Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. All belong to the vanished Square Pictures.
Author's Note: Here it is, the inevitable werewolf fic from me. I've challenged myself to do werewolf fics for as many Final Fantasies as I can. Sorry for subjecting you to that... And this originally wasn't going to be divided into chapters, but I had a disk problem and am in the process of retyping this. I didn't have the time to type out the entire thing before Halloween.
By the way, if this story does well enough, it could begin a supernatural series, the "Falls the Shadow" series, which takes place post-film. What do you think?
SHADOW MOON
A 'Falls the Shadow' fic
Part One
Full Moon Rising
...A fleeting shadow on a lonely night...
Gray didn't know where the line came from; perhaps it was from a song, or a bit of poetry Aki had once read to him. Whatever it was, it seemed appropriate. He, and the other members of his Deep Eyes squad, seemed to be chasing a shadow, something that would appear as a brief flash on their censors before vanishing.
Around him, the skeletal buildings of old New York clawed at the star-studded sky, obscuring the full moon and casting deep shadows of solid blackness. If it weren't for the helmet scanners that bathed the world in amber, they wouldn't have been able to see anything.
"We lost it again, Captain," Neil said, his voice nearly a whisper. Gray didn't blame him; there was a strange feel to the atmosphere that seemed to deter even the Phantoms, who hadn't yet made an appearance despite the temptation of four spirits. Their absence made Gray uneasy, and he tightened his grip on his Nocturne.
"It's like we're hunting a ghost," Ryan murmured. So he feels it, too... "How can we be sure it's even a life form?" The satellite had picked up a spirit in New York that could only be classified as "non-Phantom." Gray and his team had been sent to extract the intruder from the restricted area.
"Neil, where was it before it vanished?" Gray asked.
Neil consulted his handheld computer. "Two blocks that way," he pointed.
"Any sign of Phantoms?"
"None." Neil sounded as baffled as Gray felt. The invaders should have been swarming them by now.
Gray mentally reviewed what he knew about the streets in the area. "So there are two ways it could have gone, right?" Neil nodded. "We split into two groups. Ryan, Jane, take the left approach. Neil, you're with me. Keep your communications line open and alert us at the first sign of phantoms."
"Right, sir," Jane said, slipping off after Ryan, both silent despite the heavy weight of their armor.
"This way, Neil," Gray said, heading towards a solid-seeming patch of shadow, quickly becoming swallowed by the blackness. Neil followed behind, head turning to and fro as he searched for Phantoms.
"Captain, do you think this could be a trap?" There was a nervous edge to the tech's voice, which disturbed Gray. Neil may not have looked the part of the ideal soldier, but his courage was unquestionable.
"I hope not," Gray said after a moment. He'd wondered that himself.
"Very reassuring," Neil muttered.
Gray didn't respond as he picked his way through the debris, steeling himself against the sight of the long dead city. If he allowed himself to see the dry bones amidst the rubble, the seeming hopelessness of the struggle to survive could be overwhelming. Gray knew of a corporal who had gone mad on his first city wasteland recon.
Bone snapped beneath Neil's boots. "Sorry," he murmured apologetically.
Gray just shook his head before continuing his search. Where was the elusive spirit? And where were the Phantoms? This wasn't like them at all...
There was a hollow clattering noise, and Gray turned back to his corporal. "Neil," he began sternly.
"It wasn't me - " Neil protested, then broke off as a dark shape detached itself from the shadows, its solid bulk slamming into Gray and knocking him backwards.
Gray's breath was driven from his lungs and he couldn't even cry out as a massive fang-filled maw filled his vision.
"Captain!" Neil cried, drawing his Nocturne into firing position and shooting into the dark shape's body. The bio-etheric burst seemed to have little effect on it.
"Sarge! Jane! We need back up!" Neil cried. Gray thrashed beneath his attacker, drawing in ragged gasps of breath as he struggled to pull his legs up to his chest. Perhaps he could kick this... thing away.
A sharp pain seared through Gray's arm, where the thing's teeth had found their way through the gap above his gauntlet. He cried out, trying to yank his arm from the creature's vise-like grasp.
He finally succeeded in drawing his legs up, and slammed his feet with all the force he could muster into the thing's abdomen. It released his arm, but seemed none the worse for wear.
What the hell is this thing? Gray could only vaguely make out glittering eyes set deeply in a shaggy head.
Suddenly, it's head jerked back, and Gray's ears were assaulted by a howl of agony. From its neck, Gray could see the hilt of a knife thrusting out. It screamed again, clawing at the knife - Look at those claws! - before tossing Neil a furious glare.
"Oh, shit," Neil hissed as the thing continued to stare at him a moment, the blood that spurted from its wound apparently forgotten.
"Captain!" came Ryan's shout.
"What the - " Jane began.
