GROW AS WE GO;; open && new body

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]Ever since the attack that had been done on her, Moth had the thought of her not being good enough in the back of her head. The feeling that there was more she should be able to do, that she should be able to fend off others, she should be stronger she should be someone that others couldn't get to as easily. Despite her being the only one hurt from Tanglewood that day, she felt as though she had failed the others around her, and she despised that. She knew that there were some around that would see her as useful, see her as someone that was good to the group - but she felt as though that was all a lie that they made up to make her feel better. Though she knew a few of the Tanglers well enough to confirm that they were not deceiving her, she couldn't confirm it with everyone here, and it made her paranoid mind swirl with thoughts and fears and excuses.

She should be able to fight if she's in this giant body. A body that she was still not used to fully. She was so big and took up so much space, unlike her original form, When she had been a fox, things had been easier for her. She wasn't expected to fight, and she wasn't expected to be able to take care of things herself when it came to someone attacking her. Mikolaj had said he would protect her if there was trouble when she had been the small vulpine. But when she had changed into something larger, something that didn't seem to need defending at first glance, suddenly he was gone, and so was her protection, her help. She had hated having others feel as though they were meant to watch over her, but at that moment she had wished it was still true. Her own body, her own powers, had deceived others there, she was sure of it.

She wanted so desperately to go back to her smaller form. She missed looking exactly like her mother and father, her siblings that she had buried in the small patch of territory that they had all shared, the eyes that she shared with her mother, the last physical thing to remember her by other than the memory of the old female telling her to run away before she got sick as well, run before she ended up like her siblings without anyone to bury her, so she had.

Shaking the thoughts of her family away, the jaguar would pad out into the world, fighting off tears as she kept her head low for fear of someone seeing her in this state, and she would simply walk, lost in her thoughts, anger at herself building up more and more until finally tears broke free and began to shift their way down her face, a small sniff coming from her as she thought about wishing to go back to how things used to be one last time, and suddenly she felt burning in her shoulder and her jaw, a sharp pain shooting through her front legs where Beck had clawed into her when they had found him in the bush in the crater, and the flash of something else - someone else - came through her mind as the thought of something going horribly wrong and not being able to see them rose to her mind as a loud, pained, gasp came from her throat as she collapsed on the ground, unable to use her legs at the moment, the pain too much for her right now.

And she began to shrink. Her feathers that surrounded her neck in a mane became smaller and smaller until they were no longer able to be seen, her wings making sharp snapping noises as they began to bend and break and become smaller as well, soon disappearing. Eventually the once jaguar became simply a domestic feline - that of a maine coon - and the satchel that she usually carried around her shoulders on her bag lay around her, now far too big for her to carry, and she let out a pained noise as the wounds began to burn more all at once, as if she was experiencing them all over again from the start before consciousness left her, the sudden surge of power that she had accidentally used and the sudden influx of pain caused her to pass out.

[wormwood.]

While Wormwood didn't know Moth's feelings exactly, he had definitely been worried about the female who was basically his little sister as of late. First off, she had her arms clawed to hell and back by Beck, she had gotten attacked by Roman, and she had also involuntarily shifted into her large jaguar form, a change that Worm had been both surprised and confused by. After all, his one form change had been caused by an outside threat, and while he didn't want to just assume that every transformation was a sign of some deeper evil, that was the only background knowledge that he had when it came to these kinds of shit. So, needless to say, he had been keeping kind of a close eye on the female ever since she had changed, not only to watch out for any violent tendencies, but also to make sure that she didn't get attacked again by anyone. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but he liked to think that he had a bit of a right to be paranoid, considering how many of the people that he cared about had recently been fucked over or had broken down. Hell, he had just lost Roy, somebody who he loved more than anyone else in the world. He wasn't about to lose Moth too. That would just... that would shatter him, at this point. He couldn't take it, and he wasn't going to let it fucking happen again, or else he was going have to go charging into the Pitt guns blazing to fuck them up, and that would more than likely inevitably end with him getting captured as well.

