2025.11.7:The Anatomy Lesson

The Anatomy Lesson
Xiu gives Zoe a primer lesson on Life Magic.
IC Date	November 7th, 2025.
IC Time	Midday to evening
Players	Zoe, Xiu
Location	Deep in the Woods
Spheres	Mage, Sorcerer

The witch is rather good with giving directions - even if at first it does not *sound* like it.

No, at first all those things she's written down for Zoe in the basement sounded so...random. Past that tall tree, then over by those large rocks, past the trucks that look like this or that, blah blah yadda. Hard to picture in the head, especially since the instructions contained a *lot* of those details.

But now that Zoe is *here*, step by step, all those things are...scarily good at directing her though a forest that can't be seen due to its trees.

Of course now the scary things is just how *deep* in the woods Xiu's directions go. She'd have warned Zoe that it's in deep. Miles deep. Though Zoe *is* potentially nearing the last step(s) of the described landmarks - and out here, there is just nothing but more trees...

Zoe does get there eventually, but she's walking pretty slowly as she does. It's unfamiliar terrain, cell signal is spotty as hell out this far, and things like wolves and bears are way scarier than the monsters she jokes about to people in the book store. She's pretty sure she can get enough GPS signal to find her way back to her car if she needs to, but still... Being surrounded by nothing but trees is unnerving. And it reminds her of the popular meme question from not too long ago about whether it's better to run into a bear or a man when out in the woods alone. Not the best head space.

Is this the spot? It looks like it sounds like the spot. She turns in a circle, looking all around. It's pretty much all trees to her.

And it pretty much all remains trees. There is a light breeze of course. Almost an *obligatory* light breeze. Perhaps a sudden distant call of some critter. This is, indeed, far from the city. And in deep in the wilderness. There are no guard rails here, no convenient market or people in shouting range. It could be a bear coming round a tree. A wild boar. A mad axe murderer.

"I see you made it."

It's up to the observer whether the creature that steps out of the undergrowth is better or worse than any of those. It *is* Xiu, that much is clear. It is Xiu. Covered, head to toe, in dark green painted-on runes, tribal lines and symbols. Old faith. Old faith all over.

A Xiu with long, serrated horns sweeping back on her head, past her hair before they sweep up again. It is Xiu, with feline eyes. With rows of sharp, pointy teeth behind those human lips. It is a Xiu with two arms too many. Fingers that lack nails, but are clearly shaped in a way that they contain claws. Rearranged musculature, additional musculature to handle that additional pair of arms, joints, bones.

A Xiu that has a long, long human skinned tail slowly waving behind her. And digitigrade legs - human at first, before their color gets darker, the skin gets more ridged as those feet end in large talon-like shapes. She is taller than usual. Not by much. But that musculature, the...everything...comes off as absolutely predatory.

She stops walking those few silent steps that just carried her out in the open with deathly grace...and she grins. It is supposed to be a friendly grin. But there are those rows of pointy teeth. Her tail flicks.

"I hope this place was easy to find."

Zoe turns around at the voice, but at the sight of who she expected but not how she expected her to appear, she jumps backward. Her right hand jumps over her heart and her left closes on her phone case enough make it squeak in protest. "JesusFuckingChrist!"

The flight response peters out after the jump, moving her only a couple of feet. She stares wide-eyed at Xiu for several seconds, only now starting to take in all the details. It takes her a few seconds more before her voice starts to work semi-normally again. "Fuh- I mean, damn, you were *not* kidding, were you? That is way, way more than I can manage."

She stops death-gripping her phone and brushes her hair back behind her ear with a chuckle, but it is still a nervous one.

Xiu lets out a laugh at the reaction. She *had* been counting on it. That long tail flicks a couple times. So strange to see a human-skinned one. And she steps towards the other in that now exotic gait of digitigrade legs and taloned feet, those four arms of hers moving in a way that...well. Seems Natural.

Actually everything about how she wears this form, moves, has little flicks of that tail...it all just seems so natural on her. As if she had been born like this. Either she's been using this form for a long time off and on, or..well, or she gets used to them really fast.

She stops, just at an arm's reach away from Zoe - and leans forward, sniffing. That nose *looks* normal. It might not be.

A moment later, the witch straightens and smiles before she spreads all four arms, tilting her head. "Go ahead. Take a look. Take a poke. Examine as much as you want.."

Zoe, nervous and on edge, still can't resist that invitation. Scary, sure, but this is wild as hell, too. Four arms? She hadn't even thought of that. She was still messing around with hair color and other minor changes on a human body. Maybe, maybe, someday she's be able to change into a bat or something. It was supposed to be possible. But all this? None of her reading materials had even hinted at something like this. She circles around, eyes practically bugging as she takes it in. At least she remembers to watch out for tripping over the tail. She comes in back on the other side, leaning in to look at the second set of 'shoulders' and try to figure out how that works. There's a growing hit of awe in her voice as she asks, "How did you even do all this?"

The tail moves well out of the way of any steps - but not out of the way of any fingers. Which *is* a thing the witch encourages a moment later. "Go ahead. Feel. I was not talking proverbially when I said 'poke and example'." She lets out a soft laugh, holding mostly still, albeit lifting or moving a limb should Zoe indicate her to do so.

"How? The right rite. The right chanted prayer and the right symbols carved into flesh. Intent voided to her, blessings bestowed by her in return for worship." Her words, having taught me the steps."%TOh, she is grinning again, and judging by the tone in her voice it is *very* much a topic she enjoys.

Zoe goes ahead at the extra engraved invitation, letting her fingers trace over the tail. That is indeed one of the weirder bits, if only because tails should usually have fur or scales on them. She prods the arm joint and on the back behind it, too. "This is a second set of shoulder blades under here? That's the only way I can think of it working..."

Gets back to the front and looks to take in the whole thing at once again. At least this time her heart isn't trying to run away and leave her behind. "Prayer to who, though? The way I do it doesn't involve anything like a prayer."

"Yes, it is." Xiu says as she feels the prod. That muscular back itself certainly looks different, too. More muscles. Arranged slightly different in length and lange. The shoulder blades, visible momentarily as she playfully moves her shoulders, rolling them a bit. The tail itself feels...well. Human skin! Thin long muscles. And an elongated spine, somewhere in there. Xiu playfully moves the tail so it curls lightly around one of Zoe's arms for a moment. It's warm, too. Then it loosens, just dangles before it slides off as Zoe moves in front.

"Oh, I know you do not." Xiu says. "Your ways are not mine. I am not sure what you do, so this will be interesting for both of us, yes?"

She smiles, still holding still for a moment - before those spread, raised arms relax and she turns - holding out a hand for Zoe. "Come." she says. "I have not brought you here to just stand around between some trees. That would be terrible hospitality."

Zoe manages to get her staring problem under control and slips the phone away into a jacket pocket. She nods and takes the hand, still looking to be on the flabbergasted end of things as she goes with her. "And here I thought I was doing a good job with my Halloween costume tricks... This is quite the reminder that I'm apparently still a rank amateur. Can you grow wings, too? Ones that work?"

The witch certainly does not seem to mind the stares. Then again, she is also waltzing around naked, painted in weird symbolism, and currently sporting way too many things that clearly are not human. *And* offered Zoe to examine her. So...just perhaps, no surprise.

When the hand gets taken, Zoe gets to feel those changed fingers. The shape is somewhat different. The skin tougher, perhaps, as well. Nail-less. But the hint of those claw tips at the front, in those indents on the skin...

"Wings?" Xiu wonders and hmmmhs, smiling warmly as she begins to walk - striding quietly as she begins to lead Zoe through the woods. Xiu is...the opposite of how Zoe was earlier. Relaxed. There is no tension, no apparent worry about them being so deep in the wild. "Mmmh. Yes. But those need to be huge and very powerful unless the body is much lighter.." she explains.

Zoe doesn't even seem to notice the nudity part of the equation, there was too much else going on at the same time. There still is, really. Between the chimerical form, the unfamiliar runes with clear supernatural intent, plus in initial nerves of being in the middle of nowhere, it's a lot. "Yeah, that makes sense. I have done the math, and studied birds. Growing a pair of human sized bird wings wouldn't cut it. But if I can shrink down- Ooh better than a bat, I should go for the shape of an owl, that'd be perfect! But I'm not there yet. This is an inspiration to keep trying though. Even if it's not the same way, that this is even possible is... Just wild."

"Oh, becoming smaller certainly makes things easier. But if you wish to use what's trusted and proven, so to speak...yes.." Xiu says as she continues to lead her. "Just become an animal that is already out there. Owls are wonderful. Their silent wings, the way their eyes see things. That and the neck is like liquid. Such a lack of any tension there..." she murmurs. And it definitely sounds like she either *studied* owls or has spent time *as* one.

Her head turns, and those yellow, feline eyes widen their pupils for a moment, before they narrow to slits again as they..well, look at Zoe. "Tell me what you have managed...so far."

