{"sf1_id":844825,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Starting a Game of Hyde and Seek","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":3861,"posted_at":"2015-04-07T17:34:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Jekyll and Hyde","Near Death","Plot Development","Story Progression","Transformation","Werewolf","battle","injury"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/844825-starting-a-game-of-hyde-and-seek","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/844825","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=844825\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#101 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nSo the people have spoken. Sigh. Here you go all you vocal voters - more of Maggie and Edward. Just be forewarned that the story has taken a dark turn, as I hope you have come to expect.","content":"                The fog\nand mists shrouded the seas for leagues in all directions. The dull slap of\nwaves hitting the rusted metal hull provided a auditory backdrop that was\ndevoid of recognizable sound. The ship was far out to sea, lost in the\nmoisture-laden air. The situation was even more eerie in that there was absolutely\nno one aboard this liner. \nNone but two. \n                One lay\non the deck, near death. His injuries were deadly by anyone's standards and yet\nhe still lived.\n                One sat\natop the highest crow's nest above the control room. Wings outstretched, she\nsat in silent vigil over the waters, her ears alert for the slightest sound.\nNow and again the distant cry of a gull or other oceangoing bird could be heard\nfaintly across the waves, but overall silence shrouded the ship as effectively\nas did the ghostly vapors.\n                Her\nwings, still bloodied along the edges from where they had tore away from her\nbody, dripped with red-tinged moisture. They were never meant to be used and\nabused in such a reckless fashion, most importantly not for her first flight.\nBut what choice did she have? Now she relished the cool North Sea air which did\nmuch to comfort them. Maggie was a tough little scrapper, but falling from\nseven miles up and then saving what was left of Edward had taken its toll.\n                There\nwere it seemed, limits to their abilities after all.\n                Edward\nwas lying in a congealed pool of his own blood. His left arm was missing right\nup to the shoulder. He was a grizzly sight to behold. And the cause of all this\nharm? Hyde was unaccounted for. She could hope he had drowned, but she felt it\nin her bones that wishing for that eventuality was a fool's request. The man\nwas too filled with hate to die so easily.\n                At least\nhe had not made it to their present hideout. It didn't mean he wouldn't find\nit, but for now they seemed safe enough.\n                The\nname on the ship, strangely enough, was in English, though the name was\nRussian. She had no idea what or who Lyubov Orlova was, or why this ship,\nmarked as belonging to Cruise North Expeditions, was floating along like a ghost\nship. She had done a preliminary search and found the entire thing deserted.\nThere didn't even seem to be any cockroaches on board, or rats, or any sign of\nlife. How someone could lose a ship this size was mind boggling. How long had\nthis thing been adrift?\n                Locating\nit had only been by happenstance. She had been losing strength in flying Edward\nto someplace solid. To find a place of safety seemed to be too much to ask, but\nthis ship answered her call. Her wailing cries in the night seemed to bounce\noff of something besides endless sea, and she had homed in on it unerringly. \n                The\ndroplets of dew now collected on her skin and ran in rivulets down her flanks\nto the deck, leaving narrow paths in their wake. They might as well have been\ntears for all she cared. Edward was in bad shape, and outside of her ring on his\nfinger, there was nothing she could do to help him. He was a mess of sundered\nparts, broken bones and smashed flesh.\n                Hyde\nwas still out there, somewhere in that gaping expanse of black ocean. Edward\nand he had battled in the air, heedless of the fact that they were falling to\ntheir doom. Edward had underestimated the sheer hatred contained within\nStevenson's dark side. The man was easier to avoid and handle on something\nsolid, but here in the air, with the clouds swirling around them, the battle\nhad taken a darker turn. In the end, Edward had nearly been completely beaten.