Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina - U.S.
In a forest as expansive as the eye could see, desolate to human intervention, a single large log cabin sat perched atop a shrouded hill. From inside, one could hear the voices of a child and a man.
"We're running short on food, I'll be heading out on a hunting trip in the meanwhile, stay here," said the man.
"Ah, sure you don't want me to go with you?" asked the boy half-jokingly half truthfully.
"After last time? Keep dreaming Jack..." muttered the man while grabbing his gear.
The sound of the door closing marked the end of this discussion, allowing the cabin to be overtaken by thoughts and nature's white noise.
'Tch petty bastard...' thought Jack while reminiscing about their last hunting trip a few years back...
It was a rainy day perfect for covering their presence and teaching Jack the art of hunting. They had spotted a small group of elk near the creek. With carefully placed shots, Elias, the man and Jack's legal guardian, was able to quickly take down several of the larger elk before the rest disappeared. The real problem came when they went to retrieve the bodies...the sight and smell triggered something in Jack causing four pale-red tentacle like appendages to sprout from his back near his waist. When he came to his senses, the elk had been mutilated and nearly devoured with his tentacles taking on a darker hue. Over time less and less 'incidents' happened as he learned to resist this unnatural craving.
Luckily this didn't change his relationship with Elias, and he was able to learn which world he was in through bits of information given to him.
Jack was a reincarnate. In his past life he was interested in works of entertainment that delved into the supernatural finding the ideas in shows and novels to be exhilarating. One day he fell asleep and when he woke up the world around him had changed. He was reborn into the world of Wednesday as a ghoul without the strict diet that comes with it. Elias was a werewolf that couldn't transform exiled by his pack. Supposedly he was entrusted to care for him by his birth parents.
'Might as well do something,'
Rotting from boredom he got up and went outside. The lack of human life and the environment allowed him to train his ghoul side freely. He didn't know how strong the power houses of this world were but by comparison, his father could easily lift 250kg as an untransformed wolf.
His training was a mixture of strength and endurance exercises that involved pushing his physical body to the edge while holding water filled buckets with his kagune.
'Splash'
Water filled the buckets leaving each with a weight of around 30kg, a number possible at his age due to the nature of his unique physiology.
'Let's get this done,' he thought with conviction.
In his first life he had no reason to regularly exercise, not as fit as he could've been but not quite unhealthy. However, due to the change in his biology and the excitement of living in a world where the supernatural is real, he made a commitment to train not just for his satisfaction but for his survival.
'The only way to live as an outcast...' Jack thinks as he releases his kagune.
'Burst'
'Is with power,'
Several hours later, Jack lay on the ground exhausted yet happy at his progress.
"Jack! Come help me cut this up!" Elias emerged from the woods carrying an elk corpse on his shoulders.
"Coming, give me a second!" he replied taking a moment to stretch, his body already healing slowly.
As Jack made his way towards the log cabin, Elias watched deep in thought. The boy, 11 years old, had started to change recently.
'Those tentacles...and his appetite...it's grown to be manageable for now, but it might affect him in the future...especially in a place like Nevermore,'
Seeing the rate at which Jack grew made him realize that he wouldn't be able to handle him on his own for much longer.
By nature, Jack wasn't a ghoul he was a hybrid, a rare outcome. Typically, when two outcasts have children, one gene dominates the other resulting in a half-breed, stronger than a human but weaker than a full-blooded member of their species. In the rare case of a hybrid, neither gene is able to dominate the other and instead merge to create a unique enhanced mix of both species.
Unfortunately, that also concludes the 'instincts', a trait that changes over time.
Just as certain animals are more passive than others, outcasts are also occasionally driven by certain instincts. Werewolves in general are more extroverted and pack like compared to other outcasts while sirens are more ambitious.
"Alright let's get to work I'm practically dying from hunger," Jack jokingly exaggerated.
"Wash your hands while I skin it, we'll eat soon," Elias replied, stoic as ever.
