[ OPEN ] The wild sleeping within is driving us

[onewiththewild]

WHO: Toboe + YOU
WHERE: Heropa + De Chima
WHEN: Until the end of the month
WHAT: Cats and crows, Rain, and Flowers
NOTES: Toboe will be looking human all through this log, but since he has openly admitted to the whole network he is a wolf, feel free to have your character know and expect this if you want to! Per usual, animals and supernatural beings, as well people used to the supernatural, are more than welcome to see the illusion flicker from time to time.


( HEROPA | Random Streets )

[ Most animals can see through Toboe’s human illusion. It’s actually quite easy because animals don’t expect anything in particular nor refuse to accept what their eyes see. If I can see and smell it, then it’s real and thus Toboe’s human illusion is pretty easy to see through. That means pets can see Toboe. Dogs are usually pretty nice; they know Toboe is but a pup and though it’s a wolf and a predator, he hardly gives a menacing vibe. But cats, however, see him as an easy target. Crows? Crows are downright rude.

As he searches for food in trashcans (someone needs to teach Toboe how money works and that he actually has money, because he doesn’t even know he has a paycheck), the place where strays and wild animals gather for an easy meal, the crows caw and the cats approach. Startled, Toboe quickly turns his head, some half-eaten burger in his mouth, and apparently the cats and the crows aren’t willing to give up on it. ]

Go away, this is mine!

[ anyone passing by would think the kid is crazy; not only he is going through the trash looking for food and eating it, but he seems to be talking to animals and he even barks at them!

A growl follows the bark but suddenly a cat rushes towards Toboe and he just… slips and falls back. The hamburger is still in his mouth, but the moment Toboe is distracted, a crow jumps on Toboe’s face and tries to steal the hamburger away. Obviously the pup gives up on his meal and pretty much just runs the hell away from there, tail between his legs (quite literally, but since he is using his human illusion, it’s not like people can tell).

There he goes another day without lunch. ]

( HEROPA | Greenhouse )

[ It’s by pure chance Toboe passes by the greenhouse. Of course he asks if he can go inside first, but with his tattoo, the man guarding it was the friendliest to him and allowed the pup to enter. Of course Toboe doesn’t touch anything, but he smells everything he can. Here and there, he takes in the new smells, memorizes them, and is quite happy to learn there is such interesting aroma in Heropa.

But the flowers were probably his favorite part. Though the pollen was a bit too much at times, the wolf smelled all of the flowers, too, but not with the only intent to memorize the smell, no. he is actually looking for something. A specific smell, a specific white flower.

Anyone passing by will realize the kid wants to find something in particular, because he doesn’t pay special attention to any flower as he keeps sniffing them. ]

( DE CHIMA | Streets )

[ It’s the first time Toboe uses the porter to go to another city. He doesn’t quite understand how it all works, but that doesn’t seem to matter much to him. He is going with his mind set on one thing only: to see the rain.

Toboe’s world is (was) a dying world. A world that had already reached its limit and was ready to be encased in ice, to later be reborn as “Paradise”. Toboe doesn’t know this, no one actually does, but the spirits that passed on. The first sign that the world was dying, after the wolves disappeared, was that it stopped raining. There is water, there is a lot of snow, and there is a lot of sun, burning deserts and cold snowy mountains. But no rain.

There is no rain in Toboe’s world.

Having been born two years ago, “rain” was just a myth to Toboe. Rain came from tears and rain came from songs. Never from the sky. But in this new world he was told that the skies cry and it’s called rain, and it fills the world with a wet smell. He wants to see it, and so he asked where he could see the rain. “De Chima” was an answer, though when he arrives there is none: it’s not raining. He looks for it and he even asks someone where he can find it. They probably think Toboe is really weird because some just shake their heads and keep moving.

The pup doesn’t stop looking, though, and while he is running through the streets finally water falls on his face. At first Toboe thinks someone is throwing him water, but he looks around and there is no one else, and when he looks up he at last sees it: the sky crying.

Rain.

The “boy” stays still, eyes open wide, watching the water fall, wetting his face and fur. He rises his hands just enough to feel the rain on them and maybe there is something inside of him which tells him “this is part of Paradise”, maybe he is just overwhelmed, but his chest squeezes and tears fall to mix with the water hitting his face.

