Moonwatcher

All her life, Moonwatcher had considered herself fairly antisocial. On her first day of kindergarten, she had sobbed so hard that her mother had to take her home, and she didn't go back until a week later. Whenever her mother went to big town events like concerts in the plaza, Moonwatcher would always stay home and read a scroll or try to find constellation patterns.

In high school, whenever she got assigned to a group project she would always just take the project and do it herself while her other group members messed around. Just the thought of going to parties had made it hard to breathe.

But as she stood on the rooftop of the Jade Dormitory, surrounded by nothing but a group of strangers and a slowly darkening evening sky, she was starting to think she may have found someone who was even more antisocial than she was.

This Peril, Umber had called her, gave off all sorts of weird vibes. First of all, there was her mind. As soon as Moonwatcher so much as thought about entering it, a wave of searing hot pain hit her, almost like she was being burned. It was so sudden and unexpected, the young Night almost had a stroke standing right there on the rooftop.

As long as she had been breathing, Moonwatcher had always been able to see into another person's mind, whether intentional or unintentional. The simple act had always just seemed so easy; almost like water flowing into a trench. She couldn't stop it or force it, it just kind of...happened. And now, it suddenly felt like one of those trenches had been suddenly blocked off, almost like with a boulder—or rather, a firewall, leaving Moonwatcher feeling as if she had just touched a hot stove with her brain.

However, it wasn't just Peril's mind that made it obvious she wanted to be left alone. Her hoodie, despite being an attractive red, hid her appearance and figure so that she looked like just another college student, here to go to school like everyone else.

Her auburn hair, dyed a startling neon orange near the tips, was half shaved on one side, cascading over the right side of her head like a waterfall made from coppery flames. When she turned her head, her hair shifted, giving the appearance like it was tumbling and shimmering like a real waterfall.

But the most startling thing about her was her eyes. With her tanned skin and orange hair, Peril was obviously a Sky, but her eyes were the most startling shade of blue Moonwatcher had ever seen. They were like two orbs of lightning, crackling with an unseen power and energy.

But despite all that, despite her waterfall hair and lightning eyes, it was obvious this girl wanted to be left alone. She sat with a slouched posture like she was trying to make herself seem shorter, and her hoodie was pulled over her hair, subduing it to a more tame look.

Even her eyes, alive as they were, still had kind of a dull sadness, as if she had gone through things Moonwatcher couldn't even fathom.

Everything about this girl, "Peril", from her lightning blue eyes to her insane yet sad demeanor unsettled Moonwatcher, like the Sky girl was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.

But right now, she looked too surprised to explode. As soon as the words "meet Peril," slipped past Umber's lips, she suddenly whipped her head away from her spot on the ledge, her auburn hair flying in her face like a fire attack.

For a moment, she stumbled, and Moonwatcher's heart almost stopped, thinking she was going to fall off the ledge, but just then she steadied herself and spat out a few curses that probably would have gotten Moonwatcher her mouth washed out if her mother had heard that.

As soon as she was steady, Peril's head suddenly lashed up, her eyes gleaming angrily.

"What. The. Hell."

For a moment, Moonwatcher stood there, frozen in place and surprised at her initial first reaction. Umber, his pale brown face suddenly flushing red, cleared his throat and gestured behind him.

"Uh, Peril...I just wanted you to uh, meet some people," he muttered, suddenly stumbling over his words horribly. Peril merely arched an eyebrow, sitting up so that one knee was close to her chest while the other one dangled limply.

Swallowing, Umber turned around and gestured at the group. "So, um, this is Moonwatcher, Winter, Kinkajou, Turtle, and Qibli," he mumbled, suddenly incredibly nervous and talking as if there was a golf ball lodged in his throat.

As Umber introduced Moonwatcher, the young NightWing looked down, suddenly pulling on her hair, a nervous habit she had developed. She didn't know why, but the whole attitude of this "Peril" girl made her nervous.

Kinkajou, on the other hand, was completely open. Standing on her tiptoes, the young Rain waved in a friendly manner as Umber introduced her, beaming as her hair swirled with appealing shades of excited lavender and gold. Winter, however, simply sneered, his eyes narrowing as he evaluated the Sky girl, and Moonwatcher realized just how different the two of them were. While Ice society was all order and practicality, this girl was the complete opposite of that, with her dyed hair and hoodie. No wonder he seemed a little anxious.

Turtle, at this point, had tried to blend into the background and make himself completely invisible, which Moon had to give him credit for. The Sea prince had kept himself so quiet and still, blending in so easily that Moon had completely forgotten he was there; so she doubted Peril had noticed him.

As Umber mentioned Qibli, the Sand shot a crooked smile, his arms crossed not in a hostile way, but more in a what's up? kind of way, almost welcoming.

Peril, evidently, was unsure how to take all this in. For a moment, she simply stood there, staring at all of them, until she suddenly burst out with, "wait, am I supposed to introduce myself now? Is that what we're doing? Oh, shoot, um..." she stuttered, pulling anxiously on the strings of her hoodie.

"Crap um...I guess I'm Peril...and...uh..." Peril stuttered, pulling on her strings tighter. Finally, the young Sky gave up and dropped her arms to her sides, a deep scowl creasing her face. "Umber, can I talk to you a second?" She hissed. Instantly, Moonwatcher was glad she wasn't on the other end of this conversation.

Face reddening even deeper, Umber gave a stiff nod and started walking over to Peril. Damn it, I knew this was a bad idea, his mind whispered, and as the young Mud strolled over to Peril, Moonwatcher broadened her awareness of his mind.

She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop intentionally, but she really wanted to know more; like what this Peril girl was like, or how Umber even knew her. She couldn't read her mind anyway; so she figured this was as good as it was gonna get.

"Do you think she's a student here?" Kinkajou asked, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Which year is she in? I would say at least junior; she looked kind of older," Kinkajou rambled on, filling the silence that was left in Umber and Peril's absence as the two walked over to a corner of the rooftop; their voices barely audible. However, Peril wasn't exactly the quietest whisperer, and to Moon, Umber's mind sounded as clear as day; so she could at the very least fill in the gaps. For once, Moonwatcher was actually thankful for sitting at the back of the classroom most of her school career; apparently she had fantastic hearing.

"Umber, what is this?" Peril hissed, her voice breaking through the quiet.

Umber winced at her sharp tone; clearly, he wasn't very used to being yelled at."I'm sorry, but they seemed nice enough, and the Rain said that they were looking for a spot to hang out, and

"So you brought them to my roof?"

For some reason, Moonwatcher thought it was odd the way Peril said my roof like it was her property or something.

Well, I mean technically it isn't your roof, Umber's mind whispered, though obviously, he didn't voice his thoughts.

"What, were you just hoping that I wouldn't be here so you could use it for a party or whatever?" Peril continued, the anger quickly rising in her voice like thick venom threatening to spill over the surface. Still, even though she was obviously pissed off, there was something behind her words. Even though they were barely audible, there was a sense of something besides anger behind her words...hurt. It was just barely noticeable, and Moonwatcher wasn't even sure if she had read it right, but obviously Umber got it.

"What? No! I just thought that it would be cool, and you might want someone to hang out with or something..." The young Mud muttered, his voice trailing off as he dug the toe of his shoe into the cement rooftop.

For a moment, Peril was silent, simply looking at Umber quietly, her lips pulled into a tight line. Moomwatchet squinted her eyes, trying to get a good look at Peril's face, but her expression was unreadable, as if she had a lot of practice keeping what she felt closed off.

"Really?" She finally whispered, a bit quieter than before. She said is warily, as if verifying if Umber actually meant it or not.

"I mean...yeah..." Umber muttered, though in his mind, Moonwatcher sensed a bit of confusion. Why won't she believe me? Is it that hard to think I'm not lying?

As Umber spoke, Moonwatcher caught glimpses of something she hadn't noticed before. The images she saw were blurry, like a broken television, but just barely she thought she saw Umber, and maybe what looked like five, maybe six other people, all of them looking kind of alike but also a little different.

All of them appeared to be bigger than Umber, and though she couldn't make out distinct features, she saw small blurry clips passing by, like if you flipped through channels on a tv. She saw laughing, crying, and a whole bunch more things she couldn't name.