Zoe listens as they walk, looking appreciative of the descriptions of owls and how she puts it. Owls are cool. "I started with simple stuff, all in the normal human range. Eye color, hair color, stuff like that. I've expanded from there, borrowing from animals. Like you said, trusted and proven. I spent like a half an hour in my tub one night, testing a pair of gills. That was really scary and weird at first, but it worked! I've gotten to where I can do bigger things, like the the butterfly wings for the Halloween party, but I'm still just mixing in traits from animals. I can't go all the way yet. But that is at least supposed to be possible, I just need to practice more. And maybe find some new books or something, learn some new aspects to the whole thing."

Xiu grins a happy grin. Rows of sharp, pointy teeth show themselves again - but the way the cheeks rise. The way she lets out a soft happy sound. It's unmistakable. "I remember the first time I changed my eye color. It was amusing. Back then I was actually afraid they would never change back. I liked playing around with the color, but was afraid I could never return back to how they were."

A soft laugh leaves her, the long tail flicking a couple times. Oh, such an emotion telegrapher. "Oh, and the next thing...yeah, was hair." She wiggles her head a bit, and purses her lips before she murmurs "And the next thing were the boobs..." Hers *are* quite humble. Less so with the pregnancy, but, well, still petite enough.

Zoe does a double take at the smile. That is way too many teeth! Kind of shark-like, is her first thought, and it sends a tiny shudder down her spine. Then she looks down at the last subject. "Ahh... You know, one of the earlier things I did was actually get rid of mine? One of the easier switches to flip was sex, at least it seemed like it to me. Probably not something to do while pregnant though, that'd have to be unhealthy, if it even worked. But I never worried about it sticking, myself. It's actually kind hard to get it to last very long at all."

"Well, it was just so new, and you have to admit, your body just changing the first time? That was...well, kind of nerve-wrecking." Xiu remarks and then grins again as Zoe mentions getting rid of hers. "Well, we all try the things we don't have, yes? You made your breasts poof, I made mine larger.." She lets out a soft cackle, her tail flicking. "Oh, I've had cocks of all shapes and sizes..." A smirk moves her lips. "It would not interfere with the pregnancy these days..."

She continues to lead Zoe - past thicker undergrowth, around tall trees, up narrow hills. By now, the notion of finding the way back based on that landmark list is just *gone*. The witch has truly led her into the unknown. Well. Unknown to Zoe.

"We will be there soon. Tell me if the walk becomes exhausting."

Zoe reddens a bit, not quite prepared for that blunt a level of discussing body parts. Not those body parts, anyway. It's her moment of silence that has her look up and around and realize she had quite completely lost track of the location. "Wait, be where soon? Where are we going, anyway?"

Xiu lets out a soft cackle as she notices the blush - eying Zoe there in amusement for a moment. "I am afraid you will have used to that around me." the witch remarks. "Just talking about things out loud. Not mincing words. No shame about the body. I piss and shit and fuck in the woods - usually - so that coupled with my shapeshifting experience and habits kind of robs you of that kind of cute blush."

The question that follows has her softly laugh. "My place. I prepared some tasty food."

Zoe brings her free hand to her face, far too late to cover the color there. She's still got way more of a traditional civilized reaction to such things ingrained in her. Specifically American culture, where violence in media is fine but penises are bad. "Ok, right, sorry. I just... So, this is where you actually live then? I admit I wondered why someone who can do what you can... I don't really know how to put it. Is it like a 'get back to nature' kind of thing?"

"As much as the street rat hobo me in the city is a disguise, it is also the truth." Xiu remarks. "I have no ID, No address, no bank account, no job, no registered family, no social security number, no photos, no birth certificate, no driver's license or passport or anything else. On paper I do not exist."

A grin spreads those lips again, and she eyes Zoe as she continues moving, fluidly. "I am free. Back to nature is an understatement."

Zoe blinks a few times at the list. It makes sense considering everything, but laid out like that it's still kind of nuts in today's day and age. "Ok, that's... I think I can see what you mean, that's very... primal? I don't even know how someone would get there, with no paper trail today? But a few years ago I didn't know someone could grow gills or a tail, so there's always something new, right?"

By now, they are approaching a rather dense, large set of pines. The strange - and indeed primal - witch leads her right towards those.

And ironically, there is a sense of sudden bits of civilization. A narrow path leads through the pines - and over a tiny stone bridge over a stream. And then...into a clearing! With a cabin! And a children's fort! Veggie garden, herbal garden! A fireplace!

Xiu smiles wide as she stops, placing two hands onto her hips, the other two arms crossing in front of her chest. "Welcome." she says, and glances sideways at Zoe, the tilt of the horned head making all those excessively long, dark braids shake a bit. "Feel free to take a look around."

Zoe falls into a new stunned silence, this time tinged differently than before. It's more of a peaceful bout of staring than confused or awestruck. Her head tracks around, taking it in bit by bit before breaking out into a soft smile. "It's like something out of a painting! It's gorgeous! Major points for the off the grid lifestyle, huh?"

She takes a few more steps into the clearing, looking but not touching. She has no idea where she is, but it does look pretty damned good.

"It is my place for guests." Xiu says, and softly chuckles, her long strange tail flicking once. "I found the cabin empty, deserted. I figured it would make a good spot for storing some things, and putting my gardens next to it. Then I figured 'Why not keep it in shape in case I get visitors?'. And here we are. People are more eager to visit when they can sleep inside four walls, just in case." she remarks.

She finally steps forward, towards the fire pit, where wood and kindling already has been prepared. She checks on that for a moment - crouching down on those strange digitigrade legs, keeping her more raised than she normally would be - compensating by spreading them further and leaning down more. She adjusts the wood, and then grabs a stick and piece of wood - already prepared as well with the necessary tinder - and four arms begin to make short work of the earliest method of properly making fire. "I will be right with you. Let me get the fire started and the stones heated up..."

Zoe looks around, still marveling. For an abandoned place, it looks great. She does look askance at the fire building method though. There's got to be an easier way to do that, right? But since she doesn't smoke, she didn't bring a lighter herself. Useless city girl. So she meanders a bit, looking at the garden, and even the hut once it's revealed to be more of a guest house than a private home. "Do you get a lot of visitors out here? Do rangers or hikers or anyone come out this far? Does anyone own it on paper, that could try and claim it?"

Back and forth, the stick gets turned. Feline eyes watch the tinder closely - and as soon as the first wisps of smoke rise, Xiu pulls the stick away, carefully lifts the thin piece of wood the tiny tiny glowing tinder rests on, and she caaaarefully breathes on it...before she leans forward more, and delivers it beneath the kindling. More blowing of air follows - this time harder. Long exhales.

In a matter of a minute, there is quite some smoke, and the witch smiles before she pushes herself onto her feet. "I do not get many visitors, no. And 'visitors' outside are rare." she explains, before she begins to cross the clearing - towards Zoe. Actually towards the cabin, but Zoe is right *there*!. "And if somebody could claim it, I would find ways to deal with that."

Zoe is facing away from Xiu still, hands in pants pockets as she looks over the cabin. She's kind of peering in, but it's dark in there. "Yeah, I suppose you would. Even I could probably handle something like that, just with a few tugs on fate's strings. Hard tugs perhaps, but... I mean, I assume that you know more than shapeshifting, right?"

"I *am* a capital-W burn-her-at-the-stake praying-to-old-gods running-naked-through-the-woods witch." Xiu remarks as she passes Zoe, suddenly so close - and she reaches for the door of the cabin, before she pushes it open, feline eyes focused on the girl. She gestures for the entrance. "Feel free." she remarks. "I just need to get the food and the stones." Stones?

She slips into the cabin a moment later, though it seems most things she *is* after are very close to the entrance. A small stack of raw steaks of sorts, in a bowl. A stack of two flat rocks. Small cups with herbs and spices and..some sort of pastes.

Zoe chuckles at the Witch description, even if there's a sudden edge of nervousness in it as Xiu slips by her. So sneaky! So predatory! Such vibes! But she does go ahead and poke her head into the cabin. The rest of her too, her neck isn't that long. Not at the moment anyway, and the thought of doing a giraffe thing does occur to her... But she's probably be unbalanced and just tip over. "Yeah, that's not a great chapter of history, is it? I was just doing some reading on that a couple of weeks ago. Nasty stuff, very undeserved. And so misogynistic, too. I hope nobody's gonna try that stuff these days."

Predatory, primal. Eerily silent in her steps. Xiu *is* giving off all sorts of dangerous vibes - but she also *is* playing host. She invited Zoe. Xiu is such a mixed bag of...things.

She begins to carry out the food, four arms a *really* handy (HA!) thing to have there as she brings all the things back towards the fire pit.

