Last Starborn

Fi's voice was quiet as she finally asked a question that had been nagging at her for a while, "Ash, where is your spell focus?"

Ash froze as she realized that normal casters always had a spell focus on them and that, by all appearances, she didn't.

Gardenia spoke up, voice warm but stern as magic wrapped around them to keep her words from drifting further than she intended, "This information goes nowhere," her eyes strayed meaningfully towards Fel in particular, "But this is Ashterra the Starborn Unicorn, daughter of Lord Sidus."

Fel whistled appreciation at the importance of the information she'd just been given, "Wouldn't sell that tidbit even for a fortune, for sure. Lord Sidus would hunt me down personally. Wouldn't be so grand a hunt, either, without his blessing to use magic with," she frowned slightly as she looked Ash over, "You might want to get your hands on something to fake as a focus though, if you want to keep that information from others."

Ash sighed slightly, knowing already how impossible it was for her to fake a focus, "Are there any trustworthy craftspeople in the temple?"

"That depends entirely on what the material being used will be," Gardenia answered evenly.

"Horn, unicorn horn," Ash said with a shrug at the shocked stares she received for the statement, "They grow back fast, no big loss, and they're what I use as a focus so it won't have to be faked."

Yarrow answered before Gardenia could, "I know someone," Ash's stomach chose that moment to growl and he realized suddenly that it had been hours, just over half a day, since he'd met Ash and she'd yet to eat or drink anything at all. Someone had brought him both as he'd watched over the god and unicorn on the small island in the starseeing pond so he was not as bothered. Beyond that he carried water with him so dehydration wouldn't become an issue in the heavy and often hot armor he wore, "Food will be our first priority, though."

The three others departed first with friendly waves and promises to chat in the future whenever Ash wanted. That left just her and Yarrow, who spent a moment frowning as he contemplated her before eventually speaking.

"Do you have any preferences in food or drink?" He asked politely, uncertain as to what the diet of a Starborn unicorn was. For all he knew, she could only drink water from a stargazing pond and either couldn't or wouldn't eat meat.

Used to such questions, Ash gave a small chuckle in response, "I eat the same things as any other elf," seeing the question in his eyes, she responded, "While I am a unicorn first, I find myself more comfortable in a two legged form and it is not terribly uncommon for my kind to do so. Sidus made us so that our shifted form, what you see before you, is as much a part of us as the form we are created in. The only difference is that I can change as my perception of myself shifts until I hit upon something that feels like me. I once looked exactly like Luna, a copy of the friend that stood alongside me as I took my first stumbling steps."

Yarrow had a bit of trouble imagining that considering he'd had a bit of time to get to know Luna over the months she'd already been in their world as a Godsborn. She and Ash were close, something that was clear to see for anyone that observed them together, but they were also very different from each other.

Luna was calm and focused when it came to being a priestess, saving mischief for times when the temple was uninvolved. Ash could have easily ended up as the haughty type that was used to people serving her given she was, in fact, raised being served constantly. Instead she seemed incredibly independent, almost seeming to view those that would willingly serve her as going too far in doing so. He'd gathered, of course, that her declaration as Sidus' daughter was a new thing to her and that she wanted to be treated as an equal, not a creation made by the hands of a god.

He took a few moments to go into his room and get out of the armor and into casual clothes. He could have stopped and removed it a while ago but had gotten distracted when Sidus had appeared in the temple. It wasn't exactly uncommon for the god to wander through the temple or sit at the stargazing pond but normally he did so alone as everyone kept a respectful distance. To see him with company, chatting gently and seeming far more approachable than was normal for the cool-tempered god had surprised Yarrow. It was a sharp reminder of a fact often forgotten: that the sun that provided warmth to their world was a star just as much as all those in the cold night sky.

Turning his attention back to Ash, he led her out of the temple and into the city center. The massive Star Ash dominated the central square, carefully given more than enough room for millennia more of growth before any measures would have to be taken to keep the roads from buckling as the above-ground roots spread. It was a magnificent thing to look at and drew Ash's gaze and presence very quickly. Yarrow made no move to stop her as there were no restrictions on approaching the tree, merely on damaging it.

She raised a hand to rest it softly on the familiar near diamond shaped bark of the tree, noting that the brown gleamed with an opalescent edge to it. Her gaze moved up, taking in the leaves that coated it, always in pairs with a single leaf at the end of each small twig. Towards the crown of the tree, the leaves were green as any other plant's would be but closer to her they were dyed with deep dark colors that turned it into a beautiful rainbow. She noted that serene greens and joyful yellows seemed the most common, finding a small smile curving her lips at the idea that the tree's guardianship allowed happiness and content to flourish in Redwood Stars.

The tree's own magic touched her, images of the small village that had once started around the young tree growing alongside it. The redwoods that surrounded the town did not encroach much into the glade that belonged to the tree, leaving ample room for people to gather. The soft imagery of a few small settlers and the growth of the village into a marvelous city felt so very real to her that she was already beginning to question whether Fantastoria was a game at all.

Her stomach announced once more that she was rather desperately in need of food and the beginnings of a headache signaled a need for water, forcing her to discard her musing for the moment.