After returning from his first game, Alex felt a weird.. buzz beneath his skin. It seemed to move constantly, almost like some kind of wild animal, always throwing him off of whatever task he was trying to accomplish. Alex tried for days to just ignore it, but it was always there, just beneath the skin. Eventually, Alex settled on a hunting trip to calm his nerves, gathering his gear. it felt... different in his hands, after what he'd used it for on the submarine, but not neccessarily bad. He felt himself effortlessly move through the trees, naturally shifting his weight to reduce noise, and quickly picking up on tracks and trails, despite never really picking those skills up in all his years hunting with Grandpa. He thought back to The Talent, and what he said about how the way he learned would change. This was new, but good, although it didn't quite settle the new feeling buzzing beneath his skin. As Alex stalked through the woods he saw the birds, surprisingly friendly towards him after his Grandpa taught him how to put effort into befriending them, stop them from startling and alerting prey to his location. with his more graceful gait, one flew down and perched upon his shoulder. "Well hey there, little fella, don't suppose you've seen anything worth hunting around here?" Alex asked gently, followed by a chuckle under his breath.

"That way, towards the thundersplit tree" the bird replied, pointing its beak northwest.

Alex froze. He could feel it, just beneath his skin, a feral pur of satisfaction, as if something tightly bound had just been released. There was a Beast within him, and it was finally free.

After burying Wilfred and Zeus, Alex felt angry. Angry at the scorpion, for killing them, angry at Wilfred for poofing out of reality in the middle of a fight, and angry at himself for not at least trying to help. He hadn't known Wilfred long, but he seemed like a pleasant man, and certainly hadn't deserved what happened to him. With nothing else to do, he bought fuel and drove home, the Beast seething beneath his skin, in sync with his own emotions. As he pulled up Alex felt a feral snarl tear its way out of his throat, and began to feel light-headed. The Beast was raging inside of him, and it was about to break free. He didn't remember much of that night, only that he woke up with dead birds, his birds, scattered about the forest floor, gashes and bite marks all throughout their bodies. Over the coming weeks, Alex tried everything he could get his hands on to control the Beast, until finally, on an especially cold night, he accepted it. The Beast was unbound, the games setting it free from its chains, and their was nothing he could do about it now, so he did what came naturally. He calmed it down. He waited patiently, intangible hand held forward within his mind, for the Beast to come to him, much like he did with his neighbours cats as a child. With patience, and effort, it came to him, and as it touched his hand, he felt it meld with him, and I became we became I, and he was forever changed from a normal man into something... more. Something Kingly.

Alex couldn't sleep at all in the week following the game. He couldn't help but feel frustrated with his inability to hit his targets, or even avoid hitting his allies, while in Werecat form, despite years of training. In the end he gave up sleeping and just trained, relentlessly, with his gun, hoping to get it to work with his new form. eventually he.. adapted, for lack of a better word. His nature and his nurture began to mix, the skilled marksman, who left home to join the army, who spent years hunting with Grandpa and years further honing those skills for a living blending with the relentless king of beasts, a creature rarely seen in the modern world, one which was bound only by his own inexperience and lack of skill to bring his skills to a new level. By the end of the third week, his eyes had further adapted, further changed, now reflecting light and allowing him to hit his targets with greater accuracy than ever before, blending with his training to bring him beyond the level of a normal marksman. As he changed, as he grew stronger and more in touch with his nature, Alex knew, the man who went into the woods all those months ago, who accepted that invite based on a feeling just beneath the skin was... not gone, but changed. The Beast beneath was now at the surface, and would never again be chained, and Alex realised, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Alexander Felidae had been through a lot since first joining the games. From fighting zombies in a submarine, to trying to recover a book from an invulnerable murder scorpion, to fighting outlaws in the 1800's. This was the first time he'd failed to complete his objective though. Honestly, it didn't really bother him too much, life in the military, short as it was, had taught him to, if not expect, at least be prepared for failure. This brought him back yo another topic, one he'd been hoping to put off a little while longer: what was he going to do about his job? His leave ended in a couple of months, and he wasn't sure what the armys policy was on their soldiers turning into super-powered catmen when they were off-duty. He sighed, no helping it now, what was done was done. He then started to wonder, why exactly had he agreed to this line of work? What did the Beast living just beneath his skin really want? Alex looked around his home, the old cabin in the woods his grandpa left him, until finally, he locked eyes with a stray cat wandering just outside his window. It averted it's eyes, bowed it's head, and quickly scurried away. The feeling from that first time, that first meeting with a harbinger, returned. He could always just leave the army. Hunting payed well enough, especially with his senses, and it would take away from his prep-time for the next game. Yes, all for the next game, and then the next, and eventually... Alex purred subconciously. Eventually, his prize would come. He just had to keep winning.

