\|/ Turn 59, midlight

  Someone else is on Tau.

  Mik and I were resting when there was an explosion. Mik was pretty happy beforehand, writing something in its journal, and I was feeling fine.

  Mik stood up, grabbing its hatchet, and I pressed myself to the ground.

  We were both confused and terrified. It sounded like it went off right next to us, echoing off the landscape for spans after.

  The forest itself devolved into chaos as well; the little singers scattered off trees and shrubs, with one bouncing into Mik’s shoulder and then flying off. The scavenger’s bush rustled loudly as it fled.

  But I couldn’t see anything next to us that could have caused it. My mind raced, and the first thought that came to me was the electric valley.

  Lightning hit it, it arced.

  There were some grey clouds in the red sky, and I had noticed one that was above the valley earlier.

  I stood up and ran to the clearing to see if I was right. I shivered when the same cloud was still there.

  Dear Suns… if we were there, we’d fry.

  Mik startled me by tapping my shoulder, gesturing to the air in the opposite direction.

  There was a black plume of smoke, leading to a bright yellow light that was falling downwards.

  I immediately thought it was a meteorite. That my fear about us dying from some random event was about to come true.

  That is, until the light stopped a moment later, and parachutes deployed.

  I saw the screen in front of me, warning they’re tangled. I felt my thorns get pressed painfully as I was pinned against the seat from the sudden jolt.

  I looked up from the screen filled with countless symbols. Through the fracturing glass, clouds spun around me as everything failed. Thinking was impossible; I barely managed to stay conscious.

  Hot. So hot. I was melting alive, along with the hull.

  “Pl-eas-e” I barely managed to utter.

  And then one of the thrusters detached.

  A moment passed. Two. Three.

  It exploded, blinding me.

  I felt myself continue to sink as the harness pressed harder against my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. My screaming was drowned out by the ship.

  When I woke back up, Mik was holding me with one hand between the thorns on the back of my head, quietly hissing “shhh” to me.

  I was panting so quickly my lungs burned. My scales were still scorching.

  Mik gently put me on the ground. I immediately propped myself up with my elbows.

  It took out its journal, writing “Maya see not there?”

  I nodded, taking deeper breaths and looking around to convince myself I wasn’t watching Unity’s Hope melt again. The feeling of the harness was still there, even though my hand didn’t catch anything when I felt my chest.

  Mik didn’t ask anything else. It sat beside me until I calmed down.

  …

  When I could think again, I wrote “Mik see in air too?”

  I wasn’t sure whether any of what I had seen was real. Did I see something resembling a ship entering orbit, or had my mind made everything up. Without Mik, I wouldn’t know.

  Mik nodded.

  “Oh Suns.”

  I lay back down, looking at the black plume.

  “Why are you here?” I groaned, rubbing my snout.

  Were you even trying to get here?

  Mik snapped its fingers, getting me to focus back on it.

  It wrote “Maya remember before see?”

  Its face was deeply worried, and it still tasted like fear. What I had seen was one of the only memories I wish I could forget.

  “…yeah. I do.” I nodded.

  I wrote “Maya see not there more than forget.”

  Its shoulders lowered slightly, and it holstered the hatchet I hadn’t realized it was still holding.

  You didn’t even have time to put it down. I saw all of that in a few moments…

  I wrote “What Maya do when see?”

  Mik looked at me for a moment. It hesitated, eventually writing “Look, hiss, fall”

  “Sorry.” I wrote back.

  Mik scribbled the apology out.

  Guess you’re already used to it.

  It sat back down next to me, handing me a few berries to eat. I shook my head. It put them on the ground next to me.

  My mind wandered again, thinking about the ship. Everything hanged on one question.

  I wrote “Crash or land?”

  It put “?” under both.

  I wrote “Like Mik Maya” under “crash”

  Mik looked at the direction of the ship for a moment.

  It then drew parachutes, colouring parts with its pen.

  Mik then breathed in deeply, writing “not help Maya Mik” next to the drawing.

  …

  It wrote “not know.”

  “Me neither.” I whispered.

  …

  Mik wrote “Go see”, quickly taking the journal back and adding “Maya good go see?”

  I wrote “Have to.”

  Mik circled “N” on its map.

  I didn’t get to write about the rest of the turn before the ship… got here.

  If the ship landed and whatever is inside manages to hunt us down, it might be the last thing I write. Every turn is the same in that aspect, though, this time, I know that we’re walking into danger.

  It feels unimportant, but I’d rather my last words were of some happy moments, at least as happy as I can be on Tau, than me remembering the worst moments of my life.

  I think I fell asleep first last dark. I’m not sure.

  What I do know is that I woke up first because I was too cold.

  It was getting colder again. Too damn soon.

  Damn it…

  I had unconsciously pressed against Mik because I didn’t have a cloak or blanket. Mik felt warm, even though it had enveloped itself as well.

