No One Lives Forever- CH9

No One Lives Forever- CH9

(AO3 link)

Stardust Crusader Wolf Pack AU

[From the beginning- CH1]

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AN: warning- mentions of smoking, blood, fighting and injury/death in this chapter

As the rest of the pack clears the table of the hunters’ things and makes their way to the lounge, Joseph steps outside to the back porch to make his call. It doesn’t take more than a few rings for Caesar to pick up, “Hey! Caesarino! How are you and Suzi getting along without me?”

“Jojo! Checking up on me? Everything is under control! No need to worry!” Caesar greets, his accent thicker than usual and Joseph can tell he’s stressed about something.

“Under control? You mean it was out of control before I called?” Joseph frowns and stares out into the surrounding woods. “Never mind that for now, listen; we’ve had an… incident out here. We’re going to be cutting the trip short.”

“Jojo, tell me this is one of your idiotic jokes. Suzi already told you, didn’t she?” Caesar’s accent is even stronger now and Joseph can tell he’s made a face and pinched the bridge of his nose from his tone alone.

“I’m completely serious Caesar. What happened? Is everyone alright there?” Joseph can feel himself growling and his hair stand on end.

“Si, yes. Everyone is fine. We had an incident here as well. Frankie and Lucky caught some idioti sniffing around the main office. They put up a fight when the boys confronted them. Jojo, they were carrying silver weapons.”

“Shit. Are the boys alright?” Josephs eyes widen and he runs a hand through his hair.

“Yes, they’re fine. You know we Zeppelis don’t go down easy. Anyway, we covered up the issue from the police for now, but there was something else. Frankie said they both had a strange smell to them. Like nothing they’ve ever encountered before.” Joseph nearly drops his phone at this new information. “What happened to you guys out there. I thought it was just a vacation for you?”

“You’re not going to believe this Caesar. We ran into a group of werewolf hunters. Silver bullets, armed to the teeth, the whole she-bang. They weren’t after us though, they were chasing a girl through our territory. Jotaro stepped in and tool them out and looks like we gained a packmate from the whole situation. But Caesar,” Joseph leans forward on the porch rail and grips it with his free hand. He suddenly seems much older as he hunches over, “they were here to take her alive. Someone is trafficking wolves, not just near the city like we were worried about. And one of them, he smelled like magic.”

“Magic? You’re sure? The last time we encountered anything magic was…”

“I know. The Proto-Fae. Its not the same, similar but not the same. We’ll have to discuss this more in person though. We’re going to leave the cabin tomorrow, is it safe to meet at the main office?”

“No, best to stay away from that for now. But we did just close on that apartment building you had your eyes on for a while. The penthouse is vacant if we want to use that as a meeting point?”

“Perfect! Yeah, gather everyone there. Zeppelis and Joestars. Call up the furnishing rental place too, I want it set up before we get back in town.”

“So bossy.” Joseph hears Caesar sigh, “Alright, we’ll get it set up. See you soon Jojo. Ciao!”

“Ciao, Caesar.” Joseph takes a moment to compose himself. An attack in the city on their turf? At the shared headquarters with the Zeppelis no less. He has to get his emotions under control, if the others see him stressed its just going to cause more stress. Jotaro may be the alpha now, but the pack still takes cues from him as well. With one last fortifying breath he stands up straight and marches back into the cabin. “Jotaro, can I speak with you?” Joseph hovers by the back door, invitation open to take the conversation outside. Jotaro just nods and follows him out.

Jotaro wastes no time waiting for his grandpa to start, “What’s wrong? I assume Caesar had bad news?” He pulls a cigarette pack out form his pocket and lights one before offering one to the older alpha. Joseph surprisingly accepts, he quit years ago but maybe it will help calm his nerves. Or at least hide his stressed scent from the others until they could put their plan in motion.

He takes a long drag and leans over the rail again. “Caesar’s boys caught some guys around the main office. Get this, they were also armed with silver.”

“Shit.”

“That’s exactly what I said!” Joseph exclaims and throws his hands in the air. “Everyone is fine, but we gotta get back. Caesar’s setting up an apartment to crash in instead of going to headquarters or our own places. On the bright side, it looks like the building on Broadway finally closed.” He takes another long drag of the cigarette and flicks his ash over the rail.

“We’ll have to leave tomorrow then. Weather is supposed to turn to shit here anyway.” Jotaro finishes his own cigarette and stomps it out on the cement stair pad. He tugs his hat to cover his eyes and says, “And thanks. For getting this set up.” Joseph can read between the lines, getting an outright thankyou from Jotaro was rare enough but expecting him to just blurt out ‘thanks for respecting me as an alpha and guiding me through this’? Impossible.

They head back inside and quickly get the pack’s attention “We’re going to head back to the city tomorrow. We don’t have all the details yet but there was an incident at the business main office.”

