Adalia is on guard. Her muscles tense so stiff she can explode at any moment. Her hand creeps along the floor looking for something to use as a weapon.
The gray wolf puts down Adalia's sword and shows her hands. "Hey, relax. I'm not going to hurt you. Just lay back down and let your wound heal. My name is Klawa. Hello, what's your name?"
She does seem genuine. Not all people in a group are the same or think the same. So perhaps that also applies to these wolves. Adalia is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and a chance. She relaxes and sits down. Though she stays vigilant of her surroundings.
"Adalia." She tries her best not to stare, but it's hard. The large bestial furry figure. The big fanged toothy maw. The monstrous appearance. It feels weird to have a civilized conversation with something or someone she used to kill on sight.
"Alright, Adalia, your stuff is right above you. If you want to wear them you can." Klawa moves closer and sits just on the other side of the doorway.
Adalia stands. She takes her clothes and puts them on. Though she has to take a few detours with her movement because of her wound, she is now covered. It's dry but still feels a bit cold. Then she remembers.
"Where's Catrina and Kaiden?"
"Who are they?" Klawa is confused.
"I was with two other people. Where are they?" Adalia's breathing becomes visible and audible.
"You're the only one I found, dear. You were buried with only your hand showing. If there are others that were also buried... Well... I am sorry."
Adalia looks away. She sits down and holds her head. "No, no. They're fine. They must be fine. People are going to look for them. They're safe, they gotta be safe. Right, I can just call her." Adalia pushes her watch but the screen just glitches. She takes her phone and it doesn't even turn on. "Shit... FUCK!" She hits the wooden frame of the wall. Her wound gets hurt more than her fist. "Ouch ouch ouch..."
"Hey, I told you to relax. Just lay down for now. Give yourself a break." Klawa helps Adalia get back down.
"Yeah. They're fine, they're fine! Even if they're not there's not much I can do like this."
"Exactly. Just rest for now. I even got you some food. Why don't you eat? You don't like steak and rujak?"
"I'm not hungry." She is, in fact, hungry. However, just because Adalia is giving her a chance doesn't mean she's comfortable.
Klawa sighs. She breaks a piece off of everything and eats them. "See? They're fine. I broke my diet just for you. You need to eat if you want to heal."
"Ok. Do you have a fork or a spoon for me to eat them with?"
"Sure, sure. Hold on." Klawa leaves Adalia.
Adalia peeks around the corner to see if she will be able to see her. Klawa is quite far. Adalia snatches her sword back and hides it under the mattress.
Klawa returns with a fork, a spoon, and a knife. For a moment she looks where she left Adalia's sword. She ignores it and moves on. "Here you go." She sits in front of her wounded guest.
Adalia stares at her. She slowly takes the utensils and cuts herself a piece of steak. "You know, I could kill you with these, right?"
"Yes, but you won't."
"How do you know?"
"I don't. I just choose to trust you instead of getting all worried."
"Is that so?" She takes a bite. It's delicious. Of course, she's had better, but this is one of the good ones. It's good enough to make her almost forget her question. "Why did you save me?"
"Because you will become the celestial wolf"
"The... what, now?"
"The celestial wolf. Our legendary figure. Our savior, our leader. The mightiest and most powerful of all. Second only to Ligon himself."
Adalia doesn't quite understand, but she decides to play along. "Ok, what makes you think so?"
"You are wearing the moon charm." Klawa smiles and points at Adalia's ring.
"Oh, this? You got it wrong, I simply picked this up"
"But it did manage to find its way to you, did it not?"
"Oh, I see what you're doing. No way. If that's how it is then anyone can be this celestial wolf, not some destiny bullshit." Adalia refuses to believe it. She won't be a part of any of this nonsense. Even if it's all true, her life is already difficult enough as is. What about her life with Catrina? There's no reason for her to accept this.
"Indeed."
"What?"
"It isn't some destiny bullshit, dear. Anyone who wears the moon charm will be able to become the celestial wolf."
"So, you're telling me I can just give this to someone else?"
"Why yes! If you can take it off."
