Luna awakens groggily, slowly sitting up from her prone position on the ground. Her eyes didn’t want to focus as everything around her seemed to be somewhat translucent, almost like it wasn’t there but desperately trying to be. She lazily drags a hand down to her stomach to not only feel that her wound seemed to be gone, but that she couldn’t feel much of anything, let alone pain. She startles herself into awareness and squints, concentrating on clearing her vision.

At first, she didn’t quite understand where she was, as there were few details to go on. The sky is a pale, stark white with nothing prevent it from feeling like some sort of empty void. The sand beneath her was a translucent blue but solid, her hand could sink into it and pull out of it like it’s corporeal counterpart. On the one side of her was an ocean, blacker than midnight and with soft waves crashing into the beach. On her other side looked to be a forest, not terribly unlike the one she lived near. The only sound she could hear was the dark ocean and looking lengthwise down the beach, it seemed as though this was a very small island.

Luna stands up and looks down at herself, realizing that she also shared the same translucent quality of her environment. She tried to speak, but when she opened her mouth, no words came. It was as if there was no air to breathe in. Still though, this place felt...familiar. Like a second home that she’d never visited before.

A soft purple pillar of light shoots up from somewhere around the middle of the island, ethereal swirls flowing around it gracefully. Luna clumsily steps off of the beach and wanders into the forest, using the beacon as a guide. A feeling of warmth starts to permeate her as Luna draws closer to the center of the island and as she did, she felt...stronger. Her steps gained purpose and balance, her body started to turn more solid and tangible and her vision sharpened. It wasn’t long before she was before the purple pillar, looking up into the sky. It seemed to go on for forever.

Luna reaches out to touch the pillar cautiously and for that brief moment of contact, she felt...at peace. This was something she not only wanted to do...but needed to do. Compelled to do. She pushes her hand into the pillar, and a tugging sensation nipped at her fingertips, almost in a ticklish manner. Luna takes a deep breath and finally pushes herself into the pillar entirely, letting its light engulf her form. A great force propels her upward into the beam, sending her up and away from that island speeds that were hard to comprehend.

A comfortable, motherly voice booms in Luna’s head, as if it was something familiar but never spoke up until now.

~”We are all connected.”~

Luna wakes up a second time and this time things felt as they should, with the omnipresent cold reminding her of the snow she was currently resting in. She starts to move, but the sound of two sets of soft footsteps make their way closer as well as the conversation they were carrying. The voices were masculine and somewhat hushed, the men keeping their presence to a minimum. Luna lays as stiffly as possible, keeping her eyes closed and her ears open.

Dwayne grins, pointing towards Luna. “Aww...it looks as though one of our guests had an accident.”

“Is she dead? Should we let the bear have his dinner?” Austin says, looking around for any sign of either their ursine charge or it’s prey.

The conversation pauses as Dwayne draws close to Luna, threatening to inspect her a little more closely. He crouches down and reaches a hand towards her. Luna holds her breath silently, expecting a roaming hand of some sort. But instead, Dwayne draws his hand back and stands, speaking with his companion again.

“No. At least not yet.” Dwayne says, pointing back down towards the fallen girl. “She is not going anywhere right now. We need to find the other one so we can finish.. No loose ends.”

“Of course. He’s just a regular kid, right?”

The voices start to retreat away from her, heading past her and into the forest proper.

“Just some two-bit punk with a gun. More filth to wipe away.”

“Can you sense the location of the bear brother?”

“It’s west of here...not far.”

The voices become too faint for Luna to follow and once they were out of earshot, she opens her eyes. The snowfall had been relatively constant while she was unconscious because she sunk in it by a few centimeters. The moon’s brightness is still enough to see her way through the forest, just like it had been before falling unconscious. As she pushes herself to a sitting position, a dull, heavy pain sits in her abdomen. Leaning over herself to investigate, it wasn’t hard to see why she could be mistaken as dead. Blood heavily stained the belly of her jacket, even going so far as to seep into the nearby snow, turning it pink. Her wound also seemed to be healed, but the skin there was still incredibly tender and exposed to the elements. A brief thought is given to where the bullets might have ended up, but a similar tenderness is also felt in her back at roughly the same spot, ended her speculation. Just how long was she out for?