Which was why, when Moth emerged from her home while he was eating, her head down low and a look of exhaustion and sadness on her face as she practically raced along, away from their little town. As soon as he saw the state that she was in, a frown came to his face, and he got up quickly to his paws, his wings folding down against his spine as he quickly moved after her, his paw steps especially soft as he followed after her covertly, not wanting her to pick up on him just yet. After all, she didn't seem like she wanted anybody to see her in this state, and even if he wanted to give her privacy... he was her big brother. He couldn't leave her alone when she could possibly need his help. And after all, he knew better than anyone the feeling of inadequacy. Of being a failure to everybody that he was supposed to be there for. Hell, he still had nightmares telling him about just how he was going to end up with everybody around him dying because of him. Words spewing forth from a dying Poetking's mouth, admonishing him for failing not only him, but everyone else. The dream still plagued him, following him around like a dark cloud that made his every step heavier and made his heart sink. He couldn't have Moth in a state like he was, but even he wasn't truly sure how to help, if he couldn't even help himself.

Still, as soon as he saw the tears streaming from her eyes, his heart sank, and he sped up his step, intent on stopping her and asking what was wrong, or at the very least asking how he could help, but suddenly, she froze. When she gasped in pain, words sprang forth from him immediately, fear and worry in his voice as he moved to step in front of her, "Moth? Moth, what's wrong...? Moth, please answer me..." However, he got no words in response, the pain overwhelming her and making her fall to the ground. A gasp left Worm at this, and he moved forward to help, but suddenly the female was shifting yet again, her form shrinking and compressing inward. Worm instantly recoiled, a confused sound leaving his throat, before he realized what was happening. At first he thought that she was just reverting back to her old fox form, but... that wasn't it. Rather, now she was a small domestic feline, something he had seen many times before, but definitely wasn't used to Moth being. Because of this, he found himself staring in surprise for a long moment, his light blue gaze just staring down at her in her collapsed state before he was motivated into movement again, quickly rushing forward to wrap his arms around the very small feline, pulling her in close and mumbling quickly, pressing a paw against her forehead, "Moth... Moth, Moth, please wake up! Please wake up, Moth... what's wrong...?" Turning his head, the lion roared loudly back at the town, urgently needing some help, "SELBY! FUCKING HELL, SELBY GET OVER HERE!" He couldn't help the urgency in his voice, worried as hell that this transformation had actually injured Moth even further.

( [member=2072]selby roux ![/member] )

[glow=black,2,300]THE FREEDOM OF FALLING[/glow]

[selby roux !]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]Selby was not a stranger to feelings of inadequacy either. While he did not feel them often anymore (he had gained a significant amount of confidence in his abilities), the time just after Arrow’s death had been plagued with them. Sometimes even now his thoughts drifted back to the deceased feline, and he wondered if things might have gone differently if he was more prepared. Still, there was no use dwelling on these thoughts. He had larger, more present fish to fry.

Moth had become a significant figure in his life since she had been promoted. Selby had been tasked to teach her medicine, but they became fast friends. She had been there when they found Pastel, and she had tried to keep him calm. She had listened to his tired ramblings and encouraged him to take a break after she recovered from her accident. She had become very important to him in such a short period of time that he was uncertain what his life would look like if she was no longer part of it.

When Wormwood’s harsh voice clipped through the quiet coolness of the forest, Selby was on his feet immediately. He rushed through the woods, paws barely skimming the ground as he flew towards the apparent danger. "I’m here," he said breathlessly as he approached. And though the appearance of the feline in Wormwood’s arms was not familiar, his concern for her was. "Holy... is— is that Moth?" Without waiting for a response, he wordlessly encouraged the lion to back up the slightest bit before studying his unconscious friend.

Selby reached out tentatively with a paw to feel her pulse, finding it a tad weak but otherwise unconcerning. It made sense, considering that she was passed out. He sniffed at her shoulder, finding no sign of any worsening condition, and the situation was similar with her fading scratches. He felt around the base of her skull, looking for an indication of trauma but finding none. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face Wormwood. "I can’t find anything wrong with her, or at least not anything new. I think we just have to wait for her to wake up."

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]Had she known she was going to shapeshift, Moth would have chosen to stay inside. Had she known that her shapeshifting would cause her to be in immense pain and pass out, she would have locked the door so no one could see her, needing help once again and in trouble.

