Lerendra – 8PM: 2 hours before take-off.
Looking at the red sky above, Ezekiel tightened his fists around the metal railing as he was standing on the balcony. Lerendra had been at war for as long as he could remember. He had never known anything else. Alpha, the closest moon, was showing itself as it did every night at the same time at dinner, except this was no normal day. It was election day and the protesting was especially bad at this time of year. No one wanted Alonzo as their leader, but this planet had never played fair. The generals and politicians didn't care about what the people wanted. They had a plan, though no one knew of that plan, or what it included. "Come sit down, dinner is ready". Ezekiel hadn't noticed his mothers' presence until he heard her voice right next to him. As he silently followed her inside, he wondered what would happen next. With no new government, no new leadership Lerendra would continue to be at war. And war could destroy planets.
History was the only subject in school Ezekiel had ever cared about, apart from combat strategy. He had spent hours every day in the library getting to know the history of other planets, myths, even the history of his own planet. He had read how other planets or areas were destroyed because of political disagreement that led to war. And now he was in the same situation. How long would it take before another planet is being destroyed, another regime comes to an end, another era even. No one knew, but Ezekiel had a bad feeling in his stomach. A such gut-twisting feeling that he had to place a hand on his stomach to hold himself in place as he sat down at the dinner table. The Lerendrians had a lot of power, but with power also came negative aspects. "What are you feeling Ezekiel?". Leian placed her hand on his shoulder, being as gentle to her child as she could possibly be. "It's getting worse". The pain worsened and soon enough Ezekiel was clenching his arms around his stomach, as his head started spinning. "That's it, we need to leave Leian. We have no other choice". The deep voice coming from Ezekiels' right side was stern but gentle. His father had been his role model since he was a child, he had learned everything from him. Every battle strategy, every punch, and kick. "It's our home Makai...". Leian's saddened face switched Ezekiels pain, made it less painful, but invaded his headspace with emptiness. Loss. "I know it is, but you can see how bad the situation is getting. It has started to affect him. It's serious". Leian squeezed Ezekiel's shoulder again before sighing. She knew he was right. Ezekiel had been feeling worse every day for the past months, the pain increasing each day. Only yesterday the pain had been so bad that he had to skip his training lessons due to throwing up. It was getting out of hand, but they weren't a family with a title. They had no way to fix anything, no way to make the situation better so they could save their son or their home.
With no words being said, Leian and Makai left the room. Ezekiel could hear them mumble to each other, planning. He didn't know what it could be, but the pains in his gut prevented him from being able to concentrate on anything but that. The chair made a screechy noise as he stood up and stumbled to his own room in the small apartment, only to collapse onto the bed. Small beads of sweat formed on his forehead and his already pale skin paled even more. He wondered how long it would last this time as the room darkened and he faded away...
Lerendra – 9.45 PM : 20 minutes before take-off
When Ezekiel woke up the entire room was blurry. Except he wasn't laying down, he was being carried. As his eyes desperately tried finding something to focus on he could hear the voices of his mother and father making him feel just a bit calmer. "Why didn't you wake him up?", Leian's worried voice echoed in Ezekiel's head. Where were they taking him? "There was no time. We have to make it on time. We have to time it Leian, or we'll never get out of here". There was silence meaning Leian had agreed. Ezekiel's heart raced, even though he didn't know what was going on. Whatever it was, the fear was thick in the atmosphere. Anxiety, Uncertainty. He could feel it, and it made him uncomfortable. His parents were usually good at controlling their emotions for his sake, even though he had asked them not to countless of times. It was his own burden to bear.
As Ezekiel's' vision slowly returned he watched silently as he was being carried to God knows where. "W-what?". His voice was weak and muddy and he could only look at his father as he realized his son had awoken. Ezekiel hadn't been carried by his dad since he was a small child. Strength had never been a problem, but carrying around your 19-year-old son just seemed kind of weird. "It's going to be okay. You won't have to feel like this anymore". As his feet touched the ground he wobbled a bit before regaining his balance. "Father, where are we going?". Both Leian and Makai looked at their son, then at each other. His mother put on a small smile and the air was filled with a new type of feeling. Hope. "Ezekiel... We're going to earth". Ezekiel froze in his spot. He had always heard about Earth, but never how it was to travel there. Not many Lerendrians had ever gone to earth because of their suspicion for what they call "Aliens". Aliens, defined as life on other planets that are unknown to humankind. That's all he knew. The planet was called earth and the people were called humans, or Homo Sapiens to be exact, though humans were the modern term. He had heard they looked similar to Lerendrians even though their range of eye color was different than theirs. While Lerendrians had reds, purples and electric greens and blues, Earth had a dull green, hazel, brown and greyish blues. Colors that were considered to be neutral on Lerendra. Ezekiel himself had dark reddish eyes. His features took more after his father than his mother, sharp lines, tall and skinny. His short and messy dark hair stood out to the pale skin that most Lerendrians possessed. Emotion wise, Ezekiel took after his mother, though his ability to read emotions and how they affected him had always made him vulnerable.
