AWOO, everyone! It's Werewolf Friday yet again! We continue our story in Vale, and get a nice snippet from back in Obsidian this week.

Enjoy!

Qrow waited outside Taiyang's house three days after their initial meeting. After the blond Huntsman entered through the front door, he waited still longer. Finally, when no one else entered, and he was unable to detect any mobs nearby, he slipped in through the back door.

Taiyang didn't even look up from the pot on the stove. His mind was still reeling, and it was all he could do to keep his hands from shaking. "Hungry?"

"Everyone here seems to be," Qrow snorted, pulling out a chair and sitting sideways on it, stretching his legs out. "How was the hunt?" He noticed a pair of rabbits hanging from a hook by the door. "Food hunt?"

Taiyang looked up with a start, then quickly shook his head. "No… No, I…uh…" He gritted his teeth, still trying to come to terms with what had just happened. He ladled thin, watery soup into two bowls and went to the table. "They were a gift," he finally said.

Qrow's brows went up, even as he shifted suspiciously in his chair, glancing toward the windows. "A gift, huh? Who could afford to give you two rabbits in this starved town, and what did you do to deserve them?"

"I didn't turn you in, Qrow!" Taiyang snapped, his eyes flashing. "Do I look like the type to betray my brother, especially for the price of two rabbits?!"

Qrow winced, immediately feeling guilty. "Hey, considering your reaction the last time, can you blame me for being cautious?" he muttered sullenly. "So, who gave them to you?"

Taiyang sat down, staring blankly into his bowl. "A werewolf."

Qrow's spoon dropped onto the table with a clatter halfway to his mouth, splashing his arm. He gaped, looking like a landlocked fish for a minute before recovering. "A werewolf? One from Cinder's pack? One of them gave you food?" Immediately, Qrow stood and approached the rabbits, inspecting them carefully. There weren't any marks on them. It looked as if the werewolf in question had simply snatched the creatures up and crushed their necks in its paws.

So, they aren't trying to turn him… Then again, there could've been werewolf blood slipped in. "What did I miss, Tai?"

Taiyang folded his hands, staring at the table as he explained, partially trying to articulate things to himself as he did so. "I met two of them on a hunt after you left. Well, just one at first. It… He was hurt. It was an easy kill, but…" He shook his head. "I couldn't stop thinking about what you said. I offered to help. We spoke, Qrow. He spoke as well as any man."

Qrow nodded. This wasn't new to him anymore, but he knew how jarring this likely was for Taiyang. "What about the other one?"

"She came while I was healing the first. I guess she heard him cry out and wanted to protect him." Just remembering the protectiveness that wolf had shown for her friend made Taiyang's cheeks flush with shame. He couldn't stop wondering exactly how many werewolves had been killed by his hands.

"They knew of Ruby," he continued. "And the others. They didn't hurt me. Then, when I went into the woods tonight, she was waiting for me with those rabbits. She just handed them to me, then left."

"Huh." Qrow took a sip of his watery broth as he digested this new information. Depending on her motives, this could be a really good thing. "So, you gonna eat them?"

"I…don't know." Taiyang looked at the rabbits, a crazy part of his mind almost expecting them to jump from the hook and attack. "With how things are, throwing away food would be borderline blasphemous, but…"

"You don't wanna change into a werewolf." Qrow looked at the rabbits and shrugged a shoulder. "I'll eat some."

"What?!" Taiyang's head snapped around to stare at his brother. "Are you crazy?!"

"Nah, I just don't give a damn." Qrow reached into his pocket and took a swig from his flask. He'd have to refill his supply when he got back to Burgundy. "Full moon's tomorrow night, so we'll know pretty quickly."

Taiyang got up slowly, walking over to the rabbits, still in a sort of daze. If Qrow honestly doesn't care about turning into a werewolf… Maidens, everything is so wrong. We were so wrong. God, forgive this town! "How much should I…?"

"Doesn't take that much," Qrow said. If Ruby and Weiss kissing had been enough to change his niece's now-fiancé, a single drop of wolf blood in those rabbits would be enough to change him.

Taiyang nodded, taking both rabbits out the back door. He came back in minutes later with blood on his hands and two cut-open rabbits. He dropped two small bits of meat into what was left of the soup, and returned the rabbits to the hook, putting a basin underneath to catch the blood.

The two were silent as they waited for the meat to cook. It felt like an eternity before Taiyang ladled the meat and broth into Qrow's bowl. The scent of fresh rabbit juices made his mouth water, and he had to hand it over quickly to avoid the temptation of eating it himself.

Qrow took the bowl, scarfing down the contents quickly. "Well, that's it. We'll see tomorrow if you really made a friend here."

Taiyang laughed shakily. "You really are crazy."

