-1His dark gaze looked out over the city covered in a cold, white blanket. The sky was dark gray, heavy with snow waiting to fall. A chilling winter wind whistled over the bay, making him shiver inadvertently. Nightwing…Robin…looked over his city. Dick Grayson broke off from Batman and took on a new alias: Nightwing. He stayed in Gotham for a short time, but moved on to a neighboring town. He was not going to live under the shadow of the Dark Knight any longer. Since he left, Dick grew his hair out and learned to be less impulsive like his youth under Batman's tutelage. Now, he was going to college while maintaining his secret life as a superhero. Nightwing, not Robin…That's what he kept telling himself.
The sun set and Dick Grayson took a deep breath. Time for patrol. Christmas lights were becoming a part of the scenery and they lit every street and building of the city. As he passed from roof top to roof top, the sounds of a fight caught his ear. Changing directions, Nightwing found three thugs cornering a young woman. However, before he could leap into action, the woman beat him to the punch. With a snarl, she kicked the thug hard in the groin. The hit brought tears to the punk's eyes as he grabbed his privates and dropped to the ground. "That looked painful." Nightwing thought, feeling almost sorry for the guy. The second guy rushed forward and the woman grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the brick wall. "What the…" Nightwing sat upright. That was not humanly possible, not for a woman who looked like she couldn't be much more than five feet tall. The third punk pulled out a knife and stood facing the woman, almost like an old western showdown. Nightwing canted his head, trying to see the woman's face, but she remained hidden in the shadows. Then she snarled like a wild dog and stepped forward into the light. Unlike the dainty little woman he had seen before, a large humanoid wolf creature stood in her place, ripping off the remains of her jacket from its body. "Whoa!" Nightwing stood up, preparing to jump between the monster and the man.
The punk, at this point, had wet himself as he stared up at the seven foot tall werewolf. She lowered herself to tall fours, but even like this, the creature was large and intimidating. The mane of fur down the back of her neck bristled as her powerful muscles rippled in the dim lighting. The werewolf gave another snarl, exposing long, pointed fangs, and the man ran for his life. The werewolf stood up to her full height and looked up at Nightwing. Her narrow snout moved faintly as she smelled the air. Lucky for Nightwing, all the pollution and stink of the city dulled her sense of smell so she could not lock onto him. "What the Hell are you?" Nightwing found himself whispering. The werewolf snorted, clearly insulted. With a mighty jump, the creature sailed through the air to land on a building next to the one the Nightwing was on. He stood up to watch the creature, not sure what it would do next. She was something straight out of the movies with wolf's head, a mane of fur around her neck, a muscular and broad human torso with powerful arms, tail, and the extra joint (tarsal) in the legs. What worried Nightwing, aside from the creature's sheer size and muscle, were the saber-like fangs and sharp claws that tipped her fingers and toes. "Werewolf." The creature let out in low voice that was barely audible and touched a hand to its chest. With that, the she-wolf leapt, sailing through the air and away from Nightwing. With a quick movement, Nightwing sent a small transmitter in her direction. The device stuck in her mane as the werewolf made her escape. She was faster than he and Nightwing quickly lost sight of the werewolf. "This is not good." He thought.
The next morning, Nox rolled out of her bed with a groan. Her fingers were stilled tipped with sharp claws, not nails, and covered in a coarse brown fur. "That was stupid." She muttered to herself, referring to her transformation after antagonizing those thugs into attacking her, not the woman they were really after. Then the masked hero just had to show up and complicate things. Nox was her name. She was born to a wolf mother, from a Lycanthrope father. Nox and her mother lived for twelve years as wolves. When Nox was twelve, she experienced her first change and discovered she was not normal…at all! Nox was left by her mother and her pack, so she walked amongst humans. She lived homeless for a week before she was thrown into an orphanage. Despite her feral nature, Nox had been adopted. She learned to be human, to talk and act like a human. She even went to school. But upon graduation, she left for the city. There, she decided it was to be her personal mission to help the people of the city against the criminals. So that was Nightwing. He was more handsome than on TV or in the newspaper. However, Nox was not interested in humans, or so she told herself. Though out her school years, she was always teased for being a little different. Despite how dumb humans can be, they still "sensed" that she was different, so it became a defense mechanism to deny her attracting to young human males.
