//------------------------------// // Impact // Story: Sideswiped // by Smoogy //------------------------------// YEAR: 2018 MONTH: OCTOBER DAY: WED. 17 TIME: 14:32 LOCATION: UNKNOWN OXYGEN SUPPLY: 100% "Wait, one hundred percent," you begin to say to yourself, "this can't be right." You rest in the shade of a larger than normal tree, thinking about the events that have just transpired. Although you were not awake for most of the chaos, you remember waking up to flashing red lights and ear shattering alarms. This was a fighting class ship, after all, and the ship seemed to have been torn apart by a black hole. You were lucky enough to find a usable emergency pod and high-tail it out of there. As for the rest of your unit, you have no knowledge of their current status. Sitting here now, you think back to how you despised fighting just for resources in space, and being forced to contribute to the war because of the draft. All of that, that is the reason you are where you are currently. Where you are, though, not even you know. This planet, or part of the planet at least, is very green, and it reminds you of Earth. As far as you know, there were no planets discovered in the cosmos that could support life very well yet, besides Earth. "So, the only explanation is that the black hole sent me to a whole other dimension," you think out loud. After awhile of searching the nearby area, you believe you are the first intelligent life form on this planet, and judging by your oxygen supply being filled, as well as the numerous trees and bugs, you definitely conclude that this planet supports life. You decide that staying in the same area isn't going to accomplish anything, but then again, what else can you do? There's almost zero chance that you'll be rescued; however, you can still try to survive, or better yet, you NEED to survive, you just found the first planet that supports life besides Earth. Telling others about this may be difficult, but just knowing you discovered it will have to do for now. You have a more important task anyways, you need to survive. Unfortunately, you see no food source other than some berries on plants, but who knows if they're even edible. You do, however, see a river; if there is any other intelligent life on this planet, after all, you'd place your money that they settle down near a river. So it's decided then, you will spend the night traveling along the river in hopes that you'll at the very least find a food source. ... It's been about three hours now, and there hasn't been a food source in sight. You do notice that the river is starting to open up and get larger, and you hope that may hint a lake is coming up soon, as that is your best chance of find food, that is. As these thoughts are racing through your mind, you climb up over an incline. You think you may see structures out in the far, far distance, but you think your mind is just playing tricks on you. That is, however, until you witness the most surreal thing you've ever laid eyes on. It appears to be some type of rainbow, but as far as you can tell, this is no precipitation anywhere nearby. It just appeared with a white ring around it and then disappeared after about fifteen seconds. Adding on to that, you also notice the rainbow is bending, as if it's some sort of 45 degrees angled mini rainbow. This time, you know this isn't just some trick from your mind, you know you saw this. You're also starving, you've been trying to ignore it, and it's been successful for the most part, at least until you saw that. Now you know there is some sort of life around here. You practically start drooling at the thought of a nice meal. At that thought, you take off in that direction. The pain is nearly intolerable, but you will do anything at this point to get some food. Mid-sprint, concerns start to race through your mind, "Will they befriend me? Will they give me food? Will they even be able to communicate with me?" You stop thinking about this, as it's making you uncomfortable. 15 minutes later and you've made it to a thick forest just outside the what you can now call a small village. The brush is nearly up to your knees in a few areas of this forest, and it's thorny too. You wish there was a way around, but that could take nearly a half hour, time you just don't have. You begin through the prickly maze, crouching down at some points or climbing over high bushes. You start to get impatient, as this slow pace is taking forever, but if you go any faster, you'll probably trip up due to the extruding roots and high brush. Your heart is beating faster than when you sprinted the first time. After making it through the thickest of the forest, you observe a dirt road straight ahead. Breathing heavily, you push yourself to the limits to make it to the road. There's a good chance it will take you straight to town. Your suspicions are confirmed when you hop onto the road and look ahead, only to see the clear path. Whether you walk or run will make little difference at this time of the day, as it is now nearing midnight, you predict. Wait a minute, when did the sun go down, and for that matter, when did the moon come up? It was almost as if it happened instantly. You come to the conclusion that that's just how this planet's rotation and this solar system in general works. The hunger feels like it is slowly chipping away at you, and if you don't get something soon, you will most likely collapse. You made your way to the outskirts of the town, and it's now midnight so nobody's out. You start to wonder if anyone is even living in these buildings currently, but you don't want to take any chances. "It's odd," you whisper to yourself, "I was expecting something a bit different, but this is almost identical to some small villages back on Earth." Before you can continue with your endless thoughts, you see something that you never thought would catch your eye. A trash bin. This trash bin is special, though, as it is near what looks to be a small cafe. You think maybe there're some left overs in there from someone's breakfast. You start to dig through it until you find... hay? What is hay doing in here? You start to dig more until you find what seems to be daisies on bread. You eat the bread, as that is something you can actually digest. There wasn't much more besides more of the same, so you decide it's time to find a place to call it a night. You see a patch of grass nearby and figure that's the most comfortable you're going to get. You make sure to find a spot in the grass not too close to town, but also not too close to that forest, that place gives you the creeps. You lay on your back, looking at the stars. You wonder what life is going to be like here, and how different the people here will be from your people back home. You have so many questions and so many concerns. You thought in a time like this, stranded on a planet in a different dimension, you would be terrified and overcome with sadness. But the truth is, you're not. The world back home is not any better than this, it's a war zone, and there's no reason you would ever want to go back. Your family would be the only reason, but you don't even know where they are, as they are older folks, they help the war by doing