Jotaro pauses for the gasps and exclamations, “Everyone there is alright, but we are concerned the issues we had here are connected. We’ll discuss with the Zeppelis what the plan is when we get there. Tonight we’ll prep the cabin and head out first thing tomorrow.” Everyone nods in understanding and gets to work with preparing the cabin for an extended leave.

You aren’t left with much to do as the guys divide up the various tasks until Joseph suggests you go through your car for the things you’ll be taking with you. Polnareff adds to take out any identifying effects or papers in case the cops do decide to investigate the van left parked down the road. By the time everyone is finished with their tasks its time for dinner, Jotaro and Joseph taking their turn to cook the rest of the food in the fridge so it wont spoil while the cabin is vacant.

Everyone winds down for the night and you are both relieved and dreading the fact that the number of beds hasn’t magically changed. Jotaro seems to feel the same way as you are both the last two remaining in the lounge for the night, trying to avoid the awkwardness that was to come. You eye the couch before he sighs and stands, offering you a hand up from your seat in a silent invitation to join him and share the bedroom again. You smile as you take his hand and head down the short hallway with him.

You quickly get changed into your own pajamas for the night. It’s a relief to not be swimming in extra fabric and fighting to keep from tripping over pants three sizes too big. Sitting on the edge of the bed you wait for Jotaro to finish his nightly routine and join you. Now is going to be the perfect chance to talk to him one on one, you noticed he was almost avoiding you while in the company of the rest of the pack.

He sees you waiting for him when he enters and for a moment looks like he’s going to turn right around and head for the lounge for the night. But he braces himself and sits stiffly next to you on the bed, back straight and not looking at you. “So…” you try and think of how to break the ice, “You’re the alpha, right? I’m guessing Mr. Joestar handed down the position?” He seems to relax slightly as he leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees.

“Yeah, the old man decided to step down a couple of years ago. He’s still helping me get the hang of this, it’s still strange to be the one making the final decisions.” He’s more and more relaxed as he faces you while he talks, still bent forward over his legs.

You pull a pillow to your chest as you cross your legs on the bed. “Can you tell me more about everyone’s dynamics? I’d like to know what I’m getting into a little better…” you trail off as his expression becomes more solemn and you subconsciously copy his furrowed brow.

“Listen, about that. It looks like things are going to get worse before they get better, but as soon as it’s safe you’ll be free to go as you please again.” Even in the dimmed lamplight of the room his blue eyes are electrifying and cutting with his serious expression.

You lean back in surprise “’Go as I please?’ Listen, if you don’t want me around just say so Jotaro, I can take care of myself with the exception of trained wolf hunters. So drop me off in the next town and I’ll be out of your hair.” You stand up and toss the pillow while moving towards the door.

“Wait- that’s not…” he huffs loudly as he stands up and grabs your arm to stop your retreat, “I didn’t mean it like that. We do want you to stay. I… When Polnareff mentioned your car not being drivable, you had this look on your face like you were planning on riding off into the sunset and now you were trapped.” He lets go of your arm and you turn back to face him. “I don’t know what I’m saying anymore, I just want it to be your decision to stay, not because you’re stuck with us. Pretty useless to save you from being trapped by hunters to trap you in a pack instead.” He tangles his hand in his hair as he looks down at his feet, waiting for your response.

“I… that makes sense. Sorry, I thought you were…” You trail off as you think how to ease the misunderstanding. “I guess, I just feel like part of the pack already? You all remind me of my family – you’re a mix of serious and goofy guys.” You sit back down on the bed and reclaim your pillow. “I get what you mean though. I guess we’ll just have to see when this is all over, right?” You smile at him and the tension in his shoulders eases as he gives a small smile back.

You pat the empty space next to you, inviting him back to the bed. “You can still give me the rundown on the rest of the pack though, I’d like to get a feel for my place here.”

Instead of sitting back down next to you, he circles to his side of the bed and sits up with his back to the wall. “Why don’t you tell me what you think? I’ll tell you how close you are.”

You lean back next to him and count off on your fingers, “Well, Mr. Joestar is the previous alpha, Avdol I think is a delta, but I can’t tell between Polnareff and Kakyoin who is your beta.”

“Polnareff does a lot for us, but he tends to go back to his lone wolf tendencies a lot. It took a long time for gramps and Avdol to convince him to join up permanently. Kakyoin is my beta, we’ve been friends since college and I’d trust him with anything.” You nod and he looks at you, “Why don’t you tell me about your family, you said we remind you of them? Serous and silly?”

You laugh quietly and dive into your favorite memories of your parents and siblings and their shenanigans. Slowly you find you’re both laying down in the bed and can barely keep your eyes open as you talk and share stories. The last thing you remember before finally succumbing to sleep is Jotaro’s hand holding yours on top of the sheets as you both drift off.

