((Stone Hunting OOC Thread))



Merisa looked at the lake water again, still staring at her reflection. Or rather, she was staring at the ears that had formed from her own pointed elfin ears two weeks before. Behind her swished the tail that came in at the same time as the ears. The four foot appendage was black with red tiger stripes, like her hair, and furry like a cat.

She, like her parents, were of a race called 'Plains Elves'. They were good with animals and excellent runners. Since they were taught to respect all life from birth, these elves have problems when it comes to fighting anyone. They tended to be peace keepers.

Merisa in particular was a jokester. She was always trying to make people laugh in any situation, no matter what it cost her to do so. If tripping into mud got a grin, she was happy.

Given her attitude, and the general attitude of her people, her transformation to 'half-breed' was a shock. While they had always been good with animals, never before (that they knew) had one of them started to turn into an animal.

It was shortly after her semi-change that a stranger appeared in the village with news of a magical stone that would complete the change and allow her to shift back to full elf again. No one blamed the stranger for her change, no one thought to question the odd appearance with the information right when she needed it. It never crossed their minds to wonder about the details.

She left home a few days later, after a few minor lessons with the village's only sword, an old relic that's been sitting in a closet for a hundred years. She wasn't any good with it, but maybe she would get a lucky shot if running away didn't work. At the worst, she could use it to dig a hole with...

She looks away from the lake, her thoughts moving to brighter things, and she continues her trek. She had no idea where she was going, but by golly, she was making good time getting there.

[Hi :) Hope you don't mind if I just jumped in]

A sigh escaped the young man's lips as he stared listless at the great blue sky. Another sigh floated out before he decided to get up off the soft grass he had been resting on. Yuzo had been travelling for days now and was almost out of money for food. He had gotten himself into trouble in a few villages he had passed and had avoided going near civilization for a while. For the past few days he had survived by feeding off the land and buying food from the occasional travelling merchant. He had been resting on the side of the hill since early that morning, not fearing the threat of bandits for bandits didn't frequent a rural countryside such as this. The dragon-blooded teen returned to the main road, or what would be considered the main road. It was hard to tell since it was as covered with grass as the hillside. He was surprised to find a girl walking towards him. "Hello." he greeted the feline looking being. She clearly was not human but didn't seem to be a threat. "Are you going to a town by any chance?"

She knew the possibility existed for running into other people, but she didn't expect it so far out of the way of everything. She was somewhat pleasantly surprised to find someone to talk to again, though.

"Hi!" Waving, she hurries before him. "Town? There's a town out here? I'm not going to a town. I'm looking for a stone." While she's talking, Merisa was smiling broadly. "I'm Merisa. What's your name?"

~X~

In the shadows of the passed terrain, a cloaked figure watches the exchange between Merisa and the stranger. He watches the stranger carefully, not really trusting someone who would be out there alone, and so young looking, without anyone protecting him.



((Nope, don't mind ya jumping in at all. Just so you know, there is another thread in the OOC sub-forum that has Merisa's bio in it.))

[Ok :) I just found it. I'll post my char profile there soon.]

"Oh, I'm Yuzo" he said, holding out a hand for her to shake. He wasn't sure if she was familiar with this form of greeting. It was a human custom that was pretty well known so he used it for any stranger he had just met. His people greeted others in a different way, however. They traditionally would put their hands together and bow slightly. "So you're not heading for a town?" he asked to confirm what she had just said. He was slightly disappointed, having hoped she would be heading to civilization. The green eyed boy was hoping he could find somebody to accompany him just in case he ran into trouble. For some reason, he believed having another person with him would decrease his chances of encountering a fight. He's never actually tried out the theory before, but still, he believes in his idea. Well, if she wasn't going to a town, it was still alright. At least he'd have someone to talk to. Though for how long, he wasn't sure. "Um, you're looking for a stone you say? Well if you need a rock you could always find one lying on the ground somewhere." He tried scanning the grassy area around him for a stone, hoping it would help.

Merisa looked at the hand with a confused look on her face. The boy was being nice, did he want to fight her? She'd encountered a couple of mean people since she left home, but she'd been able to avoid attacks by running away. When an attack didn't come, she began to think it was a way to say 'hello'. She folded both her hands over her heart and bowed her head a little, her people's way of greeting someone new.

"No, I'm on a quest to find the magic stone. I was told I'd find it only by looking. If I went to a town, I'd have to stop looking for the stone, then I wouldn't find it." She wasn't aware that her words sounded naive. She'd never encountered anyone that wasn't an elf before the stranger in her village the week before. "You won't find it down there. The strange guy said it'd be in the mountains by the ocean. But I don't know what mountains look like. Or an ocean. I'd never left home before now..."

