| Shattered Subspectrum | Book 1 - ECLIPSE | A Rainbow quest future AU.

Chapter 1 |A Chance for Renewal|

                                                                                 --- Yellow --- 

It was a peaceful night. The last dying rays of sunlight fought out thin clouds, a soft wind sung through tall spruce, and flurries fell from a black sky, blanketing the earth in a thick frost that stretched forever in every direction. In Yellow's eyes, everything seemed to freeze into a perfect white picture. The third most powerful yellow kingdom lay far over the horizon, large and bright, with yellow lights visible even from here, the only color given to this vacant winter wonderland.

Yellow trudged though at least slab-height snow, his legs yearned for rest, but he pushed further. Most steves would teleport instead of walking, but he was too close to the kingdom, and yellow was barely even supposed to be out here. He was no full fledged steve, instead a trainee, at least for now, among the colorless ranks. He was weak, undertrained, and in a world torn by war, quite vulnerable. Besides, he had no clue where he was going.

The only reason he was out here, was his own failings, and Sunglow. A highlighter yellow steve who walked next to him. He was significantly higher ranked, though yellow never knew exactly how high. The Colorless guard, or really even any yellow steve fighting force usually kept their faces hidden, identities secret. Based on how he had a name though, Sunglow, as opposed to the super, very, incredibly rare name of "Yellow steve", it was safe to assume he had a pretty high ranking. 

He blinked, then shot a worried look at him. Sunglow didn't seem to notice, either that or didn't care. He stood tall, and walked as if the snow, and ice, and cold frost didn't affect him. Yellow paused, opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then looked away. He weaved between two large spruce, his attention fixed firmly on the forest. It was alive, yet sluggish and silent, animals and plants barely visible among the snow and branches, and scrawny bushes that clambered meekly out the earth. It drew him in, caught his interest, he had seen the cold wasteland a thousand times, yet it always looked new and interesting.

" Are you alright? " Sunglow asked, raising a brow. Yellow tensed, snapped from his thoughts and forced back into reality. He swiveled his head. Sunglows expression was calm, and concerned, yet firm all the same. Yellow thought it was intimidating, or it would be at least, if he had not known him for so long, gone to the point of considering him a friend, well friend of sorts. Though maybe it still was, just a little bit.

He took a long, deep, inward sigh, shaking away his thoughts before speaking. " Yeah? Why wouldn't I be fine? " Sunglow looked unconvinced. He stepped next to yellow, sweeping his gaze over the forest, as if trying to find what caught his eye. "Your... Staring at a wasteland. T- There is literally nothing there."
Yellow narrowed his eyes, paused, then spoke " Oh. Speak for yourself. There's plenty!" He began enthusiastically, drinking in the crisp night air. " See..? A fox. " He began simply, pointing a gloved finger to a snowfox, a smug look on its face, sweetberries firm in its maw.

Sunglow gave this odd, confused look, as if Yellow said sheep was the same as chicken. Then he shrugged, gazing into the inky black abyss above them. The moon was already behind a thick screen of clouds, engulfing everything in shadows. He seemed pause, to mull over it a long moment, then looked slowly back at Yellow, a odd seriousness on his face. " Your not okay.  "

Yellow stared puzzled for a moment, then seemed to find Sunglow's confusion amusing, as he spoke with laughter in his voice " Well, i proved my point didn't I? Not so empty now! Fox. And oh! Look! Chicken. " Yellow beamed, pointing over at a chicken in the far distance, foraging at the ground for seeds. Sunglow shook his head, a glimmer in his eyes. " Your.. Your impossible. What's next? Are you gonna find a sheep? "
 Yellow shrugged, scanning his surroundings. " Hmm. No. Uh. No sheep. Only fox and chicken. " 

Sunglow fell silent, eyes becoming clouded with thought. After a moment, he turned.  "Well. Now I know why you needed this second chance. Your barely any yellow steve. Hah- Must be why they barely tested you." He said in a joking tone, a glint of curiosity glittering in his eyes. He placed a hand on Yellow's shoulder.
Yellows expression fell away, turned to unease, only for a moment before he reinforced it again. " If im not a yellow, what am I? An orange steve? I don't look very orange. " he said, pulling off his glove and flaring his fingers as plenty proof.

