Luna

*Author's Note*

Sorry if this is inaccurate in any way, I just learned about LGBTQ+. I thought this would be a cute idea for the prompt, and a break from my normal fanfictions (Celeste, your part is coming out soon :) !!) Enjoy!

Luna.

The name brushed through my head like her tail along my back. Like a stray spark of hope.

All of which were gone. Lost forever.

She was a stray, and I was a house cat. We could never be lovers. The leader of her tribe would never let her outside of the forest I once wandered with her.

I would never see her again.

I step down from the fence as lightly as ever. Into the woods to catch another mouse.

I push through brambles and vines, green-brown blurring my vision as I run, my steps so quiet that not even a single leaf stirs.

I learned to hunt through myself. I’ve always been here for myself, and nobody else. I knew I could be a stray…but that life was too harsh for me, and plus, I couldn’t leave my girl, Saoirse.

Just then, there was a blur of white and gray tabby fur. Pure as the moon. However, I’d learned from experience that pure fur didn’t always mean a pure heart. But for this moon, I’d soon learn…

“Who are you?” the she-cat hissed, stalking around me.

“I’m…not a stray. I honestly haven’t thought much about what I am,” I replied. House cat, my brain whispered, but I ignored it. “Who are you?”

“Luna, from the River Tribe.”

“Hmm. Name suits you well,” I whispered. “I must go. I…like you. May we meet tomorrow, same time, same place?”

“I guess. Safe travels, nobody-cat,” Luna mewed.

“Goodbye, Luna-pure-moon-stray-cat.”

I caught her tiny smile and mischievous spark in her eyes before her silky whirte fur disappeared as soon as it came.

I’ll never see her again, I caught myself thinking in the green-brown clearing where we first met. She’ll never be here for me…and I’ll never be here for her.

But then again, does she need me?

A rustle in the bushes.

I turn my head sharply and crouch. I know I am in Luna’s tribe’s territory, however, it could be prey, or dare to dream, Luna herself.

I wait. And wait and wait and wait.

Nothing.

Why did I dare to hope? Why do I bother trying to dream?

It’s never going to be her. Get it right! You’re never going to see her again.

I slumped down on the dusty floor in which we used to play.

Well, at least you have yourself.

“You SAID you liked shrew better than fish!”

“I said I like SWORDFISH better than TUNA!” I purred back playfully, whacking her with the shrew. 

“Okay, okay. How about…me or your girl? What was her name again? Saoirse?” Luna asked, eyes wide.

“Um…” This one was hard. “Could I answer later?”

“I guess. As long as you say you like me better than fish,” Luna giggled.

“No, no, don’t be silly! I LOVE fish so much that I want to KISS it to DEATH!” I joked.

“Yeah, right!” Luna teased. “Same time, same place, again tomorrow?”

“Always,” I meowed, touching noses with my best friend. “See ya later!”

“By, fish-face! Think about the question!” Luna called, her pale, pure white tail slipping behind the bushes.

“Here, kitty-kitty-kitty! C’mere, you bony halloween-colored thing!” Saoirse yelled in the yard. I was hiding in the highest branches of one of the tallest trees. It hurt me to not come when she called. 

Especially when this could be my last time to see her. She was leaving for Ireland tonight.

But I had to stay here. With the forest. With the other half of my heart.

I had to wait for Luna to come back to me.

I waited till it was dark, then curled up on the fence and waited for my love to come back to me.

The leaves were turning yellow and red and orange and all colors and falling, falling, falling to the ground. I paced the large clearing, sighing every three seconds. She’s not here. When will she come?

“Sorry, sorry, sorry I’m late!” Luna gasped, out of breath. She collapsed on the clearing, panting like a dog.

“You’re fine. And, I’ve come up with an answer to the question! I like you better than my girl!” I announced.

“Aww, thanks!” Luna purred. “I have news!”

“I have news, too! But you go first,” I mewed, sitting up quickly and curling my tail around my paws.

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay.” Luna took a deep breath. “I’m going to have kits! And with my mate, Eclipse!”

“Oh, I’m so happy for you!” I exclaimed. But my heart was dropping like a stone.

“Yeah, I know! Now, what was your news?” Luna asked.

I love you, I love you so much, more than anything in the world. I left my world to enter yours. I would like to be mates, if you’re comfortable with that. That was the first thing that flashed through my mind.

Yet I shook my head. “Nothing. It’s irrelevant now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

“...Are you okay?”

“Fine. Come on, let’s brainstorm names for the kits!” I mewed cheerily.

But right then, the only thing on my mind was my shattered heart, broken into a million tiny pieces. 

Death.

The first word that came into my mind.

Death, death, death.

“I know,” I said. “Let’s name a kit Mara.”

“Is that a tree-cutter name?” Luna asked. 

“Yes.”

“Well, what does it mean?”

I didn’t tell her that day.

I didn’t ever tell her.

I crouch and stare down into the pond. Saoirse is gone. My only hope of surviving is fending for myself. And since Luna can’t do that for me, I must learn. 

I must survive the fires that have tried to overcome me for so long.

“Luna! Finally!” I stand up, greeting the cat I used to love. “You keep getting later by the day!”

“Sorry,” Luna muttered. “However, I must talk to you.”

I give her a confused look and sit down next to her.

“So, you know my kits, Crescent, Sunfire, and Mara, right?”

I nod.

“And my mate, Eclipse?”

My heart breaks all over again, but I nod.

“Well, our old leader, Willow, my sister, died. I was next in line. So…now I'm the leader of a whole tribe.”

“Oh, wow congrats, Luna! That’s great!” I purr, touching noses with her.

“No, it’s not! Because, now, at the time we meet, there could be something going on in my tribe! And I need to be there to protect them, always.”

“So…you’re saying–”

“Yes. Goodbye, sweet kitty-stray. I’ll see you in another life.” Luna touched noses with me for the final time, and then disappeared into the night, fast as a pure white minnow.

I look up at the sky. Of course, there are still the leafbare trees in our clearing. But the most significant thing to me is the moon. 

It’s been covered in clouds since Luna stopped seeing me. But now, it’s showing me its face. 

Could this be a sign? An omen, perhaps?

I sigh and curl up in my nest. Just as my eyes start to close, I see a flash of familiar white fur and hear a familiar voice calling my name.

“…Aloy?"