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Stranded [Words and Conviction and Sigr]

Sigr

Magenta Goon
Joined
Dec 9, 2016
Location
Spain
The jungle gave way to the lithe figure, running and jumping through the alien thicket, dodging and turning in her way to the familiar site. Even at such speed, probably with more reason, her eyes were watchful, alert. The low plants with the wide leaves and blue spots were harmless and edible, a brush with the tall red sprigs of the reeds in humid areas caused a fever. In the daylight such things were easy to distinguish even in a hurry, but it also meant that she had to be careful with the predators like the one chasing her.

The girl reached the clearing, sighing of relief, but she was far from safe. Leaving the bushes and trees behind meant that the creature wouldn't be able to hide, its camouflage rendered useless, but it would also have freedom to move. The birds stopped their chirping, and just the buzzing of mosquitoes in the nearby pond broke the silence, not even her breath could be heard. The predator, a long lizard-like being covered in kaleidoscopic feathers stumbled out of the vegetation, its six legs moving in unison, its size almost equal to an Earthly horse. Its short tail, able to snap a small tree whipped the earth. The jaw, who could maim her in a bite, clicked in anticipation.

A crackle and flash of light after, the air smelled of ozone and the predator was alive no more, the carcass burnt and its insides boiled. The girl was holding a piece of metal, a weapon beyond her understanding that had seen better days and was a miracle that even worked for that last shot. Silhouetted behind her were the remains of a once proud ship, now turned into an overgrown cave, an impromptu refuge, a memorial for days barely remembered.

Leaving the smoking trinket fall, the girl started to carve the predator turned prey with a knife fashioned out of ship hull. Her whole body was athletic and scarred, a thin figure shaped through irregular nutrition and survival. Dirt and mosquito bites punctuated her naked figure, a poultice made of leaves covered a rainbow worm bite on the left leg, while her modest chest and shapely back were covered by locks of her black hair, sticky with sweat. Her hands worked without rest on the corpse, knowing well what could be eaten, what could be preserved dry, and what to be left far away from her home to disorient other predators.

Soon enough the tasks were done and she returned to the clearing once more, crude tools employed to make a fire that would cook the prize, that would light the incoming night. The girl ate quickly, blowing on the leathery meat so it could cool faster, eager to calm her stomach. The once white remains of a space suit, tore apart long ago covered her back against the cold that was starting to seep in as the darkness settled. Her dirty fingers traced a nameplate that was hanging on one side, the letters spelling Sarah, a name that she hadn't heard in a long time.

With a full belly she lied down on the spot, her eyes looking at the lights above, stars where she once belonged but would never sail again. Sarah was startled, and soon grabbed her knife and got up. One of the stars was shining brighter, one of the stars was getting closer.
 
Piloting his vessel through the asteroid belt had been something of a task, requiring intense focus. So when he'd powered through that and was approaching the planet he'd breathed a sigh of relief. Fingertips flying over the instrument panel so that the ship would provide a self analysis if any of the debris had penetrated the shields and caused physical damage. Little did he know the dangers of what he'd just accomplished as it was likely one of the motivating factors of the scene unfolded on the planet surface. He hadn't noticed it in the moment but Marcus fingertips were ice cold from the tension and there was a deep line of sweat collecting on his brow. He rose from his chair and his voice commanded the vessel to take over. "Xena, take over landing protocol." He'd moved from the cockpit towards the mess hall. The ship wasn't massive. So it'd only taken him thirty seconds at most to reach it. He was pouring himself a deep blue drink, it was the color of cacao-like beans from one of the rim planets. It had nearly double the caffeine content of Earth's coffee. That was when the AI's voice could be heard from the ship's intercom.

"Captain, there's a crashed ship on the surface. It's beacon strength has weakened to the point where I could not pick it up on sensors until we penetrated the planet's atmosphere. Would you like me to land there so you may survey?"

"Yes Xena, land approximately twenty meters away on the most stable location that has a reasonable walking path to the downed ship. Do not lower the shields in the event that this is a trap." Marcus was acutely aware of pirates throughout many systems that faked distress beacons to catch people off guard. Marcus took a sip of his drink and set it back on the table. He moved quickly to the lockers that stored personal gear for land operations. "Suit required?" - "No Captain, the planet has the required oxygen levels for sustaining human life." Marcus chose then to grab his blaster, it was custom made to fit into the palm of his hand. It's grip was smooth to the touch but sticky once gripped, a rather unique material. He slipped on his left hand a shield it appeared like a strange ring that wrapped around his middle and ring finger that was attached to a thin wire that led to a pad no larger then a quarter in his palm. When depressed it'd bring up an energy shield roughly the size of his torso that could absorb hand-held blaster fire.

