Welcome to Gaia! ::

Yukio yawned as the sun arose high above him. Having spent the day once more patroling the border for his father-in-law, he'd come back when the moon was just setting on the horizon. He figured he'd get a few hours sleep before the cubs awoke and started climbing all over him...or even before Settia did the same. Being a teen hadn't stopped her yet, after all. However, something seemed too quiet....weird. Looking up, he looked at the sun and tried to gage the time, but the thick forest canopy was making it difficult. "Weird...I don't remember there being trees here...Maybe I fell asleep on the way back?" Looking around, he didn't recognize a single thing and it made him nervous. Where was he?? Getting up, he nearly fell over when he noticed he was so much higher off the ground now, and it made him dizzy for a moment. "Okay...I can do this...just gotta get moving and I'll be okay...First...the right foot." Looking at the ground he stepped forward and major warning lights when off when he discovered...a hoof?? Where'd his paws go? Holy crap! What the hell happened?? "I gotta find a river...ooh, I hear one!" Not far in fact, he could both hear the river's gentle babbling and the smell of water was strong in the air. Walking over carefully (walking on hooves was hard!) he made his way over that way only to discover....he was a horse????

Daveigh cringed as the sun hit her directly in the eyes. Slowly opening her eyes she noted the position of the sun. Wow she’d slept late this morning. Usually by now the cubs of the den would have woke her up wanting to play or she’d have done woke herself up. Her mother must have taken the cubs and kept them from waking her but it was odd that the sun had been the one to wake her. She’d fallen asleep in the den last night. She remembered distinctly going to sleep with her back to her little brother but she wasn’t in the den anymore. In fact she was in what had to be a forest. She was surrounded on all sides by large trees with the sun shining right down onto her face between the holes in the foliage. She didn’t recognize any of the land around her. Could she have been sleep walking and walked all the way here? She’d never sleep walked before course she’d been under some stress lately maybe that was why. Well she needed to find her way home before the others started missing her and sent a search party. Slowly Daveigh staggered to her feet, she felt so much heavier and she seemed bigger. She was taller and her paws were woobly, her paws were… hooves?! She had hooves! At the sight of her spotted hooves she screamed but what came out was nothing like her lioness voice it high-pitched and it sounded more like a whiney. She was whineying?! “Oh Crap!” She shouted and started to move quickly on her hooves only to fall over on her side hitting the ground hard.

Yukio was mesmerized by the sight of himself in the stream. After getting over the initial shock, panic and denial that what was happing could be happening, he decided that the next step was finding someone that could tell him what was going on...but that was after he managed to get a good look at himself. That was first priority. He was shocked to notice that he was so dark in color over most of his body, instead of his usual brightness, but the pink stockings and blaze comforted him that he was still himself. In fact..he rather liked the streaks, that made up his mane, that were once his flake and tailfeather colors...had to admit he looked smashing. Sadly, that made him think of Daveigh, who'd loved his brightness and wondered what she'd think of him now. He had to find her, and perhaps together they could figure out what had happened. However, he was distracted when he heard a scream nearby followed by a rather loud thump. Without thinking letting instinct take control, he started to bolt in the other direction with a shrill whinny and he was nearly a quarter mile of away before he realized he'd missed the opportunity to talk to someone. Stopping (and losing his balance and falling over onto his face...this was going to take some serious getting used to) he started back and called out, when he was near the stream once more, "Hello? Anyone there?"

Daveigh rolled herself right side up and sighed. “Oh hell…” She said as she slowly turned her head back and looked herself over. Her tail and tailfeathers had been replace by a tail of hair that was colored the same as her tailfeathers had been. On her rump was the same heart that had been there before. It was like a trade mark of hers, it let her know that she was still indeed her and that was comforting. Looking at the rest of herself she realized that she had a mane full of braids with feathers in the end. It was fairly girly but she liked it a lot. It was… her. It fit well. While she couldn’t see her face right then she pretty much knew what was there. Spots. Finished examining herself she nodded. While she didn’t like that she was some form of equine she still looked good. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice from near by. Her ears perked as she turned her gaze towards the voice. Could it possibly be one of the pride?! Oh no. Would they try to attack and eat her? She could talk them out of it. They needed to know she was alright after all. “Here. Over here!” She called back to the voice.

