Wild One (Ranvier)

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira glanced down at her watch, the light from the near by street lamp just outside of the alleyway made it possible for her to see the little silver hands pointing at the small numbers. It had just gone quarter past one in the morning and here was Akira Nakajima, leader of the Malkavians hiding behind a couple of dustbins. She did not want to know what was in them; she dared not look in fear of finding the contents of some drunk’s stomach after consuming too much alcohol. The bile rose in her throat just thinking about it, she would much rather look at the half eaten carcass of a human then stare at someone else’s sick.

Shifting uncomfortably Akira reminded crouched in the darkness, her nervous glances at her watch seemed to get more frequent which just seemed to make time pass even slower. Trying to think of something to pass the time Akira reached around to her side and pulled out her gun. It was a Phoenix 22, lightweight, good sight, held plenty of bullets and the polished blue finish just made it perfect in her eyes. Clicking the safety off Akira’s dainty hands tightened around the grip and she slowly shuffled to the side and peered around the side of the industrial sized dustbin.

The streets were quite and only on the odd occasion would the supped up cars drive past, windows down and their music blaring out. One car stopped then another joined it, the mixed bass lines of their dance music just sounded like a mass of noise and Akira knew if she listen to it for too long she would start to get a headache luckily they turned their ‘music’ off. Instead they started to rev their engines and at this the Malkavian had to stop herself from laughing out loud. A Ford Fiesta and a Vauxhall Corsa did not have the most impressive engines in the world anyway and even with the strapped on turbo’s and double exhausted they still sounded like pussycats compared to some of the machines the Malkavians had hidden away in their garage. After trying to inflate their own egos with the roars of their engines the lads put pedal to the metal and with the screech of slipping clutches and tyres desperately searching for traction the cars pulled away soon followed by the drones of the bass line as they turned their sound systems on one again.

Slowly silence descended on the street once more and Akira continued to wait patiently, another glance of her watch told her it was almost time. The sound of buzzing filled the area and quickly reaching into her coat pocket Akira pulled out her phone. Flipping it open she pressed it to her ear and listen carefully. ‘The puppy is on the move.’ That is all that was needed to be said, Akira knew what this meant and after another check to make sure her Phoenix was armed and ready her gaze was fixed the end of the alleyway.

There were a few false alarms, the first was an empty kebab wrapper floating past as it was caught up in the wind and the other was a drunken female stumbling back home. Her skirt was so short that Akira was surprised she could not see the girl’s underwear…if she was wearing any that was. However this drunk seemed to have a use as there was a sudden high-pitched scream and a thump that sounded like she had fallen down on the floor. Knowing the signs all to well Akira leaped out of her position from behind the bin and ran out of the alley, gun pointed in front of her straight into the path of the Lycan. Pulling the trigger of her gun twice the bullets flew off into the distance but both missed their fast moving target.

The chase was on!

Akira’s black running shoes pounded along the city footpath as she tracked the Lycan. They were bloody fast things and even for a two hundred year old Malkavian it was a tough challenge. After running down a few more streets Akira’s legs were already screaming with pain, her black coat felt heavy and hot, her jeans were restricting and her gun was starting to slip in her sweaty hands.
There was more commission from down the next street and Akira knew it had to be the Lycan encountering another group of drunks. This time however the young Lycan seemed to fancy a bit of fun and stopped to have a bit of a play, by the time Akira got there it was not a pretty sight. The Lycan was hunched over a young man whose white shirt was now crimson with his own blood and the creature was so interested in its lunch that it failed to notice the new arrival.

Reaching into her pocket Akira pulled out two things, one was her phone and the other was about the same size as a two pound coin, it was a small tracking device and while the creatures back was turned she threw the device watching as it landed squarely on its shoulders; she now had its attention. With a small smile Akira raised her gun and pointed it at the creatures head and was just about to pull the trigger when the blasted thing decided to up and run again. This time however she was in no hurry to follow it so instead she thought she best arrange for this mess to be sorted before the police came along.

“Kale, its Akira.” Her voice filled the empty street around them as she talked down her mobile to people back at HQ. “I am down on Hope Street and we have a LMH. You will need to send a team down here as soon as possible before more drunks stumble across the body…I need to get back on the tail of the killer.”

