unfair fight *erasers*

[Dakota]

The Coach blew another whistle, this one was to say that the session was over. He was red as a tomato, and his brows were so furrowed they looked like a uni-brow or an overgrown caterpillar. A few of the other sparers went and collected the Eraser and bustled him off to the Lab. Dakota was left with the looming figure of The Coach. He approached her now, and she still did not move as his vice-like hand took a hold of her shoulder and shook her violently. "We can't afford you freezing up like this, Dakota," He said with a forced patience. "If you continue to do this, your place here will be destroyed. SO KILL WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE!" He shouted, shaking her again.

Dakota pulled back sharply, breaking his grip with an even roll of her shoulder, turning to look at him with eyes that could freeze Hades over. "Coach, if your stupid human mind could understand that I am NOT an Eraser. I do not kill when the opponent is defenseless. I do not kill for pleasure. I kill for survival," Dakota spoke with an eerily calm voice, but it was veiled and laced with a deadly poison. "Unless you're going to change me into an Eraser in the near future, don't expect me to do anything against the morals of a bird-kid," She finished, and turned to leave, looking finished. After about three steps, she stopped and spoke over her shoulder. "Know very well that I would rather die than became one of those mangy mutts. Good day," And with that she turned and left, with not even a turn back...

Dakota couldn't say why that memory continued to play through her head, but it did. Maybe it was because she met Samantha the other day, and she was faced with the problem of dealing against that very same memory. Kill for instinct or kill for pleasure? That was the one question that had been hammered into her head far beyond forgetting. Or, quite possibly, it was because she found that dredded silver whistle in one of the long forgetten pockets of her knap-sack. She rolled it around between her fingers, the silver glistening like the new fallen dew at twilight. This little whistle had enhanced fear into her, had been used to get her to do things that she would later regret. She thought she had thrown it into the flames of one of the ovens, but now it was suddenly back.

And this one had a threat carved onto it. Remember me, 392? Well, the next time you see a whistle like this will be the last time you see anything... She wasn't heartless, the threat worried her. Only a few people knew how to make this whistle. The design was hidden within the Lab, nobody could've made it if they weren't from Tenneesse. And nobody knew about her species number anymore, unless it had slipped while she was fighting. So that left some mysterious person from the Lab had found her, or Fox. Either one wasn't going to be the best choice in the world for her. And if there was another one of these around the New York area, it would be easy to find her. The bird kid in pain...

She dropped whistle back into her back into her bag. If anybody found that, it would be easy for them to get the upperhand. She didn't even want to risk the chance of blowing it. It was silent to almost everybody but her. It was like a dog whistle, but specially made for bird-kids that had names that started with "D" and ended with "akota". Dakota looked up and around, seeing a shadow down one of the alleyways. Her senses could pick up the energy of violence going through the head, and she declared it instantly as an Eraser. She started down the alley, looking rather calm, still looking at her bag as if she hadn't noticed them, but then looking up as she came within earshot. "You looking for a bird-kid?" She said innocently. "'Cause if so, I've just made your day."

• • •
status: OPEN
tags: ERASERS
limit: THREE
word count: BETWEEN 500 & 600...?
muse: GETTING BACK UP

[Tagg]

Tagg gave a short bark that could not be mistaken as anything but a laugh as she swiftly morphed from her huge, black wolf shape into the smaller human girl. The past months, almost year, had gone very badly for her back at the lab. She had been almost totally out of commission because of all the different experiments in order to enhance and update her abilities. They had left her weak, angry, and even crazier than before. They had not managed to do much besides lighten her bones a little but every other experiment and attempted update had not done much besides mess with her brain circuits even more. What she had experienced had not done much to improve her temperament either.

"Hello Dako." She said, using the shortened name she had given the avian human a while back for laughs and giggles. Her shape shimmered and twisted slightly, as if she could not decide whether to drop into wolf form or stay human. The past previous months had been as a wolf for most of the time. Pain was more bearable that way.

“I take it you got my little warning?” She asked, her voice hoarse from lack of use. She fiddled slightly with a small shining whistle, twirling it around her wrist and through her fingers with a nasty little smile on her face. The time where she had been restricted to her rooms had not been wasted. She had watched, learned, and copied a careless white coat with the ability to make the whistles and had taught herself how to fine tune it to individual avian humans. She hadn’t had a chance to test it yet; if the lab coats knew she had figured it out they would most likely do everything to stop her because she wasn’t exactly known to be loyal to anyone. Kill an avian human, kill a white coat alike.

