werewolves, werewolves everywhere

[warewolf]

Characters: One thread goes to Faolan and Kay, but if anyone else wants to gawk at an eight-foot wolf trying to look sneaky, you're totally welcome to tag in.
Open? Basically yes
Where: Anywhere between the castle and the fields outside the city.
When: Sunset, GHB 2
What: Kay is slinking off to warn Faolan about Selene, because he doesn't trust anyone associated with monster-killing hunters. He doesn't know that Faolan has already asked her if she wants to join his pack. Talk about awkward.
Warnings: Standard language + being a jerk warning that comes with any log Kay is in.



Great. Just great. It was just his luck that the day after he arrived, someone with ties to "Hunters" would show up. Kay had just finished dealing with the fallout of the last group of monster killers that had gotten wind of his existence -- he didn't need more.

But one thing he knew about monster killers was that they didn't care who was really guilty and who wasn't. Innocent or not, it didn't matter. If you were a monster, you were dead. If you got in the way, you were also dead. The only way to survive was to hide.

And Kay could name one innocent monster in this place who wasn't good at keeping secrets.

He held off until dusk, but couldn't justify waiting any longer. Sunset found him in full wolf form slinking from shadow to shadow, following Faolan's scent through town. Finding the trail wasn't hard, but sneaking? Well, when you were eight feet tall and covered in fur, you'd find it hard to be inconspicuous, too.

Comments

[greatsquirrelhunter]

He found Faolan rolling in the grass. Although, true to his suspicions, Faolan very quickly noted his presence. Far from being scared, the boy's eyes lit up and he pounced on the giant wolf-thing happily.

[warewolf]

Kay's voice, while in wolf form, was very low and gravelly. It was very serious, a voice made for threats and growls. You could hardly tell it was Kay speaking even if you were looking for it.

Which was why his protests of "Wha--hey--stop it--get off!" sounded entirely comedic. "Faolan!" he grumbled. Kay shook himself like a dog, trying to dislodge the kid.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan laughed, clinging like a rodeo bull rider. "Kay play!" He crows happily, pleased that his new brother has kept his promise so soon.

[warewolf]

Kay had a feeling he wasn't going to get out of this without giving Faolan what he wanted. He had promised, after all. But he wanted to talk first.

He stopped moving, twisting his head around so he could look at Faolan with one acid-green eye. "Look, I want to talk first. We'll play after, I swear, just -- there's something important you need to know."

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan rolled off Kay, landing on his back in the grass. He looked up expectantly, a smile still on his face.

[warewolf]

Kay took a deep, deep breath. "Okay. So there's a girl here named Selene. Have you met her yet? Because it is absolutely important that you don't tell her you're a werewolf."

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan nodded. "Talked to Selene. Has no pack. Poor Selene."

[warewolf]

Kay had a sinking feeling, almost certain he was too late. Almost, because Faolan could just mean that he'd found out Selene was lonely and hadn't mentioned anything about....furry problems.

He took a step closer to Faolan, almost but not quite all up in Faolan's face. Kay's gray-brown shoulders were square, his paws a little bit apart. "But you didn't tell her that you usually had a pack, did you?" he insisted.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan reached out, petting Kay and nuzzling against him.

"Said people might not want her in pack. Asked what Faolan would do if she was mean. Didn't say why would be mean. Faolan doesn't like people to be mean. Should be nice. Should be friends."

Have a freaked out Peeta flashing back to the games!

[dailybread]

One minute, he was on his way from the woods where he'd been picking blackberries. Then something very large, covered in fur and clawed and fanged, made its way into his field of vision, and he was suddenly in the arena with Cato's arm around his throat and warm blood spilling all over--his--Cato's--he couldn't tell, and the mutts were howling and their eyes were deep and too, too familiar and--

His basket fell and the berries tumbled onto the ground. Peeta sank to his knees, eyes unseeing. His fists clenched in the green silk he wore and his chest went so tight it hurt to breathe.

AWESOME. Is he just dressed in fancy clothes, or is it a princess dress?

[warewolf]

The basket falling caught Kay's attention. Whoa, weird. Was that guy having some kind of fit?

