Moonspear moonlight outshines the brightest stars

When Galaxy came to, her entire body ached and throbbed from her bad spill down the mountain. Her eyes slowly peeled open and she tried to orient herself, though it was too dark and muzzy to see much of anything. Carefully, she tried to push herself upright. Much to her surprise, her little feet dug into something soft and warm. She blinked down groggily even as she kneaded her toes, trying to figure out what was underneath her.

"You're awake!" The voice was friendly enough but it was so unexpected and close by that Galaxy jumped. She found herself sliding sideways off her soft padding and this time her rump smarted on cold, hard stone. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear! Are you all right?" Something shifted in the darkness, something huge. Galaxy felt a whoosh of air and sensed a presence looming over her, though her eyes still hadn't adjusted to the dimness.

"It's all right. You fell, poor dear, but I'm glad this big bottom of mine finally came in useful," came the voice again. She felt something (someone, rather) snuffle against the top of her head and heard a hearty chuckle. Despite the darkness and the strangeness of the situation, Galaxy felt inexplicably safe. "Come here, little one. Let me take a better look at you now that you're awake. I didn't dare move you before."

And so the pup found herself being shuffled about in the dark, by someone very large but equally gentle. Galaxy tried to guess where she was—a cave, perhaps? She dimly remembered tumbling down the slopes but she couldn't quite remember details and she wasn't really sure where she'd ended up. And who was in here with her? Whoever it was, she was too large to be a wolf. This knowledge stole over Galaxy even as she was suddenly positioned between two extraordinarily large forelegs. They were thicker than tree trunks!

"Who are you?" the youngster finally asked.

"My name's Kala. What's yours?"

"Ummm." Why was she drawing a blank? Perhaps she had hit her noggin on her way down here? She did feel fuzzy in the head. "Somethin'... stars," she murmured, thinking out loud. Her name had something to do with stars. Or stars had been responsible for her tumble. Possibly both. But hadn't she fallen into a canyon in the desert? Galaxy shook her head. Thinking was giving her a headache.

"Oh, sweetie. Maybe you hit your head when you fell. We'll worry about it later. Now—are you hungry, little one?"

"Yeah!" the pup said brightly, not really processing much else besides the mention of food. She leaped to her feet, which caused her head to swim. She teetered almost drunkenly, cheek smashing into one of those enormous forelegs as she slid back into a sit.

"Oh, poor dear. You stay still and I'll bring the food to you." The pup made no reply, though she felt movement all around her for a moment before an entire deer's leg was suddenly dropped beneath her nose. Her eyes flew wide and she ignored her dizziness as she began to tear off strips of meat.

"I'm glad to see the fall didn't knock out your appetite, dear," came that motherly voice along with another rolling chuckle. "Eat as much as you like, then you should get some rest," she said.

Cocooned by Kala's softness and warmth, Galaxy ate until she was fit to burst, then flopped on the floor with a satisfied sigh. She knew she should be more worried about what had happened to her and how to get back to her family but her eyelids fluttered as Kala began to hum a soothing lullaby above her. Galaxy felt those enormous paws tighten around as she fell asleep in the arms of the mother bear whose own cub had been buried only the day before.

Soundtrack: "Stay with Me" by Valerie Deniz.

"The beauty of a shooting star,
Simply blows my mind.
I make a wish and close my eyes,
Breathe the fresh air of the night.

A summer night under a southern sky,
Better when the moon is far.
The sea is dark, the waves are loud,
To me they sound like a lullaby.

You think you're looking at a star,
You realize it's a satellite.
The wind is blowing, I'm getting cold,
I cannot leave because I want more.

I need your body close to me,
I wanna feel the heat of your skin.
Your breath is warm but the air is cold,
You cannot leave me 'cause I want more.

Will you stay? Stay with me.
Could you stay? Stay with me..."