ACT I

THE END

The air was thick, nearly choking Shire as she set foot on the tiny island. The sudden change from the regulated temperatures and humidity of the spaceship was making her lightheaded, but at the same time, she couldn't help but simply sit there and breathe. It was liberating, she thought, to be able to taste real air once again.

The last time she had been on a planet was when she was six. Then Guhnash had come, and she and her father had fled aboard the Mothership, never to return again.

Not that there was anything to return to.

Shire ran a hand uneasily through her hair as she took a long look at her surroundings. The "island" was hardly more than a speck of green floating endlessly in the middle of an ocean. Not far away from where she had teleported down laid a large heap of metal, vaguely recognizable as Dinaurian technology. Smoke wafted lazily up into the air, seemingly undaunted by the rest of the world.

Worry carved its way onto Shire's face as she surveyed the wreckage. Images of her white-haired boyfriend flashed through her mind, and just as anxiety was beginning to propel her forward, something touched her shoulder, causing her to jump.

"Sorry…Are you okay, your Highness?"

Shire spun around to face Celinda Lisidor, the green-haired mechanic. The woman was gray-skinned with forest stripes running along her back and tail, and on her face she wore the trademark tattoos of the Lisidor tribe (a modern tribe that had once coexisted beside the Dinaurian Kingdom, only to die with the rest of the planet.) She watched her princess with a concerned look, which Shire promptly ignored. Instead, Shire turned her attention to the blur of movement behind her, where she caught sight of the rest of her group as they teleported into existence.

Karcold, a blue-skinned, taller man, shifted about uncertainly as he took in the land around him. He was their guard for this trip, and Shire had seen him in action well enough – he was quick to move, and very courageous, but also level-headed. However, the feeling of being on a planet once more seemed to have knocked the clarity out of him for the moment, as it had the rest of them.

Kea was a white-skinned, lanky girl, with a silver bob of hair. Her turquoise eyes scanned the ground with interest, and her ears were perked as she listened closely for any signs of danger. Shire had talked to Kea a few times before, and she was normally a really bright and bubbly girl, but she was very sharp, and her skills as a scout were renowned.

And then, behind them, stood Duna Nichs and Raptin Dinon. They were both up-and-coming prodigies, incredibly skilled despite their young age – Duna was only thirteen years of age, whereas Raptin was roughly seventeen, the same age as Shire. They both had risen through the ranks with incredible speed, and were rapidly becoming Dynal's most trusted of the Dinaurian Elite.

Shire's crew of five had been entrusted by Dynal himself to investigate the crash. With a shudder, the princess turned around to once again look out upon the wreckage that may yet contain the man who held her heart.

Sekel Lyrach had been on that ship. Most of the other Dinaurians had managed to teleport back to safety before the technology had crashed, but a few hadn't yet made it. Kendel didn't. Sekel didn't. A few others whose names Shire did not know were lost, too. Are they dead?

Shire wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer to that question.

Duna stepped up beside Shire, looking up at her with her large, yellow eyes. "Your Highness? Shall we proceed?" she asked, allowing her gaze to follow Shire's out towards the heap of metal sitting about tauntingly.

Shire nodded once briskly. Signaling to the others, she straightened her back, then took her first steps towards her mission goal.

She was going to find Sekel and the others.

…

The inside of the ship was far worse than the outside. Whereas one could have easily realized what the machine was by a glance, from within, it seemed to only be the strewn about remnants of a pathetic laboratory. A few computers buzzed on and off from the walls to their right, and sparks blew from the ceiling haphazardly.

"Watch your step," Kea whispered, as if afraid to punctuate the silence. She signaled to their feet, where random objects lay about chaotically, likely in disarray due to the crash.

Shire nodded her understanding, but she couldn't keep her attention on the floor for long. From a little ways away came a moan of pain; the group's ears all perked up at once, straining to hear where the direction was coming from.

"Who's there?" Duna called out worriedly, looking about her for any signs of life. "Where are you? We can't see you."

The other voice responded weakly, and the words couldn't be made out, but it was enough for Kea to pinpoint their location. The scout sprinted over to a corner of the hallway, where debris had collapsed from the ceiling and onto the floor in a messy heap. Shire hurried closely behind, her heart thudding painfully.

There was a Dinaurian trapped under the debris.

A Dinaurian with white hair.

Kea fell to her knees and, with the help of Karcold, began moving away the metal that was piled on top of the Dinaurian. Shire could do nothing but stare silently as Kea ordered Karcold in a quiet voice, trying to get the weakening body dislodged from the mess. Shire became faintly aware of Raptin's presence beside her, but she couldn't focus.

Then suddenly, Kea froze. Karcold finished lifting the final piece of metal by himself, shooting Kea a worried look. Shire edged closer uncertainly, trying to see what had caused her to stop moving. One glance, however, had Shire stepping away, shaking her head.

It wasn't Sekel trapped under that mess, after all.

"L-Lai….?" Kea's voice sounded like it was about to break.

The Dinaurian – a blue-skinned woman with long, graceful white locks – coughed violently as she was moved out of the debris and out onto the cold metal floor. Kea bit her lip, like she was trying to hold back tears. Karcold kneeled down beside the two of them, and with Duna's help, began trying to stem the bleeding.

Lai half-whispered, half-choked something to Kea, which only made her shudder painfully as she held back a sob. Shire watched detachedly as Duna shook her head, then moved away, Karcold following after one last glance at the girl he couldn't save. Lai tried once more to speak, and Kea finally broke out into tears. She let out a strangled gasp and bent over Lai's body as the last of the woman's life fled her eyes, leaving her body limp in Kea's arms.

Celinda averted her gaze sadly, as did the rest of them. Shire continued watching the scene with a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach before turning away and stalking down another hallway.

They had to press on.

I'm trying to pick this story up again, even if just a little bit! I currently have inspiration for how to write the chapter after this, too, so hopefully I'll get the next one up soon. Thanks to everyone who holds on to this story with me!

Dynal, Raptin, Duna, and the Dinaurians belong to Nintendo

Karcold belongs to CBgiraffe on deviantArt

Other characters and Kiranians belongs to me.