Monster Party Side Story: I've told a million lies, but now I tell a single truth...

It had been amusing for the first month, it had been bemusing for the second, and now in the third it was down right irritating. That wasn't helped by the fact that she could see no signs of her companion's behavior changing any time soon. In short, unless she wished to spend the rest of her life traveling around with a wolf whose bright silver coat drew even more attention than its tremendous size, steps would have to be taken.

Luckily, Florence Bastien was a dryad, and from wasps that would lay their eggs inside of spiders so that their young could eat the arachnid from the inside out, to fungi that would transform ants into brainwashed servants, nature was filled to the brim with all sorts of nasty ways to get what you wanted. In this case, she was going to employ a somewhat less severe tactic, no need for open parasitism when simple mimicry should get the job done.….

XXX XXX XXX

Alexander Diamondclaw yawned mightily as he woke to another day of his life as a wolf. He was adapting well all things considered, he barely ever felt unnaturally low to the ground these days. The fact that he was such a large wolf might have helped some of course.

He began to gently roll himself across the ground, feeling the grass rub pleasantly against his fur and wondered if there were any streams nearby he could use to wash himself

"Feeling well?" He heard his companion's voice call out to him.

Alexander wasn't going to answer, he was quite firm in his desire not to speak a single word. Still, he did not want to be discourteous so he at least turned his head in her direction.

"What are you doing?" He instantly gasped.

A three month long vow of silence shattered in the blink of an eye.

Florence Bastien was down on all fours and completely naked.

Well, "completely naked" for the same value of the phrase that he was completely naked himself and had been so for the last three months.

No that wasn't quite true, Alexander had an eye-patch on (to hide his left eye (which would have looked as out of place on a wolf as his right did on a human)), and Florence didn't. So she was just a touch more naked than he was, but eye-patches rarely did much to protect one's decency.

Luckily for Alexander's sense of propriety she wasn't going skyclad while preforming some sort of perverse druidic ritual.

It was simply that between the time he'd gone to sleep last night and when he'd awoken, Florence Bastien had turned herself into a wolf.

A wolf with a coat of mossy greenish brown fur that seemed nearly as outlandish as his own silver one, but she was more clearly a wolf than anything else Alexander could think to call her.

"What, are you so discriminating about your company that suddenly I'm not good enough for you?" Florence inquired pointedly.

When she spoke Alexander could see her teeth more clearly, and though they were pointed just like his, they were a deep brown color (though looked no less strong for it) rather than the more traditional white.

"Why are you doing this?" Alexander whined, his confusion and surprise winning out against his desire to be utterly silent.

"I got tired of you foisting all the 'human' tasks off on me. If you want to retreat into being a wolf, well so can I!" Florence insisted smugly.

She looked even stranger as a wolf then she had while trying to pass for a human. It was all too obvious that she was almost as much flora as fauna, especially given the twisting blue and purple flowers that bloomed upon her brow.

"This isn't about cowardice, this is about protecting people!" Alexander insisted.

"It is certainly not about protecting me. Not when it means I have to do all our shopping for supplies. You aren't exactly the kind of person someone forgets, but you still draw less attention in towns than I do.

At least that is how it works when you're human.

You're always so full of sayings about how you're no coward. I'll grant that I have never seen you flee from a foe I would face myself, yet there clearly are many things you are tremendously afraid of. Transforming back into a human for one." Florence countered.

Alexander just stood there fur bristling for a moment.

It'd been months since he'd spoken to anyone, even Florence, it was thus taking him a while to get his mind in order and hold something approaching a proper conversation rather than just shouting whatever thoughts first occurred to him.

"Cowardice is letting yourself be ruled rather than guided by fear. So yes… yes there are things that I am afraid of, chief among them myself. Before I met you… I told so many lies, so very many, that I couldn't even tell which ones were lies and which ones were the truth.

As deadly as I am with tooth, claw, and blade… I killed more people, far more innocent people with my words. That's why I decided I should live like this. This way there's no danger of anyone ever trusting anything I say… assuming I say anything at all." Alexander explained, and then turned away from Florence, his early morning lupine euphoria now replaced with deep human melancholy.

/Oh great, here we go again...\ Moaned Alexander's internal Wolf.

The beast had no patience for Alexander's dour moods, much preferring to revel in the simple joys of battle and bloodshed.

Alexander refused to rise to his bait though, just as he promised himself that he should refuse to rise to any more of Florence's goading. Even if she should transform back to her human shape while remaining just as bereft of clothing he would say not one word.

Instead, he simply stood there, waiting, waiting for he knew not what, but waiting all the same.

His keen wolf ears could hear the sound of Florence's paws padding across the ground as she drew closer to him. He flicked his tail diffidently, not caring about what she said or did in the slightest.

That was when his ears picked up another sound, one much more high pitched than anything else that had reached him this morning save for some bird song. This sound was neither from a bird or joyful though. No… it was high pitched crying, like that of a human child.

Alexander's ears titled and swiveled, and his nostrils flared, drawing in huge snorts of air as he desperately sought a scent trail. He was able to pinpoint the sound's direction if not its exact location, and that would have to be enough.

He and Florence might be able to dwell unhindered within this forest, for they were both creatures apart from human civilization. In fact, the pair were probably more horrifying than most 'proper monsters' they did actually encounter.

A crying child, making noise sure to draw attention to itself, and utterly defenseless… that was another matter entirely.

