CHPT 380: What The Night Brings....

Wednesday Morning, December 31st, 2240. Twenty Hours until the next Full Moon...

"[You're back! Think of the beauty in that-- even in spite of the dumpster fire you decided to trudge through last night. Superb work, Claude!]"

Claude stayed silent. He didn't feel like speaking. And to be quite honest, he didn't need to speak. Arne knew his thoughts-- his feelings. He knew Claude agreed. Yesterday was in fact, a dumpster fire, as the English accented long-dead Lupine guide put it.

Claude's entire time in the Vada District had been a dumpster fire-- a dozen dumpster fires that he'd jumped to and from like a frog on a lily padding trail of violence and danger. But yesterday-- yesterday was its own kind of messy.

Raiders. He'd found that second wave Rikah had spoken about seemingly so long ago. Back when he'd killed off the blood-faced Raiders that murdered a few of the only Heroes he had faith in. Her traitorous and deceitful ways came to an end when he'd ripped out her heart and fed her brothers and sisters to the jaws of many Wolves. But her touch-- her lingering influence remained. And he'd seen it firsthand when another batch of Raiders decided to come to FeliAlu City to test their might-- their murderous might.....in a Guildhall training area.....owned by a member of The Nine.....who happened to be Ursula's Father. On a night when Ursula was probably at her most ferocious and volatile.

These circumstances alone are the makings of a disaster with nuclear proportions. And then Ryder Legrand waltzed into the Training Grounds in the midst of their battle in the shadows. The last Lupines of Romulus. Claude Grey and his hybrid pack versus murderers from afar. The Raiders. And there Ryder stood.

All witnessed under the gaze of the stalking black cats that had no life energy flowing through them that Claude could see.

It was a busy night to say the least. And they were lucky to make it out. It fed his paranoia. Something he felt flicking at hairs on the back of his neck like an incessant phantom hand-- or a pair of dark eyes in the shadows steadily on him. He'd always felt that way-- as if he were being watched. By the Demons-- the HellBreeders, The Bounty Hunter, The Violent touch of the Desert, The Lupines of Remus, The Raiders, Ronin and his Detectives, Fenrir.

Eyes. They were everywhere, they followed him with a magnetic edge.

"[Really, Claude. I must say, I fear for you. And I'm sorry that the ghost of my past actions has placed me out of my depth in regards to your circumstances. My deepest apologies, Claude.]"

Claude stayed silent still-- as he had for the past series of hours. Silence was surprisingly rare for him these days. And as he lay-- hanging upside down from the branch of a tree breezing through another set of sit ups while holding a log as thick as his midsection, he cherished it. The simplicity of the burn and welcome agony of training. Conquering oneself.

The joy didn't last. His ears perked up as something moved in the bushes. Something very far in the distance.

He closed his eyes. His Natural Vision brought the world to life in it's truest sense. His truest sense-- it had become the very energy and life that flowed through every natural structure around him-- like veins. Endless green veins, pumping power and life through every bush, root, vine and valley that rolled through his forest endlessly.

In the distance-- at the very entrance into the the forest there was nothing. Only the sounds-- they were out of his range. Until they weren't.

Slowly, dozens of feet on gaunt and fatless legs trudged through the barren grass grounds of his forest. As they stepped further in, he could make out more of them through the life energy coursing through them.

No taller than five and a half feet, with bodies only comprised of weak muscle and frail bone, the pack of individuals weren't very menacing. Not for Claude and his real problems. Even if they wielded spear and sword comfortably. They were no threat.

And their reeking stench of greed only bothered him slightly. The fact that they took him out of his joyous bout of exercise though, was a different story.

He dropped from the tree, tensing his legs as he fell from the branch to make himself flip and land on the balls of his feet silently. He rose, opening his eyes as he unsheathed his spears.

Green flames and sparks of burning mana emanated with the use of his Natural Vision, giving him a luminescent mask of nature magic. Like tribal markings that adorned his eyes and brightened his gaze. A new trick he'd learned.

He lifted his spears and took aim at the pack of Goblins.

Silence settled on the forest. Violence fell on his mind...

CRCKRCKFFBooOM!!

