{SE} Bittersweet Echoes

Anden

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek

There wasn't much of a life for Anden back in the Grounds. The people there had been there all their lives. They'd grown together, been through so much together it seemed. Anden didn't have the same privilege. He was new to this world, he didn't share those same bonds with the Grounders. He was free to go wherever he pleased when the Moon took over for the Sun and this, the world outside the Grounds was his. Anden was free to think, free to lay and stare at the stars, and no one would question him. Part of Anden wanted to just tell Dani right there to run away with him. To explore this world together, and never look back at the grim world of the Grounds... But that wasn't an option for him, not as long as the Sun and the Moon took turns ruling the world.

It happened too fast. Beneath the Moon's embrace Anden was quicker, part of the blessing/curse the Voice bestowed onto all of her 'children'. Anden grabbed onto Dani with one arm, then jumped onto a nearby tree, using his sticky hands to hang off the side of it. He didn't hear them. He should have heard them. Was he too distracted? If it wasn't for Dani's warning they could have been dead.

Their eyes are what sent chills down Anden's spine, calling each of the spikes along his back to raise. "It's ok." Anden whispered. "We'll be safe up here." Their eyes seemed to follow the pair as Anden brought them higher into the tree tops.

It was always the way that the Sun giggled that brought a smile to the Moon. In this moment though, beneath the Moons gentle caress, it was that all-too-familiar giggle that caused Anden to lose his grip on Dani. Somewhere in the treetrops above she was there. Anden was sure.

Call it a reflex, or something else, but Anden managed to catch Dani, pulling the pair onto a thick branch where they could rest. "Did you hear that?" He asked looking further up the tree.

It couldn't be... But it could. But was it? Had the Moon finally caught up to the Sun?

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek