A gentle breeze smothered against the stagnant waters, bringing the liquid to life with ripples softly rumbling along its surface. The breeze gusted forth, weaving through a lightly congested cable-stayed bridge spanning over the waters. Traveling cross the bridge's walkway was a Human girl with long, black hair flowing with the wind. Her azure eyes shifted their attention upwind to the breeze through individual strands of silk-like hair. The longer strands were swept to side as she brushed two fingers from her bangs to behind her ear. She folded her arms and shivered slightly.
"If only I knew they were going to set the artificial weather to this..." the girl muttered with a soft, quivering tone, "otherwise I would've been wearing something warmer." She unfolded her arms and lifted her white civilian apparel's skirt slightly. Her legs were bare, only adorned with silver boots reaching up to a point below her knees.
A voice called out from behind her. "Huh? How are you so cold in this kind of weather, Nemiel?" Behind her was a younger girl clad with an amber colored school uniform. She shared similar features to Nemiel but her hair was of shorter length and bound into two side twintails. The girl shook her head with a small smirk. "I'm not feeling cold at all."
"That's because your school uniform has you wearing thigh highs. Thigh highs would be nice right now." Nemiel said with a brief clattering of her teeth.
"This type of weather is perfect for some fishing!" the girl gleefully cheered. She leaned onto the bridge's guard railing and gazed outwards onto the vast body of water before her.
Nemiel shook her head and smiled. "Rumi, you know there's no fish in the Natha's artificial ocean."
Rumiel leaned down onto the bridge's railings, her chin lowered onto her resting forearms. The reflection of the stagnant water shined in her eyes. "One day... I wanna see a real ocean, not some fake one on a ship..."
Nemiel placed her hand on Rumiel's shoulder. "That might not be for a while but do you know what we could look forward to? We can see our older brother after so many years."
Rumiel stood up with a tranquil smile and nodded silently. The two sisters continued walking along the bridge where the traffic congestion intensified. As they approached the end of the bridge, they spot a construction zone closing several lanes on the bridge. Several engineers were working on something jutting out of the roadway. The sisters curiously glanced several times at this strange object during their approach. Upon reaching the construction zone, they see the engineers tinkering with what appeared to be a turret installed into the entrance to the bridge. The turret's five-barrels rotated at an accelerated rate while it pointed skywards. A rectangular concrete plating was fused onto the top section of the turret.
"Why would something like that be here?" Rumiel pondered while tilting her head.
Nemiel shifted her eyes to a pair of technicians tinkering with a console on the opposite sidewalk. "It's an automated turret for use in defense against Darker attacks. Darkers sometimes swarm an individual ship in the ARKS fleet. Come to think of it, the Natha has never been attacked by the Darkers before."
The turret sprung to life. Its rotary cannon snapped to various objects in its sights then pointed at the two girls. Rumiel let out a frightened yelp while Nemiel took a step backwards, frozen in fear from looking down the revolving barrels. An illuminated cyan dot was painted on Nemiel's chest. The turret resonated two long beeps and the rotary cannon started to decelerate.
"Pack it up boys! We're done here!" one of the technicians ordered.
The rotary cannon turned forward and neatly folded itself into the turret's base. The turret then submerged into the street, its concrete plating completely masked its existence. The girls breathed sighs of relief.
Nemiel folded her arms while trembling. "That... was really scary..."
"I honestly thought it was the end there..." Rumiel whimpered on the verge of tears.
"Hurry it up! I want those roadblocks cleared yesterday!" the leading technician shouted out.
Nemiel blinked at the men working to clear the roadway. "Looks like we can take the cab the whole way on the way back."
"Good, my feet hurt..." Rumiel muttered under her breath.
Nemiel shifted her eyes to the holographic clock above them and gasped upon realizing the time. "Let's hurry to the spaceport before we miss his ship!"
Rumiel slumped over and dangled her arms with a groan over the thought of more walking.
