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The Light and the Dark in the Soul (Anaeria and razerwing)

"Perfectly fine with me." Rafael took an instant dislike to this human man. He was the alpha in this scenario plus Imalia smelled like him, he'd been touching her. Growling quietly, he took a step forward at the threats then stopped short when Imalia put her hand up and growled as well, her own much more menacing coming from her tinier form than his own. "Back. Off. Go back to the Forest and patrol the borders. It's been completely dealt with out here, you have no say in the matters. Make certain that any humans who attempt to get in are....discouraged. Roughed up perhaps but do not kill them. And do NOT bite them. Your pack is large enough as it is." The very idea of biting a human for anything but killing them was disgusting to the male Lycanen, and he stepped back a pace.

Bowing to her mockingly, the man responded "Very well. I go. But if my pack is curious, I will not stop them." Turning his back to her, a sign of disrespect, the Lycanen male turned and headed for the forest at a loping run that changed to all fours fluidly as he became wolf once more, his pack members doing the same....all except a young adult male who remained, shifting his feet and looking embarrassed. After his Pack was gone, the young man edged up to Imalia tentatively, looking to be somewhere in my mid twenties or so. He was having some troubles with his human form, always had had trouble with that, so his ears were canine and he had a tail, as well as a slim line of brown and black fur that ran up his spine. Imalia looked at him silently for a moment....then smiled as he shivered and looked back in the direction of his pack. "Why are you here Aaron? Your pack has left." Aaron, looking back at Imalia, shook his head fast and then spoke "They are...they are not Pack anymore...I'm too old to be part of it now....they would have run me off in the next few days....could...could I...erm..." Unable to ask, since he'd been literally the bottom of the line, an Omega wolf, which meant he was the weakest in that Pack, he looked around at the humans, his ears pressed back to his skull as his humanoid form flickered and then abruptly vanished, replaced with his wolf form sitting on the ground.

Imalia had to keep from laughing as the disconcerted expression on the wolf's face as he scrambled to his paws, looking at himself...then whined and flopped over onto his back, showing belly and throat to her and pretty much everyone in the vicinity. "Oh fine. Relax Aaron, you're welcome here, just don't bite or hurt anyone okay?" Getting to his paws again, the wolf yipped and stepped forward to nudge at the woman's hands then looked at Boyd carefully, since she smelled like him, and wagged his tail slowly, head down a little. Asking permission.
 
Boyd narrowed his eyes, matching every step Rafael took, even go so far as to fire a round off into the air when he said he wouldn't stop his pack if they got curious. "You'd damn well better. I don't want to have to bring the military in to hunt you down." The cop shook his head as the wolf and his pack retreated, motioning for his guys to relax. Until he saw one of them standing there, edging up to Imalia. Boyd readied his weapon just in case, but a look at the Unician said that she considered the wolf-man pretty much harmless. Aaron was his name. Boyd took off his helmet, raising an eyebrow as he basically disowned the pack he used to belong to. Fernandes smiled warmly, patting Boyd on the shoulder before going over to gently pat the new wolf on the head. "Relax Boyd, this one seems pretty cool actually."

When the wolf nuzzled Imalia's hand, and then turned to him, looking like he was asking to do the same, Boyd warmed up a little bit. He gave a small nod, holding out his hand. He'd have to watch him though. He couldn't be sure if this was some trick on Rafael's part. He didn't like that wolf, not in the least, and it wouldn't pain him to see that pompus canine bite the dust.
 
Aaron nudged his hand as the human stuck it out, then looked at Fernandes for a moment when she ruffled his fur and sneezed, the dust from the sun warmed earth making his nose itch. Neither he, nor Imalia knew what the woman meant by the Omega wolf seeming cool, they certainly weren't cold in the least, but went along with it and people started to relax....until a child's shriek from the woods and a deep growl made Imalia's face harden.

