Last Starborn

Ash was slow to wake, comfortable and warm with the unique smell of a starseeing pond enveloping her. She heard Luna and Sidus conversing, talking about the world they were in. Luna was, understandably, concerned about Sidus and the other gods.

"We are doing fine here, Luna. I, for one, am much better now that I can watch over the both of you again even if it is not all the time."

He looked down at Ash, knowing her to be awake by the change in her breathing, "Ashterra. Please tell me how you feel right now."

"I feel fine, Lord Sidus. I am sorry for my earlier behavior," she lowered her head slightly, still ashamed of acting like a child.

"You do not feel any exhaustion remaining?" Ash shook her head slightly in answer to his question. He moved to run his fingers along her horns once more, reminding her of their presence as he quickly reassured her, "Here, your magic is not broken Ashterra. Here, I can still guard you. In this world, at least, you need not sleep all the time. I will happily come to you whenever I am able and speak to you when I cannot here in these ponds and beside your own."

Ash gently removed herself from his lap and changed her form. True to his word, she felt no exhaustion tugging at her. Uncertainty brought it back for a moment, at which point she realized that in the game at least her exhaustion was truly all in her head. She stomped a hoof and shook herself, as if to shake the weariness away, satisfied when it worked.

He stood and moved to examine her horns once more, a small frown touching his face, "You're concerned," she used magic to talk to him, tail lashing slightly with anxiety.

"I am still learning about this world. You are its first Starborn…and likely its only," he leaned down to rest his head against hers just below the horns, "I could not bear to lose any more, even if they were only real here in this world and could never exist within your own," he pulled away and examined the magic in her new horns closely, noting that the growth that had occurred while she slept was a serene deep green that evoked feelings of calm and comfort.

Her horns were growing as intended, just faster. Considering their value as an alchemical ingredient, it was not necessarily a bad thing. It could even be used to keep her slightly safer as word of a Starborn began to travel.

"They called me your daughter," her ears showed her curiosity as she tilted her head to fix him better with her color-shifting gaze.

"It is what I named you here in this world, what I had planned to name you in our own. My dearest child whose magic runs so much closer to mine than it was ever intended to," seeing the curiosity in her gaze, he smiled softly, "I do not know what made you different, but I cherish it nonetheless. I do wonder, sometimes, if the charms I put on you could have saved the rest of your herd. They all had some of them, for I guarded all of you, but none had quite as many as you."

"She'd only a singular charm left by the end of our cleansing that day," Luna said softly, "They broke protecting her from the worst of the backlash of the cleansing. I'd wager the last charm broke to help her protect herself from the fatal blow the first arrow would have been. From what I heard of the other guardians, your charms guarded them all from the first blow but only Ash was able to keep running long enough to evade the rest."

Sidus nodded slightly, turning his attention fully back to Ash. Her shimmering mane was beautiful, cropped short to require less care due to how much she slept. His eyes moved along to her coat: in this world it was fully healthy, a slight sheen of magic wandering through the short hair that would be shedding all too soon to his perspective as a god when winter descended upon Fantastoria. Everything was perfectly groomed because that was the version of her unicorn form he'd created for the false world, his dear Ashterra just as she was in reality but in perfect condition instead of grappling with exhaustion.

With a slight, satisfied smile, Sidus glanced up towards the door, "Yarrow, come here please. There is someone I would like you to meet," glancing at Ash, he spoke simply, "Yarrow is the head guardian of this temple and the surrounding lands, the most powerful of the paladins here."

Yarrow approached, bowing his head in deference to the god, "I have already met both of them, Lord Sidus."

The god chuckled, the odd warm and cold sound of his causing Ash to shake his hand off and move to lean against him. He was large enough that he could easily brace himself against her weight, a hand moving to rest on her back, absently combing through her coat. She'd positioned herself to where she could easily see Yarrow and to where she had an excuse to slide her neck against Sidus in a sort of embrace. It had been so many years since she'd been able to see him that she practically radiated joy.

"Perhaps, to a small degree," Sidus agreed simply enough, "But I fear young Ashterra was not acting herself."

"I am sorry for my behavior," Yarrow stared as her voice seemed to come from the air around her, having never heard a unicorn communicate using magic before, "Coming under attack and being poisoned like that," a tremble ran through her and her tail lashed, "I was on edge and it has been a very long time since I have dealt with strangers, even strangers of the temple."

Yarrow could understand, of course. People were out hunting mystical creatures like her so it was only understandable that she was cautious. Unlike Achi, though, he hadn't known her to be a unicorn and the priestess had kept her voice low enough no one else had heard. He'd found out the moment she'd rounded on him with her horns visible and had been shamed by the way he'd treated her.

Sidus spoke once more, "I must take my leave soon. I would like to ask, Yarrow, that you help Ashterra as you can. Lunarilia will not always be available and I fear she has not ever had the occasion to make use of all of the skills and abilities that the people here are granted."

He stood straighter, unable to refuse an order from his god but also thrilled at the idea of being assigned to help Sidus' daughter, "Of course, Lord Sidus."

Once he was certain that a fight wouldn't break out the moment he left, Sidus leaned down to rest his head against Ash's once more for a moment, "I must go now, other duties call. Do not forget that these places are your haven and that I will always come to you when I can, Ashterra," he waited until she'd moved slightly and wasn't leaning on him to disappear, leaving her to turn her gaze to Yarrow as Luna moved beside her where the god had stood.