Bloodhound [Peach & Josse]

[Josse King]

This is a closed roleplay between Peach and Josse.

The 5'11" male walked into the living room with a book in hand, adjusting the collar of his shirt as he strode. It was stuffy in the house, nearing humid, but he could understand the air as he looked out the large, paned window of the living room.

It was windy outside, the rain pelting at the windows with such a force, Josse could have sworn it was hail. The wind was ferocious as well, boiling to a howl from the whistling tenor it displayed through a crack in the window. A branch scraped against the glass, making his spine tingle, goosebumps branching over his skin. Clouds had blackened the sky to a dull gray, painting the forest landscape with charcoal.

Settling into a plush chair adjacent to the window, Josse crossed his legs at the knee and settled his book in his lap. He cracked the cover, relishing in the snap it made as the spine stretched. Ah, the smell of old pages, preserved through years and years, used with the utmost care. This particular volume was Shapes of Clay, a novel written by Ambrose Bierce in 1902; the edition in his hands had cost him nearly 15,500 Rand, back when he had lived in South Africa. One of his most prized volumes, he read it only on stormy evenings, and that was why he was perched in the living room of his apartment building, book in hand.

A crash of thunder outside resulted in the loud, insistent barking of Peach's dogs, who were mostly residents of the first floor and grounds. Josse planned to ignore them, turning the pages of his book, but was momentarily disrupted by the crash of something else; something metallic. He glanced from his page to notice the front door ajar, as if someone had burst in unexpectedly, and the screen behind it slamming against its hinges, banging loudly. Josse stood, placed his book down neatly, and went to investigate, as now instead of two dogs where he had last spotted them, one remained.

"Brice?" He called to the outside, catching the screen door before it slammed again. He had to rise his voice against the howl of the wind and, as another roll of thunder shook the sky, his accented voice was barely audible. Knowing that calling the dog under these conditions, when he was most likely spooked from the storm, would be nearly impossible, Josse turned around and jogged up the stairs, to Peach's door.

"Peach?" He called, knocking swiftly on the wood. "Peach, you need to come out. It's urgent." His voice remained calm, but the tone was raised with urgency. "I think Brice has gotten out, into the storm."

He moved back from the door, awaiting her response.

[/blockquote]

[Gylfie Murdoch]

Ooc;
Ambrose. Rat.

(Oh and this sucks. I'm sorry. It's horrible in comparison to your writing. And I wrote the first part seven hours before the second part. I'll do better!)

Ic;
Sprawled across the thin windowsill lay Peach, looking out at the doing of the storm. The windowpane balanced on her forehead and waves of sleet splashed through the open space. The cold wind nipped at her bare arms, but it did not bother her. This was exactly the type of weather she loved - roaring wind, walls of sleet and, later, huge muddy puddles, free for splashing and play.

Her bare feet played across the tiled roof outside. She was deep in thought - the opening of Verge Apartments had provided many 'shifters new homes, but most of them would have preferred to come during the summer, when the sun was out and the rain was minimal. How would they cope in an environment that was the complete opposite to that of their natural habitat?

A knocking on her door and the familiar voice of Josse brought her out of her reverie. With a slight groan, she heaved herself from her spot and crawled to the door, opening it from the floor.

"Brice can't be out in a storm," she said, her voice hoarse with the daydream she had just been 'awoken ' from. "Last time this happened he worked himself into a frenzy and broke his leg. We, no, I need to get him."

With another quiet groan, she stood and pulled the door wide open. The left side of her clothing appeared darker than the right side, due to the rain she'd be laying in. She smoothed her shirt and made a small gesture, silently asking if she could get past.

[Josse King]

OOC;; lawlz. Something like that. I don't think he's named after the author, though ^^
BIC;;

Josse, expecting Peach’s face at its normal level (somewhere between his neck and shoulders), was surprised to find no one behind the door as it opened. Blanching for a slip second, he looked down before releasing a sound between a sigh and a groan. He must have awoken her, if she presented herself thus. The man put his hand on the door frame, leaning slightly against it. She rambled for a moment, leaving Josse committed to spacing out before she corrected herself on a rather important part of her sentence structure.

Excuse her? No, if Josse had a say in the matter, he would not be letting the young woman before him face the storm alone. He had experience with weather like this; braved a few himself, and they were deadly if it picked up enough. A tree could fall over and land on top of you, or you could trip, knock yourself out, and drown in a puddle.

Actually, Josse was fairly certain he had written a short story about the latter situation. If not, he should. The topic was one that absolutely screamed macabre, and could possibly result in publication...

