Release the Beasts {Berwald}

[Deleted]

Tightening the robe’s sash abound his waist for the umpteenth time, the boy reached up and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a sign of nervousness for the blond. Matthew let out a shaky sigh as he stared at the locker room’s doorknob, dreading to leave the room. The soft robe that he wore, though it was pleasant to the touch and warm, the Canadian boy felt naked in it, vulnerable, and for good reason: for one, he actually was naked beneath it with his clothes being locked up in a locker and so far away. Clothes and Matthew didn’t always have the best relationship. The teenager crossed his arms and stared at the door like it was alive and telling him to move it on already, get going, and get this over with; in truth, the boy was not at all happy or pleased… or comfortable for that matter with what was being asked for him and that was a dangerous notion.

Nervous as he was, he rubbed his chest for he could already feel his powers, his other nature, stirring, provoked by his nerves and anxiety. Taking another deep breath and closing his eyes, Matt tried to calm himself, lest he reveal his other form in the locker room and not on the other side of the door like he was supposed to. Matt had not been at Asher Academy for long, perhaps a week or so, but already the teachers and administration of the school wanted to" begin his personal training, the non-academic aspect of the school that focused on him controlling and masters his reasonably new powers. In Matt’s opinion, he had been doing just fine training himself out in the Canadian wilderness but his attendance at the school was a favour to his parents. Plus, it was nice to be with his younger brother again, for he had missed Alfred.

“Well, it’s now or never…” The boy muttered, opening his eyes with a frown upon his expression. This was going to be humiliating. Matthew did not, absolutely did not like transforming in front of others because he was afraid that he’d end up hurting them. Then again, this was a special school that dealt with a whole bunch of freaks like him, perhaps some even more dangerous, so a 1,600 lb polar beat should be no problem! Reaching over to grab the handle, Matthew froze, his shoulders dropped and he groaned in defeat. Never once before had Matt disliked school, maybe the bullying that sometime happened, but performing in front of a teacher, listening to instructions, and having his strengths and weakness measured and recorded to “train” was not something within his comfort zone.

Forcing on a smile, the blond-haired boy finally opened the door only to squint at the lights of the huge training area dubbed the “Combat Dojo,” how original. In the expanse of many rooms were mats, various exercise machines, a few sets of intimidating looking obstacle courses, and other intense looking things. Clutching his robe tightly shut until his knuckles were white, the shy Canadian padded out from the safety of the doorway out towards where his teacher was waiting. The man in question was large and fit, scribbling or reading a notepad and only looked up with Matt was a few feet away, looking comparably smaller.

While there remained a smile upon his face, Matt’s face was red with he quietly apologized for taking so long, but the man seemed to understand, marring his strong image with a gentle tone. However, Matt’s shyness was momentarily forgotten when he was informed that they were in fact waiting on another student, another animal transformer. Matt blinked and looked around just at the same moment that the main door of the dojo opened to reveal a figure. ‘Another person can transform like me…’ the Canadian thought, intrigued, curious, and now even more embarrassed that his audience just got bigger.

[BERWALD OXENSTIERNA]

Berwald was running slightly late because of his last class, he walked quickly down the hallway towards the "Combat Dojo" the teacher had caught him this morning and asked him to come down to help train a new student who was like himself an animal transformer. It was unusual for him to be asked to help train a student, but Berwald did not mind helping at all. The teacher explained to him about the new student and his ability and that his own ability would be a great help.

He arrived at the "Combat Dojo" and headed into the locker room to get changed into his training clothes. Arriving at his locker he could smell that someone had just been in the room, it smelled rather ...wild and untamed. He went to his locker to get out his training pants and change out of his school clothes. He made sure that all his things were in his locker, he tightened the draw strings on his pants before taking off his glasses his vision going from clear to blurry before setting them on the top shelf of his locker and closed the door.

