Predators Ball [Rika, Sophia]

[jarahamee]

Sophia stroked her head, slowly and gently. Her sad yellow eyes half-closed and she smiled without showing teeth. Her scarred skin gleamed with health beneath her simple linen clothes.

“I’m… some kind of old-world creature. I can make plants grow. There used to many of us. We moved through the wheat and blessed the crops. There were rituals for us. That is what mother said about father. Most of us were women. I can change my shape. I can be a woman, or a wolf-creature.”

She watched the Taikura thinking, and wondered herself, what the creature was thinking of. Her homeland? Her people? Did she miss them while she was so far from home? She sighed softly.

“You have a house? I have a house too, in the forest. It’s nice to be away from the city, and I can become a wolf to go to the city if I need to shop for something. I usually don’t. I make most of what I need.”

Sophia’s smile faded a little.

“I can show you my garden if you’d like. I’m proud of it.”

[qhostqrowls]

“I am honoured to meet one of your kind.” She said, and meant it. “I am sure you are as beautiful as a wolf as you are a woman.”

Rika closed her eyes for a few brief seconds, content. Sprawled in the grass with the sun on her pelt and a gentle hand on her head, she was as comfortable as she was confident.

“Yes, I do. You are welcome there, whenever you next come to the city.”

She opened her eyes, blinking slowly up at Sophia. She had such a sadness to her, it was almost palpable. A hurt soul. A daughter with a mother who missed her, the way she missed her cubs.

“I would like that very much.” She answered, and stretched out languidly as she stood. “Please, show me.”

[jarahamee]

“I don’t know if animals can be beautiful like people. I always think they are beautiful like the land, like a tree. People are different.”

Her voice was distant. Was she beautiful like a tree? Or the land? She thought perhaps she might be. Her body was like a scarred oak tree, growing strong from the Earth.

She paused as she pet Rika’s head, temporarily lost in thought, then turned as Rika asked her about the garden. The garden yes. It was a beautiful garden.

“Ah, follow me. It’s a little ways, but not too far.”

She rose to her feet, slow and measured, gently brushing dirt from her pants. The bank was steep, but she walked without effort, as if she was light as a feather. She held her head up, scenting the air, ears pricked for any sounds, before leading her to the edge of the forest.

The barefoot woman paused, putting her hand out to hold the plants out of the way, before inclining her head in invitation.

[qhostqrowls]

“Beautiful in different ways.”

The Taikura rose to her paws, padding heavily after the woman. Her claws splayed out across the grass, more suited for swimming than walking. Maybe she should change to her human shape, later.

She moved at a slow prowl, slipping in front of Sophia when she held the plants aside, brushing her tail against her legs like a housecat would.

“You are out here alone?” She questioned. Peaceful but lonely. The solitude of the wild had never suited her.

[jarahamee]

Sophia waited for her new friend to pass her, before letting the plants close behind. The foliage bent away from her as she passed, as if it had a mind of her own. There was no trail she walked, but rather, a way which opened up in front of them. A walk of indeterminable length which brought her to the garden gate.

Her smile down to the Taikura was a sad one.

“Yes. I live alone here, except for the forest animals when they visit.”

The dense forest stretched out before the Taikura’s nose. Small birds fluttered overhead between the branches and the woods was alive with their calls. Rika could smell that deer and elk had passed here, a bear and a wolf.

“We are here.”

Sophia breathed softly, pausing to look upon her domain.

In the midst of the rugged wilderness was somehow, impossibly, a fence. A plain wooden fence which divided the ordinary forest from a beautiful wild garden, which came with a carefully tended stone path. As she trotted forward, it became more like a vision from a fairy-tale: everything seemed both perfectly placed and entirely natural. The trees bowed over her head in a natural arch, leading forward.

The atmosphere was oddly peaceful. It was almost dream-like. Flowers bloomed on either side of the path. The far end of the path disappeared into an arch of interwoven wooden vine branches covered in white flowers. A small stream flowed nearby.

The plants seemed mostly decorative, though some were likely edible, more for beauty than for practicality. She could feel the loving touch of the tender in the vitality of what had grown here.

As far as she could see, there were no predators nearby, and no prey besides the songbirds in the trees. All was pleasantly still, save a distant rustle of a large herbivore somewhere in the brush. The faint scent of a wolf which was not a wolf tracked all over this place. Sophia.

[qhostqrowls]

“Don’t you get lonely?” Rika asked, staring uncomprehendingly upwards. Maybe she wasn’t the social kind of supernatural. She couldn’t imagine it. Didn’t wolves have packs?

She moved delicately through the garden, taking great care where she placed her paws and how she held her tail. The last thing she wanted was to flatten any of the well-loved flora.

She paused to smell the different plants and flowers, huffing loudly as she breathed in the foreign scents. There were many she had never seen before, and she spent her time admiring the lush abundance before she turned back to Sophia.

“It is like a paradise,” She said. “It’s beautiful.”

[jarahamee]

Sophia blushed lightly, her gold eyes averting a little. She was admittedly embarrassed by her solitude. Did she want to spend time with others? Yes, certainly. Was she afraid of spending time among humans? Absolutely.

“Hm. Yes. But it is safe to stay here.”

She wrung her clawed hands together and glanced down, rubbing the back of her neck.

Sophia brightened as the Taikura enjoyed the flowers. The garden was her pride and joy. Lush, colorful and beautiful, she considered it something of her little Garden of Eden, away from everything and everyone. While it was lonely, it was also protected from the outside world. A little extension of both her body and her power.

