Author Games: Brave New World

Task Four Entries: Eden

Sydney Morristan

Ever since that fateful night in Australia, when Sydney Morristan had first looked up at the black night sky and felt something stir inside of her for the beautiful cosmos, she had developed a belief that when a man perished, his soul would appear in the heavens in the form of a new star. It served as an eternal tribute to the deceased, that the memory of his existence would never be forgotten.

She wondered if it was her time to die soon. Lucia, beside her, was trembling, gripping Sydney's own clammy hand so tightly that jolts of pain travelled up her fingers, but neither of them noticed. As a large, wolf-like creature with blazing amber eyes paced in front of her, she couldn't help it – she began to imagine what her own star would look like, and pondered about whether others may somehow recognize it as her alternate form.

The creature had appeared out of nowhere while Lucia and she had been taking a stroll through Eden's grounds, just having a normal conversation about their experiences on Danu so far and sharing their stories and theories about the universe – but more specifically, the stars. Both of them had been united together by their love for the beautiful, blazing miniature suns, and to have another woman to talk to about Sydney's passion was truly enjoyable. Perhaps that was the main reason why the extraterrestrial creature had caught them unawares – they had been so engrossed in the subject of stars that they had somehow ceased to notice the obvious rustling in the bushes and the low, soft growls that penetrated the cold night air.

At the sound of Lucia's whimpers, Sydney snapped out of her thoughts in time to see that the alien had moved towards them, as quick as lightning. Its yellow irises blazed in the darkness, two tiny spotlights aimed straight towards them. At first glance, the animal could easily have been mistaken for a grey wolf – it was evident that both species shared many of the same characteristics. The alien had a shaggy, ash-grey pelt, common to that of a wolf, and its form and shape was near identical to the mammal that resided on Earth. It's ears were smaller than normal, and oddly enough it seemed to have a type of white liquid oozing out of the earlobe as well. However, the main things that set them both apart was nearly impossible to perceive at first glance, and require much focus and observation – the alien could move seemingly at the speed of light, and last but not least, it had three eyes. Two on the side of its head, and one directly in the middle of its forehead.

Briefly, Sydney wondered if there was a constellation for such a beast. It strongly reminded her of the mythical creatures of Ancient Greece she'd studied in school as a teenager, and she knew that many of the constellations that there were today had been named after both heroes and villains of ancient folklore. Try as she might, nothing came to her mind, but oddly enough when she returned to reality, a newfound calmness had settled inside of her, causing her heartbeat to slow its previously erratic beating. Somehow, thinking about stars had helped her. Maybe it's not my time to die after all. She thanked the stars silently, and this time, Sydney looked at the situation at hand in a new perspective

The wolf-like creature was still pacing around the two girls, teeth barred in a permanent snarl, all three eyes blazing with apparent hatred and fury, but somehow it wasn't going in for the kill. The only thing that it did was pace, and even then Sydney noticed how it only advanced to a certain point before taking a few miniscule steps backwards. Her brow furrowed in confusion at the alien's behavior, before suddenly the dots connected in her mind.

"Lucia," she murmured, careful to keep her voice low so that she wouldn't startle the creature. When the Venezuelan girl didn't answer, Sydney looked around to see that her skin had turned a few shades paler, and was staring at the wolf as if it were a death omen for her own demise. A few minutes ago, Sydney would have had the same reaction to, but her analogical mind had come in play and she had a developed a new theory of the animal in front of her. Ignoring Lucia for the while, Sydney inhaled deeply and curled her hands into fists, before stomping her feet twice on the ground. Though the sound was muffled by the earth, the wolf-like creature still leapt into the air, let out a startled yelp and scrambled backwards, but did not run away. Yet. This time, Sydney knew for sure that her hypothesis was correct, and nudged Lucia forcefully with her forearm. "Lucia, listen to me!"