Vera City
Welcome to Vera City, the capital of our world, Satya. While we share our homelands with other beings like humans and fae, shifters like myself still thrive and outnumber them greatly. Perhaps I should introduce myself though. My name is Varg. I am a wolf shifter and I work as a public officer in the city. Just think your normal police force, but far less corrupt thanks to how our world works. You see, when you tell an untruth in our world the magic lingering here marks you. Permanently.
So, everyone has scars. From the smallest sliver for a little white lie to horrendous white streaks for untruths that manipulate or exploit. It’s just how this world works. It’s why our politicians take pride in being able to be seen in public wearing shorts or sleeveless shirts. Proving their honesty by the clarity of their skin. In Vera City, honesty is not just a virtue, it’s a way of life.
The worst untruths were reserved for your face or hands. Gloves or masks always represented villains in movies for a reason, the subtle nod to the deceivers and con artists who operate on the fringes of our society. A declaration to all the world that you could not be trusted because you continued to lie. No amount of fur or scale would hide the blinding scarring caused by an untruth on your hands or face. Those with disfigured faces and hands are often shunned and ostracized. They are seen as untrustworthy and dangerous.
Now, these scars weren’t from injuries. They just appear. The repetitive ones simply widened or became further disfigured through repetition of the untruth.
But this male in front of me standing in the showers had the most pristine body I had ever seen. It would have been an impressive thing, a true paradigm of honesty, if not for the horrible pure white welts and twisting scars that marred his hands and face, trailing down his neck and onto his unmarked chest.
It was no wonder that everyone avoided him like he was a leper. To affiliate with anyone that disfigured would bring into question your own character. He had only recently joined the force which already came with its own fair share of timidity while others adjusted to your presence. But, he was happy to keep to himself which suited the rest of us just fine.
There was plenty of gossip running through the building about Orion. About why he had moved here and what he could possibly be lying about over and over to cause such deep scarring yet pass the security checks to work within the government. Not even the Chief had access to personnel files, but, he did his best to lead by example and interact with him in front of the rest of us. Like he was now, sitting casually across the table from him eating a sandwich.
I shuddered glimpsing the scarring even from across the room. He should not be here. And I wasn’t the only one who thought that.
Three weeks later I sat in the car with him on a normal patrol. Seething inside that I had to take over this shift because his regular partner was out sick. I did my best to keep my gaze from him but simply knowing he was next to me was unnerving.
A call came in, a fire in a residential neighborhood a few blocks away. I radioed we were en route while he flipped on the lights and swerved out into the road toward the address.
It was just Orion and I. The larger fire truck had been delayed by a passing train five blocks away. We were only here because he had pressed his foot to the floor and we careened over the tracks at the last moment.
“I’ll take lead.” I said as we turned a corner onto the street the call came from.
“Ok.”
Whether he was respecting my seniority with the force or simply knew my wolf senses were better suited for rescue efforts I didn’t know, but he had agreed quickly.
Pulling up we could see the flames licking the windows of the second floor. Shit. It was already pretty bad. Grabbing the smoke masks from the trunk we both rushed in, the smoke billowing from the stairs. The sound of the glass skylights shattering greeted us.
“First floor is clear, I’ll go up now while we still can.” I said loudly through the mask.
He only nodded and made his way to the front doorway.
I climbed the stairs quickly. I paused at the top step and listened carefully. I thought I heard the faint sound to my left, but, no, there to the right, a strong beat. I slowly proceeded before entering a doorway. There through the thick smoke I could make out a body under a collapsed ceiling. I knelt down, glaring at her through the heavy mask trying to assess her condition.
I could still hear her heart beating, she was still alive. I threw my arms around the metal beam and lifted with all my strength but it didn’t budge. I felt the flames getting closer and her breathing beginning to slow. I burst into my wolf form, grabbing the beam with clawed hands and hauled it off of the woman as easily as if it had been made of foam. The smoke singed my now more sensitive eyes and snout as I grabbed her gently between my claws and swiftly carried her down the stairs and to the exit. As I laid her on the grass my eyes darted around, frantically looking for the fire team. No sign of them yet.
She stirred slowly then her eyes shot open.
“My son!” She screamed looking back at the house engulfed in flames.
My eyes widened as I turned to follow her stare. Without shifting I ran back into the house. Orion seeing me rushing back in tried to stop me, “It’s too bad! It’s about to collapse!” he screamed. But I didn’t hear him, didn’t want to hear him. I had thought I heard another heartbeat and I had turned away from it at the louder one.
Climbing up the stairs I turned left this time, the smoke concealing everything that was more than a foot from my face. It stung my eyes and nostrils making my muzzle curl up in distaste. There. There it was. Faint but there. I followed the slight sound, now on my hands and knees in an attempt to get away from the smoke as much as possible. I felt a sharp pain along my furry thigh and growled at what felt like an ember falling onto it, the adrenaline making me quickly forget it. After what seemed like hours but was only seconds my hand grazed something soft and I looked down closely to see light blue pajamas covered in bright yellow stars. I grabbed at the boy, pulling him close to me before turning and retreating through the thick haze of black smoke. I was halfway down the stairs when I felt Orion grab the boy and my arm leading me out of the house.
I stumbled after him gasping for the fresh air, the heat on my back telling me to go further and follow him into the yard more but my legs gave out and I collapsed only a few feet off the porch as I watched him drop the boy near his mother. Red lights flashed down the street and I sighed thanking the Gods the fire brigade was almost here.
“Shit.”
I looked up to see Orion grabbing me and pulling me further away. I tried to stand but the exertion of the rescue had caught up. He ripped his mask off and looked down at me. I just smiled back and closed my eyes. Ah, the blessed cool away from the house and the fresh air in my lungs felt like heaven.
“Stay awake Varg, they’re almost here.” I felt a sting on my leg and opened my eyes to glare up at him. I glanced down to where the searing pain was and blanched.
The inside of my thigh had been sliced open from what looked like a sharp piece of glass. He was desperately trying to hold the massive wound closed, blood pouring out coating my fur and slicking his hands. I looked on in horror. The cool I felt wasn’t from the distance of the raging fire, it was of the blood gushing out of my body. I watched as it pooled around me. So slowly yet so quickly.
Suddenly Orion’s bloody hand gripped my own still clawed hand and my eyes met his. I felt my breathing lighten and the cold fingers of death creep slowly across me. My vision blurred on the edges, becoming dark slowly. But nothing could rip my eyes away from his face as the silvery gash across his cheek grew wider or the feeling of his hands as they twisted with larger streaks of scarring as I heard his voice echo over and over.
“It’s going to be ok. You’re going to be fine.”
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