The young boy of twelve years wondered about the thick forest, completely lost. It has been three years since the water shifters attacked his people and he has been living in the forest ever since, eating the berries and fruit that grew there.

He now wore the traditional water shifter outfit, instead of wearing green like the land shifters he had to wear different shades of blue. He decided to go out and try to be a normal kid his age, to pretend he was a water shifter. The child knew it would be hard but it would be better than being lonely like he always was.

Sighing, he walked out of the forest for the first time in his life. A black wolf followed at his heels looking over it's shoulder once to glimps the forest thenpadded into the small water shifter town. The area was filled with houses of all sizes, a marketplace, and an academy for the children. The town was between the ocean and the forest the boy emerged from. People of all shapes, sizes, and ages walked about, doing their daily routine. 

One thing the boy was glad of was the fact that he didn't have to hide his pet wolf. Three years ago water shifters only had water creatures for pets but that all changed when they attacked. Now they have land and air ceatures as well as water creatures for pets. They would look at the boy and his wolf and not give them a second thought.

OoC://

I'll get my intro up soon. Just have to find the other threads I am in.

"Niko!  Come on!"  Mandi looked over her shoulder, waiting for her pet otter to reluctantly leave the water.  Her light brown hair was still sopping wet from her swim, and her preferred otter ears were sticking out of her head as usual.  She grabbed the white kimono she'd left on hanging on a tree near the water and pulled it on, tying the dark blue bow.  "We need to go buy some food, we're nearly out at home," she murmured, reaching her hand down to the ground so her pet could climb up her arm to rest on her shoulder.

As soon as she entered town, a guard came up to her and asked why she wasn't in the academy where she belonged.  Rolling her eyes, Amanda bitterly replied, "I'm nineteen years old!  Why do I have to remind you people this every day?"  The guard narrowed his eyes, "You won't talk to me like that!  Treat those ranked higher than you with respect!"  Amanda laughed and Niko tensed at his master's shoulder, feeling her rage building.  "I'm very tempted to kick your head in right now, but that wouldn't be very ladylike of me, now would it?" she responded between her teeth and walked away, turning down the first corner she came to.

"Fantastic.  I just got myself into more trouble than I needed to," Amanda muttered, absentmindedly stroking Niko, "No use worrying about it though.  Come on, let's go see what's for sale in the market."  On the way to her favorite vegetable stand, Amanda p*censored*ed one of the biggest eyesores in the town - a man covered in grime with a tin cup at his side, preaching nonsense about land shifters and air shifters still being alive.  Curling her lip, Mandi p*censored*ed the man without a second glance, her disgust making her movements stiff.  Air shifters and land shifters were long extinct, everybody knew that.

Upon reaching the town's small marketplace, Amanda let Niko down on the ground with strict orders to not get into any trouble.  She immediately headed towards the vegetable stand while the otter scampered away.

Niko ran through the streets, not really paying attention to much.  A few people glanced down when he unexpectedly brushed against their leg, but the small blue collar around his neck let them know immediately that he was somebody's pet out for a stroll.  He smelled cooking fish and immediately headed towards the sound, absentmindedly purring.  He found the source of the scent at a small house close to the edge of town.  The cooking fish came from inside the home, but there were some raw fish hanging on a pole right outside the window.  Niko climbed the pole and headed towards the first fish, only to be whacked by a broom just as he was about to take his first bite.

"Shoo!  Shoo!  Didn't your owner ever teach you better than to eat others' food?  Shoo!" An elderly woman was yelling at Niko, emphasizing each 'shoo' with another broom whack.  Hissing, he backed away before breaking off into a run.  Without paying attention to where he was going, Niko ran headfirst into a giant black wolf's leg.

((I don't like being alone, so I pretty much made Niko run straight into Kvior's leg.  I prefer talking to other roleplayers, rather than random NPCs that I use to keep me from just walking around. x3  I can change that if you don't want to run into a water shifter yet, because Amanda's going to come looking for Niko eventually.))

((No, you don't have to change it. Truth is I don't like being alone either.))

The wolf barred his sharp teeth at the otter, a growl errupting from his throat. Claws extended from his paws as he got into fighting position. His master made a soft little cooing noise and the black wolf whimpered once then reluctantly layed on the dirt floor, the growling stopped. 

"Good boy, Kvior." the young boy said to his pet and ruffled the black creature's fur. He could tell Kvior wasn't happy so he bent down and started to stroke his black fur. The wolf licked his masters hand and panted happily. "It's all right, It's all right." he cooed to the wolf.

The boy got back up and walked over to the otter. "Now who do you belong to? Surely you aren't a loner." He sat down on the ground and held out his hand that Kvior licked for the otter to smell.

((*growl* my brain is dead today))

A girl slunk through the shadows of the forest, refusing to ever be apart of the Water colony. Her crimson eyes flashed as slight anger rolled through her system. It had been three years since she had been forced into self-exile when the Water Shifters took over the world. A low growl escaped her throat as she shifted her form into that of a dire wolf. Slightly bigger and a whole lot more rugged, she had two long, cat-like tails that swished out behind her. Under her deep crimson eyes were three marks that looked like claw marks.

