GamerTag [BxB]

Wolf-Nelly

(Oh man, this was a long time coming. I meant to have this up weeks ago but life sucks and being an adult sucks and yeah...)

Van's POV

I was sitting on the guest bed, staring into space when I heard Dezzy yell. Without Nelly's high-pitched whining, it was harder to sleep in Relic. The quietness left room for a lot of thoughts I had been putting off so I was grateful when Nelly somehow caused enough of a scene for Dezzy to yell across the entire house.

I had barely stepped out the door before I was mowed down by a teenage wolf. He was having a field day licking every inch of my face. I pushed him away but he was surprisingly strong for how small he was. I got him out of my face long enough to command, "Down, pup. Get off me."

The puppy whined but backed off of me. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize this was Nelly. If the affection didn't tip me off, the blue/green eyes surely would have.

I sighed and looked at the bird-hybrid family standing in the doorway, "So how did this happen?"

Dezzy said timidly, "I was trying to bring his wolf to the surface."

"And you ended up bringing out the entire wolf," I finished. "Great."

For some reason wolf-Nelly thought that was the go ahead to stick his nose into my armpit.

I ignored him and asked the bird-hybrids, "So, how can we get him back on two feet?"

Red shrugged but, for all his nonchalance, he seemed fascinated by Nelly, "Only sorcerer hybrids can do a complete shift. You'd have to ask one of them."

"And where can I find them?"

"Well, we have one in the colony," Red said, "But I doubt he'd welcome us at this hour. You'll have to wait until the morning. Perhaps Nelly will have shifted back by then."

I looked at the wolf under my armpit and shook my head. "He's not going to shift back himself. His wolf is enjoying this too much. Can you take me to him in the morning?"

"Of course," he motioned at wolf-Nelly, "So, is he a sorcerer?"

I nodded, "He doesn't act like it but he is."

"How interesting," Red remarked. He turned towards his daughters and shooed them away, "Back to bed, you two. Sorry, Dezzy, but you're not having your sleepover today."

Verene went easily with just a single lingering glance at Nelly while Dezzy whined and complained until Red had to pick her up and carry her off. That left me alone with wolf-Nelly. Once the pup was done nosing around my armpit, he hopped excited and ran to jump on the bed. Then he flopped to his belly and wiggled exactly where I was laying.

"Okay, wolf-boy, stop that," I huffed, standing up, "You're going to get fur everywhere."

Wolf-Nelly rolled to his feet, circled the bed, then settled down again and looked at me expectantly.

I was even more tired now than I was the first time I got in bed so I went ahead and got in on the other side. Wolf-Nelly sniffed me again before laying down and closing his eyes. This time, it didn't take long at all for me to fall asleep.

The next morning, I woke to growling and a wolf dick hanging over my face. I stared in horror for a second before I remembered what wolf would have the audacity to stick his dick in my face. I pushed wolf-Nelly off me roughly and growled at him, "Do that again and you're dead."

Wolf-Nelly whimpered and lowered his head, greenish blue eyes full of sorrow. The little drama queen.

I ignored his puppy eyes and looked up at the person he was growling at. Red stood at the door, looking incredibly amused. He said apologetically, "I opened the door too quickly and startled him. I'll give you a half hour to be ready before we leave for our sorcerer. The basin in the room right across from you."

"Alright, thanks." Red nodded and left me with a whiny pup.

"Hey, Van," Nav suddenly said, "Nice to see you're awake. What's with the wolf?"

Nelly perked up and hopped a few times, evidently recognizing Nav's voice as a positive thing. I sighed, "Well, the wolf is Nelly. In wolf form. Because apparently Dezzy was trying to help."

"You know, I will always be amazed by how much kids can do when they're trying to help," she said. "So, what's the plan?"

"Find the bird-hybrid sorcerer," I reported, "Try to see if he knows how to get Nelly to turn back." I grabbed my bag and headed to the basin. Nelly and I only carried one change of clothes between cities and bought more whenever we got to the next city. Nelly kept his cloak and I kept my armor though. Wolf-Nelly tried to follow me but I closed the door on him. I ignored the resulting puppy whines that I could hear outside my door and stripped out of my clothes.

"Aw, don't be so mean to the puppy," Nav said playfully, "He just wants to lick you clean."

I gave her a humorless laugh for her troubles, "Very funny."

"It is pretty funny." I could hear the amusement in her voice. "Nelly is going to have a heart attack when he gets back to Nelly form."

I snorted reluctantly, "Okay, yeah, that's going to be pretty funny. If I don't kill his wolf before he retakes control."

"Please," she scoffed, "You love that puppy. You wouldn't kill him if he pissed on your shoes."

I sent a glare at the sky, knowing she would see it, "Don't give him any ideas."

"I doubt it hasn't already crossed his mind," she said dismissively. "You better hurry if you want to meet this hybrid sorcerer and get to Haddish before nightfall. Who knows what'll delay you next."

"Ah, yeah." Shit. It's not like we were making great time before that whole nymph fiasco.

I met Red in the kitchen ten minutes later, fully dressed and armored with wolf-Nelly following at my heels. He fed us both half a pigeon, mine was considerably less bloody than wolf-Nelly's, then we left for the hybrid sorcerer.

Walking through the colony took us past several small houses made of sticks. I had to call wolf-Nelly to keep him from straying enough times to warrant a leash. The colony house system was surprisingly complicated. We zig-zagged on the paths, going up levels then turning around and going back down. Finally, we arrived at a house like any other except with a weird smell emanating from it.

Wolf-Nelly whimpered and hid his nose beneath his paws.

I told Red dryly, "I don't think Nelly's going any farther."

Red grimaced at the smell but went straight up to the little house and knocked loudly on the door. "Kurt!"

"What is it?" a voice shouted.

Red yelled back, "A couple of travelers need your help."

There was a loud, exaggerated groan before a young man opened the door to the house. He had wild brown hair and colorful parrot wings coming out his back. He looked at me and Nelly with beady yellow eyes and asked curtly, "What?"

I pointed at Nelly, "We don't know how to get him to shift back."

Kurt walked closer and bent down to wolf-Nelly's level. "Do you want to shift back?"

Wolf-Nelly shook his head.

"Well, there's not much I can do about that," Kurt said easily, "Can't force him to shift. He'll figure it out with time."

I growled, "I can't travel with a wolf. I need human Nelly."

Kurt looked from me to Nelly, curious. "Do you growl more than he does?"

I started forward, fire erupting out my fist and he flew back reflexively, hands up in surrender.

"Easy there," he said with an annoyingly calm voice, "Where are you two going anyway? I can't help you with this but perhaps I can with something else."

I forced myself to cool down. And wolf-Nelly licking my hand did, admittedly, make some of my tension go. It was still gross though. "We're going to the North Elven Temple."

"Oh," Kurt's eyes lit up, "I want to come with."