Scott immediately used his connection to nature and animals and compelled the elusive raven to follow him, he wanted to get to the bottom of the origin of the bird and it's purpose. The supernatural boy looked around to see if there was a place he could go and found his answer when his eyes landed on the roof of the school building before checking if there were people around and when he saw that that was not the case he jumped to the roof and landed gracefully.
Once up there the True Alpha was confronted with how to extract information from the raven and came to only one method, mind melding though he wondered if it would work, having never tried it with an animal before.
"OK, buddy, come here." Said Scott to the raven that had been circling around him, an arm outstretched for it's landing.
When the bird landed on said arm, it's pointy talons digging into his flash, he gently caressed it so that it could relax as he released his control over it. It looked normal but having been stalked by the bird the boy wasn't fooled, there was just no way one bird could follow one person from one side of the country to the other without there being more to it.
Raven1 regained his-its senses somewhere it was not before, confused until it remembered its last sight, Scott McCall's eyes. But the caresses it was receiving were too distracting to fully take in what that meant because it seemed like the Tribrid had a magical touch. While the raven was distracted Scott protracted his claws swiftly initiated the mind melding ritual.
Break
After what happened Elena went back to sleep and Stefan decided to make her something to eat for when she woke up. He'd gotten a call from Caroline asking how he was and if Elena was coping well, with Bonnie calling Elena but the human was already asleep.
The man asked himself if he would have been able to live on and accept his older brother's death if they never returned to Mystic Falls and he got to met a certain Gilbert. Probably not, he knew he would have probably committed suicide or switched his emotions off and went into a killing spree, become exactly what Klaus wanted from him but the Salvatore was grateful that the Original Hybrid didn't force him to switch off his emotions.
At that very thought Stefan heard someone at the front door and went to check only to find an envelope with an M on it addressed to him. He looked around before retreating into the house and anxiously opened the envelope to find a simple yet intricate letter instructing him to watch over Greta and protect her, signed by Klaus.
The ancient man didn't didn't say anything other than that in the letter, just instructions and that's that. Stefan was a little relieved by that though he had a feeling he wasn't going to get along with the witch.
Break
Bonnie thought about the whisper she heard during her lunch break while the teacher for her first class after lunch was out, wondering who it was from and the person the whisper said to kill was. Her first thought was Klaus but something told her he wasn't the abomination the Whisper was talking about. Another question was if the whisper was a message given voice from the Spirits, warning her of a future enemy.
Break
'Who are you?!'
'A devoted fan. Show me the man who took down Deucalion and broke the Argents. I came for that alpha. Come on!'
Scott found his answer to the mystery surrounding the raven when he successfully mind melded with said raven.
To his surprise and shock the Tribrid discovered that the raven was actually and literally one piece of the first chimera he encountered by the name Belasko who claimed to be his "devoted fan" and that after the Dread Doctors killed him ravens clawed their way out of his body only to later gain self-consciousness and realize that they were Belasko in his now supernatural form, unable to take human form though satisfied by that since the who thing that made him work for the Dread Doctors was the promise that they would turn him into a bird.
After gaining consciousness the first raven to do so was decidedly called Raven1 and took the lead of other ravens for some order to be established then the ravens got used to their new state and learned to live in said state, that was until one of the ravens saw Scott one day, Belasko's much admired role model.
The True Alpha might have taken Belasko's declaration that he was a devoted fan lightly but that was in fact very much true. So true that Raven1, the leader of the ravens, took it upon himself to follow the Tribrid in his journey in life and watch as he lived on.
That ended up extending to those in his pack as the other ravens watched them too in order to see the effect the True Alpha had in their lives, being able to see through each others eyes allowed all the ravens that were Belasko to be in different places at the same time and get the full picture.
The transformed and in someways ascended Belasko witnessed his role model at his highest and lowest points in life these past months, from falling into depression after his resurrection to triggering his trigger werewolf (original werewolf) gene and unlock his full potential, from losing Kira and his pack to regaining and even extending it, and still admired Scott McCall, probably more so now than before and the True Alpha saw that.
He also saw that while Belasko wanted his power before, that was not the case anymore and that was a relief, though he was a little lost on the man's-er... Bird's plans other than stalking him and his pack. Since Scott couldn't talk with Belasko in the physical work he decided to get his answers by meeting him at the center of his subconscious mind.
For the first time since he was killed Belasko found himself in his human form, sitting on the surface of a gigantic tree stump in a white room and across from him sat Scott.
"Where are we?" Asked the older of the two, a little coward in his human form.
"The center of your subconscious mind. I brought you here because I need to have a conversation with you and we can't have one with you in your raven form." Answered the McCall.
