Haru and the Painted Desert.

The desert sands blew up into the air as the wind swirled around her, nothing but red rock and dust. There was a storm every other day, and she hated the sand seeping into her mouth, ears and nose. It was torture. The winds kicked up again, a wave of wind and sand coming at her. She could see the silhouettes of transparent soldiers that charged at her in the wind. She knelt there with her staff, her hair in knotted dreads upon her scalp stained a dusty sienna from the red dirt around her.

"This is my Desert..." she muttered. She stood in her tattered clothes and screamed, "THIS IS MY DESERT!" She charged at the army made of the wind and thrust her staff at each of them. One soldier swung his sword at her and she ducked, swinging her staff knocking the man out. Each soldier made their attempt to defeat her and each of them failed. The battle field was covered in the dead bodies of the wind soldiers and many colors of paint gushed from their bodies, painting the desert with every color imaginable. The soldiers suddenly vanished but the paint stayed, staining the rocks in every direction. 

"That's more like it." She said sitting on a sandstone throne. The desert was quiet again. The type of silence that made ears ring from the deafening nothingness. She hated silence, it made her feel alone and abandoned. 

"Bram, can you play your violin dear?" She told her friend whom suddenly appeared next to her. Bram was a pale white creature with pointed ears and stripes of red and green lined his cheekbones like war paint. His arms held up a violin, playing it for his lady. She looked up at the stars as he played. It's been so long since she has been home at the Citadel. It was unfair to be banished to this god forsaken rock. No escape anywhere except the imagination she was gifted with. Even her trusted friend Bram wasn't even there. She looked back at him as his image faded and the violin played out of tune. He altogether vanished like the imagined army on the battlefield. To be frank, she was nervous. She was to meet the Master again, she did everything she could to keep her mind off of it but she couldn't help but dread and also take joy in seeing him again. 

The image of the citadel appeared in her vision as she stepped away from her throne. She couldn't believe it, she was back home again. The city shined like she remembered. 

"Look Haru is back!" A villager came to her along with another. A flock of people came to her side welcoming her home. 

"Haru, Haru!" They chanted. 

Joy overthrew her senses as they lifted her onto their shoulders. 

"I guess after all this time, you haven't learned your lesson." A mighty voice said in the atmosphere above her. The imaginary crowd poofed from underneath her and she landed face down upon the red dirt. 

"Do I need to keep you here longer?" He asked her. 

"No, Master. I was just bored." 

"Those who are bored entertain themselves with mindless things. You were doing it because you're lonely." 

Haru's shoulder's dropped, "Can you blame me?" 

"You did this to yourself, child. All you needed to do was to obey my orders." 

"I know, I know...can you come down please. Assume an image or something." She asked quite uncomfortable craning her neck to the stars. Bram came back to her, He wore a long brown cloak and matching pants. His sharp pink eyes gleamed and his dark blue hair matched the sky. 

"Funny." She crossed her arms. 

"What? Bram is a beautiful creature." He shrugged. 

Insecurity flooded her as she stood next to him. "Am I still grounded?" 

The Master laughed lovingly at her, "you're mad at me." 

"No..." she looked away. 

"You are, don't lie." 

Haru knew that being upset with the king of the Ceilo Citadel would only make things worse. She'd be stuck here in the desert again. "Forget about how upset I'll be if you expressed yourself. Talk to me." 

"I'm afraid to." 

"Why?" 

Haru looked at him as if he were clueless, "oh, I don't know maybe because you banished me to this rock because I took pride in the gifts you gave me!" 

The Master, although looking as if he had much to say only looked lovingly at her and waited patiently for her to finish. 

"That you can't stand the fact that I refused to do what you wanted me to do just because I wanted to stay here in Ceilo. You never considered my feelings on the situation and my opinion." 

"Are you finished?" 

"yeah." 

He laid a hand on her shoulder and looked at her, "for one, you took too much pride in your gifts. You believed that you were superior to everyone around you. I don't mind you loving what I have given you. I don't like it when it makes you conceited." 

"But I am not conceited." 

"What was that last little display I saw before I came in?" 

Haru turned away from him and huffed out a breath, she hated when the Master was right. He was always right. He faced her. 

"What have I told you in our lessons?" 

"Confidence is when you love yourself and others, conceited is when you love only yourself." 

"Which one do you think you were?" 

"Fine." 

"Second, you are one of the Gifted Twelve. Every person in the twelve must descend to earth to come back to Ceilo. You know this." 

"I wish the rules would change." 

"All things work together for..." he trailed off to get her to finish. 

"All things work together for my good." 

"Which means what?" 

"That you're doing all of this for the master plan you've knitted for me." 

"Exactly." 

"Can't you be a little more straightforward with your planning instead of all these twists and turns?" 

He laughed again, amused by her blunt and decided honesty. 

"It wouldn't be a journey if it wasn't interesting." He looked at her with fatherly eyes. "So, the question is are you ready to come back to the Citadel and assume your position." 

Haru looked around the red sanded desert. Was she even ready to take on such a challenge? "Do you want to know why I refused the first time?" 

"You were afraid." 

"I hate when you read my mind." 

A smile crossed his face as she said that. They stood to look at a dying star 🌟 explode into a supernova. Gasses and debris mingled with each other in unspeakable colors. "Is that one mine?" Haru asked, the reflection of the bright light in her eyes as she gazed at the display. 

"Mhmm. I thought I'd get a head start on your new home and store it up for you when you come back." He said admiring his work. 

"Do you think I'm ready?" 

"I would've never breathed a word of if you weren't." 

Her heart pounded thinking about it, she stared at her Master worriedly. 

