Author's Note: I have no life, and I can't write for bat guano. So sue me.

Moonlight Path

The night was a restless one. As soon as the sun began to sink behind shadowed hills, the world seemed newly alive. The night wind picked up, causing trees to shake and dance unexpectedly. The songs of crickets blended in with squeaking bats and together they filled the night-time air. Occasionally a stray cat would yowl, or a dog bark, joining in to create an unplanned chorus. Even the moon, which was sitting high in a velvet expanse of blackness, shone more brightly than was usual. The stars, too, seemed to glitter with a certain impatience.

Sasha rolled over in her bed and opened her eyes. The moon sat just outside of her open window, throwing its white light over everything in her room. Her eyes flickered towards the clock hanging on her wall. The slowly moving hands, easily discernable in the ghostly light of the moon, read eleven thirty-three. She sighed heavily. Only twenty minutes had passed since she last checked, thought it had felt like hours. It seemed impossible to fall asleep that night.

She sat up slowly, pushing the sleeping tabby off of her lap. Roger gave a small mew of annoyance, but curled up by her feet anyway. Sasha let out a small laugh and scratched the kitten's head, recalling the day the little gray cat had showed up on her doorstep. Her father has always joked that the kitten had been looking for her, and her specifically. She had discredited the thought at first, it remaining a private joke between her and her papa, but as time went on she began to wonder. The kitten seemed to fit in so well with her life, and learned to respond to his name so quickly. What if he really had been looking for her? She laughed again as Roger stood up and stretched, with his little head down and his claws extended out in front of him, clawing her comforter. He jumped off of the bed, giving another soft mew. He ran across her hardwood floor, his padded feet making soft sounds, and stood by her closed door. His green eyes glowed in the moonlight and his fur bristled a bit as he waited for her to open the door.

"Sometimes I think that you get more attention than I do, Roger." Sasha said aloud to herself, laughing. "You certainly get served better than I do, people opening doors for you whenever you like."

The cat looked smug and began to groom himself as Sasha pulled on a skirt and a blouse. She opened her door and laughed again as the kitten bounded out of her room and down her stairs, stopping when he got to the front door.

"Hold on, kitty, if you're going to take a walk I might as well go with you. It's not like I'm getting any sleep here." Sasha took the stairs two at a time, grabbing her shawl on the way down, listening to the sound of her steps echo in the empty house. She lived with her father, who happened to be away on business and trusting enough to let his only sixteen year old daughter stay home alone. She pulled on her shoes and opened the front door, letting a gust of cool air engulf her. Roger bounded out of the house, chasing an invisible rodent or a breath of wind, and Sasha stepped out after him.

The whole world seemed to be bathed in light, trees shining silver and dancing underneath the moon. Sasha breathed in the lily-sweet air of the summer, immediately forgetting about her insomnia. The night seemed too wonderful for her to waste, and she sat on her front step, playing with the petals of a closed flower in her garden. Roger, who had finished with his playful antics, trotted up to her. His wide eyes seemed to be beckoning her, and as she stood, he trotted up her driveway. She watched him with growing curiosity as he paused at the top, looking back at her as if impatiently waiting. She walked up to where he was and he walked a few feet up the road a few feet, again pausing and waiting.

"What are you up to, mew? Do you want me to follow you?" She said aloud, more to Roger than she had meant. He gave a soft mew again, and walked in a small circle where he was waiting. Sasha laughed to herself, and said, "Alright, kit, if you really want me to, I'll go with you."

She followed the cat down her road, wondering idly why she was doing what she was doing, and dismissing the thought almost as quickly as it had appeared in her mind. 'None of that' she told herself silently, 'Just enjoy this little adventure'. And enjoy the walk she did; she marveled at all of the beautiful things that are seen only at night. She listened to the hooting owls and the howling coyotes with childish delight, though she had both heard and seen the animals before. Moths with paper-thin wings fluttered gently next to her ears, and she giggled with foolish delight as one landed on her shoulder. Even the babbling of a nearby brook brought out a joyous, wondrous sound from her partially open mouth. Everything seemed new to her that night, as if she were truly seeing the world for the first time.

After spending some time trekking through the woods, Roger came to a halt. He sat next to a glowing white birch tree and looked up at Sasha with big eyes. Sasha sat down with him, scratching his head, and peering behind over his head. The oddest thing she had ever seen was only a few feet away from where she was sitting, and her curiosity simply bubbled through her. There was a path, glowing almost as white as the moon itself, which lay in the center of the woods. Two trees, bearing snow white flowers and a peculiar white fruit, bent towards one another at the start of the path formed a sort of gate, and just underneath the gate lay a red fox, curled up and sleeping. Roger, purring contentedly, carelessly looked at the fox, his eyes half closed. He seemed indifferent about the whole matter, now that he had led Sasha where he wanted to, and began to take great interest in the cleanliness of his back.