The floor was cold on his feet, but then again it always was when he went to train since he couldn't wear shoes or a shirt unless he wanted to destroy his shirt and shoes. With one more sniff of the air he headed for the door lest he make the teacher and the new guy wait too long. As he walked towards the door he could hear voices on the other side talking, taking a deep breath he opened the door leading into the training area and stepped out onto the training floor. He took a quick glance around the room, his vision although poor with out his glasses he managed to make out where the teacher and who he assumed was the person he was to train with.

" 'm s'rry 'm late "

[Deleted]

Matthew found himself blinking and craning his neck as he watched the tall and blond figure hurry into the locker room. Once the other as out of sight, the confused and nervous boy retreated back into the shadow of his looming teacher, who seemed content with waiting by jotting down notes and flipping through pages, leaving Matt to his thoughts. The other boy looked huge and the Canadian could only sigh in defeat once again. ‘Man, he probably transforms into a dragon or something awesome like that…’ he thought, as he reached up and pushed up his glasses, an expression of misery upon his face. This was developing into a dreary day, that’s for sure. For one, he wasn’t quite sure what his training even detailed and he wasn’t about to ask, and now there was another student? Matthew had never met another person who could transform into an animal before, though, to be perfectly honest, Matthew had never really met anyone with powers before, aside from Alfred. No one in their immediate family had powers so the fact that both he and his brother had them was a mystery.

His violet shaded eyes drifted up towards the high ceiling, aimlessly counting the bars and swinging apparatuses for numerous training activities, Matthew jumped and stumbled when his teacher began to list off whether expected off Matthew that day, which was a simple transformation so how long it took could be measured and other such details. Matt just nodded, smiling, and acknowledged what was to be done, while at the same time he couldn’t stop thinking how he was beginning to feel like a science project. Deep down, the boy knew that this was for his benefit, the best thing for him and for others, but perhaps he was still pretty sore from having o move to Hawaii for many people he was sure that such a location was a dream, but not when you transformed into a arctic-inhabiting bear. Talk about way too hot!

The creak of the locker door roused Matt’s attention and in a matter of words, he gawked. Out walks out a guy who was all tall, blond, and shirtless wearing only sweat pants and the Canadian found himself thinking, 'I hope he doesn’t play hockey…’ Feeling his face going red, Matt snapped his mouth shut and put on a pleasant smile, nervously griping his robe securely closed, feeling small and completely conscious of his lean body in comparison to the other student’s muscles.

" 'm s'rry 'm late".

Blinking and looking from behind his glasses, Matthew smiled nervously at the other boy and hearing heir teacher behind him, extended his hand to the other and said in a friendly, if not unconfident, voice, “Hey, it’s nice to meet you. I’m, ah… Matthew”. Once again Matt had no idea why he and the other boy needed to train together but if the guy did in fact transform into a huge dragon or griffin or something, Matt would be nothing but an adorable teddy bear. “It, umm, looks like we’re training together, at least for today…” he added, trying to be the pleasant and polite Canadian his parents raised him to be.

[BERWALD OXENSTIERNA]

Berwald approached the two, his eyes sweeping over the new student. He could smell the nervousness coming off the new kid in heavy waves it was slightly overwhelming for his nose. He looked down at the extended hand and reached out his own hand to shake the other's hand " Hej. Nice t' meet y'u, 'm B'rwald " He could tell from the sound of the other's voice that he was not too confident but still friendly.

He nodded to the other boy " Ja. 't looks like we 're." He took in the other as he studied the other boy. He didn't look like much but that was the thing about animal transformers, one should always expect the unexpected and he had a feeling that he should stay on his toes just in case the other lost complete control.

He looked to the teacher as the man explained to him what they were going to do for training, Berwald nodded as he understood as to what his role would be in Matthew’s training. He understood that he would have to step in if Matthew lost control of himself.

“ Wh’n y’ur ready t’ st’rt M’tthew, w’ can b’gin tr’ining “ he took a step back from Matthew to give the guy room for when he changed. He was however fully prepared to transform first if it made the other more comfortable.

