[PRP] From Wild Waters (Calder/Christof/Barth)

[MoonKitsune]

((For timeline purposes, this will be happening after the beach trip since I want it to be fun.))

Calder had a serious matter that had been troubling him for some time. Try as he might, he simply could not push himself enough to shifting into his final form. This was greatly distressing for the monster, seeing as he was an adult now and would be graduating this year. He had to push himself harder, and there just wasn't much else he could think of doing that he hadn't already tried. Unfortunately, he had no other friends who could sympathize with this problem. Either they didn't have natural forms, or they had just one they already mastered. It was complex, but then Calder remembered a very old tradition among his kind.

And that was why he called up both Barth and Christof to grab their vehicles to help him. Barth because he was sure the demon wouldn't want to be left in the dark, and Christof because he was the only person he trusted to touch his reign. Even asking this favor bothered him, as he didn't like being demanding like this and asking favors, but he was at his wit's end.

Standing in the garage so that everyone could get into their vehicles, Calder breathed out.

"I need to go to The Maw. I can't think of any other way to push myself enough to get me to change. Once I can do it once, and feel that raw feeling of being in that form, it will be a lot easier for me to shift. I just...I just can't think of anything else. It's why I need you two."  

[Toshihiko Two]

"Maw?" Barth asked slowly, looking over the Doom Buggy's engine the way a trainer might inspect a lion's mouth.

He and the Doom Buggy had bonded, sort of, over the months, which meant that he could usually count on the thing to be more subtle about trying to kill him. Driving was one thing. Steering was something else.

Right now it was growling (Barth hoped happily) and gnawing on a beat up tire.

He hadn't worn the rose today, it was on his table under glass, but he had the acorn with him.

Barth didn't have any other forms, just the one, and his experience on transforming magics was...minimal. Still. Calder had asked for immoral support, and that at least Barth was good at.
 

[Bilious]

Christof had seemed distant, numb, the past few days. He kept his attention on Chopper's tires, making sure the wheels were straight and wires taught like cleaning the frog on a horse's hoof. He wasn't sure what a Maw was, besides another term for a mouth. His own experience with transformations was limited. He heard his friend's concern, he plea for help, but the hunchback seemed uncharacteristically dimmed down and withdrawn.

Calder received a quiet grunt indicating yes, he'd help with... whatever this was. Anything would get his mind off of... things.  

[MoonKitsune]

"Oh, the Maw is a whirlpool. It's smaller than The Tear that is much farther away, but bigger than The Under Divide. I looked up the best way on road to get there since the river leading to it still is visited, but you guys have to drive off the road to get near The Maw for me to reach it. After that, you just need to be idle on the road till I'm done." He handed Christof a piece of paper with directions, frowning. Christof seemed out of it, and he really needed him right now more than anyone. "Christof, I really need you to focus. You're one of the few people I trust that I've ever let touch my reigns. I can't ask anyone else to do this." Calder trusted Barth, but Barth didn't have the power to keep Calder in check. It could only be Christof.

When Chrsitof took the paper, Calder gave Barth the other that also had directions. "Um...and...well, since I want to preserve my energy for the trip there, I..." He looked at Barth and then at Chopper. He never liked machines, not sure how they worked or understanding them. He had to get used to Barth's horseless carriage before he even felt slightly okay with it. This was something different, but if Calder had to walk to The Maw, it would take forever and would exhaust him before the real test started. "...might have to ride...if that's okay?"  

[Toshihiko Two]

Whirlpools. At least there wasn't a risk of Calder drowning.

"I don't know," Barth said, at last, "I mean, I don't mind, it's perfectly alright with me. We'll just have to see how the Doombuggy is feeling today, hmm?"

He patted one of the hubs, and it growled in warning.

"I don't want to take it too hard. Just. Nice and easy. For today. This is quite a distance for it." Barth looked up, concerned, "and I certainly don't want you taxed before we get there."

Maybe everything would go smoothly. They just had to keep things at an appropriate pace.  

[Bilious]

Christof glanced up from what he was doing blearily as he heard his name, and blinked as Calder chastised him to pay attention. His cheeks flushed slightly as he glanced down to study the directions. A whirlpool? What was Calder up to? It sounded like... a coming-of-age thing. He supposed he could understand, that. His own was creeping depressingly close, but this at least sounded like it was a trial to battle through... but his reigns? Why would he need reigns?

His stitched lips pursed as he nodded, meeting Calder's eyes warily.

Chopper's engine revved, clearly excited to hit the road for this adventure. Christof hoped he was up for it, if only for his friend's sake.  

[MoonKitsune]

Seeing as the Doombuggy was growling and Chopper was clearly excited, Calder scooted closer to Christof. "It seems I'm...uh...going with you? If..If that's okay?" He wasn't sure about all these mechanical things. He didn't touch them or even sit in them. The way they worked seemed unnatural and while he rode in Barth's carriage, he understood that wheels turned and magic was involved. These machines had a lot more parts and weren't exactly straightforward in design.

"Then let us head out before it gets dark." He didn't need anything eating him in the waters when night fell.

He looked to Christof to get the contraption ready before he could think about getting on. From there, all they had to do was follow the directions and they should be in just a bit of time.  

[Toshihiko Two]

"Oh, no, you're welcome to err, that is," Barth gave the Doombuggy another embarrassed pat.

"Well. Right then. Maybe it's for the best. Christof, if you would set about unchaining them?"  

