War Before Time Chapter 13
Playing with Stars
"Leaflet, I wanna play with the stars," Cygnet declared.
Arwin perked up. Her eyes snapped to the little swimmer and her leaflet. Even the questionably dubbed, nigh stoic threehorn, 'Peachy', glanced in her direction, but it wasn't enough to actually see her. With the swimmer riding on his back, there was no way to peek at what she was doing for some second hand fun. However, there was nothing stopping Arwin from watching.
Cygnet raised that leaflet to the sky, gazing through it. Stars twinkled to life through the leaflet, the veil of blue and clouds that concealed them instantly peeled back as its green turned to black. She moved the leaflet around for varied views of the twinkling lights, squinting against the evening light.
"That looks nice ..." Cygnet muttered.
She tapped the leaflet and the stars fixed themselves on its surface, even when she lowered it away from the sky. At its centre, something ... strange appeared. Or rather, it didn't. That was half of the weirdness. The only way to see it was by looking at the stars around it. They slowly accelerated towards it, elongated and vanished into nothing. It still gave Arwin chills. All of the stars on the leaf slowly moved towards it. Arwin knew how this would go. Once they reached it, they would stretch in and disappear. Then there was the tiny stone of cold fire that blazed a brilliant trail of blue from the leaf's fringe. It bounced between the edges, but its path always curved towards the invisible thing at the centre of the leaf. If it got too close, Arwin knew it would disappear like any star. Not if Cygnet could help it. That was the goal: to keep the stone of cold fire from getting sucked into the centre. There were three ways to do that.
One, by pressing her finger against a star. This caused the stone to circle around it once close enough, slinging in any direction depending on when she released it.
Two, tracing a line between stars with her finger, creating connective lines the stone could bounce off of. These lines blinked and disappeared after two heartbeats. Likewise, only two could exist at a time.
Three, touching the area occupied by a star with two fingers and pulling them apart would make the star burst, blasting the stone away from it if nearby. It was the simplest, most surefire way to save the stone, but at the expense of a star that could save it in the future. Sometimes, after a while, these dead stars became miniature variants of the thing that would eat them at the centre, compounding the challenge.
To think that it all happened on a tiny leaflet. If someone tried to explain it to Arwin's past self, she would have failed to grasp the basic concept while trying to slip away from the blatantly insane individual. Accepting its existence? That was one thing. Having it as part of every everyday life? That was a different level of unbelievable. There was something fundamentally ... out of place about seeing Cygnet interact with the leaflet, as though it didn't belong in her little paws. However, she wasn't merely interacting with it.
She was mastering it.
Cygnet's paws danced across the leaflet, sending the stone of cold fire bouncing, spinning and blasting everywhere and anywhere except the centre that slowly consumed the other stars. There were always more stars, slowly pulling in from the edges of the leaflet, but they were converging on the centre with increasing speed. It made no difference. Cygnet's plays were swift and brilliant, portraying a mind that was always one step ahead of the game. Wait, was the leaflet somehow making her smarter? Any normal, fairly smart person would struggle with the leaflet's game, but Cygnet? She almost made it look as easy as breathing.
Oh, the irony ... If the Rainbow Faces were to be believed, not too long ago, she wasn't breathing at all. Arwin briefly thought about the stiffness in her neck. If she bent it far enough? The beginnings of a shooting pain would flare up, like a long, impossibly thin claw that somehow went deep and out the other side. She could tell exactly where IT happened. The neck was slightly numb from a point up. Her entire perception of the world was just a little off, a bit fuzzy around the edges, but it was getting better. Somehow, they'd brought her back from the edge of The Circle. Her friends told her she looked fine, but she wondered if she'd find subtle signs of horrific marks to tell the tale if she looked close enough. What did she look like when they found her? She preferred not to think about that too deeply.
The stone was zooming dangerously close to the centre with very few escape possibilities! Arwin gave a sharp gasp. It startled Cygnet. Oh, the swimmer did have a plan, but her paw wasn't fast enough to make it happen. The stone finally disappeared into the centre.
Cygnet looked back at the spectating longneck whose face hovered uncomfortably closely behind her.
Arwin chuckled self-consciously. "I caused that, didn't I?"
"Yup!" chirped Cygnet. "No biggie. I should have focused harder. Hey, you wanna give it a try?"
"Umm ... no thanks," declined Arwin. "The last time you let me use that thing, I poked a hole in it with my claw."
"Yup!" confirmed the swimmer.
"Then you screamed and cried for the entire night ..." Arwin added.
Another "Yup!"
"... and it attracted sharpteeth," winced Arwin.
"Yup, yup, yup!" giggled Cygnet. "The best part was finding out the leaflet could heal, so I'd been weeping my eyes out for nothing! So, what do you say? Wanna give the leaflet a go?"
