True Identity // A Socksfor1 Horror AU

The Skeld [RW]

[Meme]

"You okay?"

The British voice snapped me from my thought process. I looked up, meeting the concerned (yet obscured) face of one of my friends, Laff. His green eyes were the only things visible through the gas mask that covered his expression, but they were really all I needed to see to understand what he was feeling.

I exhaled, rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah. Just nervous, y'know?"

Laff chuckled. "First mission jitters?"

"You could say that."

The British man sat down next to me. "If I'm bein' honest, I feel the same."

"Really?" I said. Laff wasn't usually one to be nervous, I felt.

"I don't know," Laff breathed a sigh. "There's just an odd feeling I'm gettin' about this. Like some foreshadow that something bad's gonna happen."

"I hope that's just that. A feeling," I stated. "I want this to go well. I can't count on absolutely nothing going wrong, but I hope the ship stays together and we all stay alive."

I glanced in the direction of some of the others. A few were chatting - from my seat I saw Joocie, Tbh, Dino, and Woolfster. Excitedly talking in the seats next to the small group was Nadwe, my own adopted son, and Muffin. Muffin seemed less ecstatic than Nadwe, but I could still tell he anticipated setting foot on the ship.

Nadwe was the only family I had since Wiktoria died. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him.

I turned my gaze to the screen in the wall near the front of the vessel. There was a small display of our ship, a small transport simply made to take us safely and swiftly through space to the bigger ship displayed. The Skeld. There was a number above the space between the two objects, a number 5. Five more minutes.

Each one of those minutes felt like ten.

I scanned the room, in my head doing a roll call even thought I knew everyone was there. As I'd noticed earlier, Tbh, Joocie, Nadwe, Muffin, Dino, and Woolf were all in one corner. Laff was with me. Blaza was on the other side of the room, anxiously pacing by the door. He's usually very social with the rest of us, so I found the behavior odd. Maybe his nerves are getting to him, too.

After a stretch of what felt like hours, finally the ship jolted, and the screen by the door beeped. We were docked. The door slid open soon subsequently. I took a deep breath and stood, walking with Laff to the door. Nadwe and Muffin both pushed past us, racing into the room on the other side of the entrance with enthusiasm. I laughed, and followed them with the others close behind me.

The room we entered in was a larger room in the shape of an irregular polygon, with some tables and chairs scattered around the space. The cafeteria, I guessed. On three walls were doors, each with labels on the side to see where each corridor led to. On the wall to the right was a window looking out into open space. I couldn't help but gaze out into the never ending abyss outside.

"Meme, I'm gonna go explore the ship!" Nadwe called to me. His voice snapped me out of my trance. I told him, "Wait, Nadwe. We were told not to do anything until the captain gave us the rundown."

The child huffed. "But Memeeeee..."

"Nadwe, it's not my orders, it's MIRA's. Stay here."

"Okaaaaay," he said in annoyance. He trudged back over to me, irritated at me keeping him here.

Laff was still next to me. "Where's the captain? I thought they said he'd be here."

"Well, they wouldn't have sent us to an empty ship," I said. "Maybe he's just-"