16 CHPT 16: Forest of the Chosen

A star filled night sky was all Claude could see from his unnaturally comfortable spot on the grass, he was laying in the middle of nowhere, "where am I?" He asked himself.

As he sat up he realized he was at the entrance of a forest, a vast and beautiful forest. Tall and healthy looking oak trees with spindly, tendril like branches—much like the ones at the cabin, and many different kinds of plant life crowded the forest floor while lightning bugs began to glow across the entrance and inside the forest sporadically.

Claude got up to his feet and was immediately puzzled by his appearance. "Where the hell are my clothes?? He wondered as he looked down at himself and only saw a loincloth. After looking around the grass near where he lay all he found was a poorly made dagger. Claude picked up the dagger and looked at it noticing the blade wasn't made out of metal, "Wait....this is a tooth!!?" He thought in shock realizing whatever it had belonged to had to be huge based on the length and thickness of it. His thoughts were soon interrupted by a sound that came from within his mind.

DING!

The noise was followed by a message that showed up in front of him in glowing letters saying, [New Quest: Enter Forest of the Chosen and find your affinity.]

Claude warily began the quest and headed into the Forest of the Chosen.

Once he was in he wondered if anything even inhabited this forest— it was a lot like the infested redwoods with how silent it was, but there wasn't any negative feelings tied to this forest....Claude thought it almost felt..welcoming. The memory of the forest sent an aggressive chill through his body. Claude headed deeper into the forest just listening and looking out for anything.

Right when he was starting to doubt the quest he was given he began to hear a faint rattling sound, "Are those chains..??" He wondered as he headed toward the sound.

He found himself following the sound to a tree in a spacious clearing that created a gap in the forest, the tree had a chain wrapped around it and the bark under the chains was worn and damaged due to friction, like something was pulling the chains against the tree for a very long time. "Hmmm" Claude headed to the other side of the tree with a sense of urgency and was greeted by something unreal.

"WOLVESSS!????" He said out loud once he saw the six wolves chained to the tree. These wolves weren't like any other wolves Claude had ever seen. They had deep black fur that seemed to shine despite the lack of light and it wasn't long and thick like traditional wolves or even pit-wolves. Instead the short shiny black fur looked stretched over their long sleek muscled frame...it didn't look like there was an ounce of fat on them, "Did they get like this because they've been chained here so long?...no it can't be they're still in great shape."

After Claude inspected them a while longer he noticed they were deceptively large, since he wasn't very close it took him a while but he soon realized they had to be at least 4ft tall... on all fours.

Once Claude came into view the wolves started going berserk, trying much harder to free themselves from the chains that connected them to the tree. Claude noticed some were even hurting themselves in the process as they whimpered and winced whenever the chain would rub too hard and rip fur off of them. Claude reactively jumped in and tried to save the closest wolf, once he was close enough it spun around and bit him savagely on the forearm.

OW!

He jumped back yelling in pain responsively, "Son of a bitch that hurt! I need to think rationally. These animals are wild...how do you control wild animals? Come on Claude think!" He thought to himself urgently as the wolves continued to hurt themselves.

Claude stopped directly in front of the wolves— now angered by the fact that he still wasn't able to free them, he considered finding food but realized that would take too long, he then considered tanking the bites but soon understood he was grossly underestimating the strength of these wolves. "Come onnnnnn what can I do?"

After about a minute more of thinking he came to one conclusion, "Animals around dominant members of their species are either scared or wary of them...or they follow them and form a group to increase their chance of survival..like a pack. Wolves create packs so I have a chance at helping them by establishing my position as leader, asserting my dominance." Claude thought. He then stepped closer to the wolves but still just out of biting range.

Now standing in front of the wolves he tried his best to think of what dominance was in a pack, "aggression...power....protection...ability to lead....sacrifice.." Claude continued to think about these words and what they meant to him as he closed his eyes and let his anger at not being able to help the wolves consume him. After on a few seconds he felt himself becoming angsty— and almost feral.

"STOP MOVING AND LET ME HELP YOU!!" He roared as his eyes snapped open glowing a strong and furious shade of green.

The wolves stopped immediately and looked at him, seeming to be transfixed by his gaze. He looked each of them in the eyes until they broke eye contact with him and then he said in a clear strong voice, "Sit." The wolves sat down almost completely in unison.

"Why did that work?....I thought they were wild, why do they know English commands?...you know what it doesn't matter, hell I don't even know where I am." Thoughts swirled through his mind as the wolves sat patiently with their brilliant yellow eyes trained on him.

Soon after he began to unchain them, one by one until they were all free...but they didn't run, instead they looked at him expectantly...then he heard a familiar noise.

DING!

Claude was given another message, it read; [Quest Complete! You have an affinity for predators and a increased understanding of canines with the innate ability to be seen as the dominant male or Alpha to canines of your level or lower.]

Right when Claude was about to voice his confusion another message came that was just as odd as the last.

[New Quest: Take your pack on a hunt!]

After Claude received the message he began to hear rustling and movement in the forest. Then about 100ft in front of him a huge buck sprang across the clearing and into the forest on the opposite side. The wolves were visibly stirring, their urge to begin the hunt was shown through the saliva that pooled on the ground where they paced anxiously.

"Are they waiting for me?" He thought incredulously. Then he remembered the message saying he'd be recognized as the leader among canine species leaving him with only one thing to do.

"Alright, let's hunt." He said to the wolves as the clouds cleared and the full moon shone over the Forest of the Chosen.