Eira's actions in response to my human memories being conflicted over the situation that had befallen the Thralls was helpful to me. Especially knowing that she had ultimately made her choice in what she would be. While the Lycothans had pulled tricks to make me chose to "accept" their gift and become Harkaal, and given what Lartara had said to me before my fateful last "recruiting session" I wasn't sure that anyone in their hands really had much hope of staying human, there was still fact that I had made a conscious choice to give up my humanity. Eira had probably made a similar choice. Either the Alpha forced her to make her choice, as she had with me, or Lartara had somehow convinced her to accept the offer. I really didn't have the want to ask on the details of Emily's choice to become Eira. Both of us had made our choices and neither of us could go back. Unlike us, the Thralls never had a choice, and I realized that's where my issue was. Much like Lartara, I was finding myself rather open to the idea of transforming people, but only if they choose to be transformed. But, Eira had used the growing bond I had to the other Warriors to ease my concerns and the two of us enjoyed a brief hug.
"Feeling better?" Eira asked me.
"Yeah," I gave a short chuckle, "I hope you're right with what can be done for the Thralls."
Eira only nodded as she stepped back from me, we were stopped from saying anything more when there was a brief coughing sound coming from nearby. We both turned to see Lartara standing there calmly. She looked relatively calm and accepting. I was privately sure she probably had the same concerns I did regarding the Thralls, but unlike Eira and I, who had essentially only just become Lycothans, she had been one for quite a while. My issues were probably issues she'd already gone through as a Lycothan who remembered his/her human past. Thus her calm demeanor at the moment.
"I'd think it best that we drop the discussion on the past for the moment," Lartara commented, "You both now have a good understanding on how things came about and developed... and you both will be expected to help with the plans to complete the colonization of Earth..."
"And share the gift," Eira nodded with a smile.
I didn't say anything, but I did feel my stomach gurgle again. It gave a clear reminder on why the others had gone ahead into the woods. It was now night and getting to be dinner time. The others had gone hunting and would howl when they'd caught and brought the deer that they'd caught together. We were waiting for the howl as if it were a dinner bell. Eira gave a brief smirk, and I even heard Lartara give a bit of a chuckle.
"Sorry," I said weakly, lowering my hears and wondering if my blush could be seen through my red fur.
"It's okay," Lartara gave a bit of a smile, "I'm getting a bit hungry too. It's been a long day... Eira joining us in the morning and going on her first shift and you, Harkaal, joining us in the evening at the end of the day shift... We're all due to have dinner."
"Some more than others," Eira teased playfully, patting my stomach with the back or hand.
"Hey!" I protested, "can I help it if I'm hungry?"
"You could have eaten more of your lunch when it was brought to you!" Eira laughed.
"Hey! I didn't have THESE yet!" I argued and bared my much larger and sharper teeth to Eira, "I couldn't tear through the steak that quickly and a guard and servant came back for it before I could finish!"
Eira nodded as she looked to my teeth, "My... what big beautiful teeth you have... are they good for a nibble?"
"Oh I'll give you a "nibble" alright," I answered, personally surprised by the almost sexual tone I'd taken in my replied.
"Okay... that's enough you two," Lartara came between Eira and I, "we're all hungry... but hunting is a time consuming process. The girls will catch dinner. We just have to be patient for them do so."
Eira and I nodded almost immediately. Lartara paused long enough to let us nod and then continued with her comment.
"In the meantime, I'd think a bit of a walk would be good," Lartara continued, "let you see the woods that when you're fully trained will be your hunting grounds... let you feel one with nature... and have some physical exercise so that you think about something other than food."
"Sure," Eira and I both answered, though not in perfect unison, given how Lartara shook her head after we answered.
She then lead us through the meadow with its sea of saplings from Lycothos that would one day become part of a great forest. My now much longer legs covered the distance easily, and I actually fought the urge to giggle a bit. The road that lead into the facility was still paved and felt like hard concrete and bubbled asphalt to the pads under my feet and toes, and was a man-made substance. And while I'd been a prisoner, we'd never been allowed to be outside the walls of the facility. I didn't think anyone had ever been allowed outside of the prison's interior. Prisoners weren't issues shoes and thus I had always felt something smooth beneath my feat. Some of it was the padding in my cell, which was a bit rougher, but still flat and a bit "squishy." The rest was tile which was smooth and hard. I remembered hearing telltale clicks after my transformation as my claws touched the tile. Now, as I followed Lartara toward the forest, I was on grass for the first time in what felt like forever, and the first time I'd done so barefoot since I was kid.
The pads under my toes and feet were strong and I felt no pain, but I did still have tactile sensation through them, and as grass bent under my weight, I could feel each blade of grass rub underneath my feet. It tickled a little. Some of the taller grass brushed against the fur on my legs as well as I walked past them. I managed to avoid laughing at the feeling of grass under my feet as we continued on. Soon, we'd covered the distance from street to the main treeline. The woods were fairly thick, but I found that the trees didn't make things anywhere near as dark as I thought it would. It gave me something else to marvel at, as it meant my senses were also much better than they had been before.
