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lightboundhellhound · 2 years ago

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The Wolf Who Cried Boy

no proofreading we die like warriors

why write the actual book when i can write fanfiction about it? 🥴🥴🥴🥴 hope y’all like this expansion of aidans character!! im trying really hard to write it in a way that’s accurate to who he is but this bitch is so difficult to write lmao hope you enjoy!!!

Summary: Aidan is pursued by a hunter while in wolf form. How will he get out of this one?

Characters: Aidan, Elsie, Keith (briefly) Emilio, Jenny, Mikayla, Alexis

Warnings: gunshot wounds, technically animal harm? complicated, hospital, cop discussion, and some existential crisis at the end! i think that’s it but lemme know if i missed anything!!

Word count: 2,631

Aidan released a breath as he transformed, hair growing all across his body, canine ears sprouting from his head, his face stretching into a muzzle. The process was painless, but uncomfortable. Being in the body of a wolf was taxing on his brain, as it didn’t know how to handle such a feeling, but regardless, it was worth it.

He took off running into the darkness, traversing amongst the trees. He felt the wind in his fur, tickling his skin as he ran. He felt powerful, as though nothing could stop him.

Wolves have a weakness, though. Hunters.

BANG!

Aidan yelped and hit the ground. Pain radiated across his left front leg. He whimpered as he tried to stand. It was no use.

I may have to transform back, he thought. But I’ll be naked, fuck that.

He tried once more to stand, balancing more on his right side than his left. He began walking back from where he came, needing to return to the Riker Institute.

He heard a rustling from behind him and picked up his pace. Some voices trailed through the air but he couldn’t pick up on what they were saying. As they got closer, their voices became clearer.

“I don’t wanna!” a young boy cried.

“It’s in pain now, you know that, right?” an older voice said. “Put it out of its misery!”

“I can’t!”

“You took the first shot, now take the last one.”

“I thought one shot would be enough, I didn’t sign up for this!”

“Then give me the gun!”

Aidan needed to transform. He needed to show these people that he was human. He didn’t like that he would be naked, but what other choice did he have? If he died he would transform back and be both naked and dead. It wasn’t a worthy hill to die on.

He focused as best he could on his human form, but found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t transform. He was stuck like this. How could he possibly get out of this alive?

The father and son were still arguing over the gun. Aidan stopped and turned just as the son began to hand it to his father.

He didn’t know what else to do.

He lunged at the gun and grabbed it in his mouth. A shot fired.

Aidan felt numb across his entire body, his ears ringing from the sound of gunfire. He froze in place, waiting for the pain to sink in.

It never did.

The father fell to his knees.

Aidan dropped the gun.

The son rushed to his father’s side, seeming to forget about the wolf that stood before them. Aidan didn’t know what to do.

So he ran.

As fast as he could on three legs, he ran.

He reached the clearing where his backpack sat with clothes to change into once he transformed back. His head was too cloudy to even try now.

Did he just kill a man?

No, did he just kill a man and flee the scene?

He was starting to get dizzy, either from the shock or the blood loss. He looked down at his mangled leg. Big mistake.

Seeing it only made the pain more real. He began to whimper and whine as his vision blurred. He fell to the ground on his side, and everything faded away.

He awoke, still in his wolf form. He saw a bright light and wondered if he was dead. Then he smelled the overly sterile scent of a hospital.

No, a veterinarian’s office.

Who took him to a vet and why? Could vets even operate on wolves? He supposed the biology was similar, but wolves were wild animals.

That’s when he noticed the muzzle over his snout.

“Easy, easy,” a gentle, feminine voice hushed. “It’s alright, you’re safe.”

Aidan whimpered.

“I know it hurts, but you’re safe, it’s okay.”

The vet paused for a moment before leaving, but she was close enough for Aidan to pick up her words with his advanced hearing.

“Surgery went well, and he should be better in a couple weeks. Once he’s healed, we’ll release him back into the wild.”

Back into the wild? No, he needed to get back to the Riker Institute. If they took him to the wild, there was no telling where he’d be. He would likely be lost.

“Thank you for letting us know.”

Was that… Elsie?

“Yeah, we were really worried.”

And Keith?

“Of course,” the vet assured them. “If you’d like, you can write down your phone numbers and I can let you know if anything happens.”

Yeah, like if I turn into a human, Aidan thought.

He focused on his human form, trying his best to transform. His head was pounding and his vision was swimming. Why could he not turn back?

Last night it made sense, he was too panicked. Why now, though? Was he on too many wolf painkillers?

He passed out for a while and awoke in an outdoor pen. He was alone. Plenty of time for him to think about his actions.

Was that hunter okay? He hoped so. He couldn’t handle that kind of blood on his hands. Killing bad guys was one thing, but an innocent person? Aidan couldn’t stomach that.

