Faerys had lost her newspaper when she went to change to a new one. Just as she had changed newspapers, and thrown her old one in the common room fire, the other one blew clean out the window. It normally wasn't embarrassing to run through the halls, but for some reason there wasn't a new one in sight. Then, she saw the old one. Well... Maybe it was the old one... But then, it was hard to tell if it had just stopped to taunt her, or if she had been lucky enough to find a new one.
It was right outside, so she chased after it, bunching together all the holes in her only robe that she could. It was certainly a fine start to a day. It flew into the woods, and she chased it. And, of course, in the woods she lost it. Then, she realized she had lost herself. Which way was out?
She stopped, out of breath, her hand cramping from continuing to hold on to her tattered robe, and she leaned on a nearby tree. Of course, that wasn't a good thing, either, as the tree came crashing down on the poor girl, with a sickening crunch.
"Ow... ow ow ow." She tried to get up, but it wasn't easy with a tree on her legs. Or her back. Or her head. For that matter, her hair was warm. Well, warmer than usual. Oh, okay. Was that it? That seemed kind of harsh. Maybe she was cursed after all...
A boy appeared in front of the young girl, leaves in his hair and a smile on his face. He crouched down to get a better look at her, golden eyes bright.
"Hmmm," he said, voice friendly. "That looks bad. Sorry, but I don't think you're gonna make it."
He could move the tree off her, yes, but that would do nothing if her back was already broken. Tapping one slim hand against his chin, the lycan pondered the situation.
"You're lucky me 'n Willow," he referred to his companion, who he knew should be close by, "decided to come out this way on our hunt today." He tipped his head to one side, grinning. "You knowww you shouldn't play in the woods, girly. Guess you don't need to worry 'bout th' big, bad wolf when ya got trees fallin' on ya though, huh?
"But, if you liiiike... I know how to fix ya." The grin spread, showing sharp teeth no human should ever possess. "Must love dogs, of course. And you'll kinda be allergic to silver, but that's hardly a price to pay for what you get out of it."
Orca leaned in, touched the girl's face, felt the blood there, showed it to her. "Whaddya say? All it takes is one quick bite..."
She's probably in shock, A voice called out through the two minds. She wouldn't survive it.
Silver eyes flashed in the dark. Leaves rustled under paw as the she-wolf stepped out, grinning like some dog from hell. Orca amazed her - so blunt. They would scare the poor thing to death. She trotted over, flicking an ear as a leaf fell down on her head, and paused near the girl's shoulder.
We never did find anything to eat, Willow pointed out, chuckling as best a wolf could, tail wagging. She lowered a black snout to the girl's side, sniffing. Blood. Smelled good. Then she seemed to remember herself, and dropped to her belly, tail brushing over the leaves.
She remembered her own change. There had been so much pain. Writhing. The only thing Willow could that had over-passed that was the Crucio she'd taken for Mustang awhile back. The lycan wrinkled her nose and nudged the girl's shoulder. She was a student from Firefox. What was she doing here?
In all honestly, Willow didn't expect she would survive. If she wasn't in shock already, she would be soon, and then the pain -
No. She wouldn't.
Willow tapped her tail on the ground, eyes softening. Poor kid. That's the only choice you've got, Willow pushed. Orca would probably do it either way, and Willow would consider it if for some bizarre reason Orca didn't.
Fae looked at the wolf and the boy... She thought he was a boy. Sometimes it was tough to tell. The boy said something, and then a voice in her head. Oh, great. She was going crazy in her final moments. Just what she needed.
But, the boy had offered her a chance to survive. Well, it wasn't like she had many choices. She also wasn't suicidal, which was amazing considering her life.
Well, she might have realized exactly what was being offered if she had stopped to think about it, and that might have changed her decision, but she didn't really feel like being taken out by a tree. The two things she had was stubbornness and tenacity. Oh, wait, those were the same thing.
"Well, that sounds good enough to me," she managed, somehow with a rather 'been there, done that' tone. Wow, talking was painful when you were quickly becoming the victim of positional asphyxia delivered by tree. She hoped that the wolf wasn't going to bite her...
Orca patted Willow as the she-wolf came close, laughing at her words.
"Groooss, who eats humans? They taste nasty."
The tone suggested he knew this from experience, but he didn't elaborate further, instead turning back to the broken little girl, who had just agreed to something she probably didn't understand.
Oh well.
It would save her, and then that would be his good deed for the day. It was just a bonus the pack would have a new addition. Orca could train her, make her strong. Fenrir would be proud, he was sure.
"Okay then! This might sting just a bit-"
He lunged forward, shifting to the wolf form with an eye-blurring speed, his jaws latching onto the part of her shoulder that wasn't buried by the tree. He bit deep, blood welling around his chops and turning his muzzle red with flecked drops. Even then, he crunched deeper, willing the infection to pass to her quickly.
It'd suck if this just killed her, after all.
A moment, and the wolf pulled back, tongue licking idly at his nose, yellow eyes gleaming. Right, the tree. He didn't pay the girl any more attention, but moved to the fallen tree, shifting as he went, one hand almost absently half-wiping the blood from his face. He leaned into the wood, strained, and just barely managed to roll it off her little body. Then, as though pleased, he clapped his hands together.
