"October 1st, 1885".
"Good Sir, we have been trekking the woods for far too long! Are you sure there's even any hope out here?" The first man spoke, anxious and shivering from the cold as he held up an old and antique map, a bulkier, stronger man in front of him chuckled, a voice equally as big as he was booming from his chest "Why yes, Sir Alder! The call of the silver moon tells me we are near-"
The third one scoffed, managing to exert impressive loads of energy despite his obvious limp. "Oh. Enough with your silver moon nonsense, Commander! With all due respect I oppose the manner in which you think! It's always about the moon! The moon this, the moon that. Why- might I not have been who I am, I would have thought you mad!"
The audience gasped at the last man's words, even if they'd seen the same story play out time and time again with every year that passed, it didn't dull the magic and wonder the acting troupe never failed to deliver. Sir Alder cowered into his map in the same shock as the audience did, Sir Elowen stood wide-eyed and wide-stanced after yelling at Commander Rowan with all the disdain in his weary heart. All to hear the big bellowing laughs from the man leading their group.
"Oh! Sir Elowen, you will find out very soon what I mean by that. You are our strongest soldier, our hope in the dark! I trust by all means you will come around to my cause."
He spoke in riddles, the play made it clear to touch on this fact, every sentence the Commander said left Alder and Elowen scratching their chins like old Greek philosophers. The men continued walking, Sir Elowen kept nagging about how bad the trip was going, Sir Alder tried to keep the peace between the group, and Commander Rowan seemed to have everything just under control.
But the men reached a huge lake that flowed off of a river and into a lush clearing in the woods soon enough. And just ahead of them laid what probably would have been the biggest, grandest, most extraordinary willow tree they'd ever seen in their lives. A giant prop had been wheeled out onto stage, illuminated by lights of all sorts of colours ,rivalling the glow of the moon as the crystal clear glass the tree was made out of caught and trapped the fractions of shining colours that dazzled the crowds. Ethereal, that was just the perfect word to describe it.
"Why… Dear Heavens! it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…"
Sir Alder spoke out loud, more to himself than to anyone else, reaching out to caress a branch with his hand, slow and gentle like a mother to her child, but as soon as he did so, he jumped up as if an electrical impulse rippled through his body right then and there, the sounds of magical whimsical chimes playing in the distance.
"By God… I feel so– alive! What was that?" He looked around, swivelling his head left to right like a goofy bobblehead before Commander Rowan laughed, like he knew more than he let on. He walked forward, dropping his trenchcoat to the ground and revealing an unsightly set of wounds ripped across his chest. The audience grimaced at the sight of the fake blood and gore scribbled across his torso as Commander Rowan walked up to the willow tree.
The audience watched along in curiosity as Rowan came up to the tree trunk and grazed it with his hand. All of a sudden, wisps of aurora green smoke erupted out of the stage, and there, on his chest where everyone once saw gushing, bloody wounds, had been completely cleared and wiped pure. Everyone reeled in shock. The audience, Sir Alder, Sir Elowen… nobody was left with their jaw still closed the moment they saw all his injuries disappear in the blink of an eye, gone in just a second by the magic healing properties of this Willow Tree.
It was too good to be true, right? At least that was what Elowen made clear to the others. It was just too good to be true. He was adamant, denying the Willow's healing gift and offering to start a campfire instead.
It didn't take long for the 3 soldiers to set up camp near the tree, once everyone was back and settled, Commander Rowan went on to explain how he'd found this place with an old army troop back when "Commander" wasn't even part of his name. He told the two men stories around the campfire they built, stories of how fatal wounds were healed in seconds, how pain was a problem of the past with the tree around, how the winds used to whistle and how the silver moon sang whenever one of their men had made a full, magical recovery.
"Mother Lunaris, she's the one who gave us all this in the first place, boys."
"Why… Mother Lunaris… She sounds splendid! A talented healer indeed, don't you think, Sir Elowen?"
"Yes, yes. A talented healer, how impressive." Sir Elowen rolled his eyes, his tone harsher, much more abrasive. He still had no belief in any of this, even if the other two were in complete favour. "Commander? You don't mind me asking where we can meet one such… 'Mother Lunaris' do you?"
Rowan laughed, hearty and full as he warmed his soft healed hands with the dancing flames. "Why, yes! Though, my answer might shock you, lad." his eyes grew sharp, like glistening gems under moonlight. "You already have."
Alder and Elowen exchanged bewildered looks, as Rowan pointed upwards straight at the sky, straight at the Silver Moon. A prop lowered down from the stage ceiling, an impressive mockup of the earth's moon, glowing, iridescent and celestial in all its beautiful glory. It all started to click in their minds, in everyone's minds. Mother Lunaris was none other than the moon itself.
"The moon…?" Sir Elowen piped up once more, grimacing as his unhealed wounds only grew more and more painful to bear. "Commander Rowan, I've tried to keep up with this foolery but there comes no other option in my mind- you are simply insane!"
Rowan was about to open his mouth, but as if to prove Elowen's point horribly wrong, another voice spoke instead, over the speakers and blasting across the plaza was the ethereal surround sound of an elegant woman's voice.
"Simply insane?"
She started to speak, slow, calming, alluring. Scaring the living daylights out of the two men as Commander Rowan sat relaxed and completely still
"Have you ever wondered if one is mad on account of his actions, or simply by the judgements of those around him, who condition himself into believing so?"
"Ex-excuse me…?"
Elowen was at a loss of words, frozen to the ground, an unmistakable expression of pure fear on his face
"It is but a matter of perspective, don't you think so, Sir Elowen Grandt?" Shock rippled through the audience, the same age old question in their minds. "How does she know his name?!"
