and the stars will fall from heaven

Modesty listened carefully to the quiet exchange of her children, her eyes roaming over each of them as they offered their thoughts and questions. They were like pebbles in a creek bed, all just a little bit different, each with their own way of approaching the world, and yet, they were all bound together by the banks of the water that would course over them. Would they be worn down, or would they endure?

She tilted her head slightly, offering a soft, knowing smile as her gaze moved to Cutlass. "Corsair, though a little abrupt, is correct in this instance," she said gently, her tone still laced with warmth. "The stars don’t get tired. They are eternal, unchanging. But as for us... it’s the effort that matters. The patience to keep going, even when things don’t seem to be moving as quickly as we want." She shifted slightly, considering his question about the stars. "It is true. Even the stars are always shifting. They may appear still, but they move in their own way, and so must we."

Turning her attention to Corsair, she could see the cogs turning in his odd little brain and she could only imagine he questioned the role of the gods. Her voice was steady but with a slight touch of humor. "The gods, they don’t judge us the same way we judge ourselves. Their place is earned through strength, through sacrifice. And perhaps, there is something divine about holding steady, like the Chief star does. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Leadership comes with its own challenges, but that is a lesson for another day."

Her gaze softened when she noticed the shift in Pythia, her daughter’s curiosity sparking. "And yes, Pythia," she answered gently, her smile growing as she noticed her daughter’s excitement. "It’s possible to aim for greatness, to dream of a place among the stars. But being a star doesn’t mean you control the world. The question, my dear, is not about being in the sky. It’s about what you do once you’re there. Do you protect, do you lead, or do you simply shine?" She already stood out luminescent in the dark, not that the girl herself would ever know it. Movement drew her attention with an almost silent sigh.

Her eyes caught Davey as he distracted himself, full of energy and movement, a reminder of the other half of his heritage, always needing to be kept busy. "Getting lost isn’t always about where you’re standing. It’s about knowing where you’re headed, even when the path isn’t clear. The map helps us, but it’s not just about directions. It’s about understanding where we fit into the bigger picture. And sometimes, it’s about asking the right questions to help you see it more clearly."

Finally, she looked toward Tide, who had started to tire and shift his focus back to her. She could see his curiosity, even if it was tempered by his exhaustion. "As for the other directions," she said, leaning in slightly, "there are always ways to find your way around, just like the stars. They guide us in many ways—north, south, east, west. But it’s the ability to recognize those directions and adjust that helps us find where we need to go."

Modesty turned back toward the stars, lifting her paw and tracing a line through the air to illustrate her points. "The North Star is the anchor, guiding us north. But if you turn your back to it and stretch your paws out, you’ll find your way south. To find east and west, you look to the stars that appear just after the sun sets and just before it rises. In the evening, the stars will start to form a path to the east, and as they rise, they will guide you westward."

Her eyes sparkled with something like pride that they had managed to hang on this long. "The stars can give us direction if we know what to look for. The constellations shift through the night, showing us where the other cardinal points lie. And the further you go, the more you learn to read the sky like a map of the land itself."

Modesty's eyes lingered on her children, their questions, and their curiosity lighting up like the night sky around them. "We all have a path to follow, but we can’t get lost if we remember to look up. The stars are always there to remind us of that."

"speech"