Archer's P.O.V
Four years my brother and I have been on our own. Four years since our lives changed forever. Four years since we have been ripped from everything that we've ever known. But it was all worth it.
Since we were little the both of us carried a burden that hung heavy over our heads. We were born into power, a power beyond what most could comprehend. A power that even at times we ourselves had difficulty handling.
Growing up we learned how to harness that power, control it when it was deemed to threaten ultimate destruction. It was a gift that all of my ancestors before us possessed. More often than not it seemed like a curse.
I couldn't speak for my brother, but there were many times that I wanted nothing more than to be completely and wholly human; carefree and oblivious.
Every thought, every emotion, amplified my brain, driving me to do things that a sober mind would find catastrophic. It was a beastly primal instinct that drove me forward, and it was almost uncontrollable.
I was born for one purpose, and one purpose only; a weapon. Like those that came before me I was made to kill, defend, and protect. My father spoke highly of this supposed honor. Lecture after lecture I heard on how it was my duty to protect our family and all those who were counting on our protection.
As the years passed by though the teachings and beliefs of my family started to crumble, turning to Ash in an already forgotten place.
My grandfather, before he passed, would tell stories about how brave and noble our ancestors had been, defending and honoring their primary fundamentals.
A large part of that was honoring our Goddess Selene, the one that bestowed the gifts that set us apart from the rest of the modern world.
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It is said that long ago, when this land was occupied by few, and shelters were born from sticks and straw, a once ordinary man was transformed by the Moon herself.
Our great ancestor Takoda, the first of our kind, was said to be a peaceful man that lived simply among the countryside. He was not the son of a chief, not even a great warrior, but a humble farmer. He owned next to nothing except for wheat in which he grew, and the few animals that he raised. Though he came from nothing, he was said to be one of the happiest men to ever live.
The poor village where he resided thought highly of him, but still he remained humble, withdrawing from status. "The wisest men seek no power, as our wealth is claimed by those we surround ourselves with." Words he would repeat throughout the entirety of his life.
And with his partner Aiyana by his side he was the richest man in the world. It was said that she was the most beautiful maiden that the town had ever encountered, with long locks as dark as the night sky and a smile as bright as the moon. Women were envious of her exotic olive skin, while men fawned over her hourglass frame. None of these breathtaking traits are what had drawn Takoda in.
Her brown eyes gleamed with such intensity that was enough to knock any man or woman off of their feet. There was a spark, a fire so bright and bold that had never before been seen in the small village.
As soon as their eyes met Takoda knew that someday, somehow, she would become his eternal partner.
At the time he thought it impossible. "How could a woman such as her fall for a man like him?" But little did he know that when their eyes met, she too had been drawn in by the young man. His tan skin gleamed in the morning sunlight as he worked the field, his calloused hands representing the long days work. His dark hair fell in his face as he heaved in exhaustion.
There was always work to do, but whenever Aiyana stopped by in greeting his world would come to pause. For while they were together a new dawn was created. For every night would bring on a passion that the world hadn't known existed. In each other's eyes they saw their lifeline.
By some otherworldly happening their souls were intertwined long before they knew the other. Each was half until they came as one. No vow or promise would account for the way they felt for each other. It was as if they were born to be in each other's arms.
It was more than coincidence that they crossed paths. It was fate. And for that they prayed to the Moon Goddess every evening while they were together, and every morning while they were apart. The very being they believed gave them life.
For years they lived in harmony, until the unthinkable struck the lands. When word had spread that Aiyana had fallen pregnant with a peasant farmer in the East, the powerful family that she had fled from came to wreak havoc on the land.
Many speculated, but no one knew exactly where the beautiful stranger had hailed from. There was nothing left to question when her father Chief Blackhawk came to search for her, killing off any of those who stood in his way. He was a brutal, merciless leader, the exact reason why she had fled all those years ago.
Takoda was miles away, gathering supplies for their unborn child in a neighboring town when he heard the news.
As fast as he could he barreled his way back to her, afraid of what would happen if her father found her. He prayed to the Goddess to protect his family, but it was too late.
When Takoda came in view of his destroyed hut, he feared the worst, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to see. There on the ground lay his beautiful bride. The earthly colored dress that she had been so proud to make hung torn against her lifeless body. The green and brown colors now caked with dried blood. Her once olive complexion, now pale and discolored. Her small hand still rested on her plump belly.
The cry that rattled what was left of the disheveled hut was so primal and animalistic that it shook the entire village too its core. It could be heard from miles away.
Everyone of the town ran towards the cry out of fear, or curiosity; but some say it was as if they were being pulled towards the man, as if his pain was calling them in.
The healer of the village approached the hut cautiously, falling to her knees once she saw the state of what had happened. Everyone that came to know the couple looked up to them, admired them, cared for them... Well, almost everyone.
