sanctity

r00d

“A dead planet? Oh, I-I didn’t know,” everything felt quicker now and Shana was being left behind at such a fast pace.  The fact that the woman sounded so surprised is what continued to keep her off guard and all she could do was stand still to watch every movement. It was a given she knew this planet well, or this universe, and that she wasn’t a lost citizen like herself, which relaxed Shana slightly. But what was a ‘dead planet’? It was still here, there appeared to be trees…but there didn’t appear to be vegetation. The trees were hollow and bare, bent in curly ways that would send chills through her body. They appeared to look that way but it could be Shana’s imagination. Her fingers held onto the stone, slowly dimming the light before it went out on its own. “I’m fine, I just don’t know where I am. But…fatal conditions?" 

     "I'm sorry for pushing you like this, but you seem really unaware of the current situation--" the Nedian sighed out, and tried to remain as calm and collected as possible. Evident panic and unease would only prove to make everything worse by then. "This is Earth. Three centuries ago, World War III broke out. It was so chaotic and hectic, and our nuclear knowledge was so ahead of what it should have been, that the battle stopped the growth of nature. In fact, it reversed it. Everything just seemed to die..." She stopped speaking for a moment to catch her breath. With the low levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide on the planet, it was a bit harder to breathe than usual. And the fact that they were running made it even worse. 

     "I'll admit, I shouldn't even be here, either. I thought I'd play rebel and see how Earth looked, even though it's against laws and regulations." Just as it seemed to grow darker, a large shadowy figure could be made out in the distance. The ship Elissa had mentioned stood tall and proudly as that figure, and the captain borne a smile of relief. Her head turned to face the girl she had redirected with her, and created a motion with her hand to follow swiftly. The landing staircase was already withdrawn and quickly Elissa stepped up to enter the spacefaring machine. 

"…I do not know where we are or what’s going on either, so if you look for answers, I cannot give you any." She replied quietly and turned to face the shelves, "All I know is that we should prepare to head outside sooner or later and we need to gear up."

     One eyelid lifted at the sudden flash of light emitted by the stranger, then the other. The glyphs etched in her skin resembled those of a symbologist -- but there were discreet differences. Now was not the time to ponder that, though. They had to figure out where they were and what was going on, and fast. "If you allow me to be straightforward, I think we may need to stay together. We are without proper weaponry, and anything could be lurking in the darkness." 

And there’s no need to add the “Miss”…  ”Apologies, Elissa.  A woman should be addressed properly, but…  If you wish.”  Gently sitting his emptied cup down, he relaxed as much as he’d let himself.  Still being in unfamiliar territory could be bad from him, but he had to remember he wasn’t alone now.

     "I'm a space captain!" she blurted out. "I have about a 16-person crew-- not too big, but not too small. We're a great family, y'know?" A warm smile tugged at her features. "It's kinda funny, like I said before, 'cause... Well, I'm never called 'Miss' by my crew, unless we get a new member! Everyone likes to call me 'Sir' because my second-in-command thought it would be hilarious to say that I act like a man on the field." Her tone was that of playful irritation. As much as her family-like crew teased her, it was all for fun, and that's what she loved. Mainly because she did it right back.