Bad Faith Island
A Harry Potter Pirate Story
by VG Jekyll

45. Wrapped Up

Remus is the first to fight himself into consciousness.

His eyes flutter, but he does not open them completely. They feel strange. Almost as if they are glued shut with sleep sand of some sort. And as he wiggles his body slightly, he notices that he seems to be standing vertical and is tied together with something. The stuff is strong, he can hardly move a muscle. He opens his mouth with just as much difficulty, with the intention to call out for help, but it is no use.

The stuff that has bound him together, like a bundle of wood, comes in his mouth. It is sticky and tastes of earth, dust and slightly of flour. It has a honey-like quality to it; solidified at certain places, while still liquid at others. It has to be spider silk, he soon realizes. The memories of what exactly has happened just moments before return very quickly.

Remus struggles, but it is all around him. It's in his eyes, his ears, his mouth. Breathing is starting to become difficult as the more liquid strands pile in though his barely opened mouth. Inside they are quick to become thicker, stronger, maybe because of his puffy breaths. The taste of flour is now strong. The powdery taste prickles his throat and makes him want to cough.

He panics as he realizes that he soon won't be able to breath anymore and thus increases his tries to break free, but it is all to no avail. The spider silk is too strong, too tight around his arms. And he is about to give up and cease struggling, accepting his fate as dinner to a monstrous anarchide, when he hears Sirius voice.

Sirius sounds weak and in pain. If Remus didn't have his superior hearing, he wouldn't have caught it through the strong layers of silk, but he does hear it, and for a moment he feels literally petrified. His breathing has calmed down and his heart, though it has been pounding away below his chest merely seconds ago, almost comes to a full stop.

It is Sirius! Dear, beloved Sirius. His lover.

Several emotions run through Remus mind and then they all disappear as suddenly as they have come. The last emotion lingers though and tries to get a hold on him. It is able to catch a good hold when he hears Sirius mutter a last call for help. He calls Remus' name. Faint and desperate.

This time the transformation is swift and though not painless.

Remus feels his form twist and turn as bones realign themselves. His oversensitive ears hear the silk snap away with loud pings as if breaking the snares of a guitar. As his form grows larger, the silk, though trying to keep purchase of him, falls away. It clings as sad discarded veils on the gray matted fur that has sprouted all over his body.

He rips his arms loose from the sticky stuff at the same time as they bend backwards and a loud yowl of pain, causes by the friction of bone on bone, is released into the air. It echoes loudly against the walls of the cave like hole he is in. He howls again, as the pain of the transformation has lifted and it is even louder than the first yowl.

His howl makes stones shift and a few stalagmites fall down, only to be batted away by the strong arms of the werewolf. He is angry, no. that is an understatement. He is mad as hell. He is in a hole in the ground, a cage. He hates being locked up. Someone has to pay for that.

There is the stench of dead and rotting all around him. He is in the shelter of another predator like him. That wont do. He refuses to be the prey. He will find whatever had brought him there, engage it in fight and tear it to shreds.

Then there is also the missing moon. It should be there, he knows, as he stares up at the open hole above him. But it is nowhere to be found. Instead the sky is blue and light. Lighter than he is used to or ever has seen. Why is it not there? They took another thing from him! They need to pay, need to shred. Hurt them.

And last and most importantly. His mate. He doesn't remember having fought the man before, for his animalistic mind hasn't much of a long term memory, but the feeling and yearning to protect is big within him. The desire to be with Sirius and protect. Own. That instinct is now controlling him.

He aims his muzzle at the ground, starting to sniff and trying to ignore the putrid smell of acid and egg. His nose soon catches the smell he is searching for. It is feint, but the source is close by. It is a large lump, stuck against the side of the cave a short distance away from him.

It takes him one large pounce over decaying flesh of what must once have been a large animal and old silk made useless by dirt and dust on the ground, to get there. He raises himself on his hutches. His large claws fall against the large lump and he hears a muffled cough come from within the silk encasing.

His mate is inside there and needs to get out. The silk has to come off!

He starts to scratch harshly at it, and quite a lot of strands gives way until he has created an opening. He hears another pained sound and then smells fresh blood. His mate's blood. His whole body is vibrating with attention. His dark eyes fixated at the open patch, which shows the slightest hint of skin and blood.

My mate!

To Be Continued

VGJekyll: Um, sorry for the wait?