Prologue

It is an indisputable fact that everyone changes throughout their lives. An adult is not the same person that they were during their childhood years. A veteran is not the same person that they were before they went off to war. A butterfly is not the same as the larva it originated from. It is only through our own continuity of experience that we can call ourselves the same person from day to day. This begs the question: are there some events that can push the continuity of experience to its breaking point? If such an event were to occur then who would we become?

With the nightly fall of the bright circle, darkness descended upon the Mysterious Beyond. Where vibrant green plants and translucent blue waters had greeted the sunlight only hours before, now only darkness and obscure shadows remained. The sights of the land being obscured, and the calls of the inhabitants having gone silent, for the duration of the formidable night. Only the calls of the buzzers and the light of the stars would greet the vigilant observer.

In this darkness a pair of yellow eyes gazed at the beautifully desolate scene. The eyes belonged to a male rainbowface, whose eyes hinted of unusual knowledge and careful observation. He took in the sights and sounds that would have been lost to the inhabitants of the land in which he now found himself. He observed that the winds had shifted to the north, ensuring that his scent would be safely directed to the bluffs directly behind him and not to the open lands to the south. He observed that the stars were especially clear this night. From this he could easily deduce that the wet season was about to end. He even observed that the calls of the buzzers in the region were changing; indicating that the time of breeding for them was going to soon be at an end.

He was not observant enough, however, to notice the female rainbowface who was standing right behind him.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Chronos?"

Chronos gave a startled yelp and jumped in surprise. "Why did you do that, Logos?" he asked indignantly, "I was making very careful observations, which you have interrupted!"

Logos walked out of the shadows, and Chronos could see that she had a sarcastic smirk upon her face. "Apparently not careful enough to see me standing right behind you." she retorted, "Although I do suppose that your attention should be focused on the stars tonight."

Both of the rainbowfaces looked contemplatively at the night sky.

"Do you think that it will fall this time?" Chronos asked, "The rock shower will occur soon, and the legends say that the stone of fate would one day fall with the long travelling rocks."

"I don't suppose anyone knows." Logos replied, "But if it is to happen during this cycle then it should be occurring soon."

"...And we should be prepared." Chronos finished, "Because if the tales are true about the stone..."

"We will cross that juncture when we get to it. If the tales of the stone are entirely true, then we have a much bigger problem than crackpot flyers and inquisitive children." she affirmed, "If they are not true or if the stone does not fall, however, then this will be thr concern of our replacements. That is, unless you expect to be alive to see the next shower of these rocks in several hundred cycles."

"I definitely won't survive that long if you keep on surprising me like that." Chronos replied playfully before frowning and taking on a more serious expression, "I suppose that we can only hope that either we reach it first or that the ones who find it are wise beyond their years. Otherwise the consequences will be dire."

Logos nodded. "It is my turn to take over watching the skies. Go ahead and get some rest Chronos." she then muttered to herself, "I have a feeling that we will both need it."

As the rainbowfaces switched roles in order to maintain their vigilant watch over the skies, the rest of the Mysterious Beyond rested peacefully in the all-encompassing blanket of darkness.

None of its inhabitants could imagine that the morrow would bring changes which would one day affect them all.