Wolf-Bound

     Luna let Astrid take Shu into her house to have his head wound treated for before setting out towards the arena. She was just approaching the last step down the house when Jet suddenly stormed by. She wrinkled her forehead in worry and looked back at where he had come from. She spotted Kiba and walked towards him, curious as to what happened before she visited Macha again.

 "Hey, Kiba!" She called, jolting over to him and smiling. "What's eatin' Jet? He's been acting so unusual since training this morning. Is everything alright with you two?"

   Kiba looked up and tried to smile. His heart beat from their meeting, and he wanted only to crawl under a rock and disappear. His gut wrenched as he lied to his sister; he felt totally worthless. "Oh, nothing. I think Jet's still holding a grudge is all. He was still mad about this morning. His nose is still a tad crooked.."

     "Yeah, but hasn't it always been on a little crooked?" She laughed and patted her brother's shoulder before beginning to trot off in a different direction. "Make sure you get home safe! I don't want ya getting any more broken bones, alright?"

   Kiba grinned in false humor as his sister skipped by. "I'll try~" Sighing, he turned as Luna disappeared across town. He knew she was probably headed to see that dragon, but honestly he couldn't care less at the moment. All he wanted to do was find some secluded place to curl up in, hating himself. Turning back towards the stables, Kiba slowly trudged down the road to the place where he knew that no one would be.

_____A day or so later_____

   Shu woke up almost a day later at god-knows-what hour in the morning, a pounding headache wracking his skull, the faint sense of falling fading from his mind. Gasping in shock, he put his hand to his head in pain. Shocked as his fingers brushed cloth wrapped around his head, Shu frantically began clawing at the bandaging around his head. His eyes opened wider as he began suffocating beneath the heavy fabric covering his head, the chocking threads tightening around his neck. He had just begun hysterically hyperventhalating and scrambling in his bed sheets when he felt an ice cold substance against his skin.

   "Calm down."

   A shiver was suddenly sent down Shu's spine. The ice was freezing against his neck, abruptly cooling his nerves and sending frosty air rushing into his lungs. He shot up out of his covers, his skin frosted to his toes.

   "AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" Shu came back down to earth writhing in his bed. "Cold, cold cold, cold, COOOLD!!!" Suddenly that ice wrapped around his neck again, freezing his veins. "AAAAAAGGHHHH!!!!!!!"

   "Now hold on and sit still." Astrid removed her icey hand, her other fist lifting a rag from a bucket of ice water. "Unless you want a thorough soaking."

   Shu gulped, lying as stiff as a board. Unable to withstand the threat of the icey rag, Shu sat while Astrid wrung out the drippign wet cloth. Astrid sighed. "Why do you have to flip out every time you come in here, huh? It's not like bandages are gonna kill you. It was eight years ago. So just calm down- you're safe."

   Shu stiffened as Astrid placed the cold cloth on his bare back. Trying his best not to squirm, he balled his fists on his legs, grunting. "I'm not... It's not like..." He sighed. "Nevermind."

   "Yes, that's right." Astrid said as she dunked the rag, wringing it and rubbing it down Shu's bare skin again. "Nothing at all."

   Shu left the house later that day at a more reasonable hour of the morning.Astrid stood at the door, sending him on his way. His bandages in hand, she smiled. "Now don't be a stranger! Come see us now and again, k?~" Shu smiled and nodded, turning away.

   A terrible thought suddenly crossing his mind, he turned back frantically before Astrid could close the door on him. "Oh, Astrid! What day is it?!!"

   Stoppign the closing door, Astrid thought for a moment. "Well, I think it's three days before the fall harvest celebration, so, yes. It's almost the full moon."

   Shu froze. Three days. So that means two... He waved to Astrid. "Thanks Astrid, that was a huge help." When Astrid closed the door Shu stopped again, suddenly realising the story behind his concussion. "Wait- Luna...." Grabbing his head, he shook himself. "AAAGKKK!!! WHY DO I ACT LIKE SUCH AN IDIOOOOTTTTT??!!!!!!!!!!"

