Round Two [Leah/Open]

[{J I S A}]

I’M STUCK HERE IN THE MIDDLE
AT WAR WITH GOOD AND EVIL

A quiet night on the fringes of society. She wasn't quite in the midst of the city where she'd feel isolated and cut off from normalcy just by looking at those who had that human life that Jisa had always wanted. By the same token, she hadn't sentenced herself to the wild where the silence and open air would soothe the instinct and claustrophobic feeling she'd get in a house or in town but alienate her even more from the life she had once, a long time ago, known.

Instead, she sat on a park bench, breathing in the humid warm summer air and tilted her head back, exposing her throat and closing her eyes. The very slight, heavy breeze pushed through her hair and clung to her skin. If she concentrated hard enough, she could quell the feeling of being suffocated by the heavy air around her, if only just for a moment.

It was the worst at night, when the darkness pressed around her like a blanket, diving down her throat and filling her lungs. Closed her off from the rest of the unseen world surrounding her. After her breakdown around Ash, Jisa had taken to removing herself from harmful situations where Ash or Anya would be able to see her inner turmoil. It wasn't right for them to have to see that.

So, her company tonight was herself and the rustle of leaves on the trees and the chirp of crickets in the grass. There was nothing but peace and serene silence, or so Jisa tried to convine herself.

DON’T WANNA SPEND MY TIME AFRAID OF DYING
I WANT LOVE IF LOVE WANTS ME

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[ffang]

cause it's a feeling that you get,
when the afternoon is set

the air was warm upon that summer night, stirred by a heated breeze that blew gently through the grass, stirring the silence with faint rustles from swaying undergrowth and bending tree limbs. the sky was rapidly darkening, the only sources of light coming from the near yet distant city. acute hearing could catch the faint sounds that drifted from the edge of society, reminding her of home that had been lost long ago. it had been so long since she had truly been here; she had never been a traveller at heart, and the time she had spent away had eventually dawn her back here -- to clearstone, where everything familiar was. here, there was calm amongst the chaos, even with the elites and ep that had been hunting down supernaturals like herself more and more before her disappearance.

leah didn't know what had drawn her back here: whether it was the familiarity, or the fact that it was simply a place where she had come to call a secondary home, she didn't know. all she knew was that she had come back; surely, the others from times before were gone now. they would have disappeared by now, just as she had, without a word or trace left to show where she had vanished off to. for a moment, forest green and sky blue optics closed as memories came forth to the forefront of her mind: she remembered them all. recollections of memories swirled through her mind, and she felt as though she could sense them nearby, just beyond the next rise. it's been so long... and yet they may have already moved on, left this place behind...

her bi coloured orbs flicked open once more as she exhaled quietly, the sigh seeming almost loud in the silence that she shared only with herself. there was the faint chirps of crickets from the grass as she moved forward, her golden-brown pelt nothing more than a shadow within the darkness. her senses were much more enhanced when she was in this form; however, something stirred within the back of her mind as a humid breeze blew into her face. had she been in her human form, she might not have caught the scent that was upon the breeze. all movement grew still as she froze, shock stiffening her limbs as she gazed in the direction the breeze had come from, towards where the park was -- her mind began to race as she was reminded of the scent again.

jisa -- ?!

for a moment, she wondered if the nostalgia of memories was making her hallucinate things; and, maybe she was. however, her body was acting upon its own accordance as she began to move forward, not bothering to shift out of form. something told her that what she scented was no hallucination; for a moment, she hesitated, before she began to swiftly move in the direction of the scent, the need to know taking over everything else.

( omfg this is shitty sorry you can kill me )

[{J I S A}]

I’M STUCK HERE IN THE MIDDLE
AT WAR WITH GOOD AND EVIL

Jisa heaved a sigh, ignoring the bands of iron that tightened around her ribs like they wanted her lungs to collapse all together. She needed to change, somehow. There was no way she could go on like this, not anymore. Threats or not, this was what was going to kill her and estrange her from her very few friends. How did she end up a martyr? A long time ago, she would have left Ash and Anya to fend for themselves and damn the consequences, after all, if they couldn’t take care of themselves by now then they couldn’t fit in the Supernatural world. That was the old Jisa though, and that was something she hadn’t been for a very long time. The thought just made her ache, world-weary.

