LiM Ch7: Through my Veins

Story by Shinkada on SoFurry

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#7 of LiQUID METAL


If you don't like guys, girls, furres, sex or love, violence (Not in yiff) or if you're too young (18, 21 in some places, just ask the police "Hey, am I allowed to read sexy bisexual furre stories on the net?") or any of that, CLOSE TEH WINDOW NOWS! All characters are copyright me, Shinkada, and are used with my permission, with the exception of Coda, who is copyrighted to Coro, and used with his permission, and Venter, who is copyrighted to Max, and likewise used with his permission. This story is a bit mushy at times, so if you don't want lurve, buzz off. Anyone who bugs me "OMG MORE YIFF PLOX" will get castrated by Okhami himself. I put in enough of it already to get you off AT LEAST once per every few chapters. If you're still not satisfied take a cold shower. ***'s represent a change of scenery or time. ---'s represent a non-critical yiff scene, fan service to shut up the wailing masses. Please, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story without whining about it. It's a good story. I like it. A sidenote; if you'd like to write a story set in the same universe as this, by all means, feel free. As long as you give me credit for it, as long as you inform me that you're going to do it via e-mail ([email protected]), and as long as you don't try and mess with my, Coro's, or Max's character/s, I don't mind. In fact if someone good writes a story I'd be quite honoured. Just make sure you tell me first, and don't mess anything up. (I was minutes - WORDS - away from deciding to call off the whole series. Writing just hasn't been coming for me. But then I looked over the script. I looked over my plans for the next episodes. The final chapter, which is already written. All that I've already written. And the 300 views on the most recent chapter. I couldn't give it up. I re-read the story from the beginning, myself, and got right into it. Miraculously, I started writing, and didn't stop. I hope you enjoy, and I hope for both the writer and readers that I manage to stay on track. A lot of this can also be creditted to Coyote the Trickster, who wrote, and is writing, a story set a number of decades after my own, which is just cool. The feeling when someone uses your universe for their own story... It's just so cool. I heavily reccomend it. It's like a mix between LiM and Starship Troopers. It's set during a war, and reflects it with a wartorn, gritty feel to it, whereas LiM is a bit more lighthearted (for now, mweheh). It can be found here: http://www.yiffstar.com/index.yiff?pid=10086 I have, however, decided that there won't be any more yiff scenes. At least, not any major ones. Writing them was a chore. I guess I have more shame than I originally thought. They're hindering the story, and gaidens in general feel fairly similar. So, no more of that! This story ain't for yiff anyway. Maybe - MAYBE - if the mood I set up is good enough, I'll have a proper yiff scene with the furson Okhami eventually ends up with, although to quote my psychic, 'Outlook not so good'. I've also been asked by a few people what the difference between a dragon and a drake is. Well, there are a lot of different opinions, as there always is when it comes to high-fantasy stuff, but as far as my stories go, here's the deal: Dragons are your typical massive, ~30 foot tall, fire-breathing thingy. Dragons, in my universe, are (thought to be) extinct, and can shapeshift. Drakes are more humanoid. Around human height, they have a more anthro-style head rather than the beastly dragon heads, no crest and whatnot. Drakes have hair, wear clothes, can't breathe fire, and are usually black in colouring. They were also in a big war against the rest of the furres. Drakes also have breasts, whereas dragons do not. Alex, although technically half dragon, is entirely drake. Very, very little in the way of biology came from her father, although a fair bit of her personality came from him. Hope that clears some stuff up.) -Shinkada * * *

LiQUID METAL

