Ambush is all in the technique

[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~Don't stand up, they'll shoot down the first one who tries.
Try to change the world, they'll think you're out of your mind.~

I shook my head defiately, wondering why this taser affected me at all. I was a horse and to a horse, this must seem like a little jolt! Right? Apparently not. But perhaps its the human blood that flows through your veins also along with the shifter blood that makes this taser work so well. You aren't all horse.

I could feel my horse form start to slip away and I bared my teeth as I struggled to hold it. Once I shifted back to human form I might as well give up and dig my own grave because I knew I stood no chance against Jane that way. Neck arched and sides heaving from my internal fight, I shoved my humanity to the back of my mind, embracing the horse; giving it full control. It was a last ditch effort.

The horse filled my mind and ran wild only for an instant before its control shattered. I felt myself shifting, melting back into human Ashleigh. I stood on my own two feet for a moment before falling to the ground, unable to control my stiffened muscles.

Thud. I lay on the ground listening to my heart's rapid pulse and my now labored breathing. I hadn't noticed in my eternal struggle I hadn't notice her pull out her pull a gun out. I glared at her with hardened dark brown eyes, still rebellious even when I was about to die. Even though she had brought me down, she hadn't broken my spirit, hadn't made me cower or beg in fear. My thoughts raced to find a way to escape but there was no clever solution this time. All the times that I had recklessly challenged the EF and then promptly cheated them of a kill, had finally caught up with me. I was finished, done, over and it was my own fault.

~Revolutions start when someone crosses the line.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Cross The Line.)

[{J I S A}]

I’M STUCK HERE IN THE MIDDLE
AT WAR WITH GOOD AND EVIL

It was pent up instinct that'd had Jisa prowling like a caged tiger all day. Through the time that Ash had come to spend at the mansion on the edge of Clearstone's boundaries, Jisa had become especially in tune to both the girls she deemed in her protection, even if they were capable of taking care of themselves. Irrationally, the distinct, peculiar sensation of wrongness had sank deep into her stomach, sent her skin crawling with goose bumps and tugging at her heart. Repeatedly, she'd told herself that she was being an idiot. She'd been the one to tell Ash to go home, hadn't she? Now she felt the profound beginnings of an age-old worry take up residence in her body and couldn't handle the uncertainty of distance? Ash wasn't home yet- or, well, whatever Jisa's house was to the younger Shifter, so there wasn't anything Jisa could do to protect her.

Bubbling over with tense, black energy, Jisa had stalked out of the big house, muttering a goodbye to Anya as she had gone, and resolved to pace the streets of Clearstone to clear her head and rid herself of her unwarranted stress. Her inability to soothe her fears or do anything useful as a result just intensified the anger, and so the problem stood.

The piercing whinny of something far more substantial than fear broke through the dam of Jisa's restraint and the waters of her dread burst forth. Acting on pure instinct, she had surged toward the source of the sound, trying to pinpoint the echoes as she went. The smell of electric air and the feel of violence slipped into her veins and goaded her on. All the while, she just couldn't catch her breath.

She raced into view, her heart in her throat and threatening to choke her just as Ash lost the fight to stay in her human form. Jane, that EF Hunter from the bar that one time, stood victorious above her, aiming the gun down at Ash's fallen figure. Jisa could taste the copper tang of fury blooming on her tongue. Red clouded her sight.

The EF had used her closest friends against her to bend her to their will, and they weren't going to hold up their end of the deal? That just didn't fly, not with what Jisa had to go through on her own because of it. Without thought, she put herself between the Hunter and her fallen friend and held her hands up, as if to warn Jane not to shoot.

”I don’t think you want to pull that trigger.”

There were only a few ways that this could turn out, and Jisa didn’t really like any of them. At least Ash wouldn’t be able to see her face if the truth came out, stood in front of her as she was. Of course, there was always the possibility that she’d just get her brains blown out first. Grimly, her lips set in a thin line. Bring it on.

DON’T WANNA SPEND MY TIME AFRAID OF DYING
I WANT LOVE IF LOVE WANTS ME

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[Deathy]

} JANE AZGUARD {

I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

The eyes were dark, blazing with a fire that was fed mainly on stubborn pride and teenage will power. It was warm against Jane’s cheek and she could feel it, almost a dare to pull the trigger and end the shifter then and there, No need to ask twice little lady. You had to give it to the supernatural, they may be twisted creatures that contaminated god’s green earth, but every single one that Jane had sent screaming back to hell had gone down clawing, biting, stubbornly clinging to the life that they should never have been given.

Jane began to line up her shot, insuring that the bullet would enter through an area that would lead to the shifter having a quick and painless death. Just because they were abominations didn’t mean they had to suffer. And the quicker she died the quicker Jane could cut some kind of proof of kill off the body, hide side body, report to base and then finally, buy lunch.

Jane heard the crunch of boots, a panting breath and then a body shoved itself between Jane and her potential meal ticket. The body turned out to belong to a woman that Jane vaguely remembered talking to in a bar, months or weeks back, Jane couldn’t remember. A person moving themselves between the gun and the shifter instead of running screaming that a made woman was about to shot something in the park was bizarre enough, but that fact that the woman had positioned herself in a defensive position in front of Jane’s pay check, like she could actually stop the bullet, was even stranger. She was holding her hands up as well, towards Jane, as if to warn off the gun and oncoming bullet.

”I don’t think you want to pull that trigger.”

