Hazal's Moon

The earth from the moon looked like an eternal dream of azure. A bluish glimmer filled the entire landscape as Hazal and her sister soaked their hair. They were descendents of the earth but it no longer was their home. Yet they needed its vital energy for their beauty to grace. 

"Cara, open those braids and let the rays get to every strand. Dont keep complaining of headaches later when I am not home. " Hazal knocked on his sister's forehead as their white hair swung with the rhythm of the breeze. They were lying upside down on the roof of their tower-shaped home. 

The entire plain was dotted with similarly built structures all around. 

The Shifters were in general powered by the moon. Their ancestry could be traced back to the days when they were once human but, with the blessing of the Moon-Goddess, could survive the inevitable doom. None of them, however, knew who this Moon Goddess was, how she looked and where she stood. All they knew was that they were alive by her grace. The Shifters , all of them, had beautiful long and milky tresses which changed colour according to their desire. They apparently looked very much like the humans they once used to be, except for their agility, speed and super-light weight. Them being able to morph at will, was a key reason behind their successful survival, even after they were banned long ago , to enter the earth realm. 

The Night Crawlers had won the year-long battle, and fought for their survival. They had wanted to dispose of their entire race as they were only a liability to them with nothing else from them to gain. They can not be harvested for food like humans or animals. Nor could they be trusted in the troops. But the Head of the Shifters had pleaded for mercy. In exchange, they would vanish to the moon. The Night Crawlers did let them go, but in the hearts of all Shifters, they have forever been their eternal foe. 

With no blood to fuel their survival, the Shifters had found only a single Moon stream as their hope. It ran rich in Lunar energy and was enough to keep letting their progeny grow. However, they needed to keep soaking their silvery skin and hair in the bluish Earth's rays. The reason for this, nobody knew, but they all did it nevertheless. 

" That's it. I'm done. How long do you plan to keep at that? " Cara asked, whisking her hair behind her head. 

She had a greenish top with a matching skirt with a trail. 

Hazal strained her head, sparing a glance at her little sister before she left,

" That moss dress looks good. You can go ahead. " She closed her eyes again as Cara's footsteps left with heavy huffs. 

"Kids, " Hazal smiled and then tossed to catch Cara's one more glance as she left home in her slider, crisscrossing around Hazal before setting off with a final blast. 

Hazal smiled once more like a proud mom. She did do a good job, bringing up a youngster all by herself. Both their parents had died, fighting back on earth, in the decades-old battle. 

Hazal turned over with her head between her palms, staring at the Earth that she once knew, and it seemed too far apart. The greens, the fields, the blue of the ocean and the beach, all seemed like a distant dream, at times even a nightmare. It could be. 

The Shifters had very distinct features between their males and females.Muscularity was dominant in the adult men, while the average adult women had curves that were voluptuous, without fail. Unmistakably, their apparent figure deceived their airy frame. Call it camouflage, or just a clever way to escape. This was what their instinct had led them to, in the game of ultimate survival. 

Hazal had a silver shroud, covering just her bare essentials. She had spun it herself from the Silk of the Silver insects. The moon that once seemed too barren had opened up to them, slowly but steadily, as if lending them a helping hand. There were the Silverlings, fireflies of the earth equivalent. But they did not shine on their own, instead glowed when the sun shone. They had their Lunar Hounds, which they bred from the offspring of the pair of hounds they had brought along with them. Though the parents didn't survive the moon for long, the hybrid offspring did really well. 

In fact, Hazal had one for herself, ever since she joined the Elite Scouts. She had named her Butter, though it was completely opposite to her external. The Lunar Hounds were hairy beasts, silvery in every patch. Their eyes were sharp blue and their tongues matched its hue. Their claws too had a matching bluish tint and their ears had red patches and they twitched with a glint. 

"Butter, " Hazal yelled after finally getting up from her position. 

She tied the shroud around her elegantly and it now definitely looked like a dress. 

The drool of the beast fell all over her feet as she scuffled its head and it swished its tail in glee. 

" Good girl. Do you want to go and see that too? " She pointed over the horizon where a faint glimmer could be seen. 

It made a quick succession of what sounded like coughing definitely ,but Hazal understood it differently and smiled back at the beast. 

"Let's go girl, " She yelled, patting its back and with three swift steps it leaped. It gained an instant increase in its length and breath as Hazal jumped on top of it. It made a loud howl in the sky up ahead, then instantly faded, it seemed. The gain in mass was compensated by fading its entirety and Hazal too seemed to share the same state, while riding pillion. They traversed the dark sky like a paper kite floating without a tail. Soon they vanished from sight into the distant skyline.