Her breathing had slowed as they talked to her and Misha felt some control returning. Gratitude ran through her. She half-lidded her eyes. Then Beth's hand touched the back of her head and a jolt of adrenaline spiked through her system all over again. With a strangled sort of noise, Misha squirmed out of Brian's grip. She landed hard on the ground. Thrown off-balance by that and panting again from the animal instincts fighting her sensible brain, she lashed out with a paw again. This time she caught Beth.
The moment claw touched skin, though, Misha froze and whimpered. She quickly drew her paw back and tried to slink away, head down. She was a horrible, horrible, horrible friend. I'm sorry, Beth!
yekaterin
grasshopper pie
Misha's HP: 42 - 7 = 35 Misha's Damage: 4 WC: 697
bobaTJ rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 5:41 pm
Brian moved his face away again, and again it wasn't entirely necessary. Misha the Cat struck Beth and he frowned. this was difficult. From the way the cat whimpered, though, he could only imagine that Misha was struggling as well. Was it animal instincts? Magic? He wouldn't be able to know unless she changed back.
No, no. When she changed back.
He held up his hands in surrender.
"Okay, okay. It's okay. We get it, you get it, it's okay." If only she could talk. If only she was a raccoon with demi-thumbs! He surveyed the land around them and saw nothing useful.
HP: 37/47 (-0) Damage done: 3
bobaTJ
Offline
Yekaterin rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Yekaterin
Offline
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 5:54 pm
Apparently Misha didn't like the touch, as it sent her sprawling and spitting to the ground. This time, her claw scored marks into both Beth's stockings and her skin. She yelped and jumped back, careful not to step on her transformed friend. She could have cried. They were so close! And she had ruined it.
To Brian, she said, clearly frustrated with herself, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to freak her out! Maybe we should...let her come to us?"
Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground, wincing at the thought of more mud on her outfit. But surely friendship was worth the mess? She settled herself in a sitting position, smoothing out her skirt and petticoats to make her lap an inviting place to sit. With an effort, she smiled at Misha, cooing softly to her. She curled her hand into a fist, and placed it visibly on her thigh, trying to communicate that she was not about to grab the cat if she were adventurous enough to investigate.
"Maybe you should keep standing, though, in case she bolts," she suggested, turning her face towards Brian and away from Misha, in case being stared at spooked her.
Weapon: Whip (agile ranged) HP: 42 Dmg: 8
Character Name:Beth Almasy Brief description of character: A sweet but skittish beauty who's lived in the lap of luxury her whole life, Beth doesn't quite know what she's doing. She's always willing to support and cheer on her friends, mostly so she doesn't actually have to lift a finger.
Deity: Hera WC: 197, Total: 783
shortgreen
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 6:21 pm
Beth's gambit seemed to work.
Misha sniffed the air and approached within a couple of feet of the seated woman. She lowered her head and bent her front legs in a sort of bow. It seemed cowed, apologetic even. Then the feline head turned toward Brian and she straightened. Padding towards him with slow, careful steps, Misha fought back every urge to bolt. This was Brian. Brian was wonderful. Beth was wonderful. Simple concepts for a simple brain, right?
Two feet. One foot. Finally, Misha sat at Brian's feet and looked up at him with the most heart-rendingly human look of pleading on that kitty-face. She started to lay down next, forcing herself.
A branch snapped in the distance and a call sounded across the quiet. With a screech, Misha startled back to her feet and bolted back to her starting position. Unfortunately, in her fear, she had tagged Brian. Seeing this as she turned, she dropped her head again in defeat.
It seemed as if it was working, and Misha startled. She caused a pretty decent tear in his shoe, but it wasn't his flesh. Hell, even if it had been his flesh he was pretty sure he couldn't hold it against her. Poor Misha was so dejected, how could he be angry?
"No, no, it's fine," he said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender again. "It's okay. It didn't hurt. You're fine." He began to crouch, ever so slowly, to Misha the Cat's height.
HP: 33/47 (-0) Damage done: 6
bobaTJ
Offline
Yekaterin rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
Yekaterin
Offline
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 6:55 pm
Beth turned to look at Misha and nodded slowly, as if it would encourage her to come closer. Her efforts to make herself smaller and less threatening seemed to work. But all of it was wasted in an instant as the woods sounded with another animal's cry. Beth hoped the other Chosen were all right. She hoped they were having better luck than Brian and she were. She hoped they had figured out a way to bring back the other Chosen home without hurting them.
Getting scared and getting frustrated wasn't going to help them. So she took a deep breath, counted to ten, and tried again. "Misha, we just want to bring you back to safety. I know it hurts, I know you're confused. But you need to come back with us, honey." She'd keep calling her pet names if it calmed her and helped them gain the trust of her animal form.
Weapon: Whip (agile ranged) HP: 42 Dmg: 4
Character Name:Beth Almasy Brief description of character: A sweet but skittish beauty who's lived in the lap of luxury her whole life, Beth doesn't quite know what she's doing. She's always willing to support and cheer on her friends, mostly so she doesn't actually have to lift a finger.
Deity: Hera WC: 153, Total: 936
shortgreen
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 7:29 pm
The sweetness worked and Misha approached once again. This time, though, the movements were slow and weighted as if she were beyond exhausted and walking through wet sand. Even in such a state, it was hard to discount the grace of her walk, the slinky slither of her new long-legged form.
Misha reached Beth's side and, ever so gingerly, lowered her head to rest on one of the woman's knees. She stayed there for long moments. Then she shuddered, butted her head rather viciously against Beth's thigh, and scampered away. The fear kept winning but she was making headway.