At the Solaris Spaceport, Rumiel was kneeling on a lobby chair using the chair's spine as an armrest. She slowly sipped on a vanilla flavored milkshake as her azure eyes looked through the large window before her, fixated on various transport vessels cruising through cold space. Nemiel sat beside her cross-legged, she was absorbed into a magazine detailing the latest fashion trends. The cover read, "Phasion Phantasies" in a bulbous, scarlet text.
"Transport shuttle from the Natha to the Nauthiz is now departing." a masculine voice announced on the intercom.
"Do you see his ship yet?" Nemiel inquired as she flipped through a page in her magazine.
"Nuh-uh." Rumiel hummed still sucking through her straw. She began to climb over the chair's back to get a better viewing angle. Nemiel's eyes glanced at Rumiel's shenanigans then returned her attention to the magazine.
"You know, people can see up your skirt if you do that." Nemiel said in an unamused tone.
Rumiel yelped with embarrassment and quickly lowered herself into her seat. Her cheeks were blushed a rosy pink and she turned towards Nemiel. She grabbed Nemiel left forearm and shook it in an attempt to get her attention. "W-What color?" Rumiel asked timidly.
Nemiel turned to another page and answered with silence.
"What a liar! No one saw anything!" Rumiel pouted in annoyance as she turned to climb again.
"Transport shuttle from the Ur to the Natha now arriving." a masculine voice on the intercom announced.
"He's here!" the two girls cheered. Nemiel sprang up and smiled with anticipation. Rumiel grinned with her tongue sticking out to the side while rubbing her hands together. They slowly approached the arched arrivals gate with joy.
A crowd of people gradually poured out from the gate. Nemiel boosted herself by the tips of her feet trying to find the one she's looking for. Her head rotated right and left with scanning eyes. "Where are you?" Nemiel questioned with soft voice.
From the gate emerged a tall man dragging along with him a large hovering luggage bag. He donned a blue beret inscribed with an ARKS insignia. His black hair was slicked back and tied in a short, low ponytail. The uniform he wore were very well-kempt and highly decorated, signifying him as an accomplished ARKS soldier. His azure eyes wandered and scanned his surroundings with uncertainty.
Nemiel inhaled a deep breath and her eyes widened when she made eye contact with the uniformed man. Her mouth transformed into a joyful open smile as she hastily weaved through the people before her towards the man. "Thion!" She called out.
"Nemiel!" the man called back to her while spreading his arms.
The pair embraced each other tightly in their arms.
"Thion, I haven't seen you for so long!"
"It's so good seeing your face in person again. Just knowing my little sisters are safe, it's all I can ask for. How's life on the Natha?"
"Oh, just keeping things together while you're away."
They released their grip and took a step back from each other.
Nemiel's joy turned to heavy concern and sadness when she looked up at Thion's face. "What happened here?" Nemiel's voice trembled. She raised her right arm to Thion's face. The tip of her index finger hovered next to a large diagonal scar on Thion's right cheek.
Thion lowered his head and twisted it to his right in an attempt to hide the scar from Nemiel. "Darker attack..." Thion said reluctantly. His eyelids narrowed with sorrow. "Almost lost my life." The sorrowful eyes then flared up with realization and looked back at Nemiel. "Wait a moment. Wasn't little Rumi supposed to be with you?"
"Ah!" Nemiel's hands ascended to her shoulder level as she rotated frantically in place in search of the missing Rumiel. "She was just here!"
"Yoink!" a voice called out.
Thion felt a tiny, brief gust brush his hair. His right hand swept his scalp to realize his beret had vanished.
"Gotcha this time!" the voice taunted from behind him.
Thion turned around in surprise to see Rumiel donning the beret on her head. She was bouncing up and down in place with a goofy fighting stance.
"Ya want it back? Come at me bro!" Rumiel provoked in a playful fighting stance.
