Tales of Sunshine (Sky: Children of the Light)

III: Questions Left Unanswered

The days spent fluttering through the clouds drifted into weeks. Those weeks drifted into a few months. The everlasting summer of Daylight Prairie nurtured my youthful heart. I loved the heat that prickled my skin, and the cool vapor from the clouds that formed little droplets of moisture in my hair. I spent my time exploring, mostly without Violet. She told me that she had matters to attend to, such as guiding the new moths that had recently been born. I guessed that this was something she did frequently, and left her alone.

Considering how young I was, I never felt lonely. I had spirits to free, candles to light, flying to do, and stories to create. On one of these busy days, I discovered The Sanctuary Isles for the first time. I was fascinated by the floating islands that were perched in the skies. They looked as if they were once a part of the mainland, having been torn from the earth itself.

My inquisitive mind created elaborate stories for how these islands came to be. An ancient war that had been going on for over thousands of years had caused the angry gods and goddesses to strip the world of its natural beauty. They burned forests and pastures down with their wrathful breath. They ripped chunks of terrain with their bare hands and threw it at the skies in anguish of a lost friend. This is what created The Sanctuary Isles, or so what I believed.

Nothing stopped my spry mind from crafting these elaborate stories. I dreamed of telling them to the world. I fantasized about what other moths would call me. Sunshine The Muse, or The Sunny Bard.

Gather around, everyone. She's coming to tell us the forgotten history of the realms! They would say.

Tell us about The Great Tortoise God of Treasure Reef! Tell us about the forgotten city washed over by the tears of the River God! They would chant.

I chuckled to myself. I was sitting by where a waterfall streamed its fresh water into a small lake, gazing at the flock of mantas gliding in the winds and listening to the gurgle of seamounts about to burst.

A familiar eagerness rose to the surface of my thoughts.

What happened to this world?

I was desperate to seek answers. I figured that since Violet wasn't around at the moment, I wouldn't be able to ask for help. I would have to take matters into my own hands if I were to make any progress with my learning.

I closed my eyes and forced my mind to drown out my thoughts. In order to teleport home, I would need to meditate. Violet taught me that it was the most quick and efficient way, but I needed to be focused. It wasn't as easy as sticking cotton buds in your ears.

Finally, I opened my eyes to dusk trickling over the horizon and the sun spilling out its last rays. I got up from the constellation pad and walked over to the first doorway in the row of monuments. I was going back to the Isle of Dawn. I walked through the doorway, and the familiar sensation of cool air washed over me. 

Next thing I knew, I stood amongst the sweeping dunes of the desert. The air was dry and smelled of the salty sea. I walked past the old splintered boats and let the curious butterflies follow me towards a great mound. I remember passing it with Violet on the day of my birth. It had a large, deep hole carved through it. I guessed that it was a tunnel, and it had many secrets to uncover.

Standing in front of the mound, anxiety began to creep into my stomach like a hundred clumsy butterflies. Beyond the entrance of the tunnel, there was total darkness. I couldn't make out anything more than five feet ahead of where I stood.

I gulped. It was now or never. I would have to get over my fears eventually.

A few steps into the tunnel, and a sudden draft lifted my braids and brushed the hairs on my neck. My stomach lurched, and a rush of goosebumps ran down the lengths of my arms. I wanted to run back to the entrance.

But I knew better.

I fumbled my pockets for a candle and brought it to my lips. I blew on the wick and a flame rippled to life, creating a small orb of light which barely helped me make out my surroundings. I spotted old, dusty candles laid out on one side of the tunnel wall. I brought my light to each of them, and that instantly illuminated a bit of the area. As I looked around, I noticed something. There were characters, or drawings etched into the wall. They looked like ancient murals painted with glowing ivory pigment. The pictures resembled people standing in front of a temple in the clouds.

I felt somebody's presence behind me. I spun around, but saw nothing.

I could've sworn somebody was just here. I heard something.

"We have long awaited your arrival, Sunshine." said a hundred whispering voices.

I tripped backwards, the hard floor knocking the breath out of me. Somebody is definitely here.

"Who's there?" I shouted into thin air.

"We are spirits." the voices hissed.

Relief washed over me. Maybe I could get answers from them.

"Please, spirits. Will you tell me something about what happened to your world?" I asked.

The hundreds of whispering voices shifted through the air, indistinct conversation breaking out amongst them. They were contemplating whether or not they should tell me something. I held my breath.

"We will tell you some things, child. We sense that you have no ill-intentions, for you are a Child of The Light." the voices whispered.

Child of The Light... Is that what the spirits call a moth?

"The universe once lived in harmony, with all the stars the sky could hold united."

I looked towards the mural and found it showing a completely new image from before. Stars glistened on the inky stone, wonderful constellations danced through its darkness, and comets shot through the cosmos. In the center stood a city in the clouds, shimmering like a jewel in the sun. Great birds flew through its angular towers.

"Suddenly, darkness came upon the skies. The birds fluttered away into hiding. As the darkness grew like ink blossoms in water, the stars too began to hide. One by one, each star that shone in the sky died. And with each dying star, our light faded."

It was a sad sight to see, watching all the stars dwindle into nothingness, until eventually the city gave in to darkness itself. I felt my nails dig into the flesh of my arms.

"Millenia have passed. Our culture has long since died. Now it is time. We call to you, child. Bring us back to the stars."

What? That's it?

I knew that I had to free the spirits. That is a moth's mission in life, after all.

But what about the darkness? Was it a natural occurrence?

I grew even more confused. Of course there were no disasters which resemble anything like a great darkness coming over and fogging the world. Unless there was a really big storm, which I doubted was the case.

"Wait!" I looked around, expecting to see spirits crowding around me, yet finding darkness engulfing me instead.

"What happened? Why did the stars fade?" I cried out.

A very faint echo sounded through the cave. I tuned my ears to hear it.

"Bring us back... Bring us back..."

I groaned.

"If you would just tell me what happened!" I pleaded to the voices. The whispers faded, and silence blossomed in the cave like the swell of a flowerbud in the spring. It sucked the wind from my lungs.

"Why won't anybody tell me anything?" I shouted, tears of frustration beginning to blur my vision.

Suddenly, I appreciated the darkness. In fact, I welcomed it. I let it wrap me like a caterpillar's cocoon. It was intimate, and it blocked out the noise from the rest of the world. I couldn't hear the ocean's spraying waves, or the chirping of birds. Just the faint buzzing in my head as blood rushed through my body.

I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my cape tight around my shoulders. I gripped it tighter and tighter, until the only things holding my heart together were the ripping seams of cloth.