#woodwalking

[emilybeemartin]

I "graduated" from physical therapy yesterday! It's been a long road and I'll be doing strength exercises forever to keep my shoulder secure, but it's good to be on to this next step. To celebrate, here's Mae, protagonist of Woodwalker, who got herself a bad shoulder years before I did. Life imitates art.

[unscharf-an-den-raendern]

Johnny bei der Woodwalkers-Premiere in Köln

[setdeco]

JONAS MARIA RIED, Waterfall House, Allgäu, Germany, 2023

[fluffyflowersstuff]

Meet Crow!

My yandere boy from a tribe living in the forest, worshiping the spirit of nature (which by the way in their reality really exists) and bringing bloody sacrifices to this spirit

Members of the tribe are called Woodwalkers (Children of the Forest/Forest Wanderers)

Setting is called "Forest Tale"

/Inspired by Wolfwalkers, My Dear Hatchet Man, Dark Slavic Music and Yaelokre/

[ilredeiladri]

Wo wir grade schon bei Woodwalkers sind 😅

[eli-should-sleep]

There are two fanfictions in my favourite fandom on ao3. Im gonna be the "Hamilton wrote the other 51" for this fandom.

[one-with-the-tree]

The main motivation of the villain in this movie, who is a cougar shapeshifter, is that his wife and toddler daughter were killed by hunters and then taxidermied as trophies in their animal forms. That's dark af

[neyswxrld]

the odd one out

Hunter, no pairing

summary: Hunter has the biggest secret among them all. He spent his whole life with keeping his second form to himself, not telling anyone anything about it. But what if they still figure it out?

warnings: hunter has a "second form" of a wolf (yeah, i know it's a cliché but it fits so well xD), but nothing else really

words: ~1900

a/n: hello everyone! i heard it's halloween already? the werewolves are already here? no, i'm just kidding. :D i had the idea for this story when i found an old obsession with a book series (woodwalkers), in which people can switch their forms. then i tried to figure out how i might put this into a story, and remembered @isthereanechoinhere96 's fic hunter - sergeant, brother, dad, where she came up with the idea of how hunter got his enhaced senses, so i definitely want to credit her for this idea. theeeen i additionally figured i might add some @summer-of-bad-batch prompts ("get out of my room!", "don't avoid the question." and "just when were you planning on telling us that?") and tadaaa - here it is. i hope you enjoy!

MASTERLIST

His paws pound against the forest floor.

Even though Pabu is a tropical and warm island, this particular night is cold, and his breath comes out of his snout in small clouds.

It's been such a long time since he had the freedom to really be in his second form like that.

Pabu finally gave him this opportunity again, and since they lived here, he tried to run some miles as a wolf as often as he could.

He takes a deep breath through his wet nose, and lets his senses reach out. He's able to feel practically everything around him in this forest.

When he is human, his senses are above average, of course. It was his enhancement.

But being out like this, in his second form as a wolf, is just incredible.

He smells the juicy moss, the wet dirt on the floor. Different kinds of trees, bushes and plants.

And of course the animals.

There are some birds in a nest right above him, the mother is just about to give them some worms.

He is pretty sure there is a small rodent cave somewhere on his right, and little does the small thing inside know that there is another predator lingering just in front of the entry.

He also notices that there is someone walking around in the woods, poking around with a stick, afflicted with the smell of fresh mushrooms.

Hunter takes it as a sign to go back home. He needs to make sure that nobody sees him like this, in his wolf body.

There aren't any local wolves on the island, so it would be very suspicious when somebody would suddenly see one.

He takes a shortcut to their house.

The wolf carefully avoids anyone, and when he finally makes it to their garden, he sneaks into his room.

Not even his brothers know of his second form.

The Kaminoans insisted that he should never tell anyone anything. Not even his brothers. They drilled him, told him the other's would think he's weird, and even threatened to decommission them when he told them. To put it... nicely.

He never knew why his second form was such a big secret, but he never, never ever, told anyone about it.

It was his biggest secret.

And even now, even after the fall of the Republic and the Kaminoans, he keeps his secret.

By now, he is sure the others will think he's... a defect. Just like the regs used to call them. But in his case it was just true - who else was able to change forms in such a strange way?

And besides - he knows them since they took his first breath. It would make no sense to spit it out now, after all those years.

First, they will feel betrayed that he kept this secret, then they'll reject him and send him away. They'll tell him how strange and disgusting he is - just like the Kaminoans prophesied over and over again.

Hunter sneaks over to the patio door of his room. He purposefully chose the one with the door to the garden and let the others take the rooms upstairs - wolves just weren't good climbers. And he didn't want to change his forms in the garden.

