Hello and welcome to Star Tales!

This was an idea that came to me one night after playing Honkai Star Rail. There's so much wacky humor involved when you aren't fighting or following the main quest that made me laugh often. It's really fun as a space fantasy comedy so why not lean more into that? This is a series of stories about days in the lives of your favorite characters. I hope you enjoy!

"I won't fall over. I won't fall over. I won't fall over. I won't fall over. I won't fall over. I won't fall over. I won't fall over!"

March 7th repeated those words over and over. Standing aboard a moving trolley in the city of Belobog, the photo-loving trailblazer was braced for what was coming. Now that the stellaron crisis had been resolved on Jarvio-Vi, the planet had begun its slow yet important process of healing. Both the world and its people. The Overworld and Underworld were no longer separated, and the Eternal Freeze was beginning to vanish which would allow this world to survive and expand. A successful trailblazing adventure with a happy conclusion if March said so herself. (Despite a few hiccups here and there. She'd be weary of hotels for a while) Now that the Astral Express Crew's work was done, it wouldn't be long before they all returned to the Astral Express and rode the space rail towards their next adventure. Which would mean another chance for March to complete her goal. March stood dead center in the moving trolley, ignoring the strange looks fellow passengers were giving her.

Her face showed determination as the driver's hand approached the trolley's break lever.

This would be it. Her toes were clenched, and shoulders scrunched. Last time she was too skittish like a trotter fleeing from her bow. Perhaps the key was taking the lasting force head on? To be an immovable object against an unstoppable force. That sounded right, right? Nothing would bring her down!

Creeeeeeek!

"Aaaah!"

Down went March. The laws of physics took one look at the trailblazer and decided forward was as good a direction as any. Her balance disappeared and she ended up face planting onto the metal floor. This blow was nothing compared to the hits taken from fragmentum monsters or metal robots she faced on the planet. Although her health wasn't at a hundred percent anymore. The driver woefully shook his head at the poor girl while passengers stepped around the human shaped floor decoration.

"Owwiee." March rubbed her aching nose to try to soothe the pain. Another swing and a miss. That made six attempts and six failures. One more and she'd be living up to her name. Which meant next was attempt number seven, her lucky number! It was commonly agreed and debated among the universe that the number seven was indeed the luckiest number of all. Although to the trolly driver, the charm of March falling again and again had gotten lost after the third attempt. After long enough the trolley resumed its course as the cutest trailblazer picked herself up. Down but not out, March hopped back on her feet for another go. "All right. Next time for sur—"

Creeeeeeek!

March let out an embarrassing shriek.

Out of nowhere, the trolley driver brought the vehicle to a sudden stop. Once again March was reintroduced to the trolly's floor. Another chunk of HP crashed out of her.

For some time the trolley continued to go nowhere. An obstacle in the road was preventing them from moving forward. Some bozo was standing on the tracks preventing the Belobog service vehicle from advancing forward as per safety regulations. The driver periodically rang their trolley bell to get them off the road.

Outside the vehicle, a grey-haired male heroic individual stood with his face buried in his phone looking over interstellar tasks. Unaware of the public disturbance he was causing as he scrolled through his phone. Salvage an item? Check. Defeat 20 enemies? Check. Delegate Assignments. Check. Complete the daily mission… Maybe next time. This individual was known as the savior of Belobog who was said to wield both the power of both destruction and preservation. He could go by many names but for the sake of consistency he'd go by Caelus. All of Caelus's daily jobs were complete, which meant the rest of the day was his to do as he saw fit. He just wasn't sure what to do with this free time. Perhaps checking out that museum of Belobog's history, catch a show at the theater, or visit his new friends across the planet. Thankfully they were always in the same location. There was so much to do that Caelus wasn't sure where to start.

Eventually, the never-ending ringing of the trolley bell snapped him out of his thoughts. It looked like a fine vessel of transportation. The second greatest one he'd ever seen behind the astral express. Though that probably didn't mean much since he'd only been born a few days ago on Herta's space station. Maybe this ringing was a sign to come aboard? The fabled call to adventure trope he'd read from a page of a book that was lying around. Who was he to deny the yell of destiny? Caelus answered the call to adventure loud and clear. Up till now he'd never ventured beyond the gates of the administrative district due to emergency-ration sounding voices telling him to come back later or other reasons. Maybe this trolly could take him to a fabled new area. New people with troubles who'd reward with stellar jade. Or even better, trash cans that've yet to be explored!

"Hey! Either get on or get out of the way." The driver screamed.

Since his dailies… er work was done for the day, Caelus figured it was time to try something new in his short-lived life. He boarded the trolley much to the annoyance of the driver. Upon entry, he immediately noticed the March 7th shaped person laying on the floor.

March looked up.

Caleus looked down.

There were a few things he could say. Three choices organized in a collum for the convenience of choosing. Options spaced out before him that he had to choose one of in order to progress. Stating the obvious. Saying something witty. Or saying nothing at all. Caleus remained emotionless for a few seconds deciding which of the three to pick. Caelus squinted in confusion. "You're supposed to sit on the chairs. Not the floor."

"I know that!" March snapped back. She took her seat next to Caelus as the trolley finally continued on its way. She'd only known for a few days back on Madam Herta's Space Station and he was by no means a bad person. He was just… odd. There could be something serious going on and he'd say some ridiculous to break up the tension. Or do something stupid enough that she'd have to pretend not to know him in public. Caelus was pretty strange for a guy who had no memories. And that was coming a memory-erased individual such as herself. There was a line between normal and insanity. Caelus played hop-scotch on that line.