  • * * ***CHAPTER 7: Through my Veins*** Ends up I'd been out for a good few days. It was already Monday; Coda and Mairu had been given the day off to settle in. I, on the other hand, had been caught off guard by a visit from General Grant. He smirked lightly as I came to the door clad in tracksuit pants and a singlet, my hair wired. "My my, Okhami, I'm honoured to see what you look like before the magic of grooming," Grant said with a mousey grin, whiskers twitching. I rapidly went into salute, looking straight ahead. "My apologies Sir. I'll make myself decent right away, Sir." "Pshaw. Sir. What did I tell you about that? The son of Khoaru deserves to be on a first name basis with me, especially with the skills you have. Which brings me to why I'm here. You've been selected for special ops training. You'll be trained to be one of the best swordsmen in the compound, we'll develop your leadership skills, infiltration... Among other things... If you accept, of course," Grant finished, now leaning against the door frame; something that was amazingly casual for someone of such high rank. He looked like he'd fit in amongst the students before the other Captains. I didn't need any time to think about it. I decided not to be lured into his casualness, and saluted just as respectfully as usual. "I'd be beyond honoured to participate, sir," I said as I grinned at him, almost hearing how impressed Coda and Mairu were. Grant returned the salute with a smile, and motioned to me. "Good! You'll meet your trainer now, then. You've got five minutes. Oh, and bring your swords," he said with a casual smile and closed the door. I stood staring for a minute before pelting into the bathroom at full speed to fix my hair. My talk with Coda had alleviated almost all of the tension of the group. Occasionally the right thing comes at the right time, I guess. Coda laughed at me rushing around the room, toothbrush in jaw, hair covered in clamps to hold it while the gel dried, trench coat only on one arm, deoderant in one paw trying desperately to spray in the right place, a mug of tea in the other, and both sabers under one arm. I was, absolutely, a mess. Even Mairu had to laugh despite trying to hold it back. Our spirit was in full throttle back to where it was. Just as I was about to go out the door, after waving goodbye to the other two, I stopped. I stood for about ten, maybe twenty seconds, just staring right ahead, before smirking and calming down, the tension fading from my body, and closed the door behind me. The faint sound of a hyena cackle in my head soothed me as I headed towards my first day of Spec Ops Training. *** "C'mon! The restaurant is family owned, you may as well come. It's on me. Really. We've got a day off! We've gotta make the most of it!" "... Okay, okay, fine," accompanied by a blush, was the reply. *** We had the whole training hall to ourselves. I couldn't help but feel special. And by 'we', I mean 'me and Grant'. Spec Ops training was 1-1, personal, and apparently very exclusive. We'd just gotten down and as I was looking around, I felt a breeze brush by me; a single look down, and my sabers were gone, from right out under my arm. "Hm... Dual scimitars... Light cyan colour... Parrying gap in the front of both blades... A very nice pair of blades," Grant said as he studied the two sabers. He hadn't even switched them on and knew that from them? "Have you tried these out yet?" Grant said as he looked up at me. I bit my inner lip. Of course I'd tried them! Who could resist staring at such amazingly awesome swords?! But the punishment was expulsion from the course... But to lie to Grant... Grant simply laughed and threw the blades to me. "Of course you have. You wouldn't be here if you hadn't. That's just a rule to protect our more frail trainees. Draw them, let's see what you can do," Grant said as he drew a training blade from his side, just as I caught my own. "Well... I haven't actually practiced with them yet... Just kinda... Admired them. Er. Sir." I said, scratching my head as I casually spun the two mercury blades. Mercury wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light. Considering the size of the scimitars, the blades weighed about as much as shortswords, so they weren't featherweight. "A good chance to practice then!" Grant said and practically dissapeared. I saw only enough of his blur to guess which direction he was going in, and threw one arm to the side, going off instinct alone. Thankfully, instinct was enough, and as I felt the clang of metals, I spun around to face him, slashing with my left blade at his gut. In another grey blur, Grant flipped back away from the slash, to land on his feet and take off again. Staring at him was like going crosseyed. Just trying to keep up with his form was making my eyes sore and begin a headache. How someone could achieve such abnormal speeds was beyond me, but I didn't have time to think about it as I narrowly spun under a slash and retaliated with a jab up at him. This time he had to parry, blocking the blade with his own, and sliding back a bit. Taking