Every 1000 years , the moon undergoes a phase that facilitates the emergence of new Faunus. If you’re caught outside during it , you become a Faunus. If you linger, you become a full on beast. Blake is aware of this and tries to get her friends inside before it happens but she can only get one in time
The one she chooses wonders “Why me”
(This one was interesting, and I hope I twisted it nicely enough)
Legend said that the moon had helped bring faunus into the world, that the gods had blessed it to help repopulate the world after destruction fell upon it. However, the light that could bring faunus to the land, could also bring forth destruction. Those that lingered in the life giving light were given a new life, one of a beast that would crave destruction of the living. And while no one knew the truth, those that knew the legend would never linger for more than a moment.
Blake sighed as she watched the moon in the night sky, relaxing while keeping lookout for the grimm. A small smile crossed her lips as the moon almost looked whole again, something that only ever happened once every thousand years. Though, she couldnt help but feel like something was wrong as the air went quiet. The grimm had practically disappeared from around the village she was protecting with her team, the crickets and cicadas that had been making noise for the last hour had gone quiet all at once, and the clouds that had once been covering the sky were gone.
“Everything alright,” Weiss asked as she made her way over to Blake, offering her a mug of tea. “You seem a bit on edge.”
“I thought I was a bit more relaxed than that,” Blake said as she took the mug from Weiss. Her ears twitched as she caught a breeze running through the trees. “But… I cant help but think this night reminds me of an old legend I know.”
“What legend?”
Blake took a sip from her tea and stared at the moon, her eyes nearly shining with the light. “Its a legend of how faunus came to be. The short of it is that Remnant was empty and the gods were displeased with that. However, since neither could agree on what they would create, the gods blessed the moon to help repopulate Remnant. And it worked, for a time. The light would shine across the land and the faunus would soon emerge.”
Weiss nodded, watching the moon as well as she listened. “Then what happened? If it only worked for a time, then something else happened, didnt it?”
“The same light that could create faunus, could also turn them into beasts.” Blake looked down from the moon and at her tea, watching the reflection as the moon started to look whole again. “It wasnt just creation that blessed the moon, but destruction as well. As the light of the moon went across the land again, humans became faunus and faunus became beasts of the moon, cursed to turn with the full moon. The gods were furious with this and broke the moon, never to allow for it to create again. But no matter how the gods broke the moon, it always found a way. Now, when the moon looks whole, the light from it starts the cycle all over, creating faunus and beasts of the moon to sate its desire to create and to destroy.”
“That doesnt sound like a nice legend.”
Blake smiled a bit as she took another sip from her tea. “Most faunus legends arent. Its not about how nice everything sounds, its about what you can learn from them. I’m… still trying to figure out what this one is supposed to be telling us.”
Weiss leaned into Blake as she sipped from her own tea. “Maybe its a message to learn to work with others.”
Blake nodded absentmindedly and stared at the moon once more, watching as the pieces drifted to make it look whole once more. Then, her heart stopped as the moon turned from white to an almost pale yellow. The sky started to illuminate from black to an almost unearthly yellow as the light of the moon started to shine brightly down on Remnant.
A pillar of light became visible and slowly started to expand, a human who was unfortunate to get caught in the light started to painfully grow antlers as he dropped to the ground, shaking. As the light stayed on him, he slowly started to turn into a beast, cursed by the moon. Weiss stared in horror as she watched the man turn into a monstrous elk, eyes as red as a grimm’s and a guttural cry that seemed to fill the air with dread.
“We… we have to go!” Blake half yelled as she took Weiss’s arm and started to drag her to a nearby shack. “We’ll get you to safety-”
“What about Ruby and Yang?” Weiss asked as she looked out towards the tents. “We have to help them!”
“We dont have time!” Blake kicked in the door to the shack as the pillar of light started to expand to the tents Ruby and Yang were in. She quickly closed the door and started to board up the windows, making sure as little moonlight could get in as possible. “We’ll stay here until morning, and then we should be safe.”
Weiss stared out the window, frozen in place as she heard what sounded like beowolves howling in the distance. “You… you saved me, but not… them.”
Blake finished covering the windows as best she could and moved a table for her and Weiss to be under and out of the light. “It was supposed to rain tonight so they should be covered from the light. They’ll be safe.”
“And if they’re not? They’ll turn into a beast!”
“Only… only if they stay in the moonlight.” Blake took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself, scratching at the floorboards below her. It really was just supposed to be a legend, nothing more than a bedtime story you told to young kids to keep them from running out too late. But the howls from the newly moon cursed told her otherwise.
Weiss finally broke the silence as the moonlight expanded over the shack, peeking in through a few holes in the roof. “Why… why did you save me? You could’ve let me turn into a faunus or into a beast, but you didnt.”
“You were the closest one to me,” Blake answered, taking a peek out towards the unmoving tent at the edge of the forest. “No one… no one deserves to be forced to change like this.”
“Right…”
Blake sighed and pulled Weiss close, making sure neither of them would get hit by the moonlight. “When morning comes, we can see what the damage is. And then… maybe we can find a way to save the moon cursed.”
Weiss paused. “Moon cursed?”
“Beasts of the moon, those that change in the light of the full moon.” Blake sighed as she heard another howl ring out through the night. “Werebeasts.”
