[Deleted]

Sweet, glorious freedom. Sasha had missed it in recent weeks; humans seemed determined to try and cage him as of late, and he was growing rather tired of the whole ordeal. The constant pressure to keep himself hidden was making it harder and harder to find food, and he was having to deal with the constant aching and weariness that came with hunger - which didn't help his need to find more food. Freshly hunted meat was a distant memory for the shapeshifter; he just didn't have the energy or strength to be chasing down rabbits, and rats were too dangerous in groups for him to dare tackling alone. 

Instead, he was skulking around the alleyways behind houses in his dog form, searching each trash can he came across in the hopes of finding something even remotely edible. So far, he'd managed to lick some of the juices off of what appeared to be an old chicken package, but all that had done was made him feel more hungry. Wasn't anyone throwing food out down here? He gave a bad-tempered growl, scratching briefly at his collar. He had considered removing it after the encounter with that other human-yet-not, who had claimed to have 'modified it' in some way so they could communicate. He didn't trust that human, not one bit. But to remove it would mean more attention. Humans seemed to ignore animals who wore collars more, and in his weakened state Sasha didn't want to risk any unwanted attention.

A crash from another trash can made him jump, and he started towards the noise. Another dog was there, tail sticking out of the can and wagging slowly. Sasha could smell the dog had had some luck, and a moment later his suspicion was confirmed as the dog withdrew from the bin with part of a chicken breast in its jaws. Sasha growled and stepped forward, raising his tail threateningly. 'Food. Give,' he demanded. The dog gave a soft whine, cowering submissively but still clinging to the meat. Sasha stepped forward again, snapping his jaws in warning. 'Now.' When the dog didn't immediately obey, he leapt at it with a fierce snarl. The dog yelped, dropping the meat and fleeing out onto the main street. Sasha snatched up the chicken greedily, dropping to a crouch to eat with eye warily watching for any signs of intrusion on his small meal. It was nowhere near enough to fill him, but it would keep him alive, and that was the main thing. 

Mirror

[Misti Manning]

Misti only needed a few things from the grocery shop, so she’d decided to walk rather than drive. She was on her way home, hands full with plastic bags, when she noticed the dog.

It was a miracle she’d seen him at all. He was down an alleyway off from the main street and with his dark fur he could’ve been mistaken for a shadow if she hadn’t seen a flash of his teeth. Was it a stray? Her instinct was to go towards him, but she paused. The advice ‘don’t go down alleyways’ had been drilled into her head since she was old enough to understand words; no short cut was worth the risk of running into criminals, lying in wait to ambush those who strayed from the safety the crowds of main streets provided. But she could see this alley wasn’t a dead end and (perhaps naively) she didn’t think anyone could be hiding behind the few bins that lined it.

Decision made, Misti turned away from her usual path home.

“Hey, bud,” she softly called to the dog as she approached. “Whatcha doing over there? You alone?”

She stopped a few metres away from him and crouched down to his level to look less intimidating. She knew better than to march up to an animal that didn’t know her, and she sensed trying to get between a dog and its food wouldn’t be smart either. She would have to wait for him to finish before she tried to get any closer.

In the meantime, she took the chance to study him, doing her best to avoid direct eye contact so he wouldn’t think she was challenging him. She noticed the collar around his neck, indicating he wasn’t a stray after all. If they were out on the street Misti wouldn’t have looked twice at a dog with a collar on, simply assuming their owner was one of the passers-by. But this dog was lurking in an alley with no human in sight, eating what looked to be the remains of a discarded chicken. There was an old scar across the dog’s eye – maybe it was a rescue from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre?

She whistled to him, though she had little hope it would bring him over to her. Why should a dog obey a random stranger when it had a meal in its paws? Still, she figured she couldn't leave him alone; she should check his collar for an address and try to return him to his owner.


((@sasha Sorry for the wait! Btw does Sasha’s collar have any identifiers and/or anything that would tell Misti that Acker altered it? Or is it just a plain collar? 😊 ))

[Deleted]

The sound of footsteps and the strengthening scent of humans alerted Sasha to the human observing him before she spoke, and he raised his head up to bare his teeth intimidatingly, stepping protectively over his find. With him as hungry as he was, even this tiny morsel was enough for him to fight over, and he wasn't about to give it up to a human - he'd already abandoned a kill to a human in the past and he refused to do it again. 

