[Deleted]

Sasha struggled to stand up on two feet, unused to having to balance in such a way. For a long moment they only stared at the other human, rubbing their arms nervously as the other human asked how they shifted their clothes. "...How... do you... lead them?" They stumbled over the words, stammering with fear, using their arm to indicate the birds and other robots around them, trying to explain they could not explain how the clothes changed with them anymore than they could explain how they could shapeshift, or how the other human could control the technology around them. 

At the question of their name, Sasha gave a slight nod. "Scar-Eye," they said softly, their body twitching as if to try and give unidentifiable signals that would have only been properly noticeable in animal form. It wasn't their actual name, of course... but it was the one Sasha used around the strays. They'd noted the other animals using nicknames for each other, names which described the most obvious aspect of the stray's appearance. Since Sasha's most notable feature was their eye, that was the nickname they had used. 

The mention of a bath and change of clothes had them shaking their head firmly, fear flashing across their gaze at the thought. A remnant of being a dog; Sasha hated baths. They didn't mind swimming - it was sometimes a necessity for finding food - but the idea of setting paw into water for no reason seemed... stupid. If they wanted to clean themself they could groom themself in animal form perfectly fine, thank you very much, but what was the point if they were going to be raiding bins or running through muddy forests again in search of food? 

And then the ground shook. Sasha gave a soft yelp, momentarily dropping into a crouch, looking for a second as if they were about to shift and run again. But they resisted, if only out of fear that the human would grow angry again. So far, he was being strangely... not nice, but... not nasty either. Sasha was frightened of that changing if they made the wrong move. With hesitance, and still crouched like an animal, Sasha crept to the trapdoor, their eye wide as they clumsily stepped through, their hands outstretched for balance as if they were terrified of falling over their own feet - which, in truth, they were. Walking on two legs was not Sasha's strong suit. After all, it had been eight years since they had last really needed to.


//OOC: Absolutely! Sasha would have been on the news when they first went missing as a child, they went out to 'play' (ie; test out their shapeshifting) and never came back (because of them panicking, becoming a dog and getting trapped in a van that would eventually leave them in Los Eurosia). They were never found by their parents or the police due to them always being an animal, this would be the first time a human has seen them since then. Sasha doesn't remember their parents though, or ever living anywhere other than on the streets.

Nicholas Acker Villin

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

Acker narrowed his eyes while listening to the human speak, they had difficulty standing and putting words together "How often do you shift into your human form?" or better their real form. Acker's attention was driven to the glasses when they found a match to the Shapeshifter's face, it was a missing person news, their name apparently was Sasha. He wanted to ask them about it, but there was the possibility of Sasha reacting negatively to the news and Acker didn't feel like dealing with it right now.

"How? Mhhh..." Acker tilted his head "...the same way you can shift into animal forms, it comes natural" that was the best way to put it for them to understand "At least I think it comes natural to you too, considering that you can do it so effortlessly" as he could naturally control his machines, they could shift into other animal forms. It was fascinating. Acker let out a small sigh to Sasha's reaction to the floor changing, they seemed scared by it even though Acker had warned them.

"Scar-Eye...because of the wound" Acker processed the information out loud "That's more like a nickname though...you don't remember your real name?" he knew it thanks to the scan, but he wanted to check what Sasha's response would be "Scar it is, like that lion in that cartoon" not the movie, never the movie "Can you shift into Scar or only real animals? Do you know who I'm talking about? Have you ever seen the Lion King?" that cartoon character had a scar on his eye too.

"What do you mean: no?" Acker had to rub his temples for a sec "Urgh...I sounded like my mother just now" he rose a brow at Sasha protesting to take a bath "Listen...if you get sick in an animal form then you are always sick, right? Even if you shift into another form, correct?" he was genuinely asking, after all different animals had different diseases that other animals couldn't have, but maybe the illness shifted too "You have to be clean, just in case you'll shift into your human form again" seriously, he could imagine some kind of infection taking over them at any second "If you don't want to because of me then do not worry, I'm not gonna hurt you, like we agreed" lying to them would have been counterproductive.

