The Golden Age was a time of living legends. There were whole planets of sand-people rather than a scattered handful of nomads, their dreams a gift to the galaxies and all the children within them. Pookas wandered freely, inventing and inspiring wherever they moved. The Constellar nobility ruled with kind hands and kinder hearts, exploring the furthest reaches of the universe.

Sandy was a very young boy when he first met Kozmotis Pitchiner. The General was tall, even by the standards of star-people, and Sandy had been intimidated by his stern face amidst the gentler ones of the nobles he served. The universe was a brighter place then, and Sandy had not understood why anyone would wear such an expression.

Several years passed before a raid on Sandy's childhood ship led to him receiving a swift, brutal education as to why people like Kozmotis were necessary. Sand-people had great strength, but weak constitutions, and the skirmish with fearlings took the lives of all too many of Sandy's kin. When a ship from the General's fleet sailed by and rescued the survivors, Sandy wondered if a universe with more people like Kozmotis would be a universe where he would not have been orphaned.

.

Sand-people did not mourn their loved ones for long, preferring to hold the dead in sweet memories and sweeter dreams. A life without attachments freed him to spread those dreams, to learn how to fly a small ship, and soon Sandy was co-pilot of a comet with one of the many other children who shared his situation. Efreet had a wicked sense of humour and sands like crushed rubies, vivid red next to Sandy's gold.

Sometimes they shared dreams and laughed at the resulting confusion, Efreet's dreams inspiring love while Sandy's granted wishes.

Sandy taught Efreet how to fight or immobilise enemies with sand-whips, and Efreet taught Sandy how to dance as a passive or active partner; Efreet had little interest in playing only one role in life, and Sandy was more than willing to embrace zir in whatever form they chose.

It was a comfortable first love, full of little embarrassments and little joys, and Sandy caught himself wondering on occasion what it would be like to share a ship with Efreet forever.

.

A grand Constellar gathering ended all possibility of Sandy's romantic relationship with Efreet lasting into adulthood, or even adolescence. Mingling with the other dream-weaving pilots led to Efreet falling head over heels for a wielder of green sands, while Sandy found himself the centre of attention in the dance hall. Young enough to be considered harmless, a dancing partner like Sandy who could float was a blessing to pookas and star-people alike, saving them from concerns about bent backs or trod-upon feet. And Efreet had been a good teacher.

Sandy only glimpsed Kozmotis briefly that evening, but immediately noticed how the General was preoccupied with a woman as elegant as any Tsarina. The two of them could not take their eyes off each other as they danced, and for the first time in his life, Sandy felt the dull sting of jealousy.

.

Grand gatherings were once a rarity, called twice in a decade at most, but violence in the distant corners of the universe had people in need of relief. The pain of loss could not be changed, but it could be soothed by good company; a yearly event was something for people to focus on and look forward to.

Moreover, it meant that instead of meetings with his kin being down to pure chance, Sandy could catch up with whole groups of them at a time while Efreet wandered off with zir girlfriend.

The annual meeting gradually dropped all pretence of being an occasion for trade and business, people's attentions drawn instead to food, conversation, and dancing, but Sandy couldn't entirely resist slipping a few sweet dreams to those who needed them. Some people turned up to the event without loved ones who had been there in years beforehand; it only seemed fair to offer them what comfort he could.

.

Sandy never really expected to cross paths with Kozmotis directly, but it seemed the General was superstitious in his own way; seeking blessings for newborn children was unfashionable, but Kozmotis was keen to protect his daughter in worlds both seen and unseen.

Sandy had never given a blessing before, but the ritual used by his people was a simple one - a pinch of sand and a whispered dream, the contents of that dream a secret for only the parents and children to hear.

Kozmotis' expression was soft as he held his daughter out, and Sandy was old enough to know why the sharp angles and amber eyes of Kozmotis' face made him feel flushed and nervous. Sandy concentrated on the sleeping child as best as he could, dropped a pinch of golden sand on her forehead, and dreamed she would grow strong enough to protect herself.