The gentle voice surprised him. He had expected a harsher reaction to his presence; most humans didn't appreciate strays rummaging through the trash, especially when the can had been knocked over and trash scattered everywhere, leaving a mess some human would have to clean up. But this human was different, apparently. She had crouched, not in a way that suggested she was about to attack but in a way that reminded him of how some dogs would crouch to try and show friendly intentions. He could sense no hostility from her, either, and she didn't seem to be holding anything harmful to him.

Warily, he let his lip fall to cover his teeth again, his growl petering out into an almost confused groan. Why weren't humans always easy to read? It made it so difficult to understand what to do. If this human had been obviously threatening, he would have fled, but his instincts were telling him she wasn't. But past experience told him humans were rarely friendly, either. So what did she want?

//OOC: Nothing identifying on the collar, he stole it when it was thrown out to try and avoid attracting too much attention! It's very dirty and might have some dried blood on it from his past fights though. Nothing to identify it was altered either, it's just a plain, green collar ^^

[Misti Manning]

The dog was initially upset about her approaching, his lips curling back from his teeth to snarl at her. Eventually though, he seemed to understand on some level that she meant no harm. The hostile body language faded and his growl became a confused grumble. So cute.

“I know, I’m sorry, I’m probably very scary,” Misti cooed to him, probably the least scary she had looked and sounded in years. She considered her options. She didn’t have a belt on her that she could use as a makeshift lead, and she wasn’t sure scooping him up would go well. Even if he did allow her to pick him up and didn’t struggle, she’d have to find a way to carry her shopping bags too. Calling the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre was definitely an option, yet she wasn’t sure how long they’d take to arrive and the sight of more humans could make him panic and bolt out the other end of the alley.

There was also the collar to think about. A dirty green, it didn’t look like it had any tags that would provide a number for Misti to call. Still, its presence implied that somewhere someone was missing their dog. Maybe she simply couldn’t see any identification because she was too far away. She needed to lure him closer.

“Old chicken isn’t very good for you.” She spoke, not expecting he would understand her at all but hoping her voice would put him more at ease than she would if she’d crouched there in stony silence. She reached into one of her bags, careful not to rustle the plastic too much to avoid startling the dog. “Don’t you want something more fresh? Look at this. Do you want some?” she continued to use her baby voice as she opened a packet of sliced ham. She held one of the slices out to him. If he refused to take it from her hand, she would throw it halfway between them.



@sasha

[Deleted]

Humans were so confusing. This one didn't seem to understand the hint that Sasha would very much like to be left alone to eat what little of a meal he had in peace, and the way she was talking to him felt rather ridiculous. Of course, he knew she couldn't possibly know he understood every word perfectly, nor that he wasn't particularly afraid of her anymore - more frustrated and concerned that she might call someone who was scary to him, like animal control. His ear twitched at her voice, and he gave a soft, disgruntled huff, almost like a person annoyed at being babied might.

An itch began to irritate behind his ear and he paused to scratch it, scraping his claws across his collar as he did. Even as he scratched, he never stopped watching the human, his eye full of wariness as he observed her every motion. Her comment on his meal made him huff again. Obviously, he wanted to snap, but common sense stopped him. It wasn't like he chose to rummage through garbage. Fresh meat was far tastier, but when a stray was tired and down on their luck, anything was better than nothing. As the human reached into her bag he stiffened, lip beginning to raise in the beginnings of a snarl as he prepared to bolt at the first sign of trouble. But what was revealed was...

Oh. Oh wow. Was that fresh? Was she really offering out free, fresh food to a stray? This wasn't altogether new to Sasha - he had met humans kind enough to throw scraps out to strays in the past - but never had he been offered something completely fresh from the packet like this. The scent of the ham reached his nose and to his embarrassment he began to drool, licking his lips hungrily. He carefully pawed the chicken to one side, keeping it just in case this offer was a false promise, and began to cautiously creep towards the meat, his gaze flitting from the offered food and the woman's other hand, cautious of a potential trap even as his hunger drove him closer. As soon as he was able to, he snatched the meat from her hand and darted backwards a safe distance to snap it up, barely pausing to chew in his haste to devour his prize before it could be stolen from him.

