onepassingnight | .006 These Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

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.006 These Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

Once upon a time, for all good stories start with once upon a time, there was a great forest. It stretched on for days, for countries, for unclaimed fairy tale after unclaimed fairy tale in fact. This was the Great Wood, the Olde Wood, the Place Where All Things Start. This was the forest of all the old tales and it will ever be, until men are legends that dogs tell each other around the fires at night. Everything lives in the depths of these woods and nothing at all. Be careful what you whisper when you go into the dark for even the trees are listening and stories have a way of happening here whether you want them to or not.

Deep in the darkness, in one of the less traveled spots, there lives a wolf. The Wolf, if you will. For he is the Big Bad, the Howler at the Door, the Winter Wolf, the Devourer, the Nightmare That Creeps In Windows, the Child's Warning and, occasionally, the Huffer and Puffer, though he's taken to outsourcing the last one after one particularly embarrassing incident involving a hay allergy. He's the wise talking beast or the prehistoric feral fear. He is, in short, whatever your story needs him to be.

Don't expect him to be particularly pleased or even helpful about it though. He's been doing this job for a while now and he's getting sick of getting yanked out of rolling in dead animals just so that he can trot his fuzzy butt over to make menacing, half-assed attempts at your basket of treats and God help you if he has to dress in old lady drag One More Time!

OOC: so. Here's Cloud to provide all your Big Bad Wolf TM needs. Or frankly, the forest isn't above dragging him in to take over any animal need. There appears to be a shortage of fairy animals going around at the moment, something about better paying jobs in Hollywood. Does your story need a talking bear? Suddenly you've got a snarky wolf as your guide. Your brothers got the mill and all you got was a cat? Well, it's a wolf now and it's not happy about having to wear boots or do all your work for you, you dolt. Need that straw spun into gold by morning? Looks like you're duck out of luck. Wolves can't spin, though he does a very impressive cats cradle if you give him enough yarn and tie the knots for him. Point being, if your fairy tale has an animal of any sort in it, you've now got a very grumpy wolf who can't say 'not interested' the way he'd really rather. And, of course, he's still here for all your big bad wolfish metaphorical needs as well.

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Cloud coughed and little white feathers knocked loose from around his muzzle, fluttering down in the air. Hey. He was a wolf! What did people expect him to eat?

The hen house in the neighbors yard was easy to break into when everyone was off smelling like a gallon of dead flowers and pre-jitter booze wherever people like that went when they squeezed their hugely disproportionate cloth bodies into tiny, squeaky carriages and rattled off into the night. So Cloud had, somehow, managed to get himself up that tree near the wall and slink along it to avoid the rancid smelling dog in the yard and gotten himself into the chicken coop.

It had been a delicious night.

Now however he was trying to balance his way back along the narrow wall with a full stomach which was throwing off his balance. The chicken he was carefully bringing back in his mouth in the hopes of getting a steady meal of eggs was still alive and kicking too which wasn't making the task any easier. So there was kind of a resigned sigh inside his skull when a wing hit him in the eye and he lost his balance. Into the yard with the dog or into the yard with the tree?

Cloud managed enough to fall, squawking chicken and explosion of white feathers, into the yard with the tree.

[ since we're on this note with fairy tales, who's afraid of the big bad wolf? ]

From that tiny white feather that first fluttered down, Aerith had had a bad feeling. For both her little helper bird, and how weird that night was going to get.

Mostly because she'd looked up and seen the struggling chicken, and then the wolf that was holding onto it, balancing on the wall. The house's wall! Why did they even bother having walls if wolves could just walk along it however they wanted?! Either something had gone very wrong with basic barriers, or this was a pretty smart wolf. She had an inkling it was the latter...

...At least, until he started falling into her yard. At that point her only thought was to hope the squawking chicken would distract the wolf long enough for her to grab the broom she was already running for, just on the other side of the yard. Though he probably wouldn't appreciate the bop on the nose she was planning to give with it.

(snicker. I mean, bad Aerith. Bad!)

It was feathers and a couple bruises to his ribs on flexible branches and then the hard thump of the ground meeting his back.

That was what he got for not being born a cat.

