Let Sleeping Shapeshifters Lie. (P)

[Anonymous]

To put it bluntly, the two figures fell from the sky.

The darkness around them was lit up for a moment as reality opened up and dropped them in it, and the calm quiet of the night was broken as they harshly met the grass, rustling around to bring themselves to their feet.  The boy stood first, always being the first to bounce back to his feet, and brushed himself off.  The sudden change of scenery caught him off guard, and the drop had shaken him, which heped him snap out of his previous daze.

"Damn, Shadow, you really should work on that landing,"  He took a step to the side, noticing he was about to step into the remnants of a fire slowly dying out, probably due to the late hour, "For one, you dropped me.  For two, you nearly dropped me in embers!  Are you trying to kill me or something?"

By now, Shadow had stood up too, readjusting her backpack and making sure nothing fell out.  She wasn't in a warm and joking mood after what had just happened, and chose to disregard his statements.  The potion was made in haste, she wasn't focused on a perfect landing.  She just wanted to get back, find that girl, and end this foolishness.  But something was wrong.

"It wasn't this dark out when we first came here,"  the girl bit her lip, taking a few steps away from where they landed near the embers, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark, "I did something wrong.."  She spoke barely above a whisper.

"Yeah ya did," The boy said with a laugh, drawing Shadow's attention to a form huddled on the ground a few feet from the fire; it was the girl they were looking for.  She didn't look the same way as they left her, by now messier, and with a blanket she hadn't had moments before when they left her.  "It looks like she's been here a while.  More than just to nap."

[Anonymous]

The silence of the night was cut forth by a shriek.

       "Jack! EWWWWWWW! Do you have to do that right in front of me?"  Takiel had never been fond of Jack's vampiric eating habits, and always felt bad for the poor animal, in this case, a deer. Jack looked away from his now dying meal, wiping his mouth and regarding his angelic companion with a smile.

        "Aye. Do ye always have to be such a wuss? Now put the poor bastard out of his misery so we kin get back to the camp and feed you and the lass." Jack took a few steps away as Taki drew his sword, and looked around, contemplating the situation. Here they were, in some god-forsaken plainlands, possibly lost, and worst of all, broke. They hadn't had a paying job in close to a month, and on top of all of it, they were carrying baggage. A young girl who called herself Bane. Taki liked her well enough, Jack was beginning to think she was just what her name implied. It was nice of Taki to convince Jack to help the ill-tempered and inexperienced girl (for free, none the less), and in the past two months, Jack had even grown accustomed to her presence, but they needed to figure out something to get money for a good room and a bath. If they ever found their way out of the plains. His musings were interrupted by a sound coming from the direction of their camp; it sounded like strange voices.

       "Jack?" Taki inquired, seeing the look on his friend's face. "What's wrong?"

       "Back to camp!" Jack commanded as he prepared to run. "Someone's there, and I don't hear the lass!" He bolted for the camp, and Taki followed, leaving the deer carcass where it lay.

        They blurred into their camp, swords drawn, to find two figures standing, staring at their charge. Jack glared at the figures as he put himself inbetween the figures and Bane, Taki standing slightly off to the side putting on his "angry face" (which was about as intimidating as a fluffy white bunny). After putting himself in place, Jack spoke with a wry smile that seemed quite contrary to his demeanor.

       "Sneaking up on a young lass in 'er sleep, eh? Rather unseemly. Ye got a minute to explain before you find out how good I am with this here saber."

[Anonymous]

The current cause of all of thise commotion was tucked away inside her blankets, sleeping like the dead. Bane had never been able to awaken quickly, and her body struggled towards wakefullness. First the shouts, then the distintive drawing of steel. Whoever the hell was making so much blasted noise would get it. She wasn't known for being extremely pleasent in the morning.

Bane knew the meaning of being broke. When she was at the lab they got paid less than minimum wage, a sort of "Thank you for being here while we perform unethical expirements on your body." Betting, the good food at the cafeteria, clothes that weren't the standard uniform, and good shipped in from the ouside all cost money. Bane knew the meaning of standing in line, staring at the savory hot dogs and salads, while processed slop was put on her plate. The stuff wasn't filling, tasted like hell, and left her hungry for the rest of the day. Yet being broke in the midieval world was something completely different. It meant there was no food, they were stuck wandering around and trying to live. She tried to help, and was slowly becoming more adept at the chores and duties of this world. Yet coming from the society she had, Taki and Jack were often helping her more than she did them.

