Well, awoo again, everybody! Is it Werewolf Friday again already? How the time flies when I'm giving a week of updates. Unfortunately, today sees me coming down with another cold. I'm really getting tired of this. I cannot afford to get sick right now… Ah well. Hopefully, I'll be better tomorrow.
Anyway, enjoy!
In the hours following the battle, an oppressive silence filled the air, punctuated occasionally with a cry of either relief or horror. The dead lay on the frost-coated ground, the freezing air promising that they wouldn't start rotting just yet. The injured were gathered and tended to by both sides. The rest of the people of Vale, who had remained in the woods with a few Huntsmen and wolves, returned. Jaune's younger sisters rushed over, hugging him tightly while he urged them to go back to their house and not touch any werewolf blood.
Instinctively, people kept to their own. The humans and Faunus clustered together in the center of town, while the werewolves ended up near the border to the northern forest.
Pyrrha limped through the other werewolves, determined despite her numerous injuries to reassure every member of her newly-expanded pack. The starved, scared creatures that had followed Cinder eyed their new leader warily. Would they be punished for the attack? Would Pyrrha be an even crueler leader than Cinder or Adam? With what they had endured, they honestly couldn't be expected to trust anything.
Still, Pyrrha was determined to approach each one. She licked wounds, bowed her head respectfully to those who were standing over a fallen friend, touched noses with those who dared come near of their own volition, and encouraged her original pack members to do the same. She noticed Sun sitting near a male she remembered from Cinder's pack. He had been a playful adolescent when she had last seen him. Now, he looked hollow-eyed and tired.
She found Fennec crouched over his brother's body, eyes wide, ears twitching. She nuzzled his shoulder, whining softly at the loss of another packmate. She remembered that day when she had first granted the brothers mercy and accepted them into the pack. They had both come such a long way since then. She noticed Fox approaching, and left, allowing the blind wolf to comfort his friend while she saw to the others.
Jaune and Coco were picking their way through the werewolves, offering to heal any who allowed them to come close. Since the full moon was still out, the wolves wouldn't be capable of certain actions like stitching a deep gash, which required nimble hands. They got a few growls, and several snaps, but many of the werewolves were desperate enough to accept their help. They worked steadily, unconcerned with the blood. They both planned to be werewolves by the next full moon, after all. It didn't matter if they got anything in their wounds now.
At the edge of the human group nearest the werewolves, Winter tended to her sister. She had just finished cleaning and stitching the puncture in Weiss's side, on both sides. She's lost so much blood… During the battle, Winter had done everything she could to stop the flow of blood, but since Jacques's sword had gone straight through, there had been little to do in the heat of the moment except to press on both sides and pray.
Ruby had been very reluctant to leave her fiancé's side, but Winter had urged her to help Pyrrha mind the werewolves. The small alpha was now weaving through the exhausted pack, some of whom recognized her as the whelp Pyrrha had adopted back in spring.
She found her father crying over Mercury's body, Yang and Neo keeping a respectful distance. Emerald was nearby, her shoulders shaking, tears matting her dirty fur. Ruby approached the larger wolf, placing a gentle paw on her shoulder.
Emerald blinked dully at Ruby. She wanted to hate her. She wanted to hate every human, Faunus, werewolf, and Grimm in the world for what had happened. She wanted to hate anyone but Cinder, who she knew deserved her hatred more than anyone. She narrowed her eyes, but ended up breathing a resigned sigh and allowing the kind alpha to comfort her.
The mournful, quiet cloud was suddenly dissipated by a furious, tear-filled bellow. "CARDIN!" Hawk Winchester, just waking up from Qrow's blow, crawled over to his son's body, trembling as he ran his hands over the gashes, which were already clotting with cold, frozen blood. He touched the wounds frantically, as if his hands alone could heal them and allow his son to breathe again.
"My son…" Hawk's vision was blurred with tears as he stood up on shaky legs, a murderous scowl quickly replacing a trembling lip. "You monsters… You monsters killed my son!" Drawing his sword, he lunged toward the werewolves, only to be stopped by Ozpin, who clashed blades with him.
"Hawk, calm yourself!" Ozpin urged. "You're acting out of grief, and nothing good will come of it. Help tend to the wounded now. Remember, you're still an Elder. Cardin will be buried by the church, and we will figure out our future once we're done mourning. I am so sorry."
"Will you bury him alongside beasts?!" Hawk raged. "I will not make peace! We should strike now, while they're wounded!"
A few werewolves tensed, and bared their teeth. Pyrrha barked sharply at them, causing them to lower their heads.
"Hawk," Ozpin said, his eyes hard. "I'm warning you. I know you just suffered a great loss, but I will fight you myself if you try to hurt any living soul here, regardless of species."
