CHARACTERS: Chaz Burnes and Ash Marrok TIME/DAY: April 21, afternoon [backdated] SETTING: Park WARNINGS: Nada really. STATUS: Complete
The wheels of the skateboard rattled down the sidewalk as Ash weaved through the pedestrians and headed toward the park. He was going faster than he should have and some people were jumping out of his way, but he had a pretty decent handle on his board so as of yet he hadn't run into anyone or anything. It was a bright, sunny day and only about a week to full moon. Ash was antsy, he could feel the energy building up and it desperately needed an outlet. Skateboarding at the park would help to burn that excess energy a LOT.
Chaz was getting sick of reading in the library. It was odd because usually he found it the ideal place to study. For some reason he just couldn't stand the quiet or sitting still for that matter. Still he had a book report to finish. The first step in that would be actually reading the book. He figured a change of scenery would help since all he was doing in the library was staring at the same page.
He walked out of the library knowing that the park wasn't too far from where he was. Really it was only a few minutes away.
When he got there he sat under a tree, spreading his legs onto the sidewalk.
He was already smiling by the time he turned onto a sidewalk dipping into the large park area. The smell of grass and green reaching his senses and it was amazing. The wind in his fair made him feel like he was running. The only thing better would be if he actually was running, in wolf form, through the trees as fast as he could. He'd have to wait til night time for that though.
He came around a corner in time to spot the legs stretched out across the narrow sidewalk. It was grass on either side so he couldn't exactly go around. "Hey, up front!" He shouted ahead and then at the last minute he ollied to jump over the legs, although on the way down his wheel caught the edge of the sidewalk and he went tumbling.
It seemed like a split second went by from when Chaz heard someone yell to the point when that same person went tumbling down. "Crap," he said under his breath as he tossed his book onto the ground. Thinking about to where he was sitting he should have known that this would happen. He ran over to the other boy, grabbing the stakeboard as Chaz made his way to him.
"Sorry. I didn't think... you alright?" he asked as he knelt down next to him.
Ash pushed himself to his back with a small grunt, but then upon opening his bright blue eyes he started laughing. Really hard. "Yeah yeah, I'm good." He grinned, picking himself up with surprising ease and brushing grass from his pants. "That was awesome, wasn't it? Did you see how I rolled?" Ash was way too excited over falling down, he even started looking for any scrapes or bumps. Sadly, there was none to be found.
Alright now Chaz didn't feel quite so bad about causing the whole insident. There was a plus here, the guy obviously loved falling and he wasn't hurt.
"I saved your board," he said holding up a little for the guy to see. It seemed like the thing to say at the time. It was oh so much better than wondering if they skateboarder hit his head too hard as he rolled.
"Thanks man." He gave the other boy his usual lopsided smile, reaching to take his board back from him. That's when it hit him. The breeze turned him downwind and that scent caught his nose. It was so familiar and so obvious to him. Werewolf. And a brand new one at that. Newly turned or bitten wolves had a distinct smell to them. It was still human, but not as musky as an older or pureblood wolf. Judging by just how human this boy still smelled Ash would be surprised if he'd even had one full moon under his belt yet. He bit his lower lip, not even sure if this guy knew he was a wolf yet. Did he really want to be the one to say anything?
"So uh...I'm Ash." He offered his free hand to shake, watching the other boy closely to look for more signs.
Chaz didn't get the same scent off of Ash. He hadn't even had his first turn yet. Also he hadn't smelled a werewolf before so he wouldn't be able to tell anyway. He was still thinking that he was attacked by some wild dog or whatever the police said it was. One thing was for sure he never thought it could be a werewolf.
"No problem. I'm Chaz," he stretched out his arm to shake Ash's hand. Just near the collar of his shirt one could see part of his bandage covering the bite.
Eyes flickered immediately to that bandage, but he didn't say anything right away, he just smiled again. "Nice to meet you, Chaz. Do you go to school around here?" He was now determined to get to the bottom of all of this and without being invited he went over to the same tree Chaz had been sitting at before all of this and plopped himself down to sit there and continue their conversation.
