[PRP] The Looking Glass (Preacher & Jamie)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher slunk through the underbrush (what little there was in a park), looking for things to do. Surprisingly, her time in bullshit rainy land was kind of boring today. She'd found her way in through simple luck, and didn't particularly feel the need to find her way back out. Her nose twitched. A flash of white caught her eye.

She was in the mood to run until her small limbs ached so she slide low against the ground. Then, she picked up a twig in her paws and chucked it at the rabbit.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Sometimes when Jamie's mind raced and his thoughts refused to quiet, he came here. As a hare, it was easier to ignore the anxiety in favor of the simplicity of an animal's life. He could pretend he wasn't a magic-user wrapped up in a centuries long conflict he had no answer to. It was nice, it was peaceful, it was Other Ashdown and that was okay.

Usually he was left alone. Once or twice he came in contact with an othercreature, but rarely did it matter. Maybe he should've been more aware, but instead Jamie let himself relax.

The twig hit him on the flank and made him jump. Suddenly his nose was snuffling a mile a minute, his muscles went tense as he hopped to his feet, and his eyes locked onto beady ones not unlike his own. He stared.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher picked up another twig in her jaws and flung it at the rabbit. It landed near it's tensed haunch. C'mon, run, she thought. With a weird noise that sounded as though it was half laugh and half hiss, she skittered forward at Jaime.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

It may have been those deep-rooted instincts kicking in, that prey animal fight-or-flight impulse sending signals like static through his nerves despite the fact that he was human beneath this rabbit skin. The second twig landed right next to him and he hopped, on his tippiest of toes, to the side. His ears were pressed flat to his skull.

Then she came after him and like a shot he bolted to the right, straight through a weary looking bush and out the other side, as fast as he could on his wide, strong snowshoe feet.

The Semblance of Unityyyy

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher let out a chitter of appreciation, her instincts taking over as she bounded after the rabbit. It was damn fast, of course, but she was sly. It wasn't about catching the rabbit, though she'd caught and eaten fish like this before. It was about the chase, about feeling the sting of air through her fur, the pebbles underneath her paws. She ducked around a tree and just missed cutting in front of him.

If he paused, she might just catch him.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

It was Jamie's keen senses that alerted him to the surprise attack at the very last second, though his instincts beat the words into him over and over, run, run, run. He sped straight past with her now hot on his tail, only chancing a turn when he had to. A small cluster of trees forced him to the right, slowing his pace ever so slightly.

The only sounds he heard were the mingling thuds of their paws against the ground. Right there, she was right there. His heart was beating fast and it wasn't because he was winded.

Run, run... run? Why was she chasing him, why was he running? For the shortest of moments his mind snapped away from the call of his instincts. He slowed even further.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Run, run, run, she chanted, needing to feel the adrenaline rush through her veins. The urge was there, of course, to catch and rip out his throat, see red upon the white fur. But Preacher recognized that as the animal side of her, easily ignored, suppressed. Her paws beat on the ground, kicking up bits of dirt as she flew towards her target.

Then the rabbit slowed. She caught up to him, looped around him, nipped her teeth close to his haunch, but not touching. Preacher let out a rumbling shriek.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

In that split second he'd dropped his guard and slowed his pace, Jamie realized it was a mistake. The mink was around him like a flash, frightening him with her sharp teeth and her unfriendly voice. The chase had startled him right out of flight mode, right out of his snowshoe instincts, and straight into I have to defend myself.

"Stop," he shouted, his words faintly garbled as he called out nearly mid-transformation. As a human he was much larger and much more suited to defending himself than a prey animal.

Without really aiming, he swung a backhand towards her in an attempt to scare her off.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher froze when Jamie shifted. Then, she was scooting back as he swiped out. What the ********, ********, ********, <********>. She ran and ducked behind a bush to stare at him for a second. Then, Preacher shifted too, her hair tumbling out of its ponytail as she turned human again.

"What the goddamn ********>!?" How was she supposed to know the rabbit was a ******** moonwalker?

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

For a brief moment all appeared well. The creature was gone, presumably frightened off by his larger size. It was better that way. After all, Jamie had come here to de-stress and forget his worries for a while, not to get in fights. Except, well, maybe his celebration had been premature...

The bush shook with movement and though he couldn't see her entirely, he could tell someone was there—someone much larger than the mink had been. Where his heartbeat had calmed only a moment ago, it picked back up again, leaping into his throat. As he tried to swallow it down, he also tried to sound calm and totally not caught off guard all over again. He wanted to sound strong, like he had his s**t together, despite the fact he'd just been chased around like prey.

"W-Who's are you?!" he called back with vigor equal to hers.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher stepped out from behind the brush, pulling leaves out of her hair. "I'm ********' Preacher. Who tha hell're you?" She fixed Jamie with a baleful glare. ********' weres and their sneaky bullshittery. Preacher was conveniently ignoring the fact that she, too, was a were. And equally sneaky.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Though Jamie did his best to be strong and confident, he was definitely withering under that look. This whole situation was taking one wild, unexpected turn after the other and he already had whiplash. "I'm, um, Jamie," he said, able to keep his voice from dropping with a little effort. At the same time, he tried to figure out why she was being so goddamn aggressive when she was the one who'd done wrong by chasing him in the first place.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "Hey... why were you even chasing me, anyway?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher had the good grace to look vaguely ashamed. "Thought ya were a normal rabbit n' s**t. Wanted to chase s**t." Then her eyes turned hard again. It was difficult not to dislike any new were she came across, not when they had such power over her with a touch.

"How was I s'ppose to know?"

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Luckily for Preacher, though she had no way to know this either, Jamie was too rattled at this point to think about going straight for pack touch. If he didn't want to end up like Oliver, it would hopefully stay that way.

"W-Well... how was I supposed to know you were just gonna chase me and not actually hurt me?" He crossed his arms with a huff. A small fire was kindled in his eyes, even if it was nothing compared to her sharp, cold stare. "What if I'd been some sort of mutant othercreature who turned around and snapped your head off?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Then I guess I woulda died, cool." Preacher tossed her hair behind her. That was a risk she was well aware of in bullshit Ashdown. It didn't mean she would've gone down without a fight, though.

She looked him over. Jamie looked about as intimidating in human form as he did rabbit. Which was to say 'not at all'. "Why didncha change back earlier then?"

saedusk