The ones who look after the inhabitants of a planet, the Caretakers. While these creatures may look similar to lifeforms found around, they are most often alien to the world they are in. Their task appears to be simple, but one should not forget, that these creatures belonged to their own compassionate and empathetic races. They are chosen due to these traits and, in their own way, vow to take care of different worlds as their own homes. However, they will not intervene between the inhabitants of their home.

Nashq, a large half-elemental in a shape similar to a wolf, was one among the few Caretakers on the planet Zaqr. The people, who inhabit this particular area, gave them the name Nashq. In the absence of Noxxi herself, the Caretakers have spread out and settled at different areas of the planet. Nashq was a kind elemental, while they were unable to communicate with most beings, they always welcomed everywhere and they indeed enjoyed the presence of other beings. The humanoid beings who live on Zaqr are visually similar to Earth-like human beings, but are very different from them. They have unusually long life-span where children mature faster, but are considered children until they find their profession and passion to contribute to their people. They are rather peaceful and live a settler life style, where people help and share a lot between each other.

However, the universe isn’t ever so sugary. There are invasive species, who enjoy invading other planets, either to hunt or to conquer as much they can. While it is not very common to encounter such, it does have a chance to happen to any planet, anywhere. There was a day when such creature seen the opportunity to attack on Zaqr and was the time where Nashq didn’t hesitate to protect people and his home. The disturbance was violent enough for Noxxi to sense the tension, thus she rushed back to Zaqr.

In a form of a bird, she landed beside a smaller settlement and as a usual custom, she didn’t seek attention. However, getting close enough to people who seemed to be disturbed, she turned back to her default humanoid-like form and created a loose clothing to cover herself along with a hood hiding most her face, it wasn’t an unusual appearance for the sight. As she approached them, her soothing aura gradually took effect, like a soft breeze of calmness. She approached those who were the most separated from the others.

“May I ask what happened here?” She quietly asked a woman who stood away from the crowd.‌

She leaned closer to reply, “the children came back from the nearby forest and they seemed to be very disturbed and shocked. The-“ her attention curiously moved to the sudden hooded person beside her, then continued nevertheless. “The Laahr have taken them to his place to find out what happened to them. I don’t know anything else.” She respectfully nodded.‌

“Thank you, I appreciate the heads up.” Noxxi returned the nod, then headed toward the Laahr’s home.‌

Laahr wasn’t a person’s name, but a title given to trusted people, usually one within a settlement, who helped people at any given time, giving their homes, food and aid to those who needed. Avoiding most of the crowd, Noxxi went around them and quickly arrived at the Laahr’s place, which was still surrounded by people. Without much notice, she walked through them silently and walked inside the enormous mud-house quickly finding the Laahr.

“I apologize for coming in,” she said as she approached him, “but I heard your children have found something disturbing?”‌

The somewhat worried, yet calm man looked her up and down, questioning her looks. “I’m sorry, but I don’t recognize you. Are you from the nearby villages? Your clothing doesn’t seem familiar to me.”‌

“I apologize, again, I had a little incident and had my usual clothes torn, so I had to improvise a makeshift clothing for myself on my way here.” She let out an ever so slight giggle, “otherwise I would be inappropriately naked, wouldn’t I?” Her head tilted with a small shrug of her shoulders, indicating a cheeky friendliness, but also a way to distract his questioning toward her.‌

“I-… Let’s forget about it.” He rubbed his mouth and cheeks to clear his thoughts, “I find the current situation strange. There is four children who arrived home in a very disturbed and upset state, I brought them here, the parents are outside. I brought them some water and some food, and I’m trying to find out what they seen or found, but none of them want to talk or say a word. They kept shaking, rocking themselves back and forth and such. Just right before you happened to arrive here, they started to visibly calm down, but they still won’t tell anything.” He inhaled deeply after telling all he knew in one breath.‌

“Lead me to them, please. I may be able to help you.” She bowed respectfully.‌

The Laahr hesitated, but eventually agreed and led her to the other children in a separate room. The four of them were sitting on a single wooden bed, some remaining food on a table beside them were still untouched. The two walked inside the room and Noxxi sat down in the middle of the room on the floor, close to the children.‌

