Something had either gone incredibly wrong, or incredibly right, and Ernest Hamstead was uncomfortable with the fact that he didn't know which was the case.
It had been a long and weird past few weeks, ever since Mayor Charming had given the order to stop the Wolf. The police department had tried countless methods to find, stop, talk to, or possibly kill, the Wolf, but he was too cunning, sly, desperate, and, frankly, animalistic, for them.
They hadn't truly thought that this final confrontation would turn in their favor. It had been a last ditch effort to use a weapon that none of them understood at all. They hadn't thought that it would work, but it looked like it miraculously had, just not in any way that they could have foreseen. The Wolf was gone, and someone new was in its place.
"...What just happened?" Jed Boarman asked the question that was on all of their minds.
"I think we won." Ernest said, though he wasn't sure about that.
"What do we do now?" Alvin Swinehart asked, and that was what Ernest himself wondered about. The Wolf was gone, but this was far from over. Clutching the deceptively innocent looking kazoo in his hand, Ernest took a step forward. He didn't make a lot of noise, but the figure in front of him flinched and whirled around. Ernest couldn't help but flinch himself.
He and the old man kneeling in the middle of the street just stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. Ernest was sure that he had never seen this man before, at least not like this. However, there was a suspicion in the back of his mind that seemed impossible, but was also the only logical conclusion he could come to.
"...Wolf?" Ernest took another step forward. There was no flash of recognition or anger in the man's eyes. He still just stared at him. "Is that you?" This frail, almost pathetic and sad looking old man couldn't possibly be the dangerous Wolf. But at the same time, Ernest knew that animal Everafters could take on a human form to blend in with society, and he'd never seen such a thing from the Wolf. The beast had vanished so suddenly, and this man had come out of nowhere. Who else was he supposed to be?
Several subtle emotions flashed through the old man's eyes. Caution, confusion, and something that resembled panic. None of those were emotions that he'd ever seen from the Wolf. Ernest didn't think that anybody had.
"I-I don't know." The old man said in a quiet voice that definitely didn't suit the Wolf. The poor man looked around, looking more and more panicked by the second. "Who…I don't…" He let out a whine that sent shivers down Ernest's spine, just because it was the first hint of the Wolf he'd seen from the man.
He quickly got over his fear, because it was hard to fear this old man the same way he'd feared the Big Bad Wolf. This poor man just looked lost. Ernest sighed and pushed down his instinctive fear. He approached the man, keeping just out of arm's reach of him.
"Do you know who you are?" Ernest asked. The man shook his head, and Ernest couldn't help but believe him. "Do you know who I am?"
The old man eyed him carefully, studying him in a way that actually did feel similar to the Wolf's gaze, though it wasn't as devious and hungry. "A cop." Not 'Pig', which was all the Wolf had called them. The beast hadn't considered them people worth respecting.
Ernest had considered that this might be a trick by the Wolf, to catch them off guard, but those fears went out the window at this point. The Wolf was cunning, yes, but he was also proud and angry. No matter what his plan was, the Wolf wouldn't call Ernest and his companions anything except for 'Pig', except perhaps 'Lunch'.
"My name is Ernest Hamstead." He introduced himself. Taking a chance, he held out his hand. He heard Jed and Alvin behind him take in an anxious breath. They were all waiting for the Wolf to lash out and attack them, or try to take the weapon back.
The old man stared at the offered hand for a long moment before he accepted it. He didn't so much as look at the kazoo. He really didn't know who he was. Ernest released the breath he was holding as he pulled the old man to his feet. The man's hand felt as frail as the rest of him looked, but his grip was firm. It wasn't painful, but it teased the strength that this man still had. Memories or not, he was still the Wolf.
"I'd introduce myself, but I don't even know who I am." The old man said with forced casualness.
"Don't worry about it." Ernest said. The old man looked around, eyeing the damage that their scuffle had caused.
"What happened here?" The old man asked.
"It's a long story." Alvin said. The old man looked at him and Alvin in shock, like he hadn't even realized that they were there. He looked at their outfits, his eyes narrowing.
"Am I in trouble?" The old man asked.
"Yes." Jed said automatically.
"No." Alvin said just as quickly. The three pigs all stared at each other. None of them knew what they were supposed to do. They needed time to figure it out. Ernest looked back to the old man.
"We don't really know yet." Ernest said slowly. "Would you be willing to come into the station with us?" He didn't know what he would do if the old man said no. The Wolf was too dangerous to be left on his own, but could he really be considered the Wolf if he didn't know who he was? But it wouldn't feel right to arrest somebody who, in a way, had never done anything wrong.
The old man tilted his head in an almost dog-like manner. "Can you help me find answers?"
"We'll do what we can." Ernest said. After all, they wanted answers too.
The old man nodded. He let Ernest lead him inside the police station, though he seemed tense that Jed and Alvin were coming behind them. The old man frequently looked over his shoulder anxiously, like he was scared of them being a threat. Maybe the Wolf was peeking through, and he didn't like being cornered.
