Rabbit Season (2)

I stood there menacingly glaring at Barton as I just sent a challenge towards an Alpha. Everyone knows what happens now.... I heard the sounds of Flesh ripping and Tearing as I saw Barton doing the same thing I did just moments ago. In his place seconds later was a 9 ft. tall brownish red furred werewolf. His eyes glowed with a golden color as he looked at me and I could feel a pressure start to build that made me want to bow down. He was using his Alpha pressure to try and end this but the feeling of anger that I had towards him threatening Merida was enough to help me shake it off. His eyes widened for a second in surprise as I shook my head but soon they turned serious as he took a step towards me.

"ALARIC STAND DOWN!" In an instant I was forced on the ground completely as pressure that felt like a planet pushed me down. I struggled against the weight to see who was there and after a minute I saw standing in the entrance was the the figures of four people. I could see Bryan and Olivia with looks of shock on their faces, and running towards me was the Elder and Alexander. The two older men had looks of anger and worry mixed together on their faces before they stopped in front of me and in between Barton.

"Stop this Barton, he is still getting used to his power and he is still weakened from the Taming. You should know better than this now stand down and revert back." Alexander turned and walked towards the shifted Barton and scolded him like he just caught him doing something wrong but wasn't scolding him.

I looked at the Elder with anger filled eyes as I still fought to move against the this huge weight that was keeping me pinned to the ground. I felt Merida start to heat up but I quickly sent an order for her to calm down and to hide behind me.

"Boy, just calm down. I don't know what happened but the boys were only teasing you. They didn't mean anything by it."

I Screamed in my head at this as the an unexpected rage was building in me. I was trying to calm down but something was telling me to fight and protect what was mine from any threats no matter how small.

I remembered that Olivia said veterans could sense what people were thinking so I tried to form a mental scene in my head of Barton threatening Merida and aiming the thought towards the Elder.

His eyes narrowed for a moment before he got up and walked towards Alexander and whispered in his ear. Alexander than had a confused but amazed look in his eye as he looked over at me then as if he confirmed something he nodded before turning towards the still growling Barton and smiled.

"You and Alaric are going to the Rabbit Tear together, and you will both clear it by yourselves. As the Creator of this guild and Your Father I command you." Alexander than turns around with a nonchalant smile as he and the Elder walk out of the building. Bryan and Olivia now even more shocked at what they just heard.

Barton on the other hand was on his knees whimpering with worry in his eyes as his body slowly started to return to normal. "Me and Alaric alone? Is Dad trying to kill me? It can't be done."

After the Elder and Alexander fully leave the building the weight on me finally let up and I was able to stand up but the anger I felt just disolved as my body started to feel drained and reverted back to human form. Merida came up to me and snuggled against me as she positioned herself to block my junk from the view of the others as I sat down. I looked over at Barton with a grimace but eventually sighed and spoke up.

"I'm sorry I challenged you, You threatened what was mine so it was only right that I stood up to you. But that is water under the bridge as now we both have to go and fight a shit ton of rabbits together. We need to get over this and come up with a plan."

He only looked at me with some anger in his eyes before he got up and walked out. Olivia attempted to come over but was stopped by Bryan and pulled away as I was left alone with Merida to gather my thoughts. I needed to figure out a way to have some kind of edge when fighting the hordes of rabbits, Something to cover a wide area and multiple targets would be best.... That's when I remembered the hint the voice in my head spoke about before I woke up. It told me to consume the blood of Merida to help give me strength, does that mean that I can gain her powers? Would it even help me against the hordes? Only one way to find out.

"Merida, I want to try something do you trust me?" I looked down as Merida stared up at me and nodded her head. I asked her to hold out her paw to me and using a partial transformation of my finger I grew a sharp claw and quickly poked her arm to draw blood. She squeaked in pain and looked at me with pain in her eyes that made my heart break but I quickly apologized and told her that this could help me get stronger. After I said that then she forgave me as feelings of hopefullness and trust were felt through our connection.

I took the blood on my claw and licked it clean and in moments a screen was displayed with a percentage loading bar that filled up in mere seconds with the words [EMBER HARE BLOODLINE BEING ASSIMILATED PLEASE WAIT.] Being displayed over it.

