Skyla wasn't sure what first brought her to her senses, the pounding in her head or the smell of melted metal. But both told her one thing – she was alive. But how?
As feeling returned to her limbs she tried to move her hands, with little success. Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked groggily, but there was something sticky over one of her eyes which she couldn't clear. She felt sick and dizzy and...upside down. She tried to move her leg and was rapidly brought crashing down into full consciousness as pain shot through her limb. Biting her lip to hold back a yell of pain, Skyla tasted blood and realised her mouth was already bleeding from a cut on her upper lip. Raising her head as best she could she looked around.
Though her view was greatly restricted, she could immediately see she was still in the escape pod. But she was no longer in space as they weren't moving and natural light streamed through gaps in the hull. Said gaps looked like they'd been ripped open by some great force, and the metal was still smoking. Her body had been yanked upright and she now lay flat against the back of the pod with her head just inches from the floor. Her leg, she realised, was trapped under a chunk of folded in metal. Taking a deep breath, she began inching it out bit by bit. Although her whole body was positively screaming in pain, she slowly but surely pulled herself free and collapsed to the floor. A whimper of pain escaped her lips as her head hit the side of the pod and waves of nausea washed over her. Ignoring her protesting body, the Lombax pulled herself into an upright sitting position to find out how badly damaged she was.
There was a nasty gash in her leg where the metal had bitten into her flesh, and her trouser leg was in tatters. Her whole limb looked like it'd been mangled by some great beast. Aside from this, she was covered in cuts and bruises, and even found a few shards of metal lodged here and there. It took all her self control not to cry out as she set about pulling the pieces from her body. Once that was done, she raised a hand to her head to find out what covered her eye. It came away sticky and red and she realised her head had been gashed too, the blood seeping over her eye, gluing it shut. She'd need water to clear it. Touching her ears lightly, she was relieved to find them mostly intact, with only a few cuts on the outside. With her one free eye she looked about the place for a way out. The pod hatch looked battered and the glass was cracked from side to side, it looked a good place to start.
Gathering her strength she hauled herself towards it in hope. Hand on the glass, she gave it a firm push. To her immense relief, the hatch swung open with little protest and more light entered the pod, along with fresh air. Her nostrils flared as she took in the scent. It was fresh, and incredibly so. In fact, it smelled just like Florana...but not as tropical. This smelt earthier, somehow.
It took a while, and a great deal of effort, but Skyla finally extracted herself form the wrecked pod. Outside, she found herself surrounded by chunks of metal and deep gouges in the ground. She'd crashed, and survived. Somehow.
Leaning against the wall of the pod, Skyla took a moment to register her surroundings. Her head throbbed acutely making her vision swim, but she managed to establish where she was.
She was in a forest, but not one on Florana. This one was far less exotic and had trees you could actually see the tops of. The plant-life seemed accustomed to a milder climate and there was no sign of any swamps or tropical life around. There were no bright colours springing out at her from the undergrowth, it was all different shades of green and brown, but still managed to look attractive. There was light birdsong coming from the trees, and Skyla took that as a good sign. Leaf bits were fluttering around her and she looked up. There was a large hole in the tree canopy where she presumed her pod had crashed through, and sunlight flowed down to her like a waterfall.
Having taken in as much as she could in her present state, Skyla set about moving. Heaving her body back to the pod entrance, she scanned it quickly for anything that could be of use. She found the smashed remains of a first aid kit, but all the equipment was ruined and unusable. She'd have to find something else for her wounds.
Satisfied she could find nothing of value in the pod, she retreated into the woodland, distancing herself as far as possible from the wreckage.
Only as she began limping away from the crash site did her memories finally start to return, like a flash flood in her mind. The ship, Marco, Jaynwae, being boarded, the escape pods, Maia...
The Lombax nearly fell over in shock as she remembered, only just catching herself on a nearby tree trunk. Nausea swept over her in brutal waves and, doubling over, she vomited onto the ground. Her body heaved as her stomach emptied itself of its contents and she shook violently as the moment passed. Once she'd finished, she spat to clear her mouth and shuddered.
