First off I want everyone and anyone who is just going to treat this chapter as a standalone portion to stop reading. This is a chapter, one part of a whole but not the whole itself, it can only be seen properly or interpreted properly if you read the whole. I am trying to make this portion and the next one even more immersive into this world, what it means to be a Therian, what it means to be either a Noble or Peasant and what the political ramifications and human reactions to these sorts of things are. (Of course this is under the premise that people have already accepted magic as a tried and true fact of the world.)

As to the pairing it is going to be Louise/Saito period. This is not going to change I like the chemistry these two have. The interaction between Saito and Siesta will be like between family. He has a slight attraction to her yes but it's not going anywhere. Period. You will figure out the reason why it won't work between them, and it is a good one, later.

Please have patience and don't leave unsigned reviews that just discourage me in writing. It's just rude and tells me you don't have the guts to actually 'say something to my face'. So to speak.

"Speech"

//thoughts//

Supernatural

Story

She didn't notice until he had a finger on the tattoo on the back of her neck. "So when were you going to tell me that you were a Therian with a tattooed power dump?" he asked carefully.

"What!" Siesta asked spinning around and backing up (painfully) into the counter.

"You're packed full of spiritual energy and it moves inside you in identical patterns to a Therien of the wolf variety much like myself. Were you somehow unaware of this?" Saito asked and she nodded staring at him and he sighed. "That tattoo on your neck. It does the same things my bracers do. They keep you safe from the moonlight."

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy? I'm not like you!" she stammered out only vaguely aware that all conversation in the kitchen had stopped and everyone was listening in.

"That tattoo on the back of your neck is a spiritual power dump. My bracers are also spiritual power dumps the moons pack any being that wields spiritual power beyond the bursting point with energy unless they have a power dump. Your spiritual energy an ability exclusive to Therienthropes my species, mine are pure energy based and yours are ice based. I'm guessing that a Therian stumbled into this world some generations ago and made power dump tattoos in desperation to survive. Stopped using his or her powers thinking it would undo whatever power dump they had and eventually sired either you or one of your ancestors." Saito explained patiently as if she were a child.

"Grandfather Wolf..." Siesta said quietly as if she were thinking out loud.

"With a name like that it sounds accurate. I'm guessing he would occasionally disappear only to reappear a few hours or days later unharmed and probably looking self satisfied." Saito asked and Siesta looked taken aback then her eyes narrowed.

"So all this time he was being faithful..." she said quietly thinking back to the grizzled old man who'd always lived near a lush forest. She was taken out of her thoughts when Saito laughed a bit. She then shook her head. "This has to be a dream, I mean really. Me a monster? Hah!" Siesta said to herself resuming whatever duties she was doing and Saito sighed.

The whole kitchen staff watched as Saito grabbed her around the back of the neck right on the tattoo and his eyes began glowing white causing hers to glow a pale blue. There was an audible wince worthy snapping of bones and sinew as Siesta's form twisted and warped. A few moments later a woman wolf hybrid was standing in Siesta's clothing. It was streamlined and athletic with a voluptuous figure and obviously powerful muscles. Downy fur covered her all over with more shaggy amounts under the clothing in the patterns required to conceal her decency. A perky and curled tail now poked out of the back of her dress.

"You are not a monster you are a Therian a noble form shifter with powers equal to magic. Your grandfather was one and the times he disappeared were when he would rush out for the freedom of simply running as a wolf. There is nothing wrong with being one as it does not make you any less of what you were before. You were always were a Therian you and your family, they have not changed, neither have you. It's a simple fact of your life and blood that you are a form shifter.

"Th-this isn't funny, change me back." Siesta said turning around and staring at him.

"You can change yourself back, it's easy." He assured her.

"No I can't." she protested.

"Yes you can." He said sounding completely reasonable

"No I can't!" she growled

"Are you growling at me?" he asked as an eyebrow rose.

"No I'm not." She protested and Saito inwardly snickered.

"Yes you were." He said finding this too much fun to stop.