There was a small exchange of goodbyes before Akira readied herself for the chase once more. Her Phoenix in one hand and her tracker in the other, the little blue dot on the LCD screen represent where she was while the flashing red dot was her target and he seemed to have made his way to towards the Subways. Taking a few shortcuts down alleys and jumping over the odd fence the leader of the Malkavians was soon bounding down the steps to the lower regions of the city.

At this time of night there were no trains running and the place was deserted so no one would notice her jumping the ticket barrier and towards the platform where according to the tracker the Lycan seemed to be just standing therethe Lycan seemed to be just standing there. Puzzled by this Akira ran towards the platform gun poised ready to strike…but the platform was empty expect for a small flashing device around the same size of a two pound coin just lying on the floor. Swearing loudly she wondered over towards it crouching down to pick it up, but the thing that puzzled her was that its fur was still attached, in fact there was flesh their too, it was almost as if it had been sliced off.

The Lycan would not have taken it off, it would have been a lot painless just to revert to its human form and reach around and pull it off…this would mean it was attacked, that someone else was hunting the beast and they did not want her to get involved. Pushing herself up Akira held her gun close to her as she carefully began to scout around the deserted subway. As she reached the end of the platform and still no sign of the Lycan and the other hunter Akira guessed they had moved onto the rail tracks.

Tonight had not turned out how she had planned, a quick bullet in the head a small tidy up and she would have been in bed by two, now she was walking down the claustrophobic rail tracks by torchlight. She had been walking for almost five minutes when she got her first sign that she was walking the right way, a small bit of fur had been caught in one of the joins of the track but then her biggest clue was the sound of a groan.

Finding a sudden surge of energy Akira broke out into a run and soon found herself face to face with the Lycan once more…but she was not alone.

[Ranvier Flynn]

The stench of Lycan fur was rancid in the air, there was only one about tonight, for some unbeknown reason but he had been wandering the streets for a while, though surprisingly after 15 minutes of following him from the roof tops he had still made no kill, and seen as there were many humans around and about on the streets at the moment it was most peculiar, he seemed to lack a sense of smell if he can’t find a victim when it is this busy, he hardly warrants the name Lycan, mind you...they are stupid.
And then a large growl sounded as well as a blood-curdling scream filled the air, not more than a moment apart. Ranvier prepared himself to jump down into the street and take down the troublesome Lycan, however then he heard heavy footsteps and two gunshots. Stopping in his tracks, he looked over the edge, and he had known it was not a Vampire, Vampires could not stomp that much if they tried. Ranvier perched stock still on the edge of the building, he did not wish to fall through the air when a Malkavian with a gun was below him. He may act the fool but he most certainly isn’t daft.

Ranvier watched with a little amusement as the Lycan sprinted away from the scene, with Akira hot on his tracks, it was amusing, she may get hot and bothered but she would never give up a chase, she was as stubborn as a Vampire or Lycan and yet she lead the Malkavians instead.
Jumping down from the roof of the building, he fell swiftly and silently into the alleyway, running over to the young woman, retracting his fangs and reverting back to his human form as he went. I know she was drunk but i doubt she would fail to be scared by his fangs and vibrant blue eyes. “Oh I am sorry love, bleeding dogs a right nuisance!” Ranvier stated as he crouched o her level. She was completely out of her head, her eyes weren’t even in focus, and Ranvier doubted she would either question or remember whether it was a dog or not. Which was always useful, it made it alot easier to cover up. The girl was splayed out on the floor; sitting upright she smiled up at him in a rather drunk manner, and sat in a rather un-ladylike fashion. Due to which Ranvier had to look away rather quickly, why did these young people not wear underwear anymore? You’d have been shot or disowned if you hadn’t when Ranvier was that age. “Let me help you up my dear” Ranvier said offering her his hand, which she accepted, and Ranvier watched as she tottered away, no doubt to fall over into a bin some where. Laughing to himself, he waited until she had cleared the end of the alleyway before he took to the roofs again, following the sent of the Lycan, with very little difficulty. The Lycan was now little more than three streets away.

