Thank you for the reviews! Some of you are very perceptive :D
A note on pronouns: In this story New Zealand is gender neutral. We are using the pronouns ze/zir/zir (corresponding to they/them/their).
The wolfpack is reunited at the worst possible time, and Australia and New Zealand face a dangerous encounter with the Loki in Norway. Meanwhile, England is getting desperate.
Ch. 23: Black Sheep
October 31, 9:00 PM
When the werewolves get out of their pens and go on a rampage, there are very few people who can catch them. Two of those people are Australia and his sibling New Zealand. Known throughout the world as some of the greatest supernatural hunters, the two had a fairly easy time of catching the wolves. The right bait can do wonders. Now the hairy beasts are in the back of Aussie's van, sleeping off tranquilizers. "Oi, you got a granola bar?" Aussie asks, looking to NZ.
New Zealand digs around in zir bag, then produces a snack and holds it out. "Hokey Pokey flavored. Did Netherlands say where to take them?"
"Norway's. Apparently something's up over there; s'not answering his mobile." Leaning over, Aussie takes the granola bar between his teeth and straightens up again, his eyes still totally focused on the road.
New Zealand fondly pets the sheep sitting between them. "There's a brave gal. I promised you wouldn't get eaten, didn't I?"
"Baaa," says the sheep, and nuzzles zir hand.
There's a growl from the back, and New Zealand shouts to the wolves. "Pipe down! We don't want to use the silver bullets." In the case of nations, they're technically not allowed to unless the circumstances are extreme. It still makes a decent threat.
Australia chews on the bar all the way to Norway's, only to have it fall from his mouth as he tries to park. "Oh, Come on!" He whines, yanking the van into park and reaching to scoop up the bar, only to find it in the sheep's mouth. "Essie!"
Outside, Lithuania can smell his pack - or most of them. They're in that van, and that is even more important than Turkitty. He drops to his feet with a growl and prowls over to the van, about to demand the release of his pack.
It's a good thing New Zealand happens to look out the window before they open the door. He spots the wolf headed for them, still covered in blood. That might be grounds to use the gun. Ze pulls a rifle out from beside the door and nudges Australia. "I think we found the rest of the pack."
"Wha-?" Australia's eyes widen at the sight of the wolf. He grabs his spare tranq gun and cocks it, then opens his door and aims the gun out at the wolf. "Right then! Back away slowly."
Lithuania is, of course, not the average wolf. He's much more domesticated, and he knows exactly what that gun means. With a whimper, he runs behind the tree.
New Zealand steps out with zir gun still aimed, carefully looking around. Netherlands said there were six wolves; they've only got five. Then there's the pair of nations ze can't quite see in the high branches of a nearby tree, and Japan at the bottom - with the wolf! "Japan! Stay still, we've got him."
"Stop!" Japan shouts, raising his hands in defense. "You can't tranquilize poor Toris! Feliks is inside with that monster! You need to get him out."
"Uh..." Australia blinks, utterly confused. He has no idea what's going on, but they have bigger problems. "Right. Okay then." He turns to NZ. "Let's get these puppies inside. Clearly, Norway has been slacking."
New Zealand frowns. "It sounds like there's something more going on here. Japan, what do you mean? Should we bring the salt? Or a few stakes?"
"It's Norway!" Japan exclaims, waving toward the door. "Turkey and I brought Greece here in very bad shape, and Norway said he would wait for him to die, then turn him into a zombie! We were locked outside, and now Greece and Poland are trapped!" He sobs, turning away in shame.
"What the flamin' hell?" Australia exclaims, looking toward the door. "Doesn't sound like Norge at all."
NZ glances toward the house, trying to keep an eye on the wolf at the same time. "No, it doesn't. But if he won't open the door, how do we get inside?" Carefully, gun still raised, ze heads for the house.
"C'mon, let's just let ourselves in." Aussie says easily. He gives the lock a swift, hard kick and the door swings open. "See? Totally fine."