Finally fully awakening, Bane reached out and grabbed her glasses. Placing the now battered frames upon her face, the world sprung into perfect focus. Sitting up, she turned around to be welcomed by the strangest scene. Jack and Taki, standing and pointing their sword at.... Bane blinked, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Fuckface (AKA Billy), and the Girl (AKA Shadow). Emotions warred for each other, in a breif battle. Hope and joy. They had come back for her. Yet then the other memories hit. nearly dying from not knowing how to live here (without Jack and Taki she would be dead), and Billy convincing the girl to leave. To leave her ass alone, after she trusted him. It swept away everything else, and the girl lithely sprang to her feet, reaching for her matched pair of swords next to her.

One was drawn and leveled, right along with Jack and Taki. The hot rage filled her pale grey eyes, as she hissed,

"What the hell gives you the nerve to show up here, Fuckface?"

[Anonymous]

Two more people came, jumping between the boy and the sleeping girl.  They had swords.  The boy grinned, shaking his brown mop of bangs out of his eyes.  This could turn out fun.  Except for the fact they seemed to want to kill him.  That definitely made it fun.

"Hey, hey, hey.  I didn't ask for her to be sleeping.  Hell, I didn't ask for it to be night time.  Blame Shadow, she's the one who messed up."  the boy laughed, completely not acknowleging the fact that the swords were more closely pointed at him.  He shifted his weight as he tilted in her direction, and took a few more side steps out of boredom, intentionally ignoring the present threats.  No one would harm him anyway.

Shadow rolled her eyes.  That was Billy, always throwing her under the bus.  Yet, he always managed to talk them out of whatever situation they were in, so she didn't complain.  Atleast he wasn't being so weird, anymore.

"Chill, we were just looking for our friend, that's all.  No need to get all sharp and pointy on us."  by now, Shadow realized she'd done the potion wrong, and didn't come back at the right time. She wondered how much time had elapsed, but couldn't really ask him.  He wouldn't know when they dropped her there.  He probably wouldn't even know what she meant if she used the term "dropping her there."  Time jumping could be so tricky some days..

And then she woke up.

"Oh, heyyyyyy Bane, we were just looking for ya..."  the boy sheepisly grinned and forced a laugh, taking a few quick steps back.  His casual cool suddenly disolved from her glare, and he actually looked a little nervous.  Bane was not one to be so light with... So much for no one would hurt him.

[Anonymous]

Jack looked at the boy, then at Bane, then back at the boy, sheathing his sword and grinning.

       "Just gettin' yer friend, eh? I ken see that now, what with 'er bein' soooooooo delighted to see ye. Go ahead, lass. I ken see this is yer business." He sat down next to the fire, waiting the next move.  Unfortunately, it was made by Taki, who was suddenly in front of Bane's blade.

       "Bane, there's no reason to fight. Maybe we could talk about all of this? I know you're angry, but really, it's not nice to hurt people." Jack sighed exasperatedly as the reason they hadn't had work in so long became all too apparent. Taki ignored it and continued, at first having a look of sincerity that was quickly replaced by a look of confusion. He scratched his head with the hilt of his sword for a second before finally speaking. "... What's a fuckface?"

[Anonymous]

Bane had forgotten how naive poor Taki was. Some days she wanted to cry, some days she wanted to laugh. Today's comment was one that broke through a film of the rage clouding her mind. He was somewhat right. Hacking Billy to pieces wasn't going to solve her problems in the end. Shoving the sword in her sheath with a loud click, she tossed it on her blankets. It was still hard to think through the anger that filled her being, and the hurt that had resulted in being abandoned. As a result, no clear explanation to the word Fuckface came. She took a deep breath, counted to ten, and thought of the best thing possible to explain her words.

"Um... it's a insult. A really big insult against someone. Don't say it, ok?"

It was almost like talking to a kid. Don't say this honey, it's a bad bad word. Making something up would have been worse, then the poor guy might have used it in common company who knew the insult. Now wouldn't that ruin business, if Taki's pacafism hadn't already. She then turned from Taki to Billy, taking up that thread of conversation. She spat the words out, another way for him to know she was pissed.

"As for you, Mr. Concerned Citizen, you could have come looking a month ago. Or hell, maybe even a month and a couple weeks ago, if it wasn't too much trouble."

