First Shooting Star
The First Shooting Star is a spoken-word story, passed down through the greater mindlink of Halcyon. Here, it is recorded by Elluim.
There's always the waves, really. Everywhere on Halcyon, you can hear the sound of the
ocean- after all, nearly everywhere on Halcyon, you're a part of that ocean. Swimming
through it or surfing atop it. When night comes, there's something simple about sitting on
one of these tiny beaches, staring up at Ceyx. The moon hangs above the waves, a perfect
disc wreathed in a corona of blue light. It leaves the waves shining as well, nearly
glowing from below, and as you watch the reflection there, you see an arc of light paint
out of the corner of your vision.
Bright, piercing gold, still there as you glance up. A shooting star peels across the sky,
before it fades into the darkness again, leaving a faint afterimage in your gaze.
"Hee. Do you know where shooting stars come from?" A voice asks to your side. Odd, nobody
had even been on this beach earlier. The figure seems simple enough: A slim, lithe otter,
gazing down at you from between thick dreads. He just chirps, sliding down to sit on the
sand next to you, smoothing out the sarong around his hips.
"There's a story I could tell. About where shooting stars come from!" You can't help but
be curious- he's kidding, right? Shooting stars are just meteors burning up in the
atmosphere. You try to explain that bluntly, and his smile widens. "Yes, sure,
scientifically. But you don't let science get in the way of stories, ya? So."
He takes a slow, deep breath.
Once, a long time ago, our people lived on a different world.
It was called Neptune, and Neptunians are what we are- They were our ancestors!
Just like us, they surfed and swam and sang and savored the wonders there are in life.
And just like us, they were happy and vibrant.
Many many generations of us lived like that, until we decided to all leave and head out
into the stars, and leave Neptune behind us. There was a big show of it all- each and
every one of them spent their last days in gratitude and rushed awe, before packing it
alll up onto a great starship. And parties, of course. But when the day came, everyone was
ready to board- except for one otter.
Ve hadn't been joining any parties, or any of the sunset-viewings. In fact, ve had decided
to swim off by verself into the depths. This was before the Lifeguardians, really, so the
Benthic Corps weren't a thing: swimming down into the dark was dangerous and risky. Not to
mention all kinds of beasts down there: Leviathans, abyss-worms, gyre-sharks...The
darkness bred all kinds of savage life, that blink twice at gulping down any otter out
there.
Ve knew this, of course; but ver swimming was impeccable, and ve had one last thing ve
wanted to do before leaving. Ve wanted to see the deepest place in the world and swim down
to meet it. In fact, ve wanted to do this more than anything else- but ve knew that ve
would only have so much time to do it.
And so when the other otters were starting to pack up, ve swam far out into the ocean.
While they partied and cheered, ve dove down past the dome-cities, with nothing but a rebreather.
When they were plotting courses and consulting charts, ve was following crags downwards
and downwards.
And when it was time for final speeches and goodbyes, ve was far, far away- down in the
depths of the greatest ravine in all of Neptune. Deeper than any other otter had swam! And
when ve remembered to shout to wait up for ver...They were already gone, and the world was
quiet. Ve was all alone, completely mindblind.
And so ve swam down, crying in grief and woe, deeper than all the beasts were, and deeper
than all the light. At the bottom, there was nothing but darkness, really...And ve felt
sadness. Everyone was gone, off for another world- and ve was left completely, terribly
alone.
But, it just so turns out, ve wasn't alone down there. Labalene swims those depths, just
like She always has. Yes, of course She's real...And when there's tears shed in the ocean
that sincere, She always listens.
She told that little otter there in the darkness, "Keep going. You can see them again."
And from Her blowhole, She shot a light through the darkness, leading the way to swim.
That light She cast was the same light in all our hearts- the one that we feel when we
come back to see our loved ones. And that light became a shooting star- and through the
darkness, everything was just ocean. Ocean to ocean, the light traveled...and when it
landed, it landed in our new home. And ve followed it.
That ship that had those otters on it- all of our ancestors- saw that shooting star,
y'know, right as they were starting to come down. It followed them through the darkness,
and when they landed, that brave otter was there waving on the beaches to them, smiling.
Those shooting stars- why, they're always just like that otter; they're leading those who
might be lost back to those that love them.
---
"What happened to Labalene, you ask? Well, She wound up coming with us. A bit later, sure,
but She's never that far." The otter smirks, his eyes glowing the same azure as that great moon.
"Well, I can tell the story of where She really lives, if you'd like..."
Labalene is a creature that said to have birthed all ocean life- anything borne from
water, they come from Her. She is the prime diety in connection with the ocean.
