Random Thoughts: Sorry not sorry for the wait. Had some projects and tests to do over the weekend and other days.
Random Thoughts: Btw, double check. Gauze was around in the 19th century so it checks out lel
...Day 50 since we left Lescatie. I and my brother have been traveling around the other Orderite territories, trying to find our aunts and uncles before those areas were corrupted. We didn't succeed, seeing that other factions of mamono had already turned them into demon realms, our cousins and elders missing in the orgy of activity. Eventually, we gave up and went back to where Calak used to live, his small house in the village to figure out what to do next. He lets me sleep beside him, which feels nice since he's pretty much the only family I have left...
I'm still transforming into a werewolf, so I found some books and did some research. That only kind of made me feel more scared for myself, so I just focused on trying to retain my mind. Before, I thought shaving the hair that was growing on my arms and legs would do something. That didn't work after my hand started forming into paws. I then tried cutting the hair on my butt that was growing into a tail, but then it got painful, so that too brought my mood down. You know, actually bring someone down and fucking them seems li- no! What am I writing!? Sigh...anyways, the only two things keeping me sane are Calak and writing in this book. The necklace helps too, but not as much. Until next time I guess...
Issia closed her journal and tucked it under the pillow, then went to go take a shower. Every time she wiped herself with her sponge, she felt different from every touch. The scrubbing of the sponge felt more sensitive, and softer against the hair on her lower arm and legs. She had to clean her still growing wolf ears and tail with her hands, as she couldn't get it right with the sponge. the same went for her chest, which was more sensitive than the ears and paws somehow. After that, she would brush her teeth and do her hair, just like right before she went to her Church school. The once yellow hair was now turning dark blue to match her fur, ears, and tail. She still put in a ponytail though, not planning to do anything else. When she brushed her teeth, she always ended up staring at her small wolf fangs. For some reason, that was the thing that stuck out the most to her. The worst part; the thing that confirmed that she was close to being what she grew up learning to fear with her life...
...and she hated it.
Despite her slow-growing urge to give in to being a mamono, she still hated it with every cell in her body. At least that was what she told her herself.
Crash! went the aged glass suddenly as it fell onto the sink, the pieces landing in bits and pieces. Issia's left half-paw had lines of blood from the glass scratching her deeply. She started sobbing for herself as footsteps ran up the stairs. A moment later, Calak was at the door, carrying Issia back to the bed then sleep in. They stayed in the bedroom, Calak cleaning and wrapping gauze around her paw while she nuzzled his neck beside him. His presence felt comforting to her, a safe haven from her inner battle and outside world. She walked with him downstairs, holding his hand as they went into the living room. Bella, Kali, and Mei were already gone, off to find something to do after hearing the glass from upstairs. Issia didn't mind. To her, that just meant they understood the implication. Calak and Mei had breakfast, talking and chatting just liked they used to, 7 years ago when they last were together, playing like the kids they were.
Liked we used too..., Issia thought about as they ate. How she longed to be 7 again and Calak 17. Maybe then, she could convince him to stay, or take her with him. They could enjoy more time together, more time to play...
"What's wrong Issy?" Calak asked, noticing the solemn look her face. "Why did you leave us Calak? I know you always wanted to be a blacksmith but...I missed you!" she suddenly yelled worked up, causing him to jump a little. She sat back down, continuing now calm again. "For seven years, I had friends and family, but I always felt slightly empty without you Calak. It was torture getting the letters. Then a year ago you told us the new Demon Lord was coming to your village to get you...I didn't sleep that night. I didn't sleep the next. I couldn't sleep at all until we got the next, saying that you were fine. Then you said that you found a wife, went on adventures, made clothing and tools for people all over...even then, I still wanted you to just come straight home. So I can play games and run around with you again," She finished, her ears dropping and her tail stopping its wag. "So I could be with my big brother again..."
Calak simply looked down, not sure of how to respond. He knew that his family missed him and feared losing him, but he didn't know how bad Issia felt...He suddenly stood up from his chair and moved it to where Issia was sitting and sat down beside her. Issia instantly went to sit on his lap, hugging and clutching his chest. "Would you like to come with me to my workshop? We could dust everything off," he suggested, Issia nodding and moving around until she was hanging on his back, her soft paws wrapped lightly around his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist. "Can you give me a piggyback ride there?" She asked, already in position to be carried on his back to his workshop. He nodded and got up, washing the bowls and cleaning the table before going out his door and walking toward his workshop. Once they got there, they started cleaning the story, wiping off the webs and dust that have accumulated in Calak's absence. Once that was done, he turned on the oven that heated his metalworking equipment and turned his wooden sign.
"Hey Issia, remember that letter about how I started going by Calice?"
"The one where you wanted us to call you that in case anyone came to ask us about you?"
He nodded. "My work isn't dangerous, but sometimes the enemies of my customers or people looking to take by force come through the door. So please call me Calice, if anything goes down, hide in the back-room and wait for me. Ok?"
"Yes Cala- I mean Calice," she said, sitting behind the counter and cash register. Almost immediately, a black harpy carrying a box came in, with twigs in her hair. "Hello again!" She said, her hair and feathers in a mess.
