The Brand of The Blood Moon

Chapter 1

So the story has a slow start, but I swear it's worth it.

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The night they met was one of peace and buoyancy. Silver bands of light cast by a crescent moon exiled the darkness. Small pastel flowers drifted over a misty blue lake: they danced on top of cold waters being compelled to move by the warm spring breeze. The lake mirrored the sky that held millions of stars above, and from the view of where the girl sat, it looked like another sky. Mysterious and beautiful.

This opening in the woods where the lake resided was the girls hiding spot. No one knew about this place, and if they did, she never saw them. That was possibility unlikely though, she was here almost every day. She watched the fireflies and water bugs soar through tall wispy grass carelessly. Heard the foxes giggle at one another as if they held a hidden secret. Her favorite thing to watch was the fawns take their first steps in the comfort the lake had given her. They all found shelter here by the lake. The animals and creatures understood her pain of blending in and hiding. There was almost like this unspoken agreement between the lake and every animal that lived near it that she was welcome.

Most of the bugs were hiding from frogs that were hiding from snakes: she hid from the snakes that crept in her village. Men easily manipulated young girls like her as much as they manipulated the land that cared for them, and she learned at an even younger age that it was in her best interest to stay hidden. So she perched herself up on the sturdy branches of the cherry blossom tree, and with blue owl like eyes, took in the sights below her. Everything was in place that night. In a way, it was unsettling, and right as the thought came into her head, something came out of the woods that was completely out of place. A boy.

His nose crinkled the way a child's would when smelling something new or interesting, but she could smell nothing out of the ordinary. He seemed to shrug whatever was on his mind off and get back to what he was doing. He surveyed the area, and in the back of her mind she rejoiced that he didn't catch her spying on him. Her eyes followed him in daze take off his shirt and slide his way into the water. His skinny body did not shiver from the lake. In reality, he seemed to be at home in the cold, and it intrigued the little girl to some extent. The water kissed him in the form of droplets around his silhouette. His long arms sliced through the water effortlessly as he swam.

She was broken out of her trance when he spoke up.

"Hi there." He said in a cooing type manner. She blinked repeatedly in astonishment that he found out she was peeping on him, but she soon realized that wasn't the case. His eyes were glued to a baby fawn right under the patch of trees she was hiding in. The baby came hesitantly up to the water in hope to get a drink, and she hoped that he wouldn't mess with the poor thing. The fawn was one of her very few friends she had, and she spent a lot of time following its carefree nature. It would be a shame if he scared the deer away.

"You can come closer. I don't bite. It looks like your mama is know where to be found." He said after looking behind the fawn in hopes of finding its family. "Well, don't worry, I'll watch after you until your mama comes. He smiled a bright smile she couldn't help but return; even if he wasn't watching.

"Okay boy, after I'm done with my swim we'll find her."

"Umm. It's a girl actually." She piped up, no longer wanting to keep her existence hidden. "You should get out of the water before death catches you anyways . You'll freeze to death." The forest gave her the security she needed to speak her mind, that in most ways she wasn't able to do in the village.

Her loud voice echoed off the trunks and into the night. The boy swiftly looked in the direction of the girl's obnoxious giggles. He obviously did not find her attempt at friendly banter funny. Instead he stood ready to pounce at any single moment. The moon outlined how his face molded into one of a warrior instead of one of a boy, but his amber eyes still hinted at the kindness he showed the deer.