Bark vs. Bite

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Purple eyes darted behind their lenses and Yerf scooted further back, so that his back rested against the wall. It caused a small wince from him as his tender back hit concrete stone though. He seemed to spend a lot of time trying to be careful with his back, he realized. It seemed that instead of trying to shoulder their own problems, the guards dumped their hate on him. Literally this time, as they made him carry around several heavy bags for them...Just because he told them just exactly where to stick their stale food at Saturday's dinner.

"Kid, move it. Dinner's here," an older boy horsely said as he crawled towards the door. The dinner guards had shown up with their small rations and were passing them out.

Adjusting his glasses, Yerf snorted and started to say something, but was interrupted by his own shuddering cough. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and did a quick scan of the room before darting out of the darkness as quickly as he could to grab his food. It took a moment for the men to hand him his portion, but for that small moment, the dog Anthro's eyes went haywire.

Up, down, side-to side, front, and turn head to look behind him. Repeat.

Ever since the End, he had been having problems with his eyes. At first, it just began with everything growing blurry. Yerf found a pair of glasses in a dumpster and remembered that they fixed eyes. Problem solved.

Then, he and his twin get taken from their home and put in In-Between. Nervous habits set in and Yerf became constantly aware of what might happen to him next...Punishments became usual and moving became common. The real problem was wondering if he would ever get free, if he would ever see his brother again, if he would, could...

That problem weren't so easily solved, and it always set him on edge as he searched for the answers. The youth bit his lip and raced back to his spot in the dark after he got his food. It was a spot in the corner where he could see everything going on around him. He didn't have to worry about missing something or leaving his back open when it was still sore enough to cause groans of pain to leave him.

"And the food is...," Yerf muttered, trailing off as he peered down into his bowl. It had taken his eyes a moment to readjust to the darkness and spots danced where the food was supposed to be. When his vision cleared, he sighed. " Hard and stale, again. My favourite."

Oh, when...When would he be set free?

[Linden]

Deverell Emerick was his name, running away was his game. However, since arriving at the In-between he had become worse and worse at the game he was once so good at. Now he was limping, stumbling down the filthy corridor with a bear-anthro at his heel, his arms held together behind his back with only one of the bear's hands. He had stopped trying to dash away from his tormentor ten minutes ago, the bear would just increase his grip with each jerk of Dev's arm. He knew there would be a new bruise there. He had just come back from the punishment room, his body bloody and bruised for trying to escape this horrible place.

Soon he was dragged in front of a new cell where the prisoners were only now being served their meal. The bear yelled louldy for the pets to get back from the door before shoving Dev into the room, informing the dinner guard to give the new one no food. He limped badly over to the wall, sliding down it quickly as his muscles finally gave way on him. Tears came to his eyes from the pain but he supressed them so he could look at his legs with clear vision. Both the calves were were wrapped in bandages already bloodied from the wound. "The f**king dogs always get me before the woods," he whispered, his voice sad as he tenderly touched his wounds.

His cellmates werent much better off then he was, two in particular caught his eye. One was a young boy, appearing several years younger then himself, who was rocking back on his forth on his heels muttering things he couldnt make out. The other seemed older, he was sitting in the corner with his food in hand. His eyes were darting all about the room, as if he expected sudden doom to come from any direction. He began to wonder how bad he'd feel in the morning as hurts had a tendency of amplifying over night. Emerick placed his hands on the ground and adjust himself to a more comfortable position, inhaling sharply from the pain. He saw stars the pain was so bad, and this time he let the tears run freely, sometimes he just had to cry, it was best to let it all out at once.

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Yerf was just beginning to pick at his food when he heard one of the guards...The head of security, by the looks of it...shouted at all of them pets to get out of the way. "Seems someone recently got back from the punishment room...," he muttered to himself in observation. Then again, this was the higher security ward, so it wasn't that uncommon. Everyone that behaved badly were sent to their cell. That's why there were people of all ages there...It seemed not too many people acted up in the In-Between.

