and when the coyotes they sing at the park, it's when the city life starts falling for the sea

[distrustful]

The forest is the only place that InuYasha can practice with Tessaiga anymore. It's not every day that the sword is accommodating enough to let him practice, sometimes stubbornly remaining in its dormant form with nicks and unraveling at the hilt, but today it seems to recognize the importance of InuYasha maintaining his skill. At least, if he wants any hope of keeping an eye out for the very human population of Darrow.

He might not have found a way to fit in yet, but he's seen the good of a great number of them, and he just doesn't trust the city to reliably protect it for long.

He can feel a storm on the way, smelling like it's from a further distance than InuYasha knows the place allows, the swirling winds raising the hair on the back of his neck as he tugs Tessaiga out from her scabbard. In a flash, the fang expands, almost as tall as InuYasha as he aims her carefully for the split in the wind.

"Kaze no kizu," he yells, dragging her along the seam of the wind, tearing through the trees in the forest and cutting long, jagged trails into the dirt. An unfortunate tree in the way of the attack gets a twig sliced clean off, each one of its leaves torn into shreds.

The force isn't as strong as InuYasha was able to manage it back home, and he just can't seem to figure out why. Sniffing the wind in the wake of his attack, InuYasha's attention focuses on a small area without scent, without sound. A strangely perfect bubble in the middle of the otherwise lively forest.

When someone emerges from the space, InuYasha's nose immediately wrinkles in distaste, and he quickly shoves Tessaiga back in her scabbard.

"Why is it always wolves?"

Comments

[primuslune]

Remus starts with surprise at the sound of a voice as he sneaks out of the small place in the woods that he shares with Hermione. He isn't expecting anyone to be anywhere near it, especially not at this time of day - the wards ought to send curious Muggle hunters and hikers, at the least, in the other direction. But the young man he finds with alert and wary eyes is no Muggle. The hair and ears make that plainly obvious. Really, the ears would be enough.

It's not the best time to be snuck up on, for Remus. The Wolfsbane potion that Hermione has approximated (she really is a talented potioneer) keeps Remus from causing himself any more additional harm, but the change is enough. His nerves feel frayed and his body, stiff and sore.

He manages not to reach for his wand.

"There are no wolves here," he corrects.

[distrustful]

It's rare, almost unheard of for a wolf to be anything but proud of being a wolf. Also rare for wolves to travel in anything but packs, though InuYasha supposes that it's the wards around Darrow that prevent that more than anything, as opposed to there being something broken in the spirit of the wolves themselves. He gives the man an extended look. In spite of being significantly taller, he doesn't look like too much. Lanky. Worn. Tired.

Those marks on the face, though. He lived through something.

"Then, whatever you're calling yourselves here. Werewolf. I can smell it; you can stop denying it. There is something wolf on you," InuYasha concludes, not bothering to take a step forward or backward. "Don't worry, I have no one to tell."

[primuslune]

“Remus Lupin,” Remus supplies, resting the hand that had been itching to go for his wand at his thigh gently, If this person had wanted to attack him, there’d been plenty of reason to do so beforehand. Now that introductions are started seems a little hasty. He breathes a sigh, not quite relieved, and rests backward against a nearby pine tree. He wonders whether he should be glad or not that Hermione isn’t around.

“Is what I call myself. But, yes, fairly, a werewolf is what I am. Can I help you with something?”

[distrustful]

"InuYasha," he offers in return, starting to sniff the air as soon as this Remus fellow leans back against a nearby tree. There's still that blank spot in the forest, where he can't seem to pinpoint anything. Not even a single insect rustling through the grasses. He frowns, nose twitching as his hand grips tightly at the hilt of his sword.

"What is that empty space that you came out of? I didn't notice it before, but now... I can't sense anything from that area."

[primuslune]

"That's my home," he explains. "I live there with a friend of mine from back where we came from. The house is hidden from those who might be looking for it. Not necessarily for our own safety, but for the safety of anyone who could stumble across it. We're not dangerous, not anymore than anyone else, at least - don't get the wrong idea. Well, at the least, the young lady I live with isn't any more dangerous. But the both of us can do ... well, I suppose there's no need to pussyfoot around it. After all, you could tell what I was just as soon as you looked at me. We're Wizards. Magical folk."

[distrustful]

"I could smell wolf on you. I don't know if I would call that magical, but you smell like wolf, and you smell like human, too," explains InuYasha, who now squints in the direction of the area the man calls his home. It's a useful trick, even if he has to believe that it'd be most effective against humans and other creatures that use their eyes more than anything else. The whole area feels... erased from existence. Like someone took a sample of the air and just spread it across the area.

It might work for sight, maybe even scent. Not for sound.

"You should tell the person you live with to make sure that there are sounds coming from the area. It feels like I'm trying to listen into a wad of cotton," he adds. "I met another wolf in this city. He didn't seem half as unwilling to admit what he is as you are."

