The Intrepid Origins

THE STORMCHASER

PART TWO

"WOOO-EEE! We've got ourselves a big one!" Daphnea cheered when she noticed the storm forming in the distance. It was growing bigger and bigger by the minute, blundering through the fields of a small farm, "You see that, Sol?" Her friend gave a meek nod, gulping as he watched the sheer force of the tornado knock down a few trees, yanking them into the air.

She stopped the truck for a minute, one hand leaving the wheel to grip her necklace. "For the power and glory of Valhalla, Valkyries give me strength," She mumbled, lifting the charm of her pendent up to kiss it. Hands back on the wheel, she started the engine again and rocketed towards the storm. Solomon furrowed his brows, he had never seen that before from Daphnea. Then again, he mostly only saw her ordering coffee at 3am because she was exhausted and still had homework to do.

"What was that?" He asked, motioning towards the necklace as he bounced from the truck speeding over bumps. "Oh," Daphnea chuckled, "That was a prayer, my step-mum introduced me to Norse Paganism when I was younger and I've gravitated towards it ever since. That, and a bit of Catholicism from my grandad," She used one hand to pull out her necklace from her shirt, showing him a rock carved with a rune, "It's an rune of Odin, he's the God of War. I've got an altar for him back in my academy dorm but I wear this everywhere," She placed her hand back on the wheel.

"You said a prayer?! You said we were safe!" Solomon jumped in his seat, hands gripping onto the straps of his harness, "Why would you say we were safe if you're going to pray for safety?" His fear made Daphnea chuckle as she tucked her pendent back into her shirt. They were getting closer to the tornado, so close that they could faintly feel the pull of the winds towards it, "Because it's just a precaution, we're very much still safe even if I don't pray for it. I want to though, just like I want to turn on the radio to make this feel cooler," She reached into her shorts' pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Gently, she put them on and turned to smile at Solomon. "Don't worry, Sol, we're only going to be in and out of the 'nado,"

"That what's making me worry!" He couldn't stomach the thought of it, but he was strapped in the truck; there was no turning back now. Taking in a deep breath of air, he tried to calm down, "You never told me that Elsie was a Pagan," Elsie Opals was the independent stepmother of Daphnea, she was a very courageous woman with strong beliefs.

"It never came up," She shrugged, "Most of the Neptune colony is Norse Pagan, something about of an influx of Norwegian traditionalist immigrant settlers. What about you?" They were ahead of the storm now, watching it creep in their direction. She had stopped the truck and flipped a few switches, starting the drills to dig into the ground. In a few minutes, they would be locked into the dirt. "Eh, Sikhism has quite a large following in San Fran right now," Solomon wasn't focussing, his eyes bore right into the tornado. Almost like he was daring it to step closer.

Daphnea glanced at the storm before returning to face her friend, "On Prometheus, most of the human crewmen were atheist but not Elsie, she was so strong in her faith. We had a home altar that she'd make offerings to. Every morning and evening, she put something on it and say a little prayer," She knew she was rambling, but she didn't feel like stopping, "Zax sometimes joined her, but most of time it was just her. Dad didn't care as along as she didn't mind having a cross hanging in the kitchen. And then, when I turned seven, she got me this necklace as a present whilst Dad replicated a wooden cross for me. It was like she telling me, 'Daphnea, you are my daughter,' and the necklace was proof," Tears were swelling up in her eyes but she didn't dare let them fall. She was here for thrill, not to cry about stupid family issues.

Solomon half-nodded, only barely listening as the storm inched forward. Raining was beginning to pour as they entered the circle that surrounded the hurricane. It was large and furious, destroying all that remained in its path. But they were about to face it and survive, like an Apollo mission from the olden days. "Do you ever think about doing something other than working at your family's shop?" Daphnea mumbled, joining her friend in staring at the monstrous tornado.

"All the time," He murmured, reaching out his hand to clasp hers. Soon, they would enter the eye of the storm and fight against the pull of the high wind speeds. "Ever thought about what you might do?" All the confidence was gone from her voice as she clung onto his hand. "'I've thought about moving away and opening a bar near a popular port," They were trying to distract themselves but they couldn't stop looking at the ravenous hurricane, it was too eye-catching.

"You know what," Daphnea mumbled emotionlessly, "Once I'm stationed on a starship, I'll use my family invite to get you onboard and you can open a bar there. You'll be as far from San Francisco as possible and you'll get to see the stars with me. No more nagging family or horrendous customers, just you, me, and a bucket load of space," The storm swallowed them, rushing around them with furious intent. The winds hollowed in their ears as trees and dirt tumbled around them. It was calming once they subconsciously understood how safe they were, buried against the ground as the tornado raged around them.

It wasn't as dramatic as Twisters had made it out to be, Daphnea noted, but the noise. The noise was intolerable, so loud that you couldn't hear a thing over it. For a few minutes, they sat in silence, clinging to each other as the storm moved on, raging war with the path behind them.

When it was quiet again, Solomon turned to his friend, smiling, "I think that is great idea, Spacegirl. Since I've showed you Earth," He gestured to their field surroundings, sending her a glare when she tried to retort, "It's your turn to show me the stars,"

"I'm glad you like it, Earthboy, I'm glad you like it,"