Alone by the glittering stream

"That was Shadow's partner." Vrael said, as if it explained.

'Partner...' he said quietly. As in, mate? he thought, but the words didn't come out of his mouth.
He wanted to know more about her, Vrael, and the others. Maybe they could all help him in his quest. But he was just too coward to ask the question, in fear that it would break the recent alliance.

((ok, as you said i would be, i'm lost so pleaeaeaease explain what's going on!))
Alba turned round and wondered what the f... hell was going on.

--Well, let's say that you were -er, you know, at the beginning, then I barged in, then Shadow started going crazy n stuff-
Bart turned to Alba, who was -finally- showing a reaction. He looked at Vrael, then thought it maybe wasn't the time. He advanced to Alba, saying, 'So, finally gettin' a grip on reality, eh?'

"Her mind may be slightly prone to wandering off..." Vrael said quietly, slipping an arm around Alba's waist. He was feeling slightly protective of the hypnotist.

Vrael's action brought doubt to Bart. Oh, so that's why, he thought, that's why Alba looked uneasy. Okay...
He turned round, looking at the sky. He took out his digital watch, then noticed that his magical replica would expire in 4 days and 4 hours. That's enough time to get out of here, he thought.
He then thought about the sentence the other Kraferr said to him, Everybody who wandered in the cave never came out. The walls moved.
Bart thought a little bit about the RPGs he played with his friends at school. They had creatures that existed in this world. But what could be a sort of wall. An idea struck him.
He turned around to Vrael, 'Hey, Vrael' he said, 'Do you think that golems or amalgams exist here?'

Alba was uneasy. Vrael's arm around her waist was comforting, but Bart's appearance had unsettled her. She felt her cheeks burn with embarassment and... maybe a hint of guilt...
"So," she hesitated, not quite knowing what to say anymore, "Euh... how's Shadow coping? I was in a trance for a while, sorry. I do that sometime without realising it. I am a hypnotist after all so trances are at one with me, in a way. You see what i mean"
She smiled, trying to lighten the moment.

Vrael looked away.
"Shadow is not well..." He said quietly.

'Shadow's not 'not well', she's going completely crazy,' retorted Bart, frowning at Vrael. 'Thinking about this makes ME go mad. I mean, how could her father-'
Bart bit his lip with his canine. Dang, he thought, I got out of control again. If I stay like this, I won't be able to command my transformation.
Bart put the palm of his right hand in his face, and used his left arm to put his right elbow on. He felt a slight twitch of his fingers. An involuntary twitch. Crap, he thought, It's doing it again!
He felt the fur slowly push out of his arms. He hid them behind his back. If Alba knows this, he thought, I'm gonna die of humiliation. I need to find a way, quick!
He looked around, and his canines grew longer, and they pierced a bit of his cheek. He looked totally uneasy.
'Er, wait just one minute.' He said, grinning like an idiot.
He dashed towards a huge old tree, which had survived many attacks from outsiders such as insects. He hid himself behind it, and he put his left hand on his chest, feeling the large thumps of his heart, slowly moving itself to the center of his rib cage. Yeah, now it's doing it, he thought.
He let the fur finish to sprout, and the tail pop up from his posterior, shooting out of his shorts. He closed his eyes, which was merging into a primary red colour. His nails elongated and became claws. He sighed with relief, but he was still hoping that Vrael or Alba didn't notice.

Vrael happened to be very good at noticing. He discreetly raised an eyebrow, but he thoughts that if Bart had gone to hide, then he didn't want anyone to know, so he kept his mouth firmly shut. Secretly, he was both glad and jealous that Bart's loss of control wouldn't cause serious damage to anything and everything around him.

Alba frowned.
"Bart?" she asked tentativelly, "Are...are you ok?"
She made to look around the tree her friend was hiding behind, but hearing the rip of clothing, decided to wait a bit. She had noticed the change of tone in his skin before he had scurried behind the old tree. It was as if... as if he had been growing hair!

'Er, yeah, I'm, um...' Bart said, stuttering. He looked at his hands, now that the nails are claws. He felt his fur waving in the wind. '...Fine.'
Christ, he thought, why at this moment? I can't transform back for a pretty long time now. What will I do? If she checks, I'm as good as dead.
Bart tensed his hand, making it into a fist, and gently put it against his forehead. He left his other hand caving it's claws into his left leg. Blood appeared.
I need to control myself, he thought, Or else it will be very hard.

Alba was worried. She didn't know how to react to this sudden action.
"Bart," she whispered, "Are you alright? What's happened?"

Bart didn't know what to do. He couldn't transform back, he thought, and Alba sounded worried. When humans worry, they always check what's going on. I can't hide longer.
Please, he thought, please make something happen right now. I cannot dare to get out like this...
His claws penetrated his skin even more, making a small trickle of blood falling from his right leg.

Alba couldn't bare not knowing what was going on, and walked around the tree. What she saw startled her at first, but then a smile spread across her face.
"I knew you were different." she whispered.

Vrael followed Alba silently, but retained his silence. He had known about this.

Bart slowly looked up, feared that he would see a shocked emotion. He took back the claws from his leg, spilling blood on his shorts. He flickered his tail. 'So...' Bart said, 'you're not... scared by my second appearance?'
His eyes gleamed a reddish hue. His canines shown. He didn't know what to be: relieved or even more worried.

Vrael shrugged.
"I am not. There is more menacing patrolling the realms of this dimension." He glanced at Alba, unsure of her reaction.

Alba grinned.
"Why would I be scared of you?" she asked.
She suddenly morphed, canines sprouting from her mouth, hair errupting all over her body as her feline side took over. She let the Manticore take control of her body just long enough for the transformation to complete, then, morphing back, she said with a cocky smile:
"We're two of one, Bart."

Bart was amazed at the fast transformation into a four-pawed creature. Alba morphed back. He looked at her directly into the eyes, not kniwing what to say. He jumped at Alba, blood spilling from his recent self-inflicted wound. He hugged her.
'Thank you Alba, I was too scared to show you this, in fear of...' Bart darkened at the moment, 'In fear of that you see me differently than before.'
Bart pressed himself tightly against Alba, squinting. He felt tears coming from his red eyes, but he blinked to stop them. His tail flickered.

Vrael looked at the pair, and morphed into a panther, slinking away.

Alba hugged him back, but pulled away, noticing Vrael move away.
"Where are you going?" she asked the demon with a smile.
She turned back to Bart, smiling at him.
"There"s nothing to be ashamed of... and did you do that to yourself?"
She motionned to the blood trickling from her friend's leg, worry filling her green eyes once more.

Vrael disappeared into the darkness, but then climbed a tree, slinking silently along the branches to watch over Alba.

'I need to be able to control myself, Alba,' he began, looking at her, 'for now, inflicting punishment on myself seems to be the only way.'
He looked at the ground, then at his bloodstained shorts. His fists tightened, and he bit his lip. But still, he thought, it's been like, 6 months I have this Kraferr form. Why can't I control it yet?

Vrael sat on a high branch of the tree, silently looking down on the two. He snorted mentally. It had taken him years to master control of his magic and soul-self form.