Noctura

fifty five

jinwoo

ALL DAY, Yoon has been talking to everyone in the Alliance base about what he knows.

So far, he knows that a war is coming, and it's coming soon, but he doesn't know exactly when. He knows that the Malums are leading the attacks, but countless other Nocturas are going to join. He also knows that we, the Alliance, are going to have to play a very important role in this war.

And now we're trying to figure out what, exactly, that role is.

We're sitting in the dining hall, multiple tables stacked together and chairs surrounding those tables, so we can all speak with each other. There are humans and Nocturas both here. There are people who work at this base and people who are staying here.

And then there's the Alliance leader, Minho, and me.

"We fight for Nocturas," Yoon is saying. "But we don't kill humans, unless it is absolutely necessary. We also don't support the gangs, like the Malums. That means... this war is going to be difficult for us."

"Do we have to pick a side?" A woman, a Noctura, asks. "Can we not just go up against everyone?"

"What about just not fighting?" A man, a human, suggests. "Why do we have to choose a side and fight in this war? We can just sit this one out."

"Unfortunately, if we do nothing, then change will not happen," Yoon responds. "We need to do this. Not everyone, of course. If you do not want to participate in this war then there is no need for you to. But those who do want to participate, please, we're going to need you."

"We should fight for the humans."

We all look over at Minho, sitting next to me on my left.

"Why?" Yoon questions.

"Yes, they hate Nocturas, but I understand why," Minho explains. "We kill their people just to survive. It would make sense that they would want us to stop. But the Malums and all the other Noctura gangs are killing for fun. They're making things worse for the Nocturas who want to get along with the humans. If we side with the Nocturas, we're not siding with all Nocturas, really, we're only siding with the gangs. And I don't think that's the right thing to do."

"I agree." I speak up. "The humans... I think what they're doing is not wrong, but it's not entirely right either. Still, they're just doing what they believe they need to do because they want to keep their people safe. Isn't that all anyone wants to do? We just want to keep ourselves and those close to us safe. Nocturas directly put humans in danger."

"It's not our fault, though," a Noctura man says. "We didn't ask to be born this way. The humans are killing Nocturas because we are different from them. They're not trying to help us be different or anything. They just resort to killing."

"I say we just fight both the humans and the Noctura gangs," the Noctura woman who spoke earlier says. "That way it shows that we are not for the humans killing Nocturas, but we are also not for Nocturas insensibly killing humans."

People around the table begin murmuring.

"If we fight both, it may show that," Minho responds carefully, quieting everyone. "But where will we get with that? We don't have a large army. If we fought with the humans, maybe it would give us a chance to show that we don't hate them and we don't want to kill them. Maybe it would open their eyes just a little bit."

"Their eyes are never going to be open. They want all Nocturas dead." The Noctura man says.

"Not all humans do." Minho shakes his head.