I don’t want this sun to set… I don’t want to… I don’t want to leave this place… These thoughts were in Twinkle Star’s mind the entire day. Kiyoi had been avoiding her all day; he had been to the village to buy her food for her journey, he had been in the woods, he had been walking… nowhere. Twinkle Star didn’t want to say goodbye to him. It was going to be hard, and she wasn’t good at saying goodbye. She always used to sneak out, sip away without anyone noticing. But she couldn’t do that to Kiyoi. She cared to much for him to do that.

She had been resting all day, because she was going to fly al night, or at least that was her plan. Hopefully nobody would see her flying. But still, the thought of saying goodbye to Kiyoi, to never see him again, was haunting her. But the moment would come in the end. The sun was setting now, the sky was filled with red and yellow colours. Twinkle Star walked out of the house. She heard Kiyoi working at the other side of the bushes; he was probably doing something by the river.

“Kiyoi…” Twinkle Star said softly. Though it wasn’t her intend, Kiyoi heard her. He stopped with whatever he was doing and walked to her.
“Twinkle Star… have you had enough rest? You think you will be ok?”
“Yeah. The sun will set soon. I will walk along the river for a while, and I’ll fly once I am in the swamps you mentioned so no one will see me.”
“That’s good. I made you  bag with food and other stuff you might need. It’s at the river’s bank. I was filling some bottles with water. I know it is a purifying river and all, but I know for sure the water isn’t as clean there as it is here. So you’ll have something to drink.”

“Thank you, Kiyoi. I don’t know how to thank you for everything that you have done for me.”
“Don’t mention it, Twinkle. For a girl like you… I don’t think there would be anything I could not do. Well… shall we go then? I’ll walk with you to the bridge.”

Twinkle Star agreed. They didn’t say anything to each other al the way to the river. Kiyoi had picked up the bottles and had put them in the bag, which he didn’t gave to Twinkle Star until they had reached the bridge. It was all very familiar to Twinkle Star. The sunset, the bridge, the flowing river… The last time she was here with Kiyoi like this, she felt as if she could live on with something safe ahead of her. Now her future wasn’t safe. But she had to go. She turned around and looked at Kiyoi.

“Well, here we are then.” He said. He was looking at the ground instead of looking in her eyes.
“Kiyoi…”
“I’ll never see you again will I?” His voice was trembling. Was he crying?
“I don’t know, Kiyoi. I don’t know what’s ahead of me. I don’t know where my journey will lead me. But you know I have to. I had such a great time here Kiyoi, and I wish I could stay. But I know the truth in my heart, and now the dream is gone. I could only live like this for a short time. I won’t be happy if I stay, because I know all I would be doing is hiding from who I really am, for what I really have to do. Please take care of yourself. Don’t forget me, Kiyoi…”

Twinkle Star turned around and walked over the bridge, but stopped when she heard Kiyoi call her name.
“Twinkle Star… you’ll always be my pretty girl. I will never forget you…” Twinkle Star gave him a last smile and them walked of the bridge and followed the path. Tears filled her eyes. She felt broken, but she also felt… good. Because she was turning her life in the right direction now.

When she had passed the village, the sun had already set for the most part. All that was left was a purple glow on the horizon. When she had passed the village for a safe distance, she noticed the smell of swamps. It amazed Twinkle Star. They were right where Fiume was, and still… something so dirty, how could it be that it would not be purified?

But the swamps gave her the answers almost right away when she entered them. It was a real swamp indeed, with a disgusting smell, low fog on the ground, the disgusting green color on the ground, the leafless trees standing everywhere and nowhere… but right through it flowed Fiume. It had made itself a path through the swamp, purifying it. The water in the river was crystal clear, but on both sides the swamps were still their disgusting self. Twinkle Star smiled.
“So you were only able to purify your own path, right Fiume? I thought so… guess you have lost a bit of your power after all.”

Twinkle Star made her wings appear and went up in the sky. She followed the river southwards, and while she saw the swamp disappearing behind her and a small forest appeared under her,  she was thinking about her decision to leave Kiyoi. It was all so weird. She didn’t wanted to go back to her mother and sisters, but she knew she had to. But not before she had found her aunt Regala. How would she be? And what about her children? Sonchi her son, and Hitade and Togli her daughters? Hitade was exactly the same age as Twinkle Star. They were bron on exactly the same day.

They even looked alike. Hitade also had the long hair Twinkle Star had, she also was the same colour of pink… But of course, Hitade didn’t beong to the royal house anymore. Regala was Medina’s fifth child, and since only the children of the oldest two were part of the house… Hitade didn’t have a pendant or the right to claim the throne. But there was something peculiar to Hitade. She had, for a child of the fifth daughter, a lot of the royal powers. Not as much as Twinkle Star or any of her older sisters, but maybe as much as Crystal… Hitade… was she the one that Regala had been looking for?

It was a few hours later when Twinkle Star decided to walk again for a bit. Her wings had gotten really tired, and she saw a village ahead. It was the middle of the night now, but she didn’t want to take the risk of anyone seeing her. It was a completely different place than the village close to Kiyoi. There were no nice small houses, there were no signs of life, in fact, Twinkle Star wondered if it had been abandoned. The houses all looked old, the wood was rotten, there were no signs of recent activity… But it still looked like it was taken care of.

