The door pops open with a click. Night has overtaken everything, but as he fumbles through, not wanting to disturb Cass asleep in the bed, he plops on the couch and notices the stuff around him. Reaching for the light on the wall, his eyes adjust to no one else in the room and a bunch of Cass's things thrown about.
A slight prickle tells him where she went. "There is no way she went in there alone..." he states. A light howl sounds from outside; the moon catches his eyes, and the forest beckons.
Panicking, Campbell fumbles through his bag for the gun he brought for extreme cases and thinks to himself how the Rotherwood forest is nothing to play in the daytime, let alone at night during a waxing moon in preparation for a Star Race. Before he can tell himself no, or think of a better way to handle this situation, the grass is below his feet, and Campbell can smell the forest before he even enters its vines and branches.
The worse part about being in the Rotherwood Forest is the Rotherwood Forest. Pollen that the Pine Trees give off is full of Star Dust, and Star Dust is lethal to Travelers, but in such an all-natural and not secondhand way, it's more exhilarating than anything.
Sticks break near him, and his senses go into overdrive. This isn't his first time inside the Forest at night, and he uses the open view of the stars to find Cass. He knows there isn't a true way to Chase another Traveler; that's what a Tracer is for, but there has to be a way of knowing where she has gone in the tricky forest.
There's a mumbling he hears ahead that tells him it might be dumb kids; he approaches with the knowledge of what he's seen with and without a light on and understands that this person isn't using one. Just as he thinks she will run into him, the woman turns around and goes back the other way, crunching along her own path and talking to herself ferociously.
"Are you alright?" He asks in a low voice, but he startles her anyway. "I'm Campbell, are you lost?" he asks but notices her laugh a little bit.
"No, Campbell, I'm not lost, I'm debating," she tells him, and something about her mannerisms seems familiar. "I'm Andrea; I just moved here." She says, and he realizes this is Evie's sister.
"What's the debate?" he asks, intrigued now. Aware that he has to find Cass, this could be the making or breaking their deadlines.
"See, that's the thing, I don't think it's a debate at all. My sisters think I need to tell the love of my life that I'm pregnant… and not by the man I married, no of course not, but by him… a man that cares more about his career than anything that could make him weak, like love or affection, or a family!" she says with a small wine. "It sounds ridiculous, I know, it's pathetic, but the worst part is I've only known him for a few months, and now I don't know what to do. It's crazy what happens when two fractions of the universe find each other." She tells Campbell, utterly smitten, and he would have to insist on not getting involved in that mess.
"Well, honestly, I think you should talk to your sisters more, or, maybe not at all, this is your life, and you should handle it the way you want to... anyway, good luck with all that." He tells her as he backs away into the Forest. The girl hesitates for a moment but goes back to pacing, and he could not be happier. A lightning zap emits static into the air. As if a flash from a camera went off, dazing and somewhat bewildering Campbell for a moment, he begins rushing through the trees, trying to clear his head and find a clearing that Cass should be in.
He begins to panic a bit, thinking of the many scenarios that could have gone down without him present. He had one job. Keep her safe. Now he can't even find her. "Cass!" he shouts, knowing it's a horrible idea, but what are the odds that a few bad things happen at once? And who is to say she is even in trouble.
A faint scream in the near distance sends his pulse skyrocketing, and he rushes off. Within the Rotherwood Forest, a Traveler's Star Power is heightened; and he knows being a Chaser is the best for finding something from any distance. Trees blur, and the thought occurs to him that there is no way she went so far away from the Boarding House. "Cass!" he yells angrily, but no response.
A pounding begins upon his chest. Nothing like he has ever felt before; not as if something might come out of him, but that something might cave in. Just as he kneels to the Forest ground in a panic, and his palms hit the dirt, the wind is knocked out of him, and lightning zaps through him again, thrusting him awake.
The stars are blurry. The colored trees offer no help to the surroundings, but a silhouette with a curly bob shift from left to right in front of him. He closes his eyes with a wince. His vision not trustworthy; he reaches out and touches her face, her hair. Her skin is warm, and he feels her hand on his in the air when reality seems to set back in. His eyes fly open, and freckles that mimic the sky are the first thing he sees. She is pulling on his hand to get him to wake up, and he smiles at her efforts. Sitting and shaking out his head, Campbell can tell that he is in the same spot he saw Andrea.
"That bitch Dusted me!" he all but yells and searches his surroundings for Andrea and comes up short.
"I'm sorry, what?" Cass asks, astonishment flourishing as to what Campbell is talking about.