Ranvier jumped silently from roof to roof, it was a much quicker way of getting around the city, much faster and easier than taking to the streets, well at least for a vampire it was. He was now only slightly a way behind the Lycan but closer to him that Akira was. A howl filled the air; it was enough to make all your hair stand on end at such a close range. The sound of tearing of flesh and the crackling of bones reached his ears, watching down closely upon the scene, the man was beyond help already, it was just a clean up job now. And however much Ranvier despised un necessary killing, there was little point in him giving away his position when he had the element of surprise and neither of them knew he was there. Pools of blood were beginning to collect on the floor, such a waste, of both life and blood. In a Lycan killing there was generally enough blood to sustain a vampire for about three weeks. So when they had been a united clan it had not seemed as bad, at least nothing was being wasted then.
Then out of the corner of Ranvier’s eye, a small gold circular object flew through the air attaching itself to the beats back, of which he had not apparently noticed only felt something hit him. Then once again Akira redirected her gun at the Lycan, which was now facing her, but moments later it was disappearing around another street corner. Malkavians were supposed to be good with their weapons. Hardly, if this was the case the Lycan should be dead now, it hardly takes two attempts to kill one Lycan. Ranvier had only ever heard good reports of Akira, but he was now beginning to doubt this. He had seen nothing overally spectacular about her on this occasion. She could not even kill this stupid fool, they weren’t remotely intelligent, and not difficult to outsmart. Perhaps she just enjoyed playing with them for a while first.
Drawing his attentions back upon Akira whom sat with the dead body of the innocent in the middle of the street, she was now talking away on her mobile. Clearly trying to sort out the clean up. Now other peoples phone calls always intrigued Ranvier and with heightened senses, it was always difficult to stop themselves from listening in.
“I am down on Hope Street and we have a LMH.”, Ranvier had been listening for all of five seconds and was already annoyed. ‘LMH?’ he muttered to himself. ‘Why on earth can these people not just keep it simple, why must they make they try and decode things, do they lack the ability to speak English nowadays!’ Ranvier thought to himself, it always irked him greatly, they seemed to get it of this bizarre thing called TV, whenever he took to the rooftops, he had heard these ridiculous things blaring out on many occasions. Sometimes mistaking things on them for actual gunshots, many times had he had the urge to break in through someone’s window, whilst the humans were staring at the bleeding contraptions and stick his foot through the front of it, whilst ranting and raving at them. However when he had reached this stage of doing so, the window he was about to jump through had been home to a little old lady. And Ranvier was certain that a vampire jumping through her window with large fangs and vibrant blue eyes and pummelling her TV would give her little more than a heart attack. Sine then Ranvier had decided upon not acting on his impulses, he did not intend to kill the innocent humans.

Snapping his attention back from his mutterings and to the contents of the street instead, Akira had now finished her phone call and had disappeared; hissing Ranvier lurched from his position on the roof, taking flight to catch them up again. Akira was a little way ahead; he could hear her running in the street ahead of him. It did not take Ranvier long until he was ahead of her again. Closing on the Lycan who was still running riot through the streets but there had been no more screams as of yet. Landing upon the edge of another buildings, he looked into the open street below, just in time to see the Lycan disappear down a flight of stairs into the smelly subway station. This place stank almost as badly as a Lycan, it was seemingly the go to place for drunkards when they desired to through up, all over the tracks too, though this was mainly due to the lack of trains. So now a Lycan in the Subway would actually be unbearable, especially for a Vampire when they have such a heightened sense of smell. Sighing loudly, Ranvier leapt off the top of the building, crouching as he did so to soften the blow. And ran through the entrance following the beast before him.

Creeping down the staircase silently, sense heightened, closing his he searched for the Lycans presence with his mind, listening for any sound from either the Lycan or Akira coming up behind him.
Then a noise broke out to his right, moving his hands quickly to his lower legs, he removed a shuriken from the lining of his trouser leg. Then with a sharp twist on the spot, he turned to face the foul beast. Grinning cruelly at the Lycan, with a short snap of his wrist the shuriken left his fingers, it whistled through the air, turning as it went. Though the Lycan began to move away just before the shuriken could hit him in the neck. This was clearly quite an old Lycan then, he wasn’t as shabby as some. The shuriken ripped directly into the beats back, the sound of tearing flesh, though Ranvier did not have time to look at that, the Lycan was now racing across the Platform, towards the tracks.
Ranvier ran to the wall in front of him to retrieve his shuriken, it would not be a good thing in the hands of drunkards. Yanking it out of the wall with much ease, he kicked both feet off the lower wall, kicking himself into a spin in the air, so he travelled over half the platform length, gaining on the Lycan again. Landing with ease and only crouching for a second before sprinting away after the Lycan. Ranvier watched as the beats crossed onto the tracks not even remotely cautious about an oncoming train, if only one had come now, would have been and easy job, but then the walls of the tunnels would be covered with rotting flesh for a short while. Which wouldn’t be very pleasant.