Within seconds, the Alpha Rafael was storming out of the trees, a human child in his hands as the kid squirmed and hollered at the top of his lungs. Somehow, the child had managed to slide around into one of the buildings that the forest had partially taken over, ducking under the barricade and finding a small hole in the fencing that had been put up. He'd been poking his head into a hole where a Corren-snake was denning when Rafael had found him and scared the everliving crap out of him by his growl. The kid was no more than eight or nine, scruffy and dirty, but unharmed as the alpha male leapt off the rock, hit the ground with a THUD, and proceeded to shove the child at Fernandes with a quiet growl. "Not bitten. Not hurt. Just scared shitless. I take it those are the rules." Without bothering to really stop, he turned around and headed for the forest again, his stature rigid. He'd done his job. He'd done it well, and he'd keep doing it until Imalia told him otherwise, but he wasn't happy about it.

The fright that the child had gone through, plus the sudden change from tense to relaxed right back to tense again finally took a small toll on Imalia, who, as Rafael headed back into the trees, sank to the ground and began to laugh as the kid struggled to be put down, wanting to go right back into the trees where he'd just had the crap scared out of him. "That...was so....AWESOME! Lemmego!" The brat was loud too, wanting to go back in and almost kicking at the woman who held onto him. He was scrawny and malnurished, obviously a runaway though Imalia didn't know that as she looked over at the kid with some relief, Aaron nudging her arm lightly since she'd sort of sat down on her naked ass without so much as a hint that she was going to do so again. "He's a spunky one...."
 
The child's scream sent everyone into an instant stage of readiness, guns pointed on Rafael as he trotted out with the child in his arms. Boyd waved the guns down, seeing the kid was squirming healthily, no blood dripping anywhere. He was okay. "Well, aside from a slight heart attack, he's perfectly fine," he said, checking the kid's pulse the second the Lycanen let go of him. A woman rushed forward, taking the kid into her arms. "Put him somewhere safe. I want him out of state. He obviously ran away from something, so he won't be going home." The woman nodded, rushing off. "I want security around here tight. Add as many men as you have to, I don't want anyone else going through. Fernandes patted Boyd again, looking into the forest where Rafael re-entered. "I'm glad you made it out alive and in one piece. You have enormous balls to be going in there alone, you know that?" Boyd simply chuckled, shaking his head.

The man looked at Imalia, tilting his head. "So...... what do we do now?" The lady came back with the child, still kicking and struggling. "Uh... sir, he doesn't have any parents. He says he wants to go back into the forest." He looked at Imalia again. "This kid is persistent. I don't think it would be smart thought." Boyd shook his head, motioning for the woman to come closer. "Bring him to base. I think we can spare a few people to keep the little tyke entertained until we find where to put him." She nodded, picking him up and towing him off.
 
Rafael nodded curtly before he left, his form vanishing into the trees again as Imalia laughed and got herself back under control. The sun was going down now however, and she quickly grew solemn as she watched the beautiful, brilliant ball of light and warmth fading. "Rafael will hold the Forest, so we should not have any others coming forth from it until I say so, he may be rough and he may be somewhat rude, but he knows what he's doing, and will do a good job....in the mean time....we should set up a base camp of sorts, where teams...units..? Can call in so we can triangulate their positions during the hunts for the Rathgnarls...." Suddenly unsure herself, the Unician woman picked herself up off the ground and looked about. There was plenty of space here at the edge of the Forest for there to be a station set up properly, but she was uncertain as the to the layout of the city and thus, entirely perplexed.

"It would be so much better if there were an air troupe available who could sight the Rathgnarls...they generally hate ground level stalking and tend to prefer heights, but will go underground into caverns and the like during the daylight hours...I think, that attack earlier is very much a strange occurence for their kind...." Looking at Boyd, she shook her head slightly then peered at Aaron as he shifted to humanoid form, crouched on the ground at her side lightly and looking at them so he could speak "If....if it is alright....I can help with tracking and...I'm a fast runner too...."
 
Boyd nodded, shaking his head as he watched the sun go down. It had been an unbelievably strange day, maybe the night would be even stranger. With a shrug, he turned to the wolf, and then to the Unician. "Well, we can set up a base camp here. Your Forest landed in the middle of the two Broadways, so there's only three roads leading in to this. Right here would be a great spot. The good thing is, we also have a radio tower nearby, so our radio connections will be almost unbroken. We'll be able to keep contact throughout the city." He nodded, looking up at the sky.