Alexanders stay in Hawaii was fun. He ended up working a bunch of odd jobs, trying to pay his way home, though he got the feeling that it would be faster just to wait for the next game and hope the harbinger would drop him off at home. Still, hanging around with Tori could be fun, and Hawaii was considered a vacation hotspot for a reason, so it could be worse, but no matter what he couldn't get that thing out of his head. Kelsey. what was she? No mortal creature, nor most of the supernatural ones he'd faced, had managed to make him feel that... scared? Angry? He honestly couldn't say, but she clearly had a lot of money, a lot of connections, and little to no real morals to speak of. He hoped Megu was ok, the little red creature having been carried off by the abomination without anyone else being able to say a word, but he had serious doubts about how the poor little fella would fare in the things clutches. In the end, Alex resolved to just enjoy himself, nothing being within his power to accomplish quite yet. That, and he had a new trick to work on. Wandering around the Hawaiian wilderness, Alex could feel the Beast, deeply unsettled by his encounter with Kelsey, bristling beneath his skin. He didn't let it out, instead focusing it down to his legs. As the Beast let its power surge through his legs, Alex felt them warp and strengthen, rippling muscle surging beneath his clothes, and he launched himself forward, soaring a full 25 feet. It would probably tire him out to use that trick too often, but his growing control over his nature reassured him that, one day, he would be able to match, and maybe even defeat, creatures of non-physical power, such as that abomination Kelsey.

Alex, after being driven home by a psychic bear, decided it was really time he got out more. Fortunately, his car was fine (well, as much as it ever was) since he'd been slapped to Florida a month or two prior, and he had enough fuel for a round trip to this place Barry had told him about, 'Fire Hazard'. When he arrived, he found an empty shop, with an entrance to somewhere deeper. walking inside, and with no one appearing when he called out Alex walked down into the deeper area to be met with... a pretty nice lounge. While inside, he ended up being greeted by his first person since arriving there, a pre-teen girl with a gas mask and metallic arm, and got challenged to a game of darts. It was honestly somewhat nostalgic for him, like that 'darts championship' some of the others had set up with a dartboard and a pair of 'darts' they found, back in his army days, though the feeling was somewhat marred when the little girl proceeded to open up her arm and load a dart inside. After a brief amount of convincing, Alex and the girl agreed on not using their powers or any fancy gadgets to play, and took turns throwing a dart at the board. It was actually quite fun, Alex managing to consitently hit close to the center while the girl got a bullseye and another dart just outside of the circle at the center. After asking about Jules, Alex drove home, feeling oddly satisified with how his day went. He'd have to drop by again sometime.

Alex spent much of his free time lying awake in the days following the death race. Things had been rocky from the start, that much had been clear, but by the end it was all just overwhelming. Now he was down a grenade he couldn't afford to replace, had killed far more people than he was comfortable with and was pretty sure he'd fit in well with people he knew, intellectually, that he should mostly dislike, if not actually despise. "Enough", Alex thought to himself, and went outside to hone his connection. He was having trouble increasing the amount of times he could connect to the Beast, only managing to bring more of it to the surface, so he decided to focus on that for now. Feeling deep, Alex reached out to the Beast and drew it into him and it became we became I, as Alex shifted into his Werecat form, muscle bulging out from his frame as a rippling coat of glossy ginger fur covered his body, mouth distending into the maw of a cat as his teeth sharpened into fangs and his nails twisted into sharp, hardened claws. As always, he could feel more resting just below his skin, as if there was more of himself that he could pull out with a sufficient act of will, all he had to do was just sink into himself, let his instincts take control. And so he did. Over the course of the brief three minutes he could maintain his form for, Alex blended with himself more than he had ever dared do previously, and felt his claws and fangs sharpen, harden, become stronger than ever before. He slashed at a nearby tree, and his claws met no resistance, seeming to rend even the very spirit of the tree as they carved through. Alex felt the old feeling, that primal grin, well up inside again, and began to wonder what he would be like when his nature was fully developed.

