The Shifting Society IC

[Wattz]

OOC (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6907)

It was one of those sickeningly beautiful days. The warm air fell heavily on Era’s eyelids and the sky was so blue she felt as if she could fall into its abyss. The park was particularly busy, what with everyone out enjoying the sunshine before it escaped them. Couples held hands, children ran ahead of their parents, friends meandered across the grassy fields, shifters roamed about….

Era and Kassidy clung to a tree by the lake. The white falcon’s feathers glowed when the sun’s beams hit its feathers, but for now she rested comfortably in a tree, veiled by the shade. Once in a while, she would stretch her wings, taking off and gliding about with grace. The little aye-aye curled herself around a tree branch, dozing off every once in a while. Era wasn’t exactly a morning shifter.

The aye-aye slid down from the tree slowly, seeming to transform as she did so. In the animal’s place was a dark-skinned woman, resting on the trunk. She would have been inclined to climb around the tree, or explore the playground all the way on the other side of the park. But she felt incredibly exhausted, and for now she was content with resting in her human form. She felt quite content with staring out at the glittering waters before her, basking in the silent company of her good friend.

[Bia]

Kassidy sighed contently and shook her head as Era slowly slipped down the tree, gazing sleepily at the still water of the clear lake. Kassidy was on watch duty at the moment. Letting Era sleep so she could stay awake as Kassidy slept later that night. The small lemur turned girl and seemed to stay there, so Kassidy decided to take another look around.

Spreading her long pure wings, she jumped off the branch. Taking a swift turn upwards into the sky, her sharp eyes catching all that was going on below her. There were some shifter children playing in the woods, while their parents chattered in a very human-like fashion. A mother and her child taking a stroll around the park. A group of young teen shifters ran around the clearing, Kassidy paid an extra sharp eye to them as she headed toward the far boundaries of the park. In the kids play area small human and shifter toddlers played peacefully, only pure innocence shining on their smiling faces...oh to be young...

Kassidy's mind wandered as she took a long lazy turn at the road, gliding on the air currents back to the lake, landing on the tallest branch of the tallest tree, her usual perch. Today was just one of those days where nothing interesting happened...of course, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

[The Fox]

Safrai sat in the snowy cave, her tail flicking back and forth quickly. She stretched forward and padded out of her cave as light as a... Fox. A bit of snow tickled her nose and she sniffled lightly. Safrai padded up to the top of the mountain and watched the park. It was far but where she sat, at the peak, she could see anything and everything.

Being a shifter was strange, she felt she was all alone. No one was like her. Safrai gently scratched at the back of her ear and though about her life, a few years ago her parents had died in a fire. It was her fault. She shook her head and changed.

Safrai walked down the mountain with the skill of an Arctic Fox. Being one, she should have been on the mountain floor but it was safer in the mountains. She wore purple shorts and a tight T-shirt with AC/DC pasted over the front. Her long white/blond hair reached down to the bottom of her back and it flew in the breeze behind her, as she jumped from cliff to cliff and climbed down to the bottom of the mountains. Safrai blew her bangs away and ran from the mountains, her black boots making a soft crunch with every step she took.

Safrai reached the park. Children dodged her as they ran together, playing tag, or trying to find a good place to hide before their friends counted to ten. Safrai was never a kid person... But she couldn't help but giggle as they screamed and laughed together. Parents would sit on the benches, watching their children, waiting for any injuries so they could heal them. Parents were like heroes. Safrai nodded, they were. She walked over to a tree and stood, her back resting against it. She sighed and closed her eyes gently, the screaming and laughing echoed in her mind as she tried to relax. Safrai wasn't sure why she was here... It was just so lonely in her cave.

[[Sorry, it's kinda bad O.o]]

[Lord Tully]

James was in the forest at the edge of the park, zooming through the trees as fast as he could, dodging the tree trunks and occasionally bolting up through the leaves. He had much more energy about him today then normal, so he was trying to burn it all off before he had to be around humans. He turned sharply and began flying towards the lake, as he came out of the forest he quickly shifted into human form and began running towards the lake, this may have gone smoother if he had seen the woman resting against a tree, whom he accidentally tripped over sending him tumbling to the ground, "Ohh, ow, what happened?" He moaned when he suddenly found him self face down in the grass.

[Wattz]

Era jumped as she felt someone trip over her foot. She felt as if her heart would jump from her chest, but she looked over to see a seemingly harmless individual, a man with dark hair and a scruffy face that had fallen to the ground.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack there!” Era sighed and chuckled as she put a hand over her heart. Her previously scowling face quickly turned into an enormous smile, her teeth flashing in the sunlight. Tired as she was, Era managed to lift herself up from where she’d been sitting and extended a hand out to the man.

“Need a hand there? Sorry about that, my foot is a magnetic forcefield.”

