A/N: And here is my next chapter for my Gravity Falls story, as promised. Now, there'd be an introduction to several new characters in this one, as well as the long-awaited transformation sequence some of you were waiting for. Even I was anxious to get to this part, and it's certainly my most favorite part about writing this story, among other things that will come up later. For now, I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did. :)
Chapter 3: The First Night
Wendy was sitting on a log in between Selene and Luna. The former of the two had told Wendy that she'd explain everything before her analysis by Apollo. She couldn't help but be happy with how startled she made the Alpha. Although that feeling of retribution itself was bittersweet.
All that proved was that there truly was a beast inside. And she's worried about what would happen if she were to transform. Would she lose control and lash out at anyone she saw? Or worse… would she be shot, or stabbed at? And who would be the one to do it? Wendy couldn't get it out of her head as she pondered to Selene.
"Selene, if I were to transform, would I… be a mindless beast?"
Selene saw the worry on her face. As much as she wanted to tell her everything like she proposed earlier, she needed to reassure Wendy in some way. Before she would explain anything else, Selene felt it best to cover the transformation bases as she answered prior to Luna chiming in.
"Well, first timers usually do. That's why the Alpha had us stay with them and guide them through it."
"Yeah. Like swimming buddies."
Wendy wished she had Luna's optimism right about now. If anything, it seemed to rival even Mabel's. No wonder she thought she and Mabel would be a good match earlier. Sadly, she didn't have it in her right now. She was still worried as she pondered another factor in it.
"Have there been any, you know… accidents from watching over first timers?"
Selene maintained her reassuring smile as she answered her, though she made a small glance at Luna near the end.
"Actually, no. Not unless you mean the kind of accident dogs have in the house, Luna."
Luna ended up having blushes on her cheeks as she replied in an embarrassed tone.
"I can't be housebroken if there's no house!"
Wendy tried to contain her laughter at the incident before she cleared her throat and moved back into the topic.
"That's good. But, how long have the Night Claws been in Gravity Falls?"
Selene looked to the setting sun as she answered Wendy.
"Well, believe it or not, the Night Claws have been here for a long time. Obviously, in that time, there's a lot of werewolves that had different backgrounds, different cultures, different races, ages, backgrounds, you name it. And it didn't just make up the werewolves here: they came from all over the world, too."
Wendy widened her eyes from hearing this. Werewolves from all over the world? How can a group that big end up in Gravity Falls, much less fit in it?
"All over the world? It must be pretty cramped."
Selene gave her a small laugh before she continued.
"Not as cramped as you think. We have a lot of tents and huts on our hands near the caves. Plus, the cave systems are pretty big and roomy, so… Anyway, they created the Night Claw tribe to offer not only acceptance for who they are that their family or friends couldn't give them, but also a place to be themselves without any judgment, both as people and as werewolves. But the thing was, forming a tribe was one thing. Finding a place to call home was another. We needed to find someplace to stay that had natural cover to protect us from being sighted at the wrong time, and somewhere we could actually run free. We found that here in Gravity Falls. It's been our home ever since."
Wendy would usually get bored by history lessons, but this one was by far the most interesting thing she ever heard of. Although, it made Wendy curious about its members, mainly about their werewolfism.
"So, you guys aren't born werewolves?"
Selene answered open-mindedly before Luna piped up with an eager look.
"Well, yes and no. A lot of us are born that way, but there's other ways. Like me and Luna. I got turned into a werewolf because I drank water from a wolf's paw print."
"And I got cursed by a witch."
Wendy looked at Luna, puzzled by her smile despite how she ended up being a werewolf.
"How can you smile at that, Luna? Isn't that like a bad thing?"
Luna's face softened, but her smile remained as she explained herself.
"Yeah, but I got to meet Selene after that. So it's not all bad."
This brought the other effects of werewolfism to mind for Wendy. She saw many different effects from almost every single werewolf film she ever watched or heard of. But after seeing the whole camp full of them, she needed to know which one was true.
"But how do you guys do this? Like, can silver bullets kill you guys? Do you only transform during the Full Moon? Do you see spirits of the people you killed and they're undead?"
Luna was stumped on almost all the questions as she turned to Selene in curiosity herself.
"Uh… do we, Selene?"
Selene shook her head at Luna with a smile before she answered Wendy's questions.
"First off, yes, but any bullet can kill someone if you shoot at the right spot. It's the same principle for us, too. Second, we can transform anytime during the day, but it's usually stronger at night, especially the Full Moon. Third, I told you before that we don't kill anyone. And even if we did, we wouldn't see their spirits. And no, they're very much alive, not undead."
Wendy considered that a relief. Seeing dead people along with being a werewolf is the sort of thing she didn't need.
"Good. I've had my share of dead people a long time ago."
Just then, Wendy noticed the shadows getting bigger before looking to see the sun setting down. That left only enough time for one more question as a worried look formed on Wendy's face. She didn't want to think about how much it'd turn out to hurt.
"So, uh, is this transformation thing gonna hurt, Selene?"
"Just a little pinch, followed by a brief sensation of a thousand suns exploding in your skull. And then your body."
Wendy tensed at the idea as she replied with nervousness.
"Did you really have to say that?"
"Sorry. It's just not a pleasant experience every time, and the first time it happens is usually the most painful. But it can get better."
Luna chimes in next as she reminded Wendy of what she and Selene were here for.
"And we'll be there to help you, too. Kinda like how a nurse helps a pregnant mom."
Wendy's worry got even worse as she turned her head away and spoke timidly, mostly regarding that image.
"I'm not sure I like how you know about that."
Selene spoke again next to Wendy to help reassure her again.
"Point is, first timers are prone to having trouble controlling their instincts. But if you're strong enough like before and keep a cool head, you'll be fine."
Hearing this, Wendy became somewhat relieved. After all, she took on a haunted convenience store, and she just stood up to the Alpha. If she could do that, then she would have no problem with this.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. What am I worried about?"
