When werewolves were bored, they told stories. Biscuit had seen it with the few packs he'd hung around; when everyone was too tired to work, but too energetic to sleep, they told tales around the fire to pass the time. Sometimes they'd be made up, sometimes they'd be from the teller's own life, or, usually, they'd have been passed down from loved ones.
"There I was," Rambo continued, "I'd locked eyes with the grizzly bear. The beast had been around twenty feet- no, thirty feet tall, and my heart was racing in my chest. I tackled it, wrapped my bare hands around the monster's neck and got it into a chokehold."
"Lies," Fluffy interjected.
"Shh," Sparky held a finger to his mouth, and turned back to Rambo. "What next?"
"The bear tried to shake me off, but I held on for my life, because I knew that if I let go, the beast would have eaten even more children than it already had. I wrestled the thing off of the cliff, but, in the process, I accidentally pushed myself off, too. We plummeted into the darkness below, and I couldn't tell which way was up."
"And then what?" Sparky asked, un-ironically invested in this ludicrous tale. Fluffy rolled his eyes.
"I pulled myself up by one arm, and pulled the bear back up with the other. In gratitude for saving his life, the two of us came to a truce, and the bear wandered back into the forest, never to be seen again. Sometimes, I still think he's out there, looking out for me."
"Nonsense, old man," Fluffy said, "All of your stories are complete lies."
"You got something better than that, buster?" Rambo said bitterly. "I'd like to hear what you've got in store, since you're apparently such an expert."
"Rambo's stories are great, Fluffy," Sparky said haughtily, "You just have no taste. He's right; I'd like to hear you come up with something better."
It was evening now, the last shreds of sunlight peaking over the horizon, and the pack - and Biscuit - were sitting in a circle around a campfire. Aside from Rambo, Fluffy and Sparky, no one else had been engaged with the story and all looked to be in different stages of sleepiness and annoyance. Biscuit glanced around; it seemed that no one else, besides Sparky, believed any of Rambo's tall tales either, but Fluffy was the only one who had the energy to openly call out his bullshit.
"Fine, I'll come up with something." Fluffy thought for a few seconds before speaking again. "Okay, uh, once upon a time, there was a... wolf."
"How compelling," Sparky said. Fluffy glared at him before continuing.
"The wolf wasn't a shifter. He was, like, just an animal. He lived in the woods and did typical wolf-shit. Until one day. He was lured into a trap by some humans. They, uh..."
Fluffy ran his hand over his face as he thought. "They beat him with sticks and rocks, and locked him in a cage, and he was just not having a good time. But one day, a kind human came up to him and gave him something to eat. And the wolf... fell in love with him - I mean, her."
Biscuit's interest was piqued, tilting his head in the direction of the conversation. Rambo and Sparky were leaning in.
"The wolf wanted to leave with the human, but couldn't because he was trapped in the cage. Then, one day, a witch shows up and says, 'Yo, I can turn you into a human so you can open this cage and be with the one you love. Then..."
Fluffy looked up now, glancing between all of the faces who were looking at him. Everyone's attention was on him now.
"Uh, so he turned into a human and they lived happily ever after. The end." He slapped his hands on his thighs exasperatedly.
"That's it?" Max complained. "Dude, a five-year-old could tell something better than that."
"Then you do it, bitch," Fluffy bit back.
"I can," Gunner said. He sat up. "It's a scary one, though."
Diesel laughed. "Oh please. I need to hear this. I'm not scared."
"You will be," Gunner said, and, before Diesel could unwrap that ominous statement, he began his tale.
"Once, back in my old pack, I was with my two brothers and three sisters hunting for food. We'd stumbled onto an old cabin, and in that cabin lived an old man. Not a shifter, he was definitely human. It was dark outside and raining like crazy, and the six of us knew it would be difficult getting back to our parent's settlement."
"The old man was kind, and let us stay for the night in his cabin. He told us that he and his wife had lived happily together until his wife died in the woods. We were glad to stay and keep him some company, even though he was a stranger. So, we all settled in. Everyone was asleep until we heard a thump at the door.
Gunner banged a rock onto the bare ground, and made the sound with his mouth. "Bam, bam, bam!"
"The sound wasn't a knock. It was like something was banging itself against the door, over and over and over. All the while, there was this weird sound it was making, like it was some kind of animal that was hurt.
"So, the old man told us to wait, and then he wandered out through the door, and into the woods. None of us slept, as we were waiting for him to come back and tell us what had happened.
"He never did. He just walked out into the woods, and disappeared. We waited there until noon the next day, at the very least to make sure he was still alive and well. Eventually, we had to go back home, because if we'd stayed any later our parents would have gotten worried. We wrote him a note saying that we'd left.
"Did you ever see him again?" Biscuit asked.
"No, never again," Before, the blonde had seemed serious and unfazed, but as he recalled the tale, his expression became haunted and ghost-pale. Gunner picked at his shoes, his yellow eyes boaring into Biscuit's own brown ones, etching their horror into his soul, as if this was a tale only for him to hear. "Part of me wonders if his wife didn't actually die. Maybe she was a shifter who'd gone feral, and he'd decided to stay in the woods with her. Or, perhaps, she killed him."
"M-maybe it was some kind of animal, or something," Diesel said as he looked over his shoulder, into the trees behind him, as if he feared something sneaking up from behind.
"Who knows?" Gunner shrugged, his expression relaxing a bit. "It'll always stay with me, regardless."