the opportunity that any good dualwielder looks out for, I jumped up and slashed again from the opposite direction, forcing him to parry rather than dodge. Yet more wolf instincts kicked in as time slowed very slightly to me, allowing me enough time to analyze his stance at each slash, and fire off another attack at his weak spots, never giving him the chance to dodge. Above the sound of the blades dicing the air and my own mind working, creating a hum of a silence in my head, I heard a soft laugh, just as Grant readied a counterattack. I drew one blade back, seeing an opening for the second, before I felt the impact of Grant's blade hit my parrying blade. I could feel the force straight up through my arm, into my chest, and right into my head. The snap of steel against steel was near defeaning, and the feeling of inertia against my back as I was forced off my feet and into the air gave me an instant headrush. Time slowed even more as I saw Grant draw his blade back into the strap at his side. I heard my blades clatter to the ground as I dropped them, and felt myself land against something, which toppled to the ground with me. I slid back a good deal, although most of it was stopped by whatever broke my fall. My breakfall slid out from underneath me just as I saw the field. At least 20 meters. I'd been thrown, and slid back, about 20 meters. I could barely believe my eyes, and turned only to see what I'd impacted. Angry, fire-red eyes stared back at me, and I almost jumped out of my fur at the black scales that surrounded said eyes. I shuffled back a bit, and was met with a laugh from Grant, who was now beside us. "Whoo. What a way for you two to meet. Sorry about that, Okhami, I got carried away. And sorry to you too, Alex," Grant said as he scratched the back of his head in embarassment. The drake in front of me stared only a moment longer before glaring up at Grant. "You're the General of the Army! Aren't you meant to have some control?!" the drake fumed; a small puff of smoke blowing from her nostrils as she stood up, dusting herself off. Grant simply laughed again, blushing a little now, and turned to look at me as I sat on the ground, holding my head. That hurt. "Sorry to have you two meet in such a way. Okhami, this is Alexia. She'll be your trainer for... Hum... One of your classes," Grant simply said, trying to decide how to word it carefully, then giving up. I raised a brow, but shrugged and got up to shake her paw. I couldn't help but notice Grant's eyes widen as I did so. "Hey, nice'ta meet you Alexia," I said with my most sincere smile. It was only about now that I noticed how young Alex was; around my age. Alex sighed a bit and slowly relaxed, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, they were soft, almost gentle - the opposite of her personality before - and she took my paw and shook it firmly. "Likewise, Okhami," and returned the smile. I looked over to Grant and notched my head, waiting for his instructions. He nodded in return, and sighed softly. I could see in his eyes that this was going to be an interesting conversation. *** "Grant did what?!" "He hit him with a very small kinetic wave. Nothing serious, sir." "I see..." "But uh... The confusing thing is, he got back up in about half a minute." "... Watch him. Watch him very, very closely. *** Grant had handed me a small cube of metal. Ordinary steel, I looked it over as I rolled it in my paw, then looked up at the two. Both of them had serious looks on their faces. "Okhami, I... I want you to concentrate on the idea of a sphere," Grant said, a little nervous; I'd never seen him nervous before. I blinked slowly, and shrugged, getting a picture of a sphere into my mind, tapping my foot to imagined music as I did so. "Harder... Really concentrate on it. On that sphere alone." "Not music," Alex added with a smirk, which elicited one from me too. I dropped the smirk, and focused harder, pushing everything out of my mind. Which, for me, is difficult. You see, I'm always thinking of tens of things at once. That's why I occasionally underthink, and often stutter a little bit. My mind is always full. So to push everything out except a boring ol' sphere, was a fair bit of effort for me. But after a moment, I felt it clear. As if a rock had just hit a pond full of fish, the swarm of ideas, thoughts, observations, all fell away into the background and left one thing; a shiny metal sphere. I heard a gasp from Alex and an amused 'hm' from Grant, and opened my eyes to look around. "What's wrong?" I said as I tilted my head to the side. Both of them said "Nothing" in perfect unison, electing a raised brow from me. "Um... Come! Come, come. Silly trivial things. Let's move onto some more fun stuff. I'm sure you're dying to try those blades," Grant said as he uncrossed his arms and went to go get some training equipment. I blinked, thuroughly confused, and spun the metal sphere that I held in my paw as I wondered what was making them act so strange. *** By the end of the day I was exhausted. I had trained against Grant himself almost non-stop with swords, and had taken just as many rough hits as the first match, I was covered in bruises that would develop later, and I was ready to pass out. 