 You are both woken up the next morning by Jotaro’s phone alarm. Not being much of a morning person you stubbornly keep your eyes closed even as you shuffle to the bathroom to brush your hair and teeth. Splashing some water on your face manages to wake you up fully so you grab your bag and make your way to the lounge. One by one the guys arrive with their own bags and the pack is ready to head out. Joseph sighs wistfully as he locks the front door and you reach out to put an hand on his arm.

He smiles at you but it’s a bittersweet expression, “Sorry, (Y/N). I was just really looking forward to staying in this place. I’m getting too old to be running all over the city anymore!” He laughs and reaches a hand behind his head.

Jotaro appears from behind him and puts a hand on his shoulder, “You’re not that old yet gramps. But I get it. It was nice while it lasted though.” Joseph just nods and you all make your way off the front porch to the grey Suburban waiting in the drive way. Your car had been hidden around back and covered with a spare tarp to further dissuade nosey troopers if they came out this far. Polnareff had been careful not to leave prints on the hunters’ van while he searched it so it was decided to leave it where it was.

Polnareff hops into the driver’s seat and Jotaro claims shotgun, Avdol and Kakyoin in the back leaving the middle row for Joseph and you. As soon as you are all settled the journey begins. Joseph immediately turns to you and asks, “Say, (Y/N), you said you’ve been traveling for a while now. Have you ever been to New York City before?”

You shake your head no, “I’ve been around it, through some of the boroughs, but never downtown and not for very long when I was close. I’m excited to see it up close though!”

“You are in for a treat young lady! Caesar’s getting it set up for us, you’ll get to meet him when we get there. We’ll all be staying in a downtown penthouse apartment my realty company recently acquired. The view from up there is just fantastic!” Joseph’s excited volume is a little loud for the small space but it’s endearing to see his arms wave about in his excitement.

“Do you guys normally all live together?”

Kakyoin speaks up from the back seat, “No, we all live in separate apartments on the same block, with the exception of Mr. Joestar and Jotaro live in the same building.” You nod and make a noise of understanding. That seems like a pretty good set up to not be constantly on top of each other from what you’ve heard about the size of New York apartments.

You’ve been traveling for about an hour down rural roads, chatting mostly with Joseph and the guys in the back seat when Polnareff announces you’ll be stopping at the next gas station before getting on the highway. “Great! That will give us a chance to get snacks for dinner and breakfast tomorrow. We’ll have to order some groceries to the apartment or something later.” Joseph says as he pulls out his phone, presumably to check which stores could fulfill the quick order. Soon the gas station comes into view and Polnareff pulls up to the pump. You unload yourselves and stretch out as you make your way inside for bathroom breaks and -as instructed by Joseph- ‘all the snacks you can carry’ as Polnareff fills the truck.

The guys automatically pair up and head for the bagged snack isles, so you grab a shopping basket and head back to the drink coolers. Kakyoin is about to walk down the chip isle when Avdol’s arm shoots out in front of him blocking his path. He’s startled by the abrupt action and turns to question Avdol, but he’s focused and staring at a point in the ceiling, specifically the air vent. “Avdol? What’s wrong?”

“Shh… Listen,” Kakyoin obeys and focuses his attention to the sounds coming from the vent. Tapping and scratching? It was faint though, “Hmm. Perhaps I’m just being over cautious. Sounds like this place has a rat problem though. Better check the packaging of what we buy is still intact.” The scratching fades, whatever it was probably using the vents to get around undetected.

There is a sudden shout and a loud thud from the isle between Kakyoin and Avdol and the others. The entire store goes silent as everyone stops to look around for the cause. Avdol gives a small nod to Jotaro and then to the isle between them. They both move to the opposite ends of the isle in a pincer movement to investigate whatever had happened. The smell of blood suddenly permeates the air and they rush to the isle, another customer is laying prone in a pool of their own blood either unconscious or dead.

On top of them though sits a small creature with comically large ears, bulging yellow eyes and protruding teeth that vaguely resemble some sort of predatory fish. It shrieks in glee at the sight of them and rushes behind the products on the shelf in an incredible burst of speed.

“Hey, is everything OK over here?” One of the other customers, the old man who was checking out hesitantly walks a few steps towards them. The cashier leans over the counter to get a better look as well.

“No! Stay back!” Is all Jotaro can get out before the creature has scurried through the display racks sending products flying in its wake. It leaps and aims at the old man’s face to attack with its teeth. The old man screams as he flails and falls backward managing to push the thing off but loosing a chunk of his cheek in the process. The cashier screams out a curse as he reaches for the gun under the counter. In a blink the little gremlin has disappeared again into the shelving.

