#alien sunsets

[onceuponanaromantic]

Coming Home

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial​‘s prompt of the week: Alien Sunsets. Set after the end of Constellations in the dreamverse universe (because yes there’s going to be more of dreamverse!!)

Kastoris isn’t sure what she should be feeling right now, but it probably isn’t this.

             She’s leaning against Fei, who in turn is leaning against a tree. The sand is gritty and grainy around their feet, and Kastoris is pretty sure her first thoughts about the sand and the sea and the sky aren’t supposed to be that it’s too warm and too solid and too… too rough.

             And she’s aware! Kastoris is perfectly aware of how that sounds because she was supposed to have grown up here, on Dirister, and she would have and she does actually remember what it was like to be a small child and be under the sun all day and have lessons. (And she does remember what it was like to be beaten for every not-A grade and she does remember she wasn’t a baby when they left.)

             But the sunset, painting the sky all pink and gold and orange, looks so strange and feels so unnaturally warm. The sunset on Dirister is supposed to be one she’s familiar with, especially because she remembers missing it for the first year when they were in Cloud, and she remembers being a child and staring at the sky and wondering if she could paint that. (And knowing that she would never be allowed to because that would be art and she wouldn’t get the marks for it and she wouldn’t get an A.)

             She’s leaning against Fei and she realises for the first time in months that this is the first time in two years that she’s just sat with Fei, with the older sister she’s actually closest to in age, and not talked about work or been doing work. Crossways has been taking up a lot of their collective time and Kastoris doesn’t begrudge Soren it! Kastoris knows that Soren is doing good work and important work and that they’ve always tried their best for them.

             But at this precise moment, where the sun is setting and the long shadows being cast along the beach and the ocean breeze is salty and gentle and tickling her hair and cheeks and arms, Kastoris doesn’t know how to feel.

             It should be safe. It should be comforting, after all, like all the stories about coming home after being away for a long time. It should be good and warm and Kastoris knows. Kastoris knows she’s Diristerian; it’s not easy to forget when you’ve been reminded pretty consistently for the past ten years that you’re Diristerian and mortal, and well, not a wind spirit or faerie at all.

             Kastoris doesn’t know what she is. Because a human should be comforted by the sunset on a beach, but Kastoris isn’t. Kastoris doesn’t know where she belongs and that… that scares her.

             “You want to talk?” Fei asks.

             Kastoris nearly jolts because she didn’t actually expect Fei to talk. But Fei’s looking at her expectantly and Kastoris hasn’t talked to her sister in a while, and Kastoris doesn’t know how to start.

             There’s a caw from a flock of seagulls flying over the sea. Kastoris lies back, letting her whole weight rest against her sister. Kastoris feels something, and she thinks and is pretty sure it’s an ant, crawl over her right leg, and she flinches hard.

             Hard enough that she dislodges herself from Fei and lands in the sand. The sand gets all over her skin and Kastoris can’t help but panic.

             It’s burning against her skin, and its small tiny ants crawling everywhere and its darkness and its warmth and for a moment, Kastoris can’t breathe. The sand is sharp in areas and it’s prickling her skin like thousands of tiny needles and she didn’t realise it would hurt she didn’t realise it would be solid and painful and-

             “Let’s get out of the beach, yes?” Fei says quietly, wrapping her arms around Kastoris’ wrists and forearms. She brushes Kastoris off gently and wraps the picnic blanket around her and then guides her back in the direction of the Doorway back to the clinic.

             They turn away from the sunset, and Kastoris knows what she’s feeling at this moment, and at the moment where she steps past the Doorway back to the Space that Crossways was in.

             The feeling is relief.

             (Fei looks down at her younger sister and just smiles. There’s something about being the forgotten sister that leads to understanding things that others never have to consider.)

[fields-of-ink]

FFF42: Alien Sunsets

First of all, thanks again to the wonderful @flashfictionfridayofficial​ for this fantastic prompt!

I just had the perfect paracosm for this: a world where really the sky changes color. 

Title: Colors (390 words)

Warnings: Nothing, really.

She always loved how her valley was so full of colors. The vibrant green of the grass, with their splashes of flowers gifting new colors, dotting the fields like stars. The earthy tones of the houses, with their cozy browns and lively red fires. The flowing multi-colored gowns of the ladies, the dignified grays and yellow of the men.

It was such a nice spectacle to watch everyday.

But, that day, she didn't feel that joy, despite the bright spring sun allowing for such a clear view.

The sky, that until a few hours ago was such a clear blue, had now been tainted with sickly greens and yellows.

Splashes of ethereal color were spearding on its surface, like little lakes suspended in the sky. The fluffy white clouds started reflecting their colors, and the landbound reality borrowed some of those sickening hues.

The grass grew colder, the houses seemed to close in themselves.

