Flo's Challenge to me

[TheSongOfTheStars]

"I would never say that to you."
1,015

"Shyshie...Shyshie...." Darkmoon crooned quietly as she knelt on the bed "It's time to wake up...Shyshie..."

There was a faint inarticulate mumble as Shyshie stretched and burrowed her head deeper beneath the pillow.
"Come on," Darkmoon whispered, tugging the pillow away "I made you breakfast."
"What?" Shyshie asked in sleepy disbelief, sitting up "How long did I sleep in!?"
"Not at all," Darkmoon smiled, pulling up the hood of Shyshie's selkie cloak "I just happened to get up before you."
Shyshie stared at her blankly, hugging the pillow "It's past noon isn't it?"
"No...but it's not too far off," Darkmoon admitted "You were exhausted after last night."
"Yeah, Horeth had a lot of things he wanted to talk to me about," Shyshie sighed and released the pillow "Made my head hurt."
"Well, I have just the thing to make you feel better," Darkmoon beamed "Some nice hot tea."
"Really? How long ago did you get up?"
"Oh, stop acting so surprised," Darkmoon reached under Shyshie's hood and ruffled her ears "I am more than capable of waking up and getting my daughter breakfast."
Shyshie didn't reply as Darkmoon rested her hand against Shyshie's cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned slightly into her mother's soft touch, so often gloved.
Then her nose twitched.
"Are you burning something?"
"Oh no! My fish!" Darkmoon shot to her feet and bolted out the door and down the stairs "Oh no! Oh no!"
A thin tendril of acrid smoke spiraled out of the oven and in a panic Darkmoon opened the door and with her bare paws grasped the hot metal pan.
She lifted it and halfway made it to the counter before the pain kicked in. She dropped the pan, tears starting at the corners of her eyes as the burning sensation blazed in her palms.
"Mama? Mama are you alright!?" Shyshie sidestepped the dropped pan.
"Yeah," Darkmoon pulled her paws into tight fists "I grabbed the pan without thinking and burned myself."
"Oh no."
"Yeah, "oh no"," Darkmoon squeezed her eyes close to keep the tears from spilling over "Could you get me some water?"
"Wait," Shyshie said, reaching out for her mother's paws "I...I want to try something."
"You want to try something!? Why don't you try getting me some water?"
"Please," Shyshie gently touched Darkmoon's fists "Let me try."
"What on earth are you going to do?" Darkmoon growled, but she let Shyshie uncurled her fists.
"Well...let me just try," Shyshie hesitated, then began humming softly, murmuring foreign words under her breath.
"Starwalk! I really don't think singing is going to-" Darkmoon's voice died away as the burning in her palms faded. She relaxed her curled fingers to find that the angry sores had disappeared.
"What...?" Darkmoon looked up at Shyshie, who was staring anxiously at her "What did you do?"
Shyshie hung her head as if she'd cut her mother's paws off rather than healed them.
"Starwalk," Darkmoon's tones went soft and she slipped her hand underneath Shyshie's chin, tilting her head back up and the watery eyes met Darkmoon's "Was this one of the things Horeth spoke to you about last night?"
"No," Shyshie's voice was a shuddery whisper "He told me a long time ago."
"I don't understand," Darkmoon knelt "What did you do? How?"
Shyshie sniffled and reached up to brush at her eyes "It's... It's complicated..."
"You sang, what did you sing?" Darkmoon paused as she realized that Shyshie was shaking "I'm not mad at you sweetheart, don't cry, please don't cry."
Darkmoon wrapped her arms around Shyshie shoulders "Please?"
"I...I'm not," Shyshie's voice cracked a little "I...was just nervous."
"Nervous? About what?"
"Telling you."
"Telling me what?" Darkmoon tilted her head and tried to pull Shyshie closer "About the singing?"
Shyshie sniffled and nodded, but didn't let Darkmoon hug her.
"But I don't understand, what did you do?"
"I sang."
Despite herself Darkmoon breathed out a soft laugh "Yes I heard you sweetheart. What did you sing? Was it a special song? Was it a selkie song?"
Shyshie nodded.
"And it fixed my hands. Was it supposed to do that?"
Shyshie nodded again.
"Can...can you do other things with that song?"
"Just healing."
"Can you do other things with other songs?"
Shyshie didn't answer and dropped her gaze again.
"Starwalk, answer me."
"Yes."
"What can you do?" Darkmoon slipped her hand against Shyshie's face, leaning back into her line of sight.
"Sleep, some songs can make people sleep, but those are harder," Shyshie sighed and sat down.
"Why are those harder?"
"Because it's...like convincing them to sleep. It...its a song to their mind...instead of their body."
"That makes sense, but why were you afraid to tell to tell me? Starwalk?"
Several seconds of silence.
"Starwalk, I'm not upset, but if there's something wrong I need to know."
Shyshie sighed with frustration, with herself or with the current situation, Darkmoon couldn't tell.
"No, there's nothing wrong but I thought that if I told you then...then you might not want me to sing anymore."
"Not want you to-? Oh Shyshie," Darkmoon pulled her close and this time she didn't resist "I'd never ask you to stop singing. It's just as much a part of you as your selkie blood. Why would you ever think that?"
"I don't know," Shyshie curled closer against Darkmoon "I just did..."
"Okay, okay, that's okay," Darkmoon rocked her back and forth "But you know you can talk to me, always."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Oh no, you don't have to be sorry, it's fine to be nervous," Darkmoon smoothed down Shyshie's fur "But if you were nervous why did you heal my hands?"
"Well," Shyshie pulled away to shrug "You were hurt."
"Yeah, well, I wasn't dying."
"I just felt bad," Shyshie pressed back against Darkmoon "About your hands and not telling."
"Well, now that we've got all this cleared up, should we eat breakfast?"
"Okay. But I can't sing the dirt off the fish."
"That's fine we'll just wash them off," Darkmoon stood "Unless there's anything else you need to tell me."
"Your shirt's buttoned wrong."
[/size]

