Behind The Wall of Sleep [Digg]

[Kara Davion]

The midday sun was bearing down hot and bright within the dome, but under the thick canopy of the forest it had become little more than dappled points of light upon the leaf littered earth. Even so, the bothersome warmth still permeated the air with a heavy humidity, making any amount of movement at that time of day a fruitless waste of energy. As a result, not a whole lot was going on in the realm of the Analoya and things were surprisingly quiet – perhaps due in part to the fact that most of the pride had taken to lounging the day away. Cats will be cats after all.

Being able to move relatively freely through the forest was a welcome change for the russet haired rogue as she strolled rather lackadaisically in her felid form, snaking a path through the trees with no particular destination in mind. Being a jungle cat, Kara was well accustomed to the heat and humidity and her thick striped fur did well to insulate her from the smothering warmth. Still, a nice chilly little spring would be perfect right about now, not only to cool down, but also because she was getting rather thirsty. She had heard about something bad happening to the water around these parts and wasn't too keen on drinking from the river, clean or not.

Releasing a tepid yawn into the moisture thick air Kara slowly made her way back to the small clearing where she had set up camp within a small copse of trees at its center. It was nice and inconspicuous and the smell of wildflowers and pine masked her scent - so if someone were to find her little hiding spot they would have to be looking for it deliberately. Being almost two hundred pounds in this form, Kara wasn't much of a tree climber, but instinct compelled her to get off the ground as a wave of lethargy washed over her. Using those pointed claws of hers on a sturdy looking oak near her camp, the tiger shifter hoisted her felid form up onto the largest branch she could find.

Settling down into a lying position, she lowered her head onto her paws and let her drowsiness drop her eyelids, whiskers twitching as a brash little bug tried to settle upon them. She was used to sleeping in her shift form, she did it a lot, and a lot of the time it was the best way to sleep. The tree groaned softly in protest of the sudden weight on its bough, but Kara was already fast sleep, the soft breeze kicking up around her a welcome godsend on such a hot muggy day.

[Digg Haywood]

"Of course they'd send me out to the jungle today," came his voice amidst a series of huffs and puffs as he worked his way through the Hunting-grounds. "It's betrayal, that's what it is. They ganged up on me. 'It's only fair', they says. 'Outvoted', they says," he continued, hacking his way vigorously through the undergrowth with a machete, heedless of the danger such noise would bring about. His Menagerie family had gone and ganged up on him, voting to send him into the forest to hunt today. Boone'd even mapped it out, telling him what time he should reach so-and-so place. Little red X's and all. "Well I'll tell you about fair. It's hotter th'n the devil's ass-crack and I'm out here wrasslin' plants while they put up their feet at the river. Shoot," he grumbled, pausing in his efforts to catch his breath. The humidity made it feel ten times hotter than it was. And in the dense undergrowth, he felt as if he could squeeze a glass of water out of the air. Which reminded him of how thirsty he was, and that he'd need to find some water soon or he'd be dehydrated in no time--his body was already slick with sweat, his shirt pretty much pasted to his skin. His water pack was full, but it dawned on him that it didn't do him much good seeing as he'd left it back at camp. "Gaddamn," he spat, slamming his blade into a tree trunk. Digg leaned back against the trunk (now oozing sap from his attack) and tried to relax. He usually liked the woods, hell back home he'd nearly lived in 'em. But here in the dome, trapped with the broiling heat...he much preferred foraging in the meadows where all the horses and other hoofed looking things wandered. He fit in better there, where he could shift and gallop through the plains free and easy. It almost felt like home, surrounded by mountains. But he was stuck in some godforsaken jungle where he could barely move as a man, let alone trying to fit his fat horse-ass through the closely packed trees. Thankfully he could see a bit of a clearing just ahead, and with a huff he plucked his machete from the tree and with a couple of more hacks he burst into a shady little alcove with a few sparse trees dotted here and there. He decided this was where he was going to rest, his brother and his stupid maps be damned. He sheathed his machete and sauntered over to the nearest shade tree and slumped down. His eyes had barely just closed when a terrific craaack! rang out; Digg was up on his feet before he knew what was happening. He looked up into the tree and the only thing he saw was a tangle of striped fur and flesh tumbling down at him, and in the split second he had he simply held out his arms in front of him, feeling the weight of whatever it was fall into his arms. ooc-- Digg's having a bad day, poor dear. HERE, HAVE A TIGER! 8D

[Kara Davion]

In her dreams she was back home. Not the snowy mansion in America that she was forced to flee from but the quaint seaside cottage in Ireland where she was born. She could smell the salty sea breeze as it whisked through her hair and feel the spray of the ocean as it crashed upon the rocky shore. The worn old wood of the dock beneath her bare feet was soft and sodden, the crystal clear ocean beyond it beckoning her to jump in and swim. With the bright warm sun beaming down upon her, she smiled elatedly as she took a running start and leapt from the dock, her body arching perfectly into a beautiful dive.

