“No, they won’t come for me,” she said sadly.
“What do you mean they won’t? Sure they will, just, you know, stay put so they can find you,” Falla said with a few nods. The child shook her head while keeping her eyes closed.
“No, they won’t come for me,” she repeated.
“Why do you think they won’t? What kind of parents wouldn’t go looking for their own daughter?” Luna asked.
“Because they’ve been dead ever since I could remember, I’m never going to be with my parents again,” the child answered sadly. Luna and Falla looked to each other then back to the young girl as she whimpered and wiped a few tears from her cheek.
“You don’t have any parents?” Luna asked.
“But then who are you out here with?” Falla asked looking around, still not seeing any sign or hearing any commotion from anyone that may be searching for the lost girl.
“I was out here with my foster family. We were traveling to Ashwood because we were going to live there. But… but… but then…” the child said shakily before trembling and holding her arms around herself. The sisters watched the girl as she whimpered and shut her eyes tightly.
“What happened?” Luna asked. The child shook her head then looked to Luna with teary eyes.
“But then monsters came and ate them!” she cried out before clinging to Luna and crying, with Luna looking at her with surprise. She looked to Falla who had a cautious expression on her face.
“Ate them? Monsters…
ate
them?” Falla questioned. The child nodded while crying still, keeping her face hidden in Luna’s bosom.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” Luna said gently as she held the girl. The child trembled in her arms as she tried to control her breathing.
“They were so nice, I thought they were friendly, how could they do such a thing?” she whimpered.
“They? Who are they? You mean the monsters?” Falla asked. The child nodded and looked towards the sound of Falla’s voice.
“We didn’t know they were monsters, they seemed like lost travelers, they were so nice and friendly when we picked them up. They said they needed a ride, and my foster dad agreed to give them a lift. They even offered an apple pie as thanks, it was so yummy,” she explained shakily.
“What kind of monsters were they, what did they look like?” Luna asked.
“She’s blind, Luna, how would she know what they looked like?” Falla asked flatly.
“Oh, right, sorry,” Luna said nervously. The child shook her head and looked down with watery eyes.
“There was two of them, they were girls, they sounded older than me, but younger than my foster mother. They were very polite, always talking and laughing with my family while they rode with us, telling us about their travels. They… they did talk strangely though,” she explained with a worried expression.
“Strange? How so?” Luna asked.
“They kept talking… at the same time. It was like they were both speaking together, like they were the same person, it was kind of weird,” the child answered. Falla looked around carefully then back to the young girl.
“So… is it just you out here now?” she asked. The child nodded and looked down with a whimper.
“I woke up from my nap, and I heard my mom screaming. The two monsters, they were eating her, I could hear them chewing into her, they were laughing and eating her alive!” the girl cried out. She started breathing quickly as the two sisters watched her with worried eyes.
“I cried out for help, but the monsters only laughed and said that I was next as their dessert! I heard my mom crying out to run for my life. I tried to get out quickly, but I tripped and rolled over… what was left of my dad, those monsters just laughed at me while my mom screamed in pain! I fell out of the carriage and then just ran, I ran and I ran far away into the woods. I kept running and running, and running, and I kept running until… until…” she explained while trying to control her breathing. Luna looked over towards where the girl fell into the river earlier with remorse.
“Until you couldn’t run anymore,” she said softly, turning back to the little girl as the child nodded and closed her eyes.
“They ate my family, they ate my family, they ate my family…” the girl whimpered while holding onto Luna. The butterfly monster held her gently and looked to Falla with a saddened expression.
“We can’t leave her like this, she’s all alone,” she pleaded.
“What are we supposed to do, adopt her? Luna, look at
us
, she doesn’t belong here with us, we’re not exactly the right babysitters for her,” Falla argued while gesturing to her wings.
“But look at her, she’s frightened to death and all alone, we can’t just abandon her,” Luna said looking to the young child.
“Luna, put her down, we have to go,” Falla urged.
“No, we have to do something for her,” Luna pleaded while holding the child closer.
“You saved her from drowning, you’ve done more than enough,” Falla argued.
“Stop being so cruel, we can’t leave her out here like this and you know it,” Luna shot back with a flustered expression.
“We can’t be seen with a human child and you know it!” Falla shouted out. She then jumped with a small gasp and looked to the young girl as did Luna. The blind girl looked towards the sound of Falla’s voice then to where she thought Luna was.
“Human child?” she asked quietly.
“Oh crap,” Falla said worriedly.
“Um…” Luna said nervously. Falla glanced to her then to the child.
“Luna, let her go, we need to leave, now,” she said quickly.
“What do you mean ‘human child’?” the young girl asked softly.
“Um… well…” Luna stuttered, fearful of how the girl would take the truth.
“Let’s go, Luna, right now,” Falla repeated urgently.
The young girl slowly lifted her hands up to Luna’s cheeks, the butterfly girl showing a nervous expression.
“I… we… well… um…” Luna stuttered. Slowly the young girl moved her hands up along Luna’s head before Luna grabbed and held them in place.
“Please don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you,” Luna pleaded softly. The child showed a nervous expression as Luna gently let her hands go, the young girl then slowly moving her hands up to the top of Luna’s head, where they came in contact with her antennae. The child gasped as she felt the insect appendages on the monster’s head and trembled in fear.
“You… you’re a monster!” the girl said with surprise.
“Please, I promise I’m not going to hurt you, don’t scream or cry, please don’t cry! I just wanted to help you; I didn’t want you to get hurt or to drown! I just wanted to help! Please don’t cry, don’t cry, little girl! Just… just please don’t start crying!” Luna cried out before she started sobbing uncontrollably. The child showed a worried expression then slowly moved her hands back down to Luna’s face, touching the cheeks and mouth to get a picture of the sorrowful expression on the butterfly monster’s face. She could hear Luna crying, and could feel the facial movements showing the monster’s remorseful frown.
“I just wanted to help you; I didn’t want you to get hurt or to drown. I’m sorry, please don’t scream at me! I’m not a bad monster, I’m not!” Luna wept with tears forming in her eyes.
“Are you crying?” the child asked softly. Luna whimpered and nodded, with the child feeling the monster’s tears on her hands.
“You’re… you’re sad?” the young girl asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to scare you, I just wanted to help you. You were going to drown in the river, so I flew over and lifted you up. I just wanted to help,” Luna whimpered. The child just stared at her with a stunned gaze while slowly moving her hands around Luna’s cheeks.
“I was saved… by a monster?” she asked curiously. Luna sniffled and nodded while Falla watched the young child carefully.
“Why did you save me?” the child asked worriedly.
“What do you mean why? You were going to drown, I couldn’t just let that happen,” Luna reasoned. The child looked at her curiously then cocked her head slightly to the side in question.
“But I’m a human,” she said hesitantly.
“I don’t care, you’re still so young, you didn’t deserve to die, that wouldn’t be right,” Luna said shaking her head. The child remained silent for a while then slowly looked to where she heard Falla from then back to Luna.
“Who are you two? What are you two?” she asked.
“My name is Luna, and this is my sister, Falla. We’re… we’re known as giant butterflies to you humans,” Luna said softly. The child looked at her with wonder as Luna helped her stand again.
“Butterflies? You’re a butterfly monster?” the girl asked.
“Yes, we are. But we don’t harm humans, really. We’re not going to hurt you at all. I’ve never harmed a human in my entire life,” Luna pleaded. Slowly the child reached her hands out and felt Luna’s head then down to her shoulders, the girl then walking around the monster and feeling along her body to her wings. She showed a curious expression as she gently ran her hands along Luna’s wing, with the sisters watching her as she used her hands to feel out the shape and size of the wings.
“Wow, you have wings,” the child said softly.
“Yeah, we are butterfly monsters after all,” Falla pointed out. As the child felt along Luna’s wing to the edges Falla watched as the young girl showed a curious expression while she made out the body and form of her savior.
“Look, kid, we’re just going to go now, ok? We’re not going to hurt you or anything,” Falla said while looking away.
“But, Falla, we can’t leave her here, it’s not safe,” Luna said shaking her head.
