Stahl bantered on for a bit longer with her father that morning before setting out to the arena with her thoughts just a little lighter from the older wolf's efforts. Before FINALLY getting to get a good, up-close look of her weird little friend's face with her own two eyes, eyes that could see him clearly.
Aster was thankful Javis had agreed to come witness the final two rounds since his cover had already been blown. He was more grateful to have an ally stand by him for at least the first few steps into the scary new reality that was his life now.
In truth, the human was feeling deathly anxious, knowing what awaited him as he stepped through the entrance of the Selection Grounds.
The curses and booing spat down by the audience towards the human as soon as he walked into sight was nothing unexpected for Aster, and yet his chest felt a little tighter still.
A few more paces in, and the pair stopped. The teacher gave his student one final reassuring nudge despite the vulgar cries and primal snarls around them, and parted with the boy he'd half raised as he went to find a seat among spectators.
Aster swallowed hard and turned to the entrant seating, feeling smaller than ever now that he was alone. The human kept his sights on the dirt below as he practically fled to the furthest corner, as far away from every other person in that overwhelming arena as possible.
Aster couldn't help but to recall his father's final pleading words at that time... They replayed over and over again in his mind, enticing his heart to beat right out of his very chest.
'You are not safe here.'
Stahl watched on in utter disbelief as his weird little friend didn't even acknowledge her... Just... plopped down in the corner, never even glancing her way.
The she-wolf's mind went on quite a rant over the cold shoulder treatment. 'What happened to all that composure and eagerness to socialize from yesterday? Was he just tired? No... Regardless, did his servant not get my message about the staff? The human hadn't brought a spare weapon... How is he planning to fight now? AAHHHH!! This is ridiculous, what is he even doing here like that? It's like he's already getting his ass beat-'
The she-wolf's eyes went wide as she realized her selfish oversight. The human was already being beaten on. He was alone, and a sea of scared and angry voices were inflicting wounds he couldn't block with any shield.
Wounds that nobody could block for very long. Stahl believed she had finally figured out why she was so curious about the human. She pitied the creature's circumstance. It was only sympathy, that's all, so she thought...
The she-wolf stood, grabbed hers and the human's belongings, and walked right up to where the creature was sitting. Most of the yelling closer to the she-wolf died down a bit as she dropped her swords and the staff on the seating beside the human with a 'Clank.'
Aster visibly jumped at the unexpected sound, and the crowd began murmuring amongst themselves as the human warily turned in his seat to meet the imposing gaze of the slender gray humanoid she-wolf now towering above him.
To most of the spectators watching, it appeared that a noble daughter of Alora, Stahl Aschefell, was clearly ready to handle the human herself... They weren't completely wrong, but their ruthless voices fell to only hushed whispering and murmurs at last when they witnessed the she-wolf extend a hand out to the human.
Aster had underestimated how terribly cruel people could really be. He had waited his entire life for this day, working away relentlessly in hiding to be able to stand here, just to find that nobody wanted him there.
He had finally made it, but there was no place for him here after all... There wasn't a single seat at the table available for a human outside of the same place he's always been... No steady hand close enough to grab onto anymore...
The gear falling on the stone made Aster jump high enough to embarrass himself, the she-wolf he saw above him when he looked over at the sound was the same one he had been deceiving for the past two days.
The noble was undoubtedly angry she had been talking to a disguised human that entire time. That made sense to Aster. Everyone here was angry at him for showing up today, after all.
"Stahl Aschefell, officially." The she-wolf held her hand out towards Aster. Stahl awkwardly waited for the human to get the gist and take her hand. Aster didn't move, he only stared at her cautiously.
The she-wolf cleared her throat a bit and repeated herself, finally getting a response from the human. Aster rose to his feet, and began reaching his hand for the one outstretched before him.
He wavered for a second, hovering just out of grasp before his uncertainty yielded, and he grasped a hold of the large, steady paw thrust before him with his own trembling one.
"A-Aster, Aster Venatus... Sorry about before..."
Stahl only looked on at the human before her, absolutely reveling in her opportunity to finally get a close look at her weird little friend for real. Aster was a bit taller than Stahl had previously guessed, standing at exactly 6 feet high with a close knit kind of tone to his musculature.
The human had shaggy dark brown fur atop his head, it was longer and smoother than most fur Stahl had seen on beasts, and the length of it was currently tied back into a short bundle behind the creature's neck where it stopped.
The foreign beast appeared to have some stubble along his jaw. This led the she-wolf to believe that hair normally grew there, but the boy had shaved it back for whatever reason before the Selection. Maybe it got in the way? His muzzle, or at least Stahl believed it was his muzzle, was short.
His snout was a bit on the large side, but the pale lips below it seemed oddly enticing to the she-wolf. The boy's eyes were a creamy rich brown as well, a color that seemed to trap the very sunlight itself inside of them.
There were small golden lines dotted hap hazardously around the boy's pupils, further solidifying the she-wolf's theory that the human was really a mage who had somehow managed to ensnare a bit of the golden warmth of their very sun behind his irises.
Stahl had found herself feeling incredibly at peace by Aster's features for some reason... Well, aside from one such feature that made Stahl unreasonably angry to look at, much to the she-wolf's own surprise.
Aster had two pinkish claw marks beginning on the bridge of his nose that extended across his cheek beneath his right eye, and ended right about where his earlobe began.
Stahl hadn't heard the story behind that yet, but found herself eager to know it. The human was definitely different looking than any beast or creature she had seen in her time, but he didn't seem nearly as scary as everyone had made him out to be.
This was no monster before her. This was just a scared and lonely pup.
"Nice to meet you, the real you I might add..." Stahl let out a sigh of exasperation after a moment of silence as she decided to level with the unsure human a bit. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, Aster, but you need to pull yourself together here."
Aster visibly flinched at the she-wolf's words, and brought his hand up to cover his face. The she-wolf noticed he was rubbing the part of his snout between his eyes, seemingly in effort to gather himself for a moment, before dropping his hand and answering.
"Sorry, I know. I let myself get stuck in my head. It's just... a lot... a lot more than I expected." The human finished his statement with a slight nod towards the spectators.
Stahl had understood. She couldn't do much about that at the time, but she could at least try to distract the human for a little while with some banter, a trick Stahl hadn't realized she had picked up on from her father.
Aster was more grateful to the she-wolf for what she had done that day than the canine would ever know. For the next twenty minutes or so, Aster felt the she-wolf slowly chipping away at his fear. It was still very much present, but for a short moment, the human could manage it solely by the distraction at hand. By finally having someone to talk to in such an alienating world.
A short time later, the beginning of the final day of The Selection was signaled by the sound of thunder, and both warriors prepared for their final battles.
"We are both listed among the undefeated at this point, so as long as we can win one of our two matches today, we are guaranteed a spot by the end of it." Stahl was starting to get excited about her matches, she wanted to fight some strong opponents, and there was no more likely time to do so than on the final day.
Aster was just ready for it to be over with. Still, the human agreed with the she-wolf's sentiment anyways. The pair wished each other luck, looking forward to fighting side by side after it was all said and done.
***