As I walked back to my hut with Rohan at my side, I asked. "I have not shifted here, at least in public. You saw back in Forks and know my abnormal size. Did you tell anyone? Even my uncle?"
Rohan shook his head, "No. It never ca up. I was just asked what your shape was."
"And you have heard no rumors about my size? No one else has brought it up?"
"Correct." He said evenly, "Why do you ask?"
I glanced sideways at him. "Because it makes wonder about the Fox Clan. Why do they want ? No… let ask you another question. If I can match a Minotaur in my human form, just how strong do you think I will be in my half shift?"
Rohan shook his head and exhaled slowly, "There is no telling. You could potentially be stronger than any Clan mber in thousands of years. But only you and I know about your enormous size in your tiger shape."
It was my turn to shake my head, "No. There was one other who saw . The Fox Clan mber who was sent to first check on . I shifted in front of him. Before I knew about the Tribe."
Rohan fell silent at my words, his expression unreadable as usual. I left him to mull it over. The inner clan politics bored quite frankly. Once I had what I needed, I was gone anyway. These few months just showed more that this was not my ho. No, I think my ho is a person, not a place.
That evening, I sought out Dorje for a spar. I needed the distraction, and he was always willing to trade bruises. By the ti we were finished, both of us were limping while half laughing as we made our way to so benches nearby.
"You're getting faster," Dorje muttered between breaths, rubbing his shoulder where my last strike had landed. "Foxes won't like that."
I gave him a crooked grin. "Foxes don't like much when they aren't the ones winning."
As if summoned by the words, I saw her. Hu i stood at the edge of the sparring yard, watching with that sa unreadable smile she wore when looking at . When Dorje caught sight of her, he gave a look, one brow raised, and muttered sothing under his breath about "trouble with a tail." And made his excuses to leave alone.
As if she had been waiting to catch alone, Hu i moved toward . Her steps were light and smooth, her hips swaying. The kind of walk that turned every eye her way and held them until they beca self-conscious and turned away, blushing.
Even in her human form, she carried a fox-like grace. She used her whole body like a weapon, and every movent was calculated to unbalance whoever watched.
"You fight well," she said, her voice smooth, low, a lody ant to slip under the skin. "Better than most who've been here far longer. Even Dorje struggles to keep pace."
I gave a shrug. "He lands plenty of hits."
Her smile curved just enough to show a hint of teeth. "He lands them, yes. But you… You shake them off. That makes you dangerous. Stronger than most realize." She stopped just close enough that I could feel the heat of her body radiating toward . "Strength like that shouldn't be left wandering without a place. Without… purpose."
I leaned back slightly, feigning casual. "My purpose here is training. Nothing more."
She tilted her head, studying , eyes narrowing as though peeling back layers. "Training is a ans, not an end. You know that. The fire in you burns too bright to stay in the shadows forever. The Clans see it. My Clan sees it."
She took a seat next to on the bench, slightly closer than would be normal for two people who had t only a handful of tis. Close enough for any accidental touch to be played off as a coincidence. "A union between fox and tiger would give you allies. Protection. Influence. And perhaps sothing… more."
I t her gaze, refusing to flinch. "That sounds a lot like politics dressed up as a bedti story."
Hu i's laugh was soft, sultry, but the calculation in her eyes never faltered. "Politics are simply survival, Thomas. Surely you see that. Alone, you will always be a threat to soone. With … Sorry, with my Clan, you would be untouchable. Respected. Desired." Her voice lingered on the last word, making it sound less like diplomacy and more like an invitation.
I exhaled slowly, pushing myself up before she could lean in any closer. My tone stayed even, steady. "I didn't co here for politics or alliances. My focus is on my training. That's all I can give right now." The most update n0vels are published on novel fire
Sothing flickered across her face — not quite anger, not quite amusent. Her smile settled back into place, but it was thinner now. "You can't run from this forever. The Clans will demand to know where you stand. And when that day cos, you'll wish you had chosen soone at your side."
I turned away before she could press further, my pulse still drumming with the weight of her words. The fox wasn't wrong — the Clans would keep circling, trying to bind before I even knew how to control myself. And if I stayed here, they'd keep cornering until I slipped.
No. I needed space. Distance. Sowhere, the whispers couldn't reach , and no calculating eyes could asure . It wasn't ti to leave yet, but getting out of the village for a ti would be a good thing.
By the ti the moon rose, my mind was made up. At dawn, I would leave the village behind and take to the mountains. Just , the fire, and the tiger.
