A Fleeting Star to Chase: Chapter 1

**He Who Lost His Way**
Loud, banging noises outside. Crashing sounds. Something shaking him. Falling in and out of focus. Clattering on the ground. Short, labored breaths. Small, pitiful whines. A boy. Hands, curling around his throat. A nice lady's voice.

...Help, *he couldn't breathe* !

"Say, if you were to be granted a wish, what would it be ?"

He couldn't muster the strenght to answer her as he fell unconscious.

It seemed he fell for a long time, admist the darkness that engulfed his mind. He couldn't remember who he was, or what he was doing before. Whenever he tried to grab any thought in the frightening lack of light – fright, that was something ! – it almost always disappeared in his small grasp as quickly as he had caught it. Feeling discouraged, he gave up on what little consciousness he had and waited for his fall to be broken, or just for anything to happen.

After what weirdly felt like an eternity and a couple of seconds at the same time, his back came in contact with the ground. He had landed on the butt, and although he felt no pain, he watched himself start bawling his heart out. He was sitting in the grass, under the great oak in the garden, his blond hair full of twigs, ragged clothing and fair skin marked by various scraps. Ah, he must have fallen of the tree.

He kept crying and crying, slowly covered by the tree's shadow, but nobody came. Even though he cried for a long time, clutching his slightly bleeding hand, there was no trace of his big sis Charlotte, of their dog Spike, or of any of his parents. No reassuring smile to be seen, no soft arms to hide into, no warmth to comfort him in his pain. It only made him cry harder.

He didn't understand. He remembered a similar scene happened in the past, when he was about five years old. Mittie had climbed the tree and was too scared to go down. When he had tried to help her down, she scratched him a bit and he lost his balance, surprised. Except than when he fell and begun to sob, Charlotte ran and tended to him like the gentle soul she was, and afterwards, they spent all the afternoon together, pushing each other on the swing – well, she was the one pushing, he was too small to get her to move and it was far much amusing – and playing tag. And after that...

Suddenly, he found himself in the forest, standing in the middle of a familiar path. His mind registered loud singing cicadas, despite not actually hearing them, and he put his hands on his ears, annoyed by the sound. Out of curiosity, he held the supposedly hurt earlier hand close to his face to look at it, to see if the damage was still there. It seemed it was, but it had gotten patched up with a band-aid, and for some reason, it looked terribly wrong, fingers separating themselves from the palm or it just blurring altogether, curling and uncurling on waves.

*This can't be real, I must be dreaming !* came the dawning realisation, as he shaked tremendously. He simply couldn't believe his eyes would register an injury this bad and not feel the pain, or see the blood coming from it. Reality wasn't working that way, he knew it even after his ten short years of existence ! Though he didn't remember going to bed, or falling asleep. Which meant he probably collapsed or something like that, outside... This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all ! He needed to find a way to wake up, and quickly ! Who knew what had happened outside ?! He could have been hit by a bad guy that had sneaked on him, or put to sleep with chloroform by evil child trafficants, that would sell him to a mean mistress treating him like a dog ! What would he do about that ?! He was still a growing boy with average abilities !

Well, he had always found his way into things so far, what would stop him from doing so this time ?

Actually, the answer was obvious.

Suffocating on perfectly consumable air in his mental ramble, he followed the forest's way numbly, watching as the edge of his vision melted and reconstructed incoherently. He was aware he was supposed to be in the forest near home, but the small elements not belonging here, straight out of his imagination and mixed memories, just kept distracting him. His brain would not give a rest to where they came from, and the whole process left him stooped in his tracks, trying to recall what he was doing before. He decided to focus on the inhaling and exhaling motions of his body to keep track of reality – dream ? Nightmare ? Actual place ? He didn't know anymore. – although the feeling of air in his lungs was faint and fabricated. Hm, his sense of touch was duller that normal.

*If I follow this way, maybe I'll end up home, instead of where the ship was ? If I wish it enough, can I go home ?* Hauting words, with the phantom shortness of breath that came with squeezing hands, came back to his mind. His tongue tasted sweat and hot ashes, as his nose picked up the intoxicating smell of smoke. Concrete, palpable warmth engulfed him as he reached the heart of the forest, blinded by light. He shielded his face.