[Ranger of the North]

[TheSongOfTheStars]

"You have beautiful eyes... I would know."

1,119 words
Darkmoon couldn't stop glancing sideways at her fellow guard. Most of his face was covered by the helmet, but what she could see, she found unbelievably distracting.
A strong jawline chisled into a perfect angle and part of his mouth which was turned ever so slightly upwards. That was the most distracting part.
She desperately wanted to see the rest of his face, even though just a fraction of his profile made her knees feel like quivering squelching jelly that would collapse in nasty rivlets of mush if she put any pressure on them.
"So."
Oh no.

Oh no.

He was talking.
To her.

And that deep voice, like a thrumming purr, sent chills down her back and thrills through her stomach and turned her mind into a dizzy spiral.

"Darkmoom Vale wasn't it?"

Ohnoohnoohno.

"Is this your first time putting in guard duty?"

Was it? She couldn't remember, she couldn't focus!

"No," she surprised herself by saying. She was talking to him! "I've done it a few times before, but never for royalty."
She had to swallow hard to catch her breath. Would he keep talking?
I've never done it before, time sure does drag on doesn't it?"

"Mm-hmm," she managed to garble out.

"Oh, by the way Miz Vale-"

Miss! Miss!

"Just so we're even, my names Browntrout Path."
"O-oh."

He turned his head towards her slightly and her already pounding heart jumped and she quickly redirected her eyes, hoping he wouldn't realize she'd been staring at him. But she couldn't stop her eyes from flicking back every couple of seconds.

"You wouldn't happen to live around Bellemonte would you?"
"N-no."

"Oh, where are you from then?"
"Oh," were? Where!? "I'm from-"
Plage? Storm coast? Port Capitale!?

Hello my name is Darkmoon and I'm from...
"Churam," she managed not to shout as the name of her home town came to her mind.
"Ah, I've been there a few times in the summer," she noticed that the corner of his mouth was quirking upwards.

If you smile at me I'm going to faint.

