Contract with a Star (On Hold, Possibly Forever)

Nari Runs Away with a Family Friend

            Nari packed food, clothes, and a blanket. She left any money in the house where it was. Nari would live in the woods; she’d been taught by her uncles how to survive. If she actually needed anything from the cities, she would just steal it. Starting with a horse.

            Nari had no luck at the stables. They had posted guards at any place a horse could reasonably exit. Nari knew of no other place in Green River Valley that had accessible horses. She would have to hoof it herself until she got out of the village.

            Nari thought about her plan as she walked farther and farther away from her home. She had no place to go to, her parents hadn’t approved of her traveling much, though they would never tell her why. They never told Nari anything, ever.

            Her forehead started to itch. When she scratched it, it felt a bit warm. Nari worried she might be getting sick. That would be a rather terrible start to running away. Then she heard a yawn from in front of her.

            Cursing herself for not taking one of her father’s daggers or at least one of her mother’s old staves, both of which Nari was proficiently trained in, she took up the typical fighting stance taught at the Academy her parents had attended.

            “You’ve certainly grown. How long have I been asleep?” The girl with black hair stretched and watched Nari with deep green eyes. There was something seriously wrong with her, and it was probably that she was as transparent as water.

            “Holy Stars! Are you a ghost?” Nari’s eyes were wide in astonishment but she was not very scared. She didn’t believe in fearing things that you couldn’t touch because logic said they couldn’t touch you either.

            “I’m not really sure. It’s possible, but I think I’m just a mass of energy. With a personality, of course. But don’t you remember me Nari? It hasn’t been that long, has it?” The mass of energy came closer and peered closely at the living girl’s face, trying to see a spark of remembrance in the intelligent eyes.

            “No, I think I’d remember a see through person. Are you sure you don’t have the wrong Nari?” Nari began backing up, trying to get out of the situation and out of the area as fast as possible.

            “Yes, I’m sure. The last time I saw you, you were seven. How old are you now?”

            “Sixteen. Where exactly did you see me, human shaped mass of energy?” Nari had stopped moving, she was a curious girl with a terrible memory. It wasn’t a good combination, if her previous experiences had taught her.

            “At my tree,” the girl answered absentmindedly. “My name is Rena, if that might be just a bit easier to say than ‘human shaped mass of energy.’” Rena looked slightly agitated. “You really don’t remember?” Nari shook her head and Rena sighed. “How about I just show you then?” She waved her hand in the air and an image appeared. It was Nari playing at the river by the Blessed Apple Tree. She did look very young as she crouched over the water, watching tadpoles and arguing with herself. Nari, the one outside the image, shifted and suddenly she saw the other girl, just as transparent then as she was now.

            “How come nobody tells me anything?!” Little Nari burst out in a violent whisper.

            “Do you really want to know everything?”Rena sat down, ignoring the water because she couldn’t actually feel it.

            “I want to know what I want to know!” The stubborn girl pouted.

            “Then how about we enter into a little contract?” There was a gleam in Rena’s eye that went unnoticed by the child.

            “What’s a contract?” Nari looked adorable as she finally sat down in the water too, tired of crouching.

            “It’s a promise between two people that cannot be broken. Both people have to agree that the contract has been finished to have freedom from it.”

            “What kind of promise?” Nari wasn’t a very naïve child. She didn’t do anything she didn’t want to do.

            “Well for us, I would answer any question you asked as best I could and you would let me borrow your body whenever I needed it, seeing as I don’t have one. How does that sound?”

            “Any question at all?” Nari’s eyes were wide with ideas and she bounced excitedly when Rena nodded. “Okay!” Rena smiled and had Nari repeat after her.

            “I, Nari of this mind and soul, promise Rena, a star of soul energy, the free use of my body so long as this contract is still valid.”

            “I, Rena of soul energy in the form of a star, promise Nari, the girl before me, to answer all of her questions to the point that she is satisfied with my answers and keep her pure of all soul energy not of earthly origin until the day she releases me from this contract.” Rena reached out to shake Nari’s hand but the little girl tripped and ended up knocking her head against Rena’s. The contract seal burst into life on their foreheads. Instead of being angry, Rena laughed and tied her old belt around Nari’s head to hide the mark until it faded. The scene ended.

            “Do you still have that belt? Because your mark is showing.” Rena pointed out. Nari squeaked and tried to rub at her forehead, like that would affect it. She looked at the closest little creek, it was still there. Rummaging through her bag, she thanked the stars above that she did actually have the old but new looking belt. Tying it to her forehead, she wondered if she should get bangs that hung straight across. “That’s a definite improvement.”

            Nari ignored that for the time being, “Why is the mark coming out now?” Nari didn’t doubt that she had made a contract with a star; it wasn’t like she was a normal girl who met boys and had friends, after all. It would be just her luck to make a deal with a demon.

            “Well, I have been asleep the entire time. This is obviously a different contract from the last time.” Rena kept talking, but Nari had frozen when a twig snapped.

            “Sh! Can you get us out of here, quickly?” Nari whispered, remembering why she was out there in the middle of the night when everyone was at the ceremony.

            “Of course.” Rena closed her eyes and a green light came out of her hands. It spread out into the forest in a circle around them.

            “What did you do that for? Now we’re going to get caught!” Nari was annoyed that the star had wasted valuable time and then turned into a giant beacon. There was no way they could escape now.

            “I was sending out a signal for Cheval. And don’t worry, you’re the only one that can see it, you always have been.” Rena silently wondered about it. Nari would have asked for clarification, but then they heard galloping. It was a wild horse that had a light brown pelt with a white splotch on its rump and a white mane. “Oh. I really have been gone for a long time, haven’t I?” Rena looked very sad, but she managed to introduce the two. “Nari this is Cheval’s daughter. She says that Cheval passed away a few years ago but told her to stay on the alert for my energy. She also says she’ll let you ride her, as a carrier of my energy.”

            “Who was Cheval?” Nari asked gently as she mounted the fine mare.

            “An old friend of mine.” Rena smiled sadly and Nari dropped the subject and urged the mare to gallop, speeding away from the only home she had ever known.