Zvers: Moved to a new thread, please lock

[KitaraSoftpaw]

Haha, you only promised to sit out a round or two Kita ;P

Yea but all the ones I felt really called to me were in those rounds xD

And the only one I erally want I believe HTB is going for and I'm too lazy to compete against her again plus its last two weeks of school i wont have time ;A;

[iratePanthera]

I still have three weeks of school. Ish.

BTW;; I withdraw because I can't write something really good by tomorrow, and tomorrow's my B-day so I won't have time.

[Utopia]

Username: Utopia
Zver you want: #CC0211

Name: Schwarzgold
Reason you want it:
Weeell… I’ll need to elaborate for this. My ‘need’ for a Zver started originally with my dear, dear Aenor. Now wait, what is she going on about now? you might ask yourself. That is easy. Aenor is a dear character of mine that started off as a 10th century archer, suddently had a modern doppelganger that worked as a bouncer, developed into a security woman for a Scandinavian security company, has a steampunk twin sister in the making and just managed to get herself a cyberpunk self. That is all great, you’ll probably think by now, but what has this to do with Zvers? That one is easy, too. Aenor has always been in need of someone who is able to fend for her – not because she is weak but because she tends to get head over heels into things that are two to thirty sizes too big for her. And since she loves animals, I soon decided that she needed some weird guard dog that keeps her on her toes and is intelligent enough to save her neck from time to time.
What will you do with it if you win?:
He’ll be used as a companion for a character (Aenor) in a pen&paper-roleplay that is slowly developing right now. It’ll be based mainly on Shadowrun, but since the great and all-knowing Gamemaster allowed me to introduce (as he put it) “whatever floats your boat” as a companion for Aenor in order to make up for her non-existent close combat skills (as long as it isn’t too overpowered), I’ll guess a Zver would make a pretty awesome companion.

Personality:
Some would say that he is pretty lenient for a Zver. Others would say that he is a Zver and then turn and run for their lives, leaving said Zver staring bemusedly after them. A third group would probably wonder what strange dog is strolling by, while a fourth one would probably marvel at how far genetic engineering has developed now. Fortunately every group misses his actual character by a distance that could easily measured in light years.
Schwarzgold might appear to be lenient but that is a serious misconception. He is not lenient, only lazy. If given the chance to do so, he will spend most of his days in a particular cozy spot (preferably warm), moving only if he really has to. His preferred state of mind is dozing and if you find a viscous fluid somewhere on a soft surface, chances are good that you just found Zver drool on your favourite sweater. Because of this, he rarely sleeps and if he does, it doesn’t last long. That might sound great if you consider him a guard Zver, however this is another serious misconception.
Once this particular Zver has developed a liking towards someone, he gets downright clingy. His clinginess may be cute for the first two or three hours but it will get annoying by the night at the latest. Ever had a 90 lbs Zver trying to settle on a single mattress along with you while you are trying to sleep? (That is, after he scratched and headbutted at the door, whining and whimpering because you didn’t let him come in with you.) No? Lucky you. It only gets worse when there is another person in the room, because then he feels that he has to protect ‘his’ human and that includes pushing ‘his’ human off the mattress in order to serve as a living shield. Great fun, especially at two o’clock in the morning.
Schwarzgold is far too lazy to openly hate someone as long as the certain someone treats him with the respect he wants to be treated with. In that case he mostly ignores humans (or whatever species this particular someone is belonging to) and continues to doze. Do not let his nonchalant behaviour fool you – as soon as he feels that it is necessary, he will go from ‘droooool’ to ‘ready to rip your throat out’ in – by rule of thumb – one and a half second. And he certainly feels that this is needed as soon as you invade his private space or behave aggressively towards him (or his human), his human tells him to, someone makes a loud noise or starts to play the recorder. He hates that sound, for whatever reason.
Being the lazy sleepy head that he is, he has nevertheless a pretty athletic appearance. A miracle? No, just sudden bursts of energy. Up to four times a day (and night), Schwarzgold will suddenly jump to his feet and go full ‘OMG LETS PLAY RITE NAO’-mode, in which his human is better off stopping whatever he is doing at the moment and obey. Or else. It’s also better to change the playtime-sessions to outdoors because he frankly doesn’t care whether that vase belonged to your beloved grandmother if it stands in his way. If handled correctly, these energy bursts can be used to train him, something that is otherwise only possible with heavy bribery in form of ear scratches or certain dog treats. He likes cheese, too…


Introduction/Story:

Viewer discretion is advised.

Why, why exactly had we brought her with us? Just – why? Why?! We scarcely knew her – she was just another runner that our Mr. Johnson had pressed into our little team, because our Mr. Johnson had decided that we needed a bit technical enhancement. Technical enhancement, by Odin’s eye! If we wanted technical enhancement (which we didn’t) we just would have, you know, hired it. Technical enhancement. The norns were probably having a good laugh right now. Either that, or Loki was watching me with a very smug grin that stretched from one ear to the other.
“Serves us right”, I growl at nobody particular, “That’s what we get for bringing a bloody hacker with us.” Said hacker had proved to not be able to get along with any of us, which consequentially had gotten her into a fight with me. Dearest Salome had lost the fight, wasn’t able to stomach that and thus she had stormed off into the night. And that was the point where I came in. You see, I am not your ordinary Street Samurai, I am far more than that. I’d call myself a Weapon Specialist, but that is beside the point here. The point is: If there is scouting involved, I am the one who gets the job. And while I am not exactly scouting right now, I am certainly the only one who is able to track. (On top of that, I obviously need to “clean up after my own mess”, as Ragnar put it.)
So here I am, stuck somewhere between Hamburg and the border to Denmark, looking for a damned hacker in the midst of nowhere. We just should have let her run to her doom, at least in my opinion. If someone is stupid enough to venture into the awakened wilds alone, let him die! It’s as easy as that. I don’t care whether she gets ripped apart by critters, infected with MMVV or shot by someone that mistakes her for something dangerous. But since Ragnar decided that we needed her… he had that certain glint in his eye which normally means he knows something that I do not. Excuse me, Mr. Leader, I believe I am the guy that collects information.
She could at least try to be a little more discreet. Even though it is pitchblack here in the forest, I can spot her tracks from meters away. One more time, I am more than grateful for my Zeiss cybereyes and their low-light amplifier. I bet she ran into a tree by now, while I have been able to avoid every branch in my way. Speaking of branches, I notice a severe lack thereof in front of me and while I am at it, I also notice something moving in front of me. I switch to termal imaging aaaand – gotcha. A normal human, female, relatively small. Looks like Salome. Switching back to the low-light amplifier and then to night vision, I slowly creep up to the figure in order to get a better look. It really is Salome and she looks a bit lost right now, standing in the middle of a small clearing and staring in front of her.
I feel the corners of my mouth twitching. That’s what you get, dear girl. As soon as I have managed to twist my face into its normal emotionless expression, I step forward again, only to freeze a heartbeat later. Something is moving in the shadows behind Salome. Whatever it is, it is fast and I would take any bet that it is aiming for the damn oblivious hacker standing in the middle of the clearing. Hel curse you, Ragnar, I think and while I am still thinking this, my body reacts on its own.
Damn good reflex boosters that I have. Anyway, I charge, manage not to bodycheck Salome by hair’s breadth and slam into something made of fur and muscles. And claws. Ow. I topple over and the critter topples over too, I get back up but before I can get my weapons ready, the critter attacks me again. It is standing over me now, another hair’s breadth far from mauling me. Scratch that, my friend. Only in time I manage to grab the critter’s head, knee him in the belly and as he yelps in pain, I flip us both over. My hands are still wrapped tightly around the head and I lift it slightly up in order to slam it back down. Fleabag!

