The texture was disgusting, of course, though the flavor was little to make a face at. Perhaps he had eaten too many raw things to be bothered with the taste now, but Damon simply didn't care about the reasoning---it left him backing away, turning to the others and wiping the blood from his mouth in a half-hearted manner. "Here, have it." He tossed the rat to Roland, who grimaced.

"Um, no thanks. I prefer not dying of rabies, worms, or whatever other disease might be here."

"I guess I'm lucky." He pulled a metal canteen out of his bag under the bed, draining it to get the raw-meat taste out of his mouth. "At least he knows I'm a friend now." Damon sounded confident. He sat in front of the other two, coaxing the creature in. "So Doc, what do you think? We have to get this... human... back somehow. It's a new species, it has to be."

Roland nodded. "I'll be able to examine it and run some tests if you give it something. I have an odorless, tasteless solution that works as a tranquilizer might, without the pain or shock. Feed it a piece of meat with the medicine rubbed on it and it'll fall asleep long enough for me to take samples."

"A general time?"

"Maybe two, three hours."

His ears moved from creature to creature, listening to them talk to one another. It was a strange language that he thought he knew, but he couldn't quite grasp the meaning. They were whispering, as if trying to sort out a plan and it made him suspicious. The Kind One had thrown his gift towards the Clean One, but it didn't eat it but rather dropped it on a ledge with legs. He made a grumpy face and moved inside the hut, standing on his hind legs and leaning on the table to grab the rat with his teeth. If they weren't going to finish eating it, he would. He couldn't let good meat go to waste.

Dragging the rat a little way from the creatures, he started to chew on the rat, starting at its head and making his way towards the tail. He crunched the bones, but mainly left them. The fur couldn't be digested, but he often passed it fine enough or coughed it back up. He kept listening to the creatures, two of them making disgusted noises and the Scared One running out of the tent to puke into a bush.

Damon shook his head as Carver's weak stomach won the battle. No wonder he only worked with plants... Glancing up to the doctor from his seat on the ground, Damon referred to the creature. "Well I doubt it'll want to eat right now. I've been feeding it a lot already, and a rat on top of our food just might not sit well."

"True..." Roland chewed his nails, a bit of a bad habit of his. "Well, how about you leave it where he can get to it? On the table, maybe, and if he gets it now, he gets it. You know a doctor has to be patient, Damon."

The young explorer nodded, going back to the locker and opening it to pull out a small piece of meat and a bottle Roland had marked simply as 'sleep aid-take orally’. “How many drops?” He asked, untwisting the cap and pulling the dropper out.

“Three to induce sleep within a couple minutes. It’ll knock him out for a few hours and he’ll wake up easily.”

Damon nodded, rubbing a few drops into the jerky and replacing everything in the metal container. Nonchalantly, Damon placed the meat on the side of the table and went to find a bottle of water to clean the medicine from his hands.

He finished his rat, leaving the end parts and some of the intestines behind. He was never fond of those parts of the animal, so he left them where they were and wandered back outside. He found the cliff that sat by a large waterfall and sat near it, sniffing the water that flew past and flung itself off the cliff. He couldn't swim and disliked water a lot, only braving shallower water to catch fish. He had seen this waterfall before and always hated the roaring of the water. Its rage was so violent it made him afraid.

Moving further upstream, he found a more quiet part of the river. He walked to the muddy bank and drunk some of the water, lapping it up with his tongue. After grooming himself for awhile, he climbed a tree and found a nice sunny spot to doze in.

Roland nodded to Damon and left the tent to meet with Carver. He said something about a sensitive stomach, but Damon couldn't understand what else because he had resigned himself to cleaning up what was left of the rat. Its insides were truly disgusting, and he could understand why the creature---even wild---would leave those parts behind. Tossing them outside and cleaning up the blood that was left on the felt floor, Damon went to his bunk and climbed up. He'd not slept well at all last night and the morning was still relatively young. Despite being used to late nights and little sleep, Damon took as much time as he could to rest. And as a light sleeper he would hear even the light steps of the strange little creature if he returned.

Lying with one hand off the side of the bunk, Damon closed his eyes.

