#riseofmurphy

Curiosity killed the cat. It was a pretty well-known saying, but people tended to forget the follow up that went along with it, the second half of the quote: Satisfaction brought it back. That’s what Cass was after, checking out the Dixie Pig during its lunch rush. The girl who’d initially warned that the pork wasn’t quite pork had a decent enough point about trying new things, and Cass was never one to turn down a challenge. Still, she’d stared at the pork an awful long time before eating it, hadn’t managed to finish the food on the plate for worrying. She’d packed it up in a to go box now, was on her way out to put it in her fridge and leave it waiting for the next time she was feeling daring.

It was habit, more than anything. She didn’t even mean to do it. The crowd around her was thick, people shoving at one another without meaning to. When someone brushed up against her, Cass didn’t consciously slip her hand into their pocket, but she came away with their wallet all the same. And, well… It wasn’t as if she could give it back without suspicion. She glanced around briefly, making sure no one had seen before slipping the wallet into her own pocket and closing the distance between herself and the door, stepping out into the cool night air.

It didn’t take long to realize someone was behind her. The logical side of her mind told her not to worry about it, that it was likely nothing -- plenty of people walked in the same direction, after all -- but the paranoid part of her that had spent far too long on the streets and was soaked in paranoia insisted that she was being followed. Deciding to test the theory, Cass ducked into an alleyway, waiting to see if the footsteps behind her would make the same turn.

Murphy was amused as she watched the girl pick at her food. Though realistically, it was not truly a girl that sat across from her. The scent was slightly off, in only the way a supernatural could be. Aromas that floated on the air within the restaurant clouded it just enough that she could not tell exactly what the girl was, only that human was not the right description. For Murphy, this had merely been a fun experiment. Sciene, really. Could she get someone to eat human meat without their knowledge? The answer appeared to be yes. Though not much. At least the conversation hadn’t been half bad.

When the two parted ways, she was sure that would be their last encounter. Especially once the other found out what she had eaten; when her worst fear about the secret of the meat was confirmed. This brought a smirk to her lips. Oh how easy it was to play such games. It was the end of the lunch rush in the Bend. Citizens rushed out of the cheaper shops and restaurants as they made their way back towards Amity Road, back to their day jobs. Crowd surfing had always held appeal for the she-wolf, it was a good way to pick out a meal and remain undetected. Her footsteps paused when she felt a hand slip into her pocket, the weight of her wallet disappearing as it withdrew. There was that scent again, the one that just wasn’t quite right.

Murphy chuckled to herself as the girl slipped into an alley. The naivety of it amused her greatly. Alone in the alley, without such strong scents from others, the she-wolf was able to realize just why this girl’s scent had thrown her off; she carried the aroma of home, comfort. Floral undertones that reminded her of her den, of home. It intermingled with the girl's own flavor subtly, which was why she had missed it before. A siren, then. Yet the what did not matter. Cassidy had stolen from her, and that just simply would not do. She stalked toward her victim, gradually pushing her into the dead end of this particular alley while still appearing to be relatively nonchalant. “I believe you have something that belongs to me.”

The footsteps followed. The footsteps followed, and Cass was torn between vindication at the fact that she hadn’t been imagining a pursuit in her paranoia and hesitance because she had no idea how to confront this situation. In spite of all the stealing she’d done, she’d never actually been caught before. She’d never been called out, never been tracked down, never had to defend herself. And she was a good liar — that came with the territory — but… this looked bad. Ducking into the alley made her look guilty, and the fact that the person had followed her to begin with meant they already had suspicions.

But it was a little too late to back out now, wasn’t it?

Cass turned to the mouth of the alley, facing her pursuer with a grimace. She was somehow both relieved and anxious at the familiarity of the person she found there. It was the same girl who’d convinced her to come out and try the food to begin with, the same one who’d watched her eat it with a small smile on her face as if she was privy to a private joke that Cass wasn’t aware of. What were the odds that the person she pickpocketed mostly by accident was the same one she’d spent an afternoon with? Cass opened her mouth, ready to play dumb, to ask if she’d forgotten something, to make an excuse, to do anything to draw attention away from the wallet in her coat pocket, but before she could get a word out, the other woman was approaching in the kind of way that meant she really didn’t want to talk.

It was instinctive, the way she backed up until her hands brushed the brick wall behind her. Cass felt the anxiety slip into her chest, curl its tail around her pounding heart. This wasn’t the kind of trouble she usually got into without a ski mask to hide her wide eyes, but… She could swing it. “If you wanted to ask for my number,” she said, nonchalance fake but convincing all the same, “there are way better ways to ask. Like, the confidence is nice and all, but it comes off as a little aggressive. Do you take constructive criticism?”

Were Murphy someone more forgiving, less prone to violence, she might have given a genuine chuckle at Cassidy’s deflection. As it stood, she was not easily amused. Especially not in the presence of someone who saw fit to steal from her only to lie about it. She could have given a gruding respect to the person who had the balls to admit what they had done. At least enough that seeing their teeth scatter across the floor would have seemed like the extreme option. Still, she had some mercy. Inadequate though it was, merely giving her enough time to play a bit more with her food.