Ernest brought the old man to a cell, giving him an apologetic look. "Me and my friends need a few minutes to talk. It shouldn't take too long, but we can't really have you running off on us." If they had another room that they could lock, Ernest would put the old man there, but this small police station didn't give them a lot of options to work with.
The old man looked cautious, and Ernest couldn't really blame him. "Is there something I can do to make you more comfortable? Are you hungry?" He really hoped that the old man didn't snarl deviously and say that he wanted some bacon.
The old man wrapped his arms around himself and sat on the cot in the cell. "...Water?" He looked down at himself. "And some clothes."
Ernest blinked. He'd been so busy trying to wrap his head around the fact that the Wolf had turned into an innocent old man, he hadn't even noticed that he wasn't wearing any clothes.
"O-of course." Ernest said. He hurried to their office to look for a spare uniform that they had sitting around. It wouldn't fit the old man, but it should be able to give him some modesty. He tucked the secret weapon into a drawer, and went to find a water bottle. Alvin kept an eye on the old man, and Jed followed him around.
"Why are you accommodating this guy?" Jed asked. "He's not a guest."
"He's not a prisoner either." Ernest said. "At least, not yet."
"He's the Wolf." Jed said.
"Right now he's just a confused old man." Ernest said. He brought the stuff back to the cell. The old man still looked uncomfortable, but he was grateful for the offering.
"I know it's not the most comfortable of accommodations, but hopefully it'll just be temporary." Ernest said. "We'll be right back." The three pigs returned to the front of the station where they began to speak in hushed voices.
"What is going on?" Alvin asked. "Is he really the Wolf?"
"He has to be." Jed said.
"I think so too." Ernest said. "But he doesn't know who he is."
"What kind of magic was in that kazoo?" Alvin asked. None of them were experts in magic. It had probably been a mistake to mess with that kind of power, but it had paid off. They had no way of knowing what kind of consequences would come from it. In Ernest's experience, magic always came with a price.
"We could ask The Three." Jed suggested. Ernest immediately felt like that was a bad idea. Magic may be too much for him to understand, but he thought it was too dangerous to be basically monopolized by three people in the whole town. The police department may be in the mayor's pocket just as much as The Three were, but that didn't mean that he needed to trust them.
"I think the weapon needs to stay between us." Ernest said. "What if this kind of power is strong enough to break through the barrier? That kind of power is too dangerous for word to get out." Both Jed and Alvin nodded in agreement. The last thing any of them wanted was a riot.
"What do we do with the Wolf then?" Alvin asked. "We're not really going to arrest him, are we?"
"Why not?" Jed asked. "The beast has hurt people."
"But if he doesn't remember doing any of it, and there's no indication that he'll do more in the future, what good will locking him up do?" Ernest asked. The others fidgeted, looking just as uncomfortable as he was. They'd all been prepared to lock the Wolf up like the wild animal that he was, but the man waiting in the cell was not that beast. He didn't deserve to be chained and caged.
"Even if he's not the Wolf now, what if he becomes the Wolf again later?" Jed asked. "We can't just let him go free."
"It would be cruel." Alvin nodded. "He has no memory. No belongings. No home. It would just be setting the man up for homelessness."
"And prosecution, the second that people find out who he is." Ernest said. The town was understandably scared of the Big Bad Wolf, but he didn't think it would be fair for the people to take their fear out on the man that the Wolf had become. It would be like the situation with the Grimm family all over again, except, unlike the Grimms, the old man would have no allies.
Ernest didn't think he had ever felt so out of his depth in his time as sheriff. He had a duty to protect the people, which was why they'd gone after the Wolf in the first place, but now that Wolf was somebody that needed that protection himself.
He wanted more time to figure out where to go from here, but then the front door slammed open and Mayor Charming let himself in.
"Hamstead." Charming sneered down at them. Ernest felt like a fool, like he always did when he was in the prince's presence. "I hope you have some good news for me about the little request I gave you."
Ernest didn't think there was anything little about being ordered to take on the Wolf. It couldn't even be considered a request. He wasn't about to argue with the mayor about pedantry though.
"Everything is under control, sir." Ernest said.
"Really?" The mayor gave them condescending looks of disbelief. "Where's the Wolf?"
Ernest didn't want to say anything, and both Jed and Alvin stayed silent, but he couldn't help but glance towards the back cell. Of course, Charming caught his gaze. His eyes widened in surprise.
"He's back there?" Charming stepped past them and went to the cell, suddenly stopping in his tracks when he saw the old man sitting in the cell. "What is this?"
Ernest cleared his throat. "It's the Wolf."
Charming's eyes flashed with fury as he rounded on Ernest. "Do not play games with me, Pig. I have been more than patient with you incompetent fools thus far, and I will not tolerate such a blatant lie. I demand respect."
There was a low growl from the cell. They all turned to see the old man glaring furiously at the mayor. He prowled towards the bars, his eyes flashing a bright blue.
