Planet: Eteran

First Insurgency War

AVA

It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?

Her first hint: James' change in behaviour. His foul mood worried her; though when she questioned Rayan about it, he shrugged and proved just as confused and concerned as she was. James left the house early in the morning to go sit by the pond with his I-Pen's and datacam in hand. Whenever she tried to check on him, he gave her a quick shush and focused on whatever subject which held his interest.

Her second hint: Meryn's lack of communication.

Mrs. Matthey watered the bleeding hearts, though Ava frowned at the heavy exhaustion on her face instead of her familiar smile. Ava stopped on the cobble path. "Is Meryn home, Mrs. Matthey?"

"He left early again, Ava."

Ava inched closer. "Has Meryn said anything strange to you?"

Mrs. Matthey put down the watering can. "Meryn avoids conversation whenever I try to ask," she admitted. "Miss. Wuolon called me about his difference in behaviour within the classroom... it's not like him." Her gaze rested on the bleeding hearts which danced with the breeze. "He's been hiding in his room more often and barely eats or sleeps." Her lips pursed when her eyes narrowed along with it. "I'm going to head down to the school and see what's going on for myself once I get the chance."

Ava left Mrs. Matthey to contemplate in the garden of bleeding hearts to rejoin James on their way to school. Who would hurt Meryn?

Grey clouds drifted into an overcast mood on Eastpoint. Rain slicked down the pavement of the main road which cut through their little town. Children from Janie's public school bounced into puddles and danced in the rain. Her own mood dwindled with the drizzle of calm and the school's atmosphere changed.

Students hid underneath the rain alcoves set out to prepare for the incoming storm. Gutters pulsed underneath their boots to keep the area dry around the alcove. Ava held on tight to her bag straps, but jumped when Rayan slipped from around the corner of an alcove. "Ava."

"Hey, Ray," she said, while James kept his gaze locked on the ground. "Have you seen Meryn?"

Rayan nodded and motioned at another alcove attached to the school wall. Ava frowned at Jon's broad frame, looming over a small, huddled shape in the corner. In her dash to her friend, she slid to a stop when Meryn lifted his head. Storm clouds reflected off glassy greys as he sat straighter.

"Meryn?" Ava asked when Jon folded his arms. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Meryn got onto his feet. "I didn't get enough sleep, that's all." He lumbered past all four of them, nothing more than a zombie of her bubbly friend.

Ava bit her tongue. "Jon, was he like that when you got here?"

"He was," Jon affirmed. "I tried asking him if he needed to talk but..." He waved his hand at Meryn's disappearing figure. "He gave me the same response."

"We should get to class," Rayan remarked when thunder rumbled. "If he won't talk... not much we can do." He sent a strange glance to James, who never lifted his gaze off his feet.

Ava followed Rayan with the two Starcross players in tow. By the time the rush to beat the bell started in earnest, Meryn was already in his seat. Head in his arms and never acknowledge his friends. Ava rested her chin in her palm, studying him instead of her work. I can almost see the storm cloud above his head.

I-Pen's scribbled around her in predictable movements, and Ava blinked when Miss Wuolon left her podium and headed to their row. "Mr. Matthey, is something wrong?"

"What?" Meryn's voice went up an octave and wavered with the thunder outside. "I-I don't know what you mean, Miss Wuolon."

"It's just..." Miss Wuolon frowned deeper. "You haven't moved since you came in."

Ava leaned into her brother, who gripped his I-Pen tighter when Meryn bleated, "I'm sorry! I think I need to go for a walk. I'll get the notes from someone later!" He rushed down the row, almost tripping on Rayan's foot, who grabbed the back of Meryn's coat in one smooth motion. He shoved Rayan into his chair, who grunted as he ran out of the classroom.

"I'll go with him, Miss." Ava bolted out of her seat and used James to continue her momentum. Her steps faltered by Rayan, who rubbed his back with a soft huff. Her fingers trailed along his shirt, where something tugged at her to pull him along, but she left him in his seat to catch up with her best friend.