He couldn't be sure it was because Peeta had spotted him. Kay dithered, wondering if he should approach, or get help, or even if it was any of his business.

Hesitantly, he took a few steps closer, trying to decide what to do.

Princess dress. The least fancy he could get away with.

[dailybread]

((This!))

The mutt was coming closer.

Peeta scrambled backwards, terror clawing at his throat. He kept tripping over the skirt, and his breath was coming in harsh, awful pants.

It's not real. You're having a flashback. It's not real.

But that didn't make the thing any smaller or less threatening.

HAHAHA okay

[warewolf]

Oh. Well. That cleared that up. The cause of the panic attack was definitely Kay.

....was that a dress? Weird. But less important than the panic attack. And who was Kay to judge what clothes this place put people in?

He cleared his throat. "H-hey. Calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you. Okay? I'm just passing through." Kay's voice was gravelly and low, but he made the tone as soft as he could by speaking quietly.

The townspeople will not sell him pants. It's unbecoming for a princess, doncha know.

[dailybread]

Peeta flinched when it spoke--and the only thing that jarred him was that the voice wasn't one he recognized. Whatever this was, it hadn't been created to specifically torture him.

He took a breath to try to calm the trembling, swallowed around the dryness in his throat; forced himself to look the mutt in its eyes. Which weren't any he recognized, either.

"Passing through," he repeated, his voice thin. Maybe it was just another oddity of this place, but he could never rule out a threat. Not entirely.

poor thing.

[warewolf]

"Yeah. Uh...are you gonna be okay?" he asked awkwardly. Kay was terrible at this whole making-other-people-feel-at-ease thing. He was much better at threats. But seriously, if seeing him had thrown this cross-dressing guy into a panic attack, it was Kay's fault if anything happened to Peeta in this state. It didn't feel right to just leave him. After all, Kay'd resolved to turn over a new leaf, right? Less maiming, more helping?

[dailybread]

It wasn't moving to attack him, at any rate. And if it did, he'd managed to keep up enough lifting of flour sacks to keep himself in decent shape--if something happened, he could get out of it.

He looked firmly at the ground next to the mutt and took in a few deep breaths before speaking.

"Yeah. I'll be okay." As long as you don't attack me. "What--are you?"

[warewolf]

Kay tilted his head, kind of taken aback. Though werewolves were commonly believed to be myth where he was from, there was a mental image that most people would be able to point at and say werewolf. Eight feet tall, muscled upper body, gray-brown, capable of walking on its back feet -- all those things that didn't match up with "normal wolf."

"Don't you know a werewolf when you see one?" His tone bordered on sarcastic, almost self-mocking. Kay's feelings about his condition were complicated.

Post-Faolan. She can spot him or vice-versa. Scent, etc., still open.

[golden_moon]

Selene was a mess from her time in the woods. Barefoot (boots left back where she first met the wisp-fire), mud caked past her knees, splattered on her arms and face, a cut (complete with dried blood mixed with mud) on one cheek, hair slightly frazzled and dirty; she wasn't exactly her best. Add the fact that she's in simple trousers and a work shirt, both worse for the wear, and she's not exactly looking like a princess at the moment.

Her shoulders slumped as she trudged back towards the city's gate, weariness clear as she managed (barely) not to stumble with each step. Her lips were pressed together, and occasionally, she paused to kick at a rock. Whenever she connected, the distance was respectable.

Needless to say, a werewolf slinking around outside of the city was just about the last thing she expected to encounter, and was hardly one she was ready to face.

[warewolf]

Kay had just slipped back inside the city walls, confident that he could slink back to the castle through the shadows without being too obvious, when he picked up a weird scent in the air. It was kind of like Faolan, but different.

Was it another werewolf? Was that the smell other werewolves had?

He pressed himself against the inside of the wall and sniffed again. Whatever it was was definitely outside, and coming closer. Cautiously, Kay stuck his head through the door and looked around.

Thwack!

One of those rocks hit him square in the nose, and before he could stop himself, out came a short, sharp, whine-like "Fuck!" He ducked back out of the doorway.

