CHPT 227: Different Monster, Same Look.

Tumbling.

An action Claude was getting very used to.

Snow.

A cold feeling constantly falling on his hot fur and melting down to reach his leathery skin beneath.

Pain.

Nothing refreshing or new, like snow or rolling endlessly down cold hills. He knew already knew pain, something that stuck close to him in both the real and Astral Realm. Only now, the painful tearing of his muscles and battering of his joints was narrated by a colossal wolf hellbent on revenge.

***

He'd fallen again. The cold mush of snow that covered the hill like a sheet of white gave from under his pawed feet and sent him rolling down the hill with the giant boulder in his wake.

During his descent, he'd catch glimpses of the grey-brown rocky mass slicked by melted snow before the image abruptly blended into the plain black sky and then the cluttered white ground. A vortex of images lined with the pain of slamming his shoulders, back and head into the cold hard ground repeatedly. As if Fenrir's words weren't enough of a reminder that he'd once again failed.

He was tired of it. All the signs, all the reminders, all the new revelations. It was as if life itself had become one large reminder that he currently was not enough for anything. Even in sleep, there was no escape. No matter how many times he screamed and roared that he understood and agreed, the facts continued to set themselves in stone all around him. He had enough.

Fenrir watched from atop the hill like a wolven king with absolute dominance over everything under his predatory gaze. His gaze, the very thing it focused on now was the young Lupine falling down the hill while the boulder chased-- building up speed and momentum by the second.

The god was bored. He'd seen this over a dozen times now. ....

Those were Fenrir's thoughts before the rolling mass of black fur and claws erupted into a ball of steam that melted the trail of snow it rolled through. In its melted wake, the grass grew with an air of chaos. It was almost ferocious in its spread.

"InnNNtEresTingG...."

***

In a blind rage Claude's eyes flared with a wild explosion and his already partially transformed body completed its change from boy to beast in a wild steaming cloud of seconds.

With a snarl, he thrashed in every direction until his claws found the ground and launched himself into the air.

He felt himself climb towards the sky with a single powerful leap before flipping and and landing back on the hill, now standing upright and in full control of his movements.

The snow ripped and melted under his paws, revealing the wet grass beneath that shook and shuddered at his presence. Something made more severe by the boulder rolling after his sliding frame that shook the floor menacingly.

Even though his mind was scattered, he knew he couldn't charge the boulder in its current state.

"Too fast. Too powerful...."

An angry growl escaped his throat before his glowing eyes scanned over the revealed patches of grass. Nature was everywhere.

Green magical smoke spewed from his clawed fingers in thick coils that slowly collected and thickened until his hands burned with the flaming energy of his Element as he slid down the hill with the boulder.

In a flash, he slammed his hands together with a frustrated roar. His movements were mirrored by the life residing beneath the snow.

Thick vines and roots thickened into natural tendrils and claws that rose on each side of the boulder. The two sides converged and intertwined themselves into a crude safety net that caught the boulder.

WOOOWOOWOO----SHRRRRR!!

The boulder continued to roll, powered on by its built up momentum causing it to pull and rip through the natural blockade that strained against the weight.

But none of that mattered. All he needed was for the boulder to slow down. Which it did.

In seconds he was off, kicking up snow and dirt as he bounded up the hill and slammed himself into the vine and wood covered boulder to restart his mission to return it to Fenrir.

The God of Wolves watched on in silence as he pushed against the boulder with all his magic and might. Slowly, an odd feeling swept over the entire hill like a breeze of untouchable ferocity.

A breeze that trailed down to Claude and fell on the field, causing the grass to grow and push through the snow like it had a mind of its own.

The Wild Magic continued to grow and empower Claude's limbs-- even reaching the Phantom Wolves at the base of the hill. Causing them to stir and pace with newfound energy.

Then, the boulder moved.

Claude restarted his journey up the hill. Leg muscles bulging with effort while green life exploded from beneath the frozen expanse of the hill.

With every push, he roared and snapped at the boulder, no longer seeing an inanimate object as his brain fed him all things cruel and aggravating for motivation.

The battle was no longer him against a boulder. It was now him against failure, him against Dolion, him against fear, anxiety, Raiders, Demons, Vampires, Pain, Death.

He pushed against the weight of what his world had become in the snow for the rest of the night.

***

Tuesday Morning, Nov 13th, 2240

Claude lay in his bed in a deep sleep. His sweat soaked body wetted his sheets and the odd snarls he let out permeated his room and radiated down the halls with an eerie echo. Whether the nearby students knew it or not, they were beyond used to the student tortured by nightmares that shared the floor with them. But thats not to say everyone was...

***

Knock!....Knock!...

.....

Knock!....Knock!..

"Claude Grey." Two voices said in perfect sync.

"[Oh for gods sake! You psychos couldn't wait until after everyone was awake?...Of course not. You all want to catch him off guard. Piss off!]" Arne raged within Claude's mind.