Hawk sputtered. "You traitor! You'd really forgive them after this?!"
"I will," Ozpin replied. "I have to, because I know that we have wronged them just as much as they wronged us." He looked over his shoulder at Pyrrha, who had a smile on her muzzle. It was an odd sight for him still, but he realized that the wolf's fangs didn't disgust him so much now. "We will bury our dead, recover, and then discuss a future where we can all live peacefully, so that this will never happen again."
"This is the path to the Devil!" Hawk shouted desperately. "Complacency is-"
"Oh, will you shut up!" It was Winter who stood up, her sharp voice reaching far, catching everyone's attention. "What do you know of God and the Devil? What do any of us know, truly?" Seeing the eyes on her she composed herself before continuing.
"Here's what I know. When the Maidens softened the heart of God, he realized that he needed to be among his creations, and shined his light upon the world once more. Like God did so long ago, we must realize our mistake and join our brothers and sisters in his love once again."
Winter walked to the empty space of land between the werewolves and the people of Vale. "The Devil is, above all things, the Great Deceiver. To call us away from God, the Deceiver can weave lies that even a devoted priestess can believe."
She looked sadly at the werewolves, at their dejected faces and eyes that shined with emotion regardless of their form. "What better way to cause pain and suffering than to convince some of God's children that the people they share this blessed land with are enemies to be slaughtered like mere animals?"
She walked along the line of humans and Faunus. "Even today, the Faunus of this world suffer for being unlike humans. Look at Vale's Faunus District, abandoned to neglect and destruction!" She gestured toward the destroyed district with a scowl. "Are we truly so blind as to make the same mistake so many times? Will we throw ourselves into an endless, needless war against a people who are God's children just as much as we are?"
Winter held her hands out imploringly, one toward the people of Vale, one toward the pack. "Let this end today. As High Priestess of the Maidens, I extend my hand in friendship toward the werewolves of the Vale forest. Let tonight's bloodbath be the last!"
Pyrrha, unable to contain herself, let out a joyful bark that snapped through the air like a whip. The wolves closest to her jumped, staring up at her with wide eyes. She smiled at them before quickly weaving through the pack until she was at the edge. She approached Winter and held out her forepaw. Tears welled up in her eyes as the priestess clasped hands with her without hesitation.
Ozpin joined the two, waiting for Winter to step back before offering his own hand to Pyrrha. "Leader Pyrrha, I hope that we can work together toward a better future for all of us." He squeezed the larger hand gently, feeling the rough paw pads scratching his own palm. He turned toward the people of Vale. "Come. Those who are tending the injured, continue doing so. In the morning, we'll bury the dead and decide what to do next."
Pyrrha cleared her throat, scratching at the ground with her claws and giving Ozpin a significant look.
"Oh, are you offering to dig graves?"
Pyrrha nodded. It would honestly make more sense to do the digging while the wolves had their sharp claws.
Jaune strode over, glaring sternly at his future mate. "You aren't doing any digging right now! You've been walking all over the place, and those stitches won't hold if you keep it up!"
Pyrrha rolled her eyes and growled, shaking her head.
Jaune folded his arms. "I'm not backing down on this, Pyrrha. Go lie down, and let Ruby take over."
Pyrrha stared at him for a moment before letting out a huff, her shoulders slumping as she found a spot near the center of the pack to lie down. Ruby, obligingly, started ordering wolves to begin digging graves. She decided it was best to have the veteran members of Pyrrha's pack, such as Sun and Blake, helping with the Vale graves while the former Cinder and Adam wolves focused on burying their own.
Meanwhile, the wolves were exchanging stunned glances. Their leader was taking orders from a human? What did this mean? A few remembered Pyrrha talking about her human lover to Cinder. Was this him?
It didn't matter. Just then, it was time to tend to the injured and the dead. Enough wolves were left behind to watch the wounded. A few more were allowing Jaune and Coco to approach with their healing tools. The others either walked toward the woods or the church, where Vale's graveyard was.
Hawk drew his weapon, trying to block their path. "My son will not be buried by werewolves!"
"Hawk," Ozpin said, trying to keep his voice gentle despite his growing impatience. "Why don't you go sit down for a little while? Glynda, James, and I will oversee everything."
"James!" Hawk turned toward the scarred warrior imploringly. "Please! I'm sure you can see reason!"
James, however, was shaking his head. "We were wrong, Hawk. We must accept that, and act accordingly. Lower your weapon and let the werewolves pass."
Hawk did lower his weapon, his arm shaking and his eyelids twitching. "Traitors…all of you…" He stepped in front of Cardin when one of the Huntsmen approached the body to move it. "No! All of you are tainted by these monsters! Even the church isn't sacred anymore!" He looked around wildly. "My son will be buried on hallowed ground! I'm going to find it! And then, and then… I'll bring people back here to end this nonsense!" He picked up Cardin, his legs trembling, and started down the path toward the southern forest.
