CHPT 559: Orc and Owed

Back again. Not in New Gloria. No, very far from it. Across a whole ocean from it. And he knew well how far that was— the experience was fresh on his skin despite how dry the Sunlandian desert was.

Despite how dry his eyes were, he felt that urge to…

He felt it in the twitch of his bottom lip as he saw the two shapes lower to the ground on four legs. Barking and meowling madly before breaking off in a sprint straight for him.

His brother and sister.

Paranoia gripped him. A thousand eyes watched him. Too many to know the true intentions of each. All while they could derive that very thing from him.

He itched. Caught between his overwhelming emotions for family and aversion to showing weak spots.

He compromised by showing the affection he felt through a link only they shared. The Companion Link. He'd almost forgotten it. The uniqueness of it. Their powers and similar natures intertwined like vines. Never invasive or cluttered like it was to have the human-born minds of shifters. Perfectly seamless and refreshing. Wonderfully foreign. The cords brimmed with familiar power. They shared each others vision. Scent and smell. Memories.

Claude re-opened his eyes finding his hands resting on their heads. It felt incredibly correct. If he had them in the tower Alpha would've been turned into a coat by day two.

Frosty had grown he could've sworn. The VanaWarg's head was at rib level at least. The white tipped fur that ran from the top of his head to his wagging tail stood out in the fading dark. His massive muscled chest expanded and shrunk with every pant. New scars hid beneath his fur around his humanoid shoulders and snout.

On the other side, Loba was silently purring. Auburn sleek fur mottled with bits of invisibility as it clung to the dying shadows. Her tail spun around his leg twice over. They didn't even care about the Shifters behind.

Or they knew. He held them.

Just a few feet away the others stood in silence.

Rupont, Maris, Sloane and her Beta's, Cassidy, Adjua and Abina, Warren and Isaac.

"….Tom?!" Sloane squinted and sniffed.

He'd almost forgotten.

"Sloane??"

Claude loosened his grip. The two Wolven relatives took off to embrace each other in hugs and excited nips at each others skin. Their feelings were similar to his own as he stared at her.

Ursula….

She looked as wrecked as he felt when the eyes left his back. Deep eyebags that almost looked like focused darkness. Their hair had grown to the same length and grime level. She lost weight. But gained muscle. She looked ghastly almost. But she was still her. And everything about her went against that. He could feel it clashing against her physical form.

He did that.

His stomach dropped. His peripherals blurred with each dragging breath.

He stiffened. Even poured the ambient Wild Magics into his muscles to fill out his frame.

"I can't let you see it….. I can't let them…"

As always, she saw past everything and hugged him.

The Silver Cursed reacted before being recalled back to their positions with a growl and snap from the Phantom Wolves protruding from his back.

"Why can't I hear your thoughts? Why couldn't it…."

"Proximity." Claude spoke into her ear. Her hair smelled like garbage.

"You smell like shit too, long legs." Ursula smiled into his chest.

He let his guard slip.

She caught the change and let go.

"….thanks. Your growth was mine. We wouldn't have gotten out without it." Claude said as he looked back at the others.

Don quickly dropped his head to a bow, causing the Wolves to follow. Then the Crocs. The Lions and Tigers though…..

Ursula stared along with everyone else.

"This….. is my pack. The Vengeance Order."

They bickered through body language and snaps.

"Work in progress?" Rupont shrugged and smiled.

"We working with Vamps now, boss boy?" Li pressed.

"Would you rather continue running on the Sunlands outskirts? Maybe run into a Sun Troll? Die in a blaze?"

Li shrugged, "Mayb—"

CRACK!

One of his Tigers punched him. Before he could get a full reaction off, every member pressed him in an instant shift of formation.

"[Hmmm…. I see potential here. A joined hatred of the stripped jackass, indeed.]"

Li recovered.

Rupont giggled.

"Do you have room at your coven grounds?" Claude questioned.

"Not returning to school?"

Claude looked away.

Rupont smiled faintly, "Sure…. We Vampires make wonderful house guests, haven't you heard?"

"No, not really. Been busy elsewhere."

"I can tell. You feel changed by your experience….." Rupont went serious, "As have we. There's much to catch up to. Let's get a move on, shall we? By the gods you all need a dozen baths."

Sloane finger knitted a portal into existence with her rainbow binds of hexed magic. Then they were off. In a blink, hundreds of miles cleared. Cities, banks, trails, Infested Areas the likes of which they'd never seen, gone to the wayside as the walls of the Ra Stadium welcomed them in new— manufactured shadow. Shadow sprinkled with sly sunlight absorbed and redistributed off the surface of each granule of sand. It stretched for miles. As did the walls.

