Welcome to Gaia! ::

The most.. strange feeling come upon you during your slumber in your new, aquatic duplex. The water seems to be so... welcoming.. so comfortable. Unlike many of the islanders your changes have never been quite so grueling. And this is no exception.

If anything, your change seems to be a culmination of the new acceptance and wonder you have found in your new watery territory. Your 'wings' expand and grow - giving you a greater ability to glide through and maneuver the lakeways. Likewise your feet-fins grow a bit, hardening the webbing between the toes so that they are no longer the thin, flimsy skin-webbing. Your tail extends longer, and your face begins to flatten as the 'horns' roots extend deeper and closer to your mouth, finally disjointing separately so that their base is much closer to your mouth than before.

Your body widens ever so marginally,.. and then the changes cease.

By the end of it, you are completely at home in the freshwaters - able to glide quickly and gracefully through the river channels. You are more awkward on land with your bigger, stiffer feet, but still maneuverable. And your skin does dry out a bit quicker. And it feels so much more natural letting the water pass over your gills, pulling your air from the whole of the warm, embrace of the liquid around you than pulling thin air into your lungs. You CAN breathe air, but after a few hours it becomes... tiring. It seems that you have to think about it more than before - where breathing was a much more instinctual body process - like using your gills is now.

In normal circumstances the Komodo in Joli often found refuge on the beach, soaking up tha hot sun and trying to stay away from people, she still was afraid of people's reactions to her, though the few she had seen had been ok so far, even helpful at times. Now however she wanted away from the normal scene... away from where she thought people would find her too easily, she was dwelling on the fact that her next birthday would be spent as a beast... And that in itself wasn't very far off less then 2 weeks even...

Silently she slipped out of hte folliage near hte lake and trudged across the shore slipping slowly into the shallows of the lake, she could feel the water envelope her scales as she moved. She paid little attention to her surroundings as she moved.

Awen slipped from the glass door on the bottom of her duplex and pushed out into the lake. She had such a warm and fuzzy feeling after her pleasant dream. A true sense of belonging and unity coursed through the current and into her.

As she slowly made her way to the surface Awen felt some odd vibrations in the water. She frowned and glanced to the shallows nearby and realised that there was a rather large lizard floating around up there. This was an unusual sight any of the island's natural water dwellers have been steering clear of the lake, what was this one doing so far in?

She swam a little closer to investigate, having confidence that she could outswim anything. But there was something off about this creature. Was that strings of hair hanging from it's head. It couldn't have been... could it be an islander?

Rifling through her mind of all the creatures she knew the islanders turning into she could find only one solution. The girl she'd spent locked out and trying to survive with, the one who had all the trouble with Sabin... the one who had thrown a mattress off a balcony and onto Awen.

She pushed her way quickly to the surface. "Joli!"

He was undeniably lost. Jordan had no clue where he was after today's nature hike had put him further out than he'd ventured previously. His mind was preoccupied, so he hadn't payed attention to where he had gone. Jordan tried avoiding the village today. But, he had to get outside after spending an entire day in the seclusion of his duplex.

He'd followed one of the trails till it had led him to the lake. This was new. Jordan looked around as he continued towards the water. It was then he'd seen Awen and.... what looked like an alligator! He broke into a run towards the water and his shoes splashed and with a shout, tried to warn the manta of danger.

"Awen! Look out! There's an alligator!"

A voice, a familiar one at that, what would she think, how would she react.. Joli had not seen her friend in so long, long enough that the last time she was no where near as far as she was now, and before she had had such serious control problems. She took a step back as she lifted her head a bit her yellow tongue flickering of it's own decision. She was about to reply when the sudden shout of an alligator near Awen rang through the air making her back up even further when her eyes lit upon a completely unchanged stranger rushing towards them.

Joliette hadn't said a word but it had to be her. A frown creased deeply on her lips as she heard Jordan's shout and saw Joli's reaction. Moving closer slightly to put herself sideways halfway from Jordan and Joli, but not quite between them Awen shook her head.

"Jordan calm down! This is Joliette, a good friend of mine. She's not an alligator."

Awen wasn't so sure why all this tension was needed. She didn't want to come out of the water anymore than what was nessesary. She liked seeing her old friend again and she wanted to calm the new boy down, but what she wanted o do most of all was drift back near the bottom of the lake or take a run through the rivers.

