Warnings: Blood, Mild Language
A/N: Here is a shorter-than-normal-but-still way-long story that I was too lazy to split into chapters like with Mortals, Gods, and Demons. I started it ages ago, and finally got the inspiration to finish it. It's funnier and more light-hearted than most of my works, but it's one of my favorites that I've done. Enjoy!
Disclaimer:I do not own Epic Battle Fantasy 4, its world, its plot, or its characters! They belong to Matt Roszak. I will only be borrowing these elements for the purpose of this story, not for any monetary/physical profit on my part.
Lance jumped back in shock, instinctively raising his gunblade, as a bundled figure leapt out of the bushes in front of him. He lowered the weapon slightly, but not completely when he realized it was an old man with a long, scraggly beard, wrapped in filthy gray robes. He looked like nothing more than a beggar, but still there was something about the old man that made Lance uneasy.
"Money for an old fella?" the old man asked in a wheezy voice.
Lance arched a brow and asked in a flat tone, "And why, exactly, should I give you money?"
"Because it would be wise," the man chuckled.
Lance was beginning to think the old geezer was crazy. He inwardly figured that Natalie or Anna might be willing to spare a few coins for an old man who appeared to be starving, but he wasn't so stupid. He couldn't think of any people who hid out in bushes asking for handouts in a mostly abandoned region. That meant the man was either completely crazy, or was actually part of a bandit band.
"So, spare a gold or three?" the man asked with a wide grin that showed cracked, yellow teeth and several holes where the teeth had fallen out.
"Definitely crazy," Lance thought as he rolled his eyes and made to walk around the man. He called back over his shoulder, "Not today, grandpa."
The old man let out a hissing cackle. Lance felt the hair on his neck stand straight up in warning, and he whirled around in time to see the old man fire a mass of green mana at him. The ball of magic struck Lance in the chest, but he felt nothing more than an odd tingle. The gunner scowled and raised his gunblade, loading a bullet through the motion. He had absolutely no patience for being attacked on the road, and he was already running behind schedule to rejoin with the team as it was.
Lance got halfway through the motion before he felt his limbs freeze up. His eyes widened as a painful tingling spread through his muscles and he collapsed down. He fought to regain control of his spasming body, but his vision was already tunneling and darkening. His last sight was of the old man he'd mistaken as a crazy but harmless coot coming closer with an amused look in his eyes. His last thought was that the next time he traveled alone, he was readopting his 'shoot first, ask questions later' policy, and Natalie's and Anna's moral complaints could be damned.
An hour or so passed where Lance lay on the dirt road. His red eyes finally twitched open to see the same old man as before sitting on the ground in front of him fiddling with his gunblade and cackling to himself. Lance felt a flash of fury run through him and he pushed to his feet, only to find his face pressed into the ground. Shortly after, his body slumped back down. He felt a flash of unease as he realized that everything in his body felt funny.
The old man looked over at him and cackled again, "You make a good mutt."
"Mutt?" Lance repeated. Or at least he tried to. What actually came out of his mouth was a mangled whine, and he found that his tongue remained hanging out to taste the dirt of the road.
Lance's eyes widened at the noise and complete lack of control over even something as simple as his tongue. He tried to push himself up on his arms and found himself staring at large, black paws. His breathing started to come in fast pants as he experimentally lifted his right hand, and saw the right paw respond. His mind short circuited as it tried to wrap around the horrifying truth: He'd been turned into an animal.
"Change me back," Lance demanded. What came out of his mouth was a loud bark.
The old man merely laughed at him and said in a mocking tone, "Sorry, I don't speak dog." He hauled himself to his feet and said, "Well, this weapon will make a pretty gold at the store, and probably more than anything you might have given me. Thanks, pup, good luck finding a nice family to take you in. You might want to work on the attitude, though."
Lance snarled and made to lunge forwards only to become horribly tangled up in his different limbs and tumble back down. He thrashed on the ground for a little while, trying to get his body under control to sink his fangs into the geezer's wrinkled behind. But he was forced to helplessly watch as the man walked further away before vanishing into the trees with his gunblade. Lance finally stilled with another snarl of frustration that left his tongue hanging out of his mouth sideways, and was unable to quite figure out how to bring it back in properly.
Panic raced through Lance's entire being. He was alone on the road in an entirely unfamiliar body that he didn't know how to control with no idea of how to turn back into a human. Swiftly, however, he latched onto that panic and forced it into a stranglehold of calm. Losing his head was definitely the wrong action to take here. He was smart, and he'd figure a way out of his mess; it was always possible that the spell was temporary, though the hedge wizard's parting words seemed to indicate otherwise.
After several long moments of calmly thinking through his predicament, Lance decided the first order of business was getting his body under control. It wasn't safe to lie on the road like a piece of carrion; even if he didn't get attacked, he'd eventually need to eat or drink something. With that thought in mind, he began slowly testing how his muscles responded to certain actions. His forelegs were definitely what his arms used to be, and his hind legs were his former legs. He couldn't really spread his fingers-turned-toes any more, and he had no opposable thumbs, which he just knew he was going to miss.
After a very long time, almost until sunset, Lance finally got onto shaky feet—paws he corrected himself—and began taking a few uncertain steps. His legs trembled and felt weak, and he often stumbled, but he was walking; he really hoped that he'd acclimate to his new form quickly. His new height was much shorter than his human height, and he estimated that he only stood at about three feet tall. He padded unevenly along the dirt trail with his tongue lolling out and his head low, and bitterly mused that he probably looked like a stray.
Lance's new, pointed ears twitched, and turned towards a source of running water. He wondered if maybe the trick to working his new body was to not think about it. That certainly worked to get his tongue back in his mouth—though he soon let it loll out again because he was too warm—but he tripped with a yelp almost immediately when he tried that for walking. He grumbled as he detangled his limbs with all the grace of an infant and struggled back to his paws. He slipped off the trail and into the trees, following the sound of water.
As he padded through the trees, Lance idly noted that he must have some very sharp hearing since he had to go a great way to reach the water. The other thing he noticed as he walked—which was getting much easier with practice—was just how sharp everything smelled. It was almost overwhelming how many different scents he picked up. He didn't recognize almost any of them aside from the sharpest ones such as cedar and honeysuckle, but he could definitely smell them. He finally came out of the trees by a small stream and moved forwards to drink.
Lance dunked his muzzle into the cold water, and immediately pulled back with a sneeze and a series of snuffles as he got water up his nose. He shook his head to dispel the water droplets clinging to his fur and flopped down on his stomach on the soft plants to glare at the water. Even drinking was a challenge. He didn't even want to think about what the hell he'd do when he needed to eat. He didn't even really know what dogs did eat outside of kibble and table scraps. Finally, he heaved himself to his paws and carefully lowered his head to lap up the cool water with his tongue. He took a moment to be grateful that it worked mostly independently, as he just knew he'd never figure out how to drink before he died of thirst.
When he felt sated, Lance stared down at his reflection. He supposed that he looked pretty good for a furry animal. He was big, covered in black fur, had the same color of red eyes as he usually did, and long white fangs when he curled his lips back. In all honesty, he thought he actually looked closer to a wolf than a house dog, which would be a problem when he needed to approach his friends. Matt would almost certainly simply try to skewer him on sight. He dismally supposed that he should probably just resign himself to living as wolf-dog for the rest of his life, however long it would be now.
"Well, at least I have fangs and claws," Lance finally grumbled to himself, still unused to his now-animalistic voice.
