[Witch]

Mother had always mentioned that nights in the deserts were colder than anyone could imagine such a hot, dry place could have been. As the girl noticed her nose and ear tips had gone a little numb, Witch couldn't help but wonder if desert nights were as cold as the nights Gemini experienced in winter. Even during the day it was chilly, the whipping winds blowing in from the ocean cold enough to keep most beasts away from the seaside. But at night? It was an entirely different kind of cold, unrelenting and digging straight down into the marrow of her bones. She had never been to the desert or witnessed its heat, but the girl wouldn't have minded it at that moment. A shiver curled up her spine, between her shoulder blades and up her neck to the base of her skull.

Some might wonder why the girl was out so late and in such frigid temperatures. They would only have to follow the girl's gaze for the answer, straight upwards into the clear, endless night sky. It was a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight to Witch, the millions of tiny glittering lights dancing billions and billions of miles away in the dark abyss. Sometimes she saw them shooting through the night, bright flashes that burned out quick. Urchin had told she and her siblings that those were shooting stars, and that they could make wishes on them. You mustn't tell anyone what you wished for, otherwise it won't come true, their mother had warned them, and Witch took that warning seriously. Witch had learned, through a lot of trial and error, that that was the case with most of the things her mother said.

Witch had always been curious about shooting stars. Where were they shooting off to? Where had they come from? Why didn't all stars shoot through the sky like shooting stars did? Or.. did they all eventually shoot off somewhere? There were so many questions, and so few available answers. The girl sighed in disappointment and frustration, her warm breath turning to frosty mist as it met the cold night air.

The sound of footfalls on the brittle leaves coating the ground drew Witch's attention. Suddenly somewhat nervous, she stood up, casting her eyes about in the darkness. She had been out in the night for some time by that point, and it had given her eyes ample time to adjust to the low light. The area she was in was large and open, with very little to hide behind; if anyone stepped into the clearing and approached, Witch would easily be able to see them. She wasn't certain she wanted to, though - what if it was some kind of monster? She swallowed thickly, ears falling back. "Hello?" she managed to call, her voice betraying more of her fright than Witch liked.

"You.. you wanna star gaze with me?" the youth asked the darkness around her, holding it together a little better the second time. Hopefully, a friendly face would show up to keep her company.

[Ahsoka]

A h s o k a

#C11B17 * profile

One young girl didn't know any different, for she had been born in the cold. Warm temperatures had yet to grace the young one's features, and perhaps this was a blessing. This was a time of learning, and her active mind made certain to take in any lesson thrown her way, even the immediate lesson of how to adapt to the cold. To her, it seemed as if the land were always this frigid, and so wished for nothing else. Who knows how she would view the summer months, and if they would even be to her liking. For now, however, she would enjoy the freezing temperatures and the bountiful amount of snow that came along with it. Besides, the sparkling snow made it look like there were two skys, each with sparkling, twinkling stars.

By now, it wasn't unusual to see the girl out and about when the stars came out of hiding. She found those specks of light oddly comforting, as well as fascinating. Not to mention the aurora borealis was still fresh in her mind. Scarlet eyes had not been able to tear away from the sky even once during that phenomena, and it only solidified her awe toward the night sky. Dancing, swirling colors set with a backdrop of twinkling stars...how could it get any better than that? The answer was, it couldn't, not to a girl born of stardust.

Her steps were light, yet noticeable on the snow and debris that blanketed the ground. She remained wary of her surroundings, but no bad experiences had befallen her yet, and so she remained confident enough to travel around her home, her mother's domain, on her own. It wasn't that she thought highly of herself considering she was a princess, because that would be far from the truth. Instead, she remained blissfully ignorant of the darkness that plagued this land, and the secrets it held within each crook and crevice....

...For now.

"Hello?"