She pulled her long blonde hair into a pony tail, pulled on a black turtle neck shirt and blue jeans before pulling on her jacket and grabbing her book bag. The university was only a few blocks away, so Nox liked to walk. Her first semester was almost up, finals were coming up quickly. Passing through the busy halls, Nox bumped shoulders with a guy. She let out a small yelp of surprise and he apologized profusely. He was a interesting character with long, dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. "I'm so sorry." He said, picking up his books and she scrambled to pick hers up as well. "I'm sorry too." Looking up at him, Nox felt like she somehow knew this young man. "Oh, shoot! I'm late!" She whimpered, then shrugged. "Oh bother, I'll skip." She mused to herself, but he smiled, scratching his head. "Well, ah, not to be bold or anything, but would you like to get some coffee? Since I managed to make you late and ran in to you?" Nox, despite herself, smiled. "Ah, sure." He smiled in return. "I'm Dick Grayson." He offered his hand to her. "Nox Hammond." She shook his hand with a smile. "Nox, huh? That's a bit different." He smiled as they walked towards the on campus coffee shop. "Yeah, it's the Greek goddess of night." Nox smiled. He nodded, making a mental note of that.
Dick and Nox talked for an hour. Both had been orphaned and adopted shortly afterwards. The young werewolf found herself drawn to the human boy, captured by his blue eyes and charming smile. He was nothing like her, she thought, and yet his was. Deep in his eyes, she saw the mysterious and dark self he hid from the world. There was more to this Dick Grayson than what he showed to the world. Meanwhile, Dick looked into the eyes of this strange girl. Her eyes were an unnatural shade of gold, unlike anything he had seen before. She was not normal. In fact, as he looked into her gaze, he could have sword he saw a forest. Nox was a wild animal, not meant for the world of men. And this mystified him. Nox fidgeted a bit uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze. "So, you live on campus?" She asked, changing the subject. Dick Grayson shook his head, "Nah, can't stand the dorms." He shrugged. She nodded. "I agree. I scrapped up enough money to get a room mate and an apartment." Nox gave a small laugh. She wasn't used to these emotions: feeling nervous talking to a male, the sudden flush of heat to her cheeks, and the wild flutter of her heart in her rib cage. Dick nodded. "Um, listen, I have to…well, get going to class, unfortunately. But, would you like to, maybe, catch a movie or dinner?" Nox could not suppress the joy that spread across her face. "Oh! That would be great…" Then she remembered a small, little fact. "But I can't, not tonight anyway. I have to…ah, go visit my parents for dinner." She offered with a sheepish grin. No, she obviously cannot tell this human that it was a full moon and…oh, yeah, she turned into a seven foot tall snarling werewolf. "Oh, that's too bad. Tomorrow, maybe?" He offered. Nox smiled back. "Tomorrow, tomorrow I can do." He smiled, standing up. "Great, then tomorrow. Oh, and I need your number." He stopped in his tracks, as he was making a beeline for the door, turned on his heels and whipped out his cell phone. With a quick exchange, he was gone again.
That afternoon, Nox went out of the city and towards the more forest covered country. There, she could transform and not risk hurting anyone…or worse, biting anyone. Nightwing followed the signal till he found Nox's car parked off the side of the road. However, there was no Nox. Assuming the myths were true, that meant she was in her wolf form. But Nightwing did not need to search far, Nox found him. She came rocketing through the underbrush with a loud snarl. "Hey, easy. I'm a friend." Nightwing purred, hoping to sooth the snarling beast. Nox's ears perked and she stepped back. . "Do you understand me?" Nightwing asked, but the great wolf creature only canted her head to one side. "No, I guess not." Slowly, Nightwing pulled off a glove and extended his hand to the wolf. Nox sniffed his hand. She knew the smell, her human half knew that scent. It was blurry, but she knew him somehow. And by knowing that she knew him, Nox resolved that it was best not to hurt him. The werewolf turned from Nightwing and raced off into the forest. Nightwing watched her go. "Well, that was different." Nightwing followed Nox for most of the night. When the sun rose, he found her curled up in a nest of high grasses.
