Padfoot was in trouble.
It was a full moon night and the Marauders were out keeping the wolf part of their werewolf friend company. Tonight's game had been decided before they'd left; it was partner hide-and-go-seek, Moony and Padfoot against Prongs and Wormtail. Moony actually got the gist of this game, although Sirius wasn't sure exactly how much enjoyment he got out of it; he never seemed to disagree with playing it, though, so Sirius thought it must be all right. The boys had figured out that the two teams were more even the way they were, with Wormtail being so hard to see as an advantage against Moony's superior senses. Sirius was far from complaining; actually, James and Peter knew that that "evenness" reason was just a justification made up after the fact, that if the teams had been anything different, that would've been when Sirius started whining. And Moony would never have let Padfoot out of his sight anyway, so it was useless to try. That being the case, as soon as Remus had finished changing, which never failed to make Sirius cry though he'd never tell Remus he did, he unlocked the door, changed forms, and opened the door by landing on the handle with his paw, letting Moony out of the Shack. The usual tumble-wrestle had ensued, which is why James was waiting at the end of the tunnel with Peter; wrestling was better left to the pups, James had said after nearly getting his horns stuck in the ceiling and Peter had instantly agreed, having nearly been flattened by Sirius' overenthusiastic bouncing.
The formalities, such as they were, done, the two canines fled to the entrance of the tunnel and scrambled out of it; Padfoot didn't mind it but he knew it made Moony deeply uneasy to be stuck underground. Wormtail scrambled into Prongs' lowered horns, Moony bumped noses with the two of them in greeting, then they ran headlong into the Forest, the game beginning. Sirius counted to the requisite one-hundred in his head while Padfoot coursed next to Moony, the wolf having slowed to match the pace of the more awkward dog. Moony, Prongs, even Wormtail were suited to the Forest, their natural counterparts even living in it but Padfoot had slightly more trouble with it, having to keep his shaggy hair away from plants that tangled in it, ones both stationary and non-stationary. They confused their trail as best they knew how, running through streams that were swiftly turning colder as winter approached, back-tracking and running circles. The only thing that was not allowed here was magic; all the Animagi honorably left their wands behind in accordance with this rule. Remus had left his because he'd have no way to use it once he was transformed. Sirius had suggested having Moony try holding it in his mouth once; Remus had cast him a disbelieving look and gone back to his book.
Padfoot yipped when Sirius reached the required number and Moony instantly turned and began scenting the air, his silvery coat sparkling in the moonlight. With a joyful howl he took off again in a different direction, Padfoot speeding after him. There wasn't a thing Sirius could think of that he loved doing more than this, running through the Forest with his mate at his side. Or in front of him. Nearby, anyway. He loved Moony's easy grace, the self-assurance that he saw in Remus but made Moony almost unearthly in his form. This was the one place where Sirius was content to be outshone by someone.
Padfoot yipped again in dismay when he saw that Moony was going too fast for him to keep up; he tried hard but there was just no way that he could keep up with Moony in his natural territory. Moony heard the distress and slowed immediately, waiting for Padfoot to catch up. Briefly, he licked his muzzle in apology, then started off again. Sometimes, he couldn't help himself, he got carried away in his excitement at having a Pack after so long of being alone. Padfoot never held it against him. They ran for some time, then Moony stopped abruptly; Padfoot narrowly avoided running into him, twisting awkwardly to the side. He whined his confusion to his mate, who was busily sniffing the surrounding ground, growling low in his throat. Sirius didn't know what he was doing; Moony never growled when he caught the other's scents but he clearly smelled something. Padfoot whined again when Moony didn't answer him; the other's head suddenly came up and he stood stock-still for one second before tearing off into the brush. Padfoot let out a surprised bark and scrambled after, yipping for Moony to wait for him but for once, Moony didn't stop. Padfoot slowed in confusion as Moony disappeared, cocking his head to one side; something was wrong with his mate. Sirius pushed to the front of the dog's mind and looked around; this wasn't a part of the woods they'd ever entered before. Suddenly, he was worried about Remus; this behavior wasn't like him at all and being in unfamiliar territory was one too many unknowns for Sirius' liking.
