Long Road to Nowhere

[Zero]

Watching as the woman hid their packs under a bush so that they would be out of sight of anyone walking along the rode, Tobias watched her then just stand there for a few moments before beginning some strange movements with her knives. Tilting his head, he regarded her skeptically as it seemed like some kind of ritual. He wondered if it was a werewolf thing, but his wolf seemed just as perplexed as him.

Since he wasn't sure what she was doing, he simply delegated himself to leaning against a nearby tree and watching, somewhat impatiently. Thankfully it didn't take too long, though he had noticed that the way Freyra moved had changed to become somewhat more animalistic. Something to do with her wolf, then, he guessed. Her eyes seemed to confirm this notion as she turned them on him with a predatory grin.

"My wolf has been ready, and he thinks you're odd." Tobias smiled slightly, his eyes were pure molten gold as if all the duller brown had been burned from them. His wolf was close to the surface, and he knew it, but the animal was too excited to force down much more than he already was. Pushing himself off the tree slowly, he tilted his head, sniffing the air for scent. "Lead, I'll follow, and don't worry about going too fast. We will keep up."

[Katsa]

Freyra barks a short laugh and springs forward, slightly to the right of Tobias. She could have gone a different direction and gotten to the same place eventually, but she wanted to see how he would react. She continues on her path, half-sprinting through the forest, to the place where she remembered the deer to be. She breathes in the air through her nose and out through her mouth, smelling for the deer.

Her wolf howls inside of her, reveling in the hunt. Freyra longs to join her and hunt together, their senses combined to be so much better and thrilling than just in their human form.  We can't, not yet. Not until Tobias is either okay with it or we are not near him. If he is that terrified of his wolf I wouldn't want to force him into his change. It would only make things harder for him and his wolf. Her wolf says to her. Freyra sighs softly in agreement. Sensing the deer, smelling that they are close, Freyra slows dramatically and walks forward slowly, crouching. She turns back to Tobias, barely whispering. "I could eat a whole deer, at least. How many do you want? I do not want to kill more than necessary. I was thinking three, and we can make jerky. What do you think?"

[Zero]

Tobias was bounding after the odd woman that he had just met and shouldn't trust in the slightest, but his wolf didn't seem to care about such trifling details. The animal inside him would not be denied the freedom to run and hunt now that the idea was firmly planted in his head. Having another wolf to hunt alongside him had only served to rile the wolf more than usual, causing Tobias to struggle with the creature for control of his own limbs.

If they weren't supposed to be hunting, he might have thrown back his head and laughed at the pure joy of running through the forest, which felt like the most natural and wonderful thing he could possibly be doing. As he followed along behind Freyra he couldn't help but wonder if she was holding back her speed for him. Maybe he should ask her for a race later, just to see how fast they both could really go with the proper motivation. Wouldn't that be fun?

His wolf liked that idea. Running with another wolf, testing his own limits and exploring the world in a way he hadn't been allowed to properly embrace. Those thoughts fell away as the wolf's attention was brought into sharp focus. Their limbs slowed as he came up beside the woman, crouching and moving with stealthy grace as his amber eyes took in everything around him. Deep, even breaths escaped him, the only true measure of his excitement in the way his pupils dilated with the thrill of stalking his prey.

Tobias the man had taken a backseat, and though the body was human, it was obvious Tobias the wolf was the one leading now.

"Three." Came the soft and slightly hoarse agreement. Jerky would be good for the humans to eat later. Though hunting fresh meat whenever he was hungry would have been ideal to the wolf, it was not something the human necessarily enjoyed or thought practical, so he relented on the need for carrying extra food.

[Katsa]

Freyra grins, showing mostly teeth. Not in an aggressive way... at least not towards Tobias. She was grinning with the thought of hunting the deer, the more the better. And maybe a little because she noticed that Tobias' wolf was definitely more in the forefront and her wolf was excited to almost kind of meet him. Freyra nods to Tobias and indicates where the deer are. Laughing on the inside, Freyra indicates where two of the deer are, not letting Tobias know that the third, the one that she is going to go after, is the buck, and the two she points him to are the hinds. Freyra's sense of smell had become so acute that she could tell which gender the deer are just by smelling the air, but she wasn't sure if Tobias' was - since he resisted his wolf so much. She had no intention of making him seem less masculine for taking out the hinds, she just wanted the slightly higher challenge of taking out the buck while also playing a small joke on Tobias because he seemed so uptight about everything. After showing Tobias where the deer he will kill are, she indicates where she will go, which is slightly northwest and downwind of the hinds. Without looking to see if he will follow, Freyra streaks off the few hundred feet to where the buck is.

