Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its trademarks are the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written purely for entertainment purposes; no money is being made through this. The species of Lepren and certain plot elements were borrowed from Wolfishgrin's story, Wolf Child, and are used here with his/her permission.
This is creature-talk.
Child of the Wilderness
Chapter One: The Lepren
Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest held many secrets, some of which not even its groundskeeper Hagrid, who often explored its depths, nor the Headmaster Dumbledore, who simply seemed to know everything, were aware of. Among these hidden secrets was a race of beings called the lepren. Part leopard and part wolf, their origin is unknown, though some wizards speculate that they are a result of a transfiguration gone wrong, or even a failed attempt at animagy. They are also thought to be kin to werewolves, due to their unique ability to shapeshift to a human form and back, suggesting a wizard origin, rather than animal. The lepren are a shy species, however, which rarely ever appear around humans, so almost nothing is known about them.
The forest was quiet, the time nearing midnight and the moon was high and almost directly overhead. If one looked closely, a dark shape was visible, illuminated by the moonlight. It was stretched out, catlike, on a wide tree limb, though its features revealed a more wolven appearance. Its dark fur caused it to occasionally become lost among the shadows, though in stronger moonlight, black rosette-shaped spots were visible against the dark fur. On the other hand, the creature's bright green eyes glittered like jewels in the night.
With a sudden movement, the black lepran raised its head to the sky and uttered a loud keening howl. The wind carried the sound throughout the forest, and the lepran waited, ears cocked.
An answering howl came from nearby, followed by a second, then a third. Then the forest was once again silent.
Noir waited a few minutes longer, then growled irritably and climbed down from the tree. His paws hit the ground hard as he lashed his thick, tufted tail back and forth angrily. Hiija was missing. Again.
The mean-spirited older lepran was almost more trouble than he was worth, Noir thought to himself with a roll of his eyes as he strode off to join the rest of his pack.
The grove of the lepren was a large clear area in the middle of the forest, far away from any other dwellings. The trees and greenery here were taller, wilder, but only a few stood within the grove itself; most stood close together around the edges of the grove, hiding it from view and shielding it as well. Though it could easily hold an entire, full-strength pack of lepren within its breadth, it was home to only a tiny fraction of that number now.
Phantom sounds and smells assaulted Noir's mind as he entered the grove, memories of this place where he had spent more than half his life. He shook his head to chase the thoughts away, and focused on the present instead. He could see the shadowy forms of his packmates on the far end of the grove. He could also hear them arguing.
Leave me alone, Reeyu!
Aww, what's the matter? You're not getting scared of the dark, are you?
Don't you have anything better to do than trying to scare us?
Noir! Noir, Reeyu's saying there are giant spiders that hunt at night in the forest. He's lying, isn't he?
Noir sighed inwardly to himself as a tawny-furred female lepran ran up to him. Of course there aren't, Kyrie. He reassured her, then glared at the offending male.
Reeyu looked away in indifference, his white-furred body standing out sharply in the dark. It's not my fault Kyrie's so gullible.
Kyrie growled at him, and Noir rolled his eyes. Already, he was getting tired; the only thing he really wanted to do was sleep. When he didn't respond immediately, Kyrie turned away to join the other member of the pack, Manu. She sat beside him in a huff while he tried to comfort her.
Noir's ears cocked as they caught the sound of another approaching. A large brindle-coated lepran strolled casually past Noir, a sneer in his eye. The black lepran's hackles raised.
Where were you earlier? You didn't answer my call. Noir accused.
Hiija was indifferent. I was around. He said vaguely. He gaped his jaw in a mocking grin. I must not have heard you.
Noir snarled. Not likely, if he was close enough to get back so soon after Noir did.
Why should you care what I do, anyway? It's not like you're the Alpha. Hiija continued.
You're right, I'm not. But Ash is dead, and this pack will fall apart if nobody does anything about it. Noir's words rang true; a look around showed that it was already starting to affect the pack.
Hiija snorted and abruptly turned his back on Noir, ignoring him, and curled up on the ground to sleep. Noir gave up in exasperation and did the same. The others had been unusually silent during their exchange, and for now, the silence was left unbroken.
(A/N) (Edited to fix the bolded and italicized text. Hopefully, it's easier to read now.)
Again, the lepren are (unfortunately) not my idea and come from Wolfishgrin's fanfic, Wolf Child, which they have since quit writing. Any characters you do not recognize from the books are my original characters.
I've almost finished outlining this story, and it looks like it's going to be about 17 chapters long. Not short, but not too long, either. Hopefully I'll be able to get chapters out fairly quickly, but I won't make any guarantees…
I don't know how Kyrie's name got in there; I've barely ever even played Kingdom Hearts. This is what happens when I don't have access to my random name generator when creating characters.
Next chapter: Kyrie goes missing, and Noir has to rescue her. Also, find out more about Noir's pack, and Hiija's got dark designs…And I'll shut up now.