~ Chapter Thirty-Three: Two Moons ~

The Fallen

***

Don't go.

Jae, can you hear me?

Wake up...

Wake up, little one.

M-Mom? 

It's alright to open your eyes, baby.

Dad? Is that you? 

I never had clear memories of when I was a child. The only thing I remembered was that I was one at some point in my life. I had vague memories of a world that felt like home, but I knew that it never existed. It wasn't like I didn't feel I belonged where I was now, but I was never at ease either. I had fond memories of shining stars and a gentle voice singing to me. 

I never felt like I was different, or special, for that matter. I just felt out of place sometimes. I never knew why, never knew why I'd get strange dreams and heavy emotions, vague memories that never made sense. 

But now, it seemed that the moon revealed the reason, without providing an explanation. The tree I see in my dreams. The symbols. The wolf. A world at peace in one moment and destroyed the next. Were they memories of a past life? Or the memories of another person? 

I was a stranger in a strange world. A lone wolf. And, I didn't even know. 

In these memories, these strange dreams, other images had come now. Flashes of a storm and darkness. Shadows roaming about, encircling the tree that was always surrounded by twelve symbols. I didn't like these images. I didn't like how they made me feel. My heart thumped rapidly in my chest when the shadows approached. Even the howling of wolves could not scare it away. I stood in the center of a floating platform. Two moons shining above me as one. Beneath me, two suns burned, but they had not met completely. 

If I was smiling, why was I so sad?

"Uwah!" I woke up with a gasp, jack-knifing into a sitting position. I wiped the sweat from my brow in a hurry, trying to control my breathing. Immediately I looked at my surroundings and saw, to my relief, darkness, while I was covered in blankets. There still felt something off, but right now I was just happy that it seemed that whatever just happened, was a dream. It had to be a dream, right? I mean, me, a wolf? 

I touched my face and felt that my cheeks were wet with tears. Wiping them away, I was thrilled to see my own hands, full of relief to feel my smooth, human skin. That was seriously one freaky night- I blinked when I took another gander at my surroundings, and froze. This was not my room. Feeling like my heart had sunk into my stomach, I tried getting up, when I felt a distinct chill flow over my body when the blanket slid off. 

Frowning, I looked down and gave a squeal, quickly grabbing the blanket to wrap myself in it. Where the heck are my clothes?!

"Oh God...okay, keep calm, Jae, don't freak out. There's a completely rational explanation for why you're in a freaking cave in the middle of the night, with nothing but a blanket to cover your   with. Just, relax," I told myself, trying to see if there was a trace of my clothing anywhere, but there was nothing and no one around. 

"What is your last memory? Think, Jae," I murmured to myself, only being able to remember pain, and... "E.T. Corp..." I felt around my body, anticipating for pain to come, but I was fine. , but fine. 

"Wait..." my eyes widened and I gasped in terror again. "They- they wouldn't, would they?!" 

The Majestic Twelve. They were there! Suho was the last person I saw and what happened after that? Kai wanted to kill me, and then Chen zapped me and Chanyeol probably wanted to burn me. Tao most likely wanted to Kung Fu my to kingdom come. Sehun blew me away- literally. Luhan wanted to erase my memory, D.O. seemed to attempt to protect me, while Kris... Kris spoke to me. They were the last people I saw when I was fully clothed, and I distinctly remember Suho hovering over me. Did they help me? Or did they help themselves? I gulped and shivered at that thought, and even though they were wolves, they'd sooner eat me than violate me, I mean, somewhere they were still just boys. Right? 

Still didn't explain why I was without clothes though. Grabbing the blanket tightly and wrapping it around me, I got to my feet, completely healed from my injuries, and carefully walked out into the night. I shivered at feeling the cool wind, but my breath had been taken away at the stunning view. I was somewhere up high, a mountain plateau that made me think of the Lion King, except that I could overlook a sea of forests and beyond that, the proud, beautiful moon, casting silvery beams on the glistening ocean.  

The wind felt pleasant on my heated skin, though a ripple made goosebumps appear on my skin, causing me to shiver. The breeze played gently with my hair while I looked at the beautiful scenery. The world was quiet and I felt so small overlooking the amazing landscape. 

"So, you're awake," a voice suddenly sounded behind me and startled, I flung my arms back in a reflex, hitting something behind me. I turned around, my hands covering my mouth when I saw Kai wincing and groaning in pain while grabbing his nose. 

