Wolf-Bound

   The changewing charged after the humans, his teeth bared with rage. He stopped at the edge of the river, pulling up just in time to avoid plunging down the muddy slope. He stopped and sniffed around- the girl smelled close but the boy was farther away. He was padding up to a branch lodged amidst a mess of roots when he heard splashing in the water. Looking downriver he saw the boy hauling himself out of the current, rocks and dirt dislodging in his hands to plummet into the water. The changewing thought of the ache in his tail and growled, opening his wings. He leapt over the tree roots and into the gully on strong wings.

   Shu was slowly climbing the wall of the gully, for in his haste he kept losing his grip and falling back halfway down the slope. His heart was racing frantically, unable to look back at where the changewing was. Soon enough though, when he was halfway up the shelf he felt gusts of wind billowing in his hair and a huge shadow engulfed him. He had one second to panic before the dragon gripped his shirt in its claws and pulled him from the earth.

   Shu yelled in fear as he lost his grip on the side of the ravine. Now dangling in the dragon's claws, he was completely at its mercy. Soon they rose above the top of the cliff and the dragon threw its luggage onto the grass before alighting on the earth itself. Shu was about to run away but before he could move a muscle he made eye-contact with the changewing.

   Its eyes seemed to expand and contract in front of him, its irises rapidly changing in a dazzling display of color. Suddenly all that mattered were the eyes in front of him, and he slipped into a trance-like state of total lethargy as the colorful eyes crept closer and closer.

   Mandi sat at her computer desk, regrettably at a loss for words. She knew that she had to post something but she had no idea what; her character was stuck. She just couldn't see any way that she could make up a post about her character sitting there feeling horribly helpless as her friend was assulted by a furious acid-drooling sky-lizard. After several days of no rping, Sammi said the logical thing. "I'm hypnotised. Throw a rock at my FACE!!" And so, Mandi didn't have writer's block any more.

  Luna was paralyzed with fear for all of two minutes before her common sense kicked in and yelled at her to GET OUT OF THE ROOT. She clawed at the root, her fingernails diving deep into the soft skin of the earth as she tore and ripped apart what kept her anchored to the ground. When she was finally free, she peered over the ledge and saw the changeling approaching Shu, and he was just sitting in front of it, his eyes clouded and distant. Luna yelled across the gully. "Shu, wake up it's hypnotizing you!! SHU SNAP OUT OF IT!!!"

  When her voice didn't work, Luna looked for something that could. Her eyes fell on a smooth stone the size of her thumb. Picking it up, she weighed it in her hand and threw the rock across the river. "WAKE UUUUP!!!"

   Shu came to his senses as a rock hit his face. "OW!!" He yelled, clutching his nose, which was throbbing. "Luna!" Then he remembered the dragon and looked up to see it right in front of him. He smiled and wiggled his fingers in a tentative hello. The dragon snarled.

   Shu did the only thing he could think of. He got up and ran. The dragon chased after him, but Shu didn't go very far before dashing around a tree and changing direction. The dragon rounded the tree, cutting halfway through its trunk with a spray of acid, and followed him. Shu continued dashing around the trees in the area, running away but never really leaving the area around the edge of the cliff. The dragon meanwhile shadowed his every move, and its acid was just eating up the scenery. The pair was bound to destroy just about everything in the area. So much for oak trees.

  What the hell is he doing?! She wondered, twisting her face into an odd distortion of bewilderment and aggravation. GAH. Do I have to be the one to go save his butt?! Why me? She growled to herself and jumped over the edge, making sure her feet made contact with the water first. She swam across the river and swiftly scaled the cliff, being much more careful than Shu was. Finally, she came to the top and hauled herself over the edge. She took a second to catch her breath and then realized that Shu was still being chased around by an acid-shooting dragon.

   Luna frantically looked around for something to fight with, then remembered the poking sensation that had been in her boots since she got out of the river. Luna reached into her fuzzy boots and pulled out a small dagger; she wouldn't kill the beast, but at least distract it, and possibly ward it away.

   "Hey, ugly!" She taunted Shu's assailant. "Come over here and fight me!" The changewing hissed and turned towards her, but now it was confused. There were two people to hunt now. It should have been an easy choice, but prey that fought back was normally more fun to play with. When the dragon didn't respond, the white haired girl let out a great cry and charged towards it, dagger in hand.

