Chapter Text
꒦꒷꒦˘꒦˘꒷꒦꒷˘꒦꒷꒦˘ ── ☾ ｡ ☥ ｡ ☽ ── ꒦꒷꒦˘꒦˘꒷꒦꒷˘꒦꒷꒦˘
Blood.
The smell of iron.
The thick slosh of coagulated gore.
All around.
Amongst it,
Deep below the surface,
A Tree.
Precious life,
taken form from the carnage of humanity's blood.
A man is attached to the Tree,
one arm, and one stump outstretched,
as if the branches are merely extensions of his body.
He's dead.
... Isn't he...?
The eel, the blood, the eye, the blood, the voices, the blood, the ship, the camera, the tunnels, the blood, all the fucking blood.
How could his heart possibly be beating?
── ☾ ｡ ☥ ｡ ☽ ──
Who knows how long his heart beats amongst branches and blood.
a hundred beats?
a thousand?
million...?
Perhaps billions is closer.
Time is irrelevant to him in this state.
It's almost peaceful.
Not having to think, to move, to do anything.
Especially after doing so much.
*whirrrrr*
What is that sound?
Who is touching me?
the Tree?
*buzzzz*
… are they going to hurt me?
the Tree?
Please, please, no, just let me stay like this.
I don't want to hurt.
I don't want to die.
I don't want to be alive.
Stop it
Stop it!
STOP!!!
The man is ripped away from the Tree.
𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏 ── ☼ ｡☆ ｡ ☼ ── 𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏𓏏
Grace nearly jumps out of his skin when a loud thud bursts his door down. Being the only inhabitant in his bio-dome, guests aren't common. Not without warning anyway.
He runs to the door, nearly slipping on the tile and-
Ah. Of course it's Rocky.
Grace was about to scold the rock for barging in like someone's dying, but he loudly chirps over any words on his tongue.
“GRACE GRACE GRACE! NEW HUMAN, NEW HUMAN!”
Grace blinks wildly and shakes his head.
“W-whoa slow dow-!”
“COME COME FOLLOW! WHY NOT FOLLOWING?”
Ryland's barely keeping up with Rocky's energy.
“Wait just a minute! Jeez, Rock!”
Rocky impatiently taps the floor with one of his back legs, waiting for Grace to continue.
Grace sighs in relief at the small peace returning to the room.
“Did I hear you right? New- new human?”
Rocky does the Eridian equivalent to a nod.
“YES, GRACE HEAR CORRECT. ERIDIAN EXPEDITION TEAM FIND HUMAN ON MOON.”
Ryland can't believe his ears. What the heck is a human doing so far away from earth? He has a million thoughts and questions running through his mind, but the impatient Eridian skitters out the door, calling a beckoning song out to the other.