[This will be some embellished/further fictionalized snippets of my playthrough of Sylestia, as told from the perspective of my starter pet, Astra. I'm not finished with the storyline yet, and I'm more focused on my self-insert and OCs than on the actual game storyline, but there will be at least minor spoilers. This is also filled with headcanons, and some things have been changed to make more sense (at least to me) in-universe. It's also probably going to take a while to write and I'm hoping not to lose interest, lol. I'm also putting this on AO3 - it's the first Sylestia fic on the site! https://archiveofourown.org/works/73755216]

Astra's Story

Chapter 1: The Beginning


The first thing I remember is a presence, something hard to put into words. It's fuzzy, but I think it was the connection to my Trainer forming, when I was first born, or rather, made. The second thing I remember is a human with a crest of scruffy brown fur and wide blue eyes staring at me with a little bit of awe. You're lovely, just like I hoped, they whispered, looking me up and down. They bent down to look me in the eye and reached out to stroke my feathers, and I let them. I'm going to call you Astra it means you're like the stars. The name seemed to fit.

"My name's Insect," the human told me - somehow I understood them although I knew I could not speak their language - "Insect Friend of Riversea Village, specifically, but that's far too long to say most of the time."
After a little bit of bonding and explaining things to me - I was going to learn magic, and we would travel the world together - Insect asked me which element they should pick for me. I didn't even know the options, and they understood my confusion. "Air could be a good choice - you'd be powerful and strong, and you are a bird after all but no, you'd do better with an Intelligence element, right? I can tell how smart you are." Part of me was figuratively preening at the compliment, but I still wanted to know the options, and I pushed that desire through our bond. "Okay, so Air, Earth, and Water use physical strength and Fire, Light, and Shadow use mental focus..." Insect explained the strengths and weaknesses of each element while I listened attentively, and we narrowed it to two choices fairly quickly. I liked the idea of Light and healing powers, but Insect was worried I wouldn't do well on my own as we were starting out. "You see, Astra, I can't really fight, myself, because that's not what I learned to do as a Trainer, it's more efficient to focus on our connection and your healing magic wouldn't really work well on me anyway, so you'd be fighting by yourself at least to start. Light-attuned Sylesties usually play a support role in battle rather than being at the front of the party, and I'm worried you'd be vulnerable as a healer. Attuning to Shadow, you'd still be more defense than offense, but I think you might be better equipped as a solo fighter." I felt their uncertainty, and I considered the options, but I wanted Light magic. It felt right. I reminded Insect of a memory, how they said my name meant I was like the stars. "Bright like the stars... you're right Astra, it does fit." I can heal myself if I get hurt, I thought to Insect. "You could heal yourself," they agreed. Light magic it was. I would be healing myself quite often in the coming weeks.

Chapter 1.5: Insect
There were many things I just seemed to know, such as how to fly, or what the chirps and screeches of other Aurleons meant. When I told Insect, they guessed that those might be memories from my essence, which had come from an Aurleon who died many years ago. Other things, Insect told me. My human liked to talk about anything and everything in between helping me learn magic, especially during our initial destination-less wanderings, and I listened. Insect told me about their life, how they'd always wanted to be an adventurer, how their father had been one in his youth. They told me as well that most Sylesti trainers didn't have the kind of bond we had, that they could usually sense their Sylesties emotions, and a Trainer's connection with their first Sylesti - usually a starter that they helped to shape, as I was - was often stronger, but the clear communication Insect and I were capable of was unusual. I'm glad we have our bond, I thought to Insect.

Chapter 2: Redwind
[Note: Italics denote telepathy or thoughts, {these brackets} denote the "language" Aurleons use to communicate.]

Insect was giddy with excitement about having a trap - they wanted to "rescue" the wild Sylesties who were "clearly so desperate to survive that they resorted to attacking travelers," as they put it. Instead of fighting until they fell or fled, we could trap them and help them, Insect told me excitedly. Our fairy friend Jinxie, who had given them the trap, only encouraged them. I supposed we eventually had to get new teammates somehow, although ensnaring them in a net didn't seem like the best recruitment pitch to me. The first Sylesti to attack us was another Aurleon, with yellow ribbons tied around his right wing and his tail in a way that somehow managed to look both rugged and artful.



