fish gotta swim (open!)

[forte]

Rivers aren't much fun for most cats, I can say from experience. Pumas like them alright, though, I can say that from experience, too. I mean, it's not exactly an experience that I wanted to have... far from it. I hated being a shifter for a long time, but I guess I kinda got used to it. Five years will do that to you. But kind of sucked when I was going along with my regular life and all of a sudden my brother and I got ambushed by a crazy mountain lion. So I got stuck in the body of a nineteen year old, which blew. And I also got stuck in the body of a mountain lion, which was even worse because I lived on a sheep farm and mountain lions... well, like to eat sheep. In any case, my family had been forced to drive me off before I cost them too much money, because in those days I wasn't so great at controlling my, well, unique animal instincts.

I was still not very good at that. The reason I'd come down to the river was to have a nice swim to get the heat out of my fur and to fish, even though I knew it was dangerous. There was something called the EF about, and I didn't really know what they did, but it wasn't good for shifters. Sad thing was, I could kind of understand why they wanted to hunt us, because... well, Shifters could be dangerous. The one that attacked me was. I was, when I killed those sheep. I could have destroyed a lot of lived if I hadn't gotten my whiskers out of the place pretty quick. Still, as long as I kept to myself I should be alright.... Right? Problem was, I wasn't very good at keeping to myself. I liked company. But not many people want to be in the company of a mountain lion.

I lay down on the bank of the river, head on my paws, looking into the water at the little fish below and thinking how messed up this all was. I didn't want to be a shifter, shifters were dangerous and hated and there was nothing fun about perpetual adolescence. But it was my lot, so I had to take it. I hadn't really met any other shifters yet, so I thought they were all bonkers like the one who had given me the scar across my nose that would change my life forever. I hated myself, then, but I couldn't really do that, either. "Get ahold of yourself, Mack," I growled to myself, thinking aloud, "don't do anything crazy, alright? It's your life and you gotta live it... no matter what happens..."

[{J I S A}]

Quicksilver River. Oh, the memories. Jisa thought sourly to herself as she wandered down the edge of the riverbanks. Actually, despite what had happened in the past here, the Panther Shifter was in a rather uncharacteristic good mood. The sun was pleasantly warm, but not enough that the nineteen year old girl was uncomfortably shifting in her skin. Turning her face up to the sky, she bathed in the radiating rays. The river beside her glistened silver and blue. It could have been the fact that having two younger, not so messed up kids in her life finally taking affect on her personality- or it could just be the good day everyone has once and a while. The tall Shifter was betting on the second option. What to do about Ash's slow transformation into an almost Jisa clone? That was an issue for later. For now, it was just the sun, the warmth and the happiness.

Taking a deep breath, Jisa was suddenly put on alert. Her deep blue eyes flew open as she took another breath. Definitely the scent of another predator. It wasn't that often that Jisa met a predator Shifter, and even more rare, a big cat one. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, she stopped walking and scanned the area for signs of life. None. Even so, she took in her surroundings in deeper detail than before. Their was a slight breeze heading into her face, so unless this person was behind her, then they wouldn't scent her until she was close. It was slightly humid, but it was mostly dry heat in the air. There was forest on either side of the river but up a little further it was shallower and narrower. Then Jisa realized that she had gone into Security mode. If it was a Shifter, that was fine. Not the whole world was against her. Just most of it.

Then she heard a faint voice, someone talking to themselves. Doing a double take, she cautiously moved forward, each footstep almost silent. Soon she saw a mountain lion, lying on the water edge. Faltering in her step, she regarded him for a moment before deciding that it was probably better to shift in this situation. Slowly, she melted down from six feet to considerably closer to the floor. Her form of a panther. She stayed where she was but gently growled under her breath, not menacingly, to alert him that she was there.

[forte]

The day was warm and pretty, but I seemed to be having some problems with actually enjoying it for what it was. There was a lot going on in my life, I guess, but it was kind of nice here. Peaceful. So far, no one had thrown rocks at me or tried to trap me. I'd been spending a lot of time as a mountain lion, to tell the truth. I guess I needed some time away from, well, humans, because I wasn't so sure I fit in with them anymore. I guess I didn't fit in with shifters either. It was weird, for me, this not fitting with anything business. Before I'd... changed... my life had been pretty simple, and I had a good enough future ahead of me. A calm one, a not particularly fabulous one, but a future nonetheless. Now that was gone and I was looking for something else, some other purpose.

I fair jumped out of my skin when I head a growl behind me, whipping up and around as only a cat can, quick as a snake, a little snarl sticking in my throat. The hair on my tail was puffed out as far as it would go, and that on the nape of my neck was raised defensively. What I saw made me take a step back and stare, though. It wasn't a good idea, the stepping back, because I was right on the edge of the river and lost my balance, falling down on my butt with a splash and a loud, indignant yowl. I clawed my way back up onto the bank and stared at the panther again, head to the side, trying to figure out what it was doing here... Panthers weren't native to this part of the world, were they?

It hit me about ten seconds later that this must be another shifter, and all of a sudden I felt like maybe jumping back into the river was the best way to go... My butt was already soaked anyway. But the panther - a girl, I could tell from the scent - didn't seem like she was about to attack me or anything, so I didn't take that route, instead standing my ground with a curious expression on my face, whiskers arching towards her and head slightly to the side. "Who... are you? Are you a shifter?" I asked, in a kind of low, awed whisper. I didn't realize that my yowling earlier had probably just put us both in danger, though, because it had been quite loud and, well, there was something called the EF about. Of course, I was a newcomer and ignorant, and I didn't even know what the EF was, much less that a yowl like that was something of a giveaway.

[{J I S A}]

Okay... so maybe the growl wasn't a great idea. The other Shifter still seemed surprised and leaped backwards into the river with an earsplitting yowl. Startled herself, Jisa's fur raised and her tail started on the lashing around nervously again. Flinching at the intensity of the yowl, the panther glanced around and froze, listening for the sound of approaching human feet. A run in with the EF wouldn't be great at this moment in time, and avoiding it would be pretty hard with a seemingly clueless Shifter to look after. Satisfied that there was nothing around, the panther settled into her skin again and sat down to seem less menacing. Her tail curled around her paws.

After all of the excitement had died down, the black panther found the eyes of the mountain lion on her. His head was tilted. She could sense his confusion. Well, it wasn't surprising to say the least. It's not everyday that a black panther appears out of nowhere and scares you out of your wits. Standing very still, she waited for the mountain lion to at least say something. He seemed to be contemplating an escape. It wasn't until his posture changed to curiosity and when he spoke, that the panther sighed and yawned. At least this wasn't going to be a fight. They were so common these days.

Jisa purred a chuckle at his awed expression. Her blue-gold eyes glittered with amusement. She seemed so lighthearted these days, in short timespans, but still a little more carefree than usual. "Yes, I am a Shifter. I'm Jisa, well, in short." She rose to her huge paws and stretched down into a bow, just to stretch her back.

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