Pain. Painpainpainpain! Head hurts. Head is being crushed. Painpainpain! Belly hurts. Back pressed into the ground. Something big looming above. Vulnerable. Hurts. Not good. Not good. Do not like! Trying to break free. Claws slashing, teeth bared. Head is being lifted up. Panic. Trying to break free. Growl. Let go! Let go, let go, let go! Something crashes into the big thing. Suddenly. Big thing is being overturned. Head falls back. Pressure is gone. Mad. Really, really mad. Growl. Killkillkill!

That little -! I do no longer care whether Ragnar wants her back or not, I’m going to kill her right now. She overestimated herself a little when she attacked me. I saved her! Why in Loki’s name did she even attack me?! Tech freak! I get up slowly, tugging at the throwing knives in my belt. She makes a perfect target, kneeling there and staring at me scornfully. Just don’t move now, honey. “You’re completely insane now?” she hisses: “It never attacked me, it just…” At this point, I am remembered rudely why it is better to finish off an enemy before turning to the next: The critter has recovered. And obviously enough, it does not like me any longer.
The next second I find myself on my back, the critter once again looming over me, ready to rip me to shreds. It is growling and as I stare at the quite prominent teeth, a part of me curses my stupid self for not having a weapon ready. Again, I try to grab its head, but the critter evades me. Fear whispers in the back of my head. This will be not a good death. Hel will claim me - Hel! I don’t want to – it is all her fault! Rage fills me, hot and white but this time it is directed at its original target. Salome.
A stinging pain from my chest brings my attention abruptly back to where it belongs – my enemy. “Ye Gods!” I hear myself curse, my fingers closing around a well muscled leg. Those claws might not get through my dermal armour, but they sure as Hel hurt. However before I can push the leg away, the critter turns its head in no time and bites down on my wrist, tugging and pulling hard. How strong is this thing? I can nearly feel my dermal armour giving in under the sheer force, the teeth piercing through the protective shell. I can’t keep my grip any longer, pain shooting up my arm. My fingers slip from the leg and I can feel blood trickling down my hand.

Triumph. Smell: fear. Big thing: fear. Good. Like. Like. Triumph.

The critter throws his head back and shrieks. Involuntarily I shrink back, quivering slightly. What an ear-splitting sound! Luckily enough, it is interrupted in the middle of the shriek – something slams into it (thanks to Zeiss I am pretty sure that the something is again a certain hacker that I’d very munch like to skin alive right now). They both roll out of sight, a single pile of arms, legs and a long tail, yelping and growling. I force myself to kneel. My left hand is nearly unusable, the fingers won’t contract as I want them to. Pain stretches up to my left shoulder and I fumble my gun awkwardly out of its holster with my right hand. Let’s hope this thing isn’t poisonous. I’ll revive her, I silently swear to myself, if the critter poisoned me, I’ll revive Salome and kill her again.
The gun is unlocked and loaded. With only half an ear I have noticed a slight change in the constant growling somewhere left of me but no warning in the whole wide world could have prepared me for what I see. Salome is on all fours, kneeling over the critter, one hand firmly closed around its throat. She is growling, her face twisted in a – I’ll admit that – rather frightening grimace. The critter doesn’t move a muscle. Its neck is stretched at an unnatural angle and I am pretty sure that it should hurt the critter to lie that way but it doesn’t protest. And then suddenly, the critter whimpers.
Salome carefully releases her grasp, slowly gets back on her feet and backs away until she is standing next to me. My gun is pointing uselessly at the ground. I simply don’t know what to do anymore. She is a hacker, not a bloody shaman. Why was she – how was she able to…? She shouldn’t even know anything of something that does not involve surfing the Maxtrix. She is a tech freak, after all! Who in Hel’s name likes to move around in Loki’s prison? I never understood that. This world is doomed and it is in our hands to bring it to a quick and merciful death, however people like her try to uphold the status quo. I’ll never understand it. She touches my arm and I nearly equip her with a third eye. If I come to think about it, the thought’s not that bad… “Let’s go”, she says quietly.
As we walk away in silence, I continue to hold the gun unloaded in my hand. Maybe, just maybe… As I glance over my shoulder one last time, I notice that the critter is still lying there in the clearing and I have the distinct feeling that it is watching us go.

Leader…?

Damn my loyalty towards Ragnar. Damn my loyalty towards the team. Damn my reputation that doesn’t uphold itself alone. Damn my indecisiveness in that moment. Damn the fact that I am not a berserk adept. Damn the fact that we do not have a berserk adept. Damn my brain that just wouldn’t let me do as I wanted and solve the problem all by myself. As if anyone would have missed her if she didn’t come back. (Well, Ragnar might have. And he wouldn’t have liked it, so in retrospect it just might have been better to let her live.) Damn her! After all, it is her fault.
We are planning the run now. Salome is unconcentrated, she keeps logging in and off the Matrix in order to snoop around the node of our target and simultaneously pick up what we are talking about. She is doing this by implant, I guess, as I can’t see a Commlink on her and it makes me want to find that implant and rip it out. Personally. Judging from the looks that the others are giving her as soon as she is gone, I am not the only one who thinks that way. However, Ragnar won’t have that – he made that pretty clear. He is the jarl, he is in command but sometimes I find my fingers itching for the feel of any of my weapons to end this disaster.

Smell. Leader’s smell. Track. Follow.

