Title: Unter dem Licht des Vollmondes (under the light of the full moon)
Pairings: Germany x Prussia
Summary: Ludwig was just a blacksmith's apprentice – kept safe within the walls of Relbin along with everyone else. A chance encounter outside the city with a Werewolf called Gil will change both their lives forever.
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Warnings: Yaoi, swearing, violence, werewolf!Prussia

Prologue

In the cloudless sky above Relbin the moon had almost swollen to her fullest, tomorrow night no-one save those few brave and talented souls would be allowed on the other side of the great walls. In preparation they would all be inside the barracks tonight, resting and building up their strength for the full twenty four hours they would be on duty for come sunrise.

What better opportunity was there for a young man to sate his curiosity?

Ludwig had heard the stories of the terrifying beasts who lived chained to the outside of Relbin's walls. Monstrous hounds, he'd been told, with fangs that could slice off a man's limbs through the toughest armour – and claws that were stronger than the hardest diamond. Apparently to take one look at them was enough to freeze the blood of the bravest soldiers.

At least those were the most common speculations – not many people aside from the Handlers saw the beasts after they had been turned. Sometimes they simply looked like feral humans, complete with fangs and claws and wild manes of fur-like hair.

The tales had been twisted and exaggerated so many times that it was hard to tell what was the truth and what was fiction any more.

Now Ludwig wasn't normally a curious man, by nature, however something about the idea that such dangerous beasts lived so close to him and everyone else – and yet were hardly ever seen – just ate away at the young man until he had to go and take a look for himself. Nobody else knew what he was up to that night – Feliciano would have blabbed, and been too scared to come with Ludwig in the first place. If he had even mentioned it to his father then he would have been hit soundly round the ear and Bernhard would have found a way to keep Ludwig from leaving his sight until he got such stupid notions out of his head.

So the apprentice blacksmith had kept his mouth shut about his plans and made his way through the Western Gate. He kept his pace slow and steady, not wanting to bring any unneccessary attention to himself. Ludwig peered around the corner cautiously and took a few steps until he was completely out in the open. It was his first time being on this side of the wall, and Ludwig had to admit that it was somewhat exhilirating.

He heard the dangerous snarl long before he saw the eyes of Hell itself - deep crimson and full of unbridled anger. As soon as those eyes found him Ludwig froze completely, his brain unable to comprehend anything other than the ferocious irises that were boring into him. When the owner of said eyes struck, Ludwig didn't even have time to react with a scream - A lean, muscular, body sent him sprawling to the ground and pinned him down with claws digging into his flesh. Once his back hit the hard ground Ludwig immediately tried to struggle free, eyes widening as he felt warm breath and spit hit his face as the beast hissed angrily mere inches away from him.

Ludwig cursed and desparately kicked his legs, trying to dislodge his assailant. With a feral snarl the red-eyed demon jabbed a sharp knee into Ludwigs side and restrained his legs with its own. What was I thinking, coming out here alone? Ludwig mentally kicked himself as he stared helplessly up into the crimson gaze that was still so close to his own. He was going to die here... or he'd be turned as well! Right now Ludwig wasn't sure which was the more terrifying possibility.

The blinding pain around his right eye caused an agonized scream to tear its way out of the young man's throat as something wet started running down his face. Loud clanking and rushed footsteps alerted Ludwig to the arrival of the beast's Handler, and a couple of others.

A howl of rage echoed around them as the monster was roughly torn off Ludwig, who clutched his injured face as two people helped him to his feet. Ludwig couldn't catch most of the frantic conversation on either side of him, his ears were ringing painfully after the creature's howl. What he could gather though was that he was being rushed to the healer's home. Yelps, howls and snarls rang through the night behind Ludwig - who could only imagine just what the Handler was doing to the beast. Not that Ludwig had much opportunity to dwell on it as he quickly descended into darkness.

A/N: I honestly thought my first big fic for Hetalia would be a GerIta one - but this little plot bunny came to me the other day and I just had to get it out into the open! I can't promise much in terms of update times but I will do my best to upload as frequently as I can manage. So yeah, this is a Germany/Prussia fic, but because of the setting it won't be a quick development . There is also likely to be some angst and drama throughout but I'll try and not make it too depressing!

I'm not sure if I can actually fit more pairings into this but I'm thinking there might be some past GerIta and past PruCan or something like that.

Also here are the relevant ages for this fic - Ludwig is 19, nearly 20
Gilbert is 25
Feliciano is 20
Lovino is 21