The pack is on high alert, you are all vulnerable in your human forms, but it’s not worth the risk of transforming in public with witnesses present just yet. Even if the cashier seems too busy trying to drag the old man behind the checkout counter for shelter. Joseph runs to help them and the creature sets its sights on him, lunging out from the isle way. It gets distracted from its target when Avdol rushes it instead. Cackling, it launches itself at Avdol this time, swiping with sharp claws at his arms leaving bloody streaks as it attacks but thankfully not doing much damage.

Jotaro tries to intervene next and it zips away from Avdol to confront him. “Eeeeehhheeeee! Too slow! Too slow! You have no hope of catching me so just give up now!” It swipes at Jotaro’s leg as it passes him. You become its next target as you also move closer to try and help but it suddenly changes direction again when it sees Joseph moving the cashier and old man out the side door to safety. It swipes at him before turning back to you as you advance. Kakyoin can see that though it is very fast it is also not doing much damage when it gets within range before jumping to the next target. In fact, it seems to be easily distracted by the nearest moving thing.

Kakyoin tests his theory and throws a packet of candy at the gremlin and it immediately turns his way and advances. Avdol catches on as well and throws more junk food at it and causes it to turn yet again. “Heehehe! Just wait your turn! I’ll kill all of you so fast you won’t know you’re dead!” it shouts in its screeching voice before angrily shouting as Kakyoin hits it hard with a soda can. Enraged, it leaps in his direction again but you and Jotaro have caught onto the plan now and Jotaro hits it before it can get halfway to Kakyoin. You are all pelting bags of food and drinks at it when Kakyoin yells, “Now, Avdol!” From behind the creature Avdol jumps at it holding open a large travel cooler. It screeches in surprise but it is for once too slow to escape the trap set up for it. The cooler snaps shut with a bang and Kakyoin grabs the roll of duct tape he spotted earlier, going over and securing the lid to prevent the gremlin’s escape.

The cooler rattles and shakes as the gremlin throws itself against the walls of its makeshift prison. “Impossible! Let me out! LET ME OUT!” it howls and screeches and you’re glad the cooler doubles as a sound insulator as well.

“Looks like all that speed is useless if you can’t focus on a target.” Kakyoin laughs as he holds the container steady from the creature’s thrashing. It continues screaming gibberish, what you can safely assume are curses in its native tongue.

“Good job Kakyoin, figuring out its weakness so fast.” Jotaro praises as he walks up and leans against one of the shelves to keep off his wounded leg. You stand next to him as Joseph returns from helping the employee drag the wounded old man outside. The shaking of the cooler is starting to lessen, the thing either running out of energy or out of air.

“Wait! Wait! Please!” It wheezes and gasps, “I’ll tell you everything, just let me go and I’ll tell you who sent me!”

“Sent you? No deal, tell us who sent you first and then we’ll talk.” Joseph crosses his arms and glares down at the box.

It doesn’t hesitate before spilling its secrets. “If you promise to release me, I’ll tell you! It was Lord Dio who sent me! The hunters, they were under his command and failed him.” The pack looks at each other in shock for a moment then back at the box when the gremlin continues. “Lord Dio sent his scouts to investigate- imagine my luck and surprise when the Joestars turn up!” it cackles and thrashes some more, “Now release me! You promised! We have a deal!”

“We didn’t promise you shit. You just spilled your guts for nothing.” Jotaro scoffs before tuning out the enraged screams and turns to the pack. “Grab whatever is salvageable and some first aid stuff.” You all nod and start picking through the debris of the fight. “Kakyoin, you’re good with computers. See if you can delete the security footage.”

Avdol stands from where he had been kneeling next to the gremlin’s first victim, checking if there was anything he could do. But the surprise attack had hit a major vein or artery and they bled out quickly. “To think such a small creature was able to do so much damage in such a short amount of time.” He shakes his head and carefully wipes his hands of any of the victim’s blood. His own wounds on his arms still dripping but thankfully shallow enough they would only require bandages overnight before they healed completely. He looks around at the damage before picking through he items, searching for a decent first aid kit and extra bandages for the trip.

“What are we going to do with that thing? We can’t leave it for the humans to open up later.” You ask as you toss some packs of jerky into a shopping bag.

Jotaro takes over holding the cooler still by sitting on it while Kakyoin moves to the back room of the store. You shudder as you get a whiff of Jotaro’s blood for the first time, your senses zeroing in on the smell overpowering all the others in the store. You suppress a growl and feel your hair stand on end as you glare at the cooler.

“We’ll have to take it with us. It will run out of air eventually- especially if it keeps shouting like that. We’ll see if we can get any more info out of it and burry it.” You nod at his reasoning. It would be too dangerous to just leave it but the new detour puts your travel plans in a bind.

