by Devon Loos
A third month went by, and the warmth started to return. The snow began to melt.
Spring.
Our igloo soon disappeared, forcing us to return to our tent. The hot springs were no longer a necessity, but a means of relaxation. I got up and looked down the hill. The snow was all but gone. It was time to go home.
I returned to the tent and looked inside. Sapphire slept soundly with her face against the side of the tent, her hair in a complete mess.
“Sapphire?”
She twitched. “Hmm?”
“We should start packing up so we can go back home.” She pulled the blanket over her head.
“Give me another hour.” I sighed and left the tent. The morning sky was a beautiful pink. I wondered if spring would be a rainy season like fall. I wanted to get back as soon as possible, just in case. I returned to the tent and quietly started packing things away. Reluctantly, Sapphire began to help.
“I hate only having this one outfit.”
“My section of the crew’s quarters is missing. It was a miracle that you found me an outfit. If I had anymore outfits I would be glad to give them to you. You stink.”
“I do not!”
“You haven’t washed those clothes since we got here.”
“ I. Do. Not. Smell!”
“It’s worse when it rains because then you smell like a wet dog-” I felt something crash against my forehead. It was a magazine from my rifle.
“Don’t throw these. I haven’t a clue what will happen if they break.” She glared at me, forcing me to surrender on the matter. We finished a few silent minutes later, then started our walk back home. Our shelter took minor damage from the snow and ice, but it was nothing that could not be fixed. We dug up two more fish, and started a new fire.
“I’ve never seen fish that hibernate in the mud like this.”
“There are some on Earth like these. They can breath both under and above water. We call them lungfish.”
“Huh.”
By the end of the day, things were just about back to normal. The sky was filled with dark clouds when I fell asleep.
The sound of thunder woke me early next morning. I quickly got up and looked outside. Another storm. It seemed likely that this was the precursor storm to another rainy season. I sighed and climbed out of the tree. Half an hour later the entire camp was once again prepared for the weather.
A week later the flood was back, though it was not as powerful this time. With enough effort I could trudge through the waist high waters, against the current. The planet was alive again. The fish and amphibians of the world swam through its waters again, and the plant life started to bud with beautiful bright flowers. I kept my rifle on me at all times, in case one of the serpents mistook me for food. We were able to eat healthy amounts once again, now that the planet itself was awake.
Though the flood was much smaller, and its storm calmer, the ordeal lasted much longer than the previous flood. A few weeks went by. Another month. Still the rain fell. To pass the time, Sapphire began teaching me her fishing technique.
“You have to get in the water!”
“I know!” The water was especially deep today. I hopped off the crate, feet first. The cold water rose up above my waist. I shivered for several minutes. The cold rain only made it worse.
“How’s the water?”
“Great!” I answered sarcastically. “You should jump in!”
“No thanks, I’d rather not.” She laughed. Feeling a little mischievous, I took a subtle breath of air then faked an attack, diving under the water. The current took me by surprise, but I caught myself by grabbing hold of a clump of grass. The murky water blurred my vision. I crawled across the bottom until I reached the crate, then pulled my feet under me and prepared to strike. I rocketed myself out of the water. Just as I expected, Sapphire was hanging just over the edge of the crate. Catching hold of her arms, I shifted my legs to the side of the crate. Sapphire’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock. I pushed off the crate, pulling her into the water with me. I stood up, gasping for air as I began to laugh.
“Cold, cold, cold, cold!” Sapphire shivered. I continued to laugh. She tackled me in retaliation. We both went under but quickly resurfaced. Sapphire splashed me, then began to laugh as well. We continued splashing and pushing each other for another hour. The water was no longer as cold as it once was.
“Ok. So if you want the fish to come to you, you have to sit still.” We stood side by side. I awkwardly mimicked her stance, and held my arms out.
“You’re not still.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Slow your breathing.” That had always been a problem of mine. We were silent. The water splashed occasionally. Something was nearby. I looked over at Sapphire, who had a small green fish circling around her arms. It settled in one of her hands. Gently she closed her fingers around it, then hoisted it out of the water.
