Chapter Text
Dusk knew there were places that were technically “out of bounds.” Places where sky kids weren’t *supposed* to go, but did anyway. Dusk loved to explore these places, to find ways to navigate the wind walls to reach a distant monument, or how to slip out of the Valley temple and fly over clouds and water to visit the Twin Elders. Sometimes it was difficult to find the path- like when she tried to get to the cliff behind the performance theater. She made it eventually, but not without friends and a clever use of their table. She had been all over, from the rainbow road above the Isle temple to the Elder Room in the Vault of Knowledge. She had conquered them all.
So… surely there was a place beneath the clouds, right?
Dusk spent *cycles* looking for places that seemed easy to sneak beneath the clouds. She knew she could slip under them in the daylight prairie, but the cloud wall underneath didn’t allow her to fully get under them. The same was true in Aviary Village. She could get ABOVE the clouds in the Wind Tunnels, but there was no way she could get under them. There weren’t many clouds in the Forest, and none in the Vault.
She was determined to find a way, but in the meantime life still went on. She still had to collect light fragments, still had to spirits to revive, relationships to ascend. It had been a while since she'd gone through rebirth, but she needed more red candles, and shards weren't enough. She stood in front of the gate to the Eye of Eden, hands placed on her hips as she steeled herself for the bad time she was about to have. She'd made sure to put on her usual outfit for the trip- black Mischief boots, gray Pianist Beginnings pants, and red Mellow Musician cape. She took out her candle, melted the spirit gate away, and stepped inside.
She didn't realize she forgot her lantern until it was too late.
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Eden was a cold place. It lacked the light and warmth found throughout the Kingdom she called home, and was more dead than even the Wastelands. At least dark plants could still be found among the dunes and sludge left behind in the distant past. But Eden? Eden was barren. Nothing could survive here except the krill, who survived on light stolen from unfortunate sky kids. It had been a while since Dusk had gone to Eden, so she didn't realize how out of practice she was. She got pummeled by rocks after mistiming when to run, losing several of her winged lights before she could recover them. She groaned as she dragged herself to her feet and hunched down next to the final brazier before the tunnel leading up to the Storm. One more stretch and she'd be home free. Or rather, one stretch before she got a brief reprieve before the real torture. At least she had Orbit to look forward to. Dusk waited there several minutes, trying to get a hang for the timing again. Another sky kid reached her while she waited, and Dusk felt worry clawing at her chest when she realized it was a moth. This was the hardest part of the trip up to Eden. Was this their first time? Did they know what they were getting into? She couldn't think about that now. She had to get to the tunnel. Her head snapped up when she heard the wind die down, then jumped up and half ran, half flew up the steep hill toward the top. She couldn't risk looking back to see if the moth was following her. Looking back was a mistake. Dusk passed the glowing winged light at the top of the hill to dodge into the tunnel, just as rocks started flying again. Now that she was safe, she looked back for the moth. They were cowering beside the brazier halfway up the hill, trying to shelter from the rocks they knew were about to start up again. Unfortunately, the Krill was growing closer to discovering them. Dusk only had a moment to think. If she could distract the krill, maybe the moth could get by. She'd done plenty of krill dodging before, surely she could protect this moth, right? ....right?
As Dusk was trying to make her calculation, the moth started moving. Most veterans knew it was safest to go passed the winged light and into the tunnel, then wait for the krill to pass before going back for it. But this wasn't a Veteran. The moth took the detour to get the winged light. The krill was coming. Dusk didn't take a moment to think, knew the risk that hesitating posed to the little moth. She had taken many hits from krill so at least she should be able to handle it. She had had enough winged lights to tank the hit if she had to. She dove out of the tunnel just as the krill spotted the moth. She grabbed the moth and swung them toward the tunnel, attempting to fly after the running moth. But the wind kicked up at that moment, pushing her back to the ground. The krill dove towards her. She tried to jump behind a rock, but the krill was faster. It slammed into her. She could feel its teeth gnash, ripping out the lights she stored inside herself. With a shake of its head it tossed her- right over the edge. Dusk could feel the cold seep into her body, her light extinguished as she fell through the sky, unable to do anything as she fell.. and fell.. and fell.
Dusk prayed to Megabird to save her. Everything went black around her.
At least now she would be able to see what lay under the clouds.