Acker decided to help Sasha walk or it was going to take forever, so he walked alongside them and was about to lead Sasha into the lab when he decided against it because he didn't want to deal with an eventual freak out. Guess he had to be patient. Slowly they walked into the lab "Seriously...when was the last time you shifted into your real form?" he said real form on purpose to check their reaction to that statement.

"Please, step onto that platform, there is going to be a light, but nothing to worry about" there was a round platform among the lab equipment "You have to stand up straight on the platform though, can you do it?" he pointed at the platform. Then the mad scientist went around the lab to prepare the other tools necessary to collect the samples, the dogs trotted inside the lab and sat in front of the entrance door that locked behind them "Boys, I didn't tell you to come in, why are you here, mhh?" he wasn't annoyed, just curious. The Lads barked in response "Can you understand them when you are not in dog form?" Acker asked Sasha. The dogs simply barked that they were there in case he needed assistance.

@sasha

[Deleted]

How long since they had last used human form? Sasha was hesitant to answer, partly because they couldn't remember the right word for 'year'. Before they could come up with it, the human was continuing on, first saying about how natural the use of his strange ability was, just like Sasha's own shifting. But... my shifting is nothing like that... those things aren't even natural at all... Sasha felt confused about the whole thing.

"Cartoon?" they echoed after the human, slightly confused. They had vague memories of a lion with a scar... but it was very vague, and seemed more likely to be a dream to Sasha. "Um... only animals I have seen..." they admitted quietly, staring at their hands as they spoke. "The hard-paws call me Scar-Eye... ever since I was hurt by another hard-paw several seasons ago." Hard-Paw essentially meant 'stray' or 'feral'; an animal who would normally have an owner, but for whatever reason lived on the streets. The other stray didn't bother anybody anymore; Sasha had seen to that two years ago, when they had fought and killed the stray and claimed its territory for themself. 

The response to their distaste for baths made them wrinkle their nose, briefly showing their teeth in a very dog-like manner. "No," they repeated firmly. "I can clean myself." Not right now though. The human had made his demand that they be human clear, and Sasha was fearful enough to not want to risk his wrath by demonstrating their cleaning ability as a cat. "All hard-paws get sick. We live. Or we don't." Sickness was nothing new. Sasha often ended up unwell, either from picking something up that was going around the other strays, or from eating something that didn't agree with them. It was a fact of life for a stray, and everyone knew and accepted it. More irritating than illness were the various parasites a stray could pick up - especially the fleas. Luckily, they had picked up a trick from another hard-paw; rolling in wild garlic helped to keep parasites like fleas at bay, when Sasha could find it. Luckily for the human's furniture, Sasha had found garlic fairly recently, so they were mostly flea free.

The next question was as confusing as any other for Sasha. "...real form?" What even was a real form to Sasha? They had been born to human parents, sure, but they had always been able to shift, for as long as they could remember, and the human form felt so unnatural. Honestly, as far as Sasha was concerned, all forms were real forms. If the form could eat, drink and live, it was real to Sasha. "All my forms are real?"

The platform loomed before them. Sasha stared at it nervously, and if they had been in dog form their tail would be tucked between their legs out of fear. But they saw no other option, and they cautiously approached, just wanting this whole horrible situation to be over with so they could flee back to the dumpster they usually slept beneath. Standing up straight, however, could prove a problem; they simply hadn't even tried in so long. "I'll try..."


When the dogs appeared, Sasha glanced at them warily, cautious they would attack. But the barks, and their body language, told Sasha they meant no harm at present. "Of course? I... see their bodies. Hear their sounds. Um..." Sasha frowned, trying to think of the right words. Why did humans rely so heavily on sound to communicate? It was so much easier when an ear flick or tail position could give away a creature's emotions in a heartbeat. "Easier as animal. Smell matters."

Nicholas Acker Villin

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

Acker listened carefully. It was clear that Sasha didn't use their human form often, if never. He let them finish speak and didn't say anything for awhile. He broke the silence with "The Lion King, I would offer you to watch it later while taking that bath you desperately need, but suit yourself" he had various bathrooms in his manor, some of them with tvs. if they didn't want to take care of themself in their human form then he couldn't do much about it, the main reason why he wanted them to take that bath was to avoid infections or getting sick because he wanted them around in case he needed to examine them again.

