"I'm going out to the Square, father!" Riya cried out through the house, a single hand poised precariously on the handle of a door. With her gaze so focused on her home's interior in expectancy of a granting reply, however, she failed to notice the tall, medium-built woman looming over her, arms crossed. A dirtied apron had been loosely thrown over her plain-looking clothing, black hair pulled back into a bun.

"Not on my watch, young lady," her mother growled, a fierce glare forcing Riya to slowly lower her hand. "But I'm supposed to meet Vivianne there today," she fired back. Her naiad friend would probably understand, as this type of situation had happened in the past, but it was still incredibly cruel to keep her waiting for minutes or even hours without a means of letting her know she was unable to come. Within moments the distinct creak of the small staircase filled the air, and both mother and daughter turned.

Riya's father was thinner and more weak-looking in appearance, face winding with wrinkles as a combination of both age and intense spell use throughout the years due to his work as an arcane researcher and retired magister. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, giving the pair a puzzled but otherwise blank stare. "I'm sorry, Riya, but it's just too dangerous to be outside tonight. It's been twenty-nine days since the last full moon." He idly held up a small chart normally kept on the kitchen table, face turning somber in synchronization with Riya's own.

"But what if she comes here looking for me?" Riya offered.
"Then I suppose you two can talk for a little while. But she needs to be out of this house by the time it starts to get dark, okay?" The girl nodded affirmatively, moving away from the door and her mother in the direction of her room. Every lunar month was the same, it seemed; Riya would be denied ability to leave her house, and once night hit, her father would lock the door to her room and hope for the best. None of them would sleep that night.

The morning after was always chaotic as well. The cost of repairing the walls of her extra-reinforced room was becoming so immense the family was unable to pay any of the costs of covering up the wealth of claw marks and dents. As Riya opened up the metal-plated door to her room, she picked up and lit a lamp to carry inside. No windows allowed natural daylight to enter the small area, as they could be easily broken through.

In her slightly dimmed vision, the damage from last month was apparent. The wooden areas of the walls were splintered, gored with deep scratches as if the creature once imprisoned inside had been desperate to escape. Some areas were covered and smoothed out with plaster or cement, but the damage still stood. Even dents had formed as the result of the creature's desperate ramming. Her bed appeared nearly untouched, as it was routine to remove all the blankets during the time of the full moon to save money. Her other possessions, however, were locked tightly in metal cabinets nailed to the ground of her room. It all was an incredibly dreary sight compared to the light and cheerfulness of the rest of the house, but Riya had to do it out of necessity.

Lying on top of her bed and staring at the relatively untouched ceiling, Riya gave a sigh, hoping Vivianne would realize her inability to meet her. Full moon days had always been so boring otherwise.

Vivianne's knuckles suspended her head above an eternity's worth of notes. She was literate, beyond literate. So why did they continue with the misguided belief she needed to learn another language? At least they gave her choices. She could learn to talk to elves, if she ever had a wish to talk sweet nothings to her lover in a language he likely didn't understand, sylvan if she wanted to be an annoying little twit, and Khuzdul. Why Miss Stonecrusher wanted to teach them Khuzdul was the true mystery. Khuzdul was roughly as useful as a pirate's peg leg. You could hit people with it, but something else would do far better. Particularly a war maul, or orkish. She really wanted to learn orkish for the expressed purpose to let someone know how she felt about their mother's entire ancestral line in a single word.

In the end she had chosen Khuzdul(even though it was utterly useless), and had gotten reprimanded for suggesting they should let her learn orkish. To top it all off, the dwarf Stonecrusher refused to teach her curses. Class after class had dragged on, each moment spent counting how many pages of notes she had made. Dwarves had thirty seven different ways you could put a tense on the word father, and it would designate how far back in the line he was. But Vivi shattered such thoughts with a force unparalleled, and went back to taking notes, even though she had a photographic memory. The crusher of stones disliked it whenever she didn't look busy, so Vivianne had more notes than any other girl in the class.

Then came the tolling of the bells, and Vivianne stood up, left her pile of notes on her table, and walked away. She walked as elegantly as plausible down the halls, stiff-backed and her hands folded neatly before her legs.

