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Note: the five stars represent a shift in point of view.
A full moon cast its pale light across the meadow. Hundreds of wings caught it, coloring it, and throwing it out again to light the surrounding woods in all colors of the rainbow. Some of the dancing light landed on a cat softly slipping towards the meadow, and the blues blazed like fire on his fur. He wasn't a normal cat; besides having sapphire fur, he was much larger--closer to the size of a panther than a bobcat. In the chaotic light scattered from faerie wings, he looked nearly ghost-like.
Ever closer to the raspberries at the meadow's edge he crept, placing each paw delicately on the ground. He might have been recently born--or recently made cat-like--for his gaze constantly darted to things that were of no threat, when it wasn't looking forward in concentration or around in wonder.
* * * * *
In the center of the meadow sat a throne, formed of a single leaf from a cucumber tree, resting on a lump of moss, supported by clover and reeds of grass. On it sat a small (even by faerie standards) figure whose wings reflected not tiny slivers of rainbow, but thousands of glittering points of the moon's silver beams. She was blessed by a unicorn, and the tribe was prospering under her wisdom.
She felt something sneaking towards them. Usually, that meant trouble. But this was different: this felt like ultimate good combined with the soul of a man. She closed her eyes and looked into the woods with the emotion-sight the unicorn had given her. There, behind the black raspberries--bright yellow caution, an indigo band of anticipation, a faint orange wisp of fear, and a teal desire. No hunger or thirst, no hint of a killing rage, none of the colors of threat. She was about to try to look into its dreams, but the part of her mind that was born with the planet told her not to.
She opened her eyes. She could see it now--the thing only reflected the blue, and the shadow of the other colors was nearly blinding. It was cat-shaped, standing with one bush between it and the faeries. She didn't trust it, but she didn't want the others to panic and startle it into attacking. A dream-command flew across the meadow: `Remain calm, move aside, let it enter.' As the mass of wings parted, she stole another look at its emotions. The fear and caution were gone, replaced by blue calm. The unfamiliar band of teal desire remained as ever. Did it read her orders? How? She felt the power of the unknown for the first time in countless years.
It looked at the now-empty grass, as if checking for illusions, before stepping out into the meadow. It was slightly smaller than a panther. Its fur was the most unusual blue she had ever seen, deep enough for the eyes to swim in. It sat down, sweeping its tail counterclockwise to swirl neatly about its forepaws.
* * * * *
He looked around a moment before speaking. He sensed the field of dreams created in the minds of the faeries, and a quiet power radiated from the queen. "Good moon," he said. He noticed hundreds of eyes widen, surprised he knew the traditional greeting. The queen hadn't blinked.
"And good dew to you. What brings you to the midsummer dances?" A ripple of suppressed emotion ran through the faeries, but the queen's face remained blank.
He looked up at the sky, then down at the queen, tilted his head to the side, and paused a moment more before speaking. "Midsummer? Here, it is the harvest moon." All movement in the meadow ceased. Every face stared at him in shock. "It is, is it not? Or was time flowing wrong in the unicorn wood?" After the thousand dancing rainbow shards, the stillness was oppressive.
The moment stretched, snapping, breaking into two moments and almost a third before the queen replied. "Indeed, it is the harvest moon. But the question was in our language, soundless dreams. Like this thought. See?" The others had recovered from their shock, and were beginning to move closer with interest. "You replied in that tongue as well."
He blinked a slow cat-blink, the kind of movement that suggests anything that's over within a second isn't worth bothering with. "Where did I learn that?" he asked, his tone of pure wonder speaking louder than the words themselves.
* * * * *
She mimicked his blink. The strange teal blazed brighter than ever, spreading slightly to either side, and she realized it must be the desire to learn who he was. She could help him with that, if she could only figure out why there was so much light in him. "You mentioned a unicorn wood?" she asked.
"Yes," he said immediately. "I was born human, became something more, and now I am this." She nodded, silently urging him to elaborate. "Mere humanity ended when I found what must have been the largest emerald in the world. I took it into a unicorn's wood to ask what might be done with it, whether it should be returned to the earth or made into a thing of beauty. He stood a while in thought as the shadows grew long. Then, with speed I have never forgotten, he stabbed it with his horn, lifting it into the air. The whole fiery red of the sunset died, painted green by that stone. And there he stood, still frozen, as the jade sun slipped beneath the horizon and brought deep green twilight to the sky.
"The temperature dropped to a sharp coolness, much like a September night, and his breath hung in the air. Just as suddenly as he had lifted the emerald from me, Yelar brought the stone down to touch the mist. Primrose and moonflower and clover leapt to meet it, and Silverleaf was born. The emerald melted and formed itself into the hilt, and the mist and flowers were woven together beneath the stars by countless dreams. It wasn't really a sword, because flowers can't cut, but it was still more powerful than anything I ever met until the wind." Here he paused, lifting a paw to his mouth to bathe it a moment, as if trying to divert attention from embarrassment.
"I knew the wind was something other than normal wind, and a sort of friendly war developed. Sometimes I would try and abandon it, and it would follow; sometimes, it would chase me on, but always in the direction Silverleaf asked. I somehow managed to avoid becoming legendary, even though Silverleaf would lend me the power to break weapons when I needed it. Nightmares to dreams, so it went, until the wind led me into another unicorn forest."
She closed her eyes for a half-moment as he paused. The teal had receded again, but was still present, standing sharply in front of a muddy brown swirl of confusion and a little sad violet. She was aware of the night slipping away, but the others had pressed close to listen, the dancing quite forgotten.
"I don't know why. I don't know what the wind was. I don't remember much of anything, except denying nonexistence. Then I was a cat, Silverleaf was gone, and I wanted to catch and kill the wind for it. But I didn't... it was like men chasing unicorns."
* * * * *
He stopped speaking again, debating on whether to continue. The decision was made for him by the queen smiling. In unison, every faerie in the clearing sang a single word--"Alaya"--forming the most heavenly chord that had ever reached his ears. It filled the world with a deep, pulsating sound like a heartbeat, hiding beneath the voices that gave it life. And at the far edge of the meadow, light spilled down from the moon, filling in paws, legs, body, tail, a long neck, eyes that caught the world and held it in, and a spiral horn. She practically glowed silver, the light flowing in rivulets down her hair.
When she spoke, it was in a pure liquid voice. "Ah, my sapphire cat. Who knows not what transpired by my pool." She smiled secretively. "The wind was longing. It led you on in a quest for yourself, and nearly destroyed you by bringing your demon to the surface of your soul... you ruined its first spell by leaning back and thinking about it. So it tried to bring the demon to life, but I stopped it. I put the magic blade into your heart. The demon couldn't stand it--the cat came to the transformation instead."
He thought for the longest moment anyone in the field had lived through. "That's why I can understand the dream-speech? Because Silverleaf speaks it from my heart?"
"Yes. But there's one more thing about the glade. When you left..." A dreamlike expression washed over the unicorn's face. "My world is merely a representation of me. When you left, you left sapphire footprints in my glade. On my heart." Silence filled in where the words left off. "I might be the first unicorn to love something more deeply than merely taking joy in it. So I want to give you this in thanks." Her horn dipped into her coat and came out again with something she tossed to him. It landed nestled among his front paws and tail. A seed. Alaya smiled, then leapt into the stars, gone in a stream of silver.
Author's Note: "The more we think we know about/The greater the unknown" --Rush
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