Keirthana: The Origin of Stars *FINISHED*

The Dark and the Light

As the lights grew, the Darkness grew with them, its clawed grip tightening with each second of drunken power. But little did the Darkness know that each time it grew stronger, part of it shredded away and was carried on the winds to the minds of the Rose and the Plumeria. His fractures came to them as dreams, dreams they shared despite their distance. They would see themselves standing in front of one another, their bodies glowing and raining stardust into a void below. They would dream of being sliced in half, each side of themselves watching the other fall. They dreamt the smiles and tears. They dreamt in light and dark.

But sadly, that's what they were to them. Just dreams.

The boy was raised by the fur-trader, who taught him how to hunt, kill, and skin the creatures of the East, but most importantly, the trader taught him about business. Money, trade agreements, contracts, loans, and alliances were pressed into Keir's head, and he was on his way to becoming a fine businessman. The falcon was always a reminder though. A reminder that he was different, special. It wasn't every day a pale, pearlescent, sharp-eyed boy was born from a diamond rose.

He still had his thorns, now crafted as two long daggers he used for hunting. The falcon often came with him on the hunt. One day Keir asked, "Why do you follow me, like some protector? I'm not a broken little tyke anymore, bird." The falcon simply bowed its head and peered into Keir's see-through eyes. The bird said nothing, but his gaze had a language of its own order. I am your protector. I will lead you, and you will follow.

The girl stayed with the old fisherwoman and learned the craft well. She enjoyed the water, the way the waves spoke to her in nothing but movement. She would try to imitate the waves' dances at town festivals, and many of the children were so awestruck with the sliver-haired girl dancing like water that they believed she was a mermaid. She admired their imagination, their purity. It was something she hoped would strengthen her.

She never told anyone about the dreams, not even the fisherwoman, not even when the Darkness became darker and the sun slept more and more and more each year. But Kani knew. She didn't know how she'd known, but that little crab understood her the way she understood the ocean. She would wake from the dreams, shaking, no mater if the dream was good or bad. All she'd have to do was look at Kani. I understand. Just follow the path I show you. Like an ocean current, let me pull you.

•○•

The trade festival arrived. It happened once a year, and both Keir and Thana's masters deemed them ready to go this year. The traders, merchants, businessmen, and artisans gathered in the center between the East and West. Keir traveled with his Falcon and a stall packed with assorted furs, while Thana and Kani arrived with a cart of seafood and pearls. They each went about their day, selling their wares until the roiling Darkness above them began to ripple.

And tremble. And thunder.

The world seemed to freeze. All eyes were on the slowly descending tendrils of blackness coming from the sky. The thunder sounded like laughter. Insidious laughter.

•○•

A falcon's cry rang out alongside a human one as a tendril latched around a man's leg. Thana was bolting toward him before she knew why. She shoved past the crowd and snatched the man's hand just before he was out of reach. The tendril yanked, but Thana held her ground. Then, in a great burst of shimmering light, her own fingers emitted tiny versions of the black tendrils, hers glowing white against the shadows. The tendril hissed and recoiled, dropping the man in a heap before retreating back to the sky. Thana hurriedly turned him over and froze.

He had her same hair color, silvery wisps, his messily strewn about his forehead. The shape of his nose, the build of his skinny body. It was like she was looking in a distorted mirror. Then he opened his eyes.

Colorless, she thought. And bright. The same impossibly pale gray as hers. The same graceful points of their eyes.

The man stood, and they circled each other, slowly, heads tilted like curious birds. They stopped.

"Is... is it really you?" The man asked.

"I think so," Thana replied.

They were silent for a while. They just stood and looked at each other. The dreams. The glowing man she'd seen. This was him.

"I'm Keir," said the man.

"I'm Thana."

•○•

Thana, her name. His name. Part of the half they kept from being split. He reached to her, and she reached back. When they touched, their skin glowed, and the memories formed.

Light and smiles and rain.

That was the beginning.

Darkness and serpents and panthers.

That was now.

The star and the throne it rightly deserves.

That was their end.

The falcon snatched Thana's crab off her shoulder and nuzzled the side of its shell, as if in apology. The bird then used its talon and pierced the top shell of the white crab, pulling out a small leaf of pink quartz. Keir held out his diamond dagger.

"We can't go back the way we came," said Keir.

"No, we can't," said Thana. "But I know what to do."

He nodded. "We both do."

The pair stepped under the darkest part of the sky. They stood with their foreheads touching, their crystal tears streaming down their faces. Thana took the leaf in her left fist, and Keir wrapped his right over it. Keir took the dagger and raised it behind Thana's back, pulling her close.

"Keirthana," they said in unison.

Keir plunged the blade, and it cut through Thana and him both. The wounds exploded in hot white light, blinding the people as the shining pair began to rise, up into the Darkness. The light bubbled through the black as the Darkness burned away, screaming in anguish as light flooded the sky, brighter than the sun itself.

Then, the light erupted. Stardust poured down from every inch of sky, glittering and flickering and hopeful and bright. When the rain cleared, the people below could see not just one star, but thousands. Each one a different hue, but all emitting that same hope.

That same life.

The same brightness as every one of their smiles.