The chicken broke loose from his lax jaws with a burst of surprising chicken intelligence, taking off on scrabbly claws in a swirl of loose feathers and Cloud groaned and rolled over onto his side, unaware of his impending nose bop and rubbed at his face with one large paw, grumbling sounds low under his breath that were probably the wolfish equivalent of wolfish curse words he might have picked up from a different chain smoking wolf not so long ago. Then, still lying forlornly on his side, he sneezed. And sneezed again. And then again.

Chicken feathers apparently weren't that great to have stuck around your muzzle and so close to your nose.

He should be grateful, then: a faceful of broom bristles should help clear all those feathers out.

...Of course...they'll also be scratchy and itchy and rough against his face. Kind of painful, too, when it comes crashing down like that at first. But then Aerith seems to notice how sorry he looks there on the ground and maybe he's already hurt and she lets up. Still stern though, as she puts one hand on her hip, the other holding her broom firmly. "Look at you! Did you eat him? Mister Bird?"

Ow!

ow, ow. Not nose whacks! He's got a sensitive nose. He needs it for sniffing and stuff. So he's quickly scuttling back out of the way on feet that are suddenly under him instead of lying next to him, fur ruff up in defense. It's a choice of which of his two main lines of defense he should go with in the sudden attack and when he sees what's attacking him, he goes with the one that seems to most appropriate.

The big blue puppy eyes one where he hunches down and looks as if she's just kicked his favorite baby chocobo.

Urk. That look...it's just not fair at all! (Then again, at least he's not trying to bite her in retaliation. Good boy.) Aerith frowns, starting to feel bad, before she kneels to be eye level with him.

"I'm sorry, Mister Wolf--you are a boy wolf, right?" There is a brief thought to duck down and check herself, but for the sake of both parties' dignities, she for once manages to curb a dangerously curious impulse. Even if she twitched a bit first. "But those feathers tell me you've been eating white birds! Were any of them magic?"

Don't lie to her. She imagines magic bird would taste pretty distinctive from chicken.

The look he shoots her even on a furry face is insulted. Of course he's a boy wolf! Can't she see his broad, masculine wolfy chest and his obviously male wolfy face? He doesn't look at all feminine ~~and putting him in a dress wouldn't prove otherwise!~~ He does hunker down a little at her twitch though. No peeking, flower lady! A sentient wolf's got to have some dignity. Even if he has just been beaten by a broom of all things and happens to still have feathers in his fur. And a pissed off chicken glaring at him from across the yard.

Excuse him while he gives you a look though, Aerith. 'Magic' birds? Humans are funny so he's trying not to judge but - chickens don't strike him as the type to ever pull of magical. Still, she smells good and she has stopped whacking him with the broom. And she's talking to him normally instead of screaming. He doesn't think many people would go nose to nose with a wolf. Testing just how far that goes, he brings his own nose closer to hers, seeing how close she'll let him get before touching. He's pretty sure he hasn't eaten any magical birds lately and suddenly he's glad about it. It seems important to her.

His 'fuff' is surprisingly soft and sends feathers drifting against her cheeks.

That's two looks now, though she understands the differences between them. (Though that first one still leaves her a bit confused. A lady wolf would have plenty of reason to be unhappy too!) She can't persist about the bird though when he's padding forward to her, sending her thoughts on a different path.

Her eyes widen as he comes closer, and there is a brief thought about if he'll eat her. But if he was going to, really she was as good as dinner from the instant he fell in, broom or no. All she can do is trust that he's a kind wolf. She barely moves until his breath hits her cheeks--along with a feather straight to the nose--and then she mostly blinks. "What does that mean--achoo!"

...Hopefully Mister Wolf is a quick dodge.

He has half a second to be happy she doesn't take off running - or hit him again - and then she sneezes. On him.

Entirely affronted, he manages to somehow make a standing leap backward without seeming to actually move his paws at all. It also sets off a round of sneezes in him as well and he ends up pressing his nose between his front paws at the end. His eyes when he looks up at her from the tops of them aren't accusing so much as helpless. He can't get the feathers off his own muzzle without a lot of effort. And they're causing more problems than they're worth. She's got those nice smart fingers though.

His tiny whine and pitiful eyes are hopeful.

And with all that hopeful sadness looking up at her she...laughs. Unhelpfully. "Oh you poor brute."

