flip em the bird – body change

Ja'sunna hardly sleeps during the night. The lurking darkness carries many mysteries that do not exist in the light, a world of wonder hidden in each cricket song and whispered breeze, that of which she chases for as long as the moon hangs lazily in the sky. She spends the night in the mountains, prowling through both familiar and unfamiliar landscapes in search of every nook and cranny that offers itself to be discovered. She dips by the border every so often to check scent-marks and replace those that may be fading, before disappearing again into the thick brush, seeking out secrets of the night.

She likes the advantage of familiarity, of knowing where everything is, of knowing the territory that they've claimed as their own inside and out. She wants (perhaps a little too desperately) to discover all of what it may hide, until it may hide no more from her, and it's only when the sun peeks through the horizon-line that she begins the trek back towards the docks, picking her way down the stone staircase with more knowledge of the land than she'd had the night before. There are more secrets, she knows, but for the moment she is satisfied with what she's discovered.

Her vermilion gaze drifts from the steps underneath her paw to the dock, to the coast, to the water where a white figure stands in the lull of ocean waves. One second, she recognizes the familiar figure of Mama, familiar in all of its angles and plains; the next, it is replaced by something smaller, slighter, and Ja'sunna is quick to go from walk to sprint towards the beach to investigate. Seafoam tickling her thick legs, the white tigress watches the new form with clear interest and a slight glimmer of distrust, only for the latter to bleed away into nothingness when familiar features make itself known.

It's Mama, still Mama, smaller but remaining the same.

Ja'sunna wades closer, until seafoam turns into saltwater, rounding the serval until she's standing in front of her. She recognizes joy in the other's expression, and she can't help but allow one of her own to touch her lips, pulling gently. "I dare say, you do still look as pretty," comes her quiet murmur, nearly lost in the soft sounds of the ocean waves. In the privacy of the pocket of air between them, Ja'sunna is more open, more easy-going, less hidden from the world. Her head cocks to the side and it's close to being playful, the way her eyes scarlet eyes glimmer with familiarity.

Her voice is but a breath above the waves. "Is it as you wanted it to be?"

Shapeshifting, the ability to change your appearance at will, wasn't a power that Buckingham had. He couldn't help it but feel relieved that he's stuck in this tiny feline body. To Buckingham, it felt almost wrong to change his appearance to something else. With a new appearance, to the maine coon, it would feel like he'd be wearing someone else's face. It's probably weird that he has this mentality, considering his past as an assassin- a power like shapeshifting would have been perfect to conceal his identity. But he wouldn't feel like himself if he had the power, so which is why he stuck to stealth during his time as an asset and assassin. There are other ways to hide your identity, Buckingham proved that to be true.

Buckingham barely got any sleep at night. If anything, it was rare for him to sleep for a few hours at once during the night. The maine coon has insomnia, and often he's wide awake into the night. Buckingham used to walk around during sleepless nights back at his old home, and the former assassin found himself doing that here in Sunhaven. He couldn't stare at the ceiling in his docked boat home for very long before he gets frustrated that his eyes refuse to sleep. The male found himself tiredly padding through the sea town, moonlight gleaming on his metal prosthetic. He made his way out of the seatown and into the territory, ears pricked up as he tried his best to stay alert in such a tired state.

Eventually, his paws took him towards the beach, when he came to a pause for a moment. His pricked ears began to detect voices- one he recognized and the other he did not. One of them was Mama Ishayu, and he wasn't sure who the other person was. Bucky knew the other person was a clanmate, he could pick up their scent all the way from here with his enhanced senses. The male didn't consider himself to be close to either Mama or Ja'sunna, and for a moment he wondered if he should approach them or not. After a moment passed by, the former assassin decided to make his way over to the two. With each step he made, he tried to be as quiet as possible, but surely won't be as successful this time around.

And when he arrived, he only could tell who Mama Ishayu was by her scent and voice. When he padded in, he was expecting to see an albino lioness. But what he saw instead was an albino serval, which also helped distinguish Mama from Ja'sunna. She seemed to be quite happy with her new appearance, and she was smaller than before. Bucky knew that he wouldn't be happy if his appearance changed, but clearly others can be. Mama was a perfect example that she's happy with the change. "You look nice," The male commented with a flick of his ear, giving his presence away with a simple meow.