★ { Adela Kladivo } ★

Fingers curled against the windowsill as Adela awaited the arrival of Alice and her younger brother. The sun was a blazing orange, slowly disappearing as darkness took over from day. As perfect a time to meet as any. Most of Silverwood's residents would be tucking into bed or at the least staying inside for the night. She could hear the mayor pacing behind her, always a nervous wreck whenever the town's weredogs held a meeting in his office. Adela wasn't sure why he insisted they meet there when they clearly made him feel anxious. "It will be fine," she offered, glancing at the stout man over her shoulder. "The rite of passage ceremony is nothing new and it won't be held in a populated area. There isn't much that can go wrong." That wasn't exactly true, but well...she'd never let anything happen to those boys regardless. She would be watching and waiting just out of sight. Ready to jump in if anything went amiss.

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★ { Finnegan Byrnes } ★

Finnegan shifted anxiously as he sat on a chair pushed into the corner, watching the mayor pace non-stop and Adela stare out the window silently for the most part. She turned once to reassure the older man all would go just fine, but he didn't seem comforted in the least and his pacing only increased. She appeared to give up after that and returned to the window, fingers tapping against the glass every now and then in what he could only guess was boredom or perhaps impatience. He didn't know the woman well enough to make either assumption. He had arrived only the previous night. A newcomer to the town. The pack had caught him by surprise. No one had warned him of their existence and it had been quite starling. Especially when a brindled Shepherd had come hurtling his way with snapping teeth. Once the misunderstanding was settled he was accepted without further issue, but in truth he hadn't been looking for a new pack. All the same he was reluctant to point that out. The dogs of his birth pack had been unkind. What if these canines were more of the same? He wasn't looking to get on their bad side and he couldn't move again so soon.

A woman with brown hair curled in loose ringlets around her head raced down the cobble streets with a teenager in tow, his eyes flashing in the dying embers of the afternoon sun. A scowl plastered itself on his face, and he muttered to the woman, “Why do we have to get there so early?”

“Early?” the young lady barked, shooting a glance down at her brother. “We’re nearly ten minutes late! At this rate, you’ll be the Omega of the pack!”

“Big deal, Alice,” the boy growled.

As they approached, Alice noticed a silhouette in the window of the Mayor’s office, and a chill crawled down her spine. Adela wasn’t having one of her days when she accidentally slept in from being out all night. Not today. Gripping her brother’s wrist tighter, she tugged Renard hard toward the small building that served as their own little Mayoral suite.

Alice quickly pushed open the door open and had to snatch the handle to keep it from jarring into the wall beyond. Heat rose to her cheeks as she lifted her freckled face toward her alpha, and she swiftly said, “I’m sorry we’re late.”

Renard just rolled his eyes, then proceeded to glare around the room, his eyes fixed on Mayor Barron for some time. The anxious pacing of the short man roused a beast in the boy that wanted to hunt, but his sister’s hand around his wrist reminded him that if he caused trouble, he’d be hearing it from her. Tearing his gaze away from the filthy human, he began to study the other newcomer, whose name he wasn’t sure of yet. He assumed they would be introduced to each other during this meeting, since, from what Alice had mentioned, it looked like he would be working with the other weredog soon.

Alice elbowed Renard in the ribs to bring his attention back to Adela, and she turned on her natural cheer as she said, “We’re ready whenever you are, Adela.”

★ { Adela Kladivo } ★

Only a minute or so more passed before the shape of rushed figures came running toward the building. A sigh of relief escaped Adela and she moved to meet the pair at the door. The door nearly slammed into the wall in Alice's haste to get them inside, cheeks tinged pink as their eyes met. Empathy for the woman had her smiling reassuringly. "It's only been a few minutes," she soothed. "You're just on time." Adela's hazel gaze now slipped down to Renard and she greeted the teen with a warm smile. "You must be Renard. I've heard a lot about you," she started, pushing aside her own nerves as she searched for the right words. An Alpha ought not be so anxious, but she'd never been the most social canine before taking over her father's position as a pack leader and she'd most certainly never seen to a rite of passage ceremony. New weredogs rarely moved to the area. "Welcome to Silverwood. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Come in. Take a seat. Once everyone is comfortable we'll get to talking."

