Between the Black and Grey (Starlight Brigade AU)

20 - Earth

Sung buckled himself securely into his seat. Alongside him sat his crew mates and in front of them stood Nad, silhouetted against a bright light, at his controls. It was a few weeks later. They were finally here.

The ship sailed around a ball of fire that Sung called the Sun at an angle, and Sung gazed out of the window in wonder, trying to spot his home planet. He could hardly believe he was back in the Milky Way, the solar system, after all these years. Apprehensive excitement bubbled in his stomach. He caught sight of an orangey brown sphere he recognised and smiled.

"That's Venus," he pointed out to Meouch beside him.

"Whoa... What's that one?" The lion pointed his paw at a further away, red one.

"That's Mars."

Sung grinned, all fears about returning abolished with the fond memories of looking through his telescope at night when he was younger. He remembered seeing what he had assumed were shooting stars, but it now occurred to him that they could very well have been passerby spacecrafts. Earth was extremely underdeveloped compared to the rest of the universe when it came to space travel, only ever venturing as far as their local moon. They dreamed of visiting Mars, but when Sung left it was still just that, a dream. He wondered if it had become a reality in his absence.

Suddenly, something else came into view as Nad turned the ship. Sung gasped at the familiar pattern of blue and green, a splattering of white obscuring its surface. It looked exactly as he remembered seeing it as he flew away. Earth. Home.

"Hold on tight!" called Nad, pushing the pads forward gently.

Sung did just that.

His hands gripped the sides of his seat until his knuckles went white and he watched, eyes bulging in fascination as they plunged into the sky blue atmosphere. Clouds blocked their view of land, and not long after they were engulfed by the fluffy water vapour. Sung held his breath as they began to clear. He stared, speechless, at the land down below, growing closer with each second. There were trees. This was the forest he played in as a kid.

How Nad knew to land here was another mystery, but it was unmistakable to Sung where they were, the image ingrained in his mind. Everyone was silent as they touched down, and it wasn't until Nad turned around to face them that they snapped out of it.

"Come on! Let's explore!"

He snapped his fingers and all of their buckles came undone at once. Then, he sprinted head first into the wall and slipped out of the ship.

"I'm never gonna get used to that," said Widget as he stood up and grabbed the crutches Nad had made for him.

"Me neither. I thought he was about to break his nose for a second there," Meouch laughed.

The group all made their way to the wall of the ship, pausing uncertainly and looking at one another. Brian pushed past them with a cold eye role and slipped out after Nad. Sung shrugged and took a deep breath, pressing his hand first to the wall and allowing it to slide through before he let the rest of him follow. He blinked his eyes open and felt his jaw drop.

An explosion of colour that he wasn't prepared for greeted him. It was a sight that he'd only ever seen in his dreams, and had never thought he'd see with his own eyes again. And it was beautiful.

"It's just like I remember!" Meouch exclaimed, having emerged beside him, "I wonder if that butterfly is still around."

"His grandchildren, maybe," Sung chuckled, still looking around in awe.

"Let's get moving already!"

Nad was standing a few paces away waving his arm in childish impatience. Sung rolled his eyes before heading after him. He heard the others follow, and the group began to traverse the overgrown woodland.