Forgotten One

Discovery Arc: Thanks!

Sarah laughs, she was being hugged by her dear friend Joanna; she was delighted with her gift. Joanna then drained it of blood and begun to gut and skin the horned bear ready for tanning.

Sarah was impressed at her friend's skills, it seems she had been practicing while she had been away camping for the past week.

It also seems that Joanna had given up on Ethan from their class, claiming that her mother had shown her four werewolves from another clan to be her mate.

The next full moon, all werewolves who had turned sixteen over the last year, went to this summer gathering. They hunted together and played fight together, it was a three-night stay in some woodlands on the other side of town. Joanna's mother asked the four male mate candidates to go with her- Sarah would not be there for that since she would be leaving with Amy then. 

The two friends pull away from each other... and Sarah stares down at her purple dress, it was covered in blood.

Joanna looks to the horns she had just taken off from the bear and looks at it in pure joy.

Sarah smiles happily at her friend's clear satisfaction- when Joanna told her all the things she had wanted, she bet the werewolf did not think one would actually be giving to her.

"Happy birthday Joanna," Sarah says making her friend turn back to her with a bold smile, flashing her fangs at her once more; if it had months ago when she first met, she would have thought that she was bearing her fangs at her in an angry manner.

The pair watch two young children run past, laughing and having fun at this party, they waved happily at the pair as they went- Sarah was glad she came, she was unsure if she should after her last experience at Amy' house, with her family.

Every year Sarah would go to that large manor like house, never noticing she was unwelcome. Until a couple of years ago when she walked into a room for some plates and happened to hear two women chatting about her.

Sarah remembered their words, they were etched into her heart and mind, they plagued her nightmares for weeks after that; she never returned again, although she kept being friends with Amy because she loved her dearly.

It was only at the beginning of this year did they really stop meeting up...

Sarah shivers at the memory, it still disturbed her thoughts now and again.

"Are you cold?" Joanna questions with a deep frown, it was a rather hot day.

"I'm fine, just thought of something bad." Sarah says with a smile, trying not to ruin her friend's party.

"...the blood? Does it bother you?" Joanna asks glancing down at her frown, the only dress she owed was now covered in blood and so was Sarah's dress. Joanna suddenly looks down, "I'm sorry for being this way."

Sarah frowns, "Being what way?" she asks and went on to say, "And it's not the blood. When I was thinking about your party... and bad memory with my old friend came to mind..." the young woman gets an unsettling expression on her face, "...it like, just popped in there."

"Oh! Well, that sucks!" Joanna said with a laugh, Sarah smiles; she understands now that her friend laughs at anything, even when it was a serious matter. It was almost like she did not know what to do with herself, so she just laughs.

The first couple of times Joanna laughed at something serious and meaningful Sarah had said, she had been taken by surprise and even a little bit hurt.

It took a few days and instead of bottling it up inside as she had done with Amy's family, she went to her grandmother for advice. After talking to her grandmother, she returned to Joanna, sat her down and told her calming that she had been upset with her laughing.

Joanna was a blunt person, she did not see anything wrong and could not understand how it hurt her. But by this, Sarah realizes there was nothing malicious behind her actions.

Joanna reaches out and hugs her again- Sarah understood that she does this to all her close family members.

"Thank Sarah." Joanna says holding her close, bending over to pull her closer.

"For what?" Sarah replies with a smile, the scent of blood was all around them.

"For being my friend," Joanna answers with a small laugh, "... I've always wanted a friend. One who would run with me, go shopping with me, plot prank with me and share meat with me. Someone who wouldn't be scared at my face... I know I'm scary, I've been told many times."

"You're not scary," Sarah told her with a smile, pulling away to see what kind of expression her friend had- Joanna had tears in her eyes, a small smile gracing her lips and her fangs showed. To the outside world, it might have looked like she was going to bite the smaller teen and the blood did not help this illusion.

The clan members, however, knew this was a similar hug and did not even bat an eyelid at it. The pair move away from each other, smiling happily. Both two lonely youths who wanted a friend and found one in each other.

"Oh yeah!" Sarah says suddenly, "I never told you! You know your Mum gave him the deer's hide." Joanna nods at her words, "I've decided to use it as a base for the shadow cloak I'm making!"

"Whoa really! Ya using my gift!" Joanna says in excitement and Sarah was sure that if she was in her wolf form, her tail would have been waggling.

Sarah had not noticed at the time but the deer Joanna had caught had been a special one- it was called a Thunder Deer, like the Horned Bear, it had come through the Phantom Zone and became a dweller of their world.

Thunder deer's leather was widely used in smelting and was a high-end item.

It was clear where Joanna's family made their money from, it seemed to be split with every clan member so the one who caught it would not profit from it.

"Joanna." Sarah says sweetly, making her friend tilts her head at her in question, "Thanks for being my friend."

Joanna just laughs and pulls her into another hug.