Chapter Text
"I love you
I’ve loved you since the beginning
From when you were only stardust
To when you will rejoin the stars
When everyone will be together again
Understand, you don’t simply live in the universe
You are part of it, taking on a form uniquely alive
You are the universe giving love back to itself
I love you so much"
"Wait!!!"
A lone girl jolts awake, crying a plea into empty air. Tears stream down her cheeks, as she calls for someone she doesn’t know. Her heart aches with a nameless yearning that dissolves with the memory of a dream. A love so profound it lingers even as recollection fades into nothing. She wipes her face with the back of her hand and lets out a shaky sigh. It's an absurd dream. A ridiculous notion.
As her conscious mind clears, she takes in her surroundings; a forest drowned in pale blue dawn. Her sleeping bag, now encased in dew, is laid on the cold grass. She sits for a while, gazing at the faint sliver of the rising sun’s glow with an indistinct expression. Then, with quiet resignation, she stands.
The lone girl begins her daily routine by braiding her hair. With a wave of her hand, she freezes dew on a rock, creating a mirror of ice. Her fingers carefully weave her brown locks into a braid, now adorned with a scarlet ribbon. A long blue half-skirt sways as she ties it over her shorts, her outfit completed with a matching shirt, black boots, and sturdy cuffs around her arms. Last of all, she grabs her moon-themed spear, its weight settling in her grip.
Before setting off, she makes sure to pack all her belongings, including her numerous hand-drawn maps and a compass. However, she stops to look into the bag deeper, foolishly expecting to find something new. Instead, she only sighs, "Still no food."
She puts the backpack on and trudges forward anyway, ignoring the hunger pains as best she can. She hums to keep herself distracted.
As she walks, the trees tower above her, shrouding the horizon as if to taunt her. Birds occasionally fly into view, but seem to disappear in an instant. She wonders if her eyes are playing tricks on her.
The lone girl scribbles on her maps, trying to record a labyrinth of identical tree trunks and twisted paths. This proves useless, as this elliptical forest has her going in circles. Exasperated, she fidgets with her compass, only to see the needle is frantically twitching around.
She presses it gently to her forehead and mutters, "Don't tell me you're broken..."
Her grumbling is cut short by a sudden noise—a rush of water, loud and relentless. She blinks in surprise. How did she not hear it before?
Pushing aside her previous concerns, she follows the sound through thick shrubs and tangled undergrowth. Soon, she finds the source-- A river!
Her spear at the ready, she approaches the stream. Scanning its depths for signs of fish, she walks cautiously. Her posture is awkward, her expression is uncertain- The spear is clutched to her chest rather than held at the ready, betraying her inexperience.
With a deep inhale, she prepares herself. Removing her skirt and boots, she wades into the stream. Instantly, ice spreads from where her skin meets the water, thin crystalline patterns forming atop the surface. Breathing deeper, as she tries to control the frost, she makes her way to the center of the stream. She stands waiting for fish.
Rather than throwing her spear to hunt, like the intended purpose, she stabs at the water. She’s not good at this, however, and only ends up scaring other potential prey away.
Splash.
Miss.
Splash.
Miss.
Again.
And again.
Refusing to quit, her repeated strikes become more desperate and uncoordinated with each failure. The cold surges with her irritation, the ice spreading deeper until-
Crack.
The water around her legs hardens, trapping her in place. She yelps, now in a panic, and begins to frantically stab at the ice to free herself.
A mess.
Escaping this ordeal, the lone girl abandons any further attempt at fishing. It probably isn’t her calling anyway. She trudges on, lost, wet, cold, and hungry.
She glances down at her compass again. Her reflection stares back at her in the glass.
"You're broken," she mumbles.
Her vision blurs. Tears threaten to spill.
"No! No no no! Don’t cry! Don’t cry Polaris," The lone girl- Polaris, reassures herself, "Last time you cried you froze your eyelids shut, and that really hurt," She winces at the memory.
Polaris takes a deep breath, slaps her cheeks, and swallows her tears. She elects to follow the river, her only hope of escape, pursuing the promise of a village just beyond this enigmatic forest.
She daydreams of a warm meal. A soft bed. Maybe even a cold dessert.
The thought returns some energy to her stride, and as she walks, she resumes her humming- just a little bit louder this time.