Tagg knew that she had the advantage here. Dakota killed for survival, not pleasure. Dakota was strong, but Tagg had no boundaries. Nothing to lose. She was angry after being cooped up. She was angry at what they did to her. She was angry that they still had her. But most of all, she was hungry.

They had let her loose just two days ago. She had taken to the shadows instantly, quicker and nastier than any of the hell rats that New York had spawned. She had not originally gone after Dakota first but it had been the first smell she had stumbled across and she had lit up at the idea in an instant. Traitors. So many traitors. She wanted to kill them all, and might as well start with Dakota. Tagg was bloodier than ever when it came to fights, but she was also smarter. She had grown a fondness for mind games. Besides stealing the ability to make whistles, Tagg had used her time to find and try to match each of the bird kids to all the files. There were a lot, but she had had a lot of time. She memorized the ones that matched the avian humans she knew, and even if the lab coats were no longer sure which experiment belonged to which file, she did. She knew Dakota’s number now, and she knew everything that had been on the file. And she wasn’t telling anyone what she knew. She took her advantages over the white coats every chance she got.

Tagg snarled gleefully, her sharp teeth gleaming in the light.

[Dakota]

Dakota was maybe only ten feet away from the Eraser now, but as it spoke, it sent a shock of ice through her spine. Though she'd only met Tagg once, from what he memory supplied, she knew that she was a dangerous foe. Not only was she just a strong Eraser in the first place, but she was also slightly insane and didn't have any boundaries with how far she would go. Torture wasn't just an option with her, it seemed to be a mandatory thing. Damn, I really should make sure I know who I'm running into when I do something stupid like this, Dakota thought annoyedly, easily slipping into a defensive position as a ballerina would go from first position to second.

"Tagg," Dakota said briskly, her eyes narrowing and her voice laced with a light hostility. She wasn't ready to deal with somebody like Tagg, but Dakota knew that having wings was an advantage with Erasers, but she knew that it wouldn't be possible as Tagg spoke again, and she saw a flash of silver. There was a small chance that it could be some kind of throwing knife or disk. But the threat wouldn't be as ominous if she hadn't found the tiny whistle in her backpack. "Well, I guess I did. Fancy running into you as soon as I did," Dakota spoke with a calm composure, but she wasn't calm in her head. Of course, how could she be? This wasn't the best thing in the world to happen ever.

How would Tagg have gotten her information on her past. There couldn't be any information on her in New York already, could there? Unless, they'd finally sent some Erasers after her. Dakota couldn't be sure about anything these days. It was all rather confusing. She hadn't seen a lot of Erasers on the streets these days, so could it be possible that they were doing something dangerous, plotting a huge attack? She knew she was probably going into too much depth on the fact. She wasn't a paranoid freak, but she wasn't going to take chances. If there was more information on the bird-kids in the area, the Erasers would be swamping around and exploiting all these different facts.

It wouldn't be safe, for anybody. New Erasers and bird-kids came all the time, and since the Bird-kids couldn't keep files on all the Erasers that she knew of... Dakota shook her head to herself. The whistle could be a fake, there was no way that Tagg could've made one that actually worked unless she was getting outside help. If she had made it correctly, it wouldn't work as good as the good as the first one. It wouldn't be possible, since each whistle was nearly impossible to duplicate. But, then again, she hadn't seen Tagg around. She could've used all that extra time being locked away trying to make one. Oh, this really isn't looking good for anybody, is it?

Dakota knew with the facts she had right now, if that whistle really worked, then she was dead meat. She had grown accoustemed to the last one, but since she hadn't heard it in at least a year, even if it was half as good as the first one, it would still hurt like hell. She gave Tagg a smooth smirk, though it had a violent underside. Dakota knew that one of them was going to end up hurt, most likely extremely so, and she was the most definate underdog. If she was kidnapped from the streets, it would ruin her streak, but she could escape if needed, she was optimistic about that one last thing. Tagg's snarl was unnerving, but she knew that she couldn't get distracted now. She was at a terrible disadvantage. "Bring it."

[averant2]

(Aaah, it's been a while since I've written a good post. Hope I haven't lost my edge. Sam's not an Eraser, but she might as well be one.)

