Chapter One
The impact woke her. Pain lit up her side and instinct alone allowed her to find something to hold on to. She clung tight and did not dare to move, not until the world around her settled into a low, pulsating hum. In the pitch dark, she inched along, hands seeking until they found something familiar. A latch. A door.
She turned it and pushed, and the door gave way to gravity, flinging itself open and dropping her across the open space beyond to land amidst the rubble. She lay there stunned for a second on a mutilated, sparking console, smashed in from both sides by the crumpled hull of the ship. It rumbled and shook beneath her, the noise of the engine the only, overwhelming sound. Pieces she recognized but could not name had dislodged from around the cabin, landed on and broken the delicate instruments and display panels. She looked at them anyway, but there wasn’t anything to give her a clue as to how she’d gotten here. Flickering lights stopped her eyes from adjusting to the darkness and she had to squint to find the guide rails. The walls in these things always had ways to get around, with or without gravity. She hauled her aching body towards where she knew there must be a way out. Out to freedom, or death. But there was no waiting here.
She found the hatch and heaved against it, and the ship let her go with a sigh, the stale smoky air billowing out around her like a final breath in the cold. Relief took hold as the feel of fresh, breathable air filled her lungs. The sky that greeted her was not her own, but she would live.
The ship let out one sudden, guttural shudder and went still. She sat perched there for a moment, drinking in the night air and letting herself adjust. She felt like she’d been sleeping for ages, that her whole body remained in a dream from which it needed to wake up.
But then a bright light dashed across the patch of sky above her, followed by another and another until the whole of it was filled with streaming light. It might have been beautiful, but the sight of it filled her chest with ice and she was suddenly, jarringly present. She knew what those lights were and what they meant. If they had followed her, then her home was gone. She was the only one left.
And this place would follow in its footsteps if she did nothing to stop what was coming.
Fear urged her to move and she pushed herself down the side of the ship to claw her way up the uprooted and crumbling soil until she could rest on solid ground. She blinked owlishly into the night, trying to find some sort of bearing. Bent and broken trees stretched out behind the ship, which had left a gash in its wake. The trees still standing obscured all else. She stood and looked back, chided herself for not checking the ship for supplies, but knew it was too late. If she went back, there might not be another chance to escape. There was nothing to do for the ship now.
Following the direction of some light on the horizon, she made her way through the trees as quickly as she could manage. The forest was relatively empty, so for her it was easy enough to traverse. It was staying hidden that was the problem. Where the trees were thin, it was easy to run but she could see the streams of light flashing relentlessly above her and so too could they see her. Where they were thicker, her large body became a hindrance. Brush and branches caught in her hair until in a huff she gave in and used some of her energy to make it short.
Signs of civilization began to appear and with them her hopes started to rise, granting her renewed energy. She dashed across paved roads in the dark like something feral, recklessly barreling towards salvation. All she had to do was find food and she could change shape, disappear, and actually have a moment to think.
She only stopped when the trees did, abruptly at the edge of a field. Her body trembled and threatened to give out, but what stretched out before her made her ignore it. Houses she had only seen the likes of in history books, and beyond them a towering city. It looked almost primitive compared to home, but it bore the unmistakable mark of humanity.
She vaguely remembered a human animal from her textbooks, a dark creature that could fly and was common enough to provide some camouflage. She sat and took a few deep breaths, trying to picture the little creature in her mind as best she could. It was difficult to change without calm, without preparation, without energy. Once she settled into shape, her stomach felt like it was gnawing at her insides and her now-little legs shook with every step.
She found a house and an open window, and waddled over to test her wings, unsure how to fly with them at all. It took a few tries and every bit of her strength, but she managed to get enough height to land on the sill. She leaned down and peeked inside, looking back and forth with each eye until after a long silence she hopped inside and walked around in search of food. Her claws made soft clicking sounds against the flooring and, though these feet were similar to her natural ones, she could not figure out a way to walk that would silence them. She just hoped whoever lived in this place didn’t have good hearing. Humans seldom did, but their animal companions could be dangerous.
She finally found what she thought must be food sitting on a table. It smelled amazing and she could barely stop herself from just tearing into it on the spot. The soft white stuff was wrapped up in a little sack and she could easily grab it to drag back to the window. Once outside, she didn’t bother to move away from the base of the house. For now it was safe, out of sight, and she was too hungry. She tore a hole in the sack and shoved her face inside, eating and eating until she could stomach no more.
Too full to move, she settled down onto what remained of the food and allowed herself to doze. Sleep was impossible, the flashes of light in the sky reminding her too clearly of the danger she was in. But as the lights faded and the sky above began to glow in shades of pink and orange, she knew a different kind of danger was soon to take their place. She forced herself up and, after a few more bites and a silent ‘thank you’ to whoever she had stolen from, left the ruined bag to totter away from the house. It was time to figure out how to really fly.
It wasn’t her first time. Certainly, she had taken on the form of winged creatures before. Never with a coating of these strange little hairy sticks on them, but she assumed there could not be too much difference. The wings seemed to work well enough, and once she jumped high enough, she managed to stay aloft. Awkward, but aloft.
The city was visible from up high, and in the glow of morning she couldn’t help but admire it. Elegant, silver spires shone proudly in the dawn, all sleek and beautiful structures woven together by lush green, winding paths, and a rainbow of artificial light. She could see beyond too, the arc of a planet, of two other moons, and the specks of countless satellites suspended above a false, translucent sky.
Something snapped in her memory and for a moment she forgot to fly. She forgot to breathe. Three moons, a shining city. She knew in sudden, devastating clarity where she was.
If anyone's still using Tumblr and following me, I've started posting my written and illustrated version of my old magical girls series/game story. There's tons of inspo for it on this blog, and art for it on my art blog @zaaly, which I'll start updating again as well.
It's also available on AO3!
Hope y'all enjoy!
