Johnny looks from Mekia to the others. "You really can't smell that? There was a human male here." He sniffs the air, discarding scents of 'pissed off Derrick/cat pheromones', 'dead cows', and 'field grass'. "He was walking armed, so I'd say hunter, or maybe just another wannabe. I can't imagine too many experienced hunters would try and sneak up to a human and a vampire without at least shooting first."

Derrick, who was doing his best to glare a hole through Mai's head, growls again. "As long as you're 'reasons' don't hurt anyone here, I don't care what you do. But don't presume to think you have rank in this little clan we've started here." He looks over at Johnny, Mekia, Virsat next to him, and Kyla, trying to see who would back him if it came to that. "Yes, we're all loners. I don't think any of us has been around another person for more than a few days at a time." He glares at Mai again. "How are you any different, though? Though, I do wonder, can you even think past fighting, or is everything war and blood?"

Johnny moves beside Derrick, laying his left fore paw/hand on Derrick's furry shoulder. "Hey man, let it go. Don't lower yourself to the level of the foot soldiers. You're older than she is. Don't act like a child just because a child started the fight." He moves over to his bike, looking down at Kyla. He shifts out of his wolfen form while he looks at her, a cocky smile gracing his lips. "I'm going to assume you can't hear me when I talk like a wolf, right? You get to fight Mekia for a seat. I noticed you weren't comfortable riding with me."

Derrick glares again at Mai, then touches Virsat's arm, jerking his head to the bike. "Come Vir. We get to see if I can ride a bike in fur." With a smile that shows a canine in his extended jaw, "Try not to sit on my tail, huh?" He starts toward the bike, said tail brushing against Virsat's arm as the tiger/vamp moves away.

Mai was still trying to cool down, though still she did not show any outward signs. in almost a sickly sweet tone she answers derrick's question. "oh, i dont know, derrick, think you can go a day holding your tongue and thinking before you speak? or is you mouth connected directly to your brain?" Mai thinking to herself mutters lowly enough that noone can hear anything she says "the arrogant section that is" sighing she straddles the bike and starts the engine, the quiet purr of the engine vibrating some of the tension in her muscles out. "if she wants to she can ride with me, she'll hardly notice the speed once we get going if she follows virsat's example from the ride here." despite the cool attitude that Mai had given off towards the woman she wasnt like derrick had assumed. ((though she doesnt know what he assumed)) she actually liked humans finding them fascinating in their own right

"Smell?" Her nose pinched up as she inhaled. "Oh. I smell it now." Lips curled into a smile, slightly nervous, slightly apoligetic, but entirely happy. "Didn't think of that." As the conversation droned on, Mekia could pick up from the pieces and tidbits that she heard that some guy had been here, and Derrick, or maybe Mai, had shooed him off. And according to Johnny, he had carried a weapon. Hunters... Good riddance to them. The thought entered her mind before she could stop it, and she had to force herself not to grimace. At Virsat's scowl, she returned a confused expression. If he had a problem with her, she would prefer it if he said it to her face. But ah well. All in good time.

At Kyla's words Mekia frowned at Kyla playfully, holding her hands behind her back and moving in front of her. "Scared of learning something new? Don't worry. She's a good driver. If you lean into the turns and hold on tight, it's almost like driving at normal speeds." Mekia gave Kyla a wink as she waited for her reply, a smile on the werewolf's face.

Mekia's actions would give people that didn't know her the impression that she didn't really care where she sat, but had to tease this human, just for fun. However that wasn't the case. Mekia really did want to ride with Johnny. It had been too long since she had seen another werewolf, let along a male one. Excitement coursed through her veins at the prospect of spending time with him.

Derrick could have heard anything she'd muttered with ears like his, but he was lost somewhere along the way to his bike. He couldn't remember the last time someone had grabbed his tail and not caused him pain by doing so. He sits on the bike, moving his tail to the side. Earlier, when Virsat had been defending the human, he'd put his clothing in the limited space in the side pockets on the bike. He starts the bike, but doesn't rev it in respect for Virsat's ears. I can only imagine how it will work when I lean closer to the bike to get more speed...