"We can get a hold of air units I believe. I'll have to talk to the Higher-ups about it, but I don't think they'll mind. How many do you think we'll need?" Boyd tilted his head, taking in the wolf, who now shifted into his humanoid form. He was starting to like this one, but he seemed a little soft-spoken. "You know, you don't have to be nervous around us. We aren't going to hurt you. You actually seem nice. Yes, we need fast runners and good trackers. Although for the running part, we have cars." He thought for a little bit, taking into account the places those bat things might be. "You know what, we'll need people like you Aaron. Our cars can't go into forested areas like this one." He gestured to Imalia's Forest. "You can stay at base. I think, however, you'll either need to work on staying in your human form, or learn to communicate like Grandpa wolfy over there. Can you talk telepathically?"
 
Aaron shook his head and stood up slowly, hiding a little behind Imalia, who patted his shoulder reassuringly as the human Alpha encouraged him to relax. Rafael wasn't mean, but as an Omega Aaron was the weakest link in the Pack, and so he had learned to obey more easily, it wasn't out of cruelty, but more out of respect that he was like he was. "I can't talk in fourpawed form yet, still too young in power." His ears twitched lightly as he listened to them all speak, Imalia mulling over the options. "I can be a messenger, I can run for days without tiring much." Actually a bit excited at the prospect of being useful, he looked at Fernandes and Boyd again then looked away towards the forest. "I can stay at base and run when you need me to...uhm...I can stay in human form but...I'm not very good at it yet." Reaching up, he touched his ears to prove his point, and his tail flicked once or twice.

Imalia was about to speak up when a female officer showed up before Aaron and tapped him on the shoulder, holding a pair of pants for him. The young man yelped and jumped about a foot in the air at the surprise, turned too fast and tripped over his own two feet...and the two went sprawling, Imalia stuck under him getting the breath knocked out of her. Without even pausing Aaron was up and off of her, fully wolf and very, very sorry as she sat up, sucked in a deep breath and coughed. "Gods....Aaron you're heavy..." Shaking her head, the Unician woman got back to her feet slowly and rubbed her side where his elbow had smacked into her as they'd fallen, and the wolf cowered until she looked at him with exasperation. "Oh stop that, you've done worse with the pups before, so relax already." Her words, since she was a full out Alpha in his mind, and he knew her better, served to relax the wolf, who slid in beside her, watching the officer carefully who cleared her throat and offered him the pants again as he shifted to human. His face bright red with embarassment, he accepted the clothing and put them on a little awkwardly as Imalia turned back to Boyd with a wry grin. "Wolves, what else can I say. But you're right, here would make for a good base camp. I don't know your numbers for air units, are they any good at night? That's when the Rathgnarls will be flying, looking for prey. I know the griffins will possibly help out in exchange for nesting supplies, but they are only good for hunting during the day, the lights here will confuse them too much for them to be of any use...and a twenty foot, five hundred pound griffing flying into a building all confused will probably not be very good for human/Other relations..."
 
Boyd chuckled at the awkward, jumpy wolf, smiling at him when he got up and accepted the clothes offered. He seemed to wear it just as awkwardly as Imalia had worn the dress before she shifted and tore it to shreds. It was kind of cute. Fernandes couldn't help but laugh a little at the awkwardness of the wolf-person. For some reason, he reminded her of another thing she'd only seen on the internet. A kemonomimi. A human with the ears and tail of an animal. Finally, they got back to business, although every now and then Fernandes would launch into a fit of giggles. "Yes, our helicopters are good, especially at night. We have the civilian ones outfitted with searchlights, and if the heli's are military grade, they'll have night vision and heat vision. So I believe we can be equipped to handle just about any situation." She described the griffins, and how having them smash into buildings wasn't good, and he had to agree. Once again, he was sent into a laughing fit, wiping a tear from his eyes as he doubled over, holding his gut in pain from laughing so hard.
 
