[IC] Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

[EliteCommander]

It did not take quite as long for Kaleeth to respond this time. Her mood had not changed, but she had at least accepted that Janius would be talking to her for a while. She did not specifically want to avoid him or any of the others, she just felt apathetic about everything. "Mother, father." She answered, pausing for a moment to bring her gaze up from the ground to look at Janius. "Treeminder, my friends, everyone I care about. I have no one anymore. I want to see them all again. I didn't want this."

Talking about the people she missed heightened her homesickness, and ultimately intensified the emotions she was feeling. She gulped and started breathing just a bit faster. Once again, she started feeling strange, which in turn added fear to the cocktail of emotions going through her mind.

[Muttonhawk]

"Right, right," Janius said, nodding. He could tell that she was becoming less comfortable, which was to be expected. "It's overwhelming, isn't it? Well, let me show you something. This is something Meesei taught me, it's a kind of simple meditation. Firstly, listen to your heartbeat, take note of it. It's probably quite fast, yes?" Janius shifted so he was sitting cross-legged with a straight back. "Now, I need you to sit comfortably, like this. Keep your back straight, hold your shoulders back and push out your chest so you can breathe. Close your eyes."

Over the course of another few minutes, Janius instructed Kaleeth to take long and slow breaths, and focus on nothing else as far as she could. They took fifteen breaths, in through the nose, filling the belly, the chest, then the throat full of air, then slowly releasing the air through the mouth. Each time, Janius instructed Kaleeth on the timing of the breaths in an effort to take her mind off the swirling fears and homesickness in her mind.

"With your final breath, I want you to take note of your heartbeat again. Has it slowed?" Janius had hoped that the technique would serve to not only calm Kaleeth, but also to give her some feeling of control and a clearer mind. Then he could move onto talking about the future.

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth did not quite understand at first what Janius was trying to do, but she went along with it regardless. She had to admit that the act of focusing on her breaths did help rather well for the simple fact that it forced her to think about something else other than home, something that wouldn't conjure up any emotions. Maybe that is what they did to keep in control? Instead of trying to think of something to calm down, maybe they just thought about...nothing. By the end of it, she did feel calmer, but the strange feeling did not go away entirely. She still felt something at the back of her mind that wouldn't go away, no matter how calm she was.

"Yes, I don't feel as bad, but it...not gone. I still don't feel right, not like normal. It's like I'm hungry, but we just ate. I don't want to lose control again, how do you turn into that beast without losing control?" She asked with a hint of desperation and fear returning to her tone.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius had hoped to elicit a different outcome by calming Kaleeth down, but he supposed he should have expected that her beast spirit would still be apparent. Then again, this was an opportunity to help her learn as well. Detecting Kaleeth's fear rising again, Janius put up a hand, "Ah, ah, don't worry. I had you meditate so you could clear your mind for a moment. Now, the feeling you have inside you is what you can now recognise as your beast spirit clamouring to come out, without influence from your other emotions. Recognising exactly what that is will allow you to act accordingly." He began to stand up, "Come with me."

With Kaleeth in tow, Janius walked a distance away from the camp. Kaleeth's emotions would return eventually, but if Janius could take advantage of this moment of clarity, it would definitely help her. After a while, they stopped under another tree. "Now, you'll find that sometimes the greatest advantage to keeping control when in your beast form is transforming on your own terms." Janius took on a more focussed lecturing tone as he spoke over the rain. Hopefully some structure would help Kaleeth to focus. "We're going to go on a quick hunt now, to feed our beast spirits. Normally werewolves act like in team-like pack, but yours will probably be more independent, so you will have to direct yourself some more. Just keep calm and remember your objective; find something to hunt and eat. That is all your beast spirit wants. It's not a dominator by heart, only an animal. If your mind flows with your beast spirit, it is far more suggestible and you will retain control, even when in beast form. And don't worry, the control will come with practice, but I will keep you away from the camp. Do you have any questions before we start?"

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth could guess Janius' plan when he suggested getting away from the group, so she removed her armor and left it behind before following him out away from the camp. Even though the downpour wasn't particularly bothering her, the potential for flooding was concerning. A strong enough current could wash away even the strongest of swimmers, which carried with it dangers other than drowning. Regardless, the beast in her mind was a very present and real danger she couldn't ignore for much longer. She hated the thought of transforming, as everything about it seemed terrible. It was painful, she could lose control, and being a monster like that was disturbing to her.

Janius confirmed Kaleeth's guess about his plan once they were far enough away from the camp. She never thought she would be dreading a hunt as much as she was now, but if it was the best way to keep in control, then there was really no avoiding it. She trusted that Janius and the others knew a lot about lycanthropy, but she couldn't help but to worry that what they knew would not work for werecrocodiles. What if she turned and suddenly was not in control like they expected? How would they even start going about stopping her safely?

