[Flashback] Under Star and Under Moon

[Veldrys]

„There is no need to apologize“, Veldrys calmly replied. „You aren’t butchering my language that much. I’ve heard worse. You are giving your best, and with practice you will improve. Maybe you can tell me a few phrases in Lhavitian in exchange for my attempt to teach you Symenos. I have found that my knowledge of Lhavitian is poor at best.“ He smiled apologetically, embarrassed at his own lack of knowledge. Veldrys could ask for directions in Lhavitian and greet people. He also knew about a dozen insults involving Symenestra – because they had all been thrown at him sometimes – but that was it. At this point in time Veldrys was unfortunately not able to hold a halfway normal conversation in Lhavitian. He was glad that Seven seemed to have just decided to ignore his question and not talk about his venom and the matter of love anymore, and he allowed himself to relax a bit. „I would love to“, he replied as Seven asked him if he wanted to take a walk. He was a little uncomfortable because he’d been sitting so long. It would be good to move a bit. „You need to lead the way however. I’m still largely unfamiliar with Lhavit and don’t know most of the nicer spots in the city.“ „The Shinya?“ he asked and furrowed his brow as if something about the word irritated him. „They wouldn’t confront us without a reason, would they?“ For a moment he looked worried. Of course he knew of the protectors of Lhavit. He’d heard that they could be quite brutal if provoked, but would they cause a stranger problems? In all his time on the surface he had never been physically harmed or gotten in trouble with the authorities, and he would prefer if it stayed that way.

[Seven Xu]

"No." Seven shook his head with an assuring smile before motioning for Veldrys to follow. "Shinya guards are just a little wary of Symenestra and Zith, of course, with good reason." A nod, then Seven would slide his hands into the pockets of his fitted trousers, taking on a more casual posture as they exited the pavilion and out into the thin, cool mountain air that surrounded a winding, lavish skyglass bridge that hugged the pavilion's courtyard. It was abandoned. Seven looked skywards as he walked, up at the vaulted ceiling, the stars, the skyglass structures around them. It was all so beautiful and often he took advantage of that. "I always get stern looks from them." He smiled so matter-of-factly it was hard to tell whether or not it bothered him at all.

"Lhavitian is not a necessarily difficult language to learn orally, the alphabet on the other hand is large and even growing up here I do not know every symbol's meaning." Seven admitted, checking over his shoulder momentarily to examine Veldrys. "It also sounds far nicer than Common, in my opinion. Generally more formal." Veldrys was so graceful when he walked, as if every step was carefully taken and he seemed to move in complete silence unlike Seven whose steps carried weight. So dainty, like the man was made of skyglass himself. It was almost beautiful in a way. A blush colored his cheeks and he snapped his attention back to the bridge ahead.

"We have folk songs children often sing at festivals." Seven murmured, one hand sliding out of his pocket to scratch the back of his head. He wasn't the best singer, perfect pitch was not something he was blessed with, though he could carry a tune. The Lhavitian flowed from his lips like silk as he stumbled to remember a song praising Zintila.

"The sky is changing color,
And the spring star fruit is sweet
Zintila’s hair is so long
It touches the ground!"

Seven seemed frustrated that he couldn't remember the rest of the song, and even more so that he had actually burst into song in front of Veldrys. A furious blush stained his face and crept down his neck as a nervous laugh burst from his stomach. "I apologize for making you listen to that." Idly, he peered downward into the darkness of the span they were traversing, wondering how much it would hurt if he threw himself over the edge to escape such a mortifying situation.

[Veldrys]

„Zith?“ Veldrys repeated. „Have you ever seen a Zith, Seven?“ Symenestra were, in most cases at least, comparatively civilized people. They valued art, and they loved creating beautiful things. Peaceful trades, such as weaving, were highly regarded among them. The Harvest was only one aspect of their culture. He didn’t think the same could be said of Zith however. He had never heard of a Zith weaver for example, of a peaceful, friendly Zith that studied at a university and tried his best to adjust to a life among humans. Zith were, as far as Veldrys was concerned, violent winged monstrosities that were beyond redemption. „You don’t seem to be particularly bothered by those stern looks“, Veldrys remarked. He didn’t think he would have been indifferent towards them if he had been in Seven’s place. Again he observed that the boy who looked so weak and fragile on the outside seemed to possess a certain inner strength. „How many symbols does the Lhavitian alphabet have?“ he then wanted to know as the conversaion turned to matters of language again. „My own language doesn’t possess such a large number of symbols. If you decided to learn to write it, you would probably master it relatively quickly.“ He was unaware of the way that Seven watched him, but almost completely focused on the things the young mixed blood told him. He didn’t understand the song that Seven sang, but he found it beautiful nevertheless. „It wasn’t bad at all“, he remarked as Seven apologized for making him listen to it. „You have a good voice, and you can carry a tune. I’m a much worse singer than you are. In fact singing is one of those things that I will never be good at. If you don’t mind, would you sing another song for me? I’ve never listened to a song in Lhavitian before.“ As he waited for Seven’s answer, the Symenestra looked up, at the skyglass structures, once more amazed by the architectural masterpieces that surrounded them.