Unfortunately, Wendy found her answer as she noticed Selene was naked! She was setting her clothes on the log before Wendy gained a massive blush on both of her cheeks.
"Oh, my gosh! What the heck are you doing?!"
Selene turned back to Wendy as she began to take off Luna's clothes, only for Luna to move her arms away in protest.
"We're just getting ready for the night. Our transformations usually end up ripping our clothes if we transform in them."
In that moment, Selene caught Luna's arms and pulled the sleeves away from her body as she spoke.
"I can undress myself, you know! I'm a big girl!"
Selene only gave her a coy smile as she replied.
"Oh, sure you are. You really know how to get your arms stuck in the head hole."
When Selene had removed Luna's dark blue shirt, she gave Selene a cute grumble with her arms crossed before Selene folded both their clothes neatly beside the log. While she did this, though, Wendy only turned away from looking at the both of them in their natural state, her blush getting even worse.
"I don't know if I can handle that, you guys."
Selene only shrugged her shoulders before she responded to Wendy's refusal.
"Okay. You don't have to if you don't want to, but, hey. It's your clothes' funeral. It's close to nighttime and your transformation's gonna be starting soon."
Wendy looked back to the horizon, seeing that the sun had already set halfway before she put up a determined face, shaking off the blush she had on her face.
"Alright, Moon. Bring it on!"
Wendy stood with a dramatic pose as the sun had finally set and the crescent moon started to rise into full view. But a few moments after it had risen, in which a cricket was chirping in place of the silence, Wendy began to get agitated. She was expecting something grandiose to happen to her, but there was nothing of the sort.
"Okay, what's the holdup? Am I doing something wrong here?"
Selene saw how agitated she was getting. She figured it'd be good for her to try to calm her down before things get worse.
"Just calm down, Wendy. It takes a while for it to kick in."
She reached her hand for Wendy's shoulder, only for her to smack it away in a fit of rage.
"Calm down? Calm down?! How can I be calm when I have to spend another agonizing second waiting to be a monster and listen to your school counselor nonsense?! I just want—!"
Before Wendy could finish, she felt an intense headache suddenly triggered in her head. No sooner had she felt it than she began to yell out in pain, clutching onto her head while Selene and Luna felt the same pain. But unlike her, they weren't merely in as much pain as Wendy. Still, the pain was a warning sign of what was to come as Luna spoke to herself.
"Oh, boy! There it is."
It wasn't very long before Wendy began to stumble around a bit, groaning in pain before that intense pain spread from her head to her whole body. The pain she experienced in that instant felt like intense fire burning her from inside. And even worse, it told Wendy her body was breaking apart and putting itself back together. Wendy stumbled into the ground screaming and crying in pain as her sight began to go blurry. As for Selene, she got down on all fours, merely grunting from the pain she's experiencing herself.
Luna, in the meantime, was going on all fours herself as she looked around for something before finding a nearby stick for herself. Immediately, she crawled over to it before Selene's eyes began to glow yellow with traces of pink light. In those eyes, she saw a woman with long raven hair, a dark blue long-sleeved shirt and jeans before she faded to show a man with a dirty white tank top and black boxers, followed by an unsettling sight of a town, stained blood red in scratches before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In doing so, black fur began to grow out of her body and spread itself around her with her tail sprouting it by her tailbone and her muzzle growing out with a moan as her ears grew pointy like a wolf's would be.
As for Wendy, she wasn't able to comprehend what her eyes saw. It was her brother Marcus. What was he doing there? Could he have been looking for her since she blew up at him? She tried as hard as she could to speak to him amidst the pain that assaulted her body as tears slid down her face.
"M-Marcus?"
I just wanted to help you.
As his voice echoed, Wendy reached her hand out to him, hoping he'd take her away from this.
"Please! Please help me…!"
Just then, she heard another voice behind her. A voice she hadn't heard since she stormed off that night.
That's all we tried to do.
Wendy saw the young boy with a solemn look. The last look she saw before she turned away from him.
"Dipper...?"
But you said it yourself. We should leave you alone.
Alone was the last thing Wendy wanted to be. She may have said it in heartbreak and sadness back then, but all she meant by it was that she needed some space. But seeing his face made it all the more heart-wrenching.
"No! No, I didn't mean it like that…!"
She tried to reach for Dipper, this time sitting up from where she fell before she heard a howl of a wolf around her. Wendy began to look left and right, hoping she'd find it before it found her. When she looked back behind her, Wendy saw a black wolf in black smoke before the background had suddenly changed to the halls at school. Wendy forced herself to stand up and tried to run, but as she did, the redhead only ended up stumbling back into the ground before she began to have a seizure, her body twitching all over as if she was under attack. In a dark way, she was. However, that was more than Luna could say.
Her own metamorphosis was taking place at a pace slower than Selene's but it went just as smoothly as it did for her older sister. Yet, her change was different. Her body still gained fur, wolf ears, glowing yellow eyes, and fangs, but her mouth didn't stretch out into a muzzle like Selene's, thankfully for the sake of the stick in her mouth. And as if that weren't enough, all that amounted to a tail for her was a little stub that shook left and right, not to mention her hands and feet only managed to grow claws. That seemed to be it for Luna as she spat out her stick and made a breath of exhaustion before looking to her left, seeing Selene in her new wolf state.
She appeared to be a Florida black wolf with a soft, straight, black fur coat, a slender, tall body, long skinny legs, soft small paws, short sharp black claws, a long muzzle, glowing yellow eyes with some hints of pink, a rounded head, short pointy wolf eyes, white and sharp short teeth, a long bushy black tail, and a cute squishable, black shiny nose. Luna went up to Selene with a small cute pout on her face.
"Why did you have to be so big?"
Selene's wolf form looked to Luna with a smile before remembering who else was in the midst of transforming.
"You know I can't help it, Luna. But I think we should be worrying about her."
