The Luna Raven broke through a curtain of clouds, and Fallentop rose before them like a dream carved from sky and stone.
Elijah pressed against the window, breath catching in his throat.
The Twin Champion Towers dominated the skyline — two right?angled triangles of gleaming metal, 857 meters tall, facing each other like titans locked in silent challenge. Suspended between them was a hollow sphere of rotating rings, glowing with soft blue light that pulsed like an excited heartbeat.
Behind the towers, mountains rose like jagged guardians, their peaks catching the morning sun. The contrast only made the towers look taller, prouder, impossibly grand.
> Aiden: “Every time. Every single time — chills.”
> casey: “I’m gonna cry. Don’t look at me.”
Fallentop wasn’t just beautiful — it was breathtaking and vibrantly buzzing as if the city itself were alive.
The wind here moved differently, sharper, more deliberate, like it had purpose.
Hokori stood behind him, gaze fixed on the towers.
Not in awe.
Not in fear.
But in recognition — like someone greeting an old friend he wasn’t sure he wanted to see again.
The ship touched down with a groan that suggested it might fall apart out of spite.
The crew split immediately:
- Imala and Jaden to the markets for materials
- Hokori, Jacob, and Elijah to registration
- Stella and Casey to secure lodging and supplies
Elijah stepped onto Fallentop’s stone platform and felt the wind shift around him — as if the island itself was taking his measure.
He didn’t know why, but the sensation made his heart beat faster.
---
Fallentop’s streets were alive with color and noise — banners fluttering, vendors shouting, riders practicing spins and dives in open plazas. The entire island hummed with anticipation for the Light Wavers.
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But Hokori walked through it all with a strange calm.
His shoulders loosened.
His breathing deepened.
For the first time since Elijah had met him… Hokori looked at peace.
Elijah noticed — and didn’t understand.
They crossed a wide plaza near the base of the Twin Towers.
That’s when the crowd parted.
A rather loud man walked through the parted crowed as is he were a king.
Daemon Celleti.
Captain of Sky Anvil.
Fallentop’s iron?forged elite.
Tall, immaculate, posture perfect — a rider carved from discipline and pride.
He stopped directly in front of Hokori.
A long, heavy silence settled over the plaza.
Then, with a voice like polished steel:
> Daemon: “While you’ve been stargazing, I’ve been forging my own path to the top.
> This time will be different.”
Hokori’s expression didn’t change.
> Hokori: “Still dramatic, Daemon.”
Daemon stepped closer, lowering his voice so only Hokori and Elijah could hear:
> Daemon: “Sky Anvil doesn’t kneel to ghosts.”
He turned sharply to walk away, cloak snapping behind him showing off a hammer striking it an Anvil with clouds and lightning sparking out from the impact
Elijah watched him disappear into the crowd.
> Elijah: “You… used to ride here?”
Hokori’s gaze stayed on the towers.
> Hokori: “Every year. Before things got too busy.”
Elijah frowned. “Busy with what?”
Hokori didn’t answer.
> Hokori: “Come on.”
---
The Walk to Registration
The crowds thinned.
The noise faded.
The air grew colder.
A group of local riders passed by, their cloaks marked with the sigils of minor guilds. One of them slowed, eyes lingering on Hokori’s horns — not hostile, but wary, like someone recognizing a storm on the horizon.
Another rider whispered to his friend:
“Stargaze… here?”
The friend elbowed him. “Don’t stare. Not today.”
They moved on quickly.
Jacob leaned in. “Fallentop remembers people. Even when you wish it didn’t.”
Hokori didn’t respond, but his ears twitched — a tiny, involuntary flicker that betrayed more emotion than words ever could.
They pressed deeper into the tower district, the wind growing sharper, the shadows longer.
---
Registration Hall
The corridor opened into a massive atrium carved into the foundation of the Twin Champion Towers. Light poured down from the rotating rings above, scattering across the polished stone floor in shifting patterns of blue and silver. Riders, engineers, and officials moved in organized chaos, their voices blending into a steady hum.
The registration hall.
Even Elijah felt the weight of it.
Hokori paused at the threshold — not hesitating, but taking it in--in a way that softened the lines of his face. His shoulders eased, just slightly, the way someone relaxes when stepping into a place they once knew intimately.
Jacob noticed too. His expression flickered — a brief, quiet recognition — before settling back into guarded calm.
A few riders turned. Then a few more. Whispered voices rippled through the hall like wind catching a field of grass.
“That’s him.”
“No way—”
“Hokori?”
“Stargaze…?”
Hokori walked forward without acknowledging any of it, but the air shifted around him. Respect. Shock. Maybe even fear. Elijah couldn’t tell which.
A young clerk at the registration desk nearly dropped her tablet when she saw him.
“Name?” she asked, though her voice trembled like she already knew.
“Hokori,” he said simply.
Her breath caught.
“Stargaze?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed hard and tapped rapidly on her screen. “You… you used to ride here every year.”
Hokori’s eyes softened — barely, but enough for Elijah to catch it.
“I did,” he murmured. “I’ve missed this.”
The clerk handed over a set of crystalline badges, each etched with the symbol of the Light Wavers.
“Welcome back,” she whispered.
They stepped aside to let another team through. Elijah turned the badge over in his hands, watching the light refract through it.
“So…” he said quietly, “you were kind of a big deal here.”
Hokori didn’t answer immediately. He looked up toward the hollow sphere suspended between the towers, its rings rotating in slow, deliberate harmony.
“not a big deal, people tend to exaggerate.”
Jacob snapped a photo of the towers .
Hokori says “Come on. We’re done here.”
But as they walked away, Elijah noticed something he hadn’t seen before — a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of Hokori’s mouth.
Not joy.
Not pride.
Something quieter.
Something like coming home.
---