Jordan paused in his tracks as he cught his breath. Oh no.. this was one of the subjects, then?! Great. He'd just made a complete fool of himself and made a very bad first impression with Awen's friend with what he thought could have turned into an ugly situation. Thanks to his impetuous conclusion, it still may..

"Oh... OH... I'm so sorry!" he apologized immediately, So... this was also what the labs were capable of? She didn't look like much of a hybrid at all, more like a complete animal! Jordan's mouth opened, but nothing came out. He took a step back as he glanced between Awen and Joliette.

"I'm sorry.. I didn't know.. I'm so very sorry..." though, Jordan wasn't sure if any matter of apology would counter-act such a ill first impression of himself.

"No... no alligator... just a bloomin monster Komodo created by a gormeless arse and his git cronies" Joli muttered to herself in her thick british accent. She looked away and towards the center of hte lake, alligator... what would be next... crocodile? Well she supposed it could be worse... far worse

Awen sighed softly and settled back into the water until she was once more covered up to her collar bone. It just felt so much better that way, though she couldn't place why. She loved being in the water but this newfound attachment was a bit much. It was jsut a dream surely it didn't affect her this badly?

"Mistakes happen Jordan, you're just not used to the island yet." She made to turn to Joli again but paused. "Uh, just be careful, there are some actually nasty things along the rivers."

"Jordan just arrived a little while ago..." Awen explained. "I just met him the other day and he didn't know what was what yet. I guess I forgot to tell him some of us don't turn out well.... You're the first since Pyroth I'e seen.... How are you holding up?"

There was more he needed to learn about the island if he was going to survive. That could have turned ugly... if not violent, had Awen not been there.. A komodo.. Thank goodness that Awen was on good terms with Joliette. He was doubtful that she'd be on good terms with him and he feared that Awen would be displeased with his bungling display.

So, this was one of the unfriendly-to-the-labs people? And that would make him one of Dr. Moreau's cronies. He had to be cautious not to act so stupidly in the future. This place could become quite dangerous for a an inexperienced novice like himself.

He could only nod in response to Awen's warning of dangers in the water. At te moment, he felt that the only danger in the water was standing in his sneaker.

"Joliette, I didn't mean to offend you. I... I've only come to realize myself.. I mean.. it's only a matter of time before it happens to me too.. Right? That's what two people have told me already." he looked to Awen.

She would have sighed if she could have... "You didn't offend me... just one of those things I'm not used to yet... like not being able to walk normally anymore" she pauses and looks towards him, her dark eyes studying him and her tongue flickering taking in his scent. After a moment she looked towards Awen "Could be better... but... at least I'm in control of hte monster... unlike before this final change" she nods her large head at hte end of her words

Awen was glad to hear Jordan came to his senses, she wondered vaguely abut who he met other than herself. Brushing the thought aside she turned back to Joliette. "I'm sorry this happened to you hun... I haven't seen you in ages. Not since... what, your first change? It hasn't been since the blackout, has it? I mean...no no I guess I sa you after when Billy was new and a couple times after... but yeah you and Chubbs I haven't seen in ages..."

Shaking her head slowly Awen let out a soft sigh. "But, at least it's over? No more waiting, fearing and whatnot. And hey you still have hair, I mean, Amaya would probably be jealous!" She really was trying to look on the bright side of things--easy enough to do when you aren't in the situation of course. Plus Awen's renewed acceptance and enjoyment of the island and what it had to offer helped.

Jordan listened to the two friends' reunion quietly. More names of people he didn't know. He couldn't help but wonder on how long they had been on the island. Awen he knew had been around a year and a half.

He tried not to stare, but he couldn't help but look. This was another variant path of the transformation process. It made him a bit uneasy about his own fate. This process of forced evolution was frightening enough, but to know that it would happen to you.. Jordan took a deep breath and nervously adjusted his shades. "Joliette..." he said quickly and quite nervously. "How... uhm... how do you cope with the changes?" he spat out. "I'm.. I'm a bit afraid of it myself.."

"Awen... you're rambling" Joliette said with a slight grin after her friend had finally stopped talking. She missed her friend, and was glad to see it had all been not so hard on Awen, or at least by the looks of it.

