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BREAK ♢ Chapter 1: Stars
The night was clear as always. The tall grass swayed with the warm breeze, so did the leaves from the trees sparingly scattered around the plains, breaking the silence with their comforting sound. More stars than anyone could count decorated the sky along with a seemingly idle moon. There were many plains like this one, but to Rosie there wasn’t any quite like it. She hid in the tall grass, lying down perfectly still. Her eyes were closed as she took in the sound and the feeling of the breeze, remembering why she loved this place so much. It was peaceful. She felt like she could be herself, with no one around to tell her what to do. Not even Zech, the one that she had forgotten was currently hunting for her.
“Where are you…”
Zech whispered to himself while crawling, searching for a hint of Rosie’s scent. He hummed gleefully but quietly so as to not reveal his position. His ears perked up and he grinned.
“Got you.”
As soon as he picked up on her position and with a smug grin, Zech’s body began to glow. His Vie: Long markings along his spine, neck and the sides of his legs lit up in electric blue, so did his eyes. From his back, angular glyph-like patterns extended outwards, creating a complex mesh in the shape of wings. He slowly lifted up, beginning to hover lightly above the grass. Rosie was too lost in thought to notice the light coming from just a few meters behind her. Zech pounced, flying forward and tackling Rosie just enough to push her without hurting her. She yelped, startled, as Zech playfully bit her neck just for a second before leaving her and hovering higher, high enough so that Rosie couldn’t jump to catch him.
“Tagged.”
Zech smiled proudly, hovering above his friend.
“Come on, I was right there! How did you not notice?”
He mocked. Rosie sat up, looking at him with a straight face that she couldn’t hold for more than a couple seconds before giggling and smiling.
“I was just enjoying the silence, Z. But since I’ve been caught, let’s see if you can last as long as I did, ha!”
Zech landed again, his wings seemed to dissolve, and his Vie faded back to a gray tone slightly darker than the rest of his fur.
“Alright then…slowpoke.”
He stuck his tongue out, taunting her. She bent her legs lightly, readying up for a chase.
“You’re on!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Zech began sprinting away. The girl followed, keeping up with him easily. She could pounce at any time but decided to mock her friend instead.
“And you call me slowpoke? Come on Z”
Visibly frustrated, Zech sped up, but Rosie followed behind him effortlessly. She squinted her eyes, fixating on her target, and decided to pounce. In a split second, a bright blue light flashed and Zech was in the air again.
“Oof!”
Rosie fell on the grass and rolled, then quickly stood up and shook her body. It was as if her prey had disappeared. She looked to all sides and couldn’t spot him. She then sat down, sighed and looked straight up. The boy was there, hovering some meters above her with his wings extended.
“Z. We said no Vie. You’re cheating!”
The boy flew in circles around her slowly, taunting her and laughing.
“Can’t hear yah loser! Why don’t you catch me now huh?”
Rosie’s excitement was already fading.
“Come on, it’s not fun if you cheat.”
“What’s that? Reds can’t fly? What a shame that must be!”
He mocked her from above. She growled.
“Ok that’s it.”
It was her turn. Her Vie lit up, but unlike Zech’s, red light flowed through her markings.
“W-wait what are you-”
Before the boy could finish his sentence, he felt his body tense up and freeze.
“Wait, let me go!”
He yelped. With his body still frozen, he began floating in circles, and up and down against his will. Zech struggled trying to move his limbs, small particles of red light swirled around him like embers. Though they didn’t hurt, it seemed as if an invisible force emanated from them, a ghostly force that held his limbs in place while the rest of his body moved in the air like a puppet.
“What’s that? Blue Llums can’t do this?”
The movement became faster and more intense. Zech’s heart began to rush, and he became a bit nauseous.
“Stop it! Put me down!”
He cried. The girl smiled showing her teeth.
“Alright then!”
Suddenly Zech’s body unfroze and he fell straight to the ground, unable to react in time. He landed with a loud thud, kicking some dust up. Rosie’s ears perked up, the fall seemed slightly harsher than she intended. She trotted towards him as he stood up and shook, a small stream of blood flowing from one of his nostrils.
“O-oh my…Zech I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you!”
She approached and nuzzled him closely, a gesture that he didn’t pull away from.
“You’re right, blue Llums don’t hurt others like you reds do. No wonder they’re all still scared of you.” Rosie’s ears folded backwards, she flinched slightly.
“…you didn’t have to say that…”
She looked away. Zech sighed and sat next to her, gently leaning against her neck. She was slightly taller than him, a fact she constantly brought up when they played. “Sorry Rosie. I didn’t mean it.”
They sat there, calming down and enjoying the silence together. They looked up at the stars, and the giant that rose over the horizon. Aria, the planet that they orbited. A sight they were used to since they were born, but never got old. Sharing it made it much more special since they started doing so after they first met.
“We’ll keep playing here forever, right?”
Zech asked, unsure if the tension had eased already. Rosie smiled. “I don’t know if forever but…as long as we can.”
More silence fell. After some minutes, a faint light started rising over the horizon.
“Well there it is. At least for tonight, that’s how long we can.”
Rosie said as the light rose. They stood up on their four legs and slowly walked together. “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
Zech asked, as he did every night. Even though he knew the answer was always “yes”. Hearing it made him feel at ease. Without turning to look at him, she smiled.
“Yes. Tomorrow is an important day. I’ll be seeing you at the temple, right?”
Zech rolled his eyes lightly, although he tried not to gesture too much so as to not take away his friend’s apparent excitement.
“Sure. The temple. I’ll go or else I’ll get scolded”
He whispered those last three words. Rosie then stood up on her four legs, and let out a small yawn.
“I’ll see you later then, blue.”
Zech smiled. There was something about her words that always made him feel warm. He shook his head and stood up quickly.
“Later, Rosie!”
They turned and walked in opposite directions. Rosie went slowly, admiring the scenery and the last bit of quietness of the night, Zech trotted happily, humming a tune.
