Borealis Fifteen - Born to Smile

     A large, red, semi-transparent, stained tarp-sized cloth greeted Aurora's weak consciousness as she awoke. Along the cloth's edges, and even through the cloth itself, she could make out the blue and lightly clouded sky... Peace. It had been long in coming, and the cloth above rippled ever so gently at the touch of a breeze, almost as if to say that everything was going to be alright for a while.
     It was. The world was quiet but not too much so. A masked face leaned over Aurora and asked her how she was doing. For all that she felt, Aurora displayed a simple grin that spread from cheek to cheek. Her one friend, Garnet. Then, a blonde headed face leaned over as well. A new friend. That made two. It was a good day, for sure.
     "Good morning, Garnet," Aurora whispered and half mumbled through her still yet to fill, conscious lips.
     Garnet must have smiled. His mask wiggled a bit. "Well, good morning to you too, Little Mouse," he chuckled. "Don't strain yourself. Ember and I are taking good care of you." Garnet adjusted a knob and a few switches on the table bed Aurora rested on. "You should be back to full strength here in an hour or so." More smiles.
     Ember, Aurora thought. What an interesting name.
     The effect of Garnet's twiddling and adjustments kicked in just then. Sky and cloth disappeared as a glowing green took over Aurora's vision. Warmth encased her. It was good and only lasted for a minute. Then it was over. Sky and cloth came back, as did Ember's face. Garnet, however, had moved aside, probably to check on something else that needed his attention.
     Ember smirked. "What? No good morning for me? I only said it to you half an hour ago, and I've been waiting here this whole time thinking you were never gonna say it." Another smirk. "Aurora."
     Aurora couldn't remember.
     "I mean, you looked right at me for crying out loud. You'd been squirming, too. I thought you were in pain, but Garnet, here, said you were just having a nightmare. As, um..." she trailed off.
     "A reaction to the drug I had to administer, or rather," he continued, "Ember had to administer before we teleported you here."
     "Yeah," Ember giggled. "I didn't even know it was a drug."
     Aurora grinned. How fortunate am I, she thought. It had been such a long time since she had felt so happy and sure. Life had gotten so boring and tedious. Day in and day out it had been that she would wake up, sneak around the factions, the Unfortunate Ones, even her own Roof Rats, make her way down to Garnet, a Grounder Bird himself, and see what loot he had procured for her. Then, she would sneak off to one of her many hiding places to stash the loot, unless a few Sun Cats spotted her, in which case she would have to run from them for the next two hours until she lost them. The rest of the day after that was spent competing with the Rats for anything interesting that had been left behind in the wake of the Riser Dogs' morning patrol. It was tiring, and sleep, rest, and peace, sadly, always came last and never in between.
     Aurora must have been frowning while she was thinking. Ember stood over her with a concerned look on her face.
     "I'm okay," Aurora managed to say, this time with a full on smile.

Borealis Twelve - Blinded by Fire

     "What do you want?" Ember asked the green eyes.
     The green eyes grew brighter in response, but the owner of the eyes said nothing. Green light, meanwhile, filled the balcony, cutting through the trace amounts of yellow smog that lingered in the dark morning air. More and more light flooded from the two eyes as Ember sat, making it easier for her to see who stood before her.
     A large, round belly covered in a tattered trench coat was the first notable feature the growing light revealed. Then came broad shoulders adorned with large, black feathers that stuck into the air. Last came a pair of extra long arms, most likely extended by the trench coat's length, and a pair of rather short legs that were dressed in baggy corduroy. The face, however, remained a mystery as the green eyes were now so bright that they masked any features hidden behind them.
     Ember shielded her eyes with the back of her hand. She couldn't take anymore of the light's intensity. "Well," she said. "What do you want to do besides that?"
     The lights immediately dimmed to a more bearable level. Ember brought down her hand and could see that the eyes were attached to a large gas mask. The figure continued to remain silent.
     Unamused, Ember sighed, "Is that all you can do? Turn your lights on and off and scare people?"
     The figure shifted its weight and coughed a very muffled cough.
     "Great."
     Then, what sounded like a chuckle from the inside of a full trash can escaped the figure. "Ember," it said in an equally canned, though obviously masculine voice.
     Completely baffled, Ember said the only thing she was capable of saying at that moment, "Uh." All other words left her brain. So, she sat there, staring at the fat man with the green eyes who knew her name. She didn't even notice that Aurora was beginning to wake up.