It's been a year already? :O

[askerian]

Come write Psychic Wolves for Lupercalia - A Multi-Fandom Mini-Fest, February Thirteenth through Fifteenth!

Bluh. Why do none of my fandoms fit with telepathic wolves. I tried to come up with something for Stargate Atlantis but the only thing I managed to visualize was episode one with added wolfsister who is actually not quite John Sheppard's but used to be the sister of that guy he tried to rescue who died on him instead. And she changes NOTHING, which means this is not a good fic idea, and I don't want any longer, more divergent fic because, uh, because maybe it's a sign that I should update the Gundam Wing one I started last year faster instead. .__.;

But if someone wanted to write SGA/SG1 with wolves I would be so happy. SO. HAPPY. The happiest.

Comments

Re: Trying to feed you a plotbunny p3/3

[askerian]

*.. squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee* oh my god such delicious crack. ahahahaha XD ♥ you are now my favorite anon.

Have more, with worldbuilding (p1)

[(Anonymous)]

==> Be sleepy asshole called John.
Only if it means you don't have to be awake. You refuse to lose more sleep than you have to. Pancake agrees with you, telling your brand new troll packmate to Sleep.

He (you think the troll is a he? Maybe? Urgh, ask tomorrow, sleep now) obeys, which is awesome. Understanding wolfspeech this fast means a really strong bond, and that means that you are now officially part of the coolest pack ever.

You sling a leg over your shiny new packmate, and obey your wolf.

==> Be sleepy asshole called John after getting a good night's sleep.
You would love to, but the preparations for last night mean that you didn't get nearly as much sleep as you'd like. Trying to sleep in only gets you slapped in the face by Pancake's tail, though, as you know from far too many mornings, so you are forcing yourself up as soon as you hear, Up now!

It's worth it when you see your new packmate blinking his creepy-cool yellow eyes in disbelief.

==> Speak to new packmate.
"Hi!"

Hi, mine! his puppy agrees. You kind of want really badly to scritch her head for being such a good girl - if she hadn't insisted (and gotten Nanna to agree, which proved it was about her partner because queenwolves don't side with puppies over anything less), the patrols last night wouldn't have been lax enough for the troll to come and find her.

It is all kinds of awesome that trolls can packbond. Packbonding means they're people. Packbonding means there's a chance of finding terms with them, because it means the people in charge can't pretend that trolls aren't people.

Packbonding means it might be possible for this damn war to end.

Wow, that was grim! You shake the thoughts out of your head, and make sure that you're still smiling at your new packmate. "Hey, do trolls have names?"

He stares at you in disbelief, and you suddenly want to scritch his head, right between the teeny-tiny horns poking out of his black fur. Hair. Which do trolls have, anyway?

"Why does that matter?" You almost think he means whether he has hair or fur, but he continues, "We're enemies, you caught me sneaking into your camp last night - the only reason you should want my name is if you're planning on taunting your next opponents that they'll die as easily as I did!"

"Hey!" Die? You speak almost as fast as his puppy, but seeing the way he reaches instinctively to comfort her makes up for the flash of hurt at his lack of trust.

Which wouldn't make sense to people who weren't wolfpartners, but everyone here is, (okay, maybe not Dirk, but he's still pack) so they'll get it perfectly. He's pack now. How can he not trust you?

Re: Have more, with worldbuilding (p1)

[askerian]

... john's wolf is called pancake.

john's wolf is called pancake. *deds* XDDD well it's better than being named after one of nic cage's movies i guess. XDD

i really enjoyed the grim thoughts, too. mm secret depths. *_* (promptly dismissed XD)

Have more, with worldbuilding (p2)

[(Anonymous)]

Dave clears his throat, catching your eye and making your new packmate jump, and plays an imaginary violin. You frown at him. It's okay to do that sort of thing when everyone in the room knows who it's aimed at, but you have a brand-new packmate here who might not realise that it's meant for you and not him, and you don't want to hurt his feelings if he's so confused that he can't tell he can trust you all yet.

Deck snorts at you all. Overcomplicating things. He steps forwards and licks a stripe straight up your new packmate's face, from chin to hairline.

Not to be outdone, Pancake leaps in to give him a thorough wash. His horrified close-mouthed sputtering makes you snort with laughter, even though you feel a little guilty for it.