"No I wasn't." Siesta said and he laughed out loud.

"Alright enough fun. If you cooperate I can prove one way or another beyond a shadow of a doubt and before everyone here that you are a Therian." Saito claimed pointing at her.

"How? I mean she's been pretty normal her whole life so how can she just be a wolf woman with no practice? Even mages need school." The head cook noted from nearby and Saito grinned at him.

"Auras. If you flare a spiritual or magical aura when near someone you force theirs to show itself. It doesn't work with magic for some reason. I have no idea why." Saito said with a shrug before silver white energy erupted from him like from the heart of a roaring bonfire. It expanded until it collided with Siesta, a small amount went into her then was shot out as a smaller light blue aura that jutted out like crystals erupted from her and the nearby area froze.

"Yep, ice aura. I knew it." Saito said looking smug. Then he caught the look on her… muzzle. //Oh shit, I really got carried away here… (censored)// "I'm sorry, I got excited. Therians find comfort in groups so I jumped the gun." He apologised reaching up and putting a finger to her forehead guiding her energies to shrink her back down to normal. He focused some more energy into her clothes to repair them a skill Therians are taught in grade school and then sighed. "Look take all the time you need to come to grips with this. Come talk to me when you're ready to deal with it. Thanks to that tattoo there is no rush and you can just ignore it till the final curtain if you want. Again, I'm sorry." He said with a slight bow before leaving.

//(Censored) (censored) (censored in wolf) son of a (censored) I'm such a (censored) idiot.// he thought walking across the courtyard mentally berating himself and not paying the least bit of attention to where he was going. Before tripping over something that was burning hot.

"FRAAA!" Flame Kirche's familiar hissed at him and he flicked it right between the nose holes. "Graagh!" it exclaimed rubbing his nose. He stood up glaring at it a little.

"Don't hiss at me tiny." He berated it and it shot a plume of fire at him but he stopped it with one hand and an application of energy. "Look runt I'm not in the mood, so unless you want to be kicked right over the wall I'd suggest you go back to warming Kirche's feet." He said walking away from the steaming lizard.

"Something on your mind?" A girl asked him, it was an unfamiliar voice so Saito breathed deep to get the scent and it instantly told him something.

"Aren't you Tabitha's, why are you naked?" Saito asked the formshifted dragon who shrugged giving a remarkable effect to her full and lineless tanned cleavage.

"Well where would I get clothes from?" Sylphid asked with a slight giggle and Saito groaned.

"Look dragon, from one shapeshifter to another I understand that they can be annoying but a human form has a hard time keeping warm and uninjured, clothing helps with that." Saito exclaimed rubbing back an onrushing headache. This was amateur stuff the dragon would have to be a hatchling not to know this, which really threw off his previous thoughts to her being a fully grown runty species.

"Oh is that what they're for? Neat! I guess they work kinda like scales then hunh?" she asked and the headache gave a pulse at the inane question.

"Yes, yes they do." He said with a groan. "Just how old are you anyways?" he asked and Sylphid put a finger to her bottom lip and looked up thinking.

"About five human years!" she announced with a cheer and he groaned.

//I'm dealing with an infant… lovely.// he thought then blinked. "Has Tabitha bothered to teach you anything?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yea big sister taught me to speak human!" Sylphid said and Saito nodded.

"Good grief. Do you even know how big your species get or anything?" he asked and she shook her head slowly.

"No I hatched all by myself in a forest far from here. I was all alone and only lived like an animal until big sister summoned me. Life became easy after that, from when we first touched I quickly began to learn to understand and talk and it's been great!" she exclaimed.

"Alright um…?" Saito started fishing for her name.

"Sylphid!" she exclaimed.

"I'd suggest working on formshifting some clothing now, otherwise no one will take you seriously and you could offend someone." He suggested.

"Hmm that is a good idea…" Sylphid said taking her earlier thinking pose. Saito just started walking away nowhere near in the mood to deal with this kind of thing. "Okay! I'll see you later!" she shouted joyfully before skipping off much to the joy of all other males present. Okay so Saito enjoyed it too but the smell of dragon was killing any mood he could get into.