Jane was taken aback by tone of command in the woman's voice , “err, no I’m pretty sure I do” Jane changed the aim of the gun so that the bullet would go by the woman and into the shifters soon to be corpse, “Rainbow-Dash and I have a dinner date” she paused, studying the grim set of mouth and defensive stance, “you’re not like her girlfriend or something are you? Truth be told I only want her for her body”

A Memory was trying to get her attention, something about this woman, something she had heard, or been told, but then Jane’s stomach rumbled, and the thought vanished back into oblivion. The woman still had not moved, still attempting to shield the shifter from Jane’s retribution.

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse, Whoa.

Lyrics from 'Radioactice' by Imagine Dragons

[{J I S A}]

I’M STUCK HERE IN THE MIDDLE
AT WAR WITH GOOD AND EVIL

Jisa stared down the barrel of the gun, wondering at just how many times she'd been in a situation like this. It had been a while for sure, but she'd never felt the flutter of her heart in her chest like this before. It was worry. Worry for Ash and maybe, well, maybe just a little bit of fear for herself too. All the bravado in the world couldn't mask that from Jisa herself, but perhaps it would fool the hunter that seemingly had a death wish of some sort. She didn't know quite how she'd pull it off, but if this EF hunter pulled that trigger and killed them both, Jisa would find a way to come back, and mad would be an understatement.

If only Ash could feel the uncertainty in Jisa's veins, the quiver that threatened to shake her hands, the slight weakness in her knees. What would she think of her so-called savior then? Bitterly, Jisa reprimanded herself for being such a scared little girl. There was no shame in being afraid of a gun, but that fear could be debilitating, and where the hell had it come from?

Offering a grin that was more confident than she felt, Jisa took pride in the moment of confusion in the hunter she was holding off. Will alone held her in check before she bust out in laughing hysterics. Wouldn't that just make a show? Laughing in the face of death actually wasn't that smart or sane. Neither of which did Jisa claim to be.

Startled into laughing, though not hysterically and merely drily, Jisa quieted herself. If this Hunter wasn't hunting her friend, she might have liked her. She had guts, and a wit that definitely rivaled Jisa's, especially in the humor department. Hell, it overtook by a mile. As the hunter shifted, so too did Jisa, trying to mirror the movement and stay in front of Ash, if only she would get to her feet. She couldn't tell if she had successfully kept in front of Ash. There was only so much shielding she could do while waiting for a bullet to pierce through her skin and trying to keep control of the situation.

"Not a girlfriend, no. Just an interested party." Jisa alluded vaguely. "Though you may still want to reconsider." She flashed a smile. "Your superiors might not be too happy with you if you cross me." Shrugging, she appeared to consider her words, lowering her hands back down to her sides. She had to appear confident, as if she didn't think Jane would pull that trigger. Every nerve in her screamed at her not to, but she had to. "Of course, I'm not a great person to tangle with on my own in the first place."

DON’T WANNA SPEND MY TIME AFRAID OF DYING
I WANT LOVE IF LOVE WANTS ME

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[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~Don't stand up, they'll shoot down the first one who tries.
Try to change the world, they'll think you're out of your mind.~

The hunter lined up her shot and I forced myself to keep staring at her. I tried to hide the fear I felt. The fear of the bullet tearing through me before I died. The fear of what was after life. Surely I was going to hell, if such a thing existed. The blank faces of the EF hunters I had killed when I first arrived at Clearstone flashed through my mind for the first time in a while. I hadn't killed them out of cold blood, no that was not me at all, it had happened quite accidentally to be completely honest. Self-defense one could call it.

My thoughts raced on, knowing they had just moments before they would cease to matter---and exist. You're going to die at sixteen not knowing what your future could have been like or who would be in it. Hell, you aren't even considered an adult.

My thoughts turned to my parents. Would they assume I was dead after I didn't visit them? I did promise that I would...even if I didn't say when I would be visiting them. But wouldn't anyone assume that their daughter was dead after she didn't show up for a couple of years? Would they search for what had become of me or would they assume that I had decided to be mad at them after all?

Suddenly, the barrel of the gun disappeared. Instead a black-clad figure appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

”I don’t think you want to pull that trigger.” My eyes widened in shock. Jisa? Had she really heard me? How? How had she known I was back in town anyway?

Anger coursed through me at Jane's response to Jisa. Girlfriend? Seriously? As for my body..well that wasn't going to happen now that Jisa was here. I had a chance to live, now it was time to seize it.

My blood was still the same no matter what form I took. Which meant I could still move, even if it was slowly. Words from a horse book I had picked up came back to me. A horse's first defense against a predator is to flee. However, if they cannot flee then they will fight. I was going to fight for my life instead of fleeing to save it.

The barbs of the taser had embedded themselves into the side of my left thigh and I had landed on my right side when I fell. Well, at least something was going for right for me. My fingers twitched then my arm started to move. If I could just pull those barbs out...

Jisa laughed, I wondered briefly how she could at a time like this, and started talking again. In the meantime, I tried to focus on the task at hand, knowing she was distracting the EF cop, but I couldn't help but hear her next words. "Your superiors might not be too happy with you if you cross me."

Insane lady's superiors? I didn't know what was more shocking, the fact that the EF had some sort of ranking system and therefore intelligence or the fact that Jisa must know Jane's superiors herself. I mean how else would she know that they wouldn't be happy? Maybe she there's some other explanation... An old theory, that I thought I had forced myself to dismiss and forget came bubbling up to the surface. Was Jisa apart of the EF? It was a ridiculous notion. I mean the whole purpose of the Elite Forces was to eliminate supernaturals and Jisa was a supernatural. So how could Jisa be apart of that force? Enough. You can worry about that later...if there is a later.

