[ORP] The Village Proper

[Infinite Improbability]

Zach's hopeful tone vanished immediately. He drew his hands in toward himself, turning them palm-up in a gesture of defeat. "I guess it was too much to hope for... not that anyone... out there... would believe us any more than you do." He moved his right hand to massage the back of his neck nervously. Memory of the shocks he'd recieved the day before were still fresh in his mind. "Y-you won't have a phone though.

"Well, the pot's not that bad for you... as long as you use it in moderation - er, you don't look too good right now..." Zach was staring pointedly at Joshua the entire time, failing to notice what Kaveri was doing, though the odd slurping noise was a bit distress. When he saw the sudden horrified look creep up the man's face, he had to look too. A slow turn of his head and he too could feel his stomach churn with disbelief and nausea. Kaveri was eating the rabbit.

His eyes were as wide as they could go. In one quick motion he swept forward and grabbed her lightly around the shoulders, shaking her a little in the hope that it would wake her up from whatever terrible nightmare she had suddenly disappeared to. Some of the blood was still oozing off his left hand. "Kaveri! Oh god... what are you doing? Stop it!"

Zach took no notice of the older man's flight into his duplex. His tail once more stopped swishing, instead going rigid with fear. Something was wrong with Kaveri, and that was far more important than dealing with any other islanders, newcomers or not.
 

[Kaveri Porter]

Kaveri was very sorely tempted to poke in and feed some more, having been entirely wrapped up by the vulture's chokehold on her line of thought. As she leaned in to take another bite, she felt hands on her shoulder before she was shaken a little. Her head rattled back and she dropped the rabbit with a messy splatter on the ground. She blinked a few times, looking around rather blearily.

"What? What did I do?" There was nothing out of the ordinary, was it? She looked over Zach, watching the professor scramble away in terror. The scavenger bird's grip was starting to fade away, quickly drawing back to the far back of her mind once more and leaving Kaveri feeling very muzzy-headed. She turned her head in all directions, very clearly confused as to what had just transpired.  

[Infinite Improbability]

Upon the rabbit's fall earthward, Zach slowly withdrew his hands from her, though they were shaking badly. "Oh jesus, don't ever do that to me again... Y-you were... you were eating that... the rabbit... you just... it was almost like..."

He let the left hand, still bloody, drop to his side while he ran the right hand fingers through his nest of longish hair. Instincts. That was the problem. Kaveri wasn't human, he wasn't human, the older man who'd run from them was not going to stay human. Not in appearance, not in mannerisms. They were all going to be driven to madness and it was all a matter of time. And if he himself had been attacking people left and right each time he transformed... however traitorous it was, there was only one apparent option to save himself with. And by doing so, anyone who would otherwise be a victim of his claws in much the same way Aubrey was.

He took a few breaths in a primitive form of meditation. "A-are you feeling okay? Do you need to lie down or anything?" Inwardly, he pondered a question he'd likely have to ask on his own. Maybe we should find out what the hell they're turning you into...
 

[Kaveri Porter]

A frightened, uneasy look crossed Kaveri's face. "I... ********. Did I really just... start eating that?" A quick swipe of her tongue over her front teeth confirmed this, and she tasted blood on the inside of her mouth. That one time she nibbled on Aubrey was just the start of her trouble. Hell, a lot of things have been bothering her lately. Maybe... maybe she was just coping with the fact she had eaten parts of Aubrey. The rock thing could be explained by that. But what she just did with the rabbit was not something that could easily be passed off as 'coping.'

Hell, it completely went against Kaveri's typical diet to begin with. She looked down at her bloodied hand, although it wasn't nearly as coated as Zach's. "I really don't know," she said plaintively, looking at the carcass on the ground, "I don't think I need to lie down, but at this rate, maybe I'm better off locking myself up in my duplex and not coming out until I've gotten over the Aubrey thing."

The vulture woman shook her head. "I have no idea. We should probably do something with that rabbit first, though," she said, "we can't just leave it out in the middle of the village. Maybe we should bury it somewhere, it's the least we can do after defiling it so much already..."  

[Infinite Improbability]

Zach nodded, brushing his hair out of his face until the hand collided with his ear. He stopped his nervous preening and shifted his weight a bit. "Don't worry about it... that was really not as bad as killing it..." He grimaced, holding up the left hand so that he could get a good look at the blood on it. What had formerly been something to repulse him had, whether by his inner predator or the traumatic coming-to in the cave, become something neutral, unable to bother him immediately after seeing, smelling, or tasting it. Kaveri was right, though. They hadn't zapped him. Maybe they weren't watching carefully, or maybe they just preferred him to take his frustrations out on animals.

He looked up at her, shaking his head. "That wasn't your fault. Don't pretend it is. I... hurt Aubrey, and if Dr. Duvert-- oh who am I kidding? If I hadn't, you wouldn't have woken up next to her body. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry..."

He frowned, stooping slowly to gently scoop the pitiful, dead creature up with his bloody hand. The blood on it was still a little shiny. His hand was unsteady, and the dead rabbit was held a considerable distance away from him. "That's a good idea... I feel horrible about this. Where did you want to, er, give it its late rites?"
 

