I thought I’d write a little story and see if anyone is interested… It’s a bit of a different style than how I usually write for the forum so it would be nice to know if you like it! I'm not quite used to writing in this style yet but it seems to be more common than the way I normally write... Tell me if you want the story to continue... So...
Changes In The Wind – Prologue pt1…
The sun softly glowed through the sky sending golden warmth over my skin, the Argnu stirred around me, cooing softly as daylight slipped softly into the sky, the morning dew had fallen drenching everything in a thin film of moist wetness. As I lay there basking and taking in the image of the suns rising past Talos and into the sky once again I thought of the sparkling sky it replaced, the soft illumination of the planetary rings, the sparkle of orbitals high above my head. Then I realised! OH Argnu! I had fallen asleep outside again! I hurriedly rushed towards our little house, rushing past the little white picket fence, but as I stepped up to the porch I could already smell the burnt ashen aroma of the air. Oh! My Father had already begun to try and cook! This was bad! Who knows what damage could have been done to the kitchen!
I would be the first to say that he is probably one of the best farmers in the valley but I had long given up hope of him cooking actual food! As I tiptoed into the kitchen and towards my bedroom door I saw his imposing form hunched over stove, brow furrowed in intense concentration. It would be burnt toast for breakfast again! As if protein bread was punishing him for the grasses our cows feasted upon.
I quickly changed and slipped back into the kitchen. As I entered he didn’t even look up from the stove “So how was the sunrise?” Argnu! He knew! I slipped into my chair staring down at my ashen lump of coal hoping he would change the subject but no more words came. “Well… ummm… It was nice… I… I promise I’ll never do it again!” The silence was only broken by the sound of scraping toast and the sound of blackened crumbs the consistency of coal sprinkling over the table. He stared into the far distance in a way I had known from many lectures during my childhood but I had not had one since at least my eighteenth birthday, “Your mother also used to slip out like you… when she thought I was asleep but I used to watch her slip out and spend her nights looking up at the sky just like you do my love... I knew this day would one day come I just hoped it wouldn’t”, he began clearing the plates before I had even taken a bite. Yes. Of course my mother… I didn’t mind that he compared my constantly with her, after all I had her flame red hair, her looks, her temper… in fact it was difficult to see what it was I had gotten from my father. “Father! I said I was sorry.” He suddenly stopped and turned towards me and there in the light from the window I saw his bloodshot eyes and the droplets caught in the great brown beard. “My little flame curl… I have already kept you too long when I knew that the great known called to you”. His great bulk moved quickly to the cupboard grabbing out my market pack and begun to busy himself filling it with things from all over the house, I quickly got up alarmed “Father! What are you doing?? I said I was sorry!” but he just kept filling my pack and muttering to himself. “damn… what was I thinking… she would never be a farmer’s daughter… just what was I thinking…” I felt my fear turn into a burning anger “Father! I said I was sorry! Father!” my voice strained and suddenly he grasped my hand and pulled me violently towards the porch. “I have already kept you far too long! Your mother told me this day would come but I didn’t believe her! Damn farmer never could understand a spacer… It’s time for you to go”. My eyes widened… “Go?” he calmly slipped my pack onto my shoulders “ Yes my dear… It is time for you to go. Space is calling you and…” I tried to wrestle against his grip but his strong gentle hold kept me beside him. “No… Father! They were just my mother’s stories! I’m a farmer just like you! The gates are dead! The colony is alone!” He pulled me in front of him, “No her dreams were real, you can’t deny the stars call to you… I can’t keep them from you anymore” he pressed a little disk into my palm as I reached to touch it seemed to slip through into my skin. I faint grin spread over my fathers mouth “You see… that proves it” I stared at my palm… no that couldn’t have happened. As I stared at my palm I realised this was real… my father was really about to throw me out of home after some silly stories my mother had told before she had disappeared. The tears felt hot against my cheeks. He softly brushed my flaming locks aside and lifted my chin so I was looking into his eyes. He looked sad, as if burdened by guilt. “Father?” he gave me a little kiss on my forehead “My beautiful little Lyssa, it’s time you grew up and met your destiny” and with that he slipped from my grasp and closed the front door.
