A Dreamer's Tide

Chapter 1

It was a cold autumn night outside. Around this time, most people would be getting ready for bed while the creatures of the night wondered. That's how the cycle works, after all. You either make it out alive or life passes on without a hitch. That's how some people see it anyway. Luz's sneakers fell lightly against the ground as she ran. Luz took her bat with her and pocketed the key for now. Not even thinking about what she was doing. For now, she keeps her eyes ahead of her, looking for the stranger who ran past her like that. It almost felt inhumane the way they ran. Though no one is truly normal, people on the track team have run that fast before. Yet still, something felt off about this person. Luz couldn't put her finger on it. At least not now. Not like this. First, she needed answers to this confusing game of tag. As she ran, she finally saw the figure. She looked closer as she ran; with the hood on, she couldn't see any definite details. Luckily enough, the person looked in her direction for a moment. The person must've had a lot of hair since, the way it looked, the hood barely covered the person in the darkness. They also had glowing yellow eyes. Confused, she tried to run to the person, saying.

"Hey! Wait up! You forgot your!-"

Before Luz could even finish her statement, she saw a quick flash of light. Right before her eyes, making her almost froze in place as she saw it. In a rush, the figure quickly ran towards her, inadvertently tackling her to the ground into a nearby bush with a swish. The bush was making a shushing sound, like how the leaves whispered to one another in the wind. The red baseball bat slipped out of her hands and landed in the middle of the road. She was about to speak as the figure rolled off of her. By then the car veered past the two of them as it continued down the long wavy road ahead and behind them. Roads these days feel endless, don't they? You don't know where you're going unless you follow the path in front of you. Go too far back and, well you visit some unseemly things if you go too far down. The car ultimately zooms past them as if nothing was wrong. The car ended up driving over the baseball bat, yet it remained intact and unharmed. How lucky. The vehicle's headlights were luminous this time of night. Too bright for a narrow road with little street lights. The worst part about it was the fact that they didn't look like they were going to slow down. For a moment the girl realized that she had just been saved back there. Luz turned to see none other than the person she was chasing down, looking down at the ground and pulling down their hood. That glow in their eyes stopped as the person revealed herself to be a woman in her mid-40s. The woman had long, gray hair that held secrets beyond herself. She also had mismatched eyes. One of them had a yellow eye, and the other had a gray one to match. On top of this, the woman had a sharp golden tooth that stuck out and strangely pointed ears. She wore a strange outfit for their day in age, though she had no comments since some people had style. This woman was one of the few that had that style to her. The woman beside her looked over at Luz as she rubbed her head with her head.

"Ugh, not doing that again," the woman groaned. "You alright there, kid?"

Luz was astonished by her mere presence but quickly snapped out of it, as she said.

"Oh- yeah! Just fine, um," she stammered, looking her up and down before saying, "You saved me."

The woman nodded, stood up, and offered her hand to Luz. In return, Luz took it gratefully and stood up once more.

"Of course I did; you should have been more careful, kid," the woman replied. "Are you sure you're alright? No brain damage?" She spoke in a light tone.

"Yeah, I'm alright; I can't thank you enough for what you did, ma'am."

"There is no need to call me that kid," the woman said with a light chuckle. "Eda works just as well as humans."

"Right, Eda," Luz replied before hearing that last part. "Hold on, human? That's pretty strange to call another human that lady," she replied.

"Never mind that," Eda said, brushing Luz's comment off as nothing. "What's a kid like you doing out here? You almost got yourself killed out there like that," she said, putting one hand on her hip.

"Well..." Luz began rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "You dropped something, and I wanted to give it back to you, that's all," she said, taking the key out of her pocket and handing it back to Eda.

Eda, however, was almost surprised by this revaluation. She was usually good at keeping things to herself. It must've been a rough night to forget something as important as that key. The woman was also surprised by how the kid was going to such lengths to return something like this. She sighed, taking the key and stashing it in the labyrinth that she had for hair. Though at the moment Luz didn't question it since some people do store their things in their hair or somewhere along the lines of that. With her free hand, Eda ruffled Luz's hair slightly.

"Well, thank Titan, you're not a common thief in this neck of the woods," she said with a relieved sigh. "You're a good kid; I'll give you that," she said, pulling her hand away from Luz. "Thanks, kid," she said, smiling at her.

"Of course! It seemed valuable, and the last thing I wanted was some trash critters getting to it."

"Trash critters, huh?" Eda replied with a toothy grin. "You're a funny human," she said, walking away with a snicker.

"Hey! Wait up!" Luz said, following her after grabbing her bat off the road, "Where are you going? Why do you keep calling me that?!" she exclaimed.

"I'm here to take care of things that you shouldn't worry your little head about, human," she said as she kept walking.

"I have a name, you know, and stop calling me that, please. You're human too, aren't you?" Luz replied.

Eda then stopped in her tracks as she said that. She looked over at the human as she said,

"Tell me your name, then, kid," she said.

"Luz, Luz Noceda," she said, holding her hand out to shake, knowing that most adults expect one.

Eda smirked, shaking Luz's hand with her own.

"Well, Luz the human," she began, "it's nice to meet you, but seriously, you should probably head home; haven't you been taught not to talk to strangers?"

Luz laughed a little as they pulled their hands away.

"Well, everyone is a stranger until you know their name, really," she admits.

"That's fair," Eda replied as she walked again. "Even so, not everyone can be trusted just because they have a name; you know that, right?"

Luz looked down as she walked alongside Eda. Thinking about it, she said as she brought herself to nod in response.

"I guess you're right," she said, checking the time on her watch. "And right about me needing to head back home," she said.

"Told you so,"

"There is no need to tell me twice now," Luz began. "Thank you again for saving me back there, Eda. Take care now!"

Eda simply nods, waving Luz off.

"Same to you, kid," Eda said, watching her run off.

With this, Luz ran back to where she came from. She looked behind her once more to see if Eda was still there or not. A little part of her thought she would be, the woman seemed interesting after all. Alas, she was not there anymore. Eda was gone without a trace. All Luz heard was an owl hooting once before the silence of the night pursued him once again. The air felt lighter now that she had returned that key. Yet for some reason, that woman seemed important somehow. Gut instinct? No. It couldn't be something as trivial as that. It had to be something she just knew. Tonight, it just seemed like an opportunity wasted, gone in the wind. Luz had so many questions for her, yet the woman dodged the important ones or just didn't answer. Maybe it was best that way for now. The woman probably has her own life and her own business. She didn't need to be a part of that. Authentic was what Eda seemed to be. Luz couldn't help but wonder why she was there, to begin with.

～～ ✦⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊～～

(A/N: Decided to continue this because why not? Besides what else am I supposed to do just leave it? Heh, anyways, I'll catch a later. Have a good day/night~💜)