Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Injected you!?" Avery nearly yelped in surprise, his eyes wide. "This morning? How - how long does it take for you to... you know..." he gestured with his hand, "change?"

He almost wanted to get up and run right then; he wasn't sure this was something he wanted to see. But he stayed put, no matter how scared he was - running off wouldn't change things. Besides, this way he could see what he was probably going to become, too. Maybe... maybe there was still a chance, despite Pyroth's currently awkward joints?

Pyroth nodded to Avery. "I don't know. That's the worst part, sometimes it's been almost right away, other times it takes longer." he didn't mention that you could normally tell when it was about to go off simply by the tension that built up in all your muscles, as though all the heat and stored energy in your body was ready to just go in one fell swoop. If he mentioned that, he'd have to mention that he could already feel that horrible sensation in his fingers.

He was more greatful than he could possibly word in his current state that people didn't just vanish at the news. He felt horrible asking anyone to witness something he didn't even know the consequences of but despite his pride, dignity and all those things he had once held dear, he couldn't bear to be alone right now.

A nod and a grateful, though somewhat anxious smile was all he could offer. "Only if you don't mind, I don't want to be the source of anyone's nightmares." his gaze shifted to Avery. "I would never force you to stay either, it's much too close to home. "

He looked down at the bowl again, untouched since he poured it.

"It won't be too long anyway." now he knew he hadn't been imagining it, the twitchiness and slow tingling were spreading gradually across his limbs and chest, making it hard to breathe comfortably.

"I'll stay," she confirmed, knowing full well what it was like to feel utterly alone and to want some sort of tangible comfort. These changes made her personally feel vulnerable, and she imagined it was the same for many of the other islanders.

Antony stayed surprisingly silent during the exchange between the two men, and absently, she put her hand atop his more paw-like appendage, tensing at the heat she felt there. "Just ...Ah don't try and eat me please?" She said with a nervous chuckle, "I've had enough of being on the menu for now. And thanks, Avery."

Bottle of aspirin clutched in his hands, Avery quickly made his way back to the cafeteria. He paused at the doors, taking a few long, deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. After a few minutes, he pushed the door open, walking back into the cafeteria. He made his way back over to the table.

"Hey, I got it, here..." he trailed off when he noticed something was off, seeing Pyroth was tensed up. He stopped in his tracks a few steps away from the table, afraid to get any closer.

Whatever it was that had been getting itself gathered together, making his fur almost bristle with the tension finally seemed to reach breaking point. It could go no further. With a sudden wave of nausea, he brought his paws up to his face, pressing them to the sides of his head, trying to drive away the buzzing, and the pressure.

And then it began.

The room spun like a drug trip, its colours and scents seeming to twirl together and become one. It was as though he was slipping into a dream, dozing off while still awake, it was surreal, and a slow motion sequence of events. He was about to speak, his sluggish thoughts pondering the table, now gone. Only the red rain gently falling took his attention.

Red rain?

”My hair?” He yelped, his eyes going wide. He scrambled to his feet, his chair falling to one side, only to feel like a train hit him as he did so. He doubled over, the pain everywhere, tracing it’s tendrils of agony up and down his spine, crunching his bones under its irresistible force. Where he’d been convinced there was nothing more that could change these alterations proved him otherwise, his ribs contorting into a whole new shape, leaving him unable to breathe for a few horrible seconds. It was as though heavy hands pressed onto his head and ran along his back, changing as they moved, painful and harsh. A series of painful clicks seemed to stiffen his spine, turning his vision red with their intensity. His other transformations he’d been scared he might die and hoped that death would release him from the pain. Now it felt inevitable, his body pushed to breaking point by these alterations, every muscle, tendon and bone screaming its protests into his brain.

He staggered backwards, his balance faltering, his tail sweeping out to steady him and elongating in the process. It would be a grisly scene to watch, what had once been vaguely human features losing all hint of their primate origins. It was the paws that hurt the most, their shifting and stiffening bones like toothache for the limbs. He couldn’t handle any more pain and his vision shunted in and out of blackness, blackout imminent.

Opening his eyes as the last wave of changes hit him everything slowed to a standstill, gone were the others, the room. All that stretched before him was the almost-wasteland he’d once called home. He was delirious, unreachable. And there stood the coyote from his dream, watching him. Where once he hadn’t understood, he now saw, hearing the words his grandmother had told him, a little silly ditty but one that stuck in a child’s mind.

“Trickster, Shape-Changer, keep me from danger.
Cunning magician, teach me your ways
Of magical fire, powers much higher.
Lead me to new life. Brighten my days.”

Fire. That had been his tattoo. Irony.

Then.

He was falling, falling to the floor, no longer able to stand on legs newly changed, the ground coming up to hit him like a scolding mother.

The coyote was wisdom, wisdom and folly both. They always went hand in hand. Paw in hand?

Paw in paw?

It made no sense any longer.

Science was wisdom, this island was folly. Folly for wisdoms sake, madness in science, suffering in joy.

If you don’t laugh you’ll cry

And then it was clear. He was once again on the floor in the cafeteria, the coyote was gone. Or so it seemed. Hauling himself to his paws he tried to stand upright but could not. Too top heavy. His breath hitched in his throat and he whimpered, the reality sinking in, the aching newness of the change making him shaky on his paws.

“No..no. NO.” was all he could say, his voice a snarl. “Moreau. That. b*****d.” He needed to see, needed to know how bad it was. “What do I look like?” his voice faltered. He was too scared to look himself.

She drew a hand up to cover her mouth, which was gaping after a very sharp gasp had left it. When his hair fell it was like watching a chemo patient in fast forward, only without many key factors.

As she watched the changes, her stomach did flip-flops and positively swayed. Her ears tried without much result to pin back, to try and block out the grotesque noises of the bones crunching and reforming, and simply the sight of him losing anything that had formerly resembled human. She felt horrible, and was terrified for herself. A giant squirrel wasn't exactly the most pleasant mental image, and at least there wasn't too much of a size difference with Pyroth.

She'd be like... The King Kong of Squirrels. She and Chert could gnaw down trees together. How quaint.

His voice snapped her from her subconscious day dreaming. She just hadn't been able to watch anymore. Swallowing, she shifted to her knees and crawled over to him, carefully setting her palm on his forehead before softly dragging it towards the back of his neck in a pet.

"Honestly? Like a big coyote... But hey, now you can just lift you leg and piss on Moreau literally if you ever had the chance." Antony chuckled in a strained way and braced herself for a rage she wasn't sure was going to even appear, glancing over at Avery to silently plead with him not to freak out. Pyroth didn't need any more s**t that night. "Think you could take some aspirin yourself? Or do you need... assistance?" She couldn't bring herself to say 'help' for some reason.

Avery was have a lot harder time staying calm, trying not to panic. He reached out with a trembling hand, picking up the bottle of aspirin. He scooted closer to the pair, and tentively reached a hand out to touch Pyroth's fur as if trying to convince himself what he had just seen was real. He jerked his hand back as if stung, and he fought back a sudden wave of nausea.

How could they both be so calm? He couldn't understand it. This transformation could represent what was going to happen to them all. He opened the bottle since he knew Pyroth couldn't do it himself anymore, and stood up, retrieving the bowl of water that had been on the table and placing it down on the floor in front of the other man.

Like a dog.

Oh, god.

"How... how many do you want?" Avery asked, looking at the bottle in his hands since he couldn't bring himself to keep looking at Pyroth.