"Prove it," muttered the silver Veram as he playfully knocked into his rose Zaphao friend. The Zaphao frowned and gave an indignant huff before launching himself at the Veram. He nipped at the Veram’s ears, electric sparks dancing from the horns on his head. The Veram pushed his friend off and shook out his wings, dust swirling into the air as he did so. The open desert with which the friends had been traversing lay about them on all sides.

The Zaphao blinked and cast his gaze into the now pink-tinged sky. The last rays of the son shimmered over the horizon and the two Creatu set down their packs to watch. They nodded to each other; knowing they should set up their encampment. As the Zaphao pitched up the tents, the Veram busied himself with setting up a campfire. He waved his friend over and the Zaphao lit up the blue electricity that sizzled in his paws. With a quick spark that shot from his outstretched claws, the Zaphao struck the dwindling tinder logs that they had been lugging across the desert.

"Tell me again, Felnix, why we’re lugging this firewood across the desert?" asked the rose Zaphao. Felnix shrugged and sat down heavily into the sand, weary from the day’s travelling. The rose Zaphao shot a withering glance at his friend before falling back onto his haunches. He rested his head against his paws as he sank down to the ground, the heat of the fire welcome as the desert was shrouded by darkness.

"Crym, I was telling the truth about the Kioka," murmured Felnix as he basked in the heat of the flames; the desert growing colder by the moment. Crymson snorted and raised his head, his pupil-less eyes rolling as he huffed. "No, really; I swear I’ve seen her before."

"Right, Fel. Just get some sleep," he muttered as he closed his eyes again.

~~~

The swirling darkness of the desert sky seemed like a dark void, swallowing all light up from below. Silence dominated the rolling dunes of the desert; the minor dust devils creating soft echoing noises of gentle winds. The creature that seemed to glide over the grainy sand did not break the everlasting silence of the nighttime world of the desert. Instead, she tilted her head back and gazed into the sky, painting images of the stars in her head; the visions displayed before her eyes.

She lifted a foreleg and closed her eyes, drinking in the scents of the desert and the hushed cry of the sand scraping over itself as it rolled in the wind. Her hooves did not disrupt the flow of the grains of sand that swayed over endless amounts of land. Instead, she stepped into the air. Her hooves kicked at the air, but the movement was not shaky; controlled, confident. The words rang through her head as her black body slipped into the matching shadows of the night.

When she reached her peak in the air, her eyes wandered over a distant fire burning harshly on the ground below. A soft breath of wind pa.ssed through her doe-like snout and the fire was put out. A creature behind the fire stirred and she shivered as she felt his gaze linger on her.

She closed her eyes as she focused on her sense of being. In one fluid toss of her head, the ribbons around her body began to glow and pulse with brilliant colors. Faded markings on her body began to shine and the Kioka kicked herself into the air. She stepped on invisible footholds in her path and wherever her hooves touched, bolts of light shot from the air and into the sky. Every move she made created new shining rays of pure energy in the sky. The Kioka began to paint her canvas, the brilliancy of the stars reaching their full potential as her light resurfaced them to the brink of the veil of shrouded darkness.

She made her way across the sky, the sky beginning to lighten with the diminishing darkness and beautiful extravaganza of color. She stroked her way through the air, the ribbons that wound around her body stretching out to their full glory and leaving small trails of light behind them. The momentum of her steps began to fade and her markings pulsed with a sense of purity. She tossed her head into the sky, rearing as she did so, and shot upward.

Her ribbons fanned out behind her, leaving the air space ablaze with color behind her. Her upward movement melded into becoming an arch and the Kioka sped back down to the welcoming sands of the desert. She streaked toward the ground at a breathtaking speed, her form resembling a comet as radiant as the sun.

Her hooves barely brushed against the grains of sand as she stood a few centimeters above the ground. Again, she cast her gaze into the sky and surveyed the endless horizon. Her canvas was personified by its awe-inspiring starlight and the lingering color in the sky dispersed to shimmers of light as they fell to the ground. Satisfied with her untimely work, the Kioka let her ribbons lose their radiant sheen as they wrapped around her once more. Her markings began to dull and she let her hooves touch the ground.

The beauty would linger in the sky until the sun slowly manifested again. Until then, the painted stars would shine with a brilliance only this Kioka could muster. When the next night would come around, she would appear from the sands of the earth and let the darkened sky lighten with her beauty.

~~~

Felnix awoke the next morning feeling more than rested. He leaped to his feet and fanned out his wings as he stretched. His eyes caught on his friend’s still form. His brows furrowed as he glanced at his friend’s eyes. He attempted to follow the Zaphao’s gaze, but all he saw was the early morning sky.

"Felnix?" asked Crymson.

"Yes?" he asked, his brows arched as he looked at his friend in bewilderment.

"What is her name; the Kioka you told me about?"

"Why?"

"I must know," he answered, his soft eyes unblinking.

"Zafra," whispered Felnix.