Kakyoin emerges from the back room and nods to Jotaro, “They were still using an old tape system. I took care of the footage.” Jotaro sighs and nods, then motions the beta to help him carry the cooler. They each grab a handle and lead the pack back outside where Polnareff is waiting, bored in the driver seat. There is no sign of the cashier and old man, now is the time for a clean exit.

“Jeeze! What took you guys so long? You fall into the toilets or something?” Polnareff mocks as the rest of the pack load the snacks into the car. He does a double take and gapes at the fresh wounds you are all sporting. “Guys?”

Jotaro just gives the cooler a little shake while loading it into the back and the gremlin screeches and rocks its makeshift trap. Polnareff jumps back in alarm as Jotaro says, “We ran into one of Dio’s scouts. We’ll fill you in on the way but we have to take a detour.” Polnareff just gulps and nods. Soon the pack is pulling out onto a side road, passing the ramp for the highway and heading back into the woods.

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Author’s Note:

I’m so proud of myself, actually keeping to my weekly schedule! Here we are, the first not-stand battle featuring the Tower of Grey! All the battles are going to be cryptids and mythical creatures and I figured a gremlin was perfect for this one. 1: he’s an ugly gross guy. 2: biggest influence I had for gremlins was the old episode of twilight zone where it is messing with the plane. 3: he somewhat follows cannon plot of showing up and causing an immediate detour.

Stand up, join us, modern crusaders alive! we are the power, who’ll face the future, cuz’ we are the fighters, just fighting for our rights! This took months to finish aaaahhhhh if you repost please credit me! i’ll cry otherwise XD

the anime villains are here to tell you you’re amazing!

Let’s talk about the fabulous aromantics out there

Palummella Zompa e Vola, a Caejose comic.

No One Lives Forever- CH10

(AO3 link)

Stardust Crusader Wolf Pack AU

[From the beginning- CH1]

<Previous Chapter     Next Chapter>

Between the road noise and the insulation of the cooler it was easy to ignore the shouting from the gremlin. Kakyoin had taken shotgun this time, the rest of you piled in the back rows and passing around bandages and ointments as Polnareff drove. After cleaning away the blood you could see none of you had sustains injuries worse than some deep scratches. With the accelerated healing you all had they would be fine by morning, but you patched each other up with gauze and bandages just in case. It felt nice, satisfying even, to take care of the others and let them take care of you in return.

You lose track of time for a bit, content to sit quietly in the middle row and rest. You hear someone start snoring from behind you and turn around to see Joseph has nodded off, Avdol also has his eyes closed but looks more like he’s meditating than sleeping. Jotaro must have turned at the same time, you caught his eyes as he turns forward again as well, a small smile on his face. You smile at him and hold out your hand to him over the middle seat. His gaze flicks back again before he faces forward completely and covertly takes your hand.

You didn’t realize how tense you still were until he took your hand and you felt the muscles of your back and shoulders melt. A tingling feeling of relief, you were safe, your pack was safe, your mate…

You tense slightly again and grip Jotaro’s hand, where had that feeling come from? You are bewildered for a moment, you barely register Jotaro squeezing your hand back, his emotions hidden by his resting serious face. You relax into your seat again, coming to at least basic terms with what your instincts have been screaming at you for a while now. Yes, it was a terrifying situation happening when you first met him, and Jotaro could physically fit the definition of big bad wolf, but his actions so far have proven he’s anything but cruel or violent. When you had gotten a look at the cut on his leg earlier you had to suppress a sudden shift and urge to rip the monster that did that to pieces. Maybe he was experiencing the same feelings towards you?

It’s been a few hours after the events of the gas station and capturing Dio’s minion when Polnareff makes a turn off the road to a campsite. Although it looked well cared for there weren’t many campers ready to brave New York forests this late in the season, there were no other cars in the lot or in any of the designated spaces close to the entrance. Jotaro is surveying the space outside his window so he doesn’t see Kakyoin turn around and catch sight of your intertwined hands. You blush and look away when you catch his eye and he’s polite enough to clear his throat before announcing this was the nearest campsite he found to dispose of the gremlin in its prison.

Polnareff parks and you’re surprised Jotaro gives your hand a squeeze before letting go and climbing out. You suppress a giggle at Joseph’s sudden snort as he jostles himself awake. Exiting the truck, you enjoy a deep lung full of clean air, not even a trace of human scent present. The falling leaves and large lake to your right create a picturesque scene and you almost wish the pack had stopped for pleasure and not business. Speaking of… Jotaro and Polnareff are unloading your captive from the back, the creature either playing possum or it had finally run out of air. A couple of hard shakes to the container don’t produce the screeches you expected.  