“See?”
“No, I don’t. That looked more like luck than anything.”
Sapphire looked down at the fish. “Thank you, little one, but I will set you free.” She released the small fish back into the water. “Now you try.” She walked back to the crates.
“This is insanity.”
“If I can do it, so can you.” She climbed up, rested on her stomach, and watched. I steadied myself, and focused on relaxing. A single fish swam by, then bolted away. Like a sprung trap I flung my arms upward, then fell backwards. This happened three more times.
“Maybe... you really can’t do it.”
“Shush!” Another fish swam around, taunting me. I gave up and climbed onto the dock. Sighing in defeat, Sapphire jumped back into the water, and caught the defiant fish with ease. She tossed the fish onto the crate, and wiped the blood from her face.
“Why do you always bite it?”
“If you bite just right, you pop the skull off the spine. It dies faster that way.”
“Huh.” Satisfied by that explanation, I began to gather dried branches. They were to be tied together to form a raft so that a fire could be placed safely over the water.
“How is this supposed to work if the fire burns the raft?” Sapphire asked.
“It takes time for the fire to burn all the way through.” I replied, “Ancient humans used techniques like this for funerals.”
The meal was pleasant. We slept soundly that night.
Two weeks later, the flood was gone. Days became warm, but the nights remained cool. Sapphire kept our last few lanterns to herself so that she could make night trips to the hot springs. I took the time to study the stars when the sky was clear. In theory, I could use the stars to determine where we were, like that of ancient explorers from Earth, but that would require a working navigational system. It was unlikely I would find one on the ship. The bridges to both the Strategy and the evac ship were missing. I didn’t care anyway. The burning desire to be rescued, to escape this planet had left me long ago.
Rain storms began to decrease, until eventually stopping altogether. A month after the flood we were in a drought. Most of the smaller ponds had dried up. Shriveled bodies of the unfortunate littered the dried mud. Nearly all of our water now came from the hot springs. We were well hydrated, but miserable in the dry, pasty heat. I remembered swimming pools back on Earth, then recalled the pond where we gathered our food. I began to examine the pond more closely, to see if any predators made their home there. Another week went by. The pond remained peaceful. Declaring the risk minimal, I removed my outer clothes and jumped in. The cool water was incredibly refreshing. The pond was roughly three meters in depth. I felt fish and other creatures swimming by me as I relaxed. A few moments later I climbed out and clothed myself, then ran off to camp.
“Hurry up!” Sapphire ran to keep up. She, like all other Anths, ran awkwardly on the balls of her feet. Anths were fast, but could only run for a little over a mile before injuring themselves.
“Stop… running!” She panted, but I ignored her, we were a few meters f
rom the pond. “I thought… we had… enough fish… for the week.”
“We do, but I realized yesterday that it’s also a great place to cool off.”
“I’m not getting in.”
“Why not?”
She silently pulled on the sleeves of her shirt, indicating that her outfit prevented her from swimming. “Also, how do you even know it’s safe?”
“I’ve been watching it all week. It’s fine.” I turned and removed my shirt, placed it next to our towels, then walked out into the water. Sapphire made an audible sigh, then rolled the legs of her pants up so that she could dip her feet in. She crouched down, dipped her hands into the water, then washed her face. I turned over and dove into the water. A school of small fish gathered around me. Occasionally the fish would take turns eating dead skin off of my legs. Like a hungry predator I would often turn and chase them around the pond. At one point a large, fat, salamander-like creature swam just under me. It floated slowly, oblivious to my presence. I gently tapped its back, causing it to scurry away in terror. I turned back to Sapphire and began to climb out of the pond.
“Having fun?”
“Yep. I brought two towels. Here.” I tossed her one of the towels, then wrapped myself in the other.
“I’m heading back, so maybe now you’ll be more inclined to swim.” Halfway back I was fully clothed again, and nearly dry.
