331 CHPT 331: Preparations, Memories, The City Awaits...

Sleep came to them all as it always did, leaving the small circle of life and magic in the forest in a state of unique silence that the desert beyond did not comply with. With Claude being the last to sleep, it came to him as it always did. Roughly. A fact made more intense by the continued absence of a certain god that promised Claude he'd make him herald his emergence before ultimately facing him, destroying the planet and then its gods.

Fenrir.

Winter had come and Fenrir was nowhere to be found. Not good news. Even worse news since the first night he hadn't welcomed him in the Astral Realm simply because the thoughts he was having over what the God of Wolves could possibly be doing was only spinning more and more out of control in his mind. The possibilities were endless. The potential for disaster was as high as the sky.

But, Fenrir or not, the sleep came. And so did the nightmares.

***

Monday Evening, December 17th, 2240....

The day blew by quickly, as if life was eager to push the churning sea of risks and dangers into high tide and swallow the pack whole.

Entering an entirely new and well populated city. It was a big risk-- but a necessary one in context to their current situation. Demons lurked....the Full Moon was right around the corner, and Claude couldn't say with confidence that they were ready for everything the magical night would bring. Maybe that confidence would raise in their travels in pursuit of strength and gear...

But, at the current moment, it didn't feel that way as he got dressed alone in Rollan's home, surrounded by the Druidic Warrior's collection of parasitic Demon arms and shining weapons. He tried to keep his eyes off the objects in their piss colored glass containers as he shrugged on a shirt and tested the threads running through his freshly sewed pants that no longer resembled an ancient roman warrior's skirt.

Gil and the Phantom Wolves raged within, tempted by the presence of demons and his own anxiety, causing the chain-like tattoo running down his arm and encircling the orb of darkness in his palm to pulse with unrivaled angst.

"Don't worry. You'll be out again soon." He whispered to them before effortlessly flipping his dual-shortspears and fitting them in their sheaths at his hip.

Everything was ready. The finality of it all caused him to pause for a moment and take a few relaxing breaths. Something he should probably do more often. It felt calming. To notice everything. Every breath he took that expanded his torso, causing his bulk to press against the rather tight black long sleeve shirt he'd borrowed from Rollan. To feel the cold wood ground beneath his bare toughened feet.

The calm quiet of nature. It would be a foreign concept to him soon enough.

"Come on, coolface! What are you doing in there? Beautifying? We got places to go and your suspense building is only making my hands sweatier, dammit!" Ursula yelled following an aggressive series of knocks she unleashed on the door Rollan recently made her replace.

"[She's got a point, mate. I do believe it's time to face the music....or at least the prelude-- since you've got a bit of a travel ahead of you.]" Arne chimed in.

"I guess it is." Claude said with a final deep sigh before tying his druidic blindfold around his neck like a cloth necklace. He didn't originally plan to bring it, but the simple object was growing on him. Sometimes it was nice to simply see the world at it's most basic magical level. No blood, no guts, no death.

With nothing left to do, he grabbed his Druid's Cloak and headed for the door.

Upon entering the outside, the setting sun washing over the forest and sky like varying shades of fire met him warmly. Not a word he would've immediately thought of due to the heavy cold winds that ruffled frosty's fur as he trotted towards him, eager to smell the new cloak.

In the PitWolf's wake, Ursula stood tightly like a human ball of clenched muscle. She stood with one hand rested on her hip and the other on her large battle axe as if it were a cane, causing the black cloth that hung around her like a cloak to split open, revealing her form fitting black sweater and pants. The only color the disrupted the dark style was her fiery auburn hair pulled tightly into a ponytail and varying shades of browns and greens from the portions of wooden armor guarding her forearms, shins and shoulders. An idea he'd gotten from Rollan who often reminded him how he lacked creativity with his Element. Something he'd have to fix if he wanted to be an effective Druidic Warrior of Nature. Hopefully this was a step in the right direction. She wore it well.

"What the he-- Nice cloak??" She announced, jokingly feigning jealousy.

Claude looked down at the cloak, feeling how it aligned with him on a more than physical level. "Yea, it was a gift from the....gardener."

"I got a bedsheet..." She whispered.

"Beggars can't be chooser." He replied with a shrug before settling into a calm walk away from Rollan's home.

"Yea." Ursula said.

As soon as they entered the forest heading out into the deserts beyond, silence came to them again, as if there was a barrier around the forest that stripped them of everything superficial and left them to bare their strongest and rawest emotions.

Along the way, the notRaven flew above them. Bounding from tree branch to tree branch with small portions of swift and lightning fast flight while it held a newfound gleam of determination in it's eyes and expression heavy face, as if the name it was only recently given by Ursula brought with it a title it now wore proudly-- much like it's name. Blackbeak.

A completely ironic title considering how friendly it sounded. When in fact every aspect of the bird seemed suited for gruesome murder. Including it's eyes. Eyes that seemed to see the world and everything it had to offer with unbridled perception.

The sight of the setting sun came to them again, giving them a clearer view of how it slowly descended behind the mountains in the distance as the woodlands around them opened up before ultimately disappearing and giving way to the sandy and snowy wild beyond.

Before they could exit. Rollan caught their eyes as he calmly leaned against a tree near the exit eating a handful of berries that he threw into his mouth one by one.

"Took you long enough, no?"

Claude ignored the rhetorical question as he approached. Once he came to a stop in front of him, the man stopped eating the berries and leaned off the tree to stand up straight.

At six foot six, he looked down at Claude through his clothed eyes. The smell of alcohol, herbs, leather and berries wafted from his incredibly dark ebony skin as if he bathed and washed his balding and greying nappy hair in it.

"You remember what I say, Monsieur?"

He looked back at Ursula while she was ruffling Frosty's fur and playing with his ears before turning back to Rollan, "Yea. I remember."

Rollan nodded in satisfaction before looking off at the sunset and passing Claude the handful of berries as if they were a handful of drugs instead of fruits.

Claude's heart skipped a beat all the same as his brain began playing tricks on him in regards to if Rollan somehow knew he'd need them to write Frosty's Camouflage Rune or not.

He shook off the thought as soon as it came and took the berries, stashing them in a free compartment on his belt for later use.

"Thanks." he said before adding, "We'll be back by sunrise and run a perimeter check before settling in. I also marked the area again and replaced a few traps outside of your SpellBloom Wards."

Rollan nodded, "Good. Now go before the desert awakens."

With a curt nod, Claude was off, motioning for Ursula, Frosty and Blackbeak to follow.

"Don't forget about the cats!" Rollan yelled to them as they exited the thick of forestry.

Silence came to them again, only now, the sounds of the untamed wild in the distance lingered as if patiently lying in wait.

"You got the map?" he asked her.

She patted her side pocket, "You know it."

"Bags?"

"Mhm."

Claude nodded, "Alright. Let's mask up and get moving." He said before pulling up the spacious hood of his cloak and covering the bottom half of his face in dark cloth.

Ursula did the same before they both began their run towards their first city in the Vada District. Along the way she couldn't help but to continue thinking about how oddly different yet familiar he looked with the facemask hiding his features...