In an open park, with a handful of people wandering around the area.
"And how dangerous is your quest compared to ours?" My dad asked, a determined look on his face, but his eyes showed how worried he truly is.
"Give me a second, that's a lot of questions to throw at me so fast."
…
"Honestly, I don't know which memories are true. Sapphire made it that way as a form of protection."
"Sapphire mentioned the Buru can't be trusted, but didn't have time to explain before he walked in."
"Scott, Sapphire's right, her methods, however, are way too extreme. I don't care how strong she is, she can't do that, no matter the reason." Dad said sternly.
"Another thing. People like us are getting taken by the Buru. They reported to the news, taking in a bunch of cultists of the true sight, but they're lying, so we need to be careful."
"What?! How do you know they were like us?" It feels like lead just landed in my stomach from hearing this.
I look around with sudden movements, seeing if anyone Buru looking is around us.
"From what I know, they started talking about the quests, along with blabbering about Earth and the mannequin thing."
"So, don't talk about any of those things in public."
"Right, will do, I mean I won't." I sigh and drop my arms slightly.
My dad pats me on the back, trying to reassure me that everything will be ok.
"How did you know the Buru is lying?"
"Our systems told us. I'm not sure how the system knew, but it did."
The system the others have seen has been a lot more reliable than the one you had. Mine's way better, of course. Also, what do you mean by a Mannequin?
"Uh, Oh, I thought you went through my head. Well, the mannequin was what sent us all here, Sapphire."
I already did something bad by manipulating your memories, I ain't going through them as well, also, I don't want to know what you do in your pastime.
"Really, Sapphire, that's not funny."
"Um, did you just talk to Sapphire? Can she hear us?"
"Oh, my bad, I said that out loud, and yes, she can hear you."
"Isn't that a bit weird?"
"I- I haven't thought about it, don't want to."
How did he know you were lying to the Buru person?
"Dad, how did you know I was lying to the Buru guy?"
"You arrived 4 weeks after us, Scott. We thought you were dead."
" O - oh." My face changes between multiple emotions, trying to take in what my dad said.
"The reason we even knew you were here was from a stranger messaging us through our system."
"Do you know who?"
"My only guess is that it was Sapphire. A fox paw was stamped on it."
"Did you, Sapphire?"
Yes, I did, it was a gift to you, thought you'd like it.
Thank you, Sapphire, it's an amazing gift.
Enough about that thought, I want to know about his quest.
What's wrong? Why are you trying to move past what you did? Embarrassed by being thanked?
It's been a while ok, geez.
A smirk makes its way on my face.
"Right, um, according to my system, mine is to kill the demon lord, so ye, not dangerous at all," I say sarcastically.
"What's yours, Dad?"
" THAT EXISTS! And it's here?! What do you mean you need to kill the demon lord? That's a sick joke, you can't be serious." Pure panic fills his face as he shakes me slightly.
"I wish, at least if I'm at the academy, I should find some trustworthy allies, right, it doesn't say I have to do it alone."
"W-what am I meant to do with this information Scott? Really, I find out that a demon lord actually exists, and my son needs to kill it."
"All mine said was survive, how am I meant to explain this to your Mum?" My dad holds the sides of his head with his hands.
"I can't help you there, Dad, sorry." I shrug.
"This isn't going to be easy to break to your mum or sister when we get home."
"A demon lord actually exists, I can't believe it." He mutters to himself.
After a few seconds of watching this happen, I realise something.
"Dad, should we be talking about this in public?"
"Ye, you're right, let's see." My Dad starts pacing in circles.
"We're back you too. Hope you weren't waiting too long."
Cough, "No, not at all, dear."
"Are you alright?" My Mum asks my Dad.
"Uh, oh, yeah, I'm fine, sorry, I just found out something shocking, I'll tell you after, let's not ruin the day yet."
"If you say so, dear." My mum handed my dad a mint ice cream with a condescending look on her face.
"Here, have you stupid double ice cream." My sister hands me two different ice creams while visibly annoyed.
After eating, we took a walk around the park. It was amazing listening to the birds chirp in the canopy.
The different bird calls help me relax. I'm finally safe.
I- I miss this, it's nice hearing the birds and other animals.
Something I didn't expect to actually miss, though, was the sound of people. It's been a while, thanks, Scott.
No worries, Sapphire, if you want, we can do this more often. It's definitely nice to do.
Really! I can feel Sapphire's joy, as if there were butterflies in my stomach. She really missed this type of environment, didn't she?
What feels like an instant passing, we're suddenly all at a shopping centre.
I don't remember the way, weird. Did I run on autopilot, listening to the animals?
Before I can focus on this thought, however.