Casting around, he caught the odd scent that must have caught Moony's interest at the base of one of the towering trees. Sniffing more carefully, he realized that it was more than one scent but he couldn't tell exactly how many, they were overlapped so much. More strangely still, there was something familiar about them but neither Padfoot nor Sirius could remember what or where he'd smelled it before… Though he was quite certain it wasn't human so at least he didn't have to worry about that…
His entire attention focused on the puzzle before him, Padfoot didn't hear the approaching Forest-dwellers behind him. The sudden snarl sent him spinning around in surprise to come almost nose-to-nose with a tawny wolf, a real wolf, not a were, with his pack behind him. Wolves! Sirius thought, the puzzle solved. It smelled like Moony, but different because he's not pure wolf. But now a whole new, and much more dangerous, puzzle awaited him; how to get away from the wolves whose territory he had clearly encroached on.
Padfoot backed slowly, whining an apology in his throat. The tawny wolf, the alpha, snapped and Padfoot froze instinctively, crouching slightly, submissively. Sirius did not want a fight for dominance. The alpha, teeth still showing, stalked forward cautiously, stiff-legged, to sniff hesitantly at Padfoot's fur. Sirius realized this was a bad idea just as he started; Padfoot was covered with Moony's scent, both from the tumble in the tunnel and the fact that he was his mate. Sirius threw himself sideways as the alpha's jaws snapped within an inch of his neck, the alpha now growling fiercely. As far as he was concerned, another alpha was threatening his pack and his territory by sending his mate here; he would not tolerate this. Padfoot turned and fled into the forest with a yelp, unsure of whether he was going farther into or heading out of the forbidden territory. Sirius had been hoping, without real hope, that the wolves wouldn't pursue him but it was a false one; the three other members of the pack fanned out behind their alpha as they ran through the forest. Padfoot, driven by fear, ran faster than ever before, tearing through obstacles or sailing over them instead of taking his time to go around them. Nettles tore at the sensitive skin of his face and he yelped once in pain as a Spike-Tongued Armenian shrub laid a long scratch down his shoulder when he was a second too slow in swerving away from it. Sirius racked his usually clever brain for a way to escape, the most used part of it during all the pranks the Marauders played, but for once it gave him nothing. As Padfoot scrambled through a stream, he wished desperately that his friends were there to help him think of a way out.
If he were in human form and not engaged in running for his life, Sirius would've smacked himself in the head for being so slow. Drawing a long breath, a difficult feat with the gasps that were becoming Padfoot's labored breathing, he howled as loudly as he could, frantically calling for Moony, for Prongs to help him. One of the other wolves leapt at him from the side, a dark blur in the brush, cutting off his cry as Padfoot was caught by surprise and leapt over a log to get away from him. For one second, Sirius thought he was fine, he'd made it over the fallen tree, but when the ground didn't come up to meet him on the other side, Padfoot fell headlong down a steep slope, rolling and bouncing. He yelped loudly in pain when his leg twisted on one such roll. He could only groan in pain when his head crashed into a rock upon landing.
Padfoot lay dazed for a second, knowing he should get up but unable to figure out which way was up. Slowly, the world righted itself, mostly, and he staggered to his feet, feeling a sharp pain radiating up his right front leg and blood matting the fur on the right side of his head. Looking up, Padfoot saw doubles, the pack of four turned into eight as they carefully picked their way down the slope. They'd known the slope was there, they'd chased him over it deliberately and were now stalking him at their leisure. Padfoot had no way of escape; the river was too wide for him to jump and in his state he couldn't swim either. Throwing back his head, he called desperately for Moony to come, to save him, but there was no answer.
