CHPT 221: Changing.

Fenrir's voice resonated through the vastly unknown Astral Realm with ease. The voice of a God, even the ground shook in fear with every growl and random inflection his beastial voice made whenever he spoke of blood or death.

A heavy thud added to the quaking shake of the ground in a steady pulse-- like a heartbeat, only ever beat sounded like a tree falling. Fenrir was walking-- pacing. The question was; is that out of disappointment or excitement?

That was the rhetorical question Claude asked himself while the ground shook against his back and the Phantom Wolves laid close to him-- bathing him in their natural black smoke.

He knew Fenrir. He knew that the God of Wolves wanted him to fully submerge himself deep within the role of spiteful predator with no regard for human life-- and Claude did so when he'd found Rikah. In Fenrir's eyes, he was slowly becoming what he was meant to be.

The God of Wolves wanting to devour the Earth and the boy wanting to save it, once again aligned in mind.

***

The pressure of Fenrir's dominating aura, pressed over Claude and the Astral Realm like a gigantic invisible paw, holding Claude's spine against the floor while the God of Wolves threw backhanded compliments at Claude for his handiwork in between ground shaking stomps.

"tElL Me....HOW DID IT FeEL....?" Fenrir repeated, asking Claude again how it felt to rip into Rikah under the pale glow of the moon.

".....I-it doesn't matter how it felt. It wasn't about me...not entirely.." Claude forced out while he fought to roll over and raise himself up onto one knee. Something about revealing his neck to Fenrir didn't sit right with him.

Two of the tree bases his eyes fell on moved and the wind blew-- pointing out the bristling fibers of hair that wasn't bark....and the claws that weren't upturned roots. He often forgot how large Fenrir was....somehow.

The tree-like legs stomped through the grass until they were right in front of him and Fenrir was looking over him. Only his watery cavernous breaths ruptured the silence.

"yoU....lIE!....I....grrr..I wAS wAtChinggrrrr.....I sAW yOU...iN YouR TrUE FORM! yOu EnjoYyyEd...IT!....hehehehhahahHAAH! LiKe...MeEe, YoU....enJoy tHE TasTE! of ReVEnGE!" Fenrir pressed, his terrifyingly unnatural voice rolling from his watery throat like thunder.

"I did what i had to...I made a promise." Claude grunted while beads of sweat fell from his forehead and splashed into the cold grass beneath.

Fenrir snarled-- partially numbing Claude's ears as the God of Wolves edged closer.

"TelL MeE....teLL mE yoU diDn't EnJoY the ScEnT of Herrrrrr....blOoD...HeR FeAR! TELL ME BOY!"

Claude fought not to lay flat against the floor and simply succumb to the pressure while his own agitation thrashed and clawed at the invisible paw of dominating pressure Fenrir placed on him.

He was only able to force out two words, "....Piss off."

Ashe let out a whine next to him.

Shadow tried to bury his face into Claude's armpit.

"HAHA!.....YOu hAve A baCKBoNE...GoOD. YouR AcTiOns HaVE.....SsssSHown....rrrr..mE, You MaY...noT bE ReAdY to AsSuME mYyyyy foRM....BUT! You'Re reAdY FoR the NexT StEP!.....yOU hAvE GroWN....ahahahh....YoU ArE ChAnGing....."

"Erhm.....what n-next step?" Claude questioned.

Fenrir snorted, "ThE NeXT StEP In YouR TrAinIng!...I WIlL BuiLd YoU In My ImAGE....UnTiL YoUR hUmAN ReALm kNoWs Who YoU StAnD In ThE ShadoW of....reEmEMbeR mY PuRpose!.....If YoU tHiNk YoU cAN GeT iN thE WaYyyy...of MY RevEnge.....YoU NeEd pOweR...yOu'll Get ThaT HeRe.....hahah."

Before Claude could respond, Fenrir turned and began trotting off into the forest.

"FoLlOW!.....AnD LeAvE YouR SiLLy HumAN VaLuEssss....iN ThE GrASS! YoU ArE StiLL WeAK BOy...yoU nEEd....thE StRenGth...oF.....whaT We ArE...tHe StrengTH of... The JOTUNN!"

As soon as Fenrir's pressure faded, Claude flew to his feet-- sleek with sweat and the odd feeling that he was too tall. The Phantom Wolves around him sniffed and licked at his legs.

Naturally, his hands lowered to pet his pack mates-- and action that quickly caused him to realize something odd.

Bronze skinned hands and arms-- now with a greyish black leathery tint. Thick fibers of black fur littered his sinewy muscled forearms. The same for his wide chest and legs that were partially raised.

"What the hell?..." He thought after realizing he was in a very fluid halfway transformed state. He didn't even remember changing. The thought caused him to remember Fenrir's booming voice....

"YoU ArE...ChaNGInG...."