The Cave

He followed him outside. James had all right to be frustrated by this - especially when he recalled that James had always used an alias, and that he had probably ruined that by repeatedly using his real name - but something about him seemed off. He didn't know him enough to clearly understand what was the problem, but the James he remembered had been far more friendly than this current version of him.

They stopped at the foot of the cliff. There was a small rock jutting out above them, which he made sure to stand under. The last thing he wanted was to get soaked.

"I'm sorry for earlier," he vaguely said, trying his best to apologize but failing miserably because of how awkward this situation had become. "I, uh, probably shouldn't have used your real name back in the cave. You're probably using an alias right now. And I just ruined it, which isn't a good thing. You seem to change them a lot, right? So you're probably not using Mark anymore."

Mark. Mark. This man had known him when he went by Mark. But the only time he used Mark was when he fought the grangor, and then-

James blinked a few times. He stopped caring about the rain. He was already soaked the moment he stepped out, so he stood just outside of the cover of the rock above, and just at the edge of the cliff. He tried to blink away the rain as he looked more closely at Leo, but no matter how many times he searched his memory, he couldn't place the face or the name. Leo wasn't present in those memories.

"I don't know how you remember me by that name," he said quietly, considering reaching for his gun, but deciding to wait. "But if you really know who I am, then there's only one thing you could want, and I'm not going to go without a fight. So let's get this over with."

He stared wildly at James, trying to digest what he had said. The sound of the rain slamming against the rock he was using as shelter provided a distraction he absolutely didn't need. But even in the best of circumstances, he doubted he would be able to make sense of what James was saying. The correlation between the alias Mark and the need to fight him just didn't make any sense, but he wasn't going to test the threat.

He raised his hands above his head. Better keep things nice and safe than accidentally get himself killed before he could complete his charge. "I'm not going to fight you," he promised. Though fear tended to make him act irrationally, this sort of fear made common sense ring out. He was finally able to come up with a concise reply. "I just didn't want them to hear my real name up there. Because it's even more of a big deal than when we first met, and then that other time - I've, uh, kind of been up to some crazy stuff since then. So revealing my real name in a group of people I didn't know could really mess things up, especially if they ended up telling someone else or had heard of what I've done. It was a nightmare the last time that happened. I still blame Vala, but it was definitely because I told her first-"

Goodbye conciseness.

"Just tell me who you really are, then," James replied harshly, keeping his voice low.

He furrowed his brow. "Are you okay? You're different than I remember you being - you were friendlier the last times-" Noticing the look that James was giving him, he wisely answered the question that had just been asked of him. "I'm Maahes."

For a moment, the look on James's face softened, but his brows quickly drew together and he looked at Leo with a renewed anger and annoyance.

"How do you know Maahes?" he asked accusingly, approaching Leo slowly with eyes pinned on him. "What did he tell you about me?"

"I know Maahes because I'm Maahes?" he hesitantly said, not quite sure where James was going with this. His hand instinctively started to lower so he could easily grab his zat'nik'tel if a fight broke out. Before he was anywhere close to reaching it, he stopped. James may have been ready for a fight, but Maahes wasn't going to give it him.

This is Vala all over again.

He really needed to explain what he was more often; almost all of the misunderstandings he had dealt with in the past few years could have been avoided. Returning his hand back to its original position, he added, "I can shapeshift. That's why I've looked different every time we've run into each other. I'm usually pretty good about using the same guise, but I keep meeting you after I've started using a different one."

James blinked a few times, still looking just as frustrated as before.

"Shapeshift... life... shift forms?" The only thing he could liken that to was with werewolves. But he'd never seen someone shift from one human form to another, though, with everything else he'd seen, it wasn't off the table. But he couldn't just take Leo for his word. He took a step back, looking Leo up and down.

"If... if you're Maahes. Then show me the face of Maahes that I know."

He looked at the area around them. Seeing that they were truly alone, he could comply. There was no brilliant flash of light or a gradual shifting between one form to another. He was just Leo one moment, and the Maahes that James had most recently met the next. He only did the change for a short time. It would be an absolute nightmare if someone walked out and saw him like this. But it would be hopefully be enough to convince James.

