Chapter 12: Side Story (Certain Islanders)

"Hey, can you see it? That bird star's showing up again!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's shining again today."

The man pointed to a particularly bright, shimmering star visible in the sky.

It was the first hour of the evening. The sun would set in about another hour, but the sky was still bright. Even so, in the southern sky, far in the distance, a single sparkling bird star appeared.

The bird star had only started appearing a few days ago. Ever since then, it had shown up like clockwork at this time each day.

At first, there had been a commotion, with people wondering if it was some unknown magical creature. But after three days, when it showed no signs of getting closer, no one paid it much mind. In fact, since it started shining just before the evening bell rang, people began to see it as a helpful signal for the time, grateful for its presence.

"But what do you think it's doing out there?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's patrolling?"

The bird star moved slowly. Some days, it was in a slightly different spot, but it generally circled around the same area.

It was likely that the sunlight striking it at an angle during this time of day was causing its body to reflect light. The islanders speculated about its identity, wondering if it was a feathered serpent glistening with moisture or a dragon covered in hard scales, but they had no way to confirm their theories.

They’d heard that in some distant lands, fishing ships ventured hundreds of nautical miles out to sea, but on this island, no one owned such a large vessel. The furthest anyone could go was a dozen or so nautical miles, and even then, they wouldn’t be able to identify the bird star by sight.

"I once heard that way over there, there's supposed to be some rock or island."

"That's just some drunkard's tall tale."

A few years back, a tattered wreck had drifted ashore on this island. The ship’s crew was so weakened from their long ordeal that they could barely speak, and communication was difficult, but it was understood that they came from a distant southern continent. They'd navigated by strange constellations and maps of islands no one on this island had ever seen. After they became lost, they’d wandered far north of any known charts, finally washing up here.

Eventually, when the crew regained their strength, they were transported to a northern continent. The islanders remembered with surprise how the sailors had shown no reaction upon boarding a side-wheel paddle steamer that moved without wind. After a few months of being the talk of the island, the castaways faded into memory.

"But there really is a big island to the south, right?"

Talking like this, they watched the bird star, which eventually faded as the angle of the light changed.

"Well, looks like it's about done."

"Yeah, I guess so."

As the bird star disappeared, the islanders began finishing up their tasks, and soon the evening bell started ringing.

And so, another day on the island ended without incident.

One month later, however, the southern islands would see their history abruptly brought to an end as they fell to invasion from a northern continental nation.