[Kaveri Porter]

"Maybe I didn't attack her, but... I had blood on my tongue, down my chin, I was laying right next to her and she had little bite marks-- I don't normally eat meat, I'm a vegan," Kaveri said. Maybe she hadn't been the one who attacked Aubrey, but she still had the metallic taste of blood all over her mouth that day. "Perhaps I didn't murder or attack anyone, but I still committed cannibalism. I don't understand why I'd do such a thing, but I'll deal with it..."

At least she hasn't attacked anyone yet. In all honesty, the fact Kaveri hadn't gotten in an aggressive fist fight with anyone yet is a bit of a shocker, give her temperament. Eating something you didn't kill was better, right? Not that eating meat wasn't a resentful thing in itself in Kaveri's mind.

The woman chewed her bottom lip in thought, looking out in the direction of the jungle. "I know of a spot we could go. It's nice and out of the way," she suggests, already with a place in mind, "Once I drop these clothes off at my duplex."  

[Stewart Young]

Stewart hadn't been out of his duplex in days, but for some reason today he felt like exploring the island. He soon found himself in the new village proper, and made sure to stay far away from the parts still under construction. Walking closer to the new lake, he looked around for anyone else who might be lurking around.  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

Ambrose had been in a surprisingly good mood since meeting Thom. All things considered, things were looking up. He had been feeling much more... sane... since the... incident. Which he still meant to contact the labs about. They would have to tell him what had happened.... but at least until then, Ambrose was dead-set that whatever it was wasn't his fault.

He and Angelina had been doing well, and they might even form a soccer league! A wonderful idea.

And it had been weeks since he had even seen Jamal.

Ambrose was strolling from his duplex, freshly showered and wearing clean clothes when he spotted a horned figure he hadn't seen in quite some time. The priest! Father Stewart. With a curious p***k of his ears, Ambrose trotted over in his direction. Judging from his legs, he had been through another change as well - and one that looked like might have been difficult to adjust to. He hoped he was well.

"Father?" He smiled, tail wagging. "How have you been? It's been some time."  

[Stewart Young]

Stewart jumped when he heard someone call out to him, turning around he saw Ambrose...Stewart was glad to see him again, but the goat in him just wanted to run in the other direction. Trying to ignore his new instincts he smiled and said "A, Ambrose, tt's been way too long since we've seen eachother! I've been pretty good, but it's been rough these past few months. What have you been up to?"  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

"I can understand that, father." Ambrose said with a sympathetic smile as he closed the remaining distance between them and he reached out to him to offer him a paw-hand.

"We've all had a rough time of it I think... Some of us more than others. But you're looking well. As well as can be expected at least." He raised a self-conscious hand to his muzzle. That was certainly new since he last saw the priest, as he looked down at his legs.

Then he glanced at his collar, and disappointment crossed his features. "How have you been... coping with all of this...? I... uhm... I can't help but notice that you're still not wearing the collar..."  

[Stewart Young]

Stewart shook the wolf-man's paw-hand, never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he would be shaking hands with a man who was a wolf. Then again he never thought he would be turning into a goat. But the comment about his collar brought him back to reality. He tried not to think about it, but it was a constant source of guilt for him. "Yes...I-" He started, but then paused the words were almost too painful to say "I no longer feel like I'm worthy to wear that collar. It used to give me strenght, but now it only reminds me of my sins..."  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

Ambrose's ears lowered. "I'm sorry to hear that. I... honestly I am. I've been wondering what to think sometimes... about all this... how it fits. You know, the scientists up there playing God... what they're doing to us and everything. I mean... I admit I didnt' go to church ever Sunday ... but..." He shrugged his shoulders and looked self conscious.

"I wouldn't think that this is some sort of divine punishment or anything... Twisted scientists trying to do more than they should... but if anything I think my friends here have helped me through all of this. I couldn't do this alone. Maybe I'm being too presumptuous... but are you still looking to Heaven for answers? Or are you doing something else?"  

[Stewart Young]

Stewart paused again, as much as he hated to admit it. Ambrose was right, but a part of him still felt that it was God's punshiment for what he did. This island, it had changed him. Not only physically but mentally. Chana, for the first time in his life he felt like he was in love. And he was willing to break his vows to be with her. What was even worse, he hardly stopped to think about what Jesus would do. He had been so caught up in his own personal matters, how vain! "I've been so wrapped up in my own problems that I've been neglicting my faith. I know it's wrong, but I still feel like I've lost a part of myself...and it scares me..." He said looking at his now goaty legs"  

[Ambrose Maurlias]

Ambrose shrugged. "It... it is a new life for all of us, I think." Ambrose said slowly. "We can't get back what we had before, but we have to find what makes us happy... and if our old purpose doesn't work... a new one. It doesnt' mean it's right... but you kind of have to to stay sane. That's my opinion at least."

Ambrose let his eyes follow his down to the curly white furred, hoofed legs. "Its not horrible." He said encouragingly. "I mean... at least you have legs... and you're a mammal. Some people are becoming fish.. or reptiles. Cassidy.. a friend of mine, is becoming a snake. she's losing her legs altogether." He frowned.

Ambrose chewed on the inside of his lip, eying the priest again, and remembering some conversations, speaking with Aubrey... and a few others. "So.... are you still.. you know... considered a priest as far as your.... 'abilities' go? You know... priestly duties?"