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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:26 pm
It turned out the only place Emerwyn could truly work the pain away was back in the jungle. She'd barely lasted two hours in her duplex before her sore limbs screamed to break free. It was not healthy to ignore such a request, so Emerwyn practically hurtled herself back into the trees and vines.
Of course, she did not last very long in that swift sprint. Within thirty minutes, the deer was walking, burning sensations rushing through her legs.
She stumbled once or twice, breathing heavily. It would take several days, at least, to get used to these new changes. The space between her transformations would be her downfall.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:42 pm
It had taken several days for Thom to grow used to his changes. He had left the duplex he shared with Natsumi some time earlier, and had spent the time since trying to grow used to his new body. Or sulking about it. Whichever had appealed more at the time.
He had found in the time since leaving that the long, sinuous tail was actually terribly easy to manipulate...if he allowed the cobra a bit more freedom. And so he had, only to come to his senses some hours later with a large lump in his stomach and a distinctly monkey-ish taste still on his tongue. How he had eaten something so large, he still wasn't sure, but he did know it had thoroughly exhausted him. He had retreated to the boughs of a large tree in the area and, for what he could tell, spent the next few days sleeping off the large meal.
But he was awake now. The lump had subsided, his stomach was back to normal, and he was starting to grow hungry again. The cobra was hunting, but Thom wasn't. He was sitting on the sidelines, observing the cobra and how it moved, and memorizing how to mimic the patterns for once he regained control. Which might as well be now, he decided as a flick of his tongue announced the approach of another creature. Shoving the cobra to the back of his mind, he slipped somewhat awkwardly into the flowing scale motions that allowed him to move forward, head only a foot or so above the ground as the sound of footfalls and directions from his tongue led him towards the...deer.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:51 pm
Now that Emerwyn had moved forward once more in her decline from humanity, the Deer was even more dominant over her senses.
A snake is a very silent creature, able to slink around unheard until it is in rather close range with its... target. So, even though Emerwyn's senses were far stronger than ever before, it took until the giant snake was in close range for her body to tense up. For her ears to fly upward in alarm. For her deep round eyes to search frantically for the disturbance. It was frustrating. Emerwyn hardly had any control over her body. She couldn't move; couldn't even twitch.
Gradually, Emerwyn managed to try and settle her body. She couldn't possibly run from whatever was coming if she was locked to the spot like a... like a deer in headlights. That's what she thought, anyway. Scared though her instincts told her to be, it was far too late to turn away now. So, she waited, with bated breath, peering keenly into the trees to see a large and mysterious creature approaching.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:01 pm
Said large and mysterious creature had been more than pleased when the deer failed to run even after noticing him. Keep confusing it, the cobra instructed. Make not a sound and keep it wondering what you are and what sort of threat you pose. The deer was easy picking, silly startled thing. He would feast today.
That is, until the deer began to move again, and it became apparent to the cobra man that she was standing on two feet and not four. And abruptly the attack came to an end, and Thom rose from the ground to 'stand' at just under his normal height. "So sorry," he quickly apologized, lifting both hands as if to show his innocence. "My misstake."
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:09 pm
Emerwyn was fascinated at watching this Islander move, terrifying as he was. But her eyes were still wide, her ears still upright. It wasn't time to calm down yet. She shifted her cloak about her shoulders, as she did when was put in an awkward situation. She'd try to calm down, though. It was, after all, an easy mistake to make. She'd nearly been eaten by many of the Island's inhabitants. This one, though, was by far the most intimidating. It was foreign to her senses, both animal and human.
"I-it is nothing," Emerwyn said, smiling with what mouth she had left. "Forgive me for getting so dissheveled. I must say, you startled me quite thoroughly."
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:16 pm
Her fear was, unfortunately, blatantly obvious, and only served to encourage an attack from the cobra. With each flick of his tongue, rare though they were, tasted fear, tasted the almost overwhelming desire to run. His tongue was one of the few things he remotely enjoyed about hsi change. It allowed him to read people to an extent he couldn't have dreamed of before. Of course...it also left him feeling decidedly awkward when people we quite clearly terrified by him.
"Again, my apologies." He ducked his head quickly in a nod. "I get carried away ssometimes. Only jusst gettin' the 'ang of this...no legss thing."
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:22 pm
Emerwyn nodded as well. On nodding, she looked down, and noticed the little stubs that he had left, where legs should have been. Her own body felt relieved at seeing this seemingly far more torturous change. To lose legs, and grow a whole new limb? Her own tail was nothing to that monster.
