Red as Blood
six
It is completely and utterly silent. You can hear a butterflies wings flap. Red stares at me, anger in his beautiful eyes. Such seething loathing it makes every part of my being feel like curling into a tiny ball and being swallowed up. When I speak my voice is embarrassingly high.
"What?" my mind is so numb with shock I can't even find a decent sentence. "What?" I repeat, less shaky and girly, but still obvious in my confusion.
"My father was a general in the Great War." He begins, standing and starting to pace. He looks devastated. "My mother couldn't tell him what she was. But she loved him so much that she didn't care. So long as they were together. Her family tried to take her back, but she escaped and came back to him. I didn't know anything until I was six, when I told her mother I could understand wolves. That I could hear them speaking. My grandmother had to explain it to me, while she lay on her deathbed. A secret I could never say." He shakes his head despairingly. "She believed that a clan known as The Wolves Of Cor were after her, and she made me promise never to let myself become a wolf. She said that our kin were known to go psychotic with bloodlust, more so than all other clans, and that is why the Cor Clan was trying to eradicate the family. To protect both wolf and human from us."
"I know the story." I sigh, and he looks at me in confusion. "Your mother would have been born into the Iuduhr clan, said to be the strongest of all wolf families to date, ruled by the most blood hungry wolf of them all. As for The Wolves of Cor, I know all about them. Cor was exiled from his own clan, but he formed a ruthless pack of exiles and savages. Before the Great war of Sunroe, clans would come together to protect the humans. But they didn't understand, and that is part of how the misunderstanding that caused the humans to fear us began."
"Why did you call it the Great war of Sunroe?" He asks, sitting back down besides me.
"Each side of the war has different names for it's battles. You call it the Great Wolf War, we call it the Great war of Sunroe, because this was once the territory of the Sunroe clan." I explain, calm like a teacher. Though I'm sure he can hear my heart thundering in my chest. "The woods surrounding Lochspell are known as the Crystal Woods, or Lasureul, and so the battle that ended the war is the Battle of Crystal Woods."
"The war never ended." He says, as surprised as I am. "That is why the hunters exist. I was told that the wolves aren't as active anymore because they are planning a greater attack. So we created the hunters to prepare us for the worst of the war."
"That's not possible." I shake my head. This is bigger news than him being a wolf. I look over to a dead body starting to smell near us and wrinkle my nose. "Why would they lie like that?"
"What are you talking about?" He questions.
"The war was ended with the signing of a treaty at the Falls of Lake Aqaexal." I answer, starting to pace. "The treaty stated that we wolves would live in peace in the forests, and the humans in the villages. On the nights of the blood moon, the humans were to put out their best livestock to feed the hungry wolves, protected in the houses th-"
"Okay as serious as this is, how would we be safe in the houses?" He cuts me off. "They are made of wood."
"Well they were supposed to be guarded or protected somehow." I shrug. "That part wasn't exactly decided. They were supposed to have a second meeting to discuss the details, but the humans broke the treaty by hunting us the day after the first treaty was signed."
"So I've been hunting innocents like some fucking monster, thinking I was some savior this entire time?" He sounds devastated. Betrayed.
"I'm sorry." I murmur into his hair, not even sure when I pulled him into my arms. "I never wanted to do this to you."
"I knew you were a wolf." He mutters against my chest. "When I first met you, I knew before I even walked over to you. I could smell the forest on your skin. The sweet smell of moss and wild flowers, the earth, the trees. Even the babbling brooks and the warm mist and stones. I guess I was being stupid, but I was angry because you were ignoring me, and I guess I let myself forget the dangers of the blood moon."
"And now you share my curse." I shift my stiff limbs and pull him closer. "It's easier to go through if you embrace it. You can shift whenever you want, but on nights of the full moon, especially the blood moon, we have no choice."
"Embrace it?" He shudders. "Want to know what it looks like from an outsiders view?"
I nod and he pulls out of my arms. His eyes are full of horrified reminiscence. "The first thing I noticed was the sounds of your bones breaking and bending. Then I saw the blood in your mouth, and the fangs tearing into your lips and cheeks. You pushed me away, and then you fell to your knees and I could see your bones moving under your skin. Your skin started ripping apart, like it was peeling apart, and then after it all was stripped off you were just a hairless wolf, all pale and white like the moon. Then your hair started sprouting out of your bare skin, and you finally stopped screaming in a human voice. Then you were fully turned, breathing heavy, and you turned to me and the way you looked at me was like you wanted to tear me apart with your teeth." He shivers. "How can I embrace something that looks so horribly painful?"
"There is no way to 'Cure' Lycanthropy." I stand and brush my naked body off. "Not for a born wolf like me, but for a bitten there is a myth about a cure. However your half breed status might cause it not to work."
"A cure." He looks so childishly hopeful I feel bad for getting his hopes up.