She envisioned herself punching Billy in the face, her hand made of steel smashing his jaw into a million pieces in fair trade for the shit he put her through. The vision was in pristine condition, even detial etched out to the drops of blood and teeth shards coming from his mouth. The only problem was that her right hand responded to this vision, the nanomachines kicking in. Within five seconds her flesh-and-bone hand was gone, replaced by a steel replica that went up to her elbow, muscles in her upper arms enlarging to support and drive the extra weight. Letting it be, Bane couldn't handle looking at Billy anymore, disgusted.

The girl was standing there. Bane's memory was searched, and the answer came within seconds. Shadow. Billy's friend, the one who broke them out of the lab. Bane stared at her for a couple seconds, trying to decide if she was to blame as well. The conclusion was that Shadow was innocent. She didn't teleport, Billy asked her to. She was the reason Bane wasn't back in that lab. So she moved a little closer, and extended a hand to Shadow. Being right handed, it was the metal hand. Bane realized her nanomachines had responded to the vision, and slightly dismay and embarrasment filled her eyes. Determined not to be put off, she calmly said,

"I wanted to thank you for breaking me out of the lab."

[Anonymous]

Billy raised an eyebrow at the peaceful one, but kept his smirk to himself.  He noticed Bane's fist suddenly turn to steel, and remembered why he hid his playful side when she was pissed.  Shapeshifters were not one to mess with, and he knew what happened to her and what she was capable of.  He didn't even want to be here right now, let alone deal with her pissiness.

"I already said, I didn't mean to come here.  It's Shadow's fault.  Yell at her!!!"  He let out another nervous laugh, and actually sounded almost as childlike as Taki, with his whining and guilt tossing.  He then took a few almost hopping steps to stand behind her, as if to playfully hide, although he really wasn't afrad of Bane, steel fist or not.  Even when he wanted to avoid conflict with her, he couldn't completley give up some play.

Shadow just looked at the girl, trying to read who she was.  She still hadn't a clue what went on between Billy and her, or why the hell her fist had just turned to metal.  Something rose up in her a little though, perhaps the slightest hint of jealousy.  Billy was being so calm and casual with her, even as she was unfriendly.  Billy was a playful person...but this was different.  And she only slightly envied the girl, not that she would willingly admit that to herself.  She probably was just still a little weird from the time apart.

"You're welcome, I guess," Shadow cautiously shook the girls hand, hoping she wouldn't try to crush her or something, "Sorry to leave you here.  Potion messed up.  It's my fault, I suppose.."

[Anonymous]

Jack watched as the girls made amends and the boy acted as an idiot. Great, he thought to himself, More mouths to feed. As he mused to himself, he got a good look at the girl, and examined her. A little young, but pretty. He grinned to himself and got up, striding over to the ladies.

       "Honestly, where are me manners?" He said with a smile, breaking in to the conversation before the girl could start berating herself at the idiot's coaxing. He bowed deeply, and with an inhuman grace, taking  her other hand gently in his own as he rose. He brought it to his lips for a moment and then letting it free, a boyish grin coming across his face. " Jack O'Reilly, miss. A pleasure to make ye're acquaintance. Any friend of Bane's is a friend of mine."

       Taki, on the other hand, was ignorant of the goings on. His gaze was focused now on the other, the boy. There was something familiar about this young man. Taki thought for a moment, and remembered a simpler time, and six shot pistols, and a fear of werewolves... As it came to him, he lit up, and hugged (more appropriately, tackled) Billy.

       "YOU'RE ALIVE! YAY! I DIDN'T THINK WE'D EVER SEE YOU AGAIN! HOW'D YOU GET HERE? HOW DO YOU KNOW BANE? HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?"

[Anonymous]

Bane smiled at Shadow, the steel hand not moving. It was steel, after all. She wasn't good enough to make it move without a lot of effort. Something she was working on. With a mental image and another five second, the arm was back to normal and she let it fall. An explanation was probably due to her, but not right now. Jack slid up to Shadow, kissing her hand. A slight roll of the eyes was earned, and she didn't put a stop to the guy. Instead, her mind was thinking about the other things.

A smart remark was formed to Billy's words, but before she could deliver him, Taki had mobbed the man. She watched with a slightly stunned look. There must be more history here than she knew about. With Jack occuping Shadow, and Taki jumping on people, Bane was left to tend the camp. She turned to the fire and used her shoe to bank the embers, throwing two small logs on. A little warmth wouldn't go the wrong way right now. And Jack would have gotten something for his meal, meaning meat for her. Taking a couple sticks, Bane transformed her finger into a knife, slashing off the branches and sharpening them into a point. She quite literally did everything with her hands. It made life so useful, not having to carry around knifes. They didn't even really need cooking utensils, but Bane refused to become a kitchen appliance.