[Deleted]

The other boy had a sure and firm grip and truth be told, his hand nearly swallowed up Matt’s hand. All the same, Matt nodded when the other told him his name and kept on his smile, even if he really just wanted to run away all the way to the Arctic. Matt, with how nervous as he was, did find a bit of difficulty trying to understand him but he got all the words in the end. Actually, Berwald’s accent did intrigue Matt but currently it was not the time nor place to inquire about origins. Their height difference meant that Matthew needed to look up at the other, which he was too shy at the moment to do, so once they shook hands Matt took his back and allowed Berwald to scrutinize him to his leisure.

Taking a couple of steps back, look away and sighing, along with Berwald Matt listened to their teacher for their instructions and Matt found himself glancing at the other boy. Berwald was supposed to keep him in check? Man, he really did turn into a dragon, didn’t he? Rolling his head back, Matt listened to the rest of their training outline but looked down at the Swede with a blink when the other spoke.

"Wh’n y’ur ready t’ st’rt M’tthew, w’ can b’gin tr’ining“.

Was this a student or actually another professor? By the looks of him, he could either be eighteen or twenty-five… The tall blond just had that look to him but it all didn’t matter to Matt, it just meant that he had another person to witness himself transform, which the Canadian disliked. Giving the two man a thumb’s up and flashing them a smile, the boy reached up slowly and removed his glasses before shuffling over to hand them to the teacher. Turning his back and walking a few steps away, Matt’s smile died and his nerves and anxiety was finally shown in his face. With hesitant fingers he pulled at the sash of his robe and allowed it to fall open, exposing his lean naked body to empty space, his back to Berwald and their teacher. Transforming at will Matt had already pretty much mastered and considering that t had been quite sometime since he had and his current nervous state, already he could feel the urge, like a burn, in his chest, foretelling his polar nature clawing to be revealed.

“The hell with it…” he whispered and allowed the robe to slip from his shoulder, falling to the ground, and his bare backside was only visible for a moment before all at once, Matt’s body tensed and with a rush of white, he transformed. With an explosion of fur and power, where the shy boy once stood now reared up a massive nd towering polar bear, larger than any in the wild, on its hind legs. A few grunts the bear made before he fell upon its forelegs and shook his massive head. Matt took a moment to adjust to his heightened senses, his amazing sense of hear, smell, the shear size of his body, and the power his great muscles. A few snorts he made before he perked up his ears and looked back at the men, making a small roar, and began to walk towards them, if only a couple huge steps, when the great bear froze. Lifting his head he stared at Berwald and Matt, as in control as he was, was no match for how his instincts responded to the sudden strong scent that reached his nose and it was… strange, distinctly lupin, and Matt’s animalistic nature disliked wolves, they were trouble wherever they went.

Finding it suddenly hard to stop himself from growling, Matt forced himself to sit back on his big white bottom, to be a good boy, but his ever-violet eyes remained upon Berwald, shyness having been killed with having gained over 1400 lbs, and now it was he who could look down upon the Swede.

[BERWALD OXENSTIERNA]

Berwald watched as the robe the other had been wearing just drop to the floor, he watched the naked flesh exposed for just a moment be replaced by the white fur of the other boy’s animal form. He had to say he was impressed as the transformed bear dropped onto his forelegs. He watched every move that the bear made as he started to move towards the teacher and himself, he frowned as he heard the other growling and prepared himself to change when Matthew sat down on his bottom.

He looked up at the bear’s face when the other looked down at him, he kept his eyes on the other’s eyes, he only looked away when the teacher spoke up that he should transform as well. He nodded and stepped back from the teacher and Matthew, his whole body began to change into a humanoid wolf. His torso, face, arms and legs were soon covered grey fur, his face became wolf –like and his nails became sharp. His vision became clear and he could see perfectly again as if he was wearing his glasses again if the glasses like marks under his eyes were any indication.

