Serious Moonlight (M)

[Lion]

"Ghost!  You can't kill them all!" Veles cried out once he was free of the ropes.  "Let's go!'

"Don't let them get away!  Get the nets!" Darian cried and the few men that were brave enough to get close enough swung the net over the massive bear, preparing to capture it on the other side.

Veles was about to run, but when he saw a hunter nearest him, he rammed into him hard, the animal instinct to survive burning hot and deep.

[DragonSong]

Hearing his voice, Ghost gave another roar and turned, lashing out at the nearest hunter as she did and sending him flying back with a swipe of her paw.

Then she was a bird, a white raven, and she flew a quick circle around Veles' head before banking for the trees, trying to get him to follow her away away away.

[Lion]

But Veles wouldn't have that chance.  When the net came flying over her, and in her transformation, she avoided it, it slung over him instead and the remaining hunter held him down, ensnaring him, and dragging him to the ground.

There they dragged him, and pulled him along and were dragging him down the river's edge, away from the firing arrows.

Only then did Rook come out of the shadows, cursing heavily and trying to give chase.

[DragonSong]

Ghost gave a cry as she narrowly avoided the net, swooping back in an arch toward Veles and the hunter. She cursed at the human in a raven's wonderfully foul vocabulary, flying straight for his face in a blinding whirl of white feathers and razor sharp beak.

She scratched at his eyes, trying to incapacitate him enough for Veles to escape. She was so intent on her task she didn't even notice Rook emerge from the trees.

[Lion]

As soon as the other man fell, screaming at the flurry of talons in his face, another went back for the bundle that held Veles, dragging him along again.

Rook saw the bird and the man still trying to fight him off and he rushed across the shallow end in the river.  "Fly off!  Get out of here!" he howled, taking his dagger from his side and jamming it between the hunter's ribs.

[DragonSong]

With a sharp caw Ghost banked left and dropped to the ground, taking her human form as Rook stabbed the hunter.

"Veles!" she panted out. "I- I won't leave him!"

[Lion]

Rook threw the body from his blade and he whirled on Ghost.  "I'll go after them, but you need to get away or they'll catch you too!" he hissed.

[DragonSong]

She hesitated a moment, then with a pained cry she took to the air again, this time a snowy owl. She intended to follow Veles and his captor from the air- there was no way she was just leaving him.

[Lion]

Veles changed several times as he was dragged, turning into the wolf and trying desperately to bite and tear at the netting around him.  He growled and barked and bit at the fabric and doing little to destroy it.

The hunters were getting further and further away, and Darian turned around saw the bird giving chase.  He had no doubts it was one of the escapees, and he drew his bow up and fired it.

[DragonSong]

Ghost got lucky. If she hadn't banked as quickly as she did, the arrow would have pierced her heart- the man was a good shot.

As it was, she twisted and changed forms in the air in her effort to avoid the shot, but didn't quite manage it. With a cry the girl dropped like a stone, rolling a bit before she managed to scramble to her feet, one hand pressed over the shaft of the arrow protruding from her shoulder.

She hissed at the hunter, anger and fear dulling the pain somewhat. "I am so sick of you people doing that."

[Lion]

A hand snatched at the arrow behind her and snapped it in two.  With the arrow broken, Rook was able to remove the head from her shoulder, and lodged the rest of it out the opposite way.

"Ghost!  STOP!  We'll never catch him like this!" Rook hissed to her.

[DragonSong]

She wailed quietly as the arrow was pulled from her shoulder and looked to Rook hazily. "We have to help him," she murmured, almost weaving on her feet now. "We have to..."

[Lion]

"Ghost!  Ghost!  What's wrong?" Rook said, and he took her by the arm in an attempt to support her.

[DragonSong]

The shifter didn't collapse, but she leaned on him heavily for support. "Losing...blood," she muttered. "I changed so many times...opened the wound up again, and this..." She gestured weakly to the wound the arrow had left in her shoulder and her eyes fluttered.

"Just leave me. I'll hide somewhere. You- you have to find Veles," she begged, suddenly clutching at the front of Rook's shirt.

[Lion]

And with that Rook's hand came flying across her face. "Stop it right now!  You're fucking bleeding and you think I'm just going to leave you behind!?  ENOUGH! I'm taking care of you now! You'll die if I don't, and don't fucking say another word or I'll knock your lights out!"

[DragonSong]

Ghost reeled, stunned, and staggered back a few steps. She didn't say anything, just stared at him with wide eyes.

Then, very slowly, she nodded.

[Lion]

Rook helped her walk along as they walked back into the trees. He knew the risk of them being out here alone, and that Veles was getting further and further away.

"Just keep breathing okay, easy now," Rook hissed and he settled her when they were hidden away in brush

[DragonSong]

She nodded again, practically collapsing once they'd stopped. "Are- you hurt?" she managed to grunt out a little breathlessly, eyes clenched shut against waves of pain that were making themselves known now that she was stationary.

[Lion]

"No, I don't think so. But I'm here to help you first. I'll help you get better, I promise," Rook breathed until they found a safe spot to rest.

They were surrounded head-high with bushes and large trees. Although the ground was cold, he set her down gently on a small rolled patch of grass.  "Let me see your wounds. I'll be gentle."

[DragonSong]

Ghost whimpered quietly and removed her hand from the wound in her shoulder, twisting slightly so he could also see the one in her side. The motion made her cry out in pain and she clapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle the sound.