With a shake of zir head and a bit more caution, New Zealand follows Australia inside. "Kia ora! Norway?"
The sound of voices once again interrupts Norway's zombie ritual. He curses and glowers at the ceiling; the footsteps are even louder than the broken door from the basement. He turns his glare on Poland and Finland. "If the two of you make any noise, any at all, I'll kill them. They won't be able to stop my magic; I'll just rip them apart from the inside out. Then I'll leave you, little tonttu, to clean up the mess."
Finland shudders. "Bastard..." He's been trying to heal Poland, or at least patch his wound. Unfortunately, it's not a simple cut, and Poland is not a cooperative patient.
Poland rolls his eyes. "Fine. Don't go on a murderous rampage or anything. But so help me, when I get out of here I am so making Warsaw your- SHIT!" Finland tries to clean his leg again, and he automatically kicks.
Norway growls. "Not. One. Sound."
Upstairs, Australia is sniffing at a bottle of vampire's blood Norway left out on the kitchen counter. Nothing on the counter smells edible right now, but maybe they can find something for the wolves elsewhere. "Gotta be some meat in here. Oi, Z, check the freezer. Should be a steak here somewhere, right?"
A shiver runs down New Zealand's spine before ze can respond. NZ doesn't even need to turn around. "Good evening, Norway."
"Evening." Norway leans in the doorway, watching them, wondering what fun might be had with this latest pair of nations. "I wouldn't touch that. It'll eat through your skin."
Australia lets out a slight squeak, dropping the vial and immediately pretending no one heard that. "Right. Yeah. Um... Been wonderin' where ye've been all night, Norge. We got the wolves. Why didn't you handle 'em?"
"You have them?" Norway's eyes light up. "I mean...thank you. I was distracted, dealing with other things. If you bring them here, I can take care of them."
"Sure thing!" Australia says. "Just in the back of the van. Gotta figure out a way to get 'em all out nicely. Not happy at the moment, as you can imagine."
"No, something's not right." New Zealand is still holding the gun, and zir grip tightens on it as ze takes a step closer. The tone of Norway's voice is too eager; Norway never sounds eager. In fact, he never sounds like much of anything. NZ squints, and - there. His aura isn't the right color; it's sparking, reacting to being in the wrong body, and the spirit is a strong one. There is only one set of nations who can reverse a possession. "Aussie, call the Italies."
"Huh?" Australia turns to look at New Zealand, confused. "Mate, the Italies are all Tomatofae'in about. If either of them even answer their phone, they'll just turn it into a tomato." Still, he reaches into his pocket to follow his sibling's instructions.
"You think you've figured it out, have you?" Norway's eyes narrow. These two are experienced hunters, and New Zealand is far too perceptive. For the first time, he feels seriously threatened – and that only makes him more dangerous. "You have no idea who you are dealing with!"
He raises his arms and aims a curse at New Zealand. The curse is a deadly one, meant to twist his organs and bones out of shape. But at the very last second, he stumbles over his own tongue and the words come out wrong. A searing pain races through his skull and he falls against the wall, clutching his head. Lukas is awake, and he's fighting back.
Billows of smoke cloud the kitchen. Australia gasps, running through it to get to his sibling. When he reaches through the haze, he finds something soft. The haze clears, and he blinks. "Z?" He gasps, staring at his very wooly sibling.
"Baa! Baaa?" says New Zealand, rather distressed by the transformation. The sheep turns in a circle, trying to see just what has happened. Norway is panting, muttering to himself; fighting, NZ realizes. The real Norway is fighting back. Ze turns desperately to Australia, trying to convey that they need to go after Norway now, while the thing possessing him is still confused.
Distraught, Australia kneels by his sibling and takes the sheep into his arms, sobbing. "Oh, Z! I've failed you. Look at you, my poor little sibling! I'm so sorry. I'll get you changed back, you know I will! And even if you don't want to change back, I'll still love you! I'll always respect your gender and animagi choices."
