Starchilder

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Ilthuryn sits under the stars, his maps spread out in front of him. Below him on the street the glow of houses glints off of his inky black eyes as he pores over the complex web of constellations and lone stars. He looks up, the warm light of candles and street lights being replaced with the pure light of the stars. He is looking for something, something he has been unable to find for too long now.

The roof is not a comfortable space because it is not a very flat space. Ilthuryn has managed to find the one spot that is relatively less steep than the rest but it means he is nestled within a nook of the roof that makes it hard for anyone to see where he could be. But the note he had sent to a young tiefling druid two months ago gave instructions to find him on the roof of the Hung Rabbit and that is why he hears a small whine followed by a soft yip coming from the trees next to the roof.

He smiles and gracefully leaps to his feet and runs to where he heard the yip. In his hand a small glowing orb of light appears, not enough to shed too much light on the area but simply to show his presence.

There’s another small yip and the sound of a branch creaking before another whine.

He spots the creature. A strange, dog-like animal that seems to have fur like a fox but the head in the shape of a dog or a wolf. It’s the eyes that tell him who it is: They have the unmistakable glow of the tiefling druid, Orianna’s.

She is clearly wanting to jump over but isn’t sure she’ll make it on her own. The swoosh of her tail hitting the branch is slight and her ears are down, but she looks ready to pounce.

Ilthuryn squats down on the roof and opens his arms, ready to catch her. Orianna crouches down, hesitates, then takes two quick steps and leaps.

She makes it most of the way across but it’s a good thing Ilthuryn was there with his arms open to catch her. He gets a full face of her chest fur and the scrambling of her paws before she realises he has her. The yip from her sounds grateful.

He carefully drops her down on a more secure part of the roof and moves back to his maps. She carefully follows him over to where he has settled on the roof and only when Orianna feels secure does she shift back into her humanoid form.

“Ah,” she sighs, rolling her shoulders. “My gratitude, Ilthuryn, and my apologies. I went for a late night run through the Dusk Yard when I thought to visit you! I should have chosen a better form for tree climbing.”

Ilthuryn grins and shifts into a black cat.

“Yes, a cat would have been much better, though not as fast for running,” she giggles. “Next time, I will embody the spirit of- the small lion.”

Ilthuryn returns to normal and beckons her over, tapping at one of the maps he seems to have set aside.

Holding her Star Cradle, she carefully steps closer to peer at his map. Orianna lets out a small breath wonder.

“These are exquisite! So much detail on paper. It’s almost like I am looking up at them.” She does just that, looking up to the bright pinpricks of light in the velvety darkness.

The specific map he points to shows a single constellation, a depiction of a scholar, or maybe a librarian. Orianna frowns as she looks down to the specific map Ilthuryn is pointing to.

“That is…” Orianna looks up and then down again then to the wood elf, the question clearly written on her face.

He rolls it up and hands it to her with a grin.

Hesitating slightly, Orianna carefully signs, ‘For me?’

Ilthuryn claps with joy and slowly and clearly signs, ‘Yes.’

‘Thank you,’ she signs, a big smile on her face. Orianna takes the map, unrolling it to look at it again.

“I am still learning,” she adds. “I have memorised most of the basic conversation signs but Professor Oriloki still has yet to teach me more complex ones. I was hoping to have learned everything by the time I saw you again,” a small blush rosing her cheeks as she glances at Ilthuryn, “but with everything going on…”

He nods knowingly. Ilthuryn begins signing again, slowly but expressively as possible.

‘You want to be able to speak with hands?’

Orianna finishes putting the star map away in a scroll case on her side. ‘Yes, I do. With you,’ she signs. Ilthuryn seems to jolt in surprise which makes Orianna flush in slight embarrassment.

“My father instilled in me the importance of learning as many languages as possible so as to better understand different peoples, different cultures. It helps to convey what they try to tell us.” Orianna gestures up to the stars.

‘It is like dancing, but with hands. I like to dance,’ she adds in common sign language.

There’s a slight melancholic pause as Ilthuryn seems to consider something and then shakes his head.

‘So, tell me how you talk to stars?’

