Intertwined

In a faraway land, there lives a town called Unbound. The town resides near the vast woods with various mountains on one side. There is a nearby lake on the other edge of town. It is a strange place where many people have heard tales of a wolfman causing trouble.

He is a creature that is said to be uncontrollable and willing to harm anything. Wolfmen are often people who are cursed to change at night and spread evil wherever they roam. The common folk believe that the wolfman will eat their children and kill helpless street roamers.

What’s worse is that they never really know who could be the wolf being. Some stay home and lock their doors, others find places to hide or even leave town. Nights like these are terrifying.

At the moment, a man, Joseph Irons, is trying his best to get away from time. To him, leaving before anything happens is the best choice. Maybe if he heads towards the woods, he will feel safe.

Unfortunately for him, tonight is a full moon. The skies above are clear and radiate the earth with light below. The woods tonight seem uninhabited. Joseph Irons treks through the woods still with fear.

As a new wolfman, he has to deal with control his own emotions. The fact that he comes across people who seem genuine to him, gives him the urge to restrain himself. While making his way towards the mountains, he can’t help but feel the changes occur. The process becomes painful. His arms and legs bulge and shape into a muscular form. The torso grows bigger and wider, as he grows a tail behind him. Joseph’s head elongates as he grows a snout and takes the shape of a wolf’s head. As he moves upwards towards the top of the mountain, he forms fangs and claws. Hair grows out of his body. Time is what he needs.

The change is quite painful. For him, it seems very new and hard to comprehend. In his mind, he constantly struggles with his own sanity and mindset. This is surprisingly different from what he would usually deal with. Even as he constantly struggles through the pain and mental shift, he still feels as though he somewhat has control.

But right now, he has to focus on getting away from the town. He cares for them dearly and has no ill will against them. Although he might change into something worse, his true compassion for them will not.

Almost reaching the top of the mountain, he struggles to maintain control. Just a little longer and he will be fine.

Reaching towards the top, he looks up at the sky with hope. It’s pretty tonight. The stars themselves seem different. So much can be said about the sky above. While away from the city, every star shines brighter than ever. With many stars above, creating a sea of light, sparkling and illuminating the dark sky above. It all lights up the earth below, feeling pleasant and guiding the path of weary travelers. Moonlight emerges from the clouds covering.

What a magnificent view. To see something that speaks to the wolfman is a sight to behold. Maybe then, he will see the moon itself before he loses control. The moon is almost present. He can feel it.

Before, he was an average man, doing the regular duties brought to him. He worked as a blacksmith, making weapons and household goods for the common folk.

At times, he was tired, but he did his best in his work, earning praise from others. Doing the good work for others really brought him joy.

However, that would soon change. It wasn’t until sightings of a furry monstrous creature gathered the attention of various individuals. There were times when the monster has often pillaged different places and killed innocents.

Willing to take on this beast, the knights and warriors were willing to resolve this little situation whenever the creature arrived. In the end, they only managed to drive the monster away from the area for tat specific night.

The next night would be the same. To the people, it was a demonic creature that must be purged. If they caught sight of it, then they must swiftly deal with the situation. But that did not matter to Joseph. Instead, he made the weapons for the townsfolk and visitors who come to his store.

It wasn’t until one night that all of that changed.

The full moon was present that time, with clouds scattered around. Not much happened that night as the people often did their regular tasks and duties. Joseph himself was busy working at the shop.

While he was crafting a sword for a client, he could hear screams. The screams came from the citizens who ran and shouted “it’s the monster! Run for you lives” outside his store.

What? Monster? Trying to think on his feet, he stopped what he was doing in order to see what’s going on. Perhaps he could assist the people by bringing common weapons for them to use. As he had set his tools down, he heads towards the weapons in the shelf.

However, something emerged from the wall besides him. Pieces of the wall and items scattered towards him. A few managed to hit parts of his body. Taking the impact, Joseph fell on the floor, injured from the debris. He did his best to look at the wall, the one that was once a place for his tools and clothing. To his horror, he noticed something large, muscular, and hairy. For some reason, it stumbled into his shack. His eyes widened and his mouth opened as he looked at the creature. The creature then bares its fangs and claws as it looked towards Joseph.

Joseph couldn’t help but question why his store of all stores. It has been a good place for him to settle in and raise money. But here the wolfman arrived, ruining it all for him. The wolfman’s eyes gleamed with strange energy. It looked directly at Joseph who does his best to get himself up.

