xX A Chance at Freedom Xx

[Noko]

It was a muggy Saturday night and the stars shone down upon all of the creatures who were still awake providing them with light to go about their business. One of these creatures was a massive great white shark with three large tails sprouting from its back. As it swam only three things were on its mine. The least important was where it was heading, ahead of that thought was would he go back to where he was coming from, and the final and most important though was rather morbid. Blood, The large behemoth thought as he made his way down a small river that lead to the beach.

Only a few moments ago this large monster of a shark had been a boy. It was his curse to become this large monster when ever his lust for blood became to much for him to bear. For years he had lived with this strange magical malady and it wasn't until earlier this night that anyone had deemed that it wrong, at least no one had ever said it so directly until now. For once the beast mind turned away from blood and it thought of its future. A cage... They want to put me in a cage!, it thought as it put on a burst of speed. Noko was not the only person who was cursed. No in fact nine other people shared his curse although no of them seemed to have it as bad as him.

Each of them changed when ever they experienced a certain emotion. Noko's was blood lust and what had caused his lust for the salty red liquid tonight was the fact that his family wanted to lock him up in a cage. Some family He had no idea when he was going to be locked up so he decided that tonight he was going to allow himself to indulge in his only desire. Noko wasn't always like this, a blood thirsty monster. Usually he could keep his blood lust under control and he would spend his time lounging around on the beach far away from everyone else. But not tonight, he doubted that there was anyone in the world he would be able to keep the kind of hunger that he had under control when they were experiencing what Noko was.

Several minutes passed and the shark had arrived at the beach. No one was around no even a fish, or at least that's what most people would say. But than again Noko wasn't like most people or like most sharks. He was a combination of the two and he possessed both of their best qualities. He was more intelligent than the fanged beast whose form he currently shared and he had certain abilities no human had. One of those was the ability to feel electromagnetic field produced when ever an animal moved and right now that sense was telling Noko that there was an entire buffet of fish barely fifteen feet below the surface.

Noko swam close to the bottom quickly and quietly. Although he was both fast and powerful he didn't want to chase anything around today he just wanted to taste blood. Within twenty minutes he had devoured close to fifty pounds in fish, almost a third of his body weight in his human form. Small amounts of blood wafted around him and he knew that soon other sharks would invade his territory an attempt to eat what was his. The idea caused his temper to flare but it subsided when he realized that he hadn't had shark in a long time.

He clenched his teeth together and spread his mouth apart as if he was smiling. He got as close to the bottom of the sea as he could and swam slowly. If he could of stopped he would have but it was against his animal instincts to stop. While in either form Noko had to keep moving otherwise he would feel as if he was going to die. He waited quietly for his prey to approach, his trap was set and in a few minutes he would be able to feast upon over a thousand pounds in flesh.

[+Najika Mizuno+]

“Here is fine please stop the car.” A white car drove screeched to a stop followed by a large silver truck. Today was Najika’s day off but her manager insisted on following her to the Beach. Since it was getting dark already she allowed such to happen and put on a smile. Thankful when they finally reached their destination she opened the shot-guns door and slowly stepped out into the muggy air. “Cal us if you need anything I will leave the car here but please tell us where you are going if you will be gone long. I don’t want anything to happen to you we have a performance tomorrow at noon.” Her manager reminded the blond girl who looked ready to take a dive. “Alright alright good night. Thank you for all your hard work.” She said loudly to the bunch of men and woman in the truck then turned around quickly jogging the short distance between her and the Beach.
'
When she arrived at the shore line she could swear the stars were acting as spot lights to guider her on her way. She threw her beach bag onto the silky sand and slipped off her navy blue beach dress revealing her silver swimsuit. It was a one piece that was open showing most of her back and sides. She didn’t exactly like this swimsuit but it was the only one that she could find right away. With a sigh she slowly walked into the waters. The tide was gently with her slowly carrying her out to sea. When it was about waist level she took in a deep breath and submerged herself into the blue water.

