439 CHPT 439: Before the Storm.

It had been a fast three days. Really fast. It felt as if one moment, he was at sea with Ursula and Cassidy discussing the implications of an enslaved wereshark as a member of The Nine, and the next moment, he was at his current location.

The Angelos District. SkyHaven, to be exact. He hadn't been to the city he'd grown up in for over two months. A short time, but a full time. A time spent growing, learning, failing. The journey was transformative. He left SkyHaven as a tortured shapeshifting HellSlayer, and was returning as a Druidic Lupine Alpha. Despite this he could only really think about two things.

How they were going to survive. And his friends. Such topics would be tackled in time, their current focus was to settle in. Get a feel for the city once more, prepare Cassidy for what was to come.

And all that would be done, at home. Claude's home. The forest circle.

They'd been on the move in silence for hours, ducking and dodging around the large city and it's sweltering heat until it's bulk full of Detectives and newly stationed Grand Knights Guards was nothing more than a distant backdrop of their shared imagery. The sun was just beginning to rise, somehow it would grow hotter.

Tornadoes spun out of control in the distance from the violent temperature change, pulled out of existence by groups of Wind Mages and talented Ice users nearby fighting to balance the temperature. A barely restrained chaos.

Ursula's father had been throwing a temper tantrum for two whole months. Another man angered at the loss of his "property". Things didn't look to hot…..no, they actually looked very hot. Flaming hot.

Ursula suddenly growled, "Stupid asshole banished me from the estate years ago and when I leave he throws a fit. Fuck him." Ursula's ice thickened over her armor.

"I'm still processing that The Red Knight of Rage is your pops." Cassidy mentioned as he walked beside Ursula.

"This enraged Knight seems very powerful, you are of good stock Ursula." Ma said as she flew through the forestry lining the roads they walked on.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand your dad. But if he's anything like Ronin then his anger at your disappearance makes sense." Claude said.

"What do you mean?" Ursula questioned.

"When Ronin interrogated me about the twins, he didn't speak of them like they were his kids. He spoke like they were property that I stole. So them going missing became a personal attack. An attack on his legacy."

Ursula suddenly remembered her interrogation/interview with Ronin. He hated her father— for the same reasons she did oddly enough. "The Red Knight is nothing like Ronin though….. not really."

"Then that means somewhere under the scorching armor, he still might miss his daughter, no?" Rollan interjected from behind Claude.

"That somehow makes things worse." Ursula replied.

Silence followed. Despite the heat a chill ran down Claudes back.

"Anybody missing the ocean?" Cassidy jokingly asked.

Claude would've said yes if he was anywhere else in the Angelo's District. "No. Not when we're home." He turned at a random spot in the path, the group followed. Confused and curious all the same. Frosty's tail began to wag at lightning speeds as he lowered his tusked snout to the floor and sniffed out his home. He took off, bursting into the thick forestry.

"Somehow I'm not surprised you live outside." Cassidy explained.

"It's a new development." Claude explained as he lead them through the dense forest circle.

In his absence, the forest grew. Animals found a home in places they wouldn't have when he and Frosty were present. Crows and Hawks fought for territory in the green canopy overhead. Deer and Coyotes drank the melted icy remains from the ponds and deep base's of hills. Squirrels the size of small dogs and jackrabbits dashed through spindly limbed oak tree's that stretched through the forest like veins. Pumping life. It was just as he remembered.

Only he could view it through a different lens now. A new set of experiences. It didn't repaint the forest, but it reshaped his interpretation. Even so, it was still…. Home.

Claude and the others emerged on the other side of the forest circle. A field of green split by a walk path of dirt welcomed them. Ahead, his outdoor workout equipment was covered in vine and blooming flowers. The grass had grown over his dumbbells, attempting to hide them in it's wildness. Many things were hidden.

At its center his fathers Cabin loomed. Shadows cluttered the inside like caged ghosts. He could no longer remember what else was within. His stomach twisted.

He suddenly realized he stopped moving. Everyone carried on ahead of him, looking around at the place.

"It's nice... you trained here a lot." Ursula said as she came to a stop beside him.

"What?"

"I can smell you everywhere….. you must've run around that forest a thousand times."

Claude smiled at the memory. "Yea….couldn't miss a day. Not with Frosty at my window every morning."

"You enjoyed being here." Ursula said as a statement.

"Hell yea."

"What changed?" She asked.

Claude stiffened. "My father was murdered."

Ursula nodded.

"This may be my house, but I'll be damned before I go in there without him."

"I understand. It's not home if he's not there."

