The Giant's Savior

[lazybug]

(repost . . .again)

Rated PG-13 for dark elements


Part 1


The smell of burned flesh wreaked the air, gagging at the mere taste of it when she accidentally opened her mouth to gasp for air. Sounds of flames and metal creaking filled her ears and slowly opened her eyes. What was left of the seven forty seven plane was now nothing but shreds and crinkles of scrap metal that littered the dark landscape. Her eyes watering from the stench couldn’t register in her mind of the sight before her. Grasping the seat that pinned her to the wall, she pushed with all her might against the seat until it gave and slide enough to release her, then stumbled down the hallway of the plane . . . or . . . what was left of it. She felt something warm run down the top and side of her head and raise a hand to touch it; blood. Human blood covered her head and groped for the gash, expecting to feel pain but there was none.



Drip . . . Drip . . . Drip. . .



She looked up to the source, only to fall on her rear and scream the hoarsest scream that she could muster from her dried lungs. Right above her hang a dead body of a man, with a large gash across his face from his forehead down to his chin, and blood dripped from his head in large droplets on to her face. Quickly she scrambled from the cracked floor and bolted from the body, trying her best to wipe the blood off her face. But she couldn’t run far though, wires and oxygen masks dangled in her way, entangling her like a spider web and she screamed even more from her entrapment. The girl ripped free from the wires, and crawled over burned seats which some had charred bodies still sitting in them. Everything was dark except for the flames burning the fuel and hot metal here and there, but she didn’t care, she had to get out this nightmare, she had to wake up!

A dull light poured from the open front which no longer held the other half of the plane, and lurched to it. The air didn’t reek outside as much as before but it was enough tell her it was still real. Hot tears blinded her as she walked unsteadily as far from the plane as she could. But when she looked back, it was enough for the girl to drop on her hands and knees and throw up.

Glowing against the pitch black background of the eerie night, the plane was engulfed in flames in certain areas. Seats, bodies, some strapped to the seats, a few luggage, glass from the windows, and scrap of flaming metal scattered across the rocky landscape around the main body of the plane. The plane looked as if a child had ripped it in half, with the frame work and wires hanging like ribbons off the edges where it torn. But strangely she couldn’t see where the front half of the plane went. She looked to her right and could only see the tail end laying on a tilt, and the mini wings on side that steer it were partially ripped. No one was walking around, not a sound of agony of someone calling for help was heard in the wind, and not even a moan or a single movement came from any of the bodies that laid still. The sound of burning fuel and falling metal only proved she was the only survivor.

“Hello?!!! Is anyone alive out there?!!!”

Nothing.

“Somebody! Anybody!! SAY SOMETHING!!!PLEEEAAASEEE!!!”

Silence only greeted her and a slow calm wind blew into her face, ruffling her sandy brown hair in the breeze. . .

Every bone in her body shook with shock, gasping for breath became too difficult as it was as her eyes scanned the whole perimeter, taking in every detail of the horror before her. She clasped her face, soaking them in tears, and wailed at the sky until all the air was emptied from her body and then wailed again and again. She couldn’t remember how long she did it, but by that time her lungs and throat were dry.

She was alone. . .

She was truly alone. . .

[lazybug]

Part 2


She sat there for as long she could remember. Flash backs from the past flew across her mind to memories happy and full of joy, or regretful and sadness. Her heart ached for those times, good or bad, as long as she wasn’t here, sitting on this rocky hill staring at the wasteland that stretched for miles on end.

The girl had turned her back from the crash site, to hopefully erase the destruction that etched into her mind. The wind had fortunately changed course so the stench of charred bodies were downwind from her, so as not to be reminded where she really was and what had happened.

But what did happen? She thought to herself. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last moments before or during the crash. Pounding her head with her fist, she tried to remember something; anything as to know what happened before everything came crashing down on her in one night.

Panic rose in her chest again and scrapped every fiber in her mind to try and remember. Why couldn’t she? She didn’t understand any of it. She checked herself for any head trauma or bodily injuries. But strangely even to herself, she only had minor cuts and bruises and a headache the size of Texas she wished had Advil for.

“I might’ve just hit my head, that could be it.” She reasoned. But it didn’t sound comforting that she’s a sole survivor and alone in a strange land.


With a sigh she looked out across the dark scenery. It looked like something pulled out of a science fiction artwork and brought to life in the most unimaginable possibility to produce on Earth. Dawn broke in the horizon, but the dark clouds that covered the sky obscured most of the light, creating a mixer of gray and warm orange-red beams of light to bathe the clouds in. To her left she saw a massive mountain range jutting out of the ground, like sharp points on a crown, and stretching far and wide through the land full of boulders and sharp rocks. As the sun rose higher behind the clouds, she could have sworn she saw what looked like a turquoise colored moon through a small hole in the clouds. It had seemed that the longer she stared at those mountains, the more she became aware that she maybe no longer on Earth after all.

Her eyes watered again. The thought struck her hard, to the point she just wanted to curl up into a ball and die. Then at least she could join with the others on the other side that were no longer here to be in eternal peace and joy with them. But no . . . She was here now, alone on an alien world with nothing but her thoughts and the clothes on her back. If she was going to die alone, she might as well die doing something than just sulking around. Finally, the girl rose from her perch on the flat rock and turned her head to the crash site. A foreign strength unknown to her builds up within her, a calming feeling slowly warming her spirit as if to say it will be alright.

And she prayed that it had better be true.

[lazybug]

Part 3


Taking a deep breath, she grabbed hold of the remaining passenger, who was gently wrapped in a sheet she found in a compartment of the plane. Luckily the temperature was cold enough not to decompose the bodies yet, otherwise the job would have been much more difficult to accomplish without fainting. Tightening her grip around the sheet near the feet, she tiredly dragged the passenger to the shallow grave she dug nearby. It was the only area that wasn¡¦t solid rock, and felt it would be more dignified if she gave the dead a proper burial. She pushed with a huff the passenger over the lip of the grave, until tumbling down to meet the other sheet covered passengers that rested at the bottom. Panting a few times, she staggered a little before looking down at the small bag near her feet. They were the wallets and ID cards of the many passengers she could find that carried them. Those she couldn¡¦t find the girl kneeled down and prayed for them, before dragging them to the grave site. She held in her hand a King James Bible she had found by the seat she remembered sitting, which in her heart she was glad to find. Opening the front cover of the Bible, she saw what she was looking for and a small smile appeared on her face . . . On the very first page, in beautiful cursive, her name was written with a smiley face drawn next to it.

To: Mecallia J. Swanson ļ

From: Jessie Hudson

PS: may it bring joy and light into your life as it has in mine.

Love, J.


¡§Thank you, Jessie.¡¨ She said softly and gently closed the cover.

Mecallia gingerly picked up her piece of metal which was makeshift into a shovel and shoved it into the dirt, depositing it over the rested in the grave. It took some time but she finally dumped the last pile of dirt over the grave. By the end of the morning, Mecallia placed the last stone on top of the grave. Behind the stone pile were about twenty or so crosses erected, each one with an inscription of several names to remember them by. The dead that she couldn¡¦t extract from the wreck; whether they were pinned or dismembered, she laid clothes or sheets over them.

Her mind wheeled with dizziness. It was still too much for her to understand any of this, and the bleak gray landscape wasn¡¦t making it any better for her. But Mecallia still had other things to do before contemplating over it, and began her walk along the expansion of the tail end of the plane. The luggage, big or small, scattered everywhere from the impact which took some time to collect and stack them in one place. A sound of rumbling thunder was heard in the dark clouds, and water droplets quietly pelted the wreckage around her, slowly dampening her dirty light brown hair and clothes as she analyzed the suitcases. One by one, Mecallia rummaged through them, setting aside clothes that would fit her and necessities she would need. Once in awhile she found pictures of family and friends in a suitcase and had thought about her family back home, and wondered how they were faring in her disappearance, and then she gently placed them back and zipped it up again. One suitcase was interesting; it held a collection of knives of different shapes and sizes for certain purposes. She figured they will be useful and set them aside and kept rummaging through. Eventually she found her own bag that contained her camouflage suits, which was supposed to be a Birthday gift to her brothers.

But then a smile stretched on her lips as something else of great importance revealed itself to her. Lying innocently on top of her clothes in a wooden case was a dark brown Clark tin whistle. Mecallia picked it up with care and examined every inch of it for damages or scratches on it, but surprisingly she found none. She sighed with mixture of relief and worry.

A strange sensation went through her body as she pulled on the zipper of another suitcase. She looked up and scanned the area around her, as if expecting for someone to be there. Just the sound of soft rain falling filled her ears, so with a shrug Mecallia turned back to opening the suitcase again. . .


. . . . .



There it was again!

Mecallia jerked her head up and looked around.

¡§What is that?¡¨ She asked to no one in particular. It was a faint sound, barely above a whisper, but yet she heard it as if someone had snuck up from behind and whispered it into her ear. The tingle sensation commenced again and she felt herself rise from her knees without realizing it. She listened carefully for the sound. Was that singing? No. . . . It was the combination of singing and a calling. Mecallia¡¦s eyes narrowed and shrugged it off, believing it was insanity trying to surface before the day even ended.

By the end of day, Mecallia had successfully made a shelter a ways from the wreckage, just behind a group of large over hang boulders that made ideal shelter from the wind and rain. She tucked her pillow and blankets around her, and laid down on the hard rocky floor, clutching the case with the tin whistle in it to her chest. A deep feeling of survivor¡¦s guilt had crept into her soul, and a few tears fell down her dirty cheeks. The sun descended behind the alien horizon, and she stared at it with ever constant questions graining into her head for answers for them. Why her? Why did she survive and no one else did? She saw the deadly result of the wreckage, but why was she spared from it with barely a scratch? They repeated in her head over and over until her mind finally drifted into the deep depths of sleep.

[lazybug]

Part 4



It wasn’t much of a comforting sleep at all, not by the very least. Mecallia was in a semi-dark room, sitting in her seat next to a man whose face was concealed by the darkness around them. The people in the room were expressionless, motionless, sitting at attention like mannequins in a store with soulless eyes boring into the wall in front of them. A strange light caught her interest to her left. The light at first was dim in a warming orange glow . . . the room shook violently and the front wall of the room ripped open. A mixer of flames and cosmic energy ruptured into the room, consuming the people that sat motionless in their seats as if it were an everyday occurrence. She screamed right before dust like particles entered her mouth and filled up her lungs, preventing any other sound to escape from her. Mecallia in horror watched the people in their seats burn until they turned into ash and disintegrate as a swirling cloud of dust. The flames crept along the ceiling and walls, coming closer to her with each passing second. She tried to rise but a stiff hand from the man next to her snatched her arm. Looking over, her eyes widened, trying to scream despite the dust in her lungs. It was the same man from before . . . the gash across his face visible from the light of the approaching flames.