   Shu heard wingbeats behind him and looked up to see the leaves above him rustling madly in a steady beating gale. He smiled and ran towards the sound. Looking behind him, he expected to see the changewing on his tail, but the dragon was stopped in front of a fallen oak and its eyes were on something by the ridge. Shu heard a throaty battle-cry and saw Luna charging the dragon!

   Shu turned around and ran full tilt back towards the Changewing. His mind raced. This wasn't a part of my plan- I didn't think she'd get here this quickly. I have to stop her! Shu knew what was about to happen, and he didn't want Luna to be caught up in the crossfire. As he neared her she raised her knife, almost upon the Changewing. He cleared the last few yards in a burst of frantic energy and flew at his friend. "GET DOWN!!" Wrapping his arms around her he let his momentum propel them to the ground a few feet away.

   And not a moment too soon.

   Just as the pair hit the ground, a huge roar shook the branches of the ruined trees. Suddenly a huge Nightmare shot out of the sky and latched onto the young Changewing. The large Nightmare's momentum carried the two over thirty yards, all the while hissing and biting and spitting fire and acid. The Nightmare roared with rage and blasted the Changewing's face with fire. The smaller dragon shreiked with pain and panic, struggling in the Nightmare's grasp. The Nightmare reared up and managed to give the Changewing a long gash on its side. The Changewing fled wailing across the river, pumping its wings furiously. The Nightmare snorted and followed with a roar, determined to drive the Changewing to the other side of the forest.

   Shu waited a few seconds before loosening his grip on Luna, pushing himself up and lifting his face away. He looked at her. "Luna, you okay?"

   Luna was just about to attack the Changewing when suddenly her face was planted into the ground. Before she could manage to yell at Shu for being the idiot that he was and how she almost had it, a Monstrous Nightmare showered the changewing with fury and fire. She stared, wide-eyed before pressing her face against the ground in attempt to hide herself from the dragons, although it was not necessary. She stayed like that for a few minutes, almost missing Shu's concerned question.

    "...Luna?" Her head flashed in his direction, and she immediately slapped him. Hard.

    "You!" She yelled. It wasn't as accusing as she meant it to be, but rather spiked with anxiety. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING HANDLING THAT THING ALL ON YOUR OWN? YOU'RE SUCH A STUPID, BRAINLESS BOY!! YOU COULD'VE BEEN HURT!! YOU'RE VERY LUCKY YOU WEREN'T." Her voice trembled, losing its anger. "That dragon was huge- I didn't even see it coming. Is it gone? What if it comes back? We have to go!"

   Shu was feeling the burnt edges of his clothing when he recieved a high-velocity slap to the face. He reeled back, his hand on his cheek and his mouth open in indignation. "What was that for?"

   "YOU!!"

   Shu listened to her rant about how big of an idiot he was, how he could've been hurt and that he was a moron. When Luna started to freak out about the dragon he stopped her from grabbing him and dragging him back to the village by his feet. "WOAH, Luna, I knew the dragon was coming- I wasn't planning on getting hurt."

   When Luna stopped inquisitively, Shu explained. "That dragon has a territory that extends for a couple leagues into this part of the forest. It's very territorial and I haven't ever seen any other dragons inside its range. I figured that if I lured the Changewing over here, that the Nightmare would chase it away for us. And don't worry about it attacking us; even if it were to come back now, it would be much more concerned about rival dragons than a pair of scrawny viking misfits."

 Her eye twitched as she stared at him in disbelief. What had he just said? She couldn't believe her ears. How in Oden's mighty name could he have known? She raised her hand to slap him again, but the blow never even left her thoughts. Instead, she put her hand down and growled.

  "HOW could someone like you have known?" Luna growled. "Do you have some sort of special powers? Or are you just that anti-social that you have to hang around dragons all the time? Do they tell you their secrets? Oh wait-dragons CAN'T TALK!!!"

  She ceased her fuming and messed up her hair, leaving her hands on her white pate. She couldn't believe this. This boy was the most ridiculous boy she had ever met.

   Shu stared at her for a moment like she had sprouted wings before shaking his head and waving his hands in front of him in protest. "No, no Luna I don't have any powers or anything! And anyways, dragon behavior is easy to understand if you spend a lot of time around them- I'm a stable-boy." He got up brushing himself off. As he swatted dirt off his pants his mind reeled. Man, Luna's been listening to one-too-many old viking legends. Her head is full of clouds!

