Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"Oh, Ming Yue, Ming Yue, come in! My mother wants to see you!"

Xiao Bai's voice echoed out, inviting her into the house. She stood there, taking a small breath before walking in. 

As she did, nothing really happened. In fact, she soon realized what she had just done.

"Why did I just do that?" she asked herself. 

But there wasn't any time for her to think as Xiao Bai introduced her to his mother. 

"Look, it's a human!" he said excitedly. 

"Why- why yes, it is..." 

Ming Yue turned to see Xiao Bai with his mother, laying in bed with a blanket over her. She sat upright, looking at Ming Yue with a bit of surprise. 

His mother was certainly not in the best shape. She was thin and looked quite frail. Her skin was somewhat pale and her eyes were a bit sunken. Just like Xiao Bai, she had ears on her head and similar arms too. 

And she seemed well enough to talk. 

"Why don't you go out and start up the fire? I'll come out soon to help cook us some stew."

She looked at Xiao Bai with a warm smile to which he beamed at her before going off. 

"Alright then!"

And he quickly left the house, leaving the two of them alone. Ming Yue rested her sword by the walls before untying the knots and gently placing Hei Yue and Xiao Yin down. 

"Over there, you can place them on the bench. There are cushions over there", the mother pointed out. 

Ming Yue looked, finding what she meant and gentling placed the two beasts there. Compared to before they seemed much better. Their breathing had become stable and even stronger at this point. That was the medicine doing its work. 

And after putting everything down, she sat down on a wooden chair before taking a quick glance around her. 

The house itself was seemed small on the outside but it was quite big in fact. there was only one room. With the dining table at the center, there was Xiao Bai's mother on one end while the other side had various pieces of furniture as well as a chest and decor. There was even a small fireplace in by the dining area. 

There were many things to see but it wasn't very cramped. There was still quite a bit of space around them. 

"So, my son tells me that you are a human. Are you truly one?" the mother asked. 

Her eyes stared intently at Ming Yue. Despite her weakened state, those eyes seemed to carry quite a bit of power. But it wasn't enough to faze the young woman who had just come out of a war, she just nodded and answered. 

"Yes, my name is Ming Yue and I had just awoken not too long ago. Please tell me, where am I?" she asked. 

Xiao Bai's mother lingered on her for a few more moments before looking down and then looking at the wall, pointing at a map. 

"This is the Halcyon Meadows. Where we are is there, at the south end of it, this is one of the dozens of other clearings. It is the home of me and my son as well as everyone else", she explained. 

Ming Yue studied it, looking at the varying splotches of green and lightly drawn lines as she found their current location. 

"And past that?" she asked. 

The mother was quiet for a moment before she looked at Ming Yue with a grave expression. 

"Beyond the Halcyon Meadows is the Savage Lands, that is a place that you should not enter. That is what I would say to you but it's obvious that you're not an ordinary person."

Ming Yue's eyes sharpened as she heard about this. 

"The Savage Lands?" she muttered. 

"Yes, it is a dangerous place. What was once a beautiful homeland for our ancestors is now a den of terrifying beasts and monsters. The Halcyon Meadows is the only land left that is livable but every day, they come further and further in, taking more territory."

"How did this happen?"

Ming Yue was both curious and surprised, she had never heard of such a thing. 

"Nature had taken its course, our ancestors were not the strongest anymore and so we were the hunted. Stories and legends say that we used to be but that had changed once the skies turned dark and the anger of the Heavens came down. Suddenly, every other beast aside from us had grown stronger, wilder, uncontrollable. Our ancestors tried, all of the tribes had banned together to fight but we ultimately lost, forced into these meadows. In the hierarchy of this world, we were equal to rabbits and deer", the mother explained, revealing a sad look on her face. 

"And these tribes, you and your son, I've never met them before. Could you tell me more about yourselves?"

The mother chuckled at her child-like curiosity but answered. 

"My son and I, these tribes I speak of, we all fall under 'beast people' and for you to have never heard of us is given. After all, you're a human and you are the first human to have set foot in these lands since our ancestors were dethroned."

Ming Yue's eyes widened for a moment after hearing this. She was the first human to come after several thousand years?

"But then the timing, this would've happened by the time of the Calamity then. The one that separated the Human, Demon, and... Beast Continent", she thought. 

Once she remembered that, her mind began to race. 

"Then does this mean that I'm in the Beast Continent? Why am I here? How did I even get here? How am I not dead? That last blast from the True Idol should've killed me so why am I still alive?" 

There were many questions on her mind but she slowly calmed down and thought carefully. She then looked at Blood Moon, at Xue Yue. 

"Do you know what happened?" she asked inwardly. 

However, there was no reply from her counterpart. Xue Yue was there but she was most likely asleep, perhaps exhausted from merging with the sword and fighting the True Idol. 

Ming Yue looked away, deep in thought. 

"Then what happened? Is the war over?" 

She wasn't sure, she didn't know. On one end, she had killed the True Idol but she truly didn't know that. What if it wasn't dead? And if it was, did that final blast just hit her, or did it destroy other things? 

Suddenly, she found it hard to breathe, her heart was beating wildly as she looked around, trying to calm herself down. 

"I- I need to go out, I need to clear my head."

Ming Yue stood up, grabbed her sword, and walked out of the house. A fresh breeze blew through her as she walked away, going past Xiao Bai who was busy building a fire. 

"Ming Yue! Ming Yue! Where are you going? We're going to be cooking soon!"

The little boy called out to her but she did not respond, too distraught to hear his voice. She just walked off, looking for something secluded. He stood up to go after her but his mother stepped out of the house, walking with a cane. 

"Xiao Bai, don't go after her, let's go make that rabbit stew", she said cheerfully. 

"But mother, where is she going? Is she going to come back?"

His voice was very small as he felt a bit sad and dejcted. However, his mother placed a hand on his head, comforting him. 

"Don't worry, she's just wanted some time alone. Let's have a bowl of stew ready for her when she comes back, okay?" 

"...okay."

He seemed somewhat doubtful but did as his mother said.