Johnny continues to look at Kyla. "I'm not slowing down, and if you cause us to wreck, the only things that will be permanently damaged are you and my bike. Make your choice wisely, Kyla. Can you ride with me, and lean into the turns with me, or will you fight the lean and throw us out of a turn around 200+?" Johnny, while not removing his attention from the human, begins running checks on the bike to make sure it's still alright and that everything is still in place. Finally, he checks the plasma cells, making certain that the radioactive substances weren't damaged in transit. "I don't want you to think you have to ride with me just because you'd ridden this far with me. If you want to ride with the freaky chick, feel free to switch rides." He actually looked to the human with what might have been concern in his eyes. The look was gone an instant later.

"Come on guys, are we leaving before the cows attack, or were you hoping for some more tainted steaks?" Derrick had begun to snake his tail around Virsat even before the vampire was on the bike. He gives the engine a little rev, as though to say 'hurry up'.

"Hey, no one told you to ride the back like it was a bicycle. I told you to go with the flow of the bike. Not to fight it with every turn." Johnny was on his bike and glaring at the twit on the back of the freaky chick's bike. "'Blind old lady', huh? Yeah, guess you'd know about blindness, you bloody human. Nothing is worse than human eyesight. The least you could do is get a decent body modification to get better eyes."

Derrick, even though he would love to stay lost while hugging Virsat with his tail, turns to glare at the two bickering party members. "Hey! Children! Knock it off! I don't care who started it, if I have to come back there, I'll damn well finish it!"

Johnny, not having heard that line since he was a kid, looks at Derrick, his eyes widened. He tried not to laugh, but it was too funny to ignore. The old vampire was right, he was bickering like a child with the human.

Mai's face was smooth as she merely shrugged to kyla's comment "i dont know about his driving skills, though i do have one thing to say." mai's voice had developed a tired note to it as if she grew weary "i will tense my muscles just before a lean eithor direction, lean with me, and if you have to hold on tighter to me, untill i tighten my other side muscles telling you that we can straiten back out. and i didnt say my name. its mai, and its nce to meet you" turning to face derrick who seems to be dictating where they were goinging mai asked out loud "so where to?"

"And I'm Mekia, but I think I said that already. " Mekia returned to Kyla, glad that she had made up her mind. The fire-wolf had chuckled at Derrick's reaction, also having not heard it in many years. She sauntered over to Johnny and straddled the bike behind him, scooting her body close and wrapping her arms around him. "Ok. Now that everyone's on board." Ice blue eyes turned to Derrick. "Where to?" She asked, knowing Mai had just asked this very same question. Mekia smiled to herself. With Johnny driving as crazily as Kyla described, she hoped she wouldn't get bored enough to ask the time-honored question, "Are we there yet?" No. With enough luck, she'd be entertained enough by the ride.

He starts his bike, being mindful to not rev it loudly and hurt Virsat's ears, waiting patiently for Derrick to pull away first. Before Mai could follow behind Derrick, however, he pops the clutch, the force of the engine pulling the front wheel up. With an evil laugh, he rides it like that, feeling the force of gravity pulling on his passenger, before finally pushing the front back down and speeding up beside Derrick.

Derrick, having pulled off, tears down the highway, the bike already edging closer to two hundred. The wind in his fur was an odd sensation, but not a bad one. It did take him a few moments to figure out how to shift quickly with actual toes instead of the toe of his boot. Not wanting to push the bike too hard, he evens out around 170mph or so, riding easily between trucks and the random early morning commuter.

