CHPT 410: Awakened in New Lands

Following Ursula's awakening, Claude didn't sleep-- not after Rollan's tellings of his past. Neither did Ursula. Naturally, since she'd been asleep for quite some time. Something Claude could only chalk up to her bear-like make-up combined with a forced shift, Full Moon and very intense battle. Whatever it was, he'd seen it before in himself. It felt like years ago....

She was different. Her eyes held that faint glow-- even in her human form. Her skin followed that sentiment. Firm, tight, alive..... wild.

In spite of these changes, Ursula was still Ursula. He knew that after talking with her for five minutes. Then the next few hours flew by as they conversed over everything that fell on their minds under the night sky. He caught her up to speed, introducing her to their newest..... packmates?-- for the most part. He told her about Rollan, and he explained what their next plans were.

Simple plans. Get a lay of the land. Survive. Keep moving.

And then he'd fallen asleep. No nightmares, no Fenrir.

He woke a few hours later to a sky livened by the morning sun. The winds were cold enough that he could see his breaths escape his lips with every exhale, but it wasn't cold enough to bother him as he lay in only his cloak and a hide towel tied around his waist.

"[Morning, Claude..... maybe a bit too morning, I'm afraid.]" Arne commented.

Claude sat up, "Nope. That's enough sleep. It's time to run the perimeter."

"[Very well.]"

As Claude set his hands into the sand to get to his feet, vibrations from afar soaked into his bones. He sat still.

WooooM!............. WooooM!.......WOoom!

He felt for his connections to the pack. No tether rattled or enflamed by inner turmoil. Everyone was peacefully asleep for the most part. Frosty was dreaming about chasing a HellBred Squirrel. Seeing dreams was new....

But nothing out of the ordinary.... except.

"[Oh yes, Ursula never went to sleep. I'd assume that racket is her.]" Arne said.

"Right." Claude relaxed and soundlessly stood up, immediately, the sounds of movement radiated from all around the small encampment hidden in the tree and bush.

Claude stood in the small space for a moment looking everyone over. Rollan slept across from him looking as old and lanky as ever with his arms and legs dangling off the bench he laid against. As if he wasn't an Aether Magic wielding Druidic Swordsman packed with muscle at one point. As if he wasn't horrifyingly powerful. You'd never suspect it. Just like you'd never expect that his life was on a timer that didn't follow the laws of the natural world.

He cursed at the thought before looking away from his Druidic Mentor and fellow Elf-Blood.

Cassidy lay near the door with his Auto Bow laid across his lap. Fresh sand clung to his boots. He'd run the perimeter hours ago. As usual. His long coat and hood ruffled slightly so Claude could see some of his face-- more than the usual lower razor-sharp jaw lined with stubble. No Demon Horns-- no goat horns..... no fur. Just human-- although his yellow-colored eyes were odd. But Human.... in theory.

His Hounds-- relics of the Old World, slept at his side. Their slim snouted faces rested across their limber legs as they leaned against him. For an Archer, he'd trained them incredibly well... and even had success in training a Primal. For some reason he had experience with animals beyond the norm. Sooner or later, Cassidy would need to spill his beans just as Rollan did. He too was an oddity, and for that, Claude hoped it would be sooner. No, he'd demand it.

But for now, safety from beyond was more important.

He grabbed his spear by the door and left the camp. As soon as he stepped outside, the cold winds intensified, ruffling his cloak and hair as the breeze came in waves. With it came smells. Smells he didn't need to catch to see number of beings that waited for him.

Frosty paced calmly around the front of the camp. Beside him, Canis followed, trying to feed him rocks. Gil sat near Claude's feet at his left. To his right, a massive set of jaws opened near his face, expelling the foulest smelling breath on earth.

Naturally, due to the rotting chunks of meat, saliva and who knew what else coating teeth as long as his pink finger. Septic bites. A natural occurrence in adolescent Protartyrannus'. It seemed Diamondback and the others were ready to move.

"Morning." Claude said to the scaled beast.

The Primal let out a bass heavy chortle of sorts as Claude hesitantly reached out to pat his head.

"Progress." He said aloud.

