My fabulous big sister
Patiently, she stood tall with her arms folded in front of her. Unlike most Tamaranians who wore purple garb of some sort, this one wore what seemed to be white bandaging around her arms, stomach and thighs – the places that many Tamaranian exposed their orange flesh. Her top and skirt were also unusually coloured; black. This matched her mane – she had long black hair that came down past her shoulder blades, much like Starfire's. Or, as everyone else would have said, "Starfire's long red hair came down past her shoulder blades, much like Blackfire's."
This was Blackfire, the heir to the throne. And she was being held up by her tardy little sister.
That the game hadn't quite begun on schedule didn't seem to matter – all the observers, mostly Tamaranian officials, extended family, and a few guards who managed to sneak in, seemed happy and enthusiastic for the coming performance. In fact, they seemed content to just watch Blackfire stand for a few minutes.
Yes, she was certainly the charismatic one. The popular one. The fabulous one. The captivating one. Mostly all males seemed to gawk at her, even though treating royalty with anything that could be interpreted as disrespect incurred severe discipline. Humorously, some theorized that that was the reason she wore more covering attire than usual – but this was just idle talk. She loved all and was loved by all, and though one might have thought otherwise, those feelings included her little sister more than anyone.
"I'm here!" screamed Starfire as she flew into the opposite end of the arena.
The arena was a fully enclosed cubicle about fifty yards by fifty yards, with two small "nets" at opposing ends about four by two yards. The cubicle was made of a fully transparent material that was fairly heat resistant. This was a necessity, for starbolts would be striking the walls constantly. There were two small holes in the ground near the beginning where the head-sized spheres of an inflated leather-like material would be randomly expelled into the playing field. The balls were set to deflate as soon as they touched the netting so that they would not block up the net. One more hole was near the far edge of the arena, and this was used to establish total vacuum within the playing field.
The game was simple: neither player could touch each other or the balls. Starbolts and only starbolts were to be used to strike the balls. The goal of the game was to land balls in the opposing member's "net" to score points. One point was given for each time a player scored, and one point was lost if a player touched or was touched by a ball. The game usually lasted ten minutes, although many games were played with longer or shorter times. Of course, one could not strike the opponent with a starbolt.
As a side note, players were encouraged to use low heat starbolts, as hotter ones could damage the transparent walls. Really, few things could stand up to fully heated starbolts. The game was considered an elite sport, as few Tamaranians could withstand the outer space conditions and fewer still could use starbolts. Those gifted with such abilities were usually done so by hereditary factors, although, like most things, there was an element of chance involved. Sometimes a baby would be born with unusually high strength that was unprecedented in the family line. Other times, a strong family would yield a relatively weak child.
Starfire took a moment to look at the hundreds of spectators before she snapped back to the present. Her usual goofy smile of anticipation came over her face when she played this game. Truthfully, she enjoyed it very much.
"Ready!" exclaimed Starfire. Her hands lit up with green energy as she floated a few feet off the ground. The crowd cheered, and some could be heard chanting her name in Tamaranian.
"Koriand'r! Koriand'r!"
Blackfire stared at her sister with a competitive smile for a moment before floating into the air herself.
"Ready!" she whispered, as her hands glowed with a deep purple aura.
Everyone in the crowd seemed to go wild, from the young male guards who probably weren't technically allowed to be spectators to the older women of noble birth.
"Komand'r! Komand'r! Komand'r!"
A loud siren went off. All the air was immediately sucked out of the cubicle, and a single inflated ball was launched into the arena. It had begun.
Starfire hurled a (low heat but high speed) starbolt at the ball. It bounced silently towards Blackfire's end of the court. Blackfire seemed unconcerned and simply let it speed by her. A few in the crowd stood up in anticipation… only to be surprised as the ball narrowly missed Blackfire's net. It bounced off the adjacent wall and headed towards Starfire's end of the field. Suddenly, Blackfire launched a precisely timed starbolt into the ball, doubling its velocity and redirecting it slightly towards Starfire's net. Caught by surprise, Starfire launched an off target starbolt that didn't connect. The ball sailed by and right into her net.
The crowd cheered. A judge recorded the score by throwing a small pebble into a bowl marked "Blackfire". Starfire slapped her forehead with her palm while Blackfire seemed impatient for the next ball to be ejected.
The game wore on, sometimes with two or even three balls at once in the playing field. Starfire was actually quite good, but Blackfire was simply better – and cunning. She would deflect balls towards Starfire and force her to move lest she lose a point. This kept breaking Starfire's concentration, causing her to miss shots and make errors out of frustration.
After fifteen minutes of time, the game ended.
Blackfire: 28.
Starfire: 12.
Victory: uncontested.
---
Starfire hunched over her balcony's railing, staring off into the vast desert that surrounded the palace and covered seventy percent of Tamaran's surface. It was evening – the sky was a dark, deep blue, and slowly shifting to black. One of Tamaran's two moons was already visible, soon to be joined by hosts of stars.
"Hey! What's up sis?"
"EEP!" screamed a startled Starfire, as she turned around to see her sister gliding down to the balcony floor. "How did you…"
"Patience. Fly slowly and you can fly silently. What have you been doing all day?"
Starfire looked away and seemed to be trailing off, apparently inventing something. Blackfire stared her in the face and raised an eyebrow.
"Your lying skills are nonexistent, sis. Don't even bother trying."
Starfire scratched the back of her neck. "I was not lying. I was… thinking of a nice way to put it."
"Oh, wait a minute, I know what you've been up to!" accused Blackfire playfully. "I saw Galfore grumbling and mumbling the words 'dignity' and 'royalty' and 'Starfire' earlier. That probably means you were helping the servants unload the palace supplies from the caravan, doesn't it?"
"Mmmm… yes," said Starfire with a resigned tone.
Blackfire just smiled at the thought before speaking her mind. "He's just doing what he thinks your parents would. Not to mention, what tradition and our status demand."
"Oh, but sister, you do not think that it is wrong for me to…"
"Hey, it's all good with me," interjected Blackfire. "Although the pet rat you kept from one of the caravans is pushing it."
The two stood in silence for a moment. Blackfire thought of how… different her sister could be. At the same time, she thought of how truly special she was and how much she admired her little sister's honesty and humility. Starfire stared blankly at the pale white tiles on the floor and smiled, indicating anything from mild distraction to severe unhappiness.
"Don't worry sis, the old guy may be a little concerned when he sees you do 'inappropriate' things like that, but he's probably relieved at the same time. Pride has brought down a lot of kingdoms and rulers."
Starfire seemed to consider what Blackfire had said before arching her back over the balcony and looking off into the distance. Her hair fell down (up?) as she looked out across the desert.
"C'mon, there's a place I want to take you tonight."
Starfire perked up as her eyes widened. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see," replied Blackfire. "Can I, uh, borrow one of you purple outfits? I can't exactly go around like this and keep a low profile."
"Of course, sister," replied Starfire reluctantly. "But where…"
"See you in half an hour sis," interjected Blackfire, as she flew away towards her balcony on the other side of the palace.
Starfire stared perplexedly at the night sky for a few moments before stepping into her room.