A Moonlight Rendezvous

Uck... What a miserable day it had been. It had started off great, the merchant had arrived and I said my piece about getting those books on sigilry. He had said that those could be hard to come by out here—I guess he didn't have a far range—but he said he would try to get his hands on some.

I finally found out this guy's name was Muhn Boro, and he made his living traveling the southern trade routes. He was overjoyed to find that there were now two other Yutsuukitsuu that could speak Caster. Previously, he was unaware of this fact—neither Mesa nor I had reason to communicate previously. Leveraging this, the Elder convinced Muhn Boro to stay for a cup of tea, much to Moonlight Guardian's dismay.

"You will be in the room, so make sure you keep a close eye on him," She said to me, placing a hand on my shoulder, before everyone made their way back onto the platforms.

"I really don't think he is a threat, Moonlight Guardian." Her grip tightened.

"Don't let your guard down." She really didn't afford humans any trust, did she?

Once we arrived back at the Elder's den, Muhn Boro proved himself quite the gentleman despite being a traveling merchant: Took his shoe off at the door—not that it mattered, Mesa didn't—drank his tea gracefully, paid all the proper courtesies, and most of all, proved a capable conversationalist.

"...And I'm glad to see you have made good use of the winch you installed a few years back." We had been having a light conversation over refreshments.

"Yes, I'll admit when Indigo asked if he could build one, I was excited, but not because I thought it would be as useful as it has proven," Snowcap Elder explained.

"Indigo? You mean this little guy right here built it?" His eyes travelled to me. "That's impressive."

"I had the help of a competent carpenter," I defended my modesty.

"Still, no small feat." He took a sip of his tea. "You know, if you were looking to modernize, there is a lot humanity has to offer."

"Modernize?" The Elder's curiosity peaked.

"Yeah, like metal tools. I couldn't help but notice that there isn't anything metal here except the things here." He gestured with his thumb to the collection of artifacts. "I could get you started on blacksmithing. That is how you shape metal into useful items.

I don't think I had seen the Elder’s tail wag before, but it was wagging now, and he was stroking his beard with more vigor than usual. "hmm..." He was frustrated, Mesa and I could tell, but Muhn Boro would have been unaware. "It's a tempting offer, but the tribe would never go for it, not like that anyway. You might have noticed, my people are slow to change." Amen to that. "And it would be a hard sell—I believe you humans say—to get someone to apprentice under a human." The Elder shot me a glance and referenced Moonlight Guardian; she would never go for it. She would probably run off any human with the audacity to try.

"It would be funny to see how Moonlight Guardian would respond to that." I gave a raspy vocal chuckle—I was still working on this.

"I imagine she would be quite enraged." The Elder hypothesized.

"That might be amusing, but also terrifying. I've never seen her lose her cool."

"Sorry, might I ask who you are referring to?" Muhn Boro asked.

"Oh, how rude of us. Moonlight Guardian is the village defender. And if it wasn't clear from context, she is... weary of humans," the elder answered.

"Is she? Has she had some unpleasant encounter?"

The Elder shrugged. What was up with that? He knew damn well that she had. It was the reason I became her apprentice in the first place. But perhaps he wanted to keep that hush-hush.

"Well, we do have an increasing number of human looters," I said.

Muhn Boro tucked his chin. "Looters?"

"Yeah, people who steal forest resources. A lot of them have been using devices like that." I pointed to the rod with the crystal at the top that Moonlight Guardian had taken when she rescued me.

"Oh..." A flush came over his face. "...Sorry about that."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" The Elder inquired with a sideways head tilt.

"That is a recently developed device that lets you draw ikour out of the land." Now both the Elder and I were confused.

"...Ikour?" I finally asked.

"It's basically the same thing as the mana that exists inside living creatures, only ikour comes from the land. When it concentrates and solidifies enough, it turns into ikarium: those glowing crystals you see in the forest."

I see.

I nodded furiously for him to continue. "Well, ikour is far more plentiful, and you see..." he hesitated before continuing. "Your forest is a massive reservoir of ikour."

The Elder had somehow knotted his hand in his beard. "So you humans think that gives you the right to just take it?" Was he angry? This would be a first.

Muhn Boro put his hand up in a placating manner. "Please don't lump all humans together. We humans have a large divergence when it comes to... well everything." He was right. "I don't condone what those humans are doing, so I hope you won't hold it against humanity at large."

