Hope for the Stars (Joy)

Their first joint mission; Mark Rowan and Rain Bow had been appointed by Ganthet and Sayyd to travel to sector 742 and quell an uprising that threatened the planet known as Sulhara.



The main city of Sulhara was under attack by renegades who were planning on over-throwing the hierarchy in rage for a 40 year drought season they had been having on the under side of the planet. All due to a 100 year solar wind, which blocked sunlight in the region. The world capital Mala'fik was bordered off from the rest of the planet and had plentiful amounts of food and natural resources. The citizens of other parts of the world were furious that while they suffered, their esteemed leaders were cozy on the other side of the planet opposite the solar wind in their nice cozy advanced city.

Now after 10 years of failed debate, outrage, and politicking the planet was on the verge of battle. The renegade leaders were stationed just outside the great city walls ready to lay siege, but were waiting for a prompt surrender and had given the King of Sulhara one month to submit before the attack began. However, instead the council reached out to the Lantern Corps. hoping that they could quell the situation before world war took place and thus Bow and Mark were in route.


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The 2 lanterns were just now promptly dropping out of deep space flight and flying towards Sulhara with the increased speed they gained from flying through a wormhole. "Nothing like a half a day's travel through time and space to work up an appetite. How you doing?" Mark said while holding Bow's hand and had a single Lantern battery for both of them to recharge within his other hand as they flew through the galaxy nearing their destination. "As soon as we arrive well have to recharge, traveling at warp speed really drains the ring's capacity....Ya know, this is your first REAL Blue Lantern Corps. mission, are you sure you're gonna be ok; are you excited, super nervous!?" Mark laughed as if all these feelings were normal, but overall she needed to remain hopeful.

Bow continued thinking over the mission as they flew through space. Her mind reeled as she thought about the fact that this whole planet's peace could be resting on their shoulders. She held on to Mark's hand tight as Sulhara came into view. The thoughts wouldn't stop and her heart was beating wildly in her chest. She looked at Mark with a small crooked smile and was about to answer his first question of how she was doing when he just kept talking. He always seemed to do this and made her giggle each time. He was just so passionate about all of this and it showed whenever he spoke. Her eyes were trained on Sulhara as she talked to him. "I'm super nervous and excited... Not to mention scared but hopeful at the same time..." *giggle* "It's quite... interesting..." She looked at him and smiled bright. Though she was nervous and scared, she was positive they could do this, together.

"Haha, everything you just said is good, except for the fear. Get rid of that, it'll only stop you from doing your job. You're a beacon of hope to these people, a sign of good will. There's nothing to be afraid of. Now come on, up your shielding, were entering their atmosphere and it's looking like it's a bit thicker than ours." Mark and Bow then darted through Sulhara's atmosphere in big balls of fire from their ozone, but came out through the light blue sky and then flew along their ocean towards the big city. As they drew close Mark laughed, ever the jokester he created a surfboard and skimmed along the top surface of the ocean.

Birds flew over head with four wings as he surfed along the alien planet and their bright blue sun sparkled bright overhead. By then fish that looked like eels mixed with dolphin's hopped out of the water in rows of eight. This was the best part, the one reward of being a Lantern other than helping people. The part he wanted Rain to enjoy.

Bow exhaled a long winded sigh letting go of all her fears. She did as he said and strengthened her shield as they entered Sulhara's intense atmosphere. Once they were safely inside, she put down her shield and froze for a moment taking it all in. Her fear completely flew away with the four winged birds and she soared down to Mark, laughing a bit as he surfed along. She looked around her and wished time would stand still so she could memorize what she was looking at. It was incredible and she was amazed that she was fortunate enough to have this experience, and to top it all off, she got to share it with the most awesome boy she had ever met. She flew next to Mark and looked over to him. "I cannot believe I'm actually here! That we're actually doing this! It's... It's so magnificent I can't describe it..." She smiled brilliantly at Mark as they flew across this vast ocean to what she could only imagine what was lying in wait for them.

