A long time ago in the forests of Elkhart, during a star shower, one broke free of the rippling dance and hurtled down to the earth. It fizzled out and disappeared, at least from the sky. A hunter followed it and found a broken tree. He continued and found others, at least ten, maybe even twenty had been felled. In the middle of the scattered destruction a pale white shape loomed in the moonlight, collapsed around a dark otherworldly rock. The hunter climbed closer, tail flickering, and the shape moved. A white foriel lifted her head, squinting up at the sky and trembling. She had a wound clearly on her shoulder, another on her head, and was lying in a crater of mud with those rocks around her. Pieces of the meteor shower above… The hunter immediately came closer, humming to alert her, and she slowly swiveled her gaze to him. “Where am I?” She called. “Near a camp we are calling Skytree,” he explained. It was yet to become a proper town back then. She just blinked in response, shaking once more. “Here, do you need help? I can deliver you to shelter.” He offered and she stood up, coat glittering, but every paw quivering almost as quickly. Her tail swished and she flinched. It was hurt. “Who are you?” She asked quietly. “I am Running Grove, who about you?” The hunter asked, walking right beside her so she could lean on him. She was taller and skinnier than most foriels. Her tail was flatter as well. Luckily the hunter was just as tall as her. “I am… I am…. I…” she stuttered before shaking throughout briefly. She fell back down and looked up. “Ripple Stars.” She muttered. “Beautiful name.” The hunter replied, trying to help, she was bleeding badly now and the shaking was continuing. He needed her to be able to get to the camp so she could be treated and rest. She didn't respond to him and slumped down, still looking up. “What happened?” He asked. “I don't know.” She replied. “All I remember is stars and lights and then pain.” She shook more. “I need you to get up,” he spoke. “My legs don't feel like they exist,” she replied quietly. “Can you maybe stumble if you lean on me?” He asked. “Maybe… I…” she dazed off looking up. Just then another hunter came to the strange clearing and they both eyed her. “Poor trees.” She said in the relative silence. “Oh, I’m sitting on one.” She muttered, a broken branch was under her. “Who is this?” The other asked. “Ripple Stars.” The first hunter replied. “Can you help me get her back to camp?” “Who?” Ripple Stars asked, looking at both of them, although her eyes were halfway closed. “I’m Grove Bird.” The other hunter said and came closer. He took in her injuries and both hunters discussed for a a few moments before heaving her up between them and starting the trip back to camp. She just kept pointing out pretty plants as they went, or saying she wanted to see the stars again. They reached camp and she was sent to the healer. She stayed there for days, still dazed. By now the whole camp was talking, trying to figure out who she was. She didn’t know either, just repeating she was watching the stars and then she fell. A neighboring guidestone visited and met her, she heard Ripple Stars’s story and immediately figured it out. Ripple Stars was a fallen star. She certainly looked the part. She appeared with no trace in the woods in the wreckage of falling stars. Sure she didn’t remember much of being a star, but maybe she had just started existing when she fell. Bops must have sent her down for some reason. Ripple Stars agreed with this idea. As she recovered she kept searching for what Bops had sent her down for. Soon word got out of a fallen star and people visited from all around, for fallen stars were said to cure deafness and extend foriel’s lives. The town rapidly grew, now named Skylark, for Lark was a name given to any unclaimed kits in any foriel nation, particularly in places that had multiple names. Ripple Stars kept searching for what her purpose was, she tried helping in any position in the town, she tried being a guidestone but her paws were too shaky and her memory too bad. She finally was convinced that she needed to bring the town something to help it start. She, and Running Grove that originally found her, searched the woods every night for something to bring home to help. Often they were joined by visitors wanting to see Ripple Stars, who gladly helped out if it meant they could talk to her and touch her comet tail for healing or life. She told stories of vague memories of what it was like up in the sky, she said she had seen ghosts up there once, but did not known who. Finally, after a few years of searching, many visitors, and collecting all of the strange rocks, she married Running Grove. They had kits, but the next evening, during another dancing stars event, she passed away. The stars increased until they were flowing as if a river. Running Grove swore for years afterwards that he saw one go up into the sky. Ripple Stars had returned, and her illusive job was done. Skylark was now the largest town in the region, full of artisans and craftsmen. She brought them all there, and now she had returned to the stars after giving new life to the world. Her kits and grandkits, some of which can still be found today, have lived extraordinarily long lives, and any with shining fur seem to spread that longevity to others around them.