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 Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:26 pm
Seth had ventured to the southernmost part of the island at the crack of dawn, as soon as the first golden slivers of sunlight had broken the horizon. The air was cool, crisp and fresh. He stood near the edge of the forest, near the perimeter line where the plants met the top of the beach-head. This would be a good starting spot, the thylacine thought to himself.
He sniffed the air and grinned, pleased with his findings, and the location itself - the faint stench of rabbits and other small rodents was in the air. They were awake and active at this time, just like he was. Alone, one wouldn't make much of a meal, but it was easy prey to start with.
He had told Jordan to meet him here last night, when he had last seen him. Now, he waited, wondering how long it would take for the canine-man to show.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:41 pm
Jordan had been given a meeting time with Seth. He wasn't sure what time it was now, but his nap was over and so he wiggled out of the rotted log. What an ingenious hiding spot. It'd become pleasing that no one but Seth knew he was there. Well they did, but as long as he wasn't causing trouble, the labs shouldn't give two shits. Jordan stretched out his body from head to toe in a most canine manner, stretching his forebody low, his hindquarters high and arching his back with a groan. Sleeping in a log was bad for the back, but it was a neccessary sacrifice.
Jordan had seen better days. He hadn’t had a shower in two weeks, not that he coulds use a conventional shower anymore. Jordan smelled like wet dog to normal noses. God help those with sensitive snouts. His fur had become a dirty mess of tangles. Perhaps a more striking change was even his now-blonde hair had been hacked off mostly, leaving it short and wild, sticking out everywhere. Jordan smelled like wet dog. To more sensitive noses… it was worse.
He sauntered his way towards the rendevoux point, checking for food along the wya. It was a disappointment that caused his stomach to growl. He was so hungry and showing signs of under-nourishment as he was losing weight from a lack of proper/regular diet/intake of food. He didn't want hand-outs and going ot the village was not an option he wanted to deal with.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:02 pm
Seth was leaning against one of the smaller palm trees and picking at his teeth with an index-finger claw when Jordan arrived. The thylacine regarded the other with an amused toothy smirk and moved off the tree, folding his arms.
"What took you so long?" He chuckled, seeming calm and confident, acting like waking up at this hour was nothing, something that anybody could do with ease. "Slept in? Ah well, breakfast is currently running around the place, so let's get cracking, ey?" He began to walk into the denser scrub, smirking. "And afterwards we can have a bath in the ocean, or a lake further north or something. You really stink."
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:25 pm
He smelled Seth up ahead and knew he was on the right path… but out here, everything smelled like Seth, so maybe he was lost as hell. He pushed forward with his hindering limp. Well, his scent would stand out at least, so he’d be easy to find. Jordan caught a whiff of himself and made a wrinkling face of disgust.
He gave the best shrug of his shoulders that he could muster and huffed through his nose. He yawned wide, showing off his fangs in the process with a rolling curl of his tongue. Living out here took some getting used to, but he was more at ease with Seth since taking sanctuary in his domain. “Woz tha’?” Talking was a chore and if he could avoid it he wanted to.
He blinked as Seth hadn’t given him much more time from his arrival, than he was being whisked off again? Getting out here in such a ‘speedy’ manner was enough, but now he had to go trapesing elsewhere too? His stomach growled at the mention of food and he huffed again. He wasn’t eating cafeteria food so he really wanted to kill his own.. but he was living as a scavenger and had to take what came.
He gave a soft growl at the mention of his odor, following after Seth as he went into the brush. He knew he stunk, but he didn’t have to say it. Ouch.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:44 pm
"Now, I've been thinking about this," Seth said as he began following one of his many paths, plodding along at his standard casual pace. "I usually do this alone but with a bit of thought, I guess you could consider this idea to be like pack-hunting. Although I don't like the idea of calling it a pack - I'm no dog, just look at me. Just call it teamwork and leave it at that..."
"I only recently started doing this myself, but the idea's still pretty fresh and prominent in my mind." He stopped suddenly once he was far enough down the path, seeming satisfied. He glanced back at Jordan, curious.
"How keen is your smeller? The wild rabbits out here stink, and it's pretty easy to smell them out, see them, hear them and catch them if you're patient enough. The first key to finding them is their stink - rabbits crap a lot and they absolutely reek of it. In fact, you might want to wash the rabbit off in the creek before eating it..."
He motioned ahead with his snout, speaking quite low now, his voice a bit louder than a whisper. "There's two ahead of me right now, about four meters, or twelve feet. Just look at them... stupid little bastards. Totally ignorant of us..." Seth made a soft low chuckle, grinning, teeth bared.
