{"sf1_id":812739,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Waning of the Raining of the Storm","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":3335,"posted_at":"2015-01-28T20:45:00.000Z","tags":["Feral","Human","Hunting","Plot Development","Rage","Story Progression","Transformation","Werewolf","anger"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/812739-the-waning-of-the-raining-of-the-storm","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/812739","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=812739\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#90 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nI hope I got this chapter straight. If not, point out any mistakes and I'll correct them. Today has not been the best day for me, so my editing has been cursory.","content":"            He arrived in the open meadow, sniffing\nintently to try and find a scent to follow. Even his enhanced olfactory ability\nwas hard put to find the proper molecules to stimulate his nose. He searched\nthe grounds, sniffing back and forth until he found a smell that he recognized.\nHis hair stood on end.He turned and race off, heedless of\nthe pouring rain as it came down in sheets, driven into a climatic frenzy by\nthe storm. He ran to the edge of a ravine, sniffed the air and turned to chase\nafter the scent. His mind was only dimly aware of what he was doing, but the\nconnection between the scent and his quarry matched up in his head. He knew\nthat when he found the source of the odor he would find the one thing he was\nlooking for.The Kindred were all huddled\ntogether, hardly bothered by the storm. The Atlantic coast was often hit by\nsevere storms, common holdovers from hurricanes brewed in the Caribbean.  Leeds himself was still in his feral form,\nignoring the rain as he worked to lessen his pain. The chemicals he had already\nhealed from, but the loss of his child would stay with him until the end of his\ndays.The storm howled and raged, not\nunlike another party who was out in it at the moment, searching with a ken nose\nset to finding someone to whom he could pay his respects. No one had any\ninkling that this fellow was now completely out of his head, for if they had,\nthey might have realized that he was now more dangerous than at any other time\nin his brief existence as a werewolf.Somewhere else in the storm, a\ngroup of wolves was trying desperately to get back to their compound. Their\nleader called them to a halt, taking refuge under an overhang of rock.  They were wet and miserable, but then, rain\nwasn't the worst thing they might have to deal with. Lightning and thunder\nmight rattle the nerves, but they had just seen things only hinted at by the\ntales passed down through generations of the wolf kind. They had a shared,\ninherent understanding that there were things out in the world far greater than\nthey were, and those things where not mere humans. Humans were a different set\nof problems altogether.Back in the human city of Pittsburgh,\nBilly was pacing the floor. \"I don't like it. He shouldn't keep\nrunning off like this. It's stupid. I know he's young when it comes to being\none of the Kind, but it's still an irresponsible thing to do.\"Edward's father shook his head. \"We\ntried so hard to let him have a normal life. When he got into the accident, we\nknew what had happened to his lucky coin. We thought that it might harm him,\nbut when he didn't react, we felt it might be just the thing to prevent him\nfrom ever changing. We were right.\"Billie smashed his fist into the\nwall. \"Yeah, about that. Why did you think you would know enough about it to\nallow that little chunk of metal to hinder his natural being?\"No offense was taken. \"We knew that\nthere were forces after us. From what you've told us these forces to a partial\ndegree have been eliminated. We wanted Edward to survive, and after his\ngrandparents were murdered, we knew we were in trouble. So we burned down our\nown house and disappeared from the sight of most mortals. We felt bad; losing\nhim like that nearly broke our heart, but there seemed to be little else we\ncould do.\"Marcus nodded, understanding their\npredicament better than most. \"I think he has turned out fine, assuming he\nmakes it through this rough spot. His heart seems pretty much entwined with\nthis Maggie girl's, and her loss will fall hard on him.\"Edward's mother was still wiping\naway tears. \"He's too young to be getting serious.\"Kathryn nearly choked. \"He's too\nyoung?! What about my little girl? Doesn't anyone think she was too young?\"\"Yes dear and we are terribly sorry\nwe couldn't have been more successful in preventing this tragedy. But we did\nour best to lie low and not attract the attention of those who pursued us.\"Billie slapped his fist into his\nhand. \"This has gone on long enough! Eddie wanted us to live like normal\npeople. His rings have made that possible. Now, either you can all sit here and\ntalk about how this happened or that happened, or you can get your asses off of\nthose cushions and we can go back out there and back him up.\"Leonardo was still keeping a low\nprofile, not wishing to stir up more trouble than his presence seemed to\ninstigate. This wasn't his time period, and this country wasn't his either. But\nhe did have opinions on this matter. He might not fully know Edward's family\nline, for in his time they didn't quite exist as they did later on, but he knew\nEdward.\"Excuse me.\"\"Yes?\"He cleared his throat. \"Edward is\nmore than capable of handling himself right now. I would suggest we stay out of\nhis way, or else we might get drawn into a matter that is beyond our control. I\nhave seen him at his worse, or at least I hope it was his worse. If he has gone\nto seek revenge for her death, then getting in his way even in an attempt to\nhelp him is a fool's errand.\"Edward's parents were still not up\nto speed on everything that had happened to their son, including the important\nfact that he had the same metal as the special rings riding around inside his\nhead. They were aware of the nature of the ring, but not who had created it (or\nthem in general) and that the gentleman talking to them now was really the one\nand only Leonardo da Vinci. He was wise enough to not try to press that point\njust yet. There were some things that needed time to sink in before going on to\nmore unbelievable topics.\"But are you sure he can survive\nagainst this foe? Of all the things I could possibly imagine pursuing me, that\ncreature is not one that I would wish even on my worst enemy.\"\"He can survive anything.\"\"Are you sure he can survive\nanything? That's an awfully general statement.\" Billie was listening and as\nunusual, was unable to follow the master's words. But he could figure out what\nwas being said. \"Eddie is tough, but the one thing that metal will not protect\nhim from is a broken heart.\"\"This is all too true. I did not\nexpect him to react so strongly. I guess it can be safely said that I never\nlost my heart in such a manner. I don't know whether to envy him or pity him.\"That bit was relayed to Billie. \"I\nsay that you should do neither. He needs our help. I don't think that we need\nto get into the details of why.\"\"But son, what can we do? Those\ncreatures make us look almost normal!\"\"I don't know pop, but what else\nare we going to do? The same thing you\nalways do? We can't always weather the storms. One of these days we will have\nto get up and fight for what is ours or else just lay there and get\nsteamrollered. I for one would rather die than live like this. Eddie knew that,\neven if his method for going about fixing it was foolish. It can't be helped\nthat Maggie was equally foolish. Both of them still had a lot of learning to\ndo.\"Maria stood. \"I agree. I am too old\nto care about what the world views me as. If we must return and fight a proper\nfight, then I say we do it.\"There were a few words of dissent spoken\nand the house erupted back into intense arguing.Edward was tearing up the ground\nsearching for his quarry. Time and again he had to backtrack, searching out the\nscent and retracing his steps until he found the trail again. The rain was\nworking to effectively remove any evidence, both spore and scent, and he was growing\nmore frustrated as time wore on. If he had been thinking logically, then his\nbrain would have easily figured out the direction the group had gone. But he\nwas presently blinded by feral fury and unredeemable rage. His howls competed with the thunder\nfor which of the two was the loudest.                Several\ntrees fell to the gorund, victim to the combined fury of two storm fronts; one\nnatural and the other a bit more supernatural. The poor werewolf was torn\nbetween what he knew he should be doing and what he had been doing. His mind\nwas mixed up for the moment and all he wanted to do was search, locate, and\ndestroy. And yet, even the last part was muddled. Destroy what?                His\nmind remembered the winged creature. He could see it clearly. He could tear the\nwings from it and shred the rest. But would it help? He shook his head in rage.\nHe couldn't remember why he was even after this thing. Had it harmed him in\nsome way? His body was intact, so that couldn't be it.. It was all too\nconfusing. He remembered mating in a woods like this, only not like this. He\nremembered...he remembered... He roared in rage. His memories were faulty;\nspotty; incomplete.                His\nnose caught the barest of scents. With a howl he was off, barreling though the\nwilderness past isolated houses and through the back yards of posh suburban\nhomes. In his wake he left dogs barking and security lights flashing as his\nsinuously agile bulk tore up the miles. If nothing else, he was going to expend\nhis anger in his movements, which were so fast even a helicopter would have had\ntrouble keeping him in sight.                 Anna\nwas rubbing her hand over a healed wound, partially thankful for being alive.\nHer gratitude was diminished by the fact that her granddaughter was now gone.\nShe had focused on preserving her family line as best as she was able, but in\nthe end she had been unsuccessful. Maggie was dead. Now these others talked of\ngoing back. It was sheer madness. This Edward fellow could go off and fight his\nown battles and leave them out of it. She said as much.                That\nbrewed more dissent.                Alexei\nwas quick to point out those things he thought should be obvious. \"Look sister,\nyour daughter would still be lying in bed in a coma if it weren't for him. He\nis not at fault here. She took it upon herself to drink poison, and she did so\nwithout contemplating what it would do to the rest of us. Edward is probably\nhalf mad with grief, for this isn't the first time he has lost her. Those two\nhave been in plenty of scrapes, and one way or another they came out of them\nintact. But everyone has a breaking point. I fear that if left to his own devices,\nhe'll revert to being nothing more than a mindless brute. It's in his nature,\nand he has alluded to this before.\"                \"But\nthat is not my problem. Let him go take his battles as far from here as he can.\nI for one wish that I had never been bitten nor removed from my grave. Damn\nGregori! My hopes were on Maggie. Now my hopes are gone.\"                Billie\nstarted to say something but Leonardo placed his hand on the biker's hairy arm.                \"Let it go. There is great anger in the air\nright now. Edward will come to no harm, not even from your arsenal of mighty\nweapons. I think he has only one thing on his mind right now, and it would be\nbest to allow him to carry through with it. As much as it may chafe you to do\nthis, I think that we must all stay here.\"                \"If you say so old man. I\ndon't like sitting out during a fight.\"                \"But this fight is no longer yours. It is\nEdward's and in the end, he will either come through it triumphant, or there\nwill be hell on Earth like your people have never ever seen. I have faith in\nhim. He has qualities that even he has yet to discover. If his love for the\ngirl was true, then the phrase love conquers all will prevail.\"                \"Love\nhas a way of turning sour. The girl snubbed him in the end.\"                \"And you judge this as something less than\nlove? I for one will not comment on it. There are too many variables to the\nhuman heart. I would like to think she did what she had to.\"                Billie\ngrowled a little. \"You know, you can be sort of cold and calculating at times.\"                \"Emotion will get you only so far my friend.\nYou should know that. All I am saying is that Edward must do what he feels he\nneeds to do. I for one would not consider trying to stop him. Would you?\"                \"No.\nHe's way too massive when he's ticked off.\"                \"Correct. So for now, at least until this\nstorm abates, there is little we can do except drink, sleep and pray that the\nalmighty has compassion on his soul.\"                Edward\nhad no soul. Not at the moment. Theologians say that animals don't have them,\nand anything human inside him was deeply suppressed at the moment. In his rage,\nhis form needed no moral compass with which to guide his actions. Once he found\nhis target, he would salve the deep pain inside with blood.                The\nrain was slowing, easing up on the relentless downpour that had been carpeting\nthe region for hours. Even back at the ravine, the chemical solution of silver\nnitrate had been diluted to the point that it wasn't concentrated enough to be\ntoxic to anything. It ran in rivulets down the side of the embankment. The\npuffy ashen form at the bottom had all but washed away, leaving just a hint of\ncharred sticks and leaves plastered on the ground. It was as good a way of\ndissolving back into the earth as any. Nature found many ways of reclaiming its\nown.                Under\nan overhang there stood, wet and miserable, a pack of wolves still hoping to\nget back to their pens before morning. It wasn't likely to happen, and only a\nfew of the wiser ones really shared that concern. After all, what would the\nhumans do? Lock them up again? It's what humans did. In the end they, the\nwolves, would still be fed every day, watered every day, and they would have\nthe limited freedom they always had. The humans would be left like the last\ntime, scratching their heads and wondering how this had happened.                A few members\nof the pack ranged outside of the safety of the outcrop. They might have been\nraised in pens, but their natural instincts still held sway. Protection of the\nwhole was paramount to their personal, individual safety. Unlike their normal\nmethod, they were now searching the skies, such as they could. The storm had lessened\nbut still rain came down in sufficient quantities to make their vigilance to\nthe treetops difficult.                Edward\ntoo kept his eyes upward, knowing in the back of his mind that these woods were\nhome to something almost as formidable as him. From time to time, when the\nmassive oak, cottonwood or elm made an appearance in his path, he clawed his\nway up to the top to search the horizon for winged creatures. It didn't occurred\nto his clouded brain that they could just as easily be on the ground in human\nform. Humans didn't strike his brain as being particularly dangerous.                When he\nfound nothing in the canopy, he returned to plowing along on the ground,\nsniffing and searching the forest floor for the slowly fading scents that would\nlead him to his quarry. The big problem was, he was getting multiple faint smells\nand was unable to isolate the one he wanted. If he had been operating with his\nfull brain, he would have come to the conclusion that where one was, the rest\nwould most likely be.                He\nresumed his search, going from ground to treetop in a concerted effort to\nlocate his target. He forgot how some of the weres could alter their smell. It\nhad happened to him in the past. But those memories belonged to a mind that was\nmore rational than his present one. Leeds was no different than any other, if\nthat individual had mastered all of the nuances of having multiple forms. It\nwas part of the reason their kind was so hard to find, rarely encountered or\nrecognized for what they were.                There were\nstirrings among the Kindred, for the loss of their own was a great to them as\nit was to the normal werewolf clan members. A few took to the air, more than\nhappy to do battle with the winds as the storm beat down. It was times like\nthis when no one would see them, and even if they did, the ill weather would\nmake them question the accuracy of their eyes.  Lightning could make even the most innocuous\nof shapes seem sinister.                And so\nit was that there was a mix of creatures out there in the woods again, even\nafter a battle that had killed one and maimed others had been birthed and then\nended. One way or another, someone was going to find someone else. The end\nresult was likely to be catastrophic, depending on who met who and where.                The\nwolves were preparing to move out from under their shelter. Their part in all\nthis had been minor, to the point that a few of them openly complained at being\npulled away for such a foolish errand. Their superiors hushed them, and the lone\nAlpha female among them didn't even spare them a glance. They had done what was\nexpected of them and they had suffered no causalities. There were worse ways to\ncome out of a confrontation like that.                But\nthat feeling fled when one of the scouts came racing back to the group.                \"Intruder!\"\nshe panted out as much as her heaving breath allowed her.                \"Air or\nground?\"                \"We\nheard it in the trees. The wind has shifted so we didn't catch a scent. But whatever\nit is, I think it means trouble for us.\"                \"Alright,\nlet's get a move on it then. I doubt we'll outrun those freaks with wings, but\nwe'll put as much space between us and it.\"                The\nAlpha had hardly gotten that thought out when a great crashing disrupted the\npack. Brush was thrown aside as a hulking form erupted into the small glen\nwhere they had sought shelter. The great hulking feral was panting heavily and\nsniffing the air. He looked from one to another of the wolves, apparently\nlooking for wings. He sniffed again, and then again. He shook his head in a\ndazed manner.                He went\nfrom one to another of the wolves, sniffing them in an ever more exited manner.\nSomewhere in his head he remembered them from before. They had been fun! He remembered\nthat! They had been fun! He liked their kind of fun almost as much as he liked\nfighting. He liked to fight too, but these weren't the enemy. They were\ndifferent!                He avidly\nsniffed one after another, getting greeted with many a submissive lowering of\nthe head and shoulders. But one wolf did not greet him in such a manner. He sniffed\nit and it bit him! He wasn't angry, but he was surprised. He stood back and\nlooked at it with an appraising eye. He seemed to remember something familiar about\nit.                The\nwolf morphed and stood on two legs.   \"God dammit Edward!\""}