Atop the beige monoliths joined by magic and cement, Swordsmen with autobows and other ranged weapons stood guard. Their Armor made as a hybrid of Old World Samurai and New World Glorian knight armor. All in shades of white blue and black.

"Onslaught Guild members." Claude tensed as they walked the walls perimeter.

"Don't worry, they're Compulsed. But it fades under the sunlight. Ever since you disappeared and the details of the rigged Tangent made it up the Tournament Coordinating ladder, Ronin got active." Rupont explained from the front of the line.

"How active?" Claude questioned.

"Well, there's guards everywhere you look. The whole of The Nine is here in all their battling glory. Detectives sweep every area every afternoon. A few people were jailed…. Including Ronin's son. The blonde b—"

"Samuel. He came to his senses…."

Rupont shook his head, "Ronin isn't as cold and detached as you may think. With The Nine here, he was able to push back the execution date. Crafty bastard. That very well may be the only thing keeping us all here. Waiting on the death of a Prince. Hundreds, waiting on the end of one…."

"[And the beginning of another.]"

"What?" Claude thought in reply.

"[Claude. I feel we've forgotten the real issue of Samuel's sudden appearance. He's a scout. That means as a Lupine of Remus he's held in relatively high regard— at least for a newly changed. He's their golden goose. He's already failed his job. If he gets executed, a Lupine led war might befall Ra Stadium.]"

"Or he dies. End of story. He failed his job a month ago. The Lupines of Remus didn't place all their bets on him. He's a side plot in a bigger story. Jack came earlier…. Alone. I wouldn't be surprised if the people who turned him are defected from Remus as a whole. A bunch of dysfunctional fucks."

"[You don't believe that.]"

Claude dropped his head as they walked, rounding the circular walls to reach the back end of Ra Stadium where Domes bulged all around with differing biomes and functions.

"I don't."

"[Why don't you tell me what you believe, mate.]"

"Because…. It's unsettling." He shivered and pulled Frosty closer to him.

"[Just keep an open mind and claw. When they hit, it's fast and hard. Something you've never seen, I'm telling you.]"

"I'll take your word for it."

By the time they reached the temporary Coven, the sun was high and morning was in full effect.

Ursula and the others were still attending the Tournament. Claude was still considered missing…. Dead.

That left him alone— barely able to have a word with his friends he missed so deeply. Now in a small building full of Vampires and ShapeShifters.

At least Sloane and Tom were reconnecting from what he could hear.

But now…

For once he was alone. In the bath. Adjua and Abina persisted in helping with grooming needs. He would've ripped his own eyes out if he couldn't at least have this.

He sunk into the warm water. No salts or bits of blood. Herbal essence and soaps lathered his skin as he moved to adjust his lanky size to the small porcelain basin with its expensive gold knobs and wheels.

He reached out and summoned OverFang. The pressure pushed down the light switch and cut the lights. Then the spear was gone in a flash.

"God damn that weapon!" One of the Silver Cursed raged outside.

Their voices faded to a dull hush as he let the water rise to cover his ears.

No talking no thinking. Just relaxing. Feeling his muscles unbind— the recoil of having them tense for so long made the bulk of the bath more painful than he expected. But it faded. And so did he.

Luckily, waking up to cold water and animal tongues didn't bother him.

Frosty's breath was as rank as a sewer. He missed it.

He reached up and scratched between his ears.

"That won't happen again. I won't put you through that. We're a pair us three…. I just had to make a tough decision. I couldn't risk you guys…. I wasn't strong enough. I am now."

He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing with Fenrir's recent appearance.

Loba reached over the tub and dipped a foot in.

Claude laughed silently in the dark, "One second."

He dunked himself back beneath the water and ran his hands through his hair, massaging his scalp and detangling the strands.

When he rose, he scrubbed himself three times over with the soft pad brush and dunked himself again before exiting.

The water held his dirt and grime. His past experiences. Only a fraction.

He emptied the water and refilled it. Loba and Frostt hopped in as he turned on the light and faced the mirror, clearly seeing himself for the first time.

"SHIT!"

***

Minutes passed of him gazing at his reflection. He tied the bulk of his hair up with a rubber band he found on the sink, leaving a few strands hanging around his face due to the hasty decision. Still naked. His skin beamed. Darker and tighter.

He was taller. His frame felt bigger. His body was always changing anyway. The face though….