[Chapter 16: Sapphire’s Joy]
Planet: Unknown. Hour: 14 of 20
I didn’t wait long before I decided to swim. I trusted Jacob, and knew he wouldn’t watch. Still… I submerged myself under the water so that only my head broke the surface. We were a couple now, sure, but it was going to be a long time before I felt comfortable with the idea of him seeing me. After all, I have only recently grown comfortable with his breath on my neck when we slept. I opened my eyes under the water. Fish and amphibian darted about my vision. The pond really was a rather peaceful place. I raised my head and took a breath of air. A beautiful sunset greeted me. Jacob was probably starting dinner by now. A familiar emptiness filled my stomach. I quickly got out, dried, and clothed myself. Hunger compelled me to run, but my aching feet begged me to walk. I listened to both.
As I suspected, Jacob sat by the fire, frying one of our preserved fish over it. I sat impatiently as he finished his work.
“You went swimming after all?”
“Yeah, hurry up.” I was hungry.
“You can’t rush cooking. How’d you like it?”
“It was nice.” I didn’t really care. I wanted food.
“Just nice?” I only sighed. “Alright, alright.” He pulled the fish meat off of the fire, then placed my half onto a salvaged plate. I wolfed it down greedily.
“It was great, but honestly I don’t know if I can fit it in my schedule. You know, with all my naps and baths in the hot springs, I just don’t think I can fit it in anywhere.” I was joking, course. Aside from fishing, I often had to fight with Jacob for the opportunity to do anything around the camp. Since he was “the man,” he just had to everything himself. The naps really did get old, after awhile.
“I’m sure you’ll find a way.” He laughed. He seemed to think that I was simply lazy. The meal was good. I ended up eating half of Jacob’s food as well as my own. Occasionally Jacob would use spices we salvaged from the ship to enhance the flavor. Today was one of those occasions.
We slept under the stars that night. It was calm, peaceful. I was happy. I almost forgot about my past.
[Chapter 17: A Year on the Uncharted Planet]
Life became routine. We slept late. I spent the day maintaining the camp and gathering supplies and fruit while Sapphire entertained herself through napping, bathing, and throwing jokes my way while I toiled. This often annoyed me, but by the end of the day Sapphire would greet me with a warm hug, and I would immediately lose the will to fight. Twice a week Sapphire would travel to the pond to fish, then I would preserve it with salt from the salt deposits in the mountains. We were content with this life.
For four more months life continued like this.
Another rainy season soon approached. I has been roughly a year, since we crashed. The air slowly grew cool. The drought, however, left everything parched. The grass crackled loudly under our feet. Trees turned orangish brown in color. Fall was returning.
“I think we should celebrate.” Sapphire dropped her fishing spoils carelessly onto the ground.
“Celebrate what?”
“You know what. We’ve been here for a whole year! If nothing else we should celebrate the fact that neither of us have died yet.” I picked up the fish, sat at our wooden table, and began preparing the meat.
“Don’t jinx it.” I smiled.
“What?”
“Nevermind. Well, what would you propose?”
“Well, we can eat that stash of candy you’ve been hiding from me.” I should have figured I couldn’t hide it forever.
“Anything else? Or do you just want an excuse to eat a few sweets?”
“Hmm… do you have any dancing music?”
“Yeah, one song. Why?”
“Well, we can have a small feast, watch the sunset, dance around the fire, and then we can sleep under the stars.”
“Alright. I’ll start cooking.” Sapphire shot upwards from her seat, then walked off to gather more fish.
She remained there for almost an hour, making me worry. Finally she returned.
“Sorry. Went for a swim.” I continued preparing the fish and the fruit. We even found a stray serpent to cook. The day was late by the time everything was ready.
“What is this?” Sapphire took a slice of meat and ate it.
“That’s meat from the serpent we caught.”
“It’s good. A nice change from the fish meat we eat all the time.” We continued eating until we were stuffed, then rested for a time to let our food digest. Finally we walked, hand in hand, to the cliffside to watch the sunset. We didn’t speak much, preferring the peace of the moment instead. At some point we had both fallen asleep leaning against each other. The sky was pitch black. We wandered awkwardly back to the camp. Immediately I focused on starting a fire. Not long after, we were both resting peacefully before it.
