Chapter One: Complications

***** JADE'S POV

A pirouette. Then a leap. With lungs pounding from the frenzied tempo of your dance, you spun around the creaky wooden floor of the auditorium, feeling the warmth of the sunlight streaming through the long glass windows and the swoosh of the air as it grazed your lips, your face.

Alternia. The thought rose unbidden to your mind, and with it, a painful recollection. On Alternia street, three months ago, you had found your best friend, Rose… You choked back a sob and channeled your sorrow into an ever more ferocious routine. You'd found her, lying there…lifeless.

Another leap and a spin, then you began to step into a second spin when something caught the corner of your eye. There, a movement by the crates on stage- Dave!? You marched furiously over to confront him- ever since you saw him on the same night Rose died, you'd been at odds with him.

"Hey, what are you doing here? There's no dance class on Sundays, and you have no business here." Although you had been in the same class here at the academy for almost four years, he had always been rather aloof with his cool-kid act. Dave smirked from under his sunglasses, and with an ironic smile, replied:

"Just watching the prima donna, is all." Gosh, how you found him irritating. Aside from his ever-passively playful comments, he never gave a straightforward answer. You'd been angry at him since that night. What had he been doing there! Allright, you didn't really see him, but you saw a single-winged guy who glowed with orange light- who looked exactly the same. At first you'd thought you imagined it from the shock of seeing Rose's bleeding body in the alleyway, but after you approached Dave about the look-alike… His avoidant answers had only convinced you that he was connected, somehow.

"For someone so mild-tempered in class, you really dance passio-"

You cut him off, in no mood for chat. "Tell me what I saw." A troubled frown swiped the smirk off his face, and he set his jaw.

"Hey now, let's be casual-"

"Dave! I'm tired of your replies and how you make this all a game- be serious for once!" You yelled, dangerously close to breaking. It was still so hard to think about it… you and Rose had been so close. And to not know what had even happened, no one to talk to about it… it was slowly killing you inside. And what made you angry most of all was that he had been really close with her. He'd been around since you first met her- never exactly a friend of yours, but always near Rose, joking here and there. And now that she was gone, he was still his silent self. Such an annoying, passive, just- ugh!

"Davesprite." It was no more than a whisper, before he turned his face the other way, but it broke through your irritated thoughts.

"Huh? What do you mean? Is it some kinda ghost? Hey!" He had already begun walking away, hands in pockets. "Give me a reply! You knew Rose just as well as I did!" You ran in front of him and pulled the glasses off his face. "You-"

"Stop." He suddenly looked you deep in your green eyes and grabbed your wrist tightly. There were startlingly large tears in his strange, red-iris eyes. Shocked, you could only release his sunglasses and he picked them up, shielding his expression with them once again. You'd never seen him show any emotion like this.

"Dave…" You trailed off, watching his retreating back as he strode steadily away. Dust swirled inside the streams of sunlight within the room, then whirled away. Shadowed, he walked off, without a cool reply for once.

*****DAVE'S POV

Dammit…why did you have to go and upset her again? Each time you went to see how Jade was doing, you only ended up making her more upset. You could see it in her face every time she asked you a question, the sadness leaking through her voice. And the sorrow in her voice when she had called your name as you retreated…just... dammit. Leaning against the wall of the brisk building, you stared up at the orange sky and let out a breath.

Suddenly, a green light shone out of your shirt collar. You quickly pulled out a pendant, and a figure materialized before you. Orange hair, eyes, one wing and a floaty tail…Davesprite.

"Sup." He crossed his arms and looked down at you through a pair of orange shades.

"She was really close to breaking down today…I caught her while she was dancing." The sight of Jade twirling with a burning energy, a fervor that you knew was her way of dealing with her sadness… "I'm worried that one of Derse's agents might get a hold of her. I caught one earlier while walking the marketplace." You looked down, slumping even more.

"You'll need to involve her sooner or later. We can't keep this this war from her much longer, and we'll need help fighting the black queen. I've been searching all around for Rose in the dream bubbles, but no luck. Plus, English is on his way- we have time, but it's pouring out faster than you drink apple juice."

"I know, I know… just gimme some space, bro. You know how I feel." You waved your fingers and Davesprite faded back into your pendant.

Man, what a quandary. Without Rose around, you couldn't take your mind off fighting the guardians as well and felt lost in deciding on your next move, not to mention having made an enemy of Jade… you had never, ever let anyone know about your feelings for her, although Rose might have guessed. But you had to keep her at a distance. If Jack got his hands on her… or worse, if Terezi tried to get her to god tier but botched it up…

With a heavy heart, you looked up at the street sign on the corner. Davesprite knew you liked her, of course, but had no inhibitions in involving her if she could help fight. You on the other hand, were of a different mind.

The setting sun's rays hit the white letters on the street signs as you walked away: Alternia St. and Skaia Ct.