"What's it like in the winter?" His mouth spread out in a full smile "Get lots of snow?"

Darkmoon didn't answer, she wad too busy melting into a puddle of jelly.

But before Browntrout realized what he'd done to her a squirrel maid bearing a tray.
"Tea for the Princess, sir."

"Any weapons, deadly intent?" Browntrout asked sternly while adopting a mock frown "No? Then you may enter."
She giggled and flickered her eyes in what Darkmoon imagined was a flirtatious manner as he opened the door for her "You're such a tease sir."

You aren't even the same species as he is...

The squirrel disappeared into the room and Browntrout resumed his position at the door, eyebrow quirked.
"So, lots of snow?"

"What? Oh, yes, yes lots of snow," She smiled a little bit, feeling her legs stiffen a little bit.

There was a moment of silence between them, broken when the servant exiting the room.

"So..." he said causally "After after our shift's over, do you want to grab a bite to eat?"


Darkmoon's heart had almost returned to normal, but when he said those words it began pounding again.

Say yes, say yes!

"I...I...."

"There's a great little bakery not five minutes walk away, if you'd like something sweet."

She tried to stutter out an acceptance, but only a few mumbles made it past her lips.

"Please?" He tilted his head, eyes pleading.

She swallowed hard, unable to move beneath his blue-eyed gaze.

But before it could get any worse a soft voice called from in the room, interrupting the awkward moment.

"Guards? Would one of you mind coming in here a moment? "

Darkmoon stumbled through the door quicker than Browntrout and found herself staring down at the Princess Avelline.

"H-how may I help, your Majesty?" She asked, just barely able to keep her voice steady.

"Would you mind closing those curtains?" The vixen asked quietly "I forgot to ask the maid and I want to put Rusty for his nap now."
"Of course, ma'am," Darkmoon nodded respectfully and stepped past the Princess, on her way catching a glimpse of the baby prince cradled in Aberdeena's arms.

"Is there anything else you need, your Highness?" Darkmoon asked, turning back to face the vixen after closing the curtains.

"Are you alright?"

Darkmoon hesitated "I beg your pardon, ma'am?"
"The other guard, he isn't bothering you, is he?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, where....where we being too loud?"
"No, no, but your heart's beating so loudly I can hear it through the door. The other guard isn't harassing you, is he?"

"Oh," Darkmoon laughed weakly "Oh no, he's not...I'm fine....It's just that..."
"It's just what?" The Princess asked quietly.
Darkmoon hesitated, mouth half-open with an answer half-formed in her head.

Princess Aberdeena tilted her head with a knowing smile "I think I understand. Makes you nervous in a different sort of way?"
"Yeah," Darkmoon smiled sheepishly "He's, uh, very nice."

"Ask you to go to lunch?"
"Mhm."
"If you don't mind satisfying a curious mind, are you going to accept?"

Darkmoon shuffled uncomfortablely "I don't know. I've spent two minutes talking to him and...and..."
"And you feel like you've got your head on backwards?"

Darkmoon nodded.

The vixen chuckled gently "I know how that is, dear. To be perfectly honest he probably feels a bit dizzy around you as well."
"Him?" Darkmoon laughed "no, no, he's way too confident to be nervous around me."
"Maybe he's just better hiding it than you," The Princess stood up, cradling her son "Well, good luck, I'm going to put Rusty for his nap now."

"Thank you, your Majesty." Darkmoon nodded and stepped out of the room.

"Everything alright in there?"

Browntrout asked as Darkmoon resumed her post.

"Oh," Darkmoon forced herself to take a breath "She just wanted me to close the curtains so she could put the Prince for his nap."
"Oh," Browntrout nodded quietly "I see."

Darkmoon didn't say anything in reply, wondering if he'd mention lunch again.

"So...." he said slowly, glancing at her casually, causing her heart to jump again "About lunch....?"
He left the ending as a question, his eyebrows quirked up.

She had to bite down hard on her lip to keep her mind focused, or she certainly would've turned to jelly again.
"I...I'd love to go."