New Zealand wants to chomp on Aussie's fingers in frustration, but then decides his shirt looks very tasty and takes a nibble of that instead.
Norway shuts his eyes and forces Lukas back. That mind is still weakened from his invasion, but it's quite clear that he's going to have to work harder to repress it. He hits Lukas with the equivalent of a mental brick to the head, and opens his eyes again. Ah, he hates the headache that comes with that. However, there are more important things to take care of. Like wolves in the back of a van.
Lithuania spots Norway leaving the house and barks, wagging his tail. He probably has Feliks inside, and that's okay. Feliks needs his leg patched and injected with the lycanthropy antidote. Still, he trots up to Norway, hoping for a status update. He wants to be sure his lover is alright.
Norway runs an idle hand over Lithuania's head, scratching his ears. He's been such a good boy, keeping Japan and Turkey distracted. "What do you say to a little family reunion?" he asks, walking the wolf over to the van sitting in the driveway.
Inside, Latvia whimpers. He's dizzy from the tranquilizer darts and Belarus is sort of crushing his spine. But Estonia is next to him, being smothered by Ukraine, so that's okay. They're all together. He barks, smelling Norway and Lithuania, and whimpering for freedom.
Norway throws open the back of the van. The lock on their cage isn't complicated, but the fact that they're so sleepy is boring. Well, perhaps once they walk around a bit they'll wake up. His first puppy does not hesitate once the cage is open. Lithuania jumps up into the van, barking loudly and nipping at Latvia's ear. Latvia yelps and stumbles out of the van, kind of shaking it off once he hits the ground.
They all need to wake up - that much is clear. Lithuania barks louder, calling to his pack and jumping from the van again. The basic translation is CAT!, and he's hoping that once they see Turkey in the tree they'll understand how crucial this is.
Belarus leaps out with all the grace she can muster, growling dangerously and Lithuania. She does not like him now that he has hurt her precious brother. She would fight him, but the tranquilizer has her wandering lopsided. Estonia squirms out from under Ukraine to greet Lithuania with far more enthusiasm. They sniff one another in places that would be awkward if they were in different forms, before Estonia flops down for a little nap.
No one is understanding the urgency. Lithuania wags his tail, crouching on his front paws playfully before he barks: CATCATCAT! Then, he rushes back to the tree.
Latvia hears the call and stumbles after, trying to wake up a little. He needs to stay alert. And... well, there's a cat. He wanders after Lithuania, looking up into the tree, and when he sees Turkey with ears and a tail, he perks right up. CAT! he barks, jumping up at the tree.
The others are still recovering, and Norway rolls his eyes as he watches his pack of man-eating werewolves act like drunks. This is not the intimidating group of beasts he was hoping for. Maybe, with the right spark...he raises his hand and sends miniature lightning bolts at the three to shock them awake. They yelp and leap up. Laughing, Norway points at the tree. "Go on! Get the CAT. Or there's a sheep inside, you're welcome to that one as well. Or Japan. Whatever you're hungry for, really."
Estonia snaps at the air, unsure where that spark came from. He has decided he does not like sparky things or sleepy things. But he is awake now, and when he follows his excited pack to the tree- OMGCAT. It's a big Turkitty! He whines up at him and scratches at the trunk.
Latvia starts barking like the little runt he is, right alongside the jumping Lithuania. Denmark jolts at the sound and winds up slipping from his branch. He's shocked back into the tree by the iron chain surrounding it. "What the-? Where...?" He looks to Turkey, utterly confused. "Did you say something?"
CATCATCAT! Latvia barks, leveraging his claws into the trunk and starting to climb the tree - or at least trying to.
"SHIT!" Turkey shouts, climbing on top of Denmark in an effort to put more distance between himself and the wolves. "Can that one climb? Oh man, if it climbs we're screwed."
