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Children of the Full Moon
Humans; they don’t see what lives in the forest any more. My story is odd, since you may think I don’t exist. Yeah I’m a werewolf, lycan, child of the full moon, whatever you want to call me I’m alive. I live with my tribe, and we travel a lot. Moving from place to place to avoid the hunters, humans who know we are alive. My best friend, Keith, well he has been a little odd lately. It maybe something about him being turned into one of us as a baby like the others think, but I don’t think it is. In truth, I saw him act a little, well crazy yesterday.
We were heading into the city to mess with the werewolves that live there. I mean they reject what they are, and try to live with the humans, eating that stuff that smells terrible. It happened so fast, I didn’t see the glint of silver, until the arrow hit my leg. I cried out, the wound burning terribly. You wouldn’t understand the pain that I was in, worse than burning your hand in a fire, and I felt my energy leaving me. I tried to pull out the arrow, the shine of the silver tip gleaming in the early sun. Keith took his spear out of the holder on his back, and went to attack the hunter. Calling him foul names, growling like the wolf inside us. I looked away, the wound bleeding fairly well. I know we heal fast, but silver keeps that from happening. I ripped a bit of the fabric off the bottom of my dress, and wrapped it around the wound until it could heal. I could smell blood being spilt, the metallic taste almost in my mouth. I know Keith was a fighter, we had practice fights often. I had a small pouch of daggers, a quiver of arrows and my bow on my back. I could have fought, but he jumped in. I looked over, the hunter’s brown eyes void of life, and Keith jumping around from a silver burn.
“Need some help that looks bad” I asked, standing up from the cool grass.
“That would be nice, damn hunter. He said that I was a puppy afraid of metal” he said, the anger still in his voice, but his eyes were soft to me. We started to head back to the tribe’s camp, I was still wondering about how he reacted. It was just so out there that I didn’t know what to think. When we got back to the camp, the elders were starting to tell the story of the Elder Wolves. It was my favorite, and I hurried over, for a split second the hunter forgotten as I was taken into the story. Keith sat next to me, it didn’t mean anything, and we were best friends. He didn’t show respect to the elders, and I did my best to remind him that they let him into the tribe when he was turned. Unlike him, I was born his way, never knowing what it was like to be human. The story was over to soon, and the spell that was woven through their words was broken. I stood up to go to my small tent that I slept in, my parents missing. Well that’s what I was told anyway. I think hunters got to them. I could take care of myself. I grabbed the wooden flute that I cherished, worn smooth from years of playing it. I made my way over to the fire, the shadows cast familiar. I sat where I had during the story, and started to play. The melody soft and haunting, a perfect song for the end of fall. It would snow soon, and we would have to move to another camp soon. Humans would see the smoke from the fire without the cover of trees. I looked over to Keith, his wolf like ears dropping. It had been a long day for the both of us. Tomorrow would be longer, the full moon was soon. I could feel it, we all could. The pull, feeling of being free, our true selves. We were wolves trapped in human like bodies, the ears and tails a reminder of what is inside us all. We couldn’t help but act like the wolves at times, more so than those city werewolves. I stopped playing, a smirk on my face.
“I win, well goodnight” I said, and stood up.
“Damnit Yuki” Keith mumbled. Yeah I know my name just doesn’t seem to fit, but in the tribe there is a mix of names. We have more than just American sounding, but that just depends on where we came from. I walked into my tent, and laid on the soft mat, pulling the blanket over me. Sleep came quickly, and before I knew it was morning.
