"There are a lot of things in this world that can't be explained by the people of the world. From strange symbols found in caves, plains and ancient tombs; to excavated artifacts and broken scriptures in rather unusual locations. Some of these they connect to the fact that they lack the information needed to understand the unknown; and some they push back far beyond, hidden from the knowledge of the common people. They blatantly deny to acknowledge anything they deemed irrational and unnatural, to protect what they believe is foundation of the modern society and humanity that they want to build.
But not all can be hidden. Extreme luck or jinx, death of thousands, sightings of unknown creatures and objects, unnatural calamaties. These unexplained occurrences in which it's basic and definite existence cannot be denied nor hidden from the public's eye, is what creates uncertainties in the reality meticulously formed in the minds of the so called civilized world. And humans fear the unknown, so they tried their hardest to give explanation for what happened based on what they saw and hear. Even if what they come up with is an even scarier knowledge of a different set of creatures that lives behind the shadows of the human society. These creatures, at one point is what most humanity believed to be the cause of any unexplained happening. People will be like, 'You can't explain the reason? One of these supernatural creatures is definitely behind it.' That's what they'll say. They believe that these creatures are of the dark, and are evil in nature. They like to toy on humans. Some are playful and naughty, while some are devious and deadly. But this way of thinking only brought fear, anxiety and unrest to the people. For thousands of years, these unexplainable occurrences plague the human society, shaking the hearts of both the weak and the strong.
To stop this cycle, the authorities above the society of man, forcefully covered up with whatever rational explanations they can come up with to explain these occurences. Forcefully erasing whatever knowledge humans thought they knew of the creatures of the dark. But even with these explanations, some of those fear managed to stick to the hearts of the people. Do they really exist? Or are they just a fragment of the ancient man's imagination? But then again, why are there still unexplainable occurrences in the modern world?
Human minds are fragile, whether in ancient times or at present. They need concrete evidences to give reason to the world they live in. Without these evidences, humans tend to break, and society will crumble."
Aria then closed the folder she's holding. "That would be for my narrative Ms. Park."
"Huh?" As if just waking up from a trance, Ms. Park coughed to quickly collect herself back before speaking again to Aria. "Hm, well, you have a very interesting...topic for your narrative. Would you mind explaining why you chose this specific...issue in presenting your argument?"
Aria was about to give her answer when the bell rang throughout the whole school compound, signaling the end of the day's classes.
"Alright then, I guess your answer can wait for tomorrow. Thank you, Aria." She said to Aria before facing the whole class and started with her last minute reminders for the class.
Aria went back to her seat and placed her stuff inside her bag. Just when she was about to carry her bag, someone grabbed her arms. It was Chynna, her best friend.
"You scared me right there. For a minute I thought you..." She stopped mid sentence and looked around. Seeing that there are still a few people who are starting to go out of the classroom, she sighed. Then she leaned closer and whispered. "I thought you're gonna say who we really are. You know, us, Lycans."
Aria smiled. "Don't worry. I wouldn't do that. I know the rules."
"Okay, anyways I know you wouldn't reveal that. As our Alpha's daughter, you of all of us knows the danger it will bring to our pack. Just don't do that again, alright? I almost leaped out of my chair to cover your mouth right there."
"Now that will blow our cover, don't you think?"
"You do know it's just a figure of speech, right?"
Aria wrung her arms around Chynna's arms. "Yup, I'm just messing with you. Let's race home?"
"Let's start at the forest at the school's backyard." Chynna answered and both of them started grinning from ear to ear.
***
That night, Aria and Chynna attended their Lycan class held inside the main hall of their village. This is a compulsory class for every member of their pack's younger generation to ensure that all the knowledge from their ancestors are passed on to every member of the new generation. They are taught history, tradition, skills, and all the whatnots of becoming a Lycan.
Based on their history, humans only had a few records of sightings of their ancestors, basically because their kind tend to keep away from men when in wolf form. These few records described them as bear sized wolves, leaving behind large paw prints on the ground, with legs so strong they can leap from cliff to cliff. Some human tribes even considered them as protectors of the mountains as it is there where humans usually see them. And there were also other humans, with their little knowledge of the supernatural creatures, connect them to the more famous and feared werewolves.
These two creatures, though both take the form of a wolf and receives benefits from the power of the moon, are greatly different from each other.
The existence of the werewolf is an aberration of nature. The first werewolf was a human who committed countless unimaginable crimes so much that he can no longer be considered human. The devil himself took notice of this man. Sending the purest of evil energy, the man was easily consumed and transformed into a standing eight feet tall half-man half-wolf creature, who feeds on the life force of people; its favorite being the children and young women. It then went on its rampage and killed to its delight leaving behind a track of bloodied and mangled bodies. The humans tried to fight back and hunted this creature, and because of this, some of its victims survive, or so they thought they did. Because these survived victims were already infected by werewolf venom and so every full moon, when the life force coming from the moon is at its highest, the venom in their blood becomes fully stimulated and transforms the victim into a mindless bloodthirsty werewolf.
Lycans, on the other hand, are nature's counter to werewolves. They are born as lycans and once one reaches awakening they can transform at will. Unlike werewolves, they never lose their sense of reasoning nor become aggressive during transformation. The only changes during their transformation to becoming a giant wolf is their heightened senses, powerful canine fangs, and incredibly strong physique.
The first set of people who became lycans were a tribe of indigenous mountain people who prayed arduously to the spirits to give justice to their fellow tribesmen who fell victim to the first werewolf. The spirits heard their prayers, and hoping to once again bring balance to the world, granted them the power to fight against that creature. Accepting this new power and mission given by the spirits, the first pack of lycans lead by their Alpha, or born leader of the pack, hunted down every werewolf for centuries.
The then single pack of lycans spread out around the globe tracing down every news of werewolves. And since they take every characteristic of wolves, only magnified a thousand times, so naturally when they decided to form different packs, an Alpha emerges which will then lead the pack and hold ultimate authority over its members. After more than two centuries of hunting these vile creatures, most of these packs were living among the locals, near mountain ranges and forests, taking on mundane tasks during regular days and patrolling the surrounding areas on a routine schedule.
Aria knows all of these by the heart and so does every teenager of their pack. And they all take pride of this history of bravery and glory of their kind. Most specially since soon they will be sharing the same responsibility as their elders because the time fot their awakening is coming.
For every young lycan, the awakening comes on the first blue moon after their sixteenth birthday. She and Chynna just turned sixteen for some time now and they are both excited that they happen to be able to share this experience together. The two of them, and five more teenagers like them will be the largest number who will awaken at the same time in their packs' history. The other five are Chloe, Zach, Dustin, Myca, and Lenard. And right now, one of the elders is discussing the preparations needed for their awakening.