I'm very sorry for the long wait! I've been swamped (and the whole virus situation didn't help things). I've been getting messages about it, and it made me happy that people are still invested in the story. To everyone leaving PM's and reviews (and those just reading), thank you. You guys keep me going.
Layla didn't have a watch on her, and she had left her cell phone back at the ship, so she had no way to tell, but she was sure that it hadn't even been half an hour before R'Kin told her that they would be slowing down momentarily as they prepared to land on the planet. She glance out the window; at least from this distance, the unnamed planet didn't look all that unusual. She could spot a lot of blue, which most likely meant water. Hopefully the planet also had breathable air for her, though the suit was comfy enough where not being able to take it off wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
In the past, whenever she had been on a plane, the descent had always noticeably been the roughest part, but as the ship landed, she couldn't feel even a slight bump. Not for the first time, she had to marvel at how amazing alien technology was.
She took R'Kin unbuckling his seatbelt as the cue to do likewise. She hadn't been on the ship long, but she still stretched her arms out. She was still nervous, but extremely curious to go walk outside. Still, she wasn't foolish enough to take a single step outside before the Skrulls did.
Kl'rt was the first to exit down the ramp, closely followed by three gun-toting soldiers, who were then followed by R'Kin. Layla noted that Kl'rt wasn't holding a gun, but then, he seemed more than capable enough without one.
And so for a few minutes, she awkwardly stood in place, trying not to consider any worst case scenarios, when R'Kin poked his head through the doorway, looking excited. "Layla, I have some wonderful news! This planet has breathable air for humans! You won't be needing your helmet, though I do advise you to keep on the suit." With the temptation of freedom reaching out to her, Layla wasted no time pressing the red button on her arm to remove the helmet, and then almost dashed down the ramp.
That first moment of the fresh air kissing the skin of her face was bliss. It had been so long since she had last stepped foot on Earth; she hadn't even realized that she missed this sensation. Cliche as it was, she closed her eyes to soak it all in. There was a slight breeze, and she could hear it waft through nearby leaves. The sunlight felt good, too.
"You look enraptured," R'Kin broke through her thoughts. She just hummed back at him, wanting to let the experience wash over just a bit longer. Once they returned to Thanos' ship, she didn't know when she would get to experience this again.
"I would keep my eyes open, if I were you," a growling voice cut in next. "Need we remind you that this is an unexplored planet?" Layla sheepishly opened her eyes; she knew that Kl'rt was right, but geez. She was sure that a few seconds more wouldn't have hurt anything.
That aside, she did want to take in the sights. It wasn't every day that one got to explore an alien planet. She was only sorry that she hadn't brought a camera. She only hoped her parents would believe this.
As she looked around, she was almost disappointed at how relatively normal it all looked. Blue sky (minus any clouds), normal looking trees, a lot of rocks, and a blue monkey. She froze; the monkey appeared to be staring at her. She recalled reading an animal book years ago that said not to hold eye contact with a wild animal - or was it vice versa? Her failing memory didn't matter, as the monkey rapidly dashed away the second Kl'rt took a step forward.
"R'Kin, which way is the Infinity Gem signal?" Kl'rt barked. R'Kin started, quickly pulling out the scanner and nearly dropped it in his haste. He turned his body around, before pointing in one direction that seemed to head into a thicker forest area.
"I'm in front. R'Kin, stick with me. The human will stay in the middle. You two, stay behind the human and keep up the rear." Layla had to admit, Kl'rt could be a jerk, but he was obviously an experienced leader. His commands were clear, and no one hesitated to carry out his orders. Also, truth be told, she was comforted by the thought of two Skrull warriors (with guns!) guarding her flank.
And so, in single file, they walked deeper into the forest. The sunlight, filtered through the treetops, didn't give as great a view as it did in the clearing. Still, she could make out a lot of plants and flowers that satisfied her craving for alien eye-candy. She thought that the flowers back on Earth were colorful, but these fauna looked like what she imagined she would see if she was high on something, or maybe something out of Dr. Seuss.