Quicker than thought, Freyra and her wolf decide the best course of action while still presenting some short of a challenge to them while running blurringly fast. A few moments  later, or so it seems, they come upon the buck grazing near a tree, blocked by some bushes. Freyra scans the area again, Tobias and his hunt no longer on her mind, and she jumps upwards into the trees. Catching a branch and swinging herself onto it, she watches the buck to make sure he didn't hear her. Freyra creeps along the branches, hardly making a sound other than the dips that the branches made because of her weight. Soon she is right above the buck and Freyra has to stop herself from launching herself at the buck, like her wolf wants. Remember our lessons she says while she pushes her wolf down slightly, just so she can think a little more clearly. Her wolf whines in agreement.

As fast as lightening Freyra dives at the buck, making no sound as she is flying through the air. When she is within a few inches of the side of the buck, she wraps her arms around it while she deftly slides one of her knives along its throat. Blood quickly falls from its neck and Freyra takes one of its fine antlers and turns the head up so that the blood doesn't get on the rest of it too much - so annoying to have to clean the blood on it afterwards.

[Zero]

Turning his amber gaze in the direction Freyra indicated, he scents the air cautiously, taking in the smell of the hinds she seemed to want him to hunt. The wolf in him caught the distinctive odor of a buck as well, though the subtle differences on the air told him that beast was farther away and in the direction that Freyra took off in. A soft growl rumbled in his chest at the idea that he would be hunting the does while the female got to go after the larger buck. Still, he could work together with this she-wolf, and the hunt had been her idea and it was her that had lead him to this veritable banquet. So the wolf pushed down his aggravation and focused his attention to his own task.

Tobias moved quietly through the undergrowth, even dropping to his stomach and crawling forward the last several yards as he approached the two hinds. If one lifted its head he would freeze, even holding his breath, only to creep forward slowly once more when both heads were down. The wolf was practically salivating, itching to burst free of these awkward human limbs and to sink his teeth into the vulnerable throat of his prey. Instead he forced himself to pull the hunting knife from his belt quietly, eyes intense as he focused on working with the hesitant human he was forced to share this strange body with.

A soft shift in the wind had both heads come up at once. Time seemed to slow as he saw the animals tense in preparation to flee. In a blur of movement Tobias marveled at the way he was able to be on the ground hiding in a heartbeat and the next a spray of hot blood was arched across his front. The knife was sharp, and though not as satisfying to the wolf as his own fangs, it was an effective hunting weapon. The first hind took two bounds before buckling and thrashing in the throes of death. The second had bound forward and ahead, but Tobias moved faster.

Launching himself onto the terrified creature's back he buried his blade to the hilt in the doe's neck, causing them both to pitch forward. Hitting the ground and rolling almost immediately to his feet, the wolf was prepared to battle with his prey, but she was laid out and still on the ground where she'd fallen. Grunting in satisfaction he walked over and yanked his knife out, cleaning the blade by wiping it unceremoniously on his pants, he shoved it back in the sheath without another thought. Grabbing each back leg, he dragged the carcass back to where the other hind lay dead, her blood steaming slightly as it pooled on the ground before soaking into the soil.

The smell of fresh blood and his hammering heartbeat from the thrill of the chase was driving his wolf mad with glee and excitement. Dropping his second prize he felt deep satisfaction in having taken down two deer so quickly and efficiently. He wanted to show off his hunting prowess to the she-wolf. Surely she would be pleased with him. Tobias didn't understand any of it, of course, but his wolf was quite sure it was the right thing to do. Strong, good hunters have much respect. This is not so strange to you.

Tobias shrugged his shoulders, it was true that some liked to show off to impress others, but he'd never been that kind of person. At least he didn't think so. The strong are favored. I am strong. His wolf seemed to think it was important, so he let it go, but he was not going to brag. No way.