Amelia shuddered. She hugged herself and entered her house. She wasn't a stranger to the sky changing colors, but it had been a long time since the last time it happened. She wondered if it was the valley's fault. But maybe not: despite having capable magicians, the valley's pride and joy were its inhabitans so vehemently proud of their own artisan works. Made with their hands.

Magic was scarcely used. Amelia was sure: one of the other Kingdoms was at fault, here.

- : -

«Amelia!»

Laysel's voice perked her up. All the worries washed away, and she opened the door.

«I'm sorry I'm late. You know how it is. They expect me to do more work when the sky changes color.»

Amelia furrowed her brow: «More work? Laysel, you barely work.»

The girl grinned: «Oh, you know it isn't true. Being a Guardian is tough.»

«Not when there's isn't any threat to guard us from.»

Laysel made a clicking sound with her tongue, making her way inside and plopping herself down on the chair.

Amelia smiled, watching her. The sickly hues of the sky crawled their ghostly arms even inside her home, the wood turning into a polluted grayish green, the fire itself becoming a ghost of its bright past self.

But Amelia didn't mind. Her girlfriend's white hair and blue eyes looked as lively and lovely as always, and they were part of those colors Amelia so deeply loved in her valley.

[meteor-writes]

#FFF42 - Alien Sunsets

Thanks @flashfictionfridayofficial! This is quickly becoming my Saturday morning tradition ♥️

Sunset of Shattered Glass - 552 words

Mexis sat on one of the thick silver roots of the Nessie tree, named for the way it grew in arches out the soil, undulating in and out like the humps of the famous Earthen sea monster. It was her favourite place to watch the sunset over Aris. Partly because it was in her backgarden, but mostly because it’s view spread across the bubbling plane of Diasol.

The naming here, for Mexis, was far more obvious. Diasol covered an expanse below the cliff where the green waters spread thin over Aris’s crust, and boiled into chuffing white foam, bubbling like a pot under both the radiant sun and shining moons. Sudden geysers burst up over vents, great fountains of noise throwing mist across the entire field, air becoming laden with salt and excitement. It was a sight to behold anytime of day. But, from Mexis’s tiny rented cottage in the East, the sunsets were truly spectacular.

It must have been something to do with the angle, or the way the bubbles formed close to the ground. But at sunset, the light met the water and the entire world became painted with a thousand spectrums. The droplets casually thrown in the air were now a thousand diamonds suspended between sea and sky and the bubbling below iridescent as the sun passed through prismatic landscape and cast rainbows all across the sky. Every night since the first Mexis had watched, and every night since the first she was awe-inspired.

Gazing out over Diasol, Mexis was almost too swept up in the magic to hear her companion Zyr hopping out the house.

‘Soaking in our last sunset, eh?’ She sang, nudging Mexis’s shoulder as she skipped passed, jumping up onto a neighbouring Nessie. Her smile was wide and she sighed as she stared out. ‘Can you believe this time tomorrow we’ll be exploring the great expanse once again?’

‘Mmm.’ Mexis hummed. The last sunset. For some reason that notion left her stomach unsettled. She shifted her coat, trying to simply focus on the sun. A photo simply wouldn’t do this place justice. Even a moving one wouldn’t be the same. Technology couldn’t capture the depth of the scene, the constant changing of the light, the way the colours blended, how the slightest movement of your head shifted the entire pattern. The smell of the salt that filled your lungs, the sound of the waters crashing below, the unpredictable bursts of the geysers. It would all be lost...

‘You don’t want to go.’

‘What?’

Mexis turned to her friend and found she was staring. Her arms were crossed, eyes narrow as she stood tall on her platform, jaw set.

‘You don’t want to go.’ She repeated.

And it was more venomous this time, as if the words had licked the ends of her canines and came out jagged. Mexis drew her chest tight.

‘I never said that.’

‘So you do!’

‘I didn’t-‘

Mexis jumped form her perch but her friend turned the other way.

‘I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.’ She whispered, voice betraying the tears Mexis knew were about to fall.

‘I’m not doing anything!’ She pleaded. Zyr scoffed.

‘Please.’

Mexis reached out for her arm but Zyr ripped it away.

‘Don’t.’ Was all she said before she stomped back into the house.

[inexorableblob]

What my eyes do see

For @flashfictionfridayofficial​

So I almost rewrote a scene with a certain character, but that didn’t quite feel right for some reason, and I ended up with this, which is going the same place, in one sense, but not quite the same point.

I had to make this journey.  I had no choice.  I had to see if there was a difference.  

The gentle wind blows my hair.  My toes curl in the warm sand.  I stare off into the distance.

I've never seen this before.  Not with my own eyes.  I suppose I might have seen a picture in a calendar, or looked at a photograph from a photo album.  

But I had no memory, no recall, I never had paid attention.  

It's funny, I never really thought about how things would look from this side.  

A friend had held my hand, telling me they'd think of me before I left.  

Right at a moment like this.  

Watching the sun sink down from the other side of the ocean.