The fluffy, rabbit-like animal hopped across the floor, slipping a little with every landing when his toe beans failed to stick to the smooth tiles below him. Without any high trees to climb or open plains to wander, this was the most exercise he could hope for. He darted past the building's vents, imagining a breeze rippling through the leaves of a forest canopy and across his silky coat as the cool air wafted past him.

Then he heard something. Like the sound of light steps over the tiled floor. Something faint, but something getting closer.

He planted his paws onto the ground, skidding to a squeaky stop and pushing his daydreams out of his mind. His ears angled themselves forward, back, following whatever sounds they could catch.

No footsteps nearby anymore, at least. He cautiously hopped forward, snapping his head every which way to try to get a glimpse of whatever made that noise.

"Gotcha, Pyonchi!"

The creature felt two stubby arms closing around his torso. He thrashed and sent a few kicks backward, but then he looked over his shoulder and saw a familiar round face and bright green eyes hovering over him. He relaxed his twitching legs and buried his fuzzy face into the folds of his captor's soft white shirt.

The human child nuzzled him, lightly kissing his forehead. "You're so fast! Too bad I'm faster, buddy!"

Normally, he'd be too proud to go down without a fight, but Samus was his human. He could let his human win this round.

Samus bundled up the cozy Pyonchi in her sleeves as she hurried into a large chamber nearby, the room enveloped in a darkness that contrasted with the blinding fluorescent lighting always on just outside. There, she snuck up on two tall, robed figures. From the corner of the room, a hovering sphere with a camera embedded in its center silently observed the figures hard at work. They all stood by a gigantic computer monitor that towered over Samus and shrouded everyone in the room in pale, faintly blue light. Displayed on the screen was a strange, almost circular shape with two curved spikes at the bottom and three connected circles in the center.

X PREDATOR "METROID" DESIGN – version 0.14, the text at the top of the window read.

"Since we've failed to secure any afloralite, we need to investigate alternative sources of fuel for the project," the taller one said.

What are they talking about? Sounds like a big deal, thought Samus. Whatever it was, she was sure it could wait for one second, at least if Old Bird had the final say instead of Gray Voice. She set Pyonchi down and toddled over to the shorter one, pulling on the bottom of his robe. "Grandpa Bird, Grandpa Bird! I snuck up on Pyonchi all by myself! I can do it again, wanna see?"

Old Bird looked down at the tiny child, his gray-feathered face forming dimples in a warm expression. "Did you? Impressive, little one!" He patted her on the head with his free hand, keeping the other firmly on top of a walking stick. "You look healthier than ever after the first phase of your treatment. Have you gotten used to walking again?"

"Yepper!" Samus balanced on one leg, lifting the other up and waving it around with pride. She showed off until she wobbled around and almost stepped on Pyonchi's bushy tail, causing him to squeak and jump away. "Am I gonna grow feathers now? Or a big beak like yours?"

"We cannot give you an answer right now," said Gray Voice, still busying himself at the computer.

Samus crossed her arms. "Why not?"

Gray Voice closed the computer program's window and faced Samus. "Everything about your current situation, your current structure, is without precedent. These enhancements may not even guarantee your survival here. We will need to send you elsewhere if you are unable to live on Zebes."

She took a step back, her eyes dilated in horror. "You want to send me away? …Papa Bird…?"

"Gray, please, don't frighten her!" Old Bird nudged Gray Voice with a scowl, then shifted his hands down his walking stick and knelt to Samus's height. "If feathers are what you want, we can make you a big, puffy cloak covered in feathers of all the colors of the spectrum of visible light. Then you'll fit right in with the other chozo living here. How does that sound?"

"Uh… Awesome! Thank you, Grandpa!" Samus forced herself to jump up and down and made a smile that was just a bit too wide to be comfortable. She noticed Old Bird's smile falling from his face, too. Her act must not have convinced him.

Old Bird placed his hand on Samus's back, careful not to hurt her with his talons. He guided her across the room's threshold, with Pyonchi hopping out alongside her, and went to close the door again. "Now go practice catching your rabbilis some more, child. We have some important things to take care of, but we can spend time with you later."