Johnny, being the adrenaline junky he is, pushes his bike past 200, swerving expertly between the cars that Derrick simply passed. His bike was almost always leaning over slightly, as he slalomed the Ducati by the vampires and between two trucks driving side by side. Only when a herd of deer passed in front of him, causing him to do a somewhat scary manuever given the speed he was going, did the wolf decide that 220 was too fast in the dark.

mai was no stranger to driving, in the light or day, and was just as happy to answer the unspoken challenge by Johnny and Derrick. "Are you going to be able to hang on or should i put you in front of me?" Mai didnt wait for her reeply as she reved the bike and pealed away her tiles squeeling loudly. she didnt bother with the games as Johnny did instead she went strait down the center line, easily dodging most of the traffic. using the median as a ramp Mai jumped over the remainder of the deer the back of her tires touching one of the deer's back before she touched down and sped off after them, only slowing down when she had caught up to the other two bikes.

Mekia held on tightly to Johnny as he peeled down the highway. With every maneuver she moved with him, not fighting the leans and twists of the bike. As they took off with a wheelie, she tightened her grip and laughed. And at 200 mph she could feel the wind pulling tears from her ice-blue eyes. Mekia watched in wide-eyed amazement as Johnny swerved in and out of cars, seeming to go past them as if he were threading a needle. Then she saw the deer.

Her first and most immediate reaction was to tighten her grip on Johnny and flex her legs, her toes gripping the bike through her sneakers. This would alow her to jump from the bike if necessary, dragging Johnny along with her. However this wasn't at all necessary, because Johnny pulled off an incredibly frightening maneuver that sent them flying over the deer. Adrenaline began fully pumping through her veins, and Mekia could see the night visibly lighten. She chuckled. "I think that was a little too fast." She teased. Then she looked back. "Atleast we know where to go if we get hungry again." Glancing around, Mekia added, "Anyone still hungry?"

Derrick pulls off the highway, jumping the bank that runs along the side. He smelled water, a fresh spring that came from underground into a larger body of water. It would suit his needs, and he needed to get the blood off of him. It was driving him nuts, even if there was no actual physical substance in his fur, he felt it anyway. "Hold on Vir. There's a drop." There was in fact a drop. He just didn't mention how much of one. The bike dropped nearly straight down, tearing down a hillside that could have been a 60 degree angle.

Johnny, even though he'd heard a little of what Derrick called to Virsat, followed anyway, gunning his engine roughly, sending the bike out further than Derrick's own jump went. Belatedly he thought to warn Mekia, but figured that if she was still holding on while he was in the air, she'd be alright when he landed. "Heh, this might hurt." Understatement of the year. The force from his jump sent him not only further out from the bank wall, but higher from the ground the further out he went. "Yep, definitely going to hurt. Hold on Mekia! Hold! On!"

He lands the bike. Or rather, the bike lands him. Maybe if he wasn't already laying as close as possible to the machine, he would have re-broken his ribs. As it was, they were definitely damaged again, but not quite shattered. The ride wasn't over yet, and already he was glad he could heal fast, but he knew he'd be wishing for a bag of frozen peas for his squished pride.

Derrick, figuring that the brakes might be worn out beyond later use if he tried to use them, simply throws the bike into a lower gear, pulls back on the front wheel while leaning to the side. He does it again a minute later, lowering the gear to cut speed again. "Johnny! Wall crawl!"

~X~

From below, a pair of eyes gaze up at the wall of dirt that formed a nearly complete bowl around the lake. On three sides, the wall wrapped around the impossibly round lake in the middle of nowhere. The fourth side was a shallow ravine, like something that would be caused by a large ship on a crash course. The lake was one that swirled around, like the water in an old fashioned toilet bowl. For every ounce of water that emptied into the cavern below the lake, and likewise emptied into the Mississippi a thousand miles away, that ounce was replaced by the underground rivers that fed the lake on a rotational spin.

~X~

Johnny, trying not to cringe with every bump and jolt, pulls back on the bike, leading it the same way that Derrick led his, to the left. With every pull on the front, he drops his speed again. When the violent jostling became a dodge-able rattle, he began to brake and ease down what remained of the hillside.

