Prologue: Moonbeams

There's nothing more emblematic about a midnight wood than a star-speckled canopy. Silvery moonbeams penetrated the darkened foliage, glistening like stardust against dew-rich leaves as we made a break through bush after bush. Briar after thistle gripped viciously at our pelts as we pushed forth, uncaring of the prettied tufts toiled over by mothers of careless kits, yet there was a magic to its ruthlessness. Of its impurity. Each indiscriminate pull of a thorn bush was the slap of the paw for an untamed child. A barrier from the hostility of a world they should never know, but one they had every right to. It was a kindness they were owed, albeit not one given by choice.

Moonlight cut through the underbrush ahead, glistening against waterlogged soil to offer a comfy, albeit dampened vantage point of the village beyond the cliff. "Come on, slowpoke!" I called out into the ether. A patter of paws echoed discordantly with my own as I broke from my verdant prison with the moon as my witness. Its persistent stare left a chilling impression on the evergreen landscape below, broken only by the pitiful lamps of the village I called home. It was a calmness unbroken by the wind, as if time itself had ceased to be, until all that remained of our fragile world were silvery hues, and the gentle hum-buzz of woodland pests.

"I can't…" A voice echoed out tiredly from the underbrush. "You're too fast." A trembling cotton-ball tumbled to the soil beyond the forest, shaking from paw to paw. It was an eevee, adorned with a flattering, pink-trimmed fedora, and garnished by whimsical, Fucia-hued eyes. "Why did you have to run?" The pitiful fox stammered. "It's cold!"

"That's exactly why!" I padded for the edge of the cliff, keeping my partner in sight. Though we were still young, Irene village was a safe place for most kits, thus, even in the blackness of the night, our parents had left the forest to us with the promise to be in by midnight. My partner; however, seemed more inclined to bask beneath the dullness of the artificial lamps. "The running will keep us warm, Eve! Didn't you listen to Miss Amsonia's lesson?" I giggled and padded closer to the cliff. I struck a pose, something only the coolest of explorers could pull off. Or at least, those important enough to be shown in the stories in the papers we shared every morning. Of dazzling heroes whisking victims to safety. Of dashing adventurers and their discoveries! Of fairytales and various myths! Eve only cared for the former it seemed, but the girl was in a sorry state. Even a caterpie could keep up with her! "Come on, stand up!" I ordered. "How're you going to get famous if ya laze around like that, hmm?"

Eve reluctantly pulled herself from the dampened soil. Her legs were shaking, but she wore a firm enough expression. "Ok!" She stammered. "Just don't tell Ally. She'll tell Mom, and-."

"Let her tell." I smirked and glanced off at the rounded moon. "She's hardly cool enough to be an explorer after all. Just let that spoil sport prove it." I snickered. "The club's more important!"

"What club, Opal?" Eve padded over to the cliff edge and plopped down on her belly. "There's just two of us." She dangled her forelegs over the edge and rested her chin upon the dampened grass.

"There'll be more when school starts!" I argued. "Just watch! Everyone'll want to join explorers club when they see the great Opal's involved!" I boasted, puffing my chest out toward the moon. "We'll be swimming in members!"

Eve let out a doubtful sigh. "Exploring is a thing for grown ups, Opal. Kits aren't allowed." She lowered her head once more. "We're just playing pretend. Everymon will laugh."

I backed up a few paces. "You're doubting your leader?" I gasped. Eve loved to play around. Everyone in the village knew that much. It was her detachment that I was worried about. Normally my theatrics were enough to win her over, but not tonight. More than our classmates, more than her sister. Eve seemed…cautious. "Did something happen? You're acting strange."

"Am not!" Eve sprung to life, a defiant frown plastered across her muzzle. If anything, the pink-eyed eevee was stubborn! "I just thought we should wait is all!" She deflected. When I failed to smile; however, her bravado faded. "Look, we can't just do what we want. We're kits." She blew air at a stray tuft obscuring her vision.

"Says the eevee who started this club to begin with!" I flashed a brilliant smile. "Don't give this minccino too much credit. I'm just one mon."

"But-"

"Not butts. Those are for stupid boys to laugh at!" I pinned my paws to my hips and twisted to stare at the moon. "Don't you ever wonder what's out there? We read about it in the papers all the time, but don't you want to see it? There's whole oceans, and deserts!" I exclaimed. "Places where the sun never shines, and places where it always shines. Places where it snows, and places where the water is so clear, you can see all the way to the bottom!" I whirled on the eevee. "I wanna see all of that! Don't you?"

Eve sat up, cradling her tail between her forepaws. "I do." The eevee sighed. "What should I do? My mom and dad…they want me to stay here when I grow up." She replied solemnly. "I don't want to leave Ally, and what about Verdant?"

I smiled a sinister smile. "Oh I have a plan for her. "I collapsed onto my back and gazed upon the starry tapestry above. "What's out there…it won't wait for us, Eve." I trembled at the thought. Wasting away in some village when there were places to explore, people to meet. "And what if there's someone out there who needs you. Someone you're supposed to meet." I argued. "If you don't go, won't they be alone?" I rolled onto my side and challenged the eevee's guarded expression. "There's nothing worse than being alone. That's what I think." I gripped at my chest with a forepaw. "Mom always says that she misses someone, but when I ask, she never answers. She just tells me that everything is ok and… She just looks sad." I fell silent after that, and gazed back up at the sky. "But I have you, don't I?" I giggled out loud. "Right?"

A moment of silence ensued, followed by the night's first breeze. "Right." Eve's voice cut through the chilly air like a charizard's tail flame. "Even if we're stuck here, we have each other." The eevee repeated, and, for the first time that night, she smiled. Brighter than the stars. Bright like moonbeams.