Star Light, Star Bright (Nephti)

by **Asterope** on November 19th, 2017, 9:05 pm

25th/Autumn/517

Asterope was feeling nostalgic. Such an occurrence was not rare, of course; especially not at such a late hour. Normally she would sit quietly by the window, but a certain restlessness filled her. She sighed softly, pacing her room before finally giving up. She lifted her grey cloak from the chair where she had last left it, fastening it around her neck. In her mortal form, the ends of it just barely brushed the ground.

Navi slumbered peacefully save for the occasional twitch of her nose, laying just beside the bed. Aster opened her mouth to call the mutt, then changed her mind. She didn't feel like company; even that of a dog that couldn't speak. She certainly didn't feel like worrying about whether or not Navi would go running off.

Quietly, she slipped on her boots and hooked her dagger to her belt before leaving. The streets were quiet, and Aster walked slowly, taking her time. The clouds that had obscured the night for the most part suddenly parted, a silvery ray of moonlight falling across here, lighting up her path. She glanced up at Leth, a frown twisting her lips, her brow furrowing. She knew he was beloved by Syna and thus herself also, but she couldn't help the bitterness that filled her throat like poison at the sight of him.

More welcome was the sight of the stars, speckling the sky like shimmering diamonds someone had cast across a wide, endless swath of indigo velvet. Aster hadn't taken the time to simply sit and watch the stars in some time; most of them were unfamiliar, but she spotted the North Star after a few moments of squinting and searching, in a different spot than she was used to. Despite that, it was still the brightest star in the sky.

She had continued to walk while she gazed, a dangerous thing to do in a city such as Alvadas, but when she glanced back down she found that her feet had carried her into a small park with a slight hill in the center, perfect for stargazing. She was surprised for a moment; but then again, she should know better. She had come to learn that just as the city often toyed with one and even frightened or threatened them with its illusions, it also less frequently bestowed gifts.

There was nobody around that she could see; walking to the small hill, not even the height of the surrounding buildings, Aster climbed the shallow slope before sitting at the top and tucking her legs beneath her. The grass was damp beneath her, but she didn't mind. She tilted her head back, staring up at the sky.

Her eyes found the bright point of the Northern Star again; something ancient and distant in her recalled a memory of an afternoon sky still filled with shining lights. The vision flashed in front of her eyes, brief and confusing. How wonderful it would be, if the stars could be seen like that even with Syna high in the sky. Surely nothing more than wishful thinking on her part.

While the stars were so familiar to her in a way that she couldn't explain, more so than they could ever be to any mortal creature no matter how they studied them, Aster felt distant from them. She didn't know them from this angle; she could pinpoint a few of the most basic, but she had trouble tracking their motions and progression in relation to where she stood. She was used to being on the same plane of existence as them, not sitting below them, staring up wistfully.

So lost in contemplation was she, Aster paid no mind to the stiffness growing in her neck, nor her surroundings. If one were to stumble upon the park-like area, they would see a lone figure sitting perfectly still upon the top of the small hill, head tipped back and pale face bathed in moonlight. A strange sight, perhaps even for Alvadas. Deep in thought, it would be easy to approach the red-haired girl without her taking notice.

Word Count: 682

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"

by **Nephti** on November 26th, 2017, 10:09 pm

Nephti moved through the darked streets of Alvadas, lower hands hanging loosely under her cloak and upper hands mindlessly shuffling the cards she held as she walked. Turning yet another corner, she closed her eyes for a split second so she could only see where she was going after the decision was made.

The star lit street glistened with a slight shine from all the houses, but once again, mocked her with no inn in sight. Giving a sigh, but nothing more, as the girl knew not to grow irritated with the city's confusing lay out as it only seemed to make Alvadas enjoy itself even more in the shuffling that made her lost, the girl took a few more steps forward. Then, she decided, it would be more fun to mix it up herself. Still facing in the same direction, the girl took a few steps backwards, careful not to trip over her heels with one pair of arms outstretched to hold her balance.