  Turning to face Mik and enveloping it closer didn’t help. I was too uncomfortable from the cold on my back to sleep, and Suns know I needed some more after these last few turns.

  I got up and went to the clearing. I was groggy, though I distinctly remember the grass feeling wet under my step.

  Warmth hit my scales the moment I stepped beyond the shade.

  Just until I warm up…

  I coiled up on the grass and fell asleep within moments.

  Something woke me up, tugging at my right arm.

  I opened my eyes and looked up.

  Mik was standing right above me, smiling and shaking its head.

  “What’re you… mmh… laughing about?” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

  Only then did I realize the pose I was in.

  On my back, my tail going between my legs to my head. I had been holding it until Mik woke me up.

  “I was lightbathing!” I hissed, slapping its leg with the underpart of my tail, though impaling it didn’t seem excessive as a response to being made fun of.

  Mik gave me its hand, to which I decided to provoke it by conveniently stretching just as it did.

  Mik laughed more from that. I finally took its hand, and it pulled me up.

  It took out its journal, writing “why Maya go?”

  I wrote “Cold, Maya go light warm”

  Mik shook its head slightly, writing “Not good”

  I wrote “we make blanket”, drawing a little wavy square under it, and I added “and Maya be good”

  It smiled a little bit and went back to the camp. On the way, Mik kept stretching and rubbing its eyes.

  You just woke up too, huh?

  We both took some time to mentally wake up. It was still early light, and Mik didn’t look too well-rested. The grey flesh under its eyes making it obvious when it isn’t.

  …

  When we were functioning again, I cleaned off the rest of the grey pulp from its arms.

  The fungi underneath were gone. I felt so much better from just seeing that. Though we both held off from celebrating until I got to the one Mik had torn off.

  It wasn’t there, but it left its mark.

  The wound Mik had made was completely closed. No bleeding when I cleaned it. It didn’t taste unusual, either.

  But the flesh there wasn’t normal.

  It was Mik’s flesh, though there were white lines going from where the wound used to be to the healthy flesh, like the fungus had sown them together. The sight made me reel back, though I tried to not seem too horrified for Mik.

  …

  I wrote “is good?”, looking up at Mik. I wasn’t sure what to think.

  Mik’s face was neutral, a look I hate more than when it’s happy or sad.

  It wrote “not Mik”

  …

  “I hope this won’t hurt.”

  I gently tapped the ‘connecting’ part with the back of my claw. Mik didn’t react.

  At least it isn’t like my arm.

  Something caught my eye. When I looked closer, I noticed that the lines were moving.

  Pulsing.

  I held Mik’s other hand against my head, feeling its heartbeat. I timed it with the white part.

  Mik’s pulse was going through it. Like it had replaced Mik’s blue bloodstream there.

  …

  We were right.

  But you were acting normal again… How?

  Mik took its arm from me when I raised my head, writing “no ow, is good”, and turning so that part wasn’t facing me.

  “I… I get it…” I sighed, thinking about my own deformities.

  Neither of us will ever be normal again.

  Mik had that chance at one point. It doesn’t anymore. I can only hope that its species is more accepting than mine.

  I didn’t force the topic after that. If I could help, I would, but I’m still too ashamed of my how I looked to try and convince Mik accept its own.

  Suddenly, Mik stood up, writing “go?”

  I immediately understood that Mik was trying to not think about it by keeping busy. We needed to do our daily routines anyway, so I nodded.

  Looking at Mik’s bowl, I saw it was surprisingly full, since Mik wasn’t constantly leaking water due to its warmth.

  I opened the map and tapped the river.

  Mik nodded, grabbing the net, and we set off.

  We had our usual talks, though neither of us were fully invested in the ‘conversation’.

  I really thought Mik could be happy, or at least normal again, seeing how we were joking that early light, despite everything that had happened last turn.

  Mik had reached some semblance of healthiness again, and I was at least determined to keep myself here, but that damn fungus just wouldn’t let us move on.

  Probably need some time to stop thinking about it…

  …

  I couldn’t get over our conversation last dark. I felt like there was a reason it had been so patient with me, even when I almost hurt it.

  Even when I did hurt it.

  Yet when I mentally blanked out and forgot what had happened that turn, Mik cried. Mik never cries.

  “Hey, Mik?” I hissed.

  We were mid conversation, so it didn’t turn to me. Sometimes, as we talk, I forget it can’t understand me. Not even the melodic difference between a question and a statement.

  I tapped Mik on the side. It turned to me.

  I wrote “Why Mik scared Maya forget”

  It tilted its head a bit, breathing out deeply once.

  That was a stupid question.

  I scribbled it out, writing “Will Mik forget?”

  It instantly wrote “No.”

  …

  Then why were you like that…?

  I wrote “Why so much scared? Something do to Mik?”

  Mik looked away, breathing deeply and rubbing its head growth.

  “You can tell me.” I mumbled. It never answered.

