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 Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:16 pm
 The distant sound of thunder rumbled across the greying sky.
In a dusty alley Nyiabhat sat atop a closed dumpster, tails wagging as usual, eyes and nostrils wide. In the few weeks she'd been on the streets she already had a bit of a reputation - a strange girl, a dog who was too friendly and too cheerful to be healthy. A dog who reveled in being homeless and hungry. A dog to avoid, if you had any sense.
But Nyiab wasn't thinking about that. Instead, she breathed in the scent on the cool summer wind. Underneath the smog and the sweat, she could smell it - the cold tang of future rain. It made her fur prickle and her face split into a smile.
"Rain, rain," she said, "come and play."
Aaah, but what would she do in the meantime? Her growling belly told her the answer. With a snort, she slid off the dumpster into a pile of trash bags at its feet. With so much garbage there was sure to be something edible, right? She grabbed one tied-up in her mouth and shook it, playfully growling. Perhaps distracted by her current goal to pay attention to her surroundings as any stray should.
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:00 pm
 The days of summer were just beginning and as such spring weather was still subject to occur. Much was the case today as Albtraum made his way through the streets of Summerwood. It was warm, but there was a cool breeze and he could smell rain in the air, it was only a matter of time until the clouds let loose their heavy loads.
His eyes followed other dogs, and humans, as they crossed the street to avoid walking near him. He sniffed and stuck his nose into the air, it was good they knew their place. They were all below him. As the leader of an up and coming street gang in Summerwood he had quite the reputation for being a cruel and heartless individual and it seemed to be spreading well throughout the city soon none would dare to challenge him, at least, not if they wanted to keep their lives.
He turned a corner into an alley that just happened to be in his current turf due to the sound of growling and ripping trash bags. Who would dare to intrude on his territory? He froze a few feet from the female doberman, or at least, that's what he though she was, she did seem to have a few deformities that made it a little hard to tell. He cocked his head, he remembered this female, he'd seen her somewhere before, and then it hit him. She was the one who'd stumbled into the landfill on the outskirts of town, the same one he himself had ventured into as a pup and it seemed she ended up the same way as himself. Deformed. A million thoughts ran through his mind at that moment as he considered the possibilities that may occur should he allow her to join his pack, and really, he didn't believe that she wouldn't join if he told her she could.
Stepping closer he cleared his throat and spoke, his voice deep and harsh. "What have we here? An intruder of sorts... what brings you into my territory?" He raised a brow as he glared at her back waiting for her reaction to his presence. Honestly, in his opinion she wasn't a very good stray, she should have heard him coming before he'd even entered the alley, if he'd wanted to kill her she would probably be dead already, if only for her ignorance.
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:32 pm
When Albtraum spoke behind her Nyiab dropped the trash bag from her jaws and jerked her head around. The bag finally ripped open, spilling empty soda cans and an unidentifiable brown juice on the grown. She ignored it. Something more interesting had come along.
"You're..." she frowned for a moment as she sniffed him. The stranger smelled...familiar? Had they met before? She'd have remembered a crazy-looking dog like him, surely? Dogs like him and herself were not easily forgotten. Weren't they?
Nyiab shook her head (stay in the moment) and put the thoughts out of her mind before stepping forward, ears perked. "This your territory? Pretty nice! How'd you get it?" Her mouth was smiling and her tails were slowly sweeping back and forth, but she didn't take her eyes off him for a minute. She wasn't a complete fool. A few scraps over food taught one to never look away from possible opponent.
"I was just passing through." She sat and breathed in the air again. "Wanted to smell the rain." She cocked her head to one side. "What's your name?"
Let it never be said that Nyiabhat was a subtle and scheming dog.
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:54 pm
Albtraum scoffed at her when she spoke, truly not meant for the streets this one. Perhaps she could use someone to show her the ropes, he contemplated letting that dog be himself for a few moments then decided she was probably a lost cause and it would be a waste of his time, however, he had already patrolled most of his territory and it wouldn't hurt to have a little chat with someone as naive as this female seemed to be.
