In the dawn of a new day, the air was gray and cold. Moisture floated as mist, blocking the sun from touching the earth. The fog drifted through the deep valleys of the mountains and within those meandered a creature. Her body did not affect the haze of dew, instead it seemed to ignore her, as if she didn't really exist. Claw marks in the dirt said otherwise. She moved much like a giant ferret with her long coils of her lithe body, surveying the land that had once been devastated years before. Windi sniffed at the air delicately. All was clear and calm in this part of Kazaa. No humans tended to bother her here, so far into the wild, and no animal dared to attack her of all beasts... if there were other animals that she had to look out for, it were them. They hunted her, despite the fact that it was obvious to all who studied the wildlife that she was dangerous.

But a Himmel was just too much of a temptation to the humans, especially one of her colors, even if they had already begun to dim with previous stress and not due to her age. Gracefully, Windi lowered her head to drink, then looked up to the crystal water falling from a cliff above her. The water was crisp, and the urge to feel it without her fur was too great. Carefully, Windi concentrated to make sure she was indeed alone. she could feel a small amount of curiosity and wariness around her, but most creatures were always aware of her, so she paid this no heed. Instead, the Himmel again, closed her eyes, and her form shimmered. It only took a few seconds for her to shrink, and lose much of her color. Suddenly the predator became the very essence of what she most despised in the world. Or rather, mostly. She was humanoid up to the point of her ears, which remained much like the true Himmel she was. Slipping into the waist deep water, Windi began to bathe.

A light scratch against stone and a whisper of cloths was all the sound he made as he stirred from his rest. A new smell hit his nose, sending him into alertness. Slowly getting up, not knowing where this being was, he scanned his small cave. Nothing in the corners, or on the ceiling. Not in the furs either... Silver eyes glowed brighter for a moment before trailing to the opening where the waterfall hid all outside. Something out there..? Cain crouched and slowly made his way towards the mouth of the cave, taking care on the slick rocks that made entry difficult for so many before.

The woman in the water bathed, splashing water against her ivory skin and flipping her hair back. She could not feel anything near her that was a threat and she felt safe. Windi turned her back to the waterfall and stared up at the sky, watching the birds flutter through the mist of the fog.

The smell slammed into him again, making a growl emit from deep in his chest. It was driving him insane! Never had he smelled something like this, and Cain had been a traveler for quite some time. It was earthy, like many of the animals of the forests, with moss and pine smells. But there was also a somewhat human smell along with it, making him slightly hungry. He moved a little quicker along the rocks, his claws making the slick surfaces easily traversed and his tail held up for balance. Slipping to the side of the waterfall, he peered around to see this new being and stared at the nude figure in shock. So few came out this far, but a human? And to take a bath?

Almost on queue she turned slightly, one arm up covering herself and her cherry lips parted. Her long blue ears were lowered, the silver fin on the end resting on her bare shoulder blade as she gazed with one green eye at the figure in the shadows. Windi was shocked. How had it kept itself hidden from her senses? It wasn't human. She appeared more human than it, yet, she did not take her real form immediately. While they stared at each other her lip raised in a very animalistic growl and the markings along her nose flashed beryl.

He stood, his grey skin moist from the waterfall's spray, but staying in the shadows of the rocks behind him. His eyes blazed silver, curiosity and weariness showing through. A light snarl came from him, saying he wasn't going to back down so easily. Her reaction had been quite amusing to Cain, though the growl rather surprising. And those ears.. definitely not human at all.

Her ears raised then, much like a rabbit but it was more of a show of dominance. Windi didn't feel much of a threat from both his emotions and his appearance and thought perhaps she could make this a game, to see how far his curiosity could be stretched. Casually, the himmel in human form splashed more water through her hair, putting her back to him fully before beginning to make her way to the shore. Her hips swayed gently as she walked barefoot and made it to a tree. Placing her hand on it, Windi turned again to the waterfall where the creature still stood, glancing at him and then disappearing into the mist.

He watched her quietly, wondering what she was up to, what her game was. When she turned away, he growled, his predatory instincts surfacing a bit as he watched her back. The growling stopped as she walked away swaying from side to side. Tilting his head to the side, Cain took a step forward, then looked wearily to the sky, to the sun. Shaking his head, he moved along the side of the rock wall, moving into the shade of the trees with a sigh of relief. Cain pondered to himself for a moment, then moved around towards the female quietly.

