Rone Tria

Chapter 1: Oculaen Refugee

Rone opened his eyes to see white snow covering the fallen leaves. It’s so cold, he thought to himself. He sat up realizing he had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was being loaded into the pod. He stood, weak and cold, wondering where’s Ceera?

“Ceera!” he called, looking for his older sister.

“Ceera!? Nevi!” he kept calling his older sisters’ names over and over, scared of what might have happened to them. 

He worried for his little sisters Lane and Ren too but knew they’d be alright wherever they were. Lane and Ren were four and two years old, so they were put into a pod with the supervisors and the rest of the younger kids. They were all separated from their father and grandparents in the evacuation from their planet. Only children eighteen years old and younger were evacuated. All of this because of the fourth Oculaen war.

Their planet was destroyed, homes were lost, and families torn apart all because of a stupid war. Over what? Some overrated rare metal called eyenite. It’s not strong or useful in any way, it’s just pretty. So pretty, in fact, that two planets went to war just to get more! Now Rone was lost on some foreign planet, without so much as a clue as to where he was. He looks down at his purple colored hands as they shook and shivered. It’s really REALLY cold out here, he thought to himself again.

He looked around, taking a deep breath and shakily sighing. His eyes widened when he saw the damage done to his pod. It was completely wrecked. There was no way he could contact anyone he knew or loved. He walked closer to the wreckage of a pod and looked inside. He saw a small familiar bag wedged between the pilot’s seat and control panel.

He picked up the small blue-ish green bag and looked inside. There he found an extra pair of clothes, a circular, magenta amulet on a long chain necklace, some extra food, and a notebook he’d had his family write notes to him in. He knew there was a possibility he could get lost somewhere and never see his family again but never thought it would actually happen. Still, he wanted to be prepared. His older sister always told him, “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst!” he never thought to take that seriously until now.

Before they were evacuated all of the children were put through extensive survival training in case they got stranded. Rone took this to his advantage, he had to in order to survive until someone found him. He was absolutely terrified, but knew what to do. He started by assessing his surroundings. He looked around and found no better shelter so he decided his pod would be the smartest choice.

He reached up into the ceiling of the pod and pulled on a small black ribbon tab, which opened a hatch. Inside was a mesh pocket that held a first aid kit and a rolled up blanket, as well as enough nonperishable food to last him for 3 months. He looked through the food reading the label on one of the cans Ronso Fruit. Rone’s least favorite food.

Ronso fruit is slimy, and green on the inside with dry, flakey, blue skin on the outside, and to Rone it tastes like garbage. But it is extremely nutritious and has a shelf life of about a year. So, even though Rone despises this Oculaen delicacy with every fiber of his being, he knows that it’s his only chance of survival. He decided to look around and find some materials to better stable his shelter. 

He finds large branches and some bottles with some strange writing on them. He decided they will work to gather any water he can. He also gathers firewood and finds a small, transparent, blue device with a black and silver mechanism on top. The device had a strange smelling liquid inside and a red button on top. Rone pressed the button and it made a strange hissing noise and it sparked. He examined the small thing closer before pressing the button again, this time the spark turned into a flame. He kept his thumb on the button, examining the flame, trying to decipher where it came from until it started to burn.