"I...am worried about one thing. What if I do lose control. I'm not a werewolf, what if I don't work the same? I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't think Ahnasha could get away from me, she can't seem to move quickly, since she is so big. How would you stop me?" She asked.

[Muttonhawk]

"Well, you won't know if it will work unless you try, but it is better than what we do know." Janius angled his head forward seriously, "You are certain to lose control if you are forced to transform." He brought his head back up, "And as for Ahnasha, like I said, I'll keep you away from the camp. Even if your beast form gets determined, it isn't fearless to a fault, it's just an animal. I can still drive it away and find you later. I might have to hurt you, and I don't want to, but this is still better than having the beast control you all the time. Trust me." Janius gave a small smile, "And trust yourself, if only this once." Janius took one last look around to check their surroundings, then looked at Kaleeth again, "Ready?"

Janius transformed as he was used to. His fur quickly became soaked with the rain, but he kept his focus on Kaleeth. His beast spirit saw her as an active threat, so he was able to keep his mind off merely feeding, but at the same time he had to play off his beast spirit's caution of the werecrocodile and his affection for Kaleeth to keep from attacking. They could do this, they just had to be quick.

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth suddenly grew much more nervous once it was time for her to transform. Not only was she dreading the pain, but she had never done so willingly before. When she tried to figure out how to force the transformation, she felt the beast inside her trying to escape. Not knowing that she was meant to allow it loose, she did her best to hold it back in her mind, as she was afraid of it taking her over once more. Her expression scrunched up as she tried to figure out what to do, but after a minute or so of finding no luck, she opened her eyes and looked at Janius' wolfen form nervously.

"I...I can feel it trying to get out. How do I do it? How do I turn and keep it from taking me over? It's making me nervous." She asked.

[Muttonhawk]

Waiting patiently, Janius watched as Kaleeth tensed and struggled with the creature in her mind. He was a little surprised that she was having trouble coaxing it out with so much time since her last transformation. When she finally spoke up, Janius understood the problem immediately. "You are still holding it back. When you resist for too long, it forces you to transform and it overwhelms your efforts to hold back. At that point, you are too weak to control it." Janius spoke slowly so his deep growing voice was understood. "You have to stop your resistance. Let it past you. Then you will retain the strength of mind to influence it." Janius squat down and widened his eyes to Kaleeth encouragingly. "Release it, Kaleeth. Release it because you allow it to be released, and you will still retain some control."

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth did not like the idea of just letting this beast take over. She feared it would just overpower her mind again and completely control the body, but Janius told her to do it, so she did it anyway. Once she let it out, the beast immediately began the transformation. Her body started to contort, break, and reform once more, causing her to cry out in pain. She fell to her knees, and stood back up only once the transformation had completed in its entirety. Her form was even taller, and more massive than Janius. She was a veritable juggernaut: a clumsy, slow moving juggernaut, but a juggernaut nonetheless. There was little that could outmatch a werecrocodile in a head-to-head fight.

Though still afraid, Kaleeth felt somewhat of a feeling of amazement once the tranformation was complete. The beast was still clawing at her mind, but unlike last time, it wasn't the beast controlling the body with her trying to influence it. Instead, she found herself in control of her movements, while the beast was influencing her. It was urging her to find something to hunt and kill, and while it wasn't particularly hostile towards Janius, it wasn't really friendly either. If the beast started to feel threatened by him, there was no doubt it would try to get her to attack. She knew not how to make words in this form, so she just looked at Janius, unable to show the fear she felt in her expression.

[Muttonhawk]

Once again, Janius had to hide his fear in the face of Kaleeth as his head tracked hers up and up until she was standing taller and bulkier than he. He stepped back a couple of paces, out of reach of her clawed arms, then stood poised to act for a few moments. Thankfully, Kaleeth was successful in keeping control by the looks. She wasn't attacking Janius and he still held her attention. Most importantly, she didn't run off this time. Janius turned his head, still keeping his eyes on Kaleeth, and sniffed at the air. There was nothing he immediately found on the wind, but perhaps they could find something if they moved around a bit. It might help Kaleeth to get used to controlling this form to start out with the basics anyway.

Janius stepped back a few times again and motioned Kaleeth to follow. He wasn't sure whether she could read werewolf body language, but he couldn't guarantee that she would understand him if he spoke either. Given that he was having a hard time reading her body language in her form, Janius tried non-threateningly to wave his hand towards himself in a more humanoid beckoning. Then, he turned and started to run. It wasn't a sprint, but closer to a swift trot so as to allow Kaleeth to keep up and to hide his beast spirit's fear. Every so often, he would look back to make sure she was still following.

