The Dog Catcher (Santhia)

[Zeke]

Zeke is playing dog catcher today. A giant black dog has attacked and killed man behind a store on mid level. The Coruscant Watch has had problems with such dogs before, so this time they called in a Jedi. Zeke was the first to respond. The dog is racing up a walkway, scattering people to the sides as it does, barking and growling to clear it's path. Zeke follows, slowly gaining on the animal to the cheers of the pedestrians. The Jedi is going to stop the savage animal. Judging by the pike in his hands, he may kill it. But Zeke has no intention of doing this. He just wants it caught.

[Santhia]

Suddenly, the dog the Jedi is chasing stops dead in it's tracks, it's tail droops between it's legs and it whimpers quietly. It turns, and runs, whining in the opposite direction. Zeke stops, and sees something huge, black and furry in a nearby alley. It looks at least 2 times the size of the dog he was chasing, and it starts to trot away, it's nails clicking on the hard pavement.

[Zeke]

Zeke follows more cautiously now; the dog's behavior is somehow...odd.

"C'mon, big guy..." Zeke mutters. "Come on out. I won't hurt'cha, just wanna keep ya from hurting more people..."

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

Vymes brushes against Zeke, and drags the rear sight aperture of his blaster against the hemline of his jeans, priming the energy cells in the fresh power pack. He gives Zeke an icy look.

"We're here to take care of business, not start a conversation."

[Santhia]

The "dog", or wolf, rather, turned briefly, sniffed and trotted off again.

[Zeke]

Zeke eyes the blaster.

"That thing set to kill?"

He edges into the alleyway after Santhia.

"I won't have you killing this thing. It'll be enough to capture it."

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

As Zeke edged his way into the alley, he found himself pressed impolitely against the brick wall. Not violently, but enough to register a 'street objection'. Vymes looked at him with a sour face.

"Who's the beat cop, and who's here on invite? This is Watch jurisdiction, plain as black and white. You're here to do us a favor. Act like it. Look, I've done my fair share of back-scratching for the Order, whenever you misplaced a Sith or two on our turf, and got a couple of Watch skulls cracked for the trouble."

Vymes distanced himself from the Jedi, and went along down the alley, glancing back at Zeke.

"Cut the bleeding heart act. Its a rabid mutt."

[Zeke]

"It's still a living creature..."

But the Jedi takes a backseat to Vymes for the moment. Let's see this guy work.

"How long's this thing been givin' you guys hell?"

[Santhia]

Meanwhile, the wolf had slipped further down the alley. It stopped, sniffed the air, and turned to the left, picking up it's pace.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

"A few weeks"

Vymes talked while on a jog, dodging alleyway trash and debris as he did so.

"Forensics matched the bite patterns. Same mutt. Been at it from 438 to 452 Coco, so its got a tight range. The only thing is that we're getting cases on multiple levels. Either the mutt's the next Lassie, or this is something beyond a simple mauling incident."

[Zeke]

"Izzat so?"

The follow in silence for a short while until Zeke comes up with a question.

"Dude, you got a plan or are we doing this on the fly?"

[Santhia]

The wolf continues along at a steady pace, barely noticing the two men who were following behind it. It seemed to know exactly where it was going...to some place Zeke was all to familar with....

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

"No, no plan. I don't want to draw a net on it and spook it."

Vymes slowed at an approaching intersection. Raising his weapon, he angled his body so that he inched his line of sight around the corner.

"Whatever its doing, its not in any hurry. I'd take a shot if it weren't for the pedestrians around."

[Zeke]

"Whoa, just a sec...I know this place. This is where my girlfriend lives."

Suddenly, Zeke's heart squeezes with concern. Has Santhia been attacked by this wolf? He won't have it.

"Take it easy. Let's close in on it. If we can't take it long range, we'll do it up close."

[Santhia]

The black form ducks behind the hotel, moving quicker now. The wolf reaches the stairs leading up to a back door on the building and begins to climb.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

"Y'don't say?"

The sarcasm on Vymes' voice was clear. Coco was his precinct. He knew every square foot of it, almost by feel. You could get intimate with a place real fast when you spent your days on foot pursuits.