And she was right to worry. Wendy began to claw at the ground as her fingernails grew into long claws before she clawed at her own body, ripping most of her clothes to shreds as she forced them off until she was mostly in her natural state with only her white shirt remaining on her, although in tatters. Wendy began to moan in pain as she felt her teeth growing into sharp fangs, cutting a bit of her tongue in the process as she yelped. Afterwards, her tongue turned rough with bristles on it like a dog's tongue would be as it lapped up the blood from the initial cut, licking her teeth as well. As Wendy moaned louder, her face stretched out to become a muzzle with a bigger jaw line, her teeth sticking out and her nose puffing up with bigger holes and red fur growing small stubbles on her face. Next, her back grew bigger, ripping what was left of her shirt off and cracking her back bones as they expanded upward as her moans turned into growls.
To make matters worse, her legs and arms expanded their muscles and started growing big patches of fur along with breaking their bones, sending an unearthly crack in the air with Selene and Luna looking on in worry before the former of the two looked to the little half-wolf.
"Luna, go find another stick somewhere around here! And hurry!"
"On it!"
As Luna went to fetch a stick (no pun intended), Wendy's arms and legs stretched and grew while her feet ripped up her boots with the toes deforming into sharp pawed feet, becoming a canine's back leg with an addition of the rough semi soft paw pads underneath each foot. Then, her ears turned bigger and pointed up as she moved up her head a bit. Wendy's hands popped up sharp claws from her fingers, which then distorted themselves into a paws, followed by a tail that slowly pushed itself way out from Wendy's butt near her lower back that stretched long, and in a short time, fur began spreading on it.
All the while, Luna was having no luck finding a stick that Wendy could chew on. A lot of them were either too small to last long enough or too big to even count as a stick.
"Oh, come on. Where's a good stick when you need one?"
Meanwhile, Wendy's body stretched and expanded to the point of ripping off her remaining clothes as the sound of ripping skin and breaking bones assaulted the silence. Wendy's red fur then began to spread all over her body as she screamed in pain before she then gave out a bloodcurdling howl, piercing the night air like an assassin's dagger as her eyes glowed yellow, the last of her human mind becoming hazy. Wendy looked over to see Selene in her wolf form. After a moment, she began to snarl at Selene, making her back up some in worry as she tried to remind her.
"Wendy, I know how much you're hurt. But I can talk you through this."
But Wendy wasn't in the mood to talk. Almost immediately, she leapt on Selene with a snarl, pinning her to the ground before she barked at her. However, Luna whistled over to Wendy, catching her attention before waving a medium-sized stick.
"Hey, Wendy! You want a stick? You want a stick?"
Wendy saw the stick waved in front of her and began to pant excitedly like a puppy, making Selene puzzled before looking back to Luna.
"This wasn't what I had in mind, but keep going, Luna."
Luna smiled at Selene before she waved the stick again to Wendy. Luna liked how playful Wendy was in her wolf state, even if she wasn't in her right mind.
"Who wants a stick? Who wants a stick?"
Wendy then began to bark excitedly before Luna tossed a stick to her right. Almost immediately, Wendy dashed right at the stick before grabbing it in her jaws and gnawing at it as she set her paws onto it. While Selene got her breath, Luna went over to her and checked on her.
"Are you okay, Selene?"
"Yeah. Just caught by surprise. It's Wendy I'm worried about."
Luna looked back to the red wolf as she gnawed on the stick like it was a bone before she smiled.
"She's kinda cute like that, though."
Selene had to admit it. It was kind of adorable how she was barking for her stick a minute ago. But she knew that wasn't the real Wendy. At least not yet.
"Yeah, but we still need to help her. Her mind's still adjusting to the wolf's instincts."
Selene then approached Wendy slowly before she tried to speak to her.
"Hello? Wendy? Can you hear me?"
Wendy only shot a glare at Selene and growled again, startling Selene a little as she backed up, remembering how quickly she leapt at her.
"Okay. I guess you can."
Wendy then went back to chewing on the stick before Selene tried again.
"Listen. I can help you."
Wendy only shot a glare again at Selene. But this time, she didn't flinch.
"It's okay. I'm not gonna take your stick. It's been for you."
Wendy's growl faded away a bit before she looked at Selene puzzled. Maybe she could understand her. Selene held on to that hope as she stepped closer to her.
"It was meant to help you during your transformation, but… I was a bit late to bring that up."
Wendy gave her a small glare from that before she spoke up to her again.
"Okay, so I made a mistake. That's a given. But you're still alive. Like I said you'd be. But we're not done yet."
Selene then sat down beside Wendy, making her snarl a bit until she felt Selene brushing her soft head against the red wolf's. With Wendy somewhat soothed, Selene spoke to her again as Luna went close to Wendy and began to pet her fur softly. The little girl became fascinated with how soft Wendy was as she giggled.
"Just try and breathe with me, okay? In…"
Selene took a deep breath in before she exhaled softly just as she spoke again.
"...and out."
Sure enough, as Selene repeated her technique again and again, Wendy did the same through her nose. After about three times, she began to do so from her mouth. The more she did so, the more Wendy began to moan softly from the feel of Selene's fur. After a moment, Wendy looked at Selene, her eyes no longer glowing brightly, but her eyes were still yellow with a slit for a pupil in each one.
"Se… Selene…?"
Selene smiled at Wendy, happy that her mind returned.
"Welcome back, Wendy."
Wendy turned to her right to see Luna, who giggled with a smile. The red wolf girl became confused as she pondered about their forms, Luna's especially.
"Whoa. Why do you guys…?"
Before Wendy could finish, she looked down at herself, seeing her hands had turned into paws before she realized what had happened. She began to get freaked out over this.
"Oh, no. Oh, no, no! I really am a werewolf!"
Selene saw her panic and tried to reassure her as she spoke up to her.
"Yeah, but you got it under control now. And just in time, too."
Wendy looked down at the stick that was laid by her paws and saw her drool on it, presumably from when she was chewing on it before Luna piped up.
"You wanted to play with the stick when I waved it at you. You were so cute."