Joseph has fully woken up from his nap and joins them in staring at the cooler. “Well, looks like we won’t be getting any more info out of that thing.” He puts one hand on his hip and scratches at his beard with the other. “Jotaro, what do you think? Risk it getting away to see if it’s really dead?”

“No. It didn’t seem all that clever, it probably had nothing more to tell us. It’s not worth the risk of it getting loose out here.” Jotaro motions with a jerk of his chin to the dense woods. “We’ll burry the whole thing and be done with it.” The rest of the pack nods in agreement and Jotaro and Polnareff haul the cooler towards the line of trees.

You all take advantage of the rest stop and walk around the campsite while Jotaro and Polnareff make quick work of disposing of their cargo. You douse a few paper towels with some of the bottled water as they make their way back and offer them to the guys to clean up with. “Ah, merci mon amie.” Polnareff looks around for a moment before leaning in slightly “Ah, say (Y/N), you didn’t see any restrooms around here, did you?”

Jotaro rolls his eyes as he finishes cleaning the dirt from under his nails. “Good grief Pol. It’s the woods. Go anywhere.”

“Fine! Fine!” Polnareff puts his hands up in surrender, “Just thought I’d check.” He backs away from you and Jotaro and towards the lake. You turn away to give him privacy and survey the rest of the pack. Avdol and joseph are going through some of the snacks; more like Avdol is trying to restrain Joseph from sampling each new type of jerky he finds. Kakyoin is making his way to you and Jotaro when you hear a sudden shout from behind you.

Polnareff had just finished his business and was headed back to the group when his leg gets caught on something. Yelling as he’s pulled to the ground, he re-evaluates, he hasn’t tripped on his own and whatever has caught him is dragging him back towards the lake. He catches a glimpse of what looks like seaweed wrapped from ankle to kneecap as he tires to scramble away. His claws dig into the dirt as he struggles to gain traction and from behind him he hears an ungodly noise of whatever has caught him.

You and Jotaro turn as soon as you hear Polnareff’s distressed yelp. The unbelievable scene of a creature rising from the lake makes you both hesitate for a moment to comprehend what you’re seeing. Its body ungulates, a writhing mass of pond weed and lake plants twining together to take the form of what looked like a horse. Jotaro recovers from the shock first, surging forward and transforming as he ran. You are right behind him, transforming as well. The creature rears back and screeches as you both approach it, desperately trying to drag Polnareff to the water as the plants rooted to its body climb further up his leg to gain better grip on the struggling werewolf.

From your left more beasts are emerging from the water and you and Jotaro dodge the kelp and vines shooting out at you. You hear the rest of the pack behind you also start making their way to the lake but are cut off by more creatures. The one holding onto Polnareff has managed to drag the massive white werewolf to the water by the time you and Jotaro rush the last few steps to his aid. Both of his legs have been tangled by vines now but they fall away limp as Jotaro is able to cut through the main vine. You quickly help Polnareff to his feet in the knee-high water.

“What the hell are these things?” Polnareff’s voice is deeper and slightly distorted with his change and constant growl rumbling from his chest. The three of you take a defensive formation covering each other’s backs and claws out. Your ears flatten and you snarl at one of the seaweed horses as it gallops by.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” you huff and swipe at a tendril of lake-weed snaking too close for comfort, “Some kind of horses? Or we pissed off a plant witch or something?”

“Kelpies. They’ve never been sighted this far north though.” Jotaro growls out as he snaps at the beast in front of him. By now the things were running amok along the shoreline and around the pack, six of them in total working as a team to try and capture and drag you all to a watery grave. One of them turns and stamps its hooves before charging directly at you, Jotaro and Polnareff. You are forced to dive away as it barrels by but a vine of weeds wraps around your waist as it passes. You are lifted briefly into the air before landing on all fours, the vines tangling your legs as well. You hear two loud thumps behind you and see Jotaro and Polnareff were also bound by that last charge, their arms stuck to their bodies and unable to claw their way out.

You cut your own bindings as fast as you can and quickly cut them free as well before you are all dragged along with the galloping kelpie. It bellows as it realizes its prey has broken free and tosses its head making its mane of kelp fly about.  The three of you quickly move to the offensive rushing the creatures standing between you and the rest of your packmates. Jotaro takes the lead and you defend his sides, swiping away any tendrils reaching too close. Polnareff assists and keeps another beast off your backs. Ahead of you, Avdol, Joseph and Kakyoin are also struggling to keep themselves guarded and untethered, but the horses are galloping too fast to try and get any substantial hits in, circling in a pattern to keep the pack separated and vulnerable.

