The Switch

03| Luna

Crimson Hood:

     Deep within a forest that boasted magnificent evergreens, I ran along a trail that was leading me back towards campus. Then, I paused briefly, allowing myself a moment to recuperate from my morning run. This spare moment allowed me the time to, in all the ways my body deemed possible, breathe in the scent of the pines, of the dewy grass. In this moment of pure, silent peace, I also took the time to admire the towering giants of my home that were as anchored to the Earth as I was. The trees. In addition, I seized the moment to accentuate my ever growing sense of kinship with the rest of the plants, the flora. To remind myself of the ancient soul that grasps and stretches and bends itself into all that lives within it. The ancient soul that has existed for the antiquity of time; the ancient soul that Is the forest. It is here where I run, merging both parts of my soul together under the nascent rays of a sun born to rise and fall each day. In fact, that glowing ember of light is in relation with the nature of the two halves of myself; halves that are constantly fighting and opposing the other in their ever existing war to gain dominance of my control. Shaking these thoughts from my mind, I instead focus on this excellent, refreshing morning exercise, as well as the day's weather: such a perfect unification of vehement warmth and glacial chill, of frost, that it made me ardently long to remain in the freeing, cleansing, extraordinary sanctuary of the Forest of Noctis for eternity. How could I not love the forest so? For it was my companion, my comrade, my friend, my kin, throughout the times when I believed that I would succumb to my inner darkness. With a regretful sigh, I continued onward, knowing that I must return to where my other friends waited for my return. But I would only return for now. 