Qrow snickered. "Winter'd probably have a heart attack if she knew any of this." Noticing a hesitant look coming to Taiyang's face, Qrow's gaze sharpened. "You didn't!"

"Confession, Qrow," Taiyang soothed. "She won't tell anyone. And she won't stop you from leaving. She promised me that."

Qrow sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Must be weird, knowing everyone's sins and having to keep quiet. How'd she react?"

"She didn't say much. Asked me to pray for the people of Vale. Advised against eating the rabbits." Taiyang remembered something important. "She didn't have me say a penance, though. Sinners always have to say a penance, so…maybe she's starting to think differently about all this as well."

"Penance? That's a thing?" Qrow huffed. "Why didn't she make me say one before?"

Taiyang chuckled dryly. "I think she knew better than to try with you."

…..

It was a cool fall evening, and Obsidian couldn't have been in higher spirits.

A great deal of silver had been mined. The town had redoubled its efforts to repair the buildings and walls, and now only had to tend to daily maintenance on some of the recently-fixed areas. Hunts by both the Huntsmen and the werewolves were bringing in more than enough kills to prepare for winter. Trade routes had been set up on the road to Umber. Fresh water was in abundance again.

The werewolves dozed in their rooms at the Inn, or in the forest, waiting for the sun to set so that they could run together as a pack, enjoying the full moon without restraint.

Only Pyrrha didn't join her pack in their pre-moonlight naps. She was at the smithy, having a long talk with a now-recovered Ferron. "I think you need to come with us tonight," she said firmly.

Ferron shook his head, refusing to meet her eyes. "No, Leader. I can't. It'll be too painful."

"That's why you need to," Pyrrha insisted. "All this time, you've been avoiding confronting this pain you feel, and drowning your sorrows in alcohol. You need to see that there really isn't that big of a difference between humans, Faunus, and werewolves. You can still be a part of the forest as you are. You can still be strong. You can still run and feel that freedom, even if you don't have your wolf form anymore."

"How can you know that?" Ferron asked desperately. "I remember being a plain Faunus. You've been a werewolf your whole life."

"You remember being a regular Faunus a long time ago," Pyrrha insisted. "Besides, you have years of Adam's brainwashing in your mind. That can't go away overnight. I think there's still some part of you that thinks the way he wanted you to think: that non-werewolves are truly inferior. They aren't, though, and you aren't."

The senior blacksmith, an older man with hair that was going white, coughed pointedly. "Speaking as a human, I certainly don't feel weak. And I enjoy the wild parts of the world in my own way. Maybe it's time to remember how to enjoy life as a simple Faunus."

When Ferron still hesitated, Pyrrha put a hand on his arm. "I'm not asking, you know. You almost got yourself killed in a foolish attempt to change back, an attempt that might not have even worked. Even though you aren't a werewolf anymore, you are still of my pack. I will not have members of my pack looking for ways to die."

"I don't want to die," Ferron muttered. "I realized that in the hours after the battle. I got so dizzy… I remember being so scared, suddenly wanting to claw my way back to life, no matter how much it hurt."

"That's a good thing, at least," Pyrrha sighed. "Get something warm on, and bring a hunting knife. We'll be meeting at the edge of the forest." When Ferron just barely nodded, she was finally satisfied enough to leave.

The rest of the pack was waiting for her as the sun sank lower in the sky. All expressed a clear eagerness to rush into the trees as soon as they changed.

"Check yourselves tonight," Pyrrha ordered gently. "Ferron's coming with us."

Fennec frowned. "Is that wise, Leader? No disrespect intended, of course."

"He needs to face this if he's ever going to recover," Pyrrha insisted. "Tonight, if we hunt, Ferron gets the final kill when the group with him tracks something down. Understand?"

"Yes, Leader," everyone replied.

When the moon rose, the pack changed into their bestial forms. A few of the humans and Faunus of Obsidian watched from the edge of town, their horror long gone and replaced with a sense of fascination at the grotesque beauty of the transformation. Ferron stood a short distance away, his eyes alight with pain. Taking a deep breath, he approached.

"I'll try not to slow you down," he muttered.

With a bark, Pyrrha ordered the pack to split up for the time being, encouraging them to just run and enjoy themselves. She beckoned for Ferron to follow her and bounded into the trees. She felt Fennec, Corsac, Ilia, Sandy, and Deery joining her, and smiled to herself. Of course they want to help. They were his packmates the longest.

They ended up running with Pyrrha at the lead, flanked by Fennec and Corsac. Ilia went behind Corsac, and Ferron found himself nudged toward a spot behind Fennec. He realized that this would be his rightful spot if he was still a beta. Tears sprang to his eyes.

