Chapter 5: full moon

It normally goes unspoken, but the moon is a pretty important component of society. Without it, there would be no magic and, arguably, no life. Everything they are, and will be, it all comes from that luminous celestial object.

Wizards and vampires have a varying range of active lunar power. Werewolves, as beings composed of lunar magic, have a passive yet intimate relationship with the moon. While this sounds like something to be admired, it’s seen more as an inconvenience by wolves and something dishonorable by the other species. It’s an everyday reality, but it isn’t until that first full moon that Kai finds himself confronted with this reality.

“I just wanna make sure you’re comfortable,” Kai says. “Full moons are great for me but… well, I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that’s not the case for you.”

A pained groan sounds off from behind him. Wilma braced against the back of the couch. Eyes squeezed shut, her breathing comes in uneven intervals when she finally lets out, “That’s putin’ it mildly. I haven’t been on my twos for a full moon in years.”

Kai falls silent as he really considers what she’s said. Confusion blossoms within him, and his silence seems to intrigue Wilma, for it’s then that she opens her eyes again. Bloodshot and flighty, they lock onto Kai, and he stares back. Confusion gives way to curiosity as Kai summons a portal. “You were born a wolf, weren’t you?” he wonders, prying a handful of moonrocks from the open doorway.

An irate growl escapes Wilma as she digs her claws deep into the couch cushions. Before she can do any more damage, she reaches up and tugs and tugs on her ears, snarling all the while.“I was a late bloomer. And back then, I still had my pack to help me with this. I’ve never… I’ve never been on my own before. Not like this anyway.”

Kai positions his moonrocks and moonstones in a circle at the room’s center. Twirling his wand, he levitates a chalice of charged moonwater into his hand and walks over to Wilma. “Well, you’re not alone.” Wilma falters, frantic eyes pausing before meeting his own uneasy stare. He tilts the chalice at her and allows himself the tiniest of smirks. “You’ve got the coolest wizard in the Realms for a roommate, remember?”

Wilma just watches him. She then smiles, tail wagging and she shyly looks down at her paws. “Well, I wouldn’t say you’re that cool,” she teases with moon-like eyes.

“Debatable.” Carefully navigating the circumference, he drizzles the moonwater about the floor. “I normally use charms for stronger spells and stuff like that. But I think these modifications should make for an easier transition.”

Wilma steps over the bits of moon until she’s sat at the very center of the circle. Palms rested against her knees, she takes in one deep breath after the other before casting a glance at the wall of windows. With the curtains drawn shut, they’re concealed from the rest of the world, but the moon shines through all the same. Normally, this would be a comforting fact. Tonight, it is unfortunately distracting. “Well, here’s to hopin’.”

The way she says this, with an almost desperate hopefulness, makes Kai evermore curious as to her past. A late-blooming wolf, who’s apparently spent years in her full moon form. For all the stories that surround werewolves, he’s ever heard of one quite like hers.

Kai lowers to his knees and extends a hand to the very edge of the circle. “You’ll let me know if--if something goes wrong?” he says, gray brows contorted with worry.

The trust within Wilma’s eyes makes that warm feeling rush through him, like enchanted honey coursing through his veins. “I doubt it will. But if it does, I’ll tell you. Promise.”

Kai takes in a deep breath, then presses his palm against the floorboards. When he raises his hand, silver ropes of luna spiral from his fingers as a soft sapphire blue rises from the circle. “This won’t stop you from transforming. But it’ll help manage the pain and any potential lunar hysteria.”

The blue mist inches closer to Wilma. She keeps her paws clenched tight, teeth gritted as ripples pass through her fur. “Lunar hysteria?”

“Moon madness.” It normally only happens for younger people, when they’re first interacting with raw luna. But since you were a fully-transformed wolf for a while, I think it’s safe to assume you might be vulnerable.” When Wilma just continues to pant, her already bulky body growing in size, Kai tugs at the collar of his cloak and inches ever closer. “There has to be something we’re missing… maybe if I was inside the circle-”

A warning growl renders Kai silent, and Wilma looks up with stoic eyes to glare at him. “The circle is there for a reason, Kai.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me,” he returns, his voice full of conviction as he straightens his back. “It’s just not in you.”

For a long while, Wilma just holds his stare, blue luna glowing from inside her body as she matches his stubbornness with her own. When she speaks, the bite’s gone out of her voice, and there’s a bit of fear within her eyes. “That’s… not what I’m worried about,” she says with some strain.

Before Kai can question what exactly she means by that, a final tremor pauses through Wilma’s body before she completes her transformation. Human legs shift into that of a canine’s, and her fangs descend far beyond her lips. Her fur seems to reach for the moon, the color shifting from cyan to a dazzling midnight blue. Eyes once like yellow moons take on a more eclipsed appearance, and Kai finds himself entranced, incapable of looking away.

Wolves may not have active lunar power, but they carry the strength of the moon within themselves. So far as Kai’s concerned, that’s deserving of some recognition.