Of course, this is the moment when the girls appear. Rose steps out of the shadows, which you are sure she can secretly bend to her will because she is just too freaky-ninja like that for it to be natural. Jade, on the other hand, simply appears from thin air like she can teleport.

You wish sometimes that you could pull something awesome like that, but the closest thing you have to awesome superpowers is being able to howl loudly enough to be heard six-and-a-half miles away.

You also maybe-sort-of-a-little wish that you had Rose's perceptiveness. If anyone could figure out how to make sure things won't go wrong with your newest packmate, it's her.

==> Be Rose
You are Rose. This means that you are part of a still-developing pack currently consisting of:

1) Yourself and your partner (whom Dave named Midnight in one of his less-successful attempts at irony). You start with yourself purely out of egocentricity; you are not, nor are you likely to ever become, the pack's leader. Instead, you are working to be the one who keeps the pack in harmony. (You could never be accused of underestimating your abilities.)

'Midnight' (you have never seen the point of naming wolves when their form of communication is incapable of leaving doubt as to whom you are addressing or speaking of, but she has no complaints about her name and so you accept it with equal grace) predominantly specialises in stealth operations, and you are naturally working to build a complementary skill-set. (You do not admit to a certain amount of pleasure in your nickname of 'ninja-councellor'.)

2) Dave, whose scent proves that he is in some way related to you despite your only having met him when he bonded with Deck. Prior to that, he was raised by his lone-wolf-partnered older brother. (You plan on having words with that man's wolf should you ever meet him. His refusal to so much as attempt to form pack with Deck could surely have taken a less-traumatic form than to drop Dave and Deck at Nanna's feet and disappear.)

Dave is highly skilled at swordplay, and somewhat less so (though he will never believe it) at rapping. Deck intends to become the pack's enforcer. (Unofficially, he also intends to track down Bro (and you still do not know whether the name refers to the human, the wolf, or both) for a confrontation. You are unsure whether it is wise to encourage this ambition.)

Have more, with worldbuilding (p3)

[(Anonymous)]

3) Dirk, Dave's twin. He arrived four days after Dave, alone, and has flatly refused to ever explain. There is an unproven general suspicion that Deck has bonded with both twins, but it has been accepted as irrelevant; packs are expected to contain more than only wolfpartners, and since he can hear your wolves, he is one of your packmates.

(You suspect that when the twins were meant to learn how to interact with other people Dave had Dirk's lessons as well as his own. Dirk tends to drift to the side of gatherings, though John and Jade have been working to correct this.) (You are, of course, entirely unamused by their tendency to drag the spotlight to the member of the pack who least appreciates it. Nor would you ever consider it appropriate as therapy.)

4) John and his partner Pancake. John has the personality of a puppy. John has had the personality of a puppy for as long as you have known him, and does not seem likely to lose this. Ever. It is therefore a matter of great bewilderment for those outside your pack when they realise that he is also your packleader. The reason is quite simple; hidden far beneath the friendliness and easy acceptance that forms John's personality lies a ferocious drive to protect all that he considers his, together with a charisma that has enabled him to successfully order a grown wolf of three times his weight to cease bullying a younger packmate. Puppy he may be, but no one who knows him questions that John is an alpha.

Pancake (you do not know why John's partner is named Pancake, but you are well aware that, should you ask, John will be more than happy to explain to you) is both more serious and lazier. John has developed impressive upper-body strength from dragging Pancake around. (Literally. There are many, many pictures of this, most of which show Pancake hunching himself so that John can 'lift' him by his scruff.) He uses this strength to wield a genuine warhammer when he fights, thanks to an unfortunately judged comment on his lack of subtlety.

5) Jade and her partner Bec. Jade is John's cousin, and shares his openheartedness. She is, in fact, similar enough to raise questions as to why she is not considered a packleader in her own right; unfortunately, she does not inspire quite the same degree of trust. John's motives are always transparent (which nicely offsets his frequent denseness). Jade, however, has a tendency to only share information if she believes the result of doing so to be useful. Nonetheless, she is an excellent scout, and as fiercely devoted to the pack as John.

Bec has no particular ambition for himself; like his partner, he is entirely focussed on the wellbeing of the pack. He is the oldest of the wolves in your pack and was nearly full-grown when he partnered Jade, leading him to take a quasi-parental air in his dealings with her.