It would be weird if one of his family members found his clothes between bushes.

He looks around, crosses the garden and walks into his room.

He shakes his fur a last time, before beginning the fast process of changing forms.

His hair disappears into his skin, his teeth and claws shrink. His ears are suddenly back to their human form, his snout is a human nose again, and his tail is gone.

He gets up, stretches his hands into the air, bends his back and looks directly in the shocked eyes of Wrecker.

"Hunter?" his little brother asks.

"Get out of my room!" Hunter yells, almost jumping out of his skin.

From one second to the other, he's panicking.

He was just philosophizing about his secret and now it's just- gone.

"No- wait- what was that?"

"Nothing! What was what? Wrecker, get out!" Hunter comes over and starts to push Wrecker out of the room.

"Stop it! I know what I saw, I just don't know what it was! Tell me!" Wrecker insists, not even moving an inch. "You were a ball of fur with those big teeth and now- now you're Hunter again!" he almost accuses him.

"I don't even have clothes on!" Hunter still tries to move Wrecker around, but he's just like a solid wall. He lays a hand onto the door frame and holds on - Hunter doesn't have the slightest chance of moving him away.

Tears of despair form in his eyes.

Was this it? He kept it from his brothers for years, just to expose himself like that? Why the hell didn't he even smell or hear Wrecker?

"Don't avoid the question, Hunter! Just put on some pants!" the brawler says. He's not letting it go.

Hunter breathes heavily. For a short moment, he feels ready to cry.

Until he looks into Wrecker's eyes.

Immediately, he sees that he's confused. Scared.

Oh maker, Wrecker was scared. Of him.

He takes another deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

He doesn't want Wrecker to be scared - he needs to explain it to him, so Wrecker doesn't fear him anymore. Then he still could pack his things. They could still throw him out after explaining.

He takes some pants and puts them on, still not ready to say anything.

And if that wouldn't be enough already, Crosshair and Tech are suddenly standing behind Wrecker, alarmed by all the noise and screaming.

"What are you doing?" Crosshair asks.

Hunter looks at Wrecker, pleading, but the latter already starts talking: "Hunter has a secret! A big one even! He's a wolf!"

Crosshair and Tech look at each other, then at Hunter, then at Wrecker.

"You're crazy," Crosshair says, and Tech also just starts to walk away. "I knew this warm air isn't good for you. For the two of you, apparently," Crosshair shakes his head.

Wrecker huffs.

"No, it's true! One second ago there was this big dark wolf and in the next it starts to look like an alien, and BOOM! Then there's just Hunter," Wrecker starts to explain. Hunter shakes is head.

"Firstly, I'm not an alien! Secondly, it definitely didn't make boom!" Hunter growls and this time, Wrecker takes a step back.

"Please don't bite me," he cries out.

He's so scared, Hunter thinks. There's no way he can make amends ever again, he was sure of that.

"What? I would never-- Wrecker, what are you thinking of me?" Hunter still asks.

Wrecker swallows. "Well, there indeed was a wolf just a few seconds ago. I don't know what to think, but I'm sure I know what I saw, Hunter. Please, explain it to us."

Hunter sighs, already deflated. He doesn't exactly see a way out of this.

He takes another look at his brothers - Crosshair and Tech took a step back again - and shakes his head.

"I don't even know where to start," he says.

"So Wrecker isn't just saying things?" Tech asks.

Hunter shakes his head, "No, he's right- I- He- I didn't even know he was here."

"Why don't you start at the beginning? How did something like that happen?" Crosshair suggests.

Hunter shrugs again.

"I've been like this since I can remember. The first time I changed forms was when I was about three years old. Nala Se told me she almost decommissioned me, but she decided otherwise. I changed back after a few minutes, and because of that I was a too valuable specimen for her 'projects'," Hunter says, trying to shrug nonchalant.

He's standing in front of his brothers like a kicked dog, and they look at him like he was growing a second head.

Well, it wasn't that far off in the end, right?

"She... studied you?" Crosshair asks. Hunter nods.

"At some point, she explained that she experimented with different DNAs a lot. It obviously worked with mine. And it seemed like there was a mixture of different animal DNAs that went pretty well with mine. That's also how my senses work. I'm pretty sure there's some kind of shark in my genes, too," the oldest sibling explains. The others listen.

"Can you... turn into a shark, too?" Tech wants to know. Hunter declines: "Not that I know of, at least."

"So your senses work with the animal genes?" Tech asks another question, "How exactly does it work?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself. I just know that switching forms was more of an accident. If I'm right, not even Nala Se knows how it worked. It's just... odd," Hunter shrugs his shoulders.

Luckily, Wrecker doesn't look as scared anymore, but Crosshair just scoffs.

"Are you crazy? Why do you make up stuff like that? And you two - you just believe stuff like this?"

Hunter looks at him, not knowing what to say.

"Can't you show them? I want to see it again, too!" Wrecker says at this moment and even Tech looks interested.

Hunter rolls his eyes, but does as they want him to. The cat -or wolf- is out of the bag anyway.

"Wow!" Wrecker breathes as Hunter ends the process and shakes his pants off his furry butt again.

"This is very interesting, indeed," Tech agrees. He crouches down, rights his googles and inspects Hunter from different angles.

Crosshair looks at him with big eyes, unbelieving of what he sees.

Wrecker carefully pats Hunter's furry head, but he just shakes his body and changes forms again. Now isn't the time for pets or treats.

"Just when were you planning on telling us that?" Crosshair wants to know.

"Well... Not ever?" Hunter asks, before diving into an explanation.

"So- you tell us, the defect squad, that you never told us, even after the war, because we, the defect squad, might have thought you were weird?" Crosshair asks to clarify.

"Well, you were freaked out! You can't tell me I'm not weird!" Hunter tries to defend himself.

Wrecker just laughs and pats his back.

"I thought you were weird even before that," he laughs heartily.

Hunter is relieved. To some degree at least. Does that mean they won't abandon him?

"Could you still do me a favor and not tell Omega? I don't want to... scare her," he asks them. They look at him, uncomprehending.

"Just... give me some time, yeah?" he asks after a second. He didn't want to exclude their sister, but he felt like he wasn't ready for this step.

After his brothers agreed on that, the four of them made their way over to the living room.

Tech and Wrecker still ask many questions, and Hunter has to show his second form a few more times, let Tech inspect him and Wrecker pet him.

He doesn't actually mind: he is way too relieved about their relaxed reactions and if he is being honest, Wrecker's warm hands feel pretty nice against his fur.

It just leaves one question open: Why was Wrecker in his room, when he came back?

When he asks him, Wrecker just shrugs.

"Haven't seen you a lot lately. We've been so busy! I just thought I'd come and annoy you. Didn't turn out how I wanted it to."

It is at that moment that Hunter could hit himself with a bat: His siblings, his family, won't ever dislike him, just because he's different.

They were way too odd for that themselves.

MASTERLIST

TAGLIST

@isthereanechoinhere96 @trixie2023 @freesia-writes

[justalexx-things]

Challenge: bis zum 24.10 fertig lesen

[lady-lycany]

I just laid down to sleep but came online to say that Woodwalkers was actually that well made, that it's once again a type of media that tricks me into believing that this is a cannon thing in this world...

Just as outlander tricked me into believing that time travels actually exist and the series shows exactly what happened in the past,

so I think now that Woodwalkers are a real thing and the reason why I- or more us therians are unable to transform is because we lost the connection to our animals due to living too long in a human body? Like I always said I feel like I'm an actual Werewolf that lost it's ability to transform (but when I get the feeling I suppress it)...

and the realism of that movie doesn't make it better lol

[emilybeemartin]

Masterpost

My Published Books:

A Field Guide to Mermaids (2022, Macmillan Kids, Middle-grade illustrated science-fantasy) "An indispensable, encyclopedic resource for nature quests—mythological or otherwise." - Kirkus Starred Review

The Outlaw Road duology (Harper Collins, Epic fantasy) "This is epic fantasy done right." -Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Sunshield (2020)

Floodpath (2021)

The Creatures of Light trilogy (Harper Collins, Epic fantasy)

Woodwalker (2016)

Ashes to Fire (2017)

Creatures of Light (2018)

Official Portfolio

Redbubble Shop (Lord of the Rings merch)

INPRNT Shop (portfolio prints)

Fanworks:

Boromir Lives AU Illustrated Anthology:

Boromir Lives: Helm's Deep

Boromir Lives: Whump-Time After Pelennor

Boromir Lives: GO TO SLEEP

Boromir Lives: Aragorn's Coronation

Boromir Lives: Faramir and Eowyn's Wedding

Boromir Lives: Panic! At the Ballroom

Boromir Lives: It's a BABY

Boromir Lives: High Uncle of the White Tower

Boromir Lives: We Didn't Have a Choice

Boromir Lives: The Haircuts

Other Lord of the Rings comics/illustrations

The Raccoon Saga

Boromir and Faramir Swimming the Anduin

Boromir on Caradhras

Ladies of Gondor and Rohan

Legolas Ten-Year Redraw

The Three Hunters Solve a Mystery

This Stupid One that Always Makes the Rounds

Queen's Thief Illustrations (This is by no means complete; these are just some of the ones I spent the most time on.)