"There's two ways to hunt them - sneak in and pounce, or just follow them until they're tired. If you want to hunt as a team, I'll charge after it and start tiring it out, then you can run in from the side and catch it off guard."
He grunted, lowering his head, adopting a less-human stance. "This sound good to you?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:59 pm
What the hell was he going on about? Why was he dragging him out so far? Couldn’t he just go back to sleep in his log? He gruffed as he trudged onward. Jordan was initially confused by Seth’s speech of doing things alone and being or not being a dog. He was wondering if this was about to turn into something kinky when the conversation took a definite shape. Hunting! Now that was worthwhile!
“Ah con shmell pretty good.” He offered an affirmative nod. He’d spent some time with a rabbit when he’d kept one as a pet. The scent had become rather familiar with him as they seemed to populate many areas of the island. He wrinkled his face after hearing he might to wash it off in a creek. The implication of that was… unappetizing.
His stomach was growling so loudly now once Seth pointed out their location. Two succulent rabbits for the picking. Flesh. Raw. Filling his tummy. He needed it and it was taking every bit of willpower not to rush out trouncing on them willy-nilly. A low whurf escaped his muzzle as he hunkered lower to the ground, eyes focusing on them. Jordan was in and out for what Seth was saying. His facility to hear was being overwhelmed by his hunger, though he’d heard enough as ge licked his salicating muzzle. “Yah.. shoundsh grood..” He inched forward.
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 12:19 am
Seth smirked, amused by Jordan's willingness. He stepped back, moving out of the way.
"What, you're going to try sneaking up on them, huh? Just like that, as you are now?" He shook his head. "They can already hear us talking so there's almost no point now. Plus look at your great galumphing paws - watch where you put them if you don't want to be heard." He shook his head again, folding his arms. "No, you would be wasting your time now. Watch them, their ears are raised up and they can hear us. If you still wanna eat those ones, you would have to chase after 'em and tire them out."
"So yeah, there's rule number one. Watch the target. If it's relaxed, it doesn't know about you. Then you can move in on it and take it off guard. Chasing it is almost as fun though, so away you go." He smirked. "The pouncing thing is useful for stuff that isn't food, too."
He moved off to one of the side paths, grinning. "Chasing it's easy - I bet you could outrun me. Just charge the little b*****d, I'll get it from the side. You can do that part, right?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:51 pm
He would have smirked himself, if it weren’t so damned difficult to express facial emotion with the half-muzzle. Small, moving critters captured his full attention with the promise of chase.
With a nod, he acknowledged what Seth was telling him. Like a young pup being schooled by his elder, Jordan listened with distracted interest. His large paws stepped forward in their uncoordinated fashion. Being stealthy wasn’t a learned skill in tis body, so he’d opt to indulge the canine counterpart. “Ah do nuffeeng and ah stahv. Ah chase dem and maybe ah don’t stahv.” Inwardly, he grinned from that logic. Another paw set down heavily.
It had been unnecessary to ‘release the dog’ as it were. Jordan was going for it, irregardless. Like a clumsy, lumbering beast, he was off! The galloping cano-sapien bounded after his game. Whether or not he could catch up to them, there was nothing better than trial and error field practice. Seth had been correct that it was far too late for stealth. Where he lacked subtly, there was untapped strength and power.
His limp impeded a full charge, but he was able to use the hobble to push himself forward. A bit too precariously for his taste as he built up speed. The rabbits split in two directions. He stayed on the trail of the one that had not diverged off to the side, nipping at the air as if tasting the succulent creature already. A shame he hadn’t seen the upcoming tree, nor had he the manipulation to change direction at the at moment. It ended as a train-wreck with a loud, painful yowl from the dog.
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:14 pm
"That's exactly my logic, mate. Do bugger all and you're as good as dead." Seth nodded in response to Jordan's statement.
Before he could say any more, Jordan ran off, and Seth quickly bounded off after him, side stepping onto a different path so he could catch the rabbit in from the side. He wasn't as fast as the canine, but he kept going along at his own pace, not too bothered.
The thylacine kept on his trail, ears raised and alert, listening specifically to the footfalls on the ground as well as rustling of plants, breaking twigs under feet, being able to very easily tell where both rabbit and Jordan were exactly. He made two low 'yaff-yapp' noises as if to announce his current position to his hunting partner.
The only response he got was a loud sudden smack, and he slowed down, half-walking, half bounding as he headed over to Jordan's location. He glanced down at the canine-man, an amused grin slowly spreading across his face. He bit his tongue in an attempt to stop himself from laughing.
