I got rather inspired and the story sort of just flowed out of me... I'm glad you enjoyed it, Sushi! Thank you so much for the event, I do so love these creative ones
And a huge congratulations to EVERYONE who managed to get an entry in on time... two hours is not a lot and it's admirable for anyone to be able to come up with a story and write it all out in that period of time!
because... babies. EEE
Pristine wrote:
It is said by some Mystics that the stars are simply powerful balls of energy. I think it's merely speculation; I happen to believe otherwise. I've been told by a particular wise, old Samanayr mare that the stars are watchers from far away, desperately yearning to join us in the dance of Life, but generally unable.
She told me that, long ago, the stars used to move more quickly. I know you don't believe me, but she insists the constellations we now know were decided upon based on their various movements. The constellation of the Dance - showing Samanayrs dancing in a ritual circle - was seen actually dancing for several evenings over the span of a week. The constellation of Luck, shaped as the imprint of a Samanayr hoof, galloped across the sky like it had been shod with fire. And the constellation of Mysticism was reportedly seen only by some Mystics, but for an entire year, guiding their lives with symbols and divinations so they became great at their magics.
Now, I take all of this with a grain of salt, but the Samanayr mare did tell me of one more tale of the constellations which had me reconsidering her words. She told me the constellation of Love once lost its Lover! That's right, the stars patterning the male of the Samanayr Lovers simply blinked out.
It is said the female Lover wept for weeks. Shooting stairs trickled down from the heavens and the Lady Lover's stars began to dim. Rumor went around the Samanayr world that the entire sky might go dim, but those fears were quelled as the weeks wore on and no other stars disappeared.
In fact, what was happening was something only a few Mystics heard the whispers of... the Mystics and Elementals aligned with the stars could hear their whispers, and the constellations were in mourning.
The Lady Lover's companion had been old when they had met, but their passion made any divide in age a mere hoofstep. They spent their days as peasants, pleased enough with each others' company to feel no need to spend time away from one another working. Their love was so pure and divine they were given their stars, but the ones that had made up her lover were old. Everyone knew it. And now the Lady Lover was alone. The Dance constellation did not dance, the Play constellation did not play... the Flower constellation wept its petals away for two nights, but renewed itself as is the tendency of nature. Heartfelt words were sent to the Lady Lover, all wishing her to heal herself... but how would she do such a thing? Stars did not appear from nothing... they were made, but she did not know how.
One night several months later, the Lady Lover became bright in the night, and bowed her head gracefully. Her prayers could be heard by any looking to her guidance that night, and they were heard the same across the lands: let me find another Lover. Any who heard her words would be struck by the feeling of deep emptiness behind them, and many a Samanayr wished the best for the Lady, hoping some power might guide her on her path to healing. It was simply unnatural to see her without her mate.
A rare few noticed her disappearance the next night, though many who had felt her plea did let their eyes wander to what they would eventually notice was the empty hole in the sky where the Lady once was. The night was almost imperceptibly darker... but the loss of the Lady was easily felt, as any who turned their eyes to the dark sapphire depths of the nighttime sky would eventually notice the shadowy patch of nothingness where she used to lay. They would say a prayer that a cloud was simply passing... and then say another prayer when it was clearly not the case. She was gone, then, for many months.
All began to despair the Lady had perished without her mate. However, the truth was that she had been granted departure from the Heavens to pursue a new Lover. Her starstuff gathered itself and materialized as a Samanayr here, among us, so many years ago. The old Samanayr mare could not explain this to me, but sightings of the all-white mare do exist in the history...
The Lady Lover traveled the lands tirelessly, her pale hide glowing into the night and guiding her sleepless and driven journey. She rarely stopped to eat or drink, looking always to the next potential male. But none of the males felt right; none of them felt like they would be the perfect fit as the other half of her constellation. What was more, most of them did not seem ready to retire to the Heavens. If she was truly here to pick a mate, he would be leaving for decades, maybe millennia...
Every day her search was fruitless she became less hopeful, but every day her heart healed from her loss. With each new experience in the world she'd looked down on for so long, her troubles began to fall by the wayside. She began to stop her search for her mate, wrapped up in the beautiful dance of Life with all of us, and occasionally pairing with a lucky stallion to produce offspring. All of her offspring have a white star or blaze on their forehead. You've seen some Samanayrs with something like that, yes? Almost any Samanayrs with a trace of white on their hide save the Northerns can trace it back to Her. That's what the Samanayr mare says, anyway.
The more the Lady Lover became caught up in the life around her, doing the things she enjoyed, the more she made friends, acquaintances... and eventually she met a handsome, pale yellow stallion whose piercing blue eyes captured her the moment they made contact with her own. She wasn't aware of it at first, but with more time came familiarity, until one day the two Lovers were sitting beneath the stars, quiet, reveling in one another's company.
"I love you," her stallion said, the words escaping him quickly as though he could not stop them. Her heart quickened, thrilled at the sound of the word, one he had not said to her before. She paused... but not for long. She felt more sure of this than she had of anything since her late Lover. It was a new, different feeling, and yet she could tell it was familiar, as well. Tears hung on her eyelashes as she took a breath, began to return the words...
... but all-of-a-sudden their bodies were fading out. She felt her awareness expanding even as her white body began to shatter, scatter, turn to mist, evaporate like a million tiny particles on the warm night's wind. She saw it happening to her new Lover, felt his closeness to her, his mix of fear and excitement. She reassured him, as the world got smaller behind them, but their sight was not limited by it. Their forms flew, corkscrewing through the universe, thrust forward by an unknown but unquestionable power.
That night there was a burst of light in the sky. The forms of two Samanayrs, laying beside one another, their hooves touching, a gaze of eternal love twinkling as a milky trail between their eye-stars, hers a brilliant white and his a striking pale blue, leapt into the sky like a spray of fireworks, lighting the night into day, if only briefly.
The other constellations rejoiced, and with the sky returned to normal, the memory faded. It's told as a sort of fairy tale, now, but it's said one day, the Lady Lover will fade, herself. If the old Samanayr mare was right, then the Lady Lover has lived a long and enriched life, at her second Lover's side... but it will end as all must. It is said, then, the Lord Lover will weep, he will flicker in the night, he will fade, and find himself a new Lady Lover, with the knowledge that he need not search... he need only let Life wash over him and the Lady show when she may, as she always would. When you love and live your Life fully, you will always have friends and Lovers at your side.
Hard to believe it, I know, but it feels... right, wouldn't you say?
The mare asked if I wanted to hear any stories of the other constellations, but her entire story had left me breathless enough that I simply thanked her and said I'd be on my way. Before I left, though, the old Samanyr mare told me this event could happen any day, so take a look up at the stars once in a while... you might just see it!
And a huge congratulations to EVERYONE who managed to get an entry in on time... two hours is not a lot and it's admirable for anyone to be able to come up with a story and write it all out in that period of time!