Arwin shrunk back. "How do you know it will always heal?"
Cygnet shrugged. "Apogee's here. If he could fix your neck, he could fix a leaflet no problem. I bet he can fix anything!"
"I suppose so," Arwin agreed, caressing her neck with her forepaw. "Better safe than sorry, though."
The swimmer shrugged again. "Okie dokie!"
Cygnet sighed, reclining on Peachy's back as she basked in the euphoria of her hyperbaric bubble. About a third of the herd was sporting such bubbles on their heads and smiles on their faces. Whether or not the bubbles covered their whole bodies seemed to depend on how large they were. As one of the smallest of the small, Cygnet's entire body was encompassed by its comforting presence. Sometimes, it was good to be a pipsqueak. Peachy had opted out of getting a bubble. When Apogee asked, he stared at him all suspicious-like before giving his best attempt at a polite shake of the head. Peachy was cautious like that. So was Arwin. That longneck was watching her closely, in case it ... well, Cygnet honestly didn't know what it could do. It wasn't like it could bite her ... probably. Picky, on the other paw, was relishing his bubble without a care in the world.
Arwin didn't know how she felt about these bubbles. They seemed to be affecting her friends' behaviour. Cygnet was, by nature, tentative, borderline pessimistic and maybe a little paranoid. As unfortunate as that was, Arwin could relate. The swimmer was also pragmatic and resourceful in a pinch ... usually. Her leaflet was literally a lifesaver. For all her pros and cons, Cygnet was never this bubbly. After a day like this, Arwin could understand some giddiness. The sense of victorious relief was dizzying, even if they had an uncertain path ahead of them. It wasn't out of the question that the comfort bubble and Apogee's return could push her a little out of character. She had always talked about him given an opportunity, even before she knew his name. She'd even ask random strangers if they'd seen him, much like orphaned hatchlings of The Mysterious Beyond often did when looking for their lost parents. Now that he was here, Cygnet, for the first time since Arwin met her, seemed absolutely settled, content and, better yet, joyful.
"If a meteor were to fall from the sky and end the world right now, I'd be sort of okay with it," Cygnet announced whimsically.
Arwin's big sister instincts kicked in hard. "Maybe we should get you out of that thing."
"NO! IT'S MINE!" Cygnet blurted, before tempering her crazy. "Wait ... let me rephrase that real quick."
"Toooo late," Arwin grimaced.
"I mean ... I'm fine, I'm just really happy, that's all. It's not that often we get to feel completely at ease, so I'd really like to savour this, y'know?"
Arwin raised an unconvinced eyebrow. "Mm hm."
"Look, I get it: in The Mysterious Beyond, it's safer to think that everything is out to get us," Cygnet reasoned, "but I trust The Rainbow Faces ... well, one of them, at least. Besides, if they wanted to hurt us, I don't think there's anything we could do to stop them."
Arwin released a defeated sigh. "Yeah, but that was still a pretty extreme thing to say. Can't blame a girl for worrying."
"You got me there, Mom," Cygnet sassed with a smirk, "although last I checked, I'm just a little older than you."
"I know, but my eyes don't think that when they see you," Arwin smiled.
"'Eyes don't thin'-?" Cygnet shook away the questionable logic. "Never mind. What do they ... 'think'?"
"'She smol and fren-shaped! Me protecc at all costs'!" Arwin quoted in baby talk.
Cygnet burst into giggles, which further chipped away at her image as the older of the girls.
"Fine," the swimmer conceded. "I'm actually super ugly by swimmer standards, so I'll take it."
"What? Why?" asked Arwin.
"Pale scales, pink eyes," Cygnet clarified.
Arwin squinted. "That's it?"
"Yes," Cygnet stated simply.
Arwin frowned. No 'yup'? Just a flat 'yes'? Despite her proclivities as a swimmer, Cygnet's preference for their go-to word was not a rule. She could go for a 'yes' almost as easily as a 'yup'. However, Arwin knew her well enough to pick up the nuances. Sometimes, a 'yup' meant 'happy', and a 'yes' meant 'start worrying, she's in a bad place'.
"Yeah, well, other swimmer standards suck," Arwin declared.
"Not so sure about that," Cygnet argued. "I've been thinking it over and, maybe, some of the things we don't like are based on whether they're good for us or not. For example, most swimmers are green, or brown. It's not just swimmers, either. It's most folks. That makes us hard to see when we're among green food and sharpteeth are looking for us. Pale scales are easy to spot, so I guess I'm ugly because it puts my friends and I in danger."
Arwin stared at her. "Did ... you come up with those ideas all on your own?"
"Yes," Cygnet confirmed as though it wasn't a big deal. "It just makes sense."
Arwin shook away the surprise and focused on what mattered at the time. "First of all, you're not ugly. Second, that doesn't apply to everyone. For instance, fast runners and threehorns see bright colours as a good thing."
