CHPT 253: Tether Malevolence, Tame Ferocity

The sun had reared it's face.

Just as Arne said. The yellow beacon of light that signified the end of the predators dark reign had made its way back to the clouded sky.

But, it was still early. The dark of night fought against the light of the sun in a losing battle as morning crept into existence. Some were waking up in response, others had always been awake.

Others like Claude-- along with the embodiment of his inner ferocity that had been fighting tooth and nail against him for the better part of the entire night.

He'd learned a lot about the creature during their game of "Tame or Die". He could see the similarities-- it was almost eerie how similar they were in certain aspects. That simple fact was the reason he'd been chasing and trying to work with the creature for countless hours and gotten nowhere.

Stubbornness coupled with incredible levels of Stamina.

***

The sky that stretched across the forest was still dark, splashed with shades of orange and yellows. The common look of early mornings. The forest didn't correspond with the casualty of the sky.

Madness had descended on the forest following the birth of the HellSlayer's Hound.

Flaming javelins ignited the bark of trees and turned nearby bushes to black piles of ash-- much like the many dead leaves that used to surround them.

Now, all that surrounded their den of madness was dirt, blood, burnt Deer meat and the scents of wild fire.

Claude stood in the center of the madness. One hand holding a slowly shrinking batch of Deer meat and the other covered by a flaming chain that vibrated endlessly in the presence of the untamed. His hackles stood on end with agitation. That same agitation that curled his snout and lips into a snarl while his flaring eyes followed the moving shape in the distance.

The HellSlayer's Hound-- His HellSlayer's Hound. It's body was the way it was for a reason.

The body of a Cheetah. Long legs and an equally long and sleek body built for speed and the ability to maneuver through the forest in a flaming blur. It used it's high speed body to zig zag in the distance ahead of him, keeping him on guard, stopping him from being able to plan intently.

Gills and a deep set chest, holding massive lungs. If the power of the HellSlayer did seem to work off symbolisms as Arne said, then all that did was hint at what Claude had already learned of the creature. A simple trait that proved deadly over time.

Endurance.

The creature never stopped moving. It would've been beautiful if it wasn't at his expense. Every step, every leap, every dodge and sidestep. It mirrored the movements of many just as it's body did effortlessly on a physical front.

The body of a Cheetah, the head/snout of a Wolf, flaming quills that looked strong enough to breach armor, tough scales, the flames of a dragon and who knows what else. It was a chimera in all aspects. He needed that kind of variety and power on his side.

It was made from him to begin with. All he had to do was catch it.

He stilled for a moment, letting his tense muscles relax for the first time in hours. The air tasted burnt, ruining his relaxing inhale-- but still getting the job done. All he needed to do was recenter himself. Relax and refrain from getting caught up in the chase.

"The purpose is to tame my inner ferocity. I have to be tame myself before I can try to restrain anything else..." He reminded himself.

The creature seemed to sense the hardening of his inner resolve.

FWIP!

A thin line of fire exploded from the woodlands ahead of him at blinding speeds.

Claude raised his left arm in front of his face just in time to feel the flaming javelin shatter against the fiery chains around his forearm.

In an explosion of movement, he took off just in time to hear a volley of extra flaming javelins pin into the bark behind him.

The two engaged in their millionth game of chase through the forest, only now Claude fought against his true nature and worked to retain his rational mind. He needed all his tools in this endeavor, and he was finally being able to use them.

The Hound's path became exceedingly more difficult as roots exploded from the ground and branches swiped at the quills on it's back.

With every evade it made, the metallic rattle of chains fell on it's sensitive ears from Claude attempting to tether the creature from across the forest. He was surprisingly accurate with the chain and realized what a viable weapon it was in certain scenarios.

Especially in scenarios like the one he was currently engaged in. The chain was slowly beginning to feel like an extension of his arm.

"[Claude, you need use it's advanced sensory capabilities against it. It can hear everything you attempt to throw at it, it can smell when you get too close-- hell, it can probably feel the vibration of the ground when you use your Element. You need to think outside the box.]" Arne advised while Claude continued to run with the Hound.

"Think outside the box....what do I know? It's fast, it has endless stamina and natural armor. What are it's weaknesses? Blindness. It has no eyes, it sees with every other sense-- meaning they're incredibly strong. I have to work against that." Claude thought as he bobbed and weaved through a collection of trees.

"[And how will you do that?]"

Claude's mind went blank for a moment. The trees and bushes that flashed past his vision lost importance as the images of a recent memory took precedence over the real world.

***

A memory of monsters. Monsters with many legs and an appetite for innocent humans in villages. Arachnoids. Spider-Human hybrids. Blind, yet perceptive in other ways. They could see by feeling.

This memory in particular was far from pleasant. He was back in the cabin, stumbling through a sea of blood and guts belonging to both man, woman and child. He remembered the anger, the rage. It was so infecting and visceral. So overflowing that the beings of the wild caught a whiff of his madness and the infection of vengeful rage took them over completely.

