Chapter 2 – Whirlpool in the Wind

Darkness was her real first awareness, a conscious observation of the absolute absence of color, shape, sound, and taste. She was trapped in a void so complete that the fingers of consciousness could find nothing upon which to grasp; nothing to pull her mind out of the pit into which it had fallen. Her mind wept silently, but soon gave into the abyss within.

She slept.

The progression of time isn't something easily measured by one who drifts in and out of consciousness, but time passed all the same. From that final crash to earth, to the gradual settling of the world around the ship, the seconds moved by, with no one to measure them.

Slivers of matter were the first to penetrate Norda's mind, calming a mind reeling from sensory deprivation.

A gentle rustling of leaves, interrupted by metallic pops from bolts of metal settling as they cooled soon caught her attention. Then burning, a harshness not wholly unexpected in these circumstances, followed soon after. The ache reached into her mind, plucking at strings of pain, unerring and ceaseless in its monotonous tone. She opened her eyes, groaning slightly to herself, and tried to look around, noticing as she did so something extremely odd about her surroundings:

It was very, very dark.

Almost un-naturally so. Space, a dark void in which light can scarcely survive, was the only comparison that she could think of.

However she tried to think logically the weightlessness that usually comes along with that particular scenario isn't currently in effect. She gave a mental headshake. So clearly, I'm not abandoned in the pit of space. Norda sighed. I suppose that's one good thing.

Trying to turn over to her left side, she found herself pinned between two very hard, smooth objects that she couldn't move. Lovely, I've somehow landed myself in a metal coffin – just what I needed to boost my confidence.

She sighed again, praying for blessed unconsciousness to come quickly and free her of her cage. But fate has a way of doing exactly the opposite of what you wish. Thank Murphy for that annoying quirk of life.

Norda was unavoidably, without a shadow of a doubt, wide awake. She exhaled sharply.

Well, there's nothing else to do, might as well see what parts of my body are in working order…

A quick mental check-up did not yield happy results. Her left arm was responding slightly, her right arm a little more so. Her legs were presently out of the question.

Norda's current position was not a comfortable one, but as she had neither the strength nor the means of changing it, she resided herself to that current fate. Racking her mind for some sort of recollection of how she had come to be trapped in such a manner, she was not surprised to find that the shock of the event had placed a memory block in her mind. There had been some sort of accident; but other than that, she had no clue whatsoever. A 'do not disturb' sign of sorts; she'd try again later.

The sulfuric stench of burnt, cooling chemicals was becoming overpowering, and Norda could feel the immense mass of metal pushing down on top of her, cutting into every inch of her body. Nothing she thought distractedly could be more worrying. Then she heard something in the distance. Focusing carefully on the sound, she was able to hear what sounded like disjointed and agitated snippets of conversation. The voices were far-off, but were definitely moving closer.

The buzzing was slowly gaining a semblance of order, as individual voices could finally be discerned. A rolling drawl, a pompous, then nervous laugh. A jolly rich voice questioning; a timid, curious reply.

"A fireball!"

" - step aside, we need to see – "

"Might be dangerous, it would be best if - "

"Come on, come on, we're getting close to it - "

"Almost there now…"

Then a louder, authoritative female voice rose over the masses, her tone clipped in a no nonsense manner.

"All students will proceed immediately back to the castle – no exceptions. Quickly now!"

The voice reminded Norda of her old survival training mistress Madam Clorvister, a grumpy old lady whose carrying voice was enough to make grown men tremble at three miles away. Norda smiled slightly as the past molded with the present, overcome by the memory:

What do you mean you can't jump that high – my hamster could jump higher than that!"

Ah yes Norda thought sleepily, wistfully immersing herself in the little escape from the present the memory had provided her with. I remember that hamster well.

It was a small, evil looking little thing with beady little eyes, muddy coloring, and teeth that enjoyed biting anything that moved. It was rumored around the space academy campus that the creature was actually Clorvister's husband, reincarnated from the dead to torture poor, unsuspecting students. Norda, whose fingers bore the honor of first hand experience with the little monster, was inclined to agree with the gossip. That thing was an abomination.