*"Say, if you were to be granted a wish, what would it be ?"* the nice lady had asked, choking the poison that crawled out of his mouth as he threw up steam and tears. It didn't make any sense, but he still wanted to answer.

"I want to go home." he said out loud, holding dearly onto the necklace that poked out of his shirt, determination pumping into his blood system. He wanted to taste his Mom's sweet apple pies. He wanted to smell Charlotte's tasty cinnamon buns. He wanted to play with his dad's long hair. He wanted to hear Mittie purr, curled up on his side as he read a child's book. He wanted to chase after Spike in the woods until he would fall on his back, panting and laughing hysterically. He wanted to nap under trees, run after animals in the grassland, pick up flowers on his way home for Mom, bury his head into her hair to find this nice smell of honey. He wanted to see them all. And he would see them all. After all, they were his only family. He had to go back.

"Is that what you wish for ? Going home ? Having a family, friends ? Living a simple, peaceful existence ?" the voice pierced his fuzzy surrondings throughout, emotionless yet so full of emotions. Care. Confusion. Surprise. Guilt. Shame. Love. A shining orb, from which emanated light in a dense cloud, came to him and he picked it as it floated before him. It glowed eerily, speaking in a foreign language that no human could ever hope to talk. It was unearthly. It was divine. Every word was shaped so he could touch every sound, see every syllab, feel every letter as the universe shifted around both of them. Too shocked to react properly, he simply nodded in agreement, not wanting to upset the godly being. "If that wish was a star, would you chase and let it guide you across the cosmos ? Would you defy space and time to reach it ?"

Again, he found no words as he held onto her, smothering her precious light in his tiny hands. The power that he breathed as she spoke was like no one else's. The Truth opened its doors for him to see, the Universe sang a song that spoke of nostalgic, familiar rythmes. The amount of information his head was submerged with felt too great to handle, as he was too small, too weak, too undeserving, a pebble on a dirty way, a meek flower among hundreds of billions of others. He yet dared to nod furiously, adrenaline coursing through his whole body. *They are the only thing I have. For them, I would do anything. I still have to apologize after all...* "Very well."

"If that is truly your wish..." The light shone even brighter, bathing everything in pure, holy light. The shape of a woman grew, opening her arms graciously, and embraced the young boy turning his face away from her greatness. "Fear not, Nathan Stromberg, as you have caught the interest of the stars. You will receive a gift to see through the lies that the eyes cannot see. Use it wisely, for this is the only help you will get."

And as she was phasing through him, the world broke in cracks and pieces, eating away the dream, the warmth, the light, everything, into pitch blackness. He felt a hand brush his hair fondly, holding onto his small form as he slipped downwards, straight into the abyss that had just opened under his feet. Unable to see anything, he closed his eyes and let himself drift in the current taking him, as gentle fingers pushed him toward the surface. Feeling his head spinning, losing his grip on reality – or rather, regaining it – he heard her for a last time, but could not pick out the words. He could only, as he drifted into consciousness, vaguely realise that she had his mother's voice.

"May the stars be with you, *Netha*."

"Remind me why I let you come during work, already ?"

Cachou sighed, as he gave his friend his order, a cup of coffee with milk and sugar – his third, and hopefully last before he started bouncing around all day like a madman – and a salad made of carrots, cherry tomatoes and endives. Said friend eyed the food before him with envy, licking his lips hungrily, and immediatly devored it with very little table manners.

It was nothing out of the usual for the Cosmo Dinner, as such events took place here almost daily. It had became a show of all sorts to the recurring customers, amused by the younglings' quarrels. Some would even say part of the restaurant's charm came from their bickering, as it never failed to bring some animation into the mostly quiet room.

