The story of T'yan and T'yee. You may know them by different names.
While human legend speaks of elves, mermaids and fairies, laerae have remained unknown in human stories. They vary greatly in size, from small nymph like creatures to thin, statuesque beings that resemble humans, if a bit exotically tall. They all possess the ability to fly, but not all of them use it. For laerae, flight is not a survival skill or a day to day way of traveling. It is primarily an act of rejoicing. When a laera is truly happy, he or she will often spontaneously leap into the air and soar on the winds. Laerae are also famous for their glow. They can consciously control their radiance, but in general, the happier an individual laera is, the more he glows. Happiness is linked to flight and flight is linked to strength. The healthy, happy laera is a singularly beautiful, almost magical creature. The sad, sick laera rapidly degenerates into a dark, small, shuffling creature.
This particular laera, T'yan, was quite happy as a youngster. As she grew, she picked up a bit of wanderlust and began exploring the world around her. She came to live an unusual lifestyle for a laera, associating with human beings on a fairly common basis. She was tall and could pass for a human woman in the dark, smoky environment of the town. Other laerae worried about her, but she was confidant in her approach to life. She experimented with human vice in the dark, dank cellars. Eventually abandoning most of the laerae culture, she found a semblance of happiness in the underground culture of the village.
Only one other laera remained close to her, T'yee. This tiny laera drifted in and out of T'yan's life, spending time alone with her in a forest glade near a large waterfall, then remaining behind when T'yan went to the village. T'yan loved T'yee deeply and after a time, she wanted to leave the village permanently and return to happy laera life. Still, the small city had a physical hold on her. She had become addicted to the physical euphoria of human life and try as she would, the human town would draw her back. Finally, one day T'yee followed T'yan to the village. Completely unprepared for human shallowness and cruelty, T'yee soon became entangled in the morass of humanity and tragically died that very night. When T'yan found T'yee's lifeless corpse, slowly turning to a shimmering ball of light, she ran from the town screaming her grief. She never returned to the human village.
T'yan drifted into the forest, terribly alone. While she shunned human life, she never felt truly comfortable with laerae culture again. She blamed herself for her own shortcomings and for T'yee's death. She went on this way for years, friendless, forlorn, with no possessions apart from a single quill. She wrote amazing, terrifying poetry on the wilting leaves of the undergrowth. She hardly ever flew any more, this laera, and her light had grown nearly too dim to see.
One day as T'yan shuffled about the forest floor, looking for scraps to eat, she stumbled on a rock in the trail. Suddenly a memory of that fateful day flashed in her mind. She remembered tripping over that same rock, exactly seven years before, as T'yee floated above her, glowing and giggling, idly picking a bit of moss from her long blonde hair. Realizing that she was near the glade where she and T'yee had shared their happiest moments, she walked to the waterfall, remembering T'yee's love and T'yee's happiness.
Soon her eyes filled with tears, an exceedingly uncommon thing for laerae, so rare in fact as to be the stuff of legends. Many other laerae came to see the spectacle of a laera crying. A wise elder asked "T'yan, why do you weep?"
"Father, I weep for the loss of T'yee... for the years she missed ... for the part of me that died with her."
The elder began "We all have our appointed time..., but T'yan interrupted, screaming "But, it was my fault!"
"No my child, it was the fault of the humans that killed her." The elder paused. With a look of fatherly love, he said "My child, dry your tears. She went to the village with you of her own choice. In her last moments, she was loved and she was with the one she loved. T'yee left this world happy. Did you not see her glow?"
With that, T'yan remembered she had seen that glow. Lost in her own pain and sorrow, she had missed its import. T'yee had been happy to be with T'yan as she started her journey. "Father, where do we go when we leave this world?"
"I know not, T'yan, but I know this, when a laera is sad, her light is dim. When a laera is happy, her light is bright. When a laera moves on, the brilliance is blinding."
With that, for the first time in years, a flicker of light began to spread from T'yan's heart. Maybe it was time to fly.