"Hmm..." The Elder considered this.

"So what can you do with ikour?" I inquired; this was my kind of discussion.

"Well, the same thing you can do with those crystals you charge for me." I looked at him, not hiding my ignorance of those uses. "They are used to power various magical devices."

"Like what??"

"Well, for instance, I hear they are building a carriage that rides on rails that runs through Alocast and New Praven and is powered by ikour." A railroad! Amazing!

I wanted to continue this discussion, but I could tell that Snowcap Elder had soured on the topic, so I let it go. It seemed while he was deeply fascinated by such devices, his love of the forest and his home was greater. I guess that is only proper.

The conversion had continued and it was refreshing to converse with someone who thought as a human. So yes, the first part of the day had been great, and if it had ended right there, it would have been a top-10 day. But it didn't end, because like the tide with the moon, so too was the drunken revelry with the merchant's arrival, and the tide had come in.

I had given up on dealing with the "festivities" for the night and was expecting some peace back in the Elder's den. But to my horror both Snowcap Elder and Mesa were completely shitfaced. I would expect this kind of debauchery from the Elder, but not you, Mesa!

They were reading a historical biography and laughing hysterically after what seemed like every sentence. "On the 4th day... of spring, after meeting with the viscount... of Swaltoburg. Pff... 'Swaltsoburg.' After meeting with the viscount of... Swaltoburg. Hehe... Lady Duoda knew that... knew that she would be married!"

They broke out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, Indigo! You are here! You got to... you gotta gander this! It's so funny!"

Well, I wasn't about that life, so I noped out of there and tried to find a quiet location away from all the revelry. As I searched for a spot where I didn't have to worry about slipping on vomit I couldn't help but wonder how such a group of irresponsible people managed to persist. I guess it was only for a week or so, but still... Maybe you think I should have just given in and joined them in their drunkenness, it would have been easy enough. I had been offered, no, more like encouraged to partake. There was in fact no taboo on children drinking in the Two Trees and the only reason members of the Kite's Klub (TM Pending) didn't drink was because it tasted awful. As for me, I too was still a child and somebody had to look out for my well-being. Sure as hell wasn't going to be one of these fools.

To my dismay, all six platforms were currently engrossed in a massive bender that would put any college frat party to shame; I couldn't find anywhere in the Two-Trees to escape. The forest floor was probably a safe bet. I considered maybe taking a late-night visit to the mystic lake, but as I pondered this, I came across another set of stairs on the North tree's third platform, the stair to the shrine. Well, they wouldn't go through the trouble of lugging a cask up there, and in their current state, none of them would have the coordination to make it to the top. It was also a beautiful full moon, what better vantage point than the shrine of our dear God of Clear Skies? Most importantly of all though, I wouldn't have to suffer these reprobates up there. Without a second thought, I made my way up the 3,125 steps.

There was a time when those thousands of steps would have given me pause, but now it hardly garnered more consideration than turning a doorknob. It did take time to clear half a kilometer of elevation, so it wasn't something you would do without reason. I could sprint up the stairs, and make it there in a matter of minutes, but there was always the possibility that you would run into someone and knock them off, hence why this stairway had a speed limit. There was also the option of flying, but flying was kind of like swimming: It was fun until you had to transverse a half-kilometer. Sure, it was plenty doable, but it wasn't something you would do unless necessary.

At about 2,000 steps, I began to hear a faint sound. I couldn't place it, but I was sure I had never heard it before. Maybe it was some sort of nocturnal bird that likes high places? My curiosity peaked and I cautiously made my way up. At 2,500 steps, I could hear that it was melodic in nature. Were birds melodic? I continued my ascent, straining my ears to try and listen more clearly. By the time I had reached the final platform, I was certain it was a string instrument of some kind. I guess one of the tribesmen had made their way up here, but what puzzled me was that this instrument was playing cords. I had never seen a string instrument in town with more than one string, but they might have existed.

Whoever was playing this music was situated on the opposite side of the tree. My arrival was probably unwelcome if they had gone through the trouble of coming up here, so I made my way around the tree as stealthy as possible. Who do you think I found when I made the turn? Moonlight Guardian! My eyes nearly rolled out of my head.

She hadn't noticed me, which was unlike her. In her hands was what looked to be a lute; I couldn't make out much more than the shape. It was such an unexpected sight that I was caught between a voyeuristic desire and wanting to shower her with questions. There was also the fact that she seemed so peaceful. Seemed almost criminal to disturb her, but I couldn't just let this go, sorry Moonlight Guardian.