He'd wait and see what would happen. Perhaps she would be a cute wolf.
Willow shot a look at Orca that might as well have been human, even a brow attempting to quirk. Maybe he was even more wolf than she'd originally thought, even as the most animal of the group. Fenrir doesn't seem to mind the taste, Willow pointed out, lips curled in a grinning snarl.
She was kidding, of course. Of course. Naturally.
Whatever.
The girl - she didn't understand, couldn't possibly know what she was agreeing to. But, as expected, Orca didn't seem to care. She snorted mentally 'sting' but before she time to reply, Orca was shifting and then - the blood. It spattered over her muzzle.
Willow had one child, Erin, but lately he hadn't been around much. It kind of .. depressed her. It was funny to refer to him as a child, when he was several years old - a graduated wizard. Did the girl understand what she was losing?
Orca wouldn't ever think about it. What if the girl could be saved?
Too late now. On top of broken whatever, she would probably bleed out. Willow had been convinced she would, Fenrir had hit a major vein. Could lycan's bleed out? Willow wrinkled her brow, glancing at Orca. Maybe she shouldn't bring it up now but ....
What had been with all that lycan blood in Drakkie?
Fae was scared. Suddenly, the nice boy who was going to save her turned into a wolf and bit her. What kind of nightmare was this, anyways? Then the tree was off of her. and the wolf was a boy, again. What in the world was going on? It was all happening so fast, and her heart was beating fast. Faster and faster, and her entire body felt... odd?
No, tight! Did he just drop the tree right back on her? No! No! He said he would save her, not kill her! It hurt so much, and her body was curling up. That was NOT the way her body was supposed to contort. Her body was... not the same? She was hairier. A lot hairier. All over. And her legs bent the wrong way.
Oh, god, was she one of those... those... what was the word? Lycan? She couldn't use magic anymore, right? But, now she was stronger, right? And she would heal faster. She knew that. Her legs felt less like they had been barbecued, and more like legs, again. That was certain. Woah! Everything smelled so... vivid! Well, at least roses were free, most of the time, and she could smell them better, now!
"Shut up, Wil," Orca said calmly, watching the girl -- his new daughter, he supposed -- undergo her first transformation. His had been so long ago he'd forgotten those first, terrible pains. She'd get over it. He had, after all, and back then he'd just been a pathetic weakling. Look at him now!
He made his way over to the new lycan's side, and ruffled the fur between her ears, oddly gentle compared to his recent actions.
"I'll take care of you," he affirmed, an almost tender smile on his blood-streaked features. "What's your name? I'm Orca, and th' other wolf is Willow. This-" he spread his arms to gesture at the trees around them "-is your home now. We're your family, we'll protect you. 'Kay?"
He shot Willow a sidelong glance. "Riiight, Willow?"
Willow almost laughed - almost. It was too serious a moment for that. It occurred to Willow that this might have been Orca's first 'child', technically? She watched the shift, the pain. It was odd to see pain.
She didn't get annoyed with Orca - it was obviously some form of a moment for Orca. And the rest of the pack. Willow had popped back on her haunches to avoid getting popped in the face by the sudden WOLF in the leaves.
The lycan grinned and pressed her muzzle into the girl's side. Funny, they were family, and Willow didn't even know the girl's name. Huh. It seemed to work like that a lot. She hadn't really know Erin either. If Willow had been human, she probably would have popped Orca upside the head for being a butt head.
Welcome to the club, kid. Willow said, nudging the young wolf on the shoulder. 971
Fae was... almost happy? Wow. She didn't feel that way often. But... Maybe, just maybe, she was part of a family. What was a family, exactly? How was she supposed to act? No, really. She just didn't know. She circled around a path like a drunken fox, trying to figure out what exactly was up.
It was odd enough that she had a family, now. She had better get her stuff from... Oh, wait, she didn't HAVE any stuff. Just the clothes on her back. Well, her human back. For that matter, it occurred to her that she could probably change back. And so she did. It was... strange... so much so that for a moment she forgot her robes were holey in the most inconvenient of places...
"Ah!" And her robe was once again in her hand, just as when she entered the forest... Did they ask for her name? She hadn't been paying much attention. She had been concentrating too much on acting like Yui Hirasawa trying to find a room staggering around like a drunk to pay any attention. Maybe she should introduce herself to the two. Well, she thought there were two... The other one HAD to be a lycan, too, right?
"Errr... Nice to meet you, my name is... is... err... is... um..."
Oh, right. She was still horribly nervous. What was her name, again? What a time to forget one's own name!
"Err... FÆRYS! Nice to meet you... err..." Shit! Had they introduced themselves while she wasn't paying attention?
...Awwww, she was so cute, tottering around like that. He grinned, looking the embodiment of pride. He couldn't tell if Willow approved, or was just tolerating him like usual, like most sane, normal people did. Reaching a tanned arm out to prod her in her furry side, he asked, "You okay? Mad at me?"
