The day continued on, twilight soon upon them. They stopped at a small stream and set up camp.
Mello was begrudgingly helping L set up the tent when he stopped and literally dropped what he was holding. L looked up at him, thoroughly confused. Mello's eyes were fixed on the horizon where the top of a yellow moon was peeking from behind a foot hill.
"L-L? What day is it?" he asked, eyes wide.
"Uhmm, the 11th."
"Oh, shi--" Mello started, backing away from the dropped poles. "Tonight is a full moon!"
"You're not a werewolf." Near hummed from where he was tying a knot.
"I am!" Mello snapped. "All of you! Stay away from me!" and with that, Mello turned and ran off into the forest.
L and Raito, who was just coming back with water, exchanged a confused look.
"Do you think we should leave him be?" L asked.
"Maybe. He could hurt us if we follow him."
"He could hurt other's if we don't."
Raito smiled "Just like L, always putting other's before himself."
"Besides," L continued, "He owes me chocolate. We can't risk losing him now."
Raito's smile faltered.
"He's not going to be a danger to anyone." Near said with a sigh, flitting over to the pair and settling on L's shoulder.
"Okay, if he's not a werewolf, what is he?!" Raito demanded, getting annoyed with the fairys now-it-all attitude.
Near smiled that slightly maniacal smile of his.
"He's a..."
- - -
Mello ran through the forest, glowing bugs hovering in the trees around him, making the night seem serene and calm. The darkness was settling heavily upon the land. The moon had risen enough to shed it's light on Mello, and he could feel himself start to change.
The effort it took to run and transform made him sweat, despite the chill in the air. His golden hair was plastered to his neck and face, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Panting, he burst through the trees and into a small clearing. He fell to his knees and hugged himself, growing nails digging into his shoulders as he doubled over.
"Oh God, oh God, damn, damn, damn." he swore beneath his breath, his yellow-orange ears flat against his head.
He screamed, eyes shut tight in agony as his body spasmed painfully.
- - -
"Mello?" Raito called softly, his eyes open wide to notice any slight movement. "Mello? It's okay to come out."
Off to the left, barely noticeable, was pathetic whimpering. The trio followed the sound into a small clearing.
In the middle were Mello's black clothes, rumpled in a heap on the ground.
"Mello?" Raito called again, looking around. He was beginning to have his doubts about what the fairy told him. That scream they heard earlier sounded pretty blood curdling.
Just then, the clothes moved.
Raito took a step back, his arm shooting out across L's chest, keeping him back.
L's face flushed, dark eyes turning to look at the other prince. "He cares about me. He wants to protect me."
But his silent gloating was cut short by a twitching smile on Raito's full lips. L followed Raito's gaze back to the clothes.
His face too cracked into a wide foolish grin.
There, poking its fluffy little head from inside the pile of clothes, was a yellow kitten.
The kitten pulled itself free from the fabric and shook it's self vigorously. It licked its paw adorably and swiped it over its ear.
Then it heard the choked giggles of the pair standing off to the side, watching its darling display of innocence.
Jumping up and turning with a look that can only be described as "rabid" (picture bloodthirsty on a kitten), its lips pulled back in a vicious (cherubic) snarl, its fuzzy ears flat against its head. Its amber eyes widened, however, when it saw exactly who was laughing.
"Oh no, oh crap." The kitten whisper hoarsely.
"Mello, why did you lie to us?" L asked, chewing on his thumb.
"Wouldn't you?!" Mello yelled. Or, tried to yell. It's hard to be threatening when you're a kitten.
L and Raito, of course, sniggered at Mello's attempt to be tough. Mello bristled.
"You see what I mean?!" Mello snapped, padding towards them on feet as soft as peach fuzz. "How scary is a werecat? Who in his right mind would be afraid of a kitten?! What's menacing about this?!" To punctuate his rant, Mello fluffed himself up and bared his teeth at L and Raito, who in turn choked, trying hard not to "aww" over the angry kitten-boy.
Mello glared at them and gave himself another shake.
"So," Raito started, taking a deep breath, "how did this happen?"
"When I was younger, I was scratched by a stray cat. That's it."
"Well, that was anticlimactic." Near said boredly, speaking for the first time since they found the werecat.
