I awoke to a crashing sound and a sensation of falling. Then an impact rattled my body. The bed I had been sleeping on had given in. Emma and I were both startled awake and 30cm lower. I was immediately in combat mode, my blades already extending. Emma, on the other hand, was eyeing me hungrily. “Wanna use those?” She played with the tips of my blades. That made me think. Did she get any Venom in her? Yesterday was pretty wild, but did I poison her? Might as well find out.
“Hey, don’t play with those. They’re coated in Venom.” Her eyebrows rose up. “Oh, so that was that burn yesterday. Made me all tingly on the inside.” She traced her veins along her thigh with a finger.
Ok, so she had gotten at least one dose. And she had either a ridiculous Constitution, or some Perk to help against Poison. In any case, my Blades weren’t warranted right now, so I retracted them.
“Are you that much of a masochist? I kind of understand rough sex, but what is pleasurable about a burning in your Veins?”
She just shrugged before going back to playing with the fur on my chest. “I just like it. It’s hard to explain. I like it when it hurts a bit during play.” She scooched further up, so she was right in front of my face. “And you sure can make it hurt.” She flashed me a hungry grin and after a few seconds I relented. The mystery of the failing bed frame could wait.
We made out for a few minutes then I broke the kiss: “Hey, I didn’t get to ask yesterday, do you guys have a name?”
She looked at me like I was stupid “Me. Emma. You. James.” We both burst into laughter.
I specified my question after I got a hold of myself once more: “I mean does your tribe have a name?”
“Oh, yeah. We are the Ursun Tribe.”
I frowned: “Ursun? Isn’t that a bit on the nose?”
Now it was her time to frown: “I would say it’s fitting. What is your hometown called, that you would want to judge us, oh great arbiter?”
I chuckled dryly: “See, that’s the thing. We were so isolated and deep in the forest that we didn’t have a name. We just called our home “The Village” that’s it.”
Her frown deepened: “Ok, that is really weird.” then she smiled once again “Can we get back to before? That was more fun.”
I stopped frowning: “Sure!”
Sidenote-On language:
As you may have noticed, that pun was incredibly lame. But it was also a pun that depends on both English and Latin. So. How does that happen? It doesn’t. The language we were speaking was Old Atanian. Rest assured that the pun was no better in Atanian. Actually it was worse. Roughly translated they called themselves “Bearinites”. That was too stupid even for me. Be safe in the knowledge that whenever I encounter a play on words on my journeys I will translate it with one of roughly equal cringe worthiness. I made an exception for the Ursuns, as they deserved better than their founder decided one drunken night.
End of Sidenote.
We made out for a few more minutes and got a bit handsy then she broke the kiss: “There it is again! What is that?” she was pointing at my forehead. A quick check with internal mana revealed that my flesh was once again doing its own thing. This time a tentacle was reaching for Emma, like sometimes happened when I was hungry. Only this time the tentacle was noticeably more … phallic. In shape. To be fair, Val and I hadn’t tested [The Flesh obeys]’s reaction to horniness before, but this was ridiculous nonetheless.
I rubbed my neck and laughed awkwardly: “Hehe, yeah. That … is hard to explain. You know how people can show outward signs of emotions, like blushing when embarrassed or getting pale when scared?” she nodded “Well, I sorta shapeshift subconsciously according to my emotional state.” She stared at me for a good while, then she threw her hands up. “Normal people have to learn shapeshifting for almost a decade just to be secure enough to get a bit of a makeover, but mister cheaty-pants over her is so good he has to suppress it!” She folded her arms and made an over exaggerated pouty face “You have no idea how jealous you are making me. I want super-shapeshifting powers too!” Why was her tantrum so good damn cute?
“You will apologise for this injustice right now!” her expression softened as she added “And no words allowed.” while pointing downwards. Oh well, this could’ve gone worse. I resigned myself to a fair bit of one sided action, to placate her royal bratiness, however I was saved by a voice from the other room.
“Emma! Get your ass out of bed and come to Breakfast!” Well, at least that left me with some leeway to get out of an awkward conversation with the parents. I couldn’t hide my smile as Emma got off the bed, disappointed. “This isn’t over!” she said. Then the voice came again: “And bring your Boytoy!” No it is not over.
Fuck!
We got dressed … well, she got dressed, I just made my naughty bits recede to a point where my fur covered them fully. Then we got out of Emma’s room into what looked like a main living space. Yesterday was sort of a blur, so I didn’t really remember the layout of Emma’s house.
The two older giants from yesterday were sitting at a table with four chairs. It smelt like freshly baked bread and cured meats. I was getting nostalgic. It was at least four months since I had any meal that wasn’t literally bloody.
The woman looked up from her Bread Roll. “Good morning you two! I would ask If you had fun, but I am pretty sure the whole village can answer that.”
