Out of the woods (Open)

[Red Riding Hood]

The portal seemed to have opened up into a forest of some kind, with a variety of exciting looking plants that were possibly either poisonous or healing, or both, Red didn't know enough about plants to know which so she figured ignoring them was her best move. She just avoided them as much as possible, cutting her way through with a long knife where necessary - until she came up to a glass wall and realised she wasn't in a strange, magical forest, she was in a greenhouse.

That made it a little easier to figure out where she needed to go, she just had to follow the glass until she found an exit, stepping out into the cool afternoon air that seemed particularly refreshing after the humidity of the greenhouse. The school buildings around her were rather more overgrown than she'd been expecting, and the place looked abandoned.

"So much for a fresh start..." she muttered to herself, sheathing her knife and sniffing the air cautiously. It was too far from a full moon for her nose to be all that good, all she could smell was plant. She sighed, setting off towards some of the other buildings in search of any signs of non-vegetative life. 

[William Fenris]

Will had only been in Tintagel for a few hours. He was gathering his thoughts, learning how to use his legs like a human, and slowly but surely, William looked less a cripple and more a sullied teenager, hunched and tucked into the hooded jumper and jeans the portal had provided for him.

He'd been exploring. The grounds were covered in moss and flowers, clearly whatever was a school hadn't been a school recently...maybe he had arrived too late? Even so anything was better than the world he'd left behind.

Still, he still had a pretty poor scrap of a letter in his now pocket, detailing what he would need at the start of term.

Like, magic is a funny thing huh?

Suddenly, he saw a figure, not the first human he'd seen, but as with every other encounter, he had hid. His head ducking behind something but then realising he was just too big and because he still didn't understand how his body worked all that well, he just clumsily tripped over his own feet -- and crashed to the ground in front of the figure.

"I--I---I'm--"

He'd not spoken to a human in this form before, and even then, his voice was unconfident, trembling even.

"S-Sorry..."

[Red Riding Hood]

Red almost jumped when somebody suddenly crashed to the ground in front of her, cursing all the vegetation that had messed with her senses and not left her with any warning that he was approaching - not that he seemed particularly threatening, sprawled on the ground and stammering out an apology like he was terrified of her. He reminded her of a rabbit, trembling and nervous and looking ready to bolt at any second.

"Don't worry about it," she told him, she had intended it to be reassuring but it just came out sort of blunt, like most of what she said really. Still, she held out a hand to him, offering to help him up. There was something familiar about him but she couldn't put her finger on what it was, a vague scent or maybe just a sense, something she felt a kind of... kinship with? Maybe? It was difficult to tell, but the only way to find out what it was would be to talk to him, or get somewhere she could smell better (or wait until the full moon and then she'd be able to smell it). Maybe he was like she was... it was an idle hope, she'd never met anybody else who was like her, but the wolf in her yearned for a pack and she wondered if maybe this place would be somewhere she could find one.

"Are you hurt?" he had hit the ground pretty hard after all.

[William Fenris]

The girl was beautiful. At least, he thought so, the stark white hair and the dark eyes, he stumbled about still on the floor a moment longer before he finally took her hand and struggled back to his feet.

Perhaps because the meeting would be so important in their futures, or perhaps because everything about being human was still so incredibly new but William had barely blinked, and he'd lost his trembling voice. What was it about her? Something he couldn't place. He was sure he could smell something, something common, something he couldn't just shake off. It was both unnerving and intoxicating.

Were all humans like this, or was it just her?

Finally, ever so gently, he found his voice again.

"N-No, I'm just stupid."

He opened his mouth to speak again, to learn to be social.

"I've --- I'm not very good at talking to people, I'm sorry."

Will he ever learn to stop saying sorry? Probably not.

"I'm Will. I'm....new."

[Red Riding Hood]

The touch just made the sensation that little bit stronger, and it built her hope up just the tiniest bit. Could it possibly be that he, too, had wolf blood in him? The first person she'd met since arriving here and he was someone like her? Was it really possible?
She stamped down on her optimism, not wanting to deal with the disappointment if she turned out to be incorrect. She'd allow herself to be hopeful when she had more information. Still, there was a reluctance as she drew her hand away from him.