The wolf pulled his eyes away from his reflection and padded through the stream to the other side. He set his destination for Greenwood, as Anna was probably the least likely person to attack him on sight. She liked animals, and could often be found petting wild animals she'd found or rescued. He wasn't sure she'd treat a wolf the same way, but it couldn't hurt to check—hopefully, anyway. Arrows would certainly hurt if she fired one at him.
Lance traveled through the night. He'd lost an entire day of travel to the damn wizard and his subsequent transformation into an animal. He wasn't tired, anyway, and chalked that up to the fact that wolves could run for days without tiring, and he was only walking. At dawn, he experimented with a slow lope, and found his body responded smoothly. He was adjusting to his new form quickly, which probably meant figuring out to be a human if he ever turned back would probably be an immense pain in the tail. By midmorning he was up to a run, and actually found the amount of ground he could cover in such a short time, and with little effort, to be astonishing. He practiced leaping over rocks and logs, though he was ashamed to admit he ran into and tripped over several before getting the hang of it.
Lance slowed down at noon to rest; the new fur coat made the midday sun unbearably warm. He picked a low bush, squirmed under it for shade, and lay there panting as his red eyes scanned the forest around him. He mused that, at his pace, he was probably only two days away from Greenwood. He was supposed to have been there this evening via a slimecat. The others would be waiting for him to get back from updating some software for his scanbot. He hoped they'd wait a few days before leaving to find him.
As the sun dipped down in the sky, Lance slipped out from his shelter and pressed on, starting at a run, his black fur rippling in the wind, his long tail streaming behind him as his powerful limbs blurred in the grassy forest growth. He'd only gone a few miles when he ran into a pair of legless cats. The two animals froze when they saw him, and immediately bounded away. Lance gave a canine grin as he realized that most creatures would avoid a wolf. He hoped his luck held until he could fix himself, because he doubted he was ready for combat, and getting hurt could be fatal.
And his luck did hold all the way until he reached Ashwood two days later; he'd only had to snarl at a pair of Tanuki dogs to scare them off when they'd tried bothering him. Now, though, Lance was wary. Greenwood was a village of hunters, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone recognized a wolf's paw prints in the trees. He doubted that he could stay for long before they started actively tracking him. Still, he needed to find Anna, who would hopefully be willing to let him approach.
His journey ended at the very edge of Greenwood village. He skirted around the edge of the town, circling to be closest to Anna's house. No one even glanced at him as he slipped through the thick foliage, a silent, black shadow. He finally came to stop in the bushes beside Anna's house and settled down to wait for her. His red eyes remained unblinkingly fixed on the ranger's house. He could see someone moving around through the windows, and guessed it was Anna herself. His attention became distracted when his ears picked up familiar voices.
"Lance is never this late, though," Natalie was quietly saying to Matt, unaware that Lance was listening in from not far away.
Matt nodded and laid a soothing hand on the mage's shoulder, "He's probably just delayed. He's too strong to take down quietly."
Lance winced as he thought of the laughably easy time the wizard had actually had taking him down. He soon turned his attention back to the pair as they knocked on Anna's door. The ranger opened the barrier with a hopeful look that soon fell off when the others shook their heads.
"He hasn't been here yet, either," Anna informed them quietly.
Matt blew out a long sigh and finally decided, "Here's what we'll do: You, Anna, stay here in case he shows up. Natz and I will go to Lance's place, and follow the likely trail he took. We'll be back in a week with whatever we do or don't find. Sound good?"
Lance's eyes widened at the opportunity. Anna would be home alone for several days, giving him plenty of time to try to get her to trust him. He watched and listened to Anna wish the others luck and to be careful before seeing them off. The ranger came back with slumped shoulders and a worried expression. Lance took a deep breath as she slumped to rest against the wall beside her door to look up at the sky between the branches. Now was the best time to try this, since Anna wasn't armed with a bow, and no one else was in the clearing.
The wolf cautiously pushed his way out of the foliage with his head lowered, his ears back, and his tail tucked, trying to emulate any signs of non-aggression he'd ever seen in canines. The expression on Anna's face was hilarious as she looked gob-smacked at the sight of a wolf standing on her lawn. Her jaw was dropped, her eyes wide in disbelief and her hand instinctively twitched for her bow. Lance whined and lowered his head even further before settling down on his stomach a few feet away to fix a wide-eyed look of innocence—one he was sure he'd never made honestly before now—on the stunned ranger. He could smell her fear rising, and really hoped she wouldn't resort to magic when she got her mind in working order.
"Nice doggy?" Anna tried uncertainly.
Lance nodded, still holding her eyes. He doubted any wolf or dog would actually nod, but he wasn't truly a wolf, just stuck as one. The action would either make Anna relax, or cause her to wig out and scream about possessed demons.
Anna was surprised at the immediate and definite response from a very large wolf with red eyes. She wondered for a second if maybe she was hallucinating since she had lost several hours of sleep worrying for her missing friend. Wolves weren't native to Ashwood, and she'd never seen or heard of one responding to questions. Still, it was a wild and dangerous animal, regardless of the display of intelligence, which meant she should probably kill it.
"Wait here for a moment," Anna finally said with a shaky smile at the wolf.
Lance obediently lowered his head to rest on his paws, though his shoulders tensed. Something in Anna's expression and scent told him she wasn't going to start trusting him. He silently watched her go inside, and fled as soon as she was out of sight. He was long gone by the time Anna exited with Sky Feather in hand, loping through the trees, looking for water. His stomach grumbled to tell him he should probably eat something, too. Lance let out an upset whine; he didn't know the first thing about hunting, nor did he know what plants were edible around Ashwood. He didn't even know if wolves could eat plants.
Back in Greenwood, Anna was checking the soft ground for tracks. She was just beginning to think she'd imagined the wolf when she found a flattened patch of grass in the bushes where a few strands of black fur were caught. She soon also found the wide paw prints of the wolf and tracked them around the entirety of the village, before they trailed off into Ashwood. She stared into the trees, and blew out a long sigh. The wolf had seemed harmless, if a little strange, so she supposed that it was okay to let it go. She resolved to warn her people when they went out on hunting forays, and soon put the animal out of her mind.
But the next day, she saw the wolf again, this time watching her from the bushes as she hunted. It didn't look aggressive, but Anna kept her eyes on it as she backed away. She saw it again, later that day, this time drinking from a small stream. It was a magnificent beast, she mused thoughtfully as she watched it: slightly larger than average for a wolf, with thick, obsidian black fur, and gleaming red eyes. Its pointed ears twitched and it raised its muzzle from the stream to scent the air and soon jolted back with wide eyes turned in her direction. In a flash of black, it was gone, clearly afraid of her. Anna mused that it had likely seen hunters before, and recognized her bow.
The next day, she began tracking the beast, looking for its den or signs of a kill. She could find nothing of either, and found that to be really odd. Her mind toyed with the idea that maybe it was actually some kind of spirit given the unnatural behavior and red eyes. It watched only her—she'd seen it in the bushes outside her house again—and took no notice of anyone else in her village; in fact, the other villagers claimed they never even saw it, though they did keep an eye out for it on hunts. She mused that it looked at her with a light of what seemed to be desperation in its eyes, but she had no clue what it wanted. She supposed she should try letting it approach tomorrow.
Unfortunately, it rained heavily all day on the third day, making the air damp and chilly. Anna stared out the window at the dreary weather all day long. She thought she spied a flash of black in the trees, but she couldn't be sure it was the strange wolf or not. She wrote it off as her overactive imagination and fixation on the beast. She spent the rest of the day cleaning up her cluttered room, making a fresh loaf of bread, and napping.
