Get Ready For One Horrific Time

Deep within the depths of space, where stars barely shine, a lone ship remains dim and barely showing any signs of it being powered on. While it looked old on the outside, the inside was slightly better, though it wasn’t saying much as cobwebs and flickering lights were everywhere. An engine room had smoke coming from it, and the kitchen’s doors barely open. The elevator to the attic is turned off, and the ‘storage’ door remains shut thanks to ice. All of these doors blocked off, and only the bedroom door being available.

Even the bedroom was quite dark, no source of light anywhere, along with scattered drawings all over the floor and near the bed. In the bed itself was a mere girl who looked to be quite messy, her hair ruffled and her dress torn, ‘shadows’ on her face that seem to show that she hasn’t taken care of herself whatsoever. One would assume that she was dead if they saw her right now! Instead, though...

“Good time of the day,” the radio near her bed spoke, with the girl soon yawning and rubbing her eyes. “It is currently the █████ of  █████, and you are currently five light years away from your next destination. Your to do list for today is-” Click. A press of a button on top had shut the system off as she crawled out of bed, eyes half-lidded and small stumbles in her steps being made. She didn’t trip, thankfully, but she still seemed quite tired. Perhaps she had a nightmare?

Not like it would matter too much to her, though, as she soon went to the ship’s ‘lobby’, going up the stairs and heading towards a large monitor that was flashing slightly, a simple ‘push’ on the screen revealing a small menu. The first icon was a map, and when she pressed it, it revealed she was half-way towards her next destination; Home. The other button, though, had an envelope as an icon. Though it had no notifications, she decided to press it anyways, revealing an empty message box.

She could receive transmissions, though, so perhaps some may come soon. For now, it was quite ‘hungry’, as she would put it.

“...That’s... Good...” She spoke quietly, backing away from the screen and looking out the window. Currently, the ship was flying past another planet that looked to have different continents of various types; A seaside town, a desert, a dark forest, some mountains, and what looked to be a fog-covered city. Many lifeforms must life on the planet, but she had no time to stop, chat, and get souvenirs. For now, she just had to get ready for another day on the ship, perhaps get something to eat, talk to the mysterious man knocking on the window...

...Wait. HUH?

“Hunter demands owner of ship to come out at once!” He yelled out, continuing to bang on the glass while keeping his eyes on the girl herself. “All ships must forfeit goods, even when ship in space!”

She just gave out the most frightened look as she hid behind the railing, looking around to see if he was talking to anyone else. Oh, right, she was the only one on the ship that was visible right now, so of course he was talking to her. As much as she didn’t want to try and talk with him, he attempted to open the door, a gasp leaving her as she jumped over the railing and closed the door shut afterwards, heavy breaths leaving her as she gritted her teeth. “N-no no no! Don’t! If you do that, w-we’ll both end up getting sucked into space and possibly fall to our doom...!”

“Hunter does not care for child’s safety! Hunter will come in and take goods!” “WAIT-!”

Before she knew it, the man had soon punched a hole through the door, with glass shards landing into the girl’s face, she of which was crying out and stumbling back while the man talked into the walkie talkie. “Hunter has found ship in space! Aim and fire!” She screamed out as she flailed her hands around, hands prying at the glass in her face and pulling them out, her heart racing as she could soon feel the ship begin to rumble and begin to spin out of control. No, she knew it wasn’t anything natural- Something was shooting at it!

Everything was falling apart, with the vacuum of space soon pulling the vault open and letting time pieces fly out through the broken window. One managed to hit the strange man in the face, resulting in him falling out with a loud yell. Seeing them fly out made her gasp in panic, her hands trying to reach out and grab them, jumps occasionally made as she could feel it getting harder to breathe. And just as she was about to grab one...

WHAM.

It knocked her hard within the head, resulting in her getting knocked out and falling out through the hole, tumbling down to the planet below with the time pieces. Who knows where she’ll land, and who knows if she’ll even be alive with the height of the fall she was taking!

Jumping over the bridge seems like a bad idea, to be completely honest. Seeing the water down below didn’t help much, either, so Horaita decided to climb down gently, hands having a tight grip as she went down.

So far so good, at least, with how things were looking. Just one more step down, and-

“!!”

WOAH! It looked as if the rocks were more slippery than she thought, as she had to gain a quick grip on one of them as her hand slipped off, her eyes widened as she dangled mere feet above the rapid waters. Perhaps, if she could reach out enough, she may be able to grab a rock from the other side!

Closer...

Closer...

C L O S E R -

Those were her last thoughts before the rock she had a firm grip on soon fell loose from the Earth, much to her luck. Her out reached hand was now aiming up at the sky as a gasp left her, body soon falling into the rapid flow below and the girl struggling to try and get to land.

With how strong the current was compared to her, though, she was soon washed out further into the ocean, the island drifting away from her vision as she could feel water begin to enter her lungs.

Choked cries for help were washed out by the sea’s ambiance, and with no one around to help her, she would soon find a watery grave waiting for her, body being dragged below as she felt the last bit of breath she grabbed escape her.

