Elemental (Wolf RP) (Accepting)

[Wildmagic_warrior]

Strike flinched away from his lick, but didn't say anything until he asked the question. In answer, she flexed her claws, feeling sparks drip from her white fur, bursting on the metal floor with a quiet sizzle. "Of course," she said, baring her fangs. The grate here needed no melting- one hard shove broke the screws and sent it clattering to the floor below. Before she jumped down, she said to Semper Fi, "Stay here unless I die, in which case, kill him. He's a menace to wolves everywhere, not just the ones like us." She jumped down into the room and landed in front of Darius, snarling as he scrambled up from his desk with a shriek. He hung up the phone and backed up so the desk was between him and the snarling she-wolf. Then he grinned. "Come to see my greatest success, have you, Experiment four-twenty-two? The Elemental Extermination Project?" He laughed harshly. "I think we'll start with you. It's unfortunate that our most powerful weapon must be killed, but it's for the greater good, you see."

[snowflake139]

"Strike!" Semper Fi howled. He heard an alarm going off, and more scientists came charging in. He charged into the room, regardless of Strike's orders, and pounced on a stranger, tearing out tufts of his hair. Hearing the man shriek, SF bit down hard into the human's leg, feeling his teeth meet bone. Flames burst from nowhere, blocking the door with a huge, roaring, burning fire so no more reinforcements could get it. SF trapped the scientists that had managed to get into the room before he set up the fire barrier in a large fire cage so they couldn't escape or fight. Semper Fi turned to Darius and stepped back, staying alert for any signs of aggresion from the untrapped scientist; he saved Darius for Strike to deal with and kill. There was an evil gleam in Darius's eyes, and he tossed a knife at Strike. But, Semper Fi leaped in front of Darius and took the blow, wincing. Looking at Strike, he barked, "Kill him now!" He managed to get the knife out, but he was bleeding heavily, and fire would not help him now. Realizing too late that he should've left the knife so it would've acted as a plug to his wound, SF gasped for breath, glad the knife had missed his heart.

[Wildmagic_warrior]

Strike's brain had gone into overdrive when the alarms went off and the guards had poured into Darius' office, but when Semper Fi jumped into the room, her mindset crumbled. She had never had to fight on the same side as another wolf, and his unexpected sacrifice threw her mind completely off-track. What is he doing? Self-preservation comes first- everyone knows that! Then she began to falter. But... what if I'm wrong? She snarled, and stepped over Semper Fi to stand between him and Darius. For a moment she was torn between her revenge and the need to see if the downed wolf was alright, but then she remember. He's an army dog. He won't let himself get killed that easily. She lunged at the tall, black-haired man, sinking her fangs into his leg and pulling him off balance. The man screamed, but as he hit the floor he began babbling. "Mercy!" he cried as she advanced. "I'll give you anything you want! I'll stop the E.E. Project! I'll... I'll give you back your memories!" Strike halted. Can he do that? Darius scrambled upright. "That's right!" he said, backing up to his desk ."I can bring back all of your memories. Wouldn't you like that? To see your family again? You can return to them- I won't stop you." Strike bared her teeth and jumped at his throat, snarling, "Memories won't bring Raven back!" she sank her teeth into his neck just as he grabbed a knife from a drawer he had reached into, plunging it into her chest. Strike stiffened, but held on, wolf and man collapsing on the floor, a pool of blood spreading around them. Strike gasped, only releasing the scientist when he went limp, his eyes clouding over. She got to her feet and staggered towards Semper Fi, managing to ask, "Are... you... alright?" before tripping on the overturned chair and lying still, blood staining her white fur.

[snowflake139]

"Strike! Strike!" Semper Fi gently licked her wound. "Are you okay? Don't die, Strike. You'll be okay." He snagged a scientist's white coat off of a hook and took it over to Strike. He layed it over her wound, pressing down with his paws to stop the bleeding. 'What if it gets infected? What if it doesn't stop bleeding? I need gauze...' "You there!" he snarled at the nearest scientist in the fire cage. "Do you have any gauze?" the scientist shook his head. "Do you know where any is?" The scientist nodded, and pointed down the hall at a supply closet. Passing safely through the fire, SF scrambled over to the closet and slammed the door down, finding gauze and cleaning alcohol. He grasped both of them in his jaws, stumbling back over to Strike, his wound bothering him. 'I'll worry about my wounds later, Strike matters more right now. Her wound is probably worse than mine...' Dribbling the cleaning alcohol onto Strike's wound, hoping that would disinfect the wound. Semper Fi wrapped the gauze tightly aroud Strike's chest, making sure the wound was fully disinfected and covered. He collapsed next to the white wolf, cleaning the blood out of her fur, licking the metallic, salty blood from Strike's fur. His vision was fading, but he struggled to stay awake. 'I'm an army wolf! I'm tougher than this! I can survive. I will live! If I die, what'll happen to Strike? I need to help her.' Struggling back onto his paws, Semper Fi was exhausted, but he cleaned out his own wound with the cleaning alcohol and disinfected it as best he could. Wrapping what remained of the gauze around his injury, SF was feeling a little better, and the bleeding had already stopped. He was still worried about Strike. "Strike, are you okay? Strike?"