They took every word very literally and speaking came difficult to them symptoms that they weren't used to talking "Real form...yep, wrong word usage" he tilted his head while the platform was scanning them "I meant, if you saw a fictional animal, maybe from a drawing, could you shift into it?" they probably couldn't, but it couldn't hurt to ask. Hard-paws...who were hard-paws? He couldn't know that they meant strays. However, it had to mean another animal because Sasha said that they had been hurt by one.

"It wouldn't matter with them" Acker replied about the smell because his Lads didn't smell like the other dogs, if not at all, perhaps the dogs smelled metallic because they were machines with very realistic, but still fake fur. Probably, the fake fur had a smell of its own. It was difficult for Sasha to stand, but it was enough for the scanning. An image generated by the scanning appeared on one of the screens. He looked at it for a moment "Interesting" he murmured to himself before the image switched to the Lion King.

"This is a cartoon" he pointed at the screen "The Lion King specifically" it was the beginning of the cartoon "You could watch it while taking that bath, but you don't want to, oh well..." he let out a small sigh as if he was expressing that he was hurt by Sasha's refusal to take a bath, of course he wasn't really hurt, he was just being his theatrical self. He had noticed the way they had reacted at the mention of the bath, like a dog would. Interesting.

Acker collected the other samples, even biological samples, some more invasive than others, but Acker made sure that it didn't hurt by numbing the area first. He had even decided to keep the Lion King on one of the screens for Sasha to watch. It could seem that he did it to be nice, but in reality he did it to make Sasha focus on something else instead of focusing on the collection of the samples to make his job more efficient.

"....aaannnd we are done!" Acker took off the disposable gloves "You can go, however, I'm offering again that bath and that change of clothes" the Lion King's end credits were rolling. If Sasha said no again then he would show them the missing news report "Please, wait to change back into your animal form after leaving the manor, not before" he wanted to make sure that Sasha would watch the news in her human form to better observe their reaction to it.

If Sasha said no to the bath again, then he would turn on one of the screens and show the missing news report.

@sasha

[Deleted]

The Lion King sounded absurd to Sasha, but then, so did doing almost anything that didn't actively benefit their survival in some way. The question about their shifting made them look over at him again, frowning briefly. "No." they said. "I have to... um... have to be there. See them. Has to be real." The longer they took to observe an animal, the easier controlling that animal's instincts would be, mainly because they had an opportunity to prepare themself for those instincts before the shift. Common animals they often saw were easy to change into. But if they only caught a fleeting glimpse, it would be harder, because they'd have no idea how that animal normally acted and how its instincts would affect them.

Their gaze flitted to the dogs again, frowning. They had noticed the unusual scents on them, and had already recognized they weren't true dogs, but unusual scent alone didn't always mean much. A lot of pet animals had weird smells on them. It seemed to be a part of living with a human. Sasha was proud that their own scent was nothing like a human's, though it changed depending on what they had been doing. After all, raiding a dumpster was a far smellier business than stalking rabbits in the forest. Speaking of... Sasha suddenly remembered they had caught prey when the human had first found them. What a wasted kill. Energy had been spent chasing down that rabbit, but the human had forced them to abandon it, and they were certain that by the time they returned to the forest, it would be long gone to scavengers. Their next meal would be from the dumpsters again, it seemed. Oh well. The restaurant behind which Sasha lived usually threw out decent food in the late evening, and worse case scenario, they'd steal from another stray.

A screen flickered to life, distracting Sasha from their thoughts. What? This was what the human had been rambling about? It looked nothing like a real animal. Why would anyone think that Sasha could shift into something like that? The movie did little to hold their attention; it just wasn't real, and Sasha didn't care for things that weren't real. Animals didn't speak human languages, for one. They certainly wouldn't interact with prey the way these creatures were doing. And in truth, Sasha found the main character a bit... well, whiny. Why spend all that time moping and whining, when they could just find food and get on with life? Thinking on the past was pointless. It would get a stray or wild animal killed. As for the other two prey animals the cub seemed to be hanging around with, Sasha had one word for them; lunch. "Humans... like this?" Sasha asked, sounding incredulous as they stared at the screen. "It's..." How to describe it? "...dumb." It was the only word Sasha could think of. "Not real."

