After Will's turn passes, Crim steps outside, refreshed and well rested. Unlike Will he doesn't do anything special. Taking his time trying to practice shifting by attempting to manipulate a cup of water. "Damn it, dumb watah ain't wanta work with me."
Unfortunately, he doesn't have a teacher to help him like common shifter families. At best he has his instincts but no matter how hard he tries he can't feel a way to consistently hold and manipulate liquids let alone air or conceptual changes.
He can maintain a clear mental image, flow his energy into it well, and even maintain that energy but the second he moves it he can't match the changing flow of the water. So for four hours he tries his best, but never succeeds. After failure and failure Crim throws himself back first onto the grass and lays down, choosing to stare at the stars.
"So this is a calamity huh."
"Yup yup."
"Tha fuck?!?"
Panicking, Crim jumps up, wondering how the hell Harry managed to get right behind him without making a sound. Harry, in response, jumps back, letting out a small yelp. For a few moments the duo stare at each other. Then Harry starts to chuckle, followed by Crim starting to laugh. Crim ends up being the first to stop, taking a moment to look at Harry. Despite what should be a sleep deprived man he looks fairly refreshed, though small bags have started to appear under his eyes.
"Can't sleep?"
Harry shakes his head.
"Insomnia's a bitch."
"Insomnia?"
Looking at Crim he remembers he's in another world.
"Means I have a lot of trouble sleeping."
An awkward silence hits. Harry, still smiling from his little scare, takes a seat next to Crim. For a few minutes he watches on. "So kid, how'd ya become a shifter?" Crim, still focused on the cup of water in front of him, takes a moment to respond. "Just kinda came ta me. Woke up one day and everything was rough putty. How's bout ya? Ain't no way ya a normal shifter." Crim glances at Harry, taking his hands out of the water to rest his head against them. "Secret." Annoyed, crim flicks his still wet hands on Harry.
Harry, in response, just smiles. And so another round of silence hits as Crim gets back to practice. Seeing Crim struggle so much Harry can't help but speak up. "You're doing it wrong." Crim glances at Harry. "Can ya tell me the right way then?" Harry thinks it over for a second, nodding right after.
"Sure, though you'll have to figure out how to move your energy yourself. Only have the theory on hand since I was never trained on how to teach."
Harry digs his hands into the firm dirt. For a second there's resistance but as he flows energy into his hands the dirt starts to soften, its texture becoming more like clay. Taking a moment Harry rolls it into a ball.
"You have to head back to the basics for this. You already learned compression as an upper mid level, movement as an upper lower level, and obviously shaping as a lowest level. Thing is as you've learned things have stayed the same."
Harry flows a bit more energy into the ball, turning it into a mud sculpture of a scorpion.
"If I let go even mid transformation. Compression, shaping, or movement it'll just become a solid. Plus I control the momentum, if I stop or change at any step it'll just stop. With water, it's constant and every push is followed by another. So, instead of imagining just the end result like you would with movement, you imagine where that end result will go, and you keep imagining."
Focused, Harry dips his hand into the water. A moment after it touches his skin the water starts to rise, shaping up to become a rope. Then, it circles Harry's wrist, never stopping its spin. After a few seconds Harry puts the water back in the cup, turning to look at Crim after. Crim, understanding a bit better, tries to manipulate the water but after hours of non-stop visualization and focus, is too tired for his energy to even flow. Harry, seeing Crim so tired, lets out a small sigh and pats his head.
"Get a good rest kid, I'll take it from here."
"I ain't no kid…and I ain't tired yet."
Seeing Crim pout Harry can't help but put on a teasing grin. "Guess we can hang out then." In response Crim lets out a heavy sigh, choosing to splash Harry again. "Sure mate." For a few moments there's silence as the duo think about what to talk about. Eventually, Crim breaks it. "So whatcha think a this world over earth?" Harry looks to the stars then at Crim.
"It's certainly a lot nicer. Life on earth wasn't anything special. Wake up, work, eat, work, go home, play games, try to chat with friends, sleep, and repeat infinitely. Most I can say is I miss some friends and my video games."
"What about your family?"
"Not at all. In fact, fuck em."
Crim, absolutely shocked, pulls away from Harry. While he may not have a normal family he's proud to be a part of Tommy's life. He can't imagine telling your family off let alone anyone with a normal one from any part of Abbey.
"Why fuck em?"
"Secret."
Annoyed, Crim splashes Harry yet again. "Ya and ya bloody secrets." Harry just smiles in response. Letting out a heavy sight Crim decides to move on. "So, what happened to Harry's Happy Hour. I ain't heard ya on the radio since tha calamity started." Dropping his smile, Harry looks to the sky, focusing on the cage and the strands loosely hanging from its top. "Better to focus on survival for now." Raising a brow, Crim wonders what could possibly be a threat to Harry. Considering how Harry can seemingly make anything, surely he has a few different ways to defend himself from whoever or whatever tries to hurt him.
