Your friend sits down on the cold floor of the town under the night sky. One of those man-made lights is above your heads, giving a golden hue to his hair. You just want to leave that place, but you do not know where to go.

You wonder if any of the children of men talk to those metal stars like they do with your kin.

Finally, your friend raises his head and squeezes your claw, offering you a smile.

He utters a few words and there, hidden like the roots of a plant but so strong that they give it life, you find disgust. This child is disgusted as you are at the sight you have just witnessed. You cannot help but feel kinship with your friend and for a moment you are grateful to have found such a kind child in this chaotic world. You offer a brief prayer of thanks to Mother Moon for the opportunity She has granted you.

But you still wonder why he has brought you to that place in the first place, if it brought dismay to both of you.

You remember one thing about humans. How often their prayers were about things they did not wish to do, but they had no choice but to do them.

Maybe this is one of those moments.

You stars follow ancestral laws, but breaking them never actually crosses your wishes.

You follow your brethren in strict formations. You do not visit the mortal lands while the Sun is out. You do not engage with humans directly, except for the Star Menders. You do not act. You observe and listen.

But you broke many of these rules. You had no choice.

A pang of fear erupts inside you as you wonder if Mother Moon is angry at you for such a reason. You wonder if your brethren will understand you.

Will they welcome you once more, when the gift of flight will be returned to you?

And, for a moment, a sense of uncomfortableness permeates your thoughts. Returning to the ancestral laws and following them without ever thinking to look at what is beyond there.

Your chest feels tighter. You shake your head to scatter those thoughts.

You broke those laws. It is not something to be enjoyed, you repeat to yourself. You had no choice. The world down here is so very difficult. The sky is vast, but without obstacles. You fly and fly and fly without ever finding something that will stop you on your path and make you think. But here, on the earthbound lands, the ground is treacherous with traps, animals, and so many other things you have never seen since the trees’ canopies hid them from your view.

The world is so very different from what you thought. You had no choice but to break those rules to survive.

You look at your friend, still silent in his thoughts.

Does he think you are angry at him?

You are not, because he had no choice. And he probably did not enjoy doing that, either.

His mouth moves again. You feel his worry, as if in a small prayer.

I hope you are alright.

It's a very common prayer between humans. You have heard it often muttered to the night sky, for family, friends, or people they barely knew.

Are you alright? You are not sure. But you do know that being with your friend helps you feel safe. Even inside that room full of the remnants of your kin, where your rage boiled and you saw fire, this boy helped you.

So you nod. You do feel alright.

He smiles. He says something else and you feel his calmness.

Footsteps on the rocks of the streets make you raise your gaze.

From the depths of the darkness, a figure emerges. He is a man in white, but what catches your eye are the light blue symbols on his clothes.

Your breath gets caught in your throat. Is this what humans call happiness?

You recognize those symbols. Star Menders!

This man is a Star Mender!

You look at the child, as if he could give you reassurance. He nods.

Your body does not know how to embody this joy that fills your very being and, without your prompt, your wings flap behind your back, before a pang of pain sends you whimpering.

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The child laughs a bit, before patting your back.

The Star Mender does not move and smiles at you.

He utters a few words to your friend, and he nods.

And then, he nods at you and starts walking away, towards one of the walls that encircle the town.

Your friend takes your claw and starts following the man and, this time around, you do not allow yourself to be dragged, and you walk with your human friend hand in hand.

Two humans block your path at the feet of the wall. The Star Mender and your friend show them a piece of paper and the two humans in silver nod, before opening the iron board that closes the human nest off from the rest of the forest.

You remember that piece of paper. The child had received it from the man with the golden tooth.

So that was why he had to talk to him. You knew you could trust your friend.

You leave the safety of the nest of rocks behind you as the branches of the trees of the forest welcome you back.

A path dug in the dirt guides your steps as a few artificial lights dot the air above your heads. You raise your eyes to look at them, letting your friend guide you.

In the night sky above everything else your kin is twinkling in its everlasting light and for the first time since falling to the ground, they feel close.

You are going back home. This man will help you heal your broken wing, and you will take flight again. You will feel the tickle of the wind on your feathers once more and reach the warmth of your brothers and sisters. You will reunite with your Mother, always so beautiful in the sky. You will remember to pay attention to your friend who has helped you in this journey. You will hear his prayers first and, even though it’s against the law, try to help him however you can. You carve this promise in your heart and your soul, and decide a new rule.

The promise of a star is eternal.

The Star Mender stands still for a moment, rummaging in his bag on his back, and takes out a little box. You have seen some of those in the past, little stars at the hands of humans.

The Star Menders twists something you can’t see and, in the blink of an eye, there’s fire in the little box. It gives the forest golden highlights, and you regret not being able to see such lightworks back in the sky.

It takes for a moment for you to start wondering where you are being led to. Your friend does not seem worried, as he follows the Star Mender’s steps obediently. And, in that moment, it strikes you that this child has no other business with you.

The realization hits you with a pang of sadness. The boy had told you he would lead you to the Star Menders, and so he did. But here he is, still following you, eyes full of hopes and dreams. Does he want to see you leave for the skies, you wonder?

Humans had the tendency to do that, and you always found that beautiful.

You walk the path of the forest together, under the eyes of the stars and of the sleepy leaves, until you reach a glade. A fallen trunk rests in the middle, hugged by mushrooms and moss, while your mother’s light bathes the grass in silver and for a moment you think of the waves of the ocean in the depths of the night.

The Star Mender stops in the middle of the glade and looks at the stars above. You surmise that he is probably looking for the guidance of the stars, as all travelers did during the night.

Then, he smiles, and looks at the forest.

He raises the light cage in his hands and turns the stick a few times. The trapped flame flickers and turns off, before turning on again. You tilt your head in confusion, while your friend squints his eyes.

And then, with a jump, he gasps.

A wave of terror coming from him hits you with all its force, no sounds uttered from his mouth, as he grabs your claw and tries to pull you away, but just a couple of steps afterwards he stops.

You see them.

Eyes in the darkness, piercing white in their hands. They are hidden by the trees, but the glints of their weapons give them off. Your body reacts before your mind does, an ancestral fear prompts you to open your wings and fly away, but the sharp pain makes you hiss and kneel on the ground, your friend still next to you.

Footsteps on the grass lead the eyes closer to you, as men and women appear from the darkness, encircling you. Some of them are holding weapons that spit fire, while others hold spears, runes carved in the wood.

You remember.

You growl and hiss, as you open your healthy wing, and curse their name under your breath.

Star Hunters.

Your friend is in front of you, arms wide in an attempt to shield and protect you, as he shouts words at the Star Mender that has led you here. His anger drops from his tongue and you can feel, almost taste it.

This boy. He could kill that man, if he so desired. He could raise his weapon that spits fire and let it do its duty, as it did with the bear.

But he does not do that. Something is stopping him from attempting that.

You forgive him. You understand. As you wouldn’t dare hurt one of your brethren, he too does not want to.

He shouts some more sounds, as the man simply stares at him.

You look at the robed man who has brought you here. The faint symbols on his clothes, the feathers adorning his neck.

And then, one simple word flashes in your mind.

Betrayer.