S2 Chapter 6 Not to touch the Earth

Mars, Year 134 of the Order of Barons.

 Day, ruins of the Martian side of the Rainbow Bridge.

Star stepped out of the ruins and into the land of red sand. The building was a stone temple, red sandstone and half crumbled. She stooped down to one knee when she left the place and scooped up sand in her fingers, letting it fall. This was the land of her dreams, the land she had seen in a vision. She was home. Once again she was in the desert, as she had entered earth. She went forward, towards the sight of a shimmering silver city on the red horizon.

She began running and a memory came to her, one of her on Earth as the man she was to marry led her through the desert. His dark brown hair brushed his shoulders, his blue eyes were deep and full of mystery. He spoke to her the day after he found her, a simple message.

“Nothing left to do but run, run run.” He had said. “Lets run.”

They ran.

“Lets run.”

She ran, tripping once in the sands as she fled for the apparent city. Her heart beat frantically as she scrambled to see what she could see on the horizon. Burn burn, her heart and lungs burned.

“Move, move move,” his voice droned on in her ears. “Run run run!”

“I will get you, soon.” She whispered in between breaths.

She found her footing and ran but it didn't last long, the air seemed heavier here. Never one for long distance running in any way but this place felt stagnant, the air heavy upon her. But when she steadied her heart she felt normal once more and she was able to move on. She bent a knee in mid stride to scoop up handfuls of red sand, only to let it fall through her fingers. She wriggle each finger to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Her eyes widened and unbeknownst to her they were turning more red than honey as they were on earth.

Up onto the hill, she pushed herself to keep moving, she could not stop, not with his voice telling her to move Move MOVE! Up on the hill she would see, as she had once before onto Holy Wood for the first time, only this time she was conscious of what she was doing. Come with a mission, a purpose, reason. Her never ending purpose to find reason, her life's mission. A stale breeze blew her long wild hair around her face but it did not stop, nor did the incline of the hill, nor the sand beneath her boots. She stumbled, her lungs burned, but she grabbed sand in her fist and jumped back to her feet.

“SooooOOOoooooon!” Her husband's voice shouted as she crested the hill.

She fell to her knees as his voice faded from her ears and beheld a city of silver in a red waste. Within the city were trees and crops and greenery and color and flags with the Spyder emblem on them. They waved large and high above the city of silver spires. Silver and red in the orange sunlight. The sun, Star looked to it and shielded her eyes and felt her cotton mouth. The sun was the only familiar thing and even that was tainted a new color.

She looked back to the valley and began her decent. Going down was easier but each foot step she seemed to sink deeper into the sand. Gravity was altered here, but only slightly. She hadn't thought what the air condition might be, she assumed it was like earth. It was, only there came a new scent to the terrain, an exotic spice she had never smelled before. A new planet and a new scent.

Right before entering the city limits she stopped and had to look back. Zardos, the personification of her mind, had materialized and followed Star across the sands, but now she stayed back. Something about the Silver City made her wary and she turned back to hide in the dunes. Star shook her head, glad to be rid of her.

She approached the city and with her spirited stride she was coming to the outskirts quickly. She didn't comprehend time and she doubted it mattered if she did. The day seemed longer, it Was longer. The sun had hardly moved in the sky when she reached the city but she still felt like hours had passed. She came upon a trough void of animals and drove her head into what looked like water.

It was chilly in the desert but dry, very dry and she was desperate for a drink. She dashed her royal status, it mattered for nothing here and drank. She brought her head up and breathed deep to fill her lungs as quickly as possible. In a scramble to her feet she moved on into the city, her hood pulled up as she saw other people in the nearing distance. Others wore hoods to hide from the harsh orange glare of the Martian sun.

The buildings were a glossy smooth sandstone, silver spires topped the castle towers in the distance. No wonder from a distance they had appeared silver, she thought. But that was not all, the trees and shrubs that burst out of the large dirt filled troughs and pots astounded her. They were like the floral of earth yet, evolved to be different.

