PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 0:23:16 GMT
((This could be open. If you’re interested in jumping in, message me in discord first  )) The wall stretched up above her, two stories of bare brushed concrete before the lowest window ledge. It was a bit unusual for this place, given that there was more than ten feet of open wall without protruding pipes or wires or ledges or other.... industrial-y stuff sticking out or tacked on haphazardly. It faced an alley of sorts, in which she now stood, looking up at this wall she had found. She had passed it by chance at first, when her class had been set loose to careen around the training grounds. Some of her classmates had been able to spring right up, not even slowing down when there was nothing to grip or leap from.
Feral had not done as well, and had barely twisted herself around in time to keep from cracking her skull open. The others had been far enough ahead that they didn’t notice, but that didn’t fix the problem. Feral was behind her class. Not just academically, even if Blue Weaver and her tutor both insisted that she was closing the gap fast, but physically. She was quick enough to seem like she was keeping up, but for a physical Quirk she couldn’t compare herself. Not if she wanted to feel like anything other than an out-of-place failure.
She worked hard to get her academic skills up to the expected level, and she was supposedly making progress. She hadn’t been working as hard on her physical skills. If anything, she had been less active since arriving at UA, and that was the complete wrong direction.
Running was easy, and she could do that whenever. It would keep her in shape, at least, and help her stamina, but it wouldn’t make her stronger. It wouldn’t make her more able to keep up with her classmates in situations like this. It wouldn’t let her keep up with villains in situations like this.
Feral was supposed to have the entire day off from studies. Something about a holiday, and a gap between major assignments. She didn’t even have anything new from her tutor. So she had brought her pack to the frustrating bit of open wall to get their opinions. Crowdsource a strategy. So far, Feral and the pack (mostly Crow, as he was the aerial specialist of the group) were focusing on how to get her to that window. There was a vertical pipe to the left, two metres beside the window and braced with metal rings every few feet. To the right, the wall jutted out half a foot, with a little sheet metal roof at a steep angle with no gutter below. Rain had flecked her bare arms on her way here, but so far the sky was keeping to sullen overcast rather than breaking into a downpour.
The alley was a little less than ten feet wide, and the opposite side was a mess of intertwining pipes, full of spaces Crow had to squish into. Footholds, certainly, but nowhere to stand until she climbed all three stories to the roof. Would it be easier to jump sideways, from the pipe, or across the alley and hope she didn’t fall short?
Either way, she was prepared to lose some skin today.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 0:51:59 GMT
She was going to have to get started eventually. Standing here staring wasn’t going to pick her up and plop her at the window, and if she were actually chasing a villain then she wouldn’t have time to stop and think and stare anyway. But if she rushed it too much, she could get seriously hurt... and while Kai was strong enough to drag her out of here if she couldn’t walk, it wouldn’t be easy or fun for anyway. Especially her. Especially since she was here in a tank and leggings (not all black for once! The tank was yellow, almost golden, and had a little bit of reddish brownish purple along the bottom hem.
She stretched both arms over her head, ears flicking about as she kept staring up at the window. From the pipe on the left? The roof to the right would be even harder, since it was a bit further and was a different height and was steep, bare metal that wouldn’t give her bare feet as much purchase. Or from across the alley? The distance was further, but it would be easier to climb than the pipe and she could go higher as well, which would make it easier to jump across the alley. But it would also be a lot more dangerous if she didn’t make the jump.
Kai was no help. The big black dog had actually wandered off, following his nose down another narrow space. Quick didn’t want Feral to be doing this, but withheld most of her judgement. She had tucked herself out of the way where she could watch, alert and patient.
Crow was already on the window ledge. He wouldn’t admit how he got there and Feral hadn’t seen him do it, and it made him insufferably smug. But if Crow could do it, then Feral ought to be able to. She could be just as agile as him, or as warm as Kai, or any of it. Whatever she needed to do. She took a deep breath. That was right. She could do whatever it was she needed to do, and right now, that was find a way to get herself to that window ledge.
She would try from the pipe first. It wasn’t much harder than from across the alley, if it was harder at all, and it was a lot less risky. She would feel so terribly unintelligent if she messed up so badly on her first try that she hurt herself too much to continue. It would be even worse if Kai had to drag her out after only one try, and if anyone found out about it she probably would never live it down, at best. At worst, it would prove that she shouldn’t be here.