Alex spent much of his free time lying awake in the days following the death race. Things had been rocky from the start, that much had been clear, but by the end it was all just overwhelming. Now he was down a grenade he couldn't afford to replace, had killed far more people than he was comfortable with and was pretty sure he'd fit in well with people he knew, intellectually, that he should mostly dislike, if not actually despise. "Enough", Alex thought to himself, and went outside to hone his connection. He was having trouble increasing the amount of times he could connect to the Beast, only managing to bring more of it to the surface, so he decided to focus on that for now. Feeling deep, Alex reached out to the Beast and drew it into him and it became we became I, as Alex shifted into his Werecat form, muscle bulging out from his frame as a rippling coat of glossy ginger fur covered his body, mouth distending into the maw of a cat as his teeth sharpened into fangs and his nails twisted into sharp, hardened claws. As always, he could feel more resting just below his skin, as if there was more of himself that he could pull out with a sufficient act of will, all he had to do was just sink into himself, let his instincts take control. And so he did. Over the course of the brief three minutes he could maintain his form for, Alex blended with himself more than he had ever dared do previously, and felt his claws and fangs sharpen, harden, become stronger than ever before. He slashed at a nearby tree, and his claws met no resistance, seeming to rend even the very spirit of the tree as they carved through. Alex felt the old feeling, that primal grin, well up inside again, and began to wonder what he would be like when his nature was fully developed.

By the time Alex returned to the hotel in Cairo, John was gone. After a brief conversation with Doc, Alex decided to try and head back home, though with no money left it would undoubtedly be a struggle. Fortunately, whatever force or entity had called Alex and the others to Morocco seemed to be feeling forgiving, as Alex somehow just stumbled his way through the streets and found himself a couple dozen miles from his cabin. After the experience, Alex could feel his connection to the Beast had grown stronger than before, himself and the set of feral instincts comprising the Beast having become more closely attuned since he chose his nature over his nurture. Under normal circumstances, the walk would have been somewhat daunting, trekking for a good few hours through only moderately familiar forested terrain, but Alex simply sank into the Beast, letting I become We become I, and rapidly tore across the ground, his claws anchoring him and allowing him to use the full might of his feline limbs to hurl himself along the forest floor. As he approached his cabin, only half an hour since his arrival back in America, Alex finally began to lose cohesion, the parts making him Alexander Felidae and the parts making him the Beast once more separating into two distinct entities, but Alex could tell, his bond with his true nature was stronger than ever before, an additional golden thread wrapping around the thicker spiritual one tieing him to the Beast and reinforcing the connection ever so slightly.

Alex was starting to experience... issues, with his living arrangements. Money was uncomfortably tight basically all the time now, and he was running out of game to hunt, the Beast giving him cravings for meat that he could only satisfy by polishing off a whole deer or equivalent in a single sitting. As much as Alex loved the old place, and as much as his newfound powers helped him with hunting, he was going to have to move to greener pastures. With a sigh, Alex returned to his cabin, took a seat at his table, and unwrapped a store bought muffin, one he'd gotten to celebrate his twenty third birthday. Thinking back, he realised that this meant he'd been doing these jobs for almost a full year now, months invested in something he honestly still only half understood. He had yet to really figure out what the Harbingers got out of these tasks, though he wouldn't trade the skills and abilities he'd acquired over the course of them for anything. Really, he was glad with the direction his life was going, even the massive appetite he'd worked up hunting seemed to contribute to improving him, the meat and bone being digested by his body to produce a hide like armour, something he reckoned could even stop small arms fire, if it hit a particularly tough patch or only managed a glancing blow. Yes, the life of Alexander Felidae was a dangerous, confusing, and somewhat complicated one, but he was glad for the opportunities provided to him.

Ever since the incident with the Dragons, Alex could sense the thread of blessing gifted to him by his goddess growing, becoming stronger and more radiant. As it expanded, he could feel a well of energy develop, drawing from the thread to fill itself, hidden away within his soul. As the well filled, drop by drop, Alex tried to draw upon it, similsr to how he called upon his connection to the Beast, but any energy he siphoned from the well seemed to just dissipate harmlessly throughout his body, leaving him mildly invigorated, but otherwise unnaffected. It took a full week of experimentation to get an idea of what the energy did, the notch left in his ear by that insane huntsman finally being restored, though instead of knitting itself together, like he would have expected, the energy dissipated throughout his body seemed to wash over the scar, golden light filling in the gap before fading after a week, leaving his ear as it was before he'd been injured. With this new ability, Alex felt a sense of... completeness, like he was finally whole. His inherent abilities, his birthright as a Werecat, had finally finished developing, and all that was left was to practice and grow his gifts power, though the scales around his chest and throat seemed to promise something... more, in his future. All that he needed to reach the true heights of his power, was to go on more jobs, fighting horrors worse than ever before, risking life and limb to fulfill his purpose. The future was bright.

