A Cobalt Star, Fallen (Taithrosa)

[Charon]

15th day of Spring, Year 510 AV


The air felt thin as this cool, crisp Spring night moved toward it's midpoint. The moon hung high and proud in Leth's domain and was glowing with a luminescence only appreciated on such occasions as this when the clouds remained at bay and the still, clear skies bowed to it's bright presence. Though prominent tonight, the lunar body did not detract from the brilliant net of stars scattered over Riverfall. The hundreds, no-thousands of glinting and glowing specks of twilight hung in their luxurious balcony seats like an audience watching attentively over the the Suvan Sea where the waves rolled effortlessly and seamlessly toward land and eventually on towards the docks of the Akalak port-city.

It was from among this endless number of sparkling spectators that one celestial essence stirred. Having remained dormant for an indefinite period which would forever remain a mystery, the sudden movement transpired so quickly that the life-form did not wake from the perpetual slumber which it had grown so accustomed. The creature had never felt the effects of gravity-at least not in this lifetime, but from the height at which his fall started the planet's pull felt like a gentle draw effortlessly enticing the newly born Ethaefal toward her welcoming waters.

Still in a state of dozing as his journey toward the sea began, the heavenly creature experienced ever-quickening flashes of dreams. An azure tinted scene arrived depicting an unnaturally fast ebb and flow of the Suvan's waves lapping against a steep and heavily shelled beach. The view gently transitioned to an underwater picture, deeply tainted by a dark navy mass growing continuously until the sea floor-or city floor-was completely engulfed. Rolling to stare upwards toward the waves, bubbles were caught in a violent races to the surface as they dodged and rolled around the many kicking bodies and the scores of bodies unable to kick. Before panic could set in, the scene in his mind's eye evolved into a bright panorama of a tree-littered cliffside halved by a tremendous waterfall stretching from the cliffs high above. This landscape became darkly blotted by splattered crimson as his hands came to his face covered in a ruby coating of liquid. The red stains turned slowly to black and these shadows spread sluggishly across his field of vision when the first feeling of velocity brushed against his smooth, iridescent skin.

The silvery, bluish gray wisps of hair whipped around and stung at the Ethaefal's face as the first sensations of feeling tinged his nose and cheeks. Though his mostly white horns opposed most of his hair from thrashing at his face, the sensation was enough to force his lids apart. The first sight his infant eyes glimpsed was the full-bodied moon that was Leth's offer of assurance to His fallen star. Though growing smaller with his rapid descent, the unrelenting energy that bright figure infused Taithrosa with would prove to be his saving grace during the initial moments of this new life.

Just as the comforting image of his guardian luminosity settled, the Ethaefal plunged deeply into the Suvan's engulfing grasp. The shock the impact caused made Taithrosa unable to react, think, or comprehend what was happening. The moon had become only a distorted splotch of radiance dancing on the stirring and swarming surface which scurried to restore its such recent serenity. In early Spring the sea was cold and the racing pace of the Ethaefal's heart was dampened by the frigid, unrelenting pressure that increased as the fallen body continued to descend into the bitter depths. Bubbles started to trace their way from his nose toward what remained of the moon and a sudden flash of that terrible scene with bodies floating among the torrents of rising air imposed itself in Taithrosa's mind. Though brief, the sight was enough to finally stir the long limbs the Ethaefal had yet to use.

Dragging his hands through the water and kicking his feet like the struggling souls from his dream, he fought his way toward the waning and fragmented image of the moon. The air had completely escaped his lungs and the chilled water attempted to replace it with a powerful current. His lungs were alight with fire and burned deeper with every kick and stroke he made. The moon raced closer, the water pulled at his body, his lungs screamed in pain, and his vision became muddled with a creeping black border. Lashing out with his arms and lunging with his legs one final time, the water finally broke through the last barrier before dashing into his nose and entering his exhausted body. His eyes remained open but the only vision was one of black, blotting the moon and his hopes just as quickly as he found them.