[The Fox]

Safrai opened her eyes with surprise when she heard some fumbling around just a few trees away. She slightly rolled her eyes, some humans were so foolish. She brushed back her hair and thought for a moment, she should go over and see if he's OK, though. She blew at her bangs, being a fox meant she was pretty elegant and light on her feet, she wasn't used to the problems humans had.

Safrai sighed and pulled her back away from resting against the trunk of the tree. She stepped over to the chaos and blinked for a moment, "Um... Are you guys OK?" Safrai didn't talk much in her human form, she may have been a popular girl but she never got any words in. She brushed back her hair again and smiled at the two.

[Lord Tully]

James put up a hand as he brought himself up to one knee, "No I'm fine, thanks." He said to the dark-skinned girl as he tried to spit bits of grass and dirt out of his mouth. "Really sorry about that, I didn't see you there." He continued as he got to his feet, "I guess I need to start looking where I'm going." He chuckled, before looking back towards the lake, "So I was about to go for a little swim, care to join me?"

[thesouleater]

Joe was darting around trees, chasing a fly. It wasn't the most fun thing to do, but it was something. He had no one to hang out with at the time, so it provided entertainment. His heavy fur made the day very hot, for he was built for cold weather. But he had by far gotten used to it, so it didn't bug him as much as it used to.

Not paying attention to where he was going, Joe ran right by a woman and bumped into them harshly, but not running in to them dead-on. He stopped running and quickly turned while morphing into his human form. He looked over with concern. "Are you okay?" He asked.

[The Fox]

Well, this was chaotic. Safrai growled and just turned, everyone kept bumping into that dark skinned girl. Safrai was usually kind, but now she was just irritated. She turned and walked back over to her tree. She laid down beside it, in the sun. Safrai wasn't used to the sun, so this wasn't her favorite thing to do, but Safrai knew she was extremely pale... And not many humans were at this time of year. The sun slowly darkened her skin and in just a few moments she was sweating. She opened her eyes for a moment and sighed, it had been a hard night, maybe if she just gave her eyes a small rest...? No. She would get burned. Safrai moved into the shade and sat, her back against the tree once again. Safrai then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

[Bia]

Kassidy jumped and looked down when she heard a loud cry and thump. A man was sprawled across Era, it was obvious he had tripped. Kassidy's eyes grew wide, he wasn't hurt was he?! Era got up to help him, and Kassidy sighed with relief. They didn't need anyone getting hurt on their watch.

She was about to go down and introduce herself, when a tall-ish blonde girl practically glided over. "Are you guys okay?" she asked.

The guy seemed to ignore the blonde one though, and turned his attention to Era..asking if she wanted to go for a swim. thats a little weird... Kassidy couldn't help thinking People aren't usually so friendly.

Concerned, Kassidy softly floated down, landing lightly on Era's shoulder. She gazed at the people sharply with her piercing green eyes. Just then, a large husky dog ran past, running right into the blonde girl. Kassidy rolled her eyes at the dog, this was starting to get annoying.

[The Fox]

Safrai turned around as the husky ran into her, she turned for a few moments to look at the lake, and when she turned back there was a human there. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, "Oh! Hi... Um... Was that your dog? And I'm fine." She brushed back her blonde hair and looked around, wondering where the husky was, "Anyway, it's OK. I know how dogs are." She gave a kind smile, being a fox, she was practically a dog herself. She held out her elegant hand for him to shake, "I'm Safrai, who are you?"

As she held out her hand for a few moments, she continued to look around, hoping to see the husky, it was so strange how one minute... Wait... Safrai took back her hand and looked at the man seriously. In a much more serious voice but still polite she said, "Where's your husky? Are you-?" She didn't say much more, was he? 'Oh God.' She thought to herself. Wait, there was probably a good explanation, so Safrai held out her hand once again.

[Lord Tully]

James once again picked himself up off the ground as after he fell trying to avoid the Husky boy, "It seems I'll be spending half the day falling down at this rate." he said in a tone that was less friendly then before, "I'm fine, what about you? uhh.." Tried to ask the dark-skined girl but then realizing he didn't know her name, while out of nowhere at least two others had shown up, "Umm, I don't think I know any of you, I'm James, and I might as well tell you up front, I'm a Shifter."

[VerVolf]

It was indeed one of those days. The sun had lit up the world making the grass in the park shine it's most colourful green as it danced to the gentle tune of a cool breeze that took the heat off those enjoying it. Families of humans and shifters alike were out today, parents smiling at each other as their kids charged off to play games by the swings. The shouts and screams of joy could be heard right the way into the woods and towards the edge of the lake, giving everyone that content feeling of good childhood memories. There were men selling ice creams around the pathways and on the edge of the road, a young woman from a welfare charity selling balloons to smiling children and in the corner of the lake, hidden away behind a grand oak tree was a shiny new bicycle. A backpack sat against it's front wheel, neatly locked up with the bike lock that circled the tree to keep it safe.