"Did you honestly just ask me how I got my territory? Really? How do you think I got it sweetie? Just waltzed up and asked if I could have it? That isn't how it works on the streets honey, you have to fight for everything you get out here. Now, your collar tells me you must've belonged to some humans at some point, let me tell you something, out here, no one will look out for you, you have to look out for yourself and everyone is an opponent whether they seem to be or not because out here it's life or death and if you don't kill them they will kill you."
His eyes were hard, cold, emotionless as he stared at her it was only a few moments after his relay of the cold hard truth that he remembered she'd asked what his name was... and he decided to humor her. "My name is Albtraum, translates to Nightmare and that's what most prefer to call me."
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:27 pm
Nyiab listened closely to the male's speech. Most dogs would be taken aback by Albtraum's aggressive words, but she simply sat quietly and attentively. When he mentioned violence her smile grew a bit more toothy and wide. This dog certainly was fascinating! His look, his stance, everything spoke of hard living. He emitted it like own scent. Speaking of which, she could swear up and down that she'd smelled him from somewhere, but where?
Were there more like themselves, somewhere?
His name came as a sudden revelation. "Oh, you're Nightmare!" Nyiab laughed. No wonder this dog was so interesting. "I've heard a lot about you!" That wasn't precisely true - no one had told her stories directly. But she'd heard enough whispers and listened in on enough conversations to get the picture of a dangerous beast who killed without remorse. A powerful, lethal creature.
Another thunderbolt struck the earth, this time closer, as she leaned forward. "You're a fighter, right? They say you've killed," she grew a bit wistful, "I'd like to see you fight sometime. You look like you're good." She shook herself and stood up. If he wanted her name, he could ask for it, but otherwise it was the same to her whether he knew it or not.
"Thanks for the advice." Not that she was any good a following advice, but oh well. "You're right, I am pretty new. I'm just looking for a place to watch the rain come in. I don't want to cause you trouble, sir." The tilt of her head and the earnest perk of her ears belied the quirk in her lips. "If you don't want to be my opponent right now, want to watch it with me?" Nyiab might revel in drawing blood and having blood drawn, but her violence was honest and without guile - if she fought she fought, and if there were other things to do, well, why not do them? And what she wanted to do right now was sit with this familiar stranger.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:59 pm
Albtraum smirked at her words, news of him was spreading well throughout Summerwood it seemed that was good. The more dogs who knew about him the more that would either avoid him, or join him, that would cut down on the troublesome border scuffles with trespassers who didn't know better.
"Well little lady I'm glad you've heard of me, and that you've heard of my reputation, but shouldn't a pretty little thing like yourself be just a bit unnerved by me given what you've heard?" After contemplating her request for a few moments he finally nodded in acceptance "I suppose that would be alright, just as long as ya keep outta the way, wouldn't wanna hurt ya on accident."
As the thunder roared through the sky and lightning bolts struck the ground closer to their location he decided it was time to move and he turned to make his way further down the alley. "Well miss, if ya wanna watch the storm this ain't no place to do it from. Come along and I'll show ya a better spot." At the end of the alley he leaped onto a dumpster and then into the abandoned building it was next to through the broken window. Moving out of the way he waited inside to see if she would follow or not.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 5:27 pm
Would she follow? She grinned. Of course. "Life's too short to be scared of it." A flip answer, but not really true. She just wasn't a dog for introspection. She easily followed onto the dumpster and through the window.
Dust stirred from their landings, and Nyiab sneezed. "Whew! A good place you have here~" The building'd been stripped ages ago of anything useful or valuable, although here and there were the skeletons of broken furniture. Underneath the choking aura of dust was the smell of mold and rats.
One such rodent odor was coming from an overturned dresser, which she padded over to, snuffling and headbutting it. Sure, the storm was coming, and she'd ask for the way to the stairs...in a minute.
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