'Grant may be a great guy, but crap he's a tough trainer,' I thought to myself as I trotted back to the dorms and took the elevator up, too tired to take the stairs. I didn't bother knocking. 'I doubt I'll need to knock for these two for at least a few more weeks,' I joked to myself, and opened the door to see them talking softly, staring near-dreamily into each other's eyes. 'Looks like I thought too soon,'I thought with a roll of my eyes and a wide smile. They hadn't even noticed me come in. Not wanting to interrupt I walked into the kitchen to grab some tea. (The morning's batch had tasted like crap. Mint toothpaste and tea don't mix.) When I got back they finally noticed me and almost jumped into the roof. "O-Okhami?!" Coda said in about a loud of a voice as he could get, since he was always so softspoken, and even Mairu twitched a fair bit with a deep blush. I simply grinned and waved a paw, dismissing any embarassment from both of them, and jumped onto my bed. As soon as I hit the matress, I realized just how worn out I was, and fell asleep within minutes. The night was filled with dreams. Dreams I wouldn't remember for a long time to come, of black scales and metal spheres. *** Well, Spec Ops training continued. I'd been pulled out of all my classes - which I really didn't mind, since I didn't have classes with Coda or Mairu anyway - to focus entirely on Spec Ops. Occasionally I'd have a lesson dedicated to a certain old subject. Kit came in a few times for some survival basics, and Drake was frequent when Grant was busy. Grant was strong - very strong - but for some reason, Drake just felt stronger. I didn't know why. I assumed he was just holding back more than Grant. The weekend came very quickly. *** As promised, we had a going away party for Ash. We saw all his friends, family - a lot of his friends were stereotyped hyenas, but I think more people than Ash realized were aware of his facade. Despite a few of them acting like idiots, nearly everyone had something very intelligent to say over his grave, which was on the field out the back of the campus. Among everyone else, what shocked me the most was that Lance was there, and he looked upset. I was confused, but didn't feel any pity for him. 'So what if he feels guilty over losing his temper to such a degree? A lack of self control isn't something to be pitied,' I thought to myself, grumbling a little. It snapped to me, then. What HAD happened to Lance? I hadn't seen him since, and there was a new Captain I'd seen lately. Maybe he was fired and replaced? 'I'll ask Grant next time,' I thought to myself, and continued the... Well, celebrations. It turned out exactly how I wanted. There were speeches, and a little bit of mourning, but the music was loud, the drinks were various, and the food was tasty. More people were enjoying themselves to tribute Ash, rather than crying and being morbid. Again, I faintly heard a hyena's cackle... Although that time it may've just been one of his friends or family. Even a couple of Captains, other than Lance, turned up. I saw Grant there, paying his respects (with a heineken in one hand, mind you) and Kit, although didn't have much time to talk to them. I was tired, completely worn out from training. Honestly I was astounded Grant was as lively as he was, since he'd been training me, and hence, sparring, almost the whole time. "I guess speed and strength aren't the only areas he's abnormal in..," I muttered to myself over my vodka cruiser. I didn't normally drink, but this was a special occasion, and one for Ash no less. Drinking was never more appropriate. I even managed to snag the phone number of Ash's very attractive sister. She'd heard about me a fair bit from Ash, and in the spirit of the celebration I thought it would be a good laugh for Ash, wherever he was, to see that happen. Neither of us actually called each other, though. I think it was just more for us to realize further that we had to