Padfoot stood and watched the wolves come as steadily as he could. He was swaying slightly from the blow to his head and his inability to use his injured foot. The alpha came on purposefully, headed unerringly for Padfoot; the other three of the pack stopped halfway down the slope, yipping excitement. With one graceful bound, the alpha reached the gritty shore where Sirius/Padfoot stood. He made no sound now as he came forward; looking closely, Sirius could see that he was not uninjured. Blood flowed from tiny scratches on his muzzle just as it did on Padfoot and blood matted the fur around his left hip; the Spike-Tongued bush had managed to graze him too. Sirius was glad that he'd at least put up some sort of fight.
Padfoot knew he was going to die and Sirius was glad he was in this form. Padfoot didn't know the meaning of regret, didn't know to look forward to the life ahead of him that he was about to lose, so Sirius didn't know either. And Padfoot had long ago resigned himself to the possibility of dying; he was mated to a werewolf, after all. So he calmly watched the wolf come on, prepared to fight to the last with whatever he could muster; he wasn't going to take this lying down either. He watched as the wolf came to within five feet, four feet, three feet of him, saw him stop, watched him consider how best to go about killing this intruder. Padfoot saw him crouch and tensed in readiness; Sirius spared one last thought for Remus, hoping that he wouldn't feel that this was his fault, wondering if he was going to have to come back as a ghost just to stop Remus from guilty anyway. The wolf sprang.
A silver and shadow blur launched itself from the other side of the stream, snarling terrifically. It collided with the alpha in mid-air and slammed him into the slope, sending both of them tumbling back down. Moony sprang agilely to his feet, not the least bit damaged, and stood protectively in front of Padfoot, snarling at all the wolves before him, daring them to take him on. Sirius nearly collapsed in relief, then hauled himself back upright again as the alpha rolled to his feet and took Moony up on his challenge. The two alphas circled slightly, Moony refusing to move from in front of Padfoot, then, almost simultaneously, flew at one another, biting and snapping in rage. Moony in battle was terrifying to watch, not the least because Sirius was frightened for Remus; Moony was nearly half again as big as the other wolf, several times stronger, and enraged by the threat to his mate. The only thing the other alpha had keeping him alive was speed and a seeming instinct for evasion.
Movement in the corner of his eye brought Padfoot's head around; one of the pack was slowly slinking down the slope, obviously intent on leaping on Moony from behind. Padfoot limped-staggered in front of her, baring his teeth in challenge. Without knowing how he knew, Sirius realized that this wolf was the mate of the tawny alpha, and that she was just as worried for her mate as Sirius was for Remus. He let his lips cover his teeth and whined at her instead, pleadingly. She snarled at him in answer, still intent on Moony. She was not going to give up. Seeing her chance, she sprang for Moony's back.
Padfoot put all his energy into one last leap, slamming his shoulder into the female's ribcage and sending them both into the shore. Desperately, he evaded her snapping jaws, writhing frantically under her to keep her from getting a good hold on him. It was like wrestling, Sirius thought numbly, just with far deadlier intent. She seized his bad leg and started to bite down; Sirius/Padfoot howled in pain and snapped at her feet, forcing her to let go and back off. Padfoot threw himself to his feet, feeling the blood now running down his leg and prepared to meet her next charge. She didn't disappoint, but as she moved, a golden blur raced toward her, bounding over the river in a graceful leap and charging her with antlers lowered, bellowing. The rat still clinging to them squealed, whether in anger or in fear Padfoot couldn't tell. Prongs and Wormtail had arrived.
The she-wolf twisted to avoid him and sprang away, snarling her displeasure as James forced her farther from Moony, who was still grappling with the other alpha and horrific growls drifted from them. As he was about to charge again, Moony finally caught the other wolf by the neck and threw him to the ground, pinning him there. But Sirius could see this wasn't enough for Moony; rage still rolled off him in waves, making his fur stand on end, and Sirius knew he was going to kill the other alpha. The she-wolf knew it too for she barked frantically, trying to get past Prongs with no success. Padfoot leapt toward his mate, barking sharply to get his attention. Whining, he rubbed the unbloodied side of his face against Moony's and licking around his muzzle, reassuring him he was okay. With a nudge, Padfoot indicated he wanted Moony to let go; Moony growled, and Padfoot nudged harder, whining again. He knew the alpha was Moony's rightful prey, but he couldn't let him be killed. His mate would never survive the trauma; Sirius knew he'd never be able to if he faced the same circumstances, he wouldn't want to live without Remus.
