{"sf1_id":1822482,"sf2_id":"A1p3kMn3","title":"Silver Moonlight (Faust's Rebirth)","author":"Apatapa","words":2180,"posted_at":"2022-02-22T04:54:00.000Z","tags":["Canine","Dog","Moon","Non-binary","Origin Story","Samoyed","Short Story","Transformation","Werewolf","Wolf","moonlight","tf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1822482-silver-moonlight-faust-s-rebirth","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/A1p3kMn3","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/16/71/16715141-66c4-4907-aa56-ed9702d7d645","description":"My first commission for my friend Faust (https://twitter.com/XVI_tAWOOer) about the origins of their were-samoyed sona!","content":"The blade had notched Faust's ribs.   \nThe sickening sound of metal carving through flesh and striking bone rung in their ears.  \nIt pounded through their skull as they ran, drowning out their own heartbeat.  \nThey could still feel their attacker ripping the blade from their side.  \nThe image of the weapon raised and ready to swing for the kill was carved into their retina.  \nAdrenaline surged through their veins.  \nThey scrambled and ran.  \nBlood stained the blonde fur of their body. They painted it in gruesome pawprints across the white fur of their chest, trying to stem the flow.  \nFear caged their heart.  \nThey dared not look back.  \n  \nThey bounded through the dense forest, agony followed every step.  \nThick trees surrounded them, their claws scratched at roots and trunks as they ran.  \nDesperation roared like fire in their mind and fed the primal urge to survive.  \nThough they knew it was too much.  \nThe wound too deep, their lifeblood already spilled.  \nBut still they ran.  \n  \nThey braced a paw against their side, sobbing as they pressed on the wound and prayed it would hold. Blood ran through their fingers and soaked the earth, leaving a sanguine trail to follow.  \nAnxiety gnawed at their thoughts.  \n_Faster.  \nRun faster.  \nIt's coming, go faster._    \nStrain forced a grunt out of Faust as they forced themselves on.  \nThey limped and stumbled at a hurried pace, desperately lunging between trees, not ever stopping to gauge a direction.  \nExcruciating pain radiated from the wound at their side.   \nThey weren't sure how long they'd been going.  \nHours, perhaps.  \nTheir sense of time was warped by urgency. Every passing second stretched out to minutes as they scoured everything in sight, fearing another threat.  \nIt was exhausting, and as their strength waned so too did their concentration.  \nThey winced as they stepped, their foot slid off the curve of a root.  \nThey fell to the forest floor.  \nThe cool dirt was damp, the earthy scent wrinkled their snout.  \nThey convulsed, body wracked with pain.  \nThey stared up at the canopy, late afternoon sun filtered through the leaves and warmed their fur.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;Dazed and bleeding, they waited to gather their strength with their heart pounding.  \nIt would be easy to lay here and die.  \nA branch rustled behind them.  \nThey jerked upright, shouting as pain flashed through their chest.  \nThey glanced behind, certain they'd see their assailant poised to kill.  \nBut there was nothing.  \n  \nThey heaved a breath and whimpered as their side panged.   \nThey shambled to their feet, woozy from the blood loss.   \nSurvival instinct urged them on.  \nThey groaned with every shaky step.  \nTheir frantic pace disrupted by the fall.  \nFear seized them but they couldn't run.  \nThey hardly managed to stumble between the trees.   \nEvery footfall only hammered home the brutal truth.  \nThey couldn't outrun death.  \nTheir attacker had no need to follow, they'd dealt a mortal blow.  \nAnd no matter how much Faust refused, they couldn't keep going.  \nSweat and mud dampened what parts of their fur weren't steeped in blood.  \nTheir lungs burned as they marched on.  \nBut it was all too much.  \nHeaving breaths, they struggled through the thick forest. Every tree they passed, every root in their path became a bigger obstacle.   \nTheir thoughts had grown foggy.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;The sun had started to set as they stumbled into a small clearing.  \nThey could hardly feel its warmth as they shambled to a patch of soft grass in the middle and collapsed, their adrenalin spent.   \nDelirium waxed as their energy waned.  \nIt hurt to lie there and wait to die.  \nThey didn't want to die.  \nDidn't want to let their attacker win.  \nTheir heart thumped weakly in their chest, its effort only served to spill more blood from the wound in their flank.  \nThey stared at the orange sky, watching the sun fall below the horizon.  \nThey clung to life with white-knuckled desperation.  \nTheir thoughts rallied against the world.  \nThis couldn't be it.  \nCouldn't.  \n  \nTheir face cracked as they raised an arm.  \nTears spilled anew as they saw the gouge in their side for the first time.  \nGristly, mangled flesh stared back.  \nIt addled their thoughts.  \nThat this was them.  \nTheir body.  \nPierced and punctured.  \nIt wasn't right.  \nIt couldn't be.  \nThey shook, a sob tangled in their throat.  \nThe pain started to ebb.  \nPins and needles in their fingertips faded to numbness.  \nTheir vision started to darken.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;They exhaled, eyes trained firmly on the setting sun as it took the light from the clearing. Vibrant pink hues radiated from the west.  \nThe celestial body continued to descend.  \nIn the east, the soft purple cover of night advanced.  \nA full moon was rising.  \nThe silence was tranquil.  \nIt was serene to watch day change to night, alone in a forest.  \nTired.  \nTired like they'd never been before.  \nTheir body begged them rest.  \nBegged them to never move again.  \nAnd with a view like this that felt easy.  \nThey sighed, peace started to dawn on them.  \nThe thought of slipping away came easier and easier.  \nThat there was no guarantee another breath would follow each exhalation.  \n  \nRegret welled up through that peace.  \nThey didn't want to die alone.  \nFaust's gaze drifted between the sun and the moon, like eyes of a giant watching back.  \nThe stars twinkled between them, like watchers in the dark.  \nThey wished it were true.  \nThat there was something there, something to watch them in their final moments.  \nSo they weren't alone.  \nSo their suffering had a witness. That it wasn't lost to the world.  \nA plea formed in their throat.  \nThey hadn't the strength to speak it aloud.  \nBut they willed it.  \nTheir jaw twitched as they breathed silence.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;They begged to be seen.  \nNeeded to be seen.  \nThe thoughts railed against their skull, desperate to be heard.  \nAnd they felt it.  \nWith pins and needles in their fingers.  \nWith a lump in their throat.  \nA sensation of something looming over them.  \nIt was convincing that it worked.  \nThat something was seeing this.  \nThey rallied.  \nFeverish thoughts crashed within them, their turmoil given voice.  \nUnspoken words coiled through the air and twisted through the vows of a pledge.  \nThey shuddered, delirious with exhaustion and pain.  \nDesperate and certain of the hope they'd conjured in their chest.  \nThat either way, this was it.   \nThat they'd give everything they were to whatever was listening.  \nPledge their life to another so that they may live.  \n  \nTheir hands flopped into the grass.  \nFingers twitched at a slowing pace.  \nTheir breath came more laboured.  \nBlood had pooled under them as they lay there.  \nThey'd lost too much.  \nBut their mind was roaring with desperation as their body died.  \n  \nTheir heartbeat dropped to a mere murmur.  \nTheir eyelids fell.  \nRest had come.  \nThey inhaled, seeking peace.  \nReady as they could ever be.  \nAll things had to end eventually and they were no exception.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;Moonlight filled their lungs.  \nIt warmed them through with silvery calm.  \nThey exhaled their last breath.  \nBut the moonlight remained.  \nIt permeated their chest, its warm glow spread through their belly and tickled their heart.  \nIt soaked through their veins and with it their energy surged.  \nTheir heart beat harder, accepting the moon's gift and circulated it through their body.  \nA cool sensation lapped at their limbs and sparkled through their fingers and toes.  \nSurprise welled within them.  \nDeath did not feel like they expected.  \nVoid, they had imagined. An absence. A darkness so total it blotted out their being.  \nThis was anything but.  \n  \nThe sensation surged through their body. Their heart pounded, the sound drummed through their skull.   \nIt was deafening.  \nThe volume swelled to an intensity that flooded every sense.  \nThey couldn't see.  \nCouldn't feel.  \nCouldn't smell or taste.  \nOnly hear the pounding beat of their heart and the coursing tide of moonlight through their body.  \nVigour filled their limbs.  \nTheir energy renewed.   \nThey clenched fists around the streams of moonlight, its energy tangible as it tangled through their claws.  \nIt poured from their side, a trickle at first that strengthened until the wound gushed with silver light.  \nFuzzy warmth spread across their chest, it buzzed with energy that left them breathless.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;It made it easy to let go.  \nTo accept this as their death, if this was what it was like.  \nTheir mind drifted away.  \nBut something rushed to fill that space.  \n  \nTheir body seized.  \nThey let out a surprised gasp.  \nBones cracked in their paw.  \nPain blossomed anew.  \nPressure in their fingers erupted into agony as their claws grew further from their flesh.  \nThey jerked on the ground, yanking their arm back to try guard the wound in their side.  \nBut there was no blood-matted fur.  \nNo gouge, no scar.  \nTheir shoulders bulged. Muscles tensed so hard the joints popped.  \nThey yelped and leapt to their feet.  \nTheir knees buckled.  \nSinew warped around the bones in their legs, which creaked and groaned as they shifted.  \nThey collapsed on the floor, writhing as their body contorted.  \n  \nSickening cracks rung out of the clearing.  \nFaust wailed.   \nThe sensation was beyond comprehension.  \nShock buzzed through them.  \nTheir muscles swelled, their bones cracked and grew. Their claws sharpened.  \nNew teeth erupted in their muzzle as it lengthened.   \nSurprise echoed through their head.  \nBecause the pain didn't last.  \nWarmth suffused their flesh and calmed it.  \nThey arched their back and slumped against the grass.  \nPanting.  \nHeaving in massive breaths.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;It was over.  \nThey opened their eyes.  \nThe world looked different.  \nThey held their hands up to their face.  \nTheir fur was darker, a soft brown.  \nThey blinked.  \nIt wasn't the light.  \nSurprise rattled their skull.  \nTheir hands were bigger too.  \nThey shot upright.  \nTheir entire body was bigger.  \nStronger.  \nThick muscles corded through their arms and legs.  \nThey dry-swallowed.  \nConfused.  \nTheir tongue pressed against the back of their teeth.  \nThere were more, and sharper than usual. Their snout had stretched and a fixed snarl was etched into their face.  \nThey gasped.  \nSomething had marked their arms, the fur stained black. On the left, an emblem like a card had been slashed in two and on the right, a sigil of a full moon flanked by crescents.  \n  \nThe sclera of their eyes was now black.  \nThe soft brown of their left iris now glowed golden like a wolf's in the moonlight with a slitted pupil to match.  \nThey clutched a monstrous paw to their right eye.  \nIt burned.  \nThe energy that coursed through them surged towards it.  \nThe iris had warped, now a crescent moon and coloured deep blue.  \nThey blinked and gasped for breath as they glanced about the clearing.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;The world glowed in the moonlight.  \nEverything was so clear, so vibrant.   \nThe dark shades of green and blue and purple through the forest encircling them.  \nThey heaved in a breath.  \nThe forest smelled of earth and life.  \nAll around them, trees and grass that sheltered animals and bugs.   \nThey could hear the sounds of them hunting, eating, sleeping.  \nTime dissolved in the sensory overload.  \nTheir focus drifted.   \n  \nA mother possum carried its children through the branches of a nearby tree as she deftly hopped about her midnight journey. Faust tracked her, barely a silhouette in the dark but their eyes could discern the shapes with ease. The determination with which she sought safe shelter and sustenance dawned a sense of hope within them.  \nOverhead, bats soared. Their echolocation thrummed in Faust's ears with tonal frequencies that set their mind at ease and stilled their racing heart.  \nEverything would be okay.  \nCalm displaced the panic in their chest.  \nThey shook, smiling as their now-shaggy fur settled like a warm blanket across their shoulders and down their back.  \nThere was comfort in this.  \nTheir tail wagged, excited.  \nThey cast their gaze to their monstrous paw and breathed deep as they clenched and unclenched a fist.  \nThe way the digits moved felt different yet right.  \nWithin them was strength they once could only dream of.  \nAnd in strength was safety.  \nThey exhaled, centred.  \nTheir body held no memory of today's anguish.  \nOnly tranquillity.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;They stared into the dark, lost in a swarm of sensations.  \nBut as the moon reached its zenith, one sense dwarfed the rest.   \nThe feeling of bathing in its silver light.  \nStood in the middle of the clearing, it soaked their fur and blazed with life.  \nExcited energy fizzed throughout their entire body, feasting on the calmness until they tingled with fervour.  \nThe moonlight was ecstasy overwhelming.  \nThey needed to release it.  \nThey tiled their head to the moon, eyes resting closed as a sound welled in their chest.  \nAn eerie howl shook the canopy as it rang across the forest and shattered the peace.  \nThe sound carried through the night, trees shimmered silver with moonlight as critters startled and ran.  \nConfused thoughts swam about their head but stillness settled across their shoulders in wake of the howl.  \nThey exhaled and placed a hand on their side.  \nThe wound was gone.  \nTheir vitality born anew.  \nThey trembled, joy spurred them on as they loped into the treeline and vanished into the shadows.  \nAlive.  \nReborn.  \n  \n\n"}