Meeting Spot At The Forest's Edge/Hidden Tree Hollow Deep In The Forest

Tristan walked sedately to the forest's edge, a small bobbing light in front of him. He shivered, and looked back to the castle. The lights blinked at him brightly, and gave the sense of a warm bed in the morning, where he could collapse exhausted from the Raksha's revel as a wolf. He sat on a boulder, and waited just a bit longer, trying to draw comfort from the fact that Rad would be here soon to see him off and then meet him in the morning. He still had a few hours till the moon showed.

Caradoc wandered out to meet his friend, a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach. "Hey, Tristan," he said softly, walking over as the happy feelings from earlier in the day disappeared. "How're you?"

"Hi." Tristan wrapped his arms around himself to stop the shivers. "Cold, scared, nervous. Same as i am every month." He studied his friend closely in the waning sunlight. "What's up?"

"Not a lot. Just been talking to Fabian, which was nice," he said, not really wanting to go into how happy he was at the moment, when Tristan was so clearly miserable. "Hey now, no need to shiver, I can warm you up a little," he said with a small smile, sitting down beside him and wrapping him a nice, warm hug. "There now, isn't that better?"

Tristan wrapped his arms around Rad's warm torso and nodded into his side. "A bit. Fabian huh?" he smiled "Tell me about the sunshine and honey Fabian. What did you talk about?"

Caradoc wasn't really able to help himself, and smiled brightly. "Not a lot, really. I found myself telling him just how pretty he was, but you know, it's not my fault he's beautiful. He's fucking adorable, Tristan, with the way he blushes when he's nervous, and toys with his perfect hair. It's the sweetest sight, really. I just... I don't know what to do, Tristan. He's not like the rest, that I just wanna shag. Not that I don't want to shag him, because I definitely do, I mean, seriously, that ass? There's no ass like it, it's so completely spankable. But he's... I don't know. I feel like if I were gonna do something with him, it would have to be something real, you know? More than just fucking."

Tristan nodded. "I've told you twice...there'd be a guy you wouldn't want to just have sex with with. Maybe i'm distantly related to Trelawney." he chuckled and looked at the sky. "I wish there was someone like that for me in this world."

"... Well fuck, you did. Damn you, Tristan! This is all your fault, that I've got those funny things you normal people call FEELINGS. I don't like it, not one bit, Tristan," he groaned, playfully thwapping him. "Hey now, don't be like that, we've been through this before, you'll find that special someone, alright? And before then, you can have lots of fun shags, because trust me, there isn't a seme in this school who doesn't wanna fuck you right now," he said, kissing him lightly on the forehead with a silly grin. "Cheer up, emo kid!"

Tristan pulled away and blinked. "What's an emo kid? As for feelings, you had them they were just deep-" he poked Rad int he chest. "Deep, deep, deep down i guess. Very deep. Like that trench in the Pacific Ocean." he chuckled and then shivered again. "I think i need to get ready..."

"Alright, babe. I... Sorry," he mumbled, for once, entirely at a loss for words, so he just hugs his friend very, very, very tightly, kisses him on the cheek, and lets go. "I'll find you in the morning, okay? Right here. Promise," he said softly, waving as he went back to the castle.

Tristan nodded and watched as Rad left. Truning toward the dark of the forest, he slowly stripped down to the necessities and made his way deep, deep inside shivering from the cold. He finally found a large oak tree, with a huge hollow between the largest roots. Climbing inside he curled up on and watched the moon come out, until she finally demanded the Change. He fought it, like always but it was still the same.

First it started with the nerve wracking pain, as his spine broke, healed, and re-broke again to turn into a lupine one. Then his arms, and legs, and chest followed suit. His fingers and toes stretched of their own accord and broke and fused, creating the paws that would carry him deep into the forest. His neck was on fire, as his vocal chords reshaped and changed to accommodate the wolf's voice. Then finally his mind left, and Raksha took over, Raksha his protector. Howling in desperation, sadness, and loneliness into the night he bounded from the hollow and into the night, looking for his prey...hopefully staying away from badgers.