And then she heard the question and her grin slipped "Handle the changes..." she pauses "uhm well, I didn't handle most of them all that well, I fought them... and eventually lost control of hte beast... only reason I'm in control now... is cause David convinced me to get help from feral... the kind of help he got, to be ablt to control the beast... and well.. here we are"

"Am not!" Awen was able to get out with a friendly pout before Jordan launched into a whole different side of things. She sighed but let herself stay in the brackground until Joliette was done her say.

"My advice is try not to fight it." She put in her two cents. "The more you fight it the more of a power struggle you get with your beast. Don't let it control you, but cooperate with it a bit." She gave a small shrug.

The girl couldn't really tell much of the more aggressive animals, but it had pretty much worked for her. And everyone she knew that snapped had been fighting it tooth and nail. Acceptance was just the easier way of going about it, as far as Awen was concerned.

Two different ways to say the same thing. He nodded and fell quiet again. Jordan felt bad for ruining the moment with his inquery. He just.. it was an adjustment to it all and he wanted to feel prepared for when his time arrived.

How was he expected to accept te animal? Was it just that simple to 'bond' with the creature he would become? It seemed easier said than done, but maybe it wouldn't be as rough if he knew how to handle the change. Would he lose control of himself? Of his humanty? He shook his head, dismissing such thoughts for now.

His head hurt, rubbing between his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. It was the only way to deal with the headaches Jordan had been experiencing following his first night on the island. At first, he ignored it as best he could but as days passed, it was difficult to simply dismiss them.

"Sounds complicated.."

"it Kinda is... but not at the same time, question is are you willing to accept the fate, or not, thats whats really going to be the determining factor whether or not you can not fight this, I wasn't ready to accept being changed from a vegan to a carnivore, or even accept anything hte git wanted. I've been here over a year, soon I'll have spent two birthdays here... and I'd rahter be at home" she nods

Awen honestly could no longer say that she would rather be home but she nodded to Joliette'swords anyway. As she opened her mouth to speak again her words caught in her throat.

Something inside the girl stirred. An all too familiar feeling was starting to bubble it's way to the surface. The girl grimaced from discomfort as the pain wasn't truly there.

The dark patches on the woman's skin visibly dropped a few shades as the white parts had gone in the opposite direction on the shade spectrum. Her arms started to itch and tingle as what had always been seen as horns started to push once more against her skull.

Her changes had never been entirely painful, at least not as bad as any other islanders, however she had always changed alone. She glanced from Joliette to Jordan with a worried look on her face. Her stomach lurched slightly as she started to feel a bit dizzy.

"Ihavetogo!" She said the words all melding together into one long one. Without even waiting for a reply she turned herself around and with a great push was under the surface in a blink.

Richard really hadn't planned on walking this far from the village. The orginal idea had been to head towards his fishing spot for little bit of quiet time for himself, away from his duplex and the project he was considering giving up on. However, upon reaching the spot he had found himself not tired at all. He wasn't even winded, so he had continued on, following the river. There was no purpose for his trek, he figured the river had to end somewhere.

He found himself enjoying the exercise.

Awen sped down the river at speeds she hadn't thought possible. She had been able to go fast before, no doubt, but this was insane even by her new standards. Not having bothered to try walking on land yet with her monsterous feet she was perfectly content to glide through the rivers. Luckily enough the pain of the transformation ceased soon after the transformations stopped, perhaps it was simply blocked out by the rush of water around her or it could be her general acceptance of the island that made her body fight the serum less and less. Whatever it was Awen didn't think too hard on it- she had it much better than most islanders in the pain factor of transformations.

Now though she had been swimming for quite awhile at her breakneck speeds and her muscles needed a rest. She spread her arms wide to slow her forward movement as she made her way to the surface. Drifting along the water's top lazily with the current she was eventually brought to where Richard was walknig along the bank. She grinned a bit. "Fancy meeting you like this." She called with a chuckle. It must seem to Richard like Awen rarely left the water at all, and when Awen thought about it... the statement was mostly true anyway.

Unsurprisingly, Jamal was also in the jungle, lounging peacefully on a wide branch of a particularly favored tree that just overlooked the river and a slightly beaten path along it. It had been hard to get up there thanks to mysterious bouts of numbness and random flashes of pain through through his limbs, yet as he sat up there, he felt like he was king of the jungle.

