𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝘕𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘖𝘍 𝘜𝘚 𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘚𝘜𝘙𝘝𝘐𝘝𝘐𝘕𝘎

━━━ MEILANI MOVED SWIFTLY THROUGH THE STORAGE CONTAINER YARD, SQUINTING AGAINST THE BRIGHT LIGHTS THAT HUNG ALL AROUND TO PROVIDE A WAY TO SEE AND MOVE AROUND. Malia and Isaac were close behind her, all three of their eyes trained to the tops of the stacked and towering containers in search of Deucalion who agreed to meet with them. Meilani had originally tried to go alone, thinking he'd be much more accommodating if it was just her . . . but Malia and Isaac all but refused to let her go anywhere alone. Especially during times like this where hunters were everywhere. If Meilani had gone out and never came back because the hunters got to her, Isaac and Malia wouldn't even know how to begin to explain it to Melissa, Scott or Stiles.

Everything was better in numbers anyways, right?

A sound reverberating through the air caused the trio to halt in their steps and snapping their attentions up and to their right. Stood on top of one of the stacks of containers was Deucalion himself, walking stick grasped beneath his folded hands as he peered down at the trio of wolves.

"Do any of you know the term for what I'm doing?" Deucalion inquired, tone light and breezy as if he had merely asked them all what the weather was.

"Echolocation," Meilani was the first to answer, placing her hands on her hips as she squinted her eyes up at Deucalion to see him against the glare of the bright lights. It was moments like this that she hated her enhanced eye sight. Made the lights way more bright and obnoxious than they needed to be. "I looked a few things up."

"Ah, and now you think you can learn in just one day what took me years to master?" Deucalion shot back at Meilani.

Malia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, shifting her weight to one side. "We were more so hoping for just a few highlights. Anything that can help us fight the Anuk-ite without looking at it."

Deucalion hummed and nodded his head along to their words. "Right, well, fighting blind is one thing. You have not even learned to walk yet. An Orientation and Mobility specialist has to practice blindfolded with a white cane for at least a hundred and twenty hours before becoming certified. I can't teach you to walk and fight in less than twenty-four hours."

Meilani frowned and scratched at the top of her head absentmindedly. "Look, we know the odds are bad, but Gerard's got a whole army. There's a creature that can scare ordinary people into becoming killers."

"The creature now capable of killing you with just a look," Deucalion retorted, scoffing softly at Meialni's delusions. "You saw them, didn't you?"

"No, we saw people turn to stone actually," Isaac corrected, annoyance tinting his tone over the fact that Deucalion was currently wasting precious time he could have spent teaching them something. One thing would be better than not a thing at all. "It was like watching Medusa in action."

"So, why aren't you running for your lives?"

Meilani pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes into slits challengingly at Deucalion, raising her chin highly. "Because my pack and I don't run. We fight."

"Now there's the alpha I always knew you were, Little Alpha. Let's get started then, shall we?" Deucalion called, dropping down to the ground swiftly and approaching the three wolves. "Unfortunately, there's one crucial difference to teaching you how to fight blind."

"We're not really blind," Isaac noted, eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion as he exchanged a look with Malia and Meilani. "Why would that be an issue?"

"Unless you spend the next few days walking around wearing a blindfold, all the Anuk-ite really has to do is get you to open your eyes. You think it's that easy? What happens to your eyes when you're afraid? They open wide — to gather more light and send more data to the brain so you can better handle whatever threat lies in front of you."

Malia slapped her hands to her sides with a shrug, determination set into her features. "I can keep my eyes closed."

Deucalion raised his eyebrows in amusement, gesturing at her with one hand in a swirling motion for her to carry on. "Well, go ahead, close them."

Malia snorted at Deucalion's request and closed them, relaxing her shoulders to prepare for whatever he was going to do. Once Deucalion was sure that Malia's eyes were closed and she wasn't peeking, he scooped up the nearest pebble by him and chucked it at the container behind the three wolves' heads. At the sound of the loud clang it made when it connected with the container, Malia's eyes snapped open and she glanced behind her to where the pebble now rested.