Finally becoming mildly annoyed at the random laughter that seemed to erupt from the humans, for no apparent reason, Imalia put her hands on her hips and huffed before asking "And what is so funny you guys? Seriously, you are beginning to make me think you've had too much wine, and I haven't seen either of you drink anything!" Aaron was fascinated with Fernandes' laugh, it was bright and clear and full of amusement, his ears perking forwards curiously as he listened to her laugh. He barely heard anything that the male Alpha, Boyd, said about helicopters and the like, but was happy that something was making Fernandes happy and smiled a little as well, though he was just as confused as Imalia was.

Grandfather, who had been lightly napping and yet still managed to pay attention, caught the image of the kemonomimi creature from Fernandes' thoughts and snorted in amusement as well, projecting the image of Aaron overlapped onto that humans' image and sending it to them all, who both blinked, looked at each other....then burst out laughing as well, though Aaron went beet red with a mix of embarrassment and hilarity. "Oh my goodness....oh gods....that is ridiculously accurate!" Wiping some tears from her own eyes after her laughing fit, Imalia took one look at Aaron and was off again laughing, the wolf-boy no longer laughing, but understanding the funniness about it. "I'm....I'm not th-that weak looking!" Trying not to sound like something had his tail in a vice, the wolf-boy still squeaked a bit in indignation, then, if it was even possible, went redder in the face and shook his head as Imalia laughed harder, doubling over as Boyd had done while Grandfather wolf picked up more images and overlapped his with them before sending them to everyone nearby, his own thoughts immensely amused. One guy who had seen an image in passing of a unicorn-like anthropomorph thought of that as well and the image was snagged by Grandfather, considered, then sent to Imalia and Boyd and Fernandes, the image shockingly accurate except for the eyes of the creature, and the hide colouring, which was white whereas Imalia was black. "....Oh my...." Blinking at the image, she looked at Boyd, then at Fernandes and stopped laughing slowly, her sides aching from that intense stress release.
 
Boyd shook his head, patting Imalia on the shoulder. "Oh, oh, you'd have to see what I'm thinking to understand." Fernandes looked at Aaron and couldn't help but start laughing again, pulling the wolf into a big hug. "Aww, come here you cute little thing you!" She took her helmet off, nuzzling Aaron's neck, managing to control her laughter a little. That was until Grandfather projected an image of Aaron as a wolf neko to the entire crowd. Everyone started laughing, except for a few very determined souls who managed to keep a straight face.

Boyd chuckled, barely staying among those with a straight face, but the image of a white anthro Imalia sent him over the edge, doubling over and falling to his knees. Fernandes went wide-eyed, patting Boyd's shoulder, trying to get him to stand up. A few of the other SWAT members fell over, the sounds of their armor and helmets hitting the ground only adding to the humor of the moment. For a few moments, this is how it went on, people finally starting to calm down, regaining the ability to stand. Most of them were holding their sides, or wiping away tears of laughter. Boyd chuckled, wobbling a little as he stood. "Oh, heheheheh, Grandpa's got a sense of humor. Good job wolfy." He grinned at the large wolf, looking at Imalia and blushing slightly. "Hope you don't mind being laughed at. I'm sorry if you're a little embarrassed. Humans are kind of perverted that way."
 
Aaron yelped as Fernandes yanked him into a hug, his face bright red as she nuzzled him. Hesitantly, he lifted his arms and patted her back a little as she laughed, his neck rather sensitive in his human form. Imalia, seeing that, chuckled even as her own face flamed pink at Granfathers' images. She had a form like that actually, and she smiled slightly as the people around her began to settle, her eyes twinkling faintly with mirth as she shifted, her body growing soft black fur all over. Her legs cracked visibly and shifted backwards, feet hardening and becoming hooves that chimed lightly against the hard packed earth. Her body grew somewhat lankier as her horn formed, her face grew slightly slimmer and her hair grew longer until she was what the human world would term her to be anthropomorphic, a perfect blend of Unician and Human woman. She didn't have a tail however, and her eyes and fur were black unlike the form that Grandfather wolf had found.