“What do you expect us to do? We can’t just take her with us and keep her, not to mention that if we’re seen with her like this we’re dead. I mean look at her,” Falla exclaimed, waving to the child. Luna stood up and looked down at the young girl who was looking back and forth between the sounds of their voices. Falla shook her head and looked at her sister with an expectant expression.
“She’s got blood all over her from her dead family, and we’re two monsters. If any humans see us like this they’re going to think
we
killed her family, they’ll hunt us down and behead us for sure,” she pointed out.
“But… we can’t just leave her alone, she won’t last long out in the wild all by herself,” Luna pleaded. Falla groaned and looked up while holding a hand over her eyes.
“Luna, I get that you want to help her, but we’re not the ones who can,” she reasoned. Luna looked down to the young girl, the child looking up to her with watery eyes that didn’t focus on the monster at all.
“Why are you trying to help me?” she asked softly.
“Because I don’t want you to get hurt out here,” Luna answered with a small smile.
“But I’m a human, and I’m a girl, why would any monster care about me?” the child asked. Luna knelt down and gently held the girl by the shoulders.
“I’m sorry monsters ate your family, I really am. But I’m not like them; I’m not a bad monster, really. When I saw you fall into the water I knew I had to save you, it was the right thing to do,” she said softly. The child looked towards the sound of her voice with wonder as Luna gently wiped away the girl’s tears.
“Please don’t be afraid of me, I just want to help you,” she said gently.
“You… you do?” the young girl asked.
“I do,” Luna said with a warm smile.
“What is wrong with you?” Falla asked with disbelief. Luna and the child looked to her as the butterfly monster was shaking her head slowly.
“Are you crazy? Are you trying to get us killed?
Look at her
. If we’re seen by other humans with her, then they’ll try to butcher us. We’re already in danger near humans as it is, but having a
child
with us? That’s insane!” she cried out.
“But Falla…” Luna said worriedly.
“But nothing! I get you want to help the kid, and you did, you saved her from drowning. But we can’t help her anymore. We can’t be seen with her, and we certainly can’t protect her from monsters out here in the outerlands, we’re not fighters, remember?” Falla reasoned frantically. Luna looked to the child then to her sister with hopeful eyes.
“But, what about Daniel and his friends? Can’t they help her?” Luna asked. Falla paused for a moment then jumped with a gasp.
“Wait a minute, Daniel! What if those two man-eaters find him? Dammit, we need to find him before they do, he can’t make good on his promise to me if he’s dead,” Falla said looking around quickly.
“That’s not what I meant. They can protect this girl, they can help her,” Luna said looking to the young child.
“What are you talking about?” the girl asked.
“We know people, a human and a group of monsters who travel together. They’re strong, and friendly, they can help you,” Luna said with a hopeful smile. Falla looked at her with disbelief.
“Help
her
? Luna, we need to find Daniel so he can-” she started before looking at the young child curiously. Luna watched her with a whimper as the young girl turned towards Falla’s voice, with the butterfly girl eyeing her over carefully for a moment before a curious smile came across her face.
“So he can help this young girl, yes,” she said thoughtfully.
“Really? Then you agree we should help her?” Luna asked hopefully. Falla nodded slowly while eyeing over the young human. She walked over and gently held the child by the shoulders, gently brushing the girl’s hair before looking to her sister with an eager smile. She glanced to the child then kneeled down to face her.
“My dear child, what’s your name?” she asked gently.
“Emily, Emily Winterbloom,” the girl said softly.
“What a lovely name. Emily, would excuse us for one moment, I need to talk to my sister about… a personal matter. It won’t take but a moment,” Falla said kindly. Emily nodded slowly as Falla stood up and took hold of Luna’s hand, walking her further away from the child while Luna looked back to the young girl then to her sister with a curious expression.
“Talk to me about what?” she asked. Falla led her away from the girl then turned to her with a bright smile.
“Luna, if we keep this girl alive and well, and tell Daniel we’re trying to help her find a new home, he may think we’re good monsters, he might trust us,” she reasoned. Luna looked at her curiously then glanced up in thought, with Falla waiting for a response with an expectant smile.