"You never really know what you have until it is ripped from your grasp."
No Man's Land.
#
II. Impact.
I'm leaving these notes behind in case things get dark.
If you're reading these, I will try to help you as best I can.
...
There isn't a lot of water here.
When you find some, you better stock up-
make something to carry water, you'll need it.
Deela held onto the parachute's straps firmly with her clamy hands and it gently descended through the air. Watching the sun set on the horizon as she idly glided further towards the canopy of the forest, she noticed the obscure beige sky, comepletly void of stars. It looked as though a beige coloured cloud has covered the entire sky. But even then, there were three very visible celestial bodies in the twilight sky. One of the planets looked uncannily like Jupiter except for the fact that it had an astroid ring. There was another one adjacent to it, veritably smaller, resembling that of Mercury. There was a moon overlapping 'Mercury' as well. It was diminutive in size, and appeared to Deela as being a vapid brown.
Deela felt an involuntary shiver course through her spine causing her to swing her legs for any heat possible. With the sun dying down, it was getting quite cold for her. Another involuntary shiver ran it's way through her body while she examined the terrain of this new area. Vast rolling hills enveloped a boundless jungle. Various ferns, vines, and tree's were visible from the air. Along with the diverse assortment of unknown plants came the aroma of the jungle. It's distinct scent reminded Deela a lot of a thick rain storm, and that fresh air fragrance of a dense forest filled with vines, combined into one flavour.
Deela had dropped more than she thought she did in the time that she was examining the jungle. The canopy quickly snuck up and brushed against her feet, to which she kicked away the feeble branches, breaking them off the tree's and coasting into a conveniently placed clearing. Breaking off all the tree limbs in her way, and occasionally getting scratched, she eventually coasted to the bed of grass and dirt. The parachute fell after her, laying ontop of her like a blanket. Deela knew this wasn't a dream because she could feel the wind sliding through her fingers and hair, she could feel the branches scratching at her legs like the tainted hands of death. Thoughts were screaming through her mind, faster than she could coherently decipher. Where am I? How did I get here? Where is everyone? Where is Emily? How do I get home...?
Deela lifted the parachute off of her and climbed out from under it. She stood beside the parachute, arms intertwined to help with the chill even though there was no wind. Clearing her mind and thinking over her options and what to do when you get lost in the wild. Waiting for someone to come was certainly not going to work, she was no where near civilization, if what she saw from the air was any indication. Step one, she thought, is to find shelter, food, and water. With a step over a few vines, and a jump over a fallen tree, she set off looking for water. But not before thoughts of loss and regret seeped into her mind. Wanting to see Emily again, wanting to be with her friends instead of separated by who knows how many miles. Deela had an obscure feeling that last night was the last time she will ever see home again. The last time she will ever get to see her her friends, the last time she will get to see Emily.
The impact of this entire thing had finally dawned on Deela as she trecked through the jungle with a purpose. Head held by her shoulders as she lost herself in the memories of her friends and of the good times back home. A dry tear flowed down her cheek, landing on the rather damp moss, when she envisioned Emily's cheery face staring at her. Deela didn't emit a single sound of unpleasantry, not a sob nor sniffle. She trecked on through the jungle, shuffling her feet idly. Laying her hand flat out on a damp tree trunk to stop and lean on it, she closed her eyes and willed her memories to fade. Not allowing that same emotional low that came when she lost her parents. She had to be strong, she had to continue on; keep going for her sake. If she let herself succumb to her own nightmares, there was no going back; it would be over for her.
Deela lifted her hand from the Tree's trunk and started to glide through the forest with a newfound determination. She was going to make it back home. She was going to see Emily again. She will live to tell her story.
As she was ducking under a fallen tree that was propped up on another tree, she saw a tiny spec falling from the sky at a rapid rate. Contrasted against the otherwise beige sky, this darkened figure was hard to miss in the clean air. Deela jumped onto the tree that she was ducking under, and moved forward, slowly escalating to see the figure better. Finally she stood against where the tree was propped against and sat down, looking up at the figure. It came down faster and faster with every second that past. She knew the figure was going to hit the ground a decent way to the left of her. Deela jumped off the tree, proceeding to tuck and roll when she hit the floor; a little trick that she was taught some time ago when Free-Running was popular. Jumping up from the roll, she headed towards the direction that the wind was tacking the figure. Not entirely sure what it was but she knew that her curiosity would eventually get the better of her so it would be best if she just go find out now; it's a shorter walk than from wherever the hell Deela will find water. Vaulting over a large log and dodging a few vines, she scrambled further and further into the dense forest, leaving her vantage point behind.