A scream sounded and the flames surrounded her on all sides . . .


The high pitch scream echoed throughout the morning alien landscape, and the figure resting beneath the overhang boulder jerked upright. Mecallia kept screaming until she opened her eyes to see she wasn’t on the plane anymore, but quickly looked around to be sure it wasn’t still a dream. She pinched herself, hard . . . It was real alright.

The sun rose in the horizon, about to disappear behind the dark clouds just as before. Mecallia stared for a moment at the only source of comfort the sun offered in this barren land, before rising to her feet and stretching out the aches and stiffness the rocky ground had provided for her as a bed. Emerging out of the overhang, she planned her next move of what to do. The land of rocks and boulders stretched out far as the eyes could see, but if she could just find higher ground she would have a better idea of what country she maybe in. With that in mind, Mecallia scanned the land again for a good ground point. She noticed a little ways from the wreckage on the other side of the tail that the hills rose higher, and began to walk there. But then she realized the hill was steeper than anticipated, but still pressed on regardless, with the curiosity etching in her brain and also the knowing that this was a good distraction from her traumatic experience.

The clouds above gave a low rumble, threatening to pour rain down again and wet the rocks to make her journey more difficult. But to her luck they didn’t and made to the top in no time, stumbling a few times but quickly regaining her balance.


What she found wasn’t what she expected.


“What the . . .” She gasped.


At the bottom a wide valley, in a light fog were littered with ships big and small. From a small wooden canoe to the largest sailing ships, Mecallia stood in awe at the great number of them. Some seemed to still be in good shape to use again, while others were in ruin and beyond repair. Slowly making her way down the hill, Mecallia cautiously walked up to a wooden long ship. She recognized it as a Viking ship, the head on the bow shaped like a dragon head, and the oars and mass still stood despite its weathered down appearance. Narrowing her eyes, Mecallia looked to the next closest ship. It was a Chinese ship from the looks of the bamboo sails still hanging on the mass. Then the next one, a European ship with tattered sails perhaps from the seventeen hundreds. The rest were mainly long boats of different countries. Some Egyptian, others Greek, but few she couldn’t decide because of lack of design or emblem. But then she noticed some were more recent, such as a few fishing ships with their nets hanging on the side, ready to be lowered to catch fish that no longer exist.

Mecallia walked through the graveyard of boats, ships, and as she walked deeper into the valley, she saw a few fighter planes from World War II that scattered here and there, with skeletons of pilots still resting in the cot pit.

“Where on Earth am I?!” She asked herself, as if she would somehow miraculously have the answer. Curving her hands around her mouth, she yelled into the fog, “HELLO?!!! IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?!!!”

Only the cold wind blowing against the tattered sails answered her call. She eyes burned with tears, threatening to fall, but she blinked them away. This is no time to cry. Not yet. But Mecallia couldn’t help it; she is all alone in this world with only remnants to remember her past life in another.

She pressed on through the ship graveyard, but kept the hill she came down from in her sight so she could find the way back to her shelter. Every now and then she collected items that littered the ground or from a gutted ship that could be useful. At one time she found a well conditioned katana still in its velvet lined case, with beautiful designs on the handle and the blade itself. Mecallia loved swords, but unfortunately never had the chance to learn how to wield one. Many of the weapons and armor she collected she placed in a pile to carry back with her. And when it seemed like it was getting dark, Mecallia carried what she could in a large fur bag and returned to the shelter.

The overhang she stayed under was big enough for five people to sleep under comfortably, and placed the items and her decorated katana to one side. As Mecallia sat down, she looked over to the little case next to her sleeping mat. The evening sun’s rays glared radiantly across the polished wood surface. Perhaps a small tune wouldn’t hurt, she thought and opened up the case to reveal the brilliant dark brown whistle inside. The silence other than the occasional rumbling of the overcast clouds did nothing to comfort her other than to make life drearier. Checking one more time for any imperfections, Mecallia raised the whistle to her lips and exhaled.

A high, yet, sweet sound flowed out of the whistle. Flowing like rose petals in the breeze to travel throughout the land for the all the gloomy world to hear its beautiful voice. It did not matter what tune she played, for as long it stilled the silence and fill it instead with joy and love. She let her fingers manipulate the six little holes until she couldn’t breathe anymore, and let the music slowly fade off into the air. It felt good to have something you love for once. And as the sun set, she made a small meal with perishable food from the carts on the plane, and then made herself comfortable again for the second night on this alien world.

[lazybug]

Part 5


“. . . Come on, you stupid piece of crap . . . Come out!”

But alas, it would not. No matter how much she pulled on it, it refused budge. With a groan she let go, and stood before it with a glare that she hoped imaginatively would it set free. The Viking battle axe, true to its name, was wedged deep into the rotten wood on the side of one of the long ships. After a minute of her glare down at the stubborn weapon, Mecallia clutched the handle once more. With all her might she weighed her body on top of the handle in order to push down, then placed her shoulders underneath it and tried pushing up. She repeated this a few more times until she heard a small familiar crack! in the wood. Then with one last push downward, the axe released itself from its prison.

“GAH!!!” Mecallia yelped as both she and the axe fell to the ground with a thud, dirt particles and mold flying everywhere out of the rotten wood. After stand up and brushing the dirt off her jeans, she picked up the handle and did her best to drag the axe to her growing pile at the base of the hill.

“How the crap do these guys swing this thing without pulling an arm off in the process?” she asked in thought. But of course, these were Vikings she was talking about. It felt like she was dragging a splitting maul that was three times its weight. She didn’t get even halfway to her pile, which was a good half a football field away, before dropping the handle and plopping herself on top of a large rock that poked out of an English sail ship. She was surprised what she could find out here, it was like an archeologist’s version of heaven. Weapons, armor, pottery, jewelry, clothes, more dead people, spices (but preferred not to risk food poisoning). . . . You name it, it was here.

Mecallia sighed heavily, her mouth feeling parched for water that she had so little of in the first place. She had been surviving for five days now. The little food and water she had rationed from the plane has now dwindled to what she estimated a day or two now, if she counted the rations from the luggage’s as well. She didn’t even want to think about. It was bad enough surviving alone without going crazy, but to die slowly and painfully? Suicide seemed an option, but even then Mecallia couldn’t bring herself to do such an act. It felt cowardly . . . Dishonorable. If she was not meant to die in that plane, then for what purpose then? The thoughts swam around her head causing her head ache to such an extent, pressing her hands on both sides of her hand to ease the pressure.

When the pressure finally left her, she let go of her head and looked up the lifeless ships littered around her. Her mind was so clouded as the fog around her, that didn’t she see at first the strange shape that moved between the ships several yards away from her spot.

Mecallia could have sworn her heart stopped for two seconds, her lunges refusing to inhale to form a gasp at what just happened before her. She froze in her spot, not moving a muscle, until the movement caught the corner of her eye to her left. A gasp escaped her lips and quickly unsheathed the decorated katana from her belt, holding it in front of her like a samurai. She eyed the area around her, keeping the sail ship behind her in case of an attack from behind.

A minute passed . . . Then two . . . Then three . . . But still no sign of it.

Did she just imagine it? She didn’t want know. Keeping a firm grip on the katana, Mecallia side stepped a few paces, before turning on a heel and walked briskly out of the ship yard and over the hill. She grabbed whatever items she had in a pile into her arms and looked back every ten seconds to make sure nothing was following her, if there was anything there in the first place.
Her heart finally slowed down as she neared the only place she was familiar with in this alien terrain. But it also brought mixed emotions. She was happy see it but at the same time dread it. Mecallia could still see the sheet covered bodies in and around the plane, and with the air still cold she still couldn’t smell any evidence of decomposition. Her body shivered at the thought and immediately stumbled down to her man-made path to her rock over hang she now called home. It was set up just over another hill behind two giant boulders that towered into points, leaving it out of view of the plane and the carnage behind it.

Mecallia sighed as she bent almost halfway into the overhang and plopped onto her back on the mattresses that bunked up against the rock wall. The clouds outside rumbled but luckily no rain had fallen since day two. As her eyes stared at the ceiling, her hand fumbled around her side to pick up a photograph of her family and raised it in front of her. Hot tears threaten to blur the image of the family she may never see again, their smiling faces glowing in eagerness for her to return home and share her stories of her adventures. But Mecallia will never get that chance, and with a final glance she set it down and turned onto her side to face the rock landscape, with only her sobs echoing in the air.

[lazybug]

Part 6



Darkness had long blanketed the rocky landscape, deprived of sound of any sort.

The only sound heard was the groaning anxiety under the rock overhang. The figure laid on her make shift sleeping mat, tossing her head from side to side with beats of sweat dripping from her brow.

That dream . . . that wretched dream plagued the deep depths of her mind. The expressionless people just sitting there, waiting in their seats for death to claim them without a fuss. Mecallia stood to run before it came, but the man next to her grabbed her arm again in an iron grip, the gash on his face dripping with blood down his face and onto his white button shirt. She tried to scream for help, but was caught in her throat as if someone was choking her. Flames and energy busted through the plane, ripping it in half and consuming everything in sight. Mecallia stared in horror and jerked her arm violently, but the dead man’s grip stayed firm. And before the flames consumed her as well, she saw the man’s lips move to form a word, but she couldn’t understand it and screamed as the flames reached her. . .


The figure jerked into a sitting position and screamed into the cold night air, panting heavily when she realized she was in the real world again. Her lips quivered as she wrapped her arms around her body and began to rock back and forth, crying to herself.

“Y-your ok . . . Your o-ok . . . Your ok . . .” Mecallia whispered over and over. The sun had finally peaked in the horizon to bath the girl in a warm orange glow. Once her breath slowed, Mecallia calm down a little more to see the welcoming sun rise and then noticed as she looked up at the sky that the dark rain clouds were scarcer. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight, having to no longer see the gloomy clouds as much as before. Despite that the sun had raised, clusters of alien constitution stars shined faintly, and now with the clouds gone she saw the beautiful turquoise moon which had small rings around it at an angle.