Adalia tries to take it off. Struggles to. It doesn't move the slightest. Even when she gives it her all. Her finger feels like it's going to break before the ring would come off. After a minute or two, she gives up.
"It will only come off when the wearer dies," Klawa explains.
No way. She's not having any of this. "Oh yeah? What if I just cut it off?"
"That might work, but the charm only gives the wearer the option. You can simply just do nothing about it and continue your life as is without having to learn to be left-handed and keep all your fingers. In any case, whatever your choice you still need to rest."
"Madam Klawa, are you home?" Someone calls from the outside.
"Yes, I'll be there in just a minute!" She shouts back. Klawa stands and grabs the curtains beside the doorway. "Eat your food and rest. Try not to be too noisy or you'll scare the puppies." She shuts the curtains and walks to the front door.
Adalia puts the utensils down and listens. Klawa sounds to be preoccupied with whomever it is. Adalia cuts a hole in the leather wall with her sword. True werewolves are everywhere. This seems to be one of their residential areas. She cuts the curtains and uses them to cover her figure and weapon.
Still, are they going to notice her moving weird for a wolf? Perhaps it's better for her to crawl instead o walking. There are plenty of wolves who walk on all fours instead of just their back legs. The ratio seems to be about half and half. So, Adalia crawls out and away.
What she witnesses outside are both surprising and not. The wolves are very peaceful. Which isn't surprising, any creature tends to be peaceful among their own kind. Though, they're more civilized than what she expected. They don't just live in nests or shelters, these are houses. She can see one playing a guitar-like instrument on his porch. There's one carving a mask, trying it on every now and then in the middle of the process. Children are playing with all sorts of toys and dolls. One particular group seems to be playing some kind of a ball game. Though, most of all, plenty are cooking outside on an open fire with clay pots or roasting with a stick. They're cooking, something only humans have ever done as far as history goes.
It's all very fascinating, but she needs to leave.
The ball hits Adalia on her back and lands beside her.
"Hey, you, can you give us the ball back, please?" One kid says.
Adalia was stunned for a moment before slapping the ball back where it came from.
"Thank you!" He looks at Adalia. "Hey, how about you come play with us? We need one more player so our teams are even."
Of course, he mistakes Adalia for another kid. The true wolves are huge. Compared to them, she has the size of an adolescent wolf. Even that particular one looks bigger than her. Adalia says nothing and crawls away.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Since when is he standing in front of her? He's quick, very quick. Almost as quick as the one Adalia fought back in the construction. Then again, they both have gray fur.
"What's wrong? You don't know how to play rakrak? Don't worry, we'll teach you how. Come on!"
Adalia keeps crawling away.
"Hey, what's wrong? Can you speak? You can hear me, right? You heard me last time."
He's not going away. She should probably respond. It might not be a good idea, but the pressure of it starts to get on her nerves. "I'm fine. I just... I have to go."
"Hm? Where are you going?"
"Luri!" Someone shouts.
"Mom?"
"Stay away from her!" An adult wolf runs in and grabs her son away from Adalia.
"What? Why? Ouch... Mom, that hurts!" He shouts.
"What's going on here?"
More wolves seem to gather. Now's her only chance to get away. Just as she reaches the edge of the forest, however...
"Hey, you!" Another calls out to Adalia.
Should she just run? No, they're much faster than her. Running is not an option.
"Hey, you're alright?" She's already sitting beside Adalia. "I'm Hawu, I'm here to help. I've never seen you around and I don't know your smell either. You must've come from very far away. What's your name? Where'd you come from?"
Adalia is frozen. How should she respond? Before she can think of any way to respond, Hawu notices something. Beneath all the drapery is something shiny on Adalia's hand.
"What's that you got there." Hawu extends her hand and pinches a bit of cloth that covers Adalia's hand. She lifts it. She sees it—the ring. However, more importantly, she sees Adalia's hand. Adalia's human hand.
Hawu's eyes widen. Her mouth opens a crack. She stares at Adalia. Her other hand reaches in and grabs Adalia by the face. Adalia is strong, but a pure D-type has more raw strength. Hawu gently pulls Adalia's head up and peaks under the hood. It's over. She's found.