“Perhaps I could.” She studied her cuticles, turned her hand this way and that to take them in at different angles. “Do you think I could go for a manicure?” The question was a purposeful distraction, one designed to get the other’s heart rate down just so that she could spike it up once more. “I think I could go for one. Why don’t you join me? My treat.” A smile stretched across her lips. One that seemed to bare all her teeth. She took a step closer, hands pressing into the pockets of her jacket. “Oh, wait, that’s right.” The gap between them was now less than two feet. “You have that don’t you?” Again that shark tooth grin flashed.

Murphy stepped further into their personal space. She gripped the front of Cassidy’s shirt and twisted it into her fist, their faces now inches apart. “Could you be a dear and grab that for me?”

If the situation started off as bad, it was steadily crawling towards worse territory. It was clear that the woman in front of her wasn’t messing around, and while she looked harmless enough at first glance, Cass knew enough to know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Especially not in a town that boasted vampires and magic and god only knew what else.

“I don’t know,” she said, pretending to contemplate the woman’s fingernails, pretending to glance at her own. “I think you’re looking pretty solid. I don’t vibe with the whole ‘acrylic nail’ trend, you know? They always get in the way, for me.” The ruse was a brief one, as Cass knew it would be, dropped when the subject of money came up. Which, all things considered, was fair enough. After all, there was a wallet in her pocket that didn’t belong to her, and that was the sort of thing people tended to get bent out of shape about.

But Cass wasn’t someone who backed down easily. She never really had been, even when she really, really ought to. And now was no different.

“You don’t know what you’re messing with right now,” she said lowly, not breaking eye contact despite the sweat on her palms. “I’m a motherfucking superhero. Honest to god. If you back off, I’ll show you my superpowers in a fun way instead of using them to kick your ass.” It was mostly a bluff, because Cass’s powers weren’t much good on defense, but… Bluffing was one of her lesser-known superpowers. (Though it was a little less super than the rest.)

For a moment, she was stunned. For a moment, her body ceased to move. For a moment, the gears spun in her mind. Then, she began to laugh. Not the cold blooded laugh she usually reserved for situations like this. The one that sometimes even made her own skin crawl, no. Murphy, she-wolf extraordinaire, doubled over in a fit of pure, unadulterated, genuine comedic laughter. As if someone had told a joke so funny it threatened to split her in two from the force of the hilarity. Superpowers? Superhero? Tears rolled down her cheeks at the hilarity of it. “S-Sorry. Just… Just give me a moment.” It took several deep breaths of air to compose herself, to reset the sternness in her expression. But the moment she looked at Cassidy again it simply crumpled into another gale of laughter.

In what was undoubtedly a strange turn of events, Murphy almost felt sorry for her. Did she really not know? There was no way she could. The seriousness with which Cassidy had delivered the superhero line was too genuine. It would not have been nearly as jocular as it was without that particular element.

“Are you actually fucking serious? I cannot believe this shit.” Her eyes gazed up at the sky as if an answer could be found there. “Who the hell dreams this crap up?”

A low growl accompanied the thought,, as animalistic as she was herself. What had happened that she’d lived her whole life not knowing what she was? Murphy wouldn’t truly harm her, not now that she knew how uneducated the poor thing was. It wouldn’t be right. She was alone without someone to guide her through what it meant to be what she was. For Christ’s sake she didn’t even have a name for it. She thought she had superpowers!

Murphy grinned that sinister grin once more, though the humor of the situation was still alight in her eyes. Just because she knew she wouldn’t really hurt her didn’t mean that Cassidy needed to.

“Tell you what, Mädchen (girlie),” once more her hand fisted into Cassidy’s shirt. “You give me my wallet back,” She raised her arm, and with it, Cassidy, clear off the ground. “And I won’t show you mine.”

There was a beat, a moment where silence stretched from one breath to the next as Cass waited to see what the woman’s next move would be. Whatever she’d expected in response to her very thinly veiled threat, it certainly wasn’t laughter. Cass bristled, trying not to take it personally as the woman broke into a laughing fit. At least she’d taken a step or two back and out of Cass’s personal space in order to fully double over. Silver linings, or whatever.

“Oh, fuck off,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. Cass had never been particularly self conscious, but when someone burst into laughter at the sight of you, it was hard not to feel a little insecure. “You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true. I can do things nobody else can do. And I use that to help people.” Most of the time. When she wasn’t using it to con rich assholes or pick pockets without meaning to.

The growl set her on edge, bringing back up the walls that had fallen with the laughter. Cass tensed at the sinister grin on the woman’s face, nostrils flaring as the hand grasped the front of her shirt again. “And what if I want to see yours?” Her voice was a low, even challenge, but it was another bluff. A more obvious one this time, she suspected. She knew when she’d lost. And the wallet was small time, anyway. There wouldn’t be anything in it worth all this bullshit. So, not breaking eye contact, she slipped it from her pocket and back into Murphy’s with a huff.

“There,” she said, finality in her tone. “I didn’t even take anything. You can check it. Now, can you please stop wrinkling my shirt? This is, like, the third nicest thing I own.”

“Oh, I plan to.” Her body continued to hold itself in a stance that kept the other in place. She took her time to count through the crash, making sure that all four hundred and seventeen dollars were still present and accounted for. As she did so periodically her eyes would glance up to stare the other woman, the other girl down. Facial features were stone as she slipped the wallet back into her back pocket.

The wolf rested close to the surface and Murphy’s lip curled up in a silent snarl, eyes more animal than human. Their look was sheer power. How a predator would look as it stalked their prey. “You don’t want to see my powers, little girl.”

Traffic had died down in the streets and the alley was quiet. Her ears listened for any sign of an intruder upon their conversation, but they were passably alone. As alone as one could be in a town where the walls had ears. “I am a shifter. Werewolf to be exact. Were I to show you my true form right now, there would not be enough room in this alley for the both of us.

“Do you truly not know what you are?” Her head cocked in question, brows knitting together. There was no reason for this. It was the duty of others of her kind to teach her their ways. To show her what it meant to be what she was. But those others had failed. Murphy could remember her own childhood, how her pack at the time had tried to rid her of the desires that made her wolf. It was despicable. She could not in good conscience let this girl go through the uncertainty. She would not. “Fret not. I will help you, young one.”

Cass couldn’t exactly be offended as the other woman counted her cash meticulously — she had tried to steal it, after all. Nevertheless, she rolled her eyes at the showiness of it all, settled for looking bored so she wouldn’t have to look nervous. She really hadn’t taken any cash out of the wallet; she hadn’t had time. But if this woman found some missing, or if she had less than she thought she ought to, there was every possibility she’d go to the cops. Or pick a fight, which wasn’t something Cass wanted. She had confidence in her abilities, but… she was learning that she wasn’t the only one in White Crest who had them.

And this woman had just confirmed, in no uncertain terms, that she had powers of her own.

“I’m not a little girl,” Cass snapped back, belligerent and angry even when it wasn’t wise to be either. “I’m not a kid. And I didn’t take anything. Your cash is all there.” She was sure of that now, because the wallet wouldn’t have vanished back into the woman’s pocket if it weren’t. She hardly seemed to be the forgiving type.

Blowing out a huff of air, Cass nodded her head. “Sure,” she muttered to herself, “why not? You might as well be.” Vampires were real, and Bex had mentioned zombies. Plus magic, and weird slug things that wanted to eat people who had magic. Werewolves were the next logical conclusion there, weren’t they? “Look,” she said, louder now, “I don’t want any trouble. I didn’t even mean to steal your wallet, okay? It was a force of habit. Sticky fingers.” She wiggled her fingers in the air, as if to illustrate this point.

But then… Then, the werewolf went on, and Cass dropped her hand back to her side. The question made her tongue taste like ash, and she pushed her tongue up against her teeth to let the dull pressure ground her. “I’m… Look, I’m just a person. Okay? Between you and me, they probably wouldn’t even make me an X-Man with my powers. I’m just me. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think I need a werewolf guidance counselor for that.” Her heart was pounding, and she didn’t know why. The thrum was desperate, unsettled. There was an acidic taste in the back of her mouth, and nothing the other woman said should have caused this but it did. Cass was more nervous now than she had been with her back quite literally up against the wall.

“Yes,” Murphy emphasized, “You are.” It was not the fact that Cassidy was younger in her years, but that she had lived those years with no knowledge of who she really was. That in experience made her naive, painfully so. Up until moments a go she had genuinely believed that she possessed superpowers. That she was possibly the accident of some radioactive conspiracy, or simply unlucky. Born with ‘gifts’ that made no sense in the grand scheme of things. Ironically, she had chosen to help people with them. Though the otherside was present too. The side that caused her desire to take things, to devour. It was the beast shining through.

Her voice lowered, some of the heat going out of it. She could not blame her for being disbelieving. “You know nothing.” Tack a John Snow on the end of that sentence and perhaps the gravity of the situation would sink in. “There is something special about you. You are a shifter, like me.” The last thing that Murphy wanted to do was send her into a panic that would cause her to flee. No doubt the she-wolf would be able to catch her, but it could cause her to use her abilities, something she did not have true control over. She couldn’t when she was not even aware of the gravity of them. To provoke them could be disastrous. Especially in such a public place.

“I am sorry for attacking you. I do not handle being disrespected well. It is a wolf thing. One that I feel most especially in my position within the pack.” Tentatively, Murphy reached out to put a comforting hand against her shoulder in an effort to ground her. To keep panic from taking hold. The situation was precarious. “You are so much more than just a person. You are transcendent from that. Beyond it.”

She took care to get Cassidy to meet her gaze, conveying all that she felt. The sorrow that she did not know what she truly was. The anger that she had not been taught. And most important was the sincerity that was clear within her eyes. “You are a Siren, child.”

Anger flashed across her face, nostrils flaring, but for once, Cass stayed quiet. She could stand in this alley and argue with this woman about whether or not she was a kid or not all day long, but if she chose to do that? It kind of proved Murphy’s point. Bickering with strangers about your maturity level was hardly a mature thing to do. And at this point… Cass was starting to feel a little freaked. More than anything, she wanted this conversation to be over. More than anything, she wanted to ditch the werewolf and run back to her apartment to curl up on the couch and distract herself with Netflix or video games.

Sucking a deep breath, Cass shook her head again. “No. No, I know what I am. I’m not — god, I think I’d know if I was a werewolf. I binged the Walking Dead last full moon. I’m pretty sure that kind of rules out me being like you.” But her chest was still clenched tight and her mouth still felt dry. It had been a question she’d asked herself, after Metzli opened her eyes and Bex offered more insight into this new reality. She had wondered, maybe, if her abilities came from something like Bex’s magic or Metzli’s vampirism, something alike but different, but… It was a hard thing to accept. When you spent your whole life believing you were one thing, the notion that you might be something else entirely was a nauseating, terrifying kind of thing.