She stood slowly, confused and awe stricken at the same time, and walked to the sleeping fox. She kneeled down by the dozing animal, not quite sure if it was really real. Everything seemed far too surreal to be truly there, everything seemed far too giddy and far too odd to be really happening. It was as though she had fallen asleep, and was now locked in a dream she couldn't wake up from. Sasha reached out her hand, glowing just as much as the flowers and fruit in the light, and slowly touched the red fur of the fox. She found it to be very real, and surprisingly soft despite its course look. The fox stirred, turned its pointed nose and brown eyes, and scampered away as quickly as it could. It had been real. Very real, as a matter of a fact. Real enough to be frightened, anyway. Sasha stood again, her attention turned elsewhere as the moon rose higher in the sky.

The path was glowing, simply glowing, and not just with the light of the moon. It glowed from a light it seemed to hold within itself, shining from the inside out. There were no other creatures on the path, only an occasional flower petal that had fallen from the countless trees that surrounded it. It appeared to be nothing more than packed down dirt, beaten down from a countless number of uses. But there was something more to it, something imperceptible and subtle in its existence. It was something that could not be named, any more than you can give a true name to the feeling of love or a wayward spirit. Yet it was very clearly there.

Sasha tentatively placed one foot on the glowing dirt, not exactly sure about what she expected to happen. She waited, her eyes squeezed shut in preparation for the unknown, but nothing happened. She released her breath, not at all aware that she had been holding it, and stepped fully on to the path. Nothing changed, except perhaps the songs of the creatures that lived in the woods.

"You'd expect something more to happen, on a night like this." She muttered to herself. She was almost disappointed at the lack of adventure the path was bringing her. It seemed to her that under supernatural surroundings, supernatural things should have been happening. She sighed, and since there wasn't anything else for her to do, began to walk once more.

The path itself was a quiet one, as if stuck in time, while the rest of the world chattered and conversed. Outside of the eerie glow of the path, the world seemed dark, and even more restless than ever before. But inside the path there was no noise except for the soft sound of her shoes on the dirt. She saw no other creatures, and even the trees seemed to turn away from the soft light. Only the flower petals gave any sign that time did indeed touch the traveled dirt.

Sasha walked for what felt like an hour, and still there was no hint of any destination point. It meandered and twisted at some points, and at others it flew straighter than an arrow, and still it seemed not to get to anywhere in particular. Sometimes she would turn around, half expecting to see her kitten curled up by the white beech tree. She thought it was going to go on forever, but still she walked, compelled by an unknown force, unable to stop the movement of her legs.

It was hours before it finally branched off and dipped into a dark valley, where the light came from the moon and not the ground. Hours, Sasha thought to herself, though the moon still had not changed its position in the velvet sky. She stepped off of the path and into the tall grasses, wondering if she would be able to return to her house before the sun rose. Things had calmed down, begun to sleep, and the night was no longer as restless as it once was. The wind blew lazily along, teasing Sasha's blonde hair into chasing it and in turn following the grass in gentle waves. She wandered for a bit, bored and annoyed at being there for no reason, and yet at the same time content with what she was doing.

While her mind was preoccupied with contradicting thoughts, she failed to notice that there was anyone else in the little valley. Nor did she notice that a boy, not much older than she, had taken to following her. So it was no surprise that she jumped when he finally made himself known.

"Do you always wander alone at night?" He said casually. Sasha turned quickly, a small scream escaping her lips. The boy laughed, and said, "You seem to scare rather easily. Don't be frightened, I'm not going to hurt you. Are you alright?"

Sasha was standing with her mouth hanging open, staring at the boy that had addressed her. He was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, and merely being in his presence shocked her into silence. He stood a full head taller than her, and the manner in which he held himself you were fooled into thinking that he was a great and noble king. His skin was dark, an olive complexion that suggested he was from the Mediterranean. His dark hair covered equally dark eyes, and perhaps it was his eyes that made Sasha feel the way she did. They were blue, so deep a blue that if you looked for too long they appeared to be as black as the darkest night, and they bore into your soul, forever searching for something that wouldn't be found.

"I said, are you alright?" He asked again, and in his voice there was just a suggestion of some exotic accent.

Sasha finally found her voice, though it was dry and cracked when she spoke. "Ye..yes, I'm fine."

He laughed again, and the sound was pure heaven to her ears. "I was afraid for a moment that you weren't able to talk!"

"Well," she replied, coming back from her disorientation, "It's a wonder I'm able to. Do you always sneak up on poor, unsuspecting girls like that?"

"Only the ones that walk alone in the middle of the night through sacred lands. What are you doing here?"

"Walking."

"I know that, but why?" He had very suddenly become very intent and focused on the words that she was speaking and the way her eyes moved as she spoke. His eyes bore directly into hers and his perfect mouth was set with firm resoluteness.

"Because there was nothing better to do. Because I was bored. Because my cat led me to a path, and the path led me here. Is this a problem?"

His eyes had deep eyes had grown wide with wonder, and his mouth opened only the slightest bit in surprise. "Possibly. Though perhaps not. I know you, don't I?"

"I shouldn't think so."

"No, I do know you. You're her, aren't you? The One. The Human Child. And you've come back to save us."