The cool breeze coupled with the crashing of the occasional wave caused him to wake. Eyes opening again, Taithrosa expected to discover the black doom that he last remembered to have consumed his entire being. What was not expected was to be blinded by the light of the sun-Syna's greeting to the Ethaefal and Her welcome into his new world. Coughing, the remaining water spewed from his mouth and onto his chest... his blue chest. The muscles which defined his chest and abdomen were painted a cobalt shade causing the man to stare at himself for a lingering period of time. His entire naked body was this same shade, he realized, as his gaze lifted to his legs and feet-completely sculpted in muscle as well.

The beach Taithrosa landed on was deserted. It was not a very large beach and it quickly started to incline into stone which, after a vertical cliff, was covered by lush green trees. There was nothing to the north or south along the beach that he could see, but a faint hum of rushing water could be heard to the north from what seemed like a great distance from his current location. Bewildered and alone, the newborn Akalak Ethaefal creature found himself on the beach of the Suvan Sea south of the beautiful city of Riverfall and at the start of his next life.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

The Ethaefal who fell to the ground that moon lit night did not think of himself as Taithrosa Eldytia, the Akalaka Doctor from centuries before. Now he was more complete then Taithrosa had been in life. He had assended beyond the mortal to join his in the night sky. He had reseted peacefully oblivious to all but that around him. His mind expanding in ways no mortal could ever imagine. He had become more then just Taithrosa, or any of the other lives he had lived. No he had a new name, one sacred and only the divine toungue can speak. So it was he was unawares as he began his desent his mind lost in dreams. Dreams that would shortly save his life as he plumeted to the world below.

*****

The silver eyed Akalaka Ethaefal opened his eyes to the morning sun. Underneath his naked back he could feel the gentle cares as quarts and other grains of rocks moved gentle. It was almost tickling sensation. It had been so long since last he had felt the sensations of the physical. As the pleasent sensation of the sand brushing against his skin began to register so to did other sensations that his physcy had been keeping at bay began to crash over him.

He arched in pain as his muscles spasimed briefly from the shock. His body was then racked by coughing as the last of the sea water came gushing from his lungs. He had been ripped out of his gods realms and cast to the world below. The shock of the water against his body registered. The desperete swim to the surface. All of it came crashing in on a mind that hadn't felt anything in so long, and had forgoten about pain as anything more then something the mortals suffered.

Now He was a mortal again.

After the intial spasm of pain he gritted his teeth and focused. He couldn't give into the pain. He hadn't accended to the heavens because he was weak, nor a push over. His will was strong, and he would survive. He knew that if he let the pain win, and let himself cry he would be lost. He couldn't yet face his loss. He would be undone if he face that reality. So he pushed back the burning of his mucles, and the tightness in his throat. He would not yet acknowledge them.

Instead he focused on his surronding. It was then that he noticed the change. His pale raident skin had been replaced by a beautiful colbalt blue. It was only then that he realized his memories were ashamble. Glimps came from his many lives, but two things seemed to surface instantly. First his celestial name, sacred and unprouncable on this plane, and secondly the name he had once born when had previously been upon this plane of excistant. Taithrosa Eldytia.

He focused on that memory. It was something clear and concreate, it held the wash of tangled memories at bay. He had once been Taithrosa Eldytia, an Akalaka. Strong with blue skin exactly like his current color.

He stood, his knees wabbled underneath him as he placed weight upon them, but after that first uncertian moment they held. His strong mucles still remembered how to function even after his time in that beloved other world. He could feel those mortal memories of walking, breathing and others activities so common to mortal excistances come to his mind. It was another easy memory to face. He breathed slowlly, he stretched his defined legs and walked up and down the beach. Always breathing, listening to that soothing sound as he walked back and forth. He flexed his fingures gaining comfort from there simple movements. Stooping he picked up some grains of sands. They were memories he could handle. Memories of activities all mortals taught their children. Memories he had when he had been taught these activities over and over.

It was a while before Taith looked around him and began to wonder what he should do. He was alone, naked on beach just below a cliff face. He looked up, and raised a thick eyebrow. Memories of how to climb came back to him, but he desided against that activity. His body was still to new, and his confidence wasn't that high. He turned instead north. His ears had told him that sound came from that direction.