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” She looked up at them, her now visible and unusually green chin and lips took the kid’s attention rather swiftly, it felt very eerie to them. “May I ask the four of you, what have you found or perhaps seen in the forest?”‌

One of them quickly replied in a surprise. “How… did you know we were in the forest?”‌

The Laahr was just as much surprised, finally hearing them talk.‌

“Oh, I just assumed, I heard here and there, that many of you enjoy playing around it, and sometimes in it.” She showed a reassuring smile. “Nothing to worry about.”‌

“We don’t worry anymore, but I think we should, but none of us feels upset anymore.” Said one of the girl.‌

Noxxi let out a thoughtful hum. “Did you kids bump into something?”‌

“We did, yes.” Said one of the four and another continued. “We were playing and goofing around, then we decided to go inside the forest, then we felt a small shake and some faint noises coming from deeper inside the forest.”‌

She nodded at the kids. “So I assume you four decided to… venture further in?”‌

The four collectively nodded in reply, “Y-Yes. We found a strange trail eventually, it had a strange scent and-“‌

“-It had a sweet scent and a bright blue color to it?” She interrupted.‌

The children kept nodding to all of her replies. “Yes! We never seen anything such before. So… we got curious and followed this trail carefully.” All four of them went silent.‌

She exhaled. “I understand. You all seen and heard them from that distance, didn’t you?”‌

The Laahr couldn’t keep back his curiosity at this point, “Who are you talking about? Who did you see?”‌

The kids replied, “Nashq.”‌

Noxxi interrupted his words, “They are, and will be fine. I promise you.” Her warms smile reassured the children. “I need to go to them now, however. Thank you.”‌

As she stood up and attempted to leave the room, the Laahr stopped her in her way. “I will go with you, I need to see what is this about.”‌

“We want to go too, please. We want to see her.” The four of them pleaded to both Noxxi and the Laahr.‌

While she refused to answer, he agreed to let them come with him, “I will look after you four, I don’t want any trouble from your parents, but you all have to help me as well. I don’t really… understand what is going on fully, but tell your parents outside that we will go and investigate what you seen in the forest. Then I allow you to come with me if they let you.”‌

The kids agreed and walked out to talk to their parents, then both him and Noxxi left as well.‌

And so, they left the settlement, and soon enough they arrived at the forest, where the four kid showed the trail, they followed it. Deep sounding, yet quiet yelping-like noises could be heard the deeper they went into the forest. Going through the woods, a more open area appeared in front of them, where the noises were louder and they all seen Nashq lying in the distance. Once they arrived, Noxxi stopped and so did the rest of them behind her, she then removed her hood and to appear in her usual simple clothing instead, revealing her unusual appearance to them.

The five of them, although in a surprise, gestured their agreement with a clear nod. As Noxxi began approaching Nashq, her size began to grow gradually, until the enormous wolf-like body on the ground compared to Noxxi’s size was nothing, but a size of a smaller dog to a man. The others followed as well, but they kept their distance from the two. The closer they got to Nashq, the clearer it became to them, that she was wounded heavily and the trail they found was some kind of blood that kept slowly oozing out of her body.‌

“Long time no see, my friend. I see you were very brave today.” She gently talked to them in her steps. Nashq made noises that seemed to be a way of communication for then, but it was not comprehensible for most beings on Zaqr.

“Don’t worry, I’m here with you.” Noxxi then laid down beside them on the ground, similarly as a person would lay down beside their pet.‌

A sound of deep grumbling and quiet whimper was made by Nashq time to time.‌

She gently laid her hand on their fur-like covered body, and softly ran her fingers up and down gently stroking. “Just rest, don’t worry.”‌

“Wait!” the Laahr raised his head with his eyes wide open, “Are… Are you that person? From the myth! When I was little, my parents told me many! How- I just- I don’t understand.” He confusedly rubbed his face.‌

“Oh, a myth you say?” She replied curiously with a hint of cheekiness. “I haven’t heard about any myths before.”‌

He seemed to be uncertain if he was being rude or should not to ask any further questions in the current situation, but while he was tempted one of the children curiously stepped closer.‌

She looked down at them. “They are, and that is their blood as you would call.”‌

They quickly shook their heads in surprise and confusion. “What?! Why!? But you just said she is dying! She is in pain! You have to-“‌

“I don’t.” She interrupted, expecting the somewhat upset response to the situation. “It was their request.” She continued as she kept stroking Nashq’s fur-like body, while she whimpered ever so quietly.‌

The kids went silent, under the effect of her soothing aura that blocks negative emotions, confused laughs are expected as a way of coping, “But… why?” One of them asked.‌

Noxxi turned her gaze up the clouds which started to slowly gather until eventually a light drizzle started to appear in the air. “Nashq is an half-elemental being who I brought here from their home. Their… race are born from a splinter of a special crystal. In their home-world there is a possibility that the splinter they are born from is fractured. However if that happens, the one born from it are treated as a lesser being by their own race since they are damaged and broken. They can’t perish normally, as your kind does.”‌

The children and the Laahr listened to the tale, curiously, since they never knew anything about these beings on their planet.‌

“When one cycle ends for them, or the cycle ends prematurely, similarly to this case, they drop their bodies. The shard inside their ruined body will seek out a new material or environment to use to create a new body, usually mimicking native beings’ visuals. This is why Nashq looks similarly to a wolf here on this planet, but their body are made from the environment. This a new cycle begins, but they retain their own memories.” Noxxi looked back down on Nashq as she gently stroked their head. “They lived through many generations among their race. It was before a new cycle where I found them and felt their suffering. I offered them to bring them to another place as a Caretaker, which was this planet. Remember that day, friend?” She said as she looked into Nashq’s eyes, where in response they moved their head.‌

The Laahr looked up in a strange amazement. “So the myth about them… are true. They all truly are aliens to this world.”‌

“They were always true, I had to introduce them somehow to your kind at a time.” She replied in agreement. “However, Nashq in particular had one request. They didn’t wanted another cycle of their life after this one ends. And that is why I’m here. They are in no pain as long I’m beside them, don’t worry, they will go peacefully.” She embraced Nashq with both of her arms, around their chest and lovingly, yet woefully hugged them as she shed tears. The light drizzle quickly changed into a light and warm rain.‌

She gave her attention to them as she kept softly stroking their body. “I’m sad to see you go, friend. I’m sorry your past cycles had to be a torment for you and that they still haunt you. You were brave and I’m proud of you, even in your constant misery and pain, you cared about these people enough to numb it down. I will remember you to all Eternity, but in a way, I also envy you.”‌

Nashq’s body began shaking as their body crumbled away slowly, and for one last time, she whispered in their ears. “Good bye, friend, be at peace.” Nashq whimpered one last time and moments later their whole body crumbled and shattered in Noxxi’s brace, where only the crystal shard remained in her hand.‌

The observers looked up at her, “what happens now? What happens with that shard?”‌

She looked down at the remaining shard in her palm, her last drops of tears rolled down her cheeks, onto the shard. “I keep it, it can’t start a new cycle until it finds materials to use for a new body, but it can’t go on forever. It takes some time, but eventually the shard uses up the last of its energy and… fades out, thus the cycle ends completely.” She explained while she took the shard and simply pushed it into her palm. “There, it will be at peace now, I gave them my word.”‌

A child walked up to her and asked, “what should we do to the remnants of her body?”‌

Noxxi looked down at the crumbled lifeless body then looked up at the sky. “The rain will dissolve it, it doesn’t contain anything this world doesn’t have. And it will rain… for a while, I’m sure about that.” She kept staring up as the rain hit her face, beginning to rain ever heavier. “Please, don’t ask more and head back home. Make sure they arrive back safely, along with you.” She gestured with her hand toward the Laahr and the children. “And please, be prepared to be hit emotionally. Once I’m done here, you will be out of my aura, I apologize for that.”‌

“I’m sure we will be fine and so will be they.” He gestured to them to slowly start moving back to their home along the path they came from, he then turned back to her before he left. “But… will you be fine?”‌

“I will be.” She turned to him, with her wet hair drooped down onto her face and water drooping down her hair and body. “Every drop of rain, is a drop of my tear.”‌

He nodded and with no further questions, he moved on and followed the others, but before leaving entirely, he glanced back one last time at her seeing her curl up beside the remnants of Nashq.

Once they returned home, they too started to sob, which moved other people as well, once they received the news of a loss.

After two days, the rain ended.