Realization [p]

Pico was crumpled in a nest of old, moth-eaten sheets in Lukas's favorite clinic. He steadied himself to his feet--as he remembered he was male after Lukas pointed out he had both male and female features--and looked around. He limped as he moved, afraid of unsettling the dogs who were kind enough to let him recover here. His leg was almost better by now, he could feel it. But the stupid splint was still on it. He wanted to chew it off and had begun to nibble at it when his foggy brain remembered it's purpose. Lukas had explained to him not to take it off, that it would help his leg to heal straight and quickly.

However, he was itchy to wander and so, he started to step into the streets of Forkrun. He whined as he took his awkward steps out. The pain shot up his leg when he accidentally put weight on it. As he headed out to goodness knows where, he saw his reflection in a rain puddle. At first, it meant nothing to him, but he got a flash of a memory of a dog with tousled hair and a keenness to his expression which lent to a rakish air and a devil-may-care attitude. Now? That tousled fur made him look pathetic and unclean though it did well to hide his mutations from a distance. The awkward tusks of his bottom canines jutting out from an over-sized jaw, with a grotesque lump on the left side of his face--his only working venom gland. He wiped his drool into his loins, making the fur slicked down on either side of his lower back.

And he walked, right leg held stiff by his splint, turning the faces of other dogs as he moved into expressions of either horror or eager curiosity or soft pity. They knew him here. Where was here? Right, Ash River. It's a pack though. Ash River Project. And he was glad that he had had enough sense to figure that out.

He paused when he came across a scent he thought he knew. Of course, it was Ashton, but there was also blood. And Tarin... What name was that? Had he ever met a Tarin before?

Livid , Ashton , Aoife

Ashton & Livid

You didn't have to look my way. Your eyes still haunt me to this day. But you did. Yes, you did.

Ashton led the two dogs into the pack to run into Pico. "Hi there Pico! What are you doing out and about? I thought you were put on bed rest? Are you disobeying orders?"  He asked as he looked at the slicked down fur.  "Could you possible lead us to Lukas? I need my tail patched up. It was quite the tale. I sat down on a trap. I am quite the clutz. If it wasn't for these two I would have been stuck there all day. They are looking for a dog. I mean, what else would bring them down to Ash River?"  He rambled on.

Livid looked over to her friend. The lie Ashton told was so full of holes. His tail obviously looked it was chomped off and he could be seen wincing. Livid was tempted to attack the Mutant but something about him reminded her of Aoife. She looked down to her friend and grumbled around the tail she had picked up. She felt bad because she was the one who ripped it off. "Do you know this dog?" She asked Aoife while setting the tail down next to her paws. She was shocked he wasn't spilling the beans about her. She felt the guilt and wanted to roar out that she was one who did that.

Notes: Ashton likes to ramble......

Aoife, Pico

dog (cc) Mark Alan Dooley @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea

Ashton spoke to him, but Pico had trouble following what he was saying. So many words so quickly. It took him a lot of time to process the sentences and Pico's eyes stared dumbly back. He tried to fight to get understanding, to make words back, but all he could manage was a strange purling noise that came from the back of his throat. Babbling like a brook. His tongue adjusted its position in his mouth. The mouth sounds unnerved Aoife.

At the site of Pico, Aoife's face crinkled in disgust. He was a mutant creature. And if he was a dog, he wasn't one any longer now. The terrier mix was almost afraid of what the hell he was. His appearance was grotesque. His body bent and weird and broken. He wore a splint and Aoife wondered why his leg was broken. The mutant was staring at her. His light brown eyes looking back at her. They didn't remind her of her father. He held a sharp gaze, one that could make the young dog stand at attention when she was a pup, eat up all the stories he gave her of his journeys. This creature could not do that. 

"Really Livid? It doesn't look like it knows anything."

Pico started to approach Ashton and the pair from Winterwood, his eyes on the tail rather than on the dogs. He was low, submissive. He thought he could pick it up and show it to Lukas, but wasn't fast enough, as Aoife growled and stomped at the mutant, which caused him to shrink back. "Get away from us, mutant!" It was bad enough that she was standing next to a dog who didn't even have all the skin on his side--and was a liar.

Pico made a whine--the most canine-like sound he could make--and his tongue tried to find a comfortable place in his mouth. He mulled over what Ashton had said because he wanted to prove that he was good to the visitors. His own words were broken and he tried to pull them out of the cobwebs in his mind and managed to piece together a sentence. Somewhat. "Lukas back soon." His words came out slurred and mumbled as he struggled to make himself understood.

