Tuanni's bar was a prison and Moonlit Star found herself gazing at the ceiling again. It was always fun to watch Gorian and Mar jokingly spar at each other, but like in most rooms, Moonlit felt uneasy. The windows were too low to view the horizon. She could not see the stars.
She had a hut to herself now and she always kept her bed by the window. At night, when the sky was clear she would lay on the bed and smile. The stars always shone brighter when she smiled. Moonlit could not understand it, but she believed she had control over the them.
That was not always a good thing, she thought. As a child whenever she cried, some of the stars would streak across the sky and disappear forever. Now as an adult, she learned how to control such destruction. Today and tomorrow, she would never cry. Ever. And so, the stars would never die.
She wished her friends would never die. Unfortunately she had no control over that concept. Her parents told her what she was and she knew she would live longer than Gorian and Mar. Unless of course something happened to her, but she figured the stars would prevent anything from happening. Moonlit looked at her friends with amusement. She would miss them dearly.
"Ginger ale!" Mar called to the bartender as he sat at the stool across from Tuanni's post.
Moonlit heard Tuanni's disgust as she prepared the usual drink. Three glasses filled with ginger ale for three furres sitting in a row, facing the keg of gingered bubbles behind the bar. Every night it was the same. The three furres, Moonlit, Gorian, and Mar, never tire of it. It was so routine that the other furres knew not to take their seats. In fact the others were so tired of the repetitiveness that they usually freed the other three stools at the bar.
Moonlit took the drink Tuanni placed before her and sipped it. The old familiarity soothed the pain of the eminent deaths of those around her. She could not understand how the drink always worked in her favour. Gorian and Mar introduced it to her years ago and since then she was practically addicted to it. Maybe it wasn't the drink, she thought. Maybe it was the time spent with her friends.
"What would you like?" Tuanni asked.
Moonlit looked up at the bartender curiously. At first she thought the silver canine was addressing her, but then she felt a presence beside her and dismissed the notion immediately. A strange looking furre, a feline about the same age as she, was sitting next to her. His furre was orange ... or beige. It was hard to tell. She was more certain of the light violet markings that littered his face, matching the colour of the parted hair at the top of his head and that same colour in his eyes. This furre was different.
"What's the popular drink here?" he asked Tuanni.
"Ginger ale!" Gorian replied.
The furre of stars looked to her right at Gorian. He too noticed the new furre, as did Mar from further down the stools. Normally they would not bother to look at the orders, but this furre was ... different. She looked back at the stranger. He met her gaze and smiled.
"Ginger ale for me," he said.
"Oh no," Tuanni moaned, "Not another one."
"You won't regret it," Gorian said, "It's our trademark drink."
Tuanni gave the drink to the strangely coloured furre. He picked up the drink and gave the liquid a swirl. Cautiously he bent his face into the glass and let his lips open. The liquid flowed into his mouth until there were none left in the glass, now angled over his chin. He put the glass back onto the table and smiled.
"Good stuff," he said.
"I like him," Mar announced, grinning.
"I think we all do by now," Gorian added.
The stranger chuckled at the observations. Moonlit noticed the general ease in this furre did not increase during his ginger ale experience. Perhaps he was already at peace with himself without the need of a drink to alter his mental state. Such endurance was rare among furres. In fact, Moonlit had only seen it in Kaelin ... although she could swear that she had seen Kaelin happier in rain storms.
"My name is Cyiet," the furre said, "I'm a wandering troubadour without an instrument."
Moonlit did not expect that line. A troubadour? But in a way it made sense to her. His caution during his drink may be nothing more than a poet maximizing his senses in a new experience. She had seen such a thing before.
His clothes did not exactly cry out the minstrel type though, she noticed. Bright green trousers clash with his beige vest, but his boots matched his hair. It was not as if she met a troubadour before, but the poet she knew of wore black everyday, like she did. Perhaps this was a jolly minstrel.
"I'm Moonlit Star," she said, "Welcome to Meovanni."
"Moonlit Star," Cyiet mused as he took her paw into his. He gently bent to touch hers with his lips, "Such a name to describe your appearance is a song onto itself."
"Wow," Mar said with astonishment, "He's definitely not from around here."
Indeed he was not, Moonlit thought. Most furres saw her pale white fur and black markings and thought 'zebra'. This one saw the reason why her parents named her Moonlit Star. The only contradicting element of her physique was her blood red hair. Her parents often explained that such a colour did exist in the heavens. She just had to look for it.
"You know, my name is poetic too," Gorian piped in, "'Gorian' has a certain warrior quality to it, don't you think?"
"Not really," Mar responded, "If you rearrange the letters you get 'a groin'."
"Yours isn't any better! You can spell 'arm'!"
"As least my body part is more dignified."