Have more, with worldbuilding (p4/4)

[(Anonymous)]

And now,

6) a troll, name and circumstances currently unknown, partnered to a female pup who is currently unnamed.

Were you any other member of your pack, you would now be rubbing your hands together with as creepy a smile as you could manage. When your pack turned down the opportunity to absorb the tiny pack being formed by Jake, Jane and Roxy on nothing more than a feeling that there were others who were meant to join first (pack dynamics are vitally important, regardless of how many 'studies' have been done to prove that twisted packs are still viable), you were shipped to the front lines as punishment. It is quite delicious to find that these unknown packmates will be trolls, not least because if those who sent you here had known you would have been sent as far from the enemy as possible.

You watch silently as your new packmate escapes Pancake's determined affections, only to be slobbered over by Bec.

Me next, your partner tells you privately, thoroughly entertained.

Of course, you reply aloud. The troll's jump proves that he (you believe, though naturally you shall have to confirm this as soon as possible) hears you (much as the others do, though they are well-used to your semi-private conversations with your partner and merely seem concerned as to your current scheme).

A very good start to being packmates.

Re: Have more, with worldbuilding (p4/4)

[askerian]

You wish sometimes that you could pull something awesome like that, but the closest thing you have to awesome superpowers is being able to howl loudly enough to be heard six-and-a-half miles away.
heeeeee.

Dave is highly skilled at swordplay, and somewhat less so (though he will never believe it) at rapping.
XD XD XD

i really like Rose's John entry. Also the Bec info.

Who's the mom of Karkat's pup, by the way?

...
It is quite delicious to find that these unknown packmates will be trolls, not least because if those who sent you here had known you would have been sent as far from the enemy as possible."
*O* ooooOOOOOooooohhh. (but jane, jake and roxy still get to join eventually, right? .___. though yes moar trolls, just the idea is gleefully hilarious.)

*rolls in happiness* ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Re: Have more, with worldbuilding (p4/4)

[lady-yin.livejournal.com]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

IT’S EVERYTHING I NEVER KNEW I WANTED

AAAAH. KARKAT. PUPPY. PACKBONDING. WOOOOOLVES. JOHN’S WOLF IS NAMED PANCAKE AND ROSE WON’T ASK WHY BECAUSE HE’LL TELL HER.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

Re: Have more, with worldbuilding (p4/4)

[michloup.livejournal.com]

pff Dave took Dirk's lessons in interacting with others, of course.

John named his wolf pancakes. And would make no secret why if someone asked. He probably wouldn't even wait for someone to ask if he realized it's a subject people would wonder about. Which is pretty much why Rose (and everyone else in the pack) have very probably a firm rule of "don't even hint that's it's not appropriate/usual/curious".

That group miss a Ravenclaw. Useless information no one wants to know about is our speciality :) (I would ask)

Re: Have more, with worldbuilding (p4/4)

[elanor-pam.livejournal.com]

tracking this post so hard and so fast you have no idea

Re: Have more, with worldbuilding (p4/4)

[(Anonymous)]

Oh wow, this is fun! :D
Please tell me Dave's Bro's unwilling-to-pack wolf is Cal. Plz?
And all the little details in this are great! I'm so excited to see what happens.

Nepeta Section. It (feels) huge. (p1)

[(Anonymous)]

==> Be Nepeta
The furrocious lioness is prowling through the underbrush. She knows there are other dangerous predators here, but *she* is the most dangerous creature in this forest, and she's going to prove -

"GrrRRRRGH!" A howlbeast bursts out of the tangle of undergrowth, heading straight for you!

==> Escape the howlbeast.
You leap away from the slavering howlbeast, straight up. Stupid things might think they're dangerous, but they can't climb!

It leaps after you. You'd laugh at it - silly howlbeast! - but it managed to land on the branch. It managed to land on the branch. Your escape isn't an escape.

It stands up, head lowered, and creeps towards you. It's smaller than most of the howlbeasts you've seen - which explains how the branch can hold up under its weight - and the sound it's making has turned from loud and agressive to nervous whimpering, but you know better than to risk getting too close. You climb up the treetrunk, and get to a spot where it can't reach you.

