Legend of Ransera

here are you going this time?” Brianne sighed, watching as the lankier girl packed a small bag of belongings. At least she’d taught her that much. But apparently not enough, as Senara did not respond and placed a small water skin inside a worn leather bag.

Brianne leaned on the counter, observing the girl's choice of clothing. Warm enough, she supposed, but yet again without shoes. “Look if you’re going to be leaving, at least tell me when you’ll be back.”

Senara clasped the bag closed and slung it over her shoulder. What was this woman's deal? What was everyones deal? Nosey, the lot of them, from Talon to Brianne could no one mind their damn business?

“Eventually. And don’t bring Talon back.”

---

5th of Searing

Crunch.

The grinding of teeth against bone, then bone snapping in half echoed throughout a small cavern in the Wildking’s Forge. Senara’s massive wolven form rose up from above the scaley carcass of her kill- whatever it had been, it was no longer recognizable. With a huff the wolf turned and glanced back towards the beckoning light of day.

Through the cavern's entrance, the wind teased scents of blooming flowers as the calming song of Lake Udori could nearly make one forget the carnage that had just transpired on it’s shore.

Senara stepped out into the light of the midday sun. Around her, four human bodies lay mutilated and torn. One of their faces frozen in the panic of his last breaths.

’Silly travellers. Humans. Awful, stupid creatures who get high on life and forget they live in a predator versus prey world. Serves them right.’

But part of her wished she’d gotten there sooner. Maybe then she could have at least chastised them properly for their foolishness. She chuffed and sighed, hanging her head low while crimson paws brought her to the shoreline. It was warm. Clear. The sunlight danced upon jewel-like stones beneath the crystalline surface, and for a few moments Senara wondered if this was the image that had distracted the humans to death. Calm, perfect waters in a world so chaotic. Perhaps she didn’t blame them so much anymore.

With a soft sigh Senara closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her world. Crisp. Warm. Feral. Floral. She could smell the fruit of the orchards nearby, the sugar of the crystal forest only a few hundred meters ahead, and every bluebird and swallow that flirted between tree branches surrounding the lake.

’Now, inward.’
Like a stone. Deeper. Imagining the frame she’d been gifted by nature morphing to that of her lesser self.

’Human.’

The first tell was the tingle in her paws and tail. It crept up through her fur and skin like the wind through a field of grass. Every hair on her body stood on end before retracting inwards. As the transformation took hold of her she let it take her.

Bones and joints clicked, cracked, and popped into places and yet no part of this shift was as painful as the first few times.

Mere minutes later, she stood shorter than before and peered down at her human feet that were dug an inch into the wet sand.

No claws. No fur. No ears or tail. Just pale, pink flesh painted with scars and bruises from her weeks in training. It had been nearly ten weeks since her departure, and although she’d trained in her hunting skills in unfamiliar territory, she’d come no closer to her goal than when she’d left.

She still couldn’t call on her lycan form. And Talon’s expression the day his words had broken her walls was seared into her mind like a branding. It wouldn’t leave. It didn’t bother her as much as it used to but recalling her human form in the past few weeks had always meant remembering that day.

Why had he looked that way? Caring. Empathetic. Like he'd bring justice to the world with his very eyes. She hated it. She hated it more than she could bare but yet….

She missed him. She didn’t know him well enough to miss him in the ways other humans talked about missing people, but without him there those past few weeks it was as if a cold front had been following her.

Senara looked to the sky, half hoping to see the Avialae and his companion flying down to greet her. But there was nothing, just clear sky and a light breeze that tickled the nape of her neck where silky brown hair danced.

’It’s time to go back.’

She could have made the trip in one day. Could have. If she hadn’t stopped along the way to sneer at her reflection at every puddle of water or still pond. If she hadn’t gotten distracted watching a newbie hunter who missed nearly all of his shots, and if she hadn’t sighed and stopped to help him.

Senara spent the better part of her second day teaching young Aldvin how to hold the bow, how to aim, when to fire- not that she was any better in practice, but it was all information Brianne had taught her. And while she was no bow master she had learned her memory was quite nearly perfect when it came to things like this.