Looking down at his food, he scraped the first layer of hard crust off to get to the softer stuff, but stopped short and sighed. His eyes darted back over to the kid and then to his food again. He really wasn't that hungry, but it was always best to try to eat and gain energy...Especially if the guards seemed to like making you work. Then again...He hadn't tried to escape today and he knew from personal experience the kid would be needing all the nutrients he could get to heal. His eyes darted down to his food again and he made his decision.

The dog-anthro tipped over the small bowl and let the hardened crumbs fall into his hands. He figured that would be enough to sustain him for a while, so he stuffed them into his raggedy pocket and looked over at the rabbit-anthro again. He wasn't sure how far the distance between them were and he wasn't really sure he wanted to expose his back just yet. Bad things seemed to happen when you were caught unaware...

The distance wasn't too great, but Yerf would have to stand up and move over there still. Another sigh fell from his lips as he pulled his body into a crouching position. Holding the bowl in one hand and keeping his eyes moving around the room, he ran at a crouch over to the other boy and sat down abruptly with his back to the wall. A hiss escaped him as his back thudded against the wall again. He should have been paying more attention, but it was too late now.

"Hey, kid," Yerf whispered, his voice sounding somewhat raspy from disuse. "Here." He dropped the food bowl on the ground in a careful sort of way and peered at the other Anthro's face through the darkness. "I'm not as hungry as you will be, and you definitely need it more then me..."

[Linden]

Deverell heard sudden movement to his left, causing him to move his head slowly in the direction of one of the boys he had noticed earlier. He was creeping along the wall crouched down, his food in hand as he came quickly to a sitting postition with his back to the wall. It seemed the dog-anthro didnt like his back exposed for too long.

Devy noticed the tears were still falling freely silently and decided to stop, he hated crying while talking to people. Sobbing only made it difficult for others to understand you and left a salty taste in your mouth when tears fell in your open mouth. He wiped his face on his filthy sleeve, replacing the moisture with a streak of dirt. The dog-anthro's voice sounded raspy like someone who had been punched in the throat, a common sight in the In-Between. He was offering Dev his food! How incredibly kind of him. It was nice to know that there were still good people in the world. If the circumstances had been any different he would have kindly declined the food, but he needed it so he grabbed the bowl and shoveled the food into his mouth, chewing quickly so as not to actually taste a thing. Oh, what wouldnt he give for some greens?

When he finished the food he set the bowl down and smiled at the kind anthro. He opened his mouth and commanded his vocal cords to work, dissapointed to find all that came out was a harsh sounding weeze. When he had gotten caught by the dogs it was the bear anthro who had collected him, dragging him by the throat to the punishment room. After trying twice he was finally able to let out a soft "thank you" which was more lip movement then sound and was barely a whisper.

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Yerf waved off the other boy's words of gratitude and shrugged. "I've been in your position before," he muttered. "It's always nice to have someone to watch out for you in some way, even if it is in some small way. Not to mention that down here...," his eyes danced around in their sockets again as he scanned the whole room.

Everyone in there had been seriously injured at least once or twice. Running away, back talking, not listening to the guards...They had all gotten punished, but that didn't stop half of them from trying again - Himself included. While kindness was something that was never taken for granted in the In-Between...In their ward, kindness was something that people would have killed for.

"Not to mention that down here, we all need it the most. We're the ones who will probably never get bought and will never see the sun again unless we try to run," the dog-Anthro said quite bluntly. "Besides, it is rather hard to heal if you're running on nothing. Literally on the running part for you, according to your legs anyways. The dogs always go for the calves...From what I've seen. They're less inclined to go after their own, but it's always the fences that get me. I suck at climbing things fast and it takes to long to dig holes. But climbing...It leaves your back too exposed and you get shot or whipped or something." He finished speaking and then had to turn his head as a horrible cough shook his entire body. It had been ages since he had talked that much in one go. Last time he had done so was...When he was first moved away from his brother. All that time ago...

[Linden]

Dev nodded slowly as the dog-anthro spoke, learning he was in the cell they stuck the trouble makers. He looked at the others as he spoke, they all were badly beaten and had a look of desperation on them. The only thought that came to mind was a simple statement, this place sucks.

