string_theory | If I lied you'd know it instantly

If I lied you'd know it instantly

This world was a lot rougher than many they had been to, and their introduction had cemented that in. A wild wolf pack had been their welcome committee, and Kurogane had taken the worst of it defending them.

They'd gotten everyone away, in more or less one piece, and luckily hadn't arrived far from a small inn at a cross roads. The inner keepers welcomes them in, even with Kurogane bloody and beaten, barely standing slung over Fai's shoulder. The provided warm water, salve for the wounds, and a fresh bottle of alcohol to disinfect things, but when Fai walked in with the inn keepers wife and the supplies in his arms, he found white tense faces, and Syaoran and the inn keepers minutes away from blows. He doesn't exactly ease the tension, but after finding out the issue, he certain makes sure that they won't be being asked to leave any time soon.

Walking into the room, he kneels quietly next to Kuro, lifting up the clean cloth and the alcohol.

"This will hurt." He says softly, not even trying to being any tease into it, much of anything. The information he has now bears heavily on him. Especially since, although it's so much it's also so little.

((Promt snagged from here))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Things were just going from bad to worse for them lately. So getting mauled by a rabid wolf pack seemed just be par for course. Kurogane wasn't the type to give up easily but the knowledge that Fai's survival now hung upon his own just made the warrior fight all that much harder but even he had found himself overwhelmed by the sheer number of wolves. And in true Kurogane fashion he'd been the one to intersect himself bodily between Syaoran and one of the wolves. It had been knee-jerk instinct to protect the boy despite all the troubles they'd been having lately thanks to the damned impersonating clone.

He'd been the one to take the bite rather than Syaoran because despite everything that had gone wrong in Tokyo, Kurogane still cared about the boy. His sacrifice however came with some unknown ties however as they would discover once they reached the inn. Kurogane was too out of it to even pick up on the pinched look of fear in the local's faces. Otherwise, he would have demanded they find somewhere else to recuperate. But as it was, he was so busy wrangling with the wounds and the strangeness that had overtaken him that he didn't even notice. It was ironic, he'd been the one to force the vampiric change on Fai and now here he was facing his own strange change instead yet there Fai was staying by his side through it.

Kurogane had curled into a fetal ball in an attempt to ease the pressure seemingly squeezing his very bones and innards. It hurt and he was no stranger to pain but this was unlike anything he'd face before. Dimly, he heard Fai's words and pained red eyes cracked open despite the fact that it felt as though he had ten pound weights pulling his lashes back down.

"Just get it over with." He grit out, fingers curling tightly in the bedding. "I think it's infected or something. Damned filthy wolves." Kurogane...had no idea what he was facing in the very near future.

A strange smile twisted up the corner of his mouth, but there wasn't any joy in it. Infected was one word for it. Was it even worth while to disinfect them? He had no idea. Behind him, he heard to slide of furniture across the door. A precaution he's pressure the kids into, despite their protests. Especially the boys.

But he splashed the cloth with the alcohol, and started wiping, gently, and the bite. It looked infected at first, but when he looked closer he could see that the dark spread wasn't the same as infection. There was no swelling, but there was heat in it, so much Fai felt it warming his fingers through the cloth. Dark curls of something spread under his skin, shades of blue and purple working up from the wound far fasted than any blood poisoning could be setting in. As he cleared away the blood, he had no doubt that what the inn keeper was saying was true, on at least some level.

And what he didn't say to them. That he had a much smaller bite, one that was already healing away to nothing. So, whatever was true, he was immune to it.

And given the torment Kurogane seemed to be in, he wasn't.

"They weren't wolves." He finally said again, in his soft, flat voice.

The change was coming on faster now but Kurogane didn't know to expect it. Every part of his both was preparing to make the initial shift. Bones would crack and break as it reformed into the lupine body. His muscles would shift and stretch to accommodate the new length and placement of limbs. It would be an agonizing procedure for one uninitiated in the change.

"What are you talking about?" Kurogane asked, voice tight with pain. He hissed when that alcohol soaked rag touched the wound. Did his teeth look a little sharper than normal? Another shaft of pain shot through the ninja and every muscle in his body suddenly went tight as he tensed up. Against his will, a cry of pain escaped him despite his best efforts to bite it back.

"What's going on, Fai?" Was that a thread of fear working its way through the pain in Kuro's voice? Those red eyes sought out the wizard's with desperate confusion because obviously Fai knew what was going on. Of course he did, the damned wizard always knew more than he was letting on. Kurogane wanted to be angry about that but it just took too much effort to work up the anger right now.