"You seem to have an obsession with progress..... Wolf-Man. Why can't you accept things as they are?" Ma phased through the tree's behind Claude like a beautifully horrifying ghost.

"Because this world demands it..... and I still get my ass kicked too much." Claude replied as he continued to pat Diamondbacks massive head. The creature looked as young as it truly was while it watched him with interest.

Gil snickered and shook his head before trotting off towards the back.

"The hell is funny?" He asked before walking after the HellSlaying Hound. The many black barbed spikes in it's back vibrated as it playfully growled back at him.

In the semi dark of dawn, it's glowing green cuts and gills made it a sort of beacon for the others to follow. Even if they didn't really need it.

After a few minutes, they'd split from the camp and stepped out into the true desert. Hills and valleys ran like golden ocean waves frozen in time. The rising sun made the clear rocks within the sand glimmer like crystals. It was beautiful when the winds didn't blow apart the sands and reveal the age old carcasses and skeletons of man and monster. In the distance, he could even see the remains of abandoned small cities weathered and consumed by the sands. The structure and design made him anxious; he'd never seen anything of such a style back home...

The thoughts faded to the back of his mind as his eyes settled on his three missing people in the distance. At the top of the hill ahead of him, Blackbeak watched over the ground below. At the base of a hill, he found Ursula and Piet. Lupine and Satyr. They threw a boulder back and forth across the sands. It was heavy, easily told by the fact that it was nearly as big as them both.... and impossibly dense based on how their feet sank into the sand everytime they lifted the large boulder. Each time it was thrown, it hit the ground and send a heavy shockwave through the sand that Claude felt even from the top of the hill.

"EerrrrrrggggrrAGH!"

FWOO!

PWooooM!

"Yea you like that? I can go all day, goatman!" Ursula yelled after heaving the massive boulder towards Piet.

The adult Satyr huffed and beat his chest before letting out a neighing roar and squatting down to wrap his thickly muscled arms around the rock. Even from where Claude stood, he could see the veins in the brown furred Satyr's back and legs bulge with power.

FWO!

He exploded upward and heaved the rock past Ursula. It crashed halfway up the hill and caused a small scaled landslide. Sands fell and half eaten bones or pieces of busted armor broke free of the chaos as Ursula and Piet fled the scene.

When it all faded, Ursula and Piet stood side by side viewing what they'd done.

Ursula crossed her arms and nodded proudly. She wore a ripped up pair of hide pants and a sweater gifted by Rollan. At some point she tore the sleeves off the sweater, leaving her bulked arms to face the sun. She looked about as nomadic as Claude-- but for a moment, her smile made it seem as if she were back at the University. As if her life hadn't undeniably become worse in so many ways.

"[Stop.]" Arne interrupted his thoughts. Claude continued to watch.

Piet copied her, crossing his massive arms and nodding at the fallen hill.

"What a good workout, huh?" Ursula said to the Satyr.

Piet huffed two streams of steam and snot globs from his goat-like snout.

"Exactly..." Ursula said as if she spoke, Satyr. "I'm glad you came back for us, goatman...]"

"[Muscle-heads-- they can be stimulated by the simplest of things.]" Arne commented.

Piet was about to reply to the Berserker when he found Claude and the others watching in the distance, as if Arne's comment on their simple enjoyments was somehow heard. Ursula followed his gaze before pointing at them in horror.

"THE FUCK?! Is that a Dinosaur?!!!"

"His name is Diamondback." Claude said before patting the creature on the back.

Ursula stayed silent.

Claude brought his hands up, "What?-- you can play boulder-ball with a Satyr but you can't accept a Protartyrannus in our group?"

"Of course you know what it's called..... of course." Ursula commented with a nod.

"Yea.... it's kind of my job." Claude responded flatly.

Ursula laughed to herself, "Right.... anyway, why are you all awake? It's barely morning."

"We're securing the perimeter. Come on." Claude said as he turned to walk off into the Desert.

Ursula and Piet followed.

"What are we doing after?" She asked while catching up to them.

"I'm going to try and find out where we are..... something tells me we're incredibly far from home..."