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Kai's POV:
Backstory
I'm starting to grow used to Luna. I don't like the place, no amount of time spent here will make me like it, but I'm not on the brink of hyperventilating anymore, so I guess that's something. But just because I'm not worrying about Luna (as much) doesn't mean I've stopped worrying altogether. Especially when my guide and only source of information about this place can't seem to stay in one shape.
Wolf and I have been wandering around the village for about an hour now, just waiting for curfew so there's less of a chance that any soldiers will notice us. And in that hour, Wolf's face turned into a muzzle, he suddenly grew a tail, his hands turned really big and clawed and his teeth grew into fangs, to name a few incidents. And don't get me started on the fact that his limbs don't want to stay in their sockets for some reason. I've lost count of the times we'd just be standing in the shadows, hoping no-one will notice us, when all of a sudden, pop! Wolf's arm dislocated! I'm getting really tired of helping him shove the wayward limbs back into their sockets. I've asked him about it a few times, but he just shrugs it off, says that it's probably because he went so long without shape-shifting, and carries on like nothing happened. Until another limb dislocates again, like right now.
"Would it help if you turned into a wolf?" I ask as he shoves his knee back into place with an annoyed growl. "You know, since this is happening because you haven't shape-shifted for such a long time and judging by the fact that your arms and legs can't even stay in their designated places on your body, your skeleton really wants to be a different shape."
"Won't work." He says simply as he gingerly tests his leg, "I'll be stable for a while, but then my body will just keep trying to shift into human form."
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "Well, maybe you could just keep your shape in constant flux. Will that make this stop?"
Wolf shakes his head. "I don't think so. And even if it did, I wouldn't risk it. It's unusual for a werewolf to be constantly shifting forms. Well, it's unusual for a werewolf older than six."
I huff and shake my head in mock frustration. "Of all the werewolves I had to get stuck with, it had to be the nineteen-year-old who already looks like they're in their early twenties.
Wolf cocked his head to one side, frowning with confusion. "Sorry?"
"I was making a joke."
"Oh."
I look up at the sky, though pure darkness is probably the more accurate term. "How much longer until we can leave? I still don't get how you can tell time here without day and night."
Wolf shrugged. "There are clocks stationed around each village, but I think most people just rely on their hunches. You manage to get a pretty strong indication of how much time has passed after a few years."
I forcefully shove the idea that I could end up staying in this God-forsaken place for years to the back of my mind. "Do you still have that inner clock?"
"I'm guessing we've got… maybe half an hour?" Wolf ventures hesitantly, "I've gotten pretty used to using watches and stuff since coming to Earth, so my sense of time might be a little off."
"I'm willing to bet it's better than what I've got though, so we'll go with half an hour. In the meantime, we should really start thinking about a way to get back to Earth."
"Do you actually have an idea on how to get back? Because I'm running a blank." Wolf says.
"Well, how did you end up on Earth in the first place?" I ask, "That should give us an idea ln how to get back."
"I seriously doubt it will help."
"You never know, it might. And so far, it's the best indication we have on how to get to Earth since I have no idea how we wound up here."
Wolf sighed. "I guess I can't argue with that. My family was staying over at the Royal Palace for the night. I guess the Queen was trying to make herself look like a friend to the werewolves or something. Anyway, my younger brother, Ran woke me up in the middle of the night to go exploring."
"You have a brother?" I blurt out.
Wolf nods, his normally bright eyes dimming with sadness. "I didn't really want to go with Ran. I thought that we might get in trouble for snooping around. But I was also curious to find out what the palace was like. I'd never seen anywhere like it. It was just so… big. And comfortable. And bright. So we went exploring. At first, it was fun. Quickly hiding from guards on patrol who pretended they didn't know we were there, scaring the night servants, raiding the kitchens, just typical kid stuff. Then we found the science labs. And some idiot had left the door open."
"And you went inside?" I guess.
Wolf gives a heavy sigh and nods. "This time, Ran didn't even wait to see if I would go with him, and I couldn't just let him go in there alone. So we poked around the labs, Ran still acting like it's all a game and me desperately trying to convince him otherwise. Eventually, we came across this room. It had a giant machine inside. I remember it looked like a really big glass ball. It was humming. And it had a weird glow in the middle of it. By then I'd just about had my fill of the castle and was ready to go back to bed. The labs were freaking me out, and that globe thing was downright terrifying, to me at least. But Ran was either much braver or much crazier than I was, because he then went about "getting a closer look". And by getting a closer look, I mean pressing all the buttons on the many control consoles around the globe."
I raise an eyebrow. "How old was your brother at this time?"
"Eleven."
"Okay, if he was five, I could blame that on youthful enthusiasm and curiosity, but at eleven, that's just stupidity."
"Well, he didn't exactly have much of an education. We were taught how to read, write, and very basic math, but we knew next to nothing about science. He was probably just curious about all the buttons."
I raise a sceptical eyebrow but say nothing. After all, Ran is Wolf's brother not mine. He probably knows him better. Still, I can't shake the feeling that an eleven-year-old impulsively pushing buttons in a science lab with a big, humming, glowing machine seems a little strange.
"Eventually, the globe started humming really, really loudly." Wolf continues, "I remember feeling surprised that my ears weren't bleeding. And the glow that used to be just in the centre of the globe was growing to fill the whole thing. It was shaking as well, and the consoles were sparking. When that happened, it was too much even for Ran. He bolted for the door and closed it before I could get out. I tried to reopen it, but I guess it had an automatic lock or something, and I couldn't get out. I yelled for Ran to try opening it from his end, but he must've kept running after he closed the door and didn't hear me. All I could do was hide behind one of the consoles as the globe kept growing brighter and brighter, and the humming grew louder." He frowns, "I – I think I must have blacked out, or something along those lines. Everything afterward was just a mess of colour and sound. When I came to my senses, I was in Earth."
"So… you ended up in Earth because your brother locked you in a room, after activating a mysterious machine, and didn't come back to help you?" I ask.
Wolf glares at me. "Ran was just a kid, how was he to know that thing would send me to another dimension? Or that the door would lock automatically after closing it?"
"How could he not notice that his brother wasn't with him as her ran away?" I retort.
"He probably thought I was right behind him."
I sigh. "I'm just saying, it seems a little weird."
Wolf raises an eyebrow at me. "Kai, this place has werewolves, vampires, fairies and elves, which everyone in your dimension thinks are just creatures from fairy tales, horror stories and romance novels. Everything here is weird by your standards."
That's definitely not what I meant, and Wolf knows it. But before I can argue further, wretched, high-pitched helpless cries ring through the cool air, making any words that I might say die on my tongue.
A/N: And this is how Wolf came to Earth.
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