Chapter Text
Early Pollen
Anemone scratched at one of the scales under her jaw as she stirred from her nap. She stretched out all four of her limbs as she stared up at the two suns obscured by a haze of pollen in the air. It fell from the school like dandruff. Planet dandruff.
Hm. Why was I sleeping outside again?
Anemone sat up and looked around. Next to her was her oldest friend, Solana. Her short turquoise and yellow hair was speckled with pink pollen. Her chest raising and lowering, clothes covered in pink pollen stains from them playing earlier.
Right! Solana was exhausted from playing sportsball and she ended up taking a nap. So I took one as well.
Solana was, without a doubt, Anemone’s favorite friend. Solana was super loyal and loved sportsball just like Anemone! Whenever Anemone came up with a new game, Solana was always on board and usually came up with great rules that made the game even cooler! She also helped whenever Anemone wanted to prank her brothers. So she was basically the best.
Even if she was a nerdy space case sometimes.
Anemone looked out across their colony, closed in by the ship on one side and the walls protecting them. Everything had a weird pink hue to it this season. She spotted her older brother coming out from the living quarters section of the ship. His eyes swept across the colony until it landed on the two of them. Anemone gave him an earnest wave in greeting. "Hey Kom!"
Kom returned and the wave strolled towards them until he was in shouting distance. "Hey Anemone, Mom's making the cotton candy! You and Solana should head down to the cafeteria before it’s all gone!"
Anemone lit up excitement. Her mom had made a small test batch the night before and it had been amazing. Anemone had promised to keep it a surprise for the other kids, but she was absolutely dying to share some with Solana. "We'll be there!" She promised. Kom nodded with a smile before turning towards the garrison.
Anemone turned and found her friend had somehow slept through her and her brother yelling at each other. Her eyes and hands were clenched shut. "No... Tammy..." Her voice mumbled out.
Anemone frowned. Must be another nightmare. Solana got those a lot. She used to get teased about it when they were little. Well, Anemone wasn't no dream doctor, but she knew being awake was better than nightmares. She reached out and started shaking her shoulder.
"Solana! Wake up!" Solana eyes shot awake, sweat on her forehead and her chest heaving up and down. Her eyes looked over to Anemone as she started to calm down. "Nightmare?"
Solana took a deep breath before sitting up. "Yeah. Sorry. What's going on?"
Anemone grinned wide. "My mom is making a special earth candy! It's so good Solana, we gotta-" as Anemone spoke Solana's eyes grew wide, but more like fear than excitement. "Uh, you good?"
Solana's eyes shot towards the living quarters before she stumbled up to her feet. "I forgot my holopalm in the creche, and I'll get in a bunch of trouble if I-" she shook her head. "I gotta go." .
Anemone grabbed at her wrist. "Hey calm down, we can get it after we get candy." She insisted.
"No I..." Solana paused in thought. "How about we race to the creche?" she smiled but there was something wrong in it. Before Anemone could counter her Solana added, "I'll bet you ten kudos I'm faster!"
Ten kudos!? Easy money. Anemone grinned at the challenge, pushing herself to her feet. "Fine you’re on!"
"Great!" Without even the courtesy of a count down Solana turned and started sprinting downhill towards the living section of the ship. "Go!"
"Hey! No fair!" Anemone called as she started to sprint after her.
Solana may have gotten a head start, but when it came to speed, Anemone was the quickest kid around. Solana had the lead as they sprinted through the door and dodged between two adults who called after them. Anemone just giggled as she sprinted after her friend.
They passed Cal and Marz on the way, who asked where the two of them were going. Anemone was going to slow down to explain but Solana was fully focused on winning. It wasn't until the last stretch that Anemone was able to finally pull ahead. She looked over her shoulder smugly to Solana, but the girl was utterly focused. Still scared too.
Anemone focused back on the race, as she started to feel her chest heave from the long sprint. pushing her way into the creche with a comfortable margin for victory. The room was mostly abandoned, with the exception of Tammy who was cleaning up from the little kids playtime, and Mr. Bearsworth who was dancing happily near the holo projector. She gave Anemone a passing glance, but Anemone turned back towards the door. "Woo! FIrst place!" Anemone declared chest heaving. Solana turned the corner looking like she hadn't slowed down at all. "Ten kud-" Solana kept running, straight past Anemone and launching herself over the couch.
