A/N:

This chapter's basically just introducing you to an important character, and adding some backstory and worldbuilding, but I promise this will all be important later. Just bear with me for now. I still need names for Keith's wolf friend, so please leave some suggestions. I'd really appreciate it! Anyways, chapter two, let's go!

The inhabitants of planet Azuna were a secretive people. They kept to their forest homes and rarely traded with the 'star-men' as they called interstellar travelers. Many people in their society had never even seen a foreign being. Most of the Azunan people were farmers, growing food for their village and cultivating the rare flowers, universal symbols of love, that the planet was famous for. Others were warriors that guarded their villages. A select few, believed to be blessed by the goddess Anaea, possessed potent healing powers. These healers were revered above all except the village leaders. One of these healers, a young female named Sirae, wanted nothing to do with her God-given powers. She wanted to be a warrior and fight alongside her older brother, Rynn. Instead, she was paraded around the village by her parents and forced to listen to the whispered rumors about her.

She hated it. She wished she could walk through town without drawing the attention of everyone else. Whenever she could, she stayed home or with her brother. He taught her everything he knew about fighting, archery, and all of the other skills he learned as a warrior. Every quintant for three decaphoebs, she and Rynn worked together, training and crafting a bow for her to use. He always said that she had a natural talent for hunting. She developed great prowess in stealth and excellent skill with a bow. She remembered her brother's proud smile every night.

But she would never see that smile again. While protecting their village from a raging Scalehide, Rynn sustained fatal injuries and died in the forests. The village mourned him and praised him, but Sirae became increasingly distant and rarely spoke to anyone. Of course, she still performed her duties and attended her healer training, but the light in her eyes was killed by the same Scalehide that took her older brother's life.

Secretly, she began to make nightly excursions with her weapon in hand. She never needed the bow, but she always brought it and the memories it held in its wooden frame. Under the cover of darkness, she would scale the largest trees in the forest to get closer to the night sky. She loved to look at the stars and the two moons of Azuna more than anything. At the same time, they were calming and exciting, beautiful and mysterious, far away and close by. Being up above the canopy, alone with the stars, her bow, and the memories of her happy childhood, it made her feel less… alone.

Sirae gathered scraps of wood during her midnight trips. It took many late nights of work, but her project began to resemble an instrument that the star-men used. She couldn't remember what they called it, but the hollow body and thin strings made wonderful sounds.

Tonight was special. Both of the moons were full for the first time in ten decaphoebs. They cast their silver glow over the treetops and the silence beneath them. Sirae stared into the moons like they were the two glowing eyes of the goddess. Sadly, she remembered the last time she looked at the full moons with her brother.

"You know," Rynn said, breaking the silence between them. "There are old legends that say the moons are really the two silver eyes of Anaea." Sirae looked at him incredulously with her own silver eyes, the tell-tale marks of a god-blessed healer.

"I already know all of these stories!" the ten-year-old whined.

"Well, did they tell you that healers are all born on nights like this?" He smirked at her annoyed expression. "Every ten decaphoebs, the two moons are full on the same night, and on that special night, a healer is born."

"Just like me, yeah, I know. Mom tells me all the time…" She sighed as she turned her eyes back to the stars. "I don't want to be a healer," she whispered.

"I know Sirae, but you're the only healer our village has. There's a lot of weight on your shoulders."

"I know, and I don't want it!" She buried her face in her knees, releasing a heavy tear. "I don't like how many people count on me… I don't want to let anybody down."

"I know, little starflower." Sirae smiled sadly at her childhood nickname. "And I also know you won't let anyone down."

"You don't know that…" Rynn laughed at that.

"Of course I do!" He placed his hand on her shoulder. "You're my little sister, Sirae. You never let anyone down and you never will, even if I have to make sure of it."

"You… you would really do that?"

"You're my starflower," he said, pulling her chin from her knees. Sirae looked deep into his kind golden eyes. He smiled, then made his silly face that always made her laugh. "I would do anything to keep a smile on your face."

"You're weird, Rynn." Brother and sister started laughing.

