Caster grew up in the peaceful village of Silverwood, nestled at the edge of the Whispering Forest. Silverwood was a quaint place where everyone knew each other, and life followed the rhythm of the seasons. The village was renowned for its lush, fertile lands and the towering silver-barked trees that gave the village its name.
The people of Silverwood were humble folk, skilled in farming, weaving, and various crafts. Magic was not uncommon, but it was mostly simple, practical spells used to enhance daily life.
Caster's adoptive parents, Thomas and Clara, were kind-hearted farmers who had found him as a baby at the edge of the forest one eerie night of the blue moon. Due to their inability to conceive a child, they took him in and raised him as their own, never revealing the mysterious circumstances of his arrival.
They loved him as theirs and never failed to show their love for him. However, despite their love, Caster always felt different from his peers. From a young age, he was stronger, faster, and had an uncanny sense of hearing and smell.
Yet, he kept these abilities hidden, fearing that the villagers would see him as an outsider…more than they already saw him.
Caster was no fool and was able to realize from an early age that Thomas and Clara were not his biological parents. Due to this discovery, he grew extremely self conscious and his innate instincts didn't help in curbing his insecurities.
The village was small in both size and inhabitants. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that everyone knows each other within the village, so it wasn't much of a secret that Caster, was a bastard child picked up by Thomas and Clara.
Perhaps it was because of the looks the adults gave him growing up, but with time, even children his age looked at him with similar eyes and expressions. Still, he kept it all to himself, never bothering to complain to his parents since he saw no merit in that.
Of all the village children, only Luna, a blue haired and bubbly little girl saw it fit to approach him, however, whenever he became comfortable around her, her mother would always appear to take her away.
Despite Luna's reluctance, she was unable to actually defy her parents so all Caster could do was send her off with a smile.
As his 16th birthday approached, Caster grew restless. He often wandered into the Whispering Forest, drawn by a force he couldn't explain. The forest was a place of both wonder and danger, filled with trees that reached the skies, magical creatures, and hidden parts unexplored by anyone.
It was said that the forest was home to the last remnants of the Ancient(Primal) magic, a powerful and unpredictable force that predated the more refined arcane practices of the present day.
Caster never really understood what those things were. As far as he knew, the old man who taught them all these was an old geezer who didn't know much about the world.
Caster always felt that the world was much more than it was made to be in the old parchments that could be found in the village, but he always kept this to himself. The first time he asked, "How big is the world?" the old geezer rebuked him for asking unnecessary questions.
According to him, the World was only as big as they could see. Caster had an alternate answer to this considering that the skies were also part of the world, but even the sky despite having a limit, looked boundless.
And it happened that exploring the forest was one of his pastime pleasures. He found a certain peace just taking a stroll within the forest, and so, on the night of his birthday, a full moon rose high in the sky, casting an eerie glow over Silverwood village.
Caster felt a strange sensation coursing through his body, it was similar to the feeling he got while listening to his blood moving through his veins. This feeling compelled him to venture deeper into the forest than ever before, and as he walked, he noticed the sounds of the night growing louder, the scents more vivid. His heart pounded in his chest as he reached a secluded clearing, bathed in moonlight.
Suddenly, pain shot through Caster's body, doubling him over. He fell to the ground, his bones breaking and reforming, his skin stretching and tearing as fur sprouted from every pore. He let out a guttural scream, his voice transforming into a howl. His senses exploded with new intensity—the scent of the earth, the rustle of leaves, the heartbeat of a rabbit nearby. He was no longer human and he knew it. He was something else.
For the first time in his life, he felt a plethora of things surge through him. His basic innate abilities aside, emotions he didn't know he had before hit him so much that he lost consciousness as darkness enveloped him.
Fear. Terror. Horror. He didn't know which it was, but perhaps it was that fear of the unknown..?
Through the haze of transformation and the darkness of his unconscious mind, Caster heard a voice in his mind, ancient and weary.
"You are the last of the Hidden Moon Tribe, young pup. Your destiny is written in the stars."
Confused and terrified, Caster gave up understanding what was happening to him since he couldn't make sense of the voice, and as though hw wasmt already unconscious, he felt a second wave of darkness envelope him, and he blacked out.
When he awoke, the sun was rising, casting a golden light over the clearing. Caster lay on the ground, naked and covered in blood. Panic gripped him as he remembered the events of the previous night.
He looked around and saw the bodies of several village livestock, torn apart and scattered. Horror and guilt washed over him as he realized what he had done. Unable to come to terms with the consequences of his actions, to face his parents or the villagers, Caster fled deeper into the forest.