~Werewolf~

When they had entered the forest, the sun had already disappeared, so they were guessing that the time was around eight. The moon happened to be full that night, which only helped with the eeriness of the adventure. They had to keep in mind, however, that the forest could be very dangerous, but luckily they hadn't run into anything like that, at least not yet.

The group for four had also realized that the forest was larger than they had first thought, so they figured that it would be alright to walk in any direction, because forest spirits could likely be anywhere. "So, what kind of creatures do you think we might find here?" Sieglinde asked.

Ciel only shrugged. "We could find anything here, really."

Lizzie thought. "It's possible that we might meet some traditional Halloween figures here, like Vampires or Werewolves."

"Or maybe a Grim Reaper, or zombies." Alois added, also wondering what might lurk inside the forest.

"Maybe I might meet another witch." Sieglinde added.

Ciel nodded. "That's possible."

Sieglinde hadn't met another witch in forever, and she was still on her lifelong journey to finally find one which she could share her common interests with. As the group was walking, Alois accidently tripped over something. Luckily he didn't trip all the way. "What the-" Alois picked up the object and observed it.

He couldn't really make out what it was in the dark, but it looked to be a bone of some sort, and it looked bigger than a normal bone should have been. "What is it?" Lizzie asked.

Alois blinked, observing it further. "I'm not sure, but it looks like some kind of bone."

Ciel took a look at the object in question. "That's probably most likely."

"But, if it is a bone, then what creature might it be from?" Lizzie asked.

"I have no idea, but I think we should keep it, to remember this night."

After that, it was settled. Alois was going to be carrying that bone all night long. However, as they were walking away, a pair of glowing red eyes was watching them, and a shadow started following them amongst the trees.

Alois had to admit that the bone was a bit heavy, but he was still determined to carry it through the night. It wasn't exactly what he would call back breaking, but it basically bordered it. "Do you need any help?" Sieglinde asked, noticing that he was struggling.

"Of course not. I'll be just fine." Alois had a habit of refusing an offer at first, but then after he realized he needed help, he would accept.

Sieglinde sighed. "If you say so."

All of a sudden, they could hear a sound in the distance. "Awooooo!"

The sounds of howling animals rang in the air. "Do you think that might have been a werewolf?" Lizzie asked, unsure.

Ciel sighed. "It could have been anything. Let's just keep moving."

The group agreed, and they were about to keep going, if it wasn't for a low growling coming from behind them. They all turned and their eyes widened as they saw two eyes glowing red and what appeared to be a scrunched up dog snout. "Just stand still and don't move." Sieglinde whispered to the group.

The beast slowly approached them, growling lowly. Seeing as the spirit wasn't going to leave them alone, Sieglinde decided to try something different. She cupped her hands together and a ball of light started forming between them. The ball of light kept getting bigger. "Geist Verschwinden!"

She released the ball of light and it hit the monster directly between the eyes, temporarily blinding it. "Everyone, run!" The group didn't hear as a little whimper escaped the wolf's mouth and he looked almost on the brink of tears. The wolf decided to chase after them, figuring that it would be good exercise. Besides, they were carrying his favorite toy with them.

The group of friends was in the middle of catching their breaths, assuming they had lost the wolf spirit. "Is it chasing us?" Lizzie asked, still catching her breath.

Ciel looked in the direction they came, while also catching his breath. "It doesn't seem like it. Maybe it stopped for good."

"I wouldn't be saying that just yet, but I think we're safe for now." Sieglinde said.

"Well, what are we going to do if it ever comes back?" Lizzie asked.

"That's easy," Sieglinde turned to Alois "Get rid of the bone."

Alois's eyes widened. "What do you mean get rid of the bone?"

"Obviously, that is what got it's attention in the first place. If you get rid of it, it likely won't chase us."

"B-But, this is a souvenir, so that we could remember tonight."

Ciel sighed. "I am sure that will happen one way or another, so just get rid of it."

"Hey, I'll be the one to carry it, so you all don't have to worry about a thing."

All he received were dark looks from Ciel and Sieglinde. "Either you get rid of that bone or I will." Ciel threatened.

Alois tensed. "How can you say that?"

"Do you want to get eaten by some wolf demon tonight?" Sieglinde asked, pointing in the direction from which they came.

"Of course not, but I need this bone, and I won't give it up."

"GET RID OF THE BONE!" Ciel and Sieglinde yelled in unison.

"You all shouldn't be yelling like that, you could attract the wolf to us." Lizzie pointed out.

Sieglinde sighed. "Alois, either you get rid of that bone or we're leaving you here in the middle of this forest."

"Y-You can possibly mean that."