He grinned, his whole face lighting up with the blazing light of his eyes.
"Great! Soon as the shift's over and we change, let's meet by the outside the gates."

"Okay," she managed in a shakey voice, still overwhelmed by how stunningly bright his eyes where.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

"I only speak the truth."
918 words
Outside the double thick glass, galaxies streaked past in small flickers of white light.
The engines of the silver ship turning against the emptiness of space hummed, sending vibrations through the floor and up through the soles of the Tyrillite's boots as she sat at the pilot's console.

Kycen glanced over her shoulder at the girl who was sitting at the window, watching the universe bending around them.

"I find it quite odd that you feel the need to keep turning your head to check on me," Oriana said, her golden brown eyes never leaving the window "Your ambient echolocation receptors are working fine."

"Habit," Kycen replied stiffly, focusing back on the console screen "Why don't you get some sleep?"
"I don't sleep," Oriana smile at her reflection on the glass "Thank you."
"Yes you do, Concites sleep once every three of Con's planetary cycles in a reclined position."
"But I am not a Concite," Oriana countered calmly "I believe I told you that twice."

Again Kycen turned her head so that her optical indents were aligned with Oriana.
Clearly the image of the girl's face registered in her mind. How did she think she could be anything but Concite?

Gentle ridges cascaded down her forehead and came to a rounded point on her nose, a roundish patch of skin on either cheek glowed gold, a natural illumination developed by the Concites after countless millennium spent in the dark underground of their planet, and, what Kycen thought most distinct, the long sixth finger on both hands that had a clawlike nail at the end.

"You see me not as I am, but what they made me," Oriana shook her head and turned away from the window "And you care not what they will do."

"You're insane," Kycen said, turning away as the sad golden eyes locked onto her optical indentations "You belong in a regenerative tube until your brain regrows its pituitary stems."

"Then why wasn't a doctor sent for me?"

A very reasonable question from a girl who was supposed to have lost her sense of reason.
But Kycen wasn't being paid to ask or answer questions. She was being paid to find and recover a girl, and to be quiet on the whole matter.

"Do you want to know why they didn't send a doctor? A team? Someone official? Kycen?"

No. She wasn't going to listen anymore. It was time for her to close down her emotions and shut off her curiosity.

"Because a doctor would have scanned me and would have found out what they don't want any to know."

Kycen's echolocative receptors focused on the handheld scanner lying by her elbow.

No.

Not even a quick scan.

"You know I'm right Kycen, you just don't want to see it."

Kycen engaged autopilot with a tap, then turned to face the girl.
Even though it didn't matter which direction Kycen had her face turned, she found that species that relied on sight took her much more seriously when they could see her lips moving.
And it was time this girl started taking her seriously.

"Now listen, you seem to have at least a bit of sense left, so I suggest you use it and take yourself to the cabin and get some sleep before I make you sleep," Kycen planted her fists on her hips, pulling her face into a scowl that she knew full-well to be intimidating.

Oriana smiled at the fierce glare and shook her head, sending the curls rippling down her shoulders.
"I do not sleep, Kycen, it would be pointless for me to lie and stare at the ceiling. I'd prefer to sit here and watch the window."

Kycen curled her fingers into fists "I wasn't asking, kid, now you march back there or I'll-"

"Kycen," Oriana held up her hand to pause the mercenary's threat "If it really bothers you so much, I'll go lie down. But please, let me watch when we pass through the Crisom Nebula."

"Fine," Kycen shook her head "But there's nothing in that nebula."

"No," Oriana agreed quietly "Not anymore."

Kycen had to bite down on her lip to keep from snapping another question, it didn't matter, she needed to be monitoring the consol anyway as they passed through the nebula.


But Oriana didn't seem content to leave her in peace.

"All these stars with systems and planets and people who look up at them at night and smile. I wonder if they know that the stars look down and smile back?"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Kycen sat down at the console and began clicking at the screens again.