  I tried to think of a good reason as to why it would be so afraid.

  Did someone forget? Did they go insane?

  Like me?

  However, I couldn’t think of a normal situation where that could happen. Mik’s species isn’t cruel, or it wouldn’t be here. So far, it’s been acting far nicer than any Scale I’ve ever met.

  I didn’t try convincing it to talk to me about that. When it’s ready, if we even survive that long, it’ll tell me.

  The scavenger followed us. I didn’t want to mention it to Mik in case I was imagining it again.

  When we got to the river, Mik immediately went into the water to hunt.

  I didn’t go after it. I considered asking for my knife back to help it out, but I didn’t want the fear of holding it again. I didn’t want to know what would happen to me if I had it again.

  That was if Mik had even kept the knife after I gave it to it. I wouldn’t blame Mik if it had thrown it away.

  “I’m going to go get some berries!” I hissed, going upstream. Mik gave a slight nod and went back to looking at the water.

  …

  I came back with a handful of berries after about half a mark. Mik was still hunting, and I didn’t see anything caught on the shore yet.

  It gave me a little arm flail as I passed by. I returned the gesture.

  I wanted to help it hunt, since we did so well together, but I couldn’t bring myself to go into the water. Not again.

  I felt bad about it, like I was being lazy and trying to avoid doing something productive, but no amount of guilt could force me to do that again.

  I put the berries on the ground and sat down against a tree.

  I breathed out, rubbing my head.

  If I were anything else…

  If Mik had crashed with any other Scale, it would’ve been better off. All it got was a defective Thornkin that drowns from rain. Suns, they probably would’ve held onto sanity longer than I have.

  You really got unlucky, didn’t you?

  Thinking about it, I glanced back at Mik. For a moment, I saw it falling into the water and being swept away.

  I panicked, quickly getting up to run after it, but when I blinked it was just as it was before.

  “Damn it.” I mumbled, sitting back down and turning away.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Is this my life now? Seeing the worst things that can possibly happen every time I blink?

  …

  Will I ever get used to it?

  Or will I just get indifferent to what actually happens…?

  If that ever did happen, I’d be her.

  I stopped that line of thought. Closing my eyes, I focused on counting to some number and eventually fell asleep.

  Mik woke me up sometime later, maybe a mark or two. It had managed to catch a massive pisca, about the size of my arm and the width of Mik’s chest.

  It was happy, holding the pisca out next to itself. It was pretty impressive.

  “Good job!” I hissed groggily, giving it my tailend.

  Mik tapped it, left the pisca next to me and went to collect branches for a fire.

  Looking at it, I felt bothered.

  I knew I hadn’t eaten for a turn, that I should be hungry, but I just wasn’t.

  Even worse, the pisca didn’t look appetizing to me. The excitement of our meal we had once a turn, twice a few times when things were good, felt foreign. All I felt was guilt for not helping to catch it.

  Even without wanting to, I had to eat. Mik would get worried, and I would be a burden if I didn’t. Mik was happy when it brought it to me as well.

  Don’t ruin it.

  Mik returned with a handful of branches. We made a fire, and we ate.

  This time, Mik was combining berries with the pisca like I had shown it.

  I guess you do have some taste after all.

  We got back to the camp, briefly resting here until the ship happened. We’re about to go.

  Mik kept its promise. I don’t remember seeing it write, but it was keeping notes.

  “

  Maya sleep light

  Go fish

  Eat fish

  Go see

  “

  It's lines up with what I remember, at least.

  I still don’t know what to think.

  We might be saved.

  Or killed and experimented on. SILT would make fun of me for thinking that.

  Or the ship crashed and we find something useful.

  I’m not sure what Mik thinks. It’s nervous, shaking its leg while it waits for me to finish writing. The one thing I’m certain of is that it’ll befriend whatever is there if it isn’t aggressive. I’m living proof of that.

  The best scenario would be that someone from Mik’s species that had landed safely. Maybe they could fix me, since I know mine can’t.

  …

  I’m stalling by writing at this point. We have to go.

  We both laughed this turn. That’s what matters.

  \|/ Turn 59, dark

  Mik got hurt, and I still can’t anything about it.

  We started the trip after I finished writing due to Mik getting extremely anxious from waiting. It tasted a bit differently than fear, though equally potent, and I didn’t want it to make it suffer more than I already did.

  I felt overwhelmed as we walked. We had so many things to do, and going to see the ship had thrown everything out of order. Even worse, the grey clouds had gotten closer and bigger. If it started raining, me drowning aside, it would get too cold for me too quickly for us to prepare.

  Why did you have to come now… We were just getting a bit better.

  Why can’t we just get two moments of peace?

  My mind raced as I thought about everything we needed to do, since we weren’t talking. Making a blanket, making cloaks, getting more food for the cold, getting water. All of that paused so we could go look at a possible wreckage.

  I ended up thinking about the scavenger as well. How it would survive the cold, whether it would brumate in its nest or something.