"Meryn!" she called through the empty corridor of lockers, save for the timely chirps of janitor bots which sucked mud and excess water from the floor. "Meryn!"

He ignored her, and she had no other option.

Ava sprinted, and he jolted when she grabbed his forearm. "Meryn, come on," she begged and forced him to turn. "Aren't we friends? What's going on?"

He stared at her shoes. "I'm fine," he hissed, and Ava frowned at the watery grey depths. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you all that I can take care of myself." He wrenched his arm out of her hand. "Not everyone will want your help, Ranier. James is right, you need to stop meddling in other people's business. I don't want your help. I can handle this by myself."

Ava ignored the jab. "Meryn, you know you're not thinking straight. I-I can take you to the counselor's office, or home even if that's what you want. But you're my friend—"

"I said I don't want your help!" Meryn snapped, shrill. "I can deal with this, so take the hint already!" He stumbled out of her reach. "I'm just going to the wash station."

Ava stood there and watched him disappear.

Frustration rang with the release of the bell to ring in her ears and she went down the hall. Rayan and James slipped out of homeroom when she stomped past.

"Avie—?" James reached out to her, but she shoved him away. Her own reflected pain stretched across their twin hazel eyes. Ava raced for the one place she'd get peace and quiet. Away from the heavy sense of failure and imperfection.

The student council room.

Ava sunk into a seat in the corner, where Katie and Yvonne's plans sprayed across the holo-board, of all the events and plans to come to fruition. Ava groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. Her thoughts turned to white noise, and she listened to the lunch bell chime through the facility. Furious spikes made her leave the chair of inability. I should've followed you. So what if I'm meddling, Meryn?

Ava returned to the homeroom to pick up her bookbag. Stragglers wandered the corridors to discuss class or the latest gossip. In a small town of Eastpoint, nothing stayed secret for long. Others waited for the storm to pass overhead, while the sun shone on the edges of the silver clouds.

Her new goal dawned in her mind with the break through the storm.

I need to find Meryn.

As she left the eastern facility, she ignored Jon's call.

"Ava! Ranier! Hey!"

Ava grabbed his jacket when he came close and stopped the Starcross goalie short. "Go check the washstations for Meryn. He's not thinking straight and I haven't seen him since homeroom."

"Where's James—?"

"Just help me find him, Jon."

Jon relaxed and took off on the new hunt for Meryn Matthey.

Another voice caught her attention when she moved into the courtyard. Rayan and James left their alcove. "Where have you been?" James demanded.

"In the council room," Ava said. "Have you seen Meryn?"

Rayan rubbed his back with a wince. "Haven't seen him since class."

Ava continued on without waiting for thoughts or another dead end. Ava led the two around the school and closer to the refurbished warehouse where they held spooky halls. He wouldn't spend his lunch there, would he? I mean, I suppose if he wanted to get out of the rain...

"Meryn!" she called.

"Did he go back home?" Rayan questioned.

Ava ignored him. "Meryn!"

James grabbed her shoulder. "Ava, I don't think he's going to answer."

"It's not as if he's answering anything else." Her heart skipped several beats with nothing left but to search the older parts of the collegiate grounds, all the way past the Starcross field. Her last place to check, the old storage house for Starcross equipment. Ava went to rush forward, but grunted when Rayan and James grabbed her to pull her around the bleachers and out of sight.

James edged around the bleacher with a frown, while Rayan twisted around him with widening eyes.

Ava stopped when she investigated, and everything in space fell into the abyss.

Meryn had his back to the storage shed with his hands clasped against his chest while two boys from another class imposed over him. He spoke quick words to them, but refused to meet their gazes while fear and torment dripped through his features.

"Ava, what happened?" Dad asked while she stood in their living room, clothes caked with mud while she clenched her fists. "Why was I called to the principal's office about a fight? Tell me everything."

