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Driissen stood at the open door of the plane and starred down at the canyons below. Hair as pale as ice white snow danced about his face and while his shining blue eyes consumed the surrounds. The quote that said, �Eyes are the window to the soul� couldn�t speak of any other person than Driissen for his eyes were radiant with life and adventure as they were clear and open to his very soul. He turned his gaze once again to the canyon�s below and the large sunless sky. His race had evolved into the darkness for the sun only rose one day every century or so. Some lucky enough to see the sun once would never in their lifetime see it again. So they lived on in darkness. He was a rarity with his white hair and blue eyes in a world of black. He stuck out � but that was ok, his best friend was a sky board and the air. He reached over and lifted his board from the holder on the wall. He stared into the darkness below him and waited for the single to jump. One�Two�the signal came and he let himself fall into the sky. The fall was magnificent, and he rode air currents like waves from a wild sea.
Nothing troubled his mind; there wasn�t a single worried that plagued him and the only thing he felt was the pure thrill. The thrill of walking the thin line between living and dying, there was nothing greater. He sometimes thought about the wars that were said to be coming, from a race of creatures that thrived on death and darkness � that the sun was their only enemy, as well as the one thing their little planet didn�t have. He shook his head, no worries, he told himself, no worries except the sky. The ground rushed up to meet him and at the last second he activated the boosters, sailing through the canyons until finally he slowly idled the boosters and came to a stop on the rocky ground. He picked up his air board and turned towards his house. He smiled as he found one of the many paths that actually had lit the way through the barren deserts of his homeland. Without a sun there was no life and what did survive was the toughest of all things. He shook his head at the troubles of his little planet and continued down the path, watching the firebugs dance in the bowls that lit the path.
He finally found himself at the doorway to the little house he lived in, but before he could go in a girl bound up to him. She was only a year or two younger than him, she being 14 while he was 16. He grinned and looked at the creatures by her side. She was a visitor from another place so she came around with flashlights and other trinkets to help her see in the darkness. The creatures with her were something she called Egyptans, animals which fascinated him greatly for he�d only seen them in story books as a child and then when she arrived on his planet. One was a pale grayish colour with blue tints to its fur, she called him an IceGlow and the other creature with her was what she called a Dusk Egyptan. The Dusk was a deep purple colour with red blazed into the purple, her paws and belly were a lighter purple. The girl, Kiiranna, called the two Egyptans Glo and Dawn. She had something called a horse as well but due to the darkness he hardly ever saw it. [Kiiranna is � to CoolKis who I asked to be in this story. J] Kiiranna smiled as she watched Driissen�s pale blue eyes fill with wonder at the sight of the Egyptans.
�You really should apply for your own you know that? When I go back to my home planet, I�ll take you with me and you can get one too!� He laughed at her remark and nodded slightly.
�Whatever you say Kiiranna. I�ll have to talk to you tomorrow, I�ve got work to do today.� The tone of his voice was sullen with the thought of chores. She nodded and waved slightly leaving without another word. Driissen stared at the door for a moment then walked inside and hurried off to his daily chores.
Weeks went by and Driissen went on with his life, visiting often with Kiiranna and her Egyptans and sky boarding whenever he could. Then one day while he was returning home from sky boarding he saw his home in ruins! The house was up in flames! He turned away from the house and began running as fast as his legs could carry him to Kiiranna. He knocked loudly on the door but got no answer. He turned and thought of what could have possibly happened. He shot off in the direction towards the space dock. Had they come? Had those awful creatures that fed solely on the chaos of other creatures finally come to his planet? He knew the answer was yes, but he didn�t know what to do. Kiiranna was probably sent back to the land she�d come from and most of the cities had gone into hiding while he was off in the outlands dancing on the air. He rushed through the empty towns, many of the houses crumbled as the fires torn at them. What was he to do?! As he rounded the next corner he hit a piece of rubble and landed on his face. There in the dust and ruins of a large building was a cocoon, nestled into the debris. He reached out and touched it gently, fingers tracing over the soft fabric that made the protective shell for the creature inside. Suddenly he caught sight of a note and picked it up. The note reads:
�Driissen, may you find this before those terrible creatures do.
I�d been on my way to find you when they attacked and I was sent back home.
The cocoon before you is an Egyptan cocoon, just for you.
I just know you�ll be safe, and I�ll see you again soon.
-Kiiranna�
His hands trembled and the pain in his legs ached from crashing into the wreckage of the building. He scooped up the cocoon and looked at the note for a moment. She was right; he�d see her soon. He stumbled to his feet and clutched the cocoon to his chest. He began to run forward again, rushing towards the docks and then out of nowhere he was confronted with a group of creatures. They stunk worse than anything he�d ever smelt and the only thing he could come up with to describe it was the foul smell or death and decay. They closed in on him and the only thing he could think to do was protect the egg. There was nothing else he could do, and then he thought of something, his air board! He jumped onto it, and hit the boosters and before he knew it he was sailing into the sky, safe for the time being. He changed directions and headed towards the docks when the boosters choked and then stopped all together. He came plummeting towards the ground and for the first time, the sudden rush of the earth was more than thrill, for now he had a creature with him, another life, not just his own. He closed his eyes and held to the cocoon and waited. Time seemed to stop as he crashed into the ground, tumbling forward in an agonizing roll. He scrambled to his feet and ran on aching legs that dared to give out below him. He saw the docks before him and with a sigh of relief tried to urge himself faster. No luck. In a blind instant that happened too fast for even him to acknowledge he found himself on the ground. Pain shot through him, but he held to the cocoon. The creatures surrounded him and his young, unborn Egyptan. His eyes were closed tightly and the oncoming creatures gave off their foul smell of decay�
�To be Continued�
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