323 CHPT 323: The Day that Changed them Both, The Birth of Romulus and Remus..

"....They fight."

"[It's what they know. The hunt and the battle. That became their pattern. And the Hunters caught onto it, learning of how they stayed near Wild Rifts and Villages where they could have the high-ground. Every batch of Hunters that found them also found death. Causing stronger and stronger Hunters to take the challenge as their notoriety grew. And more blood spilled in greater quantities. This small mistake caused another group to take interest in the boys belonging to the Wolves. What do you think that interested party was?]"

"....Monsters. Intelligent one's if they only followed in the beginning."

"[Exactly. And this moment was their most pivotal. Something hitting harder on their psyche than any village massacre ever could.]"

"What was it?"

The flames had all but died, leaving black steaming logs with red-hot veiny embers running through it in their place. Allowing the cold that hovered around them to descend quickly.

"[Torture.]"

"Torture at ten years old.....what the fuck..."

"[They'd been captured for the first time. Stolen from their pack forcefully. But it wasn't by the humans....]"

"The Monsters.."

"[Indeed. Romulus never called them that though. He simply refereed to them as a powerful Warband.]"

"Then how do you know they're Monsters...?"

"[Because they weren't Humans. They were drawn by all the blood the boys had spilled-- all the human bodies left in their wake. There's only one Monster that could've tracked them so expertly and another smart enough to know when to attack.]"

Claude was completely lost, "You think it was more than one kind?"

"[I think it was many, because that night was the night that created their strongest ideals. Tell me Claude, what is the most common intelligent Monster in Islandia?]"

"...Snow Elves."

"[And what is known for it's incredible sense of smell and hunger for Human flesh that only grows after every meal?]"

"Orcs."

"[You see. Romulus was astounded by this Warband. Despite all their difference and communicative barriers, they had very strong similarities and cohesion. They bickered and planned.....joked and were closer to some and enemies with others.]"

"He noticed they were like humans..."

"[And, he noticed they could work together. They could mix.]" Arne replied, emphasizing the word mix in a way that made him think it was rather important.

"[It's safe to say Remus noticed the same thing-- but it settled in his mind as something else. He noticed their similarity and didn't think too kindly of it. To him, they were all the same. A threat, something in the way of what he loved to feel. Superiority. They were all the same. And he didn't like it, there was no room for wonder or curiosity for him. Just anger and trauma....and fear. It had come back in droves in those days spent being tortured I think. Do you see it now, this is what became the blueprint to the races they created, do you understand, Claude?]"

"Wha-- No? I'm so lost it's making my head hurt."

"[Claude, you must think!, please, I need you to understand. This night started everything. This was the night Romulus and Remus were born!]"

Claude's mind began working, thinking and trying to lay out the importance of everything in an urge to see what of it would help him understand if Ursula would be ok.

"Alright...as boys, Romulus and Remus had glaring differences. One was curious, eager to learn, brave, willfull-- even willing to try and understand things seeming foreign to him. The other was a bit more conservative....protective, paranoid, afraid. As they got older these things developed and changed. Remus found a cure to his fear and a taste for being at the apex. A taste for being superior. It quelled his fear that plagued him for years and brought him face to face with jealousy and anger in the wake of his brother separating from him to learn more...."

"[And then?]" Arne asked, eagerness coating his voice like a viscous liquid.

"They killed and killed until they were captured."

"[How did this affect them? They both had the same experience and spit out wildly differing results. Tell me what they were, Claude?]"

He was on the cusp of understanding, a word one needed to get behind Romulus's motives. "Remus...uhh...He became angrier-- stunned by how afraid he was again. In a way, everything he worked for was taken and he was back to square one. And as a result, he saw the Monsters and Humans as the same. He wanted to be with his pack again-- removing the threat they posed.]"

"[Yes! He was made an extremist that night. Maybe not right away, but he was set on that path on that night. A path to chase superiority and alienate himself from everything but the animals that raised him and hardened him into the man he'd become. But that isn't the focus of tonight, tell me of Romulus. Tell me.]"

