-Maniacal laugher- Finished~

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ fever
256 words
"Hey, you're back early," Aveth greeted the crumpled ball on the couch as he entered through the door.
A long whining moan was his reply.
"Are you okay?" Aveth set down his tool kit with a clunk and poked gently between Kwet's thrusters "Bad day?"
"I said," Kwet croaked, lifting his head "I never left for work."
"You sick?"
"Astute observation" he rasped and curled back in on himself "Leave me alone."
"Don't you need to sleep?"
"You'll get sick too," Kwet wriggled away from him "G'way."
"You won't get better by yourself," Aveth sat down and pulled Kwet into a hug "Sleep."
"D'wanna."
"Really? You feel really warm."
"S'called a fever."
"I know."
"S'when....virus...blocks the ventilation...makes the body overheat..."
"I know Doctor, I know, you don't have to lecture me."
Kwet mumbled softly and weakly tried to edge away again, but suddenly Aveth's arm seemed three times as heavy.
"You just need a lot of rest, right?"
"Mmm...ye-yeah."
"Then all you need to do is sleep and all I need to do is keep you company."
Kwet shifted, closer instead of further.
"That's okay, I'm way better at sitting still than you. Plus it gives me an excuse to catch up on my reading."
"Veeeth," with a massive effort Kwet lifted his head "Shut uuup."
"Okay," Aveth dropped his voice to a soft whisper "Sorry. You go to sleep. I'll be right here."
"Thank you," Kwet burrowed back down beneath Aveth's wing and promptly went to sleep.
Aveth sat and listened to the relative quiet.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ a thousand, tiny little pieces
537 words
"Still no response to any of our hails?"
"No sir," Daya confirmed "And I'm reading zero activity across all frequencies."
"Not good," Gaitriac murmured and Keyvar nodded in quiet, nervous agreement.
"Dropping speed and coming up on Kataria," the pilot anounced.
The ship slowed and the blur of space began to settle.
There was only time for a glimpse of a shattered debris field ahead of them before the alarms began to shriek and they were hit with a hail of broken stones.
"Get out! Get us out!" Keyvar shouted as the starscraft shuddered from the impacts "Pull the wings closed and get us out of here!"
With a groan the Farriser turned in the void of space, cutting a path the dust until it reached the edge of the field.
"Run diognostics on our navigation, see what went wrong," Keyvar ordered.
"Nothing," Daya shot back a moment later "Nothing is wrong."
"Well then what-" Keyvar turned back to the viewscreen and his shoulders sank "No."
----
As head scientist Kwet typically would have been expected to attend important meetings such as the one currently being held in the briefing room.
But, as it were, with the entire ship thrown into turmoil and panic, Kwet wasn't missed when he locked himself into the observation bay.
He was forgotten.
At least, for a little while.
"I swear to the Seventh if you don't unlock this door right now I will have them transport you directly into a high risk paitient containment cell."
To Aveth's relief the door slid open mere seconds later to reveal the doctor.
His wings where limp against his back and tears trickled down his face and he opened his mouth to speak.
The words never made it out though, because Aveth rushed him and pulled him into a hug that was all elbows and wingtips and stifled sobs.
"What happened?" Aveth whispered after he had gotten ahold of himself "What happened to our planet? Our home?"
Kwet made a choking sound and tried to say something before plantung his face against Aveth's shoulder.
"What?" Aveth peeled Kwet off of him and held him out at arm's length "What did you say?"
Kwet stared at him for a moment, shame and guilt squirming across his face "It's my fault."
"Kwet no," Aveth let go, only to try to pull him back into a hug "How could it possibly?"
Kwet ducked away and his thrusters kicked on, whining from the strain and the stress "It was supposed to be a weapon. It...it was suppose to end the war without any more of our soldiers having to die."
"What are you talking about?"
