Chapter 5: Odd Friends
Sid slowly wakes up in an icy home with a blurry vision where the entrance is low where someone can crawl in or out of the place. He slowly sits up to see a small white mammal washing the leaves in a makeshift shell bucket.
"Uh… Excuse me? Who are you?" Sid asked the mammal.
"Hmm? Oh! You're awake!" A soft feminine voice came from the mammal. "Are you okay?" She asked him.
"Hmm?" The sloth slowly focuses his vision and sees an albino weasel with red eyes (pink sclera with red irises), messy hair and peach underbelly staring at him. "Um, you are?" He asked once more.
"I'm Raven. Pleased to meet you." Raven greeted with a bow.
"Oh, OK." The sloth said as he moved slightly and winced in pain.
"You shouldn't move for a while. You're still badly injured." The weasel warned him.
"Huh?" He said as looks down to see himself wrapped in big leaves over his wounds. "Did you do this?" He asked the albino mustelid.
"Well, yes but I had some help." She admitted with a blush.
"Raven?" A new voice spoke from outside and it was feminine. "Is he okay?" The voice finished.
"Oh, he's okay right now, Luna. You can come in." She said motioning the other individual in.
The individual reveals herself to be wolfess with a white fur with black markings on her neck, tail and all four legs, gold eyes, black nose, has a jade green leaf ribbon in her hair and has a blue moon mark on her back named Luna.
"Oh, hi! I'm so glad you are okay!" Luna said as she walks over to nuzzle the sloth.
"Um, thanks…?" Sid awkwardly said while being nuzzled by the wolfess.
"I'm Luna. I've heard so much about you from my brother." The wolfess replied.
"Your brother?" The sloth asked her.
"Fang. He tells me a lot about you, Sid." The wolfess explained further bewildering the sloth.
"Oh! He did mention you. He's pretty nice." The sloth replied.
"You mean 'bossy'?" The wolfess asked.
"Bossy?" Sid asked.
"My brother is mostly overprotective of me and keeps treating me like a pup." The wolfess explained in whining tone.
"Well, at least your brother is nice… Mine? *scoffs*" The sloth snorts bitterly about his relatives.
"Oh… Sorry to hear that..." The wolfess sadly replied.
"I'm fine though- Agh!" The sloth said as he clutches his side in pain.
"Careful! You're gonna reopen your wounds..." Raven warned him.
"I'll be fine..." Sid slightly reassured as he groggily got up and wobbles a bit while standing.
"Please don't be stubborn… I don't like seeing anyone in pain..." The weasel sadly explained which made the sloth relent.
"Oh… Sorry..." He apologized to the albino female.
"You should rest here for tonight." Luna suggested to the sloth.
"I don't want to be a burden to you girls." Sid said as he tries to leave but the weasel grabbed hold onto his arm.
"You're no burden at all! Please?" Raven pleaded as she clings on to the sloth's arm.
Sid tries to protest but he relents and decides to stay with them.
"Fine… I'll stay just for the night." Sid said defeated.
"Thanks..." Luna said as she nuzzles the sloth affectionately.
The sloth lies back onto the makeshift bed along with the wolfess and stares at the ceiling. Raven soon joins the two and stares at the sloth with a concerned look on her face.
"Something wrong, Sid?" The albino weasel asked him.
"Want to know something… Tonight, I saw something red in the sky." Sid answered which got the wolfess' attention.
"Oh, you mean the blood moon?" Luna explained.
"The blood moon?" Sid repeated.
"Mama and Papa told me and Fang about it." The wolfess started. "They told me that every year an eclipse can happen and the blood moon is one of those but some call it a lunar eclipse. It's when on nights of the full moon, the moon has an eerie blood red color and its light gives everything a crimson shading." She explained once more.
"I heard about it too but I heard that some animals are affected by it. Some can go crazy, some have their abilities altered or strengthened, etc." Raven finished for her.
"Sometimes, the animals can act strangely on the day of the blood moon or before." The wolfess added.
Hearing the info about the red moon, Sid thought back on how he acted during his fights with Diego and Rudy, his and thinking back on Feral's words.
=Flashback=
"I gradually began to manifest in your soul. So your whole bottled up emotions caused me to be born! Well, I didn't fully manifest until that red moon fully woke me up." Feral's words echoed in Sid's thoughts.
=Reality=
"Yeah… I remember… When I fought Diego earlier afternoon, I felt a rush of energy flowing through me and attacked him in blind fury. Then with Rudy, I felt the same feeling again only this time, I really lost control of my senses and attacked him too. Finally, I learned that I had a hidden half of my personality that didn't manifest until the very red moon woke him up." Sid explained about the events that transpired earlier.
"Oh my..." Luna replied clearly at a loss for words of what's been happening to the sloth.
"I didn't think the rumors about animals going crazy during the lunar eclipse would be true. But I didn't think herbivores would be affected." Raven said surprised hearing that the lunar eclipse would affect prey.
"Well, my parents did tell me it affects most animals regardless whether they're prey or predator." The wolfess explained again.
"Well, as much as I wanna hear more about the blood moon, we can finish tomorrow." Sid said with a yawn.
"OK. That'll be fine." Luna said as she soon dozes off while snuggling next the sloth.
Raven also followed suit and slept on the wolfess' back. Sid watches the girls as they fell asleep and gave one last look at his bandaged body but worries about losing control when the blood moon happens again.
Sid learned something interesting about the blood moon from Luna and Raven. But how will he cope with knowing that the eclipse affects him and how will he handle it if he goes out of control again?
Please review.