The Moon and the Stars [Closed]

It had been a good amount of time since she last went to the park at all. Life around Rivers Pointe had changed things a lot, and free time didn’t come by as much as she wanted it to. It was just another reminder at how much had changed... how much had aged. The days felt like they were becoming more and more of a blur, until at one point it hit her that both of her children were attending Beata Academy and she was a married woman. Of course... she wasn’t that old, but there gets to be a certain point in life where it just hits. Moments where she finally could take the time to catch her breath is where they hit, but an outsider wouldn’t ever really guess. The pinkette did her best to keep considerably fit despite the routine life, especially considering her occupation as a guardian. Keeping fit was rather useful, she had seen a lot of her generation fall back into the more sedentary lifestyle after the reconstruction. But, it was one of those times where she got to spend time with her son. Their relationship was one that got rather complicated when it factored in her husband, but aside from that, they got along rather well. ”It’s been awhile since we got to spend some time here… Hopefully you’re not growing up too much to spend some time with me, right?” Keirsta mused, a chuckle resonating from her as she cast a warm glance his direction. He was turning out to look so much like his father… almost a carbon-copy. It panged a certain spot in her heart, but faded quickly. Pride was one thing she most certainly had in her son.

It was Shepard's favorite time of the year. Aside from the impending doom that was the start of his senior year of high school, but the weather was awesome. The cool breeze coming in past the mountains, but the warmth of the sun wasn't gone. It made him happy. Hands stuck in his pockets, Shepard strolled alongside his mother, blue eyes slightly closed in response to the breeze. "Hm?' He looked up at his mom, before grinning at her. "Never too old to hang out with my mom. She's too cool not to." Aside from the fact that he'd much rather spend time with his mom when Aster wasn't around. Today was a good day.

Keirsta couldn't help but grin with Shepard's response. It was about to be his last year at Beata before he graduated, and a lot of the other members of his class didn't keep as close a bond with their parents as he did. Of course... it was probably a bit harder for him not to, especially with his father's rank at the school. She appreciated it a lot though, especially with her daughter seemingly growing farther apart from her the older into her teen years she got. "I feel like half of your class would disagree with that statement." Amusement sparkled in her own blue gaze, the breeze coming by to move some of the long strands of pink hair. "Have your sisters had anything to say in your dreams lately?" It was something Keirsta had been interested in the moment she learned they visited Shepard. The maternal side of her would always hurt bringing them up, but at the same time, there was a sense of peace knowing that her son always had someone looking out for him.

Shepard only laughed in response. He understood that he was one of the few teenagers that didn't mind spending time with his parents. Well, he had three that he liked, one he didn't, then his friend's parents who treated him like their own. Shepard, however, enjoyed spending time with his parents he likes. His dad had been rather busy the past few months with the final preparations, as well as becoming headmaster. Even Adam and Eve had noticed his lack of presence. However, they understood that he did it for their home and for them, so it had made things bearable for the three kids.

Speaking of twins--Shepard stopped in his tracks and looked up to the sky. His blue eyes reflecting the clouds. "They haven't said much recently, but have seemed more anxious." The blond looked back at his mother, blinking back at her with a slight tilt of his head. His sisters had spoken to him in the dreams, but a lot of the time it was them responding to his stories. Though, if Shepard thought about it, they only experienced things around him. Was there something he was missing that made them anxious? It is not like they have to take math exams. "Why do you ask?" He asked, pulling a coin from his back pocket, casting the fountain next to them a slight glance.

Keirsta had absent-mindedly continued going ahead until she noticed Shepard had stopped when she brought up the girls. Pausing, she spun back around, a slight head tilt resulting before he spoke. Anxious..? Hm. It made her curious, and a half-attempted innocent chuckle came from the pinkette as she looked up to the sky. Once again, that pang of longing hit her in her stomach. "Just curious, and well... you know." They had the conversation almost a dozen times when Shepard was younger. The idea of Guardian Angel Physiology fascinated her, as well, she hadn't believed in much of an afterlife beforehand. But to know that they visited him in his dreams and seemed to watch over him... it changed a lot of her world views.

Scrapping the train of thought of morals and beliefs as she heard the gentle plop of metal against the water of the fountain, Keirsta pulled a coin out of her jacket pocket and tossed one in herself. "You excited for the new school year though? You'll be a whole senior. Growing up so fast..." She was most certainly one of those mothers who would break out into a tangent on how quickly he grew up before her very eyes. "Have any plans with the squad for the first day?" Keirsta also knew of the group that Shepard had hung out with since birth. They were practically siblings. Joanna, Stephen, Cody... there were surely a few other names she couldn't bring to mind at the moment. Taking the opportunity, Keirsta grinned, giving her signature teasing look as she spoke- "Any plans with Jo?"