He really didn't know what lay to the north, but it was something, and Taith new that he would have to move, would have to do something, or his loss would begin to over take him. No he wouldn't allow that. He had to live and survive. Calm was what was required, calm with action.

[Charon]

The sun beat down as Taith slowly acclimated to his new surroundings. The beautifully clear water, the rolling waves, the bright sun and light clouds, the green plants and rocky cliffs stretching toward the blue sky- it was all so much to take in and it was all so serene. But not even the serenity of Riverfall and the surrounding area with its lush flora and lively fauna could compare to that environment from which he had fallen.

The sand Taith scooped into his hands fell through his fingers and disappeared from his hand. It was warmed from the sunlight and as the grains slipped away they left a lingering warm impression upon his palm for a few moments longer. This sensation, accompanied by the warm sand on his feet, the breeze flowing through his black hair and the smell of sea salt and nature brought images to the Akalak's mind in subtle flashes. Though these pictures were incoherent and within his subconscious, it allowed Taith to experience a sort of familiarity as he watched the thousands of grains of sand formed coarse veils of falling pieces of life.

The new Akalak was wise not to attempt a climb. It had been so long since he had last walked the face of his new world and risking a mis-step or less than sturdy grip would end his life just as quickly as this one began. Instead he decided to wander north toward the distant sound- something was drawing him that way and he only had two directions he could take. The cliff was a decidedly bad idea and after his midnight fall the ocean would seem like an unlikely option as well. He pushed the sand away below his feet and started plodding his way toward the subtle beacon calling toward him.

He walked for chime after chime. The breeze rolled off the water and receded with the retreating waves effortlessly. Some portions of the beach showcased collections of shells, washed up sea life and became more littered with rocks as the cliffs on his opposite side rose higher and higher. The cliffs were soon at least a thousand feet tall when the Akalak realized his legs were reaching the point which they could not continue at the same pace. About this same time, a feeling of emptiness was causing an internal pain in Taith's stomach. He was feeling tired and lacked the strength to keep going partly due to the sun wearing him down and partly due to the fact that he had not eaten anything and his body had been through so much. Taithrosa had to rediscover the basics of this new life and his body was pleading with him to be a quick learner.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

The naked Akalak walked down the beach. The sensation of sand on the skin of his new skin was tingle and also painful after a while. His feet were like that of a new babes. They were soft and sensative unused to long walking or the ruff textures of the ground.

His skin also began to feel warmths increase as he walked. He had always dwelt in perfect temepture before and now he was being inandated with the direct heat and light from Syna. Then there was hunger. It was alike a tigure waiting in the bushes, and after a while it had pounced.

Taith looked for some shade provided by the cliffs, some little creaves or something of that nature were he could sit out of the heat for a while. Once finding such a place he began to relax and think about his situation. Energy, food, heat, and thirst. These were all things that mortals did, and the choosen didn't have to worry about. Leth or Syna was enough to fill there energy needs.

This form was mortal though and needed more then just moonlight, especially since any he had consumed last night had been used up in his survival of the fall and the floating to the shore. He pulled his foot up and began to rub it trying to keep them from swelling. As he worked at his feet he looked around trying to determine the best way to obtain food, especially here on the beach away from farm or market. His silver eyes were also looking for water. Trying to remember if the sea water had been salty or not, and were to find clean water.

[Charon]

Taith had been lucky to find shade and a resting place when he did. His body was reaching the point of complete failure and pressing any further would have certainly to rendered him unconscious and potentially injured. Though the spring heat was nowhere near as threatening or prominent as the temperatures during the summer season, the new mortal skin of the Ethaefal could easily be burned and could not endure the constant battering the sun served him.

Finding a fallen log nestled among the tree-line and out of the direct sunlight, the nude Akalak halfway collapsed as he sat down. His knees and legs immediately started to throb with the blood that was rushing through them now that he gave them the opportunity to rest. As he sat, chest heaving as his lungs worked in overdrive mode, sweat that had beaded on his brow slowly rolled into his eyes and stung the corners before he could blink them away. His gaze was set on the easing waves as the slowly and rhythmically rolled toward and away from the beach. Each time a wave came to shore it would deposit some grass and a couple small fish onto the beach. Their stay was typically short lived, however, as the next waves gathered the deposits up and drug them back toward the vast waters where they would either find their way into the Suvan currents or would return to the shore later.

