Zytherium Sun

Adee awoke to the sound of thunder crashing and sat up. She realized that she had fallen asleep under a Zythicus tree after stopping to rest from a long morning of hunting. She was trying her best to prove herself as a lead hunter in her tribe. Being a female on her planet of Zytherium was hard enough, but being a hybrid of human was worse as they were deemed lazy, spoiled, and entitled. However, she always felt unique. She felt like the alliance between Zytherians and Earthlings since her father was a Zytherian global ruler and her mother, a human, was an extraordinary space explorer and scientist. She hadn’t seen her since the last war and was deemed missing in action or captured by another tribe that worked towards exiling humans back to Earth. She was only 7 at that time. She also feared that her mother had probably aged and passed away as they did not have the same lifespan as Zyterhians. Adee herself was 45 human years and 65 Zytherian years. Her native genes aged faster but lived longer and being hybrid, she was able to age without ever fully growing old.

The thunder crashed louder and Adee gathered her darts and blow stick to seek shelter as she knew the rain would come as the beautiful flourescent pink sun she adored to look at and feel the energy from was being covered by storm clouds and lightening. She also thought she heard a woodland shetoq as a faint chittering noise echoed between the thunder crashes. However, the rabbit-like foxes were only a legend on Zytherium as she only heard of the stories of shetoqs being told by elders that stated they were ancient, teal-colored exotic creatures that brought peace and harmony to the planet. Since, Zytherium was in so much turmoil and divide, shetoqs were not believed to be real.

 Adee started quickly down the path back towards her village when she felt the first drops of rain hit her forehead and slide down the tip of her nose. She wiped at the water drop and started sprinting down the path. She was approaching the bridge over the emerald river and decided to take shelter under it to wait out the storm. Even though she loved the rain, she knew she could only remain in it for a short while before her skin began to blister. It was the only thing she disliked about being a hybrid. Her world did not have rain until the humans came with their magical weather machine and created rain to make water they needed to thrive. Zytherians only needed to rely on the energy from their pink sun and the food of the land. Though water was a small element that made up Zytehrian biology, it was not a necessary element of their survival.

              The rain was heavily falling as Adee jumped off the path, slid down the embankment, and rolled under the shiny metallic bridge to take cover. She checked her reflection on the underside of the bridge to check for any skin changes that she needed to dry out to reduce the blistering. Luckily, she knew earlier to dress in protective clothing as the humans who had once agreed to alert Zytherians when they ran their water machine still had a bad habit of turning it on without warning. She looked at her snow-white silky pixie hair and charcoal stone-like skin and saw no water damage. Her human facial features resembled her mother and her short slender elf like body and long neck looked like her father.

 “Pretty unique hybrid female.,” she said to herself. 

Squatting down she opened her satchel made of floral skin and took out two mercury bars to increase her energy since she was feeling a bit drained from the morning and lack of Zytherium sun. As she went to take a bite, chittering noises echoed in the distance but sounded like they were getting louder and closer. She stood up and looked around only to see a blur of teal scurry past her from the woods on one side of the bridge back into the storm on the other side disappearing into the woods of thick luscious red Zythicus trees. Stunned, by what she saw and a bit frazzled, a part of her wanted to run in the opposite direction howling at the top of her lungs out of fear, but the Zytherian blood in her knew to follow it. She knew somehow what she saw was a shetoq.

              After letting out a low howl, Adee gathered her things wrapped her exposed skin in more protective clothing to make sure she can handle the storm. She could not believe that she was about to go follow a mythical creature into the woods in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. She raised her head and sniffed the air. The only thing she smelled was sandlewood and mahogany, a scent that the Zythicus trees secreted when they were wet. Humans loved it but she knew that it was not good for the forest in the least bit. Stepping from under the bridge Adee broke into a skip and sprint following the chittering noise through the forest relying on instinct and hearing to track the shetoq. She knew that if she could lock eyes with it as the stories were told, it would befriend her, protect her, and grant her the gift of peace and harmony. She could then restore the old way of life of the Zytherians and even find a way for them to live peacefully amongst each other. She even thought they she may be able to find her mother if she still was of life.

