A Birth day

Lucian stood and listened to Edward h looked at the bot prints and then the cliff face noting nothing had been disturbed on it. He then walked to the left then right " hum , they went around or.." he paused and walked over to something he saw and drew back some vines covered with snow " threw" he added and held it open to show Edward " what do you think?" he asked " in or around?" he could not see boot prints inside.

Ruby looked at Chris and smiled as she walked over and grabbed some cookies setting them down beside him so he would have something to eat while drawing, Jessie stood by the window looking out over the yard keeping watch for anything out of the ordinary he did see one of the grounds man walk by with his wand out on patrol.

"Through. Has to be through," Edward nodded. Clive aimed his wand at the rock. "Hold your fire, there, Tex," Edward said. "Let's try something else first." He reached in his pocket and got out a silver cigarette case. He took out a cigarette and lit it and held it up to the rock, searching. And then, he saw the smoke from the cigarette be drawn into the rock. "Here," Edward said, laying his hand against the rock where the smoke had been drawn inside.

"Where'd you learn that, Gramps?" Clive asked.

"Gramps. This one is begging to be turned into a potato crisp," Edward told Lucian, gesturing at Clive, teasing. "Books, Pee Wee," Edward returned the teasing back at Clive. "I read. You might try one sometime." Then his hand found an open spot in the rock. "Ah ha. Magic camoflaging right here. We have an open doorway.

Angus and Marcus were at least a quarter of a mile away from Edward and the others. They'd been tracking some footprints. Some were wolf, some were werewolf, and some were something else. They'd continued to find little tufts of fur, and their hunting was leading them northeasterly now. The more they tracked, the less Marcus liked it.

Lucian watched as Edward walked over to where he held back the vines and lit his lighter letting the smoke be drawn to the rock but instead of going up he went into it and he chuckled . Turning to hear Edward he gave a soft laugh. " oh yeah" he said simply as he watched Edward touch the rock then his hand disappear into the rock " thought as much" he said and waited for Edward and Clive to take the lead into the what he expected cave tunnel.

Yu followed with Angus spotting tufts as they walked not saying a word as they went as he knew better than to be loud when tracking a creature they didn't know anything about, but he did admire how Angus easily tracked it.

"Let's go," Edward said, drawing his wand. As they stepped through, Edward lit his wand. There were supplies here, and a fire ring in the center of the room. Sleeping bags were rolled up and stashed against one wall. "Someone's been living here," Edward said. He opened some of the large waterproof totes and found canned goods, cooking pots, and all the supplies for a campsite. A pile of firewood lay a bit deeper into the cave. "Well, this is looking more human all the time."

As Angus and Marcus and, now, Yu pursued whatever the heck this was, they heard growling and the clear sound of animal fighting.

"That way," Marcus pointed to his right, but Angus was already on a run that direction. Marcus ran after him. They came through the trees to a clearing on the edge of a cliff, and they were both taken aback by what they saw. There were mammoth sized wolves, and they were fighting...well, what were they fighting? They weren't wolves because they had some basic human shape to them, but they weren't human either. Neither were they werewolves. Angus and Marcus both knew what werewolves looked like, and these weren't it. But they were fighting the wolves. Whatever these were, they were making the strange footprints. And then, Angus was able to pick out one of the wolves, and it caused him fear down to his core. He didn't hesitate, and he leaped right into the fray on the side of the wolves.

"Angus!" Marcus had tried to stop him, but Angus was too fast. Marcus had no choice but to jump in to try to help save Angus. As he did, though, one of the strange creatures belted Angus in the head and then picked him up and hurled him straight off the cliff. Angus never knew what hit him.

As Angus' form flew over the edge and down, the biggest gray werewolf that Marcus had ever seen in his entire life ran past him as if he were moving at the speed of light. He'd never seen anything like it. It was almost too fast for Angus to see. The werewolf picked up one of the smaller canines in the wolf pack--a small female werewolf that was a mix of colors. Silver fur streaked with shimmering blonde fur. He tossed her carelessly in Yu's direction and then headed on to the edge of the cliff.

The massive gray werewolf reached the edge of the cliff and looked downward and saw Angus caught by the leather duster on a sharp edge of rock.

"Donohue, wake up, you little asshole," the tone was deep and gruff and would have been terrifying if Marcus hadn't been so damned confused, not sure what the hell he was seeing. A moment later, there was a groan from somewhere.

"I thought you were dead," someone muttered.

"Not yet," the gray werewolf said. "Now take my hand, you idiot." And it reached downward over the edge.

Yu was stood confused as to what the hell was going on two large beasts fighting then one was thrown at him he cast Petrificus Totalus at it then looked to the cliff edge he heard a mans voice come from one beast and looked confused at Marcus as he heard Angus's voice drift up from over the edge. Yu chuckled but kept one eye on the massive furry stone lump at his feet.

Lucian followed them inside and walked to the camp kneeling down he placed his hand over the fire " still warm, they've not been gone long" he said " must have booked out when they heard us coming" he added seeing an over turned open can by the fire, its contents spilled on the ground near by.

Angus took hold, but it hurt like a sonofa... when the werewolf hauled him up. Angus knew now something was wrong with his bad shoulder again.

"Thanks," Angus said, trying to catch his breath. The brawling wolves and other creatures had drifted a bit further to the east, but they were still fighting.