When I called out to her, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Her guard was down, very unlike her.

"...Indigo?" She was momentarily stupefied, but then came to her senses and hid the lute behind her back. "Indigo... What are you doing up here?" Her head was turned and she avoided eye contact.

"I thought it would be a good place to see the full moon..."

"Do you make a habit of being out this late?" Was she angry? Her words seemed almost like a reprimand.

"No... Snowcap Elder and Mesa are drunk and I needed to get away from them before they drove me crazy."

"I see..." She shifted uncomfortably.

"Were you playing that instrument just now?"

"..."

"Is something wrong?"

"Please forget you saw anything." I may have been mistaken, but was there a shade of redness in her ears?

"Moonlight Guardian, are you... embarrassed?"

"..." She tried to look away further, but her neck had already expended its full rotation.

"You shouldn't be, that was quite good." I assumed she was insecure about her musical abilities.

"No, that's not it. It's just... you heard?" Heard? Was something wrong with hearing her playing? After pondering it for a moment, I came to a realization that should have been obvious.

"That's nothing to be embarrassed about," I assured, she didn't seem reassured. I suppose a simple reassurance wasn't worth much. Perhaps, It was better to demonstrate. And so I sang a few lines from a classic song from my previous life. I felt her eyes go wide as she brought her head back front and center.

"...How did you do that?" She asked with a combination of curiosity and awe.

"That? It's just singing... umm, modulating the pitch of your vocal cords." This was the best way I could think to explain it to the uninitiated.

Moonlight Guardian gave up her futile attempt to hide the lute as she brought her head down in contemplation. She began emitting a kind of rattling noise from her throat; It seemed like she had gotten over her shyness, but her attempt at singing was completely ineffective and she began to cough.

"Are you okay?" I went to her side, ready to slap her back if necessary.

It was a short coughing spell and afterward, she looked over at me. "Could you 'sing' something for me?" Now it was my turn to get flushed.

"Mmm... Do you really want me to?" Part of me wanted to, but another was very self-conscious.

"Yes." So much for her more abashed responses.

"...Will you play something for me afterward?"

"...Yes." There was that demure head tilt again.

I took a deep breath and began to sing a song from the 1970's. Aside from this era having some of my favorite music, they were also the kind of songs that you could easily sing. As the song progressed, Moonlight Guardian began drifting off into what looked like a trance-like state. I would like to credit my marvelous singing voice, but it was probably just a novel experience for the nonvocal Yutsuukitsuu. After I finished the last lines of the song, she looked up for a moment.

"Was that the language of the humans?"

"Yes." Though not of any humans from around here.

"I didn't know the Elder knew anything about music, let alone this 'singing.'" He didn’t. I was about to say this to her but then thought better of it.

True to her word, she took a seat at the edge of the platform and began to pluck out a few notes. A timid sound began to emanate from the instrument. I took a seat next to her and looked off at the full moon. This gesture must have helped ease her nerves because she emboldened her playing, and before long she was adding in cords along with her melody.

It was an interesting sound; it didn't sound like anything I had heard before. I was biased of course; I was completely unfamiliar with any of this world’s musical developments and just assumed they were similar to Earth’s. Her playing was in line with music theory though; there weren't any dissonant notes. But still, it was strange.

She continued to play for longer than I expected, and after a while, it seemed like she had gone into that trance again. Not wanting to break her state of mind, I asked gently, "Where did you learn to play that instrument?" She drifted back to reality but kept playing softly as she spoke.

"I taught myself." Well, that was shocking.

"But you must have heard someone else playing?"

"No... I was drawn to this instrument when I heard it strummed for the first time."

"Are you saying you learn how to play strictly through trial and error, with not so much as an example to guide you??"

"At first it was trial and error... A lot of trial and error. But later, it was more intuition," she answered without bravado or modesty.

"That must have been difficult..." That was an understatement, what she had accomplished was equivalent to figuring out advanced mathematics unaided from zero.

"Yes... but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I hadn’t learned."

That is what we call begging the question. At the same time, it felt like a question I had no right to ask. So I settled on waiting patiently for her to continue, inviting her to continue if she wished.

