In another universe

15 Climing

Loah had come much closer to Moran. Though he was so different from her, just like everyone else, she liked him. She had realised that these "people" wasn't as different from human beings than she first thought. Her shirt was old, she didn't have any other clothes to change too, and it was weeks or maybe months ago since she was taken away from Earth. It really stench and people don't usually smell too bad in the age of seven. She hadn't thought of that when she had been so busy with life and all missions and challenges that came with it. But as she was so sure she would hate being kidnapped by a strange monster, Loah realised she liked it there and maybe wouldn't have been able to like things back on earth. Maybe she was close to a children depression, nobody would ever know.

"I'm thirsty." Moran complained. They were close to reach the top of the mountain but had no water. They had been walking for a couple of days.
"Everyone's thirsty." Loah complained, not thinking that they were the only two people in a range of maybe five miles. "But we will do this. It's not much left." She really wanted to reach that top, it would be so cool to see the planet from such a high point, from a while another view.
"I think I'm going to pass out." Moran continued to complain. He pretended to fall to the ground and made noise like he was dying.
"Get up! We seriously don't have time for this." Loah tried to be grownup but couldn't hide her grin. But her happy face ended abruptly when a wind showed up and brought sand with it. "We have to get on the ground! Cover your eyes and breathe carefully!" She screamed and threw herself down. Her knee scrapped up but she didn't care about the pain, she knew how a sandstorm could kill back on earth. She knew this was as deathly as those. The sand whipped her all over her body, and it felt like needles that were pressed against her flesh, she could feel her blood starting to pour out from her arms and legs and the sides on her face which she didn't manage to cover with her arms. It was a loud noise and she begged for her life.
"Loah? Are you okay?" She heared Moran scream. Her thoughts was 'he's stupid and how can't he realise how dangerous it is to talk?' But she said nothing as she waited for the storm to end. "Loah answer me!" He shouted again but this time louder, or closer. So he was walking. He had guaranteed a death, Loah could literally feel his heart beats as he looked for her.
"I'm here." She whispered without making any sound. Suddenly the sand stopped to whip her and she relaxed, but she still heard it and knew it wasn't over. But what made her not feeling was a slimy body which lied over her, protecting her.
"Are you okay?" He asked again, still not realising she couldn't talk and now even less since he made her not able to breathe, but she was okay with it because she couldn't feel so much pain anymore.
Finally the storm ended and she got up on her feet.
"I'm okay." She said "but how can you not be hurt?" Moran had no sign of sand whipping him anywhere, he looked just like he had done ten minutes earlier.
"I'm just thirsty." He answered with a smirk. "And I'm used to the storms, there were many of those back on my old planet and our people have developed a shield to them, that's one reason to why I'm so slimy." He said with truth in his voice, but a bit disappointed when he mentioned 'slimy'.
"Well, that would be nice if I was too, since I'm pretty hurt."
"Weren't you okay?" Moran asked confused.
"Earth thing."

They got to the top and the view was good, much better than Loah could ever have imagined. They saw all the small islands, it made more sense now when there was a completeness. There weren't just randomly placed hills and islands but they all had connections. It remembered about a balloon seller with ballons of helium in one hand. It also remembered about a sea or a big lake without water, or maybe there was. Every island represented its own biotope like back on earth. It was like looking at the whole earth in just one picture. Loah missed earth.