(i'm feeling well enough that i moved to a mattress on the floor instead of the couch, and i had a cake-penutbutter-banana smoothie. it was surprisingly good)
(Ooo damn I'm sorry, I completely get immobilizing sickness 😅 I'm glad you're getting better tho! 💙)
(my head hurts a lot though. i'm not gonna roleplay today, sorry)
(It's all good!)
The first thing Joel noticed was the sky's dazzling jewel colors in the morning.
The second thing he noticed were the nearvy voices. He wasn't sure how many there were - so far he'd counted 4 - and he could honestly barely remember where he'd crashed last night. Maybe a park? Either way, it didn't matter, and he needed to determine whether these people were friendly or not. So, he slowly sat upright, then slid into a crouch, slipping out of the brush he'd been sleeping in.
A flash of an older woman's face intrudes upon his thoughts and he winces. Who was she-? But the face was gone again, along with the thoughts accompanied with it.
Joel pauses, confused as to what he'd just been thinking of. He shrugs it off and continues forward.
After a couple seconds of creeping, he sees a small group of people talking. He tilts his head curiously, listening in.
"…Hello." one said, after slipping out of a tree.
Joel squints curiously, his eyesight zooming in automatically to look at all her details, his other senses sharpening as well. If one were to look at him, he'd look more animalistic than human, though the "animal" was. . . strange.
Either way, he notices her heartbeat - fast and stressed, she didn't seem to be entirely comfortable with people.
He moves forward more, then crack!
He snaps a branch underfoot.
Joel freezes, unsure of what to do. He was out in the open, maybe 30 feet from the group. Not far enough. So he just stays still.
(No problem, Avhira! Take your time!)
Sky felt that something was… off. She looked around and saw a figure in the distance. She immediately hid herself in the shadows, moving closer. She wanted to get a closer look at this mysterious person, but she didn’t know how dangerous they were yet, so she didn’t want to be seen.
(Here's ze boy: https://pin.it/3nYbXbK [No clue who the artist is but I found on Pinterest so yea])
(By the way he's homeless and has amnesia so he doesn't remember anything before, like, last year lol)
Joel, upon seeing the woman shift, tenses up, thinking she was going after him.
His lips curl into a growling snarl, his head shifting to be more animalistic still, ears now flat against his skull.
His body was now more furred and lean, corded with ropy muscles, reminiscient of a cat's except on steroids.
Joel waits for ten minutes before starting forward again, closing the distance between himself and the group quickly. A soft growl emanates from deep in his chest and throat as he circles the group before leaping towards the girl who'd first noticed him. He sits down in front of her, his body still very tense; slowly he shifts into something that looks like a mix between a wolf, a fox, a rabbit and a panther: heavily muscled and long legs, very fuzzy body and a bottle brush tail, slightly floppy rabbit/cat-like ears and a long snout full of seriously sharp teeth. All of it combines into an endearing yet fearsomely fuzzy creature.
Sky let out a cry of alarm. She hadn’t expected to be seen, she thought she’d hidden herself well… “w-what are you…?” She said, half to herself. Her hands are shaking and her heart is racing, she’s obviously scared.
Joel tilts his head, his hackles lowering to a more curious than aggressive position, his growl turning to a cat-like noise of inquiry before turning to his human form.
He sat there, in the exact place the animal had just been.
"Human? I think?" he says softly. His voice was soft and purring; not in a seductive way, he literally sounded like a cat if a cat could speak perfect English while purring.
there is no way that thing is human… Sky thought to herself. She stepped out of the shadows to get a closer look, but her pale-blue eyes fell to the ground. Eye contact was hard for her. “…what’s your name..?”
". . . Joel." he says quietly.
He looks up at the girl quietly.
"I. . . don't remember what I am. . . I just woke up in a strange world a year ago. . . this world. I don't know why I refer to this world as 'this world,' but I do. . . and all I know is that I know nothing." he murmurs, his gaze falling now as well.
"I found these clothes a few months ago, after mine were nearly torn to shreds by. . . things. They looked like animals, but they didn't look or feel right to me. Another mystery for me to solve." he adds, just as quietly as before.
"All I want is food and warmth. . . I don't remember what this place is, though I do remember finding this place last night and falling asleep behind some bushes."
(im just gonna say this for now) Varuni spaced out in a tree, flexing her new arm.
(Alrighty!)