Wendy began to turn her head in embarrassment. If werewolves could blush, she'd be blushing hard at the thought of it. Then, Wendy thought of something else. Now that she's got her mind on track in this form, she wondered if they'll have to struggle with this again.
"Hey, Selene? Am I really gonna lose my mind like that the next time I turn into a wolf?"
Selene only gave her a smile before she replied.
"No. I mean, the transformation itself will still be painful. But if you do this breathing technique like I just taught you, you should be okay."
Wendy gave out a small sigh of relief before she spoke with a smirk.
"Good. Because I don't wanna miss out on the fun. Race you!"
Suddenly, Wendy took off like a racing horse and began running around the area with child-like excitement. It wasn't long before Selene took off after her.
"H-Hey! No fair!"
When the two werewolves went by her, Luna joined in on the fun, laughing with joy as she chased after the two of them while they laughed with her under the crescent moon.
Meanwhile, back at the cave, Apollo was now in his wolf state. He had the appearance of a Eurasian wolf with a bushy dark grey fur coat that held a few reddish orange patches on his forearms and paws, as well as a light white patch on his narrow, chiseled muzzle that was groomed in a way that it's neatly slicked back. He had a very tall and burly body type, not much different from his human form although with the exception of a long bushy tail that held a light scar on it that trailed up from the tip of the tail to his back by his shoulder blades. He also had pointy ears with short but sharp wolf-like teeth, glowing white eyes instead of the usual yellow, sharp black claws, a flat looking head, and a tattoo on his right shoulder of a symbol of the Night Claws. He was having an audience with three other wolves beside himself.
One of them was an Arabian wolf with a lean and sturdy body build, a thick neck, long skinny legs, a dirty yellowish brown fur, although brushed neatly without a single hair out of place, a black thin fur over his hazel, glowing eyebrows, a long thin muzzle, neat white sharp teeth that fit neatly in his mouth, long rounded, slicked-back wolf ears, neatly manicured brown claws, and a fluffy, long, well-groomed tail with a black tip.
Another member was an Ethiopian wolf with a small height and skinnier body type. His fur was fiery orange with a white underbelly and that white color was on his paws and muzzle, too. His fur was a wildly messy look with hairs sticking out everywhere on his body, and his muzzle was skinnier but softer in shape, although it looked to be a messy looking beard. His eyes were also slightly smaller, and only one eye glows yellow while the other is just blank with a big ugly scar over it. He also had longer, sharper teeth with a few missing, skinnier legs, a leaner tail that was cut off at the upper half, and big triangle-like ears on top of his rounder head. To top it off, he wore a beat-up old, light brown cowboy hat on his head with ear holes for his big ears, and a red handkerchief around his neck, his faint messy whiskers on his muzzle and dulled brown claws. But of course, he pales in comparison to the next in line.
This one was a Manitoba wolf type. She had dark grey fur that was both fluffy and curly, not to mention curved in a delicate body build with a short and rounded muzzle that had light grey highlights on it around the mouth and eyes. She also had short dull teeth, purple glowing big eyes, a small black nose, slender curved legs with black patches around the fore legs near the paws, thin, sharp, red manicured claws, a black patch on her head down the upper back, small rounded, fluffy black and grey colored ears, and a slender and short light grey tail.
The next one was more wild in comparison. She was a Hokkaido wolf with sandy brown fur that was long and slightly messy with some of it sticking out wildly. She also had small red glowing eyes, a wide oval-like muzzle, thick sharp wolf-like teeth, spikey red dyed hairs sticking up on her wide head, brown, long, pointy ears that stuck up from the far sides of her head, black long eyelashes, small, long fancy black claws that bore a few scars, a slightly chunky body with short chunky legs that matched, and a spiky, short tail.
And finally, there was Steppe wolf that had a muscular and tall body build with short grey brown fur and a yellow brown undercarriage that was slightly long and neat. He also had long, thick, tall legs, a long cube-like muzzle, a light brown scarred nose, large white blue glowing eyes, black, thick, narrowed eyebrows, a small yellow brown goatee forming at the bottom of his muzzle, a thick bushy tail, broken grey brown claws, and a gold chain pocket watch over his neck with a claw symbol scratched on the lid of it. Apollo spoke out to the wolves in regards to his recent development.
"So, I assume you're wondering why I've called you here tonight. As it happens, we have found a new member of the Night Claws."
After the group spoke out among themselves in surprise and joy, the Ethiopian werewolf spoke out to Apollo prior to the Manitoba werewolf.
"Oh, this is such a joyous occasion!"
"What is the member's name, Apollo?"
Apollo gave the answer to her as he went on.
"I've been informed that her name is Wendy. And this is the first time she's ever accessed her wolf side."
The Hokkaido wolf knew what that meant and became excited.
"Her first time? Oh, yeah! That means I get to teach her to be wild!"
The Hokkaido practically did a paw bump to herself as the Arabian wolf shook his head, feeling her call was too soon as he spoke in a mexican accent.
"That remains to be seen, Asena."
The Ethiopian wolf spoke out to Apollo next. He was wondering about how Wendy came to be a werewolf, although while giving him a name Apollo didn't care much for.
"So, what are we looking at here? How did she get her wolf side, A. Pops?"
Apollo gave him a frown before he spoke.
"Don't call me that, Sköll."
"Right. Sorry. Anyway, was she spellbound? Did she drink from an earthen paw? Was it a gift from the moon? Was she a natural born?"
Before he went on, the Manitoba werewolf cleared her throat, urging Sköll to stop himself before she spoke.
"Well? What is her condition?"
Apollo only gave a deep breath before he answered.
"The answer, Lupa, will shock you. In fact, I'm sure it will shock all of you."
The Steppe Wolf could only think of one way that would shock them. He was aware of how one was to achieve their wolf sides, even the most dangerous one.
"Wait a second, Apollo. You don't mean…"
"I'm afraid I do, Cynewulf. Wendy achieved her wolf side… by being bitten."
As Apollo warned, it did shock them. It was the most surprising thing they've ever heard. Even Asena was jolted by the news.