My hand had reached one of the barbs. My brow furrowed, knowing this was going to hurt. I couldn't yank it out, I couldn't move very fast after all, but I could work it out. I took hold of it at the base, where it had sunk into my skin and started to wiggle it back and forth, working it out of my skin. I made a low, strangled noise as I did so. I knew the barb couldn't have gone in deep, tasers weren't designed that way. But it sure felt that way.

I smelled my blood before I felt the electricity that pulsed through my body lessen. I moved a little easier, a little faster now. I sunk the offending barb into the ground, not knowing if the line would recoil back to insane lady and alert her that I was almost free from the taser or if it would lay harmlessly on the ground near me. I curled inward slightly, making it easier for me to reach the second barb that was located lower on my thigh. I took a breath before working on getting it out. The second barb took less time than the first. I sunk this barb into the ground also. The pulsing electricity was gone. The extra pain was gone. But not all of it.

I lay there on the ground, thinking of my next move. That would be to stand, Ash. Come on, time to get up now...enough laying around. I felt exhausted. Without the thrill of adrenaline pulsing through me with every heartbeat I was drained and feeling the full effects of my run. Ashleigh Neathan you have to stand. I gritted my teeth and started to get my feet underneath me to stand... I wondered what would happen when I finally managed to stand. What would Jane do? Did Jisa have a plan? I hoped so because I sure didn't. My last one, after all, had gone to hell. At least it hadn't taken me with it. I thought grimly, suppressing a snort of laughter. Huh, now I could see how Jisa could laugh at a time like this. With that I couldn't help but let out a sound of choked laughter. Who knew that laughing in the face of death was possible?

~Revolutions start when someone crosses the line.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Cross The Line.)

[Deathy]

} JANE AZGUARD {

I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

The woman mimicked Jane, a slightly taller, better looking mimic, sure, but still a mimic. Moving her body so that it continued to be in between Jane and the killing shot that would get her lunch.

There was two of them, but really only the older woman was a threat, Rainbow-dash was still sprawled on the ground, wriggling like a fish that had been left in the sun far too long, feeble and slow. Probably still trying to shake of the feeling of playing the lightning rod to my artificial thunder storm, but then the girl was a shifter, what was Jane to expect. They were like cockroaches, always living through the unbelievable and crawling out from the darkest shadows. And like cockroaches you had to lay poison and step on them before they had the opportunity to overwhelm the rest of the bug population.

Then the woman spoke, a smile curving her lips, almost feline in its lazy grace, her voice calm and unruffled, tainted with hidden threat. With those words the woman body langue also changed, hands lowered, she appeared to relax into herself, a big cat lounging back onto its haunches, but forget that flicking tail to your peril. Lazy confidence was what she radiated, like UV’s from the sun. It made Jane want to punch her, and to yell. I’m pointing a gun at you and your, err, party? Interest? Whatever, I don’t really care. At least show me the common respect that people show muggers. If you promise not shot, I will pretend not to treat you like a crazy person holding a gun to my head.

Unless it’s a bluff, unless she holds not cards in her hand that she dare use, and really all she has left to bet is her Grandfather’s classic Mercedes. Jane figured that, counting the gun, she had the potential for a royal flush. And what did the woman know about Janes superiors? They were always telling her things, never draw your gun in the presence of a civilian, do not shot said civilians, please do not fight with supernatural creatures in sight of civilians, please keep collateral damage to minimum, our insure group is still recovering from last time ect. Ect.

“My superiors are never happy with me hon, I think my sense of humor and good looks confuse them”, she loosened the grip the hand that held the Taser, dropping it to the ground. "But for killing a shifter? I think that's the point they pat me on the back and give me a raise"Cords trailing from the end of the falling Taser, like some strange species of jelly fish. Hitting the ground without a whisper, and wriggling lightly, thin, wire sized tentacles, as the younger woman shifted slightly. Stepping onto the Taser with the toe of her boot, to stop it being dragged away or used against her, Welcome aboard the Paranoia Train, we might stop, or we might not, you will never know. Steadying her gun with her now free hand, Jane changed the position of her hands into the far more secure, two handed grip, one overlapping the other.

She had to figure out what the mysterious woman though she had, metaphorically, in her deck. People only ever acted confident in two situations, a) when they were guaranteed to win, and b) when they were guaranteed to lose, and most of the time, until someone made a game changing or reckless move, it was almost impossible to tell the difference.

Jane had a gun. The other woman had a zapped teenager and all the bluster she could pull off.

Jane smiled then, and let her mouth twist into the sleaziest slant that she could manage without wearing a business suit, one that promised that she would take everything you ever owned, and your first born child. The barrel of the gun shifted. Take out the biggest threat first, well Rainbow-dash was still wiggling on the ground, but she now seemed to be struggling toward a certain goal, rather than just I-am-in-a-heap-of-pain flailing that came from being in pain.

"I'll call your bluff", Jane adjusted the aim of the hand-gun and pulled the trigger, two hands steadying the kick that shudder through her arms, and dispersing throughout her body. The trajectory of the bullet heading straight to wear she had directed, toward the centre of the standing woman’s chest, were the bullet, in theory, would lodge itself, and tear the woman’s sternum, heart and part of her lungs to bloody, mushy pieces. And that would be that, and Jane would be able to finish off the younger woman and head on off to a lunch special.

That was if her plans went, well according to plan, which they never did, ever. And as for her superiors, well they were always in a state of permanent annoyance at her anyways, what would one more death matter? How could they be mad at her for killing a shifter and someone trying to defend one of the abominations, that was the job, right? Right?

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse, Whoa.

