They walked a long while in silence, just Alkaid and Rive and the gentle sound of the night insects as they came alive and started their peaceful, quiet song. She didn't know where they were going or how far but she could tell by that look in his eyes that this decision was all but made already - what had happened in that split moment that he retreated into his thoughts?

After what felt like an eternity of pleasant silence, Rive turned and headed for a small copse of trees to their right almost as if he'd known where it was all along. It was simple luck, she thought, and his mind finally releasing its hold upon him enough that he was able to remind himself of what their purpose had been before that fateful meeting with Taraiya. Later, after everything was said and done, she would have to thank her somehow. For now she simply followed the companion she had bound herself to for the time, choosing to sit before him as he took his place beneath the shade of the tree, hidden even from the soft glow of the moon overhead.

"Shall I drag your thoughts out, love?"

Rive's beautiful blue eyes swept up from the ground and landed on her lazily, contented above the smile on his mug.

"Do you remember how I told you that my pride spoke with muses? You were one of the only creatures I've ever met that did not laugh at me for that. You believed me." He paused and she nodded, encouraging and unwilling to break the charm in his voice. "When I was small, long before my parents ever bade me take the role of Story Keeper, the Ocean told me that it danced for the moon. It loved the moon and the moon loved it. I spent nights dancing in the waves, basking in the moonlight and listening to the Ocean's song as it spun its love songs to what that lioness calls The Great Lion."

As he spoke, Alkaid felt her understanding growing. She was not certain that the Ocean truly spoke but she could not fault the idea that he had heard something. If his beloved muse had so dearly loved the moon then it made absolutely perfect sense that of all the places they had found, this pride was the one that would speak to his soul.

"If you can no longer hear the Ocean you can at least share something that it loved," she spoke in that all knowing tone that Rive had come to love her for and it made him smile. He stepped forward and lay down at her feet, nuzzling into her foreleg in the same way he had done a dozen times over. He wanted to thank her for staying with him, for helping him find his way, but there were no words that would do that justice. She had always known that he would come to find his place and she had been right.

"Then why did we not just leave with her tonight?" Alkaid's voice was a whisper as she shifted to lay down next to him, butting her shoulder lightly into his and leaning her weight against his larger frame.

"I wanted one last night alone, to remember us as we are right now."

Alkaid's smile broadened though, if he were truly honest, he saw that same, odd sadness reflected in her eyes that should not have been there. She shut them and buried her face into his neck at that moment and he found he had no complaints, not a single one.

--

The night passed as it always had and they spent the better part of the next day lazing about near the watering hole, basking in the glory of a decision finally made. At times he thought he saw that odd sadness hanging heavy over Alkaid and at others it was gone, replaced by a complete and total pride in him that was almost too much for him to bear.

It wasn't until the sun began to hang low in the horizon that he suspected somewhat was amiss with her. They were leaving soon, heading forward to their new life, and yet she seemed to be swallowing all of the sadness he had been carrying in his heart and letting it blossom in her like a delicate, bruised flower.

"Why do you look so sad, love?"

He had already stood, ready to begin his journey, but she had not budged an inch from the shade of the trees they had been sharing. An eternity passed before she finally stood up and walked forward, leveling her gaze on him with a.. strange look. Determination? Resolve? A pit dropped in his belly and he opened his mouth to argue against whatever terrible thing she might say.

"Don't interrupt me, love. This is hard enough as it is."

Rive's brows furrowed at the same moment that he clamped his mouth shut. Once she was convinced that he was not going to speak again until she let him, she at last let her glamour fall and drew herself up in all her beautiful, painstakingly bright glory. Her simple, mortal pelt was traded for the vision of a goddess, both of her great wings spread wide to block the light of the sun over head, casting him in the shadow. She expected the shock that took him and was glad that it was enough to silence him even if it hurt her heart to see the betrayal brewing in his eyes.

"I am sorry that I lied to you. My name is Alkaid but the stories you know of me are those of my life before I died, when I was a mortal named Khalla. I have always been responsible for guiding lost souls and as the Goddess of Light it is still a part of me." That sad smile spread across her face as she tucked her wings and stepped forward - for a wonder he did not shy from her but simply let her butt her great head against his, larger now that she was not using her magic to change herself into a daintier, slighter version. "The sadness in you hurt my soul and I would be lying to myself as well as you if I said that I do not love you, Rive, my heart."

For the first time in a long time, Rive felt his eyes welling with tears. There were no words he could find to tell this achingly beautiful version of his Alkaid that he loved her too but the tears were enough answer. They would have to be.

"You know that I can't go with you to this pride and you know as well as I do that it will be the only place where your heart will stop aching."

She was right. He hated it at the same time that he knew it. He closed his eyes and leaned into her, pretending for the moment that she had not just sprouted wings and ruined his entire idea of the future. Without his vision he could hold onto that ruse - she smelled the same, felt the same.

"Does that mean I'll never see you again?" Oh, how his heart ached at the thought. His eyes were forced back open as she nudged his chin with her forehead, beckoning him to face what he did not want to see. Immortality. Purpose. Duty. He knew now why he had been so drawn to that sense of wisdom in her - it was not of his world.

"I can always visit, Rive, but you and I both know there is no future between us. I want you to follow this lioness Taraiya back to her pride and I want you to start a life for yourself there. Find a mate, love her, start a family. These are the things that I wish for you my heart."

--

Walking away had been the hardest thing Rive had ever done. After what felt like an eternity of convincing, she had forced him to turn away from her and walk toward the setting sun where they both knew that Taraiya would be waiting. He had earned himself a place to call home, or at least he hoped, and in the process lost the only shelter from the storm of his past that he had found. She would not be gone forever, she had promised, but neither would she ever truly be his.

(1,422 words)