"Vivianne, where are you going?"
"Ma'am, I'm going out to visit my parents."
"Oh, yes, your dad informed me! I'll let you right out." Stated the gate-watching woman. Vivianne never heard her name, and she simply assumed she had none. But without thinking too much about it, she bolted out into society and towards her house. As she ran, she contemplated what was about to happen tonight, even as she scuffed her slippers on the paving stones of Lomedor's streets. It didn't seem like it took long, then again the short fences of Lomedor's richer districts were little to dissuade a girl so versed in the capabilities of her own form. Cutting a path from the merchants to the nobility via their backyards in a minute, she arrived at her own back door panting, weakly knocking at the portal.

"Lady Vivianne has returned?"
"Direct me to Admiral Marin." Vivi stated, and her maid nodded. The small woman lead the naiad through the halls until she found her adoptive father. He was holding a long bladed katana, a weapon taller than he or she was, if the measurement was from the end to end of the entirety of the thing.

"Ah, my daughter. How has the school treated you?"
"Admiral Marin, it has treated me as usual. Like an object."
"I see you are as displeased and cynical as ever. But you should be proud, that is the finest school in Lomedor."
"Sir, I'd be proud the day they let me learn to be anything but a proper lady."
"Alas and alack, eh? There isn't much I can do, the family panicked when I never took a wife. We need three, good lines of Marins producing boys!" The admiral explained, before embracing his daughter. Vivianne returned the embrace, and then allowed her eyes to drift to the katana as they withdrew.

"You've had your third swordsmanship lesson? It took some real paperwork to get you into that. And how is Khuzdul coming?"
"Admiral, I've had my fourth swordsmanship lesson, and I'm doing pretty good with Khuzdul. The language is simple, yet the pronunciation is difficult, and the accent is most of it. If I may ask, what is the blade for?"
"You, of course. My lovely adopted daughter needs a real weapon to practice with, now that she won't cut herself open with it." The admiral explained, handing the weapon to his daughter. She drew it immediately, throwing the hilt halfway across the room, and she took a moment to examine the armament. It was well balanced and she'd even go so far as to say it was the best weapon she'd ever held. Yet it was also the only weapon she'd ever held.

"Now, I didn't get you that nice of a blade because, well, you are still untrained. And if I may make a suggestion, Vivianne?" He inquired. Vivianne paused as she re sheathed the impressive blade. He never really used her name, as she understood he was ashamed he had to adopt a child just to do make them into members of the noble family. She finished sheathing the blade, and looked up at him.

"If you don't like it, leave."

--------

Vivianne darted into Lomedor Square, and hunted the whole place from top to bottom with a peace-bound katana in hand. The guardsmen gave her funny looks, except the nice black-haired angel guard captain. She was always willing to help Vivianne, and seemed to have a soft spot for all the young girls in Lomedor. Captain Raikenza explained that Riya hadn't been there all day, and sent the girl off.

Not too long after, Vivianne came knocking on Riya's humble abode, holding the katana in her hands. She rapped three times, and pulled the bow tie around her neck awkwardly. Riya's dad was creepy. Vivi couldn't help but feel like he mistreated his daughter. Vivianne preferred her own father, former Admiral Marin, to Mr. Sarto.

An extended period of awkward silence fell over the couple as Riya's father sat at the kitchen table, studying a small pile of papers. "I worry about you sometimes, honey," her mother remarked from the other side of the room, approaching him with two plates of food in hand. He looked up briefly from his notes, nonverbally prompting more explanation from his wife. She set one plate down in front of him and one on her own side before taking a seat, hands folded under her chin. "She is our daughter, you know, not some kind of experiment. I think you forget that sometimes."

"I'm not hurting her," he replied matter-of-factly, "and it isn't every day that you have access to a lycanthrope subject. I'm not shooting holy spells at her or anything, that would just be cruel. But she is still fundamentally inhuman." She tossed a glare at him, but he was too concerned with reading to notice either her hostility or his food. "Besides, I've already completed my research on spell responses. Now I'm moving into metabolism and a possible altered immune system. Riya could help me cure the sick, you know."

Riya's mother sighed, picking at her food with a wooden fork. When their daughter had been bitten at a young age, they were forced to sell their silverware, as its metal created terrible burns on contact with Riya's skin. They were forced to live carefully, charting the days and acting accordingly. The subtle strife it caused was becoming tiring to all involved. Three distinct knocks soon followed a second bout of silence. "Perfect timing," Mr. Sarto mumbled offhandedly, putting down his notes and getting up to open the door.