Misha just prayed that her friends cared enough to keep working with her and being patient.
Brian almost sat when Misha leaped up again. He wasn't sure if it was himself or Beth or the forest or some sort of magical cat sense that had done it, but it caused him to freeze mid-sit. His legs protested. When Misha was gone yet again, he sank to the ground and offered out his hands. See? She didn't even have to touch him.
"It's going to be okay. We're going to fix this." Somehow. he still wouldn't let himself worry about semantics.
HP: 33/47 (-0) Damage done: 3
Yekaterin
ShortGreen
Yekaterin rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 8:07 pm
Beth froze as Misha lay down next to her. She winced as she felt the bruise forming, somehow, under all of the fabric of her stockings, skirt, and petticoats. Cat skulls were remarkably hard, especially when they knocked against one's knee. She held her breath, ready to leap up and pursue if Misha ran out of their worsening eyesight. She knew the chances of finding her again in the dark were very slim, but she had to have hope. "Misha. That was very good. Very brave of you. But I promise, we're not going to hurt you. Did you want to lay your head down again?" She gently patted her knee again, trying not to let the pain of the movement show as she accidentally brushed the area Misha had hit with her own fingers.
Weapon: Whip (agile ranged) HP: 38/47 Dmg: 2
Character Name:Beth Almasy Brief description of character: A sweet but skittish beauty who's lived in the lap of luxury her whole life, Beth doesn't quite know what she's doing. She's always willing to support and cheer on her friends, mostly so she doesn't actually have to lift a finger.
It looked like it was Brian's turn to test the waters of Misha's trust this time as she granted Beth a strangely eloquent shake of her head before padding delicately towards her other friend. She clearly did not want to risk injuring Beth again if something scared her. Misha hesitated a foot from Brian. She wanted to go to him. She wanted to curl up in his lap and have him tell her that they were going to fix everything. She wanted Beth to make noises over the state of her hair and laugh about how Beth now had the leg up if Chris Evans ever did end up Chosen.
Misha heaved a sigh. Her tongue flicked out to lick her muzzle. Then she crept the final foot. She looked up at him with golden eyes for a moment before ducking her head and carefully nuzzling at his hand.
A horrible screech sounded at just that moment and Misha reacted with her own scream. Unfortunately, doing so bared her fangs far too close to Brian's leg and she tore at his jeans reflexively. She froze in the act and drew back, head dropping.
yekaterin
grasshopper pie
Misha's HP: 9 Misha's Damage: 8
bobaTJ rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 8:56 pm
Alright. Alright, he was done with this. He was absolutely done.
Things were going to keep scaring her. Being gentle was not working. She was terrified. Sometimes, you needed to do Something Drastic when people were terrified. With his brow slightly furrowed, Brian reached forward and grabbed Misha again, this time by the arm and the scruff simultaneously. Wasn't that supposed to release endorphins in cats? Wasn't that supposed to work?
"We're going to get you back to camp," Brian said, "You're bleeding. I'm sorry." He pulled her to his chest and held her there, knowing he was probably going to feel claws.
HP: 25/47 (-eight) Damage done: 3
bobaTJ
Offline
Yekaterin rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-6)
Yekaterin
Offline
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 9:00 pm
It was a combination of frustration and surprise that made Beth actually frown and hiss, "Brian! Don't do--" Before she caught herself, took a deep breath, and released it in a sigh. She peered down at Misha, her cheek brushing Brian's upper arm. "Feeling comfy? It's a good place to be. Nice and muscular. Not Chris Evans, but I'm sure Brian wouldn't mind being our Captain America." She hoped the inside joke would register. She patted Brian's back to reassure him that she wouldn't trade him for an army of Steve Rogers clones. She wasn't too sure about Misha's position on that, but all Misha needed to do at this point was trust them enough to bring her back to the inn.
Was that it? Was that all she needed: some gentle coaxing and firm hands? Would she relent to their wishes? She tried to smile at the cat, but kept her hands to herself this time. She didn't want to run the risk of freaking Misha out again.
Weapon: Whip (agile ranged) HP: 38/47 Dmg: 4
Character Name:Beth Almasy Brief description of character: A sweet but skittish beauty who's lived in the lap of luxury her whole life, Beth doesn't quite know what she's doing. She's always willing to support and cheer on her friends, mostly so she doesn't actually have to lift a finger.
Deity: Hera WC: 170, Total: 1,241
shortgreen
grasshopper pie
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 9:07 pm
A little tremor ran through Misha but, in the end, she went completely limp in Brian's hold. At Beth's words, she lifted her head and huffed what sounded like a very-human sigh. Cats could smile. Almost. So she did that for Beth's peace of mind as well as in acknowledgement of the Chris Evans in-joke.
At the moment, though, she agreed with Beth. Brian was better than Captain America. Misha settled her chin on his shoulder in exhaustion. Then she closed her eyes. She had so much apologizing to do once she got her vocal chords back.
It was over. Dear gods, it was finally over. Brian sighed and stood, hefting Misha the Cat as he went. Maybe he should do Something Drastic more often.
One arm looped under Misha's bottom to support her and the other snaked up to support her back. She had to be tired after all of this. He offered Beth a small smile and nodded toward camp. "Come on. We can walk back as slow as we want."
He began to walk then and leaned down to kiss Misha's head.
"I imagine this is very awkward for you, and I'm sorry, but I'm glad you're okay." Now they had to make sure everyone else was okay too.
