Earth 2317

Aashi came out onto the roof into the harsh light of the sunset. She could remember the warm and pleasant colors of the past, the pinks, and purples, as the sun turned orange and settled out of sight. Now, the brilliant white dot of the Intruder was connected to the yellow sun by a solid white bar, so bright and hot it still hurt her skin as the day's dip out of sight continued. The solid white reflection is running over the packed algae mats, the oceans coloring it in patches of green and red.

The newsies said that the bar would soon fade as the Intruder looped out of the proximity of the Sun and traveled out to near where the orbit of Saturn was. It would return in eighteen years, then run out again near Jupiter. The predictions weren't clear, so much was still vague. If the authorities were correct, then the Intruder's fate and their own would depend on a single degree of variance at Jupiter. On one side of the line the Intruder would take up an orbit in the outer system, on the other, it would return down to the Sun where the increased solar storms and if it got close enough to reform the streamer of solar material eventually the Intruder might flare up in a classic accretion nova. Either way, if it didn't stay in the outer system, life as they knew it would end on earth, and end soon.

The others of the Council, elves, faerie, shifters and the lesser or nearly extinct races were discussing, yes, that was the polite term, discussing. If you call raging arguments and at last count five violent confrontations, as discussions. One way or another they were going to be revealed to the Humans, especially if they were to join in the Human's plans to flee to a new world.

There was time to think about all that tomorrow; now it was time to celebrate the new night and mourn the fading jungle. Dropping her robe as the sun vanished, she stood there naked for a few seconds, looking again at the angry colors fading into the waves in the west. Then fur sprouted from her skin and the twisting crackle of bones reshaping filled the night. The sleek Jaguar stood and with a huff took in the scents all around. The Bear, Fox and Wolf shifters to the north were already out and hunting. The Sirens and Merfolk were gathered on the beach below, soon to slip beneath the thickened waves. Behind her on the roof, the last known Gryphon in the world came out the aura of sadness palpable around him. Chuffing a brief greeting. She turned back to the gathering night.

Aashi leapt the 3m to the ground and ran towards the distant jungle as the ground shuddered with a fresh tremor that shook the ground beneath her paws. Just another sign that the world was dying...