...No one had ever found her body at the bottom of the ocean floor. Not that they would bother to look for her, anyways.

—

DEATH NUMBER: 2 AREA OF DEATH: HUNTER’S PORT CAUSE OF DEATH: DROWNING

She was utterly tempted by the idea. She really was. Instead, she realized that, with how weak she was, she wouldn’t stand a chance by herself. She might as well keep up her adventure and avoid trouble for now.

---

Her running would soon turn into platforming as she continued to follow the red hooded figure, calls of ‘wait’ and ‘stop’ falling on deaf ears. It wouldn’t be until they both got to the bell tower of the port that they would finally notice her.

Of course, they had climbed up to the top before noticing, so the child wouldn’t be able to reach up and try to talk to them.

“What in the bloody hell is someone like you doing following me? Didn’t you know that this place is dangerous?” They yelled out, hands cuffed around their mouth and their invisible gaze set down.  “If you stay down here any longer, you’ll find yourself swimming with the piranhas, and trust me, it will NOT be a pleasant swim! Tell me who you are, and I may just help you survive!”

“My name... M-my name is Horaita.” She spoke up, eyes still remaining on the figure and her hopes high on getting help. She looked to be the only person who wasn’t a hunter around here! “I’m not from this planet, and they managed to destroy my ship. My time pieces got taken from the vault, and-”

“Time pieces? You mean the strange junk that’s been falling everywhere?!” Her tone was raised as she said that, a hand pointing behind her. From what it looked like, it was another part of town to be seen that way. 

“Y-yes, those! It’s not junk, though, it’s-”

“Whatever it is! I can help you get it back, but you have to help me get rid of these brutes! Now come on, I’ll lead the way!”

It was about time a friendly face could be gained, even if the face couldn’t be seen at all. With a simple nod, Horaita began to walk along the brick road while the hooded figure jump off and behind the building.

Along the way, it could be seen that a bridge’s remains are where one once stood, a large gap standing between her and where the time piece fell.

Play with dolls? Let them do the work? NEVER!

With all the courage she could muster, the girl gets up from the ground, turning to the hunter and gritting her teeth. With a weak battle cry, she soon threw a fist at him, causing quite a bit of damage!

...To her.

She bounced back the moment her fist made contact, tears welling up in her eyes as the pain coursed through her hand. She even stomped her feet a little to try and make the pain focus on something else, but it all failed, leaving her with a sore hand and the man laughing at her.

“Poor little child. She does not know how to punch.”  After saying that, the man soon took a hold of her hurting hand, almost as if he was trying to be gentle.  A loud CRUNCH would prove that wrong, though, as he breaks her hand within his hold, resulting in her screaming in pain while being held up. 

“L-let go, it hurts, it huuuuurts!!”

“Here, let hunter show you how to REALLY punch!”

“Wait, no, no no no NO NO-”

Her pleas were ignored, and soon enough, a fist of metaphorical steel would soon slam into her face, her head hitting the wall and knocking sense out of her. The pleas were quieted into small cries before another punch was given, his fist covered with blood and her cries now mere whimpers.

Even when her voice began to die down, his fist continued to punch the girl’s face, leaving it in bruises as the back of her head soon began to bleed from the back. With one last laugh, he pulls his fist, delivering one final punch;

One strong enough to bust her head open and render her into a coma like state.

After that, he tosses her body to the side, dusting his hands off and walking away, laughing the entire time.

---

Death number: 1 Area of death: Hunter’s Port Cause of death: Extreme head trauma

...Yeah, you probably shouldn’t try to bother with any of these strange adults. They were the ones to break the ship, after all!

The girl drags herself across the wall to head closer to the source of the voice, the men’s yells soon turning into abrupt screams, followed by complete silence. Before she could turn her head around the corner, an arm flies past her. Thankfully, it didn’t hit her, but it nearly distracted her from seeing who the voice may belong to;

Someone who was the same size as her, face hidden by their hood and a tattered cape blowing within the wind behind them within a dramatic fashion. The only real visible thing about her was her mustache(...?), along with her amputated left leg. 

“H-hey, can you-”

Before she could finish her question, the red hooded girl suddenly runs off, no words leaving her and soon prompting the child to give chase. 

Throughout the town, it looked as if it was overran by the strange men, with banners and graffiti all around calling them Hunters. So that’s what they’re called, huh? That’s a bit concerning, but it’s not what’s at hand-

“WOAH-!”

A stray Hunter who was leaning against the wall managed to trip her with a leg, a cold smile on his face that matched his low chuckle. Now on the ground again, the girl whimpered, looking back to her leg to see that she had scrapped some skin off of it. It stung like all hell, and it was bleeding, too.

“Little child is lost if she thinks port is meant for her. Go back to mother and play with dollies, let hunters do work.”

“Little girl, let me in, and I promise pain will not be plentiful.”

Uh. No. Hell no.