You need more clothing, you need a bit more variety than just one flower top, come on.
If you say so Sapphire, I guess you're right.
Of course I'm right.
The shopping area is busy, a sea of people walk around, entering and exiting shops.
While walking around, I notice there are stores that civilians can't access. Such as magic shops, aura tools stores, armour stores, and weapons stores.
To enter, you need some sort of card ID to prove you're a hunter. I guess that makes sense.
As we exit one of the many stores.
What did I buy? Why don't I remember? Ok, that's definitely not normal. I should remember that, I didn't daydream that long.
The door swung open, the bell ringing as I exited.
The bell had a nice jingle before turning into a screeching mass of metal, tearing at my ears.
I drop to a crouch and cover my ears, trying to stop the horrid noise. The ringing won't stop.
"DO YOU THINK THIS LOOKS GOOD ON ME, OR- HEY CHECK THIS - OVER HERE MUM- SCOTT AR- THIS STORE LETS GO HERE."
Everything. Too. Loud!
My family are rushing over, trying to see what's wrong, but I can't hear them.
I try focusing on something further away.
"YOOO SPIDER M- STAY BY MY SIDE- Over there."
"Give us that, you said we could use your money, friend. "
"Ye, why would you need that stupid rock? We could have got a good chunk of food."
" I - I need it for my." They sound scared.
An alleyway? At least it's quieter now? I'm panting slightly.
How do I know this? Why am I breathing so hard?
"We don't care, just give it here, we might be able to resell it for something useful."
"Hey, mind your business, pal"
Wait, how do I get here? Wasn't I just at the door to a shop, not an alleyway? Did I run here?
Sapphire do y-
"HEY, are you all there? Come on, scram, this doesn't concern you."
"Leave him alone." I stare directly into the eyes of the two thugs, unwavering.
"Ohhh, I see what's happening, we're not doing anything bad here man, ok, it's a misunderstanding, I promise."
"Don't lie, I heard what you said, you're trying to take this thing away from him."
"See, I told you, Fred, why do you always want to talk stuff out? Let's just knock them both out, even if they're young; we need to eat.
"Why do you always resort to violence? If you were more patient, we wouldn't need to rob people, but no, you always want to fight for the money instead of working."
"Just do it, Fred, just because you don't like violence doesn't mean anything to me, just do it already, or you won't be getting any food when we take their money."
"Fine."
The one called Fred throws a haymaker towards my face.
My eyes gain a glow to them, a mix of light blue core and moonlight silver exterior, something I don't notice.
Its slow?
I side step, making Fred miss horribly, because of his form, he loses his balance. Hopping on one leg.
I wind up my own punch. I need to make sure it's fast.
Fred grounds himself, gaining his balance, and spins on his right leg, and a sloppy kick is launched at my chest. I think he was aiming for my head, but he wasn't flexible enough to pull it off.
Seeing the kick in slow motion once more, I step to the left, kicking him in the knee with the bottom of my foot.
As my foot reaches his knee, a sudden burst of light blue and moonlit silver covers it.
Is this aura how am I using it?
A disturbing cracking sound fills the alleyway.
My eyes widen in shock. Oh shit, think I broke his leg, that's not what I was planning on doing, I wanted him to fall.
I wasn't this strong before. What's happening?
The thug folds like a sheet of paper to the ground, screaming in agony.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"WHAT THE FUCK MAN, FOR A STUPID ROCK!"
"DON'T YOU DARE COME CLOSER. WE'RE LEAVING, I'M TAKING HIM TO A HOSPITAL"
"I-"
"DON'T COME CLOSER, YOU PHYCO. WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU'RE AWAKENED, WE WOULD'VE JUST LEFT."
"I - I didn't know." I don't know how to process this. I can't be that much stronger than a normal person, right?
The other thug holds his partner and runs away the best they can.
I don't want to look at his partner's broken leg any longer, so I tear my eyes away, trying to look at something different, something to distract myself from what I've just done.
My eyes land on the person I saved. He has casual clothing and what seems like a rock with some kind of flowing substance within it.
And something stood behind him, for a split second, I almost missed it, but its muted, ashen white robes stood out from the dingy alleyway.
It's skinny, its robes were tattered, only to fix themselves before tearing once more, a ticking sound came from its detection.
It spotted me looking, and it decayed away!
"A-are you ok there, man?" The stranger's hands are shaking slightly.
"Um, yeah, thank you."
"I should be thanking you. My name is Elias. Thank you for saving me." He's not making eye contact. He's gripping the rock tightly.
I'm Scott, so to change the subject, a strange question, do you have a ghost attached to you or something?"
"You saw it?! You can see spirits!"
"I can?!"