Yawning, Mecallia rose from her bed and stretched, ready to tackle another day of what was needed to be done. The landscape only greeted her with more dark black and gray rocks when emerging from the rock over hang. Her eyes lazily scan the surrounding area since there was nothing else to see other than rocks . . .


“Huh?”


She stopped abruptly . . . Then she retraced her inspection of the land until whatever caught her eye was in front of her again. Mecallia squinted at the phenomena. Near the base of the crowned mountain ranges a strange object glowed. The longer she squinted, the bigger the object glowed and more detail around it began to form, producing more glowing objects to flicker to life. From what Mecallia could make out were tall structures, perhaps buildings, towering high amongst the massive rocks around it, almost blending in with them. She couldn’t believe it at first. Is there a civilization out here after all? Others have been here before her, so there had to be other survivors as well.

A tingle sensation shivered up her body when she heard it . . . The strange eerie song that came out of nowhere. It rode on the wind like a ghost that blew around her, multiple voices singing it at the same time and never stopping either. Who’s singing it? She closed her eyes for a moment to see if she could pinpoint its original location. It was coming from her left side, the same direction as the strange structures she saw. Her heart leaped for joy at the thought. People like her living on a strange planet, adapting to survive and live a new life given to them.

Mecallia wasted no time to contemplate her options. She gathered whatever was needed for the short journey, figuring from the distance the buildings were would probably take up half a day without breaks. Food from the plane, a water bottle, first aid kit, and a light blanket was stuffed into her backpack and zipped it shut. For extra precaution, if she encountered danger of any sort, Mecallia strapped on some light weight, but badly weathered leather armor that were the smallest she could find. It took her a while to figure out how to put it on and was surprised it was slightly heavier than she thought too. Finally, she placed on her head an aviator’s leather hat with large goggles on top, and the decorated katana in its sheath tied to her side as the final touch. If Mecallia could only find a mirror to look at herself with, she’d probably agree with herself that she looked ridiculous. But she was on a mission; she didn’t have time to look presentable if there was, in fact, a civilization just within her reach.

Mecallia took one last glance back to her temporary home, positioning the backpack over her shoulders. She would be back later to collect more of the things if need to be, but for now she needed to travel light while the day was still young to get there quicker. So, without looking back, Mecallia began her hike across the alien landscape.

[lazybug]

Part 7



Just when she thought the day would be sunny, the clouds again covered the sun’s comforting light and brought back the dreary atmosphere, but only once in a while did it let the sun through as if to tease her. She sighed as she weaved to and fro around the large boulders that were as big as her, and turned back once in a while to make sure the tail of the plane was still barely visible. The sun was kept to her side and eyed a few key land marks along the way in case she felt she was lost and could find a way back to the plane.

Mecallia glanced at her watch . . . Ten thirty. She had been walking for over an hour now, but she noticed she had made progress to the buildings a lot faster than she thought. She just hoped they would accept her and not let her die alone out in this barren land.

Mecallia was set and ready to move again when something caught her eye. Something strange stuck out from behind one of the giant rock structures that were three times taller than her. Cautiously, she walked around the stone wall and poked her head around the corner. Her eyes widened at the scale of it . . . It was as tall as a radio tower but three times its width, and appeared to be physically attached to the stone wall. Mecallia walked around it, trying to figure out what it could be used for since there was no door around the base or windows above. But as she looked further up, almost bending her entire upper body without falling backward to see, she noticed strange lights flickering at the top of the tower. Mecallia stared at it for a few more moments, deciding it must be a type of watch tower for the town, and proceeded onward.

The rocks and boulders became smaller and smaller now as she got closer to the buildings. It felt like she was walking for hours, but when glancing down at her watch again she noticed it had only been another hour since she left the strange tower behind. Mecallia breathed a heavy sigh and looked up to see a vast space between her and a line of boulders ahead and marched on forward. The dark clouds above her rumbled to threaten to let the rain fall, but as the clouds rumbled, so did a new sound float across the flat rock space.


Voices . . .


They were faint, but it was without a doubt what she heard. Her heart wanted to leap for joy at that very second. Smiling big and a sigh of relief escaping her lips at the same time, she jogged in the direction of the sound, forgetting about her body aching to rest. Mecallia quickly jogged to the other side of the open space and into the line of boulders. She was half glad to see the rocks bigger than her so she could observe and hide at time if things weren’t what she expected. The voices became louder and louder. The closer she got the stealthier and quiet she became and slowed her pace.

There were multiple voices, she noticed, but what made her more confused was they didn’t sound very friendly. They spoke in a foreign language, mostly made of either grunts or sounds as if sand paper was in someone’s throat as they spoke. She finally stopped at a distance she knew they couldn’t see her, yet at the same time she could hear them clearly. Ever so slowly, Mecallia peered between two giant boulders which leaned against each other. Her eyebrows crumpled. Where were they!? She can still hear the voices but there was nobody on the other side to identify it with.

A booming resembling a shout erupted, followed by another noise and then the ground shook violently underneath her feet. Meccallia tried to keep her balance, but lost it at the last minute and fell on her butt with a light thud. She groaned in pain from landing on the hard ground beneath her, but then her head shot up when another booming shout echoed in the air.

“Ben’ja dos veel! Kat erra sout owt vaust!” The voice shouted. Why in the world were they so loud? Since the language was foreign to her, trying to tell them she was friendly was out the question. As she got up and brushed off any stray pebbles that stuck to her bottom, Mecallia listened to the constant voices and headed for them, still keeping low and hidden as she went.

By now she can see the large buildings more clearly, but instead of having a friendly appearance, it was dark and gloomy, even to the point Mecallia began feel something wasn’t right about it as she walked closer. The voices had become so load now that she had to cover her ears because of the constant shouting. When she felt they were close enough, she stopped at the biggest boulder and laid her back against it. Mecallia took a deep breath; they were just beyond her hiding spot. Ever so slowly, her body rose from the ground and peeked around the massive boulder she hid behind. And as the voices continued, her eye widened in horror. . .

On the other side her boulder a small cliff dropped off. And beyond that small cliff below she saw men digging into the rocky ground. But they were not ordinary men . . . they came in all shapes and sizes. Some looked like normal humans to her, but then others had distinguishing features she swore were only in stories or mythology books. Her body began to tremble. Not just from their unusual forms. . . .But the fact they towered far above her.

Despite the small cliff she stood on, the massive forms closest to her reached up far above her spot, about chest height from what she could guess. Quickly Mecallia spun back around the boulder, her chest rising and falling so fast she swore she would pass out from the mass intake of oxygen.

“Giants. . .” She breathed. “I’m in a world of giants. . .”

Her body shook uncontrollably as Mecallia slid down the boulder wall . . . She was dead . . . She had to be. Why else would there be strange beings walking around on an alien world that she could only theorize at how she got here? She bent her knees into herself and silently sobbed into them, knowing the full truth that she was alone like the others who have fallen prey to this grey rocky landscape. . .

“Von del, ya?! Swel dien veel’ leesh kat’ra oui!!” Another booming shout rung through the air, and Mecallia shrunk back against the rock in terror. There was a sound of something massive hitting another, resulting in an alien like cry and another earthquake following it. Mecallia felt her body vibrate along with the tremors, and when it finally stopped, she willed every ounce of nerve in her body to turn back to the giant men. She didn’t know why, but she had to know what would cause such a horrific noise. Ever so slowly, she peaked out until only her eyes could be seen around the rock. Mecallia did her best to slow her breathing, for fear of that despite their massive size that they could still pin point her location. With shaky hands leaning against the wall for support, Mecallia blinked away what tears that blurred her vision and focused the giants before her.

The low rumbling of the gray clouds and the gloomy rocky landscape was not a pleasant combination to what Mecallia would see. She mentally guessed, as far as she could see, to be at least thirty men working the rocky ground. How did she know? Almost all were completely shirtless. But the clothes that the others did have were nothing more than tatters, soaked with dirt and sweat beyond recognition of what its original color once was. They all wore shackles around their ankles, for which a heavy chain interlaced through the rings of each ankle and then connecting with another pair of shackles of the other next to him. For every ten men, a guard was stationed to keep a close eye on them and make sure they were all working at the same pace. But what made Mecallia tremble even more were the deep red marks that covered their bare flesh.

A booming cry made her flinch and looked to her left, and her face paled if it were not any paler. A group of prisoners had one man down closest to her and was struggling to get up. He was so close she could see the ripples of his muscles shaking, trembling beneath the grimy flesh that covered his whole torso. The man was nearly on his hands and knees when a fierce kick from one the guards that had the monster appearance of a goblin aimed at his ribs. Mecallia covered her mouth in time to suppress a scream as the boot made contact and the man crumbled to the rocky ground like a beat up doll.

He laid there motionless. Only the massive shoulders moving up and down gave her the sign that he was still breathing.

Move. . .Please move. . . She mentally begged. The giant guards around him laughed and pointed their deformed weapons at him, muttering something in a language she couldn’t understand. Finally the shackled giant moved, his breath ragged into fitting coughs as he tried to stand once more, but dropped back to the ground in a loud thud as quickly as he rose. Her heart broke, seeing the sight of deep wounds on his back and shoulders, some obviously still fresh and blood now flowing and running down the length of his back. The giant turned on his side, still coughing from the kick. Mecallia was shocked to find that he was much younger than the rest of the giants, perhaps no older than her. She watched as the coughing stopped and he looked up from his position on the ground. The guard that stood in front her was between the prisoner and her hiding spot on the cliff, and she assumed that he was looking at the guard.

When the young giant’s face appeared, she gasped. Beneath the muddy blonde hair and dirt covered face, his eyes focused past the guard and slightly above the cliff face. Mecallia saw his eyes widen, piercing through her like a dagger. Even at a distance she saw that they were no ordinary human eyes . . . they were like jewels . . . a beautiful, soft, glossy green color like emerald stones, cut smoothly to perfection. They stood out against the dark and despairing landscape around themselves, glowing with a shine from an unknown light source she could not distinguish.

