Thank you, Rainbow!

Wow, Danie, you expressed Furbin's feelings really well. You can feel his pain when you read it. 

Star Ruby~

I think I might have cried, and I might have passed out for a few seconds. The star that fell is a huge, glowing rock. Not at all like I expected. Furbin is trying to chip out a rectangular peice of it without burning his hands. He finally suceeds, and plants the golden-red stone where Menaya is buried.

Menaya I think, and I cry all over again. The whole world is a hazy dream; blotted with clouds raining saltwater drops, veiled in curtains that turn us away from the truth. My head aches from all the tears, but I cannot do anything. We have done the best we can for Leila. I don't know what Kaster did to her, but she says everything hurts. No one wants to help Kaster. In truth, I don't even know what I did to him. I was in some kind of trance. Everyone is lost in their own emotions, and I suddenly feel bitter. No, don't feel like that agaisnt your friends. Friends? I barely know them. You do know them; they have accepted you. 

"Shush!" I whisper to that strange brain of mine. Leila stirs below me.

"Could I have a drink of water please?" She tries to get up. 

"Here." I hand her our one water container which we have been sharing. I put my hand over Leila's forehead.

"She's getting worse, Nenyala. Is there anything you can do?" In seconds, Nenyala is by Leila's side. I am surprised at how fast she moves. 

"There is lots I can do, but not enough," Nenyala replies as she somehow puts Leila to sleep. Nenyala had healed the cut from Kaster's sword, but there was obviously something else hurting her.

"What now?" Saphina slinks up to me sullenly.

"We rest, we wait, we heal, then we adventure," Nenyala answers, backing away from Leila. Next to Leila, Kaster's eyes blink wildly.

"Thitsan! It will kill you! NO!" Kaster scrambles up and grips my arm. Nenyala and Saphina prepare to kill him.

"Don't!" I hold out my hand. Kaster blinks again.

"I'm sorry, nightmare," he mumbles, not at all like the Kaster who hurt Leila. He wears the same expression that I wear when I feel shy or out of place.

"Kaster," I prod gently, "Do you know what you did last night?" It is as if I dropped a burden on his back.

"How could I?" he laments.

"Your star..." I murmer, " I healed it; it was dying."

"What are you talking about?" he snaps.

"I don't know!" I throw my hands down, "but I do know that you hurt Leila, my friend!" Kaster turns away.

"What was that you were saying about... about Un- Thitsan?" 

"Aha!" Nenyala says, listening. 

I'm seething with anger. River, frozen solid, lies on the ground next to me. Then I notice it. The droplet. It could be just a drop. But there's a tiny ray of hope. Well, hope later. Revenge now. Master... he was not there for us, never there for us. I realize we were no more than cogs in his machine. Flaimme, Lightning and I will conquer. We will kill, without the restraint of Master. We will have revenge.

I have a once-every-two-hundred-years, too. Should I use it? Yes. When the time is right. When I have Nenyala.

She made a mistake, freezing River. The Quartet operates on an eye-for-an-eye strategy. I will use my power. I will have vengeance.

But Menaya's dead...are you implying that she comes back fronm the dead? Please, if that is your idea, let's not do it! I get so scared about that kind of stuff, and I have this awful fear of the dark.