New chapter (finally)! This one took a bit longer because I got sick and a little unmotivated to write, but it's done now! So, let us simply get back into the story, where we left Zyram on top of a cliff, having spotted some smoke coming out of the trees...
My mind was filled with many racing thoughts. It was a mix of apprehensiveness, but also curiosity and perhaps a bit of hope. Smoke could only mean one thing: someone, or at least something, was over there. I highly doubt it could've been from my ship, since it was too far away nor big enough to be a possible wildfire caused by any chunks that came away during the descent. It had to have been from a fire created with intention, which posed the question: who created it? My mind had initially gone to the Florans, but I remember being told through stories that Florans despise fire. While I had nothing to verify that, it made sense, seeing as they were probably quite flammable.
This left me with the other possibility: it wasn't of Floran making, which... To be fair, still included the risk of being someone with less-than-good intentions. Still though, it gave me a twinge of hope. I needed help - I couldn't survive on my own - and it could be my only opportunity to get it, for all I knew. But my sprained ankle... I'd already walked a lot today, and while I had been trying my best to tough through the pain, I felt like I was going to need rest soon. In short, I truly wasn't sure if it would be
beneficial for me to make the trip towards the smoke.
...
A few moments later, I found myself back at my "campsite", preparing myself to head for the smoke. Screw it, I'm gonna find out who's there, pain be damned. I'm not going to be stopped just because of some pain! I wasn't exactly sure what had brought on this uncharacteristic courage, but something in me told me that I needed to go there, that it was going to be important. Whatever the reason, I set off on this possibly dangerous journey towards the rising smoke. I had brought with me my pistol, flashlight and whatever bandages were left, mostly just to be safe. It was midday, and I was starting to get fairly tired, but I wouldn't let that stop me.
There was plenty of wildlife and vegetation, with the tree canopies blocking most of the hot sun. Thankfully, the wildlife didn't give me any trouble; most of them just steered clear of me and the rest ignored me. Glad there's no aggressive fauna around. Maybe most of them only come out at night? Regardless, the trip was going smoothly. At least, aside from the pain. From the few glances I could get out of the trees, I could tell I was going in the right direction, and the smoke column was only getting closer...
Until finally, I was upon the source. Only a short distance away was a small clearing where the smoke was originating from. I quietened myself as best as I could and took cover behind some foliage right next to the edge of the clearing. Peering through, I could see...
A campfire, currently unattended, burning away with some meat cooking on it, undoubtedly the source of the smoke, and... Two Florans. They stood some distance away from the campfire, seemingly arguing with each other. I also noticed something on the ground behind them. Something bright light blue - a stark contrast to the surrounding environment. It looked almost humanoid in shape, with... wait, are those feathers? Is that... yes, it had to be: it was an Avian...! The Avian lay still on the ground behind the Florans, seeming to be unconscious, or... Dead...
I tried not to linger on that last thought too much, instead focusing on the Florans. One of them had a small club in their hand and a shortbow on their back, while the other had a few hunting spears. From their weaponry they were probably a small hunting party. Had they "apprehended" this Avian? I managed to listen in on what they were arguing about. Their conversation seemed a little frustrated.
"... but we can't just leave birdperson here. We must know why birdperson hunt our food!" The one with the hunting spears exclaimed.
"We cannot bring birdperson. What would greenfinger think if we come home with nothing but weird looking birdperson?" The other rebuffed.
"And what would greenfinger think if we left potential loose end? What if there are more birdpeople?"
"Ugh, fine, we take birdperson with us. Might make good meal if nothing else, but if greenfinger get angry with us again it is your fault," and with that, they started to prepare to leave, one of them extinguishing the fire and the other picking up the Avian. Crap! I can't let them take that Avian away! What do I do? What do I do?
"Hey!" at first, I was confused as to who had shouted that, but then realized that it was me who had done it. I don't know what had brought me to do it, but it got them to stop and drop the Avian, so I guess it was a good call. I stepped out of my cover. Both of the Florans immediately turned towards me, weapons raised. I did the same, raising my pistol towards them.
