A/N:  Hey, everyone!  I hope I’ve still got some ppls attention out there!  I know it’s been a HELL of a long time, but I’ve got the next chapter!  Hope you like it!  Let me know!  Oh, and as always, everyone and everything here belongs to ME!

Also, note that when you see ~ word ~ it’s the translation from the Karmanan words just spoken before.

 

~*~Children of a Dying Sun: Chapter 6: Welcome to Orlan~*~

 

            They called us chyldadysu when we first came.  The name had two meanings in Karmanan:  “Those who can not change” and “Those who have no magic”.  Eventually, the word became our name, Children of the Dying Sun.  I’m not totally sure how, but when you hear a Karmanan say it, you can ALMOST hear it.

            And the translations aren’t TOTALLY true.  We can change and adapt.  It’s just that we don’t WANT to.  We’re the human race.  We’re LAZY.  The Karmanan’s adjusted almost all of their language so that we wouldn’t have to do much.

            Orlan is one of those few Karmanan cities refusing change.  Sure, a lot speak Terranian—human’s language—but most refuse to.

            Luckily, I grew up in a Karmanan-majority town.  Drago seems to have no problems either as he declines the offering of flowers from a beggar we pass on the outskirts of town.

            Poor Phoenix, however, is so lost, she stays close and doesn’t say much.  Her eyes say enough.  She loves this place, even though she doesn’t understand much that’s said.

            Orlan is as diverse as another planet.  It’s architectural style is found no where else on the planet.

            We are now coming up on the busiest section of town.

            “So?  What are we looking for?”  Phoenix brushes against my shoulder.

            “I’m not sure yet.  We’ll see what stumbles upon us, eh?”  She nods at me and I call, “Hey, Drago!  Seturath semu?”  ~Enjoying yourself?~

            Drago turns from the window he is looking at and nods, also speaking Karmanan, “Loshenan te no?”  ~How could I not?~

            I smile and Phoenix hits me, “What?” I ask innocently.

            She crosses her arms, “Speaking a language I don’t know.”  She pouts.

            “You know a few phrases.”  She rolls her eyes and walks off.  Drago joins me again, shoving his hands into his pockets.  He looks up at the sky.

            “Beautiful.  I love Orlan.”

            “You’ve been here before?”  I look at him.

            “Lived her when I was young.  Actually, I was born about 20 miles…that way.”  He points to our left, “My house was burned down though.”

            “Hm.”  I look in the direction he’s pointing.  There’s a shop across the street that calls my attention, “C’mon.  Let’s cross at the corner.”

            “Tela.” ~Sure thing.~

 

~~@~~

 

            I’ve lost sight of Phoenix, now at the corner.  Oh well, she’ll find me if she needs to.  I grasp the hilt of Blade, which hides beneath my cape.

            “Let’s go.”  Drago steps off the curb when the pedestrian light flicks on.  A tan and black HV hovers near the cross walk.  Orlan’s police patrol.  It’s the only vehicle there.  I follow Drago. There are a ton of people crossing from each direction.  Lucky for me, Drago’s taller than the rest.  I won’t lose him.

            I’m so busy watching Drago’s head, weaving through the crowd, that I don’t notice the girl till she and I collide.  She curses in Karmanan.

            “Sorry.”  I murmur, not looking at her.

            “Yeah, you sho-“ she cuts off.  I look down at her.

            She’s about 6 inches shorter than me.  Her hair is black, cut in an odd style.  The front of her hair falls over her shoulders coming down to mid-chest and is cut up in an upside down ‘V’ over her shoulders, where the hair falls down to her waist.  She has bright green eyes—totally different from Phoenix—and is wearing a VERY revealing outfit.

            Her shirt is a tight-fitting tank-top, with a white band circling the bottom.  Her skirt is the same shade of red and goes down to her ankles with a slit up to her thighs and a white band on the waist.

            She smiles and steps closer, “It’s okay.  You’re not hurt, are you?  Here, let’s talk on the sidewalk.”  She moves towards the sidewalk she had come from.

            The light changes as soon as we’ve cleared the street.  Drago, who is leaning on the building a few feet away, lifts his eyebrow.

            “So…” The girl draws my attention back, “Are you okay?”

            I nod, “I’m fine.  It was my fault anyways.  I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

            Her smile grows, “I guess that makes two of us.”

            “ADIA!  Dorusa ke noro fo te kalo?” ~Adia!  What have you done now?~  A masculine voice calls out.  I pretend that I don’t understand the words.