Lyrics from 'Radioactice' by Imagine Dragons

[{J I S A}]

I’M STUCK HERE IN THE MIDDLE
AT WAR WITH GOOD AND EVIL

It took all of Jisa's control not to look back at Ash's groan of pain, she couldn't spare a moment to lose control of the situation- if that's what you could call this. The copper tang of blood reached her nose and it took all she had to not blanch or react. Instead, she regarded the hunter with an emotion as close to apathy as she could manage. It wasn't difficult seeing as this woman had tased Ash and was threatening to kill her too. That didn't exactly put her in Jisa's good books. She might just disregard her morality over killing humans for this one. Between her heart fluttering uneasily in her chest and not being able to check on Ash, Jisa was on the edge of panic, but she couldn't let that take over. Not again. Not here.

Ash's breathless laughter had Jisa's eyes flicker shortly to the young girl, against her better judgment. Worry creased her eyebrows before pride kindled like a warm fire inside her chest. The strong young shifter was starting to get to her feet, looking a little worse for wear, but still almost standing. Her smile translated toward the Hunter as she shrugged. Her worry was dissipating, and every drop that faded the stronger Jisa became. Her head began to clear and she took in her surroundings in sharper detail.

Yeah, Jisa would definitely have liked this woman had she not messed with Ash. She had a hell of a sense of humor, and Jisa could respect that. Actually, she did. Eyes shot to follow the taser that dropped to the ground, suspiciously. She gritted her teeth now that the Hunter's sole focus was on that blasted gun. It was easy to understand just why this hunter was so set on the kill, it showed in the hunger in her face and the desperation with which she'd been hunting Ash, judging by the taser. This hunter must have been facing some hard times, but wasn't everybody? So many hunters were being misled into thinking that Supernaturals were scum, dangerous and abominations. Jisa had once believed those same things, even when she'd been turned. Her seventeenth year had been one hell of a ride.

"You know, you could just get a hobby, or a day job. I hear they pay by the hour, rather than by the kill. Could be good for you," she suggested with a wicked smile. Over confidence. And wasn't that what had gotten her nearly killed three years ago? You'd think she would have learned by now.

Behind her bravado, Jisa could feel the countdown. Something was going to happen. They were all going to slide right into hell and the thought prickled the skin on the back of her neck as if she too had been subjected to a thousand volts of electricity. It was excitement, dread and fear that pulsed through her veins as loud as a river in her ears. The hunter was considering her, sizing her up and that was never a good sign. Jisa didn't have as great a mask as she had always prided herself on. World-weariness had cracked that façade well, and she hadn't had that reconstructed for a while.

Her stomach dropped when the hunter smiled back, a hungry, horrible smile. It was then that Jisa knew that this had become the Hunter's show, not hers. She braced herself, a thrill of strange energy tightening her stomach. The thought of death still excited her for a moment, after all, she'd faced it a hundred different times and had come out relatively unscathed- or, well, not quite. But she was still physically in one piece and that had to count for something.

Jisa knew the precise second that the situation had shifted, knew the set of resolve in the Hunter and the tightening of the finger on the gun. Her eyes widening, Jisa knew that she couldn't completely dodge the bullet, not without leaving Ash vulnerable in the cross-fire. In any case, outrunning a bullet from this proximity took a heroic dose of luck, luck that Shifter's just did not have. The deafening recoil of the gun meant that Jisa forgot everything besides pure instinct. She shifted to the side, her last chance at self preservation. The bullet tore through her right shoulder, her fighting hand and knocked the wind right out of Jisa.

There was a moment when the world spun and Jisa gasped for air, stumbling back and reaching for the wound with her last functional hand. Blood coated it immediately. As she looked at the crimson mess on her hand, the blinding pain turned her vision white before the unbelievable rage kicked in. With her right hand protecting her injured right shoulder, she lunged forward, placing all of her concentration on putting this hunter six feet under rather than the thought that she'd just been freaking shot.

She grabbed for the hunter's gun-hand with her left one, aiming to squeeze the tendons in the wrist hard enough that her grip would fail and the gun would hopefully fall.

DON’T WANNA SPEND MY TIME AFRAID OF DYING
I WANT LOVE IF LOVE WANTS ME

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[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~Don't stand up, they'll shoot down the first one who tries.
Try to change the world, they'll think you're out of your mind.~

I used my arms to sit up slowly, stiffly and muscles that had once been frozen were now thawing and coming back to life. Jisa's eyes turned towards me briefly her face showing worry before she smiled with pride. My face reflected shock and wonder. Pride. How could Jisa feel proud of me when I had gotten us into this mess? Well, best not let her down, up you go Ash.

I used a combination of my arms and my left foot to heave myself off the ground. I bit my lip, refusing to utter another sound of pain as I stumbled forward towards Jisa's left side, swaying unsteadily. I paused as a coppery tang filled my mouth and spat blood onto the ground, growling with frustration. Was I done hurting myself yet? After all it wasn't Jane's fault that I apparently strained my ankle, it was mine. This whole mess is your fault, Ashleigh. That thought rang through my mind again. Anger at myself and this hunter swept through me.

It was then that I noticed that Jane had dropped the damned taser on the ground, stepping on it to keep it from being used against her. The thin wires led to the fangs that were sunk harmlessly into the ground. I snarled at it and its uselessness. Wickedly, I thought of crushing it under my hooves as I had once done to insane lady's rifle.

"You know, you could just get a hobby, or a day job. I hear they pay by the hour, rather than by the kill. Could be good for you," Jisa suggested innocently, a grin on her face. I snorted, a smile tugging at my lips, at the thought of Jane working in a supermarket or a fast food restaurant.

