After a while of driving very carefully and even a good but under the speed limit they finally made it back home. Everyone got out the car but Onyx gently pushed Agate back into the car and shook his head slightly.
“Sorry bud. But if you could do Dad a favor and stay in the car for me, that would be fantastic.” Agate looked a bit upset about this but nodded nonetheless. Onyx gave a small smile before speaking up again and crouching in front of him, his face as soft as ever. He put a hand on Agate's knee before speaking. “Now Agate, I want you to listen to me and listen hard okay? You’re 18 now, a strong 18-year-old man. But with hitting this age comes a lot of things in life that I'm sure you know can and will happen.” He gives him a look, he knows that look and nods. He continued, “You’re a very smart young man, but others might not see that due to things we can’t really help. Might think you're dumb, or uneducated and such.” He looked him directly into his eyes. “And do you know what you do in this situation?”
Agate looked at him before answering, a bit nervous. “Well- the other folk say to ignore them. Don’t give power to that stuff when that happens.”
“Well. I guess you can say that. Keep your head down low so nothing really happens to you. Don’t speak up so they can’t turn what they say against you. But that doesn’t fix anything really does it. It just gives them a reason to keep going. Cause you’re not fighting back, aren’t you. No consequences.” He gave Agate a soft smile and patted his shoulder, “And we know people learn best with a consequence for their action. And that goes for anyone or anything ever.” His smile faded away and his passive soft look came right back to his face and eyes, a more serious tone hiding behind them. “So don’t just walk away when they treat you like nothing, like you’re dumb. Show them why you’re not to be messed with, but not with violence, but with your mind and your words When they try to kick you down and make you feel small. Puff up your chest and make it known that you’re not small. But not with aggression, but with your actions.” He smiled at him and stood up. “No matter what happens try to keep my words in your heart understand bud?”
Agate looked a bit in awe of what was said to him, I mean he always kinda knew what was expected of him as an adult. But he mainly expected to hear it from Ruby seeing how headstrong she is about these kinds of things. But hearing it from Onyx, his Dad of all people made it a bit more endearing. He chuckled and nodded before leaning onto his knees, resting his head in his hands. “Mmhmm I understand Dad… and I'm sorry but that conversation was- kinda awkward in a way.”
Onyx looked surprised as he started to fiddle with his locs. “Really- I really didn’t think so. I’ve just been meaning to have this talk with you and I thought that now would be an okay enough time. With you just turning 18 and all.” His face looked slightly red with embarrassment, looked like his shy personality is kicking into overdrive right about now.
“Oh yeah I mean I totally get it. It’s important stuff to know and all. Even if you did know it already, more of an impact to be told like directly face to face I guess. Still kinda cringe though.”
Onyx looked like he was at a breaking point of embarrassment. He just nodded and mumbled out, just loud enough for him to hear. “I guess so. Jade and Carnelian will be out to get you when you can come back inside okay?” That was supposed to be a question but Agate wasn’t able to answer before Onys sped away to the house in a very quick walk, a specialty of his for when he’s embarrassed or just got too shy to keep talking. He always found his quick escapes amusing to watch. He chuckled as he laid down on the seats of the car, his eyes heavy as sleep tried to take him away but he can’t go to sleep now. He has to go and experience whatever his family and friends have planned in the house and go stargazing with Jade and CarCar. Sadly his will to fight off sleep is something that he doesn’t have, he just closed his eyes a bit to rest them ever so slightly. Listening to the gentle sounds of nature as it winded down for a few hours, the soft landing noises of leaves falling to the ground, and the soft rustling of animals wandering around. He loved this time of day, well, night.
After a while someone came up to him and smacked his knee, it was obviously Jade. He opened his eyes and looked up, it was her. She had a big grin on her face. “Well hey now don’t go sleeping on us now! We have one last thing planned for you today alright!” She said as she grabbed him and dragged him into the house. The warm air of the house hit his face and kinda startled him, but not as much as what he saw in the kitchen. A cake sat in the middle of the table as well as gift boxes. Carnelian, Onyx, Ruby, Jack, and Stone all had a seat at the table. They all yelled in unison when they saw him.