"Get comfortable!" she calls out over towards Zoe, before she crouches down and carefully sets down the tiny bowls, the bowl with the meat - and carefully places those flat rocks right onto the burning fire with a set of thicker sticks and quick motions.

Zoe shuffles around a little aimlessly as she watches Xiu set up and get to work. She doesn't quite get used to Xiu's appearance and presence, but it does seem to get a little more natural as time goes on. Maybe she should have brought beers though. "She looks around the area, a wry smile crossing her lips. "Define comfortable? It's not exactly a kick your shoes off kind of place. Unless..."

She looks down at her feet for a second with a thoughtful brow furrowing, then over at Xiu's reshaped feet.

"Oh, you can kick off absolutely anything and everything if you wanna.." Xiu remarks and rises again, just watching those two large sorts of stone tablets pick up heat. She then takes a couple steps backwards, and peers up for a moment, at the sky. "It is pleasantly warm for the Fall. Then again, this is Cali. Cold needs quotation marks here." She grins, before she turns and moves back towards the cabin again. "I have water, I can prepare some tea, and I have mead, if you want some, as well as a couple bottles of wine. I can't partake, though." One of those four hands move to her pregnant belly, and she peers down for a moment, smiling and brushing the hand over the skin. "At least not for a couple more months." (RE)

Zoe sits herself down on a rock, and begins untying her shoes. "I don't know about everything, but I am inspired to see if I can match at least some of what you've got going on. Maybe I should have worn shorts, but I didn't think that far ahead. Mead, huh? I had that for the first time just the other night. It was pretty good. Maybe I'll have some if I manage to pull this off, I don't want to try and focus on it while drunk."

Soon her shoes and socks are set aside, and she's staring at Xiu's legs again. And not even in a sexualized way, but more scientifically. Getting a sense of them, a mental feel. And then she closes her eyes, concentrating on that image, turning it inward. Her hands run down over her pant legs, feeling the meat under them and visualizing a new shape for them.

"Oh ho ho! Determination." Xiu remarks, grinning, as s she heads into the cabin. It does not take long again - she returns almost instantly, holding two large, unlabeled bottles with a pretty clear liquid - and two bottles with a dark golden one. The latter one is probably the mead. The former ones? Water. Or vodka. or isopropanol. Or gasoline. Time will tell!

She passes Zoe - and moves a bit slower. She stops, next to the other, as she is being stared at - and then slowly turns, pretty much showing herself off a bit (and helping Zoe without realizing it YET)

Zoe inhales, holds it, holds it, holds it, and breathes out. When she opens her eyes, her pants are way to short for her new legs and stretched in an odd way. Long padded digitigrade feet now poke out of the hems, a fair copy of Xiu's crafting. Zoe's have a little more fur on them from the idea of a wolf creeping into her visualization, but she seems pleased none the less. She hops up off the rock to stand on them, arms wheeling for a moment as balance is suddenly more difficult than she expected. "Eurek- Uh oh!"

Delighted exclamation turns to dismay as she stumbles and starts to topple.

The witch had been watching the transformation, there. Silent. Smooth. So very unlike her own. Not that Zoe knows *that* part yet. But the witch is definitely smiling a wider smile there. "Interesting." She remarks - and then blinks as Zoe suddenly begins to topple!

The witch is fast right now. Scarily fast. Zoe finds herself held by four arms - in a bit of an awkward hold, given that all of Xiu's hands a still holding those bottles, and she is also turned a bit to get the pregnant belly out of the way - and the witch lets out a soft laugh. "Oh, this brings back so many *memories*!" she remarks, amused. Her tail flicks - before she leans back a bit and peers down, said same tail moving to lightly poke over those changed legs. "Metatarsals are a bit short. Calcaneus needs more pronunciation." She softly inhales. "And you...need more practice.." she murmurs. "No worries. You will get that."

Zoe lets out an awkward laugh as Xiu catches her, quickly enough to keep her from hitting the ground but not fast enough to keep her from getting embarrassed. Besides the whole sense of being caught in 4 arms belonging to the same person. That's some advanced level awkwardness. But eventually she's righted and her new feet are under her. "Sorry, first day on the new legs. How many people get to say that without it being a total joke, huh? But, uh, thanks. And I bet the tail helps with balance, right? I'm not sure I can pull that off yet though. And these pants aren't ready for it either. But also yes, more practice. That's always the thing, isn't it?"

Xiu stays close for another moment (Is she sniffing again..?), before she slowly - slooowly draws away, still keeping one arm lifted in case she needs to catch Zoe again there. "Oh, my first steps with different legs were horrible. It worked fine on flat ground, but then came uneven stuff and I was fucked." she remarks and chuckles softly. "It's pretty normal at first. No worries. And yes, a tail helps a *lot* with balance, but also means you have to lean forward a bit all the time, or have a light tail." There *is* a subtle lean to Xiu's stance. Not much, but subtle.

Zoe takes a deep breath and starts moving again, much more carefully this time. Her arms are out for balance as she takes small slow steps around the fire pit. She gets the hang of it as she goes, and her confidence grows along with her smile. She does take it easy and stick to even ground though, following Xiu's advice. "Ok, yeah, that does sound right. I think I'll wait to mess with tails though. One little step at a time, for now. Still, this is so cool! And you do this all the time?"

"caaareful near the fire.." Xiu advises as she continues to follow Zoe a bit, and gestures towards one of the logs near the fire. More comfy than a rock! She, herself, settles down on it before she finally sets down all the bottles, and then leans sideways to grab the two thick, straight sticks. With quick motions she pulls the heated, flat rocks from the fire before she sets them down in front of the log - one in front of herself, one in front of Zoe once she is seated,. the rocks sitting safely on pure soil - and then, with swift motions, she places cutlery - forks and sharp knives - as well as those bowls with the meat, and spices down between them. "Here you go. cut up bits of steak, season it, slap it onto the hot stone for a bit, enjoy steak house cuisine in the wild." She wiggles eyebrows.

And the witch promptly does just that - slicing off a piece of steak, before she brings a bit of salt from one of the tiny wooden bowls onto it, and puts the piece onto the flat stone in front of her - the sound of sizzling, the smell of searing meat. "And it would be an understatement to say that I shapeshifted a lot. It is my way to experience nature. To not just *know* nature, but to *live* life through its eyes so to speak. It is one way to know what a rabbit or bird or fox or deer or bug *does*, it is a whole different thing to *be* that thing for a few days and experience what life *feels like*, what emotions are there, what kind of instincts and urges and feelings.."

She turns the small piece of meat, before she spears it and brings it towards her mouth. "I have slept and eaten and ran and chased and fled and fucked as many things." She leans a bit sideways, towards Zoe. "Being a shrub is interesting when you realize *after* changing back, that that nice feeling of sudden sustenance earlier came from a deer peeing on you."

Zoe turns toward the indicated log, first stepping up onto it just to make sure she can, then over it and seating herself on it. She does look rather pleased with herself. She follows suit behind Xiu, slicing a hunk of meat, seasoning it, and putting it on the hot stone to sear. She keeps on listening as she preps the food, ending a quick burst of laughter at the end. "What? Really? Ok, A, gross. But B, you can turn into a shrub? That's not even an animal! Are you just messing with me now?"

And those pointy, sharp teeth make quick work of that piece of meat, while XIu already slices and seasons the next. A sizzling sound later, she watches the stone again, actually using two of her four arms to brush some of her braids back - just to make sure they stay out of harm's way. "Spooky forest witch, Zoe.." she murmurs and peers sideways at her guests, playfully narrowing her eyes. "Perhaps one of these spices will turn you into a shrub."

Zoe pauses mid chew, but it's too late anyway. A second later, she swallows that first bit down. And does not grow leaves, not yet anyway. "I'm thinking probably not... That would take one hell of an herb. Although some plants can make you feel like a plant, from what I've heard. But I don't think ayahuasca would go well with steaks, anyway. And what is this? Is this venison? It doesn't seem like beef."

Xiu cackles softly at the hesitation, before she nods. "Ahh, yes. Venison. Hunted it myself. Make sure to properly sear it till it's well done." she advises. She, herself, is notably *not* doing that - keeping it Rare. Another piece makes it into her mouth, and she slowly chews, her tail flicking and brushing through the grass behind her - with those talons of hers dug a bit into the soil at the log. "Mh..tell me.." she murmurs as she slices off another piece of the meat. "How exactly does *your* change work? You did not *do* much...at least, not from where I was standing."

Zoe puts another piece down to heat, taking more time with it this go around. Which gives her a little time to explain things from her side. "Ok, so first off, this was the second thing I learned, after fate binding. So I was already a bit better primed for it. And the sources were not very good at being specific. I was working from mid-European werewolf lore, Greek texts on sorcery as Circe might have practiced, and some second hand accounts of Druidic practices. But in essence, it's about putting yourself into the mind's eye, and then also what you could be. Like two paintings, imposed over each other. And then you're drawing the lines in between, guiding the one into the other. This happens first in the spirit, but with the right focus, and the knowledge to guide it, the meat moves, to meet the spirit."