"Urg what a day. I totally called it when I realised I had to repeat my lectures earlier. Good grief." He groaned to himself and jumped up onto the wall leaving an impression on the earth beneath him. "Still, there is never a single Therian. If you find one you can find the family, Siesta mentioned a grandfather in the past tense. So the original is likely long dead and buried. But it means that Siesta has a living parent and possibly uncles or aunts or siblings all with Theirian blood." He said to himself as he took a lotus position again and filled himself with spiritual energy.

"Alright then. Let's do this." He said and shot forwards quickly and just as he guessed he eventually spotted streaks of light like you'd get entering warp speed on Star Trek. He shot towards them and came to a pinpoint stop nearby.

"Trés Bien Jessica! With zat reservation out of the way we can get back in business within the hour!" An effeminate yet male voice announced with badly faked French getting Saito to gag a little. This was going to be bad. It was just a hazy outline, but it showed the most disturbingly effeminate, gender confused bodybuilder he had ever seen.

//Should I just run? For my dignity if nothing else?// Saito wondered just as Scarron the incredibly disturbing (or is it disturbed?) man, complete with a Maid outfit noticed him. //I cannot believe that this is a wolf…//

"And what is this? Jessica! It appears we have a guest!" he exclaimed clapping his hands together and making kissing motions in his direction while wiggling in a way that would be appealing if immature on a woman but was nightmarish on a man.

"Oh my! Are you a ghost sir?" A female voice said behind him and Saito turned halfway wary of putting his rear astral or not in the direction of the obviously raging homosexual. He saw what looked a little like Siesta with the shape of the face and colouration but she had longer hair and her eyes were slightly larger and more expressive.

"No I am an astral projection it's basically that I've sent my soul out of my body to look for things." Saito explained and she nodded it made sense to her.

"So what can I do for you sir? We're closed at the moment for cleaning so it must be quick." She explained.

"Oh! The reputation of our beautiful Inn must have travelled far if Nobles use such magic just to view it. Oh! It brings a tear to my eye!" Scarron exclaimed breaking into tears.

"Not exactly both of you mister um…?" Saito began but Scarron started wagging a finger at him.

"Cet Madmoiselle Scarron." Scarron exclaimed getting Saito to double blink despite his current lack of eyelids at the sheer absurdity. "And this! Is my beautiful daughter Jessica!" he said surprising Saito with the fact that this man had actually procreated.

"Okay umm…" Saito began really off balance around this strange man. "I'm an… acquaintance of a maid named Siesta and she mentioned a grandfather that went by the nickname Wolf. Are you also related to that man?" he asked trying to go slowly this time.

"Mes oui! Little Siesta is my adorable niece and Wolf was unfortunately my father's name." Scarron explained his tone and accent dropping away to normal levels when he brought up his father. This surprised Saito and got him thinking that Scarron's behaviour wasn't totally genuine.

"I am investigating this man I believe he is key to a very powerful legacy that now lies sleeping within his blood and those who carry it." Saito explained dodging around the point determined to take it slowly to avoid the mistakes he had made with Siesta. Scarron sighed and slumped looking like the weight of the world had fallen on his shoulders.

"Can you wait a minute Milord? I need to calm down and get comfortable before talking about my father." Scarron explained spitting the word father out like it was poison.

"Sure take your time." Saito said and the large man walked away and out of sight. There was a rush of air and a slight curse behind him. "Did you just try to slap me?" he asked Jessica who glared at him.

"You have a lot of nerve bringing up that cheating Wolf noble or not." She said in a huff.

"And if I had proof that he wasn't cheating and was doing something different when he disappeared?" Saito asked and she took a slight step back.

"Then I'd want to see it." She replied.

"Sure I guess but you'd have to bring it out as my body isn't here currently." Saito said with a shrug confusing her.