The morning of the third day Senara sat up from the blanket she’d thrown down the night before. She’d learned much on her trip- one, hunters tend to be drawn to large sleeping wolves. And two, she really hates attacking stupid, yet innocent, people. It’s not their fault they didn’t know she was a rathari- a fact she still detested.

Tangled earthen hair spilled over her brow and tickled her pinkened nose as she gazed up at the morning sky. Morning doves cooed their hellos and she chuffed back at them before sitting up and packing her camp up for the final day of travel. She’d gotten quite good at it in her weeks of learning how to be human. But something was still missing.

Just then, on the wind, the sound of laughter.

Senaras ears perked up with her head and she stared to the main road, where a group of rowdy travellers spilled over the top of the hill from the north. The closer they got the more she could make out and eventually they were close enough that upon the sight her eyes widened.

Horns. Elk horns. Three of the five humanoids had elk horns jutting out from their heads. They weren’t as long as traditional elk, but they were unmistakable. Senara scanned down their frames until she got to their feet- no, hooves. The girl was dead silent as the group approached closer.

”Hey, you there, what’cha doin out here alone girlie?”

One of the rathari spoke up in a chipper voice. He was a middle aged man, taller, with tousled brown hair, tanned skin, and warm honey eyes. His freckled face framed pearly white teeth and full lips. The troupe came to a slow stop in front of the girl who, while packed up, must have seemed disheveled in comparison to such a well prepared group who each had matching satchels, waterskins, and even pins attached to their vests.

“Travelling… How do you have horns?” The question came out in a mumble of curiosity, and she stepped closer to the tall one who had spoken to her first. She made no gesture of politeness as she circled him and studied every inch of his strangely morphed body and impressive horns.
A few weeks back she thought she’d seen a boy with a tail, but dismissed the vision as a mistake on her part. And when she had been in town with Brianne once could have sworn she’d watched a strange twitch from under a man’s hat. And now she was certain- rathari didn’t have to shift fully. But then why couldn’t she do it?

The elken man had paused and raised a brow as the girl circled him. His companions, younger than him, seemed agitated and nervous, but he held his hand out to the girl and smiled.

“My name is Tullius. I take it you’re not familiar with Rathari?” He asked, eyeing her just the same. His ears, just as large and furry as any elks, shifted with her movements and caught every breath she made. His hand remained outstretched towards in greeting for a full ten seconds before he realized she had no interest in casual pleasantries.

“I am one. But how do you stop becoming animal all the way? I didn’t know it was possible.” She sniffed the air around him as if it held the answers, but all she got was the strong scent of berries and sweat.

Tullius chuckled in disbelief. ”You’re telling me you’re a rathari, but you don’t know how to use your lycan form?” He asked, nearly expecting her to admit to fibbing. But her serious expression was all he needed to realize the truth. The man brought a large hand up to scratch the back of his head.

”Well, I don’t rightly know how to tell ya how. Ya just do. But, I’d say the first step is accepting each part of yourself. I couldn’t use my lycan form until I learned to accept my elken form.”

“Dad, we gotta go we’re already late.” One of the kids piped up, his smaller frame hunched in a way that clearly stated ‘it’s too early and I wish I was still sleeping’.

Tullius nodded at his son. “Alright, I’m sorry miss but we have to get going. Good luck with your shifting, and stay safe!”

They left as quickly as they’d come, and while Senara had confirmation that half-shifting was possible, she now had more worries than answers. How was she to accept the very part of her that she wished never existed? The part of her that was so similar to that of her father, the part of her that made mistake after mistake? There was nothing good nor useful about her human form- besides thumbs of course- so how?

Senara pondered these thoughts as she headed north towards Kalzasi. The road was long, and her feet were sore. But she’d grown used to the pulsating flesh over the weeks of travel and in some ways it was a comfort to know she was making progress. A few hours later the girl stepped through the entrance gates and into the city, ignoring as many of the clamoring smells and sights as she could.

It was as busy as she remembered. Not something she quite enjoyed but at least it wasn’t awful.

