As they strolled around, Ash noticed that Ailanthus was leading them away from the main area of the festivities and into a more quiet area of town given that most of its inhabitants had come out to enjoy the day. It did concern her ever so slightly but she truly had no reason to distrust his motivations. Being bound to the god of contracts and valor, Ailanthus was a perfect gentleman and was likely extremely morally opposed to being otherwise.
When they finally reached somewhere a bit more quiet, he asked a question that had been on his mind for a while, "Do you know what the Starlight Festival in Fantastoria celebrates?"
Ash thought about the festival on Terra and a frown twitched at her lips ever so slightly as she realized its celebration was largely incompatible with Fantastoria. In Terra, the Starlight Festival celebrated the Starborn and, in a related sort of way, the assumed creation of the god of the stars that had crafted them. The second half of the celebration was a bit ridiculous, considering Sidus came into being before the planets and their seasons even existed.
His existence was also what brought the stars, but neither he nor Lady Umbra tracked the time during that part of their lives. Time was not important to the gods, not until their races were created and they had to come to terms with how little of it most of those creations could be given.
"I assume," she eventually said, "That it has something to do with either the Starlight Unicorns or the Star Ash trees."
He responded with a gentle nod, his pale blue-white eyes moving down to regard his date for the festival, "Starlight Unicorns are formed by the Star Ash trees around this time of year. This date is a good median for when most of them are 'born' so to speak. If I assume your world has the festival for similar reasons, that must mean your own birthday must be coming up or have just passed?"
Ash responded with a gentle chuckle, having been met with that very assumption a great many times in her life, "Starborn are generally born three-thousand years apart from each other and, yes, in the spring when the Starlight Festival is celebrated."
Ailanthus caught onto her tone of voice, a little saddened and almost lonely sounding. It told him that she was likely different, as she was also different because she was considered Lord Sidus' daughter.
Curious, he asked quietly, "And I assume you do not share in that?"
Ash shook her head, "I was born early and am still quite young even by the standards of the Starlight Elves, having passed my first millennia not so long ago. My birthday is in the fall," a light sigh fell from her lips as her soft pink eyes looked away towards the center of town and the grand tree that was visible even from where they were, "Perhaps that is why some have come to see my birth as an ill omen. The last of the Starborn, coming into being when the chill of death begins to take over nature's beauty."
Having never set foot in Ash's world, Ailanthus couldn't understand how anyone could take such a view of her. She was soft and gentle, powerful but always seeking to be kind rather than lording her strength over those around her. In the short time since she had come to his world, she had already increased her strength by leaps and bounds beyond what most would be capable of in such a short time.
He could feel the potential in her, too, for so much more growth that she would become a truly fearsome opponent. At the same time, he felt just as strongly as when they had just met that she only held that power because it was her job to guard over the world and its proper magical order.
A little haltingly, he spoke, "Here in Fantastoria I doubt anyone would ever see you in such a way because we do not see winter in that way. Certainly, the world loses a lot of its color in the winter, becoming a serene land of snow and the earthy wood of trees but it is not dead or even dying by any means. Those plants that do not survive the winter use the fall to drop their seeds and ensure that the new generation will thrive while others settle down to rest as winter is the only time when plants truly sleep."
His own eyes followed her gaze, finding the Star Ash at its end. A soft smile played on his lips at that, she and the guardian trees of his world were so very similar in ways that made her feel familiar to him, "Then there is the Star Ash. Where others sleep through the winter, it begins its growth in the fall and absolutely flourishes over the course of its first winter. Using the ambient magic that the other plants do not need in their slumber, the Star Ash grows to protect everything. It is a magnificent thing, a reminder that life does not end in the winter, just as surely as the crops and alchemical plants that continue to thrive in the magic it pulls to them. It is just a quiet time, a peaceful time where most things choose to sleep. I do not know about your own world," he continued softly as her pink eyes, slightly wet with moisture at such a gentle description that she likely felt included herself considering that was his intent, "But here, we believe that the Star Ash grow through the winter for a reason, that they are made stronger by living through it, by thriving within it. Perhaps, for that same reason, you were born at the time when they begin their growth."
She looked away, a hand absently rubbing her face to dash away the few tears that had managed to fall. Luna spoke similarly sometimes, reminding Ash that her garden never died in the soft voice the priestess reserved for trying to soothe her worries. Despite that, Ash had always taken it as Luna trying to make her feel better, taking her dear friend for granted ever so slightly in the process. Hearing the words from someone else seemed to breathe a new life into them, to give them more power with which to touch her heart.
"Thank you, Ailan," she said gently before inquiring where they were going.
He smiled as he turned to lead her into a small restaurant that he knew would be open despite the festival as it was where he often spent his free time on the day of the Starlight Festival, "I figured that just snacking all day might grow a bit boring and so wanted to treat you to a meal at my favorite eatery. This is one of the few places outside of the city center that remains open on a day when most places close their doors and move their business closer to the Star Ash. They do not do so out of a disdain for the holiday but because they believe that they could not properly recreate their food in a stall. If their quality would suffer to make such a decision, then it would be disrespectful to do so."