Lunar Wars

"Many years ago, when wolves and humans lived together, the monks had sought a way to another realm and by mistake opened a pathway to Tartarus (Hell). Hecrydos, the commander of the demons saw this opportunity and invaded earth. Hecrydos and his army of demons caused great destruction on earth.

Legend had it that Hecrydos was in search of a magical goblet called the Holy grail.

It was an object that would give him ultimate power and immortality if he drank blood from it. He destroyed everything in his path in his search for it. Seeing this destruction, Queen Diana beckoned on the monks to seek a solution. The monks sought a legendary tree called the 'Tree of Eden'.

At last they found it, but unfortunately it was protected by two mighty dragons that stood tall and mighty; their heads reaching up to the clouds. Unable to defeat the dragons, the monks granted the dragons their ultimate wish; to gain the ability to transform into humans in exchange for a fruit of the tree. The monks returned and melted the fruit in the blood of a demon and melted bronze, crafting it into a magical pendant; the Lunarike pendant.

It was able to control the hearts of demons and even Hecrydos himself.

Afterwards, Queen Diana banished Hecrydos and his army of demons into eternal imprisonment in the void, a realm found by monks. Using a seed from the fruit of the tree of Eden, the monks grew a tree to serve as the barrier between the void and the earth. They called it the Acrylys. After the event, humans began to fear and discriminate against wolves and so we hid ourselves away till we slowly faded into myths among humans. Prophecy says Hecrydos will be back to complete his mission. The End," Queen Patricia said, closing a book in her hands that she had just read to her 5 years old daughter, Vanessa.

She sat on the edge of her daughter's bed, while her daughter sat upright on the bed, leaning against her pillow. The room, Vanessa's room, was dark but for the illumination from the lamps leaning against the wall. The walls of the room were painted a light blue and pink color, and the marble floor, white.

"Mom, what of the pendants the monks had created?" Vanessa asked, wrapping her arms around her teddy bear, with a curious smile on her face.

"The Lunarike pendant?" Patricia asked.

"Yes."

"Queen Diana hid it under the throne and it remains there today." Patricia smiled, and tapped the bed. Vanessa snuggled into the blanket that was wrapped around her, and pulled the teddy closer before closing her eyes.

"Good night sweetie." Patricia leaned in, and kissed Vanessa on the forehead.

***

Vanessa slowly opened her eyes, and peeped to see if her mom had left. She planned to check out the pendant that night. She was happy her mom hadn't suspected a thing when she asked for it's location.

She slowly got up from her bed, and walked a few metres forward to switch on the lamps. She hurriedly put on her sandals that was laid at the foot of the bed before walking out through the door to her room.

She turned left, silently walking through a dark corridor, using her enhanced sight to see in the stark darkness. She heard some voices and footsteps getting closer, and hid behind a wall.

She patiently waited, and watched Thelonius, the head guardian and Kane, Patricia's assistant pass by.

As soon as they went out of sight, she came out of hiding, and continued walking. She turned down the last fork that lead to the throne room, and hastened her steps, looking back continuously to check if anyone was watching, or perhaps following her. She doubted that though.

She finally reached the large arched door that lead into the throne room, and held on to the handle of the door to the throne room. She sighed, and pushed it open, entering into the throne room.

The chamber was lined with chairs, arranged in order at both sides of the chamber. Huge chandeliers dropped from the sparkling white ceiling, and their light radiated off the surface of the dull grey walls.

At the far end of the room was a magnificent golden throne adorned with precious stones and ornaments, and at the both sides of the throne were wolf statues that stood out tall and mighty. Vanessa's lips curled up into a smile, and she ran towards it.

She let out a deep breath on getting there, and bent down, using her hands to pull out a trap door under the throne. She frowned on seeing nothing but dirty, ancient scrolls below the trap door.

Her face lit up into a knowing smile, and she quickly began to push them aside. The smile widened when she saw a bright golden pendant below the scrolls. She picked it up, and held it with her both hands, causing it to glow.

She held it to her nose, and inhaled the cold metallic smell. Beyond that cold metallic smell, she could smell something great: power.

She began to hear footsteps approaching, and she dropped it in it's original position. She picked the scrolls she had set aside, and began to position it on the pendant, as it was previously.