"You really suck at this, do you know that?" He rubbed the side of his head, looking away as if to hide his expression. "It started out good though, you just need some more practise. I'd say to get up and try again, but... maybe you should go lie down. Geez."
"How about looking where you're going next time, huh?" Seth finally said, openly grinning at the other man.
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:46 pm
He was too busy holding his face and yelling to even notice Seth’s amusement of his inept bumbling. He’d smacked directly into the tree at the very last moment to get a snout full of bark. Luckilly, Jordan couldn’t run full on just yet, so the damage wasn’t as rough as it could have been. Just some bruising.
He wiggled himself onto his side and used his middle leg to push himself up as he held tightly to his muzzle with his forepaws. He was now at least sitting upright, but a bit unsteady. He kept pressure on the bruised area to keep the pain from getting too much, rubbing up and down as he grumbled. “Damn thah hurt like hell.” Without making eye contact with Seth, he answered in the direction his voice had come from. “Yeah… well.. thahsh why ah gotta learn.. sho ah can do eet bettah.” The stubborn determination he’d displayed in the past few weeks scared him in all honesty, but it was keeping him on a path as well.
He wriggled his muzzle to get some feeling back into it, setting his forepaws back onto the ground. The rabbits were gone. It was a waste to expend more energy here. “Yeah.. okay..” was Jordan’s sweet and short answer to lying down. He huffed and set forward, swaying from side to side. His equilibrium had been knocked off course as a slight ringing buzzed in his head.
"Et wush hard not to watch et.. like... ah wanted tah chase it down more than ahnything." he smirked proudly. "Bet et'sh shcared like hell at leasht." he laughed.
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:08 pm
"I'm glad you think the chase is fun," Seth chuckled slightly as he watched Jordan wobble slightly, guessing he was still knocked about from his crash. "But unfortunately for you and me, chasing them won't scare them into a state of flopping over and laying down dead - you have to tire them out before that happens. And to do that, you need stamina."
"I guess that's something else you need to work on, running, looking where you're going... and catching stuff with your teeth." Seth snapped at the air as if to emphasise his last statement. "It's hard at first, but... well. This is gonna sound pretty bloody stupid, but this animal DNA they injected me with. It's becoming me. Or rather, I am becoming it."
"Speaking of that..." He leaned against a tree, glancing off into the trees as if surveying his territory. "One day you're gonna have to make peace with what you are. At first I bloody hated it, I still kinda do. How in the hell they did this to us in the first place? I'll never know. But they did it, and it's done, and we gotta deal with it. We're not about to get changed back any time soon, so the best thing to do is just live with it." He shrugged. "So in short, just use what you've got."
"That thing with the wanting to run? That's probably because they're turnin' you into a flamin' giant dog. Just go with it, especially if you think it's not going to hurt you. Bark, chase s**t, whatever the hell your mind wants you to do. At first you're going to think you've gone stark-raving bonkers, and s**t, you probably have after being on this ******** island for so long." He chuckled, shaking his head, grinning in amusement. "But you'll be happier in the long run, believe me there. I fought against walking around and claiming my own bit of land. Now that I've given into it, I couldn't be happier. Calmer also."
He smirked, moving off the tree again. "A calmer mind also helps you to plot better. So you can kick those lab bastards right where it hurts. Sounds good, ey?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:59 pm
He flicked his right ear, then shook his head out roughly. That seemed to help him with his bearing a little. At least he felt like he was walking a bit easier, all things considering. “Well… the chashe thing ish pretty new.. It’sh hard to ignore.. ah’ve tried hard to fight it.. they’ve ******** with my head and mah body..” he offered a soft growl of annoyance. “Ah dunno how much longah ah can do thish.. ah’m at mah wits end with all the bullshit....”
He shook his ungrown leg for effect. “Ah can barely walk. How the hell can ah run, no lesh chashe mah shadow like thish. Ah’m not in control of mah body and mah thoughtsh anymore.. and it pishes me off!” He mimicked Seth’s jaw-snapping. “At firsht ah wush sho ovawhelmed by the painful changesh.. ovah half mah body changed at once..” he shuddered “thah wush…” he had to think how long ago that was.. “Urgh… too long ago!” the date eluded him at the moment.
He stopped when Seth stopped, but for a different reason. His eyes widened at hearing him sound like this. Jordan felt so outraged by that statement “.. ah changed sho much faster than othersh, that and mah changesh controlled meh… aftah being left for dead, ah tried to fight it.. then ah changed again…” his paws dug into the loamy soil hard and angrily. Jordan snorted. “Now look aht meh! Ah’m a goddamn monshter embrashing this life!! How can ah make peace?? Ah’m not in control of mahshelf.. lesh than before.. and ah can feel rational thought, logic being crushed, replaced by a bestial mind.. ah’m out here sho ah won’t hurt anyone elshe like ah have been..”
