#wulfpost

An abandoned warehouse, somewhere in the United States.

Chimera, a humanoid E.V.O. with green scaly skin and yellow eyes, watched the streets from a window high above the work floor. It was a rather inaccessible window, likely only meant for allowing sunlight in. The streets were calm, and mostly devoid of human life.

Chimera glanced down to the work floor, and found herself watching her two companions. Scalamander, a large amphibian-like E.V.O. with crystals growing from one arm, was situated by the large main door of the warehouse, standing guard. Biowulf, an E.V.O. who resembled in layman's terms a cyborg werewolf, was pacing the work floor.

Chimera crawled down from her perch upon the support beams and made her way to the work floor. "Hey, Wulf," she said to him. "How're you healing up?"

Biowulf didn’t stop pacing. "It's nothing," he huffed without looking up. "That...Providence pig is weak. He barely scratched me with that little sword."

Chimera's snake-like tail swished behind her. "That's not how it looked to me," she replied. "But I'm...glad you're feeling better."

"We heal fast," Wulf snorted dismissively. "You know that."

"I do, but...that doesn't mean I can't still worry." Chimera began to follow him as he paced aimlessly. "You're worrying right now. The same way you did when the boss wouldn't let you follow him back at Kyiv."

"This is a lot more serious," Wulf replied, still pacing. "For all we know, he's stuck somewhere in the past with no way to get back to us."

Chimera said something she felt was true, but knew she may regret. "Maybe that's a good thing."

Wulf turned on her in an instant. "What?!"

"Just that...," Chimera faltered. She sighed. "Wulf. I know how you felt. But he was bad for us. For the Pack. And he was bad for you."

Wulf glared at her. "All this time, were you just waiting for something to happen to him so you could turn traitor?! That makes you worse than Circe. At least she had the spine to run when he was still around."

Chimera swallowed. She kept her voice steady. "I never ran away because my allegiance was to the Pack. I couldn't turn my back on you," she replied. "Van Kleiss was never really one of us. He never wanted to be. Everything was for him, never for us. We risked our lives for him nearly every day and scarcely ever got so much as a 'thank you'. You saw what he was doing to Breach. Do you really think he would have hesitated at all to do the same to you, if your powers were more exploitable?"

Wulf snarled and turned away. "He was trying to make a world our kind could thrive in."

"He was trying to put himself at the top of the pyramid, and he'd have crushed any E.V.O. who stood in his way. Hell, you even saw him crush your fellow E.V.O.s! The Garden is full of our kind. People who just wanted a better life, the same as us."

"So you're glad he's gone? That we have no one to lead or protect us?!"

"We have each other!" Chimera cried. "That's what matters. With Circe seeking greener pastures and Breach being...god knows where...the fact that the three of us are still together and still alive is a beautiful thing."

"And what good is that?!" Wulf snapped. "What good is that if we're alone and directionless?! We can't even get back to Abysus without WALKING."

"If being directionless is what scares you," Chimera said softly. "Then I'll give you direction. I'll keep doing it, until you realize who you are. Until you can give yourself direction. Until you can become what you wanted to believe he was."

Wulf sighed heavily, and slouched until he was practically standing on all fours. "...Then give me an order," he muttered.

"...Stop working yourself up and lie down," Chimera replied.

Slowly, Wulf slouched further until he finally flopped onto his stomach like an exhausted dog. Weary sigh and all.

Chimera slowly made her way around him and sat down next to him. She reached out with one hand and slowly ran her fingers through the thick, soft mane of white hair that grew from his head and covered his back. She resisted the urge to call him a "good boy". While petting his soft hair did feel familiar, it would have been too demeaning. After all, he was a human under all of that fur. Or at least, he had been, once.

Wulf sighed a few more times as Chimera soothed him with soft, gentle strokes. Maybe he'd have found it humiliating before, but it was comforting. And it was something Van Kleiss had never done, nor offered.

"I think you could lead us," Chimera said softly. "I know you could. You're strong, you want what's best for us...you're stubborn. You're a good man, Wulf. Not just a good servant."

Wulf let out a great exhausted huff once again.

By the door, Scalamander sniffled. "That was so pretty...," he whimpered. "Can I come over and get a back-rub, too?"

"Sure," Chimera said with a small smile. "You big softie."