That put the bird at ease a bit.
"I have no intention of taking your power anymore." He confessed.
"I know but that's all I know and I don't exactly feel comfortable knowing that there is someone watching my every move or that the same is happening to my pack, especially when I don't know your endgame." Replied Scott.
Belasko understood Scott's concerns, especially considering that some joined the pack to learn what made them tick and used that to his advantage.
"I haven't really thought about it since we, um, I started following you and your pack. There isn't much for me to gain from the general world and before I saw you I just spent my days exploring my abilities and just living." Said the man.
Thinking of the future wasn't really on his mind since life as a raven was way simpler, the only thing he had to worry about was getting caught, something that he was currently dealing with.
"Your abilities?" Inquired the True Alpha Tribrid, curious about that.
He didn't look into that so he hoped Belasko reveal his abilities since the man didn't have a problem with revealing his intentions before.
"Oh, yes! See..."
Having not spoken to someone in a while the raven ended up talking, he kind of missed conversing so once he said the first words he didn't hold back.
He took joy in explaining just how wonderful becoming ravens was and the advantages that came with that, which included having a hivemind like mind and connection, being able to see and hear what the other ravens witness and it turned out Belasko's talons could siphon abilities and power from any supernatural being, the only thing that stopped him from absorbing Scott's true alpha spark was exactly that, it was the power of a true alpha.
The talons could only siphon abilities and power but not a person's life-force, unlike it was required for werewolves to take pain then life before power, though it would feel like one's life-force was being siphons. That feeling was a result of having the power separated from the life-force since more often than not the power contributed to the longevity of the life-force.
Theo's death as a result of Malia siphoning his powers was actually caused by the talons going rather deep and damaging vital organs and causing internal bleeding, having his power taken and as a result weakening his body probably contributed to his death since he couldn't heal. That was Belasko's suggestion when Scott told him what happened when Malia used the talons.
The two spent sometime talking in the raven's mindscape and Scott saw the intelligence ravens were said to have while conversing with the former chimera. When the McCall asked how did the ravens keep track of the pack when they had to eat and at times rest, Belasko revealed a rather useful and power ability that scared and intrigued the alpha.
Each of the ravens was able to cast a kind of a spell on a human and nonhuman through eye contact that would allowed the birds to temporarily possess the individual and extend their hivemind without the individual's awareness, gaining a temporary vessel to carry out the raven's desires including spying.
The spell worked by suppressing the victim's mind, conscious and subconscious, and gaining full control and access of his or her body and because of their hivemind the ravens didn't have a problem with controlling said body. The scary thing was that the victim's body gained a portion of Belasko's chimera human form's abilities which included super strength, speed, agility, senses and even worse, the were not affected by supernatural laws like mountain ash.
That was scary, it meant if Belasko wanted he could possess anyone in the pack and have them kill anyone anywhere and then release the possession. It meant Belasko could become the greatest and most skilled and successful covert operative the world has ever seen and remain hidden. If someone like Gerard had Belasko on his side...
"Would you like to be my familiar?" Asked Scott.
"What?" Questioned a confused Belasko at the sudden question.
"Would you like to be my familiar? Familiar as in an attendant spirit, often taking an animal form, it can also be a close and trusted friend." Repeated the Tribrid, explaining a little bit.
"Why?" Inquired the raven.
"You said that you haven't thought about an endgame and it doesn't look like you want to have one considering you've been following me around for months now, and you said it yourself, there isn't much for you to gain from the general world. I haven't created my talisman yet, I've come up with a lot of ideas and spells for one but for some reason I've always felt like I'm missing something and the idea of having an ordinary talisman just doesn't feel right to me.
I guess it's because I'm not ordinary myself, but thinking about it right now, I think a familiar would make a great talisman for me, something no one would suspect to be such an important artifact for a witch. You're not an ordinary raven, just as I'm no ordinary witch.
You still have your connection to your werewolf side even in your permanent raven form since you can grant your 'proxies' a portion of your werewolf abilities which actually appeals to me. I was a werewolf before I was anything else since my tribrid status was dormant and activated after I'd gotten used to being an evolved werewolf.
And your ability to kind of 'compel' people by suppressing their conscious and subconscious mind in order to possess them appeals to my vampire side.
Everything about you is exactly what I want in a familiar and a talisman because it complements every part of who I am; a vampire, a witch and a werewolf! So, what do you say? Would you like to be my familiar and talisman, Belasko?" Explained the True Alpha, feeling like he has found what he has been looking for, the missing piece.