The announcement that whatever the human had been doing was finished came as a relief. They wanted to be out, back roaming the streets where they could flee from danger and not have to submit to someone out of fear. The repeated offer of a bath and clothes made them wrinkle their nose again. "Stupid." Not the human. The idea. Why bath when they could groom themself just as easily later on? Why change clothes when they spent almost their entire time as an animal? Clothes were uncomfortable, even the collar that chafed around their neck. Sasha wore it only because humans seemed less inclined to mess with a collared animal than one without.

Another screen flickered on, and Sasha flashed a brief glance towards it. The image of a young child was visible; one a lot like Sasha, but obviously younger, with two eyes, and much cleaner. They stared at it for a long moment, their gaze turning hard as they recognized themself. The words written meant nothing to them, and the speech meant little too, mainly because Sasha was tuning it out in favour of the image. Their head tilted slightly, dog-like, and they gave a soft snort. "Soft-Paw," they muttered; the stray-word for an animal who lived with humans, and one Sasha used as an insult. That was how Sasha saw their younger self. Too soft, too weak, unable to survive on their own. Relying on humans for every little thing. They tried to think back to their earliest memories, but all they could recall were loud booms, flashing lights, being trapped in a dark space for hours... and then, the streets they were so familiar with. Whatever had happened before that was pointless to remember. It had no effect on their attempts to survive now.

Nicholas Acker Villin

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

Sasha was interesting, their reactions were interesting, they reacted like an animal even in human form, he felt like one of those zoologist observing an animal in a controlled environment, after all he already had footage of them in a natural environment such as the forest "So, would you be able to shift into my Lads?" he pointed at the dogs who were still sitting diligently in front of the door. Even though Acker believed his dogs to be better than the real deal, the Lads weren't real animals, but machines. Although, they behaved like real dogs, it had taken a lot of work. Same with the birds.

Acker let out a laugh at Sasha's sincere review of the Lion King "Couldn't agree more! So sappy, isn't it? Although, I guess you view everything based on survival, right? Entertainment must be useless to you" he went with his theory that Sasha always thought like a wild animal, no matter the form. Then he frowned, he thought he heard a stomach rumble and it wasn't his, unless he had heard wrong "You are hungry, aren't you? I caught you while you were hunting for food..." he was thinking out loud "...considering that you won't accept my offer for a bath and change of clothes then what about some food?"

The mad scientist never offered anything without an ulterior motive, he wanted to check their reaction as always. He imagined that Sasha wouldn't accept because of their wild animal status, accepting food from humans was probably frown upon or refusing for fear of the food itself being poisoned. He couldn't think like Sasha did, but he could try to understand nonetheless. For instance, he hadn't taken that collar of theirs even though he could have. Everyone needed their security blanket. Mh, perhaps he would take it and record their reaction next time.

"You live a wild life, away from humans, but you know what that collar signifies? That you belong to a human, someone's pet" Acker tilted his head "What's the story behind that collar? Who gave it to you?" he crossed his arms "Soft-Paw? Hard-Paw? What do you mean?" technically he was still collecting samples, although it was data. Acker pointed at the screen with his thumb "I could contact your parents, they must be worried sick about you" again, he only said that to observe their reaction. Although he could try to contact the parents anonymously, make them come to the town and indirectly direct them to Sasha using his technology. Ideas kept forming in his mind, couldn't really stop the process.

@sasha

[Deleted]

Sasha felt a little frustrated with all these questions - they just wanted out, not to be quizzed about a million things when they could barely think of the right words to answer! Especially when the next question out of the human's mouth was one Sasha had already answered, and the slight scowl that briefly crossed their face made it clear what they thought of it. "Has to be real," they repeated firmly, indicating the dogs. "Not real. Metal. No... meat?" How did humans communicate like this on a day to day basis? So much easier to use gestures and body language. 

