Thanks to everyone with their support! It means a lot! Please read the A/N at the bottom for big news

Key:

"Speech"

Thoughts

Moonbeam's way of talking.


Chapter 3- Discovery

Moonbeam was whimpering in her staff, his faint light was flickering in the twilight with fear. There were not many people who could take his charge hostage so easily, and for this strangers to overpower her with his strength was terrifying. Many had tried to take his charge for themselves, tried to hunt her for her pelt or flesh but none could get her, she was as quick as the wind and she fought too hard. She had scars where the wrong type of humans had gotten too close, where they had almost had her, but Moonbeam had helped her. He had merged his strength with hers and fought against them, their minds and bodies becoming one.

Her fingers danced over the wood where her Moonbeam slept, trying to calm his thoughts that were toying with her own, the panic of his own mingled with hers, rising from the depths of her chest. Her eyes were wild as the stranger led her to a part of the meadow she had never even known was there, let alone ever seen a way out. She knew that Moonbeam was too weak to open another tunnel, so she walked and waited her fate.

There was a soft purple light glowing from a cavity in the ground and she found herself drawn to its hypnotic light, walking towards it without ordering her feet to. It looked like a kind of plant life and it was something she had never seen before. Around the light were four logs, arranged around it a square as if others had been here before, the space around it sandy dirt. Surrounding this camp looking settlement was a large open cave, covered in dark green moss, moist with life. She could hear the trickling of water somewhere in the back of the cavity and rather than feeling intimidated by the stoned entrance it was cool and inviting-a feeling she would have never expected to feel. Dotted around the mouth of the cave were pale pink plants that had thick stems and a nostalgic aroma- a scent she hadn't smelt since the Warren fire. She ran towards them carelessly and rubbed her paws over the velvety petals, inhaling as much of the scent as possible. As the pollen collected on her fur each inhalation brought back a waves of memories from forgotten parts of her mind.

"Where did ya get these? I 'aven't seen these in years…" Her paws kept stroking the plant, she wanted to pick one of the flowers but her heart told her that would be wrong to pick a flower in a stranger's home.

"I grew 'em myself. It was hard getting hold of the seeds mind you…" He chuckled lightly, keeping to the shadows so that she couldn't see his face.

"The last time I saw these plants was back home, well before the accident…" She said quietly, her nose sniffing at the petals once last time before she stood up, her back still the stranger.

"What sort of 'accident…?." His voice was quiet also, and his response made her hackles rise on her shoulders and her ears flatten against her head, the purple moss casting dancing shadows on the wall she was facing. Her head and ears turned towards him, her left ear pricking up curiously.

"Just a nail in the coffin." Her voice was close to a whimper as she spoke, her weight resting on the tips of her paws, ready to run if there was to be a confrontation. He grunted.

"Sit." Was the strict command, and after a moment of consideration she lowered herself onto the log, keeping her eyes on the stranger's shadow.

In the soft light he could see that her fur was a stormy grey, which was close to a greyish blue, with an off white stomach. The tendrils of cream reached under her arms and hid beneath her woven leather arm guards, which were dotted with dirty blue stones. She wore two black leather straps on her upper right arm, and six thick faded brown bands on her hocks, which contrasted with his regular amount of eight. Her cloth was made of a worn blue material and she wore it over her shoulders in a very nomadic manner, it covered the front of her chest and the longest part of it hung over her back, fringed with broken gold.

The Carreon clan… He mused, snorting slightly.

Underneath the fabric was a leather pack, held in place by straps stitched into the diagonal corners and reaching round to her front, held together with a single buckle. Attached to the pack was a large leather hoop in which she kept her staff when she was running for the miles and miles she regularly did.

Her eyes were what caused him trouble most of fall, they were a deep chocolate brown, a colour uncommon but not unheard of in the Pooka's breeding. Her markings was a dull grey, but on her top part of her left arm she had a lopsided eight figure, framed on her downy fur with black. On her right thigh were three parallel scars, no longer than a couple of inches but they pulled the skin around them tight as if they were deeper than they appeared. She looked starved, almost as if she hadn't eaten enough for a few months, enough for her ribs to stand out against her skin.

Near the tip of her right ear she wore three small golden hoops, and her ears looked as if they had been dipped in shadows. Her left ear had a tear and she was missing a section the length of one of his fingers, and just a few centimeters after the tear there was a long feather pierced into her ear, help in place with a silver hook and braided red thread. The feather was the most beautiful shade of green he had ever seen, and it was an achingly familiar.

"What's ya name, Sheila?" He asked quietly and curiously, his voice coming straight across from where she sat.

"Step into the light first, you can see me, but I can't see ya… I kinda feel a little bit cheated here" She gave a quick chuckle to break the silence that seemed to have followed her comment, tightening her paws on her staff, the wood creaking with the force.

After considering for a moment he stepped into the purple hue of the light, and her fur prickled as she discovered who he was. He was a Pooka, and she was no longer alone. He sat across from her and took a stick into his paw, keeping his eyes on the ground to show submission.

Shock crept onto her face, her fear of being alone, being the last was obliterated, and it took every muscle in her body not to jump up and scream with happiness. She thought no-one had survived the fire.

She thought she was the last. But her thoughts were wrong.

All those years spent alone, nearly 2,000 years of jumping from country to country trying to find someone remotely like her. All those months spent alone in the mating season, feeling forgotten and worthless were over. They were nothing more than a bad dream.

