//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: The Hunt 
// Story: Blood Moon 
// by The_Darker_Fonts 
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Hemorrhage followed closely behind Leper, who was carefully sniffing around the ground as they traversed the rolling hills outside of the town.  The moonlight reflected dully off of not quite alive grass, creating a mysterious glow off of the coat of his lycan companion.  There was a tense air about them, as they both realized that a confrontation with the rogue youth would be both dangerous and enlightening, whether it was good or not.  They hadn’t even conceived a proper plan on what to do with the young lycan if they apprehended him, or if they even could do so.  If not, they would either make another potential enemy, or scare him off to terrorize some other part of Equestria.  
The matter of the fact was that, in the end, if they couldn’t control him in some way, or subdue him long enough for one of them to get reinforcements from the castle, they may be forced to kill the lycan.  It was an option they’d never faced before, as every single member of their coven had been adopted before they could enter a blood craze, but now the option was indeed on the table.  Given, he didn’t exactly doubt their ability to disarm and subdue the beast in a direct confrontation, but it may manage to escape before they had fully committed to the fight.  
The best case scenario was, of course, if they avoided a fight at all.  There was no telling exactly how powerful the lycan youth was, although if the massacre in the village were anything to measure by, it was pretty powerful.  They crouched along the bank of a stream in between hills at this point, Leper having paused as he scouted out the entire area, which had given him some time to pause and think.  There was something almost haunting about realizing that the beast that had been sighted and searched for only a few years ago still existed, somehow hiding completely from both them and the other coven.  
Or perhaps it wasn’t coincidence that the lycan had never appeared before his coven members.  While they didn’t exactly know what the relationship between the ompyre’s coven and this rogue lycan was, they were pretty sure that one of the lycans of the ompyre’s coven had been the one that attacked the youth, initially turning him into a lycan.  Leper had been able to identify, or at least, he was pretty certain, that the lycan silverback that had attended the exclusive conference between the two leaders and their guards was indeed the perpetuator of his change.  If that was the case, than he was also indirectly responsible for the deaths of the ponies of the village as well, and possibly more.
There was also the very real possibility that the youth had been swept up by them, and that he was now one of their coven members.  Perhaps this attack on the village was a plan to secure more power and food in the region, or perhaps merely to exterminate the potential dangers of more non-nocturnals in the region.  Either way, this was too much of a possibility to be mere coincidence, and because of this, Hemorrhage had warned of entering into any place of residence in the dark, as the ompyre, the most obviously powerful of the group, was vulnerable to every natural light source.  
“The lycan definitely passes through here a lot,” Leper suddenly commented, catching Hemorrhage’s attention.  “I believe that he either uses this as an impromptu pathway between the hills or he drinks here.”  Leper continued to sniff around for a second before suddenly doubling back to a stony face of rock.  “Or perhaps,” he added slowly, turning and standing parallel to it, “he lives here.”
“What do you mean,” Hemorrhage asked, trudging through the chilly stream to stand beside him.  His question was answered, however, when he came to face the rock directly, staring as a slightly large crevice ran up the entire face of the wall until it reached an earthy section, the grass overhang covering the dirt.  There was a short silence as they observed the strange cavern entrance before Leper began sniffing again.
“I smell death from within,” he muttered ominously.  Before Hemorrhage could question what he meant, he continued, “I smell the scent of newborns, and the scent of parents.  But those scents are faint, covered up by the smell of rot and disease within.  Whatever was in here, whatever things were in here, they weren’t ponish, and they are all long dead.”  After another brief pause, he growled, “Except for the lycan.”
“How can you tell,” Hemorrhage asked in a hushed voice, staring into the dark crack in the rocks.  Even with his enhanced vision at night, the crevice was still dark beyond belief, and he barely made out the opening into the actual main body of the cave.  
“There’s fresh feces and other sort of smells that faintly smell like him,” Leper unflinchingly explained.  