Next to Taithrosa was a small stirring noise in the undergrowth of the green bushes and trees that were providing the shade his body so badly needed. He turned his head and saw a small blue and gray bird picking up twigs and darting his gaze around in search for more resources apparently for use in constructing a nest. Behind him, however, was another even more faint sound that was caused by a four legged, brown furry creature apparently trying its luck at sneaking up on the bird. It was slowly plodding along, carefully deciding where to place each step and waiting for the right moment.

All of these things seemed to be happening with or without Taithrosa there. The feeling was sort of surreal and also alienating. There were so many things to take in and so many lessons to be learned through observation and action. Interrupting these thoughts was the feeling of hunger rising up again in the pit of his stomach. Something certainly needed to be done about that...

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

He sat in the shade allowing his skin to cool down, his legs to rest from the travel. He had spent so long among the immortal that the mortal needs were a trial in and of themselves. He ran his hand along the skin of his legs, feeling muscles bunched beneath the skin from there lack of use for of so very long. His long tappered fingures made patterns on his legs as his grey eyes took in the world around him.

He noticed the fish, the grass and the bird with its preditor. He remembered enought of his previous life to understand the need his body was having. He looked trying to figure what would be the easiest food to gather. He leaned forward and stetched out. The muscles his body flexed as sand began to speak in the sun against the dark blue skin.

He looked at the incoming the fish. He watched the pattern trying to determine when would be the best time to capture the fish and the grass. He flexed the muscles in his arms to make sure they would work the way he needed them to. His goal was to wait until the wave came in. The he would wrap his arms around a section with a decent selection of needed nutrients. He was hopeing to have his arms act as a kind of a shifter. Capture the large objects, the fish and the grass, while allowing the water to escape. The he will pull it back out of the waves and to the dryer part of the beach.

He has hopes that he will first be able to nibble on the grasses until some of the fish have died before turning his attention towards some of the critically needed protien.

[Charon]

His body temperature plummeted as he rested in the shade. Not that it was making him too cool, but compared to how he felt even moments before the comparison was glorious. His stomach tumbled over itself and seemed to become louder with every rumble it made as his body desperately screamed for nourishment. Finally catching sight of the bird and the fish and the sea grass washing up from the waters, it was all he could do to figure out his next steps. His mind was still working, so the logic of when to execute his plan was not difficult to think of. After flexing and practicing he went to it, and not a moment too soon.

Upon moving from the shade his stomach growled again but as he concentrated on the ebb and flow of the tide his nuisance of a hunger subsided long enough for him to put forth the rest of his effort into catching food. Timing his motions as best as he could, he threw his arms around the water trying to trap whatever the tide and fate had decided to bring up this time. As the water flowed back over his arms and pushed the sand away under his elbows, Taith found no grass and only one fish left behind. Struggling to keep up with the last bit of rushing water, the fish squirmed and thrashed about and just before the Akalak could capture it for good another wave rushed in, this time with more force than the last. It knocked the blue man back and the splashes of salted water stung his eyes forcing him to squint and turn away. He lost his fish and his stomach did not approve.

Blinking hard to remove the burning water from his eyes, the Ethaefal prepared to try again. He was too close last time to simply give up. Watching the waves he was able to time his move on the second wave as opposed to the first which would allow him a chance to snare whatever he might catch. Putting his arms out the same as last time, the water rushed away and uncovered a couple long strips of a soft green leafy plant and a small fish that could fit easily in the width of his hand. No more waves were coming, so his plunder belonged solely to him this time.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

Collecting his catch for the day Taithrosa quickly returned to the shade with his catch. He began to eat the sea grass. He ate it slowlly so as not to upset his stomach and loss the precious food. While he chewed on the grass he waited until the fish was finally done flopping around.

He had memories of fish dishes flash through his head, but he didn't have any way of cooking the fish, or even skinning it. Wilderness survival wasn't one of the memories that seemed to come to the forefront of his mind.