"When I was only a little older than you are now, the merchant would come to our village, same as now. On these visits, many villagers would come and view what the merchant had in his cart. The items he carried back then were more varied. I of course was curious as well, and as I looked over the various items on display, my eye fell upon this instrument." She tilted the neck of the lute. "The merchant saw my interest and picked it up and strummed the strings—it gave off an enchanting humm. I knew at that moment that I wanted this item."

This was the first I had ever heard about Moonlight Guardian's past. I tried to imagine what she was like back then. All I could imagine was a smaller version of her with the same bearing and dress. I also wanted to ask her if she was as distrustful of humans back then too, but it seemed an inappropriate question.

Moonlight Guardian continued, "I had no way of communicating with the merchant and I was only marginally aware of how things worked between such people and the tribe, so I asked the Elder what I would need to do for the merchant to have him give up that instrument." She continued to play, and her music was light and playful. Was she matching the mood of her melody to the story? "The Elder was pleased with my ambition to acquire it and readily inquired with the merchant. After some exchange and head nodding, the Elder turned back to me and said that the forest had a lot of herbs and plants that were hard to come by elsewhere, and if I could collect enough of them then the merchant would exchange them for the instrument."

Her chords became more structured and predictable. "I didn't have any role back then or even an apprenticeship. I was just Moonlight. So I had no end of free time to search for these herbs. I spent a lot of time with the harvesters back then. They helped me select various herbs, fruits, and vegetables that could be preserved or would otherwise keep for a long time—no point harvesting something that would just go bad before the merchant returned." As her story continued, the structure began to dissolve a bit. "I would frequently stop to consult the Elder and ask if I had gathered enough. He would always shake his head in that light-hearted manner that he has. As the day of the merchant's return neared, this continued, and I became more and more anxious with every turn of his head. He told me not to worry, that the merchant comes every cycle, and that there was always next time."

The sound began to match the frustration she must have felt. I found the story compelling and was eager for her to continue. "But children are impatient, I certainly was, so I hatched a plan. Well, not really a plan so much as a resolve. Rare herbs are hard to find around the village, as they are quickly snatched up by the Harvesters, but they only venture so far. So if I went out further than that, I could probably find some and be able to acquire that instrument. I knew that it was forbidden, but I had never seen anything dangerous, and the Hunters, even though they wander far and wide, had never reported seeing anything particularly harmful either. So I figured as long as I didn't get caught, everything would be fine."

The tone emanating from the lute began to take on an ominous quality. "Still, rare herbs were, well, rare. It couldn't hurt to have a couple extra sets of eyes to spot them. My older brother was an apprentice Potter. He was creative by nature and liked the artistic freedom the trade allowed. He was also very whimsical and readily agreed to venture out. My younger sister by contrast was very meticulous—I could have seen her becoming the next Elder. She wasn't as keen about our excursion, but thought somebody had to keep an eye on us." Her use of past tense, combined with the ominous tone was making me uneasy.

"I know you are aware of this Indigo," she broke off into an aside, and I couldn't help but wonder if she had done that intentionally to build suspense. "But I have never formally explained it. The area around the village covers three zones. The area immediately around the village. This is where 'not children' are permitted to venture. Then there are the village's outer limits. Aside from the Hunters, this is where all the tribe confines themselves. This is also the limit of the patrols we run. While generally considered safe, only adults are allowed to venture here. And then there is the area beyond. Only the Hunters travel here, though there is no rule stopping any adult from doing so as well. Things can get a little dangerous here, but still, the greatest danger is usually getting lost."

Moonlight Guardian paused and looked up at the moon overhead. It seemed like she was preparing herself. Afterward, she continued, "We were bound for this third zone. We cleared the first two zones easily enough, and when we reached the third, we stayed on the periphery. It turned out my sister was deeply uncomfortable with going deeper, so we were just outside the outer ring of Zone 2. I remember I was arguing with her about going deeper when suddenly, I wasn't."

"It happened so fast, that I didn't even realize what had happened at first, only that my sister had disappeared. Stupidly, I searched for her. It didn't take long. Her shattered remains were pinned against a tree..." She was fumbling with her notes now. Combined with the dark melody and turmoil emanating from Moonlight Guardian herself, I felt like the air was being sucked out of the space. "The creature had come out of nowhere. It was a four-legged abomination of talons and teeth. It looked as if every surface of this monster was a cutting tool. And it was fast. I didn't even have time to contemplate my sister's demise before, it lunged at me at incredible speed; I couldn't believe anything was that fast. My brother must have sensed it would attack before it did, as he was able to throw himself in front of me. The creature sliced through him like he wasn't even there and still one of its claws found me." She lifted her mask, and once again showed me the scar on her face, only now with context. "His death was in vain... He should have protected himself." Her playing stopped.

