Stray Werewolf

Teagan laughed with genuine joy, and she sang again. "Hehe. Mano koukar kar-koureouma! Mano kukar kar-koureouma!" She played another flurry of notes, letting the melody fold over itself again and again, before gradually she drew the song to its close. Softer and softer, the music faded out until finally she slid her bow free and let the violin strings go silent. Teagan couldn't help but grin. "It is ocari. You know the language?"

"Not fluently, but my grandmother was ocari. I remember she used to sing just like that, back when I was little. Oh, that music, what a glorious tune." Oliver hummed again, moving his head from side to side, then he sang, "Mano kar, mano kukarm kar-koureoma..." His pronunciation of the words was even better than hers. His tail was wagging slightly, but then he noticed and appeared to get embarrassed, which made it stop.

"It's an ocarian folk song." Teagan shifted her fingers on her violin, silently moving through the repeated patterns of the song, then she lowered the instrument and stared at Oliver. "You don't look ocari."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I don't look ocari? I'm a dog!"

"Haha. You're not a dog. You're a wolf. Different thing." Teagan gestured. "But your name isn't Ocari, and before you changed, I wouldn't have guessed you were anything but Marlander stock. Though who can really tell?"

"Who can really tell, indeed!" Oliver sat back on his haunches, watching her curiously. "Earlier, you could tell I was a werewolf! How?"

Teagan winked and pointed a finger. "Smelled it on you, wolfy boy."

Looking mortified, Oliver lowered his head and tried to sniff at his armpit. "Do I stink that bad? I've been living out here in the wild for... for a few weeks. I try to wash in the river, but I don't have any soap..."

Teagan just laughed. "Ahaha. No, you silly. You still don't get it? Why do I ever bother being subtle?" With care, she put down her violin into its case.

And then she shifted. That same shimmer passed over her body, and fur ran down her arms while her hands twisted into paws, while her nails lengthened into claws. Her long hair melted away into raw magical energy that briefly swirled around her body, as greyish fur rapidly grew to cover her face, neck, and everywhere else. In just a second she suddenly had a snout, pointy ears, big canine teeth, and all sorts of lupine features.

Teagan held the shift halfway—instead of transforming all the way into true wolf form like Oliver had, she maintained an upright bipedal stance even though she mostly otherwise resembled a wolf. Her hands were covered in fur and she had leather pads over her palms, with claws at the tips of fingers, but they were still hands, not paws, and she kept most of her manual dexterity. All her clothes still fit well against her form, even though her body now puffed out with fur. Whereas Oliver's fur was dark grey and even black in some patches, Teagan was lighter in colour—the main shade of her fur hide was still grey, but tinged with orange-brown and the copper hues that her human hair had possessed.

"Woah!!" Oliver lunged backwards, like a startled cat. "You're one of... You're a...! You're a werewolf!"

"Yes. Just like you, wolfy boy. Now you get it?" Teagan's lips pulled back over her snout in a toothy grin. Then she pushed on the deep sense of energy within her, and let her body slip back into human form. Her transformation reversed in an instant, leaving her human again.

Oliver was watching her with a wide-eyed look. "Oh, wow. Another werewolf! Oh. Oh. Wow. Uhh, I have so many questions."

Teagan tightened her cloak around her human body again, then she sat down on the log once more. Silently she beckoned with her hand.

"So many questions." Oliver stared into the fire, and Teagan briefly saw his eyes glint as they reflected the flickering orange light. "You knew I was a werewolf because you could smell me, because you were a werewolf too!"

"Yep."

"What was in that tea you gave me? How did you... force me to transform into a wolf?"

Teagan shrugged. "I told you earlier. That tea is pepper leaves and mango oil. It's a mess on your stomach if you're human, but a wolf's stomach is tougher. So your body will force into wolf form to protect itself. Normal humans just feel a little sick or have a bit of an upset stomach, but werewolves will transform. It's an emergency concoction in case I somehow have trouble transforming normally. I thought you would understand when I offered it, but you didn't." Reaching down to her violin case again, Teagan took out another teabag and held it with two fingers. "This one's the opposite. Onion and grape extract. It'll mess up a wolf's digestive system, and so your body will force back into human form to handle it."

"That sounds useful. Very useful!" Oliver's gaze darted from the teabag, to Teagan, and then back again. "Can I have it?"