After consuming the second leaf. He looked around for a rock that would serve the purpose of cutting the fish open. Once he found one he would slice open the fish down the middle and then pull out the head and spin. Once he was done with that he would place it one a flat rock and then place it in the sun to allow it to vaguly cook, all the while keeping an eye out so that no other creature would take his lunch. Once it was slightly less raw, or proven that the cooking wasn't going to occure he would begin to eat the fish a little at a time.

After he had finished eating he would relax back in the shade allowing his body to rest as he allowed it fall into a nap to recover some of the needed energy. His silver eyes looked over the water before closing to allow his body to regain some needed energy.

[Charon]

Taith carefully consumed the green sea grass. The slow, deliberate pace which he chose to eat the vegetables was a smart decision and showed considerable restraint while his stomach urged him to shove what remained into his mouth to subside his hunger more quickly. The decision was wise, however, and the moderated pace served to pacify his hunger without leaving him hurt and feeling worse in the end.

The fish had stopped writhing well before the second green leaf was finished. Discovering no sharp stones readily available due to the fact that the ocean had worn smooth any rocks near the shore, the Akalak chose the next best choice. He went to cut the fish, and succeeded more in smashing the marine creature to the point where the scales finally parted down the middle. It was not smooth, nor was it very effective, but it served his purposes well enough and he would not starve. Removing as many of the bones as possible, he lay the fish on a rock in the sun while he watched it soak up the rays of the sun for a bit.

With his stomach rumbling again and realizing the fish would take chime after chime in order to do much toward the goal of frying, Taith decided to just go ahead and eat what he had. The meat would certainly not taste as good this way, but those were amenities for somebody more in the position to be picky. Again making the wise decision to take his time with consuming his catch, the Akalak set to work quelling his hunger once again. Though raw, the meat did wonders toward easing the pain from within his stomach when compared to the sea grass he ate first and realizing his body was still not ready to get up and run down the beach, Taith took back his shaded resting place and his body, now satisfied with food, started to relax and shut down in order to recuperate lost energy.

With eyes shutting and breath slowing, Taith's mind was allowed to drift into foreign places only seen so long ago. The setting was the Sea of Grass and he was battling a Glassbeak with two other boys his age. He forgot how he got to that point and the faces of the others were blurred, but the large bird raged and screeched as the feeling of victory overcame him. He remembered smiling and moving with such agile motions and clapping his mates on the back afterwards. The feelings that came to him were happiness and success, certainly not what he had felt before drifting to sleep...

Waking after the quick dream, it seemed like only a chime had passed, yet the sun had just sank below the horizon and beneath the waves casting a deep pink shade into the quickly darkening sky. No critters had bothered him during slumber and he remained where he last lied down, but something was different. Gazing out toward the sunset, his blue legs had changed. His entire body was different and no longer the shade of blue representative of his Akalak form. The Ethaefal was in his more true form for the first time since his fall from above and physically, Taith could not feel more energized.

[Taithrosa Eldytia]

Taithrosa opened his eyes a pleasend and satisfied feeling spreaidn through his whole body. He was no longer tired and he was not longer hungry. His molted silver eyes were happy as he staired at the ocean beyond the sand. He smiled the dream still lingering in his mind.

As he looked he could see his leg and blinked as he realised there was a change. His skin was no longer dark and blue but was now a beautiful white and glowed in the dark. It wasn't a huge light, but it was defently a glow. He sat up and looked over himself. All of his skin had changed to its beautiful shade.

His body was the same other wise and least it appeared so. He was still a large man and his body was just as well defined as it had been in his Akalak form. He stood, his legs strong and his body full of strength. He walked over to the water and looked down. His silver eyes opened wider in surprise as he saw that other changes. His face was basically the same, a few exotic looks at the eyes and such, but the same, The deferances were that his hair had changed from black to a silverish blue color, and he had crystalen horn growing out of his forehead and flowing back along his face.

He knelt down his naked body moving easily and he looked at the image for a long moment. Yes this was the way he should look something told him that, this was they way he should look. He stood back up and looked towards the direction he had been walking wondering what he would see in that direction. Either way he contiuned to walk towards the sound of the falls in the distant. His naked body glowing like a mini version of Leth walking next to the water a light reflecting as he passed.