Running With The Wolves (A Nuts-and-Dolts Wolfwalkers AU)

Chapter 8

Penny runs straight into the cave and immediately bumps into Ruby, who's in her wolf form. The two tumble and roll down the rest of the cave and into the den, Ruby landing on top of Penny. Ruby growls at the wolf she doesn't initially recognize.

"Ruby! It's me!" Penny told her.

"Penny?" Ruby replied confused.

"Ohhhh no....ohhhh no." she said getting off of Penny.

"What happened to me? Why am I a wolf?" Penny asked getting to her feet...paws.

"Ruby, what did you do!?" Yang said circling Penny, examining her.

"Remember, I bit her. But....I was sure I healed the wound before it could set in. Oh boy, Dad's gonna kill me, he warned me about biting people." Ruby told her sister.

"If my uncle sees me like this, he'll literally kill me, for real!" Penny said freaking out.

The other wolves in the den surround Penny, sniffing her.

"Hey, guys, back up! Give her some space." Ruby told them.

"What am I gonna do!? What's gonna happen to my body?" Penny asked.

"Don't worry, Penny, your body is sound asleep, safe at home. Ya know...this might not be such a bad thing." Ruby answered.

"What are you talking about!? I'm a wolfwalker now!" Penny shrieked.

"Exactly! Now you're like me! Isn't that wonderful! Trust me, Penny, being a wolf is way better than being human. Come on, we'll show you." Ruby said excitedly.

Ruby, Yang, and the other wolves run out of the den, Penny following behind them. She stumbles a little, not really used to walking on all fours.

"Okay, wolf lesson number one, rely mainly on this." Ruby said booping Penny's nose with her paw.

"You don't really need your eyes to see. Just let your nose guide you. Go on, give it a try." she instructed.

Closing her eyes, Penny takes a deep breath and allows every scent to pass through her nose. Then her ears twitched as she heard every little sound, and she wiggled her toes, feeling the earth beneath her paws.

"Woah, that was amazing." Penny said opening her eyes.

"See, told ya. Now, come on, lets run and play like wolves. The night is ours!" Ruby said bowing playfully and wagging her tail.

The wolf-girls run and frolic through the forest among the pack, jumping over things and rustling up leaves. They wrastle and roll around in the grass, laughing and giggling.

"Grrr, I'm gonna getcha." Ruby growled playfully.

"Haha, you gotta catch me first!" Penny laughed.

Ruby chases after Penny, the night breeze flowing through their fur. Catching up, she pounces on Penny and they tumble down a small hill. At the bottom of the hill, Penny pins down Ruby.

"Ha! Pinned ya!" Penny cheered.

"Yeah, you got me." Ruby chuckled.

While catching her breath, Penny is suddenly entranced by the beauty of the moonlight glistening off of Ruby's silver eyes. She didn't notice it before, but Ruby's red/brown fur was so soft and her little black nose was so cute.

"What are you staring at, Penny?" Ruby asked.

"Your eyes....they're...pretty." Penny replied.

Ruby's eyes widened and her heart began to pound in her chest. She scrambles out from under Penny and stands up, giggling nervously. Her ears are flat against her head and her tail tucked between her legs as she stammered. The awkwardness is broken by the sound of the rest of the pack howling.

"Come on, Penny, this right here is the best part about being a wolf." Ruby said before running off.

Penny follows her and they climb on top of a large rock, then sit across from each other.

"The trick to howling is to start from deep in the chest. I'll go first and then you join in." Ruby told Penny.

She throws back her head and lets out the most beautiful sound Penny has ever heard. After some mindless staring, Penny shakes her head and starts howling with Ruby and the pack. When they were done, Ruby and Penny run to the edge of the forest.

"Well, you should probably head back to your body." Ruby said.

"Yeah...but, I'm a bit scared. If anyone in there sees me, they'll try to kill me...or cage me." Penny agreed.

"Ruby, are you sure something like that didn't happen to your uncle?" she asked.

"No! No way...Uncle Qrow's too strong to be caught by humans. Or at least, I don't wanna believe it. I'm just really worried, he's never been gone this long." Ruby replied frowning and folding her ears back.

"Whatever happens, I'm here for you, Ruby." Penny said, nuzzling Ruby's neck.

"Thanks, Penny." Ruby smiled, nuzzling her snout against Penny's.

They rub noses then press their foreheads against each other.

"I'll try to do anything I can to help you and your pack." Penny declared.

"Promise?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"I promise." Penny assured her.

With one last nose rub, Penny leaves the forest and quietly sneaks back into the town. She was almost home when something caught her scent.

"I...I know that smell." Penny whispered to herself.

Avoiding the guards and her uncle, who was searching the town for the "dangerous wolf", Penny follows the scent to the castle, where she worked in the scullery. She slips inside undetected and is lead by the scent trail to that mysterious room she had discovered earlier that day. Penny stands on her hind legs and pushes the door open with her front paws. When she entered the room, she saw that the object in the center was indeed a cage, just like she thought, because the tarp was no longer covering it. As she slowly crept closer, Penny saw that inside the cage was a very large black wolf with pale red eyes.

"You...you're that girl from this morning." the wolf said in a gravelly voice.

"Yes, that's me. I'm Penny, are you Qrow, Ruby's uncle?" Penny replied, sitting in front of the cage.

"Yes, I am, how is she? And Yang?" Qrow asked.

"They're okay. They're really worried about you." Penny told him.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard down the hall.

"Listen, kid, you need to get out of here. Go to Ruby and Yang. Tell them to take the pack and run...run far away from here." Qrow said quickly.

"But what about you? I need to get you out of here too." Penny said.

She tries hard to unlatch the cage's lock with her teeth, but it wouldn't budge. As the footsteps came closer, Qrow got more antsy.

"Forget it, kid, just hide somewhere! The general will kill you if he sees you! Hide now!" Qrow ordered her.

Penny quickly hides behind a curtain at the back of the room. She pokes her head out just enough to see General Ironwood enter the room...with a bullwhip gripped tightly in his hand.