She looks down at the slab of deer meat, more well cooked that Xiu's last morsel, and spears it with her knife to bring it up to her teeth.

"Mmmh, Circe. The famous turning of people into pigs.." Xiu murmurs and lets out a soft chuckle. "Druidic practices are common among certain families of witches. To be honest, 'witch' can be a pretty generic term, depending which way you turn in history." She cants her head and brings the fresh piece of meat towards her lips. Blue. "Different paths and different crafts from all over the world. The one I practice is ancient. *Old*." Se grins, peering sideways at Zoe for a moment. "Older than the written word." With that, she pops the piece of meat into her mouth, before she slowly chews and considers the other's word. "Mh. Sho it ish a big matter of mental image, in your case..."

Zoe chews her meat, which should be considered at least medium cooked. She covers her mouth with her hand as she chews, out of a sense of politeness. "Right, I knew you'd get it. And I've used the term witch before myself, but probably not the same way you meant it. It does get a bit complicated, and not too many people agree on the specifics. But yes, I have to be able to picture it in my mind, and guide myself towards the ideal. The ideal at the moment, anyway, not like an eternal ideal. I don't think there's such a thing."

She catches herself rambling a bit and goes for one of the mead looking bottles. Not seeing any cups around, she goes with the spirit of the woods and drinks from the bottle. Like a savage.

"Mmmh. I have noticed certain people using the term 'witch' as soon as they are...well, female and do magic." Xiu remarks and softly snorts. "Pop culture, maybe, but what is a sorceress then?" she asks and softly laughs, even as she lays out three pieces of meat on the heated up stone now. Seems like she wants those more well done, going back and forth.

Leaning up for a moment, two arms brush back her braids again and she eyes Zoe with a smile. "Hmmmh. So all it takes for you is a mental image. Curious. But you must have *learned* it in a different way, yes? You did not read a book that simply said 'think hard and you will be that thing'."

Zoe lowers the bottle to let out a small chuckle. Because Xiu's one hundred percent right about the use of the term Witch. "Yeah, sorceress works too. Magician almost does, but it makes me think of the stage illusionists too. Although I wonder how many of those get help from similar means?"

She takes the time for another morsel. "And of course it's not as simple as just thinking, if it was, people would be doing it all the time. There's also the focusing and channeling of energy. Mystical energies in each of us and around us. It's got a bunch of names too, including sometimes 'The Force' by some rather unserious people. But let's go with Mana. I imagine you must be familiar with it, in one form or another? But I also direct that into the parts of me I want to change. It's the same kind of energy that I used to get a hold of strands of fate when I'm reweaving those. For this though, it happens more in my body than outside of it."

Xiu lets out a soft cackle, baring sharp teeth for a moment while that human-skinned tail flicks a couple of times. "Oh, I bet there is at least *one* stage magician who is *actually* the real deal. Maybe it was Copperfield himself, who knows!" she remarks and rolls all four shoulders, before she reaches out with a hand. A long, subtly curved claw extends from one stretching finger, and she actually stabs and lifts one of her pieces of meat before she slips it into her mouth.

Happily chewing she lets that claw disappear before the finger curls again, and she looks at Zoe, subtly tilting her head. "Mh...It'sh more a kind of mental ekshershishe, I preshume. Channeling of Q-" she pauses. "Mana, yesh. Channeling of Mana to changshe your body with it, temporarily."

No, she isn't above talking with her mouth full, still - though she swallows a moment later and licks her lips.

Wait. That tongue. That was..rather pointy and dark. And glistening. That tongue is different too. Jeez.

She peers down at those canine-wolfish feet of the other, before she reaches down with one hand and playfully - if slowly, to indicate that she is about to actually *do* it - toes one, two of those toes between two fingers and just feels. Runs a finger over the naturally canine claws there, feels the padding. "So many things are *right* but...ah.." she says "It is interesting. *Very* interesting!" She lifts a hand and waves a finger. "It is like you are getting the shape mostly right, and you are getting it right how the stuff feels from the *outside*, but I bet on the inside, things are not quiiite right *yet*. As much as it pains me to say this, I think we will have to make you study a few...freshly death things at some point."

Zoe holds her foot still, even putting it out for inspection. Xiu is clearly the expert here, after all. She flexes her foot after the critique, feeling it move and the bits inside shifting. "I would not take that bet. I can pretty much guarantee you're right. Especially since this is the first time I've tried something like this. Everything else has been simpler, smaller. I have studied the biology, but only from books. I wasn't the type to dissect the neighbors cats or anything. I'm a bit of a weirdo, but not that kind. Do you really think that a... closer look at insides could help?"

"Yes." Xiu says, nodding as she extends the claw again, and stabs the second piece of meat before she brings that one towards her lips - though she is not taking a bite yet, still looking at Zoe there. "It would help. Studying anatomy via books does as well, of course." she lightly rolls shoulders. "And I highly, highly suggest doing that, actually. But for the actual tactile knowledge? Yes, there is not much that can help aside of taking things apart."

A grin spreads her lips. "Although depending on your abilities, said taking apart needn't be physical."

Zoe snickers softly, trying some more mead. "I hope you don't mean running down wolves in the wild to kill and rip apart. I don't think I could manage that. I never even learned regular hunting. But I could maybe get some things from a butcher's shop? Or a farmer's market? Not dogs, but birds, pigs, things like that. I admit, it sounds a bit gross, but I'm seeing your point. Reading and doing are just not the same thing. Practice is great, but I need to know what to practice in the first place. What to compare my progress to. Is that how you got started though, running things down out here, like a primal huntrix?"

"I can provide some things." Xiu says - and gestures down at the meat they are eating. She grins. "You *would* have to face the sight of me opening up an animal, though. Though you would also be surprised at how..." she peers at Zoe. "...not gross it can seem. We *are* predators. We are just not raised that way ever since the meat has started to come out of the supermarkets." she murmurs and bares pointy teeth, grinning.

The question what got her started though is...well..it makes her smile fade a bit. "It is a long story. And a bit complicated. But my first steps in the wild *were* under the guiding hand of my mentor, way back. A witch, of course. Surprise." she remarks and then slips the piece of meat into her mouth, carefully retracting the claw before she chews and closes her eyes for a moment. Tasty, tasty meat. "Mh.."

A swallow later those feline eyes open and peer at Zoe. "And as I said, there are alternatives to prying things apart physically. But it is good to *start* with being physical. It prepares you for certain things."

Zoe adjusts her glasses, not feeling much like a predator herself. Overall she's still a picture of being civilized, the way she sits, eats, and wears clothing. Feet aside. She gets the point about humanity in general, and intellectually she knows the deal when it comes to meat even if it's from a farm. "Not gross? I have been told that farming and even homesteading is not for the squeamish. I did ok in biology classrooms with dissection labs, but that was a pretty controlled setup. I could try it though. Your way, I mean. What's the worst that could happen? I'm not sure what you mean by non-physical though? Isn't either dissection or butchering done with some sort of knife? Or claws, I guess?"

"And Mongolian nomads gut animals while their little ones get to nibble on raw, bloody meat." Xiu remarks and softly laughs. "'squeamish' is not the most natural of states. It is taught. But yes, you should not be squeamish when doing something like that." she remarks, and then spears the last of the three pieces she hand. Her fingers flick, to trap the piece between two fingertips again. She tilts her head back and just lets it drop into her mouth, before she happily chews - and swallows early. There is talking to be done. "Dissection is physical, yes." she murmur sand then eyes Zoe for a longer, silent moment...before she smiles, softly. "Do you trust me?"

Zoe looks over to the witch, in her current form which some people would probably call freakish. The question sets her to wondering. She's had no reason to really fear the other woman yet, but trust is something else. She doesn't know her that well, not really. And the very question raises the issue itself to the forefront. But then again, she could probably get gutted her here and nobody would ever know what happened to her. So, in for a penny, in for a pound, right? All of this flashes through her dark eyes in a matter of seconds, only slowed that long by the unmeasured amount of mead swirling in her system. So she shrugs and gives a cheerful sounding, "Sure, why not?"

"Good answer." Xiu says, grinning, and places one of her hands on Zoe's right shoulder. The witch moves off the log, turning to face Zoe more, those taloned feet digging into the soil a bit - as one of the other hands extends a claw. Ooooh dea-

-ear...no, she is not stabbing Zoe Instead the finger bends, and the claw stabs the palm of the hand it belongs to. Enough to draw crimson blood of the witch herself. Then the claw dips into the blood, before the finger straightens - and Xiu leans over Zoe. Another hand comes, covering Zoe's eyes all of a sudden, leaving the forehead free - and the witch begins to murmurs something. To chant something, in a strange language. Not English. Not Asian-sounding. Guttural sounds mixed with something..else.

