distract them and then Alex would make his move. Come on Rory...do something, anything to give us an advantage and then I can get us out of here. This is their leader...if I could take him out, then maybe we have a chance. he thought, hoping one of them made a move soon.

"I know your out there! Come out and we might be able to negotiate!"

Melisa almost laughed. Negotiate? They were lucky Rory was here, otherwise Melisa wouldn't be too fond of negotiating. Melisa readied her bow again and thought for a moment. Speaking of Rory, Melisa hoped he heard that...

Rory did hear that. Now, Rory hadn't done this in a while, but people usually didn't seek them out, right? Oh well. Grabbing the notice with his beak, Rory flew over to the source of the call for negotiation. Something about the situation made him very nervous, but he knew that this was his only chance to prove to Melisa that his ideas had any merit. Perhaps it was a settling of a years old argument. Either way, Rory really wanted to succeed here.

When Rory got to the clearing, he didn't like how outnumbered he was. He noted all the stuff going on as he came in for a landing: a bunch of people that didn't look like they got along well were guarding Kyra, and Alex was... staring at him intently. That's kinda weird. What is he up to? Rory swooped very quickly over the guy in front and dropped the notice above him before landing and removing his disguise. Despite all that he wasn't trying to make a fancy entrance or anything: just something that kept him safe from that crossbow. He hated the risk of being shot with a bow while flying.

Once Rory landed, he was quick to get the first word in. He really needed to set some expectations for this before it started. "That paper," he started, pointing to the notice, "contains what we want. We are open to negotiation but those are our expectations." Rory looked around, hoping his stealth suit was making an impression that he was a more professional assassin than he felt at the moment. Worried a bit about what Alex and Kyra would think about him like this, Rory continued. "Although, I'm sure neither of us want a fight. I don't, but we won't hesitate to escalate this. Just keep that in mind."

All Melisa could do from her hiding spot was roll her eyes and aim her bow at the man Rory was talking to. "Ah, Rory," she thought to herself, "you haven't changed a bit..."

Kyra froze for a second when Rory came in dropping some papery thing and landing in front of Bordled. Rory smelt different and he looked different. Instinctively, she backed away counting The-Rory-In-The-Suit as a stranger. Her Rory always had the smell of paper maps, dust, and jerky, and he was no where near. She pawed at her nose and stared at him in confusion as her human disguise appeared. Bloody, bruised, scratched, gaunt, and fatigue were all written on her face.

Dramkah growled at Alex before flicking occasional glances at Rory. The other wolves did so too, but they always made sure half of them has their eyes on the Human.

Apollo looked at Rory and shook his head as if warning him before looking at Bordled. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it. Bordled looked at Rory for a second or two, but it was enough to for him. "Now!" The shout rang inside his head as he jumped from the ground and knocked the cross bow out of Bordled's hand and tackled the man.

Dramkah hesitated but turned and lunged for the Blonde man's leg, biting the human right behind the knee. The other four wolves followed his move and turned on the nearest guards.

Alex watched Apollo go for the man and he didn't miss a beat. He lunged and got the crossbow and moved towards Kyra. "Come on Kyra, just a bit longer and we will be out of here." He said to her as he stood next to her, ready to shoot at any guard that dared come near him and the tiger. He would not let them use her, or kill her for her pelt. He was done being pushed around himself here, he knew what it felt to be like an animal in this world, at least a captive one. Fear that your life was going to end soon, the feeling of going without food, or water when you wanted it. The fact that someone else controlled your life, Alex hated it and this is what he was fighting against.

The young man looked at Rory and knew that this isn't what he had in mind probably, but it still was going to work. They were going to get away because they had Rory, himself, Apollo and the wolves to fight with them. Alex now also had a weapon, and so he wasn't useless anymore against the guards who had them as well. Even if he only had one shot, the heavy crossbow could be used as a blunt weapon if needed.

Rory and Melisa were prepared for a sudden attack. Melisa, especially, was almost assuming one. What happened next was simply trained reflex: Rory ducked, rolled away, and pulled out a dagger, while Melisa fired a shot from her bow simultaneously. The shot moved through where Rory just was half a second earlier, flew by nobody in particular and disappeared into the forest, because the shot assumed that somebody was trying to attack Rory. Both Rory and Melisa were genuinely surprised at what actually happened. They were fighting amongst themselves?

