Silhouettes (Nako)

[Kitty]

Pull? Oh yeah! That was terribly logical wasn't it? Well, he'd been about to grab the pole himself when she made her lunge and he suddenly had a squirrel in his lap and if it hadn't been for her weight keeping him down he probably would have either jumped right out of the boat or well... fallen out. Instead he made a rather odd noise that despite being caught in his throat would be audible and that blush that went straight to his ears returned full force.

But she was right... he really couldn't just sit there like a deer caught in the headlights, no... he should help. After all... he had told her he'd help her out in any way that he could... hadn't he? However... her present position made it terribly hard to help without making things a lot more ... awkward. And then the pole yanked again and his mind simply switched from analytical mode to just act now mode and he leaned forward and grabbed the pole as well. This action caused him to touch her a bit more, and he was blushing furiously because of it, but he was helping... or at least attempting to.

[Nako]

Well, he certainly wasn't helping much, seeming to want to arch away from her touch as much as she was, but it was enough to bring.. an enormous creature to the surface of the water. It exploded forth, spraying water onto both of them before landing with a harsh thud. The fish was large, nearly as long as Zuberi herself.

"Damn!" The squirrel cursed, taking the large end of her own fishing pole to hammer the thing in the head a few times until it was stunned. If it had kept up the fight, the thing might have been strong to overturn the boat and throw them both into the water. More importantly to her though, they would have lost the fish.

She was blushing though, brushing her ruffled fur back down with a reflexive, slightly defensive motion. "You have to be the worst, and luckiest fisherman I've ever seen, Tavor.." Then, she laughed. In retrospect it was all quite amusing. Taking the hook out of the creature's mouth, she untied the hook from the line and put it back in the tackle box, doing the same to her own line. "I think we should head back in. We've got more than enough fish for our meal."

((Feel free to fast forward to whenever you want XD ))

[Kitty]

Touching was just... uncomfortable in general for him... but with girls it was a little worse. Well, girls and an overly affectionate and delightfully colorful canine that would remain nameless. However, all of that was forgotten when he caught sight of the size of the scaly creature on the end of the line. Suits, that was the biggest fish he'd ever seen! He stopped trying to curl his body away from her at this realization so he could be a more effective helper.

He cringed a bit as water dotted his coat and was certainly thankful when Zuberi stunned the fish.... even if her method disturbed him a bit. He understood the reasoning behind it but... it was still a little barbaric for his tastes and he certainly hoped she would have him assist her in skinning and gutting the fish....

But.... why was she blushing? It had him confused and all he could do in response to her comment was give her a goofy, mildly uncomfortable little smile.

_________________


He'd been staying with Zuberi for a few days now and had been asking her various questions about the region and it's customs and other random things along with helping her out around her hut. Being the eager to please little soul that he was, he wanted to do something nice for her and... surprise her without giving her a heart attack!

He preferred sleeping in his animal form and had rather adamantly requested the floor ( he did so love to snuggle up in his cape and wings), and was having trouble sleeping tonight anyhow. He lifted his head, rounded ears perked and swiveling ever so softly in the squirrels direction and he was certain she was sleeping still. Good, especially since it was the middle of the night!

He got up and activated his cloak ability, becoming nothing more then a silently moving shadow and made his way out the door before taking on corporeal form and shifting to bi ped.... he had the perfect idea to do something nice and he fully intended on gathering up some of the fruits he'd noticed her favoring and, should he have the opportunity to do so, he wished to make her a delightful little tropical fruit salad.

He was in quite the good mood and started to hum softly to himself as he started to try and scent the fruits he needed.

[Nako]

Now, one would assume that Zuberi would be in bed... but well, unsettled minds rarely find much solace in sleep. As she usually did when she couldn't sleep, she found herself upon the great stones that lined the far edge of the very cove she'd taken Tavor to fish in. It had been her favorite place to spend her time as a child, and she always found herself... coming back to it.

"Rather late to be out, isn't it?" The voice came from above her, but she wasn't surprised. After all, the person who owned the voice also owned a pair of wings. There was a rush of air behind her, and she saw the biped sit down in the corner of her eye. It was a handsome hybrid of fishing cat and seagull. Though his pelt was of a darker green than hers, the striking pink markings held a certain resemblance to her own.

