Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty (Tags Connor)

[Sunar Chugani]

So much of the retreat was organized activities that it was nice to get away with friends on those rare occasions that a time slot was free. Sunar and Connor had discovered that they had some free time that overlapped; they had spent several excited minutes discussing how they might best spend this precious free time. 

They could spend time in the cabins and talk, but they could do that just as well back at Hammel. Or perhaps they could see about snagging one of the canoes, or maybe head to the mess hall for a snack. They could go to the arts and crafts building and utilize all the wonderful and dazzling supplies, or perhaps go swimming in the lake and maybe convince a few people there was a lake monster. 

Eventually, however, they had decided upon hiking. They were out in nature, and they ought to take advantage of this. And besides, there might be some nice natural piles of leaves just waiting to be jumped in. 

They had started out well enough, following a well-worn and very clear trail, but eventually they had veered off course. 

"Is this the path?" Sunar scrutinized the dead leaves beneath their feet. He couldn't tell if they were merely a carpet along the trail, or if they had covered up the trail so thoroughly that he and Connor had lost it.

[Connor Anderson]

Connor had been on the retreat before, and apart from missing his job and Sona, he always had a good time. Lahja was going to ensure that Sona didn't go completely crazy, and by the time he was back, he'd make sure to take the gelding out for a long, long ride to get the ants out of his pants. Maybe he'd even take Sunar or the twins out to see him again. But for now, he pushed the gelding from his mind, because he had some retreating to do.

He didn't mind the organized activities. It made the whole thing feel almost more like sumemr camp than a school event, and it was actually a lot of fun. But the free time was always a bonus, and the fact some of his lined up with some of Sunar's? Even better.

The debate over what to do hadn't taken long, and after grabbing a few bottles of water from the mess hall and stashing them in his backpack, he'd headed out to the trails with Sunar.

Normally he was decent at following trails, but with all the leaves falling all over the place, it was significantly more difficult. As Sunar paused, Connor glanced around. "Uhhh... it kind of looks like it. I think." After twisting around to see if he could see any other path-like looking thing, he shrugged. "It's gotta be it. I bet it clears up if we keep going." Leaves or no leaves, he didn't want to give up yet. They'd barely gotten started.

[Sunar Chugani]

Sunar nodded, glad to accept Connor's opinion as fact. "Then off we go!" He pointed in the direction he thought the path probably took and began to march with confidence. He wasn't himself especially good with outdoorsy things like following trails, but his friend was. So if Connor thought this was the way (even if he had used significant qualifiers to say so) then  this was the way. 

"Yeah, it'll clear up. Maybe there'll be a sign or something." 

The camp probably marked their trails...right? Having people get lost trying to find their way around the mountains seemed like too much of a liability without giving them some indication that they were headed in the right direction. 

As soon as they found a sign he would follow. 

"It's so quiet out here with just us." 

The camp kept the students so close together, even more so than their boarding school did. It was downright uncanny being away from the crowds.

[Connor Anderson]

Connor was used to being in the back woods. Back home, he could navigate like a pro no matter where he was - both on and off his parents' property. Between Sona and Flynn, he'd explored every possible inch on horseback, and had gotten lost only a few times. Out here, he wasn't as familiar with the land, but it looked like a path, therefore... path. Hopefully.

"Yeah, they have to mark the trails somehow. Like flag tape around trees or something." Unless they'd fallen down or been pulled off by animals. Hopefully it wasn't the case. He didn't want to spend the afternoon completely lost. At least they had water and snacks as a worst case scenario.

"Yeah, but that's because everyone else is so loud. Did you hear the group at the lake yesterday after lunch? I thought someone was getting eaten by a sea monster or something." He hadn't bothered to see what the screaming had been about anyway. Probably just boys teasing girls, or someone touched seaweed. Or a fish. "But it's kinda good to make noise out here, too. Just in case animals are around." That was more something he knew from home, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt out here just in case. But there wouldn't be big wild animals so close to camp, would there? ... Nah. "You know. Killer rabbits and stuff. Super scary."

[Sunar Chugani]

Sunar let out a laugh at Connor's description.

"Probably Kuni changing into a whale while in a canoe," He guessed, even though he didn't know. But if he turned into a whale he would want to do it out in the lake. It wasn't like there were abundant opportunities back in Pilot Ridge.

Ahead of them there was a crunch of soft paws on leaves, and a low growl, and Sunar paused.

"It sounds like we have company."