  Them, I realized I forgot to throw the scraps into its nest. We had left them at the river.

  Damn it.

  …

  There should be a few berries in our camp, if it even dares go there after everything.

  I thought back when I had made fun of it for being a scaredyscale. With everything that I had done, it was brave to follow us the same early light. Too brave for an animal.

  …it’ll remember how to live without us for a turn.

  It was past midlight when we got to the river, which I had forgotten we would need to cross.

  “Right.” I sighed, standing near the shore.

  I felt Mik staring at me.

  I turned to face it.

  Smiling, it made a mimic of swimming across while carrying something on its shoulder, tapping me once.

  “Suns no!” I hissed, trying to match the mood. Mik chuckled a bit to itself, and I looked back at the flowing water.

  …

  Maybe we can cross using the rocks?

  “Mik” I hissed for it to follow, going downstream.

  I remembered the rocks that had caught my net were lined up one after another, which meant that they could maybe serve as a type of bridge.

  When we got there, I quickly realized that that wasn’t the case.

  Sure, the river there was a bit narrower there, but the rocks weren’t neatly aligned as I hoped. The jumps would be nigh impossible, and the rocks themselves were jagged. We’d impale ourselves trying.

  “Right.” I groaned, rubbing my snout.

  I almost stopped myself, thinking about the growth there, but I didn’t feel it under my fingers. Probably put paste on it last turn and rubbed it off when I was sleeping in the wet grass.

  Huh. I guess I’m still productive when I’m not conscious. Quaint.

  Mik tapped my shoulder, getting me to snap back from my thoughts. It wrote “go more?”

  Maybe... But we could walk for marks without finding anything better, even worse if we get lost.

  I brought my shoulders up and down once. Mik hummed and looked at the rocks again.

  I knew that was uncertainty! I’m getting better at recognizing your gestures.

  Still looking at the rocks, I tried to figure out another method.

  If we brought the net, we coul-

  CHOP

  I spun around, terrified by the sudden noise.

  Mik was cutting a tree.

  It wasn’t a small one, either. The main part was as wide as my chest, with large green-yellow leaves on top. It was one of the trees that had started dropping them, like when it was getting cold last time.

  “What’re you doing” I hissed, writing “what Mik do?”

  Mik gestured at the tree, and then at the water. It mimicked the tree falling and us crossing.

  “You’re making a bridge? With that?”

  Mik, despite not understanding me, nodded.

  Granted, the tree looked long enough to fall to the opposite shore, and the rocks would stop it from going downstream. The one thing I wasn’t certain about was whether it would keep spinning from the flowing water.

  “I guess it could…” I mumbled to myself.

  I left Mik to its chopping, sitting down a few lengths away and trying to think of something else in case that didn’t work. I didn’t manage to come up with anything better.

  …

  After less than 10 spans Mik sat down next to me, breathing loudly.

  I looked at the tree. It barely had a dent in it.

  “Oh suns.”

  This is going to take forever if I don’t help.

  I took the hatchet Mik had put down and stood up. Mik immediately took my hand.

  For a moment, I was scared it was afraid of me even holding the hatchet. Fortunately, its face didn’t look like that, just tired.

  “Yes?”

  Mik tapped my left arm. Specifically, the brown, ugly scales.

  I took my journal and wrote “no hurt anymore, Maya help”

  Mik looked at me for a few more moments. The hand holding me and the handle of the hatchet were concerningly wet. Mik was leaking water again.

  “Let me help.” I hissed, gesturing to the tree.

  Mik let go.

  I smiled at it once and got to chopping.

  Suns, it was hard. My left arm didn’t hurt, but every impact sent a painful jolt through my whole body. The food I had eaten wasn’t laying the best in my stomach, either.

  Mik stopped me at some point, taking the hatchet and taking over. I rested in the light for a bit again, every muscle in me aching, with my left arm still completely numb.

  Swapping every few spans, it took us a few marks to get past the halfway point of the tree’s core. The grey clouds were covering the sky at that point, making seeing what time it difficult.

  We were both exhausted, and Mik was soaking wet, though not from itself. It had gone into the river a few times to cool off, though I was still concerned about it running out of water.

  I was seriously considering telling Mik that we go back, but the possibility of the ship leaving felt too large a risk, in the case that it was friendly and didn’t crash. Not the best odds, but the best we’ve had yet.

  I don’t think I could ever forgive myself if I forced us to stay here for even one more snow.

  As we rested for a few moments and seeing that the tree was at the point it where we could topple it, I pulled out my journal and wrote “Maya go, Mik go”

  I tapped “Maya go” and gestured pulling the tree towards the side we had cut that was facing the river, and then “Mik go”, mimicking pushing.

  It nodded, giving me a closed fist. I tapped my tailend against it and went to my side. Mik stood at the opposite side.