She fixed the trap door, and ran down the throne platform. She looked across the room, and finally hid among the chairs in the chamber.

The door to the chamber opened, and a guard stepped in, holding a torch; the night breeze agitating the scanty flames. The guard walked into the chamber, and looked around shortly.

He soon turned to leave the chamber, and closed the door. The sound of the closing door reverberated through the chamber, and Vanessa slowly crawled out of hiding. She sighed in relief, and ran out the door.

***

A portal is shown slowly opening next to the throne. It was deep green in color, and stood like a round door against the air. Out of nowhere, a demon-like creature jumped out of it, and let out a loud growl.

Chapter one.

Greenville orphanage home.

"All five hearts," Vanessa said, and smiled as she dropped a set of five hearts cards. She was seated in her room on her bed with her friends. The room contained four bunk beds at the four corners of the room, painted in a light creamy color. Two lamps stood at two corners of the room, and a ceiling fan dropped from the centre of the room.

"How do you always do that?" Richie asked, a few strands of his blonde hair moving on his forehead that held full eyebrows.

"A magician never tells his secret." Vanessa flashed a smile at him, after which the bell rang out for breakfast.

"Race you to the cafeteria," Toshiba said, and the others dropped the deck of cards, running after him.

"Excuse me." Vanessa maneuvered her way through the people: mostly teenagers between the age of thirteen and sixteen, moving to the cafeteria, refusing to return the greetings of her other friends, since she was bent on out running Toshiba and Richie.

Out of nowhere, Vanessa found herself wobbling her foot hitting the floor too hard, as her shoulder hit the wall. She began to get dizzy, and she could hear everyone, their heartbeats, and even their thoughts. She slowed down, and finally stopped running. She covered her ears from the noises ringing continuously in her head. It was so painful. She couldn't explain what was happening to her. She felt her legs give way beneath her. Her vision blurred until everything went dark.

Flashback.

11 yrs ago.

"All of you, stop, we can't just keep running, you all know Valentine will catch up with us anyway," Patricia said, panting, and faced the others, who all immediately stopped running, and tried to catch their breaths.

She breathed in, trying to recover her breath. The smell of freshly cut grass drifted across the meadow with the clippings scattered over the turf. The branches of the giant oak tree swayed to and fro in the wind, shaking the leaves, so they fell like raindrops, their green color fading and replaced by patches of brown. The weather seemed perfect as the sun was shining and no clouds were in sight. The meadow was spacious, with a collection of trees and bushes guarding the perimeter.

"Patricia's right, we have to think of something rather than running," Theolonius said, dropping a young boy of about five whom he carried in his hands. He had few strands of his dirty brown hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. His eyes were a dull grey color, standing over a pointed nose. His lips were a light shade of pink, and his jaws were rigid with strong jaw lines.

"What do you suggest we do?" Kane asked, waiting for Patricia's reply, and dropped a young girl gently.

"We make sure Valentine does not get his hands on the pendant."

Patricia brought out a golden pendant, and stretched out her hands towards Luke.

"Your sword."

Luke stretched out his hands, and handed a glittering silver sword to Patricia, who struck it against the pendant, dividing it into four equal parts, and groaning in pain from the impact on her hand.

Patricia handed one to Theolonius, one to Luke and one to Vera, keeping the last one with herself.

"Hang it on your children, once we do it, we'll have to send them off," Patricia said.

"To do that we'll need more time and by then Valentine would catch up with us," Vera stated.

"We have to do this for our children. Once we do it," Thelonius said, panting, "we'll send ourselves to the void. It's better to get devoured by demons than to be Valentine's captive."

In response to Thelonius' remark, Patricia nodded, after which she froze, and her eyes turned white.

"ESTRO SELONDRA NEVILO

THELOBROUS CEVILA LAVISTRO ALUNDRA CHLOROPHORA EXCELSA," she chanted, and in response the parts of the pendant on the four children glowed; the children floating away in the air.

"Quickly I sense him, he's near!" Vera exclaimed, and stretched out her hands, with a portal slowly opening. The portal was blue-black in color, and stood straight in the air like a door; the grasses few metres around it flying in the air.

"He's here, get in!" Kane yelled.

Theolonius jumped into the portal, then Luke, then Vera, then Kane but before Patricia could jump in, a silver tipped arrow hit her in the back. She winced in pain, and reached out her hands to her back. She groaned loudly, when she pulled out the arrow from her back, and threw it to the floor; the tip of the arrow stained with blood.