[Connor Anderson]

Riiiiight. Kuni the whale changer was around somewhere. Connor couldn't help the laugh that escaped. "A whale in that lake would've made a giiiiant tidal wave. Hey! We could go learn to surf if that happened!" Might as well make the best of a situation like that.

Connor paused when he heard the leaves crunch, and the growl made him a little nervous. But then he remembered something. "Yeah. ... I bet it's one of the animal shifters trying to scare us." At least, that was what he wanted to believe. Because there really wasn't any dangerous animals around here.

[Sunar Chugani]

"Oh! Yeah, it must be," Sunar took another step forward, then another, and then came face to face with what appeared to be a mountain lion. 

His breath caught in his throat, and he whispered to his friend, "Who do we know who turns into cats?"

[Connor Anderson]

Oh hell a mountain lion. Connor felt an initial panic rise up, but Sunar's question gave him pause. Cats... cats...

Oh!

"Aren't you friends with V.K.? She does cats, right?"

[Sunar Chugani]

"Right. V.K."

That was the only possible explanation right? There wouldn't really be a mountain lion so close to the camp, would there be?

No, of course not.

"Heeeeey, V.K." He greeted the lion in the most casual voice he could muster, "You can turn back now, we know it's you."

The feline's tail swished in the way a house cat's did when it saw something it wanted to chase, and Sunar swallowed nervously.

[Connor Anderson]

If V.K. was messing with them, she was doing a good job of it. She looked so real with the tail flicking. Connor had watched his parents' barn cats do that same thing when they were stalking and about to pounce on mice.

"You're super scary V.K... we're shaking..." If she wanted to creep them out, it was working. "... V.K.?"

[Deleted]

(consensual thread crashing with Dryope's permission)

Lex was once again reminded why he didn't like kids. Impulsive, careless, naive - all characteristics are biologically caused by a brain that doesn't fully mature until the age of twenty-five. Until then they were living their lives like a chicken with its head chopped off, running around unable to think and ignorant of the fact that they are missing something essential.

And not only was he forced to chaperone a hoard of headless chickens, two of them seemed to have strayed from the flock and were standing right before him with a mountain lion prowling close by, looking like it has designated the boys as its prey. They were lucky that Lex had been traversing through the more remote, unmarked paths, in an attempt to get a few minutes of much needed alone time. The doctor, who was already unaccustomed to working with adolescences, felt the retreat experience overwhelming. Ironic that the one place he sought peace was where there was the most distress.

Ducking into the brush, Lex observed the situation from behind leaves and branches. He wasn't sure how long he had to strategize before the large cat pounced, but knew that he had to approach the situation smartly, or else it could bad for him as well as the boys. A few grey and brown House sparrows roosted on the lower branches of a pine that overlooked the scene. They wouldn't be of much help; even if he managed to convince them to act in conflict to their instincts, they were too few in number to do any damage with the little defenses they had. Looking further up he spotted a female Swainson's hawk and her mate peering at the smaller aforementioned birds, looking for a quick and easy snack.

She would do, thought Lex, and he called for the broad chested raptor to strike at the lion, sending out warnings of aggression and dangers to her home. At once the two swooped down, talons spread and beaks open. The mountain lion appeared startled by their aggression, but managed to hold its own against the attack. Therefore, Lex strenuously added the small flock of sparrows onto his avian militia, causing the cat to surrender into the woods to lick its wounds.

Lex stood up, his face glazed over, still influenced by his power, and enthralled the natural world and instincts that weren't his own.

[Sunar Chugani]

Sunar took a step back as the mountain lion continued to not morph into their classmate. He hadn't thought there would be real mountain lions so close to the camp, but it looked as if he needed to rethink that assumption. V.K. might think it was amusing to pretend she was a real mountain lion, but he was sure she would have turned back into her human form before this. She wouldn't be so malicious as to scare them that badly...would she?

He could feel his heart catch in his throat as the animal's tail twitched, it's muscles rippling under its tawny coat as it leaned forward slightly. As it flattened its ears against its head Sunar felt his heart drop. He didn't know if they could outrun this, not when neither of them had super speed. Connor could heal, but could he survive being rent from limb to limb by a predator? Cellular regeneration wasn't the same as invincibility or immortality; he could still die.

He wished he had thought to put something more useful than a notebook inside his dimensional storage, but he wasn't sure what something useful might be in this context. Perhaps a gun would scare the cat off, but he'd never even held one, and he wasn't sure he wouldn't shoot someone or something else instead. Not that he would be able to access a gun to store one, anyway. Vermont may have had laxer gun laws than some other blue states, but Hammel certainly would have had something to say about a student keeping a gun on his person.

