Category: Misc. Books (The Sight)
Rating: K (I'm still trying to figure out this new rating system... o.O)
Word Count: 1301
Author: Cabbeh
Title: Shooting Stars
Pairing: Kar/Larka
Summary: Kar and Larka stargaze. (KL)
Spoilers: Various – consider yourself warned...
Comments: I've had this image of Kar and Larka stargazing (at a random time during the book before Kar's "death" and Larka's vision, obviously...) for a while, just because it seemed like a cute scenario. I haven't written fanfics in like, months, so this is my first (bad) attempt at coming back into that world... therefore I wouldn't appreciate flames. D:

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Shooting stars were beautiful. Kar had never really been able to appreciate them before, but suddenly, in that moment, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, between the grey wolf and the wide, beautiful expanse of sky that soared above him... the amazingly clear sky that was currently littered with tiny jewels, blinking back at Kar in the night.

"Kar?" The voice was small, delicate, so exquisitely feminine, and yet had a gripping power on Kar that made him feel weak with happiness.

Larka. His beautiful Larka. Her pure white pelt in wonderful contrast to the night-darkened grass on which she lay, her striking amber eyes reflecting the glimmer of moonlight that danced within them; it occurred to Kar for a brief moment that this was the first time in weeks that he had seen that sparkle in Larka's bright eyes. For too long Kar had seen the dull glow of sadness, the weight of her power, resonating in the white she-wolf's eyes, and tonight, just for tonight, just for him, the sparkle had returned.

Kar could finally appreciate shooting stars, and he didn't think he'd ever wanted to see one of them more than right now, in this beautiful moment he was sharing with the wolf he loved.

"Yes?" he replied quietly, turning to the white Varg next to him as the night wove a gentle blanket of security over the two wolves. The look she gave him in return made his fur tingle with bliss; he couldn't tell whether it was the stars making Larka's eyes appear to be shining even more, or just the unbridled joy that resided within those semi-translucent yellow orbs. If he thought about it, though, he didn't really care.

"Have you ever done this before?"

Kar didn't know how to respond. Of course he'd stargazed before – every wolf did at one point or another during their cubhood. Fragments of stories of the Wolf Trail, and Tor and Fenris, and the former leaders of the pack gazing down upon the Varg, wafted through Kar's mind, filtering in and out and making him cringe with memory. For a moment he was lost in the wave of recollections, playing over and over in his head in such a painfully clear way, but Larka's voice drifted into his thoughts and jerked him back to reality. Then he felt foolish for pitying himself, for remembering the long-gone days before the Balkar had attacked his pack and forced Skop to bring him, frightened and alone, to Palla and Huttser's pack.

"Yes..." he said quietly; he could not find any other word or phrase to add. It wouldn't feel right somehow.

Larka blinked, rolling over in the soft grass to face Kar. He avoided her gaze, knowing she would prompt him to explain what was wrong, but after a time he couldn't bear the feeling of her accusatory gaze on him any longer. He turned to look at her, and was hypnotized, paralyzed, within those glowing amber orbs for a few moments that were both too long and too painfully short. Larka did not need to say anything for Kar to understand what she was asking; the unspoken question hovered between the two wolves like a ghost.

"Skop taught me to stargaze." He hadn't even meant to say the words; they had come out of his mouth of their own accord, and a long moment of silence descended over Larka and Kar as they continued to lay there, their bodies keeping one another warm, as the stars twinkled above. Such a beautiful setting for such a sad, haunting moment. If anything, Larka knew how much the memory of Skop saddened Kar, and she was surprised and strangely touched that the gray Varg had even brought up the topic.

That day on the hill – sometimes it seemed so far away, a mere memory that could only be added to the long list of tragedy and horror that was the story of Larka's life, but at other times, it seemed so tragically real that her heart ached. The longing, desperate vigilance in Palla's brother's eyes as he gazed out at the horizon, and spoke the words that had left an emptiness in Kar's heart for months: "This is where I leave you, Huttser."Wolves hate farewells, after all, and Kar had already lost everyone that he loved. The least Skop could have done was remain there with him a bit longer, rather than abandon him with a pack in which he didn't feel he belonged – Fell's harsh, scornful words had stung the wolf terribly, and left him feeling bitter and useless. Not part of the pack.

But now even Fell was gone. At times it seemed that everything was gone. All that lay in the past was misery, and all that the future promised was more fear, more betrayal, more loneliness. Morgra had sworn that day above the ravine that the pack would suffer – Kar had not forgotten the way the lightning forked above her, giving Morgra an eerie blueishglow that illuminated the scars on her muzzle, and the words of the curse as she swore to break the pack. Kar remembered it all so clearly, and although he really wasn't a part of the pack in the first place and Fell was right in his assumption that the curse wasn't meant for Kar, it frightened him. He had never felt so helpless, as though he was being watched from within the trees. As though the very mountains quivered with an intense watchfulness that was directed to Kar alone.

He felt a strange sense of comfort, laying here next to the wolf he loved, in the middle of the night. The darkness made him feel safe, somewhat, although a part of him realized that when tomorrow came, the wolves would have to be alert and cautious again, for danger awaited them anywhere they went. They were cursed.

But for now, for the moment, Kar would attempt to forget about all of that. For Larka. His heart ached for the proud, able she-wolf; everything she had been through had damaged her, and Kar knew that no amount of love or companionship could ever repair that damage. The hurt of losing a pack member was something that no Varg ever truly got over. Kar, of all wolves, knew this. Seeing his own family killed off at the jaws of the Balkar was still the most haunting, painful memory that lingered in his mind... even after everything he had seen and done, even after all the moons that had past, the bitter wounds remained fresh and unhealed.

"Larka," he breathed, his voice stroking the other Varg in the darkness. She shivered comfortably and emotion ran through Kar just then that he could not explain. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It ran deeper than his body - although every inch of it was trembling – and touched a part of him that nothing had before. Deeper than love, more powerful than hate, more ruthless than greed. A kind of helplessness.

And then Larka was snuggling closer to Kar, whining vulnerably as she licked the grey Varg tenderly on the snout. Suddenly, nothing lay between the two wolves; they nuzzled and licked each other, whining in delight, powerless to their own emotions. For a moment that was both too long and too short, Kar and Larka shared the happiness that they had always dreamed of, and everything else was pushed away. Nothing existed except them and the wide, endless night.

And as they lay there side by side, hearts beating as one, Kar felt sure he saw a shooting star make its way across the night sky.

THE END