"As all kin of the Swamp may or may not know, we are born here into the light and take it for granted that the sun will rise in the daytime, and the moon and stars will shine at night - perhaps not as brightly, yet nevertheless there is light. Why, even the Kimeti are born with light in their eyes, and some of us, like myself, who have one kimeti parent, inherit this light. However, there are some who are born to darkness. The zikwa." She clears her throat delicately, and glances at her father, Evermore. At his nod, she continues, and her voice takes on that quality of storytelling - of bedside tales before sleep takes you away to the realm of Dreams.
A very long time ago, before the other races ever forgot one another, there was Light and there was Darkness. Everyone loved Light, for she was merry, bright, and full of love and life, and all those who encountered her were bolstered with the goodness of her purity and energy, which naturally promoted growth and the sustenance of all living things - great or small. Darkness, however, was quite the opposite and kin who encountered her knew the end of life, of light, of good things, and wherever she went the light was snuffed out into shadow and cold and nothing ever grew or yearned for her presence - and she grew lonely, and loneliness turned to bitterness.
While the kin and creatures of the world frolicked in Light's presence, Darkness began to plot over how she might gain the same sort of love that her twin had - for she began to covet it more than anything, and really, who could even blame her? Loneliness is a terrible thing, after all.
One day, an opportunity presented itself. A small group of young foals had wandered too far away from Light, and in their play did not realize they'd wandered into the shadows cast by Darkness. They could still see the glow cast from Light, you see, and so believed themselves to be safe, and in any case had never had any cause to fear the shadows before. All of that changed that day, when Darkness decided she had had enough, and reached out and snatched up the young foals, swallowing them into her belly where no light could ever reign.
The foals had never known such total absence of light, and grew very afraid. They tried many ways to escape, yet there was none - and the world above was soon in a frenzy of panic. Where have the young ones gone?!, they cried. Yet none could say, and Darkness kept her secret.
A long time passed, and though the kin did not forget they were forced to move on with their lives, for what else was there to do?
Then, one day, Darkness opened a way back into the light and bid the lost foals, now full grown kin, to return to it. Having long since lost hope of any such thing, they soon found their hearts lit with joy. They would return to the surface! and return they did. Only their eyes had shrunk from disuse, and suddenly the light burned them! It was too bright! Too hot - and the kin found they much preferred the comfort of the cool, deep, shadow of the caverns from which they'd emerged.
Darkness laughed with triumph. For once, Light would know what it meant to be shunned!
Yet, while Light did feel saddened, it wasn't what her sister expected. Light was sorry to lose the kin, and for them to lose the joy of all she had to offer them, but mostly - she was sorry to realize the extent of her sister's pain and loneliness, that it had pushed her to go so far.
"I do not want your pity," Darkness exclaimed, hissing in angry tones. "If you are truly so sorry, you would have done more to let me into the world, to share it with me."
Light considered this, "You are right," she conceded, with pain in her voice. "We are twins, and sisters, and should not be so against one another. Please, let me find a way."
Grudgingly, Darkness accepted, and in the end Light agreed to only show her brilliance for part of a day, and allow Darkness to take over the other half with her shadows - only with the moon and stars to guide them, so as to keep them from stumbling about and hurting themselves.
Thus, Day and Night were created. Yet, Darkness still holds on to the bitterness of those early years, which is why young ones are warned to be careful not to wander too far, and the Zikwa say Darkness is especially jealous of those Zikwa who do eventually leave her for the open world.