He'd grown exceedingly cocky in his days after the chip removal, if not ten times more tempermental now that the tiger within was giving almost free range of his emotions and senses. It was this fact that allowed Jamal to quickly locate movement in the distance and smell something not quite human, yet not fully feline-like either coming from this direction.

He pulled his lips tightly over his teeth to supress a growl and slowly slipped into an upright position. As an older man, obviously transformed, came just slightly into view, he couldn't help but murr in displeasure. He was pretty visible up there on his branch, being as stark white as he was across his face, back, and upper limbs, but he couldn't help but retreat back some.

Richard caught a glimpse of something white through the foliage and was about to peer at it closer when Awen's voice reached his ears. He looked down a saw the girl floating towards him, carried by the current. His ears gave an involuntary twitch when he saw that she had changed again.

He grinned a little nerviously, "Heh, Hi Awen. Taking a dip?" The white among the trees was momentarly forgotten as Richard took in the full extent of her changes. His tail lashing behind him.

"Yup, yup. As per usual." Although she had just changed the girl certainly seemed to be her normal self. She hardly seemed affected by it really- except being slightly more cheery.

Awen hadn't noticed the white in the trees above as she had been focusing on her friend on the ground. Though she had glanced the white from the corner of her eye to Awen it looked like nothing more than a cloud visible through a break in the trees. She honestly was not very observant at the moment but to her it didn't feel she needed to concern herself with things of the trees. The water seemed much more interesting to her.

Jamal blinked slowly, as though taken by surprise by the individual's appearance in 'his' jungle, but his brain was already calculating the probability of a successful takedown of the stranger. Hunched over, yet on all fours, he leaned forward, ears drawn forward and tail stretched out as a counterbalance as he let his mangledhands slip down the bark in the beginnings of a pounce. He let a growl of warning slip then, ice-hued eyes narrowing posessively as he peered at the stranger.

He hadn't even SEEN Awen yet, though he could vaguely sense disturbance in the water to judge from the abnormal ripple activity.

He heard her voice, but it had been so long that it held no recognition for him. With an audible thud, Jamal clumsily dropped from his tree, landing mostly on his feet but distributing the force by letting his hands take some of the brunt of the fall.

The mix of beast and human coming from the stranger left Jamal to believe that this would be an easy scare off or an easy kill...and a feminine voice meant the same, no matter the transformation level, to the tiger's instinct.

He made little effort to keep silent as he approached, even giving a throaty hiss to alert them of his presence if they rather leave while the getting was good.

He moved with a slight limp that he had long dismissed, but was still there, visible for anyone who watched.

At the sound something behind him startled Richard from appraising Awen's changes, the most drastic of them seemed to be her altered face. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, not thinking the noise would be anything threatening.

His eyes widened as he saw Jamal. He spun around, his own growl escaping his throat as he did so. The tentacles raised threateningly over his back and he flexed his own claws. The posture was instictive.

His mind flitted for a name for the stranger before him and came up empty. "And who might you be?" Richard calculated the odds were againist him. The Tiger was huge but he wasn't about to back down right off the bat.

Awen's eyes finally moved to focus on the white spot as it plumeted to the ground. At first Awen pushed back further into the water- she had no idea what just dropped from the trees but she did hear the threatening hiss.

As she finally focused and saw just what, or rather who was moving towards them Awen scrambled towards the shore. "J-Jamal!" She exclaimed. It had been so long since she'd seen him even since she'd been back from her bout in the labs she hadn't heard even vague rumour of how he had been doing.

The manta ray was happy to see him again, despite his threatening appearence and posture. Often the man put on a pretty gruff show but she didn't think he'd do anything serious, at least not to other islanders. Then again Awen hadn't seen the man in a long time and had heard nothing of what he had been doing.

So she tried to move quickly to get up onto dry ground where she could stand at equal footing. She had changed so much since he had seen her, and vice versa, but her bright blue hair and rubber skin had to have sparked a memory somewhere. Or so Awen would think.

Jamal gave a short snarl, his claws digging into the earth as he halted paces away, his face morphing from half-hearted threatening to an increasingly hostile challenge. "If you ain't heard of me b'fo, then my name ain't impo'tant," he snapped, gaze flitting to and settling on the odd appendages over the man's back.

