Chapter Three- The First Night
Finished, Bastion thought several days later. A vial of white liquid sat on the table, the top corked. Well, almost finished. I just need the moonlight to complete it. Bastion cleaned his equipment and carefully stored them while thinking of the past week.
It hadn't been easy to keep what he was doing to himself, especially when any of his friends started talking about werewolves. Luckily for him, Jaden had challenging duels to occupy a good deal of his time, not to mention classes and homework. Bastion was eager to be a werewolf and it was only his patience and attention to detail that allowed him to brew this time-consuming formula exactly as it was stated. But now it was time. Time to head into the woods near the Ra dorm, stand in the moonlight, and drink it. He gathered the vial and his schoolbag, slipped out amongst milling students, and headed for the woods quickly. He sought out a nice clearing before heading east to find moonlight and add it to the formula.
He shivered a little as he looked for moonlight. Changing into a wolf in winter for the first time was a little trying but he took comfort in that ice wolves are immune to the cold as well as that he'd have a thick fur coat. He then found moonlight on a tree branch, uncorked his vial, and put it in the light.
The liquid turned a transparent white and seemed to emit a pearly glow. He found a clear patch of moonlight, headed over there, licked his lips as he lifted the vial to them, and proceeded to drink. It felt cold like ice as it went down and tasted like pure water which made sense to him.
His first hint that it was working was that he wasn't cold anymore. He looked down to see his clothes sink into his skin and thick white fur began to grow out which made him feel warmer. He recalled that ice wolves experienced slow controlled changes, but chose to let the formula have control of the changes for this first time.
His ears burned and itched and he felt what he surmised was a tail growing out behind him. He reached back and felt fur brush past his hand. He then reached up and felt a pointed ear as it moved up to the top of his head. When he lowered his hand, he saw his fingers shrinking away and his nails becoming long, glittering claws. He held up the other hand to find it was already a paw, the claws going just past the paw.
Bastion swayed for a moment before he went to his paws and knees. He craned his neck to see his legs reconfigure into a canine's back legs and his feet becoming paws. His arms stiffened into forelegs and he was soon on four legs.
He saw his nose and jaws push out into a muzzle and felt his teeth sharpen as well as new teeth growing in the gaps. His vision sharpened and he knew he now had wolf eyes. He felt his entire body grow larger than a normal wolf before he tilted his head and howled to the sky.
Bastion turned in a slow circle to see himself and learn to move with four legs and paws. He saw a muscular body covered in thick white fur. A bushy tail swiped through the air and he bared a wolf's grin. He gave a series of barks and yips before a human laugh came out.
"I can speak," he said softly, hearing his teeth click as he spoke but that didn't concern him. He could talk and was fully aware of himself. Now with language and mental state settled, he turned to his senses. He headed into the forest, his eyes piercing the darkness easily. He could see with perfect clarity and it delighted him.
His ears heard subtle sounds he would never have heard as a human and his nose smelled a variety of scents and stood in one spot to filter out and identify the smells around him. He inhaled deeply and a feeling of being connected to nature filled him and he have another howl to express the joy this feeling gave him.
"This is wonderful. I love being a werewolf!" he said before sprinting deeper into the woods, the ground and bushes blurring as he ran and he was amazed at how fast he was going. His nose picked up the smell of water and he sped toward it.
He was soon sitting next to a stream and looking at his reflection. His eyes were still gray but had the intensity and look of a wolf. These eyes roved over his muzzle and up to his ears. The muzzle had an elegant look to it while his jaws had a strong look which would make it capable of crushing the neck of any prey he would care to hunt. His ears turned in one way or the other and even in different directions from each other.
He looked at his paws with their claws. In the filtered moonlight, they still glittered and he wondered if they really were hard. He spotted a rock nearby and tapped his claws on it. There was a definite clack sound and he then raked them over the rock, leaving shallow gouges in the surface while his claws remained undamaged.
"Incredible," he said. He looked at the water and then his claws before lapping up some water. He wanted to quench his thirst before he tried to ice the stream. He focused on freezing the water before he stuck his claws in it.
A layer of ice spread from his claws and down the stream. He watched the ice spread down the water and out of sight and his tail swished at his success. It worked, he thought. Now…to fracture it. He lifted a paw and swung it down, the claws aimed at the ice. A crack sounded and the ice broke into pieces. He swiped his paws sideways and the claws sent a single line down a chunk of unbroken ice and caused it to split into smaller pieces.
Bastion practiced freezing and cracking the stream before turning to summoning the water to him before freezing it. He was pleased with how easily he was able to use his powers. He was also aware of needing to eat as his stomach growled the longer he practiced. He finally stopped practice to give in to his hunger.
He sniffed the ground and then the air. A lot of animals had been by here, most likely because this was the closest source of water on this side of the island. The scents he picked up were recognized through his instincts: Deer, monkeys, rabbits, and others that appealed to his wolf side. I think I'll hunt a rabbit, he thought before locking onto the appropriate scent and slinking off after it.
Bastion, at first, thought it was strange for a rabbit to be out and about at night, but then reasoned that the moon provided a good dose of light for it to see. That works for me and I'll try hunting in daylight after the full moon is over.
The scent of the rabbit grew stronger as Bastion tracked it and his hunting instincts came to the forefront. He crouched lower and his claws kneaded the ground to make his approach quieter. A breeze blew in his face and he knew that the rabbit wouldn't smell him as the breeze carried his scent away.
Bastion licked his chops as the scent became even stronger, indicating that his prey was just ahead. He coiled his body, his back legs bunching up, prepared to leap. His ears heard the rabbit's hopping gait as it came closer.
Then, there it was! A rare arctic rabbit! Its fur was a white as Bastion's own, possibly owing to the season. As a result, it stood out in the dark like himself. The rabbit froze for a second but Bastion was already in motion. He lunged forward with a push of his legs. He opened his jaws wide and his claws extended. The rabbit turned to flee but Bastion got his jaws onto the neck and bit down while his claws slit the throat. The rabbit went limp as it died and Bastion released it to howl in triumph before eating his catch.