Eclipsed Journeys

S.1, Ep.7: A Chaotic Environment

Luna looked around. She was confused. "Ace?" She said cautious as she looked around. She felt Lonely and scared. She noticed some smoke deeper in the forest as she was thinking to investigate that. "I need to do something." She said to herself. She wasn't happy about that but it was about to become dark and the last thing she was thinking about was staying here for the night. She sighed and slowly walked further into the woods in the direction of the smoke. The forest was dense and dark as she heard noises everywhere. Every now and then an animal ran by and scared Luna. When she arrived at the smoke she found out it was an campfire. The fire was still on so it was quite new. The warmth of the fire made her feel a bit more comfy as she looked around to see if she saw anybody and slowly walked around. A noise was heard in the bushes as an arrow nearly missed Luna's head, she got startled and got down. "Wow!" She said quick as she grabbed her wand but wasn't ready to either attack of defend herself.
"Who are you?" An old voice was heard. Luna looked in the direction of the arrow as an old man slowly walked out of the darkness with a bow aimed at Luna. The man looked quite old with white hair and a beard. He was wearing an long coat and blue jeans. Armed with a bow and arrows, a knife and ropes he looked quite strong for his age. "Don't shoot. Luna said as she looked at the man. The man looked at her from top to bottom. "You are not from here huh?" He asked Luna calm. It looked like he immediately saw that Luna was not from this dimension. He lowered his bow and held out a hand. "Come my child." He said slowly.
Luna didn't really trusted the situation and stood up, ignoring the hand. "Where am I?" She asked the man nervous.
"Follow me." He said as he ignored her question and walked away. Luna was confused and hesitated for a bit when she decided to follow the man.

They ended up in some sort of an camp. A group of maybe 40 or 50 people were walking around the place as Luna looked around. "This is Faded Birch Grove. Our camp. We are the Striped Ants." The man explained her.
"Striped Ants?" Luna asked confused. She still didn't knew where she was and this all was new for her.
"Our tribe's name." A girl said as she joined the two. "I will take it from here Father Luther." She said. The man nodded and smiled at the girl. "Alright then. Threat her like our own then." He said as he walked away.
Luna looked at the man as she just found out the mans name is Father Luther. Before she could ask any questions the girl offered her some food.
"You might be starving, here." She said with a friendly voice. The girl was looking like she was around Luna's age as well. Long black hair and brown eyes that looked innocent and helpful. Luna took the food and thanked her when she started eating.
"My name is Nadia." The girl said to Luna as she smiled.
"ah.. Luna." She said trying not to talk with her mouth full.

After a couple of days, Luna settled down in the camp and assisted the people in maintaining the needs of the camp. She made friends with the girl named Nadia and they got along very well. She almost forgot the problems she was dealing with.
Luna noticed a lot of soldiers getting ready to leave.
"Where are they going?" She asked curious.
"Well... We are in war with two other tribes. Now we are planning on an surprise attack on one of them in the dessert.
"We are settled here for ages. Our camp is one of the few left since the war broke out. Striped Ants is an place where everyone helps each other." Nadia explained.
Luna looked at the soldiers and was thinking about saying something stupid and risky.
"You people welcomed me with open arms." She said. "Maybe I can help?" There it was, stupid and risky. Luna wasn't really a fighter and now she wanted to help in a war.
"Sounds great. I am also joining so we can go together." Nadia said happy as she found a new friend to get along with.

A couple days later Luna, Nadia and the other soldiers were ready to go. "You sure you want this child?" Father Luther asked Luna one more time before she left.
"Yes Father Luther." She responded calm. "After all the help you people gave me I feel like I have to help you people with something as well." Luna felt brave, just like that day in the cave back in Mirage. This time it didn't felt weird, it felt good. Father Luther nodded and waved them goodbye as they all left.
The journey was long and stressful as they lost a couple of soldiers to the harsh environment already.
The village was seen in the distant. Sandstone building with wooden accents were seen from miles.
"This is The Northern Flats Town. One of the few villages left in the dessert." Nadia said to Luna cheerfully.
When they arrived at the dessert village a loud bang was heard followed by some screaming.
"Watch out Luna." Nadia said when she readied her bow. "I think we are not the only tribe attacking now."
Luna carefully looked around as she saw another tribe walking around the place. She also noticed a girl dragging a boy into a building. 'That boy looks familiar.' Luna thought when she saw the door close.

*Beep*. . . *Beep*. . . *Beep*. . . *Beep*. The beeping of a heart rate monitor was heard in the room.
"Doc, will he be okay?" A girls voice said.
"As for now I can't say that kid." A man responded.