#starkyda

Saoirse sighs. "How bad is it?" Her hand falls to her lap and she curls her fingers together.

Aisling hums and sets down the basket she had on her hip at the foot of the bed.

"Not bad at all," she says, pulling combs and picks and jars of oils and creams from the basket. "We've plenty of time."

"We're not behind schedule?" asks Saoirse, scooting to the foot of the bed. Lucian gets to his feet and disappears out of the room, nodding on his way out. The door almost catches his tail.

"No," says Aisling, settling behind Saoirse and starting to work on her hair. "I knew you'd be here." There's a laugh in her voice, small but there, and Saoirse's face burns. She stares at her hands, fingers twisting in her lap, and presses her lips tight together.

Aisling leans around and beams at her, pressing their cheeks together.

"Not an insult, my lady. I quite like this room, myself." She winks and Saoirse can't help the snort of laughter that slips from her lips.

The first touch of the comb in her hair has Saoirse stilling from long practice. Once Aisling works through all the tangles, Saoirse's thinking of doing star buns. Quick, easy, and it gets her hair out of the way for this morning.

Saoirse swallows. The hatching. Watch if—

"Aisling?" Her voice is high and tight.

"Yes, my lady?"

"Could you tell me a story? Or some gossip? Something?"

Aisling hums. "Of course, my lady." She sets off into a story about the housemaids and a recent relationship scandal, and Saoirse settles into the bed, closing her eyes and letting the words wash over her.

Aisling is the only woman in the house taller than Saoirse, and kneeled on the bed, her mouth hovers above Saoirse's head. Her words dance along Saoirse's hair before landing in her ears, and each word relaxes the tension in Saoirse's shoulders almost as easily as Lucian's bed.

Six years as her handmaid — tomorrow is their anniversary — does that.

Lucian returns during the story and he settles on the other side of the bed to help with Saoirse's hair. The scent of coconut oil and mango fills the air — imported hair products that work much better than anything local — and Saoirse tilts her head to let the two work her hair into the two star buns she asks for.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready, as well?" asks Aisling.

Lucian huffs. "Well, you see, you two have taken over my room."

Aisling snorts. "As if we've never seen you naked."

Saoirse's face burns. Aisling shouts as Saoirse's hair ignites.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Saoirse leaps to her feet and scrambles away from them both. She slaps her buns, both mostly done, and tries to stay away from everything flammable. Lucian opens the window.

Saoirse sighs as her hair simmers down to a dull, glowing smoulder. "I can finish getting ready in my room." She shuffles toward the door and stares at the floor. Always causing problems. Messing up Lucian's morning. The most important morning of his life. And here she is, messing it up.

"Are your hands okay?" Saoirse's gaze flicks to Aisling, who is blowing on her hands. "Did I hurt you?" She voice cracks and she grimaces.

★ CHARACTERS

Saoirse Cuirc: 19, she/her, trans woman. Heiress to the Cuirc family. Type 1 diabetes. Anxiety disorder. Fat.

All Saoirse has ever wanted was to just be a normal girl, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't even taste it. Anxious, overeager, and already feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, Saoirse is the first of nine Chosen and is meant to find the rest and serve as their leader. Except Saoirse doesn't want to lead. She just wants to make friends and get to pretend she isn't the world's best chance at avoiding destruction. But she can't forget, not even for a second.

Jules Locke: 19, they/them, non-binary. Fringe farmer. Autistic. Migraines. Fat.

Blunt, hardworking, and endlessly curious, Jules is dragged into the world of dragon riders and politics when they stumble across, and hatch, a dragon egg near their family farm in the Fringe. Indentured until they can pay it off, Jules is determined to get home to their grandfather as quickly as possible - but their plans might be waylaid after they discover Sabine's curse and find themself unable to leave her to fight alone.

Wren Hashimoto: 19, they/them, trans masc. Youngest of the Hashimoto family. Stoat beastie. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Celiac.

After an entire childhood spent under the well-meaning and overbearing thumbs of their family, hatching an egg means Wren finally has some freedom. But arrival at the academy quickly proves that this world is not built for them, and Wren finds themself fighting just to keep their head above water. The people looking down want Wren to fail, and Wren will stop at nothing to disappoint them. But the true fight might not be with the world outside, but with the vast, burning anger inside them that might swallow their world whole.

