I don’t doubt it, but you shouldn’t overwork yourself if you can help it. You won’t be much help if you’re too tired to do anything. Scientifically, you learn better when you get more sleep.
It’s fine, I’ve been taking naps throughout the day and they’re long enough that I get through the necessary sleep cycles.
I do. My shifts are regulated to let me have a few days off to catch up on sleep. Most of the time during the full moon I sleep anyway.
I'm starting to think you need to take you're own advice. But have you been sleeping at night because power naps work for a small amount of time but a full night's sleep is what is best.
An alpha? They hadn’t read anything on it, or Grace hadn’t anyway – it was probably there, somewhere, but whether it was of high importance was a question she didn’t need to ask. Of course it was. She needed to know everything she could if she planned to get in and out of there unharmed. Though, there was time to catch up on reading and she planned on doing that as soon there was time. Which, obviously, meant every moment she wasn’t at work or busy with important things. “I’d never thought about an alpha, I mean I’ve seen it mentioned but I didn’t think it was a thing.” She tried to explain with arm useless gestures, knowing it wasn’t going too well. “It would make sense.” Unfortunately, neither Grace or Augustus had ever been in a den of any sort therefore dealing with an alpha wasn’t in their list of experiences. But apparently that list kept piling up as they discussed this plan.
She nodded along as Augustus answered her questions. Her mind ran through a series of things to say back to his replies to send Augustus’ way once he was finished answering. A little silence to ensure he was finished before she opened her mouth again. “Not as high as Lauren, though, but someone closer – right? I think. I mean, I don’t know exactly how important we are to –“ Grace stopped. She needed to be positive; otherwise she risked bringing down both her mood and Augustus’ mood, which wasn’t fair. “Okay. I’ll find someone to speak to because I have more free time than you. As for my job, I’m able to get time off quicker than that but I’ll put a notice in too so I can do extra shifts to make up for it.”
The place fell silent but Grace hadn’t noticed, she’d been too occupied running through things in her mind about the whole mission. It wasn’t the best planned out strategy – go in basically blind, but what else could they do? They’d been researching for too long not to put it to good use, and this was the only way they’d find out more. Augustus’ voice brought her back to reality, her mind quickly catching up with what he’d said and processing it for her to understand. “Concluding from the recent scars I’ve obtained, I’d say not too fantastically when I don’t drink the potion. But I try every single time to make sure I have it ready. In which case, I’m pretty good with… being myself, if you want to call it that. As for the half-transformation, no. I kind of just drink the potion and have a ‘get on with it because it’ll be over quicker’ attitude about it. Less hassle.” That, and the fact she had practically no idea how exactly you went about doing such a transformation. It sounded difficult, something she would rather not risk going through unless she knew it was possible.
He shrugged. They knew the same information on werewolves, or at least the basics of everything. The idea of an alpha came more from the idea of real wolves. Each pack had an alpha wolf to lead the rest. "I'm not a hundred percent on that but it would make sense. Real wolves hunt in packs and the pack has an alpha wolf. As werewolves, we're normally not in a pack. I'm going to say it's safe to assume there is an alpha in these dens because someone needs to keep the peace. If there is, we need to be on their good side." He said, running his hand through his beard. It was hard to tell what they would go up against but Augustus wanted to be sure that they had every possibility covered just to be safe.
The longer they spoke, the more obvious it became that there would be a lot of challenges in their mission. It was to be expected though. When they signed up for the Resistance, they both knew there would be challenges. He nodded along with Grace's suggestion. "Yeah, I don't think we need to tell Lauren, shes' got enough on her plate." He gave her a small smile, he knew what she meant. They weren't exactly the most important members in the Resistance movement. As a werewolf, Augustus never felt like he'd be important to anyone but his parents. Even the ideas the Ministry spat out about werewolves would change his mind on that. "That'd be great, thank you. I guess we should aim for around the full moon? Which I think is the fifteenth of this month."
It was exactly the answer Augustus expected. Mostly because his own answer was very similar. Those who were turned as children, or part of the resistance had a tendency to take wolfsbane potion to remain in control when the full moon came around. "Don't worry, I'm the same. I normally lock myself up and try and sleep through the entire thing. The potion helps me to stay myself but it doesn't stop the transformation and I've still got no control over it." Before the whole Resistance started, Augustus never even thought of controlling the transformation without the help of the potion. "I think I might talk to April Clearwater. Last time I saw her she was working on somethings and wanted my help. Maybe she'll have some ideas or at least give us some help." He wasn't sure what April could help with but it was worth a shot. They were going to need all the help they could get.