This change was coming on faster than he realized it would, and Fai set down the medicine, moving to brace Kurogane, gently pushing him back towards the bed.

"Do you know what were wolves are?"

His world didn't have exactly what the Innkeeper had said, but close enough the idea didn't have an issue translating. But he had no idea if that would move as smoothly to Kurogane, and he had a feeling he didn't have a long time to explain.

Nihon didn't have a concept quite like werewolves. They had stories about kitsune and shapeshifters but nothing like that. But he'd learned a lot traveling through the various worlds on their quest and had experienced cultures utterly foreign to his own which in turn had helped to broaden the feudal-era ninja's horizons.

Kurogane tensed when Fai suddenly moved in to invade his personal space and pushed him back into the bed. The wolf inside him didn't like being pushed around and it clashed with the stubborn ninja's own stubborn pride so he automatically tried to push Fai away.

"Werewolves? Shapechangers, like kitsune." Curse the wizard, he was stronger than he looked and most of Kurogane's strength was being cannibalized to fuel the change so he couldn't put up much of a fight.

"What? You're saying they were werewolves, not wolves? It's just-ah!" His attempt to say it was just a myth was broken off mid-sentence by another cry. Kurogane's ribcage had started to shift, the bones closing in tighter and shortening and it felt like every damned rib he possessed suddenly broke one by one of their own volition. Reflexively, he tried to curl up into a ball but it did little to abate the pain.

Unbeknown to the them, it was the full moon tonight, that was what was calling Kurogane's wolf to the surface so quickly. It was why the werewolves had been hunting tonight and it was just their own piss-poor luck that they happened to land in the middle of that hunt.

He isn't sure if keeping him down is a good thing. Or if he should step away. But even right now with the way he felt towards his companion, stepping away, breaking off contact felt wrong.

This would be painful. Confusing. And very new to the other man. It felt wrong not to be there as much as he could.

Because that might be all he could do.

"Their bite is what creates more. Not dissimilar to being a vampire."

Ok, maybe that was a touch of a low blow. Kick a dog when he's down. But with the thoughts in his head of late, he wasn't sure how he felt about this irony.

It was ironic on so many levels considering Kurogane had forced the change on Fai. Maybe this was karmic payback? It certainly seemed like the cruel sort of sense of humor the universe was capable of.

"I'm going to be a werewolf? Because some flea-bitten mongrel bit me?" Kurogane started to laugh but it wasn't a particularly nice one because he was all too aware of the absurdity of his current situation. But he ended up breaking off mid-laugh with another pained sound.

"You need to get away from me, Fai." He finally managed to grit out between shallow, panting breaths. Moonlight filtered through the window as the cloud cover overhead thinned out abruptly. Kurogane tried to shove the mage away once more but it felt like his fingers were incapable of cooperating. The magic was spreading a a more rapid pace and at that first weak touch of moonlight, it flared suddenly and the ninja cried out as his body started to change at a more accelerated pace. Fingernails lengthened and grew harder even as his hands felt as though they were breaking into pieces in order to reform as a wolf's paws. Dark fur started to sprout across the ninja's body and the pained noises that now escaped Kurogane sounded more in keeping with an animal than a human being.

"It doesn't effect me." He said, as if that was the only concern in the situation. Not hat any concerns really mattered. It didn't look like it would be very long until Kurogane couldn't be arguing with him anyway.

Sitting back on his heels, he kept his hand resting lightly on Kurogane's shoulders. He could see his flesh ripping, changing, and felt again a clench as he tried not to think about how painful it must be. The sounds his companion was making were going straight through whatever shield he thought he had up.

Right now there wasn't anything that could be done for the pain. Right now, this was all he had.

"Just get away!" Kurogane desperately tried to convince him to leave him. He didn't want to hurt the blond man but judging by the rabid natures of the beasts that had attacked him, he very well might! And even if Fai couldn't be turned from a werewolf's bite thanks to his own unique vampiric state these days didn't mean the ninja wanted to see him get hurt by his own hand.

Despite him threatening to kill Fai if he really wanted him to, Kurogane didn't want to kill the blond. Sure, he pissed him off to no end at times but he was his friend and he didn't have a whole lot of those. The fact that their lives were inextricably tied together now was beside the point.

Finally, the ninja had moved beyond the ability to speak or form coherent speech. The change made it impossible as his body shifted and twisted until it there was no longer a man laying there crying out on the bed but a nearly uniformly dark werewolf that lay there panting and whining pathetically in the shredded remains of what had once been Kurogane's clothes. The dark pelt certainly suited Kurogane's coloring and when the wolf's eyes slit open, the irises appeared to be the same curiously red shade the human version of him possessed.