“Thank you. I cultivated it. I am…no God, but this is my land… and I feed it, and it feeds me.”

She ran her hand through the flowers, and some of them unfurled in her hand. A wall of rosebushes and a gentle arch of foliage stood between this outer garden, and the inner one. Different species of different flowering plants, all spliced together, growing as one.

“Are you lonely here?”

[qhostqrowls]

Rika made a low noise in her throat, tail swishing over the grass.

"The ones who took you, you are afraid they are still hunting for you?" She asked, as direct as she always was.

Safe but sad, to have to hide in the wilderness alone. She could not imagine Sophia in the city, but maybe in a quiet suburb, or an orchard or farm. Somewhere she could have more company. A solitary life could be as dangerous as it was safe - no one would know if she was taken again.

"Yes, sometimes. I miss being with my family, and others of my kind." She replied honestly. "But I like humans well enough, and there are so many supernaturals to meet. Some friendlier than others."

She bumped against Sophia's legs like an oversized housecat, as if to prove her point, and made a low chuffing noise like a laugh.

[jarahamee]

“They, or others like them. They always want… because I do have power…”

She said, looking mournfully at her wall of roses. The somber expression in her golden eyes became distant, and she looked back at Rika thoughtfully. Sophia had always been safe here. If she needed to, she could make this place blend into the rest of the forest, and remain isolated indefinitely. Wasn’t that what she always wanted?

“You have family waiting for you back there?”

Sophia shook her head, the motion almost dog-like as her long white hair shifted across her shoulders. She was muscular, and the big muscles of her upper arms. She smiled and leaned over to pet the Taikura, eyes gleaming.

“I hope I’m friendly.”

[qhostqrowls]

"I used to kill those kind of men." Rika commented. "Hunt an organization down, one by one."

She sighed heavily.

"I can't offer you their deaths anymore, but I can hunt them in a different way."

She stared up at the woman expectantly. The WDSA were more effective at dismantling those kind of associations, the Hunters and black-market poachers, then she or any other lone hunter could ever hope to be. And although she missed the thrill of a kill, it was almost as satisfying to watch them give up their associates and be left to rot in jail.

She purred, pushing her head hard against the womans hand.

"Two cubs and my mate, though I hope none of them are waiting anymore."

They probably thought she was dead, and that was for the best.

"Very. I am glad to have come across you."

[jarahamee]

Sophia looked down at Rika sadly. Two cubs and a mate? Were they grown now, or still small? Did they think of her often still? Did they really think she was dead?

She rubbed Rika’s head gently, feeling the vibrations of her purrs through her arm, and deep in her bones.

“I’m…sorry…”

The tall woman said, lingering on each syllable. She was truly sorry. While she missed her mother, she couldn’t imagine a life without her family. Her people. Sophia had been lucky enough never to know any of her kind, so she could never miss them.

“You…you can? What do you mean, hunting?”

While Sophia had always considered the prospect of being hunted, she had never considered hunting her tormentors. She chose, at best, not to think about where they were, or what they were planning. She only hoped they had forgotten about her.

[qhostqrowls]

"Don't be. I have a good life here."

She moved her head so Sophia was petting along her ruff instead, purring all the while. She half closed her eyes, considering how to answer. Some supernaturals were rightfully wary of the WDSA. She understood the distrust - she'd been suspicious herself.

"Tracking them down. Finding where they operate from. Who they sell to, who they hire, who they target." She replied. "I work with a squad, within an organization, to stop the hunting and poaching of supernaturals. If I'm lucky, I still get to kill the odd Hunter here and there."

She parted her jaws in the animal equivalent of a smile, staring earnestly into her eyes.

"You have a beautiful home out here, but you shouldn't have to hide or live in fear."

[jarahamee]

Sophia’s eyes became wide. The expression made her seem all the more wolf-like, paired with her long features and dark-lined eyes. For a moment, she contemplated possibilities. What would it be like not to worry about being pursued? Could she be protected from others taking advantage of her?

“Oh…oh. I um. I don’t know if they are still here, it’s been so long, but there’s always people who want to take advantage of my power. I have.. considerable power in some ways. It’s tempting for people to want to abuse it.”

She rubbed her upper arm with her free hand, somber eyes gazing down and through the mossy floor around them. The scarred woman seemed lost in thought again.

“I… I don’t want to hide, but I don’t know who will try to take me and use my power, you know…”

[qhostqrowls]

Rika stared back patiently.

"Yes, there will always be people wanting to take what you have." She agreed. "But there are also wards and charms and all kinds of protective magic to stop them. It's not my area of expertise, but I work with many talented mages. You aren't the first and won't be the last supernatural who needs protection."

She yawned, black teeth gleaming, and shook herself out.

"It is beautiful and safe out here, but there's options if you want a change."

[jarahamee]

Sophia reflected. It was tempting. She did want to meet more people. She liked having company here, however dangerous it was, and she did want to make friends, but it all seemed dangerous and overwhelming. What would happen if any of them wanted to betray her?

“…I would be interested in more information.”

She decided, after a long moment of hesitation and contemplation. She looked back over at Rika. The Taikura seemed very trustworthy, her expression honest and open. There was nothing that made her doubt what the creature had been saying.

“… I don’t really like being all alone here, but I don’t know what it is like to not be alone.”