"Nah, it's mine." Teagan grinned and dropped the teabag into her case again. "And I think I prefer you like this anyway." She slid off the log and crouched down closer to Oliver. He looked wary at first, but he didn't bite or pull away when she reached out her hand. Then when Teagan began to pat him on the head and back, stroking his fur, he slowly relaxed. "Good wolfy."

"Hmm... ooh." Oliver shivered and his fur puffed out around his body, underneath the ragged cloak draped over his back. "Ok but you said the tea is only for emergencies? Then how do I control the werewolf transformation? You must be able to control it. Just now you changed back and forth like it was nothing."

"It's practice. You are obviously new to being a werewolf, if you don't even know that. And seriously speaking, having to force transformations with this tea is a bad habit. You should practice transforming at will." Teagan continued patting Oliver. His fur was soft and silky smooth, even though overall his body was still thin and gaunt like he had been in human form. "Your fur is so nice! My fur isn't this soft."

"I wouldn't know anything about that," Oliver drily replied, but he didn't take any action to stop Teagan patting him. "Now it all makes sense. You're not a witch then, just a werewolf."

"Yes. Just like you." Teagan grinned, but then she hesitated. "My turn to ask questions. What happened to you? What's your story?"

Oliver was quiet for a long while before he replied. "It's complicated... well, how do I explain this? It's a long story."

Teagan got out of her crouch and instead sat down on the grassy forest floor, leaning back against the fallen log. "I'm listening."

Oliver also sat back on his haunches. "All my life... I came from a family of farmers. My parents, siblings, grandparents, and even my aunt, uncle, and cousins all live on a big farm to the north of Ridgewood. But I... I've always dreamed about doing something else, and maybe living in a big city like Tiwani or Kadrin."

Teagan nodded. "Tiwani's a nice city, especially in the winter and spring. Kadrin is bustle all year around."

"You've been there? Wow. My family thinks I'm silly for wanting to move to the city, but they've been supportive. Or they were. But anyway, living in the city would be quite a jump for me. So for about year now I've been working in the town instead, practicing with living away from my family and in a different environment. That makes sense, right?"

Teagan gestured out over the valley. Night was beginning to fall, but the town of Ridgewood remained visible as lights started to come on across the cluster of buildings. "To some extent. Ridgewood is a small town. Almost a village. It's tiny and quiet compared to the big city."

"I know. But this place has always been my home. I grew up in this valley." Oliver let out a soft huff. "Huh. I'm going off topic. Anyway! Ridgewood's town hall has an archive wing where they store all sorts of old books and relics. It used to be a historical museum and library, but the collection hasn't been maintained for decades, and plenty of records are missing. I got a job as assistant to the archivist to help him sort out all the old stuff. Turns out that I'm surprisingly good with books and references and clerical work."

Teagan nodded again. "Yes?"

Oliver gestured with his paws. "Then... there was this really old book with thick heavy covers made from metal wrapped with weird leather. I couldn't read any of the text, but... it bit me. The book snapped shut on my hand—pinched my fingers and even drew a bit of blood from the metal. And in hindsight, I should have realized it was obviously cursed in some way, just from the evil look of it. I thought I was fine, but a few days later I... on the full moon, I had a terrible fever for days, then I turned into this. A wolf." Oliver was quiet again for a moment. "And... that's it. That's the story of how I became a werewolf. Long story short, a book bit me around one month ago."

Teagan laughed from the abrupt end to Oliver's story, then caught herself. "Woah. Hahaha. Oh. Ok! Thanks for sharing. That's not what I expected at all. I'm sorry that happened to you."

Oliver sighed dramatically. "Huuh! Then when I first turned into a wolf, I... it was like a fever dream. I thought I was in a nightmare. And I may have freaked out and completely trashed my room in a mad panic. I jumped out the window and fled to the barn. And this was in the middle of the night with the full moon, so my father came to see what was going on with all the commotion. He didn't react well to seeing all the chickens spooked by a wolf."

Teagan winced. "Oh no."

"It was... chaotic. He grabbed an axe, and my uncle ran to get the crossbow." Oliver shook his head. "I thought they would understand I wasn't just a wild wolf when I try to talk to them, but no. Let's just say my family life is complicated right now. Half of them think I'm possessed by a demon, and the other half thinks I've been killed and replaced by a changeling that's plotting to eat them all. My eldest brother knows a bit more and he tried to explain lycanthropy to them, but... no one thinks of werewolves as any better than changelings or demons. I've been roughing it out in the woods for these past few weeks."