Remembering the way she had walked (and cheating with a few backward glances), she turned back around the corner, finding herself in the same place that she had started at before she had turned off this street. How boring.

Challenging Ionu in her mind, she called for him to impress her.

Then, determination in her stride, she marched back where she had walked, taking the same path once more.

Now, this time, she didn't get what she was looking for, but that was to be expected. The scenery, however, was a nice change from the streets she had been walking in. Her feet sunk into deep emerald grass, or rather the water soaked moss hidden under it, and her gaze followed the curve of the hill upwards. Where it met the stars, the gentle slope was broken by a figure framed in moonlight.

She sat with perfect elegance and stillness that Nephti couldn't determine if she was alive or just carved from stone, despite the pale skin and red hair that contrasted sharply against each other. Even as the girl climbed the hill, leaning forward with the slope, the stargazer didn't moved, eyes lost within the light above.

Nephti reached out her upper hand delicately, hoping to press it lightly against the woman's shoulder to stir her. As she moved to sit beside her, she spoke, hoping she hadn't disturbed the red-haired woman too much. "May I sit with you? Look at the stars? They are so pretty, I think. You must think it, too?"

As she sat, her hands moved without her asking them too, flipping cards across each other in a smooth, continuous shuffling motion. Despite the ease at which she seemed to move them, a card slipped out, fluttering towards the other woman. It was one bearing a resemblance to Syna, with naked baby riding a white horse in a field of sunflowers. Everything spoke of warmth and enjoyment, but it felt so odd and out of place under the night sky.

"Syna means something to you too, not just the stars?" the girl wondered out loud, hoping for a response, a reason behind the slip.

After all, these cards knew what they were doing, far better than Nephti ever could.

by **Asterope** on December 15th, 2017, 4:25 pm

Aster registered the soft sound of footsteps in her mind, but the sudden gentle press of a hand against her shoulder startled her anyway. She jerked slightly, tearing her gaze away from the night sky and blinking up at the girl who had broken her focus. At first she was irritated, her lips twisting slightly and her brows furrowing; she had wanted to be alone, to indulge and spend the night stargazing with only her own company. She hadn't even brought Navi with her.

But as the woman sat, she spoke kindly, asking permission to join Aster. Her silhouette was disconcerting for a moment before Aster suddenly realized she had three pairs of arms beneath her cloak. Her lips parted in silent awe, her irritation swiftly forgotten. It took a moment to respond, so transfixed was the Eth. "Yes, of course. They're beautiful." Her voice was wistful as she turned to face the Eypharian fully.

A deck of cards was held in one pair of her hands, smoothly shuffling back and forth. The girl seemed at ease with them, hardly focusing on her movements yet still flipping the cards seamlessly until suddenly one slipped from the deck, fluttering to the damp grass just in front of Aster.

She picked it up delicately between her thumb and forefinger, casting a curious glance over it. It was one of the cards she had seen used for fortune telling; a caricature of the sun took up a large portion of the card, the illustration depicting a nude child on the back of a white horse. It was somewhat amusing in the way that things involving children often were. Text at the bottom of the card read 'The Sun'. Ironic.

Aster offered the card back to the mysterious newcomer, blinking slightly as she spoke. She seemed to think it wasn't a coincidence; then again, perhaps it wasn't. "Yes." Aster said, simply, before elaborating slightly. "I consider myself one of her children." She chose her words carefully; she didn't feel right claiming to actually belong to the sun goddess in her current form, nor did she think the stranger would believe her.

Changing the topic, Aster inclined her head towards the deck. "You're a fortune teller, then? I've seen those used before, but I never understood how one could find meaning in cards like that." Not that she disbelieved fortune tellers; quite the opposite, she found it fascinating. Surely it was to be taken with a grain of salt, and one was to be wary of con artists as she had often been told, but it was a fascinating art when one actually had the knack for it. She simply didn't understand it.

She'd heard of others, too, who searched for and found similar meanings in the stars. It was both at once a strange yet familiar concept; the stars had always affected her when she lived alongside Syna, but how could they affect those living so far below them? Perhaps it was something worth investigating, at another time.

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"