CHPT 106: Bring your...brother to work day?

After Claude spent a little more time with Dante and the other families, he made his way back to SkyHaven to turn in his Quest Entry and receive his payment from Ilka. He planned to quickly slip in and out but his beaten and broken appearance drew everyone's attention and caused him to get a scolding from Ilka to buy better armor.

The one good thing that came from the public scrutiny was that the Night Runners were beginning to think he wasn't actually a traitorous monster who was hiding his abilities. Although, the Gold ranked Night Runner, Shepherd, was starting to look at him differently than he had before.

Claude now headed down the quiet the dirt road that led to the cabin with Frosty calmly walking ahead of him. Every few steps, he'd slow down to ask for a piece of jerky Claude got from Dante's mother.

Eating had a strong meditative effect on his condition and he now walked with much more comfort and speed than before. Most of his cuts were also healed so he was now only left with light scabs and bruises under his armor.

Even though he had to head back into SkyHaven on carriage to return to the University in a couple hours, he made sure to walk slowly. To appreciate the cool revitalizing early morning breeze and the sounds of animals all around him before he had to spend another week around spineless students who mindlessly resented him.

By the time him and Frosty turned off the dirt road and entered the familiar forest circle, the two pound bag of jerky he started the walk with was almost entirely empty and he now found himself licking his fingers as he walked through the forest.

"Ah! What the hell am I doing?" He asked himself out loud before taking his fingers out of his mouth and tossing the bag away.

Before it could hit the ground, Frosty snatched it out of the air and ripped it up to get to the dried crumbs inside.

***

The bright orange sun rays peaked through the cracks and openings in the forest as Claude washed himself in a river deeper in the forest behind the cabin. The water felt amazing, as soon as he removed his armor and clothing to step in the clear and cool stream, he realized just how dirty he truly was.

He watched in disgust as the stream flowed down and cleansed him, rolling off the other side of him in shades of brown and red.

He used his hands to scoop up the cool water and wash the dried blood off his chest, back and scabbed over knuckles. As he looked at himself, he realized his body was beginning to become riddled with scarring and past damages, making him look even more rough around the edges than he already looked.

He sighed to himself as he pulled the hand out of his hair and let his long deep black locks fall down around his face. After letting the water run through his hair and over his scalp, he called over Frosty to join him in the river.

"Frosty! Bath time!!" He yelled out into the woods.

After waiting in the stream for a few seconds, he could hear heavy stomps coming in his direction. It only took a few more seconds for an invisible force to come barreling through the forest and splashing into the water loudly.

SPLASHHH!!

Once Claude got the water out of his eyes, he could clearly see Frosty again with the purple dried berry juice remnants of the Camo Rune sliding off of his fur.

"WOUUuuUU!" Frosty howled happily before violently shaking himself.

"Yea, yea. Come here so I can clean you."

***

About an hour passed since they bathed in the stream based on where the sun sat in the clear blue sky.

Claude spent the rest of his time washing and sowing the rips in his armor by a fire with two fish cooking slowly above it.

Every new cut his fingers brushed over sent a volley of memories crashing into his mind. It made the process of sowing an unwanted trip down memory lane since every time he went to sow another rip, he'd remember the raider, Skeleton, or Goblin that caused it vividly.

"Arne." He suddenly said.

"[Yes?]"

"When you became a Lupine, did you have to live like this as well?"

"[Not quite. But, I too lost someone before I was changed. I then met a man who offered me the gift, and a shot at saving someone very dear to me....]" Arne said after a moment of silence.

Claude accidentally pricked his finger in surprise from what Arne said.

"WAIT! You were offered.....this? And you accepted?!" He asked in disbelief.

"[I needed power for what I had to do, I didn't care about the new enemies I'd have or the people I'd be expected to kill....erhm....that may have been one of my less than favorable qualities. But, I thought you'd be able to relate, Claude.]" Arne said.

"Well....aside from the killing, I do. I need a ton of power right now so I'm willing to try and accept being a monster.." He replied. "So, who's this person you became a Lupine for?" He added.

"[Thats a story for another time.]" Arne said in a crestfallen tone.

"Why?"

"[Because you're going to be late to the University if you don't start getting ready.]" Arne replied dismissively.

Claude paused in panic as he heard the movement of passing carriages outside the forest. People were heading into the city.

"SHIT!" He said as he got up and stuffed the fish over the fire into his mouth while he got ready.

***

A few minutes later and Claude was putting on the last of his armor. The early morning sun rose the temperature of the forest and made him uncomfortably hot while he roamed the forest, hiding his extra gear he wore on the weekends, including his cloak, mask and Bane of the Undead.

He emerged from the portion of the forest behind the cabin after hiding his Night Running gear to find Frosty happily waiting for him in the grass. The sun reflected off of him, highlighting the frosted tips on his brown fur and his dense bulky muscles.

"You ready for your first day at the University?" Claude asked as he approached him.

"WROUU!" He barked while stomping his front paw into the ground in agreement.

"I'll take that as a yes, let's go."

Frosty followed Claude over to the front of the cabin to retrieve his backpack and headed out of the forest to wait for their carriage.

***

After patiently waiting at the side of the dirt road in relative silence, he could see a familiar black and orange carriage led by two horses rolling down in his direction. Frosty sat patiently next to Claude as he watched their ride into the city approach.

It didn't take long for the smell of fear to come seeping into his nostrils. The horses that led the carriage huffed and looked from side to side in fear of the two predators they were fast approaching.

By the time the carriage came to a stop in front of them, his mouth watered and his body felt light and energized from the satisfying scent of fear.

The man sitting at the front of the carriage, behind the horses, had to look Claude over twice before he noticed Frosty.

"AH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" He shrieked while beads of sweat collected on his suntanned bald head.

Claude looked at the man holding the reins with confusion. "Wha— Oh! This is Frosty." He replied calmly.

Frosty sat and raised his paw happily from his spot next to Claude, seeming to wave at the man with a big toothy grin that displayed his large white canines.

The man watched the PitWolf wave at him in complete horror and snapped the reins, causing the horses to happily flee from the source of their fear and discomfort. The whole way down the road, he snapped at the horses to move faster in a shaky terrified voice.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Claude yelled to the fleeing carriage.

"[Id say that was expected.]" Arne said suddenly.

"What? And you didn't want to tell me!?" Claude asked angrily.

"[I don't know why you'd think normal people would be ok with having a giant muscle bound wolf with teeth like a sabertooth sitting behind them. Especially when you don't have a leash on him....]" Arne said.

"He doesn't need a leash, and that guy was a pussy." Claude replied defensively before turning to face Frosty.

"Looks like we have to run, buddy."

Frosty immediately hopped up at the word run and huffed excitedly.

"Alright, let's run!"