"It cannot be helped, I am afraid. On the other hand, these new legs are also hard to manage. It feels as though my muscles have multiplied, and I know not what to do with them all." She bent her awkward knees a couple of times. "My name is Emerwyn."
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:29 pm
Thom still felt rather awkward at the idea of going unclothed, especially when the deer woman's eyes wandered below his waist...and then he remember there was nothing to see, and, if anything, felt worse. His expression clearly showed his disapproval as he pulled in the rest of his tail to coil around himself on the ground.
"No, unfortunately, it cannot." He spared a bitter glance towards the stub of his left leg, then leg his eyes wander to the deer's legs, which, as she'd said, had changed a great deal as well. "Yes, I can see how walking would be difficult. But still possible. Still possible," he repeated, lifting his head and offering a hand. "Thom Brinley."
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:39 pm
Emerwyn flushed as much as was possible for her. None of it was visible under her short, coarse fur, thankfully. But, she was very aware of the blood rushing through her ears. It was becoming far more natural to see people in various states of undress. It was only when Thom covered himself that Emerwyn even realized that he was nude.
She accepted his hand awkwardly. Her own hands were long and stiff now, and she had hardly a thumb to speak of. Again, she felt that she'd somehow gotten off easier than Thom had. He had a much more different form of walking to get used to. Like she'd said to Miller, each change was like being born again, to learn everything over. Emerwyn was not the jumpy, over-suspicious person before she had begun turning. "Well, Thom Brinley, it is a pleasure." She retracted her hoofed hand, and tried to flex it. "...I suppose I should be grateful to still have feet to stand upon. I've learned long ago to be grateful for what we actually do have."
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:03 pm
Thom allowed himself a brief moment of smugness at the state of her hand, but almost immediately felt guilty for it. He should be willing misfortune on her just because his legs were gone. He should be glad for the islanders that were still...mostly human, not bitter that he wasn't among them. It was just difficult. "You do have a point," he admitted, glancing down to his own relatively-normal hands. "Though I'd gladly trade with you any day."
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:18 pm
Emerwyn tried to smile again. It was hard to tell just who was in the worst position. On pondering the condition of one's legs, Emerwyn remembered that hers were quite sore. And on remembering that, she remembered that she had just run blindly for an indeterminable amount of time, in an unknown direction, for goodness knows how far. She glanced over her shoulder from where she came. Too preoccupied with her conscious thoughts, Emerwyn could not figure where she had come from. "Thom, I wonder. Do you have any idea where we are in relation to the village? I myself do not venture there too often anymore, but it helps a great deal when I know where I am coming from, else I get terribly disoriented. I was just running a long ways, you see, and I completely lost track of where I was." She shifted on her feet a little.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:37 pm
"That...is a very good question," he admitted, peering past her as if expecting to see the village just through the trees. Where exactly were they? He hadn't bothered to keep track of where he was, or even when it was. He had expected it to be easy enough to find the village again whenever he wanted to get back. It hadn't ever been difficult before.
His tongue flickered eye, head swiveling to face off to his right. "The beach is that way... Not very far that way, if that helps. But I'm really not sure. I haven't been to the village in...a week or so? What's today?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:45 pm
Emerwyn turned to face right. Then she was even more backwards than she'd thought. But the beach was so large... Why couldn't she figure out her own way? She was thinking too hard. Too many thoughts clouded her deer senses.
What day was it? "It's... I believe we've reached a new year, actually. It must be only a little after the first of January. Without the drastic change in weather, it grows more and more difficult to tell." This kind of served as a second year marker for Emerwyn. In no time, she'd be spending her twenty-fifth birthday here. She'd even missed Christmas entirely.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:43 pm
"New Year?" Christmas had passed, certainly, but New Year... New Year just added a certain finality to everything. He had known for a good while that he wouldn't ever be going back, but he hadn't ever really thought about how long he had actually been away. Not that there was any point to even thinking on it, he reasoned, after seeing the tape of his own funeral. Everyone must have believed him dead for months, and even those who might have been suspicious would have stopped dwelling on it after so long. But even after admitting defeat, it was hard to give up hope entirely.
"The weather, yes," he mumbled, clearing his throat and snapping free of his thoughts. "I should probably be headin' back to th' duplexes myself, then. Natsumi'll be worried. Mind if I join you?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:53 pm
"No, no, not at all. It has been too long since I have had good company." She started to make her way through the vines. "Who is Natsumi?" she asked curiously. It sounded like someone he cared about. There were people Emerwyn cared about who she also needed to see...
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