LadyAnnaLee

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Zarah's hand curled around Zigma as he hovered near her shoulder but didn't quite touch him. She knew that her father could see that she was as tight as sinew stretched to dry. Lyra's vehement assurances that she wasn't here to hurt Trazie did nothing to cause her to relax. Zigma's nerves were evident by the subtle pulsing that wasn't bright enough to be blinding, but frequent enough to be noticeable. Zarah wished she could calm down since she didn't want to alarm her Tribe, but just because Lyra wasn't a threat to Trazie didn't mean she wasn't a threat to Zigma.

Several people let out a gasp as Jessica appeared, but all Headman Kilpatrick did was draw himself up to display his full frame. He was massive and had worked as a quarryman his whole life. Normally it was difficult to break him out of his calm shell; he typically had a jovial demeanor, but right now he looked ready to break something. In response to his reaction to Jessica, Harper, the best archer Zarah's age, stood up from her crouch in the watchtower. She had an arrow nocked and ready to fly. Several people took steps to the side or forward to block the Jameson Family from view. Zigma and Zarah had thought the atmosphere of the crowd couldn't get worse. They had been wrong.

Headman Kilpatrick spoke in a low cool voice, "Let me ask another question. Are you a threat to Ms. Jameson or Zigma?

It seemed that the Headman had come to the same conclusion that Zarah had. Someone could be a threat to a person and not a threat to a planet. She was only slightly surprised by the Tribe's reaction to the potential threat. They had reached the same way to the wanderer that had been just a little bit too interested in the young boys, specifically seven-year-old Barden. They had also reacted to the man who had attempted to assault 24-year-old Frei. Mountain Lake Tribe protected its own. Yet, Lyra had said it herself. Could they hope to stand against the strange technology? Neither of them wanted to lose the whole Tribe in the foolish attempt to defend them.

Zigma frantically flashed faster, "Zarah! We need to do something! Or say something!

She was just as ready to react rashly, “What? What can we do? Don't you remember what happened the last time we attempted to argued with Headman Kilpatrick when he was like this, in this type of mood?"

That had been a long time ago. Zigma was new. Zarah had been 14. Every teenager tried arguing with Headman Kilpatrick at least once. It never ended well. They only tried it once. It was almost a rite of passage at this point. Zigma and Zarah had been trying to defend themselves and their successful prank. No one had been hurt and that had been the basis of their defense. They still had to clean up all the dye. Zarah had been scrubbing purple, blue, red, and green from her skin forever. She had been made at Zigma until her skin was normal again. It had been his idea and mostly his actions. This was not a dye prank. This was serious. Did they really want to face Headman Kilpatrick's wrath for someone that may want to hurt them? The answer was no. As such Zarah just took one step closer to her father as her hand curled tighter over Zigma. Her gaze never left Lyra or Jessica.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

That made no sense whatsoever. Why would anyone cross the vast distances of space just to see her and Zigma? Zarah could kind of understand coming to see Zigma, especially if it was rare to find just one Aeva, not that she had any more ideas as to what that was. Lyra was being maddingly unhelpful, dropping crumbs of information like that was enough to get Zarah to trust a stranger from the mythical Terra. Trazie was mostly peaceful. She didn’t want to be the reason why they were suddenly at war with Terra or whatever this “horror that came before” was. Honestly that sounded like a story designed to keep kids inside at night. Zarah wasn’t a kid anymore. She had enough real-life terrors like bandits of colds. Colds were terrible, the absolute worse.

Zigma popped back into telepathic range, “Zarah. Headman Kilpatrick says to bring the stranger down. Well, what he actually said was, “Have Zarah bring your guest in for the night,” but he looks all types of tense. He’s muttering about calling for a meeting of the clans.”

Zarah called back, “We’re on our way. And tell Headman Kilpatrick that that might not be a bad idea. I asked her why she was here and she mentioned some horror from before and said she would tell the leaders why she was here.” She paused for a moment, “ She also says she’s here because of you. Don’t tell the headman that.”

Zigma’s mental tone was one of mental disbelief, “Me? But that makes no sense.”

Zarah’s fist clenched tightly, “I know. We need to be careful. I’m on my way. I’ll meet you there.” Out loud she said, “You’ve been invited to Mountain Lake Tribe for the night by Headman Lu-Is Kilpatrick.” She pointed back down the path in the right direction this time, “The sun is about to set. We should hurry.”

Zarah walked in silence for the rest of the trip. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like this two people coming and ruining Trazie’s peace. She really didn’t like Lyra asking so many questions about Zigma. Zigma may not have been human, but he was still human, and he was Zarah’s best friend, practically family. He wasn’t some sort of experiment or curio to be observed. If Lyra and Jessica wanted to hurt him or take him a way, they would have to deal with her. Zarah wasn’t one hundred percent sure what she would be able to do about it, but hopefully at least the rest of the Jameson Family would help her.

When they got back to the town Headman Kilpatrick was there along with a few other important people: a handful of elders, the owners of important shops, respected adults. Zigma was there too, hovering behind Samuel Jameson, her father. He was standing a few feet behind Mikal Honestmen, the village blacksmith who was holding his forging hammer in a way that brokered no argument. Looking closely Zarah could see that this was no friendly welcoming party. There were no visible weapons except for Mr. Honestmen’s hammer and Mrs. Traveil’s kitchen knife, but then again there weren’t very many weapons just lying around in the Mountain Lake Tribe anyways.