It didn't take long for Riya to smell the food being served. Feebly cursing under her breath and getting up to see what still remained, she cracked open the heavy door to her room to peer outside. Her father, it appeared, was just opening the front door.

"Oh, good afternoon, Vivianne!" he said with a cheerful smile. "How have you been? Looking for Riya, I assume? I'm so sorry, she just went out a few minutes ago to look for you! It's hilarious how those kinds of things work out. Ah well, it was a pleasure seeing you again. Off you go!" A baffled look on her face, Riya stepped out of her room completely and came to a full stop a few feet behind her daughter. She turned her head slightly to see through the somewhat small foot-wide gap he had made.

"I never left the house, father. You told me not to." Mr. Sarto jumped slightly, near-immediately opening the door fully to reveal the naiad standing there. He forced a chuckle, gesturing for Vivianne to come in. "You're so quiet all the time, Ri, I never even notice you're here in the house! Sorry Vivianne, my mistake. You two go have fun."

Riya smiled at Vivianne, also motioning for her to enter before turning back to her mother. "Just a suggestion. I would probably destroy less things in my room if I wasn't hungry."
"You need to be quicker next time. I assumed since you were in your room you didn't want any food. But tonight you can have some of your father's dinner once you're done talking to Vivianne, he seems to be too wrapped up in his writing tonight." With her mother's comments she stared at Riya's father and his papers in turn. Both she and her daughter were illiterate, so she couldn't even hazard a guess as to what was written there.

Giving an accepting sigh, Riya moved toward her room's door, expecting her nymph friend to follow and making sure to grab a second lamp from a high shelf for additional light. Once both were inside, she shut the door behind her to seal out their conversation from her parents' somewhat prying ears. After setting the lamp on one of the metal cabinets, Riya took a seat on her bed and sighed.

"Sorry we couldn't meet in the Square, Vivi. Father is being mean again and doesn't want me outside at all today, even though I only transform at night," she grumbled. "How's the Khuzdul coming at your school, anyway?" It always fascinated Riya what kinds of things her best friend could learn at school; since she was primarily homeschooled by her father, magic was the only topic, and she was still relatively poor at it. Above all things, however, she wanted to learn how to read.

Vivianne cocked an eyebrow at Riya's father at what he suggested. Of course she was here, and if not, she'd be hot on her heels after Captain Raikenza sent her back! The scholarly, and thus weak, and thus stronger words Vivi would refrain from using in his presence, father took swift note of his daughter's presence. The door opened more, and Vivianne slid through, after passing a sardonic half-smile to Mr. Sarto.

"Sir, I'd like to extend my thanks for being critically unaware of your daughter's presence. As it stands, I present my sincerest apologies to the misfortune of this character flaw of yours being presented so obviously, good sir!" Vivianne explained, her sweet voice dripping with sarcasm and malice. She listened idly to the hatred passing between mother and daughter, and followed dutifully into her best friend's room. Vivianne sat upon one of her friend's cabinets, and laid her katana across her lap.

"Khuzdul? Its going fine, I guess. I can say very specific things about my ancestry in few words, even though I don't know my ancestry. And I can ask for a beer, I can ask to get carried home if I'm drunk, I can ask for a place on the floor in the bar if I can't remember where home is..." Vivianne explained. But then she gave her friend the sweetest of smiles, and pulled a packet of food she had strung to her leg out. She handed it to her friend, and pulled a satchel of almonds out of her shirt.

"You should eat, your parents practically starve that thin little physique of yours." Vivianne stated, unrolling a now cold steak she'd secreted from the kitchens at home. She took time to nibble at almonds as a snack, savoring each little morsel. The itch of her gills against cloth nagged at her, to the point that she undid the ties on the sash of cloth that concealed them. Thin, nearly invisible slits blossomed into wings of flesh, sucking in oxygen at an astounding rate.

"Much better. You won't mind if I practice with my sword, right?" Vivianne inquired. She unbound the delicate wires of the peace-binding without letting her friend react, and drew out the slender blade yet again. She worked it into a blur, going through the exercises for balance she'd done every lesson she'd had so far.

And as such, they passed the day away, until the final rays of the sun crept past the window. Vivianne automatically panicked, and swallowed the almond atop her tongue.

"Oh dear, I've overstayed my welcome, haven't I!" Vivianne squeaked as she bolted for the door. Her hand fell on the doorknob, but she realized she forgot her sword. Vivianne darted across the room, struggled to sheathe it, and ran back to the door, with the idle realization she hadn't made it. If Riya killed Vivianne, she might get the executed herself, and that wouldn't be very nice at all!