"I could be saying the same to you. Mother send you out to check up on me?"

He laughed good naturedly, picking up a pebble from the top of the stone summit and tossed it down into the water. Ever since the storm a few years back, the whole rock formation had new areas of weak spots and crumbling. "You know it. She's worried about you.. but you probably guessed that already... but what I'm really here for is to see if the rumors are true."

There was no way to lie her way out of this one, because the hair that suddenly stood on end along her spine told enough of the story so she couldn't deny it. Her father jumped on the opportunity to exploit it, grinning widely and nudging her with his wing. "Can't deny it now! Come on.. let me see.."

Ridiculous! With a snort, Zuberi hesitantly got to her feet... her form shifting with the action as beads and sea-weathered cloth formed to swathe her form.



The expression on the older biped's face though, was of thoughtfulness, his lighter green eyes darkening with.. worry? "I understand your hesitation now.. clothing choice seems a bit... ominous, yes?"

Zuberi's ears pinned against her head, causing her large earrings to clink together. Regardless of he nervous motion though, her mouth held a smirk. "Aye... I already know what mother would make of it.." A sign that she was becoming a Priestess, yes. "I don't know if I can keep fighting it."

Ranek's eyes though, stayed dark. It was he that wanted her to search out beyond the village and become something.. better. It was safe to assume that he was disappointed. "I... gave up everything to be with your mother, Zuberi. Then again, I had been allowed to experience the world if only a little before settling down. It just doesn't seem fair for you to be held back like this.. you're still so young..."

And it was always these words that kept her going, but it was becoming more and more obvious that fate would always pull her back to her roots. Her grin had now melted into a tight expression of frustration. "Every time I fight this.. every time I go astray, bad things happen, and bad things form within me. I... We've already been through this." Though her voice was angry, her webbed fingers were running through her dreads with anxiety. "I feel.. that if I don't embrace this, it'll tear me apart."

"You don't have to bend to the will of some damned dead woman who was out of her mind! She should have chosen someone else when you rejected the offer the first time!" It wasn't often her father got angry, but Ranek was on his feet and furious.. not with her necessarily, but at that moment his shouts were in her direction. All too often, this was how things happened.

Though he was still taller than her, she was amazed how she felt.. empowered not to be waist-high next to the man. Zuberi was even further amazed that she was able to keep her voice even and cool. "I'm afraid this isn't up to you. Not mother, not you... not even me."


((Throw Tavor in wherever you'd like... or not at all XD You can have him merrily picking berries and I'll continue with the sub-plotty arguing with daddy until you feel he'd possibly stumble by.))

[Kitty]

At some point he'd shifted back down into his animal form, it was closer to the ground and made sniffing things out, and climbing up trees, far easier, and he was walking with a little seaweed basket in his mouth. The basket already had quite the collection of fruits in it already but he still needing .... something. The only only problem was he didn't quite know what he was searching for.

He paused, lifting his twitchy little nose up and bobbing his head a bit to try and catch a scent that might make something click in his mind. Somehow he managed to catch a whiff of flower pollen over the scent of the fruit and he smiled softly, oh yes.... that was it! It needed a pretty little garnish! Cheerfully he took the basket back in his mouth and skittered off in the direction of the cliffs, he knew exactly what flowers would make the perfect accent piece for this basket!

He slowed down to a creep when he heard voices though, and stopped completely when the figures came into view. He crouched down, hoping his darker colors would help him blend into the background.... strangers .... they were strangers and he knew.... but... wait. One of those voices sounded rather familiar and it caused his white ears to perk up. Zuberi? But ..... she didn't have a bi pedal form... did she?

He wasn't entirely sure what to do ....

[Nako]

Frowning deeply, the winged hybrid rubbed his temples with a sigh. "Zuberi... you're throwing away -everything-..."


"You mean you threw away everything.. when you married mother."

Suddenly he became quite... menacing, advancing on his daughter. "That is -not- what this is about! I don't want you living your life without-"

"Without living the life -you- wanted to live! No matter how much you love mother you -regret- not being able to live your life... well.. I'm not letting you take out your frustrations on me! The only reason I didn't accept her offer in the first place is because I knew it would upset you!" Now, that was quite the admission. "In fact, maybe if you hadn't showed so much animosity towards the priestess then I would have accepted her training and.. and... I wouldn't be going through what I am right now..."