"That was by far the wimpiest jump I've ever seen in all my years! Pathetic! Back of the line trainee, you're going to try that excuse for jumping again before you even think about leaving!" Madam Clorvister yelled boldly, squinting eyes firmly fixed upon the young man who had just finished the exercise.

He was red faced from both embarrassment and exertion, looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him up whole. Hearing muted laughter behind her, Clorvister rounded on the unfortunate souls, looking from eye to eye to discover the culprit. Finding no indication of guilt, she decided yelling would probably be the best option.

"Would you like to join him? In line! Hurry it up there! Have you got tree roots for legs? Logs for brains?" Clorvister yelled, voice carrying easily over the hushed clamor of booted feet as they rushed towards the back of the line in order to escape her wrath.

Norda watched from a distance as her younger self snapped to attention as Clorvister passed, then rounded on the group again.

"I've got three years with you twinkies. Three years!" Clorvister bellowed "I don't know if I could whip you into shape in three decades! You soft, pampered…" she broke off, shaking her head in disbelief at the lack of experience in the trainees in front of her. Then she motioned for the students in front of her to continue on with the exercise, yelling out with brutal bluntness the problems with the way each student completed the jump, from muddled landings to fouled takeoffs.

Five years since Norda's last Clorvister lesson, Norda still blessed and cursed that woman's name. Clorvister's endless nagging and yelling had made survival class the hardest class to endure.

But the lady had sure done her job.

Norda could count eight people from her class alone that wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Clorvister's endless drills and training.

"Now get a move on and jump! What are you waiting for? Come on trainee, jump! When I say jump, you jump. It's very simple, how much more simple can you get? If you can't do a simple…"

Clorvister's voice was getting more muffled, being replaced by a different voice as Norda was jolted back to the present. Oh lovely, I'm loosing my mind. Just what I needed… Norda thought

"You are to proceed directly to your dormitories – no exceptions. Anyone found outside of their respective rooms will be suspended! I repeat, return to the castle immediately."

Then the voice turned almost exasperated. "Yes Mr. Weasley, that means you as well!" the woman's voice yelled out again.

"But professor - " another voice whined,

"No buts, Mr. Weasley."

"But we heard…" another voice, more self-assured than the first,

"No offense, Miss Granger, but you would be deaf if you had not heard this crash. Now – "

"But that's not what I meant…" the voices faded away, though others seemed to be getting closer. A man's voice, and a woman's;

"Terrible, utterly dreadful. Such loss of life. What was this contraption?" A rustling sound, accompanied by what sounded like a hand scraping against burnt metal pierced the silence.

What will they do to me? Norda struggled to get free, futile attempts meeting pointlessly against the cold steel that held her pinned. Then, on her left, she heard the crunching sound of footsteps. She froze as her training cut in. She was helpless in an unknown situation – it was probably best not to make any sound until she knew more about those who had discovered her. Norda could almost see Clorvister nodding her head in agreement. Instead of moving, Norda strained her ears to hear any other sound.

"What is it?" A hushed voice said to her right. Norda fought the almost uncontrollable urge to scream. That voice was extremely close.

I though that I had more time before they made it here! Her mind thought illogically. Norda's hands moved to push against the metal fragments embedded around her, but then reason cut in. Any movement would make a sound. So she froze, and listened. Go away…go away… oh please go away…

"It…it looks like a b-battleground." Norda could hear the shake in the woman's voice, "Merlin, what h-happened here?"

"I fear that we may never know," was the saddened reply. "there's been so much destroyed."

Another woman's voice, this one higher in pitch, and lighter in tone. "It is, or was, some sort of machine, that's for sure – here, give me a hand with this chunk of metal, it seems to be covering something."

A sound like fingernails on a blackboard cut through the forest air, and Norda couldn't help but wince.

"Well, that didn't work." the deeper male's voice said. Norda could hear the sad laughter in his tone. "But no matter, I don't think that we should try moving too much today, it might destroy the few clues that we have in discovering what happened."

"Whatever you say old man, you're the boss…" was the deceptively jovial reply.

Norda heard the footsteps stop moving, and then start coming back towards her. She felt, rather than saw, a person move towards where she lay pinned.

