Stellar

The Beginning

All we see is sky for forever

'Did you hear the rumor about Scarlett?'

They look at the girl with the turquoise hair and whisper behind their lockers. She was born from a family of wolves, that's why she looks so wild, whispers one girl. She's a devil worshipper, I tell you, whispers another. She and I totally did it last weekend, whispers a boy who was in fact still a virgin. None of the rumors were true, and Scarlett Salvatore had heard them all before. She ignored them as she always did, for nothing could ever touch upon the truth.

Thousands of stars had danced in the darkened sky, and the then fifteen-year-old Scarlett looked at them in awe. She felt surrounded by their light, for no matter where she looked, another star twinkled. It was almost as though she could reach out and touch one. Stretching long fingers out, Scarlett attempted to do just that. She reached for the brightest and biggest star and suddenly a thin string of light fell from it. The light touched upon her fingertips, and Scarlett could feel the rhythmic humming of the star. She delighted upon its raw passion and power. The star spoke to her, though the language was unlike any she had ever heard before. Even so, she could understand it.

Her other hand moved, and she watched as it was imbued with the power of the star. Tiny flames flickered across her fingers, and when concentrating, she could send the fire outwards like a whip. The star that she was connected to seemed to give a tug, and Scarlett was cut off from its power. The flames disappeared, but she knew the power was still there. It would always be there, just waiting for her.

Physical Features

A Star's Power

Scarlett has a deep respect for the stars. She worships them as others might worship a deity, and feels that when she is done with her time on Earth, she will rejoin the stars. While she does not know her purpose for being on the planet, she does her utmost to learn. She never draws power from the same star more than once. While stars are immense, drawing power from them begins to slowly drain them. Luckily for Scarlett, there are literally millions for her to draw power from. Different types of stars allow her different powers.

Yellow Dwarf A yellow dwarf is a small, main-sequence star, such as the Earth's sun. Scarlett has never drawn her powers from the sun, as she fears what it might do for the planet, but she had drawn power from other yellow dwarfs. When drawing from a yellow dwarf, Scarlett is able to send out sparks from her fingers. It is almost like striking a flint without actually setting the fire. She likes to watch the sparks because they remind her of fireworks.

Red Dwarf A red dwarf is also a main-sequence star, and is found more commonly than a yellow dwarf. It is both relatively small and cool. From a red dwarf, Scarlett is able to create and hold little flames on her fingers. Despite not being able to do much with it, she practices with red dwarfs the most frequently.

Red Giant As its name might imply, a red giant is much bigger than a dwarf star. It is an old, evolved star that is in its dying stages of evolution. Because it is so much bigger, Scarlett is able to do bigger things with it. She can create fireballs from red giants. The power is much more dangerous than the others, and she also seldom draws from red giants because the stars are already dying.

Blue Giant These are large, compact stars that burn their fuel at a very fast pace. This gives them the blue appearance. They are very bright stars, and it was from a blue giant that Scarlett first discovered her powers. From a blue giant she is able to create long whips of fire. Again, it is dangerous, and she tries not to draw from too many blue giants because these stars are also dying.

Supergiant These are massive stars, some being as large as the entire solar system. From a supergiant, Scarlett would have complete control over fire. She has never drawn from a supergiant, though, as her companion has worn her that the power would not only drain the star, but would drain her as well.

White Dwarf A white dwarf is essentially a star that has died. It is a small, very dense, and hot star. Despite being a dead star, Stellar is able to draw some power from these stars. She can create bars of hot fire to burn holes through things.

The Very Beginning

The star fell to Earth with barely a whisper, though two eager star gazers watched its descent. It seemed to have fallen right into their backyard and one, a man, instantly went to investigate. What he found was not a spent meteorite, but rather a baby. Tucked in blankets, and looking already a few days old, the baby slept soundly. The man called his wife over, and together they fretted over what they should do. In the end they decided there was only one course of action. They claimed to have found the little girl, and adopted her as their own. The fallen star was given a name, and that was Scarlett Salvatore.