Insect launched the trap, and the Aurleon was quickly entangled and knocked unconscious. After we took him back to our camp and made sure he was safely restrained for the time being, he began to stir. Almost immediately, he noticed me.

{What in the world... well, hello there, good-looking. Would you mind helping me get out of here?} he called to me. {My friend and I were actually hoping you would join us,} I told him. Insect walked over to him then, stretching out a hand and speaking softly, "Hey, hey, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." The other Aurleon clearly didn't understand them the way I did, because he hissed curses and flapped his wings frantically, trying to get away. {This is my friend - they won't hurt you, they mean well,} I told him. {The human?!} he squawked incredulously. Insect paused, understanding the Aurleon through me the same way I understood humans through them. I silently told Insect to back off, and they did, though they were still focused on trying to project safety and goodwill towards the other bird. {Yes, the human is my friend,} I told him. {We were hoping you might join our group and travel with us. They can help you with your magic.} I explained. {So is that why it's staring at me?} he asked. Insect waved in a hopefully-friendly-seeming way, then got some of the berries I liked from their bag and tossed them towards the Aurleon. He stared, hesitantly pecked at one, then hungrily ate them all. {See, they're friendly,} I told him. He didn't answer, but he freaked out a lot less than before when Insect approached him with more berries.



The new Aurleon and I kept chirping to each other while Insect got us each a proper meal. I asked him his name (which couldn't be pronounced in human words) and translated mine as roughly "Star." When I told him about Insect, he was amused that a human would name itself after a bug. Eventually, he agreed to try being part of our team, at least for a while. Insect asked if they could call him Red after his red feathers. He didn't care much either way - he still held no particular affection for my human - but he would answer to it.

When we started training with Red, Insect and I both thought he should attune to an element other than Light. "Maybe you should attune to Air," said Insect. "You're strong enough for it, and it'd be at least a little familiar, right?" they asked. I translated for Red, and he was willing to try it. He took to it like, well, a bird to the air, affecting wind currents and improving his claw slashes. Insect decided that if Red was okay with it, his "human name" could be Redwind. He thought it somewhat unimaginative, but seemed to like it at least as much as just "Red," so we went with it.

A few nights in, Redwind caught me trying to sleep on the floor, rather than roosting on the perch Insect had set up for me. In the beginning I'd just shared my human's quarters, but once they had a stable space set up for Redwind, I decided I should probably at least try sleeping there. I couldn't get comfortable sleeping on a perch, though - how did other birds feel steady enough to sleep that way? Redwind had been out late practicing with Insect, and when they came back and he got settled in the space next to mine, he noticed me lying on the ground. He asked me if I was okay, and I tried to explain that I'd never properly slept on a perch. {Never? Haven't you ever slept in a tree?} asked Redwind. {No... I've always lived with my human. Honestly, you're the first other Aurleon I've really gotten to talk to,} I told him. {First in how long?} he asked. {In my life so far,} I answered. {Didn't you have parents? Were you left as an egg or something?} he asked. {I never had parents. I was made with magic. I guess Insect is the closest thing I have to a family, because they helped to make me, and they love me,} I said. Redwind was silent for a bit, then asked me to explain it again, so I did, as well as I could anyway. {Maybe that's what's wrong with you,} he twittered. {What do you mean, what's wrong with me?} I snapped. {Well, something's clearly wrong with you,} he chirped. {That human is all you ever talk about, you have a name you can't even say, and you don't even know how to sleep normally! Whether you were really just conjured up like that or you're crazy enough to think so, something with you is just not okay!} Redwind shrieked. {In your opinion,} I responded. I was not going to just agree with him insulting me, even if I privately found it concerning. His piece communicated, Redwind turned away and tucked his head under his wing, to sleep on his perch like a normal bird. I thought about calling for my human, asking them to reassure me, but I decided against it. That would just substantiate Red's concerns. Instead I tried my best to sleep.