"Mud, sweat, and spores eh? You'd think after the Reaper war this place would be a death pit." Shepard panted as she placed her hands on her knees, sucking in as much air as she could. "Just be careful out there Commander," Joker chastised through her earpiece. "This place is loaded with fungi."
"And? You think I'm too weak I can't handle a run in the woods?"
"No," Jeff laughed, "But we know how ugly the Vorcha are, and I wouldn't be surprised the fungi has somethin' to do with it."
Sam shook her head, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
"Hey! I'm juss sayin'," he chuckled, "You never know right? They're still the least datable species in the galaxy. Even the elcor get more ass than they do."
Shepard tried not to laugh at the remark. "Alright, point taken."
The former Commander looked up in front of her. The air was crisp with wafting dust particles that lit up from the sun's rays, beckoning the start of a new day. Lush green plants covered the landscape. Buildings that once stood to encompass the colony's citizens- who consisted mostly of Blue Suns mercenaries and their families- stood in their broken abode. Shepard clad in her N7 exercise shirt and shorts, took to the dirt path ahead and began to run. The synthetic leg McLemon had replaced was working just as he promised. Shepard needed to keep up with her exercises, being that the galaxy was still picking up and building the relays that were destroyed by the crucible. There was time for her now; for her friends; for her loved ones. It was 2190, and she wasn't getting any younger. War was a scar she couldn't erase, so she ran. She ran as fast as she could. If she stopped- she swore the soil would swallow her; like quicksand. "How's the leg?" Joker asked, breaking her concentration. Shepard continued to run, jumping over broken tree trunk and nearly buckling from the stress fracture. "I'm fine," she said acidly. "You know I've been a cripple all my life, but I can't imagine you ever ending up like me Shep. No offense. I'm just, I don't know- I just think-"
"-Spit it Joker."
"-I just don't think I can accept that," he admitted.
Shepard's breathing heightened as she began to climb a concrete wall. The vines that crawled along its surface, she noticed, made for an almost natural kind of roping material. "Argh-I'm not a superhuman you know." She swung her legs over the top of the wall and jumped over, her black boots leaving a print as she continued forward. "Yet here you are Commander," he pointed out more serious this time, "jogging through the jungles of Zorya. Alive and kickin'."
A smile tugged at her lips as the thought became a realization. "I'm here because of you space cowboy," She replied hoarsely, running through a thick, dense, area of the jungle. "When Hackett told me you had crash landed here, I knew I had to find you guys. One way or the other." A group of Pyjacks swung from a few trees ahead, while other more wild creatures fed on some foliage nearby. Shepard glanced at them and then back at the path ahead, her feet never slowing down. "Can I be honest with you? I /still/ can't believe you're here. That you're... alive."
After a few more yards she came to a stop. Sweat trickled down her brow as she wiped it away with the crease of her elbow. After sprinting aggressively through the dense frondescence, she had reached an open area filled with all kinds of wildlife. If she tried to remember the name of each and every species, the attempt failed her. The beauty of it left her slightly paralyzed. She couldn't find the words to describe it. "I know," she said softly, turning slightly to adjust to her surroundings, taking in every tree, every animal, every living thing into the forefront of her consciousness. "I wish Mordin was here... seems like there's a lot for him to study," She added playfully.
"Are you kidding me? He's not a tree guy in case you forgot Commander."
"Joker.."
"Ok, I mean, Sam. Sorry, for a while there I almost forgot. Anyways, did you forget all he did was yap about analyzing seashells?"
Shepard smiled at the thought. "Yeah, I do."
"Well, I don't know a lot about seashells, but I know there's alot of em'. Not like I've ever been to a beach or anything- but that's what Garrus told me. So can you imagine? Mordin studying seashells?" Joker laughed dryly into her earpiece. Shepard ran her fingers through her damp hair and looked up at the clouds. "I don't see why not."
The sun rose over the trees, washing the sky like the colors of the deep ocean- with the planet's three moons looming on the other side. Shepard picked up from where she left off and ran. She wasn't running from anything or anyone but herself. Because living was all that mattered. Nothing more, nothing less.