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?

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"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.

The sword ghost can apparently understand the tree ghost, because it approaches very slow and cautious as it lines up with the sheath being held by Chris. And then, rather than the sword moving down, the sheath jumps up to cover the blade. The Honedge then retreats to hover near Emery... clearly having decided that it's safest to stay near him.

Emery moves an arm to block the Honedge, just in case it is being sneaky, but it cuddles up to him instead. Emery is so confused by this turn of events...

"Anyway." He looks over at Chris. "I don't mean you any harm, and I'll make sure this one behaves himself. My name is Emery. Emery Deluca."

"I'm Chris Freeman," they reply. "You've already met Rowan."

Rowan makes eye contact with Emery and gives a little nod.

"Thank you for... intervening," Chris says diplomatically, keeping an eye on the Honedge. It doesn't seem interested in attacking anymore, but better safe than sorry. "Maybe it thought I was going to hurt you or Rowan, and this is all a misunderstanding. But I think, all the same, I should take Rowan and go home now."

"That might be best. I don't want any humans to feel unsafe around me." Emery knows what humans do when they think an outsider is a threat.

"But I will make sure that he behaves himself in the future, and knows he can't just go around hitting and stabbing people. I managed to break my friend Ramon of his ideas about attacking first, and he was a big knucklehead. A little knucklehead like this shouldn't be too much of a challenge." Emery pats the Honedge on the sheath.

Emery waves at the pair for a little bit when Chris leaves with Rowan. Then Emery grabs the Honedge and speaks to him quietly. His voice may be faint because of the distance, but if Chris is paying attention they will here, "All right, mister, we're going to have ourselves a talk about humans and how attacking one is a bad idea..."

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Come bother my boy...

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/thread end