Four days of planning and we are ready to go. Four days of being locked up together in a small cabin in the midst of the woods. Four days of rising tension, increasingly snippy remarks and not being able to kill that hacker. Hel herself couldn’t have thought of a better way of torturing me. However – and this rises my spirits greatly – we are now ready to return to Hamburg, finish that run and then finish off Salome. Ragnar won’t mind it as soon as she has served her purpose.
We are currently standing around the five motorcycles and the car that brought us here (want to take a guess who is riding the motorcycles and who owns the car?) while Ragnar is giving us one last ‘Remember guys, it’s all or nothing now’-speech. “...did I make myself clear?” He is giving us a stern look and we nod and say “Ja, jarl”. Only Salome remains silent. She doesn’t even seem to notice the weird looks she is receiving for that, instead she stares at a point somewhere behind Ragnar’s back. He refrains from scolding her but frowns and follows her gaze. We do, too and I can feel myself freezing at the sight. The critter is standing maybe twenty meters away, nearly hidden by the trees and their shadows. It is watching us intently from its strange, green eyes.
“What is that?” – “It’s not awakened.” – “You sure?” – “I am! Stop questioning me already…” – “Well, sorry!” – “Silence! The both of you!” Ah. I guess Ragnar too didn’t like our goða and one of the two Samurai arguing. He is eying the critter suspiciously, one hand on the stem of his battle axe. Something next to him moves but I don’t care, I am as fixed on the critter as the others are. That is, I am until Salome steps forward. The critter mimics her. She stops a few meters away from us and it stops too. As soon as she moves again, it moves too. They meet halfway. I can hear Ingolfr, the goða, whisper something along the lines of “What is she doing?” but I don’t care. I am occupied keeping my fingers crossed for a sudden attack on Salome.
Slowly, deliberately, the critter buckles, drops on its knees and rolls itself on its back. Its throat is exposed, just as his belly is and again, it whimpers quietly. There are metaphorical clouds of steam coming from Salome’s ears, even with her back turned to us we can see her brain working in her skull. And then, just as slowly and deliberately, she drops to her knees and reaches out for the critter. I can hear metal clicking together and the muzzle of a gun appears in my field of vision. Someone is ready to shoot but I don’t care. What is she doing? What is she thinking?
Again her fingers close around the critter's throat. I can see the critter’s ears twitching, but it remains still and waits for her to let go and get up again. It still mimics her, raising in exactly the same slow fashion that she was getting up in. The gun quivers slightly. As Salome turns to us and begins walking towards us, the critter follows hard on her heels. Ragnar quietly clears his throat, pointedly looking at the critter. She shrugs: “I have no idea what he is, either.” – “Looks like an escaped experiment to me”, Ingolfr says, “Probably something the corps threw together.” I guess he meant that as a warning, but Salome’s face changes from slightly bewildered to determined. “I’m going to take him with me, then.” She walks straight over to her car, opens the boot lid and gestures towards the critter.
The critter looks bemused at best. “Have fun then”, Ragnar grins at the frustrated look she gives the critter, puts on his helmet and mounts his motorcycle: “Just leave the critter out of the run.” His voice sounds a bit hollow and she looks up and nods – and then turns back to the critter, pointing at the car again. The critter tilts his head. As we are driving away, I am pretty sure to hear the other chuckle behind their helmets.

Strange place. Smells like old place but not so strong. Other smells, too. Old place not good. Old place bad. Leader gone. Leader gone long now. New place like cave. Can not get out. Lots of things to explore. Smells a bit of leader. Strange place. Not sure whether wanting out or stay. Where leader? Leader not here. Why leader gone? Faint steps from outside. Steps getting louder. Steps known. Leader’s steps. Excited. Running up to the entrance. Leader back! Scratching sounds, then entrance opens. Leader!

“And then…?” – “It jumped straight at me and we both fell down the stairs.” – “Ow…” Ingolfr makes a sympathetic face, but Salome shrugs it off. “Wasn’t the first time in my life. No harm done. Well, anyway, I shooed it back up in my flat and was greeted by utter destruction. I have no idea what happened and why nobody noticed anything, but it broke a glass table, two chairs, my trideo – that was old and nearly falling apart so it doesn’t really matter – and a vase. Oh, and it drooled all over my bed. And my laundry, too. It also raided my fringe, so the first thing I did was locking it up in the bathroom and then I went to get groceries. I’ll need a new bathroom door now.”
Ingolfr and Ragnar are laughing by now, while Ubba and Kappi – the two Street Samurai – do their best to smile (it doesn’t really work though). I am sitting quietly on my chair and grin like a madman. I’ll get rid of that tech freak by tonight. “So, do you know what it is by now?” Ingolfr again. I swear, that guy forgets everything about initiating Ragnaroek as soon as he sees anything remotely female. “I’m not sure.” Salome bites her lip, releases it again and shakes her head slightly. “I've got a few responses on Shadowland but they’re all pretty vague. I didn’t have the time to… oh. Evening, Mr. Johnson.” She smiles up at the slim elf in the expensive-looking suit. The elf nods curtly and sits down. He addresses Ragnar, telling him how content he is with our work and that therefore there is a bonus added to our fee now. 50.000 per person, which means doubling our fee. Who are we to protest? We receive our credsticks, the elf nods again, gets up and walks away as unseen as he came. Not that we would care – 50.000 per person? This means party.
Four hours later we are all rather tipsy with the exception of Salome. She wants to meet someone in Shadowland later and because of this she needs to be as fit as possible. Time for my plan to begin. “You sure that you want to log in with that critter in your flat?”, I ask her, purposefully adding a stronger slur to my voice. She needs to think I am drunk enough to not pose a threat to her anymore. Salome makes a face, which encourages me only further. “I’ll protect you”, I declare with utter conviction. She makes a face again but Ragnar steps in: “As long as that critter’s with you, you won’t log in alone, got me? We still need you.” Oh great. Ah well, I’ll just say that that critter got out of control.

Leader back! Leader! Leader back! Why leader leave so often? Why? … Oh. Leader got company. Company is – big thing! Do not like! Big thing bad! Growl. Go away, big thing!

“Hey, stop that!” Salome pushes the critter aside with her foot. It stops growling at me and turns to look at her confusedly. “Go away. Come on!” She nudges the critter again with her foot and it whines. Nevertheless, it obeys and steps aside in order to let me in. “I’ll lock it in again. The bathroom door is already ruined, that won’t hurt anybody.” She shuffles off with the critter on her heels, although it stops to give me a suspicious look before they vanish out of sight. I hear a door opening, Salome says something, the door closes and then the whining starts. Something scratches on wood. Salome comes back and gestures to another door: “The living room’s behind that one. I don’t have a trideo anymore, so you’ll have to find something else to do.” – “Don’t worry”, I tell her and the grin starts to spread over my features again as she shrugs and turns around to vanish through a second door. Her bedroom, I suppose. She is going to log in now.
I wait for half an hour before I set my plan into action. She should be far gone now but prudence is the better part of valour – I pull my gun out of its holster, change my mind halfway and go for my knife instead. The cool handle firm in my right hand I silently walk out of the living room and over to the second door. Something has changed but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s probably just that she logged in. I carefully open the door and there she is, lying flat out on her bed. I feel a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Finally! She is mine now, mine alone – the things I could do – but I won’t. This will be over as quickly as possible.

