The next day, Ves awoke in a fit. The sack of gray flesh covering her arm was itching like mad. 

“Gah fuck me, what is this?” Ves frantically scratched at the sickly looking flesh, which had begun to dry out. Flakes of flesh tore off the harder she scratched. Her one hand was not enough; she started to rub it on the stone floor of the alcove, but even that could only grant partial relief.

‘Please, please hurry up! The fact that I can feel it yet do nothing about it makes this even worse.’

“I’m trying the best I can!”

‘Try the rocks in the water!’

Ves frantically bolted out of the alcove, not even pausing as she leapt off the high ledge to the forest floor below. As soon as she reached the stream, she plunged her arm into the cool waters. They granted partial relief, but it was still not enough. Desperate, she began to scrape her arm along the rocks below. Were it not for the intense itching distracting her, she was pretty sure she would have thrown up as the water had become cloudy with bits of putrid gray flesh and almost black blood. With larger strips already floating downstream.

After around half an hour, she managed to get it all off. The itching finally gone. Pulling her new arm from the now grimy water, she got her first real look. “Well, that looks dangerous.” 

Glistening with a black sheen, her new skin was hard, almost like an insect’s exoskeleton. Yet she could feel the touch of her left hand run across its smooth surface just fine. Her new hand, though, is what really drew her attention. She now had one less finger, but all of them ended in long, sharp claws. Almost like knives in length, in fact, her new arm as a whole was longer than the original, also strong, unnervingly so. She felt dangerous with it, felt like a predator.

It was her turn to be the hunter.

Ves paused. Did she really just think that? That she was a hunter? As a whole, she was quickly growing used to the changes, the idea of not being human. As a human, she was weak, always subject to the whims of others. But now she felt strong, strong enough to defend herself at the very least. That in and of itself was a comfort. Besides, it’s not like humans were the only species out there. The world was a big place, filled with many strange peoples and races. It was time to see what the new Ves could do.

Before she could venture off, Nell stopped her. ‘Shouldn’t we check on the man? See if he actually made it through the night?’

Ves winced, “Sorry, I forgot about him.”

‘You forgot? Ves, you know I can tell you're lying, right?’ Ves cringed at that. Nell could tell Ves was lying in the same mysterious way she knew Nell was not judging her for lying, simply curious.

“I guess I’m just scared, scared to climb back up there and be greeted by a corpse.”

‘I’m sorry, I can tell this bothers you, but I don’t know how I can help.’

“Don’t be sorry, just knowing you care is enough,” Ves said with a weak smile.  Ves slapped her cheeks to try and steel herself before quickly realizing how odd that must have looked with her new hand, or should she call it a claw? Still, it was enough. Thankfully, having two proper arms again allowed her to climb back into the alcove with ease. The man had hardly moved from the spot she had left him. At first, she feared the worst, but quickly she could see he was still breathing, albeit with some difficulty. More troubling, though, was the clear sign of fever when she checked his forehead. Wondering if he had anything that could help, she began to dig through the man’s supplies, not that she really knew what she should be looking for.

“Hey, look at that, I’m not dead,” a voice called out weakly. Ves turned to see the man looking at her with a faint smile.

“You're burning up.”

“I’m aware. Could you apply a fresh salve to my wound? Should help.”

“Same herb as yesterday?”

“That’s the one, before that, though. Could you help me take a sip of water?” Ves nodded and carefully helped the man sit up just enough to get a sip. After she helped him lie back down, she began to work on mixing a fresh salve just as before.

“Ah, so that’s what was poking me in the back.”

Ves looked over at the man, confused, before she realized he was eyeing her claw. “Is that real? Or is the fever just making me see things?”

Ves broke eye contact and went back to mixing the salve, “It's real.”

“Ah, good to know.”

“That’s it? you’re not going to ask anything else?”

“You saved my life, I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a dragonewt.” The man weakly raised his hand and waved at her. Ves could see the point he was trying to make; his hands were scaled, ending in sharp nails. Still, they were essentially the same shape and structure as a human, or most of the common races, for that matter. It was like comparing a butter knife to a cleaver.

“It's not the same.”

“No, but you get my point.”

After that, the conversation died down as Ves cleaned the wound and applied the new salve. By the time she was done, the man had drifted back off to sleep. She figured he would need food soon, and so did she, for that matter. It was time to test her new claw, time to hunt.

Several hours of failure later, the sun was now high in the sky. She swore the sounds of the birds were cries mocking her ineptitude. The rumbling growls of her stomach didn’t help either.

“What good is this thing if I can’t fucking catch anything!” In anger, she swiped her claw against a tree, carving deep gouges.

‘That is a problem.’

She felt strong; she knew she was dangerous, but that didn’t mean she could hunt. Ves had no idea how to track prey. Any potential prey heard and ran from her long before she could get close. And while she was faster, it was not like she could outrun a fleeing deer in the woods.

“Arugh…”. Ves lay back on the forest floor, exhausted. “I have no idea what to do. I’m so hungry.” While she hadn’t caught anything, she did find some delicious-looking berries. Berries, which caused her to violently empty her stomach shortly after the first handful. 

‘For now, it may be best to head back before we get lost. As it is, we will be cutting it close to return before it grows dark. Hungry as we are, it’s not as though we are about to starve to death.

“I know, but I’m not sure if we can say the same about Yujiro. Let's go with your plan just to dig up a rabbit burrow. Won’t feed us, but may be enough for him.” As Ves stood up and brushed herself off, she heard a familiar howl. 

“Shit”

‘Not again…’