Earthy scents, overturned soil, and crushed adrazenith blooms rose thickly as Nivk and Themaine burst from the makeshift rootway's mouth. Dust streaked their hands and clothes, shaken loose as Themaine's familiar pegasus surged up from the dark tunnel, its wings scattering dust behind. Below them, the Decapermais farming zone yawned open, a raw crater marring the clean sweep of fields, a wound torn in the heart of the land.
Nivk thumbed the edge of his Brigade E435 badge, polishing it until flecks of light danced over the metal. His long blue ponytail snapped in the wind, mingling with Themaine's jet-black hair as they stood side by side. At just eleven, Nivk's slight build made him a curious figure: a soldier's bearing in a child's body, composed far beyond his age.
As the pegasus landed at the crater's edge, its hooves skidding in loose soil. Nivk and Themaine slid off its back, barestride-greaves and bare feet crunching into dirt as they took in the damage. For a moment, the only sound was the creature's snort and the settling of dust.Themaine, still drawing back the light her spirit orb had spent in their earlier fight, placed her hands on her hips and let out an odd, low alien whistle.
"Yeah... big Dodma is gonna be flaring about this for sure," she muttered, eyeing the destruction they'd left behind.
Nivk, deadpan as ever, cocked an eyebrow at her. "So... what's the plan, Themaine? Gonna tell your Dodma this is a new kind of crop circle? I thought Decapermais just... farmed."
He swept a hand at the wreckage. "You got flared and turned half the field into a crater."Themaine stiffened, her entire body pulsing with a sudden surge of golden light, like a living flashbulb, before it vanished as quickly as it appeared. She spun on him, arms thrown wide.
"YES, WE FARM! CONGRATULATIONS ON FIGURING THAT OUT, BRIGHT HEAD!" she shouted, exasperation bubbling over.
Nivk barely blinked. "Just saying, whatever that was?" he jabbed a thumb at the crater. "Pretty sure it's not in the farming scriptures."
Themaine groaned, a faint shimmer of gold flickering beneath her skin as she dragged a hand down her face. Instead of sighing, she paused to soak up the swirling light on the wind. "Ugh, okay, look. My Dodma's an Elite, just like you, alright? And my Monoma is Decapermai, so my sister and I are basically stamped Decapermai too, like we had a choice."
She folded her arms, golden sparks tracing up her veins. "My sister ran off with the Council to study some blinking plants on a dampened planet. Which is supposed to be high honor or whatever, but..." She rolled her eyes, the light in her skin dimming. "Honestly? I don't care if it's a Glowing achievement, that's not for me."
Nivk stayed stone-faced. "Why not? Isn't it kind of part of your core?"
Themaine huffed, "I wanna be an Elite. Like my Dodma. Like you. Not just another dimmed-down Decapermai poking at plants and writing up scripts for the High Assembly. I want to shine for something that actually matters."She clenched her fists, looking away, the faint glow inside her flaring before fading again. "Ederi can go analyze roots if she wants. like I said that just ain't me."
Nivk's expression finally cracked, curiosity flickering through. "Ederi?"
"My sister," Themaine muttered, managing a crooked grin. "She's better at playing Council's game."
For a moment, silence stretched between them, broken only by the winds rustling across the farmland. Nivk studied her, his young but battle-hardened eyes unreadable.Finally, rubbing the back of his neck, he spoke."Well... destroying half a field is a strong start, I guess."
Themaine groaned again, giving his shoulder a gentle shove. "Not helping, Nivk."
He smirked. "Not my task."
She rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at her lips. Despite the mess they'd made, and the trouble sure to follow, she felt more at ease. Whatever storm her father might bring, one thing was certain: she wasn't backing down from what she wanted.
Sometime later, as the star above infinite Pulse faltered, shifting its state of "Full" to the uneasy brilliance of its next cycle, "Exposed". The star's light thinned, no longer lush and golden but fractured, casting eerie, angular shadows across the Decapermais Zone. The air lost its comforting warmth, replaced by a brittle clarity that made every color stand out, from the luminous grass to the crater's smoldering rim.The lush expanse of the zone seemed to hold its breath, the hum of life growing sharper beneath the collapsing star's glare. In this strange, suspended dusk.
Nivk steadied himself against the trunk of a Decapermais W.O.E (Well of Eden), a colossal tree unlike any other, its bark gleaming with iridescent hues that shimmered between peacock blues and golds under the thinning light. During Sprouting and Full, these trees thrived, their broad, oak-like boughs draping parts of the zone in a living canopy, leaves sparkling with trapped daylight and the energy-laden winds. Now, as the star shifted toward Exposed, the tree's radiance seemed to pulse more slowly, the light it harvested withdrawing into its heart.Hidden at the base, nestled within a hollow in the massive trunk, were the tree's rarest treasures: blue, apple-like fruits, grown from the very light and spirit energy absorbed throughout the day.
Plucking one, Nivk admired its luminous skin inside, emerald flesh shimmered with swirling mist, and the faintest glint of spirit gold. Even as dusk crept in, these fruits held the day's warmth and energy, nourishing not just Bayoe but the wild pegasus herds and Surnsines that roamed the zone. As he bit into the cool flesh, the ethereal liquid and vapor within mingled with his own spirit core, a fleeting taste of sunlight made tangible
"Gotta admire the shine of whoever planted these. Imagine, giving us core energy just from the light we snag during Sprouting and Exposed, all in the middle of a civil war." Nivk glanced at the fruit, a real note of respect in his voice. "Brightest heads on the planet. Kept more than just us going."He turned the fruit over in his hand, watching cosmos-like blue juice trickle down his fingers before taking a slow bite.
