The Smaller Things (Sky: Children of the Light)

Chapter 1: The Sun is too Bright

Early morning. The sun wasn't up yet. Aviary Village was basked in a grey pseudo-light that didn't quite illuminate anything. It was strange, how the world looked before the sun rose. It wasn't like the dark nighttime where the stars and the moon shone a dim light of whatever color the air happened to be.

A Child of Light, who went by the gibberish-derived name of Vionn, had emerged from a small hut where other Skykids would be resting. Plenty of others got up as early as they did, so Vionn wasn't technically alone, but they sometimes felt like they were the only one who could understand themself.

Vionn's crescent shaped pendant hang dangling from their dark blue tunic's collar. It made a pleasant jingle whenever there was wind, but today was still, so it was silent. Vionn damped their silvery-white hair and combed out the tangles that annoyingly formed overnight. It looked a bit longer today. Adjusting the straps of their turtle-shaped cape (which they had worn since they were a moth), Vionn stepped out into the early morning and felt the cold, crisp air flow in.

Only a few stars left in the sky. Venus, the brightest, Jupiter, and a star that the grownups called Ruchbah. Walking down a dirt path that lead through a hole in a stone hill, and to a clearing which housed portals to all the realms, Vionn watched as groups of two or three Skykids chatted happily as they sat near a patch of grass near the Vault of Knowledge's entrance portal.

"Did you hear," a Skykid said to another, "some crabs aren't hostile. It's just the ones with dark spots on them!" Whilst those two chatted among similar topics, the sun began peeking over the clouds, breathing color into the village as the children looked at the brightness in awe.

Vionn squinted. The glare of the sun and how it made everything it touched glow with an almost aggressive energy tended to hurt their eyes. Still, it was a sight to see the transition of bleak grey things into their more colorful counterparts.

Their immediate attention was drawn to a pleasant melody towards the center of a clearing. A Skykid donning a mongoose-reminiscent mask and a sleek red cape was playing a tune on a portable piano. Notes of sharp, middle, and minor resonated through the area.

Vionn quietly appreciated this Skykid's mastery of music as the sun fully illuminated the clearing. They weren't squinting anymore, as their eyes had adjusted to the light.