Elowen must have been thinking the same thing too, as he suddenly perked up, holding his head in his hands. The other soldiers came closer to inspect his state, but they must have scared him. He scrambled up to his feet, mumbling nonsense under his breath and taking off into a random direction, running further and further just to escape her voice, past the lake, into the woods, over, under and through every obstacle imaginable… and even despite his fatal wounds, he was trying everything his feeble, weak, human body could to outrun the Silver Moon.
"It's only a matter of time, Sir Elowen, you're running out of time" the moon didn't stop chasing after him, she was there, every single step of the way. "You will die soon"
It was clear in the way he ran, or rather in the way he couldn't run anymore, that Elowen had no more fight left in him. The poor man stumbled onto the forest floor. Bloody, bruised, and on the brink of death as he lived out the rest of his dying seconds in vain of Mother Lunaris and all that she had shown them. Commander Rowan and Sir Alder rushed onto the scene shortly after, lugging medical supplies behind them to try their best to nurse him back to stability regardless of whether he truly believed in the miracle or not. But…
The lights dimmed, the audience fell silent, a spotlight shone on Sir Elowen as he choked out his last breaths, wishing well to Rowan, Alder, and the men they left at war as he slowly lost the strength to live on. Sorrowful music drowned the speakers, setting a sombre mood as Alder panicked to keep his comrade alive and Rowan looked sorrowfully up to the sky. This part had always been so exaggerated just to dramatise the story of Willowfield's birth, but it never felt overdone at all. After a few moments of that dull, dark atmosphere, a silvery light funnelled down onto the stage, catching everyone's attention as the suffocating, dreary music mellowed out into heavenly strings.
"Your friend has disbelieved. He has denied my miracle, and what for?"
Mother Lunaris spoke once more, her voice stern and stubborn. Commander Rowan pleaded with her to turn things around. Elowen was a man of his word, a man who followed his own principles, it was what made him such a commendable soldier. It was right then and there he revealed his plans for Sir Elowen's promotion, in just a few days time, he would've been Commander. Sir Alder pleaded for his case as well, Elowen was loyal and dedicated to a fault, a hardworking soldier who carried respect for his peers, and despite his headstrong attitude and brash personality, was a friend to all.
Mother Lunaris listened to their pleas, finding it in her caring compassionate heart to take pity on the men. She ordered Commander Rowan to pick a branch off the willow tree and Sir Alder to fetch a pail of water from the lake. The men did as they were told, reconvening at Sir Elowens body before she told them what to do.
"Sprinkle pellets of water on his face, hands, and feet. Plant the branch in the soil just above his head. You will see what I can accomplish with such materials."
The two of them followed her instructions, stepping back when they were done only to find that just a second later, pure silver snow was falling onto Elowen's tired body. A closer look only revealed it to be an iridescent powder of sorts, none other than stardust itself. Mother Lunaris sang a song. The same song she must have sang in the stories Commander Rowan had told the others around the campfire. Strong fans backstage sent winds blowing through sections of the crowds, green mist shrouded the stage in fog as the hopeful music playing over the speakers crescendoed just in time for Sir Elowen to jolt up from death, alive, well, and perfectly intact.
Tears were almost shed by the soldier's return (particularly from Sir Alder) and as the men trekked back to the willow tree and moonlit lake. Sir Elowen came to realise that belief was what made half of life. Mother Lunaris seemed happy enough with his answer, and just as it seemed like everything was coming to an end. The men froze in place like someone had just pressed pause on a video.
From the edges of the stage, a familiar face popped out from behind the curtain. A signature silly mask, an iconic outfit, and a particularly jumpy stage presence. The crowds erupted in wild cheers at the conclusion of the play as Jumpy skipped his way to centre stage, giving up a round of applause for the actors as the cast got up to bow as a group. Once the formalities were over, Jumpy addressed the audience, his voice as eclectic and as lively as ever.
"Well, wow-wee! Wasn't that just one spectacular show ladies and gentlemen? That, my friends, was The Story of our Lunaris Festival…" his voice curled with a dreamy theatrical flair as he said it, before flipping back to being obnoxiously loud and eccentric "You see, those three men, Sir Norman Windsor, Commander Jonathan Canmore, and Commander Baxter Alpin are none other than the 3 revered founders of our not-so-little-anymore hometown!"
Jumpy continued, explaining how over time, a colony had settled in the area where the 3 men had been staying, slowly growing into a village by the end of the century, and finally to the metropolis of a first rate town it was today.
"So remember kids! When you go to bed tonight and hear the ever so slight whispers of the woods surrounding our gorgeous town, or the howling winds far up in the midnight sky, just know that there aren't any monsters or ghosts coming to get you!"
Jumpy stomped on the stage, raising his voice just enough to enunciate his words like he was telling a group of kids a spooky scary story, successfully reeling terrified screams from the children watching in the front row.
"Instead, what you're hearing just might very well be the music and song of the mystical Silver Moon and her lands past the mountains surrounding our great town! Perhaps from the same spot our 3 heroes were sitting at, and perhaps just beneath the real Great Weeping Willow Tree…"
You could almost hear his smirk from under the mask as he playfully drew out the last words of his sentence, chuckling before putting on his show voice and announcing to the town the last thing he had to say before the night ended:
"May the spirit of our Mother Lunaris shine bright within us tonight, and for the entire miraculous month of October! Happy Lunaris to you all, we hope to see all your beautiful faces tomorrow! Have a good night, Willowfield!"