The fingers that reach out after a few more giggles are much more helpful, plucking a feather away carefully and gently. They're moving for a second tickly feather when the clock tower sounds and she jumps and pulls back her arm, her smile melting away. For a few seconds she stares fixedly in the clock tower's direction, remembering what's being missed.

"...That must mean it's started... Mmm..." Anxious eyes turn to the hazel tree, but its branches are still bare. No magical bird coming to help her this time. "...They're having a ball at the palace," she tells Mister Wolf, and then another smile cracks open on her face. This one seems a bit brittle though. "Those must seem pretty silly to a wolf, huh? Everyone dressing up in fancy clothes and heels you can barely walk in, spending so much money and fuss on just one night. Even if you look beautiful..." Her fingers scrunch up in her worn, patched pink dress, streaked with dirt and dust from the day's chores. "It's just one night. Pretty wasteful, huh? I think it's silly too."

But she wants to look beautiful for just one night. She wants to mingle with people and dance and not have anyone stupidly write her off just because her stepmother and sisters already have. Her smile falters for a second, but she grabs back onto it and holds on tight because she's not going to cry in the garden over being put down and left behind once again, she has a perfectly good watering can.

She reaches for the second feather and plucks it away. She looks at it in her fingers, twirls it gently, and then leans forward.

"But you know what, Mister Wolf? I am a very silly girl, and I want to go. So if I help you with these feathers, can you help me?" It comes out in a rush, and her eyes aren't so much hopeful as focused and desperate.

He's already decided to help her before she even finishes talking. Because she's pretty and smells good, because she's kind and because she's got nice fingers. And because he can't stand it when that smile isn't real and her green eyes go wet. He's not sure about all of that but he's lived in Stories long enough that he's got a general idea. Dress. Shoes. Tiara. Sexy cologne. ~~Racy~~ Fancy underwear. Sneak in in disguise.

Yep.

Got it.

So his chest puffs out a little bit and he sits up even straighter when she asks, ears flicking forward to show he's paying attention. The girl with the forest eyes wants to be cute.

side quest here he comes!

With a huff, he dips his head, mimicking a nod as best as he can. Aerith, you're going to be the healthiest looking girl at the party! Trust him.

...Maybe she should choose the dress herself. And Mister Wolf, you do not need to start thinking about her panties. Wow.

Anyhow, she swallows down her surprise when he gives such an earnest-looking wolf-nod, and the smile that emerges is real, broad and bright. "Thank you...thank you! Let's get all those pesky feathers off. You must have really shocked that chicken..." As she chatters, her finger makes neat work of the mess on Cloud's face, cleaning it up feather by feather.

Cloud's only thinking about your panties for your own good, Aerith. Sheesh. It's not like he's a notorious panty stealing pervert or anything.

...

lately.

oh hush, you.

But he does sit patiently while she defeathers him, holding in the sneezes that they make him feel like giving as they get pulled away from his nose. She's really very good at this. Soon she has a decent pile of down in her hand and Cloud is markedly less fluffy than he was before. Now it's just wolf fluff. Manly wolf fluff.

Once she's done, he stands up, glowing eyes determined in his wolfy face. She's going to be the prettiest girl at the ball and he's going to get her the dress so she can go and prove it. He knows just where. With a pointed look he heads for the gate.

Edited 2012-05-01 15:55 (UTC)

She'll zip her lips as long as they don't go mysteriously missing, panty snatcher.

Aerith's following steps aren't pointed but light and fleet and--giddy. Definitely giddy. "Where to, Mister Wolf?" She wonders if maybe something or someone at the marketplace could help them.

You mistake him for a messed up guy with the mentality of a teenager, sweet lady. He'd be insulted if he was capable of denying it without lying. In the meantime though, he's off to get her a dress and while he'll be careful not to outpace her, he's moving pretty quickly on those four legs of his.

He may not be a magic bird that can somehow summon much less carry the weight of a full dress complete with accoutrements but he IS a wolf that knows what's going on in town thanks to the gossips (don't ask. For some reason all Cloud has to do is be nearby to have people spilling information. It's a ~~curse~~ gift). So they'll end up outside the back door of the tailor's shop that's been locked up for the night and Cloud will happily dig away the loose brick on the side of the wall that the spare key's been hidden behind for her.