I flicked my eyes to Jisa, who radiated confidence. More so than usual, I thought wondering what she was thinking. I tensed, muscles trembling at the heightened tension in the air. Something was wrong. Something was going to happen and it was not going to be in the Supernaturals' favor. Mere heartbeats passed, it seemed, before the tension snapped. I locked eyes with Jane's right hand, the one that held the gun who's barrel was pointed at me. The barrel quickly swung to Jisa.

I saw it clearly, as time slowed at it usually did when something like this happened, the twitch of the hunter's finger before it squeezed the trigger, the recoil of the gun as it fired the bullet that slammed into Jisa, and made her stumble backwards. I didn't see where it hit.

The smell of blood filled the air. My nostrils flared. She shot Jisa. Insane lady shot Jisa. She shot Jisa and guess what? It's all your fault! I stood still as if I had been tased again. I felt white hot anger sear through me, burning through my body. I started to hyperventilate. "Your Jisa isn't invincible." Those words from the past rang in my head. It only added fuel to the fire. All this anger...this rage had find a release point. It wasn't satisfied with staying under the surface this time.

I was a young shifter, finding out about my ability just months ago. Which meant I hadn't completely mastered control. Strong emotions always had me fighting to remain in control of myself but this...this was nothing like any emotion I had felt before. The shift sprung from me, bursting through my skin without permission. The form that only minutes before I had fought to keep came back as if it had never left. I didn't bid it to come forth, it came without warning, without permission. I encouraged it. I welcomed it.

I screamed and this time it wasn't in fear. It was a battle cry. I lunged, without a backwards glance at Jisa to see if she was alive, to see if she had kept on her feet. I deftly ignored the pain I felt, deciding that it was nothing like Jisa was feeling. The anger I felt at myself, at the EF, and at Jane all swirled into one merciless force that I didn't dare to control. All I could think about was ripping this cop limb for limb. My head, mouth gaping, snaked towards her throat for the kill, some predatory instinct that was definitely not horse-like pulsing though me urging me to do so, before I realized that's what the cop would expect. She would expect me to be a brutal, unthinking animal. She thought that Supernaturals were nothing but abominations, beasts that needed to be destroyed, to be put down. I decided to show her that I was, somewhat, better than that. I adjusted my aim to her shoulder, that current of rage that fueled me on almost made me change my mind again.

Rule number one in the world of Supernaturals, the first I had learned when I came to Clearstone was, flashed through my head briefly. Don't piss a Supernatual off.

~Revolutions start when someone crosses the line.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Cross The Line.)

[Deathy]

} JANE AZGUARD {

I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

Rainbow-dash was dragging herself up, away from flattened green grass. Fighting gravity and her shaking muscles. Jane was impressed, never lay down, never say die. The shifter way, apparently, or to the young teenager, anyway. If Jane hadn't been in the middle of trying to end her young and no doubt vibrant life, Jane would have taken her proverbial hat off to the girl, but since she was, Jane just tightened her fingers around the guns grip and thought about bluffs.

Both her opponents seemed to be growing more confident by the second, or that reckless abandoned that was often found in skydivers, suicide-bombers and homemade jam salesmen. They were grounding themselves, Rainbow-dash with that silent, desperate strength that was so endearing in the young, and the woman with her feline smile, curling her lips into the last line of her bluff.

"You know, you could just get a hobby, or a day job. I hear they pay by the hour, rather than by the kill. Could be good for you," Her voice oozed confidence, and was spoken in a manner that suggested that she had all day to do this, and most of the week if it was going to take longer. Sunday was off but as she had to feed soup to the elderly.

It made Jane want to poke her eyes out, using her thumbs.

“Been there tried that, apparently stapling a recite to a customer’s hand is poor customer services and you only get paid about eight bucks an hour, which does not go as far as you think it would in this economy.” Jane kept a smirk on her face, she didn't like the way that Rainbow-dash had sniggered, or the woman’s smile. People with guns pointed at your faces should really be show more respect, you pair of lunatics.

But hold ups, muggings and murders are for mature people. Mature people who have a goal, and set of thought-out, mature reasons behind it, not necessarily sane ones however, don’t forget that clause. Jane choose to be mature. Jane choose to point the gun, and pull the trigger.

The metal left the barrel, spinning so fast that the average eye would only see it as a streak of flashing silver, if it saw it at all. Slicing through the space between Jane and the woman.

Then the woman made a gamble of her own, throwing the dice, sending them spinning, tumbling across the game table of fate, before landing, showing those ever changing black pips. Jane didn’t think that they laded quite the way the woman had planned.

The woman flung herself to the side, in a desperate attempt to avoid the oncoming bullet, but not far enough, it tore through her shoulder, causing her to stagger and come to a halt. The woman seemed to pause then, a moment in a place where there was no time at all. Hand gripping the hole in her flesh, red oozing out of it, seeping through the fingers that gripped the skin around it, and seeping down her arm. The bullet wound, instead of cowing the woman, instead of bringing her mind numbing pain and possible death, was instead acting as fuel, backing, fanning, and feeding the fires of her rage. Instead of falling to the floor and screaming like any sensible person, thought, if we think about everything that has happened up until the point, I feel we have established that she is not a sensible person, the mad lunatic of a woman lunged at her. Grabbing Jane’s gun hand and with an almost Hulk like strength. Crushing the tendons, and trying to make Jane drop her only guarantee of survival in this two on one battle that was about to go down.

But the bone crushing grip was the second of Jane’s problems, crushed tendon or no, the teenage that could barely stand, was ironically turning out to be the bigger threat. At first the girl had frozen and Jane had dared to hope that she would stay in shock like a good little damsel and let Jane dispatch the pair of them in a one sided blood bath. But that was a case of close but no cigar. The girl unfroze, the grimace of pain and fear morphed violently into a look of volcanic rage, spewing ash and lava into the sky. And then the change began, the muscles in the girls face and body dragging themselves into shapes and places that god had never blessed or stamped his approval on. And no doubt, along with the dinosaurs, had been dished out by the devil in some warped mockery of god’s true creatures.