After vaulting yet another log, she notice a monstrous hill lay in front of her. Determined to find out what that figure is, she start scaling the hill. Climbing on toppled tree's and stray logs the whole way. Eventually, she reached the top and what she saw knocked the air right out of her. It was a serene pool of water glistening in the still setting sun. Still as can be, not a ripple disturbing the moment of serendipity that beheld Deela as she stood awestruck in front of the pool. She could see the bottom of the quiant pool, through the crystal clear water, was layden with rocks resembling a stream from near her school. She knelt down to the shore, practically dropping onto her knee's, swishing her dirty hands through the water. A satisfying look on Deela's face as the cold water snapped her from a daze. She looked up to the opposite side of the pond to find the dark figure from the sky, which was a lot bigger than she had originally thought, had crashed there. Slowly standing up, she shambled her way to it while captured in a stupor. She realized that the dark figure was not, in fact, some random piece of foliage clouding her view or a leaf blowing away in the wind, but rather another parachute. She idly sauntered over to where it lay motionless on the shoreline. The puffy gray parachute was not what she could've imagined for it brang a whole new level of hope to her. It granted her wishful thinking and raised her hopes.
Deela's eye's scanned the billowy contraption slowly. Her eye's widened with shock when she found a slight raise in the parachute in one specific section. It was a small ascension from the normal look of it, but it caught her eye. The same way that a slightly out of place phone or book would.
Deela's mind raced through thoughts, ranging from wondering about the state of health the person is in, to whether or not it is a person. She abruptly lifted the entire parachute, throwing it to the side, to reveal a woman's body. Tattered, stringy auburn hair tied up in a ponytail. A purple headband carresses her forehead. Her dried up, reddened skin reflected her look of fearlessness and impassiveness. A dark blue hoodie draped over her shoulders, a purple tank-top underneath. A set of baggy black yoga pants draped her legs, complete with white boots. There is a combat knife hilt very visibly sticking out of her footwear. With the sun basically down already, revolving around the underside of the planet, Deela dropped to her knee's and attempted to wake the unknown stranger. After no response, she plants two fingers on her neck and proceeds to check her pulse. Thankfully she finds a pulse. Relieved, she stands up and, streching her back all the while, glared once more at the pond, back to it's serenity but seemingly different in total night time than in twilight.
Ripping her gaze off of the pond, she returned to the mysterious woman and took the knife from her boot thinking that she would need it more than she, for now anyway. For, if she died during the night, she could use the knife to protect herself better than fists could. But for the night, she chose the 'big sister' approach to this stranger, seeing as she was the key to civilization, she would know how to get back and at the very least they could work together until they're rescued. And they could talk to eachother to ensure their sanity stays intact. Deela chose to climb one of the admittedly smaller tree's in the vacinity, and sit on an enormous sized branch for the time being. Waiting and watching for when she will wake up. With her thirst and hunger at bay, for the time being, she could protect this woman until she wakes up. She laid her back on the tree and, with almsot no chance of falling off thanks to the size of the branch, she closed her eye's. Deela opened her eye's again and slowly brought her wrist to eye level, looking at her watch. It was too dark to see it with the natural light, so she activated the watches light and was shocked to see that the watch was displaying a bright green 0600. Six A.M. and the sun is just now setting? She pondered. Something is definitely not right here...
...here. The word reverberated in her head more times than she would like. ...Here. It reminded her of the distance between home and ...here. It reminded her of the loss she has felt before. The loss she almost succumbed to. ...here. The word tormented her, it reminded her of Emily's innocent smile and playful personality. How she was always there for her. She would be awake by this time, unless Deela's watch truly was broken. She wondered how Emily would react to Deela being ...here. The look on Emily's face when she bursts into Deela's room later on, looking for her but she isn't there. She is...here. The guild of letting down someone, a friend; A sister.
Deela took a deep breath of the fresh, clean air, sensing that same distict aroma flowing through her nose and body again. Exhaling, she let all her fears and worries bleed away with her breath; something her counsellor had taught her. Opening her eye's again, slowly, Deela found a lush green jungle all around her. Wherever she looked it was greens and browns. Looking up at the sky, expecting a blue horizon she was shocked when she found out that what she saw in the air was not a dream after all, for the sky was beige.
She let her head bump the tree and her hands filled her lap while she sat silently and stayed to her thoughts. Deela tried to convince herself that she wasn't on Earth anymore, but she just couldn't. The rational part of her brain refuted every point bluntly, for how could she breath if she wasn't on Earth, how was the gravity the same? But then how can she explain the beige sky, or the extra close celestial bodies floating in it? How could she rationalize the massive forest she saw from the sky, or how she even ended up in the sky? If she was abducted, they would've killed her. They wouldn't take the time to fly to, quite possibly, the largest forest on the face of the Earth just to throw her out of the airplane with a parachute.
Eventually, after staying up with vigil, she realized that all of her questions will be answered once the unknown stranger came to. With that conclusion, she gently lowered herself off of the admittedly ginormous branch, and grabbed another one. Swinging off of that one, she hit the floor and ducked and rolled. Getting back on her feet, Deela decided to check on the stranger once more, just in case. As she expected though, her eye's are still closed and she is not responding to any outside stimuli. However, her pulse is still in check. With an interrupting involuntary shiver, she stood back up, retrieved the parachute, and recovered him just incase something did stalk by while she was sleeping. Walking around the pond, looking for a safe place to sleep without any possible threat, she finally chose the branch that she just jumped from. No other place offers an unparalleled vantage point as well as putting Deela out of cover.
