SOLIFLOWER

Xaulter walked out of the Moondrop Inn. … He had just spoken with the visiting Jarl, shaken a bit in unprecedented ways that put him in his place. He mindlessly strolled deeper and deeper into the woods alone. His only friend, Pomegranate, watched him disappear through the trees in the opposite direction of the Forgotten District, his home.

“..Why does Xaulter look like a pouring, rainy day? What was said to him, to make him so very glum?”

And as she said that, droplets of water began falling from the sky. It made it easier for Xaulter’s mind to fall back onto the question he had asked Thaddeus Wyckshire.

. .

“... Have you heard a Bluefang speak before?”

He already looked terrified, hearing the Jarl speak of his tales fighting this infamous predator. The kits around him seem shocked, when they see the one and only Xaulter Orchidian with a look of fear on his face. Slick leaned in close to the kit’s ear, his voice a soft whisper:

“Indeed I have... Come closer and I'll tell you, but only if you dare: Such a thing is not for the faint of heart..."

Terrified, he did as the Jarl said, slowly stepping closer.

“It said: ‘SO… HUNGRY… want to... eat... ..YOU!!"

The sudden raise in Slick’s voice scared the very soul out of the kit, as he jumped back and screamed in fear. The other kits were laughing, but it was not because they’re soulless. They simply liked seeing revenge dished out to the troublemaker who has made their lives so miserable. The laughing… For a while, all Xaulter could hear was the laughing.

. .

He was for sure lost, now. But he didn’t care. He was ready to walk as far away from this place as he could. Walking. Walking. Walking… … Stopping. … The rain poured hard. The forest was dark. The tears now leaking out of his eyes blended into the water from the clouds, and the thunder hid his screams of pain. What a horrible night to remember the beast your sol had become, and to remember the sound of an explosion as it ripped your lune into shreds. What a most horrifying way to remember you were a fool, believing that the Bluefang who told you that you were loved would spare a piece of mind or mercy. … What a horrifying time to wonder what pain your sol went through, as he transformed into the hungry monster who ate his loved ones.

..It’s just not fair. Xaulter never thought it was fair. Xaulter wanted everyone else to feel the pain of his sol. He wanted revenge on the society that ended the lives of his two sols and his lune. He wanted it now! … And as he thought this, he heard a voice. A familiar voice, calling directly to him:

“Xaulter… Do you remember me..? I love you… I know how to make them pay…”

It was his sol. The voice of his sol. Was he still alive..? Delirious, he followed it without another thought.

“That’s right, come here… This will only hurt a bit.”

He stopped when he heard that last line. Hurt..? Pain?! Before he could process it, his mind knew true horror the second an unfamiliar cry was let out from the shadows. A large feathered beast emerged from the trees, blood dripping from every pore… There was still lightning, and yet by now the rain had completely ceased. Xaulter screamed:

“IS THAT YOU?! TELL ME SOL, PLEASE, HOW DO I DO IT?! HOW DO I BRING ABOUT REVENGE TO THE COLONY WHO KILLED YOU?! TELL ME NOW!!”

…

Thunder.

Thunder.

A cry most fowl.

And a pool of blood from the talons of a bird as betrayed as he, digging into his throat and chest.

…

He went from seeing red, to seeing orange.