\n                That was\nwhere Maggie came in. She didn't know if it was the stress of the situation or\nwhat, but she knew she needed something to give her an edge. Wings weren't even\nin her mind at the time, not that she consciously remembered much of what was\ngoing through her gray matter as she was falling. All she knew was that she had\nto reach them and somehow pull them apart.\n                It was\nat that moment that her body was wracked with pain. Her back writhed and tore\nloose. Heretofore nonexistent or simply unmodified bones stretched out to grant\nher her birthright. The wind tore at them and she was suddenly watching the two\nmen disappearing into the darkness. She wasn't flying, but her increased rag\nwas slowing her down. She instinctively drew the wings in and dropped like a\nstone. She'd worry about the details of flying later.\n                The air\nflowing over her raw flesh helped to alleviate some of the pain, and focusing\non her intended target made bearing the rest doable, if nauseating. Her eyes\nwere far sharper than a normal humans and now they seemed especially so. She\nfolded everything about her into as streamlined a shape as possible and felt\nlike every hair on her head was going to tear out.\n                But she\ncaught up with them. The sea was far below, but getting ever closer. If they\nhit it, the impact would likely kill them instantly. Physics was not to be\ndenied. At the speed they were falling, the impact would crush their tissues. \n                That's\nwhen the arm flew past her head. It was obvious that Edward was in trouble;\ndeep, deep trouble. He might have the strength to fight off Hyde, but he had\ntoo much compassion to do a proper job. Hyde on the other hand lived for the\nmayhem and destruction and he had promised to kill Edward if he got the chance.\nFalling through the air was likely only making him more manically violent. \n                She\nplummeted as fast as she could, stretching out her arms and growing some very\nwicked looking talons from her fingertips. They weren't just claws, but\nscimitar shaped blades with only one purpose. The air buffeted her eyes, making\nvision difficult, so she said a little prayer and honed in using her other senses.\nHer ears seemed up for the task, despite the wind rushing past them.\n                She\nlanded in the middle of them and in a flash her claws struck out, striking her\nfoe in the neck. Blood spurted in all directions, but as her eyes were still\nshut, she wasn't blinded by it. She howled like a harpy and dug her talons in\nagain. He bellowed and let loose of Edward, who slowly began to tumble\naway.  With once last stab she kicked\nHyde in the opposite direction and flew to Edward.\n                It\nwasn't all that simple, but she managed to grasp him before the ocean raced up\nto swallow them both. Gritting her teeth, she opened her wings and braced for\nimpact. There was nothing but the sound of Edward's back paws trailing through\nthe water. But she heard the crash of another, equally large mass hitting the\nsurface with a sickening kerchunk. She smiled in grim satisfaction and flapped\nslowly along, wondering where they were at and when she might find land.\n                The\nship had loomed up just in the nick of time, and she used the last of her energies\nto get him up on the deck. She didn't give a damn what anyone thought of such a\ncombination hitting their precious little boat. She would muster the needed willpower\nto fight off an army if it was necessary. But there was no army, no first mate,\nand no passengers. The ship was a floating heap, a wreck lost from some port or\nanother, or worse, a place where everyone had died mysteriously. She hardly\ncared for the moment, but she did do a quick survey to confirm they were alone.\n                They\nwere.\n                She\nflew to his side, wanting to cry but holding it in. It wouldn't help him one\nbit. She slid off her ring, the only thing she was wearing besides the vial\naround her neck, and stuck it on his mangled finger. He was wearing his, which\nsomehow had miraculously remained in place. But his body needed more than\nsimple healing.\n It was a wreck and a ruin. \n                She leaned\ndown and kissed him. \"There isn't much I can do for you lover boy. You took on\nmore than you bargained for and paid the price. It isn't the first time and I\nhope it won't be the last.