Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Two

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Two

~Serenade of the Stars~

After the Fall

“I’m thirsty!” Kumo shouted in the middle of the desert.

Naru sighed. Kumo had said the same two words not two seconds before the latest outburst. Their bikes had run out of gas and the group of four decided to hoof it. The sun was unrelenting as the trekked the desert wasteland. Naru always found it ironic how they were on an Island surrounded by water they couldn’t drink. Chou walked beside Hina. The two girls were both leaning on each other for support. Naru wasn’t doing that much better either.

“Hey, can’t you like create water out of thin air or something?” Kumo asked.

Naru looked at him, “I’m just as dehydrated as you are.”

“So no?” Kumo sighed, “Can’t you use sweat or something? We’ve got plenty of sweat.”

“Sweat’s salty, you idiot!” Naru snapped.

“Oh, right,” Kumo nodded.

“When do you think we’ll get to where water is?” Hina asked.

Naru sighed, “I don’t know.”

At this rate, they would all die of dehydration before they were anywhere near water. Another thing Naru found ironic, a water wielder dying from thirst. They drank their last bottle of water a day and a half ago. They didn’t have that much time. Even the lions that were patiently stalking them decided to wait until they all collapsed from thirst.

“Naru! You’re the most useless water wielder I know!” Hina shouted.

Naru turned and narrowed his eyes, “Every water wielder can’t create water out of thin air if there is no moisture, doubly so if they’re dehydrated. You know that!”

“You should be able to make it rain!” Hina complained.

“I probably could if there was even a single cloud in the sky!” Naru sighed.

Hina wailed, “Why clouds have you forsaken us!? What have we ever done to you!?”

Kumo pointed to a faint wisp in the sky, “Is that a cloud there?”

Chou was kind enough to butt in, “I don’t think the water in that cloud would be substantial enough for anyone of us. It looks kind of dry.”

Kumo shrugged, “It’s more than we have now.”

Naru swatted away an insect and wished he could do the same for Kumo. In his dehydrated state, Kumo started to sound more and more like his sister which Naru didn’t notice before. He guessed he was just used to his sisters antics that it hadn’t occurred to him that Kumo acted similarly.

They crested a sand dune. Naru’s shoulders fell as they looked out at wave after wave of sand dunes stretching off into the horizon without an end in sight. Hina slid to her knees. Kumo wrapped an arm around his sister. Chou leaned against him. Even if she was the most positive of the group the sight wasn’t at all encouraging. Somehow, she managed to smile.

“Well, it is a beautiful sight,” Chou whipped her eyes though no tears were seen; “Don’t you think so, guys? Looks like a cover of a National Geographic or something.”

“Yeah,” Naru sighed, “Just like a picture. What do you guys say to staying here for the night?”

Kumo glanced at Naru. He knew as well as everyone else what Naru was saying. They were going to stay for more than just a night. With no water and barely any food, they barely had any strength left to continue on. Naru was suggesting if the dune they were on would do as a grave.

Slowly Kumo nodded, “Here’s as good as any.”

Chou pointed to the next ridge, “Don’t you think we could go just a little further?”

“Nah, Sis, it’s going to get dark before we get all the way over there,” Kumo pointed, “Naru has a point. We should make camp here.”

“I agree,” Hina sighed, “I’m not moving from this spot.”

Naru sat beside his sister and sat. Hina rested her head on her brother’s shoulder. Naru held his sisters head.

“Get some rest,” he whispered, “If you don’t move too much you won’t be as thirsty. We’ll be fine.”

Hina closed her eyes, “You are such a liar.”

She slowly fell asleep and the others did to. Naru sat and watched the sun set. The sky darkened and the stars started to appear a few at a time. It was strangely, dark sitting in the desert at night. It wasn’t like anything in the city when the lights would pollute the sky and block out the stars. Looking up at the sky, the Milky Way was in its full spender. Having seen it and studied it a few times Naru knew what it looked like but it was suddenly different looking upon it now. The stars were so bright and rich with color it took his breath away.

“Just like a picture,” Naru smiled.

He closed his eyes and fell backward into the sand. His sister still asleep lay beside him underneath the beautiful starlit sky. Dashes of light crossed the sky and disappeared as quickly as they appeared. The stars put on one last show for the four exhausted teens below with a serenade of shooting stars. Finally, now they could rest.

Puppetmaster jerked awake. He sat in the back of the bus against the door. It was quiet as all the children were sleeping, finally. He looked over at Chaud and his sister. They slept quietly along with the others. It wasn’t them. Then what could it have been?

Shuppet stirred, sensing his master’s troubled mind. Puppetmaster stood up and walked to the front of the bus. Tempi was driving and saw him approach down the aisle. She turned toward him.

“I can drive a few more hours,” she said, “You’ve been asleep for only an hour.”

“Stop the bus,” Puppetmaster said.

Tempi looked at him, “Are you making a joke because it isn’t funny.”

Puppetmaster looked at her, his eyes narrowing, “I said stop the bus.”

“No,” Tempi insisted, “I’ve got to get Fang’s permission to stop the bus for any reason.”

Puppetmaster reached over and put the bus into park. The bus lurched to a stop waking almost everyone on the bus. The ambulance behind them veered in time to avoid hitting the bus. Other vehicles swerved to avoid a collision. Tempi looked wide eyed at Puppetmaster as he opened the bus doors and walked out.

