-NOiSE-

-A Casted Shadow-

I stared at the abyss that lied below me. Nothing but dark, black clouds. And to think that an entire planet was covered by it. If we knew we were polluting our planet, then why couldn't we stop?

I shook my head and crossed my arms, the Roots keeping me afloat. I sighed, continuing to look down. 

His daughter... is down there? All alone...?

I smiled and shot downwards towards the clouds, putting a bit of a strain on the heels.

He would have done the same thing for me. 

I turned my head to the side before being enveloped in the smog. I continued, holding my breath tightly. It smelled like rotten potatoes in here. 

Minutes passed and I didn't see an opening. I was beginning to feel a little dizzy. Just a bit more...

Oh god, I don't think I'm going to make it. 

I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.

Just a bit more...

I was thrown out of the clouds just as I was going into them, and I slowly regained my balance. My clothes were a bit wet, but the wind coursed through them and were dry in no time. Sights of old parts and rubble were still laid about, but it was cleaner that what it was years ago. Flipping and putting my feet first, I touched down to Earth, breathing in the air that was still down here. Somehow. I took a couple of steps forward before looking around. 

"Now how am I supposed to find this girl... if I have no idea where-"

"FREEZE!"

Two men stepped out of the shadows, holding guns that were pointed directly to my head. One was pointing to the Roots as well.

"Stand right where you are. Who are you?" One man said. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a black jacket swung around him. The other man was looking quite stylish, with a black tuxedo and crispy looking pants. No dress shoes though. They were both dirty, regardless.

"My name is Avrilon, I don't want to hurt-"

"Uh-huh. How do we know that? You have a weapon, as well as some fashionable footwear. How don't we know that you're someone that was sent by the government?" The tuxedo man asked angrily, tightening his grip on his gun. 

"I don't believe her. Let's kill her. Before more come." I winced at those words, trying to think quick.

Don't flinch, only fight.

I immediately jumped up and whisked out my sword, pointing it towards the t-shirt guy.

"I said I don't want to hurt you! I don't work for the government! I'm just here to do something, OK? Please don't-" A bullet whizzed by my face, making me slide swiftly to the side. I tightened my grip on the handle of the sword. launching myself at them.

"STOP!"

My head followed the voice of another girl, running up to us. I took my sword that was slightly into the t-shirt guy's neck and faced it towards the girl.

"Are you people crazy? Are you gonna try to kill me, too?" I shouted at the girl, who surprisingly ran past me to scold the two men.

"Didn't I tell you guys to ask questions first? Jesus, you guys are such kids. And idiots." I slid the sword back into its holding place. The girl noticed me out of the corner of her eye, running towards me and shaking my hand.

"I'm so, so, so, sorry for these... two. My name is Diana, and that's Jeffery and Frank. It's nice to meet you. I'm pretty sure you have a reason to be here... You know, because there's a lot of technology here... and you could make a lot of things here... like when we got here, we had to fix our guns with the pieces that were on the grou-" I put my hands on her shoulders, giggling to myself. Diana seemed to prattle when she was nervous, which I inexcusably did not have time for. 

"Uh, I think we should head back to camp. It's gonna get pretty late really quick." Jeffery, orginally the t-shirt guy, whispered. He kicked a spring, obviously in denial of what he had done. Frank, the fancy looking one, folded his arms. He didn't look sorry. Diana nodded in agreement, and started to walk. After a couple of steps, she turned to look at me.

"Did you need a place to stay? We have a camp quite a ways away, but you don't have to stay if you don't want to." Her smile reminded me of my mother's own. I turned my head in thought.

"Th-that would actually be great, thank you so much." I caught up to her while all four of us started to walk, the sky downscaling because of the clouds. I could sort of make out the time of day, but it was quite hard to down here.

"So, what are you down here for? Since you wanted me to ask questions, Diana." Frank asked rudely. Diana sternly looked back at him, almost as if she was going to slap him. 

"I'm here to find someone, actually..." I spoke awkwardly, trying not to give too much away.

"Find someone? We've seen people from the government come down here once or twice, but not any other people. Any other reasons, m'lady?" I shook my head no, continuing to walk. "Why are you guys down here?" I questioned. All three of them became quiet as scrap metal crunched under our feets. 

"Hmmm... well, all three of us used to work for the same company. Other workers tried to pick fights with us, and it got really out of hand. So, to get revenge, they made this picture where it showed us ship-hopping without passports. So we had to escape. We came here to escape. Somehow, the news spread everywhere, so we really couldn't stay up there," Diana sighed. "I really miss my cats."

Something suddenly clicked in my mind. These were the people on the news! I looked up at the clouds. The sky was turning darker.

"Huh. That... sounds really terrible. I'm sorry."

"It's OK. We're over it. And now that I think about it, I went exploring the other day, and I did see this weird pod thing... it had a password, but I could never figure it out." Jeffery said.

My eyes widened, suddenly grabbing his shirt.

"Where. Is. It." I commanded. I blinked, realized what I was doing, and let go of him. 

"I... uh... saw it in a building... it has a flag on it... if you go straight through the base..." Jeffery stammered, nervous. 

"And the base is directly straight right now?" Jeffery nodded sheepishly as I took off running, eventually jumping and hovering over the ground. I whizzed through the base, it only being a building with very little shelter. I slowed down to spot another building.

With the U.S. flag next to the door.

I swung open the door, having it fall off its hinges behind me. Ignoring it, I looked around to see a huge pod sitting right in the corner. I slowly walked up to it, kneeling down to take a closer look at it. The glass of it was lined with dust and dirt. It didn't see to have any cracks or damages to it, which was a good thing. I heard a noise in the background, and I turned to see a dark, looming figure standing right behind me.

"AAIIEEE!"

-/-

I like how the story is coming along :D 

If you liked this chapter, I ask of you to please vote it up or even comment, it would really help the story grow. And if you have in the past, thank you!

I gotta go, bye!

~SkittlesBeats

*edited as of 3/16/15*

~Future SkittlesBeats ;)