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It happened so fast, I honestly didn't even know what was coming until it hit, but then again, neither did anyone else. They all managed to get away though, I'm sure. Being smaller than everyone else wasn't always great, especially now. I could never run all that fast because of it, always the first to get caught in games of tag and always the last to cross the finish line in races.
I couldn't see very far in front of me after everything came down on me, pinning me to the ground below me, unable to move as the rocks and boulders surrounding me in a tight pattern. I clicked and clicked, chirping over and over as worry overtook me, all while I spun in small circles, looking for something further than a few steps in front of me, looking for something outside of the rocks around me.
But there was nothing. There was nothing more than just a few steps in front of me other than the rubble that was confining me to this small space. I usually liked small spaces, finding comfort in the limited hearing, but I didn't like this one.
I just wanted my parents. Where were they? Did they even know where to look for me?
Did anyone know where to look for me?
~~~
It wasn't exactly uncommon for Erid to experience planet shakes, an event when the whole surface of the planet would tremble with forces too powerful to contain, destroying houses and the mountains that rose and fell around the planet. There were plans in place for these kinds of things, hiding in well constructed homes and staying with a thrum - thrums could be heard better than individuals if help was needed.
I had no option for either of those, deciding that today was a great day to explore the small city away from my house, one that needed a short hike by the Melodious Mountains to reach. My clustermates were all too busy to come with, leaving me alone on my journey. I never did make it to the city though. I never got to complete my trip.
"Hello?" I called out, notes weak and whimpering as I tapped the rocks around me, ones that I had been walking by without noticing much just moment earlier. I was trying to ignore the pain that shot through my leg, ignore the life liquid that dripped down the crack in it that split one into two. "Can anyone hear me? I'm stuck!"
I quieted for a moment, hoping to hear someone, anyone, answer my call and tell me that I was heard, that help was on the way. That I would be okay. That someone knew I was here, that I existed.
Nobody called back. It was completely quiet and I cried in response to that, curling most of my legs close to my carapace as I made myself as small as possible, hissing in pain as a small pebble fell from above and knocked into my injury. I wanted nothing more than to be in my clan's arms, surrounded by their love, care, and symphonic thrum of affection right now. I wanted to feel safe. I wanted to be home. I wanted my family.
"I wanna go home," I keened, notes weak and trembling, a reflection of myself through and through as I shook under the weight of what might happen to me.
My clan knew I was going to the city, but they didn't know what route. They had no idea where I was, that I was stuck under the rubble of a planet shake. I was completely and utterly alone with no hope of being found anytime soon. Of even being found at all.
I couldn't hear out of the stones that trapped me. It was unlikely that anyone would be able to hear me under them, too small to be easily noticed and not mistaken for one of the many rocks that were here with me. I couldn't even try to dig myself out with my injury, struggling to even stand on that leg, the crack running far down the outside of it, sure to leave a scar if I survived.
If I survived. Oh, I could die down here. I honestly could die here.
"Oh, please Note no," I begged, terror overtaking me as I continued to call for help, pain flaring as I moved to yell. "Please. I don't want to die under here. I don't want to die," I fretted, clicking my claws as I kept trying to hear something more, hear someone nearby. "Please, don't let me die."
~~~
I clicked my claws to make noise, to let someone know I was here, and to keep track of time, marking the seconds as they passed for me.
I would have been back home by now, curled up with my clustermates and getting ready to sleep under the watch of our parents.
I never liked going to sleep, wanting to keep working on my projects instead. Why didn't I like going to sleep? Why didn't I like spending time with my family? I might never see them again and the last conversation we had was about me going off on my own, leaving them behind instead of waiting for a day when someone else was free. Always too impatient, never willing to wait. Why couldn't I have been patient for once?
I continued to keen, a thrum of one that called out for a companion to sing with, all while I tapped out the seconds that passed and my fears only grew more and more real. My vents flared in discomfort as I felt my leg less and less, growing more accustomed to my injury as the hours passed and I stopped moving as much.
It had been hours now and nobody had even come by me. I heard nothing but the clacking I created. Nobody was answering my calls. I would sit here with the rubble until I died and faded into the boulders that would be my home and grave for the rest of eternity.
"Hello?" A voice called back out to me, a distant call that told me I was not alone. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes!" I shouted, stumbling to stand, pain shooting through my leg as I forced myself up. "Yes! I can hear you!"