Rory hesitated for a second from his crouched position, trying to figure out what was going on and, perhaps more importantly, whose side he was on. He knew enough that he was on Alex and Kyra's side, but who was attacking who? Rory first looked at who wasn't attacking them: the wolves seemed to be on their side, and... Kyra's handler? Rory knew Melisa would probably hate that, but Rory just went with it. Rory quickly made inventory of who was attacking them: some guards, a guy wearing wolf skins that Rory had never seen before, and an important looking guy with blonde hair that Rory also had never seen before. Who are these people? Hoping he would figure out later, Rory jumped up and started helping one of the wolves subdue blonde guy. Alex and Kyra's handler seemingly had wolf skin guy taken care of for now, and the guards were being occupied by the wolves. This situation needed to be controlled, and fast, so Rory's goal wasn't to kill, but to immobilize.

Melisa, meanwhile, had no such concept of "not killing" in her mind. She, too, was surprised by the sudden attack but understood it much more quickly than Rory did. Still, she didn't like how it turned out. A big brawl was not her area of expertise. Hesitating only slightly, she fired off another shot at the head of closest guard, the only person she had a clear shot at without risking shooting somebody on their team. Melisa kept hidden, but shifted her focus and her aim toward the edges of the clearing. Somebody was bound to have heard all this.

Kyra blinked trying to figure out what was going on. The-Rory-In-The-Suit was attacking with some terrible smelling girl and Alex was standing near her with some wooden thing. Apollo was still wrestling with Bordled. Blood. Blood. Litter-mate's blood. Her eyes widened and she was lunging for Bordled.

Apollo was doing just fine on his own for a moment, but Bordled was older, stronger, and alot more experience then him. After tackling the older man, he had pinned Bordled to the ground until he was overthrown and ended up being the pinned one. He got punched in the jaw, and then... Something shiny blinded him with light and he felt a sliver of pain before it became an ache across his right temple.

Dramkah appreciated the bird's help but he was alot more suited to fighting, and pushed the bird away by giving the bird a warning snarl. He yanked the man's leg back and his prey fell forward faced down into the dirt. Two of his packmates had thrown on their disguises and held down the blonde man by sitting on him. The two wolves had long black hair, blue eyes, and were wearing leather-like clothes. Dramkah gave the human's knee one more jerk and let go before he hit a more vein.

Kyra jumped on Bordled from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck and slowly pulled him away from her litter-mate.

Alex watched a guard going for Rory when he wasn't looking and he let the bolt fly, it hitting the man in the chest and he fell over. He looked around for more ammo, but it didn't seem like there was more, so he would just have to use it as a club if he had to fight more. He then watched Kyra pulling Bordled off Apollo and he helped her pull the man off. It looked like they were winning, the wolves were no long under the handler's control and the guards were thinning. In reality it was a huge camp, but there weren't a lot of guards it seemed since it was just the ones around them and he didn't see more.

Rory immediately rolled off of blonde guy when he heard the wolf's snarl. He understood the meaning at once: that was the wolf's prey, not his. He would respect that. It was good timing, too: a guard was charging for him. He got prepared to fight back but a shot from a crossbow Alex was holding took care of him. He gave a quick thank you to Alex before taking stock of the fight again.

It seemed that blond guy and wolf skin guy were well taken care of, and the guards weren't posing too much more of a threat: Melisa's arrows were helping greatly with that. Rory signaled something to Melisa then yelled over to Alex. "We'll set up a perimeter so that you can take care of the wounded. Yell for me if you need help!" Rory pulled off the face mask part of his stealth suit, no longer needing it. This was now a protect and stabilize mission, something that Rory finally knew better about than Melisa. At the very least, Rory didn't feel so guilty about dispatching the guards anymore, but that was mostly because he was baiting them into Melisa's bow range. Once all these guards were taken care of, he really needed to figure out who all these people are...

