F I R S T L I G H T'to the moon'firstlight | male | 16 moons |
FrontierClan | council | sunlitsecrets
theme song "Have you ever been to the moon?"
He asks his mother in a quiet, awed, voice, as they sit together, staring up at the sky one night. She smiles warmly, a bright feeling that makes him feel all fuzzy inside. He loves it.
. "No, not yet... I don't know if cats can go there, dear."
. His face furrows in determination. "Well then I'll be the first! I'll go up there and come back and tell you all about it!" He is so sure that he can get there, that nothing will ever go wrong, and as his mother looks on she doesn't have it in her to tell him the truth.
. "That sounds nice."
- - - -
He's five moons old and he's trying to climb a tree. And he's failing. Badly. His back paws are dangling off the branch he's hanging on to, 20 feet up in the air, and his mother is looking up at him in deep concern.
"Firstkit... are you okay up there? What are you doing?"
. "Mama!" he calls down, back paws waving in the breeze. "I'm gonna reach the moon!" His little claws scratch at the wood and he manages to pull himself a little further up. His back claws grip into the bark and his tail waves madly as he clambers onto the branch and prepares to go up to the next one.
. "You can't reach the moon like that, dear, you'll fall and hurt yourself," she says, trying to hold in her panic.
. "Nuh-uh!" he says, just as he starts to slip. His mother gasps in horror, sure she's about to see her son die, but he rights himself again and looks down at her. "Well, I guess it is a bit high up."
. "Of course it is! Get down here!"
- - -
When he's seven moons old, a new apprentice, he nearly drowns trying to swim into the reflection of the moon in the lake. It's so incredible, so mystifying, that he can't help but try and get down there, just to see if perhaps this is the way to finally get a glimpse the place he's wanted to get to his whole life.
. He swims deeper and deeper, determined to get to the glint of light, not paying attention to the way he's running out of air, or the way his vision is getting darker...
. Firstpaw is only saved by his mentor dragging him out of the water, coughing and gasping. He gets a stern talking to from his mother, his mentor, and the leader about not putting his life at risk any longer.
. Of course, Firstpaw doesn't care. He has a goal he wants to achieve one day, and he's willing to face anything to do that for his mother.
- - - -
At nine moons old he's become almost entirely nocturnal. He stays up at night, staring at the moon, and his mother can't seem to stop him anymore. Her interest has become his obsession, and it's rose to even higher heights than she ever thought possible.
. One day something horrible is going to happen, she can feel it. And when it does, her son will never be the same. It's like he's forgotten that death is a possibility, and he gets more reckless as time goes on.
- - - -
When he's twelve moons old, a newly made warrior, Firstlight decides he wants to go on a journey. He wants to see if there's a way to the moon elsewhere in the wide open spaces of the world. His mother, knowing there's no stopping him, decides to come along. Her son means everything to her, and if going on some crazy adventure is what he needs to do, she'll go along with that.
. They set off the next day. Their Clan will never see them again.
- - - -
When he's fourteen moons old, they reach the territory of a new Clan. They're stopped at the border by a motley crew of cats and he isn't interested, not at first, but then they mention the void and his curiosity overtakes him.
. "Can I see this void for myself?" he says. And the leader agrees.
. Her name is Wildstar, he hears, and she takes him to the Clan's camp. It's late, she says, so she'll take him there in the morning. "It's only a short ten minute walk from here, but it's fairly dangerous. Don't want you falling down on accident."
. Firstlight hears her, he pretends to agree, with such a practiced nod that even his dear mother is fooled.
. They sleep with the rest of the Clan. Firstlight waits until he's sure everyone else is asleep... and then he sneaks out. With quiet footsteps, he makes his way to the edge of camp, slides through the bushes, and heads straight for the void.
. This could be the answer to all his questions.
He treks through the forest for ten minutes until he finds it.
First almost falls off because it's so abrupt. A sudden drop off into nothing. The trees halt and there's nothing but mist, far below. He leans over the edge, peers down into the abyss... and he sees something wonderful.
. There's a glimmer of white, far below. Could that be... the moon? Was that the way to reach the moon, at long last?
. Firstlight is reckless, so of course he does the crazy thing. He takes a few steps back and prepares to jump down.
. There's a rustle in the forest behind him. "Firstlight, what are you doing?" he hears. His mother has come, she wants to stop him from reaching the moon, but nothing can stop him now -
He jumps. And his mother, desperate to save her son, jumps after him.
. First makes it out alive. His mother does not.
. His pelt gets snagged on a branch partway down, the sharp wood sticking into his back. it stops him from falling to his doom long enough for Wildstar and the others to rescue him in the morning. His mother, on the other hand... she falls straight down, into the mist.
. He will never hear from her again.
- - - -
His back takes a moon to heal before he can properly run again. The thorns were so far in that the herbalist... Flameflicker, wasn't it? ... says that he'll have a permanent scar, possibly even always a slight ache there. But Firstlight doesn't care. For one shining moment, he saw the moon in the mist.
. It was completely worth it.
