Into the night

Side by side they were rushing through the forest, only their silhouettes visible in the light of dusk, eager to reach a safe distance to anyone they could hurt but also to Spectre's territory. Maybe the dark Guardian could be trusted around others of his kind but they didn't want to risk it during this first time.
"Five minutes and thirty seconds until moonrise", Edi's voice broke the eerie silence around them.
They could have stayed in Haven, locked away in the labs, but this was a risk Locke didn't want to take. Luger had been bitten by one of the Legion's creatures, there was no guarantee he wouldn't get out of control as well. And then there still was the tiniest possibility he wouldn't transform at all and then be locked inside a room with a were-Echidna. Maybe it would have been for the best had they gone their separate ways for just this night and only stayed together during the following months once they were sure - but Locke had sworn not to leave Luger alone, especially not now during his first time. If there was one thing worse than the pain during transformation it was having to suffer through it alone - Locke at least had Edi but since the AI only existed once in corporeal form Luger had no one.

They stopped at a small clearing, slightly panting.
"How are you holding up?" Locke asked.
"To be honest, I'm damn scared." Luger tried to force a smile. "But at least I can be with you."
Locke felt a flutter of nervousness in his stomach as well. If it was only because of their upcoming transformation he wasn't sure though. Slowly the moon became visible between the treetops, bathed the former Grandmaster's face in pale light and once more Locke wished they only had come to enjoy a nightly breeze.

A painful shiver rushed through his body, caused Locke to stumble and fall to his knees. He dug his hands into the grass, his breath came in short gasps but despite the pain that almost caused him to retch and his vision slowly blurring he tried to lift his head and keep his eyes on Luger. Nothing had happened to the other so far.
"Edi..." the Guardian started. His voice was drowned by another gasp of pain but the AI understood and created a Chaos wall around Luger.
"I have the order to protect you. If necessary you can withdraw even further into my world", Edi explained.
"I know", Luger quietly said stepping towards Locke as close as he could and carefully placing a hand against the glass-like wall. "But I want to stay with him."

Suddenly his insides felt as if they were on fire. Luger breathed in sharply and clutched his arms around his body. He stumbled forward, wanted to lean against the wall for support but Edi had already lifted it. Instead he was caught by Locke and helped to sit on the ground. Clawed hands were put on his shoulders, carefully enough not to hurt him but still firmly enough so he could feel they were there despite the pain. Blindly Luger reached out and tightly wrapped his fingers around the other's hand. Growing claws dug into its flesh but still Locke didn't withdraw. He only held on tighter, tried to give him as much comfort as possible in his suffering.

When Luger opened his eyes he found himself lying on the ground. At some point he must have keeled over and whited out. He rapidly blinked the veil of tears away and saw the ground around him torn open by claws, saw Locke's hand still in his - and the trickle of blood coming forth between them. Quickly he withdrew his hand and tried to sit up.
"Shit ... I'm sorry", he mumbled. His tongue felt heavy and even these few words were hard to get out.
"Never mind, it will heal. I have had worse each month", Locke calmly said while eyeing him over. "What about you?"
"I'm alright", Luger said. He was exhausted, his mind felt very fuzzy as if there was someone else in his brain trying to push his consciousness aside, his changed body felt weird and there was still a light pang of guilt for hurting the other - but aside of that and now that the pain had subsided he actually felt fine. Shouldn't he have felt more upset? Frightened? But during the past weeks they had talked it over many times; Locke had done everything he could to take his fears away and what mattered even more he had stayed with him.
Luger's speech became clearer the more he concentrated on it as well. He gave the Guardian a little smile. "My first time might have been a painful one but I am glad I could have it with you." He paused and pondered over what he just said then he started to chuckle. "Gosh, phrasing it like that sounded so weird right now."
Locke just turned his head away, a slightly embarrassed grin on his face.
"What are we going to do in this form?" Luger tried to change the topic.
The other male only shrugged. "Until now I had spent my time sitting in the lab, waiting for time to pass, occasionally destroying it when I lost control. What Spectre had been doing out in the wild I never asked. Probably gone hunting something. Or, guessing by the claw marks we already found, letting his anger out on some trees."
"Or howling at the moon", Luger suggested.
"Knowing Spectre he's rather cursing at the moon and throwing rocks at it."
They both chuckled at that image in their heads.

For a little while they were just sitting in silence. Locke had turned his face towards the moon, his eyes were half closed.
"You know, for almost two decades I had hated the full moon", he said quietly. "It only meant pain and loneliness to me. But now it's like I am really seeing it for the first time. It actually looks so calm and beautiful. There is still pain in it but together it's bearable."
"I know", Luger mumbled almost unhearable. Until now he hadn't been able to take his gaze off Locke's profile. He closed his eyes, shook his head and forced himself to look another way, towards the trees that were silently rustling in the breeze.
"I ... can we move around a little? I really feel like testing these limbs." He got up and stood a bit insecurely for a moment. Running on all fours might have felt more natural but he had the feeling that the least he gave in to his instincts the better he could keep the pushy part in his mind under control.
"Yeah, it needs a little to get used to", Locke said standing up. "You can hold my hand if you need to. We could actually both train together - after all in Haven I don't get the chance to run that freely."
Luger took a few testing steps. It felt odd but he was actually getting used to it already. He didn't need Locke's hand - with a shy smile he took it anyways.
At first they were strolling over the clearing, then their pace quickened until they ran into the darkness of the nightly forest.