"Ugh. That was not fun."

The sun is setting outside, the last of its warm rays pouring into the room and scattering throughout, painting everything in a liquid golden light as the window's white curtains flutter in the slight breeze.

There are three people in the room - two girls and one boy, all of them in various states of disarray, as if they had just escaped an airship, boarded another one, escaped that one too and been chased halfway across the country by several groups of people with Very Big Guns.

But then again, they had.

"Agreed," the boy wheezes out from where he had collapsed in a chair the moment he had locked and bolted the door.

The girl who had spoken previously sits up from where she's lying on the bed, several curls falling in her face, her black headband askew on her head. She puffs out a breath, trying to blow them out of her face before huffing and giving up. "Do you think Tam will be okay, though?" she asks, referring to their fourth companion who's out gathering information.

"Tam's the most capable out of all of us, Chia," the second girl speaks up from where she's perched on the edge of one of the other beds. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Besides, he's just going to the few shops near us. I don't think anything can happen in the short time he's gone... right?"

"Considering our luck?" the boy laughs. "Yeah... somehow I doubt that. But Kaya's right - Tam can handle himself. I feel like we should be more worried about us."

"True," Chia says. "Still, I can't help feeling like something bad's about to happen... but well, can't do much about it now, so might as well try to unpack!" she says, brightening and hopping to her feet, energy restored simply after lying down for a few minutes.

The boy - Allioni - stares at her incredulously, then shakes his head. Considering how she always seems to have an endless well of energy, he supposes it's not all that unrealistic that being chased halfway across the country only has a few minutes of impact on her.

"I suppose you're right," Kaya agrees, standing up as well before heading over to help Chia with the luggage, who's currently rifling through her backpack and muttering under her breath.

Allioni groans. "How are the two of you still so -" he gestures, "- energetic? I can barely stand up!"

Kaya smiles, lifting a palm up before it starts to glow, forming a white orb, it whizzes around her for a while before disappearing again as she closes her fist. "Apparently helps with fatigue too. Benefits of being a Star, I suppose."

He slumps back into his chair. "Cheater."

"Creativity."

He squints back at her. "Is that sass I hear?"

She laughs sheepishly. "Tam might have rubbed off on me a little."

"This is why he's a horrible influence."

"Aha!" Chia interrupts, straightening up again from where she had been bent over, several more curls falling out of her headband. "I've got it!" she waves her map in the air. It's in surprisingly good condition considering they've been traipsing all over the country for the past week. She takes a long look at it, tracing her fingers over the lines before looking up again. "We're still about 1200 kilometers from our destination."

"That's... far," Kaya says.

"Yep. It's a loooooooooong way. Though - what exactly is our destination anyway?"

"Not sure - Yara never specified it," Allioni says. "But considering she helped Kaya escape, I suppose we can trust her. We can trust her, right?" he asks, looking at Kaya, realizing he's never asked for her opinion on the matter yet.

Hwa Yara - a Guide, the secondary star orbiting Kaya with the ability to see past, present and future, tasked with making sure Kaya meets her fate as a Star. To sing her Starsong, to be burned, to grant someone a wish.

To die.

A week ago, when Kaya had activated her Starsong and been taken away by her "parents" on an airship - presumably to find someone to burn her soul so that they could get their wish granted, though what that wish is, no one knows - Allioni, Chia and Tam had gone after her, and Yara had let them into the airship and helped Kaya escape.

So theoretically, she is on their side.

Theoretically.

("Because how do we know this isn't part of whatever 'destiny' she has in store for us?" Tam had asked Chia and Allioni, one morning a few days later, when they were on an airship en route to Kevratei and Kaya had still been asleep. "I know you want to trust her - and I know she's helped us a lot - but we should still be careful. It's possible she's only helping us because her goals align with ours - because there's something in it for her.")

(And so they had agreed - they would trust Yara for the most part, but they would still be careful.)

Kaya pauses, hesitating, before saying, "I suppose. I mean - I've known her for a long time now, and she did risk a lot by helping us escape, and even more for staying behind."

Allioni frowns. "Why did she stay behind, though? I'd assume they wouldn't trust her anymore after what happened. In fact, I'm surprised she managed to lie her way out of it."

"Yeah..." Chia nods, a thoughtful expression on her face. "She's either reaaaaaally lucky or just extremely sneaky. But I think she mentioned something about gathering information and slowing them down? I think Kaya's mother -" Kaya flinches, and Chia hurriedly rushes to correct her words, "- I mean, our pursuers, know a lot. You know, considering that book Al found - The Legends of Stars, right?"

"Could be," Allioni nods. "It could help with finding a way to erase the wishing part of Kaya's Star status."

Assuming there is one, is left unspoken, but they all think it.

"Anyway," Chia continues. "Back to the subject. Since we're still 1200 kilometers from our destination, we should calculate the amount of funds we have. Wait -" she pauses, a look of horror dawning on her face, "- do we have funds?"

"Uhh... maybe?" Allioni winces.

"Yes or no. Which is it?"

"Well -" he deflates, "- a little."

"How much?"

"Last I checked, about... 1000 novas, I think? Maybe?"

"Alright," Chia says, beginning to pace. "That's not much, but if we spend smart, like really, really, smart, maybe we can -"

There is a knock on the door. Chia pauses. "That's not Tam."

"Hello? Room service," a gruff voice says.

"That... doesn't sound like room service either," Kaya says uncertainly, watching as Allioni stands up and creeps closer to the door.

