[hider=Blank/Nikki Colab]
The falling stars that evening were beautiful.  Even Nikki was too busy watching the streaks of light that shot across the sky to cause trouble, though she’d made a quick flight right after they started to locate Blank.  The young woman’s mouth hung open in amazement, reflected starlight shining in her eyes. Blank was similarly mesmerized, but the stars had failed to keep his attention, and instead he tried to suppress a smile as he watched the girl next to him.

“I wonder if you can catch them,” she whispered, stretching up a hand as if to try.  “Wouldn’t that be cool?  A star to keep?”  Her expression wasn’t quite the same as the raw excitement that indicated she was coming up with some wild new adventure, but this was a bit more subdued and awestruck.  

“A star… to keep…” Blank muttered to himself, raising his hand toward his head, but halfway there, he forced it down, letting the feeling slip away. Right now, it didn’t matter if he got his memories back, that could wait for tomorrow. For now, he just wanted to enjoy the moment.

Suddenly a meteor far brighter than any of the others blazed overhead, and Nikki gasped.  “Wow!” she exclaimed.  “Look at that one!”
Blank was already looking, and as he stared at the bright white light, that light burned through his eyes and into his mind, finishing the connection that had just started. In his mind’s eye, his memories, he felt the rain on his skin, hammering wherever his glider didn’t cover, and he barely saw the glider he was pursuing ahead of him. A gust of wind blew him up, and up, and farther up, and just before he passed from view of the other man, he saw a flash of light and then nothing.

Snapping back to reality, Blank put both hands to the sides of his head as it throbbed with a pounding headache. Staggering to his feet, he tried to stumble inside, but only managed to trip himself on the doorstep.

“Huh?  Hey, you okay?”  Nikki stood up as well, managing to tear her eyes from the falling stars when her friend lurched about.  Based on the way he was holding his head, she figured it was some almost-memory, but he’d never gotten off-balance like that before. 

Blank spun around to face the stars again, almost falling over as he did. A moment later, he had oriented himself and was pointing at the horizon.
“There,” he said, emphasizing the word by shaking his finger, “that’s the key. That’s where my memories are. I need to get there!” He turned again, making his way into the house more steadily, going for his glider.

“Whoa, whoa!”  Nikki trailed after him.  “I’m all for chasing it down, but it’s dark.  We can’t really fly at night, especially somewhere unfamiliar like down there.  Plus if we don’t at least get some supplies and so on, we’ll be in trouble.  Even I don’t go in [i]completely[/i] unprepared, you know that.”

Blank stopped, turning to look at Nikki. “I can think of a few times I’ve had to chase you down with a pack,” he said, obviously amused.

“Well yes, though I never thought it’d be my turn to try to get you to think something through~”  She was grinning fit to split her face.  “We’ll go, absolutely.  But this is going to be our biggest adventure [i]ever[/i].  I mean...the surface!  ...I really should have suggested going there before this.  So we’ll get together what we need, and leave at first light.”  Her eyes shone just as bright as they had in the light from the falling stars at the thought.

Blank sighed, obviously defeated, and didn’t even begin to try talking her out of coming. There was nothing he could say that would stop her, and all he could do was try and keep her out of too much trouble. “Alright then, first light. Are you sure you’ll be awake?”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she promised.
[/hider]

The next morning, Blank rose early and gathered his gear. It was mostly standard supplies; food, water skins, clothes, rope and some firestarters, but his glider was anything but standard. It was more like a giant umbrella than the hangliders on the island, and he had to carry it out over his shoulder even folded up. He said his goodbyes to his surrogate parents and set off, knowing a good place near town to launch from. It took more time to get there carrying his gear, but it wasn't long after dawn that he made it to the cliff overlooking the town. He sat and watched as most of the townsfolk gathered around a smaller group, apparently those the king was sending to get the star for him. He felt a pang of guilt, but squashed it down. He needed his memories back, he knew there was something he needed to get done, and he wasn't going to let someone else stand in his way for some silly succession game.