They all roared and snarled in unison. A vocalization of all things Claude had grown accustomed to. Rage, fear, anxiety, pain, disgust, sadness....hate.

The sound shook the blooded waters within his cabin and the ground outside.

For a moment he questioned the purpose of the memory until he peered through the window and witnessed how stunned the Arachnoids were.

Their senses were completely overridden. Bombarded. Overwhelmed by the wild.

That's how he'd win this game of "Tame or Die". That's how he'd fasten the Malevolence Tether around the throat of his inner hatred towards the Demons and make the power his own.

***

"[Claude, how will you work against it's senses?]"

He was back and completely focused, "I'll stun it."

"[Very well.]"

Claude suddenly stood up, abandoning his run on all fours for the moment as his eyes flicked up to the branches above. He'd never done what he was planning, but the longer he thought on it; the more possible it seemed.

The chain was beginning to feel more and more like an extension of his arm.

"Fuck it." He thought before leaping into the air and whipping the chain in the direction of a branch sitting high on a nearby tree.

SHWOO!

The flaming chain of metal cut through the air and fastened around the thick branch in a flash. Without hesitation, he pulled himself towards it.

In a matter of seconds he was off the ground and bounding from tree to tree-- sometimes using his claws combined with his athleticism and other times using the chain.

He picked up speed with every leap as his comfort grew until he was practically directly over the visibly confused Hound.

It was time to execute the next step of his plan.

Instead of his usual small leaps from tree to tree, he loaded his legs with power and burst off his previously occupied tree to soar through the skies with a faraway branch in sight.

"[Claude!? You aren't making that!]" Arne roared as the ground came to meet them.

He ignored him, flinging his left arm out in reach of the distant branch, the chain followed soon after.

The blazing tether snaked through the air like an arrow and triple wrapped the branch in a tight hold. As soon as the chain held, he fastened his right hand around the chain and let himself swing through the forest at speeds that marveled even some of the fastest terrestrial predators.

Branches split his fur, bushes cut his feet. The forest fought to rip him to pieces as he flew through it in a blur until the madness suddenly subsided and he was airborne once again.

The sky-scraping trees suddenly didn't feel so tall. The wind in his ears never felt so loud. The last time he was this high into the air, he was wrestling an Urd out of the sky. All that was different between then and now was that he was fully transformed and ready for what was to come.

The forest hummed in response to the rise of Nature energy spewing from the descending Lupine. It's power climbed and climbed until things began to grow on their own and Claude's hands looked like two green suns.

"How about some noise, hothead?!" Claude roared to the Hound below before executing the final piece of his plan.

He aimed his fists at the creature, imagining the forest exploding in his mind before bursting his hands open. Nature followed his movements.

In a flash, the forest burst with life. Bushes exploded to the size of small trees, grass shot up a foot in size and trees became spiked with thick branches that smacked against eachother to create loud chops and sounds of collision.

The Hound skirted to a halt in confusion as the forest all around it exploded with life and power.

In unison with the green expanse, Claude landed-- now invisible to the creature due to the sounds of the forest that shrouded him completely.

Before the Hound had a chance to smell him, he exploded from the tall grass and reached out with his left hand.

SHWOOSHHHH!!

The Malevolence Tether wrapped around it's neck like a leash and immediately began to sizzle while the Hound thrashed and let out it's hideous crocodilian howls of pain.

The chain began letting off tufts of flame and torrents of energy that burned him just as much as the Hound.

"AACK!" Claude roared in pain.

"[it's testing your will. Hold on!]"

The Hound began to pull, dragging him through the grass in a rush to escape the chains incredible burn.

"NO YOU DON'T!" He snapped before pulling against the Hound.

The chain snapped taut like a rope.

A burst of pain and power washed over them both, causing the chain to flicker from being covered in red flames, to verdant green energy.

The green glow persisted as he pulled the Hound to him inch by inch. After a few painful seconds, the Hound was merely a few feet from him.

FWIP!

It spit a flaming javelin in a last ditch attempt to escape. Claude moved his head just in time to feel it's incredible heat cut across his cheek.

Following the ranged attack, the Hound closed in, no longer content with running.

FWOO!

"AA--" The Hound's roars were cut short as he caught it by the throat and began wrapping the rest of the loose chain around the creature.

By the time he was done, the entirety of the chain wrapped it's neck and left it nowhere to go but where Claude wanted it.

For now, the two faced eachother, skin sizzling and snouts snarling.

The Hound opened it's tooth riddled maw again to shoot a flaming spike at him.

"NO!" Claude snapped.

To his surprise, nothing came. The chain was working.

The Hound no longer attempted to skewer him, but it still shook and thrashed against the chain.

"Come on....stop fighting it!"

The Hound persisted.

Claude's eyes flared with anger as he shook the beast, "Look at me."

It slowly stopped, seeming to hear his voice for the first time.