Anemone was about to protest if Solana was about to change the finish line, but was confused by the fact that she was sprinting straight towards Tammy.
Tammy was reaching towards the holoprojector switch when Solana tackled her to the ground!? Anemone was about to call out an objection when suddenly there was a bright flash from the hollow projector, sparks flying out before all the lights in the room suddenly shut off. The hair on Anemone's neck stood on end and she felt her stomach churn unpleasantly.
Slowly a much dimmer emergency lighting came on, casting the room in a dull glow.
Tammy was on the ground, gathering herself and crossing her arms over her chest. "Owww..." She whined out, looking up at Solana. "Wha-" she asked, her eyes teary.
Solana sat up, breathing hard, face still sweaty. She looked strangely relieved. "I'm sorry, are you okay?"
"I..." Tammy looked down at herself. "Yes I... why did you do that?" She asked, looking hurt.
"Sorry, I- I tripped on accident." Solana lied.
That hadn't been an accident at all! Anemone was about to object when Solana looked up at her with an pleading expression. It tied Anemone's tongue and made her feel conflicted and confused. What is happening!?
Tammy frowned. "Oh..." she paused before looking up at Solana. "Are you okay?" she asked genuinely.
"Y-Yeah." Solana nodded.
Anemone continued to not say anything while they were talking to Tammy, then adults showed up to see if they were alright and Anemone didn't get a chance to ask Solana what was going on. Her holopalm wasn't even in the creche! Eventually they went their separate ways when their parents collected them. Solana didn't meet Anemone's glare the whole time
Anemone went home feeling frustrated and guilty. She secluded herself to her bed to stew. A part of her wondered if Solana was secretly a bully, but that didn't fit with anything Anemone had ever seen. She lied so easily to Tammy though...
Anemone heard a chirp from her holopalm and went to check it. It was a message from Solana.
I'll explain everything tomorrow. Meet me at Engineering after breakfast.
Anemone frowned at the message. Then her palm beeped again with another message.
Congrats! You’ve earned some kudos!
10 Kudos sent from Solana with the following message: " Thank you for trusting me. "
Anemone felt her frustration start to fade. Solana probably had a good reason for all this, she was sure. There had to be a good explanation for everything.
Anemone eventually emerged from her bunk to get some dinner. She wondered how fast she could inhale her breakfast the next morning.
Anemone had rushed out to meet Solana as soon as she finished breakfast. Now for some reason the two of them were walking through the halls of engineering. Solana had grabbed onto Anemone's hand and they snuck about, avoiding the few adults. As they crouched around one corner Anemone whispered out, "Solana what is-"
"Almost there" was all she whispered back and then waved for Anemone to follow her. As went down Anemone heard a hiss from an open doorway up ahead.
Professor Hal's voice called out. "Ah, dangit... Congruence, bring up the projector schematics again."
"Sure Hal!" Congruence answered. Anemone crouched down, prepared to sneak by them like the other adults they had snuck by. However, Solana walked straight into the room with Anemone in tow. Anemone stared at her in confusion.
The room was some kind of workshop, with Hal standing at a station and a screen with Congruence's smiling face nearby. It turned to face them. "Hello children! This part of engineering is off limits! Though it is impressive that you’ve made it this far without my noticing"
Professor Hal turned around to look at them, surprise evident on his face. "What are you two doing here? Anemone, I can barely get you here when there are classes."
Anemone had no idea what the answer to that was. She was here to learn why her friend had tackled Tammy.
Solana fortunately had an answer ready. "We wanted to know what happened to the Holoprojector! Mom said you were fixing it."
"Oh." Hal turned to reveal the half dissected projector on the workbench. "Just had a bit of a short in the electrical system. There was a feedback loop that-" At Anemone's black expression he seemed to revise his explanation. "There was too much electricity building up in it until it burst all at once."
Anemone remembered the sparking device with a frown.
Solana spoke up. "Isn't that dangerous?"
Hal nodded, "Well, certainly, but only if someone was touching it when it burst. And that's why I'm fixing it up."
Anemone felt a pit in her stomach. "Like- like they'd get hurt?"
