Princess of the Moonlight

__*__Chapter XXXIII__*__

Chapter XXXIII

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" Keep our Princess safe."

" You have my word." The knight and the boy nod.

Then, the boy disappears. That's what they all think. And granted, in the darkness, none can see, so therefore, they would naturally assume that.

But they assume wrong. He doesn't disappear. He wanders about lost like everybody else. Pulls out a map.

Where would the Princess be? He taps his finger to his head. Whistles. A certain fox-squirrel runs up his arm.

" Ari, Arietta, old friend. I know, I know... Unlike your princess I don't speak the secret language of animals, but can you lead me to your master?"

She nibbles at my sleeve. Running up and down my arms. Hyper little thing.

But it makes no reaction to help.

" Alexandria."

Her ears perk up.

" Where is Alexandria?"

Ari sprints off through the trees. The boy follows.

He twirls the crystal.

It lights up.

Not good...

It feels hot against his skin, so he takes it off, putting it upon his palm.

It leaves a burn mark on his pale skin.

He drops it in shock, waits for the light to cease, afterwards picks it up, following Ari. For days.

" Why, does it seem, little guy, that we are going in circles?" He sees Ari sprint off in the trees, sees her run to the treetops, finding a hole in the full of nuts. She nibbles on them.

" Ah, eating in the winter, eh? I wish I could say I did the same. "

He touches a little locket the Princess had given him once. Inside was a picture of him and the princess... One she drew him. And a shard of glass, that in light, would make a rainbow.

Ari was getting him nowhere. He lays in the snow, making a snow angel.

He was bound to find her sooner or later. But for now, it could wait.

He settled down, making a fire. It was cold. He needed rest. All these years on the run, to stay out of sight, was definitely doing a number on his body. He was wary.

A simple noise, would make him flinch. Under no circumstances could he be saw. Else the king and queen would have sought him out. That would be...

Disastrous.

He picked some ice berries; the only berries that could break through the snow. They were silver, sweet but bland. He nibbled on them.

An ice berry too frozen, then extract the juice, could be used as a poison.

There was a legend of a small group of girls who would rub the juice of ice berries up and down their arrows, to make them lethal.

If you boiled the berries, they could be a cure, for even the sickest person. They could heal wounds. Heal poison.

They had... Odd properties.

They could save a life or kill it.

They could be good or bad or bolth.

But they were rare.

Extremely rare. Only the boy and the princess knew of precisely where they grew.

Though they had not found out together.

But apart. Different circumstances... A different time.

And they were among the few who knew of them.

So, he put some away for good measure. Packed it away in his pack.

Then stared at a map. Ari scampered off. He followed her, running with the wind. Funny how the map would do no help what so ever. He remembered something the Princess once told him.

The most obvious answers to your questions, are never the solution. For some solutions; the answer does not exist. Others, they do. But, if an answer does exist, it is like a puzzle. The pieces all come together to make one. Having one piece of the puzzle, only shows you a small part of the answer. You needed all the pieces, all sides of the story, to see the full picture. If any of these pieces are missing, then you'll never truly know the answer to your problem. That is why we live, she had told him. In hope that with our time on this earth, we will find all the pieces, within our time limit, else we'll never see it, but the whole. But if you can figure out the puzzle, you can manipulate it in such a way, knowing all the factors, risks, opportunities, that you have life by it's strings. You can control it. Be the puppeteer. There are three possible scenarios.

1. Some people find all the pieces, and can master life.

2. Others, never really realize any of this, and find little, just living a boring life of same old, same old..

3. And some people are trapped in between. Finding all the pieces, but trapped somewhere atop, never catching their meaning. They have the potential, but never use it. They have a match, but never kindle a flame.

The only puzzle piece the boy had, was a map.

Basically, a piece of paper.

And, the boy knew the Princess well enough, to know a piece of paper wasn't about to find her.

If I were a Princess, he thought, which way would I go?

He looked up at the branch, Ari was taking a nap. I would go zhata vay, he thought, pointing vastly at nothingness.

Rather, he knew he was not the princess. That was moment he opened his eyes. Realized something.

If I were the Princess, I would go that way, whispers the wind.

He walks off, in the opposite direction...

Moral of the story?

I'm not the Princess, thought the boy. Polar opposites.

He was right, of course, as he saw Ari sniff the ground and run off.

For once, he was right.

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