"Nox?" He whispered, somehow finding that he was not surprised to find the girl with other half of the werewolf's identity. "Too bad I stopped wear a cape a long time ago." He mused, seeing her naked form. Yet, he could not help but admire her sleek form, the graceful curves of her body. With a twitch, Nox woke up. She opened her eyes to find Nightwing standing over her. "You!" She yelped, throwing her arms about to cover herself. "You followed me here!" She growled, pointing at him accusingly. "I had to see if you were a danger to the city." Nightwing replied, holding up his hands. Nox snorted. "Yeah, right." She grimaced as her form grew hairy with a thick coat of brown fur. Nox's face morphed into that of a wolf with large, golden eyes. With a snort, she trotted past Nightwing towards her car. However, to her dismay, his motorcycle was parked in front of her car and the masked hero was right behind her. "So, are any of the legends true?" He asked as Nox returned to her human shape. "We're not immortal, we are allergic to silver, decapitation is the easiest way to kill us, and that's about as much as I know. I didn't know I was a werewolf till I matured to adulthood." Nox replied in a bored tone. "Before that, I was your average, normal wolf." She opened her passenger side door and began getting dressed. "Wolf?" Nightwing lifted an eyebrow in question. "Yeah, a wolf, are you deaf?" Nox growled with annoyance. "Werewolves, I assumed can interbreed with either humans or wolves, since we can take on either of the those shapes as well as the wolf-man creature. My mother was a wolf. Full blooded Canis lupus."
With that being said, Nox climbed into her car, started the engine and prepared to leave. But before she took off, she rolled down the window and shouted. "But since I was born a werewolf, not bitten, I have more control over my transformation and the various forms I can take on. I am no threat to your city." With that, she drove off, the tires squealing and smoke spouting from the tail pipe.
On campus, Nox felt tired and cranky, both from the full moon and her run in with Nightwing. She pulled her jacket tightly around her as she made her way through the snow to class. "Hey, Nox, wait up!" A voice called her attention from her brooding. Turning towards the source, Nox found Dick Grayson jogging up to her. She smiled as he slowed to a stop beside her. "Late?" She smiled as his scent reached her nose. Wait, his scent…it matched the scent of Nightwing! Maybe he never read those myths; the ones of werewolves having a keen sense of smell. Nox's expression grew solemn. Dick noticed this quickly. "What? Is something wrong?" He looked concerned for her. "Did you know werewolves have a spectacular sense of smell?" She felt hot tears burning in her eyes. Dick's expression dropped. "Nox…" He reached out to her, but she stepped back. "You have been spying on me. All this time…" She covered her mouth as the first few tears escaped her eyes. "No, Nox, no! It's not like that." Dick tried to reach for her again. "Not like this, I recognized you this morning, but...That had nothing to do with meeting you." He tried to explained as Nox back away from him, bumping into a few people as she moved. "Sorry, I'm sorry." She whispered to the other students before she turned and ran away. Dick stood there, wanting to go after her, but he was no good with girls. Even then, she wouldn't listen to him even if he did go after her.
Nox left campus, tears spilling from her eyes as she ran. Why was she being so dramatic? Nox let herself feel emotional towards another creature, something she had not done since her mother and pack rejected her for a freak. For twelve years, Nox refused to feel emotionally attached to any living being. She pushed aside her feelings until she became shrewd, aggressive, and temperamental. Becoming the lone wolf, Nox lived in her bitterness…and then Dick changed everything. She found herself wishing to connect to him, to discover the companionship she had be denying for years. But it was all a lie, he had gotten close to her only to make sure she didn't hurt anyone or pose a threat. Nox made her way down the street to the local gym where she could work out her aggression. However, even as a human, she still had spectacular strength. With a snarl, Nox slammed her fist into a punching bag. The force of her blow ripping the punching bag off of its chains and sent it flying across the room. When she looked down at her hands, Nox realized she was losing control. Her nails had grown into claws and fur was sprouting from her knuckles. Looking up, the people in the gym had stopped their workouts and watched her. "What's your problem?" She growled at the nearest human before storming out of the gym. Nox climbed into her car and drove out into the forest where she could run. Parking her car, Nox began to transform at once and was running in no time.