After a few minutes of moving around, Janius stopped and stood up, sniffing as high as he could. He then turned to Kaleeth again, touched his nose with one finger, then pointed in the general direction of where he smelled prey. It was difficult to communicate with a beast which didn't share exactly the same instincts, but Janius hoped that Kaleeth would get the message. As soon as she smelled the creature in the distance, her beast spirit may try to convey the same message that Janius was trying to deliver anyway.

[EliteCommander]

Initially, Kaleeth's beast spirit was placated when they started off in the search for prey. As long as it knew they were hunting, it could be satisfied letting her take control. She followed behind Janius, who luckily was going slow enough that even she could keep up. It was unfortunate, then, that the rain was hindering their efforts considerably. Her hearing wasn't that exceptional in this form anyway, and the rain made it even worse. She doubted Janius could even gauge any movement with the downpour around them. Scents were also quickly being washed away and masked by the storm. Even their vision was obscured somewhat by the wall of water around them. There was one thing, a single scent that was still close enough for them detect, but as it was a creature native to the marsh, the chances of catching up to it with the high waters and rushing rivers were slim...for Janius, at least.

As they moved along, Kaleeth's eyes were drawn to the overflowing river they were walking alongside. Werecrocodiles were not land predators, they were aquatic by nature. Her instincts were not to chase down prey on dry land, but rather to catch them by surprise in the water. Her instincts wanted her to jump in and submerge herself, and her beast spirit was growing restless that she was not obeying. She eyed the water longingly, her feet inching closer to the riverbank. The influence Kaleeth was starting to feel from the beast spirit was beginning to overwhelm her. She had to admit, it did seem like a good idea. It was what this form was built for, after all. Kaleeth's gaze shifted from the water, to Janius beside her. She looked hat him expectantly, with the rational part of her mind keeping her on land, but also wanting to look for any excuse to dive in.

[Muttonhawk]

The two continued to wander, but even Janius would admit that he was rapidly losing track of the scent they were following. The trail they followed seemed to halt by a river, wide and obviously breaking its banks. With all of the rain hitting it and the mud churning through and clouding the water, it seemed calm on the surface, but Janius wasn't fooled. This river would drag him away if he tried to jump in, even in this form. Kaleeth, however, seemed to be restraining herself from entering it as though she wanted to swim. She was standing closer to the edge and staring.

Janius couldn't be sure, but if Kaleeth's werecrocodile form was as strong a swimmer now as it was when she caught the crocodile a few days ago, then she might just be able to navigate this river. It would probably be a better hunting environment for her anyway, even if it would still be a difficult one. With the scent fading further, Janius decided to let Kaleeth do her thing. He looked at her, pointed to the water, then stepped back a few paces and waited. Once she would disappear under the water, is was all Janius could really do. Janius even added some speech over the rain, in case Kaleeth could hear her, "If your beast spirit is telling you to swim, do it! You may trust in its knowledge of your capabilities!"

[EliteCommander]

It did not take much for Kaleeth to jump into the river. With the beast urging her along, Janius' confirmation was all it took for her to dive in. She slid underneath the surface, becoming essentially undetectable from above. One immediate difference Kaleeth noticed was her waterbreathing, or rather the lackthereof. In this form, she had to hold her breath under the water, which she only did because of her beast spirit instinctively forcing her to. Of course, a werecrocodile could hold its breath for quite a long time underwater, but it still seemed like a step back from having actual gills.

Regardless, Kaleeth settled down on the riverbed and looked ahead in he direction of the prey they had caught the scent of earlier. It had been upstream, which meant it would naturally tend to go downstream, especially with the current being as strong as it was. Even Kaleeth had to dig her massive claws into the riverbed to keep herself from moving, though this form was capable of swimming against a current of this strength. With her beast spirit guiding her, she waited completely motionless while scanning the area upstream with eyes that were well-adapted to seeing underwater. From the surface, everything seemed eerily still, apart from the rain. Were it not for the fact that Janius saw her dive in, there would be no evidence that Kaleeth was even there. If the prey found itself floating too far downstream, however, it would essentially be over in an instant.

[Muttonhawk]

Almost a minute passed where Janius stood silently, wishing he could see past the murky surface of the river. Janius understood that they may have to be patient, but at the same time he grew restless. They needed to catch something before it rained any further or they might be cut off from the hill on which they made camp.