Jay Jay the little Blue Jay flow over head. Flying to her was the most amazing thing in the whole world. She could do flips and turns and anything she wanted. She saw people below her. Jay Jay had absolutely no idea what they were doing, but she saw a person with a bow and a person with a mask. "What's going on?" She tweeted to herself. She started circling them in the air and doing flips and everything she could to get there attention. It ran through her mind multiple times, is this a good idea, or an idea that's gonna get me killed. But she did it anyways...

Apollo propped himself up on his elbows and saw red. Like, literally saw red. Bordled had just cut his right temple and a stream of blood was oozing out and into his eyes. He squezed his eyes shut and wiped his entire face with his sleeve, wincing when he touch the cut. He didn't know how long it was, but it was five inchs long and it barely skimmed the corner of eye ending just above his cheek bone.

Thinking Alex could handle Bordled, she released her grip on the human and darted near Apollo. She stared at him not sure what to do. It didn't really matter because she felt something stirring in her. Anger. It was Bordled's fault her litter-mate was hurt. The way Apollo was closing his eyes, she was starting to think he went blind or got seriously injured somewhere she couldn't see. It was Bordled's fault. Kyra's human disguise slipped and she was a Siberian tiger growling at Bordled.

Kyra's eyes darkened as she went into a crouch. Her eyes locked on Bordled, the human who hurt her litter-mate, the human who had beaten her and caged her. Her tiredness and fears put aside, she launched herself at the two-legger. Skin tore like velcro beneath her claws and blood splattered the ground as she sank her teeth into the human's flesh. Death was not her intent. Pain. She wanted the man to feel pain. She wanted to hurt him.

Alex pulled the man away and kicked him down, putting his foot on his throat to keep him down. "Your going to pay for everyhting you did...animals will never be caged, and one day anyone owning one will be struck down by them." He said. He heard Kyra and he moved before he could get caught in the way. He looked up at the bird and signaled for it to come over, if it was trust him of course. He let Kyra have her way with the man, he deserved to die honestly. Alex moved away from the fray that was lessening and he watched the bird.

Jay Jay saw all what happened from the sky. She saw the girl turninto a tiger. She saw the tiger attack the human. "No! Stop!" JayJay yelled as she flow down & landed next to them. "Stop! Don't! You're going to kill him!" Jay Jay added after she landed & was turning to her beautiful blue loving human girl form. She put her hands on the tigers back, trying to pull her off the man. "Stop it!" Jay Jay yelled as some blood splashed on her, staining the white parts on her dress. This was all very terrifieing to Jay Jay. She was very scared of cats after what happened to Grandpa Jay. He was eaten by a cat. But she couldn't stand this. She just had to do something.

Kyra snarled and roared, her anger and pain drove her on. The heat of bloodlust filled her emerald eyes showing the predator, the tiger, but they also showed something nearly described as human. Was it the animal's way to hurt a creature on purpose? To hurt a creature that she was not going to eat? It didn't matter to her, because she didn't know what was animal and what was human. She didn't know the difference. She didn't even know how to hunt.

Bordled was still attempting to struggle, feebly. Covered in blood, he barely looked human. Kyra's face was stained with blood, her powerful jaws digging into the human's shoulder.

Someone had their hands on her back.

Kyra snarled a warning at the person behind her. An instinctive snarl that was saying, "Go away! This is my kill! Not yours! Mine! Go Away!" Ears layed back, she let out another snarl and possesively gripped her claws on the human and dug them deeper into his muscles. Anger, rage, and hurt, Kyra whipped around. Her right paw was flying out to slap the human girl across the face.

((BlueWind: sorry, didn't realize you posted while I was typing. I've edited my post slightly))

Rory looked around, feeling useless. A perimeter wasn't necessary the way things were looking. He was about to walk casually back to where the fight was, until he saw the newcomer. Who was that? A blue jay? Odd. Rory pulled back up his facemask and now walked cautiously back toward the fight.

Melisa, meanwhile, was admiring Kyra more and more every second. Such fierceness. Such anger. She was amazing. Melisa would love to have Kyra on her team. Realizing the fight was over, Melisa came out of her hiding spot, meaning to help Kyra, and then the wolves, finish the job. At least that was the plan until... someone got in her way. Another animal! Trying to pull Kyra away! Who does she think...