The male shifter shook his head, clearing his muse from his mind. He would have to focus on the situation at hand. Convincing Peach that she would require his help would be difficult, but attainable if done so correctly. And finding Brice? With two canine shifters, easy as pie.

Where had that saying evolved from, anyway? He knew the connotation; that pie was relatively easy to eat, and therefore the saying had established itself, but who had actually coined the term?

He was getting away from himself again. By the time he shook his head to bring himself back to reality, Peach had stood, throwing the door open with her. She was half-wet, most likely from the rain, Josse noticed, but quickly looked away from her body. The top was low-cut; he didn’t want her getting the wrong idea, after all. Josse cleared his throat, maintaining a stance that blocked the door.

“I’ll move when you allow me to come with, Peach. I can’t let you go out in this weather alone, you know that. As such, the addition to me on a search party will be beneficial. After all, two noses are better than one.” He smiled, touching his index finger to his nose.

[Gylfie Murdoch]

"Josse, I'll be fine. My senses are decent," Peach said, slightly agitated. She put a hand on her hip and shooed him again.

But, of course, her attempts would more than likely go fruitless. She couldn't win a fight against one of her 'shifters without losing all of her dignity and that wasn't on her to-do list. She liked to think of them as children more than anything else, but they were continuously proving her wrong - Josse being one of the biggest culprits. He was too smart for Peach.

As the seconds ticked by, Brice's distance from the house would become the main problem. He was little over a year old and extremely stupid when it came to judging situations. He had broken his leg in a situation similar to this, but it was because he'd slipped down the steps. The frenzy he'd been worked into made restraining him hard. Actually, maybe having Josse there would make things easier.

"If you come as a human, you'll get all wet and might catch a cold," she said slowly, creating an excuse of sorts, if not that, a plan. "If we go as our canine selves, then it'll be a bit hard to carry him back, won't it? He'll be too worked up to lead back, because of the storm. I am not walking back naked with you around - no offense - and it'll get awkward fast if you're naked. In fact, it's awkward now. I should go alone."

Her plan was flawed and very much so. She mentally kicked herself for leaving too many spots open for negotiation. Why didn't one of them go human? Why not both? A cold was nothing.

[Josse King]

OOC;; Sorry it's so short. I'm sleepy :P I'll write more once we actually get out and have more to talk/write about.

BIC;;

"And if your pup is as insolent as he was yesterday, the more you argue with me, the more he becomes lost." Josse stated, his smile vanishing as he crossed his arms over his chest. As she rambled, however, the smile crept up again. Winning this fight would prove all too easy for Josse; Peach was desperate to go alone, it seemed.

The male scoffed, loosening his arms from his chest slightly, adjusting his stance against the door frame. "If you're afraid of all those things, Peach, then you may go as a wolf, and I shall run beside you as a human. Fair enough? Your nose is more adept at searching anyway, and I don't mind catching cold, if that's what it takes. You have to have had sickness, to later appreciate health." He lifted a finger, making his point, before pushing himself on the doorway to turn and walk down the stairs, leading the way down.

Another roll of thunder crashed against the sky, spooking Fiona into a spat of barking. He shushed her quietly, placing a calm hand on her head, before reaching to the coat rack to grab his leather jacket and boots. "Don't worry, Fiona." He assured the dog, giving her one last pat while he waited for Peach. "We'll find Brice soon."

[/blockquote]

[Gylfie Murdoch]

Oh, how she hated how intelligent he could be. The logic was too strong to argue with.

Once Josse has disappeared, she closed her door and stripped naked. The pain of shifting didn't bother her anymore - it was the fur growing that did it. Since she'd embraced who she truly was, the bones moving beneath her skin had a numbing effect and the shifting of her body structure was more or less bearable. The fur growth, however, felt much like pins stabbing into her mixed with a tickling sensation. Her transformations lasted somewhere near three minutes now.

Wearing her new, scruffy look, she made her way out of her room and down the stairs. It seemed that no one else was around, save for the barking coming from the front of the house.

Poor Fiona, Peach thought pityingly. Brice is like her pup. She must be terrified.

She arrived at the front door and sat next to Josse, looking up at him with scowling brown eyes. Her fur - a variety of browns, oranges and different shades mixed with white - stood on end. She was not angry (not with Josse, at least) but more or less scared for the silly puppy outside. Here, sitting next to a partially open door, the seriousness of the situation truly hit her. She'd let one of her pack mates run out into danger alone.

Let's get this show on the road, she thought shakily, throwing a worried look towards Fiona. The Collie almost seemed to nod, her intelligent eyes wide with fear.