"Wait, what?! She actually got bit and survived?!"
Lupa and the Arabian werewolf spoke out in alarm next.
"But the odds of someone strong enough for that to happen is… well, it's too unlikely!"
"Truly, this Wendy must have been a force to be reckoned with."
Sköll was just as stunted by the news. However, he was more concerned about who could have made that happen to begin with.
"We can say that much, Lobo. But do you know who bit Wendy to begin with?"
Apollo was quick to answer that. He knew the risks of a wolf biting a human. It was a last resort for a reason.
"I'm in the process of investigating this matter. For the time being, Selene and Luna are looking after her through her metamorphosis."
Lupa didn't hesitate to voice her concerns about Wendy as she spoke up to him.
"But what if she doesn't survive?"
Apollo turned to Lupa with a look of faith on him. Since he saw Wendy stand up to him the way she did, his disbelief went away.
"Believe me, she will. I saw her strong will for myself. Any doubt I ever had about that was scared straight out of me."
Hearing this, Asena tried to contain her laughter, only for her to sputter her lips and laugh loudly.
"You— You got scared by a human girl?! Now I really wanna see her!"
Asena continued to laugh, much to the council's discretion and Apollo's dismay as he grumbled before he continued.
"That said, it's uncertain to know for sure what she really wants. For all we know, she'd still want to go back to her old life."
Meanwhile, contrary to what Apollo thought, Wendy didn't seem to care one bit.
"I'm never going back!"
The trio were now running through the woods, jumping over logs as they hopped up on their hind legs before landing on their front paws. When they did, they saw another tree down on the ground before Luna piped up to Wendy.
"See you at the finish line!"
Wendy smirked back at her before she accepted her challenge.
"Not if I see you first!"
Wendy dashed up ahead to get to the tree. Once she was close, Wendy leapt up on it and clutched her paws on the tree before hopping off of it and landing on the ground in front of her as she panted in adrenaline.
"Whoo! Looks like I win!"
Just then, Selene and Luna hopped over the tree next and landed on the ground before the latter gave her a cute glare.
"Aw, come on! I want a do-over!"
"Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game."
"But that game's fun."
"Oh, really? Is it as fun as… this?"
Wendy quickly grabbed Luna before giving her a playful noogie that made her laugh as much as she tried to escape.
"Aah! Help, Selene! I need backup!"
Selene smiled at the bond the two of them were having. Of course, she wouldn't leave herself out of the fun.
"Well, there's another game we could play."
Wendy looked at her in confusion. She wasn't aware of what kind of games werewolves could play, assuming they're not the same kind of games dogs play.
"Huh? Like what?"
Wendy paused her noogies for a moment to ask her, but in doing so, Luna saw the opportunity for a counter strike.
"Like this!"
Luna pounced on Wendy from her lap, pushing the red wolf to the ground before she began to playfully nibble on Wendy's neck as she spoke to her.
"I got you! You're my prey now!"
Wendy played along and spoke in feigned terror.
"Oh, no! You got me!"
Wendy and Luna then began to laugh together before Selene joined in on the laughter. After a short moment, though, Selene got back to the topic of the games.
"But seriously, though. We already know you can keep up with endurance and adrenaline. But how good are you at climbing trees?"
Wendy became puzzled once again. It didn't occur to her that climbing trees would be something werewolves could do.
"Wait, climb trees? Werewolves can actually do that?"
Luna then showed off her long fingernails as she interjected prior to Selene explaining it to her.
"It's all in the claws."
"We climb up the trees to keep an eye out for when anyone is close by. That's how we warn our tribe ahead of time, among other things."
From that tidbit, Wendy could guess what the purpose of that indicated.
"So, they're not for fun, then?"
Selene only gave her a smirk as she answered.
"Well, I didn't say that."
To prove this, Selene hopped on one tree before using her paw's claws to keep herself on it, moving up and using each paw to lift herself up, as well as the paws on her hind legs. Wendy looked on in astonishment as the black wolf went up on the tree. She didn't think any werewolf would actually climb a tree, at least not like that. Luna, however, only saw another opportunity to get her do-over.
"Race you to the top!"
Luna then hopped on another tree beside her before she climbed up like any child would. Given her current half-wolf state, it made climbing all the more easier for her. However, Wendy was grounded. Literally. As much as she wanted to climb, she didn't quite know how to do it. Wendy shouted up to Selene.
"Wait! How am I supposed to climb it?!"
Selene replied back from the top of the tree to answer her.
"Just use your paws like you're sneaking up on someone, and remember to let your claws out! After that, do it one paw at a time!"
Wendy looked at her paws before looking at another tree beside her. It's hard to imagine doing that on a tree log that was standing upright, but if Selene could do it, who's to say she couldn't?
Wendy placed her paws on the tree and let out her claws to keep from falling over. Once that was done, she tried to use her hind legs to climb up on it. But the instant she tried, one of her feet slipped, making her exclaim before she set it back down on the ground. Selene overheard the noise and wanted to check on her.
"Are you okay, Wendy?"
Wendy felt a bit awkward in her position. She wasn't hurt, thankfully, but it didn't help that she had to stay like that if she didn't want to fall over.
"Yeah, but I'm having trouble with staying on the tree."
"Did you get your claws out from your hind paws?"
Wendy looked down to her hind paws and saw that the claws weren't out. A question came to her mind as she stared at them before looking up to Selene.
"Do they even have claws?"
"Well, try and see!"
Wendy looked back to the tree and took a deep breath before she willed herself to do it.
"Okay."
Wendy raised one hind leg before planting it on the tree. And she tried to get a good grip on the bark with her leg, but her hind leg's claws couldn't find anything to hook onto. Wendy tried again and again, but it couldn't work. Eventually, she groaned in frustration before she moved on.
"Ugh! Forget it. I'll just climb up this thing."
