The Outsider
Summary: The shine of an alien light came first. Then a mysterious fog came second. Thirdly the inhabitants of Rhodes Island began mysteriously vanishing. When Gladiia opened her eyes once more she bore witness to an unfamiliar ceiling, hospital room, and city. Without her strength, weapon, and now fending for herself from creatures not unlike the giants of unexplainable origins within the seas, Gladiia is saved by an native of this unfamiliar world. Now as an Outsider Gladiia, with the help of her new companion, must find a way back to Terra.
Chapter 1: A World like Fragile Glass
Gladiia wanted to deny - vehemently - the seemingly helplessness she was in. With the loss of her strength, regulated down to the bare minimum of her capabilities, and now limited severely in combat, it is safe to say she wasn't in any desire to acknowledge her level of helplessness. As for her new companion…
It was a man who had come to her rescue. A singular man with no distinctive racial traits. At first she'd thought he was an Ægir due to the lack of horns, tail, and overall surface level Terran features, but that changed when she caught sight of his firearm. Especially so when he used it like he was a Sankta.
—The Ægiren woman turned her head to the young man sitting next to her. A rifle was in his bare hands. He was dressed in a blood stained dress shirt - it's color black - a red tie was situated around his collar with it possibly reaching his waistline as it was absurdly long. From there was a black vest strapped to his chest with armor plates within. On the back of it was "SSCPD". In addition to the armored vest was a black rig that was separated from the armor. Several pouches lay filled with additional magazines of ammunition at the stomach above a belt harness with more equipment. For his ripped black jeans a strap was seen on each thigh, his left held a secondary pistol whilst the right held a knife and sheath. Knee pads were also attached to him as well as elbow pads. His sneakers were of an unfamiliar brand, clearly worn from wear and use. His hair was short at the back and at the sides leaving the top rather unkempt and long bangs shadowing parts of his forehead and eyes. Black was its color and so too was his stubble of a barely formed beard. He had a red bandana tied in an awkward way with the tied part framing the left side of his head in a full blown knot. The bandana looked to be more of a long piece of cloth than a full on bandana, but that's besides the point. His eyes were gold in color and from the many shades his features shifted to… it was clear to Gladiia that he was an earnest, if foolish man. Small tattoos adjourned the left side of his tanned face and were visible upon his forearm since the formation of the tattoo was similar in design. His eyes held a focused grimace, whilst his chest heaved underneath his bloody collared shirt.
He was supporting her through this time of desperation and danger. Her pride took a step in the opposite direction letting a drylander come to aid her with his barbaric weapon.
What had happened beforehand? How had she been reduced to such an, egregiously, weakened state? Who was her new friend? Where was she even?
Gladiia's displeasure… was notable to say the least. The man who was supporting her looked to her and concern crossed his now softened features.
His arms shifted around the pale woman and she felt him grasp her right wrist with his own right hand. Softly, he pulled both of them over to some kind of store or market. He breathed in and out and heaved his foot up and kicked into the double doors knocking it open. He smiled and she grimaced. Once the two entered the abandoned storefront the man eased her onto her knees and with enough strength, he lightly placed her back against one of the many Checkout lanes. With parental care to his touch he guided Gladiia's head against the aisle wall. Breathing out an exhausted sigh he fell back against the opposite aisle facing her.
Natural ambiance of the crashing waves from the nearby beach filled the silence between the two and Gladiia wanted nothing more than to return to the sea. Being on land brought such strange differences and new concepts. Now she had to worry about those creatures, her loss of physical prowess, and her weapon. Even her hat was gone and her coat was tattered beyond repair, simply rags hanging upon her shoulders.
CLICK!
The elected "click" had drawn Gladiia from her inner thoughts to give her undivided attention to her savior.
—The magazine of his rifle was released in one swift press of the button at the back of the trigger. Another magazine was taken from his bag and slipped it into the receiver, giving it a solid hit at the bottom like he's done it countless times before. It clicked once, and he racked the charging handle. The man then lowered the long barrel of his rifle towards the ground.
"Uh… my name's Warren…" his free hand grasped the back of his head, fingers running through his black locks quickly. He gave her an awkward, albeit goofy, smile. "Warren A. Walker," he offered her a hand to shake.
She eyed the hand this Warren offered. It was a common show of greeting on dryland that she's come to know of.
"Gladiia." She gave her name smoothly without taking his hand, forcing him to drop his with a nervous smile.
"So, no last name?"
"No." Warren flinched at her strong tone. Unpleasant and aggressive. "Now tell me Mr. Walker, what were those… things?"
In response to her question the male frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I can't tell you. But they showed up about six months back and started gorging on anything that didn't look like themselves."
—Monster's beyond human comprehension in appearance and origin. Their forms, elongated humanoids, rows of teeth jetting through their own skulls and jaws. Eyes hollowed with no discernable eye's. Patches of hair adorned their body's. But above all else they're intelligent enough to form some kind of communication between one another, and group together.
Six months back? It was only recently that she had awakened in an unfamiliar hospital, not unlike Rhodes Islands' own. Her natural intuition and problem solving skills were high enough for her to get a better reading on where she was and what had happened beforehand. In fact… where was she? Aside from his strange branded attire, and equally strange letters of language adjourned across anything like the walls and produce, nothing was making much sense to her.
"So… what's an Outsider like you doing here in Luminor Bay? Hell, Scarlet Star City isn't up to standard for having tourists around, like, ever." He commented off-handedly while looking down at the floor the two occupied.
"I've never heard of this… Luminor Bay."
"O-oh…" he looked away from her entirely with a touch of pink on his face. A hand went to the back of his head, nervously rubbing his fingers through his matted and dirt covered hair.
As for Gladiia she held a firm and blank expression. Her breathing was even and her eyes stared into the embarrassed man expectedly.
"—Will you not continue?"
"Eh?" He got out just before looking back at the Ægir woman in mild surprise.
"Are you not going to tell me more? Go into finer detail? Or is it too much to expect you to even know what I mean by such things?" Was he so slow? Was he more of a barbarian then the rest of his kind living on dryland? Painful she'd almost admit if it weren't for his – so far – polite attitude.
Gold eyes widened in response. Warren stiffened and he reactively suppressed a frown."—Oh, ugh, yeah of course. Well, what do you want to know, uh, Ms. Gladiia…?"
"Where is it located?" She fired off the question without hesitant delay.
"Um… ugh, in the North Pacific Ocean?" Her experience shifted from her stoic mask to one of pure confusion.
"About four-thousand miles off the coast of the western seaboard of the United States. Nearly half that if we factor in Hawaii. " Warren clarified and Gladiia's brow furrowed deeply. Now Warren was confused. "You… don't have amnesia do you?"
Gladiia bit her lip and turned her nose up. "I'm undetermined if I should ask if you might be under some sort of drugs affecting your mind."
"...You don't have to be rude…"
She had nothing to say about that.
"Alright," Warren spontaneously said, a knowing look on his half tattooed face. "Well, let's just take this one step at a time then. I've got all the time in the world to help you so… whatever you might need help with…" he smiled a pure smile. It's nature was warm. It honestly reminded her of the little Kuranta that broke bread with Skadi.
Such an… outlandish event was unlike anything she's encountered before.
"Hmph. If you're curious enough I suppose I shouldn't deny you your desires. You have my thanks."
All Warren could do was smile hearing her response as the sun set off in the horizon.
