• It was quiet in the forests of Luna. Peaceful, beautiful, and giving off the very illusion of peace, a peace which would soon be shattered by the news being brought that very evening. A gust of wind not brought on by any natural means, and a snapped twig not caused by any animal of the forest were the first signs of trouble. But, it was the shadows, not from any creature native of Luna that caused the real apprehension.
    The hurried footsteps and shallow breathing of Ryel was all that kept him awake. That, and the message he held tightly in his closed fist. Sensing a presence gaining on him slowly, he cursed his fatigue and ran faster, despite the exhaustion that seemed to crawl ever deeper into his body and limbs. ‘Just a couple more yards. Just a couple more.’
    His heart beat quickly in his chest, his breath coming in short, ragged gusts of air, his hair was sticking to his damp forehead in spiked clumps. He didn’t notice when he stepped into the boundaries of the great city of Fenris, but he did notice when his pursuit suddenly died off in his mind.
    He took a quick glance behind him, making sure he was far enough into the boundaries before finally stopping to rest a little. As he slowed, then stopped and leaned back against a tree, the only thing holding him up, his adrenaline wore off, leaving only room for his exhaustion that hit him full force, knocking him off balance and down onto the ground. His breathes now came in short, pained gasps, and his whole body was shaking. Lying there, he could’ve sworn that no one was around, but, for some reason, Ryel felt like he was being watched.
    It was that feeling that caused him to get back on his feet, just barely standing up on shaky legs that he knew would rather give in rather than hold him up any longer. His sight was blurred by red shadows, a sign of his hunger, and so he couldn’t really see the person who entered his vision and began to walk towards him. Sighing, he decided to give up, knowing he couldn’t put up any semblance of a fight, and he fell onto his knees, then his head hit the ground, the sleep clawing at him incessantly now that it had him in its grasp. He managed one last look at who it was, and sighed in content as he saw the bright, yellow eyes of a were, then nothing as a black abyss swallowed him.

    “Black-Streak, get over here ye mangy whelp,” a deep, growling voice called out into the gloom around him. The voice belonged to that of an older man, who was pushing salt-and-pepper hair out of his eyes, and with deep scars on his face, the longest, oldest and most prominent being one that ran across his nose from his forehead down to his chin.
    A shadow jumped down from the braches above, landing near enough for the first man to see him clearly in the blue light of the crescent moon above them. This new person seemed to be a lot younger than the first, his hair a light yellow with a long streak of black running down the left side of his face, his eyes the same yellow color as the first, marking him as a Were.
    “What…is it Scar-Snout? What crossed into Fenris?” The younger one, Black-Streak, asked, notching an arrow into his bow, ready to let loose in a moment’s notice. The other, Scar-Snout, waved his hand down in a silent ‘no’ gesture, nodding his head over, indicating he wanted Black-Streak to come over. Black-Streak sighed and cautiously walked over, looking down at the other as he neared. “W-What is it?”
    “What? Ye’ve never seen a Vampir before, whelp?” Black-Streak shook his head at Scar-Snout’s teasing. “It’s an ally, that he is, but, why he’s here is a reason beyond me understanding.” He looked down at the Vampir’s closed first and noticed something black between his fingers. Something even darker than the darkest black imaginable. Scar-Snout’s eye’s widened and he paled a little as understanding sunk into him.
    “Scar…Snout? Scar-Snout, what’s wrong?”
    “Contact Fire-Fur.”
    Now Black-Streak was known for having, quite possibly, the greatest hearing throughout Fenris, but even he couldn’t hear, or understand what Scar-Snout had said. “What-”
    “Contact General Fire-Fur. Tell him to contact Pack-Leader White-Tooth and to meet me at the Health House in twenty minutes.” Black-Streak seemed to falter for a second, but then, Scar-Snout barked out “NOW whelp!”, which sent him running without any delays. Scar-Snout’s gaze didn’t even move from the Vampir during the last bit of the conversation. “What, on all of Aragestia, happened in Bloo-d Mun, Ryel? And why, is Princess Cela sending the Black Box to send this message?”

    Inside the halls of the Health House, the staff was quickly and quietly attending the wounded and the sick. Nothing exciting ever really happened in Luna, the last event, really exciting thing having happened forty years before. Therefore, no one was really prepared for what was about to happen.
    The old, ash-wood double doors, the same doors that had been there since the initial construction of the house, were violently kicked open with so much force, that the wood on the outer side had splintered. The three men, however, either didn’t notice, nor did they care as they walked in, one of them half-dragging, half-carrying a Vampir with them.
