A/N: Hello, everyone! This is something new I've been working on, a bit of canon with some twists involved. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update it or if I even plan on it, but I thought posting it would be nice. If you have any idea or suggestions please let me know.
Chapter One: Skaifou
Outside was always fresh, sometimes too warm and sometimes too cold, but the little girl had never been concerned about such trivial things. Now, the bright lights were out and she couldn't help her desire to see them. When night fell, clouds normally covered up the skai she loved so dearly. The sparkling skaifaya as her nomon called them drew her attention and every night, when the sky was clear, and she could sneak out of her home, she would sit in the clearing nearby and stare up. She made a game of it, drawing lines with her eyes between them to create funny pictures only she could see.
Tonight, was no different than any other clear one. She pushed open the wooden door and stumbled into the open air outside. It was cool, and dew had already settled on the grass with the drop in temperature. Having only seen four summers, the little girl's unbalanced legs stumbled over the uneven ground outside.
She was so busy staring upwards, entranced by all the sky and its brightness and its infiniteness that she did not understand, to worry about falling. Her feet guided her to the clearing she spent her days playing with Micah and her nights daydreaming about something beyond her home and town. About people with eyes like fire and skin untouched by the heat of the sun.
Once she reached the clearing, she glanced back at her home, head tilted slightly at the modest home her nomon and nontu raised her in. They did not like how mischievous she was or how easily she slipped past them. They seemed to disapprove of much their daughter did, especially when she showed an interest in becoming a warrior, in getting herself first. They always tried to protect her, prevent her from getting hurt, even a scraped knee.
She didn't understand why, but it wasn't her place to understand yet and so she laid on her back, staring up at the stars. She'd overheard the grownups talking about a skaifau, where the skaifaya shoot lines across the sky. She wanted to see it more than she wanted anything, more than she wanted to play with Micah or dig up worms with her nomon.
Her breathing became steady as she stared upward, eyes roaming over the vast sky in search of this skaifau. When it didn't happen within the first five minutes, disappointment settled into her stomach. But she tried to remain patient, she knew how often her nontu told her she needed to be patient if she wanted something. If the sky didn't start dropping skaifau soon, she would go inside before her parents found her missing and reprimanded her.
Then it happened, as she tore apart a blade of grass she saw a streak of light out of the corner of her eye. Her heart thumped rapidly against her ribcage as she sat up, the light already gone. She held her breath, staring upward and using her peripheral vision to help her out.
There, again. It was a split second of bright light that flashed across the side. Then again and again, until the sky was alight with falling skaifau. The girl's heart thudded faster in her chest, in awe of what she was seeing. The stars were falling to earth, she tried to keep track of them as they fell, hoping that one would land near her.
"Yongon!" It was Micah, he whispered it from across the clearing. He was two summers older than her, living in the nearest home to her and his nomon was close with hers. He likd to call her that to tease her for her size and their age difference,t "Yo ai op?" He crouched low, moving over to her quickly, as if fearing being seen. His eyes kept drifting upward, a goofy smile on his lips and awe in his dark eyes. The lights reflected off the depths of his irises as he came to settle next to his friend.
"Shh," she hushed him and his loud footsteps. He always spoke of becoming a warrior, but if he didn't learn how to move quieter he would never be chosen as anyone's seken.
A hissing, like a snake came from above and both children glanced up. A flash of light, brighter than the skaifau above was getting closer to them, falling towards them. Whatever it was, it was wrapped in fire. Before either child could reach, it crashed into the forest from the direction Micah had come, causing the ground to shake and shift underneath them with the force.
The cracking and falling of trees are nearly deafening, if nobody was awake, they would be now. The young girl glances back at her home nervously, but sees it is still dark. Not for long though. Her nontu was a gona, her mother a fisa they would come rushing outside soon enough. But that wasn't going to stop her curiousity, what had just fallen?
Wisps of smoke floated from above the trees, though no active fire had begun. It was late fall, slowly turning into winter. It had been a wet season and the likelihood of a fire occurring was slim.
The girl stood, crouching low in a cautious stance she had watched the gona take so often when they trained. Even if she was not yet old enough to become a seken, she watched them every chance she got in an attempt to mimic their movements without the formal training.
Micah called after her, disapproval obvious in his voice even as he followed behind her, always the faithful protector.
The girl moved forward more cautiously as she reached the tree line. She could smell the smoke and nearly tripped over a fallen, burning branch as she tried to get closer to the source of this mess.
The two children stepped over fallen branches and skirted around smoldering wood until they reached a small crater in the ground. Roots had been ripped out of the ground surrounding the crater and the smoke made both of them cough as it attempted to choke them. It wasn't too thick to be deadly, but it still ached in their chests.
At the bottom of the crater, the girl saw something white and curved into what looked like a half-heart shape. It was half buried in the soil and darkened by dirt so she moved to go deeper into the hole.
A shout from her home made her pause and she turned to look before glancing to Micah, who had heard it too. His eyes were alert with fear at being yelled at by their parents and curiousity to know what was in the pit. They both wanted to know what treasure had fallen from the sky, maybe they could keep it.
"Kom op," his voice shook with his eagerness as he moved over the edge of the crater and began slipping down, using the roots as handholds to control his descent.
The young girl followed swiftly behind him, her confidence rising with his.
They made it to the bottom without a problem, coming only feet away from the white thing. Now that they were closer, the girl noticed feathers, how they fluttered in the breeze. They looked soft, if not a little dirty.
Micah watched from a safer distance, his head tilted in confusion as if still unable to see what exactly it was.
"A wing," the girl whispered. Compulsion urged her forward until her finger hovered just over it. It looked soft. She wanted to touch it. Blood rushed in her ears, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her own heart beat was all she could hear. Not the cracking of branches or the sounds of dozens of footsteps moving closer to them.
"Leksa!" It was a harsh shout from close by. Her nontu.
The girl jumped, just as the wing flinched and twisted. Her fingers met the feathers and she cried out as her hand was sliced open along the palm, almost to the bone. The pain was so sudden and the cut so sharp that she didn't exactly feel it at first, only saw the blood bubbling up and coursing in rivets down her arm and dripping onto the ground once it reached her elbow.
Black. Her blood was black.
She had enough sense to glance up when the wing twitched again and stumble backwards. A dark man was attached to the wing. His skin was smooth, and his chest naked and strong. When his eyes opened they glowed a white-gold that pierced through Lexa, leaving her frozen in fear and wonder.
Skaifaya.