"It was top secret, I was the only one assigned to the project," Kwet was visibly shaking now "It worked. It worked but it didn't stop at enemy soldiers, it didn't even stop at Vives, it was starving, it ate through every substance, every container I put it in. I tried to destroy it but I couldn't. I tried to hide it but," he turned toward the viewport and the remains of Kataria "It's my fault Aveth, I broke our planet, I broke it into a thousand, tiny little pieces."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ victory
329 words
Haravon rocked back and forth from heel to toe, barely noticeable as he tried to settle himself. Glancing around he caught Shrring's eye and they held each other's gaze long enough to exchange an uneasy look.
Then Shrring resettled his wings, pulling them closer along his back, and set his eyes dead ahead.
The rest of Diocore's High Command seemed to be following example, all of them afraid of drawing attention to themselves in any sort of form.
Like a cord stretched too tightly the tension in the room was close to snapping and no one wanted to be in the way of the inevitable backlash.
The doors to the Great Hall slide open with a louder than usual whoosh and everyone flinched.
Everyone except the great monolithic storm brewing on the throne and the oblivious smiling fool who stepped into the room.
Tulric swept past Shrring with a condescending arch of his brow and dismissive flick of his wings.
Shrring kept himself still. In all likelihood he wouldn't have to deal with the little upstart ever again.
Tulric came to a stop in front of Diocore and bowed, arms and wings sweeping out in a grandiose gesture.
"My King," Tulric began and Diocore cut him off with a flick of his hand.
"Explain yourself."
A bit of Tulric's smugness slipped away "My King?"
"Explain yourself, explain your actions," he swept up from his seat, wings dipping and spreading "Explain what has happened."
"What has happened?" Tulric straightened, his wings pulling in and up "My King. I present to you, Victory!"
"Victory?" Diocore dropped his flat tone and hissed the words "Victory? Where is my PLANET? Where is the rest of my ARMY?"
"I paid the price that you refused to pay! I won the war!"
"You've destroyed us!" Diocore's tone made the other Vives, the more knowlegable ones, the more experienced and sensitive to Diocore, tremble.
"You've destroyed my kingdom Tulric, and for that you must pay."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ "Breathe."
1,101 words
Lynx felt like his breathing was loud and rough, scraping the delicate silence like a shower of gravel being thrown at a window. But Avenling didn't shush him again so maybe he wasn't as loud as he thought he was.
Or maybe Avenling knew he couldn't be any quieter.
Either way, neither of them heard Gaitriac approaching.
The commanding Vive came shooting around the corner and Avenling had nearly shot him before they had time to refocus their eyes.
"Self destruct," Gaitriac gasped after a single breath to steady himself "We have to leave. Now."
Avenling stuff his gun back into its holster and opened his wings "Hold on Lynx."
Lynx dug his fingers into the thin crevasse between Avenling's shoulder and neck armor "I am."
"Good boy," Gaitriac said, raising his wings and jumping back into the air again.
Lynx braced as Avenling did the same, biting down on his tongue as his stomach felt like it was dropping away.
"What happened, sir?" Avenling asked above the sound of rushing air.
"I made a mistake."
"How much time do we have?"
"Keep focused, soldier," Gaitriac snapped.
Lynx swallowed and tried to count off the corridors they passed, hoping to track how much further they had to go. But the dark openings were beginning to blur together and he couldn't count fast enough.
"Almost there," Gaitriac gritted out after several minutes of eternity. The barred gate came into view and rapidly grew larger.
"Once we get to the gate, don't stop for anything Avenling, make a straight flight back to the transport, understood?"
"Yes sir."
They bore up on the gates, which began to swing open.
Lynx felt his heart pound in his throat, leaving an empty aching anxious cavern in his chest.
They were going to make it. They where just in front of the gate. Passing through the gates. They were out....
Then Lynx heard a noise like a starcraft's main thrusters beginning to fire. A raging horrible roar.
Like a wave of energy and heat, the explosion ripped him from Avenling's shoulder. For a second Lynx was airborn, hurtling wingless into nothing.
----
Breathe.
Keep, breathing.
Just. Keep. Breathing.
Breathe, despite the glass shards that had seemed to have lodged themselves in his lungs, breathe, despite the taste of blood in his mouth.
All Lynx could do, for a long time, was breathe.