"Are you going somewhere?" Caelus asked.

"Nowhere really. I'm just riding the trolley."

"…"

"I'm not doing anything weird. I'm riding it for training!"

"…"

"Hey, don't give me that 'March is going crazy' look. I'm preparing for our departure. Now that Belobog is saved, we'll be going to another planet once we get back on the Astral Express. And to get there means making another warp jump. I want to be ready this time so I can stay standing when we jump across the universe!"

Warp Jump? Oh right. Pom-Pom had mentioned the Astral Express could do that when leaving Herta's Space Station. A leap across space that could travel millions of miles in the blink of an eye. Back then March had been trying to remain upright once Astral Express made the journey. Despite Pom-Pom's warning. In the epic battle between March and the laws of physics, the latter seized victory.

"Why do you want to do that?"

March stared out the window, resting her head on her palm. It was a good question, why did she wanna do this? It wasn't like she'd get an achievement for doing this. After her first warp jump on the express, a thought popped into March's head asking if she could do this. Maybe she was a daredevil in her forgotten memories who took on challenges for the thrill of it. Like how a mountain climber made their way up to the highest peaks. All because they could. In the end it was just something she felt like doing so she wanted to do it.

"I just want to. Only it's a lot harder than it looks." March sheepishly admitted. Considering the last attempt on the express was a disaster, March figured she'd start smaller this time. If she could just remain standing on something like a trolley, it'd be a huge step to conquering the warp jump. And once she did, she could use that knowledge for the real deal. "Every time I try, I keep falling over. I've tried standing still, crouching, jumping, standing sideways, leaning, and even standing backwards! But nothing's working."

"Have you tried holding onto something."

"That'd be cheating. I have to remain standing all by myself for it to count."

Caelus nodded sagely. This was a battle to defy the very laws the ruled the universe. Simple methods weren't going to cut it. "So all you have to do to complete this training is stay standing?"

"That's right. I just need to be standing upright when the trolley finishes moving. Only… I keep falling over. Right when I think I got it, I end up losing my balance at the last second."

Caelus pondered for a moment. "So as long as you don't fall over it counts…"

March sighed. "Maybe I'm trying too hard."

The stellaron-wielding vessel pondered the scenario. "Or maybe you aren't trying hard enough. You can't just do nothing against this kind of enemy."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Whatever Caelus was putting down, March wasn't picking up.

"I've got a plan."

/-/

Up ahead, on the rail tracks, a trolley stop was in sight.

"Ready March?"

"Ready!"

March literally took a stand, getting into position in the center of the vehicle. Watching from the rear-view mirror, the driver shook his head. These were supposedly the heroes from beyond the stars who saved their civilization. He now understood what one should never meet their heroes.

"This time I won't fall over for sure!

Caelus gave a supportive thumbs up while the trolley driver pointed his thumb in the opposite direction.

March sensed the success. This time, she wouldn't fall over. As the driver gripped the brake, March 7th jumped into action. Literally. She leaped backwards like a trotter leaping into a wormhole to safety.

Caleus and her had worked together to come up with an ingenious plan. All this time, she'd been trying to face the external forces for a fast-moving vehicle slowing down head on which wasn't working. This time she was going to make physics work for instead of against her. If she moved backwards while the trolley's outwards momentum pushed her forward, she should end up in the same spot where she stood. And it wouldn't be just a regular jump. Something of this caliber deserved 110% of all the acrobatics March could muster. A one step forward then one step backward plan of action. Just imagining it in her head made March realize it was crazy. Crazy enough that it should work.

The key word in that sentence being should.

As the trolly driver gripped the break lever, March leapt backward, twisting and turning her body to attempt a full rotation. As March's face approached the roof, she realized she'd neglected two very important facts.

March had the trolly to have come to a sudden halt, not a gentle slowing down.

The trolley was a lot smaller than she realized.

March flipped through the air, performing a somersault and then bonking her head on the roof. Which had her bellyflop onto the metal floor with an artistic splash. In the seats some of the passengers stared at the body while others winced as they witnessed the act. Caelus folded his arms. T'was an ambitious maneuver March had attempted. Her start was strong as not many would attempt the aerial somersault to lead off with. Still, he had to give her points just for attempting a difficult maneuver. Caelus held up a blank sheet with the number seven hastily scribbled onto it.

March slowly raised her head. A large bump parted through her pink hair and her swirly eyes making it hard to look at her friend. "I don't… wanna be alone…" Despite facing missile launching robots and an engine of creation turned destruction, the trolley had managed to KO one of Belobog's heroes. The trolley was perhaps the most dangerous machine they'd faced on this planet.

"Is she okay?" One bystander asked no one in particular.

Caleus knelt by his swirly eyed friend. Despite housing the power of a world-ending stellaron in his body, his current skill set only included the abilities of destruction and preservation. Alas, maybe next time he'd gain the powers of abundance to help his comrade. He scooped up his fallen friend, propping March under his arm like she was colorful luggage to depart. He stepped off the trolley towards… wherever in Belobog this was. A cold chill blew past him, soothing the bump on March's head like a makeshift ice pack. Maybe there was a silver lining to all this. Who knows? Maybe this head injury would unlock some of March's forgotten memories. Or cause her to lose even more of them. Like the chances of rolling for a guest off the Astral Express worth five stars, the chances were 50/50.

Either way, they'd continue to blaze a trail towards whatever lied ahead.

Thank you for reading. I took inspiration from the game itself. See how many easter eggs you can spot!

If you would like to see more of these please drop me a review to let me know. I have more ideas in mind I can't wait to share.