CHPT 138: Blending of Minds

Small tufts of shimmering black and golden fur lay all over the forest floor, reflecting the Full Moons magic filled rays— accompanied by blood. It was everywhere, splattered against the dark bark of trees, soaked into the cold earth below, and all over the two Lupines who fought ferociously, drunk off the Moon's empowering and maddening Magic.

Samuel stood on one side of the large river with his back to the forest entrance and the University. Bite wounds and red grisly slash marks ran along his sides and arms— ruffling his shinning fur.

He started to pace back and forth on all fours along the rivers edge, straining to listen to the incredibly large Lupine's silent footsteps as it returned to continue their fight.

He was beginning to see the glow of the Claude's wild green eyes when both of them were alerted to the sound of someone brave— or dumb enough to approach them.

"Heheheheh....HAHAHAHA!!!!"

They heard her broken and raspy throated laughter before they saw her.

Claude stuck to the shadows, partially cloaked by the dense bushes and darkness of night as she came into view.

Det. Cyrene stopped at the top of the hill, bathed by the Moonlight as she first noticed Samuel. It seemed like Full Moons were a night of transformation for more than just the three of them. She too looked, unrecognizable.

She no longer wore her clean long black cloak and instead wore light silver plated, skintight black light armor that covered every inch of her body. With the Moon right above her, she looked even paler than usual, making her chaotic red eyes look all the more severe as they scanned over Samuel with raw excitement.

In her right hand, she held her trademark pure silver sword shrouded in a deep red Aura. Only now, blood red Lightning danced and jumped along the swords length. That same vermillion current ran along her skin and up through her blonde hair, causing it to flow and slither freely like golden snakes.

In her left hand, she held what the two Lupines assumed was, Tai. There was no way to be sure based on the appearance of him.

Half of his face and skull resembled a Wolf— minus the fur. One of his arms was bulked with muscle while random individual fingers were fully transformed and others were broken with long black claws splitting his skin and causing blood to leak from his fingers. His pants were in tatters from the burst of muscle growth and change of his feet shape, showing patches of pink human skin with partially grown fur. All in all, he looked disgusting and was the textbook definition of failing your transformation.

"Taiiii...." she sang his name as she shook him with her left arm. "Always in your brother's shadow...hehehe. So quiet, so insecure. Your no predator, even your body recognizes that! AHAHAHHA! HOW FITTING!?"

Samuel snarled at her sudden psychotic rambling.

"Dammit! I would've loved to kill all three of you myself....but I'll settle for two. Your father won't be very happy, then again it's not like he cares about you two. Oh well...heheh. As long as I'm promised the head of a shape-changer..." She said before tossing Tai off to the side and letting him roll down the hill.

Her eyes fell back on Samuel, causing a mischievously exited gleam to ignite in her blood red eyes.

"Your no Werewolf. Good, I want this to last." She said as the flow of lightning on her sword increased.

She suddenly straightened out and started looked around the forest in fear. Slowly, the fear changed to maddening excitement as a wicked smile spread out across her pale face.

"Hehehehhe.....he's near....I can feel it! Show yourself! Show me what you've become, Claude!" She yelled into the night as the red lightning flowing through her hair caused it to raise.

In response to her calling, she heard rustling in the small bit of forestry to the right of her at the top of the hill.

Seconds later, she could see his intense green eyes as he emerged from the forestry. As excited as she was, she couldn't help but take a few steps back in fear as he stepped forward.

He had to be over eight feet tall, yet he moved through the forest making almost no noise.

The leaves and bushes brushed against his unbelievably dark fur, highlighting the thick muscles that flexed and tensed underneath. His wide chest was marked with three red lines that were already scabbed over, similar injuries marked one of his massive quads and forearms. His snout was twisted into a wicked snarl that exposed his giant canines, pinked by Samuel's blood.

She was stunned for a moment, by his size, his silence, and the fact that even when transformed, he was comfortably walking on two legs. She'd never seen anything like him.

Claude was moving purely on instinct and predatory urges, influenced by his last promise being; Keep the twins in the forest and don't let anyone steal his revenge.

So, the arrival of a new challenger made him want to remove her. Remove her from the forest, from the entire area— even from life. In this moment, he didn't care.

Det. Cyrene was able to recognize it as he crouched and tensed his muscles in preparation to lunge at her.

"HAHAH! Amazing!"

Woo!

Claude lunged, turning into a massive black blur as he reached for her head.

Det. Cyrene dodged— still laughing, just in time to see Samuel's open jaws heading straight for her face.

Shwishhzzzz!

"AARP!" Samuel yelped as her electrified blade cut along his stomach after she dropped below his lunge.

He hit the ground snarling and rolling around as the red lightning hopped along his fur and forced his muscles to tense up in pain.

Claude hit the ground, rolling and turned around to charge again. He ran on all fours before rising up on two legs and swung at her with his claws.

FWOO!

She dodged again and slashed at his outstretched arm.