[Katsa]

After the buck was done bleeding, Freyra leans down and strokes its head softly, murmuring under her breath. She slips a few white beads and a small pile of sweet grass from the folds of her clothes and makes a small pile of it near the buck. Stroking the buck's head again, she crouches and lifts it's body onto her shoulders. She has a small distance to go before she would get into Tobias' area and she didn't want to damage the buck. Noticing some herbs that would taste well with the meat, she leans down and grabs them. She also notices a few berries and marks their place in her memory - they would be a nice treat afterward.

Standing back up, she scents the air around her and catches the whiff of Tobias and his wolf in the distance, near where she indicated for him to go. With her advanced hearing, she doesn't hear the normal sounds of the birds and other small creatures and she assumes it is because they sense the presence of the werewolves. Guessing that Tobias was finished hunting, she shrugs and heads to the direction where there is the least amount of sound. She soon scents Tobias more strongly and his scent is subtly different - his wolf is still very much in the forefront. Freyra grins in happiness and snaps a few twigs in her otherwise silent stroll; she doesn't want to startle Tobias or his wolf.

Coming closer to the does, Freyra sees that both are dead and a little bloody. Not wanting Tobias to think something was wrong, especially since she already played the small joke on him with the does, Freyra smiles inside about all the blood on the does and on Tobias. On the outside, Freyra nods in approval of the kills, "Well done, we will be able to eat quite a lot tonight." Freyra grins, her wolf still very much close to the surface. She has to remind her wolf that we can't eat in wolf form because we need the hides in better shape, and because she doesn't want to push Tobias' boundaries too much. Her wolf agrees, only so long that soon they eat and feel the blood and flesh drip down their chin. Internally rolling her eyes - her wolf knows she isn't the biggest fan of that part - Freyra focuses again on Tobias and half smiles. "I hope you weren't too offended with having to hunt the does - I meant no disrespect, I only wanted to play a small joke on you and I also wanted the challenge of hunting the buck - although it really still wasn't much of a challenge." She then puts the buck on the ground gently on his back. She turns to Tobias, "Would you mind starting a fire? I just want to start skinning the deer as soon as possible..... Do you have any experience cooking? Do you know how to cut out the meat and things like that from the deer? It will go faster if we can both do it, however I can show you if you aren't certain. I don't mind if I cut them all and you can cook the meat, if you would prefer that."

[Zero]

At the praise, he could feel his wolf puffing up with pride. Tobias just shook his head, still not sure what was going on. His wolf thought he was being slow and dense, and didn't bother to try to explain himself better to his human half. Honestly his head was spinning a little, his wolf had always perplexed him, but this behavior was new and strange to him. Was it just because there was another wolf here? That had to be it. Gods be good, but if this was the way his wolf was going to act just because there was another wolf present maybe it was better for him to stay away from other wolves. It had worked for him so far.

Being alone doesn't work. We'll die of lonely. His wolf interjected woefully. That surprised him a bit, but he shook it off. He could think about it later. Though he felt a little guilty. Tobias hadn't asked to become a werewolf, and embracing the wolf half of him was something he'd been resisting viciously, but was he truly causing harm to himself by denying that part of him? Had he been making his wolf miserable by refusing to seek out the company of other wolves? Tobias wasn't sure how he felt about that idea, so he decided to focus on what needed done. Freyra seemed all too happy to assign him some work!

Looking down at his kills, Tobias wrestled with his wolf, the kills had been clean and quick, but he had made a bloody mess - literally. Examining how little blood was on the buck only confirmed this, and he gave Freyra a sidelong look. The furs would have to be cleaned for her to use the way she wanted, most likely. His wolf contemplated this idea, then decided that a little sheepishness was appropriate. The wolf relinquished his control and drifted back into his mind, letting the human take the lead again. His wolf enjoyed the hunt, but this was the work of humans. He'd have just ripped into the meat and feasted given the choice.

"Ah, I know how to clean, dress, skin, and quarter a deer. Been hunting and fishing all my life, even before I, um..." He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "Why don't we hang the first two and we can work on them at the same time, then if you want I can start cooking while you finish the third."

