Where Zerren happens upon Hadrian morphing in the forest.
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Center of scholarly knowledge and shipwrighting, Zeltiva is a port city unlike any other in Mizahar. [Lore]
Zerren stared at the rabbit, munching calmly on grass within five feet of him."My name is Zerren, but for a present like that you can call me whatever you want to."Zerren shifted into his panther form and leaped forward, catching the strangely unaware rabbit with ease. Zerren slashed his claws across the rabbit's throat cleanly and quickly, minimizing the pain and terror, before setting to work eating it.I'm not sure I'd want to be able to do this all the time... It would take the fun out of hunting almost entirely...
A minute later the rabbit was half devoured, and Zerren's stomach was no longer attempting to devour him. Zerren took a moment to clean the worst of the gore off his muzzle before shifting back into human form.I'll still need to go hunting for something more substantial later, but at least I can think straight for now.If Zerren had been harboring any doubts about Hadrian's intentions before, they were gone after the rabbit.
Zerren stood and turned back to Hadrian."Thank you, I'll find some way to return the favor later."I can bring him a rabbit when I find him at the university to ask him more questions. No such thing as a free lunch after all... Hey, wait a second."Now, out of curiosity, what will coming and asking for help cost me? I don't have many mizas left to spend outside of keeping my house from falling in, but I wouldn't feel right"or even comfortable"if you taught me for free."
Hadrian laughed at the quip; Kelvics were so easy to please most of the time, and it was nice to have simple problems with simple solutions to distract him from weightier and more complicated problems. He watched the deft kill and the quick meal.
"You know, all that shape shifting is going to burn all your energy reserves, and just make you more hungry..."
One of those severe eyebrows rose curiously. He hadn't exactly offered to teach the Kelvic, only to help him. Kelvics without masters always seemed incomplete; they had been made to serve, and when they had no person to serve, there was a void in their lives. He didn't want to be master to every Kelvic he met or anything, but he saw it as helping them, and then he got to study more and more of them, hopefully learning more that would help him unravel Marcus Kelvic's secrets.
"If you find me, I'll introduce you to Ethan. I think he would be a better teacher if that's what you're after. But you should find me, and I'll feed the three of us. Call it a social visit, so you wouldn't owe me a thing. We'll see if you and Ethan would make a good student-teacher pairing."
Shapeshifting uses energy? That's new... If it's the shifting that makes me hungry, maybe cutting back on shifting would make it so I wouldn't hunt as often, which would mean I wouldn't need to shift as often."That's... interesting..."Zerren knew that even just that off-handed comment was worth bells and bells of Zerren's own time in the future.It's going to take more than a rabbit to pay him back for that...
Zerren frowned momentarily as Hadrian essentially said that he would not be Zerren's teacher, offering up his Kelvic friend instead. Zerren was almost upset, but decided that ultimately, it didn't matter who was teaching him.Only that I learn."Well, alright then. Ethan and I can discuss whatever arrangement we might want to make whenever we meet. When could I find you at the university?"If I'm going to be bringing him some deer or other animal, I'd rather not have it lying around the house for a week before I get to give it to him.
"I am there most days," he assured him. "I've rooms on campus now as a professor, as well as my old cottage near the Old Quarter from my student days. If you know when you want to come to visit, I can make sure Ethan will be there. And, of course, if you and Ethan run into problems, I can teach you too." Sometimes it seemed he could read minds, though it was hardly the case; he had noted a flash of disappointment on the Kelvic's aura and responded in what he thought was a logical manner.
He wanted the Kelvic to shift back to his feline form, the better to take its measure and perhaps copy it, but he had Xnnn for that too, and had studied Tiki's feline morphology. With all those models, he should be able to form a decent great cat with practice, and then, eventually, perhaps one of those mythological gryphons, blending raptor and great cat into something impressive.
"Well, I can't say exactly when I'll have time, but some time during the next week I'll drop by and we can plan things out from there."Zerren felt his stomach starting to growl again.I'd better get out of here before he decides to pull a boar out of that rock as another gift...Zerren looked over at the rock and then hastily back at Hadrian again.And the worst thing is, he might actually be able to do it and I'd never know until he did.
"Well, I'm sure that you have a lot of practice left to do before dark, and I've got a few more things that I need to attend to as well before sunset gets here. Try not to fall out of anymore trees before the next time we meet."Zerren gave a winning smile and shifted into his panther form before any response could be made.Might as well take the rest of the rabbit with me.Quickly, Zerren caught up the hare in his mouth and bounded off into the forest.Now to finish off this fellow and find a few dozen of his brothers. After all, it'd be a shame if he got lonely.
by Zerren Verre on July 6th, 2012, 10:04 pm 
