An Infinite Sojourn

II

   Clouds of pink and purple blind us as we shoot down onto the new land. My back immediately hits my chair as a strong force pushes us all backwards. I slow us down and try to angle the ship in an optimal way, hoping only minimal damage would occur.

We violently scrapped against the land at an alarming speed but ultimately we stopped, smoke and dirt slowly exhaling from the back of the ship. I looked back quickly to make sure everyone was alright. I see the three behind me are alright, shaken up and freaked out, but alive. I breathe deep, recovering myself from that violent crash. But then I look back, the last girl that was in the back was gone. Did she... fall out? Did I just imagine her being there?! After staring back there for so long, the others looked behind them and had the same look of surprise, confusion, and fear I had in my face.

"Wait... Wasn't there someone else back here not five minutes ago?" The man with the middle parted hair blurts.

"Yeah I was about to the ask the same thing. I wonder if she fell off somehow." I explained.

   We started looking in the ship and found what we assumed was her luggage (as it wasn't any of ours) but she was nowhere to be found. The sense of unease that had been building up in me since we left Earth suddenly turned into a full-blown panic. How could someone just disappear into thin air like that?
   
   I quickly got out to check the damages on the ship but as soon as I stepped out it hit me in the face- this wasn't Earth. And not only was this not Earth, this wasn't anything like Earth. I felt light, I felt nearly weightless. Every step I would linger in the air a little, like I was floating. It was surreal. I look up, noticing the light pink and purple clouds scattered across the pale blue sky.

The ground is a dark brown with a lot of a moss-like plant that was bright green scattered over most of it.

I turn back around at the ship, I see the other's still frantically searching the ship in a panic. I jump hard on the ground, propelling myself to where they are.

"I'm going to go look for her. You can come if you want." I explain calmly, trying to mask the anxiety and fear I was feeling.

They all get out, instantly almost.
"Woah-" one of them mutter, right before running into a weird tall plant of some sort.

"What's that?" The man with the bun asks, pointing at the plant. It was tall, but much shorter than trees on Earth and had a thick yellow trunk and purple leaves on top, probably about ten feet tall

"I have no idea but we don't need to get
sidetracked. We need to find her, this place could be dangerous." I pointed out, assuming a leadership position as I was the only one who'd taken initiative. They seemed to agree, and followed me.

"It's so weird, hopping around like this." The woman pointed out. I agreed, but I didn't want to waste time responding so I said nothing.

   After a bit of searching we had found nothing, everyone was still in low spirits of worry and confusion in this new world. This world was very different from Earth, but one of the things that bothered me the most was the smell. It smelt sweet, like very sweet. Maybe it was a plant or something in the area but there was a strong aroma that smelt very sweet, and it made me sick, I was nauseous. On top of that, it was hard to breathe. We had space suits on that filtered oxygen from the atmosphere to make it breathable but even in the suit I could tell the air was very thick. I couldn't be sure what the temperature was like but the air was unpleasant nonetheless.

   "I'm Carlos, by the way." I mentioned, hoping the others would respond with their names. I was right.

   "I'm Oswald." The man with the middle parted hair quickly responds.

   "I'm Daisy." The woman with blonde hair mutters a little quietly.

   "..."

We all look back. The other man says nothing.

   "Hey." Oswald shouts a little aggressively, "Did you not here us? What's your name?"

   "Aarav. That is my name." He responds very calmly, with a wholesome smile.

   "Well hello Oswald, Daisy, and Aarav." I say, showing I know everyone's name now. "Why did you sign up for this mission?" I questioned. I knew nothing about these people besides their names, so I wondered what their intentions were.

   "Same reason everyone else did, for the money." Oswald laughed loudly, Daisy nodded in agreement.

   "I wanted to see space... and to visit another world." Aarav says quietly, as he stood still behind the others.  He was looking around calmly and curiously.

  I try to get everyone back on task "Well she couldn't have gotten much- wait..." I interrupted my self, "what is that?!" I pointed towards something on the ground a bit from us.

   I sprung my legs hard and propelled myself toward it, the others followed close behind.

   "Oh m-my god..." Daisy's voice was shaky and uneasy. I couldn't move. I was frozen. Daisy had tears rolling down her face, Oswald was speechless, Aarav was shaking. There, in front of us, was the girl's mangled corpse.

thanks for reading :)