\"\n                With\nher lips touching him, she sensed his mind. It was roiling in pain, but a few\nwords came through clearly. \"No? Why\nnot?\"\n                \"Because stupid, that would mean\nthat you were dead. You can't go dying on me now.\"\n                If he had anything more to\nsay he kept it to himself. She stood, wiping away a tear despite her resolve\nand flew to a higher point from where she could look out over the ocean. The\nvial was beginning to burn her skin, so she removed the chain and held it out\nat arm's length. She made as if to throw it, but refrained from doing so for\nthe moment. She settled down for a long watch and that was where she remained.\nShe took the time to try to get her wings to go fold back in; for she had seen\nThe Kindred do it. Whatever the trick was, she didn't have it.\n                After a\nwhile she used them to wrap her torso, keeping some of the incessant mists away\nfrom her. She was cold, but she was feeling that the sensation had more to do\nwith the possibility of losing Edward again than the cold North Sea air. He\nmight as well be dead considering the extent of his injuries. But his mind was still\nin there so there was hope for the rest of him. She laughed grimly to herself. The\nrest of him... He was missing parts. She was morbidly curious to see if he could\ngrow back an entire limb. \n                After a\nwhile, she walked cautiously down the steps until she made it to the inside of\nthe ship. Her nails clicked and clacked along the way. The captain's control\nroom was a corroded mess, and nothing on it had obviously worked on it in a\nwhile. Down in the hold, she searched the area until she found the galley.  The refrigeration units had been\nnonfunctional for what had to be years, but the shelves did have a supply of\nrusted cans. Since they weren't bulging, it meant that whatever was inside them\nwas still edible. That was good.\n                There\nwere a few rooms that still had beds, and she mentally mapped the area she had\njust been in for future reference. She didn't want to move him just yet, not\nuntil his body had pieced itself together a little more. He had said once that\na body, even theirs, couldn't make something from nothing, though she wondered\nabout that. How the hell did they manage to bulk up from their normal forms? If\nthat wasn't magic, then she didn't know what was. \nBut it happened, so there was that,\nand one couldn't argue with the facts.\nShe returned to her perch, glad\nthat some vestige of the sun was trying very hard to break through the thick\nveil that obstructed her view. She had hopes that when the fog had cleared\nthere would be some sort of landmass nearby. \nShe was sorely disappointed when\nnone was visible. Still, there was food and shelter on this ship, if not much\nelse. On the other hand, if it was out here floating, and for more than just a\nlittle while, then the chances of anyone noticing them was slim to none. \nFrom her perspective the ship\nseemed to be motionless, in regards to its surroundings, but the fact was, it\nwas moving ever so slowly. Ocean currents were moving it along, carrying it\nwith it until such time as it sank.\nThen it belonged to Davy Jones and\nhis locker of maritime wonders.\nShe looked down at the motionless\nbody on the deck. He probably would have survived a direct hit from a semi rig\nbetter than his battle with Hyde. She grimly pictured in her mind that\nhorrendous beast cutting a swath through the German lines during the war. It's\na wonder that particular conflict lasted as long as did. I guess it depended on\nhow many planes the RAF had opted to lose. They should have dropped him on\nBerlin.\nAll day she kept her vigil,\nsplitting her attention between the horizon and the deck. She had no delusions\nabout Hyde. He had survived a lot; had murdered a lot and if he was still alive\nout there, she innately knew he would find his way to this ship. She pitied any\ncountry that was close enough for him to make to their shores for they would be\nstruck with a tragedy of epic proportions.\nBut then, maybe the depths had taken\nhim. She laughed grimly. The world couldn't be that lucky. There was also a\nchance that Hyde had lost cohesion, reverting back to his human host. Again it\nwas doubtful. Stevenson had said that anything that had the potential of\nkilling him would bring out the bad side. Drowning seemed to be right up there\nin the realm of ways of dying. That in itself would force Hyde to remain.