     Luna skipped along the path she had so vigilantly tread in her wake. She sang a slow, unfamiliar tune to herself as she left the arena for the forest. Macha, the dragon she 'named', called out. Her roar echoed throughout the silence of the village and made the white haired girl turn around and smile.

 "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!" She yelled. She waited but a moment to hear the dragon roar back. The girl giggled and continued on her way home. Luna continued to hum the insignificant tune until she heard Shu's voice yelling across the village. Obviously curious, she wandered in the direction of Hiccup's house to see what was going on. She poked her head around the corner before the rest of her body followed, striking a pose like a cool kid.

 "Hey, Shu!" She called with a smile as she leaned against the wall with her hands behind her back. "Feeling any better?"

   Shu was walking down the path berating his stupidity when he heard his name being called somewhere to his right. Turning around, he was stopped in his tracks by a flash of familiar, brilliant white hair. He stopped, frozen with embarressment. His cheeks turning a light dragonberry pink, he turned his head away from Luna's penetrating purple gaze. "I'm fine. It was just a little bump. It wasn't really anything to worry about." She probably thinks I'm pathetic. I'm such a loser- stupid rock.

 She laughed. "If it was just a lil' bump, then you should come play with me! Kiba's home-stuck and can't do anything with his arm, so he's out. Jet's being a bit of a pain, and I can't risk goin' back to Macha today. Play with me, pleeeeeaaaase?"

 Luna gave him the saddest puppy-dog look anyone ever gave to anyone else. Pa-thetic.

   Shu's head shot up, his eyes wide, and the rosy pink tint fading from his cheeks. "P-Play? You want me to play with you?" His eyes darted as he talked, his vision always focused on something other than the girl in front of him. Instinctively looking for a way out, his brain tried to come up with an excuse for not being able to oblige to her request. Though the more he thought about it, the less sure he was about coming up with a suitable lie. This is Whisper's fishing day, so he's not here right now...

   Unable to think of a reason to leave, nor willing to lie to Luna, he sighed inwardly, his body deflating in resignation. "Okay."

   "YIPEE!!!!"

    Luna lept forward and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. Shu let himself be reluctantly led through the street by his enthusiastic classmate. Wait, who's Macha?

Okay, so I want this really cute yet really, hilariously awkward scene to occur between Luna and Shu because he doesn't remember how to play with anyone at all. It was 8 years ago that he began to isolate himself after all. XD CLUELESS SHU!!!

     Luna giggled as she led him deep into the forest with giddy excitement. She stopped where she thought was the center of the woods and turned to face her new playmate.

 "Here's one of my favorite places in the forest!" She said excitedly. "I'll count, okay?"

 The white haired girl whipped around covered her eyes, thus beginning the game of hide and seek she so dearly loved. After about thirty numbers, she turned around.

 "Ready or not, here I co-me...?" She turned around to face Shu, standing there like an idiot. "Shu, you were supposed to go hide. Why didn't ya?"

 She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner.

   Shu's face turned red as he shuffled his feet in embaressment. "S-sorry. But to be honest, I haven't played with anyone since I was 5. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do."

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     Luna sighed and looked at Shu right in the eye. She was seriously disappointed in him, but it was to be expected of a boy who hadn't socialized with anyone. She put her hair up in a ponytail on the side of her head and let the strands of hair with the lightning bolt on them hang in front of her face.

 "Alright Shu. Don't be afraid to play a simple game." She ordered before her tone softened. "The game is simple. I'll count, and you have to hide somewhere and hope I don't find you. It's fun! You can do that, right?"

   Shu blinked, rubbing his neck dubiously, but shrugged in agreement. When Luna started counting again, he dove through the foliage looking for a hiding spot. He ran farther into the trees, trying to think of where he would be most hidden. Suddenly he stopped, realizing what part of the forest he had run to. He was next to a large- very large- oak tree. Shu looked at the tiny scratch marks on the bark and realized that this was one of the saplings surrounding the ancient tree called the Dragon Oak.