Official Character Lineup

The Symbolism Illustration

At the Window

QT Appreciation Week Watercolor

The Fate of All Thieves

That One Scene

Don't Lower the Point in Third!

Rooftop

Park Ranger Stuff:

Tips for Applying for NPS Jobs

[unscharf-an-den-raendern]

OMG der Instaaccount von Woodwalkers hat ein Bild gepostet wo man Johnny sieht 😱😱😱

Ich glaub er war sehr froh endlich mal normale Klamotten tragen zu dürfen

[apfel07]

Actually I need to talk about this. So there's this book series called Woodwalkers and a sequel series called Seawalkers. And in both there's basically children who can transform into an animal and they go to special schools for that.

In Woodwalkers, the main character Carag has a favourite teacher, James Bridger and they form a very deep, kinda father and son like relationship. BUT James actually has a son, Joe. And Joe has this backstory where he mainly lived with his mom because he didn't akzept his animal form (he can transform into an cojote) which he got from his dad and then when he was 14 he started taking drugs and ran away from home also because his mom was scared of people who can transform and he didn't want her to hurt him. Then years later Joe comes back to the school and reunites with his dad, but he is clearly not happy with his dads existence and he is especially mad that James treats Carag like his son. Now, my headcannon is that Joe is transmasc and his dad never accepted him as his son so he ultimately ran away and transitioned before going back so when he saw his father treat someone else like his son when he is right there must have hurt like hell. Also, when they first meet again James calls him "Joseph" which to me is a metaphore to him deadnaming him because Joe is not called Joseph a single other time in the show. My boy is trans and literally no one can tell me otherwise.

Now, let me move on to Seawalkers. In Seawalkers there is a teacher, Alisha White. She is the main character Tiago's favourite teacher and they grow quite close over the course of the books (she can also transform into an orca which is cool as fuck) and it is clear from book one on that the schools headmaster Jack Clearwater has a massive pathetic crush on her (he is actually the son of the headmaster in Woodwalkers, the books all happen in the same universe). Anyway, in book three it is revealed that she actually worked for a crime ring thingy as a bounty hunter and she runs (swims) away. (And Jack is pathetically sad and heartbroken (they are like the only straight couple I like they are very important to me)) A while later she comes back and they all reconsile because she actually left them when she found out how bad they are so it's all good. But. She changed her name and identity before she became a teacher after being a bounty hunter. And when Tiago asks her for her "real" name she says Kim Deepwater which is the most fake name I have ever heard. So, I propose that she is trans but just kinda repressed that as a trans person would not have been appreciated in her line of work, but when she decided to become a teacher she took her chance and decided to go stealth there and she obviously didn't want to tell Tiago her dead name and come out. (and Jack was the first person to ever call her Alisha and gender her correctly hehe)

This was my essay on trans people in Wood and Seawalkers, I might just talk about more of my queer headcannons for that book cause I have sooo many holy

[fluffyflowersstuff]

[ilredeiladri]

Ich wusste ja, dass Lucas Gregorowicz auch bei Woodwalkers mitspielt, but I was today years old, als ich gecheckt hab, dass seine Figur der Vater von Johnnys Figur Marlon ist. I like a lot! 😍

[eli-should-sleep]

I am about to talk about a fandom so small we all fit in this bus. Be warned

There's a german book series called seawalkers (and this contains spoilers for the sixth book). Seawalkers is about a school for people who can turn into animals. And I just reread the last book and there was something that annoyed me a bit.

The main character, Tiago can turn into a Tigershark. In the first books he struggles with that, as his classmates don't trust him and he is scared of hurting someone.

In the last book his classmates find out that if a Tigershark is turned on their back, they can't move. His bullies, and some of their friends who don't go to the school use that and attack him. They dunk him underwater, so he has to turn into a shark, and then they try to turn him around. Tiago panicks and bites one of the friends. He lives but like... Shark bite. Sooo.

The students who orchistrated the whole thing get expelled, but so does Tiago. And then the attack per se doesn't get mentioned again. Which confuses me because that whole thing is pretty traumatising. Being attacked by a bunch of pythons and alligators? Kinda scary. Slowly loosing control over such a situation? Really scary. Nearly killing someone by accident? REALLY REALLY SCARY. But it's never mentioned again. He thinks about it once, where he's scared to hurt someone but then he's just fine. He doesn't have a problem with transformation and also interacts with the classmates who orchistrated that no problem. And that confused me. A lot.

Moral of the story?

1. I am taking this book way to serious

2. I want angst in my teenage books