Of Treaties and Wars Chapter 1

Fandom: Oban Star-Racers
Rating: T
Couple: Eva x Aikka, Jordan x OC
Genre: Romance, Action, Fantasy
Chapter 1: In Which Eva Remembers

Eva cracked an eye open as her alarm clock went off and groaned at the early hour. 5:30 was not an appropriate hour for anyone to get up in her opinion. But she had a schedule to keep and a manager and trainer who would be up her butt if she wasn’t to the track on time. She pushed herself up and stretched before stumbling out of bed. She passed up everything until she got to the kitchen and poured herself a hot mug of coffee. She took a sip and let out a sigh, nothing happened until she got a cup in her system. She sat at the table and rubbed the side of her face as she tried to wake up.

She blearily looked around the room, not really taking in anything until she set sights on the calendar. September 8th, the day they’d returned to Earth from Oban 6 years ago. It struck her a bit, 6 years. 6 years since Jordan took her place as Avatar. 6 years since she’d swore she’d never tell another soul of her outer space adventure. 6 years since she’d reconciled with her father. 6 years since she’d last seen Aikka. It almost didn’t seem possible, and yet she knew it was. How much that time could change.

She remembered returning to Earth. She’d been none too pleased by being told she had to lie to everyone about the true nature of their disappearances, but she’d agreed, what else could she do? They were given cover stories and given considerable amounts of money to keep out mouths shut. I hugged Stan and Koji at the airport and that had been it. For a while if felt as if the whole thing never happened, except I had my Dad back. Though it wasn’t all sunshine and roses there either. The press got ahold of my identity and the world was in an uproar about Don Wei’s secret daughter. And along with that a 12 year separation isn’t fixed overnight. We spent hours with a government cleared family therapist. But it worked out in the end. Dad and I were able to overcome the past and move on.

And something else surprising happened. I received an invitation in the mail from Jordan’s parents inviting me to his ‘funeral’. They knew the truth about what had happened and had it cleared for me to come, they felt it was only right. I could hardly believe it, and I of course went. I had specific rules of course. Not to talk to anyone, or mention anything. If questioned I was simply a friend. Honestly the whole thing kind of gave me some closure. I mean I knew Jordan wasn’t dead, but it helped me put my guilt behind me. Afterwards I was able to return to the Wilde’s home and we talked a bit about all that had happened. Nothing shocked me more than when his mom hugged me. We left on good terms and we haven’t seen each other since.

I’ll admit, for the first year or so the return to normal was nice. We’d only been gone a few months but it had felt like so much longer. The simple life of school, home, and family was soothing. But eventually it wore off and I got restless again, as was my nature. I wasn’t one to sit around and do nothing. That’s when I found out about the age limit for Minor League Star-Racers. 17, just 2 months away from what I was at. And a plan started churning in my head. I missed it, there was no denying it. The rush, the feel of the racer moving around me as I drove. I wanted it back. So I brought it up to Dad. The resounding no actually shocked me. Earth racing would be infinitely safer than anything I’d done before. But he wouldn’t budge. So I decided to do more digging, and found that I didn’t have to have parents’ consent, just a willing manager. And so I made a little appointment with an old friend.

Rick had been ecstatic to see me, as I was to see him. We’d only been able to meet up once since our return and it hadn’t been for very long. We spent a good few hours just catching up, before I finally got down to business. You see, after Rick returned to Earth, he decided to settle for being a Racing Coach. And really, a manager wasn’t too much farther. So I asked him if he would manage me, get me off the ground. He just laughed when I explained why I had to go behind Dads back and agreed easily enough. And when he agreed, he went all out. Promotion was everywhere for the upcoming season, once the media got ahold of Maya and Don Wei’s daughter taking up the racing circuit there wasn’t a paper without my face on it. And to top it all of Rick pulled strings and got Stan and Koji to design my new baby, The Whizzing Cloud.