  Mik swung its hatchet at the tree once, wedging it at the level of the cut. It took a lower stance, gripping the hatchet, and nodded.

  I pulled as Mik pried. When I felt the final pieces of bark splinter, I jumped to the side and let it fall past me. The adrenaline from almost getting crushed completely woke me up from any tiredness.

  The tree crashed into the river, with most of the leaves falling off when it hit the ground. It spun a few times, rolling towards the rocks. They caught the tree, and the branches caught on the ground on the opposite shore, making it stop spinning.

  “We did it!” I cheered, turning to Mik.

  But when I saw Mik, it was on the ground, groaning and holding its chest.

  I yelped and ran over, quickly crouching next to it.

  Mik was breathing through its teeth, groaning loudly.

  “Hey, hey, look at me!” I hissed, flailing my arm in front of it.

  Mik looked into my eyes. I offered my tailend and gently grabbed the bottom part of its shirt.

  Mik hesitated, but after a moment it let go of its chest and nodded, grabbing my tail.

  I brought the shirt up.

  There were some small cuts with Mik’s red blood trickling from them. Its flesh was red near the bottom right of its chest, just above the abdomen.

  Mik breathed out loudly from me exposing the wound, squeezing my tail in its hand as it looked at it.

  Damn it, how?!

  “What happened?!” I wrote, handing it my journal and pen.

  Mik moved my hand away, letting my tail go for a moment to make a few gestures;

  A closed fist, on top of which was its other hand that with its fingers straightened.

  The straightened part falling backwards before toppling.

  I wrote “Tree go back??”

  Mik nodded.

  Oh dear Suns

  I looked back at the wound, trying to see if I could notice anything broken or sticking out.

  When I looked closer, I saw a big piece of the bark had skewered Mik completely. It wasn’t there a moment ago.

  I fell backwards, horrified beyond reason.

  Mik was unmoving. When I looked back at its eyes, they were staring into the sky.

  No no no no no!!

  My vision blurred as I saw Mik’s dead eyes. They filled my entire sight.

  I got up, clutching my head.

  “Not now!” I screamed, looking away and trying to breathe.

  I felt Mik tugging at my tail.

  When I looked back, I saw Mik, its free hand tugging my tail again.

  Ok, ok...

  It’s you again. The real you.

  I crouched again, enveloping Mik.

  It groaned loudly and tapped my back.

  “Sorry!” I hissed, letting go.

  I brought the shirt up again. Nothing was sticking out, Mik had only been scraped up.

  Mik sat up, clutching that part of its chest with its arm.

  It wrote “Mik ow, but good”

  “You’re not-”

  …

  “You’re alive.” I hissed to myself.

  I sat down next to it, enveloping it around its back gently. Mik leaned on me and held my tailend.

  …

  Mik took some time to rest, though it wrote and kept tapping “go now”, to which I kept shaking my head.

  After a few more spans of going back and forth, Mik stood up. I didn’t want to force it to sit down, and it wasn’t going to listen to me, so I helped it walk.

  It was hunched over its right side a bit, still holding the area. When it brought the shirt up to look at it, the bleeding had stopped, but the red flesh had turned darker shade.

  Oh no

  Mik saw my expression and quickly took its journal from my pocket and writing “Good, just ow. Really.”

  “You’re bleeding inside!” I hissed loudly, my tail lashing behind me, “Stop ignoring it!”

  Mik added “When ow, go that. Not monster Mik, just really hurt”

  …

  So… you’ve had that before…? It’s just pain?

  Mik wasn’t collapsing, and it’s been enough spans for adrenaline to be wearing off, so that wasn’t keeping it up.

  I guess… hurt muscles look like that without scales?

  I breathed in deeply and nodded.

  Mik stayed there for a few more moments, before nodding, straightening its back and walking. It groaned with every step it made that way.

  “Don’t be an idiot for me.” I hissed, going next to it and wrapping its arm around the flatter laying thorns on my shoulder.

  I helped Mik get on top of the log, and it made its way across with some very careful steps. I waited for it to cross before going after, in case the two of us were too heavy.

  I climbed onto the log, feeling the wind from the river. A shiver went down my thorns as I felt them flooding with water, despite the fact that I was just standing there.

  “No, no, just give me a moment.” I hissed, going back down.

  “Maya!” Mik hissed to me, gesturing with a smile.

  “A moment!”

  …

  I breathed in deeply and got on again. Instead of trying to walk across it, I started crawling.

  My tail wrapped partially around as I dragged myself across the bark. My claws dug in, with my scales catching uncomfortably on the jagged bark. It was terrifying, and with every length I felt like I would stumble and fall into the water, but I managed to get across.

  Mik reached out to me and grabbed my arm, helping me get off.

  It celebrated afterwards, making some louder noises and bringing its arms up. It immediately groaned from pain and wrapped its chest again.

  “I know the feeling.” I hissed, putting its arm around my shoulder again.

  Mik tapped my tail with its foot, and we started walking.

