They had been in these woods for several hours now, and despite not having a real destination in mind, she felt like they were lost. He was oblivious to everything but the hundreds of trees around them. It was almost dusk but the trees made it look as if the suns were about to disappear in minutes. A thick fog had set in causing her clothes to become damp. She was sure Orion's were as well but he didn't seem to mind. His curiosity was too overpowering. Stella checked the map and saw they had reached the heart of the woods. So they weren't lost, if they could even be lost with no destination in the first place, but she still didn't want to be in the woods at night. Who knew what kind of predators lurked around at night. She knew her woods back home well enough, but this one was different. It was strange. Everything from how the outskirts of the woods seemed thicker than the inner parts to this unbearably thick fog that made her feel like she could drown in it.
"Orion." she said, "We really should hurry and get out of here before it gets dark."
He turned around and nodded at her, a smile that seemed permanent nowadays made him look so handsome she couldn't help but smile back when she saw it. She had to admit that even if it was somewhat tiring it was fun to be around someone discovering the world for the first time. Without warning he took off in a sprint. His deep laugh seemed to bounce off the trees and the thick air. Stella took off after him, weaving between the trees.
"Come back here, you fool! You're going to get lost out here!" She shouted after him.
She was running so hard her lungs burned. He was pretty athletic for a man who'd been locked on a spaceship his entire life, she thought. The amount of water in the surrounding fog sure didn't help her breathing. She could see him several yards in front of her and she pushed herself to the limit to catch up with him. Finally she reached him when she collided full force into his back when he'd stopped abruptly and stared at something slightly above his head. The force of her colliding with him knocked them both to the ground.
"Orion what -" but she didn't have to ask. She looked up when a shadow passed over them and what she saw nearly made her scream.
Swimming through the air only feet above their heads was a great white shark.
"What is it?" Orion asked.
"We have to go." Stella said in a panicked whisper. "Now. Very quietly."
"Why?" He asked.
"Later." Was all she said.
She slowly stood and helped him up. She held his arm and went to lead him away when another shark appeared behind them. The two swam around them. Stella began shaking with fear. Didn't sharks circle their pray before attacking? Is that how they worked? This was so not good. Orion broke away from her death grip on him and slowly approached the massive creatures swimming in the air. He reached out a hand toward them.
"Orion! No!" Stella yelled.
His hand brushed against the side of the closer beast and he retracted it immediately afterward. It's rough body didn't match the smoothness his eyes saw. It was something he'd never felt before and it was strange, but a huge grin spread across his face and he reached out again.
Stella watched, heart in her throat, as the scene played out before her. It happened too quickly for her to process properly but she saw him in all his child-like wonder reach out towards the two air-swimming huge sharks, who by all right should have been in an ocean. Their massive bodies maneuvered around the trees expertly as they circled around them. It didn't take long for the sharks to begin their assault, however, and the one closest to Orion lashed out. It didn't get within killing range but it did get close enough for the wonder and curiosity to leave the man before her. The shark bared its teeth a moment before snapping them shut again almost as if it were telling him what it's capable of. Fear replaced his curiosity and he backed into Stella.
"I told you." she hissed at him.
"What do we do?" he was shaking now, too.
"On the count of three, we are going to run. Straight. And we're not going to stop until we leave this fog. I think it's what they're swimming in." Stella whispered.
He had so many questions but now was not the time for them and he now knew it.
"One." She took a breath. "Two." Deeper breath. "Three."
They took off. The ran faster and harder than they had when they were messing around. Neither dared look behind them to see if they were being chased because both were sure that if they did they would be met with a massive mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Orion stuck to Stella's plan and ran until the fog cleared and found himself outside of the woods in a sort of meadow. The grass was up to his waist and little fuzzy balls sat at the top of each blade. He stopped several yards from the wood-line and looked around frantically for Stella. She appeared seconds later and he felt relieved.
She ran to him and didn't stop until she'd embraced him in a hug, once again knocking him over to the ground as she did so. They landed on the soft ground and laughed. When they'd finally caught their breath and calmed down Orion began with his questions.
"What the frex were those things?" he asked.
"Sharks. Great White sharks. NORMALLY," she stressed the word, "they're supposed to swim in the water. In oceans. I'd only seen them in vids. Never in real life and shit are they scary in real life."
"Why were they in the air then?" he asked her, as if she hadn't been wondering.
