The Emissary

Balo Feel'd ran through the woods. At least, that's what he thought they were. He wasn't sure he would have called them woods if he was the one who got to name them.

The rustling of the leaves, his footfalls and staggered breaths were all he could hear as he sprinted through the otherwise empty wood. Tiny creatures scurried along the forest floor, running away from him as he passed, while flying beasts skittered and clucked and flapped around the canopies, singing songs he couldn't see. They hid from him, watching him pass through, wanting nothing to do with Balo Feel'd.

He was a stranger in this land, an unwelcome foreigner. He wasn't here to upset the balance. He couldn't reveal his true form. He didn't know if these creatures could speak with the natives, he didn't know if their eyes would warn them of his presence. He didn't know if the trees could speak or if the ground below could listen.

He had no way of knowing anything. This was his first visit after all.

He had seen it from his place amongst the stars, floating in the blackness of space, alone amidst the vast, unexplainable emptiness. Half the planet was a deep blue that reminded him of his own skin, the other half covered in large chunks of verdant green that reminded him of his own eyes. Half the planet was bright, half covered in darkness, while patches of white clouds swirled in the atmosphere, obscuring patches of the multi coloured rock.

Clouds meant water. Water meant life.

Life meant death.

Death meant Autumn Spawn.

This had to be it.

Balo propelled his ship towards the planet. Though he was moving at extreme speeds, he was silent, he knew, despite the roaring of his proton engines. Satellites floated around the planet as he drifted in closer, some natural, some robotic. He wondered if the native species was inside them, he wondered if any would see him coming. Did they have planetary defences? Did they have air defence towers? He wouldn't dare approach Winter in such a manner, completely exposed, without any protection. They would have signalled to him by now, asking him to identify himself. They would have issued him a docking pass, then told him which port to go to and which landing pad to settle on. They would have recognized his ship's identification signature, they would have shouted his name into the speakers and welcomed his arrival with fanfare and open arms.

There was nothing of the sort here, though. They didn't seem to have any defences at all, no protection to speak of, nor did they seem to have ports or landing pads or special welcomes. His scanner beeped and whirred on the heads up display in front of him, a spinning, orange line on the glass warning him of nothing besides satellites, debris and a half black, half grey, but completely empty moon. There was one star in this system, one star only. It glinted faintly on the glass at the front of his craft.

This seemed like a logical place for them to land, for him to search. He'd been at this for ages, so many cycles spent alone in the universe with his thoughts, his mission burned into the forefront of his consciousness.

Balo Feel'd wasn't a scout, he wasn't a messenger -- he was a soldier. He dedicated his life, his body and his mind to defending his homeland from the constant threat of the Autumn Spawn. And now, he was out here, in the far reaches of space, in a remote system he didn't even know existed, hurtling towards the surface of yet another potentially hostile planet. In Balo's eyes, hostility was a good thing. Violence was welcome. Hostility meant that he was on the right track. He figured that he was closer to his goal if there was something between him and them to fight.

He pushed a button on the dash, cloaking the ship as he entered the atmosphere. He shut his emerald eyes, bracing himself against the violently shaking spacecraft. Sparks ignited along the hull as he plummeted towards the ground. He broke through a thick layer of clouds and was greeted by clusters of brilliant lights that glimmered like stars on the surface. Balo assumed they were cities, that the species that lived there had chosen those locations to settle. He noticed various different colours as he approached, bright whites at each pole, reddish browns along the center, all part of green masses separated by those massive swathes of blue. It was unlike anything Balo had ever seen before, this planet was different than any he had set his eyes on. Most of the others he explored were barren, monochromatic rocks that supported nothing but dust and sand. This place was pristine, a diverse melting pot of different flora and fauna, an oasis in the center of a galactic desert reminiscent of the endless sands of Summer. Forsaking his own judgement and instincts, he started to feel excitement building inside of himself. He was actually looking forward to landing on this planet, to exploring it and seeing what it had to offer.