"Quite badly!" Congruence offered eagerly. "In fact, considering it was hooked up to the main power supply of the ship, the amount of electricity would likely kill an adult." Hal gave her a sideways look. "If you see anything sparking, please do not touch it. Tell an adult immediately."
Kill!? “B-But Tammy almost touched it right before it ‘sploded!" Anemone protested, her voice shaking.
The color drained from Professor Hal's face as he seemed to swallow hard. "Well, it is very good that she didn't then."
Anemone felt more protests bubbling inside her, but she didn't know where to start. That wouldn't have been fair! Tammy hadn't done anything wrong! She was so nice and- and-
Anemone felt Solana's hand squeeze hers and so she looked over to her. Beneath blue bangs her friend held steady eye contact with Anemone. There was fear there, no doubt, but that same pleading expression for trust she had the day before.
Then it clicked. Solana had pulled Tammy away at the last second. She had sprinted to the creche to save Tammy. With those two bits answered, Anemone had a hundred more questions.
"Now." Hal said, standing up from the stool he had been sitting at. "I'll walk you two out. Don't come back here without permission." The two of them were let off with a warning, and a promise that the next time they were caught somewhere without permission their parents would know about it. Anemone was only sort of listening lost in her own thoughts. Hal saw them off at the door, telling them to be in class tomorrow.
Anemone still clutched at Solana's hand who led them across the colony. They passed by Cal and Tammy, whispering to each other like they always did. Anemone briefly imagined what it would be like if they could never do that again. Anemone shook the thought free with a will.
Anemone didn't even think to question Solana where she was leading them until they arrived at a small divot in the wall to hide in. Solana let go of Anemone's hand and the two of them sat down next to each other. Solana picked at the small patches of grass that had grown in the shade of the wall.
Solana didn't say anything, but Anemone could tell she was worried, nervous. "So... you knew that was going to happen? With the projector?"
Solana nodded.
"... How?"
Solana took a deep breath, clearly looking nervous. "Do you remember when we were little and I would talk to you about my dreams? About Vertumna?"
Anemone frowned, she hadn't thought about that in years. When they were on the ship, Solana would always talk about the way things would be when they got to Vertumna. It was always fun to play pretend, where they were all brave explorers as Solana told them about the scary things they'd overcome. Anemone nodded slowly.
Solana looked at the ground as she spoke, "I... I don't think those were just dreams. Ever since we went through the wormhole they've gotten more frequent and more real... they feel more like memories. But like, future memories?" Solana spoke, clearly struggling to put things into words.
"How can you have memories that haven't happened yet?" Anemone said with a frown.
"I don't know…" Solana said helplessly. "I think it might be because of the wormhole? It's all so hazy. I just have this feeling deep down that I… or someone just like me, has done this all before. Like, a bunch of times." She leaned back, rubbing at her eyes. "Too many times."
"So wait, you know everything that's going to happen?" Anemone asked, wide eyed. "Like you can see the future?"
"Kind of? Not really..." Solana said. "Most things I only catch moments before they happen. And sometimes they don't even happen, they just did happen in another life. Or something?" Solana frowned. "But there are some things that feel consistent. Like unless I do something, they will always happen. And yesterday it felt like if I didn't go and save Tammy then-" Her voice got choked up.
Anemone felt her stomach twist around inside her at the thought. "Have you told anyone else"
“No.” Solana said, sounding frustrated. "They always brush it off, and if I try to prove it to them, then they think I'm crazy. They never believe me." Solana wiped away at a tear forming and stole a glance at Anemone. She looked fragile in a way that didn't fit her friend's face. "... I know this sounds crazy."
“I believe you." Anemone said, shocking Solana judging the look on her face.
"Really?" There was a skeptical frown on her face.
Anemone shot her a bright smile to reassure her. "Solana, you saved Tammy's life! With powers! Like some kind of superhero!" Anemone shot out her free arm in excitement before twisting her body to put a hand on each of Solana’s shoulders. "Do you have any idea how cool that is?"
Solana ducked forward to hug her. Anemone smiled, returning the hug. She might not be into all the touchy feely stuff like her Mom was, but hugs were always nice. She squeezed her friend as tight as she could manage as she heard Solana whisper into her shoulder, "Thank you Nem..."
