Lume had found shelter for the night among a group of stray dogs. They were all smaller than him, being previously domesticated and then tossed aside when they grew out of their puppy years. None were wolves, though, as he was, but they accepted him to sleep near them under an outcropping of stone that made up part of the old wall around the city. While their fur was brown, black or white, or a mix of different tones, his was silvery-white, and seemed to glow in the light of the full moon. They regarded him suspiciously at first, but when he rolled over in submission, showing he was not a threat, they had allowed him near. Lume had never harmed another dog before, but they still distrusted him. He could hardly blame them, as he was one of the last wolves.

As night lifted the glowing orb that was the moon higher among its stars, Lume raised his head to peer over the buildings. He had to shake the long fur out of his eyes to see, eyes that shined yellow in the moon. Swiping his long tail, Lume stood, slinking away from the group of quietly-sleeping dogs and rounding a corner into the nearest alleyway. The buildings were all made of the same material, bricks and clay, held together with soft cement. Flexing his claws, he went halfway down the alley, and reared up on his hind legs. Grasping the crumbling side with his claws, he leapt up, digging into the mortar and levering the rest of his body off the ground, taking several jumps up the side and bounding into the glassless window. He hit the floor in his second form, his human form.

Lume, a tall young man, silver-haired and yellow-eyed just as his wolf form, sat under the window. He stared at the moon that cast its light easier than the sun, in a way that let him see the world without squinting. As always at night, he felt an empty place in his chest, as though something were missing. In the silence, the ethereal glow that fell through the window, he sighed, restlessly standing, moving around the empty room. The apartment had been abandoned years before, but offered a temporary shelter to those who dared not leave the city to call the forest home. Lume especially loved the forest, but the city was where he had been dropped as a puppy, and he knew it as well as the forest outside the walls. Leaping back out the window, he landed in the alley, moving opposite the way he had come from before with his hands in his pockets.

In the silence, he wandered. Not many people were out at such a late hour, and he was left alone as he took to the main street. Even with the odd emptiness he felt at night, he still loved the moon, how beautiful it could be, and how it could draw the peaceful side of any animal to the surface. He breathed in, sensing humans, food, gas, and the general scents of the city and fainter ones that drew from the forest. For a moment, he wished he could be alone in the city, the forest, the only one on the earth. For a moment, he felt the wish had come true.

Fayne watched only the ground as she traveled through the city. She moved around each person, if they did not move for her. As she pawed her way silently to any building she could find that was desolate, or even a tree to sleep under, she picked up the scent of meat. Her ear twitched, but regardless ignored it. She knew she couldn't afford any food. She didn't have the money. She traveled too often to be able to keep any on her. She examined her surroundings, getting that familiar feeling of someone watching her. She didn't like the feeling. When she saw nothing, just like every other time, she sighed.

As she saw no humans around, she shifted into her human form. "May as well try something. I need food." Fayne used her good sense of smell to track the meat. She ran through the streets, making good time, and eventually came across the source. She watched as a group of men and a few women cooked meat on a grill. She couldn't see why they liked to eat it that way. It was disgusting. In her human form, she approached the giant grill, yes she does know things regardless of the species she is, and eyed the group werely. When a female spotted her, she froze. She whispered to the male next to her, and they both started to stare at her. Eventually, the others noticed and started to stare as well. Her long black hair sheilded her crystal blue eyes. She started walking slowly back to the grill, staring straight ahead. As she got closer, one of the group members gasped. It was the female who spotted her first. She ran over to her, and she continued only to stare straight ahead. It was best to pretend she was blind.

When the female got to her, she moved her eyes to the general direction she stood in. "Are you blind?" She asked cautiously.

Fayne nodded, not wanting to talk to a human but she knew she had to. "I am hungry. And, um, I don't have any money..." The girl from the group laughed.

"Honey, this is a free barbeque. You get a hamburger or steak cooked to your liking and a side of fries for free. Along with a drink of your choice." Fayne smiled and was glad she listened to her stomach.

"I will take a steak, rare, and a glass of water." Fayne whispered as the female lead her to a table. When she got there, she immediately sat down, and waited for her food.

"I'll be right back with your water. Do you want fries?" Fayne nodded. May as well try them.