"Alright noble. Just what do you want to know about that cheating bastard?" Scarron asked walking back in with a housecoat on that covered the maid outfit sans the hat which he had taken off and he had the look as if he had quickly washed a great deal of makeup off. He grabbed a bottle of wine and wrenched out the cork unaided before taking a swig.

"Careful father that's a really hard brand!" Jessica exclaimed with some worry.

"Your father would disappear because he had a fairly unique power he liked to toy with; I have the same type of power. He would look self satisfied because it would be a rush to use the power. It also gave him numerous instincts such as faithfulness and jumpy reflexes." Saito stated knowing he was coming on strong but if this guy was going to hit the booze as his first response then he needed to be broken from that pattern ASAP.

"And what does this have to do with me? He ran away thirty years ago, left us to die while he probably went gallivanting off." Scarron said bitterly. "Wait, did you say he had a power? He was a noble?"

"Not exactly, I'm just guessing mostly in the dark here but he was what was called a Therianthrope. He had a unique type of magic and could turn into a wolf. I myself am also a wolf Therianthrope. We don't come from this world, it's dangerous to us things like moons fill us full of energy and since there are two so close all the time we run the risk of dying from having too much power to live with. The tattoo's you all wear are likely a family tradition he started and claimed it was older than him. They protect you by forcing the extra power out." Saito explained.

"Are you mad?" Scarron asked clearly sceptical while Jessica was strangely quiet.

"I can prove it i…" Saito began.

"How? This had better be good too." Scarron interrupted.

"It is, you see you are proof yourself. The main power of a Therian, the transformation is very, very easy to learn. If you are willing to listen you can find out the truth of your father." Saito explained and Scarron sighed while motioning for him to get on with it. "First close your eyes and picture three candles in your mind. Completely the same, except the one the most to the left is lit. Now imagine that that flame goes out at the same time that the right most candle lights up on its own." Saito explained guiding him and Jessica stifled a gasp as Scarron shrunk downwards with the sound of snapping bones and muscles that he obviously couldn't hear or feel. His body rearranged itself and fur grew out of everywhere as his face stretched forwards into a muzzle. During this time Saito formshifted his astral self and made it into a wolf made of silver white energy that sat down in front of the altered Scarron. "You can open your eyes now."

"What in the! Did you do this to me?" Scarron demanded his ears flattening and broadcasting his anger.

"Nope! You did, you can undo it too by visualising the flame going back to the first candle, or even play around by putting on the middle one." Saito explained and Scarron quickly changed back, out of his clothing and Saito quickly covered his eyes with his paw. "Good grief man! Some warning would be nice! Need I remind you I am currently standing just below the level of that thing?" He berated the man who quickly pulled up on the housecoat and tied the sash hard to keep himself decent.

"Sorry. So… can everyone in my family do that?" Scarron asked a little amazed.

"Everyone related to Wolf can shapeshift and more with practice but stick to shapeshifting for now." Saito advised and Scarron nodded a little. "You might want to cork that bottle by the way. I doubt you'll be drinking from it further." He observed.

"Wait. Before you go… why do you think Grandfather didn't tell us about what he was?" Jessica asked and Saito paused.

"He was probably afraid that you'd think of him as a monster. Losing your family or friends… to a Therian it's like your soul shattering. And the pain never, ever goes away." Saito explained briefly remembering his family. "Take care you two." He said and willingly dissolved his astral form which caused him to rush back into his body and jerk back with a gasp. This also scared off the birds which had rested on and around him.

"Oh those (censored) stupid birds!" he half shouted brushing himself off vigorously. "Well at least it hasn't been a total train wreck today. Scarron and Jessica seem reasonable, if a little off. Hopefully Siesta will come around but that could take a while and with the way the rumour mills run around here she may not have the time." //Still there was something familiar in both Scarron and Jessica and it wasn't that they were Therians or even wolves… it was something else, but what?//

Author's Notes

Please as I said before do not judge things as a standalone portion. Would you just read chapter one of Harry Potter and Judge the whole book on it? No. You wouldn't so don't do it here.