[Wildmagic_warrior]

For a moment all Strike could do was squeeze her eyes tightly shut and grit her teeth, the sting of alcohol in her wound overpowering any brain-to-paws connection she might try to make. Then it faded and she gasped for breath, coughing blood onto her white paws. After the coughs subsided and she took a moment to breath, the white she-wolf looked up at Semper Fi. "I owe you my life," he said grumpily, not happy about this. "So... I suppose I need to... repay this debt somehow." Her frown lightened and disappeared, her expression becoming not quite a smile, but perhaps a bit happier than her usual scowl. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I couldn't have taken him on alone. I would have died here, and then..." she shuddered. "He would have carried out his 'Elemental Extermination Project'." She growled. "I always knew he was a scummy liar, but offering to give back my memories... that's one dirty trick too far." Strike looked up, meeting Semper Fi's eyes. "Now that I've killed him, I don't know what to do." Her voice was a bit sad. "I sort of figured on dying here. My life has no purpose now. That's how they trained me, you see; as a sort of organic machine. You're given a task, you complete your task, then they give you a new one. Once you're no longer useful, you're terminated and replaced."

[snowflake139]

Semper Fi gently licked the top of her head, trying to be as reassuring as possible. "Now that you're free, you don't have to be, what is it, terminated and replaced. You're safe, Strike. And you don't have to repay me. Never leave a man behind, that's what my team always said. A good deed deserves another good deed, and you killing Darius was a good deed for all of the elemental wolves being tortured by him. You owe me nothing, Strike. I think you would've done the same thing for me, whether you be a killing machine or not. You're a good wolf, and I know that. You still have a purpose. Everyone does. It just depends on what they do with their lives, because everyone chooses their own destiny, their own fate. Your purpose in life never disappears, whether you lose all of your loved ones, whether you are brainwashed and controlled by humans, whether you have murdered millions and you killed your only love in life. You still have hope, even if only a little, and hope will always live on. Hope doesn't abandon us, Strike, and we don't abandon hope. Hope feeds your purpose, and that's why you still have a purpose, because everyone, if they're evil or good, there's always hope. Where there's hope, there's a purpose. Sure, it might change over time, but as long as hope prevails, so will you, your purpose, your life, and your soul. We never cry until it's all over. And it's not all over. So put on a smile and don't cry anymore, whatever you do, Strike. Don't give up, don't cry, and stay close to hope." Semper Fi managed a smile, and looked at Strike right in the eyes as he spoke, the whole time, staring right at her.

[Wildmagic_warrior]

Strike listened to every word soundlessly, and for a moment she couldn't respond at all. Then she leaned forwards and brushed his cheek with her muzzle, saying, "Thank you." She got to her feet, wincing slightly, then looked Semper Fi in the eyes again. "You're right. I gave up hope long ago, but I guess it didn't give up on me. I don't know what I'll do now, but I'll find something. Or something will find me." She smiled at him. "Hope springs eternal." She flicked her tail and looked at the scientists. She growled at them, "Who's your leader now?" One of then timidly raised his hand, and Strike squinted to see through the heat rippling off of the fiery cage. "Is that Matthew?" The man nodded, and Strike grinned. "Excellent! Matthew, call of the E.E. Project. As long as you're in charge here, I trust nothing like this will happen again?" The man nodded. Looking at Semper Fi, Strike informed him. "Matthew was always kind to us- he didn't agree with Darius mindsweeping and training us. He helped me escape, sort of. He took out the tracking chip." She shook her head. "Anyways. Can you take down that cage? I don't want anyone else to get hurt." She looked at the door, where flames still blocked the way out. "And the door, too, please. I don't think I can summon enough electricity to make some sort of explosive getaway. I just want to leave quietly."

[snowflake139]

Nodding, Semper Fi made all of the flames disappear. "Should we leave through the air ducts? I think that'll be the quickest way out." Flicking his tail, he was pleased that Strike had finally smiled, in a happy way instead of a 'I'm going to eat you right now' way. Giving a friendly ear twitch to Matthew, Semper Fi led Strike outside, going through the air ducts, guiding her along whenever she winced or tripped because of her injury. SF was feeling much better, since his wound wasn't as deep or as close to the heart as Strike's was.

[Wildmagic_warrior]

Once they reached the outside, Strike looked up and noted that the sun had set and the moon risen. "Wow," she said, taking in all the stars. She looked at Semper Fi, slightly abashed. "I know it's silly, but I don't think I've ever actually looked up at the night sky before. It's so beautiful- crisp and clear, and the stars... it's amazing." Then she laughed. "I guess I don't know everything after all."

[snowflake139]

Semper Fi agreed, looking up at the sky. "That constellation is Hercules." he barked, pointing with his muzzle. "That's Leo, I'm pretty sure." SF taught Strike all of the constellations in the night sky, feeling a breeze blow through his golden fur, ruffling Strike's white pelt.