"I beg to differ."
"Boys," Moonlit interrupted. She tried desperately not to burst out laughing. Unfortunately, as always, she did not succeed. She pointed to Gorian and Mar and introduced their new friend to them. She was still chuckling as Cyiet acknowledged them.
"Why are you here?" Gorian asked the troubadour, "You visiting someone?"
"Actually, I'm on the way to Mt. Kuisp," he answered, "My friends and I are stopping here for a few days to gather supplies."
"Mt. Kuisp? What's the purpose of going there?"
"Inspiration," Cyiet smiled, "My friends are from the Raina Mountains. They love to travel amongst the rock and ice. I travel for the beauty I see on the way to their destination. Then I write in hopes to create a song out of it."
"But you don't have an instrument," Moonlit observed.
"Not yet, but I will as soon as I find one."
He was very different, she thought. She felt sad when he stood up then. He thanked them for the company and wished them luck in their future. She smiled and wished him luck in his travels. She might see him again though, she thought. In fact, she planned on it. She would not meet a furre like that everyday.
"Nice guy," Mar observed, "I like his taste in drinks."
Moonlit nodded. She looked at her friends with a smile. The smile disappeared when she noticed Gorian's expression. He was looking off beyond her as if toiling with his thoughts. An odd expression.
"He dropped something," he said suddenly.
He stood and walked behind her. She turned her back in time to watch him pick up a piece of scrap paper, wrinkled with uneven sides. It was worn to a yellowish colour. If Gorian was not careful, she thought, he might damage that paper further.
"Its a poem," he said.
"Read it to us, Gor," Mar said, "I'm actually interested in what this guy wrote."
"Its not by him, it says it was made by an unknown
author."
"Meh," Mar shrugged, "Read it anyway. I
have plenty of ginger ale left."
"I was a soldier of Xte.
Death was
not to be feared.
Our voices stole our battles
And our hearts lifted the fog.
"But the wings tore us
The river
was to be my grave.
We prayed for us to be one.
But I was all that lived.
"The fog smothered my heart
My
voice was stolen
My death was suspended
And I became just a soldier of Xte."
"Creepy," Mar noted, "And I still have plenty of ginger ale left."
"Why would Cyiet have that poem in his possession?" Moonlit asked, "He doesn't seem like the depressed type."
"You only knew him for a few minutes," Gorian disputed, "For all we know, he's wanted for a crime someplace."
"I doubt that."
"Hello," Tuanni said just then. Moonlit wondered how long the blue draped canine was standing in front of Mar and if she had heard Gorian's recital. She realized that Tuanni might not have paid any attention to the poem. A green feline was currently sitting beside Mar, waiting for service. Tuanni asked her what she wanted.
"Try the ginger ale," Mar suggested to the new visitor.
"Barkeep, I think I'll have a ginger ale," the furre responded with a grin.
She was petite, Moonlit thought. Another odd looking furre. This one had dark green hair like Mar, but her fur was a lighter shade of green, which until today, Moonlit thought was unnatural. Her vest was also green, otherwise everything else she wore was black like Moonlit. Moonlit did not think she would find a furre more green than Mar. Mar's fur was brown in comparison and in contrast to everything about the stranger, her eyes were dark orange. Otherwise, at first glance the two were practically twins.
"Speaking of creepy," Gorian whispered.
Moonlit nodded back. Gorian saw the similarities too. She wondered if Mar noticed it. She doubted it as he started to chat with her. She shrugged at Gorian and the two watched the greens closely.
"My name is Chloria," she said in a petite voice.
"Mar," the other green responded. He gently took her paw into his and brought it up to his lips. Oh no, Moonlit thought. He noticed her alright. It appeared he noticed quite a few things about her.
"Such a name to describe your appearance," Mar began, "Is a song onto itself."
"Wow," Chloria gasped as if she never breathed in air before, "That was beautiful."
"Tuanni," Gorian called as he sat back down, "I'm going to need more ginger ale."
Moonlit had to put her hand over her mouth to hide her escaping grin. Mar did not seem that impressed with Cyiet's performance, but it was obvious now that he was taking mental notes. She half expected him to recite the poem Gorian found but later realized that he probably would not get far with such a depressing piece of work. She watched them instead as Tuanni gave Gorian a refill.
"From out of town?" Mar asked, "Stopping on the way to someplace?"
Chloria nodded as she was took a sip from her glass.
"Why do you travel?"
Chloria's smile disappeared. She was no longer looking at Mar, but at the patrons of the bar, one by one, as if looking for permission before she answered. Moonlit waited in anticipation and noticed that Gorian too was still, waiting for the reply. The next words that Chloria would say, changed the lives of the three furres forever. Each in their own way. Chloria took in a breath before she responded.
"I'm a vamp hunter."