   The Dragon Oak; the largest tree on all of Birk. No viking knew just how old it was, and it was believed to have been planted at the beginning of time. Deep in the forests of Birk, the Ancient tree had roots the size of cliffs and its massive girth blotted out the sun for leagues. Its high branches made the dragons that perched there look like insects, and its thick canopy made it so that no other trees could grow beneath it. Many of the elder vikings refered to it as the heart of the forest, claiming that the whole of Birk began with that single tree, and that it had sprouted where Olden's foot had first touched the earth.

   Shu could never imagine climbing the Dragon Oak, but he could surely climb the sablings far from its core. He had seen the other trainees trying to get to the top, but most couldn't even get to the first branches of the behemoth trees. Shu, however, could see the marks in the side of the trees where fledgeling dragons had climbed the trunks, their claws scoring deep into the wood. Just deep enough, in fact, to create handholds for observant vikings.

   Shu ran up to the tree and found the path of a young Nightmare. He would have preferred to have found the marks of a young Nadder, because of its numerous tail spikes, but this would have to do. Stretching his arms and legs as far as he could, he began to climb. It took nearly five minutes to get to the first branch, partly because of how big the Nightmare was, by which time he was positive that Luna would be searching for him. Luckily, after the first branch the branches became more numerous, and before three minutes had passed he had made it to the seventh branch in a row. Of course, he didn't count the little ones as branches really, they were more like the rungs of a ladder; a way to get from one floor to the next.

   By the time he was nearly to the tenth large branch he heard it- footsteps through the forest. He looked down to see Luna through the leaves creeping out from the forest, walking towards his tree. Shu wanted desperately to get to the tenth branch, where he felt it would be safer, concealed in multiple layers of leafy branches. So, Shu slowly started creeping up the tree while keeping one eye on Luna. Unfortunately, his shuffling had already caught her attention, and she stopped, scanning the trees. "Shu?"

The Dragon Oak isn't as large as the description would really make u think maybe like, this

Alright, nevermind, that's big (looking from the ground).  But STILL!! It's not like it's a mountain or anything, okay?

     "Ready or not, here I come!" She turned around excitedly, half expecting Shu to still be there by the time she had finished counting. Giggling, she skipped towards a set of bushes, looked behind them, and repeated the process throughtout the whole forest. Well, not the ENTIRE forest. That would just be plain silly. The white haired girl trudged along and stopped underneath the dragon tree. she looked up, but didn't dare climb it. There could be a dragon in that tree-and not all dragons were nice like Toothless. She didn't see anything save for a garbled mess of leaves and branches.

   Shu grimaced and continued up the tree. He had almost reached the tenth branch, Luna almost directly below him, when his foot cracked a branch, sending his leg through the bark. With a yelp he grabbed the branch above him. Only, the branch moved.

   The branch that Shu grabbed gave way under his fingers and split in half, falling to the ground. Shu shut his eyes waiting to hit the ground, but was jerked to a halt when the rubbery branch lay perpendicular to the earth, swinging from the rest of the limb like a robe from a saddle. Shu felt scales under his fingers and looked up to see the branch shimmering like heat waves off of a metal chestplate. The wood shifted and a yellow-green eye popped open on the bark, leering down at the boy hanging from its tail. Shu felt his blood run cold as he looked into the eyes of the angry adult dragon.

   The large Changewing lifted its head, glaring down at Shu. Its claws scraped against the bark, sending shavings of bark raining down on his face. Shu blinked rapidly and looked away, his arm over his face in an effort to keep the shavings out of his eyes. When the rain of bark lessened he felt the muscles of the creature's tail shifting, and realized with dread that he was at the mercy of the wild dragon, hanging twenty feet from the ground, and five from the teeth and acid of a dragon's maw. He opened his eyes and the dragon lifted him to its hanging head and it snarled, drool slipping from between its teeth. Shu could think of worse things than being covered in dragon slime at the moment, so he remained frozen on its tail. Then, quick as a snake the dragon grinned and snapped at his hand. Shu let go just before its teeth met his skin and felt the sickening feeling of falling. He yelled as the branches broke under his weight and he fell to the ground.