"Well, it seems that all you care about is that stupid bone, and the rest of us don't want to get eaten, so make your choice."

Alois was unable to say anything further, due to a loud, ground shaking noise behind them. The wolf monster came charging after them, so Lizzie did the only thing that she thought would work. "Oh, give me that!" She said, taking the bone from Alois and throwing it at the wolf.

With success, the wolf caught the bone in it's mouth and started chewing on it, and the group decided to take this as an opportunity to flee.

Once they were sure that the wolf had left them alone, the group decided to continue on their normal journey. "But what if the bone didn't work?" Lizzie asked.

"Then we'll have to try something else, but it's highly unlikely that the wolf will come after us again, so we might not have to worry about it." Sieglinde answered.

Lizzie sighed. "That's a relief. I was afraid we would have no means to defend ourselves this time."

"Well you do have your sword." The young witch pointed out.

"Well, yes, that is true, but it's dark and this wolf is awfully big."

"Alright then, we'll improvise."

Unbeknownst to the group, the wolf was following them, except this time, he wasn't angry, he was following them curiously, wanting to know more about them. He too knew the fate of the trick-or-treaters of the forest and had no intent of scaring them. They had just taking his favorite bone, and now, he wanted to apologize to them. The team stopped in their tracks once more, not due to angry growling, but due to sad whimpering.

They turned around to see the wolf, giving them all curious looks. They froze for a second, but then they started to relax once they realized that the wolf wasn't there to harm them. "It's alright boy." Sieglinde cooed as she approached the wolf.

Lizzie clutched her sword and the three of them tensed, watching their friend approach the monster. The young witch was able to pet the wolf's muzzle and it immediately took a liking to her. "That's a good boy." She said as she continued to pet the giant white wolf.

It licked her face and she only laughed. The young witch noticed the color around it's neck, so she read the name off of it, with the help of the moonlight. "Pluto, huh?"

The other three figured that they could approach as well, so they slowly walked over and started petting the wolf. It licked Lizzie a few times and she couldn't help but smile, but when it tried to lick Ciel, he only batted it's tongue away. They all found that the wolf was rather peaceful. "So, I've been thinking. Maybe all this wolf wants is to give us candy." Lizzie said.

"How could a wolf possibly give us anything of the sort?" Ciel asked, in doubt.

"All we have to do is say the words." Lizzie pointed out.

Ciel only sighed. "Alright, fine. Let's give it a go everyone."

Alois, Lizzie, Sieglinde, and Ciel all stood together. "Trick-or-Treat!"

The wolf suddenly started to change. It was shrinking and it only kept shrinking until it's form changed completely. The wolf now had the appearance of a human and he had long, white hair up to his shoulders and white ears. "Arf! Arf!"

Despite his human appearance, he still acted a lot like a dog. From seemingly out of nowhere, Pluto pulled out some candy and handed it out to them. "Thank you very much Pluto." Sieglinde said.

Lizzie nodded. "Yes, thank you Pluto. You've been a very good boy."

The happy dog-turned-human looked at Ciel and Alois. "Oh, uh, yes, good boy, Pluto." Alois said as he petted him on the head.

"Yes, we couldn't have done anything without you." Ciel said when it was his turn to speak.

"We all have to go now, but we hope to see you again sometime!"

Pluto gave out a sad look as he watched them leave, and since he didn't want his newfound friends going anywhere without him, he followed. He knew how dangerous the forest could get with the demon around, and he didn't want anything bad happening to the group of friends. Although, the fact that he was following them was quite obvious as he kept making noises such as panting and stepping on branches.

"Um, Pluto, we need to go alone now." Lizzie tried to explain.

Pluto didn't want to leave them alone, however. "We know that we're the first trick-or-treaters that this forest has had in a while, but we can handle it, so you don't have to worry."

Pluto only whimpered in a sad manner, giving them all the puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry boy, but you can't come with us. We don't want you in danger, boy. Do you understand?"

Pluto only whimpered and started walking off in the opposite direction. He really didn't want to leave them all so soon, especially since they were the first in a long while that were actually nice to him. None of the previous trick-or-treaters usually ever figured it out, and it made him sad. He loved Halloween just as much as every other creature in this forest. He sincerely hoped that nothing would happen to them on their journey, because he would never want to forgive himself.

It was a terrible existence watching the demon take everyone's souls, and him being able to do nothing about it. He wanted to at least stay close to them and keep an eye on them, but he had no idea how to do so when they didn't want him guarding them constantly. Pluto figured that they would be wishing for assistance, should the need for it ever arrive. But since he was sent off into the woods alone, he would just have to find other means of protecting these trick-or-treaters.