Star-Lore

Inside the dark tunnel, Ako and Bobo moved slowly. The space was tight, just high enough to reach Bobo's head, and the walls were damp with old moss and webbed roots. Their footsteps echoed softly, swallowed by the earth around them.

Above their heads far above the ceremony had begun.

On the surface, under the fading twilight of the floranian inland, dozens of floranian women in green robes stood in a circle around the temple altar. Their faces were calm, their hands full of fresh flowers, glowing slightly in different colors.

In front of them stood a tall statue made from golden wood , the God Vendra, carved into the shape of a noble figure with six arms, each holding a different element water, fire, wind, root, crystal, and light.

One by one, the women gently laid flowers at the base of the statue, offering their thanks. Their soft voices chanted in harmony, a prayer passed down from generations.

Farther back in the temple stood Spriggan, silent and watching. His hands were folded, his eyes fixed on the statue's stone-carved eyes.

They said if those eyes ever glowed… it meant Vendra was pleased. But they hadn't glowed in forty years. Still, the people hoped.

Spriggan closed his eyes quietly. "Please," he whispered in his thoughts. "Just once, show us a sign."

Below, deep in the tunnel, Ako and Bobo continued forward.

"It should be this way," Ako whispered. "I hear them… the sounds, the voices. Ceremony is right above us!"

He pointed down one narrow turn.

But Bobo didn't move.

He just stood there, blinking.

Ako turned. "Bobo?"

Then he saw it.

A soft blue light began to shine from Bobo's chest faint at first, but growing brighter. His shirt trembled slightly, and that gentle hum returned, like a low bell ringing inside his bones.

Ako took a step back. "W-what's that?! It's glowing again!"

Bobo looked down at his chest, placing a hand over it like he was trying to listen. "Something's… strange. It's calling me."

Ako frowned. "Calling? Who's calling you?"

But Bobo didn't answer.

He slowly turned… but not toward the direction Ako had pointed. Instead, he faced a darker part of the tunnel, a tight path covered in thicker roots. The blue light from his chest flickered, as if pulling him forward.

"This way," Bobo said quietly.

"No, no, it's this way," Ako insisted, pointing toward the ceremony's sound.

But Bobo's feet were already moving.

He reached toward the roots. And just like before… they moved.

They slid back gently, pulling into the walls as if they were alive, revealing a narrow tunnel bathed in soft blue light not from outside… but from inside the walls.

Ako was stunned. "H-how are you doing that? They only move for you!"

Bobo didn't answer. His eyes were wide, focused not serious, not scared, but like a child walking toward something he knew without knowing why. Something was guiding him.

The glow from his chest pulsed with the tunnel, like a heartbeat.

Ako gulped. "Wait for me!"

And he rushed after him deeper into the part of the temple no one had seen in centuries.

Above, Spriggan opened his eyes again. Something… felt off.

His skin tingled.

Then he looked at the statue of Vendra.

And for the first time in forty years…

A faint, barely visible golden spark blinked in its stone eyes.

He stared, frozen.

"What…?"

But by the time he blinked again,

it was gone.

Then here on the forest..,

After sending the injured floranian to first aid care, sharmitha, Lyra and the floranain walked into the forest to check what is it.

The deeper they went into the forest, the quieter it became.

No birds. No wind. No sound.

Just the crunch of footsteps and the soft flickers of floating spores.

Sharmitha, Lyra, and the floranian scout Ayoto moved slowly under the thick canopy. The green above had turned darker now, and everything around them felt… watched.

Then…

Ayoto raised a hand.

"Stop."

They did. His eyes narrowed. "Look ahead."

Between two crooked trees, hidden under giant roots and vines…

There it was.

A spaceship.

Not of wood. Not of the floranian kind.

This was cold… dark… metallic. The hull was jet black with red glowing scars across its surface, like it had come from a war. It didn't look like it had landed. It looked like it had crashed from a nightmare.

Lyra's breath caught in her throat.

"What... is that?"

Then...,

Sharmitha stepped forward. Her eyes wide. Her hand trembled as she pointed.

She whispered "That ship..."

Lyra turned to her. "What?"

Sharmitha's voice cracked.

"That's the same one... the one I saw... in the invisible zone."

Her heart dropped into her stomach.

Lyra froze.

Ayoto tensed, aiming his pulsar gun directly at it.

"You're sure?"

Sharmitha nodded. Slowly.

"One hundred percent. It followed us. It was there... watching."

A long silence.

Then Ayoto snapped into action. His hands moved fast, loading his weapon.

"Go," he said, looking at Sharmitha. "Run back. Tell Spriggan. Now. This is an emergency."

Sharmitha hesitated. "But"

"No time!" Ayoto shouted.

Lyra turned to her. "I'll stay. You go!"

Sharmitha's legs finally moved. She turned and sprinted back through the trees, dodging roots and branches as fast as her feet could take her.

Now only Lyra and Ayoto remained.

The ship sat there in silence.

But then…Soft footsteps. From behind them.

Both turned instantly. Someone was there.

Walking. Slowly.