Ciri
In the days that follow from her encounter with Gale (or rather The Thing that was Not Gale) she is left with a bitter realization that she had failed. She had failed her friend, failed Nashua and the Isle, and failed herself. This was nothing like what she had faced in the Underneath. At least in the suffocating darkness the things she had fought could be injured by blows from her hooves. But not the thing that wore Gale’s face. It was as if nothing could truly touch him and her star aura could only defend her to an extent, it gave her no power to cut a wound on the magical stallion that might actually bring him pain.
For days she seethed in her hurt ego, nursed her grief for the loss of the friend she had known, and tried desperately to think of someway to become stronger. If only she could wield the power she had in the Underneath, the brilliant blaze of starlight that had saved her when the Siren would have destroyed her in seconds. The moment when she had figured out what she was.
There had been several times when she wondered why she couldn’t access that power again, that she had been left with just a fragment of what she had wielded on the dark waters of the otherworldly lake. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried, she had… so many times. She couldn’t seem to latch on to that thread that Islas was connected to and she finds herself thinking of the ethereal white mare more and more. How one of the last times she had spoken to Gale had been after she had met Islas. There is an ache in her chest as she remembers the way he had lit up when she had told him of finding another star. Another star….
She knows the patterns of the night sky well and when she is feeling better, she finally makes the long trek for the Mountain when she knows the night will be clear. The climb might be exhausting for some but she is a warrior through and through and is no stranger to grueling training practices. Her body had become leaner and fit with the rough conditions of the Isle and so the climb is not as treacherous as it might be for others. Her muscles are sore by the time she finds the summit but she is not winded or gasping for breath when she approaches the rumored area of where faeries lurk.
“I need your help.” She calls into the darkness and gets a sense that even if she can’t see anything, something might be listening nearby. “Years ago I fell into the Underneath. I discovered what I am and what I am capable of.” She hesitates and then pulls the star shield down around her, something she has grown so use to doing that it’s just a reflex response by now. “Please…” She falters and then draws her courage as she looks up at the sky. “The power I wielded down there… May I please have it back? To defend my home and my friends. And myself. If I gave up this one in exchange, is there a chance you can make me stronger?”
all of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was
Ciri is asking to quest to upgrade her Star Aura to Equus Astrea so she can protect the Isle and her friends from the Curse
The most recent posts mentioning her star connection and recent events (she basically mentions it in every post I write lol):
I'm including the Quest where she wielded the power before just for good measure