Orianna thinks for a moment. ‘I am not sure I can describe with my hands…’

Glancing up, the expression on her face almost looks wistful. Ilthuryn notices the light that normally reflects in Orianna’s eyes is brighter than he’s ever seen it before.

“Not everyone where I’m from can listen to the stars. Those of us who can are kept in high regard, treasured. Many of our leaders are chosen from those of us who can See and Speak with the Cosmos…”

She tucks her cloven feet underneath the soft, off-white linen of her half skirt and leans her horned head against her staff.

“Sorry, thinking about it makes me miss home, because, well… we would always do our divining together. It’s harder for an individual to see the whole picture, you need more… I don’t know if ‘eyes’ is the right word, but… you need more to See the whole. At least, that’s what I’ve been taught.” Orianna glances at Ilthuryn before looking away quickly. “That’s why it surprised them when I Saw so clearly on my own.”

Ilthuryn seems to take a second and begins to slowly sign, but thinks better of it and pulls a spare sheet of paper from the pack he leant against a chimney and begins writing.

You have seen the light of the stars clearly, interpreted their stories and tales, perhaps like me you have been chosen. Or perhaps neither of us have, we are just willing to listen more. Sometimes I wonder why my guardians found me over anyone else, what made me so special, what gave me my gift to hear their advice. Maybe you have had the same thoughts.

Her lips curve down as her brow becomes a pinched line. “‘Chosen’… Another word for special. Isolated. Alone…”

Ilthuryn can read from the slump of Orianna's shoulders and the way she holds on to her staff, curling more into herself, her tail even tucking in tightly, that this conversation is hard for her.

“My father was close to the Cosmos as well. From a young age he had heard Her voice, saw Her visions. I took after my other father — he is a scholar too, you see. We thought I was not blessed by the Cosmos. When it finally happened I-” She stops, the words dying on her lips. Orianna softly clears her throat and tries again. “I suddenly had importance.” She shakes her head. “I was happy to just spend my days in the library. It was solitary work, but it occupied me completely. I loved learning. But the moment I had my first vision I knew the quiet life I had been building was over. I had no choice.”

No choice but to step out into the world and acquire a destiny, have a purpose. Whether you liked it or not.

Orianna nods. Ilthuryn continues to write.

Well, I can understand you there. Unfortunately I didn’t have another life to go back to, and so I have embraced my new position, I have embraced the stars and their guidance. But maybe it is time I thought about who I am.

Orianna signs, ‘What do you mean?’

Ilthuryn sighs and chuckles ever so slightly before putting the pen to paper again.

I am the starchilde, my eyes reflect the heavens. But Ilthuryn was a name I made up, as is my family name. I remember no life before my eyes were blessed with starlight. Maybe I never will, but I think I should at least try and find some sense of normalcy in my life, although my guardians have never told me how.

“You don’t remember… anything?” She sits up a little straighter, unfolding herself. “How did such a thing happen?”

Ilthuryn scowls and writes one word, larger than the rest.

Fey.

Orianna looks at the word, her mind going through anything and everything she may have heard or read in the Grand Archive and Daring Academy.

“I have met some fey since coming to Daring. They were of the Witching Court — diviners like us but of a different kind. I wonder…” She thinks some more. “Do you remember anything about the fey who took your memories?”

Nothing, I remember the child I used to play with. Not their face, or likeness, or voice, but I remember them. I remember I borrowed something, their parents thought I had stolen it and sought vengeance.

“That is…” Orianna shakes her head, confusion and slight anger making her eyes bright again as she looks between the words and the wood elf beside her. She rests her staff against her shoulder and signs, ‘I am so sorry that happened to you. Help you…’ Her hands come to a slow stop as she realises she doesn’t know how to sign the rest of what she wants to say.

“I don’t know much about them, and I do not like to judge the whole based off the actions of one, but if I can help you find this fey who stole from you Ilthuryn, I will.”

He smiles.

The stars are yet to tell me, so perhaps it is not my time to find them yet. Maybe I never will. But thank you, if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know. I do enjoy your company and I would enjoy being able to get out of the city for a bit in aid of a friend.

Orianna blushes, a tentative smile alighting on her lips.

‘I am glad I came tonight. Thank you for listening. And thank you for telling.’

Ilthuryn closes his eyes and beams a dazzling smile.