The persona icon is drumming her fingers impatiently on the wooden desk in front of her. She has the form of a female lay figure with a flat surface where the face should be, but it is clearly noticeable that she is downright annoyed. “He is ten minutes late now.” Her gaze is fixed pointedly at the table. “If he doesn’t show up within the next five minutes, I’m gone.”
Exactly four minutes and twenty-five seconds later, another persona icon – this time in the form of a bread with sunglasses and a black moustache – pops up out of the blue behind the desk. The lay figure ignores him but speaks up, her gaze still fixed on the desk. “You know, punctuality is a virtue.” – “It was you who were desperate to meet me.” The bread is obviously unfazed by the harsh welcome and while the lay figure is a few seconds short from exploding, the bread continues calmly. “I had to check a few times – do you know that these pictures you sent me have a horrible quality? – but I am sure now.” The bread pauses for effect and a tiny, baked hand appears next to it and adjusts the sunglasses. “It paid off however. I am pretty sure that what you have there is a Zver.” The lay figure pauses for a moment. The term is new to her and she has been quite a lot on Shadowland lately.
“A what?” – “A Zver. I found some rumours on Shadowland about them. They’re supposed to be an Alien race from some UFO crash site.” – “You’re kidding me!” – “I’m not.” – “O…kay…” It is astonishing how incredulous one can look without a face. The bread adjusts its sunglasses again but ignores the lay figure otherwise and continues. “Yeah, well. Believe it or not. Anyway, the reason you find those on Shadowland is that someone is looking for them. The usual stuff, dangerous, beware, run for your lives, immediately report, do not come near, blah, blah, blah.” – “Any experitential reports?” – “Nope.”
The lay figure seems even more incredulous than before: “Is there a bounty?” – “Uhm… no.” – “That explains it, then.” She sighs quietly and leans back in her chair. The bread adjusts its sunglasses again and for a moment, neither one of them speaks. The silence is broken however as the lay figure suddenly sits up, seemingly listening very hard. She lifts a finger to where her lips should be and the bread pauses. Another moment of silence follows but it is ended as the lay figure jumps to her feet and lets out a cry of rage.
A shimmering nebula appears out of thin air and engulfs the persona icons. “Someone’s tracking us! Log off!” Before the sentence is finished, the bread takes off its sunglasses, salutes and disappears without a word. “Go get’im!” The lay figure gesticulates at the nebula but instead of fading – as the sprite should normally do when it changes the node – the nebula just disappears. “Drek!” Another set of gestures follows: The lay figure initiates her log off-sentence but she knows that she will be too late. Whoever is tracking her will find her before she is able to complete the set of gestures.

No… it’s no fun when she is flat out. I want her to realize that she is going to die. I spent five minutes looking for something to bring her back, until I decided to use brute force. A few hard slaps on the cheek and Salome is all here again. Her arms are flapping wildly, but I manage to pin her down in no time. There is confusion written all over her face, she pants. Is that fear I see? It takes only a second and she regains her composure. I can literally see her temper rise. “What are you doing, drekhead?”, she snarls, trying to break free: “Thanks for getting me out but whatever you’re planning to do, forget it!” She stops dead at this point. Probably she just noticed the knife I am holding in my right hand. Triumph swoops through me. I’ve got her now.

Wall broken. Wall of wood no use. Claws stronger. Teeth stronger. Stronger. Leader – where? Smell. Leader’s smell – fear. Fear? Not good! Unsure. Creep towards leader. Slow. Wall to leader’s cave open. Look through open wall. Big thing! Big thing above of leader. Leader: fear. Not good. Not good. Big thing bad! Not like big thing. Hate big thing. Kill big thing? Leader makes noise. Noise says: Pain. Big thing hurting leader! Do not like. Do not like. Leader turns head. Leader sees me. Leader’s eyes widen. Leader wants me to go away. Leader wants me no pain. Big thing bad. Big thing really bad. Big thing wants leader dead. Leader dead? No! Leader live!

‘Go away!’ she tries to tell the critter. Eirik is kneeling above her, a knife at her throat. She should have seen it coming. She let her guard down, it is her fault that Eirik got the opportunity in the first place. ‘He’ll hurt you.’ The critter is standing in her doorway, staring at her from these big, green eyes. And suddenly, the critter bares its teeth, gives a furious scream and rushes forward. Her eyes widen even more as Eirik whips around and raises the knife. “No!”, she hears herself scream, jerking upward. Eirik – only slightly destabilized – brings the knife down just as the critter hits him in the chest with its front paws. He manages to hit the critter, but the force of the blow to the chest sends him flying backwards against the wall. He has no time to recover and this time, the critter is faster.
She robs away from the growling beast that is unleashing all of its fury on her attacker. In the back of her head she hears Jetlag tell her what is said about Zvers and suddenly she wishes for anything to defend her with. She falls to the floor, picks herself up shakily and backs out of the room. Let the critter not notice me, she prays silently to every god that is willing to listen just now but the gods do not seem to pay attention right now. As she stands only two steps away from the doorway, the critter stops and turns its head.
She freezes instantly, fear welling up inside her at the sight. The critter however perks its ears and jumps down from the bed, pads over to her and nudges her hand with its – rather reddishly tinted – muzzle. Her heart stops beating for a second but there is no sight of aggression in the critter’s eyes, just… something different. She pauses, looking down at the critter. It – no, he – wants her to calm down, she realizes. There is nothing to fear now, his eyes tell her, and if there is I’ll protect you.
Something sparks between them. She couldn’t name it but something has changed the second she looked into his eyes. She understands him. He understands her. Slowly she kneels down and brings her hand up to the shallow cut on his neck. He covers, his green eyes pleading. I just want to make it better, she tells him and his gaze calms instantly. A huff of breath hits her face as he sighs and nudges her again, leaving a bloody mark on her left cheek: It’s okay. Her hand wanders between his ears and starts rubbing. He sighs again, this time happily.

Friend.




This... is rather long now. And it's rather Shadowrun-y. Very Shadowrun-y, to be precise.
Edit: Forgot to make a word cursive. Drek.
Edit 2:Confused 'necessary' with 'possible' and didn't notice it while proof-reading. It has to be one of my intelligent days today.
A lot of edits: As I said, it's my intelligent day today. Ack.

[kitty00829]

Username: kitty00829

Zver you want: CC0007


Name: Espea

Reason you want it: I think she has a real character. A real good personality. She seems to be a lot lot lot, like me myself. Purple is also my favourite colour. Was she Made for me?

What will you do with it if you win?: I will set up a Roleplay about her. I will Defiantly write a story about her. I will put he in my adopted animals and things page. (I will put a link if you want)

Personality: Kind. She can be very fierce. Don't be fooled by the gentle mask. This female is active, playful and sometimes helpful.

Introduction/Story:

Espea opened her eyes and looked around. She had been curled up under a bush on planet earth. Standing up, she surveyed her surroundings. A large grey thing that looked a bit like her fellow Zvers padded past. The thing let out a growling noise. Espea ran as fast as she could away from it. A large brown thing with sticks on its head wandered past too. This looked a lot like prey. She dropped into a crouch and moved light and fast towards her prey. In one leap, she bit its neck and watched as it fell to the ground. Biting into the prey, she wondered why this food tasted different. She though about the hard dry food the people at the lab had given her. "Well this food tasted better!" She decided.