Kiryu Furukawa: 19, he/him, cis man. Half-fae and least favourite of the Furukawa family. Juvenile arthritis. Tinnitus. Alpha-gal syndrome. Eating disorder NOS. Bipolar disorder.

Born out of wedlock and to one of the few fae still in Lumira, Kiryu has had the cards stacked against him in Tairkyda since the start. But it wasn't until he was nine years old, when his father found out about and tracked him down, that Kiryu even knew he was destined to be cursed. Until then, he'd been a normal kid. Trapped in his father's house and slowly worn down by years of bigotry and abuse, Kiryu got quiet, started playing stupid, and did everything he could in hopes of getting home to his mother and sisters. Now, with a dragon hatched, his father and eldest brother have recruited him in a mission to change the Chosen, and if he succeeds, he'll finally get to go home and breathe. Now if only he didn't despise his father and this culture and didn't take every opportunity to pick fights and start chaos.

Lucian: 19, he/him, cis man. Beastie. Saoirse's personal guard and companion. Gigantism. Migraines. Fat.

Lucian's first memories are hunger, fear, and pain. His first memory of light is Saoirse, then known by another name, and she gave his world light and meaning. For years, Lucian has lived in Saoirse's shadow, off the streets and out of bad homes only because she took interest in him. He protects her with everything she has. But he longs for more. Lucian longs for open skies and smiling faces, for notoriety that comes not from Saoirse, but from his own name and his own merit. And when he hatches a dragon egg, something he never thought he could do, Lucian isn't sure if this will give him more opportunity to make a name for himself, or seal him into his role as Saoirse's number two forever.

Sabine Bellerose: 19, she/her, cis woman. Oldest child of the Bellerose family. Blind. PTSD.

Sabine is dying. She knows she's dying and, furthermore, she knows she can't be saved. That's fine. All she wants, before her father's stupid curse kills her, is to save her brother. But when she hatches a dragon egg she didn't even want, the timeline changes. Her father sends her off to the academy with an hourglass around her throat. The day after the school year ends, Sabine will die. Frustrated and helpless, Sabine will fight with everything she has to save her brother. Herself? She gave up on herself years ago.

Cináed: 19, they/them, genderless. Half-fae and indentured servant of Topside. Autistic. Hard of hearing.

Cináed's not supposed to be here - here, in Topside; here, as staff; here, unable to leave because of the stupid charm wrapped around their ankle that they can't get off. If they could, there'd be nothing stopping them from running home and finding their sister again. After nine years of waiting, very few consequences are going to get in Cináed's way of finally tasting freedom. But for them to get there, they'll have to work alongside two of Topsiders up-and-coming magineers, and the more Cináed's responsibilities to Topside and feelings for both Lara and Bran grow, the harder it is to run home for good.

Lara Acardi: 21, she/her, trans woman. Cerebral palsy. Seizures. Fat.

Everything can be understood if you are patient, humble, and never give up. This is Lara's life motto. Raised by a brilliant, warm man, who is also the head military scientist of Tairkyda, Lara has spent her life in awe of science and magic. She is a person who chases ideas, opportunities, and dreams, even if they might seem far fetched. And when her father struggles to find a solution to a new Blight problem, which leads to pressure from above, Lara recruits her friend Bran, and new lab assistant Cináed, into helping her solve the problem and save her father's reputation and career.

Bran Fáolan: 22, he/him, trans man. Albinism. Autistic. OCD.

Bran and his family have never fit into the upper crust of Tairkyda. Described, at best, as "overly obsessed weirdos", Bran's widowed mother encourages her children to do what brings them joy. For Bran, that is science! Driven by an insatiable need to create something impossible, something no one else has seen, Bran toils in the engineering labs everyday, seeing little point in personal relationships or like, being nice. But when the anomalies he's tracking start to add up, Bran ropes Lara and Cináed into helping him discover exactly who, or what, is causing the magitech in Tairkyda to malfunction and flicker.