On the fourth day, Anna found the wolf curled in a soggy ball of black, shivering fur under a small overhang. She cautiously approached the tiny cover and watched the wolf's head shoot up. Its eyes fell on her, and it struggled to its paws on shaky legs. Her brow furrowed as she saw how thin the creature was, and wondered if it hadn't been able to find something to eat. She couldn't see why, what with a whole forest of game to roam, but she couldn't think if any other reason why it would be so thin. Her eyes took on a sympathetic light when the beast got all of two paces away from her and collapsed with a desperate whine.
Anna crept closer and watched with distress as the wolf began to thrash and its whines got more desperate. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you," she told it in a soothing voice. To her relief, the wolf stopped thrashing and watched her approach. "Yeah, you're a good fella, aren't you?" Anna cooed softly, her lips quirked in an amused smile when the beast snorted. "Lance acts like that, too," she told it, more to say something to keep it calm than anything else. To her surprise, the wolf's ears perked and it lifted its head up, "What, do you know Lance?" she joked lightly. Her eyes widened when the wolf whined with a nod.
Lance went from panicked to relieved when Anna found him weak from hunger and cold. He'd been sure she'd kill him, and wondered if his body would remain a wolf's in death, or if he'd turn back. He didn't particularly relish the thought of being skinned for a pelt. But to his relief, she merely spoke to him, slowly and carefully approaching. His hopes rose when she related his snort at calling him a 'good fella' to him as a human. She seemed to know he understood her, and he hoped she'd connect the dots. He also hoped she had some food on her, because he was really hungry.
"Of course I know him. He's me," Lance said when she asked if he knew him. Of course, his words came out as a whine, but a nod got his point across well enough. He was infinitely relieved when Anna dug in her Adventure Pouch and laid out a strip of smoked ham for him to eat, carefully setting it down and backing away. Clearly, she still thought he was just a strangely intelligent wolf.
"Come on, big guy," Anna said then paused, and asked, "Wait, are you actually a girl?"
Lance nearly choked on the ham he was scarfing down and vehemently shook his head. He supposed that was a relief: He could live down being a wolf, but if that damn wizard had turned him into a girl… He didn't even want to think about that. Matt would have been insufferable to say the least. With fresh strength in his limbs Lance rose to his paws. He moved slowly to avoid startling Anna, who watched him with much less wariness than the last few days. He sat down and cocked his head at the ranger, waiting for a yes or no question he could actually respond to.
"If I bring you back to my house, will you behave yourself?" Anna finally asked. She watched the wolf nod his head and nodded back, "Okay, let's go then. You'll need more food than that little piece of meat. And I suppose a warm blanket wouldn't be amiss."
Lance fell into step a little ways behind and to the side of Anna. He slowly closed the distance until he padded directly next to her, and was relieved when she didn't flinch or seem afraid of him. He hesitated when Anna led him to the entrance of Greenwood, uneasy about entering the village. Anna quietly assured him that he'd be safe with her, and he reluctantly padded out into the open to walk alongside her again. His ears twitched and turned as he heard uneasy but awed murmurs as they headed to Anna's house.
Anna quietly told everyone the wolf was fine, and likely not a natural wolf. That calmed the people somewhat, and a promise from the ranger to keep a close eye on the beast was what calmed them further. The pair then stopped in front of Anna's house. Lance moved a little ways away and vigorously shook himself to expel the lingering water from his fur. He ignored the chuckle Anna gave as his fur fluffed out, and followed behind her as she let him inside.
Soon, Lance was scarfing down a large plate of various meats like the ravenous wolf he was. He licked his lips and settled down on his stomach with a content sigh when he was finished. He lazily watched Anna gather up the plate to clean off and listened to her wash, dry, and return the dish to its cabinet. She set a large bowl of water down for him, and then moved to sit on a chair.
"So, you know Lance," Anna finally asked. She felt awkward asking a wolf questions, but it was clearly very intelligent, and potentially the team's only link to their missing friend. She watched the wolf nod and asked, "How long ago did you see him? One day ago?" She got a bark and a nod as her answer. Her eyes widened, and she suddenly irately wondered if Lance was just playing a prank on them. "Wait, can you take me to him?" Another bark and a nod was her reply. "Let's go, then!" Anna exclaimed excitedly. She stood up to open the door again, but frowned when the wolf just sat there on her floor, "Come on."
Lance whined and shook his head, trying to tell Anna he was the missing friend. If ever there was a time he wished for speech, now was it. That or opposable thumbs to write a message with; he known he was going to miss those. He flinched when Anna stomped her foot and asked again that he take her to him. This was the most frustrating conversation he'd ever had with anyone.
Anna frowned when the wolf whined with another shake of his head, and stood to turn in a circle before fixing her with a look begging her to understand in his red eyes. She suddenly had a realization, "Wait is your name Lance?"
Lance felt a flash of relief as he barked and nodded, wagging his tail. To his confusion, Anna slumped and shut the door. He'd expected relief, questions as to why the hell he was an animal, not dismay. He watched Anna move to sit on the bed, and whined a question at her, "What? I'm right here."
Anna rolled her head to the side to look at the distinctly confused wolf. His head was cocked to the side and he had a wide-eyed look. She smiled slightly as she thought it was pretty adorable, "Sorry, I thought that maybe you could help me find my friend. He has the same name, and he's currently missing."
Lance felt like slamming his furry head into the floor. Now Anna thought he just happened to be a wolf with red eyes, who was able to understand English, and following her around in a place where there were no wolves naturally? He shook his head and padded over to the bed to rest his chin on it and nudged her arm with his nose. "Wake up, Anna. I know it's difficult for you, but I'm really in need of some brainpower and help here," he grumbled. He felt a hand rise to stroke his furry head, but while the petting felt surprisingly amazing, her next words were not encouraging.
"Sure, you can be my friend, too," Anna assured the wolf. "I might have to change your name, though. Having two Lances around would get confusing."
That time, Lance did pull back to bash his forehead into the mattress. He'd made progress getting Anna to trust him, but he had clearly overestimated her ability to think critically. He grunted and moved to curl up on the floor. He'd just have to wait for Natalie to get back. She was smart and could figure out what was up. A soft blanket draped over him and his head rose to look back at Anna. The ranger was smiling at him, and he tried for a wolf-grin back, his tongue lolling out. Then, he gripped the corner of the blanket in his jaws to tug it up further over himself and settled down to sleep. It was nice to sleep someplace dry, even if that place was just a hardwood floor with a worn blanket.
Anna watched the wolf fall asleep on her floor like a dog, and wondered about it. It acted sort of like a freakishly intelligent house pet, though its attitude still reminded her of her friend, Lance. She wryly grinned and mused that Lance probably wouldn't take kindly to adopting a stray named Lance. She shook her head and resolved to try to give the wolf a different name in the morning. With that thought, she rolled over and fell asleep.
Hours later, Anna was woken by clatter and a thump. Her eyes shot open and she sat up, reaching for her bow, only to find the wolf, Lance, with his front paws on the counter and his jaws closed around the remains of the loaf of bread she'd baked the day before. He was frozen with a guilty look on his face, the cover to the bread sitting on the floor beside him.
"Get down from there, shoo," Anna snapped.
Lance mused that he would have found this really amusing if it had happened to anyone else. He shot for the corner of the room with his prize and gobbled it down as Anna grabbed a broom. It wasn't his fault that he was already hungry, and Anna hadn't left any scraps out for him to eat. The scent of the bread had just been too tempting to pass up. He winced as Anna picked up the bread box lid, and cowered back as she scowled at him.
