• Rocketman by Elton John •

Realizing she had no time to ponder, Jade leaped towards Avento and Lari. She ran past Hema - also injured - before finding the Princess behind a tree, crying, with the child in her lap. He was bleeding profusely from his abdomen. Alive, but under the circumstances, would probably bleed to death before they could reach Jahima.

The child held on to the sinew of the arrow, taking only short, calculated breaths, wondering which one might be his last. Lari tried to grab onto his jacket, now perforated and bled through, trying to stop the bleeding with her bare hands. "We have to do something," she said, between bated breath. "Jade, we have to do something."

"What?" The redhead asked, her tone sounded like she was giving up. "We can bandage it up, but he'll bleed out unless we can stitch it up. And who knows if the arrow hit any of his vital organs." She produced a hand and caressed the child's head, wishing for him to go out easily.

"No, no," Lari cried out. "There's gotta be something we can do. Baby, you'll be fine, okay? We'll figure something out, I promise."

But she sat there, with him in her arms and sobbed. Looking at Jade for doing the thinking for the both of them.

The cats had run to them as soon as they had realized the intruders were gone, and the tabby started running its tongue on Avento's tear-stained cheek. The calico crossed over and situated herself between Lari and Jade.

"Moon," they both heard Mewton say, and Jade saw the Princess' face change from a shade of desperation to realization.

"You're right," she said, wiping the running under her nose on her long sleeve.

"Princess, what is it?" Jade asked, as her friend shifted the boy's weight off of her legs and onto her own.

Their dissent from the morning held no space in their camaraderie anymore. She watched Lari stand up and rub her eyes and nose vigorously, before she answered.

"The Moon's realm, Jade. Remember how your cut healed when you splashed that glowing water on it? Moonlight has healing powers, right? If I can go to the realm, and bring back the water-"

Before she could finish the sentence, her vision blurred and Jade watched her fall to the grass. She gasped aloud, unable to catch her falling, and sat there helpless.

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Larimar sat up in the Moon's realm, this time, for the first time, on a sandy shore. But instead of the usual golden shade of sand, this shore had a very silvery essence to it. Almost like moonlight. She picked up a fistful of it and ran it through her fingers. It felt just like the sand from the shores at Primorska, but she had no time to sit and reminisce about her lost childhood.

So Lari went over to the waterbody near her, and picked some up in her hands. She wondered if it would be enough. And how she would jump from a magical realm to earthside without spilling it from her hands.

"What are you doing?" Luna's silky voice startled the water out of her palms. Larimar turned, maintaining a cold attitude in her stance.

"Trying to save one of your apprentices," she spat, and the Arcana chuckled.

"Avento is not an apprentice. Only a protégé," she declared. "You're my only apprentice."

"And does that mean you wouldn't mind if a little child loses his life?" Her apprentice asked.

She opened her mouth but before she could answer, Lari continued, "and even if he is just your protégé, how can you hold a deal with him that doesn't let him or his family leave a deserted realm?"

The Moon folded her arms across her chest, and defended herself. "Well, I never forbade him or his family to leave. You don't know what you're talking about, Larimar."

Lari mirrored her pose and posed a question. "Then what was the deal?"

Luna scoffed. The earthling thought she wouldn't give it away, but clearing her name got the better of the Arcane.

"Well, he wanted to save the people of Kalk, including his family. Yes, I admit, he's a little mature for his age. So he reached out to me. Why me, I do not know. But he reached out, and told me to save the people who were starving and on the brink of death. Which, by the way, was because of the alms that your father forgot to send to the struggling realms."

"You don't have to remind me of that." Lari scoffed in return. "You can't make me hate my father more than I already do."

The Moon giggled. "Ugh, my sweet seaside child. So anyway, Avento wanted help and I agreed to it. Over a couple of days, I made sure their crops freshened up and the people who were suffering, healed. Both from moonlight and the food that I was helping with. And... umm... I might have asked for a favor from the Queen of Cups.. about the water."

She paused, as if to let it sink with the Princess. Almost as if she had nothing else to add. "And?" The noirette asked. "What did you ask from him?"

Luna sighed. Scratching the back of her furry neck, she started again. "I... well... the deal was that... the people of Kalk would leave the realm after they've been revived. And that, even if his family also decided to leave, he would have to stay back. He can visit other realms - I'm not hardhearted - but he can't settle anywhere else."

"What was the reason to send everyone away?" Luna had all of Lari's attention now.

"Can we sit down for a moment?" Luna sighed again. "My paws hurt."

"I have to go. I actually care what happens to him, you see. Can you at least tell me how I can take it without spilling? And if there's a dosage for this healing liquid?"

"Excellent questions!" The Moon sat down, and patted the sand before her to get her to sit down. "I'll tell you everything. Just... let me clear my name out. I don't want my apprentice to hate me."

"I don't hate you, Luna." Lari established, sitting down with a sigh.

"So, I thought that Jahima was wrecked, right? They were the most affected by the drought. And then the war too. And Kalk is - was - a very self-reliant realm. They had almost no trade relations with other realms, they grew their own crops, had their own animals, built their own houses, yada yada. So I thought that these people could go, settle in Jahima, and help revive the economy there.

"And Avento understood all this. Like I said, very mature for his age. And he's an introvert, so he doesn't really care if there aren't many people around."

"And you can't see how lonely he gets? He's a child, he deserves to have other children around." Lari tried to counter her mentor.

Luna sat in front of her, tight lipped, having nothing more to say. After a moment of quiet, she reached within the folds of her robe and pulled out a small vial. "You can collect the liquid in this. 1 to 2 drops on the wound should be enough depending on the size of it. It will heal in a few moments' time."

"Thank you," Princess Larimar said, snatching the container away from her grasp.

"You know, an apprentice rarely ever talks back, let alone argues with their patron Arcana." Luna reflected, standing up as she watched her mentee fill the vial up at the shore. "I like that about you."

"What is this, some kind of kink?" Lari asked.

She giggled. "You know an Arcana-earthling romance is forbidden, right?"

"Yes, but maybe that's a kink too?" Lari joked.

"No, no," The Moon answered with another wave of giggle. "I'm just saying that it's admirable that you're trying to show me things from a different perspective. Not a lot of apprentices would attempt that. Maybe it'll lead me to speak to The World about... you know... if anything can be done about it. Anyway, I've given my heart to Sol, so you have no chance."

At this, Lari stood up straight to face her patron. "Sol? As in The Sun?"

"Yes."

Her whiskers danced, stimulated by the rush of blood to her cheeks. Lari looked at her for a while, seeming like she had a lot of questions to ask. She admitted. "I'd love to hear more about this, but... there's a child on the brink of his death. So, I think I'll leave for today."

Luna only nodded, her small mouth curling into a shy smile. She clicked her fingers, and Lari opened her eyes to the greenery of the Nokimetsa.

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