That claw touches Zoe's forehead. There is no pain, bu there is the feeling of warmth, of wetness. Xiu's blood or her own? Hard to tell.

Zoe's nerves spike again, her fight or flight response getting another workout. She defaults to freezing, much like she did after the initial jump earlier today. Clearly she's doing something mystical, which seems even stranger now that she can't see it. So she focuses on feeling and listening, the senses she has left. Plus the smell of the blood, too. What a weird day this is turning into. It is the right season for it though, even if this is not the kind of witch you'd find in a Spirit Halloween store.

Eventually her curiosity drives her to open her mouth and ask, "What are you doing?"

And the fourth hand just moves to place itself against Zoe's left waist. Gently. A soft squeeze. But the witch continues to chant - to downright snarl at tiles as there is motion on Zoe's forehead. That claw tip, moving back and forth. Warm. Wet. There is a feeling filling Zoe's head. A buzz. A lightheadedness. Something *in* her head as the witch's words seem to fill it. So close to her left ear now, a snarled whisper as the feeling of that claw moving on her forehead seems to intensify!

... ...and then the hand suddenly leaves Zoe's eyes. She can see. And it is overwhelming.

Xiu, looking down at her. That strange witchbeast. But it's not just the outside that Zoe sees. There are shifting impressions. of bone, of flowing blood, of organs. That tongue as it comes up from Xiu's throat, so strange and inhuman, resting in that mouth now that the talking is over. The glowing energies of pulsating life. That brain, in there. The sensations and sense of it all coming in wave, gone again, then going strong again. Should Zoe look (or *stare*) down along Xiu...yes, she can see inside. The changed anatomy. The way the muscles are laid out. Wet. Organs. The pregnant, large womb with the growing offsprings inside. The rest of those genitals. A trace of life, in there, that does seem separate. She recently fucked. No wonder the witch is shameless if she can see such tings.

Changed leg bones, that tail. So much, so many things flood Zoe's senses.

It's not just the witch. The trees in the background, blurry, but their structure unraveling. TIny glowing spots in the air. The fire they are sitting next to almost seems dim compared to the overwhelming sensations all around.

The witch grins, but Zoe could already see those teeth before the lips part.

Zoe does stare, she absolutely can't help it. It's a rush of information, but also quite the rush. And so visceral! So visceral in fact that her own stomach does a quick swirling and protest. She clamps her free hand over her mouth, commanding her insides to calm down. Which almost goes wrong as she takes a quick glance down at herself and sees her stomach, and its contents. But she holds out. Even with the shock, her mind is sharp and her will is strong, so she gets a hold of herself quickly. The rising gorge gives way to growing fascination, first with the view of her stomach becoming obedient, but more importantly back to her study of Xiu's form, inside and out. Her eyes trace through organs methodically now, seeing the connections, the layers. She doesn't even blush at the realization of the witch's recent sexual activity, the sight of the effects being way too interesting to get all prudish about it now.

She can't stay silent forever though, so eventually her awestruck voice leaks out. "Holy... everything. This is goddamned amazing, how did you-"

She trails off again, a moment spent staring at the workings of Xiu's extraordinary and alien mouth parts, before she finally thinks to look down at both of their feet. Her eyes trace the structures there, looking at what she did wrong, and what the witch had done right.

Well. Xiu's feet *are* very different by their very nature. A comparison seems hard - especially with the brain abuzz with the strange, unused-to sensations. But there *is* a *feeling* that Zoe might get, as another wave of the inside view rolls over those digits and limbs. Xiu's feet..their insides..are so very inhuman. After those lower legs meld into those unusual shapes, there is simply nothing human left - not even on the smallest bit of inside. In the case of Zoe's? The outside is different. The shape of the bones is different. But somehow, it *looks* like a reshaped human limb on the inside. Perhaps that is what the witch meant.

Xiu does not interrupt. Her hands have drawn back, aside of that one hand on the shoulder, the other on the waist. Perhaps to keep Zoe steady, just in case. "Mind blowing, isn't it?" she softly says. An understatement if there ever was any. She grins again, glassy lips sliding over teeth. "As for how I did it? I told you. creepy forest witch." A soft cackle leaves her, and Zoe can see that tongue moving, bending in the mouth, down that throat. When she peaks, when she laughs. Can see the musculature of that neck move. Can see the trachea, the moving vocal cords, the larynx move.

Zoe keeps on staring, her gaze drawn from bit to bit in an increasingly random manner. Just whatever moves more, or creates a flash of fresh interest. Awestruck seems like a rank understatement. Perhaps gobsmacked is better? But sooner or later she nods in answer to the question. "Mind blowing seems like too small of a word. But yes, basically. So chalk one up for creepy forest witches in my book. And happy Halloween to both of us, too. Seriously though, this is amazingly cool. And I clearly have so much more studying to do. How long did it take you to master this?"

"Tell me when the headache starts." Xiu cautions, as she slowly draws the hands away from shoulder and waist.

She then tilts her head a bit, and softly chuckles. "Mmmh. This? Ah. Well, perhaps not to this *extent*, but this was one of the first things I learned, actually.." she murmurs. "Though on a smaller scale, I guess. Single things. Small things. Plucking them apart, seeing the pulsing rhythm of life. How it breathes and grows and spreads and dies..."

Zoe puts her fingers to her temples, in a precautionary probing sense. Then she's immediately distracted by her own hands. Spidery and thin as her fingers are, the complex mechanism of the human hand are an impressive sight under this effect. "Should I expect a headache? Is that a common side effect of this?"

She looks up with the question, and the wider view of the forest starts giving her a hint on that front. She lowers her head again to focus back on the things close by, mostly the insides belonging to herself and Xiu.

"Sooner than later." Xiu murmurs and chuckles softly - noticing the telltale sign of a wince when Zoe draws her glassy gaze back towards..well. them. Xiu moves a hand - this time, to take a hold of Zoe's and then the witch places another of hers, upside down, onto Zoe's - fingers spreading.

She can see the claws, inside. A strange setup there. Not quite natural - the claws themselves actually like needles resting inside the *palm*. Channels and sinew and tendons inside the fingers to pull them forward, through the fingers, out the tips. No wonder Xiu kept the fingers straight while extending or retracting them.

Zoe focuses her attention on the hand and the claws, tilting her head and moving her view down and around the digits pinning hers between them. "This isn't anything like cat's claws, did you design this yourself? Or is there some strange beastie out there that does it like this? Not dragons, I wouldn't think..."

"I did." Xiu admits. "Design them myself, I mean. There is only so much space inside normal fingers for long claws. You will notice that even a cat's claws are short but curved. Long slicey claws are not a thing when retractable. These are.

A grin spreads her lips again - before she lifts that hand, places two fingers beneath Zoe's chin and lifts the other's head a bit - peering at her. "You are handling this way better than most I've witnessed do. Admittedly I have only seen a few, but at least one other witch I met told me at length how seeing her own guts for the first time was not exactly..well. She did see her stomach quite empty a moment later.

Zoe's lips spread in a smile of her own, a slightly wicked one she can't see herself, or the tongue working behind her teeth. She blinks a few times as more of the world enters her field of view, but she keeps a lid on it for now as she gets a better look at Xiu above the neck. "Sorry to disappoint? But I'm not a complete amateur here, I have been studying this for a few years now. And this is far too good an opportunity to waste on vomiting, I think. Who's got time for that, when there's all of this around us?"

"Indeed." Xiu murmurs and grins right back, before she slips the fingers from beneath Zoe's chin. "Take another look around. A short one. Focus back on me when it becomes too much." she remarks and leans a bit back, then slips to the side a bit - casting a quick glance behind to avoid the fire. That and to reach sideways, slip fingers into one of the small bowls, and start seasoning a whole raw steak. "Actually. Keep an eye on this..." she says and nods towards that steak. There is still life in it. Zoe can see all those muscle fibers, glowing a bit. Faintly now. But it is still there.

And then Xiu tosses it onto the hot stone.

Zoe takes a deep breath as she starts to turn her gaze to the forest, until her attention is recalled to the steak. She focuses on the dim light within, leaning forward to see better until she slips off the log into more of an awkward kneel/crawl on her hands and transformed legs to get a closer look at it.

As the sizzle comes, Zoe can see it. The life leaving the steak, as cells sear, boil, strings of muscle contract. The details are vague, as all she can see is the life fading and changing - but soon enough that glow is gone. She can't see inside the steak at all anymore. It is just a sizzling steak, looking normal. "Do you understand now what it is that you are seeing?" Xiu wonders, before she lifts the meat, and her sharp teeth slice chunk off. She chews, swallows, and Zoe can watch as the contractions of the throat pull the piece down, into Xiu's stomach. That dark spot, just sitting in there now as the stomach moves a bit.

