Kazius had been far from the only one that had been shocked at Damon’s suggestion.
The Tribe looked even more confused and shocked.
Alice herself seemed totally unsure of what to even think. Azanor was looking at Damon and then at Kazius like they had both grown a second head. Caleb looked more concerned than anything… As for Eve… Well her blank smile never really changed.
Egil was staring at Kazius after the suggestion, as if studying him and genuinely considering the idea.
“May I ask why him? He doesn’t even have a drop of Werewolf blood in him.” Egil decided to ask before pointing out the very obvious concern everyone in the Tribe likely had.
Damon nodded; his expression surprisingly serious. There was no goofy grin, instead his expression seemed surprisingly certain.
“Don’t take this in a bad way… But I don’t really know any of you. I forgive you… But I still am upset about what happened… I am willing to change that… But that does not change that I don’t know you… Even you Egil… You have no idea… What all those years were like for me… They may be outsiders, but they are my friends… They could have done as Luna asked, but instead they gave me a hand when no one else would. I… I am in a much better place mentally thanks to them… I stopped feeling alone.” Damon began, giving a bit of a summary from his perspective of things.
“Thanks to them I feel better about who I am… That it is okay to be me… I even found out the truth about what was happening to you all thanks to them. But out of all of them, the ones I know best are Kazius and Alice. I have spent most of the past few days with them, more than anyone else. The two stood up the most for me. I have not known you that long, I know that… But I know enough. You all are my friends, but Kazius and Alice are my best friends.” Damon continued, his words flustering the group a little.
Kazius had gone out of his way to be kind to Damon, to make him feel included, but he did not realize just how much their actions had truly done for him. What they had done for Damon had seemed simple, but it meant the world to him. They had been light that had finally reached the bleak world he was stuck in.
“As for why I picked Kazius… He did what a Chief should have done a long time ago. Exiling Luna is the best thing for Vargstam… And when he did that, it is what got her to admit what she had done… It was to hurt me… But that is why you all even have the ability to think again… You owe him more than what you think.” Damon finally finished, his serious expression widening into a goofy yet genuine grin.
“Buahaha! Anyway, that is about it! I have been wanting to thank you all properly… And it is embarrassing to say this in a situation like this… But I don’t care who knows, they should all know! Caleb could have probably said things better than me, but I hope you know I meant every word. Kazius, Alice, Azanor, and you Eve… Thank you, really…” Damon stated warmly.
“Yay! I am happy to be your friend too!” Eve beamed happily.
Azanor meanwhile looked downright flustered. It was probably very embarrassing for him to be thanked like this.
“That was so… Too mushy for my liking… But… You’re welcome…” Azanor admitted, clearly at a loss for words.
Alice was almost as flustered, even having her eyes water a bit.
“Of course, Damon. Anytime. I am glad we helped.” Alice admitted with a warm smile.
Kazius could not help but smile at the situation. His heart swelled with joy at seeing all his friends like this.
“You’re welcome. I told you; you are not alone anymore… But this is definitely something I did not think you would offer… But if this is how you feel, then I will accept.” Kazius agreed with a smile.
Of course, this did not mean Kazius would forget what he had to do… He had to travel and gather allies… And The Church was still after them… But Vargstam was small, in the future he was certain that he would be able to still travel despite his position…
Not to mention… As unlikely as these events were… And as much as Kazius was suspicious of The Oracle…
Kazius could not forget his fate to become a King.
How could he become a King if he turned down something like this? What would happen to the world if he didn’t become someone capable to stand against The Demon King?
More than anything, he was accepting due to Damon’s words… But… The fact that this was a step towards the future that he had seen kept crossing Kazius’ mind. The thought was both comforting and terrifying at the same time… Was his whole life truly planned out? Regardless of what the answer to that was, it was hard to miss the way fate seemed to turn.
Kazius was expecting there to be some argument from the Tribe or Egil… But after hearing Damon’s words… They seemed to look at Kazius and the others as if they were amazing people. Then again, the praise Damon had given them was nothing other than high.
“If that is the final decision then I am certain the Wind of The Goddess herself must have guided you so you would end up here.” Egil stated before bowing once again, this time towards Kazius, the people of Vargstam in turn doing the same gesture.
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“On behalf of us and as Head Hunter, thank you for all you have done for our people…And… Now this is me talking to you as a person… But… Thank you for what you have done for Blaeser’s grandson… I am forever in your debt… I expect great things from you, Chief.” Egil stated curtly. He was definitely a duty bound person.
His position was also something interesting. Kazius guessed that it was a title that remained from before the Wind Werewolf Tribe stopped being nomadic. After all, they were not hunting for every meal like before thanks to them settling down in Vargstam. It was likely a position of honor, but now days acted more as an assistant to the Chief.
With that, they would stop bowing.
“I will do what I can, thank you, Egil.” Kazius assured, it seemed his days may be a bit busier now… But he supposed this would give him more to do at night while everyone slept. After all, he did not intend to stop training at all, if anything, he was more motivated to do so now.
“Buahaha! Today was a good day after all! We should celebrate, don’t you think?!” Damon beamed, more than happy for many reasons, he probably felt elated to finally not have to worry about becoming Chief. He had forgotten all about Luna’s harsh words.