Riya's father waited for the door to close before allowing his mask of cheerfulness to erase itself from his face. Grumbling, he returned to the kitchen table to both his wife and notes, quietly picking at the food in front of him as if immediately forgetting the promise that had been made related to its ownership. "Of all the girls in this damn town, she had to pick her..."
"Don't worry about her. She's just a girl," she reassured him in a somewhat dulled tone, stabbing a fork into her dinner repeatedly.
"Riya told me she's a nymph. Naiad, one of those ugly fish-girls. It's probably just a bluff to make her seem more special and important, though," he mumbled back.

"You should eat, your parents practically starve that thin little physique of yours." Inside her room, Riya hesitantly took a cold steak from Vivianne.
"Always the resourceful one, Vivi!" Riya replied with a wide grin. Momentarily her eyes misted over in a cloudy silver fog, but she appeared not to notice anything peculiar. "I'll keep it for myself later. Maybe that'll stop me from destroying too many things tonight. And they don't starve me, that would just be mean!" She carefully sat the meat down on a cabinet nearby, handling it with the care of a glass-blown vase. Its scent would be obvious to her once night hit.

Time flew by quickly, the pair's improvised meeting turning into both extended conversations and the watching of Vivianne's near-newly learned swordplay. Her father, still sitting at the table writing and reviewing his notes, paused in the silence of the house to look out the window. To his horror, dusk was nearly complete, and would soon give way to a total night complemented by the presence of a full moon. Leaping to his feet and fumbling through a keyring on his pocket, he had little time to think about the urgency of the situation or the safety of the girls still inside. Shoving a gnarled, rusted key into the lock on Riya's door, he took a few steps back before whispering a prayer to the gods, gathering his papers, and moving upstairs.

Riya sprung to her feet the moment of Vivianne's attempted escape, also panicking. She took up a position next to her friend's, pushing on the door with as much force as she could muster. Locked. How could her father not realize the naiad was still inside?! "I-I'm so sorry, Vivi!" A dull silver mist fell over Riya's eyes once more, though remaining for what appeared to be an indefinite time. Then, within seconds, a howl of pain filled the air. She forced her legs to back away from the naiad while she writhed, only managing to pull through the violent convulsing enough to lift a single arm, pointing at the sheathed weapon in Vivianne's hand.

The same outstretched arm soon let loose a violent tear, bones abruptly shattering and reforming in a different configuration. Riya whimpered in horror, pulling her changing limb close and shutting her eyes. Strengthened muscles visibly crawled under her skin, forcing her body's structure into unnatural shapes; new tendons followed to bind them in place. A long wolven snout built itself from her jaw, torso broadened and strengthened, hips broke and reformed into a shape more suitable for a quadrupedal stance, cartilage of her ears became pointed and larger. Her body's modifications and expansion fought constantly against the constraints of her clothing, soon proving triumphant with a highly audible series of tears and rips. A thick pelt of black fur grew at an accelerated rate all about her skin, its longest mostly at the tail that had since formed from a lengthening spine.

The werewolf feebly attempted to struggle to her feet, but immediately failed, yelping at the pain of still-forming claws. She instead chose to lay down on the floor for a time, limbs sprawled out almost uncomfortably. Vivianne hadn't even crossed her vision then; all that flashed through her mind was the potent scent of raw meat sitting somewhere near her. Other impulses tried their hardest to pull their way to the forefront, such as escape from such a confined space, but hunger consumed her above all.

When the pain of transformation lowered to a tolerable level, Riya launched herself through the air in a single but short bounding leap, careening past Vivianne and partially onto the metal cabinet that held the steak she so craved. A single paw flew forward towards it, but control of her newfound motor functions was not an immediate mastery. Back limbs scraped against the floor in a feeble attempt to stabilize herself, but it was for naught. She slipped downwards almost instantly, her strike missing the steak by mere inches. But she was determined; a second attempt by the werewolf proved successful. Pinning her meal to the bedside cabinet, she tore apart her somewhat small piece of prey with the ravenousness and messiness of a wild animal. Compulsion even forced her tail into a wide-arced canine wag.

