CHPT 344: Two Journeys, One Path....

What a night. A night that had morphed into day through hours of violence, training and possible new dangers. Even so, it wasn't over for Claude. Almost though.

When their journey through the snowy sanded wilds of the Vada Districts outskirts finally came to a close and the familiar forest of Rollan's home came within view-- he almost got that warm home feeling. Something he hadn't felt in a while. Something that caught him off-guard as they traveled through the thick forest in all it's calming wild smells and sights.

He wasn't exactly a morning person-- or a night owl for that matter. Over time he'd slowly learned to just enjoy being awake. Being able to appreciate both sides of time. Night and Day. In daylight, the forest was taken up a notch in it's verdant glow-- just as questionably magical as always. Only now, the thick oak trees, evergreens and lush bushes now reflected the sun's rays. With the gentle drizzle of snow over it all, it looked like a natural world blanketed in diamonds.

One of the gifts of his heightened senses, he could take the beauty of it all in that much better. It was a welcomed contrast to the night of rotten flesh, blood and monsters stitched together with old human hair.

"Forests will never get old..." He said aloud to Ursula and the pack without looking back at them.

"....." No response from Ursula.

He turned and found her sluggishly trying keep up while literally nodding off mid-walk. She'd face-plant into the floor and snore away the next six to eight hours any second. Before she could, he slowed his pace to let her catch up to him before he wrapped his hand around her arm and kept her upright on their walk.

He could hear Rollan singing to himself in the distance. It seemed to be a freestyle-- only achieving the style aspect due to his lavish French accent as he sang a folkish tune about what happened to Shape-Shifting teenagers who failed to return to their posts before sunrise.

"[Well....it seems the sightless Druid has seen you both coming for quite a while, hm?]"

"Yep. Hopefully he's not too mad." Claude replied before speeding up his walk, dragging Ursula along with him in her tired daze of mumbling about berries and spiced meats.

***

When he entered the small clearing centered around Rollan's tree-house and his slowly growing Ancient Oak, part of him was ready to find another wooden effigy filled with the burning corpses of monsters. That was always how he welcomed him back.

Not this time.

Instead, Rollan stood in front of his home in the midst of performative stretches and slow movements. It looked like he was wood-weaving but slowed down and without any magic. He continued to do so while he sang, looking tranquil yet focused.

His bottle of foul smelling liquid sat in the grass nearby looking barely touched.

"I thought we had a deal, Monsieur la bête." His voice came out less sluggish-- less lax and friendly, than usual.

Claude immediately took note of the slightly cold mannerisms locked into his dark skinned face. He wasn't drunk....at least not entirely. He couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not.

"Yea, sorry. We ran into some....complications. Still learning how to manage our workload is all." Claude replied, deciding to hold off on the Bounty Hunter information until Ursula was away and deep asleep.

"Careful...you may make a mistake you can't forgive. I'm sure you now know why spending any extra time in that City is less than....what is that word? Ideal, no?"

Still unable to place the exact oddity that surrounded the city, Claude vaguely nodded as he led Ursula into Rollan's home.

"Hm?" Rollan persisted, unsatisfied with not hearing Claude's answer.

"What? Now you want to act blind?" He mumbled to himself before adding, "I heard you, the cat's are weird. Again, I'm sorry we're late-- that was fucked..I'm just...still figuring the whole thing out."

Rollan said no more as Claude pulled the wooden door open and led Ursula in to fall into the newly made hammock that hung on the right side of the room under a open window. He could hear the thick ropes straining under her weight as he turned and exited to speak to Rollan some more.

"Is there anything more you can tell me about the cats?.....Or is that another bad question?" The door shut behind him, acting as a concluding factor to his words.

Rollan continued his slowed down wood-weaving movements with his sword/cane and bottle laying nearby, "Hm....I can tell you right now what you didn't do."

"Alright."

Rollan executed a slow straight jab before sidestepping while he spun his arms in an arcing circle, finishing stopping and repeating the jab with his opposite arm. He could almost see the wooden tendril at his side mimicking his movements at faster-- deadlier, speeds. "You didn't watch out for them like I told you. You didn't look at them, Monsieur."

Claude growled and threw his hands up, causing Blackbeak to squawk loudly overhead while Frosty barked, "Of course I didn't! It must've been overweight sewer rats stalking me. Fucking vague responses...."

Rollan shook his head and stood up straight, turning to face him, "You are so dense sometimes, no?"

Claude was ready to reply with his sights focused on Rollan's blindfolded face. Sometimes he wished he could see his eyes or his ears-- just out of curiosity even. The thought threw his previous reply out of the window as he reached up for his own blindfold that hung around his neck like a necklace.