Voices pierced through her head, a loud roar and the call for help. The sound of footsteps across mushy leaves left to rot in the swamp, and when the fog began to lift she felt that of large heavy paws underneath her, and the voices of two of her closest friends around her. The pain that had caused her to pass out was still there, although ebbing away slowly and surely. She felt the burning sensation from her jaw leave her first, though the burn from her shoulder still hurt, and the fiery sting from the claw wounds of the poltergeist still stood strongest.

She began to stir, a small grunt coming from her as she started to move around, nose wrinkling in frustration at how difficult it was now that she was being held, and when she turned her head, the first thing she saw was Selby talking to Worm, and she noticed how big the lion seemed to be to her once more, and her heart would skip a beat, confused and scared for only a moment before she caught her bearings, and realized what had happened. She had changed again. But what she had changed to she didn't know yet.

"What're both of you doing here?" She would ask, brows furrowed as she finally managed to at least sit herself up, wincing slightly at the pain it caused her shoulder.

[wormwood.]

Wormwood was definitely relieved by how quickly Selby arrived on the scene, looking at first confused by the feline held in Worm's arms, before he seemed to realize that it was Moth. The lion gave a solemn nod when Selby asked if it was the more inexperienced medic of the group, and he set Moth down a bit just so that Selby could get to her more easily. When Selby checked her pulse, the chaser immediately tensed up, petrified that he would pull his paw away and sadly announce that she had just... passed away, right in his arms. Thankfully, when the older of the two medics pulled his paw away and announced that it didn't seem like anything was immediately wrong with her, and she was just passed out, Worm felt himself sigh heavily in relief. He had been petrified that he had just lost yet another family member that he would never be able to get back, and the thought of that scared him more than anything else had lately. After his very deep breath to calm himself down, he gave a grateful nod to Selby, rumbling softly as he looked down at Moth and gently touched her chest with his paw, his anxiety still pressing a weight down against his heart, "Thank you, Selby. I'm sorry for shouting, but... she just collapsed right in front of me. I was terrified that something was really wrong... I guess I'm just being paranoid." He laughed weakly a bit at this, moving his free paw up to his forehead and shaking his head.

It was only a few more moments before Moth began to stir, and Wormwood immediately perked up, his one eye widening as he looked down at her, urgently waiting to hear hear she said. When she asked what they were doing here, he laughed yet again, saying as he placed a paw against her back, helping to keep her upright, "After you came rushing out of your house, I followed you because I was worried and wanted to see if I could help, but then you just... collapsed, and transformed into this little feline form... I called Selby because I was worried something was wrong that I couldn't help with, with only my rudimentary herb knowledge... are you okay? You seem like you're hurting..." He hadn't had that much pain when he had shifted back into his lion form from when he had been a hellhound, or vice versa, so it wasn't sure if it was the shifting that had hurt her, or something from earlier. The only time he had experienced a great deal of pain related to shifting had been when he had grown his wings, but Moth's transformation had actually made it so she had lost wings rather than gained them. He supposed perhaps that could hurt just as much as the other way around, since your bones and musculature were still shifting around, but he honestly couldn't be sure either way, not without questioning it. After all, if it was pain caused by the transformation, then perhaps Selby could help out by giving Moth some sort of pain medication.

[glow=black,2,300]THE FREEDOM OF FALLING[/glow]

[selby roux !]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]Selby nodded as he listened to Wormwood, rushing to reassure the lion. "It’s alright, Wormwood. It’s only natural that you’d be worried... though I will admit that you were a bit startling."

Then suddenly from behind him, a voice broke out just as he finished speaking. Selby spun around to face Moth, concern flooding his system once more. "Moth... you collapsed. Wormwood called me over, but I couldn’t find out why. Can you fill us in? You’re a cat now, too. What happened? You really scared me for a minute, there," he said sincerely without thinking, and then the implications of his words set in.

"Us!" he corrected quickly, feeling his face grow hot in embarrassment. "You really scared us. Plural. There were two of us here. Me and Wormwood. Two. Two people. More than one." Shut up! What’s wrong with you? You’re rambling like an idiot. She probably didn’t even notice anything. You’re bringing attention to yourself and this isn’t even about you. Get a grip. He quickly cut himself off before he could embarrass himself further, dropping his yellow gaze to the ground. Why had his mouth decided to run itself without any input from his brain?