Welcome to Gaia! ::

Nita shook her head, wondering how Sophie's first change had been. Had it been something gradual, or had she changed all at once, having no idea what to expect? Not that anyone really knew what to expect, even if, like Nita, they asked ahead of time what animal they were about to become.

"The changes are prompted by injections, five in all. We get injected when we arrive, told it's a vaccine for tropical disease or whatever. It's supposed to start preparing our bodies for the later stuff," she explained. "I changed for the first time about a month after I arrived, and then it was another two or three months before the next one. I think it depends on the person, though."

Nita paused for a moment, fiddling with her necklace. "Sometimes... Sometimes the changes don't take. Lauren... She only changed for the third time just before Christmas, but she's been here for over a year. Almost a year and a half now, I guess. She got real sick and was in a coma for a while." She bit her lip, her eyes dark. "No one told me what had happened to her."

Nita's face crumpled and she took several deep breaths to calm herself. "Yes," she said softly, remembering the graveyard at Halloween, and Annie... She gulped convulsively.

"But Lauren's okay now. She finally got out, and then a few weeks later she finally changed. She's been perfectly healthy since then." Nita stared down at her bare feet on the damp sand, wondering if she needed to warn Sophie about Annie or if the new girl had already heard.

((tbc again XD))

"Yeah," Nita agreed. "Just... be careful." She smiled slightly, not wanting to make Sophie worry too much.

She shaded her eyes and gazed down the beach to see a moving speck that was probably Comet. "Oy!" Nita yelled. "Comet, get back here!" She pursed her lips and proceeded to fail miserably at whistling. Grinning at Sophie, she laughed, "I never could whistle!"

Comet galloped at full tilt towards Nita and Sophie, tongue lolling to the side, and kicking up sand with her paws. "Good girl," Nita told her, fluffing up the fur behind her ears and deftly clipping the leash onto her collar. The red panda girl had learned to do that quickly in the last few weeks. Comet wasn't one to run away, but she was certainly enthusiastic about her walks.

"You, too," Nita said with a brief wave. She really should talk to Gaius soon, she decided, continuing on down the beach with Comet at her side.

[fin]

Jordan was riding the high of staying out of trouble, finding romance, and as well his niche. The dog man was coming into his new role and learning to enjoy being shifty for the sake of the labs. Life was good. Yes sir.

He was on the beach as it was the closest location to his duplex without having to trek through the jungle. He preferred to remain on the beach anyhow. It was 'his' turf as he was usually the only person out this far. The cool breezes were so refreshing and soothing for the mind.

It made coping with the humidity a bit easier. The long fluffy double-coating of fur on his arms and legs were like wearing wool pajamas at all times. Walking through the dense, moist jungle was a pain, so in spite of laziness, it was easier to relax in the sand, knees held close to his chest, just losing himself in the peaceful atmosphere.

Jordan too enjoyed the scents carried on the breeze, though his enhanced senses were hardly comparable to a wolf's. His nose twitched inccessantly and it didn't bother him at all. He'd been making a game out of 'What's that smell' for some time now and it amused him. Having enhanced senses was a gift no human could imagine to possess and for that, he pitied their dull hearing and lackluster sense of smell. For the past three weeks Jordan had been experiencing the world in a way he'd never been able to in twenty-five years of life.

His slightly-pointed ears would twitch to every stimulus that presented itself. The waves were -of course- the primary sound. He loved that sound. He'd loved it back home, but the beauty of this beach amplified the experience ten-fold.

Jordan squinted as he thought he'd heard something, but it was drown out by the rolling waves. His ears twitched more as he heard it again, trying to figure out what it was. He lifted a paw to the bridge of his nose, rubbing between his eyes. Closing his eyes seemed to help him focus as the other sound was approaching- fast. He just happened to look up blurry-eyed, drawing his paw away from his face, when he saw the outline of a rapidly-approaching form.

No one he knew.

He squinted his eyes again and that's when he saw... oh god.. no...

Jordan's first response was to panic. His heartbeat raced two, almost three times faster in an instant. It was too late to move out of the way as the large wolf was barrelling upon him. The dread in his eyes was evident without the sunshades no longer in his possession. His mouth opened in horror, ready to cry out a horrible gasp.

This was it. The killer wolf had found him at last as he trembled in fear.

The collision hurt like being side-swiped by a mac truck and he was sent flying in the sand, but not far enough as he let out an exapserated 'OOF' as the wind was knocked out of him. He was pinned under the large wolf's bulk, stunned by the force of impact.

Jordan was hesitant to touch the wolf, even to use him as leverage to unearth himself from his body. Anything to set this feral off and that thought frightened him further. Jordan squirmed, trying to worm himself away, but it was no-go. He was trapped until the killer so desired to release him from his clutches.

He breathed uneasilly, gasping sharply with each breath. This was it. He was going to die. He wasn't going to get the chance to see Kim again. His time was short as his equally short life flashed. His lips quivered and he couldn't control his fear anymore. He gripped the sand, as much as one can, and closed his eyes, preparing for the final moment of life before becoming dog kibble.

"Please don't kill me!!" the words escaped his fanged mouth. Great, his final words to be remembered by would be a cowardly display, shouting 'Please don't kill me.'