Themaine smirked. "You really are a zork, huh? We might not have planted the Wells of Eden, but we've been watching over them longer than anyone. It's a pretty bright-lighted deal, you know."
Nivk pointed toward the crater in the farmland, raising an eyebrow as if to say, "And look how well that's going."
Themaine sat cross-legged at the crater's edge, gazing down at the tunnel they'd carved in battle. Torrac, her Pegasus, strode up beside her and nudged her shoulder with a gentle snort. She stroked his snout absently, lost in thought until, with a flash of mischief, she reached over and yanked the fruit right out of Nivk's hand, mid-bite.
The golden veins shimmering beneath Nivk's momentarily translucent skin flickered and went dark the instant the fruit left his grasp. Themaine took a huge bite, and as the juice hit her tongue, a golden light burst against her chest, then expanded through her whole body in a slow, rhythmic pulse. The glow faded gradually, leaving her grinning as she handed what was left of the fruit to Torrac, who accepted it with a satisfied whuffle.
Themaine smirked, still glowing faintly. "Well, as you can see, that's why I can't wait to become an Elite and quit all this dimly-lit farmland stuff."
Nivk chewed, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, trust me, it's not as heroic as you make it sound."He wiped the juice from his chin, his voice turning harder.
"I've been an elite soldier for a while now. In this civil war with Nayoes, sometimes we end up fighting the same alien species we once saved in other galaxies. I've fought, slain Nayoes, and traitorous bayoes. Aliens, space pirates, warriors who think the Elite Bayoes are an invading force, even some who attacked Decapermais while they were scouting for prayers. So don't act like all fights are for some shining, noble cause."
Nivk watched as Torrac devoured the last of the fruit, his gaze lingering on the final glimmer of juice. He smirked, remembering his interrupted bite."Besides, I'm surprised. When you're an Elite, you don't get to feed your core with stuff like that. Just council-issued Short Sun Shards."
Themaine's nose wrinkled in disgust."Oh, what, eww! Those things are hard as hekka and definitely bland."
Nivk chuckled lightly. "Well, you wanna be an Elite, right? Get used to sun shards and council rules."
Themaine opened her mouth to fire back, but before she could, a sharp voice rang out from across the zone, clear, familiar, and impossible to ignore.
A young woman stood atop a golden grassy hill, striding toward them with a playful grin. Her long, flowing crimson-red hair was braided in places and tipped with luminous gold, the strands catching the dying light of the collapsing star. She wore the traditional robes of the Decapermais, draped, shimmering fabric meant to symbolize peace when approaching alien species, but her gown was unmistakably her own: cinched for a better fit, with a high slit at the hem and a fashion-forward flow that moved with her. It was Ederi; she was about five star leaps older than Themaine and much like Themaine; she was barefoot, her toes dusted with gold from the crystalline soil.
Cradled in her arms was a small creature, an earthly rabbit, its fluffy body twitching curiously as she approached. Curling up her thigh was the unmistakable black-and-gold birthmark known as the Cradle of Spiraling Light: a rose on the verge of bloom, shimmering thorns and vines spiraling upward, the petals tightly furled.
Ederi flicked her wrist as her tele/scope halo spun into the air, hovering at eye level. She tapped a glowing rune, and the device chimed, connecting her to a distant spirit frequency."Yo, Ashlin, you there? Okay, flash over this real quick, I totally snuck out on the last Decapremai patrol. Landed on this old, blue marble-light planet, ever heard of it? Total old world shine, like, I'm talking old old. Everybody's obsessed with little metal boxes that roll around, and they all wear hats with no solar charge or spirit replenishment functions. Wild, right? The locals? Some of them just stared, as if they'd never seen a Decapermai before."
She paused, twirling the rabbit absently. "Honestly, sneaking past their sensors was easier than dodging council curfew. Anyway, I grabbed some eco-data, swapped a few scriptures, and oh, hold up..."
Her eyes widened as she finally took in the scene below: the still-smoldering crater, the ruined stalks of golden crops, and Themaine sitting sheepishly at the edge."Yeah, Ashlin, let me tele you later. My little sister just flared out and blew up half of Stella farm... Oh, wait, and it looks like she's about to confess her core and light bond to some super-adorable boy awwwwwwe. Gotta go before this gets extra bloomed out!"With a wink and a flourish, Ederi tapped the Tele/scope again, ending the call and tossing a grin toward her sister.
Themaine practically jolts out of her seat, her Pegasus whinnying beside her in shared offense. "Ewww, nooo! I'm eww!"
Nivk watched with a deadpan expression as Themaine dramatically recoiled, flustered by her sister's teasing. Ederi strolled closer, laughter bubbling up as she reveled in Themaine's reaction.Ederi's sharp, inquisitive eyes flicked toward Nivk as she drew closer. "Then who is he, huh?"
Nivk straightened, brushing any remaining dust from his badge, his voice suddenly formal as he spoke, almost as if summoning that first awkward meeting with Themaine."Hello, my name is Nivk Feyrirose. I'm an elite brigade member of squad E435, and I'm looking for my Dodma. Jevohan's old partner, Douw."
The words hung in the air, weighty and familiar. For a moment, Themaine and Nivk both seemed to remember that first hostile greeting at the edge of the farm, the accusations, the battle, the stubborn refusal to listen. Now, with the crater still smoldering at their backs and Ederi's knowing gaze on them, it all felt impossibly far and painfully close.
Nivk's hand hovered over his badge, light glinting across the metal just as it had days before. He looked at Themaine, a silent question in his eyes. She met his gaze, her posture no longer defensive but uncertain, as if suddenly aware of how much had changed between sunrise and this moment.