" 'n I promise ya if ya try ta get a claw, tooth, o' whateva inta me, you a** gonna get buzzed down 'n' I'll chew da caps of yer bones b'fo they kin come rescue yer carcass." He jabbed a red-stained, hook-clawed finger in the direction of the man's chest and flicked it in a slash-like motion.

Jamal was only vaguely distracted when the water-bound figure, the woman he guessed for obvious reasons, stammered out his name and started to make a ruckus at the shore.

He curled his lip over one super-enlarged canine, but showed no glimmer of recognition. "Dat goes fer you too," he added with another throaty growl, just for her.

Her blue hair and rubber skin only struck him as a side-effect of transformation....nothing at all characteristic of the Awen he had known awhile back. He hadn't seen her when the rubber skin had taken over most of her body.

As Jamal talked Richard's snarl grew. His body tensed up, ready to either defend himself or flee. He doubted his tentacles would even stun Jamal although their accuracy had increased since his tussle with Zach.

Then it clicked, and Richard's aggressive posture died. "My god, Your the one without the chip." He glanced over at Awen.

Awen paused on her struggle up the shore at Jamal's words and then a stunned face turned towards Richard at his exclaimation. The poor girl had such a hard time wrapping her head around the situation.

Jamal was definately not just putting on his normal tough guy show, and he was talking as though he didn't even recognise her. She shook her head and finally picked herself up to stand if awkwardly, next to Richard. Her feet ached something fierce to be supporting her body like this again, but she ignored the slight pain and focused on the tiger man.

"What has happened to you Jamal!?" She couldn't help but ask the question that had been playnig through her head. "You removed your chip? No one is going to try to get a claw or tooth or anything in you so just stop this alright? I haven't really seen you since you got out of that damned cage, I hadn't hear anything of you since I've been released from the labs, and now I hear your chip is removed while you bare teeth at us?"

he girl had gone off on one of her usual burst of questions as the reasoning in her mind alone was failing the situation. "What has happened to you, you act like you don't even recognise me. I mean I've changed but was it really that much? I mean I recognise you well enough." With a sigh to calm herself down and end the long ramble she took a wobbley step towards the tiger, stepping infront of Richard. Her purple eyes express her genuine concern for the man. "Are you alright?"

He sneered at Richard in a patronizing manner. "Good news travels fast," he drawled in a silky tone, his territorial posture not yet fading. "Well ain't ya special, finally runnin' inta da crazy b*****d yo'self! 'm real sure ev'ryone be wonderin' if I'm still alive o' not." He chuckled, but it wasn't a kindly sort. "I s'pose yer jus' passin' through...."

He let his words drop off as he watched the femme...THING....leave the water and stagger precariously over to the older man as though in a gesture of moral support. He snorted and gave her an ugly look. Who the ******** was SHE to start asking so many questions?

As she continued to ramble he clearly looked more irritated and even took a few steps forward. "******** you," he nearly shouted at her. "Ya don't even know what sorta s**t I been through."

Nevermind she too was a transformed islander...but his rational thinking had digressed considerably during his time in the jungle. He was the most feral he'd ever been. "Yer ********' right I took dat chip out. I ain't their toy 'n' I ain't gonna get lectured by NO ONE. Not even someone who 'parently knows me but I kin't place 'em."

Richard wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Jamal was clearly a dangerous individual and Awen seemed to be making him angry. Richard want to talk to him. Details about the chip, the removal, the side effects. The possiblities squirmed about in his mind.

He place an arm infront of Awen and tried to direct her back to the water. "Awen, maybe you should go." He looked straight at Jamal. "I've something I'd like to discuss with you." He didn't dare saw an more than that infront of Awen.

Awen stared blankly at Jamal's words for half a moment as tears started to well up in her eyes. What the hell. No way did he just say he... Awen's mind scrambled for something to do but all she could do was feel pain in her chest. Had she meant nothing? She didn't expect feelings for her but to have forgotten her entirely? She didn't know what he'd been through, and because of such she didn't see any reason for him not to remember.