[Bilious]

Christof was wary about a new passanger on Chopper, but perhaps the machine had matured a bit, tamed some since it's creation, after the mechanical beasts had been unchained, the journey went fairly smooth, if fast, and with minimal bucking and veering over ramps and ditches from the motorbike. The hunchback only hoped that holding on didn't take as much energy as walking would have.  

[MoonKitsune]

While Calder loved speed, he loved speed he controlled. Sitting behind Christof, he clung desperately to the hunchback and pressed his face to the boil's hunch, not calming down for some time and even then still on edge. He couldn't understand why Christof wanted to ride this thing more than he wanted to ride him. There was no skill or enjoyment in it, and it was loud and couldn't jump as well as Calder could. Not only that, but it reeked of smoke and other burnt smells that stung his nose and made his eyes water. He didn't like this sort of travel.

When at last they arrived, Calder told Christ to slow down, and rising up the hill, made it to the overlook. Allowed to get off, Calder breathed out and stretched his legs. Here, the smell of the lake and a distant roar of water filled the air. They were here.

Moving, Calder walked up to where they parked and went to the top to look over a the large lake before them. There, in the dark waters, was The Maw. A cyclone of water swirling and rushing in a downward tornado of fast water down int other dark belly of the lake. "Uh...right. Well, " He turned to the pair and forced a smile. "We're here."  

[Toshihiko Two]

When the doom buggy slowed, it was only because it was really and thoroughly tired. It had nipped at Chopper's heels the whole ride over, swerving between the road and off-path, and once they arrived at the pool it rolled off on its own to trap a large log and lazily shred it.

It growled when Barth patted it, and growled louder when he climbed out, but otherwise seemed preoccupied with the log.

"That went...quite well, I think," Barth said, peaky. His hair was blown out at a thousand odd angles, and he was rumpled and dusty. He was not, however, torn to ribbons, and he considered that an improvement in the Buggy's trust levels.

The Maw was...larger. Than he'd expected. It seemed like there was only one direction- in, and after that...

"You're going there?" Barth asked, "...on purpose?"  

[Bilious]

Christof surveyed the pool, slipping off of Chopper to give it's panel a good pat. Still, the bike revved and snorted exhaust, but the gentle movements on the skull encasing it's headlight seemed to calm it slightly. He let go, and the bike zipped off to explore the woods.

He hoped it would come back.

The hunchback lurched toward the water, eyes narrowed before glancing to Calder to sign, "Go-in-and-come-out? Need-rope?"  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder smiled to his boilfriend. "Yes. It's a very old tradition. Usually the entire clan would be involved, but...." He went quiet as his face saddened, looking The Maw. "Well, can't really rely on that now, can I? I need the push to get me to change, and what better way than relying on ancient ways, huh?" He said, as if looking to the two people he knew, both those he trusted and felt were very smart, to confirm.

To Christof, he shook his head. "I've navigated rapids ever since I was a colt. I won't be going into the heart. I just have to navigate the outer rim and like, keep myself there." It was being pulled in that would be the real challenge.

"Hopefully when all this is done, I'll step out as a full stallion. That's where you come in, Christof. You've ridden be before anyone, and I only trust you with this." Calder reached around his neck, pulling away his plaid cravat and setting it aside. He then took off his jacket as well. Reaching under his shirt, he showed the silver, plain necklace that was forever about his throat. "When I come out and if I'm a bit....uh, rambuncious, I need you to grab my reign and bring me back here. I've had....um....well, I used to have a problem around water before, and I got control over it, but this time it will be a lot stronger." Calder took Christof's hand and guided the fingertips to touch the reign, making the kelpie tense by just the pad's of the Igor's fingers touching it. It was a cold metal, sleep like silver liquid, and shined slightly in the light. He brought Christof's hands away.

"I...I should be back in a bit." He turned to the cliff and then changed into a mare, shaking his mane before nuzzling Barth, and then Christof. Turning, she flicked her tail. "If I don't get out in about a hour, check the graveyard down the road." And before either one of them could say anything, she kicked off to race down the cliff and soon was in the water. Her head stayed above the water for just a little while before Calder went underwater completely leaving her two friends to wait on the cliff.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth exchanged a look with Christof at the word graveyard.

He knew about the reign, although he doubted Calder knew he knew. It had been mentioned in their lore (which Barth had researched for separate reasons), and he had seen Calder minus the scarf often enough.

Still, if there was anyone he'd trust handling that reign, it would be Christof. The igor had been growing into his own, and he trusted that his viewpoint on ownership was also changing.

"Good luck," Barth wished the kelpie, "err, be safe. We'll...fetch you- if anything, um," he softened a bit as Calder nuzzled his cheek, and rested his claws on the side of Calder's larger neck. "I'd go with you, if it would help. I'm a bit of a slow swimmer, I'm afraid. I'll be waiting for you on the bank."

Calder trotted down.

If there was at least one thing Barth was good at, it was waiting.

Barth leaned against one of the trees knotted into the riverbank, and watched even after the very last glimpse of Calder had disappeared.

 

[Bilious]

Christof's breath hitched in his throat, but he kept his expression firm and intent as he followed the horse-creature to the water. He wasn't much of a swimmer, himself, but he had no fear of drowning. He wasn't entirely sure what the deal was with the necklace- Calder had called it a reign, but reigns were things horses wore around their faces, and hadn't he grabbed the Kelpie's scarf when they had ridden? Maybe it had been tangled in the scarf... either way, it was a small target on a rather large beast, should the Kelpie start fighting back.

Only one way to see this all through- be at the ready for anything, and haul Calder out at the first sign of trouble.