"Okay, Grandpa Bird…" Samus's face drooped as the door slid shut in front of her face. She felt Pyonchi tugging at her pant leg, trying to pull her in the direction of their designated playroom, but she didn't want to move. Her feet felt like they were sinking into a puddle of wet cement. "Oh, Pyonchi… I thought they'd be happy to see me…" She flopped down on her back, outstretched on the floor that chilled her skin to touch. She focused on the fluorescent lights in the ceiling and squinted. Murmuring sounds came from the other side of the door and she propped herself back up, pressing her ear against its cold, metallic surface.

"What was that, Gray?" That was Old Bird's voice. "I realize we don't have much experience raising young, but I expected better from you."

From the rapid beeping sounds coming from the other side, Gray Voice must have gone back to work on the computer. "We can't risk getting attached to this child. Securing the energy source needed to begin the Metroid Project is our top priority! If we don't act now–"

"Damn it, Gray Voice, we're creating the metroid to prevent unnecessary loss of life! How can we ever be expected to protect a whole planet's ecosystems if we can't even save one child?!"

"…I understand. All I ask is that we consider sending Aran to grow up elsewhere, safe and among her own kind. It's difficult to deny that this is hardly the ideal environment for a human."

Samus felt her stomach practically cave in on itself as she pulled her ear away and slumped against the door, her eyes growing wet with tears. Where else could she go? They still insisted she couldn't see her mom and dad again, which she didn't understand at all. They must have rebuilt their burnt-down house by now!

I'll show them, she thought with a frown, clenching her tiny hands into fists. They can't give me up! I'm just as strong as them! I'm a bird like them now! She scooped up her rabbilis companion and walked away. "Come on, Pyonchi. Let's go get my jacket, then we'll play. Outside."

Samus bounded across the rocky surface of Zebes. It had taken some sneaking past the other chozo to get out here, but she didn't regret it one bit. She took a deep breath, her lungs filling with fresh air that smelled like unfamiliar plants, carried by wind so strong that it nearly pulled down her orange jacket's hood. Wow, she thought, they didn't want me out here? It's so nice!

Her little legs propelled her off a giant boulder, landing with a thud onto a bed of moss below. She rolled up her jacket into a pillow and rested her head on it, lying on the moss and watching in fascination as the plant cover left a green tint on her white underclothes.

Then Pyonchi jumped from the cliff too, landing heavily on her stomach and making her grunt. "Oof… you're such a bad boy, Pyonchi," she said.

She and her pet rabbilis gazed at the vast skies above them. When the chozo pair first brought her to this planet, it had been overcast the whole time, battering the rocks with a deluge of rain that burnt her palm when she reached out to touch a few drops. But now, the only breaks in the deep blue sky were the clouds chasing each other across the horizon. For a second, she could have sworn she glimpsed the shapes of herself and her friends from her home planet dashing through those billowing towers. She could only imagine what they were really up to right then, wherever they were. "Just like home, or… or what used to be home… right, buddy?"

Samus went to scratch Pyonchi's back but ended up with her hand on her stomach. Her pet was gone.

She sat up and scanned the rocks nearby, looking for any signs of yellow fluff amidst the sun-bleached rocks. "Pyonchi? Where'd you go?" She cupped her hands around her mouth and called for him. "Come back! Pi, pi, pi! That's your noise, right? Or was it chi-chi-chi?"

Then she spotted Pyonchi in the middle of an open stretch of barren land, chasing a massive insect the size of his ear over a strange bed of vines. A chuckle escaped Samus's lips as he chirped in frustration. "There you are, you little stinker," she said.

She took one step next to Pyonchi and the vines snapped, revealing a deep pit underneath them and plunging the duo down below the surface of Zebes.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Samus held onto Pyonchi for dear life, and Pyonchi reciprocated, trembling in terrified silence. They braced for the fall and hit the ground with a muffled boof.

