Hoshiko

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Hoshiko! Hoshiko!
A reflection in the stream’s flow,
Starry paws lighting the path she’ll go,
A tapestry of the night she (sows),(alt--’grows’)
Hoshiko! Hoshiko! Hoshiko!
~
A gentle hush settled on the creatures below, as they glanced skywards, eager to try and be the first to spot the start of the nightly event. Such a thing only happened annually—if even that—and it was a wonderful time to gather and share their admiration of the sky. Any amount of superstition would accompany these nights, but even more than that were the stories that would be told, both before and after—stories of a time before stars, before life flourished in the world. Of a star-eyed wanderer, and her many adventures as she illuminated the universe, granting warmth and sparks of hope to cold, blighted worlds.

A cry split the night, accompanied by gasps and yips as a star began to glide, serenely, across the sky. Then another, and another—a pathway grew, ethereal paw steps alighting between the gaps of darkness. And more swirled into sight, as the sky itself became alive with the mingling of star-strewn creatures. While those below could never know the purpose they had, their movements always caused a great amount of excitement and awe.

Some laughed their joy aloud, and shared in the excitement of others. Pockets of silence were here and there, as the beauty and gentle might of the sights fascinated those creatures to their core, and to speak would shatter the spell they were swept up within.

And what of those above? The beasts who looked down upon those worlds, full of starlight and dust, who roamed or rested within the vacuum of space.

What is there for them to look up to?

…
“Perhaps it is unknowable to those of us bound to this colorful and warm land. But where we cannot know, we can still appreciate and love. To give thanks, and to carry down the stories that have been told since ages past.

“You’d ask what those beasts of the stars look up to, and that is a story. If time permits, I would be most glad to share it... It all started in a void. Blanker than nightmare, deeper than any pit, but in that darkness alone, were lights. Some moved; explored, and ventured far with their halo, but they were without purpose, or knowledge of themselves. All was cold; all was lonely. A time without dreams. A reality devoid of emotion and compassion.

“For however long it lasted—and they say, or, at least how I was always told this story—it lasted for no time at all, but for an eternity. How long do you dwell within your nightmares, how lost do you become in despair, and you are there. But you awaken; but you find the strength to keep going. And from there, from that strength, rippled throughout that inky darkness. And awoke one flickering light.

“The relief daybreak brings after a harsh night; the joy of being free at last, from worries and burdens; all at once, the warmth and power of that strength grew to embody that light, and the first—perhaps only of her kind—was born. And the scattered lights found her, shining through the darkness. And then, she was just as small as we; the great oak’s roots could cradle her, the sun stone by the river could hold her. As she opened her eyes, the lights came to see; as she yawned, and poked her snout about, the lights came to feel; and as her wings, as delicate as the moon’s light, but as pure as snow, shook and flapped, the lights gained courage. As fledglings, any amount of the lights then went to populate the void; no longer did they fear, for their hearts grew bold, their spirits strong. They shone upon the worlds that had been forgotten, and beckoned life. And life responded, tentatively beginning to flourish among the new hope.

“And the hope that brought this about—that light, from whom responded to that elusive strength—she was raised among those lights. She wandered from one to the next, and even down to these worlds; for, her being allows this to be so. She is made of the same stardust as you and I, and yet… She is more. We are one in body and in spirit; but to her, we owe our own ability to find strength amidst the darkness, the will to succeed, and the capacity to heal. These lessons she learned from us, just as she gave them to us, and to the lights, as they listened to her stories, and were a part of her life.

“But the lights remained in our sky, as a promise that they’d never abandon us. While she wandered—and still does, you know—many of the lights, having found a life to hold, remained there, to reassure us. She couldn’t be everywhere at once, in the great night sky. And so, even when she is not here, her friends are, to remind us of the power we all have. And that we are never alone, to be forfeit to the darkness ever again.

“Her tale is one we all have been in, at some point or another; even if it has yet to come. Maybe you have stumbled across a wisp of her in your nightmares, or where you felt weakest. You are here now—and so, that voice that coaxed you from the nightmare, the strength of will you found within yourself to push through your time of weakness, are all wisps and strands of her influence. She cares for us all, and her yearning to live all that can be lived, to love all that can be loved, and to experience reality in all of its complexities; to weep and laugh, to celebrate and mourn, and to do so with as much passion as possible; to never be false in her emotions, and perfectly candid to all she meets, to encourage them to be all they can be. To live their life to the fullest, in the only way they can. All she hopes is to get a taste of each individual’s experience, to be a part of their story, and ensure they will be glad for all they have done.

“It was the stars that named her; maybe those first lights that were there to meet her, or any one of the lights that came after. And her name remains the same, after all that time.

“Perhaps the loneliest light; perhaps the most traveled and wisest. Young at heart, guileless in spirit, her name…

“Is Hoshiko.”

/* update artist credits */