CHPT 386: Mysteries made Grim.....

Speaking of Ursula.

"[Claude, are you with me?]"

"Mhm." Claude replied as he stood at the cliffs edge.

"[You need to go to her. Not just fight beside her-- you need to interact with your pack. Socialize.]"

"....."

"[Listen. It's been a rough month-- it's been a rough few months for you quite frankly. But this is your duty as Alpha. Now, I say this with even more emphasis than I would with any other new Alpha I may have had a hand in training during my time among the living. I say this more strongly because-- Claude, you are an Alpha of Variants. In many ways you are what Romulus wanted from all of us. But with that comes variation in results.]"

Claude stayed silent. Verbal communication and simple human thought wasn't so simple. But he understood Arne.

"[I know you're afraid. I know it's hard to see her in such a way even if you try to force such a notion down so not to discomfort her. You must remember, I am always here. And I of all people know how important your success is. You need to interact with your pack-- reacquaint yourself with this side of Ursula. Because if you don't, infighting can occur. You need to lead in more than battle. Maybe this lesson isn't so pertinent now, but I believe learning it now is paramount to your development. Your embracing of all that is various requires it. The future requires it, I'm afraid. Take it from a Lupine Alpha that once rejected all that you accept-- a Lupine Alpha who failed and watched everyone die.]"

Maybe it was the Full Moon blurring his chance for comprehensive thought-- maybe it was all the dead bodies surrounding him. Maybe it was both. Either way, he couldn't help but feel that Arne was speaking about something far more important that simply being a better leader. In fact, the message gave him a chill, but he couldn't figure out why....

Even so. He knew the only logical response would be to agree. Arne was correct..... go figure.

Claude snorted into the night before leaping off the cliff to reach the frosted jungles below. Blackbeak flew beside him as he fell, the wind on his ears like an elemental scream that watered his eyes and ruffled his fur that was now accented by black feathers.

As the wintery jungle expanded and seem to slowly begin to swallow him with every moment longer he spent falling, he reached out for the green lands below and used his Nature Element to grow the trees below him.

Slowly, the canopy rose, meeting his fall as he slammed his spear into the bark of a mangrove tree to slow his fall.

He hit the ground soon after silently. Blackbeak perched on the pauldron covering his shoulder that still steamed from all the Cyclops blasts it took.

From the shadows, the pack emerged. Eyes reflecting the moonlight. Muscles and bones emboldened by it's rays. Small snowflakes sat on their raised hackles and covered the grassed floor.

Their tails wagged despite their enhanced appearances and their jaws spilled with drool.

Naturally. Claude tossed them the Cyclops corpse.

The wolves descended in a flash, only departing from the corpse when Frosty, Gil and Ashe arrived.

Claude's stomach grumbled again-- hard enough that it shook him. He ignored it in response to a collection of large footfalls.

She had arrived.

Claude turned and found a pair of blue eyes peering at him from within the concentrated woodland.

"You in there, Ursula?" He spoke through the Pack Link.

The GiantKiller let out a bear-like chuffing sound before emerging from the bushes. Even on all fours, she was of intimidating size.

He thought of the last Lupine he'd seen in that moment, remembering Samuel. When Claude had first seen him, he was horrifying. Cruelty wrapped in golden fur and spewing purple flame like a wolven dragon. On a physical scale, Ursula dwarfed him in every way.....

As she paced in front of him, he caught the feeling of tiredness cling to her mind even more strongly. But fear as well.

Claude's insides clinched as he watched her. He forcibly swallowed down the thought-- the discomfort.

He didn't really know what to do. He was never socially adept in any regard-- and Ursula wasn't a Wolf in need of help.

But, she was Wolf-like and even more importantly, she was Ursula. Somewhere beneath the fur and fang. The fact that she wasn't diving for the Cyclops corpse behind them had to mean something.

"Something..." He thought before stepping toward her.

Ursula backed away and sniffed the floor near him.

When she looked up again, she found his hand outstretched to her.

"Get up, Ursula."

He watched in silence as she sniffed at his hand. It was so bizarre. But, after a few seconds, she grabbed his hand and rose up on two legs as if she were human once more.

In the dark he could see the icy shards that clung to her shoulders, forearms and back like armor. Her breaths escaped her jaws in steaming tufts. It smelled of Cyclops.

The thought of the word rose her bloodlust and he found her eyes shift over to the wolves dining on the giant behind them.

Her instincts pulled her.

"No!" Claude snapped, refusing to let go of her hand.

Ursula snarled. Claude snarled back and snapped his jaws near her face causing her to cower while still snarling.

The rest of the pack continued eating as if nothing out of the norm was happening.

Claude grabbed her forearm and pulled her up straight, forcing her to look into his eyes that seemed to glow brighter under the moonlight.

"I said fight....not what you are, but for.... your mind. Ursula..... fight for your mind." Claude spoke, slurring his words due to his fangs.

The GiantKiller froze for a moment, turning her head in a very canine style.

"....fIgHT..."

The words came from her mind more than her jaws.

Claude's heart skipped a beat. He nodded curtly before pulling her head to meet his, "Win fi--"

"AAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!"

Out of nowhere a bone curdling shrill shook the forest and bled the pack's ears, coming from seemingly miles away.

Claude snarled and fell to the floor, grabbing his ears in pain. The others did something similar.

As he lay there stunned and dizzied to the point of nausea, he was able to make out Ursula's roar as she took off, seemingly a child of the Moons ferocity once more.

Claude was on his feet in a flash. Ursula was on the run. What just screamed? More Cyclops'?

"Dammit! FUCK!"

"[Claude, you must relax. That was remarkable for a first try at Full Moon Socialization. But, I'm afraid your plate is beyond full once more.]"

Arne's vocabulary and choice of words was simply aggravating during Full Moon's.

"EngLish, yOu fu--"

"[Maintain your control!]" Arne snapped.

Claude took in a deep breath and grabbed his head that felt like it was swelling.

"[You'll be able to find Ursula. But you won't be able to help her unless you relax.]"

After a few endless seconds, Claude could think clearly once more. Relatively at least.

"[I understand you've been busy with the training I pushed you into taking. That is all well and good. But in doing so, you've missed a couple occurrences that I've only now begin to question...]"

"Talk to me. Fast." Claude said, the urge to get moving almost inescapable as the pack paced around him.

"[You can sense no more enemies in the vicinity.... and you've been fighting for the better part of a couple hours. Even so, the Tangent hasn't reopened Claude.]"

Claude's stomach was suddenly filled with anxiety, "This isn't a Horde Tangent."

"[That's what's confusing me, Claude. I believe it is.]"

"... What?"

"[Even for Silver Standards and all their difficulty which births the Silver Reaping's in men and women your age, this was a Horde Tangent of impressive proportion. A team of four Silver Ranks would've struggled considerably in this... a few may have died even. Especially with the lack of light and shelter.]"

"..... But something else is in here." Claude thought, his throat was slowly beginning to close. His mind slowly being shrouded in paranoia.

"[Well that's just it. There is something in here, still.]"

"...."

"[But I don't think it's a Cyclops.]"

Claude being the son of a Tangent Biologist suddenly understood where Arne was going. Something he would've caught onto immediately any other night.

"Cyclops' don't scream....."

"[Claude, I suggest you find Ursula. And find a way out of this place immediately.]"