The morning air was sharp and cold, with a hint of moisture in the air, hinting at snow later in the day. The village was quiet as I took the path to the younger Clan mber's training ground. I knew I would find Rohan there, and if I was going to leave, I felt I needed to tell him at least.
He watched approach him, his eyes narrowing at the small pack slung over my shoulder.
"So, you've decided."
I nodded. "It's just what I see as the natural next step in my training. Besides, I could use the space away from the politics, away from other people's agendas."
For a long mont, Rohan said nothing. Then he gave a single slow nod. "Then go. But don't vanish completely. Check in when you can. Even tigers need interaction with their own kind."
A faint smile touched my lips. "That almost sounds like you'll miss ."
"Hardly." He arched a brow. "But if you don't co back, Dorje will sulk. And I've no patience for his whining."
I slung the pack back onto my shoulder. "Then I guess I'll just have to co back and kick him around every once in a while."
The first rays of dawn touched the mountaintops as I left the village behind, my feet carrying toward the wild, where only my own thoughts would keep company.
The path ran before , as far as my eye could see. I knew eventually I would have to leave it, make a path of my own. But for now, I simply wanted distance from the village and all the distractions that tried to take my ti away from my goal.
A day and a half later, I paused at a ridge, scanning for what I needed. A place to leave my pack and clothes, sothing to co back to when I wanted rest. Seeing nothing yet, I kept moving.
Just before I needed to find a place to rest for the night, I found it. A cleft in the mountainside, half-shielded by a jut of ice-covered stone. Big enough to crawl into, hidden enough to keep my belongings safe from the weather and scavengers. It wasn't big enough for in my Tiger shift, but anything that big probably already had an occupant. I stripped down and put my clothes in the pack, then crawled out of the den. I adjusted a few rocks in the area to make it harder to see and pulled the fire into my body, completing my shift.
I stretched, my claws digging deep into the ground through the frozen turf. When I was finished, I stood at my full height at 6ft tall and nearly 15feet long head to tail.
The world looked smaller from here, the ridge less daunting. Snow swirled around in white flurries, but where it touched my fur, it lted instantly against the heat of my body.
I lowered my head, sniffed the air. Sharp. Clean. Untouched. My breath ca out in great clouds, more steam than mist.
Then I moved.
The first stride shattered the crust of ice beneath , scattering shards across the slope. The second had leaping, paws striking with a weight that shook snow from the ledges. By the third, I was running. A blur of muscle tearing down the mountainside, wind howling in my ears.
I had forgotten just how free I felt when I shifted and ran through the forest back in Forks. Now I ran through a land of snow and ice with few trees to keep covered.
The challenges of my size started to show in this terrain. My paws, each over 16in long and wide, punched holes deep into drifts. Every step resulted in a loud tremor, cracking frozen earth. There was no subtlety in this form in these conditions. I needed to learn and adapt, test my footing before placing my weight.
Snow sprayed in glittering arcs as I tore across the ridge, each bound leaving deep craters behind. In Forks, the forest had softened my steps, trees and soil muffling the sound of my paws. Here in the high places of Nepal, there was no such cover. Every movent echoed. Every stride proclaid my presence to anything with ears.
I slowed, adjusting. Testing. The drifts weren't uniform, so carried with only a crunch, while others collapsed, sending my limbs plunging nearly to the shoulder. A normal tiger would skim the surface, weight spread across smaller paws. ? I was an avalanche in black stripes.
I tried a sidelong leap, twisting to land on rock instead of snow. The landing cracked stone, splinters flying, but at least the footing held. I snorted, steam pluming from my mouth, and tried again — lighter this ti, pulling back my strength the way I had with my fire-dial. It worked… barely. My bulk still drove fissures into the frozen ridge.
Frustration rumbled in my chest. Speed and strength were mine in abundance, but stealth, subtlety, finesse? Those would take work.
Yet the air was so sharp, so clean, that the growl faded before it left my throat. My muscles surged with every stride. My heart hamred not with fear, but exhilaration. For the first ti in weeks, no eyes followed . No sches pressed in. It was just , the fire, and the endless white.
I angled upward, muscles straining, claws scraping at ice and stone. Each bound carried higher into the peaks, where the wind scread and the cold bit harder — though my body burned hot enough that the frost stead away before it could settle.
This was what I had co for. Not politics. Not whispers. Just the challenge of the wild. The only opponent here was myself.
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