Cold sweats ran down his arms and back as if a deeper part of his mind learned what Arne was telling him before he was aware, "Romulus was curious-- astonished by the Warband. By the way they could communicate and work in a group despite their differences...."

Claude exploded to his feet. He understood. "He understood...he understood the benefit of cohesion and the strength of mixing..."

"[Now. I want to ask you. What does the word Lupine mean?]"

"Wolf-Like...." Claude felt a shiver run through his entire body, he understood now, "Arne...what else are we like?"

A dozen mysteries solved themselves in the span of seconds.

Arne once told him the Lupines of Romulus were physically weaker than those of Remus but had massive potential in variation...VARIATION. It was so on the nose he practically felt it.

He also said after many Full Moons, they woke up with abilities that were complete mysteries to them-- becoming almost a game to them as they tried to learn where the abilities stemmed from. Could it be because they were abilities not descending from a Wolf?

Aeron's words flooded into his mind, "You smell of Wolf..Magic and many others...."

He found himself looking at Gil suddenly. It all made so much sense. The Hound was a Chimera...because he was as well....

"[You see. The Lupines of Remus called us Mongrels and Mutts for a very simple reason. It's because we are in the truest sense.]"

"....W-What does this mean for Ursula?"

"[You see, the Lupine Magic of Romulus is unique in a way the world may have never seen. The magic is almost sentient in the way it soaks into a newly changed and responds to every aspect of the newly changed. Their strengths, weaknesses, physical build, even mental and social make up. They all play a part, and that's how you were made as the illustrious Potential you are. Your Will and Determination. The Magic sensed it and built upon it.]"

"So what, the same thing happened to Ursula?"

"[Yes. I believe so. When the one being changed strays too far from what Romulus originally applied to his Lupines, the Magic adjusts. It's what he wanted. Variation. Unfortunately, it became a rarity due to our own fear of the unknown that quickly turned into outright prejudice...]"

"...Ya'll were racist? Arne what the fuck?"

"[You don't understand, Claude. The bulk of us were Nomads who'd already made a big adjustment in becoming Lupines. That became our lives. And then....these newly changed are born-- different not only in body but in mind. It scared many of us-- confused us. The Variants never survived long or left before anything could happen. We never had any in my pack-- but I heard stories, they were rarely good, and I don't know how much of it was skewed by personal bias now..... I'm completely out of my element as your Guide, Claude. I'm sorry for that, but this is something we'll largely have to figure out together.]"

Claude sighed in frustration, "So that's what you think she is? A Variant? What is that?" He asked while looking at Ursula.

"[Variants are Lupines just like the others. It would help to think of them like this. Out of all the placements and titles. There's High Alphas, Alphas, Potentials and Variants. Then there is the regular Lupines of course. The High Alphas are often at the apex of Lupine power, Alpha's not far behind and Potentials can be either, usually at a much younger age due to their Magical and Transformative Skill that comes to them naturally long before the average Lupine. Variants were so rare we often didn't see them in positions of power anywhere. But we knew of all the things us Lupines are mixed with, the Variants often favored something other than Wolf, giving them a slightly different appearance, set of strengths and even abilities.]"

"But, Ursula is still a Lupine. She is like me."

"[Yes. We'll know how much like you by tomorrow when she's awake.]"

"Ahh shit.." Claude said with a sigh as he plopped back down on the log. So much to consider, so much to question....it was like a mountain of possibilities had just slid over his concious in a landslide of information.

"[This is quite the task for your first as an Alpha.]"

"Stop saying that-- it's weird." He growled.

"[I've gotta give it to you though. You are now the most progressive Lupine Alpha I've met.]"

Claude laid against the log, similarly to Ursula as he peered up at the stars and tried to stop his heart from pounding out his chest while his mind fought to question what exactly he really was.

"Funny, Arne." He replied before beginning his hours long wait for Ursula to awaken and tell them what she was...what it meant. How it made her different yet the same.

The Lupines truly were a mystery....and nothing like any other Shape-Shifter he'd ever seen.....

"[Tomorrow should be....interesting.]"