"Joseph?" she called out, scanning the dense forest surrounding her on either side. "Joseph, where are you?"

The brown-furred teenage doe walked through the dark terrain, a maze of tall cedar trees against the moonlit sky. Her feline boyfriend ran to somewhere in this direction, and she knew the very reason why. It was because of the secret that the hyena kept hidden for the longest time. The secret that he didn't wish to expose to her friends tonight, leading him to run off despite the fun they were having at the town's summer carnival. The secret that only she was aware of.

She was far from a detective, but based on what he had told her before she assumed she was getting closer to him. He always said to her that there was unoccupied forestland just outside of the perimeter of the fairgrounds. In that location, there was a hill that was a considerably steep ascension. That was where he always went to, he said to her. Before she knew her secret, she first thought that it was just some unique place he went to hang out or get away from any frustrations he was having. An inkling of her used to believe, prior to them becoming the inseparable pair they were now, that he went somewhere that remote because he or his friends wouldn't be able to get caught doing anything mischievous. She quickly realized, however, that that was far from the truth, as he would never do anything wrong that would get him in any trouble.

Thanks to all of the knowledge she possessed about science and the like, she put it together that he went to that spot during a very particular lunar phase. And that phase was none other than the full moon. The moon up in the black sky was definitely full, and she believed he ran because he feared that what he truly was would become known to her friends, eventually leading to the entire school and then the small town learning about it.

A snarling sound arose from the far left of the forest path, followed by large foot steps that sounded like they were moving further into the distance. She followed the huffing as it went deeper into the woodsy passage, up until she caught a glimpse at what was making the noises. It sprinted to the right and dashed forward, over to where the path inclined a bit.

The doe went in the exact same direction, approaching the very place that matched her boyfriend's description. The thick trees behind it, the hill at the top of the steep incline gave observers a clear look at the nighttime scenery. She saw the moon shining brightly above, as well as a tall feline figure standing there, staring directly up at it.

"Joseph?" the bunny said quietly.

The figure standing on top of the hill had the appearance of a hyena, but was a bit taller. His coat of fur was much thicker, and his paws much larger than a regular feline. He didn't appear to be standing up straight; he was actually hunched over on its thick legs.

"Amy," the figure muttered, its voice deep and and rough-sounding. "Just go."

Whenever the moon was full and clear like it was right now, this was what the mammal she fell madly in love with became. This was the fact that he had to keep hidden from everyone for as long as he could remember.

He was a were-hyena, and him reaching his teen years awakened this trait he had. But while this would have ran away for shelter upon seeing this, she was not bothered by what he was in the slightest. This didn't affect how she felt for him. Not in the slightest.

The brown doe stepped forward, nearing slipping as she walked up to where he stood on top of the hill. "As if I could ever leave you," she said to him. "You should know by now that I never could."

Joseph, his eyes casting a glow in the darkness, looked over at her. "But what happens if someone ever does discover that this is what I am? What will you think about me then when mammals at school poke fun, making jokes at you being the girl who fell in love with the were-hyena?"

"Words will never hurt me," Amy replied honestly, "or keep us from being together. And if anybody even tries to hurt you, I'll personally kick their-"

"Yes, I know," Joseph interrupted with a sag of his head. "I just get confused so often, knowing that I've got this… curse that I'm going to have to live with the rest of my life."

The lagomorph by his side shook her head. "Joesph," she said, "you're not-"

"Just face the facts, Amy!" Joseph interrupted out of frustration, turning around to look at her once again. Underneath that guttural tone of voice, part of the form he turned into under the spell of the full moon, was a growling sound. "How could you ever love someonelike this? I'm hideous!"

"That's not what you are," Amy replied. "That's just how you feel."

The doe stepped closer to him and gave him a warm, long-lasting kiss on his lips.

"That's all I got written for now," Julia Hopps said as she closed the spiral notebook sitting on her desk. The cover of it in big cursive letters read "The Hyena's Secret"—the name to the most recent story she came up with.

