( an unexpected guest )

[perdre]

Date & Time: Backdated to last Sunday night.
Location: The Outlands.
Characters: DJ Woofwoof |perdre and Party Hat MC | theparasite
Summary: Peter makes a new friend! Except no that's not quite it.
Warnings: CREEPY STUFF HAPPENS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

Another week, another night spent hunting. It's a necessity to do this, give in to his animal side, and Peter has learned throughout the years to be discreet, despite his incredible size. No ordinary wolf stands as tall as him, but no ordinary wolf understands humans and how to stay out of their way like he does. Still - it's inevitable to remain unseen all the time in the Outlands. There always seems to be someone watching, a new scent in the air brought in by the unforgiving wind, trickling its fingers behind his ears.

Someone - something - is coming.

Comments

[theparasite]

Something rank.

"Gooo, go...mngahhh..."

Breathing in, the air was...thicker. Humid, comparatively. All that rain kept the very air damper than the sprawl of Olvoski, yet much remained the same. Bleak, gray miles and wretched, crooked trees recoiling from the very sight of the teetering, tittering woman with the scuffing stride passing by.

"Nrrrah. Mmrh."

The Nightcap had tendrils tapped closer to the base of Regina's skull, enjoying the vibrations every throaty, growling sound it could force out of her at a time. It was as much entertainment as it could find to evade the real issues: no food, no water, no beating hearts but the girl's. Troubling. Booooooring.

"Kyipp–!" it chirped, skipping forward and kicking a loose stone high into the air ahead of it, arms stretched out and swaying to keep balance as it swayed on tip-toe. It remained still, listening to the little cracks and crunches of the rock landing and rolling across the ground.

It flexed and uncurled her fingers slowly, delighting in the loud cracks each knuckle made.

[perdre]

He stood still, head tipping up, picking up the scent, wondering how to decipher it. He hadn't met anyone with it, hadn't quite come across any creatures he could compare it to. Not even the rodents he caught and mutilated were quite as repulsive as what approached. It made him wary. It made him want to show his teeth and force it to keep a distance.

Then he saw the figure in the distance, in the shape of a human. A woman.

He lowered his head, eyes bright in the darkness.

[theparasite]

The woman twirled on tip-toe, arms swinging about with all the gaiety of a child on holiday. A bubbly, broken-in-breaths giggle followed her and, as dim evening light glinted off the bruised and smudged monocle, stopped very suddenly.

In fact, she had stopped completely, arms dropping as if life had left them. Her head cocked to the side, bobbing as feet fell flat on the ground and began to move, one heavy trudge at a time, to turn her and face the peculiar (and large) shape in the distance. Familiar prickling crept up her skin and tugged a broad, joyless grin on her face.

At last, thought the Nightcap.

"Hoh, you're so rare..."

[perdre]

The wolf wasn't welcoming to this stranger, as opposed to many before her. There was something unnatural in her movements, in her scent, something that didn't quite belong. Even in a destroyed scenario like the Outlands, it smelled like a silent threat.

Peter wasn't going to move, be it towards her or far away. He watched, he waited, he wondered. Could this be a transport, or an invader from the outside?

[theparasite]

No?

No snarl, no gurgling, rumbling sound to prelude a lunge? The woman's mouth twitched, her gaze looking lazier by the second. Fingers curled and uncurled once more, stiffening. Quickly, a fist was clenched, and from a knuckle came the needle.

It whizzed loudly, racing across the distance separating them, on a bee line to the black just between those glowing eyes.

[perdre]

There was a startled movement, shoulders of the beast inching backwards before the rest of him flinched and turned away, needle striking him just behind his front leg. A dry, anguished sound escaped his mouth, hanging open, teeth bared.

No time was wasted, despite the pain. Peter lunged at her with a mad growl, snapping his teeth and pushing his paws onwards to throw the woman off balance.

[theparasite]

The glorious rush of adrenaline came, swelling into the Nightcap through the tendrils it had carefully rooted into the brain, and the woman gave a giddy, mindless yelp, bristling and rocking into motion. It darted quickly to the left, feeling the weight and speed of that massive body blowing by.

Skipping backward on Regina's heels, it twirled and flung a volley of eight toward the angry beast. It was practically instinct in her body, so hardened and trained to fight. To kill.

Are you awake, pretty thing? Look. Look! It's fun, isn't it!

[perdre]

He whimpered, though the sound was in no way subdued, only startled and angered by the new rush of pain, turning on himself to try and catch her with his maw, saliva dripping.

[theparasite]

"Hoh! YES!"

The Nightcap shrieked, falling on its back as it attempted to evade the mouth, sliding and ducking its head, trying to curl up under the wolf's belly. It crossed its arms, covering its face as a fresh array of needles protruded from the knuckles.

"Come, come on! You–!"

[perdre]

This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. Peter was endangered, truly endangered, more than he'd ever been in his life, all in a matter of seconds. The shape was human but her scent was putrid, it didn't belong, and it made Peter want to rip it off and make the pain go away. Another whimper came, blending into a vicious growl, paw lifting and scratching to keep her in place, shake off the weapons produced in her hands.

[theparasite]

While the wolf struggled to make heads or tails of the moment at hand, the Nightcap tucked itself as tightly as it could into a ball, the loss of one needle quickly replaced by another, the whole process making Regina's voice thick, gurgling between gasps and giggles.

The next time Peter's face drew too near, the Nightcap's true form wriggled, the brim of the mock-cap shivering out of shape and reaching out, stretching tendrils out for mouth or nostril, a faint hiss following wherever it went.

Here, beastie! Ha-ha!

[perdre]

Peter was quick to inch away, head tipping up while his paws continued to press down wherever they could, making any and every effort to hold her down, make her stop. Another growl was followed by the flash of teeth, threatening to snap at the throat, make her bleed to death with a single bite. That's all it took, and yet he couldn't bring himself to make the threat a reality. He'd never seen something like that before, and, truth be told, it scared him, made his instinct loud and chaotic. What was it?

[theparasite]

"Oh! Come now!" shouted the Nightcap between gasps and laughter as its body recoiled out of instinct at the snarl. It was dangerous, very dangerous, and even the girl could hardly ignore it.

Fool girl still had the will to live, no matter what she said.

Fresh needles burst from her knuckles and were driven toward the soft flesh just at the base of the wolf's long legs – driven in and twisted sharply before pulled out like a slice.

[perdre]

The sound he made was nothing smaller than a pitiful cry, turning on himself with the pain, the blood pouring from behind his limbs. It made his fur stick together, too dark to show the red in its full color, but gruesome all the same. He lunged at her one last time, inelegantly, locking his teeth around her arm, trying to shake it and press down until something snapped.

[theparasite]

"NO!" the Nightcap shrieked, its entire body tensing up, instinctively knowing the danger its arm was in. It uncurled, trying to push itself up and follow the tug, lifting its free arm with a freshly conjured needle tight in its fist, and began stamping it down against the wolf's muzzle, again and again with a frenzied fervor.

"Bad! Bad bad bad bad BAD! BAD!"

[perdre]

A high pitched whine and another cry followed. The creature got what it wanted - Peter let go and established a distance between them, bleeding from another set of places, head lowered and weak.

[theparasite]

The Nightcap sat up laughing loudly over the sound of Peter's whimpers. It rubbed at its arm, punctured in places, no doubt left to bleed and bruise for a good long time thereafter.

Mockingly, it barked and howled after it, bristling and bounding up to its feet to spook it away.

THWPPTHWPPTHWPP! Three farewell needles went sailing the wolf's way.