This was not a situation I liked. I tried my best to remain calm, but the embarrassment was rearing its ugly head in my stomach. I rubbed my neck and said: “Thanks, I guess? Sorry about her bed by the way.” Emma was looking oddly proud at my comment.
It was the man’s turn to look up. He looked me up and down, then he looked at Emma with a raised Eyebrow. She just grinned wider. He snorted once, then said: “So that’s what that sound was. Congratulations James. You are the first to keep up with her. Not to mention break the furniture in the process.” I decided to not engage with that any more. I sat down and began to eat.
It tasted awful. It tasted dead. Lifeless. I wanted something fresh, alive, bloody. I just nibbled on a bread roll to pass the time until the rest was finished. Of course that wasn’t to be. Emma asked me after a while: “Aren’t you hungry? With all the shapeshifting you did yesterday, I would presume you would be ravenous.”
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I put down the roll and answered: “I have spent the last few months surviving in the forest alone with my Wolf-Bond. I am not used to food that isn’t … Fresh.” Everyone at the table froze. The man was the first to speak: “You said you weren’t of the Wolf-Shifters, yet you clearly are a Shifter. What kind are you?”
“What kind? I am sorry I don’t know the nomenclature around this stuff.”
“What is the animal you can shift into?”
They had only one? I thought they just specialised into one “The animal? Like only one? I started with wolf, but now I have a few more options.”
The Man threw up his hands: “Of course he’s a true shifter. What else would he be? You have impeccable taste as always, Emma.”
Emma was sheepishly looking away from the man.
I was getting sick of this. “Either you start explaining stuff, or we are going to have a problem. Explain it like I didn’t even know shapeshifting was possible until five months ago.”
He made a placating gesture, as if he was genuinely scared by my comment. Was I that frightening? “Ok, don’t get mad! A true shifter is someone who can change into any form he likes, not like us normal shifters. We just have a human form, an animal form, and everything in between. If you are a true shifter at your age, then you would have to have an extraordinarily powerful class-evolution. If you were a true shifter before the evolution, there is a good chance you have gotten on a monster-path.” He preempted my raised Eyebrow by explaining further. “Monster-Paths renounce cooperation, in return for individual power. In some cases they even change the person on a more basic level. Your appetite for raw, bloody, likely freshly killed, meat was what tipped it off.” He took a deep breath as if to steady himself ”We discourage monster paths, as they tend to lead to an early grave. Humans need cooperation. There are also people that disdain them, because you have to renounce your species to get them, but for a shapeshifter that is of minimal concern.”
Wow. That is a lot to think about. “Ok, I would like to add that whatever Monster-Path implies, I am not evil. On a different note: I would like to go out hunting for something I can stomach.” Before the adults could answer, Emma stood up: “I’ll come with. I can show you where the best hunting grounds are. Also I want to see you in action.” At the last sentence she had started pressing up against me and given me an admiring look. She could be annoying with her extreme horniness, but she was still kinda cute. And that look on her face was adorable. Might as well give her a show.
An hour later:
We were walking through the forest. The better part of the hour was spent with me trying to explain casual sex to Skadi, as she insisted on calling Emma my ‘Mate’. I didn’t get all that far. Wolves don’t do the nasty for fun and they mate for life. That combination was the opposite of what Emma and I were doing. Anyway speaking of Emma, she was something like starstruck, when I changed into my Werewolf form to hunt. It was utterly unnatural, but it had become my favourite form for general combat. Emma kept murmuring something to herself which I chose to actively ignore after I overheard the word ‘Knot’.
After a while, and after I had given up with Skadi, I asked Emma about the older shifters. “So the two older people from this morning are your Parents right?” She was currently snacking on some jerky, so she was still chewing while she answered: “Yeah. My Dad is a hunter and my Mom is Head-Mage of the tribe.”
So she was practically a princess, great. “Do they have names? I have been thinking of them as ‘Man’ and ‘Woman’ until now.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course!” She finally swallowed the meat “My Dad’s Name is George and my Mom is Greta.”
Finally names for the Faces “Thank you, that makes the internal monologue a lot easier.”
We continued making small talk for a few minutes, until I caught a trail. The scent was unfamiliar, but it was alive and warm and big enough to satisfy my daily upkeep on Biomass. At least I hoped so. I still didn’t quite understand the whole ‘Vital Energy’ thing. Anyway, the hunt was on.
I tracked my prey for a few minutes. It wasn’t hard by any means. My senses had gotten very fine indeed. I was after a quadruped of about half a tonne, with hooves. Probably a moose. I emphasised speed over stealth as I followed the trail. For one I was hungry and for two I was a lot faster than I was sneaky.
