Should he feel relief as Viatrus scurried away declaring that he'd take care of the problem? Honestly, Tobias was glad that the little guy had at least gotten a little away from him, and with the Halfling preoccupied with the fact that someone was trying to kill him, well, it wasn't like Viatrus was going to have time to sit there and watch him transform. Still, his mind was reeling; worried about his odd companion.
There wasn't time for him to focus on that, though. Another convulsion rocked him and a hint of panic seized upon his actions as he pulled at his clothes, trying not to tear or rip them in his hurry to undress. A shudder coursed through him as the cool night air hit the burning skin of his torso. Why did it have to be so hot?
Already there were strange, sickening noises filling his ears as muscle, sinew, and bone not only changed position, but size and shape as well. Frantically he fumbled out of the rest of his clothing. The last thing he needed was to ruin his wardrobe and be transformed with no way to clothe himself after returning to human form.
Growls and whimpers gurgled in his throat, which had lost the ability for human speech as he dropped to all fours, claws scraping against the dirt as his hands became paws, and the night air felt different as the heavy, shaggy brown and grey coat filled in. After what seemed an eternity of agony – although the process took less than two minutes – he lifted his head, breathing deeply the rich scents of the forest that exploded all around him.
In his human form he might as well have been deaf, blind, and senseless, because what had been a dull and dreary world a few moments before was now teeming with life that even his heightened human senses couldn't imagine. Golden eyes glowed softly in the night, seeing the forest clear as day, for a moment he had forgotten everything. His name, Viatrus, nothing mattered and all he wanted was to throw his head back and howl to the skies, to announce that he was there and so very alive.
That was the wolf, and it couldn't be allowed to win the struggle for control of his mind. Tobias was not an animal! Throwing his head back he did sing to the heavens, the howl echoing for miles around him – hushing the creatures of the forest. He could smell the wrong one, they did not belong here. The scent of the Halfling crossed his nose, but he dismissed it. Viatrus was not his quarry tonight.
Falling silent after his howl, Tobias stalked through the forest as a ghostly shadow that had only one thing on its mind – blood. The wrong one would die with the wolf's teeth in his throat and the hot, sweet lifeblood on his tongue.