              She came to a halt down at the end of the emerald river that was formed when one of the first rains started to fall. She could see the back of the teal fur of the shetoq as it faced an odd-looking orb that emitted a cold wind and shimmered like the prisms she sees in the sky after the rain.  “Was it more human magic?” she thought. It was so strange and eerie. The shetoq was also mesmerized by the object that it didn’t realize she had gotten so close to it. She mimicked the chittering of the shetoq, and it turned to face her. It had no other choice but to lock eyes with her and it stood their frozen. She could barely see because of the down pour, but she felt the gaze of the shetoq. As she grabbed her floral skin satchel to capture it, it darted away deeper into the forest. Disappointed, she let out a howl and shriek and slumped to her knees. As she knelt there letting the storm consume her and her energy fade. The orb grew larger and a large being stepped through it.

A voice said to her. “My dear Adee, you cannot capture a shetoq. They are only teachers of peace and harmony. They teach by leading and lead by fueling hope. Thus, the seeker follows and finds their peace and harmony in a world that will always have a form of chaos.”

Adee slowly looked up and starred into the eyes of a familiar face.

“Momilia?”, she whispered. “Mom!?,” she stammered as she realized that the large being standing before her was her mother.

She was an elderly woman in a spacesuit holding a large cane made of metallics. She extended her hand to Adee, and she took it and rose to her feet. She had not noticed that the rain had stopped. Standing there in that moment Adee was in shock as this elderly woman was so much younger and vibrant when she last remembered at the age of 7. Her Momilia studied her child inquisitively as if she were searching for some emotion in her. Adee grabbed her and then hugged her. As she hugged her, she felt the energy of the sun, and for the first time since childhood, felt peace and harmony. The darkness of the storm around her began to lift and the fluorescent pink glow of her world began to emerge. Holding her frail mother and howling and wailed in happiness, her mother wept. Though they felt the same relief and joy they expressed their emotions differently. Zytherians did not cry, but they wailed. Humans did. They stood there in the pink sunlight mother and child, weeping and wailing in their reunion.

              Momilia Erah, walked with Adee back to the village of Amirashu, named after Adee’s father. On their walk, Adee learned that her mother was taken back to Earth and hidden as she was providing information to the leaders that Humans were destroying and causing war on Zytherium which was only meant for research and alliance with the Zytherians. Unfortunately, some of the leaders that were part of the quest realized that the air and sun were so rich in energy that it healed the humans of illness naturally and slowed their aging. They knew that if they made it 100% livable by adding the one element that was missing which was water, they could make profit by taking payments from those who wanted to be free of disease and have longevity.

 Zytherians offered a portion of their land in remote areas so that they can terraform with domes to create water, but too many humans were coming, and they overpopulated the domes thus moved into the villages of the Zytherians. Some tribes fought back, and some gave in. Eventually this created a divide of tribes as humans and Zytherians started families together and created hybrids. Humans known for their divide on their own planet through racism, classism, and other social differences enforced the same practice on Zytherium to maintain control over “prime real estate” setting the planet in rage and chaos. Erah, Adee’s mother, was granted part ruler of Zytherium as her partner Amirashu was sole leader. Her fight for fair alliance created a bounty for her that both Zytherian rebels and humans could not resist. Other alliance leaders helped her escape and Amirashu’s power protected Adee. The war continued and humans proceeded their processes. Zytherians were compromisers by nature and gave in, but it was understood that Amirashu was not to be touched.

Erah was secretly fighting for Zytherium to regain control of its lifestyle and culture but was aging to fast on Earth and she used their new magic device of teleportation to return secretly. She had assisted Amirashu with the technology which aided him to maintain power and protect their daughter. Now, with all the information and technology Erah has, she can put and end to the turmoil caused by her own kind. As they entered the metallic gates of the village of Amirashu, you could hear the howls and wails of the villagers as Erah walked into the arms of her king and reunited. They both turned and faced their kingdom and said in Zytehrian, “Nokit, Sune Zytherit Infintit,” which translates to “It is time to take back our Zytherium Sun. As howling wails turned to howling shrieks, Adee watched portals open and saw blurs of teal and heard chittering scurry past her and jump through them followed by Zytherians dressed in full battle gear. The shetoq were acting as her mother stated, teaching to lead, and leading through hope that Zytherians will find peace and harmony amid chaos. Adee knew that once the rain officially stopped, her mother would have to leave again but she vowed to cherish that moment with her as she remained under the Zytherium sun.