"I go to Ronald Regan," he said following Ash to the tree he had been sitting at early. Guess this meant that they were going to hang out a little bit. He was perfectly fine with that. Anything that would keep him from having to suffer through that horrible book. That he was sure he would be able to finish in a day but he just didn't feel like reading it. "What school do you go to? Wait, are you in school?"
"Yeah, I go to Ronald Reagan too!" He grinned, "I'm still sort of new in town, I guess. Been here only a couple months since I moved down with my older brother." He was talking extra then, a side affect of his extra energy he was now sitting on. It had him acting more hyper than usual.
"I've always lived here," he was just really skilled at blending in with the background. Some people didn't even notice him unless he wanted to be noticed. He wouldn't be surprised if Ash didn't recognize him from school. "It's just me and my parents at home."
"Cool." He said with a grin, leaning his hands back into the grass as he watched the other boy. "So what happened to your shoulder?" He asked, the transition not very smooth, but he was tired of waiting to get his answers.
What? Chaz turned his head toward his injured shoulder then back to Ash. "I was attacked by an animal a few weeks ago," he still wasn't sure how 'the dog' bit his shoulder. "I don't really remember much though."
"Only a few weeks ago?" He asked before realizing it might be a strange question. He bit his lower lip a little, really torn over telling the boy and not wanting to be that bearer of bad news. Not that Ash thought it was a bad thing at all, he was proud of his heritage and blood. But for a human bitten...it was much different.
He thought about it for a moment to be sure, "Yeah, few weeks. I don't really have to bandage it anymore but my mom insists."
"Was it a big dog? Can I see?" He was really pushing the limit of polite questions to ask strangers and he knew it, but at that point he didn't really care anymore. He was pulling it off like he was just curious and like a typical boy wanted to see a big wound, but really it was more than that.
"Well the police said it was a dog. I don't remember it that much. My mom said I made it home and I don't even remember that," Chaz was used to the questions. Especially right after he was out of the hospital. Although they stopped asking after a few days.
"Crazy." he said, but didn't sound like he thought it was all that weird. He was mulling options over in his head. He knew for a fact if he told the kid he was a werewolf it was going to freak him out, but having a surprise change in a week could be dangerous for himself and for his family in the house when it happens. Warning him would definitely be the better option, but how the hell could he say it without sounding crazy?
"But you know what's really crazy. I could swear it was standing," but he was just told that was all in his imagination. He didn't really tell anyone else after that.
"Standing? Like...on two legs?" Ash was looking very nervous now, chewing his lower lip and tugging at the grass below his fingers in a fidget he couldn't stop.
"Yeah, isn't that weird? And the police kept saying it was a dog," he still wasn't sure how that all worked out. But he wasn't going to question them. He was the only one saying it was standing. So who would believe him.
"Yeah weird. Unless..." He hesitated again and then with a small grimace he trudged forward. "Do you believe in werewolves, Chaz?"
Chaz looked over to Ash with a questioning expression. Was he serious? Surely he wasn't about to suggest that he was attacked by a werewolf. "Not really. They're movie monsters," he laughed.
"Right..." He sighed, scratching the back of his neck a little and then just going for it. "It's probably going to be really hard for you to accept, but werewolves are real and I think you were bitten by one." He let out in one rush of a breath.
Chaz waited for Ash to say he was just joking around. "Wait, are you serious?" he said thinking that he might be hanging out with the wrong person. "You think I'm a werewolf?"
He nodded, chewing his lip again, "I know you are and yeah...I'm serious." He murmured.
"And how exactly do you know I'm a werewolf?" he asked trying to remain serious about the whole subject.
"Uh...I can smell it on you." He didn't really have any other response for it despite the fact that that one sounded a bit crazy. "I'm a wolf too..."
