Welcome to Gaia! ::

Emerwyn sat completely still and unmoving, mouth open in a silent scream for several moments after Pyroth fell.
Even as she shakingly rose to her knees, she did not feel totally safe. She looked over at his still figure, and swallowed.

He did not look like the vicious predator he had not moments before.
Now, face in the dirt, he was just another subject of a sick twisted experiment.

Emerwyn could not help but feel saddened now, as the frightened deer once again made room for her. Slowly, she crept up to the unmoving figure, and prodded it gently with her hoof.

No response. Tentatively, she leaned over to check his pulse. It was there.
Feeling better that he was still alive, Emerwyn rose shakily to her feet.

She still watched Pyroth with an uneasy eye, unsure about leaving him alone. But, he was well equipped to protect himself from any would-be attacker, assuming he was concious.

"I'm sorry."

She turned, and dashed away, certain he would awaken soon.

Nita had also been in the jungle, having grown to like the time spent in the trees. She hadn't run into anyone since her meeting with Cassidy, however, which was mostly just fine with her.

This particular afternoon, Nita found herself walking along the bank of the river, climbing over fallen logs and the occasional large rock. She tensed suddenly, a sound not belonging to the local fauna reaching her sensitive ears. A vaguely familiar form stood not far away... Nita approached with caution.

"Fiona??" she blurted out, surprised.

Nita stumbled, equally surprised by Fiona's frantic scramble. At least she wasn't the only one who had gotten jumpy. Catching her footing and her breath, Nita stepped a bit closer.

"Whoa! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" she apologized quickly, twisting her furred hands together. "Are you okay?"

She bit her lip, her heart still beating just a bit too rapidly. "Yeah. I did... The day after the storm."

"Red panda," Nita said quietly, automatically reaching up to feel her slightly pointed ears. She realized that Fiona had gotten taller, although she was nowhere near as tall as Lauren, who was a good foot taller than the petite red panda girl. She wondered momentarily whether or not her own changes would increase her height at all. "What about you, do you know?"

She raised a brow in query. "Busy?" With a shrug, she continued, "I've been okay, I suppose. I haven't been doing much, mostly wandering around outside. Reading. The usual, I guess." Nita sat carefully on a sun-warmed rock and slipped off her sneakers, revealing fuzzy feet with darkened toes.

Nita nodded, scratching at a bit of moss with one fingertip. "Mostly science fiction and fantasy, odd as that seems, considering what's going on here. There's a pretty decent library in the building with the cafeteria. Lots of books on animals, too." She rolled her eyes. "How appropriate, huh?"

The nose-twitching demonstration caused her to giggle slightly. "I had a pet rabbit when I was in middle school, and that's just what her nose did." Nita's damp black nose wiggled a little bit, although not nearly as much as Fee's.

"I got mine from a guy who lived down the street from my parents. He had an alligator, and raised rabbits." She made a face. At least she'd saved one little bunny.

Before Nita could say anything like, "No, you never did," Fiona had launched into her story. She sat quietly, nodding and making appropriate noises at various intervals.

"Wow," Nita mumbled at the end, not really knowing what to say. Her own experiences with PETA were mostly negative: mostly people shoving pro-vegan brochures at her with gruesome images of mangled animals. Although she applauded much of the ideology, (Yes, cruelty to animals is horrible and should be stopped,) PETA's means and general attitude tended to annoy her. (We're right, you're wrong, meat is murder, blah blah).

Nita shrugged, still looking at her feet. "Maybe," she said noncommitally. She peeled the moss off the rock, for once not minding the mud on her hands.

The smart one. The good kid.

She shuddered, old memories and dreams resurfacing. "I do know," Nita managed.