/Just when I thought today would be boring...\ His internal Wolf rejoiced that something… anything had spurred Alexander into action.

Alexander himself payed that comment no mind, just as he payed no mind to the sound of Florence's paws beating out a steady rhythm behind him. A steady but fading rhythm, the distance between them increased as he ran faster and faster, his claws gouging furrows in the soil as he tore across the forest swifter than any fleeing deer, possibly swifter than even a frightened hare.

He was going to get there first, he was going to get there before Florence, and far more importantly he was going to get there before anything else could get to that child and do it harm!

He heard the crying sobs again, much closer this time and began to bleed off speed so he could make sure that he didn't end up running straight past his target.

As he drew nearer he was able to determine more about the child in question, his ears were and nose were keen enough to be all but completely certain that he was dealing with a young girl. He couldn't put into proper words how his lupine senses were able determine human gender at the moment, but by this point he trusted them all the same.

/Glad to see you're not second guessing everything I tell you anymore.\ His internal Wolf 'congratulated' him.

Still resolutely ignoring the beast, Alexander slowed down to an almost sedate pace, and as he padded out from behind a tree he finally laid his eye on the girl.

She was a little slip of a thing, probably ten years old at most, dressed in a bright red cloak with a few tufts of auburn hair poking out from underneath it.

She sitting with her back to a large tree, head tucked against her knees, sobbing. Resting just before her was a wicker basket with a white cloth wrapped tightly around it.

"Good day little lost child..." He greeted her softly and gently.

Alexander had never married, let alone had a child of his own, but a man would have needed a heart of stone not to try and comfort a young girl in such a sad state.

She stopped sobbing and looked up at him. Then she rubbed her blue eyes clear on a sleeve of her red cloak so that she could see him more clearly.

"Why exactly is it a good day Mr. Wolf?" She asked inching away from him slightly.

Oh right.

/I'm an idiot.\ Alexander cursed himself.

/I was wondering when you'd finally admit it!\ His internal Wolf chuckled mightily.

Alexander had gotten involved in a conversation with Florence only a few minutes ago. Somehow (probably because it'd been so long since he'd talked at all) it had slipped Alexander's mind that he had no difficulty speaking human languages in his lupine body.

So while he might have failed to keep silent he was still living up to his oath about not transforming back to a human… and thus had approached this lost and frightened girl in the shape of an especially large silver furred wolf.

Clearly if she hadn't been all but paralyzed with grief a few moments ago the girl would have already been running for her life.

/I hope she tries to flee, then we can chase her!\ His internal Wolf happily suggested.

"I'm not a wolf, I'm a dog." Alexander tried to reassure her.

/I'm really bad at this. I'm really, really bad at this… I've kept my tongue still for three months, but the moment I open my mouth I start lying again...\ He couldn't help but harangue himself.

The girl slowly began to rise to her feet, picking up the wicker basket.

"Curl your tail?" The girl told him, keeping her voice remarkably steady despite the circumstances.

"Excuse me?" Alexander spluttered, more taken aback by this bizarre request than the girl herself had been by the prospect of a talking wolf/dog.

"Papa taught me how to tell dogs and wolves apart, wolves can't curl their tails." The young girl insisted, clearly finding some solace in her father's words.

/Outfoxed by a female who has yet to be in heat. What glorious tales will be told of this day...\ His internal Wolf grumbled.

Alexander tried, and even when trying to mix some mild shape shifting into the attempt was utterly unable to curl his tail.

"Yes, I suppose I am a wolf. I only lied about being a dog to try and avoid frightening you further..." He admitted awkwardly.

/You know from a certain point of view you are still lying to her.\ His internal Wolf observed, sounding endlessly amused by this fact.

/Shut up! I'm not going to tell her the actual truth, truth. It is so crazy that I barely believe it myself...\ Alexander growled mentally.

His internal Wolf was less than helpful at the best of times, but he seemed especially so at the moment.

Luckily Alexander could hold such mental conversations quite literally at the speed of thought and didn't end up missing anything the girl said back to him.

"Well that's very considerate of you Mr. Wolf." She replied, her eyes starting to dry somewhat.

"What have you got in your basket?" Alexander inquired, trying to sound like he was having a perfectly normal conversation with the girl and very much not planning to eat her.

/Well of course we're not planning to eat her! I mean just look at her, there's barely any meat on her bones! What's the point of eating something so scrawny?\ His internal Wolf added, unhelpful as ever.

"Medicine… for my grandmother..." The girl stuttered slightly.

"Nobody has heard from her in town for a while, and my father has gotten sick with something nasty while my mother isn't around anymore. We're worried that she might have come down with the same thing as my father, so he sent me to go and bring this to her." The young girl explained.

Alexander inhaled deeply through his nostrils, trying to tilt his head in such a way to suggest that he was breathing in the scent of the basket rather than the girl. Sure enough, it had a mildly unpleasant herbal smell mixed in with what was probably a freshly baked loaf of bread.

"How did you wind up out here on your own? Don't you know how dangerous it is for little girls to go wandering off with no one to protect them?" Alexander desperately hoped that he was conveying sympathy and worry rather than hungry delight to the poor defenseless girl.

Alexander had the mystical ability to speak any human language he knew in the shape of a wolf, with one awkward exception; body language. He was thus very much aware of the fact that every time he tried anything approaching a reassuring smile, all he ended up doing was showing off his very large mouth full of very large very sharp teeth.