"Yeah. I'd like to work it into a bottleneck or a dead-end. There's a choke point down this way. Skyscraper canyon cuts across either way for 3 miles...so there aren't many options left for travel."

[Zeke]

Zeke hesitates for a moment.

"It's around back, up the stairs. Follow at your own pace; I ain't lettin it in that hotel."

He's off like a shot from Zemil's blaster, across the street and around back before Zemil can say "Damned Jedi!" He clears the stairs and makes it over the dog, landing in a low stance.

"Back where you were, dog! Down the stairs..."

He begins to slowly edge forward, pushing it down the stairwell.

[Santhia]

The wolf growls, it's large fangs dripping. It doesn't move, but stands there bristling and snarling at the one blocking it's way.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

Vymes takes the long way, looping around, and advancing on the blind side of the stairs, so that he can get in close without spooking the wolf.

[Zeke]

Zeke moves steadily closer to the wolf, tuning down the electricity of his pike and tapping the metal staircase with the electric blade. His shoes are made of a material that's insulated from the electricity, so he doesn't feel the effects of the bolts.

[Santhia]

The wolf yelps, jumping backwards and snarling. It turns, running quickly back down the stairs, straight for Vymes.

[Zeke]

"Stop it, but don't kill it, Vymes!"

Zeke gives chase down the stairs, shepherding the dog right into the officer's sights. He's not worried about Vymes missing; even if the cop does make an error, Zeke's nimble enough to dodge or block.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

Vymes draws a bead on the wolf, and empties his blaster's clip at a point-blank range.

[Santhia]

The wolf yelps, whimpering, but still moving forward. It's fur begins to fade, it's paws becoming more slender, turning into hands. The muzzle shrunk backwards, turning into the face of a young woman. She gased, a trickle of blood dribbling out the corner of her mouth, before she slumped against Vymes.

[Zeke]

As the transformation completes, Zeke's face contorts in an expression of terror.

"SANTHIA!"

He moves with Force boosted speed to her side, removing her from Vymes before the man can bat an eye, lying her down on the durracrete.

"Are you alright?"

The fact that Santhia is the murdering stray wolf that has been plaguing the city has eluded Zeke. At the moment, he's more concerned with saving her than arresting her.

[Santhia]

She reaches up, her fingers barely grazing Zeke's cheek.

"Zeke......?"

Her eyes closed, and she slumped against him, her breathing becoming laboured and finally stopping.

[Zeke]

"Santhia..."

Zeke chokes, swallowing against the rising lump in his throat and blinking at the tears in his eyes. It's a foreign, alien emotion he feels now...but also one he knows far too well. He's only felt this once, four years ago, when the last tragedy occurred in his life.

"Santhia, don't...you...you can't..."

Her hand drops and she falls against him, lifeless. Zeke blinks harder, squeezing his eyes shut and willing away the pit that's forming in his heart. Sorrow and anger...two he has always gone out of his way to avoid. They attack his heart like hungry wolves, filling him before he can stop them.

"Santhia...dammit..."

His voice is hardly audible, rising steadily, repeating the curse over and over until at last he screams it, expelling the negative emotion from his body in a telekinetic blast.

"DAMMIT!"

Everything within five hundred meters that isn't bolted down flies away , spinning in a circular orbit, gradually narrowing from a wide disc into a tempest column of flying debris, with Zeke embracing Santhia at the eye of the storm. At last it subsides, revealing a sobbing, pathetic Jedi Knight, kneeling over his lover's dead form.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

Vymes stooped down, putting two fingers against the side of the girl's neck. After a few seconds, he stood up, tapping his wristcomm.

"This is Vymes. Send for an ambulance on my coordinates. Shots fired. Suspect is a changeling, presumed dead...out."

Distancing himself from the girl and the grief-stricken Jedi, Vymes scowls a bit, holstering his pistol as he steps down from the stairs.

[Zeke]

Zeke doesn't move, not even when the ambulance arrives. The medics finally tire of him and pry him off of Santhia's body, leaving him kneeling in the alleyway as if they hadn't been there at all.