‘Everfree forest?’ Your eyebrows rise. ‘You live in a forest?’

Luna laughs, the same adorable laugh you’ve learnt to love. ‘No you stupid. I live past the Everfree’ Her expression turns serious. ‘Although I’d rather not go through it.’

‘Why not?’

‘Horrible things live in there. Dark, twisted creatures, born from King Sombra himself’ Luna shudders.

‘Well dont worry.’ You joke with Luna. ‘I’ll protect you from the big, scary monsters’ You jump at Luna, growling like a monster. You grin, and she punches you on the shoulder. You grasp her hand and walk towards the forest.

You push your way through a bush, Luna close behind. ‘I may be the Princess of the moon, but these things, Changelings, are a whole different story.’ Luna walks behind you, treading lightly as to not attract unwanted attention.

The trees’ branches reach out, like bony fingers, reaching out to pull you into the darkness. A small ‘eep’ comes from Luna, and you turn to make sure she is okay. She apologizes to you. ‘Sorry, I’m fine. Just thought I had seen something’

However, as you continue making your way through the bushes, you start to see things too. ‘Uh, Luna. I think you did see something.’ You pick up a nearby rock, chucking it into the bush. You hear a small thud, and a groan.

Luna cowers behind you, and you desperately look for a stick to defend yourself. Not that it would do much good for you anyway. You hear the buzzing of wings, like an insect. You can feel Luna shaking behind you, and you turn to her. ‘Go find a safe place. I dont care if it’s a bush or behind a rock, just get safe.’

Luna nods, then runs off to a nearby boulder. You turn around just in time to deflect a blow from the unknown creature. You swing your fist, attempting to connect with its head. You see brown, almost diseased skin, with brittle fur. I presume this is a changeling. You duck to the side, avoiding another punch from the creature.

The changeling hisses at you, charging you with his horn. You duck down, but instead of retreating, you ram into him. You pick him up by the waist, then slam him down on the floor. The changeling hisses at you, and turns off, running back into the bushes. You presume he ran back to his hidey-hole.

But a scream from Luna tells you he wasn’t going back home. ‘LUNA!’ You charge through the bushes, heading in the rough direction you saw Luna go. As you burst through the bushes and into the clearing, you see the changeling holding Luna in a headlock. It hisses through gritted teeth.

‘Come any closer and I break her neck.’ As you slowly crouch to pick up a rock, the changeling readjust his arms to snap Luna’s frail figure. ‘I mean it.’ His tongue slithers out of his mouth, ending in a snake-like fork. You straighten yourself and put your hands up.

‘No! Get out of here.’ Luna struggles to get her hands in-between the changelings arms and her neck. You growl back at Luna.
‘Dont be stupid! I’m not leaving you here with this freak.’ You glare at the changeling, balling your hands into fist.

‘Brave wordsss from a bare-sssskin.’ The changeling returns your glare of hatred. ‘You walk away now and I’ll sssspare pretty little Luna here.’

You struggle to think of a plan, some sort of course of action. But you can find nothing. Come on, think. You encourage your brain to come up with something. You never were the clever one. Nor the strongest. But you were a fierce fighter. Are, a fierce fighter. You smile. ‘Tell you what, freak-ling. Hand to hand combat, no weapons, just us. I win, you go free, but I take Luna back. You win, well, I’ll probably be dead by then.’

‘And why, ssshould I agree to thissss. Luna will make for quite a ranssssom. If I fight, then I could lossse her. But if I keep her, nothing goessss wrong.’ The changeling starts back towards the bushes, but you stop him.

‘Think about it. You have your horn’ Upon saying this he runs his hand along his sharp, spiked horn. You continue ‘And I have nothing. The chances of you winning are considerably higher, and, If you win, you get to exterminate one more bare-skin in this world.’ The changeling smiles upon your words.

‘You’re in for a world of pain, bare-sssskin.’ The changeling drops Luna by the side of the bush. ‘I’m gonna enjoy cleaning your gutssss off my horn.’ You catch signs of movement from the corner of your eye. You turn to see what it is, and you panic. You see Luna’s horn light up, casting her magic on the Changeling.

‘Luna, No!’ She is puzzled by your reaction. ‘I set the conditions for this fight, and I want fair-play. No interfering.’ Luna stares at you sadly, and is about to speak, but you silence her. You turn your attention to the changeling. ‘One minute, freak-ling.’ He smiles, revealing his broken teeth. You walk over to Luna, crouching down next to her.

‘No no no please don’t do this. I can stop him. Please I’ve only had you for so long.’ Luna’s sobs make you want to cradle her right here. RIght now, with no regards for the changeling you have a fight planned with.

‘Luna, listen to me. I’ll be fine, okay? If it comes to the worst.’ Luna starts to sob again, shaking her head.

‘Don’t. Please, don’t finish that sentence.’

‘Luna. If I lose, if I die.’ You grab her hand. ‘I want you to run. Run and run and never stop. You get as far away from here as possible.’ Luna sobs, tears streaming down her cheeks. But she nods. And in a funny sort of way, that comforts you. You lean in, and you can feel her hot breath against your skin. You kiss her, and knowing this may be your last time seeing her, you want this moment to never end.

But it does. ‘Come on bare-sssskin. I need to get back to the hive, sssso letsssss make this quick.’ You spit at the changeling, making him grin wildly. A shimmer of light appears around the changeling, and his whole form starts to ripple.

You gasp, a short deep breath. Because before you does not stand a horrible, ugly freak-ling. Instead, you lock eyes with the princess of the moon.

The figure speaks, and it sounds like Luna. But, there are other voices there, ones of pain, anger, grief, sadness. ‘Come on honey. Lets dance’

Author's Note

Nearly done with the next chapter. As you have all been doing, let me know what I need to change in this story. See you all soon!