"My father said that I should stick to the path… but then I saw a lovely collection of flowers. I started to pick them up for my grandmother, and by the time I'd found enough of them, I'd lost the path. Now I don't know where I am..." She whimpered, starting to turn her head this way and that in a desperate search for some familiar landmark.

/Did the basket ever belong to her grandmother?\ His internal Wolf interjected.

/I really don't see how that could make much of a difference.\ Alexander replied.

/Oh then I guess you've just been spending the last few months with a wolf's sense of smell for fun then. That's a real shame, I bet you'd have no trouble escorting this awkward bundle of skin and bones to her grandmother's house, if only you could come up with some way of finding out where exactly it was.\ His internal Wolf condescendingly chuckled.

Lacking for any better ideas save simply guiding the girl back to the nearest human settlement, Alexander decided to give it a try.

"Did that basket once belong to your grandmother? I might be able to pick up her scent and find the way to her house..." Alexander explained, taking a few awkward steps closer.

He made sure to keep his body lowered, with his lips and ears drawn back, for all the good that was likely to do him at the moment.

The little girl looked as if for a moment she was sorely tempted to try and whack Alexander firmly on the nose with her basket. Then she must have realized exactly how big a wolf he was, and that she'd be more likely to break the basket than seriously harm him. She placed it down on the ground and took an a single step away from it.

"If you grab it and run off with it Mr Wolf I'll… I'll..." She was unable to come up with a convincing threat and so was forced to settle for simply wagging a finger in his face defiantly.

/You know I'm almost starting to like this waif, she has spirit if nothing else.\ His internal Wolf noted wryly.

Alexander very slowly drew close to the basket and leaned in, resting his nose upon it lightly as he inhaled deeply.

In the body of a wolf, smell was not just a sense of the moment, but also of the past as well. The only words he could properly find to describe it was like how extremely hot or cold objects maintained a trace of where they had just been whenever they were touched, except obviously without the accompanying pain.

Beyond the bread and medicinal smells he had already detected lay still more human aromas, and as they traveled through his nostrils a map began to trace itself in his mind. He was fairly certain that he could figure out how to get this girl to her grandmother's house, and could also deduce the location of the path she'd most likely wandered off as well.

"What are you doing?" A voice called out to him from behind.

Turning around he saw that Florence had finally caught up with him, and that she hadn't bothered to abandon her lupine form either.

"I'm not about to eat her!" Alexander gasped in horror realizing how the scene might look to the dryad.

At which point all four of Florence's legs abruptly collapsed and she fell straight to the ground. A hyena could not have produced a more sustained or louder barking laugh than she did.

"You? Eat a little girl! You… eat, a little, girl? You really…. Hahhhahahhaahahahahah ahahahah… I can't…. breath… you…. Eat a little girl? HAHAHAHA!" She wheezed out in unrestrained mirth.

"What is/are she/you finding so funny?" Alexander and the girl in question asked at more or less the exact same moment.

"You… you're worried that I might think that you'd…. oh Gaia, I haven't laughed this hard in my entire life!" Florence cackled, still laughing, but no longer quite so heavily convulsing.

Then Alexander was struck by the realization of his latest problem, in her current shape Florence could only speak "wolf" and thus the little girl had only the roughest guesses at what the dryad was saying.

"She knows me well enough to be amused by even the suggestion that I might contemplate harming you." Alexander answered, hoping that the little girl in question wouldn't think he was only trying to lower her guard.

"Oh, she looks pretty." The young girl reflected, her compliment sounding nearly as awkward to Alexander's ears as most of the things he'd been saying recently.

/She actually does look rather fetching now that she's got a proper body and doesn't have all that clothing in the way. Do you think she'd be willing to mate with us at some point before she transforms back?\ His internal Wolf eagerly pondered.

/Shut up, shut up, shut up! I am not going to ask her that and even if the impossible were to occur, which it won't, we would 'mate' properly as a man and a woman not a pair of animals rutting in the dirt! Which as previously mentioned isn't ever going to happen because I don't think of her that way, she really doesn't think of me that way, and she's a dryad while I'm human! Humanish at least! Do you have any idea how impossible something like that would be?\ Alexander mentally screamed.

/You're no fun anymore.\ His internal Wolf huffed in disapproval.

"If my companion would regain her wits, we can hopefully get this all sorted out. Florence, this little girl is trying to get to the cottage of her grandmother who no one has heard from in over a week, but she wound up getting lost.

Luckily there's a strong scent trail on her basket. So the two of us are going to escort her through the woods and make sure nothing bad happens along the way." Alexander explained his plan more than loud enough for both Florence and the young girl to hear it.

Hopefully that would be able enough to get this entire awkward situation sorted out.

"What is her name?" Florence asked Alexander.

"What is your name?" Alexander repeated.

"My father said not to tell my name to strangers, and I'm sure that goes double for strange wolves.." The girl answered once she was able to understand Florence's barks and woofs.

"Her father said not to tell her name to strange wolves." Alex repeated instantly.

"I can understand her just fine, you don't need to translate back to me." Florence reminded him.

"This situation is so absurd I couldn't be sure." Alexander barked back in what he devoutly hoped was wolf alone.

"Anyway… now that there really aren't any more lingering questions that need to be resolved, I think we should take the girl to her grandmother's house." Alexander declared, hoping that he wouldn't get interrupted a second time.

His hopes were abruptly shattered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Florence needled.

