lumberlady | Noctium

yes and no

_{[ it takes her a few moments, but soon enough a half-blurry, awkwardly angled picture comes in. ]}

i can manage the wings that've shown up higher up but...

that's new.

[Oh, it's the... She doesn't know the name of the creature, but. The one her arranged breeding season partner had taken (before he vanished). It's not jinba, but... She kind of knows... How that one works...]

i understand!
i know this change shape
like big cat and big bird yes?

where is MORGA?
i go

like the one i wear
wore
only bigger, i think. the paws alone are much bigger than the ones that animal had while it was living

the border between the park and the farmlands
there's an old farmhouse that the owners have been letting me stay at when i'm working in the markets
big grain silo with the roof caved in
figured i'd sleep here last night before i made the trek back to the land i bought but ah...

i don't think that's happening anytime soon.

should be matching MORGA 's size so
perhaps is making sense

i think i knw this location
i will go there

do you need any thing?
clothing? food?
i bring

i'd say a pair of pants but i don't think i'll be needing those for awhile...

a comb? i'm not entirely sure what else i'll need

skirt?
can bring skirt like i wear during heat season
if you want for being safe?
i no think pants will stay on…

better to be safe than sorry
you'll have to show me how to tie it so it doesn't slide off
wearing them with two legs is one thing but having another waist to contend with is...
i don't want to say difficult but i'm suddenly glad that no one else has seen me yet

of course
i show!
should is easy, just tie around barrel

i be there in half hour's time
i go!

i'll send jaeger outside incase
and
feel free to let yourself in
admittedly i'm a little reluctant to haul myself off of the haybales i managed to get on

no stress!
please wait.

[And true to her word... Konoha gathers a few things for Morga and bundles them into her saddlebag before heading off for the location provided, keeping her eyes out for... a very smart bird of prey.]

i'll be here.

_{[ Where else could she go on unsteady paws? As much as it eats away at her to stay put, it's better that way lest she wind up spraining something or tweaking a muscle that shouldn't be pulled. So she gathers her newfound gangly limbs under her as best as she can, counts back from ten and sends Jaeger out to find her.

On the upside that part is easy for him — once the eagle spots her from the air, he lets out a piercing call and wheels downwards and back up as if saying this way. He won't follow into the barn itself, rather he lands on an old fence post just outside and simply watches. ]}

[That really was one smart bird. But asking whether he was magic or if all the birds in her land were so intelligent can wait, because when Konoha reaches the appointed place she gives a slightly awkward bow in thanks to the raptor for his guidance…

And then peeks her head into the old farmhouse, casting about for-]

Morga… ?

[Would she look how she anticipated… ?]

To your left.

_{[ She could stay still, but does she? Absolutely not. As soon as she spots Konoha peeking in, Morga musters up every ounce of control she has to pull herself into what she feels is a sitting position only it... looks clumsy and awkward as hell. Her front, uh... legs push her upper body into something more upright, but her back end stays halfway on the haybales she'd managed to plop down on earlier and halfway onto the floor with both rear legs going this way and that. It hardly looks comfortable but there's something to be said about feline flexibility.

Morga herself on the other hand looks uncomfortable with the faintest hints of a scowl as she tries to get the extra limbs to cooperate. Her lower half wasn't the only thing that changed either - it almost looks like parts of her face shifted into something distinctly more feline, perhaps to make room for the extra teeth and other subtle changes, and the dark streaks that were once made of kohl seem more...

Permanent. And made up of fine, soft black fur rather than makeup. ]}

Come in. It's, ah... You can see why I called.

[You know what... Morga is trying! Konoha is proud of her! But at the same time, yes, she is also... yes, she does know this shape. It's the... is it the "sphinx"? The cat jinba... ! Oh, she misses the last one she had known...

But first, alright, she's coming in- !]

Pardon me...

[She enters, shifting the bundles in her saddlebags and twisting about to pull them off her withers, ready to dive in and help. Clothes were good for modesty, but if Morga couldn't get a handle enough on her body...]

You've been here since last night?

[Oh no, should she have brought food, too?]

Mm. I went to sleep as a human being and...

_{[ Gesturing to her, well, everything, Morga frowns and if Konoha looks closely enough she might just notice the mostly-black spotted ears poking out from her hair as they fold back. If anything, they give away her true mood more than her actual face ever could. ]}

...woke up in the middle of this. I'm willing to say it was worse compared to how my body usually changes with these things.

_{[ Even stranger is it's nowhere near the end of the month, rather the beginning of it. Does Morga know how or why that is? Gods, no. But is that going to stop her? Hopefully not. ]}

And I still haven't been able to get the back half under me for very long. Not without falling over.

[Perhaps it's ironic coming from a woman whose own body language could be ready through fetlocks and tail, but Konoha finds it so very odd to watch animal ear on human heads for indications of mood. Helpful, yes, but odd.]

Well... Let's try to get you good enough at walking that we can get you out of here and find something to eat!

[The back half...

Setting down her basket, she trots closer, trying to get a better look at the older woman's body.]

Sphinx legs are a little different than mine, but it should be close enough... can you show me how you've been trying to get up?

As best as I'm able to.

