A thick quilt of snow lay serenely on the ground, and my breath hissed out as the door closed behind me, hanging in clouds above my head. I breathed deeply, and almost instantly, the frigid air was like a balm for my system, clearing my head and calming me like nothing else. A cool winter moon hung brightly overhead, and a light breeze stirred my fur. I unclasped the cape and let it fall onto the glimmering snow with a sigh of relief, stepping out into the moonlight. My black fur protected me from the bitter cold even as the wind bit into me; my paws sank several inches into the crystalline powder. My spider legs were high in the air like wings opening. It helped me to have them out of the way when I'm running. It was times like this when I felt my most powerful. When I knew that nothing could best me. I had retained most of my human intelligence, and now, not even the elements could stop me. I bounded across the courtyard, claws tearing holes in the while blanket, though the padding on my paws prevented me from sinking down all the way.
'Hmm, so you've decided to let me take control? Very good!' I heard the Werewolf say, he tried to make me run down the iron gate, but he couldn't control me. 'Sagittarius, what's going on with you?' I ignored the Werewolf, I didn't need him to bother me at the moment. As I approached the gate, I crouched, and feeling the muscles in my powerful hind legs bunch. I jumped, propelling myself onto the gate and jumping down in a way that I knew no other animal could achieve. My paws hit the snow hard, but I didn't slacken my stride. I was into the woods, my prints the only reminder of where I had come from. At this instant, I had no ties to that castle. I was my own version of the Werewolf; even Sapphire had called me that.
As I ran, I started to wonder how horrific it would be, truly, if I failed, if I had to stay like this forever. I had no idea how it would be to slip back into 'Prince Sagittarius's skin...or just 'Sagittarius's skin. One-third of my life as the Werewolf…it might be easier to simply stay this way. I had the freedom, I had the power, and it wasn't as if I couldn't leave the castle permanently, and complete the transformation in every sense of the phrase. I could forget all traces of the prince, and just vanish, living like the animal I was, inside and out. That Werewolf that's been living inside of me would finally leave me alone and stop taunting me and destroying my life. It would be so simple, so easy, to just give up, and not delude myself into thinking that I could go back to my old life, to the way things were, when I knew I couldn't. I could let the girl go, and she could return to her life of comfort, and to her life. She could pretend it was all a bad dream, and live quite happily after the monster was gone.
'Life would be easier for you if you just let me take control.'
"I don't need to hear from you at the moment." I said.
'You can't ignore me forever.'
"I can and I will, if it means you'll leave me alone."
'Sagittarius!' I heard him scream and yell, but I just ignored him. 'Don't try to ignore it! You can easily cut off your ties with the human race and stay like this forever. You just thought about it. I can help you...you just need to give in. Give in and give up? Is that all you think about? If it isn't, go worry about something else. All I was thinking about at the moment is what Brimley said to me before I left the castle. I wasn't going to break my promise to my Aunt Lydia, Adam's mother. My little cousin never had a male figure in his life that loved him. All his father did was beat him and his mother. In fact, I wasn't even aware of my cousin until after my mother met Aunt Lydia. After Aunt Lydia died, Adam didn't have anyone else except me...that's why I took him in. I was willing to raise him and take care of him, even if it meant his priorities overtake mine.
I heard a twig snap! I went close to the ground and brought my spider legs down close to my back. I crept slowly so not to disturb any noise. I looked behind a bush, a huge deer with ten point antlers was ripping bark off of a nearby tree. He didn't see me, nor did I want him to. The smell of gunpowder was in the air, a sign that hunters were around. I knew I wasn't going to stay long, but that Werewolf was fighting me again.
'There's no way a meal like that is going to waste...and if you're not going to bring it down, then I will!' I wasn't going to let that Werewolf go after the deer. That gunpowder was very thick...like someone just reloaded a gun or just fired one. I had to stay down because I didn't want to die because the Werewolf was hungry. I heard this loud boom; it was very close. The Werewolf retreated from my mind and I was more close to the ground than before. I then heard the crunching of snow...like someone walking through the snow. I peeked through the branches of the bush, the deer was down in the snow as the beautiful white powder became stained dark red. There were also two men around the dead deer, one of them was carry one heck of a rifle.
"These antlers will look very nice on the wall!" The man carrying the rifle said.
"But the meat will go to families who don't have much food, right?" The other one said.
"Yeah, whatever, help me get this deer out of the snow!" The man with the rifle said as he was tying the deer's legs together. I watched them carry the dead animal until they disappeared into the snow. All I could smell was blood...and gunpowder. The gunpowder was much thicker in the air, it was all that I was breathing. I had to get out of there before the gunpowder affected my lungs.
I went back the way I came. As I did, I looked down and watched my prints shape the snow. I saw my paw prints I left behind. How could I have sunk so low? Seeing my prints the way a wolf's prints are shaped, having this horrible body...and having a monster take control of me. What can I do? I don't want to give up, but how can I keep going if Sapphire won't give me a chance...to show her who I truly am?
'Sapphire can't see you for who you are! You're a monster! She's just a regular girl who wants to leave and go home! Let her! She won't set you free! No, Sapphire is more than just a regular girl. If she was...then why is she hiding every part of her body, including her face?
Wait! What's that? Something that made me as tense as I would be had I actually heard a response. I didn't hear another word from the Werewolf, nor did I want to hear it. I was too concerned at the moment. With my nose this close to the ground, covered in snow though it was, an unexpected scent flooded my nostrils. I stiffened. I began shifting the snow around, trying to determine if the smell was under it or not. It wasn't, it seemed to lie somewhere between the wet, brown grass and the top layer of snow, as if the scent had been tracked over the powder and then covered with more snow.
Oh God, no, I thought, my stomach clenching. This was just what I needed. It wasn't an older smell, buried long past concern. No, this was newer. Fresh. I started rustling around, trying to see if I could track it. It meandered around through the nearby trees, winding almost lazily. Until I looked up, and saw the telltale scratches on the trunk, far higher than most animals could reach. I knew this mark.
Bear, The one animal I wasn't sure I could handle. It was as big as me, as strong as me, and nothing but pure animal muscle, far too close to my castle. I had to head back to the castle before I ran into the bear itself. Giving one last glance at the deep gouges on the tree, I retreated, running smoothly over my previous tracks as the snow again began to fall, blanketing where I'd been like this layer of fur blanketed who I was, leaving me lost under the pale winter moon.
This is very disappointing. Not one new review. Something tells me that this story is getting much attention, so if I don't get anyone saying they are enjoying the story, then I'll pull this story off.