There's actually one part of the legend I left out – the ritual. But I'll get to that in good time.
The morning after I became a werewolf, I woke up feeling perfectly normal at first. I was in the bed of the hotel room I'd taken, I was human again and I had my own clothes on.
It wasn't until I decided to get up and have a wash I noticed the scars still remained on my wrists. They looked like they'd had plenty of time to heal, leaving only that slightly discoloured skin and a dark line across each. I tugged down my gloves to cover them. I didn't want anyone else to see them – as far as Kairi and the others knew, I hadn't gone anywhere last night. It probably wasn't a good idea for them to find out what I was, and I was fairly sure that like the locals, I wouldn't be allowed to tell them. They were the outsiders now, I wasn't.
There was a knock at the door as I was planning to leave. It turned out to be the receptionist for the day.
"Sora," she greeted me. "The chief wishes to see you."
"I'll be along in a moment. My friends..."
"Are entirely unaware of the events of last night," she confirmed for me. I learned in that instant that even in our human form, werewolves can still communicate a great deal just by body language. A few other parts of the wolf form carry over, such as a slight boost to the senses. At this time though, it was hard for me to notice it. I was still only a puppy in my wolf form, so they didn't have much effect on my own human one.
Goofy was already up when I came down into the lobby of the hotel.
"Sora! Feeling better?"
"Of course I am. I had a good rest."
"That's good. Donald said he heard something last night like someone trying to leave. Did you hear it?" Of course I had. I'd caused it.
"Come on, me? I can sleep through anything. Are you sure he wasn't just hearing things?"
"You can ask him yourself if he finally gets up again."
"Yeah, I will in a bit. Their chief wants to talk to me again."
"Maybe he'll tell you something useful this time."
It was still fairly early in the morning, not a time I'm usually up at. Some few residents were going about their business, and a few stores had opened early.
The chief wasn't outside when I reached his house, but he was apparently up, answering the door when I knocked. He stared at me bleary eyed for a few moments, then invited me in.
There was very little furniture in his house. A bed, a set of shelves, two cupboards and a place to cook.
"I wasn't expecting you for a while yet," he said in that quiet voice everyone seems to use in the early hours. He picked a bit of floor and a bowl he'd apparently left nearby.
"I'm not normally up this early either. You wanted to talk?"
"Mm. You know of course, who I am."
"Our pack-leader."
He nodded, "What did you learn about us last night?"
"You told me about our history, how we believe everything came to be, how we were created, and confirmed that the mortal enemy are vampire-kind. The wolf who guided me around explained the order in which hunted food is taken and that I have to be able to join in the hunt before I can lay claim to being an adult, and gaining a wolf-name. I think that's all."
"Not bad. Only one mistake. You have to make your first kill in the hunt before I can give you your name, and when you get your name you become an adult."
"I... have to kill someone."
"Oh, no. Not someone. Just something worth hunting. That forest of ours is practically overrun with good hunting game. Hunting other people hasn't been done for a long time."
"I guess that's a bit better."
"Now, tell me something you have yet to learn."
"How to change form when I want?"
He laughed knowingly, "Every new werewolf says the same. Well, the ones brought in like you, anyway."
"There's other kinds?"
"Only one. The kind that are born into it. But there's some slightly different circumstances when it comes to them. Do you know why I didn't show you how to change form last night? Or why no one would have taught you, had you asked?"
"Something to do with the moon, right?"
"You're quick, I'll give you that. You're right, it was Luna. She's the source of power that allows us to keep on doing these things. We honour her every time she reaches her peak, and in exchange she lets us continue to be what we are."
"I didn't get the chance to do that..."
"Well, no. Firstly, you were still unconscious at the time, and secondly, I have to pick only certain members of our pack to participate."
"I can't do it because I'm not an adult, right?"
"That's one of the reasons, yes. But we're getting a bit off topic. When Luna is at her peak, every werewolf is forced to take on either of their alternate forms until she sets again. You'd be right in thinking that only adults can shift to the hybrid form as well."
"So even if someone had taught me how to do it, I wouldn't have been able to leave my wolf form, would I?"
"No. But now she has set and a new day has broken, you can at least learn to assume your wolf form at will."
"Can I try and figure it out for myself?"
"Of course. But be careful, Sora – you won't be able to speak any human language while you are a wolf, and the lupine language cannot be spoken by any human tongue."
"You could just change to a wolf and talk me through changing back if I get stuck."
He sat for a few moments, then said, "It's early, and I haven't been up long, so I'll give you that one. This time."
I gave him a grin, then gave it a try. It turned out to be as simple as willing myself to change form.
As I changed, several other things changed too. My clothes all just disappeared – where they went is anyone's guess. Then there was the change in perspective. As a wolf puppy, I was a lot closer to the floor than normal.
Lastly, my wolven side kicked in, giving me a profound change in the way I thought. I was now as much a wolf as I had been the night before.