The werewolves checked their pace, but not too much. Ferron's strong legs were able to carry him a good distance. For a time, they just ran. The werewolves' tongues lolled out as they panted, and Ferron took deep, huffing breaths. Whenever the Faunus started to fall behind, Deery or Sandy was quick to nudge him forward while barking at the others to go a little slower. Eventually, they found a perfect speed, one that everyone could have easily maintained for hours.

Then, Fennec detected a deer nearby and communicated this to Pyrrha, who signaled the others to change course. Things were going well. If Ferron could help them kill some prey, he'd surely realize that his wildness wasn't truly lost.

Ferron stumbled a bit as they turned, and Deery had to catch him in her arms, gently righting him. "Thanks," he grumbled, hating how ungraceful his two legs were.

Deery barked, meeting his eyes and attempting to fill him with excitement for the hunt. It seemed to work, as his eyes lit up and he hurried to follow the others.

Ilia and Corsac shot ahead, chasing the deer in a circle back toward the rest of the group. As their prey bounded into their midst, eyes wide with terror, Pyrrha gave it a firm slash on the side, making it stumble. Turning to Ferron, she barked sharply.

Ferron blinked, then remembered the knife Pyrrha had told him to bring. In one swift movement, he unsheathed it and plunged it into the deer's neck just as it tried to run past the outer line of wolves. The force of the creature sent a shock down his arm and caused him to fall to his knees, but the deer went down with him. He knelt at its side as the light left its eyes and its breathing stilled. He stared at his hand, slick with blood, and yanked the knife away.

The coppery scent that struck his nose was wonderful, almost as sweet as when he had been a wolf. Ferron felt himself plunging the knife into the deer again, this time cutting downward in sharp, messy sawing motions. More blood spilled out.

Pyrrha watched, noting the focused, but not manic expression on Ferron's face. This was definitely going well. She didn't protest as Ferron cut into the chest, flooding the ground with redness, and reached in. After more fumbling and messy squelching, he yanked out the deer's heart. When he looked to Pyrrha for permission, she nodded, and he started eating the heart, sinking his teeth in and ripping the raw, chewy meat away.

Ferron savored the fresh blood and muscle in his mouth, loved the way his smaller, flatter teeth ground at it. On either side of him, the others fell on the kill, ripping pieces of raw, dripping flesh away and scarfing them down. This deer wouldn't go back to Obsidian. This was for the werewolves. Ferron took another bite, relishing in the aftermath of the hunt in a way he thought he would never do again.

They met up with the others later on. Some of them had tracked down fresh kills for the town. Others, like Weiss and Ruby, had simply frolicked through the trees. The two alphas leaned against each other, Ruby yipping with laughter as Weiss licked her ears, making them tickle.

Deery and Sandy licked Ferron's face playfully, cleaning most of the blood from it. This coaxed an even wider smile from the former beta.

The pack returned to town feeling full, content, and ready to sleep. Ferron placed a hand on Pyrrha's side as they approached the houses.

"Thanks, Leader," he said. "I don't know if I'm completely okay yet, but I think I'm better."

Pyrrha nodded, rumbling gently. Better was definitely something they could work with. She watched as the Faunus walked toward the bathing areas and let out a huff of satisfaction.

Smiling to herself, she headed in the direction of the inn. Her human was surely getting cold and lonely in that bed of his, after all.

…..

Qrow and Taiyang stood together in the woods between Vale and Burgundy. Qrow was wearing older clothes, and had put his cape to the side. Together, they waited for the sun to set.

Redness dripped across the sky like blood, melding with the softer pinks and oranges that had long ago overcome the blueness of day. Everything grew darker, grayer. Then, a hint of purple crept over the horizon, arriving unnoticed in the wake of the bloody departure of the sun. Finally, the blackness came.

The moon rose.

Qrow looked at his hands. He saw nothing. He felt nothing. After another minute, he shrugged. "Looks like that wolf wasn't trying to trick you after all."

Taiyang's shoulders slumped with relief. "Thank goodness." His mind was racing. What could he do now? Was there a way to maybe talk to the other werewolves, now that he had befriended two? He knew that he would never even consider killing one again. Maybe he could make things safer for everyone when they finally returned. Could he talk to Ozpin or Glynda about this? The Arcs?

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he placed a hand on Qrow's shoulder. "Bring my girls home."

Qrow nodded once, then turned and walked into the woods without another word. He didn't say goodbye, not this time. He'd be back soon. He just hoped that, between Cinder and the idiot duo of Jacques and Hawk, there would still be a Vale for him and the others to return to.

The end is in sight, people! It's still gonna be several more chapters, but we are officially in the final arc of this story. I'd like to thank everyone for the love and support they've shown for this fic. It really makes a difference.

If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.

Peace out!