Chapter 14
Darkness completely encompassed Zarabeth's mind, nothing but small glimpses of leftover emotions, feelings, and sounds to try to keep pulling her from the utter void of her thoughts. From somewhere around her kept pulsing the sounds of cooing, some moments soft, others a little more high-pitched, but it wasn't this which tried most to pull the girl from her stupor. No, it was the pain, constant stinging whenever she somehow realized she was moving, even if it was only a little. She couldn't stay like this anymore.
With one forced effort, Zara's eyes slowly fluttered open, her vision dull and fading in and out of pulsing colors and textures before she realized she was nearly face down in the ground. It didn't take much to roll onto her back, the girl's aching limbs somewhat relieved with her lying flat, but the pain didn't recede.
The cooing she'd heard all this while spiked in volume as a terrified Morph fluttered down to float right in front of her eyes, the small shape-shifter literally melting down onto her chest in obvious relief.
"Morph?" Zarabeth cringed at the sound of her own voice, even those few syllables grinding together in her throat. "Where…Where are we?"
What happened? Trying hard to think back before things had gone black, fragments of random memories came back to her one piece at a time.
The smugglers. Jim's solar surfer. The storm. She remembered breaking through to get out of the ship, but after that was a blur of rain, wind, and then something knocking into the surfer just before she'd landed. Did the smugglers try to hit her?
The girl's eyes still not completely cooperating, she was no longer content with where she was lying, Zara's attempt to sit up quickly deterred as she winced in renewed pain, the arm she'd put her pressure on almost burning with the sharp bouts of stinging. Salvaging her efforts by hurriedly switching her weight to her other arm, she managed to get upright, leaning as far forward as she needed to in order to keep her balance.
Her eyes pulled down to see what was hurting her so much, Zarabeth instantly wished she could look away. Her left arm, the one she'd used to shield herself from the panes of glass she'd broken through, was now riddled with its small shards, the thick jacket only able to protect her so much.
Releasing the trembling breath she'd been holding, Zara swallowed hard in an attempt to try to reaffirm her control over her mind, carefully moving to sit on her knees so that she was more stable. She didn't know what to do. Fighting to stay focused on figuring out how to get the pieces out was easier said than done with the constant and, mostly, dull pain throbbing from her wrist to just below her shoulder.
Floating only as close to her injured arm as he dared, Morph gave a series of apologetic chirps before twirling around to transform into a pair of tweezers, his reaction procuring a small smile from Zarabeth as she gratefully took hold of him.
"Thanks Morphy. You're going to have to bear with me for a bit."
Managing to tear one of the shirts she'd brought, Zara set aside one of the leftover pieces before readying herself for what she was going to do. Taking a deep breath to urge her hand to move, Zarabeth bit down on her lip in nervous anticipation of the pain she fully expected and tried to prepare for, deftly using Morph's new form to begin freeing the shards of glass from her arm.
Starting higher up on her shoulder and working her way down, Zara only took small pauses to catch her breath, instinctively holding it every time she began to work out a new piece. She freed the ones that hadn't gotten through the jacket sleeve, happy to remove the heavy outer clothing once that was done, leaving a few of the smaller shards beneath.
The pain wasn't as bad as she'd expected, not differing greatly from what she was already feeling except for that of relief whenever she was able to victoriously add another piece of the glass to the cloth she'd laid beside her.
It took a great deal of time, the evening light that had been there for her all this time now quickly fading into the deep colors of twilight. She didn't have much time left. Using the last bits of fleeting light, Zarabeth was forced to prioritize, focusing on the bigger pieces first so as to not have them still there once the darkness was complete.
"That'll have to be good enough. I don't even know if you'd be able to get the others. But thanks, Morph. You're a big help." Holding the tweezers idly in her palm, the shape-shifter returned to his natural state with a soft coo in reply, content to stay in her hand.
Looking up at the Etherium high above her, Zara could only guess that she had maybe a half-hour of light left. Her eyes searching over her surroundings, she truly took in the sight of it for the first time. She tried hard to not be intimidated by the hostile appearance of the dense forest around them, the ground strewn with the leaves of the early turning trees. High above her head, Zarabeth could pick out the chatter of birds and small animals she didn't recognize, instinctively pulling Morph a little closer as she tried to swallow down her heart pounding in her throat. "This certainly isn't how I pictured Inyang."
