starbound - scomiche

005. connection

☆

If Mitch thought his soul felt light before, then he couldn't even begin to describe it now.

It was nearing night time in the streets of Ordalla, and he dared say that the darkness was more beautiful than the soft pink sunset from before. There was no moon here, so there was no light to be reflected back to the planet at night; aside from the dazzling lights that illuminated the streets with a soft glow, it was pitch black, and it was beautiful.

The people didn't care about the darkness, and carried on like nothing was even peculiar. Compared to the hardened crew members of the ship's bay, everyone roaming the streets was clean and elegant and even more breathtaking than he could've ever imagined. Avi had to remind him several times to stop staring at their long lashes and charming smiles, because the last thing they needed was to attract even more attention as they walked along.

Kirstin was mid-sentence when he felt it.

It came out of nowhere. His whole body suddenly felt like it was dipped in warm water, and a pleasant vibration ran across his skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a twisting and tugging sensation in his core, and that little itch that constantly bothered his brain was more intense than ever.

"Mitch? What's up?"

And then, very suddenly, he felt some kind of energy winding out from his solar plexus, reaching up towards the sky and beckoning him towards it like a string. He felt like he needed to be carried upwards, he needed to follow that string, he needed to be with it but he couldn't.

"Mitch," he heard Kirstin say, and her voice was almost worried. "You're blocking traffic. Let's go."

His head lifted upwards seemingly on its own accord, up to where he felt the string leading him, and his breath hitched in his throat when he did. Up high, very, very high, was the flickering lights of a fleet of ships, led by one ship much bigger than the rest. He saw the glimmer of imperial banners illuminated on the sides, and his soul was so light that he couldn't even begin to feel frightened. The tug he felt pulled higher, he felt like his own presence and soul and awareness was raising up with it, up towards that one ship leading the fleet.

When the tug he felt finally got there, when it broke the surface of the ship, he was overwhelmed with pleasant sensations that he's never felt before in his entire life. Hues of purple and red swarmed his soul, a hum of energy soothed the aching in his brain, and the anxiety he's felt since he left Earth escaped him in a relaxed exhale.

And then he really felt it. Waiting for him, at the end of the string beckoning him up to that ship, he felt a presence. Another soul, another force of energy that was pulling towards Mitch just as Mitch was to it. He blinked, and he could suddenly hear a faint murmur of voices like a background noise, so many unfamiliar voices shouting unintelligible commands, and then there was a commanding baritone voice barking orders in a foreign language so clearly and confidently that his soul shivered. It felt like a bungee cord between the two of them, like the connection between them was elastic and pulling them together, like it would snap if they just didn't get closer.

"Mitch," he heard Avi say, and then he felt a hand on his shoulder that jostled his body just enough to ground him back to reality, on the surface of Ordalla with his three friends. "What's happening to you?"

"I... I can't explain it," he said detachedly, reaching a hand up and pointing to the ship he couldn't rip his eyes away from. "That ship. The big one. There's someone there. I can feel them."

Kirstin's sharp intake of breath was enough to shake him away from his fascination with the ship, and his head jerked away to see the his three friends staring at the ship with an expression of pure terror. "Scott," Kirstin whimpered, and he was sure he saw tears building in the corner of her emerald eyes. "He's here?"