Maia. Her best friend, her rock, her sister. Jaymz too. The two creatures in the galaxy she couldn't imagine living without, the two creatures in the universe she considered family, the two creatures she would lay down her life for...snatched from her in one cruel night.
Skyla nearly crumpled in a heap there and then, part of her wanting to wait for death to claim her from any one of her many injuries. It wouldn't be difficult to die. All she had to do was wait as her life's blood slowly seeped out of her. Then she'd see them again. She closed her eyes, wondering how long it would take for her to bleed to death and whether she'd be conscious of it happening. But even as she thought of it, she heard Maia's voice in her head, 'don't give up, Sky. You still have hope. You can still help the others.' 'Yeah, Sky,' it was Jaymz's voice now, 'help the others, they're the ones who need you now.'
'Please, Sky...don't give up,' Maia's voice, even in her head, sounded so real and life-like. It was as if she was actually there, asking Skyla to her face, pleading her with her soft hazel eyes, so full of love. She couldn't just give up, not now when she'd come so far. Maia and Jaymz would never forgive her if she let death take her when she was so near the finish line. She had a task to complete. With this in mind, strengthening her limbs, Skyla pushed away from the tree, and stumbled on.
Several hours later, Skyla was still alive and wandering the forest in search of any other creatures who might be able to help her. She had to find a way to contact the authorities, she simply had to. Her friends needed to be saved. That was now her main priority.
But the forest seemed devoid of any sentient life. There were definitely other creatures about as she'd seen a few birds and what looked like 6 legged deer wandering about with great green antlers. And sentient life had definitely been here at some point, as every now and then she would find a felled tree. None of them were very recent, but they didn't look too old either, as the layer of moss covering them was thin and rot had yet to set into the trunk. And that gave Skyla hope.
On she trekked, through the woodland, in as straight a direction as she could manage.
But with every step she took she felt herself growing weaker and weaker, and she knew that if she didn't find help soon, or at least take a rest, she'd probably pass out from blood loss. Whether she would wake up again was another matter. However, Skyla was a Lombax and their stubbornness was well renowned along with their pride, and she was no exception. She wasn't going to let her injuries get the better of her, so it wasn't until she was nearly dead on her feet that she finally stopped to rest.
She leaned against a thick tree as she breathed evenly, trying to regulate her breath and clear the spots from her vision. More waves of nausea swept over her in sickening pulses and she felt like she was about to throw up again.
Then she heard it, a gentle trickling sound which just caught her sensitive ears. Raising her head, she turned this way and that in search of the source. It sounded like a stream. And streams meant water.
The thought of finding fresh, cool water gave her a small spark of energy and she set off again with a new determination. Her whole body aching, it took her a while and more than one stop to rest and pinpoint the right direction, but she eventually left the shelter of the trees and was presented with a stream.
It wasn't large, only a couple of metres wide, but it was flowing merrily along, babbling softly as it hopped and skipped over rocks and stones lying in its path. It wasn't that deep either, only a few feet by the looks of it.
Skyla stumbled towards it and practically threw herself in. A gasp escaped her as the cold water set its teeth into her injured leg and bit down hard. But she refused to withdraw, instead washing more water over her leg, encouraging it to seek out the dirt and grime, cleansing the wound as best as she could. Once her leg looked less mangled, she set about cleaning her other wounds. She worked from bottom to top, starting with her feet by removing the remains of her shoes and scooping water over her toes. Then she saw to her other leg, and gradually travelled up her body, making sure every inch was treated to a good wash and scrub.
The water around her flowed red with her blood but she didn't care as it was soon washed away along with the current. Her head she treated carefully, rinsing her eye of the dried blood and gently washing the cut on her brow. Her hair had matted against her head as well and there were so many knots, she was forced to dunk her whole head under the water and meticulously comb her fingers through the locks to get rid of all the blood. She thought about swimming, but decided against it. She'd never learnt to swim properly, and besides, the water wasn't quite deep enough. So she settled for dipping her whole body in the stream and letting the water flow all over her, soaking her clothes and fur.
Sitting upright again, she scooped handfuls of water to her lips and slurped thirstily. Rinsing her mouth completely of the taste of blood and vomit, she proceeded to glug down several more mouthfuls. The water hit her stomach like a kick in the gut and succeeded in temporarily reviving her from her half-dead state. But it wasn't long before her energy levels began to nose dive as exhaustion finally caught up with her. Adrenalin only lasted so long, even for a Lombax.