When he finally opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness. For several heartstopping seconds Lynx thought he had gone blind. But after blinking rapidly he could see again and he almost wished he could see anymore.
He had thought that there was something wrong with his left arm. It had felt...numb? Cold?
He couldn't feel his fingers...his wrist, elbow, shoulder.
Now he squeezed his eye shut, trying to forgot the sight of the wall an inch away from his face and the way his shoulder...just stopped. His arm, was under there.
Breathing hard, he forced himself to open his eyes again and resisted the urge to gag. His shirt sleeve was soaked and the dust was thick and clumping. With blood. His blood.
Even though he was lying flat on his back, he felt dizzy.
But there was no pain.
Bad, some voice deep in his head said, it's the shock. That was as deadly as the way his blood was pouring out into the dirt.
He heaved for breath, but instead of exhaling he felt something come creeping back up his throat. He started coughing and couldn't stop as a fountain of copper smelling liquid came gushing out over his face.
How long did it take to die like this? How long did it take to bleed out?
"Lynx!? Lynx!?"
It took him much too long to register Avenling's voice and even when he had, Lynx realized he couldn't get enough air into his lungs without the threat of breaking out into more coughing.
"Lynx!"
Avenling's voice was much closer and suddenly the Vive's face swam into view over him "Oh Lynx..."
"Help..." Lynx tried to say, but it came out as nothing more then a faint whimper.
"Hold on, okay, just hold on, you'll be absolutely fine," Avenling kept talking, but Lynx couldn't make out the words anymore.
Avenling moved out of his sight, but he heard as metal fingers wrapped around the broken edges of the wall and Avenling's grunt as he strained to lift. But Lynx couldn't tell if the wall budged or not.
"Just a little further," Avenling's words floated down to him, but they word cut through by the sharp retort of a gun.
Avenling yelled, in pain or anger or both and passed through Lynx's field of vision again.
He was hurt, Lynx realized, one of his wings was dangling uselessly and he was limping on one leg as he pulled his gun out and aimed it towards his assailant.
But he didn't fire. Why wasn't he shooting back?
Gritting his teeth, Lynx managed to turn his head far enough to the side to see what was happening. He felt cold as the scene hit him.
It was Gaitriac, but he was dangling loosely from a heavy grip that held him out like a shield and a gun aimed down towards Avenling over the commander's shoulder.
"Let him go!" Avenling's voice broke over the words and his only reply was a bark of laughter.
Gaitriac lifted his head weakly and said something Lynx didn't catch.
"No!" Avenling was screaming now "No!"
"That's an order!" Gaitriac coughed out, going limp again.
Avenling let out a noise between a sob and a shriek.
Then let loose a volley of shots, Gaitriac's body writhing violently each time Avenling's shot hit home.
Lynx watched, his whole body going cold.
The attacker released Gaitriac and his corpse fell to the ground with a crash.
Avenling was shaking violently and his next shots went wild. The attacker's did not.
Lynx screamed as he watched Avenling stumbled backwards then topple over.
The attacker stepped past Avenling's limp form and filled Lynx's vision.
Lynx's swallowed hard as they raised the butt of their gun. They weren't even going to shoot him, just crush him, like an insect.
Before the gun descended there was a final shot and the attacker jerked to the side before falling.
Lynx managed to leverage himself up far enough to see Avenling, half sitting, gun steady in his hands.
They made eye contact.
Then Avenling slowly melted back to the ground and Lynx felt what little energy he had fade away and he was staring up at the sky.
Just breathing.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ vertigo
552 words
"Serpens," Kwet's voice crackled over the headset "Listen you're not going to like this."
Serpens closed his eyes and curled his fingers tighter around the ladder rung "You can't get me down."
"We can," Kwet said "But the spire is causing too much interference for us to transport you directly from your current position.
Serpens felt nausea settle into the pit of his stomach "So you can't get me down."
"I can, the interference thins out enough just a few feet from the spire. Serpens, I can get you down. You just have to jump."
Serpens went worryingly silent and Kwet stared down at the comm console, begging for it to crackle back to life.
