So afraid...

It was time... the sun was about to go down, and Rise was scared to death. She spent a full hour pacing her dorm, wondering how bad it would be if she just hid somewhere that wasn't their agreed meeting spot. Wondering if she should just run away from school so she would never have to deal with his soft smile, his warm eyes, the comforting gaze. "Cut it out Rise! He's not all that... charming..." "Yes he is! What are you talking about? He's a vampire, he's charming, lovely, and he likes YOU! You're an idiot to think you can get away from that!" And so the battle went on in her head, until the clock struck time that she needed to leave, and she made a hasty decision, and grabbed her traveling cloak from under her bed, and walked downstairs. A few people stared as she passed, but she kept her head low, and put on her cloak after she had left the common room.

The sun was going down, and it was nearly curfew by the time Rise had trekked across the large expanse of lawn and made it to the forest's edge. It wasn't fair, her having to do this once a month, and now... now Ryo would see it. She had guzzled her potion that would keep her sane for her transformation, and keep her mind in her body once she had changed, but as it was, she didn't know if she could trust herself, obviously the potion needed to be made stronger or something, but Rise wasn't about to ask Alice to do that. So Rise, hood over head, plunged into the forest and walked as far in as she dared, finding the small clearing she had agreed to meet Ryo in. There was a pond in the clearing, and Rise found herself standing next to the pond, trying to imagine how it would look to Ryo when he saw her transforming. Now though, all she had to do is wait and see if he would show.

Ryo sat on his bed in the boy's dormitiories, a battle between the boy and the vampire raging in his head. So far the vampire was losing to the boy. "I have to help her. I promised I would. And I'm not one to go against my promises..." "But she's a werewolf, it's the perfect reason for going against your promise. You are natural enemies, you can't be friends!" "Yes we can!" He looked at the clock and saw it was time for him to meet Rise in the Forbidden Forest. He sighed, tried to block out the vampire, and ran out of the Hufflepuff dungeon as fast as he could, using his vampire speed to make sure he would get there in time. He heard murmers from some of the other Hufflepuffs as he pased by them on his way out, they were whispering about Rise, saying something about the "freak leaving to change". He looked back at them quickly and left.

He made sure no professors saw him run out of the castle, since it was almost curfew and he didn't want to get stopped. Once he stepped outside though he frose in his place. The battle in his mind began again, and this time his whole body was in the battle. The vampire was telling his body to run back into the safety of the castle, to leave the wolf to do what she wanted, so long as he was safe, from becoming one of them. But the boy was putting up quite the fight, he wasn't about to give into the vampire, something he didn't want to be, and he wasn't going to let his friend down when he promised he would be there for her. Finally the boy won and he ran into the Forbidden Forest, hiding his face from anyone who could be outside at the time. When he saw the clearing where he had agreed to meet Rise, he began to slow down until he saw the pond. He stopped right in front of it and looked around, until his eyes landed on Rise. He stood in his place and stared at her for a moment before he spoke. "Rise..."

Rise stood, staring at her reflection for a long time. She could feel the call of the moon, feel the need to go towards it. Seriously wanting to be apart of it, yearning for the touch of it's cold streams of light as it encased her body in it's rays. Just as she was feeling completely transfixed with the feeling of waiting for the moon to come out, she heard her name. She immediately spun around, and nearly fell into the pond, her mind racing and her heart hammering, until she realized who it was. Ryo... he had come.

Rise couldn't help but let out a sob of relief, a part of her had been so afraid he wouldn't show up, would leave her to think of him, as she handled the pain again, alone, just like every other time. She found herself taking a few stumbling steps towards him, and then she ran straight towards him, and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, her whole body shaking hard with the attempt to not cry. "Thank you... thank you so much." She whispered into his shoulder, "I thought you wouldn't show! Thank you." She whispered, tears leaking down her face as she held onto him, feeling the call of the moon, her whole body rejecting being so close to a night biter this late, but knowing she wanted to transform and he was there to be with her.

"Thank you... I.. I gotta... I gotta.. transform soon." She whispered, pulling away from him, and looking him in the eyes. Her eyes were bright yellow suddenly, and she could feel her body starting to tingle painfully. "It's starting soon.. thank you so much for being here.." She whispered, to afraid to let go of him now that she had him here, afraid the vampire inside him would kill her if she didn't keep herself and him under control. He had to let her do this.. he had to watch, and she was so afraid that he would lash out when she was weak. "Are you ready?"

