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Decaffeinated
Finally finished the part for this lady who I would love to name Artemis!
The Orpheus in this snippet is this boy:)
Artemis, goddess of the moon, was there when the earth had been born. She shaped nature with her very own paws, nursing them to beauty and life with as much love as she could give. Her skin holds the marks of her work, green streaks that distinguish her as mother of all flora.
Sometimes, when she is tired or lonely from her endless watch over the moon, she glides down to the little spot of earth that she is allowed, and wanders among the stalks of grass, feeling their deferent sway.
On this particular night, her walk was met with a rather new discovery.
A large silhouette, musing on her lake's water.
As she drew nearer, his identity became clear to her.
"Orpheus." The spirit of forgotten promises. She greeted him with a polite dip of her head. He only swept his tail in a gesture for her to sit next to him.
"Did you know," he rumbled without turning his gaze away from the night sky, "that in these thousands of years I have existed, you are the only one that has never forgotten."
Artemis was silent for a moment, curious eyes flicking first from his ageless face, to the little stars blinking slowly from the darkness of his skin, to the wreaths of luminous smoke coiling around him. He meant promises, of course. What else would it be?
"How could I forget the reason that I have these nights in the full moon, when I can walk among the buds that I sowed, so very long ago?"
He let out a soft huff that might have been a laugh. "You cannot imagine how many do."
Not knowing how to respond, Artemis looked down at the lake's water, watching ripples blossom.
After a while it seemed like Orpheus was not inclined to break the silence, and Artemis willed herself to words. "My oath to my Flora children, it's the only thing I have. I am unbreakably bound to the moon, and it will not let me travel far from its reflection in this lake. But here, I may still visit nature." Her claw sent ripples skittering as it touched the surface of the water. "I have nothing else. Nothing more that ties me here."
Orpheus dipped his head in acknowledgement of her words, finally turning to regard her. His gaze was steadfast and calm, the type of calm that only loneliness can instil. It was the same look she was accustomed to wearing.
"But your oath to the moon is stronger. The type of promise that cannot be forgotten." Orpheus said.
Artemis did not reply. The golden smoke that he exuded was dancing around her now. She nosed at them, their dissipating shimmer a fascinating sight.
"These are the forgotten ones." She said. It was less of a question and more of a statement of fact. He nodded. "How can you bear it?"
"You ask as if there is a choice. You, of all deities, should know." He closed his eyes, shuffled his wings, and turned his head back towards the open sky.
A strike of curiosity led Artemis to ask, "Why did you come here? No one comes to this secluded corner of the earth."
Orpheus seemed to genuinely ponder the question. A smile tickled the edge of his mouth. "It's peaceful here. Quiet. And maybe I wanted a bit of company." He shot Artemis a sideways glance.
She shifted so that she now faced him. "That, I have the freedom to give."
He began to grin at that, angular teeth gleaming bright against the black of the night. "I appreciate that, my goddess Artemis." He said, with sudden formality.
She waved it off, oddly disconcerted at the change in tone. "Come and visit the lake again when the moon is full. I will await your companionship."
"Yes," came the answer. "That, I can promise."
Breeze or Breezy
