Redemption Earth

Lighter

On Munkar night is winter, day is summer, and the fleeting twilight and dawn relieve them. Deep in a jungle were the trees wrestle for decaying masses to feed on and creatures jump from tree to tree like startled cats; a small group of climbing reptilian creatures cling together amongst the background of movement.

One smaller creature lags behind the rest of the pack. She takes long turns hopping between branches and the dark color of her circulatory system starts to show through her pale skin of her face and under belly. Her long tail drags behind her.

Another creature, with the lean muscles of a whippet dog, lands on the branch beside her. She takes a step back. He growls, grabs her by the neck and jumps forward a branch. She is unable to stick the landing. As she clings to the swaying branch he growls again. Just as she manages to scramble her way up, her brother leaves her behind to join the others. Exhaustion seeps through her. She leans against the tree's smooth surface feeling its motion as she watches the group scatter.

Out of the corner of her vision, sees the flicker of movement from three branches below her. The form is oddly hot looking at it is like watching a distant flame. It's beautiful. Tearing her eyes away she tries to make out the faint traces of heat from her group mates. She can just barely make out Varoc's dark form from a distance jumping away. He stops and glances over. Suddenly the wood above her starts to crack. The branch she is on breaks under her feet into tiny pieces. She falls.

There is a terrible screech. Her arms, legs, and tail flail about trying to grab a hold of something, anything. Her claws scrape the bark. Eventually they catch on a knot in the tree. She dangles just barely above the ground which rumbles and shakes with some unknown force. The knot breaks off. It sends Quiet-one crashing to the ground. She is knocked around by the floor's shaking wincing every time she lands on her arm until, as abruptly as it started, it stops.

She gets to her feet, shaking, and takes a look at the damage. Her legs and back are badly bruised and scraped. He left arm is out of shape it hangs limply at her side. She surveys the area tracking how the ground was cracked and sees that glowing heat under a large piece of the destroyed tree. The heat slowly leaks out of the creature. Coming for a closer look it is apparent it's a person wearing an astronaut's suit.

"Sariel? Sariel! I need help. I am stuck about 5 miles..."

Quiet-one walks closer. The human desperately tries to grab for a knife just out of reach.

Sariel comes through the intercom, "Alex, are you ok?"

Alex shouts at the intercom, "No. I am seriously injured and there is a creature..."

"Where are you?"

"I am 5 miles away from the ship in the eastern direction."

Quiet-one comes closer, not scared, and sniffs for the source of the noise. With her good arm she pulls Alex's helmet off. The human tries to grab it. Quiet-one throws it on the ground away from the them both.

They study each other. The human takes a nervous deep breath. Quiet-one's form shifts so that she mimics Alex's external anatomy from her opposable thumbs to her sharp, gaunt cheek bones and deep-set eyes. However, it is imperfect. Scales and feathers still line the demon's back and her skin stays a snowy white color instead of the human's dark brown.

Sariel's voice comes distantly from the helmet, "I am coming to you."

Both characters look over at the helmet, then back at each other. Then, Quiet-one starts brushing debris off Alex. She pulls the human out from under a large log, despite her weak protests.

The Hunting party appears from the shadows. Quiet-one steps back and resumes her former form. Varoc comes toward her, growling, but is stopped when Riari, younger black-demon comes up to carefully sniff what they found. He nudges Quiet-one away from the human.