Across the Galaxy: A Pirate's Path to Glory

Lumina Roller Skates

Sitting close to the largest window on the ship, my eyes were focusing on no particular spot. I felt how my presence was floating away from me and I was beginning to feel like a shell. Letting my forehead hit against the window I stayed like that. My body felt heavy and exhausted, despite not having done anything. It was the thoughts, coming and going that was so exhausting. The whys, the hows and ifs. 

“Dahlia?” Turning towards the voice, I saw Zayn who carried a glass of water. He glanced at the window before giving the smile. 

“Watching the constellations?” He asked and sat down beside me, handing me the glass of water. I grabbed it but the hand that was holding the glass was something I didn’t recognize. I quickly shifted my eyes back to the endless space. 

“Constellations?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna pass by them soon. See?” As the ship kept moving forward, lots more stars appeared in different forms. Then more colour appeared as well. Greens, blues and purple. It was a huge difference from the usual black with white spots. It was beautiful… 

“Wow…” 

“It’s really amazing. Wait until you see the giant jellyfish floating around as well.”

“Jellyfish?”

“Yeah, space isn’t completely dead. There are huge animals just floating around in places like this.” Just like Zayn said, jellyfish began to float around. They were huge but it was relaxing to watch. I moved a bit closer to Zayn and placed my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me as well. 

“What was your brother like?” Sipping on the glass of water I was thinking about how I could best describe my older brother. We haven’t been hanging out lately anyway… And we won’t be able to ever…

“Uhh... When we were younger we played games together a lot. He was really good at it… Constantly beating me in them so it was getting a bit frustrating when he kept winning…”

“He became a worldwide esports champion pretty young too. But titles in Sadotune don’t hold long… So he was mostly either locked into his room or out partying with friends…” A sigh escaped my lips while Zayn pulled me slightly closer. 

“My mother usually told me that those who die… Become a star. That’s why we have so many. Look, that one is shining much more than all the other ones.” Zayn pointed and I almost instantly saw it. It was maybe childish but I felt myself believing. 

“I’ll name that star Ryu then.” Zayn gave me a nod and I watched how we slowly passed by the star. I’ll make sure to come by and visit him again…

After I drank up the glass of water, Tristen called us to the meeting room. He seemed upset, no matter how much he tried to hide it. 

“I couldn’t reach the head captain… And there is still a month left on our penalty. Usually, we’d get information about smaller ships but he has ignored us altogether. We’re lucky we have savings but still.” Tristen sighed and rubbed his forehead. 

“It’s not good for the crew’s morale, I can see how disappointed and broken down you all are. So to make up for that… I thought we could have some old school fun!” He turned on the screen and showed a picture of a roller-skating place. 

“Roller skating?” Valerie’s tone was sceptical but Zayn seemed positive to the idea. 

“Not many will be there so why not? We’d practically be all by ourselves you know? It’s on a moon as well out in nowhere. It will be fun!” Valerie sighed and eventually gave in and smiled. 

“I’ll set the course right away!” He then left and the ship soon turned, picking up the pace as well instead of just slowly moving forward with nowhere to go. I returned to the window and watched as we passed by the colours and the jellyfish. 

It didn’t take too long before we arrived. There was one colourful building on a grey moon. We landed and made us ready to leave the ship. Tristen seemed extremely cheerful as we left the ship and made our way towards Lumina roller skates. When we entered, there wasn’t anyone at the reception. We waited and stood near the counter. Tristen soon noticed the bell to ring in case no one was at the counter. He pressed it and the sound of a bell was heard. 

A girl eventually appeared who had only one eye just like Valerie except her skin was neon pink, suggesting she is a hybrid between a tuner and a gaedian. 

“Welcome to Lumina Roller Skates. How may I help you?” She flashed a smile. 

“We’d like to borrow some roller skates, please. For…” Tristen turned around and used all of his four arms to count. 

“Five people.” He then turned back around towards the girl who noted it down on a screen. 

“Got it. The skates are to the left. Enjoy your stay!” Tristen paid then we moved towards the roller skates section. 

We tried on a few to find a pair that would fit. I hoped they’d have a pair of pink ones but they weren’t any in my size. Typical. I settled for a pair of green ones instead. 

The alley was mostly empty. It seemed a bit sad, having neon lights shifting and cheerful music play when it was so empty. 

We switched shoes then got into the rink. Zayn seemed to be a natural at it while the rest of us were struggling to find balance. Sylas was holding tightly onto Tristen and kept threatening him if he let go he would kill him. Slowly but surely I found balance as well and we began to move around, a bit awkwardly at first but eventually, we began to move along to the music. 

Zayn taught us some simple moves like twirling and posing. I tried to mimic them but fell down few times. But Zayn always lifted me up and I tried again. After several tried it became much easier. 

“Very good Dahlia! You’re almost a natural.” Zayn complimented and I couldn’t help but smile widely. Valerie just rolled her eye and tried as well but she kept tripping and falling over and over again. 

“Hey, Dahlia. Could you help Valerie out? I thought about just skating around alone for a bit.” Zayn asked after he helped up Valerie. 

“Yeah sure,” He did a thumbs up before he skated away. I turned to look at Valerie who sighed and crossed her arms, barely moving, assuming that she didn’t want to fall again.

“Ugh, fine” She reached out her hand for me and I grabbed it, moving closer to her. She was incredibly tense at first as I touched her. 

“Let’s start with the basics, okay?” She nodded slowly and breathed out. We skated around the rink and after few rounds, she slowly relaxed and her grip around me slowly loosened and she managed to skate around by herself without losing balance. As she passed me by, I could see a large smile on her lips. It warmed my heart seeing it. It wasn’t often she actually smiled because of me. 

Then after a while, she slowed down and I tried teaching her how to twirl, doing more advanced things. But explaining how to do it was a bit hard so I tried demonstrating it as best as I could. That’s when Zayn returned. 

“How’s it going?” 

“Pretty okay, I can skate around with confidence now! But the tricks are a bit hard to learn.” Valerie explained. 

“Yeah, sorry… I am not too great at explaining.” Valerie shook her head she placed her hand on my shoulder and it felt reassuring. 

“I can show it again. If it doesn’t work we can just skate around and enjoy that.” The two of us nodded and Zayn explained how he would twirl. What was important to think of and how to use our legs. Few tries later Valerie succeeded. 

“Good job!”

“That was amazing Valerie!” We applauded and Tristen skated over with Sylas following him, his arms wrapped around his waist. 

“I saw that twirl, wow!” Tristen said while Sylas gave a thumbs up. We laughed and it felt good to just be us. The crew. 

People began to drop by, friend groups and couples mostly. But the more the merrier. It was somehow freeing to feel the wind against my face when I was moving around the rink fast. And spinning felt amazing too. But while I was enjoying my time, I thought I could see Krish in the crowd. That’s when my feet froze.