Howl Your Appellations

Together in Sync

Lissana Mons

"You guys weren't fighting were, you? What did you talk about without me?"

Goa's a lot more precious in my eyes after what Ben told me, he's such a ball of light, the only thing dimming his on glow is himself, which is understandable... he's been through a lot and I'd say it's probably more traumatic for him since he was so young when all those things happened to him. I'm glad fate led these two boys to meet each other, and me them too.

"Come here, little guy!"

"Uwaah! Sana what are you doing?! Owaaa, these are really soft..." he's falling asleep on my boobs. He tires really easily, this kid.

"Oi! Don't sleep!"

"Ow!"

'' You have to build up your stamina. You just managed to run at your 15%, you need to use your Were assesstments more."

"Okay..."

"Anyway, we have to get going, let's go back to the settlement for now. Sana come with us, I think we have a map of the upper cave tunnels at home."

"Oh! A map? Don't mind if I do~!"

A map! Finally! I'm closer and closer home, wait for me my beloved pack! Your Alpha's finally making progress! I just hope I haven't been wandering for too long, I don't know how much of a toll my disappearance would affect the pack. But as long as Imus is there, they'll manage somehow. My pack isn't weak, but we sure get emotional.

"Goa, lead the way. If you want to run, you can, you're too slow to lose anyway."

"Ha! Enjoy these days when you're still stronger than me! My gut tells me, I'm made of an invincible armor stronger than Goa!"

"Hmph, then get stronger. You have no chance against my speed though."

"That! ...well that's. Well anyway! Let's go! Come on, Sana!"

"Lead the way, Stone Armor~!"

"Haha! I like the sound of that!"

For such a young Were, having two appellations is a good sign. I only gained my appellations because of the circumstances of my birth. The kid's started from having lost his appellation, to having two in just a few months! He's got so much potential! But...

"Eh? Is this his top speed? Ben, why is he so damn slow?!"

"I told you, he's still having a hard time with transforming, but he keeps getting better everyday!"

"What?! You mean he was slower than this?! Look at me! I'm not even at 1% yet this is my human speed!"

"So is mine! He's just that slow hahaha...we're idiots for pretending that he's faster than he is."

"I need to give you boys a proper training routine! You guys won't be able to last in the outside world with this! You're a jaguar, right? And Goa is...?"

"Oh...we don't know. When he transforms, nothing shows up, not even a tail. We think it has something to do with the flood that destroyed his settlement. He's still young but something's definitely suppressing his power. Stray was only 7 when she grew out her antlers."

"Does Goa know about her? Stray?"

"Oh, hm? Yeah. I told him about her, and he told me about his family. He lost an older sister and I lost my younger sister. We were like connecting pieces of different puzzles. There's nothing that we don't know about each other, well, nothing important at least. And that's enough."

" He~~eehh. 'We were like connecting pieces of different puzzles' looks like you have a poetic side too. "

"Shut up! In any case, that's just how it is."

"Yeah, I get it."

It sucks how we don't know what kind if Were Goa is though. It would be neat to find out what he can do with his power. Well, if they do decide to leave, maybe I'll get a chance to see his full form. It would be great if he was a Wolf too. He's probably not a Jaguar, those guys would rather die than live in the caves. Benan is a bit different, he probably might not be a jaguar Were, but this is just my jealousy talking. I hope Goa ends up being a predator Were, and if he's a prey Were then he better be a damn strong one. His appellations are already giving us small clues. "Stone Armor", an impenetrable armor.

Oh! I finally see some sort of, signs of life, or whatever those explorers say when they find a large spot of stomped on grass. Oh! Oh,my Luna! They really did make this place their homes! There's little windows on the stalactites and the stalagmites too! Their cute little huts are neat too. Man, to think that this much people live in the caves, and it's only one of the settlements! There's probably about five more, basing from Ben's story. If they were just left alone, there'd be more of them! Oh, huh?!

