The Runaway sighed extraordinarily loud for he was alone, just him and the air. The foggy clouds flowing wildly with the rhythm of his fur. Something about the loneliness and the quiet creaking that vocalized from the ship’s soft wings was comforting. Finally, after all the screaming, shouting, and excitement, there was calm. There was peace. And most importantly, no people. His people, at least. They were so extreme. So violent and dumb. He couldn’t stand his heritage, nor what came of it. All those worries could feed on him no longer. For he was running away.
Oh yeah, that part.
The part where he was a runaway. Runaways were looked down upon at home. Called disgraces, and soon forgotten. No one remembered any of their names, but what they symbolized haunted the cowardly Elders whomst blindly led the ignorant tribe into war and hostility towards Overseaers. My name’s Red, the cub told himself, my name’s Red and I’m a Freed.
“Freed.” It was what he liked to call himself. The term “Runaway” was so unspecific. He didn’t like it. He liked… Freed. He felt freed, so why shouldn’t he call himself by that label? If a label is to be given, it should be a good one. And freed for him was everything good. He was freed from cultural restrictions, an unloving father, war, hate, violence, and anger.
Everything was angry at home. Even the trees lingered in such a negative emotion. But here, it was quiet, soft, perfect… The Freed.
With silky white clouds and a peacock sea below, mist lingering to greet his nose in water droplets. He sneezed.
Once he had opened his eyes, his gaze captured a glimpse of yellow and green. Yantastria! Could it be? After all the rumors and stories he’d heard, he finally got the chance to see it for real. If only his brother could see it with him. To watch the landscape form around them as they approached; it would’ve been a dream come true. But his brother was gone.
Red narrowed his large ears in grief, allowing himself to sigh gravely with a cold hiss.
His brother had decided to stay back with their father. It angered him, but he decided to respect his brother’s decision. He wanted to stay back with his father, which was fine. Their father wasn’t bad. He was nice and caring.
Their mother, now. That was another story.
Red shook his head before he brought back any unwanted memories. He didn’t need those right now. Instead, his attention travelled back to Yantastria. It was much closer at this point, and he could begin to see what appeared to be teeny dwellings. One of which appeared to tower over the others, and… movement? It was no creature, but rather a vehicle of some sort.
His eyes now fixed on the vehicle with astonishment, Red trotted to the steering lever and angled the ship in the direction of the largest house. It took only seconds for the ship to reach it, and Red stopped the ship
. He was now levitating above the building, his cover consisting of the clouds and booming wind. He was sure whomever was down there had no idea he was spying.
With this confidence, he travelled to the edge of the robotic bird. What he saw was extraordinary; three different figures unloading boxes off of the vehicle he’d seen before. It was much closer now, and he realized the vehicle was floating. But that’s not what his attention was steered towards. His red eyes were planted intently on one of the figures; the shortest one. He couldn’t tell if they were male or female from this distance, but what he could conclude to was they had humongous round ears. They dragged along the floor behind them, causing them to trip every once in a while as they took a load of boxes nearly the same mass as the cub.
Red took a deep breath before he angled to land beside the individuals. He already felt at home, and he’d only just arrived. He was here to make a new start.