"'Pale' and 'bright' are not the same," Cygnet corrected. "Besides, fast runners are fast and threehorns are big," Cygnet shrugged. "They have other ways of dealing with their problems."
"Swimmers can take to the water," added Arwin.
"So can belly draggers," countered Cygnet. "They're actually better at swimming than we are."
"In that case, threehorns and fast runners aren't safe either," Arwin argued. "Some sharpteeth are bigger than threehorns, and fast biters can pretty much keep up with fast runners."
"True. I guess it's more complicated than I thought, but all kinds have standards that keep them alive," Cygnet reasoned. "Even when we meet those standards, we can live long, but not forever. We can hide, run or fight but we can't always win. It's barely enough. My guess is anyone who falls too far below 'barely enough' is more easily considered a lost cause. For instance, threehorns have four legs. Fast runners have two. Even though threehorns have more, if they lose a leg, no one thinks: 'It's okay. You still have three left.' They end up being seen as lesser to everyone else, because the standard for threehorns is four legs. Threehorns aren't born to get by with less than four legs."
Arwin was stunned. ~Did she seriously think of this all by herself?~
"Likewise, swimmers aren't supposed to get by looking like me," Cygnet declared. "It's not just how I look, you know. I get hot in The Bright Circle's light more easily than other swimmers, and I can barely look in its direction."
Arwin fixed her with a glare. "It sounds like you're saying you're not supposed to be alive."
Cygnet's eyes darted about in discomfort. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head before meeting Arwin's gaze.
"Am I, though?" the swimmer finally asked.
"Who gets to decide that?" pressed Arwin.
"The Circle of Life, maybe?" Cygnet replied.
"Thinking you don't belong in The Circle of Life brings you one step closer to getting kicked out of it!" Arwin snapped. "You think The Valley Guard cared about The Circle of Life when they started hunting sharpteeth and surviving everything that came at them?" Her eyes shifted away from the swimmer. "Besides, there are greater things than The Circle of Life, and you're a part of that."
Cygnet followed Arwin's gaze towards The Rainbow Faces. A smile lifted her beak.
"Yeah ... I guess you're right," the swimmer finally conceded.
"Hey, what's that 'meteor' thing you talked about earlier, anyway?" asked Picky. "Is it, like, the Stone of Cold Fire we've all been dreaming of?"
"Uh ... Yesn't?" Cygnet guessed. "I'm not sure if that qualifies. It's a flying rock, or a falling rock, when it gets caught by the ... um ... invisible grabby thing that pulls us down every time we jump. What was that called again? Oh yeah! 'Grabidy'!"
The leaflet buzzed unpleasantly, startling Cygnet. She raised it in front of her and examined the surface.
"Oh, I said that wrong. It's ... 'Gee-rav-eet-eye'?"
*BZZZ!*
Cygnet focused on the leaflet. Arwin was curious as to what it could be showing her that held relevance. All she saw were strange shapes.
"What's that?" asked Arwin.
"It's a word," Cygnet explained, as though that made any sense.
Arwin took a second gander at it. "Aren't ... words something that has to come out of your mouth?"
"Not always. Mouth words are just sounds, but they mean stuff, the same way these are just shapes, but they mean things," Cygnet elaborated. "You can look at the shapes, and know the sounds they're supposed to make. You can also hear the sounds, and know the shapes that mean the same thing as the sounds. "
Arwin scrutinised the shapes. "But I'm looking at them right now and I can't tell what they sound like."
"You have to learn first," added Cygnet.
"Hm, okay," Arwin conceded. "Then what word is it?"
Cygnet's smile turned upside down as she fidgeted.
"Uh ... maybe ... 'grav-eye-tie'?" she attempted.
*BZZZ!*
She groaned. "The thing about these silly shapes is that the same one can make different sounds, but you know what they say because they always follow certain rules except when they don't. Confused? Good. Welcome to the herd. Alright, leaflet, I give up. What's the word?"
A fesẗ̸̘́ering ̵̙̀sẉ̸͊ā̵̗r̵̮̊m of̵̱̐ sm̸̥͋ḁ̸̛llĕ̸̖r̵̭̀ shap̶̣̄es̵̤͑ appeared around the big ones.
