Memory Fragments: Probity

Star-hunting Hounds

Once there was a pair of pale-skinned guardians who wore green and black clothes
Their job was to protect the stars from being hunted. Be it by robbers or hounders
There were the canine duo of Cu Chulainn and Scathach. Both marked by oaths
"May wind of shadow cloak us. Gaé Bulg aims ever true, defending Tokavaig's founders"

They both lived in a nebulous region of Tokavaig called "The Fortress of Shadows"
A place where stars were born from shadows and trained by Scathach to light and guide
This place used the black hole Gaé Bulg as a training tool. From which the stars rose
Being able to escape Gaé Bulg, a star was deemed a celestial hound. A warrior true and tried

Those who could not, however, were trapped inside there. In a shadowy killer of dogs
Cu was tasked with killing the failures out of mercy. But only if they lost in a duel against him
Cu transformed the Gaé Bulg into a Quasar spear, a weapon lighted by the dead underdogs
Incapable of missing, Cu always won. Yet Scathach always saw a winning chance, if slim

One day, however, a peculiar star was born. Aoife. A radiant beauty among shadow hounds
She was believed to be Scathach's long lost daughter. Trapped since Gaé Bulg's beginning
Cu soon intended to duel her and prove her, but Scathach claimed a trial by hunting rounds
If she was her sister, she would have no trouble, against her surrogate guard hound, winning

Cu, armed with the transformed Gaé Bulg. And Aoife, armed with Connla's sword
A sword born from her. A weapon she trained with, and nurtured to break any star
Neither Cu nor Aoife could afford to lose. One staked his honor and title, the other, an award
If Aoife lost, she was to wed Cu and bear him a son. If Cu lost, he would be killed by his Quasar

Scathach gathered all her proven warrior stars and scattered them throughout the universe
She gave one year as the time limit for both to hound and kill the most game they could find
But also, she gave warning to both as to not, into foreign hunting star grounds, traverse
The area of Artemis and Orion was the one such field they must not, towards, feel inclined

For Artemis was grieving a fallen star. A body of ordinary birth, yet a light still shinning
Orion was dead long before she knew of it. So she transformed him into a star of stars
Multiple were his hunts on life. And each kill, brightly shone under his belt of hunting
And so, her grounds are sacred. No one can hunt but him. Forever the hunter of her hearts

Both Cu and Aoife knew of this. So they parted ways into the deeps of space on their own
As time passed, both put their hounding to the test. Preying and waiting for the toughest kill
Small game always shone, but they paid no mind to neither child's play nor a star that is alone
Pack hunters they were. Cluster of stars they wanted. Like a black hole, all-in-one for the thrill

And so, cluster after cluster, the stars fell lightless. A bright and warm body, left cold in space
Darker and darker did the universe get; for its sounds do not exist, and so the hunt is silent
It got so dark. So, so dark. Nary a light was left to clearly see the victor of this cosmic chase
All was like the Fortress of Shadows. Invisible thanks to what was perhaps Scathach's intent

Not a start left with which to see. An unseen warrior, deathly and silent. A black hole is born
This was Scathach's true goal. A way to train a suitable replacement for her position as mentor
And yet, all those vagabond bodies were still alive. The starts who shone alone in their mourn
They all sought each other and, soon enough, saw each other's dim light out of the hunt score

These stars knew they were in danger. For a small group would be hunted down eventually
The year was coming to an end, and so the killing would too. They would be safe once again
Yet, they had nowhere to go. Bar sacred ground where no hunter dared trespass confidentially
Artemis's makeshift graveyard was the only place left in where they would not be slain

A virgin star knows no child, yet all are equal under her surrogating motherhood
Artemis, despite her grieving, would take them above her moonstones. Tombs for the fallen
So they went to her. Expecting a warm welcome amidst cosmic tears and a death's falsehood
Yet, no such thing. A dog's grieving spans all four of its limbs. All broken without hug and solen

She was alone in the universe. Her love Orion was long gone, never to be reborn in the void
Cu's and Aoife's hunting made it impossible to gather enough matter to form another star
She sacrificed all of her celestial ground, and yet, it was still a far cry for her heart's avoid
The lonely stars saw this imploding star that was about to release a most hurtful, lightless scar

They saw a moon with no light. Without companion to shine and share the light of life and love
They approached her with the intent of lifting her up, to grieve on high, so tears would fall akin
Akin to a nebulous waterfall, where life is born. "Shed the life you have been holding above"
"We are your stars now and forever. Your motherly protection, a dog's love for its foreign kin"

As the lunar year was closing out, both Cu and Aoife were tied on their respective kill counts
They needed but one more kill to emerged victorious, and so they set out to the sacred ground
Passing through endless darkness, not a single roaming star to be seen. Death by the amounts
These warriors were death-bound. Hunters by birth, the oath of shadow, the one true hound

As they approached the place, both Cu and Aoife set their sight on a single, dim lit star
As they navigated the seemingly endless moonstone tombs, they got closer and closer
As they prepared their weapon to strike, their eyes went black. Blinded by a harrowing scar
As they stopped death on their tracks, Artemis stood bright and strong as their final opposer

A pain, finally let out. Blind grief to a body you never knew? A virgin mother's true light
Having shed the universe itself, Artemis had no light to give before the impending attack
A moon she was, a moon without cause. "Kill me now. In blight he is, so I go as twilight"
"Be it you, or you. I want nothing more. I die in grieving love, returning to my guard dog's pack"

And so she fell dead. The year ended, and the game closed without a determined victor
As both impaled her at the same time and out of mercy. They agreed to a shadowy accord
"Never to hunt a grieving star, for all they want is death. Let the pain guide, and be the inflictor"
"Out of their shadow cloak, their light shines through. Begging mercy, a sound that, for a hunter, is their greatest award"