The beginning

Reza steps forward, in front of Lake, to stare Lana down. "You'll leave on one condition: silence. You can wipe your companion's memory too. Cleanse no more of these shrines and you will not cross my path again." Reza focused her eyes on Lana, as well as her mind. She was acutely aware that she was very close to LakeJumper and his size made him all the more imposing a figure.

---

Lana's eyes widen. She steps back with a gasp. Suddenly, she seems to relent, her body drooping with defeat. "I do not believe you are entitled to these shrines, half-breed. But perhaps no more so than I. I agree to your terms, but we will cross paths again."

Lana turns and, looking down at Henry, scowls, "Get up, Henry."

Henry rubs his eyes as he slowly gets to his feet. "Whats going on?" he asks, shaking his head groggily.


---


Lake stares at Lana. "I think it is best that you both leave. Reza and I need to talk about this." While his breathing seems to be relaxing, he still appears to be larger than he was before.

"Don't worry, Henry. We've just come to the wrong place is all." Lana deliberately turns and stalks off with Henry in her wake.

---

Reza snickers quietly. "How do you feel, Puddle Puppy?" she asks, speaking directly to him for the first time. 'You've swelled as if to fight or some such.' Reza appraises him silently, waiting for the sense of Lana and her companion to fade.

Henry scratches his head in confusion, but follows Lana out of the clearing.

---

Lake turns fully towards Reza. "I'm feeling fine right now." He shrugs a bit, straining his shirt seems. "A bit exciteded and all, but pretty good." Cocking an eyebrow he asks, "Should I be feeling something specific after touching that stone?"
As he talks, his body starts returning to his normally lithe form.

In the back of her mind, Reza's unease returns. She cannot classify it and so mentally shrugs it off. 'If you were human, you'd be dead. I would expect something yes.'

She watches Lake approach normal, staring at his torso and limbs. The disquiet in her mind flares, but she just shakes her head.

Lake chuckles. "Well, as you've seen, I am most certainly not human." Looking around the clearing, he removes his shirt and starts circling the clearing. A light sheen of sweet is glistening on his skin in the sunlight. As he walks, a strange boney object appears to be stuck in the back waistband of his jeans, almost like a knife handle.

"I am certainly interested in the lore of this place. I don't sense anything outof the ordinary now, but there was certainly something here before." Turning to look at her, he cocks his head to the side. "Did I absorb whatever I felt, or was there something else in this shrine?"

Reza laughs, a musical sound. 'Good question. The shrines are not individual beings. Their essence is created over the years by prayers and worship, eventually coming to a sort of personality of its own.' As Lake walks, Reza watches his back, noting the muscles, then the knife handle with some amusement. 'Chances are, this shrine was disrupted by something. Someone was likely trying to convert it to their own use, just as I was trying to ... purify it.'

Reza sits down, shifting naturally into her wolf shape as she moves into the sitting position. With a stretch, she lays down. 'It will be dark in a few hours. What will you do tonight?'

Lake stares at the shrine for a minute. "Hmmm...interesting concept. A spirit created by belief." Chuckling, he continues to pace around the clearing. Coming back to infront of the now-a-wolf he begins to shimmer. With practiced ease, he shifts from his human form to the coyote he was when Reza first showed up.
"I usually wonder until I'm tired, and then find a place to sleep." Cocking his head he stares at Reza. "Did you want to come with me? There is a human settlement a light run away, where they do some truly amusing things while staring at a large moving wall."

Reza watches the shift. For a moment she considers his words, not all too eager to enter a human settlement. Then she gives him a confused look. 'A moving wall? What use is that?' For a moment, she remains undecided. 'I find that curious. I'll follow along, if it means I don't have to be human shaped.' Reza mentally shakes her head at Lake's apparent fascination with the two-legs.

Lake's tongue hangs out in a laugh. "I see I've sparked your curriosity."
He shakes his coat out and starts heading into the woods. "Shall we run, my fluffy wolf?"

'YOUR WHAT?!'

Reza runs after him.

Continuing to laugh, Lake lopes through the woods, easily covering the distance they had traveled earlier. Stopping occassionally, he checks the air for scents and then continues on.
At one such pause he turns to Reza. "Well, you are running with me, you are a wolf, and you have a fur coat. How are you not my fluffy little wolf?" His tongue hanging out at his joke, he leaps away from Reza and continues running.

'Puddle Puppy...' she grumbles. Reza rolls her eyes at him, disquieted by his words somehow, but ignores it. 'Is there any way to see this...moving wall...without going back to the two-leg form?'

She runs on, loping with ease through the forestry a few strides back and to the left of LakeJumper.

Continuing thier run, he glances back at Reza. "Oh, sure. It is an outdoor activity. And it can be highly entertaining." Sniffing the air again, he alters his course a bit and continues through the woods, approaching a hill. In the distance, the sounds of a highway can faintly be heard.

Reza hauls up short, skidding to a stop. 'No. No metal boxes on wheels!' Her body starts to tremble.

Stopping, Lake turns back, confusion and concern on his face. He slowly approaches Reza, sitting a few feet away. "I take it you have had experiences with those things before?"

Reza whines unhappily, her ears down and back.

"yeah, I see that you have", Lake says, quietly. Tilting his head, he inquires gently, "Is it something you would like to talk about?"

'Let us just say that I heal fast.' Reza backs up into the forestry. 'Why would you want to go to this place anyway?'

scratching at his ear, Lake takes a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Well," he begins, laying down. "It is a place where humans go to be entertained. Mostly young humans, looking to impress prospective mates." A small chuckle escapes his mouth. "The young ones strutting about are a lot of fun to play with, and with your human body you could certainly play with them."

Reza cocks her head to one side. 'I am not particularly fond of the two-leg form. I assume there is a point to playing with the males in such a way? I certainly won't mate with them.' Reza opens her jaws in a wolf chuckle. 'Unless, of course, you felt the desire to try to impress me with this moving wall...'

Lake turns his head to the side, avoiding Reza's eyes. "Well, I thought it might be interesting to do something together that wasn't scaring people in the woods..." His voice came out quietly.

'Hmmm.' Reza narrows her eyes and sighs. Slowly, Reza shifts into her human form. "If you wish."