Fallen Stars

I: Independents

Nyx rushes through the ship as alarms blare. The few people not in cryosleep are hurrying to stations, trying to fix the issues. One of them pushes her into a seat as the ship shutters. Beside her is Dr. Walter Sullivan, the physician on ship. And the man who has raised her.

"This is SEEDs Ship Four," her adoptive dad says into the comm system. "We're going down. Do you copy?" Static. "Do you copy?" 

Just more static. He cusses under his breath before looking at the young girl next to him. He stands up and grabs her shoulder. His eyes focus on the planet drawing closer.

"Is there anything you can do?" He asks the captain. The young woman looks up, clearly frustrated. Tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't fucking know," she responds. Her eyes lock on the terrified child before letting out a sigh. "I'll try to see if I can land us safely on the planet."

Dr. Sullivan nods his head before sitting back down. Through the glass windshield in front of them, Nyx can see more ships falling from orbit and towards the unfamiliar planet below. Her ship shakes and she quickly grip her seat. The other ships soon look like falling stars destined to hit the ground. And SEEDs Ship Four soon becomes one of those falling stars.

°°°°°

 People are milling around, trying to complete tasks to improve life. It has been a year since the wreck and people are trying to survive on the new planet. There has been a lack of communication with the other ships since then. Some are willing to believe the others have died. 

Nyx holds her hand up, trying to block the two suns overhead. Damn, she'd kill for some water. On the ridge, there are two figures. She squints her eyes, trying to focus. Soon they come into view a bit before they move out of her line of sight. Excitement swells inside her.

"Dad!" she calls. She turns to see her dad rushing over.

"Is everything okay?" he asks. The concern leaves his face as he sees the excitement on her face.

"There are other people!"

"What?"

"I saw them! Over on the ridge!"

He looks in the direction she's pointing. 

"I don't see anyone."

"They were there. We need to find them!"

"They will come down if they want to talk to us," he tells her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He directs her back to the rest of the group. She can't help but look back towards the ridge on the way back to the others. Nyx and Dr. Sullivan help with constructing a new building where they can help those who are sick or hurt. The entire time wandering who those people are. They could be other survivors or even natives to the planet. Just because they haven't seen any humanoid beings doesn't mean there aren't any.

Once she gets a chance, Nyx slips out of the compound being built and wander up to the mountains. She cautiously climbs over the rocks. The suns beat down on her, making it difficult to move. Soon she makes it to the ridge. The young girl looks out towards where her dad is before turning to where she saw the figured go. Someone grabs her and quickly throws her down. The wind gets knocked out of her as her back hits the side of the mountain. 

She catches her breath as she reaches for the knife she keeps on her. She quickly holds it up between her and her attacker. Standing in front of her are two boys that look roughly her age. A set of blond twins. One has lighter hair than the other. Each one has a mole on opposite sides of their faces. The one with more yellowish blond hair kneels down.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Am I okay?" she questions. "One of you attacked me!"

"You were following us," the other twin states; his tone even and emotionless.

"I was seeing if you were survivors of another ship," she snaps back.

"You're a survivor?" the one kneeling asks, a hint of joy in his voice.

"Yes. Me and the people down there are from SEEDs Ship Four."

"We're from Ship Five!"

Ship Five. There's something about that ship that her dad told her. As she studies the two in front of her, her eyes goes wide as she remembers.

"You're like me! Dad was in communications with your ship."

The boys look taken aback by this comment.

"We're nothing like you," the one with lighter hair snaps. The other twin offers a hand to her, helping her up to her feet.

"Yes you are," Nyx protests. "You Independents like me. Unless there was another set of twins." The boys look at each other in shock, so decides to continue. "Apparently it was a big deal when you two born on your ship. And then I was born a couple months after you. My dad decided to raise me and he would speak to a woman on another ship. They would compare notes on how we grew and learned."

"Why do you call that human your dad if you're like us then?"

"Because he raised me. Family doesn't have to be biological, but it can be those you have an emotional connection too."

The yellow blond one warmly smiles at her.

"I like that idea. I'm Vash by the way."

"Nyx Sullivan."

She looks at the other twin, waiting.

"Knives," he grumbles. Nyx glances back over the ridge to see the small specs of people moving about. The people down there will probably be looking for her soon. She looks back at the two, folding her hands behind her back and rocking on her feet some.

"Would you like to meet the others?"

"No!" Knives snaps. Vash flinches a little before looking past her. She can't tell what is going through his mind, but he seems worried. Why is are they so against humans? Those she grew up around were nice. They looked out for her like their own. Maybe those on their ship weren't so nice. She knows it's a possibility given the classics she read; however, she figured after them losing loved ones, humans would be more inclined to be kinder to those who are lost or need help.

"It's best we keep going," Vash informs her. She puts her knife back into its hiding spot.

"Well if you ever want company, you know where to find me."

With that, she heads back down into the valley to tell her dad the news. If they survived, that means others did as well.

°°°°°

By the end of the next year, half the people have left in hopes of finding a town with other survivors. Two years after that, all that remained in the valley was a doctor and his daughter in a small shack they had built with enough crops to feed them. Occasionally, Vash will come over with a new wound, story to tell, or both. Each visit grew longer and longer in time. 

At day, Nyx would learn how to be a doctor while Vash would assist with repairs to the small house, improving it so it would last longer. At night the two would sit out side, watching the stars and talk about everything they could think of. He would talk about Rem, the woman who raised him and Knives, and she would talk about mythologies that she had learned from countries long forgotten on another world. The more the two were together, the closer they grew.

Just before the tenth anniversary of the crash, Dr. Sullivan passed in his sleep. Vash assisted Nyx with the burial of her dad. That's when she left to see the world on her own. One thing remained, if things were to ever get too bad, the house in the valley would be there.