CRRRAAAAACK!

Those vivid teal eyes snapped open as the sound of the tree branch giving way beneath her shattered her exquisite dreamscape and brought her finely tuned senses back to life. Then all at once she was falling, the earth below rising up to meet her as she tumbled head first out of the tree. She was all teeth, and claws, and grunts, and growls as the tiger braced for impact, only to feel her descent halted by some unknown force. Taking a moment to assess the situation, she noticed she was not on the ground, she was not in the tree, and she was not alone.

Turning her gaze upon the stranger now, they narrowed, lips curling back to reveal large white teeth as a low deep growl bubbled up from her throat. Planting all of her paws upon the man's chest and abdomen, she pushed off of him and leapt backward, twisting midair to land square upon her feet as she connected with the ground. Shifting, she stood before the man as a woman with quite the stern and critical expression upon her face as she gave him the once over. "Where did you come from?"

A few sniffs told her he was a shifter, and while he smelled of others – not to mention a heavy coating of sweat – she did not catch their scents nearby. At least he was alone. She was definitely not in the mood to be dealing with one wayward stranger, let alone a whole group of them. Although she had yet to show any hostility other than her words, it was more than obvious she wasn't too keen on having him around. If the fire in those eyes didn't give it away, her evidently defensive stance did. "What are you doing here?" Had she the capacity to do so in that form, she would have followed her words with another unsettling felid growl.

[Digg Haywood]

It all happened a mite too fast for his boiled brains to handle—he only saw a flash of orange and black fur and then he was struggling to keep his balance as whatever was wearing that fur plummeted into his arms; he swung his arms and twisted to the side with his load as the broken branch snapped further under its own weight and came crashing down. He staggered a few steps before straightening out, eyes connecting with what appeared to be a--"Holy…! A tiger!" he exclaimed with a nervous, excited laugh. "I caught me a gad-damn tiger!" he looked down into the beast’s eyes, startled at the bright blue color…so probably not a real honest to god tiger, then, but it sure as hell looked real enough. He didn’t have long to gloat over his feat of strength, as the tiger began to writhe in his arms. Digg went still, muscles tensed as the tiger planted its paws onto his chest (saying a few hail Mary’s or whatever the religious folk did when they were praying that a tiger wouldn’t claw their faces off) and rocketed off him. He instinctively slackened his arms and released his grip and easily let the animal go, but the force of its push sent him stumbling backwards. His arms flailed wildly for a few desperate seconds before he was sent flat on his back, compliments of a root. Digg let out a low groan, content to sprawl on his back for a moment to catch his breath—until he remembered that he’d just caught a tiger (almost literally) by the tail. If he hollers let him go, he mused to himself before hauling himself to his feet. He noticed his hat had fallen off, and stooped down to pick it up before he realized the tiger was gone and a woman stood in its place. He stopped mid-stoop when she spoke to him, her voice demanding but not entirely threatening. Yep, not a real tiger then. A shifter, like him. Digg dusted off his hat on his camo pants, shaking his head and giving the tiger woman a winning smile. "Where did I come from? I was takin' a nap under this here tree when it started rainin' tigers. Stranger things 've happened in here though, I reckon." he said, settling the cap on his head. "As for what I'm doin' here...well I usually get to know a girl a bit better a'fore I let 'er get me on my back," Digg said with a suggestively subtle raise of his eyebrow. "Like...her name, at least." he said, dusting off a bit of the dirt he'd collected on his ass. "I'm Digg." he stepped forward and offered her a hand, reconsidering it as he noticed how much dirt he'd gotten on it. He wiped it on his shirt til it was satisfactory (as clean as he could get it in the situation), and held it out to her again. ooc-- sorry this took so long. been having a rough few weeks getting settled back into school :/