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Next: soon

~

She loved him.

"Momma? I... I don't think I can walk anymore."

But he was just as much her blessing as he was her burden.

"We're almost there, baby. I promise. Just a little further, okay?"

A lie. She knew it. There was no there. There was only away. As far away as they could get.

She considered carrying him. Wanted to, in fact, desperately- to once more feel his fur against hers, to remember his body when it was still warm with life. Instead, she'd chosen the more difficult option. He was to walk himself. He'd tire himself out, so that when the time came to leave him, he would not have the energy to chase after her. A death sentence, administered by his very own mother.

She tried not to imagine the vultures ripping at his flesh, the sharp-fanged animals gnawing on his bones.

She was unsuccessful.

"I'll be back, Moonfall, okay?" Luna said, as soothingly as she could manage. "I need to check on something."

Moonfall. She'd chosen the name not only to honor his roots as the Prince of the Night Throne, but to remind herself of what he was.

Sombra had loved her for a day, and cursed her eternally with a forbidden, immortal child. Discarding her son was a necessary action, one made to protect against the consequences his existence would bring her. She would never spend another thousand years in darkness, trapped on her very own moon.

"Can I come with you?" He asked quietly, his voice coarse.

"No, sweetheart," she said, her own voice just as weak. She fought back the tears stinging in her eyes. "Just stay right here, okay? If you move, I won't be able to find you."

"But if I come with you, you won't have to find me," he whispered, his eyes wide with worry. It was enough to break the barriers Luna had forged around her heart. But not enough to take him home with her.

She bent down to his level. "It's too dangerous if you come with me," she lied, effortlessly. They'd been coming easier to her lately. "You have to promise me you'll stay right here, okay?" She considered, for a moment, a way to convince him. To trick him, more accurately. "See that tree, with the big hole on the trunk? Kinda looks like a mouth, huh?"

He followed her eyes, his own bagged with fatigue. "I guess so. And.... look! Those hanging leaves are like the eyes!"

She smiled, but it was pained. "As long as you're by the tree with the face, I'll know where to find you."

He nodded, his chest puffing out with a sudden burst of courage. "Okay. Promise I'll stay here with the face-tree, Momma."

"That's a good boy. You're so brave." That, to both their credit, was true.

She didn't realize how far she'd taken him until she made the journey back on her own. It was as reassuring as it was mortifying- she'd been successful.

She'd been successful.

He would die there, in those dark abandoned woods, alone. Her secret. So well kept that she had erased him from existing entirely. No one would ever know about him but her.

And yet every day, she would mourn him.

__________

He'd been there for days. Maybe weeks. And he was terrified. He'd only moved a couple of paces, but he could still see the tree with the face, so he knew his mother would find him eventually.

He tried to get up, even knowing he wasn't supposed to. But his legs were limp beneath him, and he collapsed into the leaves as quickly as he had attempted to stand.

And as the vultures surrounded him and the fight left his body, he could only wonder what he'd done wrong.

Next: soon

Flat colors:

This is the first entry of the Cassieverse. I'm trying to go in chronological order for the story's sake! You can check out the rest of the story (so far) here

Description
Next: soon

~

She loved him.

"Momma? I... I don't think I can walk anymore."

But he was just as much her blessing as he was her burden.

"We're almost there, baby. I promise. Just a little further, okay?"

A lie. She knew it. There was no there. There was only away. As far away as they could get.

She considered carrying him. Wanted to, in fact, desperately- to once more feel his fur against hers, to remember his body when it was still warm with life. Instead, she'd chosen the more difficult option. He was to walk himself. He'd tire himself out, so that when the time came to leave him, he would not have the energy to chase after her. A death sentence, administered by his very own mother.

She tried not to imagine the vultures ripping at his flesh, the sharp-fanged animals gnawing on his bones.

She was unsuccessful.

"I'll be back, Moonfall, okay?" Luna said, as soothingly as she could manage. "I need to check on something."

Moonfall. She'd chosen the name not only to honor his roots as the Prince of the Night Throne, but to remind herself of what he was.

Sombra had loved her for a day, and cursed her eternally with a forbidden, immortal child. Discarding her son was a necessary action, one made to protect against the consequences his existence would bring her. She would never spend another thousand years in darkness, trapped on her very own moon.

"Can I come with you?" He asked quietly, his voice coarse.

"No, sweetheart," she said, her own voice just as weak. She fought back the tears stinging in her eyes. "Just stay right here, okay? If you move, I won't be able to find you."

"But if I come with you, you won't have to find me," he whispered, his eyes wide with worry. It was enough to break the barriers Luna had forged around her heart. But not enough to take him home with her.

She bent down to his level. "It's too dangerous if you come with me," she lied, effortlessly. They'd been coming easier to her lately. "You have to promise me you'll stay right here, okay?" She considered, for a moment, a way to convince him. To trick him, more accurately. "See that tree, with the big hole on the trunk? Kinda looks like a mouth, huh?"

He followed her eyes, his own bagged with fatigue. "I guess so. And.... look! Those hanging leaves are like the eyes!"

She smiled, but it was pained. "As long as you're by the tree with the face, I'll know where to find you."

He nodded, his chest puffing out with a sudden burst of courage. "Okay. Promise I'll stay here with the face-tree, Momma."

"That's a good boy. You're so brave." That, to both their credit, was true.

She didn't realize how far she'd taken him until she made the journey back on her own. It was as reassuring as it was mortifying- she'd been successful.

She'd been successful.

He would die there, in those dark abandoned woods, alone. Her secret. So well kept that she had erased him from existing entirely. No one would ever know about him but her.

And yet every day, she would mourn him.

__________

He'd been there for days. Maybe weeks. And he was terrified. He'd only moved a couple of paces, but he could still see the tree with the face, so he knew his mother would find him eventually.

He tried to get up, even knowing he wasn't supposed to. But his legs were limp beneath him, and he collapsed into the leaves as quickly as he had attempted to stand.

And as the vultures surrounded him and the fight left his body, he could only wonder what he'd done wrong.

Next: soon

Flat colors:

This is the first entry of the Cassieverse. I'm trying to go in chronological order for the story's sake! You can check out the rest of the story (so far) here