Headman Kilpatrick spoke and his tone brokered no argument, “Ms. Jameson, to your family.” She quickly crossed to her father and Zigma as he continued speaking to Lyra, “Ms. Lyra of Terra, Ms. Jessica of Terra, Ms. Jameson and Mr. Zigma had informed me that you are seeking to summon and meeting of the various clan leaders, but aren’t explaining further. So, I ask you a simple question, are either of you, or Terra, a threat to the peace that Trazie has managed to acquire and keep?”

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Gift? Or bribe? IT was tempting to head straight home so she could get the flight pack, but Zarah was sure that wasn’t wise. She looked back to see that Lyra seemed uneasy. Zarah wouldn’t be surprised if the stranger had figured out that they were going in a circle. Well, it wasn’t quite a circle. The infinity path was shaped more like figure eight or the infinity symbol. Zarah stopped at the point closest to the town, but hopefully Lyra and Jessica wouldn’t figure that out. She wanted to be as close as possible to where Zigma was to give him as much range as possible.

Because Lyra was right with what she was implying. Zigma could get pretty far away. The furthest he had ever gotten was about 1 and a half kilometers. The further away that he got the more he flickered and the more her head hurt. The longest they had ever managed it was about 45 minutes. Zarah had blacked out while Zigma had been as frantic as a ball of light could be and couldn’t talk to anyone. The edge of town was about a kilometer away, but who knew how far away and elder was. The town wasn’t small. Zarah was hoping that someone saw ZIgma and went to fetch an elder for him. She hoped it was soon. Her head was starting to hurt. Plus, she wouldn’t be able to keep Lyra here forever.

She ignored the question as she asked, “Why are you here Lyra? And I don’t mean here, here, though that would be nice to know too. I mean, why are you here, on Trazie? What in all the cosmos would interest someone from Terra enough to come to Trazie?”

Honestly, Zarah didn’t expect an honest answer. She just hoped that whatever answer she did get she would be able to send to Zigma telepathically. That was harder to do the more distance there was, but she could, and would, try. At least until she was dead. Because that was what Zarah figured was about to happen. If Lyra and Jessica were here to conquer or take over or cause problems for Trazie the last thing they would want would be for some nosy nineteen year old to ruin their plans by asking to many questions that they didn’t want to answer. Would her mother know that she had been murdered? Would Zigma?

What would happen to Zigma when she died? Zarah wasn’t sure. She hadn’t given it much thought before. They were connected. She had known that since she first found the strange geode with blue crystals. She had never been able to explain it, but she always had to have it with her. Once, her brother had stolen it for a prank with a few of his friends. She had had a flat-out panic attack when it had been missing for more than five minutes, not a temper tantum, a panic attack. Zigma was hers and she was Zigma’s. That’s all there really was to it.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

I'll just write up what I have in mind. If you don't like it I'll edit.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Would 1 and a half kilometers make sense? That would be pushing it for sure.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

In your post you mentioned that it was odd that Zigma managed to leave Zarah. About how far can an average Aeva get from their person?

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

I currently have one of those blinding headaches that I don't know if it comes from a migraine, lack of caffeine, dehydration, or if I just slept on my neck funny. I'm going to sit in the dark, drink water, and hope I feel better soon. I will get you a post as soon as I can, but it might not be til Friday. Thank you for understanding.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

You're fine. I hope everything works out for you. I will be wishing you the best.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Why didn’t Lyra want to tell people that she was from Terra? How in all the cosmos did she expect to hide that? She had ears! And this weird crystal Tech. It wasn’t like Trazie was that big. Did she think there was another continent? Was there another continent? To be honest Zarah didn’t think so, but she wouldn’t know for sure. She knew that Terra had made Trazie livable and no one said anything about another continent, but history could be forgotten. Zarah wasn’t sure how to prove it. She just knew that she wasn’t going to lie to her tribe and she was definitely telling her parents where her new friend came from.

She said that, “Going to be honest. I am not lying for you. I mean I just met you.” Zigma came over to her shoulder, and she turned her head to look at him, “I mean yeah. I would like to know more about Zigma and what these so called Aeva are. And I would like to be your friend, and no, I don’t really want a war. But I also don’t want to lie. Not if I can help it. And people are going to ask about where you are from unless you can hide your ears and tail.” She gestured at a path that wasn’t the one that she came from or the one that Lyra was attempting to take, “Days on Trazie are short. The fastest way isn’t the best way once the sun is down. If you keep going that way, you’ll wind up going an overlook. It comes up out of nowhere. We should go this way.”

Zarah led the way she needed to get home. To be honest, she was uneasy about taking Lyra and Jessica back to the Mountain Lake Tribe. Why had she come to Trazie? Terra had been an empire. Maybe she was here to make Trazie part of the empire and she didn’t want people to know to see if Trazie was a good fit. Maybe she was here to spy on Trazie to see how difficult it would be to conquer. Would Trazie get a choice in joining the empire. What would happen if they did? Would they be second class citizens? Zigma bobbed closer to her check in response to her mental distress and Zarah smiled tightly at him. She had let her excitement get the better of her. They both had. They knew nothing about Lyra or Jessica or what an Avea was supposed to be or what that backpack did. What if it was a weapon that could destroy all of Mountain Lake Tribe? Zarah didn’t want to lead an enemy back home. She was close to the infinity path in the forest. How long could Zigma and her led them on a merry chase before they found out what was going on? Could Zigma slip away enough to let the tribe leaders know what was going on? They might have to risk it. With that in mind Zarah veer slightly left to see if this crazy possibly dangerous plan could work.

Zigma slowly drifted away as he called to her, “Be careful Zarah. I’ll try to be back soon.”

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Making your own game? That is one of the raddest things I have ever heard!