Convergent

A Lycan Tale

~Tris~

I devour five fish tacos. "Oh my God, these are so good!" I exclaim, mouth full. Tobias laughs. "It's just you recovering from 'The Witch's Curse'. Humans will always be starving after that," he explains. "What do you mean?" I ask. "The Witch's Curse is the consequences of having wolf saliva enter your bloodstream. For a while, the pleasure center of the brain is activated and it feels like everything you've ever wanted in the world is yours. But after a few hours of the high, 'The Witch's Curse' comes to haunt you. It's different on all species. For humans, they go through what you did. For another lycan, yes we drink each other's blood too, a small cough lasting a few minutes and it's over. We call it 'The Witch's Curse' because it can either feel like a curse bestowed by the harshest of witches, or it can feel like a small punishment from a benevolent one," he explains. "I thought it was venom in my veins," I admit. He shakes his head. "No, lycan venom turns humans. The man who bit you just wanted your blood." I nod, chewing on another bite. "So, werewolf venom turns you and werewolf saliva makes you high?" "No, lycan venom and saliva do that to you," he corrects. "What's the difference?" I ask. "Two different wolves. See, lycans turn at will and werewolves turned at every full moon whether they liked it or not. Lycans have their memories and senses intact during wolf form. Werewolves didn't. They'd even attack the ones they love most," Tobias answers. "Hmm, . . . I'm interested. Tell me more," I say. "On what?" "Lycan history," I reply. He raises his eyebrows. "You sure?" I nod. "Yeah."

"So, a long time ago, back in Viking times, a father and son hunted wolves for their pelts and meat. But one day, they hunted and killed two special wolves. Once you wore their pelts, you had the power to turn into one at every full moon. The father and son quickly took advantage of this and became the most respected hunters in the land, accumulating fame and wealth. People looked for more wolves like this, but they could not be found easily. You had to be one to find one and there were only two pelts. Regardless, the father and son took on a multitude of animals and gained much more territory for their kingdom. However, their power soon got out of control and the father attacked his own son, who barely survived. A kind princess traveling from another Viking kingdom revived him and they ended up marrying and having children. This united the two kingdoms, who became a force to be reckoned with. While the son needed the pelt to turn, he had used it for so long that this gene passed down to his daughter and son who passed it down to their kids as well. More of those special wolves were found, so more pelts were used and more werewolf families were born." "What were those special wolves called?" I ask. "Dire wolves," he says. I gasp. "They hunted those poor animals to extinction?!" He nods. "Yeah. Contrary to popular belief, the dire wolf lasted far longer than historians believe. They'll figure that out eventually. Anyways, where was I?

"Oh, werewolf families. So, the gene passed down for hundreds of thousands of years to both sexes who kept their other part a secret for fear of being hunted to extinction in the new world. But one day, in the first twenty years of faction times, some dumb*ss, Gene Landson I believe, a Candor man, let it slip. See, no werewolf or lycan in the history of faction times has ever taken Candor for this reason! But anyways, he was forced to turn in front of everyone in every faction and the hunt began. Now, since elephants have been hunted for so long due to their ivory, evolution ensued and stripped them of their tusks, or gave them small tusks. This way, their species could survive. The same thing happened to us. Werewolves eventually turned into lycans to camouflage with humans. However, Dauntless soldiers stayed alert during full moons with silver bullets and eventually, werewolves became extinct. But, lycans didn't. And that brings us to today, where we hide our true form still," he ends. "Wooooooowwwwww," a voice from behind chimes in. We turn our attention towards it. Jason and Tyler are at the bottom of the stairs. "Never knew that. By the way, your stories are super long," Jason adds. I chuckle and Tobias rolls his eyes. "Weren't you just upstairs?" he asks. "Yeah, but we got bored," Jason replies. "How long have you been here?" Tobias asks. "Since Tris said she was interested."