The hurt threatened to keep her silent until Richard tried to herd her back to the water. A fire instantly sparked to Awens eyes and the tears that had been there a moment before were instantly cut off, only a few survived to trail down her cheeks. She swatted the old man's hand away and took another step forward to Jamal. "Well maybe you can't place me because you were always too busy ******** Antony to notice your god damned girlfriend!"

Her words spat out like venom. Though under normal circumstances Awen believed she'd gotten over the most of her anger and hurt for that period of time to hear that the man she had given her all to didn't even remember her tore open all of the old wounds. "It's me, Awen! For Christ's sake Jamal!"

Jamal inhaled, a crackling half-growl accompanying the motion, and gave Richard a calculating, narrow-eyed stare. Oh, so now this guy wanted to chat? How novel.... " 'da ******** you want ta 'discuss'?" he inquired, less angrily than how he addressed Awen, but not exactly friendly-like either. "If you ain't noticed, I ain't da chatty sort. 'Specially not when yer trompin' through ma territory wit'out reason." He did let some of the tension out from his shoulders though and let some of the usual numbness fade in his arms leaving an uncomfortable tingle as he sat back on his haunches.

Awen's bold step forward garnered an irritable flicker of whiskers but nothing else before the woman's fiery words caught him off guard. Especially the bit about Antony.

Jamal had enough good grace to look vaguely disturbed, in a distant sort of way, when Awen gave up her identity. "Oh," he grunted passively, probably the least cheerful greeting the manta had ever received from Jamal prior to today. He looked practically unaffected.

"I ain't seen Antony in awhile...'least, not fer ******** it ain't my fault I kin't rememba' who you be when I ain't seen ya in a long time. I ain't sorry fer dat when I ain't got control ova' it."

Indeed Jamal seemed to be the volient agressive sort. It didn't bode well for him being open to Richard suggestions. At least he nolonger looked like he was about to hit anyone.

At Awen's outburst and Jamal's response Richard winced. A lovers quarrel or at least half of one erupted infront of him. He crossed his armed and stayed out of the way for the moment.

Awen had another small what the hell moment in her own mind, but instead of getting teary or go into another outburst she bit her tongue. She took a slow breath and calmed herself at least slightly.

"Glad to know I meant so much to you." She said a little bitterly, but no where near as agressive as before. "If ya didn't know, I hadn't seen you either-but I still recognised you." The manta let herself settle to a defeated sigh and a shake of her head. She should know better than to try to put stock into this. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise after all, she'd just been another notch in the damn man's belt. It was her own fault for thinking otherwise.

"But whatever..." Her feet positively throbing along with her head Awen shuffled her way over to a small rock and sat down. The way the tiger had been acting she was of no mind to leave the older man alone with him. Though she wanted nothing more than to just go back and swim all of this away.

"Ya did," he muttered, fanning his whiskers, but the way he said it clearly showed that that wasn't the case anymore. In truth, he didn't have particular affections for ANYONE really anymore. Human life as ashes of a fire looked like wood that burned there, but at least he still had skin showing through and he had his cornrows.

He shrugged lazily, rolling his gaze over to Richard, whom he regarded coolly. "So ya shut up, but yer da one wantin' ta talk? Right. Maybe ya best jus' get da ******** out of ma land." He was especially displeased with Richard due to the feline-bit he exhibited.

Richard glanced over at Awen. He had hoped she would storm off, her attitude toward the labs would make her hearing anything he said to Jamal a risk. She didn't look like she was leaving without him however. So he'd have to hint and hope the Tiger man wasn't completely daft.

He looked back to Jamal and shrugged, "Just waiting for you finish being a p***k." He smiled/snarled, "Yeah I want to chat with you. I want to know what your planning on doing now that its gone."

"Is the Jungle enough for you?"

Awen rolled her shoulders a bit as she listened to the words Richard had to say to Jamal, but she had seemed to ignore the words Jamal had said to her. She crossed a leg over the other to better reach it and massage the still meaty-foot part, trying to sooth the ache.

She glanced up again with curiosity and with an altogether civil tone she added her question to Richard's. "How did you manage to get the thing out anyway?"

Jamal glared at Richard; he either didn't get the hint or he got it and didn't appreciate it. "Well," he said sarcastically, shifting back to all fours, assuming a more mobile posture. "Yer gonna sit herr fo' awhile then, I figger, if yer waitin' on me ta lighten up. Ya think I pulled da ********' thing out jus' fer freedom?"