"You used to look up at the stars with your sister when you where both little. Did you know that her favorite star has disappeared? They've taken it down."

Kycen's first instinct was to shoot to her feet and demand how Oriana knew about her sister, her sister who she'd swore to keep a secret, but she just barely managed to strangle the reaction.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kycen said coolly, not even bothering to turn around, knowing she'd just loose her temper.

"Check, I'm sure someone's noticed by now, Morphis 9 is gone."

Despite herself, Kycen tapped into the information streams, isolating one she knew was used to send astronomical data from her home nebula to the Science Core on Nexctus Prime.

Her gaze locked on the screen as she read the raw code scrolling down.

Morphis 9 was gone.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

"What do you mean, NO?!"
957 words
Lionel's quivering hands held the chopsticks as tightly as age allowed.
The tiny blue lizard in Lionel's lap stared with rapt attention as the chopsticks descended into a bowl and plucked out a small cube of pale white fish.

With an enthusiastic squeak the lizard strained upwards as Lionel brought the fish down and sharp teeth clamped over the meat and the chopsticks, leaving gouges on the tips.

The baby reptile beamed up at the old otter, cheeks bulging from big bite. Lionel smiled back and waited for him to finish chewing before giving him another cube of fish.

The rapid click of claws interrupted feeding time as a small white bundle trotted into the room.

Freeta froze, her prepared list of questions dropping from her mouth as she saw the baby cradled in Lionel's lap.

"Oh no."

Lionel looked up "What 'oh no'?"

The fox took a step closer, her eyes locked on the blue lizard, muttering quietly.

"Freeta, what on earth is wrong?"

She shook her head and glared down at the baby accusingly "Take him back."
"Take him back where?" Lionel asked, reaching for another cube of fish with his chopsticks.

"To his family," Freeta snapped, planting paws on hips "Right now."
"Oh," Lionel sighed, lifting the fish to his own mouth and eating it before answering "No."

"No? What do you mean no?!"

The baby lizard squeaked unhappily at the loud noise and Lionel paused to soothe him before answering.
"He doesn't have one, Freeta, I found him when I was out with one of the search-and-rescue units. The house had caved during one of the tremors."

"Great, just great," Freeta fumed, stamping her foot "I knew it was dangerous to let you go out there, I knew this would happen! But did I stop you....? Well I tried, now Mei-li has to live with the consequences."
"Calm down Freeta."
"Calm down? So you're going to find him a real family? You're not going to keep him and raise him too?"

Lionel held up a hand "Of course I am, soon as I think of a name for him."

"You can't name him! If you name him you'll never want to let go of him! That's why we still have Adrian and Avery! Besides," she paused for breath "didn't his family give him a name?"

"Well, maybe," Lionel set down the chopsticks as the baby refused another bite of fish and began curling up in his lap "But he had just hatched when we got here so-"

He was cut off as Freeta waved her arms around "He had jut hatched?! So he imprinted on you!?"

"Well..." Lionel glanced down at the little lizard as it took a deep breath and fell asleep "Maybe."

"So that's a yes," Freeta sat down, her arms spread wide "Oh, we're never gonna get rid of him."
"Freeta, don't talk like that."

"Why not? Weren't the four children you adopted and the two you had enough? Can't you just stop now?"
"Freeta, you're acting like I need him, but look at him, he's a tiny baby, Freeta, Freeta?"

The fox had pulled her ears down over her face and as acting as if she couldn't hear him.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Freeta-"

"What is she doing?" Mei-li asked, poking her head through the door "Is she alright?"
"She's fine, she's just overreacting."

"I am not overreacting!" Freeta let go of her ears which shot straight back up, much in the way she shot back up to her feet "I'm reacting the perfect amount! He's doing it again Mei!"
"Doing what?" Mei stepped into the room, eyebrows tucked up in a question "What's she talking about Lionel? "

"I found a baby lizard while I was out with one of the search-and-rescue units and she's overreacting because she thinks I'm keeping him."

