volume twenty two — animal!lock

hello everyone!

it's gwyn here, with the twenty-

second volume of the empty

hearse!   this   edition's theme

is, as you might have already

noticed, animal!lock.                 

the idea for this volume was to

do   something   sherlock   and

animal themed, to see all the

different takes on   this   topic,

keep on scrolling!                       

:small_orange_diamond:

ᴛᴀʙʟᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛꜱ

story one

artwork

story two

edits

story three

ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴏɴᴇ

The first time that John Watson went sailing by himself, he encountered something wondrous. “Marvelous, earth-shattering, the most gorgeous thing I have ever laid my eyes on,” he would say to anyone who would listen. Which really wasn’t a lot of people, to tell the truth.

Well, would you listen to a man who claims to have seen a merman? No, I didn’t think so.

John, well, he knows what he saw that day. And the days after that. Turns out mermen are quite talkative, if they meet the right people.

But let’s not continue this tale from the end. Let’s start at the very beginning, shall we?

It was a normal Friday morning for John, and he decided that he had enough practice with sailing to go out on the water by himself. He checked and double checked everything, then triple checked it just to be safe. When he was sure everything was in its proper place, he started sailing, pleased that he was out on the water by himself.

It was beautiful, so he sailed for hours and hours, enjoying the fierce breeze and the salty spray of water against his cheeks. He didn’t notice the darkness creeping in until it was looming above him, and at the point, he realized he couldn’t see well enough to get home. Instead of panicking, he shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the boat, staring out over the waves with the little bit of light that he had left. He had been in worse situations, he reasoned, he would just wait out the night.

Five minutes later, he ed that he had a large flashlight with full batteries stored somewhere on the ship. With a little bit of difficulty, he found it and shoved it haphazardly into his jacket pocket. ‘Blankets’, he thought to himself, squinting his eyes to try to see better. ‘It’s going to get cold, I’ll need something to cover up with’. As he ran his eyes over the deck of the boat a few times, he saw the smallest bit of movement in his peripheral vision. Leaning over the railing of the boat, he squinted at the water, but could make no shapes out. Grabbing the flashlight from his pocket, he turned it on and shined it on the water. What he saw took his breath away.

All he could see was a head, but it was evident the creature it belonged to was not entirely human. It had dark eyes that were almost completely black, and there were some dark blue scales on his face that glimmered when the light of the flashlight hit them. The creature opened his mouth slightly, and John gasped when caught a glimpse of long fangs. Lifting a hand, the creature gestured for John to follow it. John wouldn’t have been able to ignore it if he tried.

He followed it closely, but not so close that he could hit it on accident. Occasionally, he would catch a glimpse of a dark blue tail fin breaking through the top of the water, and he would smile to himself. A merman, eh Watson? Lucky you, he would think.

When he saw the dock, he almost didn’t want to go back to it. He wanted to stare at this creature for so long, to be allowed to gaze at its beauty for as long as he desired. It was selfish, yes, but those high cheekbones and that beautiful cupids bow enraptured him. He was lost, and could only find himself staring into those deep eyes.

When he got off the boat, he shined the flashlight into the water once more, and found the creature seemingly waiting for him. John smiled, tied the boat to the dock, and crouched down to look the merman in the eyes.

“I don’t know if you can understand me,” he said softly, “but thank you for helping me get home. Your beauty is ethereal and I fear I could stare at you forever without getting tired of your features.” The merman smiled back at him, just a cocky tilt of the lips, and John could feel himself getting pulled in deeper.

“My name is Sherlock Holmes,” he said in a lilting, beautiful voice. “I think I would enjoy your company tomorrow, in a small cave just a little ways away from where I found you today. Would you be amenable?” John grinned and nodded. Sherlock nodded back before licking his lips and swimming away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, my magnificent angel,” John called out, which earned him a beautiful arched jump in the air from Sherlock. John, still grinning, headed home.

‘No one will believe me’, he thought as he laid down to sleep that night. Oh, but what did it matter? That just meant more Sherlock for him.

– sceibbles

ᴀʀᴛᴡᴏʀᴋ

ginny

! mild language warning for this piece !

moriarty gives sherlock a drug that turns people into their respective inner animals or something (i’m taking liberties here, okay?). john needs a break. also i don’t know how to draw otters, lots of references used for that little head.

raven

jimmy

molly as a dolphin with a tux and a smol flower because why not :)

ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴛᴡᴏ

this story is a little longer,

to read it, click the link!   

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AD9JanKn-Mc96fk6AqUJcmtQphtWykqS2gNEqUHGPgY/edit?usp=sharing

synopsis:

after an assassination attempt and an experiment gone wrong, Jim ends up in a cat's body and his first reflex is to hide in 221B Baker street.

–lyrae

ᴇᴅɪᴛꜱ

consulting detective

ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

John bent over to pet the fur that covered the fox standing by his side. Ever since he could , the fox had been there, always with him. His calculating eyes scanning everything that they encountered, as if it could be a threat for John. Other times, the fox woke him up from screaming and explosion ridden nightmares, and nuzzled by his side to serve as an anchor for John to fight through his panic attacks.

The fox was like a part of him, John didn't know what he'd do if the animal disappeared.

The sly animal had been there to wipe his tears with his tongue in his childhood, he'd been there helping John through college, he'd been there with him in the pits of hell, in Afghanistan, and he'd been there at the aftermath, when John's leg buckled under his weight and the pain in his shoulder became too much.

But John knew the animal wasn't a part of him, it was a part of someone else, someone who the doctor had yet to meet, someone who would become incredibly close to him. Many people called them soulmates.

So yes, he lived with a part of his soulmate's soul, that had taken animal form, and was to him when the actual person couldn't.

―

The fox had been acting weird all day. Not uneasy, John knew how to distinguish the animal's feelings, but… impatient.

It was driving him insane.

He wished the fox could talk.

He wished that pretty often.

However, he tried to pay no attention to the fox's antics as he limped uncomfortably through the square.

When he greeted Mike, the fox sniffed the man's foot, and it seemed to deem him no source of danger, for he stared right into John's eyes, with boredom painted all over his.

John of course couldn't see Mike's companion, they were invisible to everyone except those who they had to protect. But as far as he knew it was a small rodent.

When John entered the lab with Mike, the fox ran over to the man bending over the table. John didn't bother, as it was usual, but was completely shocked when the tall, black haired man spotted the red fur, eyes wide. Seconds after the man, whose name was Sherlock, as John came to know afterwards, struggled against a small animal that tried to escape his grasp. The tiny form finally broke free, and ran over to John, climbing on John's extended palm. A hedgehog.

John looked up, to find a pair of blue eyes as surprised as his, staring at him. Blue like his fox's eyes.

Yeah, this is also a soulmate AU, I couldn't resist. What can I say, those are my jam.

I know this is a bit rushed, but I'm having a huge writer's block, so yeah, sorry.

This was deeply inspired by a fic called A Souls Best Friend, by the SuperHeroTiger. It's from another fandom, but if you want, go check it out!

–gwyn

:small_orange_diamond:

well, that was all for this edition!

i hope you enjoyed, take care,

and see you on the next volume!