[Seven Xu]

"A Zith? No, never." Seven replied calmly with a spark of interest in his scarlet eyes when Veldrys had asked rather seriously if he had ever seen a Zith. As far as he knew, they were just as deplorable to the people of Lhavit as the Symenestra. It didn't much matter how refined they actually were. As they walked, a figure in flowing orange-yellow robes passed them. Seven stepped gingerly out of the way, giving the older man a wide breadth and bowing his head respectfully as their paths crossed. The half-blood gained the same polite gesture from the stranger, though the polite expression melted into a frown as he shuffled quickly out of their way upon inspection of Seven's company. Moments passed as they continued down a deep staircase and the vaulted ceilings gave way to the open night's sky.

"You learn to ignore them after a while," Seven explained as he continued to smile wide. He was clearly proud of his city, despite the fact that fate seemed to have misplaced him there. "Besides, look around. Is this not absolutely breathtaking?" Their conversation shifted again, back towards Lhavitian. How many symbols does the Lhavitian alphabet have? "Oh, too many to count." A pause, "Well, I'm sure somebody has counted them."

Seven's careful steps took him from the foot of the staircase to a small courtyard surrounded by flowering fruit trees. He fell to his knees before throwing his body into the lush, short grass and he settled into a comfortable position on his back to stare skywards. When Veldrys asked to hear another song, Seven's cheeks turned a bashful color of rose and he tilted his head sideways to look at the Symenestra. "You actually think I'm any good?" He wasn't terrible, but Veldrys' compliments seemed to embellish his meager talent. On the other hand, how could he turn down such a charming request? Clearing his throat, Seven's eyes went to Leth's star-spattered sky once again. This allowed him to calm his racing mind as his lips parted and he broke into another lofty melody in a language Veldrys could barely understand.

[Veldrys]

„It is breathtaking“, Veldrys agreed. He stopped for a moment to take a closer look at the buildings that surrounded them, at those veritable works of art. Even if he returned to Kalinor, even if he never visited Lhavit again, he would always remember the way that the city looked at night. It was one of those things that were impossible to forget. „It almost makes up for whatever unpleasant reactions you get from the humans.“ „It isn’t important“, he remarked as Seven was unable to tell him the number of symbols that his language used. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. „I was merely curious.“ He followed the halfblood up the staircase, to the courtyard, looking at the fruit trees for a few moments. „Did you know that there are no plants in Kalinor?“ he asked as he touched one of the trees. He briefly considered picking a fruit, but then decided against it, worried that the people of Lhavit might have a problem with it or even consider it a crime. „Hardly anything grows there. I was only a few years younger than you are now when I saw my first tree.“ With that he sat down in the grass next to Seven. Unlike at the beginning of their meeting, he had no problems being close to the halfblood anymore. He wasn’t worried that his taint would rub off on him anymore. In a way Seven was just like him, despite the obvious differences in appearance. „You aren’t bad. I’m not the best person to judge the talent of a singer, but I liked your song.“ As Seven sang another song, the Symenestra closed his eyes so that he could concentrate on it better. „Was that Lhavitian again?“ he wanted to know. „What was it about?“

[Seven Xu]

"It was Lhavitian! Another ode to one of Zintila's many festivals," Seven grinned playfully as he finished the song and opened his eyes again. He was thrilled to see that Veldrys seemed to have broken down his personal barrier and was now sitting right beside the reclined half-blood. "But, many songs are really. That was our Midwinter's festival song. It was about celebrating shorter nights and the prospect of longer days filled with life." The embarrassment of actually singing in front of someone else rather then humming a tune alone in a bath had melted away. Seven sat up slowly, brushing grass from his silvery locks as he turned his head sideways to look at Veldrys.

