Hollywood's Not America

[emmaspencer]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,350,true]

[atrb=background, i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Kiaramiddle.jpg] When it came right down to it, Kiara hadn’t really expected the stranger to come along after her. After all, what was in it for him? And he had come to Hollywood to see how much damage had been done, what more was there to do? He wanted answers and he got them. She was sure that despite the fact that he appeared ready and willing to help Kiara, he was probably ready to take his leave. He was just as soaked as she, and probably couldn’t wait to get home, change his clothing, and curl up in his nice warm bed. Kiara on the other hand had nothing like that to look forward to. She wasn’t complaining, but it was true. She hadn’t made that sort of life for herself and she was reaping what she sewed. Though her life had taken a sharp turn in a horrible direction the night of her attack, she couldn’t blame all of her hardships on someone else. The girl took complete responsibility (or tried to) for where she was now. The brunette wondered what the young man did for a living. She wondered what sort of job he had that would put him in such nice clothing. But at the end of the day, it was none of her business and she had no right to ask him about it. As she sat on the wet asphalt, she brought one knee up toward her chest and positioned her opposite leg in such a way that the bottom of her foot was to the side. She squinted in the darkness and tried to get a good look at the shards of glass that were lodged in her fair skin. She knew that there wasn’t enough lighting to yank the pieces out of her foot and realized she may have to wait until the next day to contend with the injury. There was still a little light left in the sky and Kiara knew that she had less than an hour to find shelter before the sun went down completely. She was getting more restless and agitated as time wore on. She knew she was cutting it close and that if she didn’t get a move on, she would find herself in a frenzied panic. Placing the palm of her hand on her wet forehead, the girl released an exasperated sigh and prepared to pull herself up. Though she was tired and sore, she needed to carry on. In the near distance, the women heard a few angry yells, making her realize that streets weren’t as clear as she had initially believed. There were always gangs roaming about and she should have known better than to assume that all of them had gone in for the night. Not wanting to be caught in the crossfire of their dirty drug dealings, the young woman prepared to get to her feet. Before she could do so however, the man who had been with her previously suddenly appeared. Kiara glanced in his direction with a perplexed expression on her face. Why on earth was he still outside? And why was he still insisting on following her? Though she had casually suggested he walk alongside her, she hadn’t really expected him to do it. Removing her hand from her head, she watched as he seated himself across from her, obviously wondering what on earth she was doing huddling in an alley. With her hands resting on her one elevated knee she replied: “yeah?" When the young man lightened the mood with a little sarcastic comment she chuckled lightly and answered: “I know. I needed to stop for a moment though. I’m a little bit tired and honestly, this alley isn’t much worse than the rest of the city. And except for us, it’s completely empty. I think I’ve found a gem here.” When the young man formally introduced herself, she nodded in understanding and said: “it’s a pleasure to meet you Lucian Chevalier. My name is Kiara Donovan.” She cast him another faint smile then motioned toward the street closest to them: “we should get going. It’s getting dark. Aren’t you going to go home? You aren’t going to stay in the city for the night are you? I don’t think you’ll find many motels that aren’t grungy or dangerous. And no offense but you sort of…stick out.” The girl hoped she hadn’t offended him, but every word out of her mouth was true. He DID stick out, and he most certainly wouldn’t find anywhere to stay that wasn’t infested with some type of critter or housing dangerous criminals. He needed to get out while he still could. Kiara on the other hand wasn’t terribly concerned about her own well-being. She didn’t value her life as much as she should have and didn’t take many precautions when it came to her safety. She flew by the seat of her pants and took things as they came. But she (oddly enough) did care that Lucian had put himself in danger, and wanted him to get out of it as quickly as she could. Other than her advice, she didn’t have much to give him, however. She eyed him from her position on the ground, her expression softening as she took in his features. The girl still didn’t completely trust Lucian, but she was growing more at ease around her. Thus far he had been respectful and patient, which was more than she could say for most of the men (and women) in the area. Placing her palms flat against the stained asphalt, the girl attempted to hoist herself up off of the ground. It took a few moments but eventually she pulled herself upright and leaned her back against the brick building behind her. It was time for her to leave and work on finding somewhere to stay for the night. She would probably have no choice but to weasel her way into a restaurant basement or an empty store. Most of the windows were barred, but there were a few that were falling apart, and left enough space for Kiara to crawl through. With her eyes again on Lucian she said: “Lucian, you should go home now. This is no place for you.” With that, she slowly turned her back toward him, veered to the right, and headed down the street. Though she was still a little wary of the man, she would miss his company. A selfish part of her wished that he would ignore what she had said and come along with her. She had been alone for so long and it was refreshing to have someone intelligent to speak to. But she couldn’t allow him to come with her if he would be in danger. But at the end of the day it was his decision. He was a grown man after all, and was fully capable of making his own choices. After approximately ten minutes of walking beneath the pouring rain, the girl finally stumbled upon a small building that had at one point been a small corner store. Bars covered the doors and windows, but as luck would have it, one of the side windows had been bashed in with a crowbar, leaving a rather large hole. Seeing a wonderful opportunity, the girl slipped quietly to the side and with her arms, pulled her body onto the mouth of the hole. There were still bits of iron rod protruding from the sides and Kiara tried to avoid wounding her tender flesh with the bars. She wiggled her belly through the window, the bars tearing holes through her thin black dress. Fortunately her skin was left virtually unharmed. Before she entered the building, she looked all around, making sure there was no one taking residence inside. When she was certain it was safe, she dropped to the ground, landing with a thump on her side. She continued to keep the bottom of her injured foot off of the ground as she brought herself to a standing position and took a good look at her surroundings. There wasn’t much left in the shop aside from a few shelves, a few pieces of torn table cloths, and some brooms and dustpans that were covered in dust and spider webs. Kiara shuffled toward what used to be the front counter and sank to the floor. She knew how important it was to stay low to the ground. She didn’t want to attract any attention to herself and the lower she was, the better. Even in an enclosed area, the city wasn’t safe and she couldn’t pretend that it was otherwise. With: Lucian Words: 1561 Notes: None

