Defeating the Darkness: The Nox

ATTACK

Tristan sprang up, ready to counter the sneak attack from inside his house.  After a moment of adrenaline, he saw his attacker, a smallish boy around his age, with dark brown skin and well-kept brown hair.  A crazy smile lit up his face, and Tristan lowered his guard.

"Tyler, what are you playing at?!" he asked, exasperated and exhausted.

"Come ON, we have to go to the team meeting!  It's starting in ten minutes and if you miss it we might not get to play this fall."

Tyler spoke almost as fast as it took Tristan to get up, his words buzzing right through Tristan's ears.  Tristan's friend was no taller than him, but was clearly more energetic.  Tyler seemed to always be on a caffeine rush, his toes tapping when they weren't moving him around.  His eyes didn't stop and focus on anything for longer than a few seconds, but when they did you knew he was examining every facet of the object.  Tyler helped Tristan to stay sane through all his training and schooling to be the future leader of the colony, and it helped that he was from the most fun of the precincts, the Coastline Quadrant.

Without a second more, Tristan rushed off to put his training equipment away and to grab some cleaner clothes.  Behind, Vince finally caught up to him and was also greeted by a pillow to the face.  Tyler was nothing if not consistent, even if it meant sneak attacking the Patron of Noxia.  Vince effortlessly batted the pillow away and gave Tyler a look of disapproval as he entered the house, with Tristan bustling about ahead of him.

"Where are you going, Tristan?" Vince called out.

"Just to the Nox Trials meeting! I am going to join the Coastline Quadrant this year with Tyler."

Vince sighed, knowing this day would come.  Rather than spoil his son's first Nox Trials, he figured he would give it a year before telling Tristan that he would have to join the Presiding District.  As the Patron, he was a part of the administrative fourth of the colony, and he needed to teach Tristan about it as much as he could.  All in time, though.

In no time at all, Tristan was all changed.  He and Tyler rushed out of the door, leaving the exhausted Patron to his home.

* * *

The sun was a beautiful orange setting on the horizon when Tristan and Tyler reached the Coastline meeting pavilion.  Every time he visited Tristan was baffled by the completely different atmosphere of the precinct, with open porches and a much more spacious layout.  The residents valued their freedom most of all, which was fitting for the part of the colony dedicated to exploration.  Most houses had skylights, screen doors, and plenty of windows adorning their walls, with multi-story houses and apartment complexes designed to conserve space all around.  The coastline people rarely stayed for long, like a yo-yo leaving and coming back time and time again.

The pavilion was no exception to the open layout.  It was a minimalist structure, jutting out from the coastline into the water.  It was an incredibly common place to visit to look out at the sunset, and fortunately it was big enough that massive groups of people could fit at once.  Today, there were probably hundreds crowded on, spilling out into the streets and scattered among the piers.  Some families watched from their ships while others from their balconies, as the meeting was just taking place.

"...and those of you who are planning to participate in the monthly coastal scout can go home if you wish, you won't be able to join us in these trials.  We need to keep this colony running, I don't care what the Patron says!"

Tyler and Tristan snaked through the crowd, trying to find Tyler's family but still keep a low profile so as to not interrupt anything.

"As for team composition, we have a lot of young people who want a high place here, and I am excited to see who triumphs this year! As most of you know, we won last year, and I am looking to keep this streak going.  Those of you young people who are planning on participating please come forward now!"

Tyler and Tristan had just reached Tyler's family, the Lancasters, when the governer called out for them.  They quickly joined the other young adults up front with the governer, and Tristan quickly glanced at Tyler's sister, Ciara.  He blushed and looked down right away, her soft brown eyes barely noticing his gaze, but he always remembered what she looked like.  Tall, strawberry blonde, with a constant smirk on her face.  She was Tristan's crush since he was a baby, and she was only a year older than he was.  She was part of the Nox Trials last year, and earned herself a high position this year, and it was Tristan's goal to be in the same corps as she was this year.

Once everyone gathered, there were around a hundred teenagers all together, a bunch of young people ready to prove their worth in this massive colony.  It was going to be an exciting year for the Nox trials, Tristan could feel it.

As some of the crowd went home, since many weren't even a part of the Nox trials anymore, the governor came down from his podium to address the youths directly.

"Alright folks, those of you who are new to the trials and haven't met me, I'm Louis, your governor.  I'll be in charge of the Coastline corps assignments, and if you have any questions just ask my lieutenant, Ciara Lancaster.  She earned her place last year so I am confident she will be able to help you.  That's all."

Tyler's eyes were wide as he watched his sister stride up to the podium to take her leading place.  

"She never told me she was Lieutenant!" he hissed.

"This is great, we have an easy in to the best corps right away," Tristan whispered back, eager at this new development.

Ciara smiled as she stood in front of the group, poised as the leader she was.  Even though she was only fifteen, she looked to be years older than that, and people treated her as such.  As the sun set behind her, Tristan swore he would never see a more beautiful sight.  The rest of the evening went by in a blur, but Tristan couldn't get his mind off of Ciara and her radiant aura of confidence.  His father told him that in order to be Patron, he must have a Matron.  He had chosen Mu' Nukhoi, and Tristan had his heart set on Ciara.  He was just waiting for the right time to tell her, and what better time than the Nox trials?

When the sun set and Tristan headed home, for once in his life he was excited for his future role in the colony.  As he drifted off to sleep that night, he hoped to dream of the many dreams he had buzzing around in his head.  

Nox had a different plan in mind.