Bird, schmird. He's got this fairy thing SO covered.

Edited 2012-05-07 12:38 (UTC)

"...Are you sure you're not magic?" It's the only thing she can think to say after she sees him zero in on the brick that turns out to be hiding the key. In her excitement, the dull shine of tarnished metal is as good as glittering gold, and she giggles as she picks it up before impulsively giving Mr. Wolf a good scratch behind the ears. "You're definitely the smartest boy I've ever met!"

That's including the human ones.

Then she's up on her feet again, jiggling with the key a bit to slip it in the lock. After a scrape or two it slides in and she opens the door to slip inside the darkened shop, leaving the door ajar for her companion.

He IS a good boy and Aerith's praise goes straight to his head, accompanied by a very pleasant scratch he enjoys a great deal. She really does have the nicest fingers. Except they're on a mission and this is serious, so he huffs out a little sound and trots through the shop's door behind her.

The interior dim but the large display windows at the front let in plenty of street and moon light. There are quite a few pieces of clothing on display and several dresses as well but that's not where Cloud heads. Instead he heads to the back of the store. The tailor was working overtime on a dress for one of his patrons that came down sick and couldn't wear to the ball at the last minute and from all the white and pink and gold trim Cloud saw in the single cart that passed him on the way here, he's willing to guess it's a dress fit for a queen.

Which means it will be perfect for the girl with the smart fingers. Flat on, he headbutts the thin door, knocking it off its latch and lets himself into the back room.

Where there's a dress waiting on a clothing form that seems to catch and share every glint of moonlight that's in the air tonight.

Not knowing what else lays hidden in the shop, Aerith's distracted at first by a dark red gown, a bit... racy for a ball, but beautiful all the same and something about the cut appeals to her.

Though when she hears that headbutt her head snaps up-- "Mister Wolf?" Don't tell her he's in any trouble!

She gasps when she sees what he's revealed. Aerith can no longer be surprised that he was walking on their walls, not when he's pulled yet another trick out of his bag to reveal exactly where the best dress is tucked away. It's soft and it shimmers...for all its detailing it doesn't seem bulky like other dresses, but light and delicate. There's even a small pink choker over the neck, a final touch that's just right to her.

She's already right in front of the dress before she starts thinking and realizes: a dress like this must already have a name on it. "Oh, I just couldn't... it's too nice, isn't it someone's?" she asks the wolf, because he's sure to know. Then she steals another look at the dress. "But...whoever it is, they're not using it tonight, so as long as I get it back it's just a little borrowing, right?"

...Yeah, she really doesn't need that much persuasion here, she can justify it on her own.

She's his kind of lady with her reasoning and he trots behind her, pleased with the look on her face, to butt his head against the backs of her knees toward the dress. It should be fine to borrow it for the night. No one's going to come looking for it and as long as she gets it's back by cock's crow - or midnight - no one will miss it. It'll even do the tailor a favor and advertise his work on the pretties girl at the ball. She's doing him a favor in fact by borrowing the dress.

None of which Cloud can articulate but they're long past the magic bird part of this tale and it's time to do things ~~AVALANCHE~~ budget style. He hopes the bumping against the backs of her knees is convincing enough because he's prepared to do it all night until she gives in.

She takes a wobbly step forward at his headbutt, a small "Hey!" bursting past her lips though it's soon followed by laughter. "I've got it. I can't help it if I'm not as naughty as a big bad wolf." Though the smile and the look in her eyes is hardly claiming innocence--they're co-conspirators in this, now. And she's going to the ball!

She reaches to lift the dress gingerly off the sewing model, gathering up the material in her arms. She looks around for a place to change, but--well, the tailor's shop wasn't really meant for that, so she turns to Mister Wolf again. "Okay, I need you to turn around so I can change. No peeking!"

Peeking? Cloud manages to look affronted. It's like she thinks he's some kind of peeping wolf or something just because he barges into people houses and listens in on their conversations and speculates on their underwear. Clearly, she doesn't know his type at all.

There's a huff as he turns away, tail high in the air and swishing for good measure but in all actuality, he's still got some last minute jobs to run if he's going to do this whole fairy godwolf thing right. With a 'woof' and his head angled back enough so that she's knows it's for her but he can't be accused of peeking, he does his best to tell her to stay put. Then he's out the door and out of the shop and racing down the street. He's a stickler when it comes to making sure he gets every item on a sidequest and he's not done yet.