He chuckled some and shook his head, taking up a sort of lazy circle pacing. "You don't know s**t 'bout me."

Awen's question wasn't answered for a few moments and it almost seemed as though he wasn't going to answer, but he finally settled his gaze on her for a moment and muttered. "Cut it out wit' a piece o' glass. Billy did it fer me afta' I told 'im where ta cut."

Billy! Billy cut out the chip! Richard eyes wided a bit. How the ******** was this man still alive? The biologist in him bubbled to the surface, "Do you still have it? Were their any side effects? I noticed the limp." Richard stopped and got a grip. "How steady are your hands?"

Awen's brows rose at hearing that. Who could have thought Billy able of such a thing! She nodded and sighed muttering something about how she was glad Jamal was mostly alright after the process.

When Richard went into his whispered barrage of questions one of her brows lowered to give her a quizzical expression. He couldn't be thinking...? She kept silent about it and just looked on. She hoped the old man didn't seriously plan to do something risky or stupid.

"We hid it," he grunted vaguely without bothering to keep his voice hushed, waving a hand. "Billy did a good job, fer it bein' so last minute. Though...." He paused, rubbing a forearm, which was aching, and sat back on his haunches again. "I couldn't move fer a few days. Three o' four..."

Jamal didn't want to admit to the weakness in his limbs because that could be used against him, so he left that out.

Couldn't move for a few days? Then it had to be a spinal implant. That... wasn't good. Was it that easy to remove? Or had Jamal been insanely lucky? "Could you bring it to me? Or tell me where it is? I might be able to do something with it." Richard voice dropped low, "I was surgan once."

Awen sighed and tilted her head back to stare up at the canopy of trees. Seems like the man did want to do something stupid. She shook her head slowly at the suggestion that he would get his hands on it. "I don't see what good that would do. I mean the thing is probably fried."

Looking back over to Jamal her eyes traced him slowly. "You're really lucky you were paralised or kill Jamal..." Her voice did hold a level of caring and concern that despite what happened the manta couldn't hold back.

Glancing back to Richard she shook her head. "And you probably shouldn't get ideas from it either. The last we need is more bodies in the graveyard for foolish attempts." She didn't want to sound like she was scolding the man probably three times her age or more, but honestly Awen just didn't want him to do anything that would hurt himself or someone else.

The idea that this man...this stranger...thought that he would give up something as important as the chip after a first meeting nearly made the tiger laugh. However, he pursed his lips closed and turned away. "I know where it's at, but I ain't givin' it up. If ya wanna try choppin' inta yer neck, be ma guest...but it aint' easy."

He smiled cockily and drifted back towards his tree. Awen's chiding only made him giving a murr of agreement. "I ratha' die then be their ********' toy, so it's worth it." He glanced back to look at the pair, a brow lifted arrogantly. "If ya want ta try yer luck, man, I might help ya. Might. But I ain't into sharin' ma secrets wit' someone I ain't neva' met b'fo today."

Richard rose, "Then perhaps we'll talk about it the next time we meet. The chip is useless to you anyway, no reason to be sentimental about such a thing." He bit his lip before continuing, "I wish you luck. Till we meet again then." Richard nodded and turned to leave both Jamal and his territory.

Awen was glad Richard was giving up. She didn't think it would last long, but Awen just didn't seem to have the energy to deal with this anymore. She struggled slightly to pull in breaths and though it hadn't been terribly long her skin was already dry and starting to flake. She rose to her feel with a wobble, not only because of her new feet but she just felt dizzy, as though she couldn't get enough air.

She watched the way Richard had left for a few moments before turning back to Jamal. Taking a heavy breath Awen gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry for blowing up." She said softly. "I just changed a little earlier. Haven't even seen myself. I guess I have changed a whole lot since we last saw eachother." She gave a slight shrug and sighed heavily. "I'm glad you're alright. Just... try to stay that way huh?"

Giving him a small smile the manta ray stumbled her way back towards the river. She felt really heavy as drawing air into her lungs was such a chore. Must be a part of the change... but at least she didn't lose the world above the surface completely. That would have been unbareable.

