Football practice ended earlier than usual so Ludwig found himself walking home in the fading sunlight for a change. He wrapped the scarf he had received from his ex girlfriend, as a peace parting gift, tighter about his neck to block out the chill from beginning winter breezes. He breathed out a sigh and watched the white mist flit gracefully away. He rather liked the winter season and unlike other people he enjoyed staying out in it as much as he could. On the weekends he would pick out a book and traipse a little ways behind his house to settle down before his favorite tree. Lately though, he had been wary of doing this because of the wolves. He was by no means scared of them...rather...he didn't want to frighten them by coming so close.
He kicked a stone along the path and sighed again looking up towards the hill. He stopped in surprise when he saw two people standing in front of the Hathoway house. From his distance he couldn't see them clearly especially because the sun was setting behind the houses. However, he could tell that they were both the same size...that is to say...they were both rather small...and no it was not just his eyes playing tricks on him from being so far away...they were genuinely rather small. Children or young teenagers perhaps?
He shrugged and pulled at the scarf again as he continued on. Many people in the town were curious about the abandoned Victorian manor and often times kids dared each other to enter it since what his brother and his friends had been talking about today was true. Everyone knew that the place was haunted, or at least cursed. Too many accidents had happened there to be coincidence. The kids would probably chicken out soon and run off...unless...
He looked back up at the house as Antonio's words tugged at the back of his mind.
"...the old Hathoway Manor got bought."
Was there a possibility that the two small figures in front of the house...were its new inhabitants?
~*Mousoka*~
"This is the place then Arthur san?" Kiku Honda looked up at the vast Victorian manor with slight awe. He blinked his deep brown eyes against the slight glare of the sun reflecting off the weather vane as he tried to take in every inch of the exterior of their new home. It was by no means the largest place they had ever inhabited, but it was the largest in a great many years.
Arthur Kirkland simply stood staring with his hands clasped behind his back as he rocked back and forth. His mind was working frantically as it categorized everything that needed to be fixed or changed in their new home. There was not a single room that did not need patient attending and now that he got a good look at the outside he was adding even more to the list of required repairs. At last he snapped from his mental list making and turned to the older man beside him.
"Yes Kiku this is our new home...for however long it lasts. It needs a good amount of work so all of us will be kept busy for awhile."
"Some of the pack will not like that much." The Asian man smiled slightly.
"Well they'll just have to deal with it. They cannot refuse what I tell them after all."
"No they cannot Arthur san." Kiku nodded in respect at his alpha but he still knew that some of the more wild members of the pack would not take kindly to being put to work. Then another thought struck the beta's mind. "Arthur san?"
"Mm?"
"What about school? There is only a single high school in this town correct? Should we go to apply there soon?"
"I wasn't planning on enrolling us in school this time. We've already graduated several times. I feel like we should do the same thing the vampires in that stupid book do and make a collage of all of our diplomas and caps."
His generally composed beta actually laughed at that and nodded.
"Yes that is an idea for them indeed. And I suppose you are right. After all, between the eight of us, we have a Bachelors Degree in every subject."
Arthur nodded as well and was prepared to drop the subject.
"Still..." Kiku sighed, "Feli san said he would like to attend school here."
Arthur groaned and looked up at the sky.
"Of course...he's always the one that wants most to mix with normal humans."
Kiku smiled slightly.
"It is just his personality. He loves the pack dearly but he also greatly enjoys making friends and immersing in social society."
Arthur sighed again.
"How much will he whine if I refuse?"
Kiku shook his head.
"I do not know. You never can tell with Feliciano how he will react at a particular time. He is currently in a good mood because of that human's dogs he has been playing with. He might be willing to make a deal with you if you let him continue to go back to that patch of forest and play with them."
Arthur nodded thoughtfully.
"I will consider it. First I think we should move in and then we will discuss where our lives will head next. Go round up the pack would you Kiku?"
The beta nodded and bowed politely before he disappeared into the trees by the house.
A few moments later Arthur's sharp eyes saw the small Japanese wolf streaking its way through the forest around town.
~*Mousoka*~
The expected simple task of rounding up the pack proved to be more difficult for the beta. Because when he arrived back in the specific copse of trees that he and Arthur had left the others in, he found only Yao. The Chinese Tibetan wolf sat perfectly still in a patch of sunlight, with eyes closed, and tail wrapped nearly around the his front paws.
"Meditating Again" Kiku mused to himself and approached the other wolf carefully from upwind so that he wouldn't startle him into defense.
