CHPT 297: Give and Take, Protect and Provide...

Forests were always nice. When your senses leveled up from that of a human to an animal, it became the extremes of the good and bad.

During the day, the cold winds fluttered into your nose, bringing with it scents of other nearby creatures, different plants and blooming flowers and even the refreshing scent of long running rivers that dropped the temperature of the surrounding area by a few degrees.

At night, at least for Claude, everything became that much better. The forest in all of its natural and mystical beauty magnified as the sun disappeared to watch over other parts of their bloody and cruel world. Sure, Lupines were nocturnal-- but even before he was changed, he knew that in darkness there was beauty.

Despite all this greatness, there was also it's faults...

Like the smell of the rotting log off to the right of him deeper within the woodland. A scent made worse by the fact that the steady snowfall of the early morning had long since melted and seeped into the wood on the outside to add a watery dirt smelling component to the mix.

Or the scent of urine. There was a time when the scents of urine were just urine. And then his senses exploded with hypersensitivity and acuteness. Every scent for every animal was different. Vastly different. Feline's had it the worst....so far.

But above all this. The worst aspect was the distant and lingering aspect of wild violence that hovered just outside the forest. The scents of blood, the animalistic howls that shook the skies in celebration of a successful hunt....or the squeals and roars of dying prey beforehand. Sure, he partakes in the same practices, but it didn't change the fact that he didn't enjoy hearing it.

Something he realized the magnitude of after the first hour of being blind and working to clear his mind.

It had been four hours since then. The focus of a Potential was something else....until you focused on the wrong thing. Claude found it easier to focus on the right thing by physically taxing himself along the way. Exhaustion clears the mind....and he needed mental clarity to see his Element clearly.

The first step in becoming a Druid was hard in a way he never expected. He still hadn't even accepted it-- it would be dumb not to though. The goal was power, and here it was, placed at his feet by the mysterious man, Rollan.

So, he trained. He worked and focused as if he'd wanted to be a Druid since childhood.

In the center of the small one-man clearing, he sat. Not in the classic sense. His butt wasn't touching the ground. In fact, the only thing to grace the ground on him was his hands, flexed and tiredly holding him up in an almost picture perfect L-sit.

His abdomen was in flames, every inhale seemed to rip the muscles open and send out a torrent of searing pain all through his midsection. His quads and arm muscles were in a similar state from being flexed for so long. At least the scents of rotting wood and dying animals wasn't too heavily on his mind anymore.

Instead, he let all his focus pour into the world that opened up to him when his eyes closed.

In the time since, he could see what Rollan meant by his own mind ruining the sight. Now, looking at it all without any present Demons or demonic work, he could see how the glowing verdant tree tops and the flaming glow of life within the bushes below faltered and fizzled whenever his thoughts swayed from the hardly maintained space of clarity.

As it was, he could only hold it for no more than thirty seconds. And now, with his body succumbing to fatigue he had about ten second increments to work with.

"Come on....Come on..." He told himself as his ears picked up on the sounds of sweat droplets falling from his tensed back and dripping down his arms-- following the trail of each bulging vein like a road map.

He had no more than ten seconds in him. He wanted it. He wanted to push himself, it had become like a game for him. Hold the focus, hold the clarity.

10....9....

Deep breaths..

8.....7..6

Legs shaking....arms bending at the elbow...

4..3--

CLAP!

"Monsieur, you're still out here?"

Claude was so startled by the sound that he fell out of his static hold, landing back first into the grass breathing as if he'd just run an endless number of miles with no breaks.

He could feel the pool of sweat that soaked the grass beneath him. He'd been there for a while.

"Why the hell can't I hear you?" He growled.

Rollan chuckled from behind him, "You need to worry less about what you hear and more about what you miss, hm?"

Claude sat up, stretching his aching arms and abdomen before throwing a piece of meat in the air towards the canopy above.

Snatch!

A collection of black feathers dashed across the network of branches above and swallowed the airborne strip of meat out of existence.

"What I missed? What are you talking about?" He asked.

"The day, Monsieur. You missed the day."

Claude hesitated for a moment before sliding off his blindfold. The sun that once sat brightly above the forest had all but vanished. It's glowing orange array of distant flames still touched the darkening sky in the west, but based on the way the stars glimmered and the moon rose to prominence, he'd say it was late evening.

Maybe it had been more than four hours....

"You've been at this all day, no?"

Claude shrugged. "More or less...I had breaks obviously. I didn't know this much time passed...."

Rollan looked at him oddly for a few moments as if speaking to himself subconsciously while he stared. ".....Come with me. We have a final step."

