Long Way From Home
Summary: my idea on how Krolia met Keith’s father
Part 1
In the small cockpit that she was in Krolia found that the high pitched blaring of the alarm was near deafening. She groaned as she groggily regained her consciousness, sitting up. She cried out when a shot of pain flashed through her torso. She flopped back into the chair and looked down at the dagger still sticking out of her side.
“So much for getting out of there unharmed.” She muttered thickly as she gripped the hilt. She didn’t dare take it out, she knew if she did she would bleed out. Keeping a hand around the wound she weakly tapped the screen in front of her. Red lights flashed as she tuned on the sensors, “Need to find somewhere to land.”
Trying to keep her vision straight she regarded the small solar system she’d found herself in. There were eight planets in the vicinity, not including the dwarf one at the edge of it. “But only one with oxygen,” she slurred and one handily typed in its coordinates into the autopilot. There was a whirl as the system engaged and Krolia flopped back into the chair with a hiss of pain. She watched dimly as the stars blurred past and a green and blue planet zoomed into focus.
As the small fighter ship started into to descend into the atmosphere she cried out as it rattled and bucked at the friction. She gritted her teeth and tried to stay awake but before she knew it her vision went dark. It cleared a bit later and she gasped in panic as the ground rushed towards her. Snapping forwards she grabbed the controls and pulled them back, causing the ship to even out and slow.
It didn’t work that well. The ship plummeted into the rock and she was thrown back as she crashed. It rattled and shook as they slid, the screen flickering out. “Quiznak,” she muttered when the ship finally came to a halt. Continuing to curse she lurched forwards and tried to activate the ship again, it remained dark.
Groaning she flopped back and dimly looked down at the dagger in her side. It was still bleeding, turning her Blade of Marmora suit red.
“I have to do something about that,” she realized out loud. She wanted to get up and find the health kit but her limbs were heavy and it took a moment for her to push herself onto her feet.
Supporting herself on the chair she stumbled over to the panel that was supposed to keep the first aid but when she got to it she noticed that it was empty. Slamming it shut she braced herself on the wall, “Just my luck.”
Groaning darkly Krolia rested her head on the metal and breathed deeply. It hurt but she had to calm down and think this through. Put your emotions aside for the sake of the mission. Well it was successful, she thought darkly, but I probably won’t live to go on another one.
“No,” she strained and pushed off the wall, “There is intelligent life here. Get aid.”
With that in mind she made her way to the doors, keeping a hand around her wound. Reaching it she leaned heavily on the frame and put her blood covered hand on the access panel. The door hissed open and a stinging wind pushed her hair out of her face. It was dry and hot with grains of sand digging into her skin.
She dragged herself down the ramp and looked out at the terrain around her. It was dry and barren, with nothing in sight for miles. “Wonderful. If this doesn’t kill me the goddamn planet will.”
She was just contemplating which direction to go in when there was a movement behind her. She listened silently to footsteps from behind her and stayed still as they came closer. They were just getting within a few feet when she whipped around, her dagger snapping downwards. There was a cry of shock and she saw a odd creature dodging away from her blade, red droplets entering the air.
The stench of copper and iron filled the air as the creature put up his hands, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not going to hurt you!”
Eyes dubbing Krolia squinted at the creature in front of her. It kinda looked like a galra male but his skin was a brownish peach, not dark violet like most of her kind. His eyes were white, with dark brown irises and a mop of the name colour for hair; and he was short compared to her people’s tall stature. She’d never seen a creature like him.
She was still staring at him when the creature gasped, “There’s a dagger in your stomach!”
Krolia stared at him than scoffed, “No quiznak.” Her vision doubled for a moment but snarled when she noticed that the creature was coming closer to her. “Stay back!”
“Your hurt,” he told her bluntly, “I have no idea who or what you are but your going to die if you don’t fix that.”
She growled at him but before she could decide what to do blackness flashed in front of her eyes and she was on her knees with the creature supporting her. She growled at him but there wasn’t much of a real threat behind it. Her claws reached up to grip his smaller shoulders but then went slack when vision truly went dark. She was just thinking that this creature could easily kill her as she lost consciousness.
*
The first thing Krolia noticed as she fought to open her eyes that there was no more wind. The air was still but still had that dry musk to it. She sighed, wishing she was back on the Malmora base, where the cold air would gently calm her breathing. But she wasn’t and she had to make do with what she had.
Dully she place her hand on her injury and noticed that the dagger was gone and a bandage had been wrapped around her torso. Sighing in relief she filed that info away and surveyed her surrounding. It was small, and not in the best condition. It looked like an rebellion outpost; she’d snuck into enough of them to know what they looked like. She was lying on a small cot in the corner of the shack, her feet hanging off because of her size. Beside her was a small table, the surface covered in bloody wraps and a cloth half in a basin of water.
“So he saved me,” she muttered and sat up with a groan.
Apparently he heard her because the creature came through a doorway, pushing a cloth flap aside. He blinked at her then looked exasperated, “You shouldn’t be sitting. You lost a lot of blood.”
She stared back at the creature flatly, “I’ve been through worse.”
He chuckled and sat on the table, pushing the linen aside. “That’s hard to believe but hey you’re an alien so I have no idea.”
“Alien?” she muttered, “Not Galra?”
He blinked at her, “Is that what you are?”
It was her turn to stare at him in shock, “You don’t know that a Galra is?”
He frowned at her, “No. If that’s you race then of course I don’t know. Your the first alien on our planet.”
Blinking at him dread started to drip into her stomach, “I’m the first? So you don’t have space travel?”
Picking up on her unease he rubbed his hands together, “Yes we do, but not in the way I’m sure you’re thinking. We can barely get to the edge of our own solar system. The ship you landed in looks way more advanced than anything I’ve ever seen.”
As he talked Krolia started to feel real fear gripping her heart, squeezing it. She started to realize something. The fighter that she’d stolen had died after she’d landed (crashed). She wasn’t very tech-savvy so the chance of her fixing it on her own was slim. If what he says is true and they don’t have anything space worthy, that means…
“I’m stuck here.” she realized out loud.
He stared back at her with his lips pressed into a grim line then nodded solemnly.