Once at the bottom, he eases the kick down, slides off the bike, and melts to the ground, one hand wrapped around his ribs and the other between his legs. Tears streamed uncontrollably down his face, something he wasn't able to stop, no matter how hard he tried. It simply hurt too much to breathe or move his legs, which were twitching from the rush of adrenaline.

Derrick, being the vampire he is, came out of the ride mostly uninjured. Dropping his own kick, he eases off the bike and crouches down beside it. "That was way too intense..."

~X~

From a distance, a set of eyes watches the strangers. They're owner is cautious of the strangers. Too bad the owner of the eyes' companion was less wary of danger and more prone to insane happiness.

From the bushes bounds a large platinum canine. For some reason, it avoids the werewolves and goes straight to Virsat. Licking the vampire before he could leave the bike, the dog runs away. He doesn't go far before he's running back again, bounding around in circles like the overly happy pup he seemed to be.

Mekia had only barely heard the warning, but it had registered in her mind. Her grip tightened around him, and she braced her legs.

At first there was only wind. Mekia made the mistake of looking down, and as such held on to Johnny even tighter. She tried to screw her eyes shut, but to no avail. The wolfess was mesmerized by the sight of approaching ground.

Despite bracing herself, the land still jarred her, the bike ramming into her pelvic bone and compressing her spine.She winced, but knew her body would soon heal. Johnny, however, did not seem to be in as good of shape.
The wolf was curled up in a ball on the ground, one arm rapped around his ribs and his other hand stuck between his legs. She smirked for only a moment, before it was replaced with a worried expression. She crouched down beside him, wincing at the pain of bending her spine. "Johnny, you ok? Heh. I hope you weren't planning on having kids." Mekia placed a comforting hand on his forehead, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Just another instance making me glad I'm a girl."

Mekia said no more, however, because Virsat had rushed over and was now kneeling beside Johnny, giving the bike a nasty death glare. She knew he was uncomfortable around her, to say the least, and didn't want to antagonize the 'timid' vampire. Ice blue eyes watched the platinum pup warily, not completely trusting it. She tensed her leg muscles, preparing herself to jump to Johnny's defense if she had to. After all, in his current condition he couldn't really fend for himself.

since mai had seen both derrick and Johhny go over the edge and into the air she had had a spilt second to make a decision. save the bike, or the girl. she knew that the human would not likely surive the fall on her own of if she did she would be seriously injured. she also knew that while she was saving the human girl, the bike would not survive without a driver and most likely end up at the bottom of however deep hole it was.

a split second was all she had, and she used it well. having barely just enough time to shout "HOLD ON!!!" over her shoulder, mai, in one smooth motion, stood up, her natural cats ballance still retaining the bikes ballance for the moment. pulling out her pack from under the seat she tightened the straps to fit the female, thrust it at the girl telling her to put it on her back, and snatching up the girl, leapt, pushing off from the back of the seat further into the air.

now during this mai had let off the gas so the bike had been slowing down fractionally when they went over the ledge, somewhere between her standing up and turning to the female, and was just about to touch down on the slope. Mai, having secured the female and leapt headed further out from the cliff face, giving her time to turn to her large cat form. as her claws touched down she let her legs take some of the pressure , though they continued to slide, raising a dust cloud, down the steeply inclined walls. leaping again she touched down about wo hundred feet down, and thirty feet out. sliding another ten feet she repeated this set of manuevers till she stood, dust covered, legs shaking from the continuous stresses she had put on them, with Kyla on her back, her hands still clenching on for dear life into Mai's fur, Mais backpack on Kyla's back. less then a second later the bike flips to a stop, it had been flipping back over front, since Mai had leapt off from it and it had hit the incline.

the bike was scratched, the handle bars bent, both tires were trash, the gas leaking from a hole in the gas tank, and the chain broken. it was advious that the bike would not run again with out a major overhaul. though Mai was not concentrating on that at the moment, trying to look like she had done things like this every day before she had followed the party.