Ear still marred. Face still scarred. The shape was new. His jaw was wider. His ears held an elven point. Only barely less egregious than Rollan's. His bottom canines had grown… stubble lined his face where a beard was growing… even his eyebrows were thicker.

He touched his face.

"[The Mud Pool. I supposed Orc State isn't a skill, and more of a permanent evolution.]"

His long nose broken many times over scrunched up in discomfort as he rubbed against the grain of his stubble.

"I get the sudden surprise at my age."

"[You didn't before?]"

Knocking at the door alerted the three in the bathroom.

"Claude, I don't mean to interrupt your much needed beauty hour, but you've become a busy man. I don't think I'll have the chance to talk alone with you again for a while." Rupont said from the other side of the door.

Perfect timing. He'd been meaning to speak to Rupont as well.

Claude shrugged on his old gear and clothing and stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam. Feeling cleaner. Self conscious. Anxious, again.

"Tara, go." Claude pointed back at the bathroom as Loba and Frosty shook and trotted out, happily sending hair all over the place.

Rupont sat at the bar, facing everyone with a drink in hand. Cassidy stood at a nearby table with Sloane watching everyone nervously mingle in their groups.

"What a clusterfuck, right?!?! This is exactly what was foretold. This is what wars are fought for, dammit." Rupont took a swig of his drink.

Claude looked over at Cassidy who nodded. Enough was said.

Claude joined Rupont at the dinner table.

He jokingly offered him a cup of blood, freshly served by a Strigoi bartender wearing nothing but an apron… and purposefully spilled blood.

Claude snatched up the drink and drank it, then he held the cup down out to Loba and Frosty to clean up.

Rupont sneered, "Ohohohooo... would you like another?"

Claude placed the cup on the counter, "Not right now."

Rupont took the cup off the table and made a stank face before tossing it, "Fetch… or something." Then he turned back to Claude, stylish and charismatic as before, "Where did you go?"

Suddenly everyone was silent. Cassidy was seated next to him. As was Sloane and hers, forcing his packmates to also close in as if rising to a social implications challenge.

On Ruponts side all the Vampires seated themselves. The sun sent lines of light through the black shades, highlighting the dust as the only thing moving.

"A Tower….. built over a Dragon. Governed by a Tyrant."

"You were pushed to new heights…"

"I was pushed over the edge." Claude corrected.

"A leap of faith is pivotal to anyone's development in this world." Rupont sipped his blood and played with each ring on his finger.

He could feel Ursula listening through their mental link.

"You're stronger— you're new and evolved! Is this not what it takes for power?"

Claude didn't have a rebuttal for that. He could feel the other Shifters realizing how eccentric the young elder was.

"But power aside, how are you?"

Claude's face went neutral, "I'm good."

Rupont seemed just as perceptive as Ursula as he playfully frowned, "Is t—"

"Don't." He couldn't let them see….

Rupont looked back at the other Silver Cursed, "I understand…. All of you will find things much less… gladiatorial here. We could be something."

"Rupont…. I know it's you."

Rupont side eyed him.

"You destroyed my— Rollan's old life. You took his only friend and bled her dry or killed her for the sake of it. I still don't understand how Vampires work— but I'm getting it."

Rupont went serious, "That wa—"

"It wasn't you. I know. Both are true to me now. And with that in mind….. if you had anything to do with this—"

"What will you do? Are you going to kill me?" Rupont casually ran his fingers around the cups surface as his claws grew to bladed points.

Claude brazenly looked him in the eyes despite what he knew, "Nope."

The silence was jarring to Rupont who so loved to tease and pull things from people. "Well…. I didn't of course. It wouldn't make sense. You wounded that authoritarian bastards pride. You and I come with an ideology that directly opposes what he wants for the Vampires. You hurt him. Vampires are hard to hurt. Elders…. Even more so."

Claude nodded, "But they bleed."

Rupont wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, "That they do….."

They sat quietly for a moment before Rupont adjusted himself in his seat, "Speaking of, I'm sure you'd like some revenge, hm?"

"No. WE…. Would like some."

Rupont nodded, "Of course. How could I leave the rest of you out?"

"Tell me his location, Rupont."

"Under one condition."

"What?"

"We'll discuss it later. For now, how about we discuss how to kill an Elder?" Rupont stood up and pulled a map out of his coat pocket.

"[Watch him, Claude. Killing an Elder doesn't just take one life. It dismantles entire vampire societies in a region. It has to be a play for something. If he wanted, he could've ended Sgt Bertrand ages ago. During this discussion try to find out why now?]"