(Like) Adding (some kind of) wings to a (sort of a) tiger (shifter)

@"Reignfinite"

Samael loved the taste of the fresh forest air on his tongue, his ears twitching at every sound made around him, both quiet and loud, following it back to its source. A mouse, deep in its home, a bird flying over. A stream of water not so far to his left. He was not here to hunt today though, despite not having been on one in a while. Perhaps he would ask his brother whether he wanted to go chase woodland animals someday this week, now that the classes were let out and summer was at its peak. Yeah, he would definitely do that soon, perhaps even as soon as he got back from his walk, he thought as his ears caught on the sound of some of the bigger animals roaming around.

For now though he moved in a direction opposite of them, not wanting to scare them into a stampede with his scent. He was simply out stretching his paws today, letting off steam build both during the school year and the days he had spent working (and not working, but arguing with his father about working) at the bar. Putting some distance between himself and it's possibly soon to be pray, he broke into a quiet run over the forest floor with no directions on his mind, simply running for the sake of a run.

There was a new sound added to the array of those Samael had been hearing ever since he had entered the woods, one that did not quite belong here, at least not this deep into the trees. It was easy to get lost in the woods though, he thought, as he slowed down and turned to see who exactly was wearing the shoes whose sound as they hit against the hard forest ground had given away whoever it was that it was following him.

It would not be the first time Samael had to interrupt his forest run to guide a lost student home. It was not a hundredth either, but it was not the first as well. Usually they were new, too eager to explore and uneducated in the things necessary for not getting lost in the forest, such as, for example, always keeping an eye on the civilisation, because the sight of school buildings which seemed quite tall at first was actually quite easy to lose.

He didn't mind it, though, helping these students get back, he thought as he finally set eyes on the human following him. It was better that he run into them and helped them back than a real animal which would most probably only helped them into their stomach, or at least into a quite a state of fear. Also, at least this time nobody was getting attacked, he thought as well as he took in the angular face and blond hair of the man following him, shuddering slightly as he remembered the last time he had run to somebody's rescue.

Shaking off those thoughts, Samael tilted his head somewhat as he contemplated turning back in order to see whether this student really needed his help. It was probable that the man was lost, but he had learned not to be 100% sure. Some people did, after all, know their way around the forest.

He had been right then, Samael though as he sighed, or at least did the closest thing a cat could to to a sigh. Yet another student had wondered too far from the school, and into the woods. It was a small sigh though. He didn't actually mind having to walk lost students back to school, he was only worried about what happened to those who did not run into him.

He had already been over these thoughts, however, and multiple times at that, so he simply shook his head once more as he got up, taking a few steps away from the man in front of him. He needed space to turn back if he was to do it correctly. Once he was far enough in his opinion, he allowed his body to move swiftly yet again, as it changed shape in the space of one single breath.

''Hello'', he then answered the man in front of him, making his voice soft and quiet as he knew that seeing him change could sometimes spook unsuspecting students, especially if they were knew. Or could spike their curiosity, he thought, as he remembered the odd friend he had made one day when he wanted to take a nap at a school yard.

''School is that way'', he continued to speak once he was sure that the other man was not going to jump out of his skin with fear. ''I'll show you back. It is really easy to get lost here. You should be more careful.'' He did not mean to preach a person he had just met, but the thought of somebody getting hurt in the forest weighted heavily on his mind.

So another curious one, Samael thought as he set a slow pace in the direction of the school, the man he had just met following behind him. Well, it is better than those who got scared and tried to run away, deeper into the woods.

''There is no need to apologize'', he said first however, feeling the need to warn this student hopefully without scaring him. ''I am just afraid those like you who get lost in the woods could get hurt too. If you wish for a change of scenery, make sure to find a road to follow, or somebody to guide you along'', he finished his warning, before addressing the question of his powers, yet again.

''Yes'', he said, answering the first question. ''I am a lynx shifter. And as far as I know, many, though not always lynx, and not always cat at all. Though there are those who are exactly like me too'', wondering how far would the questions go, Samael reached the conclusion that in a half an hour it would take them to reach the school, a lot of can be asked and answered.

''There are not as harmless as students would like to think either'', he said, frowning a bit. He then had to stop himself from overreacting-it was true that other than in the forbidden parts of the forest there was nothing exactly evil among the trees. Just animals and easily confused roads. The part of the other man mentioning 'arena back at home' did not go past him, however, he quickly deduced that that was probably one of those things one should not ask about. Having spent his whole life on the island, he had developed a fine instinct of guessing and predicting which topics he should avoid with people, though sometimes it would fail him still.

''Yes, there are men who can turn into birds'', he said then, nodding his head as he followed the topic of conversation further from arenas and getting lost in the woods. ''There ought to be a few on the campus as well, though I don't think I have met any personally yet.'' His mother had thought him that shifters came in all shapes and sizes so to speak, with many other shapes which would be different to his own. Werewolves were the most common though, but that did not meant things such as bird and fish, mouse and lizard shifters did not exists.

''I am also afraid that as far as I know it is a matter of bloodlines. One must posses the right in order to be able to change his body into anything else.'' Though that could have been true just for his bloodline. Perhaps somewhere out there there was a way for those without blood to learn how to change, a training or a spell. He had never heard or met anybody who knew of that either, so the most probability laid with the theory that bloodlines were the only source of ability to change.

On the question of did one have to be from this world to be able to learn, he did not have an answer, and could also not bite his tongue hard enough to hold onto a question of his own. ''Are you not from this world?'', he asked, the world escaping from his mouth before he could remind himself that that was also probably something he should not pry about.