"Bold of you to demand something that you refuse to give." The old man said. "If you want respect, earn it." His voice didn't sound exactly like the Wolf's, but there was a hint of it there. It was enough to convince Charming.
"You would never understand respect, you filthy mongrel." Even though the old man was taller than the mayor, Charming still seemed to look down on him. The old man's nostril's flared. He was looking more and more like the Wolf, but he wasn't attacking. The old man was angry, but it was a rational anger that the calmest of men felt when they were face to face with Charming.
"If somebody feels the need to degrade those around them and call them animals, I wonder who truly doesn't understand respect?" The old man said evenly. He didn't shout, or growl, but his cold chilling tone unnerved Charming all the same.
The mayor glared at Ernest. "Take care of him." He turned and practically strutted out of the room. Ernest had seen this kind of thing from Charming before. Little mattered more to the mayor than his image. If he felt that he was losing face, he would take a tactical retreat and convince himself that he wasn't running. It wasn't surprising that the Wolf could bring that kind of reaction out of the prince, but Ernest was shocked at how easily and calmly he was able to do so.
"D-did the Wolf just defend us?" Jed asked. He finally seemed to be believing that while this old man was the Wolf, he was also someone new.
"The 'Wolf' can hear you just fine, and would appreciate it if you would talk to him instead of about him." The old man said grumpily. He sounded irritated, but nowhere near as furious as the Wolf could get. In comparison, it just felt like this old man was pouting. "Why do you call me that?"
"W-well, that's who you are." Ernest said. "At least, it's what you are."
The old man just blinked. "You're not serious."
Ernest wasn't exactly eager to bring the Wolf back out, but the old man had a right to know who he was. Besides, if this old man could actually control and contain the wolf, maybe he'd have an easier time doing so if he knew just who he was trying to restrain.
"Maybe we can show you." Ernest allowed his transformation to come over him. It was usually a humiliating thing to do, but he didn't feel that shame creeping in on him now. It was difficult to feel shame about being an animal when he was only in the company of other animals, even if one of those animals was the monstrous Wolf.
The old man's eyes went wide when he saw Ernest, but his gaze lacked the 'my world is being turned on its head' look that people had when they found out about Everafters.
"I feel like I should be surprised." The old man said. "Why am I not surprised?"
Ernest, Jed, and Alvin all looked at each other. The old man didn't have his memories, but there had to be at least a subconscious knowledge. At least instinctively, he knew what he was.
"Because you can do this too." Ernest said. "Well, you can't turn into a pig. You're a-"
"Wolf." The old man looked down at his hands, as though he was looking for fur or claws. "It sounds wrong, but it feels…" He trailed off, closing his eyes. Ernest stiffened when he saw the shift begin to come to the old man. He was changing. Alvin backed up and Jed hurried to get the weapon, just in case. Ernest stayed where he was and kept a close eye on the man in the cell.
The transformation wasn't as smooth as it maybe should be. There was a visible struggle, and it made Ernest uncomfortable, though he didn't know why. The old man's limbs stretched and grew darker and harrier. The more wolfish he became, the more anxious Ernest felt. Maybe this was a mistake.
The Wolf finished transforming with a pained howl. It sent shivers down Ernest's spine, but it also seemed to lift a weight off his chest. It sounded from the Wolf's usual cries of fury.
The Wolf curled in on himself, breathing deeply. Slowly, he uncurled and looked at Ernest. His eyes weren't the vibrant blue that belonged to the Wolf. They were the dull gray that the old man had.
"I feel weird." It was odd to hear the old man's tone in the Wolf's voice.
"What do you mean?" Ernest asked.
"Something…something's fighting me." The old man looked at his paws.
Ernest was both relieved and worried. "Do you think it's a fight you're going to lose?"
The old man was still for a long moment before he shook his head. "Control is mine."
It was a nice thought, but Ernest had to see it for himself. "Can you shift back?" Ernest asked. He demonstrated, returning to his human form. "It can be uncomfortable, like pushing down an important part of you, but it's important."
The old man took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. For a tense moment it seemed like nothing was going to happen, but then the shift began to happen. It took longer than the first change, and it looked even more painful, but a minute later he saw the Old man standing before him again. He looked exhausted, but there was no hint of the Wolf he had just locked away. It was an incredible sight.
"You really do have control." Ernest said in awe. This was what had clenched his decision. He took the keys to the cell and unlocked it, letting the old man out just as Jed returned with the weapon.
"What are you doing?" Jed asked cautiously.
"I don't think he's a threat." Ernest said.
"So we're just letting him loose?" Jed didn't exactly sound like he wanted to argue against it, he just wasn't as confident as Ernest was.
"Not exactly." Ernest said. He didn't think the old man deserved to be locked up, but he thought it would be best to keep a close eye on him, just so that they knew for sure that he wasn't dangerous.
The police force was too busy to keep a constant eye on the old man, but they weren't the only ones who had sworn to protect the people of this town.
"I hope you're up to meeting some friends of ours." Ernest said to the old man. "I think we need to take a trip to see the Grimms."