Groans sounded from all around as the Hybrids collapsed to the ground, having just teleported for the umpteenth time. It was handy being able to jump from world to world without needing a spaceship and having to spend days at a time cooped up inside, but the constant teleporting did have it's down sides. For example the fact that almost every time they teleported the lost their balance and fell over. It was understandable. Teleporting to an entirely different world took a lot more effort and concentration than teleporting down the street to grab some milk.
But instead of the hard ground they normally landed on, Deity found her behind landing on a soft cushioning substance that let out a soft cracking sound as she sat down. Her hands flew back to stop herself from topping backwards and her hands went cold as they touched the ground. She looked back and smiled. Digging her fingers into the surface she pulled up a soft ball of ice and held it up to her face. Snow.
Not exactly the thing you expect to find in summer but maybe this planet had it's seasons at different times of year or maybe it was just a planet covered in snow. Like that planet from Star Wars that Winn threw a fit at every time Deity missed named it. Turning her hand over, Deity let the snow fall from her hand and land on back on the ground as she pushed herself up, the others doing the same.
"Nice to finally land on something soft for a change," Felix muttered as he stood up, stretching his back.
"What are you talking about-I've had plenty of soft lands," Sim said with a frown to the handsome man that glared back at him.
"That's because you always seem to land on top of me," Felix snarled.
"Oh, yeah," Sim said as if suddenly realising, his head tilted to side as he looked up at the sky.
"Alright you two. We've only been her two seconds, how about we try not to piss each other off for once," Kem suggested peacefully.
"You've got a better chance of winning the lottery than stopping those two from fighting," Ruby replied as she folded her arms, tucking her hands under her armpits to help fight of the cold. She wasn't the only one. Shea was copying her and the three men were also shivering, though it was unlikely any of them would admit to being cold. Deity was the only one unaffected which was because she still had her powers. She could feel the cold, but it was more like noticing the change in temperature when you walked into a different room of the house. It wouldn't take her long to adjust and then she'd be fine. Even her hands had quickly adapted to the snow so that when she held it it had felt like softer rock.
"I did buy a lottery ticket before we left Earth," Kem jested in return, prompting Ruby to shake her head. "D. Could you give us some juice?" Ruby asked turning to her cousin. A habit Ruby had picked up recently, referring to Deity as 'D'. It was the first nickname Deity had ever had, not including Debby, and she had to admit she liked it since it worked for both her aliases.
"Sure," Deity said stepping over to her cousin and holding out her hands. Ruby gratefully took the teenagers hands, a warm sigh floating out from her throat as Deity's hands glowed with yellow sunlight. Near instantly Ruby's body adjusted to the cold and she pulled back, her hands engulfing in flames to warm the others.
"Thanks," Ruby said as Deity charged up the others, returning their powers.
"It's nothing," Deity said as she finished charging up the last of the Hybrids.
"So, what's the plan?" Sim asked eagerly as he hopped from foot to foot. No longer freezing, just a result of his usual personality. The boy couldn't sit still no matter what you put in front of him. Put him in front of the beautiful sight in the universe and he'd run off to see something else.
"It'll be dark soon," Felix said looking up at the sky where a blue sun was starting to set, though unlike normal suns Deity found she was able to look at it for a good few seconds before black spots started to cloud her vision. It had looked like a icy sun, covered in a surface of ice with a burning centre to it. Almost like someone had left a light outside to freeze and then turned it on. It was nice to look at, but not for too long.
"We can start searching in the morning. For now let's just focus on finding shelter," Kem said as he looked around the snowy desert. Nothing but snow and sky in sight.
"Great. Would you rather go south, towards nothing, or North towards nothing?" Ruby asked rhetorically with a roll of the eyes to top it off.
"Relax, Roobs-I'll just go and scout out the place-Back in a sec," Sim said before vanishing with a streak of green lightning sparkling behind him.
"I thought you hated being called 'Roobs'?" Deity said as she looked up at her cousin who was glaring in the direction Sim had ran off in.
"I do," Ruby growled before a gust of wind blew her red hair into her face and Sim returned.
"There's a forest a couple of miles that way," Sim said pointing with an outstretched arm and a energetic smile.
"What about shelter?" Felix asked.
"Didn't you hear me?-I said there's trees that way," Sim said waving his hand towards the direction he'd been pointing to.
"Yes. But what but shelter?" Felix said through clenched teeth, already biting back his annoyance with the hyperactive Hybrid opposite him.
"We can build our own," Sim pointed out.
"What?" Deity asked with a frown.
"We cut down a few trees and build a log cabin-Me and Ruby stayed in one back on Earth-It was magical," Sim said with a little dreamy smile at the end. Everyone turned to Ruby with amazed looks, waiting for conformation.
"I don't want to talk about it," Ruby muttered as she blew her hair from her face and began marching off towards the forest that was no where in sight.
"We'll go and help her build ourselves a cabin. You keep an eye on Shea," Kem said as started to follow Ruby slowly with Sim and Felix doing the same.