Ryo looked up at the sky, seeing the last rays of the sun slowly disappear. The moon was going to be coming out soon, he felt his body tighten slightly, and he took a deep breath, before looking in Rise's direction again. He saw her coming toward him and as soon as he felt her arms around his neck, his arms went around her immediately and he closed his eyes. He felt a smile creep onto his face, and he sighed. "I would never break my promise and leave you alone." he said softly, hugging her a bit tighter. "I won't leave you..." he added and he pulled away from her as she did.

He stared into her eyes and nodded. "And I'll be right here when you do." he told her softly, putting his hand on her cheek. He noticed the sudden change in her eye color, and his eyes changed to a gold color, as his worry for her grew. He looked at her, stuggling to keep the vampire under control, and smiled at her. It was the only thing he could do to comfort her right then. "You don't have to thank me..." he said softly, nodding as she said her transformation was starting soon. He quickly looked up at the sky again, and saw it was almost completely dark. He braced himself for her transformation, and he tried to lock the vampire away so he wouldn't take control and try to hurt Rise.

He kept his hand where it was and looked down at Rise again. He exhaled heavily and nodded at her. "I'm ready." he said sounding confident, but he inside he was unsure of how he would actually react to her once she transformed.

Rise felt her body stiffen, and her breathing got more and more ragged. She whimpered softly, and closed her eyes, shaking as she felt his hand on hers, the contact, it kept her grounded and she took a deep shuddering breath. The pain was intense starting off, even if nothing was visibly happening, Rise was shaking under the pressure, the moon was coming up, and the longing, the pure, unadulterated desire, it was so strong, so intense, it was as though nothing else mattered, or existed. But she had a strong mental image in her head, and she grabbed his hand tighter, squeezing it as she pictured that image in her head, pictured his fingers locked in hers. And then she pulled away from him, her eyes opening.

"Please.. don't hate me." She whispered and stumbled away from him, pain so strong crashing over her, it was all she could do to stay on her feet. Her eyes looked around the clearing, panicked, trying to find an escape route, but there was no where to go, sure there was plenty of places to go, but she knew they all wouldn't take her where she wanted to go. To the moon. Her eyes suddenly trained on the horizon, where the full moon was rising. The trees hid it from view for a long, silent, moment. The clearing went completely still, and it was as though the entire forest was holding it's breath. And then the moon shone through the trees and struck Rise where she stood.

Automatically the changing started. Her skin started to crawl, her bones cracking beneath it's surface. Hair sprouted along her body, and her nose elongated, her body shuddered and she fell to her knees, her hands on the ground, gripping the soft earth beneath fingernails, that were quickly growing to large claws. Her nose lengthening, her knees bending awkwardly, in the half stages of transforming. Her mind was also undergoing strange battles as she sat on the ground, growing in size, hair sprouting along her body, her clothes ripping off of her, her cloak still caught around her throat, making her look like the big bad wolf from Little Red Riding Hood.

Rise found her eyes searching for Ryo's, and in the middle of the horrendous pain of her entire body shifting shapes, the sounds of bone cracking, her crying and yelling out in pain turning into whimpers and growls, her mind slowly turning more into the wolves, but Rise was still there. But her eyes found Ryo's, and she whimpered softly, a tail growing from her tailbone, hair sprouting along the bare skin as it stretched out. And suddenly, there was a single last whimper, and it went silent.

Rise lay on the ground, chest heaving, hiding her muzzle beneath her paws. Auburn hair covering her now perfectly beautiful wolf body. The descriptions of werewolves made them sound so horrible, so ugly, and mutilated. In reality, they were gorgeous creatures, huge wolves, much larger then normal ones. About shoulder height to a tall male, at the shoulder of the wolf, Rise slowly found herself standing on huge paws, her tail slowly wagging, before she let her eyes find his again, bright yellow eyes finding his color changing ones, wanting to see his emotions at seeing the beautiful wolf bathed in moonlight before him. Her tail wagged slightly and she whimpered, looking around the clearing, before searching his eyes again, waiting for his reaction.