Before he could through his spear, a blur flew across his vision and smashed into the floor near the Goblins, followed by a glacial wave of ice that ripped and broke apart the left half of the Goblins in an incredibly violent manner. The others were hit by the pieces of their comrades and sent tumbling through the forest as Ursula roared from atop the icey torrents and threw her axes at them angrily.

When she was without her weapons, a number of Canine Monsters flew past her, leaping off her icey platform to run down the fleeing Goblins.

Claude sighed and closed his eyes, the green waves of magical energy that once surrounded them faded as he rubbed at his tired eyes.

The sounds of the Goblins screams and wolfish snarls faded in time.

"Quick deaths. Weak weapons. Intense fear of Wolves-- no Shaman. Ten.....no fifteen, Bronze Ranked Goblins probably fleeing another encounter. Not an issue.." He thought to himself.

With silence upon them once again, he re--

FWOOSH--!

Something moved in the bushes, close enough to rouse suspicion. At least momentarily. His Prey-Drive took over and his arm moved.

The black markings that sat in the center of his palm rippled as black shadows exploded from his hand and slithered through the air like a snake from hell.

The trail of shadows rose and dove into the bushes a few dozen feet to the left of him. Whatever was caught didn't let out a sound before it was consumed.

As the shadows lingered under the broken rays of sunlight above, they began and shift and reform. growing mouths full of canine teeth and pink tongues-- or black eyes with beautifully glowing yellow and pale white irises.

His hand rose and the shadows retreated into his palm. Stopping short so the end of the shadows remained, forming into the head of a wolf with six eyes. All unmistakably different and belonging to their own individual. Ashe.....Shadow..Onyx....Ghost...Nox....Cali. He could see them all in their shadowy snake-like form as they slithered and twisted around him-- sometimes forming themselves as armor on his arms or a wolfish mask.

He could hear their thoughts-- feel their minds bound to his own. Not in his own language of english-- but one he understood nonetheless. Maybe that was exactly what his language was...

Fear.....Goblins...dead goblins....anxiety..discomfort....bear-woman...fear...for you...confusion.

"I forgive you." His words came out in a voice he was beginning to recognize less and less. Deep-- hard, crackly..damaged.

The response was so delayed it took Arne a moment to understand that he was replying to his earlier apology.

"I forgive you because I'd probably be dead eight times over without you. It sucks that you can't advise me on what tonight will bring.....but-- fuck it. We'll learn along the way. I'll advise myself."

"[Well....-- Well said. Speaking of what tonight will bring, do you have a plan for tonight? This Full Moon will no longer be just about keeping you restrained you know? How will you do this?]" Arne asked.

The Phantom Wolves in their shadowy form continued to slither around him, "I asked for the most recent Tangent locations of all Ranks as well as Monster hotspots from Cassidy. He had both, and i'll lead us to one-- use the other as backup. We just need to stay busy and burn off all the Lunar Magic we can. If I have to fight her myself and kill whatever's in our way, I will."

"[And the touch of the desert your Druidic Mentor continues to refer to despite us never seeing it?]"

Claude shivered anxiously before straightening himself, "Well-- we know the touch of the desert is Demons....and Demons love Full Moons. We'll see them-- and I'll kill them."

"[Do you ever think about it...when you think of Demons?]"

"About what?"

"[Erhm.....the missing HellBreeder in Rollan's room.]"

Claude's eyes glimmered at the memory of slaying all the HellBreed.....The Snake...the Arachnoid and it's house of Horrors..and then the one that seemed to come from nowhere like it was led by a string-- looking nothing like the others. The HellBred Hexebeist. Assumedly changed by an entirely different HellBreeder...

"I try not to." Was all Claude said in reply before he began walking toward the rest of his pack in the distance.

The walk was spent in silence. Arne had nothing more to say-- it all seemed to be things Claude already knew and worried for. Today was a grim day. Claude didn't speak much on such days. He didn't speak much anyway.

After a few seconds, he reached them.

Ursula felt his presence and turned, followed by Frosty, Gil and Blackbeak.

They looked so out of place together. Ursula with her black sheet of a cloak, and sectional wooden armor that hugged her swelled muscles. Frosty with his oddly humanoid wolfish bulk and tusked canines. And then Gil. A scaled wolf with a barbed spine and horns for eyes that could spit flaming spears. Somehow the shadowy purple eyed bird hovering above them seemed the most tame in comparison.