"What does the rest of your family think of it?" Biscuit asked.
Gunner looked up at him, his gaze darkening. "They're all dead."
"Oh." Biscuit shrunk. "I'm sorry."
He looked around. Everyone's expressions had fallen. He even saw Titan begin to tear up.
"This got depressing," Fluffy chipped in, "Anybody got a better one? To lighten the mood?"
"Maybe I do," Diesel said, rubbing his hands as if he were gearing up, "Do you guys know about the beginning of the Wild Age?"
Everyone, except for Biscuit, groaned in frustration.
"Oh god," Max gripped his head in frustration, "Not this one! Anything but this one!"
"You always tell this story, Diesel," Sparky sighed, "We've heard it a million times."
"I'd rather listen to Rambo's senile ass than the Wild Age story again," Fluffy complained, earning a glare from the old man, although Rambo still nodded in agreement.
"What's the beginning of the Wild?" Biscuit raised a brow.
"He hasn't even heard of it, guys!" Diesel smiled, gleeful and radiant. "Get ready for a history lesson. You ever seen a full human?"
"A full human?" Biscuit thought. "No, I've never met one. I've heard of them, though. And, I've seen their cities from a distance."
"Exactly!" Diesel said, "Humans used to have those giant, glittering cities everywhere, as far as the eye can see. You could look up to the sky and see nothing but those magnificent towers. Everyone on the planet had one, living a life of luxury, and riches and really good food that wasn't raw meat. Everyone was as rich as a king."
"But all of it came at a price. One day, the goddess of the Wilds, Neterit woke up from a million-year-long sleep, and destroyed all of the human cities. They tried to fight against her, but she was so big that all she had to do to destroy a city was step on one and crush it under her foot. And, from under her foot, the Wild was born."
"Dude, he needs context. You need to tell him what the Wild actually is, though." Fluffy interjected. He looked to Biscuit. "The place we're at now? All of this nature and shit? That's the Wild. Just so you know."
"Anyways," Diesel continued, "Under her foot grew trees and mountains, and humans were all displaced. The cities they'd created were all gone, but they still had a lot of the knowledge they'd developed. However, Neterit wasn't done. She created wolf-shifters to complete her work and attack mankind for their hubris.
"Mankind wasn't done either, though. They cast out every shifter into the Wild, forbidding any from entering their rebuilt cities ever again. And now, they've built themselves back like never before." Diesel waved his hands, ending his tale with a flourish.
"Thank God, its over," Max groaned, "Diesel, not everyone has a hard-on for humans like you do."
"You sure know a lot about this type of stuff," Biscuit said.
"I grew up among humans," Diesel said proudly, "My parents raised me in one of those cities, and I learned all about their history. I loved reading old books, and hearing old recountings of how the world healed eventually."
"Well, why'd you leave?"
Diesel's smile fell. "Uh, well ... it turns out my parents weren't the best at keeping our secrets secret. Humans don't really like shifters, after all."
There was an awkward silence, before Max clapped his hands. "Welp, I think everyone should get sleep. We gotta get up with the sunrise and get back to traveling."
As the sky turned black, the rest of the pack, one by one, began to turn in around the campfire.
Biscuit couldn't sleep. He stared into the night sky, the stars above giving him some mild comfort. He recounted Diesel's tale, and pictured massive, glittering cities, trying to piece together the skylines he'd seen from a far distance. He'd never stepped foot into human territories. He'd likely be killed once they realized what he was. But Diesel's description made them seem mighty and infallible, and prideful and cruel. What was it like to live among them?
Even aside from his racing thoughts, he was having trouble relaxing. He couldn't help but be on edge around this group. He'd never been good relaxing around strangers, and not being ready to make a run for it when needed.
"You awake?"
Biscuit turned his head to see Ollie lying next to him, his single blue eye wide and alert. His long black hair messily draped over his shoulders as he curled up on his side.
Biscuit sighed. "Mm-hmm."
Ollie said nothing, just nodded as he shifted to lie on his back. The two ruminated in silence for a few, brief moments.
Biscuit twiddled his thumbs. "I guess I'm too nervous to sleep."
"Oh, Me too!" Ollie answered quickly, then stammered, "I mean, not because of you or anything. I just get a lot of nightmares. And Gunner's story didn't help much either."
He chuckled, as if to ease the awkwardness. Ollie's lone eye was focused on the sky, avoiding Biscuit's gaze.
"Oh. That sucks." Biscuit understood getting nightmares all too well. He'd dealt with his fair share of trauma; it came with living out in the natural world, and trying to survive on your own. "I get those, too."
"Yeah." Ollie sounded resigned, his hands resting by his sides. "I'll be fine."
There was a pause.
Biscuit reached over and gently placed a hand on top of Ollie's. "I can stay up with you. Until you fall asleep. Or, we both fall asleep."
Ollie's face shifted into surprise, before melting into a soft smile. "Sure. Uh, thank you."
They both gazed into the other's eyes, for only a few moments that felt like hours, and the sudden closeness between them was both deeply uncomfortable and therapeutic.
Biscuit couldn't deny that Ollie was certainly... pleasant to look at.
Finally, Biscuit broke the spell, and looked up to the night sky. "Goodnight."
Ollie smiled. "Goodnight."
Unbeknownst to the two, another person was also still awake. Max lay curled up on his side and facing away from the fire, listening to them intently.
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