Teagan nodded understandingly. "Which is why the town has been complaining about a wolf roaming around the outskirts, scavenging through trash bins for scraps. That's you."

Oliver's ears folded flat against his head. "It's not like I had a choice! My family kicked me out of the farm, and I lost my job in the town because half the time I'm stuck as a wolf, and I can't be doing archival work while I'm a wolf. I don't want to be eating the food that people throw out, but I'm not going to starve."

"You could hunt wild game from the forest," Teagan suggested.

"I don't have a bow, and I never learned how to make traps. I was a farmer boy, then an apprentice archivist, but never a hunter or a trapper."

Teagan used a finger to poke Oliver's side, under his ribcage, just enough to make him squirm. "Wolves don't need bows or traps. You've got teeth. Hunt down some deer."

"I don't know how to do that either!"

"Oh."

Oliver shook his head dejectedly. "I thought that being a werewolf, there would be... beastly wolf instincts fighting for control over my mind? But no. It's just me."

"It's just you," Teagan confirmed. "That's how this works. You do have a point—I wouldn't know how to hunt down a deer if you asked me to either. At best I know a little bit about camping, but not real wilderness survival." Teagan reached out to pat Oliver's head again, and his fluffy, furry back underneath his tattered cloak. "You have a crazy story. When I heard about a wolf harassing the town, I thought it was just an overconfident wild wolf that I could scare off. I didn't expect it to be a new werewolf who'd been turned by some cursed old book."

Oliver sighed. He shimmied slightly closer to let Teagan scratch him behind his ears. "It's such a relief to finally have someone to talk to after all these weeks. Someone who understands."

Teagan chuckled. "Hmm. When I offered you the tea, I thought that would be an obvious indication that I knew you were a werewolf. But then you just drank it anyway, because you didn't know that pepper tea would make you change."

"Yes!" Oliver nodded at her. "Sorry about your tent, by the way."

"It's fine. No harm done. I've set it back up. Obviously." Teagan gestured at her tent. "Honestly Oliver, I feel bad for you. You don't know anything about werewolves. About what you are. That's definitely not the usual way lycanthropy is spread."

"What's the usual way?"

"The usual way?" Teagan rubbed her palm against her cheek, then she slid her thumb across the points of her teeth. "By the bite of a werewolf! Grrr!" She bared her teeth at Oliver and growled, but then she grinned. "No but, uh, there's a complex process. If a person wants to become a werewolf, they need to submit a load of application forms. That's followed by a long series of interviews and a mandatory background check."

"What?" Oliver's surprised, wide-eyed expression was becoming a familiar sight. Teagan had found it cute while he was human, and possibly even more so now that he was a wolf. "Did you say, submit application forms and an interview process to become a werewolf? What?! Submit to whom? Is there some werewolf guild? A werewolf secret society?"

Tegan laughed. "Haha. No, you silly... You submit forms to the government. I believe it's imperial documentation code twelve-zero-six. The Marlander Imperial Agency of Magic keeps a close watch on us. Every single werewolf needs to be registered." She put on a serious face. "Since you're new to this, let me warn you—it is extremely illegal to spread lycanthropy."

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, it was... terrifying for me to suddenly turn into a wolf. I agree it should definitely be illegal to turn someone into a werewolf without them knowing!"

Teagan shook her head. "No, no, listen. It's more than that. Spreading lycanthropy is illegal, regardless of the other person's consent. Don't let people know you're a werewolf. And if someone somehow realizes you're a werewolf, do not turn them no matter what they ask. It is very illegal. The imperial government will send hunter squads if they hear about unauthorized spreading of lycanthropy. If you're lucky, you go to jail—if you're unlucky, you get disappeared."

Oliver tilted his head. "Oh. That seems excessively harsh."

"It's the law. Lycanthropy is contagious and needs to be controlled, or so decrees the Emperor and the Imperial Controllers." Teagan raised her right hand and snapped her fingers, and then in an instant she had a wolf's paw instead of a hand. Keeping the rest of her body human, she idly peered at her paw and examined her claws. "Now that you're a werewolf, you'll age at half the normal speed, but not all your life will be as you want. The motions of the lunar cycle will try to dictate whether your body is wolf or human, until you learn to control the shift. And imagine if lycanthropy spread uncontrolled throughout a town or a city—come the next full moon, there would be so many untrained, panicking people running around as wolves. There wouldn't be time for people to learn how to control it—society would collapse."

