Lost

"Are we good now?"

Sandy's POV

"Are we there yet?" Molly asked impatiently. Aster shrugged and looked around at the scenery (there wasn't really any) for about the 800th time.

Denise's scowl had disappeared, replaced by a slight smile tinged with amusement. Ara was happy she'd somehow warmed up to Sandy; it would've been hard for them to find the capsule without her, as Denise had a hidden talent for maps and navigation.

They had left about a half an hour earlier, after picking Denise, Aster, and Molly up, and had left Ara's wagon behind, opting for faster transport by taking the Hyperspeed Train to a small station in the Wastelands, and then they would walk from there to the general area where Sandy's capsule had crashed.

The train was much like a bullet train, but faster. Like, really fast.

When they arrived at the station, they got off of the train and started walking. The way was lit by a silvery sunset on the horizon, and the two moons that orbited around Rinwell. The train sped away at almost the speed of light, and the small group was left alone. As they trekked through the almost empty landscape dotted with curved trees, wilted grass, and blue-green lakes and puddles, they surveyed the area for any sign of the capsule.

Then Molly saw it.

She pointed to a spot in the near distance, and they all started running, excitement coursing through their veins, though when they reached the spot, they were all dismayed to find that the capsule was being taken away by another, high tech capsule.

With a sigh, Sandy turned away, her eyes glassy. "It's no use. Let's head back."

"Wait." Cadence suddenly said, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her back around. "We're not giving up just yet." Then she turned to Ara and pointed to a small maintenance door. "If we get closer, can you get it open?"

Ara nodded, the wheels slowly turning in her head as she planned out the steps to opening the door.

"Good. On my mark, run over there and get it open. Molly and Aster, you will guard Ara while she gets the door open. Denise, you stay nearby with Sandy."

"What about you?" Aster asked.

Cadence gave a slight sliver of a smile. "I will be going into the capsule and making sure we have a clear and safe way to a good hiding spot."

"And are you sure you know what you're doing?" Molly asked, a tad bit nervous, which was a bit uncharacteristic, though understandable in their situation.

Cadence's sliver of a smile turned to a bitter and sad one. "It's not my first rodeo." Then she motioned to Ara, and she, Ara, Molly, and Aster sprinted over to the maintenance door. Ara began to get to work on getting it open, and Molly and Aster guarded her back. A bit behind but still near was Denise and Sandy, standing in silence.

Denise cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence. "I'm sorry." She said softly, looking down at her feet.

Sandy tilted her head in confusion. "What for? You never did anything."

Denise lifted her head, an expression of regret on her face. "But I did. I was mean to you when we first met. I accused you of lying when later I was proved wrong." She paused, but then spoke again. "I think we may have gotten started off on the wrong foot."

Sandy nearly choked with laughter, but she kept control over herself and didn't. "You think? I know." Then she reached over and gingerly patted Denise on her shoulder. "It's okay. I forgive you." Then she looked over to where the others were still working on the door. "And I suppose I should also say sorry, as I intruded on your friendship with Ara. I never meant to do that."

Denise offered a weak smile. "That's fine. I forgive you too." Then she cleared her throat again and looked straight ahead to the others. "Are we good now?" She asked.

Sandy smiled and looked that way too. "Yup. We're good."

Then Ara signaled over to them and they both ran over. Ara had gotten the door open, and Cadence had crept inside. They all waited next to the door as Cadence searched for a hiding spot.

After a few minutes, Cadence came back out and silently motioned for the rest of them to follow her in.

Arabella's POV

Inside the mysterious new capsule, it was quite bland. The walls were completely white, not a speck of dirt or color invading. There wasn't a lot of furniture, as it was all in the main control center, and what was in there was just the control panel table at the head of the room, some stools in front of it, and then some reclining seats for when it was time to take off.

The hiding spot that Cadence had chosen was in two small closets that held cleaning supplies and were side by side. They were just off of the control room, and there were small eye holes so that they could look out into the hallway and control room. Once they were secure and in the hiding spots, Cadence briefed them on what else she'd seen on the capsule. It had been two blank hallways, a small lab at the back, and then a huge storage room where Sandy's capsule was.

A few minutes of talking back and forth passed, and then Cadence suddenly hissed for them to be quiet, as she could hear people coming down one of the halls. The people passed by the cleaning closets, and went into the control room. Cadence, Denise, Ara, and Sandy moved to the eyeholes for the control room, and pressed up against the wall to look through.

There were five people, all dressed in dove gray uniforms with silver ornaments. One was tall and had red hair in a bun, another was small and had brown curly hair. One was tall and had purple hair in a long braid, another was tall with red curly hair. And the last one was tall with white blonde hair. The mysterious five dressed-in-strange-uniforms sat down in the five stools at the control panel. They flipped some switches and then got up and went to the back of the room and strapped into the seats for takeoff.

Ara could only get one look at the control panel before the entire capsule began to shake. It had been a map showing the destination planet.

They were going to Planet Koren, home to the Queen.