Another like you… Moonbeam's weak whisper croaked in her ears, and they pricked at the whimsical noise.

I am not alone! I am not the last! Her thoughts screamed at him, knowing that he could not hear her.

But then her thoughts turned sour, and her ears pressed against her skull.

"I thought I was the last. I thought I was the only one left alive!" She said, anger rising in her voice.

"I looked for you, I looked for another survivor! I wasted my whole life looking for you! Where were you?! Where were you?!" She shouted, her anger causing her to stand and her hackles to rise.

Her anger subsided as she observed his body, and just by looking she could understand how he had earlier overpowered her so easily. Toned muscles rippled underneath his fur as he moved, and she found that the odd shape he had pressed against her throat was a serrated curved piece of wood which was attached to a leather rope of sorts.

He looked older than her as parts of his face were painted with white hairs, framing his light grey fur. Markings that looked similar to flowers held to his fur in a darker grey and what looked like three leaves were pressed on his fur above his eyes. Now his eyes, they were bright green and they reminded her of the colour of spring.

"I thought I was the last…" Her voice was a whisper again, her body sinking to the ground, her paws holding her head in shame.

"How'd ya get out?" His eyes were on the ground, using a stick to draw lines into the sandy dirty, he wasn't really focusing on what he was drawing; he was just making shapes as his mind twisted the idea around. He wasn't the last, he wasn't alone any more.

"I didn't… I was already outside when the fire started. I was late coming home; the tunnel was closed before I got there. I can't open tunnels, I was never taught how; I-I think I was too young. So I waited, I was gonna wait 'til sunrise when the tunnel was opened again. But then the shadows came with their fire… and someone told me to run. So I did... I don't remember anything else, just the flames…" She glared at the ground, the screams of that night ringing in her ears. Her ear flickered as they listened to the noise. Moonbeam wrapped his light around her face in comfort, washing the memories away with his pale sleepy light.

"I was such a coward… I coulda done something. If I stayed I coulda saved someone." She snorted, screwing her paws tightly around her staff, the wood creaking with the force of it; a sort of habit she seemed to have.

"How… did you…?" She didn't seem to be able to find the right words as he scrubbed another pattern out of the dirt.

"I followed an old tunnel." He said his eyes were dark as he threw the stick aside, standing up and heading into the cave she was facing. As the darkness swallowed him up she wondered where he was headed, and stood to follow after him.

A leaf wrapped package hit her in the stomach just as she opened her mouth to speak and her free paw caught it before it hit the ground. She tilted her head curiously at it, the scent of dried fruit widening her nose. She looked up as he exited from the shadows, carrying his own leaf wrapped parcel.

"Eat. You look hungry." He sat opposite her again, slowly unwrapping the leaves to reveal a few slices of a sort of bread, thickened with the spicy scent of cinnamon.

"But… I have nothing to repay you with…." Her eyes held confusion and her eyebrows clashed together above her eyes. She had learnt that everything came with a price, and she was expected to pay.

"Just eat the damned thing." His voice again held no anger, almost as if he was being patient with her, and she noticed he never truly looked at her.

He must think I am a child She snorted, her paws opening her food and breaking off parts of the bread, putting it in her mouth. She nearly groaned as the taste enveloped her tongue, the berries were sweet and not sour like the one she dried and the bread crumbled perfectly. It had been a while since she had eaten anything as good or as filling as this. She paced herself, knowing it would be rude to eat quicker than her…host… and she soon found that there wasn't enough here to satisfy her, even though she had what looked like half of the loaf. Even with her pacing she finished before the stranger did, and her growling stomach called for more.

"What are ya doing way out 'ere then, Shelia?" He asked, putting his barely touched food aside, his eyes grasping hers over the flickering light of the moss.

"Aside from looking for yaself?" She snorted as she lent back and looked at the drum skin like rocks above her, the clouds covering the moon and the stars as they flew over the plains.

"Nah, I was lookin' for a guy called Jasper. I need to give 'im something." She snorted slightly and drew her attention away from the night sky and looked at the Pooka before her and the bread to his side. In the distance she could hear insects singing their sweet melodies to the night.

"How long do ya reckon you'll be stayin' here for then?" He said, passing his slices of bread to her, which she gratefully accepted.

"I dunno, however long it takes Moonbeam to rest up... Am I welcome to stay...?" She cautiously between mouthfuls, slightly relaxing with the kindness this stranger was showing her.

"Yer welcome, yes. Who this Moonbeam?" He asked, scratching his fur on his chest.

"He's my guardian. He came down from the moon a few days after the fire. Doesn't talk a whole lot though." She said folding the leaf her food had been on.

"Is that so..." He nodded, and then looked at the glowing moss. He sniffed the air and then stood, walking into the shadows of his cave.

"I'm going to sleep. You're welcome to anything from my Warren, sleep where ever you like 'cept in my nest. Just don't upset my goggies." He vanished into the shadows, the darkness swallowing him.

"Goggies...?" She asked to nothing, and shrugged. Look up at the sky she couldn't help but feel that she had let Jasper down. She was already four days behind as it was and a creative river only lasted for so long. She sighed and her shoulders sagged, letting out tension she didn't know was there.

"I'll get to ya Jasper. I promise"


Sorry this is such a bad chapter. It will pick up in the next one, I promise!

Unfortunately because of college I will only be able to update every Sunday. I will try to update as often as I can but between coursework and work I might not be able to update more than once a week. Sorry guys!

Mananai