Travels of a Beast (Near North Corel)

[mattsukun]

With a guttural growl his dark eyes stared down the dark-clothed man in front of him. He kept his stance, paws dug into the dirt beneath him as the stranger looked around nervously.

The man had managed to escape from Besaid quite easily due to the time of night he had passed by. He had even made it quite far. But damn. He hadn't expected some red-furred beast to come to the aid of a wailing child.

"All right fur ball, back off. This kid don't mean a thing to you." He said in his rough voice, trying to block out the sound of the child's cries, bundle up in the blanket.

The red beast lowered it's stance, not letting even a single movement of the stranger's pass unnoticed under his gaze. Nanaki had seen some surprising things since the worlds had merged. New creatures, differently dressed humans, even new races that he had never known existed. Yet that wasn't all that he had seen that had surprised him. The increasing level of evil actions, of underhanded people had escalated beyond what he could have ever expected. And now, to find this? A man stealing a child away from it's home?

Though he had no way of telling where the child came from, or who the mother may be, but it was obvious the man was not meant to have the child with him. Taking a small step forward towards the man he snarled angrily, a threatening look as he bared his fangs. He was not willing to let this man go unpunished. "Leave the child and I'll spare you..."

The man's eyes widened as the mysterious beast spoke clearly like any human. "Wh-what the hell? Damn, it doesn't matter! Kids from other worlds sell for a good chunk if you know who to sell them to." He grinned nervously, pulling out a dagger and charging at the snarling beast. "And no way I'm gonna let you take away my ticket to riches!"

With a swift movement Red XIII lept forward, paw coming down harshly on the man's hand and slashing it deeply, knocking the weapon from his hand and quickly catching his balance on all fours, watching the man. "Last chance human. I don't care much for those who take others from their home." His eyes slowly narrowed, the anger inside him only rising as past memories drifted through his mind.

The man in front of him was stuck now. He could run towards North Corel with or without the kid. If he took the kid with his injure hand, he'd be slowed down. But if he didn't take the kid, all his work would be for nothing. He could only do one thing in that case.

"L-look, I dunno what you are. But I just really n-need some money." He fell to his knees, looking down and sobbing. He heard the steps of the beast slowly coming forward. His lips twisted to a curved smile once the creature was close enough. he quickly brought a hidden dagger from his pocket with his good hand and aimed to stab the creature in the head. "Stupid furba-AAAAHHHH!!!"

He screamed out as Nanaki caught his hand between his fangs, biting sharply down and causing great pain. Pulling away from the screaming man, he spat the disgusting taste of the dirty man's blood from his muzzle. "Disgusting and pathetic." He growled once more under his breath as he moved towards the still crying child.

"Heh, sorry kid. Look, no need to be scared anymore." He gave a soft smile, trying to help calm the kid. Seeing it didn't work well, he gently pushed his muzzle close against the child, rubbing his furred cheek against the child's own tear-stained cheek. After a minute or so, the child finally calmed a bit.

"There we go. Now...here we go." Gently, he bit down on the bundled blankets the child was wrapped in and picked it up. With child in tow, he made his way towards the nearest town. The child couldn't be from his world due to the odd scent, so he wouldn't be from the town. But there was always the possibility that it belonged to a traveler there. Deciding it was his best bet, he began on his journey towards North Corel.

OOC: Okay, comp's been messing up more and more. So I apologize if there's anything wrong with this post. ^^; Hope it's okay and works well. ^^;;;

[Bharune]

“What do you mean you don’t take Cocoon credit??” Tucker exclaimed with a groan. “Who carries free gil around these parts? I mean, sure, if you want to paint a big red target on your wallet invitin’ rogues like ‘Here’s all my cash for the takin’, go ahead and steal it and leave me stranded in BF-fucking-E!’”

Okay, so Tucker was a little bit riled, but if she thought exploring Pulse when Cocoon went down would prepare her for every kind of terrain, she had been dead wrong. The desert of North Corel was the worst thing she had stumbled across since falling into a pit trap outside Bodhum…

Dust and sand choked everything, and the air was so dry it hurt her nose just to breathe it in. Junk and debris and collapsing huts were the only things that decorated what Tucker could only assume was a inhabited garbage dump. An old ‘mining town’, they informed her. Hah! If this place was a town, then she was Primarch Dysley.

Some of the residents were pretty mean, some of them were friendly in a rough sort of way, and some of them were way too friendly. Needless to say, Tucker was growing extremely uncomfortable, and was sorely regretting not recruiting an escort for her journey. She realized now how naïve she had been in thinking she could travel alone safely. Palumpolum – and even Bodhum – had been relatively safe, and though things got a little rough after the fall of Cocoon, she had never been around…anything like this before.

“What do you think this is? We ain’t a shopping center, lady. No cash, no choco’.”

“But I can’t—“

“Best be findin’ something t’sell instead of yappin’ that pretty jaw of yours, then, huh?”

Tucker stopped speaking, her red eyes drifting around the nearby clusters of people warily. A couple of men laughed at her plight. She shifted, frowned, turned away from the stand, and wandered back towards the road, away from the soot-stained residents of North Corel. Sighing, she sat down on a rusted drum barrel, moving it back and forth with her legs.

Maybe she should go back home…maybe she wasn’t cut out for this…

[mattsukun]

Another small sigh escaped the red-furred beast's muzzle as he continued on his journey to North Corel. He was thankful that the baby had finally fully fallen asleep. It was no longer crying or fussing and seemed content resting in it's bundle hanging from his jaw.

