|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 11:07 am
Quote: The Meteor Shower (3) : It wouldn't be a star festival without a meteor shower! Right on time, a beautiful array of shooting stars graces the night sky. This time of year is unnaturally clear and it's incredibly easy to see the stars. Most meteor fragments appear to be little white or yellow lights streaming across the sky, but if you watch closely enough you may find that some of them seem to be a whole rainbow of colors. The scientists have reported that it's just different components burning up as they enter the atmosphere, but there's something undeniably magical about it.
Tonight was one of the rare occasions she found herself with a few brief moments of solitude. She’d been with one of her Meadowview friends, split up to walk home in different directions, then got a little nervous in the quiet. What if there was a youma around? What if she came across a Negaverse officer when it was too late to defend herself? Was it safer to walk the city as a civilian or as a Page? Rose could never decide. Both seemed equally dangerous in their own ways.
So she’d powered up in the heavy shadows beneath a grove of trees at the nearest park. At least as a Page she could sense when she was alone. It was easier to figure out which areas to avoid, and if she ran into trouble of the civilian variety she was better able to defend herself.
Since she was in the park already, Rose decided to linger for a little while. There was a clearing nearby with a good view of the sky. She’d always enjoyed looking at the stars, but since becoming a Page she found herself more drawn to them. A few meteors flew across, trailing thin streaks of fleeting color.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 3:00 pm
The sky looked like it was on fire—in the most beautiful way possible. Jelani had only meant to cut through the park on her walk home, but when she noticed the first few meteors streak across the velvet night, she paused. And when the sky kept going, bursting with soft colors and fleeting starlight, she found herself wandering toward the clearing without even realizing it. She wasn’t the only one who’d been drawn in. A girl stood a little ahead of her, half-shadowed beneath the open sky, face tilted upward with the kind of expression you wore when the world gave you a secret worth holding. Jelani didn’t want to disturb her. But something about the moment felt meant to be shared. “Hey,” she said softly, stepping onto the grass, voice just above a whisper. “Didn’t mean to sneak up. The stars kind of pulled me this way too.” She stopped a few feet back, offering a gentle, apologetic smile. “They’re… brighter than I expected,” she added, glancing up again as a meteor traced a golden arc overhead. “Like someone spilled glitter across the sky and it caught fire.” Another meteor flared blue, fading into soft purple as it vanished.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 1:21 pm
Rose had been able to sense the other aura but because it was friendly she hadn’t felt the need to hide or put any distance between them. She turned to greet the other Page with a smile once she was in range.
“They’re pretty,” Rose agreed. “I feel like they get more colorful every year, or maybe I just forget what they’re like from one year to the next. I’ve tried taking video, but I don’t think the colors show up as well.”
She looked the Page over briefly, noting the colors and symbols of her outfit.
“You’re a Page of the Moon,” she observed. “I’m friends with few others. I’m Rose, Page of Lysithea. It’s nice to meet you.”
Rose closed a little more of the remaining distance between them and held out her hand for an introductory shake.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 8:12 am
Jelani relaxed a little more when the girl—Page?—turned with a smile, and not alarm. Whatever sense of presence Jelani gave off, it clearly wasn’t threatening, and she was grateful for that. She moved in a bit closer, still keeping a respectful distance, and glanced back at the sky when Rose spoke. “Yeah. I’ve tried recording them too, but my phone just ends up catching a blur, like I imagined the whole thing.” Jelani let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “Guess some things just aren’t meant to be saved, huh?” She reached out to take the offered hand, her grip warm and firm. “Nice to meet you, Rose. I am Jelani” She looked skyward again, eyes tracking another splash of color—a green one this time, fading to pink. “You think any of these stars are pieces of Homeworlds? Like, maybe a bit of magic burning off on the way down?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 6:21 pm
Rose’s smile stretched a little wider with the shaking of their hands. Niceties completed, she turned her attention back to the sky. Even if the meteor shower had become a yearly occurrence, there was something still so fascinating about it.
“Oh, I kind of hope not,” she said. Her voice remained warm and friendly even in disagreement. “I think that’d be sort of sad. If there are worlds out there losing pieces of themselves. I guess we can’t know for sure, though. I’ve never heard an explanation for the colors that makes sense.”
There had to be something magical about them. Every oddity within Destiny City seemed magical. Sometimes they were benign, like the meteor shower. Sometimes they were much more frightening.
Rose was grateful for something benign tonight.
“If they are magic, it’d be nice if they granted wishes,” she said. “Maybe that’s a little childish, though.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 8:03 pm
Jelani’s gaze lingered on the streaks overhead as Rose spoke, her lips quirking into a small, contemplative smile.
“Yeah,” she murmured, “I guess you’re right. If something has to break for it to be beautiful, maybe that’s not so magical after all.”
Her arms folded gently over her chest, posture relaxed now that the conversation had found its rhythm. She tilted her head, amber eyes reflecting the scattered light above.
“But… maybe that’s the thing,” Jelani added after a moment. “Maybe not all broken things are ruined. Maybe some of them become shooting stars.”
She glanced sideways at Rose with a hint of shyness, like she wasn’t sure if that sounded too poetic out loud.
Jelani looked back at the sky, her features soft with thought as another meteor streaked overhead in a trail of shimmering white.
“If something has to fall apart just to be seen, I don’t know if that’s magical or just kind of sad,” she murmured. “But maybe… maybe there’s beauty in that too.”
She folded her arms gently, hugging them to her chest as a breeze passed through the trees. The air was crisp but not cold—just enough to feel alive, just enough to remind her she was standing in the middle of something rare.
The stars pulsed faintly overhead, calm and steady, a quiet audience to the shower of burning fragments tracing across the heavens. Jelani’s lips curved into the smallest smile.
“It still feels like magic, though,” she said. “Even if it’s just rocks and chemicals and fire, even if there’s a scientific reason for the colors. I think there are some things we’re not meant to explain away. Some things should just be… felt.”
She breathed in deeply, then let it out slowly, content in the stillness.
Tonight, the world didn’t feel quite so broken.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 9:11 am
Rose contemplated the response.
Not all broken things are ruined.
It seemed sort of idealistic, but that didn’t mean it was without merit. Maybe some broken things were beyond repair, but that wasn’t always the case. Some could be mended. Some could be healed. Some could have their brokenness turned into something beautiful.
Rose liked to look on the bright side when she could. She liked to see the good in something even if it was imperfect.
“I think I like the sound of that,” she said.
Not all broken things are ruined.
Her smile took on a new light.
Rose looked into the stars and felt hope.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