He stood at his full height to bring him to just slightly taller than the sitting bear but only by a few inches, his instincts telling him of the danger the bear could become if he was not careful around the other. But Berwald prepared himself for anything as he started to listen as he listened to what the teacher now started to explain to the two of what he wanted.

[Deleted]

Over the next hour or two, polar Matthew did what he was instructed, go here, do this, and whatever else that was asked of him, mostly he was sure to prove that as a bear he comprehended English. He did, and this was all rather dull, but as the obedient bear that he was, Matt did as he was told and for the first time understood how some of the animals at the zoos he’s visited felt. All the while, however, he kept his eyes and ears trained on the werewolf because even though he seemed all well and good, the bear portion of Matthew’s heart did not trust him. Wolves and bears naturally did not get along, a pack of wolves could kill a young bear, and there always was the fight over food and territory in the wild. As a person who could talk to animals, Matt held wolves in high respect but this wolf… wasn’t exactly a wolf and was against everything he knew, he even smelt off.

True Berwald now was taller, if only slightly when Matt was all fours, but it didn’t take much for the bear t rear up and tower over all, assert his dominance subtly, and Matt couldn’t help himself. The more his training lasted, the more the Canadian became aware that he was in need of it. When he had been alone, in the wilderness, even then he had trouble sometimes with keeping himself, staying in control and keeping his beastly nature form taking over, but now he was being watched, around humans, and had a wolf to contend with, and Matt’s bear nature… was fighting strong. More than once unfortunately Matt found himself bowing his head low, a sign of defence, grunting, becoming distracted, and he’d need to physically shake his head and start his exercise over. Still, increasingly he would need to shake his head, his grunting increased and his teacher he saw cast Berwald worried looks from time to time.

When his teacher finally called for time to end, Matt the bear snorted and started to make his way back to where his robe was. He was having trouble keeping focused again and it was scaring him because he’d been transformed longer than this before but never had he felt like this, distracted and on edge… perhaps it was because rather than grass and trees around him, he was in a building and couldn’t see the sky and the scent of humans was all around him, enclosing him. Once he reached his robe, it took all his strength not to look over at his teacher or Berwald more importantly, before he sat on his great white bottom. It took him a few moments to transform back and when he did, he was glad he was sitting because he was shaking and felt utterly exhausted, violated, and even felt ashamed that he was human… humans filled his nose to the point he wanted to wash. Blindly he reached over and draped the robe over his lap and waved off when his teacher called out to him.

“I’m fine. I’ll… catch up with you later. Ah, thanks for the ah, day…” he called out, eyes closed, as a wave of homesickness washed over him like a kick in the gut. That’s what was putting his bear nature on edge: this dojo, this school, was one big cage. Polar bears don’t belong in Hawaii. "I have to stop thinking so dramatically..." Matt muttered to himself with a shake of his head, sighing loudly, and started to pul the robe back on rather than sitting on the floor, naked.

[BERWALD OXENSTIERNA]

Berwald’s sharp eyes kept an eye on the large white bear as Matthew went about the training area following the teacher’s directions. He frowned at the times that Matthew would shake his head almost like he was trying to get himself back on track, the starting over on his exercises confirmed it for him. He didn’t make a move as the teacher cast him worried looks every so often. He was not as worried as the teacher but he believed that Matthew could keep it together, there where a few times that he moved to control Matthew but the boy managed to correct himself.

The teacher finally called for the training to end and he watched as the bear make his way back to where he had dropped his robe and sit down. He waited as he watched Matthew transform back into a human, he waited a few moments after Matthew had changed back to change back to his human form as well his vision going blurry as he changed back to his human form.

“ Ah. Y’ur w’lcome… “ he looked away from Matthew as the younger put his robe back on out of respect for the other student . He glanced over at the teacher who started to give Matthew the results of their exercise, he listened quietly to what the teacher was telling Matthew and what they would do the next time they met up at the “Dojo”.

