Falling Stars

Chapter One

"Oh dear, are you alright?!" Eyes fluttering open, the girl quickly closed them as the light stole her vision. The persons near her seemed just as startled. "George—George! She's awake!"

A grunt from a deep voice caused her eyes to curiously open again, and as she adjusted to the sun shining, she found two elderly persons crouched above her. As she inspected them, the male of the couple helped her sit up. The elderly man had a rough—rather grumpy—expression, but his touch was gentle. He was around seventy years old, as was his plump wife who was staring at her with concern.

"How did you get all the way out here, little missy?" The old man grunted as she looked around to see nothing but corn. She held her head, groaning from a dizzy spell, before looking up at them again with dark brown eyes.

"I…I am not sure." Pushing back short, jagged black bangs, she tried to recall, well, anything. "Where is…here?"

"Another planet, another failure to find her."

Sighing, Razer decided to take a break before continuing his long journey. While he held the upmost hope that he would once again be reunited with his lost love, he was still weary from this on-going search.

He rested his hands on his knees, still a bit unused to the blue shade that now encompassed his body, it had already been a year; he had hoped to get used to it by now.

From the ring on his finger came a faint beep and a light glow, to which he responded by lifting it up. "Razer here."

"Brother Razer, how goes your search?" Although a pleasant voice rang out, a depressing topic arose. Razer sighed in reply, but Saint gave him a small smile in return. "No worries, my brother. In good time; in good time."

Razer gave him a small, hopeful smile in return before continuing the conversation. "Did you need me for something, Brother Saint?"

"Well, I felt that a side mission would help distract, and clear, your mind."

"A side mission?"

Saint nodded, "We received a call from the Green Lanterns, who informed me that there seems to be a rogue ring."

"A rogue ring?" Razer lifted an eyebrow, "Do you mean a rogue Green Lantern?"

But Saint shook his head, "I thought the same when they told me, but it seems that a ring appeared out of the Ion Entity, and took off in your direction."

"But I'm in a totally different sector!" Razer blinked in confusion, "How did a ring get all the way out here by itself? Where is it going?"

"And that, my friend," Saint smiled, "Would be your mission to find out."

"April, come on! Stop playing or we'll be late for homeroom." Trisha pulled April away from the stray cat she had been inspecting, and headed for the school. April, gripping her white hat to keep it in place on her head, regained her balance and followed.

"We still have five minutes, do we not?" April asked blatantly as she trailed behind her adoptive sister. Trisha glared back to her for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, five minutes to get to the other side of the school!" Trisha continued to blame April for the delays that had prevented them from getting to school on time, but April only smiled lightly. She had long ago learned that Trisha often complained, but never meant anything by it.

The two ran down the halls, barely making it to homeroom, as usual. April sat down next to window, and as usual, her mind began to immediately wander. And then, she heard something.

April perked up in her seat, and leaned towards the window to scan the sky. She didn't even know how to describe the noise…a voice?

"April."

No, it was too peculiar. Still, it was all too familiar.

"April!" A piece of chalk landed on her head with a thunk, and she blinked in surprise before turning to see an upset teacher. "It isn't even first period, and you're already zoning out."

"Sorry, Mrs. White." April said simply, scooting her chair closer to her desk before lying her hands on her lap and giving Mrs. White all of her attention. The teacher responded with a sigh before continuing the attendance, while the students around her chuckled and giggled. But as anticipated, April didn't mind. She faced forward, but let her mind wander to that indescribable sound.

"It's heading to Earth? But aren't Hal and the rest of them alive and well?" Razer had been trailing this ring for a week now, and boy had it made time on its travel. In just seven days, it'd made its way to Earth.

Razor lifted his ring as he stayed in pursuit, calling Hal. The Green Lantern promptly picked up, greeting the blue ring with a wide, pearly smile. "Razer, you blue ring you! How are you doing?"

"I am well. It is good to see that you also seem to be well." Raising an eyebrow, Hal prompted his question silently. Razer explained, "A green ring is heading into Earth's orbit. I wanted to be sure that you and the other Earth Green Lanterns were alright."

"I happened to see Guy while he was traveling the other day," Hal said with his chin in his hand, "and he's still well and butt-headed. And I know John just went to Oa yesterday, so he should be safely there."

The two pondered silently before Hal perked up. "While I don't know what to tell you about that darn ring, I do know something else!" Razer blinked in confusion.