The eyes were only able to focus on her for several seconds, before a huge scaled hand grabbed the boy’s shoulder roughly and dragged him to his feet. All Mecallia could do was watch as the two guards half dragged the poor boy away from the rest and towards the larger than normal buildings. After they had left a good distance, Mecallia found the will to move, and wasted no time as her legs took her as far they could, away from such horror that had burned into the deep depths of her mind.

[lazybug]

Part 8



She couldn’t stop . . . she couldn’t stop the tears that flowed down her face as she stumbled back in the direction of the plane. She kept going until Mecallia saw the same tower like structure ahead. Staggering, Mecallia walk up to the tower and slid her back against the cool metallic surface, sliding down to the ground as she cried into her hands in hopelessness.
H
er mind still burned with the images of the giants, chained and forced to work, the hideous faces of the guards that taunted them. But her mind kept projecting an image that stuck to her the most . . . the boy with the emerald eyes.

He was big, yes, but at the same time very human like. His size clearly confirmed her theory of where she was; that she was not on Earth anymore, or worse . . . .

Her heart wrenched as she pulled away the tear soaked hands from her face and stared at them with blurry eyes. It still pounded in her chest at great speed, threatening to burst from the strain of seeing such a sight that Mecallia wouldn’t have ever experienced in her sixteen years of life.

And yet . . . Why did she feel sympathy for him?

Mecallia couldn’t understand it; they were big . . . big enough to crush you with one blow compared to her diminutive size. She had heard many stories about giants, folklore or modern. The massive, destructive like creatures that ate humans on a daily basis, until a knight . . . or a clever village idiot, defeat the monster and saves the day. And then there were the giants in modern fiction, practically polar opposites. They were gentle, caring, willing to defend the helpless from danger that the little ones couldn’t handle. Either way, they didn’t exist . . . they were only in fairytales, right?

“Aahh, I’m so confused!” She shut her eyes tightly, a moan escaping her mouth. There was no point in trying to reason with herself. Mecallia’s mind kept finding excuses as to why they were chained up, being abused, and forced to work in such horrid conditions as she witnessed, but none of them added up. With a swipe of her sleeve, she tried to remove the tears from her face before looking up to the rocky landscape, having become so familiar to her now as the gray clouds threaten again to pour rain on the small figure.

Mecallia didn’t know what to do; she could go back to the plane and live out her days alone until she dies, or . . .

A dawn of light flashed in her mind and her eyes widened, slapping a hand against her forehead, “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

Why would she even think like that! Was it even possible?! Mecallia’s mind became dizzy just thinking about it. Sure, they were freaking HUGE! But it didn’t make them any less human that they deserved such treatment.

But then again, how can a timid teenage girl from a small Wisconsin town with little to no fighting ability, and is only the size of a giant’s palm do anything to help them!? She growled to herself as she rested her head against her hands.


Yeessss . . . how could such a pathetic creature such as you help anyone?


Her head snapped up at the sound of the voice. An unnatural chill lingered in the air around her, running up the length of her spine and spreading to her lungs that froze in place, refusing to inhale air from the sudden sound. Mecallia looked to her left . . . nothing, then looked right . . . nothing. Her body turned all the way round until the metallic surface of the tower was within her vision, and then exhaled a deep sigh. She imagined it again. Mecallia’s head rung with negative thoughts, and they were starting to take form on the outside, provoking her with even more negative thoughts that she didn’t normally before.


Heeheeehee . . . how insulting. . . .You should have died along with the rest of your kind . . .


“Shut up . . .” Mecallia said quietly, clutching both sides of her head. Why was she thinking like this? She already made a commitment not to do anything rash, so why is it happening now?


You’re weak . . . you don’t deserve to breathe the air you were given . . .


She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tight, “Shut up. . .” She hissed louder. The air became colder and colder, the moister on the gray rocks slowly turning to frost and spreading closer to her sitting spot. There was the sound of movement to her left, but Mecallia didn’t dare open her eyes to see what it was, since her first priority was stopping the eerie voice inside her head. If this is what it’s like be insane, then she didn’t like it at all.


Why would you waste your life to free a monster that is to suffer for his sins! . . .


Now she was pissed, “I said, SHUT. UP!!!”


Silence followed, and the unnatural cold air lifted. Mecallia’s body ceased to shake and a calming slowly spread over her. Her unstable feet forced themselves under her body, and then pushed herself to stand steady next to the shining gray tower so alien on the edge of the rocky plateau. Its true she thought. Why would she waste her life for creatures she had no capability to save? And even she did . . . would they be friendly? Would they even help her find a way home? But her mind quickly went to the opposite, and she didn’t like it. But . . .

She closed her eyes carefully . . . Listening. Even at a distance she can still hear them; the faint pounding of the chisels and hammers the giants worked with, metal meeting rock with a terrifying, quaking force. But her ears heard something else. . .

. . . The song . . . it tried to get her attention before, and it had her attention now . . . it was whimsical, yet sad at the same time. It came from in the direction where the giants were, and along with the song came the grunts and cries of their pain.

Mecallia didn’t know why, but strangely . . . she can feel it. That same foreign strength building up in her chest, her heart warming to a point she no longer felt the cold weather piercing through her damp sweatshirt underneath the leather armor. Just like back at the plane, she felt no hope at first, just like the giant with the green eyes moments ago had no hope. So when she finally opened her eyes to the dark world, they no longer displayed fear as before, but with determined hope in its place. The feeling only grew more as her feet began to move on their own accord. Not running to hide or to stumble as if weak from exhaustion, but instead walked with confidence in their strides, her mind on a mission back towards the plane.


Whatever reason for their suffering she may never know. . .But what Mecallia did know, was that she wasn’t going stand by and let it go on for any longer.

[lazybug]

Part 9


The light rain kept coming down, not stopping at the slightest. It only made the rocks the poor girl traveled on become slipper without falling on her rear. But the rain didn’t bother her as Mecallia’s mind calculated what she would need. She first searched in the ghost ship valley, picking up anything of use or of possible use. Then went straight for the rock under ledge that she called home, and rummaged for the key items among the pile. Mecallia learned pretty quickly that she could only bring so much, so she started with the most useful and vital.

Hastily she stripped and put on darker clothes that closely resembled the dark gray landscape, then refastened the leather armor back on. She next strapped on a pair of leather forearm armor cuffs for better protection, and lightweight shoulder armor as well. Not only were they well padded, but were lined and studded with an inner layer of thin metal for absorbing and against piecing, which Mecallia found important. The same went for the shin armor protecting her legs, so with that done she went to her next phase.

Picking up a dark green backpack, she collected various items from the pile next to the mattress, all the while thinking of different scenarios for each one that could be useful for in this type of situation; a ration of food and water, gloves, a flashlight, the knife collection, a small box of tools from the plane which she tied together so they wouldn’t rattle in her bag, rope from a cliff climbing set, first aid kit, and a small pick ax tool also from the same climbing set. Mecallia wished she could find the rest of it, since it would have been useful, but it would have to do.

When Mecallia felt she had what was needed, she stood back up to observe her inventory. She frowned at the sight of it. Half of the stuff probably wasn’t necessary, or possibly she would accidently leave something behind and get trapped, caught, or worse. What was she missing? Mecallia couldn’t bring everything, she had to be light weight but at the same time still prepared.

She moaned a sigh as two fingers pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, the rainclouds rumbling quietly above her. But then a thought came to her and she raised her head. Instantly she jogged back to the ship grave yard in the valley, and looked around through the light fog until spotting one of the commercial fishing boats that lay on its side. Mecallia carefully climbed over its rusted railing, reaching into the cab and looking through the few worn cabinets it contained. When she didn’t find what she was looking for, Mecallia went to the next boat and looked through the cabinets there.

Finally, she found it. Picking it up by the handle, she extracted the pistol from inside the broken seat bench, holding it gingerly into her hands. It was merely a six shot pistol, which was surprisingly in good shape, and fortunately for her still has six bullets in it, including a box of ammo in the bench seat. Despite the odds that were against her, she a least felt a little bit safe with it in her possession. So with a brief nod, Mecallia took the pistol and the box of ammo with her.

It was late afternoon when her preparations were complete. Mecallia felt she looked even more ridiculous than before, but at least it was more practical. Her body was adorned with leather armor hidden underneath her brother’s camouflage suit, and held her decorative katana at her side. Mecallia’s backpack was full of essentials and ready to go, her long brown hair loosely braided behind her head to keep away from her face. She stashed away the aviator’s hat in the bag but kept the goggles around her neck just in case. It felt strange.

Mecallia took a deep, deep breath, letting the pint up air exhale through her mouth. The clouds above rumbled their usual tune as the girl gently shouldered her backpack against her back, and began to walk a distance away from the rock ledge and towards the plane. Twenty some crosses greeted the lonely figure, her face creased in forlorn. She stared at the names etched into them, knowing full well that no one but her will know where they lay for their loved ones to find. At her feet lay the bag with their identities inside, the only proof in this world that they truly existed. Mecallia pick it up and placed the bag in a small box cooler to protect them from the cold rain, but before closing it she placed a written note inside, to future visitors of what she learned of this world so far. Once done, she placed the cooler underneath a metal plate and then arranged debris to point to its location. There was nothing to be done now, everything was complete, and it frightened her. The time was nearing . . .

Her heart chilled with sadness, but she knew she wasn’t alone in it. Mecallia’s mind returned to the image of the boy’s sad eyes, and her heart rekindled in resolve. She will find that boy, even if it were for a brief moment again. So with that, Mecallia readjusted the pack on her shoulders and then set off to the direction of the giants again, only this time she may or not return. The girl never looked back as she walked farther and farther . . . from the plane, the grave, and the ship grave yard behind her.

[lazybug]

Part 10



Mecallia’s walk was not a pleasant one. Though she knew the way the back to where she discovered the giants, but with every step closer to them her legs felt heavier and heavier, and it wasn’t from the weight of the armor on her body either. Even the gray rocky landscape wasn’t supportive in her motive by staying as its depressing atmosphere. Mecallia sighed and pushed the thoughts aside as she weaved around the tall rocks and boulders in her way. To honest, she wasn’t sure what to do when she got there, but hopefully it involved seeing that boy again. Mecallia prayed he was still alright.

The gray tower rose high above the rocks as she walked within sight of it, glad to see it took only a shorter amount time to finally reach it. But instead of stopping for a break the girl kept going, walking past it and never looking back as Mecallia walked across the short plateau. Her heart began to beat like a drum as she entered the line of tall boulders and her pace slowed down, her steps becoming hesitant.

