Speechless and with her mouth agape the woman now holding a handful of beast mustered up the nerve to actually take a long look at her partner.

Her size wasn't even the biggest change, and that's what bothered Hara the most.

If she had to make a comparison, then she would say that the transformation, maybe even evolution, was like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly.

As said before, Lyth had undergone a change in size, from being as tall as a glass of water to becoming as big as her forearm, her wings were now transparent but stained in a purple sheen, her colouration had gotten darker than before, the light blue disappearing completely from her body with the dark blue overtaking most of the body, except her eyes that had a cyan colour and unnatural glow.

Her sickles had taken on a dark blue colour with a metallic sheen, the too glowed in a dim and unnatural light, as did the feelers on top of her head.

Underneath the moonlight and shrouded in the darkness of the light, Hara thought that Lyth resembled a glowing flower in the night, attracting animals in the night to her with her glowing eyes that took the attention away from her deadly blade like arms.

"Oh god..." Hara breathed if this is what every beast could turn into, then did humanity even have a chance?

Once again the woman was violently reminded that contracts with beasts were the only chance they had at making it.

Lyth, feeling her every emotion, shrank away under the negativity her master and partner emitted in droves, prompting Hara to snap out of her fear filled daze and look at her partner again.

She too flinched as she realized that she had begun to scare her partner.

She pleaded to Lyth.

Intelligent being or not, Lyth was still a beast, a young beast at that, and feeling the bad reaction to her evolution her partner showed, she fell into a single track thought.

"Lyth, Lyth, you did nothing wrong, I'm afraid, alright." She said and Lyth snapped her head around to look for the source of fear her partner had spoken of before she froze again and looked at her sickles gleaming under the moonlight.

Foreign and new as it was, Hara still did her best to explain in emotions, instead of words, and it seemed to do the trick as her beast stopped looking down at herself in mute horror.

The beast asked with hesitation and wavering emotions.

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She assured her partner and the mantis beast burrowed itself in her arms, unwilling to leave.

Hara sagged a bit as she cleared the unfortunate misunderstanding up, she was content to just relax in the grass, surrounded by the noise of the animals and beasts around them as she held her dear partner close.

Hara apologized and she felt the acceptance and love wash over her in waves as Lyth recovered from the scare, her thoughts clearing and untangling from the fear filled mess it had been.

Maybe someone else would have been too proud to apologize, but Hara had no use for pride if it meant being alone.

______

"Alright Lyth, c'mon, we're going home, I'm tired, you're tired, we're all tired." Hara rambled softly as she stood up, the plush-sized beast happy within her embrace.

The forester felt a wave of guilt wash over her and cringed as she went down the mountain and climbed on her bike.

Lyth sent a wave of assurance over and settled in her lap, staying on the bike not a problem after her evolution.

Hara looked down at the blue beast in her lap and gave a soft smile, she didn't know what god owed her, for her to have gotten such a perfect partner, but she would consider the debt settled if someone or something out there did owe her a debt.

It was dark and the lanterns on the street were flickering as moths, both beastly and not, flew around them, they illuminated the way as the woman rode down her street.

It was late, likely midnight already, and there was scarcely anyone out, except the rare hunter or fisher that hurried home after a long day.

Most windows were shut tight and the doors were locked shut, the streets were clean and empty, and the stars visible in the sky, glittering as if gossiping about the beings underneath them.

Hara rode quietly and swiftly, arriving at her humble abode.

She threw her shoes off as she stepped inside and marched up to her bedroom, clicking the bedside lamp on and flopping down onto her back once unclothed.

Her bed was cool and soft, the window tilted to let fresh air in, the bug net safely secured around the window.

Lyth had taken the "plushy" comment to heart as she didn't move after her mistress had thrown herself on the large bed.

Hara attached her phone to the charging cord and browsed her phone, Lyth watching the screen change as Hara switched through apps and checked up on unread messages and prompts.

One message caught the forester's eye as she scrolled through, it was from the Chief.

________

-Hello everyone, -

The shipments planned for this week are delayed and will, hopefully, arrive tomorrow at noon, please be ready for the new equipment and wares that are supposed to arrive.

______

Ah, thought Hara as she read the message again, she had wondered where the shipments had gone, she wondered if she would be called to help unload tomorrow, as a few things for the Emerald forest were supposed to be among the new shipment.

Just as the woman was debating the solved mystery of the missing shipments, her phone rang with an unknown number.

The woman rose a brow and answered, knowing that sometimes her number would be given out if the business involved the Emerald forest.

"Hello? Hara Lycal here?" She answered the call.

"I'm sorry for the late call, I'm Soffrey Cliff from Merca Corp, due to a major roadblock on lane 5 we can't come to Ignota to deliver the orders." A male voice echoed through the phone and Hara shot up in bed, Lyth falling off due to the hasty motion.

"Roadblock? What roadblock?" Hara asked, scrambling out of bed, now wide awake and with dread settling in her gut.

"There's a large tree that was felled in a mudslide, we can't move with our large trucks."

"Lane 7 should be free and ready for traffic." She said.

"Our trucks don't fit on the small road of lane 7." He informed her and Hara finally noticed something important.

[Trucks] - plural.

Not [Truck], singular.

"Excuse me, trucks? There was supposed to be only one coming?" She inquired and listened closely.

"Yes, due to the resurgence of beasts, the deliveries for Ignota were pushed forward due to the many rush orders coming in, the stock needed to be delivered to make room for more." He answered her truthfully and the woman paled, this was bad.