With great difficulty the healer drew Takoda's hands away from his bride, just enough to see the status of her swollen stomach. She wanted to give the man some hope. If she didn't at least try then he would be left with nothing, no one. He wouldn't survive this.
She placed a hand on the deceased woman's abdomen, astonished to find the slightest kick against her palm. No one dared breathe or mutter a word as she worked to deliver the baby. Only when a strong cry echoed the grounds did gasps of amazement filled the air. It was more than a miracle that the child survived.
Days later, Takoda held his newborn child as he wept over the freshly placed grave, covered by the most beautiful gemstones that the valley had to offer. The unnamed child looked over to it's mothers grave as it too cried for the woman that brought so much joy to the land. The sky itself opened up above them, weeping in sorrow.
Hours later Takoda looked down at his heir, the only thing left of the life that he had fought so hard to create, noticing just how much the little girl resembled her fallen mother.
Without his beloved he was missing a piece of himself. The hope that he had just that morning for their growing family extinguished.
This little girl in his arms deserved the world. She deserved a bright future, she deserved the mother that was stolen from her. Yet, here she was still without a name, just as he was when he was tossed aside by his parents.
A tear streaked down his face when the night came, as he put her in the care of the very healer that had saved her. He felt a deadly anger boiling up inside of him. Images of his wife's mangled and bloody body would stay with him for eternity. For a time it voided her smile, her laugh, her unforgettable eyes. He walked past his poor excuse of a hut, a place he dared not go since removing her body. He willed himself to find something good to remember her by, anything to cancel out the image of her corpse. Her presence was so strong and bright. How could it be distinguished by one single act? He tore apart the rest of the family home, leaving nothing untouched. Her family destroyed everything when they took her from him. He wanted vengeance. He wanted blood. For a brief moment the chaos stilled. He would avenge her, even if it took his last breath.
Leaving his daughter behind he traveled to their lands, sneakily making his way to the quarters of the chief, her mother's murderer. He saw red as he looked in the chief's face, he was inches away from completing the slaughter.
Just before he was about to strike something tugged at his heart, pulling him away from the sleeping elder.
He dropped the knife, the same one that he had found shoved into his wife's chest, almost waking the man in the process. He stared horrified at what he had almost done.
Despite the pain that this man brought, despite the justice he felt would serve by killing the man, he couldn't. He was no killer.
This wouldn't bring Aiyana back. The most this would do was leave her child an orphan, with no mother or father to come back to her. Just like he was.
With great restraint the man retreated, fleeing towards what remained of his family. Just before he entered the village he stopped in his tracks, noticing the full moon overhead the wheat field. He hadn't talked or prayed to the Goddess since the day of her death. He couldn't. Wouldn't. For a time he blamed the Moon Goddess for not protecting her, but only so that he wouldn't blame himself.
He dropped to his knees, staring up at the shining star, memories of Aiyana's smile finally pushing through the darkness. All of the good and all of the bad, circled him like a strong blast of wind.
For the first time in a long time he prayed. He prayed that his soulmate knew only peace in the afterlife. He prayed for protection. Not for him, but for his defenseless daughter. He prayed for everyone other than himself, and that is why the Goddess answered.
She came down to him like a dream, riding on a large ball of light. It was as if the moon itself dropped down out of the sky.
It was eerie how similar the Goddess resemened Aiyana. If he hadn't known better he would have mistook the entity as the spirit of his love, but he did no better. The entity did not hold the spark of fire in her eyes that she had. But there was a resting calmness, an otherworldly power that threatened to break free.
Maybe it was the Goddess's way of refuting the image that tainted his soul. A gift to replace the memory of what had been done. Or maybe she appeared to each as what they thought was the most beautiful. Either way, he was thankful for it.
In a voice that transcended down from the heavens themselves she called out to him. "You, who have suffered so much, still live a life untainted. Your heart is as pure as gold and for that my child I will present you with an offering. I will grant your family protection for as long as they shall live, in this life, and the next, shall you offer me something in return."
He looked up into her radiant eyes without faltering. "Anything." He answered. She smiled sadly down to him.
"I will not pretend that what I am to ask of you isn't great. It will test your very being. It will be a heavy burden to bear, but with this I grant you strength, stealth, and resilience. It does not guarantee eternal life, but it does endow a great amount of power to guard those who you cherish the most."
Takoda thought for a brief moment. He never wanted power, but his daughter needed protection. He couldn't allow anything like this to happen again, he couldn't lose her too. "I will give you anything."
She nodded in understanding, before placing her arm upon his shoulder. "So mote it be."
The two shined with a blinding ball of light surrounding them. The ethereal woman staring down at the poor man as he writhed in pain. She remained unmoving, as she watched his entire being transform. Inch by inch his skin ripped from his body, replaced with heaps of white fur. Unable to scream he clawed at the bones that were shifting into unnatural positions, forming him into something new entirely.