"Oh my God, K-Kai?" I squeaked, stepping back in my bewilderment, tripping over the blanket and falling down. 

"Ow...okay, I may have deserved that," Kai murmured, shaking his head to recover from the pain and shock, before looking at me. The moment he did so, his eyes widened and he froze, his jaw dropping. I shrieked again when I saw the blanket was dangerously close to slipping off me and grabbing it tightly, I saw to my utter shock that Kai was just standing there. Staring! 

"Look away!" I squealed, throwing rocks at him which caught him off guard. There was no sign of the brutal and vicious demeanor from before as he tried to avoid the pebbles I threw at him, panic, confusion and bewilderment gracing his face and movements. 

"Whoa! Hey- watch it, ow! Noona, wait, I'm- yah! Sorry, don't- stop it!" I kept throwing the pebbles at him until he suddenly disappeared into black swirls of mist and appeared behind me. In utter disbelief that that just happened, I gave another shriek, jumping when he touched my shoulder carefully. I pulled away, holding the blanket as though my life depended on it. 

"What- how?! Oh, stay away from me!" I exclaimed, throwing whatever I could find at him. He flinched like a lost puppy, not knowing what to do. I was fine with that, I didn't want any of them near me. Him being here, with his red eyes looking so bewildered at me, just made me realize how real all of this was and I wasn't ready for that. I couldn't accept it yet. There was still a part of me that wanted to wake up.

"Noona-," Kai started, doing his utmost best to dodge the branches I flung at him.

"Don't 'noona' me! I said to stay back!" I yelled at him, slowly retreating to the cave. I glanced to the side when more of them approached. 

"Kai? What are you doing?" Kris asked, frowning at the younger man.

"A little help, please, hyung!" he pointed frantically at me and when Kris saw me, his eyes slid over my appearance, which just made me more upset.

"Yah!" I exclaimed, starting to throw things at him as well.

"Whoa! Hey- Jae, wait, don't misunderstand, we didn't do anything! Ow!" he grabbed his head when a branch successfully hit him there and I continued throwing things at them when I saw the other brothers approaching as well. It was rather amusing to see these wild beasts cower away at a girl chucking items at them. Hehehe, feel my wrath!

"Didn't do anything, huh? Then where are my clothes, you erts?!" I shouted, the thought of them removing my clothing just fueling my rage. I picked up a larger rock, swinging it at them, causing them to disperse and scatter.

"They got ripped and we had to remove them," Suho explained, jolting back when I glared at him. "B-but we didn't see anything, I swear! Whoa!" he ducked when I flung another rock at him.

"Jae, just calm down, okay? We're not going to hurt you," D.O. then said and something in me snapped.

"Calm down?" I breathed, the boys around me looking like they wanted to find a place to hide. D.O.'s Adam's apple moved up and slid back down when he gulped. "You want me to calm down? Why? Do I not look calm enough to you?!" I shouted, using both hands to grab a larger rock so that I could chuck it at his head. D.O. moved away swiftly though and I didn't understand why his eyes widened further when he looked at me and quickly looked away, pursing his lips. 

Now that I looked around, all of them had astonished looks on their faces, suddenly doing their best to avoid looking at me. "What?!" I snapped, frowning, when I saw Lay covering his face with his hands, carefully peeking through long fingers. 

Luhan cleared his throat rather uncomfortably, avoiding looking at me. "It's a bit, uh, chilly, don't you think? I can imagine you might, uh, feel a bit of a draft..." he bit his cheeks. You may want to look down... The boys flinched again when I let out a squeal at seeing the blanket around my ankles and I dove down to grab it, utterly embarrassed. 

"OH MY GOD!" I screamed, wrapping the blanket tightly and going on a rampage. I threw anything I could find at all of them, while running towards the cave. 

"Wait, Jae, will you stop throwing things at us and just listen for one second?" Suho tried, and I was angry at how shy and blushy he looked. 

"No! Just leave me alone!" I shouted from the cave. 

"Hey, if you really think about it, this isn't really all that bad. I mean, I can imagine it's embarrassing, trust me, I know, but now I guess you could say we're even!" Baekhyun was grinning stupidly at me and I let out a roar while I threw a branch at his head. 