A small dark shape crouched high above them, watching from over the edge. The shadows enveloped Samantha faithfully, just like they always did, just like she always trusted them to. Completely hidden, nothing could give her away aside from scent, and there was no wind today in this alley. Even if they did smell her, they wouldn't have even a general location. Her mouth curled in a smile as she acknowledged a job well done once again. Samantha, a loyal servant of the darkness, watched on.

Sam reached up to rub her wing. Ever since it had been broken like a twig, it still itched from time to time, making a bit of an annoyance of itself. Raptor eyes zeroed in on Dakota. Seeing the whistle brought memories back. A corner of Samantha's mind drifted into the shadows of memory even as she kept vigil.

Whistles. Ah, she heard them often in her nightmares in the dark. She knew of their painful capabilities. They paralyzed her, directed her tormentors, told them where to find her. She knew all too well what they meant for any avian/human unfortunate enough to have one assigned to them. All too well...

Eyes glowed from the darkness as they watched as the fight raged. Even at the age of 8, the shadows worked for her, and she for them. She no longer had to hide from her hunters, for they had become the hunted in the recent past. As she watched the fight from the treebranch on the very edge of the forest, not ten feet from the fight. She knew they wouldn't see her. They didn't look up. None of them looked up. Even the birdkids never looked up when they were on the ground. It never occoured to them that there WAS an up, because usually THEY were the up.

And so Samantha watched unnoticed.

Samantha toyed with her bloody kitchen knife as Dakota and the other eraser traded blows, balancing the deadly tip on one finger. She vaguely wondered whether the scientists would take it back. She kney that they knew she had it. Nothing goes unaccounted for in the labs. Not even a single hairpin. If you didn't want them to know you had something, you had to make it yourself, out of materials given to you by Mother Nature. Samantha had a flint knife, but it was crude and probably could only be used a couple times before it broke. But it was a last resort anyway. For now, her main weapon was the razor sharp kitchen knife.

Suddenly the duo slammed into the tree, knocking off several large branches, including the one Sam was sitting on. She grunted in surprise and grabbed another branch, snagging her knife in the other hand as she swung herself up. Still no one noticed, neither bird kid, nor eraser, nor human. Sticking the knife in the bark of the tree, Samantha watched as Dakota walked off. Resettling herself on the new branch, Sam wondered why they were even training bird kids that wouldn't kill. Both they and the erasers were like fodder. Good for little else but taking the fatal blow while you recovered.

Light reflecting off the knife glittered in Sam's eyes.

She wondered...

"My, my," Samantha murmered as she watched Tagg pull out another whistle. "So there was some truth to that report. It seems that I won't have to take the whistle from Dakota after all." She rubbed her wing. "And I get a new person to fight. How fun."

Samantha smiled and settled her back against the wall, waiting until her moment to intervene.

[Tagg]

Tagg didn't realize then how rare and highly important the whistle was. She did not know that the person she had stolen the information from was actually the idiotic son of the last person on earth who knew how to design the whistles. She did not know either that his son only boasted, but could not actually made the whistle. But her whistle was real all right; her actually worked. Why? Because while he couldn't make it himself, the stupid young man knew how to describe it accurately. And like most creatures will brain handicaps, Tagg's brain was more developed in some ways than it was in others, making her a genius at a few things. Just by listening to him, she had been able to copy his design even when he could not. Luckily, none of the other white coats had been able to either.

Tagg giggled slightly, realizing something. "I know more about you then you do." She said slyly, advancing slightly and then circling a little further away. "And let me tell you, it is some very fabulous stuff." She said, her sharp teeth clenched in a furious smile. She was goating Dakota now, wanting to play with her food before she ate it in a sense. The white coats had files on all the experiments, even if they were hidden very deep in all the data and even they had forgotten about them. Unless you happened to be one of the very few bird children actually born to an avian human outside of the lab, you definitely had extensive files.

Tagg would not leave this fight unharmed, but the thing was that she didn't care. She would be unharmed enough to continue doing what she did best. Three guesses at what that was. She began advancing on Dakota again, her shape shimmering even more frantically as she struggled to stay human, giving her an even more insane look. The perfect circus side-show freak. Half human, half wolf, all predator. Then again, weren't they all? The only real advantage Tagg had over most of the other experiments was some messed up brain wiring.