"Now this, this is unexpected…"

"What are you doing Albus…what's unexpected?" came the curt call from over to her left.

"I've learnt to expect the unexpected from my time here at this school," the voice of the man was closer still this time, and seemed almost introspective, "but this… this is indeed unexpected…"

"Albus, what is -" the woman was questioning this time .

"I think…yes I think that there's something alive in here." he interrupted softly.

"My god Albus, you must be joking. You saw that thing come down and – "

"Quiet Minerva." the voice ordered almost sharply in its pre-occupation. Norda heard him mutter something softly under his breath, but the words seemed so garbled that she had no hope of understanding them.

Suddenly Norda tried not to gasp as she felt a slight probing pressure within her mind. It stopped as quickly as it had come, but was soon replaced by an awareness of movement around her.

"There's definably something alive in this wreck." said the man, his voice accompanied by a rasping sound. It sounded like he was moving around, trying to get a better view of the wreckage

"But how could something have survived that impact?" he muttered questioningly to himself.

Norda could have answered that question for him, but she didn't dare speak. All ships that flew in space were designed to survive the worst. The architecture was tested to ensure that it could survive high velocity impacts, hoping to increase the chances for survival for those on board in the event of a crash landing. Norda shuddered – she'd always read about crash survival in textbooks, but she'd never thought that she'd actually be in those types of situations.

"It's a weak feeling, but it's definitely there and…ah, here we are…" the man's voice had turned kindly calm, "I've found you now, there's nothing to worry about." In other circumstances it might have soothed her. But all she could think about was her helplessness as an unknown person, who knew that she was there, was standing above her. Her instincts kicked in, and she struggled against the metal.

"Now, we'll have none of that." the deep voice said, amusement echoing in his voice. Norda didn't see how any part of this situation could be amusing, but in the next moment Norda felt a presence of sorts slowly weighing down her limbs.

Oh my gosh, this is it…I'm doomed. She tired to fight against it, to scream and lash out against the presence holding her captive. But no sound came out. No movement had any effect. She gave up her resistance, and resigned herself to her fate. The man above her seemed to sense this, and she could almost see him nod.

"That's it, easy my dear… we'll have you out of there in no time."

More mutterings this time, and Norda felt the mass of metal around her start to shift as piece by piece the fragments were pulled away from on top of her. Norda couldn't understand how a single man could be lifting that metal – the weight had to be enormous.

A sudden beam of light caught her full in the face, and Norda jumped slightly at the sight of it. Above her she could disern three blurry objects looking down on top of her, their faces blurred and pale against the blinding sunlight.

"There you are…You're in no danger, child. Just relax." It was one of the woman this time, her voice motherly.

The soft presence surrounding her limbs constricted slightly in a non-threatening manner, holding her securely in place. This time she did not fight against the presence that held her, but rather against the pulsating pain in her body that was slowly forcing her back into unconsciousness.

No…no…please…I need to meet this threat face on she tried to tell her mind, mustering her strength to fight against the unconsciousness.

She knew it was hopeless. Even if she did get free, she was in no condition to run away and escape, but reason had no hold in her mind right now.

"No, please no…" she whispered croakily aloud.

"We've got you now, there's nothing to fear." said the man above her.

Then she couldn't do a thing about it. Unconsciousness took hold, blurring her vision until she was left with nothing to hold onto anymore.

And she slept.

A/N Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that it didn't seem too weird. Thanks to all those who reviewed (tis much appreciated in every sense of the word). Does Clorvister remind you of a gym teacher you know? ( know she certainly reminds me of one…)

Shout-outs:

Midnight'sGone: Glad I've got your attention – hopefully this chapter satisfies:)

girl from Iceland: Oh yes…

The Goose-Girl: Thanks for your comment! Very kind of you!

Anjyll: I'm glad you like my writing style… trust me, there's definitely more on the way

Silver Sorceress: Thanks for the enthusiastic review … and of course there will be some AD/MM… in time. (What kind of story would this be without a little :cough: a lot :cough: AD/MM?). Still, there will be a good plot to go with the romance, so hopefully the story will be interesting whether you're an AD/MM shipper or not…

Questionablelight: Thank-you– glad you think this is an interesting idea.