"Yah!" he exclaimed, falling back, rubbing his forehead. Kris added insult to injury by smacking him on the back of the head as well. 

"Idiot," he sighed and then peered into the cave. "Jae, will you come out so that we can talk?"

"Why, so that all of you can gawk at me to your erted hearts' content?!" I shot back. 

"Move aside," someone then spoke quietly, pushing his brothers away. Xiumin looked into the cave, his crimson eyes blinking as he caught sight of my white blanket. "Jae, we brought you some clothes to wear," he said gently, waving a black plastic bag in the air, a kind smile on his face. 

I paused. "Really?" I asked. Xiumin smiled, reminding me momentarily of a cute hamster rather than a wolf. 

"Really, really. Here, I'm going to throw it at you. You just take the time to get dressed and come out whenever you feel like it, okay?" he calmly threw the plastic bag towards me and moved away, taking his brothers with him. I slid the plastic bag towards me and found an oversized sweater and a pair of leggings. I slipped them on quickly and lingered in the cave. I didn't want to go outside to meet them, but I couldn't stay here either. 

After taking a few deep breaths and calming my nerves, I cautiously and quietly walked out of the cave. The twelve of them were busy talking amongst themselves, gathered around Lay. I did my best not to shriek again when I saw a soft glow coming from his hand as he gently tipped Kai's head back, seemingly healing him. 

"Thank you, hyung," Kai said, taking a deep breath through his nose, Lay patting him on the back with a smile. He was the first to notice me standing awkwardly back. He flushed, but seemed relieved that I was wearing clothes now. 

"Whoa, she's back!" Kai exclaimed when he saw me and actually ducked away, the others having a similar response. 

"Luhan," Baekhyun called frantically, and I startled when every loose pebble and branch floated away under Luhan's command, rolling off the side of the plateau with ease. Despite of the situation, I managed to chuckle and bit my lip to prevent from laughing. Were these seriously the vicious wolves that had been chasing me just now? Look at them. They're puppies. 

"Hi, um, yeah, I guess I should say sorry for the throwing and stuff..." I murmured, biting down on my thumb a little nervously and wincing when I accidentally bit it open. I felt around my mouth with my tongue and frowned at feeling the sharpness of my canines. 

"Oh, here, I can fix that," Lay prompted, seeing the trickle of blood oozing from my thumb. He still had a cautiousness when he approached me, but his touch was warm when he held his hand in mine. He moved his other hand over my thumb and the wound closed, no trace left of the injury. I blinked in astonishment, while he smiled casually back. 

"Oh my God," I exclaimed, not the first time this night. "You can actually heal? I mean, this is- this is real?" he nodded, smiling while biting his bottom lip like he usually would. Lay still held on to my hand when I carefully inspected my thumb. To say that I was amazed was an understatement. 

"Hey," I noticed, taking hold of his hand now. "You're injured, too," I showed him the cut in his hand and in that moment all the anger and fear I'd been feeling evaporated. He must've gotten hit when I was throwing things at them. 

"Don't worry about it, Jae-yah, it's just a scratch," he assured me, as though he could tell what I was thinking, how guilty I was feeling. 

"Why don't you heal it?" I asked, curiously. 

"He can't," Suho answered instead. I looked at Lay, puzzled. He seemed a bit embarrassed. 

"I can't heal myself, only others," he disclosed, patting my hand before pulling away. 

"O-oh," I breathed, not knowing what else to say. 

"Lay-hyung healed you, too, after you got zapped by those electric fences," Chanyeol suddenly stated, jumping a little when I looked at him, as if he was afraid I'd started throwing another fit. 

"He did?" I glanced at Lay again, the dimple deepening when he smiled. "Thank you," I said, meaning it. He only gave a bow. I turned to the others, playing with the sleeves that were too long for me. "So, eh, who was responsible for taking off my supposedly tattered clothes then?" I interposed, making them nervous. 

"Your clothes fell off by the time you changed back, we didn't touch it," Suho assured, a lot more milder than he had been before. 

"Changed back?" I inquired, trying to process everything. 

"From wolf-mode," Kris said, holding up his hands as though he expected me to flip out again. Well, I really left a maniacal impression on them, didn't I? Served them right, I suppose, considering all the things that have happened so far. I hugged my arms and slowly sat down, the twelve of them keeping a close watch on me. 