"What do you mean?" Deity asked before turning to find Shea crouched down, tracing her index finger through the snow and making faces in it.
"Catch you later," Kem said with a two finger salute before turning and walking off after the other Hybrids. Deity watched them walk away before one by one they vanished at super speed. There was no doubt in her mind it would only take them a few minutes to complete the cabin. Compared to a few weeks ago when they couldn't do anything without arguing. The six had definitely come along way in their friendships.
She turned back to Shea. The younger girl was still crouched down, tracing her finger through the snow. Funny how the littlest thing seemed to make her look so serene and happy. Deity made her way over to the Hybrid, her boots squishing the snow beneath her as she went until she came to a stop beside Shea and crouched down. Before her were several tiny smily faces as well as some stick figure outlines in the snow. Deity leaned forward to examine one of the stick men, seeing that there were lightning bolts around him.
"Let me guess, that's Sim?" Deity said pointing to the stick figure.
"Yeah," Shea said as she continued to trace with her finger.
"Who else are you drawing?" Deity asked as she looked over the other stick figures. She could spot Ruby's stick figure easily, the one that was outlined with fire balls around her. The others were a little harder to distinguish. One of the stick men had brackets around him, another had a hole were his head should be and the last one had wavy lines coming out from all around him.
Deciding she could come back to them, Deity moved on to the most recent stick man Shea had drawn in the snow. This one had two dotes at either side.
"It's us," Shea answered when she saw Deity staring at her work.
"I can see that," Deity said still trying to work out who was who. "Is that you?" Deity asked, pointing to the stick figure in brackets.
"No," Shea giggled, as if it should be so obvious. Deity smiled, even after all the weeks of traveling Shea's laugh was one of the things that always seemed to make her smile. It was just so innocent and child like. Much like Shea herself, but she was slowly growing up. She'd been helpful in getting them around the universe and had managed to find a lead to another Hybrid all on her own. It hadn't lead to anything, much like the rest, but everyone had been proud of Shea for finding it by herself.
"That's Kem," Shea said pointing to the stick man in brackets. Deity hummed in understanding. She could see it now, the brackets were like his shields. Using that logic she looked over the remaining stick figures and took a guess at another one.
"Is that me?" Deity asked, pointing to the stick man with two dotes on either side.
"No," Shea giggled again. "That's me!" she said brightly. Deity's brow crunched up but she kept her smile to make sure Shea didn't take offence.
"Can you explain that one to me?"
"Sure," Shea said. "See that dotes?" Deity nodded. "Well, that one's were I've been and that one's where I'm going," She explained as her finger moved from one dote to the other. Deity hummed in understanding again. Not the best way of explaining the Hybrid's powers, she thought, but she wasn't about to say that out loud and potentially upset Shea. She knew she meant well and was just playing around.
"Alright, let's see if I can get one right," Deity said as her eyes narrowed in dramatic determination as she looked between the remaining stick figures. She thought over it for a moment, feeling Shea's smile on her before she made her choice.
"That one is me, isn't it," Deity said pointing to the stick figure with the wavy lines around him, certainty in her voice.
"Yes!" Shea squealed excitedly as she bobbed up at down. Deity could help but laugh, to which Shea quickly joined in.
"So that's Felix then," Deity stated pointing to the remaining stick man without a head. Shea nodded. "Is that because he can chance his head?" Again Shea nodded and Deity smiled, a little proud she got one right.
She then watched as Shea put her finger back in the snow, tracing it around the six stick figures she'd drawn before returning to where she'd started. She pulled her finger from the ground, a sweet smile taking over her lips. Happiness filled her eyes as she looked over the circle that bonded the six stick figures together. Shea looked up to Deity who smiled back at her, understanding what it was Shea had just done.
It was their new friendships, the ones they'd been developing over the past few weeks. But it was clearly more than that to Shea. It was more like family. Deity already had a family. One back on Earth with Kara and one she couldn't remember in Ruby. Although, maybe there was room for one more. After all, like she and her mom had tried to tell Astra, family isn't just who you share blood with.
Deity lifted up her hands and pulled Shea into a hug, squeezing her tightly as if she were a teddy bear. Shea squeezed back just as tightly and the remained crouched in the snow as they embraced.
"Okay. Now it's my turn to show you something," Deity said as she pulled away from Shea so that she could stand up. Shea watched patiently from the ground, staring up at Deity before watching her out stretch her arms and then fall backwards. She landed flat on her back and She gasped a little as she jumped up to her feet.
"Are you okay?" Shea asked in a panicked voice.
"It's alright, Shea. Just watch," Deity said before she began moving her arms and legs back and forth. After a few seconds she was done and floated up into the air before landing next to Shea and turning back to look over her work. Not as good as the one she'd done with Kara and Alex back on Earth but still good enough to make Shea stare in awe.
"What's that?" Shea whispered in child like curiosity.
"That's a snow angel. I have no idea why, but that's what it's called," Deity said as she smiled at the still amazed Shea who looked as if she'd just seen some fantastic work of art.