  The rest of the trip was painfully slow. We kept to one direction, as to hopefully not get lost if we needed to turn back.

  Mik wasn’t doing well. Breathing for it was hard, because it kept slowing down to recover for a few spans every now and again, despite the fact I was helping it the entire time.

  When we stopped one time, Mik leaned against a tree and sat down. I crouched near it, grabbing the bottom of its shirt and looking at its face for confirmation.

  Mik nodded. I pulled the shirt up.

  The injury had somehow spread.

  Instead of just the area the size of my fist being red, it was the size of my open hand, having spread to Mik’s chest and lower to its stomach.

  “How…?”

  Mik looked over, seeing the same thing.

  But… you’re walking. How is this just pain? Did you tear a muscle?

  I wrote “Not just ow.”

  Mik shook its head, forcing smiling a bit, and it wrote “Just ow. Can no say how, draw later, now go”

  It went to stand up, but I stopped it for one more moment.

  I wrote “Why” and imitated it failing to take a deep breath.

  Mik wrote “Ow bad when” and tried to take one. It immediately gripped its chest and groaned loudly.

  “I’m sorry” I hissed, looking down.

  I should’ve gone behind the tree.

  I looked back up and wrote “find white leaf”

  Mik nodded.

  I helped it up, and we kept going.

  As I was looking at the trees for the white plant, I noticed that they were much weirder as we got further away from our camp. They were looping and… morphing into each other. Some branches connected trees that seemed vastly different, with one tree’s colour going into the other one. It was like the whole forest was parasitic instead of just that specific plant.

  There were no animals, though. They all probably scattered from the noise.

  Visibility was horrible at that point as well. The dark clouds meant that, despite it still being around light, I could barely see anything. Mik was the one leading me while I helped it walk.

  After marks of walking, we sat down to rest for a few spans. There was a bit of wind, which meant the dark was going to get colder, even without rain. We needed a fire, possibly for the entire dark.

  I helped Mik sit down and sat next to it. I took out my journal and wrote “Mik Maya here for dark?”.

  It shook its head, writing “small more go find”

  I had to squint to read that. Soon, we wouldn’t even be able to talk.

  I guess “just a bit more” is a constant in the universe.

  “If you say so.” I mumbled, looking up. It was a bad idea anyway, since the possibility of rain meant we needed shelter.

  …

  Still resting, Mik tapped me and showed me its hatchet.

  It was ruined.

  The repairs I had made were chipped to oblivion. The hatchet was blunt to the point of basically being a club.

  Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.

  Mik saw me groaning and rubbing my head, and wrote “Mik Maya fix :)”

  I wrote “?” under the “:)” absentmindedly, feeling extreme regret for letting this go on for so long.

  Mik tapped me. Them it tapped the “:)” and smiled.

  Oh. Like your head but sideways?

  “Neat.” I hissed, looking at the cold, dark sky.

  The red dwarf’s probably setting now.

  Mik tapped me again and wrote “How say?” next to the smile.

  I wrote “[_” and gestured the same with my tail.

  Mik laughed a bit, slapping my tailend that was in the air.

  “We don’t usually threaten others to smile, you know?” I joked back at it.

  Maybe I can teach you some of our gestures, if we survive tonight.

  Mik stood up before I could help it up.

  “At least you feel a bit better.” I hissed to myself.

  It wrote “Make light?”, to which I nodded.

  We quickly gathered a few branches from around us, and Mik set one on fire using what used to be its hatchet. I grouped them up with some stem of some plant, and we set off for “just a bit more”

  …

  We stayed mostly silent after that, since we didn’t want to alert anything in the dark.

  I had stopped trying to find the ship and was looking for any kind of shelter, though I could barely see shapes in the dark past our light.

  The wind got stronger. That was the only sound in the entire forest, reminding me of when I was making the net. I even heard talking behind us at one point, but I’m not stupid enough to fall for that.

  Aliens hunting us would surely talk loudly. Nice try.

  I saw what looked like a tiny overhang to our left, maybe leading into something deeper.

  I tapped Mik, motioning towards it. Mik tapped my shoulder a few times and started leading towards the overhang with the torch.

  But then I tasted sweetness in the air.

  It was faint, barely there, but when I focused, I could taste it.

  “No no no no” I panicked, letting Mik go and following the taste. I saw it start following me, the wind combined with Mik running making the improvised torch flicker out.

  I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to see a corpse or another ship melting. But at that moment, I couldn’t stop myself. My legs carried me when I didn’t want them to.

  After a few spans of running, I saw a white light reflecting off trees.

  I ran towards it, crashing through bushes and vines.

  It kept getting brighter and brighter.

  I ran through one last bush and was blinded by the light.

  But when my eyes adjusted, I didn’t see a crash site.

  The ship was intact. I was directly under a floodlight hanging bolted to the side.

  “H-h… it’s-?”

  A hand grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back into the bush.