[Katsa]

Freyra smiles, smelling most strongly Tobias' confusion but with undercurrents of pride and all of his other emotions. Freyra was about to ask him about his confusion, but decided to let him be. If he wanted to ask a question or know something, he would ask her. Otherwise she wasn't going to pry. Eyes closing momentarily, Freyra remembers her first hunt. She remembers waking up, covered in blood with a destroyed carcass next to her. She clenches her jaw at the memory, and her wolf whines softly in confusion. Her wolf thought that it was perfectly fine to eat that way, blood could always be washed off. It was before I learned control, my love. She thought to her wolf. You know that I don't like not being in control of myself, and I didn't know how to talk to you yet, that I wasn't a monster. Freyra feels her wolf rub against her mind comfortingly - her wolf did understand, but still liked getting covered in blood all over once in a while. Freyra mentally pushes her wolf, teasingly, and her wolf allows her too, wagging her tail in happiness that she was able to bring her human out of the sadness.

Smelling Tobias' sheepishness, Freyra giggled, unable to help herself. "Good idea...  And don't worry about it - cleaning the blood off of them only takes a few moments and they are going to get bloody anyway when we start to cut them. You did much better than I used to - it took me a very long time to not make a massive mess of it. I was literally covered in blood from head to toe each time. And it was really hard to control my wolf for the longest time after I would make the kill and while I would try to make the kill as a human. She always wanted to be fully in control and eat as she would naturally eat. Did you have a hard time with your wolf during the hunt or after?"

While talking to Tobias, Freyra pulls some rope from under her clothes in the small of her back. The rope is very strange-looking. It doesn't seem to be make of linen or plants, and it is very dark... or darker than normal. Freyra efficiently ties the rope around the hind legs of the first hind and tosses the rope over a branch that looks strong enough. She easily hauls the hind up so that its hips are at eye level. Glancing at Tobias, she grins, glad that they are almost the same height so that she doesn't have to guess which height is best for him. She pulls a second, identical rope out from the same place and ties strong knots around the second hind's hind legs as well. She tosses that rope around the same branch and pulls it until it is level with the first hind. Touching the rope softly with one hand, she brings the buck closer to the hinds so as to not have to do the work later when her hands were slippery with blood. Closing her eyes, she smells around for the closest source of water. She determines that the water is close enough; maybe 100 steps northwest of their position.

[Zero]

Tobias didn't really know what to think about what she said. Covered in blood from head to toe? He couldn't ever remember being that thoroughly coated in blood after a hunt. Of course there was no accounting for the five years he spent as a raving beast. Just thinking of that thing had images of blood and gore flashing across his vision, causing his head to throb painfully. No doubt the beast had made a mess like that every time it killed. His wolf whined softly, in what he assumed was a comforting manner.

"I've been a werewolf for eight years. I...I don't remember how bad I was at the start. But the last three years have been...manageable." He rubbed his bloody hands on his pants, trying to dry them, not really caring what he was going to look like to normal people. Or that they were going to be covered in blood again while he worked at preparing their kills for cooking. "My wolf is always hard to control."

At first he'd said that irritably, but then he paused and watched her pull out the rope and set to work. His head tilted to the side, a look of confusion on his face. His wolf had fought him for control at the very mention of a hunt. Knowing the wolf would do it better, he had given up and let his wolf control the hunt, but he hadn't shifted forms, because that had been the plan. Once the hunt had ended, rather than have to fight to get control back, the wolf had simply faded to the back of his mind to let him help with the gutting and skinning.

Tobias opened his mouth to speak again, then clicked his teeth closed and glanced at Freyra from the corner of his eye, studying her subtly for a moment before withdrawing into his own mind to confront his wolf. Except the animal didn't seem all that confrontational. His wolf was laying down in his mind, merely watching and waiting. Almost...content. Did we...just work together? His only response was a couple lazy wags of the animal's tail, golden eyes looking at him intently.

"Son of a bitch." Tobias growled, before blinking, realizing he'd said it out loud. "Er...I mean..." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Let's just get to work. I'm famished."

[Katsa]

Freyra smelled all the emotions he was going through, but she kept her body relaxed and not facing him. If he wanted to talk about it or ask for help, he was able to do that... she didn't want to scare him away by being too upfront, since it didn't help much earlier. Her wolf, playful as always, was pouncing around in her mind. Can we play wrestle with them? her wolf asks her. Mmmmm I don't think that that is a great idea, Freyra thinks to her wolf, and sends her wolf a mental image of how playful wrestling could turn very nasty if Tobias wasn't comfortable. Her wolf does the mental equivalent of scuffing her boot in the dirt, dejectedly, and Freyra bites back a grin and a giggle for her wolf. To distract herself and her wolf, Freyra begins to cut into one of the hinds. She didn't particularly like having her back to Tobias but she kept her mind alert to anything that might happen.