"I thought we agreed you weren't going to go out with the search-and-rescue," Mei-li said with a pointed frown.

"He doesn't listen, he never listens! This is why he used to get into so much trouble!"

Ignoring his friend's loud complaints, Lionel locked eyes with his wife and gave her a tiny shrug.

"Well, where is the little troublemaker anyway?" Mei-li asked with a roll of her eyes.

Lionel gestured to his lap and Mei-li knelt to get a closer look.
"Oh, he's so little!"
"That's because he's just hatched and do you know what little babies that have just hatched do?"
Mei shrugged at Freeta's question "Cry?"
"No," Freeta said with false patience "They imprint."
"What's imprint?"
"It means that he now thinks that Lionel is his mommy," the false patience bled away to pure hard annoyance "Heaven knows what that makes you."

"We're not....keeping him...Lionel...?"

"Well of course not, love, if you're not comfortable with him," Lionel's shoulder slumped slightly.

Freeta stared at him, her mouth hanging open "So is that what I had to do to get you to listen to me? Marry you!?"

"You mean you want to keep him?"

Lionel turned his lip down "He lost his family in the earthquakes Mei. He's all alone."

"Oh..."

"I'm sure there's a blue lizard family out there who would be happy to have a blue lizard child," Freeta groused as Mei-li began to melt.

"It's chaos out there Free," Lionel said quietly then looked back up at Mei "Maybe just until everything goes back to normal."
"Alright," she sighed "He can sleep in the boy's old room."

"He's staying forever now, you know that right?" Freeta glared at Mei
"He's going to live here and eat your food and grow up here."

"Will you please calm down? It's not your house he's staying in."
"No."

[Ranger of the North]

Hello waiter, yes, the Darkmoon-jelly was exquisite. My compliments to the chef :3

Far out, I need more from Kycen and Oriana! :O

Freeta, Freeta, Freeta. Chillax, gurl XD

[TheSongOfTheStars]

XD, Freeta will never chill.

[Ranger of the North]

I didn't think so XD

[TheSongOfTheStars]

this is for you Ranger
"I was a fool to believe..."

1240 words


The newspaper trembled in my hands as the front page screamed its tidings at me.

She was dead.

My heart twisted inside me as I began to really understand what had happened.

She was dead and the world rejoiced.

The most terrifying supervillian, the most fearsome, formidable danger to threaten the modern world, my mother, was dead.

My knees unhinged and but for the chair, I would've collapsed to the floor.

I was shocked, my heart was trying to beat but the tightness in my chest cut it off.

Numbness spread through me like winter unleashed as I read through the article, trying to comprehend the oncoming wave of pain.

I shouldn't have been surprised, I had known for a long time she was planning something.
I'd been a fool to think that she had stopped, just because I'd begged her to.
She'd died in a showdown that had ripped through D.C Washington, thousands of casualties. She hadn't gone alone.

Then the face of her vanquisher stared back at me, grime streakes across her tired face, her hair torn and matted, blood on her hands.

My mother's blood.

For a moment I wanted to be angry with her, The DreamWeaver. Then I looked at the people, lying in the streets, half-buried in rubble.

And the sobs hit me like a tidal wave.


At first I thought that I was crying for her, but as I bawled into the newspaper, staining it with my salty tears, I realized that a part of me was grieving for the people in the streets, for the humdreds, maybe thousands of people who were reading their newspapers, watching their tvs, and seeing what I saw.

Then with shaking hands they reached for their phones and began dialing or texting, waiting for an answer that couldn't come.

Because of my mother.

The doorbell rang, sharp and pitiless. It forced me to leave the soaked newspaper on the table and stand.

It was hard to walk to the door, terrible to turn the knob and open up.

And the face that greeted me drove knives into my heart.

"Judith Mayweather?" the young female officer said hesitantly as she saw my face "I...it's your mother...."

"I know," I choked, gripping the door for support "I know you did."

At the she started, her black eyes growing wide "I'm sorry, ma'am?"

"I know you killed her, Dreamweaver."

