Thanks for the read, the '*' denotes a footnote, please read them as well. enjoy, and comment if you like. I hope you do.
-----
The stars shone under a clear sky and upon the rustling trees below. The moon, clad in a pale purple-red, face in bloom over all the land cast her colors brightly on every tree and rock. The wind, gentle, as is common in hilly regions of Offunda* , blows through a grove, just off from a small [military] encampment, where the stream sings its ceaseless song day and night. In it, Hektor gazes upward, lost in the endless sea of white and blue that stretches to infinity and here he finds solace. Yet, startled by a soft noise, of ruffled leaves, he looks into the brush some ways and beholds her. Taking his eyes off of one eternity and gazing into another, the moonlight only augments her beauty and serves only to accompany her graceful, subtle movements.
She too is gazing above, unaware of the eyes upon her, above to a vast entity and lost within herself. He becomes nervous, fearful of his intrusion and as if by instinct, he moves behind the tree he had leaned against before. She simply gazes and so does he. How could he not take his eyes off of something that embodies beauty to him? Radiant in not just her looks, but her person as well, he is made all the more nervous. To speak to her and confess, to simply watch her and admire such a sight…he must be strong…for her.
He is choked up, unsure of what to do and his limbs have become frozen. Here in front of him is solace greater than any expanse his eyes could rest upon, but he cannot confront her! She passes quietly within the brush, her skin bathed in purple and her hair set ablaze with red, looking this way and that, yet the eyes that search seem sad. Clenching his fist and biting down with eyes closed, a childhood habit, he summons up what courage he can find. Although it takes a bit for him to muster courage for movement, he does so with firm resolve in his spirit, despite the shaking of his legs.
Melissa, hearing the crack of twigs behind her, looks in the direction the sound had come from. She was not taken by surprise at the fact a shadowy figure was moving towards her, but more surprised by to whom the figure’s person was. Here he walked, with that calm courage she had seen in him for so long now, as a patchwork of light flitted to and fro from the trees above. His fists clenched, he face turned towards the ground as if to hold himself together as long as possible, and all was silent except the rustle of the leaves and the gentle flow of the stream. Her own nervousness had robbed her from speech, and all she could do was watch.
He had stopped arm’s length still looking at the ground. She tried to speak, but no words would come. He slowly, slowly lifted up his head, clenching so tightly to his thumbs, as a tremor went through his arms now and again. Looking at her, in the eyes now, with that same nervous look he had always seemed to posses, he said, feebly, “M..Melissa…”
To which she could only reply, by instinct rather than will, “Hektor…”
Silence filtered back around these two nervous lovers, and the wind gently blew about the trees once more and light penetrated the grove only to be beaten back by the shadows below. Both, looking at each other intently, yearning to speak, but both, with doubt in their minds, could only stare into each other’s eyes, speaking with words yet to be spoken, as both faces turned red, they ere made all the more vibrant by the moons divine influence.
His mind and heart raced, but this was his choice, his move, and he would see it through to completion, for better or worse. Right as Melissa was about to speak, Hektor hushed her words once more as he made a motion to speak and took his arms, grabbing her own arms by their base, said with a shaking voice said these words, “Mel…issa… for th-the longest time I have looked upon you with fond e..eyes, and… I… wanted to tell you…”
The moon shone a dazzling red, a lantern in the sky. He closed his eyes for a moment, and grabbed her arms firmly, yet very gentle. Opening them again, his eyes flashed, and although his body faltered, his words faltered no more:
“Melissa… I love you…your entire person. I… I know that I’m not an ideal man, worthy of little, let alone you, who means so much to me. I am shaking all the time, pitiful as I am, and when I look at myself… I see so many faults within that I feel all the more unworthy of you… But I am drawn to you…your beauty… and when I look upon you, I feel as though I can find comfort again in my life, I neither shake nor tremble. So where my body is weak and where my person is foolish… let me show you the strength of my affection.”
Before she could even have words part from her trembling lips, his own fell upon hers and left the two silent once again as he pulled her close to him. She, taken in by the moment as the shock subsided, raised her hands slowly and placed them upon her lover’s chest as his own hands slowly moved down exposing her shoulders in the pale light with such delicate care. Both their eyes were closed, and as his hands continued down her arm, she shivered from the neck down. His hands, in fear of some disrespect done to his goddess, left her side, but her tightening grip upon his shirt calmed his fears and slowly called them back to her side.
There two lovers kiss, so innocent in their affection, tender in their age* as the wind blows gently upon their faces and their bodies. The stream sings her song with a calm and beauteous monotony as the water dances, illuminated by the colors from the sky and shadows of the trees. The endless sea of stars stretches outward to infinity, and in the grove, solace is found in the caverns of lovers’ souls under the proud trees. The moon cast down a beam of light, but no light could compare to the radiance of the love these two shared.
Under the pale moonlight
Under the tall, wavering trees
two souls,
completed on their own,
find a newer whole
within each other
under the watchful eyes
of the eternal and infinite
dome of the sky.
Hektor and Melissa.
*1) Oh-foon-dah: Region of the former Kinishoton Empire, whose horizon is sprinkled with the sights of mountains; West of Danaria.
*2) They are both, at this time in the story (though not known from the story’s context), some 21 years old (approx.)