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When all was said and done, Cadi was quite dazed and confused. Where was that deer she'd been about to eat? What was that black thing that she'd fallen into? Who was that human she'd run into in the darkness? And why did she have this fabric on her body?

She tugged at it and twisted around, trying to get a feel for her surroundings, her golden eyes taking in every detail that they could. This wasn't the jungle. It was all so... grey and dark. The smells were all wrong, too. Chemicals, oil, and... people... that set her on edge. She was an apex predator, of course, but she'd lived as long as she had by understanding that humans were even more deadly of predators than her.

Her ears folded back low as she tried to breathe deeply and calm herself down. Even now, she could hear people not entirely too far away. Her searching turned into a hunt for cover, somewhere that she could hide until the humans were gone so that she could get out of this place. She quickly found a spot behind some crates, moving swiftly behind them. She lowered herself into the shadows just in time for a door to open onto the alleyway that Cadi was in.

However, she was quite surprised by who came through the door. She blinked in surprise as she saw a young woman walk into the harsh, sodium glow of the light. She stood on two legs like a human. She wore clothes like a human. She even spoke like a human as she called back into the building while she carried a heavy bag to a dumpster, heaving it into the metal container with ease.

No. What was confusing about her was the fur that covered her body. Soft... sleek fur. And long ears standing atop her head while a small, cottony tail flicked just above her backside. Cadi's eyes re-focused as she felt the pangs of hunger from her missed meal hitting her. Her eyes re-focused as she settled down into a pounce, her brain automatically calculating her trajectory of attack. Human-shaped she might be, but she was still a rabbit. Still prey.

Cadi breathed deeply, focusing on the kill. Just... needed... to... find... the... right... moment...

This would be easy.

So...

Why couldn't she bring herself to attack?

Something in her brain just wouldn't let her follow through with it. It was a person, not a prey animal. Even if it was a rabbit, it was someone, and you don't just eat a someone.

She fought with that new thought in her brain, unable to help but fuss at herself with soft hissing and mrowling, but... the bunny's ears perked up good and high, turning to point right at Cadi.

The tigress abruptly clapped her hand over her mouth and went as quiet as she could, but the damage was done. The rabbit walked over to the crates that she was hiding behind and looked down at Cadi with an eyebrow raised and a less than entirely amused look on her face. "Hmm. I see I've got a stray," she said loftily, her eyes taking Cadi in appraisingly.

Something in Cadi couldn't help but feel... uncomfortable at this, making her fidget and try to find a way out of this encounter.

The rabbit frowned, "You look... lost... and hungry... I'm going to have to insist that you leave the bins be, there's no food scraps in those worth having. So, you'd best come inside with me so I don't have to deal with a food-poisoned tigress sprawled out behind my restaurant."Come inside? This... wasn't how this kind of thing was supposed to goThis rabbit was prey... but she'd been the one to catch Cadi... and she wasn't afraid of a tiger. And... she was going to give Cadi food? She was visibly struggling with this, but after a particularly loud growl from her tummy, she froze for a moment before deflating and sighing. She looked properly defeated as she rose to her feet, not even thinking about the motion as she nodded her head sheepishly. "Okay..." she muttered.

The sound of her voice caught her by surprise, making her pause in following the rabbit, looking at herself before it registered that she was standing on her hind legs. She stopped in her tracks, looking over herself intently. She was upright... and the stuff on her body were clothes like the rabbit was running. Her tail was still there behind her body, which was a relief, but she wasn't a tiger anymore. Not like she used to be. She brought her hands up to her face, feeling that she still had her muzzle... and teeth... and her ears were still on top of her head.

The rabbit watched her with a vague sense of amusement, raising her eyebrow at Cadi and giving her a little smirk. "So, you're one of the new ones, I guess. Whatever happened, it scrambled you pretty hard," she said with a sigh, just patiently giving her a moment to process her new body.

After a moment or two, Cadi looked back up at her, having not really paid attention to what she'd just said, too preoccupied with her new body for that. She looked just so confused by everything as the rabbit sighed and gave her a gentle smile, "Come on, let's get some food into your system," she said.

Cadi's ears perked up nice and high at that, turning to point at the rabbit before she nodded her head eagerly, getting a laugh out of her. The rabbit guided Cadi into the building, which visibly made Cadi a bit uncomfortable at first before her nostrils flared at the smell of cooking food and she looked around the room. They were in a kitchen, and standing behind one of the counters was a great-big humanoid highland cow. "Alright, Robbie, we've got ourselves another stray," the rabbit said with a laugh.

The bull tilted his head a bit and lifted his bangs out of his eyes. "I see that, Cass. Well, let's get some food in her, then," he said with a rich baritone laugh. He walked over to one of the refrigerators and pulled out a nice, big slab of meat. He took it over to the flat top, squirting some oil on it, making it hiss loudly, before he slapped the steak down onto the metal.

Cadi had never been around cooking food, so she came over and watched intently, taking in what was happening. Clearly these two prey animals weren't afraid of her, predator that she was, and so they weren't going to be dangerous to her. And they had food, and they were talking about giving her food. While Cadi's attention was locked on the steak being cooked on the flat top, Cass went and took care of a few other little sides for Cadi to have. As much as the tigress would likely only want the meat, she'd need more than just that.

When the steak was flipped and hissed loudly again, Cadi recoiled for a moment, but was drawn back in by the wonderful smell of it while her eyes took in the lovely sear on that side of the meat. It was such a strange way to eat meat, but it... was really starting to look quite tasty. Robbie made sure to keep it nice and rare, and didn't go heavy seasoning it, just a little salt and pepper to give it that extra touch. After he pulled it, he gave it a moment to rest before taking his kitchen knife to it.

Cadi was so fascinated by the effort he was putting into it, having always eaten her kills raw on the spot. And then there were the vegetables that Cass added to the plate before they took her over to a table where she could sit to eat. Sitting was strange, but she... knew how to do it, somehow. As the plate was set in front of her, part of her brain wanted to just lean down and start eating, but... that same kind of instinct kicked in on that, too. She didn't use the utensils, but at least she was picking the food up from the plate with her fingers, rather than eating straight from it.

After a little while, she looked up at the two others, a big smile on her face. It was easier to think with a full belly. She took a deep breath and said, "Thank you... Cass... Robbie..." she said, turning to look at the plate again, glancing toward the fork, picking it up warily.

"No worries, hun. We all start out in a rough spot, around here. So, what's your name? Do you remember who you were before you got changed?" Cass was being nice and easygoing with Cadi at the moment.

"I'm... Cadi... and who? I... I was a tiger," Cadi replied, not entirely understanding the questions.

The bull and rabbit exchanged a look before Cass looked back to her with a raised eyebrow. "So... you weren't a human before... you were a... tiger?" That was a new one for her to be sure.

Cadi nodded her head "Always was. Don't know how I talk... walk... sit... all this... just... before I got here, I was about to eat, and when I went to pounce, there was something... big... and black... and I fell into it. Inside, things were... wrong, but there was a human, and after I hit him, he wasn't there anymore... and then I was outside where you found me," she said, a look of intense concentration on her face.

Robbie looked to her, "Okay. That does make things a little more interesting, doesn't it? Seems like you've got some sense of human things, at least, which is good. That'll mean you aren't starting from nothing, at least," he said, nodding his head slowly.

Cadi furrowed her brow, "But... I need to get back home to the jungle... my mate... will be angry if I'm not home..." she said, her heart starting to race a little bit. "He's already angry. My last child was a girl. She was supposed to be my seventh son... and he was so angry that I messed his plans up." Her tail was starting to flick behind her as her ears perked up nice and high, and she glanced around nervously.

Cass reached out and put her hand on Cadi's, "Woah, woah, easy, girl. There aren't any jungles for thousands of miles, and if he's just a tiger, then he's going to have a really hard time getting here, so you don't have to be afraid," she said, doing her best to reassure Cadi.

Cadi's breathing slowly calmed down, her pupils still wide open before she sank back in her chair, closing her eyes as she visibly tried to calm herself. Cass looked to Robbie, who gave her a wary look in return. If there was someone who could cause a tigress to have a panic attack, that wasn't anyone to trifle with. After a minute or two, Cadi opened her eyes again, looking at Cass as she took a deep breath. "Thank you, Cass... You're right... it's just been... a long time... that I've had to be afraid of him..."

Cass smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "Hey. Maybe this will be a change for the better for you, then, yeah? Sounds like things were rough before you got here. You get a chance to start fresh," she said, taking a soft breath. "There's a spare room upstairs. You wouldn't be the first new arrival to crash there while you get your feet under you."

Cadi smiled and nodded her head, unable to hold back a yawn before she smiled sheepishly. "That's... a good idea, I think..." she said, looking back down at her plate for a moment. "Could I finish this... in the room? It's really good. Even the vegetables... vegetables..." she said, laughing and shaking her head, smirking a little at the other two.

Robbie laughed and nodded his head, "Yeah. That'll be just fine. Come on, let's get you upstairs and you can get some rest," he said, giving Cadi a nice, big smile.

It wasn't a long way to the little apartment, but it looked out over the street, which was dimly lit by the lamp posts. It looked cozy... kind of quaint. Though, off in the distance, she could see a... wall? Something poking up just visible over the roofs of the buildings. That would take some figuring out, but for right now, she had food, a place to sleep, people who were helping her out, and... for the first time in a very long time... safety, it seemed. She could be a lot worse off, honestly.