“I shouldn’t have lifted your wallet,” she admitted, because she could cop to that, at least. She could recognize that it had been a not-so-great thing to do, especially since the lift had been sloppy enough to get her caught. “But that doesn’t — It’s not cool for you to just, for you to… Try to prank me like this, or whatever. Saying this stuff. It isn’t… I’m a person, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There isn’t. I like being a person. Okay? I’m just…”

The words died in her throat. A Siren. For a moment, she was quiet. And then… a giggle clawed its way out from between her lips. Then another. Then, a hysterical fit of laughter. “That’s — Now I know you’re fucking with me. You had me there, for a second. But that’s — I mean, come on. That’s bullshit. I’m not — I don’t spend any of my time, like, luring sailors out to sea to drown. It’s never even occurred to me. Not even as a joke!”

The gaze of the werewolf’s green hues was intense though a certain softness lurked beneath the serious exterior, visible only to those who knew how to look. It was Murphy’s turn to laugh, the sound not unlike a bark. “Hah!” This girl, werewolf? The notion itself was positively ludicrous. “There was never any doubt that you aren’t a wolf, junger. You are most certainly not the type. But not being like me does not make you human either.” She could sense the panic almost before it arose and tentatively, so as not to startle further, a hand was placed on the girl’s arm. The placement served two purposes, the first to prevent her from darting off, a panicicking shifter of any kind was certainly not a safe shifter. Secondly, she had hoped to provide some comfort in the way of skin to skin contact.

Murphy was careful to keep her grip loose enough to not bruise yet firm enough to prevent any escape. “You might think you like being a person. But if you were truly happy with simple personhood you would not be exploring your gifts. Anyone intent on their humanity finds things like this terrifying, a curse. Not something to be studied and crafted.” A frown was evident, the crease between her brows was furrowed even deeper. For some reason she cared about the outcome of this siren. There was no rhyme or reason. Perhaps it had to do with her own upbringing and how she was taught that in order to survive she needed to fear. The she-wolf was determined not to let this happen to someone else and fear undoubtedly would suffocate Cassidy were she not prepared for what would happen on her first shift. She could see herself as a monster. To let that happen was not an option.

“Just because the times have changed does not mean the gifts of the siren have. You call them superpowers. The power you have to persuade those around you, how, if you really concentrate, someone will look the other way while you rob them blind.” A soft chuckle escaped from Murphy’s lips. “It’s ingenious, really. What you’ve managed to accomplish. Most of your kind prefer to lure humans in for a meal. To be so ignorant, yet to have such control is promising.”

Satisfied that the girl was not about to run, she took a step back. “I wish you no harm. Only to help, to guide. I am afraid I do not know any others of your kind, but I can still teach. It is a dangerous world for those like us. Without guidance, it is easy to fall prey to what is waiting in the shadows.” She had no paper with which to write and so pulled out the sharpie that was in her back pocket, courtesy of her last shift at the firehouse. With quick reflexes she grabbed Cassidy’s wrist and proceeded to scribble her number alon the siren’s forearm. “I know that you need time to think, to process, but once you have, reach out, please.” Her eyes shone with sincerity. “I want to help.”

Murphy had almost disappeared back into the crowd before she turned and fished the cash out of her wallet. No words were spoken as she tucked the money into the front pocket of the girl’s jeans, a simple nod the only indication of what she had done. Seconds later she had slipped into the shadows of the now nearly deserted street. Only time would tell how this would play out, and yet, it showed promise that for the first time in years, she had shown kindness to a stranger without receiving a benefit to herself.

Murphy wasn’t kidding. It became clear in an instant, in the serious expression on her face and the way her short laugh wasn’t one of humor but of disbelief. This wasn’t her trying to pull one over on Cass, wasn’t her trying to play a trick or make Cass look or feel stupid for trying to steal from her. She was serious. She seriously thought Cass was… like her. Not a werewolf — that much was clear in her reaction to the suggestion — but something similar. Another kind of shifter, another kind of supernatural creature. And it was —

It was ridiculous. It was ridiculous, wasn’t it? Cass was human. She was a human being who was a little lost sometimes, maybe, but not so much so that she didn’t know what she was. Not so much so that she looked in the mirror without knowing what she was seeing.

(She already didn’t know who she was. How much more a struggle would it be to add not knowing what she was to that? How much more a tragedy?)

Murphy’s hand was on her arm, but Cass barely felt it. She was caught somewhere between wanting to run and being rooted in place, stuck there. “I’m not…” She murmured, uncertain, unsure how to even go about finishing the sentence. She swallowed as Murphy continued. Was that true? Was the fact that she used these abilities that Murphy claimed came from some supernatural aspect of her DNA proof enough that she wanted them, that she knew, on some level, that she was different? It made sense, even if Cass didn’t want it to.

“A meal?” She came back to herself with horror etched into her expression. “I don’t — I don’t want to eat anyone. Am I supposed to be eating people?” She felt a little sick, but at the same time… Murphy said she showed control and, in spite of everything, there was some pride to that. Cass had always been eager to please, quick to seek out compliments. Even if she still didn’t entirely believe Murphy’s claims, she still liked the idea that someone was impressed with her.

Maybe that was why she made no attempt to pull back her arm, why she stood still long enough for Murphy to write her number on her skin. Maybe that was why she thought she might use it. Cass didn’t buy the idea, for a second, that she was anything other than human. But… that didn’t mean she couldn’t still learn from someone like Murphy. Probably not the stuff Murphy was intending to teach her, but other things were on the table. Right? And if Murphy was right… Well, wouldn’t it be nice to know? Wouldn’t it be better? “Okay,” she agreed, quiet. “Okay, yeah. I’ll reach out.” And she was pretty sure she meant it.

