Moonlight Nocturne

"... They're so much brighter here. I never get to go outside the city."

 

"...I used to go camping, when I was your age. Up into the mountains near home, whenever I could. Watching the stars and seeing everything spread out small. It was always beautiful."

 

Elena smiles up at her. "... it sounds nice. Did you come from far away?"

 

"Kind of. I lived in Vancouver for a long time."

 

"... was it nice? Is it very different from here?"

 

"...yeah, it was really, really nice. It's where I went wolf."

 

Elena hesitates, looking up at her. "... what was it like?"

 

"The mountains?" Winter looks at her through the darkness. "...if you mean the first change. It's different for everyone. I was in the middle of one of the worst snowstorms in years."

 

"... both." She says softly. "... so you changed to... to protect yourself?"

"I'm just... I hate being ... too small and young and weak to do anything."

 

"....no. I changed because it was my time. It's. You don't make the choice yourself. You see Luna's face, and... it comes over you. You feel it in your soul and your spirit and your bones."

 

"... it sounds... nice?" she says questioningly.

 

Winter is silent for a few minutes. "...it's...I don't know. The... precise details... they're indescribable."

 

"... is the blizzard why you can, um... do that thing with the snowflakes?"

 

"No. That took a lot of hard work, and trust, and learning."

 

She frowns, considering. "... can I learn to do that?"

 

"....the first time, it was something I was born with.. I think. Maybe I learned it. The second time..." She's quiet. "....there are ways to learn things, but they're very long paths, and not usually accessible to humans. Which is ludicrous."

 

Elena sighs quietly. "... a lot of things aren't usually accessible to humans."

It sucks. She knows they say she matters, but... she still feels useless.

 

"Well, that's what happens when you ask a pack of wolves if you can do what they do - we don't do the same things, so the answer is going to be no for a lot of things." She leans on the railing. "You can ask Gabriel, for a more human opinion?"

 

"... I know," Elena says, stroking Red's head. "I did. But ... if I'm just some kid then there's no reason to let me help at all. Any adult's bigger and faster and smarter than me. So I'm just... useless."

"... and it looks really cool."

 

"Really? Because from what I heard, you were willing to take on a monster to save someone you'd met moments before. I think that's merit enough." She rests her chin on one hand. "You're going to learn. You're going to start learning early enough that even if you are human, you'll have an edge as you grow up."