He's Just "Tired..."

~24~

The werewolf continued to pace outside of Ink's hiding place, still debating on what to do. Ink was scared when he would notice the werewolf pacing outside of his hiding place. He trembled badly, fearing that it may attack him. He could feel his heart start to racing. Did the werewolf want to kill him? He didn't know. And the fact he didn't know is what scares him the most. Ink looked at the werewolf, trying to figure out who it was. And for some reason, it looked kind of like Cross... But... That can't be possible, right? He killed Cross! How could Cross be here?! Unless... Cross somehow managed to bring himself back to life as a werewolf specifically to get revenge on Ink...

The werewolf was indeed Cross though. Cross was still very pissed off at Ink for Ink killing him and Faith. Cross growled lowly as he entered the den Ink was hiding in, growling lowly at ink and baring his teeth. He could see the look of pure fear in Ink's eyes, but that didn't mean he was going to show Ink any mercy at all. Cross suddenly lunged at Ink, attempting to bite and attack him, even managing to pin Ink down. Ink tried his best to push Cross off of him, not wanting to get hurt by Cross. Unfortunately for Ink, he had nowhere near enough strength to push Cross off of him. He trembled badly, just giving up on trying to push Cross off of him, but he knew it was no use. All he could really do is give up at this point, and just hope that Cross doesn't kill him.

Ink closed his eyes, waiting for what was to come. He half expected Cross to just rip his throat open to leave him here and bleed to death, but when that didn't happen, he was surprised yet relieved. He continued to keep his eyes closed until he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, causing him to immediately open his eyes. He saw Cross was already leaving the den, but... Ink saw the bitemark on his shoulder. Ink whimpered, fearful of becoming a werewolf. Though, he could feel that it was making him get his strength back slowly. He attempted to get up but couldn't. He was starting to feel very lightheaded. And before he knew it, he passed out; not from blood loss, but from the bite from Cross.

When Ink awoke, he was able to get up this time. He stretched a bit when he got up, almost immediately noticing something was different. He looked down and saw... He had paws... He was already in wolf form due to the bite from Cross. Ink felt panicked from this. After all, he didn't know how to switch between forms, nor could he speak to anyone that wasn't a wolf or werewolf. He whimpered, feeling his eyes tear up. His current mood was a mix between sadness about the fact he may never be able to confess to Error, and anger towards Cross for ruining everything for him. He walked out of his den, having a bit of difficulty with getting used to walking on four paws rather than just on two feet. He could either go try to find Cross to maybe fight him to get rid of his anger, or he could try to find a way to communicate to Error. He happened to see a portal that happened to be open nearby though, walking over to it. It was a portal back to Dreamtale. Why was this portal here? Should he go through it? He didn't know. But all he knows is that if Nightmare sees him in this form, Nightmare may not recognize him. But that could also be bad for Ink because Nightmare may try to keep Ink's wolf form as a pet if he doesn't recognize Ink. But should Ink risk going through the portal?...