Purple plants with black polka-dotted vines, humongous sunflowers that sparkled where the sunlight touched it, a small brown flower that squeaked whenever it moved in the wind, and trees that looked like they had green eyes. She couldn't even begin to describe some of the odder ones, but she knew it would be a very long time before she forgot the sights she was seeing.
For awhile, everything was quiet except for their footsteps, and a beeping noise coming from the scanner. Apparently, no one wanted to break the silence with words, and Layla didn't want to be the one to do so. The silence also made another fact quite apparent; there were no animal noises. Either they were all hiding or sleeping…or there weren't many in the area. Perhaps the blue monkey had been a fluke.
It was probably because of the silence that she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a nearby bush rustle, as if something was moving alongside it. She couldn't stop a small gasp from exiting her mouth, and the two Skrulls behind her, evidently as jumpy as she was, quickly pointed their guns at the noise.
A small rodent scampered out of the bush, and with a noticeable air of relief, the two Skrulls lowered their weapons. The rodent, which resembled an opossum, twitched its nose before making an escape inside a second, thicker bush.
Layla smiled, happy to know that not everything on the planet would try to kill her, but Kl'rt growled out, "Enough gawking, we still have ground to cover. We can't afford to stop for every single distraction." The two Skrull sheepishly nodded, probably embarrassed at having been startled by so small a creature.
Silently, the procession trudged on, until they reached a sunny meadow. Layla breathed in deeply. There was a heavenly aroma coming from a patch of flowers, and unlike the previous ones, these looked like simple, red Earth flowers. Roses were the closest comparison. She leaned down to touch one, figuring that it would be safe since her hands were covered by her space suit.
"Layla, don't touch those!" She heard R'Kin shout at her, but her arm's momentum was too fast, and her finger grazed the flower's petal. She yanked her hand away, but it was too late. The flower had an instant reaction; it appeared to swell up, before bursting apart, a red mist spurting out of the remains. It moved quicker than regular mist, and Layla was frozen as it approached her, until she was shoved aside by Kl'rt, who shielded her body.
"Foolish woman!" he roared, causing her to flinch. "Don't touch anything unless I give the OK!" She nodded, not trusting her voice. She felt ashamed of herself. She had told them she wouldn't be a burden, but it seemed she couldn't even walk past a dangerous flower without almost getting hurt.
As they stood up, two of the Skrulls ran up to Kl'rt to attend to him, but he roughly brushed them off. It was then she noticed parts of his suit seemed to have melted off around his upper body, and she could see patches of green skin. Her heart sank. R'Kin noticed her distress.
"This is why I tried to warn you not to touch the flowers. These are a rare species that can fire an acidic mist when under attack. It is quite the impressive defense mechanism."
Layla turned to Kl'rt. "I am so sorry. That was my fault, and if there is anything I can do to make it up to you…" He glared at her.
"A Skrull warrior of my caliber would never let himself be felled by a feeble attack such as that. Your concern is unwarranted - and offensive, coming from one such as you." It didn't seem like apologizing would help raise his mood (not that he was ever really in a good mood), but Layla still felt terrible.
But the Skrulls were efficient as always, paying no heed to her inner turmoil, and in a few moments, they were trekking down a hill that took them out of the forest. Layla was no longer enjoying her surroundings; she just wanted to find the stone and get back to the ship before she could cause any more harm.
They didn't get very far when they encountered a new problem: straight ahead was a cliff. Layla wanted to ask if they were sure this was the right direction, but didn't want to risk coming across as stupid. She really didn't like the idea of rappelling down the side of a cliff, but maybe they would let her stay at the top. Then again, she didn't like the idea of staying alone either. Maybe R'Kin would stay with her.
Ahead of her, Kl'rt raised an arm, signaling to everyone to halt. Before Layla could ask what was wrong, a giant snake crawled up from the cliffside. It slithered way faster than Layla would have expected from a snake that size. It was already towering over the party, and it hadn't even completely moved it's entire body. Layla wasn't really scared of reptiles in general, and yet this was probably the scariest thing she had ever seen. There was no way they'd be able to get down the cliff unless they could get past this thing. It hissed, and spittle practically rained down on the group.