Bruiser saunters in from the kitchen, attention no-doubt piqued by all the excitement. Willing a smile to his face, Kai lifts a hand to pet the floating cat. “We’re okay here.” Worry itches at his brain as he turns back to the bubble of blue that’s encased Wilma. “It’s only for a few hours. She’ll be herself again before we know it.”

Clouds waft off Bruiser as he lets loose a discontented whine.

“You’re never this upset when I leave,” Kai grumbles, yelping quietly when his mirror vibrates in his pocket. Wilma perks her head up, her eyes exhausted yet intrigued. With a placating gesture, he grabs his mirror and smiles when he sees it’s a call from Arturo.

As a Craterhead, his mirror calls tend to come less often than Austin’s, but he always makes the time to squeeze in at least one a week. “Hey, man. Shouldn’t you be in a meeting?”

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Arturo returns without missing a beat. There’s a bit of amusement in his voice amid the backdrop of what sounds like a cauldron boiling over.

Kai presses his lips tightly together, then looks to where his fully-shifted werewolf roommate is safely contained with an enhanced moonweb. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Water sloshes, distorting Arturo’s voice briefly before he returns. “I know this can’t be an easy adjustment.”

With a barely suppressed sigh, Kai lowers his stare to the artificial moon glyph is seared into the flesh of his palm. That hadn’t been an easy adjustment either, but he made it all the same. “I keep calling the other Craterheads,” he grumbles. “They never answer.”

The silence that follows is only proof of what Kai suspected, for all that Arturo may deny it. “You know their schedules. I’m sure if they had the time, they’d take your calls.”

He lets his eyelids flutter shut, biting his lower lip as he takes in a great inhale. Memories of the weeks leading up to his assignment to Moonwater flicker behind his eyes. The Craterheads had grown terse, impatient, eager to discover even a sliver of progress. Evidently, they’d had enough of being disappointed. “My magic’s not strong enough. You know that, don’t you?”

This time, Arturo doesn’t even bother with the lie. “Yeah, I know.”

Kai pinches the bridge of his nose, eyelids heavy as he forces them back up over his eyes. But whatever fatigue he might’ve been feeling fades at the sight of Bruiser standing with a paw raised before one of his moonstones. “Bruiser,” Kai says in a warning tone. When the cat just looks up at him, as if daring him to tell him to stand down, he lets his eyes glow a deep gray and points at a corner. “Knock it off.”

“Kai,” Arturo cuts in, sounding mildly amused. “Everything okay? Bruiser didn’t fall in the toilet again, did he?”

Kai can only watch as Bruiser hisses at him before opening a portal and disappearing into it without even saying goodbye. Rude. “Not exactly,” he says before turning back to Wilma. He bundles his cloak up in his hands, anxiety descending upon him as he watches her. “I have a roommate now.”

“Yeah, Austin said something about that. I got the impression he didn’t like her.”

That’s putting it mildly. When Wilma lowers her head and curls back up into a ball, he smiles fondly before saying, “She’s a werewolf. She’s… kind of having a rough night.”

The light of the moon shines in from the curtains, gray moonbeams bouncing off the moonweb. What results is a sort of disco-effect, and something about the sight strikes him as some kind of beautiful.

“Packless?” Arturo’s voice has gone deadly serious. When Kai hesitates to respond, he lets out a disappointed sigh before continuing. “Rogue wolves are unpredictable, kid, you know that.”

Well, she certainly fits the unpredictable type. But that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s dangerous. Elbows braced against his knees, Kai sets his mirror down in front of him and hums to himself. “She won’t really talk about her past. But I know she hasn’t been human for a while.”

Arturo’s quiet for a long moment, no doubt formulating some sort of plan to make sure this doesn’t become another incident. When at last he does speak, he’s taken on his Craterhead voice. “Get your stories straight. Somehow, someway, this kind of nonsense always seems to grow beyond us.”

“I hear you,” Kai says tiredly.

“And more than anything, make sure she’s someone worth going to bat for.” There’s a certain weight, a certain urgency with which Arturo says this, like he needs Kai to really hear him, as he’s never heard him before. “If this gets out, we won’t be able to turn it around with charisma and good marketing.”

Kai lets his stare drift back over to Wilma. She’s fallen asleep, her body rising and falling with every breath she takes, and the moonweb reacts in tandem. Luna as blue as the sky pulses like a living being all on its own, and it occurs to him that maybe Wilma wasn’t afraid of the pain or a loss of control. Taking her words to mind, she was just afraid of being alone again. And that’s something he can relate to all too well. “I’d go to bat for her,” Kai says at last, protectiveness welling like a bubble in his chest. “Any day.”

“All right then,” Arturo says with some reluctance. “And fix your damn wards. Magic’s so damn rotten, it’s a wonder the realmwalkers haven’t filed a complaint.”

Kai feels his shoulders loosen. He picks at a stray strand of fabric on his cloak and says, “I will. And… thanks”.

Thankfully enough, Arturo doesn’t need him to clarify. His voice goes softer, quieter, and Kai finds himself infinitely grateful that even realms apart, he still has someone rooting for him. “Anytime, kid.”

He ends the call, then presses his head into the viscous moonweb before him. Wilma remains asleep, and Kai allows his eyes to drift shut.