new moon rising

[Ganymedes]

The wolf at a first glance looked oddly emaciated, its proportions looking like it'd been stretched out and stuck like that. Two patches of leathery flaps of skin lay on its back, not immediately distinguishable as wings. That and it's hand-like paws were it's most distinct features.

Ears pinned at the wretched crowing from Matchstick above, and the thought that perhaps lunging up to snatch the thing could lead to an easy meal. It seemed plump enough. But then came the notice of language. Intelligence. Did that mean that it wasn't food? Perhaps.

"I don't know," they answered the bird, surprising themself with the words that came out of their mouth, "... It seems I can."

They stood up on their hind paws and focused on shrinking themselves down, their claws turning to sharp nails, ears slimming and losing their fur, their snout shrinking into their face and teeth shoving back into their more human alignment. The crack of bone made them wince for a moment before it was over. They were... mostly human. They were completely bare, their long ebony hair falling over their chest and back, obscuring pale skin.

"... I don't know why I can stand," they said, their voice monotone and slightly feminine, "Or speak."

After answering, the massive beast told them to stop. Annoyed, their brows furrowed and they deemed it too cowardly to bother trying to interact with. It's not like they'd bother hunting something with skin tough enough to break their teeth. And those spines... no, they'd focus on something worthwhile.

"You're a wolf," they said blunting, pointing a clawed finger at Rochester, "And alone. Why? Do you have no pack?"

Oh how they wanted to strangle that raven... it's voice grated on their ears, repeating words and crowing over and over. If only they could walk away... but the scent of a fellow werebeast kept their feet firmly planted. How dreadful.

Rochester

[Rochester]

There was a sudden bout of commotion as the largest creature began to blurt words, the crow above them cawing words of its own; Rochester was trying to listen and heeded her warning to stay back, but as she commented on his paws, he looked down to them—

"What the fuck," he breathed, having noticed the change when he stood up, too, but his brain was having trouble processing everything. He looked over to the other wolf as the dinosaur continued talking, and he nodded. Yeah. What the fuck was going on? She told them to stay where they were and he hesitated, agreeing only because her tail did seem dangerous, but, he wanted answers, too!

"Wait—wait, maybe we can figure it out together," he offered quickly, clenching his fingers into loose fists. His attention was pulled back to the other wolf as it spoke, and as he looked it over again, it was a little different than him. It noted that he was alone, and asked if he had a pack. Rochester instinctively knew this word, but he could not pinpoint why.

"Yes," he answered, then quickly said, "wait, no..." Again, his head squeezed and screamed, and he lifted a hand to hold the bloodied side. "I don't know," he admitted. It felt correct to answer yes, but then, he couldn't bring anything else to light. What was a pack? His family?

His... family?

He winced, bringing the other hand up to rub the top of his head. Aaargh!

Rochester looked back up to the others, his eyes squinting in pain.

"Just wait, okay? Do you guys feel like you have... uh, a calling? A name?" He was watching the dinosaur carefully, ready to duck if she did decide to whip her tail anyway, and cautiously he'd look away from her to view the crow and the other wolf. "I think mine is Rochester, but it's weird. I don't know what it means. I don't think I knew it before today." A small pause, and then more quietly: "I don't think I really knew anything before today." There was nothing to remember, anyway. It felt like there should be, but he couldn't figure it out.

Did they all feel like that too?

Matchsticks

[Matchsticks]

Matchsticks listened, shifting from branch to branch. Most of it, he ignored, or glossed over as unimportant. Pack? Guys? Bloodied hands? He didn't care.

But calling; names?

The image flitted through his mind: picking up the little cardboard box in his beak, barely the size of his foot, and bashing it around. Listening to the clattering within. The top popping open; matches spraying all over.

He'd liked that.

"I AM MATCHSTICKS!" he crowed trumphantly, and it would've been at the top of his voice had he not been going hoarse. It was more of a loud croak, and the crow ruffled his feathers, then resettled his wings across his back.

And then, for good measure: "Rawchester." It was apparently a statement, or agreement, or maybe confirmation of Rochester's name (if mispronounced yet again). As if the wolf needed someone to confirm it. But-... He wasn't a wolf, anymore, was he?

"Why were you a wolf and now you're not-a-wolf? And what are you? And what are you?" he demanded, twice, looking first to Ganymedes and then to Andromeda.

Matchsticks thought back. He'd never thought before--that's what he was thinking about--so why was he thinking, and speaking, now? How come his entire life, up until these last few moments, had been imagery and emotion, and nothing more? Playfulness, mischief, malice, love of family, hunger, fear, curiosity. Trees and sky, snow and rain, clouds and meat and bugs.

His thoughts could perhaps best be summed up in this moment as "???" but that wasn't particularly eloquent, and so he let out a quiet, troubled croak as a compromise to decorum.

Andromeda

[Andromeda]

Despite herself, Andy stopped when Rochester said 'wait'. The questions they posed were...interesting. They made her think. She didn't know. "I'm a...a." She trailed off. She didn't know...anything really. She knew she was herself.

"I'm me. Andromeda." She said, in reply to both Matchsticks and Rochester. She didn't know why she was named that, nor what it meant. Especially not what she was. She hadn't seen anything like her, in all the time she'd been here.

Andy paused. Wait, why was she saying all this to them? They talked, sure, but Andy wasn't sure if she wanted company like this. "Listen. I don't know much. About me, or you, or this place. But I know that you guys are really weird."

She had fleeting memories. More flashes of color than anything. Scaly hide against scaly hide, and the scent of conifers. "I uh--I'm leaving. I can figure this out on my own. And stay over there." She turned. Walking slowly, to try and hide the tremor in her legs. Excitement or shock, it was up to interpretation.

Action "speaking"

;exit Andy

@Ganymede

((sorry it took so long for andy to say fuck this bye kgjhkjg))

[Ganymedes]

"... Ganymedes," they said, shifting.

They shook their head and glared at the dinosaur as she finally left, growling softly. They glanced to the others briefly. The wolf, the crow... and that was it. They stared at the crow and slowly shifted from foot to foot, anxious. It was a gamble, they were taking, being so close to a strange wolf.

"I'm a werewolf," they finally said to the crow, red eyes peering out from under ebony hair, "I can take two forms. Human, wolf, and anything between."

Ganymedes didn't mention anything about the curse that the beast brought upon them. No one needed to know.

Rochester