Belasko took a moment to think over the explanation and offer. It didn't really offer him much except assured companionship and a chance to actually interact with Scott than just watch him from afar, not to mention a rather lengthy servitude to a near impossible to kill person.
Break
Doctor Alan Deaton who was left hanging by Scott debated on disconnecting the call but finally decided to hold on until the boy got back since he didn't disconnect.
Break
"Alright, I accept the offer. I would like to be your familiar and talisman." Decided Belasko, after some time thinking about it.
He didn't really have anything in mind, a purpose or great ambition and after months of observing the Tribrid the raven felt like he knew him so he took the offer.
In his excitement and joy Scott momentarily forgot that they were in Belasko's mindscape and instructed the raven for them to hold each others forearms and bury their claws into said forearms before he started the spells that would link them together and make Belasko the True Alpha's familiar but most importantly his talisman.
He just chose which spell to use from those that he had already created and just adjusted it while Belasko was busy thinking over his decision just in case the raven accepted his offer.
He used their blood to form the link, something he knew Dr Deaton wouldn't advise to do but the boy wanted the link and his talisman to be as powerful as possible and have all the advantages they could both offer, there was no telling what people would do if they discovered the ravens and since he was already powerful, he needed a talisman that would complement him and grow in power as he does.
The vet and his protege discovered that Scott was an abnormally powerful witch, even for what the more experienced of the two could expect from a witch, vampire and werewolf tribrid, and they both knew the boy would grow even more powerful with time.
Scott wanted his familiar and talisman to grow with him, for their relationship to benefit the both of them in every way to be able to complement each other well and be a well balanced and compatible team and partners. He once had a companion dog by the name Roxy who was fatally attacked by another dog, a bigger one, while he was taking her on a walk.
Somehow the memories of the attack were suppressed, maybe by the Dread Doctors for some reason, probably had something to do with Theo, since he regained them after reading Dr Valack's coded book but since then Scott has been thinking about what ifs. What if he had been stronger?
What if Roxy had been just a little bit stronger? What if he hadn't had an asthma attack and helped his best friend because at the time his companion dog was just that, his best friend.
All that gave the True Alpha the motivation to make sure Belasko could defend himself to the best of his capabilities and grow in power just as he would because so far he hasn't met a weak enemy, they actually kept getting stronger with nastier plans and affected more people than the last.
When all was said and done Scott thanked Belasko and ended the mind melding ritual and a moment later, in the physical world, he started seeing multiple sights that he absentmindedly identified as being from Beacon Hills because of the sites and two as from Mystic Falls High School.
He realized that he was seeing through the ravens's sight right before disorientation took over and he blacked out right at the edge of the roof, with Raven1 a little disoriented from the mind melding ritual and Scott's claw wounds on his raven neck so he fly down to rest on the roof just a moment before the alpha fell over the edge.
Break
Alaric Saltzman left his first class after lunch to get a textbook from his car. On his way towards the front doors he heard a thud sound outside and prepared himself for a fight, cautiously approaching the door, he slowly opened it to get a picture of the situation only to see someone laying down awkwardly as though they just collapsed.
The vampire hunter waited a moment to see if it was a trap and when nothing happened he quickly opened the door the rest of the way and went to check on the person. Alaric recognized said person as one of the visiting students from Beacon Hills High School he saw earlier in the administration office and that he was sweating profusely with no wounds on his neck or mouth, which was a relief though his short intakes of breath was cause for concern.
The human picked the boy from the floor only to see his phone facing up with an on going phone call to a Dr Deaton whom the History teacher took for the boy's family doctor and decided to return the boy to the ground and talk to the doctor since he or she would probably know more about what was going on and what to do.
"Uh, Dr Deaton?" He inquired upon getting the phone.
"Yes. Who is this?" Asked doctor, a little cautious though Alaric didn't notice.
"Ri-Alaric Saltzman, a teacher at Mystic Falls High School. I just happened to find a boy I identify as a student from the visiting school Beacon Hills High School laying just outside the front doors of the school, appearing to have just collapsed and is sweating profusely with short intakes of breath." Explained Alaric, looking at said boy before him.
There was a momentary pause on the other line, which was caused by the druid thinking over how to respond without accidentally revealing details he didn't want to reveal. He knew vervain and wolfsbane didn't affect Scott to an extreme level ever since he unlocked his tribrid birthright, well apart from yellow wolfsbane and mistletoe but they wouldn't react so quickly... Unless concentrated.
"The boy's name is Scott McCall, could you please take him to the school's nurse's office and ask for Liam Dunbar who is a close friend of Scott and a sophomore from his school. Liam is familiar with Scott's medical history and I need to talk to him, please." Requested Dr Deaton, as calm as ever though the human could detect concern in his voice.
