"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." -Mark Twain

***

A splitting headache greets me when I wake up early the next morning, along with a bright pair or flaming orange eyes.

"Gah!" I scramble away from the creature until I back into a tree, but it doesn't attack despite baring its teeth and growling. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I realize it is a grey wolf, and it is alone.

They say the wolf lies with the pack, and since this one is solo, I didn't fear attack. Instead I remain completely still, unblinking, barely breathing, until it glares at me enough and stalks away uninterested.

I exhale loudly. I'd had encounters with wolves before but not that close up.

The headache still throbs, and I close my eyes again, trying to remember what happened last night. I remember going into a village; no one could see me, except for that one man...and I killed him...

I gasp as the image of his purple face appears in my mind and I start to shake as if I am afraid of myself.

I killed a man. These hands took the life of an innocent man who was just trying to be friendly. What came over me? What happened? Whatever it was, it wasn't me.

"I need to find the village," I whisper to myself. "I need to set things straight, make sure it actually happened."

Finding my staff a few feet from where I awoke, I take off into the colorful morning skies. I fly above the fog, lowering every mile or so to make sure I'm heading in the right direction. I see a patch of land with huts close by and hover to the ground shakily, still freaking out, but it is not the same village. The one last night was much smaller.

I shoot up again, not worried about anyone seeing me, and look around. Nothing but trees and snow occupy my vision, and I'm left disheartened.

"What now, Jack?" I ask myself. I hope talking to myself won't become a habit--that would mark be as the loneliest person on Earth, even though I technically am because no one can see me.

I go on foot, feeling more human that way. I walk until my feet ache, which isn't very far considering the ground is scattered with pine needles and broken sticks.

I break under a tree, snacking on an apple I'd found in a village. I didn't steal it, it fell out of a woman's bag, and she didn't notice, so I considered it charity and picked it up.

I throw the apple core at a squirrel nearby and sigh as he devours the remains.

I stand up and stretch, ready to start walking again. I don't know where I'm going, but sometimes you don't have to know. Just walk, and the earth will take you somewhere because you can't go nowhere.

Rustling from above me makes me freeze because it's a big rustling. Not like a chipmunk or a bird, but like a bear had somehow climbed into a pine tree and was making his way down.

Warily and cautiously, staff in hand, I tilted my head to look up just as I heard a branch snap and a shriek. Next thing I knew, there was a person laying where I'd been sitting just a moment ago.

They groan, rolling over and holding their head. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to help them or run away, so I start backing away slowly.

With a slight cough, the person, which I can see now is a girl, stands up and brushes her coat off, still coughing and holding her head.

"Um, are you okay?" I ask from what I think is a safe distance.

After her coughing fit ceases, she clears her throat and seems to notice me. "I'm okay, I think." She starts shaking her limbs and cracks her neck. "Nothing broken, so yeah, I think it's appropriate to say I'm okay."

"Well, good," I reply, not sure what to think yet. "I hope you don't fall out of any more trees."

She sticks her hand out to me, taking a few steps forward so we're at hand-shaking distance. "I'm Jagalan; it's nice to meet you."

I take her hand, hoping the coldness of mine doesn't throw her off. She doesn't seem to notice. "That's a unique name."

She shrugs. "My friends call me Jack."

"Oh, well my name's Jack," I say, feeling strangely okay around her. At the moment, she's the new kid in class, and I want to get to know her.

"That'll be easy to remember," she says. "Not that I would forget your name. What's the staff for?"

I smile a little shakily. "Just a walking stick," I lie.

"Are you okay? You look tense," she says, crossing her arms and tilting her head as if she's studying the oceans and I'm the current.

"I'm...fine...I think." Although I feel like I shouldn't tell anyone about the incident last night, she exhibits a certain aura of being trustworthy. "I just...something happened last night." She's eyeing my hair and get-up suspiciously, and I start to get nervous.

"Was your hair naturally like that?" she asks.

I groan internally. I can't tell her yes, that's preposterous! But I can't just tell her that the moon gave me a second chance and now I have magical snow powers, she'll think I'm a psycho!

She takes a step towards me so that we're closer and reaches into my hair, pushing some aside and startling me.

"What're you doing?"

"This piece is black, though," she says, holding it up in front of my eyes so I can see.

"I-I don't know, okay? My life has been so confusing the past few days," I confess, and she releases the lock of hair and steps back.

"Do you want to talk about it Jack?" The way she says my name makes me want to talk about it more, but I can't confide in a total stranger...can I?

Her eyes stare into mine with curiosity, the lightness of blue almost a blinding white.

"I don't think I can. You'll think I'm crazy."

"I dunno; I've heard some crazy things."

I sigh and stare at my bare feet and her booted ones.

"Jack?"

"Jagalan?" I look back up to tell her that I can't tell her, and a pendant at her neck catches my eye.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing to it.

She lifts it up so I can see it better. It's a full moon, and when she flips it over it shows the moon cycle.

"I'm a selenologist," she says. "I study the moon, so it's kind of just a label thing. My dad gave it to me. That's why I was in the tree--I wanted a closer look at the moon."

"Okay, I'll tell you," I say in a rush. If she studies the moon for a living, then maybe she won't find this so bizarre after all.

She smiles and takes a seat in the snow, patting the spot in front of her.

I take a seat and start from the beginning.