Luminescence

Between the Black of Night and Day

He stared at her. Sure, he had suspected something along the lines of that, but hearing it aloud was something else entirely. He didn't have much longer to zone out over this, for right after she had said this she fell into a coughing fit, a hand clutched about her throat while the other covered her mouth. When it didn't stop he grew alarmed.

"Luna? Luna, are you going to be—" he stopped abruptly as something dark splattered across the grass before her and across the back of her hand.

Blood.

He began to panic. "Just relax, now. Don't fight it. Slowly, breathe."

With painstaking slowness her hacking eventually subsided. She leaned over onto her side, wings limp and her face pale. Using his hat as a rag, he soaked it in the spring and took it upon himself to clean the blood off of her hand. Her skin was cool, but not icy, like moonlight on a summer night.

"Is this what happens when you try to talk?"

She shivered and bowed her head, but said nothing more. He took this as answer enough.

"Then don't bother. I don't want you to hurt yourself over me."

"But you want—" she started to say, but then the coughing begun all over again. He pressed the hat to her mouth to catch the blood. The whole ordeal made him slightly nauseous with himself.

"No." he said to her. "Don't talk. I...I'm sorry for pressing you into this. I shouldn't have made those assumptions. It's just...I guess I got kinda rushed in fixing all this..."

Her cool hand wrapped about his wrist. Above the green fabric of his hat her eyes gazed up into his, tender and understanding. A hot jolt ran up his spine and curled into his stomach. Moved by his gut feelings, he dropped his hat and pulled her into an embrace. Her soft white hair brushed passed his face with the scent of something cool, crisp, and sweet.

Innocent. In her eyes he had seen the truth of the spirit's words more than ever. She was utterly innocent. How had he ever doubted her?

"Why did you do this to yourself?" he murmured into her mane. "Why did you demean yourself to this mortal existence? To this pain? This isn't worth it."

In answer, she lifted her wings, breaking his hold on her to wrap them about him like great arms. With him tucked deep in her feathery embrace, she lifted herself up and kissed him so softly it was hardly a kiss at all, but it sent every hair on his body on end nonetheless. From there she trailed her cheek against his, chastely nuzzling his chin, his ear, and against the curve of his neck.

And so softly that he almost missed it, she whispered, "I know you."

On the edge of his mind, he wondered what had ever happened to his dreams of Midna. Didn't he have feelings for her? And what was happening now? Why did he feel so paralyzed? And why wasn't he pushing Luna away when the feelings holding him fast were vast and frightening and so much larger than him?

His stomach gave an ache of hunger, but it was enough to snap him back to his senses. She was the moon spirit, for Din's sake! This couldn't be happening, it would just screw everything up even more. And what of Midna? And Zelda? No! He would not get involved in any sort of girlish sweepstakes! Besides, it was just all moving way too fast. Luna didn't know what she was doing. He needed to get out of here—this was bad, very bad.

...why?

He pushed her away from him. It was easy, for she was eager to comply to his wishes, but she bowed her head apologetically, a faint blush on her face.

"Luna, don't do---"

A throb shook his body, snapping his teeth together with the pain. He groaned and pulled back his hands from her. He could feel her feathers fluttering about him as she grew distressed by his pain. She started coughing when she tried to inquire what was happening. He tried to answer, but his body gave another awful throb. Heart thudding, he forced his gaze up into the sky, searching for signs of twilight.

Nothing. The sky looked normal and peaceful as ever.

Why am I changing? he thought, hearing his blood pound past his ears and feeling his bones ache.

"Link---!" she coughed hard. He felt a miniscule droplet of blood on his arm.

"Hush." he choked out. "Stop---"

A howl tore from his throat as the pain climaxed. Skin split once more, fur grew out, bones bent and rearranged.

And just as soon as it had started, it was over, and he was panting on the grass in a wolf's body, horribly confused. Feathers filled his vision as she crouched over him, face fearful.

He didn't have long to look at her before they were surrounded by black figures, rattling and tinkling. Ink like hands wrapped about her, wings and all. She gasped.

He forced himself to his feet with a bark. Luna!

The Twili had caught up—and they had grown. Even crouched over on all fours like they preferred the shadow beings had to have reached seven feet tall. A strange amber light radiated from them like their own personal atmosphere. Luna flapped furiously in their grasps, hissing and gnashing her teeth, but they just ignored her struggles. Link threw himself at the nearest limb, biting deep into the flesh only to find himself flung into the air. He skid head first into the lake. He jumped back out, snarling, running for all he was worth.

He made it back to them in time to watch their black hands reach for the stone on her forehead—the very stone that he had never given much thought to.

The agonized scream Luna gave rent the air, inhuman and unbearably terrible in its beauty. The noise tore a scream out of his own throat and his legs turned to rubber. Before his very eyes the stars began to fall past the horizon and the lake water began to churn. Grass wilted black and the tinkling of the waterfall stopped. Darkness slinked over the land, making it rain familiar dark flakes into the sky.

He knew what the Twili would do a fraction of a second before he saw the portal appear in the sky, blocky and black. The tops of the creatures' heads began to break apart into squares to flake up into the portal. The winged girl in their hands had fallen deathly still. Her once pink lips were dyed red.

Luna!

He leaped, jaws agape, paws outspread.