Sky felt a flash of sympathy for Joel. “I’m Sky… um, would you like to come with me? I know a place you might be able to stay…” The young woman adjusted her glasses, hoping that the others would let Joel stay as willingly as they’d let her.
Joel looks up at Sky hopefully.
"Will there be food? And warmth?" he asks softly. That was all he wanted. Somewhere with those two things would be heaven.
Sky nodded and gave Joel a small smile. “Yes… there’s food and warmth.” She held out a shaky hand, silently offering to help him to his feet. (Last time I checked he was still sitting down but I could be mistaken— if I am ignore the last bit)
(He was lol)
Joel looks at the outstreched hand, then back up at Sky.
"Promise?" he asks. He was still just a kid, after all - promises meant everything to him.
“Promise.” Sky was no longer hidden by the shadows. The short 19-year old tried to look as confident as possible, although her chronic tension and worry might have made those efforts useless. “Don’t worry, you’ll be well taken care of.” She hoped so, at least.
Joel smiles softly - an innocent, kind smile - and takes Sky's hand softly, his small hand resting on top of the girl's.
"Okay." he says, his voice happy.
Sky felt a sort of protective instinct for the child. She helped him up, brushing her bangs out of her face and smiling at him… the first time I’ve genuinely smiled since I moved in with Amira. But she isn’t here… stay strong, Sky. her smile fell for a moment as she thought of her best friend.
Joel notices Sky's smile and giggles happily.
He also notices how her face falls for a moment, and he stops laughing, tilting his head curiously.
"What's wrong?" he inquires.
“Oh— nothing’s wrong, I was just… thinking about my friend. I haven’t seen her since… since I wound up here.” Sky fought back tears. She had to stay strong… she couldn’t start crying, not now.
Joel thinks for a moment before wrapping his skinny arms around Sky.
"I think I understand how you feel." he murmurs. "I'm not sure, since I have no memories, and I can't remember even when I know I've recalled some people's faces - but I think I went away from or lost important people in my life, and I think I know how difficult that is."
Sky flinched slightly, then relaxed. A single tear ran down her face as she murmured, “I miss her so much…”
Joel nods.
"We'll both be able to see our people eventually - that much I know. Your friend, she'll be fine. I promise. So don't cry today, okay? Save those tears for the dead and truly lost." he says, leaning back and smiling up at Sky.
(My hearttt-)
Sky smiled back at Joel. “Xièxiè, little one…” she wiped the tear from her face. “You’re very good at comforting people.”
(Xièxiè is Mandarin for thank you, I think)
(Lol)
(In this situation nǐ tài hǎo la - you're the best - might work better, since it's both thanks and a way of uplifting the person you're thanking, very helpful when dealing with anyone you feel particularly close with or anyone who you wish to show that you feel close with them; just a thought lol. However that is the basic way of saying "thank you" in Mandarin lol)
"She. . . she?" Joel asks, confused. He had no clue what Sky meant when she said "she she."
(Ohhhh ty, sorry I know nothing about mandarin— might have been a mistake to use a character whose mother is mandarin :,)
“Ah, right… Xièxiè is Mandarin for thank you.” She was a bit confused as well, as she’d never used Mandarin since she left her mother… no wonder she was a bit rusty.
(It's all good! I like to help people out- I only know a few little bits and pieces of a lot of languages, but I love learning and research; Mandarin is just one of my better languages, lol, so I figured I'd help you out a bit)
"Man. . . duhrin?" Joel repeats, even more confused. "Is that like Een-glish?"
He pronounced "English" with a stressed "e" sound and a shortened "ih" sound, making it sound strange.
(Thanks again, lol)
Sky chuckled. “Mandarin is a language my stepmother speaks. I mostly learned it to communicate with her…” and to listen to her constantly yell at me… “…but I’ve forgotten some of it since moving away.”
(Mm-hmmm 💙)
"Oh-" Joel says. He was still confused, but he understood a bit better.
"So it's like- like-" he starts, before pausing in his thoughts. Like what?
But the fragment was already gone.
Anybody watching him would notice how still he became when he started speaking, and how blank and dead his eyes were - like there was nothing going on in his head.
But then they'd see him start to move, his eyes lively again. It was probably more than a little offputting.
Joel lets go of Sky.
"So, who are the people you're going to bring me to?" he asks.
(im feeling a bit better!) Varuni had noticed the two, and jumped from tree to tree over to them.