"Aah! Is another birdperson! What I tell you?!" One of the Florans shouted to the other.
"Leave that Avian alone!" I needed to make sure that the Avian could get out of this safely, and I intended to make that intention clear. I fired a warning shot into the ground near them. They recoiled somewhat from the loud noise. The one who had initially been against bringing the Avian with them seemed to be going with that idea again. The other Floran, though, was very set on bringing this Avian back, and threw a hunting spear at me. I saw it coming and managed to dodge out of the way... but not without putting a lot of force on my sprained foot. Pain shot through me and I grunted, temporarily distracted - it was quite obvious that I was previously injured.
"Get the other birdperson!" I heard the one who threw the spear call out to the other Floran, but turning my gaze up again, I realized that the other Floran was making no move against me. At first, it made no sense, but it was made clear when the Floran spoke.
"Forget this, birdperson is not worth it! Let's get out of here!" their previous idea of leaving the Avian was definitely coming back out - they certainly didn't want to fight just to bring the Avian back.
"Come on, we can take on other birdperson!" the other Floran argued back. With the Floran being slightly distracted, I took the chance, and fired my pistol at them. Being somewhat shaky from the pain, and the Floran noticing what I was doing last second, I only hit their arm, but it did the trick. With that Floran now injured, and their friend unmotivated to fight, they would probably realize it wasn't worth it to risk their life over the Avian.
"Grr, you win this time other birdperson, but beware! Floran will be back!" and with that, they both retreated into the forest, leaving me alone in the clearing with the Avian. I took a minute to gather myself, and then went over to the Avian to examine them. They had light blue feathers as I had noticed earler, and white feathers near their eyes. They wore simple traditional Avian armor; the kind worn by Avian warriors. The armor was quite worn and dirty all-over, though, like they had been in the wilderness for some time. Checking their pulse, I was quite relieved to hear a beat. Phew... not dead. I'm glad. There was a nasty bruise on their head, which I assume was caused by the Florans and also the reason for them being unconscious.
Well, now what? This trip had not turned out quite how I expected. I had travelled here with the hope of getting help, and now I was standing here with another soul who also needed help. I guess I could bring them back to my shelter? I certainly wasn't going to just leave them here - they could die. Yeah... my shelter was really the only relatively safe place I knew of where I could take them. I wasn't looking forward to carrying someone that distance with a sprained ankle, but... the alternative was worse.
With the sun on its way slowly downward in the sky, I set off back towards my shelter, this time carrying alive cargo. If I thought the trip towards the smoke was bad, the trip back was at least three times worse. Each step on my sprained ankle set off an alarm in my head that told me to stop walking on it, but I perservered - I had to, else the Avian I was carrying would be put in danger. My travel speed was also severely reduced, meaning that the trip would take considerably longer. It also felt considerably longer, due to me being aware of every single painful step I took. I even tripped over a few times. Needless to say, the journey was not an enjoyable one, but eventually, finally, I could spot the cliff-face through the treeline.
As I put my unconscious passenger against the cliff next to the shelter, I practically collapsed from exhaustion. I hadn't realized how tired I was, but it was at that moment that it all caught up to me and my legs gave out from under me. And it was only then, laying there and watching the sun slowly starting to go down, that I realized: my shelter wasn't big enough for both of us. And I only had the one sleeping bag. I... couldn't really do anything about that right now - I didn't have enough energy or time. I guess I'll give the sleeping bag to this Avian here. They probably need it more than I do. But what would I do about my shelter? Surely I couldn't just sleep outside. Well... as much as I hate to say it, I guess we'll have to share it...
A few moments later, I had managed to get the unconscious Avian safely into the sleeping bag in my shelter. With my eyes occasionally closing of their own accord, I decided it was time for me to do the same, and I awkwardly clambered into the shelter. I tried my best to lie down as comfortably as I could, though with the limited room in the shelter I basically had to lay partially on top of the other Avian...
It was quite awkward. I had never lied down so close to someone before, but deep down... there was a part of me that found it somewhat comforting. The closeness was certainly something special and unlike anything I had felt before. And with these final, comforting thoughts, I fell asleep.