Peach led the way, figuring that her tracking would be more useful in this situation. The muddy ground held no trace of Brice, nor did the rain sodden air. She would need to wait until they were in the forest before her nose would be of any use.

[Josse King]

He had finished putting on his jacket and boots rather quickly; and now, waiting at the bottom of the stairs, Josse stood stoic. He longed to join Peach in adapting his furry suit, but he also knew that she had a point; one of them would need to carry the frightened pup back, and he was the stronger of the two. Aside from that, Peach did have a stronger nose for this sort of thing.

When Peach came down the stairs, fully in her wolf form. Josse wasn’t frightened, as Peach was fully capable of controlling her animal self, but he was (as he often became when in the presence of another shifter) amazed at the transformation. How the human body could form itself into another being without disabling functionality entirely was far beyond his mental capabilities; perhaps he’d have a chat with a biologist about it someday. But for now, there was work to be done.

Josse shifted his feet slightly as Peach gave a look at him, her fur standing on end. She wasn’t angry, he could tell enough from her position, and gathered that she was frightened for her pet. Peach, from what Josse gathered, was the maternal type, who cared for her tenant and animals as she would her children. Not that he minded, he got a great deal better care here than he would have somewhere else, but that type of vision and instinct could only lead to trouble in some situations. Because in all reality, many of the shifters here didn’t want a mother.

The male held the door open for Peach and she led the way; before he exited the house he grabbed his beanie from his pocket, slamming it over his hair and ears. Josse didn’t mind that she was leading, again, she was more useful here, but as the rain continued to pour against their bodies, lightning and thunder crashing above, Josse started to wonder if she could even smell anything in the wet that protruded his own sense of smell. True enough, she was in wolf form and it would be easier, but all Josse could smell as his human self was water and wet dirt. “We need to get out of the open area,” he called to Peach over a crash of thunder; the storm was on top of them now, “Brice most likely went into the tree cover, don’t you think?”

Not waiting for an answer, he moved closer to the cover of the forest, keeping an eye open for the dog. He couldn’t have gone too far, even in a panic. Brice knew enough of these woods to stay near the edge, even when frightened, and hardly strayed from within calling distance of Peach… Josse started to look behind trees and under the brush, hoping for something. “Let me know if you find anything, Peach. Just… woof or something.” He smiled a bit, trying to make it lighter for the female. He knew how she got when she let someone down, and that was how her mind seemed to be interpreting this situation, from what he could gather from her posture and the few words they had exchanged back at the main house.

He began calling the dog's name, continuing to search the dense shrubbery.

[/blockquote]

[Gylfie Murdoch]

For the most part, Peach ignored Josse behind her. He only existed as a yelling blank spot as her wide eyes searched the shadows for her pooch. When the lightning flashed - as it did very few minutes - every shrub and tree trunk became illuminated, aiding the rescue, but when the forest remained dark and almost eerily silent as far as life went, the wolfed-up Peach found it very hard to focus on the dark spots that even her super sensitive eyes could not search.

It was still too wet for her nose to be of any use, but every now and then, Peach would hear the fringes of an echoing bark, the faint vibrations of a frightened squeal. Brice was close by but not close enough to dash to. Was he even heading in the same direction?

Peach strained her dark brown eyes against the faint rain and started walking a bit faster, yipping every fifteen steps so that Josse could tell where she was. The tangy smell of wet dog riddled the air now, stronger in some areas. Brice was heading through the forest at a rapid speed, stumbling and resting against his favourite trees - the ones he had marked previously. They would be able to find him within minutes if he didn't veer off the trail or run through one of the bigger streams.

Confident that they were now on the right track, the wolf stopped and let out a small bark. She cursed the logic that 'shifters could not talk as animals, she would give her tail to be able to tell Josse to hurry up. They seemed so close!

[Josse King]

If he had been in his canine form, he would have heard the distant noises of Brice, or smelled the damp transfer the pup had made on the trees. But, seeing as how he had volunteered to be the human in this scenario, he had no knowledge of where the dog could be; only the instinct he put forth from experience as a canine himself. And as the lightening only pierced the sky for second at a time, Josse bitterly thought to himself that he should have brought a flashlight.

It was his lack of knowledge that caused him to follow Peach fairly closely, as she was the one with the nose and ears for the job. As of this moment, all he had to offer was his voice and, once they found the dog, his strength to carry the pup back. Suddenly, Peach sped up her pace, rocketing farther into the woods. She yipped every few steps and for that Josse was grateful; even at a jog it was difficult to keep up with her. She was already a few yards ahead when Peach stopped and barked, as if to rush Josse along faster. Knowing this was the general idea, Josse sped his pace slightly to catch up with her, stopping at her side. “Don’t even,” He said, looking around through the trees, “you have four legs, I have two. If you were bigger, I’d ask to ride on your back. Granted, it would be easier than waiting for me to lug behind you.” Josse smirked, but kept his attention on the woods.

