We walked for a while talking about the possibilities of what my condition was. We had come to several things quickly. I was no longer human; my skin was thick and course like the hide of a pumpkin. Rea said that my skin had a similar coloring as well. Around my neck and torso was a mass of vines connecting everything like my arms and legs, which were thickened vines with a hard bark like texture. I didn't bleed like humans either, my blood was more of a clear jellylike substance. Rea came to the conclusion that My Body was just a pumpkin with a bunch of vines forming the main body. My head, the pumpkin was my real body.
"Well now that we know what you are exactly, kind of, we have a starting place. Pumpkin monsters are some of the rarest creatures to exist. The weather has to be perfect, bloods almost always involved, and it has to be the right time of year for them to even be summoned. There's not a single non dungeon that they happen in naturally, every creature like you has to meet those very specific criteria. You are as rare as a unicorn! People often mistake you for a Dullahan but if anything, I would say the species is only relatively related to Dulhan's. In fact, speculation says that the Dulhan's were before the Dullahan's. Though I probably wouldn't bring that up to them." Rea said laughing as we walked along.
The woods had given way to long rolling empty fields. the wind tore through this place with vengeance. The creatures here were blood thirsty predators. We constantly had to watch ourselves. Wild wolves would test our will every so often, getting close enough to snip and snarl at our direction before falling back. There was a large silver backed one, his eyes locked on me every time they got anywhere close to us. Wisdom lurked behind those black holes, The wolf always moved with purpose, keeping a smaller wolf between him and us at all times, even moving to get behind one if he wasn't already. The younger wolves would grow bolder and push closer. Every so often one would get close enough to try and nip at us. On one occasion, one got too close to me, sinking its teeth into my leg. I grabbed the beast by the scruff of its neck and held it up to my face.
"You are nothing but a mere mutt, know where you stand in the food chain." I growled slamming the creature into the dirt. The sound of its ribs breaking from impact filled the air. I turned my gaze upon the Silver backed wolf. His burning eyes glaring at me, teeth shinning under the moon light. The creature stepped forward, the sheer size of the wolf made the others look like puppies.
This went on several days, the back and forth with me and the silver back wolf. His pack would attack, lose a few and retreat. time and time again. One night the wolves had lost a few more than usual. I had finished fighting one off when a powerful paw slapped me into the dirt.
"Oh, so now you make your move. That was dirty Silverback! Dirty!" I yelled slamming my fists into the dirt.
In front of me the massive silver backed wolf cackled, as if he was laughing at me. His massive paw swiping at me, forcing me to roll out of the way. I pushed of the ground with my off foot and shoulder charged into the beast, picking up the massive furball in my arms. I struggled to lift the giant off the ground, but slowly, despite the beast's best efforts trying to wiggle from my grasp, I slammed the beast down. A pained howl escaped from the maul of the wolf. He rolled quickly and jumped back into the fight with me, sinking his massive teeth into the vines that where my shoulders. I gave him a good punch to the side of his head to get him to let go, I grabbed him by the scruff and threw him with every bit of strength I had. The beast tumbled in the dirt and slowly stumbled back to its feet. We circled each other, our eyes locked onto each other. The black coal that was his seemed to be looking for any weakness, for anything it could exploit to end my life. I gave it that opening, limping slightly, feigning a weakness. The wolf couldn't help but see it and go for the kill. I smiled as the furball shot towards me; my fist was already coming down where his head was about to be. A loud yelp and a thud. The battle was over. The giant wolf lay unconscious at my feet, its giant mouth opened wide for the killing blow.
"You're going to be a good pet." I said bending down and whispering to the wolf.
A low soft whimper of acceptance, there was no room for argument when dominance had been proved. As if out of instinct, to command those lower than me. The feeling was oddly satisfying. Rea just stood there, her jaw on the ground.
"What just happened here? Did I just watch two alpha monsters duke it out?" She asked herself in disbelief.
The wolf, rolled over, sat up and then shook itself off. The creature then sat in front of Rea and stared at here, offering its paw to her. She looked at the giant wolf as if it was crazy.
"He wants you to shake his paw." I grunted looking at the holes in my cloak.
"Oh, so now you speak wolf, do you?" She replied with sarcasm.
"I mean kind of. It's more like I can hear what he thinks." I replied pondering.
She looked at me for a few minutes, her face utterly expressionless, then without warning she threw her arms up shouting about how she shouldn't even be surprised at this point where I'm concerned. i had no idea what she meant by that.
"I think I will call you Anzar." I said turning to the wolf.
Anzar yipped and went about trying to get his coat cleaned.