As it finished I felt a wave of heat cover every inch of my body as a layer of soft reddish fur sprouted and covered my body, I ran my hands over it and was surprised as flecks of ember rose up from the areas I brushed over. It was like I had a heated blanket covering my body all the time, I focused on the layer going away and soon it merged back into my body with a plume of ash all around me.

I took a look at Merida and smiled as she hopped into my arms to be pet as I opened the skills screen to look at what I gained.

[Ember Hare (C) DNA] - Ember Hare DNA absorbed, Number of abilities granted (2)

[Fur of Embers] - Covers user in a soft layer of fur that protects against cold and slightly burns anything coming in contact.

[Ignition Heart] - By setting aflame the blood of the Ember Hare, the user can increase strength and speed by 10%

I was overall happy with what I gained but was disappointed that I didn't gain any attack or offensive abilities. But the fur of Embers I knew about and it would do well to help fend off the rabbits that try and attack me. I could even use it offensively as I went around and 'hugged' the rabbits to a burning death.

I raised up Merida to my eyes and smiled big. "You just helped me out tremendously. With you by my side I know this will be a piece of cake. Why don't we go find you something to munch on before we head into the tear?"

Merida nodded her cute little bunny head before she nestled back into my arms for more pets. I could only smile as I focused on the Fur of Embers to appear but only cover up my lower areas. I didn't care bout the upper half or my lower legs being shown, just the essentials needed to be covered.

Walking out of the training building I saw as there was a group of people gathered around Barton as he talked to them and prepared to head out towards the Tear.

"I will be gone for a while, how long I do not know but in the meantime Bryan will be placed as temporary leader and Olivia will be assistanting him with day to day things. Do not cause issues and I will try to return as soon as I possibly can." He finished the short announcement and without giving me more than a passing glance he started the walk towards the Tear. I didn't care much to go delving in first thing as I was more focused on finding me and my pet some food, We entered the guild barracks and went towards the kitchen, there we found plates of eggs and ham laid out with a note that said for Ric and Merida. I wasn't sure if Merida would eat the food but when I showed her the plate she stared at the ham like it was a treasure. I chuckled before I grabbed the two hams for her and moved them onto one plate while I moved the eggs onto the other for me.

Olivia walked in and chuckled at the sight of me and Merida devouring the food like starving hobos. "Hehehe, You don't have to scarf down the food, you can take your time before heading into the Tear, The only reason Barton left so early was because he wants to finish the Tear before you so he can reap all the rewards for himself and make you bow to him."

"That won't happen as me and my girl here are going to ruin that whole place with our combined power. Aint that right girl?"

Squeak Squeak! (Let's GOOOOOO!) I could practically hear her screaming enthusiastically.

Olivia seemed to sense how Merida felt and laughed at her before bringing out another ham and giving it to her and sneaking in a head rub as she ate.

Squeak... (Only because you gave me food.)

"As much as I want to boast at how we can beat this thing easily, I still need some gear... Can you help me with that? Mostly just some armor would be fine since I will be using my skills mostly to get better control over them."

"Yea, sure, while Merida eats why don't we head over to the Armory and see what fits?"

I nodded then followed after her towards a huge room that spanned atleast halfway across a whole floor of the building as wall to wall was racks of different armor and weapons ranging from fire arms to even cold weapons like swords, axes, and spears. I walked up to a chestplate that was dark in color and seemed to cast a shadow behind it that melded with the background. I alwasy had a thing for the darkness so this kinda spoke to me.

"Ah, I see you are a closet Emo Hehe. No worries me, This armor was made for my dad after he killed a Shadow Serpent. It is super usefull when on a sneaking mission and it gives good defense aswell."

"That sounds awesome, Is it alright if I use it?"

"Hahaha, hell no, but nice try. The armor that you can use is over here." She then leads me towards a wall with lackluster armor that barely passes as Leather.

"You just joined so your contributions to the team are nil. You can use this and a basic weapon but other than that your on your own. The rack over here is the selection of weapons you have to choose from." She then pointed towards a rack that had some sharp steel weapons ranging from a sharp shortsword all the way to a pair of knuckle claws. After I put on the armor I walked over and saw a awesome looking hand axe that had a wide curved blade and a handle that had a small spike at the end.

I grabbed it and walked out of the Armory with a small surge of confidence as the weight of a weapon made me feel like I had a chance.

"I think it's time." I said as I waved Merida over and with a quick goodbye to Olivia I walked towards and entered the Rabbits Tear.