...You can't reach any other tree from here. That howlbeast has treed you! And on the ground, you can see another howlbeast arrive - because these things always hunt in packs, you know that, you know how many other trolls they've killed (you know they killed Karkat) (they must have, the other trolls still think he was a rustblood, and you know he'd never just leave (you) so he must be dead) and now you know that you're going to be one of them -

The underbrush rustles as the rest of the howlbeast's pack start to arrive, and you hiss threateningly at the human who appears. It raises its sword half-heartedly, then strolls around to the other side of the tree.

There is still something coming this way. The howlbeast raises its voice, letting the approaching enemy hear how unhappy it is.

"By the Imperial Condesce's peerless ass, will you shut the fuck up already!" someone snarls.

You know that voice.

"Karkat?" you ask, not very loud.

The scuffling noises stop for a moment before becoming even louder, and suddenly a familiar grey figure bursts into view.

Karkat stares up at you in disbelief. "Nepeta?"

The littleish howlbeast under you cocks its head to the side with an inquisitive noise. Karkat doesn't look away from you as he snaps, "Yes, of course I know her," but he doesn't continue, not the way he should if he's really Karkat - only there's something in the air that almost feels like he is, because you recognise the annoyed badly-hidden-concern even without it being put into words, into the rush of threats that never hid his worry for other people and you like that about him, so much, and you missed him and you think that maybe you might believe that this is him below you but it can't be because he's dead and you know it, he's dead, he has to be to have left -

==> Act instead of panicking
You pounce!

Karkat goes down just as easily as he ever did, but the howlbeast follows your example and lands on your back, and you freeze.

Pack.

It's not a word, but it is, and it's hard to hear but it wasn't a sound in the furst place, and you know what it means but the meaning makes no sense.

Nepeta Section. It (feels) huge. (p2)

[(Anonymous)]

Karkat just makes his usual flustered noises that are so cute. The howlbeast springs off you and licks your face.

Pack, is repeated but this time Karkat answers the same way.

Of course pack, she's Nepeta, she's friendly-needs watching over-socially helpless-physically strong-good fighter/hunter-interested in me but shouldn't be, of course she's pack!

The words-that-aren't are clearer while you're touching him, and you think you really like hearing how nicely he feels about you.

So you purr and rub your cheek against his hair.

The happy moment is ruined by the arrival of yet another human and howlbeast!

==> Make the intruders leave
You're going to, but the howlbeast is coolly amused and not going to interfere, and the human is not going to fight with something under that you can't quite hear but you think it might sound like if necessary I'll just crush you.

The human is female, and has the lack of concern that's the mark of a furry good fighter. And you're not in a good position.

And Karkat starts talking - propurrly - befur you can work up the energy for a good strike. "Oh dear horrorterrors, no, Rose, get out of here, I refuse to be subjected to yet another 'therapy session'." But he doesn't sound nearly as surly as you think he wants to, and he doesn't sound threatened at all, so you relax a teeny-tiny amount.

The Rose human does the same, bowing slightly to you. "Hello, new packmate."

You sit up, carefully. "Packmate?"

Beneath you, Karkitty groans and smacks his face into the grrround. "Human thing," he says, but you can't hear him clearly enough when he's talking into soil, so you move away (but just a little!) and let him up.

He doesn't even get up all the way, just draws himself into a more comfurtable sprawl, and you don't think you've efur seen him relaxed like this beclaws he's always had to be on his guard around ofur people.

He glares at you. "Do not even think of subjecting me to the multitude of cat-puns that are doubtlessly festering in your irrepairably defective thinkpan. Do not do it, or the sheer power of my rage will cause an inescapable conflagration that will devour your soul and I will laugh while it happens, do you understand me?"

"Of course!" You laugh, because that is such a very Karkitty sentence. "But what does packmates mean?" you add, beclaws you're curious.

He gives one of his so-deep 'Why am I fated to try leading such hopeless failures?' sighs, but he tries to explain. He starts by pointing at the howlbeast that jumped on you and licked you. "I'm hers. She's mine. Gnrgh. The howlbeasts have 'partners', which is kind of non-romantic moirails-but-not, and they have packmates, which is hatefriends without the hate, and I sound like a moron just for trying to explain these ridiculous concepts as if they could possibly make sense." He slams his head back into the ground.