Under the river's surface, an almost inaudible chittering and clicking joined the whirr of flowing water. Through the murk, the smell and sight of three swimming dreughs came forward. With how still Kaleeth was and the fact that she was downstream from them, they hadn't noticed her imposing form yet. These creatures seemed to be merely searching the riverbed for morsels and catching small fish in the current. They would be less aggressive than their land-walking siblings undergoing karvinasim, but they could still swarm any threats to drive them off. By their smell, the creature that Kaleeth and Janius were originally tracking was on their claws and mandibles. Another dreugh came into view and still held onto what was left of the corpse of their original quarry. It was a hackwing, probably injured and caught in the river currents. The four dreugh seemed oblivious as they wandered into the danger of Kaleeth's reach.

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth's statue-like patience and effective natural camouflage kept her completely undetected as the trio of dreugh approached. Their crustacean hunting party was a menace to the small fish and other creatures of the river, but against an apex predator, they were easily vulnerable, even through their chitinous plates. She locked her eyes on to the one nearest her and gave not a hint of movement until she judged it close enough. At one moment, it was scanning the riverbed for bottom feeders, then in the next, Kaleeth's lightning fast jaws clamped down on its mid-section.

Of course, the dreugh's first reaction was to struggle and try to swim away, which was precisely the worst thing to do while in any crocodile's grasp. With her beast spirit to guide her, Kaleeth started a deadly roll opposite the direction it was trying to swim The opposing direction of the forces caused her teeth to shred the dreugh's soft insides, as well as sheering off one of its tentacles that was caught in her jaw. Meanwhile, the other two dreugh initially reacted in the same way as they did to many threats: by swarming it. Using their pincer-like claws, they attempted to slash at her throat and head, but her thick scales proved difficult for the young creatures to cut through. At least one slash did break through the scales, but it was a shallow cut that only served to anger her. Without releasing her prey from her maw, she lashed out with her own claws at the nearest attacker. The slash wasn't specifically aimed, so it did not hit anything vital, but it did find its mark on one of the tentacles that made up the dreugh's lower body. One of her claws stabbed through the writhing appendage completely, allowing her to drag the claw through it and split it in two for almost half of its length.

With pain shooting throughout its body, and the realization of the strength of what it was facing, the dreugh quickly cut its losses and swam away, along with its other friend. Had she cared to give chase, Kaleeth likely would not have been able to catch the two dreugh, even in this form, but she had her meal, so there was no need to. By this point, the river was running red with blood, making the scene all the more menacing when Kaleeth emerged from the river to feast on her kill. While the hunt had been successful, Kaleeth's progress on controlling her beast spirit sadly was not. She had allowed her beast spirit to take over almost completely during the hunt and was only just now pushing herself back into a position of control within her own mind. Without the beast spirit guiding her, it was unlikely her ambush would have gone near as well.

[Muttonhawk]

A few ripples on the top of the water grabbed Janius' attention. There was a splash of what looked like a crab's claw breaking the surface for a fraction of a second before disappearing. A few seconds later, Janius barely observed a streak of red mixing with the water from one point in the river. Kaleeth's emergence was not quite as sudden this time, But Janius' head still snapped to look at her with the dreugh in her mouth. Janius had never seen a whole dreugh before, even if this one didn't quite count with its mutilation, so he was as much curious about what Kaleeth had caught as how she caught it.

Janius carefully approached, but didn't get too close. He had to admit that he was starting to salivate at Kaleeth's kill, but his beast spirit was still not willing to fight her for it. There was another detail though, something wrong. Kaleeth was successful in her hunt, but this creature wasn't very big and didn't look particularly threatening. Janius had hoped that Kaleeth would find something bigger to kill so that she would be forced to help her beast spirit in working out how to take it down, but this was probably too easy. It got Janius thinking about what they could possibly hunt in these conditions that would help her hone her control. He was at a loss. He was out of his element here. Oh well, at least this might sate her beast spirit for now. Janius settled to give her some encouragement, if she could hear him at all, "Good work. We will discuss this further back at camp. Now eat your fill."

While Kaleeth feasted, an idea formed in Janius' mind. A stupid, risky, dangerous, inadvisable idea, but perfect for teaching her control. He waited until Kaleeth finished feasting before he would decide to execute this plan or not. She could either still be hungry, but more lucid after eating, making her mental condition ideal for the lesson, or she could transform back on the spot, meaning that Janius would have to leave it for next time.

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth made quick work of her kill, prying apart the plates with her claws to get at the meat within. A dreugh's shell could actually be boiled to make a tough, lightweight armor, not that Kaleeth was anywhere near lucid enough to think about that. Some of the leftover plates could be usable, but many had been damaged by her teeth or claws. Regardless, Kaleeth eventually regained control to the point that she was more directly in control of her own action. She finished off as much as the meat as she could pry from its shell, which did sate her beast spirit considerably. It did not take much to satisfy a werecrocodile, and while it could have more, it would live.

