For Ziyaa/Light Combat Aircraft, on her Birthday

Text below only for reference. Listen above. (and don't dare say its funny! I had very little time to make it)

Eternal twilight, if ever there was one. By all counts, the twilight that lay over the lands of Saraneda seemed never ending. And a peculiar twilight it was- subdued light, no visible stars. It held the promise of light just around the corner- a promise that was never kept. Romanticism had died out in the first few days, and like the pale light, gloom pervaded the lands. The stars and the sun had been blocked out by a seemingly endless sea of clouds that hung low like a pall of gloom every which way the eye wandered. Ziyaa, or light as the people of Saraneda called her, had left the lands.

After a thousand sandclock days and a thousand sandclock nights, and double the number of twilights, Erdogan, master navigator, set himself the task of bringing light back to Saraneda. Erdogan belonged to the class of master navigators who sailed by the stars at night, and by the sun at day. He was a master of the art of sailing by the stars, the feel of the wind and the look of the sea. He listened to the 'talk of the stars' and the 'talk of the sea' and thus navigated the vast waters around Saraneda.

As he sailed out determinedly in his beautiful double-hulled sailboat, his lands astern, Erdogan knew he did not have the stars to guide him this time. He knew he had only the sea and the wind to give him hints. He would listen closely to the swell in the waters lashing against the hull, feel the wind, and when in doubt, rely on instinct. The task was difficult, but Erdogan knew that kites rise highest against the wind, not with it. And interestingly enough, sailboats sail fastest somewhat against the wind, not with it.

Sailing a good many days, Erdogan reached the place of his hopes. The sea and the wind had guided him to where the cloud layer above was shallowest. Erdogan quickly got to work. Removing one of the sails on his boat, and tying a rope to one end of it, he prepared what seemed like a kite- a pretty large kite at that. Now, using the rest of his sails to sail as fast as a sailboat can, Erdogan let the kite flutter up into the sky while at top speed. There at flew, and quite a magnificent sight it was. Against the wind it rose, higher and higher till it reached as high as the sea of clouds itself. Erdogan mustered all his strength, pivoted himself on his hind foot, and turned and turned, pulling with all his might- the kite whirled around in circles of ever increasing diameter, rising up at the same time as it did. Pushing away the layer of clouds, this resulted in an opening- just what Erdogan had hoped for.

Erdogan worked furiously, like a house on fire, pulling the sailkite back down. Using the material he had brought along in preparation, he worked on building what seemed like a newer contraption. As the hours went by, the window he had created in the clouds closed down more and more. The smaller it became, more furiously did Erdogan work. When he had first created it, pushing the clouds away, stars peered down below marvelling at his effort. Now, as it became smaller and smaller with the clouds moving in, the window showed the sun just about beginning to rise. Its rays filtered down through the sky and onto Erdogan's boat, just like the lights above illuminate the stage at the theatre. Here, in his boat, Erdogan stood back to have one final look at the hot air balloon he had managed to conjure using the sailcloth. Stepping in and lighting the fire inside, he rose with his balloon towards the clearing in the clouds. And up he went, flying towards the rising sun, flying in his quest to bring light back to Saraneda.

The clouds closing in all the time, closed the window just as Erdogan rose above them in his balloon. Once above the sea of clouds, he could see a remarkable sight- quite unlike the dark apperance they had assumed on their underside, the clouds were white as pure, almost shining as abundant light shone on them. The other side of gloom, though invisible through it all, is remarkably, quite bright he thought to himself.

Descending onto the clouds, he knew she must be around here somewhere close. Wandering around but with purpose, calling out to her as he went, Erdogan looked for Ziyaa. Finally, just around afternoon, he had found her- there she was, trapped inside a bubble. Looking around but finding no villain to fight, Erdogan pricked the bubble and freed Ziyaa. Just as he did and the bubble burst, it started raining below. It was the mildest of rains however, just enough to create a rainbow though. Erdogan took Ziyaa with him in his balloon and over to the lands of Saraneda. Once there, they saw the clouds had already begun to part and the rain had stopped. There, in the evening sun, Erdogan descended in his balloon, with light to go. As they crossed the clearing in the clouds, their balloon passed through a rainbow, coloring the sail in rainbow hues. Light had come back to Saraneda- in rainbow colors. In technicolor. :)