The rain was picking up. Not good. Rain washed the scent trails out of the air, and sent prey animals scurrying into their dens to wait out the weather. Rain meant footprints, and that meant it was more difficult to move through the woods unnoticed. Rain was bad for hunting, and the growing storm would make it all the worse. 

Zareth huffed in frustration and considered looking for shelter until it passed, when the wind suddenly shifted, bringing a fresh scent to his nose. Blood. Could mean prey, maybe? He crouched low, and slunk quietly in the direction of the scent.

As he crept closer, the scent strengthened, resolving itself into something distinctly human, but also a hint something else entirely...reptile? Zareth paused, hesitant. Another shifter...he hadn't seen one in months. And because the encounters did not often go well, he preferred to keep it that way.

But it had been so long that curiosity got the better of him. He went on toward the scent, though more cautiously than before. Luck had often favored him before; he relied on it now to keep him hidden from whatever lay ahead. 

(Sorry, that was longer than I'd originally intended. I was trying to make it more clear exactly what he was doing.)

Salvis exited the shop, grumbling. Where was she even supposed to find the scale of a snake-shifter? She hadn't even seen one shapeshifter, let alone a snake one. Shifters preferred hiding. Like her.

She trudged towards the dense Calimcian forest, worn sneakers rustling the grass. She froze. She could see distant, moving shapes ahead. One such shape looked rather large and doglike. Could it be a shifter? Drawn by curiosity, she shifted into a sparrow and flew nearer, the trees of the forest masking her brown plumage.

(Ooh, I'm about (?) to run into two people!) 

Fen scrunched his nose. The city smelled. Ugh, het hated the stench. He trotted towards the tree line into the forest. There much better. The wet grass and trees smelled better then the city. Fen looked around and froze. about 40 meters from him was a human. He sniffed the human, female, and smelled something else. He couldn't place it. His best guess was that she , like him was a shifter.

His fur bristeled and he went low to the ground and hid in the bushes. He was wary of other shifters, not all of them where nice and a few had injured him. The wind was cold and cut through his fur he shivered. He smelled another dog or wolf or canine at least, human scent mixed in. He groaned, another shifter. He was in hell, The gods must hate him today. He sighed and waited. Wasn't much else he could do. Well , other then hoping that the two shifter didn't notice him and if the did notice him, that they where nice.

One fractured paw , or arm for that matter, where enough. Had to go to the hospital Afraid the normal humans would find out. Weird smells. Horrible 

 Crier gasped for breath. Her heart was racing. She fell on the cold hard floor of the city. Her brown feathers were all ruffled. Pain was everywhere. She tried to get up on her feet but couldn't. She was just there, an owl looking dead. She didn't shapeshift into a human. Those like boys might laugh at her. They do nothing good.

  Afther staying there for about... two hours? Or three? She never understood time. She never went to school. She found a way to get up. She flew above the city floor. Crier looked at the people. They all stared at her. Did she turn to a human? No she's still an owl. Then why are they staring? 

 She stopped flying and tried to frown at them. If she were a human right now she would spit at their shiny shoes. She walked away with her slow little legs. "One day I'm gonna go find someone like me!" She said to herself. "Someone like me to be my friend." She nodded her head. Oh is that food?

(Dunno if Simone was referring to me, oh well. First contact!) 

Salvis froze.

Something was coming her way. It was a wolf. She groaned. That's it, she thought, enough animals for today. She would stay in her bird form, for now. If that wolf was a wolf (and she highly doubted it; those humans hunted them, or that was what she remembered from that tattered dictionary she found ages ago), it would tear her to pieces. If it was a shifter - well, she was screwed either way. Her encounters with shifters had been mostly unpleasant, and she was always on guard around them.

The wolf was getting closer, and fear coursed through her. It had to be a shifter. She had ran into one before (not pleasant at all), and knew how to differentiate a wolf from a shifter by the coloration of their pupils. She carefully shifted back into a human and perched herself on top of a tree. It probably knows I'm a shifter, too. What does it matter?

Sal swore in fluent Avian Calimcian (a language of guttural squawks, which only avian shifters could speak and understand). This was becoming a very bad day.

sesha shook her water skin over her mouth. she was almost out and would have to get more water. she slung the skin over her back and began marching towards the city. the rain felt wonderful. she couldn't help but remember the nightmare she had during the night. she wondered is she would find Nathir out and about in town. just then she heard a russle.

she shifted into her viper and slithered up the tree where she would have a better veiw of the city. she spotted a crouching thing on fourlegs. she decided to keep a close eye on it.

Amabala slowly woke up. What time is it? she thought. Bright sunlight went in her eyes. Great. She shapeshifted and went into the city. Dear me, she thought. It smelled horrible. She went back up into the bushes.

Later that day, Amabala walked along a trail. It's so peaceful today, she thought. She shapeshifted back into a human(wavy dark hair, brown eyes) and went back to the city. Just then, she saw an owl. Strange, she thought. (refering to Crier, Lightningings character.)