[Anonymous]

A little color made it's way into the pale girl's cheeks, and Shadow sheepishly smiled. Girls from her time weren't used to such treatment in a serious matter, and even her own introverted tendencies couldn't help but to be warm to Jack's introduction.  Besides, even in only the dim light from what was left of the fire, she couldn't help but notice his eyes were outstanding.  Although there was something vaguely familiar about him.

"Oh, well, I don't really know her..."  She was always nervous with introductions.  New people weren't her strong point,  "Allyssa Karson.  Ally, I guess.  Anyway, Billy knows Bane.  I'm just good for the transport."  She laughed a little.  Bane was fading in the background, but Shadow still was curious about her, and found herself attempting to distract herself from her nerves by glancing over to see what the girl was doing, looking for some clue as to how everything was tied in together.

Billy watched the little introduction without expression, only gaining some when he was suddenly pounced on by the weird one.  Little bits started adding up that this was probably someone he'd ran into before, and certain things became more than oddly familiar.

"Oh, you again, heh.."  He tried to wiggle free.  Taki's attention wasn't really his preferred sort, "Of course I'm still alive.  So you can let go of me now, or I can go wolf again and bite you."

[Anonymous]

Jack smiled at Ally, and was about to respond when the spectacle with Taki and Billy drew his attention. He looked for a second at the boy as Taki talked to him like an old friend, and looked at Ally, herself looking rather familiar upon closer inspection.

      "Pardon me, miss..." He made his way over to Taki and pulled him off of Billy. "What's going on here? Taki, mate, what have I told you about men and hugging?" Taki's smile stretched from ear to ear, and a little trickle of tears came from his eyes.

     "Rememberwhenwewerebountyhuntersandweweretoldtotrackdownawerewolf?" He said excitedly and far too quickly. "AndyouwantedtokillhimbutIsaidnoandwelethimgo? It'shim! It'shim!!!!! He's alright!!!" Jack looked at the boy as a look of dawning comprehension came over his face.

       "Ah.... Right.... Sorry about the whole 'trying to kill ye' bit, mate... We were getting paid, after all." He walked away and back towards Ally, finding the girl far more interesting than Taki found the boy. "And my sincerest apologies to ye as well, lass. That would have been far more forthcoming had i recognized you earlier. Please, stay for dinner. Taki and I just bagged some venison. It's the least we ken do." Taki looked confusingly at Jack and Ally and walked over to Bane.

       "Bane, why is Jack talking to the girl like that and being rude to wolfie-boy? And why doesn't he remember that we left the venison in the field?"

[Anonymous]

"Well Taki, it seems to me that Jack is a little preoccupied with an interest in the girl.  Why don't you lead me to the venison before the scavengers get at it, and we can make dinner like Jack mentioned?"

Like hell Billy was getting any. She was cooking the meat, she got to chose who got some and who didn't. Though in the end the sinking feeling was he was going to get a share whether she wanted to or not. While Bane was angry at him, she couldn't cope with herself if she sat and knowlingly let him go without food until they got more. Which was going to be when they found a way out of these plains, found an inn, or Jack caught something when he fed again. Bane could hunt, but she was miserable at it.

Finishing the sticks her finger again became a finger, no longer a knife. Standing she waited for Taki's response and hoped it was an affirmative. Her eyes weren't very good in the dark even with glasses, and she had no idea where they left it, which meant she could spend hours looking and never finding the thing. Her tracking skills were rudimentry, and defiantly not working when it was think dark. Why did they have to come in the night? In the day she felt almost useful, but in this she felt like a little kid.

Well, things could be worse. She would be a womanizing vampire or an incredibly niave angel. Or a fuckface. Yep, life wasn't bad upon close examination.

[Anonymous]

"Oh, umm, that's really kind.."  Shadow found herself blushing a little again, she really was bad with this social interaction thing, especialy when he was being so warm and she couldn't just switch into Billy-mode without feeling guilty, "But I'm a vegetarian."  She paused.  It never sounded tupid when she'd said it before, and now she felt terribly lame.  Look at the timeline they were in, food probably wasn't available everywhere, especially if they were camping in a random field.  When it was available, she shouldn't be picky.

