10

Falling, falling…

Is this truly how things happened, or is your mind playing tricks on you, trying to make sense of its peril and projecting soft outlines of better times as you descend through the air in a helpless free fall? A recollection of a face looks at you through the blackness, concerned eyes blinking before vanishing on a gust of ethereal wind.

You remember your mother in the vague sense that all children orphaned at a young age do. The touch of a loving hand. A few notes from a song hummed to lull you to sleep. That indefinable sense of belonging that only a parent can offer their child. It was important to her that you grew up with a strong sense of self—you read as much in the letters she left you after her passing.

Your head is swimming. You've got to wake up, latch onto your core being, and climb it upward through the darkness.

You think you hear your mother calling to you. The Haven wolves use only first names, as the pack is considered to be one family despite differences of background. What name do you hear echoing through the void?

Yes, that's right. Elizar Evenwood. How could you have forgotten? You can feel it now. Something close to pain, but pain means you're getting closer to the surface. It helps you remember that you're still alive.

Other things begin to come into focus as the black horizon turns to a milky gray. The more you collect your sense of self, the faster the surface of consciousness rushes up to greet you.

The elders claim that you were a difficult child, always focused on whatever suited you best at the time rather than the exacting standards werewolf society demands. In the long years following your birth, you came to define yourself on your own, but others have a tendency to require more impersonal definitions. How do your peers within the pack see you?

You hadn't spent all that long cloistered with the other wolves of your gender. In the Haven pack, youths are mixed at an early age, leaving the pups to grow and learn as they see fit. Eventually you grew old enough to consider romantic interests.

Before long, you joined the school where you were allowed to choose a primary area of study. These studies defined your early experiences in the pack and helped you become the wolf you are today.

Your mind grasps through the bubbling murky waters, desperately close to consciousness now. Which discipline did you spend most of your youth studying?

The world of modern werewolves is an unforgiving one. Lone wolves roam the outer Snarl and the coastline, unaffiliated with the pack and driven to scavenging and setting upon unwary passersby.

Then of course there is the human military to consider. Like many of your packmates, you enthusiastically threw yourself into your self-defense studies, growing stronger and faster over the years as you mastered the subtle art of the parry and the blunt force trauma of the claw.

Awake At Last

Your vision swims into bleary focus, and you're greeted by a look of grave concern on a lupine muzzle. Brown shaggy fur, yellow eyes…

It's Dena! She must have been the first to find you after you fell. Dena was always a sensitive pup, and she took to a quiet life of study with the elders early on, the rough-and-tumble life of her packmates less interesting than learning about the world outside Haven's walls.

Dena has always been there when you needed her, and you've tried to do the same for her. Over the years, her affection for you has grown less and less subtle, but it remains an unspoken line she is unwilling to cross, valuing your friendship over potential rejection.

You're confident that whatever happens between the two of you, there won't be any ill feelings, even if you eventually drift apart and see less of each other.

Growing up alongside someone in a closed environment makes getting along together a necessity, but you've never taken the time to get to know Dena properly. You can't say how you'll feel in the future at this point.

Dena looks away for a moment and waves a hand, beckoning the rest of your friends. "Guys, he's over here!"

She looks back to you, her brow knit with worry. "That was an awful fall. The elders would be furious if they knew you were taking risks like that, Elizar Evenwood. I'm sure they have a good reason for wanting to keep us out of the Snarl." She shakes her head. "How did I let you guys talk me into this?"

You breathe deeply, allowing Dena's concerns to go in one ear and out the other, groaning as you try to focus on moving.

Pieces of loose concrete scatter in a dusty cloud as Lapu and Tiva round the corner of the old office building. The two wolves nudge each other, and Lapu opens his muzzle in a wide, toothy grin.

"Looks like the Snarl's claimed another victim!" Lapu jokes, tongue lolling from his mouth as he breathes hard. "I still can't believe you got that high up before the building collapsed under your feet!" He looks over at Dena. "Leave it to Elizar Evenwood to risk exposing us out here in the Snarl just to show off his agility. What if one of the elders had seen him up there?"

Dena wheels and snaps at Lapu, sending the gangly male skittering backward, tripping over a piece of rubble and landing on his rump with a puff of concrete dust. The youth's unusual blond coat now peppered with gray, he wobbles to his feet as Dena continues examining your injuries. Tiva snickers at the boy, smacking his side and giggling as his fur lets off big puffs of dust.

Dena finishes up going over your wounds. "In case you care, Lapu, his injuries are healing up just fine, so it looks like we'll still be able to make it to the bridge on time."

Tiva sneezes and wipes a smudge of dust from her nose.

You groan and get back to your feet, wincing as the knitting bones in your right knee click uncomfortably. Not for the first time you thank whatever gods reside above that you were born with a werewolf's regenerative ability.

The wolves of Haven can change their forms at will, but while your lupine body provides you with greater dexterity and healing, the form is difficult to maintain for more than half a day at a time due to the massive increase in metabolism that fuels your abilities.

Lapu snarls and spits on the ground. "We should leave without him. The injury will only slow him down."