"Wolf, huh?" I tried to stay calm, really, but inside, I was still freaking out. Was this really happening? How could it? Why hadn't I noticed anything before? Why now? Was it because of them, somehow? But they said that they didn't do anything...?

"Yeah, like the rest of us," Kris said calmly. 

"We're all wolves," D.O. added, just in case I didn't get the hint yet. He looked very different than his usual self. It almost felt as though I was looking at their wilder, more free-spirited twin brothers instead of themselves. It became quiet while I let the information sink in, unconsciously pinching myself to prove to myself that I wasn't dreaming. This was real. I didn't know how, but this was real. How does a person cope with that? 

"Here, noona, you can see that we're telling the truth," Tao suddenly piped up grabbing his smartphone, of all things, and walked towards me. He extended the device to me with both hands, already looking apologetic for his previous behavior. I swallowed and gave a little smile as I looked at the screen, using the camera as a mirror. I nearly dropped the phone when I saw the person staring back at me. 

This girl looked a lot like Jae, except that she had fangs and long, flowy hair which was cyan green of color, the layers highlighted here and there with shades of blue. The most exceptional part, however, were her eyes. Liquid gold pools, glowing when the moonlight hit them. 

"Who is that?" I blurted out, hearing them chuckle at the response. 

"It's you. It takes a little getting used to, but by morning you'll be back to normal," Kris explained, while I nodded absently, still looking at my reflection. How did my hair... and my eyes! I turned away from it and handed Tao his phone back. 

"So, uh...how?" that was the only sentence I was able to form at this point. A one-worded question. 

"None of us know 'how', or why, for that matter. It's just something that happened," Kris' explanation wasn't very satisfying. Suho then approached and knelt down near me. 

"Did you really not know about this? Was this the first time you changed?" he asked me. It felt weird that Suho was so gentle and nice all of a sudden, when he hadn't been this way all this time before. 

"Does it look like I knew? I'm freaking out here," I admitted honestly. 

Suho glanced back at his brothers before he directed himself towards me again. "You never noticed something different? About yourself?"

"Like what?"

"It could be anything, strange dreams, vague memories, maybe the environment reacting differently when you're around?" he summed up, watching me for a reaction. I didn't respond immediately, a creepy feeling rippling through my body. 

"It's okay, Jae, you don't have to be afraid," Luhan said in a gentle voice, his eyes still bright despite of the red color. 

"I thought you said that I didn't give you access to my mind," I prompted and he gave a smirk. 

"I don't, but I didn't have to read your mind to know what you're feeling right now. We've all been through it, same as you. Tao here even cried the first time he changed," he laughed as he nudged his younger brother, who protested out of indignation. 

"And, you're all okay with this?" I asked, still fazed about everything that happened. 

"We are now. Never thought that there'd be another one like us, though," Suho said, looking at me. I couldn't quite read his face. 

"Well, that makes two of us," I told him, hugging my knees. 

"How are you feeling, Jae?" Lay then asked. 

I shrugged. How was I feeling? Did he really want to know the answer? My expression probably told them enough and Lay quickly shook his head, sitting down in front of me. "I meant physically. Are you in pain? Does your head hurt? Skin burning, maybe?" 

I shook my head. "No," I sensed around a bit and then felt a bit embarrassed. "I'm hungry, though," I murmured, which brought another dimpled smile on his face. 

"Hungry is good," he nodded. 

"Ah finally, can we go hunting then? I'm starving!" Baekhyun said, scratching the back of his ears fiercely. "All this talk is making my stomach growl." 

"H-hunting?" I panicked, looking around as they started to move. 

"Yeah. You're coming with us, Newbie. We're not leaving a new pup alone the first night. You're handling your transformation differently than us, but who knows what could happen," Kris stated casually as if none of it was a big deal. I was shaking on my legs when I finally got up. 

"What exactly could happen?" Did I want to know the answer?

"Earthquake," D.O. answered. 

"Hurricane, typhoon...tornadoes," Sehun added, combing his fingers through his rainbow-colored hair. 

"Forest fire," Chanyeol murmured, rubbing the back of his neck a little uneasily. 

"Tsunami," Suho muttered softly, looking a bit embarrassed. 

"Ice age," Luhan noted, smirking as he received an elbow from Xiumin. 