Oh, that’s completely fine, I can get some of the other people who stay here full time to do the job, some people need things to do to keep themselves busy.
They wouldn’t be noticeable; they’re small and hard to see. Things like gas grenades that can knock them out or some of the serums I was telling you about.
I can always knock you out if you start going too far to keep yourself from harming anyone. Awesome! I can set everything up for us to start whenever you’re ready. I just need to get the light bulbs set up in the room we finished building for your transformation.
Right, I’d like to help you defend yourself too. I can give you some of the things I’ve been working on to defend yourself against other lycans, too, but you’ll have to be careful because you could just as equally hurt yourself too.
Well that just sounds like a fun night now. I think that would be a good idea though. The full moon starts in fourteen days so you've got plenty of time to set up and get ready. If you need any help, I can come around on my days off?
I'll take a look at them. I don't know if I want to go in there with that in mind. If it's an entire den of them, taking weapons in might just be risky. Especially since they aren't going to trust us to being with.
Grace was actually relieved when Augustus said he wanted to go, that he could get time off and take on this mission. Because she’d have been unprepared, alone and not to mention extremely scared about dealing with a den of werewolves. She’d never been around many in wolf form, in fact she’d strayed away from it as long as she could. It was pretty easy to, especially since every werewolf member of the resistance preferred solitude to keeping in a pack and shifting together. Probably because a lot of them had been turned at a young age – otherwise they’d have ties to the Ministry – which left them without belonging to a group; werewolves she’d met so far in the resistance anyway.
“I, uh… no?” She replied, wondering if that was the answer he wanted to hear from her. It would have been easier if either of them had experience in this area, but Grace knew it wasn’t exactly fun to be surrounded by other creatures when you shifted. There was a constant worry of harming another, though Grace suspected werewolves may not have attacked each other in dens otherwise they wouldn’t exist. Still, she’d gotten this far without belonging to any sort of pack and never planned to do so in the future either. But that probably wasn’t why she had been hesitant to tell Augustus. Neither of them spoke much on a personal level, which made Grace realise she didn’t actually know too much about Augustus other than the basics. Not like she wanted to, it was his business, but it seemed odd to trust a stranger as much as she did. “No, I understand. That’s fine. As long as it won’t be a hinder to your work.”
She thought about whether or not she should persist on the matter of him not joining the mission because of his work, or whether she should let it slide. Mostly because she was unsure about if she wanted him to come along – which she did, but she didn’t want to ruin his job or anything. But he’d seemed to made the decision and was sticking by it now. “Definitely.” She nodded. “Don’t worry about it, I probably wouldn’t do so well on my own if I’m honest.” What were they supposed to do next? When were they going to set off and leave? Did they need to pack? So many questions. Grace blurted them all out, one by one without much of a breath stop in between and hoped Augustus was keeping track of her queries and had answers to them. “Sorry.” She mumbled afterwards.
He felt a little bit of relief knowing that Grace was as inexperienced as him. They had never really discussed their personal experiences in this area, normally too busy focusing on their research. It was a comfort though. If they both went in, not knowing what to expect, they could work out the problems together. "No, that's totally fine. I don't either. I only know what we've both heard." Which to be fair, wasn't much but the dens still existed. "I have a feeling their's an alpha wolf, otherwise their might be chaos so someone has to be in control." He pondered out loud. It wasn't something they knew a lot about, then again that's what the point of their mission would be. They needed to learn all this. The Ministry had them at a disadvantage in this area. Werewolves like him and Grace had to learn from their own experiences, the Ministry seemed to be reaching everyone as a whole.
It was comforting to know that they would be going in together. He actually believed himself when he said two would be better than one. The rapid fire questions stumped Augustus for a moment. He stopped to think, trying to remember each of them before he started answering them. "You don't have to be sorry." He said, smiling at her. He started with the first question since it was the easiest one to answer. "We should clear it with someone higher up. I don't think they would be opposed but it's still better to be safe. Plus, we'll need to let someone know what we're doing in case we get caught in a sticky situation. As for when, I would need to give a weeks notice for work. I can get someone to cover my shifts pretty easily. How much time would you need?" He asked, countering her questions with one of his own.
One of the biggest questions on Augustus's mind was their transformations. There were stories of course, about some werewolves who could half transform. They lingered somewhere between human and werewolf. Then there were those who could stay in werewolf form and be productive. Augustus didn't fall into either of those categories, he had only dealt with the full moon by locking himself up and avoiding it. Then he started taking wolfsbane potion and things became easier. He only knew his own transformation though, not Grace's or those who would inhabit the dens they would be visiting. He had to ask anyway. "How control of yourself are you during a full moon? Have you ever done the half transformation?" Augustus felt guilty for asking, these were personal questions. It wasn't like asking about family but it was still a personal thing to werewolves, or at least to him.
