As the ground began to shake, Jasper grabbed his little sister, Amber, and ran to the doorway of their house. Outside, it was another hot, stormy day - dark with torrential rain and plenty of lightning and thunder. It probably wasn't too safe to stand in the doorway either, but at least their house wouldn't come crashing down on them!
He began to sing softly to the four-year-old, hoping she wouldn't be as frightened as he was. But his effort was to no avail, and Amber clenched her golden eyes shut and began to howl. "Shh, shh," he tried to soothe her. "It'll be okay."
Lightning crashed over the nearby school - Mizu School, which he had just been accepted to. Not everyone went to school on his planet. It was a privilege to go to school, but it was also optional. Most people simply apprenticed their chosen trade. Well, Jasper had gone through the apprenticeship for becoming a hydrologist, but he wanted a more advanced education before going into the field. He wasn't ready to enter the workforce anyway. He was only eighteen.
More lightning, more thunder. The storm was not an uncommon occurrence nowadays. Jasper could remember, back when he was about Amber's age, a time when storms didn't happen everyday. Lightning and thunder were something exciting. But they had screwed up. Over time his people had messed with the environment, little by little, so gradually in fact, that at first they didn't even notice as Chalcedony, their planet, began to change. But sooner or later someone realized that they were in serious trouble - the world was heating up because of the pollutants they had been releasing in mass quantities into the air. But though they tried to fix it, it was too little, too late. Now they had storms all the time. If he lived a little to the west, there would be hurricanes once a week.
The ground shook again. But he didn't think it was an earthquake. It felt different somehow - shorter and more intense.
"Stay here!" he ordered his sister as he put her down. He ran back into the house and grabbed his and Amber's jackets, a flashlight, the radio, and as a last-minute thought on his way out, Amber's favorite doll. He handed her jacket and doll to her as he turned on the radio. Maybe there was news about what was going on.
"-edony and King Jem were killed an hour ago when a militia of unknown origin stormed the palace and-"
With a glance to Amber, Jasper quickly turned off the radio, praying she hadn't heard. She seemed consoled by her doll. Jasper on the other hand, was shaking. Their parents worked at the palace.
The ground shook once more, reminding Amber that she was supposed to be scared. She began to whimper again, and Jasper picked her up.
Off, near the overflowing river, he saw a flash of purple. That was most definitely not lightning, but he didn't know what could've made it. Deciding that any answers were better than none, he put up his and Amber's hoods on their jackets and began to run towards where the flash had been.
There by the river was one of the most gorgeous girls he had ever seen. She was about 5'5'' and slender, and had raven-black hair that was highlighted in purple when the lightning flashed.
"Hey!" he yelled over the sound of the storm. "You shouldn't be out here!"
She turned to him. Her face was filled with concern. "Are you talking to me?" she called back to him.
Jasper hadn't wanted to get that close to the river, but yelling back and forth like this was ridiculous. He ran over to her. "Hey, you shouldn't be this close to the river. The bank could give away at any second."
He looked into her eyes just as lightning flashed through the sky. They were very pretty - gray with green specks. "You're worried about me?" she asked. The girl seemed genuinely surprised that he would want her out of danger.
"Of course." The thunder accompanying the last flash of lightning finally found its way to their ears. He rocked Amber a little to keep her quiet. Another earthquake hit.
He grabbed the girl's hand and started to pull her away from the river. "What were you doing out here now anyways?"
"Mourning your planet," she answered quietly.
"Huh?" he stopped momentarily to look at her. He hadn't really understood what she had said, but now that he was closer to her, he realized that she was nowhere near being dressed for this storm.
"You must be drenched!" He juggled Amber from one arm to another as he pulled off his jacket and put it over the girl's sleeveless top. "There," he said triumphantly as he put the hood up. "It hides your pretty hair, but at least you'll be dry�er. Sorry, I can't do anything about your, uh, skirt." He blushed as he checked out her short leather skirt, and thus much of her perfectly sculpted legs, quickly before self-consciously adding, "Not that there's anything wrong with it. I just was thinking about your legs. That they might be cold, that is. Uh�."
The girl managed a smile. "You're cute. I'm Amethyst by the way."
"Oh, Jasper. Uh, that's me. And this is Amber."
"Hi, Amber. You have really bright eyes." Amber giggled and hid her face shyly into her brother's shoulder.
She stopped giggling as another flash of lightning shot across the sky. Her fists clenched around the bunches of Jasper's t-shirt that she had grabbed. Jasper hugged her tighter and took Amethyst's hand. "Let's get out of-"
Crash.
Lightning flashed past them, hitting a nearby tree. Jasper reacted immediately, pulling Amethyst out of a large falling branch's way and sheltering Amber from the ensuing tumble to the ground.
"Everyone okay?" Though Amber was whimpering into his chest, he knew she'd be screaming her head off had she actually gotten hurt. He turned his attention to Amethyst.
"You saved me," she said, her voice so soft that he almost couldn't hear her over the storm.
"Why do you keep sounding so surprised?" He helped her up, but she seemed confused, less sure of herself.
"No," she said suddenly. "No, I can't be here. I can't. Your planet�."
"Your shoulder!" Blood began to show through the coat he had given her. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it had been cut, probably by a rock when they had fallen.
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