Rosettas [Leeso]

[Tashe]

She had left the Apothecary in the all too capable hands of Tami and was happily half way into Green Mountain National Forest, back country passes and all. It had been a while since her last trip to the reserve and she could feel her other half straining to get free. The terrain was nothing like the forests in Belize, but nature was nature, plus the pine needles didn't feel half bad. And they dulled the noise of her paws when she stalked a rabbit, so, she couldn't complain. Shifting her pack, Anya glanced down at her compass before lifting her nose to the air. She could smell water near by, which meant she was close to one of the small lakes that dotted the national park. Currently, the one she was aiming for was not on any of the average joe hiking trails. In fact, no trail actually ran to this one, the only way you could get there is hiking about fourty-five minutes off of one of the lesser used trails. Truly back country.

Anya hopped over a fallen tree and scampered up a small slope, cresting the ridge she let her nose guide her the rest of the way. The lake itself was small, not big enough to bother with a boat, but not quite small enough to call it a bump in the river. Never the less it was still quite a beautiful sight to see. Seeking out a perfect spot to set up her stuff, Anya hung her bag up a tree on a high, slightly broken branch, then tied a white ribbon around the trunk. It would help her find the tree come night fall. Taking a blanket out of her pack, she removed her shoes and clothes, wrapping herself in the material. Nose to the sky again, she made sure nothing human was in the area. It wouldn't be a good thing if a human spotted her. With blanket and all, she dropped to all fours on the ground and took a deep breath.

The change itself took no more than two or three minutes, but the pain still made it feel like longer. No matter how many times the transformation happened it would probably still hurt like all hells. Shaking off the blanket once she had traded two legs for four, the Balam stretched and yawned before dragging the blanket up the tree. With her tracks hidden, she made her way down to the lake for a short, refreshing dunk in the water. Unlike most cats, she didn't mind the water. She wouldn't want to play all day in it, but getting her fur wet so the sun wouldn't make her sleepy was a pretty good idea. Once that was done, Anya shook the excess water out and wondered up the bank to lay in the shade. Tail twitching as she rolled in the grass, the Jaguar stretched out happily in the shade her head shortly falling onto her paws. This was nice. Her other self worked much too hard.

[GloriousGoat]

He had found the lake purely by chance wandering the wilds – though such a manicured state park didn’t quite compare to the hidden valleys of Scotland. It was secluded, however, without the pressing scent of humanity like the hiking trails carried with abundance. He was panting by the time he came within range of the lake. Branches had caught in his hair and clothing, tousling his short locks and wrinkling his old jeans and worn sweatshirt so that he looked like he’d been hiking for days rather than hours. He wasn’t used to the physical exertion, with so much of his time nowadays spent with his face pressed to his work, creating little whorls in silver and gold wire and setting precious gems into tiny sockets. The call of the open air still came, though, and it built in him into a longing that demanded he stretch his legs and bury his paws in the dirt until he couldn’t stand it and he was prompted again into trudging along foreign forests for miles until he could find some relative privacy to let loose his true form.

He swatted away mosquitoes as he paused, his chest heaving, and dug a water bottle out of his pack. He quickly downed the last few sips of water and groaned, wiping sweat away from his forehead. Almost there, just keep going. He chanted the mantra to himself and hitched his bag onto his shoulder once again, and ran right into a branch with a grunt. Slapping it out of the way, he stumbled over some roots and finally found solid footing again before continuing onwards.

He reached the lake within the hour and tossed his bag on the ground. He’d already stuffed his sweatshirt and undershirt into the bag along the way, and quickly set to tugging his worn shoes off his feet and clicking the clasps on his necklace and watch before depositing them safely into his bag’s latched compartments. He dismissed the jaguar’s presence with a practiced ease, previous experiences labeling it as something that would sooner flee than cause an altercation with neither human nor the larger, unknown creature he was soon to become. He stood and worked at his pants’ buttons working them and his underwear down and stepped out of the tangle, kicking them free and onto his bag, unceremoniously leaving them like that as he stretched and eyed the lake, passing a glance again at the jaguar lounging in the shade on the other side of the lake. For a moment a ponderous look passed over his face as he tried to label the strange animal and whether it was indigenous or not, before shrugging and working his way to the lake, carefully picking his way along the stones to spare his bare feet from sharp edges. He fell into the water when he misjudged the stability of a larger rock with an impressively loud splash and jumped up, spitting out water and rubbing drops out of his eyes, laughing to himself and running his fingers through his short hair.

Leeso sighed contentedly to himself and ran his fingers through the cold water, watching as his limbs slowly thickened and turned a deep shade of brown, black furs sprouting. The transition was smooth and produced a bizarre melding of man and beast that quickly leaned towards beast. His back legs lengthened, chest and stomach extended until he became too top-heavy to remain on two legs and fell forward as gravity claimed him. The beast that remained shook himself as that vaguely itchy feeling of sprouting so much fur at once shivered over him and passed, and he shook his heavy head experimentally, feeling the familiar weight of his horns settle in. The water that had come to mid-thigh on his human form now brushed his belly in little waves, tickling his stomach and causing his back to arch high until he tumbled deeper into the lake, starting out in a broad-stroked swim.

