Chapter Text
Life on the devastated Earth was hard. The rigors and hardships the last man on earth had to endure helped him regain most of the physique of his youth. However, with the renewed strength also came the painful memories of his younger days, of how he used to live as a thief and murderer. He did not know what was causing him to relive the past in increasing detail. The last man suspected that it was loneliness he was succumbing to or, perhaps, the guilt he still felt over a selfish choice he made when he was younger.
The last man put the finishing touches on the ramshackle windmill he had built and looked down hopefully at the jury-rigged condenser below. If this contraption worked, he would not have to resort to filtering his own urine ever again. Soon, the wind picked up causing the blades of the windmill began to turn, and the condenser roared to life. As the last man wiped the sweat from his brow with one hand, he fanned himself with his stylish, but serviceable hat, closed his eyes, and felt another one of his memories returning. As he reopened his eyes, he saw that the sun had changed to red, the windmill had become a tree, and the condenser below transformed into an enraged combination of pig, crocodile, and who knows what else. He knew that what he was seeing was a hallucination, still he was bothered by the realness of this vision. He quickly recognized this memory...
He had just turned seventeen and was looking for a place where he could get some target practice with his birthday present, a .357 caliber revolver. When, he discovered a cave that lead into some ruins decorated with strange reptiles and glyphs. In exploring the ruins he found a platform with a strange geometric shape in the middle of it. As he came closer to it he felt the hair on skin stand up. In youthful curiosity and foolishness he stepped on that strange platform. He found himself in a different set of ruins, which had the same decorations, but were not as deeply buried. The smell of ozone was around him. He heard a peal of thunder and looked up through an opening in the roof and saw a flash of lightning in a dark cloud above him. He examined the platform that brought him and noticed that this one had a metal rod that pointed to the sky. He explored the ruins and found an opening to the outside. From that portal he saw the source of the dark cloud, a volcano. He tried the platform again and again, but it would not operate. Panic overcame him when he finally understood that he had made a one way trip. He searched the ruins he was in many times, but, eventually, hunger forced him out try to find something to eat.
However, something found him first and when he fired a bullet into that strange creature, it became enraged. Though the strange beast was slower than him, it relentlessly pursued him. Exhausted and full of fear after hours of being chased, he resorted to climbing a tree. This action saved his life, but left him trapped as the creature waited at the trunk for him to eventually come down. Becoming desperate, he fired bullet after bullet into it randomly, nearly exhausting his supply. But the creature showed no signs of injury, despite the large brown splatters of its blood staining the ground. Furthermore, his sole remaining bullet was defective. Again, and again, he would rotate the chambers and then pull the trigger, but the last bullet would not fire. Having no other choice, he waited for the beast to wander off. The red sun traveled overhead and began to set. The sky darkened and he saw moons overhead. One green and the other pink with its own tiny pink moon. These moons provided all the proof he needed to understand he was not in some prehistoric past or a far-flung future of Earth. He was on another world! The rush from this realization soon faded as the beast below bellowed again and tried in vain to climb up the tree he was in.
Suddenly, she appear as a rapidly moving grey blur and when she reached the enraged beast's throat she stabbed into it with her sword. The beast spasmed as she twisted her weapon to and fro. Then, after the beast had fallen lifeless onto the ground, she gave the body of the creature a few kicks to make sure it was dead. From the tree, he watched as this mysterious grey skinned figure started butchering the creature. Feeling safe, he climbed down out of the tree and took a step towards his savoir. Only to freeze when he heard a twig snap under his foot. In a blink of an eye, he was slammed backwards against the tree by the grey skinned lady and had the tip of her sword touching his throat.
Thus, he got his first good look that the strange folk that lived on that world. She was similar him, except for the gray skin, the two spiky horns on her head, and the orange eyes with grey pupils that were tinged with a bit green. The speed at which she pinned him to the tree caused him to open his mouth from fear and awe. She studied his teeth intensely, then she grinned showing hers. She had mouth that belonged to a predator. No longer on the offensive, she sheathed her sword and began to touch his clothing, as if she could not believe what was in front of her. He looked at what she was wearing, clothing made from animal hides, all hand stitched. In her explorations, she knocked off his stylish, but serviceable hat and began to run her fingers through his hair rather roughly, as if she was searching for something that was missing. Once she had satisfied her curiosity, she picked up his hat and placed it on her head. When her horns prevented this from happening, she applied additional force, tearing two new holes in the hat for her horns to fit into. Suddenly, he became incensed at the abuse his hat suffered and he angrily snatched it back from her head
What followed was the third worst beating of his life.
When he regained his senses he quickly realized that he was completely naked. The pile of torn and slashed clothing spoke volumes of what happened while he was out cold. He looked at her and noticed his hat was on her head again and she was examining the items she found on his person. He reached for what remained of his pants and a felt something jab his neck. Raising his hands to investigate, he discovered there was now a thick leather collar around his neck that had a ring of spikes along the inside surface. He put on what was left of his pants and then noticed she was standing next to him!
He did not hear her make a sound in her approach. She pointed to the sunrise on the horizon and said something he did not understand. The realization that he had spent nearly all of the night unconscious hit him. But, he did not have time worry about that, as the grey skinned lady attached a rope to the collar on him and walked into a nearby cave. Again, she repeated her words and gave the rope a tug. He felt the bite of the inward facing spikes of the collar and took a half step towards the cave. For a third time she repeated the word, in a more commanding tone and began to reel in the rope. Quickly, he learned his first word of their language.
"Come"