     Luna was just about to leave to look somewhere else when suddenly there was a crack from branches above her. Her head jolted up and she stepped back to grab a rock. She sidestepped out of the way of a falling branch, only to get in the way of Shu falling on top of her. She yelped in surprise.

 "Shu?!" She yelled, the changewing roaring and charging down towards them from the top of the tree. The white haired girl gasped and kicked Shu off of her, sending him flying to the left as she rolled to the right to doge the changewing. She panicked, and in her panicked state, she sent a rock or so flying at the changewing's head in attempt to get it to go away. Now why did she think that kind of stunt would actually work?

   Shu nearly deafened himself with his own screaming as he fell bouncing through the branches of the oak tree. "AAAHOOFGAAAAAOOFLETOOFMEOOFGAAAAUUUUGGHHHH-!!!!!!!!"

   Shu landed with a breath-taking thud after being unceremoniously dropped from the snagging fingers of the oak tree. He groaned, his face smothered by something soft and squishy. After a moment of regaining his breath, he put his hands on either side of his head to push himself up. The substance beneath his fingers wasn't hard like he'd expected, but rather seemed to give way beneath his palms. He started to squeeze his hands in confusion when suddenly realized with a jolt that there were clothes beneath his fingertips. "AHH!!" He yelled in surprise. Pushing himself up he found himself lying on top of Luna, his hands on her chest, and her bright purple eyes looking at him quizically in shock. He could feel the blood flowing to his tingling cheeks, his face turning bright red in embaressment.

   Shu yanked his hands away in panic. He shook them in front of his face wildly, flushing madly as he tried to explain himself to her. "I DIDN'T- I MEAN- I'M SO-- AAH!!" His frantic apology was cut off by her foot on his chest, which sent him flying against the trunk of the oak tree. He groaned, clutching his side. Why would you do that.. He didn't have more than a second to think before a huge blast of wind smothered him, followed by an earth-shaking WHOOMP and a bellowing roar. Opening his eyes, Shu saw the Changewing in front of him, its enraged sight focused on Luna, who was desperately chucking rocks and pieces of stick at its face, only making the dragon madder.

    Shu saw the dragon getting increasingly angry at the girl in front of it, and his mind thought rapidly of a solution- if only temporary. Very temporary. Shu's eyes settled suddenly on a large pointy rock the size of his face. Perfect!

   The Changewing was just about to spray acid in the annoying girl's face when something hit his head, followed by a sharp exclaimation. "HEY, MOLD BREATH!!" The Changewing turned swiftly, the acid bubbling in his mouth spraying the ground beneath his dribbling jaw. The girl screamed as a few dropplets touched her skin and clothing, but what the Changewing saw behind him enraged him even more than the young monkey-girl ever could.

   Shu stood next to the tree with a large rock in his hand, waving it over his head as he called to the dragon as he gained its undivided attention. "Hey dirt-scales, WATCH THIS!!" He knelt next to the tree, his rock raised above his head, and swung it down. The tip of the rock made a shallow jagged groove in the bark, just visible against the rest of the wood. It wasn't a dragon's claw, but it would have to do. He brought it down rapidly several more times before the dragon charged him rabidly, acid frothing at its lips. Shu turned around and in two seconds he just managed to dodge the Changewing, who was spraying acid and charged face-first into the oak tree. Shu, who had rolled around to the other side of the tree, felt the wood shake beneath his feet and yelped when the dragon's head burst through the other side of the tree. The Changewing shook its scaled head, narrowed its eyes, and turned to focus on him. Its pupils were slits and its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth. Shu gulped. "Time to go."