Without realizing it, Freyra hums softly while she cuts into the hind as gently as she can. Her wolf calms when she hears the tune and howls in accompaniment. Freyra longs to sing as she works but doesn't want to bother Tobias, nor sing in front of someone else. Getting lost in the song, Freyra works almost completely by habit. She cuts the hind as little as possible in order to not damage the hide further, and soon has the innards in a pile on the ground. Without looking at Tobias, she gathers the innards and sets them on a convenient stone a few paces away. She then begins to carefully cut out the muscles and bones, putting the muscles on a different stone and placing the bones on the ground. After carefully scraping off as much of the inside as she can without breaking the skin, Freyra unties the hind from the tree and walks over to the creek that she smelled earlier. Dunking the hide a few times, she washes her hands off then cleans the hide off more thoroughly, trying to get as much blood off as possible. She then keeps it under water and places a few rocks on it to keep it in the same place, but with the inside facing up so more of the inside is taken off. She returns to Tobias and the deer and surveys his progress.... She hoped he was at least decent at taking apart the deer - she really could use the hides and bones.

[Zero]

The woman didn't try to initiate conversation as she went to work on her hind, so Tobias stayed quiet as he moved to the second strung-up carcass. Pulling his belt knife out again he quickly sliced a clean cut along the hind's belly. The sound of Freyra's humming lulled both man and wolf as they worked, removing the organs and carefully piling them with the ones that Freyra had arranged on the rock. Next he efficiently removed the skin, peeling it off neatly with only having to cut a few connective tendons that did nothing to damage the hide itself, which he carefully laid out for the woman to deal with when she was ready. It had been ages since he'd dressed a deer like this, but he hadn't forgotten.

The activity was actually rather soothing in its familiarity as he began sectioning the meat, carving it like he would have if he was preparing roasts and steaks for his mother years ago. He placed the meat and bones into Freyra's pre-made piles, noticing that she was watching him now. Feeling just a touch self-conscious he glances over at her, wondering what she was doing now. Did she think he was going to botch the job? Suddenly he looked over his work again, hoping that everything was being done as neatly as he thought it was. His wolf didn't seem all that concerned, after all, the animal thought all this was unnecessary tripe as it was.

"Er...was there something else?" He asked nervously, glancing between her and the deer that didn't much look like a deer anymore as it was mostly dismantled.

[Katsa]

Freyra grins happily, glad that he seems to know his way around a deer. "Nope, would you mind cutting up the other deer while I prepare the hides? You did a great job with the hind..... Are you sure there is nothing you might be missing? I can make just about anything."

Freyra bites the inside of her cheek softly - her wolf pacing around lightly with all the blood and meat around. No, she mutters to her wolf, We can't, we'll scare him. Her wolf lifts a lip, showing some teeth at his weakness. Freyra mentally swats near her wolf, Don't you dare, remember how long it took for me to get used to you? Not everyone is the same. Give him time, I'm sure we can bring him around if we relax. Her wolf grumbles and retreats further into her mind.

While talking to her wolf, Freyra grabs the hide that Tobias so neatly cleaned and checks it out a bit more. Seeing how neatly he made the cuts made Freyra grin again, glad that he hadn't nicked the hide. She took it over to the other hide and placed it the same way. She spots some moss on the way back and snags most of it. She sits in front of the piles of bones and begins to start scrubbing them with the moss, carefully taking off all of the blood and tendons and everything attached.

[Zero]

Tobias relaxed a little when he was sure that he hadn't done something wrong, going back to work with a renewed sense of accomplishment. "I'm sure I don't need anything, thanks. I don't mind finishing up with prepping the dear, you go ahead and do what you need to get your stuff in usable order."

With the hind dismantled he immediately went about getting the last carcass hoisted into the air so that he could set to work at a steady, unhurried pace. There wasn't any sense in rushing as far as he could see. It wasn't as if he had anywhere he needed to be. Although his wolf had laid quietly in his mind through the first deer, the animal was pacing about in his mind as he worked through the second. It wasn't hard to know what the wolf wanted. The damned thing was practically salivating already at the thought of the large amount of meat laying about.