"Where have you been all morning? I woke up pretty early today and I didn't see you training with Rollan at all?" Ursula said as she approached him.

"Decided to be by myself for while."

"A while.....right." She teased, forcing a smile that failed to remain longer than a second.

With a sigh, her happy facade faded and she shrugged while looking up at the morning sky.

"I'm scared.....as fuck."

Claude followed her gaze until everyone was looking at the sky, "Me too...."

Ursula let out a laugh-- a genuine laugh. The familiar breathy chuckle he used to enjoy hearing from her whenever she spoke to Maris back at The University of the Phoenix. "That's not what you're supposed to say."

Claude continued to look at the sky, "You know I'm not good at this talking stuff-- I'm better with my hands....I thin--Ugh!"

His words were cut short as Ursula slammed into him, hugging him hard enough to nearly crush his ribs. The Full Moon was definitely today.

"I'm sorry...." She said silently.

"Wha--"

"I'm sorry I can't help you-- I'm sorry you have to deal with this....tell me how to help-- something. Give me something to work with. Im so tired of this anxiety bullshit."

Claude held her in a hug for a moment and thought to himself, "I don't know...I'm new to this-- my ancestors were racist so they can't tell me anything..."

"What?" Ursula said in confusion at Claude's slip up.

"Erhm. I just mean. I have no knowledge. The point is, we're out of our depth-- but, I think by now I know Full Moons. Better than the average man at least."

"Yea no kidding." Ursula added.

"The best advice I can give you--.....you're going to fight tonight. There's no escaping that fact. The only problem is, you'll be fighting more battles than you can count. In your mind...and body. Outside....and in. All I need you to do-- is win sometimes...win every now and then and show me that you're still in there-- I know that Ursula The GiantKiller is bound to be there, but so can Ursula Legrand...I think being a Lupine of Romulus makes that more possible than either of us know....we just have to fight..."

"...At this point, lets just stop saying you're bad at talking."

He could hear the smile in her voice-- even if it was faint.

"Do we need to go bar hopping again so I can remind you or what?" Claude replied.

Ursula chuckled again and let go of him, groaning as she stretched and wiped her eyes, seemingly relieved for a moment of her worries.

She suddenly stood, aiming her freckled frame honey brown eyes at him as her auburn ponytail of hair swayed in the wind, "I miss them..."

He didn't even need her to specify, "Yea..."

He turned and walked away, heading back to train-- to squeeze out every last drop of personal progress he could make. He could continue training with Ursula again more frequently after the Full Moon. Until then, it was just him.

"Use them as motivation for tonight." He called back to her as he unsheathed his spears and began spinning them in his hands.

"Is that what you do?" She asked.

He simply looked back at her before the thick of the woodlands enveloped him.

She didn't even need him to specify...

***

Claude made it back to his training area. A clearing in the forest where he could Wood-Weave and practice unlocking his Elemental Shroud in peace. At least thats what he thought until one of the nearby trees shook and a feeble six and a half foot tall blind-folded dark skinned man emerged, using a great-sword as a cane. That great-sword made Claude anxious everytime it came in contact with the floor.

"Ahhh Monsieur, I was wondering where you'd disappeared off to after training last night. How did you sleep?"

"I didn't" Claude replied.

Rollan clicked his tongue as he shook his head disapprovingly, "Even the strongest Druidic Warriors cherished ehhhh....sleep. Maybe more so than others, yes?...Oui, I believe you should do the same."

Claude nodded in understanding.

"Speaking of understanding-- I know the night will not be kind to you on this day. We must speak in private. I have things to tell you, no?.....items to give, hm?"

Before Claude could agree, Rollan stepped back into the woodland and entered a tree.

Claude began heading back to the treehouse, not even questioning if the mysterious Druid was there or not. Somehow, he was always where you thought he was-- even when you weren't thinking about it....as odd as that sounds.

"[As mind-boggling as this sounds, I think I'm more discomforted by him than I am by Demons...]"

Claude let out a dead and soulless laughed at how much he'd disagree with that statement in....fourteen more hours.