The beast broke eye contact with Neil, who shook his head as if to clear it. As he did, something finally registered. "Sir! Phantoms!"
The beast's ears pricked sharply towards the Phantoms, then it whirled and ran, leaving behind a trail of blood. A Phantom, visible only to the Deep Eyes helmet scanners, lay in the creature's path. Gray, struggling to his feet, saw the Phantom make contact - then recoil sharply, as if in pain. The beast hurt it? Then there was something odd about its spirit...
"I've contacted the pickup crew," Ryan said. "They'll be here in five minutes. Are you all right, Captain? Can you fight?"
"Looks like I have no choice," Gray said as the other Phantoms ignored their wounded member and continued towards the soldiers. Gray moved his right arm, wincing at the pain, but realized nothing was broken. "Let's do this," Gray said, bringing up his weapon. The others followed suit.
There was no more thought of their mysterious attacker as they began a fight for their lives under the light of the full moon.
* * *
"Are you all right, Captain?" Ryan asked with concern. In the back of the Copperhead that had finally arrived for them, Gray had slipped off his glove and shoulder pad before letting Ryan cut away his sleeve from the bloody wound. Ryan's deft fingers probed the wound for any breaks but, while there was a lot of blood, it was only a flesh wound and much of the bleeding had already halted. "You're going to need stitches here," Ryan said, carefully releasing Gray's arm.
"What was that thing?" Neil wondered. "A Phantom?"
"It wasn't any Phantom I've ever seen. Besides, this thing was flesh, not energy." Jane's face was drawn into a scowl. "Just what we need, a new enemy."
"It hurt the Phantoms," Gray recalled as he cautiously daubed his wound with the moist towel Ryan handed him. He winced as he discovered just how many bruises he had.
"Whatever it was, it shouldn't bother us again," Neil said, a little smugly. "My knife got it in the throat."
"And it touched a Phantom. Maybe it hurt the Phantom, but it must be suffering from an infection as well." Ryan began shedding his armor, knowing they all faced an impending scanning.
They spend the rest of the trip in silence, systematically removing their armor and piling it carefully. When they landed, they were ushered straight to the scanning facility, leaving their armor for later pickup. The military had learned the hard way that the time it took to store armor before scanning could mean death for a soldier with an infection.
To Gray's relief, Neil didn't begin his usual protests about the scanning procedure. Instead, he watched in grim silence as the captain was the first one scanned.
The process seemed to take longer than normal, Gray thought with growing concern. "Is something wrong?" he asked the technician, who was staring at his screen in puzzlement.
The man started. "Uh, no. Equipment was just acting up, I guess. I thought I saw something around your arm, but it's gone now."
"I don't find that reassuring," Gray said, as his team exchanged worried looks.
"Don't worry; you're clean," the technician said hastily, releasing the captain. "Go get your arm tended to."
Gray waited, despite the pain, for the rest of his team to be declared clean before heading to the infirmary. He cradled his wounded arm to his ribs, which must have been bruised in the attack as well, considering how much they ached. He was going to hurt in the morning...
"Maybe General Hein will let you go easy tomorrow," Neil said, without any real hope.
Gray snorted. "It's bad enough I have to tell him I was sent after a spirit that could have been a rat for all we know; if I tell him I was injured by a big... something, I'll probably end up getting a CAT scan." What am I going to say? That Dr. Sid was so curious about this spirit that he got Council to send us out? That I was attacked by something that even the Phantom's feared? He was going to get in enough trouble as is; trying to get off duty - not that he wanted to - because of a relatively minor injury would further enrage the general.
"Actually," Jane said quietly, "it looked more like a dog. A big one."
"Maybe a rabid dog," Neil added helpfully.
"You always say all the right things," Jane growled.
Gray sighed, and left for the infirmary. There, they cleaned and stitched up his wounds, bandaged it, then told him to go and get some rest. The medic also advised he be on light duty tomorrow, but Gray didn't have much hope of that.
He was wearily making his way to his room when one of General Hein's men stopped him. Gray suppressed a groan and turned to the private. "The general would like to see you now, sir," the younger man said. Gray sighed and, with a wistful glance towards his room with its inviting bed, Gray turned and headed towards his superior's office.
It would be just my luck if Hein was woken up because of this. Hein would not be willing to listen to reason if he'd just been woken. After all, it was after 1:00 am. Gray braced himself and knocked on the general's door. "Come," was all the man said, and Gray entered the office.
The office was dark, with only the ever-present glow of the barrier filtering through the windows to light it. Hein was seated at his desk, the angular panes of his face barely visible in the shadows. "Sit," Hein said shortly.
"Who gave you the order to go out into the city?" Hein asked, getting straight to the point.
"The Council, sir," Gray said. "They had anomalous readings, and wanted someone to investigate. My squad happened to be free."
