After slipping out of the shoes and socks and placing them into a plastic bag I kept, I also stripped off the long sleeved shirt and hiking pants. Neatly folding and shoving them into my backpack whose straps I adjust for what is coming.
Next ca the bra and panties that would only be destroyed if I left them on... which left naked in this sa forest once again as I felt the first stirrings of the transformation tingle along my spine.
Bones restructured, muscles stretched, black fur erupted across my skin in a set of sensations that were strangely exhilarating. Far more than a usual shift in my world.
> This hybrid form is truly a marvel, but I wonder how beautiful I would have been combined with a fox instead? Though... with a human backpack slung over its shoulders, I would look quite ridiculous no matter what. <
I comnted to my wolf companion while carefully grabbing and wearing just such a look. There is not enough room to retrieve the Stash here... and I’d rather get deeper into the wilderness first anyway.
Sohow the idea of people seeing a werewolf is less troubling to than them seeing sothing appear from nothing. Though I’m not sure others would react as... strongly as I did to the ’not-magic’.
Allowing Vrika greater control of our movents while keeping my consciousness alert was a choice I didn’t regret. It kept the wolf from bugging as we bounded through the wet forest with primal agility.
With each stride, the conflicted feelings I’d been wrestling with since waking in Kyrie’s arms seed to fall away. Out here, with damp dirt beneath my paws and wind in my fur, I could almost forget the complications waiting back in Vossden.
> Almost. Let’s push harder. <
Vrika’s hunting instincts guide our path through the wet underbrush and the wolf seed to understand my ’need’ for speed. For the cleansing simplicity of physical exertion and working successfully toward a goal.
Because if I ran fast enough, perhaps I could outpace the growing suspicion that my careful plans for independence were already compromised. By sothing far more dangerous than any shifter politics from my world.
Sothing that felt disturbingly like my own attachnt without conditions.
⧖ ☾ ❄ ☽ ⧖
Hours went by and I’d determined that the forest... had transford since my first journey through it. What had been dry undergrowth and firm earth was now a slick, muddy obstacle course that made it all an unpleasant slog.
Luckily, I’m only half responsible for my hybrid form’s paws splashing through puddles and sending ripples - and splashes - across water. Pools that reflected patches of boring gray sky also stretching above .
> Strange how it’s more fun to do this in a ’video ga’ than real life... <
We kept up a fairly grueling pace and only slowed as the system map indicated we were approaching the green marker I’d placed at the hunter’s hideout. The grave site ca into view first - or what remained of it.
The pile of stones I’d carefully arranged had partially collapsed, scattered by the force and slickness of the downpour. Corners of the blanket I’d wrapped the old man in were exposed from the muddy churn.
> Almost looks like it had been unburied once. Should have dug deeper, packed it tighter. But I was exhausted and working with a broken shovel. <
At least the bestial scavengers did not get to him, yet... who knows how the worms are behaving down there. I circled the clearing carefully, checking for any signs of intrusion or camping.
No fresh human scents, though they’d probably have been washed away. No disturbed vegetation beyond what seed like the storm could have had done. As far as I can tell.
But as I approached the cabin itself, my fur bristled without conscious thought at the sa mont I realized a crisp, clean sll lingered near the edges of the door.
Snow and iron hid there, in the ’safety’ of the shelter. Kyrie Voss... had been here. Had marked it.
> Of course she had. Should have expected that after giving back... the phone. <
Vrika whined at the situation, its own uncertainty mingling with my ideas. The scent was days old but quite unmistakable. Strongest around the cabin entrance where she left it more intentionally.
And now I’m more sure than before that the collapsed grave really had been uncovered once. She’d investigated thoroughly and seen the hunter’s final resting place. Then what?
I shifted back to human form and stood staring at the poorly hidden hideout. If Kyrie had discovered what this place contained - the pelts, the preserved organs, the anti-werewolf weapons - why hadn’t she confronted for not reporting it?
Why hadn’t she had arrested by the council, expelled from her territory, or worse? Because she decided I didn’t do it, on her own? I could think of only a few other reasons for her not to - but I didn’t like any of them.
The door’s latch was exactly as I’d left it, the key returned to its hiding spot. I unlocked it and stepped inside, noting that the overwhelming stench of decay was further gone after the last ti I was here, but still a bit present.
Most things appeared untouched. The pelts still hung on the wall, the jars of preserved organs remained on their shelves. The weapons were arranged as I rembered. Even the small wooden chest sat in the sa position on the table.
But there were subtle differences. A chair that had been knocked over that I hadn’t bothered with was now upright. The hunter’s cot had been straightened as if it had been further searched.
And on the table beside the chest - I find that a series of numbers and letters that almost looks like so kind of access code is now carved in it. By claw.
> She was in here, saw everything. And this... is it? <
It was hard to process this developnt. That Kyrie hadn’t destroyed or confiscated the hunter’s collection. That woman only left two clear pieces of evidence of her presence - one for wolves and these numbers perhaps for hunters.
Either she was still waiting on a team to co get it all... or she was trusting and testing to handle this situation appropriately. Given what I knew of her so far, both options seed equally plausible. Maybe both were true.
> No ti to decode that Alpha’s psychology right now. I ca here for resources, not riddles. In fact, I ca here to stop trying to puzzle those out... <
Vrika nudged at my consciousness, showing an image of the shed where we’d sheltered from the storm. The stillness of Kyrie’s body as I slept against her, sothing I couldn’t have possibly seen myself, especially from this angle it shows.
> Neat trick. Snuck slightly away from our body as I slept, did we? Took a little spiritual picture to blackmail with... well played. And you’re suggesting she was showing the sa absolute restraint in her choices here? <
My wolf didn’t respond directly, but I felt its satisfaction that I’d at least considered the possibility. Then again, it already knew I was considering that - and the silly wolf clearly just wanted to show off sothing it thought I didn’t know it could do.
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