And if he shot anything, even an animal trying to eat them, that would only hinder him when it came to attaining moksha.

He closed his eyes, trembling. His parents would be devastated. Connor's parents would be devastated. Would the school allow any retreats into the woods ever again? Would the teachers blame them for straying off the path? They hadn't done it on purpose, but if they were dead nobody would know that. Would Dev and Grady and Mojo and his other friends miss him? Would Amber be happy that she didn't have to see him anymore, or would she be sad, too? He mentally began to list everyone he cared about, saying goodbyes and wishing he could say them in person.

And then, unexpectedly, two birds of prey swooped down upon the cat. Sunar stumbled as he turned, grabbing Connor's hand, "I think we better run now," He suggested. trying to tug his friend along with him.

[Connor Anderson]

Connor kept a careful eye on the big cat. V.K. was impressively good at mimicking a real wild cat's actions. Almost too good...

The twitching coat made him think that much more about how his parents' barn cats acted right before they launched at a mouse. His heartbeat picked up, his eyes widening. It was entirely possible that V.K. was in fact back with the rest of the student body, and that in front of them was a real, live mountain lion.

Cell regeneration only went so far. He'd never broken a bone under his power, let alone get himself mauled by a wild animal. There was probably an extent to his powers, and he didn't think that 'mountain lion attack' really came under his ability. This was about six million kinds of Not Good.

He didn't want to move, lest he disturb the cat further, or give it a reason to pounce. But he also wanted to move closer to Sunar. There was a chance he could heal from an attack, however long it might take. But Sunar... if he could somehow just get between the cat and his friend...

And then two birds dove down. Connor jumped at the motion, using all his strength to not shriek in surprise as they distracted the cat. He didn't think twice as Sunar grabbed his hand. He started running beside him, though not far down the psuedo-path he slipped on some leaves and landed hard on his side. At least he'd had the sense to let go of Sunar as he'd fallen. It hurt, but he could manage. They needed to get back to camp.

[Deleted]

By the time Lex regained his senses, the two boys fled into the woods. ”Shit,” he cursed under his breathe, a habit he gained working among children despite no one being there to hear him now. While the boys could be on the path back to the camp, they could also be heading straight into a den of that cat’s friends. Whoever chose this location should have done more research into the locals— there are things in these parts that aren’t too cordial to visitors, especially when two idiot boys stray into their territory.

However, there was no use in sitting around grinding his teeth, he had to find those aforementioned “idiot boys” before something bad happened… again. And there was no guarantee that the mountain lion won’t return for retribution.

Lex wasn’t fast, but he felt he was on the right path, following the scatter of leaves and the occasional shoe indentation into wet pliable ground. He only hoped that luck is enough to regroup with the boys soon.

Turns out it was, or so Lex thought until he saw one of the students on the ground a few meters from himself. Please don’t be hurt, Lex begged silently over and over as he quickened his pace, yet still careful not to fall and meet the same fate as the collapsed boy. It had been years since he prayed, but Lex was making up for lost time at that moment.

“Are you two alright?” He quickly asked as he approached, crouching next to the one that seemed to need the more immediate care, and trying to assess the damage. “Can you stand?” he asked. Right now it was imperative to get back to camp; he had to make sure they were able to do so quickly. If needed, he could treat the boy’s injuries further once they were safe.

[Sunar Chugani]

Sunar stumbled forward as Connor unexpectedly let go of his hand. He caught himself with one hand, then twisted around to look for his friend. 

There was (so far) no sign of the mountain lion, but that relief was short-lived as a large figure burst into view. He yelped in surprise, but it was no cat that followed them; it was the new on-call doctor. Sunar had made note of him not because he ever expected to need the doctor (ha! Was he going to get sick or something?) but because he hoped they might have something in common. He wasn't entirely sure where Dr. Muller's family was from (he might be from Sri Lanka or Pakistan or Nepal or some other South Asian country) but he certainly looked like he had a South Asian background, and so without knowing anything else about the doctor Sunar felt a sense of kinship. 

However, he had certainly not expected Dr. Muller to come dashing out of the brush behind them. 

"Dr. Muller!" 

He craned his neck, trying to see around the adult. Still no sign of any giant predators. Did the doctor turn into a cat? Sunar realized that he didn't actually know what the doctor's power was. Maybe he had come all the way out here trying to be left alone so he could be in cat form. 

"Are you...are you a lion?" He asked uncertainly, "Sorry about the birds that attacked you, I didn't know birds would do that."