"Look at that. You're dead," Deucalion said monotonously, staring at Malia as if to challenge her to try and argue with him again.

Malia's nose scrunched up when she realized that Deucalion was right and her indignation could be smelt strongly in the air. "Fine, I get it. It's gonna be a lot harder than I thought."

Meilani placed a hand on Malia's shoulder and squeezed it encouragingly. "But not impossible. What's next?"

"In schools for the blind, it's called sleep-shade training. We'll use regular blindfolds," Deucalion explained, retrieving three black blindfolds from his jacket pocket and holding it up for the trio to see and then handing it over to Meilani, Malia and Isaac. "We will start with echolocation. Then I'll show you how to use thermoception, equilibrioception, and proprioception. Go ahead then. Put them on."

The three wolves shared an equal look of hesitance and wariness, but they knew they needed this little bit of training to fight the Anuk-ite. If this meant they would get said training, then the trio would do it and they wrapped the blindfolds around their eyes. Darkness instantly clouded their vision and couldn't see a single thing in front of them as if they were truly blind. Instantly all three of their eyes kicked into overdrive and became more prominent with one of their senses being cut off to them. Meilani heard that happened, but never actually experienced it herself until this moment.

"Normal humans use echolocation by creating sounds, like clicking the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Since your hearing is a hundred times more powerful, you can pick up natural reflected sounds," Deucalion began, followed by a bang against the container next to him which could have only been created with his cane. It caused the trio to flinch as their hearing was now raised up even more.

"Well, I unfortunately heard that," Isaac whined, covering his ears with his hands for a moment until the buzzing in his ears fizzled out and he dropped them back to his side.

"But does it tell you where I am?" Deucalion questioned, his voice moving around them as he moved about the small area they were all stood in. "Don't listen for me, listen for the echo; for the sound reflections. Use it to find me."

Another echo was sounded around the area as Deucalion hit another container. Meilani forced herself to focus on the echo and turned her head slightly to the right where she was pretty sure it came from. The trio were only given a few seconds to determine where he was before another echo came, this time near where the containers curved again into mini little corridor spaces. Deucalion kept calling out for them to find him, the three wolves following the echos and sounds of Deucalion's voice. 

Malia had knocked into one of the containers and Meilani pulled on the girl's wrist to move over a few steps so she wouldn't hurt herself again since they were blind to their surroundings. The three then began to walk with their hands out to keep them from bumping into things like Malia had just done, using their hands to their advantage as well as their ears. Eventually, there was nothing for them to reach out for as they came out to an open area. They all made it another few steps before each of them were knocked to the ground by Deucalion's walking stick with a yelp.

Malia growled and ripped her blindfold from her face, Meilani and Isaac following her actions. "How dead are we now?"

"Quite, actually."

"Wouldn't be the first time I died," Meilani mumbled, squeaking when Isaac punched her shoulder. She rubbed at the sore spot and pouted. "Wow, tough crowd, okay. Too soon."

"That wasn't funny, Lans."

"Really tough crowd."

"I really fucking hate you."

Deucalion watched as Meilani, Malia and Isaac stood back up to their feet, ignoring the amused grin that spread across Meilani's face from the unheard conversation between the two mates. He motioned for the three to place their blindfolds back on and then positioned them so their backs were pressed against each other's. "In humans, thermoception is done mainly through the skin. You have temperature receptors that pick up the changes in heats and cold. The eyes of werewolves are particularly effective at picking up heat."

Meilani turned her head to the left where she heard Deucalion's voice even though she couldn't actually see him. "Well, what do we do without our eyes?"

"Focus on your skin, the minute temperature changes. Now, the three of you — turn to face each other," Deucalion instructed, leaning against the pillar behind him as the trio listened to him. "Okay, now, Malia . . . try to hit Meilani."

Malia balked and she turned her head in the direction of Deucalion's voice, jaw dropping in shock. "What — seriously?"