After finishing her meal, Espea padded towards a loud noise in the distance. She could scent weird things over there and she wanted to know what it was. She poked her nose out through the bushes and looked at the large, flat, grey floor. A tall animal with two legs sauntered past. It turned and looked at me. It was a female. The creature walked towards Espea. She looked up into its eyes. "What are you?" it seemed to say. Espea sort of understood it. She answered. "I am a Zver," A loud bang rang through the air. Espea shrunk away from the noise. Another creature came out of the bushes. It had a large shiny thing in its paws. It pointed the shiny thing towards Espea. BANG BANG BANG! Espea was quick but a shiny object hit her tail and she winced as pain shot up her spine. The other creature stood in front of Espea, blocking the other creature with the shiny object. It turned around and their eyes linked.

"Friends!"

it seemed to say.

(I decided to be different and make the story mainly from my Zver's point of veiw).

[Metallic Dragon]

@Kitty:

14. You may NOT have them as your fursona or as a mate for your fursona.

[kitty00829]

@Kitty:

14. You may NOT have them as your fursona or as a mate for your fursona.

I though I had read all the rules! (Aren't I a scatter-brain! ) Oh well. My fursona is a black wolf or a purple cat anyway. Wouldn't really fit. I have changed it. Will defiantly write a story. (Love to write stories!) Below is link to my adopted pets and other page.

http://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=546657

[Metallic Dragon]

Thank you And good luck^^

[Queen Vivane]

Look ish Haunted Fenxxi style he even has his fluffeh tail and eye sensors added XD

[Metallic Dragon]

No completed forms for CC6060.

Username: Utopia
Zver you want: #CC0211

Name: Schwarzgold
Reason you want it:
Weeell… I’ll need to elaborate for this. My ‘need’ for a Zver started originally with my dear, dear Aenor. Now wait, what is she going on about now? you might ask yourself. That is easy. Aenor is a dear character of mine that started off as a 10th century archer, suddently had a modern doppelganger that worked as a bouncer, developed into a security woman for a Scandinavian security company, has a steampunk twin sister in the making and just managed to get herself a cyberpunk self. That is all great, you’ll probably think by now, but what has this to do with Zvers? That one is easy, too. Aenor has always been in need of someone who is able to fend for her – not because she is weak but because she tends to get head over heels into things that are two to thirty sizes too big for her. And since she loves animals, I soon decided that she needed some weird guard dog that keeps her on her toes and is intelligent enough to save her neck from time to time.
What will you do with it if you win?:
He’ll be used as a companion for a character (Aenor) in a pen&paper-roleplay that is slowly developing right now. It’ll be based mainly on Shadowrun, but since the great and all-knowing Gamemaster allowed me to introduce (as he put it) “whatever floats your boat” as a companion for Aenor in order to make up for her non-existent close combat skills (as long as it isn’t too overpowered), I’ll guess a Zver would make a pretty awesome companion.

Personality:
Some would say that he is pretty lenient for a Zver. Others would say that he is a Zver and then turn and run for their lives, leaving said Zver staring bemusedly after them. A third group would probably wonder what strange dog is strolling by, while a fourth one would probably marvel at how far genetic engineering has developed now. Fortunately every group misses his actual character by a distance that could easily measured in light years.
Schwarzgold might appear to be lenient but that is a serious misconception. He is not lenient, only lazy. If given the chance to do so, he will spend most of his days in a particular cozy spot (preferably warm), moving only if he really has to. His preferred state of mind is dozing and if you find a viscous fluid somewhere on a soft surface, chances are good that you just found Zver drool on your favourite sweater. Because of this, he rarely sleeps and if he does, it doesn’t last long. That might sound great if you consider him a guard Zver, however this is another serious misconception.
Once this particular Zver has developed a liking towards someone, he gets downright clingy. His clinginess may be cute for the first two or three hours but it will get annoying by the night at the latest. Ever had a 90 lbs Zver trying to settle on a single mattress along with you while you are trying to sleep? (That is, after he scratched and headbutted at the door, whining and whimpering because you didn’t let him come in with you.) No? Lucky you. It only gets worse when there is another person in the room, because then he feels that he has to protect ‘his’ human and that includes pushing ‘his’ human off the mattress in order to serve as a living shield. Great fun, especially at two o’clock in the morning.
Schwarzgold is far too lazy to openly hate someone as long as the certain someone treats him with the respect he wants to be treated with. In that case he mostly ignores humans (or whatever species this particular someone is belonging to) and continues to doze. Do not let his nonchalant behaviour fool you – as soon as he feels that it is necessary, he will go from ‘droooool’ to ‘ready to rip your throat out’ in – by rule of thumb – one and a half second. And he certainly feels that this is needed as soon as you invade his private space or behave aggressively towards him (or his human), his human tells him to, someone makes a loud noise or starts to play the recorder. He hates that sound, for whatever reason.
Being the lazy sleepy head that he is, he has nevertheless a pretty athletic appearance. A miracle? No, just sudden bursts of energy. Up to four times a day (and night), Schwarzgold will suddenly jump to his feet and go full ‘OMG LETS PLAY RITE NAO’-mode, in which his human is better off stopping whatever he is doing at the moment and obey. Or else. It’s also better to change the playtime-sessions to outdoors because he frankly doesn’t care whether that vase belonged to your beloved grandmother if it stands in his way. If handled correctly, these energy bursts can be used to train him, something that is otherwise only possible with heavy bribery in form of ear scratches or certain dog treats. He likes cheese, too…


Introduction/Story:

Viewer discretion is advised.