The man lay in agony on the ground, confused to what had just happened, trapped inside the body of another.
"Do not fear, my child. This will all make sense to you in time. Until then, I will guide you when you need me, but until then I say, blessed be." Like that the Goddess turned, and in only a moment's time she retreated her otherworldly self back to the plane from which she came.
Weeks after the encounter Takoda mulled about the forest around the village, still unable to transform back into his human bonds. He couldn't go back to his daughter, not like this.
So, he kept a watchful eye in the distance, his heart ache when rumors in the village started to spread of his whereabouts. It was a small town and secrets were hard to come by. When news got out of what he had set to do everyone thought him to be dead. It had been months since he had left for his dangerous expedition and thoughts of his return were starting to look meek.
He ached to see his daughter, the very reason why he had done all that he had done. He tried with everything he had to shift but he couldn't. He wondered if this was punishment from the Goddess herself. If it was, he thought that it was justified. If he hadn't left the village he would have been there to protect her, and none of it would have happened.
Just when he thought the Goddess had cursed him and everyone in the village had gone off to bed he saw an intruder passing by the huts of the village folk. Silently, he crept toward them, observing their movements as they were foreigners, clearly on the lookout for something in particular.
He wasted no time creeping up on them when they moved towards the healers hut, towards his daughter. It was then through the dark he recognized their faces, the same faces he passed by in the chiefs camp.
They drew their weapons and entered the shelter, and before they could draw themselves closer he made his move. In one bite he had made his first kill, in another swipe he had made his second. All of thirty seconds and he had become a murder in the sake of protecting his family.
He heard his daughter cry for him, and he didn't think. Without warning he removed the bodies from the room and ran to her. Slowly his vision started to change, slowly his bones began to break again, his fur shedding. Without much effort he was standing before his daughters crib, completely human.
The healer and village people that heard the commotion stood behind him, gawking at the man through the open door of the hut. They did not fear him, for they too worshipped the Moon Goddess and all of her gifts. Instead they bowed, out of respect for both him and the gift that he had been given.
Disregarding the attention he turned back to his daughter, picking her up gently in his arms. She smiled up at her father, accepting him for all that he was and all that he would be.
"Hello, my darling Laelynn." He called to the only hope that he had left in this world.
Shock echoed through him and the onlookers as the baby's form shifted too. He was no longer looking at a docile little infant in his hands but a strong wolf pup.
He knew what this strange gift meant now. He was given a gift that ensured his family lived on for generations to come. The blessing of their eternal salvation is what drove him, and because of that it did not matter if he had to become the feared Amarok.
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That is how our story started, long ago by an ancestor that seemed to be forgotten in the minds of many.
This story that forever resonated with me, that was the driving force to my very existence was retold many times by my grandfather, as it had been by his grandfather and the grandfather before him. A story once held sacred, beliefs that people like us held most dear, on the verge of being erased from our history by none other than my own father, the current leader
My pack, my family had forever followed the Moon Goddess and all of her happenings. Each day we prayed to her, thanking her for the gift that she had given us, praying for the protection of those that we loved. After all, she had given us many things.
Our ability to shift, to make us stronger made us virtually indestructible. That was the part that made it feel most like a curse. Despite the protection that we could offer to ourselves and others we were also a danger to those around us if we didn't keep ourselves in check. It was so easy to lose control of ourselves, one little slip off the reigns and our unhinged anger could drive us to commit unspeakable things. That was why in legends and in stories most feared us. If we were not careful, we could let the beast within turn us into complete monsters.
The purest gift, the one that I held most dearest to my heart, is really what held my beliefs so strong.
Unable to bring back the love that Takoda had lost, the Moon Goddess granted each and every one of her Lupin children after him with an eternal partner. Each time a Lupin was born the child's soul was split in two, the other half gifted to another that she had chosen long ago. Only when those two souls meet do they feel complete.
The Goddess brings the two together when she feels they have earned it, when they need each other the most.
The meeting really is fate, but now to the dwindling faith that most like us were starting to yield to, it wasn't something that was always found.
Some grew to loathe her for this reason solely. It had been decades since the last known communication with the Goddess. After a while, some faith in her started to deteriorate.
That's why throughout my youth I tried to remain faithful. No matter what else happened, no matter what was going around me, I needed to remind myself that there was someone, somewhere out there waiting for me.
Whoever it was, wherever she was, I needed them desperately, because despite the fact that I've had my brother forever by my side I never recall a time when I truly felt whole.
My father never found his true mate. Despite my mother being the amazing woman that she was, she didn't settle his aching soul.
Maybe that's why he turned out to be the way that he is. In that case I couldn't take the chance. I couldn't take the chance of becoming like him.
I was afraid that if I never found her, that I would become an entirely new dangerous beast all together. I was terrified that If I didn't find her soon then the beast inside would consume me, and I would be lost forever.