A few minutes after I started the hunt, I found my target. It was the first animal I had seen, with an obviously unnatural enhancement. Sure the bears had their silent charge and the [Berserk Rage], but this moose had blades on his head. Literally, the Antlers were filed down to a razor’s edge. That didn’t happen without some magical intervention. Nothing stays that sharp without intervention. I told Emma to stay back and went on the attack.
We went with a classic. Skadi would sneak around and scare the beast from behind. That way it would either be driven towards me, or it would leave its back exposed while charging Skadi. At least that was the Plan. When Skadi started making a racket, the Moose somehow charged both me and her. I didn’t know how this could be. I asked Skadi, but she also saw two mooses. Damn!
No way out but through. I decided to go for the reckless approach and tank whatever the counter would be. I lunged at the moose, trying to hit with both sets of claws, as well as a bite.
That damn thing managed to disable my hands. It twisted its neck in such a way, where it hit both my hands and still didn’t expose its neck to my bite. My hands weren’t severed, the antlers couldn’t cut through my bones, but it managed to cut enough tendons, to make my hands unresponsive for a few seconds, until my regeneration fixed it. My bite couldn’t get proper purchase, but at least I could rip off a piece of skin. With the wound coated in my venomous saliva, the beast was living on borrowed time. Now to get properly at it.
The thing had a major reach advantage over me. I needed to remedy that soon, but for now I needed another way in. I didn’t like improvising shapeshifting Ideas in the middle of combat, but it couldn’t be helped. I made subdermal boneplates, between muscle and skin in my wrists. It would severely restrict movement, but it would also offer protection.
I hopped back to create some space, then I charged just like the first time. The moose responded just like the first time, but this time my hands were barely even damaged. Therefore I could slide my arms down the antlers and grab its head between my claws. Next I pulled the head back and ripped out its throat with my teeth.
Once it slumped to the floor I could see the moose Skadi was fighting against disintegrating. Why hadn’t she found out that it was an illusion? Oh, right! The disadvantage in range would be even more severe for Skadi. I really had to think of something for that. But for now we had a feast to devour.
After we had finished our meal, Emma looked about ready to throw up. Her eccentricities didn’t extend into our feeding habits. Apparently devouring twice your bodyweight in raw, bloody meat wasn’t a turn on. She was especially squamish about the crunch of chewing bone. I didn’t understand that at all. The marrow was the best part!
After we ate Emma told me that she was going back to the village. I offered to escort her, but she just scoffed at that notion.
She asked when I would be back and I told her I’d be back before sundown. I was still hungry. Ok, I was always hungry, but the nightly escapades had drained my reserves something fierce. Dozens of tiny alterations were very draining. Fun, but draining.
After Emma left I called out: “So how was your night, Val?”
She appeared before my eyes “Not as good as yours, stud.” She poked me with her elbow. How can someone so old be so childish? She grinned like an eight-year old with a cool stick they found.
“At least you get it. I spent half an hour trying to explain casual sex to Skadi. Progress was minimal to non-existent.” I shot Skadi with a dirty look.
Val burst into laughter.
After a minute or so she got a hold of herself again “Yeah, I can see how that would be difficult. Anyway, what’s next on the agenda?”
I frowned “Isn’t that your job, Oh wise mentor?” She punched me in the shoulder.
“Shut up! And to answer your question: The point was for you to get to know other shifters, mainly to be in an environment where you can freely shapeshift. You were already told how you are different from ‘normal’ shifters. You can’t really learn much shapeshifting from them for the same reason. They just follow a set way, in this case that of a Bear-Shifter. You, on the other hand, use actual, personal skill. With all the flexibility and difficulty that entails. Still. I propose we winter with them. Also you may learn more mundane things from them. George is a great fighter, you could learn some martial Skill from him. Otherwise, we should take it easy for a while.”
“Great! Vacation!” I cheered.
Val chuckled mirthlessly: “Oh, no! I am not telling you to slack off, I am just saying that you could use some down time to strengthen your base. Sure up some weaknesses. Also Skadi could use some more attention from you. In short I propose we stay the winter and:
- Get you a ranged attack
- Get you a few new weapons, for different situations
- Finally get your magical defences working
- Get Skadi up to snuff”
“OK, that seems fair enough. It will be kinda weird not being in mortal danger all the time though.” What a weird thing to say in retrospect.
“That’s my Boy!” She hugged for some reason. Anyway, I had other questions. “How much training a day are we talking?”
She held a finger to her chin, like she was thinking. I didn’t buy it. She had planned it all yesterday at the earliest, I was certain about that.
“Let’s do six hours a day. That leaves you enough time to make yourself useful to your hosts. I am guessing you will be a hunter, considering your considerable appetite.”
“Yeah, that seems the obvious route. I’ll talk to George when I get back.”
Val chortled a bit: “Don’t you have that backwards? You are supposed to have a job before you screw your boss’s daughter.” I let her have that one, although it was almost embarrassing, how much she laughed at her own joke.