ph_logs | Come bother my boy...

Come bother my boy...

Who: Emery Deluca (

wolfborn_were) & ANY OF YOU
I'll take you all on!
What: new character meet and greet?
When: any time in November, before or after member event
Where: Lockwood Forest
Warning(s): May include some animal death, since... werewolf. Hunts for his food.
Note: Just the one general open prompt, so no cut. I can add some closed prompts as well -- feel free to hit up my inbox.

You've probably got your reasons to wander around in Lockwood Forest. Making friends with those cute little ghost animals, maybe. Wood-cutting, since this island is pretty low tech compared to home. Foraging for helpful plants or hunting for wild game to supplement your groceries.

But there's something... someone who is making his home in the forest. Did your plans include running across a wolf? Or, worse yet, a werewolf?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Speaking of cute ghosts... it's probably going to be Rowan who runs across the wolf first. They do wander in the woods on their own when Chris is busy working, because the clinic can get boring if you don't have work to do. And right now, Rowan is the only ghostie bonded with Chris.

So, uh... how do you feel about a possible nap being interrupted by a curious haunted tree stump, Mister Werewolf?

"Vrrr?" Em the wolf reluctantly opens his eyes. He can feel something looking at him, and it makes the fur on the nape of his neck rise.

He's seen ghosts like this little one -- dark, smoke-like essence swirling around and out of a tree stump, bright red eyes watching. This one seems... only curious about him, so Em goes to close his eyes again.

The being watched feeling doesn't go away, and when Emery opens his eyes again, the tree stump ghost is much closer. Like, almost touching his snout with the wood of its mostly featureless 'face'.

Em jerks back with a yelp of surprise.

Rowan gives a startled cry of their own, and it sounds like the wail of a lost child. A moment later, the little ghostie is hiding behind a nearby rock and obviously trembling (given the way their stump head is rattling against the rock).

"Phantump?" Rowan ventures, in a small voice.

....

How is it that Emery keeps getting into these situations where he has to make a doggy fool of himself to calm people down?

The wolf crouches low to the ground, to make himself look smaller, except for his tail, waving like a flag. A surrender flag, maybe. And he 'says' to the Phantump, "Arwoo?"

They didn't try to hurt him, after all. Not like the gang of Sableyes from before or the bigger tree ghost that nearly stepped on him once. And Em doesn't want to hurt the little thing, even if he accidentally scared them.

It takes a while for Rowan to be brave enough to peer over the rock that is their hiding place. But that sound wasn't angry... and there's no follow up fright, so...

"Phan phan?" Rowan wonders. They float closer, cautiously, and if Emery doesn't move too suddenly, they will reach out a little hand to pat at one of his front paws. "Phan-tump!"

What Rowan is wondering, at the moment, is if Emery will be a friend.

Emery is down for being a friend, especially since the Phantump hasn't been a little shit like some of the ghosts sharing the forest with him. He rolls over onto his back, still feeling a bit like a silly dog, and wriggles to scratch an itch between his shoulders.

See? No threat here!

Rowan is happy to realize that Emery is nice, and goes give a hug, lightly bumping Emery's shoulder with one of their branches. It shouldn't hurt, but it is the most solid part of them.

Then Rowan zooms upward, does a loop in the air, and looks back at Emery. Invitation to play-chase? Please?

Emery leaps to his feet, and gives a short bark before chasing after Rowan. He's pleased that someone here knows how to play a proper game.

It's an odd feeling, when he goes to nudge at Rowan after closing the distance, and his snout passes through the ghost creature's body. It's cold, most reminiscent of breathing air thick with snow flurries, and Emery basically screeches to a halt and sneezes loudly.

"Rowan? Are you out here?" a faint voice calls out.

For a moment, Rowan looks torn between going toward the voice and checking on their new wolf friend. They opt to stay with Emery, looking at him worriedly and patting him all over his fur, as if trying to find what made him make that funny noise. They haven't put together that it was themself.

Footsteps, coming closer. "Rowan?"

Better to stay in wolf form or take the were form? The were at least can talk.

After a moment of indecision, Emery shifts into the bipedal hybrid form and sits down on the ground. If Rowan isn't scared by this, he'll give the little creature a reasurring pat on the head.

"If Rowan... is a little tree ghost... he might be over here!" Emery calls out, in the low, growly voice of his current shape.

Chris hasn't heard that voice before, and they approach with some caution... and stop dead in their tracks (haha) at the sight of the hybrid beast-man.

"Rowan, dear, are you okay?"

"Pha-an phan!" Rowan replies, with smiling eyes looking out at Chris from the tree stump.

The relaxed state of their friend makes Chris relax as well. They address the beast-man, "I've been looking for them. I hope they weren't bothering you too much!"

"They startled me... but no harm done," Emery replies. When he looks over at Chris, his eyes narrow for a moment, and he slowly rises from his seated position into a crouch... preparing to move.

One step closer. Another step. Another.

"Um... is something the matter?" Chris asks nervously, as the beast-man approaches.

He breaks into a run, hybrid form melting away and flowing into the shape of a real wolf, and then he leaps --

And catches a Honedge (that was sneaking up on the two of them) by the sheath. He growls and gives a couple sharp shakes of his head, working the ancient sword loose from its sheath. The roughness is meant to communicate that it was a Bad Idea to mess around with Emery.

And then the long blue sash dangling from the Honedge's hilt wraps around Emery's throat and squeezes hard. He gives a strangled sound of surprise.