"Hey, can ya make guns and make em shoot emselves?"
"Yup, though the guns I make are mostly white rifles. Sometimes when using em I like to use ribbons too."
Crim tilts his head.
"Why add ribbons?"
"Why not add ribbons?"
This time Harry tilts his head. For a moment the duo look at each other before nodding. "So can ya show me one a these guns?" Hesitating for a few seconds, Harry eventually pulls a small rifle out from thin air. Seeing it, Crim's eyes shine with blatant curiosity. The barrel is relatively thin with floral embellishments lining it. "Ain't seen a gun like that anywhere before." Puffing out his chest, Harry puts on a smug grin.
"It's one of a kind. I really went through hell to make sure the world would accept it and the ribbons. Spent years learning how to make guns and teaching a local how to replicate it."
Yet another head tilt from Crim.
"Huh? Why teach a local how to make it?"
"Well this world does reject earth but technically, if the world itself made the same, then it's not from earth is it? Just a copy. Bit annoying to have to work around but never underestimate the power of a dork with too much free time and passion"
Moving to stand up Harry strikes a silly pose, pulling out a small skull half mask and putting it on. Crim, amused by Harry's odd pride, can't help but laugh. For a few seconds there's a calm peace to the night. At least until someone comes to ruin it.
Knock Knock Knock.
Suddenly a priest appears at the front gate with an official shifter. The priest is an old surly looking man seemingly in his early fifties, his short hair and thick beard, just like his eyes are light brown. He's wearing the formal garb of an Ouros priest. A loose ankle length green robe with a black serpent spiraling out from a heart embellishment on his center chest around his body, almost as if embracing him. The tail begins at the heart and the head lies mouth wide open around his neck.
The official shifter on the other hand is a thin looking young man seemingly in his late twenties wearing a loose brown vest with a white undershirt. His pants and shoes match his brown eyes while his undershirt matches his white hair. On his chest is a small bronze palm sized circular badge depicting a starry eyed owl holding a book. Seeing his knocking has gotten the pair's attention the official shifter speaks.
"Hello there, I'm here to see if you two would join in the city wide defense efforts? Or at the very least confirm that you pose no intention of creating any sort of chaos considering a reported…incident."
The priest, seeing the pair seemingly okay, lets out a small sigh of relief.
"As for me, I would like to formally apologize for the attempted assault on you by our devotee."
Instantly the two raise a brow. Considering the man had a sword jammed into his mouth, at bare minimum there should be heavy damage if he's not outright dead so why seemingly show more concern to Crim and Harry. Internally, now on guard Harry speaks, showing a calm, near cheerful expression.
"Ah, I'm sorry about the trouble we caused earlier and I'm sorry again but for now we'll stick to securing our own personal safety."
The official shifter tilts his head in confusion before speaking up.
"If we secure the city's safety would that not also secure your own, not only that but your personal safety would greatly rise if you joined a group of established shifters? Forgive me but it's hard to believe you when your words are a contradiction."
Lost, Harry can't seem to come up with a response to such a direct answer. Crim tries to think of something but can't. Thankfully, just as the duo are about to respond with their first thought, Will walks out the front door. Unlike Crim and Harry he doesn't try to appear approachable, instead emitting the aura of an unbreakable wall.
"While you are correct, we are fully entitled to work as an individual unit. We will contribute when the time comes but as of right now there is no reason to involve ourselves with officials. We will not involve ourselves beyond these manor's walls and so long as no one attempts anything to harm us we will remain here. In exchange, we want to form an official truce."
The priest, seeing Will, wears a small frown. The shifter on the other hand smiles, speaking after taking a moment to think things over. He knows nothing about the trio beyond at minimum they have the ability to take down a high rank shifter. Shell casings were found at the scene of the murder so it's clear it wasn't a one sided assault. Even so, he can't risk a confrontation and have another potential helper hurt or killed let alone a rare high rank. In the end he decides to raise his arms in defeat.
"We will give you three days to run after the calamity if we survive and will not work to brand or conscript you within the period we have to deal with said calamity."
Will nods in approval.
Seeing everything resolved peacefully the priest does a small prayer gesture, drawing a circle from his heart to his stomach and ending at his neck. Silently the duo walk away, relaxed and appearing off guard. Looking to the horizon the shifter can feel them getting closer. Him and his teammates have successfully created a thick two story stone wall around the city but even then that might not be enough. As his eyes still go, he and the priest fly into the air. An army of infested lines the horizon. Thin hair like strands fill the walking corpses of people and animals, twisting and devouring their bones and flesh leaving them looking like damaged straw dolls. Shambling and crawling they approach the city, untiring and seemingly unending.
One and a half day's time until the wave hits.