CHPT 170: The Wild Welcomes You.

Sunday Nov 4th, 2240

Claude lay somewhere in a forest naked and in pain under the warming rays of the rising sunlight that broke through the trees.

He slept a dark and silent sleep, finally not being plagued by his past— maybe due to the fact that he dealt with something just as traumatizing in reality.

That was the good thing about reality. He could fight it, he could rip, tear and smash the atrocities that stood in front of him in the real world, and he'd do it every time no matter what it took.

Especially if it granted him a peaceful nights sleep.

Unfortunately, being that he was a Lupine. He couldn't enjoy the still blackness of undisturbed slumber for long. His muscles were already twitching to life, mirroring the upbeat pulse of his heart and heat of his skin that produced the angsty violent feeling he woke up to every morning before running it off. It was time to wake up.

His vision was blurry yet sensitive as he opened his incredibly light feeling eyelids. He was looking at the sky, an expanse of clear midnight blues that freely faded to an explosive orangish yellow framed by the bushes of trees that circled him and blocked out the rest of the early morning sky.

The sky would always be beautiful, no matter how hideous you felt.

Claude lay still for a moment, slowly processing the events of the previous night— previous events of a few hours ago. The first thing he saw was the aftermath brought by the showing of absolute violence, the way he ripped the spine from the beaten and broken insides of the HellBred atrocity and showed it to the predators of the wild like it was a trophy.

As the memory faded to the recesses of his mind like smoke in the wind, he brought his hand up in front of his face, towards the ever changing sky. The same hand he used to punch and rip apart the Arachnoids in the village.

It left off thick twisting tufts of steam that rose up past the trees and faded into nothingness.

For a moment he simply watched the steam, before his eyes flared and his hand shut into a tight fist.

"I'd do it again." He said before sitting up in response to remembering the room of horrors inside the cabin.

It only took him a few seconds to realize he wasn't alone in the still forest.

Frosty lay at his feet with his eyes open and ears raised, he was alert but also relaxed.

The Phantom Wolves stood behind him like spectral sentinels flanked by mix bred Wolves of all shapes and sizes. Movement above him pointed to the flocks of birds watching from above with their shining beady eyes that saw everything.

Below the birds. Wild Cats rested on branches like Leopards while Coyotes and foxes occupied the area around them all. After looking at the small canines, he found his eyes wandering to the Village in the distance, he wasn't too far away from where it took place.

"[Erhm. They....dragged you here..]" Arne said, still sounding partially shocked.

"And then waited?" Claude thought, still not feeling the urge to speak.

"Guarded." Arne replied firmly.

Following Arne's words, one of the animals approached him, dropping down silently from a tree that had no business holding a creature of such size and visible power.

It was an animal he read about as a child, an animal that went right along with his interests in a certain Pre-Old World subject. Prehistoric Animals.

Animals that roamed the earth before and during the early stages of man. Some of fantastical proportion and tall enough to tower over trees. Others being monstrous ancestors to the animals that walk the violent world today. In the Old World, they were gone. Even the animals of their time were shrinking in number. But with the emergence of Tangents, just like the Humans, they had a Rebirth.

Animals similar to Prehistoric species emerged from the Tangents beside Elves, Orcs and other intelligent monster species with the abilities to form bonds with other creatures, showcasing new abilities and growing in size. In the early stages of their arrival, they proved to be a huge asset to certain monster races. Like Orc Chieftains that would emerge from open Tangents riding giant short armed lizard monsters with giant heads that could easily swallow up Humans by the dozens.

It didn't take long for the Humans to rise to the challenge and gain the upper hand, but by then the animals were already back.

In time the Reborn prehistoric upgraded animals started to roam the earth as if they never left.

A perfect example. DireWolves, often mixed or confused with PitWolves. Another common— yet frequently unseen example is the North American Lion. The very thing that padded through the grass and dead leaves towards him.

An animal that crossbred with the predatory Cats of the wild for years until it became something different. Something evolved with new abilities and physical traits to the point that it deserved a new name, a name that fit the times it was now in and the new lands it roamed silently, stalking and killing whatever prey it's shining slitted eyes fell on.

"That's....that's a Glorian Lion." He thought in shock as the graceful creature approached.

This one in particular was a dark shade of rich auburn with leopard-like spots along its ribs and dense front leg muscles. It's light green eyes focused on him intensely through a head similar to a normal Lion with a slightly longer snout and vicious fangs.

With every step, it's thick paws sunk into the ground, forcing its sickle claws to expose themselves. As he continued to be entranced by its powerful grace, he realized every pocket of shade it walked through splashed its fur with colors of pitch blackness that mimicked the shadows falling on it.

"Natural Camouflage..."

It's graceful stride was stopped midway to him by Frosty's hulking body being in the way.

For a moment Claude was nervous, but the PitWolf was relaxed. He didn't even get up from his spot where he lay on the grass. Simply looking up at the graceful creature.

The two continued staring for a few more seconds before it lowered its feline head, revealing a collection of thicker hair on the back of its neck that must've functioned as some sort of mane, and licked Frosty's head with a tongue covered in tiny sharp points used to lick the meat from the bones of its prey.