His tether was completely covered in green flames now.

".....I said look at me. I know you can see."

The Hound stilled and aimed the horns that spewed from its face at him as if they were eyes, looking into his own with the utmost understanding.

Silence fell. Instinct was left to do the talking. The instinct that took over a Beast Tamer in the presence of a new ally.

He didn't fully understand what he was doing, but at the same time he did.

The Hound was still flaming and on alert, but he was completely relaxed. Relaxed enough to reach over and place his hand over the back of its neck.

He ignored the pain of the quills stabbing into his palms as he pulled it to him. Closer and closer until his head connected with the creature's horns that ran along its own.

Slowly, his eyes began to flicker. For a moment, they were the color of the Hounds raging flames. And then, they were back to his own bright green color. The Hound followed. One moment it was accented by red flames, and then the flames went green-- copying his eyes.

The mimicking process persisted for a matter of seconds. A language unheard by human ears filled the silence between them. A language between Tamer and Beast. A language between Slayer and Hound.

It didn't take long for them to find an understanding.

Out of nowhere, an explosion of reds and greens emanated from their connected heads and Claude could suddenly feel it's mind as if it was his own. In a way, it was.

The bond was formed. The beast was tamed.

DING!

[HellSlayer's Hound has been Tamed!]

[+2 Stat Points]

[You have tamed your inner ferocity. Continue working with your Hound to strengthen your control and understanding of the HellSlayer's Hound.]

The chain suddenly sunk back into a tattoo over his skin as he fell back with exhaustion. He could feel the heat of the sun as clear as day.

"....What a night." He thought.

Before he could fully relax, the feeling of breaths on his face caused his eyes to open.

There it was, standing right over him as if the events that transpired before never happened.

Being so close to it's mouth made him incredibly uncomfortable. He'd seen too many flaming spikes explode from it to be anything but uncomfortable.

With that in mind, he slowly sat up. With his rise, the creature backpedaled until he was standing to face it.

The two eyed each other for a long span of seconds.

The Hound didn't look very different. Same body, scales and double-scaled armor around it's torso. Same scarring. Same lack of eyes and incredibly long wolf ears. It was all the same except for a small few things.

It's scales darkened. They now stretched over it's muscles in a shade of deep black. A black that was identical to his fur. A color that made you invisible during the night. But that wasn't the only color to change.

The once red gills and scars on it's body that spewed angry red flames, were now green-- matching the color of his own energy.

Instead of being the once black and red flamed monster that resembled something out of hell. It was now a sleek black and green glowing Hound that mirrored him.

"....Cool." He thought as they moved, studying and copying each others movements.

The mimicking continued until the Hound stopped and sniffed at the pocket of his ripped pants.

"[This thing eats?]"

"I guess...." Claude thought before pulling out a piece of Deer meat and throwing it to the creature.

FWOOSH!

As if being attacked, the Hound sidestepped and let the meat hit the ground nearby with a wet smack.

"Don't tell me your a vegetarian..." Claude said.

"[I believe the correct term is herbivore.]" Arne cut in as they watched the Hound approach the slab of meat.

It's approach was slow and purposeful-- hesitant almost.

To see a 4ft+ tall scaled Hound with horns for eyes scarred to eat a piece of meat was odd to witness. What it did after was even more so.

It sniffed and lowered it's snout, letting it's nose bump the piece of meat a few times before it abruptly snarled and gagged. Then, it began making a number of noises belonging to many species while it shook its head with disdain.

"[It's.....It's speaking....?]"

Claude understood what the Hound was doing. He did it often. It was fighting against it's urges.

In a weird way, he felt like he was watching himself.

A feeling made stronger when the Hound spit a tuft of green flames onto the meat, leaving a nearly burnt piece of meat on the floor that it ate in a flash, still grumbling animalian curses in between chews.

Arne erupted into a fit of laughter within his mind.

"...That's how I look when I eat?"

"[.....I believe thats exactly how you look.]"

The Hound raised it's eyeless head to him, one piece of Deer meat could barely satisfy a poodle. So, he threw the rest while he watched it cook and wolf down the food with it's best impression of a scowl.

"[Well, I think all that's left to do is bestow your clone with a name, yes?]"

Claude was taken out of his thoughts, "Right. I wasn't even thinking about that. Any ideas?"

"[That's what i'm supposed to ask you.]"

Claude sighed, "...A name. Hm.....what fits you?" He thought while he studied the beast.

He was never good with names, so he began to study the creature's traits for any names that would fit.

Nothing stuck until his eyes fastened on three glowing green slits on each side of it's neck. Not specifically for that, but for the name. A name that matched someone he'd give anything to see again.

A name that he'd give to the Hound as his way of paying homage to one of the greatest men he ever knew.

"Your name...is Gil."

The Hound nodded with complete understanding before throwing him a piece of cooked Deer.

"[Gil. Very well, I suggest you take Gil to meet the rest of the pack now.]"