The Bandersnatch gets the Lycan Princess for a Mate

The sky was pitch black, obviously nighttime. Primrose sprinted through the city aimlessly. For some reason all the people seemed to have vacated the place. Running now she approached Veritas City Central Park.

In the park, standing on a picnic table was an eighteen year old boy with a rather sorrowful expression on his face. He had indigo blue eyes, midnight black hair

Over the dark green leather coat he wore two complex golden chain pieces. One is around his arms, with dangling moons and the other one is around his waist, as a belt.

He sat down in Indian style, criss crossing his legs. Ignoring how the chains clanked and rattled against the wood surface of the table.

"Go home and stay out of sight, I'll handle the rest," he stated, even though he looked much like a eighteen or nineteen year old, his voice didn't match. Instead it sounded like a twelve or thirteen year old boy. Primrose frowned.

"Wait," she started to protest.

"Primrose wake up, science class is over, you slept through the entire lesson." He spoke again, although this time it was a different voice, belonging to a girl about her age.

Her friend, Luciana was waking her up.

"Oh Lucia did I fall asleep?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. In the search next to was Luciana who had voluminous auburn curls and amber brown eyes.

Luciana smirked. "I just told you that,"

Luciana stood and reminded Prim that she was taller than herself. Like Prim she wore a beige long sleeved shirt with a square neckline, under it a white uniform shirt, and a medium sized navy bow-tie on the top of the two. The knee length skirt being black with a yellowish white pattern of plaid. Contrasting Prim, Luciana had black tights under her skirt and white boots adorned with buckles. Prim had white stockings and black Mary Jane shoes.

"Oh no..." She ran a hand through her messy peach blonde wavy curls.

" You sound *so* upset," Luciana remarked sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"Wellesley!" She waved over at a boy with brunette hair and a black jacket and trousers with the same plaid pattern as the girls' skirts.

"Hey Wellesley Guillotine!"

Wellesley in question tensed. "Yes class rep?"

"Would you mind helping my friend Prim out at the library? She needs to catch up on the science notes she missed." Luciana asked with a charming smile and the boy averted his eyes flustered.

"Huh?" Wellesley looked between them.

" Don't do that! I'll just read up on it this evening!" Primrose started.

Luciana grinned impishly at her friend. "It's fine, I know you Guillotine, you've got nothing to do this evening anyway right?"

"Well actually I was planning on going to the arcade and competing with my mystery rival at the racing game-" Wellesley adjusted his black school bag.

"So his schedule is free. " Luciana interrupted speaking over him.

"Just one hour, okay? It'll be good for our class to help each other out. A friend who helps a friend in need is a friend indeed right?" Luciana reassured, shoving her friend forward.

"Luciana!" Primrose protested at being shoved.

"Alright then," he relented.

"I'm coming too to make sure Prim doesn't goof off," Luciana remarked. "It was my idea after all,"

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When the impromptu study session was over Luciana read over the library newspapers, face grim at what she was seeing. Prim and Wellesley agreed to leave her be.

"Alright I'm going to the arcade," Wellesley smiled.

"Take care of yourself Wellesley Guillotine!" Primrose beamed. Luciana just smiled politely and waved. Wellesley flinched at the use of his last name but nodded getting on his bike and headed away from the library.

Luciana looked around, then realized she left her bag inside the library. Primrose stood in front of it alone for a couple of seconds, portfolio closed and clasped tightly but her focus was on the boy across the street who appeared her age.

He kinda resembled the boy in her dream. The green coat, the short midnight black hair. Most importantly the golden chains with crescent moons on the ends were definitely familiar.

Primrose stared after him. Before she realized it she was following him. It wasn't normal to see a person from a dream in real life. Maybe she would ask one question. Maybe she'd ask if he knew her or if they could be friends.

Maybe.. 'he was dangerous and she should avoid him,' the rational part of her brain argued.

Her thoughts came to a halt as she recoiled against a sign she almost walked into. A sign warning of werewolf territory the Blue Forest. It was smaller in comparison to the Northwestern Blue Forest on the other side of the country but similar in that it was the home for supernatural entities. It served as a barrier and border between normal and abnormal. The boy however walked past the sign as if he belonged there, chains rattling as he moved swiftly. Quickly he'd slipped through the myriad of pine trees. She inhaled the scent of the trees. It was intense and relaxing at the same time. Slowly she took a step forward.

"PRIM!" Luciana yelled suddenly.

Primrose jolted and froze in her spot. The boy wearing the chains was definitely gone.

"Prim, don't scare me like that," Luciana hugged her from behind. Prim returned it as best she could in her position.

"Prim what were you doing?" She demanded.

Primrose blinked owlishly at "what I was," she faltered unsure of how to say 'following someone who's probably in more danger than me' without making it sound worse than it was.

"That's werewolf territory! You know the rules keeping them separated so werewolves and humans don't cause trouble!" Luciana reminded.

"I was following a boy, he seemed like he might have been the boy from my dream so I thought I would ask-" Primrose started.