Nepeta Section. It (feels) huge. (p3)

[(Anonymous)]

Rosehuman crouches like she's resting-but-ready-to-pounce. "Wolves - howlbeasts, as you call them - are naturally inclined to form groups, as are humans." A snort comes from the human with the sword, making you jerk up (you hadn't even noticed him coming clawser! How could he escape your sharp eyes?), but she doesn't even look in his direction as she tells him, "Yes, Dirk, even your brother and his partner. The instincts may be less strong, and have almost certainly been overridden by learned lessons teaching that packs are in some way dangerous to his wellbeing, but however well hidden it may be the urge for company must still exist."

She turns her attention back to you without pawsing fur him to react. "Bondwolves are capable of forming connections across the usually near-insurmountable divide of species, leading to packs containing both humans and wolves. There are generally more humans than wolves, since we have the wider range of capabilities, being able to use tools and to plan for possibilities - an area where we far outstrip wolves, given our better imaginations." She glances fur a moment at your claws. "It would seem that trolls will fill a similar position.

"It has long been understood within human territories that those who are chosen by wolves to be their partners are people. Our history is littered with stories of packs being formed whose existance proves the injustice of various prejudices held in those respective times." Her voice takes on a mocking edge. "Officially, the coincidences necessary for these packs to form are pure happenstance, and in no way indicate that the wolves' choice of partner is somehow 'fated'. Within the packs -" Her gesture is graceful. (This Rose seems furry catlike. You think you like her, even if she does talk like Equius trying to caliconvince you to follow some stupid rule.) "Some things are simply accepted." Her smile says prey-has-been-sighted, even if you don't quite understand what she's hunting (beclaws you can tell it's not you).

"Packs are groups who hunt together, live together, refuse to betray each other and know that they in turn will not be betrayed. Each individual member of the pack is referred to as a packmate.

"And our pack has been searching for other trolls to join us since Karkat's arrival."

"Why?" you hiss, beclaws you may like her but you know better than to trust her (and all this sounds too good to be true, even though those sounds-that-aren't all agree with what you've been told).

Karkat snorts, rolling his eyes. "She has some crazy idea of making us all diplosionmats."

You pull a face. You don't want to be a diplosionmat! That sounds boring. (And also like something Equius won't like.)

Nepeta Section. (It felt huge when I was writing it.) (p4/4)

[(Anonymous)]

Rose shrugs. "There is a possibility of our succeeding in proving that trolls and humans are equal - which will form a much improved basis to argue for the cessation of the war. I am, obviously, unaware of how this will be perceived among trolls, but it will be much easier to convince humans to take our attempts to show equality seriously if our pack has roughly equal numbers of each." Her eyes glint. If the dark howlbeast beside her was a cat, it would be purring. "This means that our pack would welcome not only you, but your - I believe the term is quadrants? - as packmates... though possibly only the lighter ones," she finishes, brow furrowed ever-so-slightly like she's painting and isn't quite sure whether she should use a different shade for that corner.

"And if I don't want to be a packmate?" you challenge.

Karkat's howlbeast stares at you, and you hear it again. Pack.

Dirk human speaks up. "You heard her, didn't you?" You don't nod, but he acts like to you did. "That means you are our packmate, forever and ever, amen, and we have to side with you against anything you face - unless it's against another packmate. Then Rose gets to talk sense into you both till you're crying about your abandonment issues and how you wanted your daddy to do you in public, and you make up with a big hug."

Rose raises an eyebrow at him. "If you wish to be talked into such a state, packmate dear, I promise I will do my level best."

Karkat sighed. "Would the two of you show a little shame and resist the urge to ashflirt till we're around your third again?"

Dirk might purrl a tiny bit of a face. You can't quite tell. "Dude. How many times. We're related. That's a big no."

Rose nods slightly. "Indeed, I must remember to introduce you both to some of the more basic scientific explanations of inbreeding and its unfortunate, shading to lethal, consequences."

"Both?"

Rose looks back to you. "Do you dislike the idea of joining our pack? I strongly doubt it is the idea of hunting together that is putting you off; lionesses, after all, are known for living in prides."

You like the acknowledgement that you're a lioness, but... "How did you know I'm a lioness?"

Dirk speaks up again. "Karkat told us who you are when his wolf was jumping on you."