Wendy lifted her right paw up before digging its claws into the bark. Then, she did the same with her left. And she kept the pace. While she did, her hind legs planted their feet on the bark as if she was sneaking up along the tree. For a while, Wendy was feeling pretty good about her chances as she neared the top. When she finally got there, Wendy placed her right paw on it before forcing herself up on it, allowing herself to get some reprieve for the climb up. After catching her breath, Wendy looked at the other treetops and saw Luna and Selene looking at her with the former of the two telling them who won the race.
"I won."
Wendy gave her a small frown as she replied.
"Oh, come on! I was still learning how to climb!"
"Don't hate the player hate the game!"
Luna then laughed to herself before Wendy growled, only to burst into laughter herself. Truth was, she couldn't get mad at Luna for winning. She said it herself. She was still learning.
"Okay, you got me. But I'll get you next time."
Selene smiled at the scene between the two before she overheard a moan from below.
"Wait. Does anyone else hear that?"
One of Luna's ears twitched at the sound before she picked up on the sound. Wendy heard it, too, but she wished she never had.
"Yeah. I can hear it, too."
"Oh, no. Don't look now."
Selene and Luna looked down below to see Robbie. He was bemoaning to himself as the angsty teenager walked alone in the woods. He was holding his phone, staring at a picture of Wendy. Since their breakup, it was the only thing to literally hold onto.
"Why did she leave me?"
Selene and Luna looked back to Wendy as the latter spoke up.
"Is that Robbie? He looks kinda sad."
Wendy only rolled her eyes. He was the last person she wanted to see.
"I wouldn't feel bad for him. He stood me up, and instead of apologizing, he asked me to go to Lookout Point. And worse, he lied to me about that song he wrote. He lied to his own best friend just to get in good with her."
Luna gasped from hearing this before immediately making a scowl.
"I hate Robbie!"
Selene glanced down at Robbie before seeing his sad look as he looked at the messages on his phone.
"Oh, man… Why isn't she responding to me?"
Selene looked back to Wendy, thinking that she was being harsh on Robbie since he seemed upset about it.
"I don't know if it's that simple, Wendy. I mean, the poor guy seems to be taking it kinda hard."
Wendy glanced back to Selene before adding one more fact.
"Also, he thinks werewolves are totally lame."
The instant she told her this, Selene quickly changed her opinion and scowled harder than Luna as she responded in a deep voice.
"He's a dead man."
Selene was about to jump off the tree to lunge at Robbie from above, but Wendy piped up to stop her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! There's no need for that. He may be a jerk, but he's still my friend. I just need some space from him. Besides, I got a better idea."
Selene and Luna looked at each other before they turned to Wendy, wondering what she had in store for Robbie Valentino.
Later, Robbie had arrived at a comfy house that coincidentally lived by a cemetery, if one could call it a coincidence. His parents were waiting outside for Robbie. They were oddly cheerful for funeral directors. His father had brown hair and wore a brown sweater vest with a dark brown/white outline diamond pattern over a white dress shirt with gray brown pants. His mother had short ginger hair and wore a purple/pink colored turtleneck sweater under a blue coat. She also had light blue pants and wore glasses. His mother reached out to him first.
"Hey, Robbie, dear. How was your walk?"
Despite her gentle treatment, Robbie only pushed her away. After the breakup he went through, he simply couldn't find any reason to go on.
"I'm fine, mom! I'm going to bed."
In a huff, he went up to his bedroom, zipping past his parents. He was in too much of a funk to even look at them, not that he wanted to look at them before. to before. But even as he stormed up to the stairs, his father still tried to wish him a good night.
"Well, I hope you have a good night, then. At least, a better night than Mr. Pepper's corpse."
The mother gave her husband a bump with her shoulder with a smile as she spoke.
"Oh, Greg!"
Robbie made no hesitation to make a beeline for his room. No sooner had he entered that he flopped down on the bed. His room was littered with posters on the walls and his drawers were stuffed and barely aligned properly. And there was also a tank that held his tarantula up above on a shelf. And just near his bed was a coffin shelf that held a lot of books, along with a skull next to his bed. Beside that was a drum set with a few drumsticks on the floor. And by his bed was a desk with a computer, as well as multiple letters he made, one of which said, 'Dear Wendy, Please forgive me. - Robbie.' Along with it was a drawing of Wendy and Robbie together in a manga style. And underneath his bed, there was also a guitar case.
He looked down to his guitar and got it out before picking it up and pulling out his guitar. If a song he ripped off helped win Wendy over, maybe his own song can do it better. At least, that's what his hope was. Robbie looked back to the pictures of him and Wendy on the wall, most of which were Wendy. He then began playing on his guitar before he began to sing.
Oh, Wendy, Wendy, Wendy!
Oh, I'm so sorry for breaking your heart,
Can we please hit restart on our love?
Please don't let our fairytale end, please never let it end!
I should've never tried to tame you through sound
Music should be as free as your spirit!
The instant he said the last two lyrics, Robbie stopped himself before he had a good feeling about it.
"Hey, yeah. That's pretty good. Wendy would totally love that."
But the instant he said her name, Robbie began to frown again.
"Oh, right… but, hey! Maybe Wendy replied back."
Robbie looked back at his phone, only seeing that, to his disappointment and heartbreak, she never responded. He then began to sigh softly before looking out the window, staring at the crescent moon in the sky.
"How am I ever gonna fix this…?"
As if to answer, Robbie began to hear howling from far away. He looked out to see where it came from.
"Huh? What was that?"
Little did he know that as he heard another howl, Selene and Luna were actually hiding in the bushes doing howls of their own, leaving Wendy impressed with the volume. And she became even more impressed as Robbie spoke out.
"That's weird. There haven't been any wolves in Gravity Falls. Well, other than those movies we used to watch..."
The instant those words left his mouth, Robbie began to realize something. In a lot of rom-com scenarios, the girl is usually won over by the gift of a pet. And last he remembered, Wendy wore a shirt with a wolf on it. This gave him an idea as he came to an epiphany.
"That's it! I know what to do now!"
Wendy looked at the two of them as Robbie went away from the window. She never thought that they'd be able to project their howls to a certain degree that could trick Robbie.