((i kind of took a minute control of your character, sorry, but i figured it was kind of a given that she would be hanging on for dear life after a fall like that... i would))

[It's alright :) I would have typed the same thing if you didn't :yes:]

"Wait, what?" Kyla could only fumble with the bag as soon as it was thrust to her. Putting it on at high speeds wasn't exactly easy but she did manage to get it on just before Mai grabbed her off the bike. As they flew, or fell, through the air, the vampiress turned into her tiger form. Sadly, it was easier for Kyla to handle the steep and erratic descent of the tiger than it was to stay calm on a bike rolling along a flat surface. Something about the jagged ride reminded her of her childhood days on the farm. Taking dares riding the neighbors' nastiest bulls and horses got her enough money to satisfy her and her siblings' sweet tooth for a whole summer. She kept a tight grip on Mai all the way down the slope, watching the bike she had been on a few moments ago turn to scrap.

From where Johnny crouched, a large brown wolf emerged from the injured male. "You know, there was a time when I would never turn wolf... Now I seem to be doing this a lot." He was still on his knees in the dirt, but the space between his legs no longer hurt, the healing power of shifting having done it's job on that particular injury. Now if only his ribs didn't hurt so much...

Derrick tried not to flinch when Virsat kicked his bike, but he couldn't help it. He loved that bike. That bike had been his companion for more than a couple hundred years. Then again, he was always working on it too. "I'm alright, Virsat. I'm just shaken up. It occurs to me now that maybe easing down the hill would have been better than flying down."

Johnny looks to Derrick's fallen bike. "Don't kick mine, Virsat. I haven't even checked to see if the plasma vials are still intact yet. Don't need a vampire's touch to ensure total breakage." He turns to the fire wolf, a growl escaping his throat at the 'no kids' comment. Standing up as a wolf, he watches the nearly white dog prance around. "Who's hound?"

Derrick watches the dog wearily too. There was something not quite right about the dog's physiology. It was too large by normal dog standards, nearly the size of a Great Dane, and it kept purposely avoiding the obvious werewolves. He would think it was a lycanthrope of another type, but for the fact that it looked like a genetic hybrid of a white Labrador.

The white lab runs around to where Virsat was crouched by Johnny, staying out of arms reach of Johnny, and pokes Virsat in the back with his nose. Just as fast as he'd arrived behind the vampire, he was off running again to the only human in the group to generously lick her. Like most dogs who were happily exerting a lot of energy, such as this one was, his tongue was out and he was panting all over everyone. He'd run back over toward Derrick when he was finally stopped from moving anymore.

"What is it about dogs, they never seem to have an off button." Derrick was holding the dog around the neck, keeping him in one place by sheer vampiric force. "So, what do we do with him?"

"You let him go. Now. Before you regret ever touching him." It was the owner of the eyes that watched their descent, not that the mixed species party would know that he saw them come down the hillside. Derrick turns to look at the stranger, his grip releasing the dog again. "Doggy, come on man, leave them alone." The stranger knew the name was childish sounding, but it was what he'd been calling his companion for the past three hundred years.


"But Coon, they smell so interesting! There's city smells, and cows, and deer! It's like the road and all their travels have come with them!" The platinum dog bounds over to the stranger, whom he'd called 'Coon'.

"Come on. They don't look like they're in any shape to meet new creatures." Coon looks wearily over his shoulder at the party on the ground by the bikes. His gaze settled on the two wolves with a hint of fear passing behind his eyes quickly, before moving on to the human. "That human looks dangerous too. You know humans, always killing the innocent. They probably have it along for protection."

while thoroughly enjoying the young pups antics when he was jumping all over the place, mai was privately glad he hadnt "smelled" her. Mai rolled her back under Kyla in responce to her question, not able to shift while Kyla is on top of her and unwilling to talk until she was shifted.

((could remember whether mai could talk while she is in tiger form... of if i should have derrick "translate"

and Mai can shift with kyla on her... it just ends up interesting when she stands and Kyla would be hanging off of her back by her legs))