She bit down on that thought, clenching her sharp teeth together as though shredding the very notion. She did belong here. She worked hard to be here, and to stay here, and to do whatever she had to do. Blue Weaver had stood up for her, and Blue Weaver believed in her. She could believe in herself.
Feral finished stretching and sprang lightly onto the pipe, clearing the first few feet to hook her fingertips over a higher brace and clamping her bare feet around the the pipe’s curves. She hauled herself upward, contorting to bring her toes up by her fingers and use her more powerful leg muscles to push herself higher. Her bones ached questioningly, but for now she focused on climbing.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 1:21:30 GMT
So far so good. The pipe’s braces weren’t evenly spaced but she could reach them well enough to climb quickly, even though she was smaller than most of her classmates and had less reach as a result. Maybe not Hanako. Hanako didn’t make her feel short, though Feral was much leaner. Scrawny, really. The scrawniness of a lifetime on sporadic food and near-constant movement.
Feral hauled herself over a bigger brace, forced to lean out over the ground a dozen feet below, twisting sideways to get a foot onto it. A little bit further and she would be level with the windowsill. Crow had vacated it while she climbed, and after a moment’s visual search she spotted him watching her from a corner where stray leaves from years past had collected, dry beneath an overhang. The odd raindrop streaked across her shoulders but it still wasn’t raining, and the metal under her hands and feet wasn’t slippery.
Up a few more feet. Her muscles were more warmed up now, and she could still feel her Quirk wondering if it ought to step in. Should she let it? Push it to? Would it help?
If she fell, it might help her land without injury. But it wouldn’t help her jump from standing, if one were to try to call ‘clinging to a pipe’ standing. Besides, it would tire her out faster. No, she would be fine. She could believe in herself. If she doubted herself, that would be when she failed.
She exhaled slowly. Or so Blue Weaver said. And it generally seemed to hold true. As long as she wasn’t completely dumb like a newborn kitten. Cats learned their overconfidence as they earned it. She could do this.
She did let the little niggling bit of doubt guide her one brace higher, where she could look down at the ledge. Less than six inches deep, against the closed glass pane. Closer to three where the ledge ran past the frame. Maybe three feet wide in total. The ledge angled down a little, probably to let the rain run off it and not toward the building. That could be risky. But it was wide enough.
Feral shifted on the pipe, eyes fixed on her target. Her tail hung loose and limber behind her, tip waving slightly with focus. She was flexed and strong and agile and ready.
She jumped.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 2:06:43 GMT
From her position on the pipe, Feral rolled midair to bring her limbs into position to seize the fast approaching window ledge. Her hands were flexed and ready, fingers bent but not so much that she’d risk catching her nails on the concrete, and her feet were ready to brace wherever they could.
The windowsill slid beneath her elbow, her weight hitting it abruptly all along her forearm with the ledge’s edge right between the bones and the corner somewhere between the bones of her wrist. Sparks surged up her arm, some confusing mess of fire and ice and this is not supposed to be happening.
This was not supposed to be happening. She scrabbled at the window frame with her other hand, fingertips aching much too slow to help, succeeding only in turning herself further and dragging her bare shoulder along the concrete as she slid... away from the window...
Down the wall, tumbling now from the friction against her shoulder. Far enough to hurt, bad if she landed wrong.
Breathe out. Push away from the wall, hard enough to risk hitting the other side of the alley. Tuck in. Roll.
She hit with her other shoulder, glancing rather than direct, spinning across the alley in the same direction as her own rotation. Slow down slowly. She knew this, had done if before. Slow down slowly.
She ran out of space much too quickly and collided with uneven pipes and pillars face-on, shielded only by her scraped forearms and own flesh. This wasn’t combat, so she inhaled slowly. Blood trickled, sharp-scented in the rain-threat air, but nothing fast. Nothing broken but skin. Shoulders mostly, from concrete. A scrape below the meat of her left thumb, that arm still tingly and unhappy from the shock of impact. Probably going to bruise all up the forearm. Scuffs on her knuckles and knees, some blood soaking her too-stretchy-to-rip leggings, and the edge of her hip felt bruised.