She came back shortly with my food, and Fayne ate quickly. Of course, she didn't stick around long. When none of them were looking, she vanished. Well, more like she turned into my usual black haired, blue eyed wolf form, and ran behind a building before they noticed. After a while of searching, she found a tree in a open field, and decided she would sleep here. Before she went to sleep, she watched the moon.

Lume had followed a sweet scent down the road, hunger driving him forward despite the threat of humans nearby. A butcher shop had left its doors open for the cool night air, and he passed by quickly, glancing inside on the way. No one was behind the counter, but a steak had just been cut from a larger chunk of meat and was resting. Lume turned, slinking inside on four paws, curled claws clicking on the stone floor. He could hear voices from the back room, opposite the chilled room that kept the meat cold and fresh. Putting his front paws on the edge of the counter, he examined the meat. It was huge, a little larger than his head, and the piece beside it was almost as large as he was.

Deciding against overcompensating, he took the smaller bit in his jaws and backed away, bolting out the door when he saw a shadow move along the back wall. With his prize, he apologized silently for stealing it, and returned to the alleyway he had come from before. Shaking the fur from his eyes again, Lume set the meat on a flattened cardboard box and bit off his fill. Meat was sweeter when raw, he felt. Most wolves felt that way. Humans seemed to want to leech all the actual flavor out of it with fire and heat, leaving it dry and small. Lume shook his head as he thought about it, staring at the half-eaten chunk that remained in front of him.

Picking it up again, Lume carried it gently through the labyrinth of alleys, following the lingering scent his previous trek had left. Coming back into the moonlight from the shadow of the buildings, he passed through a miniature forest of weeds and grass that had wormed its way between the cracked cobblestone path. The smaller dogs were still there, curled around one another, shivering from a mixture of fear, cold, and loneliness. His approach roused them from their sleep, and he set the remaining meat on the ground. They struggled up, yapping to one another, surrounding it and fighting for a bit. Lume backed away and sat for a moment, watching them. It felt halfway normal for him, to share his prize with the weaker ones, to help them as they had allowed him to be a part of their group.

With a lingering glance, Lume went on, leaving the dogs to their midnight dinner, and climbed over the wall. With the smell of foliage and earth under his paws again, he took off into the thicket of trees, winding around them like a silver shadow, splashing through shallow streams and leaping as high as he could, feeling as though he could fly. Bounding through the shrubbery and wildflowers, Lume had closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found he had made a complete circle, and returned to the city walls. Bowing his head, he moved around the outer wall.

A field had come into his vision, on the outside of the wall behind the outermost buildings, and a huge tree. With the wind blowing from behind, rushing his fur forward, he halfway circled the tree and found a decent branch. Climbing to that height, Lume settled between the tree and the branch, lying his head on his oversized paws and staring at the moon drifting between thin clouds.

Fayne sighed as she dremt the usual dream, or in this case, nightmare. This was an occurance she remembered experiencing around the age of seven. She was walking through a forest with a thick cover, and hated that she couldn't see the moon. She never expected her mother to jump out, wide-eyed with a blade in her hands. She looked like someone who should be put into a mental institute. And that is just where she ended up. ((Instead of third-person point-of-view, I'm going to do it as a scene from her actualy point-of-view. It's easier for me that way. Hope that's alright.))

Dream

I was roaming through the woods behind my house after a fight with my parents. They were blaming me again, for the being I was. I thought of it as a gift, but they saw it as a curse. Something that mortified me and made me hideous. I started to distance myself from everyone as the fights grew more and more constant. For being only seven, this took a toll on me. I became shy, distant, and withdrawn. I had no friends, but who would befriend a werewolf? As I thought silently to myself, I didn't hear the slight rustle of leaves behind me. I continued to walk through the forest, trying to find a spot where I could actually see the moon, if only part of it. I hated not seeing the moon for long periods of times.

Suddenly, something darted out of the bushes from the right side of me. I had little time to react when I felt a knife plunge into my shoulder. I let out a loud yelp of pain and stumbled away from the figure. I looked to it, ready to attack, when I realized it was my mother. My eyes widened as I noticed her wide eyes and insane look. My face changed to that of a little kid going through immense pain. How was I to react in such a situation? When I heard her shout random profanities and sentances, I winced.

