Howl Your Appellations

A Day to Remember

BOEN OPEOR

 "Are there any points of history that I need to remember? I mean, I'll inevitably meet a number of Were's after I go back to my cabin, I don't want to be oblivious about important things anymore, so please. Please tell me if something in the forest that I need to know about and..." I take a gulp, this is not the right time to ask this question but I feel that if I don't ask it now, I won't even have the chance to ask it again. I look at Reese worriedly and feel a drop of sweat forming on my face, or is it tears, and I've stared tearing up without noticing but nevertheless, I ask her the additional question, "What happened to your previous Alpha, Nike?"

When Lissana finally had an image in my mind, I began to feel a bit worried, there was this feeling of mistrust in my memories. I looked for the reason why that was and I realized that the answer was related to Krolo. The day he ambushed me. he told me that Lissana had killed her brother. That's probably why I was so weary of her and maybe why I left the cabin, but that seems a bit unlikely. Still, my memories are slowly coming back and I don't want to absorb them just yet, I need to learn as much information as I can and then decide, with all of my lost memories intact and I can finally decide without hesitation.

Reese looks at me as if I was that one that killed the alpha, but it isn't a look of disdain, malice or any aggressive or negative expression. She looks at me as if I killed the alpha, and then killed myself, living as a ghost of guilt and sadness. She doesn't look away from my gaze; she's looking for something in my eyes, some sort of answer or fatal connection. I now think that maybe both questions are especially hard for her, or she may be playing one of her games again. She's mischievous by nature, it wouldn't be too surprising if she's just pretending to...pretending to look...hurt. What am I thinking!? She's obviously trying to think of the least painful way to give me answers. Now I feel awful, I should have thought this through. But I'm so close to the truth, I know it.

"Sigh, I guess there's no going around this." She finally breaks the silence, "I was already feeling a bit uncomfortable with the story I told you. It lacked "Oomph"! It lacked charm and passion! I think I lost a bit of myself there. I was just trying to tell you how things worked in the least boring way I know, but I ended up becoming boring and unnecessary. Sigh, but you're right. The forest is full of people out to turn each other over. I heard it didn't use to be like that. But something changed when the humans meddled with the fae Queen." Reese reveals with a serious intonation. I don't think I've read about the queen in the journal, but I do vaguely remember that a prince was mentioned. I wait for Reese to continue as I grip on to my cane even harder, almost like I'm anticipating to swing it.

"It was decades ago, before you and me but I heard that Lissana, Imus, and Nike, our previous alpha, were there when the tragedy happened. They faes were suddenly betrayed and massacred by the humans they trusted which resulted in the death of the queen, and the forest has never been the same ever since. I heard that the forest was full of airies that only the prince was responsible for. A lot of Weres died becuase of the actions of selfish humans!" Reese conveys the story as if she was in it, I can feel the anger from her voice and it made me tremble, almost as if I shared her emotions, that I had felt something similar about the same thing before. I can't pinpoint it yet, I have to listen.

"It's been a couple of decades since then and the prince has calmed down, as I'm told. I never experienced his wrath until the night we rescued you. If only Nike were there, he could have done something..." Reese is dejected and irritated at the same time.

"Is Nike that powerful? Was the prince there when I was attacked...or..." I stop myself from thinking about the alternatives, I expect Reese to answer my questions, so they don't start stacking on top of each other.

"Of course Nike is that powerful, you curly fries-haired i***t! Nike and Prince were good friends. I've only ever seen them together a few times, but it's clear that the prince trusted Nike. They'd sit next to each completely defenseless, and it was only one of the few times when I didn't see him wear his beautiful red cape...the...uhm...the way Nike died wasn't really unexpected, Were's die when we fright other Weres that's just how it is with our lives but Lissana was a bit at fault when he was bitten. Sigh. Um, give me a second." Reese leans to the right as she thinks, her chin still on top of her forehand. "Us wolf Weres have tournaments, to show our dominance among the packs, and Weres would get severely injured occasionally but it's rare to die from the event. Somehow, the day Nike died, we were all frenzied, our instincts we heightened up to the brim, especially Lissana. You see, Boen, when we transform into our full forms, we're more animal than man, certain emotions cannot be tapped and well, the other pack managed to overpower Imus and bit him on the neck. Lissana was supposed to be his second in command, she was supposed to make sure that nothing could come close to Nike's neck but, it somehow happened. Nike lost so much blood in such a short amount of time that we didn't have time to save him. Sigh...for him to die just like that, for him to die in a tournament that he's attended for decades. It hurt us deeply, especially Imus. You should know about the two of them by now."

I nod, I don't know what to say to console her. There are never perfect  words to say to people who'd lost a loved one. I've only ever lost my grandfather but I didn't really consider him a loved one.

"Eventually, people started calling Sana, 'Brother Killer'. Just a little addition about appellations, they're linked to your identity, sometimes titles given to you by a large amount of people becomes your identity. Luckily, even though Lissana was beating herself up about Nike, even now probably, the appellation never showed up on her head. Lissana may be a bit dumb at times but she has a strong constitution. Nike's death doesn't rest on her or to anyone. The circumstances were just against our favor that day." Reese says these things as if she only half believes it. People who grieve have different ways of coping and they'll have to live with the fact that they'll have to cope for as long as they're still alive. I look down at my feet, noticing that numerous droplets had reached the floor; I was crying the whole time, but Reese kept talking anyway.

"Nike would have liked you, you're a kind person, Boen. We don't regret ever saving your life, you hear? If Nike were still here he would have saved you from prince himself! Hahaha, that's the kind of person he was!" I chuckle a bit at her statements, I chuckle until the words she said finally registered and I am filled will horror.

"I remember why I left my cabin."