Hawknell In a heartbeat

Apt ref

Offscreened coordination between Grace and Pop Rock Pact, unturning tiiiime

---

It had been seventy-five full moons since this wretched, life-ruining animal had come into her mind. The internet had that kind of information if you were interested in that sort of thing.

Waiting for any more to pass was agony.

Of course the jaguar had a sense that something like this was happening. She was an alert predator and had no intentions of going quietly. But Asha had bargained a shift all the same, forced her further back down that inner tunnel, as far as she could go.

This beast had ultimately turned her into someone she was not. Insane, codependent, seeking love and approval of her husband-maker while at the same time exhibiting such tyrannical and murderous behavior. Seeking violence in the form of fighting or retribution. Seeking the power of a metaphysical crown, seeking others to follow her, to protect them, to make more of her kind for herself to keep. She went along with these things because the jaguar within her was a terrifying adversary, one that resorted to the pain of shifts as punishment. She let herself be the puppet to this animal's feral will. Very rarely did she ever stand up to her.

No one else had ever seemed to reach the heights that Asha did and simultaneously struggle as hard as she had. This creature who took every private impulse and then made a war of it, and won nearly every time.

It was true then that she had never been good enough for this, and that without you-know-who, there was no purpose to pretending she had a place among any of them anymore.

Because the fact remained that Asha Rao had been none of these things before the jaguar.

The living room was clean. The doors to everything but the bathroom were locked. She'd considered asking Beauregard if she could borrow his silver bullet gun, just in case the jaguar made things impossible, then decided that wasn't needed. She'd lose worse if she scared them off.

She let them up, and then guided them to where they'd all be sitting, backs to walls and couch and a chair that had been pulled close enough into place.

Fit(with a nice tote bag of snacks, drinks, and a couple small blankets)

---

Ariadne took a shot of liquid courage before coming here; she wasn't afraid persay, instead she was trying to steel herself against the ache that was going to come and the down from it. Though, she was rather happy to be able to help out another were lose the beast they had if that was their desire. So, she dressed comfortably and had some extra snacks because last time prepared her for this time.

Arriving, Ari offered a bit of a smile at the woman they were about to help.

"Hello, I'm Ariadne, " she said, politely introducing herself as she placed her bag wherever was appropriate.

She was ready to rumble with a cat.

There had been a nagging feeling when he learned of this unturning. Like the name rang a bell but the bell was more a memory of a memory which felt as fake as it did real.

Upon entering the house, the feeling was put to rest. Zachary did know this woman. Not personally. She had been to his shop before surely and maybe somewhere else. It wasn't enough to dwell on because the second revelation was hitting him.

Asha was a were. A were in need of unturning. Small world. Big task ahead of them.

Zachary had been tempted to say no. The last unturning had left the whole group shredded. But it was hard to turn someone down when it was between their pact and nothing.

There had been discussions. Far less decided than Zachary was comfortable with and only the beginnings of the plan to not get so destroyed this time.

It would have to be enough.

"Hey." He said walking in after Ari. His game face slathered on last second.

When approached with the ask, how could they say no? As much as the last one had significantly impacted them all, Finn had simply steeled himself before agreeing. Losing his ability to communicate had sucked, and he really didn’t want to think about the were magic doing that… that weird thing again, but someone needed their help! This was something he could help do and make a good impact.

The pact had talked a bit about what to try out towards the end to maybe minimize things. He hoped it worked. Nonetheless, he’d brought a journal and pens to write with in his bag, expecting more or less that a game of charades would have to happen again.

As the door opened, he looked up and offered a smile, searching her face for something not seen.

”Hi, I’m Finn,” he introduced himself, before pointing towards their other pactmate that hadn’t said his name ”And that’s Zachary.”

Following through the house, he looked at the set up she had for them, dropping his bag carefully to leave by the wall nearby.

Ariadne, Zachary, Finn. Three very young-looking people, all polite. The ping of recognition for the ice cream shop man was distant, unclear, but even so it did serve to soothe her nerves a bit. They were all so nice.

The jaguar did not like all these strangers in the house (hadn't they promised not to do that), but she was without the strength to bully herself up just yet. "Nice to meet you all. Asha." A slight smile, one she had practiced, trying not to be such a fucking sad wreck, even if the passing of weeks had sewn the hopelessness into her eyes.

