"Once Upon a Time"

"There once was a Lost Girl, whisked away from her home by a great gale of green wind. She followed a yellow-brick road, looking to find her way back home. Soon, she met The Good Witch, who told her that the only way to do so was to seek The Wise Wizard-"

Cuu looks to the storybook in his doctor's hands, seeing the girl from the story; dressed in green, with pair of shimmer ruby slippers, walking a yellow brick road.

"Where did she get the shoes?" He asks. "I remember that being important."

"Oh, that's right at the... oh, how did I miss that page." Dorothy says, pinching the bridge of her nose, then turning back a few pages. "They're stuck together? Why would they..."

A flicker of green fire flashes across the edge of the pages. Dorothy jumps back, looking around for something to extinguish the flame, only for it to vanish as swiftly as it appeared. The two pages leave each others embrace, revealing the missing segment of the story, as well as a slip of paper. A note.

"Check under the floorboard; third out from the door?" The Storyteller reads aloud. "Gran had better not be playing another prank on me..."

Cuu watches in confusion as she heads to the door out of the room, pressing down on the floorboards. A loud *creeeaaak* comes on the third press. Pulling on the wooden plank, the girl frees the floorboard with ease; her eyes going wide at what she finds.

"What the... but, I thought Grandpa's was burned..."

...

Dorothy pulls the old tome from its hiding place; the four-point star emblazoned on the front. Each point of the star was made of gemstones; the upper point being amethyst, the lower point being ruby, the left point being topaz, and the right point being sapphire. At the star's center, a radiant emerald shines with otherworldly beauty.

A Storyteller's Index.

"I thought it was destroyed with the town's Watchtower..." She said, quickly returning to her seat at the bedside; not even remembered Cuu was still present.

He quickly reminded her of that fact; asking. "What's in it?"

"If the stories my Gran told me are to be believed, it will hold the name of every Tale. Their origins. Their abilities. Their weaknesses..." Dorothy's curious soul once more overtakes her mind. "...I mean, a little peak wouldn't hurt; right?"

Cuu eyes the book with furrowed brow. "Maybe you shouldn't..."

She opens the tome to its first page, only to find it... blank.

"What? That's not right..." She ponders aloud, holding up the book to see if it was some sort of trick.

"Agh!" Cuu nearly fell from the bed, startled by something. "What is wrong with that book!?"

Dorothy tries to put down the Index to see what her patient was freaking out about, only for the book to remain exactly where she was holding it; floating in mid air, and utterly immovable. Rushing to the other side of the bed, Dorothy sees what had gotten Cuu into such a tizzy. The emerald at the center of the cover had begun to swerve and wriggle like an manic eye, with a glowing dot appearing upon its center. Its focus eventually falls exclusively on Cuu, at which point, a rainbow of colored light beams out, tracing his form.

Dorothy returns to the Index; still opened to the blank first page. Appearing from nothingness, mutli-colored ink began slogging down the pages. The liquid forms the image of an enormous wolf, howling to a blood-red moon on the left page; as well as a passage of text on the right.

The Wolf.

Stories: The Three Little Pigs. The Wolf and the Seven Children. The Boy who cried Wolf. Little Red Riding Hood. The Turning of the Page.

Allies: None.

Enemies: All Things.

Banes: Silver. Drowning. Burning. The Hood. The Hunter.

Boons: Unmatched Strength. Empowering Transformations. Storm-like Breath. Swift Regeneration. Heightened Immunity. Elevated Senses.

Details: The strength of The Wolf is tied to three things, moonlight, it's anger, and it's hunger. The more starved, and the more enraged, the more powerful The Wolf will be; this strength is then enhanced further by exposure to moonlight.

Inversely, the regenerative capabilities and immune system of The Wolf are reduced greatly by hunger, requiring a full stomach to begin replacing lost limbs or organs. Fire can greatly slow the effects of this regeneration, as can weapons made of silver.

Damage to the lungs will incapacitate The Wolf's powerful breath, and will cause attempts to use this power to be nearly-lethal to The Wolf. If submerged in water, The Wolf's powerful lungs will quickly suck in vast quantities of water; drowning it extremely quickly.

The heightened senses of The Wolf can be used against it, with loud noise, strong smells or tastes, and bright lights being useful tools to distract or disorientate it; the use of special soaps and perfumes to mask ones scent is also highly recommended.

How The Wolf chooses between its twelve recorded transformations is unknown; what is known, however, is that the Moon must be visible in order for these other forms to be taken. These transformations do not just effect The Wolf, but the Moon as well. If the moon has suddenly change it's phase, then The Wolf has transformed.

If the Moon has suddenly become some form of eclipse, then pray to The Author, and await your doom.

The ink settles at a lower half of the page, as if blocked by an invisible ****, with a single stream forming the words...

Origins: You are unworthy, Storyteller. Seek lesser Tales.

"Unworthy?" Dorothy says, puffing her cheeks. "Well, aren't you a sassy little bundle of paper."

"What does it say?" Cuu asks, straining his neck to try and get a peek at the other side of the book.

She looks cross at the poor man, closing the Index, and pushing The Wolf back onto his bed. "You had better stop moving so much; you're going to hurt yourself. As for the Index; it was blank. I think this one has never been used before. When it noticed you, it began writing your Tale's section in it's pages, but it refuses to fill in the Origins section."

"Didn't your Elder already tell you about me?" He asks incredulously, eyeing her cautiously once more. "How much more do you need to know?"

"I was just curious..." Remembering some of the passage, Dorothy looks to her patient. "Mister Cuu, what do I have to do to get you to eat of your own accord?"

The Wolf huffs, and puffs.

Dorothy gives a pleading, doe-eyed expression; getting an agitated growl from her patient.

"Fine, I'll eat... just, stop looking at me like that."