On the way out of Dublin, we passed the snail house is set up and I grabbed a few things, mainly a new set of clothes and the chess set, it would give us something to do while we waited for the sun to set.
When we got into the wilderness I set up a fire and we sat down and talked for a while and played chess, Cliodna beat me more than I would like to admit, she had a very tactical mind and the plays just came to her after I explained some of them, this type of chess wouldn't come to Europe for a few hundred years, it was still in India and the Muslim world at the moment.
"You've learned rather quickly," I mumbled trying to hide my frustration of losing a 3rd time in a row.
"Haha, this is so much fun! It's nothing like card games" Cliodna was delighted to be playing something new, and I had another light bulb moment, games in Harry Potter was limited to chess, gobstones, Quidditch, swivenhodge, broom races, playing cards and collecting cards from chocolate frogs. There were a few muggle games they played like hide and seek, hopscotch but that was basically it.
I had thought of adapting Pokemon with the magic beasts instead kids would love it, having card battles along with collecting them rather than a bunch of wizards that just had some information on them, an enchanted game that transfigured the beast on the card to fight each other or something similar, there could be a whole tournament league.
"Fenris, fenris!" Broken out of my ideas was a frowning Cliodna staring at me.
"Ah sorry, I just had an idea of another game, what's wrong?" I explained trying to appease her annoyance of ignoring her.
"Nothing it's your move, what's this idea?" She asked clearly intrigued.
"Well I thought about making a card battle game, basically a collection of cards with magic beasts and famous wizards and witches on them, and the players would choose a card and give it commands to fight each other," I told her while thinking of some of the applications it would need, like attacks and how the Wizards would cast spells.
"How would that work? What would happen to the card? What would the winner get? How would spells come from a card?" She was obviously excited at the prospect and had just asked all the questions I was thinking about.
"Erm, I'm not sure at the moment, I thought maybe the card would transfigure a little version of the likeness of the beast or wizard it has on it, maybe each has a rune stone that stores a certain amount of magic to cast spells or attacks on command to create a degree of fairness, the winner wouldn't get anything unless the players wagered something or it was a tournament or something. And the card would have to be charmed to be unbreakable so people don't kill each other over a torn-up one" I explained my thoughts on the matter.
"How about if the card conjures it instead of Transfiguration? But then comes the spells and attacks." Cliodna was mumbling some thoughts as well.
"Ah never mind that let's just enjoy some good food and I'll show you my transformations," I announced grabbing a skewered piece of meat that was roasting over the fire and passed it to Cliodna.
"Transformations? As in more than one? And thank you but you better not forget! I want to see what this card battle would be like!" She was confused at first but became inflexible about the card game with a stern glare.
"Okay, okay you can be my partner in this endeavour," I declared with a toothy grin and continued saying "and yeah I have 3 forms to an extent, a partial form, a Lycan one and I can become a wolf as well" I proclaimed proudly looking at her.
"I can't wait to see them! That sounds amazing" her excitement was shown in her voice as she became high pitched, over the next few hours we just chatted about anything and everything, I kept nothing from her and when the moon started to rise I turned to look at Cliodna she looked even more regal in the moonlight and could see the fascination in her green eyes.
"Okay Cliodna ill begin, don't worry I can still remain conscious," I notified her as I began to strip down, she began to blush as I took off my tunic but never looked away, the desire in her gaze didn't cause me any discomfort at all I actually liked it. When I untied my ankle wraps and my belt, my trousers fell to the floor and I stood in bare unnerved as her eyes widened as they roamed my body head to toe.
Chuckling I announced " okay ill begin" as I started to shift into my Noblesse form, the black hair sprouted along my arms and legs as my finger and toenails formed claws, my canines became sharper and more pronounced, I looked at her and she was looking back with no apprehension at all, she seemed to even be admiring the form.
"I call this my Noblesse form or partial transformation, the next one is the Lycan form" I explained staring at her.
"Your eyes there red and green now with a golden pupil, the blue-green has completely disappeared," she announced with confidence in her voice.
Grinning with a toothy smile I began to change again I was deliberately going slow to show her the process, my legs and arms broke and repaired instantly becoming longer and I stood on hind wolf legs covered in pitch-black fur, my nose became a snout, my ears became wolf ears and a tail shot out from my spine, I grew about 2 feet and stood, looking at Cliodna who was still looking at me with that same composure.
"This is the Lycan form" I announced with a minor growl.
"You're fully covered in black fur apart from your head is silver now, it even looks like a crown" she giggled watching me never avoiding my gaze.
"Okay, I'll continue" I grunted as my hands and feet broke down again and shrunk into paws and I landed on all fours as a full-grown wolf I looked in her eyes as she looked back at me, Ratatoskr was sat on her side.
