Prologue: Run, Rabbit, Run.
How did I get myself into this mess?! I had no idea where I even was anymore. I hadn't even had time to wonder around the new forest I had found myself in. All the colors were brighter. Well, brighter then I’m used to. Then these weird, techni-color mini horses captured me and threw me into the prison cell I now found myself in. The Pack will never let me live this one down.
“The Pack would kill you first, then laugh about this over your corpse. Whatever this is.”
Thanks, Voice. My ears pinned back. Wait, you don’t know what happened?!
“Nope. I was resting after saving your sorry hide. You might wanna start at the beginning, though, to save them some confusion.”
Who?
“Never mind.”
Well, as you know, I’m a lycanthrope. More commonly known as a werewolf. But I wasn’t normal, even before you came along….
*^* Two hours earlier *^*
“Hey, Wade, ya up?” My roommate called from downstairs. I had heard him put the phone down just a moment beforehand. “The Alpha wants to see us in a couple hours at the Den.”
Aw, moons, what does the old wolf want now? I sighed. “Yeah, just give me a sec to put some clothes on.” I rolled out of the mess of sheets and blankets that I call a bed, grabbed a set of clothes that wasn’t torn and still smelt fresh, and knelt by my little alter. The irony of a religious werewolf wasn’t lost on me or Charlie, my roommate.
Now, we werewolves do have our own brand of religion, based off of (surprisingly) the moon, called the Lunar Cult. It’s a pretty old one, at that. The Alpha before our current one let the Pack believe in whatever god, deity, or pagan belief they wished, and Charlie, my roommate, the wolf that bit me, was an ardent believer of the Lunar Cult.
Thing is though, is that Marcus, our current Alpha, hates it like a Christian hates a Satanist. When he killed the previous Alpha, most of the Lunar Cult ditched the Pack, either joining other Alphas elsewhere, or branding themselves as Mutts (packless werewolves). Charlie and I couldn’t do that, we’re considered too young to leave our Pack.
After a quick prayer, I left my room to grab my coat. “Did he say what he wanted?” I asked as soon as I saw Charlie.
“Naw, just said that it was a mandatory meeting.” He shrugged, “Probably just wants to solidify his claim as Alpha.” I shrugged into my coat as Charlie opened the door into the garage. I jumped into the passenger side of his nice, brand new-
(“Yeah, yeah, I don’t care. And neither do they. Skip to the good part.”)
(“Who’s ‘they’?)
(“Not important.”)
…. After about an hour’s drive from our place near the edge of the town, we made it to the Pack’s Den. It was a secluded clearing far from the main roads into and out of town. The rest of the Pack was there. Most were still in human form, many in wolf form, but a couple in their hybrid forms. Jerimia was easy to spot with his orange and grey pelt. Na’la, too, with a neon pink dragon on her hybrid’s shoulder. Fifteen ‘wolves in all.
Fun fact about werewolves. If we dye our hair or get tattoos, they transfer to our coats in our other forms.
Marcus stood in the center of the clearing, staring at us as we came in. “Well, th’ pups finally start comin’ in.”
“We got here as fast as we could, sir.” Charlie began as he tossed his keys to an older wolf. “Wait, ‘starting’? Are we the first Newbloods to arrive?”
We were indeed. The rest trickled in over the next hour. Once we had all arrived at the Den, Marcus tilted his head back and howled, calling together the scattered wolves. “Now, as y’all know, there has been a change o’ leadership ‘round here.” He spread his arms wide. “If’n any y’all disagree, now’s ya chance ta claim it.”
Not a single wolf stepped forward. This part was more ritual than an actual challenge. “No….?” Marcus gave a feral grin. “Fine then.” He dropped his arms to the side. He turned, looking every member in the eye, though I think is rested on Charlie’s and I’s longer.
“Th’ first change here is: any member still followin’ the Lunar Cult, leaves. Any who follow the Cult stays, dies.”
(What’s his problem with the Cult?)
(No idea.)