[/size][/color][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]

[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[silent]

She introduced herself, and another little warm smile sort of broke on his face, watching her with well adjusted eyes through the gloom of the alley. "The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Donovan- and we're not exactly alone." He chuckled, his hearing picking up a scuffling noise, and his eyes fixing on a rat, snuffling it's way through a pile of garbage, looking for food. Sadly, the even scavenging animal that is known to eat anything looked thin and emaciated, never finding enough to eat. He looked back to Kiara, and wondered how hard it was for her to find food. Were the human's really in such disarray, that even rats and roaches were slowly starving? No wonder the place reeked of death, what on earth could survive here, aside from the stubborn, hearty humans. For a split second, he had a spark of respect for the lower creatures. Despite all of the odds against them, hunger, poverty, the lycans, they continued to survive the best they could.

When Kiara mentioned that night was falling, and that they should go- Lucian especially needing to get out of the city, because he stuck out, he again gave a deep chuckle, eyeing her with a amused expression. "I may stand out, it may put me in danger- but looks can be very deciving. I can take care of myself very well. I have no fear of maybe sticking around for the night." It may have sounded somewhat cocky, but Lucian was very sure of himself. His life with Nyalcom made him a strong fighter- as if being lycan wasn't enough self defense. When she again said that he should go home, that the city wasn't safe for him, he stood as well, never taking his gaze off of her, his face growing somber. She didn't hesitate to leave, and he stood in the dark alley alone, the rain still pounding steadily. He heaved a sigh, contemplating on what he should do. Why did he hesitate to leave? Of course it was obvious that his best decision would to be to turn around, and go back to castle nyalcom- he would be warm, dry, and out of this filthy city, as if being away from the humans wasn't enough- but for whatever reason, he gave in to his instincts, stepped out of the alley, and followed in the direction she had gone. She hasn't directly told him he had to leave, she had just strongly suggested he get somewhere safe- and besides, what was more stand out-ish? A well dressed man, walking the streets of run down Hollywood in the day, or slinking the rainy streets at night? He had no fear of the night, he preferred it, but a run in with any of the gangs he knew were prowling around would lead to many human deaths, and potentially, some serious injuries on himself.