Not too bad. She shook it off and bounced back to her feet, tough-furred ears and tail springing back from where they’d tucked out of the way. So that was one failure. Feral squinted up at the windowsill. She’d overshot, although her aim had overall been very, very good, all things considered. The problem, really, was that if she missed, there was nothing else she could do....
But what if she could push off the wall better?
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 2:23:47 GMT
This time, Feral swarmed up the opposite side of the alley. It was ridiculously easy to climb - she could probably do it in her sleep - and she hadn’t completely caught her breath from the first fall by the time she was a good distance above the window. It taunted her now, teasing and beckoning from across the alley. A bit of wind tugged at her hair where it disappeared under her shirt, then faded.
She was higher up now than she had been before. If she didn’t make it to the other wall...
It would be what it would be. It would be easier if she could take a running leap at it from this angle, but she’d have to do that from a full story above. An unprotected jump three stories above concrete.
How about not. She flexed her spin, already turned so that her back was to the pipe work. She had good handholds on both sides, and her feet were secure on a horizontal pipe. She pushed herself outward, pulling against her hand grips to see how far she could extend her legs like this. She’d have to push off hard.
Feral slid her hands a bit lower, tightening her flex, and leaned on her Quirk. It lurked, a tension in her fingertips and joints. She didn’t need claws; they wouldn’t help her. They were a lot of work anyway. She needed to be able to spring and snap and launch herself outwards. As the aching burn spread, like sinking into a hot bath but only on the inside, she flexed her body a little bit further and then kicked off into the open air, back arching to lend her entire spine’s power to her legs.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 2:41:55 GMT
She... might actually make it!
She was still a bit above the window, a neat and tidy arc, and she sucked in a quick breath before impact.
Palms first, outstretched and aligned with the window’s upper frame. Her fingers snapped onto the upper lip, finding plenty of space to grip securely. Her legs were tucked up under her, one foot slightly forward and turned outward. Her littler toes caught the edge of the ledge and guided the rest of her foot into place, all in the tiny moment before her weight slammed into her three points of contact. Her hips twisted from the uneven supper and her free knee crashed through the glass, but she...
Stopped.
She’d made it?
She made it!
”YES!” she shouted, voice echoing through the industrial labyrinth, head tilted back in exhilaration.
Her left hand, still a bit numb, slipped, immediately followed by her over-flexed foot.
Oops.
Her left knee clipped the window ledge on the way past as she twisted and squirmed, wind roaring more in her ears this time than before - oh. The wind was gusting. She scraped the bottom of one foot against the wall, almost like trying to run up it, and found enough resistance to push, weight briefly centred over that leg.
She spun in the air, heels over head, and struck ground on all fours, limber and vibrantly alive with the adrenaline. Quick whined at her, but Feral just shot her a toothy grin, eyes wild and chest heaving for breath. Again. Again she had to do it again. Her amber eyes tracked a new, bolder route up the pipework wall. Faster. Maybe she’d go right through the window this time, find out what was inside. Smash the cracked glass with her feet and surge through. Her feet were tough. They’d be fine. Thicker skin than anywhere else, really, especially the pads by her toes.
Feral leapt and clambered up the pipes with a thought and a whim, flinging herself clear past handholds she’d used the first time.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 3:25:35 GMT
This time, Feral jumped too hard, jarring every joint in its socket when she collided with the wall well above the window. She got her feet against it, though, and threw herself away from it with all the force she could gather in her most agile heartbeat. She soared back across the alley, twisting midair to bring her hands back to bear against the original surface.
She stuck this landing, below the window now and substantially farther down than where she’d last flung herself. Her body sang and beckoned her onward. This wasn’t enough. She’d hit the window once now; that was plenty. What else? Where else? Oh! The window had only been the first part of it.
The original issue was that everyone else had surged past without hesitation. How had they come through? From there, and then up over the roof there, and beyond that building. Feral hopped off the pipes like skipping the last step on a flight of stairs and tore off down the alley, feet absolutely sure on the dusty concrete and its little damp patches. More wind, at her back for the moment but soon to be in her face. She’d have to work harder. That was okay. She could do this. She would do this. She would catch up to them.