[primuslune]

Although Remus would rather deny that he's a wolf actually - he doesn't conceptualize himself that way - he doesn't deny that he no doubt smells like one to someone with that sort of clever nose. He relaxes mildly again, almost certain now that the young man approaching isn't meaning him any harm, but only curious.

"I'll keep in mind to send Hermione a message about the spells," he murmurs to himself, before lifting his voice and taking a few steps closer. "Wizard. That's what I want to be identified as. That's what I want to be called. It's not that I'm unwilling, but a wolf is just ... not what I am. I'm a person with a curse. I don't say this because I have ill regard for the idea of being a wolf. Far from it. But I don't want people to make the wrong assumptions."

[distrustful]

The mention of a curse stops InuYasha from where he'd been starting to sniff further into the forest, wondering what else it has hidden in its reaches. He's spent so long searching around the edge of the city that it now feels like a large oversight, not having searched everything inside the borders. If two individuals could have hidden a house, who knows what those in charge of the city could have managed?

"So you practice magic," InuYasha says, crossing his arms imperiously over his chest. "You're not those responsible for pulling everyone into Darrow, right? What kind of curse is it that you're suffering from?"

Two different questions, perhaps, but he wants to be sure of both.

[primuslune]

"No," Remus says firmly, not wanting to be taken so seriously. "I'm not responsible for any of this. Something like that is fairly outside of my ability. That sort of space and time magic. I'm much better at small charms, and of course, counter-curses. Even so, I would never use my magic for a purpose like that. I've no interest in controlling anyone. Mostly, I'd just like to live without being a bother to much of anyone."

He sighs, nodding toward the hidden house in the woods, before nodding to the silver-haired man.

"The curse causes me to transform during the full moon. Into a creature. 'Wolf' would be a stretch, actually. A wolf is not as strong or fast, and certainly not quite so hungry for the flesh of humans. It isn't an animal that someone with the curse becomes, but a dark creature. A foul, evil thing. Compelled to spread the curse to others, through its bite, which is how I contracted it myself, as a child."

[distrustful]

A curse in the form of a disease, InuYasha thinks to himself, even as he gathers himself to follow after the man. It's not the same as the hereditary curse that Miroku's family suffered from, but maybe that's the point, for someone such as this man. Someone who wants nothing in the way of controlling the lives of others, indiscriminately passing on the most controlling curse of them all.

"You don't sound like you try very hard to break the curse anymore," InuYasha remarks, hefting Tessaiga up to rest against his shoulder, gripping the hilt more tightly as soon as he passes over the barrier around the house, all of his senses finally being restored inside of it. It's a small, unassuming residence.

Homey.

"How do you keep yourself from attacking humans, then, if your mind can't?"

[primuslune]

Remus waves the other man toward the door to the little home, opening it. It's unlocked; out here, the worst that would tend to stumble upon it would be the animals of the forest. And Remus isn't shy, in general, about letting others in. Hermione might have been a more cautious sort, but Remus was both confident in his ability to defend himself and his home, if he needed to be, and also, reasonably sure that he was the more threatening one under the circumstances, at any rate.

It was a bit of a Hansel and Gretel situation. Or would that have been Little Red Riding Hood?

"Come on in and get something warm to drink," he said. "I'll answer your questions fairly. Truthfully, I'd given up a long time ago on finding a cure. It's no dice. I just content myself by taking a potion, one which allows me to keep my mind during the full moons, when I transform. So long as I do remember to take it."

[distrustful]

"There's always a cure," InuYasha says, accepting the invitation in spite of slight dubiousness. He gives the inside of the house a hesitant look, offering no thanks for the hospitality, although he does close the door behind him. About as polite as it gets.

"There is always something out there that can grant wishes, so there's always a cure. The bigger issue is price. The cost isn't always worth it," he adds lightly, shoving both hands in his sleeves and frowning at his surroundings. There's nothing about it that immediately leaps out to the eye, but now and again his eyes pass over small little trinkets that move in ways that don't seem like natural physics.

It's disconcerting.

"Have you ever forgotten to take your potion before?" he asks, leaning forward to stare at a tank, searching for what's inside.

[primuslune]

"You're right," Remus agrees. "There's always a cure, depending on what price you're willing to pay, and how long you're willing to wait. I'm not willing to pay the price. That's ... " Remus trails off. "Not the kind of thinking that a good wizard can afford to entertain too often."

Remus starts immediately on putting together a little tea service. From inside the tank that InuYasha nears, a grindylow catapaults from a thick float of seaweed and presses itself against the glass to stare the silver-haired man down, its long brittle claws clicking against the barrier.

"I've forgotten," Remus says. "Once."

[distrustful]

"Whose definition of good?" InuYasha remarks, more a rhetorical question than an earnest one. Other people's sense of morality might make for an interesting conversation, but InuYasha is under the impression that he's done the majority of his thinking already. A brief conversation won't sway him too much.