Jumping down onto the tracks, he withdrew his sword in preparation, slowing slightly, the Lycan had disappeared from his sight, into the shadows. Now Ranvier has fantastic vision especially in the dark, but even Vampires couldn’t see dark furred Lycans amazingly well when they are deeply concealed in the darkest shadows they can find.
Walking cautiously down the tunnel, sword tensed and ready to strike in his grip. Ranvier smirked and stated loudly “Here beastie, beastie, beastie. I have some cheese for you...” His voice echoed down the tunnel, reverberating off the walls. Then a noise sounded to his left, the Lycan pounced from the shadows, though Ranvier had anticipated a move. Ranvier jumped upwards, clinging to the rafters on the ceiling of the tunnel, it was not an overally high roofed tunnel, and it was a relatively tight squeeze for the trains. The Lycan pummelled into the opposite wall, Ranvier jumped one armed to a different rafter, and began swinging himself lightly as the Lycan began to get to his feet slightly dazed. The Lycan looked about stupidly for a moment, which was enough time for Ranvier to get enough height on his swing, at the height of his swing he let go, and shot forward legs out infront of him. Connecting moments later with the beast’s chest, who flew backwards through the air, emitting a loud groan as he went. Ranvier landed in a crouch on one of the track bars, sword in one hand, the other holding him steady.

Then he saw a small glimmer of light, shining from a source, which was behind him. Akira. Ranvier got to his feet and moved to the side, concealed slightly in the shadow. Loud panting reached his ears and the tread of her feet got steadily louder, she appeared into view, coming level with him. The Lycan was now up again, still slightly dazed from his brief flight.
“Good evening Akira, pleasant evening for Lycan hunting is it not?” Ranvier said with a small smile as he stepped out from the shadow, with his glowing blue eyes shining as vibrantly as ever. Then nodding in the direction of the Lycan he added, “he’s a little dazed at the moment, poor fellow, ran into a wall and took an unexpected flight.”

The Lycan had clearly gained his senses again, and was now looking at Akira as if she were the next meal. What a fool, he was pretty much screwed now. He had withdrawn his attentions from the Vampire general, which was in his present company. Ranvier withdrew his short knife from its pocket in his upper arm. And released it into the air, quick as a flash it was upon the Lycan, and with a slight ripping noise it tore into the beast’s shoulder, so little more than the hilt was left on display. The beast howled, turned and fled within an instant. Smiling at Akira who still appeared to be stock still, he uttered brightly, “Come on then, its your turn next. He won’t get far, he’ll be dripping blood now.”

((took e long enough! i hope thats ok

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira had been in this situation many a time and unlike in the early days when the whole idea of chasing Lycans and Vampires down dark tunnels would make her heart pound and her body tremble, but now here she was years down the line, her gun held in an unwavering arm and her torch light was fixed on the Lycan. With a playful smile Akira’s finger pressed against the trigger of the gun and slowly began to move back feeling the tension but something distracted her, made her not pull the trigger all the way. Out of the darkness came a smooth voice and then from the shadows (typical vampire entrance) stepped Ranvier
Her gun dropt to her side and her purple eyes met his blue ones, for a moment she just looked over at the vampire before the smile filled her face again.

“I have had better evenings Ranvier if that is what you were wondering.”

Akira was willing to admit anytime that running around cities in the middle of the night chasing creatures of the night was not her sense of a good evening, however she would not deny that it was not fun. Science was more of her thing, the nights when she was not hinting down these pathetic overgrown dogs she would be found wearing a white lab coat playing around with chemicals off all kinds, or plonked in front of a computer trying out a new computer programme to aid them in the war. As the vampire continued to hint about the Lycan being slight dazed Akira shifted her gaze over to the creature and gaze a small smirk as it seemed to shake its head form side to side almost as if it would take way its headache.