Tagg had no plan for attacking Dakota; she never planned. Planning just ruined everything. She scoped out Dakota's weak spots, as few as there were. As before, the only major one she could find was that the girl only killed for survival. Tagg quickly processed how best to fight someone like that. After a few seconds, her only idea was to do what she normally did; shake the mind games and attack in a bloody, brutal, all strength and no tactics way.

Tagg also realized she had one other thing to her advantage, besides fighting to kill and the whistle; Dakota probably did not realize that Tagg had wings as well. She did not like using them very often because they caused her pain, but they blended well with her dark fur when a wolf, and tucked neatly into her back when human. Not that the bird kid could fly if she blew the whistle, assuming it worked, but still it was a nice advantage.

Tagg twirled the whistle once more around her wrist and then brought it to her mouth, her hooded eyes watching Dakota diligently for a reaction. In her focus, she did not even notice the other creature hiding in the shadows some way away. Her subconscious might have noticed it, but Tagg's attention was elsewhere at the moment. As if any other creature besides Fox could ever put her in her spot. With a quick breath, Tagg blew a short but shrill note into the whistle. She herself could not hear it, even with her superb hearing, but she watched to see if Dakota had.

[Dakota]

Dakota hoped beyond what she could hope that Tagg didn't know what she had made, or maybe she could've just picked one up for another bird-kid. Anything that would make her not freak out as much as she was right now. The memory was still resounding in her head, the shrill pitch always brought up the memories, making the sound seem higher and longer and more powerful. She wasn't prepared to try and fight somebody like Tagg in the first place, but if the whistle wasn't a fake then she wasn't in a good position. Dakota stopped her feet as her brain yelled for her to flee while she could, only manaing to take a step back before Dakota twisted her foot against the rocks to keep her in position.

As Tagg giggled, Dakota knew something was up. Tagg wasn't the kind of girl to giggle, and as she spoke, Dakota supressed the rising worry that was fluttering in her chest. You're letting too much get to your head, girl, how do you know she's not just messing with your head before she attacks? Dakota pursed her lips, knowing that emotions were the easiest way to get the advantage over another person. She knew this from experience, her power had shown her that, but she wasn't going to try and get the upper hand that way with Tagg. If it failed, she'd be susceptable to more attacks from her mental exhaustion. This wasn't the best thing for her in the world.

"Children play nicely," Dakota said, her voice level with a hint of commandment in it. She knew that if she kept her head high and focused on the weak points she could spot from Tagg, which really wasn't a lot, then she could ignore the mind games that she was trying to play. As Tagg took a step forward, Dakota could see the wolf side trying to take over, and it made her unnerved. Dakota refused to try and back up, though, since she knew it would make her look weak, scared, nervous... Everything that she was at the moment, really, but she didn't want to show it. Dakota wasn't one to show her emotions, anybod who's met her would know such. weakness was something that she could spare.

Dakota realized that she didn't know a lot about Tagg's fighting style or anything really other than the fact she Tagg fought for blood. She knew that if she tried to flee in the middle of a fight, Tagg would probably be able to track her down. She could feel this realization in her bones, chilling her and narrowing her eyes on their own accord. There were times where Dakota would fight for the death, which she'd only done once or twice, and it was usually when she needed the competitive edge. Eat or be eaten. It was a scary world around this place, and Dakota didn't want to die yet again. She would die fighting, at least.

Dakota could feel something in the back of her mind, tugging to get her attention, but her gaze was locked with Tagg in a staredown. If Dakota would've had a second, she probably would've been able to pick up the emotion without a body that was lurking in the shadows. Her attention was temporarily diverted as Tagg brought the whistle to her mouth and blew it. Dakota tried not to pay any attention to it, but even as short as it was, she could feel the sensors in her head firing of red signals, telling her to cover her ears. She couldn't conceal the wince, though, but she refused to bring her hands to her ears. She knew that she just gave away that the whistle did indeed work, but she couldn't think about that right now.

Dakota took a step forward, narrowing her eyes even further so that they were just slits now, her old instinct to launch into battle taking effect, but she withheld. She knew that as soon as she pounced, Tagg would blow the whistle or attack back without mercy. Dakota needed her to make the first move, it would be easier for Dakota on the defensive side than on the offensive until she figured out how Tagg was going to fight. "Anytime now, Taggerung."