Chapter 2.
Lost
Her sore arms felt like a lead as she tried to shift them. A throbbing sensation in the back of her skull caused her to open her blue eyes. She realized she was facing down on the ground. Her eyes scanned around her surroundings. They were unfamiliar to the girl. Bulla forced her beaten body to rise from her posture, despite her discomfort. The shallow pool of blood in that area brought a sense of terror into her as panic set in. Though her muscles were in excruciating pain, she made no outward sign of it other than an agonizing groan.
As her vision cleared, the girl was in a state of shock. She noticed the air was so heavy that she couldn't breathe properly. If it weren't for her Saiyan physiology, her lungs would have ceased to work. Taking a moment to see her surroundings, she noticed that the grass here was a slight purple shade with tints of scarlet, where she was bleeding.
The sky was orange and dark, showing that the night was close by.
The girl wondered for how long she was unconscious. She urged her body to rise when she discovered she could sit with her sore legs tucked underneath her battered person.
"Where am I?" Bulla asked herself as she searched for any ki signature as her mind spread around the unknown planet, attempting to concentrate. When she sensed the subtle energy of a dozen people to her left, knowing that she found what she was seeking, the girl's thoughts returned to her.
After that, she tried reaching out to the pack bond Bulla shared with her Saiyan family, including that of her father and brother. It was a tough task, locating them, but she found none available. She realized when she remembered that her big brother was gone and her father suffered an uncertain end.
She let the tears fall loose while trying to wipe them with her two wrists; One forearm was bare and wounded, while it protected the other in the remaining sleeve with holes of various sizes.
The salty tears got in contact with the wound and stung, yet Bulla cried harder as she thought of what she lost. It wasn't much compared to what she was feeling.
"Damn aliens!" She thought. She got from the ground into a standing position. The girl's knees hit the bloodied ground with a thud after her legs failed to support her weight.
After the blue-haired girl calmed down, she tried one more time to lift herself. She was successful. Her legs were wobbling and had a tingling sensation. It felt like a thousand little ants crawling on her feet and above her shins. After she had been on her feet, she looked at her injured forearm. It was shallow. Maybe it will leave a faint scar. The wound needs to be cleaned before it becomes infectious.
As for other wounds, she would need to find a safe, secluded spot to inspect them and tend to them.
"Damn!" she whispered as another intense pain struck her. The girl tensed for a moment before relaxing.
"Where am I?" she asked again as she took a few experimental steps toward the energy source she felt not long ago.
The blue-haired girl planned on finding shelter or civilization before the night fell.
"What is this place? I feel so strange?" She thought.
The rumble of her stomach had her out of her thoughts.
"I need to eat something," Bulla said to herself aloud.
"And yet I don't know on which planet I am."
She blinked away tears that fell.
"If I only had stayed in school." She sighed, knowing it was of no use crying over spilled milk. When it began to darken, Bulla urged her injured body to go faster, hissing in discomfort when the pain kicked in.
She slouched, and it relieved her a bit. If her father could see her right now, he would tell her to stand up straight. Thinking of him, she felt lonely. The way the aliens dropped her on a random planet made her feel discarded.
As time passed during her agonizing walk, she came in front of the forest. The sunset made it look darker. Bulla put her hand in front of her and willed her ki to appear. With little to no energy, it illuminated the way.
She had paused for a moment before she entered the forest, trying to scan other energies or any signs of threat.
Once she considered it safe, small, slow steps entered the forest.
As she walked, leaves and sticks cracked under her feet, even after she tried to be as quiet as possible.
The source of energy she felt was very far away.
"I wish I had a bit more energy to fly," she told herself. "It would be faster." The blue-haired girl gave it a try, but her body wouldn't comply. Let out a long sigh. "Hard way it is, then"
After several hours into the night, she came across a small abandoned wooden lodge. The roof was crushed a long time ago, and purplish moss was spreading across the old planks.
As the night gradually passed, it grew colder, and the cold slowly lulled and called her to sleep.
The girl was starting to get feverish, and she knew that. The lodge looked tempting. Bulla wanted to rest.
She slowly climbed the low, cracking stairs. Her inspection concluded that the patio looked sturdy enough.
The door splintered but still hung on the rusty hinges.
She slowly opened the door with caution.
Bulla peeked inside, but it was pitch black, so she used her ki hand to illuminate the way. Since she was exhausted, the ki was dim. What she could see inside was a fireplace. Lodged with the remaining wood, planks, or other things she never saw before.
There were chairs strewn across the narrow chamber. In the center was a circular table covered in a thick layer of dust and debris.
The room smelled of dust. It had that stinky humidity that Bulla was not fond of. After the girl fully stepped inside the room, she closed the door behind her. Noticing that the door cracked ajar, she shifted the most adjacent chair from the floor and wedged it under the loose doorknob.
She whimpered.
She looked around further and found a vacant bed with no mattresses. This place is not much of a shelter, but it will serve her to survive the night and possibly rest.
She pulled a few steps forward to the fireplace in the opposite direction of the caved roofing. Pressing her sore back against the dull wall, she slid down to the filthy floor. The acrid smell of old soot filled her nose. She took a moment to consider her options. The recent events disturbed her, and she let the tears fall. The exhausted girl dazed off into dreamless sleep.