Oath to the Horizon

On a distant planet, designated Z-971, streaks of light pierced the star-filled sky at breakneck speed."Look!""What? Isn't it just a few small meteorites crashing down like always?""God! You don't get it, do you? This is when it's most beautiful. Come on, let's hurry!"The two boys helped each other climb a mountain. Reaching the summit, a magnificent panorama unfolded before them. A sky brimming with stars, accompanied by the faint glow of meteorites, and in the distance, the lights of their village. They sat leaning against each other, gazing at the starry expanse."I wonder what the world out there is like, Joel?" Xalo began. "I heard Kal tell some pretty wild stories about his hunting trips for crystal beasts on Zephyros. He said it's an absolutely crazy place, where people turn into glass and start attacking others. But the remains of these mutated people yield a very valuable type of crystal; they supposedly make a fortune from it.""Sigh, that's exactly why he forbade you from talking to those station folk. If you knew how insane it is out there, wouldn't you appreciate the peaceful life we have here?" Joel retorted."You're such a blockhead. Talking to you is so boring. How have we even been friends for this long? Haha. Looking at a sky like this and all you want is to stay put in this backwater dump. This planet doesn't even have a name, just some random number. Kal also told me about a planet called 'Miracle', a place so beautiful it's unreal. No one who goes there ever wants to come back. Next time, I'm going to ask Kal to take me with him. If he refuses, I'll stow away on the ship.""Go if you want, just don't drag any trouble back to our grandparents. They're old now; the news of you wanting to throw your life away in some random place would be too much for them. Can we go back now?""Fine, fine, Joel the stick-in-the-mud. I finally get a chance to open up and you're as cold as ice."With that, they descended the mountain, strolling back towards the village as twilight descended.After a while, they arrived at the village. Calling it a village wasn't quite accurate; it was more of a small settlement surrounding the refueling station. These stations provided fuel for the Galactic Transit – a type of public transport used for relatively inexpensive interplanetary travel. This particular refueling station was designated Z-971, which was also the planet's designation.They stopped in front of a ramshackle wooden house with a chimney and windows covered by thin cardboard. Only a faint light could be seen from within. They opened the door and entered."We're back! Have you eaten yet, Grandma?" Xalo called out."We wouldn't dare eat before you. Come on in; I made some delicious Stilis stew tonight.""If you'd told us earlier, we would have been home ages ago!"The grandmother placed the stew pot on the table, the fragrant aroma of Stilis herbs and pork making their mouths water. The family enjoyed a cheerful meal together. However, Xalo suddenly mentioned Kal and his desire to leave with his crew on their next visit to the refueling station. The grandfather remained silent, while the grandmother looked saddened.She sat down to talk to the two boys. "It's been about fourteen years since your grandfather and I first met you. Joel arrived a little earlier, but I reckon you're about the same age. After all this time, I understand your desire to explore the world, but I'm sorry."She continued, "This land has long been without priests to perform the 'Resonance Ritual,' which means you won't be granted a 'Path'. This also means that protecting yourselves from the strange things out there is impossible."She looked sternly at Xalo. "You admire Kal, don't you, Xalo? Because he's an 'outsider', also without a Path. Have you ever seen him have a say in the group? Of course not, because his only role is to be a porter with his strong physique. I'm sorry, but I can't let you go."Xalo's face clearly showed his frustration and unwillingness. He stood up and left, abandoning the stew and everyone else.The grandfather, as always, remained silent, simply finishing his meal and going to his room. Only the grandmother and Joel remained in the dining room. The stew had grown cold. The grandmother looked sadly at Joel."I'm sorry you had to hear that," she said. "Xalo is impulsive and hot-headed, but he'll surely think things through. I had to be harsh just now to make him give up the idea of running away. You're the only grandsons we have; we can't bear to lose you.""I understand," Joel replied. "It's just that I suddenly had some questions about my own family, what kind of people they were. But never mind, I have you and Grandpa now.""I don't know much about your parents either. It was Noldus, the former village chief, who brought you here that day. If you want to know, you can go ask him.""It's alright, Grandma. Let's finish eating and clean up so we can rest."Later, after cleaning up, Joel went outside and couldn't find Xalo anywhere. He had a hunch where Xalo had gone. After climbing back up Sunset Mountain, where they had been earlier, he found Xalo sitting there, gazing at the sky. Seeing Joel, Xalo looked at his friend for a moment and said:"I've made up my mind. I have to go, no matter what. I forgot to tell you, but last night, I had a dream. I… spoke to a star. It said that tomorrow night, I should go to the highest point, and I'll get what I want. What do you think that could be?""It's late; let's go back. Grandma and Grandpa are waiting for us.""Hahaha, you're always the same, so cold. Why? Is it so hard to comfort me? Is it so hard to support my wishes?""There's no reason for me to do that. Everything they do is for us. They've lived longer than us, so they must have seen more terrifying things than we have. Why are you so stubborn? How would going out there be any different from living here? If you're not coming back, I'm going back. There's a lot to do tomorrow.""You'll never understand what it's like to explore. Just leave me here; I'm going on the next ship anyway.""And you'll never learn to appreciate the life you have now. Isn't everything enough?"With that, Joel descended the mountain, leaving Xalo behind with the silent expanse of stars.As Joel descended, he noticed a small fire nearby. Upon closer inspection, he found a strange, tattered piece of debris from some kind of box. The piece was covered in a strange coating or metal he had never seen on the remote planet Z-971. Although it looked like it had been in a major collision, the piece itself was undamaged; the missing parts looked like they had been broken off before. Joel carefully opened the fragment to see what was inside. There was a piece of paper with the title "Ytsu Records - Greetings from a Pre-Civilization."Joel was extremely puzzled, wondering what this was. Perhaps someone dropped it during a Galactic Transit journey, or it was some kind of prank. He thought for a while and decided to take the piece of paper home.At the same time, Xalo, sitting atop Sunset Mountain, experienced some strange phenomena. He felt like the sky was watching him. Suddenly, a strange light tore through the sky, shooting straight towards him.Something had arrived. No one knew what, but Xalo had a feeling this was the wish the star in his dream had promised him. He slowly approached the place where the light had landed.That night, Xalo didn't return to the village. People rumored that a streak of light had burned down the forest, wiping out the Sunset Mountain. The area was now just an empty field, sealed off by the "Visages" from the Keji clan; perhaps these people knew something.Xalo was officially considered missing, his whereabouts and fate unknown.The grandmother was heartbroken, blaming herself for Xalo's disappearance. She gradually fell ill and passed away not long after. Joel and his grandfather made a grave for her at the foot of that Mountain.Joel also blamed himself, thinking that if he had comforted his friend, if he hadn't been so indifferent, he wouldn't have lost the friend he cherished so much. But life had to go on