"The demon-child is dead! No more will we have to live in fear! It will be like I never gave birth to such a thing!" My ears flattened against my head, and I growled as feircly as a seven-year-old wolf could. I saw my mother gasp and spin towards me, with frightened eyes. "Help! It's going to kill me!!"

I lowered myself to the ground, ready to attack the woman that created me. When I saw her raise the knife, I lunged, jaws wide open, baring my teeth, about to dig them into her flesh. But, thankfully, before I had to relive this part of the nightmare, something forced me out of the dream.

End Dream

Fayne was suddenly jolted awake with the sound of rustling. She jumped to her feet, standing in a position showing she was ready to attack whoever, or whatever was there. When she glanced around, seeing nothing, she relaxed. She sighed heavily, now allowing herself to think about the nightmare once again. If she had no fur, she would be able to see the scar she was sure what permanatly etched into her right shoulder. She was thankful she couldn't see it. She sighed again, and rested herself agaisnt the ground once more. The moon had started to get covered in a thin, nearly transparent layer of clouds. She thought it gave hte world an eery((I don't think that's spelled right. It doesn't look right. Maybe it's 'eerie'. Though that looks wrong, too. Some help with this, please? Thanks.)) look that she loved.

Drifting between sleep and a slightly-conscious state, Lume breathed quietly. Most threats would not be able to reach him at such a height, and it let him relax. His greatest fear was that of sleep, to be completely vulnerable to his memories otherwise locked far away. While he slept, he dreamed, and his dreams always renewed those memories and brought the past back in such vivid detail it could have happened the day before. Shortness of breath, the feel of a grainy tree pushed up against his front and the cold metal of a dagger on his neck.

The abandonment, when he was nothing more than a puppy, unable to willfully change from human to animal, unable to even see. Taken in by stray dogs, then raised until he could at least scavenge for himself, then abandoned again to roam the city streets and explore the forest. But the guards at the entrance of the city always threw things at him, rocks or old fruit from their lunches. Getting more in-tune with who and what he was, the people of the city always teased him, a thin and odd-looking young dog, with their table scraps before throwing them down a sewer drain. The pain from that abuse, how they sneered at and kicked him, both depressed and isolated him. Humans were violent creatures, he had believed, evil.

Young at heart, he had decided to live on the border of human existence, stealing what he needed and staying in the forest more than the city, but even then, humans chased him. Lume’s belief that if he just stayed out of their way, the humans would leave him alone, had been destroyed by the vigilante hunter who took it upon himself to catch and kill Lume. Even in his human form, the young boy had never had a chance. In the back of his mind, he recalled it, though he tried to repress it; a gasp, struggle, words of apology that requested to be let go, a stinging pain to the back of his head.

The human had no morals, no sense of kindness. Most likely hardened by the world, he may have built a wall around him and become indifferent to the cries and pleas of even a child. The scent of an old tree filled Lume’s nose, the feel of rough bark and cold metal. And among the fear, the wish not to harm the man, he felt a spark of heat, of hate, that drew his arm back. A fire inside that burned, blinded him, and drowned out his rational thought.

The jerking movement in his dream was real. Lume brought his front paw back, jolting himself awake. He clambered for balance on the widest part of the branch, but his claws grasped only smooth wood, too frantic to dig in for leverage. With a gasp, he fell backward, landing with a yelp on the grassy ground. With the moon shining beyond the clouds, he laid there, gritting his teeth.

Fayne jumped when she heard a yelp of pain. She haden't quite fell asleep yet. She looked side to side trying to find the source of the cry. When she spotted a big ball of silver fur. "H-hey! Are you alright?" She approached the wolf rather quickly, sensing no threat in him. She nudged his shoulder lightly.

Lume was frozen in place, on his back, waiting for the dull pain to subside. The rustling of grass brought his gaze from the moon to ahead of him, ears catching a voice that sounded rather surprised and worried. Glancing back, his gold eyes caught those of pale blue, and a sharp pain went through him. A woman's voice foreign to him, but with no substance, no vision or understanding of what she said. Shaking his head, he rolled over, shaking the dirt and leaves from his back. "Eh... I'm fine. Is not the worst fall I've ever had." He whipped his fur out of his eyes again, and smiled a wolfish smile.