After a moment or two Anemone asked in a quiet voice. "Nem?"
"Oh that’s..." Solana pulled back with an embarrassed expression. "In... In my dreams or... visions? When I see us in the future, that's what I always call you." She scratched the back of her head. “I can stop?”
Right, future stuff. That’s going to take a little getting used to. "So it’s a nickname? A-Nem-one?" Solana nodded. "Nem... Nem... I like it! Short and punchy, just like me. It beats the heck out of Annie. " She grinned wide. "Hm… You’ll need a nickname for you then." Anemone tapped her chin in thought. After a few moments she snapped her fingers. “How about Sol?”
"Yeah!” Sol’s eyes lit up with excitement and nodded.
"Alright, well if you're going to be a superhero you're going to need a sidekick, no, a partner!" Nem declared standing up. "Fortunately, I know a girl with indestructible skin who can help out." Nem declared pointing a thumb back at herself.
"Are you sure?" Sol asked as she stood up from the ground.
"Of course! I can't have my best bud going through all this alone! Specially if we can save people." It'd make her just like her brother. "You can count on me!"
Mid Dust
"Nope, nuh uh, no way." Nem hissed, crossing her arms and sweeping them out. "Never!"
Sol was crouched in the drainage ditch, half way slipped through the bars already. "Come on Nem, it's not-"
"Nope!" Nem said again, was she crazy? They couldn't leave the colony!
"We won't even go that far out today." Sol promised. "We won't even leave sight of the walls, it will be fine!"
Nem fretted looking over her shoulder a moment before turning back to Sol. "What if we get hurt?"
"It will be less likely if we're together!" Sol was frowning now. Nem opened her mouth with another question. "Nem, some of the stuff I'm gonna have to do or get is outside the walls. I have way to many memories of places that aren't anywhere close to here."
"Then we should wait until we're old enough to go out with the survey teams!" Nem argued.
"It will be too late then-" Nem saw her friend's shoulders slump. "Listen, you don't have to come if you don't want to. Just... don't tell anyone I'm going?" She asked before slipping fully through the bars and clambering out of sight.
"Sol, Sol!" Nem whispered-shouted down towards the bars. "Sol, come on you shouldn't go either." Nem looked back and forth between the garrison and the drainage pipe, fighting the urge to run up and get an adult to go out and find Sol. Nem opened and closed her fist a few times before sliding down the dusty drainage pipe and slipping past the bars. "Sol, Sol, wait for me!" She clambered up the little mote area the drainage pipe drained out into and started to clambered up to outside.
What if she got picked off by some horrible monster and eaten? Why didn't I just go with her, we're a team!
Nem pondered the best way she could find her friend in the giant world beyond the walls of her home. However as she neared the top of the ditch a hand awaited to help her the rest of the way up. Sol smiled down at her, head framed by one of the planet's two suns. "I knew you wouldn't chicken out."
The two of them snuck forward a bit and looked out to where a bunch of adults were chopping down some of the mush trees. "Okay. So who are we saving today?" Nem asked quietly.
"Oh, no one." Sol said distractedly before sprinting for the next bush.
Nem caught up and whispered. "What do you mean no one why are we out here then?"
Sol looked back, shrugging, "I didn't want the first time we go out here to be when someone's life is on the line." She promised.
Nem frowned. It made sense but she didn't have to like it.
With their years of sneaking about the ship, they snuck passed the adults no problem. Soon they were walking through the dusty paths around the colony. It was quiet but in a comfortable way. They ran into a group of critters called hopeyes which were so cute! Nem loved their fuzzy colorful fur, their little whiskers, and even their giant glassy rainbow eyes! They even got to play with them for a bit! They were so fuzzy and cute! Totally harmless!
Before long Nem was asking Sol about the different things they saw and wondering how far she could kick a sports ball if she really really kicked it. As they were hiking up a hill in the midday sun, she wiped some sweat from her forehead. As they reached the top of the hill they found something that out of all the strange and alien things they had seen, Nem would have never guessed. Sitting at the top of the hill was Dys. Just like for all the world he was supposed to be there.
"Did he get lost?" Nem whispered. She wasn't sure how you got lost that bad.