"Wow. How are you guys so good at throwing your howls?"
Luna responded with a smirk.
"I took classes."
"Wait, there are classes for this stuff?"
Wendy looked back to Robbie just as he burst out the door and began running to the distance, forcing the trio to hide deeper into the bushes as he went past them.
"If I can get her a pet wolf, she'd love it so much that we'd get together again! This is perfect!"
When he had gone away, Selene, Wendy, and Luna popped back up before the first of the three commented on Robbie.
"Wow. He's even more pathetic than you told me he was."
Wendy only shrugged her shoulders before she replied.
"Eh, breakups can do that to a lot of people. But either way, phase one worked. Now for phase two. How are we gonna trick Robbie into getting to the cemetery?"
Selene looked over to Wendy with a smile as she spoke up.
"I think I know a way."
Meanwhile, as Robbie headed into the woods, he was trying to formulate a plan to go about it. Obviously, the first thing he should do is to find the wolf that was howling. After that, the next step would be to tame it somehow, if that was even possible. Then, he'd find Wendy and take it to her. Hopefully, she'd be so happy about it, she'd take him back. This was almost too easy for him.
"I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner. I should've thought of that a long time ago. Now, where do I find that wolf…?"
Just then, Robbie began to hear another howl in the forest. The emo boy began to make a smirk as he rubbed his hands together, already scheming to get the wolf.
"All according to plan…"
Robbie kept on following the howl, going around the trees and bushes to capture the wolf. And just when he thought he found the source, Robbie chuckled to himself before parting it to see a shadow of a wolf before he spoke to himself with a smirk.
"Gotcha."
In no time at all, Robbie leapt at the wolf, only for it to run away, causing him to miss as he landed hard on the ground. The angsty teenager only grumbled before he looked up from the ground. Unfortunately, he lost track of the wolf he tried to nab, finding himself alone in the woods.
"What the…? Well, that's just great. Where did it go?"
In a moment, Robbie would regret asking that. He began to hear growling all around him. The fact he didn't know which direction it came from made it worse. He looked frantically left and right before a quick snarl came as it zipped behind him, making Robbie look behind him in suspense.
"What was that?"
To answer him, two wolf eyes shot up in the dark from behind him again, glaring squarely onto him, making the teenager look back as it snarled. Not wanting to get the wrong end of it, Robbie began to run away from it in his haste, hearing the snarling and barking just behind him. The young man ran as far away as he could until he saw a trail headed out of the forest. Hoping to get away from his failed attempt, and from the wolf's bite, Robbie took that path and kept running before he looked behind him, seeing that the wolf didn't follow him as he stopped and took his breath. When he recovered, Robbie realized that he had wandered into the cemetery. This was somewhere he didn't want to be during the night. In the day, he and his friends would hang out there, but oddly enough, they hadn't considered doing so at nighttime. But the atmosphere around him gave him just the reason.
"What? The cemetery? Well, at least it can't get any worse."
However, it did. At that moment, he began to hear Wendy's voice humming a familiar tune. It was in the same rhythm as the song he used on Wendy before Dipper exposed him. Robbie's eyes went up from hearing this.
"Wait a minute. Is that… Wendy?"
To answer him, Robbie began to hear whispers in the wind.
Robbie.
Robbie looked behind him, finding no one was there. He didn't know how to feel about hearing her voice as whispers in the wind.
Where are you, Robbie?
Robbie tried to answer as he looked everywhere for any sign of Wendy. When he saw no trace of her anywhere, he hoped his answer would help tell him where she was.
"I'm right here, Wendy! I'm right here!"
The wind blew to him again before it seemingly spoke in her voice again.
Can you find me? We need to talk.
Robbie began to lose it. He was freaking out, looking everywhere around the cemetery as he answered back to her.
"S-Sure thing! I'll be right there, wherever you are!"
Robbie looked at tombstone after tombstone for any sign of Wendy, but found none in several places. Then, he began to hear sobbing from far away. And it sounded just like…
"Wendy?"
He heard the sound of her voice when she took off and ran away from him and the Pines family. Who knows what she must've gone through since then? For all he knew, she must've been in the same boat. Robbie went over to the source of the crying from around a large tombstone beside him. He noticed a silhouette of Wendy crying to herself while sitting on top of another tombstone, bathed in shadow. Robbie slowly walked up to her as he spoke to her.
"Wendy, what's going on? What are you doing here?"
Wendy stopped her crying before she answered him, sniffling as she tried to answer.
"I've just… I've been thinking for a while. And maybe… maybe the way we split up was a mistake. Maybe we can try to make it work after all."
This made Robbie's eyes beam up in hope. Just when he thought he couldn't get her back, it seemed like his wish had finally come true.
"R-Really?!"
Robbie reached his hand out to Wendy before she did the same for him. Just as the two of them held their "hands" together, he felt an indistinguishable feature from her. Her paw was hairy. Robbie became confused before Wendy replied to him.
"Yeah. But moving forward, we'll need to work on your face."
Just as she said this, she revealed her glowing wolf eyes as well as a fanged smile before opening it wide to roar at him, making Robbie jump and fall back just as she closed her mouth near his nose. Robbie backed away in panic and terror, screaming as the Wolf girl neared him and showed her chompers gleaming in the light before he began to run away. Once he was out of sight and earshot, Wendy began to laugh before Luna and Selene came out from behind two other tombstones and laughed with her as the little girl mimicked him.
"'Oh, no! Please! Ahh! Oh, no!'"
Wendy laughed harder at that as she spoke to Luna.
"Oh, dude! That was so spot-on!"
As the trio laughed together, neither one knew that another pair of yellow eyes was watching, glaring at them from a distance before they sank into the bushes. Despite this, Wendy noticed how low the moon was getting as she spoke.
"Wow. Looks like we don't have much time left. What else can we do?"
Selene gave her a smile as Wendy looked at her before she answered her.
"I know what we can do. Follow me."