Why, why exactly had we brought her with us? Just – why? Why?! We scarcely knew her – she was just another runner that our Mr. Johnson had pressed into our little team, because our Mr. Johnson had decided that we needed a bit technical enhancement. Technical enhancement, by Odin’s eye! If we wanted technical enhancement (which we didn’t) we just would have, you know, hired it. Technical enhancement. The norns were probably having a good laugh right now. Either that, or Loki was watching me with a very smug grin that stretched from one ear to the other.
“Serves us right”, I growl at nobody particular, “That’s what we get for bringing a bloody hacker with us.” Said hacker had proved to not be able to get along with any of us, which consequentially had gotten her into a fight with me. Dearest Salome had lost the fight, wasn’t able to stomach that and thus she had stormed off into the night. And that was the point where I came in. You see, I am not your ordinary Street Samurai, I am far more than that. I’d call myself a Weapon Specialist, but that is beside the point here. The point is: If there is scouting involved, I am the one who gets the job. And while I am not exactly scouting right now, I am certainly the only one who is able to track. (On top of that, I obviously need to “clean up after my own mess”, as Ragnar put it.)
So here I am, stuck somewhere between Hamburg and the border to Denmark, looking for a damned hacker in the midst of nowhere. We just should have let her run to her doom, at least in my opinion. If someone is stupid enough to venture into the awakened wilds alone, let him die! It’s as easy as that. I don’t care whether she gets ripped apart by critters, infected with MMVV or shot by someone that mistakes her for something dangerous. But since Ragnar decided that we needed her… he had that certain glint in his eye which normally means he knows something that I do not. Excuse me, Mr. Leader, I believe I am the guy that collects information.
She could at least try to be a little more discreet. Even though it is pitchblack here in the forest, I can spot her tracks from meters away. One more time, I am more than grateful for my Zeiss cybereyes and their low-light amplifier. I bet she ran into a tree by now, while I have been able to avoid every branch in my way. Speaking of branches, I notice a severe lack thereof in front of me and while I am at it, I also notice something moving in front of me. I switch to termal imaging aaaand – gotcha. A normal human, female, relatively small. Looks like Salome. Switching back to the low-light amplifier and then to night vision, I slowly creep up to the figure in order to get a better look. It really is Salome and she looks a bit lost right now, standing in the middle of a small clearing and staring in front of her.
I feel the corners of my mouth twitching. That’s what you get, dear girl. As soon as I have managed to twist my face into its normal emotionless expression, I step forward again, only to freeze a heartbeat later. Something is moving in the shadows behind Salome. Whatever it is, it is fast and I would take any bet that it is aiming for the damn oblivious hacker standing in the middle of the clearing. Hel curse you, Ragnar, I think and while I am still thinking this, my body reacts on its own.
Damn good reflex boosters that I have. Anyway, I charge, manage not to bodycheck Salome by hair’s breadth and slam into something made of fur and muscles. And claws. Ow. I topple over and the critter topples over too, I get back up but before I can get my weapons ready, the critter attacks me again. It is standing over me now, another hair’s breadth far from mauling me. Scratch that, my friend. Only in time I manage to grab the critter’s head, knee him in the belly and as he yelps in pain, I flip us both over. My hands are still wrapped tightly around the head and I lift it slightly up in order to slam it back down. Fleabag!

Pain. Painpainpainpain! Head hurts. Head is being crushed. Painpainpain! Belly hurts. Back pressed into the ground. Something big looming above. Vulnerable. Hurts. Not good. Not good. Do not like! Trying to break free. Claws slashing, teeth bared. Head is being lifted up. Panic. Trying to break free. Growl. Let go! Let go, let go, let go! Something crashes into the big thing. Suddenly. Big thing is being overturned. Head falls back. Pressure is gone. Mad. Really, really mad. Growl. Killkillkill!

That little -! I do no longer care whether Ragnar wants her back or not, I’m going to kill her right now. She overestimated herself a little when she attacked me. I saved her! Why in Loki’s name did she even attack me?! Tech freak! I get up slowly, tugging at the throwing knives in my belt. She makes a perfect target, kneeling there and staring at me scornfully. Just don’t move now, honey. “You’re completely insane now?” she hisses: “It never attacked me, it just…” At this point, I am remembered rudely why it is better to finish off an enemy before turning to the next: The critter has recovered. And obviously enough, it does not like me any longer.
The next second I find myself on my back, the critter once again looming over me, ready to rip me to shreds. It is growling and as I stare at the quite prominent teeth, a part of me curses my stupid self for not having a weapon ready. Again, I try to grab its head, but the critter evades me. Fear whispers in the back of my head. This will be not a good death. Hel will claim me - Hel! I don’t want to – it is all her fault! Rage fills me, hot and white but this time it is directed at its original target. Salome.
A stinging pain from my chest brings my attention abruptly back to where it belongs – my enemy. “Ye Gods!” I hear myself curse, my fingers closing around a well muscled leg. Those claws might not get through my dermal armour, but they sure as Hel hurt. However before I can push the leg away, the critter turns its head in no time and bites down on my wrist, tugging and pulling hard. How strong is this thing? I can nearly feel my dermal armour giving in under the sheer force, the teeth piercing through the protective shell. I can’t keep my grip any longer, pain shooting up my arm. My fingers slip from the leg and I can feel blood trickling down my hand.

Triumph. Smell: fear. Big thing: fear. Good. Like. Like. Triumph.

The critter throws his head back and shrieks. Involuntarily I shrink back, quivering slightly. What an ear-splitting sound! Luckily enough, it is interrupted in the middle of the shriek – something slams into it (thanks to Zeiss I am pretty sure that the something is again a certain hacker that I’d very munch like to skin alive right now). They both roll out of sight, a single pile of arms, legs and a long tail, yelping and growling. I force myself to kneel. My left hand is nearly unusable, the fingers won’t contract as I want them to. Pain stretches up to my left shoulder and I fumble my gun awkwardly out of its holster with my right hand. Let’s hope this thing isn’t poisonous. I’ll revive her, I silently swear to myself, if the critter poisoned me, I’ll revive Salome and kill her again.
The gun is unlocked and loaded. With only half an ear I have noticed a slight change in the constant growling somewhere left of me but no warning in the whole wide world could have prepared me for what I see. Salome is on all fours, kneeling over the critter, one hand firmly closed around its throat. She is growling, her face twisted in a – I’ll admit that – rather frightening grimace. The critter doesn’t move a muscle. Its neck is stretched at an unnatural angle and I am pretty sure that it should hurt the critter to lie that way but it doesn’t protest. And then suddenly, the critter whimpers.
Salome carefully releases her grasp, slowly gets back on her feet and backs away until she is standing next to me. My gun is pointing uselessly at the ground. I simply don’t know what to do anymore. She is a hacker, not a bloody shaman. Why was she – how was she able to…? She shouldn’t even know anything of something that does not involve surfing the Maxtrix. She is a tech freak, after all! Who in Hel’s name likes to move around in Loki’s prison? I never understood that. This world is doomed and it is in our hands to bring it to a quick and merciful death, however people like her try to uphold the status quo. I’ll never understand it. She touches my arm and I nearly equip her with a third eye. If I come to think about it, the thought’s not that bad… “Let’s go”, she says quietly.
As we walk away in silence, I continue to hold the gun unloaded in my hand. Maybe, just maybe… As I glance over my shoulder one last time, I notice that the critter is still lying there in the clearing and I have the distinct feeling that it is watching us go.

Leader…?

Damn my loyalty towards Ragnar. Damn my loyalty towards the team. Damn my reputation that doesn’t uphold itself alone. Damn my indecisiveness in that moment. Damn the fact that I am not a berserk adept. Damn the fact that we do not have a berserk adept. Damn my brain that just wouldn’t let me do as I wanted and solve the problem all by myself. As if anyone would have missed her if she didn’t come back. (Well, Ragnar might have. And he wouldn’t have liked it, so in retrospect it just might have been better to let her live.) Damn her! After all, it is her fault.
We are planning the run now. Salome is unconcentrated, she keeps logging in and off the Matrix in order to snoop around the node of our target and simultaneously pick up what we are talking about. She is doing this by implant, I guess, as I can’t see a Commlink on her and it makes me want to find that implant and rip it out. Personally. Judging from the looks that the others are giving her as soon as she is gone, I am not the only one who thinks that way. However, Ragnar won’t have that – he made that pretty clear. He is the jarl, he is in command but sometimes I find my fingers itching for the feel of any of my weapons to end this disaster.