~X~

Deciding the boy meant no threat to the girl he followed, the girl he protected several times already, the girl he was fated for, the cloaked figure settles down to watch the encounter, to see how she handles herself. To him, she was more beautiful with the ears and tail than she ever was without them.

Behind him, his own tail, that of a wolf, wags slowly. He was most happy when thinking of Merisa. It pleased him to no end to be able to protect her from danger. Even though it wasn't his people's way of life, violence to save someone you care for was easier to do than violence for the sake of yourself.



((I should link the first post of this to the OOC, but I'm too lazy to right now))

[Lol :lol:]

'I guess she's not familiar with this greeting then.' he thought, and decided to greet her as he would his own people since her greeting seemed similar. He listened to her story and was surprised to find that she didn't know what mountains or the ocean were. In comparison to her, the young prince was well traveled. Even while he was guarding his lake, he still traveled to neighboring villages to visit the people who relied on the fish and medicinal plants sustained by the pristine waters. "I can understand if you've never seen the ocean before but I've never met someone who hasn't seen a mountain." He wondered how to put it. "Mountains are...well, they're like this hill." he said as he turned to the hill he had rested on. "Except bigger. As for the ocean, it's like a lake or pond or puddle. Except bigger." He hoped it made sense to the black furred woman.

"I'm a Plains Elf. I know I don't look like it anymore, but that's what I am." She said this with a smile, even though inside, she cursed the ears that changed her appearances so much. "There's no mountains, hills, or oceans anywhere near our village. The only thing that's near us is a huge forest, but we don't go in there often."

She looks back at the hill Yuzo motioned toward, and caught a glimpse of a dark shape against the shadowed side. "We've never had a need to leave our village. Everything we've ever needed, we grew in the ground or got from the river that runs through the side." She squints her eyes, trying to focus on the dark form. "Can you see what that is on the hill? I can't tell from here."

~X~

He knew she saw him, but he also knew that if he moved, she'd see him better. He rather liked protecting her without her knowledge, and he had no idea what he'd do if he had to try and explain why he was following her like he was.



((Not to nitpick, just thought I'd mention it, but her fur is black with red stripes. Like a tiger kitty, or a tabby cat. Oh, an the only fur she has is on her ears (on top her head) and tail. I can't remember if I put that in her bio... I probably didn't...))

[Oh, oops :sweat: I got the fur colors switched. I'll edit it. But when I mentioned her fur, I only meant the fur she has on her ears and tail :) I know she looks mostly human :lol: Thanks for catching that :D and feel free to tell me where I've made mistakes because I sometimes misread things, hehe]

"I see." he said with an understanding smile. "Glad to know your people are well taken care of." When she asked him if he could see what she saw, he tried to focus in the part of the hill she was looking at. "On the hill?" he asked, mimicking her squinting. Soon he could make out a vague figure but he was still unsure if it was just part of the hill or not. "Err..It sort of looks black..and blue." Those were the only features he could discern from the hidden being. "I can't really tell from here." he said as he slowly approached the figure.

The wolf moved in slowly, cautiously. There were people up ahead, and he didn't want them to think he was a threat. Or rather. He hoped they weren't a threat to him. He was tired and hungry. Nearly exhausted really. For days he hadn't been able to have a moments rest. It would be alright though. He wasn't being followed anymore. Bright blue eyes that glowed with intelligence peered ahead as he came into view of the people. He paused. He was directly in their line of sight. He only paused for a moment and then the dark blue furred wolf was moving towards them again.

Kenji knew his quiet pursuit had come to an end when he saw the boy walking toward him. He'd been spotted, and now he'd have to explain to Merisa what he was doing and why he'd followed her when everyone else thought he'd died years ago.

Standing, he slowly emerged from the hillside, walking toward the boy that had been talking with Merisa. "So who saw me first, you or Merisa?" He simply had to know which one saw him, if only to improve his hiding ability better for later on.

~X~

Merisa watched as Yuzo walked toward the dark figure. Blue and black? Wait, Kenji is blue and black. But he left the village years ago. Everyone else thought he'd died. Why would he be following me? Her thoughts turned completely to Kenji, the boy she'd been friends with since she was born, the boy she knew she was fated for, the man who disappeared in the middle of the night three years prior.

