Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jordan had been informed by Moreau to hunt down Thom, to use as much force as needed, and to retrieve the laptop, and failure -as usual- was frowned upon. He had to act fast to maintain a level of secrecy and although he couldn't find Lauren, he did the next best thing. There were very few people that he trusted on the island, and just as few that he'd trust with his life. He'd come to Awen seeking her aid, not really giving her much of a choice in the matter as he'd dragged her along, saying that he needed her help, but hadn't gone into deep detail on the matter- yet. She'd know about the laptop soon enough. Jordan simply needed numbers against Thom at the moment and he was willing to place his life, his faith into her hands at the moment.

He'd led her into the jungle, despite the inherent dangers, though this was the most likely place to find the cobra. "We need to remain as quiet as possible. I'm sorry for being so quick about this, but there's not much time to explain." he whispered to Awen, making sure she was keeping nearby.

Dee, meanwhile, was where she almost *always* was at this time of day-- binoculars at the ready, messenger bag at her side, and gaze lifted towards the forest canopy. For this, her first week, she had been concentrating primarily on avifauna, but wouldn't pass up an opportunity to tackle (sometimes literally) any sort of creature that crossed her path. With each sighting, she would jot down a few notes in her latest journal, then continue down the game-trail.

So far her sightings were typical for a Caribbean island, but still energizing nonetheless. Sabin's comments about 'rare and unique species' weren't terribly true in the birdwatching department, but the morbid wonder she was beginning to develop regarding the darker side of the island grew with each villager she met.

Dee growled under her breath... for some reason, there just weren't many birds about. Perhaps she hadn't gotten accustomed to their feeding schedules and locations? It would just take time, and she would eventually adjust.

But today, Dee felt in need of some instant gratification, and she had brought along a secret weapon. Normally, she scoffed at birders who used recorded songs to attract wildlife, but right now she was confident that she was alone. And besides--no harm, no foul.

...right?

Dee stopped in a small grove alongside one of the game trails and sets her bag down beside a tree. Kneeling amongst the soft forest floor, she fishes around in the satchel and pulls out her iPod and a small external speaker, which she sets on a nearby stump. Dee thumbs through her playlist until she comes to her birdcalls section and selects 'Alarm Calls.' Since they were used to alert other animals of the presence of predators, these short, high-pitched chirps and squawks could attract many different species of birds, as well as other woodland creatures.

She adjusts the volume, hits 'play', and soon a number of sharp bird-calls are echoing through the forest.

Up in the tree, Thom napped on, enjoying the odd silence that laced the jungle. That is, until the bird calls began. As the calls sounded from a short distance away, the cobra twitched, tongue flicking out once before his eyes refocused. Briefly his gaze fixed on a stick a short distance away, then lifted to scan the area for the damned troublesome birds. Stupid little featherballs, interrupting his nap...

His tongue snaked out a second time, and Thom frowned, again scanning the branches of the surrounding trees. There weren't any birds in the area. Not enough to be making those calls, anyway. Birds had a distinctly horrible smell to them. No, there were no birds, but there was a distinct smell of...human. Some guards, perhaps? But that didn't explain the bird calls...

The cobra stretched languidly along his treebranch, then clamped both hands over--where his ears would have been once upon a time, frowning around for the source of the noise. Letting his arms fall, he started through the close-knit treetops towards the sound, picking his way in near silence towards the irritating calls. All too soon the source became visible in the form of a woman and a speaker, and, with the sounds almost directly below him, Thom found himself hard pressed not to throw a branch at woman who had woken him. "Would you turn off that bloody noise? Some of us are tryin' t' sleep!"

There were birds making a ruckus and yet he didn't smell the foul things anywhere near him; though, without anymore warning than the abrupt change in jungle sounds, an orchaestra was playing!

Jordan paused in his crouch and stood up, quizically squinted his left eye as his head tilted to the side, trying to figure out what was going on. "What.. the hell..??" he spoke in more than a whisper. Was someone out there and in danger? Was this their way of signalling for help? This wasn't part of the plan! Whoever was out there had already compromised the mission!

