The Blacksmith and the Apothecary

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Now Tony gripped him by the shoulders, supporting his weight so that the man didn't topple over. "Everything is going to be fine- stay calm for me, Bruce. Lets get you over to this chair-" he rambled to himself as he guided the convulsing man to the chair he had abandoned and eased him into it. "Just relax, alright? I'm right here, whatever this is, I won't leave you alone with it," he promised.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce inhaled sharply, his spine tingling and bones aching painfully. "I-I didnotthink...th-that you would," he choked out, a weak smile quirking his lips as he tried to insert a joke into this rather morbid situation. His tremors only seemed to grow worse, and soon it was his entire body that ached and burned as if stuffed with hot coals, and the apothecary let out a soft, almost canine-like whine of pain. His nails grew thicker, darker, and crooked, and he wrenched his eyes open to look up to his friend with panic.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony was going to grab his friend's hand, until he was, well, scratched. It didn't break the surface but it startled him enough to look and see Bruce's elongated nails. He sucked in a breath and looked up to see his friend's darkening eyes, the way his face and body seemed to be twisting, the sounds of bones crunching. "Mother of god," he whispered, too horrified to back away. He literally could not think of anything else to say.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Soon the pressure at the base of his spine became too much for Bruce to bear, and he was forced to topple from the chair and onto the floor, features screwed in pain and terror. Another whine escaped his lips, which continued to lengthen along with the rest of his body until it resembled more of a snout than something that belonged on a man's face. His nails dug into the hard wood floors, leaving deep scratch marked embedded into its surface. Through the haze of confused agony he heard the faint sound of fabric ripping, and he last coherent thought went something along the lines of "Dammit all, those were my good pair of trousers."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony should've known this would happen. He should've known and been ready, but what exactly was he prepared to do? He sure as hell couldn't run downstairs and grab a weapon- he could barely move! Cautiously he took a step back from the creature writhing on his floor, breath caught in his throat. "Bruce?" He whispered, silently horrified. "Bruce.. Are you still in there?"

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The creature lie on the ground, whimpering softly in pain and confusion, but finally it rose to its feet, head hung low and shoulders tensed as if it bared a great weight against its back. After a moment of disorientation, the creature's eyes snapped open, pupils constricting to reveal irises, surprisingly enough, the same warm shade of brown as Bruce's were. There was a brief moment where there was something almost human about those big brown eyes, and one could've believed that Bruce really was in there somewhere, but almost as quickly as it has come, it vanished, and those dark eyes instinctively darted in the direction of the sound. They focused on Tony, and as the scent of manflesh wafted through the tensed air, a snarl ripped through its throat.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Oh . Tony's knees grew weak but at the same time he suddenly found the motivation to walk, and that was rapidly backwards. "Bruce I uh, I know you probably can't understand me, but um, you're scaring me friend," he stammered, nearly tripping over a chair. His hands were up in a defensive posture, his eyes flickering to the stairs. If he could just reach the basement, he might be able to trap the creature downstairs until sunrise. Until he got his friend back.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The words did little to calm the beast as it circled the blacksmith, teeth bared, posture hunched low to the ground, as if preparing to strike the man down. He sniffed the air, practically able to smell the fear emanating from his target, and he instinctively inched forward, tail twitching in anticipation.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony took several more steps back, making a decision. He was going to run for it, or get ripped to pieces. Whichever one. He silently counted down in his head before suddenly sprinting for the stairs, taking them two at a time. He would have to make it back up to lock the wolf in the basement, but he'd cross that bridge if when he got there.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The creature growled, the sound was as booming and menacing as a clap of thunder, and darted after the blacksmith. Its movements were slightly clumsy, but long strides helped it keep up with its prey. Another snarl tearing through the air as the man came into its sights once more, the beast lunged forward as if to pounce.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony could feel teeth snapping at his heels and swore, hurdling a chair to put something between them. He grabbed a torch off the wall and immediately swung back around, swinging it at the man's face. "Back off," he snapped, trying to thinkk of something. He had meat in the cellar- would he go for it? Obviously being the medieval ages, it wasn't a cold cellar, but it was cool enough to keep meat and bugs out for a few days.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The beast merely jumped over the chair, barely detoured by the furniture. It was the fire that caused it pause, and with a startled yelp, it instinctively backed away, eyeing the flame warily, light reflecting eerily off of its dark eyes. Head bent low, the creature tried to find a way around the torch, and opening it could squeeze through without being burned.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony swung the torch like crazy at the wolf, not actually trying to hurt him but just keep him at bay. "Got you now, mutt," he said triumphantly, locking eyes with the thing. No, Bruce. It was still Bruce. "This way," he said, then ran for the cellar, yanking the door open and sprinting in. Hopefully the meat would distract the thing.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The creature stepped further back, growling irritably at the torch in the other's hand. It would much rather clamp its jaws around the man's wrist to force him to drop it than continue to back down, so when the blacksmith finally began his retreat again, the beast happily took the opportunity to chase. It bolted into the cellar, skidding as it tried to whip around to face the human, and in the process, it knocked itself into several of the larger carcasses that hung from the ceiling. Its senses were nearly overwhelmed with the scent of dead flesh, and it licked its chops, already salivating over the thought of procuring such an easy meal.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony backed into the corner and crouched, watching the wolf get distracted by the slabs of meat hanging from the ceiling. "Yeah, see that? Already dead. Eat that instead," he muttered, pointing to the meat with his torch. The wolf wouldn't want to go to the trouble of a kill when there was already food available, right?