Her eyes widen in shock as she recalls where the incident that left her for dead. She and Percy never really gotten along pretty much their entire lives, but...did he really hate her this much? Why? She never really done anything to him to deserve it, even going so far as to avoid him in school and at home. Even so, she still didn’t wish to harm him and was genuinely trying to find a way to protect them both. The fact that he’d wound her intentionally to save himself...the thought incinerated any kindness she may have had for him. She crushes her hands into fists and stands, a barely controlled rage bubbling up inside her.

As she gets up, she immediately senses that something is fundamentally wrong. The anger seeped into her heart and held it tightly, seeming to flow away from her head. Instantly, Luna’s balance weakens, causing her to waver where she stood. She takes a few quivering steps to a nearby tree and uses it as a crutch, wrapping an arm around it tightly. Luna looks down at her shins and sees nothing but a snow clotted jeans and no visible damage. The pain intensified in both of her shins, almost as if something were applying mounting pressure onto them. Unsure of what to do in this situation, Luna grabs the sore spot with her spare hand, desperately trying to diagnose the problem. Almost as soon as she laid her hands on it though, her leg shifts cleanly, bending backwards of it’s own accord. The agony was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Her other leg follows suit, repositioning in the same way her first one did. She slams into the snow face first with a short and ragged breathing, her vision swimming with tears. The pain forced her into a tight fetal position, her mind trying and failing to be anything but in a state of silent panic.

The bones in her feet legs start to stretch and crackle painfully, her ankles shifting upwards and her feet grow in width and length, bursting out of the confines of her boots like an overcooked potato. Her eyes water as she grunts in pain, gritting her teeth and keeping her breaths short to prevent herself from screaming. Her hands burn with change, her fingernails sharpening themselves to a point and turning black. Her spine heats up as it lengthens into a fifth appendage, jutting a few feet from under her jacket. The muscles in her body constrict to a painful degree, feeling as though they were ripping themselves apart. The legs of her jeans and sleeves of her jacket split wide open, exposing the bare skin to the elements. She mutters, growls and grunts incoherently as she continues to endure the strain, rolling from side to side to ease it the best she could manage.

The young woman’s head tightens down like a vice as various facial features start to rearrange themselves without her permission. She closes her eyes to help concentrate on keeping quiet, her arms clutching her sides tightly, though doing nothing to halt her convulsions. Luna’s mouth and nose elongate outward, her teeth shifting to follow suit. Her ears pull up a few inches and grow in size, flattening out into erect canine ears. A wave of itchiness and nausea passes over her body as brown fur covers her in head to digitigrade toe, but her curly black hair seemed unphased by the changes.

After all of that, the changes were a bit more subtle and the pain caused by them ebb away in slow waves. Luna gained some musculature in her arms and legs, causing the sleeves on both her sweater and her jacket to rip at the shoulder. Her upper canines elongate awkwardly out of her new lupine mouth, though none of her other teeth felt any different. She opens her eyes again now that the pressure eases off and pants in relief. She raises a hand up to her eyes, wiping away the tears she’d shed, allowing her to see properly.

She looks over her hands and at the black claws at the end of them, twisting her wrists as she inspects both sides. She reaches down to pinch at some of the fur in her palm, pulling at it between two fingertips. It doesn’t give very easily, the skin underneath them stretching out to accommodate the strain. She reaches up to grasp at her ears and pulls, only to instantly draw her hand back with a loud whine of pain. Streams of worry drill themselves into her head as she waits with like breath to see if any other changes might occur as suddenly as the previous ones did. Luna’s rapid breathing she’d had throughout the transformation starts to slow and calm, as things seemed to settle down.

Luna pushes herself to her feet shakily, as her new legs were uncoordinated felt as if they belonged to two separate people. She rotates her arms rapidly until she eventually stabilizes and looks down at her meaty looking feet. Despite only having the remains of her boots on them, the snow didn’t feel cold at all. Gathering her courage, she takes a few steps forward, keeping her arms out to her sides for balance. She stops walking when she starts to pitch forward, grabbing ahold of a familiar tree to keep herself upright. It was then she noticed that the spot that she’d been writhing in before was bare, devoid of any snow. Her clothes were still crisp and dry, previous injuries notwithstanding.