Thion's mouth opened with bewilderment and chuckled at the sight of Rumiel's stance. "Oh, wow, she grew a lot since I last saw her."
Rumiel gripped the handle on Thion's hovering luggage bag. "Yup! I'm a big girl now. Here, let me handle your bag."
She began to pull on the luggage bag but the grey bag refused to budge at all. It were as if the bag itself had fused into the ground. Rumiel's visage began to turn to a sanguine hue as she pulled even harder. Her feet were grounded by only her heels. Thion shook his head grinning and tapped the handle. The bag released itself from its stasis and tipped over from Rumiel pulling on it.
"Gyaaaaah!" Rumiel cried out as she landed on her rear end. The bag landed between Rumiel's knees but its bars smacked her straight in the forehead. She sardonically chastised herself and had a stifled laugh over missing something so simple. Because of her eagerness to show off to her older brother, she had forgotten to disable the bag's safeguard.
Nemiel covered her mouth and giggled from Rumiel's stunt. "Okay, let me handle his luggage from now on." Nemiel said as she tried her hardest to keep a straight face. Her free hand grasped around the handle and pulled the bag off of Rumiel.
Thion reached out arm hand and assisted Rumiel onto her feet. "Alright, enough screwing around! Let's head home! I don't wanna miss the Natha Beowulfs face off against the Themis Titans tonight." Thion ordered as he began to approach a telepipe conduit.
Nemiel raised an eyebrow while she dragged the luggage bag behind with her right arm. "You're still watching Photon Strikers? I thought you would outgrow that sport."
"Of course I've been watching all this time, long before you had a crush on the Beowulfs' rear lancer!" Thion scoffed as his very essence dispersed into the telepipe.
"I did not have a crush on him!" Nemiel shrieked, obviously flustered while stepping into the telepipe's glow.
The three siblings emerged from the conduit's exit node and found themselves in a crowded underground transport terminal. Vibrant arches adorned the ceilings of the tunnel illuminated with amber lights. Wandering winds swept through the tunnels refreshing citizens with its blessing. Along the curb were a convey of parked taxis awaiting to serve. Thion suddenly stopped in his tracks and scanned his surroundings.
"Is something the matter?" Nemiel questioned with concern. Her body shivered slightly from the chilling winds.
Thion eyed a large number of cyan particles continuously surging from the ground. The particles swirled and ascended in an unpredictable dance. He looked down the tunnel and saw even more particles brushing against the exit ramp.
"I don't remember, were the Natha's photons always this hyperactive?" Thion asked with a quizzical look on his brow.
"Uh... I don't know." Rumiel answered with her head tilted.
"Oh, right... You two aren't photon sensitive..." Thion said in a disappointed tone as he turned away from the sisters.
Nemiel and Rumiel shrugged and continued to follow Thion, completely oblivious to the particles fluttering all around them.
The siblings approached the first available cab and entered it after storing the luggage bag into the trunk. The driver wore a tan short sleeved shirt and had a bright skin tone. His short, unkempt hair was mostly covered with a cap engraved with a Beowulf emblem. A short, sloppily shaven beard dangled slightly from his chin. He seemed to enjoy the feel of the bristles rubbing against his palm. He nudged the front mirror with the back of his two fingers, adjusting it slightly so that he can get an angle of Nemiel's face who sat behind him.
"So, where are ya folks headin' to?" the driver asked in a cavalier tone as he fiddled with a holographic screen on the dashboard.
"Can you take us to eighty-six Hawthorne Avenue in Sector 9?" Nemiel asked.
"I'll take ya there in no time." the driver replied while putting on a pair of sunglasses. He turned the steering wheel and drove towards the exit ramp. He then glanced at Thion sitting in the front passenger seat. "Hey, from that uniform of yours, you're part of ARKS! Why don't you tell us some stories of your adventures?"
"Oooh! I'd like to hear some stories!" Rumiel exclaimed, her arms wrapped around Thion's headrest in front of her.