***

After a few minutes spent walking through the forest, they were back at Rollan's home. From the way the candle lights from inside his home spilled out onto the dark grass of his lawn, Claude guessed he was inside working-- either on his own things or checking Ursula.

As soon as the thought of her was beginning to build Rollan pulled him from his thoughts while he emerged from behind his house with a pot full of dirt-- much like the one he'd been given during training at the University.

"Come, come sit." The man said while waving him over.

Claude nodded and closed the distance between them on tired legs. As soon as he sat down in the grass opposite him, the bird that perched on his shoulder leapt off and moved around freely in the grass. Frosty and Gil watched it hesitantly while Ashe and the others seemed rather unaffected by it's presence. He didn't know if that was a good or bad sign.

"Alright." Rollan said with a sigh, "I never asked you."

"What?"

"I understand-- you can make a strong Druidic Warrior. But the question is, do you want to be one, Monsieur. It is much work, no?"

Claude could almost laugh, "I'd rather do this than push a boulder up a mountain and fight trolls all night.." He thought before responding, "That's true. You never did ask me. You also didn't have to. I know I'm here as your home protector. But I have my own motives-- they're pretty simple. And by doing this I can get that much closer to reaching them. I could benefit from learning some control and whatever else being a Druid brings. I'm in."

Rollan nodded along in understanding, "There's one very strong downside to being a Druid that you must know..."

The beginnings of fear started spinning into existence at the pit of his stomach.

"You see, Monsieur. Since the beginning of time-- our time as Druids. Since before the portals to the other sides opened and spat out those of the wild. We've had a blood feud with those that have been trying to overpower us since then. We think it's because of the constant battles-- but their Monsters...they don't like our kind...they stalk and prey upon us.....th---...."

Rollan continued to speak, continued to try and explain the one glaring downside of traveling down the path of Druidry as a young man. He was saying a lot...whatever it was. But, Claude didn't hear it.

He checked out as soon as the song of the Banshee's rattled his ears as if he were front row in a concert.

Immediately, he picked up on the dark and beautiful chorus as it fell from the sky seemingly riding the moons rays that splashed onto the forest in the distance.

He rose and spun around to face it in a flash, no longer hearing Rollan's words at all as he honed in on the sound-- no thought to question why he heard it if he hadn't activated the skill, all he knew was that danger was in the distance.

The others sensed it as well.

Frosty placed himself in front of Claude, the cobalt blue glow of magic singed the frosted fur running down his back like ocean flames.

Gil paced like a panther behind him, green accented steam fizzled from his jaws and the sharpened barbs protruding from his back. The Phantom Wolves fell into step with him.

"Oi, Claude.....Claude!" Rollan's voice reached him finally.

He turned back to face the man, "Something's coming."

Rollan shrugged with the bird held carefully in his arms, "I assumed so, no? Why don't you use that vision you've been training to tell me what it is?"

Claude must've made a face that blind men could see because Rollan chuckled to himself as Claude dropped down to sink his hands into the cold grass.

The all too familiar world of glowing greens and absolute darkness welcomed him seconds after his eyes shut. As he focused, he could see the world expanding, growing, mapping out more and more of the land around him.

His range was assumedly abysmal-- and his duration matched. So, he searched furiously with the little time he had, emboldened by the constant chorus of the Banshee's song.

10....9...8..

Nothing.

6....5...

Nothing. He felt the rise of panic washing him over.

"I-- I can't see them."

Claude continued to search the grounds until the sight faded and left him with nothing.

"Shit! How can I not see them..?"

"[They're not on the ground...]"

Claude straightened, "What?"

"[They're flying, Claude..]"

As if responding to the guides words, the sounds of wings flapping in the far distance fell on his sensitive ears.

"They are..."

"They're what?" Rollan asked.

"They're flying." He repeated.

Rollan smacked his leg in frustration while he shook his cane/sword angrily, "Merde! This is what I was trying to tell you. What perfect timing....god dammit!"

"What is it?" Claude asked.

"The Storm Sisters...thats what I call them-- they always come in groups and they bicker and harp on each other like siblings. It sounds all well and good until you consider the fact that they wiped two villages clean of all it's supplies...and people in one night after one of their sisters was slain. They've come back for me, Monsieur. You must hold up your end of the bargain but I fear this will be a tough battle in the worst way..."

Claude was about to respond when Ashe bumped his hip with her head. He looked down and found his spear held loosely in her jaws for him to take. Nobody here was running.

"I never planned on doing anything else. Just watch over her..." He said while motioning to the tree house and taking his spear, "...And I'll keep them occupied in the forest."

As Rollan watched Claude hastily jog into the forest beyond he yelled to him, "Monsieur! Remember what I told you. This is the one downside of Druidry. Those that are like them will be drawn to you. They hate our kind like no other...."