Continuing to slink through the shadows, she let herself become absorbed in the mind-sense of the animal she had shifted into. But as she became absorded, her mind began to wander to a time when the Water shifters kept to themselves. Another growl rumbled from her throat.

Those shifters would pay for what they did.

Niko tentatively stretched out his head to sniff the boy's hand, all muscles tense as he prepared to be jumped by the wolf.  After a few moments the otter noted that the wolf seemed to lose all sign of aggression and gently gave the boy's hand a gentle lick.

"That man charged me way to much for just a basket of vegetables.  Oh well, I need to go find that little otter now anyway."  Amanda left the market a bit frustrated about the prices, but nevertheless loaded with food.  She noticed a few adults milling about with their pets - most of them small animals because it was difficult to manage a big one in populated towns.  She kept a sharp eye towards the ground because it wasn't likely Niko was up on high ground.  Finally, after wandering about for twenty minutes, she spotted her otter talking with a young boy.  "That's a huge wolf.  I haven't seen one that big in a while," she noted unsuspiciously before walking over to him.  She pulled out the friendliest demeanor she could - she wasn't a generally friendly person - and spoke, "Hello there!  I hope my otter wasn't causing trouble."

((Bleargh.  Brain dead.)) 

"No. No trouble at all." the young boy replied.

Kvior got up on all four paws and padded over to the girl. He sniffed her legs and then sneazed. The wolf could smell the food she held and started to snap at it. It had been days since the last time the boy and his wolf had food and they were both really hungry, unfortunatally they had no money.

The young boy made the soft cooing noise again and Kvior sat on his haunches, licking his lips. The boy could feel the effects of hunger take over him, he felt faint and all he wanted to do was go back into the forest and look for food. He knew it would be useless though. For days he had been searching for food but he could not find a single berry or fruit. The fact that his stomach was growling softly wasn't helping, it kept reminding the boy how hungry he and his wolf was.

Although he was hungry he never let it show. He kept a strong face and acted like nothing was wrong. The only way you can tell if he is hungry is if his stomach growls, other than that you would never know.

Just like how he never shows he is hungry he also tries to pretend that he has the perfect life of a water shifter. Which is hard when you are a struggling land shifter who has lost everything and everyone he has ever cared about, except for Kvior of course. But he hides it behind a smile so that you would never guess his past.

Amanda arched her eyebrows when the wolf snapped at her food baskets and when the boy's stomach grumbled loud enough for the whole town to hear.  "Don't you two eat any food at your house?  Your wolf is acting half-starved!  If I ever run into your parents, I'll give them a piece of my mind... wait a second.  You look a bit young to not be in school."  Amanda considered reprimanding the boy for not being in school, but then remembered how the guards yelled at her - a nineteen year old woman - for not going to school because she looked fourteen.  "You know what, nevermind," she softened at the similarities between the boy and herself, despite her usual composure.

"If you're hungry, why don't you come to my house?  I don't look it, but I'm old enough to live on my own.  Niko!  Up on my shoulder!"  At his owner's call, Niko scrambled up her kimono by digging his claws into the soft fabric and finally nestled down on her shoulder.  "Alright then, if you're up for it just say the word and I'll lead the way."

The boy watched her warily, acting as if at any moment he would be attacked. Why was he acting this way? At his old town people invited him to their house all of the time. People always wanted to help eachother out at his town why would it be any different in this town? Maybe it was becuase of the questions she was asking, telling him she knew something. Maybe because he didn't even know her name, much less really know her. He didn't know.

He was about to refuse when his stomach growled again, reminding him of how hungry he was. He decided to stay long enough to eat then make some excuse to leave. He couldn't risk telling her anything, even if she seemed nice. Water shifters are evil and that is the end to that.

He took one last longing look at the forest before accepting her offer. He tapped the side of his right leg with his right hand, signaling for Kvior to follow him. The wolf obedientally padded over to the boys side. 

Amanda led the boy to her house in silence, Niko keeping a watchful eye on them from her shoulder.  The otter pripped a bit and she patted him on the head, getting a tiny purr out of him.  Her house was placed rather far away from town, its stone walls and thatched roof standing alone.  She had a small fenced-in garden around the back, but she hadn't taken the time to plant anything yet.  Her house stood next to a small inlet that came out from the ocean.  As she opened the door, she remembered that she hadn't told the boy her name yet, "Oh yes!  My name's Amanda, but please call me Mandi.  May I ask for your name?"

Without waiting for the boy's response, she stepped inside her house and walked down the narrow hallway, taking the first left to enter the kitchen.  Placing her goods on the table, she grabbed some matches from a cupboard and started a small fire.  She then began to rummage about for a pan to place over it so she could cook some fish.