“What the hell are you thinking!?” Tempi yelled after him.

Shadow lazily glanced into the right side mirror. He sat up with interest, “What’s going on back there?”

Fang looked in the rear mirror. He sighed and started to turn around.

Tempi got up and ran off the bus after him. Puppetmaster stood a few feet away looking at the sky. Tempi started screaming and yelling at him. Woken up by the sudden stop Chaud got to his feet and looked out the window. Other drivers got out of their vehicles and started to close in on Puppetmaster, yelling their displeasures at him.

“Keep an eye on her,” Chaud said to Vicky.

He walked to the front of the bus and got off. Chaud tried to calm the raging crowd down. Fang drove up and got out of the jeep. He walked up to Jekyll who was the only person not raising his voice. Jekyll glanced at Fang.

“What the heck is going on?” Fang asked.

Jekyll looked at Fang a moment before answering, “School bus full of children stops suddenly. Everyone else tries to avoid hitting it. Is that explanation enough for you?”

“Was that man driving?” Fang asked.

Jekyll shrugged, “It’s hard to tell with everyone yelling at eachother.”

Fang walked toward the growing mob that had circled Puppetmaster. Puppetmaster didn’t seem affected by the surrounding animosity around him. He seemed to be looking for something or even listening for something in particular. Puppetmaster waved away the angry voices only causing more annoyed people than settling things.

“Hey!” Fang shouted, “Everyone calm down!”

“That old man is crazy!” Tempi yelled, “Why’d you let him tag along!?”

Chaud stepped in, “He isn’t crazy! I’m sure he has his reasons!”

“Chaud?” Amber called from the bus.

Chaud turned and motioned for her to stay, “Wait it the bus Amber.”

“He could have killed us all,” a man yelled.

“You need to do something,” another told Fang.

A woman cried, “What about the children!? They could have been seriously hurt!”

“It’s his fault!”

“It had to have been an emergency! You don’t know!”

“Look at all the trouble he’s caused!”

“We should get rid of him!”

“No! He’s so good with the children!”

“Will someone please explain what happened!?”

“Shut up!” Puppetmaster roared, “Is it too much to ask for some peace and quiet!?”

Everyone quieted down.

“The next person to say a word, I swear, I will rip your lungs out through your nostrils!” Puppetmaster shouted.

He looked around with a look in his eye that made everyone believe every word he said. Puppetmaster walked ahead always through the crowd. The people gladly got out of his way. He stood off on his own and looked around. Shuppet was in his arms waiting patiently. He took a few steps in one direction and stopped. Puppetmaster stooped down to pick something up.

Everyone craned to see what he had picked up. Chaud walked up closer to get a better look. While the others were terrified of Puppetmaster Chaud felt he was exempted from his threat.

“What is it?” Chaud asked.

Puppetmaster held up what he had found, “Look for yourself. You have eyes don’t you?” His annoyance was obvious.

Chaud looked down at the spider in his hand. It was the size of his hand. It looked like it was made out of a piece of wood. Unlike a small Daddy Long Leg spider this spiders legs were the width of small twigs. Its legs were curled up against its body as if it was too weak to stand properly. Chaud took a few uneasy steps back. It wasn’t that he was afraid of spiders. It was just that he didn’t feel comfortable around spiders that were as big as his hand.

Puppetmaster hand started to give off a purple mist around the spider. The spider stirred and got up into a standing position.

“Lead the way,” Puppetmaster told the spider.

Quickly, the spider walked off his hand and curried on the sand. Puppetmaster got up and followed the spider.

“Where are you going?” Fang asked.

Puppetmaster looked over his shoulder, “There is someone out there near death and this is their last attempt to look for help. I can’t be the only one who can sense their power presence draining, can I?”

Fang followed and Chaud joined. Jekyll walked behind Fang assuming he might be needed. Annoyed she wasn’t invited, Tempi invited herself. Puppetmaster crossed over a dune following the spider. The spider slowed its pace; the extra energy Puppetmaster gave the creature was wearing off. It curled up and ceased to move. Puppetmaster looked around.

“What happened?” Chaud asked.

Puppetmaster looked ahead in the direction the spider had been traveling, “The master doesn’t have enough energy to control the spider. Either that or he’s dead.”

“Or your making this up,” Tempi said.

He continued to walk forward toward a second dune, “You should be a little more concerned.”

“Oh, yeah, why’s that?” Tempi crossed her arms.

“Didn’t you have someone on your team who could control spiders,” Chaud said as he walked passed her.

Tempi scowled and walked after him. Puppetmaster ascended the second dune. When he crested the top he stopped. He took in the scene in front of him. An empty vial lay next to one of the teens. The others barely stirred but the one teen looked at Puppetmaster with blind eyes. Fang walked up and stopped. He turned to Jekyll.

“Come on! There are four of them!” he called.

Tempi broke into a run and passed Chaud up the dune.

“Kumo!” Tempi called. She crouched down by Kumo’s side.

“Tempi? That you?” Kumo faded. His eyes remained opened.

“We need to get them back to the others,” Jekyll said, “They are extremely dehydrated.”

“Fine,” Fang said, “We have to hurry.”

Chaud stood looking down at the others. He recognized two of them. Naru and Hina lay barely moving in the sand. The stars light shone brightly on their faces.