• Fallen Star ➵ Chapter 2 •

Instructions

Later that day, as the sun started to set and the sky was colored shades of purple and red, the three young Irizahs - Nova, Nebula, and Cosmo - were walking through the forest towards their homes. They first arrived at Nova's den. It was a small little cave, nestled by a large boulder. Past the entrance of the cave was a small hallway which eventually led to the door to the kitchen, the room where Nova's mother usually was, cooking delicious meals for her and her son to enjoy. Nova realized with a pang of guilt that his mother must be worried sick right now. He had so much time playing tag with Nebula and Cosmo that he forgot to keep track of the time. 'Mother's gonna kill me,' he thought. 'This is the first time I've gone out, and I've already-' "Well?" Nebula said, interrupting Nova's train of thought. "You can go now, it's fine. We can play again tomorrow!" "R-right, sorry. Bye guys!" Nova said, waving at Nebula and his younger sister, Cosmo. They waved back before walking away together, chatting happily. Nova entered the cave and walked down the cold dirt hallway. Even though he had walked through this hall many times over the years he'd been here, now that he'd felt grass for hours on end, the dirt felt rough and the pebbles embedded in the floor poked painfully at Nova's paws. Soon he entered the kitchen to see his mother, Callisto, pacing around. She must've been doing that for long, since she was starting to make marks on the floor. She looked up and saw Nova staring at her, then immediately rushed over to him and placed her paws on his shoulders. "Nova, where have you been?" Mother exclaimed. "You've been out for so long, I was worried sick!" "I, uh...was playing with Nebula and Cosmo, but we lost track of time and-" "Do you know what could've happened to you?" Mother interrupted suddenly. "The evening and nighttime are both very dangerous times of day. That's when many fearsome creatures come out to hunt. If you stayed out there for longer, you could've been attacked!" Nova sighed. "I-I'm sorry, Mother. I won't do that again." "Good." Mother nodded grimly, then a soft smile appeared on her face. "Well...I'm done preparing dinner, and I think you'll quite like it." "Hm," Nova said. He followed Mother to the dining room, which was a small dirt chamber with a wooden table in the middle, just large enough for the two of them. The plates were already set up, and Nova could smell a delicious meaty smell coming from the food on the table. The two Irizahs sat down at the table and munched on their food. Nova gingerly took a bite of the meat. "Mmmm...this is so good! What is it?" "Pero meat," Mother said. "It was gifted from Aunt Clementine. Remember when she visited us a few weeks ago?" Nova gulped, remembering what had happened. One sunny day, Nova had been playing with a doll when someone knocked on the front door. When he had went to go open it, he saw the creature at the door was his Aunt Clementine. Clementine was tall and proud, with sharp features and a grim expression at all times. Her fur was orange and yellow with some red, like Mother and Nova, but her colors were much brighter, and she reminded Nova of a fresh tangerine. "Good morning Nova," she said. Clementine's voice was like a rough bark, loud and aggressive, and nowhere near Mother's soft and gentle voice. Nova used to be scared of her voice when he was younger and would always hide in a cabinet whenever Aunt Clementine came to visit. Mother came over to the door and the two adult Irizahs greeted each other. Clementine handed Mother a bag. "A gift," she had said. Then they had walked away, to Mother's bedroom, leaving Nova alone to wonder why Clementine was here. She never came during this time of year... Nova decided to follow Mother and Clementine, and stopped right outside their bedroom to listen to their conversation. The door was shut and blocked out most of the noise, but he could still hear little snippets of what the two were saying. "I'm telling you, Callisto, you need to move!" Nova recognized that as Clementine's voice. "It's not safe anymore for you and your son. Every day, he is getting closer and closer, and if you don't leave now, he'll..." Nova couldn't hear the rest of what she was saying. "Relax, Clementine. It'll be fine," that was Mother. "How would he guess that this ordinary cave belongs to the..." The rest of her sentence sounded like quiet mumbling. "Yes, but I've seen...nearby...not safe here anymore. Perhaps you could move somewhere like the tundra? I've heard it's quite safe..." "Well." Nova could hear Mother going into her "I've-made-my-mind-and-that-is-that" voice. "We are staying here. Me and Nova have built a lovely little den together, and we're not going to just throw that away because..." "But-" Clementine complained. "No buts!" Mother interrupted. "That is final. We are not moving, at least for now." Clementine growled. "Fine. I warned you, Callisto." Nova heard footsteps