The object hurled through the void at an incredible rate. It had emerged from the comet's tail very recently, only a thousand years prior. Although it was no longer on the same path as the chunk of cosmic ice, little of the speed it had attained was lost.

The thing was unique among its compatriots in that it was organic. Semi-organic that is. It was a strange mixture of animal and mineral, and it was incredibly old. In fact, today was its 602,000th birthday, and the 500,000th anniversary of its journey. If anyone was counting. The object certainly wasn't.

Something tugged at the object. It was the gravitational pull of a nearby planet. The planet was green, with a single enormous body of water surrounded by land. The thing's course shifted as the gravity pulled it closer. If it could think, perhaps it would be musing on the incredible gift it was to receive on its very special day.


Vidhasi awoke to the ground moving violently. She bolted up from her bed as the small house was struck by a shockwave. The air was hot, even against fireproof skin. The gods are angry, she thought. What have we done wrong? Something caught her eye, and she looked out of the window. There was a glow in the hills to the East.

Vidhasi rushed out of the house, snatching her sling on the way. The scent of smoke was heavy in the night air as she made her way towards whatever had fallen from the heavens. The trees and bushes she passed started to appear with burned leaves and branches as she got closer, until all that was left was charred ground, gently sloping towards the glow. Vidhasi slowly realized that she was descending into a huge crater.

At the center of the blackened circle sat the source of the blast. It was a large stone object that came up to Vidhasi's waist. She slipped a smooth stone into her sling, and slowly stepped toward the object. She touched it and quickly pulled her hand back. The skin of the Ruush could withstand fire with no effect, yet the thing in the crater was hot enough to burn her. "This is a gift," she breathed. "The gods aren't angry; they're pleased! We've made the gods happy!"

The sun was peeking over the horizon, dyeing the clouds blue by the time Vidhasi had dragged the heavenly gift to the road. It was stupidly heavy; Vidhasi needed both arms and her tail wrapped around it just to pull it across the ground. Hearing a noise behind her, she turned to see a cart coming toward her. She waved to it, and the crushnaws pulling the cart stopped, ceasing the movement of their three legs

The cart's driver looked down at her. "Vidhasi?" he said. "What are you doing out here?" Vidhasi saw that it was Angilo, a merchant from her village. He had gone to the city to sell his products three days ago; he must've been on his way home.

"The gods sent this to us in the night," she said, gesturing to the thing behind her. "Can you bring it into town with your cart? It's quite heavy."

Angilo looked at her incredulously. "The gods sent that, huh? Must've been the source of that crash earlier." He looked up at the sky in thought. "Well," he said, "do you need help getting it in the cart?" Vidhasi smiled. This was going to change everything.


"Do you really think this will change anything here?" asked Dugher, the village leader. "If it's a gift from the gods, it's meant for the King. If not, it's the King's property since it appeared on his land." He glared at Vidhasi. "Did you really think we'd be able to use this?"

Vidhasi looked down at the ground. "Maybe the King doesn't know it's here…"

Dugher laughed. "Doesn't know! Do you think you were the only one who noticed that thing land? We all felt it. You were just the only one stupid enough to think we could keep it."

Vidhasi felt anger bubble up inside her. It had landed by her village! She had found it! What right did the King have to this gift from the gods? She started to step forward, but felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw her father, holding her back. "Come on child," he said. "We're done here." He led her out of the meeting house.

Before they stepped out, Vidhasi heard Dugher addressing the other townspeople in the room. "The King's forces will be here within two days. Let's make sure this thing is ready for when they-"

CRACK!

Everyone in the room turned to face the object. An enormous crack had split the thing down the middle, and stone had fallen away. The object seemed thinner now, and had a concave area on one side. Vidhasi could've swore she saw it shaking.


Vidhasi watched as the soldiers inspected the heavenly gift in the town square. She winced as the prodded it with spears and stuck their noses close, trying to see or smell anything wrong with it.

Another layer of stone had fallen off of it. She had gone to see it in the square, where it was put in preparation for the military to confiscate it. Now it was even thinner, and from a certain angle looked a bit like a sitting Ruush. Its 'head' was too small though, and it didn't have a tail. Maybe it isn't a gift, thought Vidhasi bitterly. Maybe one of the gods had a deformed child, and they exiled it here.

The captain of the soldiers walked up to Dugher. "The King will be pleased," he said. "Thank you for your service to the crown." He flicked a single coin at the town leader, and turned to address his men. "Load it into a cart. I want it at the capital by dawn tomorrow." He smiled. "I'll be rewarded handsomely for finding this."

Vidhasi gasped. He was going to take credit for this? "You mean stealing it." The crowd went silent and parted, revealing Vidhasi to the crowd.

The captain shrugged. "Does it matter?" he asked. "Who here did find it anyway?"

"I did!" Vidhasi shouted. She felt her father grab her shoulder but she went forward, pushing his hand aside. "That is a gift from the gods for this village's work, and it belongs to us!"

"Oh really?" the captain said, smirking. He gestured to his troops, and suddenly two had grabbed Vidhasi by the arms and thrown her at the captain's feet. She heard him draw his sword, and looked up to see a blade in her face. "I suppose killing you will solve our little ownership problem." He raised the sword, and started to bring it down.

CRACK!

The contested object exploded in a cloud of dust. The soldiers backed away, coughing. Vidhasi started to crawl away. The captain saw her and snarled. "That bitch is trying to get away. Stop her!" The soldiers looked at the dust, Vidhasi, the captain, and each other. Finally, a brave one stepped forward and drew his sword.

Suddenly, a pale arm thrust out of the cloud of dust and grabbed the soldier by the neck. The soldier grabbed at his assailant's arm, but then there was another loud CRACK! The soldier's head went limp, and the arm threw him. He crashed through the stone wall of the meeting house as if it was made of reeds.

The force of the throw made the dust start to clear. A tall figure was standing there. His skin was pale, like sand. He didn't have the bony armor that the Ruush surrounding him had. He lacked tail and claws, but his head was the most bizarre thing. It was incredibly small, without an elongated skull or snout. His face was flat, and had several feet of hair running down his back. He had the muscular build of a male Ruush, but lacked the twin pseudo-heads on each side of his skull.

As the entire town stared at the menacing figure, he opened his mouth. A single word came out.

"Joestar…"