Stranded
As she originally thought, the disturbance was nothing more than low level pirating. Because of the time in the solar cycle of the particular system they were in, piracy was at its peak at the moment. Once the summer trade began to dwindle toward the approach of autumn, so would the pirating. There would still be some to stir up trouble, but there would be far less than there currently were.
“The last of them have been secured,” Hea announced drifting closer to where her mentor was observing the area. She had been quiet, more so than usual, as of late. The young Seyonian couldn’t help but wonder if everything was all right. Such conversations were not best to be held in the field, though. She’d approach the subject at a later time. “Shall we be on our way back home?”
For a beat, Laira let the silence stretch between them. Then, with a sigh, she said, “Start the journey ahead of me. I would like to do one last sweep of the area before I return to Jayd.”
“I can linger with you,” Hea insisted. “There is nothing urgent that I need to return to at the moment.”
Laira shook her head, already drifting out in the direction she planned to venture. “Return home, Hea. I am just doing one final check. I will be fine.”
Hea knew better than to argue, even if she greatly wished to do so. Perhaps her mentor simply needed time to herself. The stars could provide a wonderful place to muse over matters when they were plaguing the mind. With a nod, Hea turned to do as she was instructed. Before she departed, she turned back to look at Laira. “If you require any aid, you know to contact me.”
Laira nodded and waved her away without ever turning to look back at her. She just needed a little longer to herself. Perhaps the darkness could help her understand what was amiss with her.
She hadn’t meant to let her thoughts consume her the way they had. Distraction when one was out in space only could lead to death, a fact that she’d made sure to constantly remind Hea of when she was initially instructing her. Her thoughts had driven her to the brink, though, and before she had time to properly register the warning her ring was sounding in her mind, she was being hit from the side by a beam of crimson.
She’d had enough time to throw up a hasty shield before the beam struck. However, it did very little good and splintered underneath the force of the assault. Righting herself, Laira was able to get a look at her attacked. Of all the things that could have found her, a Red Lantern had stumbled across her. Or perhaps she had stumbled across him. It looked as if the being wasn’t one of the ones Atrocitus had seen fit to restore cognition to. He seemed as bestial and rabid as she had been when the red light had initially claimed her. Such an existence was no way to live.
There was very little time to think of a proper plan of action. The Red Lantern came at her again, utilizing his plasma this time in an attempt to be rid of her. Another construct ceased the volatile substance from reaching her. It was quickly eaten away, though, and some of the plasma splashed against her arms and stomach. Her uniform was quickly dissolved in the places the plasma hit and her skin paid the price for it. She clenched her teeth against the burning and made for the nearest planet. She was losing power fast and needed to end this before she was without a means to defend herself.
She could hear the sound of the Lantern pursuing her, the wild growls and hisses close behind her. Red Lanterns were strong in there bestial state. However, they were also stupid. She paused just outside the planet’s gravitational field and waited. She’d have to time it perfectly. She waited until the absolute final second before darting out of the way of the approaching Red Lantern. He turned in an attempt to pursue her, but it was too late by then. He was already caught in the planet’s pull like an insect within the web of a spider. She used his confusion to her advantage and struck a fatal blow. It was a merciful end, in her eyes.
The fight, coupled with the confrontation with the pirates earlier, had left her with little charge left in her ring. She didn’t have enough to return back home. Sighing, she headed down onto the planet below her. She could power down there and use her charm to transport herself back to her home.
Landing, Laira had to shield her eyes in order to gaze around her. There was nothing on the planet but a vast desert landscape. The sun was bright and the heat practically unbearable. She couldn’t linger there for long. Powering down, Laira immediately reached for the chain that normally resided around her neck. She tensed when her fingers brushed nothing but smooth flesh. Where was her necklace?
Panic surged thought her then as a thought struck her. She’d pulled her necklace off when she had been at Hal’s and tucked it into her coat pocket. Her coat, she had left back in her bedroom after she’d returned home.
She couldn’t let the panic take her. She had to think clearly or else she would die on this world. Exhaustion was already beginning to seep into her bones because of the high temperature. Taking a breath, she debated her options. In the end, she knew the only thing she could do was send out a distress call. Hea could not have been too far away. She knew, at the very least, she had not yet reached Seyonus. The distress call would have her coordinates and it was likely that her partner was the only Lantern close enough to get to her in a reasonable time.
Sighing, Laira used more of her remaining charge to send out the signal. What was left, she kept in case she stumbled across something she needed to defend herself against. The ring showed no signs of other life on the world, but that did not mean something else from off the world couldn’t stumble across her. Her confrontation with the Red Lantern was proof enough of that.
Glancing about her, she attempted to spy something she could possibly use to seek shelter in. If she lingered in the sun for long, she would not last to see her partner arrive. In the distance, there looked to be an outcropping of rocks clustered together. Perhaps there would be something there that could keep her alive until Hea reached her. She could only hope that there was. If not, she did not know what she was going to do.