move on than anything else, and to show Ash we could... She was attractive though. At about 10pm I was just too tired to go on, said goodbye to all the people I knew and Ash's family, and was about to head back to my dorm, before being stopped by Grant as I said bye to him. He'd drunk enough to be a little woozy, something I found absolutely hilarious from the General of the Army, and was still downing beer. He grinned widely, slowly swaying just a little in his warm little bliss, as he handed me a steel cube and waved me off. I laughed and saluted with a grin, although I couldn't help but wonder what the cube was for. *** "What the hell IS this thing?!" I half yelled to myself as I continued to turn the cube over. It was just a plain, ordinary, steel cube. Nothing special. No secret switch or button, no hollowed out side, nothing engraved on it... Just a steel cube. I couldn't help but think I'd seen it somewhere before... 'Oh wait, that's it! He gave me this on the first day of trai..," I pondered to myself, then stopped and furrowed my brows. "No, he gave me a sphere..," I said out loud, frowning more and narrowing my eyes a bit. 'But, no, I could have sworn it was a cube... But... It was a sphere..,' I continued thinking to myself, getting more confused by the second. So, I decided to try what I'd done then and closed my eyes, focusing on a sphere. After about a minute, I opened my eyes again and, sure enough, the cube had turned into a sphere. I laughed a little at Grant's party trick of a cube, wondering how it worked. I shook my head and focused on a cube again, this time watching it slowly transform. The steel was dull at first, then slowly became shiny, looking identical to mercury, quivered liquid-like in my palm, then slowly drew the sides in until it was a cube once again, before the shine faded. I shook my head again, and got up to get a coke. I opened the fridge door, and pulled out a can of coke, still laughing quietly about the sphere. As I went to close the fridge and take a sip from the coke, both failed. I stumbled a bit as my paw didn't push anything then hit the fridge door and it slid shut, and the coke can fell short of my lips. I looked first at the fridge; a section of the handle had come off, and in my paw sat a small steel sphere. In my other paw, the coke can had, itself, become a hollowed-out sphere, still full of coke. I paused a long few moments, my brain trying desperately to wrap itself around the situation in front of me. 'Okay... Grant has access to all the dorms... Just a prank probably, knowing him..,' I thought to myself, attempting poorly to rationalize the event. I stood, almost falling on shaking legs, and almost instinctually, I pictured the spherical coke can having a flat bottom, focused for a moment, and surely enough, the bottom of the can drew inwards to become flat, as I put it down. I did fall over this time, feeling my breathing become rough, and I became dizzy as the blood drained from my face. I took one look at the metal in my other paw, seeing only a small metal model of my own paw as I thought about it, before passing out. *** He couldn't help but laugh over the scene in front of him. The husky was passed out with a spherical can of coke on the table above him, and a little statue of his own paw in his hand. 'Poor thing... But that was the best way to get him started... Now the real training can begin...' *** I woke up in the small, underground room that had pretty much become my personal training area. My eyes half-fluttered open to look up at the dim lights, before sitting up to see Grant and Drake a way away from me, talking quietly. They looked over to me a short moment after I sat up, silent, and I simply stared back. The looks on their faces confirmed a small suspicion I had. "You... What did you do to me..," I said, barely loud enough for them to hear. Drake reached into his pocket and drew out a sheet of paper. I recognized it, after a few moments, as the one I'd signed back when I first enrolled, detailing my willingness to take part in military experiments. I groaned, knowing it was my own fault. "Okhami, you shouldn't be down about this," Grant began, waving a paw through the air. "What you're taking part in is an incredible new discovery. In a few years time all soldiers will be like you, but until then, you're one of only a handful," he said as he gave me a, for him, sympathetic look. I sighed a bit and knew he was right. 