They continued to travel along the waters edge until finally stopping at the shores edge and drifting along with the boats with reef like sails in the harbor and landed upon the ground among the many different types of aliens or rather natives in the area, since technically Bow and Mark were the aliens here. As they placed feet upon solid land again the pedestrians of the city all pointed and started yelling in their alien tongue in rejuvenation of the Blue Lanterns arrival. Of course, the rings translated this however for the humans and they basically understood it as the inhabitants praising their deity that the Lanterns had arrived and the war would soon come to an end. "Looks like we got here just in time, quick, lets head to the palace. On foot, so we can save ring power." That being said, Mark and Bow began to move through the extraterrestrial marketplace, which looked like a scene similar to Aladdin's Agriba, except their was future space tech thrown into many random areas and the closer they got to the palace the more futuristic it became. Except, at the moment it seemed pretty standard. '

Aliens wore clothing like shieks and had tents, huts, and shops all about the Market. Some were even food joints, which prepared cuisine specific to different species of creatures. "Tell me if you see a souveniger you want." Mark laughs for he could tell this was all new for Bow and she was quite enjoying it. Additionally, the crowds of creatures seemed to all stop and stare at the two of them. Obviosuly, many had never seen a human before, but none the less they seemed all happy to have them here.

Bow's eyes didn't stop moving, trying to remember each and every square millimeter of information around her. It was all completely fascinating. She was just as mesmerized by them as they were of her, and she wasn't very good at hiding it. As they landed on the shore and they started praising Mark and her in their native language she blushed and couldn't help but giggle. She could have spent a week just wandering around and getting to know them, but then Mark reminded her that they had work to do. She nodded with a more serious expression, slightly disappointed but overwhelmingly excited at the same time. "Right!!" She wanted to race off towards the palace, but everything around her was distracting. As they continued to travel through the streets her head kept swinging from side to side with little remarks about how beautiful, magnificent, fabulous everything was. When Mark asked her if she saw anything she want she looked at him with an "are-you-kidding-me!?" look and giggled, spinning around. "I want everything!!" She was incredibly ecstatic and couldn't contain her joy of being here and about to help these wonderful beings.

"Huh..EVERYTHING!?" Mark says sarcastically. "Well that might take a while, how bout we get started after the mission, kay?" Mark speaks with a delighted smile upon his face as they enter the palace/castle walls, which were very high tech and are carried towards the throne room via a hovering metal disk. As they stood upon the disc they were escorted by a big purple alien with dark spot like freckles all over it's body, a snout, beady eyes, a scepter in one hand and red robes all over it's body. Plus, 3 prongs for fingers and feet. It remained quite though, as if in silent awe of the lantern's it was escorting until they finally reached the throne room.

On the way Mark took notice of the extravagant wonders in this castle. They had their own version of a water fountain with a pink pond, that mermaid like pedestrians swam in, but appeared to also be a drinking well. They had plants that shook and shimmied upon being approached and released pheromones with a pleasant aroma. Their grass was short like gravel or turf and even grew upon rocks and pretty much all surfaces, even their tables and chairs. It was radically different from Earth. As they entered the throne room, Mark approached not bowing like the rest, because he wasn't quite sure on how to bow in this throne room. Many of the creatures in this land had limbs and body shapes that didn't match humans, so he simply stood with his arms folded.



The king of their world then approached with his arms folded as well and serious face, but then smiled quickly and squeezed Mark's cheeks in comical fashion and did the same to Bow. "Lantern's! Welcome to our homeland! With you arrival I expect a time of peace will fall upon my people. Celebrate to your coming victory we will, before your work begins. The reuniting of the people of Sulhara will come to fruition." Mark rubs his cheek and just tries to respond as politely as possible. "Thank you for your hospitality, but there's no need for celebration. Were just here to do our duty as Lantern and protect the universe from needless bloodshed."

Bow giggled at Mark's remark as they paced the entrance into the castle. She looked around with an awe-struck expression on her face. "As long as I can remember everything I'll be just wonderful..." She then looked at their escort with as much fascination as he was looking at them with. She smiled sweetly at him and then went back to turning and looking and trying to memorize all the little facets of this world.

As they entered the throne room she again looked around her and was about to curtsy, but decided to follow Mark and simply smiled as the king approached them. When he squeezed her cheeks, she giggled and there were red marks on her face from it that were covered up with her blushing. She listened intently to each word that he spoke and she was going to say basically the exact same thing as Mark, but he got to it first. Instead she simply nodded in agreement and smiled politely. "Right. We're just here to inspire hope into your planet's heart and help everyone to make peace with each other... It's our pleasure."