  Mik kept me from falling onto my back, though it pushed me down to crouch. Its face was partially lit up through the leaves, and it was breathing so quickly that it was basically panting, despite never having done that before. It still couldn’t breathe deeply.

  I went to take out my journal to ask Mik if it was seeing the same thing, but it was too dark to read anything. When I tasted the air to check if I was imagining it, I gagged and my stomach cramped from how strong the taste was.

  Mik was looking at the ship, though. It was actually there.

  I peered through the leaves, trying to make out if it’s from Varanth.

  The ship was in a clearing, and it wasn’t anything I recognized. It looked more like a landing pod than a full spaceship; circular, standing on metal legs which had sunk slightly into the ground. It was pitch black, reminding me of Unity’s Hope. Adrenaline helped me not to think about it again.

  What struck me was that there weren’t any thrusters. At least no visible ones sticking out, even below the ship. I couldn’t make out much detail, though, since the floodlights were lighting the surrounding area more than the ship itself, and even then, they weren’t very bright.

  I sat down, having no idea on what to do. Despite all that thinking while we walked, my brain froze.

  That is until I heard a loud metal thunk.

  I snapped back to the ship, trying to see if whatever was in there had noticed us.

  And I saw a rock flying through the air, hitting the ship’s hull. Another thunk.

  Mik was throwing rocks at the sunsdamned ship.

  What in the actual Ignae are you doing?!

  It threw another.

  “Stop it!” I hissed. I tried to grab it, missing as Mik managed to throw another rock with its left arm.

  Thunk.

  You’ll get us killed!!

  I finally managed to grab Mik and stop it mid thrown. It looked at me, its expression a combination of excitement and exhaustion.

  “Stay quiet!” I mimicked hissing at it, hoping it got the message.

  I slowly let go, looking back at the ship.

  They’ll definitely have noticed that.

  …

  I was right.

  An airlock opened on the side of the ship.

  Mik, thankfully, didn’t say anything. I could barely breathe, and I was prepared to bolt out of there if whatever stepped out knew where we were.

  A dark visor popped out, looking in all directions.

  A moment later, something pushed it, making it stumble forwards.

  It was in a full spacesuit. With a tail.

  I felt my heart skip.

  A second figure stepped out, going towards the one it had pushed. It was taller with an even longer tail.

  Those were VSEC suits. They were Scale.

  The first figure started complaining to the second, though I couldn’t hear anything through their helmets.

  And Mik threw another fucking rock.

  It flew and hit the taller Scale in the visor. I heard a sickening crack from the glass.

  I watched in horror as the Scale stumbled and fell on their tail.

  I turned to Mik in shock.

  Mik put its head in its arms, groaning silently.

  “Whoever’s there, stop throwing rocks at us already!” the taller Scale yelled into the wind, having opened their visor.

  No… It can’t…

  It was a Scalari. A female Scalari. I immediately figured out who it was.

  “Hello?” she yelled out again.

  VERA?!

  “VERA!!” I hissed at the top of my lungs, running out of the bush.

  She gave a yelp as I tackled her to the ground, laughing and crying from happiness.

  The other Scale quickly ran over and tried prying me off unsuccessfully.

  “Vera, I-I-I missed you-! I knew-!”

  I don’t remember the last time I was so happy. She was here.

  I could feel her, even if it was through the space suit. It wasn’t in my mind; it wasn’t some sick dream.

  She. Was. There.

  She got up with the help of the other Scale, with me still holding onto her. I wouldn’t let go. I kept rambling about her and Mik being there for me, how much they’d like each other.

  I vaguely remember hearing some the airlock open and close, but I could barely hear anything. When we were inside, they managed to get me off her, making me fall backwards onto a metal table.

  I sat up, trying to see her, only ending up catching a glimpse of blue-green scales running around a corner, before I got pushed against the table.

  Two hands gripped my arms, keeping me down when I tried to get back up to go after her. The other Scale’s visor got in front of my face, blocking most of my vision as we struggled for control.

  “What’re you doing?!” I screamed, “Let me go! Vera!!”

  I thrashed violently, trying to get up. The other Scale was far stronger than me, and kept me down.

  I heard footsteps getting closer again.

  “Ve-“

  A sharp sting in my right arm stopped me. She stabbed me with something.

  “AH!” I yelped.

  I didn’t know what was happening. Vera pinned my legs and tail against the table.

  “Why?!” I screamed, trying to get up. Whenever I moved, everything around me blurred. The visor was the only thing I could see.

  “Calm down!” she hissed, not even sounding like herself.

  Why…

  My thoughts got slower. Every moment felt like an eternity as I started falling asleep.

  “Mi…” I tried to beg.

  “M…”

  I opened my mouth again, but all that came out was vomit.

  They both let go and stepped back. My stomach cramped horribly, making me fold in on myself.

  “why…” I cried. At that moment, I thought that Vera had decided to kill me.