"Andrea," he states but knows Cass has no idea who he's talking about. "Evie's sister who moved here with her, she was out here, debating some crazy stuff, and so, I left her alone. I thought I was coming to find you. She had to have hit me with Star Dust. I heard you scream…" he states but can't seem to look at Cass when he says the last part.
"I did scream," she tells him honestly, and he can see the guilt on her face. "I was able to get the Mooring to work, I was excited, but now I need something to decipher it." She tells him as she bites on her nail. "Whole lotta Star talks up there," she says blankly and turns and starts to walk away. "Do you need help getting up, or?" she asks, and Campbell appreciates then that he has just been staring at her, still on the floor, post dusted. She watches as he stands, and he reaches for his back, and his eyes grow wide with fear.
"We have to leave now." He tells her not to find the item he brought with him.
"I know, I need an Aggregator…" she states and watches with confusion as he approaches with ferocity.
"You don't understand; I brought a gun to come to find you, and now I don't have it." He says with guilt filling his belly at her widening eyes. "Andrea has to have it!" he says at a loss for words. He scours the Forest floor but no luck.
"What does she want with a gun Campbell?" Cass wonders, hoping to jog something from his memory, but there is almost nothing as he shakes his head of the rest of the Star Dust.
"You'd think I would have asked that! Didn't know she was crazy, crazy till now!" He tells her with a growing annoyance. The crunching of leaves is upon them, and Campbell gets up from the ground again.
"Come on, let's go," Cass states, fear lacing her tone now. Campbell doesn't respond right away. He almost wants to stand his ground, he takes a few more steps forward, but a cold hand finds his elbow; Cass pulls gently, but to get moving. "We shouldn't be here anymore," she tells him. He turns and looks at her. "You said we gotta get out of here." She reminds. He watches as the stars dance upon her head like spotlights, but her eyes are terrified. "We have a job to do still," she says, and he looks around them.
"So, what the hell were you doing out here?" he asks her, not sure himself why she would not tell him she was leaving. "Do you know what this place is?" he asks; something about the manor makes Cass feel foolish. "This Forest on a good day, as in during a Star Race, is like being on the craziest trip of your life; I can only imagine what this place has in store while we're out here getting fucked up by people we don't know," Campbell tells her, he tries to hold in his anger, knowing full well he agreed to every part of this. Rustling leaves break the tension for a moment.
"I'll let Rita know about Andrea..." the look of shame clouds her features, and she releases him; he can tell she only noticed now that she was still holding his arm. His arm feels cold now where her hand was; he agrees silently, watching her walk away.
They start back the way they came; Chasers aren't the best at retracing their steps. Tracers, on the other hand, can do exactly that, follow a sent like a dog. Chasers calculate trajectory; if only he could use that same power on the gun, he lost. The crunching of leaves at their feet seems to overtake anything on his mind.
He follows her. Something about its action is simple; he is usually the lead, but the thought of someone in the Forest with his gun, does not sit well. The look Cass wears does not sit well with him either, and a pang of guilt begins to build, knowing he hadn't heard her explanation. Lost in such urgent thought, he doesn't realize that they reach the Morgan Boarding House's yard until screaming is heard from inside it. Campbell approaches with caution, knowing whatever the situation is needs to be deescalated. He attempts to open the door when it flings open from the inside, and the man from earlier with sandy blonde hair appears, fury surprised, but composure regained.
"Get the hell out! I don't care what you have to talk about, do it outside!" he yells, his hand barely missing Campbell's face.
Andrea and an unfamiliar looking man angrily walk out before them. Campbell feels anger surges within him seeing Andrea, but when Cass grabs his arm with a nail tight grip, he realizes something is very wrong.
Cass's grip tightens, and he sees her eyes search the clouds; a vibration radiates through her for only a second, and she gasps back to their reality. Campbell watches as she turns towards Andrea and the man when Andrea reaches to draw the gun. With as much power as he can muster, Campbell rushes towards them. He hears her crying an apology, but he slips through her arm and the gun as she pulls the trigger. The sound is deafening, and it takes only a moment to watch everyone swarm them.
"That is ENOUGH!" Rita yells to them all. Those who hold Andrea and the man all stand straight; Campbell watches as Cass hangs her head, ashamed. "Get the hell in the house before someone calls the police! I'm already trying to get them off our backs for the LAST INCIDENT!" she informs them all; Campbell can tell she would be red in the face if it weren't pitch black outside. "Put her in the basement for now." She tells the people who have Andrea all grabbed up. They nod and drag her kicking and screaming back into the house.
"Looks like I have to make a phone call." The man with blonde hair states with a disappointed shake of his head. He grabs ahold of the man Andrea was threatening and starts towards the house.