Deucalion exhaled a frustrated breath at her words. "Yes, seriously. You came here to learn to fight. Your friend has the ability to heal. Kick her ass."

Meilani opened her mouth to protest, not wanting to hit Malia herself, but it was cut off when Malia's fist flew out and punched her in the stomach. A breath of pain passed through Meilani's lips and she coughed weakly as the pain ricocheted through her abdomen. She pressed a hand to the sore area and whined quietly. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Defend yourself, little alpha."

Meilani puffed out her cheeks, but started forward when she heard the wind whoosh around Malia's fist. She shot up both arms to block Malia's hits and pushed down on them to cause Malia's steps to stumble backwards. Her own hand flew out next and she got a few jabs into Malia's mid-section and arms. Though, Malia was able to duck under Meilani's last blow and then produced a fist to Meilani's face.

"For fucks sake — "Meilani cursed, pressing a hand to her throbbing nose and pressing her back to the pillar behind her.

"Meilani, I'm sorry — "

"Do not apologize," Deucalion barked at Malia, freezing Malia's hand that was about to rest on Meilani's shoulder. Meilani could feel the heat coming off Malia's hands in waves over her shoulder. "Hit Meilani again."

Meilani heard the whoosh of air again, dropping to her ass just as Malia's fist connected with the cement above her head with a loud groan of pain. She whipped up her blindfold, eyes wide and mouth open in surprise. "I, uh — sorry, Lia."

"Yeah, alright. I didn't think it was possible, but I am actually starting to wish I was blind again," Deucalion remarked, rubbing a tired hand over his face in exasperation. He instructed for Meilani and Malia to separate again with their blindfolds on and he began to circle them, noticing the way all three tried to find his voice. "Don't focus on me. Listen. Sense the rise and fall of temperature. Feel the pressure beneath your feet. Know, with absolute certainty, my location, my speed, every method of my attack."

Without a chance to react, Meilani was flown backwards and crashed into a stack of metal rods across the opening they were in. Malia and Isaac's blindfolds flew up again to see what had happened to their best friend. A groan fell past Meilani's lips as she shakily tried to sit up on the ground, a soreness blossoming in the middle of her back from the hit she'd taken. 

Deucalion crouched before Meilani as the true alpha ripped the blindfold from her eyes again, breathing heavily. "Well, looks who is dead. Again. We should make this a drinking, darling. If a human was playing, they'd be absolutely smashed from the amount of times you in particular have died in your little run as a wolf. 

Meilani let out a growl of frustration and tied the blindfold back around her again while Isaac and Malia both walked over to help her stand back up on her feet again. "Okay, let's go again. I can do this."

"Lans, I think we need to try something else," Isaac admitted, chewing on the inside of his lip as his blue eyes stared at Meilani worriedly. It was clear they were getting nowhere with this training and they were no better now than they were forty-five minutes ago when they started.

"There is nothing else, Isaac! I can't beat Gerard when he's got an entire army behind him," Meilani reminded her two friends that both looked like they shared the sentiment. They should try to find another way to beat Gerard and the Anuk-ite because it wasn't working at the moment.

"They're still afraid of us," Isaac offered right back, shrugging lamely.

Meilani shook her head and ripped the blindfold from her head, gripping it tightly in her hand. "That's the problem here. They don't know us and they don't exactly want us here. They don't even wanna look at us, but I still don't think that fear is real."

"What if it's not just the Anuk-ite?" Deucalion queried, jumping into the conversation and earning the three teen wolves' attention. "What if this is really what people are like? I mean, could it be that all this creature really does is give people permission to act on whatever awful truth lies within them?"

Meilani frowned softly and shook her head softly. There's no way that people could have this much fear inside of them. Sure, she knew people might fear them because they were a creature that most humans didn't understand . . . but for this many people to be that blood thirsty? It didn't feel right to her. "I can't believe that for a second. I don't want to, either."

Isaac exchanged a look with Malia and they both had some sort of silent discussion before they both turned back to Meilani. "Neither do we."