The mention of food caught their attention, but their wariness was not gone yet, and their eyes narrowed in suspicion. Sure, they'd accepted food from a human's hand before - only a foolish stray wouldn't, when it was offered so readily - but caution was key to survival, after all. Some humans offered food simply out of kindness or pity. Others had an ulterior motive; to trap you, to hurt you, even to kill you. Sasha usually could tell what the intention was by sniffing the offered food - often they could smell the poison, and while a normal animal might ignore that warning scent, Sasha knew better - but sometimes it was a risky task. One thing Sasha knew for certain - this human didn't seem to do anything out of kindness, from what they had seen. They weren't so foolish as to believe the human was trying to be kind now by offering food. "Depends on food," they said bluntly. "Meat is best." Raw, preferably, and freshly killed by Sasha's own teeth. There was a second reason for Sasha's hesitance though, beyond the human's own motives. They had less control over their own instincts while they ate, simply because almost every animal they changed too agreed on the same thing - protecting a food source was vital, and if anyone came too close while they were eating, an aggressive display was needed to warn them off. If I hadn't been too focused on the rabbit back then, I might've had a better chance to escape, they thought grimly.

A change of topic to the collar made them raise their hand to it briefly, toying with it. "Not pet. Protection. Found in... um..." They frowned again, trying to think of the human term for dumpster. "Place where food is. Soft-paw... lives with humans. Soft pads, not on streets. Hard-paws live alone. Harder pads from hard floor. Collar... makes human leave soft-paws alone?" They weren't particularly attached to the collar. They'd only been wearing it for just over a year, and knew that if they wanted to become anything bigger than a coyote or bobcat they'd have to lose it - unless they wanted to be choked by it, anyway. 

And then came the mention of parents, which made Sasha give a combination of a snort and a growl. But this was something they simply couldn't explain in human terms; how to explain that Sasha had not considered the idea of a parent in almost eight years, and they didn't even remember what their parents' names were, or what they looked like. Most of the other animals they had interacted with didn't even have a real term for a 'parent', at least not once they were mature. Once an animal left a parent, they made their own way in the world. Sasha had seen a dog nursing a litter of pups one month and then, once the pups were mature, fighting the same pups she had just raised over every scrap of food. That was life on the streets. The wild... that was a little different. Sasha had seen enough of coyotes to be aware that they lived in family groups. But even those pups sooner or later would leave. "Um..." They tried to think of a way to explain all of this to the human. "Hard-paw pups leave parents." Essentially; stray animals rarely stayed with their parents once adults, and as far as most animals were concerned, Sasha was an adult. Besides, how could anyone expect Sasha to even recognize or trust their parents after so long, or vice versa? They didn't even see themself as a human anymore.

Nicholas Acker Villin

[Nicholas Acker Villin]

There. That feeling he always tried to push away, but it was inevitable, it was always there ready to strike. Acker blamed his family. It was the Villin's blood in his veins, their goodie-two-shows nature intertwined in his DNA and in the way he had been raised. His family was good people and he had had a great childhood. He had been raised to be a good person and some of that had stuck unfortunately. It was a bit ironic, Villin meant villain, so technically he was the accurate representation of the family's name, instead he was the odd one out and not only because he was the only Gifted in his family. Yeah, the evil one was the Gifted, talk about unjust. His family would have used powers to make the world a better place, not Acker, he used his power how he damned pleased.

What was he feeling? He felt unwelcome warmth in his chest caused by some kind of empathy towards Sasha. Even villains had redeeming qualities, unwelcome by Akcer, but still there. The unwelcome feeling had been triggered by his own actions, he was the one who had probed, he was the one who had to observe Sasha in their human form thus realising how young they were thus creating a fertile soil for empathy to grow because of that natural need to protect the young, and the final nail was the background check because the more he got to know Sasha the more connection there was. So, it was his own damn fault. Acker realised that.

He crossed his arms and tried to look detached while listening to Sasha. Repeating questions was a tactic used in interrogations to test answers, a tactic that Acker had learned to use. He didn't say anything however and kept listening. Acker bit his lip at the mention of the collar, he had done something to it when Sasha had been unconscious. He was pondering if to tell Sasha or not. That unwelcome feeling was telling him that he should tell Sasha, but he was trying really hard not to listen.