"I know you said that the wolf is a part of me, and won't do something that I would never do, but..." He sighed as he pulled the hide off the last deer and laid it aside for her, trying to decide how best to word his question. "I don't know. I swear that the wolf is something completely separate from myself. We don't even think the same way. Not even close. Am I supposed to feel so divided from my wolf?" He couldn't keep the worry from his voice. After eight years, albeit, the first five years were a complete blank in his mind, but even so, after so long being what he was, shouldn't he and the wolf have blended more? 

You won't let me. Was the immediate and annoyed thought that flashed through his mind from his wolf, who had stopped pacing to listen to the conversation.

[Katsa]

Freyra and her wolf consider her response carefully while she opens a flat pouch from her bag, pours some herbs and minerals into it, then fills it with some water. When she comes back, she sits next to the pile of bones and starts with the rib bones, uses a sharp black stone from her pack to remove as much of the deer from the bones as possible, then places each bone in the pouch.

"Think of your wolf as your carnivorous best friend. Best friends have a lot in common, do similar things, and think similar ways. They also try to help each other as much as possible. Your best friend just happens to live inside you.  And if you think that you and your wolf aren't the same at all.... Your best friend doesn't just instantly become your best friend. There is awkwardness at first, getting used to the other person, figuring out who they are." After putting all of the rib bones into the pouch,  Freyra adds some powders and shakes the bag gently.

"For instance, I was actually a vegetarian before I was turned. It took me a long time to even consider eating meat. Usually when I had to do it, I retreated my conscious as much as I could so that I didn't have to think about eating meat. I could tell that it hurt my wolf to do that, because she wanted to share in the hunt with me. Eventually I slowly started to participate more and more, and I got over my reluctance to meat, even raw meat." Freyra grins at Tobias, "Not that I enjoy eating raw meat, but I enjoy knowing that I am making my wolf happy. Best friends put up with each others'... imperfections... because they know that the friendship is worth it. I think that letting my wolf eat raw meat every once in a while is acceptable so that I can rely on my wolf to be faster, stronger and... better. My wolf makes me better and I make her better." Freyra slips a piece of strange-looking, palm-sized, piece of cloth from her pack and takes out each rib, rubbing the cloth all over each bone. Freyra chuckles while she does this, then continues, "Plus, being a vegetarian isn't conducive to having much muscle. My metabolism appreciates something it can chew on, more than I can get from vegetables and fruit alone."

Freyra meets his eyes firmly, "However, friendships can't build without a little lee-way. Sometimes you have to do a few things you didn't think you would before, before you can become friends." Then she looks back down to her rib bones while she continues to rub them with the cloth.

[Zero]

As Tobias listened intently to the answer, long as it was, he never stopped his work of carving the meat from bones. Working his hands actually was soothing as he absorbed the answers he was getting. This was the first time he'd actually spent time around another wolf, and being able to ask things he hadn't been able to ask anyone else was something of a relief. Although the answers often had him scowling.

"I've been a werewolf for eight years and I still can barely communicate with my wolf." A hint of guilt entered his demeanor as he kept his eyes on his task, not looking at Freyra. "I guess that's my fault, though. I've had a very hard time accepting what I've become, and have been fighting to keep the wolf distant."

It was hard for him to admit to himself that by keeping himself separated from his wolf he'd only been hurting himself. How could merging himself with an animal possibly help?

We're stronger together. He knew that was the wolf pressing softly on him, trying so very hard to be included. For years he'd been fighting the animal's influence, struggling against his wolf instead of working with him. Changing his way of thinking, of dealing with that part of himself, was going to take time and a lot of effort. Not to mention swallowed pride. Could he really share control of his body with an animal?

Can I share control of my body with a human? Was the immediate response of his wolf. He'd never thought of it that way before, and found it shocking that the wolf was just as uncertain as he was - and for the same reasons. They didn't trust each other, and that meant he didn't trust himself, didn't it?

"I reckon as far as werewolves go you must think I'm a basket case." He said ruefully as he looked over at Freyra again.

[Katsa]

Freyra grins crookedly at him. "Every one has a story," Freyra says, "werewolf or human or otherwise. Sometimes it's easier to hear other people's problems then think of your own. Maybe things will be easier for you if you help someone else."

Freyra finishes rubbing each rib and rubs her fingers gently over them, checking the smoothness with her eyes and fingertips.

"Maybe you and your wolf could use a common goal. Something that takes both of you together to accomplish."

