That Moonlit Night

The earliest thing I can remember was when I was wandering the snow when I was just 6 years old. I cannot remember having parents, having a family nor can I remember where I grew up.

All I can remember was that my name was Loki and that I wandered around lost on that snowy day until Master Ghost found me.


The night was clear as a trillion or more stars shone like pin pricks in the sky.  The moon shone like a silvery white disc as it shone down upon a small figure who scurried around, doing last minute chores before retiring for the night.

The figure turned out to be a small brown rabbit, which hurried around, busily topping up lanterns and checking that the gates were locked. After finishing the tasks, the rabbit had gotten out a broom and began to sweep the steps that lead to a small palace where she lived with several other creatures. After a few minutes of sweeping, she stopped for a moment and breathed in the night air. Her eyes gazed around the palace and the forest that hid it from mortal view.

The master of the palace, Master Ghost, had to run several errands and had yet to return. Even though he was royalty to his kind and had audiences with Council, he had often complained that all he wanted was a small place and that the palace was “Over the top”. However, his people would not hear of it and to the small rabbit, she couldn’t remember any other place where she was happiest.

She shook her head to be rid of the daydreams as she went back to sweeping, scolding herself at the same time.

“Quit daydreaming Loki! You have to finish this before Ghost Sama gets back.”

“And how do you know he will be back tonight?”  Her mind traitorously shot back.

Again, Loki shook her head. Sure, Master Ghost had been known to wander off for several days but Loki had a gut instinct that he would be back. She just didn’t know why though.

A voice startled her as it came from the front doors.

“LOKI! Have you finished those steps yet?!”

Loki sighed and turned her head towards the door.

“I’ve only got a few more steps to go, don’t wait up! I’ll be in soon!” she called back.

There was a silence before the voice replied,

“Okay but don’t stay up late, I don’t think Master Ghost would mind if you skipped one night.”

Loki went silent as the footsteps died away further indoors. She absentmindedly swept the step she had been sweeping for last few minutes.

Ever since Loki had come to live at the palace many years ago, she had always did a vigil watch every time Master Ghost went to attend his duties outside the palace, mostly at night time when everyone had long gone to sleep. Some people had made a joke about it but Loki mostly ignored them. Sometimes though, she did ask herself why she did it but Loki knew the answer already. Ever since he found her in the snow when she was young, she always thought of Master Ghost as family, since she couldn’t remember ever having a family before.

Suddenly, her ears pricked up as she heard footsteps coming her way. With the task forgotten, she quickly propped up her broom and rushed down the steps. Half running, Loki followed the sound of footsteps coming towards her. She stopped suddenly as two figures came from the darkness. One of them she recognised, the large wolf, Master Ghost.

“Welcome home Master Ghost!” She said bowing to the wolf.

His fur seemed to change from a dark grey to a lighter shade as he smiled at the rabbit. When she stood back up as Master Ghost greeted her.

“ Loki, how many times do I say not to call me Master Ghost? Just call me Ghost okay?

Loki only nodded as she turned to look at Ghost’s companion, a young panda who just stared straight ahead and had red angry patches that clumped in his fur, the scent of blood cling around him.

“Loki, This is Po, he’s been treated badly by some bad people. We’ll be taking care of him from now on, all right?” Loki looked back up to Ghost as he continued.

“As you can see, he’s covered in blood, so have him take a bath. I have to go and report to the Council and other places.”

The wolf turned and spoke again,

“I’ll back tomorrow morning, could you please make him comfortable while I’m gone?”

“Of course Master Ghost.” The rabbit replied.

“Thank you Loki.” Master Ghost suddenly vanished into the night.

Loki stared at the place he had vanished for a moment before turning to her charge.
Cautiously, she went up to the silent panda. She took a deep breath before speaking to him.

“Um…if you follow me, I’ll take you to the washroom.” She said, before walking a few paces towards the palace entrance.  However, when she looked around, she found that Po hadn’t followed. At first, Loki wasn’t sure what to do but then she thought he might be scared of his new surroundings. She went back to him again.

“May I touch you?” She asked.

The panda gave no indication that he had heard her, so Loki tried again.

“Is it okay if I hold your paw?”

Again, the panda didn’t say or do anything. Loki slowly and gently took his paw and led him towards the palace. Despite of what Loki thought, Po didn’t seem fazed by anything as she led him to the washroom. Once in the washroom, Loki filled a bucket of water and soaked a cloth in it.

While doing this, Loki thought to herself,

“There’s so much blood…Is it somebody else’s blood? Or is he hurt?”

Wringing out the cloth, she turned back to the young panda. She approached cautiously. Loki knew by instinct that if she did otherwise, he would fall to pieces. She asked for his permission,

“May I wipe your neck?”

Like before he stood silently, so she gently wiped his neck to remove the blood patch there. He flinched every time she wiped a new area of blood on his body but still he said nothing and stared blankly into space. At first, she thought he was injured in places but she saw no wounds of any kind. After she was done, she poured the water away and gently towel dried him.

A little while later, Loki led him to a spare room where she got some spare blankets and arranged them on the bunk. Wordlessly, Po had got into it without any trouble. However, just as Loki was going to put out the lanterns, a whimper like sound came from the bunk. She turned to find Po staring at her with pleading eyes. It took a minute for Loki to figure out that Po didn’t want the lights out.

“Okay Po, I’ll leave the lights on.”


A few moments later, Loki was watching the panda from outside the room though half open door. She already knew that she’d never get to sleep in her own bunk with the strange, silent panda on her mind, so she had gone to her room and taken some blankets and returned outside of the spare room. She arranged the blankets on the floor and laid down on them. However, curious thoughts kept her from falling asleep.

Loki tossed and turned as she kept thinking. She knew she shouldn’t ask too many questions and that Po was in no fit state to answer any of them. She sighed and thumped the blankets that made her makeshift pillow. When she finally gotten comfortable, she looked though the crack to see if Po was sleeping. At first, it didn’t look like he was breathing; it was only when his chest breathed in that reassured Loki that he was still in the land of the living.

“What happened to make you this way Po?”  She wondered.

Suddenly, tiredness overcame the rabbit and Loki fell fast asleep. The night wore on, with the moon travelling across the dark sky.

                  And a broken soul, the Moonlit Death, had become a panda called Po.


                                                           The End.