   Shu looked at her when he had dusted himself off (enough, anyways) and began leading the way back through the forest while he was explaining. "When Whisper and I first started flying we used to come into the forest from time to time. Naturally we soon learned where the dragons hung around because Whisper had to steer clear of them. One day we strayed over from our usual trail and wound up here. Then of course the Nightmare attacked us. It was so mad that it chased us all the way back to the village. Whisper wouldn't come out of the barn for days. I've learned to keep our dragons away from here ever since."

 Luna listened and quietly followed him. When Shu mentioned Whisper, her thoughts immediately trailed back to Macha. She missed her dragon. Well, technically Macha was a feral dragon, but she had a strong connection with that night fury. She couldn't explain it, but she felt like she had known the dragon forever. It was almost like the bond she shared with Kiba, except it was more sophisticated and intricate, with delicate patterns crossing over her being connecting her spirit to the Macha's.

  She could feel Macha's discontent. The dragon was in pain, and for no particular reason. She hadn't noticed, but she had stopped in her tracks and was now crouched low, rubbing her temples and playing with the strand of lightning in her hair.

   Shu stopped talking and noticed that Luna had zoned out, no longer paying attention to any part of his speech. That was just fine- he enjoyed the silence anyways. However, soon he noticed that he couldn't hear Luna's footsteps anymore. He looked back and saw her crouched on the ground, her brow furrowed as if in pain or concentration. He sighed quietly and noticed how far they had walked/run today; it would be at least a few hour's journey back to the village at a lesiurly pace from their current location.

   Shu decided to spare their legs from the exhaustion. Besides, the sun had begun to set and at night all sorts of beasts lurked below the massive oak trees of the deep forest. Shu walked over to the nearest tree and surveyed the bark. He ran over its rough surface with his hand, feeling for any signs of damage, particularly long jagged claw marks. When he found no signs of any dragons' continuous passing, he knelt and sniffed the wood. "It seems like we're out of its territory, and Whisper should be back home by now.."

   Shu carefully scaled the large tree, this time being extra cautious about snoozing dragons. Luckily, there were none in the branches at the time, and Shu was able to climb at a reasonable speed. By the time he reached the top, he was panting- they must've been deep in the forest if the trees were that size. He allowed himself to catch his breath and then pulled a chain from his belt buckle. There was a little wooden Night Fury on the end of it, two holes in its mouth and neck. He brought the trinket to his face and blew on it. A shriek emitted through its neck, too high for human ears but it set the forest a buzz with the sound of stirring dragons. Shu sat back on the tree and faced the wind. He thought about climbing back down, but considering the amount of time that it took him to climb up compared with the time it would take for his dragon to arrive, he decided that it wasn't worth it; Luna would simply have to wait. Whisper would locate him better at the top of a tree anyways.

     Luna fell backwards onto he back. She gazed up at the autumn sky, and thought of Macha some more. What was she doing, and why was it causing her pain? She sighed and closed her eyes, letting herself doze off for a quick nap before they went home.

   By the time Whisper and Shu returned, the sun had set, the sky a soft blanket of darkness but for the few rays of light lingering on the horizon. Whisper alighted a few lengths away from the tree, the grass rustling as he folded his wings. Shu stepped off of his partner quietly and walked to where Luna lay sleeping on the grass, her hair painted a light pink where the last of the light peeked through the branches, her form covered by dozens of tiny moths. As he stood watching, they flitted around her body, flocking to the strand of hair draped lightly across her cheek, setting her face a-wash with soft purple light. The moths settled on her body, gently flexing their delicate wings until she took a breath, the rise of her chest sending many fluttering above her before settling again around the glow.

   Shu smiled softly at the scene, watching the moths dance across her face like fairies in a nursery tale. He hesitated, unwilling to move Luna, who looked so peaceful under the cloud of silver wings. Suddenly he felt scales brush his fingers, and he looked down to see Whisper gazing up at him. His friend's green eyes were slitted, their luminescent gaze reminding him of the waxing night. Reluctantly, Shu bent down and lightly brushed the moths from Luna's body, sending them fluttering across his face. He scooped his arms under her and lifted her up, carrying her back to Whisper. The countless wings tickling his ear vanished as Whisper took off, lifting them into the clear night sky.