Ever since the incident with the Dragons, Alex could sense the thread of blessing gifted to him by his goddess growing, becoming stronger and more radiant. As it expanded, he could feel a well of energy develop, drawing from the thread to fill itself, hidden away within his soul. As the well filled, drop by drop, Alex tried to draw upon it, similsr to how he called upon his connection to the Beast, but any energy he siphoned from the well seemed to just dissipate harmlessly throughout his body, leaving him mildly invigorated, but otherwise unnaffected. It took a full week of experimentation to get an idea of what the energy did, the notch left in his ear by that insane huntsman finally being restored, though instead of knitting itself together, like he would have expected, the energy dissipated throughout his body seemed to wash over the scar, golden light filling in the gap before fading after a week, leaving his ear as it was before he'd been injured. With this new ability, Alex felt a sense of... completeness, like he was finally whole. His inherent abilities, his birthright as a Werecat, had finally finished developing, and all that was left was to practice and grow his gifts power, though the scales around his chest and throat seemed to promise something... more, in his future. All that he needed to reach the true heights of his power, was to go on more jobs, fighting horrors worse than ever before, risking life and limb to fulfill his purpose. The future was bright, as an aura of superiority settled over Alexs form.

Alex could feel the change his latest job had granted him. It started at the tip of his tail, running up it and into his spine, where it crawled, leaking static shocks throughout his body, up to his eyes and then to the tips of his ears, changing him. He was human again. He could feel the Beast, still, locked in a cage and crammed into the back of his mind, clawing and yowling and roaring to be let out, but Alex, once more, was for all appearances an average human male. It was glorious, being able to walk into town without being wrapped up in bandages, or a ridiculously long scarf, or wearing sunglasses all the damn time. He could just... go to town.

Alex could feel the origin of the gift, that connection with his goddess, lodged in his soul, letting him switch through the symbol hanging around his neck. Truly, a blessing. Now that he could fit in with the rest of humanity, the first thing to do was, naturally, go to a bar and get absolutely plastered. he'd forgotten how much he liked being around other people! After a few hours, Alex started getting headaches from the Beast rattling its cage, but the alcohol really helped keep it quiet. After a while, Alex noticed that he wasn't quite gettig drunk like he used to, tipsy but not outright drunk, and found that all that power he'd been picking up was actually coming in useful now that he could actually interact with people! Truly a wonder, to not be trapped in the middle of the woods with no one to talk to.

Alex was back home, home at last. No salty sea water to get ruin his fur and dry out his scales, no sir, just good old dry land, forest, and some rivers. Speaking of rivers, Alex was getting hungry, and it was about the time of day that the forest critters generally stopped by for a drink. Looked like it was time for a hunt.

As Alex and The Beast merged into one, his form swelling, clothes tensing against his massive frame, Alex felt different. The fur and toughened skin around the area where his foe from the last job had damn near impaled him felt... tougher, to out it plainly. Not just that, it seemed to spread a bit round the area he was wounded. Was it similar to the scales he got after being burned by dragonfire, did his nature as a Werebeast cause him to somehow assimilate the power of other, similar creatures into his own? Or was it just his healing factor, pumping out stronger muscle and whatnot after being quite literally torn apart? No time for that, his beast brain decided, it was time to hunt. The towering werebeast prowled the river, a reasonable distance from its banks, puncing on the occasional unlucky deer that happened by. The flesh tasted just as succulent as ever to his beastial tongue, but he still felt so hungry after all that healing. He needed more food, but his human tracking methods weren't getting enough food anywhere near fast enough. He needed to try and track like a beast.

Alex could feel every breath he took rattle his lungs. His body was barely holding together, his healing factor utterly useless in the face of whatever ravaged his insides. He fought to get further from that cursed town, even his mighty Werecat legs struggling to hold him up, vomit and blood still leaking from his massive maw, his body riddled with pain. Each step he took felt heavier than the last, each one bringing him closer to the last, only for the pain to somehow get worse. His blood began to burn, boiling in his veins. Every heartbeat pushed the burning sensation further through his body, further, further, further, reaching from his bloodstained maw to the tip of his tail, fire once more consuming him, flashes of a baby dragon, scared and angry, slipping through his vision, it burned, scorching his insides like nothing else, and he need it out. His great claws tore at his thick hide, forcing their way through to release the blood, to get the burning to stop before it cooked him alive, followed by his massive teeth tearing into the ragged puncture he managed to open. His own blood poured from his arm, pouring down his throat, and it almost seemed to freeze as it left his body, soothing the burning sensation as it went down his massive gullet. As he drained his own blood, the sensation eventually stopped, and with it, the vomiting and bleeding stopped, and his wounds began to heal. Death would not claim Alexander Felidae this day.