"You're such a handful." the waiter commented for himself, pinching the base of his nose in a unbelieving fashion with one hand, while the other was busy adjusting his apron. Toffee's antics were really starting to tire him out. Laying his dirty tools on the table, coming in with muddy boots when he was on cleaning duty, chasing away costumers with his booming laugh and loud voice... That was it. He had e*nough !*

"Because the food's free, of course !" replied the half-guinea pig, mouth still full, ears twitching in happiness. It almost seemed like he had purposefully waited til it was filled to reply, as always. "With my best friend working here, I don't have to worry about the cost !" His right hand came patting the other's shoulder with strenght, making him jolt with the contact. Seeing red, Cachou took back the plate he had just given, holding it out of Toffee's reach as he grasped uselessly in the air for his food, screaming in protest. When his cries didn't get answered, he hurled himself onto Cachou, pounded the other's chest uncontrollably, threw himself on the ground and rolled back and forth, wailing in despair. Then, he started it all over again. "My food ! My food !"

"May I remind you *whose tab* I'm getting yelled at for still not having gotten ?" he asked angrily, eyebrows frowned as a vein popped on his forehead. "Have you forgotten *who* offered to keep it *in the first place* ? That's right, *you* !" With that, he kicked his carpet of a friend, sending him flying to hit the nearest trash, which was knocked over and emptied its contents all over him. "Look at what you're making me do ! I'm on cleaning duty again, and you're. Making me. Beat. Up. *Trash !*"

Toffee rubbed his neck sheepishly, letting out a nervous laugh as he glanced at the murderous aura forming around his friend. He brushed the garbage off his clothing without much thought, having already partly covered it in oil stains before the incident, and stood up awkwardly, ready to crack a snarky joke or a comment. Right before he could, however, the door of the dinner opened with a ringing sound signaling the entrance of clients.

Plastering the best smile he could on his face – which looked terrifying considering he still hadn't let all his anger out – Cachou welcomed them in a forced cheery voice, adopting automatically his 'work pose', straight but with relaxed shoulders and opened arms, though the two, essential latter were thrown out the window. In short, he just seemed ready to eat a baby.

*I guess you'll repass for customer satisfaction,* thought Toffee, with a smirk parting his lips in a playful manner. He turned around toward the entrance, wanting to witness the newcomer's reaction. *Bet you're gonna scare the crap outta that client of yours, hm ?* However, when coming to face the door, what he was met with was completely different from what he's been expecting, and the same could probably be said about his friend.

A kid. Forehead smeared with blood, wobbly, whiny, teary, disheveled *kid*.

Goddammit. He looked like he could collapse any second.

The sentence Cachou has prepared died in his throat in an instant. His lips closed, pressed together in a worried expression, and his mind went vacant for a brief moment, unable to process the amount of information he was given. But soon enough, instinct kicked him back on track, and he called upon a vessatile energy buried deep inside, making his pupils glint with blue stars for a fraction of second. The sweet smell of cornflowers assaulted his nostrils, blocking out the nauseating scent of blood.

Blue interweaved with bright, golden yellow surrounded the boy, shifting and bubbling and screaming of *danger danger don't touch me please don't touch me*, ensnaring him in a tight grasp like a protective boa would do. It swayed with no end, spiralling and forming spikes with no distinctive pattern. *Fear*, said his common sense. But he couldn't listen, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure of the aura. That boy... *He wasn't normal at all. No human could possibly possess this amount of raw ether ! What was he ? One of those artificially modified beasts he heard about, disguising itself as a little boy ?* It felt too surnatural, too eerie to belong to a human anyways.

Blood or not, if it was here to wreak havoc, he'd have to use *this*.

Meanwhile, as both teenagers were prone to an internal conflict and the resulting temporary paralysis, minds gone where went thoughts, Nathan had gathered his courage, and tried to talk. Stuttered, chopped noises escaped his lips with difficulty. in hope of gaining bravery, he clutched harder and harder his precious teddy bear in his arms. The brown plush was soft to hold, with a sweet fragrance – *home*, but he didn't know how to feel about that yet – and the black marbles it had for eyes glinted with a tiny light, as if it was alive. He imagined it standing defensively in front of him, shielding him fiercely from the unknown. It made him feel all warm inside.

Pyn was here with him. *He could do it.*

"H-hum, excuse m-me ? W-where... Where am I ?"

[...]