She watched as Murphy started to walk away, stiffening when the other woman turned back towards her. Whatever she’d been expecting Murphy to do next, it wasn’t what she did. The cash in her pocket felt heavier than it had a moment before when it had been inside the wolf’s stolen wallet, like there was something else there with it, like it was weighed down by the conversation it had overheard. Cass put a hand into her pocket, wrapped it around the money for a moment as if cementing that it was really there, that it and the interaction were both real. She stood in the alley a minute, then two, then five. Long enough to make sure Murphy was gone, even if there was no fear left there anymore.

The national park had always been a soothing place for Jared to be, he might have been gone those last six months, but the life of the forest was ever present and ever alive with the creatures he loved. The paths he trekked were not the same as those traversed by the human population of the town as well, so it was curious when he could see steps veering into the brush in the wrong direction. Moving with significant speed. 

The nymph reached out tentatively to any charge of his nearby and the returning feedback bloomed in him, lighting up in a sort of cold aching fear. Jared found himself quickly following the footsteps of another at a rapid pace, registering disturbance to the peace almost belatedly, and eventually wrapping his head around the emotion and having the headspace to hope that what he’d find at the end of this makeshift path was something he could combat without any equipment. He hadn’t brought his shotgun and he regretted it more and more as the  remnants of a chase showed one of the participants to be shedding blood. The splatters on the foliage gave way to chunks of flesh the faster and further he moved. Guttural sounds starting to echo around the trees as he finally found the source of the discontent. The scene was...gruesome to say the least and he was standing on the outskirts frozen in place. A wolf. Of course. He could only look on the scene as silently as he could, she wasn’t finished just yet.

 Murphy had not intended to come to the national forest to hunt the prey which she was currently stalking. A deer would have been enough to sate her appetite, perhaps a large elk. That was until she noticed the park ranger, eyes watching as they had swaggered through the forest. Instinctively she shifted down, despite having intended to do so further into the hunt. This was her hunt now, the wolf within howled its pleasure as she crouched low to the ground, the fur of her belly scraping the surface of the leaves. Lupine senses advised her of the ranger’s path, no doubt looking for some poor lost soul who had wandered too deep into these woods, never to be seen again. Initially Murphy’s intention had only been to stalk, to watch them blunder through the woods, killing a ranger would have been too risky, drawn too much attention to her hunting grounds. Her mind changed in an instant as she watched the ranger shoot at a deer for sport. 

Without warning the wolf took over, powerful jaws locked around the neck of the ranger, the bones crushed in a satisfying way as blood flowed into her mouth. They were dead before they hit the ground, but Murphy was far from finished. With a vicious snarl she tore an arm from their body and shook it between her jaws until it had flown into the expanse of trees. It would need to be cleaned up later, but all that mattered now was her kill. Gutteral growls emenated from her chest, unable to control the sounds as she fed, which drowned out the tearing of flesh from bone as she feasted. It was not until she was almost done with her kill, when the haze of blood had receeded, that she noticed another presence. 

She acted on pure instinct, lips pulled back from glistening canines, body crouched low over her meal. The warning could not have been clearer: stay back. With a wary eye kept on the stranger, Murphy finished her meal. By the time she was done there was little more left than carrion for the various scavangers who romed the forest. With her stomach full and mind cleared, she shifted back to her second skin, unabashed by her bareness. Her eyes studied the man’s intently, and she instantly knew he was different, but what exactly he was she could not quite place. “Why were you following me?”

 He watched her devour her meal, completely entranced. Jared didn’t move a single muscle as he did so, not wanting to provoke an attack and hoping that she would have eaten enough to spare an altercation with him. He stayed silent as the squelch of tearing flesh died down with only scraps left behind on bone. Arms at his sides he finally moved only to hunch his back a little to appear smaller, a response born of living with viscous animals all his life. If he looked smaller perhaps he would be a far less appetizing meal. Although he had encountered werewolves before, and knew even natural instinct sometimes could be overshadowed by the need to remove dangerous outside onlookers from a situation such as this.

Fur smoothed out into skin and he averted his eyes respectfully from the shifter, his body half turning in what he hoped was a submissive enough stance that this conversation wouldn’t instantly take a violent turn. 

“The commotion startled the creatures in the trees, they were unsettled.” Jared responded simply, eyes focused to the right of the top of her head. “I wanted to see if there was any danger to them.” He admits. With this comment he finally makes eye contact with her. “Is there…? Are you a danger to them, or have you caught what you were looking for?”

  Her stance relaxed as she took in his submissive posture, Murphy’s dominant side appreciated the obvious display. Still, she knew it was easy to play tricks and merely moving one's body a certain way did not remove the threat entirely. Rather, it just made it less obvious. Her head tilted to the side as she pondered his question. “Only if I’m hungry,” a smirk twirled up blood stained lips, “Or they pose a threat.” 

She shrugged, an indication that the creatures in the trees were of little concern to her. “Now this one here,” a foot digs into what’s left of the skeletal remains, a few ribs knocked aside in the process. “They weren’t my intended target, but they were unintelligent enough to kill a deer in my presence.” There was a bark of laughter. “A pity. Now that poor unfortunate soul wandering these woods will forever be lost.”  

