when i run through the deep dark forest

[arracht]

Who: Derek and you
What: Monthly full moon log
Where: The North Woods
When: January 15
Why: This is going to get repetitive really fast. Full moon, Derek, camp full of nosy people. Added bonus of SHIT THERE'S WEREWOLVES RED ALERT.

The fact that Derek has to be smuggled into the woods doesn't sit well with him in the least, but it's better than someone catching him in the act of heading out there by himself. Between campers being on high alert, the camp heads watching everything like hawks (at least they know about him, but still), and the general problem of harpies on top of Lycaon's wolves outside of the camp, he can't exactly put up too much of a fight over it.

He has literally no other choice.

Maybe he could just lock himself away in Cabin 13, but his nerves are so frayed that he doesn't think it's exactly the best idea. Resisting the shift isn't difficult, exactly, but it puts strain on him when he does it and he's not exactly fit to deal with that.

But once he's in the woods, away from the rest of camp and surrounded by the trees and the silence of the night in the January air, he feels a little bit better. Now, it's just a matter of finding the people that will inevitably be out tonight-- and finding out whether they're the ones he needs to avoid, or the ones he needs to talk to before he succumbs to the pull of the moon.

( As always, prose/bracket and I'll reply to match. uwu* )

Comments

[halfbread]

So somehow they went from chocolate and baking planning to wolves and fighting and trips out into the forest in winter with a bunch of angry animals around.

Sounds exactly like his luck, actually.

Lydia had snagged his help when they'd met up to discuss truffle making and plans for the holiday next month, and while Peeta knew she could take care of herself, she also wasn't exactly a combatant like a lot of the other people in camp were. And what with the werewolves out in the trees, if she needed to go wandering around, he wanted her to do so with some backup. His particular combat set might not be the best for dealing with fanged beasts, since it was so much more geared to close-range combat than anything further than a foot and a half away, but he was still better than nothing and his plant-senses would give him an extra couple of levels of helpfulness in the woods. To that extent when he catches up to Lydia at last, he's come prepared with his bronze knuckles and his long knife - but also with some small cloth bags of seeds that could produce some very angry-looking plants.

He'd used the trees to follow her path and catch up to her, and when he's within hearing distance Peeta gives a soft whistle to let Lydia know someone's behind her and so he doesn't get stabbed. "Find anything yet?"

[lefthandedgenius]

Lydia starts, but not as bad as she would if she heard a sound she was unfamiliar with. Relaxing a little, she shakes her head ruefully. "No, not yet. But arguably that may be a good thing. I still want to make sure that wolf is alright, though. If we can. He found me someplace close to here, I think."

[halfbread]

"And you're sure he's a good guy? I know we have Lupa and some of her wolves out here now, but you think she'd know about another 'friendly' wolf out here." True, Lydia's wolf had appeared long before Lycaon's forces - but if he's going the cynical route, it's possible that initial wolf was a scout. It's also possible that it helped Lydia back to camp so it didn't blow its cover by having a missing or savaged demigod just outside the borders.

[lefthandedgenius]

"He helped me." Lydia says firmly. "I was all by myself in the middle of the woods, completely vulnerable. If he was one of the enemy there would have been no reason not to rip my throat out then and there. He kept me safe instead. So I owe him to make sure he doesn't get hurt."

Her lips press together in frustration. "But we can't help him if we can't find him."

[arracht]

After speaking with Lydia before, Derek knows better than to think that she won't be out here tonight. They managed to avoid meeting one another last month-- though, to be fair, Saturnalia and the full moon coincided last month-- but with her apparent determination to find him once again...

Well, he recognizes her scent. While he doesn't know the other than joins it, he moves along slowly in the direction that it's going in. Most of his time is spent patrolling around, crossing over the paths that Lydia and her companion make but not quite meeting them.

It's only after he's sure that the surrounding area is safe that he finally makes himself known, blue eyes electric and bright in the night as he comes through the trees slowly. He stops a good distance away, making himself known but not approaching further.

[lefthandedgenius]

Lydia freezes when she sees the wolf.

"Peeta," she whispers, though there's probably no need to. "That's him!"

She knows she should probably have a weapon ready, but she doesn't. She starts to take take slow, careful steps to approach the wolf.

"Hey," she says softly to it. "Do you remember me? I know you can understand me. You're not with Lycaon, are you." It's not a question.