You blink. You heard Karkitty! He didn't mention your lupus!

...Unless it was part of the too-quiet not-sound that you couldn't quite catch.

You pout. You don't like that you can't hear them clearly enough to catch that sort of thing.

Karkitty's howlbeast goes ofur to stand next to him, and he scritches behind its ears.

==> Decide: Will you be a packmate? Y/N
You watch them, and you know that you have nefur seen Karkitty as happy as he is with these people. Karkitty likes being packmates.

That means it can't be too bad, you decide. You grin. "I'm in!"

Besides, they'd already clawt you. They wouldn't have just let you go.

(You aren't going to admit that you know you'd have been okay beclaws Karkitty wouldn't be so calm if they were thinking of culling you if you'd turned them down. So long as you don't admit it to yourself, you don't have to admit it to Equius, right?)

Re: Nepeta Section. (It felt huge when I was writing it.) (p4/4)

[elanor-pam.livejournal.com]

Yaaay! We got more!

Re: Nepeta Section. (It felt huge when I was writing it.) (p4/4)

[askerian]

haha nepeta is SO CUTE and so furrocious and i love how impulsive and instinctive she is (and yet she reads people super well, without even thinking about it. of course karkat would never be so calm if she was risking death, like that's so evident. XD)

Re: Nepeta Section. (It felt huge when I was writing it.) (p4/4)

[order_of_chaos]

[ecstatic squeaking noises]

The Gamzee scene (yes, shameless ripoff w/no context, shoot me)

[(Anonymous)]

==> Karkat: Kill the subjugglator.
Fuck that. Fuck that through every single orifice in its face with a rusty steak-knife, because that isn't just a subjugglator, it's Gamzee, and like fuck are you going to cull the pitiable wreck whose shitgargling lusus never so much as bothered to tell him not to eat sopor. Like fuck are you going to cull the purple-eyed blatherer whose continual harping on about 'miracles' only ever proved that the word should never have been invented.

Like fuck.

You stride towards him, and his clubs are raised to beat you, and he's shouting, "HONK HONK HONKHONKHONKHONK HONK HONKHONK HONK HONK HONK HONKHONKHONKHONKHONKHONKHONKHONK-"

You reach him.

You reach up.

"Shoosh."

Pap.

"Shoooosh."

Pappappap.

You keep papping him, and shooshing him, and every second feels like it's going to be the one when he brings his clubs down on your thinkpan - You see from the corner of your eyes as his grasping-fronds tighten their grip, and you know you should be preparing to defend yourself, but - it's Gamzee.

You think the honking might be getting quieter, but you don't stop. He starts shrieking it, "HONKHONKHONKHONKHONKHONK" right in your aural canals, but you don't stop. And suddenly he's relaxing, and the honking is soft (and reminds you of that weird hiccuping Jade did after bursting into tears over her dead lusus (which had been bewildering and in no way terrifying, fuck Dave for saying you were howling your panic)), and you realise that you're still alive and you just successfully shooshpapped a highblood out of his murderrage (and you have no idea what to do next).

You also realise that Dave has been stood watching you, partly through packsense but mostly because he says with utter disgust, "Do not tell me that you just got Honkhappy the Murder-Clown as your boyfriend-without-benefits. Do not tell me that." But the packsense is full of acceptance and better make the most of this bad situation, which would have you working up a furious tirade normally but is way more than you should be granted now.

Gamzee opens his eyes and squints down at you with such a pitiable little smile that you can't stop yourself from smiling back.

You have, you realise, done exactly what Dave is complaining about. You have become Gamzee's moirail.

Now what?

Re: The Gamzee scene (yes, shameless ripoff w/no context, shoot me)

[askerian]

bahaha whoops stuck with it now. you papped it you bought it sorry karkat. XD

Vriska and Tavros (p1)

[(Anonymous)]

==> Be Vriska
You're busy.

And also in a hurry.

What you are not, however, and you will take time to make this perfectly clear to any idiot who thinks otherwise, is guilty. All your surviving hatefriends know you well enough that they should know better than to blindly follow your instructions, and the fact that Tavros didn't is his own fault, the fool.

He was found by the humans. Too bad for him, you thought, and you went on with your life.

Then you found out that the humans kept him alive. That they've healed him enough to offer him back.