He had woken in the late afternoon, just before twilight. Stretching and yawning, he jumped from his warm branch and went to the river, drinking some more of the cool liquid before setting off to the camp of the creatures. He wasn't that hungry, he just wanted to see what they were doing now. It seemed that they ate a large meal around this time and then went to bed at night.

He crept silently through the camp, avoiding the sight of any of the creatures busy doing tasks around the place. He carefully entered the hut of the Kind One, seeing it asleep on a ledge a bit off the ground. He sniffed around, mewing quietly and licking the hand that hung from the ledge. Turning around he spied some of the tasty deer meat and went for it, eating it quickly before the creature could protest.

He'd managed to sleep for a long time---Roland and Carver hadn't come in again and the others were busy outside. Damon's sleep was quite deep, but it didn't change the fact that he heard someone enter. The creature was back, and he twitched a bit when a warm tongue hit his hand. Raising himself up, Damon watched the creature wander about, then snatch up the meat he'd left out. He smiled a bit---not at the thought of having tricked the poor creature, but at the thought of perhaps clearing him of any diseases, problems, and even figuring out what he might be.

And the effects were quick, just like Roland said it would be. Soon enough the creature was asleep and Damon had called in Roland. Damon carried him to the second tent, lying him on a cot for Roland. The doctor readied himself, and got to work quickly. With gloved hands he took a few strands of the creature's long hair, light scrapings of the topmost layer of skin at the base of the neck, and mouth swabs. Roland took a small needle and drew out some of the creature's blood, two vials total, and a few hairs from the tail. Damon gritted his teeth through the whole process. "Will he feel any of this after he wakes up...?" He asked.

"No, not at all. The needles were small enough that they didn't need much in the way of forcing. Roll him over, please."

Damon put the creature on his back, and Roland used a very bulky device to take various pictures. The resulting images were skeletal images, like that of an immobile X-ray machine but safer to take images even without a lead vest. "Okay, Damon, you can take him out. I don't want him in here with this sensitive equipment when he wakes up."

Damon nodded, gathering the creature and leaving the tent quickly, returning to the bunk tent and lying him on Carver's bunk. Without an idea of what else to do, he sat on the floor in front of him.

He thought the meat tasted a bit... off. He had suddenly felt extremely drowsy and fell into a very deep sleep. He didn't dream anything and soon he awoke inside the creature's tent, lying on one of the ledges that the Kind One was sleeping above. It felt surprisingly warm and comfortable and he turned over, his drowsy eyes falling on the Kind One sitting on the floor and watching him. Had he done something to the food to make him sleep? He scolded himself for being so trusting.

He got up and stretched, staring hard at the creature. He asked it why it had tricked him and what it had done while he was asleep. Of course it didn't seem to understand his language, so he jumped from the ledge, and with shaky legs, made for the door of the hut.

Damon shook his head. He felt terrible about what he'd done---as if he'd misused the poor thing's trust in him. He had effectively drugged the creature. As it wandered away, Damon jumped onto his knees and fell to his hands. "I'm sorry." He called. For some reason he felt he owed the creature that much. It was as if he had asked why. Why had Damon done something to him? He knew the creature couldn't understand him, or perhaps just didn't want to hear it. Damon fell onto his side, half-outstretched as if reaching toward the tent entrance. He felt like an ass.

His ears picked up the creature moving and saying something that sounded sympathetic. He froze and turned his head, seeing how sorry it looked. It looked so lost and sad that he couldn't just leave it lying there like that. He mewed once, saying that it was OK and that he forgave it, and walked towards it, sitting on top of its chest and licking its fur. It had a different texture to what he was used to, but he liked the taste of it. He tried to eat some, but the creature stopped him. He settled on the warm chest, not very tired after all the sleep he had been doing. He purred, trying to cheer the creature up.

Damon winced a little when the creature's tongue pulled at his hair, then nipped at it. Brushing it back, the young man maneuvered a little so he could study the creature as it settled. "You're such an anomaly." He muttered, scratching his ears. "You have to live somewhere specific..." There were no unnatural markings on the creature's body, not that he could tell---and it was clear to anyone that were to look at him, since he didn't wear clothes. Damon couldn't expect that, though, not with the way the creature lived. Nothing that seemed to be placed specifically, or with intent, like a tattoo or permanent body scar. Perhaps he was the only one of his kind...