Ava took a step out of the shadows while Rayan and James disappeared with the vision of a distant tunnel. "They were being mean. They were being mean to James!" she cried out her woes, though James never showed his own. "I couldn't stand there and let them do that! It hurt! Those things they were saying to him..."

"I know, but in the end, all it'll be is words," Dad reminded her. "But, if there is ever a moment — a moment you can't ignore, won't ignore — when they go too far and they take the first physical action, I want you to remember something for me."

Ava sniffed in her past. "What?"

Dad looked so much younger back then. He glowed with happiness without a cigar, until his work drained him of all he was.

"You are my daughter, but remember this." He smiled and raised a finger to his lips. "There will be times where in those moments, you will act without thought. Where you can't stand by while something drags the innocent into the abyss. If outside forces wish to drag you down, always remember this."

A blur of colour rushed past her, with golden fire in their eyes which blazed an edevic blue.

"Some people act without thought, and won't stand by, but neither should you. You have the right to defend yourself, and those you care for. And those with a strong sense of justice will move into action without ever needing a thought."

It is never in question.

Her back cracked into action when one boy shoved Meryn into the shed, and Rayan was already on top of them with a phase of colour. Ava ran for him as he pushed the boy out of Meryn's reach.

James rushed to the scene to push Rayan off of the other boy. "Wait! You're going to—"

Her heart fell when targets switched, and a crack rocked through her ears when they punched James in the jaw.

In those moments, people move without thinking.

Fire lit up her fingertips, though Rayan acted first, coming closer to the other boy with a deepening scowl and with instinctive movement. James stumbled back onto his feet to grab Rayan around the middle. "Stop! Don't get yourself into trouble, Ray." He breathed deep into Rayan, who vibrated, prevented from taking action by the wall that was her brother, who dug his heels in when Rayan tried to get to the boy who punched James.

Too late.

Ava blocked the other boy from Meryn.

Jon leaped into the brawl and grabbed the other student to wrestle them. "Ain't so fun when it's someone your own size, is it?" he snapped. "On my Starcross field, Aton? Bad. Fucking. Idea. You don't learn, do you?"

Bystanders rushed forward while James held Rayan back, who thrashed, zoned in on the bullies. Ava kept her thoughts focused and clear while she stood on the other one. Excitement dripped through the air at a break in the normality of their school.

Ava lifted her head when an older voice boomed, "What in the Celestials is going on?"

Coach Jora rushed over from the gym with a couple other teachers to join in and shoved through the crowd as Rayan broke himself free from James, who landed on his ass while he helped Jon wrestle Aton. Ava got off her own assailant when a teacher shooed her off him, while Coach Jora tugged Jon and Rayan as they fought to act.

On the ground, James rubbed his jaw.

Ava moved for Meryn, who slid on the shed wall with wide-eyed disbelief.

"Office. Now," Mr. Yukon growled. "All of you."

"But they were—" Jon complained.

"We'll talk in my office."

Rayan sniffed, then scowled with a soft scoff.

"Mr. Falae."

Ava hung back while both perpetrators got dragged out of the fight zone by teachers, along with Jon and Rayan. James moved for her, stumbling into a hug while Miss. Wuolon waved away the audience. "Enough. Go back to class. Lunch block is over."

"Wait, Miss Wuolon!" Ava gasped and handed James over to Meryn. "It's not their fault! Rayan didn't start it—"

Unheard, Miss Wuolon gathered the rest of the students and walked away like a shepherd to sheep.

And here I am... a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Avie, don't..." James begged. "I already tried to stop him."

"Stop him from what?" she snapped, causing him to recoil. "He was trying to do the right thing, and he might get in trouble for it! They were the ones who..." Her voice faltered when Meryn stared at her, and hadn't said a word.

I know Dad would agree... he's the one who taught me that. I'm not going to let Rayan take the fall... just for doing what he believed was right, in the face of unfairness.