Already, she can feel it - the buzzing in her veins, the whispers in the air that make goosebumps rise on her arms. Her Starsong stirring, waking as it senses something off.

Danger, they whisper.

I know, she thinks back.

Allioni rests a hand on the doorknob, then wrenches it open.

The first thing they see is the barrel of a gun.

"Oh, come on!" Chia complains. "Not this again! Can't you just let us have one day?"

The woman holding the gun, who had been about to begin her speech of "Hand the girl over and we'll let you go free yada-yada", does a double-take. "Someone got here before us?"

"We've lost count," Kaya says truthfully, and the woman does a triple take, as if she hadn't expected her to speak up, before recovering quickly.

"Well, no matter," she says, professional once more as she levels the gun. "You're coming with us."

"No thank you," Kaya says, raising her arms, as the world fades into the background, as the buzz turns into a roar, the whispers now a torrent of voices.

Fluidity, freedom, flight, fire, healing -

Aehra.

Her Starsong comes alive.

---------------------------

"That's two novas and a solar, young man. Thank you for your business, come back again!"

The bell rings as Tam exists the shop, squinting in the light of the setting sun and a paper bag of provisions in his hand. Mentally, he runs through his checklist again, making sure he's gotten everything he needs before heading back to the hostel.

He stops in front of the hostel, glances around. Pedestrians strolling up and down the streets, people locking up shop for the evening or just opening, several kids playing tag in the distance with shrieks and shouts.

Seems okay.

Nothing out of order, no one lingering suspiciously in the shadows...

Right.

Hopefully they haven't got into too much trouble since I was gone -

That's when there is a loud crash as someone comes flying out of the second-floor window, arms flailing and screaming at the top of their lungs before crashing into a cart full of hay which breaks under their weight.

Shocked gasps, more screams as people scatter, scrambling out of the way.

Someone else pops their head out of the second-floor window the previous person had been thrown out of. "Sorryyyyyyy!" Chia yells, waving.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Tam grumbles.

A few moments later, Kaya, Chia and Allioni come racing out of the hostel with luggage in hand. "Found us, again," Allioni wheezes.

"That much is obvious," Tam shoots back. "But at any rate, we gotta run. Chia, what's our route?"

"We'll need to head away from where we were planning on going - throw them off our trail," she replies. "There's a train leaving at 6.15 - headed for Elithia, where we came from yesterday. We can board that one, then find a way to loop back around - maybe board another train that skips this town and the few towns ahead entirely."

"So basically we're going to be taking a step back and two steps forward."

"Yep, pretty much," she nods.

"Right. Let's go with that."

And then they're running.

---------------------------

"We need tickets for the train leaving at 6.15 p.m. for Elithia. Now."

The stationmaster gives them a once-over from where he is behind the ticket booths counter. Then, in a long, slow drawl: "You kids in trouble or something? Where are your parents?"

Tam suppresses an eyeroll. "Train tickets. Do you have them or not?"

"Answer my question first."

"Uhh... Tam?" Chia leans in, shaking his shoulder.

"What?" he snaps.

"They're here." She points at the entrance of the train station, where several people can be seen shoving their way through the crowd.

"Oh, frick," he mutters under his breath before turning back to the stationmaster. "Listen, we're really in a hurry here, so I'd appreciate it if you just give us the tickets already."

"Like I said -"

Tam pulls out two extra novas and slaps them on the table along with their ticket fee.

The stationmaster raises an eyebrow, then shrugs and takes the money before sliding the tickets over to the countertop.

"We need to go. Like, now. Like right now," Chia says, looking over her shoulder nervously while trying to remain inconspicuous at the same time. She lets out an "Eep!" before ducking her head. "I think they saw us," she hisses.

"Right, got it, now let's go!" Tam says, swiping the tickets before the four of them take off again, swerving past tourists and shoving through crowds of people, eliciting several yells of "Watch where you're going!" as well as some dirty looks.

"Did you really have to bribe him?" Kaya asks as they run, risking another glance over her shoulder before turning her gaze back to the path ahead.

"Fastest way I knew," Tam shrugs. "What time is it?"

"Dunno," Allioni says as they bound up the stairs and skid onto the platform. "I think -"

A high-pitched whistle, steam spilling onto the platform and wreathing everything in white, blurry silhouettes all they can see of anyone else. Tam curses. "Last call. We need to hurry!"

"There!" Chia says, bounding through the steam and yanking open a door along the train's side that they hadn't previously seen. She heads in, followed by Tam, then Allioni as the train begins to move. "Kaya, come on!" Chia yells, leaning out through the door as much as she can, one hand on the railing attached to the train doorway.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere." A figure, lunging suddenly out of the steam and grabbing hold of her, twisting her hands behind her back. "That way you can't use your powers, right?" The man says with a grin. His nose is slightly crooked and bleeding - Tam wonders who had broken it.

"Wrong - but I don't need it," Kaya says, stomping down hard on his foot and twisting her hands free of his grip, shoving him back as hard as she can before running towards the train doorway again.

The train continues to speed up, faster and faster, leaving her further and further behind -

She grits her teeth.

A flash of light, and then she isn't running anymore, but flying, stretching her hand out to grab Chia's -

She's yanked inside just as the train leaves the station, Tam slamming the sliding door closed as soon as she clears it.

Back at the train station, the man slows down, lowers the gun he had just raised as he watches the tail end of the train pulling out of the station.

"Well," he mutters under his breath. "He is most definitely not going to be happy about this."