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★ { Finnegan Byrnes } ★

The sound and motion of a door abruptly swinging open had the fidgety man jumping a bit as the newcomers entered the room. Adela had informed him another boy would be participating in the Rite of Passage ceremony alongside him, but it still came somewhat a surprise to see yet more strangers entering the room. He wasn't sure he liked the predatory gaze the other male set upon the pacing mayor, who finally stopped to acknowledge the newcomers. A sub-conscious growl started in his throat, but he quickly subdued it as Alice corrected her brother, umber eyes averting to avoid either Alice or Renard's gazes as Adela ushered them inside. It was going to be a long night for the naturally jumpy weredog.

((These kinda suck, but I wanted to make sure I replied for you. ;o;))

☽ Alice Appleby ☾

Adela’s smile soothed her racing heart, which had been pounding ever since she left the house that morning, rushing headlong down the streets with her little brother in tow. And while Alice liked to be punctual, she accepted that they were only a few minutes late. That further sedated the rapid pulse in her veins. While the alpha addressed her brother, she lifted her hazel eyes to glance around the room, spotting Mayor Barron first and throwing him a gigantic grin and a wave. He returned it with the tiniest lift of his lips, though his face betrayed his nerves around the Weres. The next person she caught sight of was Finnegan, who she had only seen briefly yesterday. They were still strangers to each other for now, but Alice aimed to change that as soon as she could. Which, sadly, would be after the Rite of Passage. Still, she found herself with the same grin plastered on her face and a hand rising to wave to him.

♈ ♉ ♊ ♋ ♌ ♍ ♎ ♏ ♐ ♑ ♒ ♓

☽ Renard Appleby ☾

His gaze moved to the woman speaking to him—Adela, his sister had told him—and he found himself eying her with suspicion at first. It was rare for people to be nice to him, even those who had never met him before. After a moment, he decided that she was being genuine with her words and softened his stare, nodding his head and saying, “Ditto.” He still wasn’t quite sure how to interact with authority figures outside of his home yet, but when Alice nudged him gently, he corrected himself, “I mean, nice to meet you, too.”

With that, Alice led him over to a seat and took the one next to him, and they settled in to wait for Adela to tell them what the heck was going on. His sister had insisted that she couldn’t tell him anything, that he had to hear it from the alpha, and that the only thing she could say was that it would prove he was ready to be an “adult” in Were society. Whatever that meant.

Once everyone was comfortably seated Adela cleared her throat, wondering how best to explain what the two young weredogs should expect out of their test. "Whenever a dog comes of age or a newcomer joins the pack they must be challenged to assure they have the skills and drive to serve their packs well," she started, pausing for a moment to glance between Renard and Finnegan to make certain they were paying attention. "If you complete the challenge to a satisfactory level you will be accepted as fully-fledged members of the pack and given a rank I believe matches well with your talents. If you should fail you will be given the chance to try again with a new trail."

She prayed her words made sense thus far. English wasn't her first language and she struggled with it at times. Her accent wasn't quite as thick as it had been before her family moved to Silverwood and brought their traditions with them, but it still lingered in her voice. Likely forever a part of her. "There is an abandoned asylum located a few miles from here. It has not been touched in many years, but there has been news of commotion in the area. Your task will be to scout around the building in search of anything out of the ordinary. Vampires or werewolves could be the culprits. You are not to go inside and if you spot any creatures do not engage them. Come back to immediately for backup instead. If you do not encounter anything and also feel you have gathered enough information you may return to us and your challenge will be over. Do you have any questions before we set out?"

