COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 3: How to get Kidnapped by a Russian Exchange Student (Part 1/2)

          Either something was really wrong with the sky, or Káel's final theory had been confirmed. His uncle always told him not to socialise with strange people, and now he was wishing he'd listened. Ray, the Russian exchange student, was an alien, and he'd been abducted.

          Ray was already at the top of the hill, inaudibly whispering to his cat, when Káel stopped. "You're an alien?"

          He dropped his conversation and gave Káel a confused look. "Alien?"

          "Y'know, they come from outer space with flying saucers and lasers and abduct people."

          Ray paused, thinking up an answer to the crazy question with a passive tone. "No... I haven't been to outer space, and technically, you abducted yourself when you activated the Telly." He knelt down, pulling something out of his sock. "I do have a laser though."

          Káel didn't know why, but he wasn't panicking anymore. Maybe it was because he didn't wake up strapped to a table with lights in his face, or the reason could have been he lacked anything to look forward to back home. It was a boring town. Sora had tons of other friends, and Iridis never felt like a home to him. He craved to escape it and go on some sort of adventure, and Ray had stopped a band of chirops from tearing them to pieces, which, in a way, was a nice thing to do. He watched a small purple bird flap by. 

          Or the shock hadn't worn out.

          He climbed the rest of the hill, stopping beside Ray as awe overtook him. They weren't standing on a hill, they were at the edge of a steep cliff dipping down into a broad and beautiful valley. It looked like a spread out map, filled with vast forests, pristine lakes, and biomes the likes of which Káel had never seen before. Far off into the distance the diverse painting of scenery withered away into a barren grouping of mountains, with bottomless cracks and massive crystals jutting out of them. The only limit to the extraordinary scene seemed to be the distance at which he could make out an object, else it would have stretched to endless boundaries.

          Ray raised his eyebrows at Káel, grinning at his awe. "Welcome to Lumi." He walked precariously close to the edge, pulling Káel beside him. "Lesson one, transportation."

          "Wait, are we going down there?" The cliff wasn't too tall, but no one in their right mind would ever jump it.

          Unfortunately, Ray wasn't portraying the look of someone in their right mind.

          "Aww, come on, it's easy. Just stand facing the cliff." He started, turning Káel into the proper position. "Then imagine not splatting against the ground and dying, while saying lufeste."

          Káel's face twisted with concern. "How the hell is that supposed to he-"

          Ray planted his foot in Káel's rear, sending him flying off the cliff. He didn't even have the time to yelp in surprise as the wind pounded all around him, the pull of gravity dragging him from his roost like a baby bird to his impending date with death. He flailed around in the air, trying to find a solution to his dilemma, but there wasn't a logical way out of it. The ground came closer at a frightening speed, and all Káel could do was take Ray's advice and hope he didn't become a human pancake, repeatedly screaming lufeste at the top of his lungs.

          Everything slowed down as Káel approached the ground, his life flashed before his eyes; short and boring. The fall was taking it's sweet old time to end, but Káel didn't dare to peek at his demise. Maybe he was dead already, the wind had stopped howling in his ears, and he couldn't feel the grassy ground he was supposed to be splattered all over by now.

          "Meh, close enough!" Ray yelled.

          Káel hoped he hadn't died, the prospect of hearing Ray's obnoxious voice beyond the grave was a level of hell he certainly didn't belong in. He cracked open his eyes, the ground was inches from his face, but he wasn't touching any of it. The entire situation took Káel some time to process, he was frozen in mid air. He didn't know how, but it being the only thing stopping him from becoming a pile of mush, made him more relieved than shocked at the odd turn of events.

          The mystical force holding him up shrank away, dropping him gently on the ground. Káel got to his feet with a weak stumble, just in time to see Ray dive off the cliff. However, the blonde didn't stop mid air, he kept falling, impacting a giant stone and tumbling into a patch of thorny bushes.

          Káel's heart skipped a beat. A fall like that could kill someone, and if Ray died he'd be left with two cats to fend for himself on an alien planet, with no hopes of getting home. He ran up to the impact site, jumping back in nearly disgusted shock as Ragdoll ran out, followed by Ray who peeked out of the bush and flicked the thorns off his uniform. He shielded his eyes to get a look at how far he'd fallen, turning to Káel with a smile. "Whoops, didn't notice the boulder." He quickly brushed the stray dirt and sticks out of the folds of his pants, checking a bracelet on his wrist and locking onto a thick brush of trees peeking over the horison. "Alrighty then, follow me."

Don't forget to:

COMMENT/CRITIQUE/(VOTE IF YOU WANT)

Next update:

3/22/2018