SailorRaybloomDZ's Rayman one-shots

How I met Luna

Originally posted on July 23th, 2016

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Cold mountains, a place of racing, freezing winds covered in white snow. That's the place that I know from my childhood. Here is where my home is. I got used to the neverending winter after a long time, although I still must wear something warm while going outside, because I'm still an ordinary living creature. 

What sets me apart from different creatures is that I'm a human with wings. My species has no name, at least that's what I've been told. It is rare to see a human being having feathered wings. My father Andersan sees nothing wrong about this. He always says, "The look of each creature matters not, the heart is what everyone still has got." 

I believe my father, and yes, everyone has got the same heart... or not? Luna, my friend, is not a real creature. She's a spirit inside a boat and so she can take me wherever I want. Our first meeting was unusual from my point of view.

It was years back when my hair reached only my shoulders, wings were the size of the biggest Popolopoi, and overall I was as short as two teensies standing on each other. I was a little cheerful wonder, always seeing the world as a happy place. My smile rarely expressed a negative emotion. I always had a mind full of stories of small creatures that I heard from father. 

I had never been far away from home before, so I couldn't deny his words. Writing stories and drawing simple beings were the things I loved to do everyday. My father Andersan once in awhile went to explore the world and bring some goods so we wouldn't starve.

It was a quiet night and I was sleeping in my bed. Ting, a glassball fairy, was also with me, not shining as a sign of rest. I was dreaming of two lovely butterfly-looking fairy siblings flying above a magical lake. They danced together holding each other's hands. They sure loved each other as a true family. After I opened my eyes, it was kind of disappointing I left that image too early. 

"What a nice dream. I should write a fairytale about that," I thought to myself. 

But why did I wake up? Was it the pain in my back that sometimes got me? Or did I get thirsty? I felt no dryness in my mouth. It was still dark, there was no reason for me to quit sleeping so soon. I did feel something. Something... indescribable...

"Ting, wake up." 

I tapped on my little friend. It gave out a bright blue light out of itself and I could finally see the little fairy yawning and having a stretch. 

"Do you feel anything?" I curiously asked. 

Ting didn't know what I was talking about. It lived in the glassball its whole life, so it was hard for it to understand anything that had to do with touch and smell. However, we both did hear something... Was it the wind? Or some silent echo? 

"I'll go to wake up father," was what went through my mind, so I got up and left my room. 

Ting guided my way with its light, so I didn't trip over anything. Throughout the walking, it felt like something was rubbing over my legs even when I saw nothing. And that noise... Was it a whale? Was it a dog? A strange noise resembling a woman singing a long tone... and it echoed... It wasn't loud, but I felt uneasy hearing it in my home. To my surprise, my father wasn't in his room, his bed was empty. 

"Dad?" I started calling him. "Daddy, where are you?" I got no answer at all.

So it was just me, Ting and the invisible visitor who was making strange noises. I felt confused. I had never seen such thing before. Ting was also confused, but not as much as I was. The hanging pendulum was swinging, something that shouldn't happen. Even the teabags on strings were in the same mood. Papers on the table, the feather pen, blankets and other light objects moved from their places. I believe I looked everywhere: the windows were closed, there was no one to be seen. 

"Who is here?" I kept asking. "Why don't you show yourself? What are you doing here? Why can't you speak normally?" 

To every question the noise kept echoing, the objects were swinging and flying off their places, as if everything came to life. It scared me to the point where I had tears in my eyes. I didn't know what to do. I wished my father was here as he would surely do something about it. I had no patience.

"Please stop!" I loudly exclaimed.

Suddenly everything stopped. Papers stopped flying, teabags on strings calmed down and the pendulum was ticking like it should. Tears from my eyes were rolling down my cheeks. I still felt it, the visitor was still here. Even though they quitted moving the objects, I simply knew they didn't leave. 

At this point the only thing that made some sound was the hanging pendulum. The rest was silent – me, Ting and the visitor. The silence lasted quite long. I was standing in place, I didn't move at all. In fact, I didn't know what to do at this point. The visitor couldn't speak an understandable language, nor I could see them. The communication between us wasn't possible.

But all of the sudden the door opened. My head turned to the direction of the door opening sound. My father was standing there. 

"Daddy..." The scared and sad voice came out of me. 

He immediately greeted me with huge hug. I felt no longer concerned. The warmth of his belly calmed my mind. Surely the answer came to solve the problem of the invisible visitor unable to speak. Father also came with a small bag, from which he pulled out a golden mask sprikled with shiny glitters. 

He put it on his face and said, "Speak to me, stranger." 

The strange noises came back which quickly made me hug my father tightly. He then continued talking as if he had a conversation with that visitor none of us could see. 

"Now I can understand you. Tell me, who are you? ..... You got lost in the mountains? ... That's unfortunate to a kind woman like you. ..... You were a fairy? ..... No one else could hear you? ..... I see. What's your name?" 

I was quiet, confusingly looking at my father and elsewhere. It was hard for me to believe he could really talk to this mysterious visitor. 

"I am Andersan, and this is my little girl Raybloom," he introduced himself and me. He then handed me the golden mask with smile on his face: "Put this on." 

I did as he told me. As soon as I put the mask on my face, a gentle woman voice spoke to me.

"Hello Raybloom. I'm sorry if I scared you earlier. My name is Luna." 

I smiled once again. She offered me her friendship and I quietly replied yes.

From that day, I had another friend in my home. Father built a boat from a special type of wood that allowed Luna to possess it as her vessel. She could lift it as if she could fly. 

I learnt more about the magical parts of the world from Luna like the Dream Forest, the safest place where no creature ever gets harmed. Or Coconut Island, placed far away from any land, making it a very lonely island surrounded by pink sea with red sky at day and white sea with dark blue sky at night. 

All those places sounded nice from the telling and I wished to visit them one day. Luna promised me to take me there once I grew old enough. Of course that was years ago. I've already seen those places, and maybe one day I'll describe to you how they looked...