Darcy glanced over his shoulder, his amber eyes peculiarly bright, and a smirk tugging at his lips. There wasn't anyone around, it looked like. He ducked into a convenient alleyway. He unzipped the heavy backpack he was carrying, and drew out the thick wolf's-skin, throwing it over his shoulders and crouching on the ground, waiting for it to take hold of him.

In under a minute, he reappeared at the mouth of the alley in the form of a large shaggy-furred wolf, with a big doggy grin and his tail wagging. He set off down the street in search of something fun to do, preferably involving people.

Cass hadn't actively been looking for him, but she would welcome the opportunity to cross his path.
No, not because she would like some friendly doggy company. She was angry. No one was allowed to hurt her brother (except her), and Darcy had done just that.

She was leaning against her parked motorbike, smoking a cigarette. She looked pleased to see the wolf, because he might be the right one...you never know.

Darcy hated the smell of cigarette smoke, but- hey! Person! And person = company = happy Darcy. He gave a small yip and trotted eagerly towards Cass, wagging his tail. He couldn't know that this was Mort's sister (though their scents were somewhat similiar), but knowing probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway.

They also look quite similar.
She dropped her cigarette on the ground and ground it out with her heel, then crouched down, holding her hands out to Darcy.
"Hello, wolfie." she said, her voice mock-innocent. "What're you doing out here all by yourself?"

Darcy's dopey dog-grin brightened when she spoke to him.He hurried over and snuffled at her hands, before making a playful attempt to knock her over by pushing against her with his head.
Silly question. I'm just out looking for something fun to do..

"What's your name, big guy?" she asked, in that same (faintly grating) imitation of a sweet tone.

He tilted his head to one side and made a low, growly sound - by no means threatening. It was a puzzled kind of growly sound. Obviously I can't talk,... shoot, I forgot to put on the collar. If I'd've worn it, it would have had my tags on it, and my name. Oh well.
He put his head back in the normal upright position, and whined softly. Sorry. No names for you.

"Smart wolfie it is, to respond to a question..."
After all, how many wolves could there be in Bayfield? Not many. The chances that it was the right one were quite high.
"Is its name Darcy?"

Darcy blinked at her, surprised.
How did you know that?
...
Doesn't matter. Maybe I met her before and don't remember.
Deciding to completely abandon his dumb-animal act, he nodded emphatically in reply to Cass's question.

"Oh good!" She did an impressive imitation of delight, squealing and clapping her hands.
She was delighted, but for entirely different reasons.
"Will you come with me, Darcy? There's something I want to show you."

Sure, why not.
Darcy nodded again, and nuzzled one of her hands. He was racking his brain for any memories of this girl, but nothing was coming up - yet she seemed to know him already. He thought it strange, but dismissed it fairly easily. He couldn't remember everyone. And she seemed so happy to see him...

Leaving her bike where it was (it wasn't a long walk, she could get it later) she stood up and skipped--yes, skipped--off in the direction of her house.

Darcy gave her an odd, puzzled sort of look when she turned her back (Skipping?), but followed obediently after her, anyway. Wonder who she is,... and what she wants to show me. I wish I could remember who she is.

((Stupid me. I didn't mean house.))

She led him to an alley, in a fairly unfrequented part of town, shabby, quiet...
"It's down there..." she said, pointing.

"?" he whined, pausing to look between Cass and the alley. There?... Well, okay, if you say so. He'd have shrugged if he could. He trotted ahead of her down the alley and turned in a few slow circles, sniffing and looking around.
What is it you wanted to show me? I don't see anything..

Poor trusting Darcy.
Cass was holding a knife now. She smirked.
"I heard the wolfie bites."

Darcy's gaze caught on the glimmer of metal, and Cass's decidedly unfriendly smirk.
What the-...
He backed up against the wall, tensing to spring, or to run.
Maybe's she's only joking with me...?

"Defenseless little children to boot." She turned the knife forward so that if he leapt at her, he'd probably poke his eye out. Just being safe, of course.
"And that...well that just isn't right. I think wolfie needs to learn a lesson."

What? But I never-
And then it dawned on him.
Of course! Mort. But I didn't do that on purpose. Darcy whined softly, looking pleadingly at Cass. I swear I didn't do it on purpose. I'll never let it happen again. Now put that away,... please? I'm not looking for a fight.

He tried to back up some more, but he was as far as he could go and all he succeeded in doing was scrabbling uselessly at the ground. Unlike a real wolf, Darcy knew immediately that a knife was a threat, and he was afraid of it. He flattened his ears against his head, giving a quiet whimper.
I promise I'm not dangerous. Just put the knife away... I don't want anyone to get hurt.

She giggled. It was so easy to get information out of Mort; she knew that Darcy was a human in the form of a wolf, was quite aware of his sentience...but she thought that it would be more fun to play with him in animal form.
She advanced on him, bent down, and took his chin in her free hand, grinning predatorily.
"I heard that one of the places it really hurts to hit a dog is right...here." she smacked the flat of the blade hard across the bridge of his nose. "But what about..." she lifted the knife again. Next time she smacked, she'd hit with the edge.

