Disclaimer: the only thing I own in this story is the characters I made up. The rest belongs to its rightful owner
The blessing of the moon
Chapter 1
Keriss sat on the ledge, the moon an orb of silver, full and bright, casting light upon the forest, edging each leaf in silver. The moon gave Keriss a feeling of satisfaction, bathing her in comforting light, enhancing her vision so that she could view the wonder of the nocturnal world that sprung to life every night, away from prying eyes. A bird called above the tree-tops, and the girl looked towards the sound. A spotted owl sat in a tree, its whooping call meandering throughout the trees, its dark, blackish-brown eyes searching its admirer up and down. Suddenly, a twig cracked somewhere, and the dappled brown bird erupted into the air, heavy melodic wing-beats carrying it off into the deep blue of the night.
Keriss' hands left the slick, wet surface of the rock as she whirled around, hands clenched into fists, an inhalation of breath caught in her throat. A girl of a similar age stood behind her, with curled, black hair and deep brown eyes, that could easily liken to those of the owl perched in the tree a mere few seconds ago. Keriss let out the sharp intake of breath she took in preparation to fight, and rolled her eyes.
"Seriously fern?" she stated, looking disdainfully at her friend, who had startled her.
"You nearly scared the life out of me!"
"Well I'm sorry, but it's your own fault for not keeping an eye behind you, as you are always telling me to do!" Fern climbed up the mossy rock face to join her friend in watch of the moon.
"What are you doing up so late anyway?" queried Keriss, tipping her head, her long brown hair falling in a smooth curtain to the side of her head.
"I could ask you the same thing." Fern replied, mimicking her friend's gesture in a gentle mocking way. Keriss laughed quietly in amusement, and answered Fern's question.
"I couldn't sleep. I never can on a full moon, so I thought I would make the most of being out in the wild."
"I thought so. Always going off into the woods to watch birds, you are." Said fern, settling down beside Keriss
"I prefer plants myself." she continued. Keriss chuckled at Fern's statement.
"Honestly." She sighed, rolling her eyes for a second time.
"You're always going on about plants!" Keriss' silvery eyes sparked with laughter as she nudged fern.
"Do you want to go for a run in the woods?" she grinned, white teeth flashing in the moonlight, eyes glittering with a wild energy. Keriss' limbs burned with adrenaline in the prospect of a moonlit chase through the silver bathed trees.
"Well… I don't know…" Fern hesitated, glancing nervously left to right.
"We could run into-"
"What?" interrupted Keriss, humour in her voice
"Zombies?"
Fern muttered something that Keriss couldn't quite make out, but agreed.
"Ok, let's go." Keriss took this as a signal, and launched herself from the top of the rock. She knew the teachers would kill her in a rather imaginative, torturous way if they found out; this was a school trip after all; but she didn't care. The adrenaline rush of the chase surged through her as she ducked and weaved under branches, never seeming to stumble. She looked back to see how fern was keeping up, and froze in shock.
She wasn't there.
A/N: Ooh a cliffhanger! Sorry I took so long to update this, I was planning to post this yesterday but I ran out of time, and the internet was down on my computer, so I had to wait! I also apologise that this chapter is so short! I promise I'll try to make the next one longer, but I'm rubbish at writing long chapters so please don't get annoyed at me if I can't!