Her feet had left behind clear prints in the moist floor of the forest. They wandered for a little while before clearly stopping and that's when things became even more strange. The trail continued, but it no longer bore the feet of a human. Deep tracks from an animal much larger than any simple animal started, the tracks farther apart.

He found following the clear prints boring, hoping that this game would be more of a challenge. When the footprints changed he paused, sniffing the air and then studying the new prints. The scent was still the same... she changed shape then? He had no love for shape-shifters, finding them sneaky liars, but this one seemed different. She seemed to not be trying to hide anything or trick him. Jumping up high, he grabbed a branch and started following the trail from above, getting a better view of everything in the path.

Now that she had a good reading on him Windi was keeping track of him easily. While he followed her she hunted leisurely, taking down a doe silently and letting the blood mist into the air. Her long body curled around a thick tree, the dead deer under her front claws as she licked at the fur of her elbow patiently. She was long, perhaps twenty eight feet or so and her neck arched from her position on the ground into the air taller than most other humanoids. Windi's jackal like face was framed by the familiar blue ears, though, now they were much larger than before and perked in the direction that her new found visitor was approaching from.

The smell of deer blood reached him quickly, covering up nearly all of her scent as he approached. Finally reaching the sight of the kill, he sat up on the tree, looking down at the sight of the himmel. The mist was thin here, making her quite easy to inspect from his perch. Cain found this creature rather rare, the colors of her fur so bright compared to the dull, dark colors of other animals. His eyes dulled a little as they narrowed. What game does this creature play with me?

She continued licking for a moment before opening her eyes and looking straight up at him. Everything in her posture was neutral. Windi beckoned to him with a claw, "Come and enjoy this flesh with me, stranger." Her manner of speaking was odd and quiet, and her mouth moved differently than the lips of a human. "I welcome you to my forest, such a thing I do not grant to humans. But you are not human."

He hesitated, not used to being welcomed since coming the the human world. But after a moment of thought he jumped down, gracefully landing with hardly a sound. "I accept your offer of food and thank you for a welcome most missed," he spoke softly. Cain walked up and sat cross-legged, grabbing a leg from the deer and eating it without wasting any. It was good, as most healthy deer tend to be, nice and juicy. It did not take him long to finish the portion, once done he sat there quietly studying her.

Windi had watched him eat, her tail the only thing that moved while she did so. When he had finished his meal Windi latched onto the neck and bled the corpse quickly. "Tell me... What brings you to these woods?" The creature asked casually, her empathy completely focused on him so she would be able to tell if he was lying or not. She wanted to find out why he had been so hard to feel when he so easily surprised her this morning.

He watched her bleed the creature, his eyes glowing brightly then dimming back to normal. "I come and go, traveling wherever is most welcome to my kind. The humans were not so... accepting of me so I came to this forest to see if it would accept me. So far it has not been bad, though rather lonely." He looked up at the canopy above, looking at the rays of sunlight coming through. "That would be another reason for being here. Not much light gets to the forest floor."

"Have you seen my kind before?" Windi prompted. "You are... curious of me." Having never seen another himmel before, Windi feared she was the last of her kind. She did not know if her race was extinct or not, but the humans on occasion intruded here and sought to hunt her. Their bodies littered the forest like the leaves that fell and covered them.

He frowned. "I have not seen your kind before, but that may be from me only being here for a short time. I have not ventured far from my homeland yet." He could smell the fear and sadness appear in her scent and felt sorry for her. To not know if any of your kind were alive... he was not sure how this would affect him, not having a high opinion about the rest of his kind.

Windi sighed, a very human like action. "I am a himmel. That... form you saw earlier I know is not true to my race. It came to be from a story that I might tell another time." She shook her large head. "You will find that this human filled continent is not welcome to those not similar to them. They kill what they don't understand and hunt the re-" The himmel's hackles raised violently as her body stiffened. Her mouth closed silently as she glared over his shoulder. "By the gods I am foolish." She muttered to herself. "The humans... they are here."