Well, the voice was definatly feminine and didn't sound meanicing, so that gave Yukio hope that what ever had happened, she hadn't caused it. though if it was one of the pride, he could be in serious trouble rather quickly if they didn't realize who he was quickly. Carefully crossing the river, and slipping a couple times in the process before he learned how to place his hooves just right, a rather soaked horse finally climbed the far bank and shook himself off, though his mane and tail still dripped with moisture. Coming to the place where he heard the voice, he carefully made his way through the trees to find a spotted horse that looked....REALLY familiar. No, it couldn't be. It HAD to be coincidence that the mare before him looked so much like his mate what with the heart on her rump, the spots and even the mark around her eye... "Are you okay? I heard...a scream....scared the living daylights out of me."

It seemed to take whoever had called out forever to reach her but there was no way she was getting up just yet. She didn’t feel like falling again. It had hurt more than she liked. However when a stallion appeared through the trees she was relieved but a bit saddened that it had not been one of her pride members. Unlike the stallion though she did not recognize him at all as he did her, she thought him as just a stallion who lived here not as the Yukio she knew well and loved. She looked him over a bit lingering especially on his mane and stockings though more on the mane. She liked the streaks a lot they intrigued her extremely. “Um yeah. I’m alright. I just woke up extremely shocked. I don’t know where I am… actually.”

Yukio chuckled a little to find they were the same predicament it seemed, though he still wasn't sure he wanted to believe it was really his mate. The coincidence was really starting to make him uneasy, especially after what she'd just said. "I was hoping you could tell me where I was, but looks like we're both in trouble in that regard...You aren't hurt at all, are you?" He stepped forward, still a bit unsteady on his feet as he concentrated on keeping his balance on such smaller feet than he'd gone to sleep with. "Man, I miss my paws..." he muttered as he got closer and leaned down to inspect her. "You need help up?"

Daveigh chuckled too at the stallions words. So they were in the same boat. That was ironic. However she still thought nothing of it at all. “No I’m alright. Though I am a bit sore from my fall but it’s going away.” She said as she glanced at her hooves and the stallion muttered, just barely loud enough for her to catch, just what she had been thinking. Looking up she locked eyes with the stallion and she knew. She knew those eyes anywhere there was no mistaking them for anyone else’s. “Yukio?”

Having totally convinced himself this had to be mere coincidence, Yukio was shocked actually fell over on his butt when he heard her say his name, and losing the rest of his balance fell all the way over onto his side closest to her in a very ungraceful sprawl. For the first time, he actually looked her in the eyes from where his head lay below hers and knew what she did too. "Davey! I thought it might of been you, after all...there's no else I know that has spots like that, but wasn't sure...What the heck happened to us?"

Daveigh blinked in shock as Yukio fell over and then had to stop herself from laughing. She knew exactly why he fell and knew it wasn’t nice to laugh at him cause he’s not good on his hooves yet. Peering down at him she still almost couldn’t believe it was him. He was so darkly colored. She was not used to it at all. He still had his pink… in places and the streaks in his mane now that she took the time to think on it were colored just like his flakes. They looked really neat. “I don’t know Yukio… I didn’t even recognize you. Do you think there could be others? From the pride. Do you think maybe more of them were turned into… horses? We are horses now right?” Daveigh asked and then she cried out. “I’ve been turned into what I eat!”

Yukio was reminded strongly of a saying he'd once heard, and absolute absurdity struck him as so funny, he started chuckling which progressed rapidly to howls of laughter that sent tears down his cheeks. Hoping Davey wouldn't murder him for laughing, he tried to explain, "I-I once..ha hee..h-heard...hee hee...that w-we...ho ho ha...a-are w-w-what...hee hee...w-we e-eat...." Unable to talk any farther, he rolled onto his back and kicked his feet in the hair as the hiccups took over and made him laugh harder. Finally, when he started to calm down, he started to apologize to her. "I-I'm s-sorry...that w-was just too f-funny for a-a moment....I-I'm really s-sorry s-sweetie..."

Daveigh was not at all in anyway amused by Yukio or the fact that he was laughing at her. Her expression was serious and slowly turning into annoyed. How could he laugh at a time like this?! They were in a strange land and in completely different bodies than what they should have been. “Yukio! This is serious! What if we can’t change back?! What if we’re stuck like this forever?! I don’t want to be the lunch of another cat!” She exclaimed and then sighed and closed her eyes. “What if we never see the rest of our family again?”

