Between the Dust and Stars.

[Intro — fingerpicked acoustic signature; distant metallic resonance; restrained, fully sung] [Part 1 — Protoss male; ancient observation; deep, resonant, deliberate] Your fires burn below me Small against the night Still you hold your ground there Though the dark has taken light [Part 2 — Terran female; guarded human response; warm, direct] You talk like you have seen forever Like nothing can surprise you But I have watched your hands go still When the fighting gets too close [Part 3 — Protoss male; memory opening; sustained low phrases] My people lost our first home Long before your skies had names We watched our cities disappear We watched our suns burn out in flame [Part 4 — Terran female; practical survival; conversational] We learned to live in ruined places Breathing smoke and dust Nobody calls it sacred When survival is the job [Part 5 — Protoss male; certainty beginning to shift] I thought that made us different Older, stronger, hard to break Then I saw you save your wounded Even when the ground would shake [Part 6 — Terran female; grounded answer; melody beginning to lift] You count the ones still breathing You do not ask who is brave You grab the person next to you And pull them from the flames [Pre-Chorus — instruments rise; phrasing becomes more melodic] [Part 7 — Protoss male; measured recognition; sustained] You survive what should destroy you And somehow still remain I thought that made us strangers Now I am not so certain of the name [Part 8 — Terran female; warmth breaking through] Maybe we are not so different Maybe loss just leaves its mark You carry yours like voices I carry mine inside my heart [Chorus — clear melodic lift] [Terran Female — open, sustained] I carry home behind my armor Every face I could not save [Protoss Male — broad sustained answer] I carry mine in every voice Every name beyond the grave [Both — first true melodic convergence] Different worlds, different scars Still we reach across the dark Maybe we were never strangers Between the dust and stars [Instrumental Turn — acoustic signature expands; floor tom and bowed strings enter] [Verse 2 — more melodic than opening] [Part 9 — Terran female; personal, warm] There’s a picture behind my armor The corner’s worn and torn My brother hated coffee Dad burned breakfast every morn I remember little things now More than battles, more than fear Sometimes home is just a table And the people who were there [Part 10 — Protoss male; alien memory; sustained, warmer] We do not keep photographs Memory requires no frame Every voice remains within us Every fallen soul a name And before you call them ghosts— your word is still… imprecise Though I admit it is becoming less objectionable [Instrumental lift — slight humor releases tension] [Pre-Chorus 2 — stronger melodic momentum] [Part 11 — Terran female; lightly amused, then sincere] There— that almost sounded human Careful, you might ruin your reputation Still… when you look up and I look back I think we mean the same thing [Part 12 — Protoss male; restrained warmth] Perhaps. And perhaps that is enough. [Chorus — fuller arrangement] [Terran Female] I carry home behind my armor Every face I could not save [Protoss Male] I carry mine in every voice Every name beyond the grave [Both] Different worlds, different scars Still we reach across the dark Maybe we were never strangers Between the dust and stars [Bridge — arrangement drops nearly away] [Part 13 — Protoss male; lowest intensity; exposed resonance] If your world falls tomorrow I will remember its name I will carry every voice there Every loss Every flame [Part 14 — Terran female; urgent, fully sung] Do not remember it— help me save it I don’t need another memory I need you here while there’s still time [Brief silence] [Part 15 — Protoss male; deepest conviction; sustained] Then we will save it together. [Final Chorus — strongest melodic release] [Terran Female] Keep the picture in my armor Keep me honest when I run [Protoss Male] Keep the voices of my people Let them hear what we have done [Both — full sustained convergence] Different worlds, different scars Still we reached across the dark Maybe we were never strangers Between the dust and stars We will carry what we lost But we do not have to part There is still a road before us Between the dust and stars [Outro — acoustic signature returns] [Part 16 — Terran female; warm, amused] You still make everything sound ancient. [Part 17 — Protoss male; dry amusement] It usually is. [Instrumental resolve — acoustic signature answered by metallic resonance]