damned_institute | Nightshift 35: East of Institute

Bridget climbed up easily, Roger tucked in his coat and finally dropped the the other side. He grinned again. "That wasn't too hard," he said. "Now to get to the road."

Even outside, it would still be a long way to reach the front of the building. They'd have to skirt around it to get to the road that lead to Doyleton. She smacked her light a few times to see if it would help, but the thing just went dead.

Must've hit it too hard. Kagura's lips twisted into a pout as she put the broken thing away, making a quiet whimpering noise. The dark was scary enough with a flashlight, she didn't like the thought of going without one.

"My light..." she looked regretfully at the ground, then up at Bridget. "Is... is it okay if I stay close to you? I don't like the dark."

It was a shame that the patients didn't realize that the hardest part wasn't meant to be the wall, but staying alive once they were over it. From the surrounding woods came a rustling sound and then silence for a moment, then further to Bridget and Kagura's right, another rustle. The creatures were gathering, drawn by the promise of prey they didn't have to hunt. From the darkness, two pairs of red eyes glowed like embers as the canines emerged from the bushes, putrid flesh snagging on the branches as they pushed through. The two dogs didn't seem to notice though, much more intent on their prey. Baring their teeth, the dogs snarled and then dashed forward at the duo, jaws snapping at whatever flesh they could get.

[Kaze]

Bridget had been about to offer his own flashlight, though he did hope that Kagura would stick close by anyway, when the sounds of movement caught his attention. "Miss Sohma...."

Frowning, he turned and spun to face the threat, kicking out with surprising strength and speed at one of the dogs even as he pulled the flashlight out of his coat pocket. He may be weaponless, but that didn't mean he was helpless.

She saw the glowing eyes in the darkness before she heard them moving. There wasn't much time to react, but Kagura was glad she had a weapon tonight. All the monsters here were so gross she didn't want to touch them with the usual punches and kicks. The pointed staff gave her the distance she wanted.

Kagura was worried about Bridget though. He'd said he was a bounty hunter, but she'd never seen him fight. And every time, they'd been overwhelmed easily. She just hoped tonight would be different.

"Kyaa!" she let out a frightened squeak and took a hard swing as one of the dogs rushed at her. The beast would be sorely mistaken if it thought she was just another Japanese school girl.

Well, that was annoying. The dog yelped as it twisted its head to the side, catching Bridget's kick, but avoiding a broken jaw. Still, it hurt and the dog jumped to the side, shaking its head before it snarled in a rage. Backing up, the creature lowered its head and growled before suddenly howling long and low up at the sky. Two wasn't going to be enough for this job.

The other dog was busy with Kagura and unable to see what had happened to its partner. The staff was a problem because of the distance it put between the dog and its intended victim, and the canine growled as it was forced to back away to avoid being hit. Nasty weapon she had. It barked, a slick, heavy sound, and then charged again, aiming to grab the pole in its jaws and try to wrestle it away.

And far in the distance, two howls answered the call of the pack.

Bridget, though glad the kick had connected, didn't slow down at all. He didn't manage to stop the ... dog... thing from calling more of it's kind, but he did close the distance between them quickly. Throwing himself forward, he flipped over and brought his foot down again in an arch, this time aiming for the dog's neck.

Don't look back dont look back she's fine she's fine she has to be fine

Her wild swing missed and the dog bit her stick, trying to pull it away. Kagura's frightened yelp became a growl of rage as her anger started to get the better of her. If the dog though she looked weak, it better think again! She'd thrown Kyo over her head and through walls before, she could do the same to some stupid mutt!

With as mighty a roar as she could manage, she tightened her grip on the stick and attempted to swing it at the institute wall. It wouldn't break like Shigure's poor wooden ones, but maybe it would be enough to knock the dumb dog out!

She heard howling, but her mind ignored it, focuses on her anger and taking it out on the nearest thing that annoyed her.

The human ran forward and jumped, but when the foot came down, the dog wasn't there. It wasn't so stupid as to stay put, after all. Running to the side, the dog snarled and launched itself at Bridget's leg as it came down, trying to bite the boy's knee.

The other dog found that the little girl was stronger than it had thought a creature of her size would be and yelped as it was thrown. It hit the ground first though, rolling until it hit the wall. Slowly, it got back to its feet, shaking its head, but it couldn't attack just yet.

Not that it needed to. Out of the forest, two more dogs came, answering the cry for help. One of them ran at Bridget, jumping up to bite at his left arm and the other ran at Kagura, jaws snapping as it went for her back.