He followed the direction she had gone in for a few blocks, wondering if he'd even find her, when he heard a thud, and his attention was turned to a broken in window. Approaching it, he inhaled deeply, and caught Kiara's fresh scent. Well, he had found her, but now, how to get in, without terrifying her, with a valid explanation as to why he had decided to come? Well it was now becoming very dark, due to any last rays of the sun being sucked away by the storm clouds. Getting through the window would be no problem- although the sharp, metal bars did prove a problem, one opening a laceration on his arm that he hardly noticed, climbing agilely through, despite his size, and hoisting himself entirely in, he landed on his feet below, with a light thud, instantly, his eyes adjusting to the gloom and scanning until he spotted Kiara. "I hope to not have frightened you,"He started, slowly approaching where she was keeping herself low to the ground. "I just figured that it is actually best I stick around for the night- I'm not sure I'd be able to find my way out of the city at night." He hoped she wouldn't send him away, at least, not until he learned a bit more about her. What was it that he saw, that made her different from the others? Nearing her, he sat down nearby to her, nearly laughing at the absurdity of the situation. He he was, soaking wet, sitting in an old, abandoned shop with a human girl he barely knew, on some mindset that she was different from the others. He knew he may be terribly mistaken, but at the same time, the entire ordeal seemed worth it. "So Hollywood is what you call home, huh? Why Hollywood? Friends? Family? Or something else?" He decided to start with a pretty obvious question. He knew a lot of people lived within these city limits, but he never figured out what drove them here, even as it fell apart and began to rot. He hoped not to step on any toes, or cause any offense, so he began with something not too prying, just enough to get a bit of information. Have to to start somewhere, right?

[emmaspencer]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,350,true]