Sol had a dazed look on her face and then shook her head. "Oh, uh, no. Right. He likes it out here." Sol said, as if remembering something. She snapped her fingers, "that's how I knew about the drainage ditch, Dys usually shows me."
"Really?" Nem looked at Dys. She always kind of assumed he was more of a homebody. "Why isn't he with anyone else?"
"He wouldn't like it as much then." Sol muttered.
"Huh." When Nem looked up he was looking at them, but not in the hostile way he usually did, just kind of curious. "Should we leave? He doesn't like me." Nem had tried to include Dys on various games she organized growing up. More often than not he would bristle and refuse.
"That's not true, he just has trouble with people." Sol said, standing up. "...Just don't bring too much energy and it should be fine."
Nem frowned skeptically, but she was curious. She'd followed Sol's lead so far.
As they approached, Dys stared at them without blinking. "Hi Solana, Hi Anemone."
"Hi Dys." Sol responded and set down her bag.
"Hey." Nem said doing the same. As she sat down, she was starting to notice that Dys seemed... relaxed. Usually he was all bunched up like a paper ball, but he seemed pretty calm at the moment.
Sol quietly got out a trio of soy bars she had brought, offering one to Nem and another to Dys. He fiddled with the wrapper in hand while the two of them ate.
"Have you seen Utopia out there? Chief Tonin is easy to sneak past but Utopia has like, X-Ray eyes or something. She'll catch you for sure if you get too close." He shared speaking more and faster than Nem had ever seen in their previous ten years of acquaintance. "She caught me once, and I got in big trouble."
Was he trying to help them? "Huh." Nem said. “Thanks for the tip.”
Dys's hands fumbled at the bar in his hands. "How about I show you something cool, and sneaking out will be our secret?" He spoke without much passion or excitement. After a moment, and before either of them could answer, he stood up and started off towards the treeline. Sol made eye contact with Nem before shrugging and moving to follow
Nem was skeptical about how cool this thing could be if even Dys wasn't excited about it.
It wasn't a long walk through the mushtrees, which ended on a cliff with a massive boulder jutting out of it. To Nem's shock and surprise, Dys hopped onto the rock and walked straight to the edge without stopping. "Woah! Careful." Nem said
Dys turned to look at them impatiently. "Come on!" He called back.
Sol looked over to Nem. She looked excited to follow Dys, but wouldn’t go without Nem.
Nem frowned and looked back at Dys, feeling like she was meeting some kind of doppelganger. "Is it safe?" How did I become the voice of reason here?
Dys looked down off the side of the cliff and shrugged. "You'd be fine with your scales. And the two of us should be able to pull Solana up if she trips."
Nem cautiously walked after Sol, climbing up on the rock and making her way up to where Dys stood. As they got closer, Sol gasped and before Nem could ask, she saw the same thing. Just past the boulder, unimpeded from the trees the vast beauty of a valley stretched out before them. Nem felt her jaw drop as the hills rolled up and down in waves of red grasses. A pack of three unisaurs sprinted across the plains from one bit of cloud cover to another. One of the two suns was in the middle of setting, creating a beatiful cast of deep purples on the horizon that rose to meet the yellow of the sky. Far in the distance, Nem could make out the blues of the prosaic plains.
The three of them slowly sat themselves on the edge of the boulder, feet kicking out. Nem snuck a glance at Dys, and for the first time she had seen him smiling.
They sat there for a few minutes looking out before Dys abruptly stood. "It'll be dark soon." He explained before retreating back towards the end of the boulder. Nem looked worriedly after him, but Sol didn't seem too worried about it. They hadn't run into anything too dangerous on their way out here.
When Nem turned back, Sol was smirking at them. "What?"
"I knew you'd enjoy yourself if you gave it a chance." Sol said smugly.
Nem tried to work up a frown to wipe that grin off her face, but she couldn't really work up the feeling. "Yeah alright. Maybe you're right. It wasn't so bad."
Sol nodded, looking back out at the setting suns. "It can get dangerous, but there's a lot of beauty out here too."
Nem looked out over the valley and leaned against her friend's shoulder. Slowly Nem felt herself growing excited about the vast reach of the world they were going to explore.