Morph's silence was suddenly broken with the girl's words, the shape-shifter hurriedly floating up to eye-level as he frantically shook his head.
"Morph? What's wrong?"
Instantly frustrated that she didn't understand, his small pink form separated into two spheres, one much smaller than the other, the larger turning a dusty brown contrasting with the other's bright green.
"I know. Morph, we're on Inyang." Trying to get his attention by poking the larger sphere, the shape-shifter instantly began moving the smaller one around her head to get her to understand where he wanted her to focus.
"You-You're saying we're not?"
Satisfied that she'd gotten it right, Morph returned to his natural form with enthusiastic clapping.
Wracking her brain for an explanation, the small bit of control Zarabeth had over her mind threatened to give way as she looked about her in confusion. "We're...We're on Inyang's moon. We're not anywhere near Silver."
Swallowing hard to keep her mind from completely leaving her, she fought to think of a way around this, suddenly remembering how they got here at all. "Jim's surfer. Where is it?"
Morph transformed into a miniature image of the solar surfer crashing into a small patch of forest before turning into a humanoid hand pointing in the direction that he'd last seen it.
"We still have some time before the light goes away completely. Come on Morph."
The majority of her weight was momentarily supported by the closest tree she could crawl to, the girl waiting only as long as she dared for her legs to stop trembling beneath her before following Morph's lead through the trees and underbrush.
It didn't take long to find the solar surfer, the small but constant plume of telltale smoke rising from its mangled form forcing Zarabeth back to her knees in order to keep from completely losing control over her fragile senses.
That was their only way off.
Trying to break the awkward silence, Zara managed a small laugh to release some of the tension building up inside her, cradling her forehead in her good hand with a shaky breath. "Jim's gonna kill me."
Nothing but silence followed, the absolute lack of sound making Morph become antsy, his small form timidly moving to perch on the girl's shoulder with a mournful little sigh.
She didn't know how long she'd sat there unmoving, but no matter how much she turned the thought over in her mind, it was still the only tangible hope she had. Taking in a deep breath to try to keep her words from shaking with her slowly firming resolve, Zara pulled her head up to look down at the small creature beside her, managing a small smile to help convince not only him but her own mind as well.
"Morphy? I've got a job for ya."
Perking up into attention, he stretched up a little higher to give her a quizzical look.
"I need you to find Silver. Yes, without me."
Reaching into the pack laying abandoned at her feet, she procured a crumpled envelope from the chaos of random articles around it. "This is where he is. Somewhere between these two settlements. We're counting on you, Morph. Me, Jim, the crew, we need you to do this. When you find him, try to tell him what's happened. If he can do anything, Jim comes first. No, I mean it. I'm safer than they are, right now. Make sure they're alright and then you can worry about me. I'm clearly not going anywhere, so you know where to find me. Ok?"
Morph was obviously less than convinced, hovering nervously in front of her as if he was pacing before giving in with a soft sigh and small salute.
Smiling in relief, Zarabeth winced as she tried to reach out with her left hand before quickly finishing her intentions with her uninjured arm, gently tickling the shape-shifters little form to get him smiling again. "Thank you. I know you can do it. Now, off you go while there's still light. Good boy."
One more nuzzle with a playful lick and he was gone, flying off as quickly as he could toward the open Etherium.
"Tell Silver I love him." Her smile fading with her voice, Zara bit down hard on her lip to keep it from trembling as she watched until she could no longer distinguish the shape-shifter from the rest of the stardust clouds.
Her eyes continued to stare upward until only the stars and Etherium were left lighting the darkness around her, Zarabeth's whispered plea falling on the forest's deaf ears. "Jim, please be safe."
She didn't realize how quiet it'd gone until the snap of a twig from somewhere close by brought the girl's mind back into full awareness. Drawing her gun as she turned to face the sound, all that met Zara's eyes was darkness, nothing moving distinguishable to her constant stare, her voice only barely above a whisper as it trembled in unavoidable fear. "M-Morph? Is that you? Don-Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark."
She was trying to convince herself that her sudden fears were all for nothing, not even an animal cry to be heard now.
"Calm down, Zarabeth. You're alone. You're going to be alright. There's nothing the-"