[atrb=background, i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Kiaramiddle.jpg] The girl sat crouched in front of the counter, grateful to have found the empty building before the sun had a chance to set. Through the foggy dirt laden window, Kiara could see that the sky continued to darken as the sun set and the storm continued. The rain beat against the windows, making it difficult for the woman to hear Lucian as he climbed in the building after her. Fortunately she was facing the window in which he entered, so she spotted his blue shirt long before he opened his mouth to speak. She couldn’t fathom why he had decided to stick around, but she wasn’t going to question it either. She had given him her advice and opinion on the matter and he could do whatever he pleased with it. And she couldn’t really say that she wasn’t happy to have him around. She was still a little way of him, but as time passed she expected her apprehensions to wane. As Lucian have Kiara an explanation as to why he had followed her inside, she listened and then answered: “you didn’t. Frighten me I mean. And I suppose you’re right. There probably aren’t many cabs out right now, and I don’t think you would want to deal with the ones that are. I don’t imagine you’ll get much sleep here though. This isn’t the most comfortable spot and it certainly isn’t the warmest. But for now it is safe. And that’s the important part." The brunette curled her arms around her stomach and pulled one of her knees to her chest. Kiara tended to ball up when she was cold or frightened, and the fetal position was one of her favorite poses. It made her feel more secure and it tended to keep quite a bit of heat in when she needed it. She wasn’t really frightened, but she was a little chilly and her movement was almost unconscious. The girl prepared to ask Lucian a question but her thought was interrupted when he beat her to the punch. He wanted to know why she had decided to live in Hollywood. It was a very reasonable question and she had asked herself the same thing many times before. After taking a deep breath she answered: “to be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure. I’ve spent a lot of time wandering, and this is the first placed I’ve lived for a significant length of time. I guess I like it because I don’t stick out here. Everyone is so preoccupied with their own issues that they don’t have time to ask questions about mine. I prefer it that way. And even though a lot of horrible things happen and have happened here, there is still a lot of kindness here. And even a little bit of hope. But you have to spend a lot of time here in order to see that.” She paused for a moment and then continued: “but no I don’t have family here. And I don’t have many friends either. People keep to themselves, which is fine. I do too. But how about you? Where are you from?” There was a tiny bit of light streaming in from the only working street lamp in the area. Kiara decided to take advantage of the light and tend to her wound before she gave it time to get infected. She had seen and had experienced a number of injuries before and wasn’t in the least bit fazed by this one. She wasn’t trained in nursing or anything of the sort but she knew how to fix things and felt that she was perfectly capable of caring for the laceration on her foot. The woman lowered her knee and folded downward as she pulled her injured foot toward her. She turned her ankle to position the bottom of her foot toward her and inspected it carefully. The glass was lodged in quite deeply and Kiara was going to have a hell of time getting it out. The flesh around the glass was growing red and she knew that she needed to pull it out before it developed further irritation. She took her lower lip between her teeth and with her left hand, pulled the glass out of her foot. She stifled a whimper as she glass slid out of her raw flesh. The woman didn’t hold the glass for long and quickly tossed the blood stained shard across the room, listening as it landed with a quiet clank. Blood seeped from the wound and Kiara permitted a rather large amount to leave her body, hoping that her body would expel any contaminants on its own. When she felt as though she had lost enough, she pulled at the bottom of her dress and tore of a large strip of black fabric. Gently, she wound it around her foot and knotted it tightly, wanting to prevent any dirt from getting into the wound. She was sore, cold, and uncomfortable, but satisfied that she was out of the rain and that her foot could finally begin to heal. Hopefully she hadn’t disgusted Lucian too much. She knew that many people loathed the sight of blood and for all she knew, Lucian was one of them. She turned her head to face him, trying to gauge his reaction. “Sorry. I needed to get that taken care of before I did anything else. The last thing I need is an infection. The hospitals here aren’t very clean. And I’m not entirely sure that any of the employees are fit to be taking care of patients. It’s usually better to do those kinds of things on your own if you can. You didn’t get hurt coming through the window did you? It’s a bit of a squeeze, even for me.” Kiara stretched out her foot in front of her and shivered quietly. The rain was certainly cooling things off. And though she didn’t enjoy being cold, she knew that the rain would deter the gangs from coming out and wrecking havoc. With: Lucian Words: 1135 Notes: None

[/size][/color][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]

[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[silent]

Lucian leaned back into a few fallen beams from the ceiling that had collapsed, and now stood nearly vertical to the floor, relaxing back as best he could in the uncomfortable situation. He watched her through calm, warm eyes as she folded herself into a ball, laying in the fetal position. Was it terror there, glittering in her eyes? No, there was no fear, only discomfort. He had to admit, despite how warm the day had been, the constant cloud cover, secluded nature of this building, and the rain had cooled it all significantly. Being wet didn't help, although Lucian had natural brawn to keep him warm, he knew the poor girl had to be growimg cold. Of course, she probably wouldn't appreciate any attempts to give her his body warmth, so he could only watch her. She survived like this normally, he could only assure himself, she'd be fine. As she answered, he took it in, hanging to her every word, a very attentive audience. He understood it was what she was accustomed to, but he could just barely believe there was kindness, or hope of any sort left in run down Hollywood- but, he didn't live here, so he'd take her word for it.

