Saylar

1: Saylar Square

Today was going to be the toughest day of my life.

I reached into my closet and pulled out a crimson red dress. The ragged cotton fabric brushing against my arm as I laid it on my bed. I gazed at the dress, a tear streaming down my cheek. It was the colour of evil, the colour of blood.

I then wiped away the streaming tear from my cheek and took a deep breath.

I wondered what the others were going to wear, whether they had listened to me when I told them to go against the council; to not wear black. Most of them were so loyal, I wondered if I would be the only one, the only one to disobey orders. The Council couldn't stop me, and they couldn't do anything worse to our family. There was nothing worse than this. 

I slid the dress over my head and zipped it up before looking in the mirror. I was going to stand out in the sea of black like a fiery flame in a cave, ready to be put out by the darkness.
This was it, this was my last chance to stand against them. 

I then fixed my long blonde hair into a tight bun before walking to my elder brother's room, knocking lightly.

"Come in," a quiet voice called.

I opened the door to see Kai, dressed in his white and silver survival suit supplied by the council. His blonde hair cut short, the shortest I had ever seen it. He was standing in front of his large glass bedroom window, staring out at the Three Sister Mountains.

"That's where I'm going to start," he said plainly without turning around. "It will give us a good view point, it's the only way we'll find water."

I walked over and stood beside him, reaching up to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. I looked up at the side of his face as he stared longingly out at the mountains. There wasn't a trace of fear. He was always the brave one, everyone's friend and a community favourite. Today was going to be a terrible day for everyone - yet here we are sending him away by choice. I could feel my throat starting to sting and my eyes starting to fill with liquid.

I swallowed hard and followed his gaze out of the window. The three large mountains were grouped together, hundreds of kilometres in the distance only just visible to the naked eye.

"Kai," I calmly said, holding back tears. "You can make a stand with me-"

He shrugged off my hand.

"Kai listen to me-"

"Only seven people get chosen Lace," Kai reiterated turning to me, his serious face as solid as stone. "We've been over this. I'm apart of this year's team whether you like it or not, and I'm going."

He then walked over to his bed and packed the last of his required equipment, my tears welling over now. I could tell that he was excited to go on the exploration. But it wasn't an exploration at all, it was a death sentence.

"Look, one of the guys is ex-military from Earth," Kai sighed as my sobbing filled the room. "We have a really good chance at finding water and the food that we need in order to survive. We don't have a choice Lace."

"He's seventy years old Kai." I shot back. 

Kai just sighed again, continuing with his packing.

"And in case you didn't notice, this isn't planet Earth!" I almost screamed, my anger overflowing now. "Who knows what's out there!"

 I wasn't about to convince him that he would be okay. We both knew that every group that the Council sent out, has never returned.

I heard Kai take a deep breath before turning to face me. "Lace, you know they're going to punish you for wearing that right?"