“While not done in the usual way… Today was the equivalent of a Chief selection ceremony… On a day with an expectant full moon, no less. If that is not a sign, then I don’t know what is.” Egil agreed, indeed showing how superstitious he was.
Then again, even if Kazius still knew little about Monsters in general, even he had been aware of the significance of the full moon to them. Then again, when he had learned about it, it had been in a warning in the heavily censored lessons about Monsters from The Church. They were more antagonizing than anything else.
“I think we should celebrate then.” Kazius agreed, glad he was not exhausted from training today to get to enjoy a party.
And a party was indeed organized.
It was amazing really. Before the sun had even finished coming down, the Tribe had managed to put together a feast in the town square by the Vind statue. This was accompanied by ale and music. The musical instruments that were played ranged from flutes, massive drums, lyres, and harps.
The music that began to play was even livelier than what had been played at whatever celebration they had when they first arrived at Vargstam.
A massive bonfire was created, sparks flying off towards the sky that seemed to dance to the rhythm of the music thanks to the wind.
All this was assembled so fast that it was more than impressive. That’s something Kazius supposed they never taught him in Ratier about Werewolves. That they had the ability to organize a massive party at the drop of a hat. Or maybe that was just something special to The Wind Werewolf Tribe? Kazius would not know since he didn’t even know if there were other tribes.
The party began quite quickly, but it did not truly start until the sun had finally set.
Watching the whole Tribe transform at once was quite something. Of course, from the previous party Kazius had seen, Kazius knew that they could transform willingly, but it was only at the full moon that it was forced.
Of course, this also meant that the group got to see Damon transform for the first time. Damon was already a bulky and enormous guy, but his Werewolf form was something else. It was just downright intimidating. He went from being 7ft(2.13m) to 9ft tall (2.74 m) with white fur on the fluffier side that only made him look bulkier. Each of his claws were like daggers in this form. It was honestly shocking Damon preferred to fight with a spear, he clearly did not need one.
Egil meanwhile also transformed. He was on the taller side compared to the other Werewolves, but he was not too different in height compared to the others, standing at 7ft 5 in (2.26m). His fur was mostly brown with some sandy blonde undertones.
Caleb on the other hand remained the same. It seemed he definitely inherited more from Zelphar than his mother.
“Oooooh! Everyone got taller!!” Eve exclaimed in awe, seeming to almost ignore the main part of their change.
“Yes, they have.” Azanor agreed with a little bit of a sigh, not correcting her on the matter.
Despite looking a bit awkward in his new form, Damon still seemed happy at the party. He clearly was more overjoyed to be included in a celebration more than showing any sort of apprehension about his change.
“Buahaha! Well come on! You should all join in the fun!” Damon insisted, motioning to the food and dancing.
You would think the music would have gotten worse after those playing transformed, but that was far from the case.
It happened so fast, but Kazius could not help but feel happy to see Vargstam in such a state. He hoped to have more reasons to celebrate in the future like this.
“OOooh! They are having so much fun! I want to dance too! Let’s dance, it will be great!” Eve exclaimed giddily as she tugged Azanor. She was looking at some couples that were dancing together and it seemed that was why she wanted to dance with Azanor too.
Kazius watched as Eve tugged Azanor along to where the dancing was occurring. It seemed to catch Azanor off guard as she motioned him to come with her. She was motioning for him to dance with her as she began to perform… What had to be the strangest dance Kazius had ever seen. Not only did her dancing have an abnormal amount of jumping, but she seemed to not tire at all from it. Still, it wasn’t awful, it did actually somewhat follow the music, but it was clear Azanor had no clue what to make of it.
Azanor seemed to gain this hopeful look about him at her offer to dance at least, looking into her eyes. Despite their dancing being awkward and mismatched at best, it seemed that he was enjoying himself too. His dancing was strange to some extent, but it seemed to follow the style that Kazius knew was common about nobility, knights, and royalty.
As a member of The Church and Holy Knight, Kazius had been taught such things as posh manners and dancing… From what Kazius was witnessing, two things were clear though.
One, Azanor was definitely a Demon of status. Two, what he felt for Eve was definitely not some deep friendship. With the way he looked at Eve at this moment, there was undeniable love in his gaze… Clouded by a good amount of sadness buried deep within.
With that in mind, Kazius would soon also spot Damon going off to dance too, clearly planning to enjoy the celebration to the fullest.
Looking away, Kazius could not help but notice how Alice seemed to just stare at the dancing with a bit of a longing look. She was probably feeling a bit awkward though, unsure about how to join in. She was likely used to balls, something with more structure.
Kazius could not help but stare at her, rather mesmerized. The way the bonfire seemed to reflect from her hair and eyes was almost hypnotic to Kazius.
The image of her at the parade all those years ago came to mind. She had been practically in a different world back then.
A small grin graced his face, an idea coming to mind.
He walked up to her, all his knowledge from etiquette training returning to him. He bowed slightly, an arm to his side while the other extended towards her.
“May I have this dance?” Kazius asked in the most polite tone he could muster.
Alice looked surprised as she gazed at Kazius’ extended hand, clearly not expecting something like this. She stared at his hand and then at Kazius’ face. She smiled back at him, her face gaining a dusting of pink. She accepted his hand, placing hers on his.
“With pleasure.”