This time, as they were closer to where Brice had to have been, Josse heard the yip of the pup in the distance, between a roll of thunder and the rain smacking the ground. Taking a few steps toward the noise, he decided it would be better if Peach went instead, just in case the dog decided to spook. “Peach, he’s more likely to recognize you, specifically if he’s in a state of fear. I’ll come after, just calm him down.” She was Brice’s ‘momma’ after all, and the pup would be better off if the wolf shifter approached him first. “Just alert me if there’s trouble.”

[/blockquote]

[Gylfie Murdoch]

Ooc;
This post sucks so much! I'm sorry. I'm sort of running short of muse-ness for Peachy.

Bic;
Peach looked the beacon of alertness. Her ears stood erect from her head, rotating to pick up any additional sound. She could hear that Brice had slowed to a trot, but his breathing was rugged. He could possibly be hurt, but he sounded perfectly healthy as far as footfalls.

As Josse approached her and began speaking, she looked up. Her brown eyes seemed to widen at the notion of him riding on her back. Where did he come up with these thoughts? If she were human, she would kick him... Hard.

After a minute of mock heaving, she started off at a trot once more. Everything else he had uttered had gone completely unheard. She only heard the echoing "If you were bigger, I’d ask to ride on your back". How impolite! Argh. It overshadowed every sensible thing he had ever said to her. Maybe.

A faint yelp in the distance brought Peach's mind back to the task at hand. She needed to find this silly Border Collie pup before he killed himself. Knowing him, it would be an easy enough task. He always found trouble.

"I'm coming, Brice!" She howled out to him, leaping a small stream and sliding to a halt in front of an open glade.

Brice sat in the middle of the glade, perfectly fine. He seemed to be looking up, frightened. The lightning really had spooked him, but if Josse arrived now, Brice would be easy to handle. His soft brown eyes scanned the canopy overhead, searching for a piece of the sky, but finding none. Beaten, he let his eyes drop, finding the familiar wolf face in the undergrowth.

Peach, he whined. His bottom remained firmly planted to the damp soil.

[Josse King]

OOC;; Gaw. My post sucks. D: I understand the running out of muse-ness… Josse is kind of getting that way. We need something… sorta exciting. Or at least to move along, haha
BIC;;
He followed behind her, keeping his distance so that if he made a sharp noise, he wouldn’t frighten Brice off. They way Peach had run off, however, made his stomach churn slightly. Had his comment, what he meant to be lighthearted, offended her? Surely, Josse hadn’t meant it in any sort of light that would require such a brash reaction, but there was no judging people these days. Especially if they were in the state of mind that Peach held at the moment.

A howl erupted in front of him, and he knew that the copper wolf had found her mark. Speeding his own job, he hopped over a small stream and came to a halt near Peach, angled slightly to her left. He dusted off his pants (out of habit more than necessity, as the storm was still raging above) and turned his gaze to see Brice, sitting in the middle of a small clearing. Well, that was good, at least. He was unharmed, from what he could see, but frightened.

The dog whined, causing Josse to shift his footing. He wanted to help the pup, go over and comfort him, but that was more Peach’s job than his. He was here as the muscle, after all. Josse cleared his throat, trying to egg Peach on a bit without speaking. He didn’t want to offend her again.

[/blockquote]

[Gylfie Murdoch]

Ooc;
Well, I had a few ideas, but they all seemed a bit random and... Out there.

Here:
*Lightning strikes one of the branches above, causing a blaze. Frightened and confused, our characters starting running around, screaming and flailing their arms wildly in the air. Then they catch fire and die. Or they survive. I prefer the second option.

*Peach is wary to step out into the glade, but Josse doesn't understand why. Figuring she doesn't want to get her paws any muddier, he goes out to get Brice, only to fall into a giant sink hole... Or a ravine. He sucked down a big twisty slide and lands in an underground spring. Figuring she should follow him, Peach also goes down. Then they discover some aliens, which help them escape.

*Brice gets startled by a loud crashing above and dives out at an approaching Peach, biting her hand somewhere. He rushes out into the forests once more with Peach trying to follow him. Unfortunately, she's weak and dies from the blood loss. Or, you know, Josse carries her to the hospital. THEN THEY FALL IN LOVE.

... Not really.

=) Yes or yes?