"And in case your worried about it," Lartara spoke up, "we are immune to any and all Earth parasites. Our musk apparently operates on them much the same way human made DEET does."
"How did they find out?" Eira wondered.
"Some of the Servants sent in before the invasion while the Lycothans were still essentially "scouting" Earth for colonization," Lartara answered, "they were also able to run their own tests with Earth flora and fauna."
"You said the Lycothos trees will supplant Earth's trees," Eira commented.
"Essentially," Lartara answered, "The Servants found that some of the trees on Earth might actually be able to cross pollinate with Lycothos trees... it was part of the same genetic research they were able to get to find how strangely close we are to humans in many ways..."
That was something I remembered. I'd seen Lartara in her human-like form plenty of times. I'd seen Eira and the others in their human-like forms. There were plenty of specific differences, but Lycothans did generally look human when they weren't in wolf form. A scientist would likely come to the conclusion that both evolved along similar paths. Lycothans from some wolf-like animal and humans from apes.
"So, they tested their own musk on mosquitoes?" I asked.
"In a way," Lartara nodded, "later scouts found that humans found a chemical equivalent in DEET."
"Cool," Eira answered we walked into the woods.
I looked around the forest around me and enjoyed some of the looks of the trees around us. I actually felt some comfort at it, and the natural sounds that went with it. Every cricket, every owl's hooting, every frog, or everything else that one might hear in the woods at night. They strangely made me feel at home, even as Lartara talked to Eira and I.
"Certainly solves all the itchy issues that go along with mosquitoes," I commented, which made Eira nodded.
"So... Lycothan trees will replace or mix with Earth trees," Eira then surmised, "what did they find out about Earth's animals?"
"From what they found, Lycothos plants could very easily feed Earth fauna," Lartara answered, "with negligible health effects. The only issue would be in whether or not they can deal with thick forests and how much grassland or desert becomes forest or swamp. So... a great many Earth animals will actually stand to benefit from our efforts."
I held myself back from saying that would be good for tree huggers, and continued on behind Lartara when something caught my ear. It was soft and bubbling and steady, and I turned an ear toward it. I soon realized it was moving water and broke into a run as heard it. I had seen the others in their wolf and human forms, and after I became Harkaal, a good part of my mind found them beautiful in a way that humans might not think of at first. But, I had yet to see what I looked like now. The others had said I looked beautiful as well, but I still wanted to see for myself. Though, my sudden burst into a run wasn't without surprise.
"Harkaal!" Eira cried out.
"Harkaal!" Lartara called after me as I ran, they were soon running as well, as I could hear their footsteps behind me.
I didn't answer. I had to get to this creek or wherever this water was, and hopefully the water would be reflective and I could see the new me. I tramped through the trees at high speed, hurdling logs and rocks with ease, and my eyesight allowed me duck low branches as I approached them. Lartara and Eira chased after me and I heard them call my name as they followed. But I was soon at the stream. It wasn't very deep and wasn't moving very fast, but it was reflective with a rocky bottom. My momentum actually took me into the stream as I arrived, and I nearly fell over as I tried to gain my balance on the stream's rocky bottom. The water was cold and soaked my fur up to my ankles and I soon looked down onto the water's surface. I was so transfixed by looking to my reflection that I didn't even notice that I wasn't winded by the dead sprint I had just gone on.
"Harkaal! Why did you run?" Eira spoke as she came up behind me a few moments later, "What is it?"
"I'm... I'm..." I said slowly as I looked at my reflection.
"You're my sister, Harkaal!" Eira insisted, "You're a Warrior Lycothan! Like me!"
I looked back to her and Lartara, and said, "I'm beautiful."
"All that to see what we've already told you," Lartara commented.
And indeed I was beautiful. It was a sort of feral beauty, but a beauty nonetheless. All of my muscle groups were massive in comparison to the way I was built as a human, yet on my new frame the muscle didn't take away from femininity. My hips were fairly wide and when paired with firm globes that rested on my pectoral muscles, I now had an actual hourglass figure. My fur covered me perfectly in that it flowed with every curve that I had, be it my breasts or my muscles. My hair was fairly wild and for the moment and flowed around my triangular ears, and the my bangs seemed to part right in the middle and move to go over one of my eyes and over the my cheeks. The most striking thing about my hair was the silver streak that went over my left eye, the streak that marked me as a Warrior. My eyes, presently were a feral golden color and carried a bit of an inner light to them. I could even see that through my hair. My nose, now, was pretty much a black triangle at the end of my muzzle. And of course, I managed to notice the freckles in my fur.
"I know you all told me," I answered, "but I... I had to see for myself... to see what I look like now."
"I see," Lartara commented with a knowing smile, "I trust you're pleased with your beauty, Harkaal?"
I looked back at my reflection and nodded as Lartara came up to the edge of the stream. I could soon see her reflection behind mine.
"Yes," I said to her, "I am pleased with the beauty of my wolf form... thank you for giving it to me."
Lartara only smiled.