Hemorrhage paused a moment as he thought, before questioning, “Wait, you can tell the scent of a pony from the smell of their feces as well?”  Leper gave him a slightly amused nod, to which he bit his lip in thought.  “Interesting.”
A low noise suddenly came from deep within the crevice, a haunting, sorrowful howl that startled the two companions as they glanced back into the crack in the wall.  After a second, Leper offered, “After you.”  Receiving a dirty glance from Hemorrhage, he defended himself, whispering, “I’ve been the first in otherwise.”
Fair enough, Hemorrhage thought, though he didn’t admit so out loud, merely nodding and slowly sneaking up to the border of the crack.  With a deep breath, he slowly began to push his way through the miniscule entrance, gritting his jaw as the rough stones scraped against his coat, undoubtedly fraying strands all over him.  That became the least of his concerns, however, when he exited from the dark passage and straight into the main chamber of the cavern.  
He let out a refreshed breath of air as the steamy warmth of the cavern washed over him, water droplets sticking to his coat as the condensed water from wherever collected on him.  He almost left out a soft exclamation of wonder at the sights the cavern gave, its beautiful stone walls lined with moss and other sorts of greenery, but the low growl of a nearby creature halted him immediately. 
He turned sharply, preparing to lock eyes with the ferocious beast that had torn apart an entire town of ponies, but instead he was greeted with the sight of a mighty lump of fur with its back to him, shoulders hunched.  After a moment of confusion, he slowly took a step back onto some moss, ensuring that his hoof falls went without any notice.  Glancing over to the crevice he had just emerged from, he slowly gestured for Leper to cease his advancements, to which the young lycan thankfully complied.  He was just barely inside of the crevice, too far from the entrance to peek around the corner with his head, but close enough to listen in.  
Hemorrhage took a long time staring at the back of the mighty beast before him, the great hunching shoulders and crouched down body larger than him and Leper if they stood on each other’s shoulders.  The fur on this one was long and shaggy, and not too clean either, with some clots of dirt and other greasy patches that Ailade would have a heart attack seeing.  The beast was obviously in his youth, despite his larger size than even Leper, which was probably due to him being transmuted lycan and not half blooded.  It had some ponish features to it still, such as its ears, and Hemorrhage was sure that if he looked the lycan child in the face, it would have some distinctly ponish eyes.  
He glanced curiously at what the creature was so intently crouched over as it let out another soft growl of sorrow, which caused Leper to visibly shudder.  He nearly gasped in surprise as he made out the figures of almost a dozen forms laid neatly side by side, their faces covered in moss carefully to conceal their eyes.  The forms were distinctly wolf, and both much younger and much fresher than those that they had discovered in the village.  It was a haunting sight, the sight of pups laid besides juvenile wolves, all dead for some reason, and all being mourned for by perhaps the deadliest creature in this area.
The lycan whined once again, and Hemorrhage used the sound of the howl’s echo to cover the sound of his movement towards the great lycan youth.  With yet another deep, silent breath, he reached out and brushed his hoof along the shaggy fur of the beast.  He expected it to whirl around and smack at him, but instead, it lifted its tail to whack at the spot he had brushed, quite probably thinking it was merely some fly pestering him.  It took a moment for the lycan to realize that in this season, and in this sort of climate, flies wouldn’t be hovering around yet.  A deep, menacing growl emerged from within the beast, a monstrous noise that reverberated throughout the entire cave menacingly.
It was at this time, while the beast was turning to face Hemorrhage, that Leper emerged from his place in the wall, growing to his full size, that, while not quite as big as the beast in front of them, was still large enough to contest him.  Hemorrhage tapped his lycan companion’s lag, signaling him to move to the side slightly to allow for the other rogue lycan to see the both of them.  The great beast seemed surprised to see the two figures within its abode, and instantly crouched into a defensive position, growling possessively as it placed itself firmly between the intruders and its kin’s bodies.  
