Sunny and Moon - New Claws

Chapter 17: "Wolf Hunt"

When Ruby woke up the next morning all that she could feel was the taste of leaves and dirt in her mouth.
Where was she? Wait. The transformation.
Ruby sat up in shock, but clasped her head like crazy when an awful headache kicked in.
"Carson?" Ruby said, her voice barely coming out. She was weak. She needed food.
There was no need to repeat his name. Ruby knew somehow he wasn't there.

She opened her eyes, and looked at her surroundings. Everywhere her eyes turned there were trees. Trees, leaves, dirt, and trees. There was absolutely no chance of finding any human nearby, and definitely no chance of being near the village.
So, what was she going to do?

Ruby decided to stand up. Before anything else her body needed strength, and for that it needed meat.
Her shaky legs managed to lift her up by leaning on a tree... only to fall down after taking a few steps.
It took a few tries to get Ruby to walk again. No matter how much she tried, her legs kept failing.
Finally, when she managed to walk at a not-so-slow speed, her brain was ready to start thinking again. Where could she find meat? Let's phrase that again: Where could she find meat without killing anything? Ruby smelled the air. There was nothing. She did it again. And again. And once more. The smelling started to become sad sniffing. Why did this happen to her? She was desperately trying to sense something... the village... meat... Carson... Val even... anyone or anything that could help her. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Ruby fell to the ground, defeated. She crawled back to the tree she woke up next to, and rested her tired head in it.
Ruby was still hungry. She was hungry... weak... cloudy... if she did not eat meat she would pass out.

And then something caught her eye. A squirrel.
A tiny squirrel squeaking about, jumping from branch to branch.
"Control yourself..." Thought Ruby. She had to keep her sanity. She had to show strength.
"Don't let it win. Stay still."
The squirrel stopped. It looked at Ruby, tilting its head to the right.
"Don't! Stop it!"
Wait. She was next to the squirrel. When did this happen? The squirrel was in her hand now. Its eyes reflected fear as it struggled to be set free.
"Don't! It's an animal! A living animal!"

"But I'm so hungry..." Whimpered Ruby, before shoving it into her mouth.

***

"Goddamit!" Carson kicked the stone wall in front of him.
Ruby had gone missing and it was his fault. His stupid fault.
Oh yeah, he thought that he could keep Ruby calm in that room. No! He couldn't. What was he thinking! With her abilities... She needed more than that room. She needed the blood moon room, but no... no, he thought he was able to keep her calm. Because he thought he meant something to her. That just– you know, thinking about him would give her the strength to keep control. But no.
What was he thinking!? What was that about, anyways? She was going back to her family, and it would be impossible to see her again. Too far away, too dangerous. This was not about them getting some stupid time together. It was about getting Ruby back to her family because it made her happy. And safe. But whatever. She was gone now, and he had to find her. Yes, he. Not Val, not his dad, not a hunting party, not even Ber. Because it was his error and he would fix it.

No one in the pack gets left behind. And he was taking that responsibility.

***

Ruby had regained some strength. And it made her sick.

She had just eaten a live animal. A poor squirrel. A poor squirrel who had done nothing to her, and she just launched on top of it and swallowed it down. How could she?
Ruby remembered how Ber had told her in times like this the urges were too strong. But still, Ruby found this not to be a valid excuse to kill a squirrel. Kill a squirrel. She had taken a life. Killed.

Ruby looked down at her hands. They were shaking. And smeared with blood.
She wiped them on her shirt but that just made the blood move around, not actually disappear.
Ruby gritted her teeth in frustration.
She knew she had asked this before, but why?
Why did this happen? What did she do? Why was she being punished?
It just didn't make sense in her head. The word 'why' kept crashing through her brain, banging on all the walls and making her want to scream...
Was she going crazy? She was going crazy. No. She wasn't. Was she?
Why, why, why.
It felt like she was on a never ending rollercoaster.

Ruby opened her eyes. She was on the ground, her body shrunk with fear, and hands blocking her ears. She wasn't crazy. She was alive.
She was a human-not-so-human, who needed to survive.

Her body had enough energy. So with the little hope she had left, Ruby stood up, feet firm on the ground, and smelled. Humans... wolves... anything. She was not alone. She would find someone. And that's when her nose felt a little tickle.
Was it... hamburgers? Humans. And a little bit of oil.
A fast food restaurant.

Ruby knew she didn't have to use her powers, but her happiness just couldn't help it. Her wolf-speed took over her body– and in a second she was standing in front of a fast food restaurant.

It was practically empty, with just a small couple eating fries and the employees cleaning tables. But from this close, she could already feel all the food. There was cheeseburgers, soup, sausages, bread, milk, water... everything.
Ruby entered the place. There was no turning back.

"Oh dear."
She already felt the faces turning.
"Darling, do you need any help?"
No, she didn't.
"Yes please. I'm hungry. Do you have any food? I need water."
"Sure..."
The cashier, a young woman with tight black hair pointed to the back of the place, where there were stacks of food everywhere. Ruby walked over immediately to that section. It was grabbing, hiding, and run.
"Wait a minute," Said the girl who was eating, "You're Ruby... the girl from the–"
Ruby went to her immediately and saw the black-and-white flyer in her hand.
It was a paper with her picture on it.
"GONE MISSING. PLEASE CALL IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING."

Ruby thought of how much she wanted to be back with her family, but it was impossible. She was a monster, and before she could control herself, she was not going back.
Ruby snatched the flyer from the girl and ripped it in half, then proceeded to run for the food grabbing everything she could, and before anyone could cry a 'wait' she was out of sight.

It was getting dark again. Ruby had spent the whole day in the woods, trying to keep herself away from madness and finding a way to get back to the village. Would they still like her? What if she caused a big problem? What about Carson? He had to know she was okay.

It was when the moon came out when Ruby decided to go to sleep, snuggling under an old tree which reminded her of her dad's wrinkles.

"Tomorrow will be better." She thought, closing her eyes. "I know it will be. If not I am just waking up from this nightmare."

***
And the countdown starts.
Three to go.