"You look great the crown and the black fur just make you seem like Royalty you're as tall as me as well" she acknowledged getting walking towards me, I couldn't reply as a wolf so I just nodded and walked towards her as well. When we met in the middle I sat down and stared into her eyes, she stared back and reached out to stroke me. I've never been stroked but I wasn't afraid of her touch when her hand reached my face and she stroked along my neck it was pure bliss, my tail began to wag and I had no control over it.
"Hehe your so soft" she giggled and began stroking me with both hands, I just laid down and she sat on the floor and stroked me, I had no complaints.
"You found a keeper Fen, she's never going to forget this moment" I heard Ratatoskr say as he climbed on me.
For the rest of the night, I just laid there as Cliodna stroked my fur when the moon began to set and I was still in my wolf form she looked at me funny.
"Ah so you never needed to wait until the full moon" she mumbled and in my shock, I shifted back to my human form which got a shriek out of her as I was laid naked now.
"Ah I can explain," I let out with a mischievous grin and continued "it was just an excuse to spend more time with you"
"I don't mind spending time with you Fenris, these past 9 days have been amazing" she announced smiling but continued with a whisper "I'm actually a bit reluctant of you leaving me when you've finished your task"
I hadn't even thought about leaving her, but when she said that it dawned on me, I didn't want to leave her at all she was special to me even in this short amount of time we had spent together, we laughed and talked about everything, nothing was kept from each other. The thought of not seeing her again was unbearable I didn't want that at all.
"So come with me? I could even turn you?" I whispered unsure of what she would say, her turning me down worried me, if she wanted I would turn her and spend as much time as I could with this amazing woman I had grown so fond of. She must have heard me and hesitated to answer but eventually did after what felt like a lifetime.
"I'd love to come with you Fenris and spend a lot more time together but I don't want to be a werewolf, nothing against it but I'm a bird animagus and that suits me just fine," she said with a small smile as I relaxed until Ratatoskr said something I hadn't really thought about.
"You do realise you've stopped ageing right? She will grow older while you stay young and you'll watch her die, your children will follow her as well even if they age slower if they inherit the Lycan genes from you." The thought of watching my descendants dying as I stayed young was like a knife to the heart. I looked at Cliodna sadly and wanted to confess this point to her but the words wouldn't form in my mouth for a while as she looked at me concerned.
"What is it Fenris? Why the face?" She asked wearily never looking away focusing on me completely and it just made me want to be honest with her.
"Cliodna there's something you should know before you make a decision about anything, I can't not tell you and you come to figure it out later and resent me for withholding it from you" I sealed myself and looked in her eyes with a compassionate gaze.
"It's okay Fenris just tell me whatever it is" she responded with unwavering eyes.
"The truth is, erm how do I put this without hurting you? Okay, I'm going to stay the same age Cliodna, I won't grow old at all if we spend a lot of time together like I hope we will, you'll grow old while I won't" scared at the significance of that statement I couldn't continue looking at those glorious green eyes.
"Is that all? I don't mind that, you do realise that magical beings live for a long time right?" While tilting her head slightly she spoke up.
"That's not the point Clio, if we ever got together as a couple I would always be 25 even if you lived over a hundred years and we had children they would eventually become older than me" I mumbled quietly still avoiding her but she just grabbed my chin and made me look at her, what I saw wasn't disappointment or annoyance but a bright smile that illuminated my dark dreary thoughts.
"That's fine with me Fenris, if you could always be there to watch over our family I could pass on a happy woman, I know this could burden you for a long time as you watch your family perish to time but if be a lot more peaceful knowing our descendants would have a man I've grown to adore watching over them" the warmth in her teary eyes as she spoke wasn't what I expected, I expected refusal and some separation but I was being shown care.
After she said those words I looked at Toskr and smiled saying "thanks Toskr I would have probably forgotten to mention that and things could have been awkward"
"What are friends for? I'll always be here to help Fen" he declared while chewing on a nut from his satchel.
Over the next 6 months, I spent time with Cliodna while her familiars flew around Ireland collecting information, nothing really important came for a while as we grew closer together, Cliodna even told me about her coven and why she left, as it turns out she left because a man kept harassing her to marry him and was quite pushy about it, I grew angry at that, it had been months and I hadn't even done anything except talk and hold her hand, marriage was so far away the thought of just marrying someone after a few months seemed so foreign to me.
After everything was laid out and there wasn't anything between us we eventually became a couple, a lot of the townsfolk said it took too long but I didn't want to rush anything we were good friends and now a couple that was open with everything.