She wasn't so absorbed in her own thoughts, however, that she could miss seeing the cobalt wolf approaching from the side. Wolves, in her experience, were great companions and good hunters for when the village needed better meat than just fish. She was good when it came to talking to animals, as they generally understood her. She hoped with all her heart that she wouldn't say something to cause the wolf to attack.

"Hello wolf. You look tired. Have you not been sleeping well?" She crouched down as she spoke, knowing that some wolves see a larger creature and think 'food' or 'challenge'. It didn't occur to her that this wolf might think 'food' anyway, until she sat on her tail. She was up like a shot, and falling backwards before she knew it. "Ouch! My poor tail... I'm still not used to it being there..." She was holding the tail in both hands, massaging out the sore spot.

His approach towards the shaded figure came to a stop when it suddenly moved and started coming towards him.

"So who saw me first, you or Merisa?" asked the wolf eared man, now visible in the daylight.

"I believe it was Merisa." Yuzo could only hazard a guess that he was from the same tribe as the cat-eared woman was. He turned to his companion only to find her speaking to a blue wolf. Now this was something he didn't see everyday. Although he knew dragons can talk, he wasn't sure if wolves could. But this wolf was blue and the world was wide. 'Who knows, maybe it can.' he thought as he watched the girl accidentally sit on her tail.

His eyes had narrowed slightly. The male was moving towards something..another person. Krinn had caught his scent, but for now he ignored the males. The female was looking at him. Speaking to him and moving to sit down, then she was up like a shot and on the ground. He smiled, a wolfish grin and loped towards her. A soft whine in his throat, as if asking her if she was alright. He sat on his haunches close to her and nuzzled her face softly before tenatively licking the tail she held gingerly in her hands.

Kenji continued to draw closer to the strange boy. As he approached, he noticed odd things about the boy, things that normal humans, or elves for that matter, didn't do. "You're not human any more than I am, are you?" Kenji's voice was somewhat deep, like that of a growl, but at the same time, it was soft and musical, like that of the elves.

He stopped his forward movement when Merisa sat on her tail. What movement had halted began quickly when he noticed the blue furred wolf approaching his Merisa as she sat on the ground. Uttering a curse that he was sure the boy heard, he rushed to the wolf, hoping he could reach it before Merisa was wounded too badly.

~X~

"You're friendly, aren't you?" She couldn't help the tone of her voice softening, as though she were speaking to one of the wolf pups that the packs brought to the village at times. "Can you understand me? I'm not as good at talking to critters as my mother is, but she said I'll get better in time."

Her conversation with the wolf ended abruptly by Kenji grinding to a halt a few yards from where she sat on the grass. "Kenji..."

"No I'm not." he said in a mirthful manner. "I think my horns give that away." Yuzo pointed to the antler like appendages sticking out of his head. Before the prince could say what he was, the man suddenly rushed toward Merisa, hoping to save her from what seemed like an attack. He saw the man stop when he realized the wolf was merely being friendly with the woman who was now crooning over it. He was relieved that the wolf meant no harm and overheard the name of the jumpy man. It would seem his name was Kenji.

Krinn licked the tip of the girl's tail again. His eyes were intense and for a few moments they were only on her face. Watching her, as if still confirming to himself that she was alright. His ears twitched at the approaching footfalls. Rushed footfalls. His head turned slightly, to stare at the wolf boy that had rushed towards them. Apparently the female knew him, she said his name..or rather..Krinn assumed it was his name. He blinked once at the boy and gave him a wolfish grin. His head turning back to the girl and he nuzzled her once before licking her cheek. Rather disinterested in the wolf boy, so long as it didn't attack.

The boy didn't seem feral and he didn't smell hostile. Krinn had a sixth sense for these things. He stood after licking the girl's cheek and stretched. Shaking himself from the tip of his tail to the end of his nose before giving both of the males a very disinterested glance and walking away from them. He didn't go far. Just a few feet before he turned so that he could watch them. Perhaps, he would follow them for awhile? He laid down on the ground, muzzle resting on his front paws and his tail curled around his left side so that it laid next to him instead of straight behind him. It took effort, but he kept his eyelids from drooping too much. Laying down tempted him to sleep but he could sleep later. First he wanted to observe and listen, no matter how rude it might be.

His ears flicked this way and that.

((Yay, finally my posts won't be split in two!))

Merisa noted the odd behavior of the wolf, but chose not to pursue that thought until later. More important things were on her mind.