    The raspberry granola bar and glass of vitamin water I had earlier was not enough to satisfy my hunger, which now conspired against me as it urged me to run faster, to reach the campus of Everadon High so that I may satisfy my currently famished stomach. Moreover, I was aware that my best friend Serena would be impatiently awaiting my arrival at our usual table in the cafeteria, thus I didn't want to irk her unnecessarily. The combination of both my ravenous hunger and my knowledge of Serena's impatience, urged me to hasten my already brisk pace. Of course, I did not run to the full capacity of my speed, lest anyone be watching. For I must always be aware and hide my full capabilities, the arsenal of my power, in case of observers. For there were always observers... So with another deep breath of the crisp air filled with the scent of freshly cut grass and morning dew, I kept jogging in the direction of campus, ignoring the insatiable need that grew within me, harbored from the other half of my nature. I instead focused on the rhythmic swaying of my hair that was a brown of exquisite mahogany. So I focused on the swing of my brunette ponytail as it swung behind me, the hues altering to accentuate my ruby colored highlights, as the strands of my hair curled and moved, as free as the inhabitants of the forest, some of which were playing in the dayshine. With each powerful stride that I took, the strands tumbled in a torrent of woodlandlike hues, reflecting the strengthening daylight, the glowing of my companion, in gentle waves of light. Just as I arrived back at the massive oak doors that lead into the school, I ran into my least favorite person in possibly all of Magix: Adrian. Adrian Wolfe. The son of the so called 'Big Bad Wolf' (such an insufferable name, I know), from my mother's tale, making him a werewolf. Honestly, in my opinion, Adrian was a flirtatious bastard of a boy, who was unworthy of the gift of a lycnathrope. A sacred gift that allowed him the ability to switch between both wolf and human forms, to shift from one form to another, to don either skin or fur to fit his current preference. I wanted to growl at him merely for standing before me, not for the fact that according to Great Books of Grimm, Adrian was my enemy. No, I wasn't so steeped in tradition, in the hatred of my family and ancestors that harbored horrible tales of the past, that I disliked Adrian for merely for being a Wolfe. No, I disliked Adrian for he always acted like the Adrian I had come to hate: a domineering, arrogant, annoying philanderer. He purred with animal like grace as he spoke to me, saying,"Hello, Scarlet dear." This horrendous shape shifter never seemed to call me by my actual name, Crimson Hood. Instead, he preferred to use synonyms for it, like Scarlet, Garnet, Ruby, and many others. Normally, I would snap back at him with a cunning verbal reprisal, but today had thus far proved to be such a marvelous day, that I refused to allow him the opportunity to dampen my joyous mood. Hence, I replied calmly in a tone of voice that could almost be identified as sweet as I said, "Hello Adrian. How did your run go? Mine went great, especially due to the wonderful weather." He seemed surprised by my response, since I usually just ignored his bothersome greetings or responded dully. Despite his surprise, Adrian quickly attempted to cover up his shock. "Um- Well, my run went great as well." Pausing, he headed over to the doors and surprised me by holding one open for me. "Thanks!" As we both walked inside, heading down the entryway to the grand staircase that lead to the fourth floor, (our destination), neither one of us immediately deigned to talk. The awkward silence that ensued was something I didn't particularly like or feel comfortable in, thus I hurriedly endeavoured to fill it. "So, are you excited for today's joust?" Both Adrian and I were similar in the sense that we were both extremely athletic people; however, our similarities ended there. In reality, we both differed from the other in our preference and strengths in different sports. I was the fastest runner in the entire school, able to beat any opponent in tests of speed. In fact, this year, my talent had earned me the spot of Captain on the track team. Adrian himself boasted the title of the school's best jouster, for he possessed a prowess and dexterity I had trained hard for months to try to possess myself. Yes, I had been beaten by his aptitude at jousting more times than I cared to admit, but I refused to allow myself to lose yet again. For this year, I had the fortune of being in the same gym class taught by Squire Bartholomew as Adrian. Instead off jumping onto the training mats in an effort to combat his 'excellence' in jousting as my impulsitivity urged me to, I watched him. Observed him and the way he moved, the way he fought each of his opponents. By doing so, I gained the knowledge of his maneuvers and parrys, and then I filed this information away into my memory. I also attempted to do these moves myself throughout twilight. Yes, imitating Adrian meant admitting to his skill, but Adrian did not and would not know about my one woman training soirees. So, in an effort to keep my training and progress a secret, I had stopped fighting against him during class, instead training with my friend Katana in the privacy of a nearby training room. Of course, since I had never deigned to offer a complete explanation as to why I was training in private with Katana and avoiding him on the sparring mats, I had merely irked Adrian even more. So his shock at my kind, conversation igniting repsonse, was of no surprise, as just the day before, I had been ignoring him as per usual. I suppose that's why I opened up to him by asking him about how ready he was for today, the long awaited day of the jousting tournament, because I wanted to break the awkward silence, I wanted to gain information on my competitor, and- a small, distant part of me wanted to converse with Adrian, to apologize for my ignoring him and being as cold as a Glacies woman to him. No. No. No, I reiterated to myself. I was just doing recon on my oppennant. For I wanted to win, as the winner gets the title of Fortissimum Jouster, (which is Latin for strongest jouster,) as well as a silver trophy. I was willing to do many things to claim it... Alas, instead of grasping the olive branch I had just metaphorically extended to him, Adrian cuts the metaphorical branch with his words, as he says,"Is that your way of telling me you're nervous?" Noticing my flinch at his comment, Adrian flashes me a devastatingly handsome smile, as if to indicate that his comment was merely meant to be humorous. Heartbreaking smile or no heartbreaking smile, his comment still annoyed me. "No, I was just going to wish you good luck, but you can now forget about recieving any morsel of compassion from me." I said, rolling my eyes that were hues of forest green. My eyes were the kind of earthy green that told the tale of revival, like the colors of grass blades after a cruel, unforgiving winter. Just like those surviving blades of grass, I had made it through rough times too. My eyes were also interwoven with shades of gold that seemed to indicate my chaotic, wildly untamed nature that was alluring in its danger and captivating in its beauty all at once. Having arrived at the section of the staircase where the steps spiral off into three different directions, one to the girls dormitory, one to the boys dormitory, and the other leading up to the higher levels of the school, Adrian and I split up. After I had just taken only three steps, though, Adrian calls across to me. "Good luck, Crimson! May the best jouster win." Then he turned and continued up the staircase, ignoring my shocked and surprised expression, as if he were fleeing from any judgment I might have given him. Correction, judgment I would certainly have given him, for even as my gaze follows his strong, muscular back that is retreating to his dorm room, all I can is ponder is why. Why did Adrian just say something nice to me? For Adrian never called me Crimson, he never wished me luck. What on Magix was I supposed to make of that comment? I thought about the answer to this question as I traveled down a hallway, one that was loud with the conversations, sounds, of students arousing in their slumber; students  preparing for their day. Of course, the hallway was not loud to normal, human ears, as only my wolf ears could perceive such quiet sounds. As I reached the door to my dorm, I quietly unlocked the door with the grace of my canine instincts to quietly prowl into my room, in case Serena was still awake, as I did not want to wake my best friend. One glance at the opulent room proves that my stealth was for nothing, though, as Serena is not present. She must have left for the castleteria.  Shaking my head at my friend's stomach driven impulses, I allow my thoughts to drift back to my conversation with Adrian. To Adrian's final words that conveyed his good wishes for me and my success at the joust! But had Adrian simply deemed a nice response necesary on his behalf, due to my kind behaviour? Was Adrian's response just politeness, instead of compassion? Despite the my suspicions that Adrian's comment was born of polite formality, and that his comment was so weird and unlike him, I oddly found myself searching through my imposing dresser, one that had come with the dorm room, in search of appropriately athletic ensemble in an even better mood than before I had talked to him. His comment even managed to illicit a thread of doubt in me.  Perhaps Adrian Wolfe was not so bad. Perhaps he just always had a front, a mask on, to hide his true self. Perhaps I may even want to get to know the man underneath the carefully crafted cover of his mask. No, I should not even ponder the possibility of getting to know Adrian. This was the first time I had ever wondered what the nature of my relationship with Adrian would be like if we weren't enemies... Could we be friends? No. Of course we could not be friends. Obviously, my run in the forest had tired me out more than I had initially realized, leaving me to consider insane, absolutely ridiculous possibilities. What I needed now was a very, very cold shower. A few minutes of rummaging later, I select a soft black velour tracksuit in which the top is cropped in a stylish cut, as well as a pair of beige lacy heels, and my signature black diamond cresent moon necklace as my outfit for the day. Then, I headed towards my marble bathroom. 