[Deleted]

Slipping his arms into his robe’s sleeves, Matt tied the sash tight abound his waist and sighed, before he stood up. Wincing once he straightened and reaching up his arms to stretch, his muscles and bones becoming familiar to his human body once again, the Canadian idly listened to his teacher and nodded when appropriate, but wasn’t really listening. All Matthew really wanted to do was have a shower, maybe a hoot, before sinking into his bed and sleep for two days. He felt exhausted, worn down physically and mentally, and the more his teacher spoke the more music filled Matt’s head and he was no longer paying attention.

Finally, the teacher released him and Matthew started towards the locker rooms, glancing over finally at Berwald after having avoiding making eye contact with him the entire time their teacher spoke. The other boy’s smell, his wolf smell, was all too new in Matt’s senses and even as a human he felt instinctively wary; however, he was too tired to no longer care. Reaching the locker room door, Matthew automatically held the door open for the other before heading over to his locker and robotically began to get dressed, too distracted by his own thoughts to be shy or anything.

Zipping up his sweater, Matt stuffed his clothes into his bag and shouldered it, shutting his locker. The clang interrupted his thoughts and he turned to look at Berwald, only to offer a small smile. “Ah, thanks for today and sorry if I made you uncomfortable or something. I think it’s going to take me a while to, you know… get used to this place,” adjusting his gaze down to his Converse sneaks, Matt shrugged and mumbled, “I’ve never transformed in a building before and it’s rather… confining”.

[BERWALD OXENSTIERNA]

Berwald watched silently as Matthew started for the locker rooms after being dismissed for the day, once the teacher dismissed him as well he silently followed Matthew back to the locker room. Nodding his thanks as the other held the door open he headed to his locker, he opened his locker to put his glasses on again. Being able to see properly again he started on changing back into his school clothes.

He looked up from putting his training clothes in his bag when Matthew started to speak to him. He nodded in understanding “ Ah. It’s ‘lright I w’s not ‘ncomfrtable ‘t all. ” he adjusted the strap on his satchel bag and nodded “ Y’u’ll get ‘se to it. It j’st take t’me. “ he patted Matthew on the head as the boy stared at his shoes. “ I kn’w how y’u f’el. I was the s’me way when I f’rst c’me here, t’kes t’me to get ‘se to. “

He knew it would take time for Matthew to get use to the way things were done here at the school, it happened to everyone at first but eventually he would get into the swing of things. “ If y’u w’nt to tr’in when’ver c’me find me if y’u like “ He didn’t offer to train very often with other people but he felt that Matthew was going to need it.

[Deleted]

“ I kn’w how y’u f’el. I was the s’me way when I f’rst c’me here, t’kes t’me to get ‘se to. “

Smiling and blushing at his head pat and at Berwald's words, Matt looked up at the rather intimidating boy and found him not so overbearing anymore, even if his scent still lingered in Matt's nostrils, the Swede seemed like a decent guy. Reaching up to push up his glasses, he Canadian cleared his throat and glanced at his watch to see that it was getting late and he still hadn't eaten supper, which had probably been a bad decision because a hungry bear was a more dangerous bear.

“ If y’u w’nt to tr’in when’ver c’me find me if y’u like “

Blinking in slight surprise and admiration, the blond's smile grew in appreciation and he nodded. "That would be awesome! I mean, out powers are pretty similar and you're really the only person I know who can change form and yeah, ah... That would be great, Berwald".

Using the other boy's name for the first time made Matt even blush more because really, what the Swede was offering did actually mean a lot to Matt who did want to learn more control over his powers because obviously from today it was clear that he didn't have as much as he thought. In proper, Canadian polite manner, Matt offered his hand to the taller blond with a grin, happy that he hadn't ended up attacking the werewolf like his bear nature really had wanted.