We were only small pups when we were orphaned, my brother and I. Our parents were killed when humans with guns came through the area where our pack had been. If Blue hadn't come across us that day, we would probably have stayed right there until we either starved, or those humans with the guns came back and killed us the same way they killed our Papa, Mama and the rest of our pack.
Our names are Nicko and Kire. We can disguise ourselves as humans by mentally cloaking our wolf forms. We are uncertain exactly how old we are, but in human form we appear to be seventeen or eighteen. As a human I stand about six foot-five inches tall, and have black hair and light grey eyes. As a wolf I have light grey fur and light grey eyes. My brother Kire stands six foot-three inches tall in human form, with blond hair and light grey eyes, and as a wolf he has light grey fur and light grey eyes.
After Blue found us and explained to us as kindly as possible that our Mama wasn't going to wake up and our Papa wasn't coming back either, he apologized for our loss and sent us on our way. We had no idea where we were going or how we were going to get there. We just set off heading north. When we came to villages many of the people would give us food, water, shelter, and clothing. Later on, as we got older, we had to steal instead, and sleep in caves or trees. Once we got older and our senses developed and became keener, we started to follow the scent of the lunar flower. In one village we came to, we heard a woman telling a story about the lunar flower that's scent would lead the wolves to paradise. We often traveled in wolf form, to keep from wearing out our clothes, since we never knew when, where, or if we would come to another village in which we could find, steal, or scavenge food and clothes.
We learned quickly how to take care of ourselves, and each other, and to trust only each other. Once during an unusually cold and vicious winter, Kire became sick with a high fever, and between worrying for him and trying to help him get better, I stopped eating. Every time I hunted, I brought back enough for both of us, but left it untouched so that he would have plenty to eat next time he awoke. The fever caused him to sleep most of the time. When the fever finally broke, he began shivering violently. I went to the nearest village just long enough to find blankets to keep him warm, and new clothes and shoes for both of us. Luckily, he was smaller than me, so when I outgrew my clothes I gave them to him, unless they were too worn out. I would do damn near anything to protect my brother and keep him happy and healthy.
Once he got better, I left him only for a short while so I could finally eat. Once I had my fill I took some back to him, then we set off again. The next summer we stopped by a river and went swimming, being littermates we were fine with each other's nudity, but we stole shorts from a nearby town just in case anyone came by while we were swimming. The current in one part of the river was stronger and faster than either of us thought, and I got swept away by it. The current knocked my feet out from under me, then I hit my head on a rock and got knocked unconscious. Kire is a stronger swimmer than I am, so he jumped in and dragged me to the shore. He pounded on my chest to get me to breathe, as soon as I got one good breath I turned on my side and coughed up a lot of water, then puked my guts up. As soon as I stopped throwing up and coughing, we went hunting then found a cave and went to sleep.
