Mosaic's hand stretches toward the setting sun. It's a tiny thing from here, so small that her fingers can close around it and her fist is enough to blot it from the sky. She cannot reach it. Her fingers close around nothing but air, nor do they take her to visit the horizon. Even wholly closed off inside her fist, the sky shines on in brilliant but slowly fading hues, as if her desires meant nothing to it whatsoever. One more show for the planet, and then the stars will shine in earnest. 

In the morning it will rise again, whether she holds her fist clenched or no. Such a stupid thought. Was that really all the better she could do? Childish observations and sloppy construction, a pile of scrap every time she gets frustrated? Mosaic, demigod, strongest ant on the stick. 

Her legs tremble when she tries to stand again. She shoots a quizzical look down at her feet before flopping back down and looking up at the stars again. Her shoulders are twitching. Her lips curl back and flash fangs. Her grin widens, and she throws her head back like a Ceronian taken by a howl. Her laughter builds and builds until it's a roar that would make Gemini's hot little piece of ass (Taurel? Is that what she calls herself?) jealous.

"I'm... scared? Ahahahahahahaha! That's the funniest fucking thing I've ever heard! Look at me Quajl, I'm shaking from head to toe! Me! Isn't that hilarious? Hahaha, ahaha, HAA! Ah, gods thank you for the joke. I feel better already. I'm afraid to leave. Afraid to leave! [i]That's[/i] why it sounds so new! Hahahahaha!"

Her heart hammers wildly against her ribs until every part of her is vibrating. Between the fits of laughter, her breath comes faster and faster, shallower and shallower. Her fur rises on her limbs, uneven and bristling, and she trembles all the way down to her finger tips. She is afraid. She, Mosaic, is scared to leave the safety of her little town and her useless backwater planet. It's not that she lacks a ship or a destination, or even that there are people she'll need to bring along before she's satisfied. She's just... scared. That she'll turn out to be less than enough. That there are other, bigger, stronger godlings and monsters that she simply will not measure up to. And that even if she manages through everything else...

Even if she goes, there won't be anything there. That this is the pinnacle of life after all. That she is stuck, forever, miserable inside her secret heart but all the vast wonders of the universe around her nothing but hollow shades and ugly mockeries. She can feel her heart shrinking at the thought.

"No," she says to nobody, "No. Fuck that."

She stands, and finds her legs are strong again. She flexes, and her body crackles with power that she knows down to the tip of her tail is Enough. She smiles, steps forward, and returns to digging foundations. Shaping stone. Building supports. Each new house she builds looks just a little bit prettier, a little bit nicer made than the one that came before it. The night is upon her, and there are promises to be fulfilled. She could never leave otherwise.

So what if Quajl doesn't help? Let her watch. So what if the stars are distant and uselessly silent? Let them watch too. She is Mosaic. She stole the mountain, she took an old friend's name, and come the dawn she will have built a neighborhood from nothing. Before she leaves she will steal Ember and Gemini from their pack, pluck Dolce and Vasilia from their happy little niche, and carry Vesper out on her shoulders. 

Oh, and of course she'll find and kill that crab. The one that got away. Lady Artemis always comes first, right? 

"You know, I think I'm gonna punch out the Crystal Knight before I go. Everything I've ever heard about her makes me think she's a stuck up bitch. Besides, she'll be good practice for the real thing, right? Whatever words I find, figure I owe you that much for the advice."