   Shu jumped up and ran just as the Changewing had started slipping out of its hole. When he leapt away he heard it roar and felt a wave of noxious heat behind him, urging his muscles to go faster. He rounded the trunk and met Luna on the other side just as she had stood up. She opened her mouth to say something but he didn't stop to talk to her. Grabbing her hand, he spun her in the other direction, running into the forest just as the Changewing emerged in hot, furious pursuit from the other side of the tree.

     She stopped throwing rocks as soon as the Changewing had turned around to go spray Shu instead. She looked down at her clothes, now tattered and stained, before looking back up at the boy who had just averted the attention of an adult dragon. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she was instantly being dragged along in a matter of seconds. The boy had grabbed her hand and started running, so instinctively she started running as well.

     Luna followed Shu, soon catching up to him and steadily running faster as the Changewing followed in hot pursuit.

 "Shu, we gotta go faster!" She gasped, in a panic. "It's catching up faaaaaaaast!!!"

   Shu was panting, his throat stinging from the fumes of the acid. He knew Luna was right- at this pace they didn't have long until the adolescent changewing caught up with them. He could here it scrambling through the brush in a fit of rage, and smell its fumes He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, his eyes watering while he coughed. He looked around the foliage blurring around him and saw the outline of a gigantic tree in the distance. There! He rasped, his voice hoarse. "Come on, this way!"

   He carefully located Luna's hand through his tears and guided her deeper into the forest. The trees began to get larger and the space between them wider, though they still had to leap over the stray log once in a while- unfortunately those were getting bigger too. He leapt down a steep muddy bank into a gurgling river, the rounded pebbles shifting smoothly under his feet. He could feel the waist-deep water tugging at his trousers as held his hands up to Luna. "Jump, fast!"

     Luna breathed heavily, her breath becoming shorter with every leap. She tried to run, faster, faster, and ever faster, but her legs were loosing power and she felt like collapsing at a moment's notice. However, the changewing kept her going. She couldn't stop running, for the fear of being eaten was stronger than her will to stop. She heard Shu call out to her, telling her to jump, but she skidded on her knees, feeling queasy all of a sudden. Her dress got caught on a stray branch that stuck out from the ground, and caused her to loose her balance. She fell to the ground, dirt and rocks scraping across her face. When she twisted she gasped in pain, realizing that her foot had become lodged in a tangle of roots beneath a large tree overhanging the river. She tried frantically to free herself but she it was no use. She turned around with wide eyes, huddling into herself for protection. Oh man, I wish I had my sword!!

   Shu's heart skipped a beat as Luna fell to the ground above him. He watched anxiously as she rolled closer to the side of the gully and caught her anckle in the roots of the huge tree that grew there. He saw her struggling to free her foot and winced as she gasped with pain. Shu's blood ran cold as he heard the roar of the changewing growing behind her.

   Glancing around, Shu noticed a leafy branch lodged halfway down the slope, its tips waving in the current. Shu lunged up and grabbed it, struggling to pull the massive branch out of the muddy bank. With a grunt, he pulled with all his strength and finally the thing came loose, almost making him lose his balance. He gripped the branch in his hands and heaved it over the lip of the bank, hiding the roots where Luna had fallen.

   Shu was turning away when he heard Luna calling him. "Shu!" He looked back at her, smiling sympathetically. Luna reached towards a branch and pulled herself forward to be looking down at him anxiously. "Shu, what are you going to do?"

   Shu shrugged up at her. "Probably something stupid." He turned and ran across the slippery riverbed before she could call him back or tell him that he was being an idiot- he knew that much already. About halfway across the river a rock flew out from under his foot, sending him tumbling into the swift-flowing current. Fortunately he could swim- if poorly- and he soon surfaced farther downriver and swam against the current towards the wall of earth on the opposite side. Grabbing a root jutting from the cliff, he hauled himself out of the river and began laborously climbing up the muddy wall.