Alexander had to resist the urge to rise up onto his hind legs and whack her so soundly that she'd wind up kissing the dirt she claimed to draw magical powers from.

"Am I sure it is a good idea? Not really, I feel like a titanic fool at the moment, but what are the alternatives? We let her wander through these woods by herself? Compared to that, yes I am sure us going with her is a good, is a great idea!" Alexander insisted, his ruff bristling with indignation at Florence's unexpected callousness.

"Not the part about us escorting her." The dryad abruptly clarified, having the good graces to look suitably abashed for saying anything that might have been interpreted her wanting to leave the little girl alone and unprotected.

"I only meant both of us escorting her. If it is true that no one has heard from her grandmother for a while and she lived by herself then something horrible might have happened to her. If that is the case, it'd be better for one of us to go ahead and make sure whatever dangers befell her aren't still lying in wait for the girl. Don't you agree?" Florence pointed out.

To his chagrin Alexander could find no flaw in that logic. Goblins in particular were know for overrunning isolated human dwellings and turning them into crude war camps. If there were a score of the spear wielding monstermen waiting for the girl at her grandmother's home it would be best that she simply went back to her father.

"You're right, you go." Alexander eventually answered.

"You go, as you've just so convincingly proved you're faster." Florence argued back.

"The two of you can't even communicate without me around!" Alexander gasped in irritation.

"I can understand her just fine. Besides, if I really need to, I'll just transform back to my "human" shape. I'm not pigheaded about such things." The dryad declared, shooting him a condescending look.

"What are you arguing about now?" The girl cut in, though at least she sounded more intrigued by than afraid of their bickering.

That probably meant she didn't incorrectly suspect that they were secretly plotting to devour her behind her back (metaphorically speaking)… probably.

"We're discussing which one of us would be best to escort you to your grandmother's house. I've decided that my companion should do it, since you have such an interest in flowers and nobody knows flowers better than her." Alexander answered awkwardly.

The girl seemed to find this unobjectionable which meant that Alexander had finally discovered a way out of this crazy conversation.

Now all he needed to do was get to her grandmother's house before they did, confirm that there was nothing dangerous going on, and then just wait for them to arrive.

At which point he and Florence would be able to leave the girl behind, and get back to their argument about him staying in lupine form.

Nothing could be simpler!

/I hope it gets still more complex, watching you abase, humiliate, and confound yourself is endlessly amusing!\ His internal Wolf chortled at Alexander's suffering.

Fighting back the urge to have another bitter argument (Alexander suspected that he was the only man in the world who could get into three arguments with only two other people around) he completely ignored the ill meaning wish..

Instead, he simply focused his attention on the mental scent map and raced through the woods. Not needing to worry about sticking to any traditional path he was able to take shortcuts and shave quite a bit of time off of how long it would take the young girl and Florence to make the same journey.

Soon enough he located the small cottage that must surely be the home of the girl's grandmother.

There were no obvious signs of the place having recently raided by goblins, but by the same token there was something strangely still and unnatural about it.

/Bang your head against the door, make your voice really high pitched and claim that you're her granddaughter come to visit!\ His internal Wolf advised.

/Now you're just suggesting the most asinine thing you can think of!\ Alexander reproached the beast who for all his faults normally at least sounded sincere in his suggestions.

Alexander took a deep breath and began to examine the place more slowly, carefully thinking about what he was going to do. If whatever illness was going around had claimed the girl's grandmother and the girl herself arrived only to find said grandmother unexpectedly deceased then Alexander was certain she'd end up blaming him.

Since he was trying to spare the little girl whatever suffering he could, he decided that he might as well just poke his nose around inside long enough to see if he could pick up the scent of death.

/No good deed goes unpunished, so we might as well commit some bad ones.\ His internal Wolf pointed out.

While he normally kept a certain amount of "distance" (for lack of a better word) between them, Alexander could now feel the beast grow closer and more attentive, like a hawk perched on its master's shoulder in preparation for the hunt.

/I'm just trying to make to make the best of a bad situation while being true to myself.\ Alexander growled back, hoping the words weren't yet one more lie from him today.

Alexander slowly padded up to the door, it didn't look like anything special, but that could still make opening it an especially challenging task for him at the moment.

This would be so much easier if he had hands and a traditionally bipedal body.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind then he shook his entire body no less thoroughly than he might after a downpour.

Yes it would be easier if he had opposable thumbs, it would be easier if he was a human, and it was easier for a man enslaved to drink to rouse himself to some task or other after having downed a full mug. He had to beat this as he was, what was the point of swearing an oath if it was abandoned at the first sign of hardship?

It was safer for everyone and better for his sense of honor if he remained a wolf. So Alexander awkwardly rose up onto his back legs, bracing his front two against the door and took the handle into his mouth. Ignoring the unpleasant metallic taste, he twisted it and let the weight of his upper body push hard against the door.

There was a slight creek as the wood door swung open and Alexander was now able to pad his way inside.

The "click clack click clack" of his claws on the wooden floor sounded impossibly loud to him.

/Maybe you should let the grandmother know what's going on so she doesn't have a reason to be afraid? To the lady of the house, please feel no fear, I'm just a large magical talking wolf who ran into your granddaughter earlier today and am now trying to tie up loose ends!\ His internal Wolf eagerly suggested.

When Alexander (wisely) did nothing of the sort it tried a different approach.