"Did you volunteer for this little waste of time?" Hein asked. His voice was cool, almost expressionless. But at least he didn't sound like a man awakened by unpleasant news.
"No, sir, but I couldn't refuse the Council -" Gray began.
"I am disappointed that you didn't inform me of this. I have the power to veto the Council's use of my men. Why didn't you come straight to me?" There was a hard edge to Hein's voice, and Gray knew he wasn't going to get out of this unscathed.
"It... seemed like a good idea. This spirit may have been useful to the scientists - " Gray regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.
"The scientists... So you were helping them?" Hein's voice had gone colder, if that were possible. His eyes, glittering in the darkness, narrowed.
Gray didn't have a response. How could he explain he had done it because Dr. Sid had asked; that he had helped Dr. Sid because he was the friend of a woman he didn't even see anymore?
Then Hein dismissed it. "No... They were just manipulating the Council again. What did they send you after, anyway?"
"A strange spirit... When we encountered it, it seemed to be a dog, sir."
"A dog?" He could barely make out Hein's lifted brow in the darkness. Didn't the man ever turn on the lights? He couldn't see the man's expressions very well, and couldn't guess what kind of trouble he was in. "You went out into the city for... a dog?"
"Presumably the offspring of one of the strays who survived in the city," Gray said quickly. "Dogs can sense Phantoms - "
Hein waved his hand irritably. "I really don't care where the damn thing came from," he said flatly. "I'm more concerned about the Council thinking they can give you orders... and that you would follow them, Captain." Now Gray could see Hein's withering glare, and he held his protests. "You would do well to remember that the Council may control the city, but I am the military's final authority. I'm disappointed you didn't report this mission right away to Major Elliot or myself. And all," Hein snorted, " for a dog."
"I apologize, sir," Gray said stiffly. "It won't happen again. I just didn't know how to turn down a direct order from the Council."
Hein's only answer was a grunt. He stayed silent for several moments, leaving Gray to fidget uncomfortably. He was tired and in pain, and Hein was deliberately making him suffer. Gray barely retained his composure.
"Dismissed," Hein said finally. Gratefully, Gray turned to leave. "What, no salute?" Hein said mockingly to the captain's back. Gray stiffened and turned - You never asked for a salute before, you bastard! - before realizing Hein was no longer interested in him.
Angrily, Gray went back to his room. As he examined his aching arm, thoughts of the belligerent general faded. What had attacked him, anyway? Had it been a dog? Or had it been something else entirely?
* * *
Gray flexed his arm with a wince, though he realized he had more mobility than he'd had the previous night. He was tired, though, and dreaded to think about what arduous tasks Hein had assigned him and his team.
He pulled on his uniform, grimacing in pain but refusing to let his wound hinder him. The bruises across his chest, at least had faded. The previous night, they'd been a dark shade of blue and green, and had covered him from shoulder to navel. At least he was healing quickly.
"We've pulled guard duty," Neil said without preamble when Gray joined the others a few minutes later.
"Captain Blake took great pleasure informing us of that," Ryan added glumly. The captain of the 307's had no love for Gray and his squad. Being able to tell them they'd drawn the dullest of all duties must have been like an early Christmas gift for him.
Odd, though, Gray thought. When did Blake start being Hein's relay man? Usually Major Elliot is the one to parrot Hein's orders.
"Guarding what?" Gray had the sinking feeling this was going to be a long day.
"The labs," Jane said with a glower. "Apparently, since we have so much respect for the scientists, we get to spend the next two days patrolling their corridors. Without relief."
Gray groaned. Guard duty within the building was the easiest, dullest duty a soldier could have. Perhaps it was fine for a new recruit, but it was a waste of a trained combat team.
Damn. It definitely was going to be a long day.
* * *
Just one more hour... Gray slumped against the wall behind him, wiping away the sweat that beaded his brow. He couldn't wait for this to end. Normally, he would have taken Hein's punishment without complaint, knowing the general liked seeing him suffer and not wanting to give him the satisfaction. But today... Not only was his arm aching, but in the last hour he'd developed a pounding headache, and had begun to sweat profusely despite the fact that his skin was cold and clammy to the touch. That... thing could have been carrying a disease! Gray didn't want to take any chances. He decided he was going back to the infirmary for another checkup after this.
There was the sound of rapid footsteps, and a harried-looking corporal came up to him. "Where's Corporal Fleming, sir?" he asked after saluting the captain.
Gray scanned the hall to his left, and pointed when he spotted Neil's slim form. The corporal thanked him and went after the tech.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as the two corporals conversed, then Neil's shoulders slumped and his lips curved into a grimace. When the messenger left, Neil strode angrily up to Gray.