With no hint that she was moving, Merisa sprang up and tackled Kenji to the ground, much like a cat will tackle it's prey when it's supposedly asleep. "Kenji! Everyone thought you'd died when you left three years ago! Why'd you leave... You have ears, Kenji... Wolf ears."

He couldn't help but laugh, he was happy to be able to speak to her again, to see her other than from a distance. "Yes, I left the village when my own ears and tail came in. And yes, I'm wolf like you're tiger. Who's your friend?"

"I don't know, he hasn't told me his name. But he's a kind wolf, I think. He seems more interested in watching us though." Merisa looks up to where Yuzo went. "Yuzo, can you talk to wolves? He won't tell me his name." She was still sitting on Kenji's chest, even though she wasn't focused solely on him anymore.

Normally, Kenji wouldn't mind having her so close, but his own tail got squished when she tackled him. With a deft move, he lifts her up and moves her onto the grass to the side. Rolling over, he snags his tail and massages out the sore spot, much like she was just doing moments before. "I can speak wolf fairly well, but I doubt he'd talk to me."

((Sorry if this is too much to work with. Lemme know, and I can cut down the dialogue exchange in the future))

"Sorry, I'm a dragon." Yuzo said as he looked at the wolf who had settled down a ways away. "I don't really speak any other language aside from dragon and human." He walked over to the blue canine and attempted to pet his head. It was a strange gesture he had always wanted to try. His family never kept pets as they considered all living things brethren. But, since he was away from the palace and there seemed to be a domesticated wolf right here, he might as well try while he had the chance. He was happy to feel the warm fuzzy fur and he didn't mind the wet tongue. 'Now I see why people kept pets.' he thought, but he only considered him as a comrade instead of a lesser being. The teen then returned his attention to the two elves. "Friendly." he said with a smile. "So you're planning on reaching mountains by the ocean? I intend to go in the direction of the sea as well, though I'm not sure which mountains you will be searching. If you'd like, we could travel together. I wouldn't mind helping you look for your stone."

[No problem about the dialogue :) but it looks like I'll be getting off after this post. I gotta go to sleep. Goodnight :D Feel free to move my character if you need to by the way :yes:]

Krinn had only looked at the dragon rather boredly and disinterestedly. Watching him for a moment as the youth came closer to him. He yawned, opening his jaws wide and showing off those sharp fangs of his, his tongue curling slightly when he yawned. Then that mouth was closed, another look of disinterest was given to the boy when he reached out to pet him. But Krinn wouldn't growl at him. Infact, he would raise his head to the oncoming hand.

It had been a long time since anyone had pet him, and though if he were in his human form he wouldn't enjoy it, but he was wolfen at the moment with no intentions of changing yet. At least not infront of them, nor would he actually talk yet, until he had something to say at least. He met the boy's hand with the top of his head, his ears flicking slightly and then laying back some. He whined softly, turning his head slightly to lick the boy's arm, the part he could reach while that hand was on his head. Krinn was friendly, more or less. His intelligent gaze turned back to the two elves.

His tail had uncurled behind him and had begun to sway slowly, but contently, side to side when the dragon boy had pet him.

"I can talk to normal wolves better than you ever could, little cat." He couldn't help but grin at the new pet name for her. Hopefully she wouldn't dislike it, it did seem to suit her, and not just because of the feline features. She sort of reminded him of a kitten, her movements, her general attitude, and her curiosity for everything outside of her previous realm of existence. "But this is no normal wolf. His coloration aside, he doesn't totally smell right. There's too much human smell on him."

Merisa looked back to the cobalt wolf that had nuzzled her. "But he's a good wolf, right? I mean, he did seem to care that I'd sat on my tail. If he was a bad wolf, wouldn't he be more aggressive right now?" She didn't want to think the wolf was bad. But then, she never wanted to consider that anyone anywhere was bad. To her thinking, there was no cause for badness in the world. She would never be able to assume that something so cute could be so bad without a reason to think that. "You are a good wolf, right?"

"Yuzo, right? You're a dragon? I'm afraid I don't know much about your race, but can you sense anything about the wolf? Like, can you sense his intentions or something?" Kenji really didn't know anything about dragons, only what he'd heard from the animals in the forest, or from old fables when he was a child.

"I hope the wolf isn't bad. He seems like such a sweet being. I don't want him to be bad." Merisa's normally unshakable optimism was falling apart. She'd seen the teeth when the wolf yawned. She knew from the way he moved so carefully that he could be powerful in a fight. But she wasn't old enough to be able to read someone's eyes, assuming she ever learned how. Not everyone in the village can do the same things as everyone else. Like her mother could talk to wolves really well, but Merisa was always better at talking with cats. A tear forms in the corner of her eye as she looks to the blue wolf, while at the same time, she shifted closer to Kenji. "Please be a good wolf..."