He retreated back into the clinic to wait for Lukas and as he limped in, he glanced back to make sure that the dogs were following him.

Ashton, Livid

Ashton & Livid

You didn't have to look my way. Your eyes still haunt me to this day. But you did. Yes, you did.

Ashton looked at the small terrier mixed dog and sighed. "Well if you would just follow me. I will show you clinic so that we can wait for Lukas. Maybe Lukas would be willing to find the Alpha?" He mumbled the last sentence to himself. The small acted like the big dog when it came to a certain type of animal. 


Livid was shocked and somewhat proud at what she did to the mutant. Ashton spoke up saying they should head to Clinic to wait for Lukas. Which she guessed as he soon mumbled something to himself. She looked at him as he started to walk after the mutant. She saw that one of its legs was in a splint and thought that he deserved it. She looked around and kept the rottweiler in her sights at all times. 


Lukas, Aoife, Pico


OOC: I am tagging Lukas so that he can come into the clinic on the next post.

dog (cc) Mark Alan Dooley @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea

Pico waited in the clinic and saw that Aoife followed in. She was tentative, distrustful, and it took everything for her not to just bolt out of there. The machines in the clinic were largely dormant, though she could hear the hum of working power in the walls. He limped into the small nest of blankets that Lukas had made for him. Pico kept his gaze on the terrier mix. She seemed familiar and he was racking his brain to figure out who she was to him.

Lukas walked towards the clinic. His Bowerbird, which he had started to call Bowwie, hovered near him, as always. He had finished collecting herbs again and wondered if he could train the mutant that Ashton and Finley had found in one of their exploits. After the creature recovered of course. It was a strange and fascinating find. And rather tame already. If only he could get to vivisect him to see how everything worked in his body. He entered his clinic and paused when he saw that there was a crowd inside rather than simply Pico.

His green-gold eyes were on Ashton's stub which needed looked at. Now, he looked like the working Rottweilers that Luke trained with when he was still owned by humans. Training to be in the military. Lukas's eyes lingered on the window in Ashton's side. It was indulgent to stare at the way the dog's body worked and he enjoyed simply looking. It was fascinating. He cleared his throat and switched his attention to the new females who had entered the clinic.

"So, we've brought guests, Ashton. And you have an injury?" The Bowerbird automatically started to scan the injury to Ashton's tail-stub, a soft blue light emitting from it as it retrieved quick data about how long ago this injury had been sustained. "Can you tell me what happened to it?"

Aoife watched, her eyes wide as the Physician entered the scene. She scooted backwards and then realized she was closer to Pico and that caused her to leap up in the air. Pico tilted his head, he had a flash of a memory. He could recall Tarin doing the same thing when she mistook a branch on the ground for a venomous snake and startled. And the both of them laughed about it. His mouth tried to work out the words and he fought with his tongue and jaw to get it out. "Taaa'in." Vowel heavy speech. His eyes were boring into her, so focused and so sure he knew who she was.

"Keep your creature away from me. It's creeping me out." Aoife said.

Pico kept staring at her. Social tact was something he lost when he mutated into what he was now. He couldn't look away, afraid of losing his grip on the memory of Tarin. He couldn't remember exactly who she was to him. But he remembered that she loved him with all of her heart and he loved her back just as much.

Ashton , Livid

Livid& Ashton

You didn't have to look my way. Your eyes still haunt me to this day. But you did. Yes, you did.

Ashton looked at Lukas with a guilty smile. His Chough floating next to him. "Well you see, It was a trap. I was being a clutz and sat on a trap." He laughed out and looked at him closely. "Could you patch it up? I was also wandering if you could find the Alpha for these two dogs." He said while motioning too the two dogs.

Livid looked at Ashton as he interacted with the Physician. The guilt finally got to her and she spoke up before the dog could reply. "He is lying. I got mad and bit his tail off. It was my fault and my companion had nothing to do with it."  She said and looked down at the ground. She felt disappointed and she was sad that she would even attack another dog. "It was the worse mistake I made. He didn't even get mad at me. I feel so guilty and I am so sorry Ashton."  She rambled on and sat down scraping the floor with her paw.

OOC: Let the drama begin!

Lukas, Pico

dog (cc) Mark Alan Dooley @ flickr | table coding by Quirky Tea