Dance or Die: a Fanfiction

Chapter 18 - Aurora

Time was lost to the five as they got even more lost than before. They were hungry and weaker than before. Day and night didn't matter to their blinded eyes, but on one night, the one made his outcry to the starry sky, standing on his tired legs. The rest were lying down, attempting sleep, but he stood. Hope faded slowly as he dropped to his knees again. Silence took over once again.

A crackling noise emitted from the ground nearby. Their attention was immediately grabbed by it, a break in the quiet they had become accustomed to over time. The noise got louder and louder, and the one on his knees stood again, along with two of them who were laying down, flanking him on either side. The ground broke violently, strong enough to force chunks of the ooze-sand off of them. The first to stand's eyes were now partially unblocked, covered only by a grainy purple film. He gasped at the sight before him as he wiped the film away.

The sandy ground was split open, cracks spidering out from a large crevice. The being ascending out of it was far more impressive. A female form, glowing pure white and shaped as if she were a flawlessly crafted doll, floated just above the hole. Her shining orange hair flowed gracefully, yet it was moving and alive, lifting her upright. Solid blue eyes were overshadowed by the rest of the dazzling display, but stared right at the center man. She cupped her hands outward, forming a small, delicate, red ball.

None of them spoke as she levitated the ball over to the forth-most man, enraptured by the goddess-like figure. With a great struggle, he opened his mouth to absorb the energy into himself. It went silent again, until the sand burst off in a dramatic display, his entire body glowing a vibrant red. The glow dimmed everywhere but his hands and eyes, and he found himself in the uniform he had been wearing when he came to earth, topped off with the shiny silver and red jacket he thought he gave away. Soli smiled and laughed triumphantly, strength coursing through him, turning to the two behind him.

"Hold tight!" he shouted, firmly planting his hands on the center of their chests. Sending a shockwave of energy, the sand was expelled from them in the same way it did on Soli, almost knocking the two over in separate blazes of dark blue and white. Derek and Jake stared at Soli, at first shocked, then chuckled in a mix of astonishment and confidence. "Help the others," he said, the rest of the red fading away from his hands and eyes, turning back to the red-haired figure and speaking in the strange language.

Derek and Jake looked at the two sandy beings now standing in front of them, then at each other. Their eyes glowed their respective colors as they smirked and sent beams of energy into Nate and Josh, orange and turquoise shining brightly and dimming. All five, dressed in the clothes as when they had first met, looked at the luminescent woman before them.

"Derek," Soli said calmly, "Meet Aurora. She's a legend, here, a piece of Nil history."

"It was said that when anyone was exiled without a true crime, she saved them from dying out here," Nate said, "And I guess we're completely innocent."

Derek was too caught in awe to speak. Aurora closed her eyes and let her arms down. Strands of prehensile hair wound around the five, and with a sudden jerk she took off across the desert, cities and towns flying by beneath them. The desert, mountains, everything seemed so beautiful up here, and Derek wished he had a camera to remember this beautiful, foreign landscape. It wasn't long before they approached the light side of the planet, and Aurora flew towards a small green patch with five impressive-looking spires arranged in the circular area. A domed hut, with a small, cylindrical, chimney-like structure on top of it, was in the center of the green space. Upon landing, they jumped off her hair and looked back at her.

"Night is approaching quickly," she said in a calm, echoing voice, "I'll light the area when the time comes. When I send you home, I can't keep your powers at normal levels. Earth is too far from Nil to restore it immediately. You have until tomorrow to stay at my refuge, and then I have to let you go. They would try to find you."

"Thank you," Soli said, bowing at the waist until a shot to his rear end startled him upright. Turning around, he saw Jake covering his mouth guiltily, Josh chuckling. A faint giggle could be heard from Aurora before she ascended to the center of the spires, red strands holding onto each one of them.

"Wow, Jake," Nate said, looking over and smiling in a condescending manner, "Don't you know that's impolite?" Jake attempted to respond, but a small orange flash hit him in the cheek, making his brothers burst into laughter.

"Okay-- it's on!" Jake said, running to tackle Nate, who swiftly ducked so Derek was now caught in the fray. Everything soon went into playful chaos, not unlike children on a playground. Colors flew across the field, laughter and cries of "Ow, you got me!" echoing into the darkening sky. Derek, exiting from an epic two on three battle centering around Josh and Jake, let his eyes wander up to Aurora. He was so curious about her. What exactly was she? He prepared to jump onto a spire, and used his energy to boost him further upwards. Leaping and grabbing onto the structure, he looked at the glowing form again.

"Aurora!" he shouted, catching her attention. He then leapt from the spire, hoping she would get what he meant. In midair, he began to fall, but a large strand of bright orange hair caught him and pulled him upwards.

"What are you doing?" she said, seeming mildly irritated.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Ah," she said, "What do you want to talk about?"

Derek was nervous about his question, but he asked what she is in the nicest way he could put it. She didn't seem offended, and she said that she was the very last of a nearly extinct Nil race called the Solla, and all of them had the glowing bodies and hair and blue eyes. They had a more normal-looking form as well, except their hair still glowed, and were believed to be blessings wherever they visited. The belief soon turned into greed, and many cities, like Arroth, captured any and all Solla that came to them, thinking they had permanent good luck. When the capturing was over, they realized there wasn't any better luck than before, and genocide was committed for the race being "liars," when all they did was let people think of them however the people wanted.

"Wow..." Derek said, weaving his fingers into the hair that held him up, "How did you survive that?"

"I never visited any major cities in my lifetime, just small villages. They were grateful, not greedy. But there have been others out for me, and that's why I stay out here, in the desert. I hide beneath the sand, and even though their technology may be advancing, they don't know the extent of my powers. Why I became a symbol of innocent criminals is something even I don't know. Maybe it's a sign of respect from the hopeless, and maybe it's to emphasize that, albeit clear of crime, they're still wanted. I agree more with the latter, but I like that some people think I'm a savior-goddess. I'm just the last of my race, and that's all."

"Huh. Interesting."

The pause was long enough for Derek to look over the dark horizon, stars faint, as if timid to show themselves in the light of two moons.

"You five ought to go to sleep," she said, descending to the now calm ground, letting Derek jump off, "Go into the hut, and you will wake up in your own homes on Earth. I hope you stay safe."

The five bowed to her, and followed her order. In the hut, there were six beds. As they fell asleep, they looked forward to finally being relieved of the alien world and its stresses. They had people they loved back on Earth. Back home. Home replaced the word "hope" for them.