Valentine leaped out of the bushes, with his men, transforming back into his human form. The sun finally covered the moon. It had been slowly creeping over the moon since noon, and now the lunar eclipse was complete.

A strength slowly built up in Patricia, while Valentine began to go pale; weak.

"They ran to the void without you, let's make sure they never come back." Valentine smirked, and brought out a black box. He tightened his grip on the box, and threw it into the portal, which in turn caused a disruption in the portal. Valentine's lips curled up into a mischievous smile, as he watched the portal finally explode, and release a huge wave.

Patricia reached into her pockets, and removed a transparent tube; the green liquid content clearly visible. She had to do this. She couldn't remain conscious, or Valentine would torture her till she spilled the location of the Lunarike pendant. She was going to do this for the world and for her daughter. She opened the tube, and dumped the entire content in her mouth, after which she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

" Noooo," Valentine screamed. She was his only key to finding the Lunarike pendant, and taking over the world by controlling the demon commander, Hecrydos, but now she was gone. His expression slowly morphed into a fierce one, and he clenched his fist so his knuckles were so white, any human would bleed. He was going to wake her up no matter what it took.

***

The waves from the portal hit the children making them go unconscious.

***

Presently

Jace- Juvenile prison.

"Over here." Jace shouted, running through the basketball court towards his opponent's score net; his straight blonde hair flowing backward from pushing against the wind. Streaks of sweat formed on his eyebrows and forehead. He didn't look forward while running, since his attention was on one of his team mate running with the basketball towards their opponents score net.

"Hey watch where you're going." Jace looked up to see a guy from the other team, and realized he had bumped into him. The guy rested his palms on his waist, and gave Jace an intimidating smile. He had an elegantly styled raven black hair, and a silvery grey eye. His jaws were defined and pale jaw lines ran through them. Jace recognized him. He was the son of a millionaire businessman that had managed to end up here. That was obviously the reason why some cell inmates always flanked him. Doing what he says, so they could enjoy in the illegal benefit he enjoyed.

"I'm sorry." Jace walked forward to continue, but stopped when a hand clamped around his right hand in a tight grip. He winced in pain, and turned around to see the same guy, giving him an outrageous smirk.

"I never said I accepted your apology." The guy smirked at Jace, who yanked his hand out of his grip. He was beginning to get annoyed, and he sighed to calm himself.

"Did your mama teach you manner?" The guy asked.

"Hey watch it." Jace said, and clenched his fist subconsciously, but he tried to control himself. He was clearly annoyed, but he didn't want to cause a scene. Inmates were already gathered round, and the game had stopped.

"Wanna fight?" The guy asked with a smirk.

Jace turned around to walk away, only to be once again grabbed. He felt himself being turned around, and before he could move, the guy threw a punch in his face, causing Jace to stagger backwards in pain. Acting on a furious instinct, Jace clenched his fist, and swiftly threw a punch in the guy's face.

"That was a big mistake." The guy rubbed his fist into his palm, and other guys began to gather behind him. Fear flashed in Jace's eyes but he immediately hid it. He didn't want the guy feeling too good about himself. He groaned in pain as the guy punched him in the abdomen, and before he could recover from that, someone else grabbed him from behind and threw him another punch in the face. He fell on his knees when one of them kicked him. They finally stopped when prison guards noticed them, and ran towards them. The guy smirked, with one of the guards taking him away. The guards soon began to leave. Jace winced in pain, and stood up. He knew the guards intentionally refused to get there, and stop them on time.

"Aaargh." He shouted in regret as the inmates slowly left the court. He winced in pain when he punched the concrete wall, and to his surprise, he saw a dent his hand had created in the wall. He moved back in fear, and stared at his hands in shock. His breathing paced up, and he ran away.

***

Jace sat in his cell, reminiscing what had happened earlier today. He saw a flash of light, and heard footsteps approaching. A prison guard soon passed, holding a flash light. As soon as the guard passed, Jace stood up, and walked towards his cell gate. He grabbed the silver bars of the gate, and inhaled a deep breath. He groaned, and pulled with strength, only to be disappointed by his newly found strength. He turned to the wall of his cell and punched it lightly, creating a shallow dent.

