Early morning training

A woman in only a bra and panties lightly padded on the carpet of the building where the Aegis's home-base was.  This was her home as well as the home of many others.  The few that were awake were not surprised at all to see a women in just her underclothes, this was pretty normal for Veralidaine.  Her bare feet struck the cool wood of the floor as it switched from the living room to the entrance into the training area.  She slid back the door and stepped onto concrete and quickly went down the stairs leading to the training room.  This room was much larger than the usual 'basement' and was separated into sections.  One section closest to the stairs had exercise equipment as well as a hanging punching bag.  The next area in the back was an almost enclosed square were the people with telepathic abilities could also train if they wished.  The rest of the massive area was dedicated to spontaneous training.  The training dealing with oneself, or one-on-one, or group training to learn how to fight together as a group against various enemies.

This morning, Daine started out slow with her human form, stretching and moving in deliberate movements which became more flexible and graceful until it became still and hard for blocking techniques.  Just because she was a shifter didn't mean that she could neglect the health and durability of her human form.  She might meet a Titan who could stop sifters from shifting.  From her human form, Daine stopped, took a few deep breathes and burst into a flurry of shifts.

She leapt into the air and the next second she flapped her wings as a falcon only to dive down with claws extended as an eagle.  Daine fell to the floor as a cobra and raised her head, expanding her massive hood, and struck.  The momentum of the strike resulted in the shift into a rabbit, bounding away, which gave chase to a cheetah barely contained in the massive area.  When she slowed down, her shape grew to the size of an elephant, trumpeting and stomping her feet, ears flared and trunk raised.  The form then shrunk into yet another still massive form as Daine stood on her hind legs, opened her jaws, lips peeled back and ears pinned, as the shifter roared the deep guttural furious roar of a grizzly bear. 

Though this form was new to Daine and within a couple minutes, the woman was on her hands and knees, gasping for air from both the workout and the pain of trying to master a new animal.  Vera could already tell that the grizzly was going to be one of her favorite forms.  Veralidaine had just caught her breathe when she heard the door open and the sound of footprints coming down the stairs.

Amelia wasn't one for walking down with very few clothes on and so the punishment was either removing them just before she shifted or to ruin her clothes while she shifted. They never ripped when she shifted into her smaller forms, only when she shifted into her big forms. Amelia was wearing one of her black tops and black pants. She didn't mind being in the training room shoeless or without a hat. Her long orange hair laid flat against her body as she moved around, opening the door she noticed that she wasn't alone, another shifter was down here and it was Veralidaine. Amelia gave a small smile as she walked down the stairs, trying to decide if she wanted to shift now or later. Even though they were very different they were very alike as well, being able to shift into animals but different limitations for each. Amelia finished walking down the steps and waved at Veralidaine. "Hey." She allowed another smile to cross her lips as she stopped at the foot of the stairs. "Mind if I train here too?" Not that is mattered what Veralidaine thought, Amelia just had a habit of asking anyway because it was polite. Amelia stretched before shifting into an orange tabby cat. Her clothes had fallen to the floor as she allowed a small meow. Then instead of changing back she remained in her cat form, not having much limit on how long she could be in the form so long as she had the energy for it. She was listening all around herself with her enhanced hearing, to see what was going on in the area and to make sure that no D.T.R.C were in the area even though they didn't know of the hiding spot. Amelia paced back and forth before she was tired of listening to the noises all around herself. Though the problem was, she was having a hard time ignoring... the only way to ignore was to shift back and she wasn't all that sure she was ready to shift back into her human form right now, now with her clothes on the floor instead of on her. That was the problem with shifting, you always lost your clothes whether it be by falling off or being ripped off.

Daine got off of her hands and knees by shifting into a sitting position that was comfortable for her. She was in luck, the person who had walked down the stairs was Amelia, a younger girl who also was a shifter. Though Amelia could only sift into big and small cats, that was still very useful. Daine herself actually preferred felines to most other animal group. Though reptiles were really cool to her personally, they were difficult to transfer into for her. The only reason she had pulled off the cobra so well was because she'd been practicing with that form for months.

Vera smiled and returned the wave, "Of course you can. Come on over." The animal shifter watched Amelia shift into a small cat. She smiled at the fact that the younger girl was still shy about her body. Vera had been at first too but to her understanding, Amelia had had her powers a few years before Daine. Though with the nature of Daine's gifts, she'd gotten over that shyness faster. "You know there is nothing to be afraid of, sweetie. We all have beautiful bodies but I really do understand." With that, she herself shifted into a calico cat and trotted on over to Amelia, head-butted the girl and meowed, rubbing her cheek over the other girl's head in an animal way of letting others know that it'll be ok.

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Amelia was glad that Daine didn't mind her joining. She hadn't come closer to Daine until she was in her orange tabby form. Daine made a comment and had Amelia been in human form she would have blushed at the comment. Then Daine shifted into a calico and came closer, closing the distance that had once been between them. Daine head-butted her before she had a chance to move, though it didn't hurt that much and smiled when she meowed back, feeling her head being rubbed by Daine's check. She knew it would be okay, if only she could shift back and forth without being bothered by her appearance. Amelia sat on the ground, thinking of if she wanted to shift into one of her bigger forms or if she wanted to stay a little bit longer in her orange tabby form, it was after all one of her favorites. Amelia then decided on what she was going to do and so she rubbed cheeks with Daine before taking a few steps back to shift into a lioness. Since her cloths were already on the ground they didn't get damaged in the process, which made her happy because in the end she didn't like her clothes getting ripped. She wondered if Daine would shift into a bigger feline too or if she would stay as she was. The problem with the bigger forms was that she didn't have much control over it, nor did she have much control on how to shift back or how long she remained in the form. Most the time it would take all her energy before it was forced to shift back, another down fall was the pain she went through when shifting into her bigger forms because of her getting bigger bones and her form was shifting from smaller feline to bigger feline. She let out a roar, unable to help herself.