Dan could feel the cool water all around him, his bare skin floating silently under the water. Even with the sun as it was, the light was not enough to break the entire depth of the lake and he could see little in front of him. All he could do was look up with a feeling of inner peace as he watched the light refract through the waves towards him, calling him back to the surface. He kicked his legs as he sliced his hands upwards, pulling himself back up with a gentle amount of elegance in the curve of his movements. With each stroke the picture above him grew larger and soon he could make out the puffy white clouds that had been painted on the reflection of the sky shown in a wonderful network of ripples through the water.

Just off from the center of the lake, right between the grand oak and want must have easilly been the tallest tree in the park was a small wooden platform. It's edge sported a small jetty for harbouring small boats, the stumps ready to support the ropes until they were cast off once again to the lake. It was the perfect little island for someone like Dan to target and he had done just that. Not far from it's edge the water broke, two waves parting like the curtains of a stage ready for the scene to unfold. They each continued to curl and crash back into the lake as Dan surfaces, his long arms reaching out and pulling his head and shoulders up behind them. Water sprayed from his face as his eyes snapped open to check where he was whilst he quickly took a sharp breath to keep going. His damp hair caught the light and it reflected off gently. Lizards always did look best when they were wet.

His fingers soon felt the hard wood of the platform and Dan instinctively grabbed onto the edge. He brought his head up as he let his feet sink, kicking them ever so gently knowing that little if no effort was needed to simply float there with a hand of the platform. He looked back at the way he had came and smiled with achievement at the distance he had swam out to get there before turning to lift himself out of the water. He wiped the water from his face as he sat on the edge, allowing his feet to dip in the cool lake. He missed his tail, but was simply too small as a lizard to soak in a lake this big. He lent back as the gentle sound of laughter was brought up from a North Westerly breeze, and his arms comforted his head as he felt the warm decking below him. The sun was already drying the water that ran off his slightly larger than average body and he closed his eyes knowing that the dampness of his tan coloured board shorts patterned with large brown flowers would soon go away.

Yes, he was content with the world and the long weekend he was getting ready to enjoy.

[thesouleater]

Joe raised an eyebrow at the woman he had practically run into. Where was his dog? He tried to keep a straight face, but failed and ended up laughing like a madman. He stood up straight after a moment and shook the woman's hand. "Sorry. I'm Joe." He managed to say. "I am my dog." He smiled. "All animals are shifters, remember?"

Joe scratched right behind his ear, like he always did. It was an odd habit and humans often looked at him funny when he did so. He sat down on the ground cross-legged and picked at the grass a bit.

[The Fox]

Safrai had forgotten the rules. All animals were shifters. She blushed furiously and smiled, "Sorry, I was just surprised... I act stupid when I'm surprised. Anyway, I'm Safrai, and I'm a fox shifter." She continued to blush and look towards the lake, why did she want to swim? She had the strange urge to get away from the chaos and stop acting like an idiot. Safrai sighed, "Um, well... I guess I'm going to go swim." She pointed to the lake with her thumbs and looked down at her feet. 'Idiot, idiot, idiot!'

Safrai shook her head and started towards the lake, she would swim in her fox form... It was always much more fun that way. Safrai shifted and started running towards the lake as fast as possible. She jumped in and her fur grew soaked. She paddled along in her form, pushing her face under the water and back up repeatedly. It wasn't like her to run from conversation like that, but being in the lake made her feel so much better. She sighed in her fox form, which sounded like a pant. Safrai stayed still, floating in the middle of the lake.

Safrai noticed fish flying around underwater. She went under water and swam after the fish, it was so nice to be in her true form... This was the only time she could feel free. Safrai continued to chase the fish and bob up for air.

[thesouleater]

Joe laughed again. She was repeating herself now. 'What a strange girl.' He thought. 'Then again I'm strange myself.' The husky shrugged at himself and watched Safrai run off towards the lake. He wasn't much of a swimmer, so he looked over at the group of people by a close tree and decided to go say 'Hi'.

Joe morphed into his husky form and padded over, morphing back into his human form once he was there. He sat back in a cross-legged position and waved. "Hi there. I'm Joe." He smiled. "What's your names?"

[Wattz]

“Well we’re popular today now, aren’t we?” Era said as her friend landed gracefully on her shoulder. She absentmindedly gave her head a quick pat, then placed her hands on her hip. All this activity was making Era almost hyper, as if she were running on pure adrenaline. She looked around the place, noting the husky that had run by, and the white fox that decided to take a swim in the lake.

“Aren’t we all, then?” Era responded with a smirk and a raised eyebrow as James told her that he was a shifter. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the husky coming their way, turning back into a human the moment he approached the little group. He, too, introduced himself, and Era couldn’t help but find humor in this strange little rendezvous with shifting strangers.