That they're stupid enough to think a crippled troll won't be culled the moment he's back with other trolls.

Who knows why the idiot's going along with it? He's probably spent all his time doing his 'um, well, um' routine and never got around to pointing out that they're sending him to his death. Fits the way he's always acted around you.

You don't pity the weakling. You definitely don't - ugh - care about him.

But the challenge of rescuing a crippled troll from humans and trolls? The chance to prove that you're just. That. Good?

That sort of thing is the reason you kept him around in the first place.

So you're busy. Come back some other time.

==> Be Tavros
You are Tavros, former prisoner-of-war of the humans, and are waiting at the agreed coordinates (a rocky patch of ground near a very shallow stream) to be collected by whichever trolls are given the job. You are currently shifting from foot to foot, mostly out of relief that you still can. You know that you are very awkward on these prosthetics, but the humans stood with you haven't complained.

You don't really know what to think about the artificial limbs you were given, but then, you don't know what to think about the humans in general. You were unconscious and buried under a rockslide (which you don't like to admit must have been caused by Vriska), far too close to their encampment - they had a perfect opportunity to cull you there and then. Instead, they helped you. They used the opportunity to learn more about trolls, you know, but... you can't help thinking that they could have learned just as much without bothering to heal the spinal injury, or give you these prosthetics. Or teach you to walk again.

And now you can walk well enough that they think you can go back to the other trolls, and... you should, you know that, but... you may, possibly, just a little, prefer being with the humans.

But they don't want you around any more.

There's a strange babbling coming from behind you. You think it might be those howlbeasts - 'wolves' - that the humans work with. You've only been around them once... and it was your fault it went wrong. You hadn't realised that they... weren't animals.

They must be getting closer, because the babbling is growing louder. It also seems to be getting clearer, which is odd - you weren't able to make out what those other wolves were 'saying'....

Poor Tavros (p2/2)

[(Anonymous)]

==> Turn to face the wolves
You aren't sure if you should. The humans with you aren't, and you don't want to draw attention. They're probably just here to keep an eye on things while you're being handed over.

"Tavros!" Idiot-how is he still alive?-can't be trusted at your back (not vicious/ruthless/pragmatic enough)-not worth caring about (it'll hurt too much when he gets himself killed (he's not able to keep himself alive without help))-too trusting-too nice-lets spiderbitch walk all over him-physically strong, but so what/won't fight-he's lost his legs now?

You cringe. That was Karkat, and you know he doesn't think much of you, but you never heard it put so clearly before. Then you realise that it was all wolfspeak, and you become very confused... shouldn't that only be used by humans who work with wolves?

Someone giggles, walking towards you, and the humans are looking now so you think you might be allowed to, too.

It's a male human with really obvious teeth and a wolf that is strolling along as if it's looking for a good spot to lie down and take a nap.

You know him, Karkat (small-so funny when he's ranting-softsoftsoft under prickles-clever/sharp).

Shut up! NOT soft.

Soft, lots of minds agree.

grumblemumble irritation

Tavros (fun to play with-gentle-doesn't make fun of others(me)-really strong)!

That sounded like Nepeta.

You may be dreaming.

The human sticks his hand out. It's a human greeting, you've learned. He's offering to shake hands. "Hi, I'm John. We're taking you for our pack. That's okay, right?"

You'd let him say no? Karkat asks.

Nope, a different voice - if they should be called voices - says. Kidnap him.

No one's ever thought you'd be worth the effort of kidnapping before... except possibly Vriska, but you've never been able to understand her.

"You can't just decide to form a pack with trolls!" one of the humans you've been waiting with protests, sounding oddly reluctant.

"Bit late for that," someone says, and you have to just glance in that direction. Then you have to stare, because that's Nepeta and Karkat and Equius mixed into a group of humans and wolves. "You want to tell the wolf that she can't choose her partner?" The speaker is a pale-haired boy. His face is blank, but he raises one eyebrow so that it just shows above his eyecovers.

"We'll make the funeral a good one, really," speaks up a dark-haired girl.

"Absolutely. The bestest," joins in the boy who offered you his hand.

The humans who were waiting with you look at each other, and you think you might be seeing something like guilty relief on their faces. "Wolf's choice," one says. "We can't interfere," agrees another.