Selene then headed into the forest that Robbie was running from, much to Wendy's puzzlement and Luna's wonderment.
"Huh? Where are we going?"
"Come on and you'll see!"
Wendy and Luna began to follow her into the forest. The trio of wolves ran quickly through the woods, two of them trying to catch up to Selene. She was farther ahead of the group, but Wendy still kept her eyes on the wolf. It was only a matter of time before Selene emerged from the woods and went up on a high hill.
From where she sat on the edge, it seemed to be a clear part of the forest, if one can believe it. One can possibly overlook the entirety of Gravity Falls from that hill. Wendy and Luna caught up to her from behind as the former became surprised when she was in the middle of asking where she led them.
"Hey, Selene. Where were you—? Whoa."
Wendy couldn't finish; she was utterly astounded by the view of the town. Lights were on in practically every building, apart from the Mystery Shack. It was almost like seeing a swarm of fireflies.
"I have never seen the town from this angle before. It's so amazing."
Selene turned to Wendy, happy to see that she was impressed with the view.
"If you think that's cool, wait till you see what's up above."
Wendy looked up ahead and became even more starstruck when she saw the night sky. There were stars as far as the eye can see, as well as a few shooting stars up above, making Luna piped up behind her, somewhat startling her.
"Look! A shooting star! Let's make a wish!"
Luna sat down and held her hands close together as she smiled before Wendy went along with it. She's no stranger to doing this sort of thing. And while she felt she was too old for that, Wendy felt it was nice to indulge in a beautiful night sky like this.
"Uh, okay."
Wendy sat down next and placed her paws close to each other before looking up at the night sky. It didn't take long for Selene to do the same. But a few seconds after, Selene spoke up gently to Wendy, getting her and Luna's attention.
"You know, I was scared the first time I turned into a werewolf. I'm not gonna lie, things were pretty hectic and scary for me since I learned about my wolf side. The fact that I had no idea about what to do with it, let alone how to control it, didn't make it any better. I think you know the feeling, especially."
Wendy gave her a small frown. As much fun as she had with it, she still had her own life to live here in Gravity Falls. She didn't want to give it up completely, no matter how horrible last night was to her.
"Yeah. You know, when I said that I'm never going back? I kinda just said that in the heat of the moment, but…"
Selene only set her paw on Wendy's before she spoke up.
"It's fine. I get it. But being a werewolf's not such a bad thing to be. I mean, sure it's a lot of work to figure it out, but it's like the moon that way. It may be big and kinda scary, but it's just another side of the sun to help light up the way at night for all of us. Maybe our wolf sides are kinda like another new side to us that will reflect the best of our other side once you get used to it with the Night Claws. I certainly needed help. In fact, if it wasn't for Apollo taking me in the way he did, I… probably wouldn't be here with you right now."
Wendy began to smile softly as Selene went on.
"That said, I want to be the first Alpha to welcome you to the life of a werewolf."
Wendy widened her eyes in surprise. She didn't think Selene was an Alpha from the look of her.
"Wait, what? You're the Alpha? I thought Apollo was—"
Selene maintained her smile as she explained.
"Oh, he is. We actually have a whole council full of them. He's the top Alpha, though."
"Oh. Well… thanks, Selene. I'm really glad I met you."
Selene nodded back to her before Luna looked at the crescent moon and piped up in eagerness.
"Hey, guys! Let's do a howl and celebrate your first night with us!"
Luna began to howl at the moon first before Selene joined in. When they were done, they turned to Wendy and tried to egg her on as Luna laughed with her from the good feeling they had from it.
"Now, Wendy!"
Wendy began to get bashful as she tried to refuse, only for Luna to press her on.
"Oh, I don't know, guys."
"Come on, Wendy! Howl with us!"
"Oh, no. I really couldn't."
"Do it! Do it! Do it!"
Selene then gave Wendy a smile before she joined in the chant with Luna.
"Do it! Do it! Do it!"
As they chanted louder and louder, Wendy smiled bigger and bigger until she finally went along with it.
"Oh, what the heck?"
With that, Wendy let out a loud howl at the moon, her voice echoing all over Gravity Falls. A few seconds after, Selene and Luna gave their two cents on her howl.
"Wow."
"That. Was. Awesome! Do it again!"
As for Wendy herself, she felt a tingle in herself she hadn't known before. Selene took notice of this and became puzzled.
"Whoa..."
"Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just... What am I feeling right now?"
Luna had a guess as she went over to her.
"Maybe that's adrenaline from when we pranked Robbie?"
Wendy gave her a stifled chuckle before she replied.
"No. This is different. I feel… free. Like I finally found some freedom in my life. And it's kinda emotionally satisfying, like the feeling you get when you're whooping it up and feeling good or having a great, exciting, fun time. You guys know that feeling?"
Selene chuckled at Wendy's words before she chimed in.
"Yeah, we do. We feel it all the time like this. And you will, too. I know you will."
Wendy gave Selene a small smile back. Just then, Luna piped up.
"Let's all howl together now! All three of us!"
Selene chuckled at Luna's enthusiasm as she rubbed her head with her paw. After which, she, Wendy, and Luna did a count.
"Good idea, Luna. One…"
"Two…"
"Three!"
With that, the trio began howling at the moon, their voices blending together in perfect harmony. Her next day may have started off rougher than she liked, but in the process, she's made two new friends. And while she may be a werewolf, it turned out that it's not so bad with friends like them. In a world of selfish boys, she's just glad to have two friends she can count on.
A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. Don't worry. There's two more coming up before we get on track to the canon episodes of Gravity Falls, which will begin with Land Before Swine instead of Dreamscaperers. As for the new characters, they happened to be the council themselves. And they appeared in this particular order.
Christian Lanz - Lobo
Peter Dinklage - Sköll
Hynden Walch - Lupa
Michaela Dietz - Asena
Fred Tatasciore - Cynewulf
And in the next two chapters, you can at least expect one more to arrive, though I won't give out who just yet. Until then, have a great day. :)