Learn to Howl {Alex Vreeke | Jumanji}

4; khaki & non-greetings

They landed in the middle of the forest, or, more accurately, they land 'In The Deep', Bravestone, Mouse, Ruby Roundhouse, and Dr Oberon. Tetra listened in her Beast Form, her wolf-enhanced hearing meaning she was well out of the party's way. They don't... sound like they should, they don't talk the way people she assumes are her age, talk. That's not entirely right, they're still speaking English, it's their mannerisms, their colloquialisms have changed... Dr Oberon, whom the others are calling Bethany, keeps talking about a phone, like it's something she can just carry around with her... Strange. It's that thought that catches in the back of her mind, a jagged, painful idea that time has been passing outside of the game while she's been stuck in here.

When Bethany is snapped up by a hippo, she knows it's not directly Van Pelt's fault, but she can feel his influence in the way the bugs scuttle across the ground and the grumble of satisfaction that courses through the other nearby predators that aren't under Tetra's control, and she feels that old, familiar rage bubble up inside of her. The wolves can feel it, can pick up on the barely concealed aggression she's practically dripping with, and the whole pack begins to growl, the leaves rumbling with the sound of wolves like brewing thunder. The party, thankfully, doesn't notice this, as they're too busy running for their lives from the attacking hippos.

She wants to follow, wants to run to them, take the jewel and run for the stone, she knows she can make it alone, she's been there before, but then... it stops. Even the muscles of her wolf form ache and she realises that she's been so preoccupied that she's shot straight past where she knows they'll be, and has ended up in the forest of The Mighty Roar. Part of her knows it's named for her; she'd been there the day he'd arrived, she was the one who took down Van Pelt's goons as he concentrated on getting away. The snarling of her pack had been the roar that had drowned out and subsequently taken out the motorcyclists, and now here she was again, it couldn't just be a coincidence. The ground shakes with explosions and suddenly the party of adventurers are barreling through the forest.

"Wolves?! Gray wolves?! Why are there wolves in the forest!?" The voice she hears is coming from the shortest of the party, with the name tag 'Finbarr' partially obscured by the strap of his backpack. Mouse, Tetra recalls, though the others call him Fridge. He's panicking, face to face with one of the younger wolves of the pack, who is snarling particularly fiercely.

"Remember what Nigel said?" The tallest of them is Dr Bravestone, or Spencer, as they had previously refer to him as, but he looks panicked; it's probably the motorcyclists shooting at them, or the gray wolf's snapping jaws inches from his friend's face. "The wolves aren't under the evil-guy's control, they belong to the Huntress and she favours adventurers!"

"You mind speaking like a normal person while we're running for our goddamned lives?!" Bethany yelped, almost out of earshot of Spencer, though he hollered back to her.

"The wolves won't attack you! Just keep running!" The wolves did, in fact, move out of the way of the adventurers, Tetra, the emerald-eyed wolf, stalked to the forefront of the pack, her beast form standing taller than most of the players she had just encountered, apart from, perhaps Spencer, and with a howl, the pack strikes. Wolves are torn down in a shower of bullets, their howls drowned and pitiful amongst the trees and growling of the motorcycle engines. Tetra is there, bullet in her shoulder, teeth bared as she leaps through the air. Spencer's boomerang barely misses her, and she can hear the fear in his yelp as she turns to snap her teeth at where she can hear he and Fridge arguing.

In the momentary lapse of focus, she can feel the thin, sharp pain of a tranquilizer being fired into her neck.

"You sure this is the right one?" The voice she hears is gruff, the voice of any NPC in Van Pelt's militia. They're advancing on her, their motorcycles humming but idle behind them. The other wolves are still trying to protect the adventurers, but by now they've already jumped into the lake where they should be safe. The gunfire has died down. Tetra's limbs feel heavy, it's a struggle to snap at the men, her snarl sounds more like a sigh.

"Look at her eyes, remember? Same green as Van Pelt's." One grabs her by the scruff, trying to drag her huge, furry body that was quickly becoming less and less capable of cooperation. It takes four men to lift her onto a sidecar in her state of unconsciousness, most of her wolves having scattered to the wind or taken down, their bodies forever remaining in this perpetual jungle. Animals and avatars were never treated equal; animals had lifecycles here, they were born, they lived, they died, they could adapt, perpetuate their species, while all humans, NPCs and players alike, stagnated.

Across the map, Stevie, now mostly deaf and greying around his muzzle, sat bolt upright. Alex hadn't seen him move that fast in what felt like months, but was more accurately years. The wolf looked around, as if in a panic, as if he could feel the cry for help Tetra's prone body was trying to exude, and let out a loud, mournful howl. The aged canine stood on his shaky legs, bumping his nose insistently against Alex's hip where he was blissfully unaware of what was happening, making himself lunch instead.

"What's up, boy? Is-" his breath caught in his throat, "Tetra?" He asked softly. Stevie took the hem of Alex's jacket into his mouth and tried to pull him along. "Stevie, what is it?" The wolf simply whined at Alex's question, tugging more insistently. The pilot's expression fell. "Let me eat, Stevie, if Tetra's finally come back, she can come back herself or wait a bit longer." A long pause, he stirred the stew he had managed to cobble together. "I've spent enough time looking for her, if she doesn't want to be found, she won't be, okay?" Sensing Alex's reluctance to leave, Stevie whined again, but sat himself down by the campfire, waiting for Alex to finish his meal before they would head to the bazaar.