RAD IS NOT AMUSED
YOU WILL STAY AWAY FROM HIS BADGERS

HEY THEY TASTE BEST. LIKE MARSHMALLOWS - Raksha

NUUUU NOT BADGERSSSS -Tristan

-parties - Hot mental mind Joel who thinks the music is still playing.

The sun slowly rose, and Raksha was exhausted. He carried Tristan's bruised, slightly broken body to the meeting point, where he collapsed still in half wolf form. Tristan's mind woke up right when the pain was the worst, as his body was changing human. Agonised screams filled the area as his skin was on fire. The wolf fur was falling off, causing unbelievable itching and the sense of burning and he wanted it off now. With half claws he rpped and tore at himself, screaming in pain. Finally the heaving and tearing stopped, and he passed out from pain and blood loss, and a couple of broken fingers.

Caradoc walks out at the crack of dawn, yawning and half asleep, wrapped in his warm coat, due to the early morning chill. He's far too tired to throw on a shirt before leaving, either, so he's just wearing the coat, as he searches for his friend. "Tristan! TRISTAN! Can you hear me?" he called out, before drawing his wand, prepared to find him the same way he had when Tristan had run into the forest alone a few weeks past. "Expecto Patronum," he murmured, and a beautiful panther sprang forth from his wand, as he continued to search the area, aided in the early light from the glow of the patronus, and from his wand. Finally, he spotted something that looked as though it might be a foot-- oh shit, it was. He ran over and cursed violently as he found Tristan, naked, bleeding, and unconscious, and a feeling of nausea grew in his stomach. "Tristan, baby, it's alright, I've got you," he whispered, pulling off his coat and wrapping Tristan in it; being of such a larger size, and Tristan being so tiny, it covered him well enough, and Rad scooped him up, and headed straight for the hospital wing; unlike last time, this wasn't something he trusted himself to handle on his own. He walked off to the castle with him, shivering slightly in the cold as he looked down at his broken friend.

After waiting for as long as he could, Tristan made his lonesome, miserable way to the meeting spot in the forest. He knew that Rad wouldn't have really come, this time...but that nagging 'I should wait for him more, just in case.' thought kept popping into his head, making it impossible to leave. The sky was turning a beautiful, deep purple as the stars winked into existence.

Raksha was stirring in his head, getting ready for the inevitable. They could feel the moon, just over that mountain ridge, as if it was a physical presence that was pushing them onward. The Lady is impatient tonight. Raksha muttered, as Tristan swiftly stripped down. He couldn't help but agree, but then again it was his fault. He had waited for Rad like some lovesick pup. Waited too long.

Heading deep, deep into the forest to where he had changed last moon, he shuddered. Not only was he cold, standing there naked and wandless while he waited for the pain, but because he could still see the dark, dry blood stains. They were like some sort of morbid painting, or decoration, in the little hollow of the tree.

The trees came alive with a wind, just as She showed her face. Silver and platinum light streamed down onto Tristan's still form, and he welcomed it and the pain it represented. It was beautiful, and even in the death throes of pain, he understood that. The Lady was all that was good, even if she caused the Change in him. It wasn't her fault...it was the fault of the First Werewolf, for passing on his Legacy.

The pain came, as She finally crested the mountain range, and as her fingers dug through the leaves of the trees. Howling in agony, and then choking as his vocal chords changed from the young boy to the deep timbre of the wolf, Tristan tore at his skin. Ragged patches of fur started to coalesce on his body, and then the wolf seemed to erupt from his body. Bones cracked and changed, muscles tore and stretched to fit the Were body as Raksha took over his mind.

Howling again, in pain and in relish of the freedom, Raksha bounded over to an unsuspecting rabbit and tore into it roughly. The warm blood ran down his throat, soothing the pain and warming his body like the best liquor. And, with one last look to the sky, he ran off into the forest...the animals there the perfect prey for a beast they'd never had to encounter before.