Raito turned to the fairy. "That reminds me, how did you know that Mello wasn't a werewolf?"
Near stuck his lips out cutely, pouting. "I told you when we first met." He said quietly. "His pupils are slitted. Werewolves don't have slitted pupils. Only werecats do. Just like were-elephants have long noses, and were-oysters have really hard, rough skin. Any were-animal keeps some of the animal as a part of them, even in their human form."
L and Raito exchanged odd looks.
"What?" Near asked, "Did they never teach you that?"
Raito shrugged. "Because of where we live, the scholars just skimmed over werecreatures. They thought the chances of us encountering one were slim to none, and only taught us how to defend ourselves from a werewolf. Any other animal is so rare..."
"Figures." Near said, taking flight. "Humans were never very intelligent."
Raito opened his mouth to protest, but L laid a hand on his arm. "Let it go." the darker haired boy mouthed. Raito rolled his eyes but said nothing.
"Shall we be leaving then?" Near inquired, coming back to the group with a glowing moon berry in his hands. "We still have to finish setting up camp.
- - -
After a tasty dinner of roasted potatoes, the troupe sat around the fire, enjoying the night before they had to retreat to their makeshift tent.
"I'm a night fairy." Near said suddenly.
The others gave him a weird look.
"Okay." Mello said, licking the fur on his chest. "Why did we need to know this?"
"Well, I figured since we know what you are, I thought you might want to know about me."
"That's fascinating." L said, leaning in close to the fairy. "What was it about night fairies? I can't quite recall it..."
"We're mini-vampires with wings."
The camp got deathly quiet. Even the fire seemed to stop crackling.
"I turn into a bat on the night of a new moon." Near continued with a casual wave of his hand, making it seem like it wasn't a big deal.
"That's a big deal." Raito breathed.
Ryuk looked at the fairy like he was brandishing a bloody ax and screaming in Egyptian. "Does that mean you're going to suck my blood?"
"No, you idiot." Rem said, swatting at Ryuks ankles.
"She's right." Near said. "Like all vampires, we need the blood of the same race, not just some random creature."
If possible, Ryuks eyes widened even more. "So you're also a cannibal?!"
"No! Not exactly!" Near put his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes. "Never mind. We'll talk about it in the morning, when I have enough stamina to converse with idiots." With that, he flew to the tent and got lost in the warm folds of the blankets, falling asleep. The rest, save for poor Ryuk, followed him in, sleeping peacefully.
Except for L. Who stayed up and watched Raito sleep.
Yay! Chapter six!
And now the truth is out. Mello was never a werewolf. Ever. From the very beginning I was planning on making him a feline. And the thing about Near. Well. I really wanted to make him a vampire, but I thought fairy fit him more. But I still missed his non-existent vampireness. So I made him both.
Chapter seven will be out someday. I love that chapter. To death. For you meet another character.
- -BLOOPERS- -
While planning this chapter, I kept getting weird ideas, which are now the following. I may start doing these after every chapter, just because I want to share how my mind works. You may recognize these from popular interweb lulz.
---
"I become stupid without them." L announced. Raito blinked.
"That's it?"
"Not exactly, but that is the most important side effect. Other side effects include, but are not limited to: random blackouts, nausea, dizziness, exhaustion and fatigue, and the odd urge to SHOOP DA WHOOP!!1"
"AHH YOU BEAT MEH!!11!"
---
"Misa, ssrly. gtfo." Raito said, glaring at the spider woman.. thing.
"But Raito! You don't understand!" She cried, tears brimming her eyes.
"What?!"
Misa made the "I love you" with both of her hands and pointed them at Raito. "HOW DO I SHOOT WEB?!"
---
I hang out with my brother entirely too much. Don't hate meh.
So, to bring this AN to an end, I have but one more announcement. I am now whoring for reviews, and may start up a quiz like thing to entertain you after my short chapters are over. Your reviews are my crack, and now I crave them every waking minute (It could just be it's Summer and I'm bored out of my skull). So prepare yourselves to answer random questions with even more random "prizes."
Thank you for reading! I'm so happy I have your love!
-Hybrid
(P.S. Who can tell I'm a little hyper tonight?)