"Dude is that sunlight over there at those lakes?! Are we actually that close to the surface?"

"Sana come back here! We have to introduce you to the leader before you get to wander around! Sana!"

"SUNLIGHTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"That i***t, Goa, tell Harol about Sana. I'll bring her back in a bit."

"Alright. Good luck."

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"Oi, Sana! What are you doing!? Planning on drowning? Everyone's staring, just please come with me to our leader. It's an important formality! "

"But, if I get up there then I'd be outside! I could get back to my pack and Boen! I miss them so much!"

"Sana listen! Those skylights aren't real! Anyone who tried to go up there never came back alive! It's not real it's one of the cave's illusions!"

"..."

"Now come back, we have a map. It's a guaranteed, sure way out. No illusions, no tricks. Come back before I get tired of  convincing you."

"..."

"Fine. Come back on your own. We'll be waiting on the Brown stalactites. It's the biggest one. You can't miss it."

"..."

I thought I could finally go back. So this is one of Luna's tricks too? I wonder how many people climbed up there only to realize that they're going to die on the other side. There must have been people like me desperate to go back home to their families and Luna's just... no, let's stop thinking about Luna. Thinking about her only spirals me down, and I start doubting myself.  It feels like sunlight, and it is warm on the waters. For outsiders, it's a cruel sick joke from Luna, but for the cursed Weres, it's a blessing from the blue moon. Just as Pat said, the moon is neither good nor evil, it just is.

Sigh, well at least, I'm surrounded by more people now. I have to apologize to Benan and Goa and meet their leader. Aggghhh! I'm such a shitty Alpha! I'm only Alpha cause I'm strongest Wolf in the group, now I'm making excuses pathetic...um, but the bright side is, I still have a chance to redeem myself. I better go back...but the sun feels nice on my skin. Maybe I'll stay here just for a little bit.

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"THAT WAS NOT A LITTLE BIT!" s**t! I fell asleep, this is like that one time with the Alpha greetings. This is so embarrassing! Let's see, uh, the brown one, the biggest one...Ah! Woah! It looks like a lot of people live here! These little fairy lights makes it easy to spot buildings when the fake sun sets. Okay, okay so um, the front door...is...

"Hi! Sorry I'm late! I'm Lissana! I'm the Alpha of my pack, Pack October and I'm a wolf Were! It's nice to meet you! I'm sorry!"

"Sana! It's been 2 hours!"

"Hmm, so you do know how to be formal. Good! We're eating so, uh, Harol?"

"So you're the Were from the outside. Hmm..."

Such a senile voice. This old man...how did he get here? He only has one appellation, why is he their leader? Is he even a Were? What?

"You're thinking insulting thoughts about me, aren't you?"

"N-no! Sir, no! I wasn't I swear!"

"Well, come on up here and eat, I just took a good look at you."

Huh? Took a good look...we didn't even make eye contact yet..

"You heard the guy, come up here and eat! It's beast meat, don't you like that?"

"Ben! That was a one time thing! I'm not that into beast meat, sir, I swear I was just deathly starving."

"Well that's too bad, all we got is beast meat and vegetables."

"I'll eat! I'll eat!"

"Sit next to me Sana! I can tell you which dishes are the best!"

"Absolutely! What's this one?"

"Venison stew. We added some cheesy cheese sauce."

"Really??! You got cows down here? We only ever get cheese from the inner market. Hmm~! It tastes great! Just like how I imagined it. This is the first time I've eaten something that isn't raw meat or burnt snails!"

"Wow, that sucks! Hey, what's a cow?"

"You'll know when you're older young man! Now tell me what to eat next!"

"Would you guys pipe down! And besides, there's something important we need to tell Harol. But you already know what I'm about to say, don't you, Harol?"

"I'd say it's about time you decided! My old eyes are tired of your shilly-shallying!"

"Yes, Goa and I are accompanying Sana back to the outside world."