"That's fine, neither am I," she admitted. It might not seem like it, but it was true, just in a different way to how he meant it. He was clearly nervous about it, she had a tendency to just be kind of blunt and sort of rude, she didn't mean to be, but she'd withdrawn quite a lot ever since the incident.

"Loredana, but call me Red," she introduced herself "I'm new too."

[William Fenris]

Will was sad that she had had to eventually let go of her hand, he bristled a bit in the cold, not used to feeling it. Were humans really that sensitive to cold?

"N-Nice to meet you, Red." He attempted a smile, it was toothy but kind, more importantly it was genuine.

He didn't think much of it, why should he. Humans all have odd names. His name was probably formed from those days in Tintagel, he was sure that the eldest sons of their families had human names, because of Tintagel. That, and since the 'Peter' incident with his ancestors, teasing humans by having their names had sort of stuck.

At least, in his family anyway. He trembled and this time it wasn't from the cold.

"Do you have any idea what's going on? I....I have a letter to come here if I wanted to attend the school...that's it." He grimaced. "Maybe we arrived too late?"

[Red Riding Hood]

"Nice to meet you too," she didn't sound overly sincere, but then she never did when dishing out the expected pleasantries. As far as she was concerned, she wouldn't be able to tell if it was nice to meet someone or not until later, but for some reason people liked to hear it right away. She normally wouldn't bother, but she thought it might be worth making a little bit of an effort when meeting new people here, it wouldn't be a fresh start without at least some work on her part. She wasn't dragging her reputation behind her like she did at home, but she knew her prickly personality didn't help.

"I don't know," she shrugged, looking around the place "It does look pretty...abandoned..." from here it didn't look like any of the buildings were inhabited, didn't look like they had been for a very, very long time. It could be some magical effect, a curse or a spell to hide the school from outsiders, but she couldn't tell that just standing here "I got an invitation too.. they must have come from somewhere, right?"

[William Fenris]

Her reply made him falter a little. He chewed on a lip, as he listened to her reasoning, looking about the world of Tintagel that they could even see. At least he wasn't alone. At least she was here with him.

"Maybe....we're supposed to walk into the school and find out....Maybe..."

He swallows. He touches his stomach as it suddenly rumbles violently.

"--M-Maybe I should find something to eat too."

He'd not eaten since he found the letter when he'd woken almost 24 hours ago. He had been avoiding the pack, trying to figure out what he should do. Now he was here, he was famished.

He flashed another attempt at a smile. "Are you hungry? We could see if there's er....food?"

It took a second not to say prey. He had to remember that he was a human now, to his own personal relief.

[Red Riding Hood]

"Maybe," Red agreed, it seemed logical enough, perhaps it was some kind of test to make sure they were the people the school wanted to teach. It would have been nice to have some kind of warning, but life often threw these little tests your way, the best thing to do was just get on with it and do your best and things would go the way they would go, sometimes regardless of your actions. She was about to say something else when the rumbling of his stomach interrupted her and she raised an amused eyebrow.

"Food sounds good," she agreed. It was a while since she'd eaten as well, the trip through the portal and the subsequent hunt through the jungle of the greenhouse had left her a little bit peckish, she could definitely go for food.

"Perhaps we could see if there's a tavern of some kind around..." she said dubiously, this did not look like the kind of place that had an open tavern that might have food to sell "Or perhaps we should go hunting..." hunting was good. She'd turned out to be particularly good at it, she liked to think it was practice, but she knew deep down that it was the wolf that gave her the talent.

[William Fenris]

Will's eyes watched her closely as he she gave him that amused look, and unconsciously he matched it back, more like a puppy than a wolf in that moment. Until she mentioned a tavern...

A tavern didn't sound good at all. Lots of people and noise, he was not a fan of that at all...

"Oh yes, hunting that would be good, yeah I used to hunt --- umm---"

He winced with the realization he must look stupid, arms holding himself again. "I mean, I have before. I was....not too bad at it, had a keen nose..."

It was probably the only reason he was kept around, as most of his pack had damaged noses from fighting each other, his was still in tact.