Sunglow glared down yellow, studying at his expression for a long, agonizing moment. He then fell away, obviously not finding whatever it was he looked for. He then went mute, pondering a long moment.  Yellow thought it would last forever, but then, finally, a smile curved on his lips, and Sunglow seemed to lighten up. " Hah, no, your clearly a yellow steve. " He reassured, serious and firm, with a unexpected uncertainty lacing his tone.
" Whats that supposed to mean? " Yellow inquired, pulling the glove tight on his hand, wincing as the fabric rubbed against it and his wrist. He then glanced at Sunglow who acted as if he didn't hear, walking up ahead. That was confusing enough, but when Yellow caught up, he noticed a odd, barely visible and not-Sunglow-like expression flash on his face. Anxiety? Fear? Sorrow? He looked as if he lost a friend and just began grieving. It went by so fast, and faded at once, then never again. Then he shook his head, huffed a shaky breath, and left Yellow with a mess, a uneasy thread of thoughts, and the wondering of whether Sunglow was hiding something or not. And if so, the reasonings why. He stepped back, venturing over a pile of snow. " You are okay, right? " Sunglow asked looking over his shoulder. 

Yellow felt cold, and not from the snow or wind, instead, his blood felt like ice. He forced a nod, which seemed to leave Sunglow unconvinced, but he didn't question further. It was difficult to remember what all happened next. Thoughts spinned and tangled, ensnaring him, till he lost all track of all time. He had long since forced a deep breath, stood tall, and mimicked sunglows posture, which apparently was more difficult than it looked. It felt wrong, odd, and unnatural. Though he had soon come to realize many things felt wrong in the yellow kingdom, all was too firm and too  strict and felt stiff. Even the armor felt, without any better words, wrong. Of course, Yellow did want to become a colorless guard, that's why he took Sunglows offer of renewal without any second thought. But here, sitting in silence, he began to wonder if that was even the right path for him. Maybe a building job would better. One of the few, that in all five kingdoms, both Orange steves and Yellow steves took part in. 

No. It was not time for second thinking.

He shook his head, he could get to it when the time came. IF the time came. Besides, if this didn't work out, the third leader would find a job that better suited him. He could still be a loyal member of society, and still further progress of the kingdom. But what if he didn't like it? No. That didn't matter.  

A breeze stirred the forest, ruffling his hair and distracting from his thoughts. The temperature had dropped further by now, each breath already steam in the cold icy air. Through his coat, he felt all four limbs begin to shiver. The clouds already began to part and thin, the snow fell slower. Apparently that didn't mean it was getting any warmer, the sun had long died over the horizon.

Yellow snapped from his thoughts, coming to the sudden realization that much time had past.  He craned his neck, his eyes darting over and scanning his surroundings. The kingdom was long out of sight, only moonlight, thin and bright, lit up his surroundings. Stars glittered, bouncing off trees and snow, and he could notice, if he tried hard enough, and looked through the trees, that in the far distance, a long-frozen river, light silver from reflected moonlight, that he did not recognize. He had plenty of time to finish watching his surroundings, the walk seemed to go ten eternities longer, all in silence, until sunglow finally stopped, finally turned, and finally met yellow's eyes with his own. 

" Its a tad overboard, but... Better safe than sorry. We should be far enough now." He said with a sigh. " Are you ready? "
Yellow took the moment to gather his thoughts, then, he nodded solemnly. Though his body disagreed, screamed to go back, teleport to the kingdom, accept punishment so long as he could sleep peacefully another night. His entire body felt heavy, probably the opposite of Sunglow who still beamed with energy. " Alright then. I assume I don't have to explain the basics of teleportation? "

Yellow nodded a second time, " No. No, I- I don't need any reminder. " he murmured, bracing himself. He had only teleported few in the past, been taken to another encampment, only a thousand or so blocks from the kingdom, then back later that day. And if his memory wasn't betraying him, he was in Rejuvenation, the second kingdom at some point. Well, thinking further, maybe a few more. Practice tries, but that was teleporting two or three blocks repetitively, as to get the hang of it. Though that day was absolute torture, he assumed that did not count. Sunglow crunched forward, the snow even deeper than it was before. His eyes were fixed, and ensuring Yellow was comfortable before he began to teleport. In only a couple moments, Lighting shot from the sky, bleaching the entire forest. He flinched back as it boomed and thundered down, echoing and threatening their location. Though, by the time anyone went to check it out they would already be long gone. Like magic, when the light faded, the vision of a green, oak forest pooled out in front of him, filled with tall grasses and colors and weeds and trees that looked significantly different than the ones back at the kingdom.