Somehow, the cell's gate was locking the source of his strength. He walked back to his cell's gate, and fit his hands through the bars, before grabbing the lock, a paddle lock, and breaking it in his grip. He slowly opened the gate, and walked out before closing the cell's gate. He sneaked through the corridors betweens the cells, avoiding being seen by the other inmates. He already knew the routines, so he knew where and where to duck. He sneaked looks around, turned down the end of the corridor, and hid behind a wall as two guards approached. He was not going to lose this chance. He sighed lightly, and continued walking as soon as the guards passed by, and were out of sight. He finally got to an outer wall leading out of the prison, and looked around to make sure no one was around. He wasn't sure this would work, but he decided to hope. Perhaps he could figure out some other way. He jumped up, and punched a hole in the wall. He continued jumping, creating deep footholds and handholds. He finally got to the top of the wall, and let out a loud sigh. He summoned courage, and jumped down, onto the other side of the wall; landing on his palms and left leg. He winced in pain, as his palms took the weight of his jump, and he felt his wrist broken. He immediately forgot the pain, and smiled. He was finally free. He got on his feet, and began to run; air feeling his lungs. Focused on escaping, he didn't notice the silver tipped tranquilizer whizzing right at him. He groaned when the tranquilizer hit him on the neck. He felt his knees give way beneath him, and his visions began to go blurry till everything went dark.

***

"Vanessa, what happened to her?" Richie asked, watching the medical team wheel Vanessa to the ward.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you can't go further than this." A nurse stopped them.

"But she's our friend." Toshiba tried to convince the nurse.

"Sorry." The nurse apologized, and entered the ward before closing the door.

"No sign of accident or physical attack," a nurse said.

"Could be post traumatic effect or stress." A doctor remarked, and placed his stethoscope on Vanessa's chest. To their surprise, the door to the ward flinged opened, and two men stepped in. The nurses and doctors had their gaze catch what was happening past the doors; the whole place filled with a blue fog, and people falling unconscious. Their gazes travelled back to the men before them, fear written all over their faces.

"Who are you, you are not supp....." The nurses and doctors fell unconscious; the same blue fog from the tubes the men had dropped circulating the room.

***

"Let's set up an abduction for you," A masculine voice said, his face hard to make out in the dark room, his eyes though were visible since their emerald green colour glowed in the dark; his black shirt and pants blending into the darkness.

"I will go to Arkadia wolf high and I will make you proud, dad," Lucille, a teenage girl said, a bleak smile forming on her face.

"I know," The man said in a mischievous tone.

***

Vanessa slowly opened her eyes, and saw herself lying on a bed. She tried to stand up but couldn't.

"We were cuffed to the bed." A voice echoed through the room, and she turned her head sideways to see a guy her age on her left. She had figured that out already, but she decided not to talk, or she might sound rude. She looked around the dark room, and she felt an eerie feeling run through her spine.

"Where are we and why are you here?" She asked, obviously confused

"No idea," he answered.

"This is Arkadia Wolf High." They both looked further back to see a lady cuffed to the bed.

The door at the other end of the room creaked open, and a middle aged man accompanied by two guards stepped in.

"Welcome to Arkadia wolf high." The man smiled.

"Why the fucking hell are we here?" Jace asked in anger.

"Uncuff them, they are not prisoners." the man signalled to the guards. A guard walked towards them and uncuffed them

Vanessa sighed in relief and sat upright on the bed, massaging her wrist from the cold bite of the metal cuff. She should feel scared, but she somehow trusted them. She didn't know why.

"I'm Wilfred, the overseer of this establishment. You are? " He asked.

"Vanessa Clarisse." Vanessa replied.

"Ricardo Jace."

"Lucille Frank."

"This institution was set up to train and tutor new and young werewolves," Wilfred stated

"Well if you are looking for a werewolf, you've got the wrong guy!" Jace yelled.

"I'm getting to that, you see, you three are different cases. As young werewolves, during the explosion of a voidal portal in the presence of a lunar eclipse, the waves released affected you, causing a deterioration, or should I say decrease in the lunar cells present in your blood, causing you to lose your powers," Alfred said with affirmation, "We estimated that when you all become 16, your blood would have healed itself. It seems our calculations were right," Wilfred continued.