This feels so good… She closed her eyes and began to stroke forwards. When she was a good amount away from the shoreline she returned to the surface to get more air. From underwater it somehow seemed brighter with all the fish swimming around reflecting the lights than on the surface. With another breath of air she swam directly downwards to the coral reefs. She was secretly looking for her locket that she and accidently dropped into the sea while at party on one of her sponsors cruise ships.

She was getting colder as she kept going down. It had been a while already and she hasn’t found it yet. The locket was a final gift from her parents before they died. She couldn’t believe that she had lost it. The one thing she couldn’t live without she drops into the water. Mentally hitting her head she suddenly flinched. Looking at her right side she saw that she had gotten a deep wound from a nearby reef. She flinched again when she put her hand over it trying to prevent more blood loss.

Suddenly all the fish started quickly swimming away. Eyes wide she realized what was going on. Sharks were coming. The short amount of blood was enough to alert the predators of the sea that there was something out there. Frantic she tried swimming away but couldn’t. At least not fast enough without letting off more blood.

[Noko]

Noko felt a shudder of excitement run through his body as he swam close to the ocean floor. He had never been this excited about eating another shark before. He thought it was because this would be the last time he would be able to taste living food before he was shut up. He was proven wrong when he smell a sweet and salty aroma. He lifted his head and sniffed at felt his mouth water. Human. He thought as he allowed his sixth sense to feel around. It noticed another larger being in the water. He thought about floating up to eat it but stopped himself. No I'm not a shark I'm a boy. I don't eat people...At least not often. He thought to himself as he sighed mentally.

That one that caused something in his head to click and he realized that the other sharks weren't coming for the fish they were coming for the girl. No. He thought as he raised himself off of the floor. Although he had been craving blood earlier the blood lust had died down after he had gorged himself in fish. Now he was able to think clearly and be able to make rational decisions. He felt the human swim faster and felt the sharks also put on a burst of speed. I've got to do this fast. He thought to himself again as he used all three of his tails to move himself up diagonally.

The sharks were practically upon the human and Noko wouldn't be able to reason with them, at least now while they were in a frenzy like this. No the only way he could stop them was a show of force. He locked onto the largest shark and charged at it. Thanks to his three tails he could move faster than any other shark and because of that he was able to grasp the shark by its underbelly and propel both it and himself into the air. The two sharks flew about three feet out of the water and then landed with a loud crash. Fresh blood flowed around Noko as it exited the other shark. The others turn tail and fled and their leader soon followed after.

Noko smiled and then surfaced to look at the person he had saved. He blinked his large sea blue eyes at his rescuee. Even while he was in his shark form, a form that only craved food and blood, he had to admit she was cute. He batted his eyes at her one more time before turning away and swimming away back toward the river that led him back to this home.

((OOC:Sorry for crappyness I had a decent post ready then got a blue screen T_T))

[+Najika Mizuno+]

What just happened? she looked around a red tint in the water around her. The group of sharks that had wanted to eat her were suddenly swimming away way faster than the speed that they came. Still holding her side trying to ignore the pain that came when a fresh wound was constantly washed over with salty water. Now at the surface she saw a shark with great sea blue eyes. She looked gratefully at the animal. But when it suddenly dived back down in a hurry she wondered what was wrong.

Her long blond hair flowing in the blue water giving It an almost greenish look. Going deeper and deeper into the water she wondered if this was where the shark lived? Why such a dark and cold place…Her eyes widened when she saw three things swaying side to side behind the fish. Tails? she thought quickly. But three of them? Maybe its just a little deformation. But that makes this thing special and she thought more beautiful. She always loved fish even when she was little she had a huge fish tank. But those were little gold fish and Angel fish not huge sharks with rows of countless teeth that could rip someone into shreds at any moment.

Swimming deeper making sure she kept a safe distance away from the animal. Realizing that she followed a fish to ask what was the matter. Not like it could answer her she thought blankly again mentally smacking her forehead. She gulped and took the final strokes so she was close enough to see the shark clearly. She just realized that she was now in a river. Her wound stopped hurting as much but the memory of pain was still floating around her like the blood that was still seeping out from her flesh. She tried her best to stay hidden from the Shark afraid that if it knew she was there it would swim away at a pace that she could not match.

