Colors

Chapter 3 (2): Pink Cotton Candy

Raven and Zahra had spent hours wandering through the crowded streets. It was getting to be somewhere around noon, but neither Zahra nor Raven had a clock to tell time with.

As Raven began to suggest looking elsewhere, he noticed Zahra staring at something or someone rather. He followed her gaze to a crowd of people.

"What is it?" He asked. Crowds were normal on Paramount so why was she so interested in that one?

"I don't know. I thought I saw Nasryn, but she wouldn't be anywhere near here," replied Zahra.

"We can go see if you want. It could just be someone who looks similar. Tons of people dye their hair red."

"Maybe..." Zahra jogged over to the crowd. She tried to look over people's heads, but her short height didn't allow her to. People on Paramount are giants.

Raven walked over to her, and as soon as he got within five feet of the crowd, people started leaving. "I guess it comes in use sometimes..."

Zahra looked at him sympathetically and began to say something, but someone in the crowd came running towards her. She side-stepped in time to not get clobbered by the fleeing figure.

The man tripped as he fled, but quickly got back up and kept running. Another man pushed through the crowd after the fleeing figure, but by the time he got out, the first man had already evacuated the area.

"Nasryn?" Asked Zahra before she noticed he was a guy. His hair was the exact shade of dark red as her friend's. When the man turned to her she quickly apologized, "Sorry, I mistook you for a friend."

As soon as her words left her mouth, a wave a heat washed over her. Her skin felt like it had been set aflame and the world glowed red. When her eyes met the redhead's she swore she saw a fire burning in them.

It only lasted for a second before a lithe girl followed the man through the crowd. Her gentle hand touched his arm, and the spell broke as if it had never happened. The red light faded away, and Zahra's vision returned to normal.

The crowd dispersed completely moments after. The only ones left were Raven, Zahra, and the two new people.

"What just happened?" asked Raven. "There was that red light and-"

"Did you see anyone run through here?" interrupted the man. Now that Zahra looked at him closer, she realized he was only a few years older than herself. Somewhere around twenty.

He wore a white T-shirt underneath an unbuttoned red-plaid jacket. A longsword with a dark red sheath hung at his waist. Wielding weapons on Paramount was common, most people didn't know how to use them anyway. His eyes scanned the crowd, looking fiercely for the runaway.

"Roy," whispered the girl who was only slightly younger than him. Her hair was light pink like cotton candy. Her narrow face and straight hair resembled the man's.

She also wore plaid. Her's was a light pink shirt. She had no weapon, and her slim body didn't appear capable of wielding one. However, Zahra had seen one too many confrontations to judge entirely based on appearance.

"I can't just let him go!" replied the man, Roy. Whatever the fleeing man had done seemed to have upset him greatly.

"What happened?" asked Raven. "We may be able to help."

"None of your business! Did you see where he went or not?" The heat started to rise again, but it quickly cooled back down almost immediately after.

"Roy calm down," whispered the girl. "Don't take your anger out on other people. He's offering help."

"He's long gone," said Zahra. "I don't know what he did, but whatever happened seemed to motivate him to get out of here."

"And I hope he stays out of here, forever." Roy's face kept scanning the streets as the pink-haired girl shot an apologetic glance at both Zahra and Raven.

"Roy, please calm down. I honestly didn't care at all. Please calm down or you might lose control again."

Her words seemed to snap the redhead out of his faze. His eyes glanced at Raven and Zahra, the only two people left from his previous crowd. A hint of worry flickered through them.

"Um... sorry. Something just came over me." He looked away from the two, briefly glancing at the crowded streets again, before looking back down at the pink-haired girl.

Raven caught Zahra's eye and tilted his head towards the two. She got the message, having been considering the possibility herself, however, she was hesitant to use her ability in a crowded street.

She disliked using her ability anywhere in such a small, crowded world like Paramount. The emotions were so dense and hurt her eyes the moment her ability activated. There were other reasons Zahra hated her power, but it was the combination of them all that made the real impact.

But she wouldn't let them stand in her way of finding Colors. So despite the displeasure, Zahra closed her eyes and activated her power.

As expected, the world burst into an array of beautiful colors. All the colors of the rainbow and infinitely more. If there were emotion-glasses, Zahra would have been wearing them.

The colors brushed past her like a stampede of dasophy. Their travel was unlimited, being unstoppable by human-made structures and laws. Zahra bet that there were probably stray emotions even far off in the sky.

Although tempted to look up at the sky to see, Zahra's eyes landed on the redhead and pink-haired girl.

The two of them sparkled like water reflecting the sun. Both had a thin layer of emotion wrapped around their bodies. Or, to be more precise, they both had a power.