Chris ducks under that leap, and scrambles around on the ground to face Emery again. When they see him shaking around another Pokemon, they realize that he stopped an ambush.

"Oh!" Chris cries out when the Honedge retaliates with that strangling move, and immediately looks toward their Phantump friend, "Rowan, help him! Try to scare off the sword thing!"

Rowan perks up, looking determined, and then flies toward the struggling pair. While focused on the Honedge, Rowan lets out another shriek -- this one meant to astonish and startle the opponent into letting go of Emery's neck.

The sound does hurt Emery's ears a little, but since he's not the focus it doesn't effect him in quite the same way as the Honedge -- who lets go of Emery's neck and slumps all the way out of the sheath.

Emery takes the chance to fling the sheath as far as he can in his wolf form. Hopefully that will make the Honedge leave them alone, to search for it. And he dashes back over to Rowan's side, so that both of them are between the Honedge and Chris.

"Hrrrarrr!" Emery snarls, hackles up, at the creature. Translation: back off! Leave us alone!

{I'm hoping to get this Honedge on Emery's side, like the TDM said we could, if you're willing to play that out?}

Chris gets to their feet carefully, keeping their eyes on the 'enemy' Honedge. The single eye set in its hilt watches Chris's movement, and then looks directly at the wolf.

"Look out!" Chris cries, as the blade moves. They fling themself into Emery's side -- not expecting to move him, because they are pretty skinny, but hoping he gets the message to dodge.

Rowan lowers their head like a bull, branches pointed toward the 'enemy', and charges at it with another angry cry. The impact knocks the Honedge off course and makes it lodge into a nearby tree.

Emery gets the message, but puts himself over Chris's body just in case when he goes flat to the ground. He looks up a moment later and sees the Honedge stuck in the tree trunk, and sits up, shifting back into his hybrid form so that he's crouching now.

"Don't get near the sash!" Emery warns the little tree ghost, "It's dangerous."

The Honedge vibrates angrily, trying to get loose, but it's well and truly stuck at the moment.

Rowan does as ordered, keeping away from the Honedge's sash, which is flipping and waving every which-way -- like an angry cat's. Rowan visibly draws in a big breath before blowing a stream of seeds with fluffy little tops (like from a dandelion) from their mouth. The Honedge shudders as the leech seed goes to work draining its energy.

"Rowan, come here to me," Chris says, a little shakily. They've sat up too, and are brushing dirt from the front of their shirt.

They glance over at Emery. "Shapeshifter, I guess? Anyway, that sword creature used to be a human soul. I can sense it in the blade. I don't want to kill it but I wouldn't want it around me. What do you think we should do?"

"Close enough. Werewolf." Emery answers. He's not sure if he believes that a human soul could possess an inanimate object, but he had felt uncommonly weak when it was choking him.

He studies the sword's predicament. And then he starts talking to it, the way that Rowan's human has been talking to them.

"You're in a fine mess, you are! And I probably could help you loose, if you let me pull you free, but that would involving touching you! I'm in no rush to do that again. And you went after my little friend's friend besides!" Emery shakes his head, getting to his feet and walking toward the creature stuck in the tree. "There's just no way we can trust you not to harm any of us. We'll just have to leave you here, and let the rain rust you."

The blade trembles again after Emery's words.

"That scared it!" Chris calls out. "I could feel the difference."

Roman hugs Chris and makes whimpering noises. Chris pats the phantump on the head and says, "Don't worry, Rowan. If he stays mean, then he'll get what he's earned. If he decides to change his ways, then maybe our werewolf friend will reconsider."

"Hear that?" Emery asks the Honedge. "That sounds like a good idea to me. I can grab your hilt and pull you free if you promise not to go attacking people at random. I don't need that kind of reputation. But!"

He glances over at Chris, motions for them and Rowan to come a little closer.

"If I touch your hilt and you try that foolishness with your sash again, then the little one will put more of those seeds on you! You didn't like that; I could tell from the noise you made. Okay? Those are the terms."

To Chris, Emery says very softly, "Your friend can make more seeds, right?"

Chris glances over at Rowan, and Rowan nods after a moment of thought.

"They can," Chris replies, "and I think the seeds still stuck on the sword are making it weaker anyway."

The Honedge hums and shivers, and the sash at its hilt droops like the tail of a sad dog.

"Go ahead and try pulling it loose," Chris says after that. "If this is a trick, Rowan has your back."

Emery nods. "Step clear, off to the side. Don't want to get ya with the edge or anything."

He wraps both hands around the Honedge's hilt. The sword gives a little shiver, but the sash stays hanging low. "Okay. On three. One, two... three!"

Emery yanks hard, and with a crack and a shower of wood chips, the Honedge comes free of the tree. Emery lets go of the hilt as soon as he can, and says softly, "Let's get those seeds off you, make you feel better. No need to fight any of us, okay?"

Chris retreats as instructed, and Rowan hovers at about the level of Emery's shoulder, but to the side.

They jump a little when the sword is pulled free from the tree's truck -- more a reaction to the sound than any fear. Chris lets out a sigh of relief when the sword stays calm and doesn't try to attack again.

As Emery brushes the seeds off the sword gently, Rowan zips off to find the Honedge's sheath again and carries back. Rowan lays it out flat on the ground.

After another moment of hesitation, Chris approaches, and picks up the sheath to hold it at an angle, so the Honedge has an easier time getting back in. "Go slow, please. So nobody thinks you're gonna stab me."

"Phantump! Phan tu-ump phan!" Rowan says, fierce and scolding.

Come bother my boy...

Bother bother bother

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