/Maybe the old grandmother won't be quite so old and she'll be one of those withered spell casting crone types. Someone with enough of a spine to challenge us. As amusing as it is to see you tying yourself in knots, it is still not quite as good as a proper chance to wet our lips upon the blood of a foe...\ The amoral beast continued, warming to its newest theory.

"Withered crones who cast spells don't have beautiful..." Alexander began to explain the improbability of that suggestion, but halfway through he stopped.

His nose twitched, picking up a new scent that abruptly drew his attention. It was a large pot of bubbling meat left unattended on top of a stove, and it smelled like someone had recently slain either great boar or a very plump pig judging by the size of the pot.

Yet for some reason he couldn't put into words, Alexander felt his hackles rise up in anger at the scent and his entire body seemed to be flooding itself with adrenaline.

/I thought you'd gotten better at interpreting my senses. Fine, since you clearly need me to spell out the blindingly obvious to you yet again, I'll do my duty. Only because the alternative is you standing around hopelessly confused for the entire day though! There's nothing porcine about the nature of that meat...\ Alexander's internal Wolf pityingly pointed out.

He was indeed hopelessly confused for a brief moment, then a horrifying clarity struck him.

Oh this was bad.

/Oh this is good!\

Taking a few deep breaths to settle his fur into position and get himself under control he kept moving in the direction of the home's one human smelling occupant. She was laying in a bed, which judging from the recent scratch markings upon the floor had been recently moved.

Its current resting place seemed to have been chosen for the fact that the sunlight currently streaming in through a single window would never touch it.

Oh this was worse.

/Oh this is even better!\

Having half a guess what to look for, Alexander's keen lone eye almost instantly noticed a few miniscule sparkling glass shard laying upon the floor, doubtlessly the remains of a smashed hand mirror.

Ohh this was gonna be terrible…

/Oh this is gonna be awesome!\ His internal Wolf countered, practically panting in anticipation of what was bound to come next.

The monster that wore the shape of the girl's grandmother did so spectacularly. Even with his wolf sense's Alexander could detect nothing at all objectionable or repulsive about her. Only his phenomenal memory of his father's childhood stories (well that and the pot of meat) forewarned him of what was inevitably going to come.

As far as "his" eye could tell at the moment he was simply looking at a somewhat wizened white haired woman who seemed to have finally noticed his presence. She sat up on her bed and squinted at him through wrinkled eyes.

"Well, to what do I owe the pleasure Mr. Dog?" She asked Alexander, sounding completely at ease with the prospect of random (large) animals traipsing about her home.

/Tell her we're here to kill and eat her, then jump on that bed, rip out her throat and start gorging on her flesh!\ His internal Wolf suggested.

/I am no going to tell or do that!\ Alexander insisted.

/Well here I was trying to help you with your quest to only tell truth. Some thanks I get...\ The beast scoffed in disappointment.

"I was wondering if there was anything to eat..." Alexander inquired, trying to wag his tail in appropriately friendly manner.

/You also didn't correct her when she thought you were a dog.\ His internal Wolf abruptly added, further twisting that particular knife.

/She doesn't really think we're a dog, I'll be truthful to her when she's truthful to me.\ Alexander retorted mentally, though privately he admitted this was a pathetic excuse for a deliberate lie of omission.

"Oh I do think I've got a lovely pot of stew large enough to share that should be done cooking any moment now..." The monster chuckled managing to sound completely good natured rather than devious or cruel.

/You know if you're wrong about this you're gonna end up killing an innocent old woman...\ His internal Wolf unhelpfully reminded him.

/Are you refraining from championing your own interests simply to vex me now? What problem have I ever encountered before that you did not believe should be solved with violence?\ Alexander shot back in irritation.

/Your personal squabbles with the dryad, those you should resolve by mating with her.\ His internal Wolf replied all too proudly.

"I'm not much in the mood for stew… right now what I think I'd like to eat most..." Alexander paused for a moment and raised his nose, sniffing deeply to be sure of what scent he was detecting before answering.

"Is toad!" He declared bearing his fangs.

With speed that gave the lie to its appearance of an aged woman, the monster threw aside the thick blanket she'd draped across herself, hurling it straight at Alexander.

Only the fact that he'd expected exactly this particular ploy allowed him to jump backwards swiftly enough avoid getting entangled the flying fabric.

With the blanket out of the way it was possible to tell that the woman had been joined beneath the covers by an oversized and extremely ugly looking toad.

"Be still!" Cackled the monster as she fixed Alexander with a penetrating gaze.

Any attempt she was making to employ some some of mystical evil eye against him fell to shambles before Alexander's own evil right eye.

/Feel free to stop referring to my eye as 'evil' any time you wish. Morality is no concept for wolves, not that those of you who claim to understand it do an especially good job living up to such standards...\ His internal Wolf noted.

"I'd rather not." Alexander growled back at the monster, continuing to dance about on his paws before it.

Seeing how easily he'd managed to shrug off her magic, the monster reached underneath her pillow and began to rise to her feet. From that hidden storage place she produced a large wicked looking oversized (to the point that it was almost like a short sword) serrated knife.

"If you can talk then I suppose you'll do well enough for a meal." She chuckled to herself, stabbing away at him.

Alexander surrendered ground before her attacks as the knife gave the monster a far greater reach than he had.

Despite having the body of an old woman the monster was able to move with shocking speed, and Alexander had no doubt that its limbs were far more powerful than one might guess at first glance.