"Can I ask, are you attending the Dragon Academy, Scott?"
"I think so, well, I will be anyway, I haven't been just yet, though."
"Maybe we can be friends then. I'm also going to be attending." He suddenly lights up, and any fear he had disappears.
"Oh, and it's not a ghost, it's a spirit, I'm not sure what type, but it asked me to get this rock so it can give me some information. Do you know anything about it? I see a small fox made of white light floating around your neck with their eyes closed, so you must have a spirit, too, right?"
"You can see her? ... Right, she is a spirit beast. I think they're different, I'm not well-informed."
I'm letting him see me through his spirit sight. Weird, I wonder why that type is attached to him? Not oftena time spirit bonds to someone interesting.
"A time spirit?!"
"Is that what it is!"
"That's what Sapphire said."
"Scott, that's where you ran to. Are you ok? What happened back there? Are you ok?"
"Mum! Umm, I don't know, I don't remember running."
What happened here? Why is their blood, Scott?!" My Dad asked coming round the corner.
You don't remember? That's bad, I thought we'd have more time to prepare, damn.
{Emergency quest: prepare for the first transformation}
{Prepare, it seems that the full moon is fast approaching. You will be forced into the Polemos when the sun sets, you will be in this form until the sun rises, you hit 0 hp, or certain conditions are met.}
{Reward for preparing: 5 coins, the shop function, and the map function.}
.................
pov shift Elias
"What!"
"Sorry, Elias, but I really need to go. Something important just came up. Good luck with your stuff, though."
"Oh, if you say so, see you in class, Scott."
"Sure, bye." Scott is not fully listening to what Elias is saying.
Scott then leaves, taking his family with him.
Weird, I wonder why he suddenly left in a hurry? Do you know pale?" Elias asked himself.
Dangerous,need a safer spot for information transfer.
"Scott or us?"
...
Both.
"Why, he helped us, so he's an ally also, he didn't freak out when he saw you, and he has a spirit beast. I'm curious about the differences between you both."
Unknown ally.
"You've never said unknown before, and he said you're a time spirit, right, so what do you know about him?"
Fox changing it. Scott not meant to be here. Can see spirits, not normal, no human can see Spirits.
..........................
brief time skip
Scott's pov
I - I don't know if I should tell them, but what if they look for me when I go missing for ages? I shouldn't. I'll put them in danger, they're already in danger by just existing in this world. They know stuff like this exists, they have systems and can look after themselves, should I tell them? What do you think, Sapphire?
That's up to you, Scott. It's your life, I'm not going to dictate or control it. I can help guide if you want, but I will not tell you how to play your life out.
"What happened, Scott, you wouldn't ask us to go all the way home and not talk about it until we got here?"
Sigh, I take a deep breath.
...
I hold onto my top tightly and once again take a breath.
"I'm a -a Werewolf, and the full moon is today. I need to make sure I'm ready and out of here before I turn tonight." My head goes light, and lead once again appears in my stomach.
My entire family stands and stares at me, processing what I said.
Maybe I shouldn't of said that. As I start looking at the door.
Should I just leave?
"You're going to be a werewolf superhero, sweet bro." My sister seems to be doing her best to see the positive side.
Breath leaves my body, I didn't realise it, but I was holding it in.
"How is there more bad news? It just keeps stacking. This isn't fair." My Dad mumbles.
"Scott, thanks for sharing this with us. Do you have a plan, or should we think of one together?"
"Thinking one together would be great, and ye, I'll be the best werewolf hero."
"How much do you know? Did you gain allergies? Is there a way to stop it? Will you grow hair on your palms?" My Dad is asking the serious question.
"Um, I don't know a lot, don't think so, and no."
"Fantastic, just fantastic, so it's happening tonight you said, know what you need?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"I - sorry, I didn't mean that."
"Bro, does it affect your emotions, like the movies? In some movies, emotions start acting up the closer the full moon is."
"Apparently."
Pain killers and if possible wolf's bane, both will help, the wolf's bane won't be pleasant however.
"Oh, great, um, Sapphire recommended pain killers, I'm guessing I'll need strong ones."
Sapphire how do you expect me to get Wolf's Bane in a day? Where do they sell it at the Wolf store?
It was just a suggestion man,chill, geez.
Sorry that came out worse than I expected.
Eh, now you have a slight idea what it's like for us, with all your uncontrolled emotions.
How can I unhear that?
"Scott?"
"Mm, sorry, what did you say, Mum? Sapphire was making daft comments."
They're not daft, they're accurate.
My mum looks at her phone, searching the maps app "There is a forest within the city district, and it is 'close' by if you go by train.
"Really, that's great… how much is it?"
