It wasn't always that way.
This land was once only doused in bright Sun's light, day in, day out. Kimeti had never had to fear the dark, the most they saw of it was their own shadows cast on the ground. They had never imagined complete darkness. They praised the ethereal doe that wandered the skies, shining brightness down upon them. Sun was loved by all... that is... except one... the serpent, master of the Domain of the Dead.
The serpent shrouded himself in darkness and slithered through the swamp, mostly unnoticed. That is, not to say he was passive, he was just generally invisible to those who wished not to see him. But those that let him stray too close would feel the lash of his tongue and hear the coldness of his words. He relished egging Kimeti on, convincing them to do something wrong, something bad, something forbidden. And many got ensnared in his traps and his nets of madness, only to be dragged down to their untimely demise, and to join him in the Otherworld, the place after death.
He did these treacherous deeds to spite the bright Sun, to take at least one more worshiper away from her. He did not understand what was so nice about constant light, and he wanted to take it away, to get rid of it, to quench that horrid brightness. And so he hatched a plan.
The serpent set out to find Sun's sister, Moon. Moon was a pretty doe, just as radiant as her sister, but her coat was white and so was outshone by the lustrous gold of Sun. But Moon was a kind soul, quiet and modest. The serpent was about to change that demeanor, into something more... suitable... to his plans.
He spent many many days, that rolled over into weeks, working his way into Moon's mind. He poisoned the sweet doe with his vile words, with thoughts of grandeur and of power and attention. She withstood it for a while, brushing it off as if it were nothing, but there is only so much you can do before such constant thoughts make you start to doubt yourself. And this is precisely what happened to Moon. So steady was this flow of poison that she began asking questions, and with those questions came equally disrupted answers, and with those answers came hate, jealousy, and fury. Before long, the serpent could stand back and cackle at the madness he had incurred. His plan was blooming at last!
Moon got fed up with Sun having all of the attention and all of the praise and finally snapped. She tore straight at her sister, bowling her over and began berating her with cruel words and burning hatred. The two were soon caught up in a heated argument, too distracted to notice the serpent slither close. While the two were fighting, the serpent waited, poised and ready to strike, he waited for the perfect opportunity to attack.
A sudden scream tore across the sky as Sun was bitten by the evil serpent. Without a second thought, Moon shut up and whipped around to her sister's side. Once there, it only took a second for her to size up the serpent and she unleashed one swift kick. It connected with the serpent's head loud and hard, with such force that it instantly killed him and sent blood flying everywhere. It covered the sky just as Sun fell to the ground, tired and hurt.
Moon rushed over to her sister, standing over her she asked, "Are you alright, Sun? Will you be alright?" Genuine concern leaked through her words, and all thoughts of jealousy and hatred were gone. No one attacked her sister!
Sun closed her eyes and spoke gently, "Thank you, Moon, for saving my life. But what you spoke is true. I should not have stolen all the praise and attention, for you are just as brilliant as I. Go now, watch over the land, while I rest."
And so, as the sky darkened from crimson to black, Moon strode back into the sky, shining silver upon the ground below. The two sisters made an agreement to share the sky and the Domain of the Living. And each morning, the serpent rose once more from the Dead, forming a new plan to attack the Sun and the Moon that day. And each night, the sisters fought him off and slay the evil being, which signified their change of shift. Sometimes, the serpent managed to get a hold of one of the sisters, twining them in his strong coils, but the sisters had grown so loyal to one another and their bond had only strengthened, that it was only a matter of time before such a bind was loosened and the eclipse ended.
And that, is how day and night came to be. So you see, the gold that guides us by day, and the silver that guides us by night is not something we should overlook.
It is something we should be thankful for, and not something we should vie.
The serpent is still out there, looking for those foolish enough to be convinced otherwise.
