I felt as if I was falling for a moment; but the I was sucked onto the flow of traffic by a vortex. It was relatively easy to fly in the tunnels. By that I mean I didn't have to work nearly as hard to keep myself aloft.
I flew beside Shoka and asked her, "How come it's easier to fly in here?" She allowed a hint of a smile and answered.
"There are lava flows under the tunnel floors. It heats the air, giving us a thermal lift." she explained.
"That's amazing." I said. " I hope I'm not asking too many questions; but what exactly are these tunnel walls made of?" I asked.
"You're not. Its a called Yaraym. It's found naturally here on Xai. I don't exactly know why it lights up, but it is very useful for underground use." I nodded in fascination as she continued. "It's nearly impossible to tunnel through, but we finally solved that problem." She finished and pulled ahead of me, making for a side tunnel to the left.
I had to bank hard to keep her in sight. We arrived at another landing/launching pad fifteen minutes later. I bent down to let Shay off and hurried after Shoka who was already heading into an elevator. Shoka broke the silence that had settled over us first.
"I don't mean to sound rude, but I doubted your uncle when he claimed he saw a boy who looked like Zora." She wouldn't look at me while she said all this.
"...You knew her well didn't you" I said quietly, choosing not to confirm or deny that she was being rude.
"Yes, we trained together as teenagers." Shoka affirmed my assumption. "She was always so restless though. And one day she was just gone. Daichi left to looked for her and found her married to a nice but; strange young man a few years later. They were separated in a plasma storm and he's been obsessed with finding them ever since." I didn't know what to say to that. This stranger had just told me at least half of what I had been wondering about for thirteen years and I couldn't find anything to say.
"I don't remember her much...except the day she died." I choked a little bit on the last part.
"I'm sorry," was all Shoka said, her face suggested that she cared a lot more than she let on. The elevator arrived at our destination and Shoka stepped out and walked down the hall as if nothing had happened.
She lead us to an group of boys ranging from twelve to nineteen, but things are different here on Xai. In conclusion, I honestly can't accurately guesstimate how old they are.
"These are our guest." Shoka addressed them in a rather sharp voice. "I want you to show them to the men's wing." They nodded quickly and lead us away.
"How are you even still alive?" one of the smaller boys asked me as he poked my arm, like he was testing to see if I was actually alive. He was nearly trotting to keep up with my long strides and I automatically slowed. Granted, they were all small to me, but this one was only a head taller that Shay so he couldn't be older that eleven or twelve.
"...Uuuuhhuummm, what?" I asked him.
"Shoka brought you guys here, right?" the boy said.
"...Yes. ...Is there anything wrong with that?" I was confused.
"Rutay, shut up!" another, older boy hissed.
"Why, I was just asking." Rutay defended himself; but trailed off at the end.
"What's wrong with Shoka?" I asked Rutay. "She seemed nice enough to me."
"Nice? She's well known here for being snappy and short tempered. I hardly call that nice. Shes always ordering everyone around." Rutay said but it sounded very much like he was repeating someone else so I just smiled and said,
"Well I've only known her for less than an hour so I can't really judge here, now can I?"
Rutay suddenly stopped and said, " Oh I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Rutay Gonzel. And you are?" he offered me a hand.
"I'm Teirin and this is Shay." I said taking Rutay's hand and giving it a firm shake. He just looked at his hand and then at me all weird so I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to do that.
"Sorry, it's a custom, something you do that when you meet someone new where I come from." I said.
"It's fine." Rutay nodded, forgiving my overstep. "Don't either of you have a sur name? He asked me. I shook my head and replied,
"Actually, I was adopted and I don't know my birth parents' last name. Come to think of it, I don't know Shay's last name either." I said and turned to Shay.
He shrugged and muttered, "Jessik." under his breath. I nodded and continued.
"Well my adopted parents' last name is Valt if that helps any." I told him. It was a flat out lie that I didn't know my birth parents' last name, but I didn't want anyone connecting me with Aris. Not yet anyway. It appears that my uncle knows him and I had no way of knowing if the name was well-known. I also knew well enough that Aris would make for Xai, but I have no idea where he landed or where he is now...Or if he had gotten to Xai at all.
"Well it's nice to meet you." Rutay's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"You too." I replied politely. We caught up with the other boys and Rutay introduced us to them. I couldn't remember all the names because there were so many of them, but Rutay assured me that I would learn them in time.
They took us deeper into the sanctuary and eventually left us in a guest room. It was generously furnished. Two well made twin beds on opposite sides of the room, dark, elaborately carved night stands stood next to both of the beds, a bathroom on the far side and an entertainment stand in front of the beds.
A Yaraym crystal was mounted on the ceiling, giving the room a slightly, rainbow-colored lighting. Rutay said a hasty goodnight and pressed a little screen on the wall before running off to catch up with the other boys. The Yaraym crystal was enveloped by a black film and the light dimmed but it wasn't completely dark.
As I laid awake that night staring at the ceiling, I wondered if Saiden was having just as much trouble sleeping as I was. The voice had left me alone most of the week we spent at Kashikoi's village; but it had whispered something to me that I couldn't quite hear. Maybe something I couldn't understand. It troubled me whenever I wasn't doing anything.
I rolled over on my stomach and rested my chin on my hands. I unconsciously opened my wings and stretched them out a bit. It felt good to stretch them out after the brief exercise. I must've eventually fallen asleep because I began to dream.
A gentle breeze blew in my face as I looked around. I was in the meadow where Konya and I had spent our last afternoon together. I was also alone under the bright blue, cloudless sky. No animals or insects were in sight or earshot.
I walked through the deep, green grass and came to the tree line. The shadowed filled forest was ominously still. It bothered me that there were no birds singing and flying from branch to branch, no little animals scurrying around and not a single bug flew in my eyes. Not even a cricket chirped.
I stepped into the shade and peered into the undergrowth. Two brilliant green eyes stared back at me. I jerked back, falling onto my haunches, but I could still see the pair of eyes watching me.
"Terry, it's me." an all too familiar voice called as I fell back. I felt like my heart was going to explode.
"...Sattari." I breathed.
A/N: MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!XD Osu my yellow minions! Welp I've decided that there will be a sequel...eventually. I have no idea when it'll happen though...anyways I plan to (completely and drastically) edit Worlds Apart once it's finished and make a new cover. I'm also thinking about calling the next book 'Not that far.' Tell me what you think. If you have a suggestion I would be happy to hear it. (This chapter is only slightly edited so please excuse grammatical errors.)
Sincerely,
TheFox
YOU ARE READING
Worlds Apart
Science FictionSeventeen year old Teirin lives in a haven where he has everything he could possibly want: technology, friends, family, a job and all the food he can possibly eat, but he isn't satisfied. All he wants is revenge for what was taken from him as a chil...