"Come on, he seems pretty shaken up already Holden, be easy on him?" Rita asks as she yawns and rubs her eyes.
"This guy just had a gun pulled on him hon, he is gonna answer some questions, and I have a feeling he knows the answers to them... start walking." He tells the man, and they begin into the house.
"My husband, everyone, the cop who defends the rebellious Travelers of Rotherwood Cresthaven," Rita tells them with a roll of her eyes. "I love him to death, BUT HE WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT CULTURE IS RICHER THAN CAREER IF HE HAD TO CHOOSE..." she yells, walking into the house herself. Awestruck as to what has just happened, he turns to Cass for her reaction but sees her sitting holding her head.
"You okay?" he asks, crouching next to her.
"My head is killing me," she tells him, slightly out of breath, eyes tightly closed. He can tell she is in pain but is not sure how to help.
"Can you walk?" he asks. Her face untwines for a moment, and he watches as she stands. He stands too, ready to catch her if he must. Her eyes flutter open; they shine. Tears immediately start pouring from them, twinkles spin and twirl within her senses as if diamonds were dancing in her eyes. Within seconds of the opening, Cass reaches out with her hands to find him.
"I can't see anything." She states, and in the next breath, her legs give out beneath her. Stunned and collapsing himself under the weight of what could be happening to her, he grabs her shoulders and shakes them. Cass, out cold on his lap, searches for anyone around but comes up short with no one. He tries to gather her.
"Rita!" he yells, trying to get Cass into his arms as he stands. It is not a big struggle, but fear is starting to make him tremble. "Help!" he yells, getting her into a good grip; he moves to the door and bursts through.
The house is dark, and the only light comes from the kitchen. He places Cass on the table, legs dangling over the edge and still out cold. He turns her face towards him, even pats her cheeks a few times but nothing.
"Does she have a pulse?" a voice seems to enter his mind from some far-off planet. He reaches for her neck, hands fumbling but calming his own breath so he can feel anything under his own heart skyrocketing.
"It's like a hummingbird." He says aloud. Turning to where the voice in his head came from. He sees the level-headedness of the Royal Keeper from earlier watching them. "What happened to her?" Campbell asks, vulnerability isn't usually something he trusts with just anyone, and the situation he has formed around himself doesn't seem to have helped in the first place. His only hope is from a stranger that might not be all he is cracked up to be in the culture.
He walks around to the top of her head. He lifts her eyelids, revealing the diamond-like sparkles that they emit. "She formed a connection with the Stars tonight." He states plainly. "She should be fine by the morning, but she may have a message when she returns. Those are usually a bitch when it's your first time." Campbell glances between Cass and the Keeper, bewildered. "Gazer's have the short end of the stick when it comes to Star Powers. They rely on the stars for their wisdom, hence vaccines and miracles throughout the millennia." He stares down at her with pity.
"But at what cost?" Campbell asks, looking at the situation at hand. Cass unconscious, and stars swimming through her eyes.
"The cost will be her mind over time; the Stars will devour it. Eat it up like a dessert." The magnificence of his words begins to sink in as Campbell paces the kitchen. "Did you not know what you were getting yourself into?" he asks with arrogance beginning to come through his tone.
"I'm not sure either of us did now that you mention it..." Campbell tells him honestly with a little venom creeping in.
"My brothers didn't know why the school would risk such a large responsibility on such young people; when he told me you two were top of your class, well; forgive my ignorance when I realized it was you they sent with her," he says with shame in his tone. "I see how protective you are of her; she will need that..." Campbell can only observe him for a moment. "Get her to bed; this is just what their Star Power has to go through; take care of her. She is special to them- the Elite- important to the Census, too, I suppose." He shrugs and starts to walk off again. "The times are certainly changing, and I hope to experience it too one day." He says, walking the rest of the way into the house. Leaving Campbell without a moment to collect his thoughts and respond.
He stares down at Cass with empathy and even less understanding of the world he thought he was grasping. It turns out he is not the only one. He picks her up and starts for the stairs, the long hallway, and the door that pops open once in the distance. The room seems to have a surge is in the air, but he lays her down on the bed.
Suddenly feeling his exhaustion, he settles into the couch and stares at the pearl white ceiling, thinking of Stars and how they have so much more power than he could have ever thought possible. There are things that he will never attempt at understanding, and he wonders if it is because he's not a pureblood Traveler. Are some things simply better understood as the culture presents itself; through decades of life and teachings, or is it completely ethereal and eternal, second nature to know things of the Stars? This thought has him drifting off, but sleep is not what finds him.