26th Shuriken ➣ [Action / Voice]

[meanandgreen]

[You know what's not cool? Gaining eight hundred pounds over night. Yeah, no. Raph wouldn't recommend it. He also wouldn't recommend waking up in the wreckage of wooden splinters that was once your bed because it collapsed under said weight. He also wouldn't recommend waking up a giant lizard that looks all too familiar, scaring the crap out of

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[wise_maiden]

[He may notice Raine on her way to one of the streams, in his wandering about later on. She looks a little subtly different, herself, though considering all he's going through, it's questionable if he'll pick up on it.]

[not_gamera]

[Raph's been stumbling around in a hunger-fogged haze ever since he parted with Keimi. But he's ceased his hunting for now, his plastron and jaws completely soaked in blood.

He sits on the riverbank, staring at his reflection in one of the slow-moving pools of water collecting around the water-worn stones. His eyes are blank, but the gears in his head are turning.

When Raine approaches on the other side of the stream, he lifts his head and watches her dully.]

[wise_maiden]

[As cautious and alert that she's trying to be, she still doesn't quite notice the altered reptilian.

Barefoot, she dips a toe into the water, then draws it away almost immediately. Then dips it again, moving it back and forth to create a small rippling effect.]

[not_gamera]

[An involuntary sound of curiosity vibrates as a low growl as the woman nears. His mind is too cloudy to make sense of it, and the monster inside of him is still controlled enough not to attack.]

[wise_maiden]

[The growl catches her attention, and she looks up from her ... playing? Testing? -- of the water.

Well.

That's not something you see everyday. But it has to be someone affected by the experiment...

But is that blood? Hm.]

... Hello?

[not_gamera]

[He tilts his head at her, the hunger creeping back in, taking over his mind, telling him how easy it would be. Easy game, easy prey, easy meat. Catch her while she's still off guard.

But the person inside of him keeps it at bay, keeps him sitting on the riverbank, unmoving despite the hungry thoughts flooding his mouth with saliva.]

[wise_maiden]

[She should listen to her own animal instinct and prepare to flee.

But instead she tilts her head in return at his lack of reply.] Are you all right?

[not_gamera]

[He huffs at the air, catching her scent so strongly it's dizzying. He can feel himself slipping, tries to scrabble for the last tattered remains of his consciousness. But they slip from his grasp like water.

The monster gets up from sitting, snuffs the air loudly a few more times, then brings its predatory glare toward the woman in the water.

But still, something holds it back, chains it where it stands with some invisible bond. The hunger gnaws from deep inside of it, and it roars with frustration, starvation, terror, exposing rows and rows of sharp white teeth.

And if she listens closely, a voice behind the roar, somewhere in the echo, makes it sound like RUN.]

[wise_maiden]

[That makes a lot of things suddenly clear. Especially after knowing that the racial changes have an effect on thinking.

Hers is telling her that she'd be faster in the water, save for the fact that she can't swim. So she'll start by backing away, carefully, carefully--before breaking off into a run.

She hopes that he can't climb trees.]

[not_gamera]

[The only problem with running is you look a hell of a lot like prey. The monster chases after her on all fours, huffing wildly at the scent of fear.

If she does manage to climb a tree, he'll stop at the base of it, roaring and clawing at the bark, then stalking around the base of it.]

[wise_maiden]

[She's not frightened, exactly-- well, she's a seal being forced to run in a human's body on land, so that's not exactly a help either-- but at least she remembers how to climb up a tree, so she'll be trying to go up as high as she can.

That's when she realizes how fast her heart is pounding.]

[not_gamera]

[He could easily tear down that tree with one swipe of the claws, but something within him keeps him pacing at the base of it, growling to himself. The more time passes, the more apparent it becomes that he's isn't paying her much attention anymore. Instead, he continues to battle with his own mind. But the hunger keeps him near the tree, near his cornered prey even as the sentient part of him screams to leave her alone.]

[wise_maiden]

[She wants to try talking to him again, though right now that doesn't seem like it would be a wise idea. As long as she remains in the tree--not realizing what he could do with his strength, but it's probably better that way. For now. She clutches at the higher branches, also keeping a tight hold on her sealskin--she has a feeling it wouldn't survive at all in his grasp.

Though she does wonder who he could be. It's clear it's a transformation, but some of those cases left the affected nearly unrecognizable.]

[not_gamera]

[Eventually, the beast half-collapses into sitting in the fresh mud at the base of the tree, covering its face with one hand.]

[wise_maiden]

[That gives Raine a better opportunity to try and sneak a better look at him.

Those wings...

That gives her pause. There's only one person in the village with wings like that. Still, she remains quiet for now.]

[not_gamera]

[He can sense her eyes on him, pulling him from the fractured place inside his brain. He cranes his head to glance at her high up in those branches, huffing a breath.

He tilts his head, obvious pain in his eyes, and huffs again oddly. Less feral, almost with a voice.]

Rrraai...