He gestured back into the forest with a hand, baggy jumper sliding over the top which he pulled back. "Shall we try that way?"

[Red Riding Hood]

When he mimicked her expression, a tiny part of her wanted to keep pulling faces and see if he copied them all, but she resisted the urge.
Still, between that and the comment about the nose... she was getting more and more convinced he was like her. He acted very differently, but there were so many little clues she couldn't help but want to ask about it, she just had to think of the best way to phrase it without freaking him out.

"That seems sensible," she agreed, turning in the direction he indicated "I have some knives with me, we should be able to get a rabbit or two..." she started to move towards the forest, before oh so casually adding "How are you at hunting without paws?"

He seemed nervous enough that she could probably catch him out, she felt just a little bad putting him in that spot but it seemed the safest way, she could reassure him fairly quickly that she wasn't afraid, that she understood, and then they could both relax about the whole thing. If he had no idea what she was talking about, she could pretend she'd misspoken and they could move on easily enough without it really having to come up. As far as she was concerned, it was a win-win.

[William Fenris]

He'd only been a human for about an hour and the gig was almost already up. Still, he enjoyed her safe company so much, and the feeling that he was about to have fun hunting with a human, as a human that when she mentioned about paws he missed it. Of course he did.

"Oh I wouldn't actually know I've never not hunted without----"

He continues of course, stammering due to nerves than any other reason, but still, out it comes from his thin lips.

"---without paws."

He found himself however completely covering his mouth and looking at her with very large eyes, and he braced himself his hands wrapping around himself like a straight jacket unable to meet her gaze. He waited to be rejected. He waited for her to turn away and leave. 

"Oh by Fenrir I am so so sorry, I didn't --- I'm just---it's just ---oh I bet you don't ever want to talk to me ever again now."

[Red Riding Hood]

For a moment, Red didn't notice the reaction she'd caused, but when she glanced back at him and saw how absolutely horrified he looked, she couldn't help but wince slightly. She honestly hadn't intended to upset him that much. She should have thought about it, she tended to take the fear and hatred in her stride, it was how she did everything, but he was obviously far more delicate than she was, it was no wonder he was scared if he didn't know for certain she wasn't going to hurt him. She held her hands up as if to demonstrate she wasn't reaching for a weapon, shaking her head.

"Hey, no, don't worry," she told him, her words blunt in an attempt to cut through his panicking, but perhaps a little sharper than they ought to have been "I just asked because I thought I could... I don't know, smell something, I wanted to be sure. You've got nothing to worry about, I have wolf blood too, I know what it's like, and I'm not going to chase you away."
Well... not because of the wolf part anyway, she was the kind of person that held everybody else at an arm's length to try and keep herself from getting hurt, so she wasn't exactly going to let him in, but she would willingly be around him without the literal chasing away thing happening. Not when it was what so many people did to her.

[William Fenris]

The word relief does not begin to cover the look on his face, as ever word leaves her lips, he can feel colour returning to his cheeks, his heart start to slow, and he's overwhelming starting to feel better.

Even if the words were blunt, he wasn't expecting kindness, never kindness. He'd been beaten and bullied as the runt of the family his whole life, her tone did not upset him.

"W-Wolf blood?"

He stayed very quiet, before nodding. "Me -- too -- sort of. I'm a pretty...poor excuse for a wolf," he explained

He rubbed his arms, the comfort of the fabric he was wearing reminded him of his old fur.

"You really won't...? I didn't think....someone like me would be particularly liked."

Was it really true that now, here, in this abandoned place he would find a friend? Would find someone who understood.

[Red Riding Hood]

Red wondered what he meant by the 'sort of', but shrugged it off easily enough, assuming it was probably a long story. Maybe he'd inherited it from somewhere, or been cursed with it but not by a wolf, or didn't think it counted to be a werewolf, whatever the reason she didn't think it was important to get into, the important part was that she was right and he was like her.

"I really won't," she confirmed with a nod "I know what it's like." she added again. She could understand why he thought he wouldn't be liked here, he'd probably had a similar experience to her wherever he'd come from, but it was increasingly obvious that it hadn't hardened him the way it had her.

"Maybe this place will be different for both of us..."