Ryo stared at the sky, waiting for the moon to finally come out. He felt Rise grab his hand tighter and he grabbed hers the same way. He didn't look at her though, his mind and eyes focused on the sky. His attention was drawn from the sky for a moment when she pulled away from him. He immediately looked at her, his eyes completely gold now, worried about her. "I won't hate you... I won't" he said. He looked at the sky again and then finally, he saw the moon come out. It was hidden by the trees for a moment, and then it finally came out and it's rays hit the spot where Rise stood. Ryo held his breath, watching her transform. Even the vampire was quiet watching the process of pain she had to go through to transform.

Then finally, he began to talk. "Get out of here. Before she kills you." "No! I won't leave her alone. She won't hurt me, she drank a potion so she would stay in control" "She'll lose control, they always do, and when she does, you'll be the first she attacks!" "Good, if she does, I'll finally be rid of you." With that the vampire shut up, and didn't say another word. Ryo hadn't noticed that his eyes had closed from the fight between him and the vampire, and he opened them quickly to look at Rise's new form.

The boy found himself intrigued by the wolf before him, but the vampire felt disgusted. Ryo stared at Rise, but not in fright or disgust, he stared at her with intrigue and in awe. He hadn't ever really seen a werewolf while they were transformed, and even though he should feel threatened, he really wasn't. The boy wasn't anyways, and it seemed that now the boy's will was stronger than the vampire's, because Ryo felt himself going near the wolf. He stood right in front of her and kneeled down to look at her in the eyes. He searched her eyes, opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it, unsure of what to say.

Rise couldn't help but back away and cower down when he came over to her. Inside, she was so afraid he would attack her on the spot, kill her, hurt her, or run away. But when he came over and knelt by her, she rested her head on the ground and stared up at him, her tail wagging once before it fell still on the ground behind her. She looked up at him, and then sniffed his hand, and licked it before she spoke, it appeared as though her lips weren't moving, but the words came out as a soft, warm tone of Rise, from the wolf who lay in front of him. "I...I... thank you.. for not running." She sniffed his hand, and then very, very slowly, licked it, and looked up at him, her eyes no longer a strange yellow color, more of a golden yellow that came from the light of a fire in a dark room.

Rise sniffed his hand again, and then rolled over onto her back, showing him that she was still Rise, she was still here, and he had the power. "It doesn't.. hurt anymore... once the transformation is done... it stops hurting." She wagged her tail again, and then looked up at him, a wolfish grin on her face. "It's kind of like being an animagus.. except it hurts really bad to transform." She whimpered and rolled back over, looking at him with pleading eyes, before she stood up fully and towered over him, showing him just how big of a wolf she was. "I'm hideous.. I know.." She looked at the lake that was bathed in moonlight, and then turned her tail on him and walked over to it, lapping at the water for a long moment, she was always thirsty after that much pain. She couldn't help but keep her eyes away from him, unable to see the hatred that must be there in his eyes. He had just witnessed a horrible scene, a werewolf transformation, how could he be standing there so... calmly.

Finally she drank as much as she could before she turned and looked at him again, her tail between her legs. "It's still me... you know.. I'm still here... I won't hurt you..." She said softly, wishing he could believe her, wishing the vampire inside would believe her as well. "Even if I wasn't under the potion.. I wouldn't hurt you you know... My.. my other part.. the wolf... she doesn't hurt anyone... she'd rather jump in the lake and drown then hurt someone... and she wouldn't hurt you... not if I asked her not to.. and I already have, and she's agreed." She couldn't believe she was talking about herself in the third person, it felt so wrong, but she knew it was there. That other personality restrained by a potion. "She's more... like a hyper puppy anyway." Rise laid back down on the ground, and wagged her tail once or twice, wanting him to know that she was completely at his will. If he wished to kill her, he may, and she'd forgive him for it too.

Ryo noticed that Rise cowarded when he neared her, and he smiled gently at her. "I won't hurt you, I promise." he told her. He looked down at his hand when she licked it, the vampire completely disgusted that she was touching him. But he didn't pull away from her or anything, he didn't move. He looked into her eyes and smiled again. "I wouldn never run from you, no matter what form you're in." he said softly. His eyes were still a sort od gold shade, but they were slowly turing back to their normal green blue color. Now all he did was smile at her, not knowing what else to say.

