Sooraya and Rahne

[xp-wolfsbane.livejournal.com]

Sooraya's out for a ride when she spots Rahne's wolf form heading for the woods. She waits out the transformation but then discovers there's an issue.


"Easy Hana, easy..." Sooraya gripped the saddle in front of her as Hana suddenly roared back. "Easy girl, what is wrong?" She leaned forward as soon as the horse was back on four legs and swung her leg over her back. "Did something startle you?"

Putting a hand above her eye, Sooraya scanned the area, but she could not immediately spot something. "I don't see anything..." Suddenly she saw a red-brown shape moving towards the trees and she frowned for a second. "It's only Rahne." She told the horse, as she started guiding her a place where she could leave Hana be for a while she went after her.

Ten minutes later she was heading towards the forest, gently calling out: "Rahne? Rahne, are you here somewhere?"  

There was no answer for a few moments but then the bushes to the side started rustling. The branches and leaves parted slowly as a large shape moved within them and eventually and with some effort, Rahne stepped through. But this was no teenage slip of a girl that slowly stepped into the clearing but a large, solidly built wolf. The forest around them had gone completely still, birds and whatever wild life had spooked and panicked at the sight of a predator.

To anyone else, perhaps Rahne would look terrifying. Her second form was larger than that of a normal wolf and while red wolves were common enough, there was something a little off about the red of her pelt. Too vibrant perhaps. But to anyone that had seen her, they would know that the careful tread wasn't that of a wolf hunting prey but of a terrified and exhausted girl trying not to trip over her own two feet.

She sat heavily down on her back haunches and whined slight at Sooraya.

Dropping to her knees, Sooraya held out her hand without any fear, leaving it Rahne if she wanted to make further contact or not. "What are you doing out in the forest today? Did something startle you?" She knew it was still hard for the girl to control her transformations and startling was a pretty sure fire recipe for it happening.

Rahne shook her head and felt disoriented for a moment. She was slowly growing used to being in her wolf form but too often she felt awkward. Like her limbs and body were too heavy for her. Nothing had startled her this time - which would have been better, she thought glumly. staring at the dirt between her paws. This was one of those stupid times where she was doing something one moment and then, suddenly! Limbs and four legs, thank you very much.

She snorted, upset.

"Hey, it happens." Her hand settled on the fur of Rahne's back and rested there comfortably. "It takes a while to gain control and there is nothing bad about that." Sooraya shifted so she was sitting in the grass. "Did you know it took me some time as well? If something of someone startled me, I turned into a pile of sand. Which... well, basically it just sat on the ground. And sometimes it could be a little while before I managed to turn back. But I learned not to do it after some time and hard work. And you can do the same, lass."

That felt impossible. It felt like she had no control and that her powers just decided for her. Someone dropped a glass? Wolf! Tried to think too hard about what bible verse to read? Wolf! Remembering how you threw up on the flight here, causing Miles to also get sick? Wolf!

It was like her thoughts and her body were completely against her.

But - Sooraya did what Rahne did. Though Rahne secretly thought Sooraya's was way better - turning into sand didn't scare anyone or cause you to run through all your shirts! But if she was saying it was going to get better, maybe it was?

Rahne huffed and shook her head, ears flapping from the movement. Well, she hoped so. It had to get better.

"You don't believe me?" Sooraya shook her head with a small smile. "I have known several more people with powers like us. And everyone learned to control their powers eventually. You will do so too."  

**

It was about half an hour of sitting quietly with Sooraya in the forest, broken by moments of listening to the other woman talk, before Rahne suddenly sat up. She jarred Sooraya slight in her haste but didn't get far before she shuddered. She couldn't describe the process to anyone, not even herself. It was just - one moment, she was one thing and then she was suddenly another.

Rahne's regular eyes blinked and squinted in the light as she hunched down. "Sooraya?" she said, voice a little dry. "I'm naked. Again."

Sooraya was already standing up, pulling of her outer head scarf to reveal a small under cap tucked tightly against her head. "I think if we get creative, we can turn this in something of a miniskirt? The scarf is large enough for that. It's not much, but better then being naked." she suggested.

Sniffling, Rahne scrubbed at her eyes as she accepted the scarf but she wasn't really tearing up because of being naked (...okay. Some of the tears might be because of that.) But the headscarf was very important to Sooraya! She had the little cap-py thing but still! Rahne retreated into a nearby bush, glaring at the leaves in an attempt to ward off itchy things and tried to make it work.

"Are ye sure?' she asked, voice muffled by the leaves. "This scarf is very important to ye, right? I'm afraid of ripping it..."

"I have plenty of them." Sooraya reassured her before surveying her clothing a little more. Glancing around here, she notice they were alone and quickly peeled of the thin jacket she had worn for riding, as well as a short sleeved shirt she had worn under it before pulling on the jacket again.

"Here Rahne, this might help as well." She moved over to the bush and held it out.

A hand cautiously came out and, after a moment of flailing about, managed to catch it. It zipped back into the bush and Rahne breathed a sigh of relief. Good. She wasn't going to die of embarrassment which you could totally do if it was terrible enough.

Luckily, since Rahne was still growing, the shirt was a little bit on her, which meant she felt comfortable enough to step cautiously out of her hiding spot. The scarf had proven to be rather more expansive than she'd anticipated and she'd managed to arrange it on her hips so that it covered all the important bits.

"I probably look ridiculous," she said, surprising herself by laughing a little. "But thank ye! I didn't really want to hide in that bush until ye were able to get me some clothes from the mansion!"

"You look fine, lass. I promise" Sooraya looked slightly sheepish as the Scottish term once more slipped out. "Feeling a little better now? And I might have an idea for the clothes problem."

"Does it involve running like mad back to the mansion?" Rahne asked, sounding worried. There was no way she could run quickly in her 'clothes' without something terrible happening.

Sooraya had to laugh as she shook her head. "I was thinking more in case something like this might happen again. How about we go to the city and pick you up some simple short and t-shirts sets and stash those here and there, so you can find a set of clothes?"  

Oh! Rahne thought about that for a moment and it sounded like a really good idea. "Maybe ... put them in bags? So they wouldn't get wet or get bugs in them or be homes for the birds?" she asked. She liked the idea. The change happened at the weirdest, most random time. Sometimes Rahne was close to her room, other times she was nowhere near the suite.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Sooraya nodded encouragingly. "And knowing that those sets are there, might just help your control a little. Because you might just be less worried about changing again if you know there are clothes nearby for when you change back."

Rahne could only really, really hope so. So far, she'd had no luck changing back once she turned into a wolf (Rahne currently had no real desire to turn into the wolf). All she could do was simply ride it out. And it seemed her senses were sharper in wolf form, so wandering around the forest was sometimes easier on her than being in the mansion.

"Maybe!" she said, sighing with hope.

 "Just give it a little time, lass." Sooraya gently put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close for a moment. "How about we head back to the mansion? I need to take of Hana first and you can get changed, but I did make sure to pick up some tea from the specialty store in NY when I was there. I can make us a cup?"

Leaning against Sooraya, she tried to think about the future. About having control and being free from the anxiety of it all. It was a nice idea and maybe she'd get there. "Tea would be really nice," she said, thinking longingly of scones and tea time. It was weird to feel homesick on top of everything else. "Horse first, then sneaking into the mansion, then tea."

"That sounds like a we have a plan."