OOC: hah you think yours is bad mines small again!

[Noko]

Noko was proud of himself. He had helped out a young girl who was in distress with his final day of freedom and been able to get it one of his best fights ever. If this is my last day as a free man...Shark...Whatever I say I ended it pretty well. He mused to himself as he continued his way down the river. He was so focused on what he had done he didn't pay attention to his sixth sense which would have told him that there was something following him. Since the river was flowing past him it caused the smell of blood to run back toward the sea which meant that Noko was unable to smell it. Even if he did know that the girl followed him what could he do? Try and scare her? That obciously wouldn't work since he had just saved her life.

Noko swam on and after several minutes of swimming at a nice and easy pace he made it back to the spot were he had stashed his clothes. He swam close to the shore and allowed himself to swim slow enough so he would stay where he was withouth moving forward. Maybe I should run. He thought. No that wouldn't have been smart. Hachimata would've found him no matter where he ran, not that he was afraid of her.

In Noko's mind he thought that the two of them were kindered spirits. Noko was bringer of death while she represented one of its many forms. A thick veil of smoke appeared around him as he shrunk and returned to his human form. He stood naked in the river, his bottom half covered by the slow flowing river.

"Oh well might as well face it like a man. Hehe who knows maybe I'll put up a fight." He said with a wide fanged grin. He pulled himself out of the water and walked over to the clothes he had hiden in a nearby bush. He walked behind it and pulled out a pair of underpants and a pair of tight fitting jeans. He pulled both of them on quickly and then ran his hands through his soaking wet, blue hair. "That girl...She kind of looked familiar." Noko said as he remebered what the female had looked like.

He was a huge music fan and even if he wouldn't admit it he did enjoy J-pop. But the girl didn't have to worry about Noko figuring out her identity he was much to dense for that. No, the only way he would figure that out was if he saw her on stage. He hunched his shoulders as he took a few steps and began to short trek home.

[+Najika Mizuno+]

Swimming to the side she pulled herself up back to the land. Out of breath she sat obviously soaking wet staring blankly at the boy. She had seen the poof of smoke and his transformation. She had seen him change from a three tailed shark into a man. The only way she could tell it was really him and not her messed up imagination was his eyes. It had the same earnest emotion she saw within the shark.

“Wait..” She wanted to call but after that long swim and the large amount of blood loss there wasn’t much she could do except walk. And so she did. She followed him slowly then when he got closer to the house she grabbed onto a nearby tree for support. Finally she mustered up the strength to call out to the boy. “Wait” She said weaker than she would have liked. After all that training she had received since she was younger she couldn’t even handle something like this.

She wanted to thank the boy. Though she didn’t know what was really going on she would be forever great full to him. No she wasn’t afraid of him either. She wasn’t afraid of a boy who could change into a three tailed shark and swim faster than any manmade object! Maybe the blood loss was starting to get to her? She didn’t know for sure. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to last much longer unless she sat down for a while. And with that she fell to her knees still looking at the boy. She would have smiled if she wasn’t so dang tiered.

[Noko]

Noko didn't hear the girl the first time she called out to him but he did smell her. His eyes widened as he caught the scent of blood on the air. "No!" He exclaimed under his breath. He must've got some of her blood on him when he saved her that was it. There was no way she could've followed him all the way out here. Nokogiri wanted to believe that with all of his heart. That belief was shattered when his sensitive ears heard a feminine voice call out to him. He knew for sure that the girl had followed him now and that she was bleeding. He gulped as he turned around and looked back at her.

If I talk to her the family's gonna... You know what screw it they're gonna lock me up anyway. Noko mentally said to himself as he looked at her. He could see the blood dripping down her side and he had had to gently bite down on his own lip to keep from inhaling the intoxicating scent. He knew that if she had followed him all the way here that she wouldn't believe any lie he told her. He approached her and then knelt down on one knee. "You followed me?" He asked her as he looked over her. She seemed kind of pale, a sure sign that she had lost a lot of blood. He tried to think of someway to stop the bleeding before she died of blood loss or before he lost control.

