CHPT 389: Another Day, Another Change....

Thursday Morning, January 1st, 2241...

The sun was up. The year was anew.... and the adversities multiplied.

DING!

[Lunar Evolution Recognized!]

[Racial Abilities and Skills increased!]

[New Racial Ability Unlocked: (Aether Sense)]

DING!

[Skill Merging: 96%]

It appeared Claude's evolution was steadily progressing as well. Unfortunately, it's speed couldn't outpace the chaos of such a place as the Vada District. Or New Gloria in general. That would take a little more work. Good thing he had stamina, and preternatural senses.

Speaking of senses.

"Aether Sense..." The words came from his jaws with a huff as he stepped through the canyon with Ursula's human form slumped over his back. Her weight and size once so immense now felt like little more than a backpack slung over his shoulders. She had a long night. She had evolved as he had.

"[It took us forever to learn that one. You see, I was never so inclined to learn of the Monsters within the Tangents. My fangs only thirsted for the Blood of the Undead and the get of Remus.]"

"But you did eventually learn?" Claude clarified as the early morning sun heated his dark furred frame.

"[Yes, we did.]"

"And it's what-- the ability to sense an Elves power? Isn't that sort of groundbreaking? I mean Aether in itself has been a mystery man has thirsted over--"

"[Since the first Elven War-- I'm aware. I was there.... sometimes. The Gulch was a nasty place then.]"

If Claude wasn't so tired-- and beat-up about the Elven woman, he would've pressed Arne for the groundbreaking levels of information he just casually dropped. Instead, he focused on the topic at hand.

"How can I use it?"

"[Aether Sense is tricky. As Lupines of Romulus our hybrid Elven origins make us susceptible to feeling the Aether-- but that's about it. We can sense it, but none of the Lupines I knew could tap into the Aether-- I heard word of High Alpha Mages that could for a few seconds. But it would leave them exhausted for days. I believe, in Romulus' pursuit of evolution through union, he made us more complex than the bulk of us could handle.]"

Claude stayed silent as he walked, flanked by Wolves and Canine monstrosities from within.

"[But anyway, that's an extended story for another time entirely. How are you feeling. Despite everything that has happened, this Full Moon was a success. Ursula is ok. You are ok-- physically at least. Talk to me, young Lupine.]"

He could hear Arne's worry-- as if he'd burst at the seams at any moment.

Claude stopped in his tracks, the end of the looming canyon walls only feet away and leading out to the sun kissed boulder laden desert.

He dropped down to his knees and placed Ursula on the ground before he began washing himself off with the water filling a small dent in the rock floor. It must've rained in his absence.

"I'm fine, Arne. Stop panicking."

"[Oh on the contrary, dear boy. I'm not panicked. I'm merely curious to know how you're processing the information-- the events, you've undergone very recently. You can be interesting at times like these. Sometimes as radical and strange as Romulus, and other times more paranoid than Remus himself. So I ask again, how are you feeling?]"

Claude's massive pawed hands scooped up a handful of the cold rainwater. He drank it like a dog, uncaring of how bizarre it would've felt to do so before being a Lupine had become the norm. As he drank, he replied in mind.

"I feel like I should know who this Elven murderer is. It's too significant. Every instance-- every issue, that's happened since I've arrived here has been centered around us. Why would this one outlier come out-- on the full moon. And enter the same Tangent I planned to enter. And how did the Cyclops' get there? And none of these happenstances seem to be directly related to Demons. It's all such a mess, and still, my heart won't stop pounding in my throat... my neck won't stop itching as if I can feel fingers inches away-- reaching for me.]"

"[You're afraid.]"

"I'm fucking confused. I don't like being confused."

"[Naturally. And the Elven woman. Does your sympathy for the Tangent-Born bother you? Or do you embrace it?]"

Claude took another handful of water and used it to wipe the blood from Ursula's hands and mouth, trying his best to find gentleness in his bruttish hands.

"I don't know what I do with it. I guess I feel it. I can't help that. I mean on different terms, she would've been alive and we would've been working to kill each other. But it's not different terms." Claude sighed, "It just sucked to watch her fade. Do all Monsters feel as she did when they fall around the corpses of their loved one's? I mean is it like Rollan said. Do they all feel in such a way. So similar to humans?"

"[I think that is something for you to discover on your own. No matter what anyone tells you, your experience will shape how you perceive that aspect of your world. As your guide, such a question is out of my depth. For you are questioning the effects and intricacies of Monsters, Tangents and Races as a whole. A complexity Romulus probably loved to tackle with his scholarly High Alpha's.]"

"Too bad they aren't here to answer me." Claude said.

"[And we know who's to blame for that, don't we?]"

Claude rubbed the blood from his hands in the watered pit. He watched it swirl and blend in the calm waters for a moment.

"He's to blame for everything."

With nothing left to be said, Claude picked up Ursula and willed the Beasts to once again be within him. No reason to make themselves a larger image as they prepared to enter open ground. He didn't feel like attracting the eyes of anything more. Not with Ursula dead asleep on his back.

The Wolves had long since scattered, drawn back to their dens at his command. When he headed out into the light beyond the canyon walls, all that remained was Ursula, Frosty and Blackbeak.

His leg muscles warmed in preparation to take off at blurring speeds through the sanded wilds of the Vada District.

"Let's get home."