(Esktober 2022) Growth

Twelve looked from up top his lighthouse down into the dark waters below. Night was always his favorite time of day, but sadly, it was not as magical as it used to be. 

As if on que, Twelve heard the familiar noises of the Lighthouse's timer going off. A small flick was heard, and Twelve' ears leaped up at the noise. A small part of him expected to see light beam through him and out into the black sea, but that light never came.

He twisted his small head around, and saw nothing but the hole left from that horrible night. His once beautiful relic, his connection to his past, now looked to be nothing more then a big mess of cables, metal, and glass that laid scattered amongst the floor. 

He sighed, the hope in his heart replaced with sorrow as he slowly climbs up into the space that used to occupy his old light.

Once he reached the top, he slowly stepped in-between each broken piece carefully, trying his best not to touch any of it. 

It had to stay the same. He can't moving anything. Inleast not yet, not until he can figure out a way to fix it. To make things right.

As he approuched the broken glass window of what had once been his sworn duty to protect, he felt his eyes threaten to soften from their usual stern gaze. He tried to think of something to say to the screen he had once cherished so much, but only found himself pressing his head and paws to the remaining screen's glass. 

His mind and emotions twirled, his feelings seeming to drag him off into another world. A world that he fought to stay out of yet tried to envelope himself in.

...

He had been finishing his task for the day, sweeping around the light when it happened. He hadn't even had time to register anything when he heard the sound. 

A sudden flash of deja Vu hit him and the fur on his neck spiked up and stiffened just second before-

*SHATTER!*

Suddenly, his surroundings were shrouded by darkness, and Twelve had to restain himself from leaping down towards whatever dark shadow he could find and tearing into them with blind rage. Or maybe it was the shock of it all that held his paws to the ground, he was never sure. 

As the air thickened with stress, Twelve's eyes filled with anger and his tail lowered in distain. But as another second passed, his anger quickly turned to fear, then to panic.

Suddenly, Twelve rushed forward, jumping up to his light in one leap and slipping around to quickly see what had happened. 

At first, all he saw was the glass, white with small red lines on it's edges indicating how hot it was. Then, he saw something big and gray. Twelve lifted himself off his paws, floating slowly into the glass entrance as if he was in a trance. Immediately, he spotted something odd, something he knew shouldn't be in there. 

The second he touched it, he knew what it was.

A rock.

No. No! NO-NO NO-NO!

Twelve's body shot backwards in surprise and shock, his tail twirling over his chest as if he had been hit. 

No! This can't be right! This can't be!

But it was. He couldn't deny what he had seen, and even if he did, it wouldn't make it any less true.

As the realization set in, Twelve felt himself slowly floating down, his tail curling around him more and more till he was nothing but a pile of blue and purple fur on the floor. 

Why? Why his light? Why of all the things to break did it have to break the light?

Emotions clouded Twelve's mind, and he couldn't help but pull his paws over his face in despair.

Then, he saw light flicker past his eyes like a ray of hope. At first, he thought he was imagining things. The light was broken, there was no more light, and he had to accept that. Then he noticed it again. It was orange and yellow, like a small beam of sun flashing past his gaze. 

Quickly, his head shot up from where it was laying in his arms and he twisted his head towards the area the beam had gone to only to see the that the tip of his tail had began to glow. Not only that, but he could see light coming from on his head somewhere. He looked down at one of the glass shards and examined the dot on his forehead. The once boring yellow dot now gave off a soft glow just like his tail.

Suddenly, Twelve was hit with a moment of clarity.

He looked at the broken light, then at the darkening crimson sky out his window, then into the glass at his feet at his reflection, specifically, at the spot on his head. 

He raised his head, his eyes stern once more. He knew what he must do.

Slowly, The blue and purple Esk rose to his paws and shook his tail and head as if to shake his fear away. Slowly, the markings on his tail tip and head began to glow brighter, going from candlelight to blinding beams in a matter of seconds. As the light got brighter, so to did his resolve over what these new marks ment.

Twelve watched his step as he slowly walked over to the light stand. He then felt himself flat up to it's top and looked up only to see his reality staring back at him.

He approuched the light slowly, his legs seeming to tremble from sheer emotion at the sight of it, along with all that had unfolded in the small amount of time. 

Slowly, he pressed his paws to the screen, then his forehead, squinting his eyes as he tried to contain all his emotions within his small body.

...

Then suddenly, his eyes refocused on the hole that sat in the glass, untouched for decades, except by him.

Twelve looked back towards the hole the rock had made it's way through and grimaced before climbing up back into the hole like he had done that faithful night. 

Twelve shook his tail and head, the lights glowing brighter and brighter till he felt they were bright enough, and he stepped through the light's glass teeth.

Twelve didn't even pay attention as he slipped through the glass shards and perfectly onto the rock that had started it all. Instead, his mind was elsewhere, as it always was when night fell. 

He was thinking about his duty, and about how he had gotten here. About all it had aken for him to get where he today. Right here, right now.

Then he heard the ruffling of waves, and suddenly, his attention was on the water as he slowly flicked his tail to mimic the rotation he had seen and done countless times before. 

If there was no light, he's be the light, inleast until he could right the wrongs of what had happened all those year ago.