That thought quickly sobered him, and he hung his head as the he thought of the cubs...his cubs and step-cubs....Adieu, Vas, Kian and Kama....would he see them again? The thought made him sad beyond measure, and he hung his head in sorrow-filled shame. He couldn't even bear to look at Davey now either without letting the tears that formed in his eyes fall. So...what to do? What comfort could he give? Gathering his courage he nuzzled her cheek softly and said, "We'll find them...every last one of them. We'll either find a way to change back, or find the pride and explain the situation. I'm sure once they realize who you are, they'll give us full protection till we can reverse the spell."

Daveigh frowned as she watched Yukio. She could see tears in his eyes ready to fall and seeing him that way caused tears to form in her own eyes. She already missed her family, especially her sons and daughter, what were they going to do without her? Surely her own mother would take care of them for her. With any hope her dad would have the whole pride out looking for them. They would find them sooner or later right? Daveigh had a really hard time believing Yukio’s words but at least he was trying. That was enough to comfort her for now. Besides if she was going to find anyone she needed to get used to standing up and walking and even running… well running would come later… maybe. Slowly she placed her front hooves firmly on the ground and began to push herself up then she began to move her back legs and place her back hooves firmly on the ground. With all four hooves practically planted into the ground Daveigh stood up to her full height and looked about. “Whoa… This is gonna take some time to get used to.”

Yukio watched her get up, still sober and silent from his chastisement earlier. In fact, he had such a deep depression hit him at the 'loss' of his family (both his kids and his siblings and parents), that he barely had the heart to move anymore. Even his own words sounded unbelievable to his own ears, he could only imagine what Daveigh felt. But...he had to be strong. He had to be strong for her, and for her he would do anything. With a burst of will, he too got to his feet, a little faster than her perhaps, but still the height was disorienting when you weren't prepared for it again. He stumbled a little but still managed to stay up, which he thought was a great accomplishment. "Yeah it is, isn't it...You doing okay?" He watched her with great concern, love and determination to be everything he could for her now that were stuck in this form. Who knew? Maybe everyone had been turned into horses...or else they could be next on the snack menu. They had to find the others, or perhaps learn to run quickly. Lifting up one hoof he peered at it wondering how such creatures learned to run so fast on such small feet....

Daveigh peered at the grass below and was surprised at how far away it seemed. It was like she was sitting in a tall tree but she could still see her feet touching the ground. Such an odd feeling it was. Turning her gaze to Yukio when he spoke she shrugged. “I don’t think ok would be the appropriate term to use but I’m fairing.” She replied to him. “So what do you think about practicing being equine? This is going to be a real change. We can’t even eat meat in these forms.” She said as she opened her mouth showing the pitiful excuse for teeth she had. “I don’t think I’m going to be ripping through flesh with these things anytime soon.”

Yukio hadn't even thought of hunting yet in this form, heck he could barely do more than walk! "What do...equines...eat? Oh wait...grass." He looked to his feet, studying the blades below. Great. He was a grass eater. He was going to miss the pleasure of hunting so much....then again, this experience might turn him vegetarian forever. Leaning over, he pulled at a blade to taste and found it actually wasn't too bad. A bit bland, and definatly not very exciting, but...well, he'd live for now. Ok, next order of business: "How do we 'practice' being equine?"

Daveigh watched Yukio reach down and pull up a blade of grass. She cringed as he ate it. She didn’t think she was ready to try that just yet. She’d wait till she was extremely hungry before she did. Perhaps there would be something else besides grass she could eat. Heck she didn’t even know if there would be anything else. Yukio’s voice brought her back from her thoughts as he asked a question. She perked her ears up and thought on it a bit. “Um… well for one we need to actually learn how to walk. There’s no doubt that somewhere around here there are predators. If we don’t learn to get away from them I’m more than sure we’ll be picked off quick.”

"Well...walking I think I have down." Carefully, Yukio walked a circle around her, and only stumbled once. "Then again, I've had a bit more practice at that than you, I think...let's try a little faster. Increasing his speed, he had trouble coordinating hooves and figuring out which one moved when since the style and coordination was completely different from lions...instead of one side at a time, equines coordinated the opposite feet and poor Yuki just couldn't quite get it. Soon, he found himself on the ground, having done a very ungraceful faceplant into it. "Oh yes , now this is what I call fun." Looking up at Davey he gave her a goofy grin. "Yep. Definatly fun.”