/You best have some sort of plan, if we just keep falling back it won't be long till we've 'fallen' right out of the house.\ His internal Wolf grumbled at how defensively Alexander was fighting.

/What do you suggest?\ Alexander shot back.

/Let me have control.\ His internal Wolf suggested.

Then Alexander somehow instinctively had the gut sensation of a pair of wide (falsely) innocent eyes puppy dog (wolf cub?) like eyes pleading with him while a tail wagged back and forth.

Alexander himself despite spending three months as a wolf was still getting used to fighting a pitched battle while he quite literally had two left feet (and two right ones for that matter) and no hands to wield a blade with.

/Fine, lets see you do better.\ Alexander sighed and relaxed the vice like grip he'd been maintaining over his own body.

In all honesty, he didn't especially need it these days, while his internal Wolf might be blunt as a slab of iron, the beast was deceptively intelligent.

After their initial constant struggle for control of his body which lead to equally constant shapeshifting and eventually an awkward stalemate of sorts (that much to his chagrin he'd needed Florence to mediate) the beast had become content to simply wait its turn… even if it did tend to dispense no end of amoral advice to help it pass the time.

To his internal Wolf's credit Alexander felt no mental shackles seek out his limbs, found no gigantic imaginary dungeon cell (in the sense that it only existed inside his mind, it might still imprison him all too effectively) rising up around him even as he was at his most vulnerable to such a maneuver.

If anything, his internal Wolf furnished him with the equally internal equivalent of a well cushioned reclining chair, he wanted Alexander to have a good view of what was about to unfold.

The switch happened faster than the blink of an eye, one moment the monster was stabbing away while Alexander was contemplating what to do, the next he sat passively back as it became all but wholly the Wolf's problem.

It was a problem the Wolf did not intend to suffer for long.

As the serrated knife came stabbed down towards his cheek, he swung his head low, and launched himself forward.

The knife sliced off part of a lupine ear and a nicked the back of his neck.

/This is still…. This is still my home!\ Alexander protested as he had little right (or desire) to refer to it as his 'body' at the moment.

/There is no glory without suffering, no victory worthy of song that did not involve some risk of defeat!\ His internal (or was it now external?) Wolf proclaimed smugly, too euphoric over having command of their body in battle to care about a little pain.

The monster wasn't quite quick enough, and as over a hundred pounds of wolf plowed into its legs the creature was instantly knocked prone.

As risky as the Wolf's maneuver had been, Alexander couldn't deny the underlying tactical logic behind it. Sure enough, now the "reach" of the monster's knife did it no good, for the pair lay intertwined upon the floor with not even even a hair's breath between them.

What had once become a fight now quickly degenerated to a brutal brawl.

That wicked knife stabbed out straight at their head, as if the monster meant bury it up to the hilt in their skull.

Their neck twitched and the knife managed to cut off a section of their other ear this time, but that price paid, their teeth were able to close firmly around the outstretched wrist

/It is not cannibalism if we don't chew… it is not cannibalism if we don't chew...\ Alexander repeated to himself over and over again in the brief moment before the inevitable, though not being in control of his body stretched it out considerably.

Skin, flesh, muscles, tendons, and bones all alike were pieced, penetrated, and crushed beneath the power of their jaws as they slammed closed with the strength of a portcullis.

/Yeagh! Forget your questionable dietary restrictions, who would want to chew on something that foul?\ His internal Wolf was clearly every bit as revolted as Alexander at the moment, if for entirely different reasons.

It got the job done though, and the dreaded knife fell from now limp fingers.

The monster's other arm reached out for the knife trying, to grab hold of it with fingers that still worked.

In response, the Wolf kicked out with his large paws, and battered the monster about its stolen face. The monster became temporarily dazed and they were able to roll away from it.

/Wait, are you retreating?\ Alexander couldn't help but cut in.

It was hard to imagine that this day could get any more absurd, but somehow it was, the ever battle frenzied beast was choosing not to continue a fight!

/I could kill her now if I really wanted to… but we've got to make it properly dramatic for the bards!\ His internal Wolf insisted.

/I'm never going to talk to anyone, ever, about anything that happened today.\ Alexander promised, certain that he'd finally found at least one oath he could keep.

/I'll get a chance to tell someone sooner or later.\ The beast likewise promised as it raced across the house, heading back into the kitchen.

Screaming curses both magical and invective the monster pursued them.

They leaped up onto the stove, though there was barely room for them and the bubbling pot at the same time.

/You are the most absurd beast imaginable.\ Alexander sighed as he realized exactly what his internal Wolf was scheming.

/You have no soul for drama.\ The beast chastised him.

Then even to Alexander who had a strangely "elongated" view of time at the moment. it seemed as if two things happened completely simultaneously.

First the monster paced into the kitchen, knife in hand.

Secondly the door to the cabin swung open and there stood the little girl in her bright red hood.

/This is horrible...\ Alexander whimpered.

/This is splendid an audience!\ His internal Wolf chortled.

"Ah young sweet tender flesh!" Hissed the monster, turning towards the girl.

What next flashed through Alexander's mind had no proper translation in any language of which he knew.

It was an up-swelling of pure raw undiluted hatred murderous rage that probably made his internal Wolf swell pride.

In an instant Alexander's mind was up off of its mental chair and seeking to seize back control of his body.

This could have created a great struggle between him and his internal Wolf, except that for once they both had the exact same goal in mind.