The vet from before suddenly approached the pen, a smile on her face. “Hey. Feeling better?”

Not really.

“Got some guys from the Riker Institute here, and apparently one of their trainees went missing. An Earthmancer. An Earthmancer who likes running through the woods as a wolf. Know anything about that?”

A chill went down Aidan’s spine.

“Can you not transform back?”

Aidan shook his head.

“Why not?”

Aidan just stared up at her.

“Well, we should probably get you back where you belong, so you can be healed. Hopefully you’ll be able to turn back soon.”

The vet opened the door and let Aidan go, and she led him to where Emilio and Jenny were waiting.

“Aidan, you troublemaker,” Emilio teased. “How long were you gonna keep up the charade, hm?”

“He can’t seem to transform back,” the vet explained. “He’s stuck like this.”

“Interesting,” Jenny said. “Could it be a mental block? Caused by the gunshot wound, maybe?”

“Possibly,” Emilio agreed. “We’ll take it from here, Dr. Caulfield, thank you.”

“Take care.” She looked down at Aidan. “Especially you, Aidan.”

He felt almost embarrassed to be alive.

Aidan got in the back of the car, sleeping most of the way. Once they got back to the Riker Institute, he got out of the car.

“Something’s preventing you from shapeshifting,” Emilio said. “I don’t know what it is, but we’ll figure it out. Can you try again?”

Aidan nodded and sat in the grass. He focused all his energy on transforming. His skin tingled, but otherwise nothing.

“Maybe you need to heal first,” Jenny suggested.

“Injured Earthmancers can shapeshift if they choose to,” Emilio pointed out.

“Advanced Earthmancers. Graduated Earthmancers. Aidan’s only in his second year.”

“True. Alright, let’s bring you to a Starchaser for healing. Who has high marks in healing, do you know?” he asked Jenny.

“I’m not sure, maybe Erica would know? She’s the Starchaser trainer.”

“Let’s go find Erica, then.”

Aidan followed the two of them to Erica’s office, trying not to think about the stares he was getting. She told them that the trainee with the best healing abilities was Mikayla Dennison. Off they went to find Mikayla.

He was in his room with one of his roommates, Alexis. He saw Aidan and quickly grabbed his crutches, getting to his feet and stumbling backwards a bit.

“Is that a wolf?” he asked cautiously.

“Aw, cute!” Alexis cheered.

Aidan huffed.

“This is actually Aidan Bellcamp,” Emilio corrected. “He’s hurt and can’t seem to shapeshift back into human form. Would you mind healing him? We think it might help.”

Mikayla visibly relaxed. “Uh… alright! Sure, why the hell not.”

Aidan stepped forward and Mikayla sat on his bed. He set his crutches aside and held out a hand. Aidan placed his injured paw on his hand. He placed his empty hand on the gunshot wound, which began to tingle. After a few seconds, Mikayla let go, and removed the bandaging on his leg.

“There you go, good as new. You may still feel pain because of the body trying to, like, catch up with the healing. It still thinks there’s an injury, so it’s almost like a phantom pain. Hopefully you can turn back soon.”

Aidan placed his paw on the ground, finding it was still somewhat tense. He didn’t like that it still hurt, but at least he didn’t have a bullet wound now.

“Thank you, Mikayla,” Emilio said. “Come on, Aidan, let’s see if that worked.”

Aidan sat in the bathroom with a bag of his clothes beside him. He tried to transform back but nothing was working. It was hopeless. He was stuck like this forever.

He was stuck in the form that took a man’s life.

He relived the moment in his head over and over again. He was racked with grief. He just needed to know if that hunter was okay.

He put his paw on the handle and opened the door. He walked past Emilio and Jenny and headed for the front door, ignoring them as they called his name.

Jenny got in front of him. “Where are you going?”

Aidan huffed.

“I know communication isn’t easy right now, but you can’t just ignore us.”

Emilio stood by her side. “Yeah, let’s figure this out together.”

Aidan growled lowly. Teamwork made him sick.

He ran past them and managed to get the door open. He went back to the woods and began his search.

He walked through the woods in search of the father and son. He sniffed the ground, hoping their scent would stand out. He caught a whiff of something metallic and instantly knew what it was.

Blood.

He followed the scent trail until he spotted the gun on the ground. He sniffed it, trying to pick up their scent. They went left.

He followed their scent all the way out of the woods and to the side of the highway. This was where the scent ended.

He should’ve been satisfied with the theory that this was where the ambulance picked them up and they were fine now. Of course he wasn’t.

He went back the way he came, trying to retrace his steps. He then encountered Emilio and Jenny.

“What are you looking for?” Jenny asked.