"You're staying at my place for the night, and I won't take no for an answer!" Razer smiled lightly.

"Perhaps it was a good idea for me to take this mission, after all."

April tripped, her vision going from the sky to the floor in less than a second. She sat up, quick to rub her nose before Trisha and their friend Tyler helped her up. "Are you okay?" Tyler asked, tossing his head to the side to push his brown bangs out of his eye.

She gave a nod, her hand returning to her spoiled nose. "What are you always looking at?" Trisha asked, sighing as she shook her head, bouncy blonde curls swaying along with it, "You always stare into the sky, like there's someone starring back."

April smiled lightly as they continued to their lockers, "I do not quite understand why myself. But does the sky not make you also feel a sense of freedom?"

Tyler simply whistled as he stopped, his locker in front of him. "You're too deep to be a high schooler, you know that April?"

"Well," Trisha added as she twisted her combination and opened her locker, "We don't know how old she really is, since my grandparents found her without a single memory in that corn field."

"How long has it been now? A year?"

April nodded quietly, and the two friends immediately regretted their jokes. "Hey, sorry. We didn't mean to bring up such a touchy subject." But April smiled lightly at the two, shaking her head.

"No, it is alright. I just wonder, sometimes…where did I come from—"

Suddenly, the noise from this morning pierced her ear, and she jumped, turning towards the windows with large eyes. A lump was caught in her throat, causing her to panic even more; she was not used to such adrenaline.

"What's wrong, April?" Tyler grabbed her shoulder, shaking her until she turned to them.

"Y-you did not hear that loud noise?" Trisha and Tyler swapped a look before April realized how strange she sounded. She forced herself to calm down and walked between the two to her locker. "Never mind…let's head home, shall we?"

The three walked out, but April constantly checked her back, cautious and nervous until they arrived at the farm house she had found to be of much comfort during her time here.

April crawled out of bed, careful not to wake Trisha, and headed up to the roof. She went there when she couldn't sleep, and that sound had kept her mind spinning all night. What was it? The noise was so familiar, and yet so loud and piercing—it scared her.

But it could lead her to exactly what she had been searching for—answers about her past.

A bit chilly, April crossed her shawl over her shoulders and pulled down her white hat over her ears—she just didn't like them sticking out (probably because she felt more protected with her head generally sheltered).

She exhaled, her breath streaking clearly in front of her in the winter air thanks to the starry lights from above. She looked up, searching for constellations that George, April's adoptive grandfather (and owner of the farm), had told her about.

"The Little Dipper," She drew invisible lines with her finger, "and Mizar and the Guardians." And once again, she connected the stars with invisible string. But then, she noticed two rather strange stars, one green, and one blue. And they seemed to be getting larger, and closer, by the second.

"What are those?" She questioned, squinting her dark eyes into the night sky. When she realized they were getting closer at an alarming rate, she ran as quietly as she could back into the house, and grabbed the telescope from her room. Trisha stirred, but quickly fell asleep again.

April planted the telescope onto the ground, and quickly fixated it onto the falling stars. She wanted to be sure she wasn't seeing things before she woke the poor elders and her sister up.

Finally focused in, her mouth formed a thin crease to keep in her shocked gasps. She had no idea what the green thing was, but the blue comet wasn't a thing at all—it was a person.

The person, a man, who had somehow gotten high enough in the sky that they had formed a luminous tail, was closely behind the mystery green object.

She watched them fall, captivated by the fact that the man didn't seem alarmed at all—he was flying with his arms at his sides, and his legs close together.

The flaming colors fell towards the grounds, soon crashing about a mile away from the farm house. The animals in the barn next door began to stir, and the family was up in a matter of minutes.

"What happened?" George's wife, Betsy, rubbed her eyes as she came outside to see what had caused all the commotion.

"I…I think something landed in the cornfield!" April explained, still flabbergasted at the fact that there had been a person in the sky.

"Well I'll call the police while you three go settle down the animals." George grunted as Trisha approached April. She awoke completely when she noticed April shivering.

"Are you alright?" Trisha rubbed April's shoulders, but April turned with wide eyes.

"It's that sound again." April whispered, "It's calling for me."

April took off without another word, and Trisha ran after her until she vanished into the cornfield. "April, you don't know what's in there! It's dangerous, and you may get lost in the dark!"

But April had to go. She had to find out if the blue man was who had been calling her all along.