With all his might Joseph tried to stand, only for the wolfman’s arm to swing at him, pinning him to the wall. Instantly, the creature roared, opening its mouth wide at Joseph.

Now, the problem is before him. Trapped in the room, Joseph couldn’t help but think of the situation ending poorly. Here he was, the person who makes weaponry to combat this monstrous werewolf, cornered by the creature that planned to kill him.

This werewolf has created a lot of bloodshed and fear across town, and here it was, present in the shop with the desire to kill. Right then, he felt like a defenseless poacher dying to the wild creature at hand, a lowly camper who thought they could mess with a wild bear, a hunter about to be killed by the beings that he was set to kill. All this did was frighten him greatly, for tonight might be his last. Joseph knew full well what this creature was capable of and what trouble it could bring; the ferocity of the werewolf was notorious and true. Joseph couldn’t help but wait for his eventual death.

Defenseless, Joseph is paralyzed with fear, only to think of his imminent death. To think that one enraged creature is going to end it all in one night. Joseph did his best to kick at the creature regardless of his situation. Perhaps it would back off and wait for assistance to arrive.

Instead, Joseph tried to fight back. Trying to fend off the creature, he struggles to flail his limbs at the creature, hoping for it to scurry off into the night.

However, the creature didn’t take kindly to Joseph’s retaliation. Baring its fangs out, it instantly dived into Joseph’s right arm, drawing blood from his skin. Intense pain flowed through Joseph’s body, as he yelped loudly in shock. Why do I have to suffer further from this cursed mongrel, Joseph thought. Just to think that the creature stumbled upon his workplace, injuring him, and still has yet to kill him.

All Joseph wanted to do right now is end the pain before he suffers any longer. The wolfman then tossed Joseph across the room. His back soon hits the front of his shop before landing on the floor. Just to think he was minding his own business earlier. As he wallowed in pain, sounds of the townsfolk were heard outside.

Quickly thinking on his feet, the creature decided that he should escape. Immediately, the wolfman goes off and leaves through the hole it came in, not doing anything further to the weakened man.

The painful mark left by the werewolf fills Joseph with the memories of what just occurred. Still, the pain is present as Joseph staggered to the wall in hopes of recovering some energy.

Looking over at the hole in the wall, he couldn’t help but regret everything. If anything, that night was a troublesome one. Not once has anyone come to his shop, put it in a bad shape, and nearly get killed from such an encounter. To him, an event such as this was rare, seeing as how he works to support himself and make a living on selling weapons. With his remaining strength and sense of sanity, he pondered over whether he should have died from the conflict instead of live through it.

After being left alone, Joseph pondered over what occurred. That night affected him dearly. Days after, he noticed changes in his behavior and body. For one, he had become aggressive and determined to get things done. Another change was that he had grown patches of hair on certain parts of his body.

It didn’t take long for him to get a clue as to what is happening. Should he become like that wretched monster, then he must get away from the people. That was his resolve yesterday. In the end, he is currently reaching towards the mountain top, somewhat not encountering the strange creature again tonight.

But that doesn’t matter to him as long as he is not the one wreaking havoc on the townsfolk.

As his mind and body changes, he looks up into the sky for relief. Perhaps it will be the last moment in his time as a human. For just a few seconds, he could still stay human and feel happy again. He looks up towards the sky and gazes at the stars above. It’s such a sight to see.

What appears next is quite strange. Appearing out of the clouds above seems to be another moon a moderate distance apart from the first moon.

The wolfman is shocked to see such a sight. Something like this hasn’t happened in years. No one has ever spoke of this predicament before.

Gazing at the celestial objects above, he waits for the next action.

Stars around the moon begin to move and form. To the wolfman’s amazement, some stars come together while the others push away from the combining stars. The uniting stars begin to merge into a strange form. A pair of lips begin to take shape from the stars. Right now, the night sky appears to have two moons staring down at him, and stars forming lips.

Shocked, the wolfman questions everything around him. The night sky begins to laugh at the wolfman, scaring him. What sort of magic is this, he wonders, just why is this event unfolding?

The wolfman can’t help but stare at the sky above, puzzled by the fixture of the stars and moons above. He is paralyzed as he continues to stare and watch the sky itself laugh at him. Slowly but surely, something of strange nature and origin is going on.

Either that, or his sanity is slipping.