Break
Liam was in the middle of his class when a teacher came asking for him. He was excused and when he got outside the teacher, Mr Saltzman, explained and the boy didn't waste time in taking the phone from the man and quickly walked in his alpha's direction, the teacher following behind.
"Dr Deaton." Began walking the beta.
"Liam, what's going on with Scott? He called me a few minutes before Mr Saltzman found him but never got to the reason why." Inquired Dr Deaton.
"I just got out of class, I'm on my way to check on him." Replied the boy.
"Alright. I need you to check if he's been poisoned by yellow wolfsbane or mistletoe. Those are the two likeliest causes given the timeframe and symptoms although the cause may be something else but there's only so much I can speculate with the symptoms I've been give." Said the druid.
A moment later Liam walked into the nurse's office and Alaric told the female nurse attending to Scott that the boy's doctor said the younger boy was familiar with the older boy's medical history and needed to be talking to him, which earned the Dunbar permission to see his alpha though with the nurse's supervision.
The beta walked to the McCall, heart beating fast. He secretly smelled for vervain, wolfsbane and mistletoe and any other harmful herbs but found non.
"Um, Dr Deaton, Scott is sweating a lot, his breathing is shallow and his heart rate is a lot faster but I don't see any symptoms suggesting, uh, an allergic reaction or an asthma relapse though his eyes are rapidly moving and..."
"His eyes are rapidly moving?" Asked Dr Deaton, interrupting Liam.
"Yes. Is that important?" Responded the boy.
"Very. Rapid eye movement during sleep occurs when an individual experiences most brain activity and dreams, it is known as REM sleep. Rapid eye movement sleep. Whatever that's affecting Scott seems to be psychological and may be spiritual. I would say he's experiencing an intense vision but there might be more to it, like a psychological attack. Scott is too physically powerful to be affected in such a way by a simple vision." Explained the man.
"OK, so how do I wake him up?" Inquired the Dunbar.
"You might not be able to, especially without exposing yourself but someone else could. Call Lydia and tell her what's happening and that we need her to wake Scott up like she did me, she'll understand." Said the vet.
While the boy followed the doctor's instruction by calling Lydia via his own phone Alaric and the nurse watched as they seemed to be forgotten, raising eyebrows at the mention of an asthma relapse, well more so the nurse than the teacher.
Break
When Lydia's phone suddenly vibrated and she took it out to see that it was Liam calling she excused herself before answering.
"What is it, Liam?" Was her greeting.
"There's something wrong with Scott." Replied the beta, causing the girl to pause a little.
Across the hallway a certain werecoyote's ears twitched at the mention of her alpha's name and quickly excused herself from her class, she just walked out, when Lydia asked what was wrong with Scott.
"A local teacher found him passed out on the ground like he collapsed and he's sweating a lot, not to mention his shallow breathing. Dr Deaton said to call you when I told him about... Um..."
"Rapid eye movement sleep." Said the school nurse, having filled away Liam's comment about the sick boy's rapid eye movement and connected it to REM sleep.
The Dunbar gave a thankful nod to the nurse before returning to the phone, reminded if her presence and also the teacher's who shouldn't be present.
"Who was that?" Asked Malia when she found Lydia.
"Uh, the school nurse and the teacher who found Scott are here." Answered Liam.
"Liam, could you pass the phone to the nurse." Requested Deaton, still on the line on Scott's phone.
"Sure." The nurse and Alaric suddenly heard the boy say before he offered the former Scott's phone.
"Dr Deaton would like to talk with you." He said.
She accepted the phone while the werewolf went back to his alpha's side.
"Nurse Monroe speaking." Introduced Nurse Monroe.
"Nurse Monroe I'm Dr Deaton, Mr McCall's private doctor. Could you please grant our patient his right to privacy by asking Mr Saltzman to leave? I don't think he would be comfortable with the idea of having a stranger present in his condition regardless of whether said stranger might have saved his life." Responded Dr Deaton, and the good nurse understood and agreed to do just that.
A moment later found Nurse Monroe escorting a little reluctant vampire hunter out of the room, giving the Beacon Hills residents the chance to help the True Alpha in private. Lydia instructed Liam to bring his phone close to Scott's ear for her to pull him out of whatever he was experiencing as she once did Dr Deaton.
Break
Belasko, as a collective of ravens, felt a new psychic and telepathic connection form between him and his new... Master?
He noticed that he was growing stronger and better in every way and guessed that since he still possessed his werewolf traits and that he was now connected to Scott he was a part of the McCall Pack and possessed all the privileges of being in a pack including the symbiotic pack bond.