For some reason though, just seeing it in Umber's mind made Moonwatcher feel the same way she felt around her mother. And that's when it hit her: this was Umber's family. The warm glow surrounding the memories was the joy he felt about them.

No wonder Umber had a hard time understanding Peril; even though Moonwatcher had known the girl all of ten minutes, she could see the hurt in her eyes because she could relate to it. She knew what it looked like, and what it felt like to feel lonely; and she could see that in Peril so clearly.

Umber would never understand becuase he had grown up in a loving home, free of pain and strife. Peril seemed like the exact opposite.

Then, just as quickly as te memories bubbled to the surface, they disappeared as Umber stopped thinking about them and Peril started speaking again.

"And you swear on your life that you not lying to me? Because if you're lying to me—" Peril hissed, but this time with a bit less vemom in her voice.

"No, no, I'm not lying!" Umber insisted, waving his hands in front of himself for emphasis. Moonwatcher could tell he meant it with every fiber of his being.

For a few more moments, Peril stood there, her eyes squinted. Then, she finally she let out a long sigh, releasing all the remaining tension in her shoulders.

"Alright."

"What?"

"I said alright! I'll give it a try, just...you know, don't get your hopes up," Peril muttered, rubbing the sleeves of her hoodie.

Still, Umber smiled, then leaned in and whispered something even Moonwatcher couldn't pick up. Whatever it was, it made Peril give a small smile, then reach out like she was going to punch Umber in the arm, then stopped abruptly as if remembering something.

Umber then turned around to face the rest of them, a small smile splitting his face. "Anyway guys...this is Peril," he said again, gesturing to Peril, who gave a too-wide smile that seemed a bit forced. Ignoring that, Umber continued. "She said that for right now, we can use the—uh, her roof."

"Really?" Kinkajou suddenly exclaimed, her attention being torn away from what ever rant she had been in the middle of as her hair turned neon with shades of pink and yellow so bright that they hurt Moon's eyes.

"Uh, Kinkajou..." she muttered, shielding her eyes, and glancing around she saw everyone else was doing the same.

"Oh! Sorry," the young Rain exclaimed, covering her mouth with the tips of her fingers to hide a smile as she managed to wrangle her hair down to a dimmer, easier-to-look-at color. "I'm just really excited! We're gonna have a lot of fun, right?"

"Yeah! Fun," Peril said with a little too much enthusiasm. The way she said fun, Moon noticed, sounded strange on her tongue, as if she was trying out a new word to see how it felt in her mouth.

Reaching into the pocket of her hoodie, Peril pulled out what looked like a small pack of cigarettes, shaking one out of the box into the palm of her hand. Holding it up, Peril touched it lightly with the tip of her finger, where it instantly burst into flames, though Moon didn't see her get a lighter.

As she stuck the stick in her mouth and blew out a few puffs, Winter stared at her with a look of disdain. "You know those are terrible for your body, right?"

Peril suddenly widened her eyes. "They are?!" She exclaimed, appalled, as if the thought had just occured to her. Winter arched an eyebrow.

"I mean...you're blowing smoke into your body."

Instantly, Peril's shoulders relaxed. "Is that it? Pssh, nevermind then; that's not an issue," she said, throwing herself onto one of the singed couches.

Winter furrowed his eyebrows together, and Moonwatcher shared a bit in his confusion. What did she mean by "not an issue"?

"Whatever, I thought you guys wanted to have fun or something?" Peril said, blowing a puff of smoke from her cigarette. "What about that one game everyone is always talking about—truth or death?"

"Uh...do you mean truth or dare?" Moonwatcher piped up timidly. Peril cocked her head. "Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure—" she stopped when she saw the weirded out looks on everyone's faces, then shrugged.

"Alright. If you say so," she said, stretching out and gesturing for everyone to sit down as well.

Umber gave a small smile. "Well. You heard her." Kinkajou seemes to be the only one not weary about sitting near Peril. The young Rain ran over, crossing her legs on the couch. Slowly, everyone else followed.

Moonwatcher could tell this was going to be an interesting evening.