Ahsoka halted in her tracks. Once hearing the voice, she realized she had been heading right for it. Shoot. Really, Ahsoka? Again? She huffed in mild irritation that she made the same mistake twice. She remembered when she happened upon the scarred female before on accident, and wished to never do it again. Well, not all wishes come true, it seems.

"You.. you wanna star gaze with me?"

And just like that, as if a switched had been flipped, the red girl's ears perked up to their fullest, tail starting to wag in excitement. That frown turned upside down as she made her way out into the open, away from all the underbrush so the other girl could see her fully. Ahsoka's usual shyness and uncertainty instantly dissipated at the other's proposed activity.

"Heya!" she said, greeting the other multi-hued girl with a radiant expression, eyes alight like the stars above their heads. "Golly, I didn't think I'd meet someone else who loves the stars." Meaning, anyone besides her family. "I'd love to star gaze with ya!" Stepping a little closer, she nodded in a polite gesture toward the other girl. "My name's Ahsoka. What's yours?"

ooc: Oh goodness Witch is so cute <3

[sterling.]

 

The bright young boy wandered off from the sleeping pile of puppies carefully. His mother was likely out and about as her hoard of children slept soundlessly in their massive den. No one to catch him. No one to disturb him. Yes, good, he thought. Night provided the best cover for his... games. Activities. They were fun, but some of his siblings didn't agree. So he kept his friends out of sight. More playtime for him! 

He moved as silently as the falling snow toward his makeshift den where he let his friends sleep. They should be so thankful for him, he was giving them a warm and safe place to rest until he returned! The boy began to notice some of his friends were getting too much sleep, never really waking up at all, they.... they were the boring ones! They lost the game! But as the doctor, the conductor, he too lost the game when one of his friends lost. There was no grief over their death, just a pang of anger and disappointment that the silver coated child failed. 

How long can they survive in the cold, limbs strung up on a plank, before they die? What happens after they die? Where do they go? 

These were the unsettling questions that raced through his mind. He was destined to find out eventually through trial and error. How many squirrels and rabbits would die because of his fun little game? He had no qualms. This was a pressing matter of science. 


The long haired boy stuck his head into the hole he carefully carved beneath the maze of roots of a massive tree. The tree was a single blackened skeleton in the open fields around him. He popped his head back out, scanned the area, then snuck back in. Ah! Jerome! He was still faring well, that little devil! A fattened squirrel plucked from his horribly placed nest during hibernation and kidnapped for the experiments of a child. The three others he had strung up to a splintered piece of wood weren't doing so well, and this angered the little boy. " They're weak, Jerome, that's all. They couldn't play the game like you can~ " He realized the incisions may have been too deep on the ones that perished as he gazed at the blood stained snow beneath them all. 

" Damn i- "

"Hello?" 

An unfamiliar voice snapped him out of his little lab and anxiety began to fill his constantly running mind. These were his friends, they were HIS!!! No one else could have them. He looked around the clearing and saw two little girls sitting and watching the sky in the dark. He recognized the babbling younger one as his sister. Great. He approached the two so they wouldn't become suspicious. 

" Thousands of wolves out there, some are destined to like the stars. Common probability. " His long lashes blinked upwards, " Most of these stars are already dead. Light takes millions of years to travel through the sky to get to us. We're just seeing in the past. " He gazed back down to the two, face completely blank. 

" I'm Sterling. That's my sister. " He gestured vaguely to Ahsoka, then glared at Witch with lifeless eyes. 

Nice to meet you!

[Witch]

Thankfully for Witch, what bounded forth out of the darkness wasn't a big scary monster, but another kid! The smile on the other girl's face was infectious, and soon Witch wore her own bright, crooked grin, tail wagging steadily behind her. A friend? Hopefully!

"Heya! Golly, I didn't think I'd meet someone else who loves the stars. I'd love to star gaze with ya!"