No one but Anya was left from the old life. How had it come to be that Jisa would survive above any and everyone else? Once upon a time she had been so wrapped up in her hatred and conflict and witty comments and sarcasm that she’d been sure that someone or something would take the opportunity and wipe her off the face of the earth. And now she was nineteen and she had never been more broken, wrong.

She knew the exact moment when it had happened, too. Ace. Stupidly, she had fallen for his charm and become happy for the longest time since her family’s murder. Then she had backtracked when they had become too close, felt the press of commitment and the impending possibility for being hurt, distanced herself suddenly. That had been the ultimate mistake, because that had been her undoing.

The EF had captured her and she had spent months in a hell that no one could ever understand, no one could know. It was then that she had become a shell of herself, wasting away and in pain and hopeless to the point of despair. Her only hope had been for the end. The real end.

But they couldn’t just give her that, could they? They’d let her go and left her for dead. A Shifter had come along and saved her. Another joke from a higher power. Because her life was just so funny wasn’t it? She could never have what she wanted. A mirror of that feeling swelled within her against the constricting pressure of panic around her chest. She had not let herself cry. Would not.

Leaning forward, abandoning the facade of calm meditation, Jisa put her elbows on her knees and face in her hands. She didn’t hear Leah’s approach, as smothered as she was by her own thoughts, or scent the hybrid supernatural as she usually would have done.

DON’T WANNA SPEND MY TIME AFRAID OF DYING
I WANT LOVE IF LOVE WANTS ME

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[ffang]

cause it's a feeling that you get,
when the afternoon is set

there was a thundering drumbeat within her chest as her paws carried here through the park, the darkness of night serving as a cloak of invisibility. eyes of deep ocean blue and forest green were round, their colour nearly dwarfed by the expanding black pupils. her mind was swirling restlessly as she crept ever closer, any sound made muffled by the dim sounds from the distant city that were just barely there in the wind that carried on throughout the park. thoughts went one way, and then another, and another after that. there was no direction or true order. there was only a riot within her head, each thought screaming over the fact that someone was here: someone who was supposed to be long gone.

even in the thick darkness, leah's enhanced senses that came from the canid side of her enabled her to see exceedingly well compared to any natural human being. her swift pace became halting as she drew herself to a stop, orbs roaming the area before her momentarily. she might have missed the silhouette if there hadn't been the slightest movement. her gaze locked upon the figure, the outline of the other shifter apparent only by the sight of pale skin that came through a veil of dark hair. beating back the urge to rush forward and cry out, the shifter stood silent, looking over the other.

it was indeed jisa, for a single glance could confirm the figure automatically within her mind. there was no mistaking the curtian of hair that fell in a river down her back, or the lean form of the other. but there was a weight to the atmosphere that pressed down upon her as she made herself creep a little bit closer. as jisa leaned forward, she couldn't help but notice things that were different. even though she had only gotten a fleeting moment's glance, she had seen it. there seemed to be an emptiness now within the old friend -- there was a distant look in the other's eyes, one that was all too familiar. with a stab, it hit her hard; this jisa was not the same as the one she had formerly been familiar with. there was something different now.

deep down, something about that realization scared her. trying to shake it off, tell herself that she was just jumping to conclusions and assuming things now, leah allowed herself to shift.

she hardly felt it as her bones snapped and remolded themselves iinto the skeletal structure of a human being, the entirety of her body changing in a few moments. when her eyes flicked back open, their depths wary and brimming with concern over anything else, it was clear in her pale face that she didn't know what to expect. slowly swallowing, she moved forward, keeping her steps soft as to not startle the other. normally, she would have expected the other panther shifter to have sensed her; but as she paused a few meters away, her eyes couldn't help but shut for a brief moment as it registered within her mind. yes, her fears had been true... this wasn't the jisa she had known.

wary, leah carefully allowed her body to lower itself into a crouch, where her eyes would be level with the other shifter's. unable to predict what might happen or any reaction she would get, she decided to speak, her voice worried and soft, but her body was tense with anticipation. "jisa?"

( sorry for my shit posts 8( this is so late </3 )