Primal Instinct: Dawn of the New World

Catia grew more saddened the longer she listened to Rina's panicking, her fox-like ears drooped down and hid themselves in her long auburn hair while her tail stopped wagging at all. By the time Rina had let out a slow sigh from calming herself down, she'd gone completely silent.

Rina led the two of them out of the kitchen entirely, hoping to leave that conversation behind them as well.  She looked around the camp, not sure where to go next or what to do.  From the looks of it, they still had most of the day left, and perhaps part of the night.  She then noticed that everything was dead quiet behind her, and turned to see a sad Catia.

"It can't be helped," she told her, finally making eye contact with her after going so long without it.  "Come on, what are your other skills?  What more can you do besides shoot?  I want to know."

Catia blinked at Rina slowly as she heard her questions, thinking for a moment before responding to her.

"I suppose I'm okay as a scout. I have sharp eyes and ears and can run pretty fast. I have some training in self-defense but it's mostly self-taught. You learn to do whatever you can when you need to survive you know?"

She told her, noticing Rina's eye contact with her own deep green eyes and looking at hers now.

"Good to know," she nodded firmly.  "They might be able to use you if they do any hunting or something..."

Rina paused for a moment, thinking about what to ask next before going ahead and firing off the next question.  If Catia was being tracked like this because she was a half-breed, were there other half-breed out there to try and rescue, much like her sister?  Or was she among the very few that were left alive?

"Speaking of hunting, do you know of any other half-breeds, like yourself?  Other than your sister, I mean.  If you can remember anyone by physical features or names, we can talk to the others about finding those like you.  Maybe they'd have an idea on where your sister is?" Rina asked curiously, making sure to maintain eye contact to enforce her genuine interest in this possibility.

Catia narrowed her eyes at Rina from her question. Of course she knew a few other half-breeds besides herself. Trouble was, they weren't as trusting as she or maybe a few of the others were.

"I know a couple but one of them I'm pretty sure can take care of himself. His name's Ultima. He was kind of like a big brother to me and my little sister when we were first experimented on. I remember that he always used to sneak Kiria cookies when the doctor in charge of us wasn't looking. He's really strong."

She told her, not worried about revealing the information she'd had on Ultima.

Rina scratched her chin with her fingertips, thinking about the whole hybrid project in general.  Was Catia "born" a hybrid or made into one?  There were lots of different things she could ask at this point, especially regarding this Ultima guy.  The connection could prove useful, despite his absence from the scene at current.  She almost felt like writing her information down when she went to bed tonight, just in case it would help the group at a later point.  Of course, she'd have to try her best at that, considering she wasn't a very good writer...

"Ultima, huh?  Sounds fitting for someone strong.  Were you three always together, or why did you end up separating?  Did you part one by one, or go all at once when the big release happened?" she asked, her eyes now darting about in thought.  She was learning so much today, it was quite surprising.

Catia twitched her ears at Rina's interest in her past with the experiment she'd been a part of. She gulped quietly, knowing she had to keep her real reason did being made into a Half-Breed away from her. Otherwise she might lose her chance at saving her little sister.

"Ultima and the professor found us after we'd watched our parents get slaughtered in front of us when she and I were very little. After all of our experiments were finished then we separated from the professor to settle on a home together. It was a night when Ultima'd left out on a job that we got attacked and Kiria was taken from me. I ran before Ultima came back....I just couldn't face him after having failed to save her. So....I want to find her and keep her safe so that I can face him like I should have before all of this happened. I just hope she's alright."

She told her, hoping that this was enough to satisfy Rina's curiosity.

Seeming legitimate, at least for now, Rina bobbed her head up and down to the story.  She felt like she could ask for more details as to where exactly this house was, but Catia might not remember.

"How long ago was this?  When did you first lose your sister?" she asked, trying to get an idea of how to solve this sister-mystery.  "As approximate as you can recall..."

Catia thought for a moment, blinking at Rina while trying to figure out when her sister'd been taken from her.

"I....I don't know. It's been at least three moons since I lost her but I don't remember how long ago exactly."

She answered her, genuinely being unable to recall how long it'd been since she last saw her little sister.

(OOC: A moon is equivalent to one month btw Rocky. Twelve moons is a year and three moons is one season.)

To Rina, that didn't seem like a relatively long time ago.  She was expecting a year at most, but now she understood why finding her was so much more important; if 12 moons or even 6 had passed, then the idea of her sister being no longer amongst the living would be a little more logical, but 3 moons?  Not likely... or at least, not quite yet.

It was then that she thought of something chilling.

"Catia... do you suspect that they took her to try and get to you?  Like bait.  I mean, what if they're out there now, observing us?  You've unknowingly fallen into their trap, as they'd figure you'd seek help from others and with our efforts combined, attempt a rescue," she told her, shaking a little in her stance at the sheer thought that someone was watching them.  Even if it wasn't true, it was certainly a possibility.  "What if this was their plan all along?  Would this be a concern to you, or would you still follow through with it?"

Catia's tail bristles at the thought of being concerned about her own safety if her sister was in trouble.

"Screw that! If those Scarclaws took my sister to get to me then they've got what's coming to them! I'll rip them apart and watch them bleed to death in front of me!"

She growls, hesitating until a mere moment later she realizes what she'd just said in front of Rina. She instantly lets an embarrassed blush come up over her face and holds her arm with her other hand.

"I-I um....I'd follow through with it. My sister means everything to me Rina. She's all I've got left. I don't care what happens to me. As long as she's safe, my life can be forfeit for all I care."

She says more calmly than she did just a moment ago.

Rina's eyes widened as Catia let loose a bit of her pent up fury, but relaxed shortly after she answered the question.  Catia's behavior there was forgivable; of course she wants to see her sister's captor's die in horrible ways.  To Rina, that was understandable.

"It's good to know you're passionate about it.  I feel the same way about evildoers, but," she paused, starting blankly at the sky in thought.  "Where do we even begin?  Right now I'm just arguably just as lost as you are.  I don't know how to get started... whether or not we the group will wait until Monica is healed up... I don't know..."

Catia stared at the ground for a moment as Rina asked where to begin. She nodded slowly as she looked at Rina again.

"Why don't we ask Scar about this? Maybe....if we ask him he'll know what to do about all of this? Maybe Monica too but I think she should really rest if we don't need her. I-I really want her to get better. I know you probably don't believe me but I feel awful about hurting her like that."

She admitted to her, looking away from her eyes. It wasn't that she hated Rina, she just feared her thoughts about her was all.