“Happy birthday Agate!”
Ruby spoke up, “I know you and your friends already had a little celebration with Jack and Stone but me and your Dad wanted to give you something else as well. Like, a big old family celebration you know.” Stone looked a bit choked up at the word family, Jack looked at him a bit before patting his back a bit.
Jade shoved him down into his chair and haphazardly cut him a slice of the circle cake. It was a red velvet cake with a rock band design in the buttercream frosting. Carnelian gave her a look the whole time she did so, clearly, she wasn’t supposed to do that yet. She slid the plate over to him with a smile. Agate looked overly happy. He picked up his fork and took a bite. The cake itself had a deep rich flavor of red velvet that he loved oh so much, and the buttercream just amplified that flavor. He just put his head down, trying to not cry again, he’s been crying too much if you ask him. Everyone in the room just chuckled a bit before the party really started.
It’s late, Ruby’s going around and dishing people out the food that she had made that day and had kept in the oven to keep warm. The music was playing, people were laughing, and it was a grand old time. Agate was tired but happy, eating his favorite foods and just relaxing at the table, his food tapping away to the beat of the music. That all came to a halt when Jade and Carnelian came up to Agate, and Jade with three bags in hand.
Carnelian motioned in the direction of the sliding door in the kitchen that led outside. “Hey, you wanted to go and watch the stars right? I told your parents where we’re going, so let’s go man.”
“Yeah! Let’s go pebble! It’s going to be cool I swear. And with our nice fancy jackets, it’s going to be nice and cozy.” She said excitedly.
Agate looked extremely excited and quickly finished the slice of cake he was slowly eating. He stood up in a hurry. “Well, what are you waiting for!? Let’s go!”
Carnelian laughed a bit before opening the sliding door and walking out, the three of them following behind.
The stars shined down on them as they walked through town and past the fields of cows. Agate looked into the field and then up into the sky. That bright star had gotten even brighter and they had a perfect view of the night sky from there. He stopped and started to hop the fence.
“Let’s go and watch the stars here guys. The cows won’t mind, and we have an extremely clear view of the sky here.” He hopped the fence when he finished. Jade quickly followed and Carnelian took his time hopping the fence. They walked a bit, Agate looking for places they could sit and watching their step for cows and cow patties. He pointed to the spot and sat down, Carnelian and Jade followed suit. He laid down flat on the ground and stared at the stars. They flickered and glittered in his eyes.
“…You ever wonder if there's life out there?” Agate mentioned, mainly to himself.
Jade spoke up, “Well maybe I don’t know of course. But that would be pretty darn cool right.” She stood up and turned to them, to fingers up over her head like horns or something like that. “Imagine if we found some and they had silly horns like bulls, or, or they were smaller than us and were actually the tallest creature in the universe!”
Agate just laughed at her antics and Carnelian just gave a soft but not serious sigh. “Well, that would be interesting. But I’d not really think that’s the case. It would be weird if they looked like us though, wouldn’t it.”
Agate chuckled. “I guess it would be weird, really weird. But Jade, what’s up with those bags?”
She raised them up and gave a silly grin. “Well! I got these bags for us! Same brand so we’re matching! Different colors so not that much.” She gave Agate the brown bag, Carnelian the orange bag, and kept the green one for herself.
“I put some random things in there that I took from the bait and tackle store down the road. They had a ton of things. I took some batteries, some flashlights, wires, lighters, ummm water bottles, those bags, and some mini-med packs. Cool right.”
Agate looked in the bag and everything she mentioned was in there. He glanced up at her, an eyebrow raised. “Thanks man, but what makes you think we’re going to need these?”
“Hey hey hey pebble! You never know when you might need something you know!”
“I guess that’s true.” He was saying before Carnelian hit him in the shoulder pretty hard before pointing in the sky.