Scarlett had been told that story numerous times, but she did not believe it. Babies did not fall from the skies. It was a bunch of nonsense. She did acknowledge that she was adopted. She looked so very different from her parents, and had even looked upon the adoption papers. She also knew that she was somehow different. It was something she did not verbally admit to. Everyone thought they were "somehow" different than the rest. Everyone believed themselves to be unique. Yet no matter her skepticism, she still felt that she did not belong.

At the tender age of fifteen, Scarlett learned that she was different. And perhaps the tales from her parents were not as wild as she had thought. It was then that she learned her connection to the stars. She could harness their fiery power and use it for her own. She was not sure what it meant, or what she could really do with her powers, but it had her believing in herself for the first time. The fallen star knew she somehow had a purpose.

A Lesson Plan

Scarlett was flat on her back with her hands folded over her arms. The summer night was hot, but there was enough of a breeze to keep her from becoming hot herself. It was a clear night, bereft of a moon, and stars boldly pierced the sky. She tried counting them, but it was a futile task. There were far too many to count. Still, she enjoyed the peacefulness of the task.

An annoyed voice broke through her counting. "Are you just going to lie there all night?"

Scarlett lifted her head to see the diminutive form of Stardust staring at her. She checked a smile, knowing that moments before he had been staring at the stars as well. Placing her hands against the soft grass, she pushed herself up into a seated position. "No, wise teacher. Teach me your ways."

Stardust was unfamiliar with sarcasm, as Scarlett knew, and his chest puffed out some at the perceived praise. "Now you pay attention this time. I don't want to have to repeat myself all night."

Scarlett nodded her understanding. Her mentor had a habit of trailing off in the middle of a lecture to watch the stars again, so she did not worry about the lesson eating up too much of her time. She would humor him for now.

Stardust eyed her for a moment longer, as though he expected some argument, before beginning his lecture. "All right then. As a fallen star, you are expected to one day return to the skies. This occurs when you have completed the task you came to the planet - "

"I know this," Scarlett broke in with a small sigh. "You've already told me all this before. Anything new, Dusty?"

The celestial deer gave a huff. "You never remember what I tell you. How am I supposed to know that's the one thing you'd hold onto? Can I continue?"

Scarlett made a motion to her lips as if to indicate she was zipping them shut. She did want to hear what Stardust had to teach her, but she could not resist nettling him every now and then. It was a habit she was fond of at school, and it transferred to other things as well.

"Good. Learning from where you fell can help indicate what your purpose here is. You had to have fallen from an area that is visible on Earth, and more specifically from here. Otherwise you would have fallen elsewhere. Got it?"

Scarlett was mulling the information over in her mind. This was something that was actually new to her, and she turned her gaze back to the skies. "But there are so many out there. How could I ever figure out where I fell from?"

Her gaze lowered in time to see Stardust shrug. She loved watching the gesture from him, as it was something he had picked up from Earth, and it was cute watching a small deer shrug. "You know how to listen to the stars. Somewhat. You need to listen them to find your home."

Scarlett lifted her head once more, and closed her eyes. She heard a small huff from Stardust, and her eyes opened wide. He was often telling her that she needed to listen with both her ears and eyes open. Since no lecture came from him, she assumed she had opened her eyes quick enough. Pushing thoughts of admonishment aside, she opened herself to the stars. A slight hum began to fill the air around her, and it gradually grew louder.

Her eyes began to dart back and forth through the stars, and she took note of when the humming changed pitch. A hand lifted to point to a group of stars in the western part of the sky. "There," she whispered. Stardust turned to look where she pointed, and a small nod of his head was given.

"Very good."

Scarlett was beginning to feel pleased with herself, but she soon realized there were still a lot of stars to go through. Her eyebrows drew downwards in vexation. "There's still so many!"

"It's still less than what we started with. It's a start, Stellar. Besides..." His words trailed off, and Scarlett was amused to find he was still staring at the section she had pointed to.

Deciding that her lecture was over for the moment, she fell back to the warm grass. The fallen star and the guiding star silently watched the nighttime sky.

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