"Stop! Don't! You're going to kill him!"

Melisa rolled her eyes. This blue jay was like Rory, but worse. Melisa quickly notched an arrow on her bow, pulled it, and aimed it at the blue jay's neck. After Kyra's push, the blue jay was only standing about 4 feet away. "Oi! Whose side are you on?!" Melisa yelled. "Who do you think you are, interrupting justice?!"

Just then Rory calmly walked behind Melisa and pushed the bow downward, deflecting the aim away from the blue jay. "That's not necessary, Melisa," Rory said softly. "We're done here."

Melisa stared at Rory with an evil look, resetting her bow's aim. "Oh no we're not done here! This animal extortion ring won't die until the head is cut off, and you know it. Someone important has to die today," Melisa spat, then looking back at the blue jay, said firmly "...and I'm not letting anybody get in my way."

Rory frowned. This wasn't useful. The blue jay looked petrified, having both Kyra and Melisa giving her a death stare. Part of Rory understood why the blue jay would object, so he tried to delay the inevitable until he found out more about her. Rory stepped carefully between the blue jay and Melisa, pushing the bow down again. "Look, why don't we question these people first to see if we can get any more information about this arena? There could be several layers above these two." Rory stepped back once and gestured to the center of the fight. "Once we've got all the information we want, then by all means, kill away, I'm not objected to that." Rory gave a quick wink to the blue jay that Melisa didn't notice before continuing. "Let's just wait until the opportune moment."

Melisa let out a sigh. Rory was right in a way. "Fine. I do have a lot of questions that I'd like answered. But first..." Melisa made a point of shoving Rory out of the way and stepped a couple steps closer to the blue jay. Very firmly, but without the bow this time, Melisa said "Who are you? And why are you here?"

Jay Jay was so scared she was shaking. This first day of being away from the nest and seeing some different animals, & humans, just wasn't her day. "My names Jay Jay." She said quietly and shakenly. She looked at the person who had the bow. "I come from the place a place that humans didn't desturb yet." She added. She looked rather skinny as a human. She spent most of her time in her blue jay form. "I just think we should keep the peace and not hurt humans or animals I. The process." She was still shaking a bit, but not as much as before. Like a little child, her bottom lip begain the quiver.

Kyra growled, her claws fully extended as she was watching Jay Jay like food. And the girl was food in a way, but food she wasn't going to eat. She crouched, her tail swishing back and forth like a snake. All she saw was red tainted by human anger and rage. Her tail went down like a lever and she was launching herself at the girl.

Apollo shook his head and rammed his shoulder into Kyra, pushing her away from Jay Jay. Kyra snarled and almost landed on her feet if Apollo hadn't pinned her to the ground. His golden eyes were dark and... Angry. Apollo was angry. But at who? "No! That isn't the animal's way!" He dug his fingers deeper into her fur and bared his teeth.

Kyra froze. Animal's way? What was the animal's way? Was she an animal? Or a human? Confused, she looked at Apollo and growled before kicking his off with her hind legs. Apollo grunted and got to his feet. Kyra made a snuffing sound and rolled onto her side.

Alex watched Melissa and he was worried that she was going to kill Jay Jay. But of course everything calmed down a little, other then Kyra trying to eat her. He sighed and he finally relaxed for once, it was over. He set the crossbow down and he went over to Jay Jay. "Your going to be okay, I wont let someone hurt you." He smiled kindly down to her and he looked her over. She looked skinny, but then again most animals did in their human forms.

Jay Jay stop shaking so much and looked up at the man. Yes, she was still slightly scared, but who wouldn't be? "Okay." She said quietly. Despite her human age, she sounded like a child. With a high voice. In her voice you could hear that she was scared, but she was kind. She only stepped in when she really felt strongly that she had to step in. She looked around at everyone. She was scared and jumpy, thinking that someone else may come out of nowhere and try to kill her again. She just got here and meant these people and already she almost got killed twice. She thought about getting up and going back to the nest, but it's to late now. At least now I know what it's going to be like for now on. She thought. At this time, she stop shaking almost completely. She was still a little jumpy though.