"I ain't givin' it up unless it's gonna work out in ma favor," he shot back in a parting comment to the older man, his facial expression as stubborn as the voice used to issue the statement "It ain't 'cause it got special meanin'. It's 'cause I don't want ta get ******** ova' if da info gets turned ova' to da wrong peeps." He grumbled as the man melted back into the jungle, then glanced at Awen who looked distinctively uncomfortable.

He waved away her apology as though it wasn't needed but otherwise seemed unmoved by her words. "They ain't killed me yet," he offered her before she slipped into the river. With both of the intruders gone, the tiger could relax now, and with a lazy, languid saunter, he headed back for his tree.

Waking up on Christmas morning Awen was, once again, a little miffed. She was happy with the island--as much as she could be-- but it just wasn't the same without any snow! Awen traditionally spent her holidays skiing on various slopes in Ontario, venturing away from Horsehoe Valley and Moonstone every once and awhile.

She doubted in her condition that she would ever be able to ski again, which was an even more depressing thought. Sure she could swim at fast speeds through the water and go places that no one without suba gear could ever go and stay for long periods of time, but honestly! It was Christmas, there had to be skiing!

And once again Awen had not gotten Christmas presents for anyone. She wasn't entirely sure how to go about doing this, she couldn't order everything she thought they'd like, she couldn't go out and browse the shopping malls, and she had absolutely no artistic talent so making something would be pretty pathetic.

Overall her morning was not a happy one as she pulled herself from her pool. She started to dry herself off when she noticed a box resting near her entertainment system, it was nicely wrapped with beautiful paper and a cute bow. Awen's ire for the day faded away--oh how easily pleased the manta girl was.

She wondered who would have gotten her this and had the labs bring it into her room. Or maybe it was another present from the labs. She still loved her waterproofed PSP, although after a year the games were a little stale... perhaps she could order new games... hm.

Putting that greed from her mind she focused on the present now infront of her. Looking it over she found no card on the outside and frowned. She'd like to repay whom ever had gotten her the gift, or at least know who to say thank you to. But there was nothing.

Without anymore hesitation to delay Awen tore open the paper. Never to be one that wastes time with such things she quickly opened the box to look inside. Her jaw when she saw the lettering that were facing up at her PS3. She picked up the unit and gawked. So sleek, so elegant, so.. so.. so... COOL! Rifling throguh the box Awen noticed the waterproof controls and other wrapped gifts that had to be games. She laughed a bit and pulled them all out unwrapping each individually. It had been a long time since she last got a game news update so some of the titles she didn't know much about. However the majority of them looked too amazing and she didn't know which to play first. As she hurried to set the system up it was then that Awen noticed the note attached to the console.

Setting the system down slowly the girl grabbed the note from the game. Reading it over slowly Awen grinned. She noticed that the man hadn't signed his name but there was no doubt who it had to be. Sabin! She glanced around trying for the best vantage for a camera.

"Thanks!" She said outloud--though knowing Sabin was probably not the one watching the cameras. "You're welcome to come play any time."

She would definately have to repay this one. It may be a bit late of a Christmas present, but she'll thik of something. But for now...

Awen turned back to her PS3 and finished setting it up. She decided to start with an old time classic as she settled down for a long session of Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Come in!" The girl shouted from her place leaning over the edge of the pool. "It's open!" She seemed to have been that way for awhile, waterproof controller in hand the girl's shoulders and neck seem to be excessively dry. But she didn't mind. She had her new games. "Doors open!"

Awen grinned and looked up when she heard the old familiar voice. "Richard!" She waved him in and paused the game. Awen rarely pauses the game for visitors... But Richard was an old guy, he wouldn't understand the multitasking that comes with being an exper gamer such as herself. Multiple attention spans with multiple sharp focuses.

"How are you doing? Come in, have a seat, make yourself comfy!"

"Would you rather I be held up in the labs with my lungs collapsing on themselves? I mean I'm sure it could be arranged." She gave the man a short look before glancing back at her game. "And yeah, Christmas present actually. Still trying to figure out a way to repay the nice gesture though..."

Or rathering thinking about it briefly while going for a swim or a quick food run, her time has otherwise been spent playing the game.

Awen chuckled a little bit. "You gave me a quip, I threw one back. I meant nothing by it." She smiled dearly up at her old friend and spoke softly. "Besides, old man, I don't expect you to understand the ways of us youngens."