"I can't," the boy whispered "Kwet, I can't, you know I can't."
"You can," Kwet insisted back "I know you can. All you have to do is let go off the ladder and turn and jump. I'll have a lock on you before you even begin to fall."
"And if you don't? What if you lock after I start to fall? What happens to me?"
"I'll compensate for it, trust me Serpens, our species spends half our lives in the air we know how to compensate for that."
Serpens licked at his chapped lips and looked over his shoulder, at the distant gray earth and all the spinning air.
"Serpens they're moving in on your position."
Gravity pulled on him like a murderous tide and he felt the sensation in the soles of his feet.
"Serpens you're running out of time."
The landscape spilled out beneath him, wide and unrelenting.
"You have to trust me. I won't let you fall."
Dizzy, dizzy, dizzy, spinning, spinning out of control.
"Kwet?" Serpens drew in a rapid breath and gritted his teeth "I trust you."
He let go of the rung and twisted, flinging himself out into the atmosphere's razor embrace. It was not graceful and it was barely efficient. He could feel the energy picking and pulling each molecule away from the grasp of the static and he hadn't jumped far enough, he'd let his fear cripple him, he was going to fall...
The thought died in the whooshing of the transport rings settling into stillness around the platform and Serpens found his face pressed against the cold but steady and safe metal, limbs splayed out uncomfortably and his blood roaring in his ears.
He sat up, gasping, every muscle trembling, hugging his arms to his chest as he was swarmed by a flock of concerned Vives all chattering, asking him if he was alright.
"Hey! Hey! Move! Move!" Kwet's voice cut through the cacophony, only this time the doctor's voice wasn't crackling through the headset but there and real. Then the doctor himself was there, fanning his wings out to force the rest of the crew to give him some space as he knelt in front of Serpens.
"Are you alright?"
"N-no!" Serpens managed to squawk as he looked up at Kwet past his sweat damp hair.
"Right," Kwet said softly "Of course not. Come on, let's get you to the medical bay."
He slipped his arms under the shivering human's back and legs and lifted him up, wings still fanned and flickering as he tried to clear the space for him to even walk off the platform.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ never speak
454 words 6
Siren stood on the railing of the catwalk, mouth pressed into a thin line and brows furrowed down over her eyes.
"Well don't we all just look cheerful today," Haravon quipped as he stepped alongside the railing, wings quirked upwards.
"They never speak," Siren said, nodding slightly towards Aurin and Grenite. The two soldiers were standing across from each other, silent and still, save for the occasional twitch of the wing or hand gesture.
"No, they don't," there seemed to be a hint of amusement in Haravon's voice.
"Are they damaged?"
"No, although it is possible for a Vive to loose their ability to speak from an injury."
"So they choose not to speak."
"Mmhm."
"Why? It seems inefficient."
Haravon shrugged "Some people, some Vives I suppose would be a better way to put it, believe that speaking is a barrier between the intent of each individual. Words can be used too easily to obscure or confuse. If it cannot be communicated through movements then it isn't important enough to be brought up."
"Does the same hold true for writing?"
"No, strangely enough, apparently, considering that writing is much more deliberate than speaking out loud, they still view it as a legitimate means of communicating."
"Interesting," Siren glanced at Haravon "You are close with Grenite?"
"We're friends."
"Is it difficult?"
"What? To be friends with him or to communicate?"
"I would not think those two things are mutually exclusive."
"It was a bit odd at first, but as time goes on you start to pay attention you realize they do have a point about some of these things. At this point I'm always quite positive on what he's feeling and that's usually a clue to what he's thinking."
Siren hummed thoughtfully, fingers tapping thoughtfully against the side of her leg as she considered more closely Aurin and Grenite's movements "They're having an entire conversation aren't they?"
Haravon chuckled "They are indeed."
"About what?"
"They're saying its rude to stare."
Startled Siren looked up at Haravon, trying to judge his seriousness. He was grinning and he swept his arms and wings out in a wide shrug.
Apparently it was a signal because Grenite and Aurin turned away from their silent conversation, mouths turned up in mirroring smirks as they opened their wings and joined them on the catwalk.