Bits of meat were strewn across her snout, the surface of the cabinet and even a small area of her bed. Her primary instinct satisfied, Riya's mind soon flicked to her surroundings. She was in a dark, confined area, almost uncannily similar to a massive cage. A distance from her position was also an oddly familiar-smelling sight, a girl. Was she hostile? In an instant Riya was on her guard, muscles tensed and gums pulled back to reveal rows of teeth dripping with saliva. Attempts to remember the creature turned up vague memories of someone named Vivianne, a person her crude mind deduced should only be attacked in retaliation. Perhaps even feared, as she held a long tool similar to that of a sword. She would wait for this Vivianne's action before attacking.

Vivianne had never actually been so terrified in her life. It was pretty obvious, really, the only dramatic event she'd ever had before meeting a fully fledged werewolf was breaking her arm jumping a fence. She held her sheathed katana close as her friend screamed and convulsed through the entire transformation, contorting her body to the extremes. As the armaments of a werewolf became apparent, Vivianne screamed. The full throated and high pitched noise nearly escaped from the room, and as it tore from her throat it slowly waned in power as she ran out of breath. The scream transformed into heavy breathing as copious amounts of sweat began to stain her form.

Then, as though Vivianne wasn't a massive lump of meat, the werewolf struck one of the cabinets. Vivianne's heart fluttered at such a sight, and watched with the morbid fascination of humanity as the raw steak was torn to shreds. Then it struck her that she could save herself, as she doubted even a werewolf could stand up from a direct strike of the combined weight of her sheathe and blade. The naiad crept forwards, and raised her blade high above her head. Scuffed slippers scratched noisily across the floor, and her eyes narrowed as she prepared to deal a non-medical spurt of unconsciousness to her friend.

Then she paused as the hulking creature wheeled about upon her. She recoiled, swiftly bringing the blade before her again. Vivianne remembered that her footing was wrong as rows of vicious teeth revealed themselves within Riya's maw. Her feet spread themselves automatically, and she assumed a proper stance to use her sheathed blade to defend herself. Then nothing happened. Vivianne blinked, her eyes going from a state of normal to dinner plate. The naiad leaned closer to hear the cute dog-like snufflings of Riya.

"Riya, please don't kill me." Vivianne pleaded, leaning closer to the creature. The first thing she noted was the scraggly hair, and promptly formed a comb with the fingers of her free hand. The naiad skulked around her friend, and began to comb the wolf hair back into place. Her whole mentality surrounded how dead she was if Riya was anything but loving of only best friend. If she was to die, she might as well die doing a service to her best friend, even if it was only a temporary thing. And rather frivolous at that.

The naiad threw aside her sword, and wiped the sweat from her coppery form with the band that usually concealed her gills. Vivianne then tied it in a cute bow around Riya's tail, and sat upon her friend's bed.

"So you aren't going to kill me? Because you make one cute dog." Vivianne said. She perched herself on the edge of the bed, trying to resist the urge to tackle her friend like the giant dog she never had. It was truly difficult, as Vivianne liked animals quite a bit, yet the girl's school looked down upon such companionship(Spinster!) and her dad disliked animals(It bit my leg!) so Vivianne had not an animal to her name. It really was depressing, even as she threw the sheathe of her katana across the room in hopes that Riya would chase after it like a game of fetch.

"Not that I think you are a mindless animal, Riya!" Vivianne squeaked as she realized what she had done. Riya was just as Riya as she normally was, Vivianne assured herself. Even though she'd torn that piece of meat to shreds. Delicious looking shreds, really. The naiad's stomach grumbled in response, as the girl figured out she'd be there all night, unless she didn't live through the night.

A scream, a bang, then silence. Riya's father forced back a wince, confident Vivianne was either dead or severely injured by his daughter. He secretly wished for the former, as handling a second werewolf would be a horrid predicament to be in, especially one so massively untrained and rude. If the naiad survived the night and contracted lycanthropy, the mage would simply pull out his last resort tool originally intended for Riya should she ever become too strong for comfort; the thought prompted him to wrap his fingers around the handle of one of the drawers at the desk he was sitting by. Its pulling back revealed a long, thick and incredibly brutish-looking silver blade that rested atop a velvet bed, glistening in the candlelight with an almost unmatchable level of sheen.