"Bad dog, no counter surfing," Anna grumbled, moving to replace the box lid. Her anger faded at the perfect remorseful puppy dog look the wolf fixed her with. "Oh, stop that," she sighed. She tiredly decided she should probably rinse the tray of crumbs before she went back to bed.
Behind the ranger, Lance cautiously slinked out of the kitchen. He headed back for the abandoned blanket in the corner of the main room, and wormed his way under it, leaving only his tail and the tip of his nose poking out. His ears twitched the blanket covering them as he listened to Anna come back in and settle down with a final warning at him to be good. The rest of the night passed in silence and peace.
Anna left Lance shut in her house the next morning. He was pretty harmless, but she didn't want to upset the other villagers with her new pet by letting a full grown wolf run around. Lance had grumbled at the restrictions and had sulked in the corner as she left. The ranger was headed out to bag some game, given the wolf's monstrous appetite. She came back hours later with plenty of small game to find her recently cleaned home turned into a Whitefall scenery.
Fluffing from her pillow was strewn everywhere with the culprit staring at her wide-eyed with the empty case in his mouth. He had bits of fluff caught in his fur, and had somehow managed to seemingly multiply the amount that had actually been in the pillow by shredding it into fine pieces. Anna took three deep breaths, trying to calm her temper, before she exploded.
"What the hell?" the ranger roared.
Lance dropped the pillowcase and darted into the kitchen, sending bits of white drifting about in a flurry of fluff. There was a crash in the kitchen as he knocked over a chair in his attempt to hide under the table. He peered out from underneath the meager cover as Anna stalked in after him, glowering with the mangled empty pillowcase clenched in her fist, and meat dangling from the other. Lance whimpered slightly, recognizing the furious look in her eyes
He'd originally grabbed the pillow to use for himself while Anna was out, but had accidentally torn a small hole in it with his fangs. He'd tried to put the bit of fluffing caught on his fang back by scraping it off on the pillow, only to accidentally tear a bigger hole. He'd sneezed and sent fluffing everywhere, and in his attempt to retrieve the pieces to put back they'd somehow gotten shredded. Now he was afraid Anna was going to boot him out.
Indeed, Anna was no longer willing to keep an untamed wolf in her house, no matter how friendly he was. She ordered the wolf out from under the table and watched with hard eyes as Lance crept out with his ears flat against his skull, his tail tucked between his legs, and his belly fur brushing the ground. She led him to the front door, opened it, and pointed outside. Lance froze and backed up with a whine, returning to the kitchen. He backed into the cabinets when Anna approached, and felt her grab his scruff to try and drag him forwards. Immediately, he let himself go limp like a stubborn child and flopped to the ground, a dead weight with his legs on either side of him. He refused to budge when Anna podded him in the ribs with her foot, and he was too heavy for her to drag.
"Out, you damn mutt," Anna growled.
"No, I'll starve out there," Lance whined in refusal.
A welcome voice for both of them—though for different reasons—suddenly came from the front room.
"Geeze, Anna, what the heck happened in here?" Matt called.
Anna blew out a sigh of relief and let go of Lance to go talk to her returning friends. "I adopted a stray, and I'm regretting it," she admitted in a wry tone.
Lance promptly slipped back under the kitchen table, and listened to their conversation.
"A stray? Like a dog?" Natalie asked.
Anna snorted, "Something like that. He's cowering in the kitchen, and won't go outside if you want to take a look at him. He's friendly and intelligent, so don't let his appearance and dumb acts fool you."
Lance pressed against the floor with his ears pressed against his skull as Matt strode into the kitchen. The swordsman gaped at the wolf under the table and called back.
"Uh, Anna? Wolves don't make good pets," Matt said in a matter of fact tone.
"I'm not a pet!" Lance protested in a bark.
Natalie snorted, "You adopted a wolf, Anna?"
"He's a weird one," Anna explained with a shrug. The two women came into the kitchen to watch Lance who was now pouting with his head turned to the side, resting on his paws, and his eyes closed, refusing to look at them. "He followed me around for days starting ten minutes after you two left. He was just standing outside my house, but he ran off when I went in to get my bow. I saw him from time to time after that, but he never approached me again, just followed me around, though I caught him drinking once."
"What made you bring him home?" Matt asked, righting the knocked over chair to sit in backwards, keeping his eyes fixed on the wolf.
"He doesn't know how to hunt, I think," Anna admitted. "I found him in the woods, too weak to run away. He responded to Lance's name when I said his attitude reminded me of the jerk. I thought maybe he knew him, but it turns out his name is Lance. He understands our language, and answers yes or no questions."
Lance let out a bored grumble, irritated that Anna hadn't figured it out. He really, really hoped Natalie did soon; he was going to go rabid in frustration, otherwise. And sure enough, the mage was studying him. Lance cracked one red eye open upon feeling the mage's scrutiny. The eye color made Natalie begin to realize what had happened.
"Lance?" Natalie asked.
"What," Lance grunted irritably.
Natalie cautiously got down on her knees and addressed both her friends and potentially the wolf, "This is going to sound really crazy, but are you actually our friend Lance?"
"Finally!" Lance exclaimed in an excited bark as he shot to his paws, hitting his head on the table and shifting it a couple inches in the process. "Ow."
Natalie's eyes widened in shock, "How the hell did you manage this?"
The other two gaped at the gunner-turned-wolf, and Anna flushed in embarrassment for having missed that as a possibility. Of course, Lance couldn't actually answer Natalie's question, though not for a lack of trying through barks, growls, and whines on his part. The other three shook their heads in amazement.
"Time for some twenty questions," Matt sighed. "Did you do this to yourself?"
Lance shook his head.
"Okay, so did it happen before you reached you place?" Anna asked.
Another shake of Lance's head.
"After, then," Anna guessed.
A nod that time.
"Someone on the road?" Natalie asked.
Lance nodded again.
"Did you get hurt aside from the transformation?" Matt asked next.
A shake of the head was Lance's response. He figured tripping over his own paws and hitting his head a ton of times didn't count.
"Was it a spell?" Natalie asked.
Lance nodded vigorously.
Natalie at back on her heels, and sighed, "Oh, boy. Looks like he got hit with a transmogrification spell, and it's a really good one to manage such a stable and perfect change in shape."
"Can you fix him?" Anna asked.
Natalie studied Lance, taking in his hopeful expression, and considering the spell he as under. Finally, she shrugged, "I might. Transforming objects—much less people—isn't exactly my school of magic, though. It'd be easier to find the mage who did it and get them to undo it. Or kill them—that will undo the spell, too."
Lance growled his assent of the last option, thinking of his stolen gunblade and the humiliation. He darted past the others to impatiently wait on the lawn outside. Bits of white fluffing trailed out after him, a piece getting caught on his ear. He turned in a circle as he waited for the others to catch up, and darted off as soon as they were out the door. He was more than ready to be human again; now he just hoped he could track down the damn wizard responsible.
OOOOOO
Watching Lance run alongside them as a wolf was a very strange experience for the others. He looked and moved exactly like a wolf, aside from the red eyes. He often ran a ways ahead, easily outpacing any of them, only to dart off the trail and somehow come up behind them. He panted like a wolf, smelled things like a wolf, and sounded like a wolf. But Natalie revealed that the sounds he made weren't actually any speech she recognized.