"My apologies," Siren said directly to Aurin as Grenite had taken up his customary post standing almost directly behind Haravon.
The soldier shrugged slightly and shook his head, eyes sparkling. Then he extended his wing, inviting Siren to take up the position she had held during the last excursion against Keyvar's forces.
Message received, loud and clear.
Siren allowed herself to smile back at him.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

1,172 words

/ cloudy with a chance of catastrophe
"You are positive that these were the coordinates General Keyvar said he was travelling to?"
Keyvar was a patient person, capable of repeating an answer to a question asked countless time. He was not angered by such trivialities as the puttering of a politician or simpering of a sycophant.
Too bad he wasn't there.
Because Ishton was none of those things.
"Commander? Commander did you hear me?"
A shudder ran down through Ishton's wings as he tried to suppress the urge to unsheathe his sword and put it through the annoyance.
Unfortunately he could visualize Keyvar's look of disappointment all too vividly and he kept his hands clasped together tightly in front of him "There is no doubt. This are the supplied coordinates and the last record we have of his ship was within this nebula."
"But I don't see anything," the Curator questioned and another shudder ran through Ishton as he physically repressed his irritation. There was glances from the bridge crew, who were all apparently more emotionally intelligent than the single idiot standing next to Ishton. And, apparently, they were all anticipating Ishton's snap.
But he wasn't going to do it, he was better than that, he wasn't going to kill someone just because they were annoying him. Scratch the fact that he had, in fact, killed people because they were annoying him.
He took in a long breath and let it out slowly, hoping for some sort of steadying affect, perhaps, a little too enthusiastically.
"Do you have an affliction?" Curator Jeat turned to look at him fully, eyes bright "You should be careful Commander, a malady in the breathing system can create a weakness in the body. Hardly fit for a soldier on the battlefield."
Only there were no more fields to do battles on were there? But Ishton didn't air that thought, it would prove nothing and only lower the already fragile morale.
"I am fine," Ishton said, emphasizing each syllable "Just concerned for the well being of General Keyvar."
"Your breath shouldn't whistle like that, have you been for an exam lately?"
"I assure you Dr. Kwet is quite thorough and would have noted any anomalies in my health," Ishton was going to need to go to the medical bay for a check on his finger joints if he kept clenching his fists though.
"Sir, we're picking up on readings from another ship," Daya called from her station. Not exactly protocol, but like Jeat knew anything about protocol.
"Can you get it on screen?"
"A moment sir," Daikaia flitted back from Daya's console to several others and then the screen buzzed to life, filtering through the noise of the nebula and a silhouette appeared, gliding through the rolling azure clouds.
"Is that Keyvar?" Jeat asked, while everyone else fell dead silent.
"No," Ishton said quietly "Daya, have they picked up on us?"
"They've just stopped, so I suppose they have."
"Is it Keyvar?" Jeat asked again, his voice growing more insistent "Who is it?"
"No," Ishton informed him coldly "That is Diocore's flagship."
"What!?" Jeat physically jumped "What are you talking about? What is HE doing here?"
"Probably the same thing we are," Ishton snapped his wings open, trying to find a bit of stability in the movement "Daya, give me updates, are they priming their weapons?"
"No, they have all their shields activated but I'm not getting any readings from priming weapons. They're still not moving."
"They're waiting for us to make a move," Haravon commented quietly.
Ishton had almost forgotten he was there and made a face as he realized that the solider had been purposely hiding in the corner trying to avoid the Curator.
"It seems so."
"Why would Diocore do that?" Jeat asked and for once he had a point.
"Because Diocore isn't giving the orders," A distant look touched Ishton's face and Haravon looked towards him, eyebrows raised.
"Daikaia, try to hail them."
"What!?" Jeat followed Ishton as the commanding Vive set himself front and center before the viewscreen "Are you insane?"
"Ishton," Haravon's voice was a beacon of honest concern in contrast to Jeat and the rising sensation of dread inside of Ishton "What are you thinking?"