Padma: 12, she/her, cis girl. Fisher beastie. Left hand amputee.

Padma survived what many others wouldn't: a limb amputation due to Blight. She only survived because Shahin, her adoptive father, found her and saved her. And she's never stopped trying to save him back. Quick on her feet and vicious with her teeth, Padma has spent years running in the shadow of her fathers' criminal empire in Underside. Now, with the magitech malfunctioning more than ever and Topside tight-lipped about it, Padma has the perfect opportunity to go undercover and get information for her dads. The pressure doesn't matter - all that matters is not letting her dads down. If she can do that, she can do anything.

Katriona "Kat": 22, she/her, cis woman. Berserker. Right arm amputee (above the elbow). Bipolar disorder.

Nine years ago, Kat lost Cináed to Topside and it's all her fault. She just wanted them to eat something good. She thought if they stole from Topside they could make good money selling what they grabbed. Instead, she lost the only family she had left. Now, Kat is an underground fighter; letting out her anger in the ring while she saves up money to get information about Topside and Cináed's whereabouts. When Kat gets the chance to team up with someone even scarier than her, she takes it to get to Cináed quicker. Despite her anger, Kat's pretty good at taking care of other people, particularly those younger than her. A lot of kids in Underside go to her for help.

Rhys: 15, they/them, agender. Farsider. Wolf beastie. Autistic. Nonverbal.

Rhys did not exist before they were six years old. They appeared, stumbling, broken, and weeping, in Underside nine years ago. After accidentally killing over a dozen people with strange shadows, Rhys fainted, and a doctor determined that Rhys had survived Blightfall, the final, and fatal, stage of Blight. Many wanted to study them, many wanted to use them, but Rhys ended up with Madeline, a woman who came to be their mother. Rhys loves Madeline. Rhys loves Underside. And Rhys has terrible powers that no one else does. And when the Enforcers of Topside kill their mother, Rhys casts aside their deep desire to be good - to be a hero - and takes up revenge. No one gets away with killing their mom. No one.

★ SETTING

Starkyda is a world in three parts: the Aether (above), the Nether (below), and Lumira (the world between). It's got similar technology to the 1880s-1910s era of development, it's in the first big stages of its industrial revolution, and magic is woven into everything. This is a world of floating islands. After a great flood many many years ago, the Gods rose the islands and their people into the sky to protect them from the endless waters. There were many changes during The Flood, including the hybridization of all living creatures. Cowpigs and chickurkeys and raccoorrels. (Also the dragons do not talk, just so we're clear.) Magic is not restricted to bloodlines or anything similar in Lumira. Any person can wield magic and the stars provide the layouts of every spell possible. However, without taeliswood - a highly guarded resource on Tairkyda - a person can only access a fraction of the magic in the world. Only through wealth, connections, or access to the military academy is it possible to gain the taeliswood for proper wand cores, brooms, and even the most coveted of all: a taelismera. Tairkyda, our main setting, is the lowest inhabited island left in Lumira. Those lower fell into the ocean after the Blight infected the island's living soul and killed them. Without a soul, the island plummets. Tairkyda is an island, divided. Topside, the city above ground, is deeply classist and run by five separate and feuding groups known as the Five Families. Only the academy is a neutral ground. The Wall, which separates the inhabited island from the Blighted sections, holds its own culture, as does the Fringe, the large ring of farms that wrap around the outside of the city, beyond the protection of most of its walls. But perhaps the most disparate section of the island is Underside - the literal underbelly of Tairkyda, located beneath the infrastructure of Topside and dug into the caves, the cliffs, and the dirt itself, until a mirror of Topside exists within its shadow. This is the more overt criminal world of Tairkyda, and mostly it houses those deemed undesirable by society or who were unlucky enough to be born down there. The military academy is the heart of Topside and is where all members of the military, whether foot, support, dragon rider, griffon rider, etc., are trained. The academy provides the largest supply of dragon riders to the war against the Blight. While two other islands have small colonies - Starletom and Hornkider - nearby, neither has a robust dragon rider population and few eggs choose to hatch for them each year. It is not an exaggeration to say that, as the world stands, if Tairkyda were to fall into the ocean, it would mean the end of the world.

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