Zoe frowns, in contemplation rather than consternation. Her eyes remain fixed on the darkened chunk of meat in Xiu's core, now in the process of becoming one with her. "It's... Well, it can't simply be cellular energy. It does seem linked to that somehow, but not exactly the same thing. Is it a form of the mana we were talking about earlier, meshed in with flesh? In a sort of more natural and innate state, since I'm assuming the deer wasn't a sorcerer either?"

The witch lets out a soft laugh, her tail flick flicking. Should Zoe look over, she can see the contracting long muscles, the shimmer of bones moving inside. The abdominal muscles of hers, tensing a bit. The abs, parted down the middle, from the pregnant belly and womb. "Life." she finally says and gestures with a hand over herself, over Zoe all around. "You are seeing life. Its flowing throb, its shapes. The steak was still alive. Unrotten meat. The deer was dead, but its meat still alive. You could have transplanted it, still. But that was gone when it was boiled, fried, burnt..."

Zoe smiles back, but there's still a crease in her brow at the laughter. Even if it wasn't fully mocking. "Isn't that just a different way of saying what I did though? Life, sure, but I was trying to be more specific. Isn't calling it Life just over simplifying things?"

"Not...quite." Xiu says, the witch for a moment seemingly struggling at how to explain the concept. "You are not...hmmh." She pauses - and smacks her lips together, before she actually offers a bite of the steak to Zoe. well seasoned. Also well done given how long it actually has been on the stone when they were both gazing at it. "'Life energy'. Life. In a way the same thing, but it is not 'cellular energy'. There is life without cells." The witch grins. "No, you are seeing the very essence of life. It goes beyond schoolbook biology. It goes beyond the mundane." She softly inhales. "It is hard to explain. It is a thing you need to....'get'.." she tries to put it.

Zoe leans back, sitting on the ground to free up her hands and accept the piece of steak. She thinks while she chews, trying to re-frame her thoughts into that vein. "Ok, so you mean it in a sense of a pure and raw concept then? More... fundamental than either mana or mitochondrial whatsis? Quick aside though, what has live without cells? Are we counting viruses here, or are you going in a completely different direction?"

"Yes." Xiu says and nods. "More fundamental. Raw." The witch grins, baring teeth. "But I am a raw thing, aren't I?" she remarks, before she licks her claw clean. Lapping up her own blood. Or is it Zoe's? What did she *do* on that forehead, for that matter? That might be a thought that's coming back.

"And yes. Viruses for one. I am not exactly the type to think along the lines of 'The four humours'." she remarks and lets out a soft snort. "Nor does illness come from bad spirits." She pauses. "....uuuusually..."

Zoe looks at Xiu, having to concede that particular point. She's surely not as simple as she seemed in the city, or even close to the extra that Zoe had assumed about her beyond that. She exceeded all expectations in all such regards.

She does start wondering about her forehead again, but refrains from touching it. It doesn't hurt, yet. And she knows enough about runes and sigils to be wary of disrupting anything carelessly. She could get a selfie pic with her phone, but that seems like it would be crass.

So instead she quips on the current subject. "Can maybe bad spirits create viruses and bacteria from scratch?"

"Maybe there is one out there that can do that, yes." the witch murmurs, idly brushes a hand through her braids, before she makes sure to pull them back properly - lest one ends up on the hot stone. She reaches out with another hand, and plucks up another piece of meat. "There are spirits for many things out there. Spirits of fire. Of streams, or wood and rock. Of the forest and the deserts and the sands and the wind. It would not be surprising if there is one that deals with such things. But honestly?" She tilts her head. "If an illness is the result of a spirit after all, it is more probably a curse of sorts. Curses are powerful things..." She grins and places the piece of meat onto the stone, the sizzling sound rising. Zoe can, again, witness the change from life to death in there. "But that is neither here nor there, right now, mh? Shapeshifting. Tell me, how does it *feel* when you do it?"

Zoe reaches down to run her fingers over one of her new legs, pressing the tips in hard to probe through the skin. "That's kind of hard to describe, but I think I'd have to go with words like gooey, and stretchy. It's all kind of warm and wobbly while it's happening. It's weird, but it doesn't actually hurt, either. It's not something actually covered by my materials, but I assumed it's because the nerves are moving and haven't resettled and reconnected yet? Once it's done and set, it feels pretty normal. As normal as it can be, considering how rarely humans have fur or scales or whatever."

She flexes her wolfy toes with a little wiggle. "Is it the same for you when you do your thing?"

A soft chuckle escapes Xiu - and she lifts the meat off the stone already. The slide is raw inside, seared on the outside. "Interesting. Very interesting." she murmurs, still eying the steak piece. "Your flesh and bone simply reshape. There is no blood, no pain. Simply a..." one of her free hands gestures, claws retracting to not harm her own palm. "...a reshaping, yes. A morph, in a way." She finally takes a bite off the piece - half of it anyways, sharp teeth cutting through, before she offers the other half to Zoe. "So unlike my own."

Zoe turns her head to look over Xiu's form again. Advanced is one way to put it, at least. It's not even really animal features, which is what Zoe usually cribs from when not simply switching around normal human features a little. "Well, it is magic. I'm glad it doesn't require cutting parts off to regrow them or something that heinous. If it did, I'd have found something else to study. Your way hurts though? Why? You don't have to do the chopping off bits thing, do you? I was making that up!"

"Oh no no. No, I do not need to chop *off* bits." the witch murmurs and eyes one of her arms, while she slips the other half of the piece of meat into her own mouth as well - before she slowly chews, and swallows. That sharp, inhuman tongue licks her lips. "But my own changes? Well. They are not as...peaceful. Still, the pain is gone once it is over. It does not linger. But my own changes are a rather visceral affair." Her long tail flicks behind her a bit, as she focuses on Zoe again.

"Imagine how you described yours. That fluid, seamless changing from one state to the other. That melding. Imagine mine being quite the opposite. The sounds. The sights. It is intense. But, as you can see..." she says and then brushes four hands down over her own body rather shamelessly. "...it is worth it. Going further is *worth* it. Turning into other things is *worth* it, because it is the only way to truly *understand* them."

She softly inhales. "Just be aware that usually it does not exactly put humanity in the best of lights, once you learned how creatures experience life - and death."

Zoe imagines that pretty clearly, her face tightening into a grimace and a cold shudder running down her spine. She draws her knees up and wraps her arms around them, which doesn't look quite right with her current leg shape. "So, something more like an old werewolf horror movie then? Ouch. Sorry. I think I get what you mean about humans though, at least a little. Not everything is pretty, all the time. But what about this shape? What does it help you understand? It's not really like anything else out there, right?"

"Oh, nothing to be sorry for." the witch remarks, and softly laughs, sharp teeth on display. "I *am* a monster right now, aren't I? Well..." A gesture. "Insofar as anything that is dangerous to humans gets called a monster. But that is my point. When you were...dozens of different creatures. When you lived like they do...then you realize how absolutely utterly monstrous humans can look in other's eyes." A wave of a hand follows. "Death is normal in life, as is killing." She gestures at the meat. "Predator and prey are part of the cycle. As is war, ironically. Tribes fighting tribes. Murder. Rape. None of these things were *invented* by humans, but the way humans raze the land, slaughter millions of creatures daily, stomp on them for simply existing or not looking appealing, despite simply wanting to live..." The witch sharply inhales and looks at Zoe. "That becomes a thing that you become more and more aware of, the more you..experience them. A word of warning, if you will, from me. But most certainly *not* a word of discouragement. I would not go back on any of my experiences along those lines."

Zoe hugs her legs a little tighter as the already dark topic turns even bleaker. Her eyes drop from the witch to stare into the fire, taking a long moment to absorb all that while rocking on her seat in small motions. "That's more than I can manage so far, so it hasn't come up yet. I never really thought about the predator and prey divide though. I was mostly thinking about owls as a goal, which is at least mostly a predator. I'm not sure what might hunt them. Have you spent a lot of time as a deer or things like that? Is it dangerous? It sounds like it. Are there wolves or mountain lions around here? Not to mention human hunters?"

"There are, yes." Xiu says, nodding as Zoe lists the possible dangerous creatures around. "And yes. I have been hunted. Less so than I *have* hunted, but it has happened. I..." She hesitates - and then slightly tilts her head, softly chuckling. "Mmmh. No. I will not tell that part yet. But yes." she nods. "I am an equal opportunity shifter, so to speak."

She then rises off the wooden log, one hand on her pregnant abdomen - but simply to turn more towards Zoe, one taloned foot stepping across the log before she settles down again. "Tell me, what things have you done so far?"

Zoe lets go of her legs so that she can tick off a count on her fingers. Which is distracting for a moment as she looks at her bones through the skin again, but she regains her train of thought and presses on. "First I started with simple stuff. Eye color, hair color and length, that sort of thing. Practically a party trick, really. Second, I got to the point where I could really change things. Get bigger, smaller, and fix my eyes so I didn't need glasses, but only for a little while. Now I can change to look like anyone, or close to it. Even guys. Third, I started copying animal features. I did a killer set of butterfly wings for a faerie costume. But cat tails, fox ears, gills, these legs. That sort of stuff. That's about where I'm at at this point, I can't manage a full transformation into an animal yet, I'm still pretty locked into a human form overall. Which might because I'm not going deep enough, like you said about the leg job here?"

"Oh?" Xiu lets out as she leans towards Zoe, those feline eyes of hers widening their dark pupils a bit. "You fixed your eyes? Good for you!" she says, and the sound of those words sounds quite honest and happy there. "And not an unimpressive feat, either. Still, ah..." She parts her lips and pulls air in between them a soift hissing sound. "Still, be careful. Going full animal is more than just changing all the looks. It goes deep, yes." The witch taps her chest with one set of fingers. "It goes all the way. Which is actually a danger when you are not used to it." She lifts the same hand, and blindly gestures towards a random direction with a light wiggle of her hand and those fingers. "The amount of non-human animals out there that are actually a shapeshifter whom got lost in that form? That amount is not zero." She lets that hang. "When you fully turn animal, you will risk losing yourself in it at first. When you manage to change fully, do not do it for long. When you are that beast, and you notice your thoughts getting...more confused than they already are from experiencing a whole new form, hit the abort button. Play it safe, for as long as you need to."

Zoe looks up as Xiu approaches blinking a few times as her eyes delve past the skin. Even meeting the gaze of those bestially formed eyes contains a lesson to be chewed on later. "I had heard of that sort of thing happening, yes. Some books link that to the rise of stories of lycanthropes. Which is not how I want to end up. I was thinking of having some friends around when I try it for the first time, to be on the safe side. And maybe start with something less dangerous, like an owl. But I haven't gotten there yet. I will keep that warning in mind though too. Just for a few minutes the first time."

She tilts her head as another though pops up on her too. "Actually, I have some other things to try out that will take some friends willing to guinea pig for me, too. I think I may be able to change other people? The theory is sound, but I haven't tried it in practice yet. And I want to review my notes a few more times, too. But maybe next week I'll be ready to give that a try?"

"Oh, the stories about lycanthropes are..well, they have a much older origin." Xiu murmurs and subtly smirks. "A very real one, too. But yes, I don't doubt that different kinds of shapeshifters all played a role, there." the witch remarks, before she glances sideways, down at the hot stones, and the fire. The latter has gotten smaller, and the stones are cooling by now. "Well. Yes. One can." Xiu remarks, and peers back at Zoe, smirking. "You mentioned tales. Just think of the old tales of angry gods shifting people. Or greek sorceresses turning men into pigs? Or..." she grins a sharp grin. "A witch turning people into toads..."

Zoe raises an eyebrow at the hints about lycanthropes, and other types of shape shifters too? But coming around to turning people into pigs raises a small smirk on her lips. "Ah, yes, Circe. Those tales do come up a lot. Not that I really intend to do that, but sometimes when someone cuts you off in traffic... Just kidding. In fact, you mentioned curses earlier, I do know a bit about that too. It's something else I don't actually do, though. I much prefer weaving in good luck to bad. But it's one of those things pretty easily done in reverse. But I am not an angry god, or even a wicked witch. Even when parking spots get stolen by people with BMWs. But what about you? Have you studied more than shapeshifting too?"

"Mmmh. Yes, Circe." Xiu remarks and softly laughs. "Pigs get such a bad rep, seriously.." she murmurs. "They are clever, clever things. And actually quite hygienic creatures, unless you shove ten of them into a small cell. And tasty." She softly inhales between her teeth again. "Oh so tasty. Never underestimate the convincing power of bacon."

Having said that, Xiu mhrs, narrowing her eyes a bit as she lifts a finger. "Curses are...or should be, at least, very deliberate. Never do one in jest or from a light heart. Not a true one. They might well outlast yourself." she remarks, and then curls that finger a bit - before she smirks, one cheek rising. "And yes, I have....studied...more things. What kinds of things strike your fancy, I wonder?"

Zoe's smile grows a degree at the description of pigs. "I admit I've enjoyed a ham sandwich here and there. As for other things, I'm not sure. There's lots of things I've read about existing, but getting actual details on practices is harder. But some of them sound impressive but not actually useful in day to day life. Like conjuring fire. Pretty cool in action movies, but not something I want to do in a bookstore. Hmmm, what else... I've got a friend who knows how to work enchantments into objects. She's going to give me some examples soon. That could be worth looking into more. Past that? I'm not even sure. I'm sure there's more neat and interesting stuff out there though. Maybe some things I haven't even heard of yet. So I'll be looking, for sure."

"Well, I *can* tell you that I am the kind of witch that prefers to use plain, old, mundane ways of getting things done, if I can help it. The Craft deserves respect. In its teaching, in its execution, and..in *not* using it when you don't need to." Xiu says, and gazes at the fire near them. "I made that fire with just wood and friction. Not words nor rite. But..." her strange eyes flick sideways, glancing at Zoe, before the witch swivels her horned head a bit. "..it looks like you are trying to figure out directions. Limits. Ways to go, maybe?" Her tail suddenly curls around, and she slides it over her own lap, two of her hands moving to brush along it.

"Mh. Mhmhmmh. Mh. I wonder how slowly to take things.."

Zoe leans back, stretching her legs forward for balance and crossing them at the ankles. What counts for them at the moment, anyway. "Yeah, you could say that. Or I will be soon, at least. I do want to focus on the arts I've already started on before getting too distracted by something new, even if it is shiny. Eventually though, I expect to plateau and need to find something new. I guess that counts as taking it slow? By my methods anyway, your craft seems like it comes from a whole different direction. As for limits, there must be some, right? I haven't found them yet, but I figure if I keep on pushing eventually I'll hit a wall. Is that what you mean?"

"Mh. The area within those limits is incredibly vast, Zoe." Xiu softly murmurs, and brushes some of her braids back with her two other hands. It seems so natural on her. Two hands doing one thing. Two doing another. Her not even focusing on either. "It is just that I do not want to overwhelm you. Not much more than I already have." She softly chuckles, and eyes the other. "How is the head?" she wonders.

Zoe reaches up to rub her temples, exploratorily. "Not bad, really. As long as I keep my head down and focus on one thing at a time. Which is kind of the trick overall to avoid getting overwhelmed by anything right? It's interesting that closing my eyes doesn't change things that much, it just makes me focus on the blood vessels in my eyelids. Which is also pretty wild. Bodies are just so complex, down to the finest details and patterns. But I'm coping ok so far. I just hope it wears off before the walk back through the woods. Or the drive home after that."

She lets her hands drop back to her knees, rubbing them through her slacks. "What else is there that might be overwhelming then? I like to think I'm a fast learner, it might not be as bad as you think."

"Oh, most of life is complex and ever changing..." Xiu murmurs, before she lets out a soft laugh. "It takes quite some times to even explore the own body." A gesture. "Puns and innuendo intended I guess. But the point stands. Exploring all that is you is, in itself, quite the adventure. And as much as I talk about experiencing life through a different animal's eyes, it can be just as interesting to be another human for a short while. Someone taller. Someone smaller. Older. Younger. Overweight. Thin. Male, female, things in between, frail and strong, blonde, black, brown, asian, caucasian, african, whatever all categorizations and types you want to list.."

Zoe gets only a quick flash of a grin, getting it reigned in as the subject shifts to be a bit more serious. "True, even within the bounds and limits of humanity, there's an awful lot of variation. And it is interesting to see things from different perspectives. I did get to experience being able to reach high shelves once, and that was neat. It's not something I can let customers catch me doing though. And I don't really want to do blackface, even if it's not quite the same thing. It still seems like it would be rude, somehow."

"I assure you, it is not rude." Xiu remarks and lightly rolls her shoulders. "It is simply human physique, attuned for better survival in different regions. From shape to thickness to skin color, everything." A grin spreads her lips again. "Although we have done *certain* natural selection quite early in certain regions. There is a reason we have quite large dicks and mammaries even for apes." She smirks, before she nods, lightly. "But..yes. Be careful when you experiment. Always make sure your shop is locked tight. Or you can at least pretend to be somebody else."

Zoe's nostrils flare in a short snort of a laugh at the more brazen part of Xiu's comment. "Well, I guess I'll take your word on that. And the advice. I've mostly done it in my apartment without going out. Although Halloween did provide some cover recently. Not many holidays do that though. I do need to get a more varied wardrobe though. At least some one size fits all things. Hey, is that why you usually have sweats?"