Clenching his fangs and his fists, Jordan resolved -against his better judgment- to move on the sound. It was so loud there was no mistaking where it had come from. He took off like a bolt through the jungle, tearing through the brush at a frantic pace. Was he really a hero like Colche held him so highly as? Jordan sighed in resignation that he was either altruistic or insane.

He didn't bother stopping when the music cut out. That gave cause to move faster. Oh, but how he loved moving this fast! Faster than he had ever been able to run before! And he loved the feeling of it! Or, at least the surfacing canine mind loved this. Jordan was frightened that he was already too late.

The unfamiliar scent was stronger now! He was nearing the grove Dee had been playing her bird sounds and he smelled the faint twinge of disgust rise in him as his fur bristled. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong! He was closing the gap far too fast and had to slow his momentum as he pushed through the brush into the adjoining grove, coming up from behind Dee.

There wasn't much time to take stock of the situation. Jordan's cold, wet black nose twitched and sniffed the air, looking down at the... HUMAN?! Oh dear lord, he hadn't seen another human islander before.. so this must have been what it felt like for them, when he was still human. He was panting hard as he'd pushed himself so hard to get there as fast as possible and it was a mixed blessing to see the human unharmed, but her look of fear made him leery and self-conscious as he made a fumbling attempt to hide his stomach with his arms.

"A-are you ok------ay?" he panted out, leaning forward to rest his paws on his knees absent-mindedly, looking at her. He knew this had to be difficult to see him of all people.

It was the sudden nature of Thom's appearance that had rattled Dee the most... not his outward appearance itself (though the latter wasn't anything to sniff at either.) When the canine islander bursts onto the scene, the woman jumps a second time, dropping her gear onto the leafy ground and clutching at the pendant around her neck.

"I... yes... I'm a-allright..." she stammers, eyes flicking from Jordan to the covert snake and back again. "I...am sorry for the noise. I didn't think anyone w-was around."

He was unnoticed for the moment, but with the glances that the woman kept sending his way, it couldn't go on much longer. However, he remained where he was, watching curiously from where he 'stood' as Jordan apologized and made his introductions and so forth. And then Jordan glanced back his way, and it was Thom's turn.

The cobra offered a grin in greeting, making a point to flash fangs simply for the scare it would undoubtably bring Jordan. Moving away from the tree, he approached the pair at a lazy pace, long tail following in a distinct 'S' behind him. "Jordan! So kind of you to barge in uninvited an' interrupt a perfectly good apology. But that's fairly typical of you, issn't it, draggin' yourself into other people's business?"

Thom sent the dog man a pointed look, then swept past him to nod an apology to Diane. "I apologize f' scarin' you, but I was nappin' not far from 'ere an' your...noise woke me. Regardless, I'd be careful with such a thing in th' jungle, were I you. You wouldn't want to attract th' wolf."

Wasn't this a twisted development. Jordan possessed the bittersweet luck of the devil himself. He'd been lured directly to Thom, as it had seemed the snake had been so as well, while having an unchanged human bear witness to them both inhuman test subjects.

Jordan held tight onto Dee's hand, shaking himself. Thom was no one to trifle with lightly. The snake was deadly as any predator on the island and it made Jordan wince. The bandage from the bite wound was still there, to cover the still-healing holes made in Jordan's shoulder from the cobra's fangs. It blended in with his fur, but it was visible at a second glance. He didn't want to make a scene infront of the woman, but if he didn't conduct business now, it would be no better than failure, as far as Doctor Moreau was concerned.

The less-than-threatening white-furred fluffball placed himself between Dee and Thom, feeling the need to protect her from this danger. The dogman’s expression was a mixture of fear and stern anger. Quite an odd cocktail of emotion. He was angered by the slick words of the scaly thief and murderer. Thom was good, there was no doubt about that, but there was no way in hell Jordan was going to be upstaged by this act. He wanted to tear into him for eating his rabbit.

“Thom, how nice to see you again.” The not-so-calmed disdain slipping into his words “I have business with you.”

So far so good.. keep it together Jordan..