Astrophysical (completed)

Chapter 13

The dark however became luminous with the sudden glow of the moons. Their size enabled a lot of light to be cast around her and while it was more of a whitish glow, it almost made the dark not as scary. She could easily make out the plants and their yellowish colour as she marched and the shadows around her were truly short and not as scary anymore.

Finally, she reached the tall tree line that she had seen. This led into a small, forested area that grew denser as she trudged on. Before on the plain, she had been accustomed to the sounds of grass crackling beneath her feet or the sounds of her own breaths, but when she heard the first howl emanate from deeper in the forest, she paused and listened.

Sounds of all sorts of animals greeted her ears. The sound of owls chirping alongside crickets made her feel at home and like she was on Earth again, until a bird-like creature with long tails and talon claws on the end of them swept at her, causing her to duck in terror. It cried out shrilly and beat its wings furiously as it again made a dive. Cassie couldn't push herself up fast enough to move, but a large furry mammal with four legs and two arms rushed and caught it in its large jawline. It then ran off with its new prize leaving Cassie lying on the ground breathing hard trying to calm down her nerves. The one good thing about animals at least was the fact that water must have been nearby. Slowly, she got up and began to tread carefully in further search of it.

After about another twenty minutes and to the joy of her aching feet and comfort of her dry throat, she found a small lake and rejoiced. Without hesitation she fell to her knees beside an edge of it and cupped her hands in the cool water, bringing it to her lips repeatedly until the dryness left her mouth. She then sat relaxed and suddenly very exhausted, her eyelids drooping.

Knowing it might not be very safe to sleep right at the water's edge for fear of the wild animals around, she found a tree not too far away. A boulder lay beside the trunk and Cassie curled up in between the two and began to relax. Luckily, it did not take long for her to fall asleep.

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When she awoke, Cassie could hear a lot more wildlife moving about and calling out to potential mates and family members. She could tell the sun was up by the soft yellow light piercing in through the tree trunks but was grateful for the shade from the tree canopy above her.

Her moment of bliss did not last long though, as her stomach rumbled loudly, and she held it in concern. Where could she find food? She lay there for a moment sighing and felt a small tear slip down her cheek. She bit her lip and let a few more slip down, trembling slightly. The comfort lacking from the ship, from the crew, and from her boyfriend not being there had hit her. She was regretting not going back. But that nagging caption and image, implanted in her mind, could not be changed either. Letting herself wallow only a little bit longer, she pushed herself up off the ground and dusted herself off.

The trees were thick around the far edge of the lake, but not sure where she might go, it at least seemed like a good starting point. She quickly drank more of the lake water to replenish her thirst and began her journey.

Cassie had never learned how to hunt. She grew up in a city and her family wasn't the outdoor type, so she never learned on Earth. It never was a necessity while being on the spaceship, either and so she began to envy all the other animals that could catch food, while also trying to not become the next victim. She knew better than to try and just pick berries off the bushes too because there was no way to know whether they were poisonous or edible. Her stomach, however, gnawed at her and eventually, she paused, sighing, and shaking.

She sat in a small clearing of trees with wildflowers growing around the trunks as sunshine poured in from above. The sounds of the forest were still lively and engaging. More animals of wacky variations and incarnations of the things she had seen on Earth passed by her. But she suddenly grew more alert with the introduction of a new sound. The sound of metal suddenly clanging around the forest floor stuck out clearly from all the natural sound effects.