"I'm kind of tired from all this traveling. I wanna rest for a bit." Thion said as he turned to the girls sitting in the back seat. He saw a pouting Rumiel brimming with sadness and disappointment. Making eye contact with her saddened eyes pierced him like daggers made him reconsider. "Oh, all right."
Rumiel smiled and rested her hands on her lap intending to listen while Nemiel turned her attention to Thion.
Thion took a deep breath and began to recall the various missions he had undertaken over the years. Several of his missions included visiting remote uncharted alien worlds to defend the survey teams who encountered Darkers. He recalled several missions where he had helped repel small Darker raids against an Arks mining operation located on a remote desert planet. He then explained in detail all the friends he had gained and all what he lost during his time in the ARKS. His words helped time pass on as the taxi traveled across the Natha's sprawling city.
"Wow, you've been through some serious stuff, man." the driver said in a comforting voice. "I'm glad I'm just a simple taxi driver after hearin' those fights ya survived."
"I'm glad that I can finally take a break from it all." Thion remarked as he used the sun visor to examine his scar.
The driver looked over at Thion. "On the bright side, that scar ain't so bad at all. Chicks dig scars!" he chuckled as he turned his attention back to the road. "Oh crap!" He shouted out as he saw two small silhouettes wander into the road in front of them. The driver slammed his foot onto the break pedal. The next thing heard were the brief sounds of metal churning. The odor of burnt electronics assaulted their ears.
"Aw, I'm screwed... Are ya folks alright?" the driver asked as he turned to Thion.
"What the hell happened?" Thion yelled out trying to get a sense of the situation.
The two men turned to the back seats. Rumiel was tightly clung to Nemiel's arm while Nemiel caressed Rumiel's head.
"We're fine, just a little shook up." Nemiel trembled.
The driver noticed a plume of black smoke dissipate in front of the taxi's hood. "I think I hit a dog or somethin'." he said while he unbuckled his seat belt. "All right, ya folks stay put, I'm gonna go check it out." the driver affirmed as he exited the disabled vehicle.
"Good to see the Natha's drivers are just as skilled as ever." Thion sarcastically remarked with arms crossed. His head turned to Nemiel. "When you learn how to drive, please don't turn out like this guy."
Nemiel sighed, coiling some of hair around her finger.
A high-pitched shriek followed by a scream came from in front of the taxi. Thion sprung into action and stormed out of vehicle. He stepped around the hood of the taxi to find the driver mangled beyond recognition in a gory mess. Bloodied entrails were ripped and scattered apart onto the road. On top of the driver's corpse was a large four-legged insect-like creature with a darkened carapace. The creature turned its head towards Thion and glared at him with maddened crimson eyes. Before Thion could react, it lunged at him in a bloodlust and knocked Thion onto his back. It began to flail at the pinned Thion with its dagger-like legs.
"Thion!" Nemiel cried out.
Thion shifted his head, narrowly avoiding being lobotomized by the creature and pushed it off himself. Cyan particles began to swarm around his hands as the creature struggled to recover. The swarm of particles dispersed as a radiant sapphire sword larger than Thion's height appeared in his hands. The creature sprung itself back onto its legs and lunged yet again at Thion. The towering blade descended upon the creature and bored into its chitin. The creature was vertically bisected down the middle and the two halves collapsed onto the ground lifeless.
"Why the hell is a Dagan here of all places?" Thion shouted as he witnessed the Dagan's bisected husk decompose into an ebon plume. Thion tightened his grip on his sword as he tried to recollect himself. He saw the cyan particles swirl through the streets in an erratic torrent. In the distance, familiar shrieks echoed between the tall buildings around him. The murmurs of wailing men and women were drowned out from the sheer magnitude of the rabid shrieking. His jaw slowly drooped down in a daze as he gazed upwards at the Natha's sky.
Connect With Us