Claude replied through their link.

The two sat in silence for a while, watching everyone else look around at the cabin hidden far away. Suddenly Ursula sighed and locked elbows with Claude.

"Well, as someone who's wondered what your home looks like for a while, I think you owe me a tour."

Claude must've reacted incorrectly because Ursula's grip tightened and the feelings she fought to suppress crashed into his brain like an avalanche.

"Hey, goatboy. Let's enjoy this moment. I'm scared out of my mind. Things are about to change... like really change. We're now killing things in the name of a possible Dark God….. as a functioning Order. There's a man so angry at us he changed the season…. Along with another one who's put the Vada District under thunder storms for weeks. And you're about to change Cassidy into a Lupine. That's only half of it. Id like to take my mind off it for five minutes…. And I think you should to. Now where the fuck is my house tour?"

Ursula pulled off her helmet to really look at him. Her deep auburn hair fell down around her in a shiny fiery mess that emboldened the color of her honey gold eyes and freckles. She looked hilariously unhinged…. Over a house tour. He understood why, but it still felt funny.

He relaxed.

"Alright. Let me show you around. Try not to be amazed."

***

After twenty minutes spent strolling down memory lane with Ursula, the worlds troubles blurred— falling out of focus with every step. After half an hour, they were relaxing. Talking about what they'd say upon meeting their friends again….. if they'd meet them again. Ursula was nervous. She knew they still went into the Tangents on Friday's. And if they were led by Maris, that meant they didn't split up to join a new team. They were doing Tangents as a trio…..

Claude….wasn't. Usually he was the nervous guy. But he felt an odd confidence on that matter. Maybe it was the memory of them fighting the HellBred Hexenbiest. Or the Dire Rat queen inside the cave. Either way, things were difficult— sure, but they had the potential to grow just as he and Ursula had in their absence.

He only hoped that potential was met. Because things would be different for them too, very soon. Nothing was guaranteed, but he had that feeling. Like butterflies in his stomach.

They emerged from the forest circle suddenly, following the smells of cooked meats and blood. It led them behind the cabin and into the back end of the forest.

He found the rest of the group within, camped out by a thick river running through the forest. They all sat around a campfire cooking pieces of a freshly slain Deer. Two gaping holes bled from it's side where it's ribs had been busted. Frosty went hunting….

It seems Diamondback did as well. Three Deer lay in front of him. In between bites, he'd open his jaws for Blackbeak to pick the small bits out of his serrated teeth.

FWOOSH!

Something invisible yanked one of Diamondback's Deer from him and hauled it up a tree in three bounds. Diamondback hissed.

Loba purred sarcastically from the canopy.

What a functioning ecosystem.

Claude motioned to the river after a while, "Oh yea, this is….. the bath."

Ursula shook her head, "Yea you've never been raised around women."

"No. Just a PitWolf."

Frosty barked at him.

Claude looked over at his brother, laying beside the Deer, chewing away at a thick cut of its hindquarters. Beside him, Canis sparred alone with a sword. The handle was long with a blade that seemed to be made of stone. It glowed white like the moon. Jangling with every swing due to the Hero tags hanging from the hilt.

"Canis."

The Satyr stopped his movements and turned to Claude.

"Come here."

The young Satyr hopped over to him. He could feel his shyness. Ursula and Piet interacted with him more often, but according to Rollan's letters, he watched Claude often. He was ambitious. Facing war at a young age must've awakened something.

"You found my old stuff." Claude beckoned down to the sword.

Canis nodded.

It was remarkable. Only a month ago he was a mute to human mannerisms just like his older brother.

Canis snorted with irritation and handed him the sword.

Claude smirked from beneath his mask, "No way man." He unsheathed one of his spears and slammed it into the earth.

SHCK!

Canis jumped faintly. His sky blue eyes scrutinizing the weapon with interest.

"You see what I'm working with." Claude pointed at the spear. He then pointed at the sword and pushed it back to Canis, but not before removing the Hero tags.

"You work with that. Get good with it."

Canis snorted with determination.

Claude grunted a reply as the Satyr hopped off to resume training beside his trusty steed Frosty.

"How long did you know them." Ursula questioned quietly.

"Not long. Barely, actually. But they meant something... what happened to them meant something to me." Claude put the tags in his pocket as the silence loomed.

"You really aren't that awkward anymore." Ursula said as if she couldn't hold the thought in anymore.

"Ahhh. Let's wait till we get back to the University before you say that."

"—IF, you get back. We need to work out the kinks in this plan. Get over here." Cassidy said from beside Rollan.