Howl Your Appellations

Hero’s Journey

Lissana Mons

“Ha! I’m back you guys!!!…at least that’s what I would say if this was the exit. Another winding tunnel again, huh? For Luna’s sake!!”

I’ve been wandering these tunnels for a while now, maybe about two days? I can’t really tell, there’s no sky lights and I haven’t met a single Were in days. Maybe it’s been four days? A week? The last time I saw Neel when was that? What did he tell me to do? He told me I’d be fine so I trust him. Luna must be interfering with the tunnels then, trying to teach me a lesson, I see. Well!…I don’t know what I’m supposed to learn here.

“Ugghhh….” I’m sick of eating cave snails and wall berries, I’m tired of walking endlessly Luna, what do you want me to do? Where do I need to go? Will I ever manage to leave this place, Luna!…sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled but it’s not like you can hear my thoughts, right? God I sure hope not. It’s just a little folks’ tale we tell new Weres to spook them a little, but then again, it’s not hard to believe that the moon can secretly hear my thoughts. I have to keep walking.

I passed all sorts of tunnels already, weird little cave tunnels with limestone spires dripping from the ceiling, I managed to eat a few fishes there, which reminds me that I don’t seem as hungry as I should be. Wolf Weres require a diet of meat for every meal, but fish meat doesn’t really cut it for us, it feels like when the fish enters our stomach, it disappears like someone personally took it out while we’re not watching. These stupid Were rules never made sense to me, “Like this f*****g cave!!”

“...” No response huh. It this point maybe it’s better if I just go back to Neel, back to the blue grotto, he’ll be there if I go back, right? Ain’t no way, but Colleh might still be there and she can just carry back to the Spring baths like last time. It probably doesn’t work that way if we’re wayyy down here. If this were the Infernal Abyss, I would be at the bottom, not because it makes sense but because Luna specifically put me here to suffer endlessly. I’ve heard about stories like this, about a Were who got lost in the Eardrum Caves and went back in time. Sometimes makes me wonder if she’s alive somewhere but just in the wrong time.

Thank god for these stalactites and their little glow, um, bioluminescence I think. Not too bright, not too dim just the right brightness. I can’t say the same for the stalagmites tho, they barely glow and it’s damn hard to navigate the way when they’re in the way. Which, come to think of it, I’ve never met a dead end since I started my journey, this really adds up to my Luna-is-trying-to-teach-me-a-lesson-theory. There’s something I need to do so I can leave, but what? I don’t have the mental capacity to think right now. I have too much s**t I’m thinking about, I really want to fight something to relieve this stress, my bones and fangs are getting rusty.

“Huh…? What?”  Oh, right. I have to give this ring back to her. It all started because of this damn ring. But I have to give this back to her, I know she’s worrying about it right now, maybe worrying about me too? Ahahahaha~! No chance, she’s probably still mad at me for making her leave, the last time I saw her it was all too bloody…but I remember her looking into my eyes, she probably didn’t recognize me but her eyes were the only clear thing in that one-sided blood shed. And prince, the night the  prince finally snapped was the time Boen decided to leave, there are things that just don’t add up, now that I’m thinking about it, if I’m even remembering things correctly. Prince should have no interest in Boen, she didn’t reek of the dead faes and she’s just a human, so why? It sucks for Krolo to have encountered prince too but what if it was his fault that prince finally snapped? If I wasn’t as late as I was and if Reese and Imus hadn’t come in time, Boen could have died and more of Krolo’s pack would have been obliterated. There’s still missing pieces, maybe Imus finally found out since he’s with my Boen now, all cozy in The Train, with the pack all having fun while I’m here trying to figure out Luna’s game.

“Well…as long as I have Boen’s ring, I won’t lose my mind. Boen’s moon ring…”

A part of Luna is in this ring right now… “A part of Luna is in the ring! Could it be?!” It’s glinting at certain directions!… but wait isn’t that normal? No,no,no this feels different, it turn warm when it glints.  I…I just need to follow it right! Like a game of hot and cold! Right, Luna? Is this the game you’re trying to play? But what’s the lesson? What do you wish to accomplish with this game? Sigh, I have no choice, if this is my hero’s journey then I’ve already passed my call to adventure phase,  the ring is my supernatural aid, even though it’s not more supernatural than I am  a Wolf Were. My main objective is to leave! Not learn a lesson from you, chump!

“Okay maybe you’re not a chump. I apologize Luna, but if this turns out to be a trap, you’d like that wouldn’t you? I’m your favorite play thing after all.”

Only ripples of the water and the occasional cave winds, but Boen’s ring says otherwise, it is warmer where you’re leading me? Or are you leading me straight to hell for being born?…so it’s warmer over here, huh? Another submerged tunnel, but I can see a passage at the other end so this must be the right way. I’ve passed a few of these a few days ago, I feel like I’ve seen all the types caves in the world, if I manage to swim through this underground lake, while it be a change of scenery? I sure hope so.