Dragging herself from the water she flopped onto the bank, chest heaving slightly from exertion. Too tired to argue with her inner voice warning her not to rest in the open, she chose to ignore it and prayed she wouldn't regret it later. Closing her eyes, it was only a matter of seconds before she was unconscious once more.
Skyla came to and lay very still where she was. Something had woken her...but what? Her ears lay rigid as she strained for the source of what had shaken her from her slumber. There it was! Very faint rustling from the trees. The quiet snap of a twig and the distinct feeling of being watched told the Lombax she wasn't alone.
Remaining motionless she waited for more movement. Maybe it was one of those deer? But they would make more noise and wouldn't come near her, especially when she smelt so badly of blood, surely...? It wasn't long before the sounds of creatures moving amongst the undergrowth could be heard coming closer and closer. Then she heard a voice from nearby. It was definitely not a deer. It spoke quietly and in a language she'd never heard before. It sounded like the laughter of the trees, the chuckling of a brook and the gentle call of the wind, all in one voice. It was beautiful. But who was its speaker? From the tone of the voice she could tell it was asking a question, and sure enough, another voice answered in the same tongue and there was more movement. Skyla could feel them just feet from her position. They knew of her presence, she was sure. But what were they doing, exactly?
Making up her mind in a split second, she leapt to her feet. With hindsight, and even foresight, this wasn't the best thing for a badly injured Lombax to do. Overbalancing slightly she set her feet apart to steady herself and waited for the throbbing in her head to die. She glared angrily into the undergrowth as if it were somehow responsible for her mistake.
What she saw surprised her completely.
Though her vision swam considerably, she could just make out the two creatures in front of her, hard to distinguish from the trees themselves. They were tall, at least 6 foot and dark green in colour. But unlike Rilgarian skin, their body seemed to be covered with a sort of green shell, like an insect. What looked like moss covered their legs and forearms as some sort of clothing, along with a thick belt with unidentifiable items strapped to it. They had flat, paddle like feet that were bare on the ground and their hands were quite bizarre as they possessed three fingers and one thumb, with the outmost digit being at least twice the length of the others. They wore a variety of pendants that hung on their bare chests though Skyla couldn't make out the details. Their faces were oval in shape with tiny slits for nostrils, small line mouths with no visible lips, no hair on their heads and the most magnificent large green eyes, also oval shaped, that took up at least a third of their face.
The one on Skyla's left pointed a spear like thing at her and spoke again in their liquid language. It sounded like a question, but she didn't understand them.
"I don't understand you," she told them in a croaky voice, eyeing the spear warily. It didn't look particularly sharp and they didn't look particularly threatening, but Skyla knew better than to judge from appearance alone. The two creatures exchanged glances and the other one stepped forward a little, making Skyla step back. It said something else. The Lombax shook her head,
"I don't understand you," she repeated, "can you understand me?" The creature who'd first asked her a question muttered something to his (she took them both to be male) friend. They conversed quietly for a moment.
"Can you understand me?" Skyla repeated slowly, "I need help." She had no idea who these creatures were as she'd never even heard of a species like them. But they looked harmless enough (without the spear) and she thought it was worth a shot to ask for their aid. The males seemed to come to a conclusion and one drew a tube from his belt. Slotting something into it he raised it to his mouth, pointing at Skyla. Alarm bells began ringing in the Lombax's head,
"What are you-?" but she got no further as the creature gave a harsh puff. Something shot out of the tube and Skyla had no time to react as it buried itself into her arm. Plucking it out, she realised it was a dart. She opened her mouth to shout, but no sound came out. Her legs suddenly gave way beneath her and she collapsed in a heap on the ground. But she felt no pain as a numbing sensation spread through her limbs. Black spots appeared before her eyes and she struggled to move, but it felt like she was trying to swim in treacle. The faces of the creatures loomed over her and spoke liquid nonsense to her face as she fought the drug in a desperate attempt to stay awake. But alas, resistance proved futile and the darkness swept over Skyla, and took her for its own.