However as she watched it the beasts eyes seemed to met hers and the Malkavian raised her hand and gave him a small wave. She knew enough of Ranvier to know that he took opportunities and the fact the Lycan had his back turned to the Vampire General had to be a sure sign of trouble. Just as she had expected the Vampire made his move and leaped into the air, knife drawn and plunged it into the beasts shoulder, and in return the Lycan howled out in pain and started to thrash around. Akira rolled her eyes and watched as if the creature was a three year old having a tantrum in the middle of the supermarket and was quiet thankful when it shut up and ran off, although Ranvier had decided that it was her turn to case it.

“Oh thanks Ranvier.” Akira grumbled and she reloaded her gun. “Just anger the bloody thing and then send me after it.” Not that she was really moaning, it would be fun but it would make her task a little bit harder then before. Tunnels in the dark was not something that a Malkavian was best suited for, they worked as a team and brought creatures down by using wit and strength in numbers.

Putting her best foot forward Akira broke into a run down the subway tunnel making sure she did not catch her feet on the rails and end herself flying forwards, that would not make her look good in front of Ranvier. The leader of the Malkavians headed off down the tunnels by torch light, following the small trail of glistening blood that was being left by the bleeding creature. Akira’s heart was pounding in her chest and only now that she was running again did she realise how tired she was. Her legs were like lead and every stride took great effort to make them move and also to try and block out the pain.

It must have been after 800 meters and the tunnel hardly changing direction did Akira think to herself how pointless this was. There was no way she would be able to catch up a Lycan, even when injured. She was not as swift as a Vampire and although faster then most humans there would be no chance. Coming to a stop to catch her breath, hands on hips and bending over slightly Akira took a series of deep breaths before thrusting her hand into her pocket and pulled out her small lighter. Flicking the flame on and off for a moment as if almost testing the air a small, cruel smile filled her face and it was only heightened by the shadows and dancing flames reflecting on her face.

“Ranvier!” She called out unsure of where the vampire was actually hiding. “I would get behind me if I was you…things are going to get a little heated.”

Not even waiting for a response from the vampire she flicked the lighter open once more put this time summoned her strength from within her and the frame moved from the end of the lighter to palm of her hand. The flame balanced carefully as she slipped the lighter back into her pocket before bringing her free hand up and slowly with great focus the flame began to grow and grow, it grew into a small fireball and as she spun it around it just seemed to increase in size even more. The heat was intense and Akira could feel the fire burning her hands, the heat singeing her eyebrows and turning her cheeks a rosy red with a form of sunburn. The tunnel around them lit up, showing the dirt covered walls and the cracked tiles, this place really needed a make over but then it would have to after she had had her moment.

The vampire said it was her go at the Lycan so she was going to do it and in true Akira fashion she would do it with some style. The fireball had grew big enough for her own amusement and the fact that even at arms reach it was starting to set her clothes on fire she knew it was time to let the fireball go. Summoning enough strength from within the Malkavian gave an almighty scream as she threw the fireball out of her hands and hurtling down the corridor. It was like a comet in the night sky, a trail of fire following it as it light the darkness travelling faster then she would ever be able to run. Then there was darkness.

Akira was not sure what had happened but she found herself on the floor of the corridor, hands blistered and red with the burns, and her body aching, sapped with strength from creating the fireball. However as she slowly opened her eyes, unsure of how long she had been unconscious for, she could smell a very distinctive thing, the smell of burning fur. Clearly she had hit her target and pushing herself up into a sitting position Akira looked around the darkness but could see nothing, with a slight groan and body clicking she stood up and began to stumble down the corridor tunnel trying to find the Vampire General and the Lycan. She really did feel her age today, she has no idea how at 3000 odd Ranvier was still able to sprint around like a teenager but then Vampires did not age as quickly as Malkavians so he would keep on dancing around while Akira was in a wheelchair, now that would be a fun race to see.

Rounding a bend in the tunnel and trying to ignore the scorch marks on the tunnel wall where the fire ball clearly had hit Akira found her two targets, one was lying on the floor while the other was looking rather happy with themselves.

“Having fun their Ranvier?”

It was a silly question as this vampire always seemed to be having fun but as Akira stood arms folded trying to act like she was not drained with energy, although her wounds had slowly healed as she made her way around in the darkness, she now just looked a fetching lobster pink from the sunburn.

(Well I am sorry it took me so long as well!!)