The First
Location: Earth
Year: 2?
Screams were heard everywhere. Waves of people running away from the collapsing buildings, natural disasters were becoming more powerful and frequent. Earthquakes came suddenly without warnings. The titanic plate boarders were erupting in volcanoes. The climates turn extremes of cold or hot randomly. The Earth was collapsing after centuries of abuse.
The great minds of the many generations were working with the leaders of all the countries and blue collar workers to build humanity's salvation: Project SEEDS. They were in their last throws of completing the space ships for outer space colonization. They just need to pick the groups of pilots and find or create an energy source to power their migration. The pilots were easy enough to produce: gather some qualified people and train them to operate and live on the pilot space ship while the rest of humanity, animal/insect kingdom, and Earth's plant species sleep until a habitual planet could be found. The energy source was harder to come by successfully.
It wasn't until an abnormal disaster occurred that their hopes flared to life. The new energy source came from a group of people's mutation. The disaster area was riddled with a strange and new kind of radiation that erupted from deep within the dyeing planet. Most of the population had died, but in a ratio of 900 to 3, seemingly random individuals and groups of people mutated into large grotesque forms radiating high amounts of usable energy. But it was for not, most had died from outside sources such as terrified people, falling debris, and, of course, natural disasters. Many were successfully captured and studied, despite once being human.
It was learned, through trial and error, how to contain and use the energy they exclude. The transformed males were used to help produce more of the female variety in the form of reproducing with the existing females. The entirety of the male populace eventually died from over use, leaving their gender counterpart the job of keeping the humans alive. But in return, the humans had to keep the females alive. Forming plants with large lightbulbs to hold the creatures, these containments were filled with the necessary elements for the energies to live long and comfortably. But eventually even the original plant mothers began to die off, all except for two: the Mother and the Woman.
Now that we have our histories out of the way, we look to the more interesting attraction. On one of the following Project SEEDS space ship housing the many variety of vegetation to populate a hopeful new planet, a plant as in labor. With a final push, a female humanoid baby was born. Tired and worn from giving birth and the after birth, the Woman-plant laid down in her area to rest. The newborn rolled about the concaved area in the puddle of blood and other fluid breathing in its first artificial air by crying out her discomfort. Cracking open her eyes, the Woman-plant eyed her child. Bright blond tuffs of hair dried and blue eyes gently revealed themselves. The plant sighed. She couldn't remember much from her time as a human, but she did remember having a child before vaguely, so hopefully she'll be able to take care of this one too.
Xxxxxxxx
Location: Gunsmoke
Year: ?
In a mountain range of white sandy rock, a large cave system houses a paradise. In the very heart of the cave system are lava tubes and within the dead wide mouthed volcano was a spacious cavern encasing a dead plant globe and a crashed/deconstructing Project SEEDS ship. Surrounding the human constructions of space travel, a bed of brightly colored flowers and healthy green bushes and ferns were growing splendidly hugged the inorganic material intimately. Beyond those were wide fields, fields bearing lush fruits, hardy vegetables, and sturdy grains. Among those fields were pathways of coble stone or the occasional neat rubble or rich packed soil.
Striding around the fields on one of the walkways was a lone woman with shining dirty blond hair. She was checking the watering system near her tropical plants. Long and layered curling hair pulled up in a ponytail to help keep her cool swung with her step and in the multiple fans' light breeze as she worked.
After finishing her repairs, she wiped her muddy hands on the front of her denim overalls. Nodding in satisfaction, she picked up her tool box and walked back to her main sprinkler mechanism. When it turned on properly and finished its recorded time of watering, the woman checked to see if there were any more leaks. Finding none, she sighed in relief.
After putting her things away, she trotted tiredly towards a lava tube covered in moss. Traveling down the path, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, light mist, and the gentle bioluminescence of the friendly fungus and moss surrounding her. Entering the hot springs, she washed off all the ash, mulch, and mud.
Coming out of the wash area, she headed towards her living area in her birthday suit while carrying a woven basket filled with her dirty clothes. With no one else to live with her, she didn't really need modesty in here. Dressed and ready to go, she put on some natural sunscreen lotion and sunglasses. Her cooler truck was stuffed with produce and liters of water with the back tacked with tarp to cover her tracks. Canteens filled with fresh clean water along with some emergency containers. She left her concealed oasis/home to the dry desert to drop off her products in the various towns she has her stalls set up in not too far off.
A week later of interacting with kindly towns' people and fending off unsavory gunmen, this woman was tiredly driving home. It was almost twilight when she had to stomp on her brakes so as to NOT run over a ruffed up and bloody body in the sand. Breathing deeply from the sudden scare, she shakily climbed out of the truck. She made sure to turn off the engine and keep her keys with her. She found the man unconscious but alive. He breathed weakly, and his lips were chapped. The woman mulled over her options: save the man that could be a cold blooded murderer or leave a potentially innocent man to die.
Sighing, she rummaged through his bright red clothes for any secret weapons along with his hefty hand gun. Using some rope she usually uses to strap down her crates with, she tied up the man by his wrists, knees, and ankles. Levering herself under him, she braced herself and lifted. Being incredibly smaller than the man, she staggered to her passenger side. Dumping him on the seat, she exhaled heavily and buckled him up securely while scowling at the sand slipping into the hard to read places of her seat. Grabbing his strangely shaped luggage along with his weapons and tossing it into the trunk slot of the truck, she dusted off her hands and climbed up behind the wheel. She paused. Glancing at his scrunched up face of pain, she sighed, knocking her forehead gently on the stirring wheel.
