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There was something inside the bubble though. Floating, but not drifting anywhere, where boulders of that jade-like rock she had seen making up the majority of the buildings. Above the sphere, there was a rotating ring that was brightly lit and sparkling in time with the rest of the lights around the stadium. It was astounding. The scale of them was incredible. It was mind boggling. The kind of thing that seemed too big for reality.
“Do close your mouth. It’s uncouth.”
Sandy turned, both unsurprised and annoyed to find Elffa sitting in one of the seats. She had been so distracted by the huge stadium, by the massive sphere, she hadn’t even noticed her sitting there. Her monster-in-law-wannabe was tapping on a tablet, not looking at Sandy either.
There was someone else there too. A telfay male with pale gold skin and a bright yellow crest. He blinked at her through shockingly black eyes. He was shirtless, surprising her, but he didn’t wear any belts across his chest, only a single one at his wrist. His loose, green pants were pleated and neat. He didn’t introduce himself, and Elffa paid him no mind.
“Sit,” the telfay female ordered without pausing in what she was doing.
Sandy glanced back out the window, then looked back into the room before doing as instructed. The food was tempting, but the company was so bitter it had soured her appetite. She put a seat between herself and Elffa, ignoring the new male, and folded her hands in her lap, looking around curiously. All the screens were off, but she could hear distant music being pumped through the stadium as it was filled with tons of people.
She still didn’t know what trikball was, but she had a feeling she was about to find out.
Elffa didn’t say anything else to her and she didn’t attempt to engage in conversation. She sat there quietly, waiting with supreme patience as she wondered if this planet had knitting needles and yarn. It would be nice if she could restart her hobbies. Her grandmother told her to seek adventure, not abandon everything she loved. She could do both, she was pretty sure.
“It’s starting,” Elffa declared, lowering her pad.
This place was soundproof – cutting out the majority of the noise from the stadium – so there must have been some cue she missed, because at that moment, the entire stadium lit up. From her place in the chair near the window, she could see the entire field if she moved her head. She didn’t miss it when, from below, people began streaming in.
It was a species she didn’t recognize. They were dark, and their skin seemed to shine in the light. Their uniforms were jewel bright shades of blue and purple, swirling around them artfully as they rushed up to the unmistakable if muted jeer of the crowd.
Ah, the away team, she thought quietly to herself. She didn’t really watch sports with her grandmother, but she had been in band in high school. She’d been to all the football games. Even if she didn’t understand the rules, she recognized the energy. And this was the same.
Though, it was rather disheartening watching it with practically no sound. For as loud, and as massive, as the crowd must be, the soundproofing was extremely good. It was like she was outside the stadium and far away. She couldn’t even hear the announcer.
Overhead, a flash of light surprised her. A massive holoscreen, like a jumbotron, burst to life overhead, covering the huge sphere like a dome. And on it, she got to see close up shots of the other team as they flew through the sphere – definitely flew, because they weren’t swimming, confirming her thought that it wasn’t full of water.
As she watched, trying to figure out what was happening, the team began dancing around. Doing tricks, one at a time, near the center of the field. They were acrobatic, they were impressive, and they were beautiful thanks to their flowing clothing. Was this trikball? Was it like a gymnastics floor exercise but in 3D?
There were seven people in total. They each had a chance to show off their moves before they all descended to land in various places on the jade boulders. It seemed to be random, but she wasn’t really sure.
After they were done, the crowd began going wild. She immediately looked down and wasn’t surprised when she saw seven more people jumping up into the sphere. Only, these were all telfay males. Crests up, chests on display, decorative belts covering their arms.
Their uniform wasn’t at all the same as the other team, surprising her. Their dark brown pants were tight, and they had decorative belts around their waists. There was nothing bright about their outfits, but they themselves were shiny. She still wasn’t sure if that was oil or a trait of their skin, but they looked even more like body builders coming out on stage in the bright lights.
Especially when it was their turn to do tricks. They were posing – flexing and everything – in between their stunts. Their darker uniforms meant the bright colors of their fully displayed crests were that much more vibrant in the bright lights of the stadium.
Oh.
Sandy sat up a bit. Because that was Rane. He was the sixth male to perform, but the moment it was his turn, the crowd lost their minds. They were cheering and booing in equal measure. They loved to hate him. His face flashed onto the dome jumbotron, and the noise only got worse.
But Sandy’s heart pounded, surprising her.
She’d seen two sides of Rane already. The petty, mean drunkard – stumbling around and insulting her with impunity. And the broken, desperate male that kneeled at her feet – sobbing over a life he couldn’t control but was still desperate to save her from.
This was neither of them. And this side of him was… amazing.
His expression was hard, his eyes shining with sobriety and focus. His crest was half up, not agitated but not broken either. The blue feathers, in the blinding stadium lights, seemed to sparkle as he posed there, arms down, chest out, shoulders back. A single proud stance as he faced the laughter and cheers of those who loved to see him fail and the disgusted jeers of those who only wanted to see him fail further.
He didn’t do any tricks. He just posed once, a single, defiant stance, before he dropped back, letting the last male – one with a navy blue crest and more bronzy gold skin – do his tricks. The crowd flipped like a switch as they showered him in adoration.
After he finished, they all dropped onto the boulders. And it couldn’t be random, because they dropped perfectly spaced between the other team. All of them standing with feet spread, braced, everyone looking upward.
The only similarity between the two teams were their surprisingly weighty boots, gauntlets, and gloves. The away team wore gray with a bright, pulsing purple light running down their lengths, centered on a gem-like orb on the back of their hands, while Rane’s team was a very dark brown with a pale, beige orb that did the same. They didn’t wear anything else similar, so she had to guess those were somehow required for the game.
Above, the ring that was circling overhead flashed. First purple, then beige, then finally it settled on neutral white. Both teams tensed.
Something suddenly shot through the ring, setting off a buzzer as it descended, and the crowd went absolutely wild.