'Tear'
"Oh right on it,"
'Creak'
The sound of a faucet being turned brought Elias out of his thoughts, whatever the case was with Jack didn't matter, all he needed to do was take care of him...
"Alright I'm ready," Jack said.
"Did you use soap?" Elias asked.
"Yeah...what kind of person do you take me for,"
"The kind that doesn't use soap."
"..."
"In case you've forgotten I'm a werewolf. I can smell you from here, go do it again,"
"Tch...wolf bastard..."Jack muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Elias raised his eyebrow skeptically.
"I said work faster!" Jack declared before running off to rewash his hands.
'Yeah still just a kid...' Elias thought, a small smirk crept on his face.
"Enhanced hearing too kid..." he muttered before going back to work.
After cutting and storing the majority of the elk, he put a few pieces of steak to cook. Looking out into the woods, Elias noticed it would soon rain.
He spotted Jack using his tentacles to climb a tree, one of the only things a kid his age could do for fun in these woods. It wasn't a strange sight to see but Jack's increasing usage of his powers worried him.
20 minutes later the food was ready and Jack was called back. When he got there, he noticed Elias had a somber look on his face, deep in thought.
"Jack...we need to talk," he spoke slowly.
"About what," realizing the seriousness of the moment, Jack's earlier excitement vanished as he sat down.
"Now I just want you to listen," he said.
'Pelt' 'Pelt' 'Pelt'
By now the sun had set and the rain had started to pour heavily.
"Recently...you've been experimenting with your powers more often. I'm worried it'll make you more prone to 'hunger'. That you'll lose control," Elias started.
"That hasn't happened in a while I've gotten better control over it-""You've gotten used to it kid but that won't last forever."
'Pelt' 'Pelt' 'Pelt'
"But I have! If I didn't have any then how come nothing happened with the deer from earlier!" Jack rebuked.
It had been less than a year since anything had happened. The last time it happened was in the winter when the forest was hit some of the heaviest snow it's had in a while. The majority of animals in the area had either migrated or gone into hibernation and they were forced to ration what little food they had. Eventually they ran out and the hunger he had felt led him to lose control and run out in the snow. Somehow, he managed to find enough animals through several feet of snow and dirt to make it through the winter.
'Pelt' 'Pelt' 'Pelt'
"It was dead for hours do you think I'd bring back something spilling blood to tempt you?"
"...What"
'Pelt' 'Pelt' 'Pelt'
"Sigh...What I meant to say is-"
"Do you not trust me to control my own body..."
"Kid that's not what I meant and you know it"
"But you said it," Jack stated, "you think that I'm gonna lose it over some...blood?!"
The nature of the accusations reinforced the underlying idea that even by somebody he's known his entire new life, a man who taught him various skills and educated him, an outcast without a family just like him...viewed him as a monster...
Unable to handle this new revelation, Jack left. Fueled by the crushing weight of his emotions, for the first time in this life...all he wanted to do was run and hide.
Using the trees as cover, he ran ignoring the shouts from behind.
Soon he made it out of the trees and near the creek.
'Oh no!' Jack thought.
In a messy panic he quickly tried to retreat back into the covering embrace of the trees when he slipped on the recently formed mud falling headfirst into a tree.
'Thwack'
Knocked out with a concussion, Jack's body slowly rolled down into the rising currents of the creek as the heavy rain covered any tracks.
```````````````````````````````````````````````
Hey guys, SirNessle here! I just want to say I am NOT a writer so if I make mistakes that aren't just opinions feel free to share and give me tips. I also wanted to share my inspiration for writing this. It all started a few days ago when I watched season 2 of Wednesday and while it wasn't terrible I just didn't really like the way they completely changed the vibes of it so I ended up looking for a good Wednesday fanfic and I found "Wednesday: The Strongest Psychic" by Nathe07 and it just blew my mind, 10/10 phenomenal. Last but not if you like this scrappy writing attempt of mine, please comment nice things and gifs, it gives me the motivation to go on :D
It might take me a few chapters to get to the actual plot but I'll do a timeskip soon. Ill try to upload 2x a week if I can.