He sudden remembered that he had brought a towel with him. He was sure that the large beach towel would be able to wrap around her enough times to stop blood from leaving her body. He glanced back at the bush and got up. He pushed himself up off of the ground with out waiting for her to speak and walked over to the bush. He looked around and noticed the towel which had gotten wedged between several branches. He ripped it free and then walked over to the girl. He didn't bother asking for permission as he put the towel around her and tied it tightly. Manners weren't really a big priority on Noko's list usually and in a life or death situation they dropped to the bottom.

He patted his hands and then walked back in front of the girl. It was obvious that she wasn't going to be going anywhere for awhile so Noko took the chance to sit down in front of her. He was always tired after a large meal and after burning off fifty pounds of food he was more so than usual. He wanted to ask more questions but decided that he would wait for his first to be answered. Besides he was sure that she would have a million questions to ask him.

[+Najika Mizuno+]

Najika slowly blinked her eyes when she finally saw the boy turn around. She could see him more clearly now. Her she gave a small smile when he asked her “you followed me?” Well yeah she followed him how else would she have gotten here. She had swum in the waters for a long time but she never would have guessed this house was here. I just wanted to thank you… She said still quietly. She watched him carefully as he looked around for something then finally ripped the towel out of the large tree. He wrapped it around her soundlessly.

The towel felt soft against her skin. She gave out a sigh of relief. He’s saved her again. How was she ever going to thank him properly if she kept owing her life to him? She stretched out her legs and lied down on the grass. She tried not to move much so she just laid on her un injured side and looked up to the boy. Im Najika by the way. she stared she wasn’t exactly sure what to ask him. She had just seen him save her from a bunch of sharks then transform into a human then save her again.

There wasn’t much to say but there was a lot to ask. She started off with an easy question. Or easy to her she wasn’t sure how he would take something like this. Do you do that often? Transform I mean..Its kinda..cool. she almost sounded like a kid when she said the last part.

She put on hand on his knee just to prove to herself that he was really there. That he was sitting here in front of her and it isn’t just part of a twisted illusion created by her own mind. She scooted closer to him and looked back up at him with an apologetic smile. Sorry. Sorry I am causing you so much trouble. She thought in her mind but deep inside it seemed like there was something more she had to apologize for.

[Noko]

Noko stared at the girl as he sat in front of her. He let out a soft sigh and then nodded in response to her comment about wanting to thank him. He didn't really know how to accept someone's thanks up until now people usually didn't bother to acknowledge the helpful things that he had done and only looked toward the bad. He was content sitting there in silence but he knew that she would want to talk more. As if on cue the girl spoke again this time telling Noko her name. "My name is Nokogiri but everyone I know just calls me Noko." He said as he raised his left knee and then placed his left wrist on top of it.

"...I usually turn into the shark every day or so." He said as he thought about how frequently he transformed. It usually happened when he was very hungry or angry...Or when he smelled blood. He glanced at her side and saw that the towel was already stained red. He lightly bit at his lip again as he suppressed his blood lust one more time. The smell was much stronger now that it was in the air and Noko couldn't help but think of how good the girl smelled. He released his lip and then clenched his teeth. It seemed like he was losing this fight with his desires.

He practically jumped when he felt Najika place one of her hands on his knee. His animal-like urge retreated like a frightened creature. Another thing Noko wasn't use to was physical contact. He was used to fights but no one had ever placed a hand on him in a friendly manner. His glanced away to hide the fact that his face was now a light pink. His usual tough guy persona fell away for the first time in ages. He let himself glance over at her. He saw her smiling at him and he looked away again.

This is just my luck. I meet a girl who doesn't freak out about the whole fish thing and tomorrow I'm gonna be locked up. Great just great Noko.He though as he stopped blushing and worked up the courage to look back at her. "So what made you so sure that I wouldn't eat you when you caught up to me?" He asked the question coming out in a much more playful manner than he had intended.