            The girl, I guess her name is Adia, calls back (I cannot see to whom), “Se forosh!  Then tora bushen soka kerama!  Te fonlo be?”  ~You jerk!  I ran into this poor man!  Where did YOU go?~

            Finally, I see the man she’s talking to.  The guy is my height and has long silvered hair.  His eyes are ice blue—interesting—and they narrow in on me, then move to Adia, “Comee tela dore neka, to ge.” ~He seems alright to me, now let’s go.~

            “No!”  She switches to Terrian without realizing it, “I want to make sure he’s okay!”

            “Adia!”  He says her name with a sigh, “Te klemora shen torfan quanti.”  ~Your just thinking he’s cute.~

            “That’s not true!”  Adia turns back to me, “I’m sorry, really.  I’m Adia.”  She extends her hand.

            “I gathered as much,”  I take her hand briefly, then let go and say, “I’m Blade.”

            The man with the silver hair walks up beside her, “I, BLADE, am Bren.  Now, Adia, we have to go.”

            Adia glares at him, but says, “Alright.  It was wonderful to meet you, Blade.  Maybe we’ll run into each other again!”  She waves, and then Adia and Bren cross the street, each barely touching the other.

            “No that was odd.” Drago also watches them go.

            “Huh.  I’d say.”

            “Who was that?”

            “PHOENIX!”  I cry, as she appears at my left side, “Don’t DO that!”

            “Hm.” She smiles at me, “Sorry.”  Her gaze moves back to the street, “Who were they?”

            “I’m not—” I want to say “sure”, but the gray space slams into me with such force, I lose my breath.  I see the spinning pentagram…but nothing else catches my attention.  There is no reason for this Vision.  Finally, the gray space disappears.

            “Blade?”  It’s Phoenix’s voice that draws me back, “Blade, are you okay?”  There is a hand on my chest and one on my shoulder, keeping me from falling forward.

            I inhale and open my eyes—I don’t remember closing them.  Pain sears through my chest.  Phoenix can not hold me up any longer.  I begin to fall.
            “Hey there, buddy!” Drago grabs me and keeps me upright, “Let’s find somewhere for him to sit down.”  Now he’s talking to Phoenix.

            I surrender to darkness as Phoenix says, “I’ve gotten a hotel room just around the corner.”

 

~~@~~

 

When I open my eyes, I cannot see.  I wonder if I’ve gone blind.  But my eyes adjust more to the darkness and the room I’m in takes the blue shade of night.  I lay in the soft bed for a long time before I detect breathing.

            “Sh.” Someone whispers, “Phoenix is sleeping.”

            I struggle to sit up, “Ug.  What happened?”

            “You mean you don’t remember?” But as Drago says this, I do.

            “It depends…does it include a girl named Adia?”

            “Hm.”  I still don’t know where in the room he is, as he laughs slightly, “Yes, that would be correct.”

            “Uh…” I run a hand over my right eye and yawn.

            I hear shifting from the other side of the room.  That must be where Phoenix is.  I look around.  It’s well-sized, from what I can see, with two beds, I’m on the one farthest from the windows, a couch, and a kitchenette with a table and four chairs.

            I still don’t know where Drago is.  But then, I realize, I don’t really care.  I drift back to sleep and dream of Adia and Bren.

 

~~@~~

 

There is a loud crash that breaks through my dream, followed by someone using all the Terranian curses under the suns.  I laugh into my pillow.

            Someone growls, “And what, pray-tell,” It’s Phoenix, “do we find so amusing?”

            I laugh even harder and open my eyes to see a brightly lit room.  A pillow connects with my head as I sit up.  Still drowsy, I stare at it for a second before I hear giggling from another part of the room.  Phoenix stands over her bed, making it.

            “Drago’s gone out to find a newspaper.”  She says, her back to me.”

            I smile, “Ame.” ~Perfect.~

            “Huh?”  She turns and it met with the pillow.  She lets out a cry and glares at me.  I smile.  She smiles right back.  We are like that for two minutes.  Finally, I shift and she springs to action.  I raise my pillow to block her blow.

            An all-out pillow fight ensues.  At one point, I grab her waist and she screams.  That’s when her pillow explodes  We both freeze and watch the feathers float down to the floor.

            We burst out laughing and collapse onto her bed.  Her laughter fades but her smile remains.  I look at her mischievously.

            “What?”  Such an innocent question she asks.  My smile grows as I bring the hand she didn’t see—the one with my pillow—up and onto her.

            She screams and laughs.

            “BLADE!”

            I throw the pillow back to my bed, “Truce.”  I say and get off the now-mutilated bed.  As I move towards the kitchenette, I hear Phoenix move.

            She tackles me and wrestles me to the floor. I  let her pin me.  She smiles and sits on my stomach.