He growls lowly at the creature, not trusting the look of its many tentacles or its claws. Then again, it's in a tank, and unlikely to be able to hurt InuYasha from there. He snorts, then walks over to Remus' side.

"Yours, I guess," he says next, answering his own question. "So what happens if you forget the potion? You're human. Humans make mistakes."

[primuslune]

"If I forget," Remus says, giving the kettle sitting on the table a first tap, to fill it, and a second tap, to heat it. It whistles softly for a few seconds, before quieting down, never having been on the range to begin with.

"It steals my mind. The transformation. I become less than an animal. A dark thing that wants only to bite other humans. And worse. Animals are generally safe. They can't be infected, and a werewolf like myself only desires to attack humans in that state. But, it isn't pleasant for myself, and isn't safe for others."

[distrustful]

InuYasha startles slightly at the whistle of the kettle, giving it a distrustful look, gaze skirting back up to meet Remus' bright blue a moment later. He doesn't like it, the instantaneous change, like a sudden pop of pressure against his senses.

"So you only go through this transformation on the full moon," InuYasha muses, frowning to himself. He doesn't like the idea of anyone stripped of their reason, but if it has to happen, the fact that it's only once a month helps. The fact that it will always fall on a day when InuYasha is capable helps. "I'm not human. You want me to keep an eye out for you during your transformations? The way things are around here... a back-up plan can't hurt."

[primuslune]

"Well," Remus says, only after a long pause, as he quickly pours two cups full of steaming water and adds a tea bag. Bags are cheaper, so that's what he has. He's normally more of a beer drinker himself, to begin with.

Tea is better for conversations like this one.

"Normally, I would be uncomfortable with saying yes. It's your time, after all. Even if it's out of a sense of responsibility, why waste it on me? A werewolf is a dangerous thing, but ... in the scheme of things, not the most dangerous. Not that I am undervaluing my own ability to cause unfortunate damage. But there are worse things. Out there, in the dark. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new."

Remus observes InuYasha cooly, before continuing.

"Moreover, on a personal level, I don't like it. I don't like to have unfamiliar people around. For that. I don't like to let myself put trust in them, either way. My trust has been violated before," he admits, lifting his chin slightly, at the thought of Sirius. Who had used him, as part of an awful prank.

InuYasha is not Sirius Black. But Remus knows where he is coming from.

"Still, even I am not infallible. I can't fully trust myself, either. Only a complete fool thinks that he can."

[distrustful]

"I don't really give a shit whether or not you trust me, honestly. Maybe you shouldn't. I have ideas about how I think the world should work... and you won't be able to change my mind on a lot of it. Probably," InuYasha considers, adding the qualifier after his mind wanders to Kagome. To Kikyou. The two people most successful at turning his mindset around.

He hasn't met anyone quite like them yet in Darrow, and doesn't think their types exist very often in the world at all.

"All I'm trying to do is protect humans. That is my number one goal. I have a desire to find my way back to my world, but if I don't, I'm not going to be very upset compared to some of the people I know here," he adds, frank, turning gold eyes to fix on Remus' blue. "Your threat would be posed to humans specifically, and even just one slip will make a lot more people tumble. Besides, do you think you're the only canine that sometimes can't keep a handle on instinct?"

He crosses his arms, almost imperious in form. "I'm not a complete fool. I've... had times before when I lost all reason, attacked the prey that was easiest to go after in front of me. It's almost always humans. Maybe I want to keep other people from feeling like they've done the same. The smell of human blood on your hands isn't one you forget."

[primuslune]

"I'm not--" Remus starts, but gives up on his protest soon after. He isn't a canine. He's a werewolf. It means something specific to Remus, something which had caused him no small discomfort with Derek, as well. As InuYasha had said, though. He wasn't likely to change his set opinions simply because of a weak, bull-headed protest on Remus' part.

"If it's something you insist on doing," he decides, "I'm certainly not going to take any steps to stop you. You're right. If I had blood on my hands, I would never forgive myself for it."

He carefully slides one of the teacups toward InuYasha. If he wants sugar or cream, it's out and available. Remus uses plenty on his own, himself.

[distrustful]

"You're not. Fine. You're not the same as me, yes. I change once per moon, too, but not in the same way as you. In the opposite way as you, actually," InuYasha says, pressing his point in spite of Remus' discomfort, wanting to acknowledge his unease without babying him in the process. His eyes narrow, the golden hue darkening with the decreased exposure, the thin slits of his pupils widening in watchful wait.

"But there are similarities. We both hate the idea of human blood being on our hands. That's enough to identify with, isn't it?"

Holding Remus' gaze for a second longer, he accepts the cup of tea offered, taking no sugar or cream. He blows on the surface of the water, watching the steam give way under his breath. He can't drink it yet. It's still too hot for his overly sensitive tongue.