After many agility trials getting back up to the branch, she laid down. The decidedly wide branch could easily fit 3 people side by side with room to spare. Deela took one last look at the parachute covered woman before donning her hood and closing her eye's, resting her head on the bark of the tree like many minutes before. With a deep breath to soothe her sorrows and worries of another abysmal awakening, she welcomed the unconsciousness of sleep.
Deela's eye twitched involuntarily as a diminutive leaf fluttered by. She instinctively batted at the leaf which, in turn, woke her up. Her eye's slowly drifted open while her hands sluggishly fumbled for purchase on what she was sitting on. She bolted upright and her eye's snapped open at the feel of bark and the look of the forest. She had hoped, against hope, that her time in the jungle was all but a dream. Unfortunately for her, fate had other plans.
She looked down to her left and saw that the parachute had been moved, almost folded upon itself. Deela examined around the parachute to find the stranger and finally found him shambling sluggishly towards the serene pond, seeming to still be drowsy from being passed out so long.
The sun wasn't up yet, it was just beginning to rise. Deela checked her watched which beeping in turn. It had just turned 2200, Ten P.M. Well, she thought, that's... different.
Deela shifted her stare back at the woman, who was now bending down to the pool of water cupping it in her hand.
"I wouldn't drink that if I were you" Deela called out from the branch, testing her own voice.
The stranger dropped the water right away and went to grab her knife with quick reflexes, but Deela still had it with her, hidden artfully at the trunk of her sleeping tree. Deela watched with fascination as she realized her knife was gone and stumbled down into a more defensive fighting stance.
"Where..." The woman said, testing her voice. "Where are you?"
"Up here." Deela called back.
Right after she said that, she slid herself gracefully off of the sleeping branch, and dramatically swung off of the smaller branch near the bottom. Tucking and rolling, she recovered her footing seemingly effortlessly. Pulling the move off with a graceful and talented technique that could only be described by her as a fluke.
She kneeled down and picked up her combat knife from between the roots of the tree and held it high for the stranger to see.
"This what you looking for?" She waved her arm for emphasis.
"That move you just pulled was risky as hell. What are you trying to do, kill yourself?" She shouted. "But yes, I was looking for that. Where did you find it?"
"I.. kind of took it off your body when I found you here." Deela replied sheepishly while taking off her hood, revealing her bicoloured hair.
She wasn't expecting the answer that the woman gave, but she wasn't going to let it show. She had no friends here for support, she had to deal with everything herself. It was time to start doing things herself, she had been hiding for far too long, letting the fear of rejection get in the way. It's now or never.
"You- you WHAT!" The stranger called out as if Deela had insulted her.
"You were unconscious, I didn't know for how long, and I could do more good with it than you could!" Deela countered more malicious than she intended.
"Oh yeah? How d'you figure?" Came the woman's reply.
"I was conscious." Was Deela's only words.
An awkward silence followed as Deela walked up to her and kindly gave her knife back to it's rightful owner, who mumble her incoherent 'Thanks' as if she hadn't even said it before.
"So, what can I call you?" The woman asked the obvious question that was just waiting to be asked.
"I'm Deela Keiser. And you are...?" Deela said cheerfully, carrying her name with pride as she held her hand out to shake, which the stranger reciprocated reluctantly with a barely audible sigh.
"I'm Melina Mailer." The woman spat.
Her before rigid and renegade features turned soft and curious in surprise at something that Deela couldn't see.
"Woah... What is that?" Melina said, her eye's wider than her agape mouth.
A/N:I apologize for the short size of this chapter, but a lot has happened in this chapter. Hopefully quality makes up for quantity. =/ *hugs*
Aug 1 UPDATE: I think I owe you guy's an apology, or at the very least, an explanation of why this chapter is short and veritably half-assed/rushed. So, I had one day until I was going on a half month holiday with some family, and I did not want this story to become stale while I was gone. I thought it was a good idea to quickly type up a chapter for you guy's. Once I was done, I re-read some parts and fixing the spelling/grammatical errors that I could see (which I didn't do as good a job as I thought), I thought it was a pretty well done chapter- shows what I know when I'm tired, eh?
So.. No, I'm not going to re-write the chapter, but I hope that you guy's can look at this, and the later chapters and see how far I have come in writing experience. :)
Sept 28 UPDATE: Soo... I'm about 4ish, 5 pages into the next chapter, but I really don't know how long you guy's want these chapters to be. Do you want me to wait about half a month, to a month (when I do start getting into the writing pattern, that'll be the update time) for longer chapters, or about a week/week and a half for shorter chapters? PM me with your answer, PLEASE. I will respond, no matter what! =D
Love and Laughter,
Archangel.