((You know what? Let's forget the headers. Not really necessary with just the two of us. Also, if you're curious and don't remember Adela is originally from Prague so her first language is actually Czech. xD))

Alice sat forward to listen, eager to hear what task the two weres would be given. Renard also leaned in, but he was more interested in the idea of the asylum, and if there weren’t any creatures in there—hell, maybe if there were some—he wanted to explore. Something in the teen just made him want to go to all the forbidden places in the world, and at the moment, it was forbidden to enter the asylum. He hadn’t even seen it yet, with its decaying, decrepit stone walls, several smashed and boarded up windows, and the long trendils of vine snaking through the cracks. But he could imagine it, and that was enough to set him to the edge of his seat. It may have even looked like he was excited to become part of the pack.

Despite the accent, Renard felt he understood what was said fairly well. There were a few words he hadn’t been able to pick up, but the ones around it gave enough context for him to fill in the blanks. Beside him, Alice was quiet, and it was obvious she had no questions for Adela. He didn’t either. “No questions from me,” he said.

Finnegan shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Adela explained their task. That...did not sound good. Lord, what had he gotten himself into? He really, really didn't sign up for this. He certainty couldn't share Alice or Renard's enthusiasm and his face had grown a bit pale, or paler than usual at least if such a thing were possible. A million questions ran through his head, but his throat felt so dry he could barely get them out and instead remained silent as ever.

"Finnegan, do you have any questions?" Adela asked kindly, but he still ended up shaking his head no in response. "Very well then. I think it's dark enough now. Lets be on our way."

- Brief Time Skip -

20 minutes later they arrived beyond the outskirts of town, the asylum looming forbiddingly in the distance. "Now remember, you are not to go inside. Patrol around the building, keep a safe distance, be on alert for any sign someone or something has been living here. Report back to me within the hour. If you are confronted or spot movement come back to me at once. If you are in danger howl and we will come find you," Adela instructed. "Remember, the two of you are a team now. Work together." With all that said she signaled for them to begin and Finnegan glanced side-ways at Renard before reluctantly stepping froward.

Renard grinned in the darkness, then began removing his clothes to prepare for his shift. He handed them to Alice, who had followed and would be staying at this spot until they returned, or in case they decided to be bone heads and go inside so she could run and get help. She had to admit to herself she wasn’t positive her brother would follow the instructions word-for-word. But for now, he seemed confident, and that was a good sign, she hoped. The other male, on the other hand, did not, and she found herself telling him softly, “Everything will be fine.”

“’Course they will be, he’s with me,” her brother said, right before transforming into a dog with long, brown and black fur and eyes that beamed with determination. Turning, he barked to Finnegan, “Come on, let’s go.”

He started trotting closer to the asylum, hoping that his eagerness would kick the other guy into gear and make him hurry up. If they took too long, the sun would come up and they’d have to wait another day before they could do their assessment, or Rite of Passage, or whatever it was. And Renard did not want to spend another day with Alice telling him all sorts of stuff and then getting dragged out to walk around an abandoned building all night. His gaze turned to it, noticing the long, snaking ivy growing up the cracks in the walls and the broken and boarded up windows. This was a terrible place to hang out, no matter what you were.

Finnegan's eyes quickly averted as the other boy began nonchalantly shedding his clothes. Just right there. Out in the open. In front of everyone. He heard Alice murmur a soft "everything will be fine" and realized a bit late that had probably been for his benefit. "Thanks. I'll, ugh...I'll be right back," he replied hastily before moving deeper into the surrounding woodlands for better coverage before stripping down himself, shoving his clothes under a nearby bush. Shifting down into his dog, he returned a few seconds later and could only hope Renard hadn't gone tearing off without him.

His hair was shorter and more wiry in this form, but remained the same shade of rusted ginger without a single splotch of any other color. Renard barked in his direction and he hurried to catch up with the younger male, glancing back at Alice over his shoulder once and just then noticing Adela wasn't anywhere to be found. That wasn't weird...at all. Nope. As they ventured closer to the asylum the building's looming, broken down state only added to the creep factor. He Kept it in view out of the corner of his eye as he began sniffing around for anything out of the ordinary. Any human scents were so stale they were barely detectable and only animals appeared to have been in the area recently. He started to relax as he failed to pick up anything unusual. If luck was on their side this would be over within the hour without any incidents.

Renard was used to getting undressed around others. Sometimes he had to when thieves tried to steal from the orchard. While it may not seem like it, apples were a good business to be in, and selling them could bring in some good money if the season treated them well. Still, it was pretty boring for a teenager, which left him eager to shed his old life and come to a new town. Fighting off vampires and werewolves sounded much more intriguing. That was why he was being so impatient—he had a feeling in his gut that there was something in this asylum, and he aimed to find it, even if he had to break some rules.

The brown and black Belgian Tervuren scanned the outside of the building, noting the decaying brick and the twisted vines growing through the cracks and up the side of the asylum. Nothing stirred. There were no birds near the place, and the birdsong seemed muted and far away, leaving a chill across his spine. The scent of mice and snakes didn’t soothe him.

“We need to go inside,” he said, loud enough for Finnegan to hear. “I know something’s in there, but I can’t smell it. We need to make sure it’s nothing bad for the pack.” Renard was already standing next to a window that had been broken out long ago. He backed up, tensing his legs, then sprinted toward the wall and sprung up into the asylum, his feet throwing up dust as he hit the floor. The place hadn’t seen visitors in this hall in some time, and the air was stale despite the outside world being right next door.

”We need to go inside.”

Finnegan’s entire body tensed, his head swinging around to glance across at the other male in dismay. “Adela told us to stay away from the building,” he remained Renard dutifully, eying the nearby asylum warily. “We’re probably already closer than we should be.” His voice was surprisingly steady, shocking even himself, as he tried to convince Renard against entering the foreboding residence. “I think we should probably check the back next,” he continued, hoping he could tempt him away from the window. “See if there are any worrying scents…”

Before he could even finish Renard had already began loping toward the asylum, scaling the wall and leaping through the window to land on the other side. “R-Renard!” He barked after him in alarm, wincing a moment later as the abrupt noise of it had probably alerted anyone waiting inside to their presence if Renard’s sudden trespassing hadn’t. He sighed irritably and then made his way closer to the wall, making clumsy work of clambering in after him and landing gracelessly beside Renard a minute or so later. “So much for following orders..” He mumbled, side-eying the teen with a disgruntled expression.

★☆★

The hair along the back of Adela’s neck began to rise as she watched first Renard and then Finnigan disappear inside the asylum. The black and tan Shepherd suppressed a worried growl before creeping out of the underbrush and moving closer, ears straining forward to try and pick up what the boys were saying. The wind was blowing toward her so there was no worry of being detected, and in case it changed she’d been certain to roll in a nearby puddle of mud to further disguise her scent.

She wouldn’t have brought them here if she believed any real dangers lurked inside, but now Adela began to wonder if this was too advanced a task for two dogs so new to the pack. Part of her considered returning to the meeting spot to fetch Alice for back up, but finally decided against it. She was an Alpha. Any trouble that might await them inside she could handle, or so she kept telling herself.

“Shh,” he whispered, shooting a glance at the older canine. “There’s something in here, I know it.” Shaking off the dust, he made cautious paw steps forward, making his way to the end of the hall where there was a corner. Once he reached it her slowly poked his head around the corner. So far, so good. He waved his tail to tell Finn that the coast was still clear before moving farther down the hall, only stopping when he heard a strange wheezing from the room to his right. Ever so carefully he peered around into the room, but he wasn’t expecting what he saw, not in the least.

In one of the old patient’s rooms was a humongous looking slug, bloated like it had eaten a dozen children. It looked grotesque, and smelled worse. Veins snaked their way around the bulging flesh of the creature, and in all honestly, Renard wanted to be sick. He was standing stock still when the creature moved one of its long, stalk eyes over to him, and he could see it was black with veins running just below the surface. That was all it took. The teen retched, a loud, wretched sound that brought the creature tumbling down to its belly to try to reach him. Screeching like a banshee, he spun around, nearly running into Finnegan and becoming paralyzed for a moment. The second the slug’s head popped out of the doorway, though, he started shoving Finn toward the exit and yelling, “Run! Just run!”