Without a single word leaving her, she suddenly runs away from the window, with the stranger growling in anger before forcing the door open. Due to how small and nimble she is, she managed to get quite the head start as she got into her bedroom.

To the side of her bed was her trusty umbrella! Her one and only weapon within these cruel depths of space! Quickly grabbing it and turning around, she soon faced the man in question, right when he was about to grab her. A squeal of panic escapes her, and she jabs the end of her umbrella in his direction.

SHNK.

“. . .” “. . .”

She slowly moved the umbrella back when she heard the noise, her eyes widening at the sight of the man’s hand now having a bloody hole in it.

She found herself shaking silently as the man stared between her and his injured hand, blinking sternly before walking out from the room, leaving a small trail of blood behind.

The girl was now left in silence, heart nearly out from her chest, and her hold on her umbrella tightening up. While she couldn’t hear it, it sounded as if the man outside was talking to someone, almost like he had a walkie talkie. What he said was deafened by her own ears, as she was paralyzed from fright.  And in a small moment, she closed her eyes, breathing turning soft as she was letting herself calm down...

---

...Calmness doesn’t last long, though.

A few minutes after the talk on the radio, a loud crashing noise could be heard throughout the ship, the ship itself now shaking and the sources of power flickering wildly.

“H-huh, HUH?” Her grip on the umbrella was tighter than before, and she quickly goes out to the front to see that the noise was. Much to her surprise, she soon found out that something had hit the ship’s engines, with the ship beginning to tumble down to the planet below. Just as she tried to get to the controls...

“AHA!”

The man from before suddenly grabs her, tackling her down and causing her to cry out in panic. A hand reached out to try and pull herself away, but another sudden noise soon stops her, followed by what looked to be a cannonball bursting through the glass windows.

With a vacuum in space made open, both the girl and the man were soon pulled out, screams of shock escaping them as the ship began to power down completely. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she could see that her vault had been opened from where she was, an obvious sign of time pieces being stolen. In this moment, she could feel her very own soul dying, along with her lungs running out of breath from how the man’s grip was on her.

Closing her eyes and letting out a choked cry, they both fell down onto the planet below, the ship crashing into what seemed to be a forest as the pair seemed to be falling towards a seaside town.

---

In a fit of panic, the girl had nearly let out a terrified scream, but quickly caught her noise before it could be heard. Instead of running away, she remained in the main area, ducking behind the railing and letting her eyes roam around rapidly. After a few moments, her eyes fall upon a strange sight;

It looked to be some sort of human banging on the glass, his words muffled and a look of anger within his eyes. She could barely make it out, but it sounded like he wanted some sort of payment, and that ‘capturing ship owner will bring pay.’ A hard gulp left her at that moment, but she remained silent for the most part.

Slowly, she began to crawl out of place, hoping to move out of the area without being seen. So far, it all seemed dandy, with the man focused on his own frustrations. Just a little further, and she’ll be back in her room-

“CHILD.”

She yelped out in panic at his loud voice, now more audible due to how she was closer to the glass. Her head turns towards the man, heart nearly beating out of her chest and her body stiffening in fear. She wanted to cry out for help, but who would even help her? She was alone on her ship, and her only utensil of attacking is her umbrella.

...Wait, her umbrella! She could try to fend herself with it! 

“U-uhm... Uhm...”

“Open door, now! You are trespassing hunter territory!”

Deep in the depths of space, where stars barely shine, and the void consumes any light that would attempt to travel in... There remained a ship, made of wood and metal, with certain parts of the ship rotting off or looking within bad condition. The insides were dark, as if no source of light was turned on. 

Ruined furniture, tattered rugs, creaking doors... It was almost as if nobody lived within the ship at all, especially with the silence going around and creating a strange atmosphere. A ghost town, even!

...But don’t be silly. We all know that every space ship has a captain on it, but this captain...

Isn’t exactly a morning person. She’s just the lone kid on the Spaceship, waking up from a long night of rest and hoping that she would be closer to home than she was before. The previous planet she had been on didn’t take too kindly to her kind, so a getaway was needed.

As much as she wanted to continue her rest, the sounds of static from the radio next to her bed woke her up, prompting her to get up from her cozy little bed and get more appropriately dressed. Why would she do it, if there were no guests to be coming around any time soon? Well, it just felt nice to look nice. She just had to tie her hair into a ponytail, anyways. Nothing too important, and her closet is just full of skeletons.

Now ‘properly’ dressed, she began to head to the main room, a large screen being what she aimed for. Slow steps were taken up the stairs, and with a simple touch of the screen...

“Boop!”

The screen was now turned on, showing a map of her progress from her previous planet to her home. She was almost at home, and all forty of her time pieces were in tow. There was nothing that could possibly go wrong-

KNOCK, KNOCK.

Loud thumps on the window had startled the girl, with her physical response being to duck and cover her head while closing her eyes. She didn’t even know anyone would be able to reach up here! Her mind began to race, thoughts mixed between screaming in panic and questioning if the loud knocks and muffled yells of anger were all part of her mind.