The two Skrulls behind Layla pushed her back and began firing their guns at the reptile. The blasts didn't seem to have any effect, and the snake knocked the two aside with it's tail. Fortunately, they didn't fall off the cliff, as they were knocked back towards the forest. R'Kin raised a shaking arm to fire his gun too, but Kl'rt grabbed him.
"Don't waste your time. Go see if the other two need medical attention; I'll take care of this beast myself." R'Kin nodded, grateful, and dashed off to the two unconscious Skrull warriors. Kl'rt then addressed Layla. "Go hide behind that tree." He pointed to a thick one, at the very edge of the forest, one that would hide Layla's entire body. She didn't need to be told twice.
Once she was safely behind the tree, she peeked over at Kl'rt. Brave warrior that he was, he faced down the gigantic snake without any weapons, but Layla knew he wouldn't need any. The snake opened it's mouth, and lunged at Kl'rt, but the large Skrull simply raised an arm, which he turned into stone. When the snake was within striking distance, Kl'rt socked it in the jaw. The snake reeled back, and Layla was hoping that would it, but the snake seemed to gather it's bearings.
This time, Kl'rt didn't let it get close. He fired some fire blasts at the snake, but the surprisingly nimble creature wove around the larger blasts, while the smaller ones didn't seem to cause much of an impact. Kl'rt growled before jumping onto the snake's back. It hissed, in either surprise or rage, Layla couldn't tell. Kl'rt turned both hands into stone, clasped them together, and raised them over his head, ready to deliver quite the punishing blow.
But at the last moment, Kl'rt winced, and grabbed at his chest. Layla's heart seized as she realized that he was grabbing at the area where the flower had sprayed him with that acidic release. The snake took the chance to buck Kl'rt off, and drove a large fang into Kl'rt's leg. The warrior shouted in obvious agony, but had enough of his mental faculties left to take the opportunity to slam his stone hand against the snake's head three times in quick succession. The snake let go of his leg, and finally collapsed.
Kl'rt tried standing up, but ended up stumbling. Layla glanced over at R'Kin, but he was busy attending to the two other Skrulls. Biting her lip, Layla made the decision to leave her hiding spot to rush to Kl'rt. It was her fault that he was injured, and helping him walk to R'Kin was the least she could do. When she reached Kl'rt, he tried to brush her away, but even that was frighteningly weaker than normal.
"Leave me, I can manage," he growled. She shook her head.
"You're in pain. R'Kin probably has a some kind of pain killer with him, but I don't think you're in a position to reach him yourself." He growled again, but to Layla's surprise, allowed himself to lean on her. Then again, he seemed barely conscious. She wheezed, having underestimated just how heavy he would actually be. Still, while she wouldn't exactly be going the distance, reaching R'Kin wouldn't be too difficult.
And then she heard the worst sound she had ever heard - a hiss. She whirled around, in time to see the snake surround her with it's lengthy body. It was bleeding green ooze from it's eyes and mouth, but evidently, it still had some energy left. It began sliding towards her, forcing her back, and with a jolt of terror, she realized it was herding her towards the edge of the cliff.
She wracked her brain, trying to decide if it would be possible to jump over the snake's tail, but the snake took the choice out of her hand. With a look in it's eyes that she could only call a malicious glint, it slammed the edge of it's tail against the ground. Then, Layla heard the second worst sound she had ever heard - a loud crack. She looked down, heart plummeting as she saw the cliff-side crack underneath her very feet. There was nowhere to go.
As she and Kl'rt fell, she realized that she couldn't scream. It felt like her throat was closed up. Funny, all the movies she had ever seen showcased people screaming their lungs out when they fell from a great height. Either all the films were wrong, or she was a unique case. Those thoughts fluttered through Layla's brain in the few seconds it took her to land in a body of water.
Author's Notes:
Geez, I made you guys wait so long, and then Thanos doesn't even appear in this chapter? I'm quite the stinker! Anyway, I wanna say that the next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long, since I'll seemingly be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, but you never know what life will throw at you. Everyone, please stay safe and don't go out unless you really have to. Not that I mean to be preachy, but I don't want to lose any of you guys.