Aidan growled and grabbed her shirt, dragging her to the part of the woods where the gun was left. He nudged it with his nose to make sure they saw it.

“Is this the gun that shot you?” Emilio asked.

Aidan nodded.

“What happened last night?” Jenny asked.

“Someone went to the hospital last night with a gunshot wound,” Emilio said. “I saw it in the paper this morning… the hunter’s son claimed that a wolf tried to kill them both. I’m sure it was a misunderstanding, right?”

Aidan nodded.

“Maybe if Aidan knows the guy is fine, his mental block will go away. Maybe that’s what’s preventing the shapeshifting.”

“How do we do that, though?”

Elsie held the phone up to Aidan’s face so he could see the screen, which showed the hospital that Emilio and Jenny were visiting. They went up to the front desk and asked to see the hunter, whose name was Elton Prescott.

Aidan was nervous about this. What if he was in critical condition? What if he was barely hanging onto life?

Emilio and Jenny went to his room and opened the door. He was laughing. Laughing. His son was smiling along with him.

“Who are you?” Elton asked cautiously.

“We read about your injury in the paper and… felt like coming in to see how you were doing.”

“What, so you can call me a liar like the stupid cops did?” Elton’s son asked.

“Graham!” Elton reprimanded. “Mind your manners!”

“I’m telling you, Dad, cops are useless!”

Aidan liked this kid.

“What do they think you’re lying about?” Emilio asked.

“The wolf grabbed the gun from my hand!”

Aidan’s fur bristled.

“But the cops think otherwise?” Emilio asked.

“They think I shot my dad on purpose. Why would I do that?”

Aidan couldn’t help but growl. Fucking pigs.

“I’m fine, though,” Elton spoke up. “Let’s just… move on.”

Move on.

Aidan wasn’t just stuck in this form. He was stuck in the moment.

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what had happened since it happened. He needed to let it go so he could shapeshift back. How, though? Did he need to forgive himself for what happened? The problems started before Elton got shot, but it felt different now. Like he couldn’t move on.

He needed to forgive himself for getting Elton shot.

How does someone forgive themself? Aidan had never had to do that before.

I forgive you… me, he thought. It was an accident. How was I supposed to know grabbing the gun would get him shot? It’s fine. He’s fine.

He focused on transforming back and felt his body slowly and gradually change. He realized Elsie would see him naked and he threw a hand over their glasses.

“Can you get me a change of clothes? I feel… vulnerable.”

Aidan stretched his arms, so happy to have his human form back. He flexed his fingers just because he could.

Mai, Axel, and Martin were all asleep while Aidan laid in bed thinking. Martin’s loud snoring was getting to him, though, so he snuck out of bed and went out the door.

He went to the Earthmancer living room, surprised to find Elsie laying on one of the couches. They looked up at him and quickly sat up.

“Oh, sorry. I-I like sleeping in the Earthmancer living room ‘cause Searra snores and you guys tend to sleep in so I feel like I… have it to myself more?”

Aidan snorted. “It’s fine, dude.”

“How you feeling? After… ya know….”

Aidan shrugged. “Fine, I guess.”

“Can’t sleep, though?”

“I also have a snoring roommate.” Aidan sat down on the couch. “I’m just… having thoughts.”

“About what?”

He paused. “Morality?”

Elsie blinked. “Oh. That’s… a lot to think about at midnight.”

Aidan huffed. “Yeah. Well… is it worth it… being a good person? I mean… Elton seems like a good person, and he ended up getting shot. It just feels like good people have the worst things happen to them. And I mean… I got that guy shot. Maybe I’m a better villain than a hero.”

“That’s not true!” Elsie argued. “I know you’re a good person, you just… need the right motivation to be one.”

“I… I thought Polly and Matt were. I want them to be safe. I wanna be able to protect them. I just… what if I’m the thing they need to be protected from?”

“No! That’s not true! I mean, you went out of your way to look for Elton when you got back.”

“Yeah, after fleeing the scene in the moment.”

“Still. You wanted to make sure he was okay. That’s a good person trait.”

Aidan sighed. “I mean, I guess. But being good… could get me hurt. Or killed.”

“No path of life is guaranteed to grant immortality. Which is a dramatic way of saying… good or bad, death is inevitable.”

Aidan looked over at them. “So my death should mean something.”

Elsie paused. “Your life should mean something. Not to other people, but to you.”

Aidan grinned. “Anyone ever tell you you’re awesome at giving advice?”

Elsie chuckled. “Thanks.” They held up their phone. “Wanna unwind with some YouTube?”

Aidan’s smile grew. “Hell yeah.”

#lightbound literature #the element trials #aidan bellcamp #elsie delmont #mikayla dennison #emilio martinez #jenny martinez

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