FOREVER YOUNG [ani]

[seb]

may you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung

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Red pandas were not native in this area. Really, he always acted on impulse and spontaneously. Shifting wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience in the world, not if you're tall and you shift into a critter, but Sebastian was long used to the sensation of shifting. It always began with the hair for some reason, and then out popped the fur, and he was shrinking. He had been sleeping the whole morning, and had woken up in the late evening, typical red panda behavior. Thinking of finding a tree and climbing in it to look for some berries, Sebastian proceeded to say a quick good-bye to his Shiba Inu, whom he had christened with the name Pochi before leaving his apartment. For a vivacious, optimistic lad, one would expect the boy to be constantly surrounded by friends, but to be honest, Sebastian was quite solitary and preferred spending the day munching on berries than to hang out with his friends. He blames it on his animal traits though, not wanting to admit it to himself.

Soon arriving at the gardens, Sebastian proceeded to look around before allowing a small smile to curve his lips. It had been a while since he last came here; the last time he did, he had made friends with a young witch, and then she had disappeared and he had never seen her again since. He wondered where she had vanished off to; he barely chatted with her! Sighing softly, he walked into the green, and the sudden impulse to eat made him hurry over to a thick area of plants. He couldn't pluck plants while in his human form isn't it; he would look just plain ridiculous! Which human would go around plucking plants and eating them on the spot? No, that's what animals did and an animal he shall be!

As he shifted underneath a bush at the garden, the panda could already hear the sounds of the waterfall calling towards him. With a high-pitched whistle of excitement, the russet creature half-waddled, half-ran towards the statue of the witch that was the landmark of the waterfall. After a few rounds of pawing at his own reflection with black paws, Sebastian then proceeded to the first berry bush that grew around the gardens. A few rounds of turning soon allowed him to find a comfortable spot in the lush green, and he was soon sitting on his bottom, plucking sweet, red berries from the bush with his paws and stuffing them into his mouth. The sun began to set over the horizon, bathing the gardens in orange light and illuminating his already red fur to be darker than usual. Feeling much more awake, he continued plucking berries off the plant and eating, munching and munching until the plant was plucked empty. Gazing forlornly at the now empty plant, Sebastian got up and padded towards the nearest tree, leaping up into its branches and laying down on it, four paws dangling in the air with no danger of falling. His belly pressed to the wood and furry head nestled on the edge of the branch, the panda was happy with his spot. Knowing full well that he was going to nap here until late afternoon the following day, he yawned and bright blue eyes slowly shut. Soon enough, snores softly followed from the russet creature, asleep and awaiting another day.

[aneira]

"Life is short, but sweet for certain."

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Aneira was going stir crazy sitting at home. She hadn't gone out much the past few days, locking herself away at home to finish her current painting. It had turned out very well, if she did say herself, but Aneira adored going out and enjoying the fresh air. Being holed up hard at work was unusual for her, and she was determined to go spend some time outside. She stretched languidly, rolling her shoulders before hurriedly pulling off her paint stained clothes and tugging on a plain tee and a pair of faded jeans. She stumbled down the stairs of her modest two story house with a silly smile on her face. She opened the front door and stepped outside, barefoot. She loved walking around barefoot, despite the odd looks she often got for it. There was something rather freeing about it, she found, and she saw no reason not to go out without her shoes on. Aneira had never been really bothered about what random people thought about her, and most of her friends just thought it was another one of her quirks and let it go. It was, as her friends had once said, an ‘Aneira thing’.

Giggling to herself, she locked her front door and skipped happily down the path leading to the pavement. Her smile widened as she started humming jauntily. Already, just getting the slightest breath of fresh air was improving her already happy mood. Ah, she loved being so easy going. Of course, it had its downfalls but so did everything. Nothing was ever perfect and if it was, it was probably a dream. Aneira was an optimist, but she wasn’t blind to the fact that nothing could be perfect. And besides, perfection was boring. Better to have flaws and be quirky and individual than perfect and utterly boring. At least, that was Aneira’s opinion. Smiling wider still, she started humming a little louder as she spotted the fountain. She adored the quaint little human story that went along with the fountain, though the reality wasn’t quite as… fairytale-esque. Deciding that she’d go spend some time wandering around the gardens before playing around a little in the fountain, Aneira changed her course slightly.