Once she said she wasn't in pain anymore, Ryo felt his eyes go back to their normal color completely. "Really?" he asked her, wanting to make sure she was fine. His question was answered when she rolled onto her back. He smiled and sighed in relief. He fell back and put his hands on the ground to support him when she stood up comepletely. The vampire began to hiss at her, thinking that she was going to bite him at any moment, but Ryo just stared at her. "No, your not." he said, putting his hand the side of her face, going against the vampire's words of fleeing. He watched her go toward the lake and drink some of the water while staying in the same position. His eyes suddenly began to turn red with the vampire's anger of how nice he was being to the wolf. Ryo froze and refused to move with the vampire's anger surging through him. "You gave her the perfect opportunity to attack you just now. What were you thinking?!" "Well, she didn't take it, did she? That means she won't attack me!" "Don't expect it to stay like that for long, we have to attack her before she attacks us!" "No I won't let you hurt her." Ryo stuggled to stay on the ground while he fought with the vampire for control of his body movements.

Ryo looked at Rise with his still red eyes and tried to smile. "I know... you won't... Rise." he said. "And I won't... hurt you..." he added softly. The vampire of course refused to believe what she said. He thought at that when she had the perfect chance she would kill him, and for once in his life he was scared. He smiled at her again, and nodded. "He won't hurt you either... I promise you that." he said, still trying to shut up the vampire, saying he wanted to kill her. Ryo wasn't going to let this thing get loose from his control, he was going to keep him under wraps, no matter what it took. She laid back down on the ground, and Ryo understood what she wanted him to know. "Go! kill her!" "N... no!" He walked closer to her, his hair seeming to create shadows that covered his eyes as he walked near her.

Rise knew he was fighting against his mind. He was fighting, and it scared her to think that he could lose. She would forgive him, if he attacked her, she would always forgive him. She would mostly likely win any battle between them, simply because he was fighting, and she would be defending, he would be fighting to people at once, the vampire, and her, and he couldn't take both for to long, she would win... but at what cost she didn't know. Rise stared at him as he came near her, and saw his eyes were red. That was bad, very, very, very bad. His eyes were red.. he was coming towards her, immediately a fight of flight response went off in her head, and she cowered closer to the ground, staring up at him, her tail between her legs. "Ryo.." She whispered, hoping he was in his full senses.

She was scared stiff, she knew she would forgive him if he hurt her.. but she didn't want to die. Not yet.. she had a life ahead of her, and her fear of the unknown made her to scared to move. Her tail went between her legs, and she cowered on the ground in front of him. She was at his mercy, and she just hoped he would give her mercy, at least not hurt her to badly. She whimpered softly, a very soft whine escaping her throat. He was fighting hard, and she knew it could possibly be a losing battle, she had to escape, had to get away, but she was to afraid! Her legs wouldn't move, her body was motionless against the ground, and she was thinking of every possible thing she could do to fight him off without hurting him at all. She could jump on him, pin him to the ground.. but she risked hurting his head, she could trip him, and then pin him down, but she risked him biting her. A bite from a vampire was the last thing she wanted.

"Ryo, please..." She looked up at him, pleading with his human side to look past the wolf form and see Rise, not the dog, but the human Rise, who liked him very much.

A few feet away from her, Ryo stopped walking. "I'm not going to do what you say." "Do it! We have to kill her while we have the advantage. You know she could kill us easily" "If she does at least I won't have to hear you anymore." Ryo covered his ears with his hands, trying to block out the vampire. He didn't want to listen to him anymore, he didn't want to fight with him anymore. But he had to fight, or else he would lose control of his body and mind, and he wasn't going to put Rise in danger of the vampire. He just wasn't. His head began to hurt badly, and he started to walk again. "Rise..." he said softly, trying to let her know that he was still in control of his mind and body.

"You're weak, if you won't kill her I will!" "No! I won't let you take control! You won't get your way!" He continued to stuggle against the vampire, but he couldn't stop himself from walking toward Rise anymore. His eyes were still red and they seemed to be turning a darker shade of red. He wanted to just run away, he didn't want to lose control in front of her. But he couldn't do anything, he just watched as he walked near her. Now even his fang were showing, the vampire was winning the battle, the boy was getting weaker. He could tell she was afraid, and the vampire smirked. He had the advantage of her now, and he was free to attack. But something stopped him. He looked into her eyes again, and finally the human was able to win, his eyes went back to their normal color and he fell to his knees in front of her.

He went limp and looked at the ground for a while, without saying a word. Then he finally looked up at her again, and he smiled his usual gentle smile, telling her the vampire had lost the fight. "I said I wouldn't hurt you... didn't I?" he continued to smile at her.