Laika – V1 Prelude

Translator: DC    Editor: N/A    Proofreader: Matty    TLC: Flowingcloud

прелюдия – Prelude

Очи алый – Scarlet eyes

“A rainbow creek……”
In the freezing night, there was a hazy mist.
On a snow-covered balcony in an old castle, there was a child.
The young girl stared up at the full silver moon.
“A lake of dreams……”
She was dressed in a worn-out, faded crimson coat one size too big.
She had limbs slender enough to snap like a twig.
She had translucent white skin like that of porcelain.
She had asymmetric yet lovable fangs like a fox’s.
“Marsh of death……”
Spinning slowly she sang an ancient song, line-by-line.
“Stormy ocean……”
Her jet black hair fluttered in the wind, exposing her pointed ears.
“Sea of steam……”
The girl unfastened a small jewel necklace from around her neck and held it up towards the moon.
Amongst the transparent crystals, a spotless pale light shone.
The moon came into view, and the blue and green aurora emerged.
Her light pink eyes took on a deep crimson color.
“……My dreams……”
The night wind whispered through and disappeared into a burnt-down forest.
She joined her hands and fixed her gaze upon the moon above. She said a transient prayer, quietly and to herself.

☽☽☽

Очи индиго – Indigo Eyes

In a room decorated with numerous wooden fighter [aircraft] models, a young boy with ashen blonde hair was having an injury treated by his mother. The boy, who longed for the sky, had leapt off the roof with self-crafted wings of wooden rods with cloth, and crashed into a western photinia (aronia) bush. [1]
The boy’s mother looked like a demon as she scolded him about his foolish action
“If you keep doing stupid things, Nosferatu will come flying to bite your neck!”
“Stop……!”
The boy shivered and shielded his nape with both hands.
The Nosferatu were a frightening vampiric race that featured in folklore of the Republic of Zirnitra. Additionally, there were many other mysterious blood suckers such as the Upir, Nelapsi, and Strigoi; all of these creatures were basically non-existent except for one of these. Children shrunk at the mention of the name. [2]
His father and mother took the opportunity to drink nearby distilled spirit (Zhizen). [3]
“ Being a pilot is but a pipe dream for cowards scared of vampires”
“T-there’s no such thing!”
“Well then, what do you think happens when Nosferatu takes flight throughout the night?”
“Eh……”
The boy imagined a scene where he was confronted by a monster in the sky with a millet colored body. [4]
“Haha, are you scared?”
“I’m not scared!”
The boy objected as his face turned beet red.
“Eat garlic everyday, wear a necklace with a cross, and you’ll be okay! Besides, I’ll shoot them down if they decide to come!”
His mother and father exchanged looks and laughed.
“Why are you laughing?! Damnit. When I grow up, I’m going to be a pilot and travel to the moon’s surface, and the two of you won’t get a ride!”
“A trip to the moon? That’s decades away.”
“Come to think of it, isn’t there a legend about a vampiric race which lives on the back of the moon?”
“N-no way! I’ll go to the moon and prove that’s a lie!”
The boy looked up to the moon which was rising in the window beside him. His indigo eyes twinkled from its shine.
“I’m definitely going.”

Footnotes:
1. Aronia: It’s chokeberry lol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aronia↩
2. So, this one was a bit tricky though I understood the underlying theme: they were all slavic vampire-related creatures.↩
3. Spirit basically just means alcohol–particularly things like rum, whiskey, and brandy.↩
4. http://www.materials-world.com/paint-colors/duron/duron_colors_25.htm↩