SUE: Roar and Faint (Josie and Brooke)

[Event !]

Powers can be more difficult to control when sick. This is a problem when one is a shapeshifter.

At the same time, Josie simply needed to get to the storage shed. Please leave her alone, cougar, can't you see that she's not feeling well?

[Josie Raines]

Although most days Josie worked exclusively within the walls of Hammel itself, today she'd jumped at the opportunity to move her work outside. Things were getting gross amongst the student body, and although Josie could handle mopping up puke, it definitely wasn't as appealing as trimming weeds along the fence that surrounded the training field. The fresh air would do her some good, she figured; earlier in the week she'd come down with a cough that was getting nastier each day. And although she didn't have quite as much energy as she'd prefer when it came to landscaping work, she still saw the job as an improvement.

At least, she had until the job was over. Covered in grass clippings and hacking feebly with each exhale, Josie trudged back to the storage shed with the weedwhacker held in her sore arms. Trimming weeds with a power tool wasn't usually so physically taxing, she reflected. Hopefully she hadn't picked up whatever was going around the school - although considering how much vomit she'd cleaned up so far, that hope was fleeting. Just another hour or so, Josie reminded herself, and then she could go home and rest.

[Deleted]

Oooo, her head was fodgy…foddy…fogdy…fgody…..sumthin’ sumthin’…..hed hurt. Brooke’s hed hurt. Knees hurt. Neck hurt. Chest hurt….whyyyyy’d her chest hurt, it was usually such a nice chest, why was it being mean today?

Brooke’s tummy-tum-tum was hurting too, but she was thinking that mighta just been her rumblies. So she yoinked herself out of bed like the living dead and groaned her way to the to the food-room…at least that’s where she was supposed to be following her nose to.

Buuut….this wasn’t the food-room. There was too much green and leafy things and sum peple runnin-round… Heh, she gotta couple cat-calls from some of them manly-peeps….like literal cat-calls. They were callin’ her a kitty. And indeed she was a kitty-kat. And she swaaayed her little-kitty bum just to get a couple more.

Oopsie, maybe she shouldn’ta dun that….widdle dizzy, widdle fodggy….and she was soooooo hungry. And she smelled somethin’…sumthin….interesting.

She released a low growl as she felt herself fall forward onto her giant cougar paws and licked her cougar lips…well, cougars didn’t have lips, but there was definitely some tongue action there. Brooke barely felt the tug of her clothes as they trailed off her tail, neck, and legs. Her shoes….she was going to need a new pair of shoes.

[Josie Raines]

The sound of footsteps didn't quite register with Josie, at least as any cause for alarm. Just someone on their way to the field, probably. It's not like the place had been closed to the public while she was working. No, it was the growl that got her attention.

What in the hell...

Josie froze and peered around carefully. Had she heard right or was her tired brain making it up? But then, there in the grass, she spotted the brown feline figure slinking along, much bigger than any housecat she'd ever seen.

"Oh for fuck's sake," she whispered before she could stop herself. Was that a fucking cougar? Or maybe a mountain lion or puma or whatever the hell they were called, either way Josie's guts had turned to ice. She gripped the weedwhacker so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

There was no way she could outrun a goddamn cougar. Had it seen her yet? Why was it even this close to campus? As Josie debated dropping the weedwhacker and jumping the fence, she noticed the shreds of cloth trailing behind the animal.

Oh shit, it's a student.

[Deleted]

Cougar. Mountain lion. Puma. Panther. Catamount. Mountain Screamer. Painter. All of these terms were at one time or another used to describe the feline animal that was staling through the grass that wasn’t quite tall enough for a hunt. But the large cat was hungry. Very hungry. And when she was hungry, sometimes a kitty just had to do what she had to do with what she had. Search around, keep on the lookout for something easy. Easy and slow. And this creature she was smelling was just perfect.