  “Stay there!” she told the other Scale, leaving me again.

  I screamed in agony, rolling around on the table. I barely registered the other Scale running off a moment later.

  I accidentally fell off the table, hitting my snout and chest. I wheezed as all the air was forced out of my body.

  I was so hazy and confused. I had no idea what was happening, but I managed to focus on one thing.

  Mik.

  The word kept going off in my head.

  Mik.

  Shaking violently, I just wanted to see Mik one last time.

  Somehow, I managed to drag myself outside, only knowing I was there when I felt wind against my scales. I struggled to open my eyes, and even when I did, I could barely see blurs around me. My own body was fighting against me.

  And then I felt warm hands on my shoulders.

  “Miiiik” I hissed, slurring my words and choking on my own foaming saliva.

  “Maya!” Mik hissed loudly, shaking me.

  It grabbed my arm and slung it over its shoulder, yelling from pain as it propped me up.

  “Donn’t gooo…”

  I vomited onto the grass, but Mik didn’t stop.

  Mik took three steps, dragging my legs and tail with it, until I heard a shout.

  “What is that?!” Vera screamed.

  Mik stopped, turning us around to face her.

  My head was still slumped to the side, but I managed to get my eyes to focus for a moment. All I saw was Mik’s hatchet.

  That jolt of adrenaline gave me enough strength to force my neck to crane upwards.

  Vera and the other Scale were standing in front of the airlock. Mik was growling, bringing the hatchet up to scare them off.

  “No…” I hissed, throwing my barely working arms at the hatchet. Mik didn’t let go of it, and I was too weak to fight.

  “mik… Mik…”

  I hissed “Mik!”, almost vomiting again. There wasn’t anything left in my stomach to get out.

  But I felt Mik looking at me. I whispered “friends”, trying my best to smile.

  It was a horrible sight from Mik’s perspective. I was covered in vomit, and I still felt some dripping from my teeth.

  Vera hissed “Come back! I didn’t-“, but I couldn’t hear the rest. Every sense was fading out.

  I tried walking towards her, but Mik kept firm.

  “Go inside…” I tried to yell back. What came out was barely louder than the wind.

  “please”

  My head fell again, and I lost consciousness.

  …

  Mik shook me awake. I opened my eyes a tiny bit.

  Mik was holding me in front of itself, desperately screaming into my face. I looked behind myself.

  They weren’t in front of the ship anymore. They listened to me.

  I managed to get a hand on Mik’s chest and my feet on the ground. Despite thinking I was about to die, I had to get Mik onto that ship.

  “Mik” I hissed, trying to take a step towards the ship.

  The last thing I remember is falling asleep again with Mik holding me.

  I’m not sure how long it’s been.

  Mik got us in the ship. I don’t remember how or when, but it brought me here.

  We’re in the airlock. Mik’s resting, and I’ve been writing this for a bit. I think it realized I wasn’t dying, since it didn’t panic when I woke up. Suns know how many times I woke up before I started remembering it. I remember I dreamt something, but it was unintelligible.

  I’m feeling a bit better now. My head and stomach hurts, and moving feels slow, but at least I can think again.

  Why, in the living Suns, would VSEC have anyone bring a sedative is beyond me. Mik’s species brings hatchets, which I can get in some cases, but fast-acting anaesthesia? I don’t understand.

  I… I thought she was going to kill me. At that moment, I thought one of my only friends had poisoned me…

  …

  I talked with Mik for a bit. It’s exhausted to the point of collapse, and it couldn’t tell me much other than “Maya sleep lot”. I didn’t bother it to explain any more after that.

  Mik’s in a lot of pain.

  I searched around the airlock, finding the cabinets where the spacesuits should go and the aid kit between them. Inside, there were a few cloths I cleaned myself off with, and a few waterbags I gave to Mik to drink.

  There was a cold-pad as well. I put that on Mik’s injury when I found it.

  The wound isn’t good. I think I saw white lines where it was scratched, but no chance am I trusting my eyes right now. I think the cold-pad’s helping, since Mik’s keeping it pressed against its body and it’s breathing a bit more deeply.

  There was a bunch of medicine inside the aid kit as well. I took a pill for nausea, and almost gave an antifungal one to Mik, though I stopped myself in time.

  I can’t do that. Who knows how Mik’s body reacts to Varanth medicine. It could kill it for all I know.

  Which is why I need Vera…

  She and the other Scale haven’t checked up on us. They probably won’t, and I don’t see any cameras in here, either.

  I can’t blame her. I wouldn’t be any better in her position at this moment, especially how I acted when I first saw Mik. I partially understand why she drugged me; I tackled her after her visor got fractured by a rock, but I can’t fathom her doing that. Even then.

  Did she even recognize me?

  Am I so different now to the extent that all my friends are afraid of me?

  …

  I guess I’m just hurt. I have to talk with her, and I’ll go do that soon.

  Things have to get better.