"They didn't fire on us immediately, which means Diocore most likely isn't commanding, which means for some reason his flagship is flying without him, in the same nebula we are currently combing for another missing military figure," Ishton drew his wings up tightly and then released them with another long sigh "You ever get a really, really, bad feeling?"
Haravon's face sunk into a nervous frown and he stepped out of the sight of the view screen and hovered behind Daya. Jeat, however, stayed put.
"They're receiving our hail," Daya said and Ishton glared sideways at Jeat.
"What?" oh, so the Curator wasn't blind "I am in equal authority to you."
"So, if it is Diocore and he's just in a good mood, you want to talk to him?"
Jeat blanched and quickly retreated back to his former spot towards the back of the bridge as the viewscreen faded from the view of Diocore's flagship to the bridge, Shrring front and center, mirroring Ishton's pose.
"Commander."
"Commander."
There was a terse silence for several seconds as the two sized each other up.
"Well, I would say a pleasant surprise, but it really isn't," Ishtron broke the standoff with a tilt of his head.
"No, no it isn't," Shrring agreed and Ishton felt all the more cold for the lack of a barbed reply "I suppose you aren't all too keen on sharing your purpose in the middle of a useless nebula?"
Ishton was silent for a moment before inclining his head "I suppose we could make a trade, but I do believe I already know what you're doing, so no."
"Oh do you? How presumptuous." And there! There was the snap and spark Ishton had become accustomed to hear in his rival's voice and oddly it comforted him to hear.
"You've lost Diocore, somehow. Have you not?"
Shrring didn't react, outwardly at least, aside from the slight narrowing of his eyes "Quick. Too quick, unless you aren't facing the same dilemma."
"Odd that two such important people should go missing at the same time into the same place."
"Indeed," Shrring agreed and he leaned back on one heel, fingers clamping together tighter "Very odd."
They stared at each other, barely moving, not so much as a blink or a breath traded between them.
"Alright," Shrring said after a long moment that dragged on for every single person "Truce then."
"Alright, within the confines of the nebula."
"Until they are found."
"Until we have left."
"I cannot guarantee any truce or ceasefire will be honored by Diocore once he re-assumes command of this vessel."
"Understood. Until they are found."
Shrring nodded and waved a hand to someone off screen. The connection cut.
Ishton sighed.
"Are you sure you don't have some sort of respiratory issue?" Jeat's asked "You really do seem to be wheezing."

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ survival
518 words

The ash was everywhere.
The factories that had heaved their foul breath skywards had long since died a cold death and now the ash returned like an acidic snow. It filled the streets, clogged old pipes, settled on the tired rooftops so thickly that the exhausted foundations eventually gave way and the building crumbled, one floor at a time.
The only thing that kept the city from complete burial were the random, violent windstorms. Like a wild thing the air would stir like it was being lashed and scoop up clawfuls of ash and fling it out to sea where it would poison distant tides.
Mankind would despair to see it if mankind still had eyes to see. But the race that had raised the city up had faded long ago, taking the spirit of the city with them and leaving behind a hollow shell to wither.
Dead things and shadow things and things that had once been far more than they used to lived in the city now.
Things that had adapted to man struggled without him now, and things that had lived no matter what went on, even if it was on their knees.
Cats never went on their knees. Cats had lived with man and without man and in the shadows of man, now they lived side by side with his ghost, even if they did not remember his name, they knew him.
The cat that stood on the sidewalk and stared across the river of ash that had once been a street, knew him and had she known his name, would have cursed him. Not for any particular reason but that she was frustrated.
The ash in the street was deep with only a thin cooled crust that covered the mire beneath.
One small paw flicked out, testing the weight of the small body. When the crust held, she ventured forwards, until she was half way across that river. Then the deceptive crust crumbled beneath her hind leg and it plunged up to the haunch in the scathing heat beneath. As quickly as it had gone in, the cat yanked her leg out, but the fur was already beginning to fall off in clumps. Every paw was already bare from similar experiences, but if the cat was lucky, the rest of the fur would regrow. But the limp didn't make her crossing any easier and she broke through the surface several more times before she reached the storm drain.