"I can understand cats and dogs—including wolves—but he's not actually saying anything intelligible," Natalie explained to all of them when Matt had asked if she understood when Lance spoke. She studied a frustrated Lance who laid on the grass not far away, his red eyes reflecting the campfire. "I'm willing to bet he had to figure out how to move that body," Lance nodded to her with a sigh, and she went on, "But speech is a little different; it's something that has to be taught. As he is now, I don't know what he's trying to say, but I'll assume he's trying to speak English, and it's coming out as wordless noises for both languages because of the different body."
"Peachy," Lance grumbled, tucking his nose under his tail. He supposed it was good enough that Natalie was smart enough to figure out his charades attempts. Being able to talk with someone would have been nice, though.
Late that night, Lance stood up while the others were asleep. He wasn't tired at all, given his increased stamina and the slower pace he had to adopt for the human members of the party. He padded around the others, and slipped out of camp before setting off at a run through the grass. He'd work off the extra energy by running, and maybe trying to hunt. He'd spent the slower pace running around and learning scents, but he had yet to actual catch anything, and he was tired of whining at his teammates to feed him. He'd done this back in Ashwood, too, but hadn't had any success as of yet.
The wolf came to a stop a little ways away and lifted his head to scent the air. He picked up various scents and began sifting through them to try and find an animal. He smelled several kinds of grasses, wild lavender, chive, water, decomposing leaves, and finally a scent he didn't recognize, but didn't smell like a plant. Lance crouched down to hide in the grass and began doing his best to creep silently. He was pleased to note that he was actually, in his opinion, doing a good job of moving silently. His ears couldn't pick up his own movement, at the very least. He slid through the grass, slowly and cautiously approaching the scent. Finally, his eyes fell on a small shape nosing along the ground, unaware of his presence.
Lance's eyes narrowed and he prepared to spring. He leapt forwards with a snarl and promptly staggered back with a yelp at a burning pain that flared up on his muzzle just before his jaws made contact with the creature. The animal scuttled away unharmed as he sat there in wide-eyed, confused pain. The wolf stared down his muzzle, cross-eyed, and spied a number of quills sticking out of his snout. He'd managed to find and attack a porcupine. He sarcastically supposed that was just his luck.
"Ow, ow, ow," Lance whined as he delicately prodded his nose with one paw.
The wolf turned to head back to camp to get Natalie to fix him up. Along the way, he winced at every step that jostled the multitude of quills stuck in his nose. He braced himself for the laughter from the others for the embarrassing injury, but comforted himself by saying they likely would have done the same had they been stuck in his situation. At the very least, he hadn't found a skunk, which would have been awful with his sensitive nose.
Natalie felt a nudging on her back, and grumbled as she opened her eyes to see the gray predawn sky. She rolled over with a groan to see Lance pawing at her. She blinked her eyes to try and clear the sleepy blur from them, and grumbled "What do you want, Lance?"
Lance whined, "Please fix my nose."
Natalie had no clue what Lance had said, but his whine sounded pained. She sat up, feeling more alert and ran an eye over his body and legs, searching for the injury. He twisted so that his face was directly in front of hers, and her eyes fell on the five porcupine quills stuck in his muzzle. She burst out in laughter, waking Matt and Anna, who also began laughing when they found out what had happened to Lance.
"It's not funny," Lance growled. His words might have been unintelligible, but the tone was clear.
Natalie worked herself back under control and wiped the tears of mirth from her cheeks. "Sorry, Lance," she chuckled. Her lingering grin widened at his unamused huff, and she reached for her staff to remove the quills and heal the wounds.
Soon, the injuries were gone, and Lance had moved to sit with his back to the rest of them. Matt and Anna were still laughing as they dug out food for breakfast. Natalie sympathetically patted Lance's back as she laid his own share out for him. Her actions got her a disdainful sniff, but Lance moved to eat.
"A porcupine, nice one," Matt chuckled as he stood up. A second later, and he found himself knocked flat with a snarling Lance baring long fangs in his face, pinned down by large paws and immense weight. Angry red wolf eyes were inches from his own wide blue ones, and he squeaked, "Right. Not funny. Sorry."
Lance moved off Matt and went back to snapping down his food, his fur still bristling aggressively. The violent response quieted the last of the amusement from the incident. Lance set off well ahead of them when they started again, irritated by their mockery. They didn't get just how frustrating not being able to really care for himself was, and he never appreciated being made fun of. Still, he made sure to stay just within sight ahead of them, so they'd know where to go.
"Geeze, it was funny," Matt grumbled back with the others. "Besides, he's the one who poked a porcupine. Even I know better than that."
Anna was studying Lance's distant form and mentioned, "I bet he was trying to teach himself to hunt, and had the bad luck of tracking down a porcupine. He was literally starving when I finally brought him home, so he must not know how. He eats a lot more in that form, too."
"Think we're not giving him enough food?" Natalie asked worriedly.
Matt grunted, "Probably not, and I bet he's being grumpy because we wounded his pride by laughing at him."
"Well, being stuck as an animal would be frustrating, and I bet he feels vulnerable," Anna commented. "He said he had to teach himself how to walk, so I doubt he's figured out fighting."
"We should probably warn him to stick close until he's back to normal," Natalie mused. She raised two fingers to her lips and blew out a piercing whistle.
Ahead of them, Lance heard the shrill noise and stopped to look back. He cocked his head as he saw Natalie gesturing with both arms, and shrugged before turning to return at a lope. He swore he would bite the first person who made any comment that he came when called, however.
"Look, he can be taught!" Matt joked when Lance came up. A split second later, and Lance's fangs sank into his hand. "Ouch! What the hell?"
"Treat me like a stupid dog and you get bit," Lance growled. He turned his eyes to Natalie, who looked faintly amused as she healed Matt's hand. "What'd you want?"
Natalie cocked her head, her eyes suddenly interested, "Wait, I think I almost understood that one. Say it again?"
"What'd you want?" Lance repeated.
"What did I do?" Natalie tried.
"Want," Lance corrected. "But close enough."
"Want, but close by—no, wait—enough?" Natalie slowly repeated.
Lance's eyes widened and his mouth spread in a happy smile, "Yes!"
Natalie grinned back and said, "It's not any animal language I know, but I think I'm understanding him."
"I still want to know how the hell you do that," Lance commented.
Natalie shrugged, "Dunno, it just happens. Anyway, the reason I called you back is because I think you should probably stick close by us until you're back to normal."
"You think I can't take care of myself?" Lance growled.
"Well, given your apparent starving until Anna took you in, yeah, I think you can't. Not yet, anyway," Natalie replied calmly. "You can practice hunting, but don't go far, and leave the combat to us, okay?"
Lance's ears drooped as he had to admit she had a point. "Fine, but tell Matt I'm biting him if he makes any stupid comments," he reluctantly agreed.
Natalie smiled and turned to Matt as she said, "He says he'll rip your throat out if you keep mocking him."
Lance snorted, "Not what I said, but better."
"Right, no more making fun of Lance, got it," Matt said with a nervous glance at Lance's long fangs.
They set off again, this time with Lance trotting along not far away. Everything was fine, and they were making good time until midday when Lance stopped walking. The wolf had begun dragging his paws for the last twenty minutes or so, and his tongue lolled out as far as it would go. The sun was at its height, and he was way too warm. Natalie turned to Lance with an arched brow, and her brow furrowed as he suddenly slid off the trail into the edge of the grass and flopped onto his side.
"Er, what's up?" Anna asked.
"I'm wearing a black, fur coat."