A small tremor traveled through her feet and a quiet gasp escaped from her. She was close . . . just a little farther ahead and Mecallia would be at the spot where she saw them. She had gotten this far, so there was no turning back now. So with a few deep breaths she made her feet move again. But as Mecallia got closer and the tremors had gotten stronger, she felt something different in the tremors; there were no pauses between tremors like footsteps or hammers, but instead like a constant rhythm. She furrowed her brows at this but didn’t question it, and proceeded further through the large boulders as planned.

She stopped abruptly in her tracks and listened . . . Something wasn’t right . . . The tremors beneath her had become more and more violent, to the point that it made standing more difficult and it forced Mecallia to kneel low to the ground. It pulsated through her whole body, rattling her ribcage and skull as she walked in a crouch like position to stay balanced from the ever constant earthquake. But a new noise made itself known. In combination with the quaking ground, a screeching, rustic noise like metal against metal was heard high above her.

When Mecallia finally emerged around the large boulder, which sat close to the cliff’s edge, she looked up just in time to see a large object hurdling down at her. Her eyes widened and screamed as the object plummeted, missing her by ten feet and colliding with the rocky ground beside her with a loud BANG!!, releasing several sharp rock shards the size of her head in every opposite direction. She made it behind the boulder just in time to hear shrapnel like rocks zip past, within mere inches of her head and pepper the one behind hers like a double barrel gunshot. It was like a bomb had gone off. Mecallia covered her face and pressed herself against the rock wall as the sound faded; only the screeching noise and the ever constant tremors still filled the air. She still heard the bomb like sounds, but they were far away this time much to her relief.

She took three deep breaths . . . each exhale releasing the pint up tension that stored in her muscles and slowly moved away from the wall. She was very lucky; had she hid a few seconds too late, it would have killed her instantly . . . Great . . . She was barely on the outer rim to her goal and already this world was trying to kill her . . . Screw this world.

“And screw you clouds . . .” She said with a point of a finger towards the sky. The clouds only rumbled quietly in response, which made Mecallia glare at the gray cotton forms in the sky with bitterness, knowing full well that they didn’t care and are merely doing what they do best, making her life miserable. The last of the tension in her body from the near death experience finally worn off, so with a readjustment of her pack, Mecallia walked the best she could from the tremors out of her hiding place.

That was an unfortunate mistake . . . for when she emerged around the boulder, not only did the environment change, but the whole area was covered in the goblin like monsters. The giant prisoners were no longer there, but in their place instead stood five massive machines digging into the ground. Mecallia’s eyes widened and then traveled high above her to see the source of the irritant noise. The glowing setting sun peeked through the clouds long enough to silhouette the demon like machines, which towered over five times than the average giant that she saw before, looking more like an old corroded bulldozer that should have long broken down. A pair of demented ferris wheel like contraptions rose higher than the machine they were attached to, digging deep into the cliff face and the rocky ground below and turning its multiple trenches to scoop the rocks into its gaping maw. The giant creatures observed its destructive nature from a safe perimeter, to make sure everything was running smoothly as the ones in the cage in front and below the belly of the machine maneuvered the controls.

It took her only two seconds to quickly hide behind the boulder once more, her body shaking and praying that they didn’t see her before reacting. Their sandpaper like voices and grunts traveled clearly across the cliff, but still she couldn’t understand anything in their gibberish language. The girl listened carefully; for approaching footsteps or shouts that aimed in her direction, other than the annoying rustic noise above her and the tremors below her feet, but there was none.

After what felt what fell like several minutes had passed and nothing happened, Mecallia pulled up the hood of her suit and cautiously peered around the boulders side. Just the mere sight of those creatures made her gut tighten with anxiety and her head spinning of thoughts that she really didn’t want to express out loud. Luckily she was far off away from the demon machines path as it cut deep into the cliff she stood on, its constant spinning wheels scooping the rocks and then discard them into the enormous vat of the machine’s body itself. Mecallia wondered what would have happened if she got caught up in one of those teeth rimed scoops . . . her body shuddered of the end result.


“Bomba’teel!!! Shala tol kell’ nakau, no gout fow nothel!!!”

Mecallia flinched a little, cringing from the booming voice that sounded too close to her for comfort. Slowly she moved to the other side of the boulder and examined area from there, and there to her far left was one of the corroded machines. It was quiet and not moving, which meant it wasn’t running much to her relief. There were several creatures gathered around two individuals, their ugly faces contorted into a very angry fashion. One pushed, and the other shoved another worker with a loud growl, its stance low as if to pounce on anyone who dared to challenged him. Mecallia looked over to the machine again they stood next to, and understood why . . . one of the Ferris wheels was bent up out of shape against a tall spiral rock, which had a dark blue hue instead of the usual gray and black colors the landscape had. A faint smirk appeared on her face, but it quickly faded when the realization formed before her. There was no way she would be able to get to the buildings now, especially with all the monsters roaming around. And even if she did get past them, how was she going to get there at this distance? The buildings were so close she could almost see the details on some of them, but yet so distant for a tiny girl to walk without getting exhausted or caught.

Crap . . . she really needed to stop thinking logically so much.

A low hum filled the air. Mecallia furrowed her brow in confusion; there was already enough noise around her to bust an eardrum and maybe a few brain cells of sanity that was left in her. The humming was faint, but it was enough to know where it was coming from. Ever so quietly, Mecallia retreated around the boulder, and then stepped behind a few more rows of rocks before walking to her left, laying low and stopping at every large boulder to make sure none of them noticed her. The group argued with growls and grunts, telling her of their location as she made her way towards the bent Ferris wheel and then crawling through the beams that supported it. The girl prayed and prayed that the monstrous machine wouldn’t all of the sudden come back to life and then crush her on the very spot. . . But, fortunately it never did, and felt instant relief when she made it to the other side of the Ferris wheels.

Mecallia crept back to the rocks lining the cliff, doing the same routine as before and looked out, only this time on the other side.

Well that was completely different. The area and everything around her was still a dark and depressing place, but the thing that she noticed was completely out of place. It was shaped like a Japanese speed train, except it was all metal with only a few glassless windows and was only slightly corroded but still useable. A long strip of bright glowing blue metal track traveled from here to all the way to the buildings. From what she could see, the vehicle had holes and dents here and there but the creatures that emerged out it didn’t seem to care about repairing it at all.

Mecallia moaned loudly, for it seemed that nothing was going good for her in this situation. And for every second she stayed there, the more her motive of having a purpose in this world quickly deflated. There had to be a way! She did not come all this way just to give up now!

“Crap, that’s an insane person talking.” She whined, pounding her fist against her head, hoping an answer would miraculously make itself known in front of her.

A loud boom echoed and then a shout followed afterward. Her head jerked up and looked around to see more goblin like creatures arguing near the far end of the train like vehicle, their cargo as big as themselves laying next to them. Her eyes trailed to the vehicle . . . then to them . . . then to the vehicle again, she noticed some the holes were bigger than some . . . then back to the creatures again . . . her eyes followed back to the holes near the tail end the train . . . they were still arguing, not seeming realize what she was about to do.

She quickly scanned the cliff below her for any chance to get down, but then her eyes lay upon a piece of a rusted metal beam hanging from the ferris wheel that may have accidently dislodged itself. Mecallia mentally did a happy dance and crept to the metal beam, carefully but swiftly running down the steep beam all the while keeping her eye on the two creatures that now resorted to punching each other. She couldn’t help but fear that one of them would see her, and as her feet finally landed on the rocky ground, Mecallia crouched low but hurried to the tail end of the vehicle, her heart speeding faster and faster as her form was now exposed for all to see. Just a little farthe –


CLACK!! BOOOM!!!


Something huge and heavy landed right in front her, narrowingly missing her as Mecallia fell on to her rear and instinctively looked up. She didn’t have look very far to see what it was. . . .A large, black metallic boot sunk into the loose rocky ground in front of her, barely a few feet away from her small, shivering body. The sound of a few sniffs from above filled her ears and looked higher to see the goblin creature’s massive ugly head looking down in her general direction. Did it hear her? See her? She didn’t know, this was the second time a giant had seen her and it was becoming a bad habit. Mecallia’s body shook uncontrollably as its milky soulless eyes stared, its chapped lips constricting to reveal pointed, but badly deformed yellow teeth for her to see. Saliva dripped from the yellow stain teeth and a low moan erupted from its throat. She now understood why the very first thought that came to a person’s mind was themselves being eaten alive. Even at her size it wouldn’t be a problem for the monster to shove half of her into his mouth and give a good bite.

“P-p-please don’t.” Mecallia’s quivering voice whispered. She couldn’t believe it that she was saying it too.

The giant stared, but his eyes began to drift to a different spot on the ground and then another spot. She willed with all her might for her body to stop shivering, afraid it would seep from under her armor and through her suit, but it refuse to listen. The giant took one last sniff of the air and then lifted its massive boot out of the crater it made and proceeded walking to the arguing pair at the far length of the train. Mecallia staid stock still on the ground until finally letting out a breath she held the whole time, watching the giant move farther and farther away. With a quick scan of the perimeter to make sure there were no other surprises, Mecallia jumped to her feet and sprinted the remaining distance, grasping the metal corner for support and hid behind it.

The humming was much louder this time she noticed, and peered underneath the frame work, curiosity pricking at her brain to see what it was. Her mouth opened slightly in awe at the type of system she saw . . . because . . . there was none. It was all one smooth clean panel underneath the whole length of the train, there were no wheels or breaks, wires or trap doors, and it hovered in mid air like a magnet forcing against the other with the glowing blue metal track beneath it. Interesting, she thought to herself. If she ever lived through this, she’s going have to start writing her discoveries down for others to know eventually.

But right now was not the time about that, because the gruff voices of the soldiers were nearing. Mecallia retreated from under the panel and looked up above to see many of the holes that rusted open from long time and neglect. There was one that was perfect in size and low enough reach, and hurriedly took off her pack and threw it into the hole. The voices were getting closer and Mecallia could hear the humming of the train become louder, indicating to her that it was about to leave any minute. Mecallia jumped and hooked her elbows against the edges to prevent from falling, then she wiggled her body to get up on the ledge and over, promptly moving herself out sight just in time for a giant shadow to darken her hiding spot. She held a breath as the shadow moved again, and then another darkens her hiding spot as many more did after that one. There was point in looking out to know that giants were there.

