#dgeist

SD | CR & DG

“Everyone’s scared of something.”

Remus reached his hand forward with hesitation, eyes widening slightly as the bony face of a creature pressed its nose against his outstretched palm. He didn’t dare move in fear of scaring it away, standing still as the autumn breeze played with the curls around his face. Despite its haunting appearance, Remus wasn’t scared. The werewolf had stumbled upon the strange creatures a week ago, marveling in muted curiosity at their skeletal shape and wide-spread, leathery wings. They weren’t like anything that he had ever seen before, and it was with silence that he had sat down by the base of a tree, watching them for the better part of an hour before departing just as quietly.

Today, the werewolf was surprised when one of the creatures approached him. Standing on the edge of the forest, his eyes were drawn not to the inky black coat and the sharp outline of bone, but instead to the pale white of the eyes that stared back at him, not unlike the full moon that had risen just days before. Despite the heavy layers of clothing, the werewolf felt naked and bare in the setting sun, as if the fleshless creature could see him more clearly than anyone else had before. Maybe it understood, somewhere in that quiet silence, that he was like them, too— more alike to the creature than the groups of chattering students hidden away in the castle behind him. He swallowed, shoulders suddenly tensing as a twig snapped somewhere behind him, and Remus turned to glance over his shoulder, eyes narrowing to make out a form in the dim twilight. The creature had backed away at the intrusion, raising its head to its full height and stretching out its wings.