1 A Forgotten Land

In a far distant land, a man marched wearily on an open desert plain. The wind howled around him like a pack of wolves. The cold, damp air of the night threatened to sink through his skin and burrow into his bones. As he exhaled, the fog of his breath could be seen to freeze as quickly as it had exited his mouth. The man was dressed in a brown leather tunic and a black over-coat, both marred by the desert, neither retained much of their original form, torn and beaten as they were. His bottom half was largely concealed by the sand coloured long trousers and sandles that he wore. Fitting for the desert, or so it seemed. They were the clothes of a traveller, a vagrant.

There was not much unique about the man, save his paper like skin, his form, originally unnoticeable, was further diminished by the vast emptiness of the desert. His grey eyes surveyed the land before his feet, focused, unfaltering. The black coat wrapped tossed to and fro in the wind as he went, failing to conceal the package of cloth held under his left arm. Placing one foot after the other, the man dragged his feet against the desert and the wind, with seemingly endless determination. After all, determination was all that was left. Strength had long abandoned him, leaving only his will to fight against an unforgiving landscape. The only solitude in the darkness, his only ally, the blue tint that radiated throughout the night from above, giving some vision to his eyes, some shape to the desert, some direction to his journey. That and the all too important bundle of cloth he held within his cloak.

The origin of this illusory blue tinge was not a mystery. The man halted his movement suddenly, seemingly struck by a thought. He cast his gaze up towards a single blue star, dominating the night sky. Struck by awe, the man was mesmerised by the vibrant bright blue hue that the star gave off during this time at night. A small shudder, a slight movement within the bound item, broke the man from his trance. He tilted his head down towards the tightly bound package under his arm, and a raspy sound escaped the man's mouth, barely words. His voice sounded not dissimilar to the flurries of sand moving around him, twisting and twirling as the wind desired, the man spoke.

"Star, that'll be your name boy...what do you think?"

The man folded back a layer of cloth from the bundle, a small face appeared. Two eyes slowly opened, a piercing bright blue, the same shade as the star above.