And he stays like that in the middle of the street, crying under the rain, smiling and feeling it as if it was one of the most amazing things he has ever felt in his life. ]

Comments

( heropa )

[gevurah]

[ Kate overhears the scuffle and when Toboe darts out, for a second she glimpses the illusory form of the young, human boy he takes — then she blinks and she sees the wolf hurrying away from the alleyway for whatever reason. It's only when she takes a quick peek into the alleyway she sees the unappetizing, half-eaten burger the crow is trying to make off with while a stray cat lurks nearby, waiting for an opportune moment to snatch the meat.

She turns away from the alleyway, scanning the streets for any sign of Toboe. She may not be in her uniform this time, but there's no masking her scent or the sound of her voice to animal senses. ]

... Toboe?

[onewiththewild]

[ First, he is too distracted to notice. He stops few streets down the opposite way he came, a safe place without the crows and the cats. He has no scratches but he is a bit dirty (thankfully a smelly dog wolf that just went through the trashcan isn't as noticeable as a smelly human, thanks to the fur) and that shows on his human illusion too.

After he stops running and takes few deep breathes, he recognizes a familiar scent, and then a familiar voice. He looks around, spotting Batwoman (he never got her real name, and it doesn't really sound weird to him that she is called Batwoman) without her uniform. He makes no remarks on it, and instead smiles wide, like a puppy who just saw a friendly face. ]

Batwoman! [ he approaches happily ] Hello!

[gevurah]

[ Luckily there isn't anyone within earshot, so her secret remains safe for now. Kate wastes no time closing the distance between herself and Toboe, moving with urgency and raising a hand in what she hopes is a familiar enough gesture that signals him to both heel and stay silent at once. ]

Kate. [ She says after a quick, wary glance around the street. ] My name is Kate.

[ She should have seen this coming, in all honesty. She had never given him her real name over the network. ]

[onewiththewild]

[ Toboe goes quiet when he sees the gesture, blinking, before he tilts his head a bit confused ] Kate. [ he repeats.

She has two names, maybe? Or is it the hero thing? Toboe doesn't really get it, but he also doesn't question ]

[gevurah]

Like this [ she gestures to her current appearance ] I'm Kate.

The other name is for work.

[ Which isn't a lie, really.

It's easy to gauge from his reaction he doesn't understand why the need for multiple names. He's not from a world like hers or this one, of course. She takes a step back as to not crowd him any further, her eyes quickly wandering the streets once again before she continues: ]

Long story, so stick with Kate.

[onewiththewild]

[ toboe nods softly, agreeing to do it. He has no reason not to, after all, and if that's what she wants, that's how Toboe will call her]

Alright. Kate, then. [ not Batwoman, unless she is wearing the weird suit ]

[gevurah]

[ Moving that out of the way, she moves onto what she's been meaning to ask since she first saw him scurry out of the alleyway: ]

Are you okay?

[ She notes the dirt and the closer she is to him, the stronger the scent of food and drink that have been rotting together in a garbage can is. ]

[onewiththewild]

[ one day, Toboe will need a bath. But good luck trying to convince a wolf of it, Toboe certainly would hate bathtubs.

At the question he nods and tries to put up a thought facade; it's pretty embarrassing that crows and cats attacked him and he couldn't even protect his lunch. Toboe doesn't really want to admit he sucks at being an actual wolf. ]

Ah- I'm alright! Just a bit dirty. [ awkward laugher ]

[gevurah]

[ She can't help but flare her nostrils at the scent; she's a little more sensitive than the average person to these kinds of smells, being trained to examine crime scenes and determine with her human senses what may be unusual. ]

I've noticed. [ She crosses her arms, hands touching either one of her elbows. ] What were you doing?

[onewiththewild]

[ don't be like thaaaaaaat! He is a puppy, of course he smells! Though Toboe doesn't even seem to care that much; the smell is strong now because it's recent, but it'll fade away and the smell of fur and wolf will take over soon enough ]

Uhm... hunting? Sort of. [ scavenging. ]

[gevurah]

[ Doing as wild animals are wont to do. He may have been domesticated, but there are instincts he probably can't shake after all this time.

Kate glances back down at the alleyway, where the crow and cat now bicker over the burger that lays in the middle of them. She tears her eyes away to look back over at Toboe, checking him over for any sign of bruising before she unfolds her arms and digs into her purse. She pulls out a small package of Kleenex. ]

Here. [ They're not wet wipes, but he can try to wipe himself off with it as best as he can. ] Why scavenge for food when you have your illusion?