For your sake I hope so. I’d hate for you to get stuck in limbo between being a human and being a werewolf. I mean I’m sure we’d be able to fix you. Maybe you should try practising in front of a few of the new light bulbs I ordered. They have a halogen filament and a frost coloured shell and they have 28 watts - uh, basically they simulate moonlight and if you use enough it should simulate the amount of moonlight a full moon gives off? I haven’t tested them yet so I’m not sure they work.
It’s never come up before but if she can that would certainly be helpful.
Yeah, it wouldn't be pleasant that's for sure. I think I could change back, it's the balance that will be hard to find and maintain. It's easy to slip too far. Really? That's incredible. We should definitely use those to test this out. Maybe during the day time we can try. It should be easier around the time of the full moon anyway.
I'll ask her about it. We need to both be as prepared as possible anyway.
I’d love to help, but I’m going to need to treat it like an experiment so I can record what happens. First night sheer will power, and then the last two we’ll see what dosages work? I’ll need you to check your height and weight again so I can figure out a more accurate BMI for you for the dosages.
She might benefit from doing it, too, would you check to see if she wants to help?
That's okay, I know you'll do it the right way. I think that's the best plan. And if I can do it, I need to try doing it away from the full moon. I just don't want to get stuck like that. I don't know about BMI but I know my weight and height.
Yeah, I will definitely bring it up with her. We're not so good at talking about ourselves so I don't know if she actually can or not
I don’t understand… How are you going to do it? Without the wolfsbane potion, I assume - and then we’ll have to, um, what? Are you trying on sheer force of will?
Is this matter pressing? Because if It doesn’t work we’ll have to try something else again in a month.
Well, there's three nights to practice on. The first night I'm trying sheer will power and then the second, if it doesn't work, a small dose of wolfsbane potion. Well, I assume that'll help.
Not exactly, I guess. I'm going out to do some research with Grace Spencer but we'll need to be able to transform, partially at least.
Well, I need you to monitor my transformation. I need to see if I can stay half wolf and half human. It's for ... a thing. I just need some help and I thought you'd be the best person for it.
I mean, we probably shouldn’t have made her purple in the first place if we didn’t know how to undo it. Okay, okay. Good enough. Stand still. If this doesn’t work out, are you prepared to be purple for the rest of your life?
Probably not but how else were we going to cover up the green? Purple's an excellent cover up. How about we just get it fixed and then I won't be purple, and neither will she. Just... don't get it in my beard.
There is a charm for it, but I don’t know how to get anything back to their usual colour. And I don’t think we could find a good excuse to get someone to give us the answer. That’s true. Maybe we should ask, but we’ll need a reason.
Shit. This is going to be more difficult than I'd like. I'm just drawing a blank though. How about we do the same thing to me? We could say we were testing out methods and it went wrong. At least it's me instead of a patient right?
A big bruise? We’d get in more trouble for that. No? I was hoping you did. I don’t tend to deal with people who turn their skin different colours. Maybe we have a potion for it?
Good point, a big bruise is probably not the way to go. I vaguely remember something about colour changes from school but it would be risky to try off the top of my head. I swear there's a charm for it. A potion could work. It won't be a basic one though.
She could start a new fashion trend? Or we could just say it's a big bruise? But I can see what you mean. Do you happen to know a counter spell for this?
Ever since Augustus's encounter with the girl from District Three, he had started making a list.
The longer he sat, safe, in his tree, the longer his list got. At first it was little things like hug his mother and father more. As time went on though, the list got more daring. His favourite items on the list were now to smuggle chocolate in to District Seven and to ask the hot escort out on a date, and hope he didn't wear something ridiculous.
The latter was less likely to happen but the list gave him something to look forward to, something to survive for. And somehow he was managing to survive. No one had found him in his hiding spot and he was careful only to leave the tree when it was night. If people were sleeping, he was less likely to be caught when going to get water or catching something to eat.
Now, he sat atop a branch, his legs stretched out in front of him and a length of rope tied around his torso to prevent him falling if he fell asleep. It was seemingly quiet all round and that worried Augustus, if it was quiet that meant the gamemakers were bored. If the gamemakers got bored, they would start wreaking havoc.