The opening was shrinking slowly, decade after decade, kept open in joint effort between the wind storms and the creatures that slunk out from beneath the city to scavenge. But fraction by fraction, ash would settle and solidify like concrete and one day the two worlds would be severed eternally.
The underneath was a quiet contrast to the ash choked world above. Tunnels an for countless dark miles and broke through to some nameless cleaner land funneled air that wasn't quite so tainted back to the city's underground.
Life was not much easier in the darkness, but it was out of reach of the ash

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ raw
279 words
"Bow."
The salt laden air shook with tension and a pit opened up in Shyshie stomach as she stared dead on into the Ocean Princess's gaze.
"No."
Rage flitted across the Princess's face, twisting it into an ugly snarl "Bow."
"I will not bow. Not to you, not to anybody."
"You will bow to me!" The Ocean Princess and a wave of raw struck Shyshie across the face.
She didn't blink, she didn't flinch, only curled her fingers towards her palms "I will not."
The rage became disgusting, dangerous and Shyshie knew she was crossing lines she couldn't come back from but she didn't care.
She wasn't scared.
"I'm not your plaything or your puppet, I'm not yours at all Princess," Shyshie didn't waver as the frame of reality shook from the Princess's barely restrained fury "You did not create me, you do not command me."
"You little-!"
"I am not a little anything!" Shyshie's words cracked out through the non air and the Princess paused "When will you get it through your thick salt coated skull that you did not make me, I do not owe you anything, I am not bound to your power. What I am is what I am."
Her breath came out ragged and harsh as she advanced towards the Princess making up the ground she'd lost, the cold fabric of the space rippling and shivering around her "What are you going to do? You can't control me, you can't make me do anything Princess."
The Princess stared down at her, eyes wide as raw electricity began to spark around the Stormcaller and her mouth slightly agape.
Shyshie grinned "Not so little now huh?

[TheSongOfTheStars]

/ starstruck, earthbound
451 words
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” Cassioepia hummed the ancient tune as she reached out for the next branch and scrambled a bit higher in the tree, a bit closer to the closed off sky.
“How I wonder what you are,” she caught the branch and pulled herself up, always staring towards the energy barrier that divided her country from the rest of the world.
“Up above the sky so high,” she settled herself against the trunk and let her legs dangle in the air. The energy barrier had gone up after the third world war, to protect the U.S. from nuclear strikes and it had never gone down.
“Like a diamond in the sky,” that had been a long time ago, a long time before Cassiopeia had been born.
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, how I wonder what you are,” Cassiopeia couldn’t even imagine what the sky would look like full of diamonds.
She couldn’t imagine the sky as anything other than dull green and vaughly pulsating.
She continued humming the song, over and over, and begin falling asleep.
She should probably be doing homework, or cleaning her room, or literally anything but sitting in a tree doing actually nothing, but it could wait, it could all wait.
There wasn’t anything happening.
She was almost asleep, the humming died off and there was just a distant bird calling softly.
And then the sky exploded.
The shockwave shook Cassioepeia’s tree and sent Cassiopeia bouncing from one branch to the next until she hit the ground in an unceremonious tangle of arms, legs, and long hair.
Too surprised to feel the bruises she’d gathered on her descent back to mother earth, Cassiopeia was already standing back up to stare in slack jawed awe at blazing white hole in the barrier as fire and light rained down.
One streak of light came hurling on an earthbound slant through the air, towards Cassiopeia’s tree, clipping the top branches and setting them on fire.
It hit the ground with a roar of sound and Cassiopeia fell to her knees again, shaken by the impact.
As soon as the ringing in her ears cleared and she could see straight again, Cassiopeia was on her feet and racing towards where the light had hit the ground.
The earth steamed around the impact crater and rivers of dirt ran down over the gleaming object that had buried itself in the ground.
For a second Cassiopeia just stared, waiting for something to happen.
There was a chirp from her cell phone.
She pulled it out of her pocket and opened the government official notification.
Then closed it and stuffed the phone back in her pocket, then took off running back towards town.