Beyond The Stars

Chapter 2

I don't know what I was thinking when I left, but I do know I didn't think everything through. That first night of walking went decently well, but by morning, I had to stop to give my legs some rest and to eat. It took a few hours but I finally started moving again, my pace significantly slower with more breaks. I figured it would be fine since I'd no doubt hit the capitol soon but night fell again and worse still, no one had even passed me on the road so I couldn't exactly ask for help, not that I would know how to anyways since I figured I was lucky Ma and Pa knew English in the first place. I tried walking through that night but during one of my breaks, I ended up passing out against the tree I had used for support. The following morning I ran out of food and, still thinking I would be fine, I set off again.

It wasn't until late the following afternoon that someone finally passed me on the road. I didn't notice at first, battling with dehydration, hunger, and fighting to stay upright whenever my legs gave out under me. I had barely made progress from where I woke up, shuffling my feet along, heavily leaning on my cane and squinting to keep my vision straight, that the only alert was their carriage flying past, leaving me in a cloud of dust. My lungs tightened and I started hacking, the force buckling my knees and sending me to the ground. I caught myself on my hands and knees, body shaking from not only the dust, but the impact with the ground as well. My mind was filled only with the buzzing of my ears and the pain in my body, eyes registering only the sky when I rolled over, the deep blue and sunlight adding to the registered pain.

It felt like years had passed as I lay there, heaving with my eyes closed, unable to handle the light, before I dully felt my arm being nudged. I tried prying my eyes opened, but gave up with a groan, deciding to simply roll my shoulder. My ears registered noise outside of the now booming ringing that consumed them, but what registered as words from a person's mouth held no true meaning, making it extremely easy to ignore as I laid there. My arm was nudged again and I groaned, the vibrations in my throat causing pain that resulted in a full body coughing fit with the feeling of my lungs trying to escape my chest. My eyes finally managed to force their way open a crack, though they took a while to register that the blue staring back was a pair of eyes as opposed to the sky. The eyes widened after making contact with my own, and my eyes registered the buzz of a voice again, though the meaning remained lost. My eyes slid closed again, resulting in a few sharp jabs at my shoulder by the other being. This time I remained unresponsive, focusing more on breathing and clearing my head than anything else, but it felt like my mind was clogged with sap and oil, until the feeling of being hit with cold liquid shocked my entire system. My mouth opened in shock, the resulting gasp rewarding me with lungs filling with water and another fit of coughing. The flow of liquid stopped and I forced my eyes open once more, this time wider.

I forced myself to sit, fighting with the wave of pain and nausea that accompanied the movement of my lower muscles, and was rewarded by a support being put against my back and a water skin held in front of my face. My throat constricted and I tried to bring my arms up, but my muscles protested and I groaned, upper body shaking. There was a chuckle next to my ear and the water skin was pressed against my lips, allowing me to drink. I refused to let myself stop, even when my chest tightened at the amount of liquid suddenly in my body. I only stopped when the water skin was pulled away, and my eyes followed its retreat, coming to rest upon the face of a young boy with vibrant blue hair and near translucent tan skin. His lips pulled into a smile, deep blue eyes squinting and crinkling at the corners. He opened his mouth and unfamiliar words came out, my brain still refusing to even try to understand any of it. I rotated my head in a mixture between a shake and a nod, going to stand up, though my knees buckled as soon as I put weight on them. The boy caught me, shaking his head before trying again to communicate with me, the words sounding slightly more familiar than before, but still foreign. I shook my head and the boy huffed, gesturing towards a rider less cart with weird, obviously impatient lizard goat looking things taking place of where horses would have usually been on Earth. The boy started leading me towards them, and I dug my feet into the ground as much as I could, surprised by the boy's strength as he drug me a bit before stopping, looking at me expectantly. I looked around, unable to find my cane, which worried me, as I wouldn't be able to properly walk without it. The boy tugged at me again and I pulled away enough to show I wasn't moving, but to where I was still being supported by him.