~*~

"Hurry with the water today, rabbit hide is quick to damage after they've been killed. I want to skin these ones right away," Lillian instructed as Matthew fetched the metal bucket. He had now grown well acquainted with it and its thick iron handle.

"I won't be long, and... I was thinking... I thought I'd maybe head to the mountains tomorrow morning to hunt some deer there myself. I'll likely spend the night there as well."

Lillian looked at her son. The glow in her eyes had all but faded, the pupils grown large and black, anger threatening to flood her thoughts.

"So not only do you wish to throw our money away and at random girls on the street but now your life too?"

"Mom, I said I was sorry... I... It won't happen again."

Worry washed the anger from her eyes when she saw how sincere her son's apology had been.

"You know, you cannot help everyone else when you are the one who needs helping. The world will only take from you, regardless of whether you give to it or not. So do your ma a favor and be a little selfish when it's necessary, will you?"

"Yes, Ma."

Matthew realized he could not hold back the tears that were punching at his eyes. Before he allowed his mother to see them, he ran out into the night, feeling ever so dreadfully helpless.

*

Darkness had already fallen from the skies and enveloped almost everything it touched. Days seemed to have grown shorter, but Matthew didn't mind that.

He enjoyed the night. All feline did. Their senses, especially sight, heightened during these hours. For Matthew, it was different. He enjoyed it not for the sight and seemingly endless stamina, but for one reason alone. The silence.

Even though feline were naturally nocturnal creatures, most had developed the human trait of working during the day and sleeping after sundown. It was an attribute they had developed from having lived among man for most of their existence.This allowed for Matthew to roam around and take in the peace and quiet he sometimes found himself lacking inside.

He arrived at the lake and stood by its edge once more, with hopes to see the moon again. To his surprise, he did. First was his reflection, the same old rough pants and the same dark hair. Then further into the pool was the moon. He allowed his eyes to stay on it this time in case it disappeared again.

When he felt convinced of what he had seen, he brought his eyes back onto his reflection. A figure stood behind him, casting a shimmering white reflection onto the surface.

Matthew jumped. He turned and faced the caster of the second reflection defensively, not caring about the water that splashed and soaked his trousers.

The human girl shied away and turned to leave, it was the same girl he had seen that very morning.

"No, stop. You...you just frightened me a bit there."

She stopped and looked back, eyes like clear blue crystals even in the night.

"I...I apologize." Unlike that morning, her voice now bore a tingling lilt to it. It reminded him of how glass sounded when tapped lightly with a metal spoon.

"Eh, it's nothing to fuss about." he said, relaxing his posture. When she didn't say anything, he added, " Why did you not go home when I told you to? They could have killed you."

"If I go home, they'll definitely kill me."

Even through the fear and fatigue that colored her words, Matthew could make out the prideful voice of a girl who was not only smart, but knew she was.

"Where is home?" he asked. She looked down and gave no answer.

A pair of swans floated by on the lake, gliding ever so gracefully under the surreal moon light. A gust of wind washed over them, tussling the long reedy grass along with the girl's glowing dress.

How can a cloth glow so readily? Matthew wondered. Effects of the moon perhaps... He quickly cast the thought aside.

The girl looked almost angelic, standing there atop the lakeside, as a painting made of moon drops, were one to imagine it. Her skin almost pale, with hair darker than the sky behind her.

"So then why follow me? Unless you plan on telling me you were headed elsewhere in this direction?" He gestured pointedly at the forest around them.

The lake and his house were the only things standing this far north of the settlement. Those, and a whole lot of trees. Further up were the mountains and west of the lake, the Walking forest. Neither were destinations fit for an unarmed girl, and a human at that.

"I was going... I need a place to stay." She saw his doubt stained face and added, "Just for a little while. I'll be gone before the week is over."

He considered this.

"I'll even pay. I can pay double what they charge in normal inns," she finished.

"Then why not go to an inn?"

"You saw what happens when I try to speak to your people. And you said yourself that they would kill me. I really need your help and-"

"Look here!" Matthew looked her dead in the eye. "I've already helped you far more than I am capable of and do not want any trouble. So leave me be."

He picked up his bucket and filled it with water. As he started walking away, a thought hit him.

"What were you going to pay with anyways?" he asked.

"Oh, I... I carried a chest full of gold and silver when the guards chased me here. I hid it in the big forest between the city and this town. I... I've been too scared to go retrieve it..."

"You came through the Walking forest on your own? And did you say guards?"

"Yes... but I'm sure they've turned back by now, probably think I've been killed off by feline."

As if we were the barbarians they think we are...

Matthew stood there, staring at the lake's water and the moon reflected upon it. He had not looked up to confirm its existence lest it disappeared once more.

The world seemed to be changing around him. The odd silence of the wilderness. The brighter nights and... this girl. Whether it was out of pity or curiosity, he would never know, but he did find himself responding with,

"We head for the forest tomorrow, and I get half the gold."

"A handful."

"Half, or you sleep here by the lake." He shoved the bucket onto her hands. "You might as well start being useful if you are going to stay with us."

*

"What's the meaning of this?" Lillian fumed.

Matthew had set up for the human girl in the kitchen. Not having much space, it was either that or the other room with both Matthew and his mother. "I thought you'd listened to me when I said- "

"I know, I know," Matthew cut in.

He looked back at the house to make sure he could still see the girl's shadow through the window as she lay down the hides he'd provided. She looked somewhat taller from out there.

"She has a chest full of gold, and she is promising half of it if we let her stay with us," he explained.

"You don't even sound like you believe what you're saying. Where is this chest of hers?"

"She even returned the gold coin I gave her this morning," he argued. "Said she'd hid the chest in the forest. I'll help her fetch it tomorrow. We'll leave at dawn."

"And the deer hunt?" She raised her brow.

"I thought you didn't want me to do that."

"Well, we won't have a choice if that chest of hers doesn't exist, even with the gold coin I'm afraid we might not make it through the winter." She seemed to say the last words to herself.

Matthew knew what she was thinking even with her not having said it. No one was buying the leather they made. Vivi, a friend of his mother's who had risked her own reputation by secretly selling their leather, had been discovered and lost a considerable number of customers because of it. It seemed the whole village was determined to cast them out.

"Anyway, if it is not found, I want her out," she concluded.

"Yes, Ma," he whispered to himself. Lilian had already walked back into the house. Matthew gazed up into the now dark heavens, hoping beyond Hope, that tomorrow would yield some fortune for him and his mother.

~*~