11 January 2022, 12:46 AM
She was losing light. In a small cycle of time, what little light remained of the afternoon sun would perish beyond the horizon, drowning the wolf in a cold and unforgiving darkness that she was woefully unprepared for. Her every intention had been to find shelter before that point--just a place to hole up in to pass the evening in relative comfort--but an unanticipated run-in with a particularly territorial individual had thrown her off course, interrupted her plans, and essentially derailed her good intentions. Never mind the fact Ria had absolutely been trespassing somewhere she didn't belong; it was just a shame the individual had been so hellbent on protecting what had caught her eye, and that they had done so well enough to succeed.
Another heavy breath escaped her lungs in a plume of foggy smoke, only faintly warming her nose as it passed. This was so much more difficult than it had been back home... There, she would have been bedding down amidst her kin, her siblings and cousins, sharing space and body heat, with bellies full from a meal procured by her sister most likely. But she's gone... Even if Coriander were back home, Tanith would not be there with a bloody grin and wagging tail, proudly displaying whatever small creature she had managed to procure from the snow with her impeccable hearing and talent for hunting through dense powder. And there would have been no Asherah there to assist in cleaning the still-healing wound on her scruff either...
A small, pitiful whine slipped out of her dark muzzle, the snow dampening the sound, but she felt the pain of it echo throughout her body. It throbbed within the bite wound near the base of her neck, ached in the bruises left over from the multiple escapes she had recently undertaken, and crushed her lonely, homesick heart. "I'm sorry," she muttered in a hoarse whisper, another in a long line of apologies she hoped the freezing wind would carry to her brother, Donnes, to appease his anger. He hadn't heard her when she said it to his face, but maybe, just maybe, from this distance...he would finally listen and know she hadn't meant for this to happen.
The recollections of her estranged family naturally stirred up unresolved emotions--guilt, sadness, longing--so strong they caused her footsteps to falter, and already unsteady on her feet, Coriander stumbled. The split second it took her to catch herself, the quick instinct to preserve and maintain her footing, was all it took as a trigger. "No...no, not again." Her heart began a rapid race in her chest as panic gripped her, just as her body seized and flexed almost all at once. It was happening: the change that had taken place just yesterday, a change that was entirely unnatural and downright frightening. The dark wolf gritted her teeth around a fearful growl and clenched her eyes shut as she felt her body lengthen, shift, taking on the same freakish bipedal shape as the wolf-like individual to attack her days before.
It happened much more quickly this time, though the change was no less jarring. Where once she as a wolf stood upon four legs in the midst of a snowy wood, now crawled a monster on all fours, slender claws digging into her palms as her knees hit the snow. Ria gasped and whined as she fought not to crumble entirely in place, her large ears folding against a mess of dark hair. Why did this have to happen now? She was so exposed! In desperation, she dragged herself forward on her hands and knees toward the base of the nearest tree, and huddled against its reassuring solidness as she continued to breathe in ragged gasps. "I-It'll go away," she told herself, hugging her new arms around her large but seemingly fragile body, "it doesn't stay."
Or at least it hadn't yesterday. She could only hope it would fade again...and refused to think about what would happen if it didn't.
OOC: Set in Western Gaspesia, sundown, directly after an unanticipated shift. First post, woo! Have a confused Ria~
Another heavy breath escaped her lungs in a plume of foggy smoke, only faintly warming her nose as it passed. This was so much more difficult than it had been back home... There, she would have been bedding down amidst her kin, her siblings and cousins, sharing space and body heat, with bellies full from a meal procured by her sister most likely. But she's gone... Even if Coriander were back home, Tanith would not be there with a bloody grin and wagging tail, proudly displaying whatever small creature she had managed to procure from the snow with her impeccable hearing and talent for hunting through dense powder. And there would have been no Asherah there to assist in cleaning the still-healing wound on her scruff either...
A small, pitiful whine slipped out of her dark muzzle, the snow dampening the sound, but she felt the pain of it echo throughout her body. It throbbed within the bite wound near the base of her neck, ached in the bruises left over from the multiple escapes she had recently undertaken, and crushed her lonely, homesick heart. "I'm sorry," she muttered in a hoarse whisper, another in a long line of apologies she hoped the freezing wind would carry to her brother, Donnes, to appease his anger. He hadn't heard her when she said it to his face, but maybe, just maybe, from this distance...he would finally listen and know she hadn't meant for this to happen.
The recollections of her estranged family naturally stirred up unresolved emotions--guilt, sadness, longing--so strong they caused her footsteps to falter, and already unsteady on her feet, Coriander stumbled. The split second it took her to catch herself, the quick instinct to preserve and maintain her footing, was all it took as a trigger. "No...no, not again." Her heart began a rapid race in her chest as panic gripped her, just as her body seized and flexed almost all at once. It was happening: the change that had taken place just yesterday, a change that was entirely unnatural and downright frightening. The dark wolf gritted her teeth around a fearful growl and clenched her eyes shut as she felt her body lengthen, shift, taking on the same freakish bipedal shape as the wolf-like individual to attack her days before.
It happened much more quickly this time, though the change was no less jarring. Where once she as a wolf stood upon four legs in the midst of a snowy wood, now crawled a monster on all fours, slender claws digging into her palms as her knees hit the snow. Ria gasped and whined as she fought not to crumble entirely in place, her large ears folding against a mess of dark hair. Why did this have to happen now? She was so exposed! In desperation, she dragged herself forward on her hands and knees toward the base of the nearest tree, and huddled against its reassuring solidness as she continued to breathe in ragged gasps. "I-It'll go away," she told herself, hugging her new arms around her large but seemingly fragile body, "it doesn't stay."
Or at least it hadn't yesterday. She could only hope it would fade again...and refused to think about what would happen if it didn't.
OOC: Set in Western Gaspesia, sundown, directly after an unanticipated shift. First post, woo! Have a confused Ria~