[Tashe]

Was that... a human? Ears picking forward in surprise, Anya took an experimental sniff of the air. It didn't smell totally human, but it wasn't a scent she was familiar with either. What was more interesting was that the male didn't decide to leave after spotting her from across the bank. She'd never been spotted here in the states, but in Belize, the humans generally had the better sense to vacate the vicinity. Without weapons, humans were rather weak creatures. The Jaguar thrashed her tail as she watched the human shed his outer skins, she could vaguely enjoy the show with thanks to her other self. More over she was intrigued. Picking herself up, Anya walked to the edge of the embankment and watched the man as he suddenly began to transform. Her ears immediately flattened back against her skull, her upper lips pulling back slightly. Not human. She had been right. But it wasn't that the man had turned out to be a creature, it was that he had turned into something that smelled and looked like a cat.

This was her territory, at least for now, she'd come here first and he was trespassing. Female Jaguars were the more territorially aggressive of the species. The fact that the beast thing was at least a foot... foot and a half... taller than her didn't daunt her in the least. Snarling loud enough for it to carry across the water Anya remained stationary on her perch, yellow green eyes following the male's movements in case she needed to move. She thought that the male should pick up his sacks of cloth an find some other lake out there, at least there was plenty to choose from. The upside was that she wasn't going to attack him unless he initiated a fight. She was kind of hoping he'd be obligatory and leave, but in her experience, males didn't tend to listen to females unless they were smaller. This catbeast was definitely not in any way smaller... oh and he had horns. That could pose a problem.

[GloriousGoat]

Swimming was a luxury for him. No matter how hard Leeso tried, he couldn't overcome the childhood fear of water instilled when he'd once been ducked under the water for too long by an overzealous sibling. It was only through the confidence he gained in his true form that the memory became unimportant and forgotten. He reveled in the feeling of eddies of water swirling through his broad toes, tickling his underbelly, cooling his hot fur.

His trek across the lake was paused as the snarl carried over the water. His ears perked as well as they could below his heavy horns and his head turned to cast his gaze once more on the creature he had so quickly dismissed, a look of surprise on his expressive face. He had never been challenged by a wild animal before; even bears tended to lumber away from him when they encountered him in this form. He hovered, treading water for mere moments until his curiosity overcame him and he began paddling towards the shore a few dozen meters away from the jaguar.

He kept a wary eye on the small, snarling cat as he pulled his water-logged body from the lake, shaking droplets free with a few vigorous shakes. The scent that greeted him as he sniffed gingerly in her direction was... puzzling. He still couldn't place her species - he really should pay more attention when people told him about native species - but she smelled a bit stranger than he would expect from any given wild animal. The Best Goon Brenn felt a tickling at the back of his head that maybe, just maybe, this was no regular animal. The more he eyed the cat up and down, the more her patterning seemed... out of place. She, like he, had powerful forequarters and muscular limbs, and looked more suited to climbing than shuffling about on the pine needle strewn floor of a deciduous forest. Shifting uneasily, his head tilted to one side and he attempted to send a tendril of thought out to the animal, unsure of the results. He projected peace and reassurance, a promise that he intended no harm. The projection was composed of feeling, impression, rather than words.

[Tashe]

Well obviously her warning must have sounded like an invitation to get even closer. If she had hands and even the slightest inkling to do so, Anya may have put a palm to her face. Since when did anything ever go toward a snarling big cat, though big was a relative term when compared to how big the male turned out to be. Standing up into a crouch, she kept her head low a flicked her tail back and forth. She didn't really want to tussle with that behemoth of a cat-goat-thing, mainly because she was starting to doubt she could win if it came down to it. The Jaguar's nostrils flared as she inspected the male from her perch, eying him down from his horns to the rosetta spots on his fur. She would have taken a trip down spirit lane to see if any of her ancestors knew what species it was, but that would require taking her attention off of the male.

Ears swung forward and tail stopped lashing too and fro when the male reached out with his mind. With a singularly unimpressed look, Anya arched her back in a stretch before popping her furry butt down onto the ridge. That tendril of thought was wholly enveloped by one of her own, forging a connection that should in all rights, let them speak without speaking. She was used to talking through a person's soul or whatever, but, mind to mind shouldn't be too much different. That's nice. But you still intrude on my territory. What are you anyway? You're like a little hoof and one of mine together in a body. Hopping down the bank Anya cautiously approached the male giving him some berth so not to make him feel crowded. I am a Balam. My true form is Human but I much prefer this one. She circled him, still giving him distance between them, though it was obvious she was more curious than anything.

My Balam name is K'inek', but my human name is Anya. She sat herself down in on the sand a few feet away from the male's head. I come from the place of gum trees and ancient peoples. You do not look like you come from this place either. Wrapping her tail around her body, she tilted her head to the side. Most of her mind speech was aided with filtered visions when she sensed it was garbled, such as small flashes of Belizian jungle or old abandoned Mayan temples, and even a goat when she spoke of little hooves. Her mind was a unique mixture of Jaguar and human, lending to a particularly interesting way of speaking.