Chapter Text
The air is cold here, colder even than winters in the north where my people are. It’s been about a day now in this new landscape — a day without food, a day without shelter, a day without rain or heat or freshwater. The only life here is the lichen growing over the coal-black soil that stretches in all directions. Never in my life have I experienced such a total silence. If I listen close, I can hear my own blood circulating my body, and if I listen closer, I can hear it slow.
As the last of my water runs out, I see something that brings hope. Below the red sun about to set, I see something sticking out of the endless flat expanse. I reach the object — a green metal sheet held up by rods of aluminum.
The object has words in a long dead language, the lettering reading out “You are now entering The EC3”. I recognize the glyphs, but not the meaning. This text is written in the holy script, I see no other interpretation of the object than it being a message from God, giving his favor towards my travel. It makes sense of course, my journey is one of the divine, to find the blessings of God in these unknown lands. I had almost considered my goal pointless while traversing this wasteland — what touch of God could be found in this cursed land?
This object is a sign that I will find life, if only I maintain the strength to continue south.
Only 2 hours more of walking, and my thoughts are confirmed, I have not been forsaken. The first sign is sparse patches of grass poking up through the soil, the next is heat. Gradually, the landscape returns to shades of greens and blues, density of flora increasing, till I stand in front of a vast forest. The trees are different than they are where I come from, pine replaced with the rounded, broad leaves I expect to see in the understory. The coloration of the leaves interests me as well — it’s not like we don’t have any green leafed trees, but they’re far less common, and even then they’re more of a cyan than the pure green I see in front of me. It doesn’t matter, a forest means shelter and water. I find a lake, and finally I can quench my thirst after almost a full day without any fluids. The cool water on my throat feels heavenly, and my whole body responds as if it was pulled back from the brink of death. Finally having a moment of rest, I sit on the lake shore and begin sketching the landscape in my notebook. I hadn’t had a chance to notice it before, but the sky is different here too. Where I come from, the sky is a dull gray, illuminated in shades of blue as the sun sets. Here, the sky is brilliant blue all day. Even more phenomenal is how the sky here changes during its sunset. I watch as the sky turns vibrant shades of red.
Night has fallen, and the sky is awash with stars, although less clear than they would be at home. The thought makes me reminisce. I miss my home and my people, but this journey is my destiny. I was born for this. I didn’t have the choice nor the desire to turn down the task. I know I’m going to get homesick, get lonely here without any human contact for god knows how long. It’s all worth it if I manage to succeed. The very survival of my people depend on me coming back to them with a solution to the sickness plaguing our village. I will not return until I find an answer, or so help me God.