A moment later the raven felt the connection solidify, bound by blood, mind, spirit and magic. At first Scott's presence was overwhelming but as he stabilized with Lydia's voice grounding him a new balance was found.
Break
Scott didn't realize that forming the ritual in a mental scape would form a psychological link and force his mind to be compatible with Belasko's hivemind to handle the stress but for that to happen he blacked out. His body and psyche adjusted just as Belasko's did. A moment after that the True Alpha began regaining consciousness with Lydia's voice serving as an anchor.
"He's waking up!" Announced a relieved Liam just as Nurse Monroe returned.
"He is?" She asked, echoing Malia and Lydia, a little surprised though sure enough her patient was regaining consciousness and some color.
"Yeah."
"How do you feel?" Asked the woman, checking on the boy while Liam took his phone back and conversed with his pack mates and their emissary.
Scott groaned before stating that he was thirsty and she sat him a little upright before giving him a glass of water which while refreshing the Tribrid kind of wanted some blood but he thanked her nonetheless.
"What happened before you lost consciousness?" Asked Nurse Monroe, checking the McCall's vitals.
"Um, I'm not sure. I, I just felt lightheaded and disorientated then everything went blank. Wha-what happened?" Was a confused Scott's response, he really wanted to know what happened after he ended the mind melding ritual with Raven1/Belasko.
"Well, it seems like you collapsed just outside the school front doors and Mr Saltzman, a History teacher here, found and brought you to the nurse's office. Fortunately you were on the phone with your doctor when you passed out and the call didn't end so Dr Deaton was able to help.
Is this a one time thing or has it been happening for a while but outside your school grounds? Your school medical records don't have much outside asthma attacks." Informed the nurse, before following up with a question.
"It's not a usual..."
"Dunbar, where the hell is McCall?" Interrupted Coach Finstock, having been informed that one of his students collapsed.
"Here, coach." Scott answered for his beta who just ended the phone calls with a promise to update the pack and their emissary.
"What wrong with you? Is senior year finally getting to you? The stress of the upcoming exams and graduation?" Inquired the man, calming down once he saw the McCall was awake.
He worried about his team and students just as any teacher and coach would, it was kind of hard not to develop some attachments to them.
"Huh, that actually makes sense. Often students stress over their final years, especially when exam time nears." Noted Nurse Monroe.
"And you are?" Asked the lacrosse coach, looking at the woman as though he just realized that she was present.
It got a little awkward after the question but the trained and registered professional nurse soon regain her confidence.
"Nurse Monroe, one of the school nurses and the one who instructed that you be informed about your student being admitted to the nurse's office. I assume you're Coach Finstock and my patient's legal guardian during this visit." She said, eyes on the man that pretended she wasn't there.
"Oh, I like you already. How about you fill me in on my star player's health? Will he be sitting out today's practice?" Responded Coach Finstock.
"Definitely."
"No! I mean no. I'll be fine by then." Nurse Monroe and Scott spoke over each other before they paused.
"I wasn't talking to you, McCall! You heard the lady, I don't want to see you on the field today during the game." Said the coach.
"What game?" Asked Liam, speaking for the first time since before his coach arrived.
"The surprise game. You call yourself team captain but you have no idea that there's a surprise game after school? What kind of team captain are you? We'll use today's surprise game as control for Friday's game obviously, otherwise we wouldn't see the difference." Replied the man.
It took a moment for him to realize that he spoiled the surprise and everyone's faces in the room said as much.
"Oh crap. You didn't hear that, you hear me? If you so much as say a word of this to anyone, I will make McCall team captain again with immediate effect and you, Dunbar, will never ever be team captain again, and you'll be on equipment duty for the whole season." That quickly put out any excitement the teenagers had from learning about the surprise game.
"Now that's settled, get to class, Dunbar and you rest, McCall." Instructed Coach Finstock, pushing Liam outside though not before he returned Scott's phone to him and the boys shared a look, the older of the two nodding for his beta to go back to class.
Nurse Monroe asked follow up questions after that before she excused herself, leaving the boy to rest but not long after her departure Raven1 flew into the room through the opened window, landing on the end of the bed the alpha was on.
'Can you hear me?' Asked the raven, trying out his new connection to the Tribrid.
The surprised look on the McCall's face said it all.
'Yeah, I can. Are the claw wounds healing alright?' He responded, testing out the connection as well.
'They're healing at a slow pace but I'll be fine.' Replied Raven1.
'That's good but I'll bandage you once I'm released here. Tell me what happened after I blacked out.' Said Scott, while sending messages to his pack, emissary and mother informing them that he was alright.