Title: Feathers and Stars
Fandom: Guardian (TV)
Rating: G-rated
Length: 747 words
Tags: Ya Qing & OFC, Backstory, Playing with narrative voice, Bedtime stories, Inconclusive ending
Summary: Dear one, settle down, and I’ll tell you a story.



Dear one, settle down, and I’ll tell you a story.

In a far-off land where the dark sky twinkles and the ground is clothed in cool, green plants, I met a girl with flashing dark eyes. Mostly, you know, people in that land don’t wield dark energy. They live very dull lives—no one can teleport or freeze water with a touch. But this girl was special.

I was about your age, and I’d travelled there all alone—we won’t get into that now. That’s for when you’re older. This story starts when I was lost among some trees and blundering around. I must have startled her, because I’d barely caught a glimpse of her when she jumped high in the air. As she rose, her black skirts turned to feathers, and her arms broadened into wings. Next thing I knew, a bird perched on a branch above me, cocking her head imperiously. “Trespasser!”

I’d seen her change with my own two eyes, but I was still so astonished when she talked that I stumbled back—and tripped over a tree root and fell on my butt. Yes, laugh all you like, but you try meeting a talking bird-girl and see if you keep your cool. I was all alone in that strange land, remember.

I picked myself up. Still too surprised to be polite, I said, “That’s your dark-energy power? Turning into a bird?”

“Ah, you must be Dixingren.” There was a soft puff of energy, and then the girl was sitting on the branch, her bare feet dangling out of her glossy skirts. She was a year or two older than me. She said, “It’s not your kind of power. Mine is a heritage.”

She sounded as proud as Hei Pao Shi himself.

What did she mean? I didn’t know either, so I asked, “What do you mean, heritage?”

She didn’t explain straight away. Instead she leaned forward till I was sure she’d fall, and she stared at me so hard I thought my face would burst into flames. She was very pretty, and there were black beads and feathers and bits of lace in her hair. Then all of a sudden, she laughed, sat up again, and patted the branch next to her. “Come up here, and I’ll tell you.”

Did she expect me to turn into a bird, too? Or a cockroach who could walk up walls? Back then, long before you were born, Dixing didn’t have many trees, you know, so I’d never climbed one before. I didn’t know how. And I didn’t have my ice-power then, so I couldn’t make a ladder. I had to scrabble my way up the rough tree trunk while she called mocking advice. Finally, I shuffled out onto the branch next to her. The sky twinkled, and the leaves surrounded us, but it was high up. By that time, my hands and feet were sore, and I was quite cross. This girl could go anywhere with those wings of hers. Why had she made me climb all this way? Just so she could laugh at me?

“Who do you think you are?” I snapped.

She took my wrist and blew cool air on my sore hand to soothe it. “You need to grow callouses. Then it won’t hurt,” she said. “Me? I’m Ya Qing of the Crow Tribe. Look! I know it’s dark, but can you see?”

Without letting go of my wrist, she stood up as easily as someone standing up on the ground, and—you wouldn’t believe it—she dragged me up with her. No warning. She didn’t even ask first. The next thing I knew, I was wobbling on a branch, sure I was about to fall off. If anything happened to me, no one in Dixing would ever know. But Ya Qing’s grip was firm and reassuring. She wasn’t going to let me fall.

With her other hand, she pointed, and I looked. It wasn’t dark at all by Dixing standards, and through the trees, I saw a village busy with people. Some were sitting around long tables, lit with lanterns. Others herded young children into houses, while older children played in the branches of trees. Everyone was dressed all in black. Yes, it was the Crow village.

What happened next? Well, that’s just the start of the adventure, isn’t it? But it’s late now, dear one, and that’s the second time you’ve yawned. Sleep now, and I’ll tell you more tomorrow.