            “Holy crap!  You weigh a lot!”  She hits me lightly as I comment.  She becomes somber and traces the scar on my chest.

            “What happened?”

            I can’t stay serious, “The last brawl I was in!”  I move so quickly she has no time to react.  I roll her off and onto her back, pinning her arms with my hands. There’s one factor I’ve forgotten, however.  She has her legs wrapped around mine and I fall on top of her.

            Our laughter fades.  Our faces are only inches apart.  Had it been any other time, I would have been uncomfortable.  Now I’m to surprised to be.  The air grows deafly quiet, before Phoenix whispers, “Blade.”

            A noise comes from the door and we release each other.  Drago smiles and clicks his tongue, “I can’t leave you two alone, can I?  I leave for what…ten minute?  And I come back to find a pie of feathers.”

            I stand, “Yeah, well.”  I look down at Phoenix, “She started it.”

            She coughs, surprised, and glares, I laugh.  “Well, you did!”

            She grumbles and stands, bringing a handful of feathers up with her.  She watches Drago for a long moment before turning and shoving the feathers at me.

            “You clean up.  I need coffee.”  She mutters and storms off.

 

~~@~~

 

After a long shower and quick breakfast, the three of us set out into Orlan again.

            “How many more days do we have the hotel for?” I ask, adjusting the sleeve on my new white tee-shirt.

            “Two more after today.”

            “That’ll do.”  Drago who’s walking two steps ahead of us, says, turning o walk backwards.

            “It’ll have to.”  I say.  Why won’t this stupid sleeve stay unfolded?  I mess with it again.

            “Oh!”  Phoenix pauses and looks back down the street, “I just remembered something I need to pick up.”

            “You need any company?”  Drago asks.

            “If you want to come along.”

            “I wasn’t—” Drago starts, but I cut in, smiling.

            “I’m sure he wants to.  Go on, Drago, I’ll go get some more coffee for the room.”

            As Phoenix turns, Drago whispers, “don’t you want to be alone with her?”

            “Nah, you two need to get to know each other better.”

            He says something in Karmanan I won’t translate before he moves to catch up with the blonde.

 

~~@~~

 

            Just as I begin to cross the street for the coffee shop, my pentagram starts to bug me again.  I pull at it and study it as I walk.

            “Ug.”  Someone runs into me from behind.

            “Jeez,” The person says, “This is just not my weekend for…” Her voice trails off.

            I look up, “Adia?”  I ask.

            “Blade?”  She smiles, “Boy, you and I aren’t having much luck, eh?”

            I can’t help but smile back, “Where are you headed?”

            “I’m meeting Bren and the coffee shop.”

            “Really?  I’m headed over there too.”

            Her smile gets even bigger, “Want to join us?”

            “Can’t.  Phoenix would probably kill me if she didn’t know where I was.”

            “Phoenix?”

            “Oh, you didn’t meet her.  Maybe you will.”  I pull open the door for her.

            “Thank you.”  She brushes past and inside.

            “Well, Blade, once again, it was nice to run into you.”  She searched the room for Bren, spotted him, and waved.

            “Yeah.”  I say, suddenly distracted by Bren’s glare.

            “Blade!”  I hear from outside.  I turn.

            “That’s Drago and Phoenix.”  I say.  Adia smiles, but doesn’t seem to really care.

            “Like I said, if you guys want to join us…” she trails off and heads for the table.

            I look at Drago and Phoenix who are crossing the street, then go to buy the bags of coffee.

 

~~@~~

 

            “I see SHE’S back.”  Drago whispers as he appears on my right and leans on the wooden counter.

            “Her boyfriend over there doesn’t seem to like you too much.”  Phoenix puts in with a laugh.

            I smile sarcastically at her before looking back over the counter.

            Maybe I trigger something.  The gray space comes again when I look at a can of hot cocoa mix.  The pentagram is on fire.  And I feel the heat.  My chest hurts, as if my scar have been reopened.

            “BLADE!”  I hear, break through the gray.  But I can’t pull out, it won’t go away.

            I don’t know what happens next, but later, Phoenix tells me.

“You just…keeled over.  Your hands were grasping the counter so hard, it cracked under the pressure.  And we couldn’t move you.  Your face just looked like you were in pain.  But then…that girl and guy, I think they said they were Bren and Adia, they came over.  Adia talked to you and got you to let go.  Both of them got you to sit down and Bren was whispering things to you in a language I didn’t know, and had his hand up on your chest.  Then you…”

            And then, I wake up.

            I don’t remember what we do the rest of the day.  There’s only one thing I remember, really:

 

            Bren and Adia join us that day.

 

~~~~*~~~~

 

How’s THAT!  Let me know.

*^_^*