The Wolf in Noble's Clothing

[Fukurou]

@DragonSong

Vincent plopped himself on a log by the campfire, cradling his head in his hands as he let out a long sigh. How long had it been since he's seen a town, he found himself wondering. How long has it been since he's slept in a normal bed, eaten normal ford or had a normal conversation? He looked up, his striking violet eyes gazing stupidly into the lapping flames of the fire. He felt so very tired, so very hungry, and so very lonely.

"Gods, why?" he murmured to himself as he rubbed the temples of his aching head. His stomach growled angrily and he looked to the dead squirrel that lay by his feat. He dreaded gutting that disgusting rodent almost as much as he dreaded eating it. The longer he stared at the limp, lifeless creature, the more he could feel the hot flames of anger well up inside of him. Why him? Why this? He should be home sleeping under silken sheets, not huddle by a fire in the dirt. This isn't fair, this isn't fair, "THIS ISN'T FUCKING FAIR!" As Vincent shot up from his feet, so did the fire shoot into the air, only to die down just as the echoes of the mage's voice disappeared into the darkness. He stood like a statue, fists in the air and eyes wide with a flurry of emotions, before letting out a defeated huff and sinking back down onto the log by the fire. "This... isn't fair."

[DragonSong]

If Bay wandered away from her one more time, she was going to have a heart attack, she knew it.

"You can't do this!" Jo had ahold of her pup by the scruff of his neck, glowering at him. The little black wolf whined placatingly and licked her chin, mismatched eyes wide and innocent.

"Oh, don't give me that look. You know you have to stay with me, Bay, how many times do we have to-"

Before she could get the words fully out of her mouth a sudden shout ripped through the air. Both her and her son's heads snapped toward the sound, nostrils flaring in an effort to catch the scent of whoever had yelled.

For a brief moment Josie relaxed her grip on Bay and the pup took advantage to wriggle out of her grip and scamper off, toward the sound.

"Bay, no!" She fell forward into her wolf form and took off after him. Unfortunately, small and clumsy as her pup might be, he had quickly learned the value of dodging through places too small for his mother to follow.

It took her far too long to catch him. By the time her teeth clamped down on his scruff they were skidding into the edge of the firelight, Josie's icy eyes wide as she panted and scrabbled to get her paws under her so she could run.

[Fukurou]

His eyes wide and alert, Vincent's head shot up towards the sound of the rustling. His expression softened as he saw a wolf and her pup come skidding to a halt at the edge of the campsite.

"Tch, Wolves," Vincent slouched back down and turned his eyes back to the fire. "Figures. Gods know the only creature that could suffer my company any more are fucking wolves." He shook his head as he laughed bitterly before locking gazes with the female wolf. The man placed his elbows on his knees as leaned in closer to study the wolf.  "Blue eyes. How peculiar." There was something oddly familiar about them. Something oddly... human. It didn't matter, it was still a wolf. Vincent let out a long sigh as his eyes went from the wolf, to the dead squirrel, and back to the wolf. "Here," he gently tossed the squirrel to the wolf. "You can have this. I'm not going to hurt you."

[DragonSong]

Josie immediately tried to skitter back, eyes wide as she stared at the man. No. No, not quite a man. Or not just a man. A wolf. Like her.

But...why couldn't he smell her? She supposed it was possible he was a bitten, unused to his powers. But that just made him more dangerous. They needed to get out of here-

Bay wriggled and whined as the squirrel was tossed their way, but she clamped down on his scruff with a growl, starting to back away slowly, just in case the other wolf changed his mind and decided to attack.

Then suddenly her pup didn't have a scruff to hold onto, dropping onto very human all fours. The change seemed to have stunned him slightly- he couldn't even really walk as a human, much less scamper about as he did as a wolf- and he immediately started crying.

Well, what could she do? Jo shifted, gathering her son up in her arms and trying to soothe him with kisses and little rocks back and forth. Her impulsive change earlier had left her with no clothes and she huddled in on herself, trying to scootch back from the man by the fire while still clutching her child to her chest.

[Fukurou]

Vincent let out a suprised yelp and fell backwards out of his seat, landing with a dull umph. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and gaped at the pair of naked humans before them.

"Y-you!" he bellowed, his voice breaking with shock. "Werewolf! And... Your baby? Huh?""

[DragonSong]

Josephine snarled, cradling Bay's head against her shoulder as she finally managed to get to her feet and back up a few paces.

"Yes," she snapped. "And you. What are you doing out here? Where's your pack?" Her eyes flickered around warily. Bay was finally starting to calm down, sniffling and peering curiously at the man.

[Fukurou]

The flames reflected off of Vincent's wide eyes as he continued to gape at the woman before him. "Huh? Me? Pack? What?" He slowly shook his head as the look of shock in his eyes melted away and was replaced by exhaustion and defeat. "No, no no..." Vincent brought his knees up to his chest and hugged his legs as he curled up into a ball. "This isn't right. This isn't me. What is happening?"