"Ragh!" Claude snarled as he back stepped away from the sword. Her lightning still touched the fur on his forearm, doing no more than irritating him as he brushed it away— leaving only smoke where it once was.

"GrRR!" He growled as he ran at her again and used his powerful legs to launch himself into the air. He brought his hands together above his head in preparation to hammer fist her into a broken pile of meat, blood and bones.

BOOM!

He slammed his hands down as he landed, missing his target and instead hitting the ground with so much force that the earth around them shook.

Before Det. Cyrene could attack, he swung to the side.

FWOO!

Crck!

The back of his large hand smashed into her ribs and sent her flying down the hill across the river.

Claude stood up and roared at her from the top of the hill. He was cut short from Samuel jumping onto his back and clamping his jaws down on his shoulder.

"AARROUUGHH!!" He roared and snarled in pain as they both fell down the hill, clawing and snapping at each other.

Once they stopped rolling, Claude emerged on top only to be kicked off by Samuel's powerful legs.

Claude snarled and grabbed him by his leg while it was still touching his midsection, so the golden Lupine moved with him as he was knocked back a few feet.

Fwoo!

Claude lunged again at Samuel's face with his claws. He barely missed and his claws sunk into the ground with ease.

Samuel took the opportunity and slashed at the side of his face.

Shlck!

"ARRRGGH!" Claude made an angry pained sound as he stood up and stumbled backward with blood leaking from the cuts on the left side of his snout.

He recovered just in time to see Samuel leaping at his face, attempting to finish the job.

Fwo—Ck!

Claude reached out and caught him by the throat before throwing him across the river and into the forest on the other side where his head smashed into the base of a tree.

He fully turned around to face Det. Cyrene who stood across the river from him. She smiled widely and her eyes were open so wide it didn't even look like she had eyelids.

"Come on!.....MORE!" Det. Cyrene yelled as the red Lightning pulsed in response to her excitement.

Claude snarled and gave in to her request. He cleared the distance between him and the river in a few steps before leaping up incredibly high into the night sky to soar over the river and slam his claws into her chest.

Det. Cyrene watched him in the air for a moment before stepping backwards and aiming her free hand at him.

SHZZZZSH!!

A wild branching current of red Lightning lit up the forest as it shot from her hand and crashed into Claude's chest right before he hit the ground.

The strength of the red bolt sent him flying backward into the river.

"AHAHA! Don't tell me that was it, Claude! Get angrier.....just like before. HATE ME!" She yelled chaotically at the water as Claude silently lay at the bottom.

The ice cold water removed the stunning effect of her lightning and left him acutely aware of himself as he floated at the bottom. He could hear her above the water— but her words meant nothing to his animalistic mind.

The longer he spent in the water with his own thoughts, the more his predatory mind started to blend with his more human mind. This continued until he was in a weird state of control— or agreement with his other self. He still couldn't speak or think properly, but none of that mattered. All he knew was the Detective was threatening to ruin his promise.

"RrGRRR!" He growled angrily, sending a volley of bubbles up to the surface.

"Yes! Come on!" Det. Cyrene said I'm response to the water as it rumbled forcefully.

"RRRAGHHHH!!!" Claude burst out of the water, roaring as droplets of water flew off his hair and fur.

In one movement, he jumped out of the water and landed in front of her.

She was partially stunned by the quick movement causing the two to simply stare at each other for a moment. She was utterly confused.

"For such a mindless animal, you sure do have a lot of restraint.....heheheh..." She said quietly as Claude towered over her. The only sound made between them was the steady drip of water dropping from his hair as he leaned over her.

Claude snorted in response, sending droplets of water into her face before he started stepping backwards.

"Wha—...What are you doing?" She asked in complete confusion as he took a few more steps away from her.

Her confusion was taken up a notch after he snarled, bringing up his arms defensively in the form of an x in front of his face. He then shifted his legs with one foot pointing towards her as if he was willing to throw kicks.

She stared at him with complete bewilderment for a moment longer before her mind registered what he was doing.

"....hahahHAHA! A-A fighting stance??!!" The psychotic excitment left her voice as she noticed the wolffish grin he wore behind his raised arms. She began to wonder how much of his mind was mindless and how it was all possible.

He got a whiff of her fear and his eyes glowed brighter with a hungry intensity.

Det. Cyrene picked up on it and panicked, sending a bolt of red Lightning at him.

SHWZZZZSH!!!

Woo!

Claude lunged forward and to the right, missing her attack while also positioning himself in his own attacking range.

Before she could react, he spun— sending a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of her face.

"RAGH!"

CRACK!

The impact sent her off her feet and into the forest, hitting tree's and tumbling through bushes the whole way.

***

Claude silently headed into the thicker portion of forest, mumbling the promise he made to himself in broken english since it seemed to be all he could say as his power and ferocity climbed in response to Det. Cyrene's excited fear.

".....M-My.....My r—.....My revenge."