"It will take forever, so I sugest you embrace it while you have to suffer. After all, tomorrow is a blood moon, and it will be hell." I help him up. "Now I need to go find clothes, and you need to go group up with the other hunters."
"What?" my mind is so numb with shock I can't even find a decent sentence. "What?" I repeat, less shaky and girly, but still obvious in my confusion.
"My father was a general in the Great War." He begins, standing and starting to pace. He looks devastated. "My mother couldn't tell him what she was. But she loved him so much that she didn't care. So long as they were together. Her family tried to take her back, but she escaped and came back to him. I didn't know anything until I was six, when I told her mother I could understand wolves. That I could hear them speaking. My grandmother had to explain it to me, while she lay on her deathbed. A secret I could never say." He shakes his head despairingly. "She believed that a clan known as The Wolves Of Cor were after her, and she made me promise never to let myself become a wolf. She said that our kin were known to go psychotic with bloodlust, more so than all other clans, and that is why the Cor Clan was trying to eradicate the family. To protect both wolf and human from us."
"I know the story." I sigh, and he looks at me in confusion. "Your mother would have been born into the Iuduhr clan, said to be the strongest of all wolf families to date, ruled by the most blood hungry wolf of them all. As for The Wolves of Cor, I know all about them. Cor was exiled from his own clan, but he formed a ruthless pack of exiles and savages. Before the Great war of Sunroe, clans would come together to protect the humans. But they didn't understand, and that is part of how the misunderstanding that caused the humans to fear us began."
"Why did you call it the Great war of Sunroe?" He asks, sitting back down besides me.
"Each side of the war has different names for it's battles. You call it the Great Wolf War, we call it the Great war of Sunroe, because this was once the territory of the Sunroe clan." I explain, calm like a teacher. Though I'm sure he can hear my heart thundering in my chest. "The woods surrounding Lochspell are known as the Crystal Woods, or Lasureul, and so the battle that ended the war is the Battle of Crystal Woods."
"The war never ended." He says, as surprised as I am. "That is why the hunters exist. I was told that the wolves aren't as active anymore because they are planning a greater attack. So we created the hunters to prepare us for the worst of the war."
"That's not possible." I shake my head. This is bigger news than him being a wolf. I look over to a dead body starting to smell near us and wrinkle my nose. "Why would they lie like that?"
"What are you talking about?" He questions.
"The war was ended with the signing of a treaty at the Falls of Lake Aqaexal." I answer, starting to pace. "The treaty stated that we wolves would live in peace in the forests, and the humans in the villages. On the nights of the blood moon, the humans were to put out their best livestock to feed the hungry wolves, protected in the houses th-"
"Okay as serious as this is, how would we be safe in the houses?" He cuts me off. "They are made of wood."
"Well they were supposed to be guarded or protected somehow." I shrug. "That part wasn't exactly decided. They were supposed to have a second meeting to discuss the details, but the humans broke the treaty by hunting us the day after the first treaty was signed."
"So I've been hunting innocents like some fucking monster, thinking I was some savior this entire time?" He sounds devastated. Betrayed.
"I'm sorry." I murmur into his hair, not even sure when I pulled him into my arms. "I never wanted to do this to you."
"I knew you were a wolf." He mutters against my chest. "When I first met you, I knew before I even walked over to you. I could smell the forest on your skin. The sweet smell of moss and wild flowers, the earth, the trees. Even the babbling brooks and the warm mist and stones. I guess I was being stupid, but I was angry because you were ignoring me, and I guess I let myself forget the dangers of the blood moon."
"And now you share my curse." I shift my stiff limbs and pull him closer. "It's easier to go through if you embrace it. You can shift whenever you want, but on nights of the full moon, especially the blood moon, we have no choice."
"Embrace it?" He shudders. "Want to know what it looks like from an outsiders view?"
I nod and he pulls out of my arms. His eyes are full of horrified reminiscence. "The first thing I noticed was the sounds of your bones breaking and bending. Then I saw the blood in your mouth, and the fangs tearing into your lips and cheeks. You pushed me away, and then you fell to your knees and I could see your bones moving under your skin. Your skin started ripping apart, like it was peeling apart, and then after it all was stripped off you were just a hairless wolf, all pale and white like the moon. Then your hair started sprouting out of your bare skin, and you finally stopped screaming in a human voice. Then you were fully turned, breathing heavy, and you turned to me and the way you looked at me was like you wanted to tear me apart with your teeth." He shivers. "How can I embrace something that looks so horribly painful?"
"There is no way to 'Cure' Lycanthropy." I stand and brush my naked body off. "Not for a born wolf like me, but for a bitten there is a myth about a cure. However your half breed status might cause it not to work."
"A cure." He looks so childishly hopeful I feel bad for getting his hopes up.
"It will take forever, so I sugest you embrace it while you have to suffer. After all, tomorrow is a blood moon, and it will be hell." I help him up. "Now I need to go find clothes, and you need to go group up with the other hunters."