Luna’s mind starts to race as this all seemed like some sort of weird dream. What the heck did that island have to do with anything? What was that voice from before? What is this form? It seemed like a werewolf. Was it a werewolf? Fur, claws, dog-like ears...All signs seemed to point at that being the logical conclusion. It’s a full moon too, isn’t it? A quick glance up confirms the theory, as it still seemed uncharacteristically large in the sky.

She pushes off from the tree and looks out into the forest and attempts to cross her arms over one another, but the stiffness of the tight fabric prevents it. Without a second thought, she reaches over to the sleeves of her jacket and grips down, pulling it and the sweater sleeves off. Her arms were bare now, and she goes back to crossing them, looking back towards the direction of the two men who had inspected her while she was playing dead.

A wave of dread washes over her as the realization that Percy was probably going to run home and if that bear was as good at tracking like most predators were, he was going to lead it right back to Penn and Peggy. While she certainly held no love of either of her foster parents and nothing but angst for Percy, neither one of them deserved to die. She turns in the direction of the house and runs as fast as she could, her new legs seeming to make it easier to move far, far faster than she could before. She was still careful though, as sprinting this way was still new, but when she stopped focusing on her legs and just let her body handle it, it became second nature.

When she arrived at the Oswald home, it very much looked like it did when she left, but a trail of footsteps with drops of blood confirm that at least, somehow, Percy made it home. The bear didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby, but it wouldn’t be hard to track him if those hunter’s clothes weren’t just for show. Luna apprehensively makes her way towards the front door and presses her head against it, listening in. Not hearing anything, she tries to open, only to find the door locked. Nervously and quickly, she reaches into a miraculously still intact pocket and pulls out her house key. As she opens the door and steps inside, she has a sudden thought. Why would the door be locked though? Didn’t they know she was still out there?

Walking back inside of the house after so much had happened felt strange, as did the sensation that she was undoubtedly taller than she was before. A good half a foot taller, by her judgment. She passes by the now empty living room, the television paused mid-play. The sounds of habitation came from the kitchen at the end of the hallway, with muffled voices speaking out. Luna creeps up next to the closed door and moves it slightly ajar so she could see.

The Oswald’s kitchen is a classic style of a bygone era, complete with checkerboard floors, contemporary chrome appliances and a pleasant dinner table in a nook off to the side. Luna looks over to the side and spots Percy first, sitting in a chair with a bloodied arm. His jacket was sitting on the table, ripped and torn in several places. Peggy’s standing next to Percy, wrapping gauze around his wound, though judging by the running makeup and her shaking hands, this might take awhile. Penn is stomping around in another part of the kitchen, just out of her line of sight.

“I’mma kill ‘er. If she ain’t dead, I’mma kill her myself.”

Peggy pleads while working on her son. “Penn...please! Percy-kins, how do you feel? Do you need some water or something?”

Percy sits quietly, his skin sheet white and staring blankly in front of him, the occasional shudder reminding himself that he was still alive.

“I shoulda known to just send her ass out there by herself. Hell, it’d save me the trouble of having to toss her out.” Penn comments, grabbing something out of the fridge. After a second he tosses it, an ice pack hitting the table next to Percy.

“I’m serious. I’m not taking her to the hospital either. Like I told ‘er. Not spending a dime. She’s got no business trying to steal my boy’s gun.”

Peggy finally looks up from the wound and turns towards Penn. “It’s going to be fine, it’s going to be okay, we’ll just...we’ll just close up the windows and lock all of the deadbolts and pretend none of this ever happened. We’ll just have a pleasant Christmas. Percykins will take it easy tonight, and then tomorrow we can just have…” Peggy takes a shuddery deep breath. “...a wonderful, wonderful holiday.”

Percy speaks up, looking towards both of his parents. “D-d-do you think...the bear will come back?”