Jotaro narrows his eyes and growls louder as he realizes there is something more going on here. Although they are fast there are only six of the kelpies, the pack should be able to take them on one-on-one but their movements are too coordinated to be wild kelpies. He stops and takes on a defensive stance again as a sudden gleam of light catches his attention, what looks like spider’s thread catching the sunlight. He follows the line with his eyes and sees it connects to one of the kelpie’s heads. In fact, now that he’s noticed one of them, they all seem to have this silver thread connecting them to a single point in the lake. About 20 feet from the shore a figure has risen from the water, humanoid but draped in gold and blue lakeweed. It makes no move to come ashore, instead moving its arms like an orchestra conductor would to control the team of water horses under its command.

Before he can make a move towards this figure another kelpie blocks his path. Polnareff barrels forward from his right and slashes at the beast’s face with his claws. He yelps in pain at the same time the kelpie rears back and retreats, a pile of silver rope falling to the ground. Polnareff cradles his silver burned hand for a moment before his eyes light up in understanding. “It’s silver! They have silver leashes!” the kelpie he accidently freed runs past the fighting happening between its herd and the pack, running on top of the water to the far side of the lake. “It’s gonna burn like hell but we can free them!”

With one of the kelpies no longer under its control, the man in the lake’s movements become more exaggerated as the remaining five horses push themselves to move faster, biting, stomping and charging the pack. Jotaro seizes the opportunity to break another of the silver ropes as he dodges the kelpie charging at him but instead of letting go, he grips the silver line tight where he severed it. It burns something fierce but he’s able to control the horse long enough to force it to charge at the lake man and bring Jotaro along for the ride. When he’s close enough Jotaro slips the silver harness from the kelpie and throws it, hoping to tangle the puppet master. Up close he can see the man’s flashing amber eyes and although as a wolf his sense of color is limited, he can tell the kelp and weeds cloaking the creature would actually be red instead of gold if he had full color vision right now. A rusalka then. A male rusalka and a herd of kelpies under its control?

The rusalka hisses at him but it’s a mocking laugh and not a fearful defense mechanism like Jotaro expected. Instead, it seems confident in its ability to take on the hulking werewolf in the water. “Hssss… You are a foolish one, aren’t you? Making it so easy to carry out my orders. You think you’ll beat me in my element? Show me what you’ve got then, pup.” Vines of lake kelp lash out as the rusalka flails his arms, no longer focused on controlling the kelpies now that his prey was in range of his own claws. Jotaro growls and snaps the first volley of vines with his claws as he swims closer. Grabbing at the next vines that hurl at him he holds tightly and begins reeling himself closer toward the rusalka.

He’s underestimated the rusalka’s speed and he has to suddenly deflect razor sharp claws away from his exposed torso. Although it has the advantage of speed in the water it is still weaker than Jotaro and on its next swipe Jotaro is able to grab on and immobilize it while swiping with his own claws. The rusalka hisses in pain and thrashes enough to break Jotaro’s grip before getting a hit in on the wolf’s side. More lake weed vines shoot out from its body to try and wrap him up and finally succeed in binding his leg. With a great tug the battle is moved completely underwater. Jotaro is just barely able to resist the instinct to gasp as the cold water rushes into his ears and nose uncomfortably. Snapping his eyes open as he feels a shift in the water, he’s able to evade the claws that had been aiming for his face.

Now that he can see his enemy in his entirety, Jotaro realizes the reason the rusalka had been controlling the kelpies from such a distance. From the waist down, instead of legs or even fins is a thick tangle of lake weed and kelp that anchors it to the lake bottom, more vines branching off and shooting towards him from this central pillar. The vines were easily cut away as they reached him, but they were only a distraction for the rusalka to pull himself closer and unleash a flurry of slashing strikes. Jotaro blocks them with his arms and again grabs on to immobilize and pull in closer to deliver his own blows. He moves to the offensive, digging his claws into slimy flesh as the rusalka struggles in his grasp. He almost looses his grip when it lands a hard blow to his shoulder but keeps hold long enough to accomplish his final attack. With a powerful strike, Jotaro severs the thick tether keeping the rusalka anchored to the lake.  

The screech it lets out is almost deafening under water and Jotaro nearly looses his grip a second time. But with his claws embedded deep into the rusalka’s torso and his other hand gripping it by the throat he is able to swim and haul it to shore. With every foot closer it struggles harder, finally showing fear in its panicking eyes. Its movements are becoming less and less coordinated and it makes motions Jotaro recognizes as trying to call upon the kelpies for help through the silver ropes it had been using. The water is shallow enough now that Jotaro can stand and looks around for the kelpie reinforcements coming to its master’s aid. Instead, his pack spots him and rushes to help him drag the rusalka all the way to shore. Kakyoin reaches him first and the red wolf helps pull the creature the last few feet to the shore.

The change begins as soon as the last tendril loses contact with the water, some leaves shriveling and turning brown while others seem to rapidly decay and turn to sludge. The rusalka screams and thrashes as its body dries out and starts to flake away, but its strength is failing and it can’t pull itself back to the water in time. It collapses as it shrivels up, arms outstretched to the lake and it succumbs to the dry air.