A sound similar to a freight horn blasted, and the girl clasped her hands over hers ears in agony. If there was one thing on this journey she wished she had in her possession, it was the sound removing headphones the men use in the airports. Finally the horn stopped and train began to move. Slow at first, but it didn’t take long for the vehicle to pick up speed and then zoom down the glowing blue track. Mecallia stuck her head out a little but kept the rest of her body behind the metal wall so she didn’t fall out from the fast horizontal force. A small gasp was barely known as she saw everything go by in a blur of dark and gray forms, speeding down the track across the vast rocky open plain towards her goal.

But then the emotions began to settle in her gut, and she pushed them down the best she could away from her mind to wander to. This was the threshold of no return. Even if she suddenly changed her mind, it was already too late.

The decision was engraved into her mind to reread over and over. Mecallia breathed a sigh, bending her knees into her chest and let her head rest on them to wait for her next stop, and to contemplate on her next move as the humming of the train lulled her nervous and tense mind to sleep.

[lazybug]

Part 11



Mec . . .?

. . .Mecal . . .

. . .Wake u-. . .

Mecallia? . . . Hey!

. . . Wake up!


The girl moaned softly. Her world, which was nothing but black as far as she could see, slowly twisted and morphed from black into shadows and shapes she wasn’t familiar with. Something pulled at her mind like a soft thread, gently pulling and tugging until finally complying with its demands, letting it lift her out of the comforting darkness that blanketed around her. It didn’t last long however, and then the girl found herself condensed back into its usual vessel of what she called her skull, physically wincing as light seeped through her closed eyelids. Her name was called but it echoed through her head like a wide canyon . . .


WHACK!!!


Mecallia jerked upright, the pain jarring her brain as something with the force of a brick made contact with her head. Her eyes opened to see her friend standing off to the side and above her, a glare on her face and a thick text book in her hand, ready to make another strike for her head if necessary.

“Well finally you’re awake!” Jessie growled, her hands setting the book down and then planting them firmly against her hips.

The girl blinked in bewilderment and raised her head to look at her surroundings. Her blurry eyes became clear enough to realize that she was in a school desk, with an open notebook laid out in front of her, but the white, blue lined pages were empty of words. The sunlight from an open window to her right shined through the off white colored room, bathing the tiled floor in a bright golden light. Mecallia winced, her eyes stinging from the intense light on the floor and brought a hand up to massage the pain away. Outside, she could hear the voices of kindergartners playing on the playground below, and the baby robins in the nest of an oak tree next the school building, chirping and demanding for their afternoon meal.

“What happened?” Mecallia murmured as she rubbed the heel of her hand into her eyes in attempt to get the sleep out of her. Strange . . . it felt like something was missing in a part of her brain she was supposed to remember. . .

Jessica quirked an eyebrow at her, obviously peeved. “What happened!? You slept through the entire science video in Mr. Briggs’ class again. You should be lucky he had the room lights dimmed down to even notice.”

“It’s not like it’s never happened before.” Mecallia said. She yawned and stretched out her arms to pop out the stiffness left in them.

“Not if you have to take notes on it for the test on Thursday. Which I assume,” She looked over to Mecallia’s notebook, which was untouched and instead used as a head rest. A few handfuls of her long, wavy brown hair, compared to Mecallia’s deadpan straight hair, was pinned up partially with a claw clip and hanging over the sides of her face. “You have none at the moment.”

There was silence for a few moments. Only an apologetic half smile formed on Mecallia’s face.

“Please?” She asked quietly.

Jessie stared, her teeth biting into her bottom lip in deliberation. But then her eyes rolled to the ceiling and pulled a worn out notebook with a few pages sticking out of it, and handed it to Mecallia. The girl smiled fully as she took the notebook of knowledge from her best friend, knowing it will contain the necessary notes for the test, including the ones for the extra credit.

“You’re really making this a bad habit, you know that?”

“Sorry.” She apologized, placing the notebook along with her other books. But then she noticed something, “where is everybody?’

“They already left for lunch, which we’ll be late for if you don’t get your lazy butt up!” Jessie grabbed Mecallia by the arm roughly and half dragged her out of the science room and into the almost empty hallway, quickly replacing their text books in their lockers and then jogged to the cafeteria. The voices of excited high schoolers echoed off the white walls and to the open balcony above, where Jessie and Mecallia emerged to see a swarm of students lining up in front of the food stands. Today was chicken patty or sloppy joe day; everyone’s favorite except for a few popular girls who’d rather mind their strict diet than indulge on a once in a lifetime lunch. Mecallia and Jessie quickly stepped down the balcony stairs and lined up with rest of the kids. Almost every teenage boy in the food line were either twitching with their hands or bouncing up and down in their converse shoes like they had ADD, the aroma of deep fried beef and BBQ sauce pouring out of the kitchen and lingering in the air to teasing them. When the girls finally received their food and paid for it, they carefully made their way through the long tables of hungry carnivores until sitting at an end table closest to the wall of clear paned windows.

“I don’t understand why you’re so tired all the time.” Jessie commented right after sitting down.

Mecallia didn’t answer and instead took a bite of her chicken patty. Out of the corner of her eye, a pair of senior boys walked by and greeted Jessie with a wave and charming smiles on their faces. Neither of them paid attention to Mecallia, not that she’d care. She didn’t have much time for a boyfriend anyway. She grimaced as a light migraine pierced her forehead.

“Soooooo?” A hint of a smirk played on the prettier girl’s lips as she leaned in slightly. “Have you decided yet who you want to take to Prom next Saturday?”

Her shoulders slumped at the word “who” and sighed. “Jessie, we’ve been over this . . . I’m not going to the Prom.”

“Why not?” Jessie whined, “You never go. Not even once.”

She was never going to let it go. “Because it’s a waste of time and money, except for the girls who get to be smug about looking pretty and draining every dollar out of their poor date’s wallet, that’s why.”

“But you almost went last year.” Jessie pointed out.

That year was different . . . A year Mecallia will never repeat again. “Can we please talk about something else?”

The girl huffed, and then turned back to her own food, both finally eating in silence except for the high chatter of teenage students all around them. She was about to dig into her salad when something caught her eye. “Huh?”

“What?”

With one swift move, Jessie snatched the thing sitting next to Mecallia’s tray and raised it far out of her reach.

“Hey! Give that back!”

“So this is why your sleep deprived!” She said happily.

Mecallia leaned across the table, her hand stretched high into the air as Jessie waved the hard covered book above her head from one side to side, laughing at Mecallia’s desperate attempts to get it back from her grasp.

“This isn’t funny, Jessie, give it back!”

“Alright, alright . . . Man, you need to start reading some real books.” She said, handing the book over.

Mecallia grabbed the book anxiously, checking it over for any bent areas before setting it back down carefully on the table. “Why do you say that?”

“You read almost nothing but those silly adventure books you keep buying at the store.”

She scowled, the pain of the migraine in her head increasing. “And this is coming from a girl who watches high school drama religiously.”

“Hey! They reflect the problems of real life. What’s wrong with that?”

“That’s what an adventure story is for, to escape from it.” She winced again as another wave of pain rushed into her head. Every minute of talking was getting harder to bear.

“Are you ok?” Jessie asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine” But that was a lie . . . Mecallia’s vision blurred to the point of mixing colors and the silhouettes of students together, until seeing nothing but slender, alien like shapes. The waves pierced through her skull and the girl clutched her head in surprise, a deep throbbing now pulsing like a jack hammer.


Hehehehe . . . . .


“Mecallia, let’s go to the nurse’s office. You don’t look good at all.” Jessie’s voice was laced in concern, but Mecallia’s mind didn’t register it. Her ears gave a high pitch ring and she cradled her head in her hands, rocking back and forth with a moan as the cafeteria around her spun in circles, the teenagers laughing and talking echoed but at the same time became deafening.


Hehehe . . . you’ll never escape this hell . . .


Just as it worsened, it left in an instant . . . but the ringing in her ears remained . . . Mecallia eyes narrowed, perplexed at what just happened. She raised her head, sitting up from her bent position, and looked at Jessie’s confused expression from across the table.


There was no warning . . . Within the seconds that she looked up, the world around her tore apart.


It was like a scene out of Silent Hill, and Mecallia didn’t have time to scream as she watched in horror. The wall of windows next to her shattered all at once and huge glass shards flew into the air, letting in a roaring, hurricane like wind into the room, knocking down anything in its path. The cafeteria’s walls split with a terrifying CRACK! and chipped with accelerate age, until rotting off and getting caught up into the roaring wind. Ash and sulfur wreaked the air and Mecallia could only brace herself as everything around her disintegrated into nothing, even the students that were once laughing stood still as if time had stopped, and then crumbled to the floor like aging statues made of clay.

The girl turned back to her friend, but in her place instead stood a male figure in a bloody white button shirt in front of her. He stood motionless, despite the roaring wind around him, no expression on his face, his eyes dull of life as if dead. A small streak of blood runs down his brow as he did nothing but stare at Mecallia, his gaze unwavering.

But then his lips moved . . . Mecallia sat frozen to her spot, paralyzed. What was he trying to say? Where was Jessie? She could only watch in fear as the man continue to whisper with no words, his face unchanging but constantly moving his lips, until she realized he was repeating two words.



Criostal cridhe . . . Criostal cridhe . . . Criostal cridhe . . .Criostal cridhe . . .

[lazybug]

Part 12



Mecallia screamed in surprise when the train’s horn blasted through the air.

Her instincts took over and pressed both hands on her ears, cringing as the horn sounded for a few more seconds before falling silent again. Despite her layers of clothing and armor she had on to protect herself with, the girl winced as the cold metal wall that she leaned against sent chills up her back. The sound of grunts and rustic metal surrounded her hiding spot, and even noticed that the train had slowed down a bit. Curiosity filled her senses, and took the chance and peeked out of the gaping hole next to her, letting only half of her face be revealed but still remain hidden in the shadows.

The last remaining ray of the sun was barely seen in distance. The train sped across the flat rocky land with ease as torches and luminescent lamps lit up the landscape in a green and red hue, scattered like fireflies as far as she could see. Mecallia shuddered as dark silhouettes crept just outside the lamps light, like night terrors waiting for a victim to snatch. A rhythm of clashing metal meeting rock was heard nearby and she turned to see more prisoners working alongside the tracks. They were in the same condition as the ones she saw earlier, if not worse. She can almost count the ribs of one man who looked like is on the bridge of collapsing, while a few next to him looked like new recruits but have enough wounds on their bodies that they’d die of blood loss sooner or later. Mecallia cringed at the sight of them, the move of the train luckily distancing them much to her relief.