"The shapeshifting part is kind of a secret," he said, "so I'm sorry that I can't do it for longer. I don't want someone else to find out. And I apologize if I didn't look exactly like I did when I went by Ramses. It's been a really long time since then, so I don't remember all of the exact details."

The moment Maahes shifted forms, James's heart stopped. He stared at Maahes with wide eyes, and as he realized Maahes was telling the truth, his entire body decided to violently tear itself out of fight or flight mode, and he felt his legs once again grow weak.

Since his last encounter with Maahes, he hadn't seen a friendly face in... months. Maybe six months had passed since then, but for James it had felt like years. For Maahes it probably was years. Or thousands again.

He stumbled back another two steps, edging dangerously close to the edge of the rock where it dropped off into the rocky wall of forest.

"Sh... sh*t it... it's really you," he whispered, his voice stolen away from him in shock.

Jaron looked down at his arms. Grey fur instead of white. He could've sworn he'd shifted back, but he must've been too distracted by the frigid water and saving Kendrik. His hand shook a little more than usual as he pulled it up to his face and ran it along his longer snout and bigger ears. And, when he looked at his clothes, he didn't see his overalls and toolbelt; he just saw a pair of grungy brown pants and a white undershirt. Exactly what he'd been wearing the last time he'd taken this form.

He could feel Kendrik's hand on his shoulder. "Weren't yer fault," Kendrik said, shivering. "Ya did what ya had ta. Ya don't need to hate yourself 'cause yer a wolf sometimes-"

But, by then, Jaron was already slipping his undershirt off. Throwing it in Kendrik's direction, he pushed himself off the overturned canoe and into the freezing waters.

With all of his fur, it almost felt tolerable. The cold still nipped at his ears and face, though. Jaron's cheeks stung, but he wasn't sure if that was out of the cold or out of embarrassment. It was the perfect motivator to get him moving to the shore.

In the meantime, the hound panicked. "Get back here!" Kendrik shouted, standing on the canoe and cupping his hands over his mouth. But no, there was no stopping Jaron, especially when the fox couldn't hear him. Turning back to Reyes, Kendrik picked up the undershirt and stepped towards Reyes's canoe. "Take me to him," the hound said.

"I am so confused right now," Reyes muttered, pulling up beside Kendrik's canoe and letting him on. He did exactly as requested - though he still couldn't understand why Jaron had decided to jump back in, or why his appearance had suddenly changed.


He instinctively reached a hand out to grab onto James and pull him back away from the edge of the cliff. He wasn't going to let him get hurt if he could help it. It definitely ruined the moment, but James' life was more important than having an incredibly touching reunion.

"Yeah," he quietly said, giving him an almost sheepish smile, "it's me."

Kendrik grumbled and wrapped his arms around himself. "He ain't all a fox," he said to Reyes, after hearing the guy's comment. "He's part-wolf. He's stronger when he's a wolf, so he'll bring out that form every now and then. 'Cept it got him picked on when he was a kid, so he ain't proud of it. So, thanks."

Adeline stumbled through the undergrowth, making progress to get away from the cave and all of the crazy strangers. Finally, she forced herself to stop and look around to orient herself. At this rate, all she would accomplish is breaking a toe.

She sighed and sat under a tree, leaning her head back. Though she didn't want to admit it, her best bet at this point would be to go back and get help. Maybe someone knew where they were.

James wanted to pull away from Maahes’s touch, but a part of him was aware that his heels were at the edge of the ledge. And a part of him didn’t really care that he was so close to falling either.

Hesitantly, he inched forward. The rain pounding on his shoulders and his head finally began to feel like it was really hitting him, and he realized just how cold he was, and that he’d started shivering. And despite himself, he could feel his face growing warm with tears as his eyes watered up.

He knew there was no reason to cry. It was just Maahes. But he couldn’t seem to keep it in either, no matter how hard he tried to fight it.

In shame he looked down and away, hoping that the tears would blend in with the rain.

“H-how long has it been, then?” he asked, voice shaking. “F-for you?”