No sorrow was detected in her voice, if anything, Murphy was glad. They might still be wandering around a night from now, an easy meal, one that would not be missed. That thought brought her attention back to the skeleton at her feet. “You’re so concerned with the creatures of this forest.., Nymph?” The tail of her words rose in a question, a lone eyebrow lifted. “Tell me where I might find someplace to dispose of this creaton,” an angry venom seeped into the word, “And I might decide I don’t want a snack.” Not that he would be aware, but she didn’t truly intend him harm, not when he appeared to be no threat. But Murphy figured she might as well use the situation to her advantage.

  He eyed the remnants of the obviously human body at her feet and then artificially blue eyes flickered up to meet hers once again. “A ranger… getting into things they shouldn’t as always.” Jared surmised. If he were who he’d been before he’d left town months previously he might have picked up where the ranger had left off and attempted to find the misguided traveller. But he couldn’t quite muster the care he’d had back then for humans who’d foolishly bitten off more than they could chew. His expression stayed stable as he simply nodded along with the information she was giving him. Making no moves to do anything about it.

“Nymph.” Jared echoed back to her in confirmation. “Of vicious creatures.” He allowed his hair to shift and show the 4 curled goat horns on his head as proof before covering them over once again in glamour.

He raised placating hands into the air as her tone shifted abruptly from conversational to more aggravated. He lowered his gaze from hers as one might to for an angered bies in order to avoid it’s third eye. “It depends, are you talking about the bones at your feet or the hiker in the woods. Both have pretty different demands. Bones versus flesh you know.” He offered to her in response. “Might I ha- Might I know your name as well?” Maybe it was a dumb move to ask things of a stranger when they were so clearly threatening to maim you and/or something you cared for, but not many would call Jared a smart man. His eyes lose focus on the bones at her feet as he sends soft signals down the connection he had to the nearby Bonedoggle pack, signalling them to move just in case she took a turn.

 Her head nodded as she watched the appearance of his horns. “If the woods and the natural creatures are your element, why are you hiding,” a smirk, “scared of  things that go bump in the dark?” This was one of the few times Murphy had seen any part of a nymph without their glamour, and despite the situation she felt a strange urge to reach out and touch them. She quickly tamped it down, focused more on the situation at hand than any wandering fantasy. 

Murphy’s lip curled up in a sneer at the ridiculous or the question. “What do you think?” Despite the roll of her eyes that followed, she kicked the head of the skeleton and sent it rolling to come to a rest at his feet. “I have a long day tomorrow. I’ll take care of the human myself when it’s over.” There was no effort made to hide her intentions. Why should she? It was what she was, and in these woods at least, she had no intention of hiding. “Unless of course you’re one of those fun little beings who likes to pretend they care for the foul creatures?” Green tinted hues narrowed to alert him that the question was a challenge. Let him find out what would happen if he stood in the way of her next meal.

“You can call me Crimson. At least until I decide what I want to do about you.” Her senses, though dulled enough the early lunar phase that she couldn’t tell what was moving, picked up on a faint rustling. “I’ll kill them if you make me. You’ve been warned.”

“I’m more likely to be shot at if I look anything like myself.” Jared responded quickly. Shifting uncomfortably for the first time since this conversation had begun, thinking about the reactions he’d gotten in the past. “Wouldn’t get very far being scared of the dark either, not in a town like this one. There’s far too much going on once the sun goes down.” There was no hesitation however as his hand reached down to scoop the skull of the ranger into his grasp. “Well I can just take the bones out of your sight.” The nymph admits freely. 

Spinning the skull slowly in his fingers he wipes a thumb over the surface. “I only care about the humans I know well. I tend to just not get involved in anything that doesn’t concern me.” He’d learnt the hard way that it was best to only hold onto those that mattered. Especially when it comes to humans that may have put themselves in harm's way. “If you don’t get to them, something else will. It’s the natural order.” An order he supports wholeheartedly. 

He was a mild man, chipper and kind when spoken to. He liked to class himself as friendly even. But threats were difficult to take, especially such direct threats. It was not the threat to himself that raised his head, but the threat to the pack had his spine uncurling. No longer was he in a submissive stance. He towered as he looked at her. “And I supposed you think you’re the biggest baddest thing in the national park right now?” She may be able to take the doggles, but there were FAR nastier creatures in the depths. “Do you threaten people often?”

  Murphy snorted with derision. “And you expect me to believe you wouldn’t be able to sense someone with a shotgun? No. You’re hiding something.” She called how quickly he had hidden away his horns. “Even if it is from yourself.” There was nothing that bothered her more than a creature unable to express their natural being. Though he wasn’t a wolf, the simple thought that the man was hiding from his nature was painful for her. It was one of many reasons she utterly detested humans, and the bone’s beneath her feet bore witness to a surge of ill-suppressed anger. 

“I could do that. I want them gone.” Irritation was begging to crawl against her skin. “Why bother? Caring about the humans? If they knew what you truly were they would be the first to attack. Or maybe that’s why you choose to surround yourself with them? To give yourself an excuse to cower from what you were born to be?” Her nostrils flared. She might have felt something akin to pity for him, but she was not about to take a threat from someone so cowardly. In a few brusk steps she had crossed the distance between them and one hand reached up to wrap around his throat. 