Meanwhile, Dick had to finish his exam, then he would follow the she-wolf. He followed her signal until he came upon the transmitter in the grass. "What the…?" He looked about. There were signs of a fight. Claw marks were everywhere, on the tree trunks, upturned ground, but no werewolf. There were also footprints not made by the dainty Nox. Nightwing examined the trail and followed it. The deeper he went into the forest, the fainter the trail became. By the time he reached the mountain range, there was no sign of Nox or her captors at all. "Damn it!" He cursed, balling up his hand into a fist.
What happened to Nox? The thugs she had faced when Nightwing first encountered her were not thugs. They were mercenaries. They had been hired to provoke the werewolf and capture her. She proved to be too strong when they first met, but they were ready this time. After her display of strength as the gym, they followed her to the forest. There, they ambushed her. They tranquilized her, but Nox was a fighter. It took some effort, but they managed to sedate her. Then they dragged her towards the base. There, a scientist was very pleased to see the werewolf. When Nox woke up, she was in a cage. The bars were electrified which made things even more uncomfortable. "My, my, my! A werewolf! You are a most rare find, young lady." The man mused as he examined her through the bars. "Hey, I'm not a dog you can take home." Nox snarled, lunging forward at him. When she hit the bars, volts of electricity pulsed through her body. Nox screamed then fell back from the bars, smoke coming off of her body. The man laughed. "I guess you've noticed there's no hope of escape. That was a nasty little shock, wouldn't you say?" He mocked her. "I extracted some of your blood and have been analyzing it. Amazing how natural the supernatural can be." A cruel smile came across his face.
"Wanna bet?" Nox growled. With that, she lunged forward, gabbing a hold of the bars the held her captive. Despite the electrical surge through her body, Nox transformed in to her man-beast form. With the added power, Nox ripped open the bars and leapt through. With a snarl, she looked at the doctor. "Your mine!" was the look she gave him. He staggered back from the snarling monster. Too late, she thought as Nox lunged at him with her gapping jaws. In the blink of an eye, it was over. Nox dropped the limp form of the good doctor from her jaws. Blood and saliva dripped from her muzzle as a loud boom caught her attention. The explosion was caused by Nightwing. He stepped through the 'door' he made to see the bloody scene. "Nox?" He asked, horrified by what he saw. Nox snarled, exposing her teeth and wrinkling up her muzzle. The taste of blood was in her mouth. The human half of her disappeared as the primal, savage beast took control. She dropped down to walk on four legs as the mane of fur bristled down her neck and back. "Please, Nox, come back to me." Nightwing pleaded softly. "It's me, Dick." He backed away slowly. Nox snarled, lowering herself in preparation to attack. "Nox!" She lunged forward. Midair, Nox jerked as the human half won a moment of control and forced herself to abort the attack. Falling to the ground, Nox jumped to her feet and ran. She barreled past Nightwing and vanished into the forest.
It took him all night, but Nightwing found her. Nox had come to rest in the grasses that he had found her last. She was curled up into a tight ball, shuddering against the cold wind. "Nox." Nightwing removed his mask as he came to kneel down beside her. "Go away." She hissed, still covered in blood. "Please, Nox." Nightwing pleaded. "I was not spying on you, not at school. That was all me, Dick Grayson, falling for a pretty girl with a dark secret, just like me." He offered a weak smile. Nox slowly looked up at him. "Do you mean that?" He nodded. "You bet." Nightwing extended a hand to her. But Nox wouldn't take it. "I'm glad, Dick Grayson, but I don't belong here." She said sadly. "I was never meant to be human." She sat up, kissing his cheek gently. "Thank you for reminding me what it was like to feel. Maybe we'll meet again, when I'm ready to walk with men once more." With that, Nox submitted to the change, becoming a wolf. With a short, soft whine, Nox pawed at his knee, then turned and ran into the forest.