Darcy yelped loudly and tried to wrench his head away from her, pain and fear evident in his eyes. He bared his teeth and snarled at Cass, hoping to startle her. He was still afraid, but he was hoping to be able to bluff his way out of this before any serious harm was inflicted on him, or before he bit her.

She flinched, and almost dodged backwards...almost.
"Does the wolf want to attack another child, then?" she hissed, more malice evident in her tone now. And then she brought the sharp edge of the knife down across his nose.

He jerked his head away again, but this time only succeeded in getting the blade sliced across his snout. Blood began seeping from the cut and slowly trickling down his muzzle. Ow! Goddamnit! He snapped at her, not aiming to bite anything in particular - he was just lashing out.

She jerked away, but got her legs tangled up and fell. She got to her knees, holding her knife in front of her.
"Just like a human, to turn into something filthy like an animal. You're disgusting!" she spat, and then she lunged. She was going for his eye, but she was not coming from an advantageous position, so she'd probably miss, or at least strike wide.

Human? But- oh, she knows... He was stunned for a moment, shocked that she knew what he was. He only remembered to move when he saw the knife flash, and it just barely missed his eye, the tip slicing down the side of his face. Then he let instinct take over. This time when he snapped at her, he went for the wrist connected to the hand holding the knife.

He got it.
Naz shrieked--a bloodcurdling noise--and dropped the knife. All she wanted to do now was get free. Hissing and spitting, she used her unbitten hand and her teeth to bite and scratch at Darcy's muzzle, squalling all the while.

Dracy let go of her, feeling guilty despite the fact that she'd just tried to stab him.
Oh shit.... Hope I didn't hurt her, he thought worriedly, slinking off to one side to flee the alley, watching her from the corner of his eye. He didn't stop to think that maybe he should pick up the knife to get it out of her reach.

What he'd done to her was nothing like what he'd done to Mort. She was all right, and probably deserved worse besides.

She grabbed the knife and, stumbling to her feet, went after him. She was quite fast, though whether she could outrun a wolf remains to be seen.

Uh-oh.
Instead of doing the smart thing, and running for it, he turned to face her, backing away. He felt safer facing her than turning his back, even if he thought he could outrun her. Human brains don't really fit all that well with a wolf's body.
I am so stupid...

Cass was thinking immobilize, so she went for his shoulder, snarling in rage and pain.

Which way do I go?! Right, left, back, - which way do I -
...
@#$% !

Again why human brains like Darcy's don't belong in the head of a wolf. He hesitated to choose a direction to flee in, and his hesitation got him stabbed,- Cass didn't miss her mark this time.
He struggled away, once again pressed up against the wall, though closer to the mouth of the alley this time.

"Gooood doggie..." Cass smirked, though her grin trembled...she was shaken and angry. She jerked the knife back out of the wolf's shoulder and looked at it, admiring the dim light on the blood on the blade.
"Now what if one of those nice, soft ears was gone...?"

No. No no no. Don't.
His ears flattened to his head, though it was more from fear than a desire to protect his ears. He shook his head no, whining softly and limping sideways. He'd bared his teeth, but it was a weak attempt at intimidation when he already had his tail tucked between his hind legs.

There was a distant sound of pounding footsteps, and the ffft-ft of flickering electricity. Mort knew where Cass was (he hadn't figured out why he could tell, but he always could), and he knew that she was doing something terrible...

Cass didn't seem to hear the footsteps, raising her knife again, a mad gleam in her eyes...
And then it clattered to the ground as Mort grabbed her wrist and twisted it, shouting hysterically for her to leave Darcy alone.

Darcy's ears perked up, and he flinched at Mort's sudden apearance. He skttered backwards and away from the pair of them, teetering between fleeing, and staying to make sure Mort didn't get himself hurt.
But if that's his sister, she wouldn't hurt him, he reasoned. He crept out of the alley, and onto the sidewalk, but didn't dare leave yet.

A shouting match ensued. Blows were struck. Cass did, in fact, hurt Mort, though not badly.
And then...an odd thing happened. Power started going out, and Cass was suddenly trying to placate Mort and drag him away at the same time.

What the....? Darcy looked around, bewildered. He limped over to growl at Cass, assuming for some reason that it was her fault the lights were going out - until he remembered that something similiar to this had happened before, when he'd bitten Mort. And in his foggy mind, he equated the power's going out with Mort being badly hurt.

And he hadn't hurt him, so Cass must have... so Darcy akwardly flung his heavy wolf body at Cass, halfheartedly trying to tackle her to get her away from Mort.

She yowled again and kicked out at his face, but went down with him all the same.
Mort, having no idea what was going on, really, thought that Darcy must have gone feral or something. Frightened, he grabbed the wolf by the scruff of his neck and tried to drag him backwards, hoping that Darcy wouldn't turn on him.

Darcy bared his teeth at Cass, one last time, but then easily let himself be pulled away from her. He whimpered softly, twisting his head to nudge Mort's hand with his nose. Sorry. I'm sorry. Are you alright? he blinked slowly, and then gave a long, dismal whine. She didn't hurt you...?

"Darcy..." he shot a tearful glare at Cass over Darcy's shoulder. "Look at you, you're bleeding all over..."
But he didn't suggest calling an ambulance, because Cass would get arrested for attacking Darcy.
"Shit."