The run back always felt shorter.
Not to mention, Frosty ran faster with his new godly aligned motivation.
No monsters entered their path going back. Which felt…. fitting.
They were even spotted by a travelling party of nomadic steppe-goblins. They gazed at eachother and kept it moving. And Claude was left to gaze at the endless snow.
Until it did end, and the light of the nearest city split the white expanse.
Stonefrost Village-Keep.
Buildings rose up into the sky and disappeared under the steady downpour of snow.
Chimneys spit black smoke into the monochrome atmosphere and smelled of dried meats and wet hides.
It was well into night time, shown clearly by the influx of Nightrunners entering the city and merchants packing up while night-salesmen opened up shop with the help of merchants on payroll.
Claude raced past them all, following the distant scents of papers, ink and leathers.
He hit the wrong corner three times before diving into an old dilapidated library and informations hall through a loose back window.
It was just closed. He could tell by the faint warmth in the shadows as he snuck inside.
Frosty kept watch outside— back in his human form.
In the dark, his eyes narrowed and glimmered as he swallowed up the light to better see the world made up of characters etched into parchment and hide.
"[What are we doing here?]" Arne asked.
"You exist in my brain. You know exactly what we're doing here." Claude said as he flipped up a flight of stairs and snuck past a window to reach a directory floor full of shelves of books.
"[Right- I know. But sometimes we need to know it ourselves by hearing it aloud. So tell me, what are you here for]" Arne asked.
"A name." Claude said.
"[Mhm, and?]"
"And I took a quest to avenge someone. While out, I got more accurate information. Do you have a problem?" Claude asked as he found the shelf he was looking for in alphabetical order.
"[I do not have even the slightest problem. You're acting out something I wish I did sooner. May I tell you a story?]"
"Does it involve sex?"
"[I don't think so.]"
"Go for it." Claude replied as he flipped through Stonefrost population articles one by one.
"[It happened one year after I was changed. I survived alone— by my teachers metrics, I thought that meant I was ready to lead. Id killed monsters twice my size without the help of any moon. Id slain swordsmen and rogues twice my age and experience. I thought it was all on me. I was sixteen. Through a number of events and….. well, mishaps, I found myself with a bit of information. There was a brothel in a big city I'd been in to the south-east.]"
"You said no sex." Claude replied passively.
"[I did. So shut your trap and pay attention.]" Arne replied, "[Id learned that a number of women there were smuggled and trafficked from Arthuria. Arthurian women's fair skin, lankier builds and blonde hair was unique. Heavily sexualized. They pulled in good money.]"
"But they were your people." Claude put back another book after ruling out the names.
"[Right on, mate. They were my people.]" Arne agreed, "[With my Lupine rage, I started a liberation mission with a couple betas my age and we got to work. We were young. Spunky. Violent. We were members of a race slated to take the world by storm. Our leader was a god. We could do no wrong."
"So what did you do wrong?" Claude asked.
"[We freed them. Every sex worker in that brothel. It was a full moon. Our power was in overdrive. Id scoped the place out for months under many false names and appearances. I once came as a cleaner just to get a look at the directory to see the client list... ERHM.]"Arne said as Claude continued reading through the books in search of a name.
Parallels.
Claude nodded along.
Arne wished he could slap him, but continued, "[The brothel had a team of mercenaries on payroll. I remember their names. Rohan the Red-Walker, Edward Omen, Salineous Slough. Those were the three I killed. It was a horrific performance. They'd never seen anything like me. The beast with a gentlemen's gait and rapier's mastery. I was a well mannered nightmare. A bloody dream. I was ….. a hero.]"
Claude shut the book. The name was found after reading up on an old entry for Crysta's family plot of land. Owned by a man named John. Adress included.
"I don't get the point of this story."
"[Then let me continue until you do.]" Arne said, "[By sunrise, the brothel was in ruin and absent of its previous sexualized prisoners. Id taken them back to the Lupines. To my master. All forty women of the brothel.]"
Claude listened. He could feel Arne grow tense through his absence of continued word.
"[Its obvious isnt it, mate? Tell me what happens next.]" Arne said as Claude sat on the steps in the closed building.
"They were changed." Claude said.
"[Four were bitten. Four died from rejecting the bite. The rest were killed by my master.]"
"What?!"
"[Twelve of the….. victims— or slaves, as I presumed, were organizers and worked with the owners to bring women in. They were also community leaders of sorts who guarunteed some sort of human rights would come to the women of their brothel. They were the women's alphas. My master could not take that spot built over time and earthly length in one night. Or month. And even if he did, it didn't matter.]"
"Why not?" Claude asked.
"[Because Claude, I shut down the brothel. I didn't shut down the carnivorous impulses of man.]"
"….."
"They got what they desired from locals that were entirely too young or old or whatever else that should've barred them from participating in such things. And it was made possible because government officials and guild powerhouses were primary members inside that brothel. And without their leading women, the victims had no inside advocates to save them from the worst of it. My master tied me to a blaze root tree for a month after that and read me the paper every morning. Six teenaged girls, three boys, sixteen women and two men died that month.]"
Claude clenched his fist to stop his hand from shaking.
"[At the ripe age of sixteen, I had the death and defilement of twenty-seven people left to stain my soul. I was no gentlemen. I was a brute. I was an animal. From that point onward.]"
"I don't….. understand."
"[It came from a good place, right? It was a just cause. It was righteous! I was a noble in new lands establishing a new morality. It felt good. I had purpose. I could come to my sisters rescue knowing I'd done similar before!]" Arne expressed, "[But that can't be everything. Even that which is born in good can be altered by the evils of circumstance and context. Two things you don't pay attention to when you're led by emotion and not studied action.]"
Claude got it now.
Arne knew he did.
"[I need more Claude. We can't go on this righteous raid and rip a man to pieces simply by name.]"
"But you saw Crysta—"
"[Yes. A marvelous girl. I don't doubt a thing she said. Her father is a monster in man's skin. But we need to know what other dominos will fall when we tip his. Do you understand? I won't let you have the deaths of innocents fall on you the same way it did for me.... I also won't tie you to a tree. You're unstable right now, so you may not see my side, but I ask that you trust me— even if you have no reason to. A days extra research.]"
Claude was silent for a long while.
"…..alright. I don't think it's wrong to say maybe my ability to see reason is thrown off. I've had a…..long month. Crysta isn't in immediate danger. A lot of this is selfish in a way….. but it comes from a good place. I'll keep it that way."
"[Hmmm. You're already worlds better than me. I get why it's you.]"
"Why what's me?" Claude asked as he laid out on the stairs with a sigh.
"[Nothing, mate.]"