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“I Sry’akl great warrior deserve flight training… no… I demand flight training!” Why had the council denied my application again… did they not realise that I was destined to fly like a raptor on the winds? All those childhood stories of the split exodus from our home world and into space and now I stood at the outer door to the space port guarding a dirt road to nowhere! They could not have been for nothing! Those dreams of being a predator, freed from the ground, allowed to roam the winds free of burden! The only things out here are the Farmville locals Argon and Teladi who had no business here in the great port beyond selling their wares homed from the dirt like some sort of grass eater! This was no job for a Split! Something flash before my eyes! What was that!?!? It was on me almost before I realised, as I turned eyes blazing to face my foe ready for a battle to death. Oh. It’s an Argon and not just an argon, a farmer too… damn farmers! That stench of Argnu should have alerted me of her over a click away. I cursed the council for distracting my predatory instinct. As my eyes focused something struck me as strange…. This farmer wasn’t right in appearance; her hair was flaming like a split female, it bounced softly as she dragged her feet slowly towards me. What was this farmer doing so far from the arable lands of the south? It wasn’t market day? The Argon almost never come inland to the space port anymore since the supernova, few had even a remote interest in space unlike all good split! They drowned their sorrows in the dirt… As I moved forward the argon turned to look at me. Its strange eyes, pale skin made it look like some kind of squashed clown, I had seen argon before but this one simply looked odd like not of this plant. “Hello?” its voice was strangely musical, very unlike the normal sounds made by Argons! Suddenly I remembered my job! “Scan you I need!” its eyes widened “What why?” ha! A sign of weakness! A good warrior always exploits such signs! I flicked out my scanner and let the beam scan this ones body.
At first everything seemed normal but then it came up… just like it’s looks… this one was different. Wrong in some way! It was dressed as a farmer, but its stance was one of grace. As was normal this one contained nanites, but they were not dormant like others, they swirled about as if idle but they were certainly not dormant. I flicked my communicator on and spoke to the commander (in split of course, no need to inform this foreigner of my findings). “Sir… I have a person here at gate number forty seven” the radio crackled “Sry’akl It’s a road! People travel along it all the time! Stop harassing travellers” “But Sir” I protested “No buts! Or I will have you on bilge duty little split” I closed the comm. and waved her through. Clearly I would have to investigate this myself…
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The road to the space port had been long… I’d made the journey to the markets with my father once or twice but normally we would take the skiff. Ha my father had gone crazy! I’d just have to spend a few days at the space port and then go back home and he’d accept me back… atleast that’s what I hoped! I’d never seen him in such a strange mood before! And he had never thrown me out like that before! All the stories of nanorobots and space ships had been nice but everyone knew that the supernova had wiped the nanos databases clean… no one had been able to control them since… they just lay inert like all the technology they worked.
As I neared the city I saw a strange looking alien pacing wildly in front of the access door, he didn’t look very friendly and I thought about maybe working my way around to another entrance but it was close to sunset and the forests around the space port were not safe at night. The alien gave a start and turned to face me as if I had attacked it. At first the alien simply stood there as if a statue but then almost and once screeched something about scanning me and began running a strange looking palm device near me. It looked puzzled what could possibly be wrong? Had it not seen an Argon before? I knew Argon lived in the space port too, many of them traders or engineers.
As it spoke to its commander all became clear… this seemed to be its first time guarding the door! I must have been his first ‘customer’ and as he waved me through I couldn’t help but think that this had been my first meeting with a split and it hadn’t gone too badly at all. What really surprised me was how good the Split’s argonese had been, all the stories were obviously wrong…
So here I am… the spaceport. Now what?
More?
Changes In The Wind – Prologue - Part One
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