Well this wouldn't do at all. Bridget spun on the foot still planted on the ground when he missed the dog he'd been aiming for. Unfourtunatly, this meant that he wasn't prepared for the second animal.

The teeth sank into his arm and he grimaced, thinking quickly and trying not to scream. The dog probably wouldn't be letting go any time soon so... he used his other hand to grab for what was left of the animal's nape, intending to turn and, using the monster's momentum, spin them both to crash into either of the two beasts still attacking.

Not enough. Kagura smiled wickedly as the dog yelped, but it was only enough to stun it, not kill it or even knock it out. However, stunned would be enough if she could go after it.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. Kagura barely turned in time to block the second dog with her staff, placing the wooden pole between herself and the snapping teeth. It wouldn't hold for long and the other dog would be coming back soon too.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Kagura aimed a hard kick for the beast's exposed chest, hoping to put some distance between herself and the wild animal. "Get away or I'll kill you, you nasty, ugly, smelly dogs!" she screamed angrily.

The dog on Bridget's arm yelped as it was thrown into its packmate, the two going down in a heap of limbs and snarls. Disorientated now, the canines tried to pry themselves apart, snapping at each other as much as they were barking and growling at Bridget for what he'd done. The one thrown eventually got to its feet and lowered its head, growling at Bridget before slowly starting to advance while the other was still slightly dazed.

Another yelp and the dog on Kagura's stick was thrown back with a nasty beating to the chest. The dog hacked hard, coughing like the kick had broken a rib and shook its head as it backed away. It didn't need to attack right now - its partner would do that. The dog at the wall had finally managed to get back to its feet and snarled as ran forward at Kagura again, trying once more to jump and bite at her neck.

Bridget fell back into a defensive stance. "Nice doggy. Good doggy. Here puppy."

He lashed out once more before he finished speaking, a harsh kick aimed at the jaw of the one advancing on him.

She growled right back at the dogs and watched with satisfaction when one backed away, even if it was just so that the other could attack. She'd landed hits on both of them and she could hear Bridget speaking calmly to the others, so at least the situation was more or less in hand. Half of her wanted to run away screaming and half of her wanted to tear these stupid dogs apart for getting in their way.

As usual, she went with the more violent option. "Don't you even try it!" she yelled as the dog tried to pounce. She took the sharp end of the stick in hand, thrusting it toward the dog as it jumped and hoping that this time it would actually do some permanent damage.

Sweet words weren't going to trick it. The dog couldn't understand them anyway. What it did understand was the kick and when Bridget came at it, the dog leaped back to dodge. The canine hung back now, growling, as it watched Bridget, waiting for its partner to get up - which it did in a moment. Now two dogs strong, the monsters circled in opposite directions, careful to stay out of range for the moment.

The one attacking Kagura yelped when the stick entered its right shoulder and then it snarled, kicking and biting at the staff. The other didn't waste any time now that the staff was occupied though and rushed forward, biting at Kagura's left leg.

Bridget shifted from foot to foot, ignoring for now the blood soaking nicely into the left sleeve of his coat. That was going to cause some trouble later on...

"Come on, you bloody beasts. Come and get me." He didn't dare spare a glance at Kagura, and he didn't want to distract her, but...

"Miss Sohma! Can you get back over the wall?" Four dogs were a bit much, even for them.

A hit! But the dog's pain only lasted for a moment before it was snarling and snapping at her again. She tried to push him back and free her staff, but before she could, the second dog was attacking and she cried out in pain when it bit her leg. She stumbled, and her left hand let go of the staff just long enough for her to aim a bone shattering punch right at the dog's head. If that wasn't enough to make it let go, or kill it, which would be even better, she thought with a wicked smile, then she'd be very upset.

Bridget called out to her, but could they really go back? She wasn't sure she'd be able to walk, let alone climb. "I- My leg!" she called back, still furious with the dogs for injuring her.

Another yelp of pain and this time - the dog didn't get back up. With its jaws clamped in Kagura's leg, it wasn't able to avoid the blow and the punch killed it, splattering putrid blood and decaying flesh and bone everywhere. The other was thrashing, unable to get off the staff. With one down and one injured, the other two dogs looked at each other for a moment. The prey was bleeding and they were still dazed from the blows earlier. Was it worth the fight?

Then the patients started yelling incomprehensible words back and forth and the dogs attacked. The two leapt at Bridget, one jumping up with its jaws aimed at his neck and the other went for his legs.

Bridget knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself from both dogs, so he brought up his arms again, blocking the wone going for his neck and biting back another scream as teeth sunk into his arms. He kicked out hard with a leg in the hopes of catching the one going for his legs.