While still looking at the ribs, Freyra changes her right forefinger into a werewolf, finger turning blacker and hairier and the nail gets longer and sharper. Humming softly to herself in a haunting cadence, she starts to carve into the ribs, sharpening each edge. She also starts cutting a section into each bone, enough space for leather to be able to be wrapped around it without slipping off. She quickly shapes all of the ribs from long practice, and sets them in a pile on the ground. Her finger starts changing back to human while she makes the pile, when she remembers that Tobias might not be okay with that. Her wolf shifts restlessly in her mind, worrying. Freyra stops moving and only moves her eyes while she glances up to Tobias.

[Zero]

Tobias wasn't sure he could be much help to anyone, but it was certainly an idea. Better than what he'd come up with so far, which was nothing. Who needed the help of a werewolf, though? He very much doubted that most people would like him if they knew what he was. Werewolves were considered monsters, weren't they? He certainly had viewed the wolves that had attacked his village as monsters.

"Yeah, but what goal could I have that would need both me and the wolf to accomplish?" Seemed to him like most things could be done by one or the other without help or interference from the unwanted party.

Out of the corner of his brown-gold eyes he caught the shifting of Freyra's finger and froze in his work. Turning his head so he could watch what she was doing, man and wolf observed her work with a sort of quiet fascination. By the time she shifted her finger back to human, Tobias had been holding his breath. When she glanced up at him, their eyes would lock for a moment before he looked down sheepishly as he let out the breath he'd been holding.

"I didn't know you could do that. I can't shift just parts like that, well, maybe I can, I don't know. I've never tried. Can you only do that with your fingers?" The words were a little rushed, but not horribly jumbled, thankfully.

[Katsa]

"You don't have to be embarrassed. Ask whatever you'd like." Freyra rubbed her bottom lip with her thumb thoughtfully for a few seconds, then continued, "I probably could change other parts of my body individually, but I haven't exactly tried. I usually only do my forefingers because of this, although I have done my ears, nose and eyes sometimes since those senses improve when they are changed."

She tapped her fore and middle finger against her lips and her eyes widened slightly "Perhaps you could practice shifting parts of you and working with your wolf at the same time. Crime is rampant everywhere, and with your heightened senses and healing, you could help. Maybe you could just... prowl... Freyra grins crookedly around towns and stop crime. You and your wolf could work together to help people and you can practice shifting parts of you to increase your ability to help others. And if you do it at night, no one will know it was you, this way you can avoid suspicion. What do you think?"

That is a lovely idea, her wolf whispers to her. I hope he takes it well! And it is something we can help him with, if he would like us to. Freyra grins to herself. Yes, let's hope he likes the idea, although we should try to think of another if he doesn't.

[Zero]

Tobias listened with rapt attention as she described changing various body parts individually without going through the total transformation. He wasn't sure he had the courage to attempt something so...precise. Everything about his transformation felt sloppy to him. How could he pull off something that likely required finesse? Shaking his head slowly, his wolf didn't seem to have any helpful commentary on the subject, if anything his wolf seemed as curious and uncertain of the idea as his human half.

Brown-gold eyes blinked slowly as she brought up her idea. "Like a vigilante? That sounds...I don't know. Look at me, I've always been kind of a big guy, you don't think I'd stand out too much? I can't imagine I'm all that...stealthy."

Or heroic. Or complicated. All he'd ever wanted from life was to be a fisherman and hunter providing a modest living for a family. The idea of becoming some night-stalking crime fighter didn't seem very...him.

[Katsa]

Freyra shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe you may feel you aren't as a human, but your wolf may be able to help you out. But you don't have to do that if you don't want to, you could talk to your wolf maybe and see what you guys come up with." She tucks some of the almost finished bones into her pack to finish later. "I thought of suggesting that you do something such as building or hunting for others, but my wolf told me that you already seem to be able to do that easily."

Freyra feels her wolf nudging her in her head, sending images quickly - she was likely to send images when she wanted to get her thoughts across to Freyra quickly and it was a lot of information. Getting the gist of it, Freyra continues, "My wolf suggests that you practice turning individual parts by increasing your senses. Such as, letting your eyesight improve.... by relaxing or whatever... and then just keep doing that. You can know you've switched by a few ways: you'll feel your wolf closer to you, you'll feel as though you almost don't have total control over that part, and with your eyes sometimes the vision will change a little. This way you don't feel as though you will lose total control because you will still be mostly human, just a little changed."