"That explains the voices/ strength," Vanessa and Jace said at the same time.

***

"Rubbish." Amber hissed and tore off a recently drawn piece of drawing off her drawing pad, crumbled it and threw it away. Before she knew it, the door opened and a lady stepped in, bending a little, barely dodging the crumbled piece of paper as it went over her head.

"Sorry," Amber apologized.

"It's okay," Vanessa replied with a smile.

"Are you my new roommate?" Amber asked.

"Yes," she replied, staring at Amber's drawing tools.

"Do you draw? Cause I love drawing." Vanessa giggled, and picked up one of Amber's color pencils.

"Yes." Amber smiled. She like Vanessa already.

Chapter Two.

The woods

"Hudson, what could you get?" Mr. Harper asked, rubbing his temple.

"Nothi..ng," Hudson said, his voice breaking. He ran his hands through his dirty brown hair, confused, and at the same time, afraid. He was pretty sure how Mr. Harper would react to that. He hated having to steal to survive, and at the same time afraid Mr Harper would starve him as punishment.

"Nothing! Your mates manage to steal expensive jewelries, and stuffs and you get nothing, not even a single pearl!" Mr Harper yelled at the top of his lungs; the other guys laughing with their fingers pointed at Hudson.

Mr Harper was a thief that had lived alone in the forest through most of his life. He had lost his parents at a very young age, and was brought up by a bounty hunter.

Stealing was now a part of his life, and the only way he survived. He had payed the bounty hunter's help forward, and helped Hudson, Chris, and Daniel.

Hudson ran out into the green forests of Greenville, having mixed feelings.

The smell of the air was one of dry grasses. The soft autumn breeze blew against the thick branches of the trees; mostly oak, making the leaves fall to the ground like rain droplets. The forest was quiet but for the chirping of the trantor pigeons, delightfully perched on the tree branches.

He stopped running and rested on tree with heavy breathing and continuous panting. He shoved his hands into his hair, and ruffled it. He let out a loud cry; his voice echoing through the woods, and punched the tree. He flinched when the tree bent to the other side, dangling back and forth.

Afraid and confused, he moved backwards, and looked at his hands in surprise. Much to his surprise, animalistic claws began to move in and out of his fingers. At that point, he began to become really sweaty; his lips quivering.

His attention got drawn on hearing rustling of dry grasses. He looked around; a strange instinct tickling him, and he felt someone or something spying on him.

"Who are you?" He shouted, his voice echoing through the woods, "don't be a coward and reveal yourself." His eyes dashed left and right, and he subconsciously stood in a defensive posture.

A tranquilizer whizzed through the air towards him, and against his will, his hands moved up, catching the tranquilizer midair. His breathing began to grow rapid, and he felt his heart rise to his throat; his blood curdling.

He didn't notice the tranquilizer slip from his hand, and fall lifelessly to the floor. He screamed in pain; an extreme pain pulsing through his body. He felt like his skin was about to break, and something was going to crawl out of him.

He let out an howl, and out of control, he transformed into a wolf. He immediately started running, with his alter ego now in full control. He began to run faster, hearing loud and fast footsteps behind him, with the wind brushing up hard against his face.

With his eyes now sharp, he spotted a cave from far off, and began to run faster towards it. His sight looked like they've been given a million time brighter resolution. He was seeing the world in d different way.

On getting near the cave, he stopped upon a sudden realization: He couldn't run in, or they would just follow his footprints.

Within micro seconds, he developed a plan in his head, and he leaped into the air, diving into the cave; his feet not touching the floor.

He looked around the cave. It was dark and creepy, but for now it was a better solution.

Thick creamy liquids slowly dropped to the cave's floor from the tips of the stalagmites, and patiently woven cobwebs hung in the corners.

He sighed in relief: seeing no bats. He soon began to hear their footsteps getting louder, and he waited there to listen to them.

"We lost him. I'm surprised at how a first timer can run and transform so fast." One of them sighed.

"Let's go back."

***

The footsteps on the narrow road were consistent and loud. Hudson had decided to follow them to see where they came from. Who were they? Why were they after him? Or perhaps what had he done to offend them?

He ran as fast as he could after their car, driving down a rough road. The road was narrow, and thick bushes seemed to want to cave into the little space from both sides.