"Well, good." Fayne positioned herself comfortable on the ground, in a guard-like sitting position. "So, who are you?" Fayne tilted her head to the side, curious. She didn't bother to make herself look blind, seeing as this wolf posed no threat to her.

Lume stepped back, sitting at the trunk of the tree and wrapping his tail around him. He sensed no threat posing from the other wolf. "I'm Lume." He said. "I... Don't have a last name. Was dropped in the city when I was a few days old, and taken in by a few older dogs. I usually go about in the city as a human, but sometimes it pays to show my wolf form." He stared at the moon. "Er... Who are you, if I may ask?"

"My name is Fayne((I forgot to say how her name was pronounced. It's pronounced like 'pain' but with an 'f' in te place of the 'p')). And my last name has been dropped as well. I don't want the last name I was born with, for... Personal reasons." Fayne lowered her ears for a second, then perked them back up. "So, how come you picked this place to live?" Fayne asked, trying to bring the attention away from her statement.

((No, you remembered, it was in the profile you sent))

Lume studied her for a moment, but didn't meet her eyes again. "I understand." He said, lowering his gaze to the ground. "As I was dropped here so long ago, I came to know the city well. Every scent is familiar to me, as is the forest around the city. Since I know the place so well, I know how to survive and avoid the people while in wolf form. Although..." He glanced around, then toward the moon. "Lately my sense of mystery is calling me away from what I know. I don't like order, or predictability anymore. In response to my animal, I want to move on, but have no reason to do so."

((Oh, sorry. At least, then, anyone who decides to follow in reading our Roleplay, will know how to pronounce her name.))

"I see. I find that understandable. Predictability gets boring. I think anyone can agree with that. I, personally, am not a big fan of humans and pretend to be blind, so I do not have to steal from them. I try and make money somehow, and sometimes it works. Others, well, they turn out pretty bad. So, I normally avoid humans it if can be helped." Fayne stared at him, wondering why he wouldn't look directly at her. Perhaps he was the shy type as well. She tried to bury her shy personality a long time ago. Sometimes, it would show itself, and she would run away.

((I suppose, though I just let the readers imagine what they want))

"I don't fear humans." Lume admitted. "I know it's in the nature of an animal to fear and avoid where possible, and attack when necessary. But I don't. Instead, I do my best to get along with them, or at least let them tolerate me." He glanced up. "Still, I don't know what to do, really. I like the city, even with the people who hate me. But I don't know the world enough. I'm drawn to go somewhere, do something, to run." He stood, and turned around several times. "Something is out there, for me, for all the wolves." He sighed. "Somewhere far away, where the moon sets."

"You look at the world differently. Perhaps I should get over the past and move on, but how can I when the only people I'd ever loved betrayed me? I can't forgive her for what she did to me. She is the reason I have a difficult time trusting anyone. It's her fault I am scared of humans. Because they are all probably like her. The moment they find me out, they will do the same as she did." Fayne stared at Lume the whole time she spoke.

She wanted to show that she believed in what she said, and wished she could move in at the same time. But she didn't know how. She was abandoned at a young age, learning with no help but with instinct. And that only helped in saving her life.

Lume moved forward, low to the ground with low ears, wide eyes. “I understand your fear of humans. Humans are, though, animals as well. But they give in to fear. It’s not their fault. Anything new or strange to them they are taught to fear, and the wilderness is a strange place to them because they value one place, one area to call home.” Lume closed his eyes. “I don’t fear humans, I’m wary of them, at least. Even as they hated me, threw things at me, taunted and teased me, I don’t fear or hate them. It’s how they were raised to believe.”

He sat up straight. “I don’t think we have very different pasts.” He said quietly. “Yes, we were both hurt by humans, by those we thought we could trust, we thought we could rely on. Even so, it doesn’t mean all humans are bad. They don’t understand us, as we don’t completely understand them.” He dared a look into Fayne’s eyes again, and when he did, he felt fear, anger, a stab of pain in the shoulder. A human cry, panicked, a growl. Blinking, he shook his head again and faced the wind, breathing in and changing its direction to fit his choosing.