"But, eh..I guess I could try some."  She forced a smile, while mentally wondering what the hell she was thinking.  She couldn't eat an animal!  That would be awful.  But..she didn't have a choice.  And they were kind enough to share it to begin with.  She sighed to herself, agreeing that she'd deal.  It wouldn't kill her anyway, and it was just one animal.  It would have already been killed for the rest of them anyway.

Billy had a sudden idea.

"Hey Bane, your eyes are still all weird, I'm sure you don't want to go searching for hours as your food gets eaten by anything and everything out there,"  He spoke eagerly, knowing he'd have to act quickly before she could stop him.  Then she wouldn't be able to hate him, and he'd have had his fun, the best of both worlds, "I can go get that for you, no problem.  See ya!"  He dashed off into the dark away from them, disappearing into the dark at one point.

Moments later, a rustling noise could be heard not far off, and a large wolf came into the light dragging Jack's deer carcass.  When it was within view of them all he let it go, walked around behind it, and sat up proudly, a goofy wolven grin on his face as his tongue spilled out the side of his mouth.

[Anonymous]

Taki walked over and took the deer carcass, scratching the wolf behind the ear quickly before he dragged it towards the fire. He sat down next to Bane. Jack looked over, then back at Ally.

"If ye'd rather have vegetables, Taki and I could easily find some local plantlife. I've had my fill already, and Taki doesn't actually NEED to eat. He just likes Bane's cooking. Isn't that right, Taki?" The response was a frantic nod with a dopey grin. Jack smiled warmly, his fangs catching the firelight for a moment before he turned back to the girl. "I think we passed some fruit trees while we hunted... Do you remember where, Taki?"

"Yep yep! I wanted to grab some for a sidedish, and you said no way were we going to waste our time getting them, because fruits and vegetables were for women and cowa..." This was cut off by Jack's hand over his mouth, and a sheepish smile replaced the vampire's wry grin.

"Right... Well, would ye like us to go get some?" Taki wriggled his way out of Jack's grip,  suddenly appearing next to the wolf, a look of indignance on his face.

"That was mean! You can get the fruit yourself, meanie! I'm going to stay here with Bane and the wolfie!" He crossed his arms and pouted a little. Jack sighed and turned back to Ally.

"I'll be right back, then, miss." He ran off at breakneck speed. Taki was left with the others, pouting for a moment before walking back over to Bane and assisting in the cooking.

[Anonymous]

Bane quickly dressed the deer, grateful for the help from Taki and slightly embarrassed by Billy's outburst about her eyes. They weren't that bad, were they? And he went and got the carcass for her, the dear. Ten bucks said he was kissing up so she didn't pummel him the first chance she got. Yet at the same time she was grateful, no walks in the dark for her. She again transformed her hand into a handy knife, cutting the meat into chunks, then changing her hand back and spitting them. There was no option except to roast it all, it would keep longer. She then stuck them into the ground, about half of the meat starting to cook over the fire. It let her mind wander, onto the situation now.

Jack was amusing Bane, with his frantic efforts to get Shadow to like him. While he thought of her as baggage half the time, and Bane wasn't exactly comftorable cavorting around with a vampire when she was a human, in the end she considered him a friend. From the things that she had heard about Shadow from Billy, she was a nice girl. Bane would form her own opinion herself, after things calmed down and she got a chance to really see Shadow's personality.

Staring at the ground in front of the fire, Bane was determined to look anywhere except   Billy. The idiot wasn't going to get a scrap of meat. It was an illogical decision on her part, reason said he should have earned some for bringing back the carcass. What he had earned there was relief from any physical blows. Plus, it embarrassed her. Which made her want to spite him. Bane looked over at Shadow, and decided to invite the girl in. She had a sinking suspicion that she would stand there all night, if not invited to sit.

"You can come and have a set, if you want. It's warmer by the fire anyways."

[Anonymous]

"Oh, no, that's quite oka--"  She spoke to late.  Watching the dialogue bounce between Jack and Taki ended up in it being resolved before Shadow could say she didn't need the extra efforts, she didn't want to be a pain.  She just wanted to get Bane back where she belonged and get out of here.  She still needed to talk to Billy alone, find out what happened and make sure he was alright, and not angry that she took so long to get to him.  They had a lot to catch up on and sort out.  She didn't need any extras wasting her time on crappy food when her mother had just restocked the fridge at home.