"DUDE!" Denmark exclaims, trying to disentangle himself from Turkey's scrambling limbs. "What's wrong with you?!" Then he looks down. The wolves are gathering around the trunk, wide awake and wanting to... play? Well, probably not. "Oh. Okay. I gotcha."
Fortunately for them, the trunk has no traction and Latvia's claws are not meant for climbing. He winds up falling before he can even get high enough to snap at Turkitty's tail.
Meanwhile, New Zealand the sheep is trying to get Australia to understand that they need to do something. They need back-up. It is time to call in the wizard, no matter how drained he may be. "BAA!"
"I jus' want you to be happy, man or woman or sheep or whatever you want to be, and-" Australia pauses, tears still streaking down his face. "Wait, you want me to call big brother?" The sheep nods, so he gropes at his shirt, searching for the little pocket that had his cellphone. However, his shirt appears to be half-gone. "What in blue blazes happened to my shirt?!"
New Zealand makes a face of sheep-shame, and noses Aussie in apology. "Ba-baa."
"Bloody fuck, Z!" Australia waves his arms, watching sadly as his shirt hangs listlessly from one shoulder. "You could've spit out my flamin' mobile!"
The Australian national anthem starts in cell phone notes, and they both look at New Zealand's stomach. If sheep could blush, NZ would be doing so. Whenever ze gets changed back, ze will likely be regretting that particular diet choice.
XXX
Lacking a phone - at least until it makes its way through New Zealand's digestive system, and Aussie isn't really sure he'll want it after that - means they have to physically go to England's house. Both hunters are hesitant to leave behind a possessed Norway and a host of other supernaturally incapacitated nations, but there is no way two hunters can handle them on their own. Especially not when one of them is a sheep.
England's house is currently a rather gloomy place. Desperate to keep himself awake, England is practically buried in teacups and manuscripts. He is about a second away from reaching for the stash of cocaine he's been hiding in his bookshelf since the 80's when his doorbell rings.
"Oh, thank God!" he cries. Guests. Yes, just the thing to keep him awake. He runs for the door, flinging it open only to come face to face with his younger brother – and a sheep.
"Artie!" Australia cries out, raising NZ up for England to see. "M'sib's a sheep!"
"Baa!" says New Zealand, which is sheep for, "Don't worry about me, the world is in danger! Norway is possessed!" Ze is fairly certain it doesn't come across, especially considering the bags under England's eyes.
England stares at the sheep, then at Australia, deep concern in his eyes. "Are you... on the special brownies again? I've told you to go easy on the stuff, honestly..."
"No, look!" Aussie shouts, holding the sheep up and shaking zir in England's face, which is probably not the most comfortable position for NZ to be in. "It's Z! Ze's a sheep! I mean Z! I mean- Fuck it, CHANGE THEM BACK."
Clearly, England is unconvinced. NZ wracks zir brain for something useful. It would be helpful if there were any of England's fairy friends around, or better yet, a hobbit. However, it appears they've all recognized the danger and gone into hiding. So New Zealand does the only thing a sheep can manage, and bonks heads with England.
"Owe!" England stumbles back, glaring at the sheep. "Why you..." And that's when he sees the thing's eyes, glaring right back at him with that all-knowing, all-mocking look New Zealand's so fond of. "Oh Dear Lord. That is Z."
"Right, right, good, you've got it!" Australia says fast, pushing into the house with New Zealand in his arms. "Now hurry up! Change zir back!
"Ba-bah!" says New Zealand, squirming in Aussie's grip to get loose. Once ze does, ze tramps around England's feet, trying to get him to understand the importance of the situation. Then ze stops and stares up. England's eyebrows look tasty. There's so much of them, and they look like old grass. Just a nibble...no. Bad sheep, baaad!
"We'll fix this," England swears, just happy for something to keep him awake. "Let me get my books. And my crystals. Oh! And the symbol chalk. Mustn't forget that. And the pickled frogs' eyes. And some tea. You'll put the kettle on, won't you?"