You are the first one to let your transformation drop as you run up to Jotaro and Kakyoin, careful not to step in any leafy remains on the ground in front of them. Your sable fur falling away to reveal smooth skin and clothes is the unofficial signal for the others to drop their transformations as well. You reach the alpha and beta just as Jotaro lets go of his wolf form and you can see the damage the rusalka inflicted in their unseen underwater battle. You and Kakyoin nod at each other before reaching for Jotaro’s right arm and lifting it over your shoulder to support him, Kakyoin doing the same on his left side. You blush as you hear him chuckle but you’d be dammed if you weren’t going to help him after he risked his life to defeat the enemy. It seems he does appreciate your effort though as his chuckle turns into a huff and you feel his weight shift to lean on you as the three of you make your way back to the truck.

The rest of the guys move ahead getting the first aid supplied you all ransacked from the gas station opened and organized. Avdol takes charge of distributing bandages as Joseph and Polnareff drop dramatically to sit on the logs surrounding the unused fire pit. Jotaro is obviously sporting the worst injuries, but the rest of the pack is also covered in various bruises, bitemarks and silver burns. You and Kakyoin focus on getting Jotaro patched up together, you carefully clean the slashes from the rusalka’s claws and Kakyoin follows your wake drying and bandaging what he can. You don’t realize you are purring until Jotaro starts purring back and relaxes as your hands make contact with the bared flesh of his arms. You blush as you glance at his bare chest, looking in a non-clinical way now that things were calming down. Your hands only hesitate a moment though before you return to your task.

Your blush returns tenfold when Jotaro practically drags you down to sit next to him once you and Kakyoin finish bandaging each other as well. By the time everyone is bandaged up it’s getting late enough that you knew the pack wasn’t going to finish the journey to the city tonight. Everyone is sitting around the still unlit firepit and relaxing for a moment, watching the herd of kelpies you freed running and jumping across the surface of the lake when Avdol makes his suggestion. “Well, it seems like we’re not going to make much more progress tonight. We don’t have any camping gear with us, but we are already at a campsite.”

Polnareff flops over onto the log he’d been sitting on. “You mean we’re roughing it out here tonight? Can’t we keep going until we find a motel with actual beds? And proper bathrooms?”

Joseph throws an empty bottle at him, “Hush you spoilt pup! I don’t want to hear your bellyaching when you’ve got no idea what camping out here will do to my old bones!” You’re starting to recognize Joseph’s tell when he’s teasing Polnareff is to cross his arms and try and look stern, but a small grin gives him away.

“No, its too risky right now to be near humans. That rusalka, before we really got to fighting it mentioned ‘carrying out its orders’.” Jotaro shakes his head as he addresses the pack, joseph and Polnareff immediately back into serious mode. “We’ll be safer if we are able to fully transform to fight if we need to. I think that’s worth being uncomfortable for the night.”

You all agree with the decision to rank safety over comfort but you slump a little as you continue to watch the kelpies dance around the lake. You’ve slept in your car and camped out enough in your own travels that it’s not a huge hardship to do it again, but you also appreciated having a real bed to relax in. Especially after a day like today.

“I agree. However, on second thought…” Avdol motions to the kelpies, one had caught a large fish in its mouth as you had been daydreaming and now two were fighting over it and ripping the catch to pieces in the process. “Kelpies are carnivores after all. Perhaps a different campsite would be more suitable.”

Jotaro sighs and you feel him slump slightly into your side before he rallies himself and stands up. “Good point. Kakyoin, you’re navigator. Find a campsite we can get to quickly. Everyone else pack up and let’s go.”

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Author’s Note:

So. A week late, but I swear its not my fault. Guess who lives in Texas and couldn’t use a computer for the week? This gal. Everything is fine now and I’m one of the lucky few who doesn’t have a 10k electric bill or burst pipes.

Anyway, this chapter was a lot of fun to write- I always thought it was weird the crusaders just jumped right in with the rest of the crew after the Dark Blue Moon episode when CLEARLY you can’t trust anyone. So this chapter is the “Captain” and his crew as cryptids and myths. If you haven’t been reading the notes so far, I’ve planned out all of the enemies in this fashion, each battle a new myth to discover (and for me to research). Also every Wikipedia article I’ve looked at for the monsters has a reference line that is something like “Appears on episode 25 of Supernatural”. I have not seen more than 2 or 3 episodes of that show, I got to the one with the Wendigo and NOPED RIGHT OUT. Was wwaaaayyy too scary. Couldn’t handle it! So any similarities to the show are going to be pure coincidence.

Also I had to do a gag at Pol’s expense