"Don't be that stupid again," the huge werewolf said, turning and heading over to Yu. "Let her go," he looked at Marcus. "You're firing your spells at the wrong ones. Hit those bolloxed up things. Stop them instead." Marcus obeyed. First he undid Yu's petrificus spell on the little silver and blonde female werewolf, and he then fired some petrificus spells, starting to drop the odd not-so-werewolf looking things. Angus had to accio his wand since he'd dropped it over the ciiff. It came back to him--in three pieces.

"Damnit," Angus sighed, as the pieces of his wand fell at his feet. He began firing wandless petrificus spells at the weird canine creatures. The massive silver werewolf went into the wolf pack and picked up what Marcus realized now was a very small gray and black werewolf, and the large werewolf chucked it towards the little female that was close to Yu.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Marcus asked.

"I'd know that silver and blonde werewolf anywhere," the massive gray wolf said. "That one now calls herself a Donohue."

"It's Anise," Angus said. "She somehow slipped out of the house. Not sure why she's here, though."

"This one," the big werewolf said, pointing to the very small gray and black werewolf. "It's a cub from my pack. She's eight or nine, I think. She has no business out here. She's now in big trouble--with me." And then Marcus realized. That massive gray werewolf was Fenrir. He'd never seen Fenrir in his full werewolf form before, but if Marcus were guessing, this werewolf was bigger than James and far more terrifying. No wonder James was afraid of him.

Yu let Marcus undo his spell and helped her to her feet " I'm so sorry" he said softly to her " I've never seen you like this before Anise" I hope you can forgive me" he said then looked at the others fighting.

As one fired towards Anise he put up his Protego and stood over her while she composed herself. He could see Marcus and Angus along with who he now knew was Fenrir. Turning to the others he fired along with Marcus at the other creatures in the clearing. He tried to cast Protego again but wasn't aft enough and was thrown backwards to the ground , ignoring the burning of the back of his legs he stood up and kept on firing.

"No problem," Anise said to Yu. Marcus fired his wand at the very small werewolf, and the little werewolf was replaced by a little girl with dark hair, with one lock colored silver, a streak that ran down from her forehead and then down the left side of her face. "Her name is Mitzi," Anise said. "Well, close enough. It's some Japanese name like that meaning beautiful moon, but nobody remembers the real name. Everyone calls her Mitzi. Why are you here, Mitzi?"

"They killed my dog," the child pointed at the weird creatures. She was tearful now. "So I went with the wolves to find them. I wanted to get 'em for killing my dog."

"We'll talk later," Fenrir told her. Mitzi knew that was the tone that he used when someone was in serious trouble.

"So what do you call those things?" Angus asked.

"I call them human," Fenrir said. "They're a band of metamorphs that thought they could pass off as werewolves, but they clearly don't know what a werewolf looks like, so they were winging it. Worst damned looking werewolf impersonations I've ever seen in my life. Little dumbasses."

"No way," Angus frowned. Marcus fired a revelio spell at one, and it changed back to its normal human form. Fenrir had been right. "Now that is just pitiful," Angus had to agree.

"Someone hired a band of losers," Marcus said.

"Well, I'll give you two guesses who I think that was, and the first guess doesn't count," Angus replied.

Yu nodded to Anise and moved quickly to pull the little girl out from the fight and beside Anise "Koko ni ite kudasai, Mitsuki" he told her and turned back to the metamorphous men just as Marcus changed them back " hum, defiantly should have studied there pray first " he said then looked at Fenrir " was not intended as an insult, just that they are Baka, Idiot" he added.

Yu staid with the girls and kept his wand up in case the men tried to make a move to the girls but he also watched Angus in case he needed him for some reason. he felt the back of his legs and found the back of his trousers to be wet but he ignored the stinging knowing Jessie would tend to it once he was home.

The little werewolf bowed politely.

"She's been raised trilingual. She speaks Japanese, English, and French," Anise said.

Fenrir went over to one of them as the metamorphs were waking up and slowly coming out of the petrificus spells. He picked one up by the shirt and roared in the face of the metamorph. The metamorph peed himself and fainted away completely. Fenrir was disgusted and chucked the metamorph on the ground.

"Gutless wonder," Fenrir sighed.

"What were you hoping for?" Angus asked.

"A couple answers," Fenrir said.

"Next time, try a little less terror," Angus suggested. Fenrir scowled at Angus.

Edward heard the fierce roaring of a huge male werewolf about a half a mile away to the east.

"We've got to go, Gentlemen," Edward said. "Right now. Half a mile--that way. I'll see you there." He apparated out, deciding to cut the trip down to a fraction of a moment.

"Hey! What about..." Clive began. He sighed heavily and started to walk eastward.

Edward appeared less than twenty feet from Yu. He saw a pile of people on the ground, and then he saw Marcus, Yu, Anise, and Angus. One of the ones on the ground got a photo out of his shirt pocket and looked at Angus.

"It...It's you! You couldnt...maybe... just be dead for a little while, could you? I need the money,' One of the metamorphs told Angus.

"I have a better idea," Marcus said, going over and aiming his wand at the metamorph. "Let's make you dead, and we'll make you look like him. Now, who do you work for?"

"I dont know their names," he said. "i just have to bring this one to them, and then I get paid."

"Where? Where do you need to bring him?" Marcus asked.

"Some old ratty place in Hogsmeade," the man shrugged.

"What's the address? Tell me where."

"I don't know. Some old nasty place. Something about a singing house."

"You mean the Shrieking Shack," Edward said, going over.

"Yeah. That's it! You know it?" the metamorph asked. Angus just shook his head at the stupidity.