The True Luna

Five. In Which It Happens Again.

It is mid-afternoon by the time we reach the meeting spot, next to an ancient redwood tree.

Lou scouts around the area, looking for tracks, as I move to sit in the shadows beneath the tree.

Closing my eyes, I reach into them and place my hands on the tree's bark. I can feel the rogue's impressions in the rough surface, sense the shape of their shadows.

"What are you doing?"

I crack open one eye. "Be quiet. Let me concentrate. I'll explain later." I won't.

"But—"

"No. Quiet."

She sits down behind me, indenting the earth. I close my eyes again, concentrating on the roughness of the bark beneath my fingers, of the scars the rogue's shadows left behind on it. I can make out four of them, and do my best to commit their figures to memory before pulling my hands from the tree.

"What—"

"No talking."

I dig my fingers into the earth in front of me, planting myself into it and drawing on its lifeline. I reach out, feeling for the shadows that surround me, the ones laid by the redwood, by me, by the girl, asking them to stretch further. They shift across the dirt, elongating until they meet the surrounding shadows— more trees, some small animals.

Once again, I coax the darkness out further, extending the search. I present what I can remember of the rogue's shadows to them, drawing on the power of the earth beneath my fingertips to allow them to spread quicker.

The first they find lies not too far from here, but I identify it as the girl's dead father.

The next belongs to a short, stocky man, a shadow that is sliding through the woods, as if the man is running. Perhaps he is?

My fingers begin to go numb as I draw on even more strength, focussing in on the man and his surroundings. The shadows of the trees shift as he runs past, seemingly unsettled, but by what? One man isn't enough to unnerve nature, no matter if he is a werewolf or not. His shadow drops temporarily, reappearing as the form of a wolf. This man is trying very hard to chase something. I slowly search in front of him, feeling for whatever creature he is after, but I find nothing.

I open my eyes.

"I know where one is," I tell Lou, standing up.

"What did you just—"

I brush my hands on my dress. "No time for questions. We've got a big bad wolf to catch."

I march in the direction of the rogue, Lou trying her best to keep up with me. The shadows will not alert me as to what is happening any longer, my ability to control them weakening the longer I track this man.

"How did you—"

"Shh." I silence her. I do not want to answer any questions right now. I just want to find this stupid wolf so I can go back to my cave and sleep peacefully.

The earth slumbers as she crunches beneath our feet, her energy expended. The ground of this planet does not have much power at all.

The man is not far away now. We are lucky he is running in our direction. I need to keep the kid out of the way.

I turn to Lou. "I need you to keep look out. Climb this tree." I push her towards a particularly tall one close by. "And whistle if you see anything suspicous."

"Ok." She nods her head.

"It's an important job, so don't come down, all right, not until I whistle for you."

"I won't let you down."

"I know."

She nods once more, before turning around and beginning to scale the tree.

I continue forwards. I have to rely on the monster's senses, allowing her to take control of our ears and nose. She quickly picks up on the crashing of paws through the bracken, the scent of the wolf becoming stronger by the second.

I crouch low behind a tree, waiting for him to run past. The monster grows agitated at this as she is not used to hiding in shadows, preferring a more direct approach— she tries to force her way into our leg muscles, but I push her out forcefully. It is not yet her time.

He crashes past me, and I lunge, throwing myself onto his back and wrapping my arms around his thick neck. He growls, enamel snapping, then he stumbles.

Powerful muscles shift beneath me as he pushes himself back up, then the world tilts around me as I am slammed onto the soil, his bodyweight pinning me down.

I do not let go.

"Shift," I growl lowly into his ear, allowing the monster to take control of our vocal chords. "Shift."

The weight lessens and I gasp in a breath. Throwing my own body upwards, I twist violently, grabbing onto the rogue's torso as I do so. Our roles are reversed, him now being the one pinned.

"They're going to get me now and it's all your fucking fault," he hisses.

"What?" I try to piece together what's going on. "Who—"

His head flies towards my own, his forehead connecting with my nose in a dull thud that sends my brain into a spin. Before I can recover, something even more solid collides with the back of my head, my skull caving slightly under the pressure. Dark spots cloud my vision.

Not again.