Scroll 1: Trailing The Wolves (The White Wolf Trilogy)

Chapter 3

"I'm going outside and won't be back till next morning," Asa stated, pulling on a green wool shawl and slipping on her sandals.

"Don't follow me."

Aria opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly shushed by Asa.

"Going outside on this night will be dangerous for you," the young healer replied.

"I can heal cuts and broken bones, but I don't know anyone who could reattach a ripped of arm. No adventures for you children tonight, alright?"

All of the children meekly nodded except Aria, who stubbornly crossed her arms and scowled; she wasn't used to not getting what she wanted. Satisfied with this response, Asa walked out the door, turning to give the children an apologetic smile. She just wanted them to be safe inside where there would be no chance of them ending up as one of her relatives side dishes. Looking up, Asa saw that they sky was getting darker, a sign that she was late for the ceremony. She picked up the pace, not wanting to be alone during the full moon.

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"Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked Aroura.

The children creeped through the bushes following the trail of footprints Asa left behind.

"You want to know what's happening, right?" asked Statick. There were some weird things going on in this village and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Yeah, but I don't want to risk being eaten by a rabid Akiyama to find out!" Aurora replied. The legend stated that the Dōbutsu no Hitobito were hungry for human flesh on the full moon, and if everything else it said was true....Aria didn't even want to think of that part.

"Look," Crystal said, pointing to the sky.

"The full moon."

All of the children looked up and sure enough there was the moon, shining brightly in the sky. There was something mystic and slightly eerie that night, almost as if the moon had a demonic draw.

"I-I don't think we should be here," stammered Ken.

"Come on Hikaru." Ken grabbed his brother's arm, starting to walk back in the direction of the hut. Pyro had different plans for the boys, stopping them before they could make it far.

"You know something you won't tell us, don't you?" Pyro questioned, her eyes boring into the boys. Ken gulped, wondering what would happen if her refused to answer.

"We're innocent until proven guilty!" Hikaru exclaimed, trying to free himself of the girl's iron grip. Pyro looked closely at the boys, her eyes widening as she noticed something.

"There's fur growing out of your skin!" she gasped, a mix of terror, betrayal and fury evident in her voice. The boys had known the legend all along and had played the girls like fools.

"Looks like we're not the only ones keeping secrets," Ken replied, gazing at Pyro's arm. It took a while for her to understand what he meant by that, but soon saw the brown, slightly burgundy tinted fur that grew out of her own arm.

"What's happening?" Crystal asked nervously. All of them were growing fur, and this was definitely not a normal thing.

The children were soon all hunched over in pain as bones snapped and reshaped themselves moving into different positions. The fur soon covered them completely, and all that was left to show that the children were once human was a dimly lit lamp that now lay abandoned on the floor. In the place of the children were seven wolves and two bears. One of the largest wolves, a black wolf with yellow eyes, raised it's head to the sky, howling at the the moon. It then ran deeper into the forest and the other wolves followed, with the bears lumbering not far behind.