The girl Brooke was asleep somewhere, buried within the primal instincts of the cat. If she even understood anything of what was going on, she gave no indication as her tongue lolled out and passed over her furry muzzle.

Brooke matched eyes with her prey, smelling and seeing the fear in her. Hearing her bones tremble. This would be a good chase.

She crouched down further as she stalked closer, preparing to pounce should this prey flinch even the slightest bit. The cougar was not going to lose this one.

[Josie Raines]

No doubt about it now, Josie realized when she and the animal locked eyes. Not only did it know she was there, it was focused on her very intently. Her pulse pounded in her ears, racing, and her already-shallow breathing stopped.

Did she stand a chance? Josie had been in her fair share of fights, but those had all been with human-shaped humans, and even then she'd wound up with at least a black eye more often than not. Cougars were serious business. Everyone knew that. Even if you were in perfect health and six feet tall - neither of which described Josie's current situation - tangling with one could mean serious injury. She knew there was supposed to be some trick to getting away, some warning that could be found in wilderness guidebooks probably, but up until now Josie's plan had just been to avoid the animals altogether.

But it was a student. Maybe? Probably. And while she didn't have much (or any) experience with communicating shape-shifters once they'd changed form, maybe there was a chance this one knew what it was doing.

"Change back," Josie commanded, as loudly as she could manage, which only helped to broadcast the shakiness in her voice. Slowly, carefully, she moved one hand to grip the pull-handle of the weedwhacker. Plan B was noise. Plan C, well, hopefully it didn't come to that.

[Deleted]

Ah, the prey noticed the cougar’s approach. It didn’t seem to be running. Yet. It still hadn’t figured out the danger it was in, that it was about to become food for mountain cat. Or it had and was too scared to flee for it’s life.

It was making sounds with it’s mouth. Brooke only growled lowly in response, lowering her posture even further and hiking her hind legs up in preparation for a forward leap. Slowly…carefully, or the prey would realize and run. Then the panther would be out of a meal for the day and would have to start the hunt all over again.

She’d go straight for the throat with this one, grab on with 350 pounds of force and snap it’s neck instantly. Brooke eyed the two-legged creature’s neck with interest.

It was moving. The cougar froze and waited. Waited for the exact right moment to lunge forward in it’s attack.

[Josie Raines]

"I said, change back," Josie repeated. The sound of the animal's growls hit her ears and whatever color had been left in her face drained away completely. Shit.

There were only a few ways this could go, Josie figured, her panic slicing through the fog her illness was clouding her brain with. Best case scenario, the kid had total control and was just playing a prank. If that was the case, well, she'd be sure whoever it got a proper beating once this bullshit was over.

If the kid had lost control, however, Josie was in trouble. But probably not as much trouble as if she'd been wrong in the first place, and the thing was an actual cougar.

None of these options were terribly appealing, but she wasn't about to sit there any longer trying to puzzle it out.

With a loud grunt of exertion, Josie gave a great yank on the pull-handle, and the weedwhacker roared to life. She held it like a lion tamer might hold a chair, wondering just how much damage the thing could do to a wild animal but hoping the noise would do the trick.

[Deleted]

The feline only snorted to the prey’s urgent vocalizing. It meant nothing to her, just that the animal was making noise. That the animal was scared.

Brooke took a careful step closer, not wanting to startle the prey into fleeing…although if it did, then Brooke would just give chase. This thing on two legs couldn’t be that fast.

Ah! It moved!

Brooke flinched upon the sudden movement, about ready to simply charge ahead now that stealth didn’t matter any more, but was met with a unbearably loud noise which had her starting forward and then jumping back in surprise.

The noise was irritating on her ears and she shook her head to show it. But only for a moment as all bets were called off and the cat lunged forward to do battle with the creature and it’s noisy appendage, releasing it’s own cat-like scream. A large paw swiped forward repeatedly at the thing, claws extended and tearing away at flesh and metal. The noisy object stung against her pelt.