Yao's eyes opened and he slowly moved his neck from side to side before rolling out the rest of his muscles and getting up fluidly. He turned to face the beta and gave another roll of his muscles all the way to the flick of his tail before he approached.
"Well Kiku, how is the house?"
"Different from the last one." The beta replied with a whip of his tail (a wolf's version of a shrug), "It'll take some work, but it's mostly livable right now."
Yao nodded.
"I figured that would be the case. But the location is fine? It's not too close to other human homes?"
Kiku shook his head.
"It's up on a hill with the forest close to nearly all sides. The next closest homes are at the bottom of the hill."
"Good." Yao yawned, "We need to be able to come and go in both forms without fear of the neighbors seeing."
"We should still be careful though. I think all entrances but the front door are blocked from view from the bottom of the hill, but I can't be certain without seeing for myself." Kiku responded cautiously.
Yao nodded and settled down into a seated position again.
"So when do we get to see it?"
Kiku sighed.
"Actually I was instructed to come collect everyone now but..." he looked around meaningfully.
"I'm the only one here." Yao finished for him, nodding, "Yes, the other's kinda scattered shortly after you left."
The beta groaned.
"Do you know where each went?"
"Tino said something about an interesting carpentry shop in town. Matthew still has his eyes on the stuffed polar bear in that one thrift store. Felix has been desperately wanting to visit that horse and pony ranch again. You can guess where Feliciano went. And Lovino followed him.
Kiku groaned again.
"That's several different directions and Arthur's waiting for us. How can I get everyone gathered and up to the house before it gets dark?"
"I could assist you. You could go in the direction of the ranch, the human's house is out that way too, and I could go into town. We could simply order them to go up to our new home and join Arthur. That way we don't have to round them up."
"The problem is that even if we gave them directions to the house, two of them would still get lost."
Yao started barking with laughter at that.
"I forgot about that. There's a reason that we always try to stay together. Because the twins would get hopelessly lost otherwise."
He looked down at the ground.
"You know, now that I think about that there's a possibility that they never even reached the human's house."
"Oh don't say that." Kiku whined and leaned down towards the ground, covering his eyes with his paws.
"That's just what we need. Having to search around this entire area, and possibly a bit further, looking for them."
Yao barked with more laughter before he got up and made his way towards the section of forest that led to town.
"Then let's hope that the fact that we've been there so many times and he's enamored with the place will help Feliciano find his way there. And let's hope that Lovino stayed close enough behind him to follow. Good luck Kiku." Yao called over his shoulder as he raced into the trees.
*~Mousoka~*
When Ludwig arrived home he first looked for a sign that his brother had possibly come home before him, but nothing revealed that Gilbert had been at all home since this morning. Empty cereal bowl still on the counter and another breakfast plate smashed on the floor. Ludwig sighed and began picking up the larger pieces carefully. How many times had he told Gilbert to use the plastic plates so that if he left food on them and Caden, their Siberian Husky, came along...at least the dog wouldn't be breaking things when he snatched his unexpected meal.
Ludwig was just going to grab the broom from the closet when he heard a yelp and what sounded like snarling outside. He ran to the back door which was open to the extent that the dogs could come and go through it easily, and ran out onto the small back porch himself. Two of the wolves were standing in his backyard, the two that he had labeled as brothers, and the more auburn had a paw raised off the ground and was whimpering. The other wolf stood protectively in front of him with his teeth bared and what looked like a piece of Vash's fur hanging from his mouth.
"Hey!" Ludwig shouted, running out with his arms waving and standing at his full height, "Get out of here! Both of you get!"
He looked around for something to throw to scare them if they didn't leave but the one in front barked something over his shoulder and the other began moving away warily before he turned tail and limped hurriedly back into the trees. The other continued to glare at Vash and Ludwig before he too turned and disappeared into the trees.
*~Musouka~*
Dimitre Laurinaitis sighed and shook his head.
"Is something wrong uncle?" Toris asked, pulling his bike up to the top of the hill beside the man. He had heard his uncle shouting at something to go as he pedaled up the road towards the horse barn and country house.
"Wolf." His uncle sighed again, "One of those that came by not too long ago. I don't want to hurt him you know, but he might not have good intentions towards the ponies and smaller animals. We may like wildlife Toris, but our main responsibility is to our own first."
His nephew nodded and looked down the hill in the direction of the woods where the wolf must have ran.
"Which one was it? Could you tell?"
"The Polish wolf." His uncle sighed again, "He's got such strange coloring though. It makes me kinda uneasy."
"What do you mean?" Toris asked.
His uncle shook his head.
"Don't worry about. The ranch is my responsibility at present, not yours. How was school?"