    “M-Mr. Scar-Snout, what’s the meaning of this?! What happened!?” a young-looking, and buxom Were half shouted, half-screeched, causing just about everyone in the foyer to grab their ears in a vain attempt to block the obnoxious sound. She quickly ran over to get a better look at the Vampir.
    “Echo-Screech, this Vampir needs to be treated at once. See to it that he does,” one of the men said, his bright red/orange hair marking him as readily as his ice-cold eyes and his stoic expression did. The girl nodded and called a couple of people over, giving orders out to each of them. One of the men called over, took the Vampir from Scar-Snout, and carried him to an empty room.
    The Were who had talked to the girl turned to Scar-Snout and nodded his head outside before walking out, Scar-Snout and Black-Streak following behind. “Alright Scar-Snout, Black-Streak, we’re out of earshot of most Were’s. Now, what happened?”
    Scar-Snout looked at the Were and sighed in a mixture of agitation and exhaustion. “Me and the whelp here, were doing our rounds when we heard heavy breathing. We followed the sound until we arrived in a shallow dip, where a shadowy figure was lying on the ground before they got to their feet. As I came closer and walked towards him, he fainted and I moved him enough to see that it was Capt. Ryel of Princess Cela’s personal Guard.
    “He…” Here was where Scar-Snout paused and the other looked at him a little impatiently.
    “So it was Ryel. Big-”
    “He was holding the Black-Box, General Fire-Fur.” Black-Streak, who had been stringing up his bow absently, watching for something, stopped and turned his head to look at Scar-Snout, as if he was some foreign specimen. Even Fire-Fur was surprised as his normally narrow eyes widened enough to make him look shocked.
    As the two continued to stare at Scar-Snout, a loud thud which sounded a lot like the sound of a heavy boot on the ground sounded from the tall stone steps leading to the Health House, and everyone of them looked over to them as someone stepped over the edge of the tall, steep incline.
    The sheer size and girth of the man is what really set him apart from the others around him. He was a grim-faced man that towered over, just about everyone at a height of over eight feet. He was very active, because, not only did he look as tall as a mountain, but he also looked as solid and rugged as one, with scars covering his arms and chest, some criss-crossing others over time.
    Black-Streak paled considerably and shrank back against the wall, visibly shaking. Scar-Snout’s eye’s widened a little, his pupils having become tiny black pin-pricks in his usually narrowed, serious eyes, and he barely managed to keep from trembling as he managed to control the almost impossible to maintain restraint on both his fear and excitement. The only person unaffected by the presence of the new arrival was Fire-Fur, who seemed almost relieved, if any emotion were to actually show on his ‘way-too-stoic’ and calmly featured face.
    “Fire-Fur, just what the hell was so important, that you had to call me out of my house as I was resting?” he half-spoke, half-snarled as his purple-red eyes glared furiously at all present.
    Fire-Fur took in a deep breath, and, in a calm and even tone, compared to the new arrivals, stated, “Pack-Leader White-Tooth, I was called by Primary Scout, Scar-Snout about the, untimely arrival of Capt. Ryel of Princess Cela’s Court Guard.”
    White-Tooth turned his full attention onto Scar-Snout, who flinched as if slapped with a white-hot glove. “Scar-Snout. What is it that is so important about Capt. Ryel’s arrival?”
    Gathering his courage, Scar-Snout looked up at White-Tooth and, as if swallowing past a large lump, he barely croaked out, “He had, the Black-Box.”
    White-Tooth stopped and his eyes narrowed even more as he barely managed to get out a guttural sounding “What?!” before he began to dash towards the Health House. Scar-Snout ran in front of him, however and held out a small black object. White-Tooth stopped and took it from Scar-Snout’s hand with such force, it actually bruised it. The smooth black exterior of the small cube seemed to hold some sort of light, and White-Tooth held it to face level, bringing it to his ear to hear the message.
    For what seemed like hours, but was only minutes, the other three Weres watched intently, when suddenly, White-Tooth called out, “General!”
    Fire-Fur quickly walked over, unable to ascertain what was going on, so, thusly, his normally stoic and serious expression had turned into one of confusion, and a strange sense or curiosity. “Pack Leader?”
    White-Tooth looked over to Fire-Fur, his face making it seem like, he had just heard that, the world was about to be destroyed, before turning back to the Black-Box. “ Get someone to contact the Hunters. Now. Tell them that, out of all possible scenarios thought up, the very worst has finally happened.” Fire-Fur nodded and ran off into the city, which was to become, in the next few days, a turbulent and chaotic, peace-shattered city.