   When they landed again it was in front of Luna's house. The windows were dark and the residence was silent; it didn't seem like anyone was home. Shu walked to the front porch, the pebbled road crunching under his feet. Reaching the door, he manuvered his hand around so that he could turn the knob, and pushed it open with his shoulder. Looking back, he tilted his head, signaling to Whisper to go on back to the barn. The dragon happily obliged. Stepping into the house, Shu was greeted by an old Terrible Terror. It looked up at Luna, chortled, and licked its open eyeball. Shu smiled and walked across the room and slowly climbed the stairs.

   Upstairs he found a room adorned with purple curtains and a lavendar bedspread, which he assumed was Luna's despite the numerous piles of weapons and various other trinkets he saw lying on the floor. Crossing the wooden floor, he swept aside the blanket and lowered Luna's head onto the pillow. Grasping the covers, he pulled the lavendar sheets up to her neck and watched the blanket slowly rise and fall with her breath. While he stood next to the bed, Big Boy entered the room and surveyed the situation with his tiny intellect and licked his eyeball absent-mindedly. The terror then walked over to luna"s bed, wriggled his rump, and jumped up to sit right between Shu and Luna. Looking up at Shu he yawned, his tiny teeth showing, and rested his head on his feet before closing his eyes slowly.

   With the arrival of the terror, Shu felt it was time to take his leave. Reaching over to Luna's head, he picked up the lock of faintly glowing hair and laid it against her cheek. Then he left, closing the door softly behind him.

   Walking down the main road towards the stables, Shu thought about Luna's reaction to his heritage. He wondered if the others could see it that way too. Maybe I'm not as isolated as I thought I was. He smiled. Maybe Kiba would understand- he seemed to like me before. Maybe we could be friends.... Shu was so busy ruminating that he didn't notice movement in the corner of his eye until he almost ran face-first into it. Rounding a corner, he stopped abruptly to avoid colliding with the other boy. Shu shuffled bewilderedly, his hands waving wildly. "I-I'm so sorry I didn't see you there- wait.." Shu squinted in the shadows of the house and made out the boy's face in the darkness.

   "Kiba?"

   Kiba stood in front of him, his dirty blond hair obscuring his eyes and his head turned to the side as if looking sideways. Shu smiled, shifting his feet nervously. "What are you doing here? Where you flying? I haven't seen anyone else... around." He decided not to tell Kiba that he'd been at his house. When the boy didn't answer, Shu took a hesitant step forward, his hand outstretched. "Is something...."

   Kiba jerked as if hit and shied away from Shu's touch. Shu drew his hand back, uncertain. "Kiba..."

   "Please.." Kiba muttered, turning away from him. He looked at Shu under his blond bangs, his blue eyes flashing with pain. "Please, just- stay away from me........" With that he ran past, leaving Shu standing as if stunned in the center of the silent town. 

  Luna yawned and woke up the next morning staring at the ceiling instead of the sky. She could have sworn she fell asleep outside in the forest. She sat up and looked at the wall in front of her, disregarding the moth that fluttered in front of her. It was a tiny pink and cream moth; it was most likely left over from the moth flock that covered her last night. She noticed her hair was down now, and she was still in her clothes from yesterday.

  After a good twenty minutes of cleansing herself, she emerged from the room with her normal outfit on. The morning light filtered through the windows of the living room, shining its golden glory upon everything it could reach. Her mother was probably out back talking to the neighbors, so it was up to her to make breakfast again. She made something that looked like pancakes before moving to a couch and planting her butt on the cushions next to Big Boy.

   The father and son sat on the floor in front of the roaring fire, warming their hands against the flames. Their warm voices echoed through the room, drifting over the soft crackle of the fireplace. The boy's face lit up at the stories of his father's travels, the tales of discovery weaving dreams of adventure into his mind. He couldn't have been happier to have his father back at home after what seemed like years.

   Suddenly the door burst open, letting in a tempest of wind and snow. The icy gale billowed around him, and the boy shielded his eyes with his arms. When the gust finally subsided he looked over his shoulder at his father and his eyes opened wide, glazing with moisture. His father was gone.

   The boy sobbed as he looked at the cold empty space beside him, the fire and candles having been snuffed by the stormy winds. A frozen floorboard cracked in the doorway and the boy turned to see a dark figure standing in the doorway, silouetted by the storm. Then the man stood over the boy, who felt frozen in fear, his blue eyes wide.

   "Your daddy won't be coming back." The man said, his brown hair waving in the tempest. "I killed him." His face suddenly shifted slightly, becoming familiarly boyish in shape. His voice lightened, his brown eyes flashing. "And now I'll kill you." He reached towards the boy, his hand wide.