"Well, so are you, Sirae." The two sat in their tree for a while before Sirae spoke again. "It's late. Don't you have training tomorrow morning?" Rynn loosed a hollow, quick laugh.

"I guess I do…" he said, smiling. "We should probably get some sleep."

"Yeah." Sirae stood, hugged her brother, then headed inside behind him. "Goodnight, Rynn," she whispered.

"Goodnight, starflower."

The moons glowed silver over her head, just like they had ten years before. "Why…" she whispered to the sky. "Why did you choose me? I do not wish to wield your power. I wish to explore, to fight and protect my family like Rynn did… I want to hear his voice again. I want him to call me his starflower. I want to see him again." She grew silent for a moment. "Why did he have to die?" she whispered as though Anaea could hear her. The moons, in all their ancient glory and wisdom, answered her with only silence. A tear dripped down her cheek, glowing silver just like the moons above. "What is my purpose? What do I do now that my brother is gone?"

That question, the sky did answer, albeit in its own odd way. A spacecraft hurtled down from the sky, little more than a ball of fire as it crashed into the planet's surface. Sirae gasped at the destruction it brought, watching it tear into the forest that she called home. Luckily, the flames didn't spread to the trees. The two moons were already setting. Sirae wondered if she should leave it alone, but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her. The crash was in the opposite direction of her village, and she knew it may take many vargas to return. Still, she set out to see the crash.

Cautiously and quietly, she climbed down through the tree's massive branches, then landed softly on the forest floor. Sirae slunk through the underbrush, careful not to disturb any of the particularly irritable wildlife. As she neared the downed starship, a loud noise echoed through the forest, causing her to crouch low to the ground and wait, listening for any pressing threats. She heard nothing a first, and then words drifted to her ears. Since she was too far away, she couldn't understand the words, but the tone of the stranger's voice was different and exciting. Sirae had never heard anything like it. In an odd way, it reminded her of Rynn…

She crept closer to the wreck, careful to avoid catching the attention of the foreign being. From a distance, she watched what she guessed was a star-man. It was shorter than she was, and she wasn't even the tallest Azunan she knew. She wondered if it was just short for its species, or if it was only a child. It laughed, a happy, amused sound that sparked a curious thought in Sirae's mind. Then she saw it take off its blue head-cover, revealing short brown hair and tan brown skin. Sirae was immediately fascinated by how different it looked. Nothing on her planet looked anything like the newcomer. She wanted to know everything about the first outsider she'd ever seen. It pulled on the door of the wreck but quickly became scared of something. In a moment, Sirae knew exactly what.

The ship turned into a massive fireball with a sound so loud that only a scalehide's cry could rival its volume. Sirae watched the star-man get thrown back by an invisible force, then lie on the ground, moving slowly and painfully. A metallic tang filled the area, a smell so close to blood that Sirae assumed it belonged to the injured outsider. Apparently, she wasn't the only one that smelled it. The cry of a shadowclaw rang through the air, then the cry's owner stalked out from the forest's shadows. It's dark hair, the same color as Sirae's own, gave the illusion that the beast was darkness itself. Without thinking, Sirae pulled a handmade arrow from her pouch, pulled it back with her bowstring, and lodged it in the shadowclaw's chest. A perfect kill-shot. Excitement rushed through her as she sprinted to the fallen star-man.

"Do not worry," she whispered to it. "I will not harm you." It seemed to react to her presence but quickly fell into unconsciousness. Sirae scanned the outsider from top to bottom, noting the strange hard clothes it wore and the soft spots covered by a black fabric unlike any she knew of. A long, red, bloody cut was carved into its stomach, staining the black cloth an ugly red color. Quickly, she pulled bandages from her pack, wrapping the injury enough to protect it before she could actually treat it. "You will be okay. I will not let you down."

Careful not to aggravate the wound further, she gathered the star-man's limp body into her arms and rushed through the forest, making it back to her village just as the sun rose over the four other outsiders that were scouring the crash.

A/N:

So there you have it, chapter 2. Please let me know what you think of the story so far. I really want your input to make this story as good as I can. And remember, I need a name for the wolf!

Until next time...