“We do not come to harm you, great one,” Hemorrhage softly called to it, reaching out a hoof.  While Leper had crouched in his own lithe position to defend his friend if need be, he had yet to bare his teeth, which hopefully made a statement on their peacefulness.  “We merely come in concern over you.  You are not well, and you have lost your pack, leaving you alone.  Please, come join our own coven, and be one of us.  We wish you to be happy as we are, and hope for peacefulness between us.”
The lycan didn’t seem to understand the words escaping Hemorrhage’s mouth, but it at least recognized the soothing tone, and sat down, still eyeing Leper keenly.  It didn’t trust them, probably because of Hemorrhage’s still ponish appearance.  Very well, he would have to change his form to ensure a violent outbreak didn’t occur between the two parties.  
Shaking slightly, he forced his hair to grow out lean and thick, protective coat against any harm.  His ears sharpened as he focused on changing himself as best and quickly as he could, not wanting to draw it out and startle the lycan.  His sides felt as if they disappeared before suddenly having the feeling of being pushed outwards as wings suddenly sprouted from either side, the leathery skin quickly becoming mottled as new feathers grew out.  He felt himself expand slightly as muscles forced their way up, the power provided of being both werewolf and vampyre allowing for his body to strengthen itself incredibly.  With a shake, he straightened out his new nightborne wings, using his horn to light himself in a surreal sheen of gray.  He hoped that the spectacle would amaze the lycan into submission, and judging by its wide eyes and slightly agape jaw as it watched the transformation, it was indeed enraptured by the show.
Having completed his transformation into his mordigan state, he gently whispered, “See, we aren’t any different, both strange creatures with very different ways of life, different from any other pony’s in all of Equestria!”
At the word “pony”, the lycan suddenly growled and tensed up, standing abruptly and backing away from them, glaring from one to another as it tried to judge them.  So apparently pony was some sort of trigger word that set the poor creature off.  He’d have to be more careful in his dialogue around him then.
Backing away slightly, motioning for Leper to follow in suit, he softly clicked his tongue.  “Now now, that’s no way to treat friends,” he lightly chided, hoping to come across as in control, which seemed only to confuse the beast.  
It suddenly made a very innocently confused face, its eyes growing wide as it growled out something that sounded very near to “friends”.  Hemorrhage and Leper shared a shocked look before Leper took initiative and confirmed, “Yeah, friends.”
The large lycan quirked its head to the side, cautiously leaning in and sniffing at the two of them, to which Hemorrhage slowly stuck his wing out to the creature, allowing him to observe the weakest part of the mordigan without fear.  After a few moments, it seemed satisfied that they were at the very least not a danger, stepping back and sitting down, licking his chops.  The lycan looked between him hungrily, and it took him a moment to realize that the youth had not only caught their slightly canine scent, but also the scent of their meal.  Now it seemed like he was expecting something from them, if not to be given then to at least exist.
Leper must have realized the same thing as he stood up and flicked his tail, calling playfully as he strode back towards the exit, “Come, come.  There is food back in our den.  You can eat there.  Come, come!”
The younger lycan timidly stuck his head forward, sniffing once again after Leper and smelling the scent of fresh deer meat.  It glanced back at Hemorrhage, waiting for the older pony to do or say something against it.  “Go on,” he encouraged as he might do to a foal who was scared to enter a dark room.  “There is nothing to fear from us.  We are your friends.”
“Fruerghs,” the creature murmured hopefully before complying, sliding gracefully through the crack behind Leper.  
With a sigh, Hemorrhage was finally able to breathe right again, having allowed for the visitation and de-escalation with the lycan to go without conflict.  He had half expected the whole confrontation to become another tragedy, either having to kill the young lycan or turn him over to the Princesses for extraction to Tartarus, where other uncontrollable darkened creatures had to go.  Of course, the Princesses didn’t know those that turned the savages in were also the same species.  Thankfully, no conflict had arisen between the lycan and themselves, and as he emerged from the cave, he was greeted by the sight of Leper leading the now docile youth through the bottom of the valley floor on all fours, flipping his tail around in instruction as the younger lycan happily followed his elder.