[onewiththewild]

[ The pup prefers not to look back at his lost lunch, and instead he pays attention to Kate, taking the "present" happily until he realizes what it is - at first, Toboe sniffs, and takes one in his mouth to chew.

You did give him a paper thing, that's like a toy, to him. ]

I have to eat. [ it's sort of obvious, he figures. ] Humans throw away a lot of good food, so I just have to look for it inside the trashcans. But other animals want it, too.

[ and he can't fight them off ]

[gevurah]

[ Realizing her mistake, Kate reaches forward to gently pry the tissue paper away from his mouth, taking it back in her hands to pull out one that hasn't been torn. ]

No, not food.

[ She mentions sheepishly and motions as to what it's really for. ]

Food that's been thrown out isn't safe to eat. [ Of course, this means nothing to an animal that scavenges what it can, but if he's got a human "form", he can be eating something fresher and tastier. ] You don't have food back in the house you're living in?

[onewiththewild]

[ oh, he knows it's not food. And he also knows what humans use paper-tissues for, but to hi, that's basically a toy. Toboe tries to pull back for a second when Kate pries the tissue away from his mouth, but he lets go beforeit rips (too much).

Though he tilts his head after ] It tastes very good. And I have always done that. [ and he has eaten worse, too ] I don't live in a house. [ he doesn't have an owner, after all ]

[gevurah]

[ She frowns, wondering if he's misunderstood her question or he actually isn't living in one of the government housings anymore.

If he lets her, she reaches over again with a clean, non-torn piece of tissue paper to wipe at the dirt on his face to show him what he should be doing. He might have no qualms about it as a wolf, but right now, to everyone passing by them? They're wondering if he took a dive into the garbage bins behind the stores. ]

Where are you living?

[onewiththewild]

[ rather, he never lived in one to begin with. They told him he had residency in a room, but he realized it was a House and it had people, so he didn't stay.

Toboe will let her do it, though he will giggle a bit, wrinkling his nose. From time to time, she might even feel fur instead of touching skin, but overall his illusion (that does reach a physical level) remains ]

I don't have a fixed place. But I usually sleep at the park or near the bakery. They give me sausages every morning.

[gevurah]

[ It's an odd sensation, feeling fur that isn't there visually, and awkward to be doing this in the first place. They're relatively strangers, after all.

Eventually, she pulls away a little too quickly. ]

Do you want sausages now?

[onewiththewild]

[ and the puppy will only smile, not really minding it. or anything. He is very friendly, and humans giving him attention? That's great.

At the mention of food, though, he perks up even more ]

I can have some?

[gevurah]

[ At this point nothing he says, does, or how he reacts should surprise Kate.

She adjusts her grip on the purse hanging around her shoulder, looking for her phone for a moment to quickly peer at the time and ensure she has enough of it to spare. Once it looks like she does, she nods and gestures for Toboe to lead the way. ]

If you're hungry. [ She imagines Schnitzel is going to smell another canine on her later on and possibly sausages. Do dogs get jealous? She hopes not. ] Where is this bakery?

[onewiththewild]

[ Toboe points at the direction they should follow ] Down the street. This time of the day they don't give me any, though, they only give it to humans who ask for them.

[ since they are freshly made, and meant to be sold. Toboe only gets the pieces that weren't sold the day before, because the people working at the bakery are really nice and like imPorts, even if they are wolves.

Because he doesn't realize they are being sold and that he needs money, the way he sees it is that humans get the things they want by just asking, and dogs (wolves) have to wait for their turn and a specific time of the day. Toboe doesn't mind it, it's much better than go through the trash.

But if Kate is with him, she can just ask for some sausages. She is human, after all.

Still, he walks towards the place to show her the bakery. The smell is enough to bring a hungry smile to his face as he approaches the building, looking inside. Like he was taught, Toboe isn't allowed to enter, so he will stay by the door, watching Kate ]

[gevurah]

[ She nods and starts down the path Toboe pointed, keeping an eye out for any sign of this bakery. She doesn't pop often into them these days, getting most of food from grocery stores or eating takeout from the variety of local restaurants in Heropa. She may be eating too much seafood lately. Anyway, if she doesn't somehow see it, she'll certainly smell it.

Once they arrive and she's halfway to the door, she stills to look over her shoulder at Toboe, arching an eyebrow. ]

Coming?

[ She figures if his illusion works on the locals, he should have no trouble entering the bakery. ]