Powerful silver furred legs kicked out at the cauldron.

It was knocked off the stove and up into the air, its contents spilling out instantly, and at least half of which ended up upon the monster.

Boiling hot water washed over the horrible creature, scalding its stolen skin in a most horrific manner. Then as if that particular fate was not enough (which in both Alexander opinion it wasn't) the cauldron itself slammed into the monster's head.

There was a ringing sound that might have done a church bell proud and the monster crumbled to the floor.

As it lay there, its body began to change, seemingly warped far worse than even a cauldron full of boiling water should have been able to. Her skin turned an ugly yellow color with open sores bursting into existence to ooze a horrific white fluid. Her irises turned red and her pupils midnight black, as her hair became wet, dark, thick, and oily like rotting seaweed. Her body withered and twisted making her look half bloated not unlike the toad she'd been accompanied by shortly before.

As the horrible thing lay there on the floor, its fingers began to twitch and it scooted perhaps an inch or so along the ground closer to the young girl.

That was two inches too far where Alexander Diamondclaw was concerned.

In a blur of silver he jumped from the stove to land on the monster's back like a balista bolt of furry fury.

"NOT NOW, NOT TODAY, NOT EVER!" He declared, then without further ado tore the monster's throat out with a single bite.

/You know, when you actually bother to pull that stick out of your ass and start beating people about the head with it, you're pretty good at this.\ His internal Wolf offered him unwanted praise.

Almost instantly Alexander broke into a series of coughs, heaves and hacks, no wonder even the Wolf had been revolted, even rotted meat would surely have tasted better than the monster's flesh!

Only once he'd managed to awkwardly banish the monster's foul taste from his lips and throat (but he sadly suspected its memory would haunt him forever) did the rest of his situation catch up with him.

He was currently sitting in the middle of the a kitchen belonging to her grandmother, copious amount of blood staining his lips, in the body of a gigantic silver wolf, with what the young girl would still surely consider to be her grandmother's corpse under his paws.

/Quick, tell her you're an enchanted prince who can turn back to a human if kissed by a fair maiden!\ His internal Wolf suggested eagerly.

/How? Just.. how? How do you expect that to make this any better?\ Alexander demanded, far too confused to even be properly enraged at the moment.

/I don't, but I want to see how she reacts to it!\ His internal Wolf "explained" for a given value of the term.

Alexander understandably refrained from taking the Wolf's advice. Unfortunately while he knew exactly what not to do, he had no idea at all what deeds to actually preform at the moment.

So he stood there awkwardly, no words emerging from his lips in any language of man or beast.

The young girl approached and dropped her basket.

Then, with all the strength her tiny little body could summon up, she kicked the monster's head. The girl was no stronger than she looked, but given how much damage Alexander had already done, that kick was nearly enough to decapitate the dead monster.

"My grandmother doesn't have yellow skin!" The little girl declared spitefully.

Then she leaned in and wrapped her little arms as far as they could go (about three fourths of the way) around Alexander's throat.

His mouth continued to move, and no words continued to come out.

"What is your name Mr. Wolf?" She now asked him eagerly.

/You owe me this...\ His internal Wolf growled, clearly preparing itself for fresh offense.

"Mac Tire Cáiliúil." Alexander answered.

He had no desire at all to attach his name to this particular farce bordering upon fiasco.

"All right Mac Tire Cáiliúil, my name is..." She began, but Alexander awkwardly raised one of his large paws and gently placed it against her mouth to muffle the words.

"You really shouldn't tell me. Why did your father teach you how to tell the difference between dogs and wolves if it wasn't so that you could avoid trusting the later? Trust me, it is an important lesson." Alexander insisted, all too aware of what would inevitably happen if the first thing this little girl did tomorrow was waltz off into the woods to try and make friends with other wolves.

"So I should trust you, about the importance of not trusting you, because you're a wolf?" The little girl asked, clearly having a bit of trouble grappling with the logic behind Alexander's words.

/She isn't the only one.\ His internal Wolf reflected.

It was at this point that to his surprise Alexander actually drew a little inspiration from the Wolf's words, well his past words, and only in a very broad outline sort of way.

"If it makes it simpler, I suppose you can at least half trust me, but you really shouldn't trust any other wolves at all." Was the lesson he chose to settle for.

"Even other wolves with silver fur?" She inquired tenderly, still rubbing herself against him.

"Especially other wolves with silver fur. You should only trust wolves with silver fur who wear eye-patches." Alexander insisted.

There, that was such an obscure bordering on flat out ridiculous situation that he doubted it would be able to do the girl much harm, there surely couldn't be any other wolves with silver fur and an eye-patch out there!

"You also aren't to go wandering into the forest looking for more wolves with silver fur and eye-patches! We're far too clever to be found unless we really want to be, and you'll only end up being found by the other untrustworthy sort of wolf." Alexander amended, hoping to define the category of "trustworthy wolves" down to the point of more or less complete nonexistence.

"So I can trust you about trusting you, because you're a very special wolf?" She teased him playfully.

"Why should I lie to you?" Alexander 'answered' her as best he could at the moment.

Then giving into awkward not quite human not quite wolf instinct he spread his lips apart and tenderly ran his tongue across her face affectionately.

The girl giggled happily and tugged at his fur playfully.

"Now I must be back to my father's village in time for dinner..." She reflected, finally letting go of him to pick up her basket again.