Smell. Leader’s smell. Track. Follow.

Four days of planning and we are ready to go. Four days of being locked up together in a small cabin in the midst of the woods. Four days of rising tension, increasingly snippy remarks and not being able to kill that hacker. Hel herself couldn’t have thought of a better way of torturing me. However – and this rises my spirits greatly – we are now ready to return to Hamburg, finish that run and then finish off Salome. Ragnar won’t mind it as soon as she has served her purpose.
We are currently standing around the five motorcycles and the car that brought us here (want to take a guess who is riding the motorcycles and who owns the car?) while Ragnar is giving us one last ‘Remember guys, it’s all or nothing now’-speech. “...did I make myself clear?” He is giving us a stern look and we nod and say “Ja, jarl”. Only Salome remains silent. She doesn’t even seem to notice the weird looks she is receiving for that, instead she stares at a point somewhere behind Ragnar’s back. He refrains from scolding her but frowns and follows her gaze. We do, too and I can feel myself freezing at the sight. The critter is standing maybe twenty meters away, nearly hidden by the trees and their shadows. It is watching us intently from its strange, green eyes.
“What is that?” – “It’s not awakened.” – “You sure?” – “I am! Stop questioning me already…” – “Well, sorry!” – “Silence! The both of you!” Ah. I guess Ragnar too didn’t like our goða and one of the two Samurai arguing. He is eying the critter suspiciously, one hand on the stem of his battle axe. Something next to him moves but I don’t care, I am as fixed on the critter as the others are. That is, I am until Salome steps forward. The critter mimics her. She stops a few meters away from us and it stops too. As soon as she moves again, it moves too. They meet halfway. I can hear Ingolfr, the goða, whisper something along the lines of “What is she doing?” but I don’t care. I am occupied keeping my fingers crossed for a sudden attack on Salome.
Slowly, deliberately, the critter buckles, drops on its knees and rolls itself on its back. Its throat is exposed, just as his belly is and again, it whimpers quietly. There are metaphorical clouds of steam coming from Salome’s ears, even with her back turned to us we can see her brain working in her skull. And then, just as slowly and deliberately, she drops to her knees and reaches out for the critter. I can hear metal clicking together and the muzzle of a gun appears in my field of vision. Someone is ready to shoot but I don’t care. What is she doing? What is she thinking?
Again her fingers close around the critter's throat. I can see the critter’s ears twitching, but it remains still and waits for her to let go and get up again. It still mimics her, raising in exactly the same slow fashion that she was getting up in. The gun quivers slightly. As Salome turns to us and begins walking towards us, the critter follows hard on her heels. Ragnar quietly clears his throat, pointedly looking at the critter. She shrugs: “I have no idea what he is, either.” – “Looks like an escaped experiment to me”, Ingolfr says, “Probably something the corps threw together.” I guess he meant that as a warning, but Salome’s face changes from slightly bewildered to determined. “I’m going to take him with me, then.” She walks straight over to her car, opens the boot lid and gestures towards the critter.
The critter looks bemused at best. “Have fun then”, Ragnar grins at the frustrated look she gives the critter, puts on his helmet and mounts his motorcycle: “Just leave the critter out of the run.” His voice sounds a bit hollow and she looks up and nods – and then turns back to the critter, pointing at the car again. The critter tilts his head. As we are driving away, I am pretty sure to hear the other chuckle behind their helmets.

Strange place. Smells like old place but not so strong. Other smells, too. Old place not good. Old place bad. Leader gone. Leader gone long now. New place like cave. Can not get out. Lots of things to explore. Smells a bit of leader. Strange place. Not sure whether wanting out or stay. Where leader? Leader not here. Why leader gone? Faint steps from outside. Steps getting louder. Steps known. Leader’s steps. Excited. Running up to the entrance. Leader back! Scratching sounds, then entrance opens. Leader!

“And then…?” – “It jumped straight at me and we both fell down the stairs.” – “Ow…” Ingolfr makes a sympathetic face, but Salome shrugs it off. “Wasn’t the first time in my life. No harm done. Well, anyway, I shooed it back up in my flat and was greeted by utter destruction. I have no idea what happened and why nobody noticed anything, but it broke a glass table, two chairs, my trideo – that was old and nearly falling apart so it doesn’t really matter – and a vase. Oh, and it drooled all over my bed. And my laundry, too. It also raided my fringe, so the first thing I did was locking it up in the bathroom and then I went to get groceries. I’ll need a new bathroom door now.”
Ingolfr and Ragnar are laughing by now, while Ubba and Kappi – the two Street Samurai – do their best to smile (it doesn’t really work though). I am sitting quietly on my chair and grin like a madman. I’ll get rid of that tech freak by tonight. “So, do you know what it is by now?” Ingolfr again. I swear, that guy forgets everything about initiating Ragnaroek as soon as he sees anything remotely female. “I’m not sure.” Salome bites her lip, releases it again and shakes her head slightly. “I've got a few responses on Shadowland but they’re all pretty vague. I didn’t have the time to… oh. Evening, Mr. Johnson.” She smiles up at the slim elf in the expensive-looking suit. The elf nods curtly and sits down. He addresses Ragnar, telling him how content he is with our work and that therefore there is a bonus added to our fee now. 50.000 per person, which means doubling our fee. Who are we to protest? We receive our credsticks, the elf nods again, gets up and walks away as unseen as he came. Not that we would care – 50.000 per person? This means party.
Four hours later we are all rather tipsy with the exception of Salome. She wants to meet someone in Shadowland later and because of this she needs to be as fit as possible. Time for my plan to begin. “You sure that you want to log in with that critter in your flat?”, I ask her, purposefully adding a stronger slur to my voice. She needs to think I am drunk enough to not pose a threat to her anymore. Salome makes a face, which encourages me only further. “I’ll protect you”, I declare with utter conviction. She makes a face again but Ragnar steps in: “As long as that critter’s with you, you won’t log in alone, got me? We still need you.” Oh great. Ah well, I’ll just say that that critter got out of control.

Leader back! Leader! Leader back! Why leader leave so often? Why? … Oh. Leader got company. Company is – big thing! Do not like! Big thing bad! Growl. Go away, big thing!

“Hey, stop that!” Salome pushes the critter aside with her foot. It stops growling at me and turns to look at her confusedly. “Go away. Come on!” She nudges the critter again with her foot and it whines. Nevertheless, it obeys and steps aside in order to let me in. “I’ll lock it in again. The bathroom door is already ruined, that won’t hurt anybody.” She shuffles off with the critter on her heels, although it stops to give me a suspicious look before they vanish out of sight. I hear a door opening, Salome says something, the door closes and then the whining starts. Something scratches on wood. Salome comes back and gestures to another door: “The living room’s behind that one. I don’t have a trideo anymore, so you’ll have to find something else to do.” – “Don’t worry”, I tell her and the grin starts to spread over my features again as she shrugs and turns around to vanish through a second door. Her bedroom, I suppose. She is going to log in now.
I wait for half an hour before I set my plan into action. She should be far gone now but prudence is the better part of valour – I pull my gun out of its holster, change my mind halfway and go for my knife instead. The cool handle firm in my right hand I silently walk out of the living room and over to the second door. Something has changed but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s probably just that she logged in. I carefully open the door and there she is, lying flat out on her bed. I feel a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Finally! She is mine now, mine alone – the things I could do – but I won’t. This will be over as quickly as possible.

