Stained in red

The Stars

Sarkon let a snarl rip from his throat. He smiled to himself as he saw scared shivers ripple through Elise. He had let almost all his anger out with her, it wasn't like with Kassa when he had to hold back. No, here his growls were feral and wild. To her credit Elise had still argued with him. Their last words still hung in the air, 'what did you do to her?' ... 'I showed her the truth she deserved.'... 'It will destroy her!' ... 'she can control it.' .... 'Not that amount of power an you know it. You started this mess. YOU finish it!' Sarkon flashed her one more glimpse of his teeth then turned his back and walked out.

I found Kassa sitting outside, far away from the hut I put her in. Her head was tilted back and she was watching the stars. If she did notice me sitting down a foot away from her, she didn't show it. "It's cold out here you should get back indoors." I advised. She just shook her head slowly not taking her eyes off the stars. I looked up.

Blinking and shimmering, the stars hovered in the sky.
"What are they?" Her voice was distant, she had probably come out here to avoid her worries and chaos that had just occurred. She had looked like a dark demon... shadow angel. Her fire in the cloud of darkness.... She was beautiful.

I could tell her question wasn't asking the thing it implied. "New beginnings." I started "Openings to other worlds... better endings for us. Sometimes I look up and know I have a better alternative out there." In response they twitched in the darkness. Kassa and I were silent for a good few minutes before she asked a different question.

"How many are there?" Her voice was so shallow and empty, as if the stars had swallowed her whole.

"Enough for every choice you make, enough for every dream you ever have. More than you can even imagine." Shyly, she shuffled closer to me, as if scared for my reaction. Her movements were barely noticeable. But I did nothing, except watch the stars.

"I've never really seen them before. Maybe a glimpse out my window..." she trailed off. "They're beautiful." Our shoulders brushed together. A moment later I felt her eyes on my face. "You're beautiful." She whispered. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, her emerald eyes blinked at me. Her pale olive skin illuminated by the lights in the sky. She was so... special, so delicate, She didn't act like it but she was. Kassa meant much to me, far more than she could imagine. Sometimes it shocked me... sometimes I cursed myself for it. But now...

She gently touched her thumb along my Warrior markings on my face. She lifted her hand away and gazed back at the stars.

I looked back to them too and this time, instead of longing to be in that other world, I found myself wishing to the stars that she, would be mine.