He wondered what was happening to him. At first, his strange strength had managed to push a tree, then animalistic claws extracted from his fingers, after which he transformed into a wolf, a wolf!

Was he becoming a monster? Or was it some sort of temporary mutation?

The car drove down a sloppy road, and he sighed on spotting a dead end at the foot of the sloppy road.

One thing though that caught his eyes at the end of the sloppy road was a large, magnificent building. It was magnificent as a castle. The structure; beautiful, and the architecture; great.

He wondered what something as beautiful as this was doing in the middle of nowhere.

***

Lucille - Arkadia Wolf High.

Lucille closed the door of her room, and turned on the light. She threw her purse recklessly on her bed, and walked to her drawer. She let out a loud sigh, and brought out a small transparent tube; the grey content clearly visible.

She held out her part of the Lunarike pendant, and opened the tube; sprinklings some grey powder from the tube on it.

When next the ones with the other pieces of the pendant try to use their powers, they would slump weakly, thereby enabling her to identify her targets.

This was all part of her father's plan. They would gather all four pieces of the Lunarike pendant and then exact revenge on Valentine. She returned the tube to her drawer and giggled evilly.

***

Jace - Cafeteria.

The cafeteria was noisy, hot, and stuffy. Students gathered themselves in groups of three to six at the various tables, while some stood at the food slab, deciding which food to eat.

Jace laughed at a joke one of his friends cracked. The laugh quickly morphed into a smile as he spotted Vanessa and Amber walk into the cafeteria. Vanessa returned the smile, and Jace walked up to them.

"Hi Essa." Jace called Vanessa by the nickname he had given her. It was a short form of her name Vanessa. The both of them had developed a quick bonding over the past two weeks of being admitted into the academy.

Jace watched in curiousity as Vanessa searched through her bag for something. She sighed in relief, and brought out a small frame, it's content facing her Amber; making Jace even more curious.

"So Amber and I did a little something for you." Vanessa smiled, flashing her sets of white teeth. Jace's eyes widened in surprise as Vanessa turned the frame to him, revealing a canvass drawing of Jace.

"She sketched it, I painted." Amber giggled.

***

Everyone went silent as a woman climbed onto the podium at the other end of the room.

"Good day future generations of werewolves to the first combat class of the year," she greeted, putting on a welcoming smile.

"Our lesson today will be the first thing that makes you a werewolf; your transformation," she said, and some of the students cheered.

Lucille stood at an empty corner of the room, watching everything happening. She felt disgusted at the other student's excitement to learn how to transform.

She smiled as an idea popped in her head. She was going to amuse them, and show off. She could already imagine the surprise that would lit up on their faces.

The woman cleared her throat, and continued speaking, "So anyways, as this will be your first transformation, you will probably feel some pain and difficulty, so try to endure and su ...." Cutting her short, Lucille suddenly transformed into a wolf, making everyone around her shift back in fear.

Lucille then transformed back into her human form.

"Miss Lucille right?" The lady asked and continued on getting an affirmative nod from Lucille. "That was a very courageous step being that this is your first time."

Lucille laughed within myself, "they were fools." She thought within herself. "Did they really think this was actually her first transformation?"

Yes, she was supposed to recover her abilities just three days ago, but her dad had medical professionals giving her drugs that temporarily activated her powers.

There's nothing she have to learn here, cause her father hired the best of masters to train her. She was here for one single purpose.

"Someone else wants to try?" The teacher asked, and shortly after Vanessa stepped forward.

Lucille gave Vanessa a scowl she didn't notice. Lucille had been trying to get Jace's attention for the past few weeks, but Vanessa was always there, smiling at Jace's words.

Every one knew for a fact that Jace was into Vanessa, but Vanessa; so innocent and annoying was ignorant of this fact.

She began transforming pretty well, but suddenly, she began to fall. Jace just had to spoil everything and catch her.

Lucille boiled in anger and jealousy as they smiled at each other.

On the bright side, she had found one of her targets; Vanessa Clarisse.

***

Hudson

Hudson watched Daniel and Chris talking to each other. They snickered, facing his direction. They were obviously making fun of him.

He felt anger overwhelm him, and couldn't help as his claws came out, but he forced it back in, in pain. He walked over to where he had placed his backpack, throwing a knife, a rope and other instruments into it, zipping it and carrying it.

He knew just what to do.