"Alright . . . Meilani, lose the blindfold," Deucalion instructed and Meilani followed suit, shoving the blindfold into her leather jacket pocket. "Close your eyes. We are gonna try this again, but this time . . . I'm not gonna hold back, I'm gonna come at you for real. You asked me here because you think I know how to fight? I don't. I know how to kill people."

Meilani startled as Deucalion laid down his walking stick on a nearby crate and shifted his eyes to glowing red alpha ones. She licked her dry lips and took a steadying breath before she closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness it through her into and relying fully on her hearing and the temperatures around her. A whipping sound was heard followed by a burning sensation as a whip hit Meilani in the back. She yelped, dropping to the ground, palms digging into the cement beneath her as Deucalion sent another strike to her back.

"Come on, Lans. Focus."

Meilani paused at Isaac's words in her head, squeezing her eyes for a moment and let his influences take over her and a calm to settle in. She let go of her own body and let the temperatures guide her. A shift in the heat behind her caused her to slowly rise so she was knelt on her knees, the heat trickling along her back as Deucalion moved, the heat moving to the places along her body that he passed by with said movement. When she felt the heat leave her momentarily, she whirled around and caught the stick on the whip just seconds before Deucalion could slash her. 

Using the momentum as she stood up, Meilani wrapped her other arm around Deucalion and slammed his back onto the cement beneath their feet. She was quick to get back to her feet, eyes still closed and senses on high alert for when Deucalion would strike. However, Deucalion didn't move and merely let out an amused chuckle at Meilani's actions.

"You might just survive this, Little Alpha."

"Meilani! Meilani!" Lydia's voice broke through Meilani's current focus and her eyes flew open, spinning around to face Lydia and Peter who rushed at her. The rain began to pour down on the world around them and Meilani blinked through the wet that coated her face. "Meilani, we have big problem. None of us are going to survive this."

Meilani's body tensed at the stress and despair in Lydia's voice, the scent of fear strong in the air around Lydia. "Wha — what are you talking? What are you guys even doing here?"

"Monroe and more, they're coming. They have heavy firepower," Peter explained, his own face riddled with slight fear over what was to come for them next. This was a bigger war than any of them could have predicted . . . and it was only drawing closer and closer to them.

Before Meilani, Malia or Isaac could try to ask what was going on, multiple rounds of gunfire went off and the trio, Lydia and Peter all instantly ducked down. Though, it was too late for Deucalion as multiple rounds broke through his body. Meilani's eyes widened in terror as the alpha collapsed to the ground, eyes lifeless and heart stopped. Monroe and her hunters were just on the other side of the open area, armed and ready to take down the supernatural beings that still stood.

Lydia was right . . . none of them were not survivng this.

word count: ( 3k )

CHAPTERS REMAINING: 1

— you guys . . . i am not ready for the next chapter. i just . . . i cannot say goodbye to my best girl, i can't. she is apart of me now and i cannot let her go and end her story. the next chapter is gonna be so damn emotional for me, i'm so scared to write it, but sadly it must be done. thank you guys for being patient on these updates, though! every time i go to write for her now, i just get incredibly sad and then run away from the chapter. because if i never write the final chapter then it never ends, right? right? 

THE LUNAR CHRONICLES FACT OF THE CHAPTER:

i will be doing the teen wolf movie when it comes out on paramount plus since it was confirmed that tyler posey and dylan o'brien were returning to be scott and stiles. so, basically . . . that means meilani's got plot so i'll be able to write for it when it comes out some point next year! i will be making it it's own book and depending on how things go, it'll probably be shortish depending what happens in the movie and how long it winds up being.

just wanted to give you all that update since i know a few of you were wondering if i'd be picking that up for meilani. so the answer is . . . yes. her story will be ending in the next chapter for now but she will eventually be back with the movie for one last hurrah type of thing. depending on how far into the future it is, meilani and stiles might even be already married by then!!! so fingers crossed for that.