Green/blue eyes were slits in pleasure like how cats always did in the company of those they cared about. Felines in particular loved physical touch and Daine was happy to have her touch returned with a rub from the orange tabby that Amelia had turned into. She quietly watched Amelia pace back and forth before the red-head took a few steps back and shifted into her bigger form of a lioness.

That was when Daine got an idea. She had already worked out with her forms and had taken enough of a break to give Amelia the chance to actually use her lioness form. It was time for Daine to see just how much Amelia's predatory instincts kicked in if she used them the right way. And the best way to do that...

Vera's cat form smiled and shifted into a larger form herself. One with hooves and stripes as well as a mane and tail. Snorting and doing that high neighing that zebra's were known for. Then Daine decided to start prancing, taunting Amelia to give chase even though the natural wariness and fear that zebra's had around lions was hard to ignore.

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Amelia watched Daine shift and it was bad trouble from there.... her body wanted to give chance after the zebra even though it was Daine in that form.... it was so hard to ignore and Amelia gave it and darted towards Daine in hope to catch her. It wasn't like she was hungry or anything like that, it was instinct something Amelia hadn't gained control over just yet. It didn't help that Daine was prancing around, taunting her to give chase in the first place. Amelia leaped towards Daine and missed, somewhat getting tired from all the running. Once again the noises from outside came into her head, making it hard to focus on Daine and them at the same time, talk about bad time for enhanced hearing to kick in. Amelia crashed into a wall as her mind was focused on the sounds and noises over what was coming closer and closer in front of her. She tipped onto her side and took deep breaths... not really in pain, just tired from all the running that she couldn't control in the first place. Amelia was forced back into her human form, which was terrible in her mind because her cloths were clear on the other side of the room. "Maybe so... but I still like to keep them close..." She answered, somewhat grateful that they were the only two in the training room, though if any guys came in.... she'd be one tired kitty by the time she made it back to her bed because she'd continue to shift back into feline form to be covered. "Can you get my stuff...?" She really didn't like being seen by anybody this way...

In zebra form, Vera was pleased when Amelia gave in to her instincts and gave chase. That's all she had wanted from the girl but then the girl ran into a wall after Daine skirted away from her claws. Confused, Daine stopped trotting and came to a complete stop to look at Amelia before she saw that the girl had lost control over her form and was already in her human form again. Wondering what happened, Daine shifted into a bald eagle and flew to Amelia's clothes to pick them up with her talons. The woman then dropped them close by to the red-headed girl so that Amelia could get dressed.

Daine shifted herself back into her human form. "Are you ok Amelia? You did good for your first hunt until you seemed to get distracted, what happened? Do you have control over your animal forms?" Daine asked all in a gentle and concerned voice, one that only Amelia had ever really heard where she meant it.

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Amelia watched as Daine shifted into a eagle and flew over to get her clothes and dropped them in front of her. She reached forward and grabbed her clothes, putting her under clothes on and then her shirt and pants. She really didn't like being skinned in front of other people, so if she didn't have her clothes she would most likely shift into one of her feline forms just so that the fur was covering her body. Daine shifted back into a human just as Amelia started standing up from the ground, asking her questions. "I'm okay, thanks for asking." She paused before adding, "I only have my smaller felines mastered not the bigger ones... I forgot that you were a shifter and not a zebra when I chased after you... so I'm glad you were able to move out of the way before I got you." She'd hate to attack a fellow Titan. "And I got distracted because I was using my enhanced hearing earlier and as I was following you around the room I started hearing what was going on outside and got side tracked.... so that is another one I have to work on as well as my enhanced strength." Amelia forced herself to look at Daine's face because well, clothes weren't on. "So do you come down here with few clothes because most kept ripping during your shifts?" She asked, having that happen to her if she shifts into a bigger feline, half forgetting it could happen which is why today she was an orange tabby first.

Daine watched Amelia for a few minutes as she listened to what the girl said about why she lost focus. Daine didn't know about the increased hearing, she was always off doing missions for Aegis or off gathering her own intel on new animals. The more animals she mastered, the more useful she was to Aegis. Even with her working for Aegis for two years now, she still hadn't mastered even half of the animals at the zoo. "I can help you master the larger ones, they will take more control than the housecats. It takes practice to learn how to remember that your human and not the animal you shifted into. There's a fine balance and it's something that take time to master. Don't fear your larger predators, embrace them and then show your inner feline that your human side is still in control." Vera said in a tone that was half firm and half gentle. As one of the few animal shifters in Aegis, Veralidaine was actually careful with her non-filtered mouth around Amelia.

"I only have enhanced senses when I'm in animal form, which is most of the time nowadays. Though I do know someone who just maybe would be willing to help learn how to focus your senses." Maybe...or I could always force him to... Maybe. Vera smiled at the thought. She refocused on Amelia's question and her smile became a grin, "You got that right. Though mine don't even last when I shift into my smaller forms like yours do. For some reason, my animals seem to think that the under garments are a layer of weird fur that needs to stay there. So I guess I should count my blessings." She giggled.