Noctis Lupus

Light and Shadow

"Damn It! Where is it!"

"Stop yelling Dimitri, it is bound to be somewhere in this cave. Now please calm down, let's not make a bloody mess here."

"Don't tell me what to do Yuri, I have looked everywhere in this God forsaken cave. IT IS NOT HERE!"

"You just woke up. Take it easy and calm down."

"It is the only thing left that will lead us to them. That is unique, nothing can replace it! That map is our lives."

"Shut up, both of you! Can't a man sleep for a couple of hours?" T'Argho had just gotten up from his little corner of the cave. He looked like a mess, his hair was all over his head and everyone could see the tiredness in his face. The last few days had taken a toll on him, on everyone.

Next to him, Yuvin had begun to wake up. He looked just as bad as everyone else. "How many hours has it been since we last fed, I am starving!"

Nobody spoke up, and Yuvin could immediately tell that Dimitri was pissed. He knew what he was looking for, they all knew.

"That bastard Abraham took it, I just know it. He knows where it leads, he knows where it would have taken us. Now it's gone, forever."

T'Argho got up and moved towards the central fire pit, the wood was now just a smoldering mess of black ash and charcoal. It reminded him of the cabin, of Abraham. "You know that i remember that map like the back of my hand. You know it was just a fallback in case I die. Abraham knows that too, that is why he took it."

"You are right T'Argho, sorry for being such an idiot. It's just that these last few days has been hard on me. We are so close to our goal I can almost taste it."

"Can't we all Dimitri?"

"Shut up Yuvin, I really don't wan't to hear you voice right now."

Yuvin got up from his corner and walked towards the outside of the cave. The cool morning breeze brought him the smell of flowers. He could hear the sounds of birds calling for their mates, and in the distance a howl of a wolf. He knew that it was not Abraham, it sounded way too different. Abraham had the howl of a thousand daggers piercing his heart at once. It was unique, just like Abraham himself was.

"We move out in three hours, take only what is necessary. No use wasting valuable daylight." Yuri was addressing all of the pack, there was command in his voice.

Yuvin liked how his pack worked. It was like they were all the alphas, no one person was higher than another, and they all commanded everyone else when it was the packs specialty. If the need arise, they would select one person to have overall command for the situation. During the cabin attack, T'Argho had taken the overall command. That was how it worked. He turned around too see the rest of the group already transformed into their wolves and waiting for him. He walked towards his gear, grabbed a knife and some food, and let himself be immersed by the wolf. His body felt amazing, the sensation was unlike anything else.

I truly am blessed.

***

Yuri watched as Yuvin transformed into his wolf, the clothes that he was wearing completely disappeared from him. He did not know how to explain it, it was just another mystery of their gift. The strangest part was that after they turned into humans again, the clothing just appeared on their bodies like nothing had ever happened. Like no change in their physical form had occurred.

"Are we all ready, can we go now?" Yuvin was getting impatient. He always wanted to get going, to move.

Nobody waited for an answer as the pack sprinted past Yuri and went into the woods, their howls penetrating deep into the tree line. He looked around one last time. The cave was their only home, and now they were abandoning it. Somehow he was glad, it felt different to be inside of it.