'I'm a bit flustered, and I'm overacting. This could wind up pretty damn cool,' I thought to myself as I shakily stood, brushing myself off a bit while collecting my balance, and my head. With no warning, Drake drew a dagger from his pocket and threw it directly at me. Although my head was a bit scattered, I'd been trained enough to be able to react even when weary now, and I managed to dodge the blade enough to have it nick my shoulder only, cutting through the flesh. I growled a bit and turned back to Drake, who was chuckling a little with Grant angrily glaring at him. "What're you thinking?!" I yelled angrily, as Grant shook his head. "There are nicer ways to show him..," Grant said as he trailed off and notched his head at my arm. I blinked and looked at the arm, and felt the blood drain from my face again. The blood was silver, shiny, and thick. It looked identical to mercury. "While your blood has similar properties as before, it's now lined with Energy Mercury. By modifying its properties a bit, we've found Energy Mercury can not only direct and focus energy, but other types of metal, too. And by modifying it further, it can be used in an actual living being to let that being modify metals..," Grant explained, making random hand movements as he went on. "Yes, we did... Genetically modify you. Your skin and fur are technically laced with energy mercury too, although not as much, and it's still mostly organic. We had no choice. You were under enough emotional and mental stress and chaos to almost kill you. If we had've left you any longer, you would've gone into a coma much worse than even Lance's when you attacked him," Drake said, too casually, I thought, considering he was talking about his own brother. "That reminds me... What happened to Lance?" I asked as he brought it up. Something in Drake changed... But not grief... As was usual with Drake, he covered it too quickly for me to see it. He didn't like exposing emotions, it seemed. "While Captain Lance wasn't charged with murder due to his track record of so many incredible students, this is the first time he's outright killed someone. He was fired, and banned from any Government institutes that involved anyone under 20," Drake explained matter-of-factly. I blinked a bit, unsure what to think, as I looked down at my arm. What Drake had said before, about my outer body being metal too, crossed my mind, and I focused slowly... Before my eyes, my fur turned metal, slid over the wound, and covered it, effectively healing it. I noticed Grant give a very small impressed look before wiping it off. "The only reason we didn't tell you about the genetic modification is that we've found the best way for someone to learn how to do it is naturally. It's difficult to explain to someone that just by thinking something, it will happen. But by learning yourself you know how to do it right away," Grant finished as I began experimenting. "Heheh... Experimenting on my body... I'm 12 all over again." I said with a grin, causing both Grant and Drake to laugh. The things I could do were on the verge of limitless. As long as I kept my insides at least in similar to the shape they were now, I could continue to function perfectly. It ends up Drake was the same as me, so he was useful in my experimenting. A few times I'd stretch one of my organs a bit too far as I tested my limits (which felt like about 5 indigestions at once, mind you), and I would have been in trouble without Drake around to straighten me up. (Excuse the pun) By the end of the day, I needed sleep, in so many more ways than ever. Altering metals used a lot of mental stamina since I had to concentrate very hard, especially with larger objects, and the amount of mind-boggling and logic-defying information I'd been told about myself had put my mind under even more pressure. Unfortunately I wasn't permitted to tell anyone about my little ability, even my roommates, and the questioning stares I got from Coda and Mairu when I came in just put more weight on my shoulders. I groaned and collapsed onto the bed; thankfully they knew when to quit and left me alone about it. *** "Sir! Korshal just... Burst! They were in the damn ground! The whole force is overrun! This isn't looking good... Why would they attack again! We've also gotten reports of a lone fox leading the enemy forces! Do you think it could be La~" At that, the communications terminal shut down as a heavy scaled foot dropped onto it. "... Sir?" "..." "What should we do, Sir?" "... We bide our time... For now... Send some diplomats... One more attack on their side and we'll have no choice but to fight... At least it won't be as bad of a fight this time with Drake on our side if push comes to shove..." "Yes, Sir."