With a final nudge to his jaw, Moony obligingly released his captive and stepped back. The other alpha got to his feet and sprang painfully back up the slope, throwing cautious glances over his shoulder. His mate met him halfway up, Prongs having let her go, whining softly as she wagged her tail in gentle arcs. The alpha permitted her to lick his face clean of blood, then turned and continued on his way, his pack following him faithfully. The she-wolf turned at the top of the slope and looked back at Padfoot/Sirius, and Sirius fancied that he saw thanks in her eyes for his intervention. He barked softly in reply and she turned and vanished after her pack.
Padfoot collapsed then, the ground rising up to meet him in a rather rude fashion, Sirius thought blurrily. It was all he could do just to stay conscious. He felt Moony's tongue gently smoothing over his muzzle, cleaning the scratches from the nettles and sighed happily. The lycanthropy wasn't contagious to animals, only humans; he was in no danger. Then the tongue moved down to his leg and Padfoot pulled it away in protest; even that much pressure hurt. But Moony gently closed his jaws over the injured leg, indicating he should stay still. Padfoot was about to yip an agreement when Moony suddenly let go and snarled; Padfoot rolled his head tiredly, expecting to see wolves again, but there was no one there but Prongs and Wormtail, who were backing away a little. Sirius understood then and slowly shook his head at his friends, giving the doggy equivalent of a smile to show he was okay. Moony wasn't going to allow anyone but himself to tend to his mate, despite James and Peter wanting to help. Prongs folded his legs where he stood and lay to keep watch as Moony resumed his ministrations. When he finished, he curled up securely behind Padfoot, laying his great silver head on Padfoot's shoulder. Together, they dozed.
Sirius was vaguely aware, later on, of dawn arriving and Moony going through the horrible transformation back into his human form. He'd gotten up and gone away a short distance to keep from injuring his mate as he thrashed around; Padfoot woke up in a panic when he realized what was happening. They were gods-knew-where, definitely not even close to the Shack and Pomfrey was going to be there soon to check on Remus. Padfoot got to his feet, then Sirius shifted back to human form. He felt entirely awful, and probably looked it; the bite on his arm was still swollen and red, his shoulder felt like it'd almost been wrenched almost out of the socket, and, upon careful probing, Sirius found a rather large and extremely tender knot on his head where Padfoot's had connected with the rock. When he pulled his fingers away, they were lightly covered with blood; the change seemed to have reopened the wounds. Looking around, Sirius discovered that James and Peter were gone; he assumed they'd gone for the Shack to get Remus' clothes. He stood torn for a second between washing himself off and going immediately to Remus' side, then decided the blood smell would probably make him nauseated and compromised by washing very quickly in the stream, a task made easier by the fact the water was ice-cold, yet it helped the ache in his arm. Then he staggered over to Remus and more or less collapsed to his knees beside him.
"Remus?" he said hoarsely; his throat felt dry and sandpapered from all the running he'd done last night. Tenderly, he gathered the naked and bruised werewolf into his lap with his good arm, sitting back against the slope and settling Remus so his head was against Sirius' left shoulder. A bruise was spreading over the shoulder Remus had tackled the other alpha with and he had several more cuts, presumably from the fight last night as there hadn't been time for self-mutilation. As Sirius stroked his face, it suddenly sank in; Sirius owed Remus his life, and James, too. "Rem?" he said softly. Remus slowly opened his eyes, smiling wearily when he saw Sirius' face hovering over him. Sirius' smiled in relief and kissed him gently, then rested his forehead on Remus'.
"Thank you," Sirius whispered, feeling tears in his eyes as he looked into Remus' brown/gold ones. Reaching up with on trembling hand, Remus cupped his cheek and feebly pressed a kiss to his neck, the only thing he could reach. His voice was so quiet Sirius wouldn't have heard it had he not been so close.
"Mine."