06-02-2021, 07:58 PM
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H er mother had told her stories of the days before the eclipse (and before her birth). Islas had pulled her daughter close in the darkness and whispered tales of sunlight and color and warmth. Better than that, the pale mare had told her daughter about the stars, how the pinpricks of their light would emit a soft glow on the earth, how she could hear whispers from the galaxies. Kamaria hadn’t been able to picture it then; although she was young and fierce in the world already, the darkness pressed on her with a terrible viciousness.When the sun came, she had rejoiced. The starry girl had felt a weight lift on her as soon as the eclipse ended, her lungs feeling fuller and her head feeling clearer. But when night fell again, Kamaria had truly thrived. She was born for the night, for the moon and stars, for their glow on her pale head. She is the daughter of a fallen star, and when she hears the hum of the galaxy, she feels like she is home. The cavern she calls home has been feeling more crowded lately. It had been comfortable when it was just her and Islas, and then her father had come home. Kamaria had eventually gotten used to his presence, though she would often be annoyed when he had nightmares about wherever he was during the eclipse (she hadn’t asked him yet, and neither had he told her). And just when Kamaria was used to him, her mother had disappeared for a few days and returned with two newborns. Isaure and Tiernen are still young, and Kamaria considers herself too mature to spend very much time with them. There is a whole world beyond Loess and their little cave, so the girl tells her father she’s going to visit the Pampas and then follows a trail toward the fields before it’s too late. She leaves home at dusk, so the world is quiet by the time she reaches the border. It’s a clear summer night, and the moon is full and bright in the sky. Kamaria pulls some starlight from the sky as she walks, and she twists it into a fox that jumps through the tall grasses. It leaves a glowing trail behind it, and the girl’s own soft glow absorbs the fox’s as she wanders behind it. |
credit to nat of adoxography.
@[Aela]