It was a false reality to ever think that one could reach true happiness. It was said by Mark Twain that “Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.” Jerimiah had learned that the hard way. If asked about where he stood on the line of sanity, he would answer, "All one needs to do is cut the string." He was hanging by a thread. Psychologically speaking the cause was the unnatural loneliness he endured. Jerimiah had Anthrophobia. A fear of humans. It was irrational to fear people, they were everywhere. His fear may have seemed irrational, but when one was in his position, it was logical. Jerimiah was a Hybrid. A vampire and wolf mix. A creature that was not to exist, but did. It was this knowledge that Jerimiah had hope that he could beat the odds, but what God would bring such a demon into the world. The mix caused all his senses to be heightened. The lust for blood was ever suffocating and the need to kill was more powerful than the his civility. Particularly on nights like these. It was a Wolf's Moon tonight. Though the day was young Jerimiah could feel it in his very being. The wolf in him was stirring aggressively. It was a sure sign that tonight would be filled with death. Jerimiah despised the wolf in him. It was uncontrollable. He'd done all he could to tame it, but such a creature was not tameable. Although he tried to retain some kind of hope, he often gave up, wishing for nothing more than death. Only then could he retain peace, because in the living world, it was impossible to achieve.

Jerimiah was traveling a worn path through the Rogue Forest. Before the moon rose above the trees he would go to the Unknown. For now he needed to clear his head. That was not as simple as it seemed. In his head the wolf was speaking to him. Persuading him to let it run free. Jerimiah refused to do any such thing. Already he was fighting the pain that came with the change. That clammy feeling that made his skin feel sticky with sickness, the perspiration that formed above his brow, the racing of his heart, the adrenaline, and the need to tear apart flesh. Jerimiah should have been used to it all by now, but he wasn't. At times he wanted to just let the wolf have its way. Too let it run free and kill. The only thing holding him back was knowing that in the morning when he woke up, he'd be covered in innocent people's blood. Jerimiah could not bear that one his conscious. He had one killed an entire town during the full moon. There had been no survivors, no body to tell the tale of his massacre. He had never gotten over what he'd done that night two years ago. He was no murderer, but that didn't change the facts.

Enough was enough. He could no longer walk in this condition. Rest was required unless he wanted to pass out. Jerimiah was very aware that the Rogue Forest was no place to rest. If assumed to be traveler he would be attacked. A low growl rose from his throat at the thought. Jerimiah didn't result to violence unless he was threatened and even then he was willing to walk away, but when he was in this condition, he was unpredictable to even himself. Camouflage. Jerimiah willed himself to walk a few more minutes until he came upon a slow flowing river. The ferns were soft enough to be comfortable, and plentiful enough to provide cover. Jerimiah was quick with his work. Settling down he relaxed. Sitting was much more pleasant than walking about. It wasn't long until he drifted off, the scent of the water and freshly blooming flowers were enough to lull him to sleep. It was unintended to fall asleep. It helped ease the affects of wanting to change, but this was not the place. Jerimiah would soon realize his mistake, but for now, he enjoyed the sleep.

Hours passed before the red haired teenager awoke. Where it had been early, it was now dark, very dark. Jerimiah got up quickly, dusting himself off as he did. Looking up through the tree branches he spotted the slightest hint of the rising moon. No longer feeling like he was plagued with sickness, he sprinted across the forest. He had to get to the Unknown. As he made his way to the exit, a light drizzle begin, making the ground muddy. A storm was coming, he could scent it on the air. It was good to feel so powerful under the moon. He started to break into a full run. Jerimiah was almost confident enough to run on all fours. The light breeze that shook the tree leaves free of their branches only added onto the affect that mother nature was alive tonight. The farther he ran the more in tune he felt with the night until he reached a ledge. For a moment he was confused, this wasn't the way out. This was the way to the Wolf's Moon. In front of him lay a vast body of water reflecting the largest moon he'd ever seen. Jerimiah's ruby eyes turned black. He shifted into a golden brown wolf and let out a long, powerful howl that echoed through the forest. He'd never felt this good before. What had gotten into him? He didn't know, he just knew it was an amazing feeling. Was this the paradise he'd longed for? Here he felt at peace. It was different from the other times that he'd been in his wolf form. He felt in sync with it. He wasn't fighting it and it wasn't fighting him. Jerimiah let out another howl. In the distance he could hear a reponse, no several responses to his howl. Yes, this was paradise.

The mission was to find and send a message to a Hybrid, somewhere in the Rogue Forest. The reward was to be named as a Captain. Currently, there were only two captains in the Akatsuki. Well, Deita was only six, so he had no use for positions of power just yet. He was still only in training. As strong as he was, he couldn't hold up a position like that. Not yet, anyways. At least, this was the way little Deita Moonshine saw it.

Tonight was supposed to be a full moon. And hybrids were half wolf, weren't they? If that was the case, it should have made things easier to find this hybrid, and pick him out from the rogues that littered the forest. Wolves liked hunting under the light of the full moon. It was just what they did. Deita knew this all too well. For his village had been attacked and massacred on the night of the full moon. By no less than a hundred wolves. They'd been smart. They'd been precise. And they'd had to have had the largest pack in history. Deita had been the only survivor. And now he wanted to destroy anything that had wolf's blood in it. Even hybrids. Wolves were nothing more than vicious beasts. Vicious beasts that craved blood and hunted under the light of something pure, making the beautiful full moon feared. Having it renamed the Wolf's Moon.

Deita only lived for revenge right now. It was the only reason he stuck to training as hard as he did. Going through Deidara's training. But there'd been whispers around the Akatsuki that Deidara planned on having Deita succeed him. Well...they weren't even whispers anymore. It was becoming rather well known. That made Deita nervous. He'd wanted power, but the power of the entire Akatsuki itself was frightening. The Akatsuki's goal was to take out the villages. They wouldn't accept a leader whose only goal in life was to kill wolves. But he couldn't very well run away either. Not that he wanted to. The Akatsuki was his home now. And aside from that, Deidara would probably murder him with his own hands.

Deita shivered. The night air was cool and every now and then a small gust of wind passed by. Though it was summer, the nights were still chilly. He had to have been in the heart of the Rogue Forest by now. He'd tried to keep track of where he'd been going, but...now he feared he might have lost his way. But he was sure he could take on any rogue that came, if there were even any still out this late. He'd been wandering for a couple hours at least. It had still been light out when he'd left the hideout. As usual, the small boy had a sword strapped to his back. It was a supposedly sacred sword of his long dead clan. He'd taken it from the temple and run when daylight had broken the night of the massacre. There were still plenty of items in the village, hidden within his clan's household. But who knew if they were still there now. Bandits could have raided his home and found them.

A long, piercing howl echoed off the trees of the forest, making Deita jump, and give a small whimper as his sword sliced out of it's sheath. Though his hatred had drove him to do this mission on his own, he was still terrified of wolves. It had been little more than three years since the attack, and he hadn't faced a wolf since. And after that first howl, came several more. Holding his sword in front of him, Deita started shivering. He'd known that there would be more than a single wolf out here, but the reality of it hadn't hit him. At least, not until that very moment. Swallowing, Deita started quickly and quietly towards where the first howl had come from. If it wasn't the Hybrid, then Deita would just cut through wolves until he found the right one. After all, the Hybrid was bound to be a wolf during the full moon, right?


(Egh, not as good as yours, but I tried. ^.^; )