"No plants at all?" He seemed shocked as his brows raised. "I suppose no sunlight means no plants. When you think about that, it is not that surprising." A nod, before Seven rested his chin on his palm. He could not imagine growing up in a place where there were no trees to bear sweet fruit or plants to grow starchy root vegetables, a staple of his diet. Then again, he could not bear the thought of living in a place where Leth's moon didn't kiss your cheeks in his cool light or a blanket of stars put on their show every night.

"Veldrys," Seven straightened his back and cleared his throat. "When I approached you in the pavilion. That was a drawing in your hands, wasn't it?" The question had been eating away at Seven's curiosity for some time now. Not only was it a drawing, but the flash of charcoal and parchment he managed to catch in his peripherals revealed something far more familiar. Crimson irises flashed as they met Veldrys' velvety gaze, a playful smile tugging at his lips. This man was no longer a curious stranger. No, he shared something with Seven that not long ago had been a subject of taboo. A line of blood the youth was not allowed to speak of. Deep down, Seven even dared to think of Veldrys as a friend.

[Veldrys]

„Zintila is the goddess of Stars, isn’t she?“ Veldrys asked. He didn’t know much about her and her tragic story, about how she had fallen to Mizahar during the Valterrian, but he was aware that she sometimes walked among her people. He found that circumstance fascinating. Viratas usually didn’t walk among the people of Kalinor, but tended to only contact those that bore his mark, at least as far as he knew. „In Kalinor we celebrate different festivals. We have none to mark the passing of the seasons, but we celebrate Viratas, the moths that produce silk for us, successful hunts ...“ He stopped here. Many of the festivals of the Symenestra were also centered around the Harvest and the arrival of new surrogates in Kalinor. They were celebration of love and life, and the surrogates were treated as if the were the most valuable things in the world, but participating in them had always left a somewhat bitter taste in Veldrys‘ mouth. He was all too aware of the dark things that happened below the surface. „No, it’s not that surprising“, he agreed and laughed a little, the Harvest festivals forgotten again. As Seven adressed him with his name, the Symenestra looked at him. „A drawing? Yes, I was making a drawing. I was trying to draw the sky above Lhavit, so that I would have a way to remember it when I return to the underground. Would you like to see it?“ He handed Seven the other book he carried with him, his notebook. It didn’t only contain a few drawings, but also notes about his experiences on the surface, all written in an elegant handwriting that was unfortunately impossible for Seven to read.

[Seven Xu]

Seven's eyes lit up as Veldrys handed him the notebook. The writing scrawled along the pages inside reminded him of the language in the Viratassa. He was curious as to what the writing meant, though made sure not to linger on one page too long in fear of looking nosy. As he flipped through the notebook, he finally found the last page Veldrys had used. Not bad. Seven's brows raised in surprise, a finger sliding gingerly across the page. "You nailed the major constellations." Not only that, there were stars included in the unfinished work that were dim, unable to be seen by the naked human eye. Seven's smile grew and he tried to remember whether or not he had mentioned his own passion for drawing objects in the sky. "I try to point out stars to my sisters sometimes, they claim I can see them more easily than they can. You are different, though. You see what I see."

Seven turned and locked eyes with Veldrys to illustrate his last thought. The Symenestra wasn't bad to look at - no, in fact he was rather alluring. If Seven were a bolder man he may have tested the boundaries of their meeting. He had already admitted his fears and desires to the man and he hadn't recoiled. Fortunately, Seven was a coward. His eyes found a particularly uninteresting knot on the thin fruit tree behind Veldrys' head to stare at instead, in an attempt to absolve the awkward stare. "You know, this is pretty much all I do." His head dropped again and his fingers pressed to Veldrys' drawing. There was a passion in his voice not yet heard by the Symenestra. "I started a couple of years ago. I started mapping little things like my house, the pavilion, and different peaks... and then I set my eyes on the sky, something entirely different, and never really looked back." A nod, "Did you know that the sky changes with the seasons? Not right away, of course but gradually. The summer stars are different from the winter stars."

Veldrys' notebook had nearly made him forget the man's previous question regarding Zintila. "And yes, Zintila is the goddess of the stars. Well. She is an Alvina, now." Seven closed the notebook slowly, laying on his back again to take in the glorious sky. "She used to be powerful, and she reigned over the night sky before the Valterrian. But, she fell from the sky and sacrificed her power to save her mother's life." Seven paused, knees bending as he hugged the notebook to his chest. Then he sighed. "She isn't even upset about it, she did what she had to do to save Semele and that was that."