Misti Manning

[Misti Manning]

The dog’s motion of setting aside the chicken was comically human, making Misti smile. He crept forward, clearly cautious yet tempted by her offering. “That’s it, come on,” she said softly. Her eyes were zeroed in on his neck. There were no tags attached to the collar, but perhaps there would be a name embroidered into the material. Quick as a flash, he seized the ham and dashed away. Too fast. She hadn’t been able to attempt grabbing onto the collar (though seeing how distrusting he was of her, she wasn’t sure that would’ve been a good idea anyway).

“What happened to your eye, sweetheart?” she murmured. Despite her failure to check the collar, she had been able to notice his scarred eye when he stepped into brighter lighting. It didn’t look fresh. It must have happened when they were quite young. To Misti, it was another possible indication that he (at least at one point in his life) was someone’s pet; wounds like that tended to become infected and potentially life-threatening when an animal was wild.

When he was finished gulping the food down like it was the first meal he’d had in months, she retrieved another slice from the packet and once again extended her hand to the stray. Misti could be patient, and she was determined to befriend that dog. Sure, some of her groceries might not like being out of the fridge for long, but they would probably survive if she stuffed them in the freezer as soon as she got home. She’d already accepted the loss of the ham. “Come on, have some more,” she soothed. After a moment of hesitation she shifted until she was sitting cross-legged on the ground; crouching had made her legs ache. Although she didn’t love the idea of sitting in a dirty alley, she decided it was better to be comfortable than to risk sending out tense body language. At least the ground was dry. “I’m not going to take it away from you, I promise. No need to run away.”


@sasha

[Deleted]

The question regarding his eye made him give a wary, cautious growl, lip curling to show his teeth briefly. There was anger in the response, but some amusement too; sure, the memory of losing the eye was a painful one, but the memory of his later vengeance was one that filled him with pride. He had fought the dog again, after all, and won, killing the other stray and taking its territory as his own. The territory was still his to this day, though he often hunted beyond it when food was scarce, such as now. 

Misti was right in believing wounds were likely to become infected; Sasha's eye had, in fact. He had almost died whilst battling the infection over the course of days, barely able to eat, struggling to even drink, and he knew only pure luck had allowed him to eventually fight it off and survive. But he had survived, and learnt well the dangers of allowing wounds to go untreated on the streets; nowadays, if he gained any injuries, he was careful to wash them, and find useful plants in the wilds that could help prevent any infections from setting in.

The offered second slice made his stomach growl, and he flattened his ears, cautiously creeping forwards again, slightly more confidently than before, only to skitter backwards when she changed her sitting position with a startled bark. When she was still once more, however, he grew even more confident. He knew a human sitting cross-legged couldn't move or stand as quickly as one crouched, making him feel safer. Because of this, he strode more confidently towards the human, reaching to grab the ham slice, more careful not to nip any fingers this time as he did so. He backed off in a calmer manner, only a few paces this time so he was just out of reach, before eating the meat more slowly. He licked his lips at the taste, then sat and stared at the human with an insistent huff.

More, now, his entire body seemed to say. After all, two slices of ham weren't enough to fill a dog up.

Misti Manning

[Misti Manning]

The startled bark highlighted his mistrust of her, but at least he didn’t bolt and (judging by the way he approached her once more) he didn’t hold a grudge either. He was growing more confident, no longer dashing away after taking the food from her hands, which allowed Misti to get a better look at him. Unfortunately the collar didn’t have a name embroidered on it like she’d hoped. It was filthy, covered in dirt and – was that… blood? She couldn’t be certain. Dried blood tended to turn dark brown, after all. But those specks made her worry and she scanned his body again in search of injuries. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that strays could get into fights, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

She was pulled from her thoughts when he huffed at her, an obvious request for more. She chuckled. “Alright, here you go.” Another slice was offered to him. She only had a few more left, and she was conscious they were the only reason he was staying near her. Without tonnes of options at her disposal, she considered how successful she would be in using the remaining ham to lure him out of the alley and perhaps all the way to her home, five minutes away

There were no obvious fleas but his pelt was dark, possibly camouflaging then. Also, she was only an occasional volunteer at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, not a vet, so there could be other problems her untrained eyes weren’t spotting. She put the packet in her lap to free up her other hand. “Can I give you a pat?” she wondered aloud, slowly reaching out towards him. If the dog didn’t shy away, she would give his ears a scratch. Had she known the dog was actually a shapeshifter, one capable of adopting a human form, she would never have tried such a thing. The very idea of it would've been appalling.


@sasha