She rubbed her disoriented head and looked at the ground below them, reaching to touch the foliage she saw below. Something green and spongy rested below them, preserving Samus's handprint after she lifted her hand away and releasing a bunch of spores. She caught a whiff of their sulfur-like smell and coughed.

How do I get out…? Samus looked back up where they fell from. She could see the sun peering in from the edge of the hole, but no steps or exits from the tunnel. She saw vines covering the walls around them, and she got an idea. Struggling to stand on the unstable bed of plant matter below her, she stood up and leapt onto one of them. Her hand caught one of the vines in a tight grip, but none of the notches in their growth patterns or leaves extending from them were big enough to secure even her little foot. Her grip weakened and she fell back onto the ground.

But then was there any way out? When would Old Bird and Gray Voice come find her? Would they know where to look? Her chest tied itself in knots and she felt sobs starting to shake through her.

Then she could have sworn she'd heard a scratching sound behind her. "Pyonchi…?" But Pyonchi was trying to climb back up the rocky wall in front of her. She tensed, slowly turning herself around and holding up her fists in preparation for something to leap out at her…

…only to see a greenish-blue creature no larger than the size of her head, caught in some of the vines running up the side. Samus thought it looked a little like a raccoon with antennae and a monkey's arms and legs. When its eyes met hers, it screeched and tried to burrow deeper into the wall.

She'd never seen anything like it. "Hello? What are you?" Samus ran up to the animal. It shrunk back and hissed, trying to extend its claws toward the approaching child but failing when they got caught in the undergrowth as well.

Samus paused. Grandpa Bird would know what to do… How did he get Pyonchi down from that tree again…? Trying to imitate his movements, she took a few steps back and slowly reached for the creature. "Shh… it's okay, little guy. I'm your friend." She slipped her fingers into the vines and pried them open, loosening their hold on the defenseless raccoon-like animal.

The creature's movements slowed and it stared into Samus's eyes. The moment Samus finished moving the last vine away, it lowered itself to the ground slowly by sliding down the pit's wall. It raised its head to look at Samus and chirped, jumping up and down.

"Aww! But don't thank me, it was easy!" Samus blushed and scratched the back of her head, ruffling her short, springy blonde hair. "Do you know a way out?"

The creature nodded, surprising Samus. He understands me?!

It suddenly sprung up into the air with the kind of speed Samus had only seen with Pyonchi. It jumped up one wall and bounced between the opposite ends of the hole, never letting itself stay in one spot long enough for its feet to slide away. It found an indent in the wall about ten feet up and clung to it, and it took a moment to look at Samus, gesturing for her to follow it.

Her gaze darted to and from each of the points in the creature's path up the shaft. But he isn't making anything for me to step on! …unless…

And it all became clear to her. The animal wanted to help her, but it couldn't make her fly up the wall. Only she could do that.

Samus backed up a few feet and bolted right into the wall. She jumped at the last second and slammed into its plant cover, crashing back onto the spongy ground with force that nearly gave her whiplash. "Ow!" Her head throbbed as she cradled it in her arms. But she got up and gave it another go. This time, she managed to kick the wall, but that sent her back to the green surface below even faster. She fell on her knee, extending all the way through the foamy ground and hitting the solid surface underneath. Searing pain shot through her leg, making her double over.

Pyonchi watched in a mix between amusement and secondhand pain as Samus tried over and over to follow the creature up out of the hole. He contentedly nibbled on the greenery surrounding him as he enjoyed the show. Even if he ended up stuck here for a while, at least he wouldn't get hungry.

Dark purple bruises blossomed all over Samus's arms, legs, and just about everything else. She sat down in tears with a growling stomach and a mind fuzzy from exhaustion, looking up to see the strange creature grooming itself in what she assumed was boredom. "Maybe I should just wait for Papa and Grandpa to come…" Her eyes fluttered shut as her head drooped onto her shoulder.

…!

She pinched herself back awake. Did she just have a nightmare? She couldn't remember. Either way, she wasn't going back to napping. "What am I doing? They'll never take me back if I can't do this!" She looked back up to the top of the pit. The blue sky had shifted to a blend of orange and yellow, and the sun no longer watched from its place up above. "I can do it… I can survive!"