"The boy from the dream is just the boy in your dreams. He's not a person! Don't do reckless things. I don't know what I should tell your mother should anything happen to you," Luciana refuted. Primrose sulked wishing she hadn't brought it up.

"But-" Primrose began,

"No more dangerous things!" Luciana insisted.

"Alright, alright I'll go home," Primrose relented.

Luciana watched Primrose amble in the opposite direction, hopefully returning to her home. Relaxing only when she was confident the other girl was out of sight. Swallowing she sighed and stepped into the trees herself. She felt bad about lying to Prim but knew very well the serious consequences if someone innocent like Prim stumbled on the supernatural world.

On the surface, the forest surrounding two thirds of the city was a typical one full of trees, bears, wolves birds, deer, flora and fauna, and such. It was also the primary for werewolves, the business routes of the Lycan monarchy, the 'amusement park' for Fae although they typically stuck to themselves, the occasional necromancers or witches, vampires, and of course deities of the wild.

It was also unfortunately a common place for humans to stupidly wander in get brutally attacked by various different creatures and unpleasant disagreements started. As such humans had to have special permission to enter and of course could not be touring around simply for funsies.

Luciana contemplated using the drug Houndstooth to shift into her wolf form outside of the full moon but she had too many concerns. In addition she was too close to home to risk it's usage as she was instructed to use it in emergencies.

The strange murders in the newspaper.

The even stranger tension with the Kindred fae and various minor creatures of the night.

Her estranged older brother...

That last one was taking top priority because of the unique condition about her older brother, Lucifugus.

Lucifugus was bonded or fused somehow to an alien entity. She hadn't seen it often but it was definitely not of Lycan origin in any way. He'd changed into an enormous beast with white fur and black spots. The head was very much similar to wolves except that this entity was several times larger than a wolf, natural or otherwise. The eyes of said creature were blue unlike Lucifugus who originally had amber brown colored eyes, and they poured hatred.

Overall whatever he'd bonded with after that trip to Russia when they were seven was not a werewolf of any kind she or anyone else knew about. Even the Lycan monarch, Macaulay Rasiel knew nothing of it.

"I do not know what the creature inside this child is, but unless it proves it's not a threat to our kind." Macaulay Rasiel let go of the Lucifugus' hand.

"it must be sedated and subdued whenever and however possible," he advised.

Lucifugus slumped to the ground on his hands and knees like he'd gotten a death sentence. Lucia felt bad but she was worried about him. She felt she had done the right thing telling someone about his odd behavior. However Lucifugus looked dead inside. He didn't fight back not even when the needle of the syringe filled with wolfsbane pierced his skin.

Luciana, two years younger and six years old at the time, looked away thinking he'd still scream as the weakening drug entered his body. He didn't. perhaps that's what haunted her the most. He didn't even look at her as it happened. Just stared at the sky.

Luciana walked to the kitchen after kicking off her shoes in the foyer.

Her brother scared her for harboring an unknown entity inside his body and trying to pretend it was fine. But she could see the heartbreak in his eyes as he was officially treated like a monster and ostracized even more from that point forward. Maybe at this point he just seemed some sort of normalcy.

"H-Hello Luci...." Luciana tried to make conversation. Perhaps it wasn't wise to call him by their childhood nickname. Her brother just flipped the pages of some book absently.

She took a deep breath. Better ask now which should be just after the normal time he took 'medicine' wolfsbane as per orders.

"Lucifugus... have you been to Veritas City Park?" she asked.

"What association do you have with my friend?" She tried. 'Luci won't hurt me, I'm his sister,' she reassured herself. She sat next to her brother. Trying to subtly smell his scent.

He smelled like cinnamon which she realized was actually the scent of the hair conditioner he used. Past the overwhelming metallic scent of the silver chains and the eucalyptuslike scent of the wolfsbane, she could smell cinnamon, coffee and berries. But those were all things he could get without leaving the house. He did not smell like he'd been outside. She couldn't smell the grass, the wind or if he came across any unpleasant odors of the city.

"I-I won't tell anybody if you went to the park, but don't interfere in my life now that it's finally normal again. Stay away from my friends" she said firmly, unsure if he even cared about what he heard her say in his essentially anesthetic drugged state.

Her brother glanced at her from the corner of his eye, the indigo blue circle staring at her in an unnerving way for a few seconds before turning back to the book.

She quietly gulped. Even though she was the stronger one, the one who spent years training and studying, her brother made her nervous. She stared at him, studying his side profile, trying to gauge if he was actually reading or staring at the book and occasionally remembering to turn the page.

"what's-what's your book about?" she finally asked while inching away from him. He could have his personal space back or whatever.

He didn't respond. But he did turn the page. Almost as if he quietly dismissed her.

She grit her teeth, 'that was enough of that!'

"Lucifugus you're doped up not dead! I know you hear me!!" she stood up to face him and snapped tartly. Lucifugus abruptly closed the book, slamming it loudly.