Natalie nodded, and glanced up at the sun as she explained, "It's too hot for him. Canines don't sweat to stay cool like we do. Guess we'll stay here for a few hours."
Anna smiled and turned to head off, calling back, "I'll catch us some lunch, then."
Lance lifted his head with pricked ears and barked, "Bring me back an entire deer!"
"He says he's really hungry," Natalie called to Anna.
Matt had moved to kneel on the ground, and began pulling clumps of grass up to clear a place to build a fire. After that was done, he stood up and headed off to get firewood. Natalie was digging through her Adventure Pouch, looking for something to pour water into for Lance. She frowned when the largest container she could find was a tin cup. Lance was still panting on his side, watching the mage with half-open, lazy red eyes.
"Looks like you'll have to wait for water, Lance," Natalie said with an apologetic look at the wolf.
Lance blew out a sigh, but said nothing. He shut his eyes to doze, though his ears twitched as he heard small sounds in the grass, and half-listened to Matt and Natalie talking. And with his sharp hearing, he picked up the sound of distant combat. He lifted his head with pricked ears as he rolled onto his stomach, and turned to stare in the direction Anna had gone. He ignored Natalie's question as to what was wrong, straining to hear the distant noises, trying to determine if Anna was in trouble. A series of shouts confirmed his suspicions, and he fluidly rose to his feet as his hackles rose of their own accord.
"Anna's under attack," Lance growled, his lips curling back to reveal his fangs.
Natalie started before jolting to her feet. She scanned the grassland ahead, but it dipped and rose in long hills, obscuring the ranger from sight. But she didn't doubt Lance's assessment, and she put out the campfire with magic as she told Matt, "Come on, Anna needs help."
Matt didn't question as he shot to his feet and set off at a run, following Lance's low shape as the wolf bounded through the grass, all signs of exhaustion and heat gone. But abruptly, Lance began sprinting with a bark, leaving Matt and Natalie behind as he heard something alarming from up ahead. The pair called after him, but were ignored as Lance flashed through the grass and vanished from sight.
Lance bounded through the grass, tongue hanging out. His black paws blurred over grassy hills and his claws tore clumps up of grass and dirt with each stride. He had heard Anna's cry of pain, and knew she needed help sooner rather than later. And sure enough, he crested a rise to see the ranger surrounded by a group of bandits. Anna was clutching a bleeding cut on one arm, and her bow lay in two pieces on the ground. Still, she refused to be cowed as she smoothly ducked under a sword swing, searching for an escape. But she was surrounded and her efforts to escape were met with mocking laughs.
Lance threw his head back and let out an echoing howl just as someone tripped Anna. The sounds of taunting laughter died out as the bandits turned to look up and around. They spied a large, black wolf bounding down the hill with bared teeth. A low snarling growl filled the air and seemed to vibrate in the bandits' chests. They staggered back a step as Lance threw himself at one.
There was a choked scream that cut off with an awful gurgle as massive fangs ripped into a soft throat. Lance only released his victim when the man's thrashes grew weak. He turned furious eyes on the remaining four men and ducked his head with his ears pinned back, his legs braced wide, and his fur fluffed out, making him look almost twice as large. Blood stained his gleaming fangs and caused his saliva to look red. The men had never seen a wolf so large, nor had they ever heard of a single wolf attacking a large group in broad daylight before. They expected the beast to turn on the girl they'd attacked, given her obvious injury and being smaller than they were. But the wolf leapt clear over the stunned girl and sank his fangs into another man's arm near the shoulder with another snarl, dragging the man to the ground.
The take down of another of their number cajoled the remaining bandits to raise their weapons. They brandished their swords at the wolf, expecting to kill it while it was mauling the man it had bitten. But its ears twitched and it sprang away from its victim as soon as they took one pace forwards. It lunged forwards as though to attack again, and the men realized too late that the beast had only been feinting a strike. Another man howled as he suffered a deep bite wound and a claw mark to one arm. The wolf pulled back again and sprang perfectly through both slashes made by the remaining two men. Fangs sank into one's calf, toppling another bandit. The final man turned to run only to feel an immense electrical jolt before his vision went black. Matt and Natalie had finally arrived.
Anna, who had watched the fight with wide eyes, merely nodded mutely to Natalie's questions of if she was okay as the mage tended the cut on her arm. It had been amazing, and terrifying to watch. Lance had successfully killed or crippled four of the five men who'd ambushed her. He'd moved so fluidly with every motion, and was just as merciless in his assault as he had been as a human. If anything, he'd been more terrifying given his wolf form and snarls, and the visceral way of killing. Now, however, he showed absolutely no signs of aggression as he worked his tongue and jaw with a face that could only be called disgusted.
"Holy crap, Lance," Matt breathed as he surveyed the bloody mess and the moaning men wounded on the ground.
"Don't ask me to do it again. Humans taste awful," Lance grumbled.
Natalie snorted at that, "Good to know, I guess. Are you sure you're okay, Anna?"
Anna nodded and finally verbally replied, having finally calmed down. "Yes, I'm fine since you got my arm. Lance arrived before they could do anything too serious. Thanks for the save, by the way, Lance."
"My pleasure. Can we go find a stream, or river, or something? I really want to wash my mouth out, right now."
"Lance wants to go wash the disgusting taste of human out of his mouth," Natalie told Matt and Anna.
"There's a stream not too far from here," Anna replied as she accepted Matt's helping hand to regain her feet.
She pointed the direction out to Lance, who immediately took off, leaving the others to catch up. They found the wolf standing in the water of a wide, but shallow stream. His black fur dripped as though he'd rolled in the water, and he was drinking with quick flicks of his tongue. His ears twitched to acknowledge their presence, but he didn't break away from drinking. He seemed to exude an aura of relief at the cool water.
"Feeling better?" Anna finally asked as she settled down on a tree root.
Lance shook himself vigorously, flinging water droplets everywhere, before he nodded and moved out of the stream to lie on his side in the soft grass. His ears drooped sleepily, but still twitched towards sounds, and his eyes remained half open as he listened to the others move about and talk. He tracked them lazily as they each drank and Anna set off again to actually get some hunting done with Sky Feather in hand.
"Good work saving Anna," Natalie suddenly told Lance. She eyed the wolf as he let out a wordless grunt of acknowledgement. "I guess you can fight like that, after all. Must be some sort of instinct, maybe."
"Maybe. Or maybe going for the jugular just always works," Lance replied with a whuff of air.
Matt grinned when Natalie relayed that to him and said, "I dunno, that was a pretty slick dodge when we showed up. I don't think any animal has that kind of skill ingrained in them through instinct."
"It was still gross, though," Lance grumbled, scrunching his nose up with distaste. "I never thought humans would taste so disgusting." He rolled over to curl into a ball and added sleepily, "Still, it was kind of satisfying, too, in its own way."
Natalie snorted as she shook her head. She translated for Matt as Lance fell asleep, and the swordsman grinned. Anna came back an hour later to find Matt and Natalie quietly dozing under a tree and Lance fast asleep in the grass. She grinned and took a deep breath before jumping out with a shout. Predictably, Matt and Natalie both jumped in surprise. Lance, however, had the funniest reaction. The wolf yelped as he sprang straight up into the air from lying down to land standing on all fours with his fur fluffed out in shock. Unfortunately, one of his paws ended up off the bank of the stream, and he stumbled sideways and tripped into the water. He scrambled upright again with a sneeze, once again dripping water, and fixed a sour look on the laughing ranger.