She couldn't be there any more. Every time they talked, they fought. She could even hear the flutter of wings as he flew off as she walked away. For some reason, that hurt more than anything. With her skirts billowing behind her, she stormed into the heavy foliage, and her foot came in contact with something.. fuzzy..

"Gah!" Stumbling, she tripped clear over the quadrupedal rat, grabbing onto the trunk of a tree to keep herself from falling. It was difficult to see in the dark, but the coloring of the creature's wings and the cape on his back made if obvious who it was, despite the change in form. "Tavor?? What are you doing out here... how long have you been out here??" Had he heard what had transpired..?

[Kitty]

He was beginning to think that it would just be best if he just slunk away and let this play out but ... .he couldn't. All he could do was just stay crouched in the dark and curl his tail around himself. He didn't put her previous description of her father together with the winged biped near her now and he was compelled to stay simply because he didn't' want to slink away and then find out something happened to her .... he'd feel terrible.

And then the argument was apparently over and she was coming toward him and he tried to move out of the way ... but he wasn't fast enough to completely dodge her foot, and then he was caught.

He put his ears down and to the sides, but not back, and peered up at her rather apologetically, although that might be lost in the dark of the night. He wasn't entirely sure what to say, but answering her question would be a start, right?

I .... I've been.. .here for awhile.... I was .... picking fruit... t-to surprise you.

Well, when he said ti out loud it sounded rather silly to his ears, but all he could do was just stare up at her with that pathetic little look.

[Nako]

Whatever anger she might have begun to fell soon dissipated. It truly was difficult to be mad at Tavor, especially in his much feebler, smaller quadruped form. Smiling, she brought a gentle hand down to stroke back the beautifully patterned fur on the top of his head, the other hand carefully picking up some of the fruits that had spilled when she knocked into him. How innocent he was; it was almost childlike and she couldn't help but smile. "You're such a dear... I'm sorry that I ruined the surprise. I appreciate it very much though... it's cheering me up already."

She didn't know how much the rat had heard, but in a way she wondered if he even understood what little he had. That sounded bad even in her mind, but it was hard to think otherwise with how innocent Tavor was. If he had questions, she would oblige him; otherwise she wouldn't impose her worries onto him. Glancing over her shoulder, she made sure that her father was long gone. "I s'pose you haven't seen me like this yes... I don't take this form often."

[Kitty]

The touch to his head was more then a bit surprising and he couldn't contain the little gasp that escaped his maw as his body stiffened involuntarily. It wasn't that her touch was unwanted, in fact .. .he rather enjoyed physical contact, he just wasn't entirely used to it, at least not in a positive light. His expression remained sheepish, but he flashed her a little awkward looking smile as he willed his muscles to relax. After all, if she was going to beat him she wouldn't be petting him .... right?

If her hand still lingered after his initial flinch he'd make up for it by butting her hand lightly with his head before moving back enough to sit on his haunches. If her hand had moved he'd simply just move back to sit up and assist in placing the fruit back into the basket, rodent paws were, after all, a bit more dexterous then most other quadruped paws were.

After a moment of silence both of those pale furred ears would slowly swivel forward as he peered up at her with intrigue. Now, why wouldn't she use this form often? He couldn't see anything wrong with it ... and he couldn't make full sense of what he'd heard the two talking about... He just had to ask and did so after tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. His voice was also still rather quiet, not quite a whisper but not much more then one either...

Why don't you?

[Nako]

She held steady even as he flinched; it wouldn't surprise her if he just wasn't used to the contact. His cute response caused a smile to curl her lips. Zuberi paused though, when he asked a rather sensitive question. A sigh escaped her, and she settled down to sit amongst the fragrant tropical grasses. At first, she really didn't know how to answer him, flicking her gaze to the sea.

"When I was much younger, I was told that I would have certain... responsibilities as I grew older. Attaining this form is just a reminder of the responsibilities I will have to take on in the future." That was essentially the simplest way to explain it. Her life seemed... too long winded to tell the entire story in all its tediousness and tendency to be quite esoteric to the natives in general. Few outsiders could understand her plight.