She finished, mentioning her lack of family and friends, and proceeded to direct a question at him. That definitely sent his mind wheeling, although his face gave nothing away, nor his ever watchful eyes. How does one explain to a human that he lives in a castle of one of the most reclusive lycan packs? He didn't hesitate, quickly formulating an answer, without seeming like he had to think about it- instead, taking to watch her hunch over, bending her foot upright toward her, and slowly removing the shard of glass so deeply impeded there. He watched, interested and concerned, feigning being deeply involved by it as she went to remove the glass fully and fling it away, allowing the wound to bleed out a bit before tearing off a section of her dress, and using it to bind the wound, looking back up at him, and apologizing, explaining how she had to remove it herself. He simply nodded, "It bothered me none, as that entirely makes sense. It was in your best interest, to avoid infection or further harm." When she questioned if he had been injured while squeezing his way in, his gaze only momentarily fixed on his arm. The gash there was long, although not too deep, and only bleeding slightly still. He assumed it would soon stop and all would be well. "Only a superficial cut, I'll be fine." He once again relaxed back against the fallen beams, and watched her as he decided the best way to answer her question.

" Well, I live away from most others- Hence I've never really been in this area. In fact, I live a ways from here, right outside of a small village called Milra." He thought for a moment and chuckled a bit. "I guess you can say the people in Milra are in essence, like those here. Both are sturdy people, not willing to back down and succumb to any fate they don't seem fit. They fight for their lives and live them as they can." He debated explaining further, knowing she'd probably want some form of why that was, with the way he worded it. "They live right in the devil's cradle I suppose, in the shadow of the lycans." He shrugged his shoulders. "It seems everyone these days, no matter their situation, must live in fear of death. Be in those who live here in Hollywood, facing sickness and poverty, to the villagers living among the lycans, at risk that some lone one will kill them- to the lycans themselves, by both those who hunt them, and each other, who threaten their own kind."

[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,350,true]

[atrb=background, i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Kiaramiddle.jpg] Kiara was getting used to having Lucian around. She still wasn’t ready to allow him to get physically close to her, but she was getting there. She was glad he had come along with her and realized she would have been horribly bored and lonely if he had gone off in a different direction. Until tonight she hadn’t realized how much she had been longing to interact with another person. She had been very fortunate to meet Lucian, and though she wasn’t prepared to admit it aloud, she most certainly thought it. She watched him from where she sat, trying to study him beneath the very faint glow of the street lamp outside. But though she was happy to have him with her, she was sorry that he was spending the night in such a cold and uncomfortable building. She was grateful to have found it, but then again, she was used to living in places far worse and far more uncomfortable. Lucian on the other hand probably hadn’t spent much time in filthy, disgusting cities and buildings. But it was far too late for him to turn around and go back and both he and Kiara would have to deal with the situation they were currently in. With the glass out of her foot, she leaned back and relaxed, her head resting against the front of the counter. She listened as the man explained that his wound was merely superficial and wasn’t much to worry about. Fortunately the two had come out of the storm virtually unscathed and didn’t have to worry about any serious injuries. Hollywood wasn’t a very safe place to live and serious injuries weren’t uncommon. There was a lot of crime and many hazards unrelated to the individuals themselves. The weather was unpredictable and the terrain was rocky and uneven. But most of the residents managed to survive despite the drawbacks and were stronger because of it. The girl brought her left pointer finger to her mouth and began nibbling on the tip as the young man briefed her just a little bit on his history. She kept quiet and gave him her full attention as he gave her a description of his village Milra. The brunette eyed him curiously, wondering where on earth Milra was located and how much of a distance it was from Hollywood. She hadn’t heard of it before, but then again, she wasn’t well versed on the surrounding areas. Though she was intelligent, geography wasn’t her strong suit, and things and areas seemed to change very frequently anyway. It was always very difficult to get familiar with places when they never seemed to stick around. As he described it, she realized it didn’t sound very different from Hollywood. Milra was obviously much smaller, but it seemed to have many troubles of its own. When Lucian mentioned the lycans, Kiara’s body instantly tensed. Though she herself was a lycanthrope, she didn’t like to acknowledge that part of herself or the existence of other lycans. She didn’t respect them, and she sure as hell didn’t trust them. And the last thing she wanted to do was meddle in their affairs. It was often difficult for the girl to detect other werewolves, but when she stumbled across one, she always tried to move away from them as quickly as possible. She still hadn’t realized that Lucian was a lycanthrope, and would undoubtedly be dismayed when she realized he was. She was growing comfortable in his presence, but all of that would be undone the moment she caught wind of what he was. The girl didn’t particularly like discussing the horrific shifting beasts but she knew she needed to offer him some type of response. But she couldn’t hide her disdain nor would she try. Taking a shallow breath she answered: “lone or not, those beasts are savage and dangerous. Humans have every reason to be frightened. I wish those Lycanthropes would either leave or die out. But I know they continue to enter these territories because I have seen the damage they have inflicted. It never seems to end.” Kiara went silent for a moment, taking time to contemplate what she had just said. Lowering her hands onto her lap, she peered down at her fingers for a few seconds before looking back up at Lucian. She didn’t know how he felt about the feral creatures, but she was fairly certain she would find out soon. With: Lucian Words: 875 Notes: So sorry it took me so long to respond. I was lacking muse then I had to work overnight for three days. It shouldn’t happen again.