Oliver's ear flicked. "I see. I suppose it isn't easy to do work when you don't have hands. And society collapsing would be bad."

"Well, that's supposedly why the imperial government makes it a crime to spread lycanthropy. That, and the fact that people just don't like werewolves. But that's the law." Teagan gestured with her wolf paw, then with a wave she shifted back to fully human. "Don't bite anyone, don't spit on anyone, don't kiss anyone, and be careful about sharing drinks or food. It's a lonely life."

"I guess... I guess it's a good thing my family was so paranoid and kicked me out of the house then." Though the dusk air was still warm from the remnant heat of day, Oliver shivered, and his fur puffed out. "I'm an outcast now."

"We're strays in a rough—" Teagan pronounced the word like it was a bark, and she couldn't hold back another grin. "—ruff, uncaring world. Hahahaha."

Oliver glared at her, but he gritted his teeth to hold back a laugh. "I didn't ask for this."

"I know, I know. I didn't ask for this either."

"You didn't? I thought you said... there were application forms and all that to become a werewolf?"

Tegan shook her head. "Not for me. I certainly never requested to be a werewolf."

Oliver watched her. "Oh? Then how...?"

Teagan grinned. "My father was a werewolf, proud and fierce. My mother was also a werewolf, cunning and swift. And they met, and they became friends, and they courted, and then they... had certain intimate relations. They also got married. I'm not quite sure about the order of events, but all these happened. But there was definitely a lot of action, because it's really, really difficult for two werewolves to have a kid. And that's another reason why there would be societal collapse if too many people became werewolves. Demographics and stuff."

Oliver blinked but said nothing.

Teagan made a fist with one hand, then she stuck her other index finger through. "When you've got two werewolves, there's interference with the lycanthropy magic or something that make it really hard to conceive. It takes decades of trying to have a child. Lots and lots of sex."

"Uh..." Oliver coughed awkwardly, and he glanced away, which just made Teagan laugh.

"What are you embarrassed about, wolfy boy? You grew up on a farm. Surely you are aware of how sex works. You must have seen the animals screwing each other."

"That's different! First of all, my family runs a chicken farm. Chickens don't..." Oliver gestured with his two front paws, trying to imitate the fist and finger gesture Teagan had done earlier, but his wolf paws didn't have quite enough dexterity to pull it off. Seeing his attempt made Teagan chuckle.

"Chickens don't screw each other!" Oliver continued. "Well, they do, but not like that. Chickens don't have cocks. Well, they do, but not that sort of cock. I think you know what I mean!"

"Hahaha!" Teagan laughed even harder.

"Second... Excuse me, excuse you, stop laughing! Hey! Secondly, I do know how sex works, thank you very much. But it's not appropriate, polite conversation to discuss that sort of thing."

Teagan had to wipe away the tears from her eyes, from how hard she laughed. "Hahahahaha! Polite conversation?"

Oliver glared at her with a half amused, half offended expression on his canine face. "Yes, Miss Mad Witch, we were having a serious, civilized conversation."

"Oh, but are we civilized?" Teagan gestured to Oliver. "You're not wearing pants."

Oliver was only wearing his cloak, loosely draped over his shoulders with the sleeves dangling. He had been sitting upright, which left certain portions of his anatomy visible—looking embarrassed again, he hurriedly folded his forelimbs and lay down on his front, hiding his groin from Teagan's unashamed stare. "I'm a werewolf! Clothes don't fit a wolf."

"Your clothes, maybe. Watch this, wolfy boy." Standing up, Teagan shifted into her wolf form. As her body altered its shape and dimensions, she grabbed and pulled several small straps placed at various points on her garments. Teagan was wearing a thick weatherproof cloak that was sturdy, comfortable, and easy to travel in, as well as a simple well-fitted dress that went down to just above her knees, but underneath that nothing else. Her clothes were specially made so that with a quick pull to various straps, they would tighten in some spots and loosen in other areas—making them fit poorly to her in human form, but adjusting all her clothing to make it fit snugly against her quadrupedal wolf form.