Farewell to a Friend

Away in the Stars

Luna looked toward the blackened sky, the stars above glistened against the dark of night, and the most brilliant among them, the moon itself. Tears welled up in her eyes as the fire crackled and sparked in front of her.

"You never should have gone on that quest Zoё. You knew what was going to happen, what the Fates spun and you never even said goodbye." Tears ran down Luna's face as she sobbed into the cold, silent, night air. The stars watched, Zoё watched, but speak they did not, nor would they ever again.

The fire that glowed orange with life before her illuminated her face, her wavy, long, blonde hair that was thrown over her shoulder in a loose braid, and her piercing, metallic looking silver eyes, but it also accentuated her pain. She held her knees to her chest, resting her chin atop them, and stared into the burning embers, envious of their livelihood, cursing the gods for taking her most beloved friend away from her.

The woods were lonely enough as it was, even though she was with the twenty other girls that made up the Hunt, she never really felt close to anyone, but Zoё. As the daughter of Artemis, the patron goddess of the Hunt, the Hunters served as her protectors rather than her friends, Zoё was different. Zoe was her confidant, her friend, her equal. Now Zoё was among the stars, an untouchable, unattainable constellation, leaving Luna broken, weak, and mournful in her wake.

"So what am I supposed to do now? Pick up the shattered pieces you left behind? Join the Hunt? Become the pawn-no, the weapon I was born to be? What do you want me to do?!" To any

normal person Luna looked like a crazy child yelling at nothing and everything all at once. By now the air had a bitter taste to it, anger filled her quicker than a hot kettle, Her quick temper was a force to be reckoned with at times and, at this particular moment, not even her mother, the divine goddess of the hunt and moon, could cease her rampage.

All Luna could see was red, her face could almost rival that of the fire's. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out an emerald necklace that was in the shape of an oak tree, the only thing Luna had to remember Zoё by, gripping it so hard that her knuckles turned as white as sugar. In her blind rage she lifted her arm over her head, ready to hurl the trinket into the roaring flames, but abruptly stopped mid-throw. She let out a heart wrenching scream as she melted to the ground, clenching her teeth as the tears streamed down her pale face. She held the clip protectively to her chest with her right hand as if it were a lifeline, her left had a death grip on the silvery-green grass.

Taking her time to calm down, she found herself staring into the now dim fire, struggling to stay lit, then turning back to the sky, the stars reflecting in her eyes.

"I'm only the mere age of twelve, but yet I'm so old. Others like us have had less time on this planet, I am fortunate in that sense. I am also very lucky to have gotten to know and cherish you, for you were a goddess among demigods. I was going to stay, for you, Zoё. I was going to become the one thing mother always wanted me to be, one of her hunters, but now, I don't think I could bring myself to, not without you by my side. I would like to have a family of my own, see the world through my own eyes instead of mother's." Luna squeezed her eyes shut and took a hesitant, shakey, deep breath, running a hand through her golden locks that were the equivalent to those of her father's, the sun god himself, Apollo.

"I'm going to move on, not instantly, of course, but I won't let this consume me. However, I will remember you, always. I will tell my children of their Aunt Zoё, how she was the kindest, strongest, selfless person you would ever meet, your memory will never die, I will make sure of that, you will always be in my heart." Luna's look went from longing to determined in a second as she thought about doing something she knew she shouldn't. "I swear it on the River Styx." Thus sealing her vow in that chilly, October night air, one that, if broken, could have horrible consequences that she didn't even want to think about.

Surrounded by the many tents of the Hunters of Artemis, each one contained a slumbering archer, she finally let her shoulders slump for the first time since Zoё's death. With her words taken by the wind Luna couldn't help but wonder if her friend had heard her from the stars above. Looking to the fire for what felt like the millionth time that night, she knew she should grab another log to revive it, but didn't bother to waste her strength. As the fire slowly, but finally, died Luna succumbed to the silence and just stared into the night underneath her namesake letting the darkness overtake until there's nothing, but moonlight, just as she had so long ago with the one person she longed to be next to the most.