Chapter Text
Outer Wilds Ventures was started by Feldspar.
No one on Timber Hearth, if told this, would argue. Some might have said ‘Well, wasn’t it founded by four people?’ or ‘What about Gossan? Or Slate? Or Hornfels?’ or ‘You can’t do anything by yourself - Feldspar had help.’ Technically, those were all true. While Outer Wilds Ventures was founded by four people, and while the entire village did help Feldspar at some point or another, it was still Feldspar that started it all.
Feldspar and Gossan had always been inseparable. Since they were little, they were always circling the other, whether it was running around the village causing mischief, or guiding the other to an adult after hurting themself doing something stupid. It wasn’t rare for hatchlings to be close during those first few shared years of living, but their bond extended well into their adult years. You could get poetic and compare the two to the Hourglass twins, always dancing through life together, but that was a little too corny for Hornfels’ taste.
It was no surprise that Gossan would follow along wherever Feldspar wanted to go, even if that meant leaving the very ground they stood on. When Feldspar finally decided that all those hours of playing pretend could never amount to the real thing, Gossan didn’t do much beyond asking how. (The answer to that question would come in the form of Slate.) Feldspar could’ve already considered themself among the stars with how determined Gossan was to get them there.
The next step, collaborating with Slate, was a no-brainer. Even at their young age, they were already well on their way to being the next head engineer for the entire village, always tinkering away at something. If anyone could build a spaceship, it would be Slate. Though, most adults did have some concerns regarding their proclivity for less than stable energy sources and a keen lack of safety checks.
Feldspar didn’t care.
Gossan did.
It was a constant push and pull, and it was usually Esker who would step in and clean things up. Esker was just on the cusp of adulthood when they took on the task of babysitting the two. As time went on and the two matured beyond petty squabbling, Esker still stuck around since they were as involved as anyone else. Who wouldn’t want to see Feldspar succeed by that point?
Which did bring things back to the last founder, and how they got roped into this. It was the same reason as everyone else: Feldspar.
Hornfels knew Feldspar - of course they did, they grew up together - but Hornfels never really knew Feldspar the way Gossan or maybe even Slate did. Hornfels was quiet, they kept to themself most of the time, preferring the safety of the indoors as opposed to the unknowns of the forests. They had a few vivid memories from their early years of looking up from whatever they were doing at their desk and seeing Feldpsar and Gossan running around outside. Shouting odd commands to each other, usually waving some sticks around or pretending to be floating through space. Sometimes, Feldspar would glance Hornfels' way, and they’d quickly duck under the window, feeling a bit embarrassed for staring. Back then they weren’t sure why they were so shy around Feldspar, perhaps they were worried Feldspar might try to make them join them in whatever strange game they were playing. Which, admittedly, was a very funny thought in hindsight.
That was all to say Hornfels felt very uninvolved with the group. When the three (and a half - Esker usually considered themself more of a cheerleader then active participant) started their plans for space travel, it was just a fun conversation to eavesdrop on now and again. All they really hoped was that if Feldspar somehow did succeed, they would bring home a souvenir for Hornfels.
Turns out they would bring back a lot more than just a silly little souvenir.
“Hornfels,” was how it started. Hornfels had been bringing something to their cabin - a book? a toy? they couldn’t recall anymore - when Feldspar’s voice had stopped them. They turned to find Feldspar swinging on an old wooden swing that was technically for hatchlings much younger than the two of them.
“Yeah?” They weren’t sure what Feldspar could possibly want from them.
“C’mere real quick.” Feldspar stopped swinging to make an ushering gesture with their hand. Hornfels didn’t argue, but they started to feel nervous as they walked over. “You read a lot,” Feldspar astutely observed.
“Uh, yeah, it’s fun.” Hornfels adjusted their glasses, and Feldspar made a less than pleasant face.
“Well, sure, if you’re boring. But that means you know a lot of things, right?” Feldspar looked them up and down, as if they could size up how knowledgeable someone was just by looking at them. Maybe they could? Hornfels stood a little straighter, not wanting to disappoint.
“I know some things,” Hornfels didn’t actually know that much, they much preferred reading fictional stories over studying, but they still had a few space facts up their sleeve they were sure would impress Feldspar. “I know where the stars go during the day.” They waited to see if Feldspar also knew, or would ask them where, instead they just widened their eyes, perhaps as a way to say ‘go on?’ “They don’t go anywhere, we just can’t see them because the sun is so bright.”
“See! I knew Gossan was wrong, you are smart!” Hornfels was a bit caught off guard by the sudden revelation that apparently Gossan thought they were stupid. Feldspar barreled forward anyway.
“l’ve been thinking, and I realized that if me and Gossan are going to be busy in space, and Slate will be busy fixing up our ships, I don’t know who’s going to do all the little things, like making sure the weather is good on launch day, or helping us land once we return.”
“Esker?” Hornfels tried, unsure why Feldspar was unloading these concerns on them when they weren’t even in their little group. Perhaps it was because they thought they were smart enough to figure it out?
“Esker said that’s too much work and they’d rather do something easier.” Feldspar crossed their arms, clearly dissatisfied with the older Hearthian’s disinterest.
“Mmmm, I don’t know, Feldspar, that sounds like a serious job, maybe an adult?” Hornfels was going through a mental list of all the other Hearthians that had shown even a mild interest in Feldspar’s space mission.
“Hornfels, I’m asking you to do it.” Feldspar deadpanned, cutting Hornfels’ list short.
“Oh,” they didn’t even try to hide their surprise. “I’d have to look at the sky and watch for you guys?”
“Well, really maybe you’d do more, I’m not sure, I think Gossan called it ‘ground control,’ like you’d just be our point of contact for the rest of the village, or something like that.” Feldspar was clearly struggling to figure out how to describe the job, and Hornfels got the distinct feeling that perhaps this was actually Gossan’s idea.
“I could do that…” It’s not like they had really figured out that whole ‘what do you want to be when you grow up’ question yet. Maybe this would help them decide? “I don’t have to go into space, right?” As cool as space was, Hornfels definitely did not think they had the bravery for it.
“No! Your whole job will be right here.” Feldspar stomped their foot as they said the words ‘right’ and ‘here’ to get their point across.
Feldspar walked away from that conversation head held high with a new teammate successfully recruited, and Hornfels walked away from the conversation with a sudden desire to read everything they could get their hands on about space. The following weeks were full of borrowing every little record the Hearthian’s had on space, from astronomy to astral physics, and filling their notebooks with notes, observations, and ideas. Hornfels would find some of these notebooks many years down the line, and laugh at how absolutely terrible some of their calculations were. But still, they admired their younger self’s determination and excitement about this new prospect of life that would soon become their whole world.