\nHer watch continued over the course\nof the next several days. Cans were opened and food, though not appealing cold,\nwas eaten. By day three Edward was looking...more complete, save his missing left\narm. She had moved him to the interior the day before, hoping the drier\nconditions would help him along. She hardly knew what to say to him about his\nmissing appendage. She was just glad he was alive.\nHe was a little more pragmatic\nabout the situation. He was sitting up in the bed, looking out the porthole.\nReaching up, he gingerly felt his shoulder. \"Well Mags, looks like we'll need\nto find a thrift shop when we get to land.\"\n\"What? Why?\"\n\"You know; a second hand store.\"\n\"I can't believe you! You're making\na joke about something like this?\"\n\"What do you want me to do? I only\nhope that everyone else is ok. Hyde and I really trashed the plane before we\nleft.\"\n\"I haven't forgotten everyone else.\nBut I can't exactly call and find out now can I?\"\n                \"Chill\nout Mags. We're alive, and that counts for something. But in retrospect, I\nthink the next time someone wants to come with us, the answer is going to be\nno. Hey, did you see if the ship's radio worked?\"\n                \"There's\nno power, remember? I've been using my new nails to open the cans.\"\n                \"Yes,\nyour new form is quite...interesting. Still haven't been able to get the wings to\nretract?\"\n                \"Obviously\nnot,\" she said petulantly, \"otherwise I'd have ditched them a while ago. They're\na pain to deal with down here in the hold.\"\n                \"True.\nBut you look amazing with them. Especially right now.\"\n                She had\nreverted as much as she could, turning most of herself into her human form. Her\nfeet and legs were stuck in something much more akin to...to...something avian. Her\nwings were the color of her skin, though originally they had her fur on them.\nShe was as variable in this new form as she was in her others. But right now\nshe was painfully beautiful. Her face, though looking worn from worry, had a\nglow and a life about it that seemed magnified her in the dim light of the\nroom.\n                \"If I\nfelt more up to it, I'd drag you down on the bed and make love to you. But I'm\nnot very handy at the moment...\"\n                \"Shut\nup before I throw you overboard.\"\n                He put\non his best hurt face. \"It's not like I'm trying to strong arm you or\nanything...\"\n                She\njumped on top of him and kissed him passionately. \n                \"What\nwas that for?\" he said with a touch of amusement in his voice when she released\nhis lips.\n                \"There is\nmore than one way of getting you to be quiet.\"\n                He\nsmiled. \"It's going to be alright, I promise.\"\n                \"And\nhow do you know?\" But she caught herself. \"What do you see?\"\n                \"A life\ntogether. I have learned not to look too hard for answers, because I think I'm\njust too stupid to understand it anyway.\"\n                \"Is\nthat so? At some point in time we are going to run out of food you know. And\nthis stupid hunk of steel has been floating around for who knows how long. I\ndoubt anyone is going to find us on it.\"\n                \"Just\nbecause I can't go anywhere doesn't mean you can't. You have wings now, which means\nyou're about as tied down to this ship as the breeze is. I'd suggest you quit\nworrying so much about me and learn how to use those things. Have you ever seen\nan eagle in action?\"\n                \"Sure,\nbut one bird is like another don't you think?\"\n                \"Yep,\nexcept when they're not.\"\n                \"I'm\nhardly going to hover in place like a hummingbird you know!\"\n                \"I\nagree. But keep eagles in mind. They do soaring very well. Learn how to expend\nthe least amount of energy and you can go far on the winds.\"\n                \"But I\ndon't want to go far!\"\n                \"You\nmay have to. This ship could be anywhere in the North Sea. I'm sure there's\ntraffic in the region, but like you said, this wreck has been drifting for a\nwhile. That alone makes me think that it's either very much lost or avoided.\nYou may have to go miles before you can figure out where we're at.\"\n                \"If you\nsay so. The sun is out today. Do you think I should try it?\"\n                \"I do.\nAnd the sooner we get off this floating heap the better.\"\n                \"I\ndoubt it's going to be that easy. What are we going to do about you?