Another, crystal and stalactite cave. I shouldn’t be surprised, but it seems like it’s a harder path to get to the exit, that’s almost at the cave’s ceiling. Is this really the right way? It must be, I’m actually moving vertically now. I’ve never moved up since I started walking, hmm, I have to properly place my steps, if I were in full form this would be a breeze, I’ve got the nimblest paws in all of Abalone. That’s a lie but one one’s here to refute it so right now, I’m the nimblest…

“Ah! Why am I thinking about mu nimble paws, I can’t even fully transform, my human side will just get in the way in this situation, I can do this without my paws.” Some of these stalagmites are even hiding cave holes! If I slip and fall…heh! No problem, I can just use my claws, “Thwack!” Lissana Mons’  too smart for your traps, stalagmites. You’re no match to my sentience. Still though, such a wonderful effort of nature. I think limestone is a neat mineral, for what it’s worth. I’m sorry for ruining your beautiful formations.

“Hyup! Hyup! Alright Boen’s ring, where to next? Hm? T-the…” there are three deformed cave openings and two of these, I’m 80% sure, would lead me all the way down to the end of the earth, but…why is the ring now working? Should I go back? I don’t think I can go back the way I came, it’s too risky, plus, I broke a few stalagmites on the way here, there’s no going back…but I have to choose, “Come, on ring work!…Aaghh! Maybe if I lessen my form, the ring will have more energy, we’re all borrowing the energy from Luna anyway…ah! Holy! It’s working! So the middle cave, huh? Of course.” If Imus could see me now he’d be so proud, he wouldn’t believe how much brain I’ve been using. “And, HYUP! UP! WE Go!”

*CRASH*

“Oooh  well isn’t this a pretty cave, this is definitely new but I was hoping I’d see grass or something, maybe trees…the exit..” Sigh, time for a snail break, let’s see, this tunnel has them alright! What I’d do to finally eat meat again, except fish, I’d even eat a bat! I’ve heard there are Bat Weres from the folks at the inner market but they refuse to be called Bat Weres, they prefer to be called “Vampirs”, which, I’ll admit, sounds better than being called a Bat Were. I hope I do meet one, I’d do anything to finally have someone to talk to!

“Crunch, crunch, wait I should actually cook these little dudes, why have I been eating them raw until now?” This cave’s really dry too, I bet I can strike some of these stones to start a fire! But I don’t have any wood, maybe if I continue down this tunnel I’ll find a bush or cave berries again, I can’t believe I’m  actively looking for cave berries now.

This cave’s really tame, the pathway’s almost flat and the stalagmites are in a pretty weird shape, almost box-shaped, I bet these would make a good fire, “HYUP!!” thank you for your beneficence, you are truly a beautiful cave. All this wandering around almost made me forget to treat the caves with care, never mind if it’s Luna’s supposed ears, the caves are also alive in a way, they provide for the fishes and the snails, and maybe even the cursed Weres if I ever managed to find them. On the bright side, I haven’t met any punished Weres either, It’s just me and my lonesome, “Aghh!! What the fu---” oh what’s this? It’s some sort of panel? Don’t tell me it’s one of those solar panels? Sol’s solar panels? Man that reminds me that I haven’t seen the sun in a while too. I haven’t seen the moon too but it has a stronger presence here than out there, the follies of being a Were.

So Sol worshipers also live down here, huh? But the sun doesn’t reach this place so that’s sorta hard to believe. I’ll just bring it with me just in case I need it for later, maybe Luna meant for me to see it, to remind me that Sol exists too. “Ah! The tunnel’s getting larger! I have a good feeling about this!!!”

Oh! What do you call a clearing in the caves? It feels like I’m under a stone tent, “And there’s bush berries! Luna Almighty!!” Let’s maybe camp here for a few hours, I really want to barbecue these snails! Maybe try some of the bio-luminescent worms too? No one will know.

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 “Ah well that hit a small spot in my stomach. They didn’t taste as great as I thought but I’m glad I got to cook things. And my rage simmered down a bit because of the fire I made. I’m reverting into a cave woman I can’t be content with this life, I have a girl to get back to! Oh, speaking of getting back to, where should I go next, bud?” Oh, it’s gotten a bit hot, hotter than the previous temperatures, am I getting close to the exit?

“Alright, let’s go!”

Hm…is it just me or is it getting dimmer? I should probably make a little torch thing. Where did all the glowy worms go? Hm…I don’t know much about how caves work but, this is the first time a cave’s gone dark on me. Is this change a good thing? Better a change than forever walking in identical tunnels. I need the little melatonin boost anyway, I never know if it’s night or day, so in a way, this is my first night while traversing the cave for days.

There’s less drips of water and I can feel a peculiar breeze blowing from up ahead. Just, where am, I?

*Step, step, step!*

“What?! who’s there…!! Whoa….” Cave paintings! These are Cave paintings! Never thought I’d manage to find some! I heard it’s very rare and I know this now because I’ve been wandering aimlessly around the channels and this is the first time I’ve encountered them.

“Wow…this must be the murals of the people and Weres that came before us. All types of animals and people worshiping Sol and Luna…” on the other side of the wall there’s more too, “These must be the Elementals, there’s only so little of them, whispering to the deities like the big shots they are. I actually met one and he’s not so great…”

Well I'm glad I’m not just relying on my night vision or I wouldn’t have seen most of these, these are all so mindblowing, “Huh, this mural’s just the night with a bunch of eyes, no wait, there’s animal ears…Mares…”

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

What?!? Is it finally some one! Someone's here with me! “Yes I’m here I’m coming to you so keep talking so I can get to you faster!!” Finally! Finally! Finally! Finally...someone.

“Umm, I don’t think that would work, please don’t run…”

“Huh? what do you mean it wouldn’t work I’m….!!” Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.