“Name’s Era. Era Brien.” she said as her scowl once again turned into a grin. “This is Kassidy,” she said as she gestured to the falcon on her shoulder. Kassidy was such a quiet thing sometimes; she figured it wouldn’t do any harm to give her a little nudge.

[ILYTH]

Vic woke up with a start, falling asleep under one of the tree's in the forest was basically and invitation for one of the many pine-cones that adorned to ancient trees to drop down onto an unsuspecting fellows delicate cranium. Victor had been enjoying the temperate laziness of the day at hand and had fallen asleep in a secluded spot in the forest, he had been very sleepy lately probably due to the races he had been frequenting more often than usual.

The sun glinted seductively from between the branches of the pines and cast dappled pools of light on Victors youthful face. The weather was quite warm and added to the lazy feeling of the day, Victor grunted as he got to his feet and brushed the pine needles of his jeans. His plain blue T-shirt had crumpled messily as he slept which gave Victor a slightly more disheveled look than he wanted. He ran a hand through his black hair and looked to the distant horizon, there was not a cloud in the sky and the day felt like one of those last days of summer you never want to end.

After a quick mental debate Victor decided to go for a bit of a run, up to the park maybe. Vic was much more comfortable pelting along on four legs than dawdling on two. Victor went behind a tree and stripped down putting his clothes in a rucksack he had special made for when he had shifted. Vic felt his body fold and change as he transformed from a strong looking upright human to a sleek, athletic cheetah with a golden pelt shining brilliantly in the midsummer sun.

As soon as Vic had felt the change completely take hold he set off with a howling roar, bursting across the land in short sprints broken up by sessions of padding along for recovery. Victor loved the feel of the wind on his face that came with running at full speed, the rush of the wind past his swept back ears and the feel of the ground shifting rapidly beneath him as he ran.

As he reached the park Victor strolled around in his shifted form, humans obviously in awe of his majesty as well they would be thought Victor as he could not imagine anything comparable to the curse of being stuck in such a bland and un-interesting form. As Victor was about to leave he saw a group of his fellow shifters over by a tree, a hawk was among them with brilliant white plumage as well as a vicious looking wolf and various other fantastic beasts of form and beauty.

Victor approached his peers his shoulders undulating as he strutted towards them. "Looking good fellas, mind if I join you.?"

Vi

[Bia]

The blonde girl looked embarrased and fled off to the lake not 50 feet away, where Kassidy's sharp eyes followed her carefully for a few minutes, making sure she could in fact swim.

Her attentions were directed otherwise though when the man from before, introduced himself as Joe and asked them their names. Era introduced both herself and Kassidy, and Kassidy ruffled her feathers as if to agree.

Further conversation was interuppted though, when a tan looking man came walking toward them, looking like he had not a care in the world.

"Looking good fellas, mind if I join you?"

He asked, but you could tell he fully expected to be welcomed with opened arms. The way he walked into this gathering of shifters so confidently, it was obvious he was a shifter himself. And probably had a pretty good form at that. Kassidy felt bad for all the flea shifters out in the world...they were so annoying...

[ILYTH]

As Victor approached the other members of the group one of the party went hurtling off to the lake, evidently for a swim in it's sapphire blue waters.As Victor introduced himself to the group his introduction became a blatant pro shifter anti human rant "Victor Strijk at your services my fine feathered and non feathered friends. What a glorious day we have been blessed with don't you think? To think that in the not to distant past we as a people wouldn't be permitted to enjoy such majesty in the presence of such bland and trivial creatures as these that surround us." Victor looked around at the assembled shifters around him.

They were certainly a picturesque group, a collection of otherwise rare creatures all assembled in the park by the lake. Victor was especially admiring of the pure white hawk that sat atop a branch of the tree, Victor had heard the Hawk introduced as Kassidy.

"My friends I must admit I suddenly feel cumbersome and unwieldy in such a bland, heavy form I think I may join you in displaying the splendor of our gifts." With this Victor began to change down into his cheetah form, the shell he felt most comfortable in by far. Victor intentionally angled himself so that his pelt caught the sun at the perfect angled making him appear to be shining and golden like a miniature sun his spots forming brilliantly contrasting brown holes in the golden aura. Victor had heard this practice referred to as peacocking h didn't know why though, the only peacock he had ever met was terrible at it.

Victor padded over to the shade under the tree and gracefully lay down to gauge the reactions of his new companions to his true form.