_{[ Bending over the way she does is going to take some getting used to, but she only stays down long enough to fetch her spear from the floor. Once it's in her grip, she stabs the pointed end into the dirt floor, grasps it with both hands and hauls her torso up with as much strength she can muster. Her forelegs easily move with her, but it takes a few seconds for Morga to shift and get her back ones underneath her body.

One... two... On the mental count of three she manages to push off from the haybales and takes a few unsteady steps before she stops. For the most part she seems semi-stable, save for the trembling in her knees. Really, she's more akin to a newborn fawn than the predator she's meant to resemble at this point but uh... That's what practice is for, right? ]}

It feels... strange.

Your best is fine!

[Konoha was the last person who could say otherwise. Not everyone could do everything, but sometimes trying was enough. When it came to walking... well, hopefully they could get to actual success, but. Trying was a good start.

Konoha watches mindfully as Morga tries to move, tapping on her chin as she hopes to find something useful in her observations. Perhaps she was technically not the best for this, since four legs were natural to her, but...]

Which legs are you thinking about right now... ?

[She approaches close enough to touch or support if need be, gaze darting between fore and rear legs. The muscles were all there, hmm...]

All of them?

_{[ Morga shifts on her forelegs, her torso twisting around to watch Konoha move about. It's not that she doesn't trust the younger woman - she wouldn't have called if she hadn't - rather it's an odd moment of vulnerability that she isn't sure how to properly cope with yet. Up close like this it's easy for Morga to see that there isn't too much of a difference in their height now, too. Sure, she isn't as tall as Konoha but while she once had to crane her neck to look up, she's quickly finding that it's not so much the case anymore.

It figures, seeing as Morga herself isn't the size of a typical cheetah. Somehow it makes her feel a little better. Somehow. ]}

Though I'll admit that it's easier to focus on the front ones. They're not the same, but if I shut everything else out it almost feels... like I still only have two instead of four.

Hmmm...

[Konoha gives it an obvious thought as she watches, circling around Morga as she goes and trying a moment to think a bit more seriously about... how did she walk?]

Can you try just focusing on the one you start out stepping with? I don't think I actually think of all my legs... I just start, and the other three follow... ?

[Would that only work with a natural? Well, it seemed worth trying.]

Here I used to think teaching my son to walk was difficult...

_{[ But... One after the other. Alright. Her forepaws flex, claws digging into the dirt-and-hay covered floor. It can't be that hard, can it? So many animals know how to walk - or at least hobble around - from the day they were born and yet here she was wobbling like a damn fawn in her sixties. ]}

Give me your arm.

_{[ Her ears go back and her tail winds around her own back leg without realizing it. She's actually... nervous? ]}

[Konoha won't realize the irony until a month later when she ends up wobbling around on two legs like a drunk... woman... but. For now, she just laughs at that comment.]

Was he slow? My daughter barely even needed me. One minute she was rolling and crawling, and then the next thing I knew she was running circles around me, and underhoof, and everywhere she shouldn't be...

[As she chatters along, though, she moves seamlessly up against Morga's side to provide the arm she asks for, intentionally not mentioning that she can see nerves on her transformed parts.]

Human infants tend to...

_{[ She pauses long enough to link her arm with Konoha's, and as an extra measure she settles her opposite hand onto her forearm. Is it perfect? Not quite, but it gives her that extra bit of sturdiness she'd been lacking previously and if that spotted pelt of hers bumps against Konoha's own side, well.

Morga isn't saying anything.

Especially when she finally tries to take that first step, feels her hind legs buckle, and prompts her to tighten her grip on Konoha to keep herself upright. Whoops. Once again her ears go back though this time it's purely out of shame. ]}

Going from crawling on your hands and knees to walking upright isn't something that can be done in the span of a few hours. Granted once he figured it out keeping an eye on him became that much harder but... He'd still trip. He'd still cry for me. And I'm almost ashamed to say I was rather content in carrying him around for so many months even after he'd gotten a handle on it.

_{[ That — right there — is something she'd never once admitted to another soul. Besides Jaeger of course, but everyone knows eagles can't speak! That'd be silly! ]}

I know, I know- ! I meant, you know... for a human!

[Konoha had grown up without a single member of her own race around, she knew human habits almost more than she knew her own. But, you know, what really mattered was just distracting Morga from her own difficulties and trying to make it easier for her to walk... So she laughs it off, not at all perturbed by the contact between them, nor judgemental for the buckle of hind legs.

Thankfully, she was quite strong by virtue of her species' biology, the hard muscles of a woman accustomed to manual labor augmented by the different knit of back and shoulders, so supporting the older woman in her process was no sweat.]

Was he always a bit of a crier? Komatsu almost never does, I was so worried at first... but now I think she's just a stubborn baby, like my husband.

_{[ Try as she might, Morga can't keep herself from laughing with her. Even her grip seems to loosen once she regains her balance, though it does little for the awkward angle her legs sit at. Oh well, she'll try and fix that in a second. She just... needs to get her bearings.

She's not used to feeling this out of sorts. ]}

Was? He never outgrew it.

_{[ Her smile turns a little wistful, her new body parts giving away her emotions more than her face ever would.]}

The only time he didn't cry was when a fever tried to take him not too long after he was born. He'd always try to put on a brave face but I don't think he ever made an effort to hide it in the long run. Hell, the boy is in his forties and he still calls me "mama" if you can believe it.

_{[ Does she sound a little fond as she says it? It's a mystery. ]}

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