Perennial // ON HOLD

prologue

As the first sun set over the horizon, a middle-aged couple sat in their private room towards the back of the train. The small area consisted of a rectangular wooden table, with two booths on either side of it, and a window opposite the sliding glass door. Nadeline sat looking out of the glass pane, watching as the front of the train came into view with the slight change of direction. Her husband, Rictor, sat in front of her, his blue eyes also gazing through the window. The sunset was beautiful, or at least, as beautiful as it got around here. Without much pollution, there wasn't a huge variant of colours; it mainly stuck to some lighter shades of orange and red, the darker shade of blue, and the occasional dark purple smudge. Epsilon, the second sun, now followed its companion Sigma behind the forests of Douglas fir, pine, and cedar trees.

"You know the authorities don't allow companions that have an unknown origin. They will only allow adoption from known breeders." Rictor said in a hushed tone, leaning across the table to his wife. What they were doing was extremely risky, especially since the egg they'd found was rare. It was very uncommon for an egg to be white, pure white. But instead of commenting back, Nadeline simply continued to stare at the blur of trees and undergrowth outside. The egg was snugly packed into her personal handbag, which lay on her lap. She would make sure no harm came to it, no matter what the authorities thought.

Sighing in defeat, Rictor leaned back against the train's booth, shutting his eyes. There was still about eight more hours left until they arrived in their city. Until they were reunited with their daughter. Suddenly, the man snapped open his eyes, his copper-rimmed glasses nearly bouncing off his head. At last his wife turned to him, a look of amusement on her face. She smiled, her hazel eyes scanning Rictor over.

"What is it?" she asked, wondering about her husband's sudden realisation—or whatever it was. Nadeline ignored what he said earlier, about the egg, asking how they were going to hide it and such, or telling her about how long they could spend in jail for their crime. She hadn't let it go completely over her head though, for she knew what Rictor said had importance. The woman also knew he was worrying for her and their daughter's own good, which made it all the more bearable.

Rictor was glad that for once, Nadeline seemed to be listening to him. "What if Haru's in danger? Or she's not there when we return home?" he said urgently, cursing himself for not thinking about these possible dangers sooner. Rictor knew he had a tendency to worry, but right now, it seemed appropriate. After all, leaving your fifteen year-old alone at home for three weeks could lead to trouble.

Nadeline simply rolled her eyes. "She'll be fine," she promised. "Plus, Haru can always walk to her friends' houses if she needs to." Without another word on the subject, the woman wearing the brown sweater with red zigzags leaned back against the booth, the top of her head just grazing the room's wall. Nadeline closed her eyes and murmured, "Let's get some rest."

Rictor reluctantly tried to relax himself. Haru's perfectly capable of keeping herself safe, he thought as leaned back, eyes drifting back to outside. And with this egg we'll give her, she'll have extra protection. By now Epsilon had set, but the sky remained colourful. There weren't any clouds directly overhead, which was quite unusual for Fen. Normally it was overcast, raining, or in the winter, snowing. Probably because it's only early autumn, Rictor guessed. But he could see dark clouds in the distance. The forests continued on, a dark green swath swaying in the small breeze. Even though he'd miss the places he and his wife had visited over the past few weeks, Rictor knew he'd be glad to be home. And oh, how he couldn't wait to see Haru.

• • •

Nadeline awoke to the soft sound of rain. It drowned out the noise of the train as it continued along the railroad. She looked across at Rictor, but only found the absence of him. Leaning over the table, Nadeline peered down at the seat of the booth. There he was; laying down on the semi-uncomfortable fake leather, asleep. The woman let out a small smile as she sat back down, noticing his circular glasses that he'd left on the table. Nadeline gazed to her left in the direction of the glass door. She could see into the other room directly across the hallway, but it was empty. Those people must have gotten off at a stop in the middle of the night. Nadeline figured, since she'd seen the three people in their room when she was going to sleep.