As James continued walking, a very faint sound caught his attention. Had he been in his wolf form, an ear would have twitched as he turned to look towards the source of the "noise." He began walking silently towards it, using the trees as cover since the path he was walking on had long been beaten into a ditch of sorts where the treeline sloped up from it on one side and sloped down on the other
Arthur padded further, stopping slightly when he smelled something on the breeze. Ears twitching warily he kept on, keeping his rhythm so as to not alert who or what was out there. His eyes scanned the trees as he walked, watching, listening. Wonder what's out there….. he thought.
James came up on a hill where the path became level again, and for a moment he almost reconsidered showing himself. But he quickly stamped the thought from his mind, telling himself that he could kill anything that might try and attack him. So he made himself known, walking up onto the hill with his eyes flicking across the horizon, watching for anything out there
Arthur padded down into a low valley, his sense of alertness going on full as he descended, knowing that anything out there would have a better chance of seeing his red fur. Let's just hope it's not another manticore…. he thought shuddering at the memory of the encounter.
James' eyes widened briefly when he heard the crunch of leaves nearby, snapping around to find something moving a ways away through the shade the trees provided. He turned towards them, eyes narrowed dangerously, pupils near slit as he debated shifting forms. He was enormous as a wolf, bigger than a natural one and bigger than a werewolf, so it wasn't like he would be in danger. So with the creak of what sounded like the soft splitting of wood and bone he shifted forms
Arthur froze when he heard a slight creaking, What the heck?? he had never heard a sound like that before. He tensed slightly his eyes searching stopping when they caught sight of movement further off. He knew he could take a bear, or even a moutain cat. He turned, hoping his size wouldn't give him away.
(Note that Arthur is abnormally large too… like proportionately the size of a hippogriff?)
(alright, that would make James just slightly bigger than Arthur)
James began padding silently towards the figure, black fur blending with the shadows, the only telltale sign he was there his glowing blue eyes and the glint of crystalline blue horns. Flames often trailed from his fur, but he had done away with them for the purpose of stealth for the time being. Though he was less trying not to be seen and more trying to intimidate whatever might be down the path
Arthur shifted, now in a crouch on the ground, his left hand twitched, and the metal band on his wrist became a jagged edged sabre. I won't fight… but I will defend… he thought, eyes trained on the moving figure in the trees. His hood was over his head, shadowing his face, causing his eyes to glint eeriely.
Slowly, James crept out of the shadows, a break in the trees illuminating his figure. He allowed the wisps of flames to take form now, small ribbons of them trailing from his fur in brief patches. His fur bristled, but he seemed unphased by the discovery of Arthur or the weapon he held
Arthur kept his ground, studying the creature. It appeared to ba a wolf, but unlike any he'd seen before. Noting the flames, and the confident movement he held his place. Silence ensued as their eyes locked.
James stayed standing for a moment, a growl rumbling in his throat as he stood. But eventually he grew bored of standing, and his figure creaked and snapped again before he returned to his human form. "State your intent, or I'll eat you before you can take two steps," he commanded, voice somewhat smooth and a tad cold
Arthur blinked in surprise when he saw the other shift. A halfblood? Slowly he rose, his blade returning to it's earlier state on his wrist. "My name's Arthur." he said it calmly, his voice emotionless. "I was simply passing through, nothing more, nothing less." His face was still shadowed by his hood, but his green eyes glinted.
"Not with a blade like that, you weren't," James replied, eyes narrowed at Arthur as he spoke. He was getting tempted to just kill him, not wanting to chance it if he ended up being properly dangerous. But for now he would be patient, not act just yet
"Defense" stated Arthur simply, keeping his tone even. "I wasn't sure if you'd be someone I could reason with," he flipped back his hood, figuring it make him seem less threatening. "I ran into a manticore about two weeks ago, and walked right into it unprepared. Almost got myself killed. I wasn't gonna risk it again." He carefully brushed a lock of his short, messy red hair out of his face.
"A manticore, hm? What possessed you to fight a manticore?" James asked, cocking a brow now as he spoke, his hands propped up on his hips as he made a point of looking Arthur up and down, seemingly assessing him before deciding he couldn't take something like that on
"He attacked me" said Arthur, noting his look, "I ended up killing the freak, but I really don't wanna go through that nastiness again" he said wryly. "And before you say anything I'm a lot stronger then I look"
(Pokey)
(sorry, on and off for school)
"Really now?" James said, a small laugh escaping him as a smile began to spread across his face. "I knew you were coming long before you knew of my presence. For all you know, I'm not alone either," he hummed smugly
No worries! I tend to bump stuff if Im bored, everything's mostly dead, and its been more than an hour since the last post..))
"Figures" said Arthur, "Which would be why I was prepped to fight." He changed position relaxing a little. "So what's your business in this area?"
(yeah sorry, I'll be online a lot more for the next two hours or so but I'll be sorta on and off later)
"My business is my own. But if you must now, my pack are occupying themselves in the nearby town and I felt no need to join them," James answered, his hands folding behind his back again out of attained habit
(Unfortunately I must go in about an hour and a half, and won't be back for about 4 hrs after that… Usually this time of day is my best time, either that or the time from about 10ish to noon.)
Arthur watched him carefully, "If you don't mind me asking.. But what kind of pack are you?" he looked the other over again, trying to figure it out, "I've seen just about every type of wolf there is, and I've never once come across a halfblood like you."
(it's all good)
James chuckled again at that. "Halfblood, hm? Is that what you think I am?" he asked. There was another creaking and snapping as he changed form, and when he spoke again his voice had taken on a low, dark and frighteningly smooth tone. "We are the nightmares children taunt their parents with. We are the dead who never truly died." In the light like this, the darkened patches of fur where his burn scars were in his human form were more evident
Arthur didn't flinch. "If you're trying to scare me I've seen much worse." he said, "And not to be rude I still have no clue what you are."
James only chuckled again before shifting back to human. "We are werewolves, of sorts. Former witches, escapees, rejects and mutants. Things society didn't want anymore," he answered
"Interesting" said Arthur, watching as the other shifted again. "Never heard of a werewolf before."
Nor have I
And you need to learn how to stay the fuck outta my life he thought back tartly, not showing any outward reaction.