Holiday

"Really been a year huh?" Gaia asked quietly as he tuned his guitar. "Guess so." Fleet was leaned against his side, looking up at the sky. "Yeah, a year since you two walked into my life uninvited." Beryl huffed. He was sitting nearby. Fleet rolled his eyes. "Oh just get over here and let our shared idiot do what he's good at." "Feel like I should take offence to that." Gaia chuckled. "Yeah well you should only take offence if it isn't true." Beryl more hesi...

When one emigrates to a country, a planet, foreign to them, it's easy to assume that your traditions and habits have to die in the process of moving, that bringing them with you is too much of a hassle, that you can be too much of a hassle for those around you if you don't adapt.    It's a dark night. The tent lights had shut...

Every year, it was always the same. The hustle and bustle as the B’haddu community came together to prepare. The warm smell of fresh baking wafting through the streets. The energetic hum of anticipation as the day—and most importantly, the night—of Nevriset B'Xhadari, the annual Haddu Skyfire Festival, drew nearer. Initially, it hadn’t meant all that much. It had always been there: the festivities and traditions passed down from the Haddu people to the residents of the town, B'...

Traveling during sunset had always left Cinn feeling torn, the beauty of watching the glowing Sun dip below the horizon often distracted them. Yet, with the sun and all of its cascading colors firmly behind them, Cinn pressed on. The Starfire Festival would not wait for them just because they could not stay focused long enough to get there. The Kubai Desert was familiar to them, having visited on more than one occasion to forage for fossil and minerals to sell o...

   The harsh Kubai Desert sun pounded down on Sahara's head as she double-checked her satchel for the day. Sahara was outside her grandparents' gem shop, Mirage Minerals, getting ready for a foraging trip. Her grandparents chatted with her while she was more focused on her satchel, her jagged stripped tail swaying back and fourth.     Her grandmother asked, "Are you sure you packed enough water?" as Sahara's enormous ears adjusted to obscure her view. "You know heatstroke is my bi...