[golden_moon]

Upwind of the city, with a bit of breeze as the night deepened, Selene hadn't smelled a damn thing. So when she heard the rock not hit stone, and someone curse, she wasn't looking at the wall, but the ground a little bit in front of herself. Thinking she'd managed to strike a guard, she rushed forward, looking more than a little sheepish.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking and I should have been and are you alri...all...are you...?" She stumbled to a stop as she came to the corner and turned, and caught the sharp scent, from behind the wall where the breeze didn't do a thing to mask it. She jumped back, baring her teeth and growling.

[warewolf]

Kay was rubbing at his nose clumsily with the underside of his forearm (foreleg?), having scrambled a step or two back from the door. When she came through and started growling, though, his eyes snapped up to meet hers.

A couple of things happened in Kay's brain at once. First, the primal part of his brain registered a threat from another werewolf, and a practically involuntary growl swelled in his throat. Second, he recognized that face, and the voice, too. It was exactly who he had wanted to keep from seeing him like this. There was a damn solid chance she'd want to kill him now, and that didn't help the fight-or-flight instincts in Kay's head.

The fact that these two things were incompatible would take another moment or two to register. For now, he was crouched down, teeth bared, ready to spring, run, or defend himself.

[golden_moon]

Selene wasn't a stranger to fighting other wolves. But this was something completely unlike anything she's ever seen. The beast isn't really a wolf at all, looking at it, and she's not sure what it can do. Backing up, she glances around. If any locals were in the area, they were keeping themselves scarce.

"Damn it," she growled, and yanked her shirt off, throwing it at the monster. A moment of distraction while she pulls he pants off, starting her transformation the second gravity has them. Nothing was more certain to lead to pain in a fight than making the mistake of becoming a wolf with clothes on. Once a wolf learned that lesson, it wasn't readily forgotten.

And since she didn't even connect this creature with werewolves proper, it never occurred to her that she just stripped in front of a fellow 'hero', either. On all fours, now, a rather big wolf growls at Kay, teeth bared.

She's not going down without a fight.

[warewolf]

As he took a moment to claw the shirt off of his face, Kay's brain finally caught up with his runaway instincts. He sat up, coming out of the threatening crouch, and tilted his head to the side.

This was Selene. The Hunter, or at least, the one who didn't have a problem with her brother being a Hunter.

She was also a werewolf.

...and she also wasn't a she, at least not technically. Kay had a lot of re-thinking to do. He was thinking that he'd been kind of stupid.

But right now his pressing problem was getting her to realize he wasn't about to attack. He cleared his throat (which did nothing for the rough quality of his voice in wolf form) and said, "I think there's been a misunderstanding." It wasn't recognizable as Kay's voice unless you knew already and were looking for it.

God, I need more than 15 icon slots...

[golden_moon]

Unfortunately, Selene wasn't exactly in the mood to listen. She snapped at the air, fur bristling as she watched him. A step to the side, her head dropping a little. Her ear flicked, and she growled again. Still, the longer that he waited to attack, the less fearful she grew. It had been surprise as much as anything that caught her at first, but now that she had a chance to think about it more, things didn't quite fit.

She paced to the to the other side, staring him, still growling and showing teeth, but actually looking at him now. Turning the other way, she paces back. It was unconscious, but she couldn't help the pacing; it kept her ready to attack or run or anything she had to do when Kay stopped staring and attacked.

Wolves were always attacking her, anymore, and whatever he looked like, damn it, he smelled like a wolf.

you and me both :(

[warewolf]

Uh-oh. Kay really hoped that Selene hadn't lost her human mind when she (he? Kay didn't really know how to categorize Selene in his head, so he decided not to, for the moment) transformed -- that happened to him, sometimes. He could never predict when the instincts would take over. He figured the best thing to do was to keep talking, see if he could bring Selene's human side back to the front, and in the meantime stay ready for an attack.

"You -- you're a werewolf. You were one all along," he said. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not looking for a fight tonight. Not unless you are."

Kay still had to decide whether to tell Selene his human identity. He supposed the point was moot -- she'd be able to tell his identity by scent as easily as Faolan had. The cat was out of the bag. It had never stood much of a chance of holding the cat in the first place.