"Don't say that!" I sure didn't think it was in vain. "If he hadn't stepped up, the creature wouldn't have missed its mark!"

"...You are right. But it was my fault they were both killed. I shouldn't have been spared." She looked back over the forest. The look in her eyes was sad, but she didn't cry. "I was rescued by the Guardians. Of course, it took me a while to appreciate that; I didn't much feel like living after what had happened. Eventually, I would reconcile my fate by apprenticing under the Guardians who had saved me. If I protected everyone from an untimely demise, then perhaps their sacrifice would not be in vain." This explained a lot. Not just her aloofness, but also her meticulous protection of the village. She was still probably traumatized and had a hard time opening herself up to that pain again. The Herculean effort she was expending monitoring the village was her way of repentance, and to fill a hole that had been created. But I think that might be changing. Ever since that night on the bridge, it seemed like... like she may have found something that she had lost.

"Sorry Indigo... I didn't mean to put all that on you. We were talking about this instrument." She looked chagrined.

"No, not at all! You can tell me anything! I'll listen!" I was adamant.

She smiled; she still hadn't put her mask back on. "It took me a couple more years, but I eventually gathered enough to give to the merchant to acquire this instrument. I hadn't realized how difficult this contraption was until afterward. It was one thing to strum the strings, but the merchant had demonstrated how you could create different sounds by pressing down on the strings and how you could even strum them together. So I spent nearly every night trying to figure out how to create these sounds. It sounded terrible for the longest time, but I persevered. I had to. It would at least give some meaning to my siblings' deaths."

"So you only play out of obligation?" That was kind of sad if it was true.

"I wonder..." At some point, she had started strumming out some cords again, but it wasn't emotionally charged like before and was more like elevator music. I couldn't believe that she was playing out of obligation. That probably got her to stick with it through the trial and error phase, but her music had too much soul to be obligatory; she must be a musical genius!

After concluding her story we both stared at the moon for a while, there really was a nice view of it from the Two Trees' uppermost platform. She stopped playing the lute again, and in the space created, I felt a tension take its place. It felt like she wanted to say something.

"Indigo... would you teach me how to use the 'wraith blade?'" It took me a second to realize what she had just asked, but once I did, both my ears and tail went rigid. Had she really just asked me? And so suddenly too.

"You want me to teach you?" I still couldn't believe it.

"Yes... It didn't feel like I could ask you before." I wasn't complaining, part of what had driven me to perfect it was so that I could share it with Moonlight Guardian, but why had she felt uncomfortable before? And what changed? Was it our meeting tonight?

I should have responded quicker instead of pondering such pointless questions, as Moonlight Guardian began to reconsider. "Maybe it is improper..."

"It's not improper!" I asserted.

"The mentor teaches the apprentice, not the other way around."

"That is nonsense! Sure, the mentor teaches the apprentice, but the mentor also learns from the apprentice! They... umm... bring a fresh perspective!" Time to brush up on my sophistry.

"Hmm..." She crossed her arms and furrowed her brow.

"Besides, why can't the apprentice teach the mentor if they have something worth sharing? Is it against the rules? Sometimes the apprentice just wants to give back for all their mentor has done for them. They shouldn't let their pride prevent them from reciprocating." I saw her ear twitch.

"Have you been wanting to share this with me?" She looked at me curiously.

"Well..." I turned away flushed. Her features softened. "You can think of it as understanding how I ply the trade of Guardian... so you can better instruct me."

She laughed, a laugh that said she realized that I was just offering her an excuse. "Alright, Indigo..." She gave me a wry smile. "For your sake, I'll let you teach me how to use the 'wraith blade.'" My tail danced around merrily.

Moonlight Guardian put her mask back on, but just when I thought this intimate moment was over, she put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I looked up at her, but she was staring off into the distance. It was getting late, and I found myself wanting to rest my head on her shoulder; she didn't protest. It was strange, I felt at that moment that we were like cherished siblings. She was my dear older sister, and I was certain that she regarded me as a beloved younger brother. When had that transformation begun? I couldn't tell, but it was clear. It had blossomed tonight.

I guess it hadn’t been such a bad day after all.