He had only known snow and ice, the vacant wasteland that threatened to kill any steve who didn't respect It. It was cold, heartless, colorless, beautiful and sparkly and white, the opposite of this place. Well, not the beautiful part. The air was offputtingly warm, like the interior of a house. The trees didn't quite stretch for the sky, and the wind whistled lazily.  Not only that, but it felt like he was being assaulted by colors, as if a orange steve mural had come to life around him, became real and tangible. It was like a dream. As he gawked in awe of his surroundings, he noticed, far in the distance, what he assumed was a jungle, tall, vined and lush green trees seeming to reach through black clouds. 

The shock was quick to fade, his wide eyes darting to Sunglow. His highlighter yellow coloring made him fit perfectly among bright flowers and vines. His face was glittering and bright, obviously entertained by Yellow's reaction. " This is much better than that old taiga, isn't it? " He asked

Yellow was absolutely beaming. "Of course- W- WHY DONT THEY TAKE US OUT HERE MORE OFTEN? " He yelled. Then he tensed, turning his hands to fists, which seemed to always make focusing easier. He felt as if he was bounding with energy, all of the exhaustion in his legs long since faded. Sunglow stood two blocks in front of him. " Well, lush areas usually home green steves." Sunglow began, as if that answered yellow's question. He shot a amused glance. " Or... It did at least. With all of that yelling, lets just hope you didn't either scare away, or give our location for that matter, to every steve from here to the nearest kingdom. " 

Yellow peered behind a tree, taking in the cool night air. It smelled of rain, and peace, and tranquility. Flowers grew, such as a curious lily of the valley nestled in the roots of a giant oak tree. Water winded past lazily, warm and clear, and definitely not frozen, which outside of any kingdom felt wrong to look at. " Right. Sorry. " He murmured, taking off the coat and gloves with a deep sigh of relief. " So, what's the plan? "

Sunglow pondered on the question. " Your fine. " He sighed " And, for the second thing, you just need to chase a green steve awhile, tire it out. I wont be helping you unless you really need it.. Or are too soft to get the job done. " He said, as if that was a easy task. the last words stung like venom, Yellow looked away, crouching down, and staring into his own reflection, rippling atop the stream.  " Right. Kay. So just... Attack a steve? " He asked, forcing away the unease that threatened his tone. " Alone? "

Sunglow, to his dismay, hummed in agreement. " Ill be keeping behind, incase things go wrong. " 
Yellow shivered, straightening up and stepping over the stream with a splash. Sunglow paused, before following him. " Don't worry, green steves are not as weak as reds. They are valiant foes but... They are better medics than fighters. " He murmured sympathetically, giving a comforting glance.

Yellow didn't find this reassuring, his breathing quickening, his hands trembling, but he dared not to show fear. He felt along a large rock, then heaved a sigh that seemed to go down to the tips of his fingers. " Alright. Where is it? "

Sunglow lit up, a soft smile on his face as he stepped ahead. " Recently, a scouting group pinpointed where they common. If we are lucky, and the timings gotten right... We just need to go south. " He said simply. Cautiously, yellow paced forward, spotted past a large ravine, before he clambered up a large mess of rocks and stone. He looked up at sunglow. " Okay. So I assume... This is where you go? " He asked. Sunglow didn't answer, nor did he have too. Yellow nodded slowly, for like felt like the thousandth time today.

" You will do fine. " Sunglow reassured, firm but not without sympathy. Yellow did not meet his gaze, pulling aside vines and stepping into the trees, understanding well what he had to do. He drew in a shaky breath, looking on somberly. A stiff breeze was blowing,  the peaceful scents and sounds only giving a sense of foreboding. And as he darted blindly into the trees, going off of blurry memories of training, he vaguely went south, his eyes intent and looking for any sign of danger, or any sign for his target.

He moved slowly, comparatively, about as fast as any non-yellow could run. The purpose was keeping energy, then run as fast as he could to swiftly gain distance on his target. Without any backup, other than Sunglow, or anyone to help, he would be forced to make it fast, or he risked losing track of whom he was hunting. More to add to the list of worries, as if that wasn't long enough.

He sighed. Please. Please don't let this go wrong.

Word count: 2600

Yellow steve gets kidnapped by yellow steve but better because sunglow is literally just a shade of yellow, my names are so original fr fr

cant wait till yellow gets a cooler name so i dont have to struggle not to put 9000 yellows in the same paragraph. 

Mistake of the chapter: I almost posted chapter 2s draft instead of chapter 1