She was familiarized with the setup — she was to set herself up somewhere in the center of them, in as small a way as possible to give them space to connect.

After locking the door, Asha didn't waste much time getting there. It felt like every second was a chance for the doomed animal in her to explode and retaliate. "Feel free to help yourself to... you know, water, anything in the fridge, all that after." It wasn't much, ultimately. That was just what happened after home shifts.

She looked to them all to begin the process.

Ariadne offered Asha a very soft smile, seeing that sad look in her eyes made her ache some for her. She wondered how long that she'd dealt with the animal but it felt wrong to ask as they were all getting ready to rumble essentially right now.

She went and took her own spot around Asha; she wore the silver piece she'd made for herself with elements of her friends included in the purely silver charm that they needed. Her eyes went to her pact mates as she took a breath.

Physically she was ready; mentally she was mostly ready just not excited about the after effects- hopefully Onni didn't mind her taking time off again to recover from it. She may have to explain it to him but that was a tomorrow Ariadne problem not a today thing.

Today, they were to kick cat butt.

It wasn't fair to compare Asha to Genesis, even if they had the same problem and wanted the same outcome. He didn't know either of them well enough to make any valid judgment but Zachary couldn't help but notice how different this felt.

Asha had invited them in alone. A marked difference from having Cassidy in the room, leveling them with a piercing stare. It had been for the best. Genesis had been...more fragile or at least more vocal in needing outward support. It made him wonder about Asha, but not enough to ever ask something so personal.

He tried to relax, her offer for water and raiding the fridge was appreciated. It would be one less thing to feel guilty about. "Thank you." Zachary acknowledged, already promising himself not to touch anything unless things got dire.

Fingers dug into his pocket, wrapping around the silver spoon. Her outward confidence made him believe that Asha already knew what to expect. But appearances could be deceiving.

" The last time we did this, we created a semi-circle and held hands. Not with you. You'll be fine in the center." Zachary rushed to clarify. "Far as we know. It's a personalized experience. I can't say much about what you'll feel or see when we go in."

Asha was a nice name and definitely one he’d remember. It was really hard to imagine that she could turn into an animal that probably wanted to eat them as her legs took her to the middle of their would be place to circle up.

As he dropped himself down too, Finn nodded with a smile in thanks. ”We appreciate it.” And hopefully it wouldn’t need to be used, but you never knew.

With his own silver fork in a pocket, he nodded to Zachary, leaning to grab hands as feet settled against legs. He wasn’t even sure if all three of them had had the same experience, but Finn was already reading the return of scenery. Maybe, it’d be different. Maybe. ”Ready to go, guys,” Finn asked.

A crescent moon with a star in the center, that star being her. She always did like the limelight. Ha.

She listened as Zachary ran through it. It was interesting how he described it. The idea that it was a personal experience. She thought back to her dream world, and wondered if it would be something like that.

There was space to feel nervous, anxious, but.

She was just really tired of it. Of trying to be this thing that apparently had been forced on her without her input or full knowledge anyway. A sharp nod. "I trust you all. I trust Grace. I have... maybe the worst beast I've ever known in any of my kind, even different animals, but. I took precautions for this and you guys have the experience. I think this will go fine."

Confidence in them, for them. For herself. She needed it now. It was her only way out.

Abraham was gone. Took his stuff, didn't want to try anymore, never again, fuck you Asha and all the harm you'd done, the cooking and cleaning and making a home and supporting them and encouraging him and comforting him and loving the hell out of him and supposedly being someone he was so proud to marry (oh yes, she'd found that letter, and it was certainly written by a completely different man, but the one she knew and not whoever he was now) — none of it could ever compete with her flaws, it seemed.

Abraham demanded a perfection from her that she could never reach, no matter how she tried to take the steps to get to it. Because it was the wrong way to do things, according to him. No matter how many times she screamed how happy he'd made her, how she just needed some time to work through her shit and get to a place of being okay, she was never going to be allowed to get there now.

So no, there was no hope in living this way, just as there was no hope in clinging to her businesses that had been funded by and designed for weres and decorated with his store's plants that were taken care of by him, in fraternizing with people who really knew all about them, in people who came to their wedding and celebrated them and their engagement and knew every little subtle jaguar motif and encouraged her to propose at all.

Just how there was no point in clinging to this money sink of a life, paying through the nose for excessive amounts of meat at grocery stores, in either dragging herself out every few days for a shift and getting super familiar at gas stations and cheap takeout places and risking being found or losing clothes or shoes to an impatient angry cat or wrecking her home and running up repair costs and alarming neighbors with the noise, in losing her beloved pets every time the vindictive cat wanted to dig the pain she felt deeper, in having more control ripped away from her whenever the cat lost a crown or her mate because that was her way of punishing Asha for ruining everything, in staggering into Zipper's and getting her teeth knocked out for just any sense of calm, in catnip and booze to cope that lasted maybe ten minutes at best and forced her into panic shifts as worst, in being avoided by normal people she liked because she was contagious or dangerous or any of it, just any of it.

Enough.

It should have been done the moment she knew it was possible. She should have been the first fucking person in line despite his manic flip of opinion. What a fucking waste of time it had all been.

Enough.

Ari took her spot after throwing her hair up into a messy bun as if ready to go to war against the cat. She made sure her necklace rested against her skin so that it was there and she didn't have to hold onto it.

"We believe it will go fine as well, " she showed more confidence than she felt simply because this was a daunting task and only the second time they've done this but they knew now what to expect and it had her taking a slow breath.

"Alright, " Ari said as she let her eyes fall shut as she focused on finding that place they were linked to. This plain where they could find the beast and remove it from her life. She would focus, breathing slow and deep as she found herself back in that metaphysical playing field once more.

It was similar to the hyena that they got rid of but this time there was a goddamn jaguar there and that was enough to make her run cold as ice.

Being more prepared now, she had her hands on the ground as she waited to see the other two to help push them up on their own stone pillars to help keep them safe before she too made her own. It felt better than being down at eye level with a cat that should NOT be that size in the slightest.

From his seated position to closing his eyes, Zachary melted away. It wasn't a pleasant journey. A searing white light flashed across his vision, a manifestation of his reluctance. It almost ended the descent into that middle place.

When he did pry open his eyes, Zachary involuntarily inhaled as if waking from a nightmare.

The space was similar, empty, and far-reaching but shimmering with potential. He couldn't see Ariadne or Finn, but they had to be somewhere. Perhaps he was the one that had landed off course – his hesitation sending a message to the metaphysical plane which it then delivered.

Zachary tried to call out, a simple 'hello.' However, his voice was shredded and low as if from screaming.

This was bad. He needed to find his friends. The silent wish for safety before he ventured down had been answered in the worst way.

His chest heaved with short, shaky breaths. It was calming him just enough. Sound would not carry well here, but there was something else in abundance on this plane.

Zachary let his power flow out, sending a pulse. He could send it farther here than anywhere else. Sooner or later, he'd receive a signal back. He'd find them.

The description of Asha’s particular beast being the worst one didn’t do anything to calm his nerves even if she had faith in them. Did that mean the beast would do what the other did, but even at a worse scale? He really didn’t want to feel that feeling again, that something was perceiving him back. Bad. Bad bad bad.

But, Ari agreed too, something they’d all sort of said more or less before even coming here. It would be okay. They’d learned from last time. It could only go better. Taking a deep breath, he gave a nod in agreement.

Grabbing hold of hands, he’d give a timid smile to Asha with a, ”See you on the other side,” before closing his own eyes. More deep breaths as he focused from top of his head to the tips of his toes, one part of his body at the time before traveling inward for his magic and then around to how all of their own were connecting, how the person in the middle of them had her own.

And then the plane would trickle to life behind his eyes.

It was green, lush, claustrophobic, and the feeling of eyes were everywhere. Leaves fell against him, the underside gooey as they slid against his arm. Something was deeply wrong.

Eyes flying, he looked for a familiar face or for an angry wildcat. Nothing.

Finn followed the pull past a tree’s massive trunk and was relieved to see Ari.

”Where’s Zachary?” Where was the jaguar?

Who lurked here, in her lonely world.

It was all true. The place was at once both jungle and abyss, sightless and feeling, bright and dark. Afterimages of recognition as the gaze scattered around. Stars beneath her, an ocean overhead, the sky behind. It was not a realm that made sense, because it was not made for human senses.

It was not made for human visitors.

Their sounds and presence were unwelcome. She lounged hidden on some cloud-obscured perch above them, exactly the ambush predator she had always been, seeing all of them even if they could not see each other.

She made not one sound. What she wanted was for any of them to walk directly beneath her, so she could fall upon them in one move.

Gravity was another trick here, but in her domain, she could command herself to do as she liked.

Asha felt this invasion, felt them crawling around in it, the sensation odd and kinetic, like drinking very cold water after being parched too long. Feeling it as it slid down into the body.

Entranced and morbid, she too saw it all.

This was bad- different. Ari hadn’t anticipated this change to things and she felt a shiver of fear creep down her spine until she saw the familiar form of Fin and lowered her pillar down so that she could move right beside him.

"I don’t know…we need him to get rid of the cat though, " she said softly as her eyes looked all around this place.

This was not a simple baby hyena cutting its teeth, this one seemed to be a well versed predator.

"Can you sense her at all? " Auri asked Fin as her eyes bounced around while taking slow calming breaths before calling out, "Zachary, " her voice called echoing from this spot as her hand just reached and clung onto Finlay’s so they’d not get separated.

He hears nothing and receives nothing back. At least not from the direction Zachary was throwing his power.

If only he could teleport to somewhere he couldn't see.

"Hold on." Zachary step-hops forward, excitement leading his body as a new idea springs forth.

The metaphysical plain didn't behave like the world above so who was to say the same rules applied?

Perhaps the space was large and small all at the same time. It was just a matter of perspective. Zachary bent his head and tried to imagine Ariadne and Finn. What they were wearing. How they'd be standing. It was enough of an anchor point to try.

Zachary shut his eyes and teleported. The familiar whooshing sound filled his ears and his stomach dropped in the strange way you'd get going over the highest curve of a roller coster.

When he opened his eyes again the same opaque white would greet him and he'd still be alone.

---

Dice says he'll get there on the third try.

She came down from her pillar and confirmed what he was dreading, they were down one. Zachary was somewhere, but not with them and that made them a bigger target. He grimaced for it, looking over his shoulder, around them for any sign of orange fur or bright reflective eyes staring back.

”Everywhere,” he answered Ari with a questioning tone, very unsure.

Ari’s hand took his own and he squeezed, her call echoing around them without a reply. Not good.

”I can try to figure out where she is… maybe. It’d be nice to know how much time we have to wait till a cat pounces at us.”

Closing his eyes, he’d follow that line of power and throw it out as he’d done many a time, wondering if there would be some thrum back in the net as if to say ‘I’m here’.

Attacks done here to the psychics will not cause real world damage (or a risk for turning) since they never did between the cats either :3 But attacks done TO the cat can harm and kill her as long as she doesn't shift into the real world. I made a tabletop thread (first strike is a hit) if you'd like to write to dice, but no pressure at all to use it!

---

Yelling was dampened by the oppressive air of the plane. It also carried so far if you sought out the echo.

She was seeking out the echo. But her attention darted as another thing happened, an itch felt within her hide as one of them suddenly appeared elsewhere. Her attention was drawn. This was the most dangerous of them, and therefore the most worthy of being first kill.

Not that she understood that she could not kill them here. She was still just a monster, after all.

Imperative, she loomed over to the teleporter and leapt, successfully bowling him over with her body.

"I can try to reach out but...it only works when I see the person. " she told Fin as she held onto him refusing to get separated from her friend as she mentally reached out to try and hear Zachary but of course that was rather impossible.

"Fuck I don't like this cat...I want to make her a damn throw rug, " she grumbled, irritated taking over some of her fear as she looked around and then up.

"Up...shit jaguars are ambush predators...you can do it, just...focus, I'll watch our backs, " Ariadne promised him as she was more than ready to either shock a cat or drop it down into a chasm if it appeared to either of them.

Zachary may not have found his friends but something else found him.

He's on the floor before he can grasp what just happened. It's a delayed pain that zips hot up his spine when Zachary goes barreling and then just as suddenly the pain vanishes, like a reminder that he was whole in this plane but not in a real body. Another in-between.

His vision adjusts to the looming jaguar and words get lodged in his throat, or at this point, maybe they're just sounds. He wants to twist away but he's terrified. Can he die here? Zachary doesn't think so, but if he did, he knows for certain that upon waking in the above, he wouldn't be the same.

Using any physical strength would be useless so he reaches for what he can fight with – his powers. Ice pools into his palm as he reaches for the nearest part of the cat and pushes down.

He finds his voice then. "AHHhhgh." It's barely comprehensible.

Let go. Let go. It echoes in his head, but he isn't sure who it was directed at.

---

Successful ice attack

Nothing. Nothing, bounced back or tugged the line. He let it drop, moving attention to Ariadne as she mentioned her power effort too. ”Its worth a try?” Anything was at this point, especially as the rules for what they could and couldn’t do were distorted here.

The comment though had him huffing a small weighted laugh, agreeing. ”We just have to find her first, which, uh, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already tracking us.” His own gaze followed her own up into the branches, magic still coming up with nothing and yet Finn couldn’t shake the feeling of a million eyes and echos. The atmosphere was charged, wrong, they needed to get in and get out.

A cry seemed to bounce towards them and he whipped his head around, trying to figure out the direction. ”Did you hear that?” Finn took a few steps, looking at Ariadne before moving with a hand grasping for hers.

A leg beset by ice, a thing she could ignore for a moment until the sensation began to form more of a cold burn. Let go, let go. "Let go, let go," Asha mumbled seemingly brainlessly in the real world, staring into nothing as her mind's eye was locked in the metaphysical space. Her hand sought to press down against her other arm, against that burning cold sensation that emanated from within.

This boy, invading and now harming her. All of them, closing in on the space.

The jaguar backed off in enraged confusion, front leg hobbled in a brace of ice she could not break even as she took her powerful skullcrushing jaws to it. What the fuck was happening to her.

It would allow him a moment to get up or away, but she wasn't yet done fighting for her right to live.

"This one is going to give me nightmares for weeks about things following me, " she told him with a small groan before her head snapped in the same direction.

"That way, yes, lets go and don't let go! " she told him, not wanting to get separated from him as she hoped he was willing to run that way to what they both hoped was Zachary. Please be okay! Please please.

By grace or by dumb luck, Zachary rolled his way free from under the jaguar. His bones felt like jello and his entire body shook as he pushed up with weak arms to crawl away.

He should try teleporting but having freshly avoided a new necklace of jaguar teeth around his neck, Zachary was having a little trouble putting a better escape plan into motion. What he did manage to see with his head thrown back and vision clearing at the edges was two dots making their way closer.

"Guysss." He croaked. "Found you."

Tell him about it! And he’d just kinda made peace with the nightmares from last time.

Running through the jungle with Ariadne at his side, eventually, finally, thank god, Zachary was in sight. ”Zachary!” His face fell at the state of him, legs still pumping to get there, but movement off to the side drew his attention to a big yellow furred mass. The jaguar. Crap. Crap, crap, crap.

They had to get to Zachary and get going.

”We have to do it now!”

Frantically she tried to free herself of the ice-braced limb, but it remained futile. And now the three invaders were converging in front of her, within her. The jaguar lunged with fury to the boy she'd had before, only to find herself too handicapped by the added weight to close the deal.

She landed with her paws out of tune with each other, toppling briefly and snarling all the while at it.

They had to do it now, Asha agreed, and yet at the same time this was staring down her own death. Well. The death of something that had been within her for years, anyway. The human side fought against the jaguar's unyielding mental hold, the urge to run away from where she sat.

Do not move if you want to be free.

---

miss against zachary

FOUND! Relief washed over her at the sight of Zachary before fear suddenly fear sunk into her bones about the sight of the massive as hell jaguar that was there, "Oh shite fucking hell, " she saw the thing and gave a small nod as she was reluctantly letting go of Finlay’s hand and reaching down to the ground.

Slowly, she crouched down to the ground, her hands pressing on it before opening a a deep cracking split in the earth towards the jaguar, splitting it down as far as eight feet- it was the most she could do at the moment to catch the cat.

"Get her to stay in the hole! " they had to get the jaguar into the hole and to stay down in there.

Easier said than done. Zachary planted himself prone on the ground after the near escape from the Jaguar and then a sudden crack in the floor that shook the entire room.

The second he could, Zachary was up and moving away on flailing limbs. Any distance from the beast was worth it.

Still far too close, Zachary turned his head to see the jaguar now sitting, almost unbothered in the middle of the white expanse. He almost wanted to talk to it and see how deep the human side resided within. The idea was even more ludicrous than trying to fight, but he couldn't shake the desire. There was intelligence behind those eyes.

Which was why Ariadne's instructions were dangerous when spoken out loud. "Telepathy!" He hissed. A reminder that they had to be smart. Asha had warned them earlier that her jaguar was exceptional.

As their hands let go, it was really hitting what they were doing as he watched the giant jaguar flail. There was fear creeping up, he was doing his best to work through as the ground yawned opened with Ari’s will. It stalled, sitting there as Zachary scrambled away.

Right, telepathy. He looked towards Ariande and nodded before directing attention towards Asha’s companion. Tugging into his power, a pull at his chest, he sent his want, his request, towards the jaguar to stay put, already bracing himself for the return notice being much more than a normal animal’s push back. As long as the feeling didn’t turn into how the hyena’s had and even if it did, Finn wouldn’t be surprised this time.

The will of the human that housed her had always been so weak. She couldn't be found here, she was on the outside — and it meant that things that would not work on the outside worked against her. After the fall into the crevasse, as she was seeking to find herself back up again in this plane of hers that was being destroyed by the invading forces, she was suddenly forced into a full body stillness.

Fury raged within and all around, setting the expanse in an orange glow; a sunset, an inferno, a fucking citrus haze sting.

But she was now immobile, and contained, and unable to do a fucking thing.

"Shit...I'm sorry, " she had slipped, her worry making her slip and she hoped they'd not pay dearly for her mistake.

Seeing the jaguar though held still was a relief to her though.

Well done Finlay! she said to him before looking to Zachary, can you make sure that she stays however you can, it will take a moment to close this, she asked Zachary as it was always easier to rip open the earth like a zipper but closing it was a challenge.

So long as they were able to keep the cat in place, Ariadne would seal and crush the jaguar inside the split in the ground.

It was hard to tell if Finn's ability was useful here. Zachary's call for silent communication meant that he was relying on expressions and gestures from a third of the pact.

But something must have worked as the cat stayed inside the gulch. Without words, Zachary threw up a frantic thumbs up.

I'll try to help. He broadcasted silently, hoping Ariadne's power worked more like a radio than a walkie-talkie. He trusted his hand out in the direction of the hole, allowing his power to add to the mix.

Ice crawled down the sides from the top covering everything he could see. His fingers shook as he pressed for more, for the ice to shift just on the edge of melting, creating a slippery sheen. If the Jaguar did crawl out it would at least be a far more treacherous feat.

The pushback? Yeah, it was a biting clamp of fiery anger ripping back at him in response. It was different than expected and it pushed a grunt of pain out, but he kept up the force. Finlay didn’t dare think about what would happen if he didn’t, if that cap on the jaguar’s anger was allowed to be let loose again.

Ariadne’s cheers and Zachary’s thumbs up were a balm as he willed them all to hurry. Ice suddenly grew around the crevice and despite its welcome cooling effect wafting around them, Finlay could feel sweat dripping with effort from himself.

Asha felt like all her bones were going to break. It should have been a familiar feeling, after what — six years of regular shifting, more than most weres did even? But it was not. A different kind of intense, a suffocation that for once was not brought on by the jaguar's desire to punish her with a body switch.

Skin cold, all hairs on end, body frozen in place like she'd been left out in the winter hypothermic, fragile like she was made of dried out twigs. She couldn't so much as make a sound, even release a breath in the real world. Voice crushed, like the rest of her felt. Tears welled, but not a sob to pair to them.

The jaguar fought it bitterly. She was rendered psychically immobile and that would hold in the end, but she fought and fought and fought all the same, landing lashes of rage after fury and willpower against the various prisons holding her. The one who forced her still, the other who was closing the earth over her flame, the last who was freezing it over so she could not even manage to escape it.

Oh God, but if she could escape it, she would break out of this hell entirely and devour them in full. Leave the human to her most feral state, a useless bitch who had failed her.

A monster that had had it all and then lost it all, because the human was too weak to keep it all.

An animal of wrath, a killing queen, a dying storm, a crushed cat. Screaming feline pain came as her body was mangled and broken under seismic metaphysic force. Bones shattering, organs puncturing, blood and innards oozing to paint her closing grave. Hatred and fear were her last feelings aside from that, and the wish that she might be saved by her departed mate colored that in the end, and the disbelief that she was meeting her in.

Asha could hear it all, feel it all rawly, feel the chill in her body as the virus... left her behind.

Then it was over. An entire inner world extinguished into nothing but the fading smoke of memory, but not there, nothing she could see, no presence weighing in on every living second, no biting loathing presence from within her own mind judging her every move.

Her hands found her face, covered over her mouth and nose, eyes closing as all the tension in her sank away. She was alone in herself, at last.

Oh my god.

Ariadne was able to crush the cat inside it, a silent apology to the creature but she had to think of it like removing a parasite. It had to go, it had no place and just fed off of its victim with no remorse for its host.

When it was said and done and just gone Ari pulled out and sagged with a painful relief as her hand went to her chest as the chills settled right back into her bones. Fuck that ice was not fun; how Zachary didn't freeze every time he got all frosty the snowman she had no clue.

Closing her eyes as she lay down, letting go of her pact mates as she found the blanket that she had preemptively placed close by and wrapped up as her skin was ice cold and her heart was beating like a drum in her chest. She would check in on Asha in a moment but she had to find her bearings first that were totally topsy turvy.

In the middle plane, Zachary watched Ariadne disappear. He had turned away as the hole closed, unwilling to witness the final moment. It was enough to hear the crunch his imagination helpfully provided.

It was done and it felt monumental and insignificant all at once. Zachary spared only another look at Finn and then closed his eyes.

The lurch of returning to the top made him double over with a groan. Nothing about waking up would ever be pleasant. He could tell that the room was spinning even with his eyes shut meaning that the only option was to wait it out. Maybe a minute total but he had just come from a place without time so who was to say, Zachary's mind calmed enough to let him fold forward, nose first like a lazy rabbit.

And as he lay there, a sense of accomplishment just within reach, Zachary wondered just how badly this would feel tomorrow.

A myriad of so many things were felt on the line as the earth began to push back together. He blinked and couldn’t look away as the jaguar was crushed into nothing with all the horrors that entailed. Energy bubbled up before bursting as the connection snapped much like a fish on a line slapping back into the water after being pulled much too close to the surface.

Ari vanished, a blip of movement that had him looking towards her and away from where the hole had been, before turning to Zachary.

He opened his eyes and was soon taking in Asha in front of him, well trying to, as the whole room was swimming. No, he’d just look down, hand moving to hold his head that was feeling super detached as the other went out to reach for a knee or something, whatever was close by that was the former shifter’s in front of him. A couple of slow taps and he’d give a thumbs up with a quick look up in question.

She felt so...

Not small. Not anymore, not in that sense. But. Sealed, in a way. Contained. Quiet. Empty wasn't the right word. It was like her personal boundaries no longer stretched somewhere beyond her. Her skin was against her body, and that was as far as Asha reached anymore. Forevermore.

She swallowed, eyes opening to the tap, seeing the psychics — now people more powerful than she — all drooped, exhausted. She thought to cry again, but it wouldn't come; not for lack of feeling the sentiment, just that her eyes didn't want to do it. She hadn't been all that much of a crier before becoming a were. Before all the stress and ambition and chaos of being a were, of being a host to her particular nightmare of a were.

She nodded her head yes to him. "Yes." It worked. Asha was cold, weak, feeling the kind of lightheaded wispiness that could come with feeling hungry, despite no hunger present. Asha could not take on a vampire, or tussle with a supernatural animal, or crush through skulls with her jaws. She could not try to cross a room in the blink of an eye, or lift many times her weight. Just the thought tired her. How many years had that been her normal, only to wake up and be the human she'd always been before that again?

There was no hate within herself. Nothing... telling her she'd done something wrong. It was just herself.

This realization kept mounting over and over, waves on a shore or a crescendo of symphony. It was just herself, no burning need to be with others of her "kind", and it wasn't a bad thing. It wasn't a bad thing at all.

She fought to exit the feeling, to be consciously grateful. There were three people on her floor who had just been through a hell of fear and struggle. She'd always been a good host. "You guys. Can I get... something? Anything for you? Or. If you wanna. Stay over, rest, I don't mind."

Who was going to guilt her into feeling that she couldn't have guests over? Who was going to snarl and salivate at the idea of turning them into monsters like herself?

No one. It was just her.

Ari took a moment, blinking and dizzy as heck as her heart just ached in her chest but the sense of accomplishment rested on their shoulders. It seriously did feel good to do something like this with their abilities. To be able to help someone who had desired nothing more than to be free of the beast that held onto them.

Freedom. Asha had her freedom and it felt damn good to help- even if her body felt like it was run over by an ice truck.

"I know...I would deeply...a-a-a-ppppriciate i-i-it," she said through teeth chatters.

"Y-you...o-h-oh-okay?" Ariadne managed to ask through the shivering chatters, wanting to check on her. She knew she and her pact mates were feeling it but they made it out the other side together again.

From his position on the floor, Zachary turned his head earning a new crick in his neck for posterity.

"Might take you up on that." He half slurred, but there was an edge of a smile in appreciation to show cognitive function was at least happening behind glazed eyes.

"Worked?" Zachary tacked on after Ariadne.

Asha looked...good. For someone who just had a part of them crushed and silenced for hopefully the rest of her life.

A nod was given and he provided a small smile in return, but feeling incredibly happy for her. Though as he watched her mouth move his stomach sank. It wasn’t as bad as last time as Finn could definitely understand what was being said, but it took a moment for him to process it. But then, whole streams of words came and he gave up trying to track every single one except for a few here and there. At the moment, it was easier for him to just fill in the blanks with a best guess based on context. Maybe, this go round it was more that wires of communication had become exhausted at focusing so hard on that type he used with animals and shifter animals draining in a very different way.

Rest though sounded nice. He dreaded having to pick himself off the floor, much more so, having to somehow get home. Finn gave a nod in agreement, albeit more delayed than the others responses.

God, poor Ari- Ariadne was her name, right? She was having a cold time. Honestly, Asha could do with turning the heat up a bit more herself, but after feeling like part of her had been frozen back in there this was far more tolerable.

She nodded to Zachary. "It did- it's... quiet in my head, suddenly, in a way I haven't felt in so- years. And also in my..." Veins? Did that make sense to say? It was quiet in her veins? It felt like it was so strange to share that. It was hard to explain what it meant, exactly.

"...everything, honestly. Um, let me get you guys some more blankets and pillows."

Poor Finn hadn't said anything aloud, but she hoped he was okay too. Asha pushed herself up, feeling a little trembly now that she had to do that, but steadying herself.

How strange it was to have human strength now, not the supernatural strength she'd long taken for granted. Ambling to the temperature control, she brought it up to a more comfortable 78°.

Then, the next thing. Getting those things for them. She returned soon enough, arms loaded with three of each, and passed them around.

Ari smiled, shivering but smiling some hearing that things felt absolutely normal; human normal for Asha.

They did it and she was able to get her peace now; it was honestly a nice little check mark in the book of things in her opinion. She imagined they were all going to feel like slugs for a while but seeing that relieved look? She'd do it again.

"Thank you, " she told her, grateful for a place to just crash and rest for a while now after that brain work out.

Zachary used half of his remaining energy to shoot a wobbly first into the air.

"Yay." Celebrating both their success and the promise of pillows.

His limbs felt like jello but at least he could feel them. A power nap was probably in order although he felt weird doing so in Asha's living room. But when a blanket was settled nearby and he managed to turtle his way to a pillow, Zachary no longer cared for manners and decorum.

"Don't worry about us too much. This is normal." He said with heavy eyelids. Sleep time.