Sina the Songweaver

Fortunately, the whole administration side of things was not a hindrance to Sina, and she was soon officially accepted into the Star Caravan. She only slept one more day at Meloe, Gilla an Hyver’s place before they assigned her a new home… and she was very excited about settling down in it. She even took Hyver with her to visit it for the first time, as they both had the day off - or rather, their new work hadn’t started yet. 

Needless to say, Sina was over the moon about this. She couldn’t believe that she was going to have a home all for herself! She could already picture it. It would be covered in ribbons and so many things…

“Why don’t I get a home given to me?” asked Hyver. He was only half-complaining, though, Sina could tell. 

“Because they said that you can still live at your parents for a while,” answered Sina. “They want to give priority to the newcomers that doesn’t have family they can stay with at the Caravan, like that it can keep expanding.” 

“Maybe I should go live in another Caravan,” said Hyver. “Maybe they will give me a home for free.” 

“Please don’t go… You can come sleep over. We can even have a party!” 

“I love parties.” 

“Me too.” 

She was not going to live in the same rock well as Hyver’s parents, but in an tunnel that was right next to it and rather close to the working quarters of the Caravan. Because Sina didn’t have wings, she was slower, but this didn’t mean that should be late for things! Or so she believed it to be the logic behind her convenient placement. 

As they walked by, Sina noticed a beautifully decorated house. It was even painted strips of a lovely blue and glowing colour, and so finely that Sina have to stop before it to admire it a while longer. 

Hyver immediately tried to nudge her away from it. 

“What is it?” asked Sina. 

“Don’t look at this house for too long,” he said. “The person that’s living here is really snooty and not very nice.” 

“Oh?” 

“I’ll tell you more later.” 

Sina turned away from the house, but not without casting one last glance to it. She thought she saw something move behind the lace curtains at the small round window, but she didn’t dare look at it too closely because she didn’t want to be rude. Instead, she examined the instructions she had been given to find her home, going over them one last time. 

“Oh, actually,” she said. “I think I am going to be neighbours with the snooty person.” 

“Not so loud!” 

“I’m right over there!” Sina pointed to one of the small suspended house at the end of a suspended bridge. “That’s the one. I even have space to suspend more stuff! I think there were more rooms at some point, but they took them away.”

She examined the ceiling of the gallery. Indeed, there were some more hoops, which were solidly anchored in the very rock; one day, she could start to think about expanding. But for now, one room would suffice, she thought. 

“Come on, let’s go inside and check it out!” said Hyver. 

He was the first to reach the door but, as he didn’t have the key, he had to scoot out of the way. Sina held it up in the air. 

“The big moment has arrived!” she said solemnly.

“Hurry up,” said Hyver. 

“Shush! It’s an important moment for me. I finally have a new home, a home of my own… my journey draws to its end…” 

Hyver let out a long, bored sigh. Sina rolled her eyes and opened the door for him. She had prepared a whole speech in her head, but she had already forgotten half of it anyway. 

She pushed the door… 

A stove with a chimeny for cooking. A pot, a few plates, some cutlery. And, in the corner, a bed. That was all. 

“It’s so… erm… barren,” said Hyver. 

Sina didn’t know what she had been expecting, but it hadn’t been so little. She looked at her friend, then back at her new home. It wasn’t exactly disappointment, it was only surprise… and even if it would be, Sina was never down for long. 

“That only leaves so! Much! Room for customisation!” she said. “And I think I am going to have to have a lot of fun with that. In fact, I wouldn’t have it any other way!” 

Hyver walked in. “I’ll see if my parents will lend you a few things,” he said. “Like… a blanket, for starters.” 

“That would be very kind of them,” said Sina. “Until I get my own, of course.” 

“And you can come for dinner with us tonight again,” he added. “Man, I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of a Faelidh that really knows no one at the caravan! This sucks.” 

“Hey, maybe it’s a bit barren, but soon it will look like home.” 

“At least everything looks new,” said Hyver. He was examining Sina’s fork. “And the public fountain isn’t too far away.”

Sina took a few steps inside as well and closed the door. The windows were large, and probably would look better with a curtain or two, but they were quite large and let in the light easily. She would be missing a light crystal at night, of course, but that could be found, just like a carpet, curtains and cupboards. In short, this was a band new, blank slate.

Maybe, one day, she would be raising a family here. And then she would think back to that first day where there was nothing and feel proud that she came so far. Because that was what Faelidh did! They made something special out of nothing. 

“And your neighbour sucks,” said Hyver. 

“What about them?” asked Sina. Now that they were alone, she was very curious about that very terrible, very snooty neighbour in the pretty house. 

“Everyone knows Selina,” said Hyver. “And, well, there’s probably a lot worse than her, but she’s… like. She works in the workshop that takes care of the fallenstars? You know, the flowers that glow at night?” 

“Those? They are so pretty!” 

“Well, she’s an apprentice in charge of painting the motives on the petals. In fact, she’s the BEST of them. Or so she would like to think! Because she’s not all that great, but she acts like she is. In other words, she’s annoying.” 

“She sounds like a meanie!” 

“Yeah, and she likes to gossip. Stay away from her. Not that she would want to talk to the likes of us… She only wants to hang out with her friends from the gallery of lights.”

“Really?” 

“Really.” 

“Aw…” 

“Why “aw”? She’s not worth your time.”

“Well, firstly, I was looking forward to talk to the painters of the fallenstars when I arrived here. Or at least get to know them! But if she’s a meanie…” 

“Her master is actually really nice,” said Hyver. “Talk to her instead. Ignore Selina.” 

“And secondly, I was also looking forward to get to know my neighbours! But if she’s a meanie…” 

“A snooty meanie.” 

“Then I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.” 

“You got other neighbours you can spent time with. I’m sure that they are going to love you. You’ll see!” 

“I’ll see…” 

“Wait, I think she’s coming out! You’re going to see her.” 

Because there were no curtains to hide behind, both of them got as close as they could to the edge of the window while still having their eyes peaking out. That is how Sina saw Selina for the first time: half-hidden behind a windowside, and probably expecting an ugly creature similar to the personality which was just described to her. 

As it turned out, Selina was very, very pretty. Graceful and delicate, she reminded Sina of a fallenstar itself, the way the stem delicately rose over the earth before curling under the weight of its glowing crown. She had clad herself in an array of lace ribbons and flowing fabrics, seemingly just for the fun of it. Beneath it, her fur was lustrous and well-groomed. 

Selina closed her front door with her tail, then used it to carry a lovely basket. Then she looked directly at Sina’s house, and right as she did the two friends scurried to hide. 

“You think she saw us?” asked Sina. 

“She totally didn’t,” said Hyver. “We were faster. And anyway, we can look at her, we’re allowed, it’s not going to hurt her.”

“Yeah, we’re allowed.” 

Neither of them peered out the window after saying that. 

“You saw, right?” said Hyver. “She’s really not all that amazing. People say that she is pretty, but I think they just say that because she’s popular.” 

“Oh, for sure,” said Sina. “That must be it. Yeah…” 

That was a lie. Sina could see why she was rumoured to be pretty. In fact, now that she had seen Selina for herself, she could admit - to herself, but not to Hyver of course - that she had one thing to look forward to at her new home: catching a glimpse of her beautiful neighbour.