   "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

   Kiba's eyes flashed open and he shot up, clenching his bedsheet in his hands. Sweat trickled down his ashen face, his eyes slowly focusing on the room around him. As comprehension dawned on him Kiba began to relax, his breath evening and his heartbeat gradually slowing. He hurriedly wiped the tears from his face, though his right hand kept a firm grip on his blanket. His whitened knuckles still trembled with anxiety.

  Luna jumped when she heard the scream, almost dropping her pancakes on big boy. The terror squealed in protest, squirming to get under the cushions and hide from the noise. The girl gobbled down her pancakes relatively quickly and rushed upstairs towards her brother's room.

   "What happened, where's the fire?!" She asked, bursting into the room without a second thought. She relaxed when she saw that Kiba was not hurt. Luna walked calmly to the bed and hopped onto it, landing criss-cross applesauce comfortably. "Dude, what made you scream so loud?" She giggled.

   Kiba flinched, looking away. He didn't want to tell Luna what he had seen, but he wasn't about to lie to her either. While he hesitated he could see her purple eyes in the corner of his vision, innocently wide with concern for her sibling. After a minute of troubling silence, he sighed shakily, resigning himself to the inevitable.

   "I had that dream again."

(Backround: For three years after his father's death Kiba experienced a terrible nightmare every night in which his father disappeared and his murderer came back to finish his son. Each night for a year he would wake up screaming to be comforted by his mother and sister. Eventually his outbursts ceased, but each morning he would wake up shivering with sweat, half-expecting to see the traitor looming over his bed. Eventually during the start of the third year the dreams became less frequent and finally stopped altogether.)

If you would like, maybe Luna could sense that there was something new about it- they are twins after all.. But she'd have to ask Kiba if there was. If so Kiba's gonna say something to make her buzz off (making her feel terrible)

     Luna's pupils narrowed and she froze. She swallowed hard. They're back? She wondered. She couldn't believe it. After all this time, the nightmares were back? She looked at Kiba sadly and released her hair from their shackles (in other words, she took off her bow).

 "I'm... sorry, Kiba." She had no other words to say. All she felt like she could do was give him a big hug, which she did. After a few seconds, she pulled away and looked at him with a tilted head. There was something a bit.... off about this one. She couldn't tell what, or if it was even real, but there was something that wasn't ight about the dream this time.

 "...what was it like this time?" She suddenly asked. "Was he... different?"

   Kiba froze; as much as he tried to hide it, his sister knew when he was really upset by something. He couldn't let her know that he had seen Shu in the dream- that he feared their childhood friend and classmate. He wouldn't even admit it to himself.

   Kiba's mind fumbled as he tried to come up with an excuse for being so frightened- one that Luna wouldn't question. One that would stop her inquisitive mind from wondering what was bothering him so much lately. One like--- yes, he had it. Kiba deflated, disgusted at what he was about to do. What he was going to say would hurt his sister more than anything, but he had to do it if he was to escape her worried, questioning gaze.

   "No, not exactly..."

   A trickle of sweat ran down his chin and Kiba hurriedly wiped it away. He grimaced, frowning as he ran his fingers absent-mindedly across the healing wound on his wrist from his feral encounter a few days prior. He swallowed and spoke, his voice shaking slightly as he talked. "It was the same, for most of it. Except, instead of reaching for me...... His fury was there, and it attacked me."

   He winced, clutching his scars tighter. "It held me down and..." He closed his eyes and shuddered, as if thinking of the glowing fire in the throat of the night fury, its green eyes burning with malice. He looked away, staring guiltily at the wall. "Just as it fired- I woke up."

     Luna blinked in shock.

 "It..." She started, but she couldn't finish her sentence. All she could manage to do was put her arms around her brother's waist and hug the shit out of him. She thought those nightmares had been over, but... now that they had come back even worse than before, and it was all her fault. She shook, trying to hold back her tears. I should never have taken him to the arena. If I hadn't opened Macha's cage, Kiba's dreams wouldn't have resurfaced. She looked at his wrist and shut her eyes, tears welling up behind her lids. This is all my fault- Kiba, I'm so sorry...

   "I'm... sorry." She stated quietly, averting her moist eyes to the floor. She let go of him and sat on the end of his bed fingering the sheets. "Maybe it won't come back for a while now that it's out of your system..."