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“Every soul that leaves the face of the earth becomes a bright star in the sky,”
“So every time you miss them, just look up at the stars and wave a hello.”
“I remember you telling me something along the lines of that.” The white haired recalls, yes, he does remember telling him that.
Suddenly a voice shouts behind him, sourcing from a brunette in pink. “Leo!! We gotta go now, the sun's about to set!”
The aforementioned man shouts back, claiming he'll be there in a bit.
“Well, thats my sign to leave. I'll see you later, Nuf.” He understands, they have a decent journey ahead of them. So they wave each other off, the last rays of sunshine reflecting on the gold block near them.
Nufuli watches as Leo catches up to the rest of BAT, as they then start their journey back to the abandoned warehouse.
—
Eventually mid-journey, boredom creeps up into their minds, as Parrot starts humming a familiar tune.
“Seriously? Laufey?” Derap complains, he's heard him sing the same songs from that artist so many times over he's gotten tired of it.
“Whats wrong with laufey?” Parrot shoots back, glaring at the blue hooded guy across to him.
“Oh i dont know, dont you know other artists? Why always laufey?” He glares back.
“What? So i cant sing my favorite artists songs anymore?” By this time their bickering had already alerted the two at the front, suddenly stopping which caused Derap to bump into Leo.
“Could you guys PLEASE be quiet it is 1am and id DEFINITELY rather sleep than go on this stupid game but we have places to go to so please on Mojang just, shut. up.”
Everyone stood silent, even the crickets. The situation just seemed too awkward for any words to be thrown back.
“Sso,,lets just keep on going now!” Jumper breaks the silence, letting their walk continue, even with the awkward atmosphere that surrounded them.
Soon enough, all of them did return to the warehouse, clicking the button to open the secret entrance leading to the base. This place has been their temporary refuge after hq got bombed, thanks to jumper for taking them in.
The spies following the four of them retreated to their designated spots, as Jumper then showed them where they'll be staying temporarily.
—
The time showed 3:13am, Jumper sat sorting through her spy’s reports.
It's been around an hour since they've arrived back at her base, she assumes the rest of BAT had gone to sleep, or at least Derapchu has. (Considering the echoing snores)
The atmosphere emitted this off-putting silence, like it was supposed to be peaceful, but with the recent hauntings of The Director—it made everyone feel on edge.
She could hear a trapdoor opening in the distance, which was odd, kinda. Normally her spies wouldn't be moving on and about at this time, and the members of BAT don't seem like the type to do so either.
Its suspicious. So she splashes an invisibility potion at her feet, taking off her armor to fully hide herself and goes out to investigate.
The base was covered in a dim lighting, everything silent and unmoving; save for Parrot, who was standing on the elevator leading up to the entrance.
The moment he made a move to click the button to make the elevator ascend, Jumper jumped on before it got out of reach.
The ride up was quiet, Parrot only staring into the darkness the whole way. He only started moving once the light peaked in through the gap of the secret entrance opening.
He observed his surroundings, eyes skimming the walls and ceiling before heading to a set direction, what is he doing up here at this time? Was it another meeting with The Director?
They started finding their way up blocks—jumping from one to another, before eventually ending up on the warehouse roof, where she finds Parrot sitting off the ledge of the platform. She was about to ask him what he was doing up here, but he beat her to it first.
“You can reveal yourself now.” His voice cut through the night air.
So she's been caught, he's always had a keen eyesight. “Cant mistake those bird eyes of yours.” she huffed out a laugh.
“So what're you doing up here?” Jumper started walking up to him, her armor back on to indicate her whereabouts since she didn't bring a milk bucket along with her.
“I..dont know.” He replies with his usual monotone voice, tilting his head up to look at the clearing of stars. “i heard some other players talking about a meteor shower, I doubt its real though.”
“Yet you're still here waiting for them?” She sits down beside him, legs hanging off the ledge.
Parrot moves over slightly to give her some space, “It wouldnt hurt to check right?”
He wasnt all that right—what if making the both of them leave the base and watch was a part of The Director's plan all along? But if it was true then, it would be a nice short break from the chaos thats been happening as of late.
“...yes, thats true.”
So they kinda just sat there, waiting. Even if the meteors werent true, the star-filled sky is still a pretty nice view to watch, so its not that bad.