Birds sang new songs in the trees that grew here, trees that resembled those on earth. She marveled at the small flitting creatures in the canopy above them. Slowly she began to mingle into the crowd, seemingly unnoticed. She turned her attention to the people and found most hurried along without looking at her, they had different colors of hair, ranging from a bright red to silver to black. Some appeared dyed, she couldn't tell. No one with gold hair, she did well to hide it she thought.

She let them push her any way, happy to roam through them without anyone recognizing her. Without a care she walked streets she never thought were real and she still thought this place a dream, she couldn't stop smiling. Not that she tried. A dog's bark, song birds singing. The hustle and bustle of city life as she came upon a traders market.

When she found the bazaar she fiddled with a ring on her hand. A simple gold ring of no significance. Surely it was trade-able here, it had to be. All she wanted was something to carry water in, that was the most important thing. She chose a stall that had such a thing and when she presented the ring he took it without blinking an eye.

“Anything you want my lady!” He even spoke her language.

“Of course, they were descendants of earth.” she thought. “That!” She pointed to what looked like a waterskin. “And some spare coin? For the same value.”

He seemed to understand and gave her a handful of coins. When she held them up she saw a face on each side, two stern looking men. She nodded in thanks and melted back into the crowds. As she walked along she was increasingly worried about the absence of children. This seemed unnatural to her, just as the Kilmister said. She nearly wished he had returned with her.

She saw a small crowd around an old man. A story teller, he must be. She halted with the others and a few threw coins at him. She heard the story as it was paid for and he croaked out his tale.

“You wander about and what do you not see? Children?”

Someone must have said something, else he had read her mind. She stared at him silently.

“We have lived for a long time and why? Magic. Cursed Magic. Aye, I remember when children were born and lived and ran through the streets. I remember their laughter, but no longer.” He sighed. “All because of war of the bloods. Old vs the new. Spyders had killed all but two of the ancient Starriders by the time the Barons stormed the Capitol. The King, he had tried to awaken the last Rider, a woman, but he failed before he could. When the Barons cornered him, he shot her into Space, into oblivion. To a place where Riders hadn't wanted to go.” He shook his head. “His war was long since lost before he could awaken her, so he sent her away. Her freedom cost us our children, our morality, and our time.”

“Will she ever return?” A woman asked.

“Good riddance. . .” A man whispered.

I hope she does, the bounty will increase and we will see children once more.” A taller man, a worker, with red hair said.

She remained still and stared down. "Was this me?" She wondered.

“What if she did have young?”

“All the more reason to turn her over to the Barons.”

“I've heard rumors that she has. That two were brought to Mars and kept in the Silver Spires.” A starry eyed younger man said, he bore dyed silver hair.

“Perhaps, but that is mere rumor and legend.” The old man said.

Her heart skipped a beat. “Her daughters here on Mars?”

“How would that even be possible?”

“We do not know...but if the Star King could send her away, the Barons could bring others back.”

“Star King. . .” she repeated to herself.

Not wanting to attract attention and stay in one place for too long, she wandered away and into the streets for some time more. For seven long days she lived this way, harking back to her time as a fugitive. It came back to her with ease, she could sleep propped against the wall as easily as she could in her bed on Earth. She used what meager money she made from the sale of her ring to buy food, until that money ran out. Another ring got her more coins.

Yet every night she dreamed of Earth, that blue dot in the rust colored Martian sky. Oh the very thought of earth made her feel strange inside, it was so far away. She hoped Richi was faring well, her poor cousin. Days lasted so long, nights were the same. She grew accustomed to the length of a day and understood what the Kilmister had told her before her leap into space.

She thought of nothing as a threat, did her best to avoid any Spyder clad guards. It wasn't hard, they were lazy and she had evaded such eyes before. It was strange seeing Spyders on Mars, cousins to the ones on Earth. As she did her wandering and spying, she noticed that there were many posters put on on walls and under tunnels, all with the Spyder emblem crossed out in bold black. Strange writing, the Martian language, was scribbled on the edges of such posters. She could sense the discord without knowing what was happening.

