The girl who loved the sun

Origin
The below piece of folklore was originally told to Cor Pandora Australis by her wife, Esmeralda, in Airth-XXXX. It is unknown what planet this piece actually originated on.

Folklore
There was lived a girl who spent her days in the sun. She would be on top of her hill by dawn’s early light and would only leave after the last rays of the sun fell away from the land. She would sing and dance and do anything to try and call down the attention of the sun. But every day it would follow its path, never pausing and never wavering. One day, as the sun set, the girl had an idea and as soon as the sun rose the next day, she was ready. The girl chased the light of day, from dawn to dusk she ran. For seven days she rested with the sun and ran with the light and at the end of the seventh day she chased the sun into the ocean.

So great was her distress that she climbed the high crags until she reached the throne of the Mountain King, the wisest of all the great mortal kings. She threw herself at the base of his throne and pleaded for his mercy. As she spoke of her love, the Mountain King felt moved by her words and granted her a boon. She would be as fleet as the shadows the sun chased before it.

At dawn the very next day, she ran again. The land seemed to blur beneath her feet as she raced. For seven days she ran with the sun, for the sun. She ran so swiftly that when she reached the ocean, she ran across its surface, to keep up with the sun. But eventually, her speed failed her once again and she fell into the sea as the light of the seventh day faded.

She climbed to the home of the Mountain King, and once again fell at the base of his throne. She begged him to be quicker, because she still could not catch the sun nor turn its eye towards her. The Mountain King, benevolent in nature, granted her another boon. The quickest animals are not those that run upon the land, but rather fly high in the skies. He granted her the abilities to fly.

And so, at dawn the next day, she flew after the sun. For seven days she flew after the sun. She flew so fast, the land passed away under her. The ocean soon came and went and on she flew. For seven days, she flew and yet the sun still passed her. And as the seventh day came to a close, she landed on her hill. Around the world she had flown, and yet the sun still did not pause nor waver in its entirety.

With blinding tears, she climbed once more, for the third and final time, to the throne of the Mountain King. She fell upon his mercy and begged him to end her life. For what meaning could there be for her, an eternity of chasing? For moments long in their duration, the Mountain King gazed down upon the crying girl, lying prostrate before his throne. And for the first time in what was a very long time indeed, the Mountain King moved. First, his fingers twitched and the dust of ages stirred and fell. They flexed and gripped the arms of the mountain throne and the Mountain King rose. Bare feet stepped heavily as he descended the steep steps, pausing at the base. A single gaunt hand reached down to grip the girl’s chin, tilting her tear-stained face up. With pity stirring his heart, the Mountain King spoke. With a voice of thunder and grating rocks, the Mountain King said, “There are dreams not meant to be filled by mortal minds. Perhaps your chase of the sun is one such dream, for that embrace would burn all to ash. Go home girl, and live what life you have left.” The Mountain King rose once more and ascended the steps to his throne.

The girl stared after the Mountain King and watched as he took his throne, once more as still as the mountain he sat upon. She fled then, racing away from that hallowed hall. She raced down the steps and down the mountain, to the valley far below. It was in an empty field where she finally collapsed. Her cries shook her body and they tore themselves from her throat. Her grief and love were great as she cried out to the heavens.

It was these cries that the god Bardanther heard, and it was these cries that he decided to investigate. Upon finding the girl, he asked for what she cried. With no knowledge to whom she spoke, she told her tale. Of her love for the sun, her races three, and the Mountain King. Even the god’s heart was moved to pity for the girl’s great love of the sun. With a smile, he spoke to her then. Stand up, child and turn your face to the noon day sun, he said while helping her stand. Stretch your roots deep and let your face always follow the sun so that it may always know of your love. Bardanther smiled at the once woman and strode away then, his job complete. Behind him, a tall flower remained, with petals as yellow as the sun. On the first day, there was but one worshiping the sun. However, when the sun’s rays touched that valley on the second day, there stood seven of these strange, tall flowers, with petals as yellow as the sun itself. More even on the days that followed, until upon the seventh rising of the sun since the god Bardanther changed the woman. On that seventh morning, the flowers filled the valley whole, their yellow faces following the sun on its daily sojourn across the sky. And it’s said that on that day, the sun smiled down upon the valley, and from then on the strange yellow plants were called sunflowers. For they loved the sun above all else.