Touching The Fruit

 Selena guided him into the cave, which sunk into the ground on a semi-steep slope. Astaroth saw her change her feet to clawed feet, somewhere at a half-point between her normal tiger feet and her human ones, and thought of doing the same.

But he still hadn't called out White Death since they reconnected, and he somehow felt it wasn't the right time. Like his soul recognized that the wolf was doing something important, and couldn't be bothered for now.

So, instead, he used basic telekinesis to push his feet down on the ground, to augment his grip. It was uncomfortable, like he had someone stepping on his feet constantly, but it was better than slipping and possibly hurting himself.

They proceeded downward for a while, and Astaroth could now clearly feel the Aether veins that lay below the stone. But his question only grew as he felt two different veins, which should have joined together by all measures.