"Hey, listen to me. You know I am with you always. There's no place I cannot see you. I'll be there when you need me." 

Haru nodded and took his hand. "Okay, I'm ready."

My name is Haru, I come from a place called the Ceilo, a citadel built on a huge slab of rock in the asteroid belt next to the Milky Way. Yeah, I know that's a mouthful trust me I think it's complicated too. People who live in the Ceilo are not born, they're created. That means we don't have parents, not exactly. The Master...or the king of Ceilo creates us around the age of twelve in Earth years and we get to choose our family. Isn't that awesome? We get to choose who is our mother, father, brother...even who were in love with. The Master says that even though blood is important, it's not always loyal...Then he'll drone on about how one of his own left him and decided to descend to earth to do bad deeds. You earthlings have to be born from a mother and who knows, she might actually treat you like a real mother should. Unfortunately that's not always the case down there, that's why the Master makes us from scratch so we can choose our family which we here call Tribes. All of us are made for a purpose, each of us have a place and a job in the Ceilo. No one goes hungry, no one is homeless and there is no space for any negativity anywhere...it's a paradise. Every one of us are referred to as royalty, that's how the Master likes it. If you're young, you're referred to as a prince or princess. If you're old, you're called a king or queen. As I said there is a purpose embedded in each of us, for example if one has a talent of the earth, their job could be an array of things. Holistic doctor, botanist, farmer. It all depends on that persons taste and dedication. each person is with one talent when they're "born" but as they grow they acquire more talents. The more talents you have the more likely you will be chosen to be in a team called the Gifted Twelve...that's me! I'm one of them. These chosen twelve are the closest to the Master to be trained to descend to earth to help fix what the Rebel Son has done to the world...that's our job to make the world a better place.

Let me introduce to you the twelve gifted subjects there's Ari, her talents are the moonlight, starlight, guidance, adventure and confidence. She's probably the most beautiful subject there is, skin as pale as the moonlight she harnesses and eyes as bright as the sun.

Then there's, Astrid. Though her talents are beauty and true love, there's a lot more that goes into that genre. Like marriage, chastity and commitment.

She's a very classy woman each time she appears in the throne room, she thinks that she needs to look her best in front of the Master although she's been told to come as she is. She's very tall, very beautiful and very charming...oh yeah that's another one she's got.

Then Bootes, she's my best friend and a silly one at that. She has many talents, lightheartedness, joy, peace, life and self acceptance. She's probably got the most meaningful traits out of all of us. At least in my opinion. Her skin is a breathtaking silvery blue, she looks like a warrior with her Valkyrie braid and dark blue freckles but you'd never know she was the sweetest and most fun of the twelve.

Now onto the men, first there's Xan, he looks almost like a normal human on earth if it weren't for the golden tinge on his skin. No not tan, GOLD. His talents are the sunlight, Day time, and summer. He's what I'd imagine the sun would look like if it were a person. Everything the sunlight manipulates he's in charge of. He makes things grow... the only thing that isn't golden is his piercing turquoise eyes that makes all the women swoon. Yeah he's a ladies man.

Second is Nigel, his talents are very interesting, His talents are more technical, such as prosperity, distribution of wealth, generosity and humanitarianism. He's basically the one in charge of charity.

There's Ori, talents of the rain, water and tranquility. He makes the sound of rain and the chill you get as it pours. He looks almost like a deer with his brown skin and white freckles. And the intricate pattern around his eyes.

Gabe, a more spiritually talented man of dedication, endurance, strength, loyalty and faithfulness. He looks almost like an angel of some sort with his dark brown curly locks and regal expression.

Jehu, now this guy...this guy is a force to be reckoned with. He has many talents but a few are, defiance, authority, power, bravery and Truth. Let's just say you don't want to mess with him or try to get on his bad side unless you want to get butt hurt. He once defeated a rebel soldier that was closest to the masters Rebel son. It was probably the most memorable moment in Ceilo history. He's now in charge of a lot in the kingdom, he's earned his place in the citadel quite nobly.

Pri takes care of the animals on earth, she's got the coolest job ever. She has the talents of human and animal bonds. She's able to send animals to humans in need of companionship. She also teaches the animals to sense when there's something wrong with their owners or people in general. Her talents are peace, comfort and loyalty. She looks so elf like with her long auburn braid and short stature but she is a remarkable person to be around. She almost reminds me of Master when I speak to him, she has this uncanny way with words and sense of calm.

Jin is in charge of the colder seasons, winter and autumn. Her skin is almost white and her eyes glow a bright yellow. Her talents are, snow, ice, wind, and also the wonder you get from seeing the first snow fall or the leaves descending to earth.

And then there's Bram...yeah you thought he was a figment of my imagination but no. He has the talent for music and how it speaks to the soul. A job that was supposed to be the Rebel Son's job until he became selfish. Now Bram has it and to be honest, he does a very good job of doing it too. I've never met the Rebel Son, nor do I plan to but I do wonder why he would give up such a beautiful talent to wound everyone on earth. Bram is a genius and the master watches him closely, he doesn't want a repeat of rebellion. He's been a loyal subject to Master and he recognizes the responsibility he has to his kingdom. It's a lot of pressure but he still enjoys it nonetheless....oh! How embarrassing, I'll stop talking and get to the twelfth subject so we can get the introductions over with. Its me,

I am in charge of a lot, Imagination, creativity, color, light, and unconditional love. Now don't underestimate these talents. It may surprise you how much creativity is used in every day life. Color is in everything and light is everywhere. So is unconditional love. Problem is that it's perverted in the strangest ways to manipulate people's souls into staying in abusive relationships and family ties that need to be broken. That's what I was created to stop. I'm the representation of what unconditional love is supposed to be.