ORIGIN

The cat continued to deliver the story, attempting to match the pacing and emotion that his wife delivered in turn, but it was hard - his own shook and was uncertain. He stumbled over words and had to go slowly, lest he say the wrong thing and completely twist the story up. It was hard to focus when she was lingering just beyond his reach. So tangible, so there... everything that he had ever wanted... everything he'd wished... and the only thing stopping him from reaching her was himself. This was his own doing. He created his own suffering, and there was still nothing he could do to end it. All he could do was deliver the story and gaze lovingly upon the two children, quiet purrs emanating between breaths, between words. His soul felt severed, but for each word he spoke, he tried to stitch it back together. For them.

"The wolf the very next day came to the tower to do his duty, but hung around the entrance, unsure. The panther wasn't there to either greet him silently as he made his way down like he always did, nor was he there to persuade him to stay away, either. He waited and waited, but finally decided enough was enough and made his way up the stairs to the top of the tower. The crown waited there silently, glinting in the sparkling light of the stars through the open windows of the tower's keep, but...there was, at least to his eye, some dust on the tines of the crown. The wolf frowned deeply, then made his way up to the roof. The star would know where the panther had been, if anything.

But when he saw that she wasn't there at all, his heart lurched in his chest like some ship in a raging sea, thrown about and half-drowned so that he could barely breathe. Where was she?

He ran down the steps to see if she might've fallen, he asked the river if it had seen her, but the river had too many lovers to pay attention to only one, so it was of no help at all. He ran to the panther's home, but it looked almost ransacked as things were strewn about, and the wolf's panic just kept rising. They were both gone, to where, he had no idea, and the isolation of his profession made it so that no one knew of what had transpired in the least.

Heartbroken and at a loss, he made his way back to the tower, climbing the steps in silence. His friend and his protector-in-arms were both gone...both at the same time. He frowned and paused. They both left...together? But where would they have fled? And why?

The wolf set his teeth resolutely, and gathered himself in the blood red drapes that lined the windows of the tower, pulling it from its hangers. He would find them both, if it was the last thing he did."

The journey that followed that she described went on and on for hours, full of peril and danger, from the eerie description of the bone room, Canis, with its haunting memories and shadows and ill fated dreams and fortunes to the wolf's trek to the heart of the Caves, following hints and clues and secrets that he might've felt safer not knowing. Traps and monsters lay in his path, and he bested it all in his search for the star and her jealous guardian.

Finally he tracked them down and fought for her freedom in a battle that raged on for days, hardly stopping for want of food or stolen bits of sleep when the star-turned-swan begged them to do so in a temporary truce. The panther hated the wolf with a unbridled fury that the wolf just didn't understand, but his treatment of the swan set the wolf on such an edge that fighting was the only answer to it in his mind. In the end, the wolf bested the panther, and the cat begged for a swift and merciful death, anything to keep from seeing his love taken away from him...and the wolf just shook his head and walked away. He told the star to follow him, and gave the panther not another thought.

The swan followed the wolf, but in their journey home came to grow more and more sullen and deeply upset. In her time with the panther, the cat had whispered such lies to her that the wolf was ugly of heart and unworthy of her time and love, and now that she was taken away from her long-standing friend the panther, his promises of protection stood clearer, if still false to an outside eye. She started to resent the wolf, though she kept her peace of such matters.

The wolf's profile was scarred from many battles, and his red cloak was tattered from his long trek. He was much changed since those innocent talks up on the tower roof, just as she was. She could hardly be said to be the same - she didn't even shine anymore. Such knowledge to do so was lost to her now.

They made their way back to the city of stars and clear waters....but it wasn't the same either. The air held a different tone to it, cold and withdrawn, and the sky was richer and vastly different, like a depth was given, a space to the sky, a void behind the stars. It was disconcerting and felt utterly wrong to the swan and the wolf.

"Clover Speech" "Bartos Speech"

When they made it to the tower where the crown was, they were shocked to see the dias empty and forlorn, tossed to the ground in open mockery, the pillow cast like trash, and instead, with a back turned to them both, they saw a cloak twisting with shadows, writhing and pulling and hissing at each thread of the cloth woven with the souls of the forgotten. The King of the Night turned to them both, (for he had yet to be conquered by the Night,) and sneered at them both.

He spoke of how he was going to turn this forsaken city into a copy of Canis, a city of broken dreams and bones, and take every single shadow and fashion himself a crown better than the one he wore now upon his head. The wolf snarled, seeing the crown he had protected for so long set upon the most evil head it could ever grace, and began his attack.

His battle was fearsome but not enough for the King and was beaten down with hardly any effort in the least. The swan took the wolf away with her wings and her concern, and together they spoke of how they should defeat the King.

The swan was hesitant. She barely believed in her friend anymore, and she voiced her concerns to him, told him of all the things the panther had spoken of. The wolf quickly and efficiently proved them to be false and baseless, soothing over the swan's guilty heart. It was hardly the fault of the wolf, the panther, or the swan, for they both loved the star. In this profession of love, the wolf grew silent, and shook his head. There were more important things at the present moment, and the swan quietly agreed with a slow, dazed nod of her head.

Together they went back to the tower, and together they fought the King. Every swipe and slash was blocked by one and counterattacked by the other, each acting as a sword and shield, switching whenever necessary. The King grew infuriated and increased his attacks to no avail, for the two in their friendship and love would allow no concession. And when the King was finally beaten down, pushed to the edge of the window of the tower, the swan flew at him and shined so bright that the King screamed and was blinded, and in his haste dropped the crown and flew to leave such a horrible, lovely light.

Once the battle was done, they both heaved a sigh of relief and exhaustion, and the swan picked up the discarded crown. With a silent thought, she turned and placed it on the wolf's head and declared him the rightful owner. With dedication, love, strength, and purity of heart, who better to protect the city that one who had driven away the terror of the night?

Together they ruled in peace and harmony and love till the end of their days.
"Clover Speech" "Bartos Speech"

Curled up against her father and her brother, listening to the story, she saw it all vividly in her head. How beautiful and terrifying and stressful it all was. Was this the way of the world, to go through such harrowing trials for the one you loved? Oh, but how wonderful the ending was, she thought with sleepy eyes. The wolf really was perfect for protecting...the love...the swan...and the city...

Her thoughts started to drift off as the voice did, and she let the last words of the story carry her off to sweet sleep, a happily ever after that ever story seemed to need.

How perfect this was.
[exit Wisteria]