He snarled and clenched his fists, claws drawing blood from his palms. Standing, he turned around to see a human come out of the trees with a weapon drawn, and lashed out. Blood flew from his hand in lines, changing into small red spears as they punched into the human, killing him on the spot. Cain stood there, blood dripping from his hand, waiting for another to be foolish enough to approach.

This particular hunting group had seen the himmel before, but not this strange humanoid that she was with. They pelted her with arrows from afar, knowing she used the very air to shield herself. While she was busy concentrating a man burst from a bush, a huge spear in his hand that he rammed up under her foreleg. Windi screamed in pain and smacked him across the face with a claw, dislodging the man's head from his body. The barbed head of the spear remained in her and broke from the handle. Blood slipped down her side, but she refused to abandon Cain.

He didn't react fast enough as the man came in from the bush and injured her, but he was quick to make the blood around her would solidify so she didn't bleed much. Angry at the fact someone got around him, he lept up into the trees and quickly moved for the rest of the humans, almost too quick for them to see. Using his claws to open a larger wound on his arm, he rained blood spears down on them, impaling most of them to the ground. One got a lucky shot off and the arrow pierced him in the arm. Cain made sure that one died with a quick flick of the arm.

One man struggled against the strange magic that mortally wounded him. He back-peddled uselessly as Windi approached him, a snarl on her lips as she opened her maw and engulfed his squealing head in her jaws and ripped it from him. The blood soaked the fur of her face and she collapsed sideways, keening quietly. Panting, the himmel could tell the barb had pierced one of her lungs. The only way to remove the thing safely... "I was so foolish." She said again, meaning her leaving behind footprints. The himmel didn't even know this strange being's name, yet she would trust him with this other form. Melting, her size diminished greatly as she became human. The spear head clattered to the ground, leaving behind a long gash along her ribs instead of the mortal wound she had received as her true self. Naked, Windi lost consciousness.

The human's neck snapped easily in his hands as Cain finished off the last of the annoying men. Grumpy, he kicked a weapon to the side as he walked back to where the Himmel was. He almost panicked when he saw her unconscious in her humanish form. He quickly checked her wound, making sure it would heal up right, and picked her up with ease. She sure doesn't weigh much... changing forms must change everything for her.. He took off, sprinting back to his waterfall cave and to the pile of furs that served as a temporary bed. Laying her nude form down, Cain grabbed a good thick bear pelt and laid it over her, making sure she stayed warm. He didn't know how well she could handle the elements, so he dared not risk her getting a chill in the damp cave.

Light from the cave entrance reflected off her pupils as she became aware. Although she had not lost too much blood due to this strange being's magic, Windi felt weak and pain seared up her side. It took her a moment to realize where they were, "It's a good thing I had only blooded that deer." Windi muttered, coughing quietly. Her voice was a little different and without the slight undertone of a large beast. Instead, it was soft and sopranic. She was small for a humanoid, probably a foot or more shorter than Cain and rather thin. Young too. Due to himmels maturing earlier than humans, in reality she was only seven years old, yet appeared at least nineteen.

It would take a moment for any human to see where he was, as Cain was leaning against a corner of the cave, blending in well. At first, there was no movement, but a good eye could see the slight raise and fall of his chest as he breathed lightly in his sleep. Every so often his tail twitched a little or his face changed slightly from his dreams. He dreamed of when he first came to this world, this beautiful land so different from his homeland.

Luckily for Windi, she was not human. Her eyes could see decently in the dark and spotted him, remembering what happened she tried to sit up, the fur dropping to her waist. She did not attempt to cover herself, as an animal, she had no real understanding of modesty.

He stirred in his sleep, coming to slowly from his deep slumber. Cain stood straight and stretched, muscles flexing and joints popping from sleeping standing. He looked over at Windi and smiled, moving over to her. "You should take it easy, that wound was deep." He pushed her back a little so he could make sure the wound was healing, a little embarrassed but more concerned with her health.

Windi leaned and tilted back so he could see it more and settled her torso weight on her arms. The wound was scabbed over, though a small trickle of blood had made it to her hip. Although it was just a scrape in this form, Windi could almost feel a hole in her lung, as was in her real form. She would not be able to change back for a while, in fear of dieing. Windi coughed for a moment before letting her body slip back against the rest of the furs.

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