"Yeah, I can run fast, and jump high so its not that hard to get over the fence, but the dogs dont need to go over the fence they simply get let out and are on my heels by the time I reach the forest." Emerick's voice was still weak, his voice would fail him often leaving only his lips to hint at the word that was dropped. His frown depened as he looked down at his legs once more, he wouldnt be running for a long while now, hell he wouldnt even walk right for a few weeks. His entire body was on fire, each difficult breath sending pain shooting through his body. He could taste the tangy, metallic taste of blood from being punched in the mouth. His right eye was so swollen it was closed slightly. His soft white ears drooped slightly as he looked at his bandaged hands, he had cut them pretty badly climbing the fence.

He was at least grateful for his wounds being treated and the change of clothing he had gotten after his punishment, the clothing he was wearing was torn to shreds. He was now wearing one of the outfits he had when he came to this place which was confiscated along with everything else he owned. The outfit was filthy and he was pretty sure it had been used as a rag to dust. He wondered what they were going to make him do tomorow, they liked to make him do hard labor after nights like this.

[Mesh]

Yerf nodded and closed his eyes, pressing himself further into the wall and suppressing a small yip at the pain. "Well...," he started to say before he shook his head. "Nevermind."

Listening to the kid's words, he had started to think up a way to escape. After all, the kid could climb, jump, and run fast, but couldn't get away from the dogs...And as a dog-anthro, the dogs were less likely to go after him and he ran fast, but couldn't get over the fence. They would have been a perfect team except, while a dog can carry a rabbit...A rabbit can't nessessarily carry a dog. Not to mention that, it would be quite awhile until the other Anthro could move around too much.

It could never work. Not really...At least, he didn't think it would. He would just have to watch over the kid closely then. See if it might work...See if they could really work that close like partners...And he would have to make sure the rabbit healed perfectly. If only everything would work out...

"So...What's your name? Mine is Yerf, dog-anthro, at your service..."

[Linden]

"Its a pleasure to meet you Yerf," Deverell cringed at the sound of his own voice it was so bad. "I'm Dev," he said with a smile, he wouldnt even attempt to get the whole name out in one breath, that would hurt his throat too much. He let his gaze travel around the room once more, looking at the filthy floor and walls, where those names etched in the stone? He'd investigate later when he could actually stand. If that were to ever happen again that is. "So, what brought you here?" he asked, unable to contain his curiousity.

[Mesh]

Yerf gave a rolling half-shrugged and sighed. "What else?" he asked, rhetorically. "The council. I shouldn't even be here...But what can I do? I fight it and then...Voila. Here I am."

He motioned around the room before lazily dropping his arm to the side. "Been here for...a long time. My twin is in the floor above us. He never argued...I miss him," the dog anthro started to say before looking back over at Dev. "So, Dev, what's your story?

[Linden]

"Your twin?" Deverell asked with a sypathetic tone to his voice. It was sad that they had been seperated, was it because they were simply too cruel to let the two of them reside together? Or did Yerf's behavioral problems propell him farther away from his brother? He looked at Yerf as he asked his question and shrugged in reply as well. "My parents were killed and I was caught by the council, pretty standard stuff really," he said, looking about the room and wondering what everyone else's story was.

[Mesh]

Yerf nodded and sighed sadly; his ears twitching back in sorrow. "Yeah...Pretty standard," he agreed softly. It was too, which was probably the saddest thing. "But, still...I hope that you will have your day. I hope we all will...It'd be nice to see something besides the darkness of these cells or the caged in outside of the yard."

He opened hismouth to say more, but had to stop by a coughing fit. He had been having more and more problems with...Well, he wasn't sure if it was his throat or his lungs. Either way, it was rather unpleasant, especially since most dogs needed plenty of fresh air and there was so little down there...And there was no way that he would be able to visit the In-Between doctor. The man was only for the guards or bandaging up rge troublemakers who'd just been to the punishment room....Actually, Dev probably just got back from there.

He squeezed his eyes closed and arched his back away from the wall, so as not to hurt add more preassure to the already sore muscle. He continued to cough for quite a while longer and finally began to fade into dull wheezes. He opened his eyes and wiped the wetness from his eyes before looking back over at the rabbit anthro besides him. "Sorry about that," he muttered horsely.