Glynda walked alongside him. "Hawk, you can't be serious! You're already weak, and you won't make it far carrying him. Between the weather, the wild animals, and the Grimm that'll be attracted to your grief, you'll die before you reach the next town!"
"Better to die pure than to live among demons!" Hawk wheezed.
"Please, just-"
"Glynda, if I put my son down now, it'll be to draw my sword," Hawk snapped. "Leave me." He stumbled out of Vale, down the path, and into the woods.
Ozpin placed a hand on Glynda's shoulder, his eyes clouded. "Some people simply cannot change."
"They can," Glynda said bitterly. "They just won't."
The werewolves spent their last nighttime hours digging in the frozen dirt and carrying the dead away. Taiyang offered to help take Mercury's body, but was gently denied by Emerald, who insisted on carrying her friend by herself. Fennec bore his brother in his arms for the last time, laying him down in a fresh grave before collapsing in the dirt, allowing his grief to bear him down.
When it was time to take Cinder away, Emerald lifted her up, trembling at how light the body felt. She looked at the mangled face of her beloved leader, which was hardly recognizable with its gouged eye, crushed skull, and blood-soaked fur. Oh, Cinder… she thought, her shoulders shaking. I'll remember you for who you used to be, even if everyone else turns you into a villain. I'll remember the one who saved my life and first accepted me. Always. No more tears fell down her face. She didn't have any more to shed.
So many humans had lost their lives, from Huntsmen to civilians and children who had remained behind. May's body was found among the several fallen Huntsmen. Joan comforted a mother who was holding the body of a boy of only five or so years.
It was just before dawn when the work was finished, and Pyrrha looked to her pack. Her heart heavy, she lifted her head and let out the first howl, beginning the song for the dead.
In the cemetery, where Ruby, Blake, Sun, and several others were, the wolves joined in the requiem. Light voices, deep voices, raspy voices, and choked voices all melded together as they had in Obsidian. Except this time, there were many more wolves and even more bodies.
Weiss forced herself to her feet, holding Winter's shoulder for support as her silvery howl twined with the others like a shining thread.
The werewolves howled for the dead, paws over fresh graves, tears falling for those of all species who would never see the coming sunrise.
When it was finished, the werewolves gathered their injured and went back into the forest. It was time to rest and prepare for the coming winter, as well as negotiations with their new allies. Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder at Jaune, who smiled encouragingly at her. She returned the smile, though a bit tiredly, and herded her pack toward the original denning area. Adam's old lands and the hill of bones would be properly destroyed later.
Jaune longed to follow her, but his place was in Vale. He needed to tend to the remaining wounded and prepare supplies to take to the werewolves in the morning. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see his father staring down at him.
"Looks like you did the impossible, son," Johann murmured, staring into the trees.
Jaune smiled hesitantly. "It wasn't just me."
"I know." Johann let out a long sigh. "So, I take it any grandchildren you give me will probably leave claw marks all over the furniture, huh?"
"Is that a problem?"
There was a pause before Johann slowly shook his head. "A problem? No. Something I'll have to get used to? Yes." He ruffled his son's hair. "But, you're my son, so I'll try my best. She seems like a nice girl. I hate to imagine what her temper's like, though."
"It's pretty scary," Jaune said with a proud grin. "Don't worry, though. She only uses it on people who deserve it."
Meanwhile, at the church, Winter was rummaging through her box of spare clothes and supplies behind the altars. She let out a sigh of relief when she found some extra cloth bandages, as well as some white gloves. After carefully cleaning her arms and hands, she wrapped and gloved them, then hurried to regain her composure, looking every bit the serene priestess.
People would be coming to church soon to pray, light candles for the dead, and to just take a moment and get their thoughts together. They didn't need to see their priestess's wounds. They didn't need to see that the same hands that had bloodied themselves on Weiss's wound without hesitation had several scratches and cuts of their own. They didn't need to know just then what Winter would become by the next full moon.
A werewolf priestess, she thought with a dry smile. She could have laughed at the irony of it, but she was just so used to ironic situations at this point.
The pack is certainly going to be much bigger by the time the next full moon hits. Winter's speech was something I jotted down a few weeks ago. Even though I'm an atheist, I was raised Catholic, and know how religion can be used as a powerful force for good and evil. I'm always happy to see it being used for good, since I know how strong a person's beliefs can be, and I do see a place for it in society, as long as everyone is free to practice what they believe without being persecuted and without persecuting others.
If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.
See you again on Sunday! Peace out!