[/size][/color][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]

[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[lucianchevalier]

As soon as mention of lycans left his mouth, he noted the quickening of her heartbeat, the tensing of her muscles, and he mentally slapped himself. Humans were afraid of the lycans, in some cases, some despised them- what would make Kiara any different from that? By the time he finished speaking, in the dim light, he could see her disdain for the species reflected in her eyes, her words ice cold and scathing as she spoke bitterly of his species, and he felt himself instinctively straighten, his eyes drop away from her in the gloom, pondering her words, and soothing the beast in him that wanted to snarl against her every accusation of his kind. Lucian, born a Nyalcom wolf, it was his heritage, his bloodline thorough and pure- and yet, he varied so deeply from his own kind- and that was what irked him most. She spoke, and claimed every Lycan to be a monster, and yet in the short time he had known her, he had been nothing but kind. He had spent his entire life trying to be a gentleman, a good hearted man despite his Nyalcom roots, and those natural instincts, yet still do what he must for his pack. Now here was this human, telling him that Lycans could do no good? His eyes finally flicked back up to her.

"I think you'd find those accusations rather biased. It's natural for human kind to believe that a species higher than them on the food chain is a threat... and yes, yes the wolves can be. Some are bred and born to be monsters..." He recalled one of his siblings, Sibelius, a younger brother with a mean streak. If it didn't involve bloodshed, Sibelius wasn't interested. He was the perfect Nyalcom warrior, his hate for the other packs, and humans alike, seething from his pores and living him with a musky scent, like blood and doom all mixed into a potent concoction. "Others however know better. You have to think of it much like humans. Some of them only know to do wrong, to kill, to fight, so others go after them, kill them- because if they don't, they fear their own death... others however, they make things of themselves. They live, they love, they have families, spouses, children, grandchildren, siblings- If they're grouped together as one mass of killing machines, as many see them, is it really fair to kill an honest man, lycan or not, just because his brother was a killer?" He grew silent for a moment, peering out into the night, the sun gone, the storm still pounding the ground outside in a loud symphony of banging. "My sister was killed, because a human hunter thought her a beast." He seem lost for a second, then looked back to Kiara again, and continued. "She had a husband, a young son, and her whole life ahead of her- and it was ripped away from her, as she was from us, due to a stereotype." His eyes closed, as if in pain, and it was an emotional pain, the loss of a loved one, "They thought her a beast- she was the purest, sweetest woman I've known." He gathered himself, heaving a heavy sigh. His wording, his strong belief on the subject, he knew that now, she would know what he was- if she didn't... he felt the urge to tell her. For whatever reason, he wanted to know what she'd judge him. He had been nothing but kind- and it made him curious, would she suddenly despise him for what he was, and nothing he had done?

[/size]