[Training] you know the lonesome road

wears down my bones but they're not broken

Aisha let herself calm as they separated, beast from beast, hovering in a fiery tension. Her question was met with a belated introduction, Noah Olson. It was a name she'd heard by word of mouth, perhaps in passing. Maybe she'd recognize his human face if she should see it. But now she committed it to memory according to his form, the arctic animal that lumbered about.

"Aisha Khai," she replied, pressing a quick lick to her shoulder as the little cut began to scab. He spoke of new ventures, maybe that he was a newly turned attuned, or maybe he'd only recently unlocked this body. "Not bad," she purred, a friendly contentedness intertwined in the bond. The curse nipped at her angrily, but she ignored it stubbornly. She was finished feeling sorry for herself, so Aisha endured.

"I'd love to fight again sometime, but for now I think I'm going to hunt," she'd worked up an appetite, "care to hunt?"

AISHA

Let's decide to be the architects, the masters of our fate

She said her name and the bear nodded. He committed it to memory, for it had not been there before. Like he had already decided, this woman was a stranger to him. He could reconcile this now, though. After this spar, where his teeth sank into her skin and her claws tore his lip, they could no longer call each other stranger.

She asked him to join her on a hunt and he nodded again, a burst of delight spreading out across through the attuned bond. He stood up, and his body shifted and morphed. White skin turned tawny and paws shrunk and claws retracted. This form might be more fitting to keep up with you on a hunt.

FINISHED.

NOAH