"You've got to be joking...."

Rollan smiled faintly before turning to resume his movements, "You look with your eyes too much, Monsieur. It stops you from seeing the entire picture...."

Claude sighed in defeat, "I really hate when you make good points...."

With nothing left to say, he started taking off his gear in silent consideration of how silly he was for forgetting he had an entirely different way of viewing the world. Maybe one that would uncover some of the mysteries surrounding FeliAlu City.

"Are you not going to sleep?" Rollan asked after a few minutes had passed.

"No. I'm going to check the perimeter.....and remark the area. I've also got some personal training to get to."

"Mmmm.....very well, Monsieur. Don't overwork yourself, hm?"

"Not possible." Claude lied confidently as he dropped his cloak, tied on his blindfold and headed back out into the forest. Not before his palm exploded in a burst of shadows and the Phantom Wolves stepped out of the shadows surrounding Rollan's home while Ursula slept. A little extra protection went a long way when a Bounty Hunter was involved.

Rollan watched him leave alone with Frosty sleeping beside Ursula inside. He entered the forest in a flash, suddenly sided by Gil and Blackbeak.

"Very possible..." Rollan whispered before getting back to work.

***

Claude walked through the forest unknowing of his destination, simply waiting for Arne to bark another series of witty remarks surrounding his spouting of directions.

"[Trust me, I noticed it faintly not too long ago. Near the river with the Ratmen. It's the perfect spot.]"

"Why though?" Claude asked, now following his memory towards the river that split the forest surrounding Rollan's home.

"[Why don't you start by telling me why we're even out here?]"

"I need to unlock my ability to Transform...without the Moon...." Claude said, slightly unsure of where the conversation was going.

"[Right. And this kind of training is entirely different based on each Lupine. For you, I think the only place you'll be able to unlock it at, is where I'm taking you.]"

"You're getting to be just as vague as Rollan, Arne."

"[Not possible.]" Arne retorted jokingly, referring to Claude's previous response to Rollan.

"Speaking of Transformations....what do you have to do to unlock yours?" Claude asked while sifting through the forest.

"[I had to meditate for three hours a day.]"

Claude suddenly didn't feel so hyped about training, "....The fuck?"

"[Remember. When I was among the living-- even as Alpha, I was brash...high sprung and immature. My secret to unlocking my true power came through opposing my...worst qualities.]"

"So....you needed to focus."

"[Yes. I needed to focus so hard, that all I knew were the numbers I was counting non stop for those three hours everyday. I needed to concentrate until I could shut out the world and all of it's distractions. Shut out my own mind even.....]"

"Why is that the key?" Claude asked as he found himself traveling down the hill that inevitably led to the river he'd slain monsters on only days before.

"[Romulus and his Magic may forever be a mystery in terms of it's exact functions and the processes. But, I can say without a doubt that many of his teachings reflected in the race he created. This teaching being one of the most simple yet profound. You see, both Man and Beast grow deadlier when they learn to understand their own weakness. And when they ultimately remove it, they both become something entirely different.]"

Claude stayed silent, perfectly content with listening.

"[...And what do you know, the path towards unlocking a Lupines truest power is through acknowledging said weakness and working against it....working towards ultimately removing it. It's really two gifts wrapped in one since the process of unlocking and understanding your transformation is on the same path towards understanding yourself.]"

"......" Once again, Claude remained silent, so much so that he didn't even notice Arne was waiting for him to speak.

"[Oh-- we're here.]" Arne cut in.

"Arne....where the hell is here?" Claude said, throwing his arms up in reference to the thick forest that still surrounded them.

"[To your left.]"

Claude turned, scenting the air and listening intently while he approached.

As soon as his nostrils expanded and took in the cool air, he caught the familiar forest scents along with a high concentration of that rocky mineral scent and water. Water that he could hear, rushing and splashing faintly.

"[That's it.]"

Claude pressed onward with the Phantom Wolves and Gil following behind. As he pushed through the vegetation and passed the thick skyscraping trees, the sounds and smells only grew and grew until they eventually reached their wild liquid crescendo.

He found himself standing in a field of taller grass. As if the whole area was untouched by anything other than more green. At the end of the field, a relatively small stone mountain stood out like a sore thumb....made sorer by the constant flow of frothy water that spilled from the massive hole in the terrain, left to splash and pool in the small pond below.

A deer drank from the waters as they stilled with the further they spread from the impact zone, joined by a family of squirrels and a flock of birds that circled overhead.The winds blew once, throwing his smells at them and causing all the prey to disperse in a flash. Leaving only silence, aside from the rushing waters ahead.

"Arne....what does a waterfall have to do with me unlocking my transformation?"