Penn snorts. “Nah...it’s probably muchin’ on Luna right now. But to be safe, lemme call animal control real quick.” Penn’s voice draws near. “Won’t take but a second.”

Penn opens the door while looking back towards his family before running into Luna’s furry stomach. Penn immediately recoils back in horror as he looks up towards the female werewolf, shaking quite literally in his socks. Luna’s expression flattens as she watches him calmly.

“Hiya.”

Penn backs up against the wall as Luna steps into the kitchen, Percy recoiling back and pushing himself to stand out of shock while Peggy shrieks in terror, knocking over the first aid kit sitting in her lap. Percy retreats behind his mother, chanting in quick tones.

“No way! No-no-no-no-no! Th-th-this can’t be happening man, what the hell!”

Luna crosses her arms as the family seems to completely lose itself around her, though her attention is on Penn at the moment, who had reached over to the knife rack and was fiddling with trying to draw a blade. Luna steps over towards him and puts a hand on the wall above him and grabs his other hand, staring at him straight in the face.

“...Probably munching on me right now huh?” Luna speaks coolly, though her thoughts were anything but.

Penn keeps his gaze on the werewolf’s face, but eventually, he spots Luna’s silver moon pendant, dangling from her neck. He points towards it nervously.

“L-l-luna? Th-that’s you? What...the hell happened to you?”

Percy shrinks behind his mother, doing his best attempt at performing a disappearing act.

“What happened to me?” Said Luna as she leans up a little bit as the question is posed to her. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask your darling precious SON what happened? I’m curious, what did he tell you?”

Luna turns towards Peggy, who squeaks out another shriek before she reaches back to grab Percy, shielding him from the werewolf.

“D-d-don’t hurt him! P-p-please don’t hurt him! He’s a good boy!”

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID TO ME!?” Luna roars in response, forcing all three humans to cower. “He shot me in the stomach! He shot me in the stomach and left me for DEAD! And even when I was hurt, you guys weren’t even going to come look for me! You guys were going to let me bleed to death outside because you couldn’t even be bothered to care, it's even a stupid second, about anyone other than yourselves! You guys are SICK.”

A clicking noise catches Luna’s attention as she turns to face it. Penn has a shotgun leveled at her chest, his finger easing over the trigger. Judging by the amount of blood and the few pieces of snow that still clung to it, it was Percy’s gun that he had wielded outside. Luna’s eyes narrow on the weapon as her claws extend an inch or two out from her fingers.

“Put the gun down Mr. Oswald. Do you really want to make the same mistake your son made?”

“S-s-shut up! Shut up you monster! Y-y-you think you can just walk in here and start yelling at my family in my house like that? What kind of f-freak of nature are you? I always knew you were weird! Just some nerdy little weirdo! And now look atcha!”

Penn grows bold, straightening his stance and keeping his finger over the trigger. “Some big stupid werewolf looking thing! No wonder you were in the system at age two. If I’d have met your mother back then, I’d have told her to get an abortion and save me the trouble!”

Luna snaps, bringing her hand up to the underside of the shotgun barrel, raising it up and away from her face. Penn fires the gun, sending a pair of slugs into the ceiling of the house, causing both Peggy and Percy to jump in surprise. The loud explosion of the gun stung her highly sensitive ears, but she was too angry to pay it much mind. Luna grabs the end of the barrels with her hand and squeezes them both shut with some effort. Penn quakes as he watches Luna’s strength, pulling the gun away from her when she’s finished with it.

Penn backs himself into a wall his pupils shrinking as he cowers before the werewolf, his voice shriveling up in horror. But when he looked back at her, he could see tears beading in Luna’s eyes as she didn’t look as intimidating as she did before; she merely looked hurt, her ears sinking to the sides of her head sadly.

“How can you say that? How can any of you honestly say that to someone and still think of yourselves as good people?”

Penn slowly stands back up as shame ran its course through him. Percy and Peggy also look on, sheepishly looking at each other before going quiet. An awkward moment passes as the Oswald family...didn’t seem to want to look at the girl they’d raised from near infancy.

“Awww...that’s cute. You guys are adorable...” A new voice spouts arrogantly from the nearby window.