Upon hearing that, Witch's wagging grew furious, causing the entire back end of her body to sway from side to side. Finally, someone wanted to stargaze with her!! Momma did it with her whenever Witch asked, sure, but it was different when it was someone new, and someone her own age too! It excited the young starchaser. The red-hued girl introduced herself as 'Ahsoka', prompting her to do the same. "My name's Witch! I'm so happy to have someone to--" she stopped suddenly, aware of the arrival of a silver boy with weird hair. She stared at him, suddenly uneasy; he didn't seem nearly as friendly as Ahsoka did, and without realizing it she drew a little closer to the younger girl.

"Thousands of wolves out there, some are destined to like the stars. Common probability. Most of these stars are already dead. Light takes millions of years to travel through the sky to get to us. We're just seeing in the past."

Wow, Witch thought with a deep frown, what a downer. He mentioned his name and the fact that he was Ahsoka's brother - Witch had a hard time believing such a stick in the mud was Ahsoka's brother, but she didn't argue. She did have something in mind to argue, however, "How do you know?" the starchaser asked, tossing her curly bangs out of her eyes. "Who told you?" She was quite interested in just how it was that he knew all of that information.

Witch had a hard time believing that the stars were dead - but then, it hadn't ever occurred to her that they were exactly alive, either. She had always believed them to be clusters of cosmic flame, burning against the inky black of the night sky. Where they went during the day was a mystery, but eventually the knowledge would find her, or she would find it (or Sterling, apparently a Star Expert, would inform her). She waited for his answer, a little upset that her valuable stargazing - and potential bonding - time had been interrupted.

[Ahsoka]

A h s o k a

#C11B17 * profile

Small tail wagged gently as Witch introduced herself, the excitement and joy obvious in her words. The red toned girl could feel her own excitement about to bubble over. A new friend, and one who also loved the stars! How perfect is that? And it was just happenstance that the two met this night, a clear night, perfect for watching the stars twinkle above their little heads. Or was it happenstance? Could it be something much more, out of their realm of existence? Perhaps they were destined to meet here, under the tiny specks of light amid the dark.

Words of proclamation to get the star-gazing underway were right on the tip of the young girl's tongue, but were barred by a familiar voice. Familiar, yet not the sort of company Ahsoka expected to have. She whisked her head around, bangs flowing with the motion and stopping just short of her eyes.

"Thousands of wolves out there, some are destined to like the stars. Common probability."

Sigh, here we go.

"Most of these stars are already dead. Light takes millions of years to travel through the sky to get to us. We're just seeing in the past."

A frown and a look of exasperation crossed over her features. Witch echoed what Ahsoka had been thinking. How did he know that? Did the stars tell him? They would be the only things to know about that after all, and for all the earth dwellers knew, the stars are lifeless objects in the sky. Ahsoka thought of them as so much more of course, but to think of them as dead? That's rather harsh.

With an exasperated sigh to match her expression, she decided to rebook her brother, even if it proved to be futile."C'mon, Sterling, let people enjoy things." She wasn't in the mood for a debby downer. She just made a new friend! And they had a common interest! This sort of thing was a first for the princess as she was still exploring their world and everyone within it. She wouldn't let Sterling ruin this for her, even if he kept up with the less-than-fun comments.

Looking back toward Witch, she offered some reassurance. "Don't mind my brother. We can still have fun star-gazing!" With a glance upward toward the night sky, she continued as if talking to both of them now. "Even if they're somehow...dead, that doesn't make them any less beautiful and fun to look at. They twinkle and they shoot across the sky! OH and just the other night I saw sooo many colors, like waves in the sky!" Turning back toward Witch, she inquired her with renewed excitement. "Did you see the waves of colors in the sky?" That sentence alone would make people turn their heads and question her sanity, but as far as she knew the colorful sky-waves had no name. They were just...there, existing, flowing in and out of the obsidian sky, blanketing the stars in a sea of clear and brilliant hues. She hoped the other girl did in fact see them, because it would be yet another thing for them to talk about. If not, well...the colors must surely come back again! They just had to.

ooc: ~