Pyonchi rolled his eyes and went back to batting a few loose spores with his paw.

Her foot hit the wall again with a solid kick, launching her to the next side. The motion repeated itself in her muscles for the next jump, as if on its own. Two kicks became three, became four, became five. Before she had time to think, she'd firmly planted her hand on the knot in the vines next to the raccoon creature's paw.

The creature jolted upright and tilted its head, probably wondering how she actually made it up there. It pointed toward the pit's entrance, beckoning her to follow, but she shook her head. "I can't go yet."

Samus jumped down and, with white-sleeved arms spread out like a bird's wingspan, landed back on the ground, startling Pyonchi. She extended her hand to him. "I'm not leaving you behind, buddy." When he cautiously approached, she scooped him up and held him to her shoulder, waiting for him to cling to her sleeve before she released her grip. "Let's go!"

With the same maneuvers as before, Samus climbed skyward, watching as the orange mouth of the pit grew closer. This time, she kept in mind where Pyonchi was so she wouldn't accidentally pin him against the wall and cause them both to fall back down. She went in for another kick when her foot started to slip.

"No."

There wasn't a good place to hold onto in sight, but she had to do something. Her hand found a vine and grabbed on tight, digging her nails into the stem and slowing her descent until she could find a place to kick again.

One last kick propelled them both onto the surface. Samus tried to take a step forward, but her knees buckled and she fell flat on her stomach instead. It was nigh-impossible for her to move her limbs. She passed out cold right then and there.

"There you are, Samus!"

The sunset had long turned to dark red and purple twilight, and Pyonchi sat on top of her with his tail wrapped around her shivering hands and his paws tucked under his body like a fluffy loaf. Her eyes flew open to see Old Bird and Gray Voice, accompanied by their spherical computer, dashing toward her. "Grandpa! Papa!" She sprang up and went over to them, launching Pyonchi a few feet away, but stopped when leg cramps froze her in place.

Old Bird picked her up and wrapped her tightly in his gray, feathery arms. "You look injured! Poor little one, what happened to you?" He started to sniffle, and Samus couldn't help but get choked up along with him.

Gray Voice approached with a stiffer, colder gait. "What were you doing out here unsupervised? It could have started raining acid, or predators could have gotten to you!"

"Papa Bird," said Samus. She gestured to the pit, still nearby. "I got out of there."

"What?" Gray Voice walked over to the hole and peered at the vegetation inside. "That's… Samus Aran! What were you doing alone in Brinstar, let alone a part of it unconnected to the habitable tunnels?"

Samus dropped back to the ground, wincing a little as the impact rattled her exhausted legs. "I helped a little raccoon-monkey and he showed me how to kick the walls to get out." She met Gray Voice's eyes with an intensity that caught him off guard. "Does this mean I can stay?"

Gray Voice's pupils shrank. "Is that what this was about? Aran, we'll determine whether you're fit to stay based on tests of your physical health! Whatever you just did had no bearing on any of that! Besides, this reckless endangerment of yourself is a solid indicator that it may be in your best interest to live elsewhere–"

"So, Samus, you saw an etecoon? How interesting! You'll have to tell me on the way back home," said Old Bird, interrupting Gray Voice's lecture and leading her and Pyonchi back toward the building where they stayed. "But let's be clear, you're still going without dessert tonight for running off by yourself."

Samus lowered her eyebrows in a scowl. "Aw, come on, Grandpa!"

Gray Voice watched them as they left. He still didn't approve of what Samus had done, but he thought about what she said. Had she really jumped from one wall to another to escape that pit? Based on what he'd seen of the walls of that hole, there didn't seem to be any other way.

It was a long shot, but maybe, with more self-discipline, she could do more than just survive on Zebes. Could she grow into a worthy successor to the dying chozo legacy? He laughed that off for now, but he didn't completely disregard that possibility. "Hatchling, you may survive us yet."