Acker could relate to Sasha about leaving family, he felt the same way, that was why he was living by himself instead of living with the rest of his family in that giant manor, or family home. He felt better living by himself, in his own house of wonders. One of the dogs had left the room "Listen..." Acker let out a long sigh "...I did something to the collar" he pointed at it "If you are in danger and there is no way out then you can use that collar to contact me" so that he could help them "I know you can't trust me, but the option is there" he had decided to do it because he didn't want anything to happen to Sasha in case he needed them again for scientific reasons "Losing you would be like losing an asset" and he wanted to avoid that of course.

The dog came back, in his mouth a plastic bag with raw meat in it, safe to eat. Acker pointed at it "For you, consider it a parting gift" that unwelcome feeling rewarded him with the happy chemical, god he hated that goodie-two-shows blood in his veins "Zeus, Apollo: lead the way" the dogs obeyed and started walking towards the exit of the lab and up the stairs "The rooms are not moving anymore, but you still don't know where the exit is" Acker waited for Sasha to follow and then left the lab and walked up the stairs.

They weren't in the garden anymore, but the trapdoor opened to a living-room next to the hallway that led to the front door. Mh, interesting. It had been the fireplace-room last time. Acker led Sasha to the hallway and walked down to the front door which Acker willed open. No one was outside and the gates were also open for Sasha so that she could leave the property. He needed some time away from them to shake off that unwelcome feeling. He needed to shake it off like Taylor Swift, ugh now he had that song stuck in his head.

"Arrivederci e a presto" with that salute Acker implied that he would probably capture them again someday.

@sasha

//translation: "Goodbye and see you soon"//

[Deleted]

Sasha was beginning to feel more and more restless the longer they were forced to stay in human form, and it was beginning to show as they shifted their weight from one leg to the other, bending slightly as if resisting the urge to drop to all fours and shift back to a more comfortable shape - which was exactly what they were doing. How could any human tolerate being so blind, so senseless for so long? Everything was so muted to Sasha as a human and the longer they were staying in that form, the more they were growing to despise it. The other animals were so lucky to never have to deal with this. When they got out of here they were going to go straight to the forest and find a stronger animal. A cougar, perhaps. Sasha had found evidence of them, but never seen one. Some of the coyotes they had met had told stories of bears, too; huge beasts that even humans were sometimes wary of. That would be even better. 

Their thoughts were interrupted by the mention of their collar, and Sasha stiffened at the idea of being able to be contacted by it. Okay. Task two; lose the collar and find a new one. Or just do without. If they wanted a bear form they'd have to lose the collar anyway. There was no chance that they would ever even consider contacting a human for help. Every stray knew humans were trouble, and this one wasn't even a true human, rather a human-yet-not, so Sasha was even less inclined to consider letting the man anywhere near them in the future. "Ha." Was that a sarcastic laugh? Or a human form's attempt at a growl? It was anyone's guess, really. 

The return of the dog made Sasha flinch - they had been so busy focusing on what the human was up to they hadn't even noticed the dog had left, a fact which left them feeling a little annoyed at themself - but the bag the dog carried made Sasha's eyes widen with surprise. Quick as any wild carnivore they snatched the bag away, opening it briefly to sniff the contents. Why weren't human noses stronger? It was impossible to figure out if it had been contaminated in some way like this. They closed the bag again, clenching it tightly, their hungry gaze daring anyone to even consider trying to take the meat away from them. If it turned out to be dangerous, well they could always bury it... or use it to get rid of one of the more troublesome strays that occasionally tried to encroach on Sasha's territory. The shapeshifter gave no words of thanks to the human, save for a brief yet slow blink; the animal's version of a smile, and potential for trust... maybe. 

Remaining silent, Sasha followed the dogs up the stairs, their body almost trembling with anticipation of being able to shift back at last. They barely noticed the difference in the rooms, and it didn't bother them anyway; they were finally escaping! The door opened. Sasha barely heard the farewell as they stepped over the doorway, and wouldn't have been able to understand it anyway. They could no longer wait. After only the briefest of checks to make sure nobody else was watching, they sprang forward in dog form, grasping the bag of meat in their mouth and leaping towards the gate. There they paused to look back at the human, unblinking, tail lifted proudly, a challenge in their gaze, confident now they were free and able to shift again. Next time, their glare said, I won't be such easy prey. Then with a sharp bark that almost rose into a howl, they raced through the gate, vanishing onto the streets beyond without a backward glance.

Nicholas Acker Villin