Now that Kaleeth was unquestionably in control, she immediately wanted to turn back, not that she actually knew how to do that. Being in this form was frightening...though there was something about it she noticed during her kill that wasn't quite so bad. She felt capable, very capable. Her jaws could bisect a crocodile and rend armor plates. Her claws were almost like shortswords in length and tough like steel, and the muscles backing them up gave her a type of strength she never thought she would be able to feel. Curiously, Kaleeth reached down and picked up one of the broken chitin plates of the ground and squeezed it as hard as she could, snapping it into two pieces. Even if it had already been broken off, that was no small feat. Nevertheless, Kaleeth's fear of her current form meant she would certainly turn back soon without input from Janius.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius caught himself smiling at Kaleeth when she tested her own strength. She wouldn't have done that if it was only the beast spirit in charge. He stepped into clear view and sniffed at the air in front of him, before speaking up. "One more lesson. Follow." Janius turned and started to move along the riverbank.

It took a few minutes, but Janius eventually found a suitable place. With a slight run up, he clambered up a tree beside the river until he was perched on a bough high enough from the ground that Kaleeth could not reach him. The tree itself didn't have many holds along its trunk and was impossible for Kaleeth to merely climb. At the same time, there was what appeared to be an old standing stone nearby that looked movable, as well as some strong branches overhanging the river itself. Janius looked down at Kaleeth, "Your quarry is now me. Find a way up the tree."

Even if it was simple, the purpose of the lesson was twofold. Firstly, Kaleeth needed to keep in control enough to think laterally while at the same time utilising the abilities of her form, with its limits in mind. Secondly, she had to trust that she could stop before hurting someone. Janius trusted her, but if it turned out to be too much for her to yield her hunt, then Janius was confident that he could get away quickly enough. In that case, he would just have to hunt until he found enough game to sate the beast completely. In the end the objective was building confidence in Kaleeth.

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth wasn't sure about Janius' new task for her at first. It seemed like a bad idea, it seemed like something that might cause her to go too far. She did not want to hurt him...and she hoped that did not change. Still, Janius was meant to be teaching her. He must know what he was doing, she reasoned. Despite her better judgement, she started trying to get up the tree to him.

Although Kaleeth was very strong, she was also very heavy. She was able to dig her claws into the tree bark and start trying to pull herself up, but the bark quickly gave way and sent her tumbling down onto her back. Even if the tree could hold her, she didn't even know if she was capable of pulling herself up like that. There was just so much of her to lift. She tried again and again, but every time it ended the same way: with her on her back, scrambling back up to her feet. It was frustrating to the point that she started to growl, then struck the tree in a hammerfist motion with both of her massive hands. It caused the tree to shake considerably, which was something that sparked an idea in the rational part of her mind. She couldn't climb, and she questioned whether the branches of any tree could hold her, but it was possible she might bring him down to her. Kaleeth backed away from the tree's trunk a few paces, then rushed forward and slammed into it shoulder first with all her might. The tree swayed back and forth, though not enough to cause Janius to lose his grip, so she repeated the action and slammed into it again, then once more after that. Eventually, she realized that if she slammed into it when it was moving away from her, it would sway even more wildly. The tree wasn't one that looked like it could be pushed in this manner, but Kaleeth was quickly proving that assumption incorrect.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius held on as tightly as he could as Kaleeth slammed into the tree over and over again. He hadn't expected Kaleeth to come up with this solution. He didn't even know that the tree could move like it was. Nevertheless, Kaleeth was demonstrating that she was capable of bringing her own reasoning into the mind of her beast spirit, even in frustrating circumstances.

The swaying of the tree got to the point where each change in motion was either slamming Janius into the trunk, or causing his grip to loosen a little further. He considered letting go at the right moment until he realised his mistake. The only way down was either on top of Kaleeth, or into the river. His expression quickly took a turn for the concerned as he was pushed in Kaleeth's direction and pulled back, barely hanging on. He decided that he would just have to trust landing on top of her in the next opportunity, he thought. He might be able to scramble away quickly enough. Unfortunately, in one last effort to hold onto the tree trunk over the river, Janius only found purchase in some moss that quickly slid away from his claws and sent him tumbling into the water.

Janius hit the river with a large splash and tried as quickly as he could to reorient and swim for the shore, but the current was already pulling him. He pushed frantically against the water to no avail. He was able to surface to get one glimpse at Kaleeth to communicate the fear in his eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen.