"The Beast Tide is over, we need- Andrew!" Zelda exclaimed as she dashed into the cabin, coming up short as she saw him sitting on the couch with the others. "How di-" Her eyes widened as she caught sight of Arose, falling to one knee. "Lord Arose!"

"No need for any of that." Arose waved dismissively. "I'm just here to check on my grandson."

Zelda looked up sharply. "Gra- Andrew is your grandson?!?"

"Indeed. Can't you see the charming resemblance?" Arose grinned.

Zelda looked between Arose and Andrew, obviously not seeing what Arose was talking about but too nervous to disagree. "A-ah, I see… uh, Andrew, you- how did you survive?"

"I don't know." Andrew replied yet again, shaking his head. He'd been thinking about it the entire time they'd been waiting here, but he didn't have any more answers.

Zelda frowned. "You don't know?!? How? Why?"

"I. Don't. Know!" Andrew reiterated, slowly.

"You-" Zelda began, before pausing and taking a deep breath. "You know what, nevermind. I'm just glad you're alive."

"Yeah, me too." Andrew nodded.

"Yes, well, seeing as that is the case, I believe it is time for me to take my leave. Girls, it's been a pleasure meeting you. Andrew, do try to remain safe for the rest of the hunting trip." Arose stood to his feet, saying his goodbyes as he headed out, leaving the team alone.

"Right, yes, it's late. You should all get to sleep. We'll take tomorrow off, and get back to hunting the day after." Zelda nodded, letting out a relieved sigh as Arose left, a tension she didn't even know was there releasing. Interacting with such a powerful being was nerve wracking.

Karen and Susie nodded, heading off to their own rooms along with Zelda, but Andrew ran into a minor issue. Li Jing was still latched onto his arm. "Uh, Jing, shouldn't we be getting to bed?"

"Yes." Li Jing nodded.

"Right, so, don't you think it's about time you let me go?" Andrew continued.

"No." Li Jing shook her head.

"Okay, so-" Andrew paused. "Uh, did you say no?"

"Yes." Li Jing nodded.

Andrew frowned. "Jing, we can't go to bed until you let me go."

"I know." Li Jing replied in a quiet voice. "But I can't."

"Jing, you- why?" Andrew asked, confused.

Li Jing hesitated for a moment. "You almost died. Maybe- maybe you should have died. What if- what if next time you do. I don't- I can't-" Her grip tightened, her emotions boiling within her, full of fear, worry, and possessiveness. "I don't want to lose you." She finished in a hoarse whisper.

Andrew's mind blanked for a moment. Li Jing liked him? She liked him? How- why- all he'd done is fuck things up! He saw her naked, projected his depression at her, made fun of her marshmallows… The only thing he really had going for him was that he and Li Mei did work well together, but- Andrew's line of thought cut out as he suddenly realized he was kissing Li Jing, a muffled yelp coming from her as he squeezed a bit too tightly. He immediately pulled back. "S-sorry! I-I shouldn't have-" Why- why had he kissed her?!? What could possibly have possessed him to make him think that was- Andrew froze as suddenly Li Jing was in his lap, kissing him. His arms instinctively wrapped around her, pulling her close, when he stopped, locking his arms. He couldn't let himself lose control here. He was too strong, and if he ended up hurting her… he'd never forgive himself. Andrew was stuck between two parts of himself, the one that wanted to just devour Li Jing, and the one that couldn't let himself hurt her. Motions would start, then stop a moment later, he had no idea what to do with his tongue, and the overall experience made him feel awkward as hell.

Li Jing pulled away, flushing deeply. "I-I'm not very good at this." She muttered in embarrassment, obviously feeling the awkwardness as well.

Andrew shook his head. "It isn't you, it's me. I- I can't- Jing, do you know how strong I am?" He asked, frustration creeping into his tone. "If- I want to just be in the moment, but- I can't lose control. If I lose control… I don't want to hurt you." He muttered in defeat. If kissing was this bad, what would sex be like? Would it even be possible? He'd just- he'd end up crushing her!

Li Jing's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh."

Andrew sighed. "I'm sorry. I just- I can't-"

"We'll practice." Li Jing interrupted him. "We'll get better."

Andrew shook his head. "I don't think it's that simple."

"It is." Li Jing replied firmly. "You walk fine, shake hands, give hugs, right?" Andrew nodded hesitantly. "Same thing. You'll get used to it. With practice." She blinked as she realized what she was saying, before flushing in embarrassment. "If-If you want to…"

Andrew felt a smile tug at his lips. "I would love to." He replied quietly.

Li Jing smiled back, hugging him tightly, before pulling away with a frown. "What- what will we do when this is over?"

Andrew frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The hunting trip. We'll be going home. Me to China, you to America… when will we see each other?" She asked, biting her lip nervously.

Andrew frowned, before an idea occurred to him. "What about the City? We can always meet there, right? It has plenty of places for us to go, we don't have to travel very far… the only issue would be time… but we could go off City time, right? At least for the summer. Once school starts… We can figure something out then."

Li Jing nodded slowly. "That could work…" Li Jing paused. "When?"

"Uh… well, when are you free?" Andrew asked.

"Any time." Li Jing replied.

"Right… then, how about the weekend after the hunting trip? We can tour the City, visit the Clan strongholds, stuff like that." Andrew offered.

Li Jing's eyes sparkled. "That sounds nice."

"Alright, cool. So, Saturday morning, say ten AM, City time?" Andrew elaborated.

"It's a date." Li Jing grinned, before flushing as a surge of embarrassment went through her, realizing that yes, it was a date. "I-I should probably get to bed. I'll- I'll see you tomorrow?"

Andrew smirked. "Do you have any other choice?" He asked, enjoying the mix of embarrassment and excitement coming off her.

*

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"This is too dangerous." The Tiger growled. "What if we hurt her?"

"What if we hurt her?" The Human grimaced. "We can practice being gentle, but… can we really change who we are? Can she really accept us once she learns who- what we are?"

"We don't have to tell her…" The Monkey commented.

"We are not jeopardizing a potential mate with your melodrama!" The Lizard growled, looking between the Human and the Tiger. "An opportunity like this falls into our lap, and you want to just throw it away?!? Are you crazy?!? We like her, she likes us! Don't make problems where they don't exist!"

"She deserves to know the truth!" The Tiger retorted.

"We can't base a relationship on lies and expect it to last." The Human agreed.

"Ugh, I don't care about the relationship! I just want to fuck!" The Lizard groaned.

"We are not just using Li Jing for sex!" The Monkey slammed the table angrily.

"Never." The Tiger growled.

"No." The Human agreed firmly.

"Fine!" The Lizard relented. "But we aren't just going to blab it out either! We'll tell her at the right time, not dump all our problems on her during the first date!"

*

Andrew woke with a gasp. What was that? Why was he seeing visions of these creatures arguing? Why- why were they all him? Andrew hesitated for a moment, before sitting up and getting into a meditation pose. He needed to figure this out. He took a deep breath, and turned his gaze inward, searching. At first he just saw darkness, a void of his own thoughts, but slowly something else began to appear. Not through any of his normal senses, but through his aura. As he delved into his own aura, he found four different cores in the center, each emitting a unique aura which mixed with the others to make up the rest of his aura. Three of them were practically one, pressing against each other so closely that Andrew almost thought they were one. The only thing that tipped him off was that he knew there had to be four, and once he looked hard enough, he could discern clear differences in each section. As for the forth, it had sort of attached itself to the other three, slowly working its way inside, trying to meld as tightly as the other three.

Andrew frowned as he studied the cores. Was this where those creatures met? He carefully tried to push himself into the cores, attempting to see what lied in the center. Suddenly, as he pushed, the cores burst apart separating! Andrew gasped as four distinctly different trains of thought suddenly flashed through his head, a brief glimpse of the four different creatures all sitting at their own individual tables, before the cores merged again and he returned to normal. Andrew slowly collected himself, breathing deeply, before turning his attention back to the core. Hesitantly, he gripped the fourth core and tugged, separating it from the others. Suddenly he had two streams of thought: one seemingly normal, while the other was distinctly Lizard. All its focus was on primal urges, with little to no regard for the consequences. Andrew quickly let the core return to the rest, his thoughts returning to normal again.

Andrew opened his eyes with a complicated expression. He wasn't sure what to make of all this. It sort of looked like he'd stolen the Lizards core, which had killed him, but… the core was still distinctly Andrew. Sure, it was a more violent, primal side of him, one which was more affected by his base desires, but it was still him. They still had the same values, the same likes and dislikes. It simply changed how he interpreted and experienced them. Even before the Lizard came along, Andrew couldn't deny that there was a part of him that just wanted sex and didn't care how he got it. A part of him that just wanted to let loose and rip into the people around him, doing whatever he wanted and damn the consequences. The Lizard was just that, brought to the fore, instead of repressed and ignored. Andrew paused. Maybe those visions were just his subconscious, trying to process the new perspective? Trying to see how it fit with the others? Where it helped, where it hurt? To see how much it really changed him?