 After my shower, my thoughts inevitably drew back towards Adrian. I wanted to see him again. Talk to him the way we had conversed earlier, without our usual bickering. No. I had to stay away from Adrian, if not for the sole reason of him being my storybook enemy, then for the reason that if we grow close, the chance of Adrian finding out my secret is too great. A secret that weakened me day by day as its resolve to be set free from its confinement of no one knowing it, (the truth of my secret). A secret that no one, not a single soul, knew of. Except my mother. But she would not divulge the truth, for she was the one had told me, who had warned me, to keep quiet. To prevent my lips from ever uttering the words rang true through ever part of my body and soul. Words, facts, truth, that I wanted so badly to tell the world. Looking around to ensure that I was indeed alone inside my dorm room, I spoke them ever so softly.  I spoke the words that I could only ever take comfort in the truth when I was alone, with no one else to hear. "I am Crimson Dalca, daughter of both Little Red Riding Hood, and  Andrei Dalca, who is the Alpha wolf, or lup, as they say in my mother tongue, Romanian, of the pack of Dalca 'Lupi' also know as The Lightening Pack." Yes, and because I was the only child my parents had, I was destined to become the next Luna. If only my parents were not so afraid of the consequences of going "off chapter". Of what the Grimm Brothers would do to me if they found out my true parentage. Perhaps it was the thoughts of Adrian, a fellow wolf, that were considering against my logic, or maybe it was the years of holding back my abilities. My heightened sense of hearing, seeing and smelling. My incrediibke strength and dexterity, my need to succumb to some of my animalistic, my wolf, impulses. But I wanted to free my secret, to offer it liberation. I wanted to claim my destiny, to become the next Luna of the Dalca Pack. What about the Grimm Brothers? A sensical voice inquired in my head. Yes, what do the Grimm Brothers? For all of Magix had witnessed their capability to triumph over even to most evil and powerful of those who they deemed as individuals who had not correctly followed their books, The Great Books of Grimm. Those like The Darkling Prince, The Evil Queen, The Two Sisters... Fates, lives, that were halted and paused, stolen viciously and placed inside despite realms of confinement, like the Evil Queen's prison within the realm of mirrors. If they found out what, who, I was, the brothers would not hesitate to punish me. So I had to remain silent, despite my instincts that yearned to act otherwise.