g̷̞͉̋r̶̺̓́ȧ̷̞̹ͅv̴̢̥͕̈́ḯ̵̭̻̠̍̽t̴͇͑̌̕ȳ̸̝̲͍_̵͓̩͋͐ͅģ̷͔̺̇R̶̰̓͐͌ͅṟ̴̨̞͑͠Á̵̯͕͓̈́̔ṿ̶̤̼͌Ỉ̵͔͊͘ţ̷̧͂Y̴͕͐̏_̴̢̹͊͠G̶͍̘̤̀͂͝R̷̺̥̈́͆̅A̸̮̓̆̓V̴̳̰̀̂I̴̾͜T̶̹̘͚̀̊Y̷͔̲̆͝_̶̡̼̟̇͗͠Ǵ̵̯Ŕ̶͈Ä̶̧͙́V̸̖̲̍Ī̴̠̏T̵̻̲͌̆Y̵̛̹̏͒!̶͉͐͝
̶̴̡̞̖͋͋͗͜͝_̵̹͕͓̈́g̷̖̜̫͗r̷̼̆ȁ̷̦͋v̷̻̦͜͠i̸̻͔͈͝t̶̩̼̠͐́y̸͙̯̒͝͝_̵͖̍g̸͚̻̘̔̚͘r̵͚̘̦̒â̶̢͍̬̽͘v̴̨̗͌̂͊͜ȉ̸̲̜͇t̷̚ͅy̸̻̤̋̎_̴̪͐͘G̶̝̓R̵͔̍͌͠A̸͍̬͈̾̓͝V̴̧̾͛I̶̡̹͊͘Ṱ̴̚Y̸̻̜̞͋͌!̴͔͚͉̈́
G_̸̮̂͠R_̷̭̬̍̈A_̵̼̼͋̓͒V_̶̱͎͛̉͗I_̸̻̤͓̋͑̊T_̵̬̍̈́̓Y
_G_
.̸̢̙̞̳̫̭̂͂͂̏̊̔̚
_R_
.̶͔̖̹͕̫̃̉́͌̀̇̋́ͅ
_A_
.̴̲͈̺̲͙̃̓
_V_
.̶̻̣̇̏͛̀͒
_I_
.̸̨̜͕̞̰̳̂͐̎̑͊̈́̌̽
_T_
.̶̖͈̿̑̉̆
_Y_
Arwin averted her eyes, but it was too late. Those new, tiny shapes did something to her. They were in her head, buzzing, pitching and scuttling about like creepy crawlers. She could almost hear them, like malformed words at the tip of her tongue. It was-
"Oh, it's 'gravity'!" Cygnet declared, interrupting Arwin's thoughts.
*Bzzz ...* the leaflet replied approvingly.
"Whawuzz ... what wuzzat?" slurred Arwin, one eye squeezed shut and the other spazzing out.
Peachy gave her a concerned look.
Cygnet winced vicariously. "Sorry. The big shapes, you have to learn, but those tiny shapes? You just understand them from the beginning. The problem is sometimes they stick in your mind like stringy green food that didn't go down right, or caves of many voices that won't stop yelling back at you ... or a bump to the head that leaves your brain foggy. Judging from your everything, that's happening to you right now. You're gonna be okay, Winnie."
The longneck shook her head as if attempting to remove the sensation. "Thankzz. My ... brane? I hazz a ... whatza 'brain'?"
"Ooh! I know!" exclaimed Picky. "It's that wrinkly, thinky thing inside your head!"
The other youngsters stared at him.
"What?" he asked. "Mommy didn't raise no dummy."
"So your mommy taught you thizz?" Arwin supposed, having regained more control of her tongue.
"No one taught me. I just know it when I see it," Picky clarified.
"What do you mean, 'see it'?" pressed Arwin.
"Well, Mommy and me got chased by sharpteeth every now and then," Picky explained, "but she didn't like running, and she was really good at hitting super hard, so-"
"Hoookay, we get it!" Arwin hastily interrupted.
"Maybe knowing about brains is just one of the things The Rainbow Faces put in our heads," theorised Cygnet.
"That makes sense, but how come Picky of all people knew about this before me?" blurted Arwin. "... No offense?"
"Some taken, actually!" Picky huffed.
"Well, if you wanna catch up with Picky, why not ask them for a special leaflet?" Cygnet suggested with a teasing giggle as she pointed at The Rainbow Faces.
The kids turned their attention upon the said individuals. The female Rainbow Face seemed to be locked in a heated staring contest with a tuft of grass. However, 'heated' might not have been the appropriate choice of words. They felt the ambient temperature drop, just a little, as the air around the grass began to shimmer. Icy blue flames sparked to life and feasted upon it, but they didn't stop there. Like vicious paws, they crumpled it into a bumpy clump of contracting green and then it was gone. The air bent around the little flames that remained and they vanished into a rippling bubble.
All she had done was look at it.
The kids stared in horror.
Arwin's tail shot up and popped Cygnet's bubble.
"HEY!"protested the swimmer.
"Shush!" hushed Arwin. "No-back-chat,-no-asking-for-leaflets! Let's-hustle-to-the-back-of-the-herd-and-never-bother-them,-ever. We're-doing-that-NOW!"
Arwin made good on her declaration by hastily nudging her friends in said direction.