Entering the gardens with an enthusiastic beam, Aneira glanced around quickly. The only thing she spotted was what she assumed was a fox or ferret of some kind sleeping on a tree branch. She didn’t pay any attention to it, instead skirting around the fountain and starting to weave amongst the numerous bushed and trees. Her silly smile returned as she walked around, inhaling the sweet smell of roses greedily. Her humming trailed off as she relaxed, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere as the sun began to fall behind the horizon. She smiled brilliantly as the sky darkened into blazing reds and burnished oranges. Her inner artist was screeching to paint the picturesque scene of the sunset turning the fountain golden. She rolled her eyes at herself, deciding that she could paint some other time. She had only just finished one painting, after all.

Aneira finished her exploration of the gardens and headed over to the fountain. She dipped two fingers into the water, making a circle in the water and smiling softly as ripples spread out across the previously still water. She sat down gently, placing herself precariously on the edge. She began humming quietly again, looking around the gardens once more. Her eyes were drawn to the fox/ferret again and they narrowed suddenly. Taking a closer look, it became obvious to her that it was certainly not a fox or a ferret. Mentally leafing through her knowledge of animals, she ascertained that she was looking at a red panda. Aneira knew for a fact that they weren’t native around the town and her eyes narrowed further. Standing slowly, she silently walked over to the tree where the panda was dangling from. She observed it closely, tilting her head to view it from different angels. Something was telling her that it wasn’t actually a red panda, but if it wasn’t then what was it? A shapeshifter? she suggested mentally. Unable to figure out whether or not she was facing a shapeshifter, she leaned forward, attempting to get a better look.

[seb]

may you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung

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Even though he was fast asleep, he could still hear and listen to the rushing of the waterfall as it fell into the pool, emitting loud sounds and occasionally flicking drops of water towards him. A white ear twitched each time water touched it, but other than he was dead to the world. Sebastian could still hear the rustling noise the wind made when it breezed into the trees, and he could smell the scent of honeysuckle and flowers that wafted the gardens. He could tell which flower was which by twitching his nose and inhaling deeply, and he could also pinpoint the exact location of the best berry bushes in the garden. Right now, he was too lazy to engage in such activities, so what better way to spend the day than to sleep? To lose consciousness and be on a temporary break from the world itself, even if it was for a few hours.

Footsteps that sounded across the green grass made the panda twitch his ear again, in slight agitation. Who would be around the gardens at this hour? Sebastian didn't, no, he couldn't move due to sleep, but he could still hear them. How noisy! Why couldn't people just not tromp around the garden, especially at this hour? Oh well. He proceeded to open one bleary blue eye before shutting it again, wanting to block out his sensitive hearing and fall into pure unconsciousness. It was quite annoying indeed to hear things around you when you wanted to rest. Ah, hopefully the footsteps that belonged to that person did not see him napping peacefully in the tree and bother him and pull his tail, heaven forbid! Humans had a bad habit of snuggling pandas, and although Sebastian liked being hugged, it was not nice when you were sleeping. And finally, he settled into a deep sleep, his breathing slowing and his awareness of everything faded.

Pandas were prone to waking up anytime the moment danger so much as looked at them, so the moment the footsteps came closer, blue eyes opened in slight alarm. Black paws curled around the branch of the tree, claws digging in for dear life and bushy tail wrapped around the shorter branches. Ears perked up in alert, eyes quickly scanned the area to see a blonde girl approaching him silently, as though trying to get a good look as though what she was seeing really was a red panda. Seb watched her warily, not moving from his spot and opening his mouth, whistled at her warningly, clearly telling her to not go any further. Knowing full well that he might as well tried communicating with a wall instead, he snorted and swung himself up, so that he was perching on the branches. Tail wrapping slightly around the wood, he began angling his way down the tree, descending head firs, rotating his ankle to do so. The moment his paws touched the grass, he waddled away, without giving a second glance at the girl and disappeared behind the bushes where his clothes were. It was extremely simple to get back into them; all he needed to do was stand in the right spots and soon enough, he was back into his human form, looking slightly disheveled from the nap.

Wiping off a spot of bright red berry juice from his nose, the shifter proceeded to appear again and walk towards the girl, who had disturbed his slumber. Instead of looking disgruntled, Sebastian beamed with pleasure; sticking to his usual propaganda of being happy. "I see you have disturbed my sleep." he chirped at her merrily, pulling out a bamboo shoot from his pocket and biting it. "What are you doing here at this hour, ma cherie, and disturbing a sleeping, innocent red panda~?"

[JURATE]

THIS IS CLOSED. IF IT NEEDS MOVING BACK, PM AN ADMIN WITH THE LOCATION AND THREAD NAME.