Soon, out of the twenty five wolves total (Including pups), only three turned and left. Jerimia, shifted into his hybrid form, just before he left. “What of the Pups?” It was pretty garbled, due to him having a muzzle instead of a proper mouth, but everywolf knew who he meant.
“I’ll take care o’ it.”
Jerimia nodded, turned and loped off through the woods. Marcus turned to us. “Clear a path,” he murmured. It was just loud enough for us to hear. No human could have heard it, but we wolves have far better hearing. “I wan’ this ta be a lesson ta all ya les’ fervent pups.” As he spoke, the Pack formed a channel between Marcus and Charlie and I.
Before Charlie or I could react, Marcus charged. By the time he had reached us, he had shifted into his hybrid form, and had Charlie a foot off
the ground, claws around his neck. He tilted his head as he choked the life from my sire. He turned an eye to me. “I’d start runnin’ if’n I was ya.”
“I’d do what the mutt says.”
(“Hey, that’s me!”)
(Yes, that’s you.)
All I could do was stare at the life leaving Charlie’s eyes.
“Run, little rabbit, in the wilds with the wolves of your past. Run, Rabbit, RUN!”
And I took your advice. I turned and ran. I ran with my tail between my legs, and the wet snapping of Charlie’s neck in my ears. I ran for as long as I could away from the town.
And that’s what Marcus wanted. He wanted me as his prey.
I soon found myself in a clearing, and there I shifted. I went hybrid. It’s the fastest form, and has more endurance and stamina then either full form.
And here’s how I differ from many werewolves. I could use magic. It wasn’t much, but it could be enough. I cast a relatively small spell, but I felt the drain on my mana. And all it was for was to mask my scent for a few minutes. It wasn't much, but it have to do. I ran until I came across a large clearing.
Just as I left the far side of the clearing, you piped up again. “Go left, then straight, and look for a pond.”
I took off. I soon saw a glint of moonlight, and angled towards it. I skidded to a stop. “Okay, now what?” I looked around. “Voice?!”
A twig snapped behind me. I whipped around, and saw Marcus step out from the brush. “Nowhere ta run ta, an’ now yer talkin’ ta voices in yer head?” He shook head.
“Now would be a good time for a miracle!” I thought.
“When the distraction happens, fall back into the water. Don’t screw this up.”
You didn’t make me wait long. I saw Marcus look behind me, and I swear that his brain stopped working. “What sorcery is this?!”
I didn’t look behind me, for I knew I’d lose what small scrape of courage I had. I just looked at Marcus, made sure I had his attention, and claimed, “This is the power of my faith!” Then I let myself fall backwards, and my life exploded in pain. (You never told me that would happen, by the way…)
(“Ya’d probably wouldn’t have gone along with it if I did.”)
When I woke up, I was laying by a pond, in an unfamiliar forest. All of the colours just seemed to be brighter. Oh, and there was a pair of armoured techicolour mini horses poking me with the butt end of a spear.
Long story short, they tied me up, babbled gibberish at each other, then dragged my sorry hide here. Then I wondered how I this had happened, and you showed back up.
“And now I assume you have questions, like ‘Who am I?’ or ‘What happened?’ or something like that. Well, as for the what, I dragged your sorry pelt into the realm I helped create so that you could act as my new agent. This will preserve balance in this realm.”
“And why not just use your old agent?”
“He's been stoned. And before you ask, no, I didn’t punish him. What he’s going through right now is torture enough.”
“And if I refuse?”
“To be my agent? Well I suppose I could always send you back to be with Marcus….”
“Uuh, that was… Rhetorical. Yeah that’s it! A rhetorical question. Of course I’ll work for ya!” I lifted my head from the pile of hay I rested on. “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll get it done, mister…?”
“Entropy. My name is Entropy. And you’ll want to change into full wolf. Now.”
I concentrated, putting as much effort into changing as quickly as possible. Soon, I was lying in a small depression in the hay pile. My transformation ended just as I was hearing the sound of horseshoes striking the stone floor. I looked up to see a tall, dark blue…. Unicorn thing with wings. Her mane and tail shimmered and flowed in an invisible breeze.
And, boy, did she looked pissed.