"We'll cover the cost, don't worry."
"Thank you."
After a bit of time
After getting off the train, I rush to the forest, doing my best to look as casual as possible.
Thankfully, I get to my spot without issue, so I quickly double-check my backpack.
"Fresh clothes, check."
"Phone, check."
Breakfast, check."
"Toothbrush, check."
"Water, check."
"Pain killers, check."
"Ok, so I have everything, sooo, I guess I'll just wait until I feel something."
I'd better phone, let them know I got here safe.
Hours later.
Seems you finally developed spirit sight fully. Try focusing on them, it might help you not focus on the pain. I'll leave you until morning. I'll probably make it worse if I stay. I heard someone's emotions can affect how the wolf side acts.
"What does that mean?"
My emotions and yours can influence one another slightly. Now, please, focus on colourful spirits, see ya soon.
"See you in the morning? Where are you going?"
Nowhere, really, just going to turn off my senses, so I won't be able to hear or see anything. This should sever the emotional connection until it's reconnected.
"Should?"
I hope it does.
As Sapphire finishes speaking, it feels like a slight emptiness emerges within my chest. I guess that's where she connects to?
Around me are glowing orbs of lights of different colours, green, blue, red, and grey. All doing different things, the green zipping around in unpredictable directions, the blue dipping up and down in a hypnotising pattern-
Plummeting to the ground, my knees slam against the dirt. I'm gripping my head as my whole body burns.
"What the fuck I thought the pain killers were meant to help!"
Clumps of hair are torn from my head, the blood making it stick to my fingers, black fur replacing what was torn out. A horrid wail rips through my throat. Knives scrape my throat as it emerges.
My bones pop and creak as my hands distort and break, making new joints form in my fingers. They extend outward from the palm, making an unnaturally long hand.
The sounds of crickets, their screaming songs- deer's hooves slamming into the ground- trees, their branches screaming from the wind.
Losing the ability to grip, my hands fall in front of my face. The clumps of hair get mixed into the mud, disappearing from sight.
More hair falling from my head, I see my arms bulging as muscles bubble underneath my skin. My biceps pop before ripping from my arms, making room for new muscle to take their place.
A dull ache shoots through my teeth.
I need to pull on them, pull them- out, get out already!
I try clawing at them with my mangled fingers, I pull, and pull, I tear them out of my mouth, blood spewing out.
I'm forced downward as my spine morphs and snaps into sharp spikes, piercing my skin. It's exposed to the forest air.
Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, please, please stop it stop it stop it stop it.
My feet crack as the bone extends outward, the skin bloating, before shrinking around the bone. The arch is bigger than before.
My nails crack and split into smaller, sharper ones. Splitting my fingers and toes in two. New, stronger nails start to slowly reform.
I'm starting to blank, I'm fading, no no no don't.
Feed, feed!
My torso jolts in every direction possible as the skin stretches, tearing at the seams into strings of flesh loosely attached to exposed muscle.
The skin on my face shifts and forms blisters into lumps, the bones grind on top of one another, and not long after, it starts to bubble. My face is changing shape, deformed.
My body is changing, growing, breaking and reforming over and over again.
The ground starts to crack as my weight increases.
Black fur spurts out of my body, covering the pale skin.
My screams warp and shake into a bestial roar, the human scream mixed with the roar.
The ground was soaked in deep red blood, and a bipedal monster made of lean muscle stood, its once human eyes replaced with an icy blue hatred, its cold breath visible to the world.
A 7ft monster of blood-stained black fur stands in the woods. The cold vapour from its mouth becomes reflective in the moonlight. A faint moonlit silver glow is emitting from its body, the glow around its legs brighter, more pronounced.
Basking in the moon's glow, it suddenly shifts its attention elsewhere. A single step forward, the grass, once green, now has an almost white, thin frost like cover on its steps. Only to dash at incredible speed into the distance, the shrubbery shaking slightly as it passes.
.....
A device is flashing nearby.
An unknown person wearing dark clothing and military gear picks up a radio.
"Code green, we won't have long before the official hunters get the call. Let's get this done quickly, we don't want to be caught illegally hunting now."
*********************
Word count 3719
Hello everyone, I'm so sorry for the massive delay. I'll be honest, I did a good bit of procrastination and just didn't finish the chapter. It's done now, and I hope you enjoyed it.
Did I do the transformation scene well? I did some quick viewings of some old werewolf movie transformations. They were American Werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, Howling, and Cursed. I should rewatch some of these, man, I forgot half of these existed :/
Bruh, I should rewatch Dog Soldiers, I barely remember it.
I hope you lot have a great day/night, good luck with what you need to do, and I'll see you in the next chapter :D.