Under The Watchful Moon :: Stargazer Meets Kyorou

A small, wolf-like puppy was romping through a meadow. A beautiful meadow, which is said to be at it's most beautiful at night.

Happily, he pounced through the tall, waving stalks of bright green grass. Sometimes he would jump up and pounce on a wavering strand of grass, pinning it into the soft brown dirt with his small, fragile puppy paws. Sometimes he would challenge himself, leaping into the night air to grab the tallest stalk of grass and drag it down with his powerful canine jaws.

It was a peaceful twilight, the sun was steadily going down, draining the warm light of the day and replacing it with the coolness of the night.

The young puppy simply wanted to have some fun. He knew his parents would scold him for leaving the den past curfew, but he had heard the rumors of this wonderful place from the other dog families who lived around him. He was curious and had been dying to see them since his good friend had told him about this place.

The young dog saw a tiny flickering glow on a particularly thin strand of long grass. Curious, the puppy bounded over, watching it with his wide, dark blue eyes, lit with fascination.

He had never seen something so marvelous.

A tiny flickering firefly, surrounded by a warm, flickering golden light. He watched- a little sadly- as the firefly spread its tiny wings and took flight into the now completely dark sky.

Watching it fly, the puppy playfully exclaimed, breaking the silence of the night, "Hey! Wait for me!"

Bounding after the tiny bug's little light, he found himself getting further and further away from the den. But he didn't care, nor notice at all as he followed the enchanted firefly.

What he saw took his breath away.

In a slight dip in the meadow was a whole swarm of fireflies, brightly coloring the night sky with their different shades of yellows, oranges, and sometimes reds. He watched in utter delight as a particularly small, yet just as bright firefly landed on the tip of his snout.

Surprised, he sneezed on instinct, causing the firefly to get startled and buzz away.

Feeling a little guilty, Kyorou got back onto his paws. He looked around himself, feeling tired and wishing to return to his den and cuddle up into his mother's plush, warm fur.

Only, he had no idea which way was home.

Panicking, Kyorou started to bound through the grass, crashing through the stalks, forgetting all about the fascination of the night.

He paused at the base of a hill when he noticed a tall dark figure, a silhouette against the white glow of the moon.

Hesitating, he watched as the tall wolf did not move from his position at all. He simply stared up at the tiny blinking dots in the sky known as stars from right where he sat.

Pawing the ground nervously, the puppy gathered up his courage and started to walk up the hill and asked in a shy, squeaky voice, "U-um, excuse me?" he asked.

The wolf looked surprised as he turned his head towards the source of the voice. Looking down, he noticed Kyorou and his shocked expression turned to that of gentleness, "Hello little pup." he said warmly.

Feeling reassured by the wolf's friendliness, he smiled faintly at the stranger, "U-um, I'm lost, and I don't know how to return home," remembering what his mother had said about always introducing yourself before you talk to a stranger, he quickly added, "my name is Kyorou!"

The wolf nodded in understanding and stood up onto his four paws, towering over the young male pup, "My name is Stargazer."

Kyorou watched the full-grown adult male wolf, taking in his features. His pure black pelt, sliced with neon blue rings on his ears and tail. His paws were a piercing neon blue, and his eyes were warm and gentle.

Stargazer wrapped his tail comfortingly around the young puppy, "How about we find you a nice, warm place to sleep for the night, and tomorrow when the sun has returned, we can look for your parents," he suggested, "how does that sound?"

Comforted, Kyouro nodded in agreement, beaming up at the wolf, "Thank you mister!"

Stargazer laughed, and nudged Kyorou gently, "It's Stargazer." he gently reminded, before guiding the puppy down the hill and back to the forest, all of this under the eye of the watchful moon.