The king of Sulhara seemed a little insulted, as if they had just told a child there was no Tooth Fairy. "What!? You deny our celebration, but it is against custom to--" Mark hearing this immediately back tracked, going against native folkways was a BIG NO,NO! Like spitting in someone's face. "Oh well in that case, never mind! *waves arms frantically in cartoon fashion* I mean, the last thing, ehem, we'd want to do is offend your customs." Mark says while looking serious again and regaining composure. "Great then Mbb'lorlax. Signal the rewuunites! Tonight, we celebrate in our guests honor!" Mark takes a deep sigh while looking at Bow as if to say, lets just get this over with.

Later on that evening Mark was seen dressed in urban wear for Sulharians, as was Bow who were then presented to each other via escort and Mark had to admit to himself that Bow looked absolutely stunning in her get-up. Sulharian attire for men consisted of Arabian like white baggy pants, with tribal slits in the sides of them shaped like an S all the way down the pantleg and a vest, that was shaped like a v that connected at Mark's upper abdomen base, that was purple. He also had multiple tribal paint markings all over his body and no shoes. The vest was also literally a V; barely covering his shoulders and his back. Literally, it was two pieces of a luxurious cloth like material that made a V shape on his front and back. Additionally, there was jewel encrusted waist band that acted as a belt added to him and jemmed wrist gauntlets that went from his forearms to his wrists. Plus a white shoulder arm band that had something inscribed on it in their language on his left arm in goldenrod lettering. They wanted to add more, but Mark refused to have his body pierced even if it did break folkways.

Afterwards they sat down next to the king and watched many exotic performances. Mark kept a smile, but placed a palm upon Bow's hand who sat cross-legged next to him. Keep an eye-out, even though this is a celebration. Their enemy has to know were here already and might mount an attack. *sniff sniff* Do you smell something? Mark thought aloud while still holding Bow's hand, there was a weird aroma in the air...

Bow went wide eyed as she realized too that they would be breaking tradition by not having a celebration in their name. She shook her head no and started to speak, but again Mark was the one to be more confident in his choice of words and answered for the both of them. Actually, she was glad he did that. It saved her from saying something wrong. Bow smiled brightly as Mark agreed to the feast and the king began making the arrangement. When Mark gave her "the look" she just giggled. "This will be wonderful!"

As Mark was being escorted completely confident in his outfit, Bow was not so lucky. She kept fiddling with her clothes and blushing. When she saw Mark she blushed even more, but also gave out a quiet "Wow..." He looked dashing in his attire.

Spoiler:

Her top half.^

The rest of her outfit followed the same theme. Her pants were the baggy traditional type and were the same color as her top. The belt looked exactly like the necklace, but had emeralds placed into it to add a little. Bow had allowed them to pierce her belly button and they had placed a simple emerald stud there and then had markings that looked like sun beams around it. She had gold cuffs right around her wrists and was mostly playing with those by twisting them around.

Bow was glad to sit and tried to conceal herself a bit more by crossing her legs. She was thankful for Mark to hold her hand and it helped to calm her heart rate. She was amazed by all the extravagant performances and her head was constantly turning trying hard to take everything in. Not only for the mission, but also for pure enjoyment's sake. As Mark "spoke" to her, she payed a little more attention to things other than the performance going on. Right... We have to keep ou-*sniff* Y-yeah, I do... You think it may be something to worry about? She looked around trying to pick out where the scent was coming from without looking like she was.

The scent got stronger and Mark suddenly felt his vision getting blurry and upon looking at his hand, he noticed it was rubbing Bows. Aww crap, it's an aphrodisiac! Mark thought hysterically. "Quick cover your mouth." But it was already too late, it had been in the atmosphere all night in small amounts. Apparently in their celebrations this was a guarantee that everyone would have a good time; a tradition passed on for generations because for them functions were a gray area of lust, fun, and bestowing both joys upon others. Mark tried to keep his composure, but the other aliens in the room started to grope all over one another. The King himself retiring to his chamber with at least 5 different alien females.

Two alien women approached Mark who was starting to eye bow up and down from head to toe and interrupted his gaze by rubbing his shoulders and his abdomen. One looked very humanoid, but had pointy ears and rather grayish skin and really pointy canine teeth. However, other than that she looked very human and the other was the same except she had purple skin and a very thin/sleek unnatural waistline. "Well it would be rude to not partake in their cultures..." No what am I saying?? Mark kept trying to fight the effects.

Bow started to actually feel comfortable in her outfit. Her eyes became dreamily closed and a soft smile replaced her bright, alert face. She gazed around the room, only noting in the back of her mind that something was off. As Mark looked down at their hands, she looked down also and blushed ever so slightly. Her eyes met his as he looked at her that way. She bit her bottom lip in a lustful thought, T-that's not right... I can't be thinking that way... N-not now anyway... She tried fighting her desires, and luckily two aliens made her stop thinking so much about Mark.

