Dawn of the Blood Moon

Chapter 1

Max Thormaine lay under a tree, taking in the soft rays of the sun and the really gentle and slow breeze. How peaceful, Max thought as he heard footsteps from afar. He wondered who could that person approaching him be.

"There you are, Max."said a girly voice."I know,"she continued and poked his cheek,"that you are awake....Max, do not ignore me. Oh, look, your father is coming."

Max opened one of his eye and replied,"At least lie a lie that I'll believe, Miss Rose."

"No Max, he is actually coming."She said with a little bit of fear in her voice.

"Very funny, M.R.M."

"What is Max Thornmaine?a rough and deep voice suddenly cut in.

Max sat up quickly and stared. In front of him stood his father."F-Father..."he stammered. But, Max's father put a hand in front and looked at the woman, startling her.

"Miss Rosemary,"he said."I know you care about him, but it spoils him a lot. From the time Ninthof the Blossoms revived Lynx 15 years ago, it has brought nothing but trouble to us. So I want Max Thornmaine to train hard. And by hard, I mean very hard. Hence, I will be cutting his lessons with you, if you do not mind."

The woman, rather, Miss Rosemary, nodded and replied,"I do not mind, Sir. However, I think Max should have his opinions to be heard out as well."

Max's father glared at Miss Rosemary,"Max is just a child, adults need not consider children's thoughts. You will be meeting your new teammates, Max Thornmaine. Be ready today evening."And with that he left.

Max looked at Miss Rosemary and said,"I'm sorry, Miss R.M. I don't know when he became like this. But I've heard from Mother that Father used to be cheerful. At least before I was born."

Miss Rosemary took his hand,"Aw,Max. It's okay. You can come talk to me anytime even though now our lessons have been cut. Now, let's go pack up, alright?" She stood up and started walking.

Pack up?Max thought as ran to catch up to Miss Rosemary.

Cherrie Skulezye sat on her bed, wondering what kind of teammates she was going to team up with. Just then, there was a knock, followed by a voice saying,"Miss, it is time. Please come out of the room with your suitcase." Cherrie jumped from the bed, took bag and ran to the door.

"Where are my parents?"she asked herself as she went around the mansion, looking for her parents. However, not only did not she not find her parents, there was also no soul in sight in the mansion. Alright then, Cherrie thought, I will just leave myself out. She walked towards the main door of the mansion and left.

Never once did she notice that she was being watched by everyone in her family.

"I hope she grow strong,"said a woman, sniffling. A man came and put his hand around her shoulder.

"Do not worry, dear."he replied,"She is our daughter, she is strong. I just hope her teammates will not abandon her. Of all the strong children, our daughter was chosen by Leader. He even knows her situation. What could he be thinking?"

On the way, Cherrie kept thinking about her new teammates, whether she will be kicked out of the group because she was so weak or be bullied instead or not. She not paying attention and bumped into a boy, seemingly around her age.

"Sorry."she apologized to the boy.

"It's okay. What's your name?"the boy asked. And when he could not hear her, he asked again,"Could you speak louder, please?"

"Ch-Cherrie Skulezye... And you?"Cherrie replied shyly.

"Me? Oh, my bad. I'm Max Thornmaine. Nice to meet you!"he replied cheerfully. Then slowed down when he saw tears in Cherrie's eyes."Wh-what's the matter? Why're you suddenly- Ah,s-stop crying,please!"

Cherrie sniffled,"Please do not hurt me!I have heard Thornmaines are merciless..."

Max sighed and patted her head. Cherrie looked up saw his face for the first time. He had the hair colour of umber red and yellow eyes which were slanted like a cat's. His skin was pale, making him almost look like a ghost. But he had warmth in eyes, so she felt much safer.

"I suppose you are my teammate, right Cherrie?"Max assumed.

Cherrie nodded. He looked at her. She had light pink hair and was pretty short compared to himself. She had eye colour of emeralds, and seemed to be afraid of... almost everything.

"Why are you so frightened, like baby bird?"Max joked.

Cherrie, on the other hand, seemed to have her attention on something else. There was a pair of twins, staring at both Max and Cherrie.

Max followed Cherrie's gaze and took her hand and said,"Let's go meet them. They're probably our teammates. From what I've heard, there's a pair of twins in our little group of five. They pretty much for all the descriptions I got from my Father."

Max led Cherrie to the twins. They both looked so alike that one probably was not able to guess, had both been of the same gender. Although the girl's height was an inch shorter, the rest of the features of the girl were very similar to her twin brother's.

"I'm Max from the Thornmaines, and this Cherrie from the Skulezye Family. What are your names?"asked Max cheerfully.

"What are names?"said the boy.

"Our names?"said the girl.

"Or your names?"asked the boy.

"Why names?"asked the girl.

"Names... are they who we really are?"they said in perfect unison.

Cherrie and Max both stared. Cherrie tugged at Max's sleeve and he nodded.

"O... kay. Umm...Maybe I don't really understand your questions... but could you at least tell us your given names?" He said.

The twins looked at each other.

"Josey Blossoms is what she is called."the boy answered,pointing at his sister.

"Joseph Blossoms is what he is called"said Josey,pointing back at her brother.

To be continued...