Druidification

Walking down the road, Shannon held Sophie in her arms while the rest walked on their own. Well, the adults were all walking, while Spirit and Artemis ran around, laughing and having fun playing tag. It was far different from when they were in their four-legged forms, but it looked as if they were having fun. So much, that the other year-old pups came out and joined in the game. None of them saw an issue with it, even as they passed Lacombe. Since it sat off to the side of the road, there was a very low chance that they would encounter any monsters, but the pups kept quiet the entire time. As they played, some of them got tired from doing their best to escape getting tagged, so they all came to a consensus. If you were too tired to run, you went and walked alongside Natalie till you were in a good enough state to play some more. They all played with honor, meaning they never even went for someone who was already walking towards her. The people leaving to join back in though were completely fair game.

As for Natalie, Shadow and Trooper, they were doing some simple workouts as they walked, trying to keep it easy while they worked on filling their body with energy. Shadow and Trooper were mainly going through the steps, trying to be able to do it subconsciously as Spirit was. The young wolf already had a leg up on everyone as he was using the energy without any thought, and at great efficiency. All that the adults wanted to do was to get to the point where it felt as natural as breathing. Nat was having a harder time, as she tried to not think about it as she let it flow out into her body. The more she let go, the easier it became. Though she kept getting hiccups where she would unintentionally try and change the flow, which would always drastically ramp up the cost. It was a struggle uphill for her, and it would probably be for Shannon as well. After all, one cannot tell you how to just forget all of the medical knowledge you spent years getting pounded into your head and have it magically work out.

With the whole constantly active idea that Spirit had going on, Nat had her doubts. As time went on, more stuff stood out as potentially dangerous. Firstly, there was the fact that the canines could not regenerate energy themselves, having to go in and out of her Soulscape to get a refill. In the future, she might be able to do it and have it cost less than it took to recharge, but that was a while down the road. That led into the second reason, as when the energy got depleted, the person gradually felt more and more lethargic. Being drained and sloppy could be a death sentence should they be ambushed in that state. Then came the final issue, the ultimate issue that Nat had with the canines using energy constantly. With the emergence of the shaman monsters and their abilities, the danger for the canines was increased. Especially so if they had just exhausted the energy which fought off the black mist. While she still did not know what would happen if the black mist won, Natalie did not have any desire to find out. Everything she had felt from Mike the last time gave her enough worries and as it was.

As for the other two travelers, one was listening with rapt attention as the other explained everything that they knew. Sophie's eyes never left Shannon's face as everything was explained bit by bit. How the Soulscape worked, the ability to duplicate items that you store, how the energy built up from the bonds with animals and possibly plants. There was not a part of the discussion that caused the young girl to lose interest. Even with the wolf pups playing tag all around them, her attention was solely on Shannon. When she heard that you needed a bonded animal to be able to duplicate items, she was downtrodden for a second, before asking who Shannon was bonded to. The shock on her face when she was told that it was gorillas and none of the canines that had surrounded her was priceless. At that point she did look away for a second, but only to stare at Natalie in awe and admiration.

When the topic came of who would she bond with, Shannon got pensive before explaining what Natalie had told her. How whoever she bonded with would affect who she could bond with in the future. How her soul itself could potentially change, being more like the animal she bonded with. When she gestured to Nat, Sophie started to see canine traits in her actions. Her nose would occasionally scrunch as she sniffed the air, her head would tilt in different directions to get a different feel on sounds that she heard, but mostly how her head stayed almost perfectly in place while her body moved along the road. It was stuff that Nat was not even aware she had been doing, and was more on a subconscious level. When Shannon whispered that those were amplified whenever she went into her shifted form, Sophie could not help but giggle.

Nat had been too lost in her own world of worries to hear any of that though. She kept running through what had happened and what could happen. Trying to get a clearer picture of what it felt like, she mentally chatted with Mike while he went through small exercises. Apparently, her feelings were far more subdued compared to what he had felt. It had felt as if his body was being eaten from the inside out. From where the shaman had stabbed him, he felt cold seep through his body, followed by a numb feeling of where the mist had passed through. It felt jarring, terrifying, and most of all painful. As if who he was and what he believed were getting corroded away to make space for something else. Though, he also said that when the energy from Nat arrived, he felt it spike throughout his system. Spikes of relief and warmth travelled along the inside of his body, returning his feeling in his extremities as well as pushing away the cold. The pain was still there, but it was more soreness afterwards than it was a cut or gash. They talked a bit back and forth, but Nat had a good mindset of what she wanted for the future. The energy inside of the wolves did indeed act as a barrier, making time for help to get to them. The problem became, would she be able to treat everyone in time with her limited pool of energy?

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!

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