However, two more aliens made her think about them. They too were quite humanoid in appearance. One of them faintly green with the feline ears and slits for eyes. The other was very pale, but had enough dark tattoos to make up for it. Both of them were extremely muscular. They had tapped Bow, one on each shoulder. Her grip on Mark's hand loosened as she was captivated by them. "H-hi there... I'm Bow..." They looked at each other and grinned. The green one gently kissed her hand that once held so tightly to Mark in fear. "Nice to make your acquaintance, the fair and lovely Bow..." Her mind was spinning from the effects of the aphrodisiac and she no longer had a great hold on what was happening.

Mark found himself being pulled away from Bow by both women and it didn't take his ability to see emotions to know what lustful thoughts they had in store and he wouldn't lie...He felt like doing much of the same, but then he saw this happening to Bow as well and pulled away. A hard decision, but he had a mission and he had her to protect as well, Bow was his partner. His hope or need to keep her safe helped the ring fuel him with enough hope to overcome the affects of the aphrodisiac, if only temporarily. "I'm sorry, but my friend needs me." Mark said pulling from their grasp and approaching Bow who was almost half carried towards a more private setting by the two aliens that had approached her. "Sorry my friends, we have urgent business, but those two seem very lonely." With that the two rather fetching male aliens approached the females Mark had just turned down.

Mark grasped Bow by the hand and looked into her eyes thinking Are you, ok? while dragging her towards a room, which was supposed to be his living quarters for the evening. Once inside he closed the door and locked it with all 8 locking mechanisms breathing heavily. "Well stay here until the effects wear-off." He said and then turned to look at Bow and felt his heart skip a beat as very unclean thoughts filled his mind, but he tried to sheath them as he could. Instead he tried focusing on the layout of the room, but the aphrodisiac was very powerful to the human psyche. Even so, the room's layout provided some distraction. It had a balcony with an overview of the city, a bed covered in sheets of skins of what Mark thought had to be the exotic animals of this planet, which they must've rolled out for the Lanterns arrival specifically and oddly enough the bed was shaped like a oval instead of square with wavy pillows. There were also many other appliances that Mark knew some of the uses for, but at the same time saw many that he couldn't figure out if they were machine, alive, furniture or just decoration. In the room over and many other private quarters in this wing multiple loud noises/moans and wails started to fill the atmosphere, hinting at what kind of events were proceeding after the full release of the aphrodisiac.

Bow wasn't in her right mind as she was bring pulled away by the two aliens. Her eyes were glazed over in a lustful dream as she was being whisked away, only for a split moment recognizing that it was wrong. Her mind wasn't near as strong as Mark's and the effects had taken their tole on her body. As she was dragged away from Mark, she didn't even catch what was said, only thinking about how he took her away from those two fine gentlemen. Her eyes looked to him with anger that quickly faded into longing for him. She smiled seductively as she thought back to him. Now that you're here...

As he locked the doors, she sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him biting her bottom lip provocatively. She wondered for a moment why he looked so troubled, but then just laid down on the bed instead of worrying over it. "These blankets feel so nice... You should join me, Mark..." She had a grin on her face as she turned to him again after he was finished examining the room. Her brain was overloaded with the intoxication and she wasn't being herself anymore. Mark would know that better than anyone, including herself.

Mark turned and looked at her through parted lips. His tongue quickly escaped through an exasperated breath, but quickly retreated as he again tried to stop his thoughts. However he soon found himself trying to remove his own ring. His subconscious fully taken over by the affects of the aphrodisiac obviously recognized his hope was keeping his witts about him and now was having a mental battle with his own body.

He approached Bow, trying to yank the ring off his own finger still, but clenched his fist to stop it. This...This can't happen, definitely...not like this. She doesn't have those type of feelings for me, c'mon mark you know this! "Bow what are you saying to me right now?" He said as his ring dropped from his finger, obviously having lost that battle and now had the effects taking hold of his own mind as well with his hope dampened by the absence of his weapon/tool. His unifrom suddenly disappeared to reveal his bare naked body as he approached the bed from the adjacent side of her and started to crawl into it, but hesitated before reaching her. With the ring gone, his lantern attire disappeared now showing his physique, which he typically didn't show off, put on for display.