The Crescent Moon in the Starry Forest is just a Giant Kitten~

Stars

The sun sets, and night falls upon this mysterious forest.

Within the forest dwell mythical beasts and fairies, accompanied by ordinary animals. Rabbits, squirrels, and birds are all commonly seen. Even now, somewhere, an owl hoots.

Even at night, the forest never falls completely silent. Nocturnal creatures and mythical beasts begin to stir.

I have good night vision but still see better during the day, so there are probably more activities during the daytime. I live by the rule of sleeping when I’m tired, so I don’t consider myself nocturnal.

But unlike napping in random spots in the forest during the day, at night, I always make it back to my proper sleeping place to rest.

Right now, in the darkness, passing through the trees, I’m headed towards the heart of the forest. It’s vast, with no clear paths, so humans would likely get lost if they entered, but I never do. It’s like I have a map in my head, and I always know which way to go.

During the day, no matter where I am in the forest, I can always return to my sleeping place at night. Sometimes, if I’m too far away from the center of the forest and it’s too much of a hassle or takes too long to return, I’ll just give up on going back.

As I arrive at the center of the forest, towering above me is the oldest tree, with a trunk much thicker than my body. It’s probably the largest tree in the forest.

Its branches spread out, creating a canopy of leaves, but there are plenty of gaps, so even at its foot, sunlight filters through during the day.

Birds, squirrels, and many other animals have made nests in their branches, and I think it’s a tree that envelops the creatures of the forest with a kind of gentleness.

There are troublemakers in the forest, like sirens and goblins, but this tree probably accepts even those kinds of beings.

It’s an old tree, and if there’s a master of this forest, it’s probably this tree.

Its leaves are a plain green, and it doesn’t bear strange fruit. Of course, it doesn’t speak or move; it’s just a large, old tree, but it feels special somehow.

And my sleeping place is at the base of this giant tree. One of the roots protruding from the ground curls up into a perfect circle, just the right size for me to nestle into. When I curl up inside, I feel enveloped and safe.

Today, having defeated the sirens, I can sleep with a sense of satisfaction, so I settle into my sleeping place.

During the day, my fur, wet from falling into the spring, dried almost completely after grooming and basking in the sunlight.

But after grooming myself again before bed, I fell asleep feeling content under the shelter of the large tree’s roots.

But after grooming myself once more before bedtime and cleaning my body, I drifted off to sleep contentedly at the base of the large tree.

When I woke up in the early morning, before the sun had fully risen, I sat up and stretched, then darted around the giant tree. I always seem to be full of energy around dawn and dusk. Are regular cats like that, too?

After running around for a while, I sat at the base of the giant tree and cleaned my face with my front paws. Then, I licked my large paw pads to keep them clean.

As I noticed the morning sunlight filtering through the forest, I leisurely walked away from my sleeping place.

Where should I go today? The forest is vast, with plenty of places I haven’t explored yet. It would be fun to meet new creatures like I did with the sirens yesterday.

I prefer encountering non-threatening creatures, but even if something tries to harm me, I’m usually stronger, so I’m not particularly worried.

For example, if there were dragons around, I might be in trouble, but there are no wild dragons in this forest. That’s what the knowledge in my head tells me. Dragons exist in this world, but not in this forest.

Humming to myself as I walk through the forest, my tail swishes lazily, brushing against the branches of surrounding trees. I saw a snake with three eyes hanging from a branch ahead, but it quickly slithered away.

Snakes aren’t much of a threat unless they’re as big as me. Just being a large kitten makes me nearly invincible, so being big is a good thing. If I were a normal-sized kitten, I’d either be living in fear of predators every day or I’d probably be dead by now.

As I walk, lost in thought, I catch a glint of something in the corner of my eye. At the same time, I sense a presence.

It’s not the presence of a living creature but rather the sense of something being there.

I’ve had experiences like this a few times in my six months of life. Walking through the forest, I sense a presence even though there’s no living creature there.

And whenever I sense this presence, if I look around, I always find a “star.”

Now, emanating a presence, I rush towards the glinting object and brush aside the grass to get a better look.

It’s called a star, slightly larger than a walnut in its shell. It’s round and smooth, with some slight irregularities resembling the shell of a walnut.

But the star is translucent, glowing softly and beautifully. There are no impurities, no cloudiness.

The one before me is a translucent golden color, shining beautifully in the sunlight.

There’s also another one, translucent purple, but there’s no sign of it around here. Only this golden star seems to have fallen here.

“Meow…”

I playfully bat the golden star with my large paw, rolling it out from the grass onto the dirt. But it’s too small to play with, and it’s just pretty, without any value to me.

But stars that fall in this forest are precious to other creatures, including humans, because they possess mysterious powers. Many desire them.

That’s because stars have magical properties. Eating a golden star called the “Life Star” grants vitality, fills the body with strength, and aids in recovery from fatigue. It can heal injuries and temporarily alleviate illnesses.

Upon consuming a purple star, known as the “Magic Star,” grants magical abilities. Even species that don’t naturally possess magic can use magic by consuming a Magic Star.

Eating Life Stars or Magic Stars allows for a temporary power-up.

(What makes this forest different from ordinary forests is the falling stars.)

(What makes this forest different from ordinary forests is that stars fall here.)

I looked up at the sky and thought. Stars fall slowly into this forest once every six months.

Stars can be taken by humans and eaten by mythical beasts, fairies, or animals, but whatever remains on the ground will be absorbed by the soil and plants by the time the next stars fall—half a year later.

So this forest is always abundant regardless of the season. The leaves are always lush green, flowers bloom somewhere, and fruits ripen elsewhere.

(What would happen if I ate one?)

Again, I lowered my gaze to the ground, contemplating the golden star. Cats are naturally curious creatures.

I leaned in and sniffed it, but it didn’t have any particular scent.

(Well, it probably won’t hurt to try.)

I stuck out my large tongue and licked up the small star rolling on the ground.

As soon as the Life Star touched my tongue, it crumbled and disappeared in my mouth. It melted away in an instant.

“Meow…”

I frowned slightly. There was a refreshing sweetness left on my tongue. My stomach felt warm, like a pleasant heat spreading through my body.

Then, in the next moment, my heart throbbed powerfully.

Energy surged through my body, swirling around. I felt restless like I couldn’t stay still, and wanted to run right away. I felt really good like I could do anything now.

Unable to stand still, I ran around in circles. My muscles were pulsating, and hot blood rushed through my veins.

(I feel so light! Running feels amazing! How exhilarating!)

I could run around like this forever. Surely, my eyes were sparkling with vitality right now. Running is so much fun!

Continuing, I selected thick, large trees to scratch. My large claws scraped against the trunk, leaving many marks. If these trees absorb Life Stars someday, the scars will disappear. Scratching is fun, too!

(This is the best!)

After exhausting myself with full-force scratching, I continued to run aimlessly through the forest. No matter how much I ran, I didn’t get tired. The birds, foxes, deer, and even the little fairies and goblins living in the forest were surprised to see a cat running as fast as a boar, and they all hurriedly fled. A giant kitten dashing through must be terrifying.

“Hyahhah!” While I was frolicking, there was a somewhat calm part of me in the back of my mind, sighing and saying, “Whether it’s Life Stars or Magic Stars, if you eat them, you have to release this vitality or magic afterward, so you shouldn’t eat them again next time.”

Especially with Life Stars, it seems like I just become even more energetic if I eat them. I experienced it firsthand.

“Meoow!”

With no one to stop me, I ended up running through the forest until the effects of the Life Star wore off.