what they can back on Earth. As for brothers and sisters, you're an only child. The thoughts continue to race through your head, one at a time, and eventually, you drift away to sleep. ......................................................... It seems like it's only been five or six hours maximum since you fell asleep. You were hoping to pick up at least nine or ten hours. Whatever woke you up better be worth it. You stand up and slowly walk towards town. Everything seems normal, there's still no one outside, which could be considered strange, but it is still early. You notice the weather changes quite quickly, almost instantly, just how the sun and moon worked. Instead of a clear sunny day, it is now an overcast. You look up to see what's caused this, but nothing is out of the ordinary. That is until you notice a cloud coming from the forest at least 60 miles per hour. What is going on here? Does the weather just do whatever it wants at the speed it chooses? Yes, on Earth weather is similar to this, but these clouds are just acting like their own person, the way they decide to join in a pack or leave. You squint and try as hard as you can to see why these clouds can move like this, and you think spotted the culprit. It appears there is a light green, but rather large bird pushing it. You've never seen a bird like that, but it is to be expected of a whole new dimension. The more you wait around watching, the more birds that show up. All of them are different colors, and very large for a bird. Their wings are also massive as well. It seems the birds are preparing to make a storm. Why would they do that? If they can control the weather, why intentionally make storms like this? You don't even get the chance to answer that question before you notice a cyan colored bird staring right at you. It stopped dead in its tracks and let go of the cloud. You take no chances and book it back to the forest. You aren't getting killed by a candy-colored bird! You enter the forest and turn around to look back, it appears you aren't being chased. You don't want to go back out just yet, you should give it a few minutes. As for the forest, though, it's not like it is much better. You decide to venture deeper into the forest, come on, the biggest threat here so far is a massive candy-colored bird! When you say it like that, it sounds much more threatening... Nevertheless, you continue your journey into the forest. It is still a pain to maneuver around, so staying out of a chase is ideal when in here. About ten minutes into your journey, you've already covered some decent ground. Owooooooooooo! You can't mistake that noise. That is the howl of a wolf, no doubt. You decide that now is a great time to head back. Turning with no hesitation, you begin walking back. You stop for a brief second thinking you heard something. It is silent for almost ten seconds before you hear the sound of footsteps. Fast. You can definitely figure there's more than just one, or two for that matter. Unfortunately for you, you don't stand a chance in this foot race, the forest is far too difficult to get around in, but damn it you're gonna try! At least, you did try anyway, until you got stuck by a thorn your right arm, and hesitated which caused you to stumble over a root from a tree. Darn. You turn around to see your soon to be killers' identities. Theses things aren't wolves at all. Well, they're in the shape of wolves, but they are made of wood?! Is this some kind of prank? You aren't afraid in the slightest bit now, even with their growls and barking, they're made of wood. What are they gonna do, give you a little splinter? After that thought, you get on your feet, ready to destroy these things. You approach the nearest one and attempt to kick it in the mid area, but it dodges swiftly and takes you down by your leg. These things aren't a joke after all. After that, "little battle", the rest of the wolves joined in and start biting and clawing at you. You try your best to fight back, but it's no use, there's at least ten of them. You come to accept this as your death. Wouldn't that be great on a grave stone if you were to have one? Here lies Jacob Cooper: Was attacked and killed by wooden wolves. R.I.P. At least you're going down with a smile on your face. As you think of this priceless joke, you nearly forget the wolves mauling you to death. So much so that you didn't even notice the cyan bird from before coming down at full speed from the sky. As it comes closer, you notice one thing. This isn't a bird at all. This is a god damn pegasus! You also guess it's a female by the slim body figure. She eventually lands on the ground and yells something in a mean tone. Her voice sounds crackly and high pitched. You can't make out what she said, you can barely see what's going on actually, due to blood loss. You predict if she was a minute later you'd be dead. The wolves are no longer interested in you, as there's now a fresh pegasus in the forest, a lot more appetizing than a worn out chew toy like yourself. She looks ready to fight, does she plan on taking all ten of them on?! You try to stand, but you have no strength, there's nothing you can do! The wolves group around her in a half circle, barking and growling, saliva dripping from their mouths. The first wolf to pounce is a smaller one, but it looks as if it can fight. It goes at her full charge preparing to spring into her, but the pegasus dodges and puts her back leg out to trip it. The wolf goes tumbling head first into a rock and shatters into twigs. The second, third, and fourth all attack at once, from three different angles. The pegasus just waits, and at the last feasible second, she thrusts straight up, causing all three of the wolves to take each other out. After seeing this, the rest of the wolves leave, it is obvious they stand no chance against her. She then turns her attention towards you. Her smug smile quickly turns into a concerned expression as she hurries towards you. She waves her hoof directly in front of your face, and you assume she is asking if you are awake, but you can't make it out. If you could answer, you would. The most you can do is slightly nod your head. After this gesture, she picks you up on her back and says something else, you can make out from the tone of her voice, she sounds determined, which right now, you are very thankful for. She takes off into the sky with you on her back somehow, even though you double her size. She was muscular but this is extreme! You can barely keep your eyes open as you zoom with the wind blowing past your face. You pass out shortly but come back when the pegasus lands near a building, at this point details are impossible to read. You hope to God it is a hospital, but considering the fact you're being carried by a pegasus after being attacked by wooden wolves, who the hell knows. She rushes you into the building, you hear her yell something, but this time, she sounds angry, as if she is yelling at someone. You hear a response this time, and are taken off of the pegasus's back and put onto what you can only assume is a stretcher. You see the pegasus standing there, watching you being stretched away. Everything is becoming gray, and then you go out cold.