Chapter Text
Tonight was perfect for three reasons. It was a full moon on a clear night, meaning the landscape was washed in beautiful shades of silver and white that illuminated nearly everything. Moe had a wonderful dinner before coming out for her nightly walk, and there was the creature of her dreams sitting right in front of her!
A red panda sat pale red in the moonlight, staring up at her with those dark, adorable eyes, calm as if waiting for her. Her heart raced as she imagined the soft texture of its fur. Typically, animals ran from her despite her desire to love and hug them, but this one just watched her expectantly as she removed a single glove and reached out towards its little head. Her fingertips gently grazed its fur, the creature leaning into her touch, until.
A sharp pain caused her to yelp and pull her hand back, the red panda having briefly sunk its teeth into her hand before running off into the underbrush. Moe could feel her throat tighten and tears well up in her eyes. It was going so well! She wiped her eyes with the uninjured hand and began to shuffle home, her bottom lip quivering in a pout.
Coming into the house, she's greeted by Ze, who has just woken up despite the time, and upon showing him the injury, he quickly fetches Regect, fearing his own reaction to the blood this soon after awakening. Sheepishly, she shows the entity the bite and how she obtained it, being expectantly bombarded with critical remarks,
"Moe. We keep telling you not to pet the wild animals! You're gonna contract rabies or something." His golden eye was stern, but quickly softened.
Despite his harshness, he gently disinfected and bandaged the wound, Ze returning once he was done to repeat the entity's point about not trusting random wild animals. Moe honked that she understood, although she silently stated it would not be the last time.
Suddenly, she feels a wave of sleepiness hit her. Maybe getting bit made people tired, she'd have to ask Regect later, but for now she excused herself to her room, changing into more comfortable sleepwear, and sat on her bed with a sketchbook to draw the Red Panda from before. As she does, filling multiple pages in the process with pencil marks and red marker, she notes the bite is starting to itch. But that means it's healing, right? Finally, after drawing to her heart's content, she lies down to sleep.
-
Claws dig into the wood in front of her as Moe climbs the oak tree. The thick fur on the bottom of her paws blocks the rough texture as she ascends, grabbing onto branches to go higher.
Finally, she breaks the upper layer of leaves and looks out onto the forest. Her whiskers twitch as a breeze goes by. In the distance, she can see the familiar green of bamboo, and she begins to scale the treetops. Moe needs to be there. Her body moves like it's always been this way, almost floating on the canopy as she reaches the emerald stalks, hopping onto one and tightly wrapping her large paws around it. It bends but does not snap, giving her a semi-stable perch.
It's peaceful here. Moe closes her eyes and inhales the fresh air, which smells of…bacon?
-
Moe groggily opened her eyes, hugging her pillow as an overwhelming scent took over her nose. Regect must be cooking, but then why didn't he come wake her up? She yawns and attempts to rub the sleep out of her face before sitting up. Today is a lazy day, she decides, and so she comes downstairs still in her sleep pants and tank top, paying no mind to the burn scars that cralwed up her left arm.
Greeting a sleepy Ze, who was only staying up long enough to get food before retreating into the dark like the vampire he was, she sat next to him to watch Regect. Weird thing was tho, he had barely started. The bacon was sizzling, sure, but it shouldn't have smelled that good from upstairs. In fact, it was making her mouth water now. Maybe she was just really hungry.
It was torturous to watch the entity work his magic, but she was eventually rewarded with a plate of bacon and sunny-side-up eggs, just the way she liked it. Grabbing her horn out of her pocket, she honked appreciatively before digging in. Dipping the bacon into the yolk and eating the whites once the pork was gone, it was a simple but effective breakfast. She grabbed her horn again,
"This is your best yet, Regect!!"
The entity gave a thumbs up mid-chew, and Ze had just gotten done licking his plate clean. Once they were all done, the vampire excused himself upstairs, leaving her and Regect alone. He looked at her wrapped hand,
"So, how's the bite?"
Upon being reminded of it, she took a moment to scratch through the bandage, only to have her hand redirected by black claws,
"Does it itch?"
Moe nodded and tried to ignore the feeling, watching as the entity seemed to think on it before shrugging,
"Alright…Don't scratch it and please avoid petting the wildlife, at least for a bit?"
The clown rolled her eyes and waved him off, lifting her horn,
"Yes, yes, I know. Same with you." She pointed at the fresh bite on his neck, which he reflexively covered with a gold blush,
"That's different-"
"Yeah, yeah sure," She teased, sticking her tongue out, and he did the same back.
They stay like that for a moment before breaking out into laughter. That's one thing Moe loved about her friends, that they could be so casually silly. No day was ever alike, and it helped immensely when her thoughts would get dark.
Today seemed like a pretty day, sunshine flowing into the windows as birds sang outside. Nice walking weather! Moe stood up and walked towards the stairs, planning to head into her room and change. But as her foot landed on the first step, she suddenly felt lightheaded, and her whole body went numb. Her vision spun, stomach flipped, and everything seemed to come down to a hazy pinprick. Falling backwards, she collapsed to the wooden floor, red hair pooling around her head like blood. She couldn't hear Regect's worried cries as her eyes closed.