"So I'm a werewolf and you're a werewolf," he repeated just to be sure he was getting it right. He wasn't sure whether this guy actually believed that they were werewolves. Either way they were way beyond insane by now.
"Right." He nodded, knowing he sounded crazy and this kid probably didn't believe him. Ash didn't have a lot of experience telling people about this part of him, although growing up in a pack it wasn't like he needed to tell anyone.
"So let's say there are werewolves," yes he'll humor the guy for now. "How exactly do you prove it?"
Ah, well...There are a few ways." He glanced around, it was a nice day and the park was pretty crowded. "The easiest way to prove it would be me turning for you, but I can't exactly do it out in the open like this. The safest way of proving it is you just taking my word for it and then coming out with my brother and I on full moon so you don't hurt anyone."
Chaz wasn't sure he should trust a guy who sounded like a crazy person. "I... ," he thought about it for a moment, "I'll do it." There was nothing to lose really. Since he didn't believe in werewolves he swore nothing would happen.
Ash broke into a big smile, "Great." He sighed with relief, glad that was out in the open and out of the way. No one would get hurt if this kid stayed with them, although there was the issue of whatever wolf bit him in the first place... And, what was his brother going to say? Maybe Ash got himself into more trouble than he had actually avoided.
Chaz kept having to tell himself that this was going to be fun. If he only knew what was really going to happen. "Yeah," he smiled. He figured once that this werewolf thing was settled that they could actually have fun together. "Wait here," he writes down his phone number on a small piece of paper. "Might make it easier to meet up later."
"Sure, lemme get you mine." He said, taking the paper and ripping a smaller, still blank bit from the corner to scrawl his own number down. "In case you have any questions or whatever before moon in a few days."
Sure, Chaz would have questions. Mostly to why he was actually agreeing to his in the first place but that was just his sense talking. "If I think of anything," he said taking the phone number.
"You will." Ash had an almost knowing smile on his face. "When the fever starts, you might have questions." Then he paused for just a second. "Also, don't resist the meat cravings. Just eat the damn steak, it'll make you feel MUCH better. Trust me."
"Fever?" now Chaz was the type that hated being sick. So even the idea that he was going to have a fever was annoying him. The last thing Chaz wanted to look froward to was a fever. "I'm actually not a fan of red meat. More of a chicken guy myself."
Ash laughed, sort of enjoying this 'training the new pup' thing. He had never much had the chance, being one of the younger members of his pack and not really being around any other wolves but his own pack members. "That'll change."
Things he had to look froward fevers and steaks. That was just great, well the steak thing wasn't actually that bad. He didn't like steaks but he does eat them from time to time. "So how did you become a werewolf?" he asked really starting to get into this whole werewolf thing.
"I was born werewolf." He responded easily and with a small shrug. "My brother and I actually just moved away from our pack."
Well that answered his 'could someone be born a werewolf' question. That one less thing that he had to wonder about. Wait... Ash and his brother are werewolves. This brought on maybe the worst question that he could ever think of. Not that he still completely believed Ash about the werewolves. "You didn't attack me did you?" not sure how the other boy would take the question.
"What?" His eyes widened a bit at even the thought of him and Jon possibly attacking someone. He shook his head, "No no, absolutely not. We keep to ourselves for the night. It's to dangerous otherwise, especially since we don't really have a territory of our own out here."
"I.. sorry I asked," it seemed like a logical question to ask. They were talking about werewolves and him being attacked. It was only his mind would jump to that. "So there's more... more werewolves?"
Ash nodded again, shifting where he sat to cross his legs under him and lean elbows on his knees. "Yeah, lots. All over the place." He was quiet for a second, still lightly pulling grass from the ground and flicking it away. "I'm sorry you got attacked." He finally said with a frown. "And I'm sorry I had to be bearer of bad news..."
This was a little much for Chaz. There were werewolves all over apparently and he hadn't noticed anything. That made him feel a little like an idiot but he was sure that he wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed them. "I... think I should go," he didn't give his friend a chance to say anything else.