Shifting her jaw lightly, she turned and looked at Boyd and the others with a faint smile. "So this is what you humans call a...furry....? Strange, it's just a normal form for me." When several of the people stared her in stunned disbelief, she turned to look at them and blinked, then shifted back to her human form and stretched lightly. "So! How about setting up base camp then, it's getting dark and close to when the Rathgnarls will be hunting....."
 
He smiled, shaking his head at Fernandes and the wolf-man. Ah, humans and their fantasies. He loved them. He chuckled, shaking his head, turning back to Imalia. At first, he couldn't say anything, gawking at her furry form, blinking once or twice before she returned to her normal nude body. "Uh...... y-yeah. Let's get to setting up a base here." He shook his head roughly, rubbing his forehead and turning to his snickering cops. "Well, let's go then! Come on, get the vans and material in place. See if we can't get a few heavier guns for the guards." They nodded, dashing off to get the things needed for a temporary base camp.

Fernandes however was still hugging Aaron, nibbling on his neck just the slightest bit before letting him go to go do her duties. They were efficient. Everyone had gotten the laughter fit out of their systems, although there was still humor in the air. Everyone was getting to work, setting up laptops and lights, placing vans to form some kind of wall.
 
Aaron was in a happy place as Fernandes held onto him, but he jumped as she nibbled his neck and his grip on her tightened for a moment before he let her go to get her work done, his hand going to his neck where she'd nipped him as he went to work helping people set up equipment, learning about electricity and the like as he went along and trying to help more than hinder as lights and vehicles moved into place, forming a wall of sorts that people moved in and out and around constantly. After a couple of hours he found himself with nothing really to do and ended up near Fernandes, watching her unpack better weapons and ammunition and assign them to people. During a lull in the activity he approached her cautiously and peeked over her shoulder, ears twitching as he looked at the weapons curiously. They were nothing like the natural weapons that he had, or Imalia or his old Alpha had, and their smell was sort of....well, bad, but he looked at Fernandes questioningly after a moment then said "You know....uhm....might not want to bite a Lycanthrope...it's....kind of a turn on for most..." His face flared red again as he told her, and took a few steps back away from the weapons and her in case she took offence, ready to run if she yelled at him.

Imalia in the mean time was having alot of fun watching Boyd. She had no idea how humans set up a base camp, since she held a link to those within her forest, all of those who required aid or direction, she had no need for radios and the like, but watching how he organized and set everyone up so efficiently was quite enlightening for her, and she helped where she could as well; directing the wolves and several new creatures who joined more subtly from the forest. Several pixies carried notes and notices to people around the camp, while a dozen or so child-like creatures with the eyes and ears and tails of small animals such as rabbits and sqirrels darted in and around people to carry cords and generators and the like to specific places. And that wasn't all. Within a matter of hours there was also a centaur who was helping humans to understand the languages of the creatures who didn't speak english, he was calm and gentle and did so by taking control of the humans' minds one at a time and slipping the information within their memories from childhood onwards, so that it appeared to them as though they had grown up fluent in Pixine or Kyne or Other. Most had mild headaches afterwards, but the centaur, named Auron, sent them to yet another newcomer. She was a Dryad, one of only ten left within the entire forest who had not gone comatose with the lack of the sunlight within the Dark Space. She was a timid looking, frail woman whose pale green skin and soft brown eyes put others at ease, though her slim, willow-branch like hair was odd on her body. The Others, all of them from the Wolves to the Dryad, were under Imalia's control and by the time everything was set up, nearly all of the units had at least two people who could understand Other, there were some paramedics working with the Dryad, who had brought a good store of her own healing ointments and balms to share in case there were injuries, and was sitting on a folding bed lecturing them about the poisons and various toxins that the Rathgnarls' teeth, claws and even their blood held and what to do about it. Looking over at Boyd, Imalia sighed as there was a lull in noise and chattering, the light atmosphere helping her keep control over her thoughts and natural skittishness. "How soon before the units can go out do you know?"
 