When Kurogane could no longer protest or push him away, Fai moved forward again, pressing towards the man.

He laid firm hands on him, into his back, pressing down towards the bed. A werewolf had never crossed his path before tonight, but he had seen transformations before, and he didn't want Kurogane to panic, to hurt himself in this new form.

Even if it meant that Fai, himself, might be hurt.

Under his skin, he felt the silky fur, the change in muscles, and closed his eyes. How much more painful must this change be?

"Sorry, big puppy" He said softly.

Luckily for Fai, the newly turned werewolf was too weak at firs to do more than growl tiredly at him. It seemed to take too much effort to even raise his head off the floor to snarl at him though his lips did peel back from those suddenly far too sharp teeth in a half-snarl.

Still, after that feeble attempt, the wolf went silent for a bit as the pain and aches of the transformation slowly faded. It had taken a lot out of him and unlike the pack of werewolves that had attacked them, he hadn't been able to prepare for the oncoming change by increasing his caloric intake before hand. A hungry werewolf could eat it's weight in meat to fuel the shift so that weakness left Kurogane traceable for now at least but it was obvious by the vibrations of still ongoing, near sub-vocal growls that he wouldn't remain that way for long.

There was no trace of human intelligence in those hellishly bright red eyes. Just a cornered animal who would no doubt lash out at Fai as soon as it could gather strength. Already, those long limbs were twitching fitfully as the wolf tried to gather itself for further motion.

"Well I've seen that look before." He said with the corner of his mouth hitched up. Still, it was barely smile, even for him. Leaning his weight into Kurogane he waited, stroking the fur under his hands, hoping he'd gain some kinds of points.

As they waited, he looked around the room for anything that could be used as restraints. A sheet and a few old belts looked to be about it, but it was more than he was hoping for. As he listened to the sounds of the wolf adjusting below him, he planned best how to move, how to get what he needed and get it around Kuro.

His smell changed. It was strange. The scent was still Kurogane's, but muskier, richer.

"Are we playing now, puppy?"

The wolf's sides vibrated and shook with the power of those sub-vocal growls that rumbled in his throat. They grew louder and more powerful every time Fai stroked his fingers through that coarse black pelt.

The guard-hairs were rough but the softer fur beneath was surprisingly plush and soft to the touch. Too bad werewolf Kurogane appeared to be just as anti-snuggling as the regular Kurogane. Really, there wasn't that much difference in their personalities when you got right down to it.

Well, aside from the murderous intent and willingness to tear Fai's throat out of course.

But it wasn't the first nor the last time he'd probably try and do that, honestly. The werewolf's long nails dug thin furrows in the wooden floors beneath as the black wolf grew more agitated and recovered from the painful ordeal. Menace glared in those tired red eyes which were growing more and more clear as the second's passed. Those wicked looking teeth were revealed once more and this time he even managed to raise his head off the floor to snap ineffectually at Fai when he got too close. He wasn't going to remain still for much longer. Apparently stubbornness was inherent no matter what form the ninja wore.

The windows were there, and both of them could survive the 2 story drop, easily t this point.

But what if Kurogane hurt someone? Killed them? Could he live with that? Could Kurogane? The man was no stranger to killing, he knew enough about his past to know that, but that didn't mean he would be happy to know he ate some random villager.

He went to the window, looking out. They were still on the edge of town. If he riled him up enough, he might be able to get him to simply chase him straight to the woods. Tonight would be fun.

Strolling over to the bed, he lifted the sheets and began to rip them into strips, humming as he went, looking completely oblivious to the black wolf easily twice his size growling away in the corner.

"Shall we?"

If Kurogane were in his right mind he would be downright pissed over the way Fai was treating matters. He despised the wizard's self-destructive habits and his own lack of self-worth and had made it abundantly clear he wouldn't stand for that sort of behavior. Not anymore, not ever.

The selfish ninja had bound them together in the most intimate manner possible just to keep Fai alive. It went without saying that if he hurt or ate the vampire he'd probably feel like shit once he regained his sensibilities.

As it was, the werewolf was swiftly recovering and managed to finally claw his way shakily too his feet. All four legs trembled under the weight of that heavy body but Kurogane managed to remain standing on sheer guts alone. A growl reverberated in the black wolf's chest as those ears pinned back against his skull menacingly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If I lied you'd know it instantly

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

time to find out if werewolf!kuro understand people talk!

what am I doing with my life IDEK

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject