Chapter 00

Prologue

October 31st, 2025

"You bastards!"

A young white-haired male charges at a group of men, his only reliable weapon at the moment being his right arm. Before he can strike, however, one of the men cuts him across the face with a blade, another man grabbing him by the back of the neck before throwing him out the second floor window.

"You don't know who you're messing with, runt."

~Point of View shift~

I glare up at the men, instinctively spreading my one wing out despite never having used it before, startling the men as an immediate result.

"What the Hell are you!"

"Let's get out of here before They show up!"

"Light it up!"

I watch as the house suddenly bursts into flames, the intruders all escaping unscathed and unpunished. I feel the heat of the fire, but nothing else.

Hours later, sometime around 11pm

I run back into the house as the flames die out gradually, unfazed by the heat thanks to my genetics, quickly finding and recovering the Hidden Blade my mother once used, strapping it onto my left arm without any concern for my safety, blood covering the left side of my face, and my right arm glowing brighter than the flames surrounding me. I calmly speak the words my mother always said I should remember, picking up an old branding tool my mother claimed was how she got her scar on her left ring finger. I clearly remember her saying that this mark is what marks a person loyal to the Brotherhood and whom is born into it by blood. I silently clamp my left ring finger with the branding iron, leaving the iron there for a moment...

After the burn becomes permanently etched into the skin of that one finger on my left hand, I remove the iron from my finger and gather the remaining tools my mother kept safe, including the strange orb-shaped artifact in the dresser drawer and a small sooty-black robe. Once I retrieve my mother from her room upstairs, I slowly make my way back out the front door, exiting the house just as emergency vehicles arrive on the scene.

"Hey! Someone's coming out!"

"Search for more survivors!"

"Kid! Hey, kid!"

I look up as one fireman approaches, promptly retracting my wing and turning my right arm human before he could actually see my appearance through the smoke. I continue to stagger away from the building, doing my best to carry my mother's body as far from the house as I can, her left arm draped across my shoulders, her left hand held firmly by my right hand, my left arm supporting her upper body.

"Anyone else in there?"

"...She's the only one who lived there with me..."

I continue to move further away from the house, soon making my way towards the bridge that connects Capulet City to Twilight Town's residential zones. I ignore the men who try to keep me from leaving, determined to make it to the nearest safe-house possible. I never make it to the front door before I collapse from exhaustion...

4 hours later

I come back to awareness to find myself in a forest, seemingly alone. Above, the full moon shines brightly. The light burns my eyes, the smell of blood and gunpowder assaulting my nose... What's going on? I suddenly realize I'm not alone at all. Someone, or something, is nearby...watching...waiting... I quickly try to stand up, right arm glowing brightly as though to drive off the darkness of the woods. Behind me, a faint gasp escapes the lips of the observer, prompting me to spin around, almost falling over upon trying to stand on my feet properly... What's wrong with my legs!?

"Stay back, Rose. It might still be dangerous."

"Of course it's still dangerous! It's a freaking Werewolf!"

"Stop shouting..."

Of all the things that could have happened, why did this have to happen? I groan at the shouting, placing a hand over my forehead, only to find that it's no longer a hand, but a PAW. What the hell happened to my hands!? Where am I?!

"Hold on... Something isn't right here..."

I soon see a brown trench-coat come into view. I lift my head up slightly, soon seeing a brown-haired man with a VERY familiar face... I immediately start trying to back away, not yet sure of who this man is.

"He certainly doesn't seem feral... What's wrong with his eye...?"

I soon see the man crouch down, a hand reaching out to try and touch my left eye... The fire! The house! Mother! I have to find her! I start to grow more restless, shifting my weight from one forepaw to the other, ears twitching around constantly to try and find some trace of sound that could possibly lead me back to Twilight Town to find my mother...

"Easy boy, I'm not going to hurt you..."

"Where's my mom!? Where am I?!"

"...Wait, you speak English?"

"Why wouldn't I!? Now answer my question!"