She would beat them. That would show all the people who thought she shouldn’t be here, that an animal like her didn’t belong in a school with uniforms and ties and people who wore glasses.
She lithely twisted her halt, just around the corner from the alley entrance, near where she remembered first entering it in class. She’d been running. Everyone had been running. She crouched, tensed, then bolted forward, trusting the fluid flexibility humming in her body to find the right grip, the right stride, the right tiny shifts in balance and angle and height and pressure.
Feral tore into the alley like a hellhound after a racetrack lure, already looking ahead to the pipe, the window, the roof. Don’t stop at the window. Use it to keep going. Jump hard, don’t climb the pipe. Fling forward with wild abandon, trusting nerve and muscle to align everything as needed. Don’t slow down, just touch down with feather-light toes and spring onwards, a half-step at full sprint to keep the momentum. The metal roof filled her vision, for all that it wasn’t very wide.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 3:47:28 GMT
This was it! This was the moment that she soared past like everyone else did, and raced onward with complete freedom and no second thoughts! This! Was! It!
The wind gusted at the same instant that Feral’s gut realized she wasn’t going to make it, curving down the metal roof and slamming into her face with a surge of dust and pollen and heavy, cold rain.
She tipped backward, ever so slightly, and her knees skimmed the underside of the roof, the bare metal artfully shredding both thighs of her leggings.
Her kneecaps and shins slammed into the wall beneath as she frantically bent backwards, trying to keep more sensitive tissue like her face away from the sharp edge. Her body hissed and groaned and ached but she didn’t have time to register any of it, not over the much sharper pain in her lower legs (at least her toes had been curved back) and the heady sinking feeling that she
Was
Falling.
Another burst of wind pelted her face with even more rain, and pushed her even harder downward. She hit the ground with the full flat of her back, head bouncing off the base of her ponytail.
The rain patted her face and abdomen where the hem of her tank top had caught on the roof and ridden up. Water mixed with blood in places, the soft wind and increasingly dense rain gently washing her torn shoulders and arms and knees. A white muzzle blocked out the grey sky, and Feral squinted as Quick began washing her face. A bit of admonishment, but mostly unyielding patience. Even in the face of idiot puppies who really ought to be old enough to know better.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Vhexxen
N/A
quirk Packmate
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N/A
alias Feral
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Post by Feral on Jun 1, 2020 4:08:09 GMT
Feral lay on the ground a little longer. Quick eventually settled down alongside her, lean and legging body tucking in against Feral’s ribs and hip. The bruised hip, unfortunately. Assuming that the other one wasn’t also bruised at this point. Everything felt bruised, and she hadn’t even over-used her Quirk.
She sighed. That stung.
She sighed again anyway. She had made the window, at least? And... most... of the last bit had been successful. She just hadn’t jumped high enough the second time. Third time? She hadn’t really been counting.
This time, it was a black muzzle shoved in her face. Food? he asked, briefly looking up at the wet sky before quickly dropping his head down again and shaking, adding to the water already soaking her clothing. Now she had rain water and dog water. That was hardly new, though. ”You don’t need food,” she muttered up at the big dog, halfheartedly pushing his face aside with her less-bruised hand. A few of her fingertips stung, revealing a few splits in the skin when she tried to use them.
Ugh. That was her writing hand.
Kai nudged the side of her neck with his cold nose. Dry food? He wagged his tail hopefully. He didn’t usually ask for kibble, although he rarely hesitated to scarf it down alongside everyone else’s, given have a chance of inattention.
”Fine,” she muttered, and hooked her already-raised hand inside his collar even though it made her fingertips hurt even more. ”Dry food, snack only.”. And then she would shower. Maybe stick on a few bandaids. Good things, bandaids. Kept things clean so they could heal properly. ”Pull me up.”
Once Kai had her on her feet, and a moment of lightheadedness passed, Feral eased each limb through a little stretch to make sure she hadn’t actually badly hurt anything, but it all seemed to be skin-deep. So not a complete failure, today. That shower would be wonderful... even if it stung all her scrapes. But pain was part of life, just like getting rained on and covered in dog hair.
[END]
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))