"Have you been hiding out in the trees again Melisa?" Calice chuckled, The harpy rubbing the back of her head and looking down. "I found out a day ago that you came back, so I kind of got excited, especially since I was starting to run low on belts to sell...hehe." She placed the box down on the counter and opened it, revealing a case full of gold, silver, and diamonds. Issia peered over, her eyes widening and looking back at Calice. Calice simply smiled, looking back at Melisa. "The usual?" he asked, her nodding and placing a bag of gold beside the box. Calice went into the back with the box to start making the jewelry. Melisa then turned to Issia, putting on a monocle. "So, you must be..."
"Issia." She answered nervously, not knowing if she is dangerous or not. "Hahaha! Nice name. I'm Melisa, as you might have guessed. Don't worry about me being a threat, I and Calice go way back," she reassured, patting Issia's hair with her wing. "In fact, even before became this, I was just a smarter-than-most large bird, getting him to purify some stuff for me. Can't hoard the best hoard if you don't have the best wealth, you know?"
The werewolf-to-be nodded, not completely understanding what she was talking about. The kept talking for a while until hearing the final ching of metal. The door then opened, revealing Calice holding a tray of necklaces, brackets, and other accessories. Some were made from demon enchanted material, some from regular material. All of them, however, had varying combinations and amounts of the gold, silver, and diamonds Melisa brought in, now crushed into bits and encrusted. "EEEEEEEEEE! It's been so long since I seen them glow from just being finished!" The harpy hugged Calice tightly, then arranged each one into her box. "Thank you Calice!" She then left, the bag of gold now his.
After Melisa, the usual crowd of his customers came. Humans wanting farming tools and wedding rings, a few Dark elves wanting enchanted whips, and others. Amazingly, a few Orderites came as well, surprising both Calice and Issia. "Hello craftsman and werewolf," the first knight greeted them as the sun was about to go down.
"Wait, werewolf?" He looked at Issia, who waved back. They both looked at Calice, worried about the other attacking themselves. "No worries, she won't bite. So what would you need that you come to a now-turned mamono village with nothing but two soldiers behind you?" Calice asked.
"We could say the same thing about why you are here, Lescatie native."
"How did you know I'm from there?"
The Orderite pointed to the necklace Issia was wearing, the Lescatie emblem in full view. "Anyways, we would like to request a few dozen things, if you have time."
"I do. I was about to close shop anyways, so you are my last customers," Calice commented as he took the list and went to work, using the purified metals that the knights brought to make swords, shields, and the like. Issia stayed close to Calice, watching over his shoulder. At first, she just didn't want to be in the same room with the knights, but then fell under the aura's effect, watching him with fascination. In about an hour, Calice has finished filling the order, making a pulley cart and placing the armor and weapons in it. The Knights paid him a yellow box and left, getting the attention of mamono as they walked out of the village. The mamono staring then looked at Calice, who simply shrugged.
"You made the weapons?" a Jorou-Gumo said.
nod.
"Are you trying to help them?" A Raiju yelled.
shrug. "You all should know my type of customers by now. Come on Issia we're going home." With that, he turned the sign to closed and put out the firelight light lighting the workshop. Issia jumped on his back, resting her head on his neck as he walked home with the box. "So what's in the box?" She asked as they walked into the house, Bella, Kali, and Mei sleeping on the rug. He put the box down on the table and sat in the chair as he opened it. She sat beside him, wondering what he got. He opened it and pulled out a knife, made of purified gold and copper, and having the emblem stitched into the hilt and a yellow handle. "Woah, this must have taken some skill," he said, turning it and looking at it from every angle. "Would you like to hold it, Issy? Issy?" He looked around to see her hiding in the closet. "That weapon feels weird...like I'm not supposed to touch...it..."
Realizing what she just said after a moment, her mood suddenly dropped. "I'm really am turning into a werewolf. I...I'm a monster...a fucking monster...literally!" She ran upstairs, crying again and flopping onto the bed, hiding under the blanket. Calice soon followed, gently sitting beside the crying lump on his bed. He knocked on it twice as if it was a door. "Knock Knock"
A pause, then a sniffle, "W-who's there?"
"My sister, no matter what she is," he tested.
"You don't get it Calak! All my life I was taught that monsters were bad. When the new Demon Lord thing-person appeared, we were taught that sex and mamono were bad. Every month, they would check us to make sure we weren't tainted with corruption. All this to make us remember that mamono are bad, and it couldn't save me from werewolves sneaking in, and doing bad stuff to me while scratching me with their claws!" She paused, crying a little and uncovering herself from the blanket, laying her head in Calak's lap.
"I don't want to be a werewolf Calak. Please, I don't want to-" She was cut off by him sticking his pointer finger in her mouth, and she calmed down and started sucking. "You know, if I learned something from my job, is that constantly stressing about a problem twice in a day won't solve it, and some problems just can't be solved, no matter how hard you try," he said, remembering when he first saw the Village being corrupted after the Demon Lord's visit. "Sometimes, you have to learn to make the best of it. I know that isn't reassuring, but it's the best advice I have."
She didn't say anything, still sucking on the finger until taking it out of her mouth, a dangling string of saliva connecting her mouth and his finger. She stared at it, then got up and laid on the other side of the bed, not saying a word. Calak turned off the lamp light and pulled the blanket over them in the bed trying to say something else, but she simply turned over, facing out the window. Calak got the message and faced the other way, eventually drifting off to sleep. Issia was still awake, however, turning back and climbing on the sleeping brother, sitting on his chest while looking at his crotch. "Make the best of it..." she whispered to herself as she yawned and used his body as a bed, falling asleep to his still comforting touch.