“Agate look! I think it’s a meteor shower!” Agate and Jade quickly turned to look into the sky. And it was one. Streaks of light quickly descend to the ground, shining and sparkling as they wiz by. Disappearing just as fast as they appeared. Agate's heart skipped a beat when he looked at the sight before him. He always wanted to see a meteor shower sometime in his life, but it happening on his 18th birthday is something he never thought he’d witness. And to make it even better, that star in the sky had gotten even brighter, and bigger, and bigger… and bigger still
Jade looked worried and took a step back. “Hey… is it just me or does that star look like it’s getting like- really big.”
Carnelian shook his head, “No- I see it too. Um-“
Jade turned to the two of them, a worried look in her eyes. A look unfamiliar to her face. The loud sharp noise of something cutting through the air at high speeds filled the air around them at a growing rate. The cows and animals around them started to wake up and move in a stressed manner, worry and stress started to fill the kids' hearts “I’m- what should we do-!” She yelled right before something gigantic passed right over them at an extreme speed that sent winds blasting to them, blowing the three of them far away from where they were before. A loud crashing sound came from where the object had landed as the kids hit the ground where they had been blown to. Their backs and bodies hurt in the process. The cows in the area started to panic and stampede away from what had crashed.
Stress filled Agates' heart as he slowly sat up and looked into the area of the crash. Heat was radiating from that area, the ground in that area had been crushed and pushed aside like it was just a blanket in the object's way. Dust from the crash floated in the air as the kids slowly got up to watch in fear and wonder.
After a while mechanical sounds came from the crash. A long mechanical spindly bug-looking leg emerged from the dusty cloud, it looked bendable like a wet middle, and at the end of this leg was something that resembled a three-pronged hoof. Two in the front and one in the back. And placed its leg on the ground, the dirt, and burnt grass bending under it. 5 more of those legs did the same thing. Moving and shifting independently as it struggled to find a good foothold.
Jade, shaking where she stood, spoke in a soft wobbly voice. Fear costing every word she said “Guys… what the hell is that-“
Not a single soul answered her question for a new thing caught their fearful eyes. A bright blue light, shaped like an oval shone through the dust. The dust was quickly blown away as the hulking mechanical ship, no bigger than 40 feet tall, broke out into what could only be described as a sprint. Each one of its legs moving and shifting independently to move its weird-shaped body. The part that looked like a head was shaped like an arrow, the glowing oval on the head as it came to an end that broke off into spikes. The body was like a very thin, tall cone that had extremities, their purpose unknown. And a lower bulging section of the body that had opened up.
The hulking mass of a machine sprinted around, chasing the cows that had been left behind. Scooping them up with their upper legs that seem like hands in a way. Picking up the cows like cars and tossing them into the open bulging section like a kid throwing toys that they hate. There was no way those cows weren’t hurt in some shape or fashion.
Agate and Carnelians' faces had gone pale. Fear takes over their bodies and making them stay in place. Jade quickly grabbed the two by the hands and started to run away. “We have to go! This! There’s no time! Move!” She was able to knock a bit of sense into them for they started to sprint for their lives. Their hearts pounding in their ears and head. It was all they could hear, well, all except for the hulking footsteps of the ship's legs. Moving in all sorts of unorganized ways. They were getting louder.
It was following them.
Chasing them.
The three of them got to the fence and jumped it. But it was too late, large mechanical hands had grabbed Carnelian and tossed him into the cavity, his screams were horrific as they filled their ears. A loud thud radiated from behind them.
Jade got grabbed and tossed.
And finally, Agate had gotten grabbed. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt him, but strong enough to keep him in place to toss him into the cavity. He hit face-first into the wall of the container and passed out. Blood leaking from his skull.
The ship ran around some more after that but once it saw no movement in the area it came to a stop. It started to move in an almost nonsensical pattern before it came to a very large thick tree. One that could easily withstand the weight of this hulking machine. It took its legs and climbed up the tree to the point where none of its body was on the ground. The extremities on it, all three of them, one on each side of the middle section, started to get a bright blue glow to them. It stayed like that for a while until a blast of energy came from them and sent a shock wave that caused a large gust of wind to go out into the surrounding town. The ship then took off at a speed never once witnessed by the likes of man. Carrying Agate, Carnelian, and Jade,
Beyond the Stars.
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