"Guess who's stuck in maintenance tonight?" Neil seethed. "There's a Copperhead with a problem in the navigational systems, and they want me to repair it by tomorrow. That could take all night!" His voice was almost a wail.
"General Hein's really going out of his way to punish us," Gray said grimly. He didn't like this abuse of his team. He'd have to speak to the general...
"Actually, the order was from Major Elliot, but same difference," Neil muttered sullenly. "We have other techs..."
"But you're the best," Gray said, trying to cheer his teammate up.
"Yeah," Neil sighed. Then, "Hey, Captain, you don't look so hot."
"I don't feel that great, either." Gray ran the fingers of his left hand over the bandages on his arm. "I'm going to see the doctors after this."
"You should go now," Neil said. "We'll cover for you. After all, you're hurt, and there's only half an hour left anyway."
Gray opened his mouth to argue, but just then, a sharp pain stabbed his skull, and he winced. "Maybe you're right," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry to leave you, though."
"We'll understand. And at least one of us deserves to be rested by tomorrow," Neil said glumly.
Gray nodded and left, intending to make straight for the infirmary. But, as he passed a window, something compelled him to stop and gaze outward and upward where, past the barrier's all-encompassing glow, a full moon began to rise.
* * *
The pain in his skull, which had been steadily growing since he'd left Neil and the others, suddenly seemed to explode, blossoming into an agony that tore through his whole body. Gray staggered, his fingers brushing one cool concrete wall as he reached out for support. Then his limbs spasmed and he was thrown to the floor.
I'm having a seizure! Gray's body jerked, and he suddenly found himself longing to get out of the open corridor, away from prying eyes. He dragged himself into a janitorial closet before he realized what he was doing. This is wrong! I need help! I need to find someone! Anyone!
He tried to get to his feet, but his legs refused to carry his weight. Even his arms wouldn't respond; they felt leaden, dead to his commands. His flesh writhed on his arms, and watching the movement made him feel ill. His body curled into a fetal position, and he began to wretch...
The change hit suddenly, sweeping through his body. Limbs twisted unnaturally, muscle bulked and his uniform was ripped away, revealing swatches of grey fur that lengthened and thickened. Bones cracked and reformed themselves, and his spine pushed free of his flesh, sprouting a plume of the course fur. His fingernails lengthened and sharpened, his fingers shortened and thickened. Gray got a glimpse of what looked like an enormous dog's paw.
Then his vision was obscured as his nose and jaw lengthened, and the scream that had been threatening boiled past his gums as a keening, drawn out howl.
When the pain lessened, not quite fading completely, Gray looked at the world through the eyes of a predator.
* * *
"This sucks! I'm going to be here all night!" Neil's voice echoed through the empty hangar, the only sound besides the occasional creak of metal. He was lying on his back under the Copperhead, having decided it wasn't the navigational system's software that was messed up but the hardware. He was now examining ever part of the system, searching for the glitch. "I mean, it's bad enough that I had to miss dinner, but now I can't even go to sleep. How can they expect me to be at fighting strength?"
He wished he had a radio. His voice wasn't doing much to fill the silence, and he'd been on edge ever since that thing had attacked the captain. The look in the beast's eyes haunted him still. It had fearlessly met his gaze, acknowledging him... marking him...
"It was just a dog," Neil said crossly. "A big scary one. That the Phantoms stayed away from. And it did manage to run away with a throat wound. And it's spirit was strange was strange. But it was just a dog, that's all."
There was a soft sound, and Neil stiffened. He slowed his breathing, and strained his ears. It's nothing... There aren't any unfathomable dark eyes staring at me from the darkness... That wasn't the scrape of a claw on cement...
"It's probably just a Phantom," Neil whispered to himself. "Something nice and harmless - well, not really - and familiar." Neil peered out from under the Copperhead. "It's not a big, bloodthirsty dog that has no way of getting inside the city. Heck, it's probably some soldier who wants to scare me to death. Well, it isn't going to work!"
So why didn't he believe it? Those eyes... There'd been something in their depths that convinced him the creature was far more than a stray dog. "Besides, it was touched by a Phantom. It's probably dead by now. The poor thing was probably just hungry, or eager for attention, yeah." Neil's voice was getting steadily more shrill, and he forced himself to fall silent again. He heard no other sound except the rapid pounding of his heart.
I'm an idiot. I've been in here alone countless times. What makes me so nervous tonight?
Still, he decided to hurry. He reached for his knife to pry open the panel before him, then realized he no longer had it. It's buried in that thing's throat... With a sigh, Neil began to crawl out from under the ship, on hand reaching towards the toolbox.
A clawed foot came down on his hand, and a pair of deep, dark eyes, set in a savage face with a toothy, gaping maw, came into view.
"Oh, shit!" Neil screamed, as another paw flashed towards him, and blood splattered on the floor.
To Be Continued...