She stared and reached out to touched the writing. Something happened here, something akin to a revolution. Unlike her retaliation to the BOC's war, this one had been raging for a long time. The poster she stared at was browning and  the edges were crisp and flaking. Other posters lay over the older one, but the discontent was still the same. The Barons were bad, she didn't need to be told.

One day her walk-about took her to a square were men and women were preaching about tyranny. Star stood close and listened as they preached about the Barons and their false promises. How at least their immortal kings and queens from the Stars had been fair and just, how their only true crime had been withholding the secret of everlasting life. The Barons, they cursed the world, reformed their religions and culture. Took away children and the ability to age a full life. Froze them in time as a form of revenge against Her. Controlled what history people knew, but many still remembered the true history of Mars and the Barons would not control what they said.

Star nodded in approval of their defiance. It reminded her of her war against the BOC. The BOC who was similar to the control of the Spyders, but surely the two cultures would clash harder than Earth and Mars alone. Suddenly there was shouting from down the street. Many people immediately began fleeing as Spyder guards came into the square. She watched as they went after the main instigators who stood tall and accepted their punishments. The Queen was horrified to watch on as they were beaten, men and women, by the Guards and their clubs.

Others were arrested and she watched from her corner of the square. Suddenly she met eyes with a guard not far away from her. He saw her face, her gold hair. But it was not just the hair that drew his eye, he saw the sword at her side. She was a threat and a suspicious character. When he pointed and shouted at her, she swirled into the fleeing crowd and fled.

“YOU WENCH! HALT!” He shouted behind her.

She did not! She would not as she pushed forward through the people. With her cloak billowing behind her, she dashed under the tunnels she had come to learn and through the alleys she had slept in.

But the guard was right behind her. Over her! On the bridge! She was up against a dead end that she hadn't seen coming! She turned to face the guard and his partner and drew their sword!

“Weapons are banned in civilian hands! You're under arrest! Now lower your hood!”

“Fuck you!” She shouted and spit at them and drew her sword. No one took the Star Queen without a fight!

Just as they were about to move in on her, an overhanging net filled with crates was cut from its high point. They landed with a crash on top the two men, Star dove for the bridge they stood on as they careened to the ground and were buried under smashed wood. She watched in surprise and then dashed out from her hiding place and ran up the side stairs to be where they had been. She looked down at them and then up. There was a masked man above, looking down at her.

He waved to her and pointed to the set of stairs that went up the side of the building her bridge connected to. The stairs went to the roof. She wasted no time and followed her rescuer. When she met him face to face she stopped for a moment and saw him clad in a simple off white shirt and with dark trousers tucked in knee high boots, his head wrapped in a reddish brown cloth like a mask against the sun and winds.

Her hood had come off and exposed her golden hair, he noticed and straightened up. She put it back on and he motioned for her to come closer. He swung a leg over the building and stepped onto the roof of the next one. She followed closely.

“Thank you!” She shouted when she got next to him.

“You can thank me when we're safe,” he said in return.

She followed him across the roof tops as the day waned overhead. With the other two guards disabled, Star and the mystery man didn't meet any trouble on their way out of the city. There was no wall surrounding the outer limits and they slipped away into the crops fields on the western side. From there they effortlessly made way into the desert sands. Her friend did not stop the entire time.

When he finally did they were far away, on a lone and dusty trail she was sure hadn't been used in years. She stopped out of pure exhaustion and drank heavily from her waterskin. She handed it to the other man but he had his own and followed suit.

“Again, thank you,” she said.

“I could not let you fall into their hands.” He said and removed the cloth wrapped around his head.

When he exposed his deep red hair and two tone eyes she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. As if she had seen him before but could not remember from where. He was older than her, even in their immortal ways. But instead of trying to remember him, she simply smiled and stuck out her hand. He took it in return.

“I am Star.” She said.

“I know who you are,” he smiled. "I have waited a long time for your return."

Her smile faded.

“I know you come from earth and I am here to keep you out of the wrong hands.”

“How?” She asked.

He grinned and put his mask back on. “Follow me and we may speak in private.”

As he turned and went off into the sands she had no choice but to follow him. Zardos did, she had returned in this moment and Star watched the creature trail after the man who knew her. . . .