Still, he'd already ran off, so she really couldn't stop him.  She just signed to herself, and paced a little.  She noticed when Billy brought back the deer, and shuddered a little, quietly, at the thought.  She was relieved, atleast, that she wouldn't be forced to eat the poor thing.  Especially after seeing it while it still looked...basically like a deer.  She looked away, and began to pace a little more, staring off into the dark and in the direction Jack ran to divert her attention from Bane's preperations.

"I'll sit in a bit.."  She didn't mean to be rude, she just wanted to wait until there would be something else to focus on besides chopped deer.  Shadow never had the stomache for those things.

Billy had already made his way over to the fire when Shadow was given the invite to sit.  He trotted around it, silvery tail swishing in the air behind him, having absolutely nothing better to do but run around in the dark all furry.  As he passed Taki, he considered giving him a thankful nip for that overly welcoming greeting, but didn't.  The smell of the meat cooking was pretty much dominating his mind, and he didn't feel like causing problems right now.  He was hungry.

[Anonymous]

Jack returned in short order with a bundle of fruit in his jacket. He sauntered over to Shadow and placed the bundle in front of her, bowing gracefully in the same movement.

"Something less meaty for yer pleasure, miss." He looked up with a smile and a wink before turning his back and walking to the fire. Taki looked at Billy with a disgusted face.

"Get away from the food, wolfy! I won't want fur in my portion!" Jack burst out laughing at this, looking at Bane and grinning.

"Yer friend 'as 'ad all his shots, right?" He said, with a grin that conveyed how funny he thought this was. "If Taki got rabies, that would just be complicated for us."

[Anonymous]

The idea of Taki having rabies was enough to break Bane out of her pissed and dour mood. She dissolved into giggles, placing her head on her knees to hide the smile. If Billy saw (though he probably knew) that she was laughing, then he was going to think she wasn't angry at him anymore. Which meant he'd act all annoying and innocent and irritating. Yet she tried to push those troubles out of her mind, and concentrate on having a good evening with Taki and Jack.

Hopefully they could break out of the plains by tommorow night, or find an inn somewhere in these godforsaken wastelands. Maybe they weren't so bad, but she for once was sick of seeing nothing but grasslands for mile upon mile. The only thing that saved her was that she didn't have to walk the entire way. Shape shifting into an animal was useful. Right now a horse was the best choice, she was able to carry everyone's pack that way, letting them all walk faster with less breaks.

With a glance at Billy, still smiling she considered the question.

"Eh, I dunno. If he does I'll beat his ass till he learns good boys don't bite."

[Anonymous]

After the comment from Taki, Billy happily trotted back in his direction, intending to give him that bite he was owed.  Fortunately for Taki, Bane spoke up, and Billy instead let the effort rest in the air, simply snapping at him to avoid any more conflict on her end.  He wanted to make sure he was fed.

That still wouldn't keep him from standing uncomfortably close at Taki's side, thoroughly shaking himself out letting fur fly all over those in his near proximity, and sliding comfortably into a strech and sitting proudly once again.  Just because it was inconvenient to his stomache to play with Bane, didn't mean he couldn't find fun elsewhere.

Shadow had quietly picked up the bundle and nodded a thanks to Jack.  She opened it up, poking around, trying to find something familiar to her.  The fruits looked different, as they usually did from reality to reality, but could almost always be found to have similarities to those from others.  She finally pulled out something that looked kind of like an apple, although it was a little larger and more boxlike, and dared a bite.

"I didn't know enough about his kind to risk shots,"  she smirked a little, swallowing her fruit chunk that tasted like the absolute opposite of an apple, and attempting to not look as startled by it as she was,  "You might want to be careful.  Who knows what effects rabies would have on him.  Or what a rabies-like disease he'd spread would do to Taki.  Or to you."

[Anonymous]

Jack smiled at Shadow, a fangy grin covering his face.

"Me? I don't get sick, love. Taki does, and it doesn't kill him. Just makes him whine and be annoying." Jack looked over at Taki with a smile, to notice Taki pulling out a knife with a childish grin as Billy started his purposeful shedding. Before Jack could say anything, the fallen angel became a silverish blur around the wolf, and in the span of 3 seconds, he stopped about 3 yards away from Billy, panting heavily. Jack laughed as he watched the sight: Taki had shaven Billy clean. Taki stood proudly and grinned at the now naked wolf.

"There! No more fur, no more shedding, no worries of furry food!"