“I might not be the biggest bad in these woods, but I’m bad enough to end you.” Murphy allowed her sharp human nails to dig into the skin of his neck, quite literally pressing the point into him. “Only when challenged.” She let go and rocked back onto her heels, green orbs bored into his in a refusal to drop his gaze. “But I’ll point out; that wasn’t a threat, it was a fact. If you make me I will kill them. So I suggest you don’t make me.” 

 “You jump to a lot of conclusions, we met all but ten minutes ago you know.” She could decide his character based on anything she liked, Jared was fairly certain nothing he could say would change whatever image she was already forming in her mind after all. Not that he would try very hard even if he did tell her more. Given her not so subtle negative stance on humans he wouldn’t be sharing anything more about his human family, lest it set a worse tone than this conversation was already taking.

“You want them unfound. There’s a difference. If I take them, they won’t be found and they’ll have a use. But whatever you’d like,” Jared paused and shrugged, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with how this encounter was going. He should have thought it through more clearly before running into the area, but he’d been concerned for his doggles. “You’re ignoring the humans who do know what I am and are fine with it. You might have not encountered any but that doesn’t mean you can rule them out completely.” He doesn’t move, lest she interpret his movement as inciting a fight and instead placidly allows her hand to wrap around his throat, it wasn’t like he’d never been choked before. He speaks again anyway, gasping on the limited air he can gasp for to add “You seem to know more about what I’m born to be doing than I do, the way you talk.”

“Okay.” Jared said mildly in a low tone, fighting the pressure on his windpipe. “I wasn’t talking about myself anyway.” When she let go, he does take a solid step backwards and away from her, a hand coming up to smooth over the imprints of her nails in his skin. “I wasn’t making you do anything. I was asking if you were threatening my kids. You are. You are threatening them, but only if I do something you don’t like will you actually do it. So… what exactly am I not to do in order to safeguard them? Secrets in this town are already a given among the more interesting people. So what is it I'm trying to avoid exactly?”

  “And why should I trust you?” One sculpted brow rose, a clear challenge to his statement. Murphy knew nothing about him other than that he was a nymph who chose to hide. Which begged the question, what else could he be hiding? “Oh, my mistake.” Her voice took on a mocking cruelty. “I hadn’t realized you’d shared with them what you look like outside of a glamour.” A cruel laugh parted from her lips. “In that case I take back what I said. They must truly accept you.” The sarcasm was apparent as it dripped from each and every word. “I’ve spent enough time around humans to know that what they don’t understand, they kill. How many of your creatures will have to die before you realize that?” It was a simple truth. Murphy had heard many a tale of humans stumbling upon some unsuspecting beastie, and, terrified of the unknown, they had slaughtered something that would have posed no threat, like the ranger tonight with the deer. Everytime she watched it it sickened her and ignited and anger that was only sated by blood. 

Murphy’s eyes widened incredulously. Had they really not understood? “Since you seem to be confused, allow me to spell it out for you.” Her arms folded across her chest. “It’s hardly a secret. As long as you don’t have them attack me, as I had a funny suspicion you were calling them to do, they’ll be fine.” She huffed. “I’ve no desire to harm those creatures that pose me no threat.” It was true, she embraced the forest and everything within as her natural habitat, and other, non magic creatures would more than suffice when the need for a snack arose. A tooth grin was flashed in his direction, half sinister, half benign. “But at least you think I’m interesting.”

 “You were the one to ask me where to put them…” This conversation was getting a little bit confusing to Jared. He was a little bit lost and trying his best not to show it. “I mean you don’t have to trust me, trust comes with time that I’m not sure we have tonight… but I could really use these bones for something good...although I guess that does depend on what you consider ‘good’.” Her changes in tone and general mocking demeanour drew out a disgruntled expression from the nymph. He didn’t understand her. He couldn’t understand her. They came from such different states of mind that her pure anger and hatred for humans was unrivalled in any other single person he’d met before. And he’d known Lydia. “I won’t hate a species simply because a few are dangerous and cruel. That is the real danger to my creatures. That is what kills them most.” 

This is when their disconnect reached its peak. He blinked at her, his face falling into understanding and then he frowned. “I wasn’t calling anything to attack you. I was asking them to move further away in case you wanted to attack them. The pack has moved east from us now, in the opposite direction.” Jared clarified quickly. “I have no reason for them to attack you. I have no reason to involve them at all. If you were to kill me at least they’d be unharmed. The smell of death scared them because they currently have pups. So I came to check on it. That's the only reason I’m here.” His eyes meet hers once again and he shrugs. “Everyone in this place is interesting, Crimson. In one way or another.”

  Murphy felt her teeth grind in frustration, her mind having wandered back. Had all the nymph’s she’d come across been so scattered? Or was he merely an exception? She shook her head. “It matters, because if they were to reappear somewhere, questions would be asked. Hunters might start poking around where they don’t belong. And no one wants that.” A sigh parted as her tongue darted out to clean some of the dried blood from her lips. “If you show me what you’re doing with them, you can have them.” It was the closest to a compromise that the two were likely to come to. “No, you misunderstand.” There was a pause as she sought the words to explain what she needed to say. “I don’t hate them. I don’t care enough to hate them. They’re a food source, a natural part of life. As natural as the tree that grows from the acorn. Most of them are tolerable, just like those doggles of yours are tolerable. I kill to feed, or when they offend.” She supposed it would be difficult to understand her view of humans, when so many others thought of them as worth getting to know. “Some of them can be useful, if they’re disposed to magic. Those are the only ones worth getting to know, of keeping around.” Of course to be truthful she did hate some humans. “I only outrightly hate the ones who seek us harm. And those who take needlessly from nature. The rest are free to maneuver through their lives like the cattle that they are.” 