There was no garbage on the ground and in the streets, the houses were all closed, there were no broken windows. Twinkle Star quietly walked through the village, but it didn’t seem to change. It was everywhere like this. Abandoned, but still… not as if it had been deserted. It was very quiet, too. The only thing she heard was the flowing of Fiume close by.
“Maybe I could find a place to rest here for a little bit…” she whispered to herself. However, it was hard to find a safe place.

All the houses were closed, there were no stores or bars, and no place to shelter. After a while she decided to give up and leave the village again, because there was no use in staying. But right at that moment she heard something behind her. A faint sound, but definitely not something that was a natural sound. Someone was there.
“Who’s there! I heard you! Who’s there! Show yourself!” She yelled. For a short while nothing happened, but then a shadow appeared. A pony came walking towards her. Twinkle Star couldn’t see it’s face, not until it was very close to her.

It was an old pony, she noticed. She had  scars in her face, and her eyes revealed that they had seen much. Too much. They were shaded… like a veil was over them.
“Who are you?” Twinkle Star asked, with her voice revealing she was a bit scared.
“Who am I? I should ask you this question, young lady! You entered this city without permission!”
“I… I am sorry… I didn’t knew it was forbidden…”
“Ohh, it’s not forbidden, little girl. The question is, will you come out alive? Now, let’s see… a young girl, way too long hair, a pen…”

The old pony stopped talking. Twinkle Star noticed she was looking at her pendant.
“You… you are also a child of this river aren’t you! You also ruined my town!” The old pony yelled angrily.
“Eh?” Was the only thing Twinkle Star could say. What on earth was this pony talking about?
“That pendant! I have seen it before! She told me, she did! A child of the river!”

“I’m not…”
“Don’t speak against me! I saw her, her and that brat of hers. They didn’t know what the river had done to my town! She told the brat what the river was. You are evil, just like them!” Twinkle Star didn’t know what to say. The old lady was furious. Twinkle Star wasn’t really scared.

The old pony wasn’t evil, she was just an ordinary villager. But what was she talking about? Why was she so furious after she had noticed Twinkle Star’s pendant?
“Why are you still standing here now? You got some nerve, don’t you? Go on, leave my village!”
“Not until you have explained to me why you are so mad.”
“You definitely have some nerve!” Twinkle star smiled sarcastically.
“You have no idea. But I am looking for someone and I think you know more of that person than I do. And I’m very curious what has happened to this town. As soon as you have told me what has happened I am out of here, I promise.”

The old pony looked at Twinkle Star doubtfully. It was still very quiet. Fiume was flowing close by, Twinkle Star noticed.
“Are you not here to destroy my village, then?” The old pony asked.
“No, of course not! Why would I? Why do you think I would do something like that?”
“Because the river did… and according to the lady you are a child of it.” “I am no child of this river as far as I know. But I am curious who this lady is, you are talking about. Could you please tell me?” The old lady nodded. She asked Twinkle star to follow her, and lead her to a small house in the centre of the town.

“Come in, this is my little house. Have a seat now girl. You want some tea?  I still have some here… There you go.”
She gave Twinkle Star a cup of tea. Twinkle Star noticed at once the tea was cold, but the old pony drank hers without hesitating. Didn’t she notice? It was a very small house indeed. The living room didn’t have room for anything else besides the two chairs and a little table on which a burning gas lamp was the only source of light. There was no kitchen, and Twinkle Star wondered where the bedroom was. Everything in the house was made of wood. A light coloured mood, but still Twinkle Star didn’t think the room was light; it felt rather dark, as if the light was blocked.

“Well then young lady, where to start? For me to explain about the lady and the river, I will have to explain the history of my village first. I was born here, as my parents were, as their parents were… as far as I know, no-one had ever left this village, or moved into it. We were a very close community. Nothing ever happened here, but we didn’t care. We liked how quiet it was. Until 16 years ago.” Twinkle Star looked up. 16 years?
“What happened?”

“This river appeared. It flowed through the village, through our fields. The elders saw it as a sign to leave. To leave this village, leave it for others to find, to live in, and to go on to another place. I didn’t want to leave. I stayed. When the river became a real river, like it is today, I cleaned the entire city by myself. I restored the houses. I though the elders would return when they found out the river was normal now, the village was clean. But they never came.”
“I am sorry…” Twinkle Star said softly.

“In fact, no-one ever came. I left here by myself for 14 years, without meeting anybody. Until two years ago a pony appeared. I never talked to them, because they left soon after. The older pony… She was the mother I think. She told the little one how this river would maybe help them to find home. After all, they were all children of the river. I had never been so angry before. If they had anything to do with the river, with the others disappearing… But they left and followed the river northwards. That was in spring… The pony returned in fall. Alone. Once again she didn’t stay long. She just passed by the river.”

“Which way did she go?”
“Southwards.”
“I see… What else do you know about them? What did they look like?”
“The mother was white. I never saw the other one well. But the mother was white, and she had the same pendant. It was shining in the moonlight…”