"Thunderstorm," Chen also quipped, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Apocalypse, end of the world, the regular stuff," he shrugged casually, and I wasn't sure whether he was teasing or not. 

"...Ah," I uttered. 

"Yeah, so we're keeping an eye on you," Kris decided.

"Speaking of which, what kind of party tricks do you have up your sleeve, Newbie?" Chen then asked curiously, but I was taken aback by the question. I was still processing the fact that these guys were apparently capable of using magic, for lack of a better word. I'm surprised my brain hasn't exploded by now. 

"I don't have any tricks," I replied, still confused. I thought being able to change into a wolf was more than enough already, I really didn't need anything supernatural added to that, thank you. 

"Really?" Chen questioned, tilting his head to the side. "Hm. Maybe it'll come in due time," he beamed. "Hyung, is it alright if we go ahead?" he then jumped up like an excited kid, looking at Suho. 

"Yeah, just be careful of those systems. You've seen what it can do," he warned. Chen nodded and dragged Chanyeol and Baekhyun with him. 

"We're heading off, too," Kai then said, and even though he didn't look to be so angry anymore, he still had a look of suspicion in his eyes when he glanced over at me. "We'll meet up with you later," he promised, grabbing hold of Sehun and Tao as they disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. 

Still confused, I let everything be for what it was and just let all of the information sink in. Was I confused? Yes. Was I scared? Hell yes, but, and slap my and call me Martha, I felt rather assured at the same time. Had these twelve guys made me feel uncomfortable at first, I tentatively felt rather safe. Whatever I was, I wasn't alone...I guess. It still bothered me that there was no explanation, that things were still vague, but the best way to deal with it right now, was to go with the flow. There was room to ask questions later, right? For now, I just wanted to still my hunger. 

"You ready, Newbie?" Kris asked, looking at me. 

"No," I replied honestly, making him grin. 

"Don't worry, just stay close to Lay-hyung and me," D.O. whispered, making me feel better. 

"Let's go!" Kris leapt forward and changed into a wolf, dashing ahead with blinding speed.

I gawked at him. "Is he flying?!" 

"Nah, just showing off," Luhan answered. "Come on, you don't want to be left behind," he ran into the woods as well, Xiumin and Suho following suit. I lingered a while longer when Lay turned into a wolf as well and D.O. ran beside me. Was I supposed to change into a fuzzy animal as well? How was I supposed to do that? Why would I even want to? But, the longer I ran, the more liberated I felt and before I knew it, I was running on four legs. Still unsure about what kind of situation I was in, the only thing I was certain of, was that things were definitely going to be different now. And as I ran through the woods, wild and free, the moon shining bright, the starry skies all ablaze with sparkling dust, I felt, for the first time, like I belonged. I halted momentarily when I felt like howling at the moon, but startled as I gazed up to the sky. I understood now why I couldn't find my twelve stars here. It probably wasn't showing, but I was smiling pleasantly when I saw that in the skies above Ookami Shinro, not twelve bright stars shone, but thirteen. 

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Nin-Nin
Hi guys~ my first original ebook is available on Amazon and I'm having a lot of feels. If you have the time, check out my previous blog post for more details - I'd appreciate the support <3 Thank you and have a lovely weekend! Love, Nin-Nin

Comments

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Wanderer_bj
#1
I don't even know how many times I have read this.😍
BeckyBooGirl
#2
Chapter 4: This is one of my favorite exo fanfic. I have read this story 5 or 6 times already and still love it like i did when I first read it❤
InspiritCarolyn
#3
This is one of those fics I can come back to again and again without getting tired of re-reading it. Each time I read it, I love it the same as the first time.
aonani_k
#4
Chapter 109: I finished it once again and as before, I enjoyed reading such a great story. Hope all is well. :)
aonani_k
#5
Chapter 2: It's been years since I read the story and today I just felt like re-reading it! Glad it's still here. :)
Sehixneeo
#6
Chapter 109: Argh, I will never ever forget this story. Ever. 🥺💛
Jaerin
#7
Chapter 109: This story will always be one of my favorite, a masterpiece 🤧💞❤️
Pxnellyxq #8
Chapter 107: WHAT IM LEGITIMATELY SHOCKED AND TEARING UP
Pxnellyxq #9
Chapter 100: why is the white wolf making me feel emotional :///
Pxnellyxq #10
Chapter 61: Stinky kumiho