The train’s speed slowed down even more until, suddenly, coming to a complete halt. But before she could think it was their final stop, a loud, deep howl echoed from the ahead of the train. It vibrated through both Mecallia and the train, which to her felt like the floor and the ground beneath her would split apart at any second. She whimpered at the sound and curled into a ball, shaking in agony of her aching ears. Finally the howling stopped and the train proceeded forward again. Mecallia gaped in awe as the train passed through an enormous pair of cast iron like gates. It was pitch black and intimidating, towering high above everything but it was hard know from the limited light torches where it ended. She watched as the gates howled once again on their rusted hinges and slowly shut tightly with no hope of escape. The girl gulped; she wasn’t leaving that way.

The train moved smoothly down the tracks into more crowded areas. Once the massive gates closed Mecallia heard all sorts of noise, both loud and frightening. Slowly she peeked out from her hole, only to hitch a gasp in her throat at the sheer number of monsters roaming around the area of what looked like a cargo holding. The limited light sources made them even more terrifying. Grunting, growling, the scraping of their metal boots across the stone floor as they walked, chains dragging behind a prisoner nearby, giant crates being slid from here and there . . . all amplified by her small ears, and it scared her to the core.

The train stopped, and a large shadow engulfed the hole and the girl quickly retreated within the dark corner. It lingered around her spot for a while, its growls like an angry dragon booming out orders to other soldiers she still couldn’t understand. Her body tensed as the shadow moved closer, but then suddenly stopped as a shout from a distance away called for it and finally moved away. Though her body relaxed, Mecallia’s mind was in high alert. She had to get off this train and fast.

With a shaky breath, Mecallia surveyed the area. Massive walls surrounded the place as far as could she see into the black night, connecting to stone watch towers that lit up like Christmas decorations. The buildings were also made of stone and another alien material, which carved into the mountain side and blending in with the natural crown formation. Just like the machines and the train, the structures had the appearance of decay and rust. Mecallia’s eyes caught sight of a peculiar building higher up the mountain, which almost looked like a chapel, but right behind it a large tower rose even higher than the wall, with tiny flick of lights glowing out of the window slits. For some reason, the tower reminded her of a Tolkien movie she watched about a month ago with her friend.

She mentally slapped herself. The last thing she wanted was to get depressed about never getting home.

A large boom sounded and the wall behind her vibrated briefly, along with the sound of something scraping across the train floor, which she figured were the large boxes being removed from the train. Mecallia crawled back to the hole and peered outside, letting her eyes adjust to the shadows the lights emitted around the area, and she noticed some of the soldiers pushing carts that seemed to defy gravity down a length of track, which glowed green similar to the train’s blue one. Her eyes glanced to the left, then to the right, seeing that the loud traffic of workers and soldiers had moved to the side of the train. Then, as quiet as she could possibly be, Mecallia adjusted the pack over her shoulders and slid her body over the ledge over the hole, letting her legs dangle a bit before landing to the stone floor. The constant variant quakes and footsteps made it difficult to even stand up straight, so Mecallia was forced to prop her legs as if she were trying to balance on a moving cart.

Large shadows started to move in her direction and the girl ducked beneath train as they rounded the corner, only to stand in the spot where the human had once been seconds before. She bit her lip and looked around, her breaths feeling shaky from all the giants roaming around, making her chest feeling like lead. Crouching low close to the glowing blue rail, Mecallia crept up the length of the train, the pounding of the metallic black boots booming around her like fierce thunder. She was nearly halfway when a loud hum filled her ears and glanced to her left. A little strip of glowing green track run alongside her and a cart sat on top of it. She peeked up from underneath as far as she dared, and saw that the cart was similar to an airline food cart, except much, much bigger and uglier.

One of the little doors on the lower level was cracked open. Do these monsters not know how to fix simple crap? She thought bitterly as she studied the slightly bent in door. The traffic of thundering boots picked up again around the cart, making Mecallia uneasy about what she was about do.

If you run, they will notice. . . Linger too long, they will find you sooner or later anyway.

She visibly cringed as a loud booming of orders bellowed from multiple soldiers close by, forcing her hands to her ears to snuff out the drum piercing noise. Making sure her hood stayed in place, Mecallia took two deep breaths before exposing herself from underneath the train, her heart thumping so loud she could’ve sworn it drowned out the thunderous sounds around her.

The monsters above did not seem to notice a tiny, off colored blotch moving around on the stone floor, staying within the black shadows of the giants, its movements slow enough not to draw attention from the single task minded workers, and slowly towards the little cargo cart a couple feet away. The area was full of busy workers, seeming to be more concerned about getting things down on time than anything else. Mecallia’s chest felt like it was going burst from the tension in her muscles when she finally made it to the little door. Just like before, she hooked her elbows into the sides of the hole, except this time it was a tight squeeze with the pack on her back. She was nearly inside when something suddenly constrict around her hips. . .

She froze . . . Panic solidified into her chest, her breathing caught in her throat as she felt the pressure around her waist worsen.

No . . . no . . . no, this wasn’t happening! Not now! Why now?! She couldn’t come this far just to be caught now!! Mecallia squirmed around, almost thrashing to break free of the pressures hold. Her panic now turned to terror as images flew into her mind of what sick things the monsters would do to her. Her eyes glistened with tears and she waited for them to pry her out the hole and do their thing. -


Bump! Bump! Bump!


Something muffled tapped next to her, making her stop thrashing for a moment and snap her head up to the sound. But just as it started, it had stopped. Mecallia then noticed the pressure around her hips were gone as well, and turned her head enough to see the entrance of the hole.

A realization then hit her.

Mecallia scowled and reached a hand out of the hole, feeling her hand untie something before wiggling enough to the side to bring up the katana in front of her. Without hesitation, Mecallia pulled the rest of her body in and quickly hid behind a pair of old boxes in the back.

“Stupid sword.” She whispered.

The girl glared at the majestic sword in her hands, as if expecting an apology out of it for the stunt that nearly cost her her life.

She let out a sigh and strapped the katana back on her belt, all the while listening intently of the giants outside if they noticed her. There were too much foreign noises out there for her to tell if they did.

She let a small smile form on her lips. . . She did it. . . She outsmarted the ugly brainless brutes, and now she could go find where the boy might be located in this poor excuse of a pris -


But her smile dropped as fast as the dented door shoved aside with a deafening BANG!

[lazybug]

Part 13



If you ever wondered if it was really possible for your heart to stop from just the mere sight of sheer terror. . .

Then Mecallia was now one those believers. . .

Her heart proved that theory when the huge dented door that at first protected her from the monsters was now slid aside; the lack of oil causing the door to cry out with a high pitch shriek that she swore should have broken her eardrums. Once opened, a dull red light from a distant torch flooded the space inside, casting huge shadows from the few boxes within. Mecallia sat behind three little boxes that were twice her height and were set slightly to the left in a row, her small form barely out of reach of the dull lights rays on the floor.

The silhouette of a clawed gauntlet dragged deep against the rusted metal, leaving a trail of three feet wide gashes along the way for Mecallia to cringe in silent scream, as if exposed to a squeaky chalk on a chalk board at high volume. The gauntlet then let go and slammed down on the floor to form four indents into the rusty metal. Mecallia dared not breathe as she heard deep, rasping winds swirling inside the space, the rancid smell she assumed came from the monster so close to the opening.

Her back pressed hard against the box, facing the back wall that was now filled with red illuminated light. But was even worse was the black misshapen shadow moving all over the wall, indicating to the girl that the giant monster stood no more than several feet behind her.

She so badly wanted to scream. So badly wanted to just cry from the building tension forming on her shoulders from the danger she just put herself into. But alas, her stubbornness won over and instead clasped both hands over her mouth, fearing that the tiniest of a sound will give way her position among the boxes. The pitch black shadow of a head moved from side to side, its rancid breath swirling in the space still. The girl’s breath hitched beneath her hands as the shadow suddenly grew larger, nearly taking up the entire wall. She froze in place, her back pressed hard against the box behind her. Mecallia’s eyes side glanced to her right, just in time to see the clawed tip of the gauntlet be met with a deformed face just above it. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. If the creature had looked to its left and then down just over the boxes, it would have seen a small shivering form looking right back at it.

And she was about to give it that opportunity if she didn’t think fast.


Well look at that . . .Hehehe . . . looks like your screwed.


“Oy! . . . .Ben jot de’bail, se sot c***’ boy!” Someone shouted from nearby. There were booming shouts and growls everywhere, and within seconds the ugly head was yanked out of the space. The shouts and growls intensified and the ground beneath her shook with every step the soldiers made. Mecallia didn’t know what happened, but she wasn’t going to question it either.

Finally the soft hum of the cart came to life, giving off gentle vibrations beneath her feet compared to the violent tremors the soldiers were making outside. The cart jerked forward, nearly throwing Mecallia off balance as it glided across the green glowing track toward an unknown destination.

She let out a breath, realizing she was still holding it and inhaled deeply to avoid turning light headed. Along with the gentle movements of the cart and her rhythmic breathing, Mecallia felt the anxiety in her chest settle enough for her to think. The humming of the magnetic cart soothed the girl’s nerves, almost to the point of closing her eyes and forgetting about where she was and how she got there. But the center of gravity then shifted in the space, and her gut rose into her ribs as the cart descended downwards, then leveled off, and quickly rise again like an elevator. The noise outside weren’t any better, but luckily wasn’t so heavily trafficked of the hideous giants roaming about. As the cart moved along, Mecallia peeked around the boxes. The monsters didn’t bother to close the carts lower door, and could see nothing but a moving black rock wall which was decorated with dull torches lighting every ten seconds of the journey.


Well now, human . . . since you passed that difficult ordeal. . . .Just what is your next plan exactly? Hm?


Stupid voice . . . Mecallia scowled, turning back around and huddling far into the darkest corner among the towering boxes. To be honest, she never really thought that far. She knew it was dangerous, yes, but how to maneuver through a rock fortress to find a giant guy with no sense of a specific direction? . . . No.