"Can you show me how to do one," Shea begged turning to Deity
"Sure," Deity said. "So first, you want to stretch out your arms, like this," Deity said as she held out her arms, Shea did the same. "That's it. Now, fall backwards. Don't worry the snow will soften the fall."
"Like, Felix does for Sim," Shea asked and Deity laughed.
"Yes. Exactly like that." Shea nodded before closing her eyes tight and falling backwards, landing with the sound of crushing snow filling her ears. When she giggled Deity knew she'd landed safely.
"Great, now start to move your arms and legs back and forth like I did." Shea followed her instructions, smiling all the while until Deity was sure she was finished.
"And that's you done," Deity announced, clapping her hands together. After that Shea kept going for a little while, for some reason enjoying herself before finally she floated up out of the snow and landed next to Deity. They both looked over their mirroring snow angels and smiled.
"It's so pretty," Shea said as she leaned towards Deity, resting her head on Deity's arm.
"Yeah. It is," Deity admitted as she looked over the two shapes in the ground. Remembering the first time she'd done this with Kara and Alex. She couldn't help but smile as her reaction had been near the same as Shea's. She was really missing her mom and aunt. Hopefully they'd find another Hybrid soon, at least then it would feel like this was all worth it.
"Is there anything else you learnt about snow?" Shea asked hopefully as she looked up at Deity, eager to learn more. Deity tilted her head and thought. There was one other thing that she'd learnt on Earth, though that had been James and Winn who taught it to her. Or rather they initiated it and then she, Kara Alex and Lucy joined in.
Bending down, Deity grabbed a small pile of snow, before crunching it up into a ball in her hands. Then before Shea had a chance to ask, Deity threw the snowball and it hit Shea in the shoulder before exploding and leaving a whitened stain on her jacket.
"Snowball fight!" Deity declared before snow filled her mouth as Shea threw a snowball at her face. Apparently this one didn't need as much an explanation. When another snow ball came her way, she super speeded off to the side and quickly made three snowballs in the process.
"Are we allowed to use powers?" Shea asked as Deity held up one of the three snowballs.
"It's a snowball fight. There are no rules," Deity said before throwing the snowball only to have Shea disappear. Deity searched around but before she could find the younger Hybrid another snowball hit her in the cheek. She turned to find Shea stood right next to her and also one snow ball down. Shea had snatched it up while she hadn't been looking.
"Okay, maybe we do need a few rules," Deity suggested as a line crossed her brow. Shea just giggled before teleporting again only for another snowball to hit Deity in the back of the head a second later. More laughter filled the air until Deity silenced it with two new snowballs to the knee. The added force of her super strength had been enough to flip Shea up and land on her face. But when she lifted her head up, face cover in the white powder, she was still laughing.
—
"What's taking Deity and Shea so long?" Ruby wondered aloud as she stood outside the newly built cabin. Arms folded across the chest as she looked out over the forest, the snowy wasteland lying just ahead.
"Relax. They're smart kids, they no what they're doing. Deity's probably just explaining something to her…like christmas," Kem said. He was stood beside her, also looking out over the forest. Felix was inside cooking their dinner which he and Sim had retrieved with ease. Though that hadn't stopped him from complaining about it. As it turned out he was quiet the cook, at least when Sim left him alone. So they sent Sim out to check the forest, make sure they didn't get any unwelcome visitors, knowing full well it was unlikely they would. It was just a distraction, one they'd used many times.
"Maybe I should go out a look for them. Just to be safe," Ruby said looking over to Kem for conformation or more importantly agreement. He just grinned that constant knowing grin of his. Knowing what he was about to say, Ruby turned away with a preemptive roll of the eyes.
"They'll be fine. Deity can easily handle anything you or I can and if Shea's in trouble she knows to teleport and find us," Kem said with a relaxed shrug.
"But what if-" Ruby began before she spotted two figures making their way through the trees towards them. Both were covered in patches of snow. She let them get a bit closer, ready to pounce suddenly with her super speed, but held herself back when she saw the yellow cape behind one of the figures.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Ruby groaned as Deity and Shea came to a stop. Her younger cousin smiling enthusiastically away while Shea smiled nervously back.
"What happened to you two?" Kem asked with a grin as he looked both girls over.
"Snowball fight," Deity answered, as if it was a reasonable excuse.
"A snowball fight-What's that?-And more importantly why didn't you guys invite me-I bet I'm terrific at snowball fights-Have you ever thought about the word 'terrific'?" Sim said as he came to a stop beside the group.
"No," Ruby cut in before Sim could continue.
"So when's dinner?" Deity asked as Ruby turned back to her, trying her best to glare only to end up smiling. With Ruby's smile, Shea relaxed a little more a spoke up.
"I didn't think a snowball fight would make me this hungry," Shea admitted, teasingly as she rubbed her stomach. A small growl then sounding from inside her.
"Come on. Let's get you to inside and cleaned up. I'm sure dinner's almost ready," Kem said as he gestured for the two girls to make their way over to the cabin.
"It is!" Felix called from inside the house, having been listening in the whole time apparently.
Maybe they were a family, Deity thought as they all piled into the house.