It was shortly after he'd finished equipping himself that he could feel the vibration of the deploying landing gear and the soft rumble that occurred when the ship was settled. Xena automatically lowered the exit ramp to which Marcus walked out of it with a smooth stride. A tight neoprene shirt hugged his muscular torso, it was a dark gray in color while his pants were a crimson red. Typical flight suit pants in that they were just a touch loose for comfort in movement, they fell over a pair of brown boots. The engines of the ship quieted to a dull hum, he let his vision scan across the horizon until he spotted the vessel.

"Are you in distress, do you need help?!" Marcus voice penetrated the air, it's baritone pitch cascading easily across the distance. The man was around or just over six feet in height and had chestnut brown hair. Even in the distance the groomed facial hair of his short beard could be identified by a keen eye. He approached the ship at a steady but cautious pace.
 
Sarah once knew the words that resonated in the distance, but she was too busy hiding in the foliage around the clearing as to make real sense of them. She had learned to react quickly to stimuli, depending on what they meant to her. Words weren't edible berries or a cozy cave, a sharp knife or venomous toad, they were just words and thus devoid of real, tangible meaning. The figure approaching was unknown, something to be deciphered, catalogued in simple categories that required an answer.

As he got closer and closer to her refuge, Sarah knew that he had noticed the recent fire, the things abandoned there in a hurried run for a hiding spot. That was her home, she couldn't let him just be there, it was her safe place. The gizmo that she used to kill dinner was out of reach and probably beyond its last shot, so she only had the knife in her hand. She didn't want to kill him more than she wanted to kill the beast she dine on, but something had to be done if she was to stay safe, is she was to survive.

Slowly, she approached in a crouch, close to the ground. Looking at him from his back, she knew that he was a being like her, hard to classify as a menace, a complex individual from a life long forgotten. Her hesitation betrayed her position, carelessly stepping on a branch. Sarah partially hide behind a nearby tree, but it was too thing to properly cover her.
 
The shield in Marcus' palm was almost instantly activated with the snap of the branch, his fingertips depressing the thin disc in the center of his palm. It extended out in a neon orange that was translucent. He held it to cover his torso and throat as he spun in place to face the audible crack that'd been heard behind him. Once his vision took in the scene before him his eyebrows furrowed. "Hey, lady.. are you okay?" That same baritone voice was raised with the surprise he'd just experienced but soft enough to indicate he was concerned for the rail thin female that was scantily clad due to the distress of the articles she wore.

He'd took a half step towards her and then paused, his vision assessing the threats around him to ensure there was no trap that would be sprung. The galaxy was a strange place and it wouldn't be the first time he was shocked to see the depravity someone would sink to in order to get the upper hand on someone. He noted none and then took another step towards Sarah. "How long have you been down here?" The voice cracked the silence again, wondering inwardly how long her beacon must have been communicating distress.

Dark green eyes held lines of concern at the corner near his temple, he kept his vision on her now since he was close. Close enough to notice the blade gripped in one of her hands.
 
She grunted at the sight of the flickering energy shield, slightly calming down when the man spoke again. A man, yes, that what he was. Sarah could barely remember her parents, but she knew what a man was, and that sure looked like one. She tilted her head, examining the strange apparition, troubled. Maybe he could get her out of there? Back into the stars? No, everything on that planet was dangerous, everyone wanted to harm her. "No!" she mumbled, extending her armed hand in defense when he stepped closer, asking her something. Sarah understood the question, or at least the gist of it, but it had been so long... she didn't really know the time, and barely could speak. Years of silence had taken their toll on her, and now even if she wanted, she had trouble forming the words.

Sarah circled around him, getting closer to her camp. "Come" she said, guiding him to the remains of the ship, never taking her amber eyes from him for too long. She rummaged through her things, close to a couple of stone piles that looked like tombs, trying to find a particular object. Finding what she was looking for, she approached back to him, noticing the doubts in his eyes. Having clear that her weapon was to no use against someone like that, she ditched it. Sarah left in the ground between them a picture of a young girl with black hair, amber eyes and a suit with Sarah written on it. The girl in the picture couldn't have more than eight or nine years old, and the one before him was hard to say due to malnutrition and dirt, but she was between sixteen and nineteen.

"Travel... stars..." she said, looking at the man and then to the starry sky. "Out... Away..." Sarah wanted to get out of that place, away from all that happened. "Girl" she said, unsure. She removed the rags of the suit she had on her, revealing the rest of her battered body. Leaving it in the ground in front of the man, she pointed to the name tag on it. "Name" added, pointing at the picture in his hand, then her own face.

"Sarah."
 
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