The small wolf changed back to the small girl, hastily rearranging her clothing like either he or Willow would care. It was adorable. And then... she spoke!
"Orcaaa," the boy prompted her, amusement dancing in his butterscotch eyes. "That's me. Færys? What a cute name." He went quiet a moment, thinking, gaze thoughtful as he surveyed her torn, sparse clothing. "I bet, if you asked Willow reallly nicely, she'd have some spare clothes you could borrow. Those don't look very warm."
Another pause, more thinking. "Are you hungry at all? Want us to get you some food?" She might not be quite ready for anything as rare as they were accustomed to, but he was sure they could scrounge up something.
She shot Orca a look as he nudged her. Yeah, I'm mad at you. I hate you. Then she laughed, whole canine body shaking with amusement. No, you goob, I was just surprised. Her eyes glinted with affection. Orca was one of the few constant people in her life, somebody with odd priorities but who always showed up if she hollered.
Kind of like a pet. For a moment Willow got slightly distracted by a very, very faint memory of a Snea- Kneazle? What had his name been? Willow blinked and shook it off. He'd been her pet back in school - had it already been over a year and a half? Scratch that - had it only been a year and a half?
Willow's attention shot back to the weird little hobo girl.
Awww, she was cute in a ... weird little way. Willow wrinkling her nose in a grin, tongue lolling out of her mouth. Daw. The lycanthrope blinked in astonishment that Orca remembered her stuff before Willow did. She shifted back to the girl with the tanned face and the messy brown hair, sitting in the leaves and grinning.
"Yeah, um. I'll have to find my trunk. I think ... it might be over by Cealla's den." Willow scratched her head. "Maybe. Somewhere. I'll find it, won't be too hard ...." There were only a few hundred trees she could have buried it next too.
And if they didn't find it, well, Willow would just go .... steal some. Duh. This was one of those times when magic would be great, since she couldn't exactly cook food. Maybe Roan -
Oh yeah.
"Færysssss," Willow echoed, blinking. It was cute. So odd. "Yeah, I can find something."
"Orca... Willow..." Faerys looked between the two. Well, there wasn't any going back, now, but at least she wasn't alone.
She decided to try changing again, this time feeling a little less strange and unexpected. It was, after all, that she at least needed a new newspaper before she ran around as a human again. Fur was good for hiding those things you didn't want people to see, but of course, her ribs still showed through her stomach.
She looked at the tree, where it had fallen, and back to the two kind lycans who had decided to help her out. Maybe she would accept that offer of a new robe, after all. This one was terribly holey, and she didn't want to walk around like that.
Forgetting for a moment that she was now a wolf, she opened her mouth to talk to the two, but the only thing that came out was a yip. She was thankful, to a degree, for this new level of hairiness, for without it, they would have seen just how red her face was...
"You're a goob," he muttered back, watching as she changed back to the wild-looking girl he thought of as his best friend. She spoke of having a trunk buried somewhere, and he grinned. He had one of those buried somewhere around here too, containing his old school robes and wand, along with a couple treasured items.
He should figure out where'd he put it, one of these days.
"That would be greeat," he drawled in response to her offer, eyes on his pup, who had changed forms again. Probably curious.
The smaller wolf looked up at them, opened its mouth, and yipped. This time Orca couldn't contain himself.
Dropping to the ground beside the pup, he hugged her, simultaneously cooing out, "Soooo cuuuute. Fæ, honey, you're gonna be the best wolf ever."
He was sure of it. After all, who could ever say no to that adorable little face?
Willow rolled her eyes at Orca's momentary stunned disbelief, grinning. The sharp yip made her jump, wince, and Willow rubbed her ear. No harm done. Herm ... she should start healing up sooner or later, Willow thought, and gosh ... she was so thin.
The former Gryffindor got up, balanced herself on a tree. Whooo. The excitement was getting to her. Or something. Geez. What a mess.
What were the odds of a tree falling on someone?
"Remember that voice in your head earlier?" Willow said, snapping her fingers to get Færys's attention. "That was me. You can talk like that while you're a wolf. Just kind of ... send thoughts."
It wasn't terribly difficult. Willow had figured it out, after all. How hard could it be if she had figured it out. Willow stretched, muscles sore from not moving. How terribly sad. "I'm going ... to go find food. I think."
Teagan Offline: This board is full of nostalgia.
Aug 22, 2020 8:39:09 GMT -5
Missing the old MH: gotta say missing when MH and all that was around.
Nov 6, 2019 0:02:30 GMT -5
Willow_lazy: why tf are there 400 posts about adidas
Sept 6, 2018 17:35:57 GMT -5
Azrael: I'm not hard to find, since I'm the only one there who goes by "Azzy", I'm pretty sure. XD
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:41 GMT -5
Azrael: Dunno if anyone still pops by here from time to time, but if any of you mofos do and still feel like gettin' yo nerd on, I've been hanging around this here place a bunch recently: www.roleplayerguild.com/
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:10 GMT -5
Azrael: hold onto your pantaloons
Jul 25, 2016 5:16:43 GMT -5