Fayne listened to each word he spoke and thought for a while. Perhaps I should start trusting them. When she glanced up at Lume, she noticed he was staring at her eyes. When she felt a stab in her shoulder, she was momentarily confused. She watched as his eyes shined with understanding. She relaxed when she put two-and-two together. He felt the stab wound again because he saw my past. And I felt it because I can sense emotions and feel what others are feeling.

"You can see people's pasts? Is that why you don't look at me? I can block you out, if you want me to. So you don't have to keep looking at the ground or some random object." She moved her head to the side slightly to look at him. "You do not have to deal with remembering a past that isn't your own. I wont make you, if you don't wish to."

Lume smiled sheepishly as the faint memory faded. “It’s not a matter of blocking me out.” He said. “I look deeper than just into the eyes of the person before me. I look past their soul, past what they remember, or don’t remember, and I can see exactly what they saw, be the memory forgotten or locked away. It’s not of my own choosing, as when I look directly into the eyes of anyone, human or wolf, I see their past.” He shifted, glancing away from her. “I can control it, though.”

Stepping aside, he looked at the city’s buildings. “When I focus, I can look at a specific memory, sort through them like a book, and see what they went through. I can either be there as a spirit, seeing the owner of the memory as I float by, watching and feeling what they feel, or I can be them, experience everything through their eyes. But… When I don’t want to, I can’t control it, and they only come in short bursts, quick and confusing, vague.” He shook his head. “I apologize. I shouldn’t be looking into your memories, even without trying.”

"It's alright. It doesn't really bother me. I would think it would, but I think I feel relieved that someone can relate to me. It's nice to know that someone else knows of my past." She smiled in the only way a wolf could. She imagined it would look funny. Especially to a human. "What did you see? Or, what did you experience?"

“Even so, I’m in no place to dig.” Lume sighed. His fur had fallen back into his eyes, but he let it go. It stopped him from glancing back toward her eyes, to where her past was. “Your memories are your own, and are not meant to be shared with anyone else unless you wish it to be so.”

When she asked what he saw, he shook his head, keeping his gaze down as he always had when speaking, either to an animal or human. “I saw… A forest. Dark, but light at the same time. No moonlight, it was strange and painful to be in. And a flash, a short-bladed knife or dagger, and a stab of pain immediately after that. Then, fear. Fear and anger, a mix, both of the situation and of the person in front of you. Then, a mixture of a growl and scream, and jumbled words. That’s all.”

He felt out of place describing the scene, even if it was her own. She knew what happened, he didn’t need to relay it, make her relive it. “I’m sorry.” He muttered. “I don’t need to know of your past. You know nothing of mine, we only just met.”

"It's alright. One day, you may learn of it. That is, if we're both still around." If she could grin, she certainly would be right now. She sniffed the air silently searching for anything out of place. When everything seemed normaly, she rested her head on her paws.

Lume nodded. It was more a thoughtless gesture, as he was hardly paying attention to his surroundings any more. He lifted his head, shifting the wind to move south, move toward him, and sniffed deeply. Something was strange in the world, something altered, and he could smell it. Standing, he walked past Fayne, toward the city. “Do you smell that?” He asked. “Something new. Something pure, more than a human, but familiar, like a wolf.”

Fayne sniffed once more, and did detect something different, off. "What is it? Do you have any idea?" She jumped to her paws and looekd in the direction of the city as well. She blinked as the scent seemed to become stronger.

“I’ve never smelled anything like it before.” Lume said. “But it’s coming from far away from the city, far away.” He stepped forward again. “It must be what’s drawing me forward, drawing all wolves forward, some familiar scent, something that makes me believe everything will be all right in the end.” He closed his eyes for a moment. The scent made him feel safe, unlike anything else in the world, and pulled him forward. “Maybe we should find it sometime…”

"I think you're right. When shall we start?" She pawed absentmindedly at the grass while watching Lume.

Lume sighed. “I don’t know.” He said, staring at the buildings. “I… thought about going not long ago, when I scented it then. I suppose I would go in the morning, very early, when the entrance of the city isn’t guarded.” He glanced at Fayne, then turned his gaze down. He wondered, why was she still around him? Other wolves simply regarded him with a narrowed stare and moved on, just as they should have, forever traveling, never calling a single place home for too long. But, he considered, it was in him. He was feeling restrained by the walls, the city itself, and in that was a desire to move on, as he had stayed there for far too long.