Rummaging through her glove box full of hair bands, receipts, notes, pencils, pens, and change, she pulled out her blue bandana. She twisted open her half full canteen and moisten the cloth over the ground outside, the door open to block the wind. She was tying the cloth securely as she could around the guy's eyes to blind him when her fingers grazed his parched skin. A jolt passed skyrocketed under her skin! Gasping, she pulled away as if burnt. Breathing irregularly, she started the truck and rushed home without glancing at the man even once.
The man who was just like her.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It only took a day of hydration and enough rest for him to wake up. Stripped down to his boxers (that was as far she would go, for privacy's sake), he was wiped clean, sanitized with ointment, and wrapped up like mummy in a few places with his metal arm detached carefully. The torture this man went through was glaringly obvious when she took off his shirt. Old and fresh, scars littered his body; even chunks of flesh were missing and covered in metal mesh. Now she was even more wary. Was he angry and deranged, or did he have a gentle heart? But one thing is for sure, she is not chancing it. Strapping him down to the bed by the joints and across the chest gently (what was the point of healing him if she was going to hurt him?), she felt a little more safe.
She was sitting on a cushiony chair she pulled from her living room next to her twin sized bed the man was awkwardly sleeping on, feet hanging in midair but covered with a sheet. She was reading as she waited for him to wake up, occasionally wiping his forehead with a damp cloth if she had managed to pull away from her book in time. She was coming through some parts that were really exciting when gasping breaths startled her. Just a back-to-reality kind of startle, not 'OH MY GOD, YOU SCARED THE LIVING CRAP OUT OF ME!' kind, she wasn't into the book that much.
She glanced at the now awake man. His emotions were easily readable for a could-be-murderer: grogginess, content, a bit of a wince, (then) confusion, and wariness. Then he finally noticed that he was tied down and started to struggle comically before hissing in pain. She tried to resist smirking or giggling, but he was just too damn funny! She coughed into her gently closed fist to regain some composure. He froze when he heard her chortle and turned his head very slowly towards her. When he final saw her, he didn't spew profanities, threaten her, or pull a poker face. At least, not any poker faces she had ever seen, it turned sharp and sparkly, for the lack of a better word. He seemed to relax. He was strange. She eyed him warily.
"Sorry for the restraints, but when I found you out there in that condition, I didn't know if you would turn hostile or not when you woke up."
She placed down her book after glancing at the page number but slipping in a bookmark anyway. Not really knowing why she was explaining herself to him, she felt awkward. She reached over on her nightstand to pour him a glass of water and place a straw into it. Leaning over, she held the straw end to his mouth. He drank it without question with an odd blush to his face and a gleam to his eyes. Why wasn't he hesitant in drinking this? It could have been drugged for all he knew! What is he thinking? Does he have a fever like this morning?
She pulled his drink away and felt his forehead with the back of her hand in concern. Not at all experienced with this, she moved to the back of his neck. His forehead seemed fine, but his neck was hot. Getting up, she moved through hallways to a functional kitchen to reach the freezer, filled a fever bag with ice and left. Reentering the room, she shifted his strangely compliant head to move the ice bag under his neck. He hissed a good naturally, "that's cold!" She chuckled a bit.
"That's good! It means it's working."
His face suddenly turned from that awkwardly goofy grin to a straight face. Was he going to show his true colors now? She stiffened subtly to ready herself for anything he could say. He stared intently at her sitting form, so she stared back.
"Why are you helping me? Not that I'm ungrateful of course but anyone could see I messed with the wrong person."
Not what she was expecting but okay. She scratched that itch on her head and thought about it. Why did she save him? Was it because she did it just to do it? Nah, she wasn't that selfless. Was it because he was injured? Nope, she had seen many injured people and left them to others to take care of. Change up her routine? Hm, maybe, but she liked the way she lived for the longest time. Why did she do it?
"I guess it's because you're like me, and I didn't want to let you die before at least knowing you more."
She didn't want him to die; because, she wanted living proof that there were others like her: human batteries outside their globes (for the lack of a better description). To know, she wasn't alone here on Gunsmoke surrounded and suffocated by humans.
She watches his reaction. Dumbfounded then wary scrutiny like he thought she was a nutcase. At least, he acted like that. It was almost believable. She just reached out and touched his check with the back of her fingers. The familiar tingle of exchanging energies flowed through between and under their skin. Their skin shined softly as their hair glowed brightly. In this contact, the feeling of safety and content grew until she pulled away reluctantly. Her hair became a shade lighter while his hair looked healthier. She sighed in content, and in dismay.
"From that, I can tell you are younger than me, and you were born from the Mother."
She leaned forward to pull the sheet away, revealing his scarred and bandaged body. He stiffened and turned apprehensive. She didn't blink. She just carefully undid his bindings. She helped him sit up with a few more pillows. She pulled the sheet back in place, so he would be more comfortable. Looking at him directly, she saw his pained expression from moving. She waited for him to settle before holding out her hand. He stared at her hand. She took back her hand reluctantly.
"My name is Alex. I hope to get to know you more while you are here."