“You want to tell me about your past now?”
“No.”
“You’ll have to tell me eventually.”
“Maybe, but I’m not quite ready just yet.”
“When will you be ready?” She inched closer.
“Don’t worry. You’ll know.” She stood up and pulled me up from my seat. I turned to my armor set and started one of the songs. It was a Rovanekren song that resembled a waltz. We slow danced for several minutes while it played. Then we sat back down and watched the fire. We rested there until the fire started to die. Just as its light began to fade I rose from my spot to ready a blanket for us to sleep on. The last of the fire’s light disappeared, forcing Sapphire to wander in the dark towards me.
“I’m over here.”
“I can see just fine.” She insisted. I felt her trip over my legs. She stumbled forward, but she was able to catch herself, and she sat silently next to me. I kissed her cheek then looked up at the stars. The planet’s large moon could be seen just over the horizon. The stars themselves were equally beautiful. Shooting stars could be seen everywhere. We began pointing them out to each other. Eventually, we started making up our own constellations. Sapphire curled up next to me.
“I love this place.”
“Yeah…” I began to close my eyes.
“I never want to leave.” My eyes gently opened back up. The stars now reminded me of home, of the life that I left behind. I remembered the beacon, and what it meant if someone were to find us. I turned towards Sapphire and held her. I resolved to turn the beacon off tomorrow.
[Chapter 18: The Inferno]
We slept in for a long time past morning. Neither of us wanted to leave the other’s warmth behind. Eventually we forced ourselves to start the day. Rather than t
ake her usual swim, Sapphire invited me to help her fish. I had intended to visit the ship, but gladly accepted her invitation. We worked for three hours trying to catch a new supply of fish, mainly because I still could not manage to catch a single fish. By the time we returned to our camp it was the afternoon again. Sapphire took a towel and went off to soak in the hot springs. I waited some time after she was out of sight, then returned to our crashed ship.
The darkened sky made me nervous. It had been clear for months, but was now threatening with thunder and strengthening wind. I refused to turn back now. I had to turn off the beacon as soon as possible. The small machine came within view, inspiring me to run. I thought of nothing else. Not the debris, not the storm, nothing. A bright light flashed before me, traveling from the sky to a large metal pole some distance ahead of me and a thundering explosion echoed through the air. The light blinded me for a second, just long enough to cause me to trip on something. I struck the ground with my left shoulder, then rolled onto my back for a moment. Forcing my body to ignore the pain, I stood back up. Rain started coming down violently. I worried about Sapphire, who was probably still at the hot springs. I had to go back. I swore, and started to run through the pouring rain.
Sapphire and I reached our shelter at the same time. She carried her clothes in her arms. In their place, had a towel wrapped tightly around her.
“You alright?”
“Do I look alright to you?! I didn’t-” CRACK! Another bolt of lightning struck a large dead tree, causing it to burst into flames, then we stared in horror as it crashed against our shelter. Instantly a roaring fire swallowed up both trees and much of the dry grass. We both ran towards the camp and started gathering supplies. Much of it was already ruined. The fire began to snake through the grass towards the bordering trees. I set my armor in a large tarp then tied it together with rope like a backpack. Thankfully it had fallen out of the shelter when the burning tree struck it. I threw the makeshift backpack over my shoulder, took my rifle and started packing another backpack full of whatever preserved food we had left. Sweat ran down my face as I worked. The wind caused the heat to swirl around me, and the rain trapped the smoke, suffocating me. I took one of our blankets and tied it down to the second pack with our remaining rope. The fire began to surround me. Grabbing a few large nails from the pile, I abandoned the rest of our supplies and rejoined Sapphire at the edge of the clearing. The fire followed, forcing us to run through the forest. We ran until our lungs felt like they were about to burst. We had long left the fire behind, but adrenaline kept us running. Before we knew it, we were right in the middle of the outer field. The whole forest glowed bright orange from the fire. A pillar of smoke joined the storm clouds. Still nervous about the storm, we continued on to the adjacent forest, where the pond was located. A small tree with low hanging branches welcomed us.