Note: This is probably all very familiar to people who've played the game. I am sorry about that; I tend to make boring openings. This story is more of a clog buster than anything else.


She was falling.

The sky seemed an endless blur around her, stars moving so fast she couldn't bear it. She closed her eyes to the sight. Her stomach turned.

There was nothing, when she opened them. Nothing but a vast expanse of blackness and the cold of empty space.

Then she hit the ground.


It was warm when she stood up. Gritty sand under her, a gentle breeze brushing against her body. Everything was blurry, at first―the sun was so bright. She winced.

She stood. She felt wrong. Looked down at her arms, unsure of what had happened. Her left arm itched painfully. She saw the... thing, then.

Whatever it was, was embedded into her skin deeply and she was afraid to touch it. It itched so badly she had to scratch―and hissed in pain as her fingernails scraped across the slick surface. A buzzing sound erupted in her ears, as the diamond-shaped thing started to vibrate.

She dropped her hands to her side, looking up. Where was she?

Palm trees, their fronds moving in the wind; driftwood; stray shells; rocks. Ocean waves lapped at the shore of the tiny finger of land. She blinked and looked around, confused. An island? Where in the world―

An enormous armored turtle shambled up out of the water to her right, startling her. She backed up a few feet, slipping on a shell and landing half in the water behind her. It slowly plodded into nearby bushes, extending its neck and snapping branches with a sharp beak.

Her legs out in front of her were bare. Toes wiggled in the sunlight, sand between them. What little clothing she was wearing, was rough.

Okay, Del, calm down, she told herself. But―how did she know her name was Del? She wasn't sure of anything―before the stars and the falling―

In the sky to the northeast, a massive tower construct loomed. It bore the diamond shape of the thing in her arm, glowing faintly under the sun. She'd never seen anything like it. It looked―all wrong.

Chirping noises from further down the beach caught her attention. She directed her gaze to the creature―a bird―a dodo? But they were extinct. Weren't they? How did she know that?

She put herself to rights, staring at the dodo and listening to the chirping, ignoring the itching in her arm and feeling the buzzing in her head ebbing away.

Something else moved along the beach. Del focused on it. Her eyesight was sharp. It shouldn't be, she "knew".

The figure on the beach was a man. It came closer to her, moving fast. She felt the urge to run away. Why, she didn't know. She glanced to the right, the turtle picking its way through the bushes, and back to the man.

He pulled out a spear and stabbed the noisy dodo with a powerful motion. It fell sideways, making a horrible squawking noise. Del watched him pull the weapon from its neck, pick up the corpse with one hand and carry it away.

He had to have seen her. Had to wonder what she was doing in this place, right? But he kept walking away. Del rolled her feet across the sand in a rocking motion, bit her lip and glanced around again. The turtle was moving back into the water, ignoring her completely. She could see the dark shapes of fish, darting away before they came too close to shore. The breeze picked up and whipped hair into her face.

Glancing behind her, there was nothing but miles of ocean.

She was almost naked and the man was wearing full clothing.

Her stomach growled, painfully. The buzzing in her skull grew again.

And far away from her, something roared powerfully.

Del's feet moved less reluctantly toward the other side of the beach.


She crept up on the site of a tiny hut, looked like it was made out of straw. It was set into a stand of trees but on the edge of a bald rock face, overlooking a shallow bend of river.

The man had plucked the feathers from the dodo and was cleaning it, pulling out stringy innards and dropping them onto a piece of hide laid out beside him. He sat on a knee-high rock with his back facing her, his blond hair dirty and unkempt under an equally dirty wrap.

She lurked behind a tree, watching him carefully. The buzzing in her ears had gone, the itch of the thing in her arm was gone too. He's been here a while, she told herself. Long enough to know what's going on?

She stomached the nausea from seeing the guts of the bird, hearing the nasty noises they made as he slapped them onto the hide. Her hunger vanished.

The man set what remained of the dodo onto a stick that had been impaled into the ground over a small campfire, then scratched at his beard with bloody fingers.

It was hotter now than it'd been before. Del tried to tell where the sun was, but couldn't see through the trees. Her mouth was dry. That was probably fear more than it was thirst.

She was nervous and her hands trembled. Grabbed at the tree and took a deep breath.

The man turned his head to the side, staring out into the trees. His hand reached down for his spear, his eyes glancing in her direction.

The pang of fear in her chest hit her hard. She jerked back against the bark, trying to still her heart. Might fly out of her, she thought. That might be better―she shook her head. This was ridiculous.

Her eyes jammed shut. She needed help. She didn't have any food, clothing, or weapons―and it really seemed like she needed them―and this man was the only person around―and he had to know what was going on, and he looked like he could take care of himself―

Del opened her eyes and turned back to the hut, jumping out of her skin to see him standing right beside her, spear at his side and piercing blue eyes digging into hers. She hadn't even heard him move up on her. Her hands went to the tree, gripping the loose bark and pulling it off in a frantic movement.

Lost her balance and fell onto her ass again. She stared up at the man. He stared back. Like he was judging her, a hard look on his face. He had a scar running from the inside of his eye down into his beard, and numerous claw marks across his forearms.

After what felt like forever, he made a motion for her to follow him and limped back into his camp.

Del sighed in relief.