They had the place fortified in just under half an hour, and the last thing they needed was to unpack the heavier guns. M16's and M1014's were placed onto a large table and distributed among the teams. Vaguely, the female cop wondered if tear gas would affect those bat things. They'd just have to find out wouldn't they? She sighed, shaking her head. When she was done, she noticed Aaron behind her and grinned, turning towards him. Of course, when he told her about the neck being a turn on, she didn't look away, or even seem embarrassed like he was. "I figured. It seems to be a turn on for a lot of people." That was when she blushed, looking away. "Or so I've heard....."

Boyd raised an eyebrow, looking at the radio's that were in the back of one of the trucks. "Uh, how the hell are we suddenly getting military grade stuff? Can anybody explain to me why we have military radio packs here?" An officer who wasn't there before strode over, carrying a clip board. "Well, President saw the news, called HQ. We told them what had happened, and how our MP5's killed them, but took some time, so he ordered that we got heavier weapons. I don't know why he believed it as fast as he did though." The officer shrugged. "I mean, hell, I wouldn't believe it myself if I wasn't standing in front of this forest." Boyd sighed, shaking his head and sitting down on a crate next to the table. New species had joined them, at least two people in each group going to the centaur to learn the languages of the new comers. Him and Fernandes were one of those, and he seemed to be the only one out of that particular pairing with a headache. He jumped a little as Imalia seemingly came out of nowhere. His mind was racing. So much magic, stuff he didn't believe in. In one day he had been attacked, one of his cops had been killed, Fernandes and a werewolf were flirting at each other. He was starting to wonder if magic had existed all this time, if it had been coursing through the planet and he just refused to believe it. What if it had tried to kill him? Or one of his guys? He shook his head, sighing, forcing those thoughts to the back of his mind. "We are ready to deploy right now. We've always been ready to deploy. Just tell me whether or not they have a thing for city lights or not and I'll have patrols set up and on their way."
 
"Rathgnarls hunt by sound, sight and body heat....the lights of the city grow warm here yes? They will be confused for a few nights until they learn better I would think." Frowning in thought as she considered the places where the Rathgnarls would feel most comfortable hunting, Imalia looked at Boyd after a minute or so and asked "Are there any wooded areas around the city? The beasts may go there to get their bearings, none of the animals and Others within this forest will stand for having those filthy things within their home now that the Forest is freed, and Rafael, though he may be annoying, is a very good fighter and will protect his home with his life if needed." Parks and the like were wooded, most having trees of some kind though she didn't have a name for what she was speaking of. Looking over a map in one of the tents a few minutes later she found one large expanse of trees and walkways and the like and pointed to it. "Here. They will most likely congregate here and branch out once they get their bearings. People should be cautioned against going to this place, kept out." She still couldn't read the human language, so the squiggly words on the map meant nothing to her eyes, but the landscape was what she could read best anyways, and though it had taken a little while for her to understand roads and the like, she knew a forested area when she saw one on the strange parchment nowadays called paper. The centaur, Auron, stepped up then and nodded to Boyd respectfully before he reported in to Imalia. "Milady, the rest of the Herd wishes to aid in the fight against the Rathgnarls. Is it possible for us to form a unit of ground-riders?" That was a surprise, that the normally mysterious, gentle creatures that were Centauriens would wish to fight willingly against the enemy. Looking to Boyd, the woman considered the units of humans and wolves, the various humans and messengers, then nodded slowly. "I think we could place you with a chaser unit, perhaps for when the Rathgnarls get grounded, your team could keep the beasts from running until they are disposed of....what do you think Boyd?"

Seeing her response, and her blush, Aaron blinked and then smiled slowly. She was really pretty normally, but that pink colouring to her cheeks made her adorable, and he reached out without thinking to touch a lock of her hair that had slipped over her eyes, brushing it away gently so he could see her a bit better. "You are....very pretty, do yu know that? Strong and beautiful....a very good mix in a woman." His tone was little more than a murmur, but he smiled anyways and then leaned in quickly and pressed a light kiss to her throat where she had nipped him earlier. Then, quickly again in case she took offence, he danced just out of reach and grinned mischieviously. His more playful side was beginning to come out, now that he knew his place in this whole mess, more or less, and he found he could relax a bit more.
 
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