For a second I wanted to fly at her, wrap my hands around her neck, dig my nails into her eyes.

Then the feeling faded as I drowned beneath another wave of grief.
I am not my mother.

"S-she told you about me?" The officer, Saraphina, seemed stunned.

"Warned me," I croaked, feeling my knees beginning to weaken.
She caught me as I pitched forwards and suddenly the few bits of breakfast I had came burning up my throat.

"I'm sorry," she gasped as she pulled me back into the house "I'm so sorry, I didn't want to, but... people were dying...and..."

She gave up as she released me on the couch and collapsed next to me.
"I'm sorry...."

"I know," I said past the sting in my throat "Me too."

"You're not...angry?"

I looked at her and realized there were massive bruises across her face, barely masked by a thick layer of mascara, the edges of her eyes were bloodshot, and she held her arm at a crooked angle as if it pained her.

"Not at you," I said, my voice strangled and found that I was angry.
At my mother.

It was her fault, I thought with a burst of bitterness.
She was always playing with fate, tempting the roll of the dice. Every time, throwing her life out like poker chips with so much confidence, she never cared. Not for me, for the thousands of people she hurt and killed or their families, not even for herself.

I was furious, but not at the Dreamweaver.

And suddenly I felt a pang of relief.

No more waiting up at night, watching the news channel with mixtures of horror and concern, no more surprise visits with her covered in blood, no more stomach aches and anxiety attacks as I saw her cut a swath of destruction and deathmand wondering if I could've stopped her somehowl

No more guilt as I saw the crying families, the orphans she left, the widows she made.

My mother was gone, a piece of me was broken, I was drowning in grief and awash with releif.

"Hey, l...let me wipe that off for you."


I opened my eyes which I hadn't even realized had been screwed shut and saw Saraphina standing over me with a wet rag.

I didn't move and she wiped away the remains of my breakfast from my shirt.

I should've thanked her, but I didn't have the heart.

"I knew about you too," she said quietly, sitting next to me "And I felt horrible when I realized that she wasn't just a national threat, she was a mother."


I didn't have an answer, but I looked at her intently.

"I swore that I'd never tell anyone about you and she laughed. Said if I ever did, the person I told would be dead within the hour," she sighed heavily, her shoulders sinking down "But I don't understand it, why aren't you angry at me?"

"Because it wasn't your fault."
"But I-"

"I know," I cut her off "You killed her but...She killed thousands of people. If you hadn't stopped her, someone would have, eventually, but more people would've been hurt."

For a moment she was working too hard to blink away the tears to talk.
"I was afraid to come here," she said, her voice cracked "I was afraid you'd be...like her..."
"Afraid that I'd take up her mantle and go on a rampage to avenge her death?"

She nodded, not looking at me.

"I don't even have any of her powers," I laughed.
It must've been the shock.

"Then how have you stayed safe? Your mother didn't keep you as much as a secret as she should've."

I shrugged.

"She still has a lot of enemies, people almost as bad as she was. If they come looking for revenge... they'll find you."

It was an odd sensation, to hear someone talk as if they actually cared.

My mothers words had been masked to sound that way, but it hadn't been long before I could see through them, and they always led back to her.

"I want you to take this," she dug into her pocket and held out a polished purple stone "If you ever need anything, tap it three times and I'll come. Even...even if all it is you have a headache and want me to make a grocery run."

I took the stone, it's smooth surface sticking in my sweating palm "I can't. .."


"You can," she said, standing up "And please do. For anything at all."

"Alright," I closed my fingers over it "If there's any trouble, I will."


"Thank you," she said, straightening her shoulders "I should go."
I nodded, then blinked.
She had vanished.


I settled back into the cushions, unperturbed by her sudden exit, it was one of her abilities.

I slipped the stone into my pocket and closed my eyes, letti g the tears, the emotion, all drain away.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

"It only get's worse"

827 word


Kif didn't look up from his work.

Jen-suk smiled.
"Not surprised to see me, are you, my old master?"