[erebus]

Cameron yawned softly as the shadows fell away from his eyes and a bright beam of sunshine struck him square on. Rubbing his eyes, he stretched and shifted his weight a bit, feeling the rough bark underne-- Bark?!?!? Instantly he jerked awake, suddenly aware of his rather precarious position. Once again succumbing to his animal nature, he seemed to have had the bright idea at some point of laying out on one of the lower limbs of a massive oak tree near the lake and taking a nap, forgetting, of course, that it would probably hurt if he rolled off. Slowly, he sat up, straddling the limb and getting his bearings before he climbed down. Carefully, he slid over to the trunk and made his way back to terra firma, searching briefly for his camera backpack. Finally remembering why he was at the park today, he dug out his new long lens and started putting it through its paces. Spotting what looked like a happy bunch across the clearing from him, he brought the lens to bear, sighting them in and taking a quick burst of shots on various settings. Looking through the shots on the screen on the back of the camera, he suddenly got a quizzical look on his face. Bringing the camera back to his eye, he looked towards the upper branches of the tree the group was standing under, spotting a brilliant white bird watching the group intently. I do believe I know that bird... "Heheh, what are the odds," he chuckled softly to himself.

Feeling strangely social for a change, he packed up his bag and shifted into his cat form, deciding to try to surprise Kassidy by stalking over to her tree without her noticing. Sure, it's never happened before, while she was in her animal form, at least, but there's always a first time for everything... Biting the specially made, heavily padded handle on the front of the bag, he easily lifted the heavy bag of the ground and padded through the forest to the treeline opposite from the direction he saw her looking. Quickly but silently, he prowled from tree to tree, making his way across the clearing. Once he made it to the last tree between him and her, he silently set the backpack on the ground at the base of the trunk, letting the handle slip from his jaws. For a moment, he stood watching the group, mildly impressed with the golden form of the fellow big cat shifter. Suddenly, he broke into a sprint, trying to close the gap between the trees before Kassidy turned around and spotted him....

[Hunter]

Lavender,under a shadow of a tree close by the lake,sat up.Her pulse started to calm down after taking her daily run in wolf form.She quietly made her way to the tip of the lake,bending down and lowering her head to take a fresh drink of water as she repeatedly licked the surface of it.After her short drink,licked her muzzle,making her tongue reach as far as she could.Lavender changed into her human form,combing her hair with her fingers.She stretched her arms and then fixed her gray sleeve-less top.

She looked around her surroundings.She saw the peaceful lake and trees that almost surrounded her.Something caught Lavenders eye.A moving figure in the lake that appeared to be swimming.For a second,Lavender thought of swimming and catching some fish but preferred not to do so.What To Do Today.. she thought looking around.

[Wattz]

A confident swagger practically oozed forth from the newcomer, and his speech was more than a little over the top. Era couldn't help but smirk and raise an eyebrow at him, curious as to what kind of animal he could be.

Then he changed, and she couldn't help but jump. Era was careful not to disrupt Kassidy, for she was still perched on her shoulder. The man was an impressive cat-like animal, his glossy coat covered in spots and his form massive. She laughed and clapped at the sight, feeding him the response she supposed he wanted.

"Well I can't beat that, no sir!"

Era was too caught up in all the social commotion to notice the jaguar stalking towards them, aiming straight for Kassidy.

[Bia]

Kassidy gazed curiously as the man shifted, it was always a wonder when you met a new shifter. In an instant, his body shrank down and elongated, sprouting bright yellow-gold fur covered with oblong black dots. Long claws appeared on the appendages, and long fang-like teeth sprouted from the whisker-covered muzzle. His long gold tail swished through the air, Kassidy's ears picking up the sound easily.

Kassidy gasped, well in her bird form it was more of a squawk. He was so beautiful, no wonder he was so cocky. She spread her great white wings in respect for this shifter, before settling back down on Era's shoulder.

While everyone else was gasping and oo-ing at the new shifter, Kassidy's sharp ears picked up rapid padding behind her. The sound of running, and it was getting closer. In a flash Kassidy jumped and turned around off Era's shoulder, just in time to see a huge black cat sprinting straight at her. With no time to react the cat jumped up and tackled her, being careful not to bring out claws. Kassidy by now had realized who it was and cawed happily, pecking playfully at the black cats head. After the short wrestling session was over, the cat lay down and Kassidy rested her talons on his head gently, her bright green eyes still twinkling merrily.

[VerVolf]

The peace and quiet was perfect out there in the lake and Dan was glad he had set himself the challenge of swimming out into the middle of it. The sun's warmth was already seeping into him and the shifter couldn't help but feel content with his little spot. A quiet splash of water caught his attention however, and he lazily rolled over onto his bare chest to find out what had caused it.

He stared in wonder as he watched her playing in the lake. The sun made her wet fur sparkle and shine back at him, her small white paws paddled away happily and there was that general sense of freedom that Dan could relate too. All the same, he had never seen this animal form before and he couldn't help but stare as she dived and surfaced again, her little muzzle gasping for air as she did so with a broad grin.

