Customs

I wouldn't exactly call this a story, but I didn't know what else to put. Anyway, just a few thoughts on culture, nothing extraordinary.

You call it Death, but in our culture we call it the Long Sleep. Our loved ones get to be buried in the place they cherished most, and the Lonely Song is sung by the family. The Lonely Song is usually sung to reunite separated family members when hunting, so this is the most appropriate gesture during our “funerals.” It represents the promise that we will join them someday in the next wild. After the guests have left, the family remains at the grave for a week, both to grieve and to show the deceased that the family is safe. In knowing that the family is safe, the spirit will be free to move on.

Similar to your Christmas, we have what we call Shimzah.  During the five days of midwinter, we give handcrafted gifts to humans of import in our lives, one for each human and one on the morning of each day. These gifts are a yearly renewed promise of peace between our kinds, and it is said that if a human gives one of their own handcrafted gifts to one of us, they are making the same promise of peace toward us. Shimzah promises are sacred, and by our custom, the one who breaks that promise has dishonored themselves. Any who have dishonored themselves in this way can only be redeemed through death by rite. (This rite is only held to adults, as children have yet to fully learn.) Yet it is with much understanding of both human nature and our own that we hold such a covenant for only a year. This is why it must be renewed.

Hallows is the time of honoring the ancestors. These three days of mid-autumn are spent feasting upon a large, previously hunted meal during the day. After the sun sets, the Lonely Song is sung every hour to remind the Long Slept of our promise made during the burial, even if the burial took place before our births. Adolescent males are oft absent from Hallows, as are a few adult males.

Challenges are more part of the political system than customs. Some challenges are fights to the death. The winner cannot be challenged over the same issue unless due to a separate instance. Also, the winner cannot be challenged over the death of a challenger.

Mating and breeding are two different, yet related, things to us. Mates are sought after during spring, and sex is not directly involved. Mating with our own kind is most common, and oft encouraged. Mating with a human is frowned upon. Very rarely will one of us find a human worthy of mating with, and if the human agrees, the true test will begin. It is against our laws to outright reveal our wild nature to humans; mating is the only exception. Therefore, it is a heavy task to introduce the human to our kind and our ways. Should the human still be accepting, the mating will remain on schedule. All mating rituals, be it both of our kind or one of each, take place under the full moon. After the moon and the family stand witness to the vows, both mates share a drink. Then the Song of Unity is sung to celebrate. Food is not consumed that night by anyone but the mates.

Breeding occurs during autumn, and is the time of year during which sexual drive is chemically the highest. This does not prevent breeding during any other time of the year. Breeding traditionally occurs only between mates, but this is not always the case. If a male does not breed oft enough during this time, he will experience increased aggression. Then he will be somber throughout all or most of the winter, and the Shimzah will be hard for him to go through with, but go through with it he must. He will normally be absent during Hallows because of the aggression, and instead spend his time hunting alone. If a female fails to mate during this time, she will go through a process similar to that of the human female. Her emotional states will vary more so than the unmated male, and certain obvious biological processes will take place.

Adulthood is reached when reproductive fluids have been produced for three years.

Turning is known to be as easy as a simple bite. This is a crime to us. We have no need to propagate our species by stealing humans away from their worlds. Even a mate should not be turned, despite any insistence upon becoming one of us. Having adopted the human mate at all should suffice, because we are not required to allow the unity. As rude as exhibitionism is to you, so Turning is as rude to us. We never hold this against the Turned, only against the Turner. Those who are turned are adopted, and oft given this very same description of customs.

Birth is traditionally celebrated with music. This is to welcome the new pup into the wild, then to honor their yearly step toward the Long Sleep. During “birthdays,” their favored animal is hunted for the day’s meal. Those birthed during the breeding season will oft be more likely to breed during said season, more so as a gift than anything else.