[DragonSong]

Definitely a bitten. She'd met one or two since she'd left home, but she always moved on quickly. They weren't worth the trouble.

Well. Other wolves in general weren't really worth the trouble.

"You tell me," she snapped at him, taking another step back. "All I know is we hear shouting, then suddenly Bay takes off like a bat out of- what are you doing out here?" She held her pup a little tighter and he squirmed in protest.

[Fukurou]

With watery eyes, Vincent bared his teeth and slammed his fists onto the ground."What do you THINK I'm doing out here?" His voice cracked and his body shook as tears streamed down his cheeks. "I don't have a home..." he said with almost a whisper. "I don't have anywhere left to go. I have... nothing."

[DragonSong]

Bay tipped in surprise and Jo skittered back a step. She shivered slightly, only then really remembering her state of undress.

Her eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth. "No one has a home out here, stranger." At least he only had himself to worry about- Bay had started shivering slightly and she ran her hands over his back and arms, cuddling him closer in an attempt to keep him warm.

She snorted and shook her head. "Find a pack, bitten. They will help you."

[Fukurou]

"Bitten," he spat bitterly as he wiped away the tears on his face. Vincent knew close to nothing about werewolves, but from what he gathered from the woman's tone of voice, even they wouldn't be welcoming to a creature like him.

"Are you here just to harass me or something?" He glared up at the woman, too shaken and angry to care about her current state of nudity. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

[DragonSong]

"I told you," Jo snapped back. "Bay heard you shouting and ran off. I didn't mean to...come here..."

Her pup wiggled a bit and whimpered and she kissed the side of his head absently. It was too damn cold. She had no flint, no food.

And the bitten had a fire. Her eyes flickered to the flames longingly, though she tried to hide it. With a reluctant sigh, she dropped her eyes and mumbled, "Here, take this back. You'll probably need it." She bent and nudged the squirrel toward him.

Bay whimpered again and she felt her heart breaking. Her baby was hungry- she needed to hunt, but she didn't know where she could put him where he'd be safe.

[Fukurou]

Vincent push himself back up onto the log. "Well, no one's keeping you here..." He let out a long, weary sigh as he ran both hands through his messy russet hair. "So you can leave." He stared into the fire, its light exaggerating the gaunt shadows on his face and the dark circles under his eyes. His mind was numb from exhaustion and hunger, so he payed no mind to the woman and her baby until she pushed the squirrel back over to him. Vincent's eyes trailed from the small small, back up to the woman and pup. He was so very hungry, but the woman had a child to worry about and Vincent couldn't quite bring himself to eat another rodent.

"It's fine," he said, kicking the squirrel back over to the mother. "I ate just recently. Take it."

[DragonSong]

"I..." She looked from him to the squirrel and back, then slowly sank down into a crouch. Bay was still held close to her chest, but she'd loosened her grip slightly.

"Is this all you could catch?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head.

[Fukurou]

"No," He lied. "I caught other things. Seriously." He gave the woman a thin smile. "Don't worry about it."

[DragonSong]

"If-" Oh gods, she almost couldn't believe the words were coming out of her mouth. "If we could share your fire... In the morning, I could hunt. Find bigger game."

Bay sniffed, twisting in an attempt to better see the squirrel. He wriggled enough that she finally relented and allowed him to climb from her arms, but she kept a hand lightly on his back as he crawled toward "dinner".

[Fukurou]

"If you're not too afraid of the bitten, then sure..."

Vincent paused for a moment, glancing from the lady, to the fire, then back to the lady.

"You must be cold." He took off his tattered velvet coat and held it out in front of him. "I'd offer you something better, but... well, this is all I have."

[DragonSong]

Jo stared at him for a moment in silence, then carefully took the coat. "Thank you." Slipping it on, she glanced from Bay to the squirrel and then back to their host.

"I'm not... Bitten is not a bad thing," she mumbled after a moment, feeling like she had to defend her actions for some reason. "I am just...wary. I have to protect him."

Apparently deciding it was too cold away from his mother, Bay got to his feet and toddled back to her, falling into her open arms with a wide smile and burrowing into the coat.

[Fukurou]

"No," He slowly shook his head. "It is a bad thing... I... I don't blame you. Oh-- ah, name's Vincent, by the way. Vincent Chandler Dolloway head of of House Dolloway." Vincent deflated a little as he averted his eyes. "Er--former head of house Dolloway."

[DragonSong]

"...Josie." She shifted Bay onto her hip and held out her hand cautiously. "Josephine. This is Bayard."

"Bay," her son said proudly, still unused to human ways of speaking. He waved. "Hi."

Jo smiled and nuzzled his head. She eyed Vincet over his head. "Bitten isn't bad," she repeated firmly. "How long ago did it happen?"