Howl Your Appellations

The Walls have Ears

Lissana Mons

“Huh? The destruction of ...all Weres? You’re not just saying this to scare me, right?” She’s glaring at me. So she’s serious then. In my case, the worst outcome always happened, but she’s talking about everyone else too. I’m sure the Mares won’t let the worst case happen, we’ve got a few Weres with “Luck” in their appellations too so...Shaen shouldn’t worry her ass too much…

“Knowing how you are, you’re without a doubt downplaying the circumstance, Sana. The Prince may still be in control right now but there’s a chance of his rampage and what would’ve happened those years ago might actually come to play now. Without Grey, we’re weaker than we were before.”

“...then what do I need to do? What do I have that my mother had too?” I know I’m nothing like her mother, but I’m her daughter, so there must be something in her that’s in me, right?

“You’re both pure-hearted, but it takes more than that to fend off this problem. I’m telling you this to help you Lissana. Don’t do anything unless Imus or I tell you to. Stay in your full form as much as possible. I’m sure the Prince will snap soon and hunt you down. You’ll have to deal with him until we manage to figure out how to get that awful stench off you.”

“What about Boen?”

“The outsider? I think you should forget about your feelings for her. You have to stay away from her as much as possible. She’s nothing but a nuisance at the moment.”

“Don’t call her a nuisance! She’s more important than you realize!”

“Sigh. You are letting your emotions get in the way. Did you know your little missy stole your book? Skia and Grey’s Appellation book. It’s a piece of junk now but the fact that she stole it, makes her a nuisance.”

“I told you to stop calling her that! Look, I’ll just make sure she’s safe, and then I’ll leave her be. Can I do that?”  

Why do I feel so powerless? There's always something in me that I have  to keep in check, why is all this happening right now?

“Suit yourself. If you don’t want to die and cause more trouble for the rest of us, you’ll listen to my words.”

    And so she leaves. I’m exhausted. I'm sure things are going to get much worse the more time passes. At this rate the fauna and the weak Weres will be turned into chairs or bricks or stairs or something. Let me just, close my eyes for a bit…

...the wind acts like nothing’s changed...the leaves still sound like leaves….breathe in...breathe out…

“Right!” I know what I need to do. Since I’m supposed to leave Boen alone from now on, I at least have to tell her. So she doesn’t wait for me. If things go the right way, she might even get to help. I don’t care if she stole Skia’s book, we never needed it in years but she has a good eye for picking what to steal though I give her that. I would’ve lent it to her too...or maybe not.

I’ll tell her “Something came up about the forest! I won’t be meeting you anymore but don’t worry nobody will dare come near you in this situation, so you will be fine as long as you don’t go past the stream!!!!”  That sounds about right. As long as I get to tell her, I’ll be fine. This is my selfish wish.

Krolo might still be lurking from somewhere sketchy. I’ll have to try and pretend like I’m trying to get away from Prince and find a place that’s pretty secluded from everyone else...actually I should do that. The Eardrum caves would be ideal. No one ever goes there anymore since we don’t disown or drive away packmates anymore. Yeah! Sometimes I get the best ideas without even thinking about it. First, find the caves and second, talk to Boen. If Prince manages to find me the best I can do is run.

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I think Skia and I found one southwest from here? Not that I remember where the southwest is. I rely mostly on little landmarks my paws and wolf eyes somehow remember. If I run fast, I’ll be there a bit after noon. Maybe her book’s not that useless to me after all. I’m sure she mentioned something about the caves, but it was the time she didn’t take me with her. She always ran off doing whatever but given the circumstances we had, I wouldn’t stay in the shack much too.

    I see a few aimless faes wandering around looking for other faes. It’s such a surreal sightseeing them out in the open again. You’d see a couple of them sleeping, sure, but awake and moving? That’s not something normal anymore. God am I just waiting for the time when this is all over. I’m going to treat my pack to a big picnic when this is over. It’s almost the Lava Moon Cycle soon too. Man, the fates and their god awful timing.

    “Ah!” I see the stairs! So I finally made it. This place is surprisingly easy to find, but everyone tends to avoid it since it’s a place cursed by rumors and malice. Although I do believe that curses can also work that way, the people who used to spend the rest of their lives here were not bad people. They just had awful circumstances.

    “Ah, before I enter,” I haven’t done this in a while. I’m only staying for a little bit, that’s what I feel so allow me to stay only for a short amount of time. “Allow me.”

    There’s a belief floating around that the caves are called “The Eardrum” caves because it’s somehow one on the fallen ears of Luna. Of course other Weres have a different type of version but the part that stays the same is that it’s a channel connected to Luna. Maybe it’s how she hears what’s been going on around here. I used to think that maybe she has a hidden mouthpiece too, somewhere in the forest she whispers blessings and curses.

    But damn is this tunnel incredibly long and so narrow it’s annoying. Now my fur’s going to be an even bigger mess. I just need to figure out where I’m going to station myself until Prince eventually finds me. On the bright-side it feels like I’m being hugged on all sides with really smooth and cool skin. Like hugging a statue or something.

    “Finally!” I reached the first dry gallery, er, chamber, it’s not as dark as I expected. There are a few impossible skylights, but it probably has something to do with its connection to Luna. There are a dozen passages, I better not try and navigate my way through any of them. But if I stay at the entrance of one of them, I’d have a better chance of sensing Prince. Okay right! Sounds like a plan!

    “Now all I have to do is choose and find the perfect cave to hide in. Hmm, this one looks like it has strategic advantage…? Let’s see what’s in---ah...aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh” s**t! s**t! The cave’s a pit?! s**t! Me and my stupid f*****g me! Please don’t let this be the way I die Luna!