\"\n                \"We'll\nworry about that when the time comes.\"\n                She\nclimbed up into the open air, stretching her wings before pumping them and\nfeeling her feet leave the deck. With a cry she launched herself skyward. The\ntissue between her ribs and the wings had filled in and healed over with skin,\ncompounding her concern that the wings were ever going to retract back to a\nposition where they couldn't be seen. But for now, she was content to fly.\n                She soon\nlearned to take the thermals; the heat rising from the surface of the ocean.\nEdward had been right about that, and the more she thought it over, the more\nshe remembered watching vultures circle for hours with a single flap of their\nwings. She locked her wings out to their fullest. With her legs held straight\nbehind her she proved to have a very aerodynamic form. \n                It\nturns out the ship was very far from land, so far in fact that after an hour of\nsoaring in ever widening circles, she saw nothing that looked remotely like\nland. But she did see a disturbance in the surface of the water.  Dropping down to investigate showed the dark\npatch to be a school of fish.\n                She\nwished she had some way of catching one, for some fresh food would be a nice\nchange of pace. But without a net or a hook and line, she was sunk. Then Edward's\nwords struck her. \nLike an eagle.\n                She\nswung around, lined up with the school and dived. When she was just a few feet\noff the surface, she pulled up and leveled off, pulling up again and slashing\nher feet into the water. With a few strong blasts from her wings she pulled up\nclutching a cod in each foot.\n                The\ntrip back was short, not surprising considering she had refused to go far from\nthe ship. She dropped the fish on the deck and landed with the lightest of\ntouches. Picking up the fish she carried them down to Edward.\n                He saw\nthem and smiled. \"So you thought like an eagle after all!\"\n                \"I did!\nI don't like these feet but they have their uses.\"\n                He\nlooked over the fish. \"Something fresh sounds good, but how are you are sushi?\"\n                \"Sushi?\nDo I look like a chef?\"\n                \"You\nhave to learn some time.\"\n                \"There\nis nothing usable in the kitchen in the way of spices, except maybe salt.\nEverything else has gone bad.\"\n                \"Beggars\ncan't be choosers. Get some salt if you like, but raw is what's on the menu.\"\n                She\nwatched him eat one handed, thankful that if he was to lose a limb is was the\nnon dominant one. He never complained once. She knew he was thankful to be\nalive after the terrible fight with Hyde. He was healed now as much as he was\ngoing to be so it seemed. And he appeared resigned to it.\n                He was\nwatching her in turn, suddenly leaning in and grasping the silver vial. \"What\ndid you do with this earlier? I've been wearing your ring.\"\n\"I tossed it in a drawer. What\nshould we do with this do you suppose?\"\n\"That's a good question.\"\n                \"I\nthought about throwing it away, but I've fought that idea until now. Should I\ntoss it overboard?\"\n                \"I say\nkeep it. I for one have no desire to be less than what I am, but obviously he\ndid. We'll hand it over to Leo when we make it to Rome. Maybe he'll find an\ninterest in it.\"\n                \"Do you\nthink we'll ever make it to Rome?\"\n                \"Sure I\ndo. We just got delayed a little in the meantime.\"\n                \"Delayed\na little? That's an understatement.\"\n                \"We're\ntogether. It's not the most glamorous of cruises, but we do have the ship to\nourselves.\"\n                \"In the\nmiddle of the North Sea no less! Couldn't we have picked the Bahamas?\"\n                \"Heat\nand fur don't go together very well in my estimation. On the other hand, you in\na swimsuit might be appealing.\"\n                \"More\nso than me being nude?\" she said saucily, seeing as she was at that moment buck\nnaked.\n                \"There\nis something to be said for clothing too. Somehow the art of concealing what\nyou have has been something women have leaned over the centuries.\"\n                Maggie\nstood, wrapping herself in her wings. \"Like this?\"\n                He\nreached out with his lone arm and pulled her in. \"Precisely!\"\n                She\nbatted her eyes fetchingly and giggled as he dragged her onto the bed."}