Kif finished penning his last sentence before looking up at the panther.
"No."
"Oh? What's given me away?" Like a smirking shadow, Jen-suk swayed into the room, paws folded.


"When my daughters returned with your name on their lips I knew it could not be long before you decided to come out of hiding."

"So is that where you think I've been all these years," Jen-suk came to a stop in front of the desk and glanced down at the vacant chair with a quirked eyebrow.

Kif shrugged and Jen-suk sat.

"I assumed you were dead, but unfortunately it seems as though I was mistaken."

Jen-suk tsked and shook his head "It's impolite to infer that you wish your political contenders dead."

"You are a threat to the Empire, Jen-suk, inferring your death is considered patriotic."

"To wish me dead is to make a fool of oneself," Jen-suk said, a tenseness edging his voice "for my death endangers the Rican way of life."

"You think highly of yourself."

"Hardly," Jen-suk said drily "I measure myself against a shorter stick than you think. But it is with full honesty I tell you this."

"Alright," Kif folded his massive paws together on the table "Why do you beleive that your life is so imperative to the survival of the Empire?"

"Ah," a cold crescent smile cut across his face "You think me prideful, when I but desire the same thing as you."

"You wish to rule Shi-Ree."

Jen-suk laughed softly and stood up.
Kif scowled and beneath the desk his fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword.

"As much as I would like to take my place as Shi-Ree's ruler, as much as that would ease my constant striving to increase our great nation's safety and help her flourish, I've resigned myself to the shadows," while saying this Jen-suk took several paces towards the door and now he turned again to face the Emperor

"Well," Kif rumbled quietly "Then what is it you desire?"

"I desire the safety and happiness of those I care for. In this case, Vrell Firen."

Jen-suk held up his hand as Kif made a sound of deep disgust "Now now, let me explain fully. You love Jade, do you not?"

"Her name," Kif said through gritted teeth "Is Dawn Feather."

"Odd then, that she still introduces herself as Jade, but that is not my point."

"Then what is your point?" Kif asked, feighned patience stretching his voice thin.

"My point is, I have a vested interest in one, you in the other."

"I don't see the connection."

Jen-suk laughed pityingly at the tiger and folded his hands together beneath his chin.

"The connection is that the two of them are three days away from the city gates and they've sworn to each other their own hands in marriage."

"What!?"

The chair flew backwards as Kif swept upwards, drawing his sword.

"I'll have no more of your lying words, eel, you are in my palace surrounded by my guards, unarmed. You will leave now or I'll end your troublesome life!"

Jen-suk stared dispassionately at the blade thrust in his face.

"I'm not lying, Kif," he said, his voice flat, his eyes locking onto Kifs "Vrell is is a fool, thinking that between him and Jade they can overcome you. But he will not listen, nor will Jade listen to you."

"My daughter would never-"

"You hardly even know her," Jen-suk snapped brushing away the blade with the flat of his hand "but you can be certain of this, she is as stubborn a warrior as you."

"There will be nothing for her to be stubborn about for the moment that son of a shark walks through the gates I'll drive my blade into his heart."

"See, that's the part I'm concerned about. Vrell's happiness is a priority to me and he will not be happy about being dead."

"I'll not allow him to marry my daughter."


"On the contrary, you'll consent, with a bit of bad natured grumbling of course," Jen-suk reached inside his robes and pulled out a scroll, letting it unroll as he did so "But you'll consent."

Kif's gaze fixed on the scroll, his sword arm slowly lowering as he read the words.
"Do you understand?" Jen-suk asked quietly.

Sword hanging loosely at his side, Kif nodded, his eyes glazing over.

"Good," Jen-suk purred, rolling the scroll back up and turning towards the door.
"Oh and by the way," he said over his shoulder, pausing halfway out the door "Give the happy couple my congratulations, hmm?"

Then the door closed and he was gone.



Slowly Kif sank back into his chair, the sword slipping from his grasp and clattering on the floor.

His elbows dug into the surface of his desk and he buried his face in his palms with strangled groan.