Xiu grins, wide. "Oh, Halloween is a very fun time, yes." she agrees, nodding - before she hrms, and shakes her head, sitting up more straight. "Oh, no. No, the reason why I tend to wear baggy, thick clothes.." the witch spreads two arms at that. "Despite obviously preferring to wear none at all for any reason-" the arms lower. "..is because of my physique. That musculature I have when being a plain girl is quite natural. But nobody is going to believe that some street rat bum girl is ripped as fuck, so I hide that with baggy clothes. Hard to guess a physique that way. Trust me, if it wasn't for hobo mode and certain areas just being dangerous for girls that aren't wearing much, I'd wear the skimpiest things I can find."

Zoe nods, glancing over at the muscles she's got in this form with her currently enhanced sight. Then down at her own much less robust physique. "That's not something I ever really had to worry about. You would stand out a bit more. Not as much as if you walked down the street like you are now, of course. Even Halloween wouldn't cover that. And they don't make hoodies with 4 sleeves, either. Is it hard to balance the whole split between this and that? I mean, I gather that this is what you prefer, out here, or you wouldn't do it? And 'hobo mode' is just a cover you use to... Visit people?"

Those muscles the witch has right now? oh, they go way beyond human. Zoe can see that, right now. How *dense* that musculature of Xiu's current form is. How they are laid out, subtly reshaped, and internally changed to be...stronger. Faster. Even though overall, she does not look that much bulkier than she does otherwise already. Right now she could probably rip Zoe right in half. It is *that* different. She was not kidding earlier when she said that she might be a monster right now.

"Oh, I already stand out with the hair. Hobomode explains that part away, even if it is an eye catcher." Xiu murmurs and waves a hand. "Though normal folk try to avoid looking at dirty homeless people for long. They actually try to actively ignore them." She smirks, wide. "Suits me fine. And...well.." She cants her horned head. "I do it to visit people. I do it to spend days in the city, watching folk. Listening. Exploring. As I said, acting as a hobo - which I actually *am* if you think about it - makes you pass unseen and uncared for in a lot of spots. In other spots, police are going to bust your ass."

She softly inhales, her smile vanishing a bit. "In *some* spots police like to bust you for being homeless, and quote 'A fucking chink'."

Zoe looks more impressed by the craftswomanship of the biological upgrades than afraid of it. Earlier nervousness and witchy monstrous aside, it doesn't feel all that likely at this point that she was brought out all this way and shown all of this just to get ripped in half. Then her grimace comes back at the description of the police, and she falls silent for a moment. What can you say to that? "Sorry. That sucks. Another part of humans being awful, like you were saying before. Now there's a reason to curse someone. A little one maybe, lots of stubbed toes or something. Make them attract bedbugs? Not that they'd learn anything from it."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not the type to let *that* get me down anymore." Xiu grins, showing rows of sharp teeth again. "You *really* stop caring about called anything regarding your physique, when you are an expert shapeshifter. When form and shape and everything become fluid. Things like that become even more shallow than they already are." She pauses. "If *others* are insulted like that though...." she softly inhales and smirks. "Well. Anyways. When in doubt, there is always curses, indeed." She winks, before she finally, slowly pulls her tail off her lap, and then playfully places it across Zoe's lap instead. "Careful. It might be filled with spiders." It isn't, of course. Zoe can see *that*.

Zoe lets go of the darker topic, filing away the new note on how being an expert shapeshifter might change perspectives. She turns her head down as the tail gets closer, taking the opportunity for the closer examination. It's such a strange combination of features, closer to human than other animals in some ways, but also not what any human would naturally have. The spider comment does make her hesitate before letting her fingers join her eyes in the examination. "Well, that would be silly, wouldn't it? If you really wanted to build in some sort of feature like that, I'd think hornets or wasps would make a much better defensive deterrent than spiders. Yikes, right?"

"You say that, until it bursts into spiders." Xiu remarks. But no. It is human skin, long slender muscles, and just an elongated spin. Warm. She wiggles it a bit and chuckles as she bends it over the hands a bit. "As I said before, handy for keeping balance. Just also needs a bit of constant leaning forward, unless you really want to give the abs a workout." The witch winks, before she finally plucks up a piece of meat again. The stones are now way more cold - but she does not care. Mostly because she slips the piece just into her mouth, raw, and slowly chews.

Zoe nods, freshly fascinated by the reworked flesh and bone with the closer inspection. Her spidery fingers trace over the vertebrae as she studies it. She's getting much more used to the oddness of the whole thing now that her shock from earlier in the day has had time to settle down and sift through her brain. "Does it weigh that much? I tried a cat tail the other night, but it didn't seem to change my stance that much. But the proportions were different, and I wasn't really walking or running around much. My apartment's not that big."

"Well, cat tails are very thin, technically, under that fur. Less used for balance, too." Xiu remarks and grins., Her tail? Pretty much as thick as a thin arm at the wrist. The length itself adds weight. One could call it a tentacle if it wasn't for those vertebrae.

As Zoe touches a spot, a rapid wiggle runs through it for a moment, and Xiu presses her lips together. "Mmmh, and that is a ticklish spot. Careful."

Zoe draws her hands back, looking sheepish as some self-consciousness returns. "Oops, sorry. I wasn't really thinking- Sorry. Uh, what would you call this then, if I were going to try something like it? My first thought was kangaroo for something more weighty, but that's even past this."

The witch lets out a soft laugh. "I did not say you can't touch it. I'd not have put it on your lap if you shouldn't." she remarks, amused, and for a moment *really* has to resist moving that tail from that little rush of emotions alone. "Mmh. Well, this?" She gestures at the tail. "This is a human tail. If humans still had tails. Well, I am not sure they would have been this long, but.." she shrugs, grinning. "A thing that possibly never existed in this exact shape."

Zoe lets her hands drop back to the tail, but more gently and gingerly this time. "Well, it is amazing. The whole deal, really, it's well beyond any of the examples or techniques I've found so far. But I guess that makes sense. You don't really seem like the bookish type, so your methods might not come from them? And anyone who did see something probably would have had trouble describing something like... you. What inspired you for this, anyway? Is it just the result of a lot of tinkering over time?"

Xiu lets out a soft snort. "I never read a single book about witchcraft in all my life." she remarks. "Well, none that weren't just plain..normal." A grin spreads her lips again. "A mentor, in the early days. Now.." Xiu inhales. "She teaches me. And I am her priestess and tool." 'She' definitely does not refer to her mentor, there.

The next reaction is a sort of happy smile and eager nod. "And yes!" she lifts two of her hands. "Exactly that. This form is not made to experience life, but made from my own...creativity so to speak. Fueled by past experiences. How it is to have a tail. Feline eyes. Horns. More than four limbs. Such things, but all those experiences simply put into a new shape of my own design."

Zoe thinks it over, forgiving the lack of books in passing. Nobody's perfect. "That must have taken a long time then, huh? And it's still basically human, kind of. Just pushed further than normal, in different directions. But not as a combination of other parts, like a cockatrice or manticore. It's... rather impressive. Maybe someday I'll be able to do something like it myself."

"My craft is not exactly available in books. At least not in many, and definitely not in those easily available.." Xiu murmurs and smirks, having noticed the hesitation. "It is old. Ancient. Primitive, but not any less powerful." The comment about it still being human..makes her nod a bit. "Human enough, really. Though the lines blur at some point, I guess." A smile moves her lips again, and she reaches out, placing a curled finger beneath Zoe's chin, to lift it a bit - and move that gaze from the tail towards her own face. "You will be able to do it. It is worth it. Experience yourself. Experience being other things. Understand the world."

Zoe blinks at the feline eyes, and nods. Or starts to, but with the finger on her chin it's more felt than really seen as a head movement. Her cheeks bunch up in a smile. "Well, I have to try, especially now. I thought full animal transformation was the peak but after this, that's more of a stepping stone. And yeah, I need to try all the things. So thanks for that lesson, at the very least."

"You are welcome." the witch remarks and chuckles, before she pulls her hand back, and peers up at the darkening sky. "And thank you for the company. Visitors out here are rare. And speaking of visitors, you can stay in the cabin, if you want. It has a fireplace and beds. I am sure your car can survive one night alone."

Zoe follows her gaze and glances up at the sky, then back down quickly after getting too much of a view of the treetops and everything in them in a big wave. While stamping down on the sudden vertigo, she considers the idea of going through the woods at night and in comparison staying in the cabin seems like a much better idea. "Ok, wow, yeah, good idea. I'm sure it'll be fine. And that walk will be a lot easier when the sun comes back up."

Xiu frowns as she spots the reaction. Yeah, there is that. She reaches out, suddenly, and covery Zoe's eyes - before she brushes that hand upward, over the forehead. There is the feeling of wetness, but no pain. The witch simply wipes whatever that was off - and Zoe is left with her normal sight.

"Firewood is ready in there. The unlabeled clear bottles? That's water, so drink when thirsty. It *does* have an integrated outhouse, but don't expect much in terms of plumbing. Shit just goes downhill a bit in the back." She winks. "If you ask me - just go outside somewhere." She gestures around. "Preferably between the trees."