Riya eyed Vivianne warily, maintaining her stance. "Riya, please don't kill me." The pleading sentence, surprisingly, could be heard and understood clearly by the wolf. It was the first time she had heard human words in the form, much less been referred to by name. As the naiad leaned closer and pulled out a comb, she even attempted to answer herself, but it seemed hopeless. Her body wasn't built for human language; instead her intended message was replaced by deep canine rumbles and whinelike noises. Nearly oblivious to the combing and the newly-tied ribbon on her tail, Riya's focus was fixed almost entirely on escape from the room the pair was trapped in.

"So you aren't going to kill me? Because you make one cute dog." Vivianne's comment dragged Riya out of concentration, as if the voice in and of itself settled her chaotic mind and made it more human than normal for the duration. She replied by tossing the girl a peaceful stare before watching the blade sheath fly through the air. Taking this as a diplomatic sign or a simple mistake on Vivianne's part, the werewolf left it in its place and got up to make her way to one of the outer walls of the room, whose plates of metal had been satisfactorily pried off from past full moons. Her desperation was unfathomable; Riya absolutely had to escape this month, or her father would soon manage to scrounge up the capital to re-plate the entire thing, possibly even with a silver alloy.

This desperation she attempted to convey to her friend by violently ramming and scratching at the wall a couple times, stopping periodically to look back at the naiad. Surely if she was an ally they would share desires of escape; the addition of extra muscle and that long blade resting on the bed could potentially puncture the wood once and for all. The werewolf immediately continued, quickly working herself up into a violent frenzy for many minutes into the night. Low growls and heavy breathing complemented the scraping of claws against wood to the point that her actions shook the entire house; Riya's father upstairs, to say the least, was falling worried somewhat.

Over time the wall was weakened substantially. Determining it was thin enough, Riya took a few steps back, let loose a mighty wolven howl, and charged for it. A large chunk of wall splintered completely, letting in the moonlight. The force of the impact made the beast topple to her feet into a pile of wood. Desperation was replaced by pure joy and freedom, gums pulled back into a panting smile. Tail wagging once more, Riya tapped her paw on the ground and motioned her head for Vivianne to come out and follow her into the night.

Her father was in denial. Riya was certainly not strong enough to literally break through her room's wall; she hadn't had a thing to eat in two days and nothing to drink for one! But the impact he felt below was much more powerful than anything before. Grabbing a lamp and slipping on a pair of shoes, he pulled the silver blade from its home and rushed downstairs to investigate the commotion.

Vivianne perched upon her friend's bed as she rent the wall asunder. Her hands drifted across the edges of her massive katana, her fingers quickly became acquainted with the razor sharp edge. A slight smile slipped onto her lips, nearly sardonic for all its faintness. Her life was to be altered tonight, and there'd be no going back. Slowly moonlight slipped through until the entire wall collapsed, and Vivianne calmly walked out and observed the sky.

"I need my violin if we are to make any money, Riya." Vivianne stated. She sounded slightly unsure of herself for the first time in her life. Were they really going to do this? The two girls had no useful life skills besides some capability as bards. Vivianne's sword would attract more attention than was necessary, yet she still wanted to keep it. If she learned how to use a sword, she and Riya could become effective mercenaries. Mages were in high demand, considering most of the population couldn't use magic. Having a mage and a fighter who could work together was priceless as mercenaries. As such, they'd assign a very high price to it.

Vivianne glanced to Riya, then darted off. She hurtled along the streets of Lomedor, no doubt damaging her lovely slippers to the point she'd have to pay more to repair them than to purchase a pair of practical footwear. Her eyes lit upon where Captain Raikenza had stood earlier that day, and she idly wondered what she'd think of this. It'd likely be a mixture of disdain and pride for her favorite pair of girls. Vivianne quailed at the thought of her one-and-only substitute mother being unhappy with her.

The two made excellent time to the school, with Vivianne hopping the short fence with ease that was normally unknown to a girl at a school such as this one. She darted around to the back, and looked up to the exact spot where she remembered her window to be.

"I'll be back in a moment." Vivianne explained. She pointed to the window while she threw her shoes and sword into the grass, and began to climb. Ornate and well repaired stone work offered many sturdy hand-holds, and Vivianne was much stronger than the average girl. She took the time to glance into rooms as she clambered up, an empty classroom and a teacher's office were the only sights to see on her three story climb. Vivi reached her destination panting, and knocked on the window sill. In moments, it opened up to reveal her good friend Laenri.