It was as though he cursed himself. As soon as that errant thought entered his mind, a rumbling began deep within the cave. The tree shook violently and suddenly and Augustus was thrown from his spot. He grasped at the branch, hoping to hold on but the ground shook again, harder this time.
There was a distinct sound of cracking and crumbling before rocks started falling. Augustus brought his arms up to shield himself from the onslaught but a large, pointed rock landed on his arm. There was a loud crack and then he was screaming. His arm had to be broken, there was no other excuse for the excruciating pain shooting through his body. His grip loosened and he slipped from the branch completely, cradling his arm against his chest. He was making so much noise that anyone could hear him but he couldn't help but scream out his pain.
There was another loud crack and he thought he had broken something else but this time it was the tree. The branch he was attacked to couldn't hold up his dead weight and had cracked away from the tree. Before he could do anything, the branch snapped completely and Augustus fell the fifteen feet back to the ground, hitting every branch on the way down. All the air left his lungs when he finally hit the ground as he landed on a sharp rock that cut into his back.
It was hard to get his bearings, his entire body ached and he could barely breathe. Despite all the heat he had been feeling over the last few nights, Augustus felt cold and he knew it was a bad sign. More rumbles echoed through the cave and one look at the roof told him that is was going to collapse.
Augustus was going to die. The realisation was sudden but it didn't upset him like he thought it would. He had been waiting this entire time to die, he never really thought he would win but now he had no chance.
A rock fell, landing strategically on his chest. More cracks and pops echoed in his ears as he yelled out. His yell was cut off, shortness of breath making it quiet but it gurgled in his chest. Blood was pouring into his mouth, pouring down the side of his face and choking him.
Tears finally welled in his eyes as he tried to think of his list again. All the thing that he never got the chance to do flashed through his mind. He wondered if he would have gotten married. Would he have had kids? Would his parents be okay?
There was one final shake and the roof came down around him, crushing and weighing down on his chest and limbs. His thoughts became foggy until he couldn't remember what he had been thinking, his eyes fluttered shut as he let himself slip into the darkness.
"Self defence, yeah. Me too. It’s not just that it’s taking someone’s life but it’s also… Living with the guilt. My mentor sometimes screamed when I would pull out a knife to cut my food during dinners, I don’t want to have those kinds of memories weighing me down." Of course, it was inevitable, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fight it if she tried. April nodded, looking at him more closely. "You have to question everything in here. Where you go, what you do, how you do it, why you heard a noise… It never hurts to be suspicious, but it does to be curious." That was what she had to work on, she needed to stop getting transfixed on some of the beautiful things in the arena. They would lead her to her death, like the Sirens of the sea in a book she read when she was a kid.
April didn’t like the sound of his words, that he owed her. It felt wrong to owe someone for not killing them. That was what had happened to them, so soon in the games. Everything was live or die and people had to be grateful for that chance. April felt sick, she wanted to drop her crossbow and wash her face and arms with the water but she was still worried he would attack her if she let her guard down. She sighed, taking a leap of faith by putting her crossbow on the ground and quickly splashing some water onto her face, then wiping at the sweat and grime. When she finished and he hadn’t killed her, April was relived. He really wasn’t going to attack. She started washing her arms, too, though they were still close in case he tried to do anything, or someone else stumbled upon the waterfall.
"Well that just sounds pleasant." He sighed, shaking his head. Not that he expected much. His mentor was a rough woman, she was mean but there was something under it all that told Augustus that she was just as scared as everyone else. He couldn't blame her though, if she wanted to use a cocky attitude as mask he could understand. It was almost as if surviving the games was just as bad as dying in them. Yet he still didn't want to die here. "Well you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. I guess I should be glad I'm not a cat." It was obvious that she could of killed him but she hadn't and he was still grateful but, from now on, he would be far more suspicious about everything. Like the girl had said, it didn't hurt to be suspicious.
His eyes widened when she dropped the bow from him. He stayed still, too scared to actually move just in case it was a ruse. It wasn't like he had a weapon anyway, if he ran she could shoot him in the back and his attempt to flee would have been for noting. While she was washing, he adjusted in his spot, it wasn't an entirely comfortable position but if he could straighten his legs it would have been. He straightened one leg out, his eyes on her the entire time. There was a constant fear in him now, he was terrified of everything and that wasn't how he wanted to be. So much for being brave, he muttered internally. His parents would have been so disappointed in him. Instead of letting it show, he pushed through it, deciding to make conversation. "The water's a nice change isn't it? I mean, it's not poisonous or dangerous. I was waiting for a crocodile to come kill me."