"Maybe the anxiousness comes from being a senior." He watched his coin sink to the bottom, blending into the many others at the bottom of the fountain. "A whole senior rather than a partial one at that." Shepard winked, strolling to reach his mother's side, stopping only when she mentioned Joanna. His face turned a vibrant shade of red, "No." he said all too quickly. "No plans." Shepard took the lead as if his mom not seeing his face would hide how red it was. His ears were just as red, and his arms stuck stiffly in his pocket like two boards.

He went silent for a moment as they walked, then suddenly Shepard spun around to face Keirsta, a grin plastered onto his face. "Can you teach me some more tricks for our powers?" Their powers were similar enough in function that it was viable for Shepard to learn from his mother.

An understanding nod came from Keirsta at his theory for the anxiety, a grin of pride creeping up on her face in response to the wink. The moment he froze in place in response to her teases, it was very difficult not to chuckle a bit. Shepard, otherwise tan, quickly turning a shade of red compared to those only either terribly sunburnt, or a cherry. Thankfully he was neither. Even as he strolled ahead, there was definitely no hiding his flustered sensation from his mother. She knew exactly what was up and was more than willing to poke fun at him for it when she could. But, she took the opportunity for him being ahead to release the laugh she had pent up, covering her mouth with her hand as she chuckled quietly.

Letting him stroll ahead a few paces before starting up herself, Keirsta welcomed the moment of silence. Her eyes closed, feeling the breeze gently cool her face and pass between her unoccupied fingers. Time seemed to slow down in that moment, it was relaxing to just walk through the park with Shepard. The moment the blond spun around her eyes flicked open, an eyebrow raising at his question. Since becoming a guardian, Keirsta had learned quite a bit more about her gift that she hadn’t even known prior. There most certainly were several tricks under her belt, which probably could be passed on.

Keirsta stopped walking to ponder for a moment on what trick she could pull out of her belt today. There was almost a little “pop” to her posture as it came to mind what she could show him. Keirsta’s hands raised, and almost immediately what appeared to be a gun appeared in her hand. ”I’m sure by now you know we can construct objects with our gifts…” The light-blue ‘gun’ spun around her finger, before she pointed it up into the sky and pulled the trigger. It was clear what appeared to be a bullet came flying out, with the same recoil as it would have. ’Weapons apply to that too.” Tossing the fake weapon into the air, it disappeared in a rather flashy display. The blue light settled into an almost blanket of snow onto the ground before completely fading away, with Keirsta now holding the materialization of a sword in her hand. ”So long as you know the weapon’s design completely, you can make it.”

Shepard pouted, lower lip jutting out. "You telling me that I have to learn the function of a flute in order to make one. Or the extreme art of a katana before making it? I have to make them perfect to work well?" The blond slumped and let out an exasperated sigh. "That sounds like so much work." He took a step forward and poked at the sword. Suddenly he made a similar motion to his mother's and a sword appeared in his hands. Shepard's hand dropped, his entire body falling forward from the weight of the sword. "Gah!"

As soon the sword touched the ground it shattered into yellow light and vanished in the shadows of the trees above. Shepard staggered back to his feet and offered his mom a sheepish grin. "I've gotta practice, huh?"

Okay, if it had been any other situation, Keirsta would've given in instantly to that look. It wasn't one that she got often anymore, but it was most certainly very hard for her to resist. "I'm not entirely sure how many details you need to know in order to make something, but I've figured out you need to know a good deal." Keirsta gave the sword a twirl, clearly having used it before. She gave the star boy a wink. "Who knows though, your gift might not require that much knowledge at all~" There were most certainly some differences in their gifts like that. When it came down to the overall picture, they were rather similar. But in the details, there were many little quirks that made the difference.

It was very, very hard for the pinkette not to burst out laughing as Shepard lurched forward from the weight of the sword. Watching it explode into the various particles of light, she was intrigued. The yellow hue was rather beautiful. "Maybe a little bit. But good job on getting it to appear!" Her sons' grin was contagious - she had one of her own beaming upon her face. "Didn't expect it to ACTUALLY have weight to it, did ya~? Go on and try again now that you know what to expect."

Shepard frowned and turned his head back to the side, forcing another sword into being. This time he expected the sword to be heavy. Nodding to himself, the son caught the sword. Of course, his arms lowered, and the blond screwed up his face in response to holding it properly. "Okay, that isn't too bad I don't think." He lifted it up and compared it to his mothers. "Mine looks kinda dull. I think I have to work on giving it a point, yeah?"

He held it close, brows knit together. "But how do it do that? It doesn't make sense."