When Kozmotis thanked him with a smile for the most practical dream yet, Sandy couldn't help but blush fiercely before running back to his co-pilot's side, hiding behind Efreet and zir girlfriend. Being old enough to know about fearlings meant being old enough to hear the stories of those who fought them, and Kozmotis was a hero in the majority of those stories, be he at the forefront of a battle or assisting in the background. Sandy had dreamed about Kozmotis leading a heroic charge against shape-shifting armies more than once.

Some childhood heroes were disappointing in the flesh. Kozmotis was not one of those disappointments.

.

Sandy had proved a natural as a pilot, and it wasn't long before he was deemed capable of commanding his own craft. Even if he missed Efreet, he loved his ship; she was beautiful, as gold and glittering as the sands he wielded, small in size and easy to steer. She made dreaming a pleasure, and he thanked her for it every time he woke up.

Each sand-person had a favourite dream to give to others, whether those dreams were funny or romantic, light-hearted or soul-searching. Sandy loved to give out adventures, and he played favourites with their casts; many a dreamer asked for tales of bravery, and Sandy let them imagine fighting side by side with Kozmotis to save ships, or even entire planets.

Sandy never dreamed he might help in an adventure; he was skilled in self-defence, but he was a dreamer - literally - not a warrior. Even so, towards the end of the war against fearlings, sand-people found their dream-shaping abilities called on whenever their own ships passed by vessels that had seen battle. Fearlings had cruel weapons up their sleeves, and soldiers who fell prey to them would be left trapped in nightmares, sometimes permanently if they were not treated on time. Sand-people could force the nightmares to change, and Sandy's skill with dream-weaving quietly earned him a good reputation - enough for him to be recognised by name, if not by face.

Sandy's love of adventures meant he could adapt the most hopeless of nightmares into thrill-seeking dreams. Falls turned into last minute flights, overwhelming hordes would be defeated through the dramatic arrival of outside help, and parents were never too late to rescue their children.

Sandy didn't see Kozmotis during those last months of the war, but he did receive a letter thanking him for his service, and Sandy kept it in one of the many concealed lockers on his ship. His childhood crush hadn't faded, and he was starting to doubt it ever would.

.

The last time Sandy saw Kozmotis Pitchiner, it was at a great celebration with the surviving Constellar nobility and their subjects. The final holdout of the fearling army had been destroyed and the universe declared safe for travel by anything and anyone.

Kozmotis had looked sad and drawn despite the news, sitting alone and quiet, and Sandy approached the General to ask if he wanted to dance.

Kozmotis laughed, but not cruelly, tapping a hand against his leg and saying he would like to, if only he could - maybe next year. A metallic clink made his injury obvious where carefully cut clothes had disguised it.

Sandy dimmed his lettering and asked why Kozmotis seemed unhappy, and was rewarded with a shake of the head and pat on the shoulder. Kozmotis could not answer, but thanked Sandy for his concern before diplomatically changing the subject, asking Sandy about his ship and how something built so small could function so efficiently.

Sandy had puffed up with pride before launching into an explanation of how the star-people's tendency to build big did not always mean they were building better.

.

In later years, Sandy would sometimes wonder if Pitch had been able to harpoon so many stars so quickly because of the knowledge he shared with Kozmotis, but he tried not to let the thought linger. He couldn't blame his younger self for babbling on at Kozmotis - there were few star-people outside of the Constellar nobility who were truly fluent in sand speech, and for a good hour he'd held the undivided attention of the greatest hero the universe had ever known.

Sandy liked remembering Kozmotis' bright, intelligent eyes, and how the skin around them creased when he was deep in thought. He liked to remember Kozmotis' rare smile, and being called a "clever little fellow"; he had blushed so fiercely in response that his sand speech started quivering at the edges.

His final memory of Kozmotis was sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse. Sandy's friends were calling him away, but something in his stomach told him not to leave - not when Kozmotis had looked so alone beforehand.

Sandy compromised, taking Kozmotis' hands in his own and squeezing them tight before saying, "I wish you well."

Even if Sandy had known what was coming, he could not have wished any harder.