We Are Bulletproof

Wow. Bad idea. This whole thing had bad idea written all over it from the moment he thought about it. But here they were... Fighting wolves off in the forest.

Kiko must have followed him here. It didn't look like she knew any of these wolves. And the wolves... didn't seem to be werewolves because they weren't stopping and they definitely weren't being reasoned with. And to that question, Lyle sighed.

"No, I don't."

They were just wolves and they were now on the hunt, for both Kiko and Nozomi. Not to even mention himself--probably the weakest target out of the three. If it weren't for Nozomi's protection, he would have been mauled to dog meat by now.

"Kiko! We gotta retreat!" Lyle didn't know what else to do to help, so he did as his mother might have, and he called to the earth, coaxing the plant life around them to grow. The shrubs and grass grew wildly and he directed them to wrap like ropes around the wolves' feet. He could only do so much, though. Some of the wolves were running. Some snapped at the plants. And some weren't within his range of magic and remained unfettered.

"We have to go, now!"

ETA: It's been a month, so I'm going to say they did get out of there. Let me know if you want a continuation in a fresh thread later.

When a new wolf entered the fray, Lyle was immediately on edge--but then he recognized her under the light of his light-ball spell.

"Kiko!" he exclaimed, both happy to see her and worried that she had come for him... only to get into trouble. Damn it. He knew he shouldn't have made assumptions and gone looking on his own. Her person... might not even be related to werewolves for all he knew. They never had a chance to discuss it before Lyle's father called him in for dinner and they weren't able to pick up the topic again.

"Wait. What?" Lyle turned to look at Nozomi. Freak him out...? What was that supposed to mean? And then... he realized as he watched what he meant. "Oh."

Lyle was acquainted with the paranormal side of Hazleton but mostly just the witches. He knew there were others, like Kiko. But this was new to him. He thought Nozomi was just a witch with summoning abilities. It turned out he was something else entirely.

"Don't hurt Kiko!" He didn't know if Nozomi in that form could understand him or if he was wild like a feral werewolf. To be honest, he was out of his depth on this one.

@Rin @Tsukiko Lawson

"Wha--okay!"

It seemed as if they weren't completely boned out here, then. Nozomi had some kind of ability to summon a weapon and that at least seemed to keep the wolf coming for him at bay. Not for long, though. He had friends, and they weren't taking too kindly to the pair of them stepping into their territory.

"Yeah... yeah... we do."

Lyle looked Nozomi over, a little... worried. He'd been bitten. He hoped to hell they weren't werewolves now. Especially feral ones. Not that he had anything against werewolves or anything but... he had heard how bad it was for the feral population. And these guys weren't exactly friendly.

"We don't want any trouble!" Lyle tried, as if he could reason with them. If they were just normal wolves, well then. He looked like a frigging moron. But if they weren't... "We're just looking for a pack, that's all. Lawson? Do you know her? Tsukiko? Anyone?"

Crap.

"Yeah... okay."

Lyle wasn't going to argue with the older man. He heard that sound, too, the rustling. Suddenly, he wished he hadn't gotten rid of that rock. His mind wound through the spells he knew. What could he do to help? Grow plants, like his mother?

"Shit."

Even Lyle could see they were in trouble. The wolves were surrounding them. And they.... were exactly what he was looking for. He could sense it in their uncannily intelligent gazes, in the way they moved, and the magic that came off them as magical beasts. It connected with his magic side. Werewolves. Lyle sucked in a breath. The light from his flashlight on the phone wasn't going to be enough.

With a quick chant, and then a movement upward, Lyle summoned a small ball of summer light up into the sky. It was bright enough that the wolves were startled enough to stop their advancement. But then the biggest one, the snarling, angry one--feral? Fuck!-- lunged at Nozomi, who was still in front of Lyle.

"Watch out!"

(It's all good, you can always throw stuff at me.)

Lyle followed the tracks mostly in silence, picking his way through the hills as they grew steeper and the trees grew thicker. Before he realized it, he was unable to follow anymore tracks... because the sun had set. Lyle stopped, looked back the way they'd come--and saw nothing but trees. Shit.

"Maybe we should go back--"

AWOOOOOOO!

The sound of the wolf's howl made his heart skip a beat and Lyle finally realized that he was truly putting himself into harm's way. He was halfway up the mountains and he'd found what he was looking for... in the dark and with no clear pathway back. Lyle patted himself down and found his phone. Of course, it couldn't connect... he expected that but still made a noise of disappointment.

But he could still use the flashlight function.

"I should've come earlier," he admitted to Nozomi. "Hopefully we don't run into any feral wolves out here..."

"I have sort of an idea."

Lyle started walking alongside the riverbed, pointing downward as he did.

"Tracks."

There were definite wolf tracks near the river, where they would naturally come to drink water before going on a hunt. That didn't mean they were werewolves, though. They could just as easily be true wolves. But the tracks were there. Lyle was no special hunter or anything. Just a simple farm boy, but he knew what predator tracks looked like. They were all around their coops in the winter, when food in the forest became scarce.

"And then up that way." Lyle pointed up, further into the woods.

"Well, yeah." Lyle shrugged. "They might not be the right pack, though. That might be a problem."

He didn't say that he could describe the pack to the girl--wolf--that he was taking care of. That just seemed like he was asking for trouble. Even in Hazleton, it wasn't always safe to discuss the nature of his abilities. His mother always cautioned himself and his brothers to be careful who they showed it to or talked about it with. She knew the people who were safe. But they couldn't know everybody was. And Lyle had never met this guy before.

"But sure, if you want to help." It was better than going it alone, unless this guy was luring him into a trap. Another thing his mother told him to stay wary of. He would keep his eyes and ears open. Do his best to stay safe. Not go too far into the forest.

"I'm Lyle," he said as he held out a hand, the way his father taught him to.

Being a naturalist, communicating with animals was actually sort of one of his gifts, too. It wasn't like talking to people, though. He couldn't make animal sounds but he could understand what they were communicating to him when they made their sounds. But... that sounded like crazy talk so Lyle only let out a soft laugh and half smiled as he wrapped his arms around himself.

"I doubt they'll attack me," he said. "And no, I can't talk to them, but I can see if there are wolves around here, see if it's safe to bring her here when she's ready."

"Maybe," he said. Most people weren't going around looking for wolves but it wasn't as if Lyle was going to share with a total stranger why he was looking for wolves. His best reason for it?

"I found an injured wolf that I've been taking care of and I thought maybe I could find her pack."

That was about as safe as it got without giving away too much. And it was mostly the truth. The girl he found was a wolf, and for now, she was safe. But she probably could do with finding more like herself.

"I heard there was a pack in this area."

Cursing under his breath, Lyle let the rock slip from his hand. He felt like a right idiot, holding onto a rock for protection against something out here. Especially if there really was some kinda shifter gobbling monster out here. But... this was supposed to be where werewolves were, right? Lyle watched the man with wary eyes, not moving closer nor further from.

"Have you seen any wolves out here?" he asked.

Might as well go out on a limb and ask. Maybe this person could lead him in the right direction. If that was the case, it would make his self-imposed job a lot easier. (Well, it wasn't totally self imposed. He was looking for somebody's friends and family, after all.)

That sounds great.
I'll be there!

Like I was going to try and take my whole room with me.

Just don't leave town without me!

There's school.

But it's not that important.

I don't know yet.
I'll think about it.

It's not for a few months yet anyway right?