Oh, praise the Note, I wasn't alone. Someone knew I was here and called back out to me.
"Good good good," they chirped as I heard rocks shifting around me, rolling and moving so I could get a clearer sound of my savior. "I saw you heading this way when the planet shake happened," they explained, continuing to talk to me as I watched them dig me out of the rubble. "Sorry it took so long to find you. The rocks were too thick so I had to move some of the layers to even hear you at first."
"It's okay, it's okay," I assured them, pressing myself against the final remaining boulders that separated me and the voice. "Thank you. Thank you for coming to save me."
"I couldn't just leave you here," they declared, pushing the last large rock out of the way, letting me see their true size unobstructed. "Nobody believed me that you were out here. I knew that you were real, I wasn't going to stop until I found you."
I said nothing, too lost in disbelief that I had been found and stuck under waves of pain that crashed over me as I moved, letting them help me to climb out of the hole they'd dug me out of.
I had buried under so, so many rocks, it was a wonder they had even found me in the first place. Even if I could have moved, I never would have been able to force my way out from under the mountain that had fallen on me. I would have been dead for certain without my wonderful, large savior.
"Here," they spoke softly, picking me up and setting me on top of their carapace, carrying me as they noticed how I kept the weight off of one of my legs, stained with life liquid. "I've got you. It's gonna be okay," they assured me. "I'm Adrian by the way."
"I'm Rocky."
~~~
Adrian spoke with me the whole way back to their city, the one I had been going to visit in the first place when the planet shake hit.
They spoke of their family, of their friends, of themself. They spoke and asked me of mine to keep me awake, moving as fast as they could through the wreckage that the planet shake had wrought.
I was so tired, wanting nothing more than to sleep and heal, but I wanted to speak with Adrian more than I wanted to sleep. I wanted to stay in their company for the rest of time. Something about them drew me to their orbit, a comfortable space I never wanted to leave and was content to just sit in - close enough to see them and feel their affection.
"Rocky?" Adrian sang, their tone flowing gently against my carapace. "Rocky, are you still with me?"
"Yes," I murmured out, running a claw against their carapace. "I'm still awake," I told them, but I wasn't sure how much longer I would be.
"Good good good," they chittered, picking up the pace. "Keep telling me about yourself, Rocky. We're almost there. What's that project you've been working on?"
"Oh, okay. Which one was I telling you about?" I mumbled, fighting to not fall asleep.
"The xenonite one for class. You said you were working on it last night?"
I wanted to respond, I truly did. But I couldn't. I was exhausted and Adrian was far warmer than I was, lulling me to sleep that I couldn't fight anymore.
"No," Adrian cried out, their fear palpable. "No no no, Rocky! Stay with me! We're almost there! Stay-"
~~~
I came back to and I wasn't sure how much time had passed. Sleep was always like that for me - a moment of total quiet, like being out in a void, like being under all those rocks again, then back to wherever I had fallen asleep at, or at least usually. This time was different.
I had fallen asleep on top of Adrian, pain running through my leg as they tried not to jostle me and failed occasionally. I woke up under their watchful gaze, all while they gently moved my leg to wrap a bandage around it.
"Ad…rian?" I sang out slowly, weak and tired still, but needing to speak with them.
"Oh my Note," they gasped, leaning in towards me as they continued to wrap my leg with gentle care. "You're okay. You scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry," I apologized sheepishly.
"You're fine, Rocky. You have nothing to apologize for. I'm just so glad that you're okay," they sang, gently placing my leg back down as they curled themselves around me, their vents flaring in relief.
"How bad is it?" I asked, feeling the full force of my injury as I winced slightly, the crack tender and new.
"It's not great," Adrian told me hesitantly. "The doctors said that it'll likely not grow much more because of the injury that that you'll probably have the crack for the rest of your life. I'm so sorry, Rocky."
"Don't be," I waived them off. "It means that I got to meet you, so it feels like a fair trade to me."
"Oh you sweet singer," Adrian muttered as their vents wheezed in embarrassment. I had flustered them, but I didn't think that they minded. "You're family is on their way. Get some rest, I'll watch over you."
I simple obliged, falling back asleep under their watchful gaze, trusting them to keep me safe as they already had.