"...You're in the woods north of Twilight Town... How did you get turned?"

"Turned?"

"Do you really not remember anything?"

"No. I was out cold for the past 4 hours... My home was destroyed, and I was trying to carry my mother to safety when I passed out."

"Where were you?"

"Just a foot away from a close friend's house. I passed out before I could reach the door to knock. Now which way's town? I need to find my mother so I could make sure she's buried properly and not taken by a bunch of idiots..."

"I'm afraid you can't go back now."

"Why not!?"

I bare my two rows of fangs in anger, the wound on my left eye suddenly fading along with whatever blood was left on my face, my eyes glowing with a foreign energy. At that moment, another man speaks up.

"...Because you're a monster now. You'll kill people, and it's not safe to let you live..."

As soon as I heard that voice, something snapped within me, and something told me this man wasn't human. I turn to glare at the man in red, snarling out a phrase he probably never heard before in his life.

"I'm not a monster like you are, demon!"

"What did you say?"

I suddenly unfurl my wing, spreading it out to full span as I rear up onto my hind feet, using the wing to balance.

"I'm not a monster, you damn demon! You're not human at all, are you!?"

"...I'm half human. You're a Werewolf."

"I'm HALF ANGEL!"

A sudden wave of energy surges out from deep within myself, forcing everyone to back off as my eyes turn vivid-green, the aura of my Angel half immediately becoming fully active. The man in red who was speaking earlier recoiled noticeably away from the energy, causing me to smirk.

"Not so tough now that you know the truth, huh?"

"You're still a Werewolf, even with that wing..."

The click of the safety on a gun reaches my ears. I immediately vanish from view, suddenly pinning the man down with my right forepaw, eyes locked onto his, the blade on my left wrist extending out from the fur, pointed right at the man's face where he can see it.

"Don't test me, you stupid bastard..."

My claws dig in deep, drawing blood. The man goes rigid for a few moments, then loosens slightly when nothing else happens.

"...Why am I not like you yet?"

"Because you're not me... You didn't grow up with no clue who your father was, and you didn't lose your mother to humans, either... And you damn well aren't cursed with the rotten luck I have... I lost everything on my birthday, and now I'm never going to be able to live a normal life again..."

"I meant 'How am I not a Werewolf yet'?"

I glare at him, clearly not knowing the answer.

"Does it matter how? I'm not trying to turn anyone into a beast... I'm just trying to get answers so I can look for my mother..."

"...Who are you?"

"Nero Crescent... Formerly half-human, half-angel... Now I'm just half-angel, and half beast..."

I snarl at him, removing my paw from his chest as the blade retracts into my left foreleg. I look at him for a moment longer, then start to turn away.

"...I'm Dante Sparda... That man's the Doctor, and the young lady over there is Rose Tyler."

I freeze, one forepaw held off the ground half-way through a step. I slowly turn my head to actually look at the two people, one a Time Lord, the other a Human who absorbed the Time Vortex once... I then turn around completely, giving the Doctor another careful, observant stare...

"Hello."

I step forward, then suddenly break into a run, tackling the Time Lord to the ground before laying down with my muzzle on his upper chest, just below the base of his neck, one ear pressed against the center of his chest, searching for the telltale double heartbeat that all Time Lords possess...

"...Errr..."

"...It's true, then... You're still alive..."

"Have we met...?"

"...I died on Gallifrey, after the portal closed... Death gave me another life, Doctor... The Drums are gone."

I silently back off, turning to look in the direction of town. Not that it matters now... I just don't have any luck now, do I? I calmly start walking back towards town, oblivious to the three people I'm leaving behind... I have more important things on my mind at this point.

If I were to have turned around at that moment, I would have seen tears begin to form in the old Time Lord's eyes...

I continued to walk, soon breaking into a run, never stopping until I reach the top of a tall cliff overlooking the town.

At that moment...if one were to step outside their home at just the right time in Twilight Town...

One could hear the howl of a Lone Wolf.