And then it was too late to do anything and full sized horse lunged at her, appearing almost part snake in the way that the neck snapped out, mouth opening, reaching for her neck, but then twisting around, and snapping for her shoulder. Lips pulled back and tombstone teeth gleaming. The force and violence alone that was thrown at her by the horse, made Jane take an un-voluntary and useless step back.

The instinctive retreat did not save her shoulder, the teeth of the horse snapping down, hard, around flesh and jolting Jane back into the moment. Pain flooding her mind, overriding all fight or flight instincts that had been clamoring for more attention. The woman was still gripping her gun hand, and Jane could feel her fingers begin to loosen, regardless of what Jane wanted.

Growling at both the pain and the situation, Jane launched herself forward. Pushing against the grip the woman had on her hand and pulling against the teeth that Rainbow-dash had buried in her shoulder.

If Jane was going to have any chance in hell of getting out of this predicament she had to keep the gun. The gun was her only leverage against a woman with Hulk-strength and a pony with a bone to pick. And to keep the gun she had to avoid close quarters combat at all costs. And especially from the berserk horse that could trample her to death faster than she could ask how much sea-shells were worth to a certain lady on a beach, and how many did she have, just to be clear.

The lurching lunge forward tore her free from the horse teeth, leaving only skin and fabric behind, a grisly trophy. The movement forced her into collision course toward the woman griping her gun hand, which way fine by Jane. Jane twisted her wrist, attempting to slide it out from between the gap that was created by the pointer finger and thumb. At the same time Jane tried to roll with her fall, tried to push herself away from both the raging lunatic that was now rainbow-dash and the death grip of Hulk-lady, and onto the grass. Where she would be able to spit out the dirt she just ate with that kind of landing, and roll to her feet, and assume a resting crouch. Gun aimed toward the mass of meat that a horse became, when you played target practice. The green and brown of nature still stuck in her teeth.

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse, Whoa.

Lyrics from 'Radioactice' by Imagine Dragons

[{J I S A}]

I’M STUCK HERE IN THE MIDDLE
AT WAR WITH GOOD AND EVIL

White-hot searing pain flared through her shoulder and radiated into her spine. The only worrying blessing Jisa could dredge up was the fact that she couldn't feel her fingers. Her right arm- the important arm- was entirely absent, or maybe it just couldn't be heard above the screaming in the joint connecting it to the rest of her body. In the lengthened moments that stretched like an elastic band around the three Jisa felt the shift in the atmosphere, felt the moment when she lost Ash to the giant hoofed beast that was harboured within the soul of the young blonde girl like she was shifting herself. The panther that was curled within her stretched against the barrier of human skin that Jisa took refuge within, ready to take up the call of battle that tore out of Ash's throat with a blood-curdling intensity.

A moment of regret passed through Jisa's body like an ice-cold hand, uncomfortable and sickening; it made her skin crawl. This was an uneven battle. A human EF Hunter against two very angry Shifters. The odds weren't exactly in the cop's favour.

The next second was taken up by the flash of grey that was Ashley's horse form surging forward, timed nearly perfectly with Jisa's lunge for Jane's wrist. The formidable, swelled stature of the livid horse flashing white teeth and unforgiving power nearly intimidated Jisa herself. The tug of the wound in her shoulder redirected Jisa's attention to her hand grasping the Hunter's wrist. Her hesitation had made her lose concentration, as in shock as she had been from Ash's sudden appearance into the fray of blood, sweat and- well, not quite tears, but perhaps wit. She was tugged forward with the hunter as she stepped back to uselessly attempt to avoid Ash's horrifying gnash of dangerous teeth. Weakly, all Jisa could grimly manage was the thought that at least karma had gotten the hunter back. A shoulder for a shoulder and all.

The gun was still regrettably in the Hunter's possession, but Jisa could feel the press of the tendons in the woman's wrist starting to give and the gun become looser in her grip. Then the hunter launched herself forward, and that Jisa had not anticipated. Stumbling backward, she tried to get her feet back underneath her with the practiced precision she had prided herself on in her earlier years. The twist of the hunter's last-ditch effort to keep her weapon was equally disarming and effective.

It was really inconvenient that an episode seemed to be kicking in, and the weakness plaguing Jisa's nerves didn't seem to be completely from blood loss or the fact that there was a freaking bullet in her damn shoulder.

Jisa went down with an undignified thud, the wind forced out of her lungs as the hunter broke her fall with a roll. Desperately, Jisa attempted to keep the gun at least grappled between them as her grip slipped from the woman's wrist to the hand holding the gun and hoping to god that she didn't squeeze something that would pull the trigger. The last thing she wanted was another wound to deal with or for the hunter to pull off her little stunt and start yet another stale mate ruled by a piece of hot metal.

If she succeeded, the hunter's roll would fall short with the added disadvantage of Jisa's fallen weight and both would still be biting dust. At least it wouldn't just be Jisa.

DON’T WANNA SPEND MY TIME AFRAID OF DYING
I WANT LOVE IF LOVE WANTS ME

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[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~Don't stand up, they'll shoot down the first one who tries.
Try to change the world, they'll think you're out of your mind.~

I was never a person to have many friends and so that goes without saying that I was a person to have even fewer close friends. I could almost count all my friends on one hand really. Jisa, however, was more than a friend to me. She had been the first person I had come to know in Clearstone, if one didn't count the EF, and we had, I liked to think, became somewhat close. She had become my mentor almost immediately and taken me into her home without really knowing me. I owed her a lot and on top of everything, I now owed her my life twice over. I didn't know how I could begin to repay her but I certainly couldn't if she was to die or I was to get myself killed by being foolish.