Frosty's tail wagged faintly as the silent feline stepped over him and approached Claude, its similarly colored eyes never moving from his own.

Oddly enough he didn't feel scared— just shocked. Amazed, as the Lion reached him and lowered its head to smell him.

Now that it was so close, he was aware of its size. It was similar to Frosty's height, being a little over three feet on all fours, only it was longer in body. Meaning it was probably taller than Claude on two legs and much heavier than his musclebound PitWolf.

Before he could continue inspecting the animal, it walked closer and did something incredibly odd— something that he somehow understood.

The Glorian Lion turned its head and rubbed it against his face while letting out a powerful yet silent purring sound that clashed completely with its intimidating physical appearance.

"[I think it likes you.....]" Arne commented.

"It seems that way." Claude replied as the large feline continued rubbing its massive head and body against him until his face was covered in silky cat hair that was eventually licked off by its sandpapery tongue.

After a bit more time passed, he became comfortable with the animal— finding it more like a large house cat than an intimidatingly powerful stalker of the night.

With his new level of comfort gained, he reached out and placed a hand on its back, letting it slide over the animal's soft short fur and muscles.

"Thank you for helping me right the wrongs done here...thank you all." Claude finally said, once to the Lion in front of him and then to all the animals around him. They all made their respective noises of support in response.

With that, the Glorian Lion left, letting its incredibly long and thick tail run over his shoulder as it headed to the tree it previously rested at.

The brief moment of happiness and discovery faded once he remembered where he was. "Well. We have to go before the sun rises completely." Claude said to Frosty and the Phantom Wolves before getting up.

He took a deep breath and made his way towards the remains of the village when he suddenly remembered something.

"I'm naked as hell...."

In response to his words, a handful of the birds inhabiting the trees above him screeched and flew off towards the village.

Ten seconds passed before the large black birds returned to the forest, dropping his equipment onto the ground in front of him.

"[Of course.....servant Birds!]" Arne said sarcastically, sounding like he was on the verge of insanity at the number of odd occurrences he experienced in such a short time.

"Thank you." He said casually to the Birds before gearing up.

The last piece of his belongings he held were the Bronze hero tags he always carried with him. He held them in his hands for an unknown amount of time, simply remembering.

"You have to stop them. Don't let them do this to anyone else..." He remembered Brenda saying to him before death.

"I'm trying. I'll get them."

***

On his way out, he individually thanked the animals he passed, not caring if they understood him. Until he reached the last one.

Now facing the entrance to the forest he previously slept in with the village to his back, he looked up at the spindly limbs of an oak tree. To be more exact, he looked up at what was laying on one of the thick branches of the oak tree.

"I hope to see you again." Claude said to the Glorian Lion that looked down at him through calm and intelligent yellow-green eyes.

In response to his words, the graceful feline lowered its head slowly before raising it again.

After saying his thank you's and goodbyes he left the forest and re-entered the village.

***

Now with the light of the rising sun illuminating the area, he could see everything much easier— all it did was make what he did hours ago that much more unbelievable.

The place looked completely different from when he first entered the village. The dirt road that split the village and led to the main cabin was swallowed up by luscious bushes, flowers and thick grass. Vines crawled up the wooden walls of people's homes and intertwined through broken windows or around fallen paneling inside— forming small forest biomes inside the homes. It was green everywhere.

He looked to his left despite the dropping feeling inside his stomach. He knew he wouldn't like what he was about to see.

Four trees burst from the ground in front of the main cabin— showing the shredded and broken remains of Arachnoid legs and arms that stuck out from the twisting tendrils of wood that ground them to bits in the first place.

Behind the trees and further away from the cabin was the small and broken pieces that were left of the HellBred. Parts of its body were held in a death grip by wooden fingers that burst from the ground to latch around its legs and midsection. The rest of it was sprawled across the grass along with its spine that was torn in two.

"[What do you feel when you look at that?]" Arne asked.

"What do you mean?"

"[Are you happy? Proud?]"

"Wha— No. Nothing about this situation makes me feel any of that. But it had to be done." Claude replied before stepping into the street covered by grass and heading to face the cabin at the end of the village.

***

Claude had to fight not to let the memories of his time in the room full of body parts flood his mind while he looked at the large home.

It too was covered in vines and forestry. Except for the top left side of the home where the entire wall was blown out— the wall he crashed through after transforming.

Blood drained from the opening and flowed down the wall where it burned the vines and stained the exposed parts of wood to a dark reddish brown.

Through the broken wall, he could see inside. In the dark room, blood splattered the walls and pink stained bones littered the floor nightmarishly.

"[Im so sorry you had to witness such an atrocity. Nobody your age should have to experience that. But I will say this, Claude. In order to do what you need to do— and what will soon be expected of you, things such as this will be necessary to experience now instead of later. Not to this degree of course. But you need to steel yourself in mind and body. Know that this is a part of the world your entering.]"

Claude was silent but completely understood what Arne was saying.

He stood in front of the cabin for a while longer before speaking to the building full of the horrific remains of innocents and turning to return to SkyHaven with Frosty and the Phantom Wolves at his side.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier. I don't know much about death and the afterlife since my Father stuck firmly to the sciences of the Old World, but I hope you all can Rest In Peace. You've been avenged..."