"Some thanks that is," Lance growled as he moved out of the stream.
Anna merely laughed harder at the sight of Lance looking like a drowned dog. A split second after, and she let out a protesting shout as Lance lunged forwards to snatch her bow out of her hands to fling into the water. When she moved to go retrieve it, a furry head butted her behind the knees and sent her falling into the stream. She sat up with a splutter to see Lance sitting on the bank staring at her with a mixture of satisfaction and irritation in his eyes in front of Matt and Natalie, who were both shaking with laughter. Anna's lips twitched before she burst out laughing again.
The ranger stood up to retrieve her bow only to be splashed when Lance sprang past her to grab it before her. He stood in the middle of the stream with the weapon in his mouth and danced out of Anna's reach when she tried to snag the weapon. Anna's eyes narrowed as she lunged to grab her weapon but ultimately missed. She ignored the increased laughter from Matt and Natalie as she repeatedly tried and failed to get her bow back from Lance, who only looked amused.
"Gods, even when you're shorter than me you still manage to keep my things away," Anna growled as she made another snatch for her weapon. She stopped in the middle of the stream and crossed her arms when Lance gave a clearly amused grunt. "Give me my bow back or I pull out a different one and add you to my pelt collection," she threatened.
Instantly, Lance dropped her bow and shot out of the stream to stand behind Matt. "Save me," he whined.
Matt grinned, not needing a translation to get what Lance had said. He shook his head and stood up to go retrieve the game Anna had brought back. Lance darted to behind Natalie as Anna stepped out of the stream with a sour look in his direction. The mage made a face as a wet spot formed against her back from the excess water running off Lance's fur. She used a brief spell to dry Lance, who jumped but ultimately let out a sigh of relief, as well as Anna's clothes. He settled down behind the mage, curled loosely around her, eyes warily fixed on Anna. He stiffened slightly when Natalie began stroking his head, but soon relaxed again.
"I suppose I should complain about being petted like a dog," Lance grumbled.
"But?" Natalie asked with a grin, sensing the but in his statement.
"But could you scratch a little to the left?"
Natalie laughed at the request, but moved her hand to the left as he wanted, scratching just behind his ear. His fur was thick and soft, the mage thought with a smile. Immediately, Lance slumped down with a content sigh, tilting his head into her fingers.
"Now we just need to get a collar and-" Matt joked before cutting off as Lance cracked one eye open with a low growl. He swiftly thought better of his sentence and said, "Did I say collar? I meant to say the sorcerer's head on a spike."
Lance let out a huffing snort and shut his eye again. But both eyes sprang open when Matt and Anna began skinning and cleaning the two rabbits and a Thunder Bird. He sprang up and began all but drooling as he stared at the meat. Anna glanced at him with a knowing smile.
"So do you want yours cooked, or eat it raw again?" the ranger asked, holding up one of the rabbits.
"Raw again?" Natalie repeated with a queasy expression.
"Well, I thought he was a regular, albeit strangely intelligent wolf," Anna explained with a shrug. She shot another look at Lance and asked again, "So, raw or cooked?"
"Whatever is faster," Lance said, leaning forwards.
He caught the rabbit Anna threw him after Natalie's translation and started ripping into it. He completely ignored Natalie's slightly green expression and Matt's amused grin. Anna didn't seem to care one way or another as she prepared a spit and skewered the remaining meat on it. Matt had arranged the branches for a fire that Natalie started. The mage then scooted away from Lance who was cheerfully crunching on a bone with relish.
As the meat cooked, Matt asked, "So, how far are we from where you were transformed?"
Lance had been scratching his ear with one hind paw, but he lowered his leg and barked, "Only a couple days."
Matt nodded as he turned the meat over. "So, how do we find him once we get there? We don't even know what he looks like, or where he lives."
"I bet his trail is probably gone by now, too," Anna mused with a thoughtful frown.
Natalie—who had finally gotten over Lance's meal—suggested, "Maybe Lance can track him by scent?"
Lance tilted his head in thought before shrugging his furry shoulders. "Maybe. I didn't really smell him back then, but he was pretty grungy looking, so I doubt he has a subtle scent."
"I guess we'll figure it out when we get there," Matt sighed. His mood improved as he announced, "For now, though, let's eat!"
OOOOOO
Two days later, and the team finally reached the place where Lance had been transformed. As Anna had expected, there was no trail to follow at that point. On top of that, it had rained, so Lance was unable to find any suspicious scents. Still, he had seen which direction the old man had walked off in, and led the others after him, into the trees. It was their only lead, and they hoped it would be enough to track down the sorcerer.
Before long, they found a narrow trail worn into the foliage by people walking on it; or rather, by one person walking on it. Lance reported that there was only one scent. They decided to follow it, and soon came across what looked like an abandoned tower in the woods. Natalie quietly announced that someone with fairly strong mana was inside. Between the various clues they'd gathered—the location, the single person, and the mana signature—they decided that this was likely the place they were looking for.
The party looked up at the decrepit tower. The windows were shuttered, vines grew up the wall, the roof sagged from age and neglect, and moss grew on the stone. A high, stone wall stretched around the entirety of the property with the only way in being a thick gate with a large padlock. Matt experimentally lifted the padlock and shook the gate, but found both to be very well kept and not likely to be easily broken. On top of that the walls were barbed, so climbing over wasn't an option.
"Now what?" Anna asked uncertainly.
Natalie shrugged, "We know he's in there, so we could just wait until he comes out. No telling how long that will take, though."
"I want to be human again sooner rather than later," Lance growled.
They all jumped when Matt took a swing at the gate only to be flung back as a spell activated, repelling his sword. "Nope, not getting in that way," Matt muttered.
Lance sighed and sat down, cocking his head as his eyes ran over the wall and gate. He stood up again and began walking along the wall, sniffing the ground, and testing it with his paws. He ignored the confused looks the others were giving him as they followed him around the wall. The wolf paused at a patch of dirt and prodded it with one paw. After a moment, he nodded to himself and set to digging.
The others moved back as Lance began flinging great wads of dirt, grass, and small stones behind him. His paws worked furiously as he dug, working his way deeper. After several minutes of tireless digging, he suddenly flattened himself to the ground and squirmed under the wall. The others blinked in shock as he squeezed through the small crack he'd discovered in the stonework. They raced around to the gate to see Lance in the yard, nose to the ground, and heading for a small, overgrown shed.
"See if you can find a key," Anna called quietly. "The keyhole is huge, so the key probably is, too, and he won't want to lug it around."
Lance flicked his ears to show he heard as he reached the small structure. He could smell that the geezer often came into the shack, and figured there had to be something of interest in there. He reached the sagging door, and reared back on his hind legs to slam his front paws against it. The door splintered and fell inwards with a thudding crash, and the wolf vanished inside. The others waited tensely by the gate, hoping Lance didn't get caught in some kind of trap. But the wolf reappeared with pricked ears and a large key hanging from a ring dangling from his mouth. He bounded over to the gate and stuck his nose through to give the key to Natalie.
"Nice work, Lance," Matt grinned. He shoved the gate open as soon as Natalie unlocked it, leaving the padlock abandoned on the ground.
"What, did you expect any less?" Lance grunted, though he looked distinctly pleased with himself.
Anna chuckled at his expression and joked, "Maybe we should leave him like this. He's more useful as a wolf."
Lance snapped at Anna, fangs coming just shy of her leg as she danced backwards. He ignored her amused chuckle, and turned to stalk towards the door. Still, while he might not agree with her saying he should stay a wolf, he did think that the different skills provided by the different form were useful. He wondered whether he or Natalie could learn spells to change the shapes of themselves or their party members. It was an interesting thought, and one he filed away for when he was back to normal.