Jane took an involuntary step back much to my delight. She should be scared of me, I thought with glee.

I felt my teeth sink through the fabric of Jane's coat and shirt and into Jane's shoulder with not-quite-bone-crushing force. I clamped down hard, swinging my hindquarters around as far as I could to make sure I didn't hurt Jisa, whom I had seen lunge forward at about the same time I had, by accident. Blood filled my mouth and I resisted the urge to recoil in horror, after all I wasn't a predator that enjoyed the taste. I wanted to pick this woman up and shake her like a rag doll. I knew I could. But in doing that I risked the cop pulling the trigger and possibly sending another bullet flying into Jisa and that was the last thing that needed to happen.

Then suddenly the shoulder was gone and all was left in my mouth was blood, skin, and fabric. My lips curled in disgust, the fabric fluttering to the ground. I screamed again, feelings raging wild again, yelling at me for not killing her when I had the chance. I lunged after the woman again then halted suddenly, pain flaring through me with the sudden movement. I ignored it stubbornly.

The rage faded a little as puzzlement filled me. What could I do?Jisa and Jane were on the ground, grappling for control of the gun. I flicked my ears uneasily, not knowing what to do. I couldn't charge in or else I would trample Jisa for sure. I pawed the ground, frustration building, ears flat against my neck. Squealing I half-reared, itching to feel the snap of bones underneath my hooves. I almost went down as my right leg shook under my weight, unable to support it for long. If I was thinking straight, if I was human, I would have groaned at my stupidity, I shouldn't have done that. However I was more concerned with the fact that there was nothing I could do until Jisa and Jane separated. I hoped that Jisa realized she wasn't alone in this fight and that I could easily take care of this foe while she was on the ground. My lips, teeth and muzzle stained reddish pink, lifted into something of a horsey smile as I thought how she would be nothing but a bloody mess on the ground if I got my way.

I knew my thinking was irrational but I couldn't help it. The rage that ebbed and swelled with no pattern controlled my thoughts, my movements.

~Revolutions start when someone crosses the line.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Cross The Line.)

[Deathy]

} JANE AZGUARD {

I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

Jane hated the taste of dirt. It tasted thick, grainy, like defeat made real, with texture that tasted worse than burnt toast and got stuck in your teeth. Jane’s mouth and nose had kissed dirt before she’d managed too right herself and gain some minor amount of control over the decent. The woman's weight and refusal to go along with Janes plan for the fall pushed all hope of a controlled roll and rise right out of the area. Leaving Jane in a heap, with the taste of dirt in her mouth. It made her want to drag the saliva from the back of her throat and spit it onto the dirt, wet and chunky. But now was neither the time nor the place. Jane was pulling, twisting, and trying desperately to get the gun away and out of the woman’s reach. She needed that gun like fish needed water, without it all they do is flop around and die.

The woman was struggling against her plan, hands letting of Janes wrist and taking a more direct route to acquiring the gun by grabbing the actual hand that was currently holding it and pushing down with the same promise that rock-slides and avalanches make.

Jane knew she was in trouble, to win in a fight in which you were outnumbered you had to either gain leverage against the enemy, emotionally, physically, it didn't matter, Or find some way to make them become a hindrance to one another. For the space in time that the two of them struggled for the gun Jane was safe, her wrestle with the woman was preventing the raging horse from trampling her into a smooth, gooey, Jane flavored paste.

The woman was weakened by the bullet wound, blood, dark and thick still oozing its way out of the wound and smearing across the grass and Jane's jacket were the wound had rubbed. But far less than she should be, Jane was begging to realize, as she began to feel the bones in her hand grind, scraping and moving through the influence of a malevolent outside force. An un-human, hulk like strength. Please don’t let her be a shifter, not a blasted two-for-one deal. As appealing as that sounds on paper, no thanks. Balls.

Jane knew that she was doing a mighty fine job of re-dying her own jacket red, bits of flesh and fabric flapping above the torn muscles and leaking fluid. It was going to be an absolute terror to stitch and heal, and right now, her whole side should be on fire, but thanks to the adrenalin and other wonderful chemicals that the Human body provided during times of crisis Jane’s survival senses were tuned into channel 104.I-will-survive. Allowing her to ignore all pain and sane medical thinking.

Jane could hear the agitated thump and stomp of hooves over to the side, in amongst the deep, drum like rhythm that was the sound of her own heart pumping, and the grunts, growls, scraps and scratches of metal that was the orchestra to the woman and Jane’s silent battle. So keep the woman between you and the horse dumbass. Taking control of the fight.

Pushing her teeth together, painted in a splattering on green, brown and red, Jane began trying to force the woman’s mass between herself and the stomping beast of pony righteousness. Using her free hand Jane made a grab for the open wound, trying to push it, press on it, cause more pain, trying to distract the woman from the fight. Distract her with pain, so that Jane could disentangle both herself and the gun from the close quarters combat mess she had been desperately trying to avoid but ended up in regardless and get a shot off. Get a bullet out of the barrel and to somewhere that could potentially damage one of her adversaries. Jane couldn't keep the bleeding profusely and fighting at the same time gig up for long. So by this point she did not care whose hide the bullet went through, as long as one of them bled, as long as it pushed them that one step closer to that long dark tea-time of the soul that was death.

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse, Whoa.

Lyrics from 'Radioactice' by Imagine Dragons

[{J I S A}]

I’M STUCK HERE IN THE MIDDLE
AT WAR WITH GOOD AND EVIL

The lack of feeling creeping up her arm into her shoulder wasn’t as relieving as it should have felt. Quite the contrary, Jisa found that alarms in her head were going off like the military gone Defcon 1 and retreating. She couldn’t fully concentrate on the battle when all she wanted to do was stop the blood flowing from her open gunshot wound. All she could hope was that the bullet had gone straight through because getting that out was more pain that she’d really rather avoid. Besides that cheerful thought, the prospect of being accidentally trampled had Jisa’s heart galloping at a mile a minute as Ash pounded the ground with impatient hooves. There wasn’t much that scared Jisa- or, well, not much that used to scare her- but that just sounded downright terrifying. Or maybe that was just the blood loss and panic talking.

Jisa had undoubtedly lost her edge, and that had been all she’d had in the beginning, so what the hell then? She was impeding this fight just about as much as she was helping it. Ash was sidelined in something that had begun with her, and Jisa knew she wasn’t doing any favours to herself or the younger shifter by playing a poor version of a hero. Especially because she was in the fray, preventing Ash from jumping in and helping for fear of harming instead.

Frustration bubbled up in Jisa’s throat in the form of an angry scream that didn’t make it past the strangled grunt of exertion it came to be. The thought that she would actually lose hold of the gun and very soon have another round embedded in her, worse Ash, kept Jisa going, even when adrenaline was beginning to max out and weaken. She would not let go, damn it.

The hunter reached for Jisa’s shoulder and before she could deflect, the woman’s hand was gripping at the oozing wound. Suddenly awakened, Jisa’s nerve endings screamed through her spinal cord and into the base of her skull with an intensity that knocked the breath out of her and snapped her teeth together with a click. Sweat was breaking out over her in her struggle to keep control of the gun and her own body. Desperately, and with a cry of uncontainable agony, Jisa willed her right arm to lurch toward the gun and grabbed. Her heart near stopped when she realized that she had jarred the gun and may have knocked Jane’s trigger hand with enough force to cause a shot to go off.

DON’T WANNA SPEND MY TIME AFRAID OF DYING
I WANT LOVE IF LOVE WANTS ME

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[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~This is my brand new day in the light, troubles rising up on the left and the right. I keep my eyes fixed on where I want to go; the rest will follow.~

I pawed at the ground, hearing the grass being ripped and the ground tore. I started pacing only a few steps away from where Jisa and Jane rolled on the ground ripping and tearing at each other just like I had to the grass.

You are so stupid, Ashleigh! Fury at myself washed over me as if someone had dumped it on me from the skies. I was in this mess because I couldn't ignore the pain in my ankle like I was doing now. I had gotten Jisa hurt, almost killed. I couldn't end what I had began because I had drug Jisa into this fight. I tossed my head, snorting angrily.

As quick as it had come the fury washed away and was replaced by logic. Man I was all over the place right now. I debated on charging in and letting Jisa take her chances. That argument was quickly invalid. Whatever I did, I couldn't let Jisa get hurt anymore. I could let harm come to myself, but not to Jisa.

I watched, anxiously, as the pair continued to struggle on the ground, neither giving way despite their injuries. Weak, Ashleigh, you are weak. I wanted to kick myself, but instead I began pacing again, not having anything else to do to release all this nervous energy.

Crack. The sound echoed in my mind and drowned all else out. Not even seconds later did I feel a burning, ripping pain as the fired bullet tore through flesh and muscle my hind leg at about the area that would be my upper thigh in human form. Damn, she got the right leg. I thought as I staggered sideways. Ears pinned I turned my head, freezing in shock as I saw the bloody mess my leg was. I felt the warm blood run down my leg in a river of crimson. I couldn't think, I couldn't feel. There was just blank emptiness as I watched my own blood stain my grey coat.

~The old can be made new, the lost can be found, the lost will be found.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Pure.)

[Deathy]

} JANE AZGUARD {

I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

The distract enemy with pain theory seemed to be working, the woman was weakening, stubborn pride and adrenaline all that was holding her up.

Jane had let herself become distracted, her focus moving from keeping the gun tight in her grasp to vindictively pushing down onto the mass of red that changed to black at the source, with the same joy that toddlers reserve for pulling their first crushes hair. The woman lurched for the gun, a zombie like, last ditch effort. The hand connected with Jane fingers, knocking against them with the same amount of desperation that Jane was gleefully wielding against the bullet wound.

Jane felt the gun snap back, nothing but the lose grip that she had been maintaining and the woman pushing hand bracing for the unexpected kick, as the gun jolted. And then the sound of the bullet impacting flesh, or grazing along it. Not quite what I meant, but okay, let’s go with that.

They were frozen in a tableau, Jane would have laughed at the woman’s expression, if she had not been wearing one of betrayal herself. The betrayal being directed at her own trigger finger, it was like the day that she had found out that lassie had been played by more than one dog, sick, that’s what that had been, sick! And completely unexpected, which had been worse. Jane’s eyes went to the bullets target, Rainbow-dash was frozen, right leg held limply, the liquid of life leaking out, and dribbling down.

And sensing weakness, like the hound hunting the sly, and ever elusive fox, Jane lunged forward, pushing past the woman, aiming for the frozen horse, the bigger more dangerous threat, that too all apparent appearance was in the first stages of shock. Weak and waiting for the kill.

Jane was never one to let an opportunity pass her buy, it was one of her most endearing character traits.

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse, Whoa.

Lyrics from 'Radioactice' by Imagine Dragons