Asterian

There comes a certain burden with age, and its name is memory. Asterian is all too familiar with it, seeing as he's witnessed more changes of season than the rest of Clan Crosswinds combined. What some of his clanmates view as fable, he knows instead as distant memory. And what they believe long past is still sometimes far too fresh in mind, if only for him.

He has witnessed far too much. He will witness still more in the years to come.

At least he is not the only one. Though Despoina would never admit as much, she is Asterian's most welcome company. Shrouded in illusions and falsehoods, she is a stark contrast to all the truth Asterian finds himself burdened with. By all rights, they should be enemies.

As it is, they are instead grudging friends.

Unlike young dragons, who know not what they truly ask for, Despoina asks nothing of Asterian. She plays her tricks and spins her riddles, but she leaves the past in the past, where he need not sift through it and the pain that oft follows. And sometimes, in her own conniving way, she spares him from bleeding old wounds raw once more. She lies through her teeth for him, chases off questions of wars and plagues with hints of doom and calls for foul prophecy. It's all in the name of a good laugh, all in search of her own personal satisfaction. Gods forbid she admits that she does it to offer Asterian a moment's respite.

He suspects she does it because she owes him a debt. He keeps her origins secret from busybodies and nosy neighbors, never offering so much as a hint to those who ask. It is like this for many truths, in fact: if the story is not his to tell, then he will not tell it. Some members of Clan Crosswinds could certainly do with meditation on this matter more than others.

And maybe one day, if the wind is favorable and the sun warm, and the past just distant enough to at last offer peace, Asterian may tell his own story. It is one of pride and excellence just as much as it is a cautionary tale about flying too close to the sun. But for now, it is a tale for another day. In this age of peace, his history is unnecessary.

Would it not be better to one day become a footnote in the passage of time? Despoina thinks him mad sometimes, the way he wonders if his actions have mattered. Of course they have, she tells him time and again, and he always agrees. That does not stop him from wishing, though, that it were not true. That his influence on this world were nothing.

Sornieth will be better off only once the sum of his deeds brings more peace than evil.

Bio by Tues.


2nd Gen, 5 digit