Back again, in search of new Skinchangers

Place: Forest floor
Time: About 10 am
Music: Two Steps From Hell - Freedom Fighters

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It was nice being back in the forest. Feeling the supple earth, grass and leaves beneath his pawpads. Running quietly over the forest floor, winding in and out of trees, sniffing the air and turning his ears this way and that in search of new sounds. On the lookout. Kakashi was on the lookout, white wolf running through the forest and keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. On the lookout for what? New beings. New Skinchangers needing guidance. Skinchangers not in control of their forms as he was. He was a Mentor of the Arania school, and proud of it. Proud to be bringing up this new, magical generation. And so, he darted through the woods of his homeland, on the search for anything new. The scent of blood, human and animal, all in one. He knew that smell. He, himself, smelled like that. Every Skinchanger did. The smell of blood faded with time, but it was strong in newborns. He knew what he was looking for, and he would find it if there were anybody new in this forest. No matter what animal they were. He'd been told he might even be able to smell it before they burst through their animal skin.

Neal slowly opened his eyes, his body still wrecked by the pains of shredding his skin.
He looks down his arms with wild confusion in his eyes. He sits up, taking a deep breath, looks down himself and then at the pelt and a single thought went through his head, What happened to me?!

Kakashi, still running along the forest floor, sniffed the air expectantly when just the smallest whiff of fresh blood was brought along with the wind howling inbetween the trees. That smell... He changed his course, then, a little bit north, towards the smell. As he got closer and closer... Not just blood. Human and bear as well. He knew that smell. Another Skinchanger!

He picked up his pace.

Neal took another deep breath, eyes locked onto the pelt laying besides him, he knew that it was that he wore just before, but how could it be? He shook, in a mix of shock and confusion.
He felt completely lost, he had no idea of who or what he was.

When he got close, he slowed down to a halt, stepping through the nearby bushes and looking at Neal. Yeah... That look was pretty much how he himself had felt when breaking out of his wolf skin. Sighing inwardly, he stepped closer, ears up and tail wagging cautiously to show the other Skinchanger that, even in animal form as he was now, he was no threat to him. Just waiting for him to notice he'd entered the small clearing.

Still shaking, he slowly turned his head towards the sound of the movemnt in the bushes. He looked at Kakashi, still with a large measure of confusion in his eys, it was clear to him that the large white wolf had gotten the smell of the blood covering him, but why were it wagging its' tail instead of attacking him?
He slowly stood up, and turned completely towards the wolf, doing his best to brace for an attack, just in case.

He'd get the answer soon enough - when he saw the young man's attention on him, he did much the same he just had - but controlled, it didn't hurt like the first time, as he turned into his human form, smiling at him, his wolf pelt now tied around his waist instead. "I see you look just as confused as I did, when I turned the first time." he told him calmly.

He looked at he wolf as it turned into a human, the confusion all the more apparent, another animal turning into a peltless creature? Surely that couldn't be right.... Or could it? And if it could, how many others? While all these thoughts passed through his head, he managed to form a single question: "What are you?"

"Why, I'm the same as you, of course. Only I've been like this for longer than you have." he answered, running a hand through his silvery white hair.

"The same as me? He asked. "And what is it I am?" While the thought of others like him comforted him somewhat, it also brought more questions into his mind.

He furrowed his brows slightly. "Gaia haven't told you? Maybe she only told my generation..." he wondered, stepping closer and giving Neal a once-over. "You're a Skinchanger."

"A skinchanger?" He asked, that would explain what happened, he had heard a story or two about them from his mother while he still was a cub, yet i hadn't thought of the possibility of him being one. "But no.... Gaia haven't told me" He stated, keeping his eyes on the man.

"I see... So she leaves it to us others, from now on, then." he sighed. "When I first turned, I heard her voice explaining it all to me. That this... However wrong it may seem at first, is natural. Or at least, it is now. It's her magic in the trees starting to affect us directly."

" ... I see.... Having the voice of a goddess telling you what happening must have been very reasuring..." He said. "Why does this magic turn us into... This? Beings without fur or claw? How does it choose who to affect?"

"I do not know why it only affects a select few... Nobody does, she never explained. But I do know why we turn into humans. The humans caused the world to suffer long before our time... She wants us to teach them. To prevent such a thing from happening ever again."

"Right" He said, shaking his head. "And she expects us to teach them how? By speaking to these... Humans? By hunting them? How can we teach them... Whatever it is we're supposed to teach."

"Talk to them. Never hunt them. If... If we can show them the deeper connection n everything born from nature... It might never happen again. If we can teach them how to appreciate what they've got, instead of letting their greed tell them they need more, ever more. That is the main idea. Why she granted her gift to us... Though sometimes it might seem like a curse, as well."

"I see.... So we're supposed to completly change thier ways? To try to make them into something they currently aren't?" He shook his head. "If so, that is not something I can agree to.... Aren't everything supposed to make its' own choices?"

"Well, yes, but they won't ever get the idea on her own... If we just tell the, inform them, some will probably change their opinion... And through them, others will, and so on. They have it in them, we''re not changing them. We're merely telling them they could contribute to a better world than the one that used to be..."

"Right... If it's nothing more than that... Then I suppose that is more agreeable, even through it does seem dangerously close to imposing ideas upon someone else"

He shrugged. "Well... I don't do too much about it. I don't really trust her, still. But I know others who go to great lengths with teachings to the humans... Including my student."

"And I haven't heard anything from her, so I suppose that puts us on a somewhat equal footing on that matter... But you said you have a student? So you teach other skinchangers?"

He nodded. "I do. At the Arania school. We teach you how to control your forms." he explained. "Otherwise, most transform at random, with the slightest touch to their old hide."

" Aha, being able to control my forms could be a rather useful skill I suppose, where is this school?" He asked, his eyes slowly shiftitng to look at his old skin.

"Near the Oasis. So about... Let's say... For me, six days. For you... Probably four or five days. I might be a faster runner, but you definitely have more stamina to keep going."