Numb darkness, slowly fading into warmth as Moe's eyes opened again, wincing at the light. She was in her bed now, and her whole back felt sore. Her mind was still dizzy, everything swirling together as it attempted to process everything. Her throat tightened, and tears welled up in her eyes, letting out a small sob. Two presences were quick to hold her close, one warm and one cold. Moe cried into them, weakly wrapping her arms around each one. The tears eventually faded, and Ze and Regect pulled back to look at her. She looked around for her horn before deciding to just sign for now.
"What happened?"
The two looked at each other before Regect sighed,
"You passed out at the bottom of the stairs. I woke up Ze to come help. What was that??"
Moe blinked; her head really hurt now. She brought up a hand to press it to her temple, only to feel a sudden warmth at her nose. Ze's expression turned to shock, and he excused himself, exiting her vision as Regect's eyes widened a little. Her nose felt clogged, but wet. Bringing a hand up, she wiped away the substance, looking at her fingers to see bright red. The entity gently sat her up and grabbed a tissue, prompting her to lean forward and pinch her nose while Ze watched from afar.
The headache is pounding now, and she weakly signed to Regect to ask for medicine, which he quickly retrieves. It soothes the pain a bit, but a pit of dread sits deep in her gut, as well as the other two.
The next few days aren't much better, as Moe quickly falls into a stubborn fever, requiring a constant supply of Tylenol and water to try and keep it in check. All the while, the woman is miserable, constantly wrapped up in blankets as the headache persists. Of course, Regect and Ze are worried, but there's not much they can do, and so they take shifts in the day and night to watch after her.
It was hell, and all she could do was lie there and hope that whatever mystery illness this was would pass already. Maybe she picked up a virus from one of the many entities that roamed around their world, and by proxy, their house. Maybe it was a fluke, and she'd be better any minute now. Whatever the case, for now, she slipped in and out of delirious sleep, occasionally accepting pills and water from her two friends when prompted.
Finally, one morning, she wakes up in a sweat; the fever has finally broken. But she's still a sore, sweaty mess. But as the heat fades, she notices something. The smells, the sounds. They're all cranked up to eleven and bombard her nervous system. Shaking her head, she unwraps herself from the blanket cocoon and heads into the shower, washing away the stress of the past few days.
It was then, looking in the mirror, that she noticed the typical softness of her body had toned slightly. It wasn't much, and she certainly didn't feel stronger, but it was there. This was all starting to feel stranger than she liked, so she tucked her doubts away, getting dressed and coming downstairs to Regect, who joyfully commented on her feeling better. Oddly, she had smelled him before she saw him. He smelled like a bed of jasmine flowers, fresh-brewed tea, and she could somehow tell he had hugged Ze recently. Moe rubbed at her nose, willing the scents to go away as she sat at the dinner table.
"Hungry? Hold tight, I'll make you something-"
It felt easier to block out all the new sensations when she watched the entity go around the kitchen. She had to admit he was good at cooking when he was actually locked in, but nothing beat Ze making steak. And they all agreed Moe was the bona fide queen of cakes.
Regect fixed her up a basic meal of eggs, considering it took the least effort, and toast, placing it in front of her hungry eyes. Her mouth watered more than ever, and she tore in like a wild animal, wolfing it down in just a few seconds, looking up to see the entity a bit shocked,
"Was it that good?"
She nodded as he took the plate and washed it in the sink. Moe was feeling antsy now; she needed to move around. So out the door she went to run off her energy.
So starts the cycle, eating ravenously, and running off to burn off all her new energy. While Ze and Regect were happy to see her better, it came with an edge of nervousness at the new behavior. The way Moe was eating, how she constantly sniffed the air, and sometimes covered her ears at average sounds, like door knocking, items being dropped, or even when one of them spoke a little louder. But Moe felt great!
In fact, one day she followed her nose to the nearby bamboo jungle and just couldn't help herself. Soon she was sitting among the greenery, tearing open the tough stalks to eat the softer flesh within. It tasted like ambrosia, and she didn't even like bamboo before! Moe ate till her stomach nearly burst and shuffled home, refusing to explain when she denied dinner in favor of crawling up the stairs to lie in bed.
But, it wasn't all joy and new experiences; every time she looked at the moon, her chest seemed to twist in anxiety. Watching as it slowly moved to become full once more. With each passing day, the dread grew. Ze was the first to notice, and while his concern was appreciated, Moe wanted to deal with this on her own. Prove she was capable. The vampire wanted to push, demand an answer, but he knew better, and silently let it go.
It's too much when the full moon finally arrives, driving Moe to hide in her room, curtains drawn, hiding under the blankets. Her body burned worse than the fever, stinging like fire and acid. That's when she realized she was shifting. Her bones creaked with effort, and she let out a long, pained whine as her whole body was set aflame, fur shooting up to cover any exposed skin and her clothes becoming tight.
It was agonizing, but it eventually faded, leaving her slumped against the mattress. Taking a few moments to recover, she slowly stumbled to look in the mirror, only to see a red panda looking back, eyes wide in shock and terror.