"I have no idea. I'd love to find out, my theory is it has something to do with the fog. It was the thickest fog I'd ever seen - I could barely breathe in it - but maybe there's something more to it. I don't know. I don't have the equipment and fuck if I'm going to go back in there without some sort of protection against them." she answered.
Her answer seemed to satisfy him as he stayed quiet and so they lay there, the sunset filling the sky with deep oranges and reds, watching the fuzzy tops of the tall grass sway in the light breeze a hands length above them. Stella grabbed one by the stem and pulled it close. She blew gently and the fuzzy ball broke apart and the wind carried away the pieces.
"You're supposed to make a wish when you do that." she said wistfully.
"What did you wish for?" he asked softly.
"If I told you it wouldn't come true." she smiled.
"Please?" He asked. "I know you don't believe in weird wish-granting grass."
She laughed. "True." she turned to look at him, his eyes were beautiful; a light brown, honey-like, color. "I wished for no more air sharks." she giggled.
The sound of her giggling filled him with happiness so intense he felt it within him and he smiled. He rolled over on to his side to face her and gently ran his thumb over her cheek before planting a gentle kiss on her lips. She reached over and cupped his cheek and kissed him back.
"Thank you for saving my life." he whispered. "Pfft. Air-sharks? No big deal." she joked.
"No, I mean before." he told her.
"You mean when you were out on that hill thawing out from being improperly cryogenically frozen and one of my ptero's were sent out by some asshole to devour you?" she asked even though she knew that's what he meant.
He nodded.
"No biggie." she giggled again before sighing and smiling.
He looked at her, drinking in her beauty; the way her blue eyes shone when she laughed, how soft and smooth her skin looked, how beautifully her light brown hair lay around her, and he kissed her again. They didn't stop until the sun finally sank below the horizon.
For a moment it was completely dark except for the bright stars above them. They were used to this now. It was the one thing that never ceased to amaze Stella. The stars were always so wondrous to her. He didn't agree. He felt about the stars how she felt about the trees and the grass - he could appreciate the beauty but was otherwise indifferent.
"What are the stars like up close?" Stella asked him.
Before he could answer the grass around them lit up. The fuzzy ends of the grass became luminescent giving off a range of blue and purple colors. Stella gasped at the beauty of them.
Orion grabbed one and pulled it down to them as Stella had done only a little while earlier. He used it to illustrate his explanation.
"When you're traveling through the stars they all seem so spread out, or maybe it's because I was stationary the whole time, I don't know. But they glow so bright and there are so many of them. They are close and far away at the same time." He blew softly and the glowing end split and gently bounced off Stella's face and she laughed as they tickled her. "They never go away, there's no night time or day time, and they're enchanting. But that's all - they're just pretty things to look at. Never to touch, never to go to, never to play with."
She thought she knew why he liked the planet so much better now. All the stuff involving the ship and his people aside. It was because the planet was a tangible sort of beauty whereas the stars are distant even when among them. Orion tossed the stem away and lay back on his side and they lay there staring at the stars in silence a few moments with the luminescent grass above them like giant, close up stars.
"Everyone's taught the stars." She whispered suddenly. "Things like the solar system and what the sun really is and what the constellations are."
He didn't say anything, but he was listening, as always.
"They say there are hundreds of constellations up there. Big dipper, little dipper, virgo, blah blah. They hand out little constellation maps and things. I could never find them. I've searched and searched for the dippers and I always thought I found them but never was sure. There's too much going on up there for me to be sure." she stopped a moment as if she was searching for those things now. "There's only one thing I was always able to find up there. No matter what I could look up and find it immediately. It's kind of funny to say it now, but I used it to get through a lot of shit. Whenever I felt down, or like I couldn't handle things anymore, I would look up at night and see it there still and it would make me feel not quite so alone." she explained quietly almost as if she was talking to herself instead of him.
"Which one was it?" he asked just as softly.
"Orion." she whispered and he knew she didn't mean him.
It filled him with a mixture of feelings. He felt a sort of pride, as it was the constellation he had chosen to name himself after, as well as a swelling of love. Her single guiding constellation being the one he'd singled out when choosing a name for himself made him feel like it was fate that had brought them to each other, if he even believed in such a thing.
He rolled over and kissed her more deeply than ever before. That night, beneath the stars and among the luminescent star-like grass, they made love for the first time.