MOONFLOWER » obi-wan kenobi.

01 | chance encounter.

THE streets, as she heard from the old townsfolk sitting under the tattered canopy of the market stalls, were thought to carry many stories of those that came and left, and ever since the time of the Great Dune Sea, they continued to work as a monument for newcomers. Sora didn't expect herself to fall under that, it became clear to her by the occasional stares and darting eyes from barred windows that she did not belong there, in any shape or form.

And it was something she was forced to deal with beyond her reason. With no other safe haven to be found for miles, the girl felt as much comfort as she could remember after her rude awakening that morning. A kind that was of little to no sense in its nature, and had left Sora to raise a mighty question on her arrival: what exactly happened to her?

What did make sense, miraculously to that, was the unnatural surge of energy Sora had felt through her veins that morning. As if her life passed by a great ordeal before rendering her unconscious, in the middle of the desert, with thermal garments and coat suited for winter's cold. Hours upon days may have swiftly gone by, but with her loss of memory and place she was left gazing far beyond the pale skies, solemn standing on her aching knees. The edges of the pit she found herself in curled up as high above, almost reaching the near-absent clouds. A weak gust of wind brushed against her dark hair, her hands beginning to tingle, then sting.

She looked down. Imprints of sharp sand grains had left a patterned mess across the rosy skin of her palms. A deep scar forged through the middle of her right hand, crimson at the centre then a soft pink reaching out. Tracing it with her other, the young lone woman had many questions in mind, with so few answers at her disposal.

Attempting to go over any clues of her origin was futile. There was no clear answer as to how the girl wound up in a sunken pit of coarse, rough, irritating sand, and when her eyes fluttered briskly to face the blinding glow of two suns above her, Sora wondered whether her dreams became vivid enough to engulf her being whole.

Instead, the young woman's chestnut eyes were met with the amber ones of a hooded figure, petite and clothed in a brown cloak with a rope tied around their waist. A language they used, highly pitched and very fast- nothing she was able to understand from. Conversations weren't held long but from the way the figure pointed towards the dusty trail to her left, it only seemed reasonable enough for her to follow along. Strange met stranger, she silently pondered. Trekking for around an hour left Sora in complete bafflement; the horizon was yet to close in, and the girl felt as though the dry foreign planet she fell upon was a punishment for her past sins, whatever they were.

Arriving at a street vendor's alley next to what looked like a large water deposit, Sora's disbelief grew considerably at the sight of the alien beings. Some looked akin to lizards, others like elephants, even the cattle felt similar to that of camels and yaks. Yet all were so different, and the awe of it all only made her stomach twist into a knot. And it was in the dust-paved streets, where she found herself hooked within a web of underlying hostility.

Walking along in the heat had worn Sora down, and she knew not many in this town would approach her without staying cautious behind walls. She looked around and caught sight of a brunette man, crouching beside a steel engine with a wrench in his gloved hand.

"Uh, excuse me?" She said, hoping he was among the less unfriendly kind. The man stood up and turned to face her, his dark eyes complimenting his fairly broad shoulders. She could tell by his questionable glance over her outfit that he was far from impressed- if the girl wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn he let out a quiet sigh. Sora took a short glimpse at his dusty red undershirt covered by a grey sleeveless jacket, paired with brown laced up boots fit for the harsh dunes of the desert. Definitely more practical than what she had on.