A few short hours later when the sun was setting, Senara was shuffling down the winding road to Brianne’s house. Lightning bugs littered the grass and flowers that had sprung up, and small rabbits and foxes played within the flora. Looking up she could see the candles lit in the kitchen, and could even smell the sweet scent of honey chicken.

Only this time, for some reason, she didn’t hate it.

Senara kicked a rock in front of her and watched as it danced across the earth, stopping just as she caught up to it in her slowing saunter back to Brianne’s home. It had become a pattern in her travels to kick rocks, the sound had kept her company without the need for speech or song. But at some point she had grown to miss the sound of both, among other things. At times she’d even hallucinated or dreamt of the winged man hovering above her coated in a silk like glow of gold. Sometimes she’d even catch a whiff of him on the wind, only to realize she’d been mistaken.

Like the gods had been mocking her, a soft gust of air kissed her cheek and she followed it. Then, standing in front of her, were Aoren and Talon.

Talon.

Her heart skipped a beat, sped up, then calmed almost too quickly for it not to have been her own willpower forcing it to still.

Senara let a breath out she hadn’t realized she’ been holding and rolled her eyes at Aorens comment, though her sneer was softer than usual. And then with the tiniest of an upturn teasing the edge of her lips, she glanced at Talon. Her cheeks became as flush as the sunset behind her, not that she realized it..

”T-thanks… what are you doing here?” Her eyes, as dark as the woods themselves, had glanced away only briefly to peer into the window behind them, though she couldn’t see where Brianne might be. But when she returned her gaze to him she felt a rush of warmth to her face once more. Her chest tightened. Her stomach churned.

”I’m hungry. Let’s go inside.” There was annoyance in her voice. His smile was too warm, too honest, too pretty. Pouting at her own thoughts, Senara scooted past both of the large winged men and opened the door. Once Senara’s feet hit the wood of the home a strange lightness took over her body. She removed her boots, staring at the woman across the room, then rose up and dumped her travel bag on the ground near the door.

Brianne turned with a small smile of her own, spatula in hand as she plated chicken breasts on plates.

”Finally back, I see.” She only turned to give her a welcoming smile, then went back to her task at hand. Not that she hadn’t been worried sick about the girl since her disappearance, but showing that now would do no good to a girl so easily frightened and emotionally young. Neither would telling her that she’d actually spotted the girl from the window before she’d gotten halfway across the horizon- the south window had become a favored spot of hers to peer out of the last few weeks. She also definitely wouldn’t tell her that every meal she’d made since her departure, Brianne had made a plate for Senara too. Just in case she returned.

”Unfortunately you’ve come back on a night I’ve made your least favorite food. Take a seat, though, all of you, and Senara you’ll absolutely need to wash all that travel off of you before bed.” Brianne’s shoulders lowered. She hadn’t realized until just then how tightly she’d been holding them up.

”Fine..” Senara grumbled. Already home and getting orders barked at her?

But her nose itched. Her mouth watered. She could feel the presence of the avialae behind her and quickly rushed to take a seat at the far end of the table near the corner. There was a comfort in the unchanging routine of her life at Brianne’s, even when she’d been gone so long. And in the way Talon’s scent seemed to overpower everything in the room.

She eyed him like she was a curator studying a piece of history. What was it about him that changed? He was the same. But he smelled stronger. It almost seemed like he was more in focus for her now, or like a mist that had once covered her eyes had cleared. Was it only just now that she had begun to realize how tall he was?

”...He smells, too. Shouldn’t he take a bath?” She asked.

Brianne shot the girl a soft, playful glare. ”Well considering I can’t smell him from across the room, no. But your nose is probably better than mine.” The woman walked across the room after all had been seated holding four plates carefully balanced in her arms. Once she'd gotten to the table she placed each one before the group, silverware and waters already set out for the four of them, then took her seat at the head of the table across from Senara.

She would've asked her a question about her travels, but the wolf girl was already face first into her chicken. No utensils, as usual, and honey sauce covering her fingers. A smirk took over Brianne's face, and she cut into her own. "So, Aoren, tell me of your travels recently. I know Talon's been cooped up, but what of you?"