Andrew paused. It had changed him, hadn't it? He never would have kissed Li Jing without it. He never would have been that bold, never would have even considered the idea she might actually like him. He was so used to feeling like a reject, someone everyone kept at arm's length, but… his Lizard self didn't care. He knew what he wanted and he was going for it. Once Li Jing had dropped enough hints, there was no more stopping him, and Andrew wasn't even sure if he wanted to be stopped. He liked Li Jing. He wanted to kiss her. He just would have been too afraid to actually do it. If he thought about it like that, then didn't the Lizard let him be more like himself? His true self, that wasn't hidden behind years of isolation and restricting himself. It was something to think about.

*

An airblast sent Andrew shooting towards the ground, talons at the ready as he fell upon an unsuspecting Beast. He couldn't help but smile as his talons tore through flesh, leaving ragged red lines across the Beast's skin. He vaguely noticed Li Mei/Jing flashing in to snap at the Beast, but he was too lost in the rush! Claws digging through flesh, kicks bursting organs, dodging the wild, untrained blows as he toyed with his prey. This was what he built for! Not going to school, pretending to be human, pretending to be weak! He was built to fight! To kill! To do whatever it takes to keep the people of Earth safe! Or at least keep himself entertained… Andrew chuckled slightly as a blast of air sent him over the Beast's desperate swipe, before another propelled him back down, adding power to his swipe as his talons dug into the Beast's skull, tearing half its face off in a spray of blood.

Andrew clicked his tongue as the Beast fell dead, looking down at his clothing. "Yet another stain… I think these clothes are officially ruined. What do you think?" Andrew asked, turning to Li Mei/Jing.

"I think those clothes need to burn, and you need several showers." She chuckled, wrinkling her snout.

Andrew grinned back, as he dug the crystal out of the Beast, shoving it into his backpack. After the first week of hunting, Francesca declared that they were strong enough to hunt on their own, giving them free reign to do what they like for the second week. Li Jing and Andrew decided to keep hunting together, while the other two split off. Andrew honestly would have been fine hunting on his own, but after the Beast Tide, no one was letting him go out on his own. He wasn't even allowed to get more than ten miles away from the base camp! He and Li Jing were stuck hunting the smaller, weaker Beasts, slowing their growth to a crawl. Still, they got to hang out every day and practice kissing every night, so Andrew wasn't going to complain. It wasn't like he was in any sort of hurry, right?

"So, any thoughts on potential mutations you think might be interesting?" Andrew asked as they walked, feeling less like they were on a hunt, and more like a nice hike in the woods, with the occasional violent murder to spice things up.

"Deer." Li Mei/Jing replied. "It's always the first one Dragons go for. It lets us focus our water into a beam, making it a lot more powerful. It also has a chance of giving us the ability to shoot water from any part of our body, rather than just the mouth."

Andrew nodded. It was a good option. Deer had the ability to shoot lasers from any part of their body. It wasn't the strongest ability, mostly causing light burns until it got more powerful and mutated a bit, but its use for mutation was undeniable. It added precision and focus to any ability. If he used it, his territory would gain the ability to bend light, focusing it on a single area for a powerful attack, or dispersing it to make something invisible. For his Emotion ability, he'd be able to target specific emotions and cut them out… not the most ethical ability, but useful if you wanted to deaden a Beast's reaction before you ambushed it. Thankfully it only cut emotions that were currently being felt, not damaging the target's ability to feel that emotion at all… that was a different mutation. As for his air ability, he'd probably get something similar to what Li Mei/Jing would get, the ability to condense his air blasts into a beam. He could already create air blasts anywhere though, so he wouldn't need that part.

Andrew paused as he thought of something. "Do you think mutations would affect all my abilities, or just one?" Li Mei/Jing thought about it for a moment, before shrugging, an interesting motion on a Dragon. "Well crap… how do you think I'd figure that out?"

"Go for a mutation. Duh." She replied.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Besides that! What if I mutate the wrong ability or something?"

She paused. "Talk to an Elder?"

Andrew grimaced. "They're never any help… all they do is say 'Huh, that's weird' and then leave me to deal with it! I mean, yeah, my shit is weird, but they could at least do something right?"

"That's for your transformation. This is about abilities. Literally what they're there for." Li Mei/Jing pointed out.

"I suppose." Andrew grumbled. He knew she was probably right, but he was tired of looking for answers and only ending up with more questions. Still, the Elders were there to help people with ability planning. Maybe talking to Elder Barry wouldn't be the worst idea.