He had to calm himself.
“Ah dunno ef ah’ll be happier.. ah jusht don’t know.” He shook his head as he watched Seth. “You’ve been here longer than ah have.. buhd ah dunno what tah do anymore. Ah’m becoming a pet dog for Moreau becaushe he can do that.. so yeah.. I’ll probably totally succumb ro the DNA when it’sh over. Jordan will be dead.. god.. ah hope he doeshn’t call me Rover..”
“That’sh jusht it, though. Ah’m not becoming calmer. Jusht the opposhite. I’m unshtable. Unpredictable.” He gave a frightened whimper. “That’sh why ah’m out here.. to control it in an environment ah can’t hurt people..”
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 1:02 am
"I must admit, I am a little afraid of that myself." Seth had to admit. "I haven't seen Newt in ages. You know, the frog bloke? I saw him after he had fully changed, and he didn't remember anything, or at least it seemed that way. He was just... a full blown frog." Seth shrugged. "When I first changed I went a little crazy, but I'm back to being myself again. But I'm still stuck on this ********' island."
"I'm not saying it will bring ultimate happiness, giving into the animal. But it will make you happier than always fighting with yourself. It's gotta be better than always fighting the urge to do stuff. There's no law here, and nobody really cares what you do as long as you don't kill somebody. D'ya know what I mean?"
Seth shook his head at Jordan's comments of being unstable. "Nah, if you've just changed, you'll probably be a bit messed up for a while. There's new stuff to get used to, but..." He shrugged. "Give it time."
He suddenly turned his attention away, hearing scuttling in the bushes.
"Give me a few moments..." He said, his voice low and calm. "I'll show you how you're supposed to do this..."
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 1:20 am
“Ah know Newt.” He turned his head off to the side with just that statement. He knew Newt only as far as he’d been used for his own selfish whims, as a means of getting in good with the labs. Heh.. how pathetic that’d been. He wasn’t any closer to redemption than he had been so long ago. Newt was crazy and would likely want to carve a piece of Jordan’s hide… if he remembered what he’d done.
“Ah’ve been fighting myself a lot lately. Ah dun want to jusht give in.. not because ah don’t want to, but because the dog actually won’t let me.. if that makes any sense. It’s like it wantsh tah shee me struggle with thish and once I’m too exhaushted tah fight anymore, et will consume me whole.” He gave a shudder at the state of his mind, playing games with himself to conquer the very mind that two warring entities were forced to share in one body.
“One more change, Seth.. and ah’m done.” He gave a soulful look. “Ah’m not sure what’ll happen between now and then.. buhd ah’m going to fight to the bitter end. Et wush fun running and working out… when ah thought it wush mah will.. buhd it’s all been the damn dogsh.. ah jusht hope thish training helpsh.. Thank you for taking me in, Sheth, becaushe ah can’t go back till ah’m the one in control.. human Jordan..” He knew that may be more impossible than it sounded as he’d been spoiled up to this point.
His ears perked at the sounds nearby and Seth was moving before he could nod an affirmative. He tried to make himself inconspicuous and lower to the ground as his pupils dilated in anticipation of a chase. His hindquarters wiggled as he was ready to spring, but he had to remind himself this was not his chase.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 1:40 am
"I have one change left, myself." Seth said quietly. "But I'm pretty sure I'm always going to be in control. Come what may."
With that, he bounded off with a speed that was anything but impressive. He half ran, half hopped along as he chased the rabbit out of the bushes. The thylacine man crouched his head low, and after a few moments, he was partially using his front paws to help himself run along, picking up in speed. He continued in his persuit, determined to catch this small rodent.
The rabbit turned in an arc as it hopped away in fear. Seth smirked at this behaviour, and instinct told him where to go. The man was temporarily forgotten as the animal within took charge, cutting across the rabbit's arc, and he moved his head down in one swift movement once close enough, powerful jaws crunching through neck and backbone.
It was over.
Seth got to his feet afterwards and chuckled, taking the rabbit out his jaws. It was still alive, and twitching. The thylacine man casually made his way back to Jordan, biting the head off the rabbit, spitting it onto the ground nearby.
"I believe you wanted this?" He said, offering the twitching headless corpse to the white canine. "Don't eat the head though, I kinda want to do something with it later."
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