"Vivianne? I'm not your Juliet."
"Nor am I your Romeo. Let me in!" Vivianne declared, scrambling into the room and immediately tearing apart her armoire. She drew her cased violin from the top, and snatched all the spare clothing she had that had been washed recently.

"Vivianne?"
"I'm going away. Can't stand life here anymore."
"But its wonderful. We learn, we'll get good, important husbands..."
"And we'll be as caged as a woman can be? I'm not interested in finding out how anyone can be content as a slave in everything but name." Vivianne snapped. Laenri sighed, and handed Vivianne a piece of cloth she had been about to sew into a pretty new band for her neck.

"Your gills are showing. If you ever come back, I'll have one finished for you." Laenri stated as Vivianne blushed and tied the thing around her neck. She tightened it properly as her friend laughed at her, and then stared at the wall.

"You know, we've known each other for ten years. And we've had so much fun in our captivity! I'm going to miss you. You'd better come back and visit me!" Laenri threatened. She had her hands on her hips as Vivianne embraced her, and then withdrew. With a smile, Vivianne nearly left the window before her friend snatched the violin from her hands and shook her head.

"I'll toss it down to you. You'll break the bloody thing either way." Laenri explained. Vivianne nodded and darted down the architecture, then held out her arms in hopes her friend would catch the thing. Laenri, however, was pointing behind Vivianne, and trying her best not to scream. Vivianne turned around to stare at Riya, who she promptly hugged and gave a thumbs up to Laenri. Laenri glared back, and threw the violin out the window before closing it promptly. Vivianne took a moment to stare in awe before diving out and catching her violin in its box as gently as possible. As it landed in her arms, she knelt down, trying to slow its descent without damaging the precious cargo. The naiad snapped the case open to see if she was successful, and noted no obvious damage. She smiled, and closed it again.

"So where are we going? Ondolond?" Vivianne inquired as she walked from the school's back gardens.

"I'll be back in a moment." Already the werewolf was focused on other matters, lowering her nose to the road to sniff in all directions. Though layers upon layers of scent tracks had been placed upon the immediate area, Riya only wandered small distances from the area her friend left her in investigation. She was unable to keep still, as so many new things filled her senses. Stragglers wandering the streets of Lomedor so late at night did not even cross her mind, as she was well-hidden in the long shadows moonlight cast upon the school Vivianne appeared to have broken into.

Finally managing to calm herself and sit, a new worry soon clawed its way to the front of her mind. Her father, the bastard, would no doubt come looking for her and Vivianne. Without noticing the naiad returning to her side, Riya pivoted slightly to face the direction they came from to keep watch. She didn't know if the man had any silver in his possession, but it wasn't totally out of the question considering his past behavior toward her.

An abrupt hug made the wolf jump and turn. Vivianne, happy as always, soon caught what appeared to be a small case of something. Upon her inspection and Riya's pivoting to face it, it appeared to be some kind of tool. For what, the werewolf couldn't guess. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the near-inevitable as her new fears were realized.

Riya's father knew he should have repaired the walls again last month. Her daughter was a determined little bugger in wolf form, and would most certainly be lost and afraid if she ended up somewhere outside the city without memory of how or why she was there. Then again, he did need to do a study on the memory of lycanthropes yet. If he allowed his daughter to survive, perhaps that could be a possible action to take in the future.

He was a faint outline to her, but the distinctly silver blade he held in his hand was as clear as day, illuminated by the light of the moon. Riya yelped, instantly jumping to her paws. There was little time to act; he was approaching quickly, and that blade looked potentially brutal for both of them. Moving in front of Vivianne in the opposite direction, Riya violently whipped her head toward the naiad in an attempt to get her on her back. At full speed the werewolf was confident she could outrun any normal human, but it wasn't worth risking leaving her friend in the dust.

Within moments, Riya bolted away. Vivianne's weight, however light, slowed her slightly, but it was enough to lose the pursuit of her father. Upon stopping, the pair overlooked the beginning of the ocean, defined by a clear but abandoned strip of beach. Panting, the wolf slowly approached the water and collapsed onto the sand, chest rising and falling erratically from adrenaline.

The night was already beginning to draw to an end, stars in the sky disappearing to isolate the beautiful view of the full moon. Rays of sunlight were only barely beginning to peek over the calm and shipless horizon, not quite enough yet to prompt a transformation back into human form. The exhausted Riya looked up at her friend as if questioning what to do next, though they both knew that full well; abandon this life and start anew.