He could tell he was getting closer as the sand began to pick up in the wind as he traveled further across the dry landscape of the desert. As he continued on he was thankful for the bundles surrounding the baby, keeping it safe from the harsher weather he was carrying it through.

Finally, he could see the town was within a short distance. Maybe he'd finally be able to find the child's parents and save the family some grief.

That's when it hit him. What was he doing? Yes, he had saved the child from whatever the bandits may have had planned for him. But at the same time, he still wasn't certain that the child belonged to anyone in North Corel. There were many possibilities.

As Nanaki's mind began to wander he paid no attention to the young lady sitting on the rusted drum barrel just outside of the ruined town.

[Bharune]

Okay, okay; she needed to calm down and think this through rationally. What would Maqui and Yuj say if they were here? What would Snow tell her?

...So, maybe an imaginary Snow shoveling out optimistic one-liners wasn’t the best figment to be listening to. Hm...now her older brother Florence...he always knew just what to suggest to fix any situation...

What advice would Florry give?

Tucker thought for a moment, still absently rolling the barrel gently back and forth as she sat on it, her feet pushing against the ground to guide the rocking motion. Hm...

Stopping the movement, the pink-haired young lady tugged something from her jeans, unraveling a thin cord that disappeared into the denim pocket. She lifted the small rubber bud and wiggled it into her right ear as her other hand slipped into the pocket to click on the soothing stylings of her favorite singer.

My hands, they only agree to hold
Your hands, no, they don’t wanna understand...

There, much better. Now she could think about this situation properly. She needed to get out of this place, which...seemed to require either taking the train, or a chocobo. The trains were out of order, so the only option left was a chocobo. The chocobos here were a lot stranger than the ones on Cocoon, but they had to be relatively the same, right? She used to love riding them when she was younger, so how hard could it be?

But she needed money for a chocobo, and the stall owner wouldn’t accept Cocoon currency. So she needed...something to sell...

Tucker leaned back slightly, lifting her eyes to the sky as she thought.

My hands, no, they don’t wanna understand

...........

My hands, they just shake and try to break whatever peace I may find

That was it! This place seemed to be of a lower tech level; she could convince them that her music player was a magical thing of the gods! She’d make a small fortune, and then laugh in the face of the scammer who tried to convince her that a large, magenta marble had the capability to attract chocobos! Haha, Tucker Rush would not be made a fool of!

In overflowing enthusiasm, Tucker hopped from the drum with a ‘hah!’ and a victorious pump of her fist, her expression reflecting her determination. She almost didn’t even notice the large, red dog that stalked past her. At least, until she realized its tail was on fire.

......

“Monster!” she cried out in alarm and fear to alert nearby residents of Corel, jumping back and dripping her hand to her sheathed gun. Oh, dear. That monster looked huge and ferocious, and it—

It had a baby! A human baby!

But could she take it? It looked so vicious!

But it had a baby! She couldn’t let it eat the poor child!

“Hey! Drop it now, fleabag!” Tucker shouted, her gun out and trained on the unsuspecting beast. “I dunno where you got that baby but you set ‘im down nicely or I’ll shoot you in the face!”

Or get mauled to death by this wolf...tiger...thing...

[mattsukun]

The red furred beast continued towards the nearby town before he heard the movements of the person that had been sitting on the barrel nearby. A little startled he stopped in his tracks and looked over at her, seeing the gun aimed at him.

He gave a curious look to the girl and began to try and speak but caught himself, also catching the bundle that had the child wrapped up. Thinking to himself, Nanaki still tried to speak to the girl, wanting to calm her down.

Unfortunately, the way he was carrying the child caused his words to come out more as a low, gutteral growl. His tail flicked sharply behind him, a few embers flying off as he prepared himself. Knowing his words were not going to be efficient in this situation, his only other chance would be to try and scare her away as he lowered himself to the ground in an offensive stance.

OOC: Ugh, I apologize. This posty is so crappy. ^^;;;

[Bharune]

Tucker tensed – the beast growled at her!

“Oh, c’mon, don’t hunch down like that,” Tucker breathed to herself, watching the canine lower its body into an attacking position. She reeeaaaaalllly didn’t want to fight; it looked absolutely vicious and she was probably the least combat-hardened individual within a hundred kilometer radius, but as she glanced up she could see there was no one close enough to hear her if she shouted. And there was no way she could let the beast carry off an innocent child.

But it looked….really powerful….

Okay, Tuck; time to switch tactics.

“….Did I say fleabag? Actually, I bet you’re a good doggie,” she attempted nervously, taking a step back towards the overturned barrel, where her bag rested. “You’re just hungry, right? Well babies are a terrible meal choice, you know. They’re very fattening and….high in…cholesterol….”

Without taking her eyes off of the beast and the infant, Tucker slowly lowered into a crouch, her free hand dipping into her bag and rummaging around in it. It took a great deal of effort not to avert her gaze from the creature, her right hand still clutching her gun, but after a second she managed to pull something out.

It was a thick sandwich she had packed for later.

“How ‘bout a switch, huh?” she asked, using her teeth to tear open the plastic wrap so the beast could get a good whiff of the meat and cheese inside. “This is much better, I assure you; Eden’s finest.”

She held it out to the red canine.

“C’mon, be a good puppy…”