You find yourself walking over on your new, false legs to join the humans and wolves. It seems as though you might live.

Naturally, this is the moment when Vriska leaps into view - on top of the highest rock - and screams "YAAARRRR!" while brandishing a cutlass.

Re: Poor Tavros (p2/2)

[askerian]

ahahahaha vriska XD

d'aw, they're gonna end up with the whole troll army into their pack, way it's going. XDD

[(Anonymous)]

Sidescene, not necessarily canon. Prestory. (p1/2)

==> Be ???
You see her at the bar.

How she drinks alternates between refusing to touch so much as a drop of alcohol with disdainful superiority, and drinking like a fish. The number of empty glasses in front of her tell you today is going to be the second.

She glances over as you lean against the bar beside her, her upper lip curled in that condescending sneer she always has around you. "Brother dear."

"Sis." You catch the bartender's eye, and look meaningfully at the beer tap. You'd love something stronger, but you can't afford it.

In more ways than one.

She tilts her glass in a mock-salute. "Still as - charmingly - laconic as ever, I see." The glass is emptied in one swallow. She doesn't so much as blink. "I was hoping you could shed some immu- illumination on a most fascinating rumour."

You wait. Your poker face is near-legendary because of conversations like this, where she does her best to force a response from you.

You did your best to pass it on.

"Apparently there are two albino boys in the same beginning pack." She widens her eyes theatrically. "There's even a rumour that the wolf - Deck, if you can believe it - is partnered to both of them, but they didn't realise at first."

You wait.

"So the first boy was dragged all the way to the pack by his - guardian - and then the poor second had to make his own way there to join them." False sympathy drips from her voice.

You wait. This is the opening volley; dangerous, but easy to guard against. You're worried by what form the later attacks will take.

She sniffs haughtily and orders a triple-shot of some horrifically-named liqueur. (If you didn't know her so well, you might be surprised that the bartender gives her what she ordered.) "Did I tell you that both of my girls have wolfpartners?"

You already know this, though not from her. You also know that she had assumed neither of them would; she raised them to be a pack's wolfless diplomats, to fight with words (to fill the role she had to). Doubtless they both have her sharp tongue and are similarly ruthless in using it.

You are quite grateful you've never met them.

"They aren't in the same pack, though," she continues. The bitterness on her face is shocking - not that she feels it, but showing it so clearly? "Roxy's group can't join Rose's yet - the pack dynanas - dyamics - dynamics would be twisted, and that - queenwolf Nanna wouldn't allow that for her puppies."

You stare at your beer and tell yourself that you're glad for your lil' bros sakes that they have a pack where that's taken seriously. You tell yourself that the furious envy in your gut, that you know matches your sister's, doesn't exist.

You tell yourself a lot of shit, but all you can think of is how it felt all those years ago to head off with your partner to join a bachelor pack because anything had to be better than staying where you were, not daring to bring your sister because they were so rough and you could fight off unwanted attention but she didn't have a partner to guard her back.

That pack hadn't been too bad while it lasted. You tell yourself that, too.

[(Anonymous)]

Sidescene, not necessarily canon. Prestory. (p2/2)

She studies you, almost feral with her pain. She's looking for pity so that she has an excuse to claw your guts out, but you show her nothing and that only stokes her fury higher.

High enough that she says it, sweetly vicious.

"They might even have a place for you."

The world goes red.

By the time your vision clears, you are outside and your partner is walking (limping) by your side.

The fur cover on his false leg is growing manky. You'll need to get some new furs and sew up a replacement soon, before the metal starts showing through.

Phantom pain sparks through you with every step he takes. It took you a couple of years to stop wincing. By now, you think you might not know you were bound to him if not for the pain.

You make sure you know how your lil' bros are doing. Shit happens. If Deck (seriously, kiddos?) gets injured, you don't want them making medical decisions half-out of their minds.

Could end worse than with a faulty experimental leg grafted directly into - into Deck's nerves.

Worse than not being able to run with the pack any more.

You can feel yourself smiling, though you don't think it's funny. All those romantic ideas about lone wolves, they all get it so wrong. You'd never tell anyone, and you aren't sure if even your pack-raised sister gets it, but you know like you know how bad it hurts to walk...

Lone wolves are the ones who're too worthless to get to join a pack.