I slip the pebble into my pocket and fall in step behind her. We weave through the field of these glittering stones, which I’ve decided to dub “star-stones” because, well, they practically shimmer like the night sky scattered across the ground. My muscles burn with each step, still aching from our run through the expanding sands the day before.
The scenery is nothing short of mesmerizing. It doesn’t change much, mind you, but somehow, with each step, it feels like a new scene unfolds—a trick of light, perhaps, or maybe something magical in the air. It’s as if we’re marching through some enchanted mirror where the horizon never quite sits still. The stars above and the stones below blend into each other, forming this endless, dizzying tapestry, and it’s hard to tell where the earth ends and the heavens begin.
My head spins a bit. Just abit.
“Steady, Vini,” Gypsy murmurs as she brushes past me, catching the hint of a wobble in my step.
“Right, steady as… whatever these star-stones are.” I shake off the haze, trying to focus. “Though, can’t say it’s easy when the ground itself seems bewitched, don’t you think?”
She lets out this soft laugh, a sound that seems to drift through the air, settling everywhere and nowhere all at once. “Aye, I know what you mean.”
We walk on.
Time stretches thin, or maybe it’s not even passing at all. I feel like I’m floating, not really here but somewhere else entirely. And as breathtaking as it is, something prickles at the back of my mind—a strange, nagging unease. It’s as if the stars are watching, biding their time, waiting for one wrong step to swallow us whole. I slow down, fixing my gaze on the ground beneath me, willing it to stay solid. But… is it really solid?
For a heart-thumping moment, I wonder… am I even standing on the earth? Or have I somehow stumbled onto the stars themselves?
“Miss Captain?” I call out, my voice cracking a little, only to look up and find her gone. Just like that.
“What…?” The word slips out, barely a whisper. “Miss Captain?”
And then—thank goodness—there’s a hand, warm and firm, landing on my shoulder. I whirl around, heart racing, and find her standing right there, one eyebrow cocked, a glint of something between amusement and concern in her eyes.
“Vini?” she says, her voice low, grounding me instantly. “What’s going on?”
“I… I could’ve sworn you were right in front of me,” I manage, laughing nervously, the sound almost foreign to my own ears. “I looked down for just a second, and when I looked back… gone. Like you vanished.”
Her brow lifts, and there’s the faintest trace of a smirk. “Vanished? I’ve been here all along. You’re the one who wandered off.”
I let out a huff, another weak laugh, trying to shake it off. “Is that so? Guess that’s what I get for letting my mind roam free in a place like this, eh?”
Still, I could have sworn…
She squeezes my shoulder, her eyes softening just a bit. “Keep that head on straight, Vini. You don’t want to get lost out here. Places like this… I’m not sure how I’d find you if you got lost.”
Her words linger in the air, sending a little shiver down my spine. Everything here looks the same, doesn’t it? It would be way too easy to lose her, to lose myself in all this… strange.
I nod, swallowing hard. “Understood, Miss Captain.”
But as I keep walking, eyes fixed on her, the strange feeling just won’t leave me. Out of nowhere, there’s a flicker ofmovement in the distance—a shadow shifting among the stars. I freeze, squinting. There, just barely visible, is... something. A figure, all shadows and edges, like smoke gliding over moonlight. My eyes can’t look away.
“Miss Captain,” I murmur, my voice taut. She needs to see it.
But when I turn to check, she’s gone. Goneagain.
“Miss Captain!” I call, louder this time.
The silence presses in, the vastness swallowing my words, and a cold sweat pricks at the back of my neck. The stars seem to dance, circling above me like a slow waltz. They’re blurring. Or… am I the one blurring?
Am I still standing? It feels like I’m floating, drifting in all this… strange…
“Miss Captain!” I call again, my voice tighter, edged with desperation. “Where are you?”
Then, as if slipping through the air, her voice murmurs close to my ear. “Vini.” Just my name, soft as silk. I whip around, but there’s no one there—only that shadowy figure in the distance, its form sharpened but shifting, as though it’s held together by smoke and a trick of the light.
Is it… watching me?
Fear gnaws at my insides, and I’m on the verge of running. But then her voice comes again, that same urgent undertone. “Don’t stray, no matter what you see. Something’s wrong.”