Zareth was close. Very close. But in his anxiousness to close the distance, he brushed against some bushes, revealing his position with an all-too-obvious rustle. He froze instantly, cursing himself silently. 

A viper glided into view, from where it sat in the branches of a nearby tree. It was staring directly at him, waiting to see what he'd do. The scent was unmistakably that of a shifter. An additional note to the scent brought to mind smoke and dust and piles of trash. A shifter from the city, he guessed. Odd that they would be out here; the city was nearly a day's journey away. 

After carefully weighing his options, Zareth stepped out into the open and looked up at the viper. No use hiding anymore. And he doubted the shifter would attack him. In his experience, snakes were cautious by nature, and never struck first unless threatened. He waved his bushy tail as a sign of goodwill, hoping he had judged correctly.

Fen looked at the shifter as she flew up in the tree, and shifted into her human form. She swore something in an language he couldn't understand.  He sighed and did the brave , or stupid, thing. He walked out of the bushes, to the tree and shifted back to human. He looked up. Black hair falling back. He should put some dreads in it, or cut it, or shave it off. 'Hello!' He said to her, bit harder then he had intenden. He cleared his throat. 'I know this is awkward and scary' he started 'but is thought i'd come to talk to you. Because you haven't attackted me yet, i assume you're nice?' he looked up at her and waved. 'My name is Fen, if there are to be introductions.' He chuckled to himself and smiled at her. 

Sal's heart did a plummet as she heard a harsh-sounding male voice. Jerking up, she relaxed (not very much, but still) and saw a man, probably in his twenties, with long, black hair. She tried to smile at him, but it probably didn't come out right. Probably had something to do with the fact that her green-grey eyes looked cautious and untrusting.

"Salvis, but call me Sal. About the 'nice', that depends on what you will do." For added emphasis, she fisted her hands, but that was all. Her mother, a strange and paranoid shifter, had taught her never to trust, but she wasn't her mother. She could have done a multitude of things to this - Fen, next, but all that came out of her mouth was:

"Shouldn't you cut your hair?"

She groaned again, a light blush spreading across her face. Darn social awkwardness.

 "It is food!" She said to herself. But there's another thing near.  A shifter!(Amabala) She turned her head to her. She shifted to a human ignoring her messy hair and jacket.  She tilted her head. "Hello!" she greeted the tall person. "I'm Crier!" She smiled. She never spoke to a human in weeks. She noticed that she almost made her fall. "Sorry." She apologised to her. She wasn't acting her age. Well she never went to school so how could she. Wait she found food. Eh she could wait. She looked at the sky again. Some clouds were leaving. Great, more hot weather. 

"Hi." Amabala said. "You're a shapeshifter. I've never met another shapeshifter before." She walked along, drinking from a water bottle as she walked. Amabala was happy, even though the sun was quite hot, and it was really bright.

Thor was a human(sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, sometimes changes to green) again. Great, anther day. Thor searched his pockets for the things he always needed. Water, knife, night-vision goggles, freeze-dried food, ipod, earbuds, and tarp. He walked to the city , turned the ipod on and tucked the earbuds in his ears, and walked and whistled.

Fen's blue/grey eyes looked at Sal. He laughed. Actually laughed at her comment. 'Yeah, maybe.' he said. 'Was thinking to put dreads in it'  he told her. Well, this was the most civil conversation he'd had in ages, albeit a bit weird. 'Why don't  you come down?' he asked 'My neck is starting to hurt!'  Chuckling, he put his hand on his neck, cracking it lightly. 

Sal allowed herself a small grin. This one looked better than the last. Still, she didn't come back down yet, but instead slid down the tree trunk to a lower branch. You could look at it without lifting your neck, but it was out of attack range. Unless Fen had a chainsaw, but she truly doubted that. Besides, he was rather pleasant, and didn't seem to want to hurt her. She let her guard drop, just a bit. "Sure," she said, cocking her head slightly, "But why are you here? Yes, I know that there are shifters around here, but most go to the other forest. More resources, you know. Personally, I like the quiet here. Haven't seen a shifter in months, maybe years." She didn't know why she was opening up to this stranger, but perhaps months of limited social interaction had softened her.

Oh well. There was no turning back now.

Sal slid down to a lower branc and Fen his neck felt better immediatly. He smiled at her, a silent thank you. Fen had to think about her question. Why was he here? 'Well, I slept in the city to night, old abanodned place' he started 'and i wanted a change of scenery. Missed the forest, and this one was close by. and it smelled nice' he chuckled. 'and shifter are around yes. especially here. I know a few who live among humans but.. i couldn't' He coughed a bit. he was a slght bit rusty with all this human interaction.  'My last encounter with another shifter didn't go so well, broke my paw, or arm' He lifted his left arm, thank god he could go to a hospital. Dreadful place. He just told more then he intended to tell.