Those Who Suffer, Those Who Survive

Hunter's Howling Reception

"When did I... When was my first kill?"the stray and meaningless thought plays around in the sleepless Prince's mind. The hour was late- well past midnight. Inside a foreign room, in came the moonlight between the wooden slits of the window. Outside, Noctis could hear the wind whistling, much more mellowed than the evening's howls.

Round and round went his mind. His thoughts ran amuck, blending from one thing to another but in the end it only ended at the adversary he had yet to meet. The Wolf.

All he knew of it was: its thirst for blood and a penchant for taking children. It fed on its victims..leaving only rags and tatters of a human behind.

"The Wolf Versus The Demon. It's the battle of the century,folks..." his mind spoke. It was the hunter being hunted now and Noctis had a few plans ready for the coming day. He, being a trained hunter himself, didn't expect to expense more than two days to hunt down a man-eating wolf.

Hunting was one of the few activities the younger Prince shared with his sibling. Crown Prince Raegan and him used to go hunting together... once, before things changed.

Raegan, true to his reputation as a prodigy had exceptional hunting skills and Noctis vividly remembers his older brother even passing on a few tricks to him. But those days are gone and now they are nothing more than just memories.

Noctis yawns as sleep finally starts to settle onto his eyelids like fine silt. His eyes had gotten but a few minutes of sleep when they flew open again.

It was a sound. Coming through the cracks in the window boards. It was a sound...coming from far away. The Angora forest, Noctis deduced.
The sound, muffled at first suddenly got louder as the Sheldtian Prince, ignoring the cold gusts, threw open his window. Along with  the wind, the sound hit him full force.

It was a howl. A clear, shrill cry that could only have been produced by a wolf.... yet the intensity of the sound indicated something more...something vile and sinister and maybe, supernatural? Perhaps. Something beyond the reach of simple townsfolk?

Absolutely.

Noctis, in all his years of hunting had heard a fair range of animal sounds. Howls. Barks. Roars and baying of wolves. But the sound that woke him along with the town's population, was something he couldn't believe to be of this world.

It was a hollow, yet intense cry. Rising from the forest-bed, riding the cold winds to reach the sleeping town. It was a full, deep sound produced by an undoubtedly powerful animal, which resonated through the icy roads, past the foggy streetlamps and into the homes of the Angoran folk. The houses seemed to wake as well as their inhabitants, feeling the ominous vibration in their wooden boards and creaking in fear or complaint. The clarity of the sound astonished Noctis. He could easily close his eyes and picture the wolf howling in his face. And perhaps that same thought kept the people from shutting their eyes for the rest of the night.

One by one, the lights in the houses went on, windows opened and wary faces poked out to the street and a few brave ones, looked to the dark blanket around the town better known as Angora Forest.

When Noctis went down to the street from his second storey room, he found the familiar face of Mr.Urbach there along with the grim faces of what was, half of Angora. Word spreads like wildfire in these small towns and by then the entire population had heard of the Knight who had come to hunt down the wolf. Some watched him with wonder, awed at his handsome face and unusual eyes. Some felt reassured that at the least some action was finally to be taken. While others felt less than relieved staring at the bored-looking kid who casually leaned against a pole with his fists stuffed in his pockets. Watching him stare at the moon, distant as if lost in thought, some of the older folks almost grimaced. In their minds doubt sprang if the messy haired young man could even escape with his life let alone save theirs.

As Jefferey turned his horrified gaze to the Knight, Noctis nonchalantly said,"I don't think it's gonna do much more than howl tonight, Mr. Urbach."

"Bu-but-but...But did you hear that thing? By God, it's gotten louder tonight!"he stuttered.

"Is that so?" Noctis asked thoughtfully.

"Why, yes! Even the last time...two nights ago it seemed to be crying from farther away." Casting a wary glance to the young Knight standing there without his armor or sword, Jefferey suddenly felt a little less reassured than he had been few hours ago. He felt anxious, for the Knight. After all, he was just a boy as old as his daughter where the wolf...it was the stuff of nightmares. "Are you...are you sure you want to go after that thing? All alone..by yourself?"he asked.

Noctis was taken aback at the question. He looked at his host with eyes full of surprise. Surprise...yes that's the word. Noctis was...surprised that someone could ask him if he thought himself worthy.

"Am I worthy?"the question poked in his mind. But the very next minute his thoughts sank down to the beast he himself harboured inside. At that Noctis could only scoff. "Is a demon worthy to hunt a wolf?"he thought. "We'll find out, now, won't we?"

Regaining his usual confidence he answers,"Oh it's your wolf you should be worried about."

Mr. Urbach stares bewildered at the smirk on the boy's face as he spoke with confidence which could very well be considered arrogance.

"We never heard it twice in a week. That was, before tonight."

To Jefferey, at his words, the strange Knight's uncanny mismatched eyes seemed to gleam with amusement... specially the amber one.

As Noctis turned to return to the warmth of his room, Jefferey heard him speak over his shoulder," Isn't that nice? It must've come to welcome me."His voice faded away as he went up the steps,"Tell the people to go back to bed. It's not going to hunt tonight."

Strange and sometimes unbelievable as the stoic, yet cocky Knight's words were, the people of Angora discovered on the coming of dawn that the wolf hadn't taken anyone that night after all.