Judy, who was here for her visit to the burrow along with Nick, nodded her head as her teenage sister finished reading. "That's really good," she remarked with positivity. "I'm sure I'll see your name on the bestseller list someday."

Julia smiled back at her, happy to hear that she likable what she had read aloud for her. She still needed to make it bit longer than it already was, but she was glad that the love story that spawned from her mind was an enjoyable one.

Vicky, who was Julia's younger sister by a year, sat on the chair in the corner of the room, reading a large hardcover book of scientific facts. She closed the book and set it down for now, adjusting the reading glasses she was wearing. "It's clearly based off those 'dreamy vampire' novels she loves," she commented.

Julia's somewhat-obnoxious little brother, Rocky, chimed in, "She wrote that about Jonah."

"I did not," Julia snapped back, the beginning to the typical sibling argument.

The young buck giggled under his breath and replied, "Did too! You're in love with him!"

The doe at the writing desk huffed at her brother's remark. "Just because the character I wrote has a name starts with the same letter and is the same species doesn't mean it's based on him."

Clapping his little paws together, Rocky started to recite, "Julia and Jonah sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"You take that back," Julia said, sighing at her brother's antics.

The buck grinned before responding, "G-N-I-S-S-I-K."

"I didn't mean to literally take the word back. No one likes a wise guy." Julia then looked back over at the closed notebook at her desk, tapping the pencil in her paw against its cover.

"So what other stories do you got?" Judy asked after a brief moment of silence.

Her sister bent down and looked at the stack of other spiral notebooks she had sitting on the floor, all of which were filled with the stories she had conjured up. Back when she was in grade school, she developed a huge love for reading and started to come up with her own stories she believed others like her would enjoy. From that moment onward, whenever she had free time, she would grab a notebook and just come up with something. Her family even thought she had the possibility of even pursuing a career that involved doing what she loved to do best.

From the stack of her notebooks, she withdrew one that didn't have a title on it. This one was just where she jotted down little ideas that came to mind, that way she wouldn't forget about them later. She opened it up to a page in the middle of it, where an illustration of a large dragon, reddish-orange in color, had been drawn with its wings spread wide. Around it were several little notes that she had scribbled so small that only she could really make out what they said.

"This was going to be a surprise, but I'll show it to you now since it isn't finished yet," Julia said to her older sister. "I was coming up with this one just for you as a gift."

"Wow, that looks great," Judy said as she looked at the artwork on the page.

Turning away from her sketch and over to where Vicky was sitting, she asked, "Hey, sis, how big is an ostrich egg?"

The question a bit of random one to just be asked in that moment, but the doe in reading glasses knew the answer to it. "About six inches in diameter, I believe," she stated. "Why do you ask?"

"Just a little bit of writerly research," Julia replied. "For the dragon eggs in what I'm working on, we'll make it that size but multiplied by four."

"Hey, everybody," Nick said as he walked into the room. "Mind if I come in?"

"Not at all," Julia replied as she looked behind her for a quick moment.

"My sister was just showing me the ideas for one of her new writing projects," Judy added.

Nick walked over to the desk and looked at the illustration of the dragon and nodded her head. "You drew this?" he asked Judy's teenage sister.

Julia responded, "I did. Well, except for those blue scribbles on the other side of the page. That was Adam and Alex's doing. Those two must've got their paws on my book and thought they were helping out by scribbling something in here."

"Maybe it's just me thinking it, but is the color of the dragon in the likeness of me?" the fox asked.

"As a matter of fact, it is," Julia said to the vulpine in reply. "You're the dragon that accompanies Judy on an adventure."

"Wait, I'm the main character in this story?" Judy asked, surprised.

Her sister smiled and nodded her head. "Yep! And it's gonna be called Judy and the Last Dragon."

Author's Note: This was definitely one of my sillier story ideas that I had in mind. I first was going to make this about Nick being a were-fox, but I decided to do something a bit different and this was the result of that. :)

And as always, your thoughts, whether good or bad, are always gladly appreciated.

'Til next time, everybody! :)