It made Dan smile as he lay there on his wooden island. He soon noticed the small, or rather large, group of shifters in the edge of the woods behind Safrai. There were birds and big cats, wolves and those still in their human form. This he dismissed rather quickly however, and he turned back to look at the animal playing in the water, simply keeping his distance and not wanting to interrupt.

[thesouleater]

Joe smiled at the two girls. "Nice ta meet cha!" He started picking at the grass underneith him and made a small bracelet out of it. He stood and hung it on a small branch from the tree behind Era. He then went and sat back down to see yet another person wander over and shift into an orange and black-spotted, cat-like animal. He stared at the shifter, blinking when his fur shined in the sun.

Joe frowned slightly, not really liking the cat-like shifter. He normally got along with everyone, but cats weren't too his liking. They seemed a little too proud in his mind, as if they thought they were the leaders of the world. But he quickly changed his facial expression back to a more light and happy face, as it normally was. He would try and get along with the orange cat-like animal.

"Well, theres quite a few of us today, eh?" He said, scratching behind his ear.

[WordsofWisdom]

Silent, calming air. Bright sunshine that lit up the entire world. Feelings like you could skip and prance and frolick all the live-long day. It was a day that stupid poetry was written on, a day where you went outside and met your neighbors, chatted about meaningless things like when to mow the lawn and what time your kids came home. It was a time when peace was truly reigning supreme, and the globe was letting everyone know it.

Scott didn't frolick. He didn't write poetry. He usually greeted his neighbors with a quick middle finger and a quicker pace. He didn't mingle, he didn't chat. What the hell was out there that was to be happy for, anyways? Nature? Friendship?

Nature, he'd decided, got him where he was now, and friends only invited more enemies.

So, when he got off work that day, pushing and pulling mining carts for humans that gazed upon him with half fear and half interest, he tucked his hands into his bomber jacket and started a brisk walk towards his favorite park, to perhaps read the well-worn book by some wise scholar he had in his messenger bag, ignore the sunshine and the pretty clouds, and just be alone for a while before heading back into his too-small apartment filled with memories of times where he hated everything.

His shoulders were slumped with the weight of a burden that refused to be lifted, and his collar was up, hiding his mouth from ready view as he passed through the streets, taking the turns on auto-pilot, mind already on the book in his backpack. Times of Change, it was called, by Wellington Potts. It was a human's take on the 'Shifting Society', and how 'they' operated during the battles. At the time of release, Potts had viewed it as the human play book to winning the war on shifters. The first time Scott had opened the cover he had nearly pissed himself laughing at the man's flawed logic and useless arguments. At one point, the man even claims that shifters had no real gender, and could mate with anyone so long as they were in animal form.

Apparently, he hadn't noticed the genitalia of said species.

Scott rounded a final corner, his head snapping up to take in a view of the park, and he faltered, nearly making a young woman behind him slam into his back. He mumbled an apology, his eyes locked on the crowd of people near a tree (his tree, actually. His favourite tree), mixed between animal forms and human forms.

He huffed and rolled his eyes slightly. What, were they having book club meetings, now? Were they all supposed to hold hands and prance, singing "Kumbaya" and making s'mores?

Shifters were just like humans. Some were assholes, some were saints, and almost all of them were too close for personal comfort.

With another decisive snort (and a slight inward surprise and amusement at his own hatred this morning - that sunshine must've really ground his gears) he made his way to the park, thinking about Mr. Potts and his stupid book.

Looks like he wouldn't get much reading done, after all.

[Doreen]

Ivy was just minding her own business, trying to fill her stomach. Currently she was living near some large bushes with a lot of berries in them. It was a good place to hide from humans. The rat sniffed curiously at the new smell she had just found. The berries smelled as if they were very ripe. There were so many smells in the world and Ivy thought almost all of them were wonderful. She couldn’t remember the last time she smelled something bad. Today life was good, she decided while picking the perfect berry and munching it away.

All too soon her face was covered in dark blue berry juice from the many berries she had eaten. It didn’t feel nasty, but it wasn’t pleasant either. Of course it did smell good, but Ivy felt dirty. She ran towards the nearest pond, looked at her reflection in the rippling water and grimaced. That’s definitely not how she wanted to be seen. Quickly she dipped her paws into the water and tried to clean herself as much as possible.

Ivy was so into her cleaning ritual that she didn't notice that a lot of shifters entered the park. She only noticed that all of the sudden, there were a lot of smells, all over the place. Immediately she sat up straight, whiffing her nose into the air. Curiously, but very carefully, she tried to get closer, moving between the many bushes. Her sight was not too good, but she was used to it and used her fine sense of smell to make up for her eyes. There were a lot of smells she didn't recognise and she hesitated, unsure whether she would meet the other shifters or not.

