Lunar: Black Star Rising
By Thomas Knapp
Chapter Four
"Well, here we are children, the wonderful not-so-floating-anymore city of Vane." Nall said as he circled around the large round outcropping of rock.
"Vane used to float?" Taras asked incredulously.
"Supposedly." Jean answered, "It fell to earth over a thousand years ago."
With a snort, Taras added, "Sounds like a myth rather than fact to me."
"Hey, just so you know, I WAS there." Nall shot back, "And it DID float. Rather admirably, I may add."
Taras decided that now was not the time to argue with the very thing keeping him from a most unwelcome meeting with the ground below. "All right, I guess I shall have to take your word on that."
"Good call. It's often not in one's best interests to call a dragon a liar." Jean chuckled, as Nall began his descent to Vane.
The three landed, and helped the pair off his back. Obviously, the sight of a large white beast was commonplace in Vane, as Taras noticed barely anyone giving the new arrivals much more than a passing glance.
"Anyway, I think we'll wait for Lemina inside the Guild. Follow me, Taras." She grabbed the pale man's wrist, and guided him to the largest building in the city, no doubt the Magic Guild Jean couldn't stop talking about.
Moments later…
"And here's Vane!" Lemina shouted, pointing down at the city.
"THAT'S Vane?" Toras answered, "I was expecting something more… grandiose."
Lemina huffed, slightly agitated, "Okay… so Vane has had a few setbacks… we're still rebuilding, but we are almost finished."
Toras didn't comment any farther, and then Ruby stated, "Wait… I see Nall! What's HE doing here?"
Within seconds (a few seconds too soon for her passenger's tastes), Ruby had settled down mere meters away from the White Dragon. The pair exchanged gentle nose touches, then Ruby laid down to help her riders off her back.
"Lemina!" Nall cried out, "There you are! Jean's been trying to contact you for hours!" Then Nall spotted Lemina's companion. He looked towards the guild, then back to the visitor, then to the guild again. "How did… never mind. Anyway, Jean wants to talk to you pretty badly."
"About what?" Lemina inquired.
"She's in the guild, ask her. I'm actually not too sure what she wants." Nall answered, "It probably has something to do with the man she brought with her, though."
"She brought someone with her?" Lemina exclaimed, "Well, it looks like our questions were answered for us, huh?" She took Toras by his forearm, and rushed into the guild, hunting after her friend.
"What's wrong with you Nall?" Ruby asked after noticing the White Dragon's puzzled expression.
"Nothing… just confused, that's all." He replied.
Ruby snorted, "That's nothing new. You're ALWAYS a ditz."
Inside the Magic Guild of Vane…
Lemina stopped at the entry room, and said to Toras, "You stay here while I find Jean." With that, Lemina darted into the various halls, looking for her friend. However, an examination of all the rooms revealed a large number of baffled students and teachers, and no Jean.
"Nall said she came in here…" Lemina muttered, "WAIT! I bet she's on the roof!"
Rushing to the top of the magic guild, sure enough was Jean, as well as…
"What is HE doing here?" Lemina gasped, then rushed to meet the pair looking down on the city below.
Taras started to turn around at the sound of footsteps, his right hand reaching for the pistol at his side, when a young blond woman suddenly grasped his right arm, pulling him back into the guild.
"I TOLD you to stay in the entry room!" The blond hissed, "You could have gotten lost! But thanks for finding Jean for me!"
Jean appeared puzzled, and quickly grabbed Taras's left arm before the pair got any farther. "Lemina, what in Althena's name are you doing? I was waiting for you so I could introduce you to my friend…"
"YOUR friend?" Lemina retorted, "You've known him for all of ten minutes at best!"
Taras meanwhile was busy trying to keep his arms from being pulled from their sockets. Finally, he pulled himself free, and turned to the blond with a glare, "Do I know you?"
Lemina pulled back, and replied, "Of course you do…"
Taras then whirled to Jean, and said to her, "Is THIS the Lemina you told me about earlier?"
Jean blinked twice, then replied, "I THINK so…"
Lemina couldn't believe the exchange occurring. How DARE he! Angered and embarrased, she stormed off the roof to think.
Taras then addressed Jean once again, "This scholar of yours is a total nut."
"I wonder if something's wrong with her. It appears she been totally out of character lately…"
Meanwhile, Lemina stormed the halls of the guild in fury. For several minutes she merely stomped around, tearing into anyone unfortunate enough to meet her in the halls. "The sheer audacity! How dare he act like he doesn't even KNOW ME! Did he think he was impressing Jean somehow?"
Finally, her attention was drawn to the main assembly hall, where she noticed her mother and Borgan addressing… HIM. Absolutely seething, Lemina stormed up to the three.
Toras turned around just in time to get a face full of Lemina's right fist. As the pale man staggered in pain, Lemina's mother, Miria, was quick to shout, "Lemina Ausa! What do you think you're doing?"
Lemina paid very little attention to her mother however, and screamed at the stunned Toras, "HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE ME LIKE THAT! Acting like YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME!"
Toras appeared puzzled, and meekly queried while rubbing his jaw, "Pardon?"
"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about, you pale-faced swine!" Lemina hissed, "Trying to act all cool in front of Jean by pretending that I'm some nutcase!"
Toras's eyebrows furrowed, and he replied, "I beginning to wonder if there's any PRETENDING about it. I have no idea what you are referring to."
"Ten minutes ago, you were out on the roof getting all chummy with Jean! Then when I wanted to bring you back inside, you acted like you had no idea who I am!"
At that moment, Borgan decided to cut in, "Lemina… I don't know what you are talking about, but Toras here has been with us since you dropped him off in the entry of the Guild."
"Are you sure?" Lemina asked, her anger replaced with confusion upon hearing Borgan's statement, "Are you just trying to cover for him?"
Miria felt her daughter's forehead, and asked, "Are you feeling all right, dear? Borgan's telling the truth. We ran into your friend here in the entry, and we asked him to tell us about why you departed so hastily during the night."
Borgan nodded, and added, "Although we found some of his story to be… incredible, I must admit that it is fascinating. After all these centuries, establishing contact with other humans that we never knew existed!"
At that moment, Toras face lit up with dawning comprehension. "WAIT! Lemina, you said you saw ME up on the roof ten minutes ago?"
"Yes…" Lemina answered, although she was a lot less certain about that fact now.
"How do you get to the roof?" He demanded hastily.
Miria pointed out the proper path to reach the upper level of the guild, and Toras disappeared in a flash, Lemina pursuing as fast as she could in curiosity. By the time she made it to the top of the stairs, she saw Toras exchanging friendly advances with a man that could have been his mirror image.
"I see the emergency pod landed safely." One of them mentioned.
"As did the shuttle I take it." The other concluded.
"Well, there's some debate to THAT, although I did manage to survive the crash." It became clear that the one to Lemina's right was Toras with that statement, affirmed when he turned to Lemina, and said jovially, "Well, as I understand, you two already met. But just to make the introduction formal; Lemina, this is my twin brother, Taras."