His huff elicits another of her easily given smiles, increasing when her own peek over the shoulder lets her see his swishy high tail. What a ham. But--

"Ah?" He's off! For a moment she's troubled and takes a few cautious steps after him--yes, even half-dressed--but he did woof at her. Even if she doesn't speak wolf she's quickly learned that he's a smart boy and has got his own ideas. He was talking to her, so he's probably not just abandoning her...

Brows furrowed as she tries to figure this out, she resumes dressing. Once that's done (the lacing itself takes a good few minutes), she's padding along the tailor's shop, fussing hands at her hair and thinking about how she should update her hair ribbon to match her dress. Except, it's a memento...she just can't.

Besides, what she really needs is a way to get to the ball. There's a thought that she needs to start hoofing it, pronto, and though she stays at the door to look out for Mister Wolf there's a notable impatience in how she cranes her neck to look around the street, bobbing up and down on her feet. Where oh where is he, and what is he up to?

Some quest items are harder to find than others. Especially if you're intent on getting the Very Best. And Cloud is. He's going to send the pretty girl off to the ball and he's going to do it so much better than any little 'magic' bird ever could. So it's a little bit of time but not too much before there's the distant and growing rattle of a carriage approaching the door of the tailor's. And what a carriage it is too. Drawn by four snow white horses (who look a little ragged and wild eyed) and painted in pure white with pink gold gilt trim around it (except in that spot on the coachman's now empty seat where it looks like it got pulled off when someone tried to hang on to something - unsuccessfully). No one's driving it and there's no one on the footman's perch but the driverless carriage pulls to a only slightly rough stop outside the door Aerith is waiting at and seconds later, Cloud, tongue lolling in pleasure, slips out from between the traces where the skitterish horses are waiting to trot proudly over to the girl in the doorway. He's quite proud of managing to play sheep dog to a bunch of horses but he's even more proud of what he's managed to get inside the carriage.

A pair of comfortable fur lined ~~Ugg boots~~ slippers. Because he's a sensible wolf and if she's going to be on her feet all night he's made sure to get her sensible shoes to hide under the long train of her dress.

Beat that birdie!

She's nervous when the carriage first pulls up, ducking back into the tailor's so she doesn't get caught--except, then she realizes that far from anyone yelling at her, there's no one on there to even notice her, only the four horses who look a bit skittish. She's drawing out again to see if she can calm them down when the source of agitation becomes apparent. And looking quite pleased with himself, too! She's staring for a moment before realizing what it means, and then she claps her hands in delight.

She'd shout, too, but she's not about to make those horses bolt.

"You...must be a big troublemaker, wherever you come from," she tells Mister Wolf when he trots up to her, the words warm as she leans over to look him in the eye. "Thank you."

And she hasn't even seen ~~dem boots~~ the slippers yet, though she'll discover them soon. She's already stepping up into the carriage when something occurs to her. She steps back down, putting her anticipation off for the moment. "Hey...I know it's probably not a wolf thing but...would you want to come with? It might not be normal, but." Instead of finishing that thought in words, she just chuckles quietly. 'Weird' is looking more and more fun tonight.

His chest manages to puff out a bit at her praise, because of course it's praise and his jaws open to let that tongue hang just a little bit more. He's done better than good for her and that's what matters to him. His eyes glow a happy blue when they meet the green of hers. At her invitation though, they go a bit wider in his face and then he turns his head to make a hacking noise over his shoulder.

That would be a no.

Social situations and Cloud don't seem to mix well. He can't imagine why. He will however wait outside the ball for her, one she's not going to have to rush out of because he certainly hasn't set a time limit on her fun like some stick in the mud bird.

Just in case she needs any help or someone to chop anything off.

And after that...

After that who says she has to go home? The world's a big place to find adventure in for a brave girl and a clever wolf...

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.006 These Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

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I'm sorry, once I thought of it I had to...

I laughed XD

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oh god the icon made me snort.

XD My work here is done

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Time to about wrap this up? Unless Cloud's coming to the ball too :)

wrap up sounds good. They've certainly had their fun XD