Her creation and birth was a hard labor of sleepless nights and drafts and redrafts, but when she sat gleaming in front of me in all her glory she was well worth it. I trained to learn every part of her in the 3 months I had before the races began. And when that day came, I’d never been happier. Being on that track, head-to-head with other racers, testing my mettle against theirs was like a reawakening. I wasn’t sure I realized how much I missed it until then.

I rose in the ranks easily, even though the rules were different, I still won every race I was put in. I made enemies of the other racers quickly, especially the older ones. I guess that doesn’t change no matter what part of the galaxy you’re in. I got used to it, making friends where a good one could be found, and avoiding those who were just pains.
Of course Dad was furious when he found out I’d gone behind his back like that. But there wasn’t much he could do. He couldn’t force me to back off, nor could he convince Rick to pull me out. So he just had to sit back and watch. And after a good couple months of silent dinners, he finally started to accept it.

I won both Minor League Races for the 2 years I was a part of them, and when I turned 19 Dad finally agreed to be my manager for the Major Leagues. Which were drastically different than the Minor Leagues. Faster, trickier, more dangerous. Definitely more up the Great Races alley, but still wasn’t a challenge. I won every race there too, making even more enemies. Most just pointed to who my parents were, ignoring my actual talent. I’ve been racing there ever since, holding my undefeated streak and using it as my only drive and challenge. It was fun to meet new racers every season and adapt to their racing styles. The fans were nice too. I seemed to grow a larger base every season. I got bags of letters and gifts, it was a confidence boost when people believed in you, and heart-warming when young girls looked up to you as a role model.

My alarm clock went off again and I jumped up and looked at the clock, I had an hour to get my butt to the track. I chug the rest of my coffee and hop up, hurrying into my room to don my racing attire and rush out the door in record time with a to-go coffee cup in hand.

Dad and Rick were not pleased at my close cutting. “I wish you’d take your racing a bit more seriously young lady. Showing up a half-an-hour before the Semi-Finals does not look good,” Dad growled. “Sorry, I decided being awake enough to race was more important than getting to the race early. I’ll never make that careless mistake again,” I replied a bit snidely. He just narrowed his eyes and scowled at me. Rick chuckled a bit at my attitude. “Alright Little Mouse we get it. Just make sure you have all your stuff down and have a clear head out there. This has been a pretty hard year,” he told me. “Yeah I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be my usual 110% out there once that siren sounds,” I nodded strapping on my helmet. We gave each other a thumbs up and I hugged my dad before climbing up to the cockpit.

It had been a hard year, in more ways than one. My eyes glance over at the blue painted circle coming down from the top of my engine. This last year the Universe had gone through a big shift. The Nourasians had cut ties with the Crogs and banded with the people of Byrus, Alwas, Phills, and what was left of Ning and Skun’s people of Inna to fight back against them. When they did this they asked for Earths help in the fight to make a more durable and fearsome force. But the Earth refused and has kept out of the fight so far. When I heard of this I was outraged, and because it was a public matter, I could do something this time. That night, the night before a huge demonstration, I pained the Symbols of each planet surrounding a large Nourasian symbol, the symbol of the resistance, on my engine. When the crowds saw it there was an uproar. My fans divided in half and I found people who’d never liked me, offer a hand in friendship. Between the crowds’ shakiness and the more talented racers, I’d almost slipped more than once. But I held strong, needing to now more than ever.

“Eva get in there for check-ups!” I hear Dad yell. I make a waving motion and hurry into the cockpit. I check the earpiece in my helmet and go over with my head engineer all my system checks. Once it’s all cleared and confirmed I wheel myself out to the starting line. I look around at the crowd as I go, waving at those cheering me on. The Semi-Finals weren’t as nerve-wrecking as the finals, but I still had to focus. I eye the racers beside me, barely making each out through the tinted glass. These were my competitors and rivals. I had to out-do them to earn my spot. As the first buzzer sounds I pull up into my hover. At the second I rev my engine a bit, leaning forward just a bit in my seat. And at the siren, I burst across that line like the devils at my rear.