"Not bad," he commented. "It looks like you've got a knack for this. Most werewolves don't manage that on their first try. Why don't you change back, and we'll move on."
I was almost reluctant to change back. It was a chilly morning, and my fur was nice and thick.
"So what now?" I asked him once back to my human form again.
"That's up to you, Sora. What do you think you have left to learn?"
I thought for a bit, but came up with only one question.
"Our grounds. Why are they called sacred grounds?"
He didn't answer at first, seeming to consider his answer carefully.
"Understand that I don't tell you this lightly," he said gravely. "Ordinarily, only a pack-leader and the Kamaz – the champion of all werewolves – may know this."
"Go on."
"Originally, we only honoured Luna on the nights of the full moon. At the same time though, we were losing to our enemy. We could destroy them, but it took several werewolves to do so and was not easy."
"What happened then?"
"We turned to our heritage – our wolven heritage. Though it isn't easily apparently, wolves have a god of their own that they honour. Wolves can tell werewolves from their own kind though – they don't like us, but as long as we don't interfere with them, they leave us alone. At the time though, the then-current Kamaz visited them and asked them for their advice."
"They told you to turn to their god, didn't they?"
"Not in so many words. They told us how to ask him for his aid. He would either respond, or he would not. We didn't get any response to our requests for a long time. That finally changed where on what is now our grounds, a werewolf pack came to the aid of a wolf pack that lay under attack from humans being manipulated by our enemy."
"Maybe he was like them? Suspicious of us until we proved ourselves?"
"That's an interesting view on it. It's quite possibly true, but I can't say for sure. As far as we know, their god spoke with Kamaz and finally agreed to take us on as his own as well. Through him, he passed on to us the knowledge we needed to turn the tables on them. Since then, we honour him at the ritual as well."
"It's not like a religion then, is it? He helped us and watches over us, and we pay our respects to him for doing that, and that's all really."
"Hardly all, but you're young. I can't tell you all yet."
"I guessed so."
There was a knock at the door. Without actually saying anything, he invited whoever it was to join us.
It turned out to be a young boy, only small. He had untidy hair like mine but in black, and seemed to prefer going around barefoot, wearing only a light shirt and shorts despite the cold morning.
"Pack-leader," he nodded respectfully to the chief. "May I speak?"
"You're human at the moment, Alex. You don't need to ask."
He shook his head ruefully, "I'm not used to it. I wondered how he was doing." He meant me. I had a suspicion I knew who he was.
"For someone new, he's adept at picking it up quickly."
Now, you might think it rude they were talking about me while I sat there with them, but both Kieran – the chief, that is – and Alex were born werewolves, and their wolven side tends to assert itself more even in their human form. To them, I was the youngest and so I was meant to watch, listen and learn – not speak out.
"I wondered if I might go with him again," he told the chief. "To continue helping him learn more about us, and guide him in adjusting." Now I was almost certain I knew who he was.
The chief nodded, giving his consent and added, "Don't leave town without telling someone though. I don't need to remind you we need him."
"I will protect him," he promised.
Once outside, curiosity got the better of me. I had to figure out if I was right.
"You're the wolf last night that acted as my guide, right?"
"You remember me? I didn't think you'd figure it out."
"Only because you're... well..."
"Young as a human, but older as a wolf?"
"Yeah."
"I was born a werewolf, but in human-form," he explained. "I've gone through the right of passage, which makes me an adult in my wolf form, but because I was born in human-form, this form shows me for how old I really am. If I'd been born in wolf-form, then I'd be an adult when I was human too."
"I think I get it now. Doesn't it bother you though?"
"What do you mean?"
"Being an adult wolf, but a human child?"
"This town is also our pack. Everyone knows about it. I'm treated as an adult, because in the eyes of the pack, I am an adult. Only when there's outsiders around do I have to act like a human child."
"Then what did you mean by 'not used to it' when you were talking with the chief?"
"I spend most of my time as a wolf," he shrugged. "So I have trouble understanding more human concepts. I don't really try to learn them anyway."
Alex showed me to the edge of town as we talked, then we skirted it's edge in a kind of patrol. It was hardly necessary. Anyone who came here would be seen coming.
He kept me between him and the town, ensuring that anything that did attack would have to go through him to reach me. It seemed a bit strange, a small boy protecting me. Normally I'm the one protecting others.
Then something caught my nose. It was a strange scent, it somehow smelled distinctly red, and tasted faintly tinny. Somehow familiar, but I knew I'd never smelled it before.
Alex stopped and watched curiously while I tried to figure out what it was. I slipped back into being a wolf to try to get it better, but all I got was a stronger scent.
Forgetting I was a wolf, I silently asked him what he thought it was. He sniffed at the air once, then took on a harsh, bleak expression that didn't look right on his face.
"Them," was all he said, with obvious contempt.