A grin of complete pride was on Keirsta's features as he held the sword. It most certainly didn't beat the hilarity of him toppling over his own feet from the weight, but the progress still made her extremely proud nevertheless. Inspecting it, it certainly looked a bit fuzzy - more like a hologram instead of a true manifestation of a sword. Looking at her own and taking a moment to analyze just exactly how she did it, Keirsta closed her eyes for a moment. "This part is most certainly where it is a bit different for everyone. At least, from the others I have talked to." Opening them again, she looked at her son's sword.

"You shouldn't have to make an entirely new one to do this, since you can obviously feel just how heavy it is." Her last comment was added with a bit of a chuckle. "I personally think about what a sharp blade hypothetically feels like. How thin it must be to truly make a cut." Her blue gaze looked along the edge of her sword, a finger running along the side at an angle that was still safe to trace without being sliced. "You also can think about what it's like to actually slice something with the sword. Either way, it's mainly about making the image that it can actually cut something. Thinking about the potential that weapon in your hands holds is what should sharpen it right up."

He tilted his head to the side, looking up at her with narrowed and a partially confused face. His matching blue eyes level. "Okay...?" He tried, closing his eyes. Imagine the sword cutting? Maybe like those videos with people cutting waterbottles in halves. Or maybe the kitchen knives slicing things with ease. The sword shifted in his hands--wait-- the sword once again became heavy again, the blond lurching to the side. To catch himself, he stuck the sword in front of him, it buried itself into the pavement, taking a chunk from the sidewalk.

Shepard leaped back as the sword dissipated once again. His nose scrunched up, brushing his hands down his pants. "This is crazy. I can't even make a sword but dad can make perfectly balanced arrows with no thought?"

The look of confusion on Shepard's face prompted Keirsta to wonder if she could figure out a better thing to explain things, only to watch the sword penetrate the sidewalk below. The groundskeeper would probably murder them. Although, damage happened quite a lot around the place with all of the gifts... Shaking the thought of an impending cement bill from her head, an idea popped into Keirsta's mind at Shepard's comment. "Your dad and I have also had more training." She reminded him with a wink, coming over to him and reaching out a hand to ruffle his blond locks. "Trust me, I think I accidentally fired three or four rounds directly at the teacher when I was taught this trick and tried to make my gun."

Letting her own sword fade away, Keirsta studied Shepard's build for a moment. "Perhaps you should try another weapon, Shep?" Her mind raced with ideas on what to use. "You can make any weapon you so desire - however, some might be easier for you than others." She kept an encouraging tone, her hand reassuringly resting on her son's shoulder.

The blond seemed a bit more agitated as time went on, obviously angry with his own ineptness in using his own power despite knowing about it for the longest time. "That's the thing! I don't know how to do that. I don't understand..." He trailed off, clenching his jaw shut and managing his anger spike carefully. "Fine." With the grumpiest look he could manage, Shepard created what looked like a rock in one hand, and a slingshot in another. "What could go wrong?"

He poked at the fractured sidewalk with his shoe, shifting the concrete slightly and with little regard for the poor soul that would have to go fix it later. "Yeah, but you and dad had pretty much mastered your powers by the time you were my age. Why is there so much more to mine?"

Seeing Shepard frustrated broke her heart. She wished that it was easy to master a gift, and that it only took a little bit of time to get something down. But she had to hide her wishes. Keirsta could feel the anger coursing through him though, as he grew warmer to the touch. She still kept her hand resting there though, despite the increasing heat.

Although his choice of weapon wasn't exactly one she would have thought of right away, it was always some place to start. An innocent chuckle came from the mother at his comment. That was true. "Your gift... hasn't been seen before. At least, not by anybody here." She said, honestly in her tone. "Your father was lucky enough to be raised in a household where his gift was shared, and mine... lets just say unhealthy habits messed with that." Her gaze drifted off to the side in slight embarrassment. Her alcohol problem and insomnia most certainly had a hand in how quickly her gift progressed.

"But Shep, your gift does have a lot to it. That means you have a lot more to master than your father and I did. I get that it's frustrating. But it also means that you'll one-up both of us in combat one day and by a long shot." Keirsta took a few steps away, her pink hair flowing with her. "Promise you'll go easy on your mom when the time comes?" She grinned at him, forming a few targets farther away from them for her son to aim at.

Shepard didn't respond at first, blue eyes locked on the band on the slingshot as he tested the elasticity of the band with one finger. Muttering, the blond let himself turn towards the glowing blue targets. "No way." was one of the few words he said loud enough for Keirsta to hear. With diluted interest, the blond picked up a rock from the broken cement, pitched it in the pouch and lobbed it at the target, colliding with the side of the blue target in which it made a thud and fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"Well--I hit it."