[Wattz]

Era flung herself back when she felt something fly by her face, the fur skimming her within an instant. She instinctively shifted into her aye-aye form, chattering and clinging to the nearest individual, which happened to be Joe. She hung on to his leg, shivering slightly by the shock. Era was still a bit perturbed even when she recognized the tremendous black cat shifter, a familiar face, and Kassidy still in her falcon form celebrating over the reunion.

She was a fan of a good practical joke just as anybody though, and once she’d calmed down, she couldn’t help but chatter in a sort of nervous laughter. Era shifted back into her human form, now sitting cross-legged on the ground.

“Hey, Cameron!” Her voice was a little shaky, though she tried to conceal it with more laughter. “Fancy seeing you fly in. Ever heard of warning someone?”

It was only then that she realized she was still holding Joe’s knee with both hands. Era let go and flung herself up to stand next to him. “Sorry about that!” She ruffled his white-striped hair with a grin. “No harm done!”

[thesouleater]

Joe blinked, just realizing the black panther. It attacked Kassidy, the bird. He blinked, then slightly frowned. Why so many cat-like shifters? All the other dog-like shifters must have decided it wasn't the best day to come to the park, even though it was a beautiful day. Though, he had met Safrai, the fox. A fox was similar to a dog, right? He considered the question in his mind for a moment before paying more attention to what was going on around him.

Seconds later Joe felt someone cling to his leg. He nearly jumped and looked down at the fuzzy aye-aye. He figured that it was Era, since she had dissapeared. He felt Era shivering from the startle of the black panther attacking Kassidy, but seemed to be okay now that she had seen who it was. She shifted back to her human form, still looking a little shaken.

Out of nowhere Era looked at Joe's knee, realizing she was still clinging to him. She stood up quickly and ruffled his hair. Joe grinned and started laughing. "It's quite alright. So the black panther I'm guessing is Cameron?" He asked, pointing a thumb at the shifter.

[erebus]

Cameron sat panting, trying to catch his breath and cool down from the run he just made. Still elated that he had not only run across one of his few friends on a random trip to the park, but he had also, finally, managed to catch her (quite literally, in this case) by surprise, Cameron couldn't help but purr lightly as Kassidy sat on his head, celebrating having come out on top of the encounter. Now if I could just manage to do it again in my clumsier human form...

“Hey, Cameron! Fancy seeing you fly in. Ever heard of warning someone?”

Sheepisly, Cameron laid a paw across his eyes in apology. Sorry 'bout that... Slowly, he raised his arm, peeking out from underneath his paw and playfully sticking out his tongue at Era. ...kinda... Quickly, however, he regained his composure and shifted his attention to the man who smelled of a dog-shifter as he spoke up.

"So the black panther I'm guessing is Cameron?"

He stopped purring as he thoughtfully appraised the group around him, especially this apparent dog-shifter standing near Era. Silently, he sat briefly debating whether to continue his surprisingly social mood and tag along with this motley crew. Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts by a gentle, reassuring (albeit slightly pointy) squeeze from one of Kassidy's talons. Taking her cue as his decision, he resumed his purring and slowly rose to his feet, being careful as to not disrupt his passenger's balance. Silently, he padded over to the man who spoke up, gazing up at his eyes as Cameron stopped in front of him. Slowly, he sat back on his haunches and raised a paw in that universal gesture of greeting; the handshake. It's nice to meet ya...

[Fox Xalian]

Danielle walked around the lake. She had smelled a group of shifters, her research showed that shifters had a different smell to regular animals, considering their human forms. Plus she had lived with both animals and humans long enough to know the different smells. She, of course, was in her lioness form, the sun shone off her white fur. She layed down near the lake in the grass and watched.

"Hm, seems to be an assortment of different shifters, this could be interesting" she thought. After some time she decided to stand up and walk over to the lake for a drink. As she kelt down beside the lake and lapped up a small amount of water she kept an eye out, watching for anything that could be a threat. She had found that all shifters took after their animals, so she knew any canine and feline shifters might try and attack her.

[thesouleater]

Joe blinked and watched the black panther, Cameron, wonder over. Cameron sat and lifted up a paw. Joe shook the shifter's paw and sat down cross-legged on the grass. He smiled. "I'm Joe." He said, scratching behind his ear... again.

A moment later Joe noticed another shifter wonder into the area. They sat down by the lake and soon after took a drink from it. They didn't come up to the large group though. Joe decided that, if they had wanted to come and join, they would have done so. He left them be for the time.

[Fox Xalian]

Danielle saw a black and white wolf looking at her. She quickly stood up and walked slowly through the shallow water of the lake. She swished her tail from side to side and watched him carefully. She stopped in front of him and sat down in front of him, tilting her head to the right.

[Wattz]

Era stuck her tongue back out at Cameron and crossed her arms as if to huff. Her face turned cross for a second, then her smile flashed right back on her face, as per usual.