The story of Zintila seemed to hit a soft spot in Seven, because soon after he explained her fall from grace he went quiet, complacently staring at stars that filled his unblinking crimson stare.

[Veldrys]

„Maybe only people like us can see the stars like that“, Veldrys remarked. He didn’t explain Seven what „like us“ meant, whether he meant the fact that the had both Symenestra blood, that he’d finally given up his prejudice and acknowledged that they had something in common, or whether it was another, more spiritual quality that they both shared. „I’m going to take the notebook home with me, so that I can show the drawing to my little sister. She has never been to Lhavit, and it is unlikely that she will ever leave Kalinor.“ Would he ever leave Kalinor again when he returned? He had a duty to his Web, but to think that he would never return to Lhavit again, that he would never sit here again and simply stare at the sky, that he would live and die underground, apart from the rare occasions when he went on a hunt or was forced to take part in a Harvest ... „I had no idea that the sky changes with the seasons“, he admitted as Seven began to speak again. He noticed a passion in the halfblood’s voice that hadn’t been there before. „Don’t forget, I was born underground and spent most of my life there. The stars don’t matter to my people as much as they do to you, and thus I never learned. I only know that this here ...“ He gestured at the sky above them. „... is beautiful.“ „It is admirable that she was willing to sacrifice her power“, he remarked. Veldrys wasn’t willing to sacrifice himself for anybody. He didn’t want to give his life or his power for anybody. He wasn’t brave enough – or foolish enough. He couldn’t bear being powerless and weak, suffering, or worse yet, being dead, not knowing whether those that he saved really appreciated what he had done for them. „Maybe that is what separates the gods – and the Alvina – from us, the willingness to do whatever it takes.“ With that he finally lay down in the grass as well so that he could see the stars better, staring up at them as if he thought that they could answer the many questions that were on his mind.

[Seven Xu]

Seven perked at the mention of a sibling. "I have two younger sisters, myself. Three years younger - er, two years and three seasons." The half-blood rolled his eyes as the sharp, correcting tone of O'Ren rang in his head. She had a way of keeping him in line despite their age difference. "They are twins. Human, they are my half-sisters." Seven felt the need to mention before it was asked. "They are not overly interested in the stars, though. I suppose it is easy to take such things for granted when you see them every night." Admittedly, Seven had done the same for most of his life. It took someone like Veldrys, a foreigner, to really understand how glorious the floating city of stars really was.

Silence rushed to Seven's ears again as he fell quiet. Zintila's story had distracted his libido long enough to haul his soul-searching leer from Veldrys, but when the Symenestra laid in the grass beside him, so close his warmth could be felt as shoulders brushed that nerve returned. "Veldrys." Seven's ragged voice barely registered as a whisper as a bold forward shift in his position found his lithe fingers grasping for the other teen's palm. Heart in his throat, Seven forced himself to continue; if he recoiled early he'd never know - not to mention the embarrassment he'd suffer would likely end the encounter abruptly. Inexperience made the half-blood flighty in his abrupt movements, ready to haul away at the first sign of discomfort from the other.

His fingers slid across Veldrys' palm and entwined with those of the Symenestra. His skin was warm and while Seven tried to curb the urge to experience more of it, curiosity took over, momentarily breaking the contact to shift from his back to his side. His upper body was propped on one elbow as he loomed over the reclining Symenestra, crimson stare wide and glassy. They seemed to reflect anything that encompassed his sight, which at the moment was the pale visage of Veldrys. Seven felt the need to say something, to ask permission to sate his curiosity, but nothing came from his mouth, parted and pale. Would his venom hurt? Would this put an end to a blossoming friendship? It was too late to go back now, he had already made his intentions clear when he reached over to feel Veldrys' hand.

Seven swore he could hear his thumping heart between them as the space between them grew smaller. As Veldrys exhaled, Seven inhaled the warm breath. Blood rushed through his ears and his lids grew heavy as he continued his descent. Nothing was stopping the Symenestra from simply pushing the other away, or attacking with venom and claw in a violent rejection of Seven's advances. Seven's silvery hair fell air-light across Veldrys' forehead and seemed to caress his face - but then, Seven stopped. A thumb's width apart, his pale lips halted their advance and he forced himself to re-open his eyes. Hot breath traded between them as their chests rose and fell.

"I'm sorry."