“You have my word that I wish them no harm. Your creatures, I mean.” Murphy gestured to the bones at her feet. “So can you help me or not?”

 “They won’t reappear. Not in any way that could link back to you.” He assured her mildly, his own face scrunching up at the mere mention of hunters seconds later. Jared considered her compromise and studied her face for more malice. As much as she couldn’t trust him, he was in the same boat with her. She hadn’t given him her real name, never mind the fact she’d had her fingers wrapped around his throat moments before. But it was like a secret password had been spoken. Her sentiments about doing what she did for sustenance, that she was acting on her nature. Reservations dimmed as he looked upon her in a newer light. Of course she could be telling him what he wanted to hear, but she spoke without hesitation that made the nymph want to believe. 

He tried his luck then. “Promise me. That you mean no harm to my doggles… it’s to them that the bones would be going. If I call them back you won’t touch them. I want a promise.” It was the first time he’d ever done this on purpose. Fae promises were not broken. It was not done. And if she could do this for him in this instance perhaps he could trust her further. “Bonedoggle pups get their first set of bones usually through carcusses their mother hunts. But the mother has been injured. I’ve been collecting bones, but it’s a litter of eleven, there’s only so much I can do.” He entrusts this information to her knowing that the pack was far enough that he’d be able to send them to safety should this woman decide she was more bloodthirsty than she was assuring him.

 Murphy contemplated, one head cocked to the side as she thought over the potential consequences that might come from the choice to make a promise with a fae. This one seemed to be a straightforward enough request. With a solemn grace she bowed her head in acquiescence. “I promise.” The words seemed to echo almost all eerily through the forest with their weight. She shifted on her feet, a small swell of concern creasing her brow. “Can you not heal her?” 

Despite her promise, Murphy could still sense the hesitation that emanated from him. It was understandable, he had just watched her consume the flesh of a person down to their very marrow. “I assure you I’m quite full.” Her ears were now trained to listen for the approach of the creatures. She knew of them and had stumbled upon one on occasion but had yet to see a full pack of them up close, and it intrigued her. Murphy found fascination from anything to do with nature and this was no exception. “Perhaps I might be able to take a look at the mother? I have training when it comes to healing, human healing to be sure, from my studies at college. Would you allow me to take a look?” 

 A shiver passed down his spine as the promise took effect. It was such an odd sensation to Jared that he took a moment to recover. He’d only ever really trapped himself in promises to others before now, but he supposed turning over a new leaf after coming back to town had changed more than a few things. 

Full or not. He was pleased that she was bound to her promise. The nymph reached out through his connection to the pack and beckoned them back in their direction once again. “None of my animals are tamed. It’s not up to me if she allows you near her.” He shrugged lightly. “I did the most I could for her I could manage. I might not be much of a healer, but I have done my best for a long while now. Thank you for your concern, showing care like that for creatures like mine is rare.” A small smile finds its way onto his face as the sounds of many bodies moving through the brush become clearer. One by one, skeletal faces emerge partially into the area, 3 adult doggles with sharp eyes looking at both Jared and Murphy calculatingly. Jared sank to his knees in the next moment and a mass of small pups tumble into view marching to him in greeting. “Doggle pups gets their first bones at two months old.” He informs the werewolf woman. A hand gently smoothing over the formed skull of the mother.

 Murphy nods, she can understand the reluctance of the creatures to be touched by human hands. Especially since she herself was not so fond of the two-legged meatsacs. Still, she watched as Jared interacted with them. She felt secure enough in her surroundings to lower herself to the ground to sit cross-legged and an unbidden smile stretched up the corners of her mouth. Nature had a way of soothing her in a way that little else could. Tentatively, she stretched out her hand toward the matriarch of the small group. When it was close enough for the doggle to take a sniff, her body froze in place with an unnatural stillness, careful to not upset the creature. Only when she saw the doggle shift did her hand stretch the rest of the way as it came to rest atop the creature's head. The texture of the bone was smooth under her hand, worn down from its constant exposure to the elements. With a careful motion the hand atop the head began to move further down as it felt for any indescrepencies. Halfway through it’s path of exploration it reached a chink in the bone armor. A small space of skin was exposed that oozed slightly. Murphy took all the care she could not to frighten the animal as she probed the wound. Luckily it only appeared to be a small, healing scab, simply secreating the oils it needed to heal. 

In her focus she had almost completely forgotten the nymph’s presence, as by that point she had adjusted to his smell in the air. It was only his movement that snapped her back into reality. Murphy looked up at him, posture still slightly stiff from the slight shock. “She should be fine.The wound isn’t deep and it’s healing nicely. Hopefully soon she will be able to replace the destroyed section of armor.” 

  The mother doggle left his side and meandered wearily over to the werewolf, and the nymph was pleased when the woman expressed that the wound was nothing to be concerned over. It definitely had not been, not so many days before then either. So he took the words as a compliment to his efforts. Quietly smiling to himself he smoothed his hands over the pups as they spotted the bones sitting around the small clearing and started to fight over them. Jared watched the mother growl in warning at her probing fingers for a moment longer before making her way to break up a fight amongst her pups.