He purred and leant against the scratching, enjoying the massaging of his ears and head, two spots he couldn't reach very well himself. He listened again to the creature, as it seemed to mutter to itself about something. Perhaps, just as he was interested in where these creatures had come from, it was trying to figure out where he came from. He wished he could speak its language, to tell it everything it wanted to know. He had come from the mountains, leaving the cold tundra for a more warm climate. He shed a lot of his fur and material he was wrapped in as the weather got warmer. Anything else, such as what he was and if there were more of him, he didn't know.

At thought hit suddenly, making Damon sit up carefully and put the creature onto the floor of the tent. He sat in front of it, and carefully pointed to himself. "Damon." He said, and poked his own chest. "Damon." This was his name. Perhaps presenting the sound of who he was would prompt the creature to speak. At least it would know his name, and if it had one, would possibly speak his as well. "Damon." For a moment the explorer wanted to add something, but bit back extra words and syllables. It might confuse him, or he would misinterpret the name. He pointed to himself again, and repeated it. "Damon." He nodded, meeting the creature's bright green eyes.

He sat and watched the creature point to itself, saying the same thing over and over. Two syllables, one with a sharp sound the other with a softer noise that almost sounded like a meow. He kept his ears focussed, watching the Kind One and understanding what it was trying to do. He opened his mouth and hesitated, mewing a bit and then trying to say what the creature was saying. "A... Moo...NN..." he spoke, tilting his head to one side.

He turned his head to look outside, hearing some of the other creatures moving about, one of them approaching the tent. His ear flicked and he looked back at the creature in front of him. "Dah... Mon," he said, stretching and yawning.

Damon nodded, smiling widely. "Yes! Yes, Damon." He nodded again, the confirmation noted with the word: Yes. He needed something else... Something simple. Simply said, something simple to recall. A book. He stretched over the floor, grabbing the journal he documented his findings in and setting it in front of the creature. "Book." He said, and pointed. "Book." Looking down, he lifted it slightly and turned it. Not all of them looked the same, but it was always the same template. One more time he spoke: "Book."

If this creature could speak his name, Damon was sure he was human in most aspects. A cat, perhaps, in slight notes, but a human first.

He started at the creature's cry in happiness. He must have said it right then. Purring and smiling he looked at the creature, Damon, with half-closed eyes. "Damon..." His voice was soft, with cat-like tones, almost as if he was meowing his words. He opened his eyes wider when he saw Damon grab something and start saying another word, different to the sounds he was making before.

"Ook?" He sneezed and shook his head, again shifting his gaze to outside the tent. The Scared One was stooped low in the entrance way, giving Damon a questioning look. He purred and turned to look at the new arrival, lifting his tail to say hello. "Damon," he said, head butting the creature's knee and rubbing his scent on it. The Scared One flinched and backed up slightly as he rubbed against him, making questioning noises to Damon.

Carver looked very misplaced when the creature moved forward, speaking quite well and presenting a friendlier disposition. Damon, what's up with this... whole situation?" He kept his hands up, as if afraid to touch the creature.

"He's learning to speak." Damon replied simply, and got onto his knees. "Tell him your name. Enunciate, make sure you're clear but don't add anything to confuse him."

Carver nodded, crouching down and gaining the creature's attention. "Carver." He said, and pointed to himself. "... Carver." He nodded, stopping himself from saying anything else along with it. It was hard to do, as naturally he would have introduced himself another way.

He backed up when the other creature crouched lower to get on his level. It just looked out of place and awkward, a big thing like it trying to be smaller. He sat and laughed softly at it, his ears focussing on what it was saying. It was introducing itself in the way that Damon had before. The name seemed a lot more vicious and rough sounding, similar to a growl. "Ra... Er..." He blinked and lost interest, turning towards Damon and wondering if the creature had any more meat that wasn't infected with whatever made him sleep before.

He walked over to Damon, his tail wagging slightly as he sat near him and rubbed against his hands and the strange "ook" he was holding. "Daaaaaaaaamon," he purred, purring and trying to look as cute as possible.

Carver laughed and sat on the bottom bunk of the nearest bed. "Seems he likes you more than the rest of us." The man muttered, watching the creature move about Damon as if he were a well-loved owner to the creature's animal side.