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Eyes flashed briefly to the man as he spoke, but the creature quickly turned his attention back to the food beside him. It hopped up onto its hind legs and dug its front claws into a sheered sheep, ripping it from the hook it hung from and sending it crashing to the floor. The thought of chasing the man who led him here was pushed to the back of his mind as he dug into the animal, starting with the hide and working its way around from there.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony quietly released the breath he had been holding, watching the animal devour his sheep for a moment. It wasn't his meat he was worried about, but rather his friend. "Oh Bruce," he sighed, brow creased. Would the man be okay after this? Shaking his head, the blacksmith edged towards the door, moving slowly so as not to spook the thing.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The beast barely registered the movement, its ears merely twitching in the direction of the sound as it chewed. Blood and grizzle marred the animals's snout, and the faint light of the torch in the otherwise dark room allowed for limited sight, and if Bruce could see himself now, all teeth, the silver reflection of his pupils in torchlight, and blood dripping from his muzzle, he would likely drop to his knees in horror.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

When Tony was a few feet from the door, he made a break for it, running and slamming it shut behind him. The hinges were made of cast iron-he'd mad them himself-so there was no doubt in his mind that the door was staying out, with the canine firmly on one side. "Bruce," he groaned, sitting down with his back against the wall. Poor Bruce.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The beast's head snapped up at the loud, groaning creak of the door, but before it could try and stop it, the creature was trapped inside. It snarled and pushed the thought of the livestock out of its mind, breaking for the door. It slammed itself against the thick wood, yelping as it hit, but it quickly scrambled back to its feet and begin to scratch and bite madly in hopes of escape.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

The poor engineer leaped about a foot in the air as the door shook. For a moment he worried for the integrity of the wood, but it held solid and firm, only creaking slightly under the weight of the angry wolf. Shaking his head, Tony turned and jogged back up the stairs, quickly shutting that door as well. He'd just have to wait it out until sunrise.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

The beast continued its assault on the door for some time, but after a few hours, grew bored with the task and went back to eating its fill of sheep. Back and forth it went from eating, to demolishing as much as it could manage in this confined space, to eating, and back again, until sunrise. Then came the howls of agony, the mad snarls that ripped through the cellar as Bruce finally transformed back, tearing at his skin and throwing himself against walls as he writhed and convulsed in pain.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony didn't get much sleep that night. Instead he lay at the top of the stairs, just on the other side of the door, listening to the howls and snarls from below. He had just started to doze off when he heard more wails, this time of a different kind. They sounded more agonized- he was changing back! The blacksmith threw his door open and ran down the stairs again, hurriedly opening the cellar.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

By the time that Tony returned to the cellar, Bruce had transformed completely and lie unconscious in the corner of the room, his hands, mouth, chin, and neck drenched in blood, and his entire body littered with scratches and bruises. He looked like he'd just climbed out of the bits of Hell itself, and felt like it too, the pain only just numbed by sleep.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony stood stock still in the doorway, a small sigh escaping him as he slumped against the door frame for a moment. "Bruce.." He couldn't even articulate words. The poor gentle man was going to be devastated. And the king- the king would want his head. The blacksmith was indecisive for a moment, then decided. He wouldn't let them catch the man. Not his friend. Coming into the room, he carefully slid his arms under Bruce, intending to take him to the water basin for a bath.