The persona icon is drumming her fingers impatiently on the wooden desk in front of her. She has the form of a female lay figure with a flat surface where the face should be, but it is clearly noticeable that she is downright annoyed. “He is ten minutes late now.” Her gaze is fixed pointedly at the table. “If he doesn’t show up within the next five minutes, I’m gone.”
Exactly four minutes and twenty-five seconds later, another persona icon – this time in the form of a bread with sunglasses and a black moustache – pops up out of the blue behind the desk. The lay figure ignores him but speaks up, her gaze still fixed on the desk. “You know, punctuality is a virtue.” – “It was you who were desperate to meet me.” The bread is obviously unfazed by the harsh welcome and while the lay figure is a few seconds short from exploding, the bread continues calmly. “I had to check a few times – do you know that these pictures you sent me have a horrible quality? – but I am sure now.” The bread pauses for effect and a tiny, baked hand appears next to it and adjusts the sunglasses. “It paid off however. I am pretty sure that what you have there is a Zver.” The lay figure pauses for a moment. The term is new to her and she has been quite a lot on Shadowland lately.
“A what?” – “A Zver. I found some rumours on Shadowland about them. They’re supposed to be an Alien race from some UFO crash site.” – “You’re kidding me!” – “I’m not.” – “O…kay…” It is astonishing how incredulous one can look without a face. The bread adjusts its sunglasses again but ignores the lay figure otherwise and continues. “Yeah, well. Believe it or not. Anyway, the reason you find those on Shadowland is that someone is looking for them. The usual stuff, dangerous, beware, run for your lives, immediately report, do not come near, blah, blah, blah.” – “Any experitential reports?” – “Nope.”
The lay figure seems even more incredulous than before: “Is there a bounty?” – “Uhm… no.” – “That explains it, then.” She sighs quietly and leans back in her chair. The bread adjusts its sunglasses again and for a moment, neither one of them speaks. The silence is broken however as the lay figure suddenly sits up, seemingly listening very hard. She lifts a finger to where her lips should be and the bread pauses. Another moment of silence follows but it is ended as the lay figure jumps to her feet and lets out a cry of rage.
A shimmering nebula appears out of thin air and engulfs the persona icons. “Someone’s tracking us! Log off!” Before the sentence is finished, the bread takes off its sunglasses, salutes and disappears without a word. “Go get’im!” The lay figure gesticulates at the nebula but instead of fading – as the sprite should normally do when it changes the node – the nebula just disappears. “Drek!” Another set of gestures follows: The lay figure initiates her log off-sentence but she knows that she will be too late. Whoever is tracking her will find her before she is able to complete the set of gestures.

No… it’s no fun when she is flat out. I want her to realize that she is going to die. I spent five minutes looking for something to bring her back, until I decided to use brute force. A few hard slaps on the cheek and Salome is all here again. Her arms are flapping wildly, but I manage to pin her down in no time. There is confusion written all over her face, she pants. Is that fear I see? It takes only a second and she regains her composure. I can literally see her temper rise. “What are you doing, drekhead?”, she snarls, trying to break free: “Thanks for getting me out but whatever you’re planning to do, forget it!” She stops dead at this point. Probably she just noticed the knife I am holding in my right hand. Triumph swoops through me. I’ve got her now.

Wall broken. Wall of wood no use. Claws stronger. Teeth stronger. Stronger. Leader – where? Smell. Leader’s smell – fear. Fear? Not good! Unsure. Creep towards leader. Slow. Wall to leader’s cave open. Look through open wall. Big thing! Big thing above of leader. Leader: fear. Not good. Not good. Big thing bad! Not like big thing. Hate big thing. Kill big thing? Leader makes noise. Noise says: Pain. Big thing hurting leader! Do not like. Do not like. Leader turns head. Leader sees me. Leader’s eyes widen. Leader wants me to go away. Leader wants me no pain. Big thing bad. Big thing really bad. Big thing wants leader dead. Leader dead? No! Leader live!

‘Go away!’ she tries to tell the critter. Eirik is kneeling above her, a knife at her throat. She should have seen it coming. She let her guard down, it is her fault that Eirik got the opportunity in the first place. ‘He’ll hurt you.’ The critter is standing in her doorway, staring at her from these big, green eyes. And suddenly, the critter bares its teeth, gives a furious scream and rushes forward. Her eyes widen even more as Eirik whips around and raises the knife. “No!”, she hears herself scream, jerking upward. Eirik – only slightly destabilized – brings the knife down just as the critter hits him in the chest with its front paws. He manages to hit the critter, but the force of the blow to the chest sends him flying backwards against the wall. He has no time to recover and this time, the critter is faster.
She robs away from the growling beast that is unleashing all of its fury on her attacker. In the back of her head she hears Jetlag tell her what is said about Zvers and suddenly she wishes for anything to defend her with. She falls to the floor, picks herself up shakily and backs out of the room. Let the critter not notice me, she prays silently to every god that is willing to listen just now but the gods do not seem to pay attention right now. As she stands only two steps away from the doorway, the critter stops and turns its head.
She freezes instantly, fear welling up inside her at the sight. The critter however perks its ears and jumps down from the bed, pads over to her and nudges her hand with its – rather reddishly tinted – muzzle. Her heart stops beating for a second but there is no sight of aggression in the critter’s eyes, just… something different. She pauses, looking down at the critter. It – no, he – wants her to calm down, she realizes. There is nothing to fear now, his eyes tell her, and if there is I’ll protect you.
Something sparks between them. She couldn’t name it but something has changed the second she looked into his eyes. She understands him. He understands her. Slowly she kneels down and brings her hand up to the shallow cut on his neck. He covers, his green eyes pleading. I just want to make it better, she tells him and his gaze calms instantly. A huff of breath hits her face as he sighs and nudges her again, leaving a bloody mark on her left cheek: It’s okay. Her hand wanders between his ears and starts rubbing. He sighs again, this time happily.

Friend.




This... is rather long now. And it's rather Shadowrun-y. Very Shadowrun-y, to be precise.
Edit: Forgot to make a word cursive. Drek.
Edit 2:Confused 'necessary' with 'possible' and didn't notice it while proof-reading. It has to be one of my intelligent days today.
A lot of edits: As I said, it's my intelligent day today. Ack.

I seriously loved this form. The personality, the story, I just loved it! Congratulations!

[Metallic Dragon]

Oh, and just saying, to those who have applied for the final zver, get your forms done!