Suddenly the sound of something hitting metal and a quiet “ow!” came from behind them, the two swiftly turns their head to the direction of the source and spots Derapchu and Leow0ok, which…probably meant the ow came from Derap.
“Guys?” The bird started, causing Derapchu to look up from his gaze on the floor. “Parrot!” He then spots the other clad in armor beside him, “and…?”
“its Jumper! My invis goes out in 3 dont worry about it” the two new additions started walking up to the others, this time its Leo who speaks up. “What are you two doing up here this late?”
He took a seat next to Parrot, while Derap sat next to Jumper. “I heard some players talking about a meteor shower happening around this time.”
Derapchu brightens at the statement, “Dude that sounds so cool! Why didn't you tell us earlier?!” Parrot only stared at him in disbelief. “Bro you were literally dead asleep by the time we got here.”
He was about to start complaining but Leo cut him off, “At what time does it start?”
Leo was staring at the sky above them, maybe the stars. He follows their direction, landing on a specific binary star. “i dont know, it should've started by now…”
He takes out his prized spyglass, the same one thats been with him through everything, and the one that he lent to Nufuli once to gaze at stars.
Zooming in, he gets a closer look at the stars—shining so brightly in the field of darkness. And in the corner of his eye, he spots a flashing light. “There it is!”
The debris of a comet grazes upon the earths surface, leaving a bright tail in its trace. Soon enough many others followed behind it.
The group stares at the showing in awe, bright blue streaks passing by the atmosphere.
“I wonder how much wishes i can get in before it ends…” Derapchu wonders, earning a scoff from both Parrot and Leo, does he really believe in that? “Wanna bet?” Jumper invites, “Oh its on!”
And so they engaged in a shooting-star-wishing-battle, the only sounds being soft murmurs from the two. Eventually the other pair also slipped in a wish or two—despite not believing that they'll come true.
Nufuli himself wasn't there to watch them with the others, but he saw the same falling stars, the same rays of blue and white illuminating the darkened skies.
Now, stars are pretty fascinating—he'll admit that. If he could he'd also be throwing in a few of his own wishes. But with the many hundreds of wishes not only BAT are making, but also by other players watching the same meteor shower, he knew he had no chances of getting them granted.
But—he threw one in either way. He wished that the shooting stars could last a little while longer—so the hundreds of other people watching along with him could make it last, maybe make it a special memory, of sorrow or of joy.
Eventually the four started counting up how many wishes they've made, although the contest ended in a tie, they still had fun.
The small, bright stars twinkled alongside those that were falling. They were deep in the taiga, so there isn't as much light pollution as there are in the main server, causing the sky to be much clearer.
A significantly brighter star stands out from the rest, and Leo remembers what he's said to Nufuli before going off on their journey. He couldn't help but wonder if…
“Hey, isnt that star supposed to be Regulus?” Jumper points to the same star Leo was looking at, Parrot follows with a statement. “Oh yeah, that star is supposed to be the brightest star in the Leo constellation if im right?”
“Woah, Leo you share a name with a constellation!” Derapchu pointed out. It was a silly coincidence, he laughs at the mention. “I guess, yeah.”
So the four of them sat there, watching as the shooting stars and minutes pass by.
Eventually they all started falling asleep, leaving Leo the last one awake.
Yeah, considering the stuff going on with The Director right now this SHOULD be a pretty dangerous idea, but…to keep the comforting scene for now, he'll risk it. He swears it'll be a quick nap, then they can go back to hunting this guy.
…plus what's he supposed to do with 3 people leaning on him anyway???
So he shuts his eyes, drifting off to the sweet realm of sleep.
—
The bluebells sway under the midnight breeze, Azure skies blending into the field of flowers.
Distantly, you could see the soft streaks of meteor showers and twinkling stars.
There under the same skies, a group of 5 people have a picnic, playful banter and the warm scent of apple pie filling the comforting air surrounding them.
Moments like these were rare on Unstable, its weird to have time for things like this to happen, time to have fun, share comfort, it was as if it were all fake.
Well, that would be true.
The 5 of them knew this scene happening in front of them is only apart of a dream, one they all shared, somehow.
So they made sure to make it last.
Because they knew, the moment they opened their eyes again, one of them would be gone.
A star in the sky twinkled brighter, watching them all sleep under the same sky he last saw before his leave.