Damon nodded, rubbing the cat-like creature's head. "True. Seems he's got a cat-like level of interest, too." He hadn't really tried to speak Carver's name. Then he went off as if he had better things to do.

"Well, since he likes you so much, maybe you should get him to wear clothes." Carver sat back, leaning against one of the metal poles acting as the tent's stand. "It's kind of weird."

Damon rolled his eyes and disregarded him, focusing more on the creature. "Maybe I should give him a name." But what kind of name...? The creature was sweet. Wild, but loving in a strange way. He needed something that sounded good. "Tavi?" He questioned the creature, hoping to see his reaction.

He blinked and stared up at Damon, his ears perked at the strange noise that it had just uttered. He liked the noise and smiled, tilting his head as if asking for him to say it again. It sounded cute and funny, making him purr and wriggle slightly. A strange feeling was washing over him, and he wondered if this was what it was like to have a friend. He had never had one before.

"Damon... Ook... Cra...er...?" He looked over at the other creature and poked his tongue out at him in a cheeky way.

Damon smiled, glad that the creature at least seemed to like the sound of the name. "Tavi it is, then." He said, and absently scratched his ear. Then he glanced to the book in his hand when the newly-dubbed 'Tavi' called it an 'ook'. Perhaps he hadn't heard the B. Setting it down, he pointed at it again. "B-Book. B-b-book." He enunciated the beginning, tapping it. "Book, Tavi." Perhaps he would respond better to having his name spoken while he learned. And he would have to be careful about names. He didn't assume 'Tavi' liked many people, or just didn't trust them.

"B...ook... Ta...vee?" he shook his head, becoming bored of the attention. Ignoring the other creature, he left the tent in search of food and fun. He went back into the trees, searching for any rats or birds he could eat. He stopped near the cave he had been sleeping in for months and sat, sniffing the air around it. It smelt of him, and also the food he had eaten in there. He was fond of this cave and how familiar it was. Not feeling sleepy, he wandered through the jungle, pouncing on anything that moved near him. Soon he had caught a lizard and ate it quickly.

He heard rustling in the leaves around him and chased them, the wind that had picked up blowing them around in swirling tornadoes.

Damon watched him run off with a slight smile, and Carver shook his head. "So you gonna take him in?" He asked. The young adventurer shook his head.

"Not if he doesn't want to go with me. He's wild, Carver. I mean, he's learned a few words, that's something---he's human."

"You're right, Mr. Caruso." The doctor returned with results written in a journal. "This creature is human. The hair on his head matches with any other human's general makeup, but the hair from his tail and ears are feline. The tests are adamant that they're specifically from a type of domesticated housecat. Skin scrapings reveal that the cells are human, as well."

"Everything points to human." Carver said. "But a little cat-like, too? I mean, it doesn't make sense."

"Maybe it's a new cross-species." Roland sighed, shrugging as if he were annoyed with the lack of an answer.

"That's actually quite creepy." Damon admitted. "Some kind of experimentation?"

"Could be. But it might have happened a long time ago, or... I don't know." He turned. "I'm off to do some research. If you can teach that thing, get to it! We'll have to begin moving in two days, Damon."

The young man nodded, waving his hand in dismissal. They did have to take off, find other areas, finish documenting as much as they could. And he hoped Tavi would follow.

Tavi had tired himself out by chasing the leaves. Soon he was resting by the stream, dragging his tail in the water in hopes of catching a fish. He rested his head on his arms and rolled over so the sunlight hit his tummy. It was a nice place to live, but a part of him wanted to leave with Damon. He was a really nice creature and Tavi knew that he would take care of him.

As he thought of Damon he heard someone coming through the trees. He lifted his head and watched as the person he was thinking about approached, muttering and looking about for something. He hadn't seen the cat-boy yet, so Tavi waited for him to come closer.

True, he had to do more documentations. It was nice to see such beauty, untouched by humanity in so long, but it was also tedious, identifying and considering various leaves, vines, berries, insects and small animals that at one time didn't exist in the scientific world. Like the creature he named Tavi. Hopefully he would be considered a rare, endangered species if he wasn't considered human. But he could speak, that was obvious.

As if something had read his mind, Damon glanced up and studied the flowing stream nearby, and caught the shining bright eyes of Tavi once again. He lowered himself down. "Tavi!" His tone was light, pleased to see the creature again.