Sunny and Moon - New Claws

Chapter 5: "Full Moon"

The moon. It was calling her. So white, so big... so shiny. Ruby didn't feel like the moon was forcing her to do something. The moon simply called her... whispered her name... "Ruby." She said. And Ruby agreed to go with her.

As soon as the tip of Ruby's foot touched outside her house, she stopped thinking. In a sort of way she could not control her body anymore. It moved by itself - freely, gracefully - guided by the moon to the forest.

Ah, the forest. It didn't scare Ruby anymore. Or at least in that moment. All of this because the moon told her it was safe. The moon told her it was okay. So Ruby decided to trust her and stepped into the forest. She got to a clearing, the same clearing she visited before the accident, but on the light of the moon it didn't seem like the same clearing anymore. All of its beauty had changed, somehow, and instead of radiating brightness and colour and nature it reflected mystery, spirituality, sparks and bonds.

Ruby took in a deep breath. There was no particular smell in the air. She could sense a little pinecone, but that was it.

For a moment Ruby had regained her conscience. She looked around, realising she was in the forest. What am I doing? She thought. But once she looked up at the sky her consciousness had gone and she went back to moving by the threads of the moon.

"Take off your shoes."

Said the moon. Ruby agreed to do so and she slipped off her shoes.

Her feet felt the baby grass and the dirt intertwine with her fingertoes. It was a very pleasing feeling, since the soil and grass was dewy and her feet couldn't feel a stranger or more tickling sensation.

"Take some water."

Said the moon. Ruby went over to the lagoon and cupped her hands, then dipped them inside the water and drank a little.

"Don't. You'll have time to drink later. Do what I tell you to."

Said the moon. The moon hadn't told her what to do though, but when you connect with the moon she doesn't have to tell you everything. You just know.

First, Ruby wet her hair. It was nice and moist and ready for what was to come. Then she splashed some water on her face, to wake her up a little. Finally, Ruby mixed some water with a bit of minerals and created a weird black paste. She scraped some from her hand with two fingers, and dashed that paint across her left cheek.

She was ready.

"You are ready." The moon had said.

And so she was.

Ruby once again took a deep breath, and as she breathed her hairs turned grey... hair grew out of her arms... she started to crouch...

Ruby closed her eyes and once she opened them she had a whole different view. The moon had not left her. It was still there. But the ground was closer. Everything smelled stronger. She heard little sounds and little details. The dark didn't seem that dark anymore. She looked up at the moon again.

Black.

Ruby blinked a little before opening her eyes. She was on the floor for some reason, with brown leaves and dirt sprawled all around her. Her mind felt fresh – her body too – but something made her feel dizzy and blurry at the same time.

What happened? Maybe it was the effects of the bite. But it couldn't be. How could a bite, which had already cured, driven a little fourteen-year-old girl to the middle of the woods?

Ruby decided to stand up. It took her a little. When she tried to stand up normally her feet started hurting and she fell forwards on her knees. Then she tried kneeling on her hand, which worked better. After taking in a deep breath and shutting her eyes close Ruby managed to stand up. The first thing that came up to her was to look up and see if it was still night. Everything looked dark, but she realised it was because the trees were covering the sky. It was actually dawn, and little rays of sunlight blinded her eyes when she tried to get a better look. That calmed her down a little. Or at least made her forget what happened. But once she stopped looking at the trees and skies and decided to get a look around, Ruby remembered she was standing in the middle of the woods with barely any light – and what's worse – a dead deer at her feet.

Ruby cried. It was a piercing scream never heard before from a human mouth. It was a mix of horror, surprise, disgust, fear and hopelessness.

Ruby sank to her knees seeing the poor creature. Its gut had been slashed open. There were intestines coming out its stomach. Blood was everywhere. Its eyes looked lifeless and scary... and even bones could be seen visible. The blood dripped from the body. Ants were crawling out of its eyes and belly. Ruby watched in horror – shock, actually – and then felt the urge to vomit. She did.

Then she got up to her feet, without knowing what to do, and looked to every direction. She wanted to run. That's what she would do. She tried to move but her legs but they were so weak they wouldn't move. Ruby finally hit them with her hands and that somehow brought them back to life. She was sobbing – sobbing very much, while she ran through the forest crashing into branches and cutting her feet with sticks and stones.

It felt like ages. She ran and ran and ran... But it felt as though she was running in circles. Anywhere she went there was no way out. Ruby finally decided to give up. She sank to the floor leaning into a tree.

"Why..." She whispered. "Why does this happen to me?"

Her head was pressing against the tree.

"I've done the best I can. I've never done anything wrong, trees. I'm sorry I was angry with you."

A little breeze made the trees sway and refreshed Ruby's now wet face.

That's when she saw a boy with wavy, short brown hair approach her.

"Girl. Girl, what are you doing here? Are you alone? Hey!"

He had now jogged up to her.

"I..." She struggled.

Ruby got a glimpse of his face. She thought it was an angel or something. He looked pure, good, but bags were under his eyes and there was a small scratch on his arm.

That's when she fainted.

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CARSON!!!! FINALLY!!!!!

Okay. I am so, so, so, sorry I've taken so much time in publishing a new chapter. I just got this HUGE writers block. So I spent WEEKS trying to write this chapter, and I did, but I didn't like it so I rewrote it like a thousand times. The thing with this chapter is that the first part had to be magical and you really had to feel what Ruby was going through when the moon called her. And for me, it was so hard.(To make it perfect.) But it's done now. So when I finished the first part (That's everything until you get to "Black.") I got a block. Again. AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS THE NEXT PART! Luckily darknessprincess4 came to save the day and she taught me a technique to cure writer's block. It worked! Today I got a big inspiration and finished the chapter. I really hope you are enjoying the story so far.

Bye!

☽