The three humans entered the tower with their weapons drawn while Lance let his lips curl back from his fangs as his hackles rose. Their eyes darted around the dark interior, but they saw no one; still, none of them relaxed. Lance cautiously stepped forwards with his ears warily pricked, sniffing the air. He sneezed at the overpowering stench of dust and shook himself. Still, he tracked the scent of the wizard to a rickety staircase. He eyed the one man wide stairwell with narrow eyes. Finally, he shrugged his wide, furry shoulders and took the first step up. His animal instincts and senses made it easier and safer for him to dodge a surprise attack than his friends.
But no traps sprang out at them as they climbed the stairs, each one creaking noisily. There was no hope of catching the wizard by surprise, but that didn't matter much to them. Natalie cast a protective spell to nullify any effects thrown their way—transmogrification or otherwise. It was just in time, too, for as soon as they reached the platform, a spell, familiar to Lance, struck Anna in the stomach. The ranger shrugged off the now-harmless tingle and returned fire with an arrow.
The arrow flashed down the hall, pinning the old wizard to the wall by one sleeve. A second arrow pinned his other arm, while a third was fired just below his crotch in warning. The old man swallowed uneasily at the very clear threat, and watched with wide eyes as the team approached him, weapons drawn and eyes glinting in an unfriendly way. He had no idea what had brought on this attack, and he had little faith that he'd survive it. Then, his eyes fell on a familiar black wolf with red eyes, and he couldn't resist a mad little chuckle.
"Found yourself a nice home, huh, pup?" the wizard cackled. "I suppose their violence means you don't need to change your attitude. They might consider getting you neutered, though; spare themselves that trouble."
Natalie stepped forwards as Lance snarled, and jabbed her staff under the old man's chin. She forced his eyes to meet hers and said in a threatening tone, "Don't mock a member of the team."
The man's eyes widened as they shot back to the wolf. He'd had no idea that the traveler he'd targeted was one of the four heroes. He gulped at the four sets of furious eyes locked on him and asked in a trembling voice, "What will you do with me?"
"Change Lance back, and we'll let you live," Matt said flatly. He tilted Heaven's Gate to catch the light of from a window and added, "If you refuse for whatever reason, then we undo it our way."
The man's breathing picked up as he knew immediately what the swordsman meant. His eyes flicked to Natalie, and he knew she was the one who knew exactly how spells worked and could be undone, and that trying to bluff otherwise would be futile. Not that it mattered. "I can't," he mumbled. He yelped as Matt raised his sword and babbled an explanation, "It's not that I won't, but that I can't! I don't know how to undo the spell!"
Matt hesitated, and glanced at Natalie. "Now what?" he asked quietly, his sword still threateningly raised.
Natalie blew out an aggravated sigh, glaring at the old man. After several long moments of thought, she shrugged, "It's too risky to let him loose to teach himself how to undo the spell. He could turn on any of us at any time, and we can't be sure he won't find something that gets past my own spells. Of course, killing him to undo the spell can have its own problems. There are almost always side effects from the release."
The old man had tensed at the beginning of Natalie's speech, but soon relaxed. He was safe as long as they couldn't alleviate any side effects…
"…but I'm skilled enough to take control of the stray mana and fix it," Natalie finished with an evil-looking smirk at the suddenly pale wizard.
Anna nodded, "Then I guess we kill him. It's what would have happened if he'd attacked us on the road, anyway, and what I'm sure Lance would have done if he'd been able to."
Matt needed no more confirmation. He slashed Heaven's Gate through the wizard's neck, decapitating him in one, fell swoop. The head hit the ground and from behind the team, Lance hit the ground, too, back in his human body. The gunner awkwardly rolled himself over and let out a sigh of relief as he stared up at the three faces looking down at him. As he'd expected, his human body felt strange to be in after almost two weeks of being a wolf, but it wasn't as bad as he'd been expecting.
"Thanks, guys," Lance mumbled. He accepted the hand Matt offered, and staggered to his feet, stumbling slightly at the change in height and center of balance. He nearly toppled back over, but Matt caught his arm and held him steady.
Natalie eyed the stumbling motions with concern. "Are you okay?" she asked nervously. She feared that maybe the side-effect for breaking the spell was a loss of orientation, or perhaps even sanity.
Lance waved off the concern, though. "I'm fine. This happened when I was turned into a wolf, too. I just have to learn how to walk on two legs again, is all; gimme a few hours, and I'll be back to normal."
Natalie relaxed, "Good. Does anything feel off? Hurts or wrong in some way?"
Lance shook his head slightly, "Other than the change in body, no. I'll let you know if something happens. Can you help me to the yard, Matt?"
"Of course," Matt nodded and stepped forwards, still keeping a supporting hand on Lance's upper am.
The two paused at the stairwell, and Lance looked back to ask, "See if you can find my gunblade? The bastard took it after he turned me into a wolf. He might have sold it already, but it can't hurt to check."
Anna nodded and waved them off, "We'll get right on that."
The two women split up to scour the house. They found a sizeable stash of loot and gold in one locked room. Lance's gunblade sat on a table in the spoils room. The two women grinned as they gathered up the gold and items and carried Lance's weapon outside.
Lance was taking unsteady steps along the outside of the house with one hand on the wall for support. Matt was watching from not far away as he cleaned his sword. The gunner was quickly getting used to being on two legs, and was idly telling Matt that it was weird having duller senses again. Everything sounded slightly muffled and his sense of smell was way down again. Anna shot an amused look at Natalie.
"He'll never see me coming," Anna breathed.
Natalie rolled her eyes, but did nothing to stop the ranger from slipping out of the house to sneak up on Lance as he rounded the corner. Matt cracked a grin as he watched Anna peer around the building. A few seconds later, and the ranger leapt around with a shout. Lance let out a yell of shock, and they heard a thump as he fell over. Anna started laughing only to cut off with a gasp. Matt and Natalie darted around to see Lance lying in a confused heap, once again as a wolf.
"No…" Lance whined as he rolled over and sat up with a distressed expression and drooping ears. "Now I'm stuck as a wolf forever…"
Natalie began cracking up as she pointed her staff at Lance. A simple push on his mana had him back to normal. The gunner was sitting in the grass with wide eyes. He scowled up at the other three as they laughed over the novelty of him transforming from shock. Still his expression twitched with amusement as he figured it was pretty funny.
"I hope that's not a permanent thing, though," Lance sighed as he stood up with Matt's help. He had an easier time controlling his human body this time.
Natalie shrugged, "It probably is, honestly. Still, it's actually a benefit. If you can get that surge of mana under control, you could hypothetically change whenever."
Lance's eyes widened, "Okay, that's pretty cool. I'm going to work on that right away."
Matt pouted, "Aww… lucky. I've always wanted to change into an animal."
"That would be kind of awesome," Anna agreed with a sigh. Still, she soon shook her head, "Well, then. We've got Lance back to normal and a nice bonus from the geezer's stash. Who wants to go get some good food?"
Matt's pout immediately vanished, "Yes! Let's go!"
The four headed out of the overgrown yard, discussing what they wanted to eat and where they planned to go next.
A/N: I like wolves. And I really wanted to write the line "Bad dog, no counter surfing" as well as other bad dog, Lance scenes. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! Please leave me some reviews and keep an eye out for the next chapter of Shadow of the Blight in the near future!