He turned to try fling the dog on his arms off onto the one going for his legs.

Kagura pushed down the urge to vomit when the dogs nasty pieces and blood got all over. At least it released her leg, but it hurt and fighting was going to be really hard like this. Her anger was waning, slowly giving way to fear at the hopelessness of their situation. Glancing over at Bridget helped to steel her. He was still fighting, even though he was hurt. She had to do the same or they were both doomed.

She kept a firm grip on the staff as she tried to stand, favoring her bad leg. Once she was up, she gave a yell and tried to swing the dog, once again, into the wall. This time it would have a little tougher time of things since it was still stuck to the staff.

Another arm bite. No good. The dog was about to release its grip when Bridge suddenly spun and threw it off, sending it flying over the back of the other. It hit the ground and yelped, rolling to a stop a few yards away. The dog going for Bridget's legs hadn't been fast enough this time around to avoid the kick and it caught it full in the face. The canine howled in pain as it suddenly backed away, tossing its head from side to side in pain. Time to go. This wasn't worth it. Turning tail, the dog fled into the bushes, leaving its packmate behind.

Even being stuck on the staff, the dog was still thrown - just not as far. With a slick sound, the dog slid off, rolling on the ground for a moment before climbing shakily to its feet. It caught sight of one packmate fleeing, one dead and one lying on the ground and it decided that this fight wasn't worth it. Snarling, the dog limped off into the darkness and disappeared.

Bridget panted, arms pouring blood and soaking into his coat sleeves. Both limbs were mostly useless now, but he turned and moved over to Kagura.

"Miss Sohma. Can you stand?" He might be able to support her, but he didn't think they could get back over the wall. They were sitting ducks out here, both bleeding and in pain.... anything could come along and go for them. They had to move somewhere.

When the dogs finally ran away and left them alone in the dark, Kagura was relieved and felt the anger draining out of her. Unfortunately, it left behind most of the fear. She leaned heavily on her staff, the poor thing had probably been chewed up just as much as they had.

She got a good look at Bridget though, and that was enough to help her forget her own worries. His arms were bitten and bleeding badly, but he was asking her if she was ok!

"I think so," she said shakily, though she didn't put much weight on the injured leg. "Your arms," she added with a worried tone, "are you alright? Here, I... I'll help you wrap them."

Bridget smiled and shook his head. "They will be alright," he said. "The cloth's keeping the blood flow slower." Roger was a comforting weight in his coat as well,and he didn't think he'd be able to carry him if he took the jacket off.

Looking up at the wall behind them,he sighed. "I don't think we can get back over that, so ... shall we press on or wait here for day?"

"Are you sure?" Kagura tried to take a step forward, but her leg made it difficult. If not for the staff, she'd probably have taken a tumble over the grass.

"I... if we can't get back, we should keep going," she said after a moment. "Maybe we can find somewhere to hide or somewhere to treat your injuries back toward town." She just hoped the dogs didn't decide to come back. The town was at least a couple of miles and with them both injured and still bleeding in places, dogs weren't the only thing they might attract.

Bridget nodded. "We should just sit here, and we both need to be looked at, so..." He glanced back at the wall then sighed again.

"Here, I'll stand on your other side and you can lean on me." He moved around to do just that. "They didn't get my legs," he added with a wry chuckle. He could also take a lot of damage before it started to slow him down, but the blood loss would make it ver difficult and he didn't doubt that shock would soon set in, for both of them.

Kagura flinched when Bridget stood so close beside her, half afraid he'd try to put his arm around her to help instead of just offer. It was bad enough that Leon and Javert and their friend knew about her curse, it would be even worse (not to mention embarrassing!) if anyone else (especially Bridget) found out! What if he thought it was gross or something?

"N-no, I can't!" she insisted, taking a hesitant step back. "I'll just... I'll just sit right here, it's ok!"

"Miss Sohma," he said with a frown. "You can't just sit here. I won't leave you behind and we need to look for help."

Thinking this whole 'boy's can't touch' thing was really going a little too far, he took a step forward and hooked an arm around her, careful not to hurt her further.

Kagura only managed squeak of protest as the boy put his arm around her waist. Why did he have to be so stubborn!? Not more than a second passed before a loud popping noise sounded, accompanied by a cloud of yellowish smoke.

When it cleared, she was hiding under her now far-too-big t-shirt, trying not to let the boy see her cursed form. "Don't look!" she cried, her voice coming just as normal as ever from the tiny brown pig. "I told you, you can't... you can't do that..." There were little sniffling sounds as well, coming up from under the shirt. The situation had gone from bad to worse!

Bridget blinked, blinking the odd smoke out of his eyes and then looking around. .... and finally down.

That was unexpected. Crouching down,he winced as the movement jarred his shredded arms. "Miss Sohma.... This is wonderful." He smiled. "I can carry you much easier like this. ... Unless ... does it hurt?"

A little brown snout poked out from under the tshirt, and tiny dark eyes looked up at the now gigantic Bridget.

"It doesn't hurt... just my leg, but... but It is not wonderful," she argued. "This is awful!" Her voice dropped a few notches and the little pig looked down at the ground. "I didn't... I didn't want you to see me like this."

"Why not?" Bridget was honestly confused. "I think .. "He blushed. "Well, I think you're...." he cleared his throat. Now was not the time to tell her he thought she was even more cute like this.

"Anyway,it certainly is wonderful, since now I can tuck you into my coat. You'll get a chance to rest your leg that way, and I won't have to worry about you much more than I already am."

Why not? Why not?! She was a little dirty brown pig! What was wonderful about that?! "It's not girly or cute at all," she said, mimicking a human pout as she crept out from under the shirt. The injury on her leg was still there, but not as hard to deal with when she had 4 legs instead of just two.

She hesitated, thinking over his offer. If they didn't get moving soon it was Bridget who would suffer most. This way they at least stood a chance of making it to town.

"You... you have to promise you won't tell anyone," she conceded.

Bridget shook his head, working at unbuttoning his coat with one hand. His left didn't want to work at all and hung uselessly at his side, but his right still had some mobility to it.

"I think you are cute and ... and girly no matter what," he pointed out. "I think you are cute like this too. But, I promise not to tell anyone."

HE managed to get his coat unbuttoned mostly and he crouched down a bit lower. "If you climb in, I can do up most of the buttons and you'll be secure." He'd look rather fat with Roger and Kagura in his coat, but at least they'd all be warm, right?

If it was possible for a pig to blush, that's exactly what Kagura did. She didn't know how Bridget could find her cute, especially like this, but his eyes were honest and when he reached out to her, it was genuine. She wasn't sure what she'd done to deserve a friend like him, but it almost made her feel foolish for keeping secrets in the first place.

"You mean it? I won't be too heavy, will I?" she asked quietly, hesitating before she stepped into his jacket. It reminded her a lot of... Tohru. That same kindness that made her want to cry. How could he be so nice to her?

"Ah-" she stopped, "my staff." She couldn't pick it up, but she didn't want to make Bridget carry it either. But if she didn't have it at night, then she'd be in a lot of trouble. "What if we get attacked again?" she asked worriedly.

Bridget shook his head, carefully buttoning up his coat and making certain that Kagura was secure (and not suffocating). "It'll be fine," he assured her.

When she mentioned her staff, he looked over at her clothing, fought back a blush, and picked up the weapon in his right hand. His hand was slick with blood now, and his fingers were numb, but if he concentrated, he could just make out the feel of wood and he stood up.

"Got it," he said, feeling proud of that.

It was a strange feeling, getting carried around by someone at least ten times her size. Usually she was left alone when she transformed. Getting picked up was kind of a new experience. Bridget was warm though, and it was a lot nicer than she'd thought to be stuck so close. She felt safe.

"I'm sorry," she told him quietly, hoping they'd be able to make it somewhere to treat their wounds. She hadn't gotten a great look at Bridget's, but she knew they'd been worse than her own. "For making you do this..."

"No, don't be sorry," Bridget said, keeping his voice asupbeat as possible. "I want to do this. Besides, it's my fault."

With that, he began the long trek in what he hoped was the right direction...

(It's not. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/472387.html))

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/465431.html?thread=38105879#t38105879)]

Bourne dropped down from the walltop, catlike, making sure not to land straight-legged and hurt himself. Coming out of his crouch, he took his flashlight from his pocket and shone it over the area.

He could smell blood again. The flashlight's beam illuminated a bloody-toothed canine corpse. One of the defense measures, no doubt. Landel's attack dogs, meant to be sicced on patients who'd escaped his little cage, perhaps? Someone had been here before he had cleared the wall, that much was plain. Good for them. And they'd put up a fight.

The asset decided that he ought to leave, before the scent of blood attracted any other predators that might be in the area. Better not to risk it. He'd been taught how to deal with attack dogs before, of course, during Blackbriar, but he'd rather not use that training. Bourne continued east.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/472387.html)]

Nightshift 35: East of Institute

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