"Well, he's not biting us so I assume he isn't bad." He looked at the wolf, his bright green eyes scanning the being's face. "But from what I can tell, it feels like there's some strong magic on him. And I don't think there are many wolves that are blue. At least, not where I've lived." The teen continued to caress the wolf's azure coat. It seemed the fluffy fur was hiding his skinny physique. No doubt this wolf hadn't eaten in days. Yuzo would have given him something to eat if he had any food on him. Sadly, he didn't. "I think he can probably understand us even if we can't understand him."

[Blargh. Short post.]

Krinn turned his eyes to Merisa and the boy she was with, but his gaze seemed rather bored and tired. However, he was very amused at their speculations about him. Though the female, Merisa, seemed very concerned about if he were bad or good. He yawned again, mouth opening wide and then closing.

He moved, pushing himself up so that instead of laying down, he sat on his haunches. Turning his head again so that he could give Yuzo's arm another lick. His tail wagging slowly, contently side to side behind his body, then he yawned once more before standing and shaking his entire body. From the tip of his tail to the end of his nose. He sat back down.

"My name is Krinn." A voice that was soft but heavily weighed down with years of sorrow and happy experiences. A voice that had come from the wolf. His muzzle hadn't moved but the voice had come from him. A voice that wasn't speaking the wolf language, though he could if he had wanted to.

"There, see? I don't have to speak to him like a wolf now." Kenji was staring at the wolf, rather happy he didn't have to talk on that level. "Though, I do wonder if he's under a spell of some sort. Can you detect what kind of magic, Yuzo?"

"He can talk! You can talk!" Merisa's eyes had dried, the tears remained within, not yet fallen. She looked back to Kenji when he made the comment about a spell. "Do you think that's what's happening to us? A magical spell to change us?"

"No, I've been like this for three years, nothing else has changed." He shakes his head, glad that Merisa wasn't on the verge of crying anymore. Though I have had some odd cravings that aren't elven-like.

"Krinn? If you can talk, does that mean you won't attack us or anything? I'm sure we can find some food for you somewhere. Would you like to travel with us?" Merisa was stooped down, though she was still near Kenji. For some reason, she was most at ease with him near by. "I'm searching for a magical stone that will allow us to shift back to elf again. Will you join us in our search?"

He was still grinning his wolfish grin at them. Mostly grinning at Merisa's exclamation that he could infact talk. He watched her for a moment, his gaze flicking from her to the boy that she was near and then back to her. She seemed worried that he might attack her and her friends. Krinn shook his head a bit, amusement danced in his eyes.

"I'm not going to attack anyone...and I can find and hunt for my own food." Though it was true it had been a few days since he'd last been able to enjoy a meal, he was fine, really. Too tired to actually feel hunger. "Why would you want to find such a magical stone, anyway? Aren't you much more in tune to nature the way you are now?"

"It's not that we're more in tune or not. Our kind has always been in tune with nature and the animals that live around us. But we're the only ones like ourselves. Our people fear it's something they can catch." Merisa looked up sadly to Kenji, not really wanting for him to find out like this, but unable to avoid it. "We knew Kenji had changed, or rather they knew. No one told me about it. But when they saw my change, they said 'Not again', and I knew something had to have happened before me." She couldn't help but be a little sad at the revelation she'd been keeping secret.

"Then they think its a curse they can catch. I see, that's why they told you I was dead." Kenji lowered himself beside Merisa. "But Risa, others would be afflicted with it by now if it were that."

"I know, Kenji. I just want to have a choice to change fully when I want. This in between shifts is hard to deal with. You can't imagine how many times I've closed my tail in the doors, or run under a branch that was too low and nearly took off my ears." Merisa was looking at the wolf again, wondering if that was similar to what Kenji would look like as full wolf. "The strange guy said that the stone has the power to shift us fully and allow us to return to elf form when we want."

He snorted lightly. Their people were a bit closed minded it seemed. At least, that was the way it seemed to him. He shook his head a bit and watched the two for a moment before laying back down with his head on his paws. Still keeping his eyes on them.

"Curses can't be caught." He was frowning a bit and sighed lightly. "It doesn't matter what your people think though. Not really. It's your body and so what to do about it should be your decision and yours alone. If your people want to be afraid or superstitious about it, then let them be."