“Yup! That’s Cameron alright,” Era said to Joe as a response, a huge, drawn out yawn escaped her as she did this, feeling exhausted by being so overactive in the sunlight. But the whole situation pumped up her adrenaline, and she would hate to miss any of it.

“Man, Kassidy, we really are popular today, aren’t we?” Era said as she watched yet another big cat shifter waltz up to the group. She had a luxurious air about her that the white glossy coat helped to accentuate.

It was strange, watching so many shifters join together in one place. She couldn’t help but imagine a giant magnet all pulling them to this spot, unable to escape its strength. The new lioness was just as intimidating as the other bigger shifters. Era felt disinclined to shift back into her aye-aye form, considering she was far bigger in human form. She hid this intimidation to the best of her ability, approaching Joe and the new shifter with her hands on her hips.

“Name’s Era!” she directed towards the newcomer. “What brings you around these parts?”

[thesouleater]

Joe tilted his head to the left, a blank look on his face. 'Yay... more cat shifters...' he thought. He then smiled, not knowing what the cat shifter was trying to say. He hadn't always been the best at facial emotions when a person was in their animal form. It was difficult to tell. A human's form however, was quite easy.

Era had walked over to the cat shifter and Joe, introduced herself and asked what the cat shifter was doing in the area. Joe straightened his head and raised an eyebrow. "I believe they're here to see why all of us shifters have gathered. Thats why most of us have come here in the first place... that or its because we were included in the jumble of bumps earlier." Joe replied, grinning.

[Fox Xalian]

Danielle ran back into the long grass where she had left her backpack. She went back into human form and got into her usual outfit. A blue tank top with a lion drawn on it, her best friend from school had made it for her, and jeans. She walked into the clearing and over to the shifter she was sitting in front of, and sat down again. "I'm Danielle" she said, her slight French accent was easy to hear. "I heard from a little bird, quite literally, it was a finch, that a group of shifters was gathering here so I came to investigate" she said, looking at Era. "Also I was curious to see if what I found in my studies in SHifting Biology where correct" she added.

[Bia]

Kassidy looked over at the new arrival. She seemed eager enough...but this was very strange, what was going on, why were all these shifters gathered in one place? It gave her an uneasy feeling. Her bright green eyes went over to Era, looking to see if she felt the same.

Just then, a faint cry was heard from across the park. Kassidy's sharp bird ears caught it immediately, and it sounded distressed. In one swift movement she jumped off Cameron's head and into the tree. Quickly jumping from branch to branch she got to the highest branch and with her sharp green eyes was able to see what was going on. A woman was getting mugged...in her own park!

Kassidy jumped out the tree and shifted. All 5'8" of Kassidy's human body sprang up, she was wearing a simple gray tank top and jeans, with bright pink sneakers. But there was no time to worry about her appearance, ducking down quickly she whispered in Era's ear "We've got a mugging going on, I'll take care of it just keep these guys..." she trailed off, but she knew Era knew what she meant, keep these shifters occupied so they didn't grow...suspicious.

Turning to the group she smiled and nodded, trying to be reassuring, and shifted again, jumping into the air. Her long white wings flapped as she gained speed, and soared over the tree tops, headed for the mugging.

[Wattz]

It really was too uncanny, all the shifters gathering at this spot in waves. Happy as Era was about being surrounded by so many people, she couldn’t help but feel that they were making their jobs a little too difficult, especially if –

Speak of the devil.

Era immediately noticed Kassidy’s sense of urgency. The aye-aye shifter’s hearing wasn’t nearly as good as the falcon’s, but she could easily pick up when her friend heard some sort of danger. Not to mention the fact that Era’s morning vision was nothing in comparison to Kassidy’s. She tried to watch casually out of the corner of her eye as the falcon perched on a tree to seek out the trouble, only for her to gracefully glide down and shift into her human form, whispering in Era’s ear.

Ah, the joys of watching. To think a mugging was happening right here, right now. Oh how very inconvenient. Part of Era got a little excited at the thought of something interesting happening. It wasn’t that she found amusement in another’s possible distress; it was simply a slight thrill of the unknown pounding in her heart. But to have this giant hoard of fellow shifters around, at this very moment?

“Ah, don’t worry about Kassidy over there. She’s just a little antsy right now, if you can believe it,” Era said as she tacked on a chuckle. “Crowds make her nervous, you know? I mean, there’s so many of us here. But don’t worry, she’ll be back when she’s calmed down a bit.” Jumping up to stand on her feet, Era looked around for something, anything to serve as a distraction. There really wasn’t much to use as a distraction, considering they were right on the edge of a lake, surrounded only by grassy fields and random trees. Lucky, lucky them.

“Hahah… funny that we’re all here then, hm? Hey, have you guys been to the other side of the park yet? It’s… man, it’s great.” Era winced inwardly at this last part she uttered, but she went along with it. “Come on, you really gotta see it. I’m sure Kassidy can catch up later.”