[+Najika Mizuno+]

Still smiling she nodded at his name. Aww how cute. She thought of his name the sound of it got to her making her smile even more. He then answered her second question. Hm everyday…that must be somewhat tiresome if not annoying. Noticing his glances at the towel which was not stained with warm red blood she gasped. Im so sorry! I’ll buy you another one promise! she said In a quick sentence putting her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t believe that she just ruined something.

Still a little freaked by her carelessness she had a pretty good idea that his towel wasn’t the thing that was making him look so…uncomfortable. She wanted to laugh when she saw his complexion turn a slight pink when she set her hand on his knee. When he looked away she quickly retreated her hand not wanted to be too informal or make him any more uncomfortable than he already was.

So what made you so sure that I wouldn’t eat you when you caught up to me? she heard him say after a brief period of silence between the two of them. He sounded playful but at the same time dangerously serious. She bit her lip. She wasn’t so sure herself why she had the nerv to follow a three tailed shark down a river and near an unknown house. I don’t know…Something told me that you wouldn’t hurt me… How wacked good thing you are human I would have been in trouble. she said lightly and laughed.

[Noko]

Noko shook his head at Najika when she offered to buy him a new towel. "No it's alright." He said as he looked at the towel. It didn't matter to him that it was ruined, he rarely used towels anyway, preferring to stay covered in water rather than be dry. Besides his family could replace it anyway, belonging to an influential family like the Kaijuu's had its advantages at times. No it was the scent of her that bothered him, or rather her blood. In fact he had started to breath out of his mouth so the scent wouldn't over whelm him. He sat there in silence as he kept his blood lust under control.

When she answered his question about him eating her he was kind of surprised at how calm she was about it. He couldn't help but laugh and he smiled at Najika, revealing his worst feature, his teeth. While he assumed a human his mouth still seemed shark-like, although his teeth were almost perfectly triangular instead of jagged like the white death's. In a sense they were flawless but just the idea of a human having razor sharp teeth was a bit unnerving to most people. "Well your feeling was right." He said, "I'm not going to hurt you." He said.

His sea blue eyes seemed to sparkle as they sat there. His last night was turning out pretty well. "So Najika," He said as he looked over at the river. "Why were you out swimming so late?" He asked. It was strange to see someone out this late especially when people knew that sharks became more active during the darker hours. She was lucky that he was there or at least that's what most would've thought. Noko felt that he had attracted the sharks while he was hunting for his dinner and that he had lead them to her. In a strange way he felt responsible for putting her life in danger.

[+Najika Mizuno+]

She kept her eyes on her. Ill give you one the next time I see you around. she said ignoring his refusal. She wasn’t one to not repay someone if she was in debt to them. Thought she could tell by surrounding he wasn’t in need of another towel anytime soon. She wanted to laugh but the movement of her stomach made her wound hurt more than it already did. He seemed to be breathing through his mouth that much she could tell while she was still laying on her side.

She saw that something was bothering him she looked around to see if there was anything distasteful and looked at herself to see if there was anything wrong with her then she realized that she had a towel soaked with blood tied to her and he was a shark boy…Wow nice Najika you are soo smart.she rolled her eyes with her own thoughts sarcasm.

Im glad at least you didn’t. Someone would have a hard time explaining that to my boss. she joked forgetting that she was an Idol with a secret life that no one could know about. She saw his teeth and had the sudden urge to touch them. He really did interest her not in a freaky mutant way but in a “alright your different and you can turn into a shark so what? Your still human.” Kind of way. Oh um I was….oh my god! she started up then realized that she never did find that locket from her parents.I was looking for my locket…It was from my parents the died when I was five. She looked up at the sky seeing the darkening clouds pass by.

[Noko]

"It's okay really." Noko said as he looked away from the river and back at the girl. He noticed her roll her eyes and wondered why. Did he do something wrong? He glanced around quickly and cheeked to see if there was anything wrong and then he looked over himself. He didn't think there was anything for her to roll her eyes at but Noko couldn't be sure, he knew absolutely nothing about girls. He readjusted himself so that he was back in the position he was in before he jumped and then tilted his side to the head again when she mentioned her boss.