"Make you sure stick to the… I'll come with you." Alexander started to simply make a helpful suggestion, before deciding to just handle the matter himself.

Considering how much he'd done already for this girl, he'd sleep much more soundly if he was able to be utterly certain that she made it back to her father's arms rather than leaving the possibility of some freak accident befalling her on the way back to haunt his dreams.

XXX XXX XXX

Alexander's right eye was able to see young girl clearly even from quite a ways off. That was a very good thing as at the moment he had to keep himself half hidden behind a large tree while she headed back into her he village. Considering how everyone in the village was bound to react to the sight of a gigantic silver furred wolf beast, he was perfectly content to keep his distance.

"She's safe." Florence Bastien declared softly, as if even seeing the truth laid out before him might not be enough to convince Alexander.

"As safe as any human, as safe as any little girl..." Alexander couldn't help but half moan to himself.

"I'm glad she liked flowers." The dryad added abruptly.

"Why am I not surprised?" Alexander reflected, bristling at her non sequitur.

Although the dryad seemed to simply have a heart big enough for plants and people alike Alexander was unable avoid finding something slightly unseemly about such a deep love for something that wasn't human.

"If she hadn't liked flowers, she wouldn't have gotten lost, and if she hadn't gotten lost, she wouldn't have run into us." Florence insisted.

"Yes, and what a shame that would have been. What young girl can consider her upbringing complete without the delightful experience of being accosted alone and defenseless in the middle of the woods by a gigantic wolf?

I'm sure the that she'll rest much easier having been made to endure the splendid sight of said previously mentioned wolf tearing out the throat out of a monster which has stolen her grandmother's face!

The only victory I can claim in the matter is that somehow I managed to get through it all without having to explain to her where the stew came from..." He half moaned, half whimpered in mortification.

"Alexander… if she hadn't gotten lost… if she hadn't hadn't run into us… if she'd stayed on the path… what would have happened when she got to her grandmother's home?" Florence pointedly inquired.

She paused plenty of times while delivering the question so he would have more than enough time to reach the obvious answer.

The truth that occurred to Alexander was so horrible he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud.

"If she hadn't gotten lost and you hadn't stumbled upon her, then she would have joined her grandmother in that stew pot." The dryad finally declared, confirming his suspicions.

"When you set out to travel through a forest, I think sometimes you have to get lost to find where you were truly meant to be.

I know it may not be obvious… but…. I'm glad I got lost with you Alexander Diamondclaw." Florence sniffled slightly as she spoke, droplets of some strange golden liquid starting to form around her eyes.

She held out a hand to him.

/I break my oaths far too easily, it doesn't matter if I make them to myself or others...\ Alexander groaned inwardly.

/Why don't you just cry a river, half drown yourself in it, and call on me to drag our body to safety again? Be a sire! More seriously, you should ask her to mate now while she clearly fancies us!\ His internal Wolf insisted.

Alexander ignored him.

But he could not ignore that hand.

Very slowly, he began to reach out a limb of his own towards her. By the time their bodies touched, he did it with a hand rather than a paw.

XXX XXX XXX

"And then the gigantic good wolf, gobbled up up the evil monster that at first looked exactly like my grandmother!" The young girl explained happily to her recovering father.

End Story.

AN: So yes, this story is in many ways a deliberate homage to Little Red Riding Hood, but Tepest is after all the domain most prone to fairy tale situations (though typically the dark kind) which is why it has three evil witches as its darklords.

By all rights there probably shouldn't be any people living off on their own in Tepest, the way that the grandmother in the Little Red Riding Hood story does, it is just asking to have something horrible happen to you. That said, back in book five, Bryonna's family evidently used to do exactly that, before they got killed off by goblins, which is yet more proof of why safety in numbers is important.

So yes, it can/does happen and there should be nothing breaking your suspension of disbelief about the grandmother living off on her own.

Getting back on topic, with any luck this story serves as both an effective homage and an interesting character study/character building experience for Alex. Also this is the closest we've ever gotten to fully seeing inside his head (give or take the dream side story I previously did) and yes, this is what Alex's mental state tends to looks like. As James can happily attest, this is not how natural lycanthropy works, at all.

It is also not how afflicted lycanthropy works, because an afflicted lycanthrope's animal side is, well an animal, it should be Int 2, while Alex has to deal with a lupine presence that while it might have simple goals is by no means simple minded.

By all rights it should not be how maladaptive lycanthropy works either, since that should once again be dealing with an animalistic side born of a curse that is no more intelligent than any random animal. Oh, also there's the little matter of how afflicted and pathological lycanthropes shouldn't even be actively aware of their animal side...

Honestly, what Alex is having to deal with is probably best compared to Tristen and Malken, except as you can probably guess Alex and his lupine mental presence get along at least a little bit better than those two do.

Also if you were confused about what the toad had to do with anything, it was the Hag's familiar. Yes, Alex might have missed out on a chance to burn the Three Sisters to ashes back in book 5, but he did half boil one of them alive and then tear out her throat once upon a time. This failed to be a long term problem for the sister in question, since the other two were able to restore her thanks to the Cauldron of Life. That's a magical artifact that if they put the dead body of one of the three into and do a special ritual it will cause their dead sister to come back to life if you didn't know.

Luckily for Alex, to hags he smells like a wolf when he's a wolf and like a human when he's a human (to lupine themed creatures though he always has a trace of wolf about him, he's magic like that) so they weren't able to recognize him…