She slapped her hand against her forehead. “Idiot . . . How could you be so stupid?”


Scratch, scratch, scratch. . .


Mecallia’s body suddenly froze in place. She quickly glance around the dark space, the lights from outside dancing across the old rusted walls.


Scratch, scratch . . . scratch, scratch, scratch! . . .


Finally she pinpointed the source. It came from the direction to her right, in one of the smaller boxes at the far side of the space. Mecallia rose to her feet attentively, knees shaking, unsure of what would make such as noise. A rat maybe? A giant spider?

Her face paled. “Please don’t let it be a spider.” The girl prayed quietly as she slowly walked to the source of the noise.

As Mecallia tip toed across the gap between the boxes, a hand slowly gripped the hilt of the katana by her side, lifting it to expose the decorative blade from its sheath as it glistened in the dull eerie light. The scratching noise continued as she got closer and closer, but her eyes narrowed in confusion when she noticed that noise started to build up intensely, as if perhaps whatever was inside the space with her was desperately trying to get out.

Mecallia hid behind the last box, her heart feeling like it was going to burst from the whole night’s ordeal.


Scratch, scratch! . . .


The noise was just beyond the box. Surprise was all she needed, if it worked. The grip on the katana never wavered, if not, were tightened so much that the knuckles on her hands had turned white from the pressure.

“You can do this,” Mecallia whispered, positioning the decorative blade so she could do an angled over cut. “You can do this.”

She listened intently for the scratches. When they were heard she counted to three. As soon the third number escaped her lips, Mecallia jumped from around the corner, her blade ready to strike at the imminent threat.

Just as Mecallia appeared around the corner, she yelped in surprise when something big fell on top of her. The katana flew from the girl’s hands from the force and landed a few feet away with a metallic CLING! that echoed through the cart space. Mecallia tried to scream, but the weight of whatever that was on top of on her made it sound like it was choked and forced, and instinctively raised her arms up to push the creature off.

The creature itself let out startled squeak, quickly jumping off the little human and running to the metal corner behind the boxes where it crouched in the darkness. Just as the thing jumped off, Mecallia scrambled up onto her feet and ran the opposite direction to where the katana lay. She seized its hilt in both hands and looked up in time to see the creature’s tail disappear behind the box, its squeaks still heard on the other side. She panted heavily, her grip on the katana like iron but shaking vigorously none the less.

What. . The crap was that? Mecallia thought shakily, her mind still whirled from the encounter.

The squeaking from behind the box conformed she didn’t imagine it. Mecallia panted, still shaken, and took a cautious step forward toward the noise. It squeaked again and Mecallia yelped, her body going stiff as a statue.

But then she scowled. Idiot . . . Your wearing FRICKEN armor and with a sword and a gun, and you’re afraid of a tiny squeak?

She tightened her hold on the hilt, and now with some false confidence she walked again to where the creature took off to. Mecallia slid the pack from her shoulders and pulled out a flashlight before flicking it if on. The flashlight’s bright rays bounced off the metal walls, revealing ugly rust spots from who knows how long of neglect. With a deep breath Mecallia raised the katana again, and then, ever so slowly peeked around the corner of the box, shining the light into the creature’s hiding spot.

Something strange overcame her and she stopped, her katana still raised. She stared at it for a few moments, completely dumbfounded. What she found was nothing what she expected at all. . . .It didn’t even cross her mind at what she saw before her.


And it was . . . . . . . cute.


The rays of the flashlight shined on the mysterious creature, and luckily she could see well enough to know it wasn’t a giant spider, much to her relief. The creature’s fur was a muddled mix of dark gold and brown colors, almost blending in with the other boxes around it save for its light furry underbelly and paws. Even the pattern on its fur was strange, for it had dark black spots lined on each side of its body similar to fawns spots. The body itself was very similar to a mouse, except its tail was furred like a chipmunk and thinner too. It had be two thirds of her size Mecallia figured, just over the size of a large Labrador.

The mouse like creature squeaked and pushed itself closer into the corner, letting out what sounded like to Mecallia a low hiss in warning. Its little nose and whiskers twitched franticly as Mecallia emerged fully to look at it better. She couldn’t help but tilt her head curiously, wondering what something so cute was doing in a hellish place like this.

“U m. . .” The girl started, not really sure what else to say. The little thing’s nose stopped twitching and tilted its head to the side as well. She wanted to laugh at that, but quickly stopped herself from doing it. The last thing she wanted was to spook it.

She slowly lowered the katana and flashlight to her side, careful not make any sudden movements. The creature’s body twitched a bit but not enough for her think it would run, but remained in its spot as it watched her crouch low to the floor, trying her best to look harmless. The girl’s knees made contact with the floor, her body swaying to the constant movement of the cart.

“Um . . . Hi there, little guy.” Or girl, whatever came first. Its round ears perked at the sound of her soft voice, but still it remained close to the corner timidly. “What are doing here in a place like this? . . . “

The mouse’s ears perked again and its nose twitched as if sniffing the air. The furred tail swooshed behind him a couple times as it stared at the human, its mind seeming to be turning like gears on its next move. Suddenly the mouse rose from its crouching position, and Mecallia dared not move. It slowly walked in a wide circle around her with its head low to the floor, eyeing her from head to toe with its little nose and long whiskers twitching constantly in her direction. Mecallia merely sat still and stared, her eyes full of wonder at the mouse like creature, until its padded feet came to a stop right in front of her just a few feet away.

What it did next was unexpected. Mecallia’s brows shot up as the little creature then came towards her hesitantly, and the muscles in her arms and hands trembled slightly in anticipation. She could hear the pitter patter of the creature’s feet getting closer and closer to her, and the feel of her hands clenching her camouflage pants with uncertainty. Will it just sniff her and leave? Or will it decide to bite her if it assumed she was a threat? But before she could answer her own questions, she looked down to see the mouse sitting by her knee, looking up at her with the most adorable looking eyes she had ever seen.

A small smile grew on her face at the sight. Something she hadn’t done for a while since appearing in this strange world, and hopefully not the last as she watched the cute thing sniff her hand before then nuzzling it with its nose. As if getting the message, she ran her hand gently across its muddled brown fur and up to its face, and then repeated the process like one would do with a dog. It closed its eyes in contentment as Mecallia petted the little mouse.

But then Mecallia stopped. Her hand suddenly brushed against something around the side of its head, and she leaned in for a closer look.

“What the . . .” She started, but she couldn’t seem to continue as she gently parted the fur aside. What she found was even stranger; a thin but smooth piece of copper like metal was half buried in the mouse’s brown fur. She picked up her flashlight again and parted the rest of the fur to follow it. The thin metal encircled the whole circumference of the mouse creature’s head like a circlet, with a middle one running up between the ears.

Mecallia was confused at this. “How did you get this?” She asked, not really expecting an answer.

The mouse merely squeaked and kept still as the girl examined the strange phenomenon before her. She then attempted to place her fingers underneath the metal band to pull it off, figuring it was something the little creature got himself entangled in out of curiosity, but her fingers found no grip and instead found that the metal was surgically in place.

Who the crap puts a copper band on a mouse? Her mind argued as she looked at the mouse in confusion. Her eyes followed the copper colored metal again until she saw the thing that bothered her the most. Right in the middle of the mouse’s forehead, where the middle band joined with the circlet, was an amber colored gem. It blended in with rest of the creature’s fur along the metal circlet on its head, but as she shined the bright flashlight on it, Mecallia noticed it didn’t give off a glare or a shine like your usual gems. It was as dull as a piece of fake Wal-Mart jewelry.

Mecallia leaned in closer, absent mindingly scratching the little creature’s round ears to keep it calm for her. Her eyes narrowed and she raised the flashlight right next her head. . . .Strange . . . For a second there she could’ve sworn that she saw what might look like tiny gea - .

Before the last word could escape her thought the little mouse’s body turned rigid and its muddled brown fur stood straight up, a low but audible growl similar to a cat’s was heard from its throat. Mecallia gasped and flinched at the unexpected movement. Did she do something wrong? She didn’t think so. All she did was mess with the weird metal band around its head. Mecallia retracted her hands to her chest and sat still, wondering what the creature would do to her if not careful.

Suddenly it bounded off away from her, back to the box where it first pounced on her and then turn the corner before disappearing. The girl sighed in relief at first, but then she wondered why it ran off like that. She picked herself off the floor tentatively, re sheathing her katana and sliding her pack back on her shoulders as she stared in the direction the mouse had run to.

But then she felt it . . . no . . . heard it . . . Mecallia’s head turned on instinct to the open door of the cargo cart. . . . The black rock wall outside was still, which meant that the cart she rode in had stopped at one point. Everything outside was quiet, too quiet, and the girls face paled.


BOOM . . . BOOM . . . BOOM . . . BOOM . . .


On and on the muffled booming became louder, coming closer and closer, until finally a pair of dirty, black clad legs that looked slightly crooked stop in front of the open door. Just as the crooked legs began to bend to crouch down, Mecallia bolted from her spot towards the boxes, quickly turning off her flashlight as she turned the corner and crouched low. Her breathing quickened as she heard the sound something being moved, and barely peeked out to see a pair of brown, bony like hands grasp the small boxes she had hid behind before. Her eyes widened at the sight and shook at the thought of what would happen when the giant took all the boxes away.

A low squeak caught her attention. Mecallia gasped and turned around to see behind her. The little mouse like creature’s head poked out from a hole from a large wooden box, and its body was jerky as if it didn’t want to be out in the open for too long. It squeaked again before disappearing back inside, then poking its head out again and letting out another frantic squeak. Mecallia smiled and nodded, understanding its message before she ran to the hole. It was pretty small hole, barely big enough for her. Loud shuffling could be heard nearby and she knew there wasn’t much time left. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Mecallia quickly unstrapped the katana from her hip and threw it inside the hole, followed by her pack. Then she dropped onto her back and wriggled inside. It was tighter than she thought and could barely inhale a breath in order to fit, and her hips were even worse. Her feet slid though the hole just in time for the box that she had hid behind a few seconds earlier be lift away into the air.

When her feet came through, Mecallia flopped onto her back, panting heavily and with a big smile on her face. She heard a small squeak next to her, and without even moving made a side glance to the adorable face so close to hers.

“Thanks, little guy.”

The mouse merely squeaked in reply and placed its nose under her arm to be petted again.



copyright: Lazybug