She was younger than him, or at least she seemed like it, and she already had a job. He felt kind of bad for not having one and it seemed like he was the only person in the world with out one. No one really knew how he got his money but it usually involved him getting a sort of allowance from the family. Maybe it was an attempt to appease him or away to make up for the years of emotional torment Noko didn't know all he knew was that every week there was forty five hundred yen on his desk. He didn't question it and decided long ago that if he did he would stop receiving it. He caught her looking at his teeth and he smiled. He spread his mouth apart and then tapped them. "Part of being a shark." He said casually.

I was looking for my locket…It was from my parents the died when I was five.

Noko looked over at Najika and frowned. If his parents had left him anything before they left he would've been heartbroken if he lost it, or at least he though he would be. He assumed that it was somewhere deep underwater and then wondered if he would be able to find it. "I'm sorry." He said not really sure how to respond to a situation like this, it seemed like he didn't know a lot tonight.

[+Najika Mizuno+]

She sat up slowly and crossed her legs trying not to put too much pressure on her side. She knew just by the look of the poor towel that it was going to take at least a month to fully heal. After admitting the lost trinket she shrugged. Yeah she lost it and yup she wished she could dive back in there to get it but there was no way she could in her current condition and she wasn’t going to ask Noko to get it for her. She lost it and she was going to be the one to find it.

Your teeth…must be a pain if you slip and bite your tongue huh? She teased demonstrating the motion. She guessed he didn’t see the dentist or any doctor much. Looking around she realized that there was no way that he lived here alone. There must be others like him or maybe she was just getting ahead of herself and being nosy.

Hey Noko…If I can call you that. she started not looking at him.Is your family…I mean are there others like you? She tried to re word it even after the statement as said. Finally looking back at the boy she saw he was somewhat uneasy. Maybe she had gone too far with everything.

[Noko]

"You have no idea." Noko said with a deep sigh. He bit his tongue on what could be considered a daily basis. He had never done any serious damage though. Najika was right about the fact that he didn't visit dentists. If they did they would find it very strange that he had they would probably ask what they had done to his teeth to get them like that. Besides Noko hated the idea of going to some place where he would have strange people poking around in his mouth. For all he knew he would end up biting off one of their fingers...Or their entire hand. He shook his head as he emptied the thoughts from his head. If he kept thinking about blood and eating he was going to get himself worked up into a frenzy.

Is your family…I mean are there others like you?

Noko froze up and his smile disappeared. Ever since he was young he had been told that he should never reveal the family secret to anyone who wasn't a Kaijuu. He raked his teeth against his lip and then exhaled deeply. What did it matter anymore he was going to be caged up anyway and he was sure that the head would track this girl down and erase her memory anyway. Now that Noko had actually made a friend he saw no point in lying to her. "...Yeah there are actually."He said quietly as he glanced up at the stars. He wasn't going to go into excruciating detail but he would tell her enough so that her curiosity would be satisfied. He tore his eyes away from the starry night sky and looked back at Najika.

"There are nine of us in all and we all have tails to represent our number. First the single tailed raccoon, then the two tailed cat, followed by me, the three tailed shark, after me comes the four tailed brid," He stopped to take a breath and though of his cousins that he named. He was never close to any of them and when he imagined them all he could see was there animal forms, except for the snake. He could see her clearly and her image caused Nokogiri's blood lust increase by so much that he was on the verge of transforming. "Next is the five tailed dog, then the six tailed weasal," Noko said as his lust began to settle. "After them is the seven tailed badger..... Then the eight tailed snake," He said with a deep throaty growl, "Shes the head of the family in charge of all punishments."

"After her is the nine tailed fox." He said finally finishing the list of cursed members. "We all change into our animal forms after experiencing certain emotions. I don't know the others to well but mine is blood lust." He said with almost no emotion. "I'll experience it for a few moments and then I'll just be me...In a giant three tailed, three finned shark body." He said with a deep sigh. "It's all really confusing now that I think about it." He mused to himself.