StarryNight

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The night sky was something of a spectacle to Zulu. When he was young, looking upwards for the first time, the sky was a blur of darkness dotted with strange white specs, some completely faded away with his faulty vision. Everyone would gawk and awe in wonder at it, pointing to it at night, but it was a scene too high up for him to truly see. Even when he got glasses as he grew older, no lenses permitted him to see as far as he needed to, thus he gave up on his dreams of truly experiencing the sky, save for all of the tomes of astronomy he’d amassed.

That night it was cold, the breeze licked at his scales in a playful manner, ruffling his mane as he climbed atop the mountain. It was an old path, a treasured secret among a few astronomers that had long passed, and now it was a getaway, one of blurred beauty. So perhaps it startled him to see another Imperial perched at the top, where the earth had started to flatten from the weight of the sky.

His scales were as dark as the night he gazed upon, shifting pink clouds danced on his wings, adding a sense of child-like wonder to him. And when he looked back, titling his head at Zulu, hat askew, his brilliant eyes shocked him to his core. The Lightning Flight was known for its electric blues, but these felt different somehow on this Imperial, they felt like the home he hadn’t been to since he was a child.

“Good evening, traveler, it has been quite some time since I’ve seen another climb these mountains.”

The Imperial nodded, motioning with his hands, an old sign language Zulu hadn’t encountered in years, “It is good to see you here, I was hoping to meet you. My name is StarryNight.”

Zulu regarded the paws that spoke for the traveler, rough from travel but with a delicateness that matched the energy the dragon radiated, one of tranquility Zulu had only ever experienced with the sky. “What interest do you have in me?” Zulu couldn’t help but ask.

“The locals told me of an astronomer who traveled often up these mountains,” the traveler motioned, “One who gleamed of constellations himself.” He watched as Zulu walked forward, a small smile on his lips, “I was hoping to meet another of our study, with so few of us left.”

Zulu sighed, “I remember a time when that wasn’t so.”

“As do I,” StarryNight pulled books from where he laid, “I was hoping to see the phenomenon that happens on these peaks only once every few cycles.”

“Ah yes, I’ve seen them plenty of times, though rather I should say that I’ve seen their remnants,” Zulu chuckled.

StarryNight narrowed his eyes as he examined, looking at the thick glasses atop Zulu’s nose, “Are you hard of sight?”

Zulu shook his head at the bluntness of the question, StarryNight panicked at the reaction, immediately starting to retrace his words, “I’m sorry if it is a sensitive topic, I don’t mean to offend-”

Zulu looked up with a smile, patting the ground near where he signed, trying to calm his worries, not wanting to silence the dragon, “Don’t fret, I take no offense. I was just startled at the question is all, but to answer it, yes, I’m quite nearsighted and have been since birth. I can see most things with these lenses except for the great distance of the sky.”

“Yet you became a student of it?”

“Indeed, because no matter how little of it I can grasp in sight, the deep connection to which I feel towards it is something I’ve never been able to shake.”

“I can understand that feeling,” StarryNight examined the night, eyes reflecting the scene above, “Some of us were blessed with gifts that others see as curses, my muteness is something many didn’t have to patience to try and understand, but this judgement was one I never felt from the stars. Anytime when I felt alone, I would gaze upon the night, its ever-shifting expanse captured me, guided me when I was lost, and it has now brought me to you, Zulu,” StarryNight looked at the stars on Zulu’s scales with a quiet reverence, “Even if you may never see the sky as I do, you were gifted with your own constellations to map, a glitter and luster not even the sky can match.”

Zulu flushed, the stars across his scales spinning with the compliment, “You flatter me, Starry.”

StarryNight smiled gently, “As your nearsightedness prevents you from seeing the same picture as I do, I want you to know that your beauty is that of which rivals the spectacles I have seen in my travels, none of the shooting stars or astral phenomenon can change that fact.”

The sincerity in which he spoke startled Zulu, his heart tugging at the words. Overhead, the sky seemed to flare to life with color, beating in a vibrant rhythm of its own. Zulu watched as the hues reflected off of the iridescent sheen of StarryNight’s scales, painting him in a wash of colors usually absent from his form. His eyes explored the expanse above, electric eyes pulsing with excitement at the sight, that soft grin on his whiskers. Zulu felt a hesitant paw drift to his, its pads rough from wear, but Zulu took it, resting a comforting thumb over it as he enjoyed the lights overhead, enjoying the company of StarryNight as he grinned further, flush dusting his muzzle.