”If you were that certain then we should have reported back to Adela. We aren't equipped to handle whatever might be in here,” Finnigan shot back in a whisper, but he trailed after Renard regardless, unwilling to leave the other weredog in the asylum alone. With his luck there really was something in here and he might be leaving the boy to a grisly fate. He was careful about where he placed his paws, attempting to avoid any creaky floorboards that might further alert anyone to their presence as he followed Renard further inside. The wave of the Belgian Shepherd’s tail beckoned him onward, but his stiff posture a moment or so later had Finnigan pausing.

A sickening noise suddenly escaping Renard’s maw had Finnegan rushing to catch up, an awful smell filling his nose and making his eyes water. A horrible shriek blared in his ears and another body collided with his. He yelped in fear and struggled to push away from the creature before realizing it was Renard himself in a panic. The young dog shoved him to his paws and toward the exit with urgent words. Finnegan didn’t need to be told twice, eyes only getting a brief glimpse as he bolted for the window. This time he had absolutely no trouble climbing the wall and scrambling back outside, only to collide with another furry body in a dizzying heap. Seconds later he realized he was sprawled across Adela’s side.

Despite the fear twisting aggressively in his chest, he sprung aside to make sure Finn got out before he followed. Renard was a jerk at times, but he didn’t want to hear his new packmate get devoured by whatever that grotesque thing was. The moment he saw the other dog leap out the window, he took a step back and charged himself, flying through the opening and over the two dogs that were sprawled out next to each other where they had collided. Renard, on the other paw, wasn’t able to stick a landing and found himself rolling for a few dizzying minutes. Once he found his paws, he stood up, shaking his head, then bolted over to Adela’s side, not wanting to waste more time before telling her what he had seen inside.

“Adela!” he barked, sounding slightly winded even now. “There was this thing in there, it looked like a huge slug and it was really fat and veins were poking out all over it and on its eyes. It was a little dark but I think it had blood on it and it smelled like death. What is that thing? Does it eat weredogs? Something needs to be done about it.”

By this point Alice came running up with clothes stuffed in her muzzle, which she threw down the instant she heard her brother start talking about a creature that she couldn’t see out here, so he must have gone inside. “Renard! You were told not to go in!”

“There was something in there, I had to make sure it wasn’t dangerous!” he insisted, though his tail lowered and nearly tucked between his legs. He didn’t like getting scolded by his sister, even if she was right. But if he hadn’t gone in, how would they have known about the thing? The walls were too thick from the outside to smell it, and it was too far back to smell from the open window.

Alice just sighed and shook her head, looking disappointed at her brother. How was he ever going to become part of the pack if he couldn’t listen on his very first assignment? At this rate, he’d be sent back to the apple orchard, even though mom and dad certainly didn’t want him back with all the complaining he did regarding picking the apples.

The fearful bark echoing from the building had Adela on the alert in seconds. Just as she was bunching the muscles in her strong hind legs for the leap upward another body soared through the window and collided with hers, knocking the Shepherd to the ground. She landed on her side and the breath was knocked out of her. She laid there for a dizzying moment before a stream of apologies filled her ears and Finnegan slid off her, making an attempt at nudging her up to her paws. Renard came tumbling out of the asylum next and she rushed to meet him halfway as he darted toward her.

The young dog's tale of a giant, bloodied slug had hazel eyes widening in alarm and she immediately turned back to the window, leaping upward and bracing her front paws on the ledge with her back claws digging into the wall to offer some support as she peered inside. She thought she caught a glimpse of veined black orbs staring at her from around a corner, but otherwise spotted nothing. A wretched stench filled her nose and she growled before falling back down to the ground. "I'm afraid I don't know what that things is..."

It wasn't long before Alice joined the trio and began scolding her brother. Adela allowed it for a minute or so before stepping in. Lectures could come later. At the moment they had a serious problem to consider if what Renard said was true. "We may need to call for backup on this one. Perhaps one of the other dogs will have some knowledge of this...creature. Finnegan, take Renard and go back to town. Inform the mayor of what is going on and he will call the other dogs. Alice and I will remain here to make certain the beast doesn't try to escape."