Knock!.....Knock!

Claude continued to randomly jump and thrash in his sleep while they knocked.

After another minute of knocking, his nightmare seemed to play out its final act and caused him to fly upward swinging and snarling at the air while beads of sweat flung from his arms like raindrops.

Knock!....Kn--

"ARGSH!!"

"[Claude, focus. The Detectives are right outside your door.]" Arne said.

Claude was so disoriented it took him a moment to register what Arne was saying, but by the time he did. It was too late.

"We're coming in. If you fight, we will be allowed to use force."

Claude stood up in a rush and realized two problems.

"Claws....privates....shit!" He said after realizing he wasn't clothed and not looking entirely human.

Panic flooded his mind after hearing the Detectives on the other side fumbling with the lock to get inside.

"[Relax....and get moving. Just focus on your breathing while you put clothes on.]" Arne advised.

Claude got moving before he even finished speaking. As he slipped into a pair of black pants, he felt his claws slowly fade-- but other than that, he was too late.

The door swung open. Det. Mixus and.....Det. Mixus stood in the doorway. The two looked like mirror images of each other, they even walked the same.

Something he noticed as they entered his room, eyes scanning the place with the attention to detail only a trained Detective could have. Where others probably saw a messy room, the two Detectives could probably get a whole story from a simple scratch.

While they surveyed the small room, he stood shirtless and awkwardly by his desk across from them.

"Your sleep plagues you...I wonder why." The shorter haired Detective said without looking at him.

"I bet you do." Claude replied angrily while the long haired sister stared holes through him.

"Scratches....cuts in the bed frame and dents in your door..." The shorter haired Det. commented.

"My--"

"I know it wasn't you. Shape-Shifters aren't this small....your room holds no evidence of what you're accused of..." She sounded angry at her own realization.

"[They told you they were coming yesterday in hopes that you'd crack under pressure...maybe run....do something rash. Everything they're doing is calculated and expecting of a certain result. Keep that in mind.]" Arne told him.

"Got it." He replied while he let the two continue to stare and calculate.

***

Five grueling minutes passed by the with speed and agility of a Rock Golem. They had already tripled checked everything twice and turned his room inside out. When they touched his backpack, Arne almost had a stroke within Claude's mind. Luckily, they found nothing.

"Alright. I don't think you'll find anything on your next check up. Can you get out and let me put on clothes?" Claude announced.

"No, we won't be leaving." They said at the same time.

"We have one piece of evidence." The short-haired, green eyed Detective announced while she continued looking around.

"...."

"[....]"

"You." They announced in sync before the long-haired Detective moved towards him.

Claude backed away and raised his hands cautiously, "What the hell does that mean? And why do you two spe--"

The blue eyed Detective ignored his words and continued her advance until she stood in front of him, holding his raised arm and inspecting it as her--assumed, sister did the rest of his room.

"Conducting physical analysis...." She announced while she pulled at his skin and ran her ice cold fingers over his arms, back and chest.

"Wha--! Stop touching me..your cold! Hey, get your sister!" Claude said as he tried to push away the Detectives hands.

They both stopped moving suddenly, "If you fight, we will be allowed to use force." They repeated.

Claude stared at them both for a moment. They returned the glare. The two were nothing like Det. Cyrene. Where she was fiery, cunning and obsessive. These two were cold, calculating, synchronized and meticulous. But the one thing the two had in common was a simple look. A look of someone waiting for violence. The look only Detectives held. A look of Monsters restrained by law. They wanted a reason. A reason to unleash their offensive arsenal on him, in this very room.

"[Don't give it to them.]"

Claude held in the growl that rumbled inside his chest and raised his arms. "Hurry up and get it over with."

The blue eyed Detective continued her inspection while the sister watched in front of him.

She pulled at his skin, squeezed his muscles, moved his arms and touched each and every scar on his body as if they told her a story all while he fought not to rip her throat out.

"...Height....six foot four...and a half.." She announced to her sister.

"[Hm....still growing.]"

"Weight....around two hundred pounds...."

"[Hefty indeed....]"

"Body-fat percentage....under ten percent....."

"[Cut to the bone!]"

"Significant amounts of scar tissue resembling damage taken from both weapons and claws...."

"Increased muscle development in the deltoids...serratus anterior....and back. Shows signs of significant time spent in combat swinging and lunging..."

